A Day to Remember: All Signs Point to Lauderdale

This is one of my favorite songs off of ADTR's newest album, What Seperates Me From You. I absolutely love this album, every song is so good. This song really sticks out for me because it reminds me of Marietta, my hometown. I left all my friends behind to fulfill my plan and this song sums up everything I have felt since I left.
I hope this song will stick with you as it has with me.

I See Stars: It Will Be Up (High School Never Ends)

This song is just plain amazing. It is one of my favorite songs off of I See Stars' latest album. I have listened to this song about a billion times. Honestly  though, this latest album and this song in particular is a great sophomore debut for I See Stars.
I'm not in high school anymore, but I can appreciate the lyrics. High school never ends when everyone has a Facebook. I do not have a Facebook, so it finally ended for me!

My Trip To East Carolina University

Today started off rather early. We had to pick my father up from the Airport around 11pm. We didn't make it back home until around 1:30am. So needless to say, we were all pretty tired.
We had to leave the house by 7:45am, so it was definitely still early. We were all a little cranky as we rode up to Greenville. Everyone except for Joshua, who was sleeping with his mouth open next to me in the back seat.

When we finally made it up to the campus and parked, we rode the bus to Wright Auditorium. We found out we were late for the commencement speech, so we decided to go check out the bookstore instead.
What is it about college textbooks that make them so expensive? I know that the publishers costs are not justified in the pricing scheme. I feel like its some sever price gouging and colleges and Universities are complicit in it when  they make you consistently buy the newest version. I can understand why when you are dealing with information that is constantly changing, but honestly, do we need a new edition of a math book every six months? I think not unless they needed to add new theorems or rules of math that were recently invented. I do not foresee this happening anytime soon.

Anyway, since we missed the speech (which my family was kind of glad they missed lol), we decided to grab some Starbucks. This campus has one on campus and one just on the edge of campus. So that was a major plus too! After we got some coffee, we went to a Campus Living and Dining Information Session. I felt so out of place. It pretty much all people who would be coming in as freshman and here I am 23 and right there with them. Good thing I look younger than I am.

After the session, we walked down the mall and got on the bus to take a bus tour. I'm really glad that these buses run throughout campus. It makes it easier to get from place to place. I'll have to check up on how the bus schedule runs on a typical basis once I start school. So we had this really funny tour guide. She was sad that she was graduating this semester. She had such passion for ECU and it made me feel like I had really made the best decision.

After we took the bus tour, we went to the Recreation Center. There were a lot of booths set up to display information from many different departments. I met the academic counselor from the Business Department and she was very nice and super helpful. Unfortunately for me, once I start school there I won't be able to declare my major as Business right away. That's OK though. I will work on the other classes I need and I will be advised as what to do anyway. That was one thing I was really happy about. The business department at least seemed to be full of passionate people who were concerned about their students well-being and their progress.

For lunch we went and ate at Todd Dining Hall on College Hill. It was pretty good, although I really didn't eat much. My appetite was much bigger than my actual hunger. I was super pumped that they had Coke Zero in their fountain pop. It made my day, for real. My brother was super excited about the dining hall being all you can eat. He grabbed like 4 or five plates. As we were finishing up our food I noticed some current students starting to sit down near us. They were wearing ATO shirts. I knew there wasn't an ATO on campus. So I went and talked to them, told them I was an ATO in Ohio, that I was transferring there in the fall. The one guy, Ethan gave me his number and told me to give him a text when it came closer to time. I believe they are aiming to get a charter so that ATO can be on ECU's campus. So I just might be an ATO again :), albeit a much older, mature ATO.

After lunch we went to Bates hall to get a better view of the business department. Mrs. Couse (sp?) was very helpful and showed us the classrooms, the staff offices and the Dean's office. What was nice is that my business classes will not have more than 45 students. Which is a good number for a university that has over 27,000 people going to it! I also tested the people in the business career center. I asked them about their internships, aka whether most were paid or unpaid. They were straight up with me and told me the pros and cons of both. I was glad to see they were honest and not just trying to "sell" me. So the last stop at Bates hall was in the computer lab. The speaker was a teacher ready to retire and he was basically talking about what kind of computer was needed as a business student and what operating systems, programs, etc. Pretty much everything I knew, but that's OK it just reinforces my knowledge. What was funny though is how the guy looked in the face and his head movement. I swear it reminded me of this guy:

(Minus the white beard and the jolly fat)

Well, that's all for now. I need to get some sleep as I have to work 10 to 6 tomorrow and I need to get math homework done.

Good night whomever is reading this :)

Britney Spears: Hold it Against Me

You may wonder why I am featuring this song. that's a good question. I feel like this is a really good song and it is something different from the POP industry. I have been feeling the whole Eurodance/Dubstep/Techno craze for a while and I have been waiting for it to enter into mainstream music. Here it is and Britney actually does a good job on this song.

I have to say though the music video is slightly creepy! Here is Hold it Against Me by Britney Spears (as if you didn't already know!).

A Bullet for Pretty Boy: The Deceiver

When I first heard this song, I was writing my latest song called The Truth.
I listened to the entire album as I wrote that song and it inspired me ever\y step of the way. What was really cool about that album is that the theme I was conveying cryptically was exactly what they were singing about. This is an amazing album that I probably should review, but until then they are featured.

I will have to add that this isn't really the official video, but the person who made this made a neat video that is both cool and funny. Enjoy!

The Truth

Does it seem like time is about to end?
Can you see the apocalyptic signs all around?
Is this just a construction of a fanciful imagination,
Or is there truth to what is feared?

Have you heard about the latest trend?
Never-ending war, death, and pestilence,
Have we forgotten to remain empathetic,
Forsaking all that HE taught us?

I can see through what has been know as propaganda,
Our country once great, is now dying.
It is our fault for believing all the lying,
We listen to what we want to hear,
But we block out that which we fear.
Fear has motivated us to accept this tyrannical rule,
Where we give up freedom for slavery.
You may disagree, but open your eyes and see,
You are not free, you do not live for you.
You live for the corporations,
For it is the corporations who govern you.
I know this seems scary, to believe that you have no control,
But you have to accept the truth,
Before death comes to find you.

Apathy has become the norm of society,
Entertainment is a priority,
While your civil liberties take a back seat.
We are now a nation of the lazy and repugnant,
We stand for nothing and believe in nothing,
We fight for the wrong reasons,
We believe we are entitled to everything,
But entitlement is blasphemy.

Transparency is the key to defeating secrecy,
So why do our politicians fight against it?
Because of what it hides,
Disguised in a swath of "National Security",
Is it hard to believe that what we know is false,
That maybe if you continue to tell a lie,
Eventually it becomes accepted as truth,
But a wise man once said,
The truth will set you free,
It will break the chains of agony,
But not everyone will accept what I say as Gospel,
For who am I but a single man,
But a single man who has come to spread the TRUTH!

I will not tell you the way in which to live,
But consider this a warning bearing consequence.
You can go back to your life of blissful ignorance,
Or you can take a stand for what is right.

We have a much higher authority to lend us a hand,
Even if you don't agree,
Is it not better than apathy?
What do we need to motivate us to change this oppression?
Where the rich get richer and the poor become famished?

Can you fix a broken system from within?
Who are we kidding, voting means nothing,
When we vote for the two parties who blend in,
If you don't believe corporations rule the government,
Then you don't remember Fascism from Nazi Germany,
Isn't it ironic to know that after the war,
When we claimed to defeat the Nazi ideology,
We brought over former soldiers,
Put them in positions of high power,
Gave them everything,
All of this done in secrecy,
Hiding behind a pile of paperclips,
People who may have lost the war,
But never lost their vision,
A takeover from within the system,
Now why do we resemble Nazi Germany?
Such a silly question you say?
We are nothing like them,
We are the USA!
Where corporate and government power blend as one,
Where democracy used to be,
Now a land of plutocracy.

Now are the words taking root or do you still fight what you can't believe?
That we fight wars of our own creation?
That maybe we are moving to a final destination?

Do you believe in sovereign nations?
Have you ever considered that we have but one government,
One controlled by the "elites"?
One World, One nation, One ruling class,
If you want to trace evil, just follow the money.

No one world currency?
How silly you must be,
When everything is traded based on dollars!
Why would the back of a dollar be plastered with images of the deceiver?
Could it be that we have moved into the end?
Or is this just a delusion masked by H.I.M.?

Abandon All Ships: Geeving

This is an amazing song. I was listening to it in my car today and decided to blast it with the windows down. I'm sure all the people who heard it were like wtf? Especially because I never hear anyone blasting metal or rock, just rap here where I live. Well, that's about to change with me.

Silverstein: Rescue

Silverstein's latest album Rescue is set to be released April 26. Rescue is the fifth full album the band has released. This album is the first to be put out on their new record label, Hopeless Records. Silverstein is no longer signed with Victory Records. So hopefully now that they are on a bigger record label, they will be marketed better because this band has great potential.

Rescue comes in three different versions. The standard version contains thirteen songs. The CD version contains the standard thirteen songs as well as three demos, two acoustics and a bonus song. The last version is the iTunes/Australian version which contains a piano version of Forget your Heart.

1) Burning Hearts-
Burning Hearts is the first song on the album and the introduction incorporates older musical ideas while adding a fresh take on the vocals. The music puts heavy emphasis on key parts of the vocal line. The rhythm almost feels like a pulse at times, really pulling everything together. This should definitely be a single as it would show off the bands true potential and creativity.

2) Darling Harbour-
Darling Harbour starts off slow, with three seperate vocals parts in unison. It creates a nice harmony. The vocals are excellent on this song, but the music in the beginning is slow and dull. However, as you listen on it builds and is much better than in the beginning. The guitar riffs in the chorus sound deep and squeaky clean which is a testament to the production on this song as well as how great the song is considering I listened to everything via MP3.

3) Forget Your Heart-
Forget your Heart starts off with a non-traditional scale. Which is nice to see coming from a band of this genre. Smooth transitions help differentiate the vocal patterns. There is also a chorus underneath the main vocals which gives them a feeling of depth. The music is rich and the vocals are sung to the point of screaming, toeing the line, but never crossing it. Near the end though, the vocals are screamed.

4) Good Luck with your Lives-
The music in the introduction is lame, except for the walking bass line. The music sounds thin and almost "tinny". After the introduction, the music widens and feels more reminiscent of what fans come to expect from Silverstein. The introduction finds its way throughout the song, so if I had one complaint that would be it. The vocals seem to be the highlight of this song, with most of the music being subtle. The music then thickens and creates a sense of envelopment which this song needed from the start. The first breakdown has a neat guitar riff that is slow, but forceful. It's melody driven, rather than technically challenging. The last chrous adds a broader musical sense that make this song way better. The screaming at the very end is very clean and adds to the tenacity of the song.

5) In Memory of-
In Memory of starts of with a twangy guitar solo. I thought it was a really cool idea to bend the pitches. It gives the song a slower, more emotional appeal. The vocals are top notch on this song; the music adds a sense of syncopation. There are several different melodic lines all at the same time, flowing throughout the song. The guitar line during the breakdown reminds me of how the guitars sound in some of the band Rush's songs. The soung builds to an emotional release in the way of screaming and then resolves by moving the vocals back to being sung. This song is very emotional, especially considering the subject matter. The vocals are harmonzied exceptionally well and is mixed with the music superbly.

6) Intervention-
Intervention is very technical, with screamed vocals from the start. Its as if the theme is portrayed in the first minute of the song. This is a very powerful and fast song. Silverstein incorporates a new type of breakdown for them, but one that is typical in the metalcore genre. it was short, but it was a nice change of pace and a surprising inclusion. The guitar melodies in this song are amazing and transition from line to line quite well. The guitar solo during the second breakdown is ludicrously fast. It adds to the zeniths and the bottoms of the vocal line. One of my favorite parts of this song is the combination of singing and screaming concurrently.

7) Live to Kill-
Live to kill begins with a vocal solo with guitar feedback in the background. It then moves into a slower form, with the vocals transitioning between clean and rough lines. The chorus is screamed while the other stanzas are sung. The drums keep the song seperated, which is important as there are two or three moving lines all at the same time. The chorus is very emotional. The breakdown is slower, highlighting the theme of the song saying "all we want is war".

8) Medication-
Medication has a deeper set of guitars, overlaid with a single harmonic line. It almost sounds like older Silverstein, with a more mainstream set of vocals. The key signature of the song was a good choice. The guitar riffs are pleaseing to the ear. The breakdown is quite technical, but the transitions from accidental to accidental are done quite well. The highlight of the breakdown is the vocal and guitar melody combination. They move together and they do it well. It seems to resolve, slowing the song and adding more guitar parts, then out of nowhere comes vocal pitch bends in the vocals! The song continues to slow, building the vocals up and using three vocal lines overlain on one another. Lastly there are three different sets of lyrics at once, which is by far my favorite part of this song.

9) Replace You-
Replace you is musically punk sounding, but with a hint of pop-punk guitar harmonies. The vocals are clean, crisp and Silverstein in the traditional sense. The chorus is very different from every song so far. This song is such an amzing song. It will demand your attention and drag you in. Everything about this song screams "put me on the radio". If Silverstein had to choose a song to go mainstream with, this would be it. This is a song that people from many different walks of life who enjoy rock music can enjoy. This should also be a single, because it is by far the best song on the album. The musical transitions are light and subtle, allowing the vocals to direct the melodic lines. Some of my favorite parts are when he bends the pitches as he sings. I think it is a neat idea that not a lot of rock bands do.

10) Sacrifice-
Sacrifice gets off hard and in your face from the first second it plays. The vocals alternate between singing and screaming. It's almost an alliteration between someone who is torn between two decisions or two worlds. The screaming parts are very emotional and almost impulsive, while the sung versions are almost like the singers conscious. The breakdown is very jagged. It continues the screaming theme building into an underlain guitar solo. It seems as if the "conscious" is winning until the bitter end where the last verse is sung and screamed in unison.

11) Texas Mickey-
Texas Mickey starts off with an arpeggioed guitar with a hint of wah-wah. Then the vocals chime in leading the transitions with even more pitch bends. The theme seems to switch in this song, where the conscious is the sung part and seems to be the "thoughts" of Shane. Anthony Raneri of Bayside makes a guest appearance on this song. It was a nice touch and Anthony's vocals on this song were by far the best vocals he's done to date (though I think they just had a new album come out recently).

12) The Artist-
The Artist is intense right from the get-go. This is the hardest song on the album. It's so intense that even the backing vocals are screamed. There are several mini-breakdowns and they are well-placed. The drums seem to drive the beat while the music flowed around the rhythm-based harmony. As the song progresses, it gets harder with sung parts sprinkled in here and there. One of my favorite parts is when there is a "church chorus" with a fluid guitar riff overlaid by two other moving musical lines. This song is by far the darkest on the album, maybe even darker than any other Silverstein song. The ending almost puts you into a trance until the main chorus at the end.

Overall-
I loved this album. The production quality on it was very high. There were a ton of melodic lines and all the songs were unique and didn't blend together, even though they fit a central theme. It is one of the few albums that I enjoyed every song, though it wasn't without a few problems that I noted above. This a slight deviation from Silverstein's traditional albums. I would guess that the new label has given them a slightly different direction, while keeping it the "Silverstein Way". There wasn't a lot of slow songs on the album, but that is a non-issue. Fans of Silverstein will love this album and those who are just starting to listen to them are coming in at a great time. This is by far the best album Silverstein has made to date and I look forward to their future releases.

4.2 out of 5