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

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!

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!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

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!

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!