Hey guys, and welcome to the start of this new series I will be doing called Miscellaneous Mondays! Basically, these posts will come out once every month on a Monday. In the post, I will choose 5-10 random songs I don't think I'll be doing an in-depth review for in a top 10 or other post and just talk about them and why I love them. That way, we can bring some light to our Mondays with some great music! So that's basically it, so let's get into it!
INTRODUCTION
Lately, I've been listening to lots of different kinds and ranges of music, but a lot of that music has been on the alternative side due to these games called rankdowns I do on a music forum called Pulse Music Boards. One theme I have done recently is some 2000s alternative songs that crossed over to pop radio, so because I have been into that, a couple songs in that list have been in my rotation because of that game. I also picked out a few songs from outside of that game I've been enjoying in the past month or two just so the post isn't only about these alternative crossovers. This equates to six songs to discuss in this post. That's really enough said for this, so let's do it!
1. The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down
I liked this song from the first listen, but it took me a few months to really get into it. I first heard it in April when digging through old Billboard year-end charts, as this song was #52 on the 2007 edition of that chart. I listened to it once in May after adding it to my Spotify, according to my last.fm page. Then I had three more plays for it in September of this year because I was going back through the old alternative charts. The song was still really cool then, just not quite a keeper. Well, that changed about two weeks ago when I was listening to the songs for the 2000s alternative crossovers rankdown on Pulse Music Boards. This was one of the songs I had not heard or remembered much about, so I had to relisten to it for that. And that time, it not only clicked with me, but it stuck with me, so much that twenty eight of my thirty two plays for it have occurred this month. That's pretty crazy if you ask me. The song itself is extremely catchy and has great instrumentals throughout, and the story behind it is really cool. It's basically about a girl who gets abused by her boyfriend, but she still really loves him, so she hides her wounds with makeup and still sticks around with him, hoping for a change. But by the end of the song, the boyfriend discovers that his girlfriend will finally leave him if he doesn't stop beating her up. Pretty cool story if you ask me. All of this coming together makes for a pretty great song that definitely should have crossed over and become as much of a success as it was. I won't say any more here, but I found an article that discusses the song and why it still matters today. It's worth reading so you should check it out.
2. Three Days Grace - Never Too Late
I know I just did a whole post on songs I love from them, but I feel kind of bad for leaving this song out of it because it is really good. Plus, it is one of their most acclaimed songs, so I feel like I have to talk about it more in-depth than I would in an album review (yes, a One X album review is coming pretty soon). But anyways, I think this doesn't sound that much different from a normal great Three Days grace song. It just sounds a little better. I can definitely tell from listening to One X that they put a little more effort into songs like this, "Pain", and "Animal I Have Become", which is the first thing that brings the song up. It feels about as deep as those two songs do, too, which is cool because Three Days Grace are good at doing that. The meaning behind this song has to do with finding a way out of a very dark place, or just simply not giving up. And remember how much I talked about "One Headlight" by The Wallflowers in my top 25 songs of all-time post? Well, this song has a lot of similarities to it in terms of lyrics and theme. I also think that the guitars in this song work really well, and I like how it's mostly acoustic in the intro and verses but then gets heavier in the chorus. Same goes for the vocals. I like how all of that flows. This song isn't meant to be a huge banger, and I really don't mind that because of how cool everything else is. Amazing song overall, I would have put it on my top Three Days Grace songs list but there just wasn't room for it. But I still strongly recommend it.
3. Papa Roach - Who Do You Trust?
After going into two older alternative songs, here's a newer one to change things up. I haven't been into newer alternative music too much just because it's gone so downhill in the past five years or so, but this song shows no evidence of that. I first heard it on my local rock station a couple weeks ago, and while I thought the song would be forgettable after that listen, I kept hearing it on that station, and that's what made me come to really enjoy it. Eventually, I decided that it was just really good for a new Papa Roach song, so I added it to Spotify, and I have not hesitated any to give it a listen ever since. The song is just really catchy and has a fair amount of energy inside of it. Jacoby Shaddix has some cool vocals in it, too. I'm currently not sure how this song is doing commercially or on alternative radio, but I do know that they have a new album coming out next month, so that might be fun to review. We'll see when the time comes. But for now we have this song, which is very enjoyable because of how catchy it is. If you are not a huge fan of modern alternative music and want to hear something new from a band popular in the 2000s, then this song is for you. It's very good and deserves to be popular.
4. 6ix9ine/Fetty Wap/A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - KEKE
Here's a newer song by an artist that is frowned upon by most music fans today because of his criminal acts and weird-sounding songs. But personally, I don't have a problem with his music. "GUMMO" was a pretty good song despite a negative vibe that the song has for some reason. "FEFE" is okay but did not deserve to be as big as it was in my opinion. Then there's this song. It is an average song from 6ix9ine, which is pretty bad for the average music fan. But because I respect music way more than the average music fan does, I enjoy this song quite a bit. It's very catchy and can get stuck in your head really easily. And I think that 6ix9ine is a really good fit for this beat and this song for some reason. I could do without Fetty Wap's parts, but A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, who I think is actually a pretty good rapper, comes in perfectly and makes up for that. Unlike the first two songs I discussed in this post, this song doesn't really have any meaning to it, which is fine because not every song has that. Some are just for fun, like this one. And I like that. This was the first 6ix9ine song I got into, so while he is not one of my favorite rappers out there, this is probably my favorite song from him that deserved to be bigger than some of his other songs.
5. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
My story with getting into this song is very similar to the one I told for "Face Down": I first heard this in May when doing a 2000s rock rankdown for Pulse, and I thought it was cool. In fact, I still have my rankings that I did then, and I ranked this #24 out of 40 songs, which is pretty good considering how amazing the list was. Then I had to listen to it again in September when going through the old alternative charts, and I racked up a couple plays for it then. But a couple weeks ago when listening to it again for that 2000s alternative crossovers rankdown is when I really got into it. The song is really upbeat and fun, for one thing. I also think the dude sounds good throughout the song. As for the lyrics, I didn't really know what was going on in the lyrics until looking it up, so not much to say there. I was surprised to hear that the song wasn't about a girl, though. But yeah, I don't immediately spot many flaws in this song, which makes it really good. It's always fun to listen to, even if it wasn't as popular or as good as a lot of other pop punk songs from the 2000s.
6. Migos/Drake - Walk It Talk It
This is not a song I loved from the first listen. The first time I heard it a few months ago, I didn't like it because I thought it was lazy or something like that. And I guess I can understand it. But more listens got me into it, and while it isn't close to my favorite Migos song, it's very enjoyable. It's definitely not the most upbeat song out there, but it's not the most boring song out there either. I think the chorus is really good even though it's repetitive. But as someone studying music production and how songs are made, I can tell you that songs by popular artists like this are often repetitive because that gets stuck in your head the easiest and makes you want to listen to it more, therefore making it more popular. So I can see why that's there. The verses are also cool and flow really well. I'm not sure which is my favorite, but I can say that all of them contribute to making the song great, including Drake's, which is especially cool. The beat isn't the best, but it helps give the song a pretty decent vibe. This is not one of my favorite rap songs released this year, because there are way too many songs in that category, but it is something fun to listen to when there's nothing else. I thought that Culture II would be a somewhat disappointing album, but with how enjoyable this and "Stir Fry" are, I doubt that now.
So that wraps up my first miscellaneous Monday post! It was fun to make, and I hope it was fun for you guys to read as well. If you want to check out any of these songs because they sound cool to you from what I said about them, I embedded their YouTube videos when introducing them, so you can listen to them that way. I might make a Spotify playlist with all songs I talk about in these posts, and if I do, it will be on the sidebar where you can access it pretty easily. But we'll see about that. Until the next post, see you guys later and have a great rest of your day and week!
3. Papa Roach - Who Do You Trust?
After going into two older alternative songs, here's a newer one to change things up. I haven't been into newer alternative music too much just because it's gone so downhill in the past five years or so, but this song shows no evidence of that. I first heard it on my local rock station a couple weeks ago, and while I thought the song would be forgettable after that listen, I kept hearing it on that station, and that's what made me come to really enjoy it. Eventually, I decided that it was just really good for a new Papa Roach song, so I added it to Spotify, and I have not hesitated any to give it a listen ever since. The song is just really catchy and has a fair amount of energy inside of it. Jacoby Shaddix has some cool vocals in it, too. I'm currently not sure how this song is doing commercially or on alternative radio, but I do know that they have a new album coming out next month, so that might be fun to review. We'll see when the time comes. But for now we have this song, which is very enjoyable because of how catchy it is. If you are not a huge fan of modern alternative music and want to hear something new from a band popular in the 2000s, then this song is for you. It's very good and deserves to be popular.
4. 6ix9ine/Fetty Wap/A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie - KEKE
Here's a newer song by an artist that is frowned upon by most music fans today because of his criminal acts and weird-sounding songs. But personally, I don't have a problem with his music. "GUMMO" was a pretty good song despite a negative vibe that the song has for some reason. "FEFE" is okay but did not deserve to be as big as it was in my opinion. Then there's this song. It is an average song from 6ix9ine, which is pretty bad for the average music fan. But because I respect music way more than the average music fan does, I enjoy this song quite a bit. It's very catchy and can get stuck in your head really easily. And I think that 6ix9ine is a really good fit for this beat and this song for some reason. I could do without Fetty Wap's parts, but A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, who I think is actually a pretty good rapper, comes in perfectly and makes up for that. Unlike the first two songs I discussed in this post, this song doesn't really have any meaning to it, which is fine because not every song has that. Some are just for fun, like this one. And I like that. This was the first 6ix9ine song I got into, so while he is not one of my favorite rappers out there, this is probably my favorite song from him that deserved to be bigger than some of his other songs.
5. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
My story with getting into this song is very similar to the one I told for "Face Down": I first heard this in May when doing a 2000s rock rankdown for Pulse, and I thought it was cool. In fact, I still have my rankings that I did then, and I ranked this #24 out of 40 songs, which is pretty good considering how amazing the list was. Then I had to listen to it again in September when going through the old alternative charts, and I racked up a couple plays for it then. But a couple weeks ago when listening to it again for that 2000s alternative crossovers rankdown is when I really got into it. The song is really upbeat and fun, for one thing. I also think the dude sounds good throughout the song. As for the lyrics, I didn't really know what was going on in the lyrics until looking it up, so not much to say there. I was surprised to hear that the song wasn't about a girl, though. But yeah, I don't immediately spot many flaws in this song, which makes it really good. It's always fun to listen to, even if it wasn't as popular or as good as a lot of other pop punk songs from the 2000s.
6. Migos/Drake - Walk It Talk It
This is not a song I loved from the first listen. The first time I heard it a few months ago, I didn't like it because I thought it was lazy or something like that. And I guess I can understand it. But more listens got me into it, and while it isn't close to my favorite Migos song, it's very enjoyable. It's definitely not the most upbeat song out there, but it's not the most boring song out there either. I think the chorus is really good even though it's repetitive. But as someone studying music production and how songs are made, I can tell you that songs by popular artists like this are often repetitive because that gets stuck in your head the easiest and makes you want to listen to it more, therefore making it more popular. So I can see why that's there. The verses are also cool and flow really well. I'm not sure which is my favorite, but I can say that all of them contribute to making the song great, including Drake's, which is especially cool. The beat isn't the best, but it helps give the song a pretty decent vibe. This is not one of my favorite rap songs released this year, because there are way too many songs in that category, but it is something fun to listen to when there's nothing else. I thought that Culture II would be a somewhat disappointing album, but with how enjoyable this and "Stir Fry" are, I doubt that now.
So that wraps up my first miscellaneous Monday post! It was fun to make, and I hope it was fun for you guys to read as well. If you want to check out any of these songs because they sound cool to you from what I said about them, I embedded their YouTube videos when introducing them, so you can listen to them that way. I might make a Spotify playlist with all songs I talk about in these posts, and if I do, it will be on the sidebar where you can access it pretty easily. But we'll see about that. Until the next post, see you guys later and have a great rest of your day and week!
No comments:
Post a Comment