illuminadio: review.
October 4th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
i miss craig owens.
craig owens’s (@craigeryowens) wonderful voice is, sadly, not on illuminadio. but you know what, that is actually completely okay. craig owens is a really talented dude, he has been in a lot of different “side-projects” and has been successful in all of them. his new band D.R.U.G.S. (@drugs) is slated for releasing their debut album next year.
but that chapter of craig and chiodos’s career is over. and let us all remember it fondly and stop talking about it.
before i begin.
chiodos has begun streaming their entire new album on their MySpace page. [i'll give you a minute to go to their page and start listening before i start the review......]
holy eff.
i wasn’t a huge fan of their album bone palace ballet because it sounded kind of…not great. i mean, it was a good album, but all’s well that ends well, the band’s first full-length album will forever remain one of my favorite albums of all time. i refused to believe that chiodos’s first album would be their best and i waited in impatient anticipation for the day their next album would come out. well, that time is now.
track list:
- illuminadio
- caves
- love is a cat from hell
- modern wolf hair
- notes in constellations
- scaremonger
- his story repeats itself
- let us burn one
- hey zeus! the dungeon
- stratovolcano mouth
- those who slay together, stay together
- closed eyes still look forward
i went in to listening to this album with a completely open mind. i was really enjoying the songs they’d released on their MySpace and on other places around the internet so i was prepared for something awesome. and they delivered.
illuminadio is twelve tracks of glorious, glorious hardcore glory. from the first track to the last track, the album is fantastic. there are, of course, songs that i like more than others, but i like love all of the songs.
what makes the album good?
illuminadio album cover.
well, to be honest, brandon bolmer’s voice blends really well with the rest of the band [instruments and voices]. and the tracks themselves are really great. the lyrics are really well thought out and some of the songs are pretty catchy and i’ve found them dancing around my head for the past few days.
my two favorite tracks [because i always pick two] from the album are: “closed eyes still look forward” and the other is a toss-up between “modern wolf hair” and “love is a cat from hell”. all of the songs, though, are fantastic.
the album is even well produced. nothing sounds fake or doctored [even though that is the whole point of production].
final verdict.
i feel like putting this is just beating a dead horse, but the album is pretty much flawless.
i give illuminadio a 10 out of 10.
my next post:
is going to be a review of the new jimmy eat world album. hooray music!
take it easy, folks.
- the lumberjack
hurley.
September 16th, 2010 § 4 Comments
how did this seem like a good idea?
so i am generally a fan of weezer: they make pretty rad music, they all look like dudes i would enjoy hang out with, and i follow their lead singer rivers cuomo, on twitter (@riverscuomo).
their last album had some catchy songs about pork and beans and what not, and their album before that had some playboy bunnies running around in one of the videos. these are things i approve of.
however.
i am not a fan of making the face of the chubby dude from the show lost the album cover.
and at first, i wasn’t a huge fan of this album. but i gave it another listen and it is starting to grow on me…much to my dismay.
this is their album cover. i wish i was kidding.
lets get started.
i’m a big fan of old weezer like “island in the sun” or “buddy holly” or “my name is jonas”, you know, stuff that i can play on rock band. and i’m pretty keen on “pork and beans” and “if you’re wondering if i want you to, i want you to” because those songs are pretty decent.
but as a whole album i wasn’t a fan of raditude because, to be honest, it wasn’t very good.
so to make amends for that travesty, weezer put out hurley, complete with an album cover of actor jorge garcia.
not quite sure why this seemed like a good idea.
the songs sound a lot like the old weezer that i know and love [and a lot of critics seem to agree with that sentiment...rather, i agree with their sentiment].
basically, this album doesn’t sound like all of that forced pop stuff that makes you want to drain your veins. [yep, that was a suicide reference].
it doesn’t feel like somone walked up to the band and said:
“hey! sound like all the other terrible bands!”
all of the tracks are pretty solid, some more solid and awesome than others [like "ruling me"] but all are pretty enjoyable tunes.
track list:
- memories
- ruling me
- trainwrecks
- unspoken
- where’s my sex
- run away
- hang on
- smart girls
- brave new world
- time flies
the final verdict?
well, while it is a step in the right direction from raditude, it isn’t quite as epic as their old self-titled albums.
i did enjoy hurley though…even though when the album art pops up on my ipod it startles me.
i give hurley a 7 out of 10.
next time.
i’m talking about my college. everything i say will be either funny or rude.
see you next time.
cody.
zombie ep.
September 6th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
the devil wears prada - zombie
outbreak.
it is no big news to anyone that zombies are possibly the coolest things that have ever eerily shuffled across the plains. the past five to ten years should be considered the Great American Zombie Renaissance [i just coined that. that is mine]. filmmakers like george a. romero and edgar wright, and writers like max brooks should be applauded for the incredible works of fiction [and awareness] that they have produced in the recent decade.
not to mention the scores of wonderful video games that have been released as a result of this phenomena.
- resident evil [1996-2009] – i have a whole post in mind for talking about resident evil.
- left 4 dead [2008 & 2009]
- dead rising [2006 & 2010]
i said all that to say this.
on august 24, 2010 the devil wears prada released their first ep and it is pretty much amazing. i had all of their other albums, so it just made sense to buy their new album [and not just buy, i pre-ordered that jam].
merchnow was doing a deal on their website that included the ep, a comic book, and a sweet tdwp tshirt for like $20 so you better believe i bought that. the big surprise was that they included a signed copy of the ep [i squealed like a little girl].
i’ve been listening to nothing but this pretty much since i got it today and it is so well done. it is a little darker than their previous records. the subject material is a zombie apocalypse of course and that is no joking matter.
no joking matter.
to be completely honest, i’m really impressed with this ep. i know it is only five songs, but they’re all fantastic. this was probably the best $7 i’ve ever spent on an article of music.
the thing about the devil wears prada is that they’ve only gotten better over the past four years. their first album dear love: a beautiful discord was really good [for a debut album]. their next album, plagues was also incredibly well done. their last album, with roots above and branches below was practically perfect.
track list:
- Escape
- Anatomy
- Outnumbered
- Revive
- Survivor
i’m completely ready for their next full length album to come out, which i’m hoping is either by the end of 2010 or at the earliest the spring of 2011.
i give zombie ep a 9 out of 10.
next time.
i’ll be talking about some things, and maybe even some stuff. thanks for tuning in.
cody.
singles party.
February 18th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Holy new music releases Batman!
I know what you’re thinking: “Cody, you’re a slick mamajama for coming up with such a misleading title for your post.” – believe me, I’m aware. This week [to my knowledge] saw the release, or atleast the public awareness, of a few pretty good singles from two pretty good bands. Get ready for wonderful new albums coming out this year ladies and gentlemen.
Circa Survive – I love Anthony Green. There. I said it. And no, it isn’t in a gay “I’d totally do him if he asked me to” sort of way [ehh...that was almost true].
Anyway…Circa Survive has a new single on their MySpace and I’m not going to lie…it is friggin wonderful. I don’t want you all to think that I’m exaggerating or being easy on them just because Anthony Green is their lead singer, because I’m not. The song is called “Get Out” and really is a wonderful piece of music and I encourage all of you to go listen to it. And if you really like it, go buy it off of iTunes.
The new album is titled Blue Sky Noise and is due for release on April 20, 2010. So get ready Circa Survive fans, new music will be here in two months.
Prepare to judge me.
I’m sort of nervous to say the next band and how excited I am about new music from them…but who cares. You can’t help what you like, right?
The Flobots – Yup, I like the Flobots.
I just remembered I wrote a post about them maybe almost a year ago and I was just as concerned with losing credability as I am now.
They announced back in 2009 on their MySpace that they were working on a new album and that it would be completed soon…well…a year passed and still no Flobots. But that was last decade, and this is now. Earlier this month, the Flobots put up a brand new single “White Flag Warrior” and it is featuring a very well known, very talented, very vegetarian lead singer of Rise Against – Tim McIlrath.
So what I already thought was going to be a good song, got the Rise Against boost. I loved this song. It is available for streaming on their MySpace and is available for download on iTunes.
The Flobots new album is titled Survival Story and is due to be released on March 16, 2010. So only a month til more Flobots goodness.
Unfortunately…
That’s all I’ve got for right now. I’m still impatiently awaiting new music from Chiodos…but they literally just got to the studio two weeks ago so I’m sure I’ll be waiting for a while before I can figure out who their new singer is.
If you have any upcoming releases, bands I need to listen to, etc. feel free to tell me.
Cody.
the return of chiodos.
February 4th, 2010 § 1 Comment
What a way to start February.
Other than the incredible amount of snow that Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and pretty much all of south-eastern Virginia got [there were 7 inches of snow at Virginia Wesleyan], the month looked like it was going to be a little boring.
But fear not music lovers, it was announced yesterday that Chiodos is returning to the studio this month…
So basically when I heard this, I pee’d a little from my level of excitement.
A blessing and a curse.
This was possibly the most exciting thing I’d heard in a while [except for the previously mentioned snow]. Chiodos hasn’t released a new full length album since 2007 [Bone Palace Ballet], which was a wonderful album by no stretch of the imagination. Prior to that was their 2005 release of All’s Well That Ends Well [which has the song "There's No Penguins In Alaska"...which is perfect].
So naturally, if you’re a fan of Chiodos and their work, you’d be excited to hear about them releasing a new album after three years of nothing…right?
Oh wait, Craig Owens is gone.
A bit about Craig Owens.
Craig Owens was the lead singer of Chiodos for about eight years. He was also in The Sounds of Animals Fighting [I'm not sure if I like them] and a band called Isles and Glaciers [which I'm about to look up].
So what does that mean??
This presents what I like to call: The John Elway Paradox.
The John Elway Paradox is what happens when the face/leader of an organizations leaves and you are left with a hollow shell of what used to be an incredibly powerful organization [see: Tennessee Titans post-McNair & George, Denver Broncos post-Elway & Sharpe, and Mayday Parade post-Jason Lancaster].
Now I understand that you can’t legitimately base the quality of an entire team/band/organization due to the efforts of one or two people…but sometimes that is all you can do.
Lets take a look at Mayday Parade as an example.
This will be a look at the band with Lancaster and without Lancaster. It is arguable that Lancaster had little to no presence on A Lesson In Romantics but I find it hard to believe since he left the band after the album was recorded in the studio.
Anyway.
If you listen to any song from A Lesson In Romantics, there is something there that you can’t quite explain [I like to call it passion] but when you listen to Anywhere But Here, which is a good album in it’s own right, but it lacks something that the other albums [A Lesson In Romantics and the EP Tales Told By Dead Friends] had.
I said all that to say this.
After John Elway left the Broncos, they sucked…for a few years. After Steve McNair left the Titans, they sucked…for a few years. After Jason Lancaster left Mayday Parade, they weren’t as good…which will change.
The thing about good organizations is that even after the loss of a frontman or a spokesperson or a touchdown earning machine..they recover.
Back to Chiodos.
So after taking the scenic route in this blog post, I finally arrived at the main point I was attempting to make, that being…
Yes, Craig Owens is no longer a member of Chiodos and yes, their next album might not sound the same since he was, in a lot of opinions, “the face” of Chiodos, it will be okay because their new lead singer could be awesome.
There has been no mention of who the new lead singer is, just like there is no potential release date for the new album, although I’m going to ballpark it around…October or November of this year. They also have a new drummer, by the way. His name is Tanner Wayne and he is the drummer from Scary Kids Scaring Kids.
That’s about all guys…I’m nervous about this album but I will remain nervously optimistic.
Thanks for tuning in.
Cody
please take me anywhere but here.
October 6th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Today is October 6, 2009, the best day ever…okay…today has actually sucked pretty bad, but I can finally tell you all what I think about one of the best albums of 2009.
Clearly, if you’ve ever read one of my blogs, you know that I love Mayday Parade [much like I love my family, my friends, and my girlfriend - without any stipulations]. So clearly, since they just released their new album, Anywhere But Here…I had to get it. I got the album about a week ago…from an unnamed source [if you want to know it, email me]…yes, illegally. But here is my idea – I was going to get the album regardless when it was released…I just didn’t want to wait til today. Anyway…I bought the album.
What Did I Think?
This album…was so much better than I thought it was going to be. A Lesson In Romantics is quite possibly the greatest album I’ve ever heard [yes this is an exaggeration...but only a slight one] so I thought there was no way that Anywhere But Here would be as good…but I was wrong.
Anywhere But Here is only 11 tracks…but those 11 tracks are glorious. This is not the Mayday Parade of 2007, however, the 2009 version is wonderful in it’s own right.
I Miss Jason Lancaster.
Please don’t get me wrong, I love Derek Sanders and Jeremy Lenzo, they do a great job at singing. They are actually fantastic singers…but it was pointed out to me, that Mayday Parade doesn’t quite sound like Mayday Parade anymore.
Lancaster’s voice was easily recognizable on A Lesson In Romantics [although some of the tracks were rumored to be reworked without his voice].
I also sort of miss his songwriting skills. He wrote all of A Lesson In Romantics and you can tell he didn’t write any of Anywhere But Here [but that is okay, I love the new album].
Jason Lancaster is the lead singer of the band Go Radio.
Track Listing.
- “Kids in Love”
- “Anywhere but Here”
- “The Silence”
- “Still Breathing”
- “Bruised and Scarred”
- “If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead Yet?”
- “Save Your Heart”
- “Get Up”
- “Center of Attention”
- “I Swear This Time I Mean It”
- “The End”
Final Thoughts.
This album is wonderful. I love it. Basically, if you like Mayday Parade, you’ll love this album. If you have never heard of Mayday Parade [shame on you], you’ll love this album. I’m going to see them at the end of the month…and I am so excited.
Cody.
My next post…will not be by me. The big news I want to let you guys know is that…Terence Wiggins is my new author for the site. He will be contributing once or twice a week [hopefully]. Enjoy.
