Icon For Hire - "Icon For Hire"

Icon For Hire - Icon For Hire
2013, Tooth and Nail

1. Cynics & Critics
2. Nerves
3. Sugar & Spice
4. Hope of Morning
5. Sorry About Your Parents
6. Pop Culture
7. Watch Me
8. Slow Down
9. Rock and Roll Thugs
10. Think I'm Sick
11. Fix Me
12. Counting On Hearts

Here's a conversation that transpired about Icon For Hire:

          Me: "Hey, I found this new band you might like. They're called Icon For Hire, they're pretty cool."
          Wife: "Yeah, I know. They've been on my YouTube feed for months."
          Me: "Oh. Well... I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day."
          Wife: "You're a turd."

So what does Icon sound like? Well, take some Paramore and make them heavier. Then throw in some electronica, maybe a little dubstep. Then add, because why not, some white girl rap. Mix it all together and you've got Icon For Hire. Their music is accessible, but heavy, catchy but not obnoxious. Vocalist Ariel may not have quite the range of your Hayley Williamses, but she makes up for it in pure attitude and heart. You can really tell that the band has put their all into this record. Something I think is rare these days. Even the "white girl rap" parts (like in "Sugar & Spice" and "Think I'm Sick") totally work. I would also like to point out that there is no filler here either. All the songs are really good and the album is best listened to as a whole. Icon For Hire has risen to the status of "family's favorite band" as of this writing. And if you don't think a four year old singing the lyrics to "Sugar & Spice" is not the cutest thing ever, then you have no soul. I guess kids these days really can make good music!

Useless Fact: One of the band members has a huge mohawk. When I see it I laugh and laugh and think back to the days when I thought Joey Daub's (of Believer) half-shaved-mohawk-thing was just the coolest thing ever.

Cocteau Twins - "Heaven Or Las Vegas"

Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas
1990, 4ad

1. Cherry-Coloured Funk
2. Pitch the Baby
3. Iceblink Luck
4. Fifty Fifty Clown
5. Heaven Or Las Vegas
6. I Wear Your Ring
7. Fotzepolitic
8. Wolf in the Breast
9. Road, River, and Rail
10. Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires

Cocteau Twins is a band that's sort of been floating out there in the ether for a long time. I've heard the name from people whose music I love or whose opinions I respect. I never really checked them out before but not for any particular reason. However, I found Heaven Or Las Vegas at Goodwill for a dollar and decided it was time to check them out. What cinched the deal was the year it was produced: 1990. 1990 was, in my opinion, a fantastic year for music. Upon listening I could immediately tell which band the Cocteau Twins had a profound influence on - The Choir. The Twins make swirly, dreamy, atmospheric alternative music. It's evocative and unique. The female vocalist is light and airy as well, sometimes singing in English and other times singing in... French? Italian? Nonsense? I can't really tell but I can discern only about thirty percent of the lyrics here. From what I've read this was their most successful release.

Useless Fact: There are no actual twins in the Cocteau Twins. I checked.

Sacred Warrior - "Waiting in Darkness"

Sacred Warrior - Waiting in Darkness
2013, Independent

1. Desperately Wicked
2. Waiting in Darkness
3. Sinking Sand
4. In Dust and Ashes
5. Fallen Hero
6. Fear Me
7. Long Live the King
8. Jealous Love
9. Living Sacrifice
10. Day of the Lord
11. Temples On Fire

Add Sacred Warrior to the list of old Christian bands who released albums in 2013! Waiting in Darkness is a little different in that longtime vocalist Rey Perra has been replaced by Eli Prinsen. While I think Rey was an integral part of the band's sound, Eli does a great job as his replacement. He's got a powerhouse voice that fits with the Sacred Warrior sound. He can do the highs and the lows all with style. I will say that on the album's ballad, "Jealous Love" he does sound a bit... um... "Josh Groban-y." Just a bit. I'm sad to say that I haven't really been able to get into this album as much. Part of this is the production which is kind of muddy and noisy. Also, it seems like the songs just aren't as strong. Some of them almost seem like an old man who's told a story but after the gist of the story just won't shut up. This is especially true of the first two songs. "Waiting in Darkness" has a great tight sound and a good hook, but then it goes into this bridge part and never really resolves. My favorite song is probably "Fear Me." I'd also like to talk about the lyrics for a second. They seem kind of angry, condemnatory, and judgmental. I know that was standard fair back in the day but I just have a problem with calling people fools because they don't have the same faith as me. A lot of other fans really dig this album, but for me it was merely okay.

Useless Fact: The album contains re-records of "Day of the Lord" from Rebellion and "Temples On Fire" from Obsessions. 

Petty, Tom - "Full Moon Fever"

Petty, Tom - Full Moon Fever
1989, MCA

1. Free Falling
2. I Won't Back Down
3. Love Is a Long Road
4. A Face in the Crowd
5. Runnin' Down a Dream
6. Feel a Whole Lot Better
7. Yer So Bad
8. Depending On You
9. The Apartment Song
10. Alright For Now
11. A Mind With a Heart of Its Own
12. Zombie Zoo

While I never had the entire Full Moon Fever album, the singles really, really take me back. They remind me of a particular time in my life when my entire day consisted of church, watching MTV, listening to music, playing Nintendo, and reading Nintendo Power. I had absolutely no responsibilities other than "stay out of trouble" and "don't burn the house down." Fine, fun times. "Free Falling" and "Runnin' Down a Dream" were played endlessly on MTV. They're also played on the radio stations a lot down here in Georgia and each time it activates my nostalgia chip. For whatever reason I never saw fit to buy the entire album as a lad. After my dalliance with Greatest Hits I naturally defaulted to Full Moon Fever on my quest to find more Tom Petty. People, if the singles are all you hear from this album you are missing out. The entire CD is full of finely crafted pop rock with stellar musicianship and catchy hooks. As tend to be the case when I research an artist, my favorite tracks aren't even the singles. "Yer So Bad" and "The Apartment Song" are two of shining examples. As is "Alright For Now" which is a beautiful acoustic ballad - I didn't even know Tom Petty did that kind of thing.

Useless Fact: George Harrison and Roy Orbison both lent their considerable talents to the making of this album. Some fans even refer to this as Traveling Wilburies Vol 2. (Traveling Wilburies being the supergroup comprised of Petty, Harrison, Orbison, Bob Dylan and someone else whose name escapes me.)

Bloodgood - "Dangerously Close"

Bloodgood - Dangerously Close 
2013, Independent

1. Lamb of God
2. Run Away
3. Child on Earth
4. I Will
5. Bread Alone
6. Pray
7. I Can Hold On
8. Run the Race
9. Father Father
10. Man in the Middle
11. Crush Me
12. In the Trenches

Bloodgood is back! Dangerously Close has been out for awhile now so a lot of people have already reviewed it. Everything you may have heard about this album is true. The band has not lost any of the passion or talent in the twenty-some odd years since All Stand Together. Vocalist Les Carlson's vocals are surprisingly good. Usually older singers just can't belt it out like they used to. Not Les, though. While his voice has aged a bit it's in a good way. He sounds more seasoned and wise and can still hit the high notes when it counts. Also, Michael Bloodgood's bass playing is more upfront than just about any Bloodgood record I've ever heard ("I Can Hold On" being the primary example). He's got a great melodic style and I'm glad it's featured more prominently as some of the old albums barely have any bass to speak of. It's also nice to hear some good old-fashioned Jesus metal lyrics. It seems like I haven't heard straight-up Christian lyrics in forever. My only complaint is that the album closer, "In the Trenches" seems to end prematurely - like they ran out of tape or something. The vocal line doesn't resolve itself like you'd expect and the album just sort of... ends.

Useless Fact: Dangerously Close was another Kickstarter funded release. Kickstarter seems to be the place to go for old Christian bands to record new albums.

Various Artists - "Ghostbusters II Soundtrack"

Various Artists - Ghostbusters II Soundtrack
1989, MCA

1. Bobby Brown - "On Our Own"
2. New Edition - "Supernatural"
3. James "J.T." Taylor - "The Promised Land"
4. Bobby Brown - "We're Back"
5. Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew - "Spirit"
6. RUN - D.M.C. - "Ghostbusters"
7. Oingo Boingo - "Flesh 'N Blood"
8. Elton John - "Love is a Cannibal"
9. Glenn Fry - "Flip City"
10. Howard Huntsberry - "Higher and Higher"

Back in the day I was a HUGE Ghostbusters fan. Eh... who am I kidding? I'm STILL a huge Ghostbusters fan. If Ghostbusting was an actual option for a profession I would be doing it instead of writing this. I love both movies. I'm one of those people who still don't understand why everyone thinks the second one was so terrible. My love for the franchise extended so far that I bought this soundtrack on tape as a lad. I listened to it repeatedly during the summer Ghostbusters II came out. It hasn't quite held up as well as I expected. The Bobby Brown songs are good early 90's R&B/Hip-Hop but the New Edition and James "J.T." Taylor songs are kind of boring. I don't even remember them being in the movie. I also don't care for the Oingo Boingo or Elton John tracks either. "Spirit" has an appropriately creepy vibe and is one of my favorite tracks as is RUN-D.M.C.'s "Ghostbusters" which features some lines and hooks from Ray Parker, Jr.'s original. It's nice when I need a quick nostalgia fix, but overall not as great as it was when I was young.

Useless Fact: Not a fact - a challenge: which scene does each song play in? If you're correct you get nothing but my admiration.

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - "Greatest Hits"

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Greatest Hits
1993, Geffin

1. American Girl
2. Breakdown
3. Listen To Her Heart
4. I Need To Know
5. Refugee
6. Don't Do Me Like That
7. Even the Losers
8. Here Comes My Girl
9. The Waiting
10. You Got Lucky
11. Don't Come Around Here No More
12. I Won't Back Down
13. Runnin' Down a Dream
14. Free Fallin'
15. Learning To Fly
16. Into the Great Wide Open
17. Mary Jane's Last Dance
18. Something In the Air

If you're an avid reader of my blog you might have seen me mention my most hated radio station ever: 95.5 in Savannah. It's famous for its musical "diversity." I mean it will play AC/DC songs from both the Bonn Scott and Brian Johnson eras! Anyway, occasionally they'll play a Tom Petty song. At some point I realized that these Tom Petty songs were probably the only songs I really enjoyed (other than Pink Floyd). I also realized that "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is probably one of my favorite songs ever. So.... I picked this up while I was getting groceries one day. It's good. Though I'm more familiar with songs from track eleven and on because the others are a bit before my time. However, these have grown on me too, especially "The Waiting" and "You Got Lucky." It only goes up to 1993 which means it's missing "You Don't Know How It Feels" - another song I never get tired of. I have now made it a priority to get some more Tom Petty because I have learned that singles collections leave out some of an artists best stuff.

Useless Fact: The video for "Runnin' Down a Dream" is a tribute of sorts to cartoon/comic strip/video game  Little Nemo in Dream Land. The video for "Into the Great Wide Open" starred Johnny Depp and Petty himself as the "roadie named Bart." "Mary Jane's Last Dance" starred Kim Basinger as a... corpse.