- You can check out a new Straylight Run song here courtesy of spin.com.
- Vaux and bassist Ryder Robison have went their seperate ways. Guitarist/keyboardist Greg Daniel will assume the bass duties for the band.
- Neurosis are eyeing a May 2007 release date for their new album. They'll be recording with Steve Albini next month at Electrical Audio in Illinois.
- Now I usually defend the south when it's criticized (as I'm from GA), but this is just way too much. A Alabama teenager is accused of raping his mother. Yes, you read that correctly.
- Thanks to Courtney Love's deal to sell rights of the Nirvana catalog, you will now hear Nirvana songs on your favorite network/cable television shows.
- Sherwood has officially signed to Myspace Records. Dudes should've done better than that.
- Road Runner has posted the ecard for the new Killswitch Engage album. You can check that out here.
- According to HITS, My Chemical Romance has started off slowly. It looks like they'll have a mountain to climb if they want #1 this week. Still sticking by my prediction. We'll see tomorrow.
- Rancid will be releasing a new album in the spring of 2007 through Hellcat Records.
- Epitaph's Scatter the Ashes have broken up.
- Clutch is currently in the studio recording their album which will see a release sometime early next year. I'm stoked.
- Poison the Well have set "Versions" as the title of their upcoming album. Word on the street is that they've signed to Ferret. We'll see.
- Lollapalooza is set to run atleast until 2011.
- If you head over to MTV, Say Anything has a new contest where you can win a trip to see the band live along with other prizes. Worth checking out if you're a fan of the band (which you should be).
- Um, Top 20 "Whitest" and "Blackest" names.
- From First To Last has been booted from the World Championship Tour 2006. Too bad.
- Check out Yahoo! Music to watch Thursday's video for their new single "At This Velocity".
- Swarm of the Lotus have called it quits. They'll play their last show November 1 at the Ottobar with Goatwhore.
- Speaking of bands breaking up, Anterrabar will play their last show October 29 at the Saints and Sinners Festival in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus will be headling next year's edition of the Take Action Tour. These guys are closing in on 200k sales. Another band looking to break in 2007.
- The Source magazine and it's two founders must pay 14.5 million to a former editor of the magazine. Christ.
- First band confirmed for next year's Bamboozle? My Chemical Romance. Big surprise.
- Converge has posted a full stream on their new album on their Myspace page. Check it out. Great album.
- Word around the industry is that My Chemical Romance will top 225k+ with their first week sales. I'm still standing by my safe prediction of somewhere between 200-250k.
- Sparta looks to open nicely on the charts next week with around 15-20k copies sold of their new album "Threes".
- Rumor is that Clear Channel is looking to sell to increase shareholder profit. Boo. On the subject of Clear Channel, they just canned 96ROCK's team "The Regular Guys" here in Atlanta for the SECOND time. Look up the story. It's ridiculous.
- Notorious hacker Jon Lech Johansen has cracked Apple's FairPlay DRM. He plans to sell the code to rival businesses. Nice.
- Stream the new Deftones album on their Myspace page.
- The Pixies are looking to record a new album. Or so says Frank Black.
- I can see The Transit War gaining steam every week. They'll be supporting the Lostprophets on their U.S. tour from October 29 - November 9.
- An Oregon grocery store employee is claiming that he wrote "American Idiot". He's now sueing Green Day for copyright infringement. Amazing. Check that story out on the Mail Tribune website.
- Someone please tell Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus to shut the hell up. We get it. You two don't like each other. I don't see why they can't be friends. They share a common bond of starting two new shitty bands (A&A and Plus-44).
- This Day & Age have called it quits. Bummer.
- You know what happens to you when you're in a shitty band? You get your tour van and equipment stolen. See: Men Women and Children.
- Check out My Chemical Romance's "AOL Sessions" live performance here. Their new album, The Black Parade, hits stores today. I'm telling you. This shit is gonna blow up.
- Hot Cross is eyeing February 20th, 2007 as their tentative release date for their upcoming album Risk Revival.
- If you head over here, you can download a new song from ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead called "Wasted State of Mind" on their Myspace page.
- Say Anything will break in the music industry next year. Max Bemis is a real boy.
- My Chemical Romance will be gracing the cover of next month's Alternative Press. The band will also be on TRL tomorrow (Tuesday).
- The Format is releasing their new live EP on iTunes tomorrow.
- Band of Horses is apparently the new buzz band with features in GQ, Entertainment Weekly, and Spin. Their latest album has already scanned 42k+ copies.
- Pre-order Plus 44's debut album at smartpunk.com and get a free 7" for the song "Cliff Diving". Not a fan of the band, but a good deal if you're into them.
- You can check out the first four minutes of the new movie "Borat" here.
- Wolf Parade is hitting the studio sometime this winter to record their sophomore album.
- Aww. Jermaine Dupri quit his job at Virgin because of he thought his girlfriend, Janet Jackson, didn't receive enough marketing for her new album. How sweet.
- Anyone else distraught that Diddy's new album will top the charts this week?
- Epitaph has released From First to Last's new video "Shame Shame".
- The Shins have finished recording their new album "Wincing the Night Away". The album is set for January 23 release through Sub Pop. I have this. I'm thinking of reviewing it in the next week or so. We'll see.
- The woman who broke up The Beatles, Yoko Ono, is suing Capital Records over underreported royalties. There's been quite a few lawsuits in the music industry lately and it's getting kind of old now.
- Speaking of suing, YouTube is being sued not by a large media corporation, but by.. a journalist by the name of Robert Tur. Hmm.
- LCD Soundsystem will record a 45-minute song for Nike. The song will accompany a workout. It'll only be available through iTunes.
- Pretty soon I'll be having a "Best Band You're Not Listening To" feature. In the mean time, check out Geert van der Velde's (ex Shai Hulud) new band, The Black Atlantic. It's some incredibly laid back music with an indie touch. I really can't explain it. Just check them out.
- My Chemical Romance's new single "Welcome to the Black Parade" has been played on radio this week a whopping 1755 times. Insane. I still wish the album was better though.
- November 21 is official No Music Day.
- Read a new interview with Matt Pryor (The New Amsterdams/ex Get up Kids) here.
- Sparta is streaming the entirety on their new album "Threes" on their Myspace page. It's no "Wiretap Scars", but it's a decent album worth checking out. It may surprise some people.
- If you head over here, you can check out Thrice's studio journal for their upcoming 4-CD concept album.
- As I Lay Dying posted an update on their website regarding their new album. They have four songs completed along with a few other songs that are still rough. Mosh it up, bro.
- In honor of Sick Of It All's 20th year as a band, Abacus Recording is putting out a tribute album called "Our Impact Will Be Felt". The album will feature bands such as Bane, Bleeding Through, Hatebreed, Ignite, Madball, Napalm Death, Rise Against, Suicide Machines, and more.
- Posting a new Brand New song will generate traffic to your website/blog/whatever. Today is proof. This album will be a monster.
- Today President Bush said that "it's tough" in Iraq. ""One of the reasons you're seeing more casualties is the enemy is active and so are our troops, along with Iraqis," Bush said in a brief interview with The Associated Press." What kind of war would it be if the enemy wasn't active? Ugh. This is just way too easy. Next.
- Dear and the Headlights have signed a deal with Equal Vision.
- Smoke or Fire have finished up their new album "This Sinking Ship". Expect it to see it in stores in early 2007 through Fat Wreck Chords.
- Brand New's new single was recently played on WXPN in Philadelphia. There was a radio rip, but since the song is now streaming on their Myspace, you can download that rip (Myspace) below. My thoughts: not too bad. I'm very curious to hear the entire album.
Brand New - Sowing Season (Yeah)
- Served. Hawthorne Heights' lawsuit against Victory has been dismissed. What does this mean? Victory is allowed to distribute the past two albums and release another two albums from the band. It's a lose-lose situation for everyone.
- Apparently the delay-plagued album, "Chinese Democracy", from Guns N'Roses will be released sometime this year. GNR is still the most overrated band in rock history. They've also been irrelevant for years. Will this really sell? I want to say no, but people are idiots. We'll see. Also, Papa Roach will be joining GNR on their tour. *puke*
- Blacklisted is finishing up material for their new EP on Deathwish Inc. Bros are stoked. I can't believe Kurt Ballou is producing this shit.
- Wanna watch new/old episodes of Arrested Developement, Chapelle's Show, Jackass, Prison Break, The Office, Viva La Bam, Family Guy, South Park, The Simpsons, ATHF, and much more? Check tvlinks out. Shit's tight.
- The year of shit-talking continues. Larry Gorman (ex-drummer for Head Automatica) is now saying that through the band's management, Daryl told him not to come back. Blah blah blah. Over/under: a week before Daryl rebutes and throws around nasty allegations. I'm going with under.
- Isis recently posted an update on their Myspace. They're releasing their new album, "In the Absence of Truth" on October 31st. They'll also be touring with Jesu in 2007 from late February to early April.
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
October 24, 2006
Reprise/WEA
Rating: 5.4/10
While not on the level of Brand New hype, My Chemical Romance has created quite a buzz for their new album, The Black Parade. As of right now (OCT 19), "Welcome to the Black Parade" is #3 on Billboard's Modern Rock Track, #71 on Billboard's U.S. Hot 100, and #1 on the UK Singles Chart. The single is gaining more plays each week on radio. The album is being set up to be a huge commercial success.
On first listen, my first impression was: this is not that good. It's especially not that good compared to all the hype it's received and it's definitely not near as good as Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Just because they've had a little mainstream success, I'm willing to say that I am a fan of TCFSR. The Black Parade just comes off as trying way too hard to be something it's not. Decent it is, but epic it is not. I was actually expecting this to sound more "bigger", but it really isn't. Maybe I was wrong about the arena tours thing.
Contrary to a lot of other albums, TBP actually gets stronger as the album goes on. This is saying something because the album starts off very weak. The first four tracks are incredibly forgettable. Luckily, "Welcome to the Black Parade" is next and everything from there is uphill (excluding "Teenagers"). If MCR discarded those first four songs, this album would be better tenfold. The piano in "Cancer" is a nice touch and it's easily one of the better songs on the album. "Teenagers", on the other hand, is one of the worst songs MCR has written. Maybe one of the worst songs I've heard all year. It's that bad. Check these lyrics...
"The boys and girls in the clique / The awful names that stick / You're never gonna fit in much, kid / But if you're troubled and hurt / What you got under your shirt / Will make them pay for the things that they did"
I'm sorry. Those lyrics just seem way too geared to the Hot Topic angry, goth kid scene. "Disenchanted" is the next track and it's a much different story. One of the more solid songs on TBP. Ofcourse, maybe it's because it follows one of the worst songs I've heard in awhile. "Famous Last Words" closes out the album and I can't help but think that if MCR went in the same direction as this song throughout the entire album, TBP could be huge. Alas, they didn't and while TBP will go on to sell many copies, the quality is just not up to par.
The Black Parade could've been a monster, but about 4-5 songs just brought this album down. The songs that are good, are very solid. It's just not enough to save the album.
- Panic! At the Disco says that emo is "bullshit". The irony is staggering.
- They're back. Lifetime recently posted an mp3 of their new song, "All Night Long" on their PureVolume page. Shit's good. Real good. Production is a little cleaner compared to their old recordings, but quality is quality. Two thumbs up.
- Against Me! has hit the studio with producer Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, L7, AFI, Garbage). Anarcho-punx everywhere are stoked.
- Tomorrow (Friday) at 7pm, you can head into Hot Topic and preview the new My Chemical Romance album, "The Black Parade". Next stop for MCR = arena tours. Seriously. This shit is gonna blow up. I've heard predictions of a 300k+ first week. I'll say somewhere between 200-250k.
- So, Sting says today's rock music "bores him". That's cool. Everyone else thinks Sting's music is boring as well. It evens out.
- Explosions In The Sky have finished recording their new, as of yet untitled album. They're shooting for a February/early March 2007 release. Stoners everywhere are stoked.
- "Still Searching", the new album from Senses Fail debuted at #15 on Billboard 200. These guys almost sold 50k in 1 week. That means about 50k mentally handicaped people have bad taste in music.
- If you head over to Brand New's website, you can check out the artwork for their new album, "The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me". The hype surrounding this album is overwhelming. I'm not buying into it, but I'm reserving my opinions until I hear the album myself.
- *Yawn*. Tom DeLonge is pissed that Killer's frontman, Brandon Flowers, jacked his phrase. Are we in elementary school?
- You can download the new Converge song "No Heroes" here. Punishing album and great song. Converge never disappoints.
- Scarlet Johansson will be releasing a Tom Waits cover album. A collective "WTF?" is heard around the world.
