Sunday, November 27, 2016

Song Of The Week: 11/27/16







Song: "Enemy"

Artist: Drowning Pool

Album: "Full Circle"

Year: 2007

Place Of Origin: Dallas, Texas

Years Active: 1996-present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

Drowning Pool singer at the time, Ryan McCombs, said in an interview that he wrote this song directly about his former bandmates in Soil. When he departed Soil, even though their were internal conflicts within the band, he chose to say he left for personal reasons, specifically to spend more time with his family. The guys in Soil, however, began to trash McCombs in the press. "Enemy" was basically McCombs' retort to all the things the members of Soil said about him. "Enemy" is basically about taking the high road even as people are trying to bring you down.

DROWNING POOL DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2001 - Sinner (Wind Up Records)
2004 - Desensitized (Wind Up Records)
2007 - Full Circle (Eleven Seven Records)
2009 - Loudest Common Denominator (Eleven Seven Records)
2010 - Drowning Pool (Eleven Seven Records)
2013 - Resilience (Eleven Seven Records)
2016 - Hellelujah (eOne Music)

CURRENT STATUS OF DROWNING POOL:

Drowning Pool formed as a band back in 1996, hailing from Dallas, Texas. In 2001, the band released their debut album, "Sinner". Thanks in part to the lead single "Bodies" and a spot on that year's Ozzfest tour, "Sinner" was certified platinum within just six weeks from the date of it's release. It was a rush of success that the band would never attain again, but it instantly made the band headliner material. Just when things seemed to be on the up for the band, tragedy struck when lead singer Dave Williams was found dead on their tour bus. Heart disease was found as the cause of his untimely death. Trying to continue on as a band, they released "Desensitized" in 2004 with Jason Jones on vocals. Almost immediately, the chemistry between Jones and the band was not condusive to remaining together and he was gone after only one album. Enter Ryan McCombs. Formerly of the band Soil, McCombs provided vocals on 2007's "Full Circle", 2009's live album, "Loudest Common Denominator" and 2010's "Drowning Pool". McCombs was a solid replacement for Dave Williams and it seemed to really click with the band but, in 2011, he would leave Drowning Pool and return to his old band Soil. In 2012, the band settled on yet another lead singer, Jason Moreno, formerly of the band The Suicide Hook. He would provide vocals on the band's 2013 album "Resilience" and their latest album, 2016's "Hellelujah". He is currently still the band's lead vocalist, for now!! The remaining band members, guitarist C.J. Pierce, bassist Stevie Benton and drummer Mike Luce have remained the constants in Drowning Pool since day 1. It's a testament to them that Drowning Pool keeps on surviving with different lead vocalists. The band most recently embarked on the "Make America Rock Again" tour which also featured bands like Trapt, Saliva, 12 Stones, Fuel, Tantric and P.O.D. Drowning Pool's sound is kind of a mix between heavy metal, hard rock, post grunge and nu metal. The band cites Metallica, Guns N'Roses, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Pantera and Motley Crue as their major influences. Their contemporaries are bands like Soil, Godsmack, Sevendust, Disturbed and Stone Sour to name a few. To me, nothing beats the Dave Williams era, as short as it was. "Sinner" is a great, heavy album and Dave was a great vocalist. The second best era of Drowning Pool I believe was the Ryan McCombs era. McCombs vocals just fit right with the band's sound and some of their best songs, like "Shame", came about in his era. I'm not a huge fan of either Jason Jones or Jason Moreno, but I'm happy to see the band still moving forward.

TEN DROWNING POOL SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Bodies
2. 37 Stitches
3. Tear Away
4. Feel Like I Do
5. Step Up
6. Break You
7. Shame
8. By The Blood
9. Bleed With You
10. Sinner

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Song Of The Week: 11/20/16







Song: "Beach Pop"

Artist: Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts

Album: "Blaster"

Year: 2015

Place Of Origin: San Diego, California

Years Active: 2013-2015



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Beach Pop" appears to be a song about harkening back to the days of youth. It's being with that girl that's maybe your first love and talking about marriage and having kids when you're both probably too young to know how long the relationship will even last. It's about the good times spent with friends, at rock shows or at the beach. When you're young, those times seems like they are gonna last forever. As you get older, those times are gone, but the memories still bring a smile to your face. The song is really about big dreams, good times and friendships attained in youthful times.

SCOTT WEILAND AND THE WILDABOUTS DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2015 - Blaster (Softdrive Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF SCOTT WEILAND AND THE WILDABOUTS:

Scott Weiland, of course, is most famous for being the lead singer of the band Stone Temple Pilots. Exploding out of the grunge/alternative scene of the early to mid 90's, STP became one of the biggest acts of the time. Weiland also fronted the supergroup Velvet Revolver in 2002 featuring himself and former Guns'n'Roses members, most notably Slash and Duff McKagen. Weiland also released solo material in the form of two albums of new material, one covers album and a Christmas album. He also was the lead vocalist on an album for the band Art Of Anarchy, which Weiland tried to distance himself from after the album came out, saying he just wanted to be a contributor to the album but not be in the band. For all of his greatness as a lead vocalist, years of drug abuse hindered a lot of the good things he had going on for himself. His addictions caused him to leave or be kicked out of Stone Temple Pilots on 2 occasions and the same was true for Velvet Revolver. As the 20 year anniversary of STP's debut album "Core" came about in 2013, instead of doing a world tour with the Pilots, he instead rounded up a new band, The Wildabouts, and went out on the "Purple At The Core" tour while STP began working with Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington. With ongoing legal battles between Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots and the refusal of Velvet Revolver to reunite with Weiland, Scott turned his focus onto his new band The Wildabouts. In 2015, the band released their debut album "Blaster" which featured the singles "Way You Move", "White Lightning" and the T. Rex cover, "20th Century Boy". One day before the release of "Blaster" tragedy struck the band when guitarist Jeremy Brown died of drug intoxication. The tragedy didn't end there. On December 3, 2015, Scott Weiland was found unresponsive on his tour bus in Bloomington Minnesota. The addictions that haunted him for the majority of his adult life finally took their toll. Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts were similar in style to STP and Velvet Revolver obviously, Scott Weiland being so instrumental in song writing and lyrics for both of those bands. I'd say The Wildabouts are definitely glam rock with some blues rock sprinkled in where STP was more alternative/grunge/glam rock and VR was more arena rock. Weiland was obviously heavily influenced by David Bowie and it reflects in his style and stage presence. For the generation that I grew up in, which was just as the grunge/Seattle movement began, Weiland was definitely a voice of that generation. Maybe he doesn't get the same credit as Kurt Cobain or Eddie Vedder but he is right up there with those guys. A captivating frontman, excellent songwriter and a true legend in rock and roll.

TEN SCOTT WEILAND AND THE WILDABOUTS SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Way She Moves
2. White Lightning
3. 20th Century Boy (T. Rex cover)
4. The Jean Genie (David Bowie cover)
5. Modzilla
6. Circles
7. Hotel Rio
8. Blue Eyes
9. Amethyst
10. Bleed Out

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Song Of The Week: 11/13/16







Song: "Casablanca Sucked Anyways"

Artist: A Day To Remember

Album: "And Their Name Was Treason/Old Record"

Year: 2005/2008

Place Of Origin: Ocala, Florida

Years Active: 2003 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Casablanca Sucked Anyways" appears to be a song about a final breakup of a relationship. Early in the relationship, the vocalist was like the rock she leaned on in a time of need. He stuck with her as she sorted out all of her problems. Once she got through it, however, she left him. The vocalist is standing his ground at this point. He's never going to allow her back into his life after what she did and he's moving on with his life.

A DAY TO REMEMBER DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2005/2008 - And Their Name Was Treason/Old Record (Indianola Records/Victory Records)
2007 - For Those Who Have Heart (Victory Records)
2009 - Homesick (Victory Records)
2010 - What Separates Me From You (Victory Records)
2013 - Common Courtesy (ADTR Records)
2016 - Bad Vibrations (ADTR Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF A DAY TO REMEMBER:

A Day To Remember formed as a band back in 2003, hailing from Florida. The band's first recording was the 2004 self released EP, "Halos For Heroes, Dirt For The Dead". The band soon released their debut album a year later through Indianola Records called "And Their Name Was Treason". A Day To Remember then began a long relationship with Victory Records after this release. Their second album , 2007's "For Those Who Have Heart", peaked at #17 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and the follow up to that, 2009's "Homesick", would reach #21 on the Billboard 200 charts. After the release of their 2010 album, "What Separates Me From You", A Day To Remember got into a legal battle with Victory Records that would ultimately delay the release of their fifth album. Victory did release a re-recorded version of the band's debut album in 2008 under the new name, "Old Record". Eventually, A Day To Remember was allowed to release their 2013 album, "Common Courtesy", through their own label, ADTR Records. The band's most recent release is 2016's "Bad Vibrations". The band has planned a tour of Europe and Australia starting in December of 2016 and carrying through to the new year to support that album. A Day To Remember is parts pop punk, parts metalcore and parts screamo. They kind of jump around from style to style on their albums, and sometimes even in the same song. As for bands that have similar styles, I would go with bands like The Used, Silverstein, Four Year Strong, Falling In Reverse and Escape The Fate. I would say that A Day To Remember, The Used and Silverstein are at the head of this particular style, pop punk/metalcore. A Day To Remember got a boost to their popularity back in 2007 when they covered pop artist Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" with their own pop punk version. After that, their popularity began to rise and by 2009, they were a headlining act. They are an extremely active band. If they are not in the studio, they are on the road. When not headlining their own tours, they are often performing at festivals such as Warped Tours, Bamboozle Fests and Download Festivals. Not my favorite pop punk/metalcore band, but very, very solid band no doubt about it.

TEN A DAY TO REMEMBER SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Right Back At It Again
2. All I Want
3. The Downfall Of Us All
4. All Signs Point To Lauderdale
5. Paranoia
6. You Had Me At Hello
7. End Of Me
8. Bad Vibrations
9. Better Off This Way
10. If It Means A Lot To You

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Song Of The Week: 11/6/16







Song: "Hail To The Hearts"

Artist: Moovalya

Album: "Sixer" EP

Year: 2014

Place Of Origin: Phoenix, Arizona

Years Active: 2009-present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Hail To The Hearts" appears to be a modern day punk version of the song "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Some of the same themes are present, most notably, how the rich skate by with an oblivious eye to war and government lies while the less fortunate and poor are often on the front lines. It's a scathing commentary on the American dream, which again, seems to only be true for those who are more fortunate. The wealthy enact war. The wealthy profit off of war. The casualties are usually always the poor and less fortunate.

MOOVALYA DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2012 - Moovalya (Dagger Sight Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF MOOVALYA:

Moovalya formed as a band back in 2009, hailing from Arizona. While the band only has one full length studio album, 2012's self titled, they also have dropped four EP's, 2010's "First Degree", 2011's "Wasteland", 2014's "Sixer" and 2016's "Kings". Currently, the band's focus is on supporting their latest EP, "Kings". Moovalya is a melodic hardcore punk band. Social and political issues are often at the forefront of the band's lyrics. As for style, if you are a fan of bands such as Deviates, Pennywise, Strike Anywhere, Great Collapse or Only Crime, then you would most likely enjoy the sounds of Moovalya. This is a solid band no doubt. Hopefully, they have more staying power than a band like Deviates who was a stellar band that broke up way too soon. I know in this day and age, it's very hard for aspiring bands to make it because the industry is so different than how it used to be. Hopefully, Moovalya breaks the trend and is here for a while because they are a great, intense band. If you are a fan of melodic hardcore punk, go and support these guys when they play a venue near you!!

TEN MOOVALYA SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. To The Throne
2. Hail To The Hearts
3. Fuct Up
4. Flatline
5. When I Say
6. Pussycat
7. Tattoos
8. 18 Wheels
9. Time To Go
10. Kings