Memories Of The Light In Your Eyes, Can Take Me Back In Time

Yellowcard

Yellowcard has been around since 1997! They have some really popular songs such as Ocean Avenue, Only One, and Lights and Sounds. I even remember when some of those were played at middle school dances haha! One of their signatures is their violinist. He has a role in each song and it is one of the things that gives Yellowcard their recognizable sound. Anyways, Yellowcard took a hiatus from 2008 to 2010 and then returned by releasing their album When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes this past year. To make their return even bigger, they released an acoustic version of that album a week ago.

To go along with the acoustic record, Hopeless Records released a YouTube video that contains all of the songs from the record. The video itself is about 37 minutes long; however, they used YouTube's "closed caption" function so that all you have to do is click on the title of the song you want to listen to and it will take you straight to that section of the video. It is really cool and I hope that more bands do something similar in the future! 

With the video being so long, I understand the difficulty of listening to all of it but I would definitely recommend listening to the tracks Hide and my personal favorite, Hang You Up. Hang You Up also features guest vocals from one of my favorite female vocalists, Cassadee Pope from Hey Monday! Again, I strongly recommend checking out those two songs or even listening to the whole album if you like to listen to music while studying or something! It is great and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do!

One last thing. I know you are all busy but if you get a chance, let me know what you think about the whole YouTube video release of the album. Is it a good or bad idea from a business stand point? What about the use of the closed caption function? I just want to know your opinion of the idea!  

-Andrew

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She Likes My Bittersweet Love

Day 4's Pick is: "She Likes (Bittersweet Love)" by Forever the Sickest Kids

Forever the Sickest Kids is a group based out of Dallas, Texas. The guys rely on their catchy vocals and melodic guitar riffs to keep their jams stuck in your head. I almost can't even go an entire week without having one of their choruses stuck in my head for an afternoon or more!  Another big plus of this group is the humor they bring to their performances and videos. You can see this exhibited in both the music video and even the acoustic performance. In essence, they are a bunch of goofballs who love to play music which makes for some awesome entertainment!

The song "She Likes" is one of my favorites because it features vocals from an array of their members. At least four of the members have some vocals in the album version, and three of them have lines in the acoustic version which cool because it brings variety to the table. Caleb, the guitarist who sings first, has my personal favorite voice out of the group.  I also enjoy it because it features their humor that I mentioned before. So, check out the videos and let me know what you think! And don't forget to check back tomorrow for the final installment of my Unplugged Series!

Thanks for reading/listening!
-Andrew

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I Am Trying To Learn I Can Do Nothing On My Own...

First off, I would like to apologize for two things. Number one, I am sorry that it has been a little while since I have posted! Number two, typically I try to refrain from posting on this style of music and keep it to myself due to the fact that not many of you are into it; however, if you are into it, enjoy it! If you are not, please hear me out on this song even if you aren't big into the sound. It is definitely a lot harder of a style than who I typically post about but these guys have a lot to say, and they are saying it loud!

The band Close Your Eyes is on Victory Records, a secular label supporting bands like A Day To Remember, Silverstein, and Emmure. Even in this scene, they are still putting out their message and beliefs in their lyrics and their presence off the stage. To me, that is a huge deal and I give them mad props for staying strong in such a secular setting full of lust, degrading language, and a lot of other crap. They have a new album that drops this coming Tuesday (10/25/11) called Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts. To build up some hype for the album, they released their first single and music video off of it this afternoon. The track is called "Valleys" and the lyrics to this song are really solid!

Give it a listen, read the lyrics along with it (the lyrics are under the video) and remember that there is more to this life that we are living. We most definitely can't do any of this on our own. So why do we keep trying? I will never understand that, but I do know that this song reminded me that even in the struggles and times where we think we really screwed it up past a point of being fixable, He still loves us and won't let us fall to a place that we can't get back up.

I know that everyone is busy, but I encourage you to just stop for a minute or two after watching the video and reflect on the lyrics. Remember that we aren't in this alone.

VALLEYS 

I am starting to realize 

I can do nothing on my own 

Everything that I start to build crumbles into nothing

It's safe to say that no matter what 

I try and fall so short 

This sudden realizing break continues

to widen this space between You and I 

Chorus: 

Is there any point in trying to change

 no matter what I do 

It always stays the same 

But I feel like this has been made for me 

Is there something more that I cant see 

All I want is to let go 

I've tried so hard this pride still grows 

Just for once to breathe in deep 

And catch a glimpse of what You see in me

So many years of sorrow and pain

The bitterness I taste it takes hold of me

How can i forget the joy of the mountain tops

Down in the valleys 

Chorus: 

Is there any point in trying to change no matter what I do 

It always stays the same 

But I feel like this has been made for me 

Is there something more that I cant see

But Your ways are different and call out to me 

No matter what I do You always stay the same 

And I will have the choice to say 

There is more to this life I am living 

There is more 

There is more 

And in the midst of struggles of finding the man 

You call me to be 

Your love reminds me 

That though I am broken 

I am still standing 

I am still screaming 

Chorus: 

Is there any point in trying to change no matter what I do 

It always stays the same 

But I will have the choice to say 

There is more to this life I am living 

There is more to this life I am living 

There is more to this life I am living

On another note, starting this Sunday I will be doing a 5 part blog series on some of my favorite songs unplugged and played acousticly! So stay tuned!

-Andrew

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Switchfoot "Vice Verses" Album Review

            A week ago today Switchfoot put out their eighth studio album titled “Vice Verses. This record brings a new style to the table for the 5-piece group from San Diego, experimental. This record touches almost every side of the rock spectrum throughout the track list.
            The opening tracks Afterlife, The Original, The War Inside, along with the album’s lead single Dark Horses all scream resounding echoes of the classic Switchfoot sound giving us some hope for what is to come. Reverb driven guitar riffs and vocals, along with heavy guitar feedback/ring out (especially in the record opener Afterlife) carry these tracks.  From here, the band divulge into the track Restless that sounds like it is straight off of an older O.A.R. album. Following Restless is a U2-esque track titled Blinding Light. This track somewhat resembles the band’s style from the Hello Hurricane record that exploded this past year, and is one of the best tracks that Vice Verses has to offer.
            The most diverse track on the record is Selling the News. If TobyMac and The Black Keys were to do a collaborative effort, I think it would sound like this. With it’s overdriven, syncopated opening bass line, and spoken verses it carries a very experimental sound and isn’t much like Switchfoot at all. Then again maybe that is what they were going for with this record.
            To conclude the record, the band puts out three tracks that resemble frontman Jon Foreman’s solo project. The thought provoking lyrics and ballad-like pace of the tracks Souvenirs, Vice Verses, and Where I Belong have the Foreman style stamped all over them.  It is safe to say that these three songs are hands down my favorite off of this record.

            Where I Belong concludes the record, crying out for our generation to wake up with lyrics like, “I wanna see the Earth shaking, I wanna see a generation finally waking up inside…I still believe we can live forever. You and I begin forever now…You and I, we’re here together now.”  Maybe it is time for us to wake up and realize that we are in this together and we should live that way. It’s time to break out of our selfish lifestyles that the world is reinforcing in us and actually live like the brothers and sisters we are.
            Overall, this record didn’t really appeal to me right out of the gate like The Beautiful Letdown or Hello Hurricane, but it is a solid album nonetheless and it is continuing to slowly growing on me. Those of you who have listened to it, what do you think? If you haven’t listened to it yet, give it a listen and let me know your thoughts! I would love to hear what everyone else thinks of the album, or even what your favorite song off of it is?  Use the comment section below to discuss!

I hope you are enjoying your week thus far!  Thanks for reading!

-Andrew

Track Listing: 

1. Afterlife

2. The Original

3. The War Inside

4. Restless

5. Blinding Light

6. Selling the News

7. Thrive

8. Dark Horses

9. Souvenirs

10. Rise Above It

11. Vice Verses

12. Where I Belong

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I Am Restless

This past Tuesday Switchfoot released their new album "Vice Verses." I will be posting a review of the album soon once I am able to give it a more thorough listen. In the mean time, here is the song and lyrics of the track that has stuck out to me the most thus far. The song is titled Restless. Enjoy it and check out the new album! :)

-Andrew

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