The Writer's Poke

Wednesday isn't a good night for a concert, but it's been maybe 8 years since I last saw the Birthday Massacre in concert. That show went on until 12:30 in the morning, and as best I remember, they played 21 songs. The concert went on for so long that Linda fell asleep and eventually made her exit back to the car. This show was shorter: 19 songs. It was over by 11:15, but people were already starting to head for the door by 10:30. Just a few, and then a few more, and so on. Did they really have to be somewhere else, or did they simply need to get to bed for an early morning? I like small concerts with bands that a ton of people don't necessarily know or like. The Fine Line has a capacity of maybe 600, and I'd say they almost had that. Most of the people were maybe in their 30s, but it's hard to tell. I did feel like one of the older people there. I basically found a post in the back and stood by it.  Great show. Glad I went. Glad I'm not too old to go to a conce...

Twenty years ago, I had a roommate named Larry. Larry was a full-blown southern-Illinois cowboy. He wore the cowboy hat around the Eastern Illinois University campus, and he knew hundreds of different line dances. I was into Megadeth and KISS at the time, but it was the era of grunge, and metal seemed like it was dying, if not already six feet under. So, thanks in part to Larry, and in part to Kurt Cobain, I decided I'd give Country a shot. Country didn't stick me for long, but I did manage to give it a fair shot -- at least a few months. I even joined Larry and the girls of 8J at a honkytonk in Champaign, Illinois, before finally admitting that Country was not the uniform for me. In a certain sense, music is a sort of uniform, and it's easy to define yourself (or to allow yourself to be defined) by the type of music you listen to. Even today, I'm sure people label me as a "Hair Metal guy," although I'm not really sure what that label means in 20...

This is a pretty song. Strong rock vibe, good lyrics, and a video with high-production values that compliments the song. Good stuff.

First, what a great cover. I love it when artists introduce songs from bands I've never run across before. It's like a win-win. I love this version, and now I know about Owl Creek... Cool :) "He got the sense he wasn't my type, by black eye and bloody nose" -- Love it!

Naked, as in naked with raw talent. But seriously, this is a metal cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream." It hypnotizes me, and I can literally watch this video over and over ago. Not sure why, but Death Metal is the perfect genre for this song. Do you agree?

Just a beautiful song. Enjoy.

A-Sides B-Sides & Suicides "The Cure" is the new song on Charon's Greatest Hits (and Beginnings) album. The "suicides" part of the album showcases the band's Death Metal beginnings. That's not my scene, but fans of Death Metal might dig it. Otherwise, the first disc is basically a greatest hits walk down memory lane. The second disc includes the bands early stuff, including some demo songs that sound like they could be off the band's first studio album. Wanna buy this album in the U.S.? Good luck on that. When I checked last, A-Sides B-Sides & Suicides  was not even available on iTunes, unless you know the trick. The trick is: Set your account to iTunes Finland. If you scroll down on your account, you'll notice the U.S. flag; click on it, and you can change your status to any country that iTunes serves. That way, you can buy the album -- or if you're like me, just "The Cure." I like the new song. To me, it's "...

Strange little video. Not sure it adds anything to the song... I like the song a lot, although some of the "heavier" H.I.M. fans think it sounds too pop. Video does show the band is aging a bit, but don't we all?

Do your music interests change over time? Looking back over the past 20 years, I'd say that mine have, although every group that I've liked in the past I tend to still like today. If I had to pick the top four or five band most important to me, though, here's what the past 20 years of preference looks like. What's yours? 2009 The 69 Eyes H.I.M. Iron Maiden Rammstein 2005 Lacuna Coil Lullacry The 69 Eyes Charon 1998 Megadeth Iron Maiden Scorpions Type O Negative 1993 KISS Megadeth Iron Maiden Scorpions 1988 KISS Winger Warrant Europe

Steve Martin said that when you listen to banjo music, you can't be angry at the same time. The instrument's sound is just too upbeat. Listening to Ace of Base works the same principle. Here's "Life Is a Flower," which is the same tune as "Whenever You're Near Me" with alternative lyrics. Silly video, but you can't watch it and be angry at the same time. Or, if you are angry when you start watching it, you won't be by the end -- unless you're one of those few people that hates Ace of Base, which means you really hate life, and there's no cure for you.

From: http://www.comicvsaudience.net/images/flow_heavymetal.jpg Click for a bigger version.

Don't you just hate music videos that have nothing in common with the song lyrics? Me, too. Thankfully, Ted Turner has developed new technology to match the lyrics to the video. Check it out.

Okay, so I guess I like Rick Roll. So what? Anyway, can you really watch this "literal lyrics" version just once? Thought not!

"Baby Got Book" is possibly the best Christian parody song I've ever heard; it is, of course, a parody of Sir Mix-a-Lot's 1992 classic "Baby Got Back."

The subtitles aren't the real words; they were just what someone "thought" they sounded like in English. Pretty funny -- but note for the easily offended, the subtitles include the f-word. I wish I knew more about Indian culture, don't you?? Gotta love the way they dress!

GORBACHOV: THE MUSIC VIDEO - BIGGER AND RUSSIANER from Tom Stern on Vimeo . Wow. I don't know how to explain this one. Think video game, think big serf breasts, think of coke and twinkies raining down like capitalist manna from heaven.

In respect of the music, I give you Mr. Rick Astley from 1988. (I like it 1:03 into the song when he realizes that singing with a tie on is never a good idea.)

Okay, I know. Some of these guys are so old that they don't have their own 80s hair any more. The smart ones, like Klaus Meine from Scorpions, have been wearing hats to cover the bald for years. Others, I'm sure, wear some version of Hair Club for Men on stage. And the really smart ones just cut their hair short... Some realize they're getting older, which is why Kip Winger now sings the chorus of "Seventeen" as "She's only 35." -- Just something a little bit creepy about a 40 year old man singing about a 17 year old girl, I guess. Anyway, I don't know if you've noticed, but bands from the 80s are back. In fact, some of them never left. But bands like Winger, Stryper, and Europe have all released albums after a ten year plus break; and other groups that peaked in the 80s continue to go on, even though their apparent lack of fan base in the U.S. makes it impossible for them to tour or, in some cases, even get an album released in the U.S. I...

Yeah, I know about 3 people will care. Jani Lane is once again the lead singer with Warrant, and they're going out on a big tour with Cinderella this summer. No, this isn't 1988. It's 2008, and the 80s simply never die. Warrant's last album Born Again (2006) was with Jammie St. James as lead singer, and it's a solid album, very much in the Southern rock tradition. But as others had said, Warrant isn't really Warrant without Jani Lane. Jani's first solo album Back Down to One (2006) is quite good, too, except it sounds like it was recorded in someone's basement. In other words, the production values are nil. One example, in "Better than You," you can clearly hear a phone ringing in the background, and I don't think it is part of the song. I've listened to that song 100 times to figure out if the phone ringing is intentional. And 100 times I've decided, nope, that's just a song recorded in someone's basement... On 4/22, Sain...