***I apologize in advance for the lack of content in this post, there really wasn't too much I could write on this band. It was urgently requested, and I don't get that too often.***
Les Discrets (The Discrete) is what I would consider a completely unheard of band. They're a French Post-rock band, with only one full-length album out thus far. Regardless, it's a very good album. The album, titled Septembre Et Ses Dernieres Pensees (September's Last Thoughts), is 10 tracks long, roughly 45 minutes, and well worth listening to. L'echappee is the best song off of the album in my opinion, with Song For Mountains being a close second. I really don't know how to describe their style, but it's probably like a softer version of Tool, or almost like a French Punk-Progressive band.
Above is L'echappee (in case you couldn't read it...), and it's a very catchy song if you're into a sort of rough, almost progressive sound. I really can't find other bands to relate them to, so I'd say if you like progressive sounding music, check them out. They aren't progressive, but it's the closest thing I can relate them to without saying Post-Rock, considering that's what they actually are. In short, you really just have to give this a shot. Try it out, you'll probably like them. As always, if you have any questions, comments, etc. email me at gorefeastnb@aol.com, or simply leave a comment. Views/clicks always appreciated.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Reel Big Fish
Another band that I've been listening to a lot of lately, Reel Big Fish is a fairly popular Ska band. Commonly confused with Streetlight Manifesto and Big D & The Kid's Table, you'll probably enjoy them if you listen to any type of Punk, Ska, or Rock. This is one of those bands that I like, and I can't see how other people don't. They combine jazz instruments (Trombone, Trumpet), as well as vocal harmonies, with a common garage band to create an awe-inspiring sound. While most of their more popular songs are covers, in my opinion they make the original song better. You can't usually say that about one cover from a band, much less multiples. However, one big song that they wrote themselves is Where Have You Been?, which is my favorite hands-down (video below). The video is a live version, because it's just better. It has a trombone solo, two trumpet solos, and a rather silly vocal solo from their Trombone/vocals, Dan Reagan.
Please bear with the quality of the video, it's well worth listening to.
And the studio version for those of you who prefer it.
The latter video has a few of their more popular songs in the related's at the end, one of them being Everything Sucks. I don't really have much else to say, other than this: If you do not like this band, I really do feel sorry for you. As always, if you have any questions, comments, etc. email me at gorefeastnb@aol.com, or simply leave a comment. Views/clicks always appreciated.
Please bear with the quality of the video, it's well worth listening to.
And the studio version for those of you who prefer it.
The latter video has a few of their more popular songs in the related's at the end, one of them being Everything Sucks. I don't really have much else to say, other than this: If you do not like this band, I really do feel sorry for you. As always, if you have any questions, comments, etc. email me at gorefeastnb@aol.com, or simply leave a comment. Views/clicks always appreciated.
Bad Religion
So I've basically done away with the "lesser known bands" rule that I was trying to stick with, and I'm just going to review great bands from here on out, lesser known or not. With that being said, I recently downloaded the entire Bad Religion discography, all 270 songs (minus live performances). Not one of their songs is what I would consider bad, although there are some filler songs on each album. While that is to be expected on a 15-20 song album, they're not bad fillers, just fillers. Their most recent album, which actually came out a few days ago, is one of their best works since the band's formation. The album, which is titled The Dissent of Man, is 100% awesome throughout it. The video below will be a link to one of the songs off of it, I'm not sure which at the moment. While I decide, Bad Religion is not only a punk band, but one of the punk bands that started the revival. They're an enormous influence on almost any rock band since 1980, including bands link Blink 182, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Reel Big Fish, and Streetlight Manifesto.
Above is the second track on their new album, The Dissent of Man. It has the sound and feel of an instant classic when it comes to punk rock, even rock in general. The song, while very simplistic in nature, is incredibly catchy and well-written, as are almost all Bad Religion songs. Unfortunately, none of their better songs are in the related videos section of this one, so I'll simply list them. Infected, Sorrow, New Dark Ages, Generator, and American Jesus are songs that you've heard, even if you don't know the name. I'm going to try and catch up on my posting, I've been incredibly lazy with it lately. Expect many more posts over the next few days. As always, if you have any questions, comments, etc. email me at gorefeastnb@aol.com, or simply leave a comment. Views/clicks always appreciated.
Above is the second track on their new album, The Dissent of Man. It has the sound and feel of an instant classic when it comes to punk rock, even rock in general. The song, while very simplistic in nature, is incredibly catchy and well-written, as are almost all Bad Religion songs. Unfortunately, none of their better songs are in the related videos section of this one, so I'll simply list them. Infected, Sorrow, New Dark Ages, Generator, and American Jesus are songs that you've heard, even if you don't know the name. I'm going to try and catch up on my posting, I've been incredibly lazy with it lately. Expect many more posts over the next few days. As always, if you have any questions, comments, etc. email me at gorefeastnb@aol.com, or simply leave a comment. Views/clicks always appreciated.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Porcupine Tree
I'm aware that Progressive music has really died down since Rush slowed their album production, but I feel that Porcupine Tree deserves an honorable mention for keeping the genre alive. Porcupine Tree is a British Progressive band, and although a fairly old band, they're still pretty unknown. This is band that's overshadowed by more famous bands in the genre, such as Rush and (to an extent) Dream Theater. If you like bands that are similar to Pink Floyd, Muse, Rush, or Blackfield, you'll almost definitely love Porcupine Tree. They have several very well-known songs, but nobody really knows who the songs are by. With that being said, if you haven't heard of Porcupine Tree, I'm sure you've heard of the song in the video below.
This is one of those songs I was talking about, one of the songs you know, but don't know who it's by. Sound of Muzak, off of In Absentia (arguably their best album to-date), is simply a musical masterpiece that everybody on this planet must listen to. If you don't listen to this song, or this band for that matter, you are just missing out on one of the best musical experiences since Pink Floyd. All in all, easily one of my favorite "soft" bands to listen to, and probably one of my favorites overall. A must-listen for any kind of music lover.
This is one of those songs I was talking about, one of the songs you know, but don't know who it's by. Sound of Muzak, off of In Absentia (arguably their best album to-date), is simply a musical masterpiece that everybody on this planet must listen to. If you don't listen to this song, or this band for that matter, you are just missing out on one of the best musical experiences since Pink Floyd. All in all, easily one of my favorite "soft" bands to listen to, and probably one of my favorites overall. A must-listen for any kind of music lover.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Up the Irons (WARNING: Huge Post)
I know I'm supposed to review lesser known bands, but I have to take the time to write a monstrous post for a monstrous band. I'm talking, of course, about Iron Maiden. I recently downloaded their entire discography(15 albums, 115 songs not including their 7 live albums, among various other releases) and was astounded at what I hadn't heard of by them. I will have a download link at the end of this post for those of you who wish to immerse yourselves in pure awesome.
The above song, one of their better unknown songs, is off of the album Brave New World. It's one of their softer songs for the most part, but is still great to listen to. I'm not going to post links to every song that's good by them, because I'm pretty sure Google would run out of bandwidth, but I'll post a really good one from a few albums. Brave New World is Iron Maiden's 2000 release, which is a long way from when they started, but their earlier works are just as good, if not better, than their recent releases.
From 1980 to 1986, Maiden released an album every year. From '86-'88 and '88-'90, an album every 2 years. They're a very, very active band. I digress, from '82-'86, perhaps some of the best songs ever written in this genre, and others, were spawned. 1982 saw the release of their most popular album, The Number of the Beast. This includes these hit songs: Run To The Hills, The Number of the Beast, and Hallowed Be Thy Name. These three songs are probably their most commercially successful, but not their best works by any means.
1983's release of Piece of Mind was by no means a letdown. It contained songs such as: Flight of Icarus, The Trooper, and To Tame a Land. Only two of these songs were commercially successful, but in my opinion, To Tame a Land is one of their best songs(video below).
It's an incredibly technical song, based off of an incredible book, Dune. When Steve Harris confronted the author's lawyer about naming the song Dune, Frank Herbert's lawyer responded with the following: "No. Because Frank Herbert doesn't like rock bands, particularly heavy rock bands, and especially rock bands like Iron Maiden". Thus, the song's name was changed.
1984 saw the release of yet another monster album, Powerslave. While it had short-to-mid length hits on it, such as Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight, it also contained the epic (and their longest song ever), Rime of the Ancient Mariner. While I'm sure most people don't have the attention span to listen to a 13 minute song, it certainly is worth listening to. I'll post a video of the title track below. It has a very Egyptian feel to it, as you can probably tell by the cover.
Skipping ahead 2 years, 1986's release of Somewhere in Time only had one commercially successful song, Wasted Years. Which isn't to say it's a bad album, songs such as Alexander the Great, as well as Heaven Can Wait, are incredible pieces of music that should really be listened to. I won't be posting a video for this album, as I need to save space on this post, and there are better songs to be posted.
Yet again, skipping 2 years, we go to 1988's release of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. This is yet another album that had several commercial successes on it. These include the following: Infinite Dreams, The Clairvoyant, Can I Play With Madness, Only The Good Die Young, and The Evil That Men Do. That's 5/8 songs on the album. This is, as you can tell, one of their most commercially successful/popular albums. A video of Can I Play With Madness will be posted below. It is worth noting that this is their shortest album by far, as none of the songs are over 5 minutes (Unlike their other albums, which feature multiple 7-9 minute songs each).
1990's release of No Prayer For The Dying wasn't as much of a success as their previous albums, but still had some very good songs on it. The closing track, titled Mother Russia, is one of the best on the album (in my opinion), with Holy Smoke being a very close second. Most people would probably prefer Holy Smoke, as it is shorter, and really does sound better. I'm not sure why it's my second place, but it is. Again, no video for this album.
1992's Fear of the Dark had several monstrous songs on it. The title track is hands-down one of the best songs ever released by Iron Maiden, and is easily the best on the album. It is also one of their most commercially successful songs to-date. Afraid to Shoot Strangers, Childhood's End, and Be Quick or Be Dead are all incredible songs off of this album. While the album in particular wasn't very popular, it's title track was, and the other songs on it never really got much attention. I will be posting a video of Fear of the Dark below, but I am going to post the live version. This is because it's without a doubt better than the album version. You can compare yourself, but you'll come to the same conclusion.
Without a doubt my favorite song by them, but only the live version. The album version of the song just sounds worse. I really don't have words for this, you just HAVE to listen to it.
There are several other Maiden albums for me to cover, but I feel like I've covered the best of their releases, from 1992 onward is just stuff you'll like if you're a fan of it. As promised, I'll post a torrent link of their entire discography. While it is not in there, I recommend downloading Live After Death, and A Real Live One. The former is widely considered the best live album ever made, and the latter has the live rendition of Fear of the Dark on it. (Note: The torrent does not include their 2010 release, The Final Frontier).READ: As short as these posts are, I enjoy writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them. Feel free to leave a comment on my latest post with a band you want me to review, I'll be more than happy to listen to them if I haven't heard them. (ANOTHER READ: This band is infinitely better live than on their studio album. If you can find live versions of the songs that you like, LISTEN TO THEM).
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5218520/Iron_Maiden_-_Complete_Discography. (I know, it's Piratebay, but it's a perfectly trustworthy source).
The above song, one of their better unknown songs, is off of the album Brave New World. It's one of their softer songs for the most part, but is still great to listen to. I'm not going to post links to every song that's good by them, because I'm pretty sure Google would run out of bandwidth, but I'll post a really good one from a few albums. Brave New World is Iron Maiden's 2000 release, which is a long way from when they started, but their earlier works are just as good, if not better, than their recent releases.
From 1980 to 1986, Maiden released an album every year. From '86-'88 and '88-'90, an album every 2 years. They're a very, very active band. I digress, from '82-'86, perhaps some of the best songs ever written in this genre, and others, were spawned. 1982 saw the release of their most popular album, The Number of the Beast. This includes these hit songs: Run To The Hills, The Number of the Beast, and Hallowed Be Thy Name. These three songs are probably their most commercially successful, but not their best works by any means.
1983's release of Piece of Mind was by no means a letdown. It contained songs such as: Flight of Icarus, The Trooper, and To Tame a Land. Only two of these songs were commercially successful, but in my opinion, To Tame a Land is one of their best songs(video below).
It's an incredibly technical song, based off of an incredible book, Dune. When Steve Harris confronted the author's lawyer about naming the song Dune, Frank Herbert's lawyer responded with the following: "No. Because Frank Herbert doesn't like rock bands, particularly heavy rock bands, and especially rock bands like Iron Maiden". Thus, the song's name was changed.
1984 saw the release of yet another monster album, Powerslave. While it had short-to-mid length hits on it, such as Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight, it also contained the epic (and their longest song ever), Rime of the Ancient Mariner. While I'm sure most people don't have the attention span to listen to a 13 minute song, it certainly is worth listening to. I'll post a video of the title track below. It has a very Egyptian feel to it, as you can probably tell by the cover.
Skipping ahead 2 years, 1986's release of Somewhere in Time only had one commercially successful song, Wasted Years. Which isn't to say it's a bad album, songs such as Alexander the Great, as well as Heaven Can Wait, are incredible pieces of music that should really be listened to. I won't be posting a video for this album, as I need to save space on this post, and there are better songs to be posted.
Yet again, skipping 2 years, we go to 1988's release of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. This is yet another album that had several commercial successes on it. These include the following: Infinite Dreams, The Clairvoyant, Can I Play With Madness, Only The Good Die Young, and The Evil That Men Do. That's 5/8 songs on the album. This is, as you can tell, one of their most commercially successful/popular albums. A video of Can I Play With Madness will be posted below. It is worth noting that this is their shortest album by far, as none of the songs are over 5 minutes (Unlike their other albums, which feature multiple 7-9 minute songs each).
1990's release of No Prayer For The Dying wasn't as much of a success as their previous albums, but still had some very good songs on it. The closing track, titled Mother Russia, is one of the best on the album (in my opinion), with Holy Smoke being a very close second. Most people would probably prefer Holy Smoke, as it is shorter, and really does sound better. I'm not sure why it's my second place, but it is. Again, no video for this album.
1992's Fear of the Dark had several monstrous songs on it. The title track is hands-down one of the best songs ever released by Iron Maiden, and is easily the best on the album. It is also one of their most commercially successful songs to-date. Afraid to Shoot Strangers, Childhood's End, and Be Quick or Be Dead are all incredible songs off of this album. While the album in particular wasn't very popular, it's title track was, and the other songs on it never really got much attention. I will be posting a video of Fear of the Dark below, but I am going to post the live version. This is because it's without a doubt better than the album version. You can compare yourself, but you'll come to the same conclusion.
Without a doubt my favorite song by them, but only the live version. The album version of the song just sounds worse. I really don't have words for this, you just HAVE to listen to it.
There are several other Maiden albums for me to cover, but I feel like I've covered the best of their releases, from 1992 onward is just stuff you'll like if you're a fan of it. As promised, I'll post a torrent link of their entire discography. While it is not in there, I recommend downloading Live After Death, and A Real Live One. The former is widely considered the best live album ever made, and the latter has the live rendition of Fear of the Dark on it. (Note: The torrent does not include their 2010 release, The Final Frontier).READ: As short as these posts are, I enjoy writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them. Feel free to leave a comment on my latest post with a band you want me to review, I'll be more than happy to listen to them if I haven't heard them. (ANOTHER READ: This band is infinitely better live than on their studio album. If you can find live versions of the songs that you like, LISTEN TO THEM).
http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5218520/Iron_Maiden_-_Complete_Discography. (I know, it's Piratebay, but it's a perfectly trustworthy source).
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Lostprophets
I'm not sure if I would label Lostprophets as an unknown band, but they're definitely worth mentioning here. They don't get nearly as much credit as they should, and I'll try to help as much as I can. Lostprophets started as a metal band initially, and they've released heavier albums, but I'd say their most accomplished works are those outside of their heavy music. The two more prominent albums they've released are Liberation Transmission (My personal favorite) and Start Something. I'd recommend Lostprophets to fans of Bad Religion, Blink 182, and quite honestly any punk or rock fan.
The above song, Everyday Combat, is probably one of the most underrated songs you'll ever hear. It's a little on the heavy side compared to the rest of Liberation Transmission, but it's easily one of, if not the best, song on the album. Unfortunately I could not get a good quality version of this song, so their other songs are not in the description as far as I know. Some other songs by this band include Rooftops, A Town Called Hypocrisy, and Last Train Home. All three of those songs are about as good as Everyday Combat, and are definitely for you if you liked it.Lostprophets is definitely up there on my favorites list, particularly because their music is so great for their genre. If you have any questions, concerns, etc. about the blog, you can leave a comment here or contact me at gorefeastnb@aol.com. READ: As short as these posts are, I enjoy writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them. Feel free to leave a comment on my latest post with a band you want me to review, I'll be more than happy to listen to them if I haven't heard them.
The above song, Everyday Combat, is probably one of the most underrated songs you'll ever hear. It's a little on the heavy side compared to the rest of Liberation Transmission, but it's easily one of, if not the best, song on the album. Unfortunately I could not get a good quality version of this song, so their other songs are not in the description as far as I know. Some other songs by this band include Rooftops, A Town Called Hypocrisy, and Last Train Home. All three of those songs are about as good as Everyday Combat, and are definitely for you if you liked it.Lostprophets is definitely up there on my favorites list, particularly because their music is so great for their genre. If you have any questions, concerns, etc. about the blog, you can leave a comment here or contact me at gorefeastnb@aol.com. READ: As short as these posts are, I enjoy writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them. Feel free to leave a comment on my latest post with a band you want me to review, I'll be more than happy to listen to them if I haven't heard them.
Kamelot
Moving back into metal sub-genres for just one post, Kamelot is an interesting mix of talents. They're a power metal band, which basically means a metal band that utilizes synths, pianos, etc. Kamelot's vocalist has been trained for almost 5 years in Opera singing, which makes the lyrics a bit more suitable for those just getting into metal. The band also utilizes Latin/Italian beats and melodies in their music. These three things combined make for an incredible cross between driving metal riffs, haunting vocals, and soothing beats/melodies. I would recommend Kamelot to fans of Nightwish, Dark Tranquility, Dream Theater, Children of Bodom, Dragonforce(...), Iced Earth, and Between the Buried and Me. They're a good band to listen to if you're just getting into metal.
Above is their song "Lost and Damned", off of the album Epica. As always, their more popular songs are in the related section at the end of the video. This particular song also utilizes synthesized brass instruments, particularly a trombone if I'm correct. It's also a very good demonstration of Roy Kahn's vocal skills, which become evident immediately when he begins singing. A very unknown power metal band, but one of the best for its genre. If you have any questions, concerns, etc. about the blog, you can leave a comment here or contact me at gorefeastnb@aol.com. READ: As short as these posts are, I enjoy writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them. Feel free to leave a comment on my latest post with a band you want me to review, I'll be more than happy to listen to them if I haven't heard them.
Above is their song "Lost and Damned", off of the album Epica. As always, their more popular songs are in the related section at the end of the video. This particular song also utilizes synthesized brass instruments, particularly a trombone if I'm correct. It's also a very good demonstration of Roy Kahn's vocal skills, which become evident immediately when he begins singing. A very unknown power metal band, but one of the best for its genre. If you have any questions, concerns, etc. about the blog, you can leave a comment here or contact me at gorefeastnb@aol.com. READ: As short as these posts are, I enjoy writing them, so I hope you enjoy reading them. Feel free to leave a comment on my latest post with a band you want me to review, I'll be more than happy to listen to them if I haven't heard them.
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