The song presentation I chose to write about in this blog post was Nick’s presentation  for “Party Hard ” by Andrew W.K.

The first thing that went through my mind when looking at this on the presentation list was, “What is party metal?” so I had to look it up. I had never heard this song before today, but I suppose I can say that it’s not  terrible, I am ever so slightly impressed. The fast paced nature of the music is energetic enough to catch one’s attention, and the guitar work in the background sounds something common of a 2000’s alternative rock song, the mix of this together makes for something that pumps adrenaline through your veins, it’d be interesting to see a mosh pit for this kind of music going!

Now that I’ve been introduced to this genre I may start listening to it more, cool song and unique thing to choose to present.

The presentation I’m choosing to write about is T.J’s presentation on “Octavarium” by Dream Theater.

This song is my favorite out of the songs chosen from our class to present. This song is an absolute work of creativity. The sounds made in the music of this work feel almost other-worldly, not to mention the guitar work is absolutely gorgeous, it almost relaxes you. Normally a 24 minute song would be too much for me to take, but this song is intriguing enough to keep my mind busy for minutes at a time with no problem.

Let me just rant about my appreciation for Mike Portnoy. This man would be among the top five greatest drummers in my mind, not only is his work with Dream Theater legendary, but everything he’s ever collaborated with has been given a special touch that you can easily recognize as Mike Portnoy’s work. For example, take a look at some work from the Winery Dogs, a band him and great vocalist Richie Kotzen collaborated on:

Since I got that out of my system, back to the subject of the presentation. Dream Theater is a band I’ve always appreciated, they’ve been more than able to create sounds that catch your mind, sounds that haven’t been used with synthesizers since the work of the one and only great rock N Roll hall of fame inductees Rush. This sort of prog rock sound mixed with a progressive metal makes for one of the most unique kinds of bands. To conclude this blog post, I’m going to share a link to one of my favorite songs off of Dream Theater’s 1992 album, “Images and Words”, the song that will always initially be associated in my mind with Dream Theater:

This song is the reason I had ever listened to dream theater; but side note, I think this might be a shortened version of the original album song. But regardless, thanks for reading through this and if you’re listening to the links I put in this blog I hope you enjoy.

The  genre I am addressing in my presentation is early 2000’s (female) pop. The specific artist I chose was Avril Lavigne, but many other popular women also created music in this genre at the time, i.e. P!nk, Michelle Branch, Alicia Keys, and Nelly Furtado. Many songs from this genre have become huge recognizable hits that are still often heard on the radio, examples can be seen  below:

“I’m Like a Bird” by Nelly Furtado

“Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne

“A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton

These examples, along with many others, defined a decade of pop music and can still be heard on many stations today.

The 80s megastar I choose to write this blog on is Madonna.

Madonna, born August 16th 1958, had went through some struggles in her youth. Born into a family of devout Catholics, her mother died when Madonna was only 4.. She began pursuing a career in the late 1970s, and had performed with a band called Breakfast Club before releasing her self titled debut album in 1983. She rose to fame by pushing the limits of sexuality in music videos and lyrics, touching on subjects that would otherwise be unaddressed.

I personally am a fan of Madonna, and I believe that the controversial things that she has done have helped the cause for feminism and have given women everywhere inspiration to express themselves in any way they wish, all while making music that was catchy, enjoyable, and memorable.

I’d also like to touch a little bit on my opinion of Van Halen.

I feel as if Van Halen were the innovators of my favorite music of the 80s… “hair metal”. I personally feel that if it wasn’t for early bands such as Van halen and Def Leppard there would be no hair metal.

Van Halen managed to create a sound unique and distinct to them, while also pushing the limits of sexuality with the lyrical content. I will always find Eddie Van Halen to be one of the most talented guitarists of the era (alongside many others of course) and I believe they had a huge impact on the world of hard rock.

Side Note:

Today in class, I wanted to argue (in a respectful manner of course) with you Dr. Baumer! I was shocked that nobody in the room really liked 80s rock as much as me for one, but one thing you said struck me: that you found 80s “hair metal” to be “inauthentic”. My opinion is that almost any genre of music can have productions that sound inauthentic, until you dig in deeper. i.e., some hair metal bands copied each other, which is where the inauthenticity sprouts, bands such as bon jovi or def leppard might’ve sounded alike, but when you dig deeper you find bands that sound different and authentic, such as Tesla or L.A. Guns who were (somewhat wrongfully) clumped into the category of “hair metal”.

I believe that rock n’ roll, and all forms of music, need elements of both fun and serious in them. The development of lyrics that have deep meaning to them is really important, as music with meaning often appeals to an audience that wishes to relate to the music.  Music that has a theme of fun to it is also good, to lighten your mood, or to amplify the fun at a party or social event.

For example, often times in rock music there are bands that do both, some fun loving party music, and other times a ballad that hits a soft spot in one’s love life, i.e. Poison’s “Nothing But a Good Time” as opposed to “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”. Both songs reached popularity, even though one is conveying the message of fun and the other is more sophisticated and deep.  Another aspect to consider is the fact that the fun party music appeals to youth, whereas maybe the sophisticated music can appeal to young adults or adults. Both kinds of songs are necessary to appeal to all audience types.

I see the development of sophistication in the music as a great advancement to music history, as it pushed artists to further develop skills as to how to use the technology used to create music. The use of this technology created a unique sound, and if it wasn’t for the development of more sophisticated sounds we wouldn’t have many unique sounds that we use in today’s music.

In conclusion, I see both types of musical content as useful, neither is better than the other because they both serve a purpose in our lives.

Hello!

My music tastes range from pop to metal, so I’ll make this brief with a top five list of songs that I’ve been obsessing over for the past month on my iPod.

5. “Bottom of a Bottle” by Smile Empty Soul

A song released in 2003 with a 90’s grunge sound? Of course that’ll make my top five!

4. “Ohio Is For Lovers” by Hawthorne Heights

A powerful understanding song about a broken heart is what we all need sometimes, especially set to this teen punk energetic beat.

3.  “99 Red Balloons” by Nena

Such an upbeat 80s classic, yet with such meaningful lyrics.

2. “We Belong” by Pat Benatar

Another 80s classic, so precisely performed with emotion and a good kind of simplicity.

1. “Cold (But I’m Still Here)” by Evan’s Blue

A dominant, powerful hard rock tune, with perfectly combined vocal styles. Haven’t been able to stop listening to this for at least a month so far.

Rather than just focusing my opinions on this year’s grammy awards, I’d like to address my overall opinion on them over the years. I feel as if these awards lack categorization and do not include enough genre specific awards, i.e. as Dr. Baumer’s sample blog post states that african american musicians are overlooked, or in my opinion metal is also slightly overlooked. I feel like culture is least accepting of anything but plain hip hop music, which, sure, maybe it deserves an award for the talent they exhibit. But I feel as if others’ talents should be recognized. For example, last year the Grammy’s awarded one of my favorite bands, Ghost. But the applause for them was minimum and the thank you speech they gave was followed by awkward silence. I think sometimes the audience is disrespectful and even though maybe they aren’t happy about the artist nominated that they can take the time to applaud in a respectful manner.

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