Music Shuffle Monday 01.31.11

1. "The Call" by The Backstreet Boys
This one came out several years after my BSB phase I went through in early Junior High, but ya gotta admit, it's got a catchy, bouncy beat with a fun sing-along chorus. The song itself is kinda interesting, as is the chorus which is an exchange between a BSB and his girlfriend, saying "listen baby, I'm sorry... just wanna tell you don't worry - I will be late, don't stay up and wait for me.  You're really dropping out, my battery is low - I'm going to place nearby, gotta go!" In the verses we learn what happened - he went out with the boys and met a woman who invited her back to his place... because of him going and lying to his girlfriend they're no longer together. It's catchy and amusing, in my opinion.

2. "Take Me to Your Leader" by the Newsboys
This song was big at my youth group in late Junior High, as the Newboys are a Christian pop-rock band and this album/tour had a space/alien-type theme to it (like Powerman5000 a few years later, they too wore spacesuits in the videos and on tour!). It was fun though and the album mixed fun songs like this one and "Breakfast" with more serious-themed ones.

3. "Rock This Town" by The Stray Cats
Got some good ol' Rockabilly going on here! Like most of my generation, we didn't learn about Brian Setzer until the late 90s when he helped bring back the sound of swing with his hit "Jump, Jive and Wail." This one's an older one, with his former band, but a good, classic modern swing-time favorite!

4. "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" by A Perfect Circle
This one is off APC's 2004 politically charged eMotive album and while it's often considered to be a remix of "Pet" which appeared on their previous album Thirteenth Step (one of my all-time favorite albums might I add), they claim it's actually more like part 2 of the song. This version is a bit darker and more haunting though! I'm excited that it was announced a few months ago that APC is back together, planning tour and getting ready to release new music as I missed out on their tours during my early days of college and by the time I was really into them they had taken a hiatus. For those not familiar with APC, they're basically a supergroup, lead by Tool's Maynard James Keenan and members include the infamous Josh Freese (most known for being part of NiN's touring line-up), James Iha (formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins), Billy Howerdel (from Ashes Divide).

5. "Getting Smaller" by Nine Inch Nails
This one is off another one of my all-time favorite albums, With Teeth, and has a great, fast-paced driving rhythm to it.

Music Shuffle Monday 01.24.11

1. "Pop" by N*Sync

To be honest, not sure why I have this song on my iPod - the only N*Sync album I ever bought was their debut, when I was in 8th grade. My fascination with N*Sync was short-lived as I much preferred the Backstreet Boys over them and ultimately Hanson was my favorite of the boy bands of the late 90s because they actually played their own instruments and wrote their own music. Regardless, this song came out during my high school years - I think I got stuck listening to the tracks on this particular N*Sync album thanks to some of the "preppy" girls I was on the soccer team with who were obsessed with N*Sync. It's kinda of a catchy tune, but yeah...

2. "One" by Creed

Ah creed... I remember during mid-high school we had a group come and do a chapel service for us at school (for those not familiar with Christian schools, chapel is like a weekly church service during school with worship songs and a guest speaker) and they performed a "human video" to Creed's song "Higher" off their 2nd album (a human video is a group of people acting out a performance to a song to tell a story). Anyways, the next day we were all hooked on the song and Creed and I think my school's student body bought out every copy of the CD in town, lol... this song is off Creed's 1st album - having liked the album with Higher on it, I went back and got their 1st one. It's a pretty good song. By the end of high school Creed was pretty huge - kids today have Chad Kroger and Nickelback, we had Scott Stapp and Creed.

3. 'They Know Who You Are" by Powerman5000

This is off their major debut Tonight the Stars Revolt. For those not familiar with the album, it's kind of like a space odyssey as it plays out the fantasy of a group being lost in space, trying to get their radio transmission picked up. PM5K's main man, Spider (aka Rob Zombie's slightly younger half brother), is a huge fan of horror and especially the strange classic horror B movies, so this plays out like a Twilight Zone type horror. During this error of the band they performed in spacesuits - it was pretty awesome! Nearly 10 years later and after some good and not so good experimentation with their sound, Spider finally gave the fans the sequel/follow-up to Tonight the Stars Revolt that we've been wanting (Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere) and also brought back the classic spacesuits!

4. "Hell Song" by Sum41

I first heard this one in my freshman year of college and I thought the music video was awesome as it was done all with action figures and dolls dressed up like celebs, fighting and on their way to a Sum41 show. Check it out below:

5. "Fear" by Disturbed

This one's off of Disturbed's debut The Sickness. While probably the darkest and most explicit album they've done (and by far the most "disturbing" as a lot of the songs paint the picture of a man struggling with actual demons), it's probably my favorite Disturbed album as it was so dark and different at the time. Definitely not one for the kiddies, but it sure packs a punch and rocks HARD. And there's not a single track on the album I feel the need to skip over while listening either.

Music Shuffle Monday 01.17.11

1) "Just A Girl" by No Doubt

Ah, back to the year of 1995... I remember this song - No Doubt's first BIG hit - came out when I was in 5th grade and the "We Play Anything" station had it in regular rotation. I remember getting the Tragic Kingdom CD and rockin' out in my bedroom, using a hairbrush as a microphone! Ah, those were the days! Gotta admit, I long for the Tragic Kingdom days of No Doubt - I never really "dug" their more reggae or new wave sound they had going on some of the later albums. Hopefully with them getting back together they'll get back to their ska/punk/rock roots and give us another awesome album like Tragic Kingdom!

2) "P5hng Me A*wy" by Linkin Park

This is off their remix album Reanimation. As an original LP fan who loved their major debut Hybrid Theory (I bought it the week it came out), I was originally disappointed with Reanimation but some of the tracks - this one included - grew on me. Unlike the Collision Course album they did later with Jay-Z, this one fuses tracks from Hybrid Theory and other older LP rarities with a more electronic element to it, not to mention various other artists contributed to the different song remixes too.

3) "Salty Dog" by Flogging Molly

I was introduced to Flogging Molly, an Irish punk band, back in college by my roommate. I don't know too many of their songs, but they're a good ol' Irish band that really gets ya in the spirit of St. Patricks day blending the quick pace of punk music with traditional Irish instruments! It's pretty awesome!

4) "Whenever, Wherever" by Shakira

I remember when Shakira broke onto the US scene when I was in early high school. I'll admit, she looked pretty hot in her music video for this one and the song was pretty catchy!

5) "Every New Day" by Five Iron Frenzy

In summer 1999 I went to the weekend long Christian music festival Cornerstone in Bushnell, IL. It included a lot of the more popular Christian rock and contemporary bands as well as a lot of smaller unknown ones (including Tasty Snax - the former band of Linkin Park's bassist Phoenix - yes, I met him at their merch booth!). One of the highlights for me at the festival was getting to see Five Iron Frenzy during a midnight show at one of the tents. I was pretty big into ska at the time but wasn't too familiar with Five Iron Frenzy despite hearing they were pretty good. I got lucky too as they we were recording parts of their live album there that night too and got my name listed in the fan section of the credits. Seeing them perform - including this song - was such a great experience and anytime I hear this one (live or studio version) as well as other songs they performed that night it takes me back to skanking around with other ska music lovers late that night as the entire crowd got into the performance.

Music Shuffle Monday 01.10.11

It's the return of Music Shuffle Monday!

I know, I know - I've been slacking a bit on this one lately, but it's a new year so let's give it another go!

1) "Over the Edge" by Zebrahead

This is off their "big" release MFZB which came out in my early college years. I first heard it working late at night at my college's newspaper as one of the guys would bring in this CD as well as the latest Lucky Boys Confusion CD and we'd often listen to them back to back as they were similar sounding bands. It wasn't a bad CD - a lot of the songs were catchy and it grew on me and I went out and got myself a copy. Feel free to check them out - their songs range from college pop-rock to a little heavier.

2) "Perfect" by The Smashing Pumpkins

There's something about the older Pumpkins' music (pre-break-up/failed "reunion") that I can't help but like. A lot of it's really pretty and melodic - Billy Corgan's vocals work great with the music and you can usually find a song of theirs you like or can relate to. Like many, I came in towards the middle, after the release of Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness and bought the rest of their albums until the break-up. To be honest, I'm kinda sad that Billy's attempted to put the band "back together" and tour/record under the Smashing Pumpkin's name but with a different line-up - it's just not the same! Gimme the band with Billy, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlain and D'arcy (or even Melissa Auf der Maur if you must).

3) "My Life Would Suck Without U" performed by the Glee cast

I thought this was a really fun rendition of the Kelly Clarkson song and was also a great tune to end the 1st season of Glee on a positive note with. For me, the Glee songs are hit and miss - some I really like, others... ugh. But in this case, the was a good one, or at least I thought so!

4) "House of the Rising Sun" by the Animals

Ah, a classic! Growing up as a kid in grade school I was only allowed to listen to Contemporary Christian music, Adult "Lite Rock" and The Oldies Station as my parents didn't think most of what was on the Top 40 stations was appropriate for kids my age (and who could blame them - my mom freaked a little bit the first time she heard my 6 year old self and best friend singing Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" lol...). Usually we ended up listening to The Oldies station as I liked the music on that channel more (the songs were catchy!) and it took my parents back to when they were growing up. For some reason, given the subject matter of this song, I've always liked this one, even though I used to get it confused with the "Li'l Red Riding Hood" song by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs as instrumentally they sound similar!

5) "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson

Not my favorite MJ song, but it's definitely a must-have for anyone's Michael Jackson collection as it was his first big single as a solo artist. Growing up, we 1st went to Disney World when I was 4 and at Epcot they were playing this 3D movie - Captain EO - starring Michael Jackson. We went and OMG I fell in love with him and was convinced I was going to marry him when I got older, the fact that we shared the same birthdate even convinced me more that it was meant to be and I would gaze at my Captain EO poster we hung my playroom, imagining what it would be like! lol... ah to be young again! I guess you could say MJ was first real celebrity crush - my parents had Thriller on vinyl and made a cassette tape so I could listen to it on my little brown Fischer Price tape recorder... I listened to it so much they ended up taking the tape from me as they didn't think it was healthy for a 4 year old to be listening to it as much as I was (ah, the start of my minor obsessive personality problem, lol... I have this bad tendency to get hooked something and become near obsessed with it for awhile!)

Music Shuffle Monday 11.22.10

Okay, so technically it's just after midnight so this is slightly late, however quite a bit happened today (which I'll be posting about next!).

So first, on with the Music Shuffle Monday!

1. "We Still Fight" by Hatebreed

We have Hatebreed, although honestly, I don't really listen to them much or know much of their songs. This song is actually kinda short (it's barely a minute and a half long).

2. "Not Meant to Be" by Theory of a Deadman

You've probably heard this one on the radio or on VH1's music video countdown as it was one of their more recent singles. It's definitely one of ToaD's more mellower, softer songs. It's not bad though, although they come off sounding more like Shinedown on this track.

3. "Glorious" by Andreas Johnson

I first heard this song as it was in some VH1 original "Movies That Rock" film they put out during one summer in the late 90s/early 00s and I LOVED it. It's a really pretty late 90s pop-rock ballad and has some neat instrumentals going on in the background too. It was never very popular, but that didn't matter to me!

4. "Sometimes" by Britney Spears

lol... okay I didn't have this one on here until recently, as a friend mentioned it for old times sake on Facebook and I had completely forgotten about it. When I got ahold of Britney's discography, well this one was in it, and lol... remembering us imitating the dance from the video back in Jr. High... hahahahaha too funny!

5. "What Goes Around, Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake

Oh how fitting - a Britney track, followed by a Justin track! lol... I'll admit, while I wasn't a fan of his first solo album, I really liked most of what I heard from his 2nd album, including this track. This is the one that has Scarlett Jo playing his girlfriend in the video, she cheats on him and then meets a tragic end in a car accident soon after he learns of her deception. It's a pretty song too though!

Music Shuffle Monday 11.15.10

1. "Thoughtless (aka Tear Me Down)" by Korn

For some reason on my iPod the title of this song comes up as "Floyd" - not sure what the deal is with that even though I've always known that wasn't the correct name of the track. This song is off Korn's 2002 album "Untouchables" which was released just after I finished high school. I've never bought a Korn album but like many other bands, I like the singles I've heard on the radio throughout the years. It's a pretty heavy track and I remember hearing this album got pretty good reviews as well.

2. "Tera-Fied" by Static-X

This off their "for the fans" album Cult of Static, however as previously mentioned regarding songs on this album, several tracks on this album seem to showcase Wayne Static's new wife (28-year old retired porn star Tera Wray). This track not only uses her first name in the title, but she also contributes to it by doing vocals at the beginning. Friends that caught Static-X on their last big tour stated that this was one of the songs that she also dances around on stage to. Like typical Static-X, this song has a bit of a trance feel to it.

3. "Do Unto Others" by Mindless Self Indulgence

These guys have a huge discography of songs - many of which I haven't even listened to yet, so that's why they seem to keep popping up on here. This song has a bit of an 80s feel to it, as at first I thought it was an 80 band, similar to that of  Orgy's cover of New Order's "Blue Monday" or early Nine Inch Nails (think late 80s "Pretty Hate Machine" era).

4. "Giants" by Five Iron Frenzy

I loved these guys in high school, as they were a Christian ska band although a lot of their songs were quite random regarding the content (ie: a song about the cast of Different Strokes, a song about Canada, a song about a comb... etc) while others had a more serious message. They were a fun band and I loved rocking out to them. This song has a bit of a They Might Be Giants feel to it near the beginning. According to Wiki, in this song, singer Reese Roper references Adam Smiths' The Wealth of Nations to continue his general attacks on big business and Social Darwinism. Food for thought, right?

5. "Stockholm Syndrome" by Muse

This is off their Absolution album and is another typical Muse track. As mentioned, I was introduced to Muse during my late college years while working at the theater. They have a driving beat with their guitars, the vocals are a bit melodic and they make for good background or "zone out" music.

Music Shuffle Monday 11.08.10

1. "Vermillion" by Slipknot
This song goes back aways, as it's off their album "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)" which was out back when I was in high school. As mentioned previously, I'm not really a huge Slipknot song but I do like most of their songs that I've heard on the radio, I just don't have a desire to rush out and get any of their albums. I do find the multiple drummer thing they got going on to be pretty neat though!

2. "Anything Right" by P.O.D. with Christian from Blindside
This is off "Satellite" - P.O.D.'s follow-up to their breakthrough album "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown." It's typical P.O.D. and while I had both albums mentioned, I only really liked a handful of tracks on them. This song combines many different elements - strings for a bit of a melodic feel and then it's got the bass and guitars bringing in the metal and a little bit of screaming as well. It's an interesting mix!

3. "Sexyback/Thunderstruck"
This is a mash-up of Justin Timberlake's "Sexyback" with AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" and it's actually a pretty good mash-up as it flows really well together! My buddy at the movie theater had this one and a few others that he got me copies of as they were all pretty good. Hubby's not much for Justin Timberlake but he did seem to enjoy this mix when it came up on the iPod during our drive down to Dallas a few weeks ago.

4. "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed
Ah Creed... these guys were HUGE when I was in high school - this album ("Human Clay") particularly! While this track isn't one of my favorites, it did grow on me as it has a meaning and story behind it. Singer Scott Stapp wrote it when he found out he was going to be a daddy so it's a song to his unborn child which is pretty sweet.

5. "Rainbow in the Dark" by Dio
RIP Dio! For those that forgot, metal legend Ronnie James Dio, most known for his major hit "Holy Diver," lost his battle with stomach cancer and passed away last May. While I admitted before, other than "Holy Diver" I'm not that familiar with a lot of his songs, this is another great song by Dio that they also still play on the radio - if you listen to any rock/metal stations that still play older stuff you've most likely heard this one before.

Music Shuffle Monday 11.01.10

This week's Music Shuffle Monday is being brought to us via iTunes shuffle, as I accidently left the iPod in the glove compartment of our car that hit the deer last week, which is currently being worked on at a repair place 5 hours away in St. Louis.

1. "Hypure" by Static-X

This is off their latest album "Cult of Static" that came out last year, in which they deemed it was "for the fans" however Wayne Static got married either before or during the making of this album and well, 2 of the songs on it are named for his wife and she does vocals on one of the tracks to... This was a pretty good album though, as Static-X gets back to their heavy roots. To be honest though, there hasn't been a Static-X album that I haven't liked - while Shadowzone (their 3rd album) was probably the most different out of them all, even that was a good effort, despite the different direction they took with it.

2. "2000" by Captain Jack

I first learned of Captain Jack thanks to the DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) games and recently got some of his other songs that weren't featured in the games. This one has more of a "soul" feel to it though than a lot of his other tracks that I'm more familiar with. I was also saddened to learn that Mr. Captain Jack had passed away some years prior too! He definitely had some of the more memorable tracks on DDR!

3. "Take Me" by Papa Roach

This is off their 3rd CD, "Getting Away with Murder," which I was a bit indifferent about. The title track was pretty heavy and rockin' while a lot of the rest of the album wasn't nearly as heavy and seemed more "radio friendly". I hate when bands do that. It was still decent, but I haven't spent the money on another Papa Roach album since.

4. "Home" by Three Days Grace

Since we're using iTunes shuffle today, and our iTunes has tracks from both my and hubby's music collections, I'd have to say this is one of hubby's as I'm not big on Three Days Grace. They're okay, but a lot of their songs sound the same to me and they get overplayed on the radio.

5. "Bad Reputation" by Half-cocked

A cover of the original by Joan Jett, this is the version from the Shrek soundtrack so it's a tad bit more upbeat and spunky than the original. I first heard the original when it was the theme song for the short-lived TV show Freaks and Geeks and enjoyed it. I finally acquired a copy of it when my sister got the Shrek soundtrack and we put it on the computer.

Music Shuffle Monday 10.18.10

1. "Punk Rock Princess" by Something Corporate
This song I first heard my first year of college and was part of that "emo-rock" era spawned by Jimmy Eats World. The song was catchy though with the chorus though and I liked it and it kinda grew on me - "You could be my punk rock princess... I would be your garage band king. You could tell me how you just don't fit in and how you're gonna be something..."

2. "Tier" by Rammstein

Gotta admit, I love me some Rammstein... some good ol' German industrial metal! This song is similar to most of Rammstein's work - nothing out of the ordinary here.

3. "Waiting for Magic" by Ace of Base

One of my favorite groups in grade school, this was off their big debut album The Sign and was one of the first tracks on the 2nd side of the cassette, lol... definitely a dance track you can get into and it tells the story of Snow White waiting for Prince Charming to come and kiss her and wake her up.

4. "Safer Waters" by Chevelle

This one is off their latest album which I haven't heard too much of, but going off the tracks I have heard, it sounds similar to the rest of them.

5. "Fadeaway" by Celldweller

One of my favorite artists, (whom I've mentioned before on here) Celldweller (aka Klayton) blends electronics with rock for a really neat sound and his vocals are pretty awesome too. He recently performed at DragonCon like a month ago and I envy those that have seen him live, as I missed him when he performed in Chicago years ago while I was in college (and I even had a free ticket too, but had no clue who he was at the time - grrrrrrr!! Talk about kicking yourself years later!). While he's based out of Detroit, I really hope he makes his way to performing again in Chicago someday in the near future as I'd love to see him live!

Music Shuffle Monday 10.11.10

1. "Waterfalls" by TLC
A classic from the 90s! I think I was in 5th or 6th grade when this song was popular - I remember watching the music video and not entirely getting some of the parts to it, but I thought the part with TLC dancing on the water and morphing was pretty cool! I've never been too big on R&B, but who didn't like TLC at some point? They're the biggest girl group of all time! Too bad Lisa tragically died while I was in high school, but Chili and T-Boz still make appearances together from time to time - they show bits of a recent performance on Chili's VH1 show this past year and that was pretty cool to see them performing together again, with Lisa on a screen performing her raps.

2. "Could It Be" by Staind
This is another off their 14 Shades of Grey album, which compared to early Staind is A LOT softer and mellower. This album had some decent tracks, but it definitely wasn't one of my favorites! I actually feel like I got duped into buying this album - the first single on it was "Price to Play" which was a bit heavy and reminiscent of the heavier stuff on their previous album "Break the Cycle", however it ended up being the only track like it on the album - everything else had a more acoustic, mellow "chill" feel to it.

3. "Self Esteem" by The Offspring
I didn't get into The Offspring until after "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" came out when I was in late Jr. High/early high school, but I gotta admit, they've become one of my favorites. They're definitely rock, their songs are catchy and easy to sing along with too! I think this song is probably their most well-known - walk into any college party and hear this song playing  and you're guaranteed to find people singing along. Even when it comes on the radio, whether you're alone or with friends, you can't help but sing along to it!

4. "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga
I think I've mentioned it before, but Lady Gaga is a bit of a guilty pleasure artist of mine. Funny story though - first time I actually heard this song was during the Pay to Play day that the local rock station was doing in Summer 2009. They were trying to raise money to help a local elementary school next door to the station get a playground and you could stop by and make a $10 donation and they'd play ANY SONG you wanted, regardless of the genre/artist. I was driving to work and this one came on. I discovered later I had Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" song months previously on Dance Factory 92.5 out of Chicago. She is a bit controversial, but her music is catchy, the lyrics are somewhat amusing, and OMG her outfits and videos! From an art perspective, I love her style - her videos make you stop and watch them and whenever she's on TV you have to turn and look and see what crazy thing she's wearing next!

5. "Bled for Days" by Static-X
Off their first album, this one of their heavier tracks. I've mentioned before but I'll say it again - I LOVE Static-X. I don't know what it is, but I really enjoy their industrial metal sound (or "evil disco" as they call it) and it's just catchy and easy to move/rock out to. Need something loud and heavy to blast on your speakers? Throw on some Static-X and you won't be disappointed! I really hope Static-X and Powerman5000 are still kickin' it when Jay's old enough to go to concerts - they both put on great, fun shows and I would LOVE to take him to a rock show someday!

Music Shuffle Monday 10.04.10

1. "Vicious Betrayal" by All That Remains

I first heard of these guys when they had a song in Saw III. A lot of my shifts at the theater were spent in the projection booth and since Saw had some good rockin' end credit music, I'd tend to turn up the speakers when threading the other movies (this was before we went digital). I learned their song "Six" was on Guitar Hero too and I ended up getting their 2 albums that were out at the time. This song is on one of them. They're heavy and the vocals are similar to Atreyu but a bit better in my opinion! If you like heavy sounding bands or Atreyu I'd recommend checking out All That Remains.

2. "Paradise By The Dashboard" by Meatloaf

Ah, one of the ultimate "innuendo filled" songs from yester-year! This song always amused me when I was younger by the baseball jargon in the last third part of the song. It wasn't until I was older that I actually "got" it, lol... I kinda forgot about it until it was mentioned on one of those VH1 nostalgia specials, and then my co-manager buddy at the theater put it on one of his mix CDs he brought in (hilariously, whenever the boss came in for his shift on days I opened, this song was usually playing when he walked in! lol... he eventually commented on the strange coincidence and banned me from playing that mix CD at the start of the day cuz he was tired of hearing the same song every day when he came in, lol... what can I say, we had a lack of variety when it came to CDs I liked in the office!). The song was also featured/parodied (with Meatloaf as the dad and Tiffany as the mom) in this GoPhone commercial not too long ago too.

3. "Mark David Chapman" by Mindless Self Indulgence

This is a typical MSI song with rock mixed with electronics. Upbeat, catchy... not really a whole lot to say about it!

4. "Nutshell" by Adema

Off their extended play album Insomniac's Dream (which was released before their official 2nd album Unstable), it's a bit of a more mellow song with more strings and acoustics thrown in. Not typical Adema if ya ask me.

5. "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem feat. Rihanna

Overplayed, yes. Controversial, maybe. Musically it's pretty though and easy to listen to and I couldn't help but give in and get a copy of this one. I'm actually pretty impressed by the new Eminem album in general - it seems a bit more honest and relatable than a lot of his outrageous previous albums. This song is about being in a relationship that you know is bad, abusive and unhealthy, but for whatever reason you can't bring yourself to up and leave like you know you should. I think most people can relate to it in some form, as many have been a relationship at some point where you knew it wasn't good or healthy, but looking back, you wonder why you did leave sooner. It has both points of view too - you can really hear Em share the side of the abuser and the internal struggle where he realizes what he's doing is wrong and abusive and he promises to stop and make things right, but he struggles with anger and reverts to old habits quickly; Rihanna shares the victim's side of how one can struggle with leaving the bad relationship, how it's not so easy to just say enough and up and leave like one would think.

Music Shuffle Monday 09.27.10

1. "Help You Find Your Way" by Michael W. Smith
This song is from Smith's late 80's era album "i 2 (eye)". As typical of his music from that period (and most others), it features electric guitars and lots of keyboards and a big "booming" chorus plus a guitar solo thrown in. This was a pretty good album though - one of my favorites of his actually.

2. "If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback
Now I know awhile back I wrote a post (which many of you commented on on Facebook) where I stated bands like Hinder and Nickelback should just stop making their crap music. I will admit though, Nickelback does has a few good songs - I really enjoyed their "Leader of Men" album that came out when I was in high school, but then once they "made it" and in recent years they kinda focused on singles that have a lot of stupid sexual content in them. Anyways, this song, off their latest album "Dark Horse," is actually pretty inspirational, as it poses the question of "If you knew that today was your last day, what would you do?" and encourages us to live everyday like it could be our last and make it count.


3. "Somewhere Out There" by Our Lady Peace
This one is actually labeled incorrectly on my iPod - it's listed by being by the band Default (known for their songs "Wasting My Time" and "Deny") but it's really by Our Lady Peace, from 2002. I remember this came out near the end of my senior year of high school and I got a copy of it when I was in college. It's a pretty song - a bit emo, but it's got some cool instrumentals playing in the background too.


4. "Sanctuary" by Utada Hikaru
If you've ever played the PS2 game "Kingdom Hearts II" by Disney and Square Enix (the sequel to Kingdom Hearts), you know that this is sort of the theme song for the game. It's a J-Pop techno-ish song, that's very calming and serene. Utada has a really pretty voice too. If you've never played the Kingdom Hearts games, in the first one a boy named Sora is trying to find his friend Kiari and Riku whom he was separated from when The Darkness began taking over their world. In his adventures he meets Goofy and Donald looking for King Mickey who also went missing on their world when The Darkness took over. The trio fights through a variety of classic Disney worlds, encountering and getting help from various classic Disney characters along the way. Part 2 is much of the same basic premise, only there's a new kid named Roxas who's storyline is interchanged with Sora's which we learn why later on. In addition to The Darkness, there's also a group of baddies called Organization XIII working alongside them that needs to be defeated. There's also some of the classic Final Fantasy characters thrown in too (many from FFVII)! If you like RPG games, this was a pretty fun series!




5. "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve
When I hear this classic late 90s song I think 1 of 2 things - the amusing video of the singer walking down a sidewalk, being a jerk to everyone by deliberately walking into them rather than go around them when they get in the way of his stride, OR the epic ending to the movie Cruel Intentions, as the song closes out the last few scenes where Katherine (Sarah Michelle Gellar's character) gets her due. Anyone else that saw the video think the singer looks a bit like an alien? I mean he's like really tall and his eyes look so dark like he's almost wearing sunglasses and it makes him look like he has "bug" eyes... lol... he always kinda weirded me out!

Music Shuffle Monday 09.20.10

So I know it's techinically Tuesday here in the midwest, but well, as you can tell from my previous post, we had some excitement today so I kinda forgot to post Music Shuffle Monday earlier =)

1. "Pistolero (Juno Reactor)" from the "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" soundtrack

I'm a fan of a lot of Robert Rodriquez's work and I especially liked the soundtrack he put together for "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (the conclusion to his Desperado trilogy) - it's got some really neat instrumentals with clips from the movie worked in too. Pistolero is one of my favorites as it's upbeat with a bit of a techno-y feel to it as well but yeah... great movie/trilogy if you haven't seen it and like movies that take place in Mexico.

2. "Overprotected" by Britney Spears

Britney's a bit of a guilty pleasure - I didn't really like her much when she broke out on the scene when I was in high school, but over the years (and with a roommate that loved her music) it kinda grew on me I like some of her more dance-focused tracks, so I got some of her stuff when I was building up my collection of 90s music mp3s. This song's not that great though... not sure how it made it on here. O.o

3. "Kiss the Rain" by Billie Myers

I LOVE this song! It's such a great mid-late 90s ballad and I loved hearing it on the radio - it was on one of the cassettes of songs I recorded off the radio back in Junior High. I was shocked when in college I was going through hubby's iPod and saw he had it on there! I forget why he said he had it on it, but it's a pretty ballad that we both like. The vocals are a bit strange on it, as for the longest time I couldn't tell if Billie was a guy or girl, but learning she's British, that explains it a little bit! It's got some pretty need guitars in it though, making it a bit of a 1997 power ballad. You've most likely heard it, as it was used in various TV shows and movies during that time period.

Here's the video though!

4. "Blackout" by Muse

Muse is a "pretty" band, as their songs are very heavy on instrumentals and melodies that can almost put you in a trance. This is one of their softer, melodic songs, so I didn't listen to it much (soft melodic stuff tends to put me to sleep, which isn't good when driving!) - I much prefer their faster, heavier songs to the softer ones.

5. "Echoes of My Scream" by Fear Factory

This is a softer, mellow song by Fear Factory - I like their more heavy, upbeat stuff, but this one was on an album (2005's Transgression) so I just included it on my iPod. It picks up a little bit and it is pretty, but bring on the heavy, fast stuff, please! It also features Billy Gould of Faith No More on bass. I really liked their previous album - Archetype - so I got this one as well when it came out, but wasn't as impressed.

Music Shuffle Monday 09.13.10

1. "Agnus Dei" by Michael W. Smith
If you've ever been in a church with a contemporary worship service, odds are you might have heard this one at some point, as it's been redone by several contemporary Christian artists over the past few decades and is often used during church Easter and/or Christmas programs. It's very pretty and melodic though.

2. "Minority" by Green Day
From one of their late 90s albums (I believe) this one was also included on their Greatest Hits album (International Superhits) as well and sounds like typical late 90s Green Day. It's kinda surprising how these guys have been popular for nearly 20 years now!

3. "Big Balls" by AC/DC
The first time I heard this song was in high school and I was a bit surprised at all the different ways they fit in the word "balls." Gotta admit, for a song of double entendre's - it's pretty clever! Now when I hear this song I just crack up at how ridiculous it is - I mean really, it's a song about balls and anything about balls in pop culture people find funny (as seen recently by the latest Axe product commercial)! lol...

4. "Best of Me" by Saliva
This is off their latest album Cinco Diablo and sounds like typical heavier Saliva with a heavy bassline and wailing guitars. Not really much else to say - it wasn't a single, just a track on the CD and I haven't really listened to this one much.

5. "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon
I remember my mom had a Carly Simon "Best of" cassette that she kept in her car when I was little. I loved it as a young little kid because the end of one side was her rendition with a chorus of kids of "Itsy Bitsy Spider." While I would have preferred for her to just keep playing that song, mom insisted we let the entire cassette play through and this one was also on it. I remember being confused as at the time I had no clue what the word "vain" meant and mom always had to explain to me as I didn't get the song. This one is a classic though!

Music Shuffle Monday 09.06.10

1. "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescense

This album came out my first year in college and I thought it was pretty rockin' - there's not a lot of rock bands with female singers that I actually like and I really liked most of this album. I thought Amy Lee was awesome!

2. "When You Called My Name" by The Newsboys

Another one by these guys. As I said in a previous edition of Music Shuffle Monday, Newsboys were pretty big at my church and youth group when I was in like Jr. High. This is one of their softer songs off the "Going Public" album.

3. "Numbered Days" The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

I was in 7th grade when my aunt and my soon to be uncle took me and my best friend to Chicago's Q101 Jamboree music festival that year and ska band The Bosstones were one of the big headliners as their single "The Impression That I Get" was huge on the radio. I didn't really know any of their other songs at the time but I eventually bought their "Let's Face It" CD when I was going through my ska phase in 8th and 9th grade and listened to it quite a bit - this song is on that album and like most the songs on the album, it's pretty catchy! A lot of their songs have "fun" mob themes to them too!

4. "You and I" by Ace of Base

This is a bonus track on the Europe version of their 2nd album The Bridge, which I acquired when I was getting a lot of my CDs until the computer and did it the lazy way. This one has more of the male vocals on the track than most of their stuff, as usually the 2 guys in Ace of Base create the music while the sisters are the ones on most of the vocals. It's a typical Ace of Base dance track though. Ace of Base was one of my favorite groups in the mid-late 90s - my childhood best friend got me hooked on their album The Sign and I anxiously awaited the release of their 2nd album The Bridge and promptly bought that one as soon as I could (it was the first actual CD I ever bought myself).

5. "Always" by Bon Jovi

One of my favorite Bon Jovi rock ballads, this song tells the tell of a break up and how while the guy knows he's lost the love of his life over something stupid he did, he'll still always love her even when she moves on to someone else and he wishes her the best. The "racy" (for the mid-90s) video (starring the likes of Keri Russell and Carla Gugino) depicted this pretty well, as it shows him cheating one on girl, so she leaves him and falls for another guy right as he comes to apologize and make things right. For some reason my grade school self loved this video and the story it told (I've always liked music videos that play out the story in the song).

Music Shuffle Monday 08.30.10

1. "Dance, Dance" by Fall Out Boy
Not really one of my favorite bands, but these guys got kinda big when I was in college and so you couldn't escape hearing some of their songs. This was one of the few that I didn't mind too much, as it's got a catchy beat and chorus... it was also in a commercial for a sing-along video game thing and that was how I was first exposed to this particular song of Fall Out Boy's. On a funny note, a friend of mine, while in between "bigger" bands, was briefly in a band with a few buddies called "Fall Out Boy Sucks" lol... I thought it was amusing, as when they formed their band, Fall Out Boy was just getting airplay up here.

2. "More Than Words" from the Forgetting Sarah Marshall soundtrack
One of the funnier movies of 2008, the soundtrack to Forgetting Sarah Marshall features a lot of music featured in the movie both by the fictional Aldous Snow fronted band Infant Sorrow, as well as Jason Segal doing is "Dracula's Lament" puppet musical and tracks from that. Some of the other tracks are Hawaiian versions of classics, such as this one. While the lyrics are in Hawaiian, the music is still familiar and quite pretty. You can hear this version play during the end credits of the film.

3. "Nobody's Fool" by Avril Lavigne
This one is from Avril's debut album and has a late 90s/early 2000s pop-rock feel to it. I bought this album as she seemed to dress a lot like me and she seemed like a rocker, although I was quite disappointed after giving it a listen to and realizing that she's more of a poser. As a female singer/songwriter, her stuff is alright and she's gotten better thanks to her work with Glen Ballard (who worked with Alanis Morisette on her groundbreaking debut), but as a rocker chick... no. She has the look, but her sound and attitude it just don't necessary cut it - her sound is definitely not rock, and her whole "attitude" just seems a bit forced, almost like an act.

4. "A Different Kind of Pain" by Cold
This is from Cold's 3rd major album and the last one before their break. There is a lot more piano on this album than the others and it has a completely different feel than their previous albums, which seemed to be more anger-fueled - a lot of the tracks on this one have a feeling of peace and calmness as well as hope. I liked their first big album - 13 Ways to Bleed on Stage - and I really really liked their 2nd big release "Year of the Spider" but this one is up on par with that one in my opinion as the content is just as good, but different in a good way.

5. "No More Tears" by Ozzy
This one was overplayed for awhile on our local rock station, but it's still a pretty fun song to listen to, despite being over 7 minutes long... what rock fan doesn't have some Ozzy in their music collection?

Music Shuffle Monday 08.23.10

1. "Say the Words" (remix) by dcTalk
This one starts out with the intro that kicks off the Jesus Freak album, however this song - which is a remix of the song with the same title that can be found on their early album Free at Last - was one of the "new" tracks found their 2000 greatest hits CD, Intermission. This song has a bit of dance/pop feel to it with a signature rap thrown in as well. This was also the last dcTalk album to feature any new material, as the group released some of their previously unreleased tracks from their early years before taking a break and each member doing their own solo thing - tobyMac becoming a huge success on his own, with Michael Tait being well known as well and eventually becoming the front man for Australian/New Zealand Christian band Newsboys. During my preteen and early teen years these guys were huge at my church and school, as they've been called "the most popular overtly Christian act of all time" which is believable, as their album Jesus Freak broke records in the Christian market and many awards, including a Grammy. Unfortunately I never got to see them live, despite how badly I wanted to catch their Jesus Freak tour back in the day, but rumor is that they're trying to arrange an upcoming reunion tour in the next year or so.

2. "IMN" by Mudvayne

From their album Lost and Found (the first one without the masks and facepaint), this song is typical Mudvayne, with a heavy sound and growling vocals with some melodics. I remember listening to this whole album on my iPod during my Painting I class back in college. Overall, I'd give the album a B, as there were some tracks I really liked where there were others that were just "meh."

3. "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessionals

These guys were big near the end of my high school years, as their song "Screaming Infidelities" was all over the radio. I wasn't too into them really - a tad too emo for my liking - but I remember when this song came out in college and was played regularly on VH1 (which I often fell asleep to, as they played music videos from 3am on) and I liked it as a pop-rock ballad.

4. "Dr. Feelgood" by Motley Crue

Ah, the Crue... one of my favorite former 80s hairbands. Their songs always have amusing lyrics with a driving guitar rhythm and well, it's just fun 80s hairband metal, lol... looking back, I would have loved to have been an older teen or a 20-something in the late 80s, just because of how fun rock and metal seemed back then! Music-wise, there's not really anything that came out of the 80s that I didn't like!

5. "Let the Monster Rise" from Repo! The Genetic Opera

One of my favorite "darker" musicals... this track is near the end of the rock opera, after evil Rotti Largo gets in Shilo's head and pits her against her father in a means of revenge (Rotti's former lover Marni left Rotti for Nathan and the 2 were married however Marni died mysteriously while pregnant with Shilo). This song is between Shilo (Alexa Vega) and Nathan (Anthony Stewart Head). People either love Repo! or hate it. If you like musicals and/or rock operas, especially dark ones, be sure to check out this one out (not to be confused with the horrible non-musical rip-off Repo Men)!

Music Shuffle Monday 08.16.10

1. "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor

This one brings back memories of pep band in high school as it was one of our favorites to play during football and basketball seasons. Being that I played the oboe, which really isn't a marching/pep band instrument and no one seems to make sheet music for it, I always ended up playing off the flute part or the keyboard part, pending which version fit my range better.

2. "Ostego Amigo" by Static X

On every album they have an "Ostego"-named track - this is one for their 4th album, "Start a War". This album was part of my regular car CD player rotation for summer 2005, along with "With Teeth" by Nine Inch Nails. I've said plenty of times when they pop up on this summer - Static X is definitely one of my favorite bands and I love seeing them live as they always put on a great, fun show!

3. "Tug-O-War" by Chevelle

This sounds like typical Chevelle as I'm more familiar with their singles than I am their individual albums. Gotta admit though, I never really got too into them. Sure I like some of their songs, and hubby has all their albums, but they're not one of my favorites - a lot of their songs sound the same to time.

4. "Insomnia" by Faithless

This song is from the Night at the Roxbury soundtrack and until I got it, I had never known what this song was called or who it was by, but I realized that during the 90s, VH1 used it often for some of their specials (most notably the fashion show specials). You've probably heard it at some point too as the one riff in this electronic/techno/dance piece is pretty familiar and was used quite a bit in the 90s if I recall correctly.

5. "Fadeaway" by Celldweller

Celldweller (aka Klayton) is one of my favorite solo artists - he blends electronics with rock for a unique industrial-type sound. And he's got a pretty good voice... and is kinda hot considering he's in his 40s! I believe I've shared before, but I first heard of Celldweller while cleaning the theater that was playing The Hills Have Eyes 2 as one of his songs was part of the closing credits. I loved it, went home and looked it up and ended up getting all his discography. While cleaning through some stuff, I came across a sample CD and free ticket for Celldweller I had acquired from the people that stand outside the House of Blues after shows and pass you free stuff for other artists. This CD and ticket were 2 years old by this point, but the CD had a few of the songs I had just gotten. I also learned that Celldweller did the Criss Angel Mindfreak theme and a lot of the music used in the show, as Criss and Klayton were in a group called Angeldust together and got to be good friends (they've recently posted pics of Criss showing Klayton around Vegas on their Twitters). He's talking of doing another tour soon - I'm hoping to catch him when he comes back to Chicago, as I would LOVE to him do his thing live!

Music Shuffle Monday 08.09.10

1. "Somebody to Love" - Queen cover by the cast of Glee
I got hooked on Glee this past Spring. I tried to watch last fall, but the episode I was watching was several into it already and I had no clue what was really going on and was a bit lost. During the season hiatus I got ahold of the first 13 episodes and got caught up and started watching the newer ones online til I got caught up enough to watch it weekly. The cast is pretty talented though when it comes to all the different covers they do each episode. The show's got a pretty good blend of music (both older and newer tunes) mixed with comedy and drama - it perfectly fits the label of a "dramedy."

2. "Tonight" by Staind
Off their album "14 Shades of Grey" this was an interesting album, as it's lead single sounded like typical Staind, but the rest of the album had a bit more mellow sound to it. This track is blend of both, as the verses are more mellow, but the guitars and drums kick in for the chorus giving it just a little bit of an edge.

3. "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana
Classic Nirvana and one of their more known songs. Not really a whole lot to say about this one, other than Kurt Cobain passed way before his time, but out of the ashes, Dave Grohl was able to pick up and move onto another project - The Foo Fighters and eventually help out with Queens of the Stoneage.

4. "Hidden Agenda" by Pitchshifter
Pitchshifter blends rock with electronics and being that they're also Brits, they are easily confused with The Prodigy. They still rock though with songs you can really get into. This song starts out mellow and picks up. I first heard of them back in Jr. High when I was playing one of my Test Drive racing games for the original Playstation and their song "Genius" was on the soundtrack. That track was also on one of the Mortal Kombat soundtracks too and I was hooked on their sound. I definitely recommend checking out their discography!

5. "Imperfection" by Skillet
Skillet's one of those bands that have been around since the mid-late 90s, but unless you listened to Christian rock you mostly likely had never heard of them until about 5 years ago when the Rock stations started playing their songs. This song is off their album Collide. Over the years, Skillet's tweaked and played around with their sound. They started out more hard rock with a blend of metal, but their first CD sounded like a low-budget amateur recording (which it probably was) which only added to their sound. Then they went a little more electronic in their sound, and even more soft rock, to eventually coming back around to mostly rock with some electronics.

Music Shuffle Monday 08.02.10

1. "Beast and the Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold
I had heard of Avenged Sevenfold in my later college years but it wasn't until I heard this song on one of the Guitar Hero games and the "Seize the Day" on the radio that I was able to say I had heard of their stuff. Gotta admit, while I've never bought an album of theirs, I do like most of the singles I've heard from them! Their a bit heavier than a lot of rock stuff out there, kinda reminiscent of some of the "good" metal back in the day (ie Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, etc). It also amuses, interests, and peaks my curiosity when a clearly non-religious band uses a lot of religious references and such in their songs - Beast and the Harlot is a reference to stuff mentioned in the biblical book of Revelation, and if you haven't heard Avenged Sevenfold's latest single, "Nightmare" that whole song is about being trapped in the nightmare that is Hell. Pretty interesting!

2. "Stupid MF" by Mindless Self Indulgence (aka MSI)
Can't say I'm too familiar with this song or the album it's on, but it's typical MSI. They're a bit punk mixed with rock and electronics for a sound all their own. My bestest buddy at the theater had some of their stuff that he would occasionally play in the office and I liked what I heard and went home and got their entire discography. Their stuff is pretty catchy, despite some of the lyrics being NSFW...

3. "God is Not a Secret" by The Newsboys
The Newsboys were pretty huge when I was in Jr. High and our youth group would play their few CDs that were out at the time on a regular rotation. This one is off their "Take Me to Your Leader" album which had a few amusing tracks on it such as the title track and "Breakfast." I even saw em in concert when they came to town too - sorry Powerman5000, but The Newsboys beat ya with the spacesuits by a few years, as that was part of the Take Me to Your Leader tour gimmick. In the mid-late 90s The Newsboys were more straight up rock with some pop rock thrown in... by the new millennium though they were more pop with a disco/dance feel... I hear their sound has once again evolved too... I prefer their mid-late 90s sound best!

4. "Tarzan and Jane" by Aqua
Everyone knows Aqua for their controversial "Barbie Girl" song and many of us bought their debut album Aquarium. Many though forget that they did put out another album a few years later with a cute but innuendo filled ditty about "Tarzan and Jane" in which Tarzan replaces Barbie and the female singer is singing about him from the point of view of being Jane - it didn't get much airplay and we haven't heard much from Aqua since...

5. "Wait and Bleed" by Slipknot
One of the first Slipknot songs I heard back in high school that I actually liked. Slipknot's kind of hit or miss with me - while I've never bought an album of theirs, I've only heard the singles and well, I like some, but not all. This one is fast paced, driven and heavy. One thing I find really neat about Slipknot is that their like a 10 piece band (if I recall correctly) and I believe they have something like 3 drummers drumming at the same time which you can really tell adds to the heaviness of their sound!

**Bonus Song**

"What Would Brian Boitano Do?" from the South Park Movie
Because it popped up and I can't NOT write about this one! Probably one of the funniest songs from the movie (the version that plays in the end credits), it makes Brian Boitano out as a super hero and being that I figure skated when I was a kid and Brian Boitano was one of the greats at the time, well... this song always cracks me up!