Song Highlight | Orianthi - Suffocated

I struggled for a long time over which Orianthi song I wanted to write about. For what it's worth, this is what I was planning to write next before I took my "extended hiatus" over on Thoughts From an Internal Monologue so yes, I've been struggling for about 5 months over which Orianthi song to write about. (Geez, when I put it like that it just sounds pathetic.)

I thought about just writing about the lead single "According To You" from her major label debut album, Believe, but as good as a song as that is, it sort of violated my rules for this feature since it was a mainstream radio single that was getting decent play. I considered the track "Highly Strung" which is a purely instrumental track featuring Steve Vai that showcases Orianthi's incredible guitarist talent. Only problem there was that it was purely instrumental and I wanted to find the perfect song that wasn't getting radio play, was one of the best on the album and showed off both her singing voice and guitar talent.

So I wound up going with "Suffocated." The only reason I was hesitant about this song was because it was a cover of the Sound The Alarm song, called "Suffocating" (interestingly enough.) You can find Sound The Alarm's version on YouTube and I almost feel sorry for them. They wrote a very good song but Orianthi's version, in my opinion, is a better take on it and has kinda blown their version out of the water. Her version of the song was featured in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Whether or not Sound The Alarm will ever get noticed remains to be seen but to be honest, there wasn't much I found their version that wasn't improved upon in Orianthi's version. There was nothing inherently bad about their version, and I still give them great original writing credit... but their music video's protagonist is a giant ball of lint. With bad CGI and green screen to boot. It's only sad because, aside from being a little heavy on the hipster style, they have the makings for a decent alternative band. Here, I'll just link it. There, I don't feel so bad anymore.

At the risk of rambling on too much longer, I'm looking forward to seeing what Orianthi does in the future. If you factor in the re-release/deluxe edition/whatever version of the album, Believe (II), a lot of the songs on the album are cover songs. Not inherently a bad thing in itself, but I prefer more original music. I like covers, but I think maybe one on an album is plenty. That being said, I still love "Suffocated" as one of the best songs on the album and her cover of "Courage" featuring Flyleaf's Lacey Mosley is pretty good too.

Frankly, it's just nice having a female artist in pop radio and who connects with the pop crowd but who actually showcases some real musical talent and isn't afraid to infuse a lot of rock elements without alienating said pop crowd. It's stuff like this that gives me hope for the genre because after enough exposure to real music, eventually people start to crave more like it and hopefully come to recognize true talent when they hear it.

Artist Spotlight | Halocene

This isn't how I plan to normally do Artist Spotlights as I will essentially have an Album Review (a feature I haven't written yet) incorporated into this alongside my thoughts on the featured artist. But oh well, I have a venue to lay out my thoughts here and that's all I care about right now.

So chances are you haven't heard of the band Halocene unless you, like myself, got sent a YouTube video of their lead single, "Secret." I was about to dismiss it as spam but out of boredom and because I kinda liked the band name, figured, "Well whatever this is, it won't stab me in the face through the computer screen. Not like last time anyway...."

So, Halocene. A little background to set the stage. I've gathered that they are an independent band hailing from Arizona. Not exactly sure where in Arizona, there seems to be some dissension over whether they're from Phoenix or Tempe but I don't know Arizona very well so maybe it's both? When I say "independent" I truly mean independent. They are independently recorded, produced, funded, etc. Now, while I can respect that in a band, and I don't really have any love for some of the ways the record labels run things, I think Halocene is in a position where getting signed would do them a lot of good. And I only make that obvious statement because I can't tell exactly how proud they are of being indie. They seem to have garnered some good local success but they're completely cut out for Top 40 radio and don't seem to have that much attention yet. More on that in a bit though; this paragraph is becoming convoluted.

Halocene has a solid pop-rock/alternative sound. Easily compared to the likes of Paramore or Avril Lavigne but I'm not going to mention that. Normally I wouldn't begrudge anyone their choice of genre. [Openly at least.] Sure, I think there's a lot of pop artists whose actual talent is being wasted in the pop genre but that's another story. The only problem I have with Halocene is the potential I see with them. They're one of those bands that has true talent. Singer Addie Nicole has a great voice and this is truly showcased on the band's acoustic cover of Yellowcard's "Ocean Avenue" which can be found on their YouTube page. I love this song and Nicole's version is truly stunning. Also, the rest of the band has some good musical talent as well as they rock pretty good.

But that sort of leads me into my problem with their sound. For a band that claims to be in the rock genre, they're really more in the pop-rock category on the whole. They don't even quite reach that alternative-rock sound of, say, Paramore.

Part of the reason for this are the songs themselves. "Secret" is the best example of this though I have a caveat to mention later. Basically, they're too high school-y. "Secret" being about rumors spread around loose lips essentially. Not all the songs are like this, I particularly like "In Memory Of" and a song from their PureVolume, "Toxic." But even while I like a good love song, "Love Was Just A Lie" and "My Addiction" felt far more like high school love songs than "mature" love songs. I'm hoping that the band will grow after a while and really develop a solid sound.

I wonder though, why Halocene chose "Secret" as their lead single if they want to be taken seriously as a rock band. Here's the caveat I mentioned, however. The music video for "Secret" shows the band, (all guys, I should mention except for Addie Nicole) having a slumber party in what I put together was one of the band member's houses, during which they all participate in a number of girlish activities ranging from pillow fights, to trying on clothes and stuff like that. The caveat is, I have a suspicion that this was sort of tongue in cheek. It almost seems too over the top compared to the rest of their stuff. And you know what, it's still catchy, still has good vocals, and still has good instruments. I'm more of a hard rock fan but the guitars are still good. I'm not asking them to be as heavy as say, The Pretty Reckless.

That being said though, I go back to potential. I'd like to challenge the band to push themselves when writing their next batch of songs. I'm not trying to say they should abandon who they are but that should really try to evolve who they are. I think they really have the opportunity to capture both the pop fans and the crossover fans who appreciate the style and talent of say, Orianthi. I know I'll be following them and will probably revisit them here at a later date.

In the meantime, Halocene's "The Secret" EP can be found on iTunes along with their Ocean Avenue cover single.
Also, check out their website where you can listen to all the songs from The Secret and find links to all their social media sites.

EDIT: Holy Christ that was long. Props if you stuck around through my rambling. Mental note: Next time, more concise.

Song Highlight | Burden of a Day - My Forfeit

Since I'm not going to have any time for anything this Saturday, I figured I'd write up a quick post now. Consider me caught up at this point.

I originally had a different artist in mind to highlight this time but I haven't had any time to pick the song yet so instead, I decided to keep the rock theme going and highlight a song that's been stuck in my head for the last few days.

I typically don't like a lot of screamo metal music. I like bands that use it sparingly but the ones that use it exclusively I find hard to listen to. However, I love the metal music itself and every so often I either get in a mood where I can tolerate it or find a band that I enjoy regardless. Burden of a Day is one of those bands that I just enjoy.

Now granted, they currently only have three albums and I believe they are broken up at this point in time. And on their last album, OneOneThousand, the only one I'm actually familiar with, they got a new singer who I specifically like. A lot of bands don't usually recover from a lead singer change but Burden of a Day turned out good and I'll talk more about lead singers some other time.

There are two songs by Burden of a Day that I ultimately want to highlight and I hard time deciding between these two favorites. Interestingly enough, the first and last tracks of the album; "Remember" and "My Forfeit" respectively. Even though "Remember" was the song that introduced me to the band, I decided to go with "My Forfeit" because there's less screaming in it, it's the one that's been stuck in my head lately, and because I think "Remember" is slightly better known. It has a music video at least... *shrug*

As for the song itself, it's great metal with driving guitars the whole way through and strong vocals. More albums need to end on amazing songs like this as opposed to slow, ballad endings (which I'm not against at all, but it's a bit overdone lately.) The ending of the song itself is incredible with a building energy all throughout the song and a strong climax at the end. This song needs to be in the movies.

I'll eventually write about "Remember" but for now enjoy "My Forfeit." Expect something completely different next week.

Song Highlight | Skillet - Imperfection

Hmm I think I missed a week again. Oh well, we'll get over it.

This week I'm highlighting a song from my number one favorite artist: Skillet. Skillet's had a somewhat... eclectic discography. Their first three albums were sort of a weird blend of grunge, electronic, and just overall 90's music. Their fourth album was a live worship album. And then in 2001, they got interesting. Their fifth album, Alien Youth, was sort of bridge between the old style and a new hard rock sound. This is the first of their albums that I can recommend to you in good conscience. Unless you like grunge/electronic/90's music I guess. That much is up to you.

Anyway, Alien Youth began to drastically change Skillet's sound and eventually I'll be highlighting a few great songs from that album as well. This album also saw the entrance of new guitarist Ben Kasica and although he only recorded on the song "Earth Invasion," I believe he is partially responsible for the heavier guitar sounds going forward. A couple years after Alien Youth came the album Collide which today's song is from. Collide is a straight-forward, face-melting rock album. Featured on the title track "Collide," however, were the beginnings of a classical infusion with violins and the like that were featured much more primarily on the next albums Comatose and Awake.

It is only recently since the release of Awake that Skillet is starting to get any noticeable radio play outside of Christian radio with great singles like "Monster," "Hero," "Awake and Alive," and "Forgiven." Of course, personally I think it's nine years too late but at least it's something. Even though everything on Comatose would have taken rock radio by storm. Yes, I'm a little bitter. But it has been fun to follow my favorite band as they finally get some mainstream success. But I digress...

"Imperfection" is one of the few songs from the Collide album to not be released as a single. Not that any of the songs that were released as singles didn't deserve it but it is a shame in it's own right that "Imperfection" wasn't. Not only is it one of the heaviest songs on the album next to "Savior" and "My Obsession" but it has one of the catchiest melodies and coolest solos as well. Not to mention I may have hurt my neck more than one time headbanging to it's sheer awesomeness. I'm also going to go on record here and say of all the songs Skillet play in their live shows from Collide, this is the one that's absence is the biggest disappointment. So if any of you Skillet people wind up reading this, please consider it. (Oh, and please try to come to California more. And I love you. There could be Dr. Pepper in it for you, John...)

The message of "Imperfection" is beyond powerful and one that almost everyone at some point or another in their lives can relate to. The emotionally charged lyrics are equally powerful and take the listener to a place of loneliness and brokenness but come back with amazing words of encouragement. Seriously, why isn't rock music taken more seriously? But I'm going to take a deep breath now and not rant on this now because this has gone on too long already.

So listen to the song now. I want to say something else about it but nothing I can say can match up to the lyrics themselves so I'll let them do the talking.

(By the way, I'd like to thank all the people I've been stealing videos from without returning credit. Go check them out. I'm going to assume that by now you know how to use YouTube and follow these embedded vids back. I am working on setting up my own YouTube account for this feature but that's going to require a bit more work then I know how to do at the moment so that will hopefully roll out when I get the Revolt Against Radio blog up as well.)

Since I'm writing this on a Friday and it was supposed to be up last Saturday, I may try and do another song tomorrow. We will see.