Well sorry about the late post. I know you all were on pins and needles as to which band was going to be featured this week. Well you can stop holding your breath...its All That remains. This Metalcore band from Springfield, Mass is yet just another example of the resurgence of heavy metal in the past few years. Plus they have a chick in their band (ill give you three guess as to which instrument she plays) They are really unique in that they mix more traditional, mainstream catchy choruses in with brutal riffs and lead guitar lines. Check them out for yourself here is a cut off the new album Overcome:
Chiron:
And here is a cut from their best album "The Fall of Ideas"
P.S. A little known fact their lead singer Phil Labonte was the runner up to be the replacement for Jesse Leach in Killswitch Engage.
I saw that the original Super Soaker, the ultimate water gun that provided us with so many great time turns 20 years old this year. This, along with Saved by the Bell really lets me know that I am officially old. This should make me think "well I guess its time to put childish things away" but a much bigger, more primal part of me is like: "fuck that dude there reissuing the old super soaker, I need a new water gun anyway." Which one do I decide to follow? Well ill decide while im shooting my wife with my new water gun!
Good Monday Morning to everyone. This week I would like to tell you a story about a little band from San Francisco that evolved into the 7th biggest selling act in American history, putting them up there with The Beatles and Elvis, which id have to say is an even bigger accomplishment considering what type of music they play. This is also a story of loss and redemption, highs and lows and one of the greatest comebacks in music history. I wont discuss the narrative, the story itself can easily be found my googling Metallica. What I will tell you is my own version.
I have had a passion for music my whole life, from singing along with Big Bird when I was a baby to country music in my formative years. But it wasnt until I heard this band in 5th grade that I truly can say that I fell in love with a genre. Ive heard my friends explain this similar feeling with punk rock, and I do like punk rock, but it does not give me the same feeling inside of out right joy that a metal track does and these guys do it the best.
That is not to say that it has all been rose pedals and smiles with them and I. Whatever the fuck they did in the mid-90's just baffled me. Here is a great example:
They went from this:
To this:
Needless to say, I was shocked and hurt. How could they do this?!? Why would they sell out after all these years? I gave up, started listening to nu-metal (which other than deftones is a decision I whole heartedly regret) and didnt look back. But lo and behold came the early 00's and a new face for the group. Jason Newsted left the group, which I think was a necessary move, he kinda sucked anyway. But its when I heard St. Anger that I knew that they were on the right path. They just needed to drop Bob Rock, which I firmly believe is the Yoko Ono of Metallica. I cant even begin to describe how much I FUCKING HATE BOB ROCK!!! I believe that he robbed me of 8-12 years of kick ass music. Fuck him. But anyway in the Fall of 2008 they released what is easily one of their best records Death Magnetic and set everything right again. This one I chalk up to Rick Rubin, whom I love with all my heart. If Bob Rock is the Yoko then Rick is the John Lennon. I would give this man a kiss if I saw him in real life. His records have brought me more joy, plus he resurrected the greatest heavy metal band of all time. I will leave you with a cut off the new record so you can feast your ears on some heavy metal redemption. Which incidentally is what I think they should of named Death Magnetic.
While surfing the internets this morning, I came upon this very interesting description of the New Deal and how ti helped us get out of the Great Depression:
This guy shows through government statistics how the New Deal made an immediate impact on the failing economy. I hope that Obama's package will have these same effects, but I fear that it might be loaded with too much pork and wasteful spending. What we need is all of that money to be invested in the basic services that this country needs. I think that the bill should focus on three places and forget about all the others:
Rebuilding Infrastructure
Whether it is failing or not, this will create much needed jobs and put people back to work.
Investing in new energy platforms
This will help fund scientists researching new renewable energy as well as try to harness as much wind, solar and geothermal energy and turn it into usable, sustainable energy we can use everyday.
Invest in a new broadband infrastructure
Not only will this create jobs in the technology sector, it will also create jobs for working class people who will be the ones to lay the wire across the country. This will also allow us to catch up to Japan and China in broadband. It is absolutely pathetic that we are the country that invented the internet but we currently sit at 15th in the world in terms of speed and broadband penetration. I think that the internet should be like radio or TV when it comes to a communication medium. It is a fundamental right and essential to our democracy that our citizens are active engaging each other online.
I thought to cheer us all up on this bleak Monday by introducing a new feature on my blog. Im going to call it Metal Monday (Horns go here) So for this first one I thought I would post about one of my favorite bands..Killswitch Engage.
Skipper
