Goodbye June is an alternative rock band from Nashville, TN and just back on August 26, 2016, Goodbye June released their debut EP, Danger In The Morning.
This EP is only 5 songs, starting with the first one they released, "Oh No." Instantly, I had a lot of different thoughts regarding them. The first being, they are definitely not what I expected, but that's not bad. They have a sort of classic rock feel to them, yet also have a modern twist. They actually remind me of another band that's quite underrated called, Rival Sons. The whole EP goes through different styles and lyrical content, which on its own makes it quite special. My particular favorite though is the slowest track on the EP, "Darlin'." "Darlin'" seems to be a message to someone who's broke your heart. Clearly it was written in a time of heartbreak, and reflection. He points out how much she hurt him, and points out all of their dreams, and how he feels about it. "Darlin', I don't know what you've done to me, but it works and I hate it." It's a beautiful, and very sad song. Near the end of it, it picks up in tune, but all through it you hear the passion, and the heartache shines through. If you haven't heard of Goodbye June, I highly recommend you check them out. I see them going very far, and they're already on the right track. Starting on February 9, they set out on a tour with Whiskey Myers, that ends on February 22. After that, they go back on the road and will take part on several festivals such as KFMA Day, Edgefest, Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock On The Range, Rocklahoma and the River City Rockfest. In between some of the festivals are a few select tour dates, so please be sure to head on over to Goodbye June's website for further information. If you want any information on any of the festivals, please check out the respective festival websites.
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On September 5, 1989, Soundgarden released their second album, Louder Than Love. This classic album didn't do a lot on the charts, and it's suspected to be partly due to the Parental Advisory that was placed on the packaging. Not all the lyrics were suitable for young listeners, so someone felt this was necessary. The album had three singles, "Loud Love", "Get On The Snake" -which was released for promotion purposes only, and "Hands All Over." I noticed something very quickly about this album, it's extremely political, and I feel like that was something of a trend in the late 80s. It may not have been, but I seem to notice it quite a bit. Because of that, and assumably their pretty awesome instrumentals, I can understand how Soundground rose to the fame they hold today. However, I unfortunately cannot say this was my cup of tea. There's honestly nothing wrong with the album, at all. Its perfectly fine, but to me, that's all it is -fine. Given its not my usual taste in music, I tend to gravitate award from political music, or much of anything from this time period, for some unknown reason. If pressed to pick songs that stood out though, I would have to vote for, "Loud Love", and "Full on Kevin's Mom". "Loud Love" actually is rather empowering, so this one I have to give full credit to. Plus, it feels rather relevant to our current situation here in the US. It's about wanting people to speak up, and take a stand. They don't want silence, they want to hear what's wrong and see people do something about it. As for "Full On Kevin's Mom", it's a rather funny track, about a band of brothers, it says. "You don't get nothing for free, Kev & me were two of three. Three brothers tw the end -then one went full on Kevin's mom, and now things have changed." I feel like this was written out of sheer boredom one day, and caused a lot of laughter. Which is why it stood out to me, it's nice hearing the fun in music sometimes. I think I made it pretty clear how I feel about the album, it's not that special to me. You may feel differently though, so I highly recommend checking it out for yourself. I'm going to look more into Soundgarden, so please stay tuned for that. Reviews for all of their albums that came after this will be coming soon. Also please be sure to head on over to Soundgarden's official website to see everything they have going on. They are going to be headlining many of the festivals happening here shortly in the US. Starting with 98 Rockfest on April 28 in Tampa, FL. From there, they will also perform at Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock On The Range, and Rocklahoma. For further information, please visit the respective festival websites. In November 1998 -on the 17th to be exact, The Offspring released their fifth studio album, Americana. It did absolutely incredible on the charts. It hit number one in Sweden, Poland, New Zealand, Brazil, Austria, and Australia. It also hit number 2 in the US, France, Finland, and did very well on other charts as well, all over the world. It also has sold over 10 million copies worldwide, and has been certified platinum almost world wide. It's even 5 times platinum here in the US! You cannot question the success of this album -you simply cannot do it. I do believe this is the album most people think of when they think of The Offspring, partly because of the first two singles. "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)" and "Why Don't You Get a Job?" Now, I was only five when this album was released, so it's really no wonder it feels like those two songs have always existed. They basically have always existed in my life, but we all also know they're among the most popular songs The Offspring has ever made. Quite possibly the most popular. Because of that, I'm not going to talk about those songs, because we all know them, and their awesome qualities goes completely without saying. A couple tracks really stood out to me, both for vastly different reasons. Those tracks are "Feelings" and "The End Of The Line." Its a bit ironic that I chose those two songs as the stand out tracks, because "The End Of The Line", definitely gives you some "feelings." Okay, I get it, that was a lame joke, but I couldn't resist. Anywho, the reason I picked, "Feelings" was while it felt a little cliche' it also was fun, fast paced, and easy to relate to. Its actually about trying to forget feelings of hatred you have toward someone, assumably an ex, but I think we've all been there before. Emotions are highly important to human existence, but also tend to get in the way as well. They're a necessary evil, sadly. As for "The End Of The Line", I had to choose it because it was so touching. It very clearly was written after someone had passed away, leaving you lost. It sort of seems like it was written after a loved one's suicide, but I am not sure if that's the case, just based off the lyrics. Its clearly a very personal track, and was probably written as a mental release. It's quite beautiful, and definitely tears at the heart strings. I'm going to put this out there -this album is not my usual taste. I'm not exactly a punk fan, but at the same time, I definitely see why this album is so popular. Its got a little bit of everything, and I feel like punk fans will be all over the style of the album. So, because of that, I do recommend you check this album out. While you're at it, keep in mind that The Offspring is still very active today. Since the release of this album, they've released four more albums, played countless festivals and tours, and they are not stopping there. Coming up this March, they will be flying over to Japan to perform at Punkspring 2017, which happens in Osaka, and Tokyo. Then they fly all the way back over to Mexico to perform at the Parque Fundidora 2017, and then start playing festivals around the US. Those festivals begin on April 1 with Edgefest 2017, then goes to Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock On The Range, Rocklahoma, and Rivercity Rockfest. They then get a bit of a break before going over to Europe to perform at a good handful of festivals there as well. Those festivals include Amnesia Rockfest, Fezen Festival, Festival Fête du Bruit, and the Highfield Festival. For further information, please check out the respective festival websites, and of course The Offspring's website! On March 14, 1980, a band that is now seen as one of the leading names in classic rock, released their debut album. The album was called On Through The Night, and the band is no other than Def Leppard. The album has done extremely well, and still is very well loved today. So much so that its been platinum in the US since May 9, 1989, and Canada since 1991. It also originally hit number 15 on the UK Album Charts and 51 on the Billboard 200. So, it clearly goes without saying that they were off to a fantastic start. The album had a few different singles, and it actually depends on what country you were in. For the UK, they had "Getcha Rocks Off", the rest of Europe got, "Wasted /Hello America." Then the US got "Hello America/ Good Morning Freedom", followed by "Rock Brigade/ When The Walls Come Tumbling Down." Now, I personally have always found it a bit hard to get into most of the rock music from the 80's or earlier, but I can definitely see Def Leppard's charm. While they are not my taste, and I often felt like I was struggling to hear the vocals over the instrumentals, as you do in most 80's music, they had a lot going for them. The instrumentals are incredible, each track was quite powerful, and I really appreciate the overall flow of the songs. My particular favorite was "Satellite." This one just drew my attention in for some reason, not to mention, I could actually hear Joe Elliot singing. Its a difficult to pinpoint the exact meaning of the song, leaving it up for interpretation. I would say its about love, having control over you. "Its got the power, it's got the strength to steal away your soul." But I also could see it being more of a conspiracy theory, or even about aliens, since it does speak of the bright lights shining from the sky. Either way, its an interesting track, and definitely my favorite. This is one of those albums that has a rating that goes without saying, in a way. While its not over all my taste, I can't say it's bad. It was a whole other era, and therefor, it won't be for everyone. However, Def Leppard began with this, and paved the road for all the rock and metal bands we have today, so you have to give it its credit. Music has come along way, you still have to appreciate the classics. This was only the beginning for Def Leppard, they've released eleven more albums over the years and are still very active today. So active in fact, that they will be going out on tour with Poison and Tesla. The tour begins on April 8, and concludes on June 25. Also during this tour will be several US festivals, such as Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Rocklahoma, and River City Rockfest. For more information, please visit Def Leppard's official website, along with the respective festival websites. And please stay tuned for a ton more content regarding all sorts of Fort Rock artists, Def Leppard included! We are posting a new review every day until late April, so you're going to have a lot to check out. Please be sure to leave your thoughts on all the albums, and start a conversation. In 2012, all the rock radio stations began heavily promoted a female fronted alternative metal band, In This Moment. They began playing a song called, "Blood" which was featured on In This Moment's fourth album, which was also called Blood. Now this album seems to be what put them on the map, but they were already growing and expanding all on their own. I personally had not heard of them, and I'm not going to lie, I didn't like the song, "Blood" at all. But it still lead myself, and many others to checking them out. This album came out on August 14, 2012, and reached all sorts of charts in the US, UK, Canada, and Japan. It barely reached the UK, as it only hit 187, same went for Japan, which hit 124. It did fantastic here in the US, however. It reached number 1 on the Top Hard Rock albums, number 5 on the Top Rock, Top Alternative, and Independent charts. It also hit 15 on the Billboard 200. It stayed in the Billboard 200 for the remainder of the year, and came in at 46 as well. I think a big part of In This Moment's appeal is just how unique they are. I have yet to hear another voice quite like Maria Brink's, plus their lyrics push their limits some, which also draws in the attention. There's an almost constant sex appeal, but it's also very deep. A track I enjoyed lyrically, was actually a very short, intermission called, "It Is Written." Which is only about thirty seconds, and is about the power music has. I love that, but obviously there's so much more to talk about with this album. Honestly, I can't say I'm a fan of this album. I definitely see how others would be, but the style throws me off. Lyrically, I liked most of the album, especially, "Whore", and "Scarlet." "Scarlet" is actually a beautiful song, with a twist. It seems to be about a relationship, a hidden love, if you will. You never want to let go, yet you see how they treat you and how unhealthy it truly is. As for, "Whore", there's something just interesting about the song that's a bit difficult to explain. It sort of expresses knowing you're deep in someone else's head, and you're acknowledging that you two can be something. I feel like there's not a ton of songs out there that are quite like this. Over all, I'm not sure what to say about this album. I can't say I loved it by any means, but it's definitely attention grabbing. So, I highly suggest you simply listen to it yourself, and see what you think. Everyone may feel differently. Please be sure to leave your thoughts, and head on over to In This Moment's official website. Over there you will find all of their upcoming events, which includes several festivals such as Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville and Carolina Rebellion! For more information, please check out the respective festival websites. Today we are going to talk about one of the Papa Roach albums that I feel is slightly underrated sometimes. This one is their sixth studio album, Metamorphosis which came out on March 24, 2009. While it does contain a couple of the bigger hits from Papa Roach, such as "Hollywood Whore" and "I Almost Told You That I Loved You", it seems like most of the other tracks get forgotten. That may not be true, but the people around me hardly ever seem to mention anything but those songs. That being said, it did fairly well on charts all over the world, including here in the US. It reached number two on the US Hard Rock Albums, but the highest it reached outside of the US was actually in Austria. It reached number 12 over there, and then also reached 21 in Sweden, 23 in Germany, 42 in the UK, and 44 in Japan. The lead single is, "Hollywood Whore" which is about the idolized lifestyle of many Hollywood socialites. They're made to look like role models, but really they're far from it. It paints a picture of the typical Hollywood lifestyle that's not exactly glamorized. The part where they're leaving a party drunk as a skunk, after being passed out on the floor. Lyrically, it's not much, but it's a very catchy song that helped draw the attention into this album. I don't want to spend all day talking about the singles, because it feels fairly redundant with this album. They're big hits at this point in time, so therefor, obviously they're great. What I want to talk about are the other tracks that I think makes this album great. Starting with the first track actually, "Change or Die." This is a great song to get people hyped up, and I can say from personal experience that yes, it does hype up a crowd fantastically. It's all about life and how you have to change with the world, and more importantly how society expects you to change. It seems to be going with the insistence of change but then changes its pace and says "We won't go down, not tonight. This is our battle cry. We're ready for a fight. This is our battle cry." I think it's done fantastic, with just enough of screaming to give it a little more power. Another one I really enjoy is "State of Emergency", which I've always primarily enjoyed for the beat. Its catchy and fun, but it's also acknowledging the state of the world and the distress it causes. So while it might be fun to listen to, it's also fairly serious. Which is intriguing to me. It might come as no shock for me to say this, but Papa Roach did a fantastic job on this album, and much like most of their music, I highly recommend you check it out. Papa Roach has done quite a bit since the release of this album, like they've released three more albums, and have been on many tours. You can read the reviews we have for those albums if you like! In this order, the albums are Time For Annihilation, The Connection and F.E.A.R. Don't forget too! Papa Roach is extremely active today, and this year they are going to participate in many of the US festivals such as Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, Rock On The Range, and the Rock City Rockfest. For more information, please head on over to Papa Roach's official website, or the respective festival websites. On June 3, 2016, Beartooth released their second studio album, Aggressive. This time they were clearly on the map. With their debut, Disgusting, it actually didn't reach far out of the US, but did break the top ten on the US Hard Rock charts and reached 20 in the UK. This one however reached a much wider span of people. This one did not break the top ten anywhere but it broke broke the top 50 in six different countries including the US, UK, Canada, Austria and Australia. It also broke into the German, Swiss and Belgian charts. Not bad, Beartooth! Not bad! The fun started with the lead single and title track, "Aggressive" which came out at the same time of the album's pre-order. That track was good, and definitely would inspire some mosh pits live, but it didn't stand out to me nearly as much as a few others. The tracks that stood out the absolute most to me were "Hated" and "Loser." "Hated" is something I highly recommend anyone that tends to care too much and gives way too many chances to people. It's actually says "I won't forget, I won't forgive", and later flat out says, "It took a while but you're out of my life and I swear there's no better feeling." It can take a lot to cut someone out of your life, but sometimes enough is enough and it's up to you to decide when that is. As someone who tends to forgive and forget every bad thing anyone has ever done to me, I must say this, LISTEN TO THIS SONG. Use it as fuel to put your foot down and walk away when you need to. As for, "Loser", it's not only catchy in beat, but it's about being yourself despite whatever others may say. Why fit in when you're born to stand out? This song depicts that perfectly. "You say I'm just a loser in the background, I can never seem to get it right, but I'm learning my worth is more than your word. You told me I would back out, I would break down, I'm not even putting up a fight. But I'm learning my worth is more than your word." Be yourself -everyone else is already taken. I cannot say that enough, so whenever a song does it too, I have to applaud it. This entire album is highly worth listening to, and I highly recommend you look it up on Amazon, iTunes or Spotify! Use it to get excited because Beartooth has a lot coming up here shortly. Starting on March 8, they embark on a tour with Bring Me The Horizon that will last through April 8. After that, they begin performing at many of the big festivals happening around the US such as the 98 Rockfest, Fort Rock, Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, and Rock On The Range. After all that, they fly over to the UK to take part in the Slam Dunk festival. For more information, please head on over to Beartooth's official website, and the respective festival websites! Motionless In White is extremely well known now, and very well loved, but like every band, they had to start somewhere. I actually saw them just a few months after the release of their debut album, Creatures and honestly wasn't a fan at the time. As they have grown as a band, and my music taste has expanded, they have grown on me. So, it was kind of interesting to revisit this album, roughly six and a half years later. Aside from "Abigail", and "Immaculate Misconception", I remembered nothing, so this felt basically brand new to me, even though it wasn't even close. Creatures was released on October 12, 2010, and didn't appear to reach any charts. Unfortunately, I quickly came to a realization -I like what Motionless In White has grown to become, not who they used to be. I can remember way back when saying they gave me a headache and I saw the potential, but wasn't seeing the appeal of what they were. Sadly....that opinion still stands. They have become an awesome band, but this sounds entirely different than they do today. There's hints here and there of who they are now, and those parts I liked. Like during, "London In Terror", there's a slightly electronic sounding break down where Chris Motionless sounded a bit like Marilyn Manson. Overall though, this album gives me a headache. I can't hate on it entirely though, because every band starts somewhere and it set them on a great path. Plus I like that there's a theme of darkness to it that feels like it could easily be the plotline for a really good vampire movie. So its got that going for it, but honestly....I am not impressed. Others clearly really enjoyed Motionless In White's debut album, but I personally am just grateful for their growth. Their potential has definitely been met now, but it was barely shining through back then. In my eyes, anyways. Everyone's opinions differ on that subject. If you would like to see what I have thought of their last two albums, Infamous and Reincarnate, please feel free to read the reviews I already have up on the website. They have a new one called Graveyard Shift set to come out sometime this year, and I'm excited to see what they have in store for everyone. You also can keep up to date with MIW by checking out their official website. Over there you can see all of their tour dates, which includes the tour they are currently on Falling In Reverse, Issues , and Danger Kids. The tour goes now through February 12, and then after that they will be performing at many of the major festivals such as Welcome To Rockville, Fort Rock, Carolina Rebellion, Northern Invasion, and Rock On The Range! For further information, please visit the respective festival websites or MIW's website. Three Days Grace released their fifth studio album, Human on March 31, 2015. This was the first one to be released with Matt Walst as the band's frontman, and raised a lot of mixed reviews because of that. Chart wise, however, it did rather fantastic. It broke the top ten on four different US charts, along with a Canadian one. It hit number one on the US Top Hard Rock Albums charts, number three on the Top Alternative Albums and the Top Hard Rock albums. It also made it into the charts for Australia, Germany, and New Zealand. Now this review was a slightly difficult one to write, because if I'm quite honest -I had avoided listening to the album. If you've followed my work for a while, chances are you know Three Days Grace always has been a very important staple in my life. When Matt joined, I wasn't overly thrilled. Matt is a very good singer, and I liked him in My Darkest Days, but I didn't care for him in Three Days Grace. That being said, since this album is his work, not Adam's, I wondered if maybe it would be better. I'm going to be brutally honest and tell you all of my thoughts. Some of it is very good, because I was actually very pleasantly surprised with this album. Some of it though, is quite bad because I found some of it to be slightly....generic. The good did outweigh the bad though, I will start with that. First of all, I actually genuinely enjoyed several of the songs. Songs like "Landmine", "Fallen Angel", "Real You", "Tell Me Why" and "So What", all for different reasons. "Landmine" is the perfect song to pump yourself up, or to be played live to get a crowd excited. It doesn't really have a ton of meaning, but the catchy beat makes it fun and that was what I really liked about it. "So What" had a similar catchy vibe, but actually had a meaning that I honestly loved. Its all about being yourself, and not caring what people think. "You can say say that I'm going insane, and that I'm not quite right. And that I'm to blame. You can say I'm sick on the inside, but you don't know I like it that way. You can say whatever you like, if its so wrong I don't wanna be right." I'm all for being yourself, and admittedly, the way he worded that was fantastic. Now I could go into detail on the reasons why I enjoy all the songs I already mentioned, but I still have one other I would like to bring up that I had extremely mixed feelings about. That song is "The End is Not The Answer." While I fully appreciated the sentiment and the offer of strength that is provided in the song, it simply rubbed me wrong for a couple reasons. The song is an anti-suicide song, which is fantastic, don't get me wrong. Music is supposed to provide comfort and strength here and there, and this song is up that alley, so that genuinely is appreciated. However, I am going to be very blunt here about my immediate reaction. My very first reaction was, "This is the crappy version of Never Too Late." The meaning spoke for itself, but I felt like the lyrics didn't exactly flow very well. There were a few other disheartening thoughts that flowed through my head about this song, leaving a bitter taste about it, but at the risk of being fully unprofessional, I will keep those to myself. Overall though, I was very happily surprised with this album. As I said before, I was not eager to listen to it at all, so coming out with it with mostly positive things to say is rather refreshing. Please let me know what your thoughts on the album are, and after you do so please be sure to check out Three Days Grace's official website. Three Days Grace will very soon be taking part in several of the big festivals all around the Us. Those festivals include Fort Rock. Followed by that is Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Park Live, Extreme Mudfest and Rocklahoma. Further information can be found on Three Days Grace website, or the festival websites. Alter Bridge is a hard rock band from Orlando, FL and they made their debut on August 10, 2004 with One Day Remains. The album has been cerified Gold and initially didn't do bad on charts all over the world, and here in the US. It reached number five on the Billboard 200, broke the top 50 in New Zealand and Australia. It also reached 102 in the UK, 54 on the Swiss Music charts, 56 in the Netherlands, and 61 in Germany. Not too shabby for a debut album. The first single, "Open Your Eyes" came out on June 11 of the same year and I can definitely see why it drew some attention. Its not only got an incredible beat, but the lyrics to it are simply fantastic. It encourages you to keep going when you're feeling broken in a great way. "'Cause I see in you more than you'll ever know and I ask you, 'Why you question the strength inside?' And you need to know hwo to feels to be alive." It shows you that someone believes in you and encourages you to believe in yourself. So of course people were interested and wanted more. The entire album has a similar vibe to it, where it speaks of mental struggles but also provides the hope of strength. They had a very powerful beginning, and I think they've simply contiuned and are still doing great things today. I highly recommend checking out this album, I bet you will be very impressed. If pressed to pick stand out tracks, I think I would have to say "Open Your Eyes" is one of them, but the other would be, "Burn It Down." Which is much more of a solem track. Its about hitting rock bottom, and realizing its not over. "So burn it down, discovere the dusk of your day has its dawn." The darkness won't last forever, and it can be hard to remember that. This song is beautifully done and reminds you of that. Things get better, even when it feels like they won't. Since the release of this album, Alter Bridge have released four other albums, and have done some incredible things. They're still doing great things, as they just finished the Shiprocked Cruise and then will be going out on tour with Nonpoint in just a couple days. The tour goes through February 22. Then they fly over to Australia in early April to perform a handful of shows before coming back to the US to take part in several festivals. Those festivals are Fort Rock, Northern Invasion and Rock On The Range. For more information, please head on over to Alter Bridge's official website, and the respective festival websites. And stay tuned to Immortal Music! Several more reviews for Alter Bridge, along with other Fort Rock artists will be going up consistently until the end of April! Check back every day to see what's new. |
InformationAll reviews have the date they were written, the album title, and the band's name, with the exception of Life Starts Now by Three Days Grace and Dear Agony by Breaking Benjamin. Those dates were guessed at, as they were written well before the website began. Archives
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