Today is the last day of my playlist! It was hard, but I’m so glad I was able to do it. Some of my writing wasn’t as good as it could have been, but I’m happy I stuck to it.
I’ve been going on for the last four days about how Nirvana’s music is so real and deep, but it’s also timeless. These songs have been out for over twenty years, yet people still listen to them. And it’s not just the folks who grew up with listening to the band either. The fact that young people are still picking up Nirvana is awesome. These songs are still speaking to people- a lot of people, actually- and that’s what’s so amazing. Rock bands can spin off a few hits off of each album, but Nirvana wasn’t like that. Every song was a hit. If you like one, you like them all. Each song is special in it’s own way.
So let’s continue to celebrate the life of a really great musician and keep his music alive.
“Heart-Shaped Box”
We’ll start off with another popular song. This sort of thing is just a classic these days.
“Heart-Shaped Box” is so cool because of the verses are laid-back and kind of sad, but the chorus is another rager. Gotta love the rage…
There’s no denying that Bleach was an angry album. A lot of the lyrics were made up on the spot. But this song is the real gem of the album. Relatively speaking, it was really pop-y and catchy and probably the happiest sounding song the band ever made.
These Spanish subtitulos… Did you know that YouTube is, like, flooded with Spanish-speaking Nirvana fans? Because I didn’t until I started looking up all these videos.
“On A Plain”
Lately, I’ve been really into this song… I don’t know why, really. It’s a bit trippy, but it’s good. I feel like it doesn’t get the attention it deserves though.
“Drain You”
In my research, I found an interview that Kurt Cobain did with Rolling Stone. They were talking about how Smells Like Teen Spirit was such as huge success, but people focused too much on it. Cobain said he liked this song a lot, and that he thought it could be just as much of a hit as Teen Spirit. Of course, it never did become that big, but it is a good song. If you’ve never listened to it, totally check it out.
“Endless, Nameless”
Here’s the song that inspired today’s title. I’m ending my great voyage with it because it is the ultimate jam session ever.
Below is the studio recording. You probably know by know about the whole instrument smashing thing Kurt does? If not, you haven’t been watching the videos because he does it, like, all the time. In this recording, you’re supposed to be able to hear Kurt smashing his guitar. See if you can catch it.
Also, here is the link to the Live and Loud performance. It’s really long, but there’s this huge jam session leading into the song (in addition to the giant jam session at the end of the song). It’s pretty awesome. And Krist does what may be the best thing that ever happened to a bass guitar.
Eh, ignore whatever whatever weird pictures come up.
I hope we all enjoyed ourselves. I’d like to do something like this again sometime, hopefully when I have more time. I regret that I didn’t put as much heart in this as I could have, but I will polish some things up and make it all nice.
Presenting part three of the longest playlist in the history of this blog.
“All Apologies”
Picking up right where I left off yesterday, here’s another popular hit. I try to mix the hits with the more obscure songs each day to mix things up a bit.
I keep grabbing videos from the MTV Unplugged performance. You know, Kurt actually requested the décor, with the white lilies, black candles, and heavy drapes. The producers weren’t crazy about it. They thought it would look too funeral-y, but in the end, it really looked good and laid back, blending fantastically with the music. Ironically, Kurt would passed away less than six months after the performance.
“You Know You’re Right”
This just might be my favorite Nirvana song. The verses are chill and dark and the chorus is loud and darker. So, like, perfection.
I showed this song to my mom once. When it was over, she said, “Oh thank goodness. That was a little too chaotic.”
“You Know You’re Right” was recorded in the end of January 1994 during the band’s last recording session. It was never included on an album until the hit album released in 2002. There was a lot of discrepancy about it, and it kind of became a “lost record” sort of deal. Courtney Love, Cobain’s widow and singer in the punk/grunge band Hole, also caused a lot of delays in the song’s release. During the custody battle of all things Nirvana, she tried covering this song. Unfortunately, she got a lot of the word wrong, including the title, which she called “You’ve Got No Right.”
“Aero Zeppelin”
This is another gem from Insecticide. I’m kinda fond of Insecticide, even though it was a lot of B-sides and covers and stuff.
Anyway, this song has a lot of awesome instrumental parts that really highlight the band’s talent. It also has a little bit of a retro feel to it, so if you’re into that sort of thing, check it out.
Sorry… not a lot of videos out there for this song.
“Pennyroyal Tea”
Record Store Day is coming up on April 19th, and that means 6,000 7-inch vinyls of this song will be released. I would get one… if I had a record player.
If you’ve even listened to the Unplugged version of this song, you know it’s quite a bit different that the regular version. It’s cool though, that the same song can be so different.
“Scentless Apprentice”
I read an article that was published after Kurt Cobain’s death. Krist Novoselic was at a Ministry concert, and one of the guys in the opening acts commented that he liked Nirvana’s music, but he was into “heavier” stuff at the moment. Krist got mad, I guess, and told him how he would never hear anything as heavy as the songs Nirvana made. And I totally agree. There are a lot of heavy metal bands that have a lot more screaming and deeper riffs and are overall a lot more threatening, but Nirvana’s music is seriously heavy in the sense that the lyrics are so dark and real. And the crazy screaming, driving bass, thundering drums, and wicked guitar add to it too.
“I Hate Myself and Want to Die”
Yeah, you heard it right.
Looking back, the title of this song seems really alarming because we all know what happens to Kurt Cobain and that he really did want to die. However, when the song came out, it was meant to be a joke. The media portrayed Kurt as an angsty, angry guy who hated everything and everyone. I’m pretty sure he just didn’t like the media and just got irritated at them. But he made this song as a sort of jab at the reporters who portrayed him that way. At least, that’s how it started.
Welcome back to day two! I meant to write these pieces weeks earlier, but here I am as always, posting the day of.
Today I’m going to dive right back in with the music. Enjoy!
“Lithium”
The tune of this song is misleading because it sounds, like, happy. But then you listen to the lyrics, which are never happy, and you realize it wasn’t such a pleasant song after all. I think one reason I like Nirvana so much is because they aren’t pleasant. Not everything in life is peachy and fun. In fact, a lot of things aren’t. I think the band really captures an accurate view of the average life. It’s real, unlike pop songs about rainbows and perfect love and mindless partying.
Unfortunately we can’t go see Nirvana live anymore (if you did, I’m jealous), but there are a ton of recordings on YouTube of their various performances (such as Live at Reading and the MTV Unplugged Concert), many of which are full length. But if you don’t have an hour to sit down and watch, here’s a good video that will only take up about four minutes of your time.
“Dumb”
I think this is the most chill Nirvana song ever. Maybe even the most chill song I know.
In this recording I chose, you can really hear Lori Goldston, the cellist. She toured with the band 1993-1994 and appears here in the MTV Unplugged performance. How cool would that be, to be all, “Yeah, I played cello for Nirvana. Went on tour with them.”?
It was a riveting day on the drum set for Dave.
“Sliver”
Here’s the only song I know with the words “mashed potatoes” in it.
Rise Against covered this song on their most recent album, Long Forgotten Songs: B-Sides and Covers. It’s pretty good. It’s also the song that made Rivers Cuomo of Weezer a big fan.
Did you know Kurt had a canned meat collection? No lie. You can see one of the cans in this video.
“Breed”
This song is just another awesome example of how chaos can sound so good.
Also, I found the answer to my question! Who is the dancing guy in the videos from the Reading Festival?! His name’s Antony Hodgkinson, and he’s another musician from the band Bivouac (although he plays drums in several other bands), but he’s mostly know as the Guy Who Danced Onstage With Nirvana.
“Clean Up Before She Comes”
Here’s an early song. The layers of vocals and guitar are incredibly infectious. It’s got a relaxed tone, but an underlying edge that you just can’t ignore.
This was the best I could do, video-wise.
“Paper Cuts”
Introducing the ugliest song I know. And I say “ugly” very endearingly, like how people use “sick” and “wicked” as positive remarks. In general, Bleach was a gritty album, but I think this song takes the cake. I feel like 97% of the population would hate it, which is probably why they made it this way.
I tried to research what the lyrics meant, and I didn’t really find a solid answer. Some people said it was about Buddhism. Some people said it was about drug dealers. Some people said it was based off a true story about a mother who locked her kids in a room and mistreated them. I’ll just leave it open to interpretation.
“Something in the Way”
Here the lyrics reference the time Kurt spent living under a bridge by the Wishkah River. His biographer, Charles R. Cross claims Kurt never actually lived there and the whole thing was made up. Still, fans visit the bridge and memorials are place there.
The first half of the video is the actual song. The second half is an amusing bit before the Meat Puppets start.
The coroner who inspected Kurt Cobain’s body suspected that he killed himself on this day twenty years ago.
It’s highly likely that he died exactly two decades ago today, but no one can really be sure.
Either way, it’s about time I paid my homage to Nirvana.
I can’t possibly cover everything in one day. Or two. Or even three. That’s why I’ve decided to do something mildly crazy and publish a series of four posts, covering all the great music made by the best band of the Nineties. I’ll put up one post a day, the last one being on April 8th, the day Cobain was found and declared dead. It seems a little morbid, but I thought it would be an interesting way to cover the band. More like a celebration of awesomeness instead of a depressing sort of deal.
Nirvana is one of my favorite bands. I know a lot of people say that, even when they only know, like, five of the band’s hits. I consider myself pretty serious though. I feel like Kurt Cobain would still hate me because I like his band too much and buy anything with his face on it and sing along to his songs even if I don’t know what they mean and like to jam out to songs about pain when I’ve never actually experienced real pain and sometimes play “Come As You Are” on my guitar even though I sound bad. Yeah, I’m sure he would disown me as a fan.
I think I talked a little bit about Nirvana in my initial grunge post, but that was a disgustingly meager amount. I always labeled Nirvana as grunge. And they were grunge. I was talking to someone and they were like, “Yeah, Nirvana was a great punk band.” And I realized that, yeah, they were also a punk band, especially in the early years. And then I was just thinking, in the name of all the great rock genres, what wasn’t Nirvana?! There was nothing and probably will be nothing like them ever again. They were amazingly unique because they were similar to so many other types of music, yet totally new and innovative.
Usually I start my posts with some background info on the band I’m discussing, but there is just such a wealth of information about Nirvana, that I feel like I can’t even begin to scratch the surface. Listing facts is what books are for. Rolling Stone’s Nirvana special is very good if you’re interested in the band’s history. I am also currently reading Life’s bookazine,Remembering Kurt Cobain. The writing is not impressive and a little too formal, but some of the photos are really interesting. Anyway, the substance will be in the description of the songs.
Nirvana will also be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. This is the first year they’ve been eligible, and they’re already accepted.
Without further ado, I’ll just get this show on the road. These next four days are about the music, not my endless babbling. The songs are in no particular order.
“Smells Like Teen Spirit”
Okay, so this is by far the most identifiable Nirvana song. Seriously, everyone knew it at the time, and most everyone still knows it. It was wildly popular, mostly because MTV got a hold of the music video and played it to death. You know, when MTV still played music videos.
Nirvana was the first true and gritty punk band to get mainstream attention. That’s awesome because the world needed to be exposed to real music, especially since they were just coming out of the hair metal era (I couldn’t resist the jab…). But at the same time, it kinda goes against the whole idea of punk rock: staying underground and relating with the listeners. “Teen Spirit” is a great song, but it got a little too mainstream. Nirvana has a lot of other songs that are just as good, if not better, and I feel like people aren’t aware of that. That’s one of my reasons for writing this post. Get schooled on your music!
I think the band felt the same way about the song. Based on what I’ve read, they really got tired of it. Sometimes, at the later concerts, they wouldn’t even play it (to the fans’ outrage). I don’t blame them, though. They never really intended to be like that.
Why did I always hate pep rallies so much? Oh yeah, because they weren’t like this one.
“Come As You Are”
Here’s the song that inspired today’s title.
The song’s title also greets visitors on the welcome sign outside Aberdeen, Washington, Cobain’s hometown.
Looking back, so many Nirvana songs had lyrics that could have related to suicide. It’s a little haunting.
You know, this song, along with many others I’ll be mentioning are from Nevermind. Nevermind actually bumped Michael Jackson’s Dangerous off its number one seat on the music charts. It was a fine moment in punk power. Another fun fact: Nevermind was recorded in Sound City Studios, which I had a small obsession with last spring.
I want to hug that dog so much.
“In Bloom”
This is one of my personal favorites. It’s darkly oppressive, which makes it all the more awesome.
This song is so catchy. It’s one of those songs that you can’t help but jam out to. And you start singing it, and you get to the chorus, which goes, “He’s the one who likes all our pretty songs/ And he likes to sing along/ And he likes to shoot his gun/ But he knows not what it means/ Knows not what it means when I say.” That’s the moment you feel so stupid for singing along. You’re that dumb guy in the song.
This song is also a great example of Nirvana’s quiet-loud techniques. They were seriously dynamics masters. They’d make all these quiet verses and an EXPLODING CHORUS OF RAGE. It is the most lovely thing.
Such a fun video.
“Blew”
This was the first track on the band’s first full-length studio album, Bleach. When they were recording, Cobain and Krist Novoselic (bassist) were tuned too low. When they listened to the recording later and realized what happened, they actually liked it better than the original tuning and decided to keep it that way.
“Love Buzz”
This was the first single Nirvana ever recorded. It’s a cover of the song by the Dutch band, Shocking Blue.“Big Cheese” was the B-side.
Video recorded in 1993 during a performance in Rio.
“Dive”
In the following video, you will notice Dave and Kurt’s interesting wardrobe choice (Krist didn’t get the memo, apparently). Kurt was really into equality for women and homosexuals, and it shows in a lot of the lyrics he wrote. So he was probably trying to make a statement. Or, more likely, make people mad.
“Aneurysm”
The last track on Insecticide is also the most popular. I also consider it my favorite from Insecticide.
Insecticide was a collection of outtakes, covers, and B-sides to satisfy fans between the release of Nevermind and In Utero. Kurt Cobain created the cover art on this album, although he made art for the back covers and liners of many other albums.
Introducing Part 2 (Photo courtesy of mzstatic.com)
Two posts ago, I was ranting about how awesome Acoustic Sessions by Brent Smith and Zach Myers is and how sad I was that they couldn’t include some of the other cover songs they recorded (especially their cover of Pearl Jam’s “Black”). Well, a few weeks ago Acoustic Sessions Part 2 was released. I had been counting down the days and actually knew the release date this time! Part 2 is another four song EP. “Someone Like You,” “Wanted Dead or Alive,” “Black,” and “In the Air Tonight” make up the track list.
I meant to post this, like, a month ago, but my bloggery has really gotten away from me. I have a bunch of posts I still need to do, plus a big project I’m working on. See the original post for more detailed info.
Just some chill beats… (Photo courtesy of favim.com)
It’s no secret. I am addicted to fast songs. Seriously, I rarely listen to music at night because my iPod is like, “What is this calmness of which you speak?” HOWEVER, I’ve been coming across some slower songs that I absolutely love. Don’t get me wrong; they’re still punchy. I have to have some form of excitement.
So I’ve compiled this list of some wicked, (relatively) slow songs that I’m liking right now. I put them in descending order, so the best one is at the bottom. It’s sorta short, so bear with me. Enjoy, and prepare to have your mind blown.
Ghost Atlas was one of those exciting new bands that I was all pumped to share on my New Year’s post. It’s a “side project” from Jesse Cash from the metal band, Erra. There is only on EP released at this point, but I’m looking forward to a lot more of his music.
This song fit my topic, so I chose it. Wicked acoustic-ness…
This was the best I could do. There’s not a lot out there about the band…
“Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog
They may have only been around for two years and created one self-titled album, but these guys rock. Of course it would make since because three of their members would later join Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, or (in the case of Matt Cameron) both. Their one and only album was released in April 1991, and it’s still cool.
I love this song just because it’s a classic. I was playing it on my stereo the other day and my dad came in and was all, “Hey, this is a good song.” Also, I mentioned it to one of my teachers and we reflected on the awesomeness together. So it’s a good conversation piece.
This song… it’s unbelievable. Everything about it is amazing. It’s so perfect, it’s ridiculous. I can’t even put it in words.
Tool is such an artistic band. That’s their thing. It’s what makes them different from other rock bands. I don’t like all of their music, but of course this is an exception. Anyway, this song is renown for its crazy time signatures. The meter changes forty-seven times. That’s seriously insane.
This is just a lyric video. There is an official music video, but it is really weird. I watched about half of it, and then I just quit.
“By and Down” by A Perfect Circle
Here is how this song and I met: I was in the car, listening to the radio, and it came on. I thought it was good, but I couldn’t really hear it because whenever a good song comes on, my mom decides to talk my ear off about something random. So ignored my mom and tried to figure out who this song was by. And for a moment, I really thought it was Tool! When I got home, I Googled the lyrics and found out that it was by this band, A Perfect Circle, whose singer happens to be the singer from Tool. I was proud of myself for being able to pick up on someone’s voice like that. When I listened to the song again on YouTube, it was even better than I remembered it.
This song is undeniably amazing. The vocals are beautiful and whoever’s on the guitar absolutely shreds it. Listen to it! It is a gorgeous, yet dark song. Spin.com even compares it to Led Zeppelin (I don’t know whether I support this claim or not. You can’t compare to the classic rock bands like that…).
And the live version is even better than the studio one.
Six months of anticipation! (Photo courtesy of stormbringer.at)
Earlier this week, I went to iTunes only to find out my latest update didn’t go through correctly. I had to uninstall all the Apple programs from my computer and reinstall them. Four hours later, I finally had access again! However, it was late by the time I finished, so I just shut down and went to bed.
Yesterday I actually went on to browse iTunes like I do incessantly, looking for new music. I went to the rock page and nearly cried.
Over the summer, I found out about a collection of acoustic cover songs that Brent Smith and Zach Myers from my favorite band, Shinedown, were going to put together. I was so excited, but I didn’t know the release date. When I got onto iTunes, TAH-DAH!!! There it was! Probably the happiest I’d been all week, and so totally worth the four hours of torture I underwent the other day.
The EP, titled Smith & Myers Acoustic Sessions, came out on January 28th (and I didn’t even know :,( ). Basically, they asked fans on Facebook, “Hey, what songs do you want us to cover?” People replied, they chose ten to work on, and recorded them… in two days. It took me two days to finish this post! I feel so incompetent…
Six of the songs (“London Calling” by the Clash, “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding, “Nothing Else Matters” by Metallica, “She Talks to Angels” by The Black Crowes, “Runaway Train” by Soul Asylum, and “Blue on Black” by Kenny Wayne Shepherd) made it onto the EP. The other four were recorded, but not included in the EP. They include “Black” by Pearl Jam, “Someone Like You” by Adele, “In the Air” by Phil Collins, and “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi. I’ve heard that the original artists did not want the covers on the EP, but some allowed them to be posted online.
I’ve included the songs that stood out to me the most. To see the official video of any of the other filmed songs mentioned above, click on the link on the name of the song.
“Black”
A great song originally by Pearl Jam… The covers demonstrate the extreme talent these guys have. Unfortunately this one is not of the EP, but you can still watch it on YouTube.
“Nothing Else Matters”
Yeah, you read it right. And man, do they do justice to this song. Everyone knows this song. Even your grandmother, probably. Sometimes people get mad when bands try to cover the greats (like Metallica), but I don’t know how anyone could for this one. Their rendition is seamless.
“Blue on Black”
I’ve mentioned that this was a song I grew up with. My mom introduced me to Kenny Wayne Shepherd at a very young age, possibly at birth. Then, later in my tween years, she got me hooked on Shinedown. So this makes me very emotional. Not to mention that it’s awesome.
And look! There’s Kenny Wayne himself!
Shepherd shreds on that solo and looks up like, “Yep. Another day in the office.”
“Sitting on the Dock of a Bay”
This is one of the songs that I always knew the chorus and nothing else (Other verses? Umm… Cue humming!). Likewise, I still appreciated it. 🙂
Wish I could whistle like that…
“She Talks to Angels”
This is a good song to start with. Not necessarily a song I love but it’s a staple, you know?
During my research, I came across several articles about a possible film about the band. I almost can’t handle all this.
Cake is my BFF. (Photo courtesy of thecompletecupcake.com)
I logged on to WordPress today. I knew my blog was turning one year old in the beginning of this month, so I figured I would finish the post I was working on before starting a birthday post. HOWEVER, I had a message saying that SML was born a year ago today. I had no clue! So I didn’t have time to prepare a grand post. I am a bad blog parent. 😦
I also recently celebrated my own birthday, if anyone cares. Probably not.
So keeping with the birthday theme, I created this blog a year ago today. I sat down for a few hours on a Saturday morning, pouring over thousands and thousands of themes. I’ve really come a long way since then. I remember my first post was about the Grammys, which I didn’t even care about that much. For crying out loud, I didn’t even know there was a difference between record of the year and song of the year. Since then, my music vocab has increased ridiculously, my library has doubled in size, and I’ve developed the ability to identify almost any noteworthy rock song that was made in the past twenty-five years. Seriously, it’s so crazy, it’s almost sad. I’ll be in the car with someone and a song will come on the radio and I’m just like, “[Band name], [Song title]… from their album [Album name]… about [Year released]… Great music video.”
Besides making me into a total music nerd, my blog has also made me a better writer. Well, I hope it has. I always feel so cool when I meet people and I say, “Oh, yeah, I have a music blog.” It’s just extra style points, even if no one reads said blog.
All in all, I’ve had a great journey with SML. And it’s far from over. I’ve updated my “About” page (check it out). Also, don’t forget about the trusty search bar and archive menu waaaaay down there at the bottom of the screen. I’m still thinking of a way I can make them more accessible. As for the year to come, I hope to post more often… We’ll see how that goes.
I was going to make a really sick playlist, but I need to finish this today, so that’s not going to happen (an average post takes me two to three days, actually). So what do I do when I have no time and need to include at least one video in a post? Fill it with Foo Fighters.
This song always gets me pumped. I love the energy in it, and hopefully some will rub off on me to continue blogging for many years to come! 😉
I will never, ever get over how cool Dave Grohl is.
It’s like a universal symbol… (Photo courtesy of images1.wikia.nocookie.net)
Yo. So for the past six months or so, I’ve been going through a total modern punk kick. And I keep wondering, Am I a punk now? In some ways, that’s cool, because punks are kinda neat, but at the same time I don’t want to be one of those scummy sort of kids who are shady and don’t match their clothes. Punk-ness seems like it may not be healthy… Anyone who knows me is probably laughing at me and saying, “Honey, you are not a punk. You never have been and never will be intimidating in any way, shape, or form.” I get that, but I like the music, okay? I’m in it for the music…
Now, it’s not necessarily real, legit 80’s punk rock I’m talking about. It’s more like the late 90’s, early 2000’s. Some punk junkies might be thinking, That’s not real punk rock you stupid amateur blogger. Go die. Well too darn bad. Maybe I’ll get there another day. Today, I’m going to start us off on some punk rock you can find on the radio, then get progressively more crazy. It will be a nice intro for any of you oblivious folks out there.
I feel like when people hear the word “punk” they get nervous and think about a bunch of kids with awkward piercings and an obsession with things that are spiky coming after their mailbox with a baseball bat. And yeah, sometimes it’s like that. Chaotic anarcho-whatnot in a garage. But rest assured, your mailboxes are safe. I’ve put together a selection of quality songs and bands for you. I run a fine establishment here.
So kick back and let your inner rebel come through. B)
These first few bands have been called “pop punk.” Do not be fooled. There is no pop in these songs. It’s just a phrase that means popular punk. You know, the kinds of bands that everyone has heard of. Even the most brainwashed pop fans can spout off a chorus or two from these bands, or at least recognize the tune.
My first exposure to Sum 41 was when I heard “Fat Lip” on the radio. I liked the chorus, but not really the rap-like verses that make up the rest of the song. I looked into the band anyway, and I liked what I heard.
Their last album came, Screaming Bloody Murder, was released in 2011. Another album is expected to come out in 2015. I’m excited to see what it’ll be like.
This video makes me smile. My dad turns on those old music shows sometimes… the ones with the guys in powder blue suits and little backup singer chicks. I so wish this would happen on one of those.
Maybe one of the most popular punk bands? Everyone seems to know them. I mean, everyone. Even old people, probably.
I never know if I like Green Day or not. They come off with a song like “Brain Stew” and I’m like, “Whoo! That’s awesome!” Then they make a song like “21 Guns” and I’m all, “Ugh, let’s not.” I’m about half and half. I prefer the fast-paced, crazier songs more than the calm ones. “Good Riddance” is nice, but it just doesn’t do much for me.
Sometimes I can’t stand guyliner… but most of the time I kinda like it.
I know I talk about the Offspring every two minutes, but how could I do a post about punk without mentioning the Offspring? However, I will not repeat everything I’ve already said about them (you can just click here to read it).
Here’s a lesser-known Offspring song called “Nitro (Youth Energy).” It sounds like you would think it would. In case you haven’t noticed, I like my music fast and loud.
Also, I don’t think I ever posted “Come Out and Play.” I like that song, but with all the school violence these days, I thought maybe I should leave it out. You can watch the video by using the link above though.
Yeah, I know that I talk about Rise Against even more than I talk about the Offspring, but they’re doing new things all the time! Since I did my original RA post, I’ve dug deeper into their music and discovered a treasure trove of more awesome music! I am going to do a Rise Against Part Two post soon just to catch up, but I put them on this list because they are one of my favorite bands that got me interested in punk rock in the first place.
Here’s a new one to hold you over until then. I was exposed to it when Long Forgotten Songs came out.
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the part when the vandal folks put on their regular clothes and go about life like normal.
Thought Riot
Time to turn up the heat.
I was rummaging through some straight-edge bands (have we ever discussed straight-edge bands? We should.) and I came across these guys. They remind me of Rise Against in some ways… but it some ways they’re really different. They have a much grittier sound, but they have the same sorts of messages.
So I only got to five bands today… But this post is sooooo long! I still have so much I want to share. Also, while I was doing my research, I read about all these people who were all, “Modern punk is awful and old school punk is the real deal, blah, blah, blah.” I respect both aspects, so I thought maybe “All Punked Up” can be a thing. Like every so often, I’ll do one of these posts, review a few more bands, and eventually cover all aspects of punk rock. It’s a challenge, but I’m willing to take it on!
Yep… It’s self-explanatory. (Photo courtesy of ruffneckscarves.com)
Hello! Happy New Year, hope you had a nice holiday and all that good stuff! I meant to post over the holiday being that I had a ton of time, but I didn’t really use the computer much… That’s okay, I guess. Better late than never. I just wanted to put up a quick post. I have so much I want to cover and I can’t decide what to do when!
2013 is officially over and 2014 is currently underway. Everyone is hyped up about the year to come and reminiscing about the year gone by, so I thought I would do my own musical version of that. What I liked, what I’m looking forward to…
I’ll start with 2013. I have to say, it was a great year for music. My library nearly doubled (although a lot of music was not new, it was from the nineties…). Being a blogger, I got to cover a lot of the new albums that came out. I was on iTunes the other day, and they had a section about called “Best Rock Albums of 2013” or something like that. I scrolled through, and was like, “Oh yeah, that one… And I covered that one… Oh, that one was good.” Among the selected albums were The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here by Alice in Chains and the Sound City album that I also reviewed. I was very happy! I’m, like, cutting edge!
As for 2014, I don’t really know what to expect. I’ve read about lots of cool bands that are working on albums, but will they be done this year? I haven’t heard much, but I will keep my eyes and ears open! I’ve also been looking into some up-and-coming/lesser known bands that I’m excited for. I was going to feature them on this post, but I think I have a better time and place for them.
The Saturday Morning List 