I hope this starts a trend

Jay-Z is doing a very admirable thing by making his new album, American Gangster, only available by buying a hard copy from the store.  He has refused to put his album on itunes, and for good reason. 

itunes allows a user to purchase singles if they don’t want to purchase an entire album. Music artists write songs, and place them in specific places on their album for a reason.  It makes the experience of an artist’s music better. 

All releases should be listened to as a whole.  If you want singles then put on KC101, even though you’re supposed to grow out of Top 40 radio stations by your high school graduation. 

Hopefully more artists will start doing this, especially with the growing trend of concept albums being released.  Ok.  End rant. 

Heaven is for lovers

 

According to the popular music website, AbsolutePunk, Casey Calvert of Hawthorne Heights, has passed away.  Jason Tate, the founder and owner of AbsolutePunk, has informed its community that he has been told by two reliable sources that this is true, and given the popularity of the website and the repercussions the site would face if it were untrue, I am led to believe it unfortunately is true.  Information regarding how he died has not been released as of right now.

As much hate as this band gets from people, including myself, they were great guys who actually helped get me into the music scene with their breakout single Ohio Is For Lovers.  And although I have grown out of their music, I still respect their members for being genuine people who give back to their community.  A recent post on the bands purevolume blog gave people of the community a chance to appear on stage with them.  That is something many bands are lacking, and I respect the band for the gratitude they show to their fans.  Casey will be missed by fans and the entire music industry. 

Here is the music video for Ohio Is For Lovers, Casey is the screamer/rhythm guitarist.

What a surprise

The world’s greatest mother, Britney Spears, actually lost her virginity at age 14.  This probably comes as no surprise to  anyone, but it is funny to know that it has actually come out as a truth.

The poor kid that took her virginity probably had that chalked down as his greatest achievement and told all his friends, but after the recent events of Ms. Spears, he probably does all he can to hide that it ever happened.  I mean, look at the difference.

The good news about all of this is that she isn’t the teenage role model she used to be.  I’ll leave you with an entertaining skit depicting this years VMA performance.

What do these bands have in common…

Angels and Airwaves, The Color Fred and Ace Enders will be embarking on a nationwide tour together.  To answer the question of my titled, the lead singers all left their former bands and started these bands.  Angels and Airwaves frontman Tom Delonge, left the illustrious Blink 182, who I have spoken about numerous times in this blog, The Color Fred’s frontman, Fred Mascherino, left Taking Back Sunday, and Ace Enders was the former singer and songwriter of The Early November. 

I am extremely interested in seeing this tour, as I am a fan of all of these bands, but I wish they were still with their former bands.  Angels and Airwaves doesn’t come close to living up to Blink 182.  Their live performances were unlike anything else.

So anyway I am excited for this show and will probably buy tickets when they go on sale, but I’m sure to get nostalgic about their former bands.  I’ll leave you with a video of the Early November’s last performance ever, which I attended in their hometown of New Jersey.

Spring Concert continued..

  

What band that the Quinnipiac students vote in will ruin the concert?  Jack’s Mannequin is a definite, which is great.  However, a survey was sent out with a ton of bands and r&b acts to fill in the remaining two spots.  Given the student population that is generally made up of toolbags, the wrong act is sure to play alongside Jack’s.

The survey included great supporting acts like Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, Saves The Day and innovators of the genre Third Eye Blind.  Those were my 4 votes.  The survey also included awful choices, who will probably win, such as Daughtry, Soulja Boy, and a number of other hip hop/rap acts. Nothing against the genre, but I don’t see Crank Dat mixing well with any Jack’s Mannequin songs. However, this video that spawned because of Crank Dat makes me laugh quite a bit.

I want you to compare performances from my favorite choice, Jimmy Eat World, with my least favorite choice, Daughtry.  First video is Jimmy, second is Daughtry.

The boy can sing, but his song writing abilities are quite limited.  I hope Jimmy Eat World or Third Eye Blind wins. 

They’re backkkk

Jack’s Mannequin couldn’t make our Fall Concert, but they’ll be here for our Spring Concert.  As I stated in a previous post, Jack’s Mannequin was orginally scheduled to play our Fall Concert with The Starting Line, but was forced to back out due to lead singer Andrew McMahon being too physically and mentally ill to perform after 14 months of constant touring after being released from treatment for his leukemia.

Personally, I couldn’t be happier with the news.  Andrew McMahon is arguably one of the most respectable names in the music scene, and someone I have an incredible amount of respect for.  For those who don’t know, Andrew was diagnosed with leukemia, and fought his way through it and went on to leave his original band, Something Corporate, and start Jack’s Mannequin. 

Jack’s and Something Corporate are both Piano Rock bands, but Jack’s Mannequin has a more Pop Rock vibe to their music with lyrics that reflect life rather than whining over a girl.  Here is a clip of the band playing their song “La La Lie”

Fans should expect one of the most energetic performances they’ll ever see, and I hope to see a ton of people there to enjoy it.

Keep it in the south

Country music blows.  For everyone who lives north of the Mason Dixon, why are you listening to country music? 

I have had a number of people get on my case for being “emo.”  Emo is a form of music considered by many to be depressing and involve freaks that wear black clothing and eyeliner.

Emo doesn’t touch how depressing country music can be.  My roomate thought it would be a good idea to blast that shit as loud as he could and I was inches away from making the room an 8 person room instead of a 9.  Borat’s take on country music is seen here.

Country music blows.  Keep it in the south.

What an honor

I love this band.  If you don’t know who it is by the picture, then shame on you, but it is Blink-182 for those of you who live under a rock.

Everything about this band is lovable.  It was the simplicity in their music and lyrics that made them such an easy band to love.  Couple that with singers Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus’ undeniable sense of humor and you can’t get away from them.  Here’s a prime example of their antics.

Yes, the band did joke around quite a bit, but they knew how to get serious as well.  Songs such as Stay Together For The Kids, about a mother and father keeping a relationship going because of their children, and the Adam’s song, about suicide, really brought out the emotions that got covered by the bands joking manner.  The music video for the Adam’s Song can be seen below, it is easily my favorite music video ever made.

The band’s live show is probably what they will be best remembered for.  What would normally never be said at a concert became commonplace when Delonge and Hoppus would make fun of each other.  Hoppus was also well known for his Satan voice that he used at nearly every show.  I never did get to see them live, which is my biggest regret regarding music, but I suppose youtube videos will have to do.

R.I.P Blink-182

Blame Canada

It is only fair to warn you as readers, that I hate Simple Plan.  I will admit, that as a Freshman in high school, I did enjoy their breakout hit “I’d Do Anything.”  

The reason I know find this band unlistenable is the fact that they’re all in their late twenties and yet they still have lyrics like “Last night I just wanted to have fun, to go out with my friends, I took my dad’s car, I never thought he would find out, but I crashed in a wall, man I’m dead…”, etc. Not only are these lyrics very poor, they’re also a blatant attempt to misrepresent themselves as teenagers. The way this strikes me is that they’re pandering to a teenage demographic.  If you are going to write music, write it for yourself and have it reflect your own emotions, not those of someone half your age. 

Here is Simple Plan performing with their equally as awful counterpart Good Charlotte.

Without further adieu, here is their newest single, “When I’m Gone,” can be streamed here.  I commend anybody who was able to make it through that monstrosity.