Tuesday Top 3

1. In Flames - Sounds Of A Playground Fading

2. Axegressor - Next

3. The 69 Eyes - Back In Blood

In Flames - Sounds Of A Playground Fading

Sweden seems to be the cradle of good music these days. Today the album to prove my point is Sounds Of A Playground Fading from In Flames. Influences from Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath can be heard from the very first track, the guitar in the beginning of the song makes one almost certain that Bruce Dickinson starts singing soon enough. But even though the influences from those bands are strong, In Flames has a distinguish sound of its own. And this Swedish band has grown famous throughout the world as well. Making sure the success continues the band has gotten a song on the Guitar Hero III game, a song on the Canadian billboard top 200 as high position as number 7, a great amount of different awards and lately their song Deliver Us from their latest album has been playing constantly on radios.

The band was formed in 1990 and it has been evolving both member wise and musically. Members have been coming and going (Niclas Engeling, nowadays a full-time member) and they've switched from one instrument to another (Björn Gelotte, from drums to guitar) but at least for now it seems the band has found its line-up for good. Hopefully so, because it seems the band has been more than lucky not to break up during all the changes and yet somehow managed to gain success.

I haven't been a huge fan of In Flames before but I'm getting to that direction slowly. This album will probably end to my collection at some point and not least because I like the choises for their cover art (Dave Correia/Sounds Of A Playground Fading and Derek Hess/Come Clarity).

http://www.inflames.com/

http://www.myspace.com/inflames

Midsummer Music

Flashback Friday on break because of the midsummer festivals. Enjoy this clip instead.

Summer Madness - Kool And The Gang

Tuesday Top 3

1. Adelitas Way - Home School Valedictorian

2. Sixx A.M. - This is Gonna Hurt

3. Alter Bridge - Blackbird

Adelitas Way - Home School Valedictorian

The story behind the name, Adelitas Way, is almost beyond imagination. The band ended up to a brothel named Adelita Bar after being robbed by corrupted Mexican cops. The way the girls were living there seemed sad and the lead vocalist Rick DeJesus wrote a song about it and that ended up being the name for the band and their first album as well. The band was formed in Las Vegas in 2005 and Home School Valedictorian is their second album. Only time will tell if this album is going to be as successful as their previous album was. If I know anything about music, I'd say this will be even more so.

For what I've listened to this album it is at least heavier than the previous and that's fine by me. First single Sick has been playing over and over in the radio which is fine as well, the song stops me everytime I hear it. And there's more jewels on the album. Opening track Collapse is one of the heavier tracks and sounds to meas if Stone Sour was mixed with Three Days Grace. That might not be far from the truth since the band has been touring with such great bands as Sick Puppies, Hailstorm, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin and the already mentioned Three Days Grace. Less hard rock but more positive is the song named Alive which became instantly one of my favourites. Not that there's any bad songs on the album.
Worth your money if you like bands like Daughtry, Alter Bridge or Saliva. :)

http://www.adelitaswaymusic.net
http://www.myspace.com/adelitasway

Flashback Friday

King For A Day Fool For A Lifetime is the fifth studio album from Faith No More and let me say, it is one of their best ones even though the album sale wasn't a huge success. Everybody knows (or at least should know) the songs Ricochet and Evidence from this album which were also released as singles, as well as Digging The Grave.

In music circles where I roam The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies is highly valued but this song doesn't belong to my absolute favorites. The band was planning to release this one as a single too but the plans were cancelled. The poor success of the sales did affect on Take This Bottle as well which was supposed to be the fifth single from the album. The latter one is especially a shame because it happends to be a great song.

Singles or not, the tracks on this album really work. And besides, who wouldn't want to be a king for a day?! And I know all of us are fooling throughout our lifes, some people more than others.. :D

http://www.fnm.com/
http://www.myspace.com/faithnomore

Tuesday Top 3

1. Alter Bridge - Blackbird
2. Skillet - Awake
3. Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak

Pain - You Only Live Twice

You Only Live Twice is seventh album from the Swedish band Pain. And as the lyrics say in the opening track Let It Out, this album is like a broken record repeating itself. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad album, it's ok. Just a bit boring perhaps. The one song that differs the most is track number 5, Dirty Woman which made also to their music video. If you haven't seen that video yet, I recommend that you watch as soon as possible. It's actually quite fun video, just keep your eyes on the drummer. ;)

Other than that this album doesn't really impress me much. The art on the album cover is neat though, reminding me of Tim Burton. Too band that the band haven't been able to put that same kind of magic to these songs. Monster ain't montrous at all and We Want More didn't really leave me longing for more. But as written above, this is not a bad album. But I wouldn't play this in a tattoo studio where you want your music to distract peoples' attention away from the needle and pain.. (Word game un-intentional.) This has nothing to distract with but will do perfectly as a back-ground music in some goth/metal/rock styled cafe or something similar...

http://www.painworldwide.com/
http://www.myspace.com/pain

Flashback Friday

This Friday my flashback album from the past comes from sunny California and a band named Incubus. Their album Morning View was released in 2001 and this album is timely again now ten years later since Incubus is going to release a new album this summer. This isn't necessarily their best album but as their music always this album contains some great songs, hits even. Incubus is has done some strong tracks throughout their whole career and songs like Wish You Were Here, Nice To Know You and Warning certainly aren't what you can call weak performance. And the album did reach second place at the Billboard Top 200 list the year it was released, I guess that tells something as well.

Although the obvious hits and great singles, this album has otherwise as well pretty interesting music. But then again, don't take my word on it, listen to it for yourself. You might want to start with Are You In ? or if liking it melancholic, try listening to Mexico.

http://www.myspace.com/incubus

Tuesday Top 3

1. Black Stone Cherry - Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea
2. The 69 Eyes - Back In Blood
3. Aerosmith - Big Ones

Black Stone Cherry - Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea

Lovelovelove!! That word sums up what I think about the new Black Stone Cherry album Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea. I found this band about a month ago and been waiting their latest album ever since I heard their opening track White Trash Millionaire. And this album surely was worth waiting for.

First I got to start by saying that this album made me smile. It made me laugh like a little child in the treasure hunt. Every song on this album reveals something new, something better than the previous track. There is some heavy parts on the album and there is some soft tunes. Killing Floor is definitely one of the heavier ones as well as Such A Shame. I can't really put my finger to it but there is something familiar with Such A Shame, it reminds me of another song. I just can't figure out which song is that.

From heavier tunes to positive energy with songs Blame It On The Boom Boom, Like I Roll, Can't You See (Absolutely love that guitar on this one!!!) and Let Me See You Shake. These four guys do know how to make you move. The band is often associated to Lynyrd Skynyrd and this album didn't make a difference to that aspect. Just listen to their song Fade Away if you don't want to take my word on it. Fifteen songs on this album and all of them good if not great. What more can you ask for?!? I'll be happy to spend my last bucks on this album. Like they sing it in White Trash Millionaire: "..ain't got much and I don't care.." At least I don't care as long as I'll get this album to my collection. :D

http://www.blackstonecherry.com/
http://www.myspace.com/blackstonecherry

Flashback Friday

Life On Display is the third album coming from Puddle Of Mudd. I got to say I'll never get tired of this band and especially this album. This band formed in Kansas City in 1992 has been one of my favourites since I bought their album Come Clean. It doesn't exactly do any harm that their lead singer, Wes Scantlin, reminds me of my childhood friend by the looks. But back to the album itself.

You can't be mistaken when hearing this band; Scantlins voice, lyrics and the music has that unique sound that can't be mixed with anybody elses. Album starts off strong with a song named Away From Me, the chorus just gets stuck into your head. And that goes through the whole album. Rough, attitude-filled parts combined with clean vocals and softer tunes just makes one to listen this album over and over again. Great tracks like Heel Over Head, Think and Life Ain't Fair(Bonus track) just follow each others on this album, making it almost impossible to leave this album to gather dust on the shelf. I have this one in my stereos as well as in my mp3-player, not really leaving a possibility to a day go by without listening to the album.

Personally, I could listen to the track number 5, Spin You Around 25 hours a day, 8 days a week. If that would be possible, I mean. So, if you haven't got this album yet, make sure you get yours soon. I'd buy this one immediately if I didn't have it already. Maybe I'll have to buy this once more, just to be sure. ;D