Busted- A Present For Everyone

Busted, L-R: Charlie, Matt, James

Release Date: November 17, 2003

Genre: pop rock, pop punk

Track Listing

1. Air Hostess
2. Crashed The Wedding
3. Who's David
4. She Wants To Be Me
5. 3 AM
6. Falling For You
7. Over Now
8. Fake
9. Meet You There
10. Why
11. Better Than This
12. Can't Break Thru
13. Nerdy

Busted is(was):
Charlie Simpson- vocals, guitar, keyboard, harmonica, drums
James Bourne- vocals, guitar
Matt Willis- vocals, bass guitar

About Busted: This British band was formed in 2001, and originally included Tom Fletcher, who went on to become the first founding member of McFly, which as I have mentioned in a previous post, is my absolute favorite band. Busted broke up in 2005, but in that time, they released 2 studio albums and one live album. They were the original writers and performers of the Jonas Brothers' songs "Year 3000" and "What I Go To School For," although the versions of those songs that were performed by the Jo Bros were edited to be suitable for Disney.


My Opinion about Busted: Definitely a top 10 favorite band. I love these guys so much.  I love that all 3 guys sing, and yet  aren't a boyband, because they do pop rock and all play instruments. They had to have more people play with them on stage because they couldn't play ALL the instruments at the same time (and really, I'm not sure Charlie could sing and play drums at the same time). Charlie and James are my favorites. Charlie is my favorite voice- he's the youngest but also had the deepest voice. I also enjoy the music he did after Busted as well. He's the lead singer of a post-hardcore band named Fightstar, which is currently on hiatus. Right now, he actually has released a solo album and has another in the works and is currently in America on Warped Tour (Which I really wish I could see...). Also, he's apparently at least 6 foot 6 now, and still just as attractive as ever. I love James because of his close work with McFly, especially on their first album, as well as his close friendship with McFly, AND his music after Busted. He was briefly in a band named Son of Dork, which will pop up on here at some point. They had only one CD, released in 2005, but I have it and really love it. James was the founding member, and one of two singers, but the band kinda fell apart in 2007. He's gone on to do solo stuff, and has recently been working with McFly some as well.

About the CD:  I only own this CD and *part* of their debut cd, because a bunch of the songs from their debut were repeated onto A Present For Everyone, so I bought this one and bought the six songs on the other CD that weren't repeated onto this one. So, this CD was part new stuff, part repeat from "Busted". Don't go looking for "Busted" on iTunes. I looked it up the other day, and it's not on there anymore for some reason. But, when they were both on there, they actually had almost the exact same cover art. I tried figuring out how best to describe it, but it's best to just show you a picture, which is below. The funny thing is that BOTH albums have different album art in the UK. Those pictures are below as well. I personally like both of the UK covers better than the US ones.

US cover of "Busted" which is nearly identical to US version of "A Present For Everyone"

UK cover for "Busted" L-R: Matt, Charlie, James



UK cover of "A Present For Everyone". Charlie @ top, Matt L, James R.



IMHO: I really love the CD. My only complaint is that of the 6 songs that I had to purchase from their debut CD, most of them are among my all-time favorite Busted songs. So they could've done a better job in that respect. But I really do like almost all of the songs on here. 

Favorite songs: She Wants To Be Me and Meet You There are my two favorites, but the ones under "Other gems" are also crazy amazing as well. She Wants To Be Me is just ridiculously funny, and Meet You There has great harmony.

Other gems: Air Hostess, Who's David?, That Thing You Do, Loner In Love, Nerdy. The rest are really good as well, but these are just the best.

Video!

She Wants To Be Me Live

Meet You There

Rating: 9/10. I really love this CD. The only thing that would make it better would be to have some of the songs from "Busted" on this CD. Otherwise, it's really awesome!

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! What did you think? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of Busted? Let me know all of this in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Still taking comments on the time they're posted, because if you haven't noticed, I schedule them to post at the same time, as I'm either asleep or at work at noon! Hope you enjoyed! Check back at noon tomorrow, because might possibly be a new post. Not totally sure. Probably depends on how exciting or random of a CD I get next! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!

Green Day- Nimrod

Well, I'm giving you a brief little behind the scenes snippet right now. When I started writing this blog, I gave myself a rule that if an album came up that I didn't want to talk about so much, I wouldn't skip it, because I'm going to have to write about it at some point. So, even though I wasn't sure about this one, I'm writing it anyway! So here we go!!!

Release Date: October 14, 1997

Genre: punk rock, alternative rock, pop punk

Track Listing

1. Nice Guys Finish Last
2. Hitchin' A Ride
3. The Grouch
4. Redundant
5. Scattered
6. All The Time
7. Worry Rock
8. Platypus (I Hate You)
9. Uptight
10. Last Ride In
11. Jinx
12. Haushinka
13. Walking Alone
14. Reject
15. Take Back
16. King For A Day
17. Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
18. Prosthetic Head

Green Day is:
Billie Joe Armstrong- lead vocals, guitars, piano, harmonica
Mike Dirnt- bass guitar, backing vocals
Tre Cool- drums, percussion, backing vocals
(Jason White, touring guitarist, was added to the official lineup in 2012, but this has been the only lineup change since Tre Cool joined in 1990. John Kiffmeyer did percussion until 1990)

Green Day, L-R: Mike, Billie Joe, Tre. But you already knew that, right?

About Green Day: I'm sure I don't have to tell you too much about Green Day, since they're pretty famous. They have released 11 studio albums to date. And that's not even including compilations and live CDs. They've sold millions and millions of CDs. Fun fact that you may not know: Dookie, their first big success, has actually sold 10 million copies in the US, while American Idiot, which is often considered to be their most well known and successful album, has only sold 6 million in the US!

My Opinion about Green Day: Although I do really like Green Day, they definitely don't fall among my top 10 bands. I've found that of all the bands I like, the ones that are super commercially successful (like Green Day, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, and Panic! At The Disco), while I do really like those bands, they're almost never the ones that end up as my absolute favorites. IDK if I subconsciously like really popular bands less, or if the ones that are popular only among alternative fans just make better music. 

About the CD:  It's gone double platinum in the US, which is more than most of the CDs On My Shelf can say... with the exception of other Green Day albums, and a couple other scattered ones.

IMHO: It's definitely not my favorite Green Day CD. I don't listen to it a lot, and am not familiar with a lot of the songs on it, hence why I was a bit hesitant to talk about it. I don't want to come off as a fake Green Day fan, because I'm not. I just haven't listened to EVERYTHING. I'm a big fan of American Idiot. I love Dookie, the singles off of Insomniac & Nimrod, Warning, and most of 21st Century Breakdown. I own almost all of their CDs, but I'm just not a superfan. And this CD just wasn't as good, IMHO.

Favorite songs: Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) is definitely my favorite. I tried to convince my mom to allow me to use it for my graduation slideshow at church last year, but that got vetoed (I ended up using Time Of My Life by David Cook). I like the acoustic, chill side of Green Day. And I'm a sucker for strings, cause I play in an orchestra.

Other gems: Nice Guys Finish Last and Hitchin' A Ride. And I didn't even know that they were singles until recently. Honestly, I know all of the songs on the album are good, because I've listened to all of them, I just haven't gotten to the stage where I can distinguish them.

Video!

Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) music video

Nice Guys Finish Last music video 

Rating: 5/10. Definitely not my favorite Green Day CD. But it's Green Day, so it's at least good enough to get 5/10 just by being by Green Day.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! What did you think? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? You were just waiting for Green Day to pop up, weren't you? I'm sure my previous posts made me seem like I would listen to GD. Let me know all of this in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Still taking comments on the time they're posted, because if you haven't noticed, I schedule them to post at the same time, as I'm either asleep or at work at noon! Hope you enjoyed! Check back at noon tomorrow, because might possibly be a new post. Not totally sure. Probably depends on how exciting or random of a CD I get next! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!

Pierce The Veil- Collide With The Sky

Release Date: July 17, 2012

Genre: post-hardcore

Track Listing

1. May These Noises Startle You In Your Sleep Tonight
2. Hell Above
3. A Match Into Water
4. King For A Day (Ft. Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens)
5. Bulls In The Bronx
6. Props & Mayhem
7. Tangled In The Great Escape (Ft. Jason Butler
8. I'm Low On Gas And You Need A Jacket
9. The First Punch
10. One Hundred Sleepless Nights
11. Staind Class And Colorful Tears
12. Hold On Till May (Ft. Lindsay Stamey)
13. I'm Low On Gas And You Need A Jacket (alt. version)
14. Hold On 'Till May (acoustic)

Pierce The Veil is:
Vic Fuentes- lead vocals, guitar, keyboard
Tony Perry- lead guitar
Jaime Preciado- bass, backup vocals
Mike Fuentes- drums, percussion

PTV, L-R: Jaime, Tony, Vic, Mike

About Pierce The Veil: The band was formed in 2006 by brothers Vic and Mike. Jaime and Tony joined the band in 2007. Collide With The Sky is the band's 3rd CD, after A Flair For The Dramatic in 2007 and Selfish Machines in 2010. A Flair For The Dramatic was actually released before Jaime and Tony joined, so the first PTV album is all the Fuentes brothers! PTV fans (especially those on Tumblr) often think of the bands Sleeping With Sirens and All Time Low when thinking of PTV. The 3 bands are all close friends and have done tours together. Sleeping With Sirens is especially compared to PTV because, like Kellin Quinn from SWS, Vic has a very unique voice that is especially high pitched for a guy. And, of course, on "King For A Day" on this album, the two collab!

My Opinion about Pierce The Veil: I really like them! I've only been listening to them since January, but I've definitely fallen in love with their music. I really like the unique tone to Vic's voice. There's seriously NO mistaking him with anyone else- not even Kellin. PTV is definitely in my top 20 bands, but that's about as far as they go... right now, at least. The more I listen to their music, especially Collide With The Sky, the more I want to move them up on the totem pole.

About the CD:  Since its release last year, it's been a real success for the band. Many consider it to be their best album to date. One key to that success is "King For A Day" because of Kellin Quinn, making the song essentially a PTV/SWS collab, and those are pretty much the two biggest bands in post-hardcore. King For A Day was voted as the best collab of 2012 by Alternative Press readers.

IMHO: It's definitely my favorite Pierce The Veil album. The other two were good, but I just REALLY like Collide With The Sky.

Favorite songs: King For A Day, for sure. I love the combination of Kellin and Vic and their screaming and singing. I also really love Hell Above as well.

Other gems: Bulls In The Bronx, Props & Mayhem, I'm Low On Gas And You Need A Jacket (the first version, One Hundred Sleepless Nights, Staind Glass And Colorful Tears

Video!

 Music Video for King For A Day ft. Kellin Quinn

Music Video for Hell Above

Rating: 8/10. I really like several songs, but don't listen to many of the songs past those.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! What did you think? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What do you think of Pierce The Veil? Let me know all of this in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Still taking comments on the time they're posted, because if you haven't noticed, I schedule them to post at the same time, as I'm either asleep or at work at noon! Hope you enjoyed! Check back at noon tomorrow, because there will definitely be a new post. Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!

Schedule for The CDs On My Shelf... Kinda

OK, as you can see, there is NOT a new post today. My humblest apologies. There will definitely be one on Monday, and I even have a CD randomly selected and everything. I figured I would take this time to create a pseudo schedule for the blog. And by pseudo... I mean EXTREMELY pseudo. I only have a couple things nailed down.

For starters, I'm 99% sure that I'm not going to post on Sundays, partially because I have to wake up early every Sunday and I just don't want to stay up super late on Saturday writing a post. I can function on very little sleep, but I'd rather not test it too much.

I work ~30 hours every week, so I usually have a couple days off. My plan is to have at least 3 posts a week. That'll be more for busier weeks. On an average week, it'll be about 4. And if I'm having an exceptionally free week, I'll squeeze in a fifth. For example, the week starting June 30, I have more days off than I usually do. So I'll probably do 5 that week. Overall, since I have schedules a while in advance, at the end of each post, I'll give y'all an idea when the next one will be. For example, I know that my next post will be on Monday at noon. I have Monday off, so you'll be getting another on Tuesday, and probably another on Wednesday, since I don't work late Tuesday night. I'm unsure after that, but there definitely won't be another until Saturday. So keep posted for that. From here on out, just make sure you're reading my final paragraph, because I'll definitely give you info about when the next post will be out. But for now, just know that some sweet sweet music is headed your way on Monday, and IMO, it's a pretty good one! It's also another fairly recent one as well- July 2012. Guesses and comments are welcome, and the answer will come 24 hours from the time this is posted. Happy guessing!

McFly- Memory Lane (The Best of McFly) [Deluxe Edition]

Finally, a CD I love... My favorite band's newest Greatest Hits CD!!!

Release Date: November 26, 2012

Genre: pop rock, pop punk

Track Listing
Disc 1:  

1. Love Is Easy 
2. Shine A Light 
3. Party Girl 
4. Falling In Love
5. Do Ya 
6. Lies                                                               
7. One For The Radio                                        
8. The Heart Never Lies                                    
9. Transylvania                                                  
10. Friday Night                                                 
11. Star Girl
12. Don't Stop Me Now
13. I'll Be OK
14. All About You
15. Room On The 3rd Floor
16. Obviously
17. Five Colours In Her Hair
18. Do Watcha
19. Cherry Cola
20. That Girl (Original 2003 Demo)
21. Obviously (Original 2003 Demo)
22. Memory Lane

Disc 2:

1. Umbrella (Studio Version)
2. Lola
3. The Guy Who Turned Her Down
4. Get Over You
5. You've Got A Friend
6. No Worries
7. Silence Is A Scary Sound
8. Sunny Side of the Street (Home Demo)
9. Memory Lane (Original 2003 Demo)
10. Surfer Babe (Original 2003 Demo)
11. Ignorance
12. Down Down
13. Mess Around You (Unreleased Demo)
14. Rockin' Robin
15. POV
16. She Loves You
17. Mr. Brightside
18. Little Joanna
19. Bubble Wrap
20. Five Colours In Her Hair (US Version)

McFly is:
Tom Fletcher- lead vocals, guitar, piano, ukulele, songwriter
Danny Jones- lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, producer, songwriter
Dougie Poynter- bass guitar, backup vocals, occasional lead vocals, songwriter
Harry Judd- drums, percussion

McFly, L-R in both pictures: Dougie, Tom, Harry, Danny

About McFly: I could say way too much about these guys, but I'll try not to. They were formed in 2003, and have had the same lineup for a decade. They've released a lot of CDs, but generally I just say 5 because those 5 are the regular studio albums. The others are soundtracks, live, and compilations. Each of their CDs has a distinct sound. Room On The 3rd Floor, their debut album, actually broke a Beatles record in 2004. McFly became the youngest band whose debut CD debuted at #1 on the UK charts. A little obscure and seemingly unimportant, but it's a small victory for Galaxy Defenders (I'll explain this term in a bit). This album definitely has a Beach Boys vibe. 2005's Wonderland is definitely a lot more orchestral, and actually includes an orchestral piece composed by Tom. 2006's Motion In The Ocean & 2008's Radio:ACTIVE are the most similar of their albums, and are my personal favorites (Radio:ACTIVE is my personal favorite album ever). These two definitely showcase the band's rock side. Above The Noise, their 2010 release, is more of an electropop album, and the weakest, in my opinion.

My Opinion about McFly: They're my absolute favorite band. Not many Americans know about them, but I love them. I actually first saw them when they were in Just My Luck. Yeah, that Lindsay Lohan movie from back in 2005. My boys were the band in that. And Harry almost hooked up with Lindsay in real life. And their song Please, Please is about her. But that's a whole different story... moving right along! I forgot about them and then in 2007 (my Jo Bro obsession time) I was watching an interview with the JoBros where Nick said his favorite song was Transylvania by McFly. I watched the video and thought it was weird, and again, I forgot about them. (Transylvania is now among my all-time favorite McFly songs!). It wasn't until I discovered that the Jonas Brothers got their song, Year 3000, from the band Busted that I actually started listening to McFly. The Busted guys are close friends with McFly, which is how I really discovered McFly. And when I realized that they were the band in Just My Luck, everything really clicked. Anyway, long story long, it was a weird winding road to discovering them, but I really love them, and I love all of the members. Tom is my favorite, though. Yes, Tom of the wedding speech fame. I've told everyone for years that Tom is perfect, and now people understand. McFly is also the exception to the dumb blonde rule. Tom, the only natural blonde, is the brain, and Danny, the only one who's been brunette for 99% of the time he's been in the band, is the lovably dim-witted front-man. (OK, he's not really dumb, but it IS a running joke that he's the slow one... Because he thought an egg was a vegetable. Poor boy)

About the CD:  Memory Lane is the 2nd Greatest Hits album they've released, and includes a lot of demos/ unreleased songs, along with a few new ones. The opening track, Love Is Easy, is their most recent single. I believe it's also their only single that was not from a studio album.

IMHO: I love the nostalgia of some of my favorite tracks, but some of the best were left off. And I'm not so sure about some of the new ones. My favorite new one that they've been performing, Red, isn't on here. So it had better be on their next studio album or I will have a heart attack.

Favorite songs: Lies is my all-time favorite McFly song. Transylvania is in the top 5, as is Five Colours In Her Hair (NOT the US version).  

Other gems: Love Is Easy, Falling In Love, Star Girl, Obviously... OK, just 1-17 on the first disc... minus 2&3. All 17 are from studio albums... 2&3 are Above The Noise tracks that I'm not as fond of. Sunny Side of the Street. I'm not sure why POV, Little Joanna, and Bubble Wrap are randomly near the end of this CD, but those are also from McFly studio albums and those are really good as well.

Video!

 Music video for Love Is Easy

Acoustic Love Is Easy, Dougie version!

Red live. Sorry, not the best quality. There's a much better one on youtube, but I couldn't get it to link on here.

About the Galaxy Defender thing I mentioned earlier: it comes from a line in Star Girl. "Galaxy Defenders stay forever". It has basically become the saying of the fans of McFly. McFly's fans are Galaxy Defenders, and we stay forever!

Rating: 9/10. I love all of McFly's songs. The only reason it's only 9 is because I'm frustrated that they released another greatest hits when all their fans really want is a new CD. And because the 2nd disc is a bit of a repeat of their earlier Greatest Hits.



Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Sorry if I said a bit too much, but I just really love McFly!!! What did you think? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What do you think of McFly? Let me know all of this in the comments. Also, any opinion on the time? I have them automatically set to post at 12. Unless I get any other preferences or info, they'll be posted at 12- maybe not every day, but many days. Hope you enjoyed! Check back at noon tomorrow to see if there's a new post! Thanks for reading!





*UPDATE POST*

Sorry, y'all, but there isn't going to be a new post today, for a couple reasons.

First of all, the next CD up is one that's near and dear to my heart, so I have a lot to say about it and am going to take a little bit more time to talk about it.

Secondly, I wanted to take a second to acknowledge the fact that I'm really not going to be able to post EVERY day, even though I have been so far. Desire-wise and time-wise, I could definitely post daily. I really enjoy doing this and I'm out of school for the summer just working about 30 hours a week. The problem is actually just content. I have quite a few CDs, but I simply don't have enough to keep that pace up for an extended period of time. It's been quite a while since I've counted the number of CDs that I have, but I know that I have more than 150, but definitely less than 365. So, you see how I simply can't keep going at the rate that I have been, as much as I may want to.

Along those lines, I know that I will at some point run out of CDs. My idea is that once this happens, I'll just update every time I purchase a new CD. I feel like this makes the most sense.

My fourth point is actually an idea that I have. Since running out of CDs is an inevitability, I have some ideas for a semi-continuation of this, along the same lines, but with movies and books. I haven't decided if I should start this before running out of CDs or when this one begins winding down. I also haven't decided if it should be an add-on to this or a totally separate blog. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

So, in the comments, let me know:
-what do you think of my idea for the movies or books blog?
-would you want it at the same time as the CD blog (alternating days)? Or after?
-would you rather the movies/books be on this blog with the blog name edited or on a separate blog?


And finally, what do you think of THIS blog? Seriously, I can see that people are reading it (whatever small number it is), so PLEASE just let me know what you think of it. Do you like the music that I've written about? Have I introduced you to new music that you ended up liking? I'd really like to know that I'm not just writing this for myself! Thanks y'all! See you at noon on Saturday for sure!

The Jonas Brothers- Jonas Brothers

Release Date: August 7, 2007

Genre: pop, pop rock

Track Listing

1. S.O.S.
2. Hold On
3. Goodnight and Goodbye
4. That's Just The Way We Roll
5. Hello Beautiful
6. Still In Love With You
7. Australia
8. Games
9. When You Look Me In The Eyes
10. Inseparable
11. Just Friends
12. Hollywood
13. Year 3000
14. Kids of The Future

The Jonas Brothers are:
Nick Jonas
Joe Jonas
Kevin Jonas

About The Jonas Brothers: Ok, you all already know about the Jonas Brothers. I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell you much about them.

My Opinion about The Jonas Brothers: They first became popular when I was like 12/13, and they were my favorite musicians. I was really in love with Nick more than anything else, but I really did like their music. This was, of course, before my taste in music changed to be more slanted towards alternative music rather than pop music.

About the CD: It's the Jonas Brothers' 2nd CD. I would definitely say that their CDs diminished in quality as they went along, so this one is one of their better ones. I actually woke up early the day that this CD came out, and I bought it as soon as the music store in town opened in the morning.  

IMHO: I actually still like a lot of the music on this, even though it's not the genre I would really seek out now. I guess it's a nostalgia thing. 

Favorite songs: My favorite son on the CD is probably Just Friends. 

Other gems: SOS, Goodnight And Goodbye, That's Just The Way We Roll, Hello Beautiful, When You Look Me In The Eyes, and Hollywood. Fun fact, Year 3000 is NOT originally by the Jonas Brothers! It was written and performed by a British band named Busted. They released it circa 2002. The lyrics are a bit different as well. The Jonas Brothers had to make the lyrics more tame for Disney. Either way, I love Busted too much to actually enjoy the Jonas Brothers' one!

Video!

Just Friends by the Jonas Brothers

Rating: 7/10. I still like this CD and enjoy the music for some reason, even though it's definitely not what I would seek out at this point in my life, or even think that it's very good quality. Heavy dose of childhood.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! I'm hoping that soon, I'll get one of my favorite CDs or something I listen to a lot, so I can have more to say about it! What did you think? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? Did you expect me to have music by the JoBros? Let me know all of this in the comments. Also, any opinion on the time? I have them automatically set to post at 12. Unless I get any other preferences or info, they'll be posted at 12- maybe not every day, but many days. Hope you enjoyed! Check back at noon tomorrow to see if there's a new post! Thanks for reading!

The Cab- Whisper War

Release Date: April 29, 2008

Genre: pop rock, pop punk, power pop 

Track Listing

1. One Of Those Nights
2. Bounce
3. I'll Run
4. High Hopes in Velvet Ropes
5. That 70's Song
6. Take My Hand
7. Risky Business
8. I'm A Wonder
9. Zzzzz
10. Vegas Skies
11. Can You Keep A Secret?
12. This City is Contagious

The Cab lineup on this CD:
Alex DeLeon- lead vocals
Alex Marshall- piano, guitar, backup vocals
Ian Crawford- guitar, backup vocals
Cash Colligan- bass, backup vocals
Alex Johnson- drums

About The Cab: To date, they have released 2 CDs and 3 EPs. They've also had a number of lineup changes. Out of the lineup on this CD, only Alex DeLeon and Alex Marshall are still in the band. Currently, the other members are: Joey Thunder- bass, Dave Briggs- drums, and Chance Johnson- guitar, backup vocals, and cello. They were previously signed to Fueled By Ramen/ Decaydance, but left just before releasing their sophomore CD, Symphony Soldier, in 2011. They've toured with bands such as Maroon 5 and Simple Plan, and are currently working on a new album that's supposed to be released later this year

About the CD: Whisper War is the band's debut CD, following the release of 2 EPs. It was produced by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, and he guest features on "One of Those Nights", "Bounce", and "I'm A Wonder". Fun fact, the girl on the cover is actually Alex DeLeon's sister!

IMHO: I've had this CD for quite a while, but it's not one that I listen to a lot. Some of the songs are good, and I listen to them some, but it's not enough of a standout for me to listen to it a lot. 

Favorite songs: My favorite song on the CD is Bounce. It was the first song by the band that I heard, and it's what caused me to actually buy the CD. 

Other gems: High Hopes in Velvet Ropes, That 70's Song, and Vegas Skies. I haven't listened to the others enough to figure out if they're good or not, but these were good enough to get multiple plays.

Video!

The music video for Bounce

Rating: 5/10. I like the songs I've listened to, but not enough to delve further into the CD which, for me, means that it's only mediocre. 

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! I'm hoping that soon, I'll get one of my favorite CDs or something I listen to a lot, so I can have more to say about it! What did you think? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of The Cab? Let me know all of this in the comments. Also, any opinion on the time? I have them automatically set to post at 12. Unless I get any other preferences or info, they'll be posted at 12- maybe not every day, but many days. Hope you enjoyed! Check back at noon tomorrow to see if there's a new post! Thanks for reading!

Sleeping With Sirens- Feel

Out of some weird coincidence, this next post is actually about the most recent CD I bought.
Let's start this out with some basic info about the CD:

Release Date: June 4, 2013

Genre: Post-hardcore, pop punk 

Track Listing

1. Feel
2. Here We Go
3. Free Now
4. Alone
5. I'll Take You There
6. The Best There Ever Was
7. Low
8. Congratulations
9. Deja Vu
10. These Things I've Done
11. Sorry
12. Satellites

Sleeping With Sirens Is:
Kellin Quinn- lead vocals
Jack Fowler- lead guitar, keyboard
Jesse Lawson- backup vocals, rhythm guitar
Justin Hills- bass guitar
Gabe Barham- drums

About Sleeping With Sirens: To date, they have released 3 CDs (including Feel) and 1 EP. Their debut, With Ears To See, and Eyes To Hear was released in 2010. This CD was definitely more intense than any of their other releases, with much more screaming parts. Their sophomore album, Let's Cheers to This, was released in 2011. The next year, their EP, If You Were A Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack, was released. This was an entirely acoustic album, including some of their previous songs performed acoustically, as well as new acoustic songs. The key to the band's sound is almost certainly Kellin Quinn's uniquely high voice for a male, as well as his attractiveness making him popular among teenage girls. SWS is definitely one of 'those' bands where everyone knows the lead singer, but many cannot even name other members.

The SWS boys. L-R: Gabe, Jack, Kellin, Justin, Jesse

About the CD: The CD features a lot of collabs with other musicians, and although it's a bit of a different direction, it's been received fairly positively by fans and critics alike

IMHO: So far, I've liked the CD pretty well, but I'm still at the point where I haven't listened to it enough times to know all the words to every song, or even be able to differentiate some songs. There are some that I really like, but I'm still in the beginning stages of my appreciation for it. 

Favorite songs: I'd say that right now, Free Now is my favorite track, because of the meaning behind it. It's about Kellin's family and how he wants to be a good father to his daughter, Copeland.

Other gems: Feel, Alone, The Best There Ever Was, Low, Congratulations, Deja Vu. While the other songs are really good, I haven't listened to them enough to like them much.

Video!

Music Video for Alone, ft. MGK

Lyric video for Free Now

Rating: 8/10. Pretty good CD. It has yet to make it into a normal rotation in my iTunes, but I do really like all the songs on it.

Hope you liked my second "The CDs on my Shelf" post! What did you think? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of Sleeping With Sirens? Let me know all of this in the comments. Also, any opinion on the time? I had it automatically set to post at 12, since I worked all day. Unless I get any other preferences or info, it'll be posted at 12- maybe not every day, but many days. Hope you enjoyed! Check back at noon tomorrow to see if there's a new post!

William Beckett- The Pioneer Sessions

Well, what a fitting first post! It's my pioneer post, and The Pioneer Sessions was the CD that came up!

Let's start this out with some basic info about the CD:

Release Date: Jan. 29, 2013

Genre: This is a bit tough to nail down. I'd call it either indie pop, acoustic, or singer-songwriter. 

Track Listing

1. Compromising Me
2. Girl, You Shoulda Been A Drummer
3. Oh, Love!
4. You Never Give Up
5. Great Night
6. Warriors
7. Scarlett (Tokyo)
8. Dig A Hole
9. Stuck In Love
10. Slip Away
11. Dear Life
12. Our Story's Already Been Told

About William Beckett: His first, and so far biggest, break into the music industry was with his band, The Academy Is..., for which he was the lead singer and a primary songwriter. They were an alternative/ pop punk band signed to Fueled By Ramen, and although they never experienced the widespread popularity of labelmates Panic! at The Disco and Fall Out Boy, they had a large following among pop punk fans. Their debut CD was released in early 2005, and they released 2 other CDs and an EP before disbanding in October of 2011. William set out on a solo project, releasing his first EP in April 2012, followed by two more in July and October. These EPs are much more pop driven than his music with The Academy Is... 

He has a very distinct, unique voice, and it would be nearly impossible to confuse a song by him with a song by anyone else. However, the quality to his voice that makes it so unique can sometimes be a turnoff to people because it's kinda an ugly-pretty type thing.

Then: 2006ish while in The Academy Is...

Now: 2012 as a solo artist

About the CD: The Pioneer Sessions is basically just the acoustic, raw versions of the 12 songs he released on EPs. It's very stripped down, but awesome at the same time, since it's just him and his guitar rather than an overly produced track.

IMHO: I really like the CD, and almost all of the tracks on it. I've loved his music for years, and was a huge fan of The Academy Is.. when they were together. The TAI breakup was probably the worst one I've ever had to cope with, because they're one of my all-time faves. Although I really like Bilvy's (a nickname of his that I've held onto since his days in TAI) solo music, it doesn't compare to his TAI music. But I do prefer these acoustic versions to the more pop-driven EP releases

Favorite songs: My top 2 songs would definitely have to be Compromising Me and Dear Life. I loved them when they were released, and continue really loving them. In fact, I kinda like the EP versions of both of them better than the acoustic ones!

Other gems: Girl, You Shoulda Been a Drummer, Oh, Love!, Great Night, Warriors, and Stuck In Love. These were already my favorites before this CD, but the acoustic versions just made me love them more. The only downside is that the EP version of Stuck In Love features Ryan Ross (formerly of Panic! at the Disco) and the acoustic version doesn't.

Video!

The music video for the EP version of Dear Life. I also love that this video features The Butcher (The nickname of the former drummer of The Academy Is..) as the main guy!

Dear Life, acoustic

Rating: 7.5/10. I enjoy this CD, but I know he can do better, because his previous band was better. There are some really great ones, and then just some that I didn't really like. Overall, not amazing, but pretty good.

Hope you liked my first "The CDs on my Shelf" post! What did you think? This one will probably be on the longer end of my posts, since it's an artist I like quite a bit, listen to regularly, and it's a CD that was released fairly recently. Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of William Beckett? Let me know all of this in the comments! Thanks, y'all!

Welcome to "The CDs on my Shelf"!

You're probably wondering- the CDs on my shelf? What's that all about?

Well, it's pretty much as simple as it sounds! Each post will be devoted to a random CD on my shelf. The CD will be chosen through my iTunes, since it's almost completely made up of music from my CDs, and vice versa. I'll simply put my iTunes on shuffle, and the CD containing the first song that plays will be the CD I'll talk about. If it's a repeat of one I've already done, I'll simply re-shuffle until I get a new one. I will do NO repeats. Hopefully, I'll be able to post a link in a sidebar that has a list of the CD titles blogged to date, so that a single CD can be easily accessible. Comments are ALWAYS appreciated, even if you don't like my music. I'd just ask (of course) that you not be rude, and express your opinion respectfully.

I hope you enjoy my blog, and if you do, I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me know, so I know that people are actually reading and liking the blog!