Awful Album Reviews #12: Bolt Thrower - Those Once Loyal

What's going on guys, it's me, the infamous Slayer69, back here for another awful album review! I was supposed to post a review of Bad Religion's How Could Hell Be Any Worse? about a month or so ago, but I never bothered to add the finishing touches on it, so I'm just doing this in the meantime. Also, this is the first post I am ever posting from my new computer I got about 2-3 weeks ago (before you ask, it's a MacBook Air), which is also pretty sick. And I believe this is the first album I am reviewing that is pure metal and not something like nu metal or alternative metal, which I am also a fan of. Basically, this should be an exciting post. Let's get into it!

INTRODUCTION

Those Once Loyal is the eight and final studio album released by English death metal band Bolt Thrower, released on November 11, 2005, in Germany, three days later in the remainder of Europe, and a day after that in the U.S. The album, which was produced by Andy Faulkner and released by Metal Blade records, was recorded and mixed at Sable Rose Studios in Coventry, England. Those Once Loyal, like other albums released by this band, deals with war, which in this case is World War I, as the album cover is based off of an original photograph from that conflict. After this album was released, the band said that their goal was to cease the recording of new music after "the perfect Bolt Thrower" album was released, despite rumors of a ninth album by singer Karl Willetts. Unfortunately for the band, this did end up being their final album, as they broke up a year after the unexpected death of drummer Martin Kearns in 2015. Considering that this was the final release of a very iconic death metal band, is it as good as you would expect it to be? Well, let's dive in and see.

REVIEW

DISCLAIMER: Before I start, I would just like to point out that I am not an expert on the genre of death metal, even though I try to sound like I am. I may be wrong on a couple of the facts, though my opinions define this whole thing. But yeah, just pointing that out.

Anyways, the main thing that I think defines this album and this band is the style that they pioneered and created through albums like these. You can hear it a lot on other iconic Bolt Thrower albums such as War Master (which I listened to just before starting this, actually), and I love how they kept that tone and that style all the way through the final album. I think the fact that this band has their own sound that is easily noticeable is one thing that makes for a good band. This is a bit off-topic, but this past weekend, I was at the Nashville Predators' beginning-of-season festival in downtown Nashville, and there was this alternative band called Moon Taxi playing at it. I heard a bit of them playing, and I didn't think they were very good, just because they sounded pretty much exactly like every other modern alternative band that is somewhat popular. If they had at least a little something that made their music more original, then it would have been a lot better. Bolt Thrower is exactly the opposite, however. As of right now, they are my favorite death metal band, just because the way they used a few elements from the genres of death metal and grindcore and put them together into their own signature style. I love hearing it so much.

One of the big things that defines this Bolt Thrower sound is the guitars. The guitar team of Gavin Ward and Barry Thomson is one of the most underrated ones out there in my opinion. They have an amazing chemistry and probably spend a lot of time writing riffs that define this band and have an original style to them. For example, on the song "Granite Wall", there was a very nice guitar solo that was played over the main riff to the song in the background, which can be pretty hard to pull off. But Ward and Thomson just made it look easy. They did an amazing job together on the track "Last Stand of Humanity" as well, having the rhythm guitar follow the change in drums while the lead played a solo that sounds great with the vibe of the song. A couple months ago, I was at Guitar Center and got a book called "Shredding Death Metal Guitar", and it taught death metal guitar techniques by showing riffs in the styles of many iconic bands such as Death, Opeth, and Cryptopsy. I found one that was in the style of Bolt Thrower, and I listened to the recording of it that was on the CD. That riff was very well-written, and once again represents the originality and signature tone of this band and guitar tandem. Creating something like this isn't always easy, so I praise the band a lot for this.

There's many other things I enjoy in addition to all of this. One of them is the vocal style of singer Karl Willetts. He has a classic death metal vocal growl that seems hard to execute, and the way it comes out is pretty amazing. It's not too tame, but not too brutal, and it matches the sound and feel that the rest of the band is giving off. The basslines played by Jo Bench are not the most interesting or complex, but even simple ones can do a lot. I hear people all the time saying things like, "The bass in metal is pointless," but I think it gives many songs a good structure and foundation in this album. I love the tone that Bench uses in the background of the guitars playing. And the drums are obviously really good. A death metal band with a good drummer and a death metal band with a great drummer can have totally different sounds, and I think that if Martin Kearns was not as talented or as experienced at the time of the recording, the rhythm section would have a slightly different feel to it. I would say the same about the bass, too. 

So yeah, I think there are a lot of positive things that come within this album. Whenever people think of the term "death metal", they just think about something so extreme that it's hard to take seriously, or just too brutal and satanist to get into. And people will often just drop the term in sentences occasionally to mean something extreme, though no one actually thinks about music that actually falls under that category and what it sounds like. But I think that this band and this record squashes a lot of that. It's heavy for sure, but it's not too comical or too violent and brutal. It's pretty much the perfect death metal starter album, at least in my opinion. I think this may have been one of the first death metal albums I ever heard in full, and I was very motivated to dig into the genre after hearing a couple albums from this band. So if you feel brave enough and want to hear what the genre really sounds like, then I would start with this. It's great for that occasion because of how much it accomplishes. Time for track reviews!

TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

1. "At First Light"

Rating: 10/10

Comments: This song is a great way to open the album, with the loud crashes and striking riffs. They fit very nicely with the vocals and atmosphere of the song and album. Overall a great track.

2. "Entrenched"

Rating: 9/10
Comments: I like how this goes hard right from the final seconds of "At First Light". The riffs are good, and the bass sounds nice. This doesn't stand out compared to other songs on the record, though it is a nice listen.

3. "The Killchain"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I haven't been into death metal for very long, but this is probably one of my favorite death metal songs I've heard throughout the ride. The riffing is very nice, and the way the song flows is pretty much perfect. Karl Willetts's vocals are especially amazing on this track as well. Also, I think it is very comparable to the song "Cenotaph" from War Master, which is a compliment.

4. "Granite Wall"
Rating: 8.5/10
Comments: This song goes hard for sure, but it's very forgettable to me, and doesn't have as much that makes it memorable or a standout. It is a nice cool-down from the fire that is "The Killchain", though.

5. "Those Once Loyal"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: This song has some very catchy guitar riffs that I've had stuck in my head many times before. I think the vocals here stand out quite a bit, too.

6. "Anti-Tank (Dead Armour)"
Rating: 8.5/10
Comments: This is one of the more popular songs off of the album, though it's definitely not my favorite one. It's not sticky like "Those Once Loyal" or "The Killchain", though the riffing is decent. Jo Bench does a great job on the bass in this song, though, which does give it a nice atmosphere.

7. "Last Stand of Humanity"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This song stood out to me from the very beginning. The riff is very catchy and I love the solo. It's a simple song, but it sounds quite good.

8. "Salvo"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: The combination of the catchy riffs and hard vocals here sounds nice. Not a standout track but is fun to hear.

9. "When Cannons Fade"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This is a decent track to close out the album, and I kind of like the low-key outro that leads the album to close. I don't like it as much as other people but I think it has a good place on this record.



OVERALL ALBUM SCORE

84/90 = 9.33/10 = 0.93 = 93.33333333%



FINAL WORDS

I don't know about you, but I think that was a pretty amazing record. This band did so much to shape their profile and the world of death metal, and their last effort shows it the best. If this sounds like something you would be interested in hearing, then you can check it out on YouTube here or Spotify here.

And that wraps up this post! Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, comments, or recommendations, then let me know in the comments section down below. I hope you guys have a great rest of your day, and I will see you all next time! Peace out!

Miscellaneous Mondays: August 2019 Edition!

Hello everybody, and welcome back to another post! It's been over six months since I last did one of these, so I'm gonna go for it today. If you forgot what these are, it's where I pick out a handful of songs I've been enjoying lately, and just talk about them because I have a chance to. I picked out six epic songs I've been enjoying recently, so this one will possibly be fun. Let's dive into it!

INTRODUCTION

...well I kind of just did an introduction so this is pointless. Onto the fun part now.

1. Adema - The Way You Like It

Okay, so if you're just a hit music geek then it's pretty likely that you have never heard of this song. But if you are a nu metal fan or you followed the rock charts in 2002, then you might know it. I cannot remember how I found it, but I did, and I came to enjoy it. There are lots of things in this song that I like hearing. I like the bassline a lot, and I think it gives the song a nice vibe. The rapping in the verse is something that I don't hear every day, so it's nice to get something different in my rotation. And I really like the chorus. The song is about how fame manipulates people and can change them into a foreign person. I think that's a good topic for a song, so I enjoy it. But the big thing that makes me listen to this song more than average is the band's name. Now you're probably thinking, "WTF?" about that, but here's why: I sort my playlists by artist name, so the ones higher up in the alphabet show up first. And in two of my playlists I listen to a ton, this song is the very first one in the order, so when I am doing something like changing classes and need to play a song quickly, I can easily go to this one. And because I see it in my playlist all the time, I think about it more, and just want to listen to it more. It's really weird but true. I recommend this to rap fans that want a little something different, because it is high in quality.

2. Bad Religion - Mediocre Minds

This song is really random, but I wanted to put one Bad Religion song on here, and I feel like this one is one I'll most likely not come back to for a while, so I decided on it. I discovered it while listening to No Substance, and it was that album's standout song for me. I added it to my playlists, which meant that I would listen to it whenever I would go on a Bad Religion binge. It's under two minutes long, which is normal for this band, but what runs in that short period is catchy and filled with energy, which is also normal for this band (see songs like "Henchman" and "The Positive Aspect of Negative Thinking" to see what I mean). There's even time for a cool guitar solo in it, which I think is pretty impressive. Also, in this song you can hear some great background vocals, which is one of the reasons why I love this band so much. If you start going through their albums, you'll see that what's in the background does way more than you would think. But yeah, this song is pretty good, and I don't think it'll hurt you to take two minutes out of your time to listen to it.

3. Destroyer 666 - Live and Burn

And here's another song that's really random, but also really good. I can't remember exactly how this song came to me, but I'm pretty sure that it was a recommendation from someone on Discord. I think they told me about this band, and then recommended a couple of their newer songs that would end up being this and another song called "Traitor". But I don't really know. I made a playlist of fun songs for while I was on vacation in early July, and I didn't mean to have any songs by this band in there, but they somehow ended up there anyways. This song clicked with me pretty fast, and as I started listening to more death metal and thrash metal, this song became a good go-to. I don't think it's that brutal compared to other bands I've heard out there, but it has just the right amount of punch for my liking. I have considered listening to more of this band after enjoying what I heard from them, but for now I have this, which is fine with me because it is really good.

4. Five Finger Death Punch - No One Gets Left Behind

So, I somehow still remember mentioning this band on my Top 10 Offspring Songs post when mentioning "Gone Away". I still think their cover of it sucks, but that may just be because it's very hard to make a good cover of a song like that. Though that doesn't mean I think the band sucks. They have lots of hit songs that I think are worth checking out, including "The Bleeding", "Hard To See", "Wrong Side of Heaven", and one of the newest ones, "Sham Pain". I first heard this song when listening to War Is The Answer in full, and while I didn't think that album was all that great, this song stood out. After a few more listens, I really came around to it and started to "get" the song. If you really listen to the lyrics, you can tell that the band has a big connection with the military, which was inspired with rhythm guitarist Zoltan Bathory's experiences with growing up in military bases, watching military movies, and having fans in the forces. He also once said that the radio broadcast in the song was taken from the transcript from a medical evacuation that a fan serving in the military gave the band. That's pretty cool if you ask me. I think the instrumentals and vocals work well with this song as well, especially the guitar riffs, which really got me. I think this song is great overall, it's not my favorite from the band but I think it may be up there.

5. Mudvayne - Death Blooms

Well, I've always wanted to talk about Mudvayne sometime on here, and I guess I have a chance to now. I really like them, not only because of how catchy their songs can be, but also because of the complexity of them. A big part of what makes this band so great in my opinion is bassist Ryan Martinie and his amazing complex basslines. And remember the first image I posted today that says "BRBR DENG" on it? Well, that is him in the picture, and that meme comes from the opening bassline in the song "Dig". I think "Dig" is a great song, but this song is another story. Not only is it a lot longer than "Dig", but it is also more of a good math rock song. It not only has the good complex basslines, but it also has some odd time signatures and changing tempos. I love hearing that stuff. One of the things on my current bucket list is to learn how to play this entire song on bass (as you can see from the second video I posted), and because this is Mudvayne, it may not be easy, though I have already gotten a lot of it down. As for the lyrics, they have to do with singer Chad Gray's grandmother and how she was neglected as a child, and that when she got older, Gray was the only one who cared when she was ill. She was also the one who began taking Gray to choirs where he learned to sing. She passed away in 2005, but since this song was released around 2000, she may have had a chance to hear it, and I think she would've been proud. If you don't like harder stuff, then I wouldn't go into this band, but if you want something different, then I suggest you go for it. You never know what will be your new favorite song.

6. Slipknot - Solway Firth

Oh hey, here's a song that's not something totally random from 2002 or so! In fact, it's only been out for a little over a month. It is the second single from Slipknot's sixth album We Are Not Your Kind that was released about two and a half weeks ago. I loved that album and may review it sometime in the future, and I think this song is a great way to close it out. It starts off sounding like a really slow and uninteresting ballad with nothing but some "Duality"-type vocals in it. Then at about the 58 second mark, it suddenly kicks in and starts you off on a wild ride. Speaking of 58 seconds, after the song came out, I remember seeing lots of memes on the band's subreddit that had to do with "when 0:58 hits" or something like that. They may be hard to find now but I thought they were pretty good. After that mark, the actual song starts. When I heard that a lot of the band's new album was supposed to sound like the band's sophomore album Iowa, I didn't believe it considering that this is 2019 and it's extremely rare to hear heavy guitars in songs. But I'm glad I was wrong. The song is really heavy, and I think the guitar team of Mick Thomson and Jim Root did a great job of making the song sound that way. The drums on this track are phenomenal, too. Former drummer Joey Jordison's departure from the band in 2013 left a huge hole in the band's lineup that many thought would be difficult to fill, but I think that Jay Weinberg was the perfect man for the job. You can tell just from hearing this song. And as usual, Corey Taylor sounds great, and I'm sure he thinks greatly about this. Love this song, love the new album, and I'm glad it was such a success because it was well-deserved.

And that does it for this post! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it, and if you have any comments or recommendations then just let me know. You can check out any of these songs with YouTube links I provided for you. I have about two other posts and then a couple more post ideas in the works, so stay tuned for more things in the future. Other than that, I think that's all I have to say. Thanks again and I'll see you guys again soon!

Awful Album Reviews #11: Rev Theory - Light It Up

Hello all you music fans, and welcome back to another awful album review! I didn't realize until now that it's been about three and a half months since I last did an album review on this blog, so I think now is a great time to do another one. Let's get rolling!



INTRODUCTION

The album I picked for this review is Light It Up, the second album and first major label release by rock band Rev Theory. It was first released by Interscope Records on June 10, 2008, and has sold 132,000 copies since then. About two and a half weeks after the album was released, it reached #74 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Four singles were released from the album: the title track, "Hell Yeah", "Far From Over", and "Broken Bones". "Hell Yeah" is often considered to be the band's signature song, and it was used as the theme song for the TV show Blue Mountain State. So, why did I choose to review this album, you ask? My answer is that I think it should be pretty good considering how much I am listening to the album's first two singles at the moment. And as you may know, I am a huge post-grunge fan, and I think songs like the title track represent that genre very well. In other words, I think this album will be pretty good. Let's give it a listen!



REVIEW

So when people think of post-grunge, they often think of massively popular crossover bands like Nickelback, Creed, Foo Fighters, and 3 Doors Down. Then when you start listening to it more and more, you discover bands that pretty much only dominated the rock charts, such as Godsmack, Shinedown, Chevelle, and Seether. And then you stop and find another wave of bands that were not as popular, but just as post-grunge, and often just as awesome. I think Rev Theory is one of those bands. Like a lot of these bands, they got popular off of one or two songs, and although it seems weird to listen to more from them, the stuff you hear may be good. In other words, less people may have heard of bands like these, but a lot of people who have heard of them love them just as much as they would a popular band. One of the big things I think makes this band shine is the vocals. I think Rich Luzzi is a great singer, and I love hearing his voice on any type of song. I don't know how he got to sound so good, but I am really impressed a lot of the times I hear him.

Another thing that I think sets this album apart and makes it a good one to represent post-grunge is the guitars and guitar tone used throughout the album. Not many people will notice and point out the tone of the guitars on a song or album, but on this album, I can't let that go unnoticed. It's like Billie Joe Armstrong making a Dookie guitar pedal. I especially like how it sounds on uplifting songs like "Hell Yeah". There was one point where I was thinking that Luzzi's powerful vocals would make the other instruments sound so good, but if you put the instruments by themselves, they probably would still impress me. Julien Jorgensen and Rikki Lixx were the ones responsible for that, so props to them.

Well, I don't know if I should say that those were really the only things I noticed that I thought made the album so good. I think the different post-grunge guitar styles and tones were a part of it. I didn't listen to the lyrics too much, but a lot of what I heard sounds like something that would be in a good post-grunge song. The drums were something I pointed out, too. They not only worked well with the guitars, vocals, and overall style, but they also stood out on their own, sometimes helping create an uplifting atmosphere in a lot of the songs. Dave Agogila excelled at that part. Other than that, a lot of it is sort of a "you have to listen to see the deal" thing. If you listen to it and like it, you can find more things that people like about this kind of music. There may be quite a bit. But I definitely recommend it. Now, here are my thoughts on each track.



TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

1. "Hell Yeah"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Honestly, how can someone not love this song? It's a great example of how rock songs can make great anthems. It has catchy guitar riffs and uplifting drum beats throughout that are hard to resist. Please, give your ears a rest from all that not-so-good modern pop and rap and listen to songs like these every once in a while. (I have a feeling it may be a secret strip club anthem, though.)

2. "Favorite Disease"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This one sounds cool! I wanted to hear more songs that sounded like the first two singles when listening to this album, and two tracks in I already have one. Nice going.

3. "Light It Up"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I really love the intro riff to this song. I have no idea why, I just think it sounds really grungey and cool. The good vibes seem to continue throughout the whole song, and the turnout is awesome. It is definitely an anthem, but not quite as good as "Hell Yeah". Though it still slaps.

4. "Broken Bones"
Rating: 9.99/10
Comments: I really liked the acoustic intro and the ballad-type vibe that was in the first minute, but I was thinking, "Please don't let this be a boring drum-less ballad!" I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I heard the drums kick in. The second chorus was really good, and was starting to bring life to the song. Then when I heard Rich Luzzi start singing the bridge, I was devoured in this song's greatness. This may be exaggerating a little, but I do really like this song and I think it's a good fit for a single.

5. "Kill the Headlights"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: One word: YES. The vocals on this track stand out a ton, and I think the way the guitars and drums work together gives the song a great atmosphere and sound. This is why you should listen to albums, people!

6. "Wanted Man"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: ...and all of what I just said also applies to this song. You cannot ignore the vocals on tracks like these. They make you realize that there are more talented post-grunge singers out there than you think.

7. "Ten Years"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: At first I didn't think it was quite as good as what I had heard so far, but when I heard how good Luzzi was singing here, I changed my mind. Seriously, his vocals can make a track sound really good. It's incredible.

8. "Falling Down'"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I thought that the song by Lil Peep and Xxxtentacion of the same name was great, but it's not much compared to this madness. The vocals, guitars, drums, and other sounds come together perfectly on this track.

9. "You're the One"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This didn't impress me as much as the other songs did, but it is still just as good. The acoustic guitars that appear throughout sound great. Am I just used to all this fire at this point?

10. "Far From Over"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I was waiting to hear this song because I saw someone on last.fm who thought that this was better than "Hell Yeah", so I wanted to see what the deal was. I think the song is great for sure, but I think it's hard to top "Hell Yeah", so I'm not gonna go that far with it. It does get insanely awesome at the end, however.



OVERALL ALBUM SCORE

99.99/100 = 9.99/10 = 0.99 = 99.9%



FINAL WORDS

If I had to sum up this album with a song title, it would without a doubt be "Hell Yeah". I had a lot of fun seeing what this album and this band had to offer, and I definitely want to continue listening to their discography after this. If you're interested in hearing the 99.9% quality inside this album, then you can listen to it on YouTube here or Spotify here. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a good rock band to listen to. Thanks to all who read this review, and I'll see you guys again soon! Have a great day!

Random Post #3: So This Actually Exists...

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another post! I would love to review something else or talk about some sort of chart soon, but today, I am here to post about something seemingly obscure that not many people would think is real. It's not really a song review, it's just more of me showing my amusement over this. Let's do it!



INTRODUCTION

So, I was surfing the web one day recently, and I was on the website for Loudwire, a site that posts rock and metal news and lists. They had one video on their site called "Top Ten Songs Under One Minute Long", and I watched it because I thought some great punk songs would be on it. It did have stuff like "Change of Ideas" by Bad Religion and "A.N.I.C." by Sum 41, but after those two songs were shown, there was something else. It was a song called "You Suffer" by British grindcore band Napalm Death, and it was only one second long. I'm not even joking, it just started and finished so quick that I was in total shock. So this post will basically be saying everything I can about the one-second-long song, and just how amusing it is to me.



THE ONE-SECOND-LONG SONG

"You Suffer" is a song released by Napalm Death from their debut album Scum, which was originally released on July 1, 1987, through Earache Records. The song and album are considered as grindcore, which is an extreme mix of heavy metal and hardcore punk; in fact, many call Scum the very first grindcore album. The album has twenty-eight songs on it that total thirty-three minutes and four seconds, which I think is just insane. Readers of British magazine Kerrang! voted it as the 50th best British album of all-time, and Robert Dimery included the album in his book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. "You Suffer", which was released in 1989 as the album's sole single, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest song in the world, as it is exactly 1.316 seconds long. Justin Broadrick, a former guitarist and vocalist from the band, said once that "You Suffer" was an "utterly retarded" song that was "largely a comedy thing", and that they often played it as much as thirty times in a row in front of thirty local kids. The song's only lyrics, which are, "You suffer, but why?" were written by former vocalist and bassist Nicholas "Nik Napalm" Bullen. In March of 2007, Earache Records produced and released a music video for the song that contained footage of a girl jumping overlaid with fake blood and gunshot effects. This song seems really crazy now, huh? Well, it may be really short, but it's so significant because of how impressive people think it is.

When I first heard this song, I thought it wasn't even that real. It just sounded like a full second of noise to me. But as I heard it more and more, it seemed a little bit more like a song. I couldn't really tell what they were saying as well, just because of how quick it was. The more I listened to it, the more impressive I thought it was. I then listened to Scum in full, and enjoyed it. There are a few other songs under thirty seconds long on the album (which means last.fm doesn't scrobble them), and it was overall pretty short. I even followed through with Scum's follow-up, From Enslavement To Obliteration, which possesses twenty-seven songs in just thirty-four minutes. Two songs on that album, titled "Your Achievement?" and "Dead" are six and four seconds long, respectively, but I don't think they compare to "You Suffer". I can really just listen to songs like that at any time and not really get sick of them, just because of how unique and different they are.

Oh, and one important thing I want to mention about this song. When you listen to it, you may only hear the fast vocals yelling, "You suffer, but why?", but there are all of the regular rock instruments in the background, including some quick guitar power chords and speedy blast beats (and speaking of blast beats, the original Napalm Death drummer invented the term "blast beat". Pretty cool, huh?). One thing I did when I was bored one day was try to look up how to play this song on guitar, if it was possible. Turns out, it's really easy; all you do is in sixteenth notes, play three D power chords and finish on the fourth tick going down to C-sharp. I was surprised at how simple it was. It's probably not as easy on the drums, but I don't know since I'm not a drummer. I thought about this and realized that it may be a cool beginner song to play, because of how quick it is and all. So if you're interested in playing metal guitar, this may be a good starter song.

And finally, I was searching up the song once, and one of the auto-fill results was a slowed down version of the song. I listened to it, and it was still so short and so weird. I could hear the C-sharp power chord at the end a little better, though, which was cool. You can look that up if you think it might be cool, but please listen to the original version first, because that would make a lot of sense.



FINAL WORDS

So that is pretty much this post! If you want to listen to this song, you can check it out on YouTube here or Spotify here. If you liked it and want something a little longer, then maybe you can try one of the band's first two albums, which I may review in the future. Thanks for reading this, and I'll see you guys again soon!

Terrible Top 10s #6: Most Iconic Nu Metal Songs

Hello music fans, and welcome back to this blog for another epic top 10 post! It's been sort of a while since I last did one, so for that reason, I am doing a top 10 post on iconic nu metal songs! I am really excited to do this as I am a huge fan of the genre. So let's do it!



INTRODUCTION

This may be weird, but I am going to introduce this post with a short life story. So about two years ago, I was around the peak of my trap-loving phase, and you know, all I listened to was Migos, Future, Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert, 21 Savage, and others of their kind. One Friday at school, I was thinking about fans of other genres and what they would be like, and metal was one of them. I got fascinated thinking about it and even came to a consensus that liking extreme music of that kind might be interesting to experiment with, so when I got home from school that day, I tried my best to start listening to some heavy metal music. I tried a Spotify playlist of newer metal tracks at first, but after about five minutes I decided that what Spotify called old school metal would be better. That playlist had artists like Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Metallica, and Iron Maiden in it, and I listened to it when I was going with my dad to get pizza that night. I even had told him about my plan, and he thought it was cool, but somehow after that I lost my motivation to continue getting into that genre. There was also another instance not long after this when I was in the car with my dad and he had the radio turned to the active rock station. They were playing the nu metal classic "Last Resort" by Papa Roach, and just one second of it made me think that this was more of that heavy metal stuff. My dad told me the song title and artist, and I just thought that Papa Roach sounded like a sort of interesting extreme metal band that I may or may not get into. That only taste of rock radio I had floated in my mind for a few months, and when I rediscovered songs like that months later, it was kind of cool.

So the moral of that story? If I could go back to that day and tell my 13-year-old self one thing about music, it would be to dig deep down into the subgenre of nu metal. Nu metal is a very interesting genre that blends heavy rock music with other styles like hip hop, funk, industrial, and grunge. It is often based around heavy guitar riffs despite having a very wide variety of influences. A common misconception is that nu metal is just a fancy term for rap rock or rap metal, and while a huge portion of nu metal is also rap rock, nu metal also includes bands that combine an alternative metal sound with influences like grunge. Bands like Staind, Godsmack, Evanescence, Hoobastank, and A Perfect Circle have been cited as nu metal despite a lack of hip-hop influences in their sound, so just take away that nu metal is not rap rock. But I still would have told my 13-year-old self about this subgenre because a huge portion of it does involve rapping over metal riffs, and I guarantee you that my 13-year-old self would have loved that. So yeah, that was a big long, but a good way to introduce this list. This is what I think are the most iconic songs from the nu metal genre. These are NOT my favorite nu metal songs of all time, these are the ones that I think influenced and defined the genre the most. I love all of these songs, but these aren't my favorite nu metal songs, but more of what I think the most iconic ones are. In other words, if you're looking to get into nu metal because you think it sounds cool (which I can confirm it does), then you're in the right place. And I am presenting them in alphabetical order, so they are not ordered from least iconic to most iconic. Enough talking, let's get started!

1. Slipknot - Before I Forget
Slipknot is one of those bands that I can't really pick out one signature song from. There were some earlier songs of theirs like "Wait and Bleed" that were fan favorites, then other rock hits like "Duality", "Psychosocial", and this. I picked this not only because it's my personal favorite, but because I think it represents the nu metal sound the best. And it had commercial success, which is also good. As for the song itself, it doesn't have that super heavy and deadly sound that a lot of Slipknot songs do. I don't mind those type of songs, but I prefer the more friendly sounding ones. This song starts out with a cool guitar riff, and after a few measures it goes into a verse that kicks off the nu metal feel of this song. I wouldn't necessarily call it rapping, but it's kind of a thing that vocalist Corey Taylor does in verses like that sometimes. When it kind of seems to switch up going into the chorus, I enjoy it. Taylor did a great job on that chorus and the song wouldn't be the same without it. In fact, while we're on the topic of that, let me just drop this in here:



Icony, huh? I thought so. I don't necessarily recommend this song or this band for someone just getting into nu metal, but once you've got through the basics and think you're ready for something big to hit, then try this or "Duality" out. They should be cool.

2. Drowning Pool - Bodies
If anyone pulls up in my presence and calls Drowning Pool a one hit wonder because of this song, then we are going to have some serious problems. But I picked this song to be on the list because I do think it is the best one. I am going to review Sinner sometime in the near future, so I will save a lot of my thoughts for that. But I will say this: If you have heard or seen any memes that have a whispering voice that says, "Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor...", then it comes from this song. After that short intro with that whispering, which I do think is good, it kicks right into the good stuff. One of the first noticeable things is how singer Dave Williams shows his talent almost right away. He sounds great throughout pretty much the whole song. The rest of the band brings the energy alongside that, and by the time the chorus hits, it's just one big masterpiece. Unlike "Before I Forget", I think this song is a somewhat good nu metal starter, but I would wait before listening to the album. I promise I will talk about this album in a separate post, but for now just understand how iconic this song is.

3. System of a Down - Chop Suey!
Personally, I am not the biggest System of a Down fan, as I think a lot of their music is pretty all over the place, but you still have to admit that they did a lot to the nu metal subgenre and the rock world in general. This is likely my favorite song of theirs because it sounds the most normal out of everything of theirs I've heard. But that's not why I put it on this list. I put it on this list because I think it represents the nu metal genre very well, both musically and commercially. It has a good build-up in the beginning that gets you hooked, and the changing styles and sections throughout the song keep you that way. This was the first System of a Down song I heard, and I'm glad it was because this was the most popular and the most loved out of them. I don't think it's a good nu metal starter song, but as you go on it is good to hear. Not much else to say about this one.

4. Saliva - Click Click Boom
Here's a song that not many people like. I can kind of see why, but as a nu metal fan, it's hard to agree with those people. This song just has pretty much everything I like to hear in it. It clicks on and brings heat almost right away, and it keeps it when it needs to be present. I haven't done much research on the lyrics, and while I know they're not supposed to be serious, it just seems like a story about singer Josey Scott or anybody when they were younger, as you can tell from the first verse. When it gets into the chorus, you can really tell it's just for fun. If you know a thing or two about the nu metal subgenre, you may know that it does have its group of fans, but most other people do not come around to it and don't see why people enjoy it. This song is a perfect example of something that falls into that category, at least in my opinion. It's not for everyone, but it is for some people. If you were like my 13-year-old self and is a rap fan looking for something similar that may not have necessarily been loved, then here you go.

5. Disturbed - Down With The Sickness
General music fans and chart fanatics may have heard of Disturbed from their cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" that was a hit a couple of years ago. However, if you want to be a nu metal fan, then get that out of your head. I did, and it helped me, so you should do the same. I didn't think that cover was bad, but Disturbed has so many great songs that it overshadows that so much. There's "Stupify", "Liberate", "Remember", "Stricken", "The Night", "Inside The Fire", and this, which is often considered the most iconic of those. It does so much in the time that it runs for, and it leaves me at least somewhat shook after every listen (and I've listened to this about 80 times so I know what I'm talking about). It starts off with a drum beat and quiet guitar riff that makes the song sound pretty passive, but at about the thirty second mark, you hear the first "OH-WAA-AAH-AAH-AAH!", and everything falls into place from there. I feel like this song and this band are good examples of why nu metal and rap rock are not the same thing. This is definitely not a rap-influenced song and Disturbed is not a rap-influenced band, yet they did so much to make the nu metal subgenre what it is. I love this song and love this band, and although they seem hated among regular metalheads they are just what I need.







boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
da boom na da noom na namena
GO!

6. Korn - Freak On a Leash
Most rock fans know Korn as one of the defining nu metal bands of the late 90s and early 2000s. However, there was a time when I just wasn't sure what they were thinking because I did not think that Korn should be considered as a nu metal band. I'm not sure why, I guess they just didn't have the vibe that bands like Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park had. Looking back, I can see what my old self was thinking, and while I definitely wouldn't consider every single thing Korn has done as nu metal, their stuff they put out during the subgenre's peak was pretty nu metal in my opinion. I debated on whether to use this song or "Falling Away From Me" for this list. I almost used "Falling Away From Me" because it sounds way more like a nu metal song than this to me, but this is often considered as Korn's signature song and one of the songs that helped nu metal rise to prominence, and this list isn't really based off of my opinion, so I went with this. "Falling Away From Me" is probably my favorite Korn song, but this song got it all started for me because of how cool it is to get into. It has this funky kind of vibe that captures your attention from the very start, and I feel like the choruses and bridge keep it from being boring for me. I feel it's hard to explain, so I guess you have to listen to see the deal. But let me just say that I've come to be a pretty big Korn fan, and if I didn't hear this song then I might not be as big of one.

7. Trapt - Headstrong
This song was released in 2002, but it's the second youngest song on this list. ("Before I Forget" was released as a single in early 2005, which makes it the youngest) I guess that shows how long it's been since nu metal was at its peak, and how big of a downfall it made. Anyways, I've been really familiar with this song for well over a year now, and I loved it from the first listen. I can't remember how I discovered it, but however it happened, I'm glad it did. In fact, this song was a huge crossover hit, peaking at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and ultimately becoming the 49th biggest song of 2003 according to Billboard. It was also a number one hit on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks and Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. I can see people calling Trapt a one hit wonder due to this being their only big crossover song, but they do have a couple decent songs they made after abandoning the nu metal sound in the mid 2000s, with "Bring It" being the best one in my opinion. It's not nearly as hard and angry as songs like this, so you can check that out if you want, though this is the one that ended up defining their career. I don't know why it was such a big mainstream hit, just because of the angry, heavy nature behind it, but hey, it is what it is, and I won't complain. This is not one of my all-time favorite nu metal songs but I do enjoy it quite a bit.

8. Linkin Park - In The End
I won't go too much into this song since I've talked about it on this blog already, but it is one of my all-time favorite songs and probably my favorite song on this list. I love Linkin Park with a pretty big passion, and they have so many songs that are high tier and always fun to listen to. This is like the grandfather of all of them. Not only was it their most commercially successful song, but it is also considered the most iconic. And one listen is probably all it takes to see why. It has great rapping, great singing, great instrumentation and production, and very well written lyrics. There are lots of great songs on Hybrid Theory, and if this one really stands out when compared to the rest of the songs, then that says something. As I previously mentioned, I won't say much more since this isn't my first time discussing it here, but this really is nothing but greatness, and it did a great job in representing the rock world on mainstream radio and charts.







CUT MY LIFE INTO PIECES

THIS IS MY LAST RESORT

9. Papa Roach - Last Resort
This is just me, but I have a hard time imagining a big nu metal fan that isn't in love with early stuff from Papa Roach. Everything released after Infest and lovehatetragedy is not really nu metal in my opinion, but those two albums, especially the former, are nu metal essentials for everyone. And this is really what got this band's popularity started. In fact, if you really don't mind cool kid-type rock music, then stop what you're doing and listen to this song now. (Just don't listen to the squeaky-clean version, I put that there as a joke) You may have heard it before because it was a really popular song, but if you haven't, this is a good chance to indulge yourself in it. This band really had rocked the world with this song and album, which is cool to think about. Lyrics and references to it can be found in lots of places, in memes, video games, and even Roblox skins:



That's all pretty impressive for a song about suicide, which not everyone may like to hear. It peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100, which I think is pretty good for a hard rock song. Even better, it was a top 3 hit in the UK, and their debut album Infest was certified 3x platinum with the help of this song's success. And again, for a song of this kind I think that's pretty good. I'm glad it got this popular because it really is a great song, and it probably got so many people into listening to nu metal, which is also cool. I don't know if this is my favorite Papa Roach song, because songs like "Between Angels and Insects", "Scars", "Forever", "...To Be Loved", and "Lifeline" exist. However, there will probably never be a time when listening to this won't be fun for me.

10. Limp Bizkit - Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)
When many people first see or hear something about Limp Bizkit, only negative things come to mind. That's because not very many people seem to like this band. I can't exactly explain why because I do enjoy their music, but it's hard to get that across to their haters because of how passionate they are about their opinions. This is the first Limp Bizkit song I ever heard, and I loved it from the very first listen. It even remains in my top 50 most played tracks (according to last.fm) to this day. I think the mix of hard rock and rap works very well on this song, and hearing Fred Durst spit the energetic chorus over Wes Borland's heavy guitar is always satisfying to me. The whole white guy rapping thing may be part of why this band is so hated, but I really don't mind it. If you can't stand this band and don't know why they got so popular, I respect your opinion, but just realize that the nu metal genre may not have been so popular without the success of them and other similar bands. And yes, that means that mainstream bands like Linkin Park and Papa Roach and some of their successors may not have been so popular without the initial nu metal boost made by bands like Limp Bizkit in the late 90s. Despite how much it seems like I love this song, it's not my favorite from this band, and I won't reveal my favorite yet because I hope to do a top 10 post on these guys eventually. But if you don't mind having an unpopular opinion and want to try something new, then check this out, and it may be your thing. I'm glad I did.







And that wraps up this top 10 post! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it, and don't forget: If you ever feel like my 13-year-old self did at the point I described, then this subgenre is for you. Or if you just think any of these songs sound cool to you, you can listen to them using the YouTube embeds that I placed when presenting each song. You may like them, you may not. But giving nu metal a try may not hurt you.

Also, before I sign off, I want to advertise that I am going to do a Q&A on this blog sometime in the future, and you guys will ask the questions. If you have anything you want to ask me, music related or not, you can ask me using this form, and I will answer your questions in a future post. There's no real deadline to send them, so if you have one in mind, send it as soon as you can. Just nothing too weird, disgusting, creepy, or personal. (I've already had to throw out three questions because of that so watch out) That is all I have for you, thanks again and have a great day!

Random Post #2: Discovering New Music...

Hey everyone! I'm bored right now and it's been a while since I last posted, so I'm doing this post just for fun. The title seems very vague, but I will have a lot to say about that title in this post. Let's get to it!



INTRODUCTION

Most of you reading this probably know what it's like to be a real music fanatic at this point. You listen to music all the time and love jamming out to your favorite songs and artists. But often times, you're stuck asking yourself this question: "How can I discover new music?" Well, in this post, I will not only give advice for discovering new music, but I will also talk about my own experiences and how I came to discover a lot of my favorite music, which can be an inspiration to everyone out there who is stuck on just what the heck you can listen to. And I've certainly been there, which should make me even more qualified to do this. So if you're unsure on methods of discovering new music and want some help, you're in the right place. Hopefully I don't screw up. So yeah, hope you enjoy.



MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES WITH DISCOVERING NEW MUSIC

Okay, so I think starting this post off with some life stories that have to do with this topic should be good. But in case you don't know much about me, here's some background info: I've been a big music listener and fan for almost four years now, and it all started around May or June 2015 (I was about 11 at that time) when my friend would turn on my local top 40 radio station while we would play video games together. He knew all of the songs and would often sing along to them when they came on. During the time when he was visiting (he lives 5 or 6 hours away from me so he stays for a few days when he visits), I got more and more attached to this pop radio, probably just because I had never heard a station like that before (when I was younger, my Christian mom only let me listen to the Christian stations probably because she didn't want me hearing a lot of the stuff on pop radio). After he left, I would spend pretty much all of my spare time listening to my local pop station and also things like the American Top 40 station, and it didn't take me long to discover Spotify from there. Being able to pick what songs I could listen to was like heaven for me, and I just spent even more time listening to the songs I liked from the radio on that. But when I realized how much music was out there was when I first took up the music discovering processes I sometimes use today.

Strangely enough, I didn't think too much to use the Internet when wanting to find new music to listen to, so I just went off on my own trying to find my new favorite songs and artists. I found out that I had to know what forms and genres I wanted to discover. The first thing I thought to find was rap music because it seemed that was what everyone at my school was listening to (this was around the beginning of my 6th grade year), and I thought it may be cool to try to take up rapping myself. I had heard before about big-name rap artists like Eminem and Drake, so it didn't take long for me to find a lot of songs from people like them that I loved. Following that was a short new pop music phase, and then my trap phase hit me hard. I certainly regret having that phase due to me thinking of my 13-year-old self as screwed up because of it, but one thing I did get out of it was music discovering methods. I knew what artists and genres I liked, so I just used Spotify to know what songs and artists from those genres were trending. I would find an artist that was supposedly similar to my faves or just trending in the trap world, so I just listened to a song or two from them, and that worked out perfectly. I still do that a lot to this day; in fact, I just did last night with some artists I knew were similar to my current rotation. It may seem risky, but I promise it does work.

Now let's go back to the summer of 2017, which was smack dab in the middle of my stupid teenager trap phase. I was encouraged to do an online game involving the 100 most popular songs of the 2000s, according to Billboard. I had to get familiar with all 100 songs, and then rank them from favorite to least favorite. But forget the ranking part. I didn't get crap out of that. I did get crap out of indulging myself in these songs. It was my first time in a pretty long while getting exposed to music that I wasn't used to hearing, and in this case, real music. There were some rap songs I got attached to, but there was also pop, rock, and even a little bit of country. I was getting attached to a lot of the rock stuff the most, and for once in my life I felt comfortable listening to that stuff around trap fans in school (by this point I had just started 8th grade). I did get that feeling out of doing this, but I also got a new music discovering tool for my tool box: Listening through charts or lists of successful songs.

Flash-forward to about a year later, which was actually last September. I had started high school at a pretty different school without all those unintelligent trap fans. I knew that that was my chance to really go where I wanted to go with music discovering. So I started a campaign where I would listen to the top 25 songs of every alternative chart from the previous year (2017) to 1999 (except I listened to the full '99 chart for another ranking game). I would put all of the songs I listened to in a playlist that I would then pick favorites out of. (And if you're wondering why I chose alternative, it's because I thought it would sound really good on my new headphones) I kind of look back at it now as a small failure, but it did lead me to discover many great bands from doing it, including Foo Fighters, Incubus, The Offspring, A Perfect Circle, and (cue the booing) Limp Bizkit. I don't think I'd use that exact method of discovering just because it didn't do as much as I wanted it to for me, but it did lead me to another common discovering method: Listening to albums.

I had never been much of an album person before this time. Unless it was one I had already listened to 20 times somehow, I usually got really bored when listening to them. But that changed one day towards the end of last September. I was really into listening to a then-strange band called The Offspring for some reason. They had quite a few songs I liked that I discovered through the chart-listening thing I did. Three of them, which were "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)", "The Kids Aren't Alright", and "Why Don't You Get a Job?" came off of one supposedly good album called Americana. I thought, "Hey, why don't I try listening to this? It shouldn't be too boring considering how upbeat a couple of these songs are." So I did. And it seemed to be pretty enjoyable for me, so I went on to another one that had the jam "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" on it. It was called Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace. I didn't think it stood out as much as Americana, but I liked it as well, and even decided to add "Hammerhead" from it to my rock playlist. That Offspring binge kicked off a whole album phase for me that lasted way longer than I thought it would. I listened to entire discographies of artists I had already loved and discovered from the previous method, though the immediate effects only brought four songs for my playlist: "Monkey Wrench" from the Foo Fighters' The Colour and the Shape, "Bullets" from Creed's Weathered, "Riot" from Three Days Grace's One-X, and another Offspring song called "Original Prankster". I did get my huge and powerful love for The Offspring out of doing that, but when I realized I could listen to a lot of these albums on my own time, it gave me albums for that, too. So nowadays when I find myself enjoying hour-long albums from Avenged Sevenfold, I thank myself from that time for stepping out of my comfort zone to discover more.

You'd think doing all of that would cook up a big storm, but I think I was wrong. That winter, my music discovering journey seemed to hit a dead end. I had just listened to whole alternative charts that gave me a love for bands like Godsmack, Papa Roach, Breaking Benjamin, Korn, Disturbed, and Shinedown, but by the end of that month I had no motivation or direction for getting more listening music in my arsenal. I took to music servers on Discord for advice. The first piece I got was to take what Spotify gives you. That made sense to me, because after all Spotify does make a huge effort in recommending you music they think you'll like. They have this playlist called Discover Weekly that they update every week with 30 songs they think you'll like, and this dude told me it was "flames" and that it was good for discovering music. And looking back, I do not regret taking his advice. I don't listen to it as much as I used to, but it does give me a great song or two when I need one. It is good for getting into new artists as well. And that pretty much takes us to the present day, where I am just a 15-year-old rock-head who is always finding great new rock songs and bands to listen to. I know this section was pretty long, but we're getting to the fun part, trust me.



HOW TO DISCOVER?

So all of me talking about how I discovered a lot of my favorite music comes down to this question: How can any average music can discover music that they will like and want to listen to? Well, the following paragraphs should be packed with discovering methods and advice for finding stuff you like. I will try not to include methods that I have not tried or have not gotten much out of, so all of these should work for at least someone. It doesn't matter which one(s) you start with, just whatever works for you I guess. So here is the general advice and some methods that should work for you.



GENERAL ADVICE FOR DISCOVERING

1. Know what you want to discover. Not knowing what kind of music you want to discover is like driving to a place you've never been to or seen without a map or GPS: It's really hard and will probably take a while to find the place. It works the same way with discovering new music. If you don't know what you want to discover, you're going to have a very hard time getting progress. Just knowing what genre you like or want to get into is a good start. But knowing what type of charts or what era of music you want to know also works. Just have at least a little bit of a game plan. You don't need too much.

2. Don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. If I didn't do this, then I would still be that annoying trap teenager I was 2 years ago. It feels weird at first, but it won't be long before it does become part of your comfort zone. If there's something you think you may like but you don't know if you will, please do not hesitate.

3. It's good to discover, but don't over-discover. I actually made this mistake right after I started listening to stuff Spotify recommended to me. As a result, I couldn't keep up with everything I had discovered and added to my playlists that I pretty much had to listen to playlists with a bunch of songs I'm not too familiar with, which often times isn't good for me. I had to take a long break from discovering music after that, which wasn't too fun. So please watch yourself and try not to make this mistake.

4. Take what your streaming service gives you. I already mentioned this one, but this does help. Spotify is a great service that has personalized mixes and playlists, but lots of services have top songs playlists for many eras and genres that can be very good for someone who is looking for new stuff to listen to. If you don't take advantage of this, then you're missing out.

5. Music and reviewing websites can be your friend. When you see a critic or general person mention that a certain song, album, or artist is good, they are likely not wrong. Even YouTube videos are good for this type of thing because they play samples of these songs right in front of you. Also, along with this, try not to listen to negativity that comes from critics and websites. You don't need to prevent yourself from listening to things because critics say they suck.



EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR DISCOVERING MUSIC

1. Listen through charts of genres and eras you like or want to discover. This helped me a lot in getting more into rock music and I plan to do this with more active rock charts this summer. Just try to actively listen to whatever song comes up, and if you like it, save it to your library or add it to your playlist so you can keep listening to it.

2. Listen to albums. It may seem boring since a lot of albums can be boring, but you will quickly get used to it. Have a few go-to albums that you can queue up and listen to at any time. What albums you listen to don't matter as long as you think you may enjoy them enough that you can listen to them any time.

3. Use streaming services and recommendation sites to your advantage. I talked about this in number four of the last list, but taking what your streaming service gives you is a great way to find something new to listen to. And I mentioned music reviewing websites right after that. Another thing is to use websites like last.fm that give you recommendations based on what you listen to. It's a really cool site that I really enjoy using. You can look at my profile here if you wish.

4. What I like to call the "just because" method. This is when you pick out an artist or a song you have heard is similar to stuff you like, and you queue a lot of different things up just because. I have discovered lots of my favorite songs and artists over the years from doing this, and that's because it really does work. For example, if you wanted to try getting into post-grunge, you would go find out some of the most influential post-grunge artists, and just pick out a couple songs from each of them to listen to. And you can find what you like and go from there. It also helps with stepping out of your comfort zone, which makes it an all-around good way to find good music.

5. YouTube videos! By this, I mean videos that show charts or genre-specific songs and play 10-15 second samples of them. When I do this, I have my phone right in front of me ready to search up a song to save if I like what I heard from it. It is quick and it is effective, as these videos are not hard to find.

6. Listen to the radio. After all, that is how I came to be a music fan. Your city probably has radio stations for pretty much any genre, and you can discover lots of great stuff from there. The Music Choice channels you get from cable TV work as well.

7. Ask other people. Whether in real life or over the Internet, other people can be a great source of great new music. A good option is to find someone who has a similar taste to you, or join an online community of people who are a lot like you. These people will more than likely know at least a great song or two that you don't know, and by using them you can quickly get a bunch of new songs for your playlist. What I like to do is trade recommendations with people, which means I give them a song or album recommendation that I think they'd like, and then I ask them to give me something in return, that way we're both benefiting from the process. This is also here to let you know that if you want to know more rock songs of any kind, then feel free to ask me and I can help you out.



TOO LONG? DIDN'T WANT TO READ?

Here's a summary of all I've said in this post: All music fans should love discovering new music, but often times we don't know how. But there are many different ways of doing this. You can listen through charts or albums, or be wise and take what your streaming service gives you. The "just because" method I previously explained also works out great, as well as asking other people, listening to the radio, and watching YouTube videos with compilations of song samples in them. Some things to remember as you discover include knowing what you want to find, being open to trying new things and getting out of your comfort zone, and not overloading with stuff you're not as familiar with. If you ever hit a discovering rut and don't know how to get out of it, then just check back here for advice and you're good to go!



FINAL WORDS

And that brings this post to an end. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed making it. (And for the record, yes, I did enjoy making this) If you have any questions or want recommendations, then feel free to talk to me and ask me. You can comment here or use a site like Discord to talk. And if you have any recommendations for me, please share them because I am very open to listening to them. But that's all for now, and I'll see you all next time! Have a great life! :D

Crappy Chart Reviews #2: SiriusXM Hits 1 Weekend Countdown (2016)

So, I got a request from Chasetrovicii to review a SiriusXM Hits 1 Weekend Countdown, and I thought that would be a good idea. I haven't reviewed anything related to Hits 1 in a while, so I think this should be fun. However, I have been pretty busy lately and don't have time to go through a weekend chart, so I will look at their year-end chart for 2016 because it's one of the ones I'm most familiar with. I hope that's sufficient for the suggestor. Anyways, no need for an introduction because I kind of just gave one. Let's do this!




REVIEW

45. "Stitches" by Shawn Mendes
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I remember hearing this song on the radio all the time back in late 2015 and early 2016. I liked hearing it on there because I thought the song was catchy and well-produced. I'm glad that Shawn Mendes got so popular because he is talented.

44. "Hymn For The Weekend" by Coldplay and Beyonce
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Although Hits 1 apparently played the SeeB remix of this song, I am basing this off of the original because it's the one I am more familiar with. I loved the original from the very first listen and still do to this day. Probably not Coldplay's best, but I am impressed with how good it is considering how late in their career it was released.

43. "Roses" by The Chainsmokers and ROZES
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This song is weird, but I enjoy it. The Chainsmokers make some good EDM music and they are the main reason why this appeals to me.

42. "I Know What You Did Last Summer" by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Yay, more Shawn Mendes! I don't stan him or anything, but I'd much rather see him on 2016 charts than some lazy, overrated trap music. Camila Cabello is great on this song as well.

41. "Same Old Love" by Selena Gomez
Rating: 9/10
Comments: Some people were not huge fans of Selena's music from this era, but I didn't mind it. This song sounds very similar to "Havana" by Camila Cabello to me, and I guess that's a good thing because it could have paved the way for "Havana" to be as good as it is. I don't know. But I do think this song is decent.

40. "Into You" by Ariana Grande
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I was really into this at one point, and my love for it hasn't really decreased any. I don't know what it is, it's just so fun and upbeat. This is what I like to hear from Ariana rather than stuff like "7 rings".

39. "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber
Rating: 6.5/10
Comments: I like it, but I think it is kind of overrated. It was Billboard's #1 song of 2016, which I don't really agree with, but it's better than a boring trap song, I guess.

38. "Let It Go" by James Bay
Rating: 5/10
Comments: I have mixed thoughts about this one. Part of me thinks it sounds okay, but a bigger part doesn't find it as pleasing to the ear. It's certainly not bad, but it's also hard to call it good. I don't know what it is.

37. "Out of the Woods" by Taylor Swift
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I actually listened to 1989 in full a couple weeks ago. It was a great album that I could do a full post on in the future if anyone wanted it. All of the many singles were great, and this is no exception. The production is great and Taylor sounds just as great. I wish I was into it more when it was popular.

36. "Girls Talk Boys" by 5 Seconds of Summer
Rating: 7/10
Comments: I don't remember this band's songs from around this time too well, but this was pretty decent from what I remember. But I think I preferred their more recent hit "Want You Back".

35. "Youth" by Troye Sivan
Rating: 8/10
Comments: I was sort of into this song when it was popular, and I tend to forget about that. This isn't quite as good as songs like "My My My!" but I like the background music in this one a lot.

34. "One Call Away" by Charlie Puth
Rating: 6/10
Comments: I think Charlie Puth is very talented, but this song is pretty boring. His vocals kind of keep it from being something not worth listening to, although it's still nothing I would look forward to going back to.

33. "Confident" by Demi Lovato
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Wow, I've gone back and remembered a lot of talented singers from this time now. Demi has a ton of good songs and this is a good example of what she can do. I always seem to forget about how good she is, although I wish I couldn't.

32. "Stand By You" by Rachel Platten
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Wow, I've gone back and remembered a lot of talented singers from this time now. [2] I liked "Fight Song" but I prefer this for sure.

31. "In The Night" by The Weeknd
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Not the best song off of Beauty Behind The Madness, as that probably goes to "Can't Feel My Face". But I think it's good, he sounds great as usual.

30. "Drag Me Down" by One Direction
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I wish these guys would get back together in an attempt to pull everyone away from the dangers of rap flooding the charts. This song spent a week at the top spot of Hits 1's weekend countdown, which is good considering what music had usually been like. Both the vocals and production shine a lot on this track, something that is common with this band. If you have not heard a song by One Direction and want something kind of recent, I recommend this. It's really cool.

29. "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" by Adele
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I actually had to listen to this song for a listening assignment in music class a couple months ago. I kind of forgot that it existed until then. I had it on Spotify for a fair amount of time so I obviously thought it was good, but I may have liked it more a couple months ago than I did in 2016. It's just catchy and the instruments work well together.

28. "History" by One Direction
Rating: 8.5/10
Comments: This feels like nothing compared to how good I thought "Drag Me Down" was. In fact, it seems a bit different from 1D's average style. It worked pretty well to me, although songs like "Drag Me Down" remain superior.

27. "No" by Meghan Trainor
Rating: 8/10
Comments: This song was hated by all sorts of music critics out there. While I certainly don't think it's bad, the lyrics and the tone of the song are a bit cringe-worthy. But aside from that, it sounds kind of catchy, and I think Trainor is a good vocalist. I think her 15 minutes of fame have passed, but I didn't mind hearing this song on the radio a lot when it was popular.

26. "Unsteady" by X Ambassadors
Rating: 5/10
Comments: I really liked "Renegades", but this didn't appeal to me all that much. The vocals weren't as good and it didn't have too much of a punch to it. It's just not really for me.

25. "Closer" by The Chainsmokers and Halsey
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I know a few songs called "Closer", but this is hands-down the best one. It has great vocals by both artists, and an amazing EDM production that this duo is always capable of. I'm glad it was so successful because it deserved it.

24. "7 Years" by Lukas Graham
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This song got quite a bit of hate for various reasons, but other than the vocals, which I don't think are the best, this song is pretty much flawless. The story told in the song is interesting and lots of fun to hear. This song should not be so hated, it really is not that bad.

23. "Sorry" by Justin Bieber
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I personally think this is a lot better than "Love Yourself". The vocals are better and it is a whole lot more fun (thanks to Skrillex for that). It was a pretty big hit but I would replace this with "Love Yourself" as the #1 song of 2016 if I could.

22. "Work From Home" by Fifth Harmony and Ty Dolla $ign
Rating: 10/10
Comments: The lyrics in this song are extremely cringy, as I assume it means that the girl wants her boyfriend to work at home so they can have sex there. Or maybe the "work" she is talking about means sex. Just something to do with that. But that aside, this song is fun for me. I like the vocals, and the production isn't too much but it makes the song sound cool. I don't mind Ty Dolla $ign's part too much but it doesn't make much of a difference to me. Good song, though.

21. "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots
Rating: 6/10
Comments: I'm pretty surprised that Hits 1 would be in love with a band like this. People often consider Twenty One Pilots an emo band, and this song is a good example of how dark they can get. This song is weird for sure, but I guess it's not bad.

20. "Just Like Fire" by P!nk
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Another talented singer pulls up to the list. I like it. P!nk's talent plus that awesome production makes for a pretty fly song. I kind of miss hearing stuff like this.

19. "Hands To Myself" by Selena Gomez
Rating: 7/10
Comments: This is one of my least favorite Selena Gomez songs although it isn't bad. It has good parts and it has not-so-good parts. The good parts are what I like to hear from her, and vice versa. The song is overall decent, I guess.

18. "This Is What You Came For" by Calvin Harris and Rihanna
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: The drop in this is pretty underwhelming, which is a huge drawback for me because that build-up is awesome. But everything else shines so much. The newer Calvin Harris isn't as bad as I remembered because this song has a lot of good qualities in it.

17. "Irresistible" by Fall Out Boy and Demi Lovato
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Another emo band that Hits 1 somehow likes. But I won't complain. I liked this song a lot when it was big. The original is great enough, but the Demi Lovato version brings more talent and more heat, and I'm glad that one was popular.

16. "Pillowtalk" by Zayn Malik
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: Here's another instance of a solo artist's music being quite a bit different from the one they did with their band. I don't know how to describe this song because it sounds kind of funky and abnormal. Zayn's vocals are great, however, which make it a good listen.

15. "Dangerous Woman" by Ariana Grande
Rating: 9/10
Comments: I had mixed feelings on this one when I first heard it, but now I think I have come to a consensus that I enjoy it. The chorus is really the good part for me, I don't know why, I just enjoy that.

14. "I Took A Pill In Ibiza" by Mike Posner and SeeB
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I totally forgot that this song existed until now! I remember discovering it before it blew up, and I'm glad I did because seeing it be a big hit made me glad. I wish we had more music like this out nowadays.

13. "Treat You Better" by Shawn Mendes
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: The vocals on this track really get me into it. The guitars are good too.

12. "Hello" by Adele
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I remember the day this song came out, when it blew up and broke some Internet records. I think Adele has a great voice in this song, which is why I love it. Some of the records this song set have probably been broken by now, but at least this song seemed to make the mark that it should have.

11. "New Romantics" by Taylor Swift
Rating: 10/10
Comments: It's so cool how an album released in 2014 still had singles going strong two years later. Shows how good people, including me, thought it was. This isn't one of the best ones but I don't mind it being a single because it does sound really cool.

10. "Sit Still, Look Pretty" by Daya
Rating: 6/10
Comments: Meh.

9. "Victorious" by Panic! At The Disco
Rating: 9/10
Comments: I had to re-listen to this one because I didn't remember it as well, but I remembered it once I did, and I think it's good. Not a huge fan of the "Tonight we are victorious" shouts, but everything else is good.

8. "Cheap Thrills" by Sia and Sean Paul
Rating: 8.5/10
Comments: This song is slightly boring but catchy at the same time. Also, I think the version without Sean Paul is much better than the one with him.

7. "Don't Let Me Down" by The Chainsmokers and Daya
Rating: 10/10
Comments: Here's something else I was really into at some point in 2016. I still kind of love it now. I remember trying to play the guitar part in this once because I thought it was pretty cool. I'm not the biggest Daya fan but I can't picture anyone else singing in this. And The Chainsmokers did great as usual. Once again, we need more songs like this becoming hits. I really like them.

6. "Perfect" by One Direction
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I kind of loved One Direction for some reason, and I feel like a lot of it started with this song. I was pretty shook when I first heard this back in late 2015, and it still sort of leaves me that way to this day.

5. "Ride" by Twenty One Pilots
Rating: 10/10
Comments: One of my favorite songs from them. A lot of them feel a little too dark and edgy, but this is perfect for me.

4. "My House" by Flo Rida
Rating: 10/10
Comments: His songs from earlier in the decade were obviously better, but for a time when his career was supposed to be dying down, this is pretty good. I like the rapping and the production and everything. It's a fun escape from the trap that was popular at the time.

3. "Can't Stop The Feeling" by Justin Timberlake
Rating: 10/10
Comments: If I had to pick a song in the top 5 to be #1, I'd pick this. It was played on the radio a lot after it came out and I still hear it sometimes to this day. It's such an uplifting, energetic song that is pretty hard not to like. I love JT and this song started a lot of it.

2. "Cake By The Ocean" by DNCE
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This band seems like a nice Joe Jonas side project. I haven't heard much from them outside of this song but I really liked this, so it must be good. I didn't expect this to be this high on the chart, but I won't complain.

1. "Stressed Out" by Twenty One Pilots
Rating: 8/10
Comments: I don't think this should be the #1 song of 2016 according to this station, because as you just saw, there are much, much better options. I like this song, but it doesn't feel as good as a lot of the other ones at the top do. But it's better than something like "Love Yourself" at #1, I will give you that.



OVERALL CHART SCORE

403/450 = 8.95555/10 = 0.895555 = 89.5555%



FINAL WORDS

Wow, that was much better than I thought it was. I never considered 2016 all that great of a year for music, but then again, this station kind of omitted the popular rap songs from around that time, so I guess I don't know yet. But either way, this was fun to do, as I enjoyed looking back at songs I enjoyed a few years ago. Thank you if you read this far, I appreciate it. If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know as I would be happy to comply with them. I have a few posts in mind I want to do in the future, so stay tuned for them if I decide to do them. Thanks again and I'll see you guys again soon!