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Friday, July 16, 2010

Within Temptation




Within Temptation is a female fronted goth/symphonic metal band from the Netherlands. Though the band is often compared to Evanescence having formed only a year after Evanescence formed. However, Within Temptation released their first studio album Enter on a major label the year before Evanescence finished their first self-released EP Evanescence.
But if you really dive into the music all the bands have in common are a female lead with strong vocals and a genre. Within Temptation has a darker, more mature, and less industrial sound. With pounding bass guitar, forceful vocals, and the often accompaniment of operatic chanting in the background which only Evanescence's Whisper sported. However, the most common comparison between the bands would have to be that of Within Temptation's What Have You Done to Evanescence's Bring Me To Life. But again there are really only a few similarities to the songs. The main similarity being the use of a contributing male artist to do "rap-like" backing vocals. But again, Evanescence has it's completely separate and more industrial sound, while Within Temptation sticks with their richer darker vibe.

To date Within Temptation has had five studio albums released, and has another one on it's way later this year.

Discography


Enter
(1997 DSFA Records)


1. Restless
2. Enter
3. Pearls Of Light
4. Deep Within
5. Gatekeeper
6. Grace
7. Blooded
8. Candles


Mother Earth
(2000 DSFA Records)


1. Mother Earth
2. Ice Queen
3. Our Farewell
4. Caged
5. The Promise
6. Never-Ending Story
7. Deceiver Of Fools
8. Intro
9. Dark Wings
10. In Perfect Harmony


The Silent Force
(2004 GUN Records)


1. Intro
2. See Who I Am
3. Jillian (I'd Give My Heart)
4. Stand My Ground
5. Pale
6. Forsaken
7. Angels
8. Memories
9. Aquarius
10. It's The Fear
11. Somewhere

The Heart Of Everything
(2007 Roadrunner Records)


1. The Howling
2. What Have You Done (featuring Keith Caputo)
3. Frozen
4. Our Solemn Hour
5. The Heart Of Everything
6. Hand Of Sorrow
7. The Cross
8. Final Destination
9. All I Need
10. The Truth Beneath The Rose
11. Forgiven


They've also release several live albums. And Have an endless list of b-sides and bonus tracks from various international releases. Check out their Wikipedia page for that info.


There's something about this band that is equally musically pleasing as it is haunting. Sharon den Adel's voice is quite versatile with clear operatic croons, to strong and forceful belting. The use of strings in addition to the usual heavy metal bass guitar adds this gorgeous and Phantom Of The Opera-esque sound to the music. And the occasional latin chanting in songs like Our Solemn Hour "Sanctus Espiritus" or "Holy Ghost" (more literally "holy breath") add this beautiful and haunting feel to their music.


Within Temptation
Our Solemn Hour
(The Heart Of Everything)


Lyrics:

Sanctus Espiritus! redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus! insanity is all around us
("I speak to you for the first time as Prime Minister in a solemn hour for the life of our country")

Sanctus Espiritus!
Sanctus Espiritus!
Sanctus Espiritus!

In my darkest hours
I could not foresee
That the tide could turn so fast to this degree
Can't believe my eyes
How can you be so blind?
Is the heart of stone, no empathy inside?

Time keeps on slipping away and we haven't learned
So in the end now what have we gained?

Sanctus Espiritus! redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus! insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus! is this what we deserve?
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony?

Are they themselves to blame
The misery, the pain?
Didn't we let go?
Allowed it,let it grow
If we can't restrain
The beast which dwells inside
It will find it`s way somehow, somewhere in time

Will we remember all of the suffering
`Cause if we fail it will be in vain

Sanctus Espiritus, redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus, insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus, is this what we deserve?
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony?

Sanctus Espiritus!
Sanctus Espiritus!
(" A tremendous battle is raging in France and Flanders. The Germans, by a remarkable combination of air bombing and heavily armored tanks, have broken through the French defenses north of the Maginot Line, and strong columns of their armored vehicles are ravaging the open country, which for the first day or two was without defenders...")

Sanctus Espiritus! redeem us from our solemn hour
Sanctus Espiritus! insanity is all around us
Sanctus Espiritus! is this what we deserve?
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony? (ending agony!)

Sanctus Espiritus! redeem us from our solemn hour (solemn hour!)
Sanctus Espiritus! insanity is all around us (all around us!)
Sanctus Espiritus! is this what we deserve?
Can we break free from chains of never-ending agony?

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Jimmy Eat World

This band has been on my favorites list since I was in grade school, and that holds up today as well. I've fallen in love with nearly every album they've released, and found great meaning listening to their songs.

Jimmy Eat World is, for me and other central Arizonan's, a local band. They formed in Mesa, AZ in 1993, and are still going strong. Their songs, for the most part are upbeat and have a positive message, but I find their slower more solemn songs to be the ones that stay with me the most. Songs like Hear You Me and Drugs Or Me stick with me. But the band is best known for songs like The Middle, Sweetness, Pain, A Praise Chorus, and Chase This Light.


-------------------------


Discography

Jimmy Eat World (1994)
Static Prevails (1996)
Clarity (1999)
Bleed American* (2001)
Futures (2004)
Chase This Light (2007)

(*bleed american was retitled "jimmy eat world" after 9/11)


(via)


I've been a JEW fan since the third grade when I first heard "The Middle" on Radio Disney. Their knack for catchy pop/rock, and their introducing the world to a new genre of emotionally felt lyrics (later dubbed "emo". yes, jimmy eat world was one of the bands that began the emo genre.) made them a fast hit after their release of "Bleed American". It was hard to walk through a grocery store or mall without hearing "Sweetness" or "The Middle" playing over the loud speaker. They were something new, fresh, and, for the most part, upbeat. Not to mention they were a burst of non-boyband music in a boyband genre dominated era.

"Futures" ushered in a new era for the band. Letting go of some of their more garage/punk sound, and opting for a cleaner more produced studio sound, darker songs, and darker lyrics. "Pain" will always be a favorite of mine, a portrait of JEW at it's hieght.

"Chase This Light" lost me. The sound became more main-stream and produced to the point where they blended with any other song being played on the radio at the time. 2007 was really a year for similarity in the more mainstream alternative music scene. You were hard pressed to find something that didn't sound like something else, and unfortunately that rang true of Jimmy Eat World and "Chase This Light".

--------------------------------------------------


But no matter your view on which songs and albums were most influential, chances are that if you're a ninety's kid you were influenced by JEW in one way or another. You've heard their songs on the radio, I hope that they touched you like they did me.

Below are three of my favorite Jimmy Eat World tracks. Enjoy, and be sure to check out more of their stuff.


Hear You Me-Jimmy Eat World


-Lyrics-

There's no one in town I know
You gave us some place to go.
I never said thank you for that.
I thought I might get one more chance.
What would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
So what would you think of me now,
so lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thank you for that,
now I'll never have a chance.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
And if you were with me tonight,
I'd sing to you just one more time.
A song for a heart so big,
god wouldn't let it live.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.
Hear you me my friends.
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in.
May angels lead you in.

Drugs Or Me-Jimmy Eat World


-Lyrics-

Stay with me
You're the one I need
You make the hardest things
Seem easy

Keep my heart
Somewhere drugs don't go
Where the sunshine slows
Always keep me close

If only you could see
The stranger next to me
You promise you promise that you're done
But i cant tell you from the drugs

Don't let go
Well dig a great big hole
Down an endless hole
We'll both go

You're so blind!
You can't save me this time
Hope comes from inside
And I feel so low tonight

If only you could see
The stranger next to me
You promise you promise that you're done
But I can't tell you from the drugs

I wish you could see
This face in front of me
You're sorry you swear it you're done
But I can't tell you from the drugs

(Ohhhh)
(Ohhhh)

(take me) I need your help
(so far away) To pull me up take the wheel
(take me) Out from me
(so far away) Out from me

(Take me) If only you could see (I need your help)
(So far away) The stranger next to me (To pull me up take the pain)
(Take me) You promise you promise that you're done (Out from me)
(So far away) But I can't tell you from the drugs (Out from me)

(Take me) I wish that you could see (I need your help)
(So far away) This face in front of me (To pull me up take the wheel)
(Take me) You're sorry you swear it you're done (Out from me)
(So far away) But I can't tell you from the drugs (Out from me)

Keep my heart
somewhere drugs don't go
Where the sunshine slows
always keep me close


A Praise Chorus-Jimmy Eat World


-Lyrics-

Are you gonna live your life wonderin' standing in the back lookin' around?
Are you gonna waste your time thinkin' how you've grown up or how you missed out?
Things are never gonna be the way you want.
Where's it gonna get you acting serious?
Things are never gonna be quite what you want.
Or even at 25, you gotta start sometime.
I'm on my feet, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go.
Now all I need is just to hear a song I know.
I wanna always feel like part of this was mine.
I wanna fall in love tonight.
Are you gonna live your life standing in the back looking around?
Are you gonna waste your time?
Gotta make a move or you'll miss out.
Someone's gonna ask you what it's all about.
Stick around nostalgia won't let you down.
Someone's gonna ask you what it's all about.
Whatcha gonna have to say for yourself?
I'm on my feet, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go.
Now all I need is just to hear a song I know.
I wanna always feel like part of this was mine.
I wanna fall in love tonight.
Crimson and clover, over and over.
Crimson and clover, over and over.
Our house in the middle of the street, why did we ever meet?
Started my rock 'n roll fantasy.
Don't don't, don't let's start, why did we ever part?
Kick start my rock 'n rollen heart.
I'm on my feet, I'm on the floor, I'm good to go.
So come on Davey, sing me somethin' that I know.
I wanna always feel like part of this was mine.
I wanna fall in love tonight.
Here tonight.
I wanna always feel like part of this was mine
I wanna fall in love tonight.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Hey, Soul Sister

Gonna take a short break from my "Then & Now" series to step back into the present, and confess that I am whole-hearted-ly addicted to this track.

...I think it's the ukulele. I'm sort of into that lately. Or maybe it's the reggae styling; sort of been into that lately, too. But I think most of all, as usual, it's the lyrics; it's the soul in the track Hey, Soul Sister that first caught my attention. From the very opening lyric; "Lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains"... that's so good. I love it. I don't know why I love it, I just do.

It gets better from there. "You're the one I have decided is one of my kind"; there's just a sort of open, honest vibe about this track, and I love that. It works so well with the instrumentals, the overall mood of this song. Everything about it ties together so beautifully, and I almost can't describe what it is about this song that has me so honestly addicted; every time I listen to it, I feel happy, and hopeful, and blissfully unaware of anything except complete and irrational optimism. It's brilliant. One hell of a single from the guys in Train; thanks for giving us this sweet little melody.

I'm not a huge fan of the music video. I like the setting; the concept is overdone. Could have done without the lyrics feature... the first time I ever saw it was on Panic at the Disco's music video for their single Northern Downpour, and now it seems that everyone from Nickelback to Green Day - and, apparently, Train - is catching on to the idea. In my opinion, nothing tops Panic's writing on the bathroom mirror and "Hey Moon" bumper stickers... but I digress.

Basically, Train's Hey, Soul Sister is a sweet and honest and soulful track, and has captured my heart completely. Hope this song makes you as happy as it makes me.

Train - Hey, Soul Sister Official Music Video



Hey, Soul Sister
Train

Hey, hey...

Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains;
I knew I wouldn't forget you, and so I went and let you blow my mind.
Your sweet moonbeam; the smell of you in every single dream I dream.
I knew when we collided, you're the one I have decided who's one of my kind.

Hey soul sister, ain't the Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo;
The way you move ain't fair, ya know.
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do tonight.

Hey, hey...

Just in time; I'm so glad you have a one-track mind like me.
You gave my life direction, a game show love connection we can't deny.
I'm so obsessed; my heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest.
I believe in you; like a virgin, you're Madonna, and I'm always gonna wanna blow your mind.

Hey soul sister, ain't the Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo;
The way you move ain't fair, ya know.
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do tonight.

The way you can cut a rug; watching you's the only drug I need;
So gangsta, I'm so thug, you're the only one I'm dreaming of, you see.
I can be myself now, finally; in fact there's nothing I can't be.
I want the world to see you be with me.

Hey soul sister, ain't the Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo;
The way you move ain't fair, ya know.
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you do tonight.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Then & Now - Haste the Day

Haste the Day
Then ...

I owe a lot to this band, in a way. Haste the Day was the first Christian metal band which I started listening to consistently, and therefore I give them credit for introducing me to my now-favorite genre. When I first introduced this band to the readers of music.is.life, I shared with them the track Stitches, a lovely representation of what this band was made of. I found myself heartbroken by the truth in their lyrics, and at the same time empowered by the strength of their artistry and the passion in their words. This track showcased some of my favorite things about this band while also allowing me my first taste of a fascinating genre.


... & Now.

I didn't realize just how much more this band was capable of until I started exploring more of their work. Stitches was and is still a beautiful track - and is still one of my favorites by this band -, but it is but just a glimpse into Haste the Day's complex and impressive discography. Haste the Day flawlessly combine their worship with their art, wrapping their passionate lyrics in brutal vocals and emotionally charged instrumentals. They deliver a powerful message in each and every track, and offer through their albums a journey for listeners, a fast-paced adventure into our own emotions and experiences. Having the pleasure of having purchased both When Everything Falls (2005) and Pressure the Hinges (2007), I have discovered in Haste the Day traits I admire so much in a band; not only talent, but passion and purpose as well. At the same time, I have also discovered some of my favorite aspects in music, and in doing so allowed myself to form a passion for a genre I was previously unacquainted to.

Haste the Day's latest album, Dreamer, was released in 2008. The band spent most of 2009 on tour all across the world, and are finally slowing down their tour schedule as we begin the new year. The band is scheduled to play on the Van's Warped Tour in Summer 2010.

I'm going to share with you the music video for Man Man, a single off of the album Dreamer. This song definitely showcases the band's strengths; proving that, despite changes that have overcome the band in current years, this band is dedicated and committed to their work and their worship. In order to fully appreciate this track - as well as others by the band - I encourage you to look up their song lyrics; listening to these powerful songs, while gaining the full impact of their beautifully written lyrics, creates as a whole one breathtaking experience.

Hopefully, I'll have my hands on Dreamer in due time, and am looking forward to my chance to see Haste the Day perform in my area sometime soon. Until then, I'll keep my eye on any new releases from this band, as well as walking through the door this band has opened for me and exploring further the realm of Christian metal.

Haste the Day - Mad Man Official Music Video


Haste The Day - Mad Man

Haste The Day | MySpace Music Videos