The Chorus Music Club Society • Page 96

Sounds like a plan

 

Looooove Alanis.

 

Yup for the album's 10th anniversary (I think only for sale at Starbucks).

 

oh i just figured out a killer rec for whoever i'm paired with next.

 

Idk if Taylor Swift would have a career in a world without Jagged Little Pill. That’s how influential I think it still is.

 

I've never listened to jagged little pill I only kinda know that song ironic

 

Not on Jagged Little Pill, but

 

isn't it iconic
don't cha think

 

Head Over Feet may be my favorite Alanis song

 

I saw her do an acoustic storytellers show, she didn't do You Oughta Know but besides that it was the best

 

Could be mine too, but tbh so could any of the ones I linked above.

 

Hand In Pocket is great too

 

Troof.

 

Added @skurt and @Mister Lyrical master list to the first post

 

@bachna84 sorry I haven’t reviewed the album from last week. It ended up being a crazy weird kinda bad week. I’ll get to it ASAP

 

No problem! Merry Christmas ;)

 

Thanks buddy. You guys blasting the Frozen soundtrack in your house today??

 

Ok, so two weeks ago @Colin Your Enthusiasm recommended to me the album Dialog by Paper Rivals. It's been a really busy couple of weeks for me so I didn't get as much time as I would have liked with this album, but with the time I was able to have with it, I can say it was a good album. There's a chance I might go back to it at a later time, but it will most probably be a couple tracks I will go back to like Are We Brothers?, Bluebird, Swimmer King.

 

Haha no, at my in-laws house now. Just trying to keep the kids from breaking anything expensive

 

The first record @Mary V recommended to me wasn't Birds of Tokyo- Self-Titled.

The first few songs here didn't really pull me in like I'd hoped they would. I was a little nervous for the rest of the record based on the start. When "In the Veins of Death Valley" began I started to begin gaining hope. That track was then followed by two of the best songs on the record "Circles" and "Wild At Heart"

The record continued on with highlights like "The Unspeakable Scene" and the amazing closer "If This Ship Sinks"

The best way I could describe this record is like a poor mans Biffy Clyro(meaning no disrespect to BOT, Biffy is just one of my favorite bands) mixed with Neon Ballroom era Silverchair. I really enjoyed the record and can't wait to hear more!

Favorite songs: "Circles" "Wild At Heart" "The Unspeakable Scene" "If This Ship Sinks"

 

I was told to stop in here. So do I basically wait until the next Sunday to get a partner to swap albums with? Will anyone take me into their group? What's the protocol? I don't mind jumping into a group and just reviewing whatever they have so as to not rock the boat but still participate.

 

The second record @Mary V assigned to me was Tori Amos- Under The Pink

I had heard a couple of Tori Amos, and thought I had an idea of what she sounded like from hearing her on the radio in the 90's. I was really surprised to hear how much variety there was on this record. I assumed that most of it was strictly piano driven ballads. While there were surprises, I definitely did find myself gravitating towards songs of that nature.

"Past The Mission" was one of the best tracks on here. The last chorus completely cuts out into just Tori and the piano to begin the last set of choruses. What was really surprising and unique is that it built back up to the full band, but they actually played a quieter version of the standard chorus, where usually it'd predictably build to a big epic last chorus.

"The Wrong Band" reminded me of The Beatles both musically and lyrically!

"Space Dog" was another unique one, where the verses had a funky bassline, but had a chorus consisting of just piano and Tori's vocals.

The record ends with an almost 10 minute song "Yes, Anastasia" whose second half sounds like it could belong on a movie soundtrack, straight out of the movie Fantasia.

The record was good, and it had 3 or 4 songs that I really really liked. I'll probably check out more of her stuff in the future, but her discography is very overwhelmingly large, so I'll need to dedicate some time to that sort of artist catch-up! Thanks for the recs @Mary V !

Favorite Songs: "Pretty Good Year" "Past The Mission" "Baker Baker" "Space Dog"

 

@Patterns in Traffic gave me the honor of reviewing Royal Tusk-DealBreaker

Rock n' Roll is alive and well and this album solidifies that. There are no labels or subgenre's here. As @elemenohpe put it best: "They don't fit into any other genres than rock and pop. They are so accessible but so niche at the same time". Our music culture, especially the one here on Chorus, is mesmerized with trying afix every band with some label and putting it in it's perfect little box(genre). This band is one of those that don't fit into any box.

When all is said is done, the best way to describe them is 70's rock with a modern pop sound. It's a fun summer time record that you can just blast out loud and is the perfect slice of Americana that will instantly catch anyone's ear. Lyrics are usually a big deal for me and help me to connect to a record but in this case it didn't matter. It is such a fun record and you lose yourself in it from the moment you hit play. The song Soon starts out with a riff stripped right from Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield. While Cold on Me has two minutes of them just jamming out and you can tell they are having a blast doing it. The songs that reach the six minute mark don't even phase you because they are just that good.

2017 has been an amazing year for records but this one will go down as one of my favorite of all time and something everyone should listen to.
10/10
Favorite tracks:
Above Ground
Curse the Weather
Cold On Me
Dynamo
So Long the Buildup (Ian Thornley from Big Wreck lends his guitar skills to this closing song)

 

@WolvesAreCircling182 and I exchanged three albums this week. Here's my write-up for the first one I listened to.

Hawthorne Heights
Skeletons
2010



Skeletons is Hawthorne Heights' fourth full-length release and their second release since the passing of unclean vocalist Casey Calvert. Their third full-length, 2008's Fragile Future, did not have any unclean vocals. Micah Carli, the band's lead guitarist, added some screaming to some tracks on Skeletons (End Of The Underground, Broken Man, Unforgivable) which makes this album a return to form for Hawthorne Heights.

With an album name like Skeletons, it's no surprise that some of the lyrics have a death theme. The tracks Bring You Back, End Of The Underground, and Gravestones all touch on this theme.

I thought that JT Woodruff's clean vocals on this album were pretty solid. The vocals in track 1, Bring You Back, are reminiscent of Chris Carrabba. I also enjoyed this album's lyrics a fair amount. End Of The Underground repeats the phrase "you're not alone" and Picket Fences is all about when life hasn't gone as planned and the hardships in life like problems at work and paying bills. It's a relatable track that I can see a lot of people connecting too.

Overall, this was an enjoyable listen. I would recommend this album to anyone who enjoyed their first two releases. There is noticeably less screaming on this album than their first two releases though, so if one was turned off by the unclean vocals of their first two albums, this may be worth a listen. The music itself is in the alternative rock/modern rock spectrum. Also, this album has 13 tracks and is only 42 minutes long, so it's a quick listen with most of the songs clocking in around 3 minutes in length.

The standout tracks to me are Bring You Back, End Of The Underground, Broken Man, Picket Fences, and Boy.

 

Glad to hear you liked it better than Zero :)