We are at the end of July already and dang the releases are still heating up and this week is a scorcher!! There is a battle going on in my house as one of my favorite bands is releasing and album and one of kids favorite artists is as well so it will be a fight on who plays what in the car. The girls will win because they have me wrapped around every finger!! I will go ahead and admit defeat. My choices this week are in Blue and I am sure there will be something for you as well as there are around 40 releases to choose. Let me know what you want to hear and what I may have missed so everyone knows it as well. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!!
Needtobreathe – Into the Mystery – (Elektra Records): If you follow this site at all then you know Needtobreathe is one of my favorite bands of all time!! While in Quarantine in 2020, they couldn’t tour so they made a new album…hell, why not!! Can’t wait to see where their heads were on this one and glad we got one so much sooner than we probably would have. I guess Covid was good for something!!
Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever – (Darkroom / Interscope Records): Unless you’ve been under a rock the last few years, you know Billie Eilish is like the Big Cheese!! My kids love her and I will admit she has some great songs and teamed up with her brother who writes a lot of it, they are a pretty dynamic duo right now. I did really enjoy the single “Therefore I Am” so hoping the rest is as good.
Welcome to my monthly wrap-up of all my purchases for the month. Now I am cheating as there are a number of items that came in at the end of August after I had already done my August post and I wasn’t about to go update that and have to change a few pictures so they will start out our September update.
First up is an brand new album from one of my favorite bands, Needtobreathe. Their new album came out on Friday, August 28th and luckily I got release day delivery and it came with a CD. I have already done a review (Click Here) and an update to their Album Rankings will be coming shortly.
August 29th was the first 3 of RSD days for 2020. As you know, due to Covid the April Record Store Day was delayed until June and then split in to 3 days in hopes of decreasing the # of people showing up on the day of release. The first one of these 3 days was August 29th and there will be one in September and October and if I am not mistaken, November will still see the normal Black Friday RSD. I tried to keep this one simple and I only bought 4 albums, one of which was for my daughter. I bought an Ace Frehley album, Collective Soul and a Def Leppard one. The album for my daughter was a live album by Billie Eilish (I will probably listen to it as well as she is quite interesting.
And I guess it wasn’t the only thing I bought as it was raining and he let everyone come in early, but he couldn’t actually ring us up until 8 and it was around 7:30. So after we got to pick out or RSD items, I had time to walk around the store and see if there was anything else. I wasn’t going to actually buy anything else as I spent enough on the above. If you follow the site you know I have started collecting Kiss Tour Books. I picked up a Bon Jovi one when I was out and I wasn’t looking to do anyone else other than Kiss. Well, Repo Records had a Bon Jovi Tour Book from 2011. And you guessed it. I bought it. I will do a full review of this soon.
Normally on Record Store Day, Repo Records gives us a goody bag. This year he didn’t have a goody bag (Sad face)…No, he had a goody album cover…WTF? He had old useless album covers and inside he had a Record Mat for your turntable, a sticker, an RSD guitar pick and a button of someone but I have no idea. And that was it…wasn’t much.
And that was it for RSD, but on the same day I had delivered another item from Needtobreathe. I was on eBay only about 3 days earlier and checking to see if any of their rare Fan Club Insider CDs were for sale. You can only purchase these if you sign up for their fan club and pay the annual premium of like $60. I hadn’t done that up until this year so the new one will come in December, but I have been trying to find these on eBay or Discogs at reasonable prices (something less than $60…and I did). I got my second one, Volume 5, for $25…yeah me!! And within a week, I found another one for $27 after eBay was kind enough to give me a $25 Off coupon for being a member since the beginning of eBay. That is two for less than a year membership for one. Not bad!!!
Next up was an album I ordered back in June or so and when it was released in August, Amazon apparently ran out so I had to wait and wait to finally get it. My local record store had it but sold out so I kept waiting, plus Amazon’s price was only $16 so I was willing to wait. It is the self-titled album from Collective Soul that was finally issued on vinyl to celebrate its 25th Anniversary.
I forget what day, but the kids wanted to get out of the house and so we took a ride over to 2nd & Charles, the whole family, and we all searched for books or music or movies or whatever floated our boat. I found one item that I needed for my collection and at $8, it was a steal. Peter Criss’ book ‘Makeup to Breakup’ another book in my long list of Kiss books I have to get through.
Next up is an autographed copy of the Storm Force album ‘Age of Fear’. My fellow bloggers Deke and LeBrain have raved about this album and then during LeBrain’s live stream on Facebook, the boys from the band joined him and Deke and talked for an hour on a fun-filled Friday night. I thought that was really cool of the guys so I supported them by buying this. You should do the same.
And then something else popped up. I was on Amazon and I saw Art Alexakis’ solo album for only $8 and free shipping so since I am fan of Everclear, I jumped on it. It came quick and is below…
And finally we get to the 2nd Record Store Day and this was just this past Saturday on Sept. 25th. I picked up three things including The Alarm’s Celtic Folklore Live, a Mott the Hoople compilation called The Golden Age of Rock and Roll and then a live album from Hootie & the Blowfish. That one wasn’t on my list, but when I saw it and that it was from 1995, their heyday.
And like last time at Repo, they let us in before they could check us out and it gave us time to look around and shop. Let me tell you that is never a good thing. The first thing I found was a 7″ Kiss single for Beth and Detroit Rock City and then it was a bootleg from Van Halen for the Women And Children First Sessions full of the demos. I’m a sucker for that stuff….
And Repo gave out his typical swag….at least the mat was a different color this time…
And that is everything…yes, that was plenty. Here it all is in one big picture…
Thanks for stopping by. I already have a few things coming for October and there is another Record Store Day so shaping up to be another big month.
My Chemical Romance are reuniting and apparently that is a big deal?? I don’t know as I really don’t care. But I guess I care enough that I felt I needed to do a meme collection of My Chemical Romance. Also, I had no other idea at this time of who to do. I will admit that I know nothing of the band and that I don’t understand hardly any of these memes so you won’t be alone. If you get any of them, let me know in the comments on why it might be funny…I haven’t a clue!!
It is time for the second collection of Van Halen memes from around the world. With David Lee Roth now opening for Kiss on the End of the Road Tour and then Billie Eilish not knowing who Van Halen is, I felt the world needed more memes celebrating and poking fun at the band. So, let’s “Jump” “Right Now” in to it. Enjoy…
The year is almost over so it is time to look back at what was awesome in music during the year.  I have already looked back at the Top Rock Albums of 2019 (click to read).  This list will cover all other genres that I listened to over the year including Pop, Country, Christian and whatever other genre you want classify these albums.  Rock is my favorite genre and that is why it gets it’s own list, but that doesn’t take away from any of these choices as I think they are great on their own.
I feel I didn’t get to as many as I would have liked as the year seem to get away from me. I did spend a lot of time on a few series such as finishing The Billy Idol Series, The Kiss Bootleg Series, the Kiss Box Set 6 Part Series and starting the David Coverdale Series. These consumed a lot of my time. What I am trying to say is I missed a lot.
Note:  These albums were my favorites and not necessarily the most played on the radio (which I hate the radio) or even the biggest sellers. There aren’t the trendy indie bands on everyone else’s top albums list (okay, there might be one or two). These are just what I came across during the year and connected with me in some way and some thanks to my kids. So, we might as well get started…
#10 – The Highwomen – ‘The Highwomen’
 A Country Super-Group consisting of Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires. I have not been digging Country lately, but the women on country rock. I found this to be enjoyable and was really digging the songs “The Highwomen”, a rework of the the Jimmy Webb classic “The Highwayman” as well as “Redesigning Women” and “Crowded Table”. Check them out.
Have you heard of Billie Eilish? If not, you have been living under a rock. The girl is the hottest thing on the radio right now. She is the only pop artist doing anything remotely interesting and my kids love her. Actually, I think most young teenage girls love her. I have to admit, the girl is pretty dang awesome. There are a few songs I have head that I have admittedly added to my playlist. So, let’s celebrate all things Billie!
March is over and it will go out with a ton of releases this week. There is something for everyone with this many releases. We have metal, rock, alternative, country, R&B, jazz and christian music all to be heard and spun. Actually, for me, there isn’t much I am interested in and I will highlight those in Blue. Let me know what you found and if I missed anything. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend. If you want to see a bunch of the new releases coming over the next couple months, click New Releases here or at the top of the page.
 Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep – (Darkroom/Interscope Records): Okay, this one is on my list because it is my oldest daughters favorite artist right now and apparently a lot of people are digging her. She is VERY DARK in her attitude, music and especially the lyrics. But she has something that is the “IT” factor right now. A lot of her stuff is a little too weird, but some songs really knock it out of the park. I will be listening to this one a lot…and not all by choice.
 L.A. Guns – The Devil You Know – (Frontiers Records): Is this the real L.A. Guns or one of the two touring bands with the same name?? Kidding…a little. Either way, I will give it a spin and see what this old band still has to offer.
2019 is upon us and it is always fun anticipating what new albums are and will come out in the year.  There are quite a few we already know about, but some haven’t been officially announced or even a date set yet.  From what I have gathered around the internet, here are the bands that should have new albums out in 2019, but no dates announced yet. The ones I would give a try (and my kids) will be highlighted in Blue. The ones with Dates Announced are at the bottom of this post. The list is building up nicely!!
Adele
Billy Eilish
Coldplay
The Defiants
Eclipse
Greta Van Fleet– (rumor already for new music)
Hootie & the Blowfish(new tour has been announced)
Megadeth
Michael Sweet
Miley Cyrus
Prince
The Raconteurs
Rob Zombie
Stryper
The Cranberries
Taylor Swift
Tesla – Shock (Produced by Phil Collen of Def Leppard)
For My Sunday Song #117, I am going with a song my kids love that has grown on me immensely called “Bellyache” by Billie Eilish. The song is from her 2017 album ‘Don’t Smile at Me’. The song has done really well and has gone Gold in the States. My kids are always listening to her, so naturally I end up hearing it quite often especially when we are all in the car together.
The song is very dark both lyrically and mood. The singer has killed her lover and is a sure fire psychopath. She has some regret that causes her stomach to hurt, but in the end she really doesn’t give a shit. Should I worry that my kids like this song???
Just look at these disturbing lyrics…
“Sitting all alone
Mouth full of gum
In the driveway My friends aren’t far In the back of my car Lay their bodies“
Needtobreathe – Into the Mystery – (Elektra Records): If you follow this site at all then you know Needtobreathe is one of my favorite bands of all time!! While in Quarantine in 2020, they couldn’t tour so they made a new album…hell, why not!! Can’t wait to see where their heads were on this one and glad we got one so much sooner than we probably would have. I guess Covid was good for something!!
Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever – (Darkroom / Interscope Records): Unless you’ve been under a rock the last few years, you know Billie Eilish is like the Big Cheese!! My kids love her and I will admit she has some great songs and teamed up with her brother who writes a lot of it, they are a pretty dynamic duo right now. I did really enjoy the single “Therefore I Am” so hoping the rest is as good.
 A Country Super-Group consisting of Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris and Amanda Shires. I have not been digging Country lately, but the women on country rock. I found this to be enjoyable and was really digging the songs “The Highwomen”, a rework of the the Jimmy Webb classic “The Highwayman” as well as “Redesigning Women” and “Crowded Table”. Check them out.
 
 
2 Loud 2 Old Music 