Dear Agony

I have been a fan of Breaking Benjamin for a long time now and they never cease to create great music. Their last album Phobia is on my list of favorite albums ever. Critics say that Phobia had a darker sound than their previous albums. Were they listening to the other albums? I think there are darker themes in Phobia, but the sound is pure Breaking Benjamin.

In their new album, they return with their signature heavy sound and lead singer Benjamin Burnley's raspy vocals. Their lead single "I Will Not Bow" is on the soundtrack of Bruce Willis' new flick, Surrogates, and seems to be their biggest hit of their career. Woohoo!

1. Fade Away: Signature BB sound with heavy guitar and drums.

2. I will Not Bow: Fantastic song paired with an amazing video. I love how the chorus is slower than the rest of the song and feels epic.

3. Crawl: This has a little more screaming than the other songs, but it's not disturbingly so. I actually didn't notice it until after I listened to it a couple times. I love the repetition of "Holding On."

4. Give Me a Sign: A rock ballad with fantastic lyrics. There are little gems in this song like "Shepherd of the damned" and "Forever and ever the stars will remain."

5. Hopeless: Excellent song.

6. What Lies Beneath: A mellower sound. The title makes me think of the movie of the same title. It would be interesting to see if the band made the correlation on purpose. Great song.

7. Anthem of the Angels: Great title! Kind of a sad song. Sounds like he's letting someone die. Depressing, yes, but the anthem of the angels seems to be a saving grace.

8. Lights Out: Hardcore Breaking Benjamin at their best.

9. Dear Agony: The title track of the album is a plea for release from life's agonies. Anyone can relate to this song at some point in their lives.

10. Into the Nothing: Fantastic!

11. Without You: An epic song that seems like a love song. "I can't face the dark without you."

Just a side note: I owe a lot, creatively, to Breaking Benjamin. I listen to their music when writing and it helps me think and create. My novel has enjoyed a lot of progress because of them. I look forward to more from this band. If you have not discovered Breaking Benjamin before this album, take a listen at all their other albums. I'm certain you will not be disappointed.

Brand New Eyes

I just purchased two new albums yesterday. Big deal, right? Well, it is a big deal! These albums just so happen to be from two of my favorite bands right up there with Tori Amos herself.

I will do two different posts for the albums.

Paramore's Brand New Eyes is a great album. They have not changed their sound a whole lot which is fine. The only real difference is that these songs seem a little darker, moodier, and angrier. The lead single off the album "Ignorance" is, essentially, about how the band was about to break up. According to lead singer Hayley Williams this song was the catalyst into allowing the band members to finally speak to each other again and really let out their feelings. I'm not sure about the details, but the band was about to break up. "Ignorance" is not only about a band near breaking point but it is also about relationships changing in general and how we sometimes treat those we know the best in the worst ways possible. It is also easy to see, in this album, the influence that No Doubt has had on the band. In one of the tracks Williams sounds a lot like Gwen Stefani.

There are a lot more acoustic songs on this album such as "Misguided Ghosts." I was also astounded by Williams' pipes in the final track "All I Wanted" where she belts out some amazing notes. It's also nice to hear the boys from the band lend their voices to some of the tracks.

1. Careful: Classic Paramore with a catchy beat and oodles of attitude.

2. Ignorance: Has an edgier sound coupled with the claustrophobic video this song is destined to be a classic.

3. Playing God: A song about someone who thinks very highly of themselves. "Next time you point the finger, I'll point you to the mirror." Great lyrics.

4. Brick by Boring Brick: Excellent title. Love it. And I dig the attitude in the "ba-da-buh-ba-dah-buh-bah."

5. Turn It Off: It might just be me. But this is the song that recalls, to me, No Doubt. I'm sure Paramore would take this as a compliment so I have no reservations of making the comparisons.

6. The Only Exception: A great acoustic sound and a love song that shows the softer side of the band.

7. Feeling Sorry: "Got no time for feeling sorry." Need I say more?

8. Looking Up: This seems to be a celebration of Paramore's success and wondering why they were willing to "hang it up." Their dreams have come true with their current success and this song is evidence that they are willing to stick through all the downs in order to enjoy the ups. "We're just getting started." Can I just say...YES!

9. Where the Lines Overlap: One of my favorite tracks from the album. A nice little ditty.

10. Misguided Ghosts: A very pretty song that shows that Paramore is a very diverse band that can rock it out with the best of them and then go soft with perfect clarity.

11. All I Wanted: I love that this one starts out so soft and sober then come in the drums. This is possibly my favorite track on the album. It laments the loss of love and highlights the loneliness after it. Another bonus is Hayley Williams' incredible voice which sounds better than ever in this track. There's a part where the music stops and she just belts out "All I wanted was you" and my first thought was "Wow." And then I smiled.

I applaud you, Paramore, on another great album. You never cease to please and amaze.

5.

Crazy Dreams

I've been watching the first season of Heroes with my parents. What a great show! This is the first time we've been able to watch the series because we missed it when it first came out and were never able to catch up with it. It's not one of those shows you can just drop in and know exactly what's going on.

So one night I was watching Heroes and couldn't stop watching it. I stayed up til about 2 am watching it! That night I had a really vivid dream of me being able to fly (one of the characters in Heroes can fly). One of the really scary parts of my dream was when I was running from this huge tornado that looked so real. Not only that, the tornado was going right through Rigby and heading for my parents' house.

Dreams are so interesting, aren't they?

Daisy

Here's my quick review of the latest album release from one of my favorite bands, Brand New.

Album Title: Daisy

Track 1. "Vices" Wow. It starts out with a soft, mellow recording of a woman singing in a very vibrato voice. This goes on for nearly two minutes so you get all used to the softness then Brand New freaks you out with a loud intro to the song. Holy cow. I seriously jumped and my heart began to race the first two times I heard the song. The third time I was prepared for it. It's a little too screamy for my tastes, but still a good song.

Track 2. "Bed" Love it. It's a little darker, mellower sound than "Vices" but this is the sound I grew to love from their The Devil and God is Raging Inside of Me album.

Track 3. "At the Bottom" A little harder. Has a catchy sound to it.

Track 4. "Gasoline" Love the drums in this one.

Track 5. "You Stole" Slower and mellow but full of hate. This is classic Brand New.

Track 6. "Be Gone" Love the background to this song. There's a guitar and a sweet beat to it, but the words are muffled to the point that you can't understand what they're saying. This was done on purpose, but it's my least favorite song on the album because of it.

Track 7. "Sink" Groovy beat that reminds me a little of The White Stripes. Great song. I even like it despite the screamo chorus.

Track 8. "Bought a Bride" Love it.

Track 9. "Daisy" One of my favorite tracks on the album mostly because of the lyrics. Stuff like "I'm a mountain that's been moved...I'm an ocean nothing floats on...I'm a sky nothing wants to fly in..." Good stuff.

Track 10. "In a Jar" Yep. Love it.

Track 11. "Noro" Great song. Starts all slow and then gives a nice buildup to a rockin' tune. Love the drums.

All in all I give this album two enthusiastic thumbs way, way up. Great holiday fun. :)

Dang Knee

So a couple years ago I hurt my knee. My dad said that I tore a ligament or something. It swelled up like a balloon and I could not put very much pressure on my foot after it happened.

Just a few days ago I did something to agitate the injury and it has swelled up again and it feels like I just injured it all over again.

My workout routine has suffered because of this. But today I decided I would try to do the workout with a knee brace. I was able to do the workout but there were some exercises that hurt more than usual (not enough to make me stop, though).

Yesterday I worked 9 hours and spent most of those on my feet on concrete floors. By the end of the day my back, hips, and legs were aching. I felt like I was twice my age because of it. I've got to get this stupid knee working right again.

Latest Obsessions

These are a few of my latest obsessions:

1. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Hilarious (somewhat crude) show about 4 friends who run the worst bar in Philadelphia. It is reminiscent of Seinfeld only more immature, arrogant, and crass. But it is so funny! Watch it; you'll love it!



2. Criminal Minds: I could never pinpoint when this show was on so when I would catch an episode it was always exciting. I just purchased the first season because I was sick of not knowing what was going on in it when I would watch it. It's about a special team (Behavior Analysis Unit) of profilers in the FBI. The cases are especially dark and insane and the characters are all really smart. Love it.



3. Brand New: Great band. I bought their album "The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me" when it first came out because I had heard of them. I'd never actually heard their music before. Truth be told I liked it but it wasn't my favorite. For some reason, on a trip to Seattle almost two years ago we were listening to this album and I couldn't get enough of it. Now I have it on my iPod and they are amazing. In fact, their music helps me when I write my novel. Their new album "Daisy" is coming out at the end of this month. I am stoked for it!



4. Breaking Benjamin: I've really, really loved Phobia (BB's last release). There were some bad reviews on it because of the darker sound and such, but I really like it when artists try different things. To me it shows they are not scared of their creativity and don't wish to conform. I've been a fan of Breaking Benjamin since their album "We are not Alone" came out, but "Phobia" is my favorite album of theirs. They also have a new album coming out this month. The first single from that album is "I Will Not Bow" which is on the soundtrack for the new Bruce Willis flick Surrogates. It seems BB is finally getting the break they deserve. This band is another one that inspires me while writing.



So, take a listen, grab a seat...let me know what you think of these shows and the music! Promise you won't be disappointed!

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

Yet another book review!




I was feeling brave and philosophical, so I read Annie Dillard's masterpiece Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

In high school I absolutely loathed reading Thoreau, so it is surprising that I liked Annie Dillard's book. She has been dubbed a modern-day Thoreau, a naturalist, a philosopher, and an essayist. From what I remember of Thoreau, he was really inaccessible, wordy, and boring. After reading Dillard, I've actually wanted to take another stab at Thoreau to see if I can actually get something out of it. Dillard quotes Mr. Thoreau a few times in her book and the quotes she used were really great. Then again, she may have snatched the only really good quotes from him. I can't remember him well enough.

That being said...

Annie Dillard's book is fantastic! I was first exposed to her writing in a creative writing class where we read an excerpt from Pilgrim and also watched/listened to a reading she did at BYU back in the 80s. From that point I was changed. Her style is very descriptive and beautiful. In an afterword to her book, she says that her writing has been cut down since, but she left it the way it was simply because it shows her progress as a writer. Wow. If she sees this book as amateur-ish then I have a long way to go with my own writing.

Every chapter covers a different part of nature (i.e. reproduction, locusts and parasites, stalking, etc.). I think my favorite part was when she talks about stalking. She becomes obsessed with seeing muskrats which are, apparently, very elusive creatures. So much so that she basically becomes a stalker of muskrats. After very lengthy descriptions of the animals, of her surroundings, and of her stalking tactics, she begins to tie this in with Moses. You would not think that Moses and muskrats would have anything in common. Well, they don't. Annie likens herself to Moses and the muskrats are Jehovah. If you remember, in the Old Testament, how Moses could only see the "back parts" of Jehovah and he only got to look from the outside in at the promised land that he would never be able to enter. Such is how she felt while stalking the muskrats.

It's gems like these (and I can't do them justice by explaining them) that make the book worth reading. I am also reading The Hidden Christ by James L. Ferrell. It was interesting to see some correlations between Ferrell's book and Dillard's. Synthesis is one of the greatest and most fun things about reading and analyzing literature.

So, if you, too, are feeling brave and philosophical give this one a read. I promise you won't be disappointed.