Alter Bridge "Fortress"

I wish I had this blog in November of 2010. If I had it then I would have been able to write an article on Alter Bridge’s AB III, and I would have written about how it was one of the greatest albums I had ever heard. I may have even written how I believed it was the best or second best all around album released since the turn of the millennium. I thought that after first listen, and three years later I STILL think that.

Coney Hatch "Four"

I’m not sure how many people can remember the first time they ever heard music. Most people might be lucky and remember around what age but not what artists. I however remember pretty much all of them. Thanks to my dad’s cassettes that he’d play in the car, I remember Van Halen and Boston being the first two bands I ever listened to who I liked enough to remember their names and want to hear more. This moved on to listening to my dad’s mixed cassettes in the car with artists that ranged from Don Henley to Rush to Ronnie James Dio. I was even introduced to some of the more obscure artists that my dad would listen to that I know a lot of people have never heard of such as Tygers of Pan Tang and Riot. I grew up with all of these artists and I credit this to my love for music and most importantly my love for classic rock.

The Naked and Famous "In Rolling Waves"

The Naked and Famous is different from the artists I usually write about. I must admit I’m surprised just how much I enjoy their music considering their music style is completely different from the norm of what I usually listen to. But at the same time, their music style is different in general. Now two albums in to their still relatively new career, the New Zealand band show no sign of giving in to musical norm.

The Flatliners "Dead Language"

I have known of The Flatliners for a few years. Around the time they released third album Cavalcade in 2010 is when I first heard of them, but I never did give them enough of a chance. On that album they had a pretty good punk sound, some elements of what I’ve found to be called “melodic hardcore” though I’m not sure how “hardcore” I’d call it. However, it didn’t capture me the way I’d have wanted it to and my interest in the band, at the time, didn’t grow. Hell, I didn’t even know until about a month ago that the band formed in a town which is about a 10 minute drive from my house. Eventually I found out that the band started out as a ska-punk band, which made sense as to why a song or two on Cavalcade had a ska-punk sound.

David Paige "This Is Love"

Having grown up in the 90’s, I have a pretty exceptional idea and memory of what music was like. My memory goes back to when I was about four and would hear songs like All Apologies by Nirvana or Interstate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots on the radio. Then eventually I remember bands like Our Lady Peace and Collective Soul coming in to play on the radio. I was only a kid though, not knowing what I was listening to. It was when I turned about seven that I started learning artist’s names; unfortunately that was right about the time the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys hit the airwaves. A couple of years later, in the mid/late 90’s, probably ’98 or so, before I boycotted all modern music altogether, I remember the heyday of alternative pop rock bands that I quite enjoyed.