“When the Wild Wind Blows” is the last song from Iron Maiden’s most recent album, “The Final Frontier”. Over the last few days, I have become increasingly obsessed with this song. Let’s digress….

I LOVE (x5706578165108746518945169856195194) Iron Maiden a lot. EASILY my favorite band - without hesitation - no doubt.

Aside: I have to admit, I have barely listened to the two Blaze Bayley era albums. His vocals turn me off so much, that I find them distracting. I need to give them some TLC though sometime, because I know there’s AWESOME music in there.

That being said, I think their 3 most recent albums (minus the Blaze Bayley albums) are their weakest, though they are probably (arguably?) their 3 most overall progressive as well. It’s not that I don’t like me some prog (because I so do), I just prefer the older, more traditional/power stuff more.

Anyway….

I randomly listened to “The Final Frontier” the other day, and “When the Wild Wind Blows” stood out to me like a bang. It was one of those moments, where you really “hear” a part of a song for the first time, and you’re like “yes, I understand”, and then you rock.

I have listened to the song a few more times over the last couple of days, and continue to enjoy a lot. I like that the song is kind of broken up into 3 acts.

Let’s Take a look!!

Act I, 0:00 - 3:35: A sort of soft ballad opener turn catchy rock song. Not my favorite Iron Maiden section ever, but it kind of sets up the next sections nicely.

Act II, 3:35 - 6:42: There’s a catchy section with vocals near the beginning, but generally speaking, the guitars/etc. are starting to doodle around a bit more. Lots of progressive-y sections, and soloing abound.

Act III, 6:42 - 11:01: The opening riffs slams into you like the brick wall. We get some vocals, less catchy maybe, but solid nonetheless (we’re not going for catchy-ness alone here!). The real winner comes at 8:35: we get a few second build-up and hwaza!, awesome solo! Reprise slow ballad, like the beginning and some wind blowing sound effects.

It’s like a movie or something.

In closing, I never meant to write this much. Even my “Let’s digress” comment, was mostly just for jokes. But hey, it is what it is.

Go Iron Maiden!

PS: If it ends up being the last song on the last Iron Maiden album, wow, great way to go out.

PPS: Let’s hope it’s not though.

The members of Bell Witch, a local Seattle doom metal band, however, are in a doom metal band. So there.

Aside: I hope everyone had a swell Mother’s day, if Mother’s day was a thing for you. Otherwise, just a general swell day is hoped for. I spent a good portion of my day with my mother, so mine was swell.

The band consists of two members, Dylan Desmond on bass/vocals and Adrian Guerra on drum/vocals. Even without any guitars, this stuff is heavy, and really really good.

I have listened to their album, “Longing”, twice now, and have really enjoyed it both times. It actually reminds me of the Ahab a bit during the more mellow/repetitive-y sections. So if you like Ahab, or molasses doom metal, check out Bell Witch! Plus, gnarly album art!

PS: Go moms!

“Thunder in the East” is the outstandingly amazing album by Japanese heavy metal band Loudness. If you like righteous riffing and soaring solos, then Loudness is probably for you - thank you, [guitarist] Akira Takasaki!

Loudness has a pretty strong catalogue overall, though I do like the 80’s era stuff with singer Minoru Niihara best. That being said, “Thunder in the East” is above and beyond, easily, without a single doubt, my favorite album from the band. So many good riffs, so many great solos, so many good wails, catchy drumming, driving bass. This album annihilates on many levels.

 ”Thunder in the East” is probably a top 25 favorite album for me. “The Lines are Down” might be a top 25 favorite song (and it definitely has a top 25 solo). I love this album so so much. So so much.

I’m not sure what my problem is, but I have one: I don’t listen to Judas Priest enough. Sure, I could say this about so many bands that I would likely weep upon counting, but most of those bands aren’t as badass-y as Judas Priest.

As a huge Iron Maiden fan, one would think I might listen to the sort-of/genre/contemporaries more often. I’m not even sure what I can do about it. It is a day-to-day struggle sometimes.

Aside: My Iron Maiden plays always spike in the Summer. This is because there isn’t a better artist to blare while the sun is shining, and you have to be in an automobile. Perhaps, I just need to sneak some Judas Priest in there this year.

Well anyway, so far today I have blasted “Painkiller” in the car, and now I am listening to “Defenders of the Faith” at home. Those two albums are probably my favorites from the band.

In other news, I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. It is really nice and sunny outside here, which makes trying to hide in a cave-like room much more difficult with all that light shining through the blinds and all.

I have never been a huge Slayer fan. I do like them quite a lot, but I would never claim them as one of my favorite bands. My connection with Slayer is a pretty simple one: every one in a while, Slayer will have a fucking out-of-control riff. I’m talking potential whiplash here. A crushing riff that just makes you go “uuuunnnnngghghhh!!!”.

Example: the riff at 1:38-2:05 in “Angel of Death”, but even more so, the riff immediately following that one, at 2:06. Wowza!

I have discovered over the years, that a significant amount of my all-time favorite Slayer riffs were penned by Jeff Hanneman. I really do think that the metal community, and rock music in general, have lost a pretty influential musician, and just an overall awesome riff magician.

In memoriam, I have decided to listen to Slayer all night, and thus far, that decision has been a really positive one - lots of passionate headbanging. I think I like slayer more than I think I do, but I really can’t be sure. Does that even make sense?

RIP

I can’t believe I have never posted about this super awesome album before. If I had to sum up “Your Worst Nightmare” in one word, I would definitely choose “fun”.

“Your Worst Nightmare” is by the band Horrific, a side project of Acid Witch guitarist Slasher Dave.

Aside: Acid Witch, I would love a new album, please! PS: Please also, don’t make it vinyl only, thanks!

Aside of the Aside: I’m so demanding…

This album rocks and slays pretty hard. The genre is really hard to nail down. There’s elements of rock ‘n’ roll, death metal, thrash/speed metal, maybe/probably more(?). As you would expect with Slasher Dave (the only member) at the helm, you get some seriously shredding guitar work and some killer solos.

The only negative is that there’s only one album by the artist. Are there more on the way? I don’t know. I hope so. That being said, this album is wicked good, and worth checking out if you want to try something a little different, but extremely cool and fun.

Pretty neat-o album art too!!

“10” - New Kids on the Block:

I had had high expectations for this album. I really liked their previous effort, “The Block”. I had hoped that they would reunite with producer RedOne (NKOTB were one of the artists wherein I discovered RedOne, and, really, got me started towards paying heavy attention to production credits in non-rock music), but alas, they worked pretty exclusively with a production group by the name of Deekay.

It had been almost 5 years since “The Block” was released….

Overall, I am pretty satisfied. I, no doubt,  love “The Block” way more, but “10” is a solid follow-up in my opinion. The production is pretty solid as a whole. There are more ballads than I would like, but what’s new (and actually, I enjoy “Wasted on you” and “Miss you More” better than most pop-ballads, maybe). Some songs are ehhh, but this is true for most pop albums for me.

The one true negative for me, and this may be because of my bias against ballads, the flow is terrible. All the slower tracks are bunch up together in the middle of the album, while the more upbeat tracks are shelled around them. Not a huge deal really/maybe, but just my take.

My favorite track is easily “Crash”, with the beat most likely being a somewhat significant factor - so dance-y! Also the hidden track after “Survive you” is really excellent.

Aside: I hate when hidden extra songs are not their own track, but occurring later within another song. If anyone know how to easily split tracks, please let me know (thanks!)!!

Good job, NKOTB! Ignore the hateraid.

“Infestissumam” - Ghost:

I ended up really liking this one. I would say it’s about on par with “Opus Eponymous”, probably a bit better than that even (time will tell). I definitely felt like the songs as a whole album were stronger (as opposed to the idea of single track strength).

We get lots of yummy riffs, hooky vocal arrangements, and even some progressive-y things going on. My favorite part of the album is, without a doubt, [starting] at the 3:01 mark in “Ghuleh/Zombie Queen”; hello surf rock, hello awesomeness!

Aside: That’s essentially when the “…Zombie Queen” half starts, don’t you think?

I also really like the song “Year Zero”. If nothing else, the “Belial, Behemoth, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Satanas, Lucifer” chant is sublime, especially so along with the music (as opposed to the solo intro form). I really enjoy the riffs at the beginning of “Depth of Satan’s Eyes”; they are particularly delicious.

Aside: Thank you for deluxe editions; “I’m a Marionette” is a sweet track!

In the end, I am very pleased with this release. It is strong musically, and I still love the aesthetic, and anonymousness as well. Go Ghost!

PS: I’m still not calling them Ghost B.C. I hope I don’t come to regret that decision.

PPS: Do you think Papa Emeritus II and Skeletor (of “Masters of the Universe”/He-Man fame) would hang out? I bet they would.

“Solitary Confinement” - K-Rino:

I have never actually mentioned this album before, but it is actually my most recently acquired (the day after “The Maven” - K-Rino plays forever!).

Aside: Let’s just pretend that the label of “update” applies here. Ummm, it is a K-Rino update, I guess(?).

I actually consider this one of K-Rino’s weaker albums (from that which I have heard), though it is still well above average. Beyond all of that, the track “Forensics” is one of K’s best.

I will sing his praises every time, K—Rino is the best rapper ever. Check him out!

Preface: I started this post around 6:30 (Sometimes, I love waking up mega early and just getting to it - more time for activities!!), and intendid it as a much longer post. Instead I decided to cut it up into pieces. So yeah, here’s a piece….

“The Maven” - K-Rino:

I really like this album a lot. It’s one of his strongest in my opinion; K-Rino’s recent material continues to be extra strong in general. This album possibly also has the overall best production. This is never more true than on my favorite track from the album, “Crhyme Scene”, which has a beat (by Tapio Z3) that I would best compare to the opening theme to the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries” - big ups to Gary Remal Malkin!

I suspect the track “Yall Can Have That” is some sort of vocal slam against popier rap and/or “trap” music. On a production note, the beat (by Blac Forest) is a “trap” beat. I feel bad, but K, I love this beat!!

I mentioned it in the initial post, but again, the opening track, the title track, “The Maven”, is so good. Epic production. Epic flow-ing storytelling. Epic length (8:20, which is pretty long for rap typically).

Great album.

“The Maven” is the newest album from Houston rapper K-Rino.

Aside: K, you just released an album like 4-5 months ago! For real though, as long as an artist releases quality material (which K always does), they should release albums as often as possible (even if my wallet disagrees).

I’m currently listening to the opening track, the title track, “The Maven”. So far, I’m being blown away, which is kind of crazy because K-Rino is the best rapper alive and ever (not hyperbole in my opinion). This track will be one of my all-time favorites, I can tell already. So good.

Excited for the rest of the album!

“Infestissumam” is the new album from doom metal/classic rock/etc. group from Sweden, Ghost (or as they are know now, Ghost B.C. - I will however, not be calling them that). It was released today in the states, so I picked it up.

I am just about to listen to said record for the first time, and I am pretty excited about it. I really liked the first release, “Opus Eponymous” a lot. I also enjoyed their first single from the new record, “Secular Haze” quite a bit too.

Wish me luck (but not too much, because I am unlikely to need any, as in 0)!

PS: Mariners playing the Tigers tonight. It will be the Mariners debut for pitcher Aaron “Harangutan” Harang, going against former Mariner (and still loved by many) Doug Fister. Should be a good game (hopefully).

Go Mariners!

A few years ago, when I first began expanding my listening interests to the world of pop/dance music, one of the random one-of songs I came across was, “Let the Feelings Go” by the Belgium group, AnnaGrace. At the time, it was the only track I could find to [easily] download, and I sort of just moved on. Later, I checked back and could still find nothing. However, it as at this time that I discovered that AnnaGrace is a group that came out of the Ashes of another group called Ian Van Dahl.

Aside: I like the theme of names for the artist-name.

I could find an album by Ian Van Dahl called “Ace”. I thought “Ace” was ok, but it wasn’t anywhere near the level of “Let the Feelings Go”. I wanted “Let the Feelings Go”.

Fast forward to yesterday, I came across “Ace” while looking for something to listen to. I hadn’t listened to it in a while, and so I thought it time to give it another shot. I didn’t end up liking it a bunch, but I did feel more positive about it. I liked it enough to see if I could find any other material. I found two albums, “Ready to Dare” by Anna Grace (the album with “Let the Feelings Go” on it even!), and “Lost and Found” by Ian Van Dahl. Needless to say, I was pumped up!

Obviously, I spun “Ready to Dare” first.  I liked it, but I only listened to it once, so more listens are needed to really give a good opinion. Then I listened to “Lost and “Found”.

Wow.

This record blew me away. I really really like it a lot. Plus, we have so out-of -control stand-out tracks, namely, “Crying”. Holy shit, this song is my jam. “Crying”, for me, is one of those songs that you immediately love, and immediately re-listen to (maybe a few times even). Overall though, this record is really enjoyable, and really gets my head and body moving.

PS: I really need to write something about the recent New Kids on the Block Album, “10”. Maybe a combo post with my thoughts on Ke$ha’s “Warrior”, which I still haven’t done, and isn’t even fashionably late at this point.

PPS: Baseball season has started, and it is like a 2nd full time job already, but in a good way (if that even makes sense, which I’m sure it doesn’t). I should probably still post about the same though, as I am still always listening to music regardless. Tonight is the home opener for the Seattle Mariners. They welcome in the Houston Astros. Welcome to the AL West, Houston. I’m hoping for a slaughtering of the ‘Stros - sorry ‘Stros. Go M’s!

Yes.

Yes Part II.

I just discovered this song. Yes Part III. Being from Seattle, and being a Seattle Seahawks fan, Yes Part IV. Seriously, Yes Part V.

I’ve just spent the last 10-15 minutes tweeting this song to Seattle media, and doing the same in e-mails.

DangeRuss Wilson, folks. Yes Part VI.

https://soundcloud.com/docdfour/dangeruss

I just listened to that song. I quite enjoyed it!

Aside: Well, it was actually like 20+ minutes ago…

I think ICP gets a bad rap. I’m not sure if people aren’t into their fans, or ICP themselves, or both. Or something else maybe, but I get the general impression that people are not into them. I think they are seen more as a joke to most people, unfortunately.

Aside: I only knew one guy personally, who was a “juggalo” (fans are called this, yes?), had a couple ICP tattoo’s and everything. He was one of the nicest people I have ever met (top 20), and was a pretty good artist too.

Anyway, I discovered ICP around the time that “The Great Milenko” was released, and have, at least, mildly enjoyed their material from then on. I have two ICP albums, if that gauges my interest.

Aside: The two albums are, “The Great Milenko” and “Ringmaster”.

That being said, I have heard most everything else, and while they are nowhere near my favorite rappers, they do entertain me, and think that both Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope are pretty decent rappers skill-wise (especially Violent J),

PS: I have no idea if the different color art for “The Great Milenko” have any significance, but mine is like the one seen here.