They get a lump of coal for Christmas - for making terrible music

I usually stick to positive reviews, but a couple of things is going to make this post different.  First, I thought about composing a worst singers list while watching some live footage of KISS in concert.  Second, I was scrolling through some new music on iTunes and was disappointed in some recent releases.  So here I will do a bit of trash talk, but I'm not going to go into a tremendous amount of detail, I just had to get it off my chest.  Look them up if you dare - but I warned you.  Feel free to comment if you disagree or, even better, if you have someone to add to the list.

Top 10 Worst singers:
1. Yoko Ono - sounds like a dying cat in every performance I've seen her do.

2. Lil Wayne - I can't stand his voice and honestly don't know how he's sold so many records.

3. Ashlee Simpson - Forget the SNL lip sync debacle.  Watch what happens when she tries to sing at the Orange Bowl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bY2cN3BgPsU

4. Bjork - I'm willing to look past the experimental music, but she can't even carry a tune. 

5. Fred Durst - Limp Bizkit has a few good songs, but Durst cannot sing.

6. Kanye West - all his stuff needs to be autotuned and it still doesn't help make him listenable.

7. Paul Stanley - he doesn't have great pitch, great range, or great emotion in his voice.  Some moments are definitely cringeworthy.

8. will.i.am - very talented producer, but his singing voice is not great.

9. Chris Martin - his voice just isn't interesting and most of their music is boring as well.

10. Vince Neil - similar lack of skill to Paul Stanley.  I saw Mötley Crüe live and Vince is by far the least talented in the band.

11. Anthony Kedis - can be good at times and other times it is so off key, misprounounced, mumbling or just irritating.

New music that is NOT worth your time:
Bruno Mars - 24K Magic - More like, let me try to rip off everyone from James Brown to Bobby Brown and sound like crap with lame lyrics and way too much synthesizer.

Killers - Don't Waste Your Wishes - More like, Don't Waste Your Dollars on this lame Christmas album where there is no holiday spirit to be found.

Highly Suspect - The Boy Who Died Wolf - Sounds like it might be good and then nope.

Sixx AM - Prayers for the Blessed - I pray they go away.

From Ashes to New - Day One - I think they named this album after how long they spent on it.  Maybe if they slept on it they would wake up in the morning and realize that it sucks.

Metallica - Hardwired... to Self-Destruct - Really?  Eight years in the making and you put out what sounds like the Black Album part II.  Some people are calling this a return to their thrash roots, but from the samples I've heard that couldn't be farther from the truth.  It sounds like nothing we haven't heard before.  I wouldn't spend my money on it.

I Prevail - Lifelines

If you like post-hardcore, post nu-metal hard rock I recommend you check out I Prevail out of Southfield, Michigan.  I just picked up their brand new album Lifelines and I am lovin' it.  Now, I don't claim that they are as original as Nonpoint or as creative as Issues or Linkin Park, but they are a really solid band with dynamic songs.  Great lead singing by Brian Burkheiser is backed by a strong rhythm section and filled out with some electronic effects and multiple backing vocalists including guitarist Dylan Bowman and unclean vocals by Eric Vanlerberghe.

The disc has a good mix of styles and themes at times reminding me of everything from Three Days Grace to FFDP to Hawthorne Heights.  There's fun, upbeat songs (Stuck in Your Head, One More Time) and angrier, more aggressive songs (Come and Get It, Already Dead).  The latter has the brilliant lyric, "If I could bring you back to life, I'd kill you again."

This band gained popularity after covering Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" in December 2014 to help promote their EP Heart vs. Mind.  It has some good songs including the title track and "Crossroads."  In my opinion, their debut full length, Lifelines, establishes I Prevail as a legitimate player in today's hard rock scene and hopefully as a band that will do as their name implies.

Make America Rock Again

Despite radio playing it less and despite poor album sales and despite country and acoustic music gaining attention, the rock will not die.  Old bands like Ratt, Saxon, and ZZ Top are still rocking.  New bands like Crobot, Coldrain, and I Prevail are flying the flag for new rock.  This post will review the latest album by Alter Bridge entitled The Last Hero which just came out yesterday. 

First of all, I am a huge fan of guitarist Mark Tremonti's three solo albums.  Singer Myles Kennedy has been sharpening his chops with Slash since 2010 and he is a damn good guitarist in his own right.  Both of these guys are incredibly talented and prolific.  No, that's not saying it with enough emphasis.  Tremonti is a guitar god and Myles is a beast!  With bands like Shinedown and 3 Doors Down getting softer as singers age and members change, I think Alter Bridge is the best American hard rock band going right now.  In case you've been living under a rock (no pun intended), Alter Bridge formed in 2004 and their debut album One Day Remains was certified gold mainly due to the single "Open Your Eyes."  Second album Blackbird saw single "Rise Today" reach third on the US Main and US Rock charts.  Albums AB III and Fortress were darker and harder rocking which made me really take notice and become a much bigger fan.  When I saw them open for Breaking Benjamin and Disturbed on July 31, 2016 they only played for about half an hour and I wished they had gotten more time because they sounded amazing.

The Last Hero builds off of their previous works and also showcases a variety of styles.  Tremonti "think[s] it’s a good mixture between Fortress and Blackbird; it covers all bases."
1. Show Me a Leader - The title says it all as the boys in AB beg for some real leaders to step up with this rockin' single.
2. The Writing on the Wall - This song is even faster and harder rocking and the style that I love from this band.  There is no let up in this one as it drives for three minutes until a ripping solo and one more chorus brings it home.
3. The Other Side - A darker song about a man with a selfish pride that takes him to hell.  This must be about Trump.
4. My Champion - This song teases with a guitar effect that sounds more like REO Speedwagon or Bon Jovi and then gives way to a modern rock masterpiece as anthemic as I've heard from the dynamic duo of Myles and Tremonti.
5. Poison in Your Veins - Some fretboard gymnastics that comes off way too easy.
6. Cradle to the Grave - One of the slowest songs on the album, but it has some fast moments too.  This song is about the brevity of life and the constant nature of time.  These are the kinds of songs that make you reevaluate your life and want to make the most of it.
7. Losing Patience - A straight up rock song about feeling frustrated.
8. This Side of Fate - A dynamic song that starts mellow and then builds.  It seems to be a call for inner strength and making the tough decisions in life.
9. You Will Be Remembered - It's a mellow song with impassioned lyrics and a huge sing-a-long chorus.  If you think about a mentor or military hero who has passed while listening, you could easily shed a tear.
10. Crows on a Wire - This one jolts you back into a headbanging mood with some grunge-metal riffs.  Then Myles' voice soars and Scott Phillips pounds the skins.
11. Twilight - straight up rock
12. Island of Fools - Heavy drumming and up-tempo.
13. The Last Hero - This song deals with the disillusionment with current leaders and the desire of not wanting to be let down.  "Don't let us fall again," the band implores.  "Tell me where are the heroes?"
14. (Bonus Track) Last of Our Kind - A great culmination to this album as there are some melodic moments and some chugging riffs and bass lines.

Welcome to Fat City

Their debut album Something Supernatural in 2014 ranked in the top 5 albums of the year for me.  Their sophomore effort Fat City may not make my top 10 of the year, but it is far from a sophomore slump.  Crobot describes their music as "dirty groove rock" and they have opened for Chevelle, Clutch, and Black Label Society.  The title track opens the album and definitely has those dirrty grooves.  Lead singer Brandon Yeagley has an incredible range and can really wail.  He's got a voice that can both compliment and juxtapose the bluesy grooves of the rhythm section.

Not For Sale is a rockin' track that obviously is about not compromising your integrity.  "My soul is not for sale," Brandon croons.  Hold on For Dear Life is haunting and foreboding.  Right Between the Eyes has a chugging rhythm and great intensity, making it one of the best songs on the album.  Crobot still has a unique throwback kind of sound, however, they don't quite match the dyanmic range and interesting theme on the first record so it likely will be a record that I don't listen to start to finish every time I play it.  There isn't that mystique and flair that the debut had.  Of course, they set the bar so high with Something Supernatural that I knew it would be hard to duplicate.  An awesome aspect to this record is that it builds in song quality.  Closing track Plague of the Mammoths encompasses what is special about this band.  They sound old and new at the same time.  They rock and groove.  They embrace the supernatural and emote the spiritual.  They draw you in with their riffs and enchant you with their soaring vocals.  Do yourself a favor and check them out in concert or on record.  They are one of the best rock bands out today.

PowerPop attempts a comeback

So a few pop-punk bands that were life for a lot of people 16 years ago are trying to make a comeback.  Here's my take.  First, times have changed, the band members are older and NO, they're not gonna sound exactly the same.  If you complain that they don't, you're probably just sour that you can't relive your teen years with the same soundtrack.  Second, I don't think they're doing it "for the money." These guys are artists and they are expressing their creativity.  With so many ways for music to be pirated, they might be releasing new music to sell some tickets to concerts and some new t-shirts, but they certainly aren't going to make a killing like they used to.  I believe they are genuinely into their new material.

Blink 182 is missing Tom DeLonge who apparently is half out of his mind with his UFO-chasing self.  He is replaced in the band by guitarist and vocalist Matt Skiba, formerly of Alkaline Trio.  Matt is certainly a talented guy and a great fit for Blink 182.  He has a great voice and is a better musician.  People that are saying the new Blink is like +44 aren't doing the new tunes justice.  +44 was by far the worst of the Blink side projects.  The problem becomes the fact that Matt's voice is too similar to Mark Hoppus that you don't get the variety that you used to, and you certainly don't get the nasally California style whine that Tom sang with.  The album California came out on July 11 and contains 16 tracks, although two are clips of under 30 seconds and two are songs less than two minutes long.  The middle of the disc I think is where the new version of Blink is best exemplified.

No Future has a good blend of the two vocalists, an upbeat tempo and a "na na na" sing along chorus. A slower song, Home is Such A Lonely Place, follows.  It has a beautiful melody and acoustic guitar. The drums pick up mid-way through to add some diversity of sound and intensity of emotion.  It's not the crybaby emo type of song that they may have done in the past, but a more mature sad song if that makes sense.  Kings of the Weekend is a rocker, but it ironically says "Thank God for punk rock bands" when this album is definitely devoid of their older punk sound.  Rabbit Hole and The Only Thing That Matters are the closest they get to punk, and while fun songs, they aren't punk rock either. Some would say that California is over-produced, but I think its a fantastic mixing job that highlights each of the players.  What is lost is the rawness that their earlier works had.  Overall, there is a pretty interesting diversity of sounds here that will give it great repeatability.

The new Good Charlotte album is called Youth Authority.  While they may have been that once, I think they are grasping a little too hard at times long since past with that album title.  The good news is the tunes are more authentic than they produced on their last two albums.  Lead track Life Changes is reminiscent of early 2000s GC.  40 oz. Dream is kind of a lame pop song, but the lyrics are a trip down memory lane of the 80s and 90s days when MTV played music and Dre & Snoop were the kings of gangsta rap.  Life Can't Get Much Better seems better suited to the youth of today than the youth of their heyday.  It's a mix of bubblegum and emo.  Songs featuring Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens and Simon Neil of Scottish band Biffy Clyro do nothing to either further the modern appeal of Good Charlotte, nor the establishment of them as a timeless pop-punk-rock band.  I loved the debut album by Good Charlotte and saw them three times in 2001 alone.  Unfortunately, they haven't been true to their original punk ethos since and this album is not a bad attempt at a comeback, but leaves a lot to be desired to come close to what this band once was.

Sum 41 is scheduled to release their new album 13 Voices on October 7.  I was a fan of their debut full length, All Killer No Filler, circa 2001 and some of their other stuff as well, but I felt that they sometimes suffered from identity crisis.  They didn't know if they wanted to be punk, metal, pop or all three.  I got left with a bad taste in my mouth after seeing them on Warped Tour in 2001 when Deryck Whibley was trying to sell the crowd on the idea that they were metalheads, even though they barely played metal and were at a punk festival when he is making these statements.  The new single Fake My Own Death is pretty hard rock and I like it a lot.  It will be interesting to hear what the rest of the album sounds like.  I'll be seeing them at Starland in October, so look for more on whether this is a successful comeback or a flop.

Gemini Syndrome - Memento Mori and more

I don't even remember where I first learned of Gemini Syndrome.  Usually I remember the first time that I hear a song and where I stumbled upon it whether it was on the internet, on the radio, from an opening band in concert or from a video game.  I think I might have seen ads for their debut album Lux in a magazine like Revolver.  Maybe they came up on suggested artists on iTunes.  All I know is that when I first heard them I loved them.  When I recently saw them at a small club in Stanhope, NJ they cemented themselves as one of my favorite bands right now.

Gemini Syndrome @ Stanhope House 8/3/16

Lux has a lot of strong tracks such as Pleasure and Pain, Stardust, and Mourning Star.  I think that lead singer Aaron Nordstrom has a unique voice and especially a unique growl.  If you've never heard them, the first album has similarities to Disturbed and Red.  They are a Christian band with a positive message, but their music is heavy and has some rawness to it.

Memento Mori is an interesting album title.  It was previously used as an album title by fellow Christian band Flyleaf and also by a lesser known metal band from the 90s.  Memento Mori is a Latin expression which translates to "remember (we) die."  It refers to the fact that we are all mortals, but also in ancient Roman times warned those coming back from battle not to get too prideful in themselves.  In a religious context, it also deals with the concepts of heaven versus hell and the salvation of the soul in the afterlife.

Lead track to the album Memento Mori called "Anonymous" preaches that we are all important, yet we are all the same because we all live and die the same way.  It is one of the most aggressive songs about treating everyone with love and respect that I have ever heard; and that is exactly what I love about Gemini Syndrome as a band.  Second track "Remember We Die" is even more literal in discussing the fact that we all live for a limited time on this Earth.  "Remember we die, but you're still alive, so don't let go..." Aaron sings.  Embedded in the track are the messages that each of us has an obligation to and a power to contribute something to society.  It also alludes to the idea that suicide is not a viable option because "there's plenty of time to see the other side" and "until we arrive [to heaven] don't let go, just let the light shine from your soul."  If you listen to this song and it doesn't inspire you, I feel sorry for you.

Setlist 8/3/16 Gemini Syndrome @ Stanhope House

In my opinion, the tempo, lyrics, and energy of the tracks at the beginning of this album are the best parts of it.  As the album continues so does the message and the rock, but it isn't as hard rocking as Lux.  There is less grit and growl and more melody and clean singing on their sophomore effort.  Some songs have kind of an older metal sound to them.  I'm not one to normally bash things for being overproduced, but I think this album might suffer a little from sounding a little too "studio perfect" and it is missing the raw elements of their debut.  Still, I am liking it even more with each listen.  I think people need to hear this band and share with friends.  We could all benefit.

Check out the Remember We Die official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUHsY6gPCys

The Used 15th Anniversary

My first impression of Bert McCracken was seeing him on The Osbournes circa 2002 when he was dating Kelly Osbourne.  I thought it weird that he would be seeing a 14 year old, but I also thought that he could be trying to get on Ozzfest and I didn't blame him for that.  He came across as a nice guy, but looked like a dirt bag who hadn't showered in a week.  If memory serves, he even talked about the lack of hygiene touring on the road.  My opinion of the band permanently changed for the better in 2003 while watching the video for "Buried Myself Alive."  I loved the imagery of Bert being trapped in a coffin trying to find a way out with a lighter.  I loved the song.  A couple years later I saw them on the Taste of Chaos tour with My Chemical Romance, Senses Fail, and Killswitch Engage.  Each band had an amazing performance that night.  Bert stood out for appearing unstable, but also being very emotionally into his music and what he was doing on stage to connect to the audience.  He was an electric front man!

Fast forward to 2016 and I was fortunate enough to see the 15th Anniversary tour of the self titled album on April 29th and 30th.  Two nights with the same band!  I've never done that before.  The first night was the self-titled album in its entirety and the second night was their sophomore album In Love and Death in its entirety!

The self-titled came out in 2002 and is highlighted by the Taste of Ink, Buried Myself Alive, and A Box Full of Sharp Objects.  The whole album is great though and songs like Bulimic and Blue and Yellow are great sing-along songs live in concert.  The crowd wasn't quite at capacity for Starland, but they were obviously fans and were very lively and sang quite a bit.  In fact, Bert said that we were the best audience on the tour even though I'm aware he probably has said that before.  The video below might substantiate the claim as you can see everyone is plugged in.

By the finale with Pieces Mended (complete with hidden tracks Polly and Choke Me), the roof nearly came off.

The second night was probably even better.  It was a Saturday night and it was packed. 
I had heard that openers The New Regime were keeping the same set list from night to night, but they switched it up a bit.  They seemed to me to be more comfortable in front of the fuller room and they sounded tighter too.  They were also very appreciative that the Used could have picked from "dozens of bands that sound just like them" and chose to take them on tour.  They thanked the Used and the audience often.

I heard a bunch of people in the crowd saying that In Love and Death is their favorite Used album, although for me it is not so easy to declare.  From Take it Away to Fake It, the place was completely nuts and Bert and the boys put everything they had into the show.  Unfortunately, I don't have personal pics or video from night two because I left my phone in the car.  I did meet a couple of cute girls that were into ill Nino as well as the Used and it was fun singing and dancing next to them.  In addition to the opening and closing tracks, I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes) and All That I've Got were definitely highlights.  They are already emotional songs, but even more so with a room full of people singing along.  I think this album has more highs and lows and varied song structures and tempos.  For example, you have Listening in the middle of the album that is really fast and angry followed by Yesterday's Feelings that is a slow and melancholy song.  Mood brightens with Lights With A Sharpened Edge and then Bert goes off the rails with Sound Effects and Overdramatics where it feels like all hell is breaking loose and it sounds like he is going to sing his lungs out.

The two night double headliner with complete albums back to back was definitely one of the most unique concert experiences and one of my favorites.