“In 2019, we worked harder and got more done than maybe we thought was possible”

Our management team started off their final email blast with that opening line.

And to paraphrase, in 2019, I listened harder and got through so much music that I thought was possible.

Here is Part 4.

Nails In The Coffin
Jared James Nichols

Jared James Nichols is a hell of a good guitarist and singer and songwriter.

“Nails In The Coffin” reminds me of some of the songs which topped the pop charts like “Take Me To The Church” from Hozier, with a twist of Jared and a twist of blues and a twist of rock.

Last Day Under The Sun
Die To Live
When We Were Kids
Sorry Sack Of Bones
Leviathan
The Everlasting
Under The Influence
Volbeat

Volbeat’s take on 60’s rockabilly and pop merged with metal and thrash can ever get old for me, as there is so much diversity on each album.

A song like “Die To Live” (which is also my favourite, the full 3 minutes of it) is a 60’s rocker with honky tonk piano and everything else which is rock and roll, while “Last Day Under The Sun” and “When We Were Kids” show a very progressive style of song writing and songs like “Leviathan”, “Sorry Sack Of Bones” and “The Everlasting” show the metal side and “Under The Influence” is a modern take on an old sound.

Unleashed
I Am Broken Too
I Can’t Be The Only One
Take Control
Killswitch Engage

From the “Atonement” album.

One of my favourite bands for aggressive and abrasive vocals which then morph into a waterfall of melodicism. And the music, connects with me on so many levels. These four songs cover the diversity of the band musically and lyrically.

I keep making the same mistakes, just to feel alive again
It’s the only way to break on through

The above lyrics are from “I Am Broken Too”.

To be human is to feel pain, to make mistakes and to keep on trying, because all of the small wins and losses define who you are and the character you are.

Look within your soul and take control

Easier said than done, as we let ourselves be controlled by so many forces instead of focusing on what we can control, like our emotions, our attitude, our intensity and the words we say.

Light In Life
Silvera

I know nothing about this band, but what I do know, is that “Light In Life” is a good song and that it is on quite a few Spotify generated playlists, so I expect the song to have a decent number of plays.

Which it does.

Wouldn’t You Rather
Godspeed
Take The Crown
The Bitter End
Pay No Mind
Forever Falling
Walking On The Sky
Tear Us Apart
Dying Light
Alter Bridge

Alter Bridge again deliver a diverse album loaded with metal riffs, rock riffs, ballad arpeggios and arena rock choruses.

Wouldn’t you rather, live from the heart

From “Wouldn’t You Rather”.

Who wouldn’t want to live from the heart but we spend more time trying to figure out what our heart really wants. That person we loved at 15, isn’t the same person at 30 and suddenly we are in and out of love because we’ve changed as well. That occupation we wanted to do, we don’t want to do it anymore, and that college education in Accounting led to a job in HR because it paid better.

The ideal is nice, but life and the social class structures we live in, are much more complicated.

“And then the days, they ran out”.

From the song “Godspeed”.

Our lives are short, so why are we wasting our days doing things we don’t want to do. Why do we waste our days giving in to our lizard brains and allowing hate and rage to rule instead of common sense.

Wouldn’t we rather live from the heart because the days will run out. And then there is no more living.

But this much I know, somehow we’ll be alright
Cause it’s never too late, to learn how to start living right

From “The Bitter End”.

Damn right.

Humans flourished from the tribe to the cities because we had each other’s backs. The bigger enemy was death by predators. Then the predators got removed by us. And then the biggest enemy became ourselves and our need to conquer.

So entitled since the day that you were born
Still we hear you screaming, “give me more, give me more”

From “Pay No Mind”.

There is a status gap.

A child from a family of money and influence does 180km on their provisional licence and escapes with just a small fine while a child from a family with no influence and living from pay to pay, does the same crime, gets a driving ban that goes into years, pays a fine in the thousands and needs to do community service.

Yeah it’s not fair, but no one said life is fair. And the ones who we see as entitled, well how much more zeroes do they want at the end of the billion dollar zeroes.

At least you’ve lived, your own way

From “Walking On The Sky”.

Easier said than done. Life is so complex from relationship ties to financial ties to social ties and they all intertwine into a crazy complex web.

As soon as you get that loan, you are living a life on someone else’s way. And if you lose your job, anxiety will set it, because you need to find another job quick.

For a lot of us, it’s too late, but we can raise our children to be smarter and not be reliant on credit and loan.

We have to face
And learn from mistakes to grow

From “Tear Us Apart”.

So true.

Nothing is achieved without failure or making mistakes. It’s like all of those interviews you see from inventors and sporting people and how mastery comes from failure.

We are lost in the swarm
From the moment we’re born

From “Dying Light”.

The world is there to turn any heart of gold, cold.

And that little child, becomes a number.

For governments, it means, how many prospective tax payers would we need to sustain our lifestyles and revenues. For schools it means how many new starters do they get.

Oh My God
Hellyeah

Hellyeah always has a tune which gets me interested and its always due to the lyrics. Check out these;

Oh my God
I made a deal with the Devil, now the Devil’s in my blood
I’m the bullet, he’s the gun
Now the targets on your back, and here I come

Our society is built around a battle between good and bad. If we have depression or dark thoughts, there is no greater enemy than the devil. And this baddy sure gets around.

Only Way Out
Empyre

I have no idea who the band is, but the song is a melancholic and moody piece which gets me interested and then keeps my interest going for the duration.

Holding On
Solid Gold
Caleb Johnson

From the “Born From Southern Ground”, I came across Caleb Johnson from a review over at the excellent blog, “2loud2oldmusic”.

And these two songs, with the gospel like background vocals, grabbed my interest straight away. Plus “Solid Gold” has this swampy, delta blues rock riff all fuzzed out and ready for rock and roll.

And while I was listening to the album, it kept on reminding me of another artist I like, and the band that came to mind was “Black Stone Cherry”.

The Hunted
Saint Asonia

Adam Gontier is one hell of a rock singer and songwriter and to me one of the best singers in the last 20 years with his work in Three Days Grace and Saint Asonia. When you add Sully Erna to the track, who also is one of the best rock singers as a guest, you get a pretty awesome track.

And on guitars is another underrated musician in guitarist Mike Mushok from Staind.

Counting Stars (A Parallel Universe)
SixForNine

At 9 minutes long, it’s just a cruisy song, slowly percolating until its ready to explode.

What Gives You The Right
Light Shine In
Religion
Wilder Woods

Another artist which came to me from the “2loud2oldmusic” blog. The review is here if you want to read it.

Unbroken
The Butterfly Effect

One of my favourite Australian bands at playing a brand of progressive rock I like. They have been away for a while, but reformed, started to do a tour and now have new music.

And “The Final Conversation” from their last full album around 2006/7 is still in my lists for songs I listen to. You will find it in my overall Spotify 2019 list.

Rise
Waiting On The Demons
All Amped Up
Tom Keifer

Tom Keifer is back in a good way, and these three songs capture everything I like about his style of song writing and his voice. Soulful, abrasive and rockified.

Never Die (Forever Wild)
Crazy Lixx

In the Maze
Reptile
Crashdiet

A bit of Scandinavian Melodic Rock to finish off the post. Two bands who have been at it for at least 20 years. It’s a long way to get to the top, but everyone can rock and roll these days and get an audience via the internet and streaming services.

Both of these bands came into my life because Amazon recommended them as artists I might like based on my purchases. And although I haven’t purchased any of their CD’s, I do stream them.

If you like a new take on an old sound, these two bands will suffice.  

The final post for 2019 is coming.