Month: April 2017

My One Year Blogiversary!!

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Wow!!  I can not believe it has been one year already.  The time has definitely flown by and has been an absolute blast.  I never thought I would last very long and so it is hard to believe I am still writing weekly and still enjoying even more now then when I started.

I have met so many interesting people through the blog world and have found some amazing sites.  I do wish there was more time in the day to visit every site that is following me and that I am following, but have found that task to be impossible.  Please know I do try my best to at visit as often as I am able.

The year has been a roller coaster of a ride.  Where the blog has been a blessing and some of the high points, life has dealt me a few blows this year with the passing of my Mom back in August and my Dad just two weeks ago.  The loss of them has been difficult, but the blog has been my way of escaping the harsh realities of life.

One person I need to thank for the blog is my lovely wife, Angie!!  She talked me into doing a blog and without her support, I wouldn’t be doing this still.  She has put up with the time it takes away from her and the girls, the loud music and my constant blabbering about the site and other sites I have visited.  She is definitely my Rock!!

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My Sunday Song – “Gravity” by Shawn McDonald

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For My Sunday Song #35, I chose “Gravity” by Shawn McDonald.  The song is off his debut album, Simply Nothing, which came out back in 2004.  The song is about how we let our problems and the weight of the world pull us from our faith in God.

With all the craziness going on in the U.S. right now, I am sure we are all guilty of letting our faith slip.  I see it everyday on the internet and TV.  Since the Presidential election, people have turned on each other.  Dialogue doesn’t exist anymore.  Each side feels if you don’t believe what I believe you are a moron or a racist or that you hate women just because they did or didn’t vote for Trump.  It is getting ridiculous.  I hate going on Facebook for this very reason.  It is so sad.

The rudeness everyone is showing to each other is unreal.  My niece’s husband was in Home Depot the other day and a woman came up to him and said he was going to hell for his decisions to get Tattoos. He was there minding his own business and she just came up and voiced her unsolicited opinion.  I can’t believe the nerve of this woman.  It makes me angry (and you wouldn’t like me when I am angry).  BTW…his tattoos are awesome and he is a loving husband, father and a hard working man.  Nothing but respect for him.

The world seems to be letting the “Gravity” of life pull them away from their faith and from God.  I am sure that lady thought she was being a good Christian, but it was the most unchristian like behavior.

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Friday New Releases – April 14th

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Happy Friday or should I say Good Friday!  Being Easter weekend probably explains the fact there are so few releases this Friday.  However, there is one special one that has my attention…the great Richie Kotzen.  Outside of that I might listen to Barenaked Ladies, but don’t know when and if I will get to others.  As usually my choices are highlighted in Blue.

  • 51yt9kcfX4L._AC_SY200_  Richie Kotzen – Salting Earth – (CD Baby):  Richie Kotzen is a true guitar wizard.  He is back with another solo album and I believe I have lost count after there have been so many.  He was incredible with Poison, Mr. Big and especially with The Winery Dogs and as a solo artist he is even better.  Check out what spells he is casting on this one.

  • 170x170bb (97)  Barenaked Ladies & The Persuasions – Ladies and Gentlemen: Barenaked Ladies & The Persuasions – (Raisin’ Records):  The Barenaked Ladies are collaborating with a cappella group The Persuasions.  The album consists of a lot of rewords from the Barenaked Ladies catalog and one cover of a Persuasion song.  Without Steven Page in the band anymore, are they really the same?  Don’t think so.

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Def Leppard – Viva! Hysteria (2013)

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In Part 2 of this 3 Part series of the Def Leppard Live albums we are tackling Viva! Hysteria (If you want to read Part 1 just click on Mirror Ball: Live & More).

Per Joe Elliott, Def Leppard has been asked numerous times to play one of their albums in its entirety.  At the times they had been asked, they were busy supporting an album and didn’t feel it was appropriate.  Along comes the day when they are in between albums and the time felt right.

They took up residency at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas from March 22nd to April 13th in 2013.  From those shows comes the release of Viva! Hysteria.  The 2 CD set and DVD of the show make for a great addition to your Def Leppard collection.  I have to admit I am mad at myself for not making it out to Vegas to see this show as it would have been a special show to have seen.  I have seen them so many times, but this would probably have been the coolest.

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Def Leppard – Mirror Ball: Live & More (2011)

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If I remember correctly, there was an interview with Joe Elliott a long, long time ago asking him about Cover albums and Live albums and why Def Leppard hadn’t done any of these albums. His response was something to the effect that bands that have nothing else to give do those kind of albums (not a direct quote).  I tried finding the article, but was unsuccessful.  Well, 1 Cover album and now 3 Live albums later, I guess Def Leppard has nothing to give…Okay, we know that is wrong as Def Leppard has still put out great albums in between all these Live albums and the Cover album.  His opinion of them has apparently changed.

This post will be the first in a 3 part series discussing Def Leppard’s 3 Live Albums including ‘Mirror Ball’,‘Viva! Hysteria’, and ‘And There Will Be A Next Time…’.  We will start the series in chronological order starting with the 2011 release ‘Mirror Ball: Live & More’.

‘Mirror Ball’ is the first official release on CD for any Def Leppard recording.  I have bootlegs of live albums, but glad to see an official release of live material.  It was long overdue.  The album was a 2 CD set and included a Bonus DVD as well which I will discuss later in the post.  The CD packaging is one of those old thick plastic cases that doesn’t hold up well. I cracked the back of the case on the day I bought it.  I don’t remember what I did, but it is nicely cracked now.

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My Sunday Song – “Dear Younger Me” by MercyMe

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My Sunday Song #34 is “Dear Younger Me” by the band MercyMe.  The song is the fourth single off their 2014 album ‘Welcome to the New’.  The story is an autobiographical song by Bart Millard that talks about what he would say to his younger self about what he could do to help him not feel the pain.  You can check out the story behind the song as told by Bart Millard of Mercyme on godtube.com.

It is a beautiful and actually thought provoking song.  If you think about it now, would you want to know what choices you could make differently as a younger child.  I am not sure I would want to do anything differently.  Are there things I regret, of course.  Are there things I wish I would have done differently, absolutely.  Do I wish I could go back and change them…NO!!!!

Why??  If I did, would I be where I am today?  Would I be married to my friend, my partner, my beautiful wife?  Would I have my two girls that are the best thing I have ever done in my life?  If there is a chance any of that would be different by going back and telling my younger self what to change, there is no way I would do it.  All of my life choices got me to where I am right here, right now.  And I am glad they did!!

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Friday New Releases – April 7th

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We are now into April and the releases are still coming fast and furious.  There is a little something for everyone today and I am sure you will find something you like.  We have pop, rock, metal, country, alternative, christian, classical, techno…basically the whole gamut of genres.  My interests are focused on the ones highlighted in Blue.

  • 170x170bb-3  Michelle Branch – Hopeless Romantic – (Verve Label Group):  Michelle Branch??  Am I reading that correctly?  It has been over 14 years since she has had a full length solo album.  She had an E.P. in 2010, but not since 2003 has she had a full length studio album.  This one definitely has me intrigued.  I can’t wait to hear what she has to offer.

  • 610grn7amsl-_ac_us160_  Deep Purple – InFinite – (Earmusic):  Deep Purple just keep on going after almost 50 years.  This is their twentieth studio release and quite possibly their last “Big” tour, whatever that means.  I think the band members currently (after many iterations) is Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Ian Gillan, Steve Morse and Don Alrey.  Looking forward to this release after hearing some great things about the album.

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Rod Stewart – “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” – The 45 Single (1978)

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Off Rod Stewart’s 1978 album ‘Blondes Have More Fun’ comes one of his most memorable songs “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”.  The song reached #1 in the US, Canada and the UK as well as 3 other countries.  It sold over 2,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone and according to Rolling Stones magazine is #308 of the Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

The song was a little more disco than what Rod was used to releasing.  He had previously been more of a blues rock singer.  As a result, the rock critics were not quite happy with the song.

According to wikipedia (the most reliable source on earth), the song had some legal issues due to copyright infringement cases brought against it.  The song…

incorporates elements of the melody from the song “Taj Mahal” by Jorge Ben Jor and the string arrangement from the song “Put Something Down On It” by Bobby Womack.

Regardless, it is still one of Rod’s most popular songs.  What I love about the cover, is the girl is not Blonde even though the album was ‘Blondes Have More Fun’.  I had also heard that the lady on the cover was Cher, but I couldn’t find anything that backed that up.  I will still think it though.

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’ – Album Review

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For those that follow my blog, they might remember one of my first Music Challenges where I listened to an album based off the band’s name, album cover or name of the album.  I picked King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s album strictly because of their band name.  And to my surprise, I really loved the album.  When I saw they had a new album out, I naturally gravitated toward it and gave it a spin…a lot of spins.

Their new album is called ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’ and is their 9th studio album since 2012..that is right…9th!!  They also are planning on releasing not one, not two, but FIVE albums this year. Pretty ambitious and we will wait and see if they actually able to achieve said goal.

The band is out of Australia and actually has seven members.

  • Stu Mackenzie – lead vocals
  • Ambrose Kenny Smith – keyboards/synthesizer
  • Joey Walker – lead guitar
  • Cook Craig – rhythm guitar
  • Lucas Skinner – bass guitar
  • Eric Moore – drums
  • Michael Cavanagh – drums

The current release has nine tracks and is as wild and experimental sounding as the last release.  Where the last release was one continuous song basically broken up into 9 parts and the music never stopped playing, this album went a little more traditional where you could tell when one song ended and the other began.

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My Sunday Song – “Priceless” by for King & Country

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My Sunday Song #33 is going to highlight the song “Priceless” by for King & Country.  The song is off their album ‘Run.Wild.Live.Free.’.  The song was also the title of a movie they did called “Priceless” which was about human trafficking.

I am going to still this from Wikipedia about the plot of the movie:

The story is inspired by true events. The main character, James Stevens, after losing his wife and daughter, is unable to hold a steady job and agrees to drive a box truck across the country with no questions asked, then discovers that he is actually “delivering” two girls as part of a human trafficking ring. Stevens then must decide what to do and how to fight to shut down a trafficking ring.

It is hard to believe that today we still have issues with human trafficking and thankfully for King & Country shine a light on the issue still plaguing us.  We are all priceless whether you are a girl, a boy, black, white, an immigrant or whatever your nationality, race or sexuality.  God knows you and through him you can help find the light to shine and show you the way.

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