Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #1

#1 Entropy-Grimes Fet. Bleachers

So I'm just going to be really honest here I actually started composing this list at the end of March as more an unorganized Spotify play-list of tracks to kind of keep in mind whenever it came to be time to start writing up this list and in all honesty this was the very first song I saved to that list and since that day it hasn't left Number 1 and in all honesty the first time I heard this song I legitimately knew it was probably going to be the number 1 song of the year and here we are my number 1 pick of 2015 Enthropy by Grimes featuring Bleachers.

At it's core this song is nothing more than a 3 minute pop song lead by a very kind of tribal but steady percussion heavy beat that serves to kind of support Grimes light and airy vocals that are very VERY much the absolute blend of borderline diabetes sweet but also gruffy enough to give it's lyrics a bit of girth if not enhancing their kind of depressing tone of the lyrics and the midly heartbreaking expressions of, “Leave me Lonely,” which is kind of Grimes charm in a lot of ways.

What get's me is that this is actually the second time these acts have collaborated the first being one of Strange Desires more underrated cuts in the form of Take Me Away which Grimes kind of acted as the background note to Jack Antonoff and this song is almost like him deciding to take a back seat to her and instead he just acts as the producer.

There's something about this song for me that's difficult to really put into words because it has the most understated quality to it that you just feel like you're listening to the most special thing ever and ever since that first listen I just can't shake that feeling and no matter how many great songs I've heard this year and how many amazing shows I've seen this song just kind of can't be topped and even now looking back I legitimately can't think of another song I wanted to put at this spot and as such here we are my number 1 pick of 2015.

I hope you enjoyed reading this list as much as I enjoyed throwing it together if there was any songs you think I missed make sure to let me know either at my official Facebook page or even my own Twitter account but stay tuned because I may have an announcement come new years for the future of Sam's Song of the day but until then Happy Holiday's and enjoy the best song of 2015....

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #2

#2 Hands Down-The Greeting Committee

So I'm just going to say it now this group of Kansas City's finest had the best god damn summer this year that's for damn sure they got to open the Homegrown Buzz Showcase, Buzz Beachball,  Joywave, Civil Twilight, Bastile, the Wombats on select dates, managed to score an alternative radio smash here, they got a record deal with Harvest Records, and AAAAAND may have just recorded the great modern love song in the form of my #2 pick of the best song of the year.

Hands Down it's a very adorable little number that upon hearing you really feel like you've heard it somewhere but you can't quite put your finger on where it sounds just like every Teen Romance flick you ever hate watched and very ashamedly enjoyed with it's light hearted singing to sugary sweet lyrics that are just pure puppy dog romance in a tune there's an immediately special feeling you get when you hear this song and even now a year later I still get those warm fuzzy feelings when I hear this song and I'm so glad that I got to see them play it three times and even managed to yell out the 1,2,3,4 part after their, “Man oh man you're my best friend line,” which may have been the most bad ass thing ever,  because maybe just maybe these kids will do something big but until then enjoy Kansas City's breakthrough act of the year in this video of the first time I got to see them play it live.....

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #3

#3 Cocoon-Catfish and the Bottlemen

You know for being a band that's only been on the scene for a short period of time they've managed  to craft out some of the most strongly written and well performed songs that are a level of quality that give you this impression that they have been from a band that's been spending decades crafting these things but no it's only their second single and it already feels like a classic.

It's one of many songs that I got the joyous pleasure of getting to see live and it's an experience like that which solidified this songs place on my list because it's an amazingly simple song that's both heartbreaking and hopeful in it's expressions of, “Fuck it if they talk, fuck it if they try to get to us,” which is an instantaneously impacting line of lyrical awesomeness that you can't help but apply to a lot of things you've been through.

Really just great great music from a band that has a whole lot ahead of them and I can only be excited at the thought of them keeping such a streak or at the very least giving me plenty of opportunity to continually be blown away by this tune.

Also special shoutout to one Kayla Abell for capturing the footage.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #4

#4 Pitty Party-Melanie Martinez

This year had a lot of female representation for me and of all the ladies to come out of the blue and just grab the ball and run with it I'd have to give credit to this talented little pixie.

While I'll admit my review of Cry Baby as an album wasn't super spectacular and in retrospect it's proving to be a solid effort it's still not really to the expectations that this song just unexpectedly created and even now this song on it's own is just too damn good to ignore.

An interpretation of the Lesly Gore classic, “It's My Party,” this song has Melanie doing what she does best in singing about how fucked up and miserable her life is and in this song maybe more so then anything else she's recorded it works because of it's kind of droning but steady electronic beats that help make her voice in all of it's pissed off woe is me sounding way's work while she delivers plenty of lines about the feelings of being ditched on your birthday.

This song is in the business of misery and for Melanie business is damn good.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #5

#5 Wolves(You Got Me)-Dreamers

So this for me would be 2015's Demon Dance in that it's an amazingly old school sounding song that's the perfect blend of 90's feedback heavy alternative shoe-gazing rock and roll with some punk rock lyrical poetry that's an awkward series of metaphors for the torturingly crazy experience of falling in love and how it's like being thrown into a den of wolves learning to follow the pact and get use to that crazy feeling and the fucked up things to come.

It's a beautifully simple song that's just everything I love hearing in alternative music that's managed to constantly sound like the best classic song that reminds you of the day's of looking left of the dial and it's only bested by a few truly bad ass tunes that kind of edged it.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #6

#6 Octa-Hate-Ryn Weaver

You know love is an emotional rollercoaster people and for every peak there's a bitter low and probably more so then any other song this year for me personally there wasn't any other low that sounded nearly as good as this pounding little number from one Ryn Weaver.

This song is pretty simple it's a breakup song about the various emotional stringing along that we all deal with whenever we aren't completely over someone in the early stages of any break up and it's really driven so well in this song by not only Weavers really solidly auto-tuned vocal performance but it's tendency to just kind of unexpectedly slowdown and speed up it's tempo that give you these kind of thumping and aggressive parts to really give you an idea of just how much she means it whenever she exclaims, “I can't Take it, from the Day I saw my heart start breaking, No one saved me, I can't take it, can't belive I went and lost you baby.”

Really one of the best examples of production and performance really driving a song forward to create this odd little poppy bit of depressive joy even if her album as a whole wasn't nearly as instantaneously memorable nor solid as this song gave me hope to be but even so she managed to make a few solid numbers this year just this song in particular kind of stood so far up that I do have faith that she'll get some footing at some point especially if she can bust out another aggressively angry number like this.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #7

#7 Sorry-Meg Myers

OH MEG how I adore thee and love the fact that you finally released your debut major studio album and oh how it's filled with so many great choices, but whenever it came to trying to figure out which one of your angry ex-girlfriend singing those songs she wrote about you tunes to choose there really was only one that stuck around well enough to be considered one of the best.

Like I said prior this song is your angry ex but unlike your angry ex hearing this doesn't really give you any awkward feelings instead you just want to belt along because this is a very poppy approach at making a breakup tune that isn't as raw as her previous tunes but still isn't really anything to tooth-achingly poppy.

Really one of the best  heartbroken tunes I heard this year if not for the fact that I really more so enjoy singing along in the worst way's to it.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #8

#8 You've Got Spirit Kid-Coheed and Cambria

Somebody Call 2003 because these mother fuckers are back and 12 years of crafting conceptualized piece of work after complexly musical efforts have finally manged to give me undeniable proof that these guy's are the modern day Rush god damnit because this is THE MOST ROCK AND ROLL song released this year and from it's amazingly simple but solid guitar work to Claudio Sanchez's signature high pitched vocals you have a song that emits this 70s classic rock sound without sounding super cheesy or pretentious and it's probably the best thing they've made since their breakthrough all the way back and of course if you've gotten the pleasure of seeing it live you'll really know just why this song is so fucking amazing people.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #9

#9 Leave a Trace-CHRVCHES

So it's been about 2 years since this little collective of Glasgow's finest topped my year end list and while last years, “Get Away,” was and still is a spectacular cut it only really kind of served as a distraction before they had to make another, “Mother We Share,” and while, “Leave a Trace,” isn't quite  that it's still a spectacular cut none-the-less and an amazing experience to see live.

This song is kind of a very danceably disguised fuck you to all of Lauren Mayberry's critics in many ways and it's a showcasing of a more pop oriented direction that Every Open Eye as an album was quite a lighter take then The Bones of What You Believe which isn't a bad thing because it's still a solidly good effort that yielded a shit load of quality live tracks and a band that's honestly putting on a much better show then the year before.

These guy's really had one hell of year and I can only hope that they continue this trend of quality singles and albums.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #10

#10 Our Own House-Misterwives

One of the best shows I saw all year and the 10th best song of the year Misterwives have arrived people and this song is a pretty good follow-up to last years Reflections even if seeing it live a second time immediately following that song kind of showcased how similar it is to that song, but while that could be a source of complaint the crowd reaction alone to this song is proof that it deserves it's spot because this song is just the most decidedly racious thing you could possibly experience from this group.

This song is just pure fun at it's best and seeing a visible growth in quality since I first heard it back in December is just kind of mind blowing to think of people.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #11

#11 King Kunta-Kendrick Lamar

I'm not going to lie the first five tracks of this album was probably the best god damn thing I heard album wise ALL YEAR and yet for some reason or another I keep dipping out of this awesome bit of G-funk heavy amazing and only find myself randomly getting reminded of the heaviest and most consistently great rap album I've heard since J. Cole's, “Born Sinner,” but unlike that album this one I found right in the ripe of it's cultural importance and while I'm not going to get into it this was the most  currently relevant message made all year and this song is just one of MANY great cuts that I had to choose from and while I personally prefer Wesley's Theory for both it's sampling of Boris Gardner's, “Every Nigger is a Star,” but it's pure fast paced interestingly lyrical cut I just kind of found this to be a song that could stand on it's own as a single rather then that one which just kind of sucks you in and is like the rock you trip over before falling into the rabbit hole.

I'd honestly have this higher but it's my own personal lack of consistency in listening to the album in question that has it just barely miss out on the top 10.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #12

#12 Song's I can't Listen To-Neon Tree's

YOU know Tyler Glenn it's kind of cruel to release a new single out of the blue during an awkward point of the year for me and then proceed to not do a god damn thing afterwards.

This song is like a bridge between the super 80's new wave punky tones of Picture Show with a slight poppy tone that heavily dominated Pop Psychology without sounding like an unnecessary b-side and it's fucking awesome but it's like getting teased by the finest girl you'd ever seen because it came kicked ass and just left me wanting more but no I haven't gotten another tune or any news of more new music to come.....songs still great though and definitely every time I find myself randomly hearing it I find myself just getting blown away with each subsequent listen.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #13

#13 Drum + Fife-The Smashing Pumpkins

So I got to see Billy Corgan and company this year and I got to see them play this song and it was FUCKING GREAT!!!!!! but sadly even with that in mind it was hard to really place this song that high on my list of the best of because it's only really on here because it got a really solid amount of radio play in the early part of the year but kind of sadly fell off the radar a lot like Being Beige last year but even with that in mind it's a solidly well done song from an album that wasn't the best of the Teargarden project but its something that I'm sure will grow in appreciation over time and this song even while not the best stuff Corgan has made it's still a great song none-the-less and the fact that he dedicates it to our veterans before every performance is a pretty good PR move.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #14

#14 OutRight-Wild Party

So of all the random kind of indie rock radio friendly new-wavey rockers to kind of come and go but be awesome as fuck while they were here I'd have to say that it'd be this song.

It really is just a simple but great little rocker that had some mild radio success in my area and in a lot of way's has a kind of Oasis with synthesizers charm that is in it's amazing hook of a chorus and it's kind of classic feel that you can't help but love especially if you're kind of a sucker for some real old school alternative rock like myself.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #15

#15 Talking Body-Tove Lo

So while Habits was a very accessibly good song that showed some radio promise this song is just pure guilty pleasure dirty dance pop gold people and while I'm a bit disappointed that Tove Lo was more sugar coated pop then I'd honestly of expected from her first single this song in the grander scheme of things is still a pretty damn catchy number that I rotated quite a bit to the point where it was my most streamed track on Spotify this year apparently but even so I still do enjoy giving this a listen from time to time.

It's not a subtle track by any means and its pure unadulterated dirty fun that you can do all sorts of grooving to and it managed to get her out of the one hit wonder category of singers so credit to her for managing to maintain a steady presence.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #16

#16 Walk Alone-Hembree

I went to a shit load of concerts this year and while last year had plenty of amazing moments I felt something different this year because while I've been very distant about things in terms of the music I'm writing about and the direction of my blog and life there's a certain closeness that I've developed with Kansas City that kind of really became a thing whenever I went to the Homegrown Buzz Showcase and saw these guy's for the second time because not only did I realize that Kansas City is bringing us some great great bands but getting to really talk to bands and getting to really communicate with a group gives you a sense of closeness that is really quite crazy to think about and the fact that these guy's have supported my own spreading of their awesomely jammy tunes.

This song really is a gem of a tune it's something you can both groove to and get your rock on and I often find myself repeating it's chorus all the time this really is music courtesy of the soon to be new music capital of the world Kansas City.

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #17

#17 Heavydirtysoul-Twenty One Pilots

So for some reason or another this group of beat poetry spewing Caucasian rockers managed to not only have a number 1 album but kind of become the breakout rock act of the year and have been just selling out places you honestly couldn't of imagined these two even being able to play not only a few years ago.

While I'd admit that I'm not one to really be considered a fan of them they did manage to craft some delightfully amusing tracks on an otherwise bland album and none really kind of stick out in terms of sheer awesomeness more so then the opening track Heavydirtysoul which is a very wall of sound kind of breakneck series of verses just rapidly shot at you before entering a very earwormingly catchy chorus that's bound to keep you hooked and ready to go along with the ride.

And to think only a few years ago somebody stole their car radio and now they just sit in a full arena....

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #18

#18 Moms and Dads-WATERS

One of the more pleasantly surprising opening acts I saw this year and a good example of giving a group a shot WATERS seemed to just come out of nowhere for me really and in a very Grouplove style just kind of weaseled their way in to my collective listening habits with a solidly good album that really has yielded quite a bit of good singles but oddly enough when coming up with this list I found this little ode to having to go back to your parents a particularly strong cut that I couldn't help but want to mention because their album What's Real is a super solid collection of tunes and it's really saying something that such a random track can be so good when you give it a shot.

These guy's are a fun and great collective if you get the chance to meet them they'll sell you in a heartbeat if their music hasn't done it already and luckily for me I managed to come across a video of when I got to see them perform this live along with an amusing little cover....

 

Sam's Top 20 of 2015 #19

#19 Jealousy-Robert DeLong

Holy shit this song is just pure energetic awesomeness from one of the more surprising and awesomely danceable shows I've been to this year and yet another solid cut from a guy that's been really shaping himself up as a formitable musical act over the past few years.

This song is just a very dance heavy number that'll leave bodies moving and grooving in every good way you could possibly want and one of those instantaneously great tunes that I heard once and just couldn't forget.

Sam's Best of 2015 #20

So ignoring the fact that this is the most horribly updated year yet it's been a pretty great year musically for me I've been to a shit load of shows and I've heard so many great songs and it being December means it's time for my favorite article of the year my choice for the Top 20 of 2015 and oddly enough this year's Number 1 will be on Christmas so that's convenient now isn't it but with that in mind you know how this works every weekday I'll be telling you guy's the best songs of the year also when it comes to some of the songs Ill post videos from whenever I saw these bands live if available which will vary in terms of audio quality but hey it's my list and my memories, so without further ado or much back story as to why this year was so underwhelming in terms of post numbers let's get to it with this bad ass cut:

#20: Dark Black Makeup-Radkey

You know I made it a thing to myself this year to give more local acts a chance and it's been a pleasant experience that my fine local alternative station 96.5 The Buzz has made quite easy and they've managed to really showcase a fine variety of acts that I'll be mentioning later in this list but I figure one of the best way's to kick off this years best of is with one of those tunes and acts in the form of these new age Misfits in the form of Radkey.

Like I've said before this band sounds exactly like an even more badass Danzig but with twice the punk and their album Dark Black Make Up is a fine collection of songs indeed, and I found myself kind of sticking with the Title cut because it's not only a solid blend of punky aesthetics but it showcases that these guy's can really craft a quality hook and it's just fucking bad ass seriously give it a listen.... 

Best of the Rest 2015

#1 Lifted Up(1985)-Passion Pit

So next week the top 20 begins but before then I'd like to take note that the last track to just miss the but Lifted Up(1985) proved that Passion Pit has really crafted a very sugary sweet pop number that most certainly left us all wanting to move this year and while it's not his best it's till keeping in this string of quality singles that he's been doing over the past few years.

Best of the Rest 2015

#2 Hollow Moon(Bad Wolf)-AWOLNATION

This song is fairly typical in that it's an angry track with a killer chorus, a beat you can jump, thrash, and dance to, and a screaming section thrown in to remind you that AWOLNATION is here and he's going nowhere also this song is fucking great live.

Also I'd like to take a second to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving from here at Sam's Song of the Day....

Best of the Rest 2015

#3 The Man Who Broke his own heart-Everclear

So this honestly was one of the most underrated shows I went to this year because I'm not going to lie the first time I saw this band I realized exactly why I talk so much shit on them compared to all their other early/late 90's contemporaries but after seeing them this most recent Summerland tour I have to say my tone has changed they have actually managed to really outdo themselves and not only put on a significantly better show but this song looking back is a really solid single that's kind of armature in it's songwriting at points but even so it's still a welldone bit of angst ridden alternative rock that holds up well to the material these guy's were releasing 20 years ago and have made the most surprisingly good thing I heard all year.

Best of the Rest 2015: #4

#4 Criminals-MS MR

This band puts on one hell of a show and really outdid themselves this year in terms of making some super catchy danceable tracks that leave you wanting to move and groove as you endlessly repeat these tunes over and over again.

This song was my personal favorite from the singles they put out and I'm pretty sure it's probably the song responsible for why I'm making an honorable mentions list this year.

Best of the Rest 2015: #5

Well the end of 2015 is upon us and there's a shit load of quality tunes that have come out and upon finishing my list there's still a few songs that sadly missed the cut so before the list officially starts November 30^th I Figured i'd take the time to post some of the cuts that were great as fuck but didn't quite make the final cut so here's the best of the rest 2015...

#5 Greek Tragedy-The Wombats

This band has spent the last few years consistently releasing some really quality music and while I really liked this song a lot during the early part of the year it just kind of faded off for me as time went on and I couldn't include it's bad ass in the main list but it's still a great tune in it's own right.

The countdown is coming....

So just a quick update for those interested expect constant updates November 30th here at Sam's Song of the day and possibly a series of things the week before but there's a reason for the wait....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Ok people it's Halloween and if you thought for one damn second I wasn't going to post one of my legit picks for one of the greatest pieces of music ever recorded you'd be a damn fool but still seems appropriate to just wait and of course here you go people the tradition continues Happy Halloween from Sam's Song of the day....

EVERYBODY SCREEEEEEEEEEEAM!!!!

So I've come to realize it's almost Halloween people and I haven't posted some of my favorite festive jams or any new one's so let's fix that reaaaaaal quick and do the trick or treat....

Just a friendly update and Band suggestion from me....

What is up world Sam of Sam's Song of the Day here finally taking the time out of my concert induced coma to actually write something up for this god damn blog here aaaaaaaaaaand what a weekend it was for me I got to see the all mighty CHRVCHES and Misterwives all within two day's of one another, got my picture taken and featured on 96.5 The Buzz's facebook and twitter pages, and as of yesterday have started my very own Twitter which you can follow @samihellam or by clicking this text box but like I've said I got to see two amazing shows and at Misterwives I got to see a pretty bad ass band called Waters open for them and I'd like to make note that if you're really into Grouplove I think you'd adore them and if they come to your neck of the woods you should give em a view they're quite the energetic group of performers.

Hmmmmm Sounding Similar?

So people as you know I do love me some 1975 and not too recently they dropped a new single in the form of a little jam known as Love Me which they seem to not want to post the full track on Youtube but you can either listen to it on Spotify or just listen to this preview...





Now as dope as that sounds I just kind of feel it necessary that upon a few listens I've come to realize that this song seems to sound like INXS doing their best rendition of Fame by David Bowie and if you don't believe me well here's the classic in motion for you to compare....





Now this could very well just be me overthinking things but you'd have to admit they do sound really familiar now don't they?

BOOOO!

So it's a scary to think that this month I haven't posted a god damn thing especially considering I've seen some amazing shows over the past few weeks from Catfish and the Bottlemen, MS MR, and of course the all mighty new age Rush in the form of one Coheed and Cambria I've been one busy bee and haven't devoted any time but you know I'm not sure just how much I'll fix that but I can say that the top 20 of 2015 is getting worked on and it'll be well worth the lack of post but until then I'm going to leave this appropriately named tune here because seeing it live was just FUCKING AMAZING!!!

Song of the Day 9/24/15

You know of all the times I've ever had an excuse for the absence my computer deciding to die on me was probably the best I was ever going to have so yeah that happened and now here's a Meg Myers Song...

A Bolt From the Blue-Meg Myers

SO Meg Myers recently released her official Studio album Sorry and I've been giving it a listen and while it's pretty much everything you could possibly expect in the form of a solid collection of songs that don't really exceed many song topics with a few cuts here and there from her Make A Shadow EP it's a good effort that I couldn't really review but there's one song that I'd like to highlight and that's today's cut.

This song straight up is like a Kate Bush tune with the heaviest use of synthesized vocals on the whole album and the most straight forward 80's new-wavey dance pop sound that I honestly thought it was an awkward Spotify Commercial I was hearing up until Meg started singing and actually delivered one surprisingly BAD ASS song that's just the most awesomely groovy cut that feels a lot more natural then a lot of the other synthesizer heavy tracks on that album.

Good stuff people....

Song of the day 9/16/15

Pardon my not posting yesterday I kind of zoned out and had a shit load of other things to get to so I didn't really get to posting a proper song of the day.

The Ground Walks with time in a box-Modest Mouse

You know ever since Float On I’ve been very indifferent with this band because while I’m aware of just how much people adore this group I just can’t really get into them but even on that album they still did Ocean Breaths Salty which is a very unorthodox rocker that I really still enjoy to this day and here they are 11 years later and they’ve finally managed to make a song that’s equally as good as that tune in this single from their newest release.

This song is just a very bouncy number that kind of makes me think a tiny bit of a group like They Might Be Giants with it’s very kind of frantic jumpy sound and its layered vocals and instrumentals along with it’s kind of light hearted tone and almost polka sound….I know I suck at really explaining it sometimes but this song is just fun and kind of doesn’t really feel like them making boring kind of pretentious music and the fact that I’ve yet to get sick of it should really show something…

Song of the Day 9/11/15

Marks to Prove It-The Maccabees

So here we have a very old school sounding rocker that’s kind of a bit of an early 80’s sounding punkish number that kind of pounds along at an amusingly aggressive pace with a chorus that’s kind of undersang and reminiscent of a lot of older acts which is a common thread I’ve noticed more and more these day’s especially since Jack White made it cool to sound old school and play your guitar again….

Song of the Day 9/10/15

So I've been doing my best to cover as many things as I can and there's a band from Missouri that I've wanted to cover for a minute now but it took until them releasing their debut album to finally get some official audio up on Youtube and with that I'd like to present to thee Radkey.

So this band sounds like what would happen if Danzig and The Misfits kind of decided to just play each other at the same time and kick even more ass because it's this kind of broody gothic sound with some deep menacing vocals and a real do it yourself punk ethic that you can't help but find to be so awesome and if you get a chance I'd advise giving their Dark Black Makeup album a listen it's a pretty choice album that's only real flaw is that some of the recordings are a  bit slowed down and not every song is a pure thrash em and leave em banger but minor complaints aside this band is like what Glenn Danzig wishes he could have been...

Song of the Day 9/9/15

Heavydirtysoul-Twenty One Pilots

So contrary to what you read on here I’ve been giving a fair amount of newer music a listen and my Girlfriend introduced me to this group and I actually got her their chart topping album Blurryface when it came out and over time I’ve come to the realization that for whatever reason when I hear this song I keep wanting to replace all the rap parts with lyrics from various Scatman John songs….which is very odd to say the least because this is one of the few REALLY good cuts from that album because it has a really good habit of switching between very rapid and frantic verses into a very smooth and pounding chorus that is really a delight in and of itself and it’s a song that really makes me want to move around and just kind of song along in the most spastically well delivered kind of way.

Song of the Day 9/8/15

AHHHH you have to love long lazy weekends people and while I've been enjoying the perks of spending too much money on yourself throughout a weekend while also spending some quality time with my copy of Final Fantasy 7 I'm here kind of listening around and thinking to myself Sam you need to post about a song but then I'm stuck not sure just what song to cover so I sit there running around in fields doing random encounter after random encounter before I realize that I should give some local slightly smaller artist a listen and with that mind I found myself giving this local act a listen and figuring I could give them another mention on here.

New Oasis-Hembree

Hembree are an alternative rock act from Kansas City that I've seen twice before at two different Buzz shows and they kind of pride themselves in doing this kind of dreamy groove heavy brand of alternative rock that really knows how to get bodies moving and the past year or so of constant touring has managed to really solidify their sound and improves show to show so if they're in your neighborhood you should give them a listen because they're groovy and their cover of Gorillaz Dare is a treat in and of itself.

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY AND I DO WHAT I WANT TO!!!

You know people it’s my birthday and with that in mind I think I’m a post a god damn Smashing Pumpkins Song and for the only reason needed because they’re my favorite band ever!

Now with that in mind I would like to make note of today’s cut which is the Rick Ruben produced and recently unearthed version of Let Me Give the World To You and of course I’ve posted it before and my mind was fucking blown away because it was an almost mythic piece of music that I’ve read about for years but wasn’t even sure if it’d ever be released and one day about a year ago or so one William Patrick Corgan decided to finally give this version a release in the Adore deluxe reissue and the world was blessed with this gem of a tune and now a year later I’ve had a bit of time to reflect on it’s significance.

So when I saw the Smashing Pumpkins this most recent time they were doing a series of songs from Adore and when they said they’d be playing a couple of songs from Adore I yelled this songs name immedietly to which Billy Corgan just kind of stopped for a second and gave this kind of “every Fucking time,” look that was both amusing and obviously aware of the joke before other people started yelling more amusing track suggestions and sadly he didn’t play it but that’s the thing listening to this particular recording in comparison to the one released for MACHINA 2 there’s a different tone in the song because while that version is very struck in the sound of later day Pumpkins tracks and a quality one at that this version has an almost timeless quality to it that’s kind of perplexing because it’s overly acoustic arrangement along with Corgans more subdued vocals give the track a kind of magical feeling that’s very immediately present in the more dirty sounding electronic version on MACHINA but it’s even more real and while I love the song irregardless it’s kind of crazy that it never got a release upon its initial recording because it’s a real game changer of a tune that while I’m not sure if it’d of ever reached the heights of 1979 in terms of chart positions I’m pretty sure it’d of at least gotten them a bit of a prolonged commercial grace period, but even saying that I almost could figure that the song would almost of ended up like the MACHINA version even on Adore but that’s a topic for a different time.

So Happy birthday to me! Baby Let’s Rock!

Song of the Day 9/4/15

Training Wheels-Melanie Martinez

So I gave this album a review and it was a very poorly worded expressing of saying that this album has some damn great songs but it’s subject matter get’s too much in the way of the songs and kind of weighs things down to a point of sounding downright overly repetitive but even if I do have that complaint there’s certain instances where re-listening to the album as a whole and taking time to really digest things kind of leads you to an interesting point where you find odd charms in tunes and that’s really prevalent in this overly romantic tinged but predictably obscenely worded tune that has this delightfully romantic delivery of, “I love everything you do, when you call me fucking dumb for the stupid shit I do,” which just may be the best chorus I’ve heard all year if not at the very least the most amusing, but all that aside it’s an oddly charming tune that almost changes my opinions on the album as it grows on me….

Song of the Day 9/3/15

You Got Spirit Kid-Coheed and Cambria

OK so I’ve been saying for years that this band is a modern day Rush and for whatever reason people don’t want to believe me but finally whenever they decide to not make a concept album but rather just pump out ass kicking non pretentious 70’s sounding rock and roll they finally have made a tune that’s so undeniably Rush that even the most diehard of fans are finally seeing a point to my statements.

Now with that in mind this song is just FUCKING AWESOME it’s a super angrily worded rocker with a fairly reasonable run time and the strongest vocal performance I’ve ever heard Claudio Sanchez do and it’s instrumentals are just pure 70’s awesome people.

Song of the day 9/2/15

Wolves(You Got Me)-Dreamers

So this song is a lot like why I enjoyed a cut like Demon Dance by Surfer Blood in that it’s a very old school sounding alternative rock number with a distinct early 90’s shoe-gaze sound that’s reminiscent of the pixies, lemonheads, and sonic youth in the like with its minimalist productions and very rock oriented grooves that help give it a cooler then you sound that is just improved greatly by vocals that don’t try to be too impressive and fit the word fuck in its chorus.

This song just unquestionably kicks so much ass for me because unlike the vast majority of alternative radio trying to blur the line between pop and rock with their infectiously catchy and danceable beats and overblairing synthesizers or the Jack White impersonating acts that are trying to sound so old school it hurts it’s refreshing to find a song that kind of expresses those same grooves of the old school but don’t come off as a tune trying to be from that time and actually just being a damn good rock and roll number.

Song of the Day 9/1/15

So I was going through my local radio stations back catalogue of songs played trying to find a pretty awesome song and I’m reminded of the excess of newer music that’s come out that’s been pretty good and I figure I may as well tell you guy’s about a few of these cuts since I don’t often post much these days and they seem pretty worthwhile.

Ghost-Halsey

So I was reading a Buzzfeed article a while back that was saying things that teens think are cool these days and amongst the many disappointments of chokers and high wasted shorts one of the things mentioned was this electro-pop artist Halsey who in all honesty upon giving a few of her tunes a listen is kind of what would happen if Ellie Gouldine and Lorde did the fusion dance and that is hella showcased in this very catchy but kind of, “Tennis Court,” sounding number from her newest album.

This song is really solid and I do actually have some enjoyment listening to it but I’m pretty sure that has to do with it’s fairly rapid fire pace and short run time which doesn’t stretch on more the it needs to also I noticed that it along with a few other songs that I’ve given a listen seem to have some fairly lush and well mixed production that gives the songs a very quality sound even if I’m kind of not to honestly impressed by her as a whole but hey she’s the next big thing apparently and I can see her having a good few years ahead of her.

Sam Reiews an album: Cry Baby-Melanie Martinez

You know going on a hiatus is a terrible idea and I'd highly advise never doing it because even though I've been to a shit load of shows over the past 2 months I've been very much dead in terms of actual creative writing and it's been extra difficult to REALLY be motivated to tell you guy's just how awesome it is to see so many different bands and what not but today seems kind of interesting because not only is Straight Out of Compton out but one Melanie Martinez has released her full length studio debut album Cry Baby and to my excitement I've been giving it a proper listen and well i have a few things to say in a fairly compact matter so let's quit fucking around and do yet another Sam Reviews an album....

So Cry Baby it's a 13 song story of a little girl who's parents are alcoholics who cheat on each other and fuck up her life by distorting her moral compass and making her proceed to both murder and act in a mischievous manor and beyond that story there's not much else in this album besides a shit load of clever word play and some interestingly twisted things over what's very childish instrumentals that add to Martinez's twisted nature and give the album a kind of disturbingly wholesome feel.

In all honesty this album has about 6 killer tracks and the rest just kind of feel more in place to sound catchy and carry along a certain feel to it's aesthetic and story which isn't bad at all especially when some of them are performed live and kind of take a life of their own like the opening track Cry Baby which on here is a kind of tame number with one of the best uses of the word fuck in the whole album which completely changes around and becomes a viciously awesome number in a live environment which was my biggest disappointment when it came to this album but that disappointment is quickly set aside when you reach tracks like Dollhouse and Pity Party which just kind of have a really manic vibe that leads you to just kind of want to freak out along with her and really help hype the story being told.

There's also instances of slower songs really working like Soap which is a kind of dreamy number that musically does a good job of being kind of calming but with a really moveable beat and a chorus that kind of sticks along even if the rest of it is fairly typical stuff, and beyond that the rest of the album tracks don't have any super stand out tracks that are that good or bad for that matter so what I'm stuck with is more a solidly good album that leaves me wanting to listen to it more and seeing just how it develops over time.

Score: 6.5/10

Hits: Pity Party, Soap, Dollhouse

Misses: Cry Baby, Alphabet Boy

Posting Regularly on Facebook

Yo people I'm aware that I rarely have much to really post on here but I do make an effort to keep the Official Facebook Page updated fairly often so you guy's should click this article to go there and keep up on some of the various things coming out that have me hyped and of course like the page while you're at it....

Sam Reviews a Show: The Homegrown Buzz Showcase

So I was at a show the other night and it was a bit of a showcasing of some of Kansa City’s finest local music acts thrown by local alternative station 96.5 the Buzz and it was a pretty good time people and I figured I can take the 30 seconds to inform you guy’s of some acts that you should be on the lookout for if they’re having a show near you.

The Greeting Committee

So here we have a group of some young kids or at the very least I think they looked young as hell that are making music that’s not honestly the most original thing you’ve ever heard but even if it’s not completely breaking the mold it’s done DAMN well and their set was very tight, energetic, and hella fun to see because they just put all their efforts into making all the people there want to listen and the songs were solidly good especially their closer a lovely little love song by the name of Hands Down which in and of itself may be the best Modern Love song to of been made and I can only hope that it breaks them or at the very least ends up being put into some cheesy but lovely little date flick but really this group kicks ass and hopefully the rest of the country picks up on them soon.

  

Hembree

I had the pleasure of talking to some of the members of this band before and after the show and realized that I’ve actually seen them before at one of the other free shows that get thrown on by the Buzz and while the first time I remember they had to deal with Opening band Syndrome they do a really REALLY fun cover of Dare by the Gorillaz which I pointed out and they added to their set because yeah it was bad ass, but covers aside this time around they really seemed to of tightened up their sound since the last time I saw them and I found myself really digging their groovy sound and how there’s a natural feeling to their performance and of course they also looked like they were having a hell of a time.

This band really is composed of some cool dudes and if you get to see them you really should they’re quite fun.

 

Outsides

So these guys were the headliner of the nights festivities and they were yet another unfortunate case of the opening band syndrome when I saw them at The Night the Buzz Stole Christmas but I actually do have their album downloaded onto my computer because when I saw them they gave out free download codes to get the record and in all honesty it’s a pretty solidly 80’s new wavey sounding record with some solid stuff but there’s also a pretty big jump in quality once you see them performing the songs live because kind of like Hembree these guy’s got extra tighter since the last time I saw them and they looked like they were both having the best time ever and really wanted to put on a show that left people wanting more it was a tight collection of New Wave sounding numbers that were energetic and quite fun with a couple of newer songs thrown in to showcase some solid work and of course they did a cover of Toto’s Africa which was FUCKING AWESOME!!!!

These guy’s really have done something good and their song Just Curious is actually quite a bad ass little tune that is kind of a dreamy Depeche Mode meets INXS sounding number that really capped off their set before a solid encore.

 

Kansas City has some fine music coming out of it people and these are just a few acts that decided to go out and really show us what they’re made of and I think every one of them could do something and if you can you totally need to see them.

Sam Suggest A Song: Walk off the Earth-Cheerleader

So there's this kind of sleeper hit starting to get some steam by a guy named Omi called Cheerleader which is this kind of semi island inspired smooth little jam that for whatever reason or another in utter simplicity manages to be one fairy amusingly memorable tune about how he's with a girl so good that he has no reason to ever want to cheat on her.

It's a simple number with fairly basic production that just kind of floats along at a simple pace and doesn't really seem to build up to anything super spectacular but for some reason it works and today as I was just kind of hopping around on Youtube and ended up on this cover of that track done by Walk off the Earth who if you don't remember did this really cool Gotye Cover on one guitar because you know gimmicks are the key to get yourself out there in this music market, and ever since then they've seemed to keep busy maintaining a fair amount of views and releasing more and more music as they go along and apparently they've decided to do another gimmicky video with a more Jason Maraz sounding rendition of that song and the end result is actually kind of charming.

It's pretty cool from the beginning that they seem to decide to use their entire tour bus as both an instrument and performance space by doing some Stomp style banging around for production before adding more traditional instruments and then sitting around a drum set simultaneously banging it which is a pretty cool effect to look at and vocally this is actually a really strong showing from these guy's because the years of getting better touring dates and more of a chance to work in real studios seems to have made them all gel even better and their harmonies are pretty on point especially with a fairly soft tune like this one which just kind of gives them a whole lot of room to really do a fair amount with.

This really is quite a good showing and while I'm not super big on promoting Youtube covers this one's still pretty good....

Sam Reviews a Show: The Smashing Pumpkins Live in Kansas City 6/22/15

So last night I got to see The Smashing Pumpkins at the Midland here in Kansas City for their Plain Songs acoustic-electric shows they've been doing as a warm up before the End of Times tour with Marilyn Manson and I'm not going to lie it was a pretty fucking spectacular time people and sadly enough I don't have any pictures of the show because of a combination of having a pretty ghetto phone and the fact that Senor Corgan and company didn't want people to be taking a bunch of pictures which didn't stop some people from trying it just stopped me so I could enjoy the amazement.

Although I will make note that there was an opening act on this show in the form of a singer song writter known as Katie Cole that actually did a pretty damn good job opening even though there wasn't hardly anyone at the venue up until the pumpkins set but still props for her and when she joined them onstage later in the night to sing along and even do the majority of vocal duties for a very VERY AMAZING rendition of Stand Inside Your Love there was a bit of a heart glow around her.

So all that aside Plainsong for those who aren't aware is a series of Acoustic shows that Billy Corgan seems to be throwing as both a means of warming up for his upcomming tour and of course kind of testing out some newish material and updated versions of Live only tracks he's been playing since around 2009, like 99 Floors which has shaped up into a very noteworthy tune in it's own right, also these shows are very heavy in Adore era cuts and various other album cuts like The Crying Tree of Mercury from their MACHINA effort.

Overall there was an increadibly relaxed tone to the whole show that really didn't have a full band at any point but rather Billy and Jeff Schroder with a Drum machine which in all honesty kind of harks back to the bands beginnings back in 1988 and also this was probably the most loose I've ever seen Billy Perform because when I saw them the last two times he was very tight in his playing and kind of straight faced and rapid fire through each song and this time around he was walking around, interacting with the crowd( with a really funny gesture during Run2Me), and overall just kind of taking this show as him wanting to and having a great time and it showed because even when Ava Adore's track fucked up and accidentally playing over again he just kind of said fuck it and restarted the song and let the crowd have a better chance to sing along.

The Setlist for this show was as I said earlier REALLY heavy in Adore cuts which I'm not going to complain about one bit because they played all my favorite songs from that album and honestly almost made me cry when they got to For Martha which was heartwreanchingly amazing and the acoustic renditions of the staple hits and pumpkins tracks where also spectacular as well with a serious highlight to Tonight, Tonight which was probably the best opening to any show I've ever seen in my entire life period.

So yeah this was a night for Pumpkins fans, filled with Pumpkins fans, and sure to be enjoyed by all pumpkins fans and I was more then glad I got to be there because it was worth every penny and I'd love for Billy Corgan and company to do more of these types of intimate evening type shows because their amazing also I'd like to see that Katie Cole chick go on to bigger things because she's a pretty charming act or at the very least maybe become a permanent member....just saying she fit in pretty well...but all things aside one huge recommendation from me and if this video from one of the earlier shows doesn't convince you then well..thanks for hopefully letting me get a closer ticket for the next show..

Perfect 10's: A Fever You Can't Sweat Out-Panic! at the Disco

So I'll have all sorts of irrelevant thoughts come to mind through out the day's but I seem to have a hard time really wording them which is why I almost never post on here anymore it's hard to really justify putting out sub optimal articles even if I do that fairly often but that's besides the point because I was talking to my Girlfriend a couple of nights ago and we were talking about some of her favorite bands and it occured to me that a decent amount of acts from about 10 years ago are a little too similar in terms of just how their careers laid out and I found myself comparing the year 2005 to 1991 in that there was about 3 BIG artist that kind of broke into the mainstream and defined a genre as a whole and if you're curious obviously the big 3 for 1991 the year of my birth BY THE WAY!!! ALSO MAYBE ONE OF IF NOT THE GREATEST YEARS IN MUSICAL HISTORY!!!!! were of course Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and The Red Hot Chilie Peppers who all had their biggest records and produced some of the most essential and successful alternative records of all time and it's kind of odd because that year was an impressively eclipsing debut album and two semi established acts having their commercial break and that happened again but rather then it being Grunge we had Emo have it's phase.

If you're not aware arguably the BIG 3 for the Emo boom in 2005 were Fallout Boy, Panic! At the Disco, and My Chemical Romance with of course two of them breaking through with their second album and the other having a stellar debut album which is actually the topic of today's article but for future reference if you're interested in hearing more into this I'll make those connections in a later article but for now let's discuss this perfect 10 of an album.

So if you were to ask me I'd have to say that the band that Panic! most remind me of in terms of how their career has turned out I'd have to say they're a lot like Weezer and I say this because their Debut Album is pretty much a pitch perfect collection of songs that in all honesty have no flaw's to be found and even at their worst or overplayed are perfect power pop numbers that are full of energy, clever song writting, and of course are catchy as fuck and while their second album is the better in both cases both of their second records were kind of critically under appreciated upon release and in time have been more then snubbed out by the band in question even if they're honestly the strongest records of those bands career and also in both cases both bands first album still remains their most treasured and highest sellers which is for a pretty good reason.

Now let's go back and note the things that I said were this albums strong points starting with the most important probably the fact that from beginning to end you are blasted with this kind of combination of synth heavy danceable and ever so electronic tracks that balance just enough fake instruments with the real deal to help highlight a series of songs that oddly enough was probably the strongest Brendon Urie was able to do in the course of this bands history because it's the perfect balance of kind of cheeky and dirty tunes that are meant as nothing more then fun sing alongs(I write sins not Tragedies, There's a reason these tables are numbered honey..., Lying is the Most Fun a girl can have...) and even a few songs here and there that are actually pretty serious in tone like Camsicado which is about his alcoholic father. The songs on this album are fairly natural really and listening to them through and through you can't help but want to learn all the words and sing along because even 10 years later they're still as amusingly refreshing as they were when these guy's were the biggest band on the planet.

Another thing this album has going for it is the fact that the first half of it is an electronic affair while the second half takes more a rock-ish at times almost cabaret approach which helps to break up the monotony that keyboard heavy records have and also it showcases that this band did actually have a lot more variety in them then you'd expect from their genre.

Now of course I will have to make note that the whole thing of your song titles being paragraphs of unnecessarily that they straight copied from the likes of Fallout Boy is annoying as fuck but in all honesty when that's the only bad thing you can come up with for this album you realize just why it broke them through and why we all have yet to be able to lose our nostalgia goggles when we listen to it because we all still remember just how awesomely big I Write Sins was and to this day you know if it comes on you'll still know every god damn word.

Re-Listening to this album is quite a trip still and what annoys me is that this band made a real leap forward in terms of musical direction with Pretty. Odd. even if it's songwritting wasn't on par but then because it didn't quite measure up they've spent the last couple of albums regressing and making more pop minded attempts at recreating this album which is a shame because it's the complete lack of them trying to be anything more then a bunch of young hungry kids making a record that really give this some character and strength they had nothing to prove and made a classic of their genre because of it too bad they had to follow it up but hey that's life and that's been another edition of Perfect 10's.

Quality Cuts: Camsicado, The Only Difference..., Time to dance, There's a reason these tables are numbered honey..., I Write Sins not tragedies

Sam Reviews a Video Songs I can't Listen To-Neon Trees

So Tyler Glenn is out and proud...wait we already knew that so I guess this video is just more him being adorable as hell showcasing the build up and decline of a relationship inter-spliced with band shots, some performance clips, and other random shit to kind of showcase the point of how emotions effect us all....and that's about it as typical as it sounds I'm highly disappointing really because this song is a pretty bad ass bit of 80's new wavey rock goodness and the video isn't really anything at all so I guess you can say rather then being underwhelmed with the single this time I just feel that way towards the music video....

Song of the Day 6/3/15

So after blasting the ever loving fuck out of that new Melanie Martinez single I decided to actually go back and re-listen to the song it's basically an interpretation on and realized that that song came out 50 years ago....shit son time is a crazy thing but either way it's interesting really that she's done a modernized take on a very sad but catchy number...

Sam Sugguest a Song Pity Party-Melanie Martinez

So as I'm going around Facebook I see that one Melanie Martinez has posted a video for a new single called Pity Party and I'm not going to lie this song is dope as fuck people.

Now the video is just simply her doing some fucked up stuff and trying to make a dark and very disturbing showcasing of how nobody seems to love her and to help support the usage of Leslie Gore's, "It's My Party," to create a kind of re-imagining of sorts that has this very Dubsteppy beat to go along with a tune that I'm more then sure is playing along with some grander theme of Cry Baby as an upcomming album which should really interest me considering that after a couple of listens I really do now have complete interest in that she probably has made a record that'll be the surprise of the year....

Song of the Day 5/29/15

So I was at work and this song just kind of randomly came to mind and the fact that Playing the Angel probably had the strongest first few tracks of any album I've ever heard while also being a fairly religiously heavy record about repent and life which after 10 years is starting to finally show up to me which is kind of odd considering this track is an overly political piece that was very much accurate to my thoughts and feelings at the time and this little fan video is something to this day I still stand by....

Song of the Day 5/28/15

So for whatever reason I just can't get enough of this awesomely new wave tune in the form of Neon Tree's newest ode to a failed relationship in the form of this faced paced energetic rocker, "Songs I can't Listen To," which is an awkwardly appropriate tune when the occasions right and one accurate side effect of relationships gone wrong in it's exclamations of how music really can take you to a time and  a place and whenever someone ends something good those songs go with it which is saddening but still at the very least we can all accept it and of course rock out to this song which sounds like it'd of fit nicely tucked away in the middle of Picture Show.

Song of the Day 5/27/15

I remember being told about this song by my lady friend and upon giving it a listen it came off as very familiar because I think i remember hearing it after seeing it posted on my local alternative rock stations Facebook page but I didn't immediately get to posting about it because I needed time to really see how this tune would sit on me and in time it's done pretty decent.

This song is kind of like some T-Rex inspired Glam rocker sang by a guy that looks like a cross between Hozier and the guy from The Darkness and it's very 70's sound is only proven to be so much more awesome whenever he hits those glam inspired notes when refraining the line, "your electric LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!!" which gives the song a very space like quality that's pretty well represented by it's colorful and amusing music video.

So if you want some throwback awesomeness I'd highly advise blasting this tune....

Song of the Day 5/26/15

So I am the worst blogger in the world because for lack of a better word I have absolutely no motivation what so ever to really come up with these this month because I've been focusing on a shit load of other things that have been taking form for me and to say that it's difficult for me to really REALLY write about music is a bit of an understatement but among anything that's been worth writing about I recently decided to do my wonderful girl friend something nice and I recently got her a copy of the new Twenty One Pilots album Blurryface and upon realizing that I had a free audio rip of the album because you know Amazon is a thing I've taken the time to give it  a listen and it's not a bad record per say but it's still not completely selling me on this band as something worth just completely investing myself into but admittedly there's quite a few solidly good poppy tracks that will get you moving like the opening track, "Heavydirtysoul," which is a very steadily paced kind of thumping dance track that has their patented rapped vocals intermixed with some kind of dub steppy sounding instruments and after that you're getting a fair amount of other electronic heavy tracks and a lot of reggae which is interesting but that's not really the focus here because there's kind of one super stand out track that's today's highlight.

Tear in my heart-Twenty One Pilots

So this song in all honesty is the most refreshing thing on that album because it's the most rock of any track I've heard on that album and it manages to really take that kind of we're two dopey looking white guy's that like to bash drums and scream out oddly rapped vocals over a earworm of a chorus that will kind of move things along in a very poppy way quite effectively and that's rather enjoyable for me because it helps make the line about filling potholes with more cement the most charming thing I've probably heard this year and of course its' kind of cute to put your head on someone's shoulder while you sing along with that.

I can't say too many things about this band in all honesty but their music is hella fun for the A.D.D. generation of instagram social media focused kids...

You know what grinds my gears?!?!?!

Yes you read that right I'm a steal this bitch right from Family Guy because there's a topic that's been on my mind for a minute and I wanna bitch about it so bear with me because I'm a hella go on a bit of a vulgarity laden romp through my opinion people and the topic that's got my gears grinding today.....Covers.

Ok now I'm not saying that I dislike the idea of one artist covering another artist music at all in fact I've covered that topic plenty of times on here just look back at the old two-fer Tuesday post and you'll see plenty of covers that I found to be very interesting and in many cases pretty fucking good but too often these day's I'm running into many of the uninformed masses of individuals that seems to constantly parade this idea that some cover version of a tune is better then the originals in one to many cases and that shit really annoys the fuck outta me.

My problem with that is simple...people are wrong there's a very VERY small list of songs that I could fully consider to be superior to the originals and after that about 98 1/4% of every other cover isn't as good and it's simple really because there's no reason that you should say person A isn't as good as person B's because if person A didn't kick so much ass then why would person B cover them and also in most cases covering a song is only really done to boost any particular audiences attention to any act because you're showcasing your talents with a tune they don't have to really put a whole lot of thought into and it's a quick dollar.

So in conclusion if you think that Metallica did any song better then anyone else, you think Shinedown's rendition of simple man is good, or you feel like telling me that any cover you heard on the internet by some schlub who couldn't get the views on the merits of their own music deserves to not be allowed to leave the house without an accompanying helmet because you're wrong and the fact that you think you're right really grinds my gears....

Perfect 10's: Mezmerized-System of a Down

So a couple of weeks ago I was watching a recording of System of a Down's free show up in Armenia and after being blown away by the sheer awesomeness of them blasting through a catalog of awesome album cuts and singles I was motivated to grab my copy of Mezmerize/Hyptotize and give that a listen and that's where today's post comes to mind.


We all have a small list of albums that we've heard that in all honesty from beginning to end there isn't a single tune that is bad in all honesty the whole album from beginning to end is all killer with pretty much no filler and after kind of reliving my middle/high school nostalgia fueled excitement I thought to myself that I should highlight such records and with that in mind I'm a do a little segment called Perfect 10's which in all honesty is just a term I'm  using to describe an album that from beginning to end is all great with no dips in quality at all.....in my humble opinion and since this album was the first one to come to mind I figured fuck it why not.

Mezmerize was System of a Downs 4th studio album released on May 17, 2005 and was the first half of a double album with the second half Hypnotize released about 6 months later and while they should be observed as a whole album in all honesty I find Mezmerize to be such a superior product in it's own right that I often just kind of keep forgetting about Hypnotize even though it is a solid album in it's own right but that's not the thing we're talking about here.

From beginning to end this album is an all our assault on your senses just brimming with fast paced rockers and amazing guitar work through and through with the right blend of super obscured and awkward lyrics like Cigarago and Violent Pornography that are merely there to kind of make you listen so you can come to realize like every album this band has done it's an incredibly politically charged work that shines very heavily in it's biggest cut B.Y.O.B. and Sad Statue the latter of which has some of the most impressive guitar work I've heard from this band probably ever and actually wiht that in mind the middle eastern influence in guitar tones is more overt in this album especially in a track like Revenga.

Overall this album really shines for me because it just doesn't let up at any points it's a hard hitting effort of amazingly well done songs that for whatever reason or another haven't aged like their contemporaries and when i come to realize it's been 10 years since it came out and it still pounds as amazingly great now as it did then I'm only more impressed.

Really if you haven't given this a listen and you want some Heavy Metal that's more then just breakdowns and screamed vocals then you should own this album 10/10 highly recommended.

Quality Cuts: Sad Statue, Old School Hollywood, Violent Pornography, and Questions?