Friday, April 24, 2009

Sheena Isn't A Punk Rocker : 10 Punk Rock Songs You Haven't Heard




# Something Corporate - Punk Rock Princess


# Less Than Jake - She's Gonna Break Soon


# SR - 71 - Right Now


# Senses Fail - Calling All Cars


# The Chelsea Smiles - Nowhere Ride


# The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound


# Towers Of London - Fuck It Up


# Hawk Nelson - California


# Hedley - On My Own


# Unwritten Law - Geronimo



Thursday, April 23, 2009

Band Speak



Pop Evil

The band was formed from pieces of other Michigan bands in 2001, originally known as TenFive. The band released its first album, War of the Roses, on June 2, 2004. Pop Evil blend post-grunge with alternRock. The band released their first full length album Lipstick On The Mirror, in 2008.
Since then they've signed onto Universal Records and will Re-release Lipstick On The Mirror in 2009.

Recommended Songs - Somebody Like You, 100 in a 55, Stepping Stone ..


Endeverafter

was formed in 2004 by lead singer and guitarist Michael Grant. After the rest of the band was assembled, they released their debut EP in 2005. The signed to Epic Records in 2006. They released their debut album Kiss or Kill in 2007. Endeverafter will join a variety of other hard rock acts on the November 2009 cruise entitled "ShipRocked".

Recommended Tracks - Baby Baby Baby, Gotta Get Out, I Wanna Be Your Man ..




Jet Black Stare

Jet Black Stare come from Vancouver,Canada. Their debut album, 'In This Life', was released in July,2008. Their single off that album, "Ready to Roll", which was used as the theme for , WWE Summerslam,2008 and peaked at #29 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.

Recommended Tracks - Rearview Mirror, The River, Next To Me, In This Life ..

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

10 Awesome Songs That You Haven't Heard - Vol.2






#Jet Black Stare - Rearview Mirror


#Fireflight - Unbreakable


#Endeverafter - Gotta Get Out


#Stroke 9 - Little Black Backpack


#Hinder - Running In The Rain


#Dexter Freebish - Leaving Town


#Seven & The Sun - Walk With Me


#Submersed - Sarah & Johnny


#Senses Fail - Garden State


#Martina McBride - Independence Day


Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Stroke 9 : Nasty Little Thoughts

Stroke 9 - Nasty Little Thought
Rating - 3.5/5


Nasty Little Thoughts

Well, for one hit wonders, this was a gem of an album. 'Little Black Back Pack' itself is worth five stars, but the other songs are good as well. They sound quite a bit like Third Eye Blind. A great buy for Third Eye Blind Fans. The songs have some cool melodies and the album is very easy to listen to. I like their music and simple yet catchy hooks and melodies. Every song is great, they're fun and upbeat, slow and somber, but thought provoking and very melodic.
The highlights are "Little Black Backpack" and "Washing + Wondering". There are some real gems on here. The only problem is that the music is kind of repetitive and monotonous.
Overall a great CD : fun, catchy and simple.

Alter Bridge : Blackbird




ALTER BRIDGE - Blackbird
Rating - 4/5



Alter Bridge was formed in 2004 by former Creed members Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips, and Brian Marshall. Marshall didn't appear on Creed's final album Weathered. He left Creed in 2000 because of differences with singer Scott Stapp, but joined his former bandmates in this project. Singer Myles Kennedy, formerly of The Mayfield Four, joined the Orlando based band later. The band members originally met Kennedy when his former band The Mayfield Four toured with Creed in 1998.
The band was signed to Wind-Up Records and released said debut album One Day Remains on August 10,2004.Alter Bridge's much awaited sophmore album Blackbird was released on October 9,2007.
Alter Bridge doesn't disappoint in this new album and it seems
they've finally found their feet as a metal band instead of the post-grunge mumbo-jumbo which hindered parts of One Day Remains.The album starts with the hard hitting Ties That Bind. Ties That Bind is a fast paced rocker which leaves you wanting more and the band doesn't disappoint in the following songs.Rise Today is a power-ballad of epic proprtions.The catchy chorus gets stuck in your head after a few plays.Strong riffs and hooks are present throughout the song.The eerie title track Blackbird starts off with an acoustic intro before the distortion kicks in.The song last around 8 mins and it's bloody brilliant.


Recommended Tracks - Ties That Bind,Rise Today,Blackbird

10 Awesome Songs That You Haven't Heard - Vol.1




#Mariana's Trench - Say Anything

#Social Code - Gone Away

#State Of Shock - Money Honey


#Priestess - Run Home

#Red - Breathe Into Me


#AudioVent - Beautiful Addiction

#Damone - Out Here All Night

#Armor For Sleep - Car Underwater

#Goldspot - Friday

#The Vines - Outtathaway!


10 Power-Ballads That You Have To Listen To


#The Calling - Wherever You Will Go

#Daughtry - Over You

#Buckcherry - Sorry

#Bullet For My Valentine - Forever And Always

#Creed - Higher

#Alter Bridge - Rise Today

#Staind - It's Been Awhile

#Avenged Sevenfold - Sieze The Day

#Hoobastank - Disappear




Did You Know? 1


+ Bowling For Soup's hit song '1985' was written by Mitch Allan of SR-71

+Doughlas Robb (of Hoobastank) is the younger brother of Tom Robb, bodyguard of popular rock bands Metallica, Live, Creed and Linkin Park.

+Slash owns over 90 guitars.His main live guitar is a 1987 Gibson Les Paul Standard with 3 piece top (Factory Second.) It has a cracked neck in 2 places, but he had it repaired and continues to use it.











+ The video for Shadow Of The Day is the first Linkin Park video to not feature the whole band. Only lead singer Chester Bennington appears.

+Slash's mother worked as a fashion designer for singer David Bowie.


Faber Drive - Seven Second Surgery
Rating - 3.5/5



Seven Second Surgery cover


The Canadian Alt-Rockers sound like a cross between fellow Canadians Simple Plan and State Of Shock.The album starts off with ''24 Story Love Affair".The song's swirling guitars and catchy hook makes one wait to see what's up next."T
ongue Tied" starts off with acoustic guitars and the catchy chorus makes it a fine listen.The album continues into the third track "Second Chance" which is another excellent track.The highlight of the album however is "When I'm With You", a heartfelt power-ballad.Overall it's a fine effort from the Canadian rockers.It leaves one waiting for more.


Recommended Tracks - Tongue Tied,Second Chance,When I'm With You


Hinder : Extreme Behaviour



Hinder - Extreme Behaviour
Rating - 5/5


Extreme Behavior cover Deluxe Edition cover
Deluxe Edition cover

I have been listening to Rock N' Roll for for a long time,now and I've heard a LOT. There seem to be a lot of nay-sayers that like to compare Hinder to the likes of Nickelback and the rest and say that they have no originality. The allmusicguide has been particularly harsh. Evertime i read one of their reviews trashing a hinder album my reaction is "Dude, open your ears and LISTEN". I was especially by one critic who said Hinder are just sitting around listening to Nickelback saying "we can do that". My answer to that is, Nickelback said the same thing when they heard Motley Crue, they said the same thing when they heard etc..

The fact is Hinder has stood out amongst thousands of post-grunge bands flooding the scene is because of their superior songwriting, melodies, tight production, Austin Winkler's awesome vocals and throwback sound of 80's hair metal.
The first song on the album is "Get Stoned" which, by the way, is not about getting stoned but about a dysfunctional relationship that relies on drugs to survive. The second song "How Long" sounds
quite like Nickelback. It's one of the heavier songs on the album. When I listened to the third song, "By The Way", I was no longer certain that "How Long" would be the next single. "By The Way" is the first ballad-type song. Not really a ballad but still a ballad. "Nothing Good About Goodbye" and "Bliss" were next. The incredible thing is it just got better and better. The ballads ("Better Than Me", "Lips of an Angel") are the strongest points of the album. "Homecoming Queen" and "Shoulda" close the album. When the last notes of Shoulda faded away, my only thought was WOW! I was blown away. I can't even pick a favorite. EVERY SONG on this album is AWESOME! Not one filler.

I just have one thing to say about Hinder, they ROCK.



Hinder : Take It To The Limit

Hinder - Take It To The Limit
Rating - 5/5



Take It to the Limit cover


"Take It To The Limit" is Hinder's much anticipated follow-up album to their breakthrough 3X platinum smash Extreme Behavior. This is one of my favorite albums of all-time. The album starts of with the first single "Use Me". It's raw, it's sleazy, it's amazing. Definitely one of best songs of the album. Hinder bring back 80's hair metal with a flavour of modern rock. It's somewhat like Motley C
rue meets The Foo Fighers. Hinder are all about fun and good old fashioned rock n' roll. It doesn't matter that they aren't breaking and musical barriers here or trying out new things - their songs are just too good. The next song is "Loaded and Alone". The first time i heard this track I immiediately thought of Motley Crue. It's starts off with a killer riff and then Austin Winkler's voice just takes over. Definitely one of the standout tracks. It's great throwback to any 80's metal story about a kid with big dreams and finding out it's not what they really wanted (similar to "Shooting Star" by Bad Company).
Next up are "Last Kiss Goodbye" and "Up All Night". Both are great songs in their own right. "Last Kiss Goodbye" deals with a cheating partner. It;s softer than the first two tracks but it isn't mellow from any angle. Far from it. The 5th track "Without You" is the first powerballad. Is it as good as "Lips of an Angel"? Well no. Is it good? One of the best of the album (I know i've said this before but this album's just that good).
The title track "Take It To The Limit" features the uncomparable Mick Mars (from Motley Crue) playing guitar with the band. Mick Mars was (and still is) one of the premier rock and roll guitarists and it echoes with the new generation. At 60 years old, he's living proof that you're never too old to turn the amps up. Probably the best song of the album.
Scattered throughout the rest of the album, are catchy ballads, sing-along choruses that get stuck in your head and refuse to escape, and songs that recapture the magic of 80's hard rock and hair metal. Although it leaves you with a feeling of familiarity you realize what rock n' roll has been missing since the demise of the 80's. What's old is new again! Fans of "Extreme Behavior" might be a little disappointed with this record. While they maintain some of their signature sounds, it's the band paying tribute to their influences (Motley Crue, Def Leppard, KISS, Guns n' Roses, Aerosmith, etc.) Fans of Motley Crue, GNR, Aerosmith, Poison, Kiss, Bon Jovi etc. will love this album.
The only letdown is the cover art and the sleeve art. I mean seriously, they need to get some new clothes, and the same old 'Girls, Girls, Girls' theme is getting old. Well's here's to an even better third album. Cheers!



Hinder-band-u08.jpg