Category: Music Challenge

Music Challenge #6 – Alestorm – ‘No Grave But the Sea’

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic15 Comments

For those that don’t know what the Music Challenge is I will tell you.  Go out and pick up an album or stream an album based solely off one of three categories…1) Album Cover, 2) Band Name or 3) Album Name.  Once you have listened to one, come tell me about it. My 6th pick is Alestorm and I chose it off the cover and the band name…here are my thoughts on it…(Parental Guidance is suggested…if foul language offends you than go read another post)

All my life, I have felt that something was missing.  I didn’t know what it was and have struggled with it my whole life.  Well that struggle is no more.  The thing that was missing from it was PIRATE HEAVY METAL!!!  Heavy Metal music with a pirate theme!! How have I never thought of that before.  Thank God I found Alestorm to fill that hole missing in my life all this time.

The timing couldn’t be better with the release of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie “Dead Men Tell No Tales”.  Now I have a pirate movie and pirate music to go along with it!  This is Alestorm’s fifth studio album and it is called ‘No Grave But the Sea’.  I seriously thought this was just a novelty album, but nope…it is for real and they have now stuck with the pirate theme for 5 albums.

Continue reading “Music Challenge #6 – Alestorm – ‘No Grave But the Sea’” →

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

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic11 Comments

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.

Continue reading “King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’ – Album Review” →

Music Challenge #5 – Galactic Empire’s ‘Galactic Empire’

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic7 Comments

For those that don’t know what the Music Challenge is I will tell you.  Go out and pick up an album or stream an album based solely off one of three categories…1) Album Cover, 2) Band Name or 3) Album Name.  Once you have listened to one, come tell me about it.

For my 5th one over the last year, I picked based on the band name and the album cover. The band name was Galactic Empire and the album cover was of space.  The whole thing had a Star Wars vibe to it, so naturally I was drawn to it.  What I didn’t know at the time was it was an album of John William’s Star Wars songs that were all done in a Heavy Metal format.  Interesting enough.

The album ‘Galactic Empire’ was released on February 3rd on Rise Records.

Here is the Track Listing:

  1. “Main Theme”
  2. “The Imperial March”
  3. “Duel of the Fates”
  4. “The Force Theme”
  5. “The Asteroid Field
  6. “Battle of Heroes”
  7. “Cantina Band”
  8. “Ben’s Death / Tie Fighter Attack”
  9. “Across the Stars”
  10. “The Forest Battle”
  11. “The Throne Room / End Title”

Continue reading “Music Challenge #5 – Galactic Empire’s ‘Galactic Empire’” →

Music Challenge #4 – Steve ‘n’ Seagulls – ‘Brothers in Farm’

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic3 Comments

It is finally time for another music challenge.  Go and listen to an album based solely on the Band’s name, the album name or the album cover.  Let me know what you pick, why and what you thought about the album.

Here is my pick for the music challenge…The band is called Steve ‘n’ Seagulls.  The name of the band and that unusual album cover are why I picked this one for my music challenge.  The band name is a pun on the iconic actor (not really iconic) Steven Seagal.

They are a country band from Finland.  You read that correctly…they are from Finland and they are a country band.  I don’t know if I have ever heard of a Finnish country band. Wow! If you want proof, see below…

Steve N´Seagulls - Wacken Open Air 2015-2952

Continue reading “Music Challenge #4 – Steve ‘n’ Seagulls – ‘Brothers in Farm’” →

Music Challenge #3 – Catfish and the Bottlemen – The Ride

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic1 Comment

It is time for another music challenge.  Go and listen to an album that you have heard nothing about and pick it solely based on the band name, album name or album cover.

This time around I went off Band Name and Album cover.  The band was Catfish and the Bottlemen and the album cover was a drawing of an alligator biting his tail.  My first thought based on this information was that this band must be a country band with some major redneck roots (and I mean that in a good way).

Well, that was not the case.  Catfish and the Bottlemen are a four-piece band from the UK and their sound was not country at all.  They remind me more of an indie type band so they could be categorized as an alternative band.  The Ride is the band’s second album and follow-up to their album The Balcony.  I think I will check that album out as well.

On my first listen of The Ride, I did not like the album overall.  However, there were 3 standout songs on that first run through and they remained my standouts the more I listened.  The songs were “Postpone”, “Oxygen” and “Red”.

Continue reading “Music Challenge #3 – Catfish and the Bottlemen – The Ride” →

Music Challenge – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic6 Comments

Alright, it is time for another music challenge.  Go listen to an album that you have never heard before and pick it strictly off the Band Name, the Album Name, or the Album Cover. Once you have listened to one, come back and tell me what you picked and what you thought.

My pick was based strictly off the Band Name.  And that band name is King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard.  How could I not pick this one.  That is a great band name.

The band was formed in 2010 and this is their 8th studio album.  That is right, I said 8 albums and in 6 years. No band nowadays does that.  They are a 7 piece band out of Australia and they could be classified as psychedelic rock / alternative / experimental / I don’t know what.

Continue reading “Music Challenge – King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard” →

Music Challenge – Jordan Feliz & Frightened Rabbit

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic2 Comments

Music streaming makes this challenge so much easier. In the old days, if you wanted to “Take A Chance” on an album, you had to shell out money. Now, you just click on the album and it starts playing.

So the challenge is to go to a streaming service and look for an album cover that you like or is so bad that you have to listen to the album or just pick an artist that you have never heard that seems intriguing. Click on it and give it a listen.

In the comments below, let me know what album you listened to and tell me what you thought. I have done this twice over the last few weeks and have been pleasantly surprised.

Jordan Feliz

The first artist I clicked on was Jordan Feliz.   I picked because of the album cover. It was a picture of Jordan in a cool hat and I thought he had this singer/songwriter vibe going.

Continue reading “Music Challenge – Jordan Feliz & Frightened Rabbit” →