If you were to ask me what I thought about pop punk, I’d probably instinctively tell you that it wasn’t for me. If you were to find me in a slightly harsher mood, I’d probably tell you it was pish. However, the truth is that doesn’t make much sense. In the real world I am a pop music fan, someone who has Taylor Swift sitting next to TesseracT on their Ipod. So in an attempt to show a bit of fairness, I thought I would give the new All Time Low album, Future Hearts, a listen.
While She Sleeps – Brainwashed
While She Sleeps have been consistently pinpointed as the next big band in UK heavy metal. Magazines like Metal Hammer have pinned their flags to the Sleeps mast and the excitement surrounding them only seems to grow. That momentum looked set to sweep to the top, but then disaster struck. While calling it a tragedy would be diminishing a word that is used to describe things like a member of One Direction pissing off, it’s fair to say the vocal problems that hit lead singer Loz and his subsequent throat surgery, threw the first big spanner in the While She Sleeps express.
The Rise of the Panther
A hair metal band singing songs about gloryholes. If you were asked, you probably wouldn’t pinpoint that as the kind of band who could headline Wembley Arena. Yet, somehow this last weekend saw that happen, as Steel Panther continued their remarkable rise to the top of the rock and roll food chain. Yet how have they done it? How have a band, that on first glance are little more than an elaborate joke, achieved so much?
Beyond The Final Countdown
We’ve all heard it a million times. It has an intro that wheedles its way into your brain and never leaves. ‘The Final Countdown’ is Europe and no matter what that band do, it will always be that way. But should it be like that? These Swedish rockers have just released their 11th album. Surely there has to be something beyond that keyboard?
Live Review: Bleed from Within w/ Excellent Cadaver, Perpetua and Exile the Traitor
Bleed From Within are pretty much the top of the food chain when it comes to Scottish metal. Therefore, their pre-tour show at Edinburgh’s Opium, a venue far too small for the band, should be packed to the rafters. Sadly, Edinburgh once again fails to deliver and despite it being a Friday night the crowd is noticeably thinned out at the edges. Thankfully, they don’t seem to let it bother them.
Where have all the rock stars gone?
Recent years has seen people begin to question where the rock stars have gone. Those big personalities, who explode into your brain and make you sure you never forget them. Thirty years ago, they seemed to grow on trees. Axl Rose, Ozzy Osbourne, John Bonham and co meant that if you wanted a hellraiser, there was never one too far away. Sadly, they have either gotten old, got fat or died and there is some truth in the idea that they were never replaced. There are still hard partying musicians out there, but none of them grab the headlines in the way these legends did.
Adrenaline Mob – Dearly Departed
Adrenaline Mob came into everyone’s consciousness when they became one of the many bands Mike Portnoy threw himself into after he left Dream Theater. Joined by Russell Allen (Symphony X), Mike Orlando and the likes of Rich Ward, they looked like a pretty cool supergroup. However, slowly members have left. Portnoy realised he didn’t have enough time to be in 100 bands. Ward’s focus has narrowed in on Fozzy and the band has morphed into his current line up, which features Allen, Orlando, A.J. Pero (Twisted Sister) and Erik Leonhardt. The changes led to second album Men Of Honor which it has to be said was met with a resounding meh. So are Adrenaline Mob a band that we should be wasting out time on in 2015.
Everything is Awesome
Music is a funny old business. Heavy metal is a genre that sits outside the mainstream and 99% of the time, relishes in that fact. We embrace our difference and we love it. That is until something like the Grammy Awards comes along and gets metal horribly wrong. They don’t get us, so they just go with the safest option, this year that was Tenacious D, and hand them a trophy, before ushering the whole thing off stage and breathing a sigh of relief. Should we care? No, of course not. Do we care? Well sadly, a glance around the internet suggests some of us do.
Live Review: Mariachi El Bronx w/ Pounded By The Surf
Usually when The Bronx come to town, they leave a trail of destruction in their wake. Upturned tables and a crowd with a look that sits somewhere between confusion and ecstasy are their stock in trade. However, every now and then they leave that insanity behind. They don the Mariachi gear and choose instead to serenade us, with tales of love, life and all those other lovely things.
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A Defence of Nu-Metal
Over the last few years, nu-metal has become the music industries whipping boy. Articles like this one, are a common sight on my Twitter feed, while even I have been knowing to throw the occasional barb in its direction. Yet, is that really fair? Is nu-metal the giant pile of shit we all like to make it out to be? No. No it really bloody isn’t.
Ramblings About Wrestling 