Song Of The Week: 4/26/20

Song: "Welcome To The Family"

Artist: Avenged Sevenfold

Album: "Nightmare"

Year: 2010

Place Of Origin: Huntington Beach, California

Years Active: 1999 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

Here's what the band had to say about "Welcome To The Family". "We have a song, “Welcome to the Family” — we realized for the first time in our lives that people go through this every day around the world. There is someone very close to them that they’re losing, every day. That song is, We know how you’re feeling. Welcome to our lives. That was a really heartfelt song that was written out, it’s a song that Jimmy actually came to us with musically, and I’m pretty sure he actually said “welcome to the family” when he demoed it out. And then we wrote the lyrics and made it what it is now." There ya go! I can't say it any better than the guys that wrote the song!!

AVENGED SEVENFOLD DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2001 - Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (Good Life Records)
* did not chart on the Billboard 200

2003 - Waking The Fallen (Hopeless Records)
* #10 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold

2005 - City Of Evil (Warner Bros. Records)
* #30 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum

2007 - Avenged Sevenfold (Warner Bros. Records)
* #4 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold

2008 - Diamonds In The Rough (Warner Bros. Records)
* #24 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum

2010 - Nightmare (Warner Bros. Records)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold

2013 - Hail To The King (Warner Bros. Records)
* #1 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold

2016 - The Stage (Capitol Records)
* #4 on the Billboard 200

2017 - Live At The Grammy Museum (Capitol Records)
* did not chart on Billboard 200

MY THOUGHTS ON AVENGED SEVENFOLD:

When Avenged Sevenfold formed as a band back in 1999, they were very much a metalcore outfit. That style would be prevalent on their first two albums and though they did have some success with their sophomore album, 2003's "Waking The Fallen", it was their third album, 2005's "City Of Evil" which really propelled Avenged Sevenfold on the musical path to stardom. This album was their first release on a major label, Warner Bros., and it was also the first album that saw their style shift from metalcore to more of a heavy metal/hard rock sound. The screaming, gutteral vocals were a thing of the past at this point and hit singles like "Bat Country" and "Beast And The Harlot" made "City Of Evil" their very first platinum selling album. This was the beginning of a major run for Avenged Sevenfold as their next four album releases charted in the top 4, while three of them have been certified gold by the RIAA. Though success has followed the band since 2003, all was not great for the band. On December 28, 2009, their longtime drummer, James "The Rev" Sullivan passed away. The tragedy nearly caused the band to break up. Thankfully, the guys soldiered on and used The Rev's memory as inspiration to continue making music. The band's most recent release was an EP in 2018 titled "Black Reign". Avenged Sevenfold is a really good band. They kinda get a little bit of shit because they have walked in heavy metal circles as well as punk rock circles. Evidence of that is that they were regulars on the punk rock Warped Tours, yet they just as easily fill the bill when they've played the metal Ozzfest. The genre jumping has sometimes led people to criticize the band for not being "metal" enough or not being "punk". I say, who gives a shit?!! I'll be honest, I'm not a really big metal guy. I am much more punk rock than metal and I actually got introduced to Avenged Sevenfold through punk rock circles. Now, to be honest, the first time I heard Avenged Sevenfold was their "Waking The Fallen" album. That metalcore sound really didn't do it for me as i'm not a big fan of that type of music. Luckily, I gave the boys another chance and "City Of Evil" got me hooked no doubt. The band's follow up album to "City Of Evil", 2007's self-titled "Avenged Sevenfold" is my favorite album by the band but really from "City Of Evil" on, all of the albums have been really good. Vocalist M. Shadows is much better now that he doesn't sound like a "Grover" vocalist. To each his own, and I do still listen to bands that do clean and dirty vocals but, I'm kinda getting sick of the gutteral screaming. I find the vocalist all sound the same when they do that. I'll take clean vocals, or vocals that are scratchy or raspy but i'm kinda done with dudes that sound like Cookie Monster!! The band also features a dual guitar attack that is reminiscent of early 80's metal acts like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Guitarists Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance often incorporate harmonizing guitar solos in Avenged Sevenfold's songs that harken back to those two legendary metal acts. All in all, for modern heavy metal/hard rock bands, Avenged Sevenfold is definitely a top tier act and the good news for fans of the band is that it appears the boys are hard at work on a brand new album which hopefully will see the light some time in 2020.

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

Bullet For My Valentine
Atreyu
Stone Sour
Breaking Benjamin
Three Days Grace

TEN AVENGED SEVENFOLD SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Dear God
2. Beast And The Harlot
3. The Stage
4. Afterlife
5. St. James
6. So Far Away
7. Carry On
8. Almost Easy
9. Unholy Confessions
10. Hail To The King

Song Of The Week: 4/19/20

Song: "Listen Up"

Artist: Noel Gallagher

Album: "The Dreams We Have As Children"

Year: 2009

Place Of Origin: Manchester, England

Years Active: 1991 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Listen Up" appears to be a song about taking a stand and not conforming to what people want you to be. It appears the vocalist is choosing a path, and that path my be the lonely one. But, if he fully believes in himself and his goals then he doesn't mind going it alone. It's standing by your ideals and not letting anyone tell you how you should live your life. The version of "Listen Up" I chose for my song of the week is an acoustic rendition that was performed by Noel Gallagher in 2007 at London's Royal Albert Hall. The original version of the song can be found as a b-side to the 1994 single "Cigarettes & Alchol" by the band Oasis.

NOEL GALLAGHER DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2009 - The Dreams We Have As Children (Big Brother Records)
* did not chart on the Billboard 200

2011 - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (Sour Mash Records)
* #28 on the Billboard 200
* certified 2X platinum

2015 - Chasing Yesterday (Sour Mash Records)
* #35 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum

2017 - Who Built The Moon (Sour Mash Records)
* #48 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold

MY THOUGHTS ON NOEL GALLAGHER:

Noel Gallagher, the Manchester, England native, is most famous for being the lead guitarist and main songwriter for the legendary British band Oasis. He agreed to join Oasis, which was his brother Liam's band, only if he could write the songs which all the guys agreed to wisely. Oasis was a juggernaut. From 1991 to 2009, the band sold more than 75 million albums worldwide! They spearheaded the Brit-pop movement of the mid-90's and early 2000's and put an updated spin on a Beatles inspired sound. But, the brothers Noel and Liam had major tension between them. Constant fighting and bickering began to take it's toll on Noel and in 2009, he decided he'd had enough and quit Oasis. He quickly began performing solo acoustic shows, which he had actually done even before leaving Oasis. Maybe he saw the writing on the wall. One of those shows performed in 2007 at London's Royal Albert Hall was recorded and released on Itunes. This acoustic performance is a masterpiece and clearly proved that Noel will be just fine as a solo artist. In 2011, Noel put a band together, calling it Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. This would allow Noel to perform with a full band again. The High Flying Birds have released three full length studio albums. While all three albums charted well in the United States, top 50 for all three, in the United Kingdom, all of these albums reached #1. Even as a solo artist, Noel Gallagher is having major success. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds most recent release was a 2020 EP titled "Blue Moon Rising". Noel Gallagher is a great pop songwriter. With Oasis, he authored several chart topping singles that featured great hooks and excellent melodies leading that band to become one of the biggest rock acts in history. Sometimes the true mark of success is when you are polarizing. Oasis was definitely polarizing. It seemed like people either loved them or hated them with not much in between. When you are at the top of the mountain, that just seems par for the course. As Oasis grew older, their style was shifting a little bit. Their songs began getting more complex and the radio friendly material wasn't as frequent. This wasn't a bad thing as Noel was still writing great songs, they just weren't as geared towards getting radio play. He continued growing as a songwriter with the High Flying Birds. Gallagher wasn't afraid to incorporate different styles of music in his songs with his new band, especially his affinity for electronic music. As a solo artist, perhaps he felt more freedom to explore different styles of music where he probably felt he couldn't do as much with Oasis. Through it all, Noel's music is heavily influenced by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Smiths, The Jam and U2. I think his solo material is very good but let's cut through the chase, I want an Oasis reunion. His brother Liam seems to want an Oasis reunion as well. Noel seems to still be holding that anger towards his brother however and an Oasis reunion doesn't seem to be in the cards for now. That being said, Noel Gallagher is a top tier songwriter and one of the bigger performers in rock music. One of the biggest when he is performing with Oasis.

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

Oasis
Beady Eye
Liam Gallagher
Paul Weller
Hurricane #1

TEN NOEL GALLAGHER SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. If I Had A Gun
2. Ballad Of The Mighty I
3. Holy Mountain
4. Don't Go Away (live Oasis cover)
5. A Simple Game Of Genius
6. AKA... What A Life
7. In The Heat Of The Moment
8. Sad Song (live Oasis cover)
9. It's A Beautiful World
10. Leave My Guitar Alone

Song Of The Week: 4/12/20

Song: "Vacant"

Artist: A Perfect Circle

Album: song was only performed live

Year: 2000 or 2001?

Place Of Origin: Los Angeles, California

Years Active: 1999 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Vacant" appears to be a song that represents a disgust with one's self and the ridiculous and self destructive things that we do. I know that my only "perfect enemy" is me. No one else knows what it would take to totally destroy me. I take this to be moral inventory of sorts. As an admittedly passive-aggressive person, I interpret this as an indictment of my own useless inner tantrum, and a call to leave that destructive part of me behind. "Vacant" is a song that was written in 1999 for a project called Tapeworm which featured Maynard James Keenan and Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor that never came to fruition. Later on, Maynard reworked the song a little bit and recorded it under the new title "Passive" for A Perfect Circle's 2004 "Emotive" album.

A PERFECT CIRCLE DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

2000 - Mer de Noms (Virgin Records)
* #4 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum

2003 - Thirteenth Step (Virgin Records)
* #2 on the Billboard 200
* certified platinum

2004 - Emotive (Virgin Records)
* #2 on the Billboard 200
* certified gold

2013 - A Perfect Circle Live: Featuring Stone And Echo (A Perfect Circle Entertainment)
* did not chart on Billboard 200

2018 - Eat The Elephant (BMG Records)
* #3 on the Billboard 200

MY THOUGHTS ON A PERFECT CIRCLE:

A Perfect Circle became a thought when Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel was living with Maynard James Keenan. He would play some instrumental demos he was working on that Maynard took a liking to and felt they should collaborate on them. So, in 1999, A Perfect Circle was formed. This band erupted on the music scene with their debut album "Mer de Noms" in 2000. Singles like "Judith", "3 Libras" and "The Hollow" propelled this album to platinum status. Suddenly, Maynard was in the driver's seat of two bands that were headline material, Tool, and now A Perfect Circle. The band's second album was even more successful than their first and the song "Weak And Powerless" became a number 1 song on hard rock charts. Though the band was hugely successful, the tugs of Tool weighed in on Maynard. The band quickly put together a covers album called "Emotive" in 2004 and then began a hiatus so Maynard could refocus on Tool and Howerdel could work on a solo project. It wouldn't be till 2010 where A Perfect Circle would get back together to perform some live concerts. Sporadically between 2010 and 2013, A Perfect Circle would play some live shows, mostly at festivals. Finally, in 2017, word spread that A Perfect Circle was in fact recording new material. A brand new album would appear in 2018 titled "Eat The Elephant", a triumphant return for APC no doubt about that! A Perfect Circle kind of defautly gets compared to Tool, obviously because of Maynard James Keenan's involvement in both bands. Tool is a much darker band with a much more metal edge about them. I find A Perfect Circle to be more melodic, more instrumental and more atmospheric in their sound. It's a more emotional band. I actually prefer A Perfect Circle's sound compared to Tool. I'm not a huge metal guy though I do like some. I just like APC's more melodic hard rock vibe. I got hooked on the band right from their debut album "Mer de Noms". I probably saw the "Judith" video on MTV and was like, whoa.. that sounds better than Tool to me. I went out and got the album and loved it. That debut is the pinnacle for A Perfect Circle to me. "Thirteenth Step" was good. I just didn't like it as much as the first album and the covers album I could really do without. Their versions of those songs didn't really impress me all that much. Their last album "Eat The Elephant" is excellent. I didn't know what to expect from the band after almost a 15 year layoff but man, they delivered the goods with that album. The thing that sucks about A Perfect Circle is that there is always that Tool cloud hanging over them. Though Maynard often says that both Tool and A Perfect Circle are even in their status, we all know Tool is his main gig and the most important thing to him. Therefore, A Perfect Circle will always take a backseat to Tool. The good news is that Maynard and Howerdel seem more optimistic that APC will be working together sooner than later. Fingers crossed on that!

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

Tool
Chevelle
Deftones
Incubus
Audioslave

TEN A PERFECT CIRCLE SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. 3 Libras
2. Judith
3. The Outsider
4. TalkTalk
5. Passive
6. The Hollow
7. Blue
8. Weak And Powerless
9. By And Down
10. The Doomed

Song Of The Week: 4/5/20

Song: "Tracers" (acoustic - featuring Emmy The Great)

Artist: Ash

Album: "A-Z Acoustic EP"

Year: 2010

Place Of Origin: Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland

Years Active: 1989 - present



WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:

"Tracers" is a song that appears to be about knowing that the girl of your dreams is out there, perhaps living a parallel life, but, when the vocalist wakes, he realizes that all it is is a dream. She may be out there, but for now, she's just in his mind. He has hope though, that some day this person will in fact physically come into his life. This is an acoustic version of "Tracers" featuring Emmy The Great on background vocals. You can hear the original full band version of the song on the "A-Z Vol. 1" compilation that came out in 2010.

ASH DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):

1994 - Trailer (Infectious Records)
* #143 on the UK Charts

1996 - 1977 (Infectious Records)
* #1 on the UK Charts
* certified platinum

1997 - Live At The Wireless (Deathstar Records)
* #85 on the UK Charts

1998 - Nu-Clear Sounds (Infectious Records)
* #7 on the UK Charts
* certified gold

2001 - Free All Angels (Infectious Records)
* #1 on the UK Charts
* certified platinum

2002 - Cosmic Debris (Infectious Records)
* #3 on the UK Charts
* certified gold

2004 - Meltdown (Infectious Records)
* #5 on the UK Charts
* certified gold

2007 - Twilight Of The Innocents (Infectious Records)
* #32 on the UK Charts

2010 - A-Z Vol. 1 (Atomic Heart Records)
* #68 on the UK Charts

2010 - A-Z Vol. 2 (Atomic Heart Records)
* #130 on the UK Charts

2015 - Kablammo! (earMUSIC)
* #41 on the UK Charts

2016 - Live On Mars: London Astoria 1997 (earMUSIC)
* did not chart on the UK Charts

2018 - Islands (Infectious Records)
* #18 on the UK Charts

MY THOUGHTS ON ASH:

ASH formed back in 1989, originally as an Iron Maiden cover band. Soon, this Norhern Ireland trio would begin writing their own songs and eventually sign on with label Infectious Records, a relationship that has continued to the present day. The band's proper debut was 1994's "Trailer", which is a culmination of some new songs and some old songs. The album featured the single "Jack Names The Planets" which began giving the band some buzz. Their breakthrough was 1996's "1977". With singles like "Goldfinger", "Girl From Mars" and the cult classic "Kung Fu", Ash began making waves on the alternative music scene. In the UK, this album soared to #1 on the charts. After the release of their third album, "Nu-Clear Sounds", Ash was on the brink on going bankrupt. "Nu-Clear Sounds" was also the first album to feature Charlotte Hatherley in the band on guitar and background vocals. Determined to get back on track, Ash released what many feel is their pinnacle album, 2001's "Free All Angels". This was yet another album to reach #1 in the UK, thanks in part to hit singles like "Shining Light" and "Burn Baby Burn". After the 2004 release of the album "Meltdown", Charlotte Hatherley decided to leave the band, making Ash a three piece once again. Surprisingly, Ash has maintained their original line-up since the beginning of the band with Tim Wheeler on guitar and vocals, Mark Hamilton on bass and Rick McMurray on drums. In 2009/2010, Ash took part in an ambitious effort of releasing a single every other week for 26 weeks. This was called the "A-Z" series. Eventually two compilations were released featuring all of these singles. Ash has most recently released the album "Islands" in 2018. Ash broke out just after the Seattle grunge scene. Their music is definitely more upbeat than grunge. It features elements of pop punk and brit pop with great hooks and sing-a-long melodies. They do have the ability of changing styles from track to track. They can put together a harsh, aggressive style song, then follow that up with a pretty, melodic radio friendly type of song. In particular, these shifts of styles show up on their "1977" album with the heavy "Darkside Lightside" and the pop heaven of "Girl From Mars". I discovered Ash through the "Angus" soundtrack in 1995. That soundtrack featured their songs "Jack Names The Planets" and "Kung Fu". Then, once I bought "1977", I was hooked. I'd say their pinnacle area for me is from 1996 to 2004. I loved when they brought Charlotte Hatherley aboard. Her background vocals just brought a special element to Ash's songs and they definitely shine on songs like "Starcrossed", "Burn Baby Burn", "Shining Light" and "Aphrodite". Even still, Ash has been consistently dropping new music every 2 to 3 years and are showing no signs of slowing down. Pretty much all of their records have charted in the United Kingdom while "Free All Angels" reached #11 on the Billboard Heatseekers charts in the U.S. That album is most likely the bands high point, selling over 3 million albums worldwide. Ash didn't explode in the U.S. as much as they did in England and their native Ireland, but they definitely left a mark on me. They combine elements of melodic punk that broke in the States with that melodic pop that was brimming in England to form a sound of their own. This is a really good band. Definitely an unheralded band in my eyes. To this day, "Goldfinger" and "Burn Baby Burn" are staples on any music playlist that I make. Top tier band for sure.

SIMILAR ARTISTS:

Weezer
Superdrag
The Vines
3 Colours Red
Oasis

TEN ASH SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:

1. Goldfinger
2. Burn Baby Burn
3. Jack Names The Planets
4. A Life Less Ordinary
5. Jesus Says
6. Teenage Kicks (The Undertones cover)
7. Tracers (acoustic - featuring Emmy The Great)
8. Starcrossed (acoustic version)
9. Cocoon
10. You Can't Have It All