The Defiants just released their self-titled debut last Friday. I have been playing it quite a bit since the release and it just gets better.
If you are a fan of Danger Danger or Paul Laine, then this release is right up your alley. It has a late 80’s rock sound and some great guitar work. Take and listen and check it out. My review will be coming soon.
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”
Are you ready for a retro ride back to the 70’s with a wonderful classic rock sound and a modern twist? Then put on your bell bottom jeans and your headphones. You better have a joint in one hand and a needle in the other. The needle is of course a turntable needle. Drop it on the vinyl and sit back and enjoy the journey that is the Wild Feathers.
Their first album, the self-titled The Wild Feathers, had a retro classic rock sound but much heavier than this one. The new album is still a classic rock sound but toned down to a softer edge like they have a wonderful buzz going.
The band consists of Joel King on bass/vocals, Ricky Young on guitar/vocals, Taylor Burns on guitar/vocals and Ben Dumas on drums. They were formed back in 2010 in Nashville, TN. They are signed to Warner Brothers Records. With two great albums, I hope they are around for a long time.
A lot of albums have the first half with the strongest songs, but this album is strong the whole way through. I get a nice buzz from just listening to it. Nothing else needed.
Continue reading “The Wild Feathers – Lonely Is A Lifetime – Album Review – 91%”
Apple Music vs. Amazon Prime Music
The ability to stream music has really changed the whole music industry and how people consume music. There are so many streaming services such as Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music and many more. I am going to focus on the two that I am familiar with and that I use personally. I currently use both Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music services. As my 3 free months with Apple Music has ended, I felt it was a perfect time to write how I feel about this service and compare it to Amazon’s service as I have been using that one for about 6 months.
There are definite differences between the two and one is by far superior to the other, but I have found a use and a reason to have both and I will discuss that later. First, lets talk about what each service offers and which is the better service for that item.
Music Selection
There are two features that I think are the most important. The first feature is music selection. What artists and songs does each service offer? Are they artist I like? Is the selection enough to satisfy me? Here is what I have found:
Continue reading “Apple Music vs. Amazon Prime Music”
Have you discovered great bands by listening to Internet Radio? There are so many bands that I would hear just one song by that band and instantly become a fan. Below is a list of some bands that I now listen to just because I heard one song while listening to Internet Radio stations. The song on the list is that one song that turned me on to the band. Enjoy!
Will Hoge – “Not That Cool”
My Darkest Days – “Porn Star Dancing”
Continue reading “Bands I Discovered Through Internet Radio – Playlist”
The new album, Getaway, was released in February 2016 by The Vegas Syn/The Fuel Music. Adelitas Way is from Las Vegas and formed back in 2006. The band consists of Rick DeJesus on lead vocals, Robert Zakaryan on lead guitar, Andrew Cushing on bass and Trevor Stafford on drums. They have consistently released solid albums and this one is no exception.
Their fourth release is a straight-up rock album with some great guitar riffs and I feel is the backbone of this album. Robert Zakaryan is definitely the standout. His sound goes great with DeJesus vocals.
The first half of this album is exactly what you would expect and rocks out. All the radio hits will probably come from this half. The back half for me, however, starts to feel like a bunch of filler and not enough solid songs. I will give them credit for changing it up a bit. All-in-all, this is a strong album and worth the price.
Tracks:
“Bad Reputation” – Keeper – Great start to this album. The guitar sound is hard and heavy and what you would want for a hard rock song.
“Getaway” – Keeper – They keep the fast driving pace up with this song. Chorus is memorable which is what you want in a song.
Continue reading “Adelitas Way – Getaway – Album Review – 64%”
In Mid-February, I was listening to a Shinedown radio station on Apple Music and I came across a song that immediately stopped me in my tracks. I picked up my phone and saw it was a band called The Struts and the song was “Dirty Sexy Money”. The Struts???? Who the heck are these guys? What a cool name for a band!!
I searched them and saw the album was coming out on March 4th. That day could not get here fast enough. Apple Music did have the Have You Heard EP that tied me over until the album came out, but you can’t get that E.P. now but you don’t need to as all the songs are on the album. I have not stopped playing this album since I got it that Friday.
The Struts, an English rock band, have this great retro rock vibe. The lead singer was definitely influenced by classic rock and he is even a little Glam in his appearance. The band is a four piece and is lead singer Luke Spiller, guitarist Adam Slack, bassist Jed Elliott and the drummer is Gethin Davies. They have been together since 2010 and just signed with a U.S. company last year.
It is probably the most exciting rock band to come out in a long time. The album originally came out in 2014 in the UK, but is just getting released here in the U.S. by Interscope Records. This album is already the best album released so far in 2016. And even though we are only in April, this album WILL end up being one of the best out in 2016.
Continue reading “The Struts – “Everybody Wants” – Album Review – 100%”
My first artist profile is of singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson. I discovered his music when I was listening to an internet radio station. His song “Come on Get Higher” came on and I was instantly drawn to it and wanted to hear more by him. I went and bought the album “Some Mad Hope” and from that point on I was hooked and now a life long fan.
Matt has been around playing since the early 90’s and his first album came out in 1993. I believe I read somewhere that it was songs he had written in high school. I would describe his early stuff as indie/college style music. When I would listen to his older stuff I have to admit I didn’t particular care for his albums in the 90’s, but that is not to say you wouldn’t like it. For me, it is just not something that spoke to me.
But somewhere around 2002 and his E.P. – “When Everything Meant Everything” his songwriting and sound started to click. I could get into these songs. They started speaking to me. Each album after spoke to me more and more and I believe he has hit his stride and his writing and his storytelling just get better and better.
One interesting thing about Matt is he is a closet Metal Head which I think is so cool as his music is far from it. He is a big fan of a lot of the rock acts I grew up with and even appeared on That Metal Show.
I have had the pleasure of seeing him live three times now. Sadly, every time I have seen him, he has been an opening act. I hope to change that one day and see him as the headliner. He and his band sound great live and he has such great stage presence and can really draw in a crowd.
The last time I saw him he was the opening act for Train here in Charlotte at the PNC Pavillion. When he came out the crowd was still filling in and not really there to see him. The way he works the crowd is something to see. His style and brand of humor between songs is magnificent. By the end of his set, the entire arena were on their feet screaming and loving every minute of his performance. They left that night knowing what Matt Nathanson was all about.
Continue reading “Matt Nathanson – Artist Profile”
Did you ever watch American Idol? I am sure at sometime over the last 15 years you had to have seen some shows. I probably watched the first 4 seasons in full and then would only watch when they got down to the Top 10 in the next 4 seasons and then I would just watch when I could.
However, I did watch the final season, mainly to see who they bring back, and I actually enjoyed watching it. There were a few standouts and their final 4 were all pretty decent. My daughter loved MacKenzie Bourg and I was a fan of Trent Harmon and La’Porsha Renea (who I thought was going to win until Trent’s performances on the finale). And Dalton had some pretty good moments (I love his cover of “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol)
Watching the final season reminded me that they really did have some good artists even though most of them were crap. I also found it funny that some of the people that lost did better than the winners – can we say Chris Daughtry & Adam Lambert. Of course everyone knows some of the winners were spectacular – Kelly Clarkson (3 Grammy Awards) and Carrie Underwood (7 Grammy Awards). And one even won an Academy Award – Jennifer Hudson (also 1 Grammy).
Continue reading “American Idol Farewell”
Everyone gets Road Rage at some time in their driving life. It is unavoidable. Sitting in Atlanta traffic or even Charlotte traffic now can raise your blood pressure. And how many times have you just wanted to ram your car right into the asshole that just cut you off or rode your bumper. I have too many times to count. When I get that feeling, I have a playlist that I have to put on that will let me just vent my frustration and anger. Maybe you can try it out.
Five Finger Death Punch – “Under And Over It”
Texas Hippie Coalition – “Turn It Up”
Continue reading “Road Rage – Playlist”
2 Loud 2 Old Music 