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!