Her 1st Vinyl – Shawn Mendes ‘Handwritten’

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My 9 year old daughter was upset that my 12 year old daughter (at the time) got a vinyl album and she didn’t get one.  She kept asking me when she was going to get an album. She then when on to say that she wants the Shawn Mendes album.

I should have guessed as several weeks earlier, she was looking through one of her sister’s magazines and inside was a poster of Shawn Mendes and she went crazy.  She unfolded it and started kissing it!!!  It was so cute, but scary for me as well since now I realize she knows what boys are and that you kiss them!  As I was laughing at the sight of her kissing the poster on the outside, I was screaming on the inside.

Lo and behold, we were at the mall last weekend and what did we come across…Shawn Mendes’ album ‘Handwritten’.  I surprised her and told her I would buy it for her.  She was so excited.

I wanted to write this to document for her, the very first vinyl record she would own.  The cool part of it is the fact that it was a special edition Blue Vinyl.  It looks really cool and you can actually see through the album.  There is a mini poster of him inside, but I told her it need to stay in the album so it didn’t get messed up.  The other reason was I didn’t want her kissing all over it.

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My Sunday Song – “Clear” by Needtobreathe

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On my third My Sunday Song, I am going with the new song “Clear” by Needtobreathe off their latest album HARDLOVE.  This is an epic, almost 7 minute love song.  It has a beautiful, almost magical sound.

Bo Rhinehart stated in an article (by Sophia Pagliawan for celebmix.com):

“When I first wrote ‘CLEAR’, it felt almost like a wedding song, but it ended up becoming something deeper than that,” says Bo. “Instead of some fairy-tale, dreamlike thing, it’s more about the focus and clarity of realizing what’s most important to you in the world.”

When I listen to it, it makes me think of my wife and 2 beautiful daughters.  For me, those are the most important things in my world.  With that, I dedicate this to them.

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New Metallica Song – “Hardwired”

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I missed this last night, but Metallica has a new song called “Hardwired” off their upcoming album ‘Hardwired…To Self Destruct’.  The new album will be released on November 18th!

I have never been a huge Metallica fan, but at times they do have some brilliance so I always check out their music when released.  Their last album, which was 8 years ago, was ‘Death Magnetic’ which I didn’t really enjoy.  So hoping for better on the new album.

The new song isn’t bad, but only heard it twice so far.  It is definitely fast and hard!  More like old school Metallica in my opinion. Let me know what you think.

Friday New Releases – August 19th

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Friday is finally here!  Work has been so busy, but we are done with our current project and I can hopefully not stress so much for a little bit.  To unwind I always listen to music and their are a couple I am really interested in and they are quite polar opposites of each other.  On one side is Lindsey Stirling and the other is Trapt.  Not even close to the same genre, but equally excited about both.  All my interests, as normal, are marked in blue.

  • 51vv4Gxv5ZL._AC_US160_  Lindsey Stirling – Brave Enough – (Lindseystomp Records):  This classical crossover sensation is back with her 3rd album.  Her violin playing is exceptional.  As a quarterfinalists on America’s Got Talent, she has gone on to such bigger and better things and I am now a huge fan.  Can’t wait to hear what she has in store for us.

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Bret Michaels – “Repeat” Offender

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Bret Michaels with Poison is enjoyable.  The music is kind of mindless, like KISS, but a lot of fun.  Bret Michaels as a solo artist is a different story.  As a solo artist, Bret Michaels is a “Repeat” Offender!!  What do I mean by that?  Well, let me tell you.  Bret Michaels can not release a new album that doesn’t contain all original music.  He has to repeat songs from his days as lead singer of Poison or songs from his previous solo album.  At this point to me, it is so laughable and sad at the same time.

BretMichaels

It didn’t start out this way as his first 2 solo albums were pretty much all original/new material.  His first solo album in 1998 was ‘A Letter from Death Row’ which was the soundtrack to a movie he wrote, directed and starred in, believe it or not.  On a side note, I never saw the movie.  Here is the track listing:

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1987 – The Greatest Year in Music?

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Is 1987 the greatest year in music?  Well, probably not, but I am going to make an argument for it to be the greatest.  For me personally, 1987 was a great year.  I graduated high school and started college in that year.  I also had a fabulous Senior Trip with some of the best people in the world.  Life was really great at that time (fyi…life is really great now as well).

Musically, some of the greatest rock albums and pop albums were released during 1987.  After this list, you let me know if you think it wasn’t the greatest or at least one of the most memorable years in music.

614V+0U9a8L._AC_US160_Def Leppard – ‘Hysteria’:  This is one of my all time favorite albums.  It was released on August 3 and spawned 7 singles (that is right 7).  The album has gone on to sale over 25 million copies and has one of the most iconic rock songs of all time…”Pour Some Sugar On Me”.  Go to mikeladano.com and check out a great review on the album (Then look around at his site, great reviews and great stories).  With other hits like “Hysteria”, “Love Bites”, “Animal”, “Women” and “Rocket”, it is one of the greatest rock albums of all times.

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My Sunday Song – “Lead Me” by Sanctus Real

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For this episode of My Sunday Song, we are doing the song “Lead Me” by Sanctus Real.  Sanctus Real is a christian rock band out of Toledo, Ohio.  “Lead Me” is off the album ‘Pieces of the Real Heart’ which was released in 2010 on Sparrow Records.

There is an article from 2010 about the meaning behind the song at clashentertainment.com.  The song is about how the lead singer, Mark Hammitt, could be a better man to his family and children.  Mark states the following in the article:

“My wife and I aren’t shy about sharing that we’ve had some pretty major struggles,” admits Matt after his wife implored him to be a better spiritual leader in the family. “I think the challenge for me in the song, and hopefully for other men as well, is every time I hear it, every time I sing it, I ask myself, ‘what kind of man am I?’ Not yesterday, not tomorrow, what kind of man am I today? Have I invested in my family emotionally, spiritually the way that God has called me to reach out to them and to lead them.”

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New Bon Jovi Song – “This House is not For Sale”

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Bon Jovi have released a new video called “This House is not For Sale” off their new album of the same name.  The new album will be out on October 12 of this year.  I am interested in what they have to offer although their last few releases have not been good at all so my expectations are very limited.

It looks like guitarist, Phil X, is now an official member of the band and is featured on the new album.  I guess any hope of Richie Sambora coming back keep slipping away.  But I am okay with it as I am excited to see what Richie is working on with guitarist Orianthi.  Enough about that…here is the video.

 

Friday New Releases – August 12th

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Happy Friday!!  More new releases today, but sadly, I am not interested in anyone of these. Maybe ZZTop.  Justin Moore’s album title sums it up for me – ‘Kinda Don’t Care’.  What that means for me is it is a good week to catch up on all the releases that have come out over the last few weeks.  Hopefully there is something in here for you though.

  • 51f+i1rx+CL._AC_US160_  Young the Giant – Home of the Strange – (Fueled by Ramen)
  • 61Ws1qZ99iL._AC_US160_  ZZ Top – Live: Greatest Hits From Around the World – (Surestone Records)

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Rick Springfield – ‘Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance’ (2004) – Album Spotlight

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‘Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance’ (SDAA for short) came out in 2004 and it was the album that reintroduced me back to Rick Springfield.  It had been 5 years since his last album ‘Karma’ in 1999, but I was in a bad place at that time and completely missed that album.  For me, this was his first album since ‘Rock of Life’ in 1988…16 years earlier.

I hadn’t completely forgotten about Rick Springfield, but he certainly wasn’t top-of-mind anymore.  That changed with this album.  When I heard this album I wasn’t sure who was I listening to at the time.  It was such a high energy, hard rock album that I could not believe it was Rick Springfield.  He was a pop star not a rock star.

SDAA has 17 tracks that range from 56 seconds to 3 minutes & 42 seconds.  This makes the album scream along at a fast pace and it will take you through every emotion mentioned in the album title.  Anger, however, seems to be the leading emotion on the album and I am okay with that.

The opening song, “Perfect”, comes rocking out of the gate and you realize this is not the same old Rick Springfield you grew up with. There is more of an edge and roughness to his style and voice.  That energy continues straight into the next song “I’ll Make You Happy” and gives you no time to breathe.

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