Tuesday, January 31, 2012

This is probably one of my favorite Van Halen songs. Also, David Lee Roth is entirely superior to Sammy Hagar.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

So metal week was a failure. Whatever. Like I said, I don't know a whole lot about metal music. I went out with a friend tonight, it was supposed to be friends, but pretty much everyone had an excuse not to come out. I feel like sometimes I put more into maintaining my friendships than my friends do. For the past several months, I have tried to get my friends to come out with me but it has never really coalesced. Not too long ago, it seemed like barely a week would go by without some party happening. Now it seems like no one wants to expend any effort. Of course I could be paranoid.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Day 2

Today's song is by a band that features arguably one of the most influential guitarists in the metal scene. I am of course referring to Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. Page is capable of producing a wide range of sound from the soft lyrical notes of Bron-Yr-Aur to the heavy ponderous sound in Immigrant Song (my two absolute favorites by Zeppelin).

Monday, January 23, 2012

I've been listening to a bit of Metal lately and I've found I really don't know much about the genre. I know the mainstream bands like Metallica and Iron Maiden, and I am familiar with some of the founders of the genre such as Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. However it feels that compared to my knowledge of Rock and Punk, I really don't have a deep understanding of Metal and the surrounding scene. So this week is my attempt to gain a better understanding of Metal. I've read a lot of arguments about what was the first true metal song, whether it was Helter Skelter by The Beatles of Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix or if these were instead precursors to the true Metal sound, proto-Metal if you will. One thing I am aware of is the groundbreaking contribution of Black Sabbath to Metal. Guitarist Tommy Iommi suffered an accident and lost the tips of his middle and ring fingers on his right hand. Iommi learned to play guitar left handed and used thimbles to make up the damage to his hands. He also began to detune his guitar in order to reduce strain to his hands. He as one of the first guitarists to do so and helped create the darker slightly discordant darker sound that is now associated with Metal. Here is Children of the Grave by Black Sabbath from the album Master of Reality. This was the first album by Sabbath on which Iommi used a detuned guitar.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Saturday, January 14, 2012

I heard about the Black Keys a while ago when a friend of mine posted a video of theirs. I enjoyed it, but never got around to listening to any of their other songs until recently. I have to say I am impressed by the powerful blues driven rock coming out of two skinny white dudes. This video in particular cracked me up.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

I've mentioned earlier that I saw the Toadies perform in Dallas at the Observer Awards showcase. Growing up in Texas, I've always been aware of them but I never went out of my way to listen to them. I heard Possum Kingdom and Tyler on the radio countless times but really didn't appreciate the music. That is until I saw them live. I now love the album Rubberneck. They really are a great example of early 90s grunge rock.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

I've been sick for the past couple of days, but I'm better now. Still not back at 100% but pretty close. I only get sick every couple of years and it is usually not very fun for me and pretty contagious. I managed to infect close to half of my university junior year with whatever plague I caught and my body somehow mutated. Needless to say, I have been under self imposed quarantine and will continue to be until I am completely back to normal. With that being said, here is a song about being sick.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

The other night at the bar, as I mentioned in my previous post, we were treated to some pretty good music. I also have been trying to get one of my friends into Led Zeppelin. While looking around in an attempt to find out if Queens of the Stone Age are close to releasing a new album, I stumbled across this tidbit of information. Two years ago three amazing musicians formed a super group. These three men are Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin. How amazingly crazy is that. They call themselves Them Crooked Vultures, and they are fantastic. Here is Gunman off of their self titled album.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

I typically go to one bar when I go out. Every once in a while I might change things up and go somewhere else, but I usually end up at the same place for a few reasons. Number one, they have a porch, and I love being outside and it gets me away from the fog of cigarette smoke. They also have pretty good drink specials. But the main reason is that they play a lot of music I like especially Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal and Primus. The Eagles of Death Metal I particularly appreciate. Their music is all around fun to listen to.


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

This is one of my all time favorite Clash songs. Hope you enjoy.

Monday, January 2, 2012

While on my walk tonight, I listened to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones most recent album Pin Points and Gin Joints. I wasn't too impressed. The overall sound is pretty generic and lacks the punch of their earlier music. Now some of you might be thinking, "I've seen Clueless and heard that knock on wood and the Bosstones never had any punch to begin with." Well you my friend are wrong. Dicky Barrett used to have a great metal voice that he used often and with great energy. Now he sounds like a tired lounge singer. It is disappointing. So today I am leaving you with a song I used to listen to in the morning when I was getting ready for crew in order to wake up.