One week till I see Say Anything, Taking Back Sunday and MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK on the same night at Slam Dunk! :D
Couple of listens is all it has had and I love it. Could definitely have done with a more energetic number but perhaps that is just not what the new album will sound like. I don’t mind really, this one layers up so well!
Justin’s vocals really get to shine on these new tracks since the instrumentation has been stripped back.
I was shocked at how sub-par the new Yellowcard song is. It must be the first song they have released where Key’s vocal melody is anything short of spectacular. I really wasn’t into it. Glad Motion City Soundtrack have pulled this out of the bag though.
Foo Fighters’ second album, “The Colour and the Shape”, is now fifteen years old! It is my favourite album of all time and since first hearing it when I was around fourteen I have become completely obsessed with this band to the point where I can recite not only all of their songs but pretty much every interview with the band that can be found on Youtube.
There are so many factors in what makes an album a person’s favourite. Some people love an album because it has a few great singles on it, or because the instrumentation is exceptional, some people love albums because the lyrics speak to them on a personal level and others love an album because they can listen to it from start to finish and not skip any tracks.
‘The Colour and the Shape’ ticks all of those boxes but the album is a lot more than just the sum of those parts. To me ‘The Colour and the Shape’ is like the bible for rock music. It is simply how it should be. From the huge singalongs ‘Everlong’ and ‘My Hero’ that have enjoyed so much success on the radio or at festivals to the ballsy power-pop of ‘Monkey Wrench’ and the more mellow, delicate numbers like ‘February Stars’, the Foos came a long way from the self-titled debut and pulled out all the stops on album number two.
Throughout the rollercoaster ride from jangly acoustic guitars on one song to crushing walls of distortion on the next, the lyrics tie the knot that holds the album together. Right from the first line, “You know in all of the time that we’ve shared, I’ve never been so scared” Grohl wears his heart on his sleeve and does not hold back on the honesty. Lyrically, the album is a journey through Grohl’s state of mind as his relationship with his wife crumbled and ended in divorce. The intense vocal performances on the album are perfect for the lyrics, which read like a guy’s diary entries who is tortured with regret.
After the inevitable comparisons to Nirvana that the first Foo Fighters album drew, Grohl felt a need to prove himself on the follow up and that is one of the best things about TCATS-it is a huge ‘fuck you’ to all of his harshest critics. The album showed the world that as well as being the greatest drummer in rock music and a more than capable guitarist and vocalist, Grohl was a truly amazing songwriter. Fifteen years later, Foo Fighters are the biggest band in the world and nobody can say that Grohl has not stepped out of Nirvana’s shadow and surpassed anything that they could have achieved. The album has more than stood the test of time and is as relevant today as it was in 1997. I think its real success can be measured in what it has influenced and not in its sales. Bands like Brand New, The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, Yellowcard and Say Anything all have voiced a love for this album and it is no coincidence that these are some of my favourite bands that I have gotten into after growing up with Foo Fighters.
So buzzin on Polar Bear Club this weekend.
Been listening to them for a long time but it is only recently that something clicked and I have been LOVING their stuff. So weird how that seems to happen. Need to see them live now.
I just finished watching the final episode of the last ever Stargate series, Stargate Universe, and I am not pleased. Not pleased at all. Having been a massive fan of the hugely successful Stargate SG-1 since I was like eleven years old I would definitely consider myself a fan of all things Stargate. I followed Stargate SG-1 over its record-breaking ten year run up till its cancellation, which of course was crappy news. After SG-1’s cancellation they released two movies to conclude the story and while the first of these was good, the second film ended in a complete anti-climax and left the characters in some stupid fucking limbo where their fate was never decided.
Enraging as that was I stuck with the first spin-off series, Stargate Atlantis. Atlantis was enjoyable and ran for five seasons but again the show was cancelled. A movie was intended to round things off but this was shelved indefinitely as the production company were low on money and thought it was better spent on their series Stargate: Universe which was renewed for its second series. Now I think Universe had a pretty rough first season and it took a long time getting up and running. Once it hit steady ground around halfway through the season though I was enjoying it. Okay, it borrowed from Battlestar a fair amount but as a Stargate show it was offering something a bit fresh and at the very least Robert Carlyle’s acting was good enough that fans would keep coming back…
NO! It turns out the damn thing got cancelled and was not going to be renewed for a third season. Don’t the producers and the studio have people out there like gauging reception? Making educated guesses and talking to people down at the production company’s money offices or listening in on conversations? Trying to work out how much longer their show will last? What about the goddamn Nielsen numbers? We always hear about them but what the fuck are they for if not to provide the writers on a show some sort of scope with how many episodes they have left to wrap their shit up and give the audience an ending they deserve. Or at least something they didn’t deserve but is at the same time entertaining in a “I seriously did not see that coming” sort of way? Like kill the main three characters and make the last episode a gay/orgy porno between the supporting cast? For reals I would have been happier with that just for the shock value than the ending we did get.
So the last episode of Universe ends with the characters going into these stasis pods and their lives are forever put on hold. What the fuck? How stupid do MGM think we are? Come on guys, I bet like 99% of the fanbase for Universe were already fans of SG-1 and you give us another frozen in time ending for the story? Apparently a movie was once again intended but was never given the green light due to money. Sorry you went broke Mr. Major Hollywood studio man but I have been a fan of this franchise since 2001 when I was ten/eleven years old and I DEMAND satisfaction. I think you can quit wiping your ass with fifty dollar bills and reach into the throne of cash you sit on that you made from SG-1 DVD sales and just give us a movie.
On a similarly raging note I decided to give the new Tenacious D album a spin while typing this post and I have to say it is probably the worst piece of shit I have ever heard in my life. Sorry, Dave Grohl, but this is almost as bad as a Keane or Kesha album. Not even your prowess behind the drums can polish this turd.
I can’t believe this is how my night has ended. Now I must sleep before work at ten tomorrow morning. Raging sci-fi geek, OUT.
Definitely having one of the best nights of my life. (Taken with instagram)
These guys played a unique version of Jimmy Eat World’s A Praise Chorus for our first dance. It was absolutely perfect. I love everyone in this photograph so much. Thank you.
Also. Look. At. My. Wife. Wow!Yass! Such an incredible day. So happy to have been a part of it
This week has been busy/rubbish with shifts, class, coursework and such. Fortunately I am still buzzing from my friends’ wedding exactly one week ago. It was one of the best days I have ever had and there was such an incredible atmosphere. VIBES MAN.
