Song Of The Week: 9/29/19

Song: "Liquid Swords"

Artist: GZA

Album: "Liquid Swords"

Year: 1995

Place Of Origin: Brooklyn, New York

Years Active: 1990 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

In GZA's own words, here's what "Liquid Swords" is about, ""I'm on a different level, trying to be cinematic," he remarked. "Like that shit in 'Killah Hill' where the kid gets his leg cut to hide the dope – that shit really happened, but I'm trying to make it more visual. Liquid Swords is a concept of being lyrically sharp, flowing like liquid metal – mercury, y'know? It comes from this flick, Legend of the Liquid Sword, where people would get their head cut off but it would still be on their shoulders. No one else would notice, because the sword was so sharp. Wu-Tang is a sword style, and this here is the sharpest. I'd rather slip on the pavement than slip on my tongue."

GZA DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1991 - Words From The Genius (Cold Chillin'/Reprise/Warner Bros. Records)
1995 - Liquid Swords (Geffen/MCA Records)
1999 - Beneath The Surface (MCA Records)
2002 - Legend Of The Liquid Sword (MCA/Universal Records)
2005 - Grandmasters (Angeles Records)
2008 - Pro Tools (Babygrande Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF THE GZA:

The GZA, aka The Genius, got his start in hip hop back in 1990. His first solo release was 1991's "Words From The Genius". GZA wasn't overly happy with this album which didn't really get any push from his label, Cold Chillin' Records, at the time. GZA also performed with the RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard around this time in a group called F.O.I., which later became known as All In Together. This was really the beginnings of what would become the Wu-Tang Clan. In 1992, the RZA put together his supergroup, and most members consider GZA the spiritual head of the group. The Wu-Tang Clan exploded on the hip hop scene in the early 90's with their mega album, "Enter The 36 Chambers". It was inevitable that with 10 members in the Clan, that solo albums would be on the horizon. GZA came out with "Liquid Swords" in 1995, the third solo release by Wu-Tang members following Method Man and Ol' Dirty Bastard. "Liquid Swords" peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200 charts and became an instant hip hop classic. The album would eventually be certified platinum. This album is arguably the best solo release by any Clan member, though Raekwon's "Only Built For Cuban Linx" is up there as well. In 1999, GZA released "Beneath The Surface". This was his second album to peak at #9 on the Billboard 200 and it went on to be certified gold. In 2002, GZA wanted to get back to that grimey style of "Liquid Swords" when he released "Legends Of The Liquid Sword". In 2005, GZA hooked up with Cypress Hill DJ, Muggs, for the album "Grandmasters", proving that a New York emcee can flow over California beats. In 2008, GZA released his last solo album to date, "Pro Tools". This album featured the song "Paper Plate" which is a scathing diss track of 50 Cent. Most recently, GZA has been working on his long awaited return to hip hop with the album "Dark Matter". The lyrical themes of this album surround space, the universe and physics, the term "dropping science" applies well here. Let's face it, the Wu-Tang Clan changed the game of hip hop. They are one of the greatest rap groups of all time and all ten members shine, whether on solo material or when they get back together for Wu material. GZA's lyrics always prompted thought. Science and metaphysics are essential in his lyrics but he's not afraid to bring it back to the street if someone wants to be foolish and challenge him lyrically. The 90's were a time when no one could touch the Wu-Tang Clan. They were at the top of the hip hop world. "Liquid Swords" is arguably a top 5 hip hop album of all time. The Clan couldn't have said it any better, they form like Voltron and GZA's the head!! He may be the oldest member of the Wu, but GZA is a beast!!

TEN GZA SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Liquid Swords
2. Shadowboxin'
3. 4th Chamber
4. Paper Plate
5. I Gotcha Back
6. Cold World
7. Pencil
8. Lables
9. Legend Of The Liquid Sword
10. Breaker, Breaker

Song Of The Week: 9/22/19

Song: "Blackout"

Artist: The Falcon

Album: "Unicornography"

Year: 2006

Place Of Origin: Chicago, Illinois

Years Active: 2004 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Blackout" reminds me of getting all liquored up at a bar and getting lost in the music. This has happened to me on more than a thousand occasions!! The vocalist proceeds to go home, blasting the radio as he goes. Perhaps, he's starting to sober up because the songs he thought we're great, are actually radio rubbish! This is why I always listen to cd's or my Ipod. My music doesn't suck like the shit on the radio!!

THE FALCON DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2006 - Unicornography (Red Scare Industries)
2016 - Gather Up The Chaps (Red Scare Industries)

CURRENT STATUS OF THE FALCON:

The Falcon is a punk rock supergroup that formed back in 2004. Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, the band consists of Brendan Kelly (guitar/vocals) and Neil Hennessy (drums) from The Lawrence Arms, Dan Andriano (bass) of Alkaline Trio and Todd Mohney (guitar) of Rise Against. The band's first release was an EP, "God Don't Make No Trash-or-Up Your Ass With Broken Glass" in 2004. When it came time to record a full length album in 2006, Mohney couldn't make it to recording sessions so the band completed "Unicornography" as a three-piece. This album featured the band's very first music video for the song "The La-Z-Boy 500". Due to the band members other commitments, The Falcon wouldn't get back together for a new album for 10 years. In 2016, the guys did make time to go in the studio with a new guitarist in tow, Dave Hause of The Loved Ones. The band released their follow-up to "Unicornography" with "Gather Up The Chaps". The Falcon is a nice little side project. Anytime you can mix The Lawrence Arms with Alkaline Trio and The Loved Ones, you're bound to have a sweet band. I think Dave Hause is a great addition to an already great band. This is just a straight up punk band, served to you Chicago style! If you like the music of bands like The Lawrence Arms, Banner Pilot, The Loved Ones, Dead To Me or None More Black, then you would most likely enjoy the music of The Falcon. All the guys in this band put more of their focus on their main projects, The Lawrence Arms, Alkaline Trio and their solo ventures but it's a treat when they get back together for new music and tours.

TEN THE FALCON SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. The La-Z-Boy 500
2. Blackout
3. Hasselhoff Cheeseburger
4. Sergio's Here
5. Black Teeth
6. Unicorn Odyssey
7. When I Give The Signal, Run!
8. Huffing The Proverbial Line Off The Proverbial Dong or The Blood And The Frog
9. Sailor's Grave
10. We Are The Bald

Song Of The Week: 9/15/19

Song: "Hearts Of Stone"

Artist: Chuck Ragan

Album: "Feast Or Famine"

Year: 2007

Place Of Origin: Gainesville, Florida

Years Active: 1993 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Hearts Of Stone" appears to be a song about someone who has turned cold to those around them and really, the world in general. Almost a lost soul to be sure. The vocalist seems like he wants to encourage this person to find some kind of purpose to breathe new life into them before it's too late and the person goes from isolation to death. Would suck to die alone.

CHUCK RAGAN DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2007 - Feast Or Famine (SideOneDummy Records)
2007 - Los Feliz (SideOneDummy Records)
2008 - Bristle Ridge (w/ Austin Lucas) (Ten Four Records)
2009 - Gold Country (SideOneDummy Records)
2011 - Covering Ground (SideOneDummy Records)
2014 - Till Midnight (SideOneDummy Records)
2014 - Live At Skaters Palace (Uncle M Records)
2016 - The Flame In The Flood (Ten Four Records)
2016 - The Winter Hall Live (w/ The Camaraderie) (Ten Four Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF CHUCK RAGAN:

Chuck Ragan got his start in the music world back in 1993. Of course, he is most known for being a vocalist/guitarist for the Gainesville, Florida punk band Hot Water Music. That band has gone on to release eight studio albums, three compilations, a couple live albums and have been part of a slew of split singles and EP's. Around 1998, Chuck Ragan and fellow Hot Water Music bandmate Chris Wollard formed an acoustic side project called Rumbleseat. While this project was short-lived, The wheels were in motion for Ragan to pursue an acoustic solo career. There were rumors of a rift between Ragan and his Hot Water Music bandmates around the time of him working on his solo project. The other members of Hot Water Music actually formed a new band called The Draft. Those rumors quieted down when Ragan and Hot Water Music remained together to record new music and tour, which still is true to the current day. But, back to Ragan's solo career. His debut album was released in 2007, called "Feast Or Famine" In 2008, he collaborated with Austin Lucas for the album "Bristle Ridge". It was the very same year when Ragan put together his very first "Revival Tour". This tour was a vision Ragan had for like-minded artists to showcase their talents, both with solo performances as well as collaborations with all of the artists on the tour. These tours which went on till 2012, featured such artists as Ragan, Laura Jane Grace (Against Me!), Brian Fallon (The Gaslight Anthem), Tim Barry (Avail), Dave Hause (The Loved Ones) and Dan Andriano (Alkaline Trio) to name a few. In 2009, Ragan released "Gold Country" and in 2011, the album "Covering Ground" dropped. All of these releases featured basically Ragan with his acoustic guitar and a harmonica. For his 2014 release, "Till Midnight", Ragan set out to have a full band sound while maintaining that folksy, bluesy feel. In 2016, Ragan wrote the music and songs for the soundtrack of a video game called "The Flame In The Flood". 2016 also saw Ragan release a live album with that very same band that helped record "Till Midnight". That album was called "The Winter Hall Live" and that band had their own name now, The Camaraderie. Chuck Ragan's a beast, plain and simple. He's great in Hot Water Music, but I don't know if you fully grasp the power of his vocals until you've heard his solo stuff. This dude's voice is insane!! Think if Springsteen went all folk/punk. Ragan is a really good songwriter as well. I'd say that he's at the forefront of the whole punk rock lead singers going acoustic phase. If you like the music of Tim Barry, Brian Fallon, Dave Hause, Tony Sly or Dan Andriano In The Emergency Room, then no doubt, you'd like Chuck Ragan. He's still out there doing solo shows but a lot of his focus lately has shifted back to Hot Water Music, which definitely is a bad thing either!

TEN CHUCK RAGAN SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Meet You In The Middle
2. Symmetry
3. For Broken Ears
4. Something May Catch Fire
5. Nomad By Fate
6. Cover Me Gently
7. The Flame In The Flood
8. Hearts Of Stone
9. Bedroll Lullaby
10. Let It Rain

Song Of The Week: 9/8/19

Song: "The Boys Republic" (acoustic version)

Artist: Deftones

Album: "Music In High Places: Live In Hawaii" DVD

Year: 2002

Place Of Origin: Sacramento, California

Years Active: 1988 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"The Boys Republic" appears to be a song about armageddon or hoping for armageddon. The vocalist hopes for a blue star to shine down on Earth. A blue star is one of the hottest stars in the universe and if one got close enough to Earth, everyone and everything would burn. Not only is the vocalist sick of all those around him, he would happily accept his own deadly fate if those people were extinguished from the world as well. The original version of "The Boys Republic" can be found on the Limited Edition version of the Deftones 2000 album "White Pony". I chose an acoustic performance of the song which can be found on the band's 2002 DVD, "Music In High Places: Live In Hawaii".

DEFTONES DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1995 - Adrenaline (Maverick Records)
1997 - Around The Fur (Maverick Records)
2000 - White Pony (Maverick Records)
2003 - Deftones (Maverick Records)
2005 - B-Sides & Rarities (Maverick Records)
2006 - Saturday Night Wrist (Maverick Records)
2010 - Diamond Eyes (Reprise Records)
2011 - Covers (Reprise Records)
2012 - Koi No Yokan (Reprise Records)
2016 - Gore (Reprise Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF DEFTONES:

The Deftones formed as a band as far back as 1988 when all the guys were in high school. After years of making demos, playing shows locally and working hard to get their name out there, they were finally rewarded and signed to Maverick Records. In 1995, the band released it's debut album, "Adrenaline". This album was basically recorded live in the studio. It definitely set the tone right out of the gate that the Deftones were a band that meant business. This album achieved platinum status by 2008. The follow up album, "Around The Fur", started to see a band that was more comfortable and experimental in the studio. This album peaked at #29 on the Billboard 200 charts, thanks in part to the hit singles "My Own Summer" and "Be Quiet And Drive", and would also achieve platinum status. 2000 saw the band drop it's most successful album, the also certified platinum "White Pony". This album debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling over 1.3 million units in the U.S. alone. The band also won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance for the song "Elite". Success continued for the Deftones with album number four, "Deftones". Debuting at #2 on the Billboard 200, this album would also spend nine weeks in Billboard's Top 100. Though the 2006 album, "Saturday Night Wrist", would debut at #10 on the Billboard 200, record sales would eventually fall well below the band's previous albums. This could be due to the changing atmosphere in which music was getting out to the masses. More and more people were getting their music through free streams or other avenues over the internet so record sales in general began diminishing at this point for most bands, including the Deftones. Tensions were also creeping to the surface between band members at this time because of personal issues and musical directions. The band was, however, working on an album slated to be called "Eros" but in 2008, bassist Chi Cheng got into a serious car accident which basically left him in a minimally conscious state. The band had to push forward with new bassist, Sergio Vega, due to Cheng's condition. At this point, the band left Maverick and joined the Reprise label. Not a far leap as both Maverick and Reprise are subsidiaries of Warner Bros. 2010 saw the release of "Diamond Eyes", featuring the singles "Rocket Skates" and "Diamond Eyes", the latter doing well on rock radio. In 2012, the band released their seventh full length studio album, "Koi No Yokan". Some four months after the release of that album, Chi Cheng passed away from cardiac arrest. Vocalist Chino Moreno has stated that the never released album "Eros", the last album Cheng played on with the Deftones, will most definitely see the light at some point in the future. On the one year anniversary of Cheng's passing, Deftones released the song "Smile" which was recorded during the "Eros" sessions. The band's most recent release was 2016's "Gore" which featured the singles "Prayers/Triangles" and "Phantom Bride", the latter of which features a guitar solo from Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains. Word is that the band is currently working on new music which could see the light of day in 2019. Deftones can be labeled many things. Some call them nu-metal. Some call them post-grunge or post-hardcore. Some even call them art rock or experimental rock. They have often been called "the Radiohead of metal" because of their experimental nature when it comes to their music. I know this, there were a lot of bands that tried carrying the torch from the Seattle grunge bands in the mid to late 90's and most of them failed and were really nothing more than watered down carbon copies of those Seattle bands. The Deftones were not one of those carbon copies. This band could stand on their own and had no problem standing side by side along the likes of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. For some reason, popular rock music started being won over by bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit and I always thought to myself, are these people stupid?!! Are they not listening to the Deftones?!! The Deftones should have been one of those bands that carried that rock torch into the 2000's and steamrolled. Don't get me wrong, they were successful, especially those first four albums, but they never seemed to get the credit I always believed they should have as one of the best rock bands on the planet. That being said, if you dig bands like Taproot, A Perfect Circle, Chevelle, Drowning Pool or Alice In Chains, then you would most likely enjoy the Deftones. Sick band!!

TEN DEFTONES SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Digital Bath
2. Minerva
3. 7 Words
4. Tempest
5. Diamond Eyes
6. Change (In The House Of Flies)
7. My Own Summer (Shove It)
8. Prayers/Triagles
9. Hole In The Earth
10. No Ordinary Love (Sade cover)