iPod Stuff: Another Playlist For Ya’ll

1. “Never Let Me Go”-From Family Force 5’s debut Business Up Front/Party in the Back. Look at my album review.
2. “Replace Me”-Same as #1.
3. “Lose Urself”-Same as #1 and #2.
4. “Hotel Aquarium”-From Falling Up’s Captiva. A great guitar song with lyrics I can’t tell but it sounds cool.
5. “Sooner or Later (You’ll Want It All)”-From House of Heroes’ The End is Not the End. I found this song free online and enjoy it immensely and can’t wait for the album.
6. “That Thing You Do!”-From the soundtrack of the movie of the same name. A great song.
7. “Falls Apart”-From Thousand Foot Krutch’s The Flame in All of Us. Great song.

Relient K: Artist Profile

Relient K is possibly the greatest band I have ever heard. There are many facets about them that make them my favorite musical artist.

            I was first introduced to Relient K by one of my best friends, Stan Cameron. I was over at his house one day and he said he had to let me listen to some music. The first words I heard were “Here’s the kick off. Hope you’re not sick of Relient k or all the songs we play. Cause then you’ll want to throw our CD away.” I was like, “Okay, that was a little weird.” Later I realized that the weirdness was just beginning.

            Then I heard the second song. It started with a pretty sweet guitar riff thingy, then added in some drums and it sounded pretty sweet. At that time I wasn’t a huge music fan.

            “I think we’re going somewhere. We’re onto something good here…we’re going and I never know when, never know when where we’re going. And to go back to where I was would just be wrong. I’m.” And “Pressing On” was the first real Relient K song I heard. About a year later, after I had purchased a couple other Relient K CDs, I borrowed the “Pressing On” CD, actually called “The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek”, from Stan.

            I was further introduced to Relient K through the WOW Hits collection. I got the 2006 hits CD from my mom for my birthday. There were two songs on the second CD that I would repeat: Kutless’ “Strong Tower” and Relient K’s “Be My Escape”. I really liked the sound of “Be My Escape.” The lyrics were catchy and I have them memorized pretty much.

            “I’m giving up on giving up slowly.” That line was pretty good and caught my attention. I figured, “Hey, these guys are good.” I never fully realized the songwriting ability of lead singer Matthew Thiessen until a couple years later.

            Soon after I heard that song, I implored my mom to take me to the Carpenter’s Shop, a Christian bookstore in Sanford, my hometown. There I found two CDs by who was becoming my favorite band in my early stages of liking music. It was “Two Lefts Don’t Make a Right, But Three Do” and “Mmhmm,” two of the three Gold certified records put out by Relient K (“The Anatomy of the Tongue in Cheek” is the other). I got into “Mmhmm” first. Driven by “Be My Escape”, rocked by “I So Hate Consequences”, perplexed by the title of “Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet?”, “Mmhmm” was my favorite CD at this point in my life. At first I never got into “Two Lefts”, but later in my life I realized the value of a few songs.

            I continued listening to “Mmhmm” and the other albums on my iPod daily. Currently my iPod is filled with Relient K songs, with 58 of the 502 Relient K-sung. I still need to transfer songs from my old computer to my Mac, because I lost the CD for “Mmhmm.”

            When I began making movies, I was easily persuaded by myself to put Relient K songs into my films. For my first movie, Act Four of Romeo and Juliet, an English project which I got an A+ on, their acoustic version of “Be My Escape” was the opening credits song. In my second film, Poison, I had beginnings to songs, including “Chap Stick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry,” as scene transitions. While in production of my award-winning film, Dr. Elite, I used “Must Have Done Something Right” from “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” in the first trailer. Unfortunately, it did not make it in the movie.

            “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” was the height of Relient K fandom for me. When the CD released, I was in Italy. When I returned home, the first thing I did was buy a copy of the CD off of iTunes. I was pumped and aptly rewarded. “Pleading the Fifth” was a fun paradox. “Come Right Out and Say It”, “Bite My Tongue”, “Up and Up”, “The Best Thing”, “Must Have Done Something Right” and “Faking My Own Suicide” all gave me good feelings and some nervousness as well. “I Need You” and “Devastation and Reform” were great hard songs that reminded me of the connection I needed with God. “I’m Taking You With Me” and “Give Until There’s Nothing Left” were fun songs with good messages. “Deathbed” was a solemn anthem of a life story. And bonus track “Sloop John B” was a great reminder of one of Relient K’s influences and another one of my favorite bands, The Beach Boys.

            As for my favorites from my favorite, that’s hard to discern. My favorite songs from Relient K are “From End to End” (“Two Lefts”), “Getting Into You” (“Two Lefts”), “I Need You” (“Five Score”), “Which to Bury, Us or the Hatchet?” (“Mmhmm”), “The Best Thing” (“Five Score”), “Pressing On” (“The Anatomy”), “Sadie Hawkins Dance” (“The Anatomy”), “Life After Death and Taxes (Failure II)” (“Mmhmm”), and “When I Go Down” (“Mmhmm”). My favorite album is their latest offering, “Five Score and Seven Years Ago.”

            Relient K ranks among the greats in my book because of their great lyrics and great music. I was first struck by their lyrics with the song “Devastation and Reform.” Here is a copy of the first verse and chorus:

 

            Fear can drive stick
And it’s taking me down this road
A road down which
I swore I’d never go
And here I sit
Thinking of God knows what
Afraid to admit
I might self-destruct

So lock the windows
And bolt the door
Cuz I’ve got enough problems
Without creating more

I feel like I was born
To devastation and reform
Destroying everything I loved
And the worst part is
I pull my heart out, reconstruct
And in the end it’s nothing but
The shell of what I had when I first started.

 

            It’s a great song. And that’s only the first verse, bridge, and chorus.

            Relient K is great in concert too. I saw them play on the Appetite for Construction Tour with Switchfoot and Ruth on November 2, 2007. I would never forget it. It was a week before my birthday and parents gave me an early birthday present. Not literally, but they allowed me to go with the youth group at my church. There I learned to like Switchfoot and rocked out to every single song that Relient K did. “I So Hate Consequences” was their opener and was awesome. Before Switchfoot’s performance of “Meant to Live” later that night, “I So Hate Consequences” was the best live song I had heard. And I’m not a huge fan of live stuff.

            Relient K has too many good qualities to be passed down by anyone. Mainstream music has even heard them. “Mmhmm” was #15 on the Billboard 200 when it was released in 2004 and “Five Score and Seven Years Ago” was #6 in 2007 when it debuted. “Be My Escape” and “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” were both Top 40 hits whose music videos made it into MTV’s Top 10 Countdown. “Be My Escape” became a Gold single in October 2005. Relient K has played on “The Tonight Show,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live”, “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

            Relient K is my favorite artist and “From End to End” is my favorite song. I think that’s ‘Nuff said.

Album Review: “Business Up Front/Party in the Back”-Family Force 5

“Come along now children. It’s time for a little music.” This sentence is the first line on Family Force 5’s 2006 debut offering Business Up Front/Party in the Back. I will be reviewing the Diamond Edition of the CD, with 3 extra songs.

1. “Cadillac Phunque”-A great opening song. “I’m rollin’ around, servin’ it up, I brought you some Cadillac Phunque!” 8-10
2. “Kountry Gentleman”-Possibly my favorite song from the album (I’m gonna say this about 4 songs). Great theme song for any boy from down South. “My momma raised me in the Dirty South, a Kountry Gentleman, so you best watch your mouth!” 9-10
3. “X-Girlfriend”-As with all the songs, FF5 has some catchy lyrics in this number. The lead singer, Soul Glow Activator, sings, “She just became my x-girlfriend.” Not exactly the most catchy, but it sticks. 8.5-10
4. “Drama Queen”-One of my least favorite songs, but it’s still great. “You go and talk behind my back. Don’t you know that’s whack? It’s a personal attack.” As I said, catchy. 7.9-10
5. “Put Ur Hands Up”-My least favorite song. The synthesizer saves the interesting lyrics. 7-10
6. “Love Addict”-Possibly my favorite song on the album. “Doctor, oh doctor, I’ve got an emergency. It seems I’m head over heels, a case of L-O-V-E!” 9.5-10
7. “Earthquake”-Probably my 2nd least favorite song. But it’s still cool. “The needle dropped. My track was hot. We began to rock. Our eyes were locked.” 7.8-10
8. “Replace Me”-Possibly my favorite song on the album. Maybe close to my favorite song of all. Relient K’s “From End to End” and a song later on this album beat it. One of the songs that is closest to being Christian. “My batteries died so long ago. There’s a heart-shaped box where they must go.” I absolutely like it. 9.9-10
9. “Lose Urself”-This starts out like a song from the disco era. But it turns into a pop-punk with some catchy voices and lyrics. “I must say that you captivate in so many ways that I can’t relate.” 8.5-10
10. “Peachy”-The song where you can understand the most lyrics. It’s fun. I read somewhere that it was written to convert a friend to Christianity. It ends up being fun and relaxed despite being a punk-rock band. “You, wanna talk about God Philosophy. I don’t think there’s anything wrong. I’ve got time, in fact lifelong.” 9-10
11. “Supersonic”-The synthesizer and guitar miz great to make this song a great party song. “Let go of yourself. It’ll be good for your health.” 8.7-10
12. “Numb”-”You know, cardboard is one of the coolest things invented by paper.” This song is about dancing. I don’t exactly enjoy it that much. 6.8-10
13. “I Love You to Death”- This begins like a hard rock song and continues with brief interludes of normalcy, Family Force 5 normalcy that is. This is an okay song, not my favorite but good. 8-10
14. “Face Down”-Decent. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it. 7.5-10
15. “Never Let Me Go”-This is the best song on the album. “You will never ever let me go!” This is the best song and has an interesting music video that everyone should see. 10-10

Average score: 8.407-10

Overall: This is one of my favorite albums ever. It has some catchy lyrics and great guitar-synthesizer combinations to make an unforgettable album. “Replace Me”, “Love Addict”, “Kountry Gentleman”, and “Never Let Me Go” are all great tracks that I can put on repeat and not get bored. This album has great mainstream potential that has not been fulfilled, but the Christian community has embraced this CD full on, with FF5 being named Best Artist, Best Band, Most Underrated Artist, Best Website (familyforce5.com), Best Live Performance, Artist You’d Most Like to See on the Cover of CCM (who created 5collector’s edition covers featuring each of the band’s members), and Most Likely to Be Breakout Artist of 2008. Thier video for “Love Addict” was 3rd behind tobyMac’s “Boomin’” video and Skillet’s “Whispers in the Dark”, and “Love Addict” was the number 2 best song behind Skillet’s “Rebirthing.” Also, FF5’s video for “Never Let Me Go” was a finalist for Best Short Form Music Video in the 2008 Dove Awards, the Christian msic idustry’s answer to the Grammys. Well, it’s time the world hears Family Force 5.

Grade: A-

Album Review: “Hawk Nelson is My Friend” by Hawk Nelson

Here they go again! The Canadian “pop-punk” group is back at their guitar-jamming, drum-pounding ways with their third studio album, Hawk Nelson is My Friend. I now will give you a song-by-song review and then give my disc review.

1.  ”You Have What I Need”-The band goes back to a formula that is similar to the songs “The One Thing I Have Left” and “Like a Racecar” on their previous albums. It is possibly my favorite song on the album.
2. “Friend Like That”-A great guitar riff gets us started on a great, peppy, fun song. It praises God for being a friend “that can set me free.” I like it……
3. “Turn It On”-It’s another song that has a similar ring to it, like “Late Show” on Letters to the President. It’s a fun song too with also some good guitar. A good dance song like “Bring ‘Em Out.”
4. “One Little Miracle”-Similar to “Zero” and “Everything You Ever Wanted”, this song talks about hardships and that there is a possibility that “one little miracle” could “get us through.” It’s a good song to listen to when you’re down because it brings you up.
5. “Let’s Dance”-A review I read called this song “the worst song on the record” in a review where he gave it a 1-star grade. It’s not exactly thought-provoking, except the line: “Money is the god we work for.” Then I had to listen a little closer. It doesn’t really make much sense after that.
6. “Ancient History”-Not many songs use a class name to draw you in, but this time it helped. It’s Jason Dunn singing once again about guy-girl angst. It’s pretty poppy and fun. I like it.
7. “Somebody Else”-A song of lament about who the singer used to be to a girlfriend, I think. “I used to be somebody else…the people around me, they all seem to tell me, that I tend to change like the seasons.” Very nice soft song, for Hawk Nelson that is.
8. “Arms Around Me”-A song asking God to “wrap your arms around me.” A good soft song.
9. “Just Like Me”-Jason Dunn is getting mad at a girl because he is “just like” him. Not my favorite.
10. “Not the Same”-After examining the lyrics, it looks a lot like “Zero.” It’s a song about the past, but with a twist: “Though it’s not the same without you.” Good song, not my favorite, but better than “Just Like Me” and “Let’s Dance.”
11. “Words We Speak”-I honestly don’t get this song. Good sound though.
12. “I Still Miss You”-Battles with “You Have What I Need” for best song on the album. Song about the lead singer who loses his grandma to cancer and still trusting God while mourning her death.

Overall: “Hawk Nelson is My Friend” is probably this Canada-based group’s weakest output so far. “You Have What I Need” and “I Still Miss You” are two songs worth listening to, while “Friend Like That” is pretty infectious and well-done. Othwerwise, this lacks mainstream potential and is not really my favorite. Check out their previous albums, “Letters to the President” and “Smile, It’s the End of the World”, to see a better sampling of Hawk Nelson music.

I need to give this a grade like FF5’s album.

Grade: B-

My iPod Playlist 3A (I think)

1. “Say This Sooner (No One Will Ever See Things The Way I Do)” by The Almost-The song with the ridiculously long subtitle is ridiculously good.
2. “Keeping Me Alive” by The Afters-Awesome song. Completely awesome.
3. “Turn It On” by Hawk Nelson-A lot like “Bring ‘Em Out” from their previous album, but cooler.
4. “When You Look Me in the Eyes” by Jonas Brothers-Oh, you caught me. Actually a decent song.
5. “International Harvester” by Craig Morgan-One of the few country songs I like.

Carolina Hurricanes 2007-2008 Season Wrap-Up 1: Awards

Here are the awards for the Carolina Hurricanes for the 2007-2008 season.

• Most Unsung Guy: The candidates are Trevor Letowski, Chad LaRose, and Tim Conboy. LaRose was one of those grit players who seemed to be acquiring a scoring touch when he went down with a devastating injury about halfway through the season. Conboy was a mid-season call-up who played the tough guy role and added a couple assists along the way. But the winner is the guy who stepped into the No. 2 center role when Rod Brind’Amour and Matt Cullen were down simultanteously and played stellarly and great on the penalty kill. Winner: Trevor Letowski
• Glen Wesley Trophy (Best Defenseman): The candidates are Glen Wesley (haha), Bret Hedican, and Tim Gleason. Glen Wesley, in possibly his last season, was a solid option on the back end all year. Bret Hedican, also in possibly his last season, as often out against the other team’s top line and was +17. But the winner is a guy who often joined Hedican, fought, put points on the board, and made the defense more respectable in his second season with the Hurricanes. Winner: Tim Gleason
• Other Trophy (Most impact as a non-player): The candidates are Tom Barasso (Goalie coach), Pete Friesen (Head trainer), and Ron Francis (Asst. GM). Ron Francis was instrumental in welcoming guys to the ‘Canes, like meeting them at the airport. Tom Barasso helped Cam Ward improve greatly this year. But the winner had to deal with multiple injuries and helped a couple guys get back before expected. Winner: Pete Friesen
• Tom Rowe Trophy (Best Callup): The candidates for the award named after the head coach of the ‘Canes AHL affiliate in Albany, NY, are Keith Aucoin, Ryan Bayda and Wade Brookbank. Brookbank made an immediate impact as an enforcer. Keith Aucoin centered a good energy line including Scott Walker and our winner, who had the most points and a lot of energy and crashed the net a lot more than I expected. Winner: Ryan Bayda
• Doug Weight Trophy (Best Acquistion, pre- or mid-season): The candidates for the award are Sergei Samsonov, Jeff Hamilton, and Joe Corvo. Jeff Hamilton, before his send-down to Albany, helped the power-play in the beginning of the season. Joe Corvo gave us a puck-moving defenseman and a hat trick one game. But the winner scored goals and formed chemistry with a couple guys that made an impact on the scoreboard. Winner: Sergei Samsonov
• Jeff O’Neill Trophy (Best Forward): The candidates for the award are Eric Staal, Scott Walker, and Erik Cole. First off, honorable mention goes to Rod Brind’Amour, who didn’t play enough games to get consideration. Erik Cole played well, with another 50-point season. Eric Staal clearly had a good season, the leading scorer on the ‘Canes. But the winner brought grit and 32 points in 58 games. Winner: Scott Walker
• Ron Francis Trophy (MVP): The candidates are Eric Staal, Cam Ward, and Ray Whitney. Cam Ward played solid goal in the early months, but was found letting in soft goals when it counted the most. Ray Whitney, if he was healthy all season, would have made a big impact (61 points in 66 points). But the winner grew more as the season went on and led the team in scoring. With 82 points in 82 games, the winner is Eric Staal.