Album Review : Restoring Force

Of Mice & Men is an amazing metalcore band hailing from California. I've mentioned them in a few different posts in passing, but seeing as their new album, Restoring Force, came out yesterday, I thought I'd try my hand at an album review.

Sunburns, Bruises, and Sore Throats : The Magic of Warped Tour

To an outsider- from parents to those who’d rather listen to regurgitated, remixed Top 40 hits, Vans Warped Tour, the genres of music it holds, and the entire subculture it surrounds and draws is a completely different world, and a frightening one. They listen to the songs that come from it and hear nothing but screams, growls, and words that disturb them. They wonder how anyone can stand to listen to it, let alone consider it music, and look at the subset of teenagers that do listen to it as troubled, and as trouble-makers. These people are accosted with outcries of “you just don’t understand!” from the people like us. The people who find comfort and healing in the music and the environment. And it’s true – it’s not understandable. That’s something I’ve learned to accept. There’s a quote that touched me profoundly when I heard it, and it goes “Art should disturb the comforted and comfort the disturbed.” Never in my life have I heard something more applicable or more true. When an artist screams in a song, it’s not Satanic or the devil’s doing, the singer isn’t possessed by some otherworldly spirit and trying to infiltrate the young impressionable minds of the youth. No, unlike what you’ll hear on the radio today, the singer is so overwhelmed by emotion that screaming is the only thing that makes sense.

Your Memory Will Carry On : The Legacy of My Chemical Romance

I think everyone has that one band. You know the one I'm talking about. The band that means everything to you. You may have obsessions that come and go, they may not always be the band you listen to 24/7. But it's your favorite band. The term 'favorite band' doesn't even begin to cover it, really. You know everything about that band; when and where they started, their names and positions, all their little quirks. They were there for you through childhood, growing up, through good times when you rocked out in your bedroom, and through the rough times when you sat alone in the dark with your headphones, tears streaming down your face. That band, for me, was and remains to be My Chemical Romance.

Review: Top 100 Songs of 2013

Here I've combined all the parts of my reviews of the top 100 songs of 2013 according to Billboard. 

Hardcore Music and 'Suicide Cult' Rock Bands

"Don't let the world bring you down, there's always hope for the willing, don't let the world bring you down, it's not over, you're not alone anymore."

I think it's a fair enough statement to say that the above lines are 'good'- inspiring, hopeful, encouraging. I don't think there are many that would disagree with that statement. However, the band who performs these lyrics, Of Mice & Men, are a hardcore/"screamo" band. A big percentage of the general population views this type of music as depressing, and sometimes even satanic. Why is that?

The Universality of Music

I wanted to begin this post with a quote on music, something that summarized my feelings about it. I do that a lot - find quotes from others to spark my own ramblings. I simply Googled "music quotes", figuring surely that would find me a basic, essential quote to begin with. Well, I was both right and wrong. There are thousands of beautiful quotes from everyone, from philosophers to musicians to authors, even Einstein. Goodreads.com, my favorite quote search engine, turned up over 2,000 results tagged with "music", and I found myself simply unable to choose just one quote to even begin with.