Monthly Archives: December 2019

Music, My Stories

The Self Help Industry

I was listening to a few podcasts on Spotify and they were talking about “how to stop caring about others opinions” and to “figure out what exactly do we want to do with our lives”.

And I’m thinking, seriously, this shit needs a podcast.

Aren’t the lyrics to heavy metal music about the same thing, especially the heavy metal music I grew up with in the 80’s before it morphed into screaming and growling.

But hey, what would us long haired metal heads know. As far as the world was/is concerned, we were just drug taking anarchists who worshiped the devil.

Fast forward 30 plus years later and suddenly we are living in a world created by techies.

Think about it.

The biggest social tool is Facebook and the way people communicate is by sending messages to each other or posting about their great lifestyles or their relationship status. So we communicate the way these techies want us to communicate because they have no social skills.

Seriously, if someone tells you face to face to never contact them again, why would you send them a friend request. But that’s what happens in Facebook.

Hell, the movie “The Social Network” ends with Zuckerberg, all alone in his apartment, sending a friend request to his ex, who told him earlier in the film, she never wants to see or hear from him again.

Get it, he’s alone and hiding behind his blue screen and sending friend requests to a person who would ignore him if he tries to contact her or speak to her, the way we always did up until social media.

And in order to live and operate in the new world, we are told that we need all of these mindset coaches and college grads to write books for the billion dollar self-development industry and make money from what heavy metal and rock lyricists wrote about for a long time.

Like how we need to give more than we take, we need to stand up and shout for our rights, we need to make mistakes to grow, we need to experience things in order to come up with unique ideas.

And I get it.

It’s common scientific knowledge that our brains don’t evolve as quickly as life, society and technology evolves. So our brains are still back in our hunter and gatherers days, when we actually cared about what people thought of us, because it kept us in the tribe and we had a chance of survival within the group.

Because, hey it was very hard for a single human to survive back then. The unfortunate part is that our brains still need that comfort, to know that people think good of us.

But we don’t need the opinions of others to survive these days. So why do we seek them.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

Rock And Roll’s Gonna Save The World

Y&T always started off with a strong cut.

This was even more important in the CD era as there was only one side and a lot of people never made it to the end of the album.

The AC/DC style groove kicks it off, first in clean tone, and then with no holds barred distortion rock and roll.

Kings and queens and presidents
Are tryin’ to take the world in hand
Jokers and freaks and Arab sheiks
Are fightin’ over chunks of sand

The same problems that exist today never really went away. We have people in charge who only have their own self-interest at heart, and they are more than capable of spinning and selling a story.

A journalist was beheaded and decapitated in the Saudi embassy, the Middle East is in flames because one outside government backs one side and another outside government backs another side. And once you throw religion into the mix, you get a tar baby, a difficult problem that is only aggravated by attempts to solve it.

So does everyone retreat back into their borders and allow people of their own nations to sort themselves out?

It makes sense that they do.

But corporations from democratic countries have vested interests in these poorer countries. So money talks, freedom walks and the fighting continues forever and a day.

Rock & Roll’s gonna save the world
Don’t you know that’s the way we’re gonna change it?
Rock & Roll’s gonna save the world
Rock & Roll

We believed we could change the world.

Then we got jobs and got loans and became exactly what the institutions wanted us to be. Slaves by choice, because we believed that if we worked hard enough, we would be debt free.

And when life got too much, we would turn the lights off, drop the needle and let the music soothe the soul. That’s how rock and roll will save the world. By giving each person their own unique listening and connecting experience to survive and grow.

Tin soldiers march around the world
No matter what the people say
One man makes all the policies
While the rest of us get blown away

It’s exactly what our leaders are fighting about right now.

Who should make the policies?

Who should tell others what to do?

And democratically elected leaders want to dictate to others how people should live and then take up arms against dictators. Ironic isn’t it. Especially when you take into account the amount of surveillance which happens in democracy, which dwarves the surveillance network and files from the communist era states.

Also as much as the media and the news outlets detest the ones in power, all they do is solidify the support for these leaders, for not everyone comes from the same backgrounds and cultural classes as the newspapers. But what everyone can agree on is money.

If you are in government or the opposition and you tell the person to vote for you because you are going to take away a tax loophole you see as not fair, well, expect to lose, because no one wants to lose their money or access to get money back.

Now’s the time to lift our voices from a whisper to a scream.

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Music

2019 – Part 4

“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.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Influenced, Music, My Stories

For Whom The Bells Toll

My ears were conditioned to enjoy the Tom Werman, Keith Olsen, Bruce Fairbairn produced albums, so when I heard the chainsaw sounding guitars I wasn’t sure what I was hearing or if I liked it.

But liked it I did and I still contend that “Ride The Lightning” is the album that should define Metallica. It’s original, progressive and it set the track list template for the albums which followed.

A bell tolls, like “Hells Bells”.

And there is a pause.

A bell tolls again.

And there is a brief pause.

Then the staccato F#5 power chord comes crashing down, before it goes to the E5 power chord to ring out.

Then the bass solo.

Then the descending chromatic riff which mimics the bass solo.

And when you think the first verse is about to come in, a harmony guitar lead happens, which is repeated over and over again, until the riff which underpins the Chorus comes in.

But there is no singing. Just bone crushing music. And after 2 minutes, we are finally rolling with the first verse.

And we are marching to the hills to make our fight, running through the endless grey to kill for a hill and we don’t even know why.

After the first chorus, there is another little lead break, which is a variation of the harmony lead in the intro.

And now we are looking at the crumbling sky before we die, as all is gone, except the will to be.

Suddenly it’s over, with the whammy guitar mimicking the screams of those poor dying soldiers.

For the “fans” who criticised the “Black” album, they should not forget tracks like “For Whom The Bells Toll”, “Escape” and “Leper Messiah” from “Master Of Puppets”. Slower tempo songs that would not be out of place on the “Black” Album. Even a song like “Jump In The Fire” is a slower tempo song.

Time marches on and Metallica marched on to take over the world.

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A to Z of Making It, Copyright, Music, My Stories, Piracy

Getting Paid

I’m seeing news articles that Spotify’s payment rate is declining.

But there never was a set payment rate per stream. It was always based on your streams in a pool of streams and what percentage you take in the pool of streams based on countries and the pool of money of available to be paid out and your percentage stake in those monies.

Yep it sounds simple, but it’s creative accounting at its best and the music industry is well known for it.

However there is an argument that with Spotify’s subscribers growing, the payments to artists for the same amount of streams they had in previous years is lower. A normal person would assume that a growing membership, would mean more money in the pool and that would mean a higher payment for the same amount of streams.

As much as I am a fan of Spotify and streaming services in general, all of these organizations also deal in the murky world of creative accounting like the labels.

And Spotify should be worried.

Their business model is based on licensing agreements. Like Netflix’s original business model. But Netflix started doing original content over 10 years ago. Spotify hasn’t.

Because Netflix knew that the companies they license content from, will form their own streaming service one day. In this case, Disney created Disney TV. And I reckon the labels are watching this with interest. If it works out okay for Disney TV, and the costs are low to host a steaming service, then the labels will consider their own streaming service. It’s just a matter of time.

So imagine a world with Universal deciding to do the same as Disney.

Because the labels never cared that people accessed the music of their artists illegally. They used that as part of their PR, to show that they cared about their artists and to get politicians to pass laws to protect their businesses.

What the labels really cared about was losing control of the distribution and the gatekeeper monopoly they had for so long.

So if the labels go into their own streaming offering, they will get back control of the distribution and a sort of monopoly again. And the only way for Spotify to exist if this happens, is to become a label themselves and pay people to generate content instead of paying organizations to access content.

Spotify might not pay artists what they think they should be paid but at least they are getting paid because Spotify has to pay based on the agreements they have with the labels and the legislation in place around royalty rates. If the label and the publishers keep the monies, then the artist has to negotiate a better deal when they sign up for that initial advance payment.

But once the distribution goes back under the labels control, good luck in getting paid because the labels will get all creative and will work out that the artist owes them money instead. And if the labels do work out that there are payments due to the artists, then those payments are based on the contract artists sign with the label.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

The Sentinel

I forgot about this song in the 90’s and the 2000’s. It’s like it didn’t exist. Then I purchased the deluxe edition of “Unto The Locust” by Machine Head, and it was a bonus track. And I immediately ripped the CD and copied the song/album to my iPhone and added it to my playlists. The song was back in my life after a long hiatus.

And that is how our relationship with music works. We fall in and out of love with the songs.

Due to blowing away all of the mp3 tracks I had on my iPhone when I switched to streaming, I lost my mp3 rip of the Machine Head version. And it is not on Machine Head’s Spotify account, which irks me, but a Rock Covers album list.

And “The Sentinel” is my favourite track on the “Defenders Of The Faith” album. I could listen to it over and over again.

It’s music made for the sound system and not the earbuds/headphones, however in this day and age, the headphones will do.

A power chord crashes in.

As it buzzes out for a bar, a single note melodic riff is played.

Then another power chord is played, and another single note melodic riff. It repeats, until it gets into the speed metal riff of the verses.

And Halford sets the scene along deserted avenues with figures primed and ready for a quick surprise.

Then we are into the Chorus.

Sworn to avenge
Condemn to hell
Tempt not the blade
All fear the sentinel

It’s an arena rock chorus but it’s lyrical message is so far removed from the pop charts and the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “Cum On Feel The Noize” type of messages. “The Sentinel” is like an avenger for the down trodden and forgotten, or just a no bullshit bounty hunter.

The guitar solo has tapping, pentatonic lines, arpeggio pull off licks, natural minor scalar runs and a whole damn of legato.

And there is silence at the end of the solo, as they move into a melancholic and subdued verse, slowly building it up as the vicar stands expressionless, unmoved by his victory.

And how good are the riffs underneath the Chorus vocal melody.

Sworn to avenge.

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A to Z of Making It, Copyright, Music, My Stories

The Gatekeeper Society

The artists have the power. They always had. They are the ones that create the works, the songs.

But there used to be a gatekeeper society when it came to music, and this society said to the artists, “if you want to play this game of fame, sign your life away on the dotted line.” And to make it worth your while, here is an advance payment. But the devil doesn’t tell you that they will recoup this advance payment for your whole life plus 70 years after your dead.

And this gives the rights holders of the artist’s work (otherwise known as the Copyright Holders, aka, Record Labels) the power to negotiate with ISP’s, the Courts and the Government. The artists sold away their power and the record labels make billions in streaming revenue. And because of this power the record labels amassed, they can influence law makers in passing laws to protect the record labels business models and on occasions the labels via their lobby groups, get the law enforcement arms to act as a piracy surveillance force.

Now if an artist was “out there” and didn’t fit the norm, that’s when new record labels would be formed, like Metal Blade Records by Brian Slagel (a record store employee) so he could promote the local metal bands from LA.

Or Megaforce Records, by Jon and Marsha Zazula, so they could release Metallica’s first album. Or Sanctuary Records by Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor, who discovered Iron Maiden and named their label after Maiden’s song, “Sanctuary”.

And the gatekeeper society rules would transfer over to these new labels and suddenly we have gatekeepers here deciding which bands would get signed and which bands wouldn’t and which bands they would manufacture, amassing a large catalogue of copyrighted songs in the process.

But today, the artists themselves can write, record and release, without the need for a label (however they need a digital distributor/aggregator) to get their music on digital platforms, and of course, they will need to source their own supply of organisations who deal with physical products like vinyl, CD’s and clothing.

And it might sound daunting for some, but it’s focused work. So if anyone should be organising deals it should be the ARTISTS/PERFORMERS with the USERS/CONSUMERS.

And if the artists have their music on legitimate channels with fair and just price structures for people to access content, well the problem of piracy goes away. Then it’s up to the artist to decide what is next and how to further monetise their fan base.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

Back In Black

By early 1980, the band’s hard work ethic and songs about life had them on the summit. The next album was crucial. Bon Scott was living the dream with women and booze, Angus Young was getting married and the band started writing the follow-up to “Highway To Hell”.

Bon Scott was involved in early sessions (as a drummer) for songs that would become “Have A Drink On Me” and “Let Me Put My Love Into You”. After those sessions, Bon said to meet up in a weeks’ time as that would give him time to write some lyrics, however that next session never eventuated.

By mid-Feb, 1980, Bon Scott was found dead in his car, and depression set it on the Young brothers. By mid-March, and on the back of words said by Bon’s father, Malcolm called Angus to start working again, just the two of them, no one else. In these sessions post Bon’s death, “Back In Black” would be written.

They finally auditioned some singers and Brian Johnson was hired. With the band complete, they went to the Bahamas to start writing and recording in stormy weather. And as much as the storms come to disrupt our lives now and then, they also clear the path. The bad weather led to “Hells Bells”. “Rock And Roll Aint Noise Pollution” was the last song written.

For the lyrics, a lot of ideas, choruses and melodies were already written by Malcolm and Angus before Brian joined. Stories exists that the brothers took the lyrics from Bon Scott’s notebook, which Angus denied in a Guitar World interview, saying, that all of Bon’s notebooks went direct to his parents.

Released in July, 1980, it was certified as Gold and Platinum in October, 1980 in the U.S. 

And these U.S certifications continued as AC/DC kept on releasing albums in the 80’s which no one bought, because everyone was still buying “Back In Black”.

By October, 1984, it was 5x Platinum and by October 1990 it was 10x Platinum. 10 million in sales. By June, 2004, it was 20x Platinum. The period between 1990 and 1999 is the” CD’s replacing vinyl/cassette’s period”, so it’s hard to quantify the real fans.

And now in December, 2019, its 25x Platinum.

I think it’s important to recognise the commercial and cultural impact of “Back In Black”. 

The cover.

All black, to signify a band in mourning due to the passing of Bon Scott. The opposite of the white album from The Beatles, and it’s funny how another band would use a similar black cover for their biggest selling album. And the label didn’t want it all black, so the grey outline on the logo was created.

Acca Dacca weren’t the first, as Pink Floyd employed a similar concept for “Dark Side Of The Moon” and so did Black Sabbath for “IV”

Even though the album isn’t a heavy metal album, it is still seen as an influential metal album. But it’s the crossover appeal which sent the album to the stratosphere. Guitarists who don’t normally play rock or metal, would still learn the songs from “Back In Black”. There is no escaping the title track, “You Shook Me All Night Long”, “Hells Bells” and “Shoot To Thrill”. Actually there isn’t a song on the album that I would skip or not wanna play.

Mutt Lange’s production on the album is still seen as the go to sound for how hard rock should sound and he did it in six weeks, which is short for Lange’s standard.

And how hard rock should sound, Lange style, is the same as Bob Rock’s production on “Dr Feelgood” and the self-titled “Black” album and how those albums are seen as the heavy rock/metal standard.

Lange’s focus on perfection for each breath, each note, changed the way bands would record in the 80’s, and his attention to detail, pushed recording budgets into the millions. Good for him, as he got paid well and bad for bands who didn’t sell what the budget paid for. And Lange, brought his methods to the mainstream in a super big way on the backs of AC/DC, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams and Shania Twain albums.

And AC/DC is still doing its victory lap on the back of this album. They kept working, put their emotions towards creating and in the process delivered an album for the ages.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, Unsung Heroes

2019 – Part 3

Remember the movie Blade Runner, released in 1982 and set in 2019. Well I guess we are now living in the future.

Anyway, moving on from useless facts, here is Part 3 of my 2019 list for albums released in 2019.

Hey You (You Make Me Rock)
When I Think Of You (Color Me Blue)
Trouble Is Your Middle Name
Flesh And Blood
Well I Never
Sands Of Time
Whitesnake

David Coverdale started writing songs on his own and revisited songs he wrote in the past for this album and it’s a welcome return, as the fans get a very diverse album, with some all-out rockers and shred feasts when DC collaborates with Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra and some gritty blues rock gems when DC takes the reins himself.

And the stand out song is the epic sounding “Sands Of Time”, a co-write with the mighty Reb Beach and a lyrical theme of two lovers living in the same time in parallel worlds.

Purpose For Pain
Red Clouds
Scott Stapp

His career, both public and private always made the news. His baritone voice (more like Eddie Vedder’s voice) was so far removed from the helium banshee screams of metal vocalists like Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford and I liked it.

I followed Creed because of Mark Tremonti’s guitar playing and I follow all of his works post Creed. And I also follow Scott Stapp’s career, as a solo artist and vocalist for Art Of Anarchy.

On this album, “Red Clouds” is the song.

These are the days we live in
Sliding, winding, finding our way through the maze

And the maze is more convoluted than ever because we are constantly distracted. It’s like the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. The system is designed to keep us poor, and the world we currently live in is designed to keep us confused and distracted.

We Can Make It
Keep On Dreaming
Roulette

Another band from Sweden, with a very generic sounding band name which makes them very hard to find on Google.

These songs are from the “Now” album and they play a style of American Rock that even US bands cant capture at this point in time.

Rolling down the highway
We just leave it all behind

From the song “We Can Make It”. It was a rite of passage, to grow up and get your driver’s licence, as it gave you the passport to escape the borders of your town. Even if it was for just one day.

Cut It All Away
Rearview Mirror
Art of Dying

From the “Armageddon” album but the “Vices and Virtue” album is still my favourite and nothing they have done since has topped that album.

However, each album always has a few songs that get my attention, and these two are the ones from this album.

I will outrun the battle from within
The beginning of the end is to cut it all away

When we are left to our own devices, our own thoughts, we are different creatures. Some people never recover from the darkness, and some people just deal with it and some people seek help from it.

But you need to start somewhere and it starts with recognizing that a darkness exists.

What comes next is up to you?

Die Young (Acoustic)
Machine Head

An acoustic cover by Robb Flynn of a classic Sabbath/Dio era cut. It’s raw, its emotive and powerful all at once and it was released as a sort of pseudo B-side to a live re-recording of “Davidian”.

Robb Flynn also posted in June in one of his email blasts that the song on Spotify had passed over a 100,000 streams within a month of its release. And it all happened from people’s word of mouth and sharing it on our own playlists.

That’s the power of fans.

Watch Your Back
Black Oak County

From Denmark and so far removed from the 262 population of Black Oak a town in Craighead County, Arkansas. I guess you better “Watch Your Back”. (Yep, I know. Bad joke.)

Shutting Down Our Town
I’m In A Bad Mood
Jimmy Barnes

From the “My Criminal Record”. It’s a crazy world when one of my favourite rockers in the 80’s who lost me when he reconnected with his soul influences, drops one of his best albums since the early 90’s.

The song on the album is “Shutting Down Our Town” and it’s written by Australian country artist Troy Cassar-Daley.

This used to be a place where a man could find some work
Put together Holdens or a foundry job at worst

Australia was built on the backs of our steel and car industries.

Eat, sleep, work, drink, that’s all they ever did

And it was okay. People looked happy. It felt like we had each other’s backs. Then the kids grew up and we all moved out, into different towns and with neighbours we don’t even know.

Oh, they’re shutting down our town
They’re cutting down our town
No more production line blue collar can be found

For some people, they couldn’t get reskilled and ended up on the unemployment line.

Herded all together
From many different lands

Australia’s intake of immigrants changed the dynamics of the country.

Satellite
Cabin Pressure Drops
The Night Flight Orchestra

TNFO are building up to something, with two singles released over the course of 8 weeks. “Satellite” is your typical TNFO fare, a new take on an old sound, with heaps of melody and arena rock choruses, while “Cabin Pressure Drop” is an instrumental.

Can’t Sleep
Lay It On Me
Keep
Blacktop Mojo

From the “Under The Sun” album. I became a fan of this band when one of their songs came up on a Discover Playlist a few years back, and the new album, has a few good rockers on it.

That’s it for part 3.

Parts 4 and 5 to come.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music, My Stories, Unsung Heroes

My Streaming Decade

So Spotify has collated all of my data since I joined in 2013 and here it is.

In 2013, my favourite artist was KISS and the song I listened to most was “A Day In My Life” from Five Finger Death Punch.

In 2014, my favourite artist was Black Label Society and the song I listened to most was “Angel Of Mercy” from Black Label Society.

In 2015, my favourite artist was Trivium and the song I listened to most was “Down From The Sky” from Trivium.

In 2016, my favourite artist was Kingdom Come and the song my 5 year old listened to most was “The Mighty Eagle Song” from The Angry Birds Movie. And this was the reason why I went to a Spotify Family Account.

In 2017, my favourite artist was The Night Flight Orchestra and the song I listened to most was “Gemini”.

In 2018, my favourite artist was Def Leppard, which is no surprise as their catalogue was finally issued on digital services, but the song I listened to most was “A Love Unreal” from Black Label Society.

Finally, in 2019, Free Spirits Rising is listed as my favourite artist and “We Are Here” from Free Spirits Rising is the top song.

Overall, my top five artists for 2019 are, Free Spirits Rising, Everygrey, Whitesnake, Aerosmith and Tool.

But my favourite stat is the time spent listening to music on the service.

  • In 2016, it was 37,977 minutes.
  • In 2017, it was 77,234 minutes.
  • In 2018, it was 52,316 minutes.
  • In 2019, it was 64,753 minutes.

Let’s put some of these numbers into context.

A 38 hour working week equates to 2,280 minutes.

So 64,753 minutes divided by 2,280 minutes equates to 29 working weeks of listening. Over half a working week year of listening to music and somehow working at the same time.

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