In this post I am going to focus on the top 5 mainstream bands that I am thankful for!
5. Underoath
Underoath is arguably one of the most popular hardcore bands out there. They have been around since 1997 and have gone through multiple member changes leaving the group with none of the original members. I do still enjoy their newest albums, but my favorites are They're Only Chasing Safety and Define the Great Line. When I was first introduced to the hardcore music scene, Underoath was one of the first bands that I was shown. I have been an avid fan since that day! They're Only Chasing Safety has been one of my all time favorite albums based on its catchy and powerful lyrics. The songs are driven and powerful when they need to be but it isn't over done like how so much hardcore is now. My friend Chad describes it brilliantly in one of his blog posts. He said, "The band found a way to make this album heavy and imposing without the baggage of 18 breakdowns in every song" (The link to Chad's blog post is under this paragraph! Check it out!) To top it off, up until their latest album, Disambiguation, their drummer Aaron Gillespie did a majority of the clean vocals. To be able to drum like that and sing on top of it is a God given talent. It is phenomenal. This band has impacted me since the beginning of my interest in music, and continues to do so with their meaningful lyrics. Thanks UnderOath for helping me discover my love for music and its power to touch people's lives.
4. Haste the Day
3. Ace Enders
Ace Enders is a smaller artist who has been apart of many other groups such as The Early November, and I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business. Ace writes with such a unique style using profound lyrics to impact listeners. His writings strike chords within the listeners with lyrics such as: "We need to know our hearts beat louder than shotguns sing, and we need to feel that our minds work harder than factory wheels. And we need to know that we are worth much more than a credit score," and "Sometimes all you need in life is emergency, to take time and figure out what you're doing here." These lyrics along with so many others have caused me personally to sit back and look at life in a different light. Thank you Ace on helping me gain a new perspective on life itself.2. The Rocket Summer
Singer/Song writer Bryce Avary started this group back in 2000. The amazing thing about Avary and his music is that not only does he write all of it, he produces it and records each instrument track himself. Avary takes a group of his friends on tour with him to play the music live, but he records each record himself. It is insane! Avary and The Rocket Summer have taught me that not all music has to be about bad things in life, or girls for that matter haha. Although there is nothing wrong with songs about relationships and girls (he has plenty of those too), there is so much more out there to write about! Avary focuses a majority of his writing into a positive light and it is awesome to listen to! He has also inspired me to keep writing and learning about other instruments beyond just guitar! Thank you Bryce from the inspiration and reminder to try to keep a positive outlook on life even when times get tough.1. Deas Vail
I just recently really started to dig into the group Deas Vail and listening to their stuff a lot more intently. They too have had similar effects on me as The Rocket Summer and Ace Enders. Their lyrics are profound to me and so much deeper than so much of today's standards in music. They use metaphors such as "the shoreline calls to sea," and "it's time we chase the smoke of our guns and make this right." All three of Deas Vail's studio albums have struck me and a lot of times made me stop dead in my tracks and think over a lyric that just registered in my mind differently. That is precisely one of the things I love about this group. I can listen to a song of theirs more than a hundred times, and then one day listen to it and something totally new hit me like a ton of bricks slapping me in the face. Okay, so that is a bad analogy, but Deas Vail has a way of putting pieces of life into words and metaphors that make sense and can even be interpreted differently by different people. Going off of that, those lyrics can even be interpreted differently by the same person depending on their mood or state of mind that day. It is a wonderful and refreshing thing. Thank your Deas Vail for challenging me to grow through your lyrics and for being able to reach out to your listeners even if you have never met them!As I sit here writing this, I can't help but wish that it was music from bands like the 10 I have mentioned today that got played nationally on the radio, and groups like that got the recognition. People could see what they stand for and love. People would see that it isn't about the money. I guess I can hope and dream of that as much as I want, but we will still get sucked into the shallow lyrics of a mainstream pop culture. Anyways, I digress.
I hope that you have had a wonderful thanksgiving and were able to spend time with your families. I am very thankful for you and the fact that you are taking the time to read this and any of my previous posts! I hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend! Happy Thanksgiving! :)
With love,
-Andrew
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