Hi everyone. I was very sad to hear today that Chris Cornell has died. I don’t want to speculate on how or why, but I felt it was right to post a song that has helped me through some tough times, and which have given me inspiration. That song is Live To Rise by Soundgarden, which was published on the The Avengers soundtrack Avengers Assemble (2012). Here are the lyrics.
I first heard this song in the end credits to the Marvel Studios film The Avengers, in a movie theater. And if you know how Marvel works, you know to sit through the end credits of every film they make. So I did. And since then, I’ve been listening to this song, which was how I got introduced to Soundgarden and Chris Cornell as an artist. I’ve already posted a review on Show Me How To Live by Audioslave, which was one of his other bands, and which you can read here. I even included both that and this song on my “Most iconic songs”-list, which you can find here. Holy crap he was talented. But this wasn’t supposed to be a eulogy, so here we go:
The intro is a funky and catchy riff, and I like how the drums stop to let us get a clear listen at the sound of the guitar before the song continues. The song slows down for the verses to a simple playing of guitar and bass chords, drum, and Chris Cornell’s voice, with a little flavor of sound from the electric guitar. Chris has the most improbable and effortlessly high voice I’ve heard from a male vocalist before, and yet it is deep and soulful as well, and calming as he sings “Warm my face, warm your face”. I just dig the guitar solo, it kicks ass, and you can hear it continuing in the background as Chris sings out the last two rounds of the chorus, ending the song. This isn’t the most popular song, or even the best, but this is a song that mean something to me, and that I wanted to share with you all. Rest in peace, Chris Cornell.
“What if the one thing that I missed Was everything I need to pass the test? And if I fail what happens then? Can I still count on you as a friend? We’re insane but not alone, You hold on and let go”
(Live To Rise – Soundgarden)
Hi everyone! Today is the National Day of Norway! So congratulations to all my Norwegian readers! I hope you all have had a wonderful day. Just to finish the day off nicely, I wanted to share the live version of the song Slip to the Void by Alter Bridge, which I did a review on in February this year. I got goosebumps when I heard the start of this live version so I decided you all also needed to hear it. Here are the lyrics for you again, and below is the video. If you want to listen to it on Spotify, you can do that here!
This is a somewhat sped-up version, which is cool, even though I love Myles Kennedy’s voice, and would have loved to have it in the normal tempo, so that he would use it in his even more extraordinary way, as he usually does. Now, if you want to read the review, you can do it here. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
“Peel back the skin Close your eyes Hell is born To the abyss but be warned”
(Slip to the Void – Alter Bridge)
Hi there! So, I was suddenly very inspired by this song, and had a sliver of time that I didn’t need to use studying, so I thought this would be the perfect moment to write a blog post! So, I want to review the song Take Me Through The Fire by Machine Head, off their album Bloodstone And Diamonds (2014). Here are the lyrics. (Also, much to my annoyance, the recorded version of the song is not on YouTube, so for the video, I hope you can enjoy the live version, and if you want to listen to the recorded version, you can do so on Spotify here). Enjoy!
As I said, I was just suddenly struck by inspiration, and this was because of the guitar riffs, that are just so magnificently great. Rob Flynn sounds like he is in such despair as he gnarls the words “The drum beats on as I fall in trance / Stepping away from the endless dance”. Flynn has a rough, raspy voice through the whole of the song, making it sound more angry. The drum beats makes the song perfect for perfect head-banging and generally this song is awesome to see and hear live, as the audience definitely get carried away. I get carried away just by listening to this in my living room! The steady drum beat almost counting up to the chorus is incredibly effective, building up to the chorus. I also just love the chanting before the bridge to the guitar solo, and of course the guitar solo itself is amazing. This is just simply a well composed, really heavy metal song, just what I needed right now.
“No subtleties truth is all that I ask No pleasantries you can take off that mask”
(Take Me Through The Fire – Machine Head)
Hi there! It’s about time I did another song review, like I normally do. I’ve had this song stuck on my mind for the past week or so, which came out of nowhere – I haven’t listened to this song in a long time. The song I’m writing about today is called Slip To The Void by Alter Bridge off the album AB III (2010). I think you will notice I’ve thought of and listened to this song a lot. Here are the lyrics. Enjoy!
I can’t really put my finger on it, but there is just something about this song that is greatly satisfying to listen to. Myles Kennedy’s voice is amazing, the guitar riffs are heavy and sort of edgy, and the song just rocks out to lyrics that are actually pretty depressing and haunting. The intro is calm, with an eerie mood, introduced by a synth, and Kennedy’s voice almost whispering the imperative “Slip to the void, to the dark, to the fall…”. The calmness is not comforting, but more like a sense of ‘calm before the storm’. Moving on, the song introduces the strumming of a guitar and muffled sound of the bass, as Kennedy goes on with more warnings, and you can almost feel the guilt sneak up on you with “My God, what have you done? You don’t belong here”.
The song hits a break-through point as Myles goes off with his voice “Sever the ties, trip the wire, dig your hole…”, and you can see the full potential of the song. Kennedy really can do wonders with his voice, taking it down to almost a whisper and up to those high notes.
Harmonizing vocals in the chorus and bridge with Mark Tremonti makes the sound very full in volume, their voices really fit well together. In the bridge there is a split guitar solo as well, between the singing, which is quite good, but isn’t very long in duration, and it seems like the guitar riffs is more important in this song rather than the solo, which I don’t mind.
The song finishes the way it started, drums stopping as sudden as they had started, fading out the guitars, and takes it down to only the synth as it also fades out to a stop. I’ve listened to this song so many times this week alone, I really can’t count it, and still manage to get a creepy feeling in the intro, a feeling of guilt and shame by the lyrics, and a sense of satisfaction by the harmonizing chorus and awesome guitar riffs.
“Doubt is alive and you know You were once led to believe You were young and so naive But now no longer”
(Slip To The Void – Alter Bridge)
Hey! It’s been a month since I last posted. I’ve thought a lot about writing something of finishing something I’ve already started, but I never got around to it. Now, I have a new idea! I “waste” a lot of time on a meme website called 9GAG. Right now, someone’s started a trend of making a list of “need to know” songs and putting their list on 9GAG. I thought I should hop on the train and make such a list of my own. The first one that started this trend (that I noticed, at least), had a rule not to include more than one song per artist/band, and so I wanted to do the same, but realized that it was too difficult for some bands, so I only tried to not include too many. I will just dive right into it, with no arrangement to the order in which I list the songs I feel you need to know. (of course this will be mainly rock/metal, since that’s my forte, but I might include some other songs as well, if I feel like you really need to know/listen to them).
I’ve made the list in Spotify, so you can go in and have a listen right away. Might get back to this post later and make a YouTube-playlist of it as well, but for now Spotify will have to do.
Disturbed – The Sound Of Silence / Down With The Sickness
Evanescence – Bring Me To Life / My Immortal
Paramore – Misery Business
Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare / Afterlife
Black Sabbath – Iron Man
AC/DC – Thunderstruck
Foo Fighers – The Best Of You
Bullet For My Valentine – Tears Don’t Fall
Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
Slipknot – Psychosocial / Duality
Kings of Leon – Sex On Fire
Royal Blood – Better Stangers
Linkin Park – Numb / Faint
Machine Head – Darkness Within / Davidian
Korn – Thoughtless
Coldplay – Fix You
Imagine Dragons – Radioactive
Helloween – Mr. Torture
Halestorm – Love Bites (So Do I)
Ghost B.C. – Cirice
Dimmu Borgir – Gateways
Five Finger Death Punch – Coming Down / House Of The Rising Sun
Audioslave – Show Me How To Live
Soundgarden – Live To Rise
Drowning Pool – Bodies
The Cranberries – Zombie
Brandi Carlile – The Story
Deftones – Change (In The House Of Flies)
AWOLNATION – Sail
Johnny Cash – Hurt
Dream Theater – A Nightmare To Remember
Nomy – Cocaine
Radiohead – Creep
Tribal Ink – Refugee
Avantasia – The Scarecrow
The Goo Goo Dolls – Iris
Amy Lee – Lockdown
Ed Sheeran – I See Fire
System Of A Down – B.Y.O.B.
Volbeat – Still Counting
Alice Cooper – Poison
Metallica – Enter Sandman
Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
Breaking Benjamin – So Cold
Iron Maiden – Fear Of The Dark
Dio – Rainbow In The Dark / Holy Diver
Rammstein – Du Hast
Device/Lzzy Hale – Close My Eyes Forever
Lady Gaga – Til It Happens To You
Muse – Plug In Baby
Rise Against – Hero Of War
Chevelle – The Red
Thee Days Grace – I Hate Everything About You
Axel Rudi Pell – Glory Night
In Flames – Alias
My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
Green Day – 21 Guns
Elton John – Candle In The Wind
There’s just a handful of these songs that I don’t know every single word to, but they still evoke something in me that makes me think everyone should hear them. These songs are iconic to me, representing the band, the genre and the time period they were produced in perfectly. A few of these are covers, but I included them because they are so good that I feel they both do justice to the original artists and the songs, in addition to the covers being iconic themselves.
Links to the two lists that I found already, there are some very good songs in there, and some I have yet to check out.
Am I missing something obvious to you? Would you perhaps replace the song I’ve chosen by a(n) artist/band? What would be your most iconic/”need to know”-songs? Please let me know in the comment section.
“So paint it black and take it back Lets shout it loud and clear Do you fight it to the end We hear the call to To carry on We’ll carry on”
(Welcome To The Black Parade – My Chemical Romance)
“I raise my flag and dye my clothes It’s a revolution, I suppose We’re painted red to fit right in”
(Radioactive – Imagine Dragons)
Happy holidays! Here comes the first in a line of blog posts in my holiday vacation free time, (that’s right, I haven’t had much free time to blog this holiday). We’ll see the when the next post will be, I really don’t know. Hope you are enjoying yourselves in these festive times. Today’s blog post will be a review of a little pearl of a song from a project by Dave Grohl, the frontman of Foo Fighters (and former drummer of Nirvana, for those of you that didn’t know that). The project is a documentary called Sound City (2013), and is a tribute to the recording studio and equipment used in Sound City Studios, where all the artists featured in the documentary and accompanying soundtrack (Sound City – From Real to Reel, 2013) have all recorded music when the studio was running. The song is called From Can To Can’t, sung by Corey Taylor of Slipknot (and Stone Sour), accompanied by Dave Grohl, Rick Nielsen (of Cheap Trick, among others) and Scott Reeder (of Kyuss, among others). Here are the lyrics. Enjoy.
Added the behind-the-scenes footage and music video of the song, makes you realize how great musicians they all are.
So much and at the same time so little to actually be said about the song. I adore it, the whole thing, with guitars and drums and bass and Corey Taylor’s amazing voice. The whole setup is just great, with a song that builds towards a climax, that hits every expectation in my book, and is taken to a short breakdown before a great finish. The melody is nice, as you can hear clearly in the first verse, with the strumming of the guitar and the bass, and then roughs it up with an electric guitar and drums, building up the song more. The lyrics are poetic and sore, together with the talent of Corey Taylor, which can do both careful vocals and add more force with a raspy voice, this seems like the perfect match for the complete song. After you’ve watched the behind-the-scenes part, you can better notice the small and yet significant details to the song, like the use of the E-Bow on the guitar in the background, especially in the first chorus. The music video is great, showing the parts of every musician in the song. A great piece of music, played with historically great equipment, by historically extraordinary great musicians.
“Look at all of these people Tragic little people They smile and then they don’t know what for”
“Our houses are haunted, dark and deserted They’re made of my secrets and shame”
(From Can To Can’t – Corey Taylor, Dave Grohl, Rick Nielsen, Scott Reeder)
Hi everyone! First, I’d like to say that I have gone through all the posts on this blog and replaced the links and videos that don’t exist any more with working ones, so that you can easily listen to the music I write about without going through the trouble of finding them yourselves. So now, everything should be alright.
It’s actually been closer to three years since I did a Slipknot-post, and of the bands I have listened to over the years, this is one of those that has stuck by me since I discovered them. On that note, I think now’s the time to revive them on my blog (I have done playlists with them since 2013, but not song reviews). I’ve chosen a song I’ve discovered not so long ago, despite it being around for a pretty long time: The Heretic Anthem, off the album Iowa (2001). You can read the lyrics here. Enjoy!
I just love how the sound image is so complex, and still works like a bitch. It’s one of Slipknot’s trademarks, if you ask me, and a reason why they are so popular. The guitars are killing it, with hard hitting riffs. The double bass drums make the song even harder, not to speak of the rest of the percussionists’ artwork. Corey Taylor, yelling the angry lyrics as he is surrounded by a heavy atmosphere of sound. I also love the idea of Corey calling and the rest of the band answering in the refrain. Sometimes I wonder how I can think of this as beautiful, but I simply enjoy great musicians doing what they do best, and Slipknot do have something special, in my opinion.
“Nobody wants anything I’ve got Which is fine, because you’re made of Everything I’m not”
(The Heretic Anthem – Slipknot)
A lot has happened lately. Sad, tragic events driven by hate, evil, and even carelessness. The mass-shooting in Orlando, among other things. The revealing of decades of sexual assault among people in a community in my home county, is another. On top of that, several accidental deaths of people, gone too soon. Actually, the last year has been just all messed up. I don’t have any words to describe the feeling I have, really. Many of my favorite artists have made some great music addressing hate, disaster, and death, and so, I have made a playlist of songs that deal with these topics, that maybe can put words and sound to these feelings. You can subscribe to my Spotify list or go check it out on YouTube. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. Take care of each other.
Disturbed – Who Taught You How To Hate
Evanescence – My Heart Is Broken
Avenged Sevenfold – Tonight The World Dies
Machine Head – Damage Inside
Five Finger Death Punch – Coming Down
Alter Bridge – Blackbird
Amy Lee feat. Dave Eggar – Lockdown
Korn – Thoughtless
Avenged Sevenfold – Almost Easy
Evanescence – Together Again
Lady Gaga – Til It Happens To You
Seether feat. Amy Lee – Broken
Avenged Sevenfold – Save Me
Machine Head – Who We Are
Slipknot – Dead Memories
Evanescence – Oceans
We Are The Fallen – Don’t Leave Me Behind
Avenged Sevenfold – Seize The Day
Linkin Park – No More Sorrow
Evanescence – My Last Breath
Machine Head – Is There Anybody Out There?
“Tell me now, who taught you how to hate? Cause it isn’t in your blood, not a part of what you’re made”
(Who Taught You How To Hate – Disturbed)
“Is there anybody out there? Is anybody listening to me? Is anybody else scared?”
(Is There Anybody Out There? – Machine Head)
Hi there! I just really need to address this matter while it’s still fresh, to get out my initial excitement. So, today (June 3rd 2016) Machine Head published a new single called Is There Anybody out There?, independent from any album (as far as I know). I really hope you enjoy this one. (Lyrics at the end of the post).
There was expressed fear that this song wouldn’t sound like a Machine Head song. Let me give my opinion: This is definitely a Machine Head song. Might sound a bit different than the other songs, but Rob Flynn’s vocals, the heavy guitars and drums and bass are there, the newly heavily incorporated classical instruments are there, like violins and cellos, and the lyrical themes are definitely there, which is the things I think make a song sound like Machine Head, at least these days.
I like the whistling in the intro, it gives a good feeling to the song, even though it’s kind of a false feeling because of the lyrics. But I definitely will get the melody stuck in my head for the next few days, perhaps even the whole month. I love the guitar riffs, especially in the intro, but overall good, and the combination of metal and classical in the choruses is excellent. The bridge and breakdown is great too: “Live my life like I’ll die tonight / Dream like I’ll live forever”. The sound of it is so good – the sound of the string instruments makes it sound like a horror movie, and I think it’s brilliant that they’ve incorporated the whistling in the breakdown as well. Flynn’s vocals are definitely as angry as they should be – raw and awesome.
The lyrics are kind of divided with one theme in the first verse, and another one in the second, and both well written, but still has an overall theme linked through the chorus. In the second verse they address a really important matter in the heavy metal and hard rock community, and really have been brave in publishing this song despite controversy and death threats. It’s about racism in metal, triggered by an incident earlier this year, at Dimebash 2016. The other themes in the song are love, loneliness and not understanding what’s going on in the world (according to Flynn himself). You can go and check out Rob Flynn’s reaction to the incident and the two making-of videos for the song at Machine Head’s YouTube channel (here).
I’ve tried to get the lyrics correctly by listening to it a bunch of times, since it’s so fresh that none of the standard lyric-pages I use have added the lyrics yet. Used my ears as good as I could, and got a little help from a YouTube-video (this one) (I will correct them if I get direct info from the band of the actual lyrics). I’m here, I’m listening, and I hear you. I stand with Rob Flynn and Machine Head.
Is there anybody out there? (x4) Come on (x3) Is anybody there? Come on (x2)
Let me tell you something
I was born as a bastard No father, no master A shadow in silence left searching for answers Put up for adoption And left with no option Another kid fostered to fester, forgotten Take a look into these desperate eyes As they’re cast into the wretched hive
But I ain’t going down alone
Is there anybody out there? Anybody listening to me? Is anybody else scared? The paranoia drops me to my knees Does anybody feel lonely? Disconnected from the things I see Is there anybody out there? Anybody out there just like me? I’m choking on these words and I can’t breathe
Come on (x3) Is anybody there? Come on (x2)
Now let me say this
Now I stand as a father To men with no honor Ashamed of the racists I used to call brothers Cause no flag can mean bravery When bloodied by slavery The rebel, a devil, disguised as a savior And the sickening feeling in the air Is the fear to speak that no one dares
So will I stand here all alone?
Is there anybody out there? Anybody listening to me? Is anybody else scared? The paranoia drops me to my knees Does anybody feel lonely? Disconnected from the things I see Is there anybody out there? Anybody out there just like me? Choking on these words and I can’t breathe
Live my life like I’ll die tonight Dream like I’ll live forever (x2) Is there anybody out there?
I have roared at the world for years (Is there anybody out there?) Doesn’t anybody hear me? This burden suffered, I’ve paid the cost (Is there anybody out there?) Not all who wander are lost
Is there anybody, is there anybody, is there anybody…
Is there anybody out there? Anybody listening to me? Is anybody else scared? The paranoia drops me to my knees Does anybody feel lonely? Disconnected from the things I see Is there anybody out there? Anybody out there just like me? Choking on these words and I can’t breathe
Come on (x3) Is anybody there? Come on (x2) Is there anybody, is there anybody… Is there anybody out there?
(Is There Anybody Out There – Machine Head)
Hi there! I want to say first and foremost that I really appreciate my readers, and I hope I make it worth coming back to this site, because all of you make it worthwhile for me to write.
However, I write this blog mainly to share great music and to express myself in the way I know how – through music (which I can’t make myself). Today I want to blow off some steam, and yesterday I made myself a new Spotify-list that I decided right now that I want to share, because I’ve been pretty much happily head banging all day, and this list is what keeps me sane (in addition to my boyfriend) whilst writing on my Bachelor’s thesis. Here’s the link to the list on my Spotify-channel, and below is the actual list, in case you don’t have Spotify and want to make it yourself (in alphabetical order after artist and album):
Anthrax – The Devil You Know
Atreyu – Long Live
Audioslave – Show Me How To Live
Avenged Sevenfold – Critical Acclaim
Avenged Sevenfold – Unbound (The Wild Ride)
Avenged Sevenfold – Beast And The Harlot
Avenged Sevenfold – Blinded In Chains
Avenged Sevenfold – Shepherd Of Fire
Avenged Sevenfold – Hail To The King
Avenged Sevenfold – Doing Time
Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare
Avenged Sevenfold – Welcome To The Family
Avenged Sevenfold – Natural Born Killer
Avenged Sevenfold – God Hates Us
Avenged Sevenfold – Unholy Confessions
Avenged Sevenfold – Chapter Four
Avenged Sevenfold – Desecrate Through Reverence
Avenged Sevenfold – Second Heartbeat
Blinded Colony – Bedtime Prayers
Dead By Sunrise – Crawl Back In
Device – Vilify
Devilskin – Elvis Presley Circle Pit
Dimmu Borgir – Gateways
Disturbed – Warrior
Disturbed – Immortalized
Disturbed – Who Taught You How To Hate
Disturbed – Indestructible
Disturbed – Voices
Disturbed – Stupify
Disturbed – Down With The Sickness
Disturbed – Stricken
Disturbed – The Vengeful One
Drowning Pool – Bodies
Five Finger Death Punch – My Nemesis
Five Finger Death Punch – Dying Breed
Five Finger Death Punch – Here To Die
Five Finger Death Punch – Burn MF
Flyleaf – Call You Out
Halestorm – I Am The Fire
Halestorm – Daughters Of Darkness
KoЯn – Thoughtless
Linkin Park – Papercut
Linkin Park – One Step Closer
Machine Head – Hallowed Be Thy Name
Machine Head – Killers & Kings
Machine Head – Ghosts Will Haunt My Bones
Machine Head – Night Of Long Knives
Machine Head – Eyes Of The Dead
Machine Head – Take Me Through The Fire
Machine Head – Bulldozer
Machine Head – I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)
Machine Head – Be Still And Know
Machine Head – Pearls Before The Swine
Rage Against The Machine – Bulls On Parade
Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
Slipknot – Sulfur
Slipknot – People=Shit
Slipknot – The Heretic Anthem
Slipknot – (sic)
Slipknot – Eyeless
This list is 60 songs (at the current time, at least!), and by Spotify’s calculations, 4 hours and 40 minutes of heaviness. No, I didn’t include Evanescence in this one, I thought some of my lists might repeat themselves if I were to include them in all of them. This one I decided to call “Heavy Shit”, and might be added to over time, and some songs might even be removed as well, so keep checking in. (I might forget to add to this “physical” list, but I will try to remember). This might be somewhat like my anger nurturing list, but mostly I added these songs for the great head banging-factor and overall heaviness (okay, I might be a bit angry and frustrated over my paper, and that’s why I need these songs, but they are awesome to listen to anyway). Would love for you to come with heavy suggestions too, if you think some songs are missing; I might even add them.
“Let the right one in Ya gotta go with the devil you know”
(The Devil You Know – Anthrax)
“One Nothing wrong with me Two Nothing wrong with me Three Nothing wrong with me Four Nothing wrong with me”
(Bodies – Drowning Pool)
“I find the answers aren’t so clear Wish I could find a way to disappear All these thoughts they make no sense I find bliss in ignorance Nothing seems to go away Over and over again” […] “I need a little room to breathe Cause I’m one step closer to the edge And I’m about to break”
(One Step Closer – Linkin Park)
