Danzig - Self Titled

A while back I looked at an album by the Misfits, whom for a period of time were lead by one Glenn Danzig. When that ended - another band called Samhain formed, which again was Mr. Danzig. When that split, the got a whole lot less creative and formed a band called Danzig. That was in New Jersey way back in 1987. The story goes, Samhain was performing their last show - when Glenn was approached by record exec Rick Rubin. Rubin didn't want Danzig's on stage persona and great vocal style to go to waste, so he offered him a concurrent deal. Rubin wanted to form a metal supergroup, which Glenn declined. He needed to bring along long time friend Eerie Von - and that's when the 'new' Danzig was formed. This particular album dropped in 1988 and has seen VERY modest success. I think everyone in the world has at least one time heard the single 'Mother' - which was pretty huge. Yet, this record has only sold 700,000 copies or so. And that fairly easily makes it the best selling Danzig record of all time. James Hetfield (Metallica) also makes a couple cameos on this record. He sings backup vocals on 'Twist Of Cain' as well as 'Possession'. Metallica was pretty huge in '88, so that's pretty cool. They've dropped a variety of album since this one, all seeing virtually no success and being less and less acclaimed by critics. Danzig to this day will do a couple bigger shows with other groups around the US. Nothing huge. I can't say I know much about them, but based on what I read and how I feel about this album - I won't kick up too much of a fuss about them. This album is classic metal, which is fun and a nice change up, but it's not a multi platinum record. Literally or figuratively. If you're up for that old school feel, toss it on. If not, wait for some other distant day.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Twist of Cain
2. Not of This World
3. She Rides
4. Soul on Fire
5. Am I Demon
6. Mother
7. Possession
8. End of Time
9. Hunter, The
10. Evil Thing

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Mother
2. Twist Of Cain
3. Evil Thing

FINAL RATING:
2.25 out of 5 stars

Snow Patrol - Eyes Open

Sometimes I shock myself at how truly random my reviews can be. I can only imagine what it's like to be the reader, and read something and potentially listen to some techno music and chase it down with modern country. Today, I have no rhyme or reason as to why I picked this old Snow Patrol record. I was strumming through some tunes the other day and 'Chasing Cars' popped up on shuffle. So here we go...taking it back to 2006 or so. I have some conflicting reports that these guys originated in Scotland or Ireland. I know they all met in Scotland, but I don't totally see where the Ireland part comes in. Oh well. When they did start in 1994, they dropped a few very unsuccessful independent albums. It wasn't until signing with Polydor in 2002 when they dropped a 6x platinum record in the UK. Then in 2006 'Eyes Open' here dropped, and with the aforementioned 'Chasing Cars' single, it propelled them to worldwide success. They had a bunch of really strange things happen after popularity struck. They were on a tour in the US when the lead singer developed polyps on his vocal chords, and they also had to postpone a US trip due to a terrorist threat on all US bound planes from the UK. Their music got used in multiple US television shows and US based films. They've put out one other record since, and are working on another due out soon. They're style isn't entirely unique or anything, and this album isn't going to make you melt. But it's solid. There are a couple really nice singles and the overall 'mood' feel is really nice. It's a good listen for that cold, rainy day (like it is today in Wisconsin). I've never listened to any of their other stuff, so I'm band basing on one album. Dangerous - I know. But this is worth a listen today, especially if your weather is similar to mine.

TRACK LISTING:
1. You're All I Have
2. Hands Open
3. Chasing Cars
4. Shut Your Eyes
5. It's Beginning to Get to Me
6. You Could Be Happy
7. Make This Go on Forever
8. Set the Fire to the Third Bar
9. Headlights on Dark Roads
10. Open Your Eyes
11. Finish Line, The

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Chasing Cars
2. Open Your Eyes
3. Make This Go On Forever

FINAL RATING:
2.5 out of 5 stars

Incubus - Adolescents

Hey B Siders!

Quick third post today....got an email EXCLUSIVE from our friends at Sony/Epic Records this morning. Incubus is leaking a single from their next album called 'Adolescents' that you're only going to find here!

Listen To It!

Cheers!

Yeah Yeah Yeah's - It's Blitz!

Punk rock is a very broad genre. Probably an overused term in today's music industry. The style changes so much over the years, that's it's hard to pick out a band that really identifies with the title. Sex Pistols, Green Day, Fall Out Boy are all bands that have used that genre description in the past, but don't necessarily have a close sound to bands that share that culture today. Shaqwanda asked that I take a good, hard listen to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's today, and specifically this record. I have heard of these guys before, but probably couldn't have identified a song by theirs if it meant my life was on the line. So diving in head first today, they come up with that punk rock/indie rock genre, which puts a style in my head. But turning on the first couple tracks, it's more than that. This record bends so many different styles and sounds, labeling it with that one moniker is a disservice to the band. They formed in 2000 in New York and haven't put down the music since. They've dropped three studio albums, with this being the most recent from 2009. Each of their albums have been nominated for a grammy - but they are yet to bring one home. What I'm reading states this record is quite a bit different than the previous two, which I'm slightly bummed about - because this one is rocking my socks off today. I love the lead singers vocal, I love the dirty guitar on songs and I love the keyboards/piano. They've all done some outside of the band projects and done some contributions to soundtracks. That makes sense given the adapting sound. Simply put, this is awesome. I'm going to listen to it at least 3 times today. I can't imagine a world where people think this is not good or even subpar. It's now on my high rating list.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Zero
2. Heads Will Roll
3. Soft Shock
4. Skeletons
5. Dull Life
6. Shame And Fortune
7. Runaway
8. Dragon Queen
9. Hysteric
10. Little Shadow

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Runaway
2. Skeletons
3. Dull Life

FINAL RATING:
4.25 out of 5 stars

Danielle Peck - Self Titled

I certainly don't fancy myself much of a country expert - but I can safely say that I've come to grow a certain appreciation for it over the last year or so. Thanks to the delightful recommendations from JenInTosa, I've listened to many country albums that I didn't merely tolerate, but ones I've actively listened to. That's a huge change compared to my closed mindedness from half a decade ago. Miss Peck here is not a Jen suggestion though, I wanted to add an artist to the pot that I've brought to the table. (finally) I first heard of her in 2005 or so when she dropped a free single on iTunes. Even though I was in my narrow focus phase, I heard the song 'I Don't' and thought it was funny and extremely well done. This is the first time I've decided to listen to her whole album, so it only took me 5 more years. Regardless, Peck was born in North Carolina but grew up in Ohio. Her father was a US Marine and pretty much all of her family was into music in some way. She started singing as a child, and loved to sing 'Folsom Prison Blues' by Johnny Cash. She actually sings this song at almost every live show she does to this day. She started touring with a band immediately after graduating high school in 1997. This album dropped in 2006 and saw pretty good success on the country charts, but hasn't gotten a whole lot of attention otherwise. Which I find odd, because I actually really like this. It's got a very Faith Hill/Sarah McLachlan feel to it. I'm curious if any country fans have already heard of her and listened to an album before. I'd never heard her name come up in conversation before. Anyways, this is a really well put together record. Even if you're not a country fan, I think you'll like it.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Findin' a Good Man
2. Isn't That Everything
3. Kiss You on the Mouth
4. Fallin' Apart
5. I Don't
6. Sucks to Be You
7. Honky Tonk Time
8. Thirsty Again
9. Only the Lonely Talkin'
10. Woman Does Too, A
11. Somebody For You

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. I Don't
2. Somebody For You
3. Isn't That Everything

FINAL RATING:
3.25 out of 5 stars

Various Artists - Songs For Japan

New Music Tuesday has something special today. I think by now, we all know and understand the tragedies that have been going on in Japan. From time to time, the music industry does whatever they can to help provide support to other nations going through hard times. Today dropped one of those efforts. The "big four" record companies got together (EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner) and decided to waive any royalties can go directly to the Japanese Red Cross. This dropped electronically on iTunes last week, and the physical record came out today. If you have any bones in your body that like to help and are charitable, this is a great way to support the cause. Best Buy has this for 14 dollars which seems more than reasonable given there are nearly 40 songs here. A lot of these are new remixes and live performances, so it may not be just repeating old tracks that you've already purchased. If nothing else, it's 14 bucks to help the families who've fallen victim in Japan, and you get a little out of it. And hey, it's also still a tax write off. I hope this does well, and raises a substantial amount of money for aid. I don't find myself giving nearly enough, but I know this is something I will be doing today. You guys should too. It's for a great cause, and it's a pretty solid album to boot. It really is a win-win. Happy Giving B Siders!

TRACK LISTING:

See Link

Listen To Samples

Top 5 Tracks:
1. My Hero - Foo Fighters
2. Use Somebody - Kings Of Leon
3. Make You Feel My Love - Adele
4. Sunrise - Norah Jones
5. Save Me - Nicki Minaj

FINAL RATING:
5 out of 5 stars (come on, it's for charity)

Kaskade - Dynasty

Techno Tuesday roars in like a lion today, and it comes just in time for me. After day two of not getting much sleep, something super upbeat sounds terrific right about now. I was doing some random searching around about all things Deadmau5 related, and this fellas name popped up. Figured I'd give it a go, as I don't have a ton of other DJ's on deck for review. Ryan Raddon (aka Kaskade) is a Midwestern boy like myself. He was born in 1971 in Evanston, Illinois famous for Northwestern University. Although being born in IL, he ended up going to BYU in Provo, Utah for college. While honing is DJ skills in the dorms, he decided to take his talents to Salt Lake City and transfer to the University of Utah. He decided to own and operate a local record store in Salt Lake City, that eventually led him to moving to San Francisco to pursue his music career. He is a devout Mormon, and went on a 2 year mission trip in Japan years back. He's dropped around 10 albums now, but a couple of them are only available for download. He's not seen a ton of success in the common areas, but is pretty well known on the dance circuit. This dropped on iTunes in April of last year and then hit the stores in May. In terms of dance, it's pretty straight up. I don't think he's doing anything different than any other DJ out there today. He does a ton of collaboration work, as you don't hear his voice on any track here. There is a ton of vocal though - every song seems to have a different female lead. I won't tell you it's amazing, but there are some nice beats. It's probably an average to above average dance record. I could see it getting play at the club, but not in my car stereo.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Start Again
2. Don't Stop Dancing
3. Dynasty
4. Say It's Over
5. Fire in Your New Shoes
6. Human Reactor
7. Only You
8. Call Out
9. To the Skies
10. Don't Wait
11. Empty Streets
12. All That You Give

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Dynasty
2. Human Reactor
3. Fire In Your New Shoes

FINAL RATING:
2.25 out of 5 stars