Foo Fighters Have a New Sound

 

While excited due to the fact I am a avid Foo Fighters fan, I was a little sceptical due to the fact I was not the biggest fan of In Your Honour a few years ago. But I think that album was the beginning of the new Foo Fighters sound, and now in their follow up album Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace they have cemented what they were looking for.

Part rock, part acoustic, and even managing to sound a lot like the Ben Folds Five on the track “Statues”, featuring a piano driven melody that carries intricate lead guitar and well rounded drums.

The album hits out hard with first single “The Pretender” which has classic Foo Fighters written all over it. Just as you’ve been banging your head to this tune it turns it right down to a acoustic song “Let It Die”, which has a giant build up and starts rocking out right at the end.

While this album consists a whole lot of acoustic tracks, it manages to sound like rock, much unlike a failed attempt with In your Honour disc 2. On first listen, many will be tempted to not listen to it again, but I implore that you give it a few listens, because while I enjoyed it first time round, by the third listen I was totally hooked to the new sound of one of the greatest rock acts of our generation.

Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace is out now.

Fav Tracks: The Pretender, Let it Die, Stranger Things Have Happened, Statues

7/10

Electronica is the new Blaqk

While AFI have been one of my favourite bands since I was in my early teens (Back when Black Sails and The Art Of Drowning came out) I was quite intrigued to hear that Jade and Dave’s new project Blaqk Audio would be heading down an Electronica driven road. While they were always in the back of my mind, for reasons unknown I never did check their myspace to get a taste, but this Father’s day while taking my old man down to Jb Hi-Fi to choose some DVD’s that he wanted I picked up a copy of their debut album CexCells for a mere $20I got home, and was instantly greeted with the droning yet danceable Stiff Kittens and immediately started to feel myself bopping along to the tunes. Dave’s vocals really suit the mood of the tunes, Jade has done a terrific job on the music, and the lyrics, as always, are quite intellectual and have an interesting choice of words”Cutting through just like champagne petals sprinkled over the blackest sea urban stars shine, electric, they keep on calling” isn’t the usual words you hear while listening to your average dance album, but they have defiantely made it work so well! Seriously check this out. If you’re looking for something fresh and different you won’t be dissapointed. I’ve been pumping it for three days straight and I usually HATE dance music!  9/10 

It’s Been A Long While

Well ladies and gentlemen I know it has been a LONG time since I’ve updated this blog, and I am making it a priority to do so over the next few weeks. I have finally got my life in order, organised my time a little better, and am enjoying a lot of new things lately.

So what’s going on right now? Well I’m busily working on two major projects, the first being a five track concept EP for my band The Broadway Heist. It is about a war that takes place in 2020, but that’s all I am willing to say about it thus far, stay tuned! The second project being a new script I am working on, currently untitled but I am liking where it is shaping up. Hopefully I will have it finished in a few weeks, and then can start the casting process and get it filmed. I am also aiming to finally shoot Rose which I wrote nearly three years ago next year, if I can find a good enough cast

In the gaming world there are two games grabbing my attention. The first being the AMAZING Bioshock on the Xbox 360 which I have been waiting since I finished System Shock 2 all those years ago. It is truely a remarkable game, and usually I would advise to not believe the usual suspects for advice (Gamespot and IGN) but I gotta say, it’s a top notch game. I will be doing a review very soon! The next being Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on the Nintendo Wii. I’ve been hanging out for a good game on the Wii for a while now, and it’s finally come. Metroid is fantastic, visually a dream, controls are the best I’ve seen on the Wii thus far (except for Warioware) and it’s damn right fun!

Silversun Pickups are blasting in my Itunes playlist a lot at the moment, as well as the new Smashing Pumpkins album Zeigeist. Both are worth a listen indeed. I’m really hanging out for the new Gyroscope, Shihad and Jimmy Eat World albums, which are all due for release soon. The new HIM single Kiss of Dawn is making me go crazy with anticipation for their latest release, and The Pretender by old time favs Foo Fighters is making me excited where their new album will go, as I was a little let down by In Your Honor last time around

Hope everyone is well, and look back soon for reviews on pretty much everything I just mentioned in the above blog

The Hellerphant

Existence is a Blessing

Today was a big day for Australia music fans, seeing the release of Brisbane based Powderfinger’s 6th studio album Dream Days At The Hotel Existence.
 
With previous released Vulture Street and Odyssey Number 5 cementing the band into the mainstream market over the last few years, it was safe to say that this album was going to please the general population, but how does it fare with hardcore fans who have been following the bands rise to international stardom over the last few years?
 
Although not starting with the raw power of Rockin Rocks from their previous album, Head Up In the Clouds starts out with a complex beat, with soaring lyrics and a dark sound which isn’t usually expected from Powederfinger. Exploding into a build up towards the end, and back down to the soft, dark tone, it leaves you wanting more from this album after only a first listen.
 
Lost and Running, the first single a month before the album release is clocking in at Track 3. I’m not a huge fan of this song, I personally find it bland, but it’s still sitting in the charts so it can’t be too bad right?
 
Who Really Cares? (Featuring the Sound of Insanity) is my favourite song on the album thus far. Starting with quiet, droning and effect driven guitar, it is followed up by a lead riff with piano and bass, before drums and rhythm bring it all together for a very memorable fling that has me counting the tracks down until this one comes on
 
Black Tears is a moving song about the mistreatment of Aboriginals in this country. Inspired by the death of an Aboriginal in Custody on Palm Island, Powderfinger were actually facing legal action saying that the song could have an effect on the case that was taking place around the same time as the album launch. Unfortunately the band changed the lyrics, but still managed to create a fantastic song

All in all, Dream Days is a fantastic follow up to the wildly successful Vulture Street. Finding a happy medium between the hard rock of Vulture Street and the soft and melodic Odyssey Number Five I would highly recommend this to fans and newcomers alike

8.5/10

Angels are Overlooked

 I was walking to the train station today when one of the biggest songs of 2006 scrolled it’s way onto my Zune, The Adventure by Angels and Airwaves when I thought to myself “what happened to them”

Formed from the ashes of Boxcar Racer and Blink 182, Angels and Airwaves released their debut album to quite decents sales, and an explosion with the single The Adventure. But here in Australia we really didn’t hear much from them since. A pretty mediocore tour turn out and that was it, I can’t remember the last time I hear Angels and Airwaves on the radio.

So I turned it off Random play and listened to the album again to see if I could pick what went wrong, why was this album not caught by the public, and truth is there is nothing wrong with it. We Don’t Need to Whisper creates a truly Epic feel, some very good lyrics, and some meroable songs. Not quite a concept album, the songs are based in the future, but with a World War II theme, and that really interested me a lot

Tom Delong had picked this to be a life changing album, and while all the elements are there for such an achievement, the album does seem to fall a little short. It’s like a huge build up that leads to nothing, and while it’s a fun ride at the start, you get a little annoyed that it really doesn’t have a memorable ending

One aspect that really stands out is the variety of Atom Willard’s beats. The former Offspring drummer quite often carries a song

It’s a shame that the fact Tom Delong was part of Blink 182 will always plague the group, but if you are willing to grab a set of good headphones, lay in a quiet place and devote an hour of your time to truly listening to this album not thinking of Blink, and just thinking of Angels and Airwave, I think most of you will find a very enjoyable album

8/10

Bloc Party Offer More Than Just A One Night Stand

It’s been two years since UK outfit Bloc Party burst onto the scene with their critically acclaimed debut Silent Alarm, and I’m glad to see them back rocking out to sell out crowds supporting their new release A Weekend In The City

The best way to describe this album is, well fantastic. Unlike their first release which was a fun first night stand over and over again, this album is more of a take her out to the movies, have a romantic dinner, and a walk along the beach before you take her home and sleep together. At first glance this album could be passed off by many as a poor follow up to their debut, but a second, third and eight listens, you will continue to delve deeper into the many sub-layers this album has to offer

Current songs in the public eye are the first single The Prayer and what I would imagine be their second single I Still Remember recieving quite a bit of airplay on the radio. Yet my favourite tune off the album is Uniform, which tells the sad, yet true story of today’s youth, and quite a number of the general public, falling to the powers of consumerism

There was a sense of dissapointment as we left the mall
All the young people looked the same
Wearing their masks of cool and indifference
Commerce dressed up as rebellion

Cause we’re so handome
And we’re so bored
Entertain us
Tell me a joke
Make it long, make it last, make it cruel, just make me laugh
We can’t be hurt, we can’t be hurt

Overall I think if you have time to listen to this album, and when I say listen I mean really sit back and listen, you will find a compelling reason to come back to it again and again

8/10
Favourite Line- “No one can be trusted over the age of 14″