Song Of The Week: 12/1/19

Song: "Eulogies And Epitaphs"

Artist: I Am Ghost

Album: "We Are Always Searching" EP

Year: 2005

Place Of Origin: Long Beach, California

Years Active: 2004 - 2010



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Eulogies And Epitaphs" appears to be a song about a relationship that has soured, at least the vocalist's lover has soured to him moreso than him to her. Of course, with a goth punk vibe, you almost sense the story is being told through a scene from a vampire movie! When you dig a little deeper, it's really just a break up song or better yet, a song about a broken relationship.

I AM GHOST DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2006 - Lovers' Requiem (Epitaph Records)
2008 - Those We Leave Behind (Epitaph Records)
2009 - Live In Orange County (self-released)

CURRENT STATUS OF I AM GHOST:

I Am Ghost formed as a band back in 2004, hailing from Orange County, California. The band's debut EP, "We Are Always Searching", caught the ear of famed punk label Epitaph Records who quickly signed I Am Ghost to a record deal. "We Are Always Searching" would be remastered for a re-release through Epitaph. The band's full length debut album would be 2006's "Lovers' Requiem". I Am Ghost was quickly moving up the ladder of goth/punk bands with this release. Unfortunately, shortly after this album, Kerith Telestai, who played violin and contributed to background vocals, and her husband Brian, who played bass and contributed keyboards and piano for the band, both decided to leave the band for both health reasons and musical conflicts as to the direction of the band. The band tried to soldier on with replacements and in 2008, they released "Those We Leave Behind". This was seen as a more aggressive album but lacking some of the musical depth of their previous release. In 2009, the band self-released the live album, "Live In Orange County". In 2010, lead vocalist Steve Juliano announced that the band had broken up. I Am Ghost is a goth punk band. I think that early on, the dynamic of Juliano's vocals backed by Kerith Telestai's background gave the band something more than the average goth punk outfit. Her violin playing also added to the music's mystique. When the Telestai's departed, there seemed to be something missing with this band. In 2016, the band had a very brief reunion but it wasn't to be. All of the members are focused on other things, some involving music, some not. Most notably, singer Steve Juliano formed the new band Requiem For The Dead, later renamed Requiem. This band is really a continuation of I Am Ghost, even adding a female backing vocalist to their sound. If you like the music of bands like From First To Last, Senses Fail, Aiden, Escape The Fate or Hawthorne Heights then you would most likely enjoy the music of I Am Ghost.

TEN I AM GHOST SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Pretty People Never Lie, Vampire Really Never Die
2. Our Friend Lazarus Sleeps
3. Saddest Story Never Told
4. Civil War And Isolation Thirst
5. Killers Like Candy
6. So, I Guess This Is Goodbye
7. The Ship Of Pills And Needed Things
8. They Always Come Back
9. The Denouncement
10. Smile Of A Jesus Freak

Song Of The Week: 11/24/19

Song: "No Surrender" (Bruce Springsteen cover)

Artist: Bombshell Rocks

Album: "Madhouse" 7" single

Year: 2000

Place Of Origin: Vasteras, Sweden

Years Active: 1995 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"No Surrender" appears to be a song about the impact of rock and roll music and the inspiration it had on some young musicians from Jersey. It recalls the fire these friends had to make music and an "us against the world" mentality. Even though these friends are growing older, that fire still burns inside of them. Of course, this is a Bruce Springsteen cover performed by the Swedish street punk band Bombshell Rocks. The original Springsteen version of the song can be found on his 1984 album "Born In The U.S.A.".

BOMBSHELL ROCKS DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1998 - Street Art Gallery (Sidekicks Records)
2000 - Cityrats & Alleycats (Burning Heart Records)
2002 - From Here And On (Burning Heart Records)
2004 - The Conclusion (Combat Rock Industry)
2014 - Generation Tranquilized (Burning Heart Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF BOMBSHELL ROCKS:

Bombshell Rocks, a street punk band from Sweden, got it's start back in 1995. There first released recording was the 1996 EP, "Who's The Real Bastard". In 1998, the band released their debut full length studio album, "Street Art Gallery". It was at this time that Sweden's biggest punk rock label, Burning Heart Records, took notice of this Rancid-esque band and quickly signed them to a contract. Burning Heart is actually a subsidiary of Epitaph Records. The band's first release with Burning Heart would be 2000's "Cityrats & Alleycats". After their third album, "From Here And On", lead vocalist Marten Cedergran decided to leave the band to focus his time as a tattoo artist. Guitarists Christian Maatta and Richard Andersson decided to take on the vocals on their next album, 2004's "The Conclusion". After eight years of sparse activity, Marten Cedergran rejoined the band as lead singer in 2012. The reunited line-up played their first show in a decade at the Millencolin 20 Year festival. Millencolin, one of Sweden's most famous bands, always seemed to take Bombshell Rocks under their wings. Very early on, Bombshell Rocks opened up for Millencolin and they also played several festivals together. In fact, Millencolin's Mathias Farm produced several Bombshell Rocks albums. 2014 saw the band get back on the grind with the release of their fifth studio effort, "Generation Tranquilized". The band's most recent release was the 2015 7" single, "This Time Around". Bombshell Rocks is often considered the Swedish version of Rancid. This is mostly because of their street punk vibe and their gritty sound. The band never really broke too big in the States. It helped that they were on a subsidiary of Epitaph Records so most people probably learned of them by getting the Punk-o-Rama compilations back in the day. I know that's how I discovered them. Glad I did! They're a pretty damn good punk band! If you dig bands like Rancid, Swingin' Utters, The Briggs, Street Dogs or Get Dead, then you would most likely enjoy the music of Bombshell Rocks.

TEN BOMBSHELL ROCKS SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Bloodbrothers
2. On My Way
3. This Time Around
4. 1.80 Down
5. Without Destination
6. My Own War
7. Tonight I'm Burning
8. Madhouse
9. Ten Years
10. Unstoppable

Song Of The Week: 11/17/19

Song: "Moment Of The Day"

Artist: Thousand Foot Krutch

Album: "Set It Off" (remastered version)

Year: 2004

Place Of Origin: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Years Active: 1995 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Moment Of The Day" appears to be a song about not letting things in life bring you down in the present because tomorrow is another day. It's really about striving to be better tomorrow no matter what it bringing you down or holding you back today. This song originally appeared on the self-released Thousand Foot Krutch album "That's What People Do". That album is hard to find for fans so thankfully, TFK put many of those songs on the 2004 remastered version of "Set It Off". "Moment Of The Day" can be found on that remastered album.

THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1998 - That's What People Do (self-released)
2000 - Set It Off (DJD Entertainment Group)
2003 - Phenomenon (Tooth & Nail Records)
2005 - The Art Of Breaking (Tooth & Nail Records)
2007 - The Flame In All Of Us (Tooth & Nail Records)
2009 - Welcome To The Masquerade (Tooth & Nail Records)
2011 - Live At The Masquerade (Tooth & Nail Records)
2012 - The End Is Where We Begin (self-released)
2014 - Oxygen:Inhale (TFKMusic)
2016 - Exhale (TFKMusic)
2017 - Untraveled Roads (The Fuel Music)

CURRENT STATUS OF THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH:

Thousand Foot Krutch was formed as a band back in 1995. This Ontario, Canada project is really the vision of frontman and songwriter Trevor McNevan. Originally, the project was called Oddball, but eventually morphed into Thousand Foot Krutch. In 1998, the band self-released the album "That's What People Do". In 2000, TFK dropped what is for the most part considered their "real" debut album, "Set It Off". It was clear early on that TFK's sound was that of a rock/rap type band. In 2003, however, Thousand Foot Krutch signed a deal with Tooth & Nail records, a deal that would span the better part of eight years together. Their sound also shifted to a more nu-metal sound with their album "Phenomenon". This album sold over 200,000 units making it one of Tooth & Nail's best selling albums to date. 2005 saw the band release "The Art Of Breaking". The hit single "Move" would reach #16 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart. In 2007, TFK dropped "The Flame In All Of Us". By this time, TFK had basically morphed into a full on mainstream rock outfit. 2009 saw the release of "Welcome To The Masquerade". This album would peak at #35 on the Billboard 200 charts thanks in part to the hit single "Fire It Up". The band would release their very first live album in 2011, "Live At The Masquerade". This album would end their long time deal with Tooth & Nail Records. In 2012, the band self-released "The End Is Where We Begin". This album reached #1 in the band's native Canada and peaked at #5 on Itunes. In 2014 and 2016 respectively, the band dropped what could be considered "sister" albums, "Oxygen:Inhale" and "Exhale". The latter peaked at #34 on the Billboard 200 charts. Both of those albums were released on the band's own label TFKMusic. Most recently, TFK released their second live album, "Untraveled Roads" in 2017. Thousand Foot Krutch, thankfully, shed the whole rock/rap thing very early on in their career to become a solid melodic, mainstream rock outfit. The band has ties to being considered a "Christian" rock band as their faith is prominent in some of their songs plus their relationship with Christian punk label Tooth & Nail. Faith is a big part of who they are so of course, it's going to run in some of their songs but by no means, is their music saturated by it. A lot of their songs are anthemic, which is why you often hear some of their music at various sporting events. Some of their songs tend to "fire you up"!! No pun intended! TFK has been putting out music pretty much every other year throughout their career so I would assume they have something perculating on the new music front. If you enjoy bands like Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, 12 Stones, 3 Doors Down or Trapt, then you would most likely enjoy the music of Thousand Foot Krutch. Just move past the early rock/rap thing. That type of music should have just begun and ended with Rage Against The Machine!

TEN THOUSAND FOOT KRUTCH SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Fire It Up
2. Move
3. Falls Apart
4. Untraveled Road
5. Shook
6. Phenomenon
7. War Of Change
8. Lifeline
9. Complicate You
10. Puppet

Song Of The Week: 11/10/19

Song: "Mad Hatter"

Artist: Avenged Sevenfold

Album: "Black Reign" EP

Year: 2018

Place Of Origin: Huntington Beach, California

Years Active: 1999 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Mad Hatter" was written by the band Avenged Sevenfold for the video game "Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4". Here's what AV7's vocalist M. Shadows had to say about the song. "Watching the initial trailers (of Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4) and looking at production sketches reminded me of the 'S-Town' podcast and its main protagonist, John B. McLemore, Shadows also comments specifically on the lyrics: "I decided that the lyrics would shadow McLemore's life. The result is a thick-grooved song that's dynamic and has a weightiness to it."

AVENGED SEVENFOLD DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2001 - Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (Good Life Records)
2003 - Waking The Fallen (Hopeless Records)
2005 - City Of Evil (Warner Bros.)
2007 - Avenged Sevenfold (Warner Bros.)
2008 - Live In The LBC & Diamonds In The Rough (Warner Bros.)
2010 - Nightmare (Warner Bros.)
2013 - Hail To The King (Warner Bros.)
2016 - The Stage (Capitol Records)
2017 - Live At The Grammy Museum (Capitol Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF AVENGED SEVENFOLD:

Huntington Beach, California's Avenged Sevenfold formed as a band back in 1999. Originally, the band was very much part of the metalcore scene, releasing a few EP's before signing with Good Life Records for their debut album, 2001's "Sounding The Seventh Trumpet". After their debut, the band inked a deal with Hopeless Records for their second album, "Waking The Fallen". This album had more of a mix of screaming vocals and clean vocals. Vocalist M. Shadows began working with a vocal coach around this time and it was decided that this would be their last album to feature screaming vocals. In 2005, Avenged Sevenfold signed a major label deal with Warner Bros. and released "City Of Evil" in 2005. This album peaked at #30 on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 30,000 copies in the first week of it's release. The single "Bat Country" reached #2 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock charts and by 2009, the album was certified platinum. Yes, Avenged Sevenfold was officially on the musical map! Their next album, "Avenged Sevenfold", would peak at #4 on the Billboard 200 and won the Kerrang! award for Album Of The Year. While the band seemed to be riding the high of success, tragedy stopped them in their tracks as on December 28, 2009, the band's drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan, was found dead at his home. Undoubtedly a very emotional time for the band. There was even talk of disbanding, but, the guys soldiered on and in 2010 released "Nightmare", the band first #1 album of their career. This album sold 163,000 copies in the first week of it's release! 2013's "Hail To The King" became the band's second straight #1 album on the Billboard 200 charts. There were some conflicts between Avenged Sevenfold and their label Warner Bros. after the release of that album and when all was resolved, Avenged Sevenfold inked a deal with Capitol Records. Their first release with Capitol was 2016's "The Stage". This was the band's first venture in making a concept album. In 2017, the band released it's first ever live acoustic album, "Live At The Grammy Museum" and in 2018, AV7 dropped the EP, "Black Reign". Most recently, Avenged Sevenfold members have said that they are hard at work concentrating on their next full length album which will most likely see the light of day in 2020. Avenged Sevenfold is a hard rock/metal band at it's core, but over the years they have ventured into and out of many genres of rock music. Early on, they were metalcore. Then they shifted to more metal. They have some elements of punk rock and some of their more recent material could even be considered prog rock. Maybe that's why they are equally comfortable playing a metal festival like Ozzfest or a punk festival like Warped Tour. The band has received some crap from people who don't consider them metal enough or punk enough but that doesn't seem to affect the band as they refuse to be pigeonholed into any specific genre. Sticking to their guns has worked fine for them as they are one of the bigger acts in rock music today. If you like the music of bands like Bullet For My Valentine, Atreyu, Stone Sour, Breaking Benjamin or Godsmack, then you would most likely enjoy the music of Avenged Sevenfold. Also, kudos to them for dropping the gutteral vocals by their third album. Maybe I'm just turning into an old fart, but I'm kinda sick of the "cookie monster" bands out there. All the vocalist's tend to sound the same. I'm all for a good scream ala Chris Cornell in Soundgarden or Tim Mcllrath of Rise Against but I much prefer M. Shadows cleaner vocals compared to his screaming from their first album.

TEN AVENGED SEVENFOLD SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Dear God
2. Nightmare
3. Beast And The Harlot
4. Afterlife
5. Unholy Confessions
6. The Stage
7. Bat Country
8. Warmness Of The Soul
9. Hail To The King
10. Almost Easy

Song Of The Week: 11/3/19

Song: "Incomplete"

Artist: Bad Religion

Album: "Stranger Than Fiction"

Year: 1994

Place Of Origin: Los Angeles, California

Years Active: 1980 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Incomplete" is a song that appears to be about not having much self-confidence in one's self. The vocalist lists a bunch of self-deprecating examples as to why he doesn't feel whole as a person. It's gotta be tough going through life feeling like you don't add up or not feeling as though you are complete as a human. This song is the vocalist expressing his frustration with being incomplete.

BAD RELIGION DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1982 - How Could Hell Be Any Worse (Epitaph Records)
1983 - Into The Unknown (Epitaph Records)
1988 - Suffer (Epitaph Records)
1989 - No Control (Epitaph Records)
1990 - Against The Grain (Epitaph Records)
1992 - Generator (Epitaph Records)
1993 - Recipe For Hate (Epitaph Records)
1994 - Stranger Than Fiction (Atlantic Records)
1996 - The Gray Race (Atlantic Records)
1997 - Tested (Epitaph Records)
1998 - No Substance (Atlantic Records)
2000 - The New America (Atlantic Records)
2002 - The Process Of Belief (Epitaph Records)
2004 - The Empire Strikes First (Epitaph Records)
2007 - New Maps Of Hell (Epitaph Records)
2010 - The Dissent Of Man (Epitaph Records)
2010 - 30 Years Live (Epitaph Records)
2013 - True North (Epitaph Records)
2019 - Age Of Unreason (Epitaph Records)

CURRENT STATUS OF BAD RELIGION:

Bad Religion formed as a band back in 1980. Hailing from Los Angeles, California, the band established their roots in hardcore punk. Bandmember Brett Gurewitz had formed a record label called Epitaph which would distribute all of Bad Religion's albums except for a 6 year stretch that they spent on major label Atlantic Records. After the band's debut album, "How Could Hell Be Any Worse", the band had a major hiccup with their follow up, 1983's "Into The Unknown". The band went from hardcore to prog rock! Not a good move. Things were so bad that the band basically dissolved. Luckily for everyone who loves punk rock music, the guys decided to get back together and what came out of that was one of the most important and iconic punk rock albums of all time, 1988's "Suffer". As a musical shift in the landscape was happening up in Seattle, Bad Religon soldiered on with more great albums. "No Control" in '89. "Against The Grain" in '90. Their first album to sell over 100,000 copies. "Generator" in '92. Their first album to have a music video, "Atomic Garden". And, 1993's "Recipe For Hate" which spawned the singles "American Jesus" and "Struck A Nerve" and peaked at #14 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Now it's 1994 and there's a full on punk rock revival going on. Bands like Green Day, Offspring and Rancid are selling more records than any punk bands ever have and Bad Religion was right there on that train as well. Like many other bands, Bad Religion signed a deal with a major label, Atlantic Records, and released "Stranger Than Fiction" which would become gold certified. With things getting crazy at Epitaph because of the success of The Offspring and Rancid, Brett Gurewitz decided to depart the band to focus on his record label, leaving lead singer Greg Graffin to handle all of the songwriting duties. To close out the 90's, Bad Religion released "The Gray Race", "No Substance" and "The New America" to complete their deal with Atlantic. The band returned to Epitaph in 2002 for the release of "The Process Of Belief". This also saw the return of Gurewitz and the return of a faster, more aggressive style that harkened back to their early Epitaph days. From 2004 to 2013, Bad Religion released four more great albums. "The Empire Strikes First". "New Maps Of Hell" which reached #35 of the Billboard 200 charts. "The Dissent Of Man" which reached #6 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart. And "True North", which peaked at #18 on the Billboard 200 charts, Bad Religion's only album to hit the top 20! Most recently, Bad Religion's new album, "Age Of Unreason", was released on May 3, 2019. This marks the longest time between releases for the band. What can you say about Bad Religion? This band is iconic. Arguably, the greatest punk rock band of all time. I'd take it even further. They are one of the greatest bands of any genre of rock music. They are that damn good. Their influence spreads all over punk rock circles. Bands like NOFX, Pennywise, Rancid, Offspring, No Use For A Name and Good Riddance all hold Bad Religion in the highest regards. The whole "skate punk" style could easily be traced back to the music of Bad Religion. Lyrically, Bad Religion is not shy about shining a light on government corruption, religious hypocracy or human behavior towards each other. The band has been together for almost 40 years and they are still totally relevant and their voice is still as strong as it's ever been when speaking of the ills of society. Iconic and legendary are the two words that come to my mind right off the bat about Bad Religion but just those two words alone don't do enough justice to what Bad Religion is as a band.

TEN BAD RELIGION SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Generator
2. American Jesus
3. Sorrow
4. The Devil In Stitches
5. Punk Rock Song
6. 21st Century (Digital Boy)
7. Infected
8. Do What You Want
9. Los Angeles Is Burning
10. Fuck You