Track By Track on Punk Goes Classic Rock

now playing: The Outfield - Your Love

I still can't keep an update schedule, surprising no one. However, I recently became aware of the existence of the Punk Goes... series of compilation albums from Fearless Records. If you're unfamiliar with the concept, all you do is take the latest 13-or-so flavors of the week from the increasingly ill-defined punk scene and get them to record covers of songs that are distinctly not punk. Highlights of the series—and I use that word with varying degrees of sincerity—include Chiodos doing Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" (Punk Goes Pop 2, 2009), Cartel covering "Wonderwall" by Oasis (Punk Goes 90s, 2006), and more or less everything off the 2008 album Punk Goes Crunk. Yes, that's a real thing.

2010's offering, Punk Goes Classic Rock, hits stores on April 27th. I can give my basic impression of the album with a quote from Adam West: "I love this song! And I love it when amateurs sing the lyrics! But I hate baseball cards." Which is essentially accurate, even the baseball cards part. However, I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't go track-by-track on this album and evaluate each cover. Let's get started, then.

01) "More Than a Feeling" by Boston, cover by Hit the Lights

The opening track is a deal faster, clocking in two minutes shorter than the original, and does away with the soft guitar intro we've come to know and love. In its place are drums that are mixed just a little too loud, extra-crunchy guitars, and the god-help-him-he's-trying vocals of Nick Thompson. Brad Delp he most certainly isn't, and it really comes out during the chorus. I can hear his voice straining to hit some of those notes, and honestly if he hadn't changed the melody of a couple lines, I think he would have had a much easier time with it. There's a questionable filter sweep over the drums coming back in after the first chorus, and throughout the song, the emphasis of certain lyrics has been changed—I suppose to make it easier on the performers. The solo's a little different towards the end, and right after that there's a decent a cappella section for a couple bars, but it's just too little too late. Not a good start.

02) "Paint It Black" by The Rolling Stones, cover by VersaEmerge

The synthesizer introduction is certainly interesting, and I like that Blake Harnage and Sierra Kusterbeck trade off vocals in the verses; it's an interesting male/female voice dichotomy. There's a lot of electronic influence in this cover: Synthesizer, incredibly fuzzy guitar, processed bass and drums. Keyboards and guitar riff simultaneously around two minutes in and keep coming back in and out of the verses. Once the song goes into triplets, there's a keyboard line that adds its own texture to the cover in a mostly positive way. It's busier than the original, but it does covers right. VersaEmerge makes the song their own while keeping the spirit of the original alive. Nice recovery, album. Let's keep it up, okay?

03) "Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty, cover by The Almost

Damn it, album, what did I just say. This cover opens with drums panned all the way to the left for no discernible reason before messily turning to stereo. Aside from that gaffe, this song isn't too bad instrumentally. The problems enter in the second verse, when Aaron Gillespie tries to sound more intense. I can't really blame him; his previous experience is Underoath, after all. There's no screaming, thankfully, but he does attempt to put an edge in his voice that really detracts from something that's supposed to be a pretty chill song. He also adds "she" and "they" to the beginnings of certain lines, which I suppose is admirable; I too respect complete sentences. It's a small difference, but it's notable and it makes me remember how little Tom Petty had to try to make this song sound good. Gillespie comes across as trying very, very hard to turn this cover into an Underoath song.

04) "We Are the Champions" by Queen, cover by Mayday Parade

Derek Sanders, vocalist for Mayday Parade, does a pretty good Freddie Mercury at times. This cover opens quite nicely, really; Jeremy Lenzo's bass tone is great and Sanders is pretty mellow up until the chorus. But then the "choir" starts, and it's in quotes because it's really just gang vocals. I don't know who mixed this section, but fie on them. Like Brian Posehn said, it's four sweaty dudes yelling in a booth. And aside from that, Sanders' voice just can't hit the notes in the chorus, but he gets points for not changing the melody for his convenience. I can excuse bad Freddie impersonations, but I'm not that lenient on those who change him. Alex Garcia can match up to the guitar chops of Brian May, so I have no complaints there. What I'm still ambivalent on is Mayday Parade finishing the final line—I don't know if I like the resolution of one last "of the world" or if I want the original to remain intact. At least I'll have all album to think about it, because having more than one Queen cover would be silly.

05) "Rock and Roll All Nite" by KISS, cover by The Summer Set

I like The Summer Set. I think Love Like This was a pretty solid debut and I still throw on "Girls Freak Me Out" when I want to, as they say in the parlance, shake my groove thing. They're no strangers to covers, having done a great version of "Love in This Club" by Usher. And I think if they had had any other song on this album, they would have done an excellent job. John Gomez and Josh Montgomery turn the guitar line into something even more KISS than KISS, they've got all the breakdowns in the right places, the group shouting is blended nicely and actually works for the song; by all means, the instrumentation is great. But my issue is with Brian Dales, the singer. Dales' voice fills clubs; this song fills stadiums. He's just not powerful enough as a vocalist to pull something like this off. It's really a shame, because aside from that, this is my favorite cover on the album so far.

06) "Caught Up in You" by .38 Special, cover by We the Kings

I love .38 Special. If I had a time machine, I would go to August 1977 and pick up a copy of their self-titled debut, then head straight to 1981 and be first in line for Wild-Eyed Southern Boys. So I have high expectations for this We the Kings cover. And I regret to say that the song does not deliver quite as much awesomeness as I would come to expect. Travis Clark's vocals stink of autotune, especially in the second chorus, and even where he's not electronically helped, he sounds off. Maybe it's just his vocal style, but he sounds downright silly at times. In this song, though, my biggest issue is Hunter Thomsen taking the coward's way out with the ending guitar solo—by this I mean that there is no ending solo. I don't understand why, since the solo in the middle of the song is... well, it's capable, at least. This track is a disappointment.

07) "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" by Journey, cover by A Skylit Drive

Why is this song twice as fast as the original? Why are the drums so intense? Why do Michael Jagmin's vocals make it sound like the Alvin and the Chipmunks cover? And most importantly, why is there screaming in this song? I realize that A Skylit Drive is hardcore and all, but Cory La Quay needs to learn that some songs don't need screaming. "Separate Ways" is definitely one of those songs. I don't really have anything else to say about this. This is a bad cover.

08) "Your Love" by The Outfield, cover by I See Stars

This is the only song on the compilation that I wasn't immediately familiar with, so I did a little digging to get an idea of the original. And in the course of digging, I found out that Midtown did a cover of this exact same song on Punk Goes 80s! Running out of ideas, huh? I guess when Katy Perry does it, you need to reprise it to stay relevant. Devin Oliver's voice is pretty high-pitched, which (contrary to my normal opinion) works very well for this cover. On synthesizer, Chris Moore throws in a great electronic groove that for some reason wasn't present in the original. It sounds 80s as all get out. It's a bit more upbeat than the original, which could be jarring for the experienced listener, but right now, I think I like the I See Stars cover better than the original. At any rate, I definitely like it better than Katy Perry's.

09) "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult, cover by Pierce the Veil

You probably won't be surprised to discover I like BÖC, as well. I would have picked "Career of Evil" or maybe something off their self-titled, but at the same time, I'm glad Pierce the Veil went with something so mainstream. That means my more obscure favorites won't be affected. I don't necessarily like the heavier sound that guitarist Tony Perry and drummer Mike Fuentes contribute to this cover, but I could see myself getting used to it. Perry's guitar tone is much less psychedelic than the original in the verses, but the solo, helped with clever keyboard work from Vic Fuentes, brings it back together. And, of course, Mike Fuentes has more than enough cowbell for the entire class. But Vic Fuentes' vocals are just flat-out wrong for this song. He's singing too high and too nasally for a song about, well, death.

10) "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne, cover by Forever the Sickest Kids

My sister loves Forever the Sickest Kids; I am indifferent towards them. I do, however, think that "Crazy Train" is one of the hardest-rocking songs known to mankind. When your cover of it makes me think of Green Day's "Brain Stew" before Ozzy, you've done something wrong. But I have to give huge amounts of respect to Caleb Turman for attempting Randy Rhoads' enormous, legendary guitar solo and actually pulling it off. It's a little weird to hear Kent Garrison doing the bass line on keyboards through a filter sweep, but it's kind of cool at the same time. Jonathan Cook isn't quite Ozzy, but at least his voice isn't as high as some others; it actually fits the song, or as well as it can. The cover ends in a different direction, adding more programming and electronic bewitchery, but if it's only bad in the very beginning and the very end, maybe you haven't done that wrong after all.

11) "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard, cover by The Maine

Hair metal as a genre is very near and dear to my heart. What can I say? Working hard to have the best time of your life is a great message to me. The first thing I notice about this cover is that it's very well produced. Possibly the most important part of 80s production is intact: Enormous amounts of reverb on the drums. The Maine's singer, John Cornelius O'Callaghan V, sounds like a can of hair spray away from fronting his own hair metal band, right down to exaggerated attacks on certain words. I've never heard harder Ps. The guitar solo has hints of acoustic guitar in the background, though, and the style of the solo brushes too close to modern radio rock to be great. But overall, this is a faithful and solid cover, and I'm actually impressed by that. I mean, of course I am, because we all know what has nine arms and sucks, right? Def Leppard.

12) "All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan, cover by Envy on the Coast

Oh, boy. I guess I can't blame Envy on the Coast for trying out this one. They've apparently got four guitarists, so that's four times the odds that one of them will be as good as Hendrix—because this is the Hendrix version they're covering, and don't let the original artist tell you different. I'm not sure what Ryan Hunter, Salvatore Bossio, Brian Byrne, and Chris Kerenan are doing with their guitars, but it definitely works out. There's an intense, heavy sound to this entire cover that puts it a step above the Hendrix version, if not in quality than certainly in uniqueness. Hunter has this harsh quality to his voice that isn't quite like Hendrix or Dylan. And for not having an official drummer, they manage to get by pretty well. It's a little like VersaEmerge's "Paint It Black" from earlier, where the band completely makes it their own. I could hear this on an actual album of theirs, and not just some compilation.

13) "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money, cover by Every Avenue

I don't know if I'd call this song classic rock, but I certainly don't mind its inclusion. Alongside the original, I have a couple a cappella versions of this from two different colleges, and I've liked it in pretty much every form. Every Avenue just sounds comfortable with this, like this is the kind of music they want to be playing. David Strauchman doesn't have to strain at all to sing, there's no audible evidence of autotune, and little touches of guitar from Joshua Randall and Jimmie Deeghan give the cover a character all its own. I wish I knew who the female guest vocalist was, because I would love to reprimand her by name. She gets a little too into her part and takes me out of the experience with some of her acrobatics. That's the only negative I can really list for this cover, though. You know, the second half of this album is pretty great.

14) "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, cover by NeverShoutNever!

...No.

15) "—what do you mean that's unprofessional? Oh, fine, I'll do a real review of this one. I think there should be some ground rules set down in the music industry, though. Rules for songs that should never be covered, ever. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is one of them. "Stairway to Heaven" is another, and yes, I'm looking at you, Mary J. Blige. "Free Bird" depends on the band. I could go on, but I won't. NeverShoutNever! is essentially one guy, Christofer Ingle, and a bunch of studio musicians. I'd be okay with this if Ingle weren't the one responsible for the vocals. The A section is absolutely terrible vocally. It gets a little better once we see the little silhouetto of a man, and then the guitar solo outward is downright listenable. But when I said that The Almost was trying too hard, I obviously hadn't heard Ingle yet. Though I can't be too hard on the kid; he does, like I said, get better as the song goes on. His vocals begin as indescribably bad and end up squarely in "I want to stone you and spit in your eye" territory. Which is an improvement.

15) "Dream On" by Aerosmith, cover by blessthefall

Whether you like Aerosmith or not, it's hard to deny that "Dream On" is a pretty solid song. And I've noticed that the dividing line on the "do you like Aerosmith?" battle tends to involve whether or not you can tolerate Steven Tyler's vocals. But now with Beau Bokan doing the singing, you don't need to worry about that! Now you can judge the song on its own merits. Compared to some other covers on this compilation, this song is sparse in instrumentation; drummer Matt Traynor only comes in when he's needed, and both Eric Lambert and Mike Frisby keep their guitars as atmospheric instruments more often than not—until, that is, the song brings in some synthesized strings and Lambert begins shredding over them. Most important to me, though, is that I finally got the choir I've been waiting for since "We Are the Champions": The song ends with the entire band singing the chorus in modest harmony. Bokan's voice takes a little getting used to, admittedly, but he's a lot easier to listen to than Steven Tyler.

That's Punk Goes Classic Rock on a track-by-track basis. As far as recommendations go: "Paint It Black", "Crazy Train", "Pour Some Sugar on Me", "All Along the Watchtower", and "Dream On". Tracks to stay away from at all costs include "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" and "Bohemian Rhapsody". The really good outweighs the really bad on this compilation, but they are both outweighed by the mediocre. If you're that hard-pressed for classic rock, just go listen to the originals. C+

The Desert Island Albums

now playing: White Wizzard - Over the Top

I've been meaning to write this post for quite some time, and I think it's something every music fan does eventually. No matter how cliché it is, it's always a fun exercise to see what music you really value enough to bring with you if you're stuck on a desert island—or, in this day and age, a horrible oppressive wasteland where music is forbidden and the horrible dictator Führer King No Fun declares all CDs contraband and you spend the rest of your days sneaking a listen to a few seconds of a song whenever the overseers in the plutonium mines change shifts. Now that I think about it, that would make an awesome concept album.

To qualify for this list, an album must fit three criteria: 1) I must be able to listen to it all the way through and not once feel compelled to hit the skip button; 2) I must have some sort of emotional or personal connection to the album—it has to mean something; 3) I must be in absolutely no danger of burning out on the album after listening to it for the fiftieth time that day. Without further ado, here are the five albums I would bring with me into a sonicbane wasteland. (Have you heard my new band, Sonicbane Wasteland?)

05) Fall Out Boy's Folie à Deux (2008)

As you may remember from my review of Folie à Deux, I had nothing but good things to say about this album. A year and change later, all those things still stand up; in fact, I recently re-listened to the album after forgetting it for a little while and it was like the first time I'd ever heard it all over again. Every track hits perfectly and graphs a fantastic contour throughout the entire album. The album, for me, marks the point where I stopped feeling sorry for myself and started following my dreams and writing music as I've always wanted to do. "The (Shipped) Gold Standard" remains my favorite song to this day for that reason. The chorus, "You can only blame your problems on the world for so long / Before it all becomes the same old song", was the kick in the ass I needed to finally do something. And aside from all that, it's just a solid, singable, danceable, rockable album.

04) Boston's Boston (1976)

Now, I live in Boston, so I might be a little biased in putting this album on my list, but you take a listen to "Something About You" and tell me it's not the greatest classic rock song you've ever heard. And I will believe you, because there are better ones out there, but there are not many. Before I listened to this album, I was certainly aware of Boston's existence, but I never really went out of my way to listen to them. I'm infinitely glad I did, because this album rekindled my interest in classic rock and helped shape my own aspirations for the kind of music I wanted to make. The album starts high and keeps rising (as any good mixtape should, if Barney Stinson tells me right), only coming down at the end in a gradual fade on "Let Me Take You Home Tonight", and even that is fast-paced and energetic. The guitar solos, the tones of all the instruments, Brad Delp's amazing voice... do I really have to go on?

03) Jack Off Jill's Clear Hearts Grey Flowers (2000)

If it's emotional response you want, it doesn't get much more intense than this album. I first found out about Jack Off Jill from a few of my online friends who were much more musically-savvy than I. This was in late 2006/early 2007, when I was going through a pretty turbulent time in my college career: Romantic issues, fights with friends, crises of existence—you know, all that fun stuff. So hearing songs like "Nazi Halo" and the title track more or less made my angsty little day. The lead singer, Jessicka, delivered these lyrics with such vindication and pure rage that it was all I could do not to shout along whenever I listened to it. Jessicka's doing quite well for herself fronting Scarling these days, but nothing she ever does will top Clear Hearts for me. It's the rawest, most brutal emotional outlet I have ever heard from any musician. It's musical catharsis, opening quietly and ending with panting, angry breaths. You just feel better after listening to this album. Emotionally exhausted, but better.

02) Poe's Haunted (2000)

This is a tough album to swallow. There's rock, there's merengue, there's funk, noise, happiness, sorrow, vindication, anger, love, love, so much love. I've been listening to it for seven years and I'm still discovering new things. On the surface, it's about the relationship between Poe and her father, Tad Danielewski, aided by audio diaries left by her father spanning back to the day she was born. "If You Were Here", the significance of which should be self-explanatory, is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard and one of the only ones that can make me cry no matter what. At the same time, the album is a companion piece to Mark Z. Danielewski's avant-garde horror novel House of Leaves. The lyrics interlock with events and characters in the novel; even the thematic elements, such as echoes, show up. Haunted is remarkably complex and highbrow while still being accessible and catchy to the uneducated listener. I didn't even know about the House of Leaves connection until my second year of listening. There's always more to find, which is how I know I'm never going to burn out on this album.

01) Queensrÿche's Operation: Mindcrime (1988)

Here it is: The album that sparked my interest in metal and my love affair with concept albums. I call Operation: Mindcrime the greatest metal album in existence and one of the best of all time. The story remains open to interpretation 22 years after its release, and the ideals of revolution and change in times of political turmoil will hold strong forever. A friend of mine gave me this album in 2004 and not six months later, I saw Queensrÿche in concert. It was my first real metal show and one of the best shows of my life. So yes, as you might be able to tell, I'm rather a fan of the album. It sparked my own musical renaissance, the beginning of an era where I stopped listening to what the radio told me to and started looking for my own music on my own time. I only wish Queensrÿche's other albums were as good. Empire has some decent tracks, yeah, but after Mindcrime, the band really fell from grace. I wish they hadn't put out Operation: Mindcrime II, even if they did get Dio to do guest vocals. Some stories don't need an end.

Well, there you have it. These are only the ones that made the list, but it was tough narrowing it down to five. Here's a few honorable mentions that missed out for one reason or another.

	Coheed and Cambria's In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003) Why not? While a great concept album, IKSSE:3 lacks the emotional significance a desert island album needs. I still end up skipping a few tracks here and there, too.		Sonata Arctica's Silence (2001) Why not? A fantastic album, like I said, but I burn out on it way too easily, which is unfortunate considering Sonata's my favorite band and all.
	Reel Big Fish's Cheer Up! (2002) Why not? The ska and rock songs are great, but "Sayonara Senorita" and "Boss DJ" never clicked with me. Still a very fun album, but possibly a bit too bold for me.		The Sounds' Dying to Say This to You (2006) Why not? Too much new wave. It's awesome, but it's overwhelming by the end. There's only so much synth I can take. Maja Ivarsson is so hot, though.
	Blue Öyster Cult's Fire of Unknown Origin (1981) Why not? I love me some BÖC, but the middle of this album is pretty unimpressive. I tend to skip from "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" straight to "After Dark" and shut it off after "Joan Crawford".		Lady Gaga's The Fame Mons†er (2009) Why not? Because I have shame.

Album Review: Halestorm

now playing: Coheed and Cambria - The Broken

Okay, I admit it. I can't keep an update schedule to save my life and I won't even pretend to anymore. But I still have a serious interest in writing about music, so this blog is totally not abandoned quite yet. Thanks to a new partnership with Typo Away, updates should be coming out a little more regularly, but don't get too excited. I'm still behind the wheel, after all; no promises. Now, let's get back into the swing of things with an album from a recent group that I'm enjoying quite a lot.

Halestorm, a semi-local band (from York, PA), came out with their self-titled debut in April of last year. When describing this album, I've often joked that it's eleven songs about having sex with the frontwoman, Lzzy Hale. That's not entirely fair; I'm pretty sure "Familiar Taste of Poison" is not, in fact, about shacking up with her. The other ten, though? Completely. It's this sort of ballsiness (ovarishness?) that I've found lacking in rock music as of late. With songs about exhibitionism, deflowering virgins, strictly sexual relationships, prostitution, and all manner of other euphemisms for the same basic concept, Halestorm takes the expectations of female-fronted rock music, ties them down to the bed, and makes like Kathy Bates in Misery all over them. It's refreshingly edgy without coming off as trying too hard.

But the concepts are only half the album. Halestorm isn't afraid to use the instruments and talent at their disposal to great effect. Nearly every song on the album has a bona fide guitar solo, something that has gone forgotten for far too long. Let's not forget the riffage in songs like "Dirty Work" and "It's Not You". The hard rock roots of the album bring with them a touch of atmospheric keyboard reminiscent of all the best parts of the 80s. Appropriate, as the current vocalist of Sixx A.M. co-wrote "What Were You Expecting", a track that brings the album back to its powerful core after a couple less-than-impressive ballads.

If there is any point where this album fails to impress, it's the slower tracks. "I'm Not an Angel" and "Better Sorry Than Safe" are good examples of power ballads, but it's clear the band isn't at their peak. Halestorm has definite strengths: Fast, hard-hitting rock songs. You won't find the next "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" on this album, but you shouldn't be expecting to find it. It's clear from the first lines on the album ("I'm in love with somebody / And it's not you") that Lzzy Hale isn't interested in sappy love songs. That's no excuse for calling a song "Bet U Wish U Had Me Back", though.

Halestorm can stand up against any 80s metal album with pride. If you know what you're going into, you'll be satisfied with this album. If, like me, you have no idea what to expect, prepare to be pleasantly surprised. (Personally, I thought I'd get a bit more power metal, but a tirade on album covers is for another post.) In a market stagnant with emasculated rock and roll, Halestorm resuscitates rock music, then gives it a sharp kick to the nards as punishment. Bravo, Lzzy. Bravo. A-

You can buy Halestorm from Halestorm's online store. Right now, the band's touring with Theory of a Deadman across the States and into Europe. In April, they'll be with Janus, Burn Halo, and Madam Adam. If this sounds like your kind of scene, check out the dates and buy tickets now.

Halloweekends: Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?

now playing: Picture Me Broken - Devil on My Shoulder

Saturdays in October (I'm sorry, ROCKTOBER) are going to operate a bit differently. I'll still be doing reviews, of course, but they'll be focusing on the most frightening of bands and their terrifying songs to help set the mood for Halloween. This feature is called Halloweekends, and I look forward to having a little fun with it. The inaugural Halloweekends album is also a reader recommendation (though he may not know it). It comes from my buddy Doug, who has previously introduced me to Anamanaguchi and EAR PWR, and previously criticized me for not calling Sonata Arctica's Ecliptica the best album ever.

Murder By Death's 2003 album Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? is a fine choice to get this ball rolling. As most good things are, it is a concept album. Musically, it's a calm, sinister ride through Mexico as a plan for revenge unfolds. With titles like "That Crown Don't Make You a Prince" and "Master's in Reverse Psychology", aided by atmospheric piano and cello from Vincent Edwards and Sarah Balliet, the music on its own can be enough to send chills down the spine and hooks into the brain. However, the music itself isn't the entire reason this album has been nominated for this feature.

Why is this album terrifying? I mentioned it's a concept album about revenge. That's true enough. The Devil is the one looking for revenge after getting shot in a small Mexican town and having his blood (crude oil) stolen to be sold by greedy citizens. The Devil proceeds to curse a local elementary school with a plague of zombies, then watches his evil grow as the townspeople begin killing themselves out of fear and despair. The Devil draws nearer to the town as both sides prepare for war, and all the townspeople who made deals with him begin rotting and falling apart. Finally, the Devil reaches the town with his army and starts laying waste. After wallowing in their sadness and several of them drinking themselves to death, the citizens gather up their arms and start fighting back, even amidst all this hopelessness. And that's where the album ends.

I don't really think I need to go further than that.

Murder By Death has three other albums with some incredibly inventive song titles ("Intergalactic Menopause", "You Are the Last Dragon (You Possess the Power of the Glow)"), but I don't think it gets more frightening than Who Will Survive. You can pick up the album on iTunes or Amazon. While you're at it, check out the website for the album, where frontman Adam Turla provides the lyrics and a more detailed description of each song.

Ombrophilia will return on Monday with reviews of Lucky Boys Confusion and Ra.

Reader Recommendations: Orion Way

now playing: Queen - Somebody to Love

What do you get if you blend Fall Out Boy, Ben Folds, the Beach Boys, and a little bit of Britpop? The first track off Orion Way, the 2007 album from Orange County's Cavil at Rest. I say just the first track because it's impossible to pigeonhole these guys into one specific genre. They strike me as the west coast's version of The Sterns, but even a band as eclectic as that one doesn't quite capture the spirit of Cavil at Rest. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure where to begin.

I suppose the beginning of the album would be a good place. "Who's There", the first track, I've already described as a mix of several different artists that don't really seem like they would work together but do anyway. "Let Down Your Guard / A Quick Drive" is the first song that made me think of the Sterns: A prominent, melodic bass line and the subtle use of Hammond organs both make the comparison clear. "It's Still Not As Bad" opens with an odd drum beat that leaves me wondering just what's to come next, but I think this is the only song that actually sounds like the one before it. This is not a bad thing, mind. Following that is "Sun Hands", which mixes it up even more. The introduction reminds me very slightly of southern rock, but then vocals from Ryan Hahn turn it into what might pass as one of Silversun Pickups' slower songs, and then a guitar solo kicks in that brings it straight back to rock before closing on the gentle vocals again.

"We Could Love" has sparse instrumentation until about halfway through, when the piano, drums, and guitar get a little more intense without detracting from the overall feel. After that is "The Flower of Rhodes", which is another mid-tempo track that reminds me of something I can't quite place my finger on. I want to say it's something from The Cab's Whisper War, with electric guitar and piano weaving together with vocal harmonies to create one big ball of sound, for lack of a better word. The heavier guitar in the chorus, unfortunately, detracts from the experience for me. "Tidal Killer" is a bouncy, folksy little tune that makes extensive and expert use of vocal harmonies. There are a few moments where the listener can hear Hahn's voice cracking or straining (only slightly, and never enough to ruin the recording), which adds a sense of realism that I appreciate endlessly.

The album draws to a close with "All is Well and Good", which brings back the earlier comparison to The Cab, but this time the guitar sounds spacier, almost more ambient. The drums make up for this with bass blasts that would fit perfectly in a metal song; they're used sparingly and only for effect, and it's never obtrusive. The bridge melds from studio chatter to piano and drums with accompaniment from bells before bringing it back around to the chorus. A closing clap track segues seamlessly into "House on Stilts", the final song. It wraps up the album neatly by showing that same Ben Folds influence from "Who's There" and throwing in a little bit of everything from the rest of the album in a culmination of everything Cavil at Rest stands for.

In the past, I've criticized albums for being too mercurial, for not conforming to a specific genre. Orion Way does exactly that, but for a band like this, I have no complaints. I'm not sure if they're still trying to explore their style or if this is exactly how they plan to approach music, but either way, it works. Orion Way is available on iTunes and I'm not entirely sure I can recommend it enough. A

This recommendation came to me from Kia at Typo Away.

100-Word Reviews: New Era (Pt. 1)

now playing: Heavenly - Lust for Life

When I first discovered a few tracks by Derdian in 2006, I was excited because I'd never heard Italian power metal before. I'm sad to say that the rest of their 2005 debut New Era (Pt. 1) almost makes me wish I'd kept on not hearing it. The entire thing suffers from lack of production value. The keyboard sounds like an 8-bit MIDI, and not in the cool Anamanaguchi way. The choirs lack power. "Eternal Light" is a pretty solid track, but it still sounds weak. You can check out their MySpace, but I would recommend against buying the album.

Reader Recommendations: Steers & Stripes

now playing: Brad Paisley - Online

This begins the reader recommendations I mentioned on Monday. This album comes to me from my good friend Kia over at Typo Away, who was kind enough to provide me with (I believe the term is) a metric buttload of possibilities, and all I had to do was ask. I think I'll be set for a while, but that shouldn't stop anyone from recommending more music to me. Just leave a comment and I'll add it to my queue.

Now, incredibly long-time readers (we're talking first entry here) might recall me saying that as a rule, I do not like country music. So far, this has held strong, though I must admit the occasional Brad Paisley song is pretty damn catchy. This is largely because in my experience, as the opening track of Brooks & Dunn's 2001 album Steers & Stripes backs up, there might as well only be one country song with a bunch of different lyrics to it. "Only in America" is certainly inspirational, and I appreciate that it pulls off a sense of national pride without drowning the listener in images of Americana, but the instrumentation sounds almost identical to every other country song I've heard. The same remains true of "Go West", slightly later in the album, and "When She's Gone, She's Gone", which also gives us the requisite metaphor of a woman being like something in America -- in this case, the Mississippi River.

I am pleased to say that this trend does not continue, with songs like "The Last Thing I Do" and "Good Girls Go to Heaven" bringing to mind southern rock along the lines of Lynyrd Skynyrd or, more recently, the Ghost Hounds. The album's first ballad, "The Long Goodbye", is no doubt heartfelt, but outside of the closing guitar solo, it still sounds generic to me. I was impressed with "My Heart is Lost to You", which would best be described as a Tex-Mex song: It uses Spanish guitar and salsa drums, but maintains a country feel and overall reminds me a little of Carlos Santana. "Ain't Nothing 'Bout You" struck me as a bit of an odd song, but not particularly in a bad way. I mean no offense to Mssrs. Brooks and Dunn by this, but the backing band sounded (to me) that it had been lifted from a late-90s Backstreet Boys song. It has a bit of a manufactured quality to it, as though it's trying to sound like a pop song when it clearly shouldn't be. I can't really argue with the numbers, though; it was the number one country single of 2001, so I guess it worked.

The second half of the album soon follows with "Unloved", another generic-sounding ballad, but this time it has a backing chorus. Immediately after is "Deny, Deny, Deny", which has help from a xylophone and more Spanish guitar to tell a bit of a talking blues life story. From a musical standpoint, the chorus sounds unfinished, not coming to a clear resolution where it would normally be expected. That's entering nitpick territory, I think. Let's continue. "Lucky Me, Lonely You" has two false starts that are probably intended to add some familiarity to the recording, but all it did was confuse me. "I Fall" is another slow and non-noteworthy ballad, which leads into "Every River", a mid-tempo love song with cliché lyrics, but as they say, clichés are such because they work. Worth mentioning are the hand drums and Hammond organ in the band, keeping it just interesting enough to hold my attention. The album closes with a more than welcome southern rock song, "See Jane Dance", with lyrics and guitar solos that would fit in perfectly on a .38 Special album.

I know there's a lot of negativity in the above paragraphs, but truth be told, I enjoyed a decent part of this album. It isn't anything I would listen to voluntarily all the way through, but I can definitely see myself adding some single tracks to my regular rotation. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of twang in this album. I'm constantly worried that country songs will be too twangy (which I realize is like saying "this salt is too salty" or "this Dragonforce solo is too wanky"), so this album definitely exceeded my expectations. Overall, I would call this album average, but I'm proud to say that this album has shattered my preconceptions of what country music can be. Between plateaus of straight-up country, there are valleys of near-lifeless ballads, but they're almost completely offset by peaks of inventive southern rock. And I will never say no to southern rock. B-

100-Word Reviews: Beyond the Obvious

now playing: Murder By Death - That Crown Don't Make You a Prince

I have a love-hate relationship with Lockport-based Jinxed's only album, Beyond the Obvious (2004, One Eleven Records). It has some of the best lyrics I've ever heard in its genre, including the only song I know of to use "iniquities" in a chorus, but the instrumentation might as well be interchangeable. Though the songs are simple, there's a twinge of Take This to Your Grave-era Fall Out Boy that keeps me coming back. The band dropped their drummer, reformed as Mariday, and are still making songs today, but I definitely prefer Jinxed's sound. Pick up Beyond the Obvious on Amazon.

Album Review: Dearest (I'm So Sorry)

now playing: Millencolin - Afghan

I wanted to do a full week of Sonata Arctica reviews, but it struck me about 30 seconds after I posted about The Days of Grays that Sonata only has six albums, and I don't know enough about their demos to do a full-fledged post. So let's keep on barreling through with what's next on my list, shall we? Incidentally, my list is pretty short, so I've decided to start taking reader recommendations. If I only review things I know I like, well, I'm not a very good reviewer, am I? Look for those to start up sometime later this week. Possibly tomorrow!

Long-time readers might remember me mentioning Picture Me Broken back in July, when I first discovered them. I've stuck with them since then, and I'm glad to say it's paid off. Thanks to OurStage, the band rose above dozens of other, lesser Bay Area bands to win a VMA as Best Breakout Bay Area Artist on September 13th. Rapper Kanye West later approached Picture Me Broken singer Layla Allman, saying that he would let her finish, but Gregg was the best Allman of all time. (No, he didn't.)

After their success at the VMAs, Picture Me Broken put out their first professional EP, Dearest (I'm So Sorry). The six-track EP features four new songs, as well as retooled versions of "Live Forever" and "Dearest (I'm So Sorry)", both available as demos via OurStage for some time. Let me talk about the re-records for a second before we go into the new stuff. "Live Forever" sounds harder and stronger, but I'm not sure if it's better. I'm still wrestling with the possibility that I might just be used to the demo. The melody and lyrics have both been tweaked, and the chorus now has keyboard overlaid (one change I do definitely like). I'm not sure how much I like the addition of more screams, even if it adds to the heavier effect. I don't think it will end well for Allman's voice if she keeps it up at that pace. In contrast, the title track doesn't seem like it had many changes made to it; I guess you really don't mess with perfection.

Most of the new songs show some fancy guitar work from Nick Loiacono (look to "Echoes of an Empire" or "Breaking the Fall"); "Echoes" also has a prominent bass line courtesy of Austin Dunn and heavy double bass from new drummer Connor Lung. Allman gets her chance to shine in the grim half-ballad "If I Never Wake Again", featuring piano and vocals and heralded by a gunshot. The band really brings it together cohesively in "Devil on My Shoulder", which opens with a drum solo before the main guitar and bass riffs kick in, then Allman joins the mix and the song just flows naturally from there.

When my biggest criticism is that a song I've grown to like sounds a little different, that's a good sign. If what I read on the Twitter is any indication, the band worked their asses off for this EP, and it definitely shows. The EP is available on Bandcamp. Buyers can download the 128kbps MP3s for free, but quality snobs and people who want to support the band can name their own price (starting at $5.00 for the album and $1.00 for each track) to get the songs in a bunch of high-quality formats. I won't say what I paid, but it was a decent amount and it was worth every penny. EDIT 9/30: If you're so inclined, the EP is now available on iTunes for $5.94. Picture Me Broken has already broken out of the Bay Area; with this EP, I think they can break out into the world. A-

Album Retrospective: Ecliptica

now playing: A Wilhelm Scream - Get Mad, You Son of a Bitch

Imagine, if you will, that it's 1999. Cable internet is just starting to catch on; the Macarena already has. The populace is overcome by the impending terror of Y2K. Boy bands dominate the music scene. Grunge has all but disappeared, and metal may as well be a whisper. Then, from the wilds of Kemi-Tornio, Finland, bursts forth the most pure form of power metal heard since Stratovarius. Ripping guitar, pounding double bass, and soaring vocals come together in a trifecta of bombastic sound to take Nick Carter and Joey Fatone and Taylor Hanson by their heads and throw them from a twelfth-story window.

Did you get chills?

This is what Sonata Arctica's debut album, Ecliptica, did to the world. No it isn't; that's a lie. It's what I wish it would have done. But some of the things in that story are true! This is, in fact, a blast of pure power metal for your ears. Ecliptica comes from before Sonata had truly defined their sound, which is both good and bad. But let's start with the good.

With the exception of a few tracks that never quite made it, this album may as well be hit after hit after hit. "Blank File", "My Land", "8th Commandment", "Replica", "Kingdom for a Heart", "Fullmoon", and "Letter to Dana" have all seen regular rotation at live shows and in my CD player. For those counting, that's the first seven of the ten songs on the album. Ranging from love song to wolf song, from paranoid to overjoyed, from national anthem to video game anthem, these seven songs could easily make the album. (I can't tell you how many people only know "Kingdom" from searching "Kingdom Hearts" on YouTube.) The first wolf song, "Fullmoon", has become the band's flagship song; not counting Ari Koivunen's cover from Finnish idol, I have eleven separate versions of the track. It's been performed at every concert I've seen and I would wager every concert Sonata has ever performed. Powered by crowd callback sections and a dueling guitar/keyboard solo originally between guitarist Jani Liimatainen and multi-instrumentalist Tony Kakko, it's easy to see why this song has become so popular. "My Land" details the beauty of the Finnish countryside, and having been there, I can vouch for the description. "Letter to Dana" is possibly my second-favorite ballad, featuring guest instrumentation from flautist Raisa Aine. And "Replica" was one of the first songs I ever heard by the band; its guitar-heavy nature mixed with a short bass solo and powerful re-entry after the bridge made it an early favorite.

But what of the other three songs? "UnOpened" takes the time to showcase the instrumental chops that would become trademark. "Picturing the Past" is, admittedly, nothing special, but I'll get to that later. And finally, there is "Destruction Preventer", a seven-minute song about environmentalism interspersed with a fantastic backing band. However, most of note is the incredibly high note Kakko hits near the end -- while I'm not sure of the octave, I want to say it's a G5. At any rate, it should be largely impossible for someone with his range to hit, and yet he belts it out like it's nothing.

All right, I've covered the good; now let's get to the bad. Since this album is raw power metal, critics have compared it to Stratovarius unfavorably. Rather than finding their own sound, Sonata has been criticized for sounding too similar to their influences and not bringing anything particular new to the table. While I would disagree in certain places, on the whole, this is an accurate assessment. Those who aren't fans would call several of the songs downright interchangeable. I still believe this album was a very strong debut, especially given the scenario I opened this review with, but if Sonata had kept this same sound throughout their entire career, I doubt I would be as much of a fan as I am now. Fortunately, Sonata never stopped evolving, and they've already far eclipsed Ecliptica. A-

Album Retrospective: Silence

now playing: Cobra Starship ft. Travis McCoy - Kiss My Sass

Sonata Arctica's Silence, released in 2001, is the strongest sophomore album I've ever heard. Though their debut, Ecliptica, was incredibly powerful for a debut (especially considering the music scene in 1999), Silence is where the band really fell into their niche -- before, of course, completely redefining that niche in their later albums. Featuring keyboards from Mikko Härkin and guest vocals from Stratovarius' Timo Kotipelto, Silence strikes a fine balance between humor and sincerity, lightheartedness and terror, virtuosity and tranquility. Don't take my word for it; let's explore the album, shall we?

In what would become a trend at concerts, the album opens with "...Of Silence", a spoken word introduction that builds up and leads seamlessly into "Weballergy", a song about internet relationships. Songwriter Tony Kakko has said that this song was written as a sort of Take That to critics who told him that his lyrics weren't appropriate for heavy metal. "False News Travel Fast", though its title is grammatically ambiguous, features a call-and-response section during the bridge in between two solos and closes with a single line from Kotipelto, possibly foreshadowing Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson's involvement on the next album. As we continue through the album, we run into "The End of This Chapter", the second song in the saga of Caleb, introduced in this album and elaborated upon in Reckoning Night, Unia, and The Days of Grays. Over the next seven minutes, Kakko hisses in English and French over grim, keyboard-laden instrumentation the tale of a stalker falling into a jealous rage, yelling "You should know by now that you are mine". I do not want to be in a dark alley with Tony Kakko after hearing this.

The next song is concert mainstay "Black Sheep", the story of a monstrous miller taken from a folk tale. Of special note is that this song appeared in Japan's Guitar Freaks 10th Mix and Drummania 9th Mix, two video games based on playing fake plastic guitar and fake plastic drums, respectively. Until I learned this, I think I underestimated the hold Sonata had on the Japanese market. Moving on, we come across a perpetual favorite of mine, "Land of the Free". Again, the bridge has a callback section, which I've only been able to participate in once, much to my dismay. The entire song, an anthem to freedom, is aided by driving double bass from Tommy Portimo, who I am pretty sure has legs of steel. Skipping ahead a bit, we go past "San Sebastian (Revisited)" and its trademark soaring vocals from Kakko to land on "Revontulet", a rare instrumental of just over 90 seconds showcasing the skill of Härkin and guitarist Jani Liimatainen. Following that is what I believe is Sonata's best ballad, "Tallulah", a soft, flowing song with just enough guitar to add power while being unobtrusive. And of course, I would be remiss not to mention "Wolf & Raven", which fits a number of descriptions: This album's most popular song; this album's wolf song; the most requested song at concerts; and possibly the heaviest song in Sonata's repertoire.

It should be obvious at this point that I hold Silence in very high regard. My criticisms, therefore, are fairly shallow, all things considered. There are a few lyrical problems (for example, "unless we try real hard" in "Land of the Free"), but that's scarcely bothersome enough to matter. I suppose the only major issue I have is that the album doesn't seem to have aged well. It sounds very much like a product of its time, even though its time was only eight years ago. Compared to future albums, it sounds flat and dull, and not even the recently issued re-master seems to fix that. Still, that isn't enough to dampen my opinion of the album significantly. I'm glad that Sonata Arctica has never stayed silent. A+

Album Retrospective: Winterheart's Guild

now playing: No Doubt - Spiderwebs

Now we're getting into the classic stuff. Released in 2003, Winterheart's Guild is a strange sort of album. This is not because nearly half the album is ballads, or because at ten tracks, it's one of Sonata Arctica's shortest albums to date. No, this is largely because Zelian Games has taken the title of the album and indeed many of the concepts therein and, with the blessing of the band, begun creating a video game. Winterheart's Guild looks promising, though at the moment it seems to be in development hell, as it were. Which is unfortunate, as the game is rumored to include at least one unreleased song from Sonata Arctica. Still, I have faith in Zelian Games, and perhaps when the technology arises to beam video games directly into our cerebral cortex, we'll be able to play Winterheart's Guild as we listen to Sonata's 15th or 20th studio album.

A man can dream.

Enough about the video game, though; let's get to the album. Winterheart's Guild is more keyboard-driven than the band's earlier two albums. This predicts a change in direction that would become more prominent on Unia, but when I first heard this album, I was a little confused. Up until Reckoning Night, the keyboard player in Sonata Arctica was a little like the drummer in Spinal Tap, only without the death. Their earlier demos and Ecliptica featured jack of all trades Tony Kakko on keyboards, while Silence had ex-Kenziner keyboardist Mikko Härkin. Winterheart's Guild has, if I may, four bitchin' keyboard solos that Kakko may not have been able to play on his own. So who better to play them than ex-Dio, ex-Rising Force, current Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson? I can only imagine what a great moment this must have been for Sonata, whose earlier albums drew much of their inspiration from Stratovarius.

That inevitable rush of emotion transfers immediately into the album, which features high-energy staples like "Victoria's Secret" and "The Cage" (the wolf song and the perpetual big finish in live shows) interspersed with stark piano ballads like "The Misery" and "Draw Me". "Gravenimage", the second track and a personal favorite, ups the ante, starting out as a ballad and turning into an intense guitar-fest at the halfway mark. In the oft-overlooked "Champagne Bath", keyboards turn to marimbas during the bridge in a finger-breaking triple meter that really speaks to Johansson's virtuosity. All the while, drummer Tommy Portimo blasts out the double bass in eighth note triplets, Kakko brings the soaring vocals, and Jani Liimatainen uses just the right amount of guitar effects to keep everything interesting and tied together. There's even room for a few bars of solo from bassist Marko Paasikoski. I don't really understand why this song goes unappreciated more often than not, as it's a great example of the band as one unit at their best.

I wish I could say the same for some of the other songs. Despite Johansson's guest work, Winterheart's Guild has been my least favorite Sonata album for a while. "Broken", the second single, has become a main fixture at concerts, but for me, it treads the line between power ballad and power metal too carefully, never straying even a millimeter to one side or the other. I will say that the line "heaven's closed / hell's sold out / so I walk on earth" is one of the better things Kakko has written, but it's barely enough to make the song interesting. In contrast, "Silver Tongue" has excellent instrumentation, but I'm put off almost entirely by Kakko's poor diction and downright befuddling word choice ("call me Ishmael if it ain't a lie", for one). I'm not sure if this album is meant to be transitional material or not, but I can say I'm glad that the band has taken most of the good songs with them and left the rest to freeze to death. B-

Album Retrospective: Reckoning Night

now playing: Falconer - The Clarion Call

2005's Reckoning Night marked Sonata Arctica's first serious foray into the progressive elements that would later permeate their music. This was also the first album for keyboardist Henrik "Henkka" Klingenberg, who was selected for the position after a night of drinking -- a tradition he keeps up to this day. It also marked my first serious experience with the band: I'd listened to a few tracks, but Reckoning Night was the first full album I bought. As an introduction to the band, I think it works quite well. Songs like "My Selene" and "Wildfire" (both largely underappreciated, I think) hark back to an earlier, more definitively power metal sound that could be found on Silence or Ecliptica, while the nine-minute epic "White Pearl, Black Oceans..." is an excellent harbinger of the grandiosity to come. (As an aside, "My Selene" is of special note as the only song written by former guitarist Jani Liimatainen in his time with the band, thus ensuring, unfortunately, that the song will never be played live.)

Several songs on this album became fast favorites for me, and even now, four years later, there is only one song I feel slightly less emphatic about: The mid-tempo second track, "Blinded No More". It follows a typical structure, but doesn't seem to go anywhere. In fact, the only reason I listen to it anymore is for the snarling wolf at the end that leads into the next track, "Ain't Your Fairytale", the wolf song on this album. In fact, Sonata seems to have mastered the transition in here: The end of "Fairytale" goes perfectly into the calm instrumental "Reckoning Day, Reckoning Night...", which in turn segues seamlessly into the album's biggest single, "Don't Say A Word". The blaze of "Wildfire" is put out by the gently lapping waves that open "White Pearl". As a cohesive unit, this album works wonders. It is definitely meant to be listened to continuously.

Let's return to "Don't Say A Word", another grim, sinister tale from master wordsmith Tony Kakko. The song falls as part three of the saga of Caleb and Juliet (see Unia and The Days of Grays). Caleb has broken into Juliet's home and is lamenting all they could have had as he watches her sleep. She has no idea he is even there, and is gone before first light arrives. The morbid tale is interspersed with hissed Latin phrases from guest speaker Nik Van-Eckmann, one of Kakko's former teachers who also had a role in 2001's Silence. This song has become a staple of their live concerts, and rightfully so: It's incredibly energetic and the crowd loves it.

Unfortunately, I feel this comes at the cost of neglecting other equally fantastic songs. The closing ballad, "Shamandalie", gets occasional play at live shows, but I've only heard "White Pearl" once, and I had to go to Finland to get the opportunity. "Misplaced", the first track, and "Blinded" used to open every show, but now they've fallen to the wayside. Well over half the album, including the half-power, half-prog cautionary tale "The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Real Puppet", has never been played at any show I've been to, or (to my knowledge) at all. It makes me feel as thought the band isn't proud of what they've done here, which just isn't right. Sonata has every right to wave their flag high before sticking it in the ground. Reckoning Night is a strong, upstanding album that does power-prog right. A

Album Retrospective: Unia

now playing: Sonata Arctica - In the Dark

Sonata Arctica's fifth studio album, Unia ("Dreams"), dropped in May of 2007 and proved immediately divisive among American and Finnish fans alike. The album marked a potentially unsettling change of sound from power metal with progressive influences to what some billed as "pretentious" straight-up progressive metal. Additionally, the cover art debuted a new logo for the band; the previous one had remained unchanged for eight years. This would also be the last album original guitarist Jani Liimatainen would play on: Some complications involving the Finnish military arose, and the band decided to go on without him, taking Elias Viljanen in his place. Understandably, fans had several reasons to be displeased with this album.

I was not one of them. I distinctly remember calling "Good Enough is Good Enough", the closing track, "absolutely perfect". Featuring Tony Kakko on vocals, Henrik Klingenberg on piano, and a string quintet, the minimalistic ballad is a fantastic way to bring the listener down from the sheer sonic power of the rest of the album. The album opens immediately with a strong guitar riff in the vindictive "In Black and White", which would become the standard concert opener for the next two years (and, I would imagine, for some time to come). "Paid in Full", the first single, follows quickly as a ballad with an edge and a strong bass line. Before long, the album swings back into vindication with this album's wolf song, "It Won't Fade": The wolf pack described in the lyrics is a metaphor for the band, and the stray left of the litter is Liimatainen. It seems almost cruel to make him play guitar on this track, but emotion brings out the best playing in everyone, a point clearly made as Kakko switches between clean vocals and screaming over top of angry guitar lines and gentle piano.

As I mentioned in my review of The Days of Grays, "Juliet" is the conclusion of a story. Unia's sixth track, "Caleb", is the beginning, detailing the childhood of the stalker in a progressive, 4/4-to-6/8 crowd-pleaser with a guest choir and a spoken introduction. After that point, the album descends further and further into prog, culminating with "My Dream's But a Drop of Fuel For a Nightmare". The track is six minutes of deliberately nonsensical lyrics and instrumental virtuosity that builds from bass, piano, and vocals to a combination of instruments that can barely be enumerated. Sitting down and listening to the instrumental version of this track (a bonus track limited to the Japanese edition), I was blown away. This is my first response to anyone who claims that Sonata lost their touch with Unia.

However, for as impressive as many of the tracks are, some still don't quite settle well with me. "Under Your Tree", the main ballad of the album, has a melody too similar to "Victoria's Secret" (off Winterheart's Guild, 2003) for my liking and strikes me as downright boring. It's easily my least favorite Sonata song in their entire repertoire. I also feel that, in his effort to write something new, Kakko dropped the ball in "The Harvest", which uses the lyrics "once planted plastic grapes / the harvest of a lifetime / real bad wine" in complete sincerity. It's a shame, as the rest of the song is really quite good -- I've certainly never heard a metal band use a bouzouki before. I just can't get over those lines. Despite all that, Unia certainly isn't a bad album. I think the sensationalist reactions about the stylistic shift and all that were largely unjustified. I would, however, call the album weak. I believe they were trying to make a bold change in their genre and bit off more than they could chew. Fortunately, all the imperfections were ironed out with the release of The Days of Grays, and I (for one) welcome our new power-prog overlords. It goes to show that if you're going to dream, dream big. B

Album Review: The Days of Grays

now playing: Sonata Arctica - Deathaura

You know, for how much I talk about how awesome Finnish power metal is, this is the first official time Sonata Arctica's gotten a mention on this long-dead blog. What a way to kick things off again, huh? Sonata's sixth studio album, The Days of Grays (Nuclear Blast), hit shelves in America today and I am more than ready to give it the review it deserves. And you know what? Come back every day this week for another Sonata Arctica album review.

It's been two and a half years since Sonata Arctica's divisive and controversial fifth album, Unia. The band took the progressive elements they'd been experimenting with for a few years and kicked them into high gear, culminating in an avant-garde explosion of sound with calliope and Hammond organs joining the regular lineup of bass, guitar, keyboards, drums, and vocals. Fans were not particularly happy, but I can save that explanation for another day. The Days of Grays retains the progressive elements of Unia, but brings along a darker tone, something more sinister and not quite heard of from this band until now. While their previous albums have opened with loud, heavy, hard-hitting tracks, "Everything Fades to Gray" is stripped down to the barest elements with nothing more than piano and strings (and the occasional tympani for effect). Orchestration is heavy on this album all around, in fact; four of the 13 songs feature strings, while the Finland-exclusive two-disc version contains seven completely orchestrated songs.

Just as the listener is getting comfortable, in comes "Deathaura", an eight-minute, multi-part suite showcasing guest vocalist Johanna Kurkela's gentle entry and the band's trademark thunderous sound only seconds later. This is guitarist Elias Viljanen's first opportunity to shine, having been added the band shortly after the release of Unia, and I am proud to say he does not disappoint. From there, the album transitions to "The Last Amazing Grays", the requisite "wolf song" and the first single. Despite the grim feelings the orchestrated bridge may convey, the message remains hopeful. Immediately following is the second single and easily the happiest song on the album, "Flag in the Ground". I can already see crowds of people singing along to this song, a triumphant anthem for love and the future.

Skipping ahead to the second half of the album, "Juliet" reminds the listener that vocalist and songwriter Tony Kakko is a terrifying person. Meant to be the end of a story introduced in their second album, "Juliet" details a stalker, having finally found his love, poisoning himself and expecting her to do the same. When he discovers that she is still alive as death overtakes him, he promises to come back as a ghost and haunt her until the end of her days. "As If the World Wasn't Ending", a few tracks later, seems to take the quote "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" to heart. A man has inadvertently caused the end of the world and spends the song pleading to his love to pretend that they aren't going to die, to enjoy the time they have left together. A darker tone indeed.

Of course, ten years of music haven't dulled Sonata's sense of experimentation. "Zeroes" applies various vocal effects and takes a more political tone, both of which are rather unexpected from a band that's been billed by some as "gay wizard metal". The chorus of "The Dead Skin" mentions human dismemberment (albeit as a metaphor). And then there's "The Truth is Out There", which -- yes, Virginia -- involves alien abduction.

Overall, The Days of Grays is an inventive album and an interesting exploration of just how far one band can push the definition of power metal. My major criticism is the average length of the songs; I fear touring with Nightwish may have influenced the band for the worse. Nothing drags, to be sure, but I fear for the commercial success of the album when half the tracks come in over 4:30. But pithy criticisms aside! I'm glad to see they're putting Viljanen to good use, as he certainly has the chops. Bassist Marko Paasikoski is further up in the mix in nearly every track, which I appreciate as a bassist. It seems others appreciate it, as well: The album sold in excess of 15,000 copies in Finland on the first day of release, reaching gold status in what must be record time. The brightest colors might fade to gray, but at this rate, Sonata Arctica most certainly will not. A-

You can buy The Days of Grays from Sonata Arctica's website. The band is currently touring the USA and Canada with Dragonforce, so be sure to check out the tour schedule and pick up tickets to the show nearest you.

What I Can't Stop Listening To: Picture Me Broken

now playing: Picture Me Broken - Live Forever

Oh, hey, I actually have a blog. Yeah, so much for regular updates, I guess. What with my own flighty nature and an actual job getting in the way, I haven't had a lot of time to get out and discover new music, much less write posts about it. However, thanks to my good friend Jordan Munson, I do have some actual content. This is going to be a bit different from my standard WICSLT posts; it's more of a single-artist showcase than anything else.

Picture Me Broken is a quartet of high school kids from Redwood City, CA. Don't let their age fool you, though; these kids can seriously rock. They were recently invited to play the Warped Tour on June 27th, and not without merit. One listen to their big song, "Dearest (I'm So Sorry)", and it's clear that their comparisons to both Paramore and Scary Kids Scaring Kids are not without merit. I haven't heard guitar work like this out of a modern rock band in a long time. It's a real breath of fresh air. But that's not the only thing they offer. Layla Allman does triple duty, giving infectiously singable lyrics next to passionate screams and just a touch of synth for taste. In "Dearest" and "No Shame" most notably, the use of keyboards during the breakdowns just fits; she knows what she's doing.

Nick Loiacono, guitarist, brings another welcome surprise to the table in "Dead Serious", a bit of a stylistic departure into the pop-rock side of things and what I predict will be a runaway hit. The song features a bona fide guitar solo, which is an element all but forgotten in most modern music today. Loiacono shows impressive chops through their entire body of work. If it weren't for Allman's voice, I'd be hard-pressed to believe "Blind" and "Dearest" are by the same band. This is aided by the versatility of bassist Austin Dunn, who understands that not every bass line needs to be the root for three minutes. What interludes he takes are few, but they're evident and they work. And let's not leave the rhythm section out of it; with Eric Perkins on drums, switching from double-bass breakdowns to more standard classic rock rhythms effortlessly (again, listen to "Dearest"), the whole outfit really comes together.

Picture Me Broken is currently working on releasing their first EP, still untitled. While you wait, you can check them out on OurStage and give them your support by voting for them in the monthly contests. If that's not your scene, you can also find them on MySpace and Twitter. They might only have a few songs so far, but I'm picturing good things in Picture Me Broken's future.

100-Word Reviews: ZOMBIES! ALIENS! VAMPIRES! DINOSAURS!

now playing: hellogoodbye - Baby, It's Fact

This is the way May begins; not with a bang but a whimper. I really dropped the ball on this one, guys. I've been feeling ill lately (I'm pretty sure it's not swine flu), and that's compounded by the new job I just started (not music-related in the slightest) that's giving me hours wherein if I'm not working, I'm sleeping. I am still working on the Bamboozle review, slowly but surely; I hope to have that up by Wednesday or Thursday. Let's try to get things rolling again with a 100-Word Review.

hellogoodbye's ZOMBIES! ALIENS! VAMPIRES! DINOSAURS! is both the best-titled and the cutest album I've ever reviewed. Not "cute" like Cute is What We Aim For; legitimately adorable. From track one straight through to track eleven, every song is a catchy little ditty that could easily be used to describe any number of young love scenarios. Swinging back and forth between upbeat dance and slow ballad, the songs on this album show that hellogoodbye had a good thing going. The keyboardist and drummer split in late 2008, leaving founder Forrest Kline stranded, but far from hopeless. Check it all out here.

What I Can't Stop Listening To: April 2009

now playing: Concrete Blonde - The Sky is a Poisonous Garden

First and foremost, I'd like to thank everyone who helped spread the word of the events at the TLA. I'll be keeping an eye on the situation, but as I said, I don't really think anything is going to come of this, unfortunately. Philadelphia police officers have been getting away with things like this for years. To speak of less somber things, the end of the month brings us What I Can't Stop Listening To once again. If you missed it last month, I am still providing a direct download of the songs mentioned in this article. Disclaimer: I have no vested interest, monetary or otherwise, in providing these links outside of exposing the readers of this blog to new music. I have acquired everything I provide legally and encourage others to do the same. With that said, here are the five songs I can't stop listening to for April 2009.

05) Silversun Pickups - There's No Secrets This Year

I've already written about Swoon earlier in the month, so I won't have much to say for this track. I will say that the chorus of this song is one that always finds its way back into my head no matter what I'm doing. I also enjoy the way the track slows down and blends into the style of the following track, "The Royal We", and it's for that reason that it feels almost wrong not to include it as well. Alas, you only get one from me. You know how that could be solved? Go out and buy Swoon at Amazon or iTunes today.

04) Guns N' Roses - Catcher in the Rye

To be honest, I doubt I'll ever understand anyone who says they dislike Chinese Democracy because it sounds too unlike Guns N' Roses' previous work. It's been 15 years in the making; of course it's not going to sound the same. What it does sound like is good, solid music that too many people are going to overlook for one reason or another. Let this power ballad help change your mind. The guitar is still incredibly strong without Slash, and the rest of the band is just as powerful; even, hard as it may be to believe, Axl himself, who still sounds as he did in GnR's heyday. If you don't have Chinese Democracy already, pick it up on Amazon or iTunes.

03) Styx - Queen of Spades

Putting this song in the article is pretty much pure self-indulgence. Styx manages to hit almost every single one of the thematic elements I love in songs: Lethal women, gambling, spiders, concept albums, power ballads, and guitar solos. I am a simple man with simple pleasures in my music. Pick up Pieces of Eight (featuring this, "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)", and "Renegade", among others) on Amazon or iTunes. And don't forget to get your tickets to the Can't Stop Rockin' tour, featuring Styx, REO Speedwagon, and .38 Special.

02) My Chemical Romance - Famous Last Words

Back when I was shakily learning how to drive, I relied on music to help calm me down. Jack Off Jill's Clear Hearts Grey Flowers shared rotation with The Black Parade, but it was singing along with Gerard Way that finally got me comfortable behind the wheel. And yes, My Chemical Romance might get a lot of flak from... well, everyone, but this album is surprisingly strong as a concept album. I disagree with Way deciding to bleach his hair for the tour, but they can't all be perfect. If you feel like hunting down the special edition, Amazon can hook you up; otherwise, the CD alone can be found on Amazon and iTunes.

01) Concrete Blonde - Probably Will

This song off 1994's Still in Hollywood is strange for Concrete Blonde. The driving bass lines and aggression that initially drew me to the band are gone; instead, this song is stripped down to three-chord guitar, minimal drums, and vocals. It may seem strange that a song like that would be considered an anthem of rebellion, but the line "they will only make us stronger if they try to keep us still" proves that rebellion can have any kind of backing band as long as the lyrics are strong. Still in Hollywood also features live tracks, alternate takes of songs, and covers of Jimi Hendrix, Nick Cave, and others. Their cover of Hendrix's "Little Wing" is superb. You can pick up this album on Amazon or iTunes.

You can download all five of these songs here (36MB).

May is going to start with a bang, as I'll be attending the Bamboozle in the Meadowlands way up in north Jersey. We had little luck with the Ghost Hounds' Vintage Trouble this month, but maybe we'll see it in May. Finnish power metal band Stratovarius also has Polaris coming out in the middle of the month, but you won't have to wait that long for a review. Until next time, keep your eyes on the skies.

Police Brutality at the TLA

I promise not to use this blog as a soapbox often, but I just found out about something reprehensible that happened at the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia last night. The Bamboozle Road Show, featuring We the Kings, Forever the Sickest Kids, the Cab, mercymercedes, and Valencia, was just finishing up last night when several police officers showed up and attacked members of the bands. Brendan Walter of Valencia writes:

Tonight at the Bamboozle Road Show I witnessed the worst case of police brutality I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure of the exact story of what happened, all I know is that I walked downstairs and was ready to leave the venue only to see Chris V being pushed back into the venue (from the alley) by 3 cops with billy clubs. They were screaming and pushing him to the ground, threw him down onto a glass bottle that he hit his head on, split it open. He was bleeding everywhere and they still continued to beat him with clubs. They would not stop, even when he was compliant. Everyone was screaming for them to stop, I just could not stop yelling, I was so angry. I wanted so bad to have us all go over and pull them off of him, but no one could or we’d be next. Finally they stopped and dragged him outside after a pint of blood left his head and was all over the stage of the TLA. After everything was calmed down a bit, I saw my good friend Ian Planet being shoved inside, slammed into a brick wall, his cell phone thrown across the room and his face shoved onto the concrete floor all because he wanted to go outside and finish his job. The same happened to T-Fair right out back as well.

In a thread on the AbsolutePunk.net forums, a member of mercymercedes mentions receiving several tickets and being aggressively shoved against a car. MySpace Video has footage of the interior of the club during the incident, found here (warning: language and blood). Additionally, two people present outside have posted YouTube videos hosted here and here (with language warnings on both).

I'm not certain if anything can be done about this now (I have my doubts that the officers involved will face any retribution), but I thought it best to spread the word.

This post was compiled with help from BuzzNet.

Album Review: Oxytocin

now playing: Concrete Blonde - Probably Will

If you'd told me that a bunch of developers from Harmonix, the company responsible for Rock Band and the first two Guitar Hero games, were going to make a hip-hop/electronica album, I would have laughed in your face, then gone to see what the internet was saying about it. In fact, that is exactly what I did before running across Oxytocin, a 40 minute continuous mix of hip-hop and electronica tracks from eleven Harmonix developers, including members of That Handsome Devil and BQEZ. The best non-musical part is that it's being released on the internet for free in its entirety.

This may not entirely come as a surprise, but I do not listen to hip-hop, so it's difficult for me to judge this album against others in its genre. However, listening to some of the tracks, I find it hard to put this album into one definitive genre, which is both logical and for the best. Rob Lynch's "Cathode Ray" reminds me very much of Anamanaguchi, whereas "Do It For Me" by Nay brings me back to the happy hardcore heyday in the early 90s. "Subway Tale", crafted by M-Cue and Tarashi, definitely makes me think Gorillaz above anything else. To put it quite simply, even if it is a cliche, this album does have something for everyone. I went in not expecting to like it in the slightest, but I nearly stumbled upon a strange mix of Poe and Jack Off Jill with Ligery and Inner Dialogue's "Perfect", spoken poetry backed by synth and beats. Before I even knew the song was coming to an end, it was transitioning seamlessly into "Blow Away" by Patrick Balthrop, a song that would fit perfectly in a trance club's rotation.

I suppose with the diversity of the musical spectrum already covered, my only other comment would be on the fantastic production of the album. Even with songs that fall under incredibly different genres and styles, the mixing remains consistent and in some cases imperceptible. I suppose that's to be expected in a group with six sound designers and two producers, but it's still very impressive. The people responsible for Oxytocin set a goal to make a project that "wasn't rock based", and with just one listen of the album, it's clear that they met this goal. With all the rock bands Harmonix produces (Bang Camaro and the Sterns, to name two), it's easy to overlook those musicians that don't fall under that heading but still have just as much talent as their conventional counterparts. If Oxytocin is a way to test the waters, I'll definitely be keeping my eye on the website to see what else they've got planned. At any rate, it's obvious that Harmonix can produce more than just quality video games. A

Keep your eye on Oxytocin's homepage to follow news on what's to come and download the album in its entirety. While you're there, check out the individual blogs and Twitters of the members and clear your schedules for a couple of shows in June with all eleven getting together to perform live.