The Death of Michael Jackson: My thoughts and personal memories.

I haven't blogged on here in about a month and it's sad that it took this tragedy to get me to come back, but I had to get my thoughts out and make sense of the whole thing.

He was our Beatles. He was our Elvis.

I was born in 1983, at the height of the Thriller era, almost 26 years ago.

You can play that record today and it will be as relevant as it was back then.

Michael Jackson, however, was more than just a song. More than just an album. He was a movement.

He was known to be an extremely shy person and yet, through the music he put out, he let his voice and dancing shine through and he got other shy people like him to do it, too. Perhaps it was why he was so influential to so many artists.

He was not overly political apart from maybe this or this, but his music got people who would normally be apathetic to take action.

Michael's professionalism as a musician, performer, and entertainer not only made people want to work for him, but made those around him better. Better dancers, better collaborators, better producers, and better entertainers. Michael was a better artist and performer because of it.

Above all of that though, the music that has come out of four decades as a performer has brought people of all cultures, all creeds, and fans of all musical genres together.

I remember when HIStory came out and "Scream" was all the rage. I was at a summer day camp in the suburbs at the time and met this huge MJ fan who was my age. He was a white Jewish kid and for someone like me who grew up in mostly racially homogenized communities (whether black or white, HA get it?), it was both interesting and wonderful to see that this kid looked past any of his differences and appreciated his music for what it was.

As Videostatic so eloquently put it, Michael was and still is inarguably the greatest music video artist of all time.

They weren't just music videos, they were events. I remember the time (again, HA get it?) I watched his music videos when they premiered on Fox. Even Eddie Murphy got in on that shit.

25 years after the Thriller video came out, after a quarter of a century's worth of technological advancements in how music videos are produced, the Thriller video is still considered to be one of the greatest music videos ever made. It is old, but has not aged.

In this era of music videos, there are very few if any music videos that can hold a candle to it.

So many artists twittered (or is that tweeted) about his death. Rappers, rockers, pop stars, and metalheads alike are saddened and are probably reminiscing back to a day when they saw Michael moonwalk across a stage and decided that that was the day that they wanted to do what he did.

Whether he was covered or parodied, one thing is clear, his music and legacy will never be forgotten. Thanks for the music, MJ.

Superlist: Female-Fronted Bands

I love women who can sing. I love women who can scream. I love female-fronted bands. Ever since Evanescence's meteoric rise in 2003, I've been captivated by bands that have the influence of a woman in a rock band. In what is generally considered a male-dominant formats of Active and Alternative Rock, there have been many bands that have charted with songs and have been touring the States.

I'll mention most of the bigger bands that I like before I get to a list of the small, up and coming bands that I've been listening to for years. If you haven't heard from some bands, take a listen.

The Main Eventers:

1. Evanescence

2. Flyleaf

3. Lacuna Coil

4. Within Temptation

5. In This Moment

6. Garbage

7. Paramore

8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs

9. Halestorm

10. Fireflight

The Up and Comers (not in particular order):

1. The Swear

2. My Own Sin

3. Straight Line Stitch

4. The Day After...

5. Outlett

6. Damone

7. Self Made Soul

8. Blameshift

9. Meg and Dia

10. The Rebel Medium

11. Era for a Moment

12. Damsel Fly

13. Renfue

14. Don't Wake Aislin

15. Feed the Flame

16. Scarlet Sins

17. Goldy Locks

18. Kelsey and the Chaos

19. All Ends

20. Vertigo

21. Estrum

22. Valentine

23. Faces of March

24. April's End

25. Eowyn

26. Storyline

27. Mr. Bella

28. Breaking the Silence

29. VersaEmerge

30. Charetta

31. Ill of Day

32. Forever Oeuvre

33. Hey Monday

34. Swear On Your Life

35. Valora

36. UnSun

37. Maradona

38. Ardor

39. Eyes Set to Kill

40. Acalasia

41. The Birthday Massacre

42. Shadows Lie

43. Dilana

44. HeavensDust

45. Lennon/Devil's Gift

46. Cathryn Taylor Love

47. Delight

48. Die So Fluid

49. Lunic

50. Sick of Sarah

RIP

1. Flee the Seen

2. Wicked Wisdom

3. BiastFear

4. The Thief

5. Defy Tomorrow

6. Full Blown Rose

7. Holy Roman Empire

If you have any decent female-fronted bands that sound anything like these bands, I'm all ears.

You'd better like some of them, I've worked on this list for close to two hours now.

An Analysis of American Idol: Season 8

In less than two hours from this post, history will be made yet again as America crowns its American Idol for the eighth time.

I figured it'd be appropriate to talk about it. But wait, this IS a rock music blog is it?

Sure it is, but that doesn't mean I don't follow anything else.

This is the first season I've watched pretty much in full since Season 2. I really only like a few Idols that have won, so why should I care?

Because quite simply, I like the competition. And in times as they are, it serves as a nice escape.

Now onto the analysis.

This season can be best be summed up in two words: Adam Lambert.

Whether people love him, hate him, or are indifferent, this season has been defined by his performances.

People weeks in advance have crowned him as the next American Idol and that may indeed be so.

But the true test will come after. If he does win, what's his sound going to be like? I can't imagine what it would be like, but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be that of a typical pop star.

Is he going to be marketable past Idol or is he going to become the next Taylor Hicks? I would hate to say it, but it would seem that way. As shallow as it sounds, music is a business first.

I'm not knocking Adam for his singing talent (he has incredible range, but is generally not my kind of singer), however, I feel that his marketability will be the life and death of him. 

Kris Allen may be considered by critics to be boring and just another guy, but I honestly think that he's more marketable than Adam. At least with Kris, he pretty much knows who his audience is.

If 30 million people are watching the show every week for 12 weeks and you can't sell at least 500,000 copies of your debut record, you'd better believe you're not going to be on that label anymore.

Remember that this is a singing contest, but it is much more. It's a popularity contest. Alison Iraheta may have very well deserved to be in the top 3 and perhaps even in the final after the performance she gave. 

This season can also be summed up with two more words: Kara Dioguardi (I was waiting for this.).

The new judge has been met with mixed reviews...actually most people would rather have her gone. Say what you want about the woman, but when it comes to talent, she knows what she's talking about. She's a talented songwriter, no matter what you think of "No Boundaries", and is a hell of a singer.

This season has had its good points and bad points, but I think overall this show has actually become stronger. A part of it is because the Idols actually do more with the music. They now play instruments, they now re-interpret classic songs. Some for the better, some for the worse.

One thing I wish they'd do more of though is use more current songs.

Chris Daughtry used Shinedown's "I Dare You" and it became their most popular single at the time.

Chris Sligh used Mutemath's "Typical" and it became their most popular single to date.

American Idol needs to exploit its place in the music industry to promote what's going on now.

They already do some of that by bringing artists onto their shows, but I think they can do more if they used more current songs.

Well played, AI. Well played.

Favorite Songs (5/17/09)

It was safe to say that I was going to do this at some point. I don't want to make a habit of it, but this is a snapshot of what would be my favorite songs of the moment.

1. Sick Puppies-You're Going Down: Ever since this song leaked a couple of days ago, I've had the song on repeat. I haven't played a song this much in a row since Breaking Benjamin's Diary of Jane.

2. The Veer Union-Seasons: Catchy, heavy, and flat out great stuff. And we just found out that Sick Puppies and The Veer Union will be on a tour together with Hurt.

3. Hurt-Pandora: And speaking of Hurt...I decided not to put the lead single up here because that would have been the easy thing to do. I LOVE this song, the frantic verses and the beautiful piano outro. It's sex in song form.

4. Halestorm-Innocence: Another non-single here. This song was co-written with CFW blog favorite Ben Moody. It's part of the reason that it's my favorite song on the album...or maybe all of it.

5. Dredg-I Don't Know: Well, as I said before, it's kind of weird for me as a Christian to gravitate to this song because of its skeptical view on religion. However, I feel that I can relate to the song because of its hook.

6. Dredg-Saviour: Might as well add another one.

7. People in Planes-Mayday (M'aidez): This song's been out for a while but the video just came out for it and I fell in love with the song again.

8. Ra-Supernova: This band can do no wrong, releasing song after song of goodness. Most underrated band ever. Seriously.

9. Nural-Stop Me When You've Had Enough: How this band is not raping rock radio is absolutely shocking. This album is like a male version of Paramore's Riot!

10. Madina Lake-Never Take Us Alive: See Nural.

Favorite riffs.

Riffs are a rock song's DNA. 90% of the time, they make the song what it is. Of course, there are so many songs to choose from, but I'm going to give you just a sample of some of my personal favorites. Some of them are no-brainers and some of them are relatively new. All of them are awesome.

1. Alice in Chains-Man in the Box: And speaking of no brainers...

2. Deftones-My Own Summer (Shove It): This song has such a great riff to groove to. Easily one of the most recognizable riffs of the last 15 years.

3. Muse-Stockholm Syndrome: This is my favorite Muse song just for the riff. 

4. Sevendust-Inner City Blues: I could theoretically add any Sevendust song I want on this list, but I added this one because of how they made it their own and somehow made it sound close enough to the original without losing it.

5. Ra-Do You Call My Name: I love how this song incorporates a Middle Eastern vibe and then kills you with the beat.

6. Black Water Rising-Brother Go On: The song is only a year old, but having heard it, it really sticks in your head. This song was one of my favorites of all of last year.

7. Seether-Remedy: Probably the only Seether song that I could ever dance to. The song is a catchy party song that's not really a party song at all!

8. Three Days Grace-Animal I Have Become: Howard Benson's producing peak right here. This is the song I feel he'll be most remembered for producing because of the riff, the catchy lyrics, and the danciest drum beat this side of Paralyzer.

9. Red-Shadows: This song ought to be the next single for Innocence and Instinct. It just has to happen!

Submit a band!

I told you guys to stay tuned!

This is your forum. If you guys have a band or artist I should feature and you think they're good enough, reply to this message. I can't promise that I'll promote the band right away, but I promise that I'll at the very least listen to them.

I feel myself starting to run out of good bands to promote and I don't want to do that so that I stop writing entries. 

A band a day...The Fleeting Moment

Pennsylvania is really starting to become a hotbed for great rock bands. I've mentioned Halestorm, Breaking the Silence, and of course there's always Breaking Benjamin.

Could The Fleeting Moment be next in line?

The Fleeting Moment is:

Jordan Barmore (Vocals/Guitar)

Brad Kramer (Guitar/Vocals/Keys)

Jon Covert (Bass/Vocals/Keys)

Drew Kramer (Drums)

The Fleeting Moment kind of reminds me of some of the early 2000's pop-rock bands that were exploding onto the scene such as Vertical Horizon and Nine Days based on the song "Six Billion Pieces". Their demos seem to be moving in somewhat of a heavier direction though.

By the way, I'd like to thank the user Flyfreak on Tunelab Music who recommended them, making this band the first featured band to have actually been recommended by someone else on this blog.

If you have any bands that you'd like to recommend, you know what to do...or actually...I have a better plan. Stay tuned.