A Sunset for Snow Patrol?

  "A Hundred Million Suns" is, as far as I can tell, Snow Patrol's fifth release. Most people are familiar just with the stuff since 2004's "Final Straw." I enjoyed "Final Straw" as well as "Eyes Open," their release from 2006. So, I was quite excited for this album, and have been listening to it since I bought it a couple weeks ago. Now, I bought it and listened to it knowing that I'd be writing this blog post. Did that change my listening experience? I don't know. My opinion of it, however, is that though it has a few really great songs, the number of merely mediocre songs made the album somewhat of a disappointment. 

  So, here's the basic Snow Patrol song structure: a soft simple intro followed by repeated vocal and lead guitar riffs, as layers are added with every verse and chorus, the song builds to a climax and then quickly ends. Think "Open Your Eyes" or "Run." I happen to like this pattern. It's easy to follow and Snow Patrol usually has some pretty good rock-out moments at the climaxes. Most of the songs on "A Hundred Million Suns" follow this same pattern with maybe a little more production than on past albums. 

  The album opens with one of its best tracks, "If There's a Rocket Tie Me To It." With its catchy riffs, great chorus, and another climactic rock-out moment, this song is as good as any Snow Patrol song out there. The unique vocals in the chorus are definitely something to pay attention to. "Crack the Shutters" comes next. It has everything necessary musically to be another good song, but the lyrics make me want to barf. They're too, I don't know, "cute." Track 3 (I could write another entire blog entry on the importance of track 3 on an album), "Take Back the City," is a very good song, but not a great song. The same goes for "Lifeboats," number 4. "The Golden Floor" is interesting at first, with its different rhythm, but it soon gets boring. "Please Just Take These Photos From My Hands," track 6, is my second favorite on the album (after track one). As another upbeat song, I like it for most of the same reasons I mentioned for the first song. "Set Down Your Glass" (7) and "The Planets Bend Between Us" (8) are both ballads. I really like track 8, while I found track 7 to be kinda boring. Track 9, "Engines," is just another okay song that doesn't seem to go anywhere. "Disaster Button" is another good upbeat song and even has a cool guitar solo, but I can't recommend it without some editing for content at about 0:30. The last track is a sixteen minute song in three "movements" called "The Lightning Strike." The idea is a cool one, but only if by the end of the first movement you're left wanting more. This song just doesn't quite pull it off. Almost, but not quite. 

So, don't take my negative comments to mean that I regret buying this album. It's a good album, but not a great album. I worry that singles from this album won't be as successful as those from earlier albums and will cause Snow Patrol to be forgotten. I'd recommend that you faithful readers (I'm still pretty sure you don't exist) spend half as much as I did on the CD and buy only some tracks off iTunes, or wherever you legally download music from. 

Top Ten Guitar Moments from Mikey's iPod

 This post is a little overdue. It's been sitting on my desktop for almost a week now. I had to narrow some of these guitar moments down and I was afraid that I'd forgotten some. It was hard as they're all so precious to me. I might have to make a sequel with some of the leftovers and the forgotten. Here goes: 

 If you're me, or like me, there are some moments in songs that just make you want to pull out your air guitar and let the fingers of your left hand fly up and down the air frets. Some bring a tear to your eye while others inspire you to crank the volume up until it hurts your ears and doesn't even sound good on your speakers anymore, still others make you wish you had a girlfriend's hand to hold while listening. Some are all of those at once (ooh, I just thought of another one). These ten aren't in any particular order other than the order that they came to my mind. They also aren't all "solos." The glory of some (or most) of these guitar "moments" involves more than just one guitar track. If there are some here you haven't heard, I'd recommend downloading them. They're all worth 99 cents.  

1. Solo from "Right Now" by Van Halen - As far as face melting electric guitar solos go, this one, with its syncopation and runs up and down the whole range of the guitar, rocks the hardest. I just wish I could play it. 

2. Solo from "Crown" by Collective Soul - It's fitting that such an emotional song by Ed Roland about his father should include an emotional solo. Ross Childress' playing on this track leaves nothing wanting. The emotion builds as the ringing notes from the guitar move up the scale and lead right into the final chorus.  

3. Riff from "Moses" by Coldplay - This song was only released on the Live 2003 album. So, not as many people are familiar with it, which is a shame as it's one of my favorite Coldplay songs. The riff I'm talking about here is the lead one, not the rhythm, thought that one is good as well. It's those high range ringing notes that get me every time.

4. Intro to "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2 - This is another excellent example of high range ringing notes. Also an amazing use of the delay effect. I don't know how The Edge comes up with this stuff, but I wish I could too. 

5. Solo from "Invincible" by Muse - There were so many Muse moments that I wanted to include, but this is the one I decided on. If you've ever seen it played live you might know why. Matt Bellamy is one of the most talented guitarists in today's music. This solo is the most beautiful and impressive combination of hammer ons and finger tapping that I know of. 

6.  "Foreplay/Long Time" by Boston - If my English teacher even reads my blog entries, he might fail me if I didn't include Boston in this list. If I ever made a list of top ten organ or keyboard moments, this song would make that list as well. I can't even pick one part of this song for my "guitar moment." From the two and a half minute intro to the several rhythm and lead solos, this song is guitar bliss. 

 

7. Acoustic Rhythm Guitars in "Carriage" by Counting Crows - It was about time I included something on the soft side in this list. The acoustic guitars in this song seem to dance around each other and through the chords. They provide the perfect layer for Adam Duritz's vocals as well as a beautiful trumpet solo to float over. 

8. "The Bucket" by Kings of Leon - Rhythm guitar that is more than just the same old chords always catches my attention. This is just a great song to turn up loud and rock out to.  

9.  "Blue Orchid" by The White Stripes - The guitar riffs in this song have such a fat, juicy sound that you can almost taste. I don't know if it's an octave effect, doubling, or just overdubbing that makes that sound, but I love it. 

10.  Solo from "When I Look At the World" by U2 - I tried to keep only one entry from each group, but this one just had to be here. Edge also employs the delay effect on this one, but also uses a slide on his electric guitar. The result is as close to audio euphoria as I have ever come in my sojourn on this Earth. 

There you are. I hope I've inspired some music downloads. iTunes gives me 15%. 

                   -- Mikey 

One You May Not Have Heard Of

 So, I remember back when I started this blog I said I was going to be doing some album reviews. So far I've done one. I think another is due. I haven't bought any new albums lately, so I was mentally browsing my collection looking for something that would be interesting. I ended up choosing one that my dad gave to me after winning it at a company golf tournament. The album is called "Holy Dogs" and the band is called Stir. 

 Holy Dogs, which came out in 2000, is the second release from this St. Louis based band. As far as I know it's their last release as well. Their sound can be compared to other 90's pop/rock groups like Collective Soul, Third Eye Blind, Live, etc. If you were a fan of the days that american rockers topped the charts, you'll probably enjoy this album. It's unfortunate that this group never really took off as this album has some strong tracks. I heard from some friends that "New Beginnings" got some radio play when it was released, but it didn't stay in the rotation very long. 

  The band rocks hard on numbers like "Superstation," "New Beginnings," "Stop Killing Me," and the album's title track. "Spaceman," "Grounded," and "Clear" are a little more ballad-esque. Definitely worth a listen. 

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Now, I just realized that it might be kinda cool if I had some sort of rating system. I think that rather than giving a grade, or a number of stars (guitar picks, bananas, etc.), I'll take a more practical approach and tell you what I'd pay for this album. If you can find Holy Dogs used for less than seven bucks, it would be well worth the purchase. As for the Coldplay album, go to your closest music store, Wal-Mart, or wherever and pay whatever they're asking. 

    

Rockin' the Raintree (or Something)

  This past weekend my band played a little show at the Raintree apartment complex. It was the first time I'd played with a band in front of people since my high school days. We set up right on the grass in the middle of the buildings and under some trees. Luckily, it was a really nice day; warm enough, no chance of rain, still light enough outside, etc. We told people that we were going to start playing at 5 p.m., but we kinda got a late start setting up, so we didn't really get started until after 5:30. It was just as well, though, as we only had our singer's family and my roommate there right at 5. By the time we were ready to play we had a decent sized crowd gathered. I'd say at least thirty people. 

   Right before we started, I started to get a little jittery. It had been a while since I'd played in front of people and I forgot what it felt like. The first song we played was Starlight by Muse. I was on the piano. The drums and bass started it off. Then I came in with the awesome piano riff. The crowd all recognized the song and cheered. Our little show was off to a good start. 

   I won't say it went perfectly. Far from it actually. I made my share of fairly noticeable mistakes and we also had a little bit of interference from Mother Nature (a bee started attacking our singer during one song). The high points of the show were Good by Better Than Ezra, Yellow by Coldplay (I played the lead guitar on that one), and a song our singer Brett wrote called Mr. Lightning. When we'd played all the songs we'd planned on our fans still demanded more. So, we pulled out our old high school prom theme song we wrote so many years ago and tried to shake the dust off of it as we played it for our encore. I was surprised how well I remembered the guitar solo. The former Timpanogos High School students who were there especially enjoyed that one. 

   I had a lot of fun, and we had a lot of girls come up and talk to us afterwards. So, I think we accomplished the purpose of our show: have fun and impress the chicks. I'm kinda hoping we do it again soon. 

The One Below, but Continued

   So, for the whole first song ("My Name is Jonas") the band was in white and Rivers Cuomo had this thing over his head. The first verse of the song was sung by the drummer, the second by the lead guitarist, and I'm pretty sure the bassist took a verse as well. Rivers didn't step to the mike until the very last line, which he sang in Spanish, "Me llamo Yonas." After a couple songs, the band lost the white jumpsuits to reveal matching red track jackets and pants. One of the most prevalent themes of Weezer's new album is that of fame and not wanting to be the typical celebrity. The idea "I'm (gonna) do what I wanna do" (a line from the single "Pork and Beans") was displayed all throughout the show. Rivers walked around the stage waving his arms in a very non-rockstar way, jumped around on the little trampoline with his guitar, let his bandmates sing, played covers and more obscure tracks, and spoke spanish with the audience. It was quite the contrast between the Angels & Airwaves guy who was trying so hard to be cool and Rivers who was just doing whatever he felt like. For the first encore, the band invited a few dozen or so local musicians and their varied instruments to play "Island in the Sun," and "Beverly Hills" with them. Rivers held his microphone to the accordion for the solo on "Island in the Sun" and to an alto sax for "Beverly Hills."  I wished I was up there. All in all it was a really fun show to be at. If you missed it then I'm sorry. 

    

   

Weezer Shows They "Don't Give a Hoot About What You Think" In SLC

   On Monday, October 6th, as I was rushing from the Salt Lake Airport to my class at BYU, I got a text from my sister. She said she had an extra ticket to the Weezer concert. The concert was happening at the E center the following night. The only problem was that I'd have to miss my favorite class taught by my favorite teacher. The decision wasn't a hard one. 

    The first opening act was some local band that wasn't actually on the ticket. They might have been pretty good if their sound was better. The second act was a group called Angels & Airwaves, the latest project from the singer of Blink 182. This guy apparently didn't grow up past 17. The decent light show during their set was the only thing that kept me in my seat. 

    Finally Angels & Airwaves were off the stage and the crew was setting up for Weezer. My sister and I were interested to see a mini trampoline on stage right next to a second drum set. The lights soon went out and the moment we'd endured all the crap for came. 

    Weezer walked on stage all wearing white jumpsuits. And Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer, had some nylon looking thing on his head, hiding everything but his nose and mustache....

  Looks like I'll have to leave it there. I'll finish it later tonight. I'm going to eat some dinner.

Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends

 Well, here it is finally. The review I've been putting off for no good reason except that I dread writing. The purpose of this blog is to get over that. So, here we go: 

  I bought this CD at Best Buy in Homestead, PA the day of its US release (June 17th, 2008). I was in the middle of a typical work day that involved lots of time in the car. Before putting the CD in, I took a look at the cover. I was a little surprised. Not only because of the bare chest on Delacroix's Liberty Leading the Troops, but because of the French Revolution theme. What are we revolting against? (I still haven't figured it out). I was most interested in hearing what the disc contained. 

  The CD opens up with a very electronic, ethereal sample from a Jon Hopkins (co-producer of the album) song. I can just imagine the song happening in the studio. The sample leads into a perfect lead guitar riff. Is that even a guitar? It doesn't sound like any guitar I've heard. After a couple repetitions of the riff, the acoustic guitar comes in and the song builds from there as drums, bass, additional guitars, keyboards, and finally some vocals enter one by one. My heart beat faster as the song played. Involuntarily, my fingers found the volume knob and turned it hard to the right. I reached for the CD case to find out the title, as the song had no lyrics. I had experienced Life in Technicolor, and was now somewhat prepared for the rest of the CD. 

  I had been so impressed by Coldplay's previous release X&Y and wondered how they could make their music any better. I had faith that it would be, I just couldn't figure out how. Well, I wasn't disappointed. Viva La Vida has innovative instrumentation, piano and guitar playing styles, harmonic textures, and even a new vocal style from lead singer Chris Martin (specifically on track 6, Yes). These components are all put together in the amazing way that Coldplay seems to be so capable of. The group's musical influences are less obvious to me on this album as they have been in the past. In short, it doesn't sound like anything I've heard before, but is sure to be imitated by groups in the future. 

  My words aren't sufficient to do the album justice (I'm working on that). Go listen to it yourself. My favorite tracks are Lost!, Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love, and Death and All His Friends.