Showing posts with label pop punk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pop punk. Show all posts

Friday, December 27, 2013

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!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

McFly- Motion In The Ocean

Hello, again! Did you miss me? First of all, you may have noticed that this blog has been moved to a new account. YES, it is still me! This is simply my normal account. Putting it on my main account makes it easier for me to get it written. And I can cross-promote my blogs easier as well ^-^ 


Release Date: November 6, 2006
Genre: pop rock, pop punk
Track Listing
  1. We Are The Young
  2. Star Girl
  3. Please Please
  4. Sorry's Not Good Enough
  5. Bubble Wrap
  6. Transylvania
  7. Lonely
  8. Little Joanna
  9. Friday Night
  10. Walk In The Sun
  11. Home Is Where The Heart Is
  12. Silence Is A Scary Sound (Hidden Track)
McFly is:
Tom Fletcher- lead vocals, guitar, keyboard, piano, ukulele
Danny Jones- lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, producer
Dougie Poynter- bass guitar, vocals, guitar
Harry Judd- drums, percussion

About McFly: A lot of this is copied from my post about their Greatest Hits album. They were formed in 2003, and have had the same lineup for a decade. They've released 5 studio albums: Room On The 3rd Floor (2004), Wonderland (2005), Motion In The Ocean (2006), Radio:ACTIVE (2008), and Above The Noise (2010). Their other albums 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. 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: (Once again, mostly copied from the last one) As I said on my last post, 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. 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:  It was released in 2006, just a year after they released Wonderland and the soundtrack to Just My Luck. Motion in the Ocean shows a relatively large change from the sound of Motion In The Ocean. In my opinion, the Motion in the Ocean sound is the one that they held onto the longest, and the one that I consider to be "their sound." Both this CD and their 2008 CD, Radio:ACTIVE, have more of a rock sound than either of the ones before or after.   

IMHO: It's my second favorite McFly CD, after Radio:ACTIVE. I do, however, feel that it has some really high highs, and some pretty low lows. For example, of the 12 songs, 4 of them are among my top 15 (if you want the breakdown, 2 of them are in my top 5, 1 is in 6-10, and 1 is in the 11-15 range). HOWEVER, about 3 of them find themselves among my all-time least favorite McFly songs... which still isn't a bad place to be, since I love all of their songs, but there is quite a distinct range there.

Favorite songs: Sorry's Not Good enough and Transylvania are both in my top 5 McFly songs ever ('Sorry' finds itself at #2, and Transylvania is #4). Star Girl is either 6 or 7. Bubble Wrap falls somewhere between 11 and 15, but I can't remember where. All four of those are just amazing. 

Other gems: I absolutely LOVE Little Joanna. Friday Night is also a fun one. I also like Please, Please and We Are The Young.

Video!

Sorry's Not Good Enough music video


Transylvania music video

Rating: 9.5/10. This is one of my all time favorite CDs. Some of my all-time favorite songs are on it, and it's just overall really awesome. Even the worst songs on the CD are really good.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Are you glad to see me back? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of McFly? 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!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

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!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

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!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

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!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

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!




Friday, June 21, 2013

*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!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

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!

Monday, June 17, 2013

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!