Not many song-a-day threads (Wrap-up post up) (All done!)

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

A City Serene - With Swords Crossed

So today we've got A City Serene, an up-and-coming screamo band from San Diego.

I'm going to come right out and say that I wasn't a big fan of this song. Now, it would be real easy for me to write a review saying "This song sucks because it's screamo. The end." But as a serious reviewer I aim to hold myself to higher standards. So I challenged myself to seriously think about what it is I don't like about screamo. I came up with two main things:

a) This music is generally aimed at a narrow target audience, which I am not a part of. Simply put, this is music for scene kids, who are most likely in high school. I could even start dropping Hot Topic references, but you get the picture. Now there's nothing wrong with being scene, in fact, there's nothing wrong with the fact that this song scene. As long as its a scene you're a part of, that is. Generally, because the target audience for this type of music is a rather small portion of the overall whole, it tends to have a limited appeal. More often than not, it's just a social tool to help fit in with a certain clique, and the music is marketed accordingly. What's more is the fact the whole high school scene thing is typically just a passing phase in life. Case in point: when I was in high school, I listened to was Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, and Korn. Now I don't. Point is, you move on. And because of the audience that scene bands are targeted at, it tends to mean their shelf life really isn't all that long.

b) the screaming in screamo generally sucks. Really bad. The screamo vocalist here, Xander Bourgeois, has a very scratchy sounding scream that I find annoying. And it seems like I hear that kind of scream all the time in this type of music. For the type of screaming that I personally think is well done, listen to Anders Frieden's work with In Flames (early stuff) or Jon Nödtveidt from Dissection. Or even The Armed's "Liar," which was discussed in this very thread.

Now, more about the song itself. There is female singer, Carly Baker, who delivers melodic vocals. She is actually pretty decent. She's got a great voice, nice range, and helps set A City Serene apart. Outside of Baker, the song sounds a lot like a song by The Devil Wears Prada. If I don't like the screaming vocalist in a particular song, I can usually find something to appreciate in the instrumentation. But here, even that's not good. The drums are okay, but I've heard better. And the guitar riffs are beyond generic. It's so cliched, straight down to the stereotypical heavy breakdown parts that I think are written into every screamo and metalcore song in existence. And the lyrics have heavy emo influence.

So not really my cup of tea, though I will give it two points for Carly Baker. She's really not all that bad.

Score: 2 out of 5
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**Josseppe95** · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 1045 Location: Philadelphia

Carly Baker is really the main reason I listen to them. D=

Like, I get that screamo isn't really for everyone...personally I enjoy it on occasion, but her voice gets me every time, it is FANTASTIC.
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thecolonel wrote:

Why dont the leaders just get together, get stoned and watch 2001: A Space Odyssey.
then there would be no war.

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Ten Years After - I'd Love to Change the World

So these guys would love to change the world, you say? I think somebody should introduce them to this guy. Together, they'd turn the universe upside down.

We live in a culture today that absolutely deifies classic rock bands. Everyone from Led Zeppelin to The Who to Pink Floyd all the way down to that band that did "Black Betty" (yes, I know it's Ram Jam) seems to be plastered all over popular culture. That's why I can't figure out for the life of me why Ten Years After aren't better known than they are. If "I'd Love to Change the World" is any indication of the quality this band is capable of putting out, then the fact that this band isn't at least well known seems almost criminal. I'd certainly never heard of them coming into this.

What jumps out the most about this song is the pure display of emotion these guys put on. This song is the embodiment of everything that's great about classic rock. The song begins with some acoustic strains that I suspect borrow a little influence from Stairway to Heaven. That leads into energetic chords and the smooth yet inspiring vocals of Alvin Lee. The drumming is nothing special, but that's probably a product of the genre/time period. There is a nice breakdown coming just before the second verse. If there was one thing I could change about this song, it would be how he gets into a great flow during the verses and then just stops when he seems to get really going.

Along the way there's great guitar playing with an absolutely blistering solo. Everything from that point onward is god tier. The chords get heavier near the end and Lee's vocals get tough and steely. Combined with the subject matter of the song, it's such an emotional and energizing moment. You'll be ready to jump up and head to Kent State with your protest banners in tow. The lyrics are typical of your 60s/70s protest song, touching on everything from the economy to the environment to social friction. Lee quips that he'd love to change the world, but he doesn't know what to do, which is a great line that reflects the uncertainty many people felt at that time. He instead reminds the listener that the impetus is on them to correct the ills of the world.

Score: 4.6 out of 5
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**Davers**

**Eastwinn** · Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:45 pm Post subject:

I completely agree with you latest review. Thanks to whoever recommended it for reminding me about.

Have fun with Incubus

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John Cage wrote:

The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

According to Wikipedia, A Space in Time, the album containing "I'd Love to Change the World," predates "Stairway to Heaven" by a couple of months. But I suppose it was based on a popular musical motif at the time.

Tonight I work until 1am and have to be back in at 8am. So the next review won't be posted at the regular time. Expect to see it up tomorrow afternoon.

**InflatablePie** · Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 2022 Location: Syrinx

I checked out the TYA song thanks to the review, and I have to say, it IS pretty damn good. I might just pick this album up whenever I get more music.
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PiemanLK wrote:

Eastwinn wrote:

Right, but if you had the chocolate bar in your heart all along, no one would need to work. Did consider that?

If you have a chocolate bar in your heart I suggest seeking medical attention.

**Davers** · Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2010 9:24 pm Post subject:

Another one of my favorites by Ten Years After is The Bluest Blues. Very mellow and melodic. Very bluesy as you can probably tell by just the name. lol I don't know why they never made it big. They had some pretty good talent.

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Incubus - Calgone

Oh hell yes Incubus. This is a review I've been looking forward to doing since the thread began. You see, I was huge fan of Incubus in my late middle school/early high school years, around the time they were going strong with S.C.I.E.N.C.E. and Make Yourself. The band was something of an oddity during their early career. Their debut album, Fungus Amongus was more funk than rock and was chock full of Mr. Bungle and Red Hot Chili Peppers influences. And it was very obviously drug influenced. They tended to have some awkward moments on their early albums. On Medium, he brags about having bad body odor, and on Calgone he talks about pissing himself. It's like they're your straight-laced aunt who never does anything until one day she decides to have a few too many at your graduation party and makes an ass out of herself.

Two years later came the major label debut S.C.I.E.N.C.E., and the funk influences vanished overnight in favor of a hard rock sound. After that, the band cleaned up big time and would release one more balls out hard rock album before going down a totally different road. Everything starting with the Morning View album was all about being mellow, dripping melty chocolate down your chest, and Brandon being a sex god. Fortunately before they did all that, they dropped a gem of track known as Calgone, off the equally stellar S.C.I.E.N.C.E. album. Back in these days, Brandon had long dreads, Dirk Lance was playing crazy slap bass, and the whole band was getting so high that even Snoop Dogg was jealous.

Calgone is a song that combines many different musical elements. Brandon alternates between his excellent pure singing voice, but also unleashes a faster rapping/shouting/singing voice. No matter what style he's attempting, the guy is always brilliant. The song opens with some mellow spacey acoustic guitar strums, but the real stunner is the verse riff. This is literally the deepest riff I've ever heard, and it's groovy and heavy as hell. I can't think of the last time I heard a guitar tuned that low. In fact, there are tons of great headbanging riffs in this song, and Mike Enzinger covers many different styles in his playing. But the lyrics are an essential ingredient to understanding the appeal of the song. It seems Mr. Boyd is having a bad day, and try as he might, nothing seems to go right for him. He gets stopped by the police on the way home, then he runs out of gas and has to walk home in the rain, then he gets abducted by aliens, who put cold things in his butt, butt, butt! But in the end, he learns that it all happened because of his negativity. Proof you always gotta stay positive, I guess.

Jose Pasillas's drumming, as always, is really great. He rides the crash symbol a lot, but there's also some great spastic drumming. DJ Kilmore's contributions are easy to overlook if you aren't paying attention, but he adds a lot of zaniness to the track. Right before the end there's a joke spoken word part where some guy tries to erase the entire song from the studio. I never thought that part fit in back in the day and I still don't think it's the greatest, but meh. What can you say?

Score: 4.5 out of 5
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**Eastwinn** · Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 3:26 pm Post subject:

I always laugh with them at the end.

Do you not like Morning View? I love it, and I love A Crow Left of the Murder. But everything after that doesn't appeal to me. I don't really think of them as albums from the same band. If I feel like listening to Incubus (every hour of every day!) that could mean a number of things.

Nice review

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As Ellie Draws - surreal sketches and characters.

John Cage wrote:

The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.

**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

**evilpacman18** · Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 948 Location: Azusa, CA

Yay I'm tomorrow

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**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Deep Puddle Dynamics - Deep Puddle Dynamics Theme Song

One day in 1999, a group of guys just randomly decided to get together and record rap songs. What we got was Deep Puddle Dynamics, with the Deep Puddle Theme Song being the subject of review today. Now first off I want to say it's really cool these guys just got together to create a collection of DIY rap tracks. These guys are certainly talented rappers. Slug and Sole have great rhythm and flow, but Alias may be the best of them. He spits an absolutely sick verse that starts at about 1:27 (I'm assuming that's Alias. I used this to figure out who raps what. Correct me if I'm wrong). Dose One is fucking horrible though. He has this annoying nasally voice that sounds like he's trying to be a nerd rapper or something.

However, although the other three guys are certainly great, this track seems to suffer from composition issues and a lack of focus. For one thing, it seems like they never fully meshed out who was going to rap what parts. One guy will start in for a couple of lines and then somebody else will just come in. It sounds disjointed at times, but later in the song they begin to play off one another and it's really neat. But there are also some parts where they seem to be rapping all over each other and it's kind of a mess. And the lyrics are just wtf. It's like they just threw random words together with no thought to it other than it was going to be loosely based on a water theme. I do like the beat, however. It has a very DIY vibe and sounds like it was recorded on some pretty ghetto equipment, but I think that makes it better. So by this point it may sounds like I'm ripping this track but I'm not.

This song is a lot like the Miami Heat. It's an amazing collection of talent, but they haven't really jelled together to achieve their true potential. Apparently this group broke up pretty soon after releasing their first album, without achieving any real commercial success, but I think that only adds to their appeal. And I heard that Alias is no longer rapping. If that's true, it's a real shame.

Score: 3.25 out of 5

So, this wasn't a bad week. For song of the week there's several directions I could go, but I'm giving this one to Eastwinn for reminding me how awesome Incubus can be. As always, here's your cookie. Runner up slots go to Davers for Ten Years After and Parama for Iter Impius.
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**Amanwithapencil** · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 476 Location: Tennessee

Alright I'm going to be doing something a little different. This party is going to be going on a little longer than what I thought. I'm going to add four more slots to my list. Reason being is, the final week right now is only three songs and I want that to actually be a full week. So here's how this is going to work.

I want exactly one of these songs to be a country song. No more and no less.

HOLD THE PHONE, did he just say he wanted a country song? (I think he really just said he wants a country song!)

Yes, I said a country song. I want to try my hand at reviewing one. I know country isn't exactly Scorehero's strong suit but I'm only asking for one song.

I won't limit you as to what kind of country song, it can be anything from The Carter Family straight up to Taylor Swift. I want you to surprise me. Although preferably something that doesn't suck. But I wll say this - it would be great to review a badass old school outlaw country song, something like Waylon or Willie. (Not saying it has to be Waylon or Willie).

And I want one of those four songs to be a jazz song. Yes, I'm still on my jazz hangup. Deal with it.

The other two songs can be whatever, but make them good.

So. If you're

that you didn't get a pick in for me the first time here's your shot. Oh, and I'd like for people who don't already have a song on the list to get first crack at this, but I won't restrict it if I can't get that.

So - gogo! Let's make this last week absolutely phenomenal guys!
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