David Bowie & Ziggy Stardust.

In my last blog about Metallica, I wrote that you have to respect them as artist because they have been influential to so many artists that are popular today. The case is the same with David Bowie. Even if you hate Bowie, you have to have appreciation for his work because he has left such an incredible legacy on music.

The reason I love Bowie is because for one he is an incredible performer and two he writes concept albums. You look at someone like Gaga and some people think she’s a freak; however, she’s not doing something that hasn’t been done before. She wears ridiculous costumes and makes odd videos because she’s an artist and a performer, not just a musician. This was what Bowie did decades ago. He was androgynous to say the least, but he put a show from every angle. It takes unbelievable talent to be able to do what he did, what artist like Gaga are continuing to do. It’s a step above and beyond what is necessary of a musician.

With his amazing abilities as an artist he was able to bring the story of Ziggy Stardust to life. I am a sucker for concept albums as a person who appreciates good music. To write a concept album you need the skills of a storyteller in addition to the skills of a lyricist and I bow down to those that have succeeded. Ziggy in my personal opinion may be the greatest concept album of all time, it brought it to a whole new level (I know I’ll have some Beatles fans screaming “SGT. PEPPER’S !” at me). For those of you unfamiliar with Ziggy,(first I must ask “WHY?!”) in short, it tells the story of the world, destined to end in five years times, and Ziggy is the ultimate rockstar. Ziggy has dreams of starmen coming to save the planet and believes he is some sort of prophet. When these starmen come to earth they are invisible and must use Ziggy’s body to make themselves visible. They ultimate tear apart Ziggy’s body on stage and he dies. Bowie would dress up and portray Ziggy on stage, and created an impressive visual adaptation of the album. The only thing I can compare it to in present terms is My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade and how they had costumes for the stage performances (which was an incredible show if you had a chance to see The Black Parade tour a few years back) and you better believe Gerard Way was listening to some Ziggy went writing that album.

Respect your elders, children! Even Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong said Ziggy was one of greatest albums of all time.

So what are your thoughts and opinions?

Metallica

This post is sure to spark some controversy. Seeing as I have already written about a band I love, now I’m going to flip the table a write about a band I have a strong distaste for. Metallica.

I have discussed my dislike for Metallica several times on my personal Tumblr account and have gotten a mix of people agreeing with my opinions and people being utterly outraged. Now don’t get me wrong, I have immense respect for Metallica as artists and I feel like everyone that likes metal music at all has to have respect for them. Bands like Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, and Godsmack would probably not even exist if it wasn’t for Metallica, so I salute them for that.

However, my aversion towards Metallica remains purely on a musically level. Recently, VH1 Classic aired a documentary about metal music and one person stated that Metallica diverted itself from the hair-metal scene because they were “raw” and their music cut out all the fluff. This confuses me, does Metallic not have these long, and in my opinion obnoxiously long, intros in many of their songs? Now, add the guitar solos to this mix. I fail to see how this cuts out the fluff. When I think of raw music I think of The Ramones with fast, aggressive two minute tracks like Blitzkrieg Bop (but I obviously know to compare Metallica and The Ramones would be to compare an apple to an orange but you get my point).

As I’m writing this I’m listening to Black Flag and I hear this voice just full just intense anger and emotion and I find that James’ voices just lack this emotion. I mean sure he has the deep, “metal” voice but I just can’t seem to make that emotional connection with it. Listening to Avenged Sevenfold, which is a band that has been hugely effected by Metallica, I can just feel the passionate and energy that radiates from Matthew’s voice.

All in all, I just cannot get through a Metallica song. Honestly, just find myself bored between the length of the song, the guitar solos, and the vocals.

Any hardcore Metallica fans reading this, I’d love to hear your opinions.

The Bamboozle Roadshow 2010

I didn’t anticipate much going to the Bamboozle Roadshow because I’d already been to Bamboozle in New Jersey and Warped but it completely exceeded my expectations.

First off, I want to talk about the venue. I’d never been to the NC Music Factory in Charlotte before, but let me tell you it’s now my favorite venue. It’s literally an old mill that was divided into bars, music clubs, and the Fillmore Ballroom with an amphitheatre in the back. The Fillmore is actually a pretty decent size while still having that intimate feeling. The first half of the festival was in there (which was great because I was able to escape the brutal heat outside), then it moved outside in the late afternoon to the amphitheatre which is was a lot smaller than the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte but I enjoyed it a lot more.

The band that opened the festival was the California-based Drive A. I’d never listen to them prior to their performance but they were fantastic, the best band to play that stage in my opinion. Going back to some true punk roots with songs like “Take a Side” and “Can’t Sleep It Off.” I highly recommend if you like hard and loud punk to check them out (drivearocks.com). They’ve also opened for HIM, one of my all time favorite artists, so that just makes me like them even more.

Upon leaving the ballroom to move out to the amphitheatre I bumped into former-My Chemical Romance drummer, Bob Bryar, and he was just a delight. I’m assuming that he is back working in sound tech now that he’s left My Chem because he said he was “working.” I got an autograph and a blurry picture but I was content.

Despite not being familiar with Forever the Sickest Kids latest album they definitely gave the best performance out of the three times that I’ve seen them. They’re so energetic, and I love how Jonathan swings his mic around in a very Adam Lazzara-esque fashion. They’ll be putting out their next album The Weekend: Saturday at some point this summer and maybe by that time I’ll have picked up a copy of The Weekend: Friday.

While trying to get a drink and avoid the heat I met Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden. I thought it was very cool that a celebrity of his status was simply walking around the venue passing out Good Charlotte stickers to kids. It just goes to show you that there really are bands that are still in it for the music and the kids and not just the fame and money.

Good Charlotte. Amazing. I’d never had the opportunity to see them before and they completely blew me away. They played a pretty great setlist in just 40 minutes consisting of some of my favorites like Girls & Boys, and I Just Wanna Live.

Benji then came out and played with All Time Low. I’ve always ended up missing All Time Low’s sets at other festivals, though I did catch Alex singing with Sing It Loud at Warped last summer. I thought they were fantastic, even though they talked way too much and as a result had to shorten their set. Jack at one point got up and walked all the way out to the lawn with his guitar. I would love to see them again. By the way, if you have yet to see their dvd which just came out recently, I suggest you do so because it’s freakin’ hilarious!

Boys Like Girls was great despite the fact that I was not impressed with their second album. I saw them last year at Bamboozle in New Jersey and let me tell you (and don’t laugh), that was the roughest crowd I’d ever been in! I actually fell and couldn’t get back up because of the masses of teenage girls pushing, someone had to pick me up and put me on the barricade. Anyway, this performance was a far better experience than the last. We all bombarded the GA section for the final song, The Great Escape, although it took some people jumping over the fence to convince the security to let us down there. All in all it was a terrific show, and if your date hasn’t already passed I hope you’ll go because I had a wonderful time, and I would go as far as to rate it better than Warped Tour. If you went to the show, leave a comment and tell me about your experience.

Green Day

I figured a great way to start this blog with a bang would be to talk about my favorite band, Green Day. In the last decade or so Green Day’s had just about as much criticism as they have had praise. The hardcore punk scene rejects them for being too mainstream and not “real” punk while critics commend them by calling American Idiot a masterpiece. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on Green Day and I’ll be happy to hear yours as well.

I couldn’t actually tell you exactly when I discovered Green Day; I’ve been a fan through most of my childhood. American Idiot was released just as I was starting middle school and it couldn’t have been a more perfect time (many who were pre-teens or teenagers when Dookie was released can understand this as well). With the three characters Jesus of Suburbia, St. Jimmy, and Whatsername, the album portrayed the themes of isolation, confusion, and rebellion –which every young adult can empathize with. As I listened to this album over and over (and over and over) again it truly opened my eyes to the world (and to myself for that matter). It really showed me that the world was not perfect as I, a naïve child, had thought it was. My newfound secular perspectives and liberalism allowed me to begin to mature into the person I wanted to be. Admittedly, the person I wanted to be when I was twelve is not the same person I want to be as I near eighteen; however, I think you get my point.

Making its debut in May of last year, 21st Century Breakdown continued some of the same ideas and themes as its predecessor. Being five years older and wiser I was able to catch much more of the political statement in this album. Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong predicted what the world will be like for his sons when they grow up and these predictions are far from reassuring. This album scared the living shit out of me, with metaphors like fire and flames being representative of the destruction of 21st century, while at the same time made me want to become more like the character of Gloria –a strong, determined, optimistic, and confident woman.

Songs from both albums have been incorporated into the Broadway production of American Idiot. Michael Mayer’s interpretations have revived my appreciation for the album. The way Mayer had Letterbomb be sung by only females, and created the characters of Will and Tunny just blew my mind. Mayer truly dissected every aspect of the album from the lyrics to little details in the booklet (i.e the postcard signed by “Tunny” on the Homecoming page). I cannot wait until I get a chance to see the play in person and not via television.

I have so much respect for Green Day for being “punk” enough to not conform to “punk” standards. I look forward immensely to their growth and changes because I feel they are one of the greatest artists of our time.

So what do you think? Do you miss the “old” Green Day? Do you think they’re overrated? Or do you love them?