7 Albums: Rocking 2014

So this is my first article in a very long time, a lot has happened since 20 January 2013 (Wow that's also almost 2 years, that just shows how incredibly fast time flies) lots of films have been watched, many games have been played, and thousands of songs have been listened to, which is what I want to turn my attention to for this (comeback) article.

I was sat in my office the other day wondering what albums had truly hit me sideways. So I decided later that evening, at home, that I would look through my Itunes that night and see what albums had stood out, to be honest, there wasn't a great amount (hence the title is sat at 7 and not at 10 or 15), I have been listening to a lot of remixed tracks and a lot of different genre's, ranging from Chillstep (which is becoming one of my favourite genres) to Hardcore Rock to Classical Music and Opera, Individual tracks, rather than albums, so some may think that this article is unfair as I haven't listened to many albums this year, but I wanted to share with the people that do look at this blog, what music I did enjoy this year.

So here it is in no particular order, my rocking 2014 album selection:

Royal Blood - Royal Blood (Released 25th August 2014)

“YOU MADE A FOOL OUT OF ME, AND TOOK THE SKIN OFF MY BACK RUNNING”

Favourite Track of Album: Out of the Black

This duo (that sound like a quartet) hail from Brighton and have been around since 2013, they put the meteoric in meteoric rise, what they have accomplished in a year some bands struggle to produce in 20 years, it is simply put, incredible how they have managed to achieve such status in such a short space of time. After hearing a few of their early tracks on the E.P they released before this, I was extremely excited by them, as soon as you hear them play, you can feel your pulse elevate and want to jump around like a looney (maybe it’s just me). Critics are stating they are the bringing back the British Rock ‘n’ Roll scene, which after listening to this album, is something I believe in. It is nothing short of brilliant, brilliantly produced, brilliantly sung and brilliantly recorded. The best thing about Royal Blood is that they have mastered the art of sticking to simplistics, simple rhythms, simple riffs and simple choruses, for me it works excellently and it’s a real testament to Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher’s talent. If you just want to rock out and not have a care in the world, this is the album for you.

 Royal Blood - Out of the Black

Slipknot - .5: The Gray Chapter (Released 21st October 2014)

“THIS SONG, IS NOT FOR THE LIVING, THIS SONG IS FOR THE DEAD”

Favourite Track of Album: The Devil In I

After Paul Gray’s tragic death, Slipknot’s freight-train came to an almighty stop and everyone including themselves were left questioning if the band could get past this tragedy. If they were going to continue without Gray’s creative genius, they were going to have to turn a new page in their already stellar career. I can confirm that this album is something different, something very dark, I have been very fortunate in my short time on this planet not to have lost anyone truly close to me, I can’t begin to imagine the pain that has been left behind in his “brothers” hearts, and this album goes someway to showing how they feel. There is a raw emotion throughout this album that is like no other album I have had the pleasure of listening to, you can truly feel their pain, through the lyrics and the instruments used. I must say that this is the most accessible and listenable Slipknot album since they released their very first album Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. Corey Taylor’s voice is as gravelly and brutal as ever, but the massive roars and rally cries that come out of his mouth are as every bit integral to the feeling of this album as the instruments are. I would say to any hard rock fan that this is an absolute, must buy and is without doubt, one of my favourite albums of all time. Here is to many more years at the top for Slipknot and the Maggots!

 Slipknot - The Devil In I

The Madden Brothers - Greetings from California (Released 16th September 2014)

“I WANT YOU TO SEE, THAT I NEED TO BE FREE”

Favourite Track of Album: We Are Done

Most people will think that this is a new band, with a great fresh sound, and you would be correct with this assumption….partly. The Madden Brothers are in actual fact a founding part of a relatively largely followed group called Good Charlotte *queue the massive ooooohs and ahhhhhs* Indeed the 2 brothers who hail from Los Angeles have decided to go with a different sound than Good Charlotte, and they have done so extremely well, the reason I started to listening to this album was because I listened to We Are Done on FIFA 15, so I thought I would listen to the rest of the album to see what it was like, (little did I know that the Madden Brothers were in actual fact THEE Madden Brothers and had come under a new alias, Good Charlotte were one of my favourite bands growing up). There is a really fresh Pop Rock sound to this album, and it flows really well from the start with Dear Jane to the finish with Empty Spirits, unusually the brothers decided to use a 2 Disc set up rather than sticking all the songs on 1 CD, which I still have no Idea why they did, but it’s a somewhat unique feature. I really liked this album because it felt like the band that I loved in my younger years just with a significantly different sound. I wouldn’t say it was a must buy, but a definite YouTube search would suffice so you could see what you think. I personally enjoyed this new venture for the brothers and will certainly look forward to future releases with them.

The Madden Brothers - We Are Done

Linkin Park - The Hunting Party (Released 17th June 2014)

"TELL ME WHAT'S WORTH FIGHTING FOR, WHEN WE KNOW THERE'S NOTHING MORE"

Favourite Track of Album: All For Nothing

Anyone who knows me personally, or anyone that has read any of my articles, will know that Linkin Park are one of favourite bands, I have every one of their CD’s and this one was pre-ordered the day it was announced. I have to be honest this entry maybe slightly bias as this isn't one of Linkin Park’s strongest album’s. Hunting Party definitely goes back to Linkin Park’s roots of heavy riffs and brings in some new features like the Guitar solos which are cleverly crafted to help bridge some songs and end some others. It is a good entry into their discography without doubt. Allowing other famous faces into this album was also a very clever move that looks to of paid off, Page Hamilton, Damon Malakian, Tom Morello and old school Rap master Rakim all play their part in this album. If you are a Linkin Park enthusiast like me then this is an absolute must buy regardless of the fact that it isn’t their strongest album, but if you’re a newcomer to the scene then I would definitely start at the beginning of Linkin Park’s discography with Hybrid Theory, a strong entry and definitely one of the highlight’s of 2014 for music.

Linkin Park - All for Nothing

 Switchfoot - Fading West (Released 14th January 2014)

“LOVE ALONE IS THE WORTH THE FIGHT”

Favourite Track of Album: BA55

 Like Linkin Park, Switchfoot are one of my favourite bands, they are one of the few bands that when I listen to them, regardless of my mood, they bring out the happiness inside of me, and that is something I truly admire about them. The thing with Switchfoot is that they an absolutely amazing band, but whether through their own choice or just the fact they are based in a different continent they are not very well publicised which I find extremely hard to understand, if they were given the right stage they would be one of the biggest bands in the world. Anyway, about the album, it is the usual Switchfoot, that beachy feel and massive sense of warmth within their songs, they are an extremely experienced band and this record shows, it has a traditional sound of Switchfoot with a twist and a softer tone. For people that haven’t had the opportunity to listen to this band, please, I urge you to go and listen to their music; it is nothing short of stunning. I cannot recommend them enough and this entry into their discography is an excellent one at that, an absolute must buy for any surfer that enjoys their rock.

Switchfoot - BA55

Of Mice and Men - Restoring Force (Released 28th January 2014)

“I CAN’T, STOP OR SLOW DOWN, I NEVER HAVE, AND NEVER WILL”

Favourite Track of Album: Break Free

I bought tickets to Linkin Park for November 2014, and Of Mice & Men were supporting them, so I thought I would research the group as I had heard their name just not any of their music, I youtube’d one song, and it actually scared me how heavy they were (said the slipknot fanboy) it completely turned me off musically and I was dreading there performance before Linkin Park. When they started at the O2, their first song, was just a barrage of noise with an awesome drop, the bass just smashed straight into my heart, and since that moment, my opinion of them completely changed, although some of their earlier staff is extremely heavier they have matured as a group in this latest addition. Restoring Force is exactly that, a Tour De’ Force of musical brutality, it is excellent; it really gets the blood pumping and is definitely something to be marvelled at by metalcore enthusiasts. Parts of it aren’t as heavy (Break Free) than others (Public Service Announcement which was the first song they played at the O2) but it is an extremely well balanced record and they are a band I will definitely be keeping an eye on for future releases.

Of Mice & Men - Break Free

Yellowcard - Lift a Sail (Released 7th October 2014)

“WE CAN LIVE LIKE WE ARE FOREVER”

Favourite Track of Album: One Bedroom

Yellowcard are the final piece to the trio of bands that I consider my favourite bands, they have been around since 1997 with their first album being Midget Tossing (odd name right?) and have excelled ever since, the Californian band are now extremely experienced and know exactly what their fans want. For me Yellowcard have always been able to effortlessly go from one album to another, creating a new feel to their music while keeping what makes them awesome in the new album. This album in parts can be a complete disconnection from previous albums of Yellowcard; however this isn't a bad thing as it shows their diversity and their willingness to create something new and fresh. This is one of my favourite albums of Yellowcard, along with Ocean Avenue and Southern Air and I would urge any newbies to the genre to go and get this, its slow in parts and has some wicked guitar solo’s in others (One Bedroom). I have seen this band live once and am going to see them again in February 2015, which I am really looking forward to because they are born performers. On a side note, I and my fiancée have also chosen One Bedroom as our first dance at our wedding, its something different, and is everything we want to say to each other, so we are both super excited about that moment. GO OUT AND BUY THIS ALBUM!

Yellowcard - One Bedroom

So there you have it my best albums of 2014, like it, Share it, Comment on it. Let me know what you think. I must say it feels good to write an article again.

Josh BRCB

Linkin Park - Living Things

Linkin Park - Living Things

What seems like an age since “A Thousand Suns”, finally Linkin Park have released their much awaited fifth studio album which is once again produced by the brilliant Rick Rubin and the band’s very own lyrical genius that is Mike Shinoda.

I have been alongside Linkin Park since the very first days, when they created Hybrid Theory way back in 2000, when I was only 10 (WOW that seems a lifetime ago). I have enjoyed every single one of their albums, all in different ways, because they all contribute to music in different ways, this album is absolutely no different from the rest of them, it contributes...........a lot.

This morning I woke up to a complete an utter surprise, with their album being posted through my letter box 3 days earlier than it was supposed to be released, I suppose I have HMV to thank for that. It didn’t take me too long to put it in to my CD player to see what they had created, over the past couple of weeks they have given a good account of what was to come with the early releases of “Burn It Down” and “Lies, Greed, Misery” (on Radio 1 and the new Medal of Honor trailer), both of these songs are brilliant, and gave a good account of the bands diversity, but as the old saying goes, leave the best till last and in this case they left all the talking to do with the actual album.

The name of the tracks are quite different from the other albums, denoting a certain fragility that the other albums haven’t, songs names like “Castle of Glass”, “Powerless”, “Victimized”, “Lost In The Echo” and “Tinfoil”, certainly far away from the likes of “Papercut”, “Crawling”, “Easier to Run”, “Bleed it Out”, “The Catalyst” and “Burning in the Skies” (respectively from “Hybrid Theory”, “Meteora”, “Minutes to Midnight” and “A Thousand Suns”.)

So the album opens up with “Lost In The Echo” which is by far my most favourite song of this album (apart from “Victimized”) and what you will first realise is that Mike Shinoda is heavily involved in this song, with Chester Bennington just singing the chorus, Shinoda proves once again that he has some awesome lyrics in his arsenal (“Ya’ll go hard I’ll go smart”), and it certainly helps Chester out with the rest of the song, it gives it a real flow, which is why I really like this song, it also brings back Chester’s incredibly strong “screamy” voice, which I have personally missed on the last couple of albums.

Next up is “In My Remains”, this shows Chester’s impressive vocal range , getting half way through this song makes you realise that Linkin Park have done it again and they have created another excellent album, throughout this song Chester shows his soulful side with some beautiful vocals.

“Burn It Down” is the next song on the list and I am sure a lot of people have already heard this song, due to getting quite a bit of air play on various radio stations, this is a brilliant song and definitely shows fusion between their older and newer material, with heavy synths involved through, I am sure this is going to be a hit with a wider audience.

"Choke on your lies, swallow up your greed, Suffer all alone in your misery"

Like “Burn It Down”, “Lies, Greed, Misery” also shows the fusion. Mike once again takes the reins on this song with Chester singing the chorus and the end. I personally think that this is going to have a lot of people singing along to it, the lyrics are very catchy, very fast and, yes I’m going to say it, very furious. Without doubt one of the best songs they have created in recent years.

“I’ll Be Gone”, shows yet again that Chester has an extremely large vocal range and continues to be one of the best in the business for a rock and soulful voice, some great lyrics.

“Castle of Glass”, combines both Chester and Mike’s voice which suit each other’s very well, like I said earlier you certainly get the idea of fragility from this song, very powerful and very good lyrics,  by now I’m thinking that this could be my favourite album of the year maybe even of Linkin Park’s.

"Time has come for you............VICTIMIZED"

Up next is “Victimized”, and after listening to this song it certainly makes you feel like a victim, simply because Chester just uses his voice to barrage your ears with anger and awesomeness, the only let down on this album so far, at just 1min 47secs long it is rather short, but what it doesn’t do in time it certainly gets the point across which is why this is also one of my favourite songs on the album, it certainly shows that Chester is still as good as he used to be. Brutal.

From “Victimized” you are effortlessly glided into “Roads Untraveled” which is a very nice song with Mike singing the majority of the song. Very calm and collected quite the opposite of “Victimized” but it helps to keep the equilibrium of the album, part "screamy", part melodic.

"Ash to Ashes, Dust to Dust, Skin to Bone and Steel to Rust"

“Skin to Bone”, is lyrically very simple, with the same lyrics said over again, my least favourite song but still very catchy and a very good song, sets the album up for the finale with 3 songs to go.

 

“Until It Breaks”, mostly shows Mikes ability to rap very well, lyrics that could easily be used in a rap battle, extremely good song with a good beat, also one of my favourites as it shows the whole band singing together (saw the making of the album and saw them sing together), something maybe they should think about doing more as it adds a very nice touch to the album, however like they always say “too much of a good thing is bad for you”.

Linkin Park is one of those bands that enjoys embracing the whole bands talents not just their singing ability which I really applaud, the second to last song “Tinfoil” shows Joe Hahn’s ability to create his own canvas with his own song which is shown in his previous works such as “Session” which was released in “Meteora”, so this sets it up very nicely for the finale.

“Powerless” is the finale song on Living Things and is very good ending to what is a brilliant accomplishment for the band, very slow, and extremely powerful (excuse the wording considering the song name), brilliant lyrics and beautiful voices.

And there we have it, 2 years of waiting is over, was it worth wait.................Hell Yeah! This album is awesome to say the least, I have already listened to it 3 times through and I have had it 9 hours. Brilliant addition to their stupidly good discography, the thing I would change would be the length of the songs, however they wouldn’t be the correct songs if they were longer, so in another words I wouldn’t change anything, some people may complain at the fact there isn’t an awful lot of screaming or metal, however they are going to have to accept this as Linkin Park.

Chester, Mike, Rob, Brad, Dave , Joe you have yet again created a brilliant album, Well Done, I already I cannot wait for your next album, and I am definitely looking forward to the remixed version of this album.

One question I do want to ask, do you think Linkin Park could successfully do a dubstep album?

20 Songs That Changed My World

So I have decided to right this entry because I feel that it will be interesting for people to get to know me a bit better and maybe you can understand my musical preferences. I hope you enjoy.



Bon Jovi – It’s My Life



Linkin Park Hybrid Theory

Where? On my way to one of my first major swimming competitions on the radio.
Why? This song eased me into liking rock

Linkin Park – In the End

Where? On Kerrang
Why? This introduced me to Linkin Park and the “Nu Metal” scene

P.O.D – Youth of the Nation

Where? After listening to “Alive” I heard this song straight after

Why? Instantly loved the lyrics and what it stood for.

Staind – It’s a Been While

Where? On a compilation album called “Supercharged”.
Why? This  introduced me to the more depressing side of alternative rock.



Devotchka How it Ends Cover



Blue October – Hate Me

Where? First heard this song on VH1 music channel.
Why? Was played countless times on my IPod when I was going through a bad time.

Devotchka – How It Ends

Where? Gears of War 2 Advert.
Why? Such a cold and harrowing voice, yet such a beautiful song.

Mazzy Star – Into Dust

Where? On the “O.C”.
Why?  Such a chilled out song with so much power.



Limp Bizkit – Rollin



Slipknot My Plague



Where? The Undertaker’s theme music (WWE).
Why? Just a badass tune, which changed my perception on rock music.

Slipknot – My Curse

Where? Resident Evil Soundtrack.
Why? Introduced me to slipknot and my love of metal music began.

Celldweller – Frozen

Where? Constantine Soundtrack.
Why? Mental amounts of Synths and just an awesome song.



The Used – Im A Fake

Where? The Used’s Album.
Why? Changed my mind about screamy music and how deep it can really go!

DMX – Slippin

Where? Found while randomly downloading music of DMX’s.
Why? A really touching slow melody with a memorable voice.

The Used - Im A Fake Cover

Lisa Gerrard – Creasy is dead

Where? At the end of one of my all time favourite films, “Man On Fire”
Why? Beauitful voice, beautiful song.



Nine Inch Nails – The Mark Has Been Made

Where? Also on “Man On Fire”

Why? Such an edgy song with some good guitar work 



Combichrist – Shut up and Bleed

Where? The Collector (2009 Film)
Why? Such a hard industrial track which screams murder, such a fitting song for the film.



Combichrist Album Cover



Rammstein – Feuer Frei

Where? xXx Soundtrack
Why? Another badass song with some badass instrument work.

Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody

Where? Grew up with this song being my dad’s favourite band
Why? One of the first songs I was introduced to in music. There is nothing to dislike.

Yellowcard – View from Heaven



Where? Listened to it on a CD I bought by chance, and is now one of my favourite albums.
Why? Lovely song, with a great message and brilliant singing, really catchy.

 

A - Nothing Cover

A – Nothing

Where? Also heard this on the “Supercharged” album
Why? Some good screamy music, awesome song, awesome vocals

Stone Sour – 30/30/150

Where? Learnt that Corey Taylor sung for them, so looked it up on “Youtube”
Why? Yet another badass song, amazing song and truly got me it to hard rock.



An Old Review: Linkin Park - A Thousand Suns

A Thousand Suns

Before I start this review, I want everyone to know that I am a hardcore supporter of Linkin Park; they are my all time favourite band.

When I first got this album I was expecting something similar to Hybrid Theory for some peculiar reason, especially how "Minutes to Minute" was in some places a very slow album, however Linkin Park have changed their tune and have evolved in to something more powerful and greater.

Their song writing skills have absolutely hit the heights in this album, when I heard this album for the first time i didnt enjoy it because it wasn't the linkin park i was used to, after some deliberation i decided to relisten to it, after listening to it for a 2nd, 3rd and 4th time, each time it descended upon my ears, i realised something incredible, something i have never realised with an album, THIS IS ART!

From the melodic and deep "Robot Boy" to the more upbeat "Waiting for the End" through to the electrifying and outstanding performance of "Blackout" then to the rapping "Wretches and Kings" all the way to the end with the excellent closing of "The Catalyst", the album is just unbelievable.

The opening speech by Oppenheimer and the haunting voice of the girl that sings about a thousand suns really add to the depth of this album and really give a feel to the album that other has ever had in my opinion.

I really commend linkin park for not being a sell out and commercial band. they have handed us what i truly believe to be, a piece of modern art, this is something that should be praised by critics.

Do not buy this album if you want Nu Metal like their original stuff, its nothing like that, its nothing like anything done before, believe me if you want to take the leap of faith alongside Linkin Park, go ahead because you will be brought into something so surprising, it will just make you happy and smile.

Well Done Linkin Park :-)