Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Sinéad O'Connor

  Sinéad O'Connor is an Irish singer-songwriter, that rose to fame in the 1980's after her album, Lion and the Cobra. When O'Connor was only eight years old, her parents split up and she went to go live her mom. O'Connor says that while living with her mom, she encountered physical abuse. Later, O'Connor wrote the song, Fire on Babylon which is about the effects of her own child abuse.
  At the age of fifteen, O'Connor was truant and stealing so she was sent to a Magdalene Asylum where she worked on a lot of her songs and music. There she was singing Evergreen by Barbra Streisand and was discovered by the drummer for In Tua Nua. O'Connor ended up recording a song with In Tua Nua called, Take my Hand but she wasn't able to join the band because they felt she was too young.
  On October 3, 1992, O'Connor presented as a music guest on Saturday Night Live and did an a cappella version of Bob Marley's song, War, but she changed the word, racism to child abuse. While singing the song, when she said the word, evil, she took out a picture of the pope, ripped it in half and said, "Fight the real enemy!" while throwing the pieces of the photo at the camera, all because of the Sunday Independent Catholic sex abuse scandal. A lot of people were really mad at O'Connor for what she did, but at the same time, other people did the same exact thing as she did except with a picture of someone else other than the pope.
















  In later interviews, O'Connor was asked if she regretted anything she did that night and her reply was, "Hell no!" and now O'Connor is a priest.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Limp Bizkit

  Limp Bizkit is a Nu Metal or Rap Metal band, although they have like an alternative sound to them. In Limp Bizkit is Fred Durst with vocals, Wes Borland on guitar, Sam Rivers on bass, John Otto on drums, and DJ Lethal with turntables, samples and keyboard. In 2001 Borland left the band was replaced by Mike Smith and in 2003 Borland came back to record The Unquestionable Truth, Part 1 in 2005.
  Limp Bizkit started in 1994 and have released six different albums. The first album was a debut album called, Three Dollar Bill, Yall$ which was released in the mid 1990's. The next two albums were only released within a years difference, Significant Other in 1999 and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water in 2000. Both albums made to #1 on many international charts including Billboard 200. With just those three albums, Limp Bizkit sold over 35 million records, world wide. Results May Vary was released in 2003 and then Borland rejoined and recorded The Unquestionable Truth, Part 1 in 2005 which was recorded with Sammy Siegler, who replaced Otto.
  In 2009, the original line up of Limp Bizkit went on tour and recorded their most recent album, Gold Cobra in 2011. Limp Bizkit then signed with Cash Money Records to come out with a new single, Ready To Go, a full length album, Stampede of the Disco Elephants, and an EP, The Unquestionable Truth, Part 2. Later DJ Lethal left the band because of problems with drugs and alcohol but came back on October 11, after apologizing.
  In September Fred Durst leaked their new song, Lightz (City of Angles) on Youtube and is currently recording their newest album, Stampede of the Disco Elephants.

Embers From the Altar

  Embers From the Altar is a melodic death-core band from Virginia. In Embers From the Altar is James Knopp on drums, on bass in Carson Stokes, Vocalists are Khris Payne and Tank Shurtleff, and guitarists are Ian Scot, Jackie Gray, and Justin Hall. I've listened to their song, I see (Said the Blind Man to the Deaf Mute) and it's an amazing song. Kind of towards the end of the song, in my opinion, there is this part that sounds like Avenged Sevenfold from their CD Waking theFallen and I thought it was really cool because they've been my favorite band for the longest time. They have a lot going on in I See, but the way they put it together is amazing. A lot of people have tried pulling it off but it doesn't work. I don't know how to explain what they did, it sounds like a keyboard, but i'm not sure. All I know is you have to have a lot of talent when it comes down to what they did.
  After listening to their song, The Camel's Back, I realized their drummer is a beast! They've been together since 2008, but they sound like they've been together and practicing way longer because they don't look old, at all but the talent they have is ridiculous!
  They just released a new album called, Mirrors and if you like metal, I suggest buying it. I like Metal and I like what I have heard from them so far, so I'm buying it. You can check them out on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/embersfromthealtarband?fref=ts


Monday, December 3, 2012

When Cities Sleep & Plantation

  Recently there has been a lot of bands writing me asking me to check them out. Two of the bands that stood out to me the most are When Cities Sleep and Plantation. They stood out most because they both have really good music and I believe they could go really far.
 When Cities Sleep is a newer post hardcore band from Maryland. In When Cities Sleep, is Mike Garrow with Vocals, Justin Hein with lead guitar, Alex Gonzales with bass guitar, Austin Jordan on drums and Ricky Dean on Keys. They're currently working on a new EP, but I listened to some of their older music and it's really good, they have a lot of potential. When Cities Sleep have lots of influences, but some of them are Motionless in White, Confide, Of Mice&Men, The Devil Wears Prada, August Burns Red and many more. When Cities Sleep is one of those bands where you first listen to them, and you fall in love with them immediately. Mike Garrow has a voice that's hypnotizing and sounds amazing. Ricky Dean is amazing at keys, I've always thought playing keyboard and piano was so cool. Austin Jordan's drum playing is extraordinary you can tell he likes what he does, and he's not bored with it, which is really good. Justin Hein's guitar playing is awesome and so is Alex Gonzales' bass guitar playing. It takes real talent to play every instrument and everyone in When Cities Sleep shows that they all can play really good and come up with amazing songs. You can check them out on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/WhenCitiesSleep .


















  Plantation is a grunge band. They're trying to bring back grunge, which is awesome! For grunge to come back would be pretty hard, but I think they can do it. Plantation is a 4 piece rock band that started up in 2011 from New Jersey. Plantation is Patrick Fiore on guitar, Dusty Trullender on vocals, Matt Williams on bass and Ben Torpey on drums. Their influences are Blues Grooves from the 1970's and the Grunge movement from the 1990's. Plantation could be compared to Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Tool, and Black Sabbath. In their song Painted Dessert I can hear the relation to Soundgarden especially in the guitar in the beginning. I think they can grow their fan base by a lot because a lot of people of all ages really like grunge and rock. Black Sabbath, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains are all still really famous, so since they have comparisons to them, I'm sure they'll succeed like no tomorrow. The whole band is really good. When listening to their songs, you just can't help but want to listen to more. You can check them out of facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PlantationBand/app_2405167945