Unfortunately, this article was not as easy as I thought it would be.  It turns out deciding on only five songs that I will listen to for the rest of my life (as in as long as the supplies on the plane last cause I’m not much of a survivalist) was not that easy.  My first list mostly represented music from the late 90’s and early 00’s but then I realized I would eventually get tired of all that angst.  I needed to diversify my list and include some more toe-tapping numbers.

My new list is better.  It includes music from more time periods.  It includes some singable songs (for when I get tired of simply talking to my volleyball) and is more of a broad sampling of Rock and Roll.  So here’s my list in no particular order and without any references to LOST.

Come On Lets Go – Ritchie Valens
Its singable, danceable, and gets bonus points for being sung by a Mexican.

Hey Jude – The Beatles
I have to include a Beatles tune though I know Hey Jude is kind of a cliched pick.  But what can I say, I really like the “Na Na Na” part at the end.  Its a good song to play if I want to bring my fellow castaways together.

Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin
I won’t be able to survive a deserted island if I can’t get the Led out.  It was between this and Black Dog.  I find this song more fun.

Ingrata – Cafe Tacuba
Talk about your fun songs.  I will waste days away trying to perfect the singing of this song.  And then doing a full long performance of it will scare the smoke monster away.

The National Anthem – Radiohead
Finally, when I just want to be alone, this is the song that will be playing in my head.  Played extremely loud, it’s oddly soothing.

Ok, so I lied about the order and the references.

Artist: We Were Promised Jetpacks
Album: These Four Walls
Label: Fat Cat Records
Release Date: June 15, 2009
Decision: 3/5 Promising If Uneven Debut
Influences I Notice:  U2, Explosions in the Sky,
Favorite Tunes: “Quiet Little Voices”, “Moving Clocks Run Slow”

1.  The Album

We Were Promised Jetpacks is a band from Edinburgh, Scotland.  These Four Walls is their debut album and it is quite impressive.  Like most indie label debuts it has a very simple production but it is hidden by a very complex sound from the band.

From the very first track, “It’s Thunder and Lightning”, you can hear the repetitive beats of post-rock bands like Explosions in the Sky. Combine this with vocal stylings that remind me of Bono from U2 and you have a promising debut from a young band.

Unfortunately, the early songs in the album might cause one to stop listening.  At first the post-rock beats are missing the chord progression changes that traditionally define the genre.  The vocals also don’t become expressive until a couple of songs into the album.  This causes the band to sound boring and makes those first two songs tedious to get through.  But once you get over that initial hump, I promise you that the album picks up and you have an exciting rest of the album.  And when you get to “Quiet Little Voices” the album just takes off.

2. The Decision 3/5

An uneven first album but when the band gets the combination of post-rock style and bombastic vocals just right it reaches new heights and makes me excited for their next release.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ZhBAylbN4]

Jimmy Carter jogging is sooo 1978.

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Van Halen, released 1978

In February of 1978, Van Halen took the country by storm with its self-titled, debut release: Van Halen. You have to remember that one. The cover featured a long-haired David Lee Roth, Alex and Eddie slightly blurred and Michael Anthony banging on the four-string. This album contained arguably one of the greatest, single guitar tracks of all time: Eruption. My God, man! Who is this guy? How did he play that? How many guitars are on that track? This instrumental, along with several other radio-friendly tracks like Jamie’s Cryin’ and Ain’t Talkin ‘bout Love, catapulted Van Halen into the national limelight. And the four original members would become rock icons before the decade was out. They went on to record five more albums; their last being 1984. I was lucky enough to see the original Van Halen in 1984 and I have to say, they kicked ass! The guitar solo, in and of itself, was worth the price of the ticket. David Lee Roth was a master showman and an unbelievable front man. They were so tight and well-rehearsed; I hated to see the show end. But, as we all know, egos got the best of the band and the original Van Halen was history…or so we thought.

5150, released 1986

Along came Sammy Hagar. The story I heard was that Eddie was getting his Maserati serviced and the mechanic told him that Sammy was available. Maybe the two of them should hook up. Now, I’m not sure if that story is true or not, but I am glad that Sammy found Eddie and they put together a landmark album (in my humble opinion): 5150. I was still a huge VH fan and I have been a fan of Sammy Hagar since the Montrose days. But when this album dropped in the spring of 1986, it was alike an atom bomb dropped. Heck, there may have even been a mushroom cloud over L.A. when this shell went off! The three remaining original members, plus the addition of Hagar created a rock monster. The 5150 album was damn near flawless; not a clunker on it. Eddie’s guitar work was as sharp as ever and his keyboards sounded great as well. And Hagar’s vocals were awesome. I saw the new Van Halen on the 5150 tour and I was not disappointed. Sammy didn’t have the same amazing stage presence that Roth did, but man, that dude had some serious energy. Non-stop, punch-you-in-the-face type of energy. He forced you to have a great time. Oh, but all good things must come to an end. After Balance was recorded and released, the band was teetering a bit. To try and regain some of the old fire, VH invited David Lee back to record a few tracks for the dreaded greatest hits compilation and Hagar cried foul. Another brutal blow to Van Halen. Would this be the end? Apparently not.

Another singer stepped in and another iteration of Van Halen was born. Another album was recorded and released in March of 1998, with the obligatory world tour to follow. I have to give Gary Cherone credit; he tried. The band tried. The promoters tried. But the fire just wasn’t there. Sure, Gary Cherone was fine when he fronted Extreme, but I missed Diamond Dave. I missed Sammy Hagar. Cherone just did not have the charisma of Dave or the sheer energy of Hagar. After all, a live Van Halen show is an event of legendary status and if you were singing for VH, you were expected to be the ringleader! Gary just couldn’t take the lead and command this behemoth. This version of Van Halen only lasted one album and the band broke up…seemingly for good this time.

The band took a long hiatus, with Sammy and Michael Anthony apparently becoming best buds and business partners. They spent their time partying in Cabo and getting on stage occasionally. Eddie bounced in and out of rehab. The last anyone heard, David Lee Roth was training to become an emergency technician. But strange things happen in the world of rock. After a substandard attempt at touring without Eddie, Alex and Michael on the Sans Halen tour (am I the only one who remembers that?), rumors started circulating about a Van Halen with Diamond Dave back as the front man and Eddie’s son, Wolfgang, playing bass.

We all know this finally came to pass and the ‘new-old’ Van Halen has been touring since early this year. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity to see them this time around. That’s okay. I was fortunate enough to see all three prior composites of the band. I’m hoping they put out some new material and tour well into the future. Who knows, the way their lineup changes, maybe I’ll be the next singer for the next Vodes Halen!

Soon to feature Vodes on lead vocals!

Source

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you enjoyed the great articles, interviews and memories we had to share this week. Stay tuned for Saturday’s first Arist of the Week, hopefully coming to you from beside the sea on the shores of South Carolina!

In high school, I listened to Fuel and the Foo Fighters and Live and Counting Crows.  In college, my freshman year, I would listen to A Perfect Circle and Tool.  Later on, I would listen to The Shins and Elliott Smith.

I’ve listened to R.E.M. for many years, and their songs have stuck by me through good and bad times, thoughtful and emotional times.  The first R.E.M. album I got was New Adventures in Hi-Fi.  Because of my age, I was joining them late in the game.  It has been a treasure trove of albums to discover.  I admire how unique R.E.M.’s career has been and how they seem to continually challenge themselves to keep being creative. Of course, besides the music and instrumentation, I am a huge lyrics person.  My ears always strain to make out the singer’s words when I’m listening to any music.  Michael Stipe’s lyrics and delivery never fail to be poetic.  One of my favorite songs is “Find the River,” the last song on Automatic for the People.  In high school, my favorite R.E.M. song was “Strange Currencies.”

R.E.M. does not seem to fit into any mold.  I am glad for my sake that they have had so much commercial success.  Of course, a favorite band is a very personal thing.  It’s nice to know that sometimes unique and eloquent music can be widely recognized.

I’ve been to two R.E.M. shows, at different amphitheaters.  I especially have fond memories of the first one, in the late 1990’s it must have been.  My friend and I stood in the crowd watching from the lawn.  It was the tour for the album Up, with a backdrop on the stage of a fun neon lights collage.  The place was packed with people and the crowd’s energy was amazing.  R.E.M. performed encore after encore, at least three encores if not more.  I remember they even performed “Sweetness Follows” because Michael Stipe mentioned on stage that it was one of Peter Buck’s favorites.  Partway through the performance a really drunk woman in the front row had to be removed at Michael Stipe’s request.

Peter Buck, live, with R.E.M.

I think I was completely mesmerized during the entire concert.  I must have been in high school, that age when you are still particularly prone to awe-inspiring experiences that you didn’t quite know existed.

What can I say?  Life is rich and wonderful.  I’m just so happy that a group of accomplished musicians has been sharing some of the beauty of life as they see it for so many years.

This is Belle’s 2nd post for meandthestereo! You can also check out an article she did on Pop Music, here. And check out her “duel” review with Renato, here! Look out for more of Belle every Wednesday where she discusses lifestyle and music!

Maybe you shouldn’t, but I’d check them out.

These guys are good (I’ve yet to see them play live yet), but I do like their songs on their Myspace (which you can check out by going here: Here!)

And this site won’t do heartless plugging, so there’s actually substance to these guys. I really like Achilles Tendency (I think it’d be a great song to use if I ever make an 80’s pop film (and I could if I wanted to)), so check that one out and then check out Late Night, Long Day which I think is an interesting 50’s/90’s pop/rock song. Hope they make an album soon so I can give it a raving review (or completely destroy it ; ))!

Anyways, they’ve got these shows lined up in your area:

May 16th, 2008 @ the Sterling Community Center in Sterling, VA @ 8PM
May 24th, 2008 @ the Brass Monkey in Baltimore, MD @ 10PM

Oh, and they look like this:

Their music is better than their band pics, I promise. What the Hell are they doing in this picture??

Check ‘em out! See them live! Shave their armpits!