2018 Spotify Update

Hey there all. I'm just here to remind you that my yearly Spotify playlist is up and running and I will be adding to it as the year goes on. This is where singles I'm looking forward to for 2018 will go, anything I review, and all the new music that just peaks my interest. I should remind you that everything in this list isn't 100% good, it's just stuff that I found interesting and wanted to save when the great big catch up list comes around. Click the read more for more insight on the things currently in the playlist. Enjoy.

2017 Music Catch Up

Time to look back on all the nonsense I didn't talk about on this here blog; discussed in as little as one sentence.

The Great Big Best & Worst of 2017 List

365 days and not a single one wasted by you or me, I'm sure. It's time to praise those who put some effort into their art and ridicule those who don't.

Rule 1: Only full original material from 2017, no re-releases or demos. This means all EPs, Singles and LPs from this year are fair game, but not singles for upcoming releases in 2018. This also means no Live albums or Cover albums. Those just don’t count.

Rule 2: An album cannot end up on the “best” list for being just good, it has to be great or near-perfect. Likewise, albums cannot end up on the “worst” list just for being mediocre. If you are on the “worst” list, you deserve it.

Rule 3: Don’t get hung up on the ranking. All music on the “best” list is good, so do yourself a favor and check everyone out.

OK, let’s begin.

*NSFW* Bottom of The Bandcamp (3/29/2017)

Let’s take a look at our old pal Bandcamp and give a shoutout to all those weirdos who put all their heart and soul into a record, then sell it for $5 on the internet.

Record Store Haul (1/13/17)

Time to take a look in my bag of goodies and see what we got at the record store.

2016 Music Catch Up

Today, we are going to catch up on some of the past LPs and EPs and discuss them in as short of a manor as possible, because I missed a bunch of stuff last year.

The Great Big Best and Worst Albums of 2016 List

Another year, another wave of music from new bands, old, those we can’t get enough of, and those we wish would stop. So let’s discuss the best and worst albums of 2016. But first, a couple of rules.

Rule 1: Only full original material from 2016, no re-releases or demos. This means all EPs, Singles and LPs from this year are fair game, but not singles for upcoming releases in 2017. This also means no Live albums or Cover albums. Those just don’t count.

Rule 2: An album cannot end up on the “best” list for being just ok, it has to be great or near-perfect. Likewise, albums cannot end up on the “worst” list just for being mediocre. If you are on the “worst” list, you deserve it.

Rule 3: Don’t get hung up on the ranking. All music on the “best” list is good, so do yourself a favor and check everyone out.

OK, let’s begin. 

Record Store Haul: 12/28/2016

So I visited a record store recently (specifically The Sound Garden in Syracuse, NY; give it a look if you're in the area) so why not go over what I picked up?

New Metallica: Does Anyone Care?

Originally written on July 26th, 2016 for Tumblr

So Metallica finally has a new record coming out and the reception to this news has been… nonexistent. There’s the usual “they should apologize for St. Anger” crowd hating it already, and the die hards who are already planning to buy whatever bloated limited edition they are going to release, but besides the two extremes, there really hasn’t been any response to this album as of late.

Green Day - Revolution Radio: Album Review

I think the hardest thing in my life recently has been being a Green Day fan. Not necessarily just existing as one, but being around other fans as part of the community has just been taxing recently. Why? Well, picture how Megadeth fans feel about Rust In Peace, except Rust in Peace was just kinda OK, but they still think it’s the best record ever, and the follow up somehow better, even though in reality it was worse. That’s how Green Day fans have been lately. It’s normal for fans to clench onto a good record as proof that their favorite artist has talent, but Green Day fans answer every complaint with “American Idiot” and “21st Century” like their lives depend on it. Being so narrow minded is only damaging to when a band does something new (maybe not better, but original) because it makes you perceive everything that isn’t ‘the best’ as ‘the worst’. In the case of Green Day, this applies to almost every album before and after the American Idiot/21st Century days. No one likes Uno, Dos and Tre, even though it’s some of the most original material the band ever put out. No one likes Insomniac because it was too weird but Nimrod is perfect because it’s safe.