The Audition- Self-Titled Album

Check out my other blogs as well:
From Kristen's Brain... A mish-mosh of stuff my brain says that I like.
One Day Tumblr Challenges... I do entire Tumblr challenges in a single post
Adventures of a Makeup Noob... I talk about and review makeup products.

Hey, y'all! Once again, it's been a while since I've been on here! I've been blogging quite a bit since getting out of school, and I finally was able to get on this one. As always, I put my iTunes on shuffle, and the CD containing the first song that played is the one I'll be talking about!

Release Date: April 28, 2009

Genre: Alternative, Pop-Punk

Track Listing

1. The Running Man
2. The Way You Move
3. My Temperature's Rising
4. Love With A Motive
5. Stand On Your Feet
6. It's Gonna Be Hard (When I'm Gone)
7. Over My Head
8. Los Angeles
9. Everybody Is Someone Else's Secret
10. Sign. Steal. Deliver.

The Audition lineup on this CD:
Danny Stevens- lead vocals
Seth Johnson- guitar
Timmy Klepek- bass
Ryan O'Connor- drums, percussion

The Audition, L to R: Seth, Ryan, Timmy, Danny

About The Audition: 
The Audition has been a band since 2003. So far, they've released 4 CDs: Controversy Loves Company in 2005, Champion in 2008, Self-Titled Album in 2009, and Great Danger in 2010. They left their record label in 2010, and in 2012 they released their first EP, Chapter II. Since then, they haven't done anything and I haven't heard anything from them. Danny had vocal surgery in 2012, and is about to do his first solo concert since that surgery. Supposedly, the band is still together, but their twitter hasn't been touched in ages. Danny's twitter handle is still @auditiondanny, so I'm keeping up hope that they're still together.  

My Opinion about The Audition:
They're in my top 5 bands, for sure. All four of their CDs are really great, and they get really regular play on my iPod. They're one band who hasn't ever drastically changed their sound. They have one CD that's sub-par compared to the others, but overall, I really enjoy them. I've created several Pandora stations off of my favorite bands, and The Audition's station is one of the few that almost never plays a song I don't like. So, they're a pretty good representation of my taste in music.

About the CD:  
This is The Audition's 3rd CD. It deviates just a little from the sound of Champion, which was released just the year before. Self-Titled Album and Great Danger (2010) have fairly similar styles, though as I said before, their sound has stayed fairly consistent. 

IMHO: 
This is one of my favorite CDs of theirs. My only real complaint is that there aren't more songs! The first 3 songs are the strongest for me. Each of them has a unique and interesting sound, and there's definitely a reason that My Temperature's Rising is their most recognizable single. It's Gonna Be Hard (When I'm Gone) delivers the CD's softest song, which begins acoustic, but gets up into a good rock sound. A few of the songs sound similar, but overall it's really enjoyable.

I'm going to try something new on this one. I'm going to give each song a rating out of 10 and then give a brief explanation of why it got that rating. 

The Running Man- 10/10. I didn't like this one at first, but it's really grown on me and I think it's a really interesting song.
The Way You Move- 10/10. Maybe not the most creative song in the world, but it's so much fun to listen to.
My Temperature's Rising- 10/10. Definitely my favorite song on the CD. It's got a really cool sound to it.
Love With A Motive- 8.5/10. Not much of an explanation for this one, I just enjoy it!
Stand On Your Feet- 9/10. I really like the lyrics in this one, especially the combo of the music and lyrics in the chorus.
It's Gonna Be Hard (When I'm Gone)- 9.5/10. This is another one that grew on me. This is really odd to say about a song by The Audition, but it's a really pretty song!
Over My Head- 8/10. One of the weaker songs. It's a pretty typical sound for the band, and isn't quite as memorable as the other songs on the CD.
Los Angeles- 9.5/10. This one's kinda interesting, because the guitar isn't as prevalent for a lot of the song, so the vocals and drums are really important. I think it sounds really cool.
Everybody Is Someone Else's Secret- 8/10. Like Over My Head, this one is very typical for the band- nothing distinctly interesting or cool.
Sign. Steal. Deliver.- 9/10. I think this one's another interesting song. Not much else to say, it's just a cool song.

Favorite Songs: The Running Man, The Way You Move, My Temperature's Rising, It's Gonna Be Hard (When I'm Gone), and Los Angeles.

Least Favorite Songs: Over My Head and Everybody Is Somebody Else's Secret. There's nothing wrong with these songs, and I do really like the whole CD, but these are the less memorable ones of the bunch.

Video! 

My Temperature's Rising music video

The Way You Move

 Rating: 9/10. 9 is the closest to the actual average of the ratings I gave the songs, so I'll put it at a 9.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Did you like the changes I made to the format? Have any questions? What did you think of The Audition? 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! Hope you enjoyed! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!

Punk Goes Pop Volume 5- Various Artists

Hey, y'all! It's been a while since I've been on here! But, I've been wanting to do a blog for a while, and decided to talk about another CD on my shelf! As always, I put my iTunes on shuffle and, and the CD containing the first song that played is the one I'll be talking about!

Release Date: November 6, 2012

Genre: Alternative, Post-Hardcore, Punk

Track Listing
Since This CD is comprised entirely of different bands' covers of songs, I'll list the band beside the track.

1. Grenade- Memphis May Fire
2. Call Me Maybe- Upon This Dawning
3. Somebody That I Used To Know- Mayday Parade ft. Vic Fuentes
4. Glad You Came- We Came as Romans
5. Some Nights- Like Moths to Flames
6. Billie Jean- Breathe Carolina
7. We Found Love- Forever The Sickest Kids
8. Boyfriend- Issues
9. Girls Just Want to Have Fun- The Maine ft. Adam Lazzara
10. Payphone- Crown The Empire
11. Paradise- Craig Owens
12. Mercy- The Word Alive
13. A** Back Home- Secrets

About the CD:  Punk Goes Pop 5 is the most recent release in Fearless Records' "Punk Goes..." series. Besides pop, there have also been releases covering Rap/Hip Hop, Metal, and (my personal favorite) Classic Rock. Other releases include 2 acoustic "Punk Goes..." CDs, as well as an 80's CD and 90's CD. Punk Goes Pop has been the longest running series. The next release will be Punk Goes Christmas sometime near the end of this year.

IMHO: I'm a big fan of the "Punk Goes..." series. The only thing that bothers me about them is that I only enjoy a certain level of unclean vocals (screaming) in songs, and often, I'd just prefer if the songs were sung rather than some bands deciding to scream and sing. I feel like each CD, though good, is hit and miss. There are some I'm really excited about and others that I just never listen to. I also sometimes have some issues with the songs they consider to be "pop." Some songs they choose are alternative songs that happened to make it big on the radio, and I don't think that makes them pop, even though they are popular. But I'll get more into that when I get into the songs.

Since there are multiple artists on this CD, I'm going to do something a little different and talk about each song and artist individually... as well as the original song, because there are some songs on this CD that I had definite opinions on before hearing their covers.


Grenade- Memphis May Fire: I think this is a pretty good cover. I don't really listen to Memphis May Fire, but from what I have heard, it seems like they mostly have unclean vocals, so I enjoyed hearing what clean vocals they have to offer. Not my favorite song on the CD, but not a bad start either. I definitely prefer this cover over the original track, but the original isn't too bad. Bruno Mars is pretty OK in my book.

Call Me Maybe- Upon This Dawning: I have mixed feelings about this song. I really like the parts with the clean vocals. I'm not a big fan of this band's style of unclean vocals. I've never heard of this band, and they're also the only band on the CD that doesn't have a Wikipedia page. So, they seem to be relatively unknown. Overall, I like the clean vocals/vocalist, and what they've done with the instruments. It's hard to be worse than the original, but I feel like if they'd stuck with clean vocals, it would have been more successful.

Somebody That I Used To Know- Mayday Parade ft. Vic Fuentes: Mayday Parade has been featured on most "Punk Goes..." CDs that I have, and for a good reason: they do really great covers. They improve on the music but keep the clean vocals, which is how I really like to have it done. Also, they have Vic Fuentes (lead singer of Pierce The Veil, one of my favorite bands) singing the girl parts, which is just perfect. As always, I think they delivered a great cover. I also really loved the original song, so I was really excited that they were covering it. Since I love the original so much, it's hard to beat it, but I feel like this is definitely right on par with it. This is one of those songs that I thought shouldn't be considered pop, but this is my favorite song on the CD, so I'll let it slide.

Glad You Came- We Came as Romans: I actually haven't listened to this track very much. But, as I'm listening to it right now, I'm really liking it. I like the way that they're including the unclean vocals as the background vocals and as part of one verse. I haven't listened to much from this band, but I'm pretty sure they're another that's really heavy on the unclean vocals. I'm really liking the clean vocalist for this band as well. I didn't really have much of an opinion on the song before, and I'd have to say I really enjoy what they did with the cover.

Some Nights- Like Moths to Flames: When I discovered the original Some Nights in early 2012, I fell in love. That's why this cover hurts a bit. I like the grit that they added to the beginning of the song, and honestly, it's a pretty good cover (a bit heavy on the unclean vocals, but that's subjective). But, I just can't like it. I like the original too much.

Billie Jean- Breathe Carolina: Don't hurt me, but I'm really not a Michael Jackson fan. I like that this cover is a nice little relief from the heavy post-hardcore of the majority of the first few tracks... well, for most of the song. There's a cool breakdown at the end. This is another band I haven't really listened to much outside of this song, but I like this cover. And I like it better than the original, but only because I'm not a Michael fan. Seriously, you're talking to the girl who prefers both the Alien Ant Farm and dueling cellos versions of Smooth Criminal a lot more than the Michael version. Sorry, not sorry.

We Found Love- Forever The Sickest Kids: I really really hate Rihanna. Like a lot. She's probably among my least favorite singers ever. I do, however, like Forever The Sickest Kids. But this song, not so much. The way they arranged some of it is just weird and there was randomly screaming even though FTSK doesn't have unclean vocals normally. I'm just not a fan of the way they handled the cover.

Boyfriend- Issues: I feel like you already probably have an idea of how I feel about Justin Bieber. I absolutely cannot stand him, and the first time I heard the original song, I cringed so many times I probably looked like I was having a seizure. My reaction to this was the exact opposite. I really love this cover, thought I'd never heard of the band before this song. I like the unclean vocals and the way they're incorporated into the song. The clean vocalist isn't my favorite, but I think his voice works for the song. I also really enjoy tricking my friends with it, and when they actually hear it, they appreciate my music a bit more. Overall, this is one of my favorites on the CD.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun- The Maine ft. Adam Lazzara: I'm not a big fan of the original song, and I can't really say that I've ever heard it all the way through. I do really like the cover though. The Maine is one of my personal favorite bands featured on the CD, and I also like Taking Back Sunday, the band Adam Lazzara sings in. I wish they'd done a different song, because there's not too much that could convince me to really like this song. But, I do like what they did with it, so kudos to that!

Payphone- Crown The Empire: Crown The Empire is another band I believe is mostly screaming. Once again, I feel like the song would be stronger with just clean vocals, but I really like the way they incorporated the unclean vocals. They seemed to fit in really well. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the cover, but I definitely prefer the original. It's really hard for anyone to top Adam Levine in my mind.

Paradise- Craig Owens: This is another one that left me a bit annoyed by what they consider to be "pop". Sure, this song became really popular, but it's still an alternative song. This cover got some crap for being lackluster, but I like that it's true to the original. HOWEVER, I feel like it may be a bit too true to the original. I wish it was just a little more punk. Just a little more punkified and it would get a significant amount more play on my iTunes. Don't get me wrong, though- I still really enjoy this cover!

Mercy- The Word Alive: My least favorite on the album. They literally just scream their way through a crappy song, and then do a barely intelligible rap later in the song. I dunno, I just wasn't impressed. I think I understood maybe like two words of the lyrics. Two thumbs down.

A** Back Home- Secrets: I've never even heard of this band before, but I like what they did with the song. I like the difference between the verses with unclean vocals and heavy guitar and the chorus with minimal instruments. Definitely far above the original song.

Favorite Songs: I'd have to say that my favorite covers are definitely Somebody That I Used To Know, Boyfriend, Paradise, and Grenade. I also like Glad You Came, Payphone, and A** Back Home.

Video! 

Somebody That I Used To Know cover

Boyfriend cover (lyric video)


Rating: 6/10. Beside the few winners, quite a few of these songs are completely mediocre.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of punk going pop? 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! Hope you enjoyed! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!

Cage The Elephant- Cage The Elephant

Hello, again! As I said last time, yes, this blog has been moved to a new account, and YES, it is still me! I just moved it onto my main account to make it easier for me to get it written. And I can cross-promote my blogs easier as well. Along those lines, I have a blog called From Kristen's Brain. It's my main blog, and I post reviews of TV shows (Project Runway and Whodunnit? currently) as well as random reviews of other things. Enough shameless self-promotion. Let's carry on to the CD!

Release Date: March 24, 2009

Genre: Alt. Rock, punk blues, indie rock

Track Listing

1. In One Ear
2. James Brown
3. Ain't No Rest For The Wicked
4. Tiny Little Robots
5. Lotus
6. Back Against The Wall
7. Drones In The Valley
8. Judas
9. Back Stabbin' Betty
10. Soil To The Sun
11. Free Love

Cage The Elephant is:
Matt Shultz- lead vocals
Lincoln Parish- lead guitar
Brad Shultz- rhythm guitar
Daniel Tichenor- bass guitar
Jared Champion- drums, percussion

About Cage The Elephant: Quite a few of the members were in a band called Perfect Confusion before Cage The Elephant was formed. I actually have that band's only CD, and their music is very similar to Cage The Elephant's sound, which is probably why many fans believe that it's the exact same band with a different name. Cage The Elephant became very commercially popular back in 2009 with their single "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked." Their subsequent singles, "In One Ear," "Back Against The Wall," "Shake Me Down," "Around My Head," and "Aberdeen gained success among alternative music fans, but not among the general public. The band, and Matt Shultz particularly, is known for crazy weird concerts with odd antics. So far, they have released 2 albums: Cage The Elephant, and Thank You, Happy Birthday. Currently, they are preparing for the fall release of their 3rd album, Melophobia.


My Opinion about Cage The Elephant: When I first listened to Ain't No Rest for the Wicked, I didn't like it at all. I thought it was kinda weird and annoying. The more I heard it, the more I actually liked it. I really love them, and they're one of my favorite bands, BUT, I don't really listen to them that much. They have such a unique sound that I have to be in a certain mood to listen to them. But I really love their unique sound.

About the CD:  Although they're from Kentucky, the CD was actually released in the UK before it was released in the US (I think it was released mid 2008 in the UK). When it was released in the UK, I believe In One Ear was actually the first single, and they recorded a music video for it. They later made another one when it was released as a single in the US. It didn't reach popularity in the US until summer of 2009, when Ain't No Rest For The Wicked became popular.

IMHO: It's my favorite of Cage The Elephant's 2 CDs. For me, there are 2 types of songs on this album: The ones that I really love, and the ones that are good, but I just don't listen to much. And I would say that there are 8 of the former, and 3 of the latter.

Favorite songs: In One Ear is my favorite. I just love it. My other favorites would probably be Free Love, Ain't No Rest For The Wicked, and Back Stabbin' Betty.

Other gems: James Brown, Tiny Robots, Back Against The Wall, and Lotus. 

Video! 

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked music video

Newer In One Ear music video

Rating: 8.5/10. This CD is really great. None of the songs are bad, but there are definitely some that I just don't listen to, which is why this one didn't get a bit higher.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of Cage The Elephant? 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! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!

Hawthorne Heights- Fragile Future

Release Date: August 5, 2008

Genre: Post-hardcore, Emo

Track Listing

1.       The Business Of Paper Stars

2.       Rescue Me

3.       Until The Judgement Day

4.       Somewhere In Between

5.       Sugar In The Engine

6.       Desperation

7.       Four Became One

8.       321

9.       Disaster

10.   Let Go Of Everything You Know

11.   Corps of Corpses

12.   Come Back Home (Reprised)

On this CD, Hawthorne Heights is:
JT Woodruff- vocals, guitar
Micah Carli- guitar
Matt Ridenour- bass, backup vocals
Eron Bucciarelli- drums

About Hawthorne Heights: I don't really know a ton about them, but there are some important things I should talk about. They released their first CD, The Silence In Black and White, in 2004. Their first single off of this CD is also probably their most well-known song, Ohio Is For Lovers. Then, in 2006, they released If Only You Were Lonely. Their third album, Fragile Future, was released in 2008. These are the only 3 CDs I have by them, although they have released 2 CDs since- Skeletons in 2010, and Zero last month. There was a very abrupt lineup change between albums 2 &3, which I'll talk about in the "About The CD" bit, because it had an impact on the CD.

My opinion about Hawthorne Heights: I’m not a huge Hawthorne Heights fan, although I have 3 of their CDs. It’s kinda odd, but the bands that are more mainstream, as in regular people who listen to top 40 stations (bands like Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco) often aren’t ones I like A LOT. While I may enjoy their music, I’m usually not a devoted fan. I think I may have mentioned this in a previous post. It’s like this with Hawthorne Heights. While I like this CD and a lot of the songs on it, I only really like their singles on their other CDs.

About The CD: One thing that had a big effect on this CD was the sudden death of band member Casey Calvert. Casey did the guitar and unclean vocals for the band. While they were on tour in 2007, he was found dead in the tour bus. He died in his sleep of an accidental drug overdose. Two songs on the CD (Four Became One, Sugar In The Engine) were inspired by his death, and it brought the band closer together, and lead to this being, in my opinion, their best CD.

IMHO: This is my favorite CD by them. But it also holds a special place in my heart for another reason. I bought this CD back in 2009 when it was fairly new. When I opened the case, I realized that there was a second CD inside. This CD had a random selection of music videos by other artists on Victory Records (the label HH was on). I was really interested in listening to some new music, so I popped it into my DVD player. I really liked a lot of the songs, and still have a lot of them on my iPod now. These included “I Didn’t Mean To Interrupt…” by Jamies Elsewhere, a “Since U Been Gone” cover by A Day To Remember, “Still Dreaming” by Silverstein, and some songs by a band named 1997, a band that I never researched much further… but the songs on the CD are great! Anyway, among these songs, I found the music video for a song called “Warm Me Up” by The Audition. I had never heard of The Audition, but I really liked this song. The Audition is now one of my top 5 favorite bands ever, and I never would have found them without this CD.

Favorite Songs: Somewhere In Between is definitely my favorite song on the CD.

Other Gems: Sugar In The Engine, Desperation, Four Became One, 321

Video!

Music Video for Somewhere In Between

Four Became One

Rating: 7.5/10. There are a lot of songs on the CD that I really like, and the rest I just never really listen to.

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 Hawthorne Heights? Did you already hate them? I know a lot of people do. 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. 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!

*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 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!