A Place, But Unlike Other Places
 

What will I do here? Album reviews or topics revolving around music, movie reviews, talk about things I have cooked recently or will be cooking, reviewing Anime I watch seeming how I have noticed we do have other people here that watch it, talk about what got me in to music in the first place, my desires or goals, my writing, views or opinions on political topics...there will be a lot of content here so I do hope I can have my journal get the go ahead!

I might even post up some short stories I've written in here. Who knows? Hope there's interest here and I look forward to see who peeks in here!

Alright! Looks like I've been given the green light for this thing. Going to kick this off with my top ten albums of 2014, so far! That number will obviously grow once other albums I am waiting for are out, and I've had time to listen to them. Bare in mind that I will primarily be reviewing albums within the realm of Rock, Metal, their individual sub genre as well. It won't be all too often that I review anything outside of that, save for some Indie release or Alternative too. Time will tell. I will likely post each album, with each new post here.

10.

Band: Crosses
Album: S/T
Release: February 11, 2014 via Sumerian Records
Length: 56:00
Tracklist:

1. "This Is a Trick"
2. "Telepathy"
3. "Bitches Brew"
4. "Thholyghst"
5. "Trophy"
6. "The Epilogue"
7. "Bermuda Locket"
8. "Frontiers"
9. "Nineteen Ninety Four"
10. "Option"
11. "Nineteen Eighty Seven"
12. "Blk Stallion"
13. "Cross"
14. "Prurient"
15. "Death Bell"

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So. This little project here began in 2011 when Deftones singer Chino Moreno and childhood friend Shaun Lopez (guitarist of Far), as well as Chuck Doom, got together and began recording, roughly around 4 hours a day. The group ended up with 16 songs total. The songs were released gradually over a series of EP's the band put out, which consisted of two EP's total. Additionally. Contributing musicians to this project also included Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, LOADED), and Chris Robyn of Far for live drum tracking, as well as Dredg drummer Dino Campanella for touring.

If you're a fan of Deftones, Team Sleep, Far. You can probably get some kind of an idea of what the material on this album sounds like; dance oriented at times, funk vibes, ambient, pulsing riffs, at times tribal like drumming, Chino's all too well known vocals...some of his best yet are showcased here on this album, even some of his best songwriting to date. However. It is also a bit tough to place Crosses in any specific genre, they bounce around a lot...

To sum it up. This album is pretty big. It's got a lot of variety. The material is solid and hard to find anything wrong with it. I favored this over Chino and one of his other projects, Team Sleep.

I highly recommend this, ladies and gents. I will post a few tracks here to preview. Their live show is pretty awesome too. Saw them back a few months ago.





Telepathy has a bass line that really gets me moving, it's got this sort of funk groove to it. Love it.

Entry - Part 2

Continuing my top ten albums of 2014 so far. So let's commence on.

9.

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Band: Nothing More
Album: S/T
Release: May 13, 2014 via Eleven Seven Music
Length: 68:00
Tracklist:

1. Ocean Floor
2. This Is The Time (Ballast)
3. Christ Copyright
4. Mr. MTV
5. First Punch
6. Gyre
7. The Matthew Effect
8. I'll Be Ok
9. Here's to the Heartache
10. If I Were
11. Friendly Fire
12. Sex & Lies
13. Surface Flames
14. Take A Bullet
15. Jenny
16. God Went North
17. Pyre

I first discovered this band back in 2012 while doing my usual YouTube new music searching. The name was kind of interesting, and the album cover was kind of unigue. Their S/T was actually released once before the official label release when they signed to Eleven Seven Music, which is how I heard most of this album before it was released this year. Nothing More has released four albums; Shelter, Madhatter's Bliss, Vandura, The Few Not Fleeting, and their S/T effort released this year.

Compared to their previous release back in 2009, The Few Not Fleeting. Their S/T takes on a more serious theme, revolving around human nature. I'd call the album a sort of personal study or observation as humanity as an entirety; the greed, lust, pretty much anything you can imagine or think about regarding human nature, how we treat ourselves, others, or this world in general is a topic on this album, at least it was what I took away from it.

What is impressive about Nothing More is their ability to craft extremely focused music. The opening intro track Ocean Floor sets up the coming onslaught of the aggressive, yet hauntingly direct detail of society in This Is the Time (Ballast)...singer Jonny Hawkins sings almost in a desperate tone, pleading..."When did we become these sinking stones? When did we build this broken home? Holding eachother like ransom notes, Dropping our hearts to grip our brother's throat..." The opening verse of this song, along with how the song starts in general, hooked me straight away. Jonny Hawkins voice is distinct, with excellent range and control. He's known for his throat singing, as you can see him do in live footage...

Aside from This Is The Time (Ballast). This album has plenty more to offer, and never really falters off course, while managing to keep you interested with variety and plenty of well executed tracks. Mr. MTV is a close look at the effect of pop culture on our youth, what is advertised toward them, but there's also the flip side of the song detailing how shallow the industry is in general, the lack of vision or direction there is. It's marketing to exploit the greed and lustful desires of us all.

There's plenty here for everyone. Highly recommended. A smart, well put together album.

Stand out tracks:

This Is The Time (Ballast)
Mr. MTV
I'll Be Ok
Here's to the Heartache
Jenny

Indulge in this excellent album, will you!





I'll Be Ok. This song really hit home for me when I first heard it. I can really identify with the lyrics. Well written. This is also my favorite track from their new album. I hope you all enjoy this great new band as much as I do. They sacrificed absolutely none of their originality when they signed with Eleven Seven Music. This band will be great if they keep with the formula they have. This Is The Time (Ballast) has been #1 for nearly a month now if I can recall right. That's awesome for a Rock song in this day and age.

Enjoy everyone.

Good to see another journal going. Is Crosses' Bitches Brew any relation to the Miles Davis album?

Chino or the band haven't said it has any relation. But now you have me wondering if it does.

First time hearing Crosses i didn't know Chino had that side project and im glad to hear it's not a deftones clone.

that song telepathy does have a great funky bass line, to me it sounded like a modern disco hit with Chino's vocals which surprisingly work with that kinda music.. it's kinda strange though cause it's the same style of vocals he uses on the deftones.

I too was happy to hear that for the most part, Crosses sounds nothing like Deftones, aside from the obvious vocals from Chino. It was a big, fresh sound coming from him. Team Sleep good have similarity to Crosses. But I think Crosses is largely a far better project for Chino, the music is just a lot better and of a higher quality.

And you know, I actually don't think that Chino's vocal approach with Crosses is entirely the same as what he does in Deftones. There a these small differences, but they are enough to catch my ear and I really like it. I guess if I had to attempt saying what those differences are, it'd be things like minor differences in tone, or the range of his voice. There are songs on here where I hear him hit notes I haven't heard him hit before in Deftones.

I just think overall, Crosses is a huge hit for Chino. The music just works. It's like disco fusion, electronica, funk, rock, some r&b vibes here and there, it's just this odd mix that just, well...works.

Nice stuff so far. Crosses have the whole pseudo-80's funk thing underlying Chino's usual influences (which is interesting), so I'll explore that more.

Nothing More are fairly catchy too, though it remains to be seen how they'll stack up against the list I've been building this past year. We shall see...:beer:

Here's album #8
 

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Band: The Afghan Whigs
Album: Do to the Beast
Release: April 15th, 2014 via Sub Pop Records
Length: 41:00
Tracklist:

1. Parked Outside
2. Matamoros
3. It Kills
4. Algiers
5. Lost in the Woods
6. The Lottery
7. Can Rova
8. Royal Cream
9. I Am Fire
10. These Sticks


This next album, and band. They're not a band I ever heard of until a few months ago. The Afghan Whigs. Doing a slight bit of research. I guess the band has been around since the mid 80's. The only two original members since the reuinion and new album, are singer/guitarist Greg Dulli, and bassist John Curley.

Do to the Beast is the first studio album in 16 years for the band. It serves as my introduction to the band and so far, I really like what I hear. Greg has an interesting voice, not to mention vocal style but I like it. It sort of gives the music they play, which to me sounds like a sort of classic rock, with pinches of modern alternative. Not sure I'm right about the classic rock part.

Collectively. The album resonates with a sonic pulse, it's got an aggressively hungry appetite, and from what I have heard of older material, it does not sound like the band has lost much or any edge. A band that came to mind when I first heard this band, was She Wants Revenge. I think the comparison is valid. And just because I think it is there. There's a taste of a Nine Inch Nails vibe in some of the songs present on Do to the Beast. The material is somewhat dark in tone, as for what the album is saying collectively, I am unsure of presently. But I know I like what I hear.

If you're looking for something to satisfy your fix for smart, aggressive alternative music. I think this will do well for you. It's funny that I said I wouldn't be reviewing much alternative in this thread. But when it's good. It's good.

Stand out tracks:

It Kills
Algiers
The Lottery
Can Rova <---- My favorite track from the album...

It's a pretty nice and welcomed surprise, isn't it, Chino and this project of his? I'd say it is a bit of a different side to him, another look at the other kinds of music that influences him. I'm not surprised that so far, people here on the forum have liked what they've heard from the two songs I posted of Crosses. It's good music. So it's hard to dislike it if it's good, haha.

Nothing More is good stuff. Hopefully you will like the rest of the album if you check it out. It's a bit different compared to other Rock you hear on the radio.

#7

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Band: Islander
Album: Violence & Destruction
Release: July 8th, 2014 via Victory Records
Length: 38:00
Tracklist:

1. Counteract
2. The Sadness of Graves
3. Coconut Dracula
4. Cold Speak
5. Pains
6. Kingdom
7. Side Effects of Youth
8. New Wave
9. Criminals (feat. Sonny Sandoval)
10. Mira
11. Hearts Grow Cold
12. Violence & Destruction

I would like to open this seventh installment in my top ten albums of 2014 thus far, with a band that has done their homework on Deftones, and exactly how to go about applying that influence to their music in a way that does not rip off the sound that Deftones pioneered, or rather built upon with their own influences.

DISCLAIMER!

Deftones was a band that got thrown in with all the other run of the mill nu-metal bands of the 2000's, unfairly so due to the fact that the music Deftones made, and still makes to this do, is leaps and bounds, infinitely more competent than ANY other band from that era of music that was associated with the nu-metal movement at that present time. The list of bands Deftones inspired to get out there and get noticed is a big one. They're not even twenty years in to their career and they're bigger now than they've ever been, I'd go far enough to say they're legends at this point. Deftones for life!

Let's get back on track...

Islander. Back in the middle half of 2014, I happened upon a this group in the right panel of recommendations on YouTube while watching an old Deftones video. I was like, hm, ok sure, I'll check them out. The song was New Colors. At first it didn't catch my ear. But I started listening closer and was noticing a sort of Deftones flare to the song. The chorus kicked in, and at that moment I was like a fish on a hook, flopping around. Suffice to say I was skeptical to find out if they were just a copy cat band. So I dug around and found a few other songs of theirs to check out, those being Coconut Dracula and New Wave. Coconut Dracula had this sort of easy going vibe about it, but it still had a sort of attitude or aggression to it that was interesting. There were nice sections of music that never really stayed the same, sort took on ambient tones. So the song itself sounded a bit space like to me, it was nice. New Wave is actually my favorite track from the bands debut Violence & Destruction. I'll tell you why...

The way New Wave is written collectively, it takes on a vivid imagery, courtesy of the competent lyrical content. The song and how it sounds, it's this chill tune, but pay mind to the use of that word, as I don't mean it in the respect that it's a mellow song. The song has bite. But it's also a song meant to be played loud, to revel in the moment to, as the point of the song is to just enjoy this life, this one life we all have. We're all only here temporarily. It's up to us how we spend that time, how we make it count. New Wave is a solid 10/10.

Some other note worthy tracks from the album are Counteract, which is a blistering album opener that took me back to the aggression of Deftones and their masterful Around The Fur album. Then we have the more straight forward rocker The Sadness of Graves, pulsing verses with a more relaxed chorus, great tones throughout the song. Pains is another standout track. The verses, like with The Sadness of Graves, resonate but with a more eerie contrast, and the chorus is more visceral. Lastly we have Cold Speak. I'd say it is maybe the most straight forward track on the album. But it's an engaging song that will get you moving.

The verdict is this. If you're looking for a band that has done their homework on how to take influence from Deftones, and go about it in a way with their own music that isn't ripping Deftones off, so in other words the music competent, smart...Islander is your band. They're ripe of potential to be something great if they play their cards right, and develop their sound further.

If or when the day comes that Deftones call it a day. Islander is the perfect band to carry on the torch for how to go about that specific style or sound the right way. So is Islander as good as Deftones? Nope. But they're damn good. Sure took me by surprise that I didn't write them off as a Deftones wannabe band.

Have a listen to a few of their songs.







Lucky Rabbit, from their EP.

Enjoy! Another review will be up shortly.

A Doom Metal Masterpiece!
 

#6

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Band: Pallbearer
Album: Foundations Of Burden
Release: August 19th, 2014 via Profound Lore
Length: 55:00
Tracklist:

1. Worlds Apart
2. Foundations
3. Watcher In The Dark
4. The Ghost I Used To Be
5. Ashes
6. Vanished

Where to begin? Well. I am new to this band. Doom Metal isn't usually something I actively seek out, however I was wanting something with more to it than what I usually listen to, something with my grit, a bit of a sludgy doom metal sound and Pallbearer fit that perfectly. It's a rather melodic album despite the kind of music it is. I'm more used to that more growl vocalized doom metal with a more brutal, slow approach.

I call this album a masterpiece. My reasons being the impression it left upon me. I don't exactly have the proper knowledge on doom metal to appropriately talk about the overall tone or theme of the album, but there's a deep sense of despair, death, hopelessness, forlorn all throughout the album. But it's just so damn well done! I am utterly blown away by this band. Not entirely sure of anyone here that loves this kind of music knows of the band and would agree with me here. But damn. This is good stuff ladies and gents.

The opener Worlds Apart is a nearly 10 minute and a half long epic of dark, doomy euphoria. It is a hard and heavy track with tons of texture. It brought early Katatonia to mind, which is one of my most beloved bands on the planet. Well executed, Worlds Apart.

What follows is another great track, Foundations, nothing short of epic in its own right. It is nearly 9 minutes in length, and every bit of it is splendid. One of the bands finest moments on the album.

Next up is Watcher In The Dark, the second longest track on the album and also one of the heaviest, and arguably the bands finest moment on the album, but also maybe the bleakest or darkest sounded track too. This track is just pure doom metal bliss. It'll engage you right from the start, and have you whipping that matted long hair around in slow-mo fashion. What a mammoth of a track.

Coming after Watcher In The Dark, is the masterful The Ghost I Used To Be. This song takes on a sort of ghostly tone in contrast to the other three before it. But it is plentiful of fuzzy, resonating rif***e. This track comes close to rivaling Watcher In The Dark. It's great.

Next up is Ashes. It's more toned down track serving as an interlude of sorts. It's atmospheric, but kind of beautiful too. Perfect track to lead in the a grand closing track.

Vanished. This track started off as my favorite on the album. But after going back and listening to the album a few times. Watcher In The Dark ultimately won that title. Not really sure how to go about describing Vanished. It's a track that sort of gave me an isolated feeling. Not in a bad way. I felt like I could be nestled at the peak of a snowy mountain, onlooking ravaged land below me from some massive snow storm. Well. Yeah, I'm just not sure how to describe the song. So I'll just say that it is a great way to round out a flawless album.

All in all. Foundations of Burden gets an extremely firm 10/10. And have a look at that album artwork, would you? Badass! Check out some of the tracks below.

Switching gears, briefly
 

Lately. To open up this thread to write up another review for another album that I held in high acclaim this year, has proven a bit difficult. It is not a matter of not knowing which album I will write about next. Rather it has to do with all of the things bouncing around in my mind.

I'm not the only writer here. My situation is not unique. Everyone here experiences this. There's all these things you want to get out in the open, to express. But you're not sure where to start. My solution has always been to either grab a pin, and put it to paper and just let whatever thoughts I have, spill out. Or to open a Word document. Over thinking or over complicating what you want to say just hinders the creative process. I've succumbed to doing this plenty, no exclusion here.

So I'm sitting here listening to old Our Lady Peace records, Naveed and Clumsy mostly...tracks from Gravity that still held that old Our Lady Peace charm from their latter days. They have always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I could listen to Raine Maida sing any day. Unique voice and a good song writer. What I'm stalling to express here, is that I found the catalyst I need to come to this journal of mine, and actually post something, by means of Our Lady Peace.

The biggest thing we all have in common with each other on this forum, is our love, passion, appreciation, our pursuit of music to listen to that we connect with on a plethora of levels. We've all got or idols that we look up to, the songs that we confide in. The only thing I feel that is a more powerful force than music, is love. Those two things go hand in hand. I don't care if it is cliche. But music saved my life.

I grew up in Newport, Oregon for nearly 12 years of my life, and so I consider it to be my hometown. However. A lot of the memories I have of Newport aren't pleasant. Most of the good memories or experiences I have of it, they're all tarnished by my father. He was a lost man, an angry man, and a drunk. I'm not the only kid at that time, or at all to ever experience the traumatizing result of abuse. Myself, my siblings and my mother all had our share of it from my father. 12 years of living in fear of one of the two people meant to love me, protect me, nurture me, coming home to beat me, or any of my siblings or mother, just because he wasn't happy with himself or his life. I almost died when I was six because my father was too clueless to know that when someones skin was turning pale or blue, you shouldn't just sit on your ass, get that kid to the damn hospital. My mother had told him to watch me while she was at work. Well. He failed. She came home to me barely even alive, suffocating on the fluid in my lungs from pneumonia...

A constant throughout all of that living hell, was music. My father had a lot of music. No matter what kind it was. I'd put in on, and escape for a little while. I always think about what sort of person I'd be today if my mother hadn't left my father when she did. Would I even be alive right now? It's hard to say. But I have a feeling that my fate wouldn't have been nice, maybe drugs, maybe something else. But thank God for music. I think I started writing songs when I was around 8 or 9. I really don't remember what much of it was about, but I am certain I wrote about my father a lot, all the anger I had...or still have now. I had this idea in my head then, that I'd somehow find myself in a band with close friends, standing behind a microphone singing my heart out to unknown faces. I'm almost 28 now. If I haven't found myself in a band at this point. I'd like to think it has to do with being scared, or maybe I don't want so many people to know me on that personal of a level. That's all probably just an excuse not to do it. Some could question that I probably don't want it that bad if I haven't done it yet. I don't know.

Music means a lot to me, a whole hell of a lot. If music never existed. This world would be a far worse place than it is now.

Cheers to you all.

:beer:

Oh. I meant to post a song I wrote when I was 13 about my father to accompany this journal entry. I couldn't find where I placed it. I kept it in an old shoe box, I wrote it on my birthday and titled it 'Burn Softly' for some unknown reason. I speculate that the title could be a metaphor to express how the pain and anger I have to this day over my father, it has sort of been this emotion that has lingered for my entire life for him, of if I should forgive him for my own sake so that maybe that anger and pain I have might finally rest. I was 13. So the title could be something that doesn't even make sense. Who knows? I'll post it here if I find it.

Ok! Found an old journal from middle school and high school. Has a lot of lyrics and poetry. At the risk of you all having a good laugh at my expense. I will share with you the angst that I had when I was younger. A lot of these are ten or more years old. Some look to be unfinished, too. Some are also a bit long or drawn out. There are also some newer entries from a few years ago, as much as three to four years ago.

| Act 1 |

I can't define this loveless love, I can't say what it means, and I still scream that it had to die
Held in these trembling hands are the promises left forsaken, the smiles and the laughter, the bitter tears that point the blame
I stand as a man that can't keep his voice from shaking from heartache, that can't shed the blame resting on his shoulders every day
Even the best of fairy tales have their sleeping demons, waiting to choke even the deepest love, up in flames tearing through the sky
And the future that I was holding on to with all my might, cut my hands and bloodied my face, as I hung my head in shame, face buried in my hands
I can't look back through all these pages written with fables of a perfect world
It just hurts too much, it just hurts too much

The record keeps playing on repeat, over and over again in this empty chamber of my heart
Its walls are covered by the cruel reality that I'm a monster that hurts everything I want to cherish
Faded days blur together, and time creeps by leaving me behind
I'm playing tug of war with the part of me that wants to pick myself up, brush off the dust, and start over again new
But I'm afraid that the other part of me that just wants to dig up six feet of earth, bury the ghost of who I once was and leave without a fight, is winning the war
I just want to save myself, but I just can't find the strength to try
I just want to forgive myself, but it just doesn't feel right
It doesn't feel right

| The Empty Blue |

You stare in to the empty blue
Wonder what's next?
Look through your telescope
To see what God's planning
If this all came down
Would we be ready?
If there was nowhere left to stand
Would we be able to swim?

We're not paranoid
But we're hiding in holes
We need space machines
So we stay secure
We can't handle the fear of the unknown
That's why we're always looking up
Still not sure what's coming
So we're pulling solutions out of hats

| Lament And Penance |

I want to take a minute of your time to explain a minute of mine
I want to take just one minute of your time to explain how I felt when you changed
If I pick my words carefully to illustrate for you the way I was breaking inside
If I pick my words carefully enough to make sure you understand that when you changed
I was taking every last part of me trying to find what part of me made you want to hurt me
I just want to take a minute of your time to explain a minute of mine
To let you know that I still blame myself for the way that you changed
For how you could never find your way back to who you once were
Someone so perfect and inspiring, and I was the one that destroyed you

I'm picking my words carefully so you'll know
You can hate me for the rest of your life and I wouldn't hate you for the rest of mine
That photograph from our past will still rest next to where I sleep at night
It's just my reminder that I'm the reason you never seem to smile anymore
It's needles in my eyes every time I see you in the state that I put you in
Sorry will never be enough, a thousand of my laments and penance will never heal your scars
If you can ever be who you were before I just don't know
I don't know

If somewhere in your breaking heart there's forgiveness for me
I hope one day it can be mine so I don't feel so hollow, so much like the life in me is growing dim like a dying flame
All these pages that once spoke of all the good things have become faded like a jaded sun
I want to tell you that it got to the point that I felt that by being around for you, was only making you suffer more
I had to place this distance between us for your own sake
Only for your own sake

Can't you see how my decisions have brought me to my knees?
I wanted a minute of your time to explain a minute in my life that's lasted for so very long
Once upon a time you would have listened to what I had to say
Once upon a time you weren't so far away
I guess your will wasn't strong enough to pull yourself back from wherever you've gone
I guess that I was too late after all...

| Iodine |

Dark passion
A lonely hell
This pressure swells
It's far too much
So the sky falls down
It falls down

It isn't like I never knew
I'd meet you again, somewhere and somehow
Aren't you surprised?
You never thought I'd come back this strong
I'm ready to put you in the place that you created for me
A place that was never meant for me

Dark passion
A lonely hell
This pressure swells
It's far too much
So the sky falls down
It falls down

So open up and swallow me
It's not like you've never done it before
Through this maze
Wrapped in these sheets
A most familiar place to plant your seeds of doubt
Deep in me

Dark passion
A lonely hell
This pressure swells
It's far too much
So the sky falls down
It falls down

I never wanted this GIFT!
I never wanted your SCAR!
I never wanted to...!
I never wanted to...!
I never wanted you!
This sickness swells within and I'm helpless!
I'm helpless to the things YOU'RE PUTTING ME THROUGH!!

...And I can't tear through the womb
I can't find a way to escape this hell
Before, I said I was stronger now, I was going to put you in that place meant for me
But I wasn't prepared for what you had in store for me

You opened up your mouth
You drew me in with empty promises laced in your deceit
And In that moment, I couldn't breathe
I couldn't breathe

Dark passion
A lonely hell
This pressure swells
It's far too much
So the sky falls down
It falls down

This iodine love, was a chemical death
My nerves fired in my brain, until they found rest
Then the black opened up to take me in...

------------------------------------------------------------------

This next one, called Sweet Little Jane. Was a song I wrote five years ago about a little girl I met while working at a Fred Meyer store. I was a checker, and she came through with her mother, little girl had a shaved head and looked like she'd been through a lot. She was brave. She told me that she had cancer, and that she wouldn't be here very much longer. It really broke my heart. She was only six.

| Sweet Little Jane |

Hello to the stars above
It's me again, an old man and his breaking heart
Do you hear me way up there?
I bring to you a wish, a request I hope may reach you

There's a little girl called Jane
She lives down on 3rd avenue
Frail and so small, sick and she'll be knockin' on heavens door soon
She's sweet, so optimistic for what it's worth
When she cries, she does it all alone because she doesn't want her parents to know
She's just so afraid, but she won't ever let it show

In case you didn't hear, in case you weren't listening
I bring to you tonight, a wish, a request I hope may reach you
Deliver her from her pain, she'll be someone great someday
I'd like to see her fly, I'd like to see her soar through the sky
I am sure, her family would too
Just like I do

So won't you let her see the days beyond the dimming lights?
Won't you let her stay home tonight, wake up in the morning and live a life she was meant to?
If it can't be so, if she should go
I hope she becomes a star shining brightly, somewhere in this starry sky
At least then, she'd be alright
Sweet little Jane...
Sweet little Jane...

======================================

This next one is maybe three or so years old. Wrote it one summer day when I was thinking about childhood.

| A Swing And An Old Oak Tree |

I remember coming here in my younger days
I'd play for hours, from sun up till sundown
There was little Tommy and spunky Zoe, we'd play out our imagination till nothing was left
Those days were bliss, those days were definitely best
I can't go back now, but the memories won't ever fade away

There was a swing and an old oak tree there where we'd play
I recall how the sun used to look when it pierced through the branches and leafs
Laying on our backs, it looked like a kaleidoscope turning it's colors to seasons as they came and went

We loved it there, here beneath this old oak tree and swing
It was everything in life that we looked forward to
Those times have changed, and changed as they have
Coming here will always stir up those fond memories
Memories of when life was simple and we thought we had it all

Isn't that what life should be?
Made up of all the good times there have been and will be
What I know for myself, deep inside
Through everything, the good times and the bad
That little kid in me will never die

Listening to that first song right now, and I'm digging it pretty hard. The vocals are neat.

The vocals are probably one of the best things about the band. Compliments the gloomy vibe of the music pretty well.

Dreams, are they really just dreams?
 

Am I alone in my thinking that dreams aren't just simply our wondering mind while we sleep, that dreams are other very real, other realities are parallel worlds that we can only visit or see when we're sleeping? I've had this thought enter my mind since I was pretty little, maybe since six or seven years of age. I've had a recurring dream about the apocalypse where I intervene with Lucifer and God's little battle they wage on Earth, where I plainly say that neither of them have a right to decide when humanity ends, just one big ultimatum to them both and somehow I banish them and then there's peace on Earth. It is probably the must unnerving dream I've ever had over and over, more because I just don't know what it means, if it's real or has happened and I'm just in some other dimension where it has not come to pass yet.

How can dreams simply be, dreams? How can that be all there is to them? They can be so vivid and real, that your mind is literally tricked in to thinking it's reality. It's almost as if there is a fail safe button or some sort of ejection when you realize you're dreaming and begin to have things play out how you imagine them, that your mind boots up and wakes you to prevent you from doing anything more.

Are there things we are capable of doing in dreams that we're not meant to discover? We only use a very small fraction of our brain, that well over half of it is just idle. There has to be something we're not meant to find out we can do. We would only be able to use so little of our brain if there wasn't, we'd just freely use all of it if it was just ordinary.

What do you think?

We actually use quite a bit of our brain space: Ten percent of brain myth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

As far as other realities in dreams, can't say that I agree. I think there's a psychological mean behind dreams. If it were another reality why would dreams have people from your everyday life in them?

It's been ages and I have only just now come to reply to this haha.

That article is from wikipedia, and I tend to not believe a lot of what is there because anyone can edit pretty much anything. Funny thing about science is that just because scientists say something can't happen, and then show exhibit A or B to prove it, doesn't mean that it can't actually happen. I don't think any scientist has ever even considered that at present, C or D can't happen, but given time that can change. Science only holds up as long as things stay as they are. Considering advances it medical science and technology in general. What science says is an impossibility and will never happen, can become something that is very much possible, and actually happen.

That's why I never concede that what I learned in science class as a kid, or even now as an adult when I do random web searches for random scientific information, is indisputable fact.

Now I need to think up an actual new journal entry. I need to figure out how to get more people commenting on my journal.

Wikipedia gets a bad rap, there are people editing it constantly to maintain some credibility. Here's a more scholarly article if you insist: Do You Really Only Use 10 Percent of Your Brain?

I think your stance on science is kind of silly tbh, because it suggests that there is there that scientists just haven't given the time to consider it, which isn't necessarily true. It's kind of like the anti GMO argument that claims 'but we don't know if they cause cancer or not'', which implies that they DO cause cancer, even though there is no evidence to support that and all the research shows that they do not. Scientific fact remains indisputable until something comes along to dispute it, that's how science works. Once that new evidence comes out scientists jump at the opportunity to study it.

The science says that your brain stays in the same place and that what we see in dreams is a hallucinatory product of a chemical released by our rains during the rapid eye movement period of sleep. So that's what I'm going to base my opinion on until we find evidence of us seeing into other dimensions. It's fine to ask these what if questions, but don't knock the science.

The bold text is more or less what I meant, I just said it harshly. You're right. It is presumptuous of me to assume that they don't consider they're wrong about something, or that something they discover and prove can't one day change. Because they likely do consider those things all of the time before settling on what they've come to know is fact.

Science does fascinate me. I love everything about it. If I went to college, I'd probably get degrees and masters and such in types of science, just so I could study things of my own findings.

About dreaming and such...you know, I choose to believe that there's more to dreams than just a chemical release in our brains. I could be completely wrong. But I like to think that we're capable of amazing things that right now, science says we're incapable of.

I like talking to you about this stuff. We should do it more.

This seems to be sort of a contradiction - on the one hand, you're talking about how much you love science, but it's clear that you only love science so long as you still are choosing to believe things that all the scientific evidence says you shouldn't. Lots of people believe lots of crazier things and there's nothing wrong with believing what you do, although I'm with Frownland in my disagreement with you on this specific issue. What you shouldn't do is act like you're somehow totally on board with the scientific method and with studies that have been done despite having these beliefs.

Opinions, opinions, and more opinions...
 

Opinions...

All too common, opinions get perverted or made to be facts in the minds of those possessing them. When one person believes something so strongly, no amount of persuasion or discussion will change their opinion, most generally about anything and irregardless of any factual evidence being given to prove an opinion wrong or having no truth to it.

Throughout my lifetime, throughout most of our lifetime we experience being caught in a debate with someone that confuses the difference between a fact, and an opinion. It can often be mentally draining to discuss anything with someone so stubborn or fixed in their ways. I have made it a point to try to my best ability to not be like that when expressing any opinion I may have on a topic being discussed. I know firsthand that it's not something that is always easy to do, to express my thoughts on something and not give the impression that only what I say is right, and whatever else someone says on what's being discussed if I don't like it, is wrong.

But then there's those people that just don't care how their opinions look or sound to someone else. Someone can express their opinion, and their opinion is passed off as stupid, seemingly out of spite or arrogance. Agree, or otherwise those kind of people will say how ignorant or stupid you are for not sharing their opinion. So tiring...

To just summarize what I'm trying to say. People need to get over themselves.

I command thee to write something. You can't let your journal die, that's murder. And murder is illegal. You don't want to go to jail, now do you? Huh?

I'm going to write something Briks, but how unorganized it is, is entirely your fault, as I am in no state to really wrtie anything. Been up for like ever, and drinking whiskey weewooo yeah,.

Like, I got nickelback playing on my xcomputer right now, for ships and giggles and whatnot. I can't keep from laughing, this music is so bad and the lyrincs are just horrifyingly bad. Like, Chad Kroperbits must get whatever idea rattling around in his canadian bacon brain, so he says to himself how it's gonna be a huge hit, and it's about all this phylisofical stuff and it's really deep like Avril Lavingesg cooter. I don;t jnow how people can possibly take this band seriously, it's something science can't even figure out.

Oh whoa, nixkwlback isn't playing anymore, it's another horrible band called Green Day, you may heard of them I'm sure. So their song american idiot, haha that's a funny one. Thjese guys are nominee's for that rock n roll hall of fame, haha what a load of cheese. They'll put anyone in there. Not nickelback though, avoid them at all costs. American Idiot is supposed to be this really important record of the past ten years or whatever according to all these ever reliable magazines. That makes me laugh because I'm like, oj why is that albums so damn important, there some kind of cryptic message for all those poser peeps thatfg buy this bands music underystand, and somehoe it's lost on me? Like, wtf man? Whatever. Least they got one good nominee, Nine Inch Naisl. I'd be okay with those guys, will guy getting voted in there. Woo for Trent Reznor!

There's no damn point to this journal entry, Briks dont; tekk me what to do.

You've been drinking? I can't tell.. hahaha I'm pretty sure you said "ships and giggles" instead of the proper phrase, actually I'm not pretty sure: you did say that.

I like American Idiot. I don't think it's one of the best albums of the past decade, and I certainly do not think GreenDay belongs in the HoF (Maiden still isn't even in that! It's disgraceful!)

Also I guess Nickelback reviews are the "in" thing right now, maybe I should do one...

I'm kind of embarrassed by that entry but, there's a level of hilarity to it.

I liked the song Boulevard Of Broken Dreams from American Idiot, but I still think that Green Day is not anything special and their millions of albums sold and their insane fanbase/and or popularity got them their RNRHOF nominee.

From here on out, this is what I'm always going to call him. Kudos to your whiskey-addled mind.

Haha, well, glad you found it humorous.

Gotta get working on my new journal entries now...

And, its been awhile...
 

So, this past weekend, I was at the beach, and a beach house with my fiances family, always nice getting away with them all...

I found myself walking along the shoreline often, just alone with myself and the sea, along with my thoughts. Many topics came and went in my head, some to amuse myself with, and others more serious in tone. I am a thinker. There's never a time that my mind is still, calm, or not heavy with anything in particular. Some things I thought about was my dream to stand on a stage, I wanted, or still want to do that, be it in a band or just as a guy doing open mic nights at local bars to sing my songs to uninterested, nameless people, as I don't know any of them. I'm still pretty young, 28 in just shy of four months. So you'd think that I wouldn't be so down at not really even trying to start up a band when I'm still young, I've got countless notebooks, scraps of paper in shoe boxes with lyrics all over the pages, or page, singular. Saying I've probably written a thousand songs wouldn't be stretching things, as I've written lyrics since I was pretty young. I am hard on myself about this because I'm willingly let this dream slip on by without so much as a thimble fill of regret about it, and so I wonder how badly I ever or even wanted it to become reality. All it would take is getting myself out there, meeting like minded musicians to get this thing rolling. If I ever get to that point, not something for sure...

I also thought about the whole thing going on with legalizing marijuana, where I stand on the matter. Honestly, I'm conflicted. On one hand I think it could help stimulate the economy, but on another, I think about my nieces, my own children and how having marijuana more available, legal mind you, will leave them exposed to it so young without a choice in the matter; contact highs...so, the protective part of me would rather not have it legal and available to purchase like cigarettes, just for the fact that cigarettes or most smokers in general, just do not seem to consider that maybe people don't want to have to breathe in the toxic fumes. Yes, I understand I can simply move and leave the smoker to marinade in their own fumes, but it is how so many are so rude about it, like, just light up right there in front of a mother and her baby, and blow your smoke around them...how nice.

My distaste my seem trivial to some of you, but they're valid reasons to dislike cigarettes. Why does it seem like such a task for any of you to ask the person next to you if they mind if you smoke, or to abide by laws and smoke in designate areas if you're in public or places of business? Because all my life, I have not witnessed many courteous smokers that take any of that in account, so why would anyone that smokes marijuana be courteous either when places for them to smoke other than their own homes are marked just as areas meant for people who smoke cigarettes? I guess respectable people or being courteous is nearly extinct...

So anyway, I am conflicted about legalizing marijuana. I am not completely against it, I think there could be positives out of it. But then you've all the asshats out there that ruin it for everyone with their foul attitudes.

Anyway, haha yeah. Just some things I thought about.

Sorry if my journal entries aren't central to music, I like to just write about whatever pops in my head.

A few albums that took me on my musical journey...
 

Mostly, we've all been exposed to certain records at a young age that put us on course for a journey in being obsessed with, or hooked on music. These are the albums that stuck with you and wouldn't let go, you were educated by them in a way of speaking, sort of giving you a rough guideline of what your own individual taste in music would be. What exactly we are influenced by, specifically or unknown, by those records at the time you aren't likely able to pinpoint, for me I was pretty young but still aware to what music was, and so for me at the time, I couldn't say what about those records influenced me. Now however, I feel I can to some point. So if you'll take the time to read about my early years of musical development, that'd fancy me nicely. Here we go...


First up, Michael Jackson and his record Dangerous. Released in 1991, it wouldn't be until I was five or six that I'd pick this up on cassette at a music store in Ontario, Oregon. I remember being told by the owner of the record store that the cassetts in the bowl on the counter were free, and being that I was short and couldn't see what I was grabbing, I asked my dad if I could get one, I was thrilled when he approved, and so I dug in there on my tippi-toes, took hold of one of the cassettes, brought to eye level and was hypnotized by the cassettes art. Back then, it was like looking at a bizarre music video with all those weird, spinning colors, flashes of light, faces spinning, stuff like that. Upon getting home, the first thing I did was find my fathers cassette player, and put in my new cassette to check out what I got. The opening song Jam blared out of the speakers, and my little butt just started moving something fierce. I was doing little spins and turns, banging my head like it was heavy metal, just having a grand time. I was completely immersing myself in the music, and I remember my mother grabbing the camera to record me dancing to my at the time, favorite artist. I was lip-syncing my own made up words to the song, scrunching my face up because to me, Michael sounded pissed off. Yeah man, I was rocking out.

I still love that album to this day, it's a great album. The other song that really got me moving, even though they all did at the time, but the other song that really got me dancing, was Black And White. I dug that song heavily, but Jam had always been my jam, hahaha, when I was little and listened to that album. I actually did a little dance at my school after I saw the video for the song. I'm sure I looked like a little kid on drugs flailing around, but I was trying to mimic Michael and his super cool dance moves, as I called them then.


Next up is the 1977 release from master guitarist Ted Nugent, Cat Scratch Fever. This was a record my dad had on vinyl at our home when I was younger, or maybe older than I was when I first got the Michael Jackson album Dangerous. I remember that when he first put it on, I was asking to hear some music because I wanted to air guitar or something. I kind of had this poor, white kid affro at the time (yes, you can laugh...) and it gave me what I thought were rock n roll powers haha. So, the album opens with the title track for the album, and I start doing my thing, jumping around on the couches and floor, doing my air guitar like I had the real thing. Sometimes I'd break a sweat I got so in to it. This was one of my initiation albums in to rock n roll, I'll be discussing the next one after this.

Cat Scratch Fever became a regularly spun vinyl record at home at the time, my mom got a little annoyed as she never has been a fan of much rock n roll, especially not uncle Ted Nugent, as I called him. Long story short. This was one of my favorite records as a little, newly emerging fan of good ol' rock n roll.


Jimi Hendrix! This guy blew my mind when I was little, I still think he's amazing, but I really thought he was incredibly amazing when I was little. I air guitared so hard to this guy, that I'd pass out on the spot from exhausting myself, but I'd wake up and ask to hear Jimi Hendrix again to do it all over again. Are You Experienced opened Jimi Hendrix 1984 album Kiss The Sky, a compilation album. I loved how the song sounded, which I guess I could describe as my younger self to be sort of space-like sounding. I adored Jimi Hendrix, and I listened to Purple Haze probably a few thousand times. This album was treasured by me, but I did hear other albums by him when I was little, I liked them all. It was freaking Jimi Hendrix!


Next up we have three albums from Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers; Full Moon Fever, Damn The Torpedoes, and Southern Accents. I still love Tom Petty, I think his music is great and instantly recognizable, as I believe he had his own, distinct sound. My father was a big fan of Tom Petty, and these three albums were played a lot. I rocked pretty hard to songs like Runnin' Down A Dream, Here Comes My Girl, Don't Come Around Here No More, Free Fallin'. If my father put Tom Petty on, I was front and center by the speakers, having my own personal concert, rocking out like no tomorrow. Tom Petty, he's one and only.


Don't Fear The Reaper, Godzilla, Burnin' For You. Blue Oyster Cult was another band my father was big on, myself included at the time. Godzilla actually scared me a little for some reason when I listened to it, but I jammed through that fear every time. This band right here was a nice, jamming band. Grateful to them.

So, there you have it. A few of the albums that helped my own my way with my musical journey of developing my own taste of it, and doing my own exploring in to other artists to get in to, broaden my musical horizon.

Tom Petty, nice. My dad had (well, still has) one of his compilations, and I listened to it a lot back when my taste was in its embryonic stage (right now it's in a fetal stage). Never listened to any of his other albums, where do you think I should start? And I gotta say, you had much more badass taste as a little kid than I.

Any of the three Tom Petty albums I mentioned here are more than adequate starting points. He's not a lot of music I'd consider bad, mostly it's all pretty good. He had a knack for writing great hooks in his music, at least to me he did. I think you'll enjoy a great deal of his music. He actually put out a new album of new material a few months back, I still need to give it a listen.

Hahaha, my mother wasn't a big fan of my taste in music as a kid, but she got over it. She still doesn't like what I listen to, it isn't her Gospel music.

I hear ya, my mother's a diehard bluegrass fan who hates metal and hip hop. Ironically, she helped get me into rock music through Bruce Springsteen.

The Boss is liked be loads of people, he's established himself as a household name, and I actually really respect the guy and what he's done is his career up to this point. He's had a long running career, and he's still going. My dad listened to him a lot. I fist pumped to Born In The USA.

Yup, same. Got to see him live a couple of years ago, and it was a definitive experience.