Vanilla Sky - Punk Is Dead

Vanilla Sky are not a band I was familiar with until this album. The whole album is covers and its a strange affair for sure. The cover of "Umbrella" is awful but then the Green Day "Basket Case" cover is great. A reggae version of "Help!" which doesn't totally suck is a head shaker for sure. The band continue to strangely entertain with a solid rendition of "A Thousand Miles" that works very well with a rockier edge. Then they fall apart with "Nothing Else Matters" as a screamo song. The turning of "Everlong" into a piano ballad via The Script is again pretty good and works well.

Download it don't buy it!

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The Wanted: Are They Really Needed Let Alone Wanted?

The modern day boy band is The Wanted who take the past goofiness of NKOTB, NSYNC and the like and toss it in the crapper giving that bunk a good flush and maybe a courtesy flush to make sure its gone as best as it can be. This group does have upside by stealing dad's record collection and using it for inspiration.

Take the two singles released so far: All Time Low is a wonderful two-tempo affair – a slow song with a fast pulse – with clever lyrics and a cocksure sense of its own high worth. Heart Vacancy, on the other hand, is a rather more hangdog sort of a thing. It seems to be too fast and too slow, the lyrics are daft, and it clearly needs a few more harmonies to glue some of the bits of chorus together.

See here is the trouble with this group, they take what credible artists like Kings Of Leon, Maroon 5, Cold Play and so forth and try to have that sort of depth but with that grasp for serious artistry or majestic pomp rock they also have the inability in their craft to show that kind of maturity at all turns and you get gaps all through the album, albeit not Grand Canyon sized gaps.

Let’s Get Ugly deserves special applause then, for the sheer brass neck of taking the theme to The Good, The Bad & The Ugly by Ennio Morricone and writing a come-on song to a girl over the top. And they pull it off, too. Hopefully The Wanted’s second album will be even weirder, if only to protect the future of all boybandkind.

Those pop fans who've jumped onto the adult rock darlings previously mentioned will think this is just as good even though it's not even close. For what it is The Wanted are ok and I mean only ok. It's kinda like the smart teens boy band if that's even possible!

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The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

The indie rock darlings The Decembrists have returned with another album of their branded folk rock. The band have taken a little side-step into alt. country music well a deeper step lets say. I actually don't mind The King Is Dead overall. The songs are pleasant well crafted and definable. This is a huge improvement from the bands last album of over orchestrated and absurdly ambitious music called The Hazards Of Love. That album lacked chorus's and song structure as it was pretty much a 70 minute jam session with some pauses.

Here the band have crafted some good songs like the opening cut "Don't Carry It All" that is breezy and has a nice harmonica bit during the chorus. "Rox In The Box" another of the standout tracks reminiscent of Bob Dylan's great songwriting. Lead single “Down By the Water” employs the tricks of “Don’t Carry It All” to similar effect in a raucous success. There are some dips in quality, yes. “This Is Why We Fight” has a Smiths-tinged tenseness and melancholy, but also shockingly weak lyrics for a writer like Meloy, while “Dear Avery” never quite seems to get going.

For all its rural pedigrees, The King Is Dead is still a clean and meticulously crafted album; the production is smooth and the performances are unnervingly error-free. Consequently, it's missing a little vulnerability-- the best Americana records tend to feel a little lawless, but the Decemberists just can't quite relinquish control.

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Sirenia - Enigma Of Life

The Gothic rock of Sirenia is back with album number five and not much has changed. The band are still pulling the same old tricks from the bag with little new to add to an over done genre. Sure the music is of a decent quality but you've heard it all before by other artists let alone them. There are those giant keyboard punches supposed to be orchestra strikes and then the multi-layered lead vocals giving way to a riff or two repeast as necessary becomes the formula.

This style is usually miss, actually its like 95% miss with maybe 2% being strong enough to listen to more than once a year or two even. I don't know who really likes this genre and continues to support it but I don't know one person that would be heard rocking this in their car on a Friday night cruise. If your really bored with all the good music out there and run of the mill Gothic rock is your fancy then give it a listen. I'm sure this will be much loved by some people who's taste is all in their mouth.

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Joan As Police Woman - The Deep Field

As strange as the name of the artist so is the music, maybe more so eclectic than strange. Joan Wasser who is Joan As Police Woman has been around the block and on her third singer/songwriter record she has struck the weird bell on most of the albums ten cuts. The awkward opening song is reminecint of KT Tunstall and Rufus Wainwright with a noisy production that reminds of something more akin to the Arcade Fire. She quickly improves the production when the sound is more rounded and soulful on "The Magic", "The Man In Action" and "Human Condition". She jumps around in a nearly schizophrenic manner all through the album but for those fans of modern indie alternative singer/songwriter stuff will be all over this album.

I'm not a huge fan of this exact style as sometimes its too stunted and immature or it becomes to smooth and boring to keep me very interested for long. I have to say that I prefer artists like Coeur De Pirate, Diane Birch, Ingrid Michaelson & Kate Miller-Heidke over Joan Wasser. All the mention artists have a much better grasp on melody and timbre. They effectively ebb and flow where Joan gets stuck in the mud a lot. She does pull a good song out now and again like "I Was Everyone" which is the albums best track by a million miles. It's really the entire reason I even bothered giving her album a listen and found myself continuously bored about half way through every song. I can't recommend this album to anyone outside of those music snobs who hate most music considered pop or popular. She's definitely not a mainstream artist and her inability to connect much outside of the indie snobs she will continually stay right where she is in her career.

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10 Songs That Should Be On Everybody's I-Pod

Here are some new songs I've added to my I-Pod and so should you!

10. We Love Barbra, Too by BerlinYC
09. Bounce by Emphatic
08. Signs All Over by Overdrive
07. Please Accept My Love by Gregg Allman
06. Nothing by The Script
05. Downgrade by The New Black
04. Smack You by Kimberly Cole
03. I Like That by Static Revenger & Richard Vission Feat. Luciana
02. Heavy Metal Love (acoustic) by Helix
01. Go Go Go Go! by The 89Ers

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Helix - Smash Hits....Unplugged

The rock n' roll contained on this album is all 100% dynamite! Helix has been around in many forms over the years, some bad and some good and some just great. This is them in the just great form one more time but in an unplugged setting. The bands acoustic takes on their classics kicks off with a smoking version of "Gimme Good Lovin" from the Walkin' The Razors Edge album which broke them making them Canadian metal stars. The version here is as good as their original cover back in 1984. The opener melts into a laid back version of "The Kids Are All Shakin'" from the bands over produced 1985 album Long Way To Heaven. This version is a million times better than the original recording and should forever be the go to version for a listen. When the groovy sleaze of "Heavy Metal Love" appears you've pretty much already gotten your money's worth. This takes one of the bands most loved tunes and lays a sexy backwoods Mississippi blues groove all over it. The song has never sounded so good and comfortable. This is one of the best tracks on the album and shows how good Brian Vollmer still is thirty plus years later into his career as a vocalist. The bands worst record is given a second look with "Deep Cuts The Knife" that actually comes off better here stripped back and lightened of the overwrought production. Still the song isn't that strong and should have been dumped in favour of maybe "The Storm" or something from It's A Business Doing Pleasure.

When we get a song from the bands return to form it's 87's Wild In The Streets which was the title track as well as lead off single. Helix slicks their hair back and gives the song a swagger which was probably always there just buried in the bad production of the album. A new song in the form of a cover of the James Leroy's "Touch Of Magic" that hopefully will get some airplay from radio. It's a great cover and the song deserves some attention for it's late songwriter. Well of course the album closes with the bands biggest song that classic/masterpiece "Rock You" and it's again a complete winner. The spirit is still there along with the energy allowing the song to be used as a favorite while singing and strumming at campfires. Fritz's drums are not a blaze like they were on the original but this version isn't meant for that purpose, as I mention earlier. This is the sing-a-long group version for all the balding metal heads to have fun with their kids while in the car on long drives or camping in the woods. Overall I'm pleased as punch for a new Helix album even if its a rehashing of their old stuff. The band took some great songs did great versions acoustically and now all who think re-recording their material for a hits package is a good idea should first be sat down and shown how to do it right by listening to this album. Can anyone remember the worst album of this style (This Left Feels WRONG)? Thanks again for more great music now where is the all new material album? Lets Go Helix Lets Go! Lets Go Helix Lets Go! Lets Go Helix Lets Go! Lets Go Helix Lets Go!

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Saliva: Bringing Heavy Metal Back To The Mainstream

When I first heard Click Click Boom in a film trailer I knew this was a band I was going to like. Once I figured out who they were and grabbed Every Six Seconds the album got major play in my listening rotation. Finally the Millennium had a metal band that could put the grittiest riffs together with glam rock sensibilities in a way that made their retro sound as cool as anything in the genre all the while using the current trend of hip-hop and nu-metal to near perfection. The band scored major modern rock hits with their major label debut putting metal back on the popular map. This is kind of where heavy metal got to be reborn once again thankfully this time the genre has taken over on a level never achieved before. The seventies are about as close to this current run of dominance in length and penetration to the mainstream.

Even though bands like Marylin Manson and Nine Inch Nails made huge inroads neither were true metal bands. MM being the closest to the metal genre but still had a huge foot in the Gothic world of music and not achieving the success on mainstream radio as Saliva. NIN were just an alternative act with industrial effects added to their sound for effect. Saliva was different and on the same level as their co-horts Creed, Godsmack, Disturbed and Nickelback in how they followed the heavy metal formula that was created by the greats of the genre like Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest and Def Leppard.

As the band has continued to grow and evolve the rap-rock has been filtered out for the most part and been replaced with more deep southern rock influences. The band came ripping out of the gates with their follow-up to Every Six Seconds called Back Into Your System in 2002 an album which saw the band dig in even deeper with more hits singles and successful tours. The album went to #19 on the Billboard album chart which is massive for a band from the metal community. Their #1 modern rock single "Always" was a huge reason for the excellent showing on the charts. The album kicks off with the grinding masterpiece "Superstar II" that instantly shows what your in for and you better hold on tight.

Back Into Your System was also used in parts of WWE promotion for their PPV shows and other promotional videos. The band at this point were a rock monster heading for world domination. 2002 and 2003 were big years for Saliva who not only kept their momentum on an upward swing. Three years apart sees Saliva release what I believe to be their average album Survival Of The Sickest which is the band achieving their vision of what the band's true sound was supposed to be. The street wise aggression was just powerful enough yet still had all the melodic touches to keep the more pop oriented fans who jumped on the bandwagon happy. There is a bit of filler material but the band rocks their asses off on this album.

More WWE connections saw the band on the Wreckless Intent album performing the theme song for WWE Superstar Batista. Even though Batista had great presence alone the song was a major highlight and centerpiece of his entrance. The song will forever live on WWE TV because of the use with the superstar and their video montages that play from time to time.

The band departed ways with Chris D'abaldo after some silly ego garbage and his in-ability to accept that Josey Scott was the main event when it came to most things. His replacement Jonathan Montoya recorded the album and did a good job. All the fans of the band were in for a treat when Saliva returned with their best album to date Blood Stained Love Story. The album kicked off with the ostentatious classic "Ladies & Gentlemen" that would also see them hit #2 on the mainstream rock charts. The song is also the PS3 commercial song which never seems to get old when those stupid commercials are repeated over and over during a TV show. The bands second single "Broken Sunday" also found much success hitting #8 on the same chart giving the album enough momentum to help the band tour successfully and bring the music to the masses.

Blood Stained Love Story includes what has become my all-time favorite Saliva song "Is It You". I don't know why it was never released as a single but would have been a gargantuan hit for them. If you are unfamiliar with the song do your ears a favour and listen to this glittering tune. By the time Cinco Diablo arrived in 2008 I've been a fan for a long time and I wasn't sure what I was looking forward to from the band. What I got was a much more southern rock album than I expected and the band cut their best homage to ZZ Top & Motley Crue called "Southern Girls" never as dirty or pedestrian as the Crue but much more kicking than ZZ Top.

From the albums opening cut "Family Reunion" you can tell this band has taken it to the next level in terms of growth and evolution within the life of a band. When the stark and chilling "Best Of Me" plays through it has a great chorus and is one of the bands most effective moments when it comes to emoting a feeling. The band has become multi-dimensional eleven years into their career to a point that no matter what comes together from their recording sessions you know its going to be good. Josey's voice has never been better than on "Forever & A Day" one of the most mainstream songs they have ever recorded. His delivery is so clean and flawless that you would almost not believe its him singing. Easily one of the best power ballads that has come out in last twenty years and I say that without malice.

"Hunt You Down" was named the official theme song to another WWE event called No Way Out in 2009 again giving the band another shot in the arm. The band also saw their song "How Could You" do very well at all media outlets. Saliva's label released a hits package called Moving Forward In Reverse: Greatest Hits which included new material in the form of "Time To Shine" a pulverizing melodic rocker that the band sound current and powerful as any fan would expect.

The band are now going to enter this new decade with a new album called Skin Deep that I can't wait to hear for obvious reasons. This band is set now with a career spanning fourteen years with five major label releases and one independent one. They have done nothing but be great and rock our asses off for the entire time. With their last single release of "Badass" from the soundtrack to Saw 3D being as good as it was then the new single "Nothing" all I can tell you is this album could make all their previous albums pale by comparison. "Nothing" is a killer power ballad and do not miss out getting the single when it becomes available for download on Amazon or I-Tunes.

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Overdrive - Angelmaker

After the first run through of Overdrive's latest reunion album I'm impressed. The truth be told when the second and third play were final I knew I liked this album a lot. The power metal is bright, aggressive and well written. At times the band sound like Skid Row but never as much of a glam edge that the Skid's seem to always have. This band finds more in common with the Grim Reaper and Saxon clans but never to the cheesy roll your eyes moments that both of those bands can create consistently. When Overdrive nails it to the wall the band reminds me greatly of Helloween which is just dandy in my world.

Songs like "Signs All Over", "In Gut We Trust" and "See the Light" prove that metal can be both heavy and melodic (without pursing hardcore or death vocals). Given the epic quality of "Mother Earth" and the closer, the Iron Maiden-like "The Wavebreaker" Overdrive shows both their intensity and talent for solid metal. Overdrive’s brand of metal is refreshingly un-contrived. The band steers clear of banal chant-along choruses and doesn’t rely on triggered bass drums to create an impression of heaviness or urgency.

Ultimately, if you dig the modern renaissance of classic melodic heavy metal, Overdrive's Angelmaker is both authentic and entertaining. They deliver finely crafted songs that rely on strong melodies, powerful riffing and spot on leads. This album will take you back in time without even trying to be retro. I sense this album has huge replay value for me, and I feel it deserves the maximum rating as well. 2011 has got its first excellent heavy metal release.

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I Miss The Rail

When I first moved to Victoria, BC we had a night club called the Rail here and it was where the rock/hard rock bands played. It was the first club I went to when I moved here. Most weekends they had great bands in there doing covers and originals. I was introduced to a great band that were years ahead of their time called Deadline. The band played what is now called pop punk. Funny thing is that they were better than most of the bands who became famous in that genre. If only they came out a few years later they would have been superstars.

I also got to see a cool band out of Ontario called Smash L.A. who I used to see on Much Music's power hour all the time. They kicked ass live and were one of my fondest memories. The club had Age Of Electric a couple of times and that band was another wicked good band that just didn't breakout and become as successful as they deserved. More so AOE got caught up trying to be alternative rock instead of just being AOE. Line Up In Paris who released one indie album played at the Rail only once if I remember correctly. They had a couple of great originals called "Emotional Addiction" and "Fear Of Flying" both easily could have been monster hit singles. I look back on that club with fond memories and all the great bands I enjoyed with my then girlfriend who's now my wife of 16 years. It's too bad that this city doesn't have a venue like it anymore for a new generation of bands to strut their stuff and create some new magic.

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10 Songs That Should Be On Everybody's I-Pod

Time to start the 2011 continuation.

10. I Want A Woman by Ratt
09. Together by Herve
08. Words (Big Mouth) by Ian Hunter
07. Not The Drinking by Lauren Pritchard
06. Consfearacy by Slayer
05. Rain Dance by Guess Who
04. Hey (Nah Ney Nah) by Milk & Sugar Feat. Vaya Con Dios
03. Indian Reservation by Paul Revere & The Raiders
02. I Was Drunk by Riva Starr
01. Up All Night by Slaughter

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The Worst Time Of Year For New Music

Here we are in January 2011 and the new music released is at a minimum. Most of the stuff on pop radio is singles released before the holiday period of 2010 so its getting a little long in the tooth. The new albums aren't really coming until March/April when people are back in a buying mood. So right now we end up with all the old stuff rehashed and some singles that otherwise would never be released as such if newer music was available.

The sad part is that so much good stuff is out there but gets no chance even with the light release schedule. I can name a few tunes in the pop genre that would be welcomed over having to hear stuff like "Club Can't Handle Me" or "DJ's Got Us Falling In Love Again" for the ten millionth time. Because pop radio gets tied to just a basic few artists per year and usually don't expand beyond the mainline record label darlings many good songs are missed completly in favour of another Rihanna song or Lady Gaga or Beyonce song no matter if there is better music available to fill the slot. Take for example Kool FM in Victoria BC, they will play Eminem's terrible single "Not Afraid" twelve to fifteen times a day or more versus playing something new and exciting. Fresh music has been relegated to the internet radio stations or to the satellite radio stations who even have a better rotation than public commercial radio.

I understand that pop radio needs to hit a demographic and sell advertising to survive but they also have to entertain us and most of the time I'm not entertained by stations like Kool FM because they repeat their scaled back playlist. When I can put on my I-Pod and hit shuffle and that is more engaging than what a million dollar radio station can do it really says something. I know that my I-Pod has songs that I personally picked but I have over ten thousand songs in said shuffle. So I know commercial radio has no chance to be better but sometimes its fun to hear the DJ's, news, happenings around the entertainment world.

Now back to the music, the music is there for the radio programmers to play but they fail every single year by refusing to push a bunch of missed tunes that came out in the previous few months. Right now on stations around Victoria many cool new songs and artists could be getting a fair shake let's start with the pop station Kool FM's missed oppertunities.
White Tie Affair - You Look Better When I'm Drunk
Scissor Sisters - Any Which Way
Professor Green - Monster
Imelda May - Mayhem
Duffy - Well, Well, Well
Kate Miller-Heidke - Caught In The Crowd
Never Shout Never - I Love You 5
Then we have a rock station that has probably the smallest playlist of all and it's so stale that I never turn it on because I've been hearing the majority their music choices for as long as I've been listening to music seriously. 100.3 The Q is Victoria's lamest station on the FM dial and the sad thing is they have some of the city's best on air personalities. Songs that they should be playing are too many to list but here is a small sample of perfect fits.
Blue October - Jump Rope
Ratt - Best Of Me
Hinder - All American Nightmare
Jonas & The Massive Attraction - Big Slice
Victoria's adult station is called the Ocean which has a decent lighter side of pop and rock playlist. They still could add some current stuff that would be huge for them and as well Kool FM could take these on as well.
Rumer - Goodbye Girl
Lena - Touch A New Day
Nick Jonas - Introducing Me
Jason Castro - Let's Just Fall In Love Again
Eliza Doolittle - Pack Up
This is just a small listing and I've not included the cities modern rock station which is still not in the league of CFOX which is the best modern rock station available on an FM radio in this area. The Zone is capable of being great and with less effort than all the other commercial stations but they are held back more because of their on air personalities than the music they program. The music they program could be a little better by leaving some of the alternative and indie bunk, replacing it with more hard rock and heavy metal. No station does a very good job at programming those two genre's. Most either go classic rock overplayed artists like Ozzy Osbourne and only the first two albums and No More Tears or they go the wrong way and play Nu-metal that is screaming absurdly. They seem to miss what really would be cool, bands like Halford, Accept, Wig Wam, Overkill, Hinder & Black Label Society.

If I could have a chance to work with the programming team at any of these stations (not The Ocean) the ego in me and confidence believes they could benefit greatly. But they would have to be open to new and fresh ideas and be willing to forgo the typical and safe to be truly excellent which I am confident none have the guts to make that change. In the end January, February and usually March will continue to be the weakest months of the year for the industry of radio and probably will never change as long as I am alive. But I've got some great ideas to make commercial radio great again but will never see the light of day and I'm ok with that.

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