Tag Archives: Album Review

Green Day 21st Century Breakdown – Epic Win

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If you’re a Green Day fan like me, you were probably a little hesitant to hear the new record “21st Century Breakdown”. I mean come on, the previous release “American Idiot” was such a monumentally awesome album – It seemed a tough act to follow. In fact, I’d almost say it was so good that I’d give the band a “get out of jail free card” for the follow-up record. Even if they had released “American Idiot 2 – Electric Boogaloo” I’d probably be ok with it.

Album Review: Well, I’ve had the new record “21st Century Breakdown” for a few days now, played it through in it’s entirety three times, and I just have to say…

Like American Idiot was, 21st Century Breakdown is different, melodic, catchy, and basically an awesome record!

I really, really dig this record more each time I play it. It’s not really a huge leap from American Idiot. In fact, I see it as sort of a sister record. One thing that stands out to me is that the songs seem very.. um.. mature for Green Day. The harmonies are awesome, the melodies are great, and I feel like the band reached out of their standard formula a little when writing it. I mean, I’m not saying the record is unlike any other Green Day album. That’s not the case. If I had never heard any of 21st Century Breakdown before, walked into a bar and heard another band covering one of the tunes, I would instantly know it was a Green Day song. But, the writing just seems a little more thought out.

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The Band Ra releases their long-awaited (studio) follow up to Duality – Black Sun.

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I have been a big fan of the band Ra since I first heard of them in the fall of 2000. Their first major release “From One” was a constant in my car stereo for at least a year. The guitar work is tight and heavy, and the riffs have those “hooks” that seem to get stuck in your head for a week. Some highlights off From One are “Do you call my name”, “Rectifier”, “Parole” and “Sky”. I highly recommend this record.

After From One came “Duality”. While not as fundamentally heavy as From One, Duality offered a more refined, produced sound that seemed to blend more into mainstream rock. Personally, I think Duality is outstanding and every song on that record is a hit. The guitars are not as “hooky” as From One, but the vocals make up for it. I find my self singing songs off Dually all the time. Tracks like “Take me away”, “I lost everything”, “Got me going”, “Undertaken” and “Tell me” have lyrics that I can relate to. It confuses me as to why this record was not an enormous hit, it’s clearly better than 80% of the crap out there. Needless to say, once again I highly recommend this record.

Now.. enter the latest “Black Sun”

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PHISH – A Live One – One of the Best live records ever!

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Any band can spend a week in the studio, recording take after take until they capture that perfect track. With today’s software, you can just about make anyone sound like a rock star – but give them a stage, a huge audience and a set of complex songs and you see just what sort of musicians they are – or more importantly, are not!

Anyone will tell you that some bands just need to be seen live to really get an honest impression of how good they really are. Personally I’ve seen a lot of bands live, and a few come to mind as being incredible on stage. Bands/performers like Billy Joel, Ra and Dave Matthews just need to be experienced in concert.

Of all the live concerts I’ve seen, Phish is clearly the best live band. It’s funny actually. You mention the name Phish to anyone that is not a fan and all they conjure up are images of Dead-heads and Phish-heads smoking grass and dancing around in a field. Granted that is clearly the case at most concerts, but you can’t judge the band by their fans. Phish is one of the most talented bands I have even known.

I’m a musician, and I became a Phish fan after another guitar player I know dragged me to a concert at “Great Woods” (now the Tweeter Center) in Mansfield Massachusetts. It was a free ticket, so I went because I had nothing else to do that night. I literally sat there, glossy eyed as Trey Anastasio tore the roof off that place for like three hours. I was in instant fan, for all the right reasons. Trey, Mike, Page and John are all masters of their own instruments.

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Kickass Hard-Rock Songs (that everyone should own)

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So I was listening to music at the office today, as I always do, when it occurred to me that my musical preference seems to be changing again. I like all styles of music, so it’s not like it’s a big deal. I mean on any given day I could listen to John Denver, and then pop on Metallica or Static-X, before ending the day on Tori Amos. Put it this way; there is probably material in my ITunes that you really like AND really hate. I dig it all.

Anyways, for like the past five months or so I seem to have been in a “mellow acoustic rock” phase. For example Jack Johnson, Howie Day, and Dave Matthews have been high on my play count. Now it looks like I’m leaning towards a little bit of a heavier style again. I’m not talking death metal or anything, just heavier rock like Seether, Ra, and Godsmack.

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