Scars On Broadway is a band that was formed by the guitarest/back up vocalist and the drummer from System Of A Dawn. They have only released one real album, the self-titled, Scars on Broadway. But last year, after a couple years of silence, they came out with a new single, Fucking.
Since they have two music videos for their album, I figured those were good choices to share with you. Here is They Say, followed by World Long Gone.
And that new single, Fucking, I mentioned? They released a live video of it a couple days ago. By the way, this is TOTALLY safe for work. Seriously.
Well, as SOAD was the last band on my Top 10 list, and I'm still on Spring Break, I need some more filler. As such, I figured I'd cover Serj's solo work. (Serj is the lead singer of SOAD.)
All of the work Serj has done solo has been exactly that. Solo. He did all the vocals, played all the instruments, did all the studio work, ect. The only exception to this is during live performances, and for his first album, Elect The Dead, he had a different director create a unique music video for each one of his songs. One of those videos, Empty Walls is definitely one of my favorite music videos ever.
Last year, Serj performed a live show with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He released this show as Elect The Dead Symphony. Here is Falling Stars from the live DVD that was released.
Also in 2010, Serj's second real album, Imperfect Harmonies, was released. Here is Left Of Center from that album.
The latest solo work that Serj has released is a short EP called Imperfect Remixes. Here is the first track, Goodbye - Gate 21 (Rock Remix).
Well, I was rather surprised when I found out that there was anyone that follows my blog that hadn't heard of System of a Down. Not all that familiar with them? Okay. I can buy that. But never even hearing of them?! I'm actually shocked. With that being said, however, they only released a handful of albums, and have been on hiatus since 2005. So I guess it is possible for them to fly under someone's radar. Especially if they don't typically listen to metal.
SOAD s an Armenian-American rock band from California. They were one of the founders of what is referred to as "Nu Metal". I'm not going to get into what is and isn't "nu metal" because it seems to be a loose term that is thrown around, typically with a negative connotation.
For a sample of their first self-titled album, I was going to post Spiders, as I really love that song, but Sugar was an immensely bigger hit, and a better example of the CD.
Their second album Toxicity, was not only, in my opinion, their best album, but I personally believe it to be one of the top metal albums ever produced. There really isn't one track that stands out among the others that I feel like I should post. But, alas, I can't really post the entire album, so here's Psycho.
Their third album, Steal This Album was actually a bunch of tracks that didn't make it to Toxicity. Most of the songs were low quality MP3 files that got leaked. After the band found out, they got upset that fans would settle for the poor quality, so they mastered the songs and released the album.
In 2005, the band released two albums, Mezmerize and Hypnotize. These two albums were released a few months apart, but were supposed to be taken as a single album. If you had the physical CDs, you could even attach the cases to each other. As an excuse to post more music, I'm going to post a track from either CD. The first being Sad Statue, and then Dreaming.
One last note. Remember when I said that Amon Amarth's new album leaked? Well, apparently there's a bonus track......A cover of Aerials by SOAD. I figured I would share it with you.
Rammstein is a German industrial metal band. Most of their songs are sung in German, and as such, there are many people (Some of which, I know.) that have learnt German, for the sole purpose of understanding their lyrics. In addition to being known for very controversial songs, Rammstein is also known for their stage shows. As such, a couple of the videos I post will come from their DVD, Völkerball. Also, if you aren't familiar with this band, don't know German, and want to find the translated lyrics, I highly recommend Herzeleid.com Although, the owner has seemed to disappear, and as such about half of their latest album isn't translated.
This first song, Mein Teil, ("My Part") is my personal favorite. It's based on a true story about someone that found a willing person to be eaten. And yes, "teil" ("part") has two meanings here.
Next is Feuer Frei! ("Fire At Will!"). Other bands rock. Rammstein burns!
And lastly, Frühling in Paris, ("Springtime in Paris") which is a slow song, and one of my favorites from their latest album, Liebe Ist Für Alle Da. ("Love Is For Everyone")
Okay, so Demons & Wizards is a super group that is composed of Hansi Kürsch, who writes the lyrics for Blind Guardian and Jon Schaffer, who writes the music for Iced Earth. As such, they can't really be classified as European or American power metal. What they CAN be classified as though is awesome. While I do love Hansi's voice, what makes Blind Guardian my favorite band are the lyrics. As I've mentioned before, and as I'm sure you've gleaned from my posts, I love stories. Hansi almost exclusively writes about literature and history. When he deviates, he's typically making his own stories.
The only complaint I have about this band is that they have only released two albums since 1999. Also note that their first album, doesn't really have a uniform sound. Some songs sound like Blind Guardian, and others sound like Iced Earth. Not that that's bad, per say, but their second album is a bit better, in my opinion. First off, I'm a sucker for concept albums, and it's a loose concept album of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series. Also, they created a more unique sound than they had on their first album.
First, one of my favorite songs by them, Fiddler on the Green, from their first and self titled album.
Next, The Whistler, which tells the story of the Pied Piper, but with a darker, more twisted ending.
And since these were softer songs, here's a harder one. (Emphases on the "ER".)
Moving one to their second album, Touched By The Crimson King, this is a song that is in the same vein as Fiddler on the Green. There are multiple theories on the meaning in this song, Down Where I Am. One interpretation is that it's a song about a new father that just found out his kid has down's syndrome. Another theory that I've heard is that it is based on the Arthurian legend, and is speaking of the relationship between Arther and Mordred. And then there's the loose connection to The Dark Tower. It could be taken as the feelings of Mordred (Deschain)'s mom had for him. In any case, it's a very powerful song.
To bring things up, here's a song that's obviously tied to The Dark Tower, Terror Train.
And lastly, Dorian, which is about The Portrait of Dorian Grey.
In other news.... Remember when I posted about ProgPower XII? Well, this was posted on the ProgPower forum. I'm not really expecting this to lead to anything, but if any of you ARE considering going, then by all means, please give me a heads up. I'd love free gold badge/VIP access for life!
That's right...Gold Badges for life! Our biggest contest to date is also one of the most simple as well. The rules:
1. Have a friend purchase their ProgPower USA ticket(s) starting at 1pm EST today (March 14th).
2. Have that friend email me (progpowerusa -at- gmail -dot- com) with proof of purchase. I will compare to my audits to verify.
3. You and that friend will receive a combined entry into a drawing for two lifetime gold badges starting *this* year.
4. Winners will also be eligible to upgrade their badges to VIP status in 2012.
4. Contest ends after 200 tickets sold or April 30th, whichever comes first.
5. The winner will be announced on May 2nd.
This contest will not be listed on the official website. It is intended for regular forum, facebook, and twitter followers.
Iced Earth is an American power metal band that has been around for a while. As such, they have gone through several singers. So if one album doesn't do very much for you, I would suggest trying another. Musically, they've mostly been influenced by NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal...i.e.Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, ect.) One last note, this is going to be another band that has too many albums for me to cover. As such, I'm just going to pick and choose.
This is A Question of Heaven, from one of my favorite albums by them, The Dark Saga, which is a concept album based on the comic book character, Spawn.
Next, is Dante's Inferno, from their album, Burnt Offerings. Yes, at 16 minutes, and some change, it's rather long, but it IS based on an epic. Also, this version is from their live DVD, Alive in Athens. Sorry for the break. The only version I could find (live or studio) that was on one video had bad audio.
And finally, Then Thousand Strong from their album Framing Armageddon. Yes, the video is very cheesy.
....I know I said, "finally", and that usually insinuates the end, but I thought I'd add one more since it was requested yesterday. This is The Coming Curse from Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Okay, so next week is my spring break. As such, I don't know how much I'm going to be around a computer. I'm not going anywhere, per say, but I will likely be out of my apartment. Or drunk. Or most likely, both. As such, I am turning autopost on, and turning moderation for comments off. I'll still check out all your blogs, and reply to comments, but it might take longer than normal.
So, since I need a list of ideas to post about, I figured I'd go through my Top Ten list on bands I'd like to see before I die. By the way, this really isn't in order.
1. Blind Guardian (I made a post about them over here.)
2. Iced Earth (Sure, I posted one song, but that doesn't really count...I'll start here tomorrow.)
3. Demons & Wizards 4.Tool (Already) 5. A Perfect Circle (Posted) 6. Puscifer (These)
7. Rammstein 8. Amon Amarth (We're going WAY back now, aren't we?)
9. System Of A Down 10. Kamelot (Not so far back now.)
An interesting point: With the exception of APC, the bands that I have already posted about, are also the ones that I have already seen.
EDIT: I don't think this really deserves its own post, but enough of you got turned onto Amon Amarth that I figured I'd add this here: For those of you that enjoy the soothing sounds of Amon Amarth, I just found out that their new album has just hit the interwebz. While I won't provide a link, if you've come this far on your journey of the internet, you should be able to find it.
