Category Archives: Music

Music

Vito Bratta – He made it just to walk away

He was born in 1961.  He formed White Lion in 1983, with Mike Tramp.  He was 22 years old at the time.

Before White Lion he was in Dreamer from 1980 to 1983, a band that featured future Tyketto drummer Michael Clayton.  White Lion came to be in the following way as told by Mike Tramp in Rockeyez;

As I mentioned above, MABEL had turned into STUDS and played hard rock, I had become the leader and we went to the States and became LION. In November ’82, we played L’amour’s with DREAMER, which was Vito’s band. People started talking that he and I should play together. When Lion ended its reign in December and went back to Denmark. I returned to NYC in March and looked up Vito. The rest is history.

White Lion picked up a deal, got dropped and then released the Fight To Survive album independently in 1985.  It wasn’t until 1987 that people noticed White Lion and the talents of Vito.   The Pride album was massive.  The tour that followed, opening up for AC/DC was even bigger.

It was seven years playing in bands, before the world took notice of Vito’s abilities.

If any young guitarist or songwriter is looking to have a career in the music business, you need to be ready to put in the time.  Don’t be fooled by The Voice, Idol and XFactor.  Those shows are all about ratings and the now.  The term artist, career and longevity do not exist in these shows.  The ones that end up making it, don’t even win.

Big Game followed in 1989 and Mane Attraction in 1991.

The label gave them a big advance for Mane Attraction.  White Lion delivered with a killer album.

The label didn’t know how to market it.

An audience still existed for White Lion music.  The Hard Rock or Glam Rock movement, became a niche market, replacing the position that Grunge held before it became the darling of the mainstream.

So what does the label do, market it against grunge.  I never stopped listening to hard rock music in the nineties.  To be honest, i hated the grunge movement, however it benefited me the most.

I know it’s a contradiction, how can something that i hate, benefit me?  Easy. Instead of spending money on new music, I started hunting out all the second hand record shops and started picking up vinyl from the seventies and eighties rock music.  I had a lot of money to spend, and spend it i did.  I was a Guitar World, Guitar School, Guitar for the Practicing Musician (which then became Guitar and then Guitar One) subscriber, so if i came across transcriptions in those magazines from the newer bands that was cool to play i would check it out.  Those magazines became my filter.

Months after the Mane Attraction release, Vito and Mike just called it quits.  After sticking it out for so long, it was over.  The band was already split, with James Lomenzo and Greg D’Angelo leaving to be replaced by Tommy Caradonna and Jim Degrasso.

Mike Tramp continued with Freak of Nature.  Vito on the other hand, went home.  He had enough.  He spent his whole life to become a master virtuoso on the guitar.

He spent his whole life perfecting his art.  It brought him fame.  When it came, he just walked away from it.  He was 30 years old.

Mike Tramp described the ending like this;

We never got a chance to say goodbye to the fans. We never got a chance to make a statement to the press. White Lion was playing the last show and Vito and I just went to the airport — I went to California and he went to New York — and we just said… We didn’t even look at each other. And it wasn’t that we were fighting. And the interesting thing… [People say] ‘Well, why shouldn’t you carry on?’ [But we got] no call from the record company, no call from the managers, no call from the merchandising company… All these people were making millions of dollars off us. It’s like we just disappeared. There was never any closing. So it’s taken me many years to really understand what the fuck happened here.”

The below was from another interview that Mike Tramp gave on why White Lion ended on the famous interview website.

Why couldn’t you have done in “White Lion” what you’re now doing as a solo artist? And, why did “White Lion” have to break-up?
A – It’s almost like I’m going to have to answer the last question first. Even though there’s two people in there writing the songs, the 80’s were a phenomenal decade. Unfortunately, most people wanted to be rock stars, instead of trying to build a longevity. That includes the manager and the record co. Nobody, after the first record succeeded, really was concerned about what the band was doing and where the band was heading. The concern was really how quickly can we get the next record out and how can we get on the next tour. As things like that happen, you start to get the negative things. The second record does not have the same numbers, as the first. We don’t have the same hit on the second one. By the time you get to the third album, the band is not the same band that started out in the basement of Brooklyn, New York. We’ve been influenced by money. We live in four different places. I live in California. Vito lives in Staten Island. And the other guys are scattered somewhere else. When we try to catch up on the third and final record, it becomes a rescue mission, instead of a true and honest record from a band. So much money is put into it, it’s bound to fail. The record co. I think has basically let go of the band, because they have signed the next two follow-up bands, to White Lion. And, at that time, there’s no hope. Mike Tramp would not be able to make the decision and write the lyrics in 1988 when everything was 200 girls backstage between every show, big tour buses and big arenas. You write those lyrics when you sit in your little house, and the phone doesn’t ring and no friends are coming around. You get into what I call my own little war room, where you create, and bring out your true feelings.

Money is where the innocence ends and the arguments start.

I believe Vito wanted to come back with a new band.  Vito said in the Eddie Trunk interview that it was hard for him to write songs for another band that wasn’t White Lion.

Other interviews I had heard, showed Vito being not too happy about the music business and how they (the people around them) where exploiting White Lion to make millions, while the band would make less than what their accountants made.

Any chance of coming back took a back seat, as he became a carer for his parents.  This time Vito, couldn’t just leave his home and tour, without knowing what he would be paid.  With age, comes a different mindset.  Priorities are different.

 

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Music

Motley Crue

I was just on their website, and I could purchase 5 tickets in brilliant position for their next show on their Canadian tour.  Now I like Motley Crue.  If it wasn’t for their look and coolness in the Eighties, I probably wouldn’t be into music as much.  Their stiff middle finger attitude was something I could relate with.

However, if you want people to give money to watch you perform, year after year, you need to release new material.  The Canadian tour is billed as their biggest tour of Canada in years, however the shows are far from selling out.

In the last 13 years, the biggest release they ever did was The Dirt and it wasn’t even music.  It was a book.  That book, gave Motley Crue a big career boost.  So when they released the Greatest Hits double album, with three new tracks, the tour was guaranteed to be a success.  And it was.

Actually the biggest press that the Crue ever got was the two home sex movies, featuring Tommy Lee and Vince Neil.

I saw Motley Crue at the Acer Arena in December 2005, my wife was pregnant with our second child at the time.  It was on the Carnival of Sins tour.  I can say that the band was on fire that night.

They then released the Saints of Los Angeles which is the best album they have released with the Vince line up, since Dr Feelgood.  They toured again and again on that album, which led them to a Las Vegas residency.  This is where the song Sex was written and recorded.

However since Saints of Los Angeles, the Crue have released just that one song, Sex.  They have toured over and over before and after Sex.

I think it’s time to bring out some more music.

I understand that Nikki Sixx has Sixx A.M and what an excellent outlet that has become for him.  I have both their albums and they are excellent, hardly any filler.  The concept themes also help.

I watched the Crue at the Allphones Arena a month ago.  I took my kids to it, so that they can see a rock n roll show on a grand scale.  If it wasn’t for my kids I wouldn’t be going.  Why?  I have seen them already, and if no new material is out, I don’t want to see the same old songs again and again and again.

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A to Z of Making It, Music

Angus Young – Guitar World – March 1986 – Part 2

ANGUS YOUNG – RAW ENERGY IS ALL YOU NEED
Guitar World March 1986
By Joe Lalaina

(All parts in Italics and Quotes are from the March 1986 issue of Guitar World)

If there’s one thing Angus really hates, it’s when people call AC/DC a heavy metal band.

“It’s a cheap tag”, he says, “and its been stamped on us mainly from a media point of view. It’s an insult to be slapped in with hundreds of other bands. We look at it this way, we’re a rock and roll band. We don’t mind being called that—at least you’ve got a bit of individuality. Calling AC/DC heavy metal is like saying The Police is a reggae band, even though they may have a bit of that style. We’re just as individual I mean, we don’t sound like Scorpions. Although we don t consider ourselves heavy metal, I’m sure a lot of kids will jump out and say ‘Yeah’, AC/DC is heavy metal. They’re so heavy they can sink through
the floor. But that comes from youth more than anything—the kids want to be a part of something. The kids who attend AC/DC concerts are, for the most part, teenage males—
fans who would rather get drunk and rowdy than just rock out and enjoy the show.”

AC/DC is still found in the heavy metal section of music shops.  Even Bon Jovi was classed as heavy metal back in the day.  Anything that had long hair and distorted guitars, the media classed it as heavy metal.  However, Angus has used the metal tag to market himself as a devil among other things.  So even though he hates the tag, he has no issue exploiting it.

“We’re not a pop band”, explains Angus, “so there’s usually more guys than girls who come to our shows. Girls are into the pretty side of things, like the Durans Durans of the world. We don’t go onstage with fancy haircuts and flashy clothes? We just go onstage and rock and roll.”

I saw AC/DC on the Ballbreaker tour at the Sydney Entertainment Center on November 13, 1996.  More than 10 years after this interview took place.  AC/DC had a third wind in their sails at that time, courtesy of the mega successful The Razors Edge album released in 1991.  The crowd had males, females and mum’s/dad’s with their children.  

The point I am trying to make, is that even though AC/DC went on stage with simple clothes, their stage show was anything but simple.  On the Ballbreaker AC/DC had the wrecking ball, the canons, the Rosie blow up doll and enough pyro to cater for a New Years Eve celebration.

Born in Scotland, in 1959. Angus and his family emigrated to Australia in 64.

“There was a lot of unemployment in Scotland at the time.” remembers Angus, the youngest of seven brothers, “so my father took everyone to Sydney [the capital of Australia] in search of work. He managed to find a job as a laborer.”

Yes, Sydney, the capital of Australia.  It looks Joe Lalaina failed geography. 

Although Angus had been messing around on a banjo in Scotland since he was five years old, it wasn’t until his early teens that he began playing guitar. ‘A kid down the road had an electric guitar,’ he explains, and I just picked up the thing and was able to play it. I don’t know why and I don’t know how.

Angus is talking himself up here.  As a guitarist, you don’t just pick up the guitar and play it.  You fiddle around, you make mistakes, you play around with the tuning and so on.  At the time I was reading this, I thought Angus was a god.  All the guitarists in the magazines started to be portrayed as such in the Eighties.

Does Angus think he would be a better player nowadays had he taken lessons when he was younger?

“Nah”, he says, “A lot of guitarists tend to throw their technique on you, which is a lot of crap, really. I’ve always thought that if you can clap your hands and stamp your feet in time anyone can play guitar. I don’t think one needs to take lessons to learn how to play the thing. You should give someone a chance to develop their own technique. If someone tells you how to play something it could easily mess up your talent and corrupt you for life. Everything you play should be done how you feel like doing it—very naturally. Playing guitar is like doing anything else—you’ve got to be able to think for yourself.”

Angus left school when he was fifteen.

That doesn’t happen today.  No one drops out of school at fifteen to be in a band with people who aren’t good-looking.  People get into music these days for all the wrong reasons.    Then they scream piracy when it all goes to hell.  The ones that get into music for the love of it, end up making it.  

MTV also made it that you needed to be beautiful to be famous.  Everything else started to come first and music was a distant second.

“Malcolm was putting together a band at the time.” recalls Angus and I joined. After a few rehearsals, I was really impressed. Malcolm said to me, “We are just gonna have a good time and play what we want to play—very tough rock and roll, no pretty stuff.”

“At first it was hard to find guys that thought like us. One guy we auditioned was a singer, but we told him. We don’t want a singer, we want a screamer. You are not the guy for us. But after a while we found some people and put together a good band.

Two things happened; AC/DC was formed, and Angus’ short-pants routine came into existence. It was my sister who suggested I play in the band with my school shorts on, he explains.

“After school I would go straight to rehearsals, I didn’t have time to go home and change. I wanted to get some solid playing in. One day my sister told me, “Hey it would be a great idea if you played in the band with your school outfit on—no one has ever done it before. It was such a great idea, I decided to do it. I was always one for something a bit original and different.

AC/DC didn’t want perfection, they wanted a certain style.  It was that style that formed a connection with listeners.  Call it pub rock, rock n roll, hard rock or heavy metal.  They didn’t form to be famous.  They formed to write rough music.  That is why they made it.  They looked genuine.  That is why they made it.  They just wanted to play rough music.  That is why they made it.  

Part 3 to come

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Music

Jeff Hanneman – South Of Heaven RIP

I saw Slayer at the Horden Pavilion in Sydney on April 17, 2007, with Mortal Sin and Mastodon opening. It was the classic album, with Dave Lombardo on drums, Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman on guitars and Tom Araya on bass and vocals.

On that night, Dave Lombardo was the star. He was tight and never missed a beat. Jeff Hanneman, just stood to Tom’s right, in the shadow, blond hair waving around, dressed in his German military gear.

At 49, Jeff is no longer with us. All from a spider bite. First it was the flesh eating disease and then the final act, he suffered liver failure during his recovery.

As a lead guitarist I didn’t rate him, but as a riff master, he was up there with James Hetfield. My favourite album was Seasons In The Abyss. The majority of the music on that album was written by Jeff Hanneman alone. The three signature songs from that album, War Ensemble, Dead Skin Mask and Seasons In The Abyss are all written by Jeff. Look at the set list that Slayer played at the 2007 gig. Jeff’s influence on thrash was large. He stayed true to the medium when Megadeth, Metallica and Anthrax tried to go more mainstream.

Disciple – from the 2001 God Hates Us All album. Music was by Jeff Hanneman.

War Ensemble – from the 1990 Season In The Abyss album. Music was by Jeff Hanneman.

Jihad – from the 2006 Christ Illusion album. Music was by Jeff Hanneman.

Die By The Sword – from the 1983 Show No Mercy album. Music was by Jeff Hanneman.

Show No Mercy – from the 1983 Show No Mercy album. Music was by Kerry King.

Captor of Sin – from the 1984 Haunting the Chapel album. Music by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King.

Cult – from the 2006 Christ Illusion album. Music was by Kerry King.

Bloodline – from the 2001 God Hates Us All album. Music was by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King.

Mandatory Suicide – from the 1988 South Of Heaven album. Music by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King.

Seasons In The Abyss – from the 1990 Season In The Abyss album. Music was by Jeff Hanneman.

Supremist – from the 2006 Christ Illusion album. Music was by Kerry King.

Eyes of The Insane – from the 2006 Christ Illusion album. Music was by Jeff Hanneman.

Post Mortem – from the 1986 Reign In Blood album. Music by Jeff Hanneman.

Silent Scream – from the 1988 South Of Heaven album. Music by Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King.

Dead Skin Mask – from the 1990 Season In The Abyss album. Music was by Jeff Hanneman.

Raining Blood – from the 1986 Reign In Blood album. Music by Jeff Hanneman.

South Of Heaven – from the 1988 South Of Heaven album. Music by Jeff Hanneman.

Angel Of Death – from the 1986 Reign In Blood album. Music by Jeff Hanneman.

Rest in peace mate, as the Angel of Death has come to take you to that place South of Heaven.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/slayer-guitarist-dies-of-liver-failure-after-battling-flesheating-disease-20130503-2iwtm.html#ixzz2SCSU2KGn

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Music

Bon Jovi is coming to Australia – December 2013

Bon Jovi fans rejoice, Bon Jovi is coming to Australia, to play all of their classic songs, plus a couple of so/so new ones.

The Because We Can – The Tour will be visiting stadiums all over Australia.

Members of the Backstage JBJ can purchase tickets now. By the way to become it member it costs;

$300 for Premium Membership for 2 years,
$160 for Signature Membership which is for 1 year,
$80 for Standard Membership which is for 1 year,
$60 for Online Membership which is for 1 year.

So if you are a member of Backstage JBJ and have paid astronomically ridiculous prices to be a member, you then get the chance to pay even more astronomical prices for one of the backstage packages before anyone else can.

Anyway members of Backstage JBJ get first dibs when it comes to buying VIP Packages today, May 2nd at 9:00AM AEST (Sydney) and pre-sale tickets without packages beginning Monday, May 13th at 9:00AM AEST (Sydney).

 

Dec 7 – Melbourne, Etihad Stadium – May 20 is the Public Sale
Dec 8 – Melbourne, Etihad Stadium – May 20 is the Public Sale
Dec 11 – Adelaide, AAMI Stadium – May 20 is the Public Sale
Dec 14 – Sydney, ANZ Stadium – May 20 is the Public Sale
Dec 17 – Brisbane, Suncorp Stadium – May 20 is the Public Sale

Sorry Western Australia people, it looks like another show has ignored you.

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Music, Piracy

Bon Jovi – The life cycle of What About Now – From 1 to 76 in six weeks.

The release of What About Now happened with a bang.  Due to record label collusion between Universal (Bon Jovi’s label) and Sony (Justin Timberlake’s and David Bowie’s parent label), the album was released the week before Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 album and because of that it went straight to Number 1, beating off David Bowie.

The second week saw the album slip to Number 7.  The third week saw it drop even more to 34 on the charts.  By the fourth week, it was down to position 50.  On the other hand, the Because We Can tour, was selling out arena’s and stadiums.

Digitally, the album performed even worse.  The iTunes chart had the album debut at 52 on the 12 March 2013, and by the March 15, 2013, it was out of the Top 100 iTunes chart. Three days.  That’s it.

Songs from the album do not even rank in the top 25 of the streaming charts.

The fans have clearly spoken.  The hard-core fans like me purchased the album so that we could have it in our collections.  It’s a collectors thing.  The fans that the band picked up during the Slippery/New Jersey era and the It’s My Life era, prefer to buy tickets to the show.

So where is the album, 6 weeks after its release.  Sitting at position 76.  Bands like Imagine Dragons and Mumford and Sons are still in the top 20 and their albums have been out since mid 2012.  Adele’s 21 (released in January 2011) is still charting and selling more than Bon Jovi’s new album (released in March 2013).

The labels will scream piracy.  However, data clearly shows, that if you release good music, it will sell, and it will be around for a long time.  Release crap music and expect it to be ignored.  Thank god, Bon Jovi delivered some classic albums in the past.

 

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A to Z of Making It, Music

Entitlement

I don’t know how my kids will be when they are adults. One thing I do know is that I don’t want them to believe that they are entitled to things. I don’t want them to believe that just because they are smart, they are entitled to the riches of the hard work of others, or to be
earning $100,000 salaries the minute they leave University.

In the last couple of weeks, I have come across entitled kids/adults
that know everything and anyone older knows nothing. These are the kids that always look sad and depressed just so that they can get a reaction from people, asking what’s wrong? These are the kids that when they go to make it in the real world they see it is not as easy as they thought and that mum and dad actually know what they are talking about. Instead of acknowledging their mistakes, they play the whole guilt trip, asking for money to pay the rent, money for a new car and so forth. These are the kids that lash out at other people, without thinking of the consequences, knowing all too well that their parents will do everything they can to fix the situation.

Look at this clip from a Machine Head fan called Frank playing one of the quickest and hardest songs Machine Head has ever written on the bass guitar, with one hand. That is real and that is the spirit of hope and we, the people got to see it, because of the internet. The same internet that the labels and their lobbyist want to control, so that they can have distribution back to the good old days, where they controlled everything. If anyone is entitled to something, it is this guy. He has worked hard to learn the song with a physical disability. He deserves the fame. He has put in the hard work. He is entitled to be recognized.

In music, people still believe that if they write a song, people will buy it and they will be rich. Great music will find an audience. It all takes time. You need to be around for a long time to see success happen. Don’t be fooled with the so called stars from The Voice, Idol
or XFactor. If you want to be rich quick, go into tech. Invent something and lawyer up. I guarantee that you will be sued by some other entitled kid, because they would have had a similar idea as you, but they couldn’t make it work, and since you made it work, they are entitled to a share of your wealth. Or you will sued by some company who purchases patents for patent infringement.

The nerds of my day are the new rock stars of today. They are the cool people these days. In the seventies music was innovative, questioning authority and the artists that created the songs were heroes. These days it’s technology.

No one is walking around with the newest album of Bon Jovi or Van Halen.
They are walking around with the newest gadget from Apple or Samsung.
Once upon a time, the obtaining of a drivers licence and the purchase of a car was the rite of passage. These days, no one really cares what they drive, as long as they have the latest tech in their arsenal.

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Music, Stupidity, Treating Fans Like Shit

One Less Reason Treat Fans Like Shit Continues on…

I thought I would do a follow-up to how One Less Reason treat their fans.  Verdict; SHIT.

Here are some recent comments taken from their Facebook page after my original post.

Ordered your CD from your website a while ago and still have yet to receive it, what does it take to get your cd? several attempts to contact you and no response yet.
I scroll thru others posts and see a lot of the same situations, you guys make great music, but if you really want to make it, you need to treat your fans better than this, you aren’t shy about taking the money.

Artists today have a lot more competition from other artists, all striving for the same thing, people’s attention.  This band One Less Reason or OLR as they like to call themselves, clearly have one thing going for them, they create music that finds a connection with people.  So these people become fans and spend money on the band.  Or course the CD is almost obsolete, and if the band doesn’t have any CD’s to ship, they should take them off their website store as selling items.  Its fraud.

I’m glad you made it this far guys without these frauds called labels, you deserve it, a great band, great music!

A happy fan.  I wonder who the frauds are when there is no label involved.  I will admit, i heard their songs and i am impressed.  However, the way they are treating their fans, is leaving a bad taste.

Blueprints for Writhing just arriveeeeeeeeeeeed!!

Another happy fan.  From the length of arriveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed, it looks like they waited a long time.  At least the band can say they are posting some out.

Do you think it’s normal to buy an album on 11/15/2012 and still waiting for receiving it ?  I live in France, 4 months passed by ! I CAN’T believe it ! Tell me what’s wrong !?

Sorry buddy, you live too far, and if OLR get back to you, they will say they shipped it, however France’s postal service loses heaps of packages and that they will re-ship again and will then ignore your emails.

Just bought 3 of your cds from Itunes! Awesome!

Smart way to deal with the band, deal with iTunes.  You know you will get what you paid for from them.

Big fan!!! Just started listening to your music last year. I found it on last.fm on xboxlive and have loved your music ever since. “A Day To Be Alone” is my favorite song. I have looked in stores for your CDs but had no luck. How can I purchase one of your CDs??

Use iTunes if you want to receive it. 

When do the pre ordered CDs ship?

According to the band, they have shipped (remember that the album came out in August last year) and the postal service has lost them all, so the band will re-ship as a good will gesture, but never do.

Hi My husband ordered all of your CD’s back on the 28 Dec 2012. I sent you a message as well with all the details of the order. I have read all the comments about the band not posting CD’s and taking the money, about the passing of a loved one, about its the USPS’s fault and to CD’s just arriving late. Whatever the reasons and explanations (good song title by the way) are, 2 months waiting is not good business. In addition my husband has sent three messages via the contact us page on your website, plus three email replies to the confirmation order email address and one post via Twitter.   

Should have used iTunes.  $50 wasted for nothing.

Final verdict, One Less Reason are still treating fans like shit.  They even fail to address the issue of the CD’s not being posted, instead focusing on lies and ignorance.  For a band that has done it all on their own, you would think they would have a better focus on band to fan relationships as that is what has sustained them these last 10 years or so.

However, it will come to a head eventually.  I am sure some promoter is just around the corner waiting to rip them off as well.

 

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music, My Stories

Classic Songs To Be Discovered – Tesla, Machine Head, Thousand Foot Krutch, Trapt, Since October, Three Doors Down, Daughtry

It looks like my playlist shuffle is stuck in the song titles that begin with B.  Here is the list of songs driving in to work today.

Breakin Free – Tesla
Be Somebody – Thousand Foot Krutch
Beautiful – Since October
Back Again – Daughtry
Believer – Three Doors Down
Black Rose – Trapt
Beautiful Mourning – Machine Head

Breakin Free is from the rock band Tesla and it is from their hardly heard 2008 album, Forever More.  It is the Brave New World from Iron Maiden, meets Tool intro that hooks me, and the spiteful lyrics resonate with me.  Even though the song deals with a relationship break up, it could mean any situation where a person that you trust and liked ends up making life a living hell.  

I’m done with swallowing my pride
And the truth in the end denied
You know it makes me sick how you’re so quick to always criticize
You never find fault in yourself
You’re always blamin’ someone else

Breakin Free is written by the band, along with classic rock producer Terry Thomas.  If anyone remembers the 1991 album from Foreigner (the one with Johnny Edwards on vocals), Terry co-wrote most of those songs as well, along with the Bad Company albums released between 1988 and 1992.  That is why the song sounds classic but modern.

Be Somebody is from Thousand Foot Krutch.  It’s from the fan funded The End is Where We Begin album, released in 2011.  

We all wanna be somebody, we just need a taste of who we are
We all wanna be somebody, we’re willing to go but not that far

Isn’t that so true.  We all want to be recognised for something.  In order to get there, we end up changing who we are.  We sell our souls for money and fame.  We betray the most important person, ourselves.  The lyrics bring it all home, we are willing to do what we need to do to be somebody, but we have boundaries as to who far we will go.

Beautiful is from Since October.  It is from their debut 2006 album Gasping For Hope, that they released as an unsigned band relying completely on Myspace to push it and sell it.  In the end it got them signed to Christian label Tooth and Nail, and so far they have released another two more albums after that.

It is the Duran Duran – Come Undone similarities that grab me.  For some reason derivative works in pop and rock work, however in metal, if they are too similar they are decried.  

You’re completely perfect but perfectly incomplete
You’re lacking only me but you acted like you didn’t want to know me

Unrequited love.  The lyrics are nothing earth shattering, and very adolescent like, and that is what works with the song.  Of course the guys in the band were in their early twenties when they wrote this song.

Back Again is from Daughtry.  It is the bonus track or b-side to the No Surprise single, that comes from the Leave This Town album released in 2009.  It is a classic rock song.  It deserved to be on the album.

We’ve all been down this road before,
I give it all, you wanted more
I’ve only got myself to blame

That is the best part of the song.  It is where Chris Daughtry really shines on the vocals.  It is a song Chris wrote with Adam Gontier from Three Days Grace, well ex Three Days Grace now and produced by Howard Benson, who is the mainstream go to producer for metal and rock music these days.

Believer is from Three Doors Down.  It is from the 2011, Time Of My Life album.  It is very different to what Three Doors Down are renowned for and it works.  The intro rocks, and the melodic lead kicks things off nicely.

I would have been in doubt
When this started out
That everything would turn out this way
First it was a phone call
Then it was another
From a mother who was ready to play

It’s written by the band, and at 2.57 it’s short and sweet, but hectic just the same.  Of course the sound is very modern like, thanks to Howard Benson again.  Sometimes, we need music to have a laugh with, and in this case, I get that from the lyrics, about a married lady who wants to play, only for her affair to be busted up by her husband.

Howard Benson’s story is interesting, going from being a keyboard player, to a producer, to the Vice President of Giant Records, to an A&R rep for Elektra and now Warners Music.  This is proof that you don’t go to 0-Riches in an instant.  It takes time and a lot of work.

Black Rose is from Trapt.  It is from the 2008 album, Only through The Pain.  It is a ballad with a killer chorus and a killer ending.  

Black rose your thorns are cutting into me for the last time
Black rose I watched your petals wilt away I couldn’t bring you back to life
You were always where the sun could never go,
I never wanted you to have to be alone
But I couldn’t find a way to help you grow,
Black Rose

It’s written by vocalist Chris Brown and songwriter, Adam Malka.  It’s produced by Garth Richardson from Chevelle/Atreyu fame.  These lyrics found a connection within me, due to my struggles dealing with my cousins fall into mental illness.  I had to cut loose, as if i stayed he would have dragged me along with him.

Beautiful Mourning is from Machine Head and it is from the best metal album of the two thousands, the mighty Blackening album released in 2007.  The song has been said to be about Rob Flynn, tripping on acid and taking a razor to his wrists.  It is the most depressing  words every put to paper.

My redemption is knowing
This will be over
My aggression,
I fear I’ve lost control
Who is this man I said?
Mirror reflects a stranger
Fist shatters the despair
Awake the pain to anger

The music was written by Robb and Phil Demmel, with lyrics by Robb.  This is real.  Life isn’t all about the highs and the laughs even though we take photographs showing that is the case.  Life has a darker side to everything.  We are fragile, we can snap at any minute.

Enjoy.

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Alternate Reality, Music

Trivium

Since they are working with David Draiman, lets get to the songs that will be appearing on the More Blacker Than Black album (that was going to be called Shark Sandwich)

Down With The Shogun
Entrance Of the Sickness
Voices Come In Waves
Stupified Martyr
A Gunshot to The Head of the Game
Perditions Prayer
Liberate As The World Burns
Remember The Calamity
Believe (As Chaos Reigns)
Ten Thousand Fists Anthem
Stricken In The Floods
Indestructible Hell
Into The Mouth of The Asylum
Tread Down From The Sky
Forsake All These Yesterdays

Ooo ooo aah aahh.

The lead single “Hellhole” was too good to be on the album and it will be released as a stand alone album of one song.
🙂

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