Oh dear, I've done it again!

Let's see...Halestorm is coming to town again! I'm excited about this. This time, they're headlining! This will be my 4th time seeing them live. Adelitas Way will be opening for them, which will be my 5th time for those guys. I'll get to see Since October for the first time that night, too. I think it will be a good night.

But I have bigger news. I was on the Muse website this afternoon, just browsing through the tour dates. Mostly Europe and Australia. A few in California. Then at the end of the list, was a small leg running through the U.S., with one stop in Raleigh, North Carolina. I paused. That's only about 6 hours from here. Hm...I wonder how much the tickets are. I followed some links, clicked on best available, and I froze. The ticket it drew up was floor level, general admission! I couldn't believe it! If I bought one right then, I would be on the FLOOR. At a MUSE concert! Remember my blog about seeing them in March? I said the only thing that could have made it better is if I would have been on the floor. It was pricey. But I checked my balance, saw that I had a little cushion, and I BOUGHT IT. $75 later, I have a ticket to see Muse in Raleigh, NC on October 26th. And I'll be on the freakin' FLOOR.

This week, I've been on another Muse kick. Every few months, I do this. I stop listening to everything except Muse. Finally ordered the Hullabaloo Soundtrack. Discovered tracks "Map of Your Head" and "Shine Acoustic." Absolutely incredible songs.

Oh man, I can't wait to see Muse again. This is going to be incredible. And I actually have a friend who may be going with me this time. If she gets to go, then this will be perfect. My head could quite possibly explode.

Here's "Map of Your Head."

Neutron Star Collision

Today was a good day. Well, it was average for the most part. Took my dog for a walk with my next-door neighbor (and got SOAKED), went to work, trying to make myself get in a little bit of cleaning before I go to bed...

So what perked up my day? Muse released their new single today. Usually, I'm interested when a new single is released, but not really excited about it. This one is special though. It's not on any of their studio albums. So it's 100% brand spankin' new! It's called "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)." I love it. When I first heard it, I really wasn't sure about the beginning. It's still my least favorite part of the song. But then this galloping drum beat hits (similar to the one heard in "Knights of Cydonia"), and the melody is beautiful. And then there's this guitar solo. Nothing complicated, the guitar just repeats the melody. It's all quite lovely.

The first couple of lines in the song make me giggle a little every time I hear them: "I was searching, you were on a mission/ Then our hearts combined like a neutron star collision." Come on, Matt. I know you love spacey topics, but wow. Not the most common analogy, but I think it really is growing on me. The rest of the lyrics (specifically the chorus) are a bit intense. "Our love is forever/And if we die/We die together." Is it just me or are more and more of Matt's lyrics about love? I think he's happier now. He has said that the lyrics of "Undisclosed Desires" are very personal to him and his girlfriend, and let's face it, I think every girl dreams of a guy who will say to them what Matt says in that song. It's a nice change for him (though sometimes I miss, the darker, conspiratorial lyrics of earlier albums.

"Neutron Star Collision" isn't a complete non-album single. It's the lead single from a film soundtrack...the new Twilight movie, Eclipse. If you check out the comments on youtube videos (which if you never glance through the comments when you watch a youtube video, you're missing out. They tend to be on the funny side), you'll see that a lot of Muse fans are up in arms about them appearing on all three soundtracks of the Twilight films.

It really doesn't bother me. I think it's pretty dumb to shake the foundation of your fandom for a band just because they show up on a soundtrack for a movie you don't like. That doesn't change the music or what it stands for. What a silly thing to get worked up over...

Anyway, that's all I've got for you. Here's the song, of course!

Stunted Growth, Perhaps?

I've had a thought recently, and it's been bugging me. I've always been very supportive of a band's evolution. I've always said that I don't want to hear the band that sounds the same from one album to the next, even if it means that their sound develops in a direction leading away from the sounds I usually like. If I were to hammer out a list right now of my favorite bands, they would all be bands that have a distinct sound from album to album. Except for one.

I really like Chevelle. With their use of heavier guitar riffs, interesting chord structure, melodic choruses, and occasional screaming, they come of as pretty unique (to my ears, anyway). They have found their way into my favorite bands because I'm not just hooked on one or two albums. I own and love four of them (there are five). And while I may not love every single song on each album, there are certainly several on each that I absolutely love. I've seen them live twice (with a possible third time in my future), and they are just as great in person.

So what's been bothering. I was listening to a couple of their albums back to back this weekend, and that got me to thinking. The sound across their albums is really interchangeable. Like I said, all of my favorite bands grow and change over time. If I were to hear a song I didn't know by them (if you could find one), I would be able to tell you what album-era it came from. But Chevelle...probably not. I hear a difference from their first to second album, but after that...it's like they found their sound and were satisfied with that. I mean, it's a good sound. I own and love my copies of albums 2-5. But to not grow as songwriters...

This doesn't make me lose respect for the band or love them any less. I was just a little shocked to notice that hey, whaddaya know, I really do like a band that hasn't evolved in years. It makes me wonder where they would go from here, if they did start moving in one direction or another. Would I like that new sound? Would I wish that they had stuck to the old formula? I don't know...Anyway, I just thought I would share that with you.

Here's "Well Enough Alone" from their fourth album, Vena Sera.

Shiney New Toy

Yesterday, I sat down and wrote almost an entire post, and then said screw it and deleted it all. Sometimes I really struggle with this. I'm not a writer. That, I can deal with. Hell, it's not like many people read this. But the topic I had on the docket for yesterday required a bit more translation than I could muster. I have all these thoughts in my head, but sometimes I just can't find the right words to convey what I'm thinking. So in my frustration, I scrapped it all. In case you're wondering, the blog was going to be about Green Day, how they've changed, and where I stand with them now. Blarg...

Today's topic is a little easier for my meager skills. I finally got an iPod today. I had previously used a 2GB Insignia. Let me tell ya...two gigs is not a lot, not when you're a music freak like me. It held about 320-330 songs, which is certainly not enough for my purposes. As soon as I got my shiney new (blue) 16GB iPod Nano going, I went down the list clicking on all the songs that were must haves. I have 887 songs on it, and still 10GB free! Oh, the possibilities.

One of my projects for me and Mr. iPod will be getting to know my albums a little better. Right now, when I get a new album, I pop it into the CD player in my truck and listen while I drive. For some reason, I just can't focus as much on new music when I'm sitting around my apartment. But now, I'll be able to throw an entire album on my iPod and loop it to my heart's content. There may be hope for me and my library just yet.

I know all this probably isn't exciting for anyone else, but I'm as giddy as a school girl about this. That's all I've got for today. Here's a song!

Nothing Like a New Discovery!

I've said before that there seems to be simply too much music in the world. I just can't take it all in. I wish I could say I could name every song on every album I own. I wish I could sing along to more albums. I wish I knew more than the choruses of the songs I hear on the radio. I wish I could download it straight into my brain, Matrix-style.

Every now and then, something seems to shine through all the noise, though. Something will stand out as new and unrecognizable. I love listening to my old favorites, and unveiling more music by bands I already know and love, but there is nothing quite like hearing a band for the first time and falling in love. Granted, I've only heard two songs by them, but I'm completely hooked. I've already got their album ordered and on its way. So who is this new discovery? The Temper Trap. They're an Australian alternative rock band signed to an independent label that just released their very first album last June. How did I hear about them? As I've said before, I check the Billboard rock charts. Their debut single, "Sweet Disposition," has been climbing up the Alternative Rock Chart. No radio station around here plays them, so curiousity sent me over to YouTube to check them out.

The more I listen to it, the more I love this song. They've released a second single now, "Fader." It hasn't hit the charts yet, but I love this one, too. I know I could meander through YouTube and listen to the rest of their album, but I prefer to wait until I have it physically in my hands and in my CD player. Why ruin the surprise? I'm really excited for this one to come in. I'm really hoping that I'll love the rest of the album as much as I love those two songs.

In other news, there's another concert coming to town that I really want to go to. It's Shinedown's Carnival of Madness tour. I'm not really a fan of Shinedown, but check out the line-up: Headlining is Shinedown, with the opening bands being Sevendust, Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd, and 10 Years. I'm not a Sevendust fan at all (they just headlined their own show here last week, and I didn't care at all to go), and I only like a couple songs each by Shinedown and Puddle of Mudd, but I love both Chevelle and 10 Years. I've seen them both before, but I would love to see them again. So do I go or not? A) It would be another chunk of change to go, and B) the concert is July 23rd. Should I find a teaching position, and should it be a high school teaching position, that will put it right smack in the middle of a band camp, which could pose another problem. What to do, what to do...

That's all for today. Here's "Sweet Disposition" by The Temper Trap. There are two music videos for it. This is the Australian version, for no other reason than I like its aesthetics a little better.

X Rock Weekend

I don't really listen to the radio much. When I do though, it's usually 94.3 The X here in Knox Vegas. It's the only "modern" rock station in town. I say "modern" because the word "modern" has two different meanings in rock music, and I don't think this one leans toward the main definition of modern rock. For those a little loose on their terminology, "modern rock" is interchangeable with "alternative rock." While The X plays quite a bit of alternative rock, they play just as much mainstream rock. The second meaning, and the one I think this station is more geared toward, is "modern" in the sense of contemporary, current rock (though they can't use the word contemporary, because there's another genre called contemporary. Haha, it all gets so entangled...).

Now that I have bored you to tears, let me get back on topic. About once a year, they have a weekend called "Your X Rock Weekend" where listeners can submit their own playlists for them to play on air. They encourage people to be creative and choose some sort of theme or order for the songs, and also to try to include songs that might not ordinarily be played (within reason. No Britney Spears, ya know?). Last year, I submitted a playlist of rock songs they rarely or never played. It didn't make it on air, and as I listened, they really didn't play much that they never play. Guess they weren't as liberal with that idea as I had hoped.

This year, I stuck to songs that normally air on their station. It hasn't been played yet, but here's to hoping it'll make it in tomorrow (last day!). Can you guess the theme? It's pretty obvious...you don't even have to listen to the songs...

1. Halestorm - "It's Not You"
2. Incubus - "Pardon Me"
3. Janus - "Eyesore"
4. Kings of Leon - "Sex on Fire"
5. Linkin Park - "Breaking the Habit"
6. Muse - "Uprising"
7. Nirvana - "Heart-Shaped Box"
8. Offpring - "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"
9. Puddle of Mudd - "Psycho"

New band, new song. Check it out, here's "Eyesore."

Notable New Release: Coheed and Cambria

I once planned on making a new release blog every Tuesday. You see how long that lasted. I've recently been thinking about how to adjust that so that I can keep up with it a little better. So I've decided to do "Notable" release blogs. Of course, there are several new albums out each week, and many of them are notable, but I've decided to just cover the ones that appeal to me and are something I would like to add to my library.

Released April 13, 2010: Coheed and Cambria's Year of the Black Rainbow

This is their fifth studio album, and it serves as a prequel to their earlier albums. A prequel, you ask? To an album? Let me give you a quick rundown on Coheed and Cambria's deal here. They've taken the term "concept album" to a new level. They have more of a "concept career" going on. Each album is a new chapter in The Amory Wars, a post-apocalyptic saga written by lead singer and guitarist Claudio Sanchez. He has been releasing graphic novel counterparts for each of the albums (though not all of them are released yet). The songs are taken from this story and are from the perspectives of various characters in the saga. In fact the name of the band comes from two characters, Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon.

The story behind this new album is a prequel to the events in the earlier albums. Rather than a graphic novel, a full novel was written to accompany Year of the Black Rainbow. I absolutely love this idea of linking all the albums to a story.

Now, musically, what is there to Coheed and Cambria? They generally have a very "emo" sound, often using catchy guitars with almost poppy melodies. I would call their genre more of "new progressive rock" though, with their lyrical elements and song forms (they typically stray from verse-chorus forms). I'll admit also, the timbre of Sanchez's voice may not be for everyone. I love it though, and seeing as how it's my blog about music I like, that's all that matters! :)

In my library, I only have two CoCa albums: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (second album) and Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (third album). I really like both of them. I'm looking forward to adding this one.

Here's the lead single from Year of the Black Rainbow, "Here We Are Juggernaut."