First big Social Distancing amazon.com purchase reviews

Shortly after the quarantine/social distancing began, SSI caught me up on some payments they owed me because I informed them in January I had been laid off in January 2019.  They proceeded to give me over $900 on March 20th.  I used over $200 of that to buy some things I had my eyes on on amazon.com and I decided I should tell you about them.


Wonder Woman by G. Willow Wilson Vol. 1: One of my first trade collection comic book purchases in some time, this revitalized my interest in the series similar to how the 2017 movie did.  In this one, Diana cannot find Themyscira, but finds Ares, some talking mythological creatures from Themyscira and Aphrodite in a fictitious country enduring a civil war.  Ares is trying to redeem his past deeds, but doesn’t succeed yet because he doesn’t understand righteous justice, to not get involved in a conflict rather than take the side that looks weaker.  Wonder Woman’s nemesis Veronica Cale also reappears and has the Grecian deity Nemesis captive, though Nemesis is playing her so it can wreak havoc in the modern world.  The story is complex, but relevant and the characters are likeable and humorous at times.  I look forward to more.


Black Cat Vol. 1: Black Cat is a Marvel character best described as Spider-Man’s version of Catwoman.  Most Catwoman comics play on her sympathies for the beaten-down in society, but Black Cat’s comic comes across more like the movies “Ocean’s Eleven” or “Entrapment,” except instead of banks and casinos, Black Cat is taking non-super-powered souvenirs from superheroes’ houses.  These include the deed to Manhattan and a rare book on theoretical physics.  It’s fun to read and I’m looking forward to seeing how the threads interconnect.


Glenn Hughes Official Bootleg Box Set Volume 2: Glenn Hughes is a rock and roll/funk/soul/blues/metal singer and bassist who started in the power trio Trapeze, joined Deep Purple for their albums “Burn,” “Stormbringer” and “Come Taste The Band” and last decade formed Black Country Communion with Joe Bonamassa, Derek Shirinian and Jason Bonham.  Last year, he joined the rock band The Dead Daisies with lead guitarist Doug Aldrich, rhythm guitarist David Lowy and drummer Deen Castronovo.  He has a powerful soulful voice and has earned the nickname “the voice of rock.”  I consider him, his former bandmate David Coverdale and Sammy Hagar in the same class of great and passionate rock singers.  This boxset contains 6 discs of rare or never-before-released recordings made between 1993 and 2013.

Disc 1 is a collection of demos and rarities called “Incense and Peaches,” which I’m guessing was named after Strawberry Alarm Clock’s “Incense and Peppermints.”  Fun Fact; Strawberry Alarm Clock’s bassist, Ed King, would join Lynyrd Skynyrd as a session musician for their first album, then became a full member as their third guitarist for their second and third albums and the 1987 reunion tour until 1995.  He also co-wrote “Sweet Home Alabama.”  There are tracks that may have been co-written and recorded with guitarist Ritchie Kotzen, but the box set’s liner notes don’t list first names and the tracks are more funk-influenced than what I’m used to from Kotzen.  However, the tone does sound like his.  The disc overall showcases Glenn Hughes blending funk, soul and rock sounds, it’s very 1970s and very fun, though the last two tracks are confusing; the first inspired by the music of India, which hasn’t happened before or since with Hughes’ music, then a barely audible answering machine message.

Disc 2 is a live performance at Borlänge, Sweden in 1993.  It opens with a bang, or rather a “Burn,” the title track of Hughes’ first album with Deep Purple released in 1974.  What is interesting here is according to the back, Hughes isn’t the bass player at this show, instead it’s a man named John Leven while Hughes only sings in this performance.  Hughes has also incorporated two guitar players here, creating a great hair metal-like sound.  There are also performances of songs from Glenn Hughes’ Hughes-Thrall album, which is the closest he got to performing Hair Metal in the studio.  Hughes also showcases a fair amount of blues, as well, even including a performance of “House of the Rising Sun,” made famous by The Animals.  Keyboardist Mic Michaeli performs especially well on that, reminding me of Hughes’ old bandmate Jon Lord.  Hits from Trapeze like “You Are the Music” and “Coast To Coast” and other songs from Deep Purple make appearances, too, including performances of “Gettin’ Tighter” (which starts with a tease of “Lay Down, Stay Down,” another Deep Purple song from Glenn’s era) that leads into “You Keep On Moving,” (dedicated to the late Tommy Bolin) then after a bit of banter comes a performance of Deep Purple’s biggest hit, “Smoke On The Water,” received with a notable increase in cheers.  Hughes actually wasn’t on that album, it was released two years before he joined the band, it was sung by Ian Gillan and the bass was played by Roger Glover.  Just like the live performance in Graz 1975 when Hughes WAS with Deep Purple, it leads into an impromptu rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” sung with very little accompaniment.  Overall, a wonderful performance.

Disc 3 features another performance in Sweden, though 4 months later, as well as 5 tracks from a 1995 show in Scotland.  It begins with the live debut of a rocking number called “The Liar.”  The audience is much more audible on the 1993 tracks on this disc than the last one, so you can actually hear them sing along from time to time.  Unfortunately, there are times when Glenn’s voice is so echo-y it’s barely coherent.  “Georgia on my Mind” is on its own now as well as the final Swedish encore.  The audio quality of the Scottish tracks is pretty bad, it reminds me of the early tracks of the first Beatles Anthology, which were home recordings from 1957-1962 being released in 1995.  Overall, I listened to disc 3 second to last before disc 6 and found it to be the least enjoyable of the first five.

Disc 4 features a 1996 performance in Stockholm.  It’s loud and fun and features several hits from his days in Trapeze as well as “Gettin’ Tighter” from Deep Purple.  Glenn showcases his great voice and great personality to the crowd and even calls Stockholm a home away from home.  The guitarist Joachim Marsh and keyboardist Lars “Lasse” Pollack also do a great job bringing these songs to life. 

Disc 5 continues in Stockholm with the same show, Hughes performing “You Keep On Moving,” “You Fool No One” and “Burn” from his Deep Purple days.  Each is played with great enthusiasm and excitement, it sounds like a show that would be fun to see live.  As a bonus, the disc then features Glenn Hughes covering Ozzy Osbourne’s “Goodbye to Romance” and a 12-bar blues original.  The cover is especially nice to hear, it made me look out the window and hope somehow, someway, Randy Rhoads himself could hear his legacy live on 40 years after that album was released and 38 years after his fatal plane crash (though the recording was made in 1992 according to the box set’s Amazon.com page).

Disc 6 covers a 2013 concert in Rome, so it’s Italy instead of Sweden for a change.  I just started and already the audio quality is fantastic, with Glenn Hughes performing “Stormbringer.”  The keyboard comes through in really great clarity.  Next is “Might Just Take Your Life,” a track from the “Burn” album.  It’s a treat to hear as Coverdale’s Whitesnake didn’t perform this on their “Purple Tour,” when they covered a lot of these days, and this song might’ve even been on their album, but didn’t make it to the tour.  This leads directly into “Sail Away,” another song from “Burn.”  Whitesnake did cover this in both album and tour, but made it an acoustic number, while Hughes keeps it electric with a driving pace.  Glenn’s bass comes through exceptionally clearly on the next track, “Black Cloud,” a Trapeze track.  Next is one of my favorites, “Mistreated,” a big blues piece from the “Burn” album.  Ritchie Blackmore liked it so much he kept it around with his band Rainbow and had Ronnie James Dio sing it.  Whitesnake also resurrected it on the Purple Album and Purple Tour, and this isn’t even my first time hearing Hughes sing it, that would be the “Live At Wolverhampton” album.  The audience also sings along at parts, which is fun.  The guitar and bass playing and Glenn’s passionate screams help make this track work every step of the way.  This is followed by a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” showing off Glenn Hughes’ funkier side.  “Gettin’ Tighter” is also performed, with a dedication to various friends Glenn Hughes has lost in the music business, among them Ronnie James Dio.  The guitarist also does a great solo that sounds like Jimmy Page playing “The Crunge” and Glenn Hughes plays a little bass solo before a nice back and forth between him and the guitarist with the drummer.  (that is, he is playing with the guitarist and the drummer occasionally interrupts them).  This leads directly into “You Keep On Moving.”  Glenn’s vocals haven’t sounded better on this song in this boxset and the guitar is amazing, too.  The second-to-last track is a rocking track called “Soul Mover,” featuring a solid riff and good keyboard keyboard playing while Glenn sings passionately.  There’s also a chorus where the audience sings A Capella.  “Soul Mover” launches into the final track, a performance of “Burn.”  This is up there with some of the best recordings of this song I’ve heard, the 1974 studio recording, the 1975 live performance at Graz, the 2011 Black Country Communion live performance and the 2015 Whitesnake studio recording.  The drums, the guitar, the keyboard, Glenn’s bass and vocals, it’s all great. 

Overall, aside from disc 3 and depending on your tolerance for the funk and soul on disc 1, I would recommend this to anyone who loved Deep Purple Mark III and Mark IV.  Gene Simmons was wrong, Rock is NOT dead.


Fairy Tail; Dragon Cry: An anime tie-in movie and my first exposure proper to the Fairy Tail anime.  It’s in the ballpark of my favorite anime tie-in movie, the Sailor Moon S movie, but it’s not tying it for first, mostly because the plot shifts so dramatically for the last act that it feels like a different movie has taken over.  It was a really fun movie, though, and hearing the characters’ voices after reading the Fairy Girls manga was nice, most sounded around what I expected them to, the biggest surprise was Juvia refers to herself in third person in the manga but doesn’t here, using “I” instead.  The humor of the Fairy Girls manga was very present in the movie, which made it very enjoyable.  It was enjoyably surprising to see Carla, the talking flying cat who supervises the team, become a humanoid form, as well as the big villain of the movie to not just be a dragon, but a dragon that looked like someone gene-spliced SpaceGodzilla and Godzilla video game monster Jyaramu.  Erza Scarlet and Wendy Marvell were as awesome as the manga suggested (Wendy more so, she doesn’t usually fight this much in Fairy Girls and here, she can also fly and breathe out gale-force winds) and I actually liked Natsu, who I thought I wouldn’t like.  Fair warning, though, if you don’t like gratuitous cheesecake and fan service, you won’t like this.


In This Moment-Mother: I don’t normally go for “metalcore” (though I’ve picked up Sabaton’s collaborations with Apocalyptica this year) but this was a pretty good album.  The highlight was the three hard rock women singers covering “We Will Rock You,” but there were four other tracks I really loved and would rank among my favorite metal tracks thus far this year, which is really saying something given the awesome releases by Black Swan and Ozzy Osbourne in February.  “As Above, So Below” was the third single from the album and features the message that what you do will come back to you, in fact, “what you give comes back threefold.”  The title track (not a Pink Floyd or John Lennon cover, sorry) seems to be a calling out for forgiveness from a woman deity and a promise to be rededicated to her.  This, at least, is how I interpret it.  “Holy Man” (not a Deep Purple cover, sorry again) continues an underlying religious theme, saying “the worst sinner needs a Holy Man.”  And as a Christian, I can say it feels especially hard to find a Holy Man these days!  “Lay Me Down” is an aggressive song about fighting back against an enemy determined to kill you, once shouting “you can kill me one thousand times,” but he will never truly end her.  Reminds me of both video games and how Dr. Strange solved his problem.  If you like metal music, I’d recommend at least those five songs, but I’d actually recommend you buy the whole album and listen to it once to see what suits YOU best.


Pearl Jam-Gigaton: Had to spend some cash on the men of Seattle.  Gigaton is a varied album that is 100% Seattle and 100% Pearl Jam, featuring soft songs, aggressive songs and songs with a heavy Native American influence.  My absolute favorite tracks were “Who Ever Said” and “Quick Escape,” mostly for the guitar work of Mike McCready, but I also love the lyrics.  In “Who Ever Said,” Eddie Vedder claims something along the lines of “who ever said it’s all been said gave up on satisfaction,” reminding us part of our joy has to come from within, we need to let go of being so cynical we don’t try something new.   In “Quick Escape,” the lyrics are about escaping the clutches of our toxic current administration.  It can be hard to do, what with media and in my case, neighbors who think of him as the second coming, but it is possible if you direct your life, focus on doing justice in your neighborhood in your own small way and find your ways to be happy as time goes on.  Music is one of those ways, and I’m glad I picked this up.

More Relaxing Music

Jesus Take The Wheel-Carrie Underwood: Speaking of that song, it’s a beautiful piece asking for God in times of stress and anxiety, which is what part of this playlist is all about.  I also heard this album when I was headed to the 2009 Miley concert, so it holds a special place in my heart, reflecting on her simple country values that embody Faith, Hope and Love on a cool early fall day on I-5.

Revisiting a Classic

Back in 2007, after I saw the first live-action Transformers movie, I decided to get invested in writing fan fiction, starting by writing a trilogy of "movies" based on Mario video games.  The first of these was Super Mario RPG, a favorite of both my brother and I.  I've written many different fan fictions since then, but I recently decided to go back and revisit the part I loved writing the most from my Super Mario RPG "movie," the Axem Rangers battle.  Here's the revisit/rewrite for your reading pleasure.


               The red star flew up from behind Zombone’s body, Mario reaching up to claim it…but it did not descend into his hands!  He looked around, confused.  “Hey, who’s the ugly dude with the ‘stache?!” asked an angry teenage voice.  Mario, Mallow, Geno, Bowser and Peach looked to see five similar looking robots wielding axes, and they had the star!



               “He’s hideous!” said the black one.



               “He looks weak!” growled the green one.



               “He’s soooo not my type!” said the pink one.



               “That guy’s even worse-looking than that clod, Mario!” said the yellow one.



               “I AM Mario!” replied Mario angrily.



               “Tough look, ‘stache, this is our star now!” declared the red one.  The five bolted away.



               “C’mon, let’s get them!” shouted Mario, him and his group following the five.  The five robots got to the top of Barrel Volcano.



               “Ugh, man, where’s Blade?” asked the red one.



               “Ah, you know him, he’s always late.” Replied the black one.  Mario jumped up onto the rim of the crater, followed by the four others.



               “Dang, Mario’s here!” shouted the red one.  Mario and his group approached as a huge flying axe appeared from behind the volcano, the robots jumping aboard!  Mario and the four others also jumped aboard.  “We fight for evil!” shouted the red robot.



               “We live for disorder!” declared the yellow one.



               “We like what we do!” shouted the green one.



               “We struggle for chaos!” declared the pink one.



               “We are…” began the black one.



               “The AXEM RANGERS, HYAH!” they shouted as a group.  Mario, Mallow, Geno, Bowser and Peach all charged as the Axem Rangers also charged.  “We Need A Hero” from the original Power Rangers Soundtrack began playing in the background.  Mario lashed out with a sweep kick, Axem Red jumping over it and punching Mario with an uppercut.  Axem Black chopped at Geno, who leapt over the attack and fired his Geno Beam.  Axem Black responded with a bomb, knocking Geno back.



               “You think you’re some kind of ninja?” asked Axem Black.



               “I don’t even HAVE shurikens!” replied Geno, firing bullets at Axem Black.  He blocked them all with his axe, then chopped across Geno.  Axem Yellow hit Mallow with a pair of cross-body chops as the camera spun around Matrix-style to try to spoof Bruce Kalish’s style of making the series.  Mallow then used his lightning bolt, which caused an explosion behind Axem Yellow, then a needless slow-mo zoom-in on that explosion, also to spoof Bruce Kalish’s style of making the series.  Axem Yellow then delivered another cross-body chop in slow-mo for no reason, sending Mallow tumbling back.



               “You can’t compete with the Axe of Darkness!” Axem Green growled.  He slashed Bowser with the blade across his body, then Axem Pink shot Bowser with an energy arrow before Axem Green hit Bowser in the face with a one-two punch.  Bowser then grabbed Axem Green’s wrists.



               “Are all those hyahs really necessary?” he asked sarcastically before slamming his mace into Axem Green’s face.  He threw his mace at Axem Green, damaging him some more, but then Axem Green spun his axe quickly.  A green beam with a dragon’s head at the front struck Bowser, knocking him over.  Peach smacked Axem Pink with her war fan, Axem Pink responding with a cross-body chop.  Peach hit Axem Pink with her War Fan again, only for Axem Pink to hit her with an energy arrow, stunning her for a second, which gave Axem Pink the opening she needed to hit Peach with another cross-body chop, knocking her over.  Axem Red hit Mario with a similar cross-body chop, knocking him onto his back, from which he bounced onto his stomach.



               “It’s over.” Snorted Axem Red as his team gathered behind him, Axem Green and Axem Pink kissing.  Mario clenched a fist as the music picked up tempo.



               “Not yet, it’s not over yet!” he declared, his team getting back up!  Peach punched Axem Pink in the face, then smacked her with the war fan before following it up with a cluster of bombs, the psychbomb attack!



               “Yo Red!” shouted Axem Pink.



               “What?” asked Axem Red as he dodged a punch from Mario.



               “My makeup’s running!” she shouted.



               “Switch brands!” he yelled, irate.  Bowser slammed his mace into Axem Green, then punched Axem Green.  Axem Green got up and hit Bowser with a cross-body chop, Bowser responding by uppercutting him with his mace, knocking him over.



               “Yo Red!” he called out.



               “What?!” asked Red.



               “I have a headache!” He admitted.



               “Take some aspirin!” replied Red.  Mallow hit Axem Yellow with the Ribbit Stick, then hit him with his lightning bolt.  Axem Yellow hit him with another cross-body slash, but Mallow responded by hitting him with sticky punches, knocking Axem Yellow over.



               “Yo, Red!” he yelled.



               “What?!” asked Red.



               “I’m…hungry.” He confessed.



               “Chew on your tongue!” replied Red, more irate than ever.  Geno used his Geno Beam on Axem Black, who again responded with a bomb.  Geno responded again with his bullets, followed by another Geno Beam, knocking Axem Black over.



               “Yo, Red!” yelled Axem Black.



               “WHAT?!” asked Axem Red.



               “I broke my shades!” replied Axem Black.



               “Serves you right!” replied Axem Red, getting punched in the head by Mario right after.  Mario tossed fireballs at Axem Red, Axem Red charging and slashing Mario.  Mario punched Axem Red again, then hit him with some more fireballs.  Mario’s team then walked to Axem Red and all five of them punched him simultaneously!  “Enough!  Now I’m angry.  It’s time to finish this!  Formation…HO!” he shouted, a hatch opening below him and him dropping down.  The song would end at this point to be replaced with Zord Battle Music-type music.  Hatches opened below the other four Axem Rangers and they also dropped down.  Blade began shaking and Mario’s group had to jump to the rim of the volcano’s crater.  “Rangers, log on!” shouted Red as each dropped into their own cockpit.



               “Black here, time to kick it!” said Axem Black.



               “Green here, back to action!” said Axem Green.



               “Yellow here, ready to roll!” declared Axem Yellow.



               “Hey, nice stereo!” noted Axem Pink.



               “Power it up!” instructed Red as he, Axem Black and Axem Pink generated a colored crystal they inserted into the console in front of them.  Axem Green picked up a dagger-flute that he played a tune on while Axem Yellow put a small disc in a slot, then spun another disc below it to drop the disc down the slot.



               “Locked and dropped!” he declared.  The five cockpits joined together as the axe part of Blade split in half, a head coming out the top as arms came out the new halves, the part behind swinging down and splitting to become legs.



               “Axem Robo Megazord Online, Hyah!” proclaimed Axem Red as the Axem Rangers settled in one cockpit.  The giant robot approached the volcano, shaking the surrounding area.



               “Mama Mia!  That thing’s huge!” declared Mario.



               “Guess I better use this!” said Bowser, holding out a silver bomb with a grenade-like pin in it.



               “What is it?” asked Mario.



               “Just watch!” smiled Bowser, pulling out the pin and tossing the bomb to the ground.  He and Mario grew vastly in height, soon being tall enough to fight the robot!  Mario tossed some fireballs, rocking the robot, which responded by firing bombs from its shoulders, knocking the two over.



               “Yeah, now fire the Breaker!” shouted Red.  Rainbow-colored beams shot from the robot’s face, sending Mario and Bowser rolling across the ground.  Bowser tossed his mace, which ensnared the robot’s neck, hitting it in the face.  Bowser then hit the robot with a dropkick, sending it crashing down.



               “You’re finished, Axem Rangers!” shouted Bowser.



               “Watch this, old man, we summon the Axem Robo Axe!” shouted Axem Red.  The robot got back up, flames appearing in its right hand to reveal a giant axe!  It swung it at Mario, who blocked with his hammer, but then swung it and hit Bowser and Mario, sending them rolling.  “Use the finisher!” yelled Axem Red.  The Axem Robo Axe was covered in flames, swung around to the right shoulder while a Japanese Castle appeared in the background, raised up as a red and blue stormy background appeared, then brought down three times with beams of light seeming to come straight out of it as the background changed again to a rocky area.  Bowser and Mario rolled on the ground, injured again.  Bowser got up and slammed his mace into the robot’s chest, then grabbed Mario and tossed him at the robot, Mario flying in fists first, knocking it over.  The two nodded to each other, then got ready again.  “You can’t beat us, we’re Smithy’s Gang’s Elite!” declared Axem Red.



               “You’re just five teenagers with attitude, WE’RE the real superheroes!” snorted Bowser.  He threw his mace as Mario tossed fireballs after the robot got up, causing it to fall over and explode.  The two high-fived, shrinking back to normal size with Mario claiming the sixth star of his journey.

Relaxing Music

Often during this time, I get overwhelmed and have to turn to a playlist I made of music that relaxes me.  Here are some of the most effective songs, most are laid-back and calm pieces that help me feel better.  I hope they might help you feel better, too.



God Only Knows-For King and Country with Dolly Parton: A Contemporary Christian song that reassures that God knows the problems you face from other people and your own personal issues and loves you regardless.  Joel Smallbone and Dolly Parton’s voices are very reassuring in this piece.



The Wonder of the Cross-Vicky Beeching: A Contemporary Christian song about how beautiful the sacrifice of Jesus is and that she doesn’t want this moment to ever get old.  The instrumentation gives this song a soaring feel and you can feel the conviction in Vicky Beeching’s voice.



Turn Your Eyes-Vicky Beeching: A slow, popular CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) piece about how when you focus on God, you will find you need little else.  I really like the additional lyrics Beeching added, asking “isn’t He beautiful, outshining sun, moon and stars, indescribable how breathtaking You are.” As well as, “you are so beautiful” which I feel may be reminding the listener they were created by God and God loves them, regardless of what they do.  Since she came out in the early part of last decade, I feel it’s appropriate to say she is so beautiful for being able to be herself and trust in God.



Above All Else-Vicky Beeching: An acoustic number about wanting to know Jesus more.  “Above all else, give me yourself.”



Hope Is Just Ahead-Billy Ray Cyrus: Written in the wake of Columbine, but wasn’t released until around the time of Sandy Hook.  It reminds us that even in tragedy, there is a plan, there is hope and things can and will eventually get better.



Hope (Let it Find You)-Billy Ray Cyrus and Glenn Hughes: Similar to the above, only it asks us to trust hopeful beliefs so we can be stronger.  Glenn Hughes also delivers some great harmonizing.



Chevys and Fords-Billy Ray Cyrus and Johnny McGuire: A song about the most American car brands.  It’s slow and sweet and holds a special place in my heart because last November, my Dad, my brother and I spent all day in Portland looking at RVs and frequently, the brand was brought up, that being Chevy or Ford.  When we got home and had time to relax, I played the song on my smartphone and my brother found it appropriate given the events of the day.



If She Ever Leaves Me-The Highwomen: A country lesbian love song, sung by Brandi Carlile from the Seattle area.  She details her lover or possibly wife to a male hitting on them and that he doesn’t have a chance with her due to the fact she doesn’t like men.  It’s slow and sweet and you can feel Carlile’s love.



Bron-Y-Aur Stomp-Adrian Conner: A Led Zeppelin cover performed and sung by the lead guitarist of the all-woman AC/DC tribute band Hell’s Belles.  It’s a folksy country romp about going for a walk with your dog and having fun doing so.  Fun fact; Robert Plant’s dog he wrote about here was named Strider, a Lord of the Rings reference.



Brave-Idina Menzel: An uplifting pop song from Elphaba/the voice of Elsa that states though it might be uncertain and scary, it’s time to stand up and be bold.



She Loves You-The Beatles: I first heard this song when I was very young and it was one of the first Beatles songs I ever heard.  I always love it for the vocals, the guitar work and the drums.  How this song didn’t get into Beatles Rock Band, even as DLC, I’ll never know.



Malibu-Miley Cyrus: A soft, upbeat pop song about finding joy by the beach.  I read Spotify’s “Behind the Lyrics” notes and apparently, Miley spent years in LA and never went to the beach until around 2016, when she began to turn her life back around from spending so much time with the drug-fueled Flaming Lips.  Then, she found she liked it and hanging out with people again, which helped her ground herself again.  The song is sweet as heck and always makes me feel better.



No Day But Today-Idina Menzel: A soft, slow performance of a song from Rent that reminds us “there’s only now, there’s only here.”  So don’t put off something you may regret not doing.



Let it Go (Live)-Idina Menzel: The now-classic Disney song, I like the live version better as the additional chorus where just the audience sings reminds me of when I saw Idina live myself.

Yellow Submarine-The Beatles: Another one of the first Beatles songs I heard.  I remember Mom saying when it came on the tape “that’s Mr. Conductor singing!”  Referring to Ringo’s role on Shining Time Station.  It’s another soft and sweet song about finding happiness under the ocean and Paul McCartney said it stemmed from Ringo being the “favorite uncle character” in The Beatles, which is definitely the vibe you get here.

Week Without You-Miley Cyrus: A soft-rock type piece that reminds me a little of John Lennon’s “Just Like Starting Over.”  Since Miley’s a John Lennon fan since before 2009, it wouldn’t surprise me if that was intentional.  Her voice is smooth and relaxing here, making it one of my favorites.



She’s Not Him-Miley Cyrus: A song about loving a woman while being more in love with a man.  This was the first love song I heard from a pansexual perspective and it really made me understand what people like that go through, having to choose between a variety of beautiful people to have a relationship with and loving a good portion of them all because of their personalities.  It also shows great heart when she says “You don’t deserve all the bullXXXX I put you through, you deserve a heart much bigger than one that’s torn in two.”



Be Yourself-Audioslave: A song by the late, great Chris Cornell.  It details how different people can be before going into the chorus of “Be Yourself, that’s all that you can do.”  It also says during the bridge “Don’t lose any sleep tonight, I’m sure everything will turn out all right.”  It’s hard these days to be an individual with all the peer pressure, especially online, but it’s healthier and more satisfying to do what’s important to you than follow what someone else is telling you to do.



Bmblb-Jeff and Casey Lee Williams: A cute pop love song on the RWBY Volume 4 Soundtrack.  However, there’s a twist, it’s sung by a woman to someone she calls her “queen,” she acts like people shouldn’t know about their relationship by asking to meet in a special garden asks her love to “set her free.”  It’s a lesbian love song, and this was actually relevant to the series.  In the series, there are the characters Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna.  In volume 2, the two danced together at a school dance and at the end of volume 3, Yang loses most of her right arm defending Blake from her stalker ex, Adam Taurus.  This was a subtle or not so subtle hint that the two were headed for a relationship, which officially happened at the end of Volume 6 when they killed Adam Taurus, solely to be safe from his aggression.



Love Wins-Carrie Underwood: A song from an ally encouraging the LGBTQ+ community in their struggle.  It’s good to know you can be a Country Singer who sings songs like “Jesus Take The Wheel” and this, sometimes it feels like the right wing conservatives are trying to silence these voices and present a homophobic God as the only possible interpretation of the Christian God.

These Four Walls-Miley Cyrus: While it’s a breakup ballad, it means a lot to me.  I heard it at her 2009 show and the band got in close behind her, like it was a show at a bar or jazz club.  The acoustic guitar used looked to be a Gibson J-160E, the kind John Lennon used, and there was a stand up bass, which reminded me of when I saw my music professor perform in a show I saw for his class, he was a stand up bass/cello player.  Also, its slow, steady pace helps me unwind.

My Arms-Ledger: This came out this past February, believe it or not, but is a nice soft piano piece about how God is there for you, even when things are painful or spiraling out of control.  Ledger is an artist I found out about on Spotify, she’s the backing vocalist for Christian Heavy Metal band Skillet.  Her songs can vary in how hard rock they get, but in this one, I think the heaviest part is the drums.



We’re Gonna Be Alright-Switchfoot: An acoustic number from their album last year.  It lets you know “it’s okay to grief/to feel/to believe” and the chorus catchily calls out “We’re gonna be all right, gonna be all right, gonna be all right/Just take a look at the sky/we’re gonna be all right.”  Which is true, while things have been horrible in the last four years, the sun still shines, the birds still sing and life and compassion have not stopped.

You’re the One I Want-Switchfoot: The closing track of Switchfoot’s album last year, a piano ballad to God.  It states there are countless stars in the sky and countless adventures we want to start, but the light we really want, the companion we really want in those adventures is God, because He’s been so kind to us.

3/27/2020 Releases of Note/Surviving Quarantine

Last week's deluxe version of Dio's Angry Machines was the highlight of that week for me, though there were some good Pop releases from Noah Cyrus, Hayley Williams and Kelsea Ballerini with Halsey.  I also got introduced to Mark Daly's nice album "When The Stars Align" due to an auction stream Geoff Tate did where he name-dropped the album, and Miley Cyrus has been doing Instagram videos called Bright Minded every weekday at 11:30.  I saw the first one on her Facebook page with Dr. Daniel Amen and it felt like being back in therapy, a lot of tension left just from that video and I'm going to try to find the time to see other entries.  My Church, Garden Street UMC, also has a YouTube Channel and their videos help immensely.

Here are the most noteworthy releases I'm anticipating tonight that I already know of, and two of them are among the top albums I've anticipated this whole year.

Pearl Jam-Gigaton: This will be the first full-length studio album for the grunge group since "Lightning Bolt" over 6 years ago.  They've kept themselves solid with minor projects, such as little singles here and there such as "Can't Deny Me" in 2018 and performing a cover of Brandi Carlile's "Again Today" on the cover album of her album "The Story," which also featured Dolly Parton.  They've also toured and the backing band has been part of Temple of the Dogs, which toured with the late Chris Cornell in 2016 and appeared again in 2019 at the L.A. Forum with guest singers at an event called "I Am The Highway; A Tribute to Chris Cornell," in which Miley Cyrus sang "Say Hello 2 Heaven" with them backing her (yes, I'm serious, I liked the clip on YouTube).  The singles promise this to be a hard rock album with some experimentation into other, softer genres, making this already sound like a great release.

In This Moment-Mother: In This Moment is a metal band lead sung by Maria Brink, who I first heard singing the song "Big Mouth" on the first Red Dragon Cartel album.  In This Moment has had a half-cover of Billy Idol's "White Wedding (part 1)" called "Black Wedding" which featured Rob Halford on guest vocals.  The main draw to this album is similar, they have metal covers of Steve Miller's "Fly Like An Eagle" and Queen's "We Will Rock You."  The second will also feature Lzzy Hale from Halestorm, who's voice is best described as a mix between Celine Dion and Ronnie James Dio, and Taylor Momsted from The Pretty Reckless, though you may remember her as Cindy Lou Who in the Jim Carrey version of The Grinch from 2000.  Yes, she grew up to front a hard rock/heavy metal band.  I'll give you some time to recover from the shock of that.
You doing okay?  All right, In This Moment also has some songs that were fun to listen to as singles from this album, most notably "As Above, So Below," and some songs also have the names of classic rock songs, so I'm wondering if there's more than two covers.

Tesla-Five Man London Jam (Live At Abbey Road Studios 6/12/2019): I've seen Tesla live twice, both times opening for Def Leppard and another act (first time Styx, second time Poison).  They're a great hair metal band with enthusiasm, Southern charm and two guitar players.  My favorite songs of theirs that I've heard live are "Love Song" and "Hang Tough," and they also made an excellent cover of the Five Man Electric Band's "Signs" which is part of their live performances.  This release has "Signs," "Love Song," and perhaps because of the venue or perhaps because they're big fans of this band, too, a cover of "We Can Work It Out" by The Beatles.

3/20/2020 releases of note

I got some extra money yesterday from Social Security, so I was able to buy some recent music that I've liked.  I bought 2 singles from the upcoming first full-length album from Rina Sawayama, a pop-metal singer who was born in Japan but raised in London, as well as the acoustic EP "Vicious Stripped" by Halestorm and some older releases from Nirvana and Chris Cornell.  I'm going to be saving some money for next week's releases, but there's some stuff this week that'll definitely be worth checking out and probably worth buying at least some tracks.

Dio Deluxe Editions: Four later albums from the metal band around influential metal singer Ronnie James Dio are being rereleased tonight/tomorrow, all with bonus live tracks featuring some of his more familiar songs like "Heaven and Hell," "The Mob Rules," "Stand Up And Shout" and "Rainbow in the Dark."  These releases also feature Jeff Pilson on bass on "Angry Machines" and "Master of the Moon," Craig Goldy on guitar for "Master of the Moon" and Doug Aldrich playing guitar on "Killing The Dragon," all of whom are fantastic musicians.

Def Leppard-The Early Years: A box set featuring all of Def Leppard's material from 1979 to around 1982, all pre-Pyromania stuff.  Some of these songs are still played by the band in current shows, like "Let it Go" (it has nothing to do with Frozen, sorry) "Bringing on the Heartbreak" and the instrumental "Switch 625."  It'll be interesting to hear this awesome band's beginnings and early live performances.

3/13/2020 Releases of Note

There's a lot of fear and panic right now over the Corona Virus, so I feel it's best to try to keep ourselves focused on positives even though it's hard right now.  Upcoming digital music releases shouldn't be too affected since people don't need to gather in places to experience them, so here's a couple releases coming up later today/tomorrow EDT.

Al Di Meola-Across the Universe: I'm not familiar with this artist, but this is a Beatles covers album with the album art an homage to John Lennon's "Rock and Roll" album, which, in turn, was a photograph of him in Hamburg as Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Pete Best dashed past.  This will also feature compositions from all four Beatles members, as "Here Comes The Sun" and "Octopus's Garden" are on the album, as well as Lennon/McCartney tracks like "Yesterday," "Hey Jude" and "Dear Prudence."

Rita Ora-How to be Lonely: It isn't often that a single gets mention here, but amazon.com revealed this will be released.  Rita Ora is a British pop singer who sang the song in the end credits of "Pokémon; Detective Pikachu" as well as appearing in the film as a scientist studying Mewtwo.  Two years ago, she also released a collaboration entitled "Girls" with Bebe Rexha, Cardi B and Charli XCX, which is one of my favorite pop songs.  I'm looking forward to the song as Rita has a great sound and voice to her and is fun to listen to.

Playlist For Mom

Today is my Mom's Birthday, so I decided to share my playlist of songs that remind me of Mom and the music I know/am pretty sure she likes.  It mostly involves The Beatles, Elton John, Steven Curtis Chapman, Amy Grant and Casting Crowns.

Mom:

1.)    Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me-Miley Cyrus

2.)    Somebody To Love-Queen

3.)    She Loves You-The Beatles

4.)    Can’t Buy Me Love-The Beatles

5.)    I Want To Hold Your Hand-The Beatles

6.)    A Hard Day’s Night-The Beatles

7.)    I Feel Fine-The Beatles

8.)    Eight Days A Week-The Beatles

9.)    Ticket to Ride-The Beatles

10.) Day Tripper-The Beatles

11.) Yesterday-The Beatles

12.) Paperback Writer-The Beatles

13.) Yellow Submarine-The Beatles

14.) All You Need Is Love-The Beatles

15.) Hey Jude-The Beatles

16.) Let It Be-The Beatles

17.) Here Comes The Sun-The Beatles

18.) In My Life-The Beatles

19.) All My Loving-The Beatles

20.) I Wanna Be Your Man-The Beatles

21.) I Saw Her Standing There-The Beatles

22.) Twist and Shout-The Beatles

23.) No Day But Today (Live)-Idina Menzel

24.) Photograph-Ringo Starr

25.) Love Me Do-Ringo Starr

26.) Carmina Burana-Trans-Siberian Orchestra

27.) Voice of Truth-Casting Crowns

28.) Where Were You-Francesca Battistelli

29.) Phone Call to God-Brett Eldredge

30.) Keep Your Eyes On Me-Tim McGraw, Faith Hill

31.) Lifesong-Casting Crowns

32.) Praise You In This Storm-Casting Crowns

33.) Set Me Free-Casting Crowns

34.) Princess Leia’s Theme-John Williams

35.) Into the Maw-John Powell

36.) Bridge over Troubled Water (Spotify Exclusive)-Josh Groban

37.) Shine On-The Coats

38.) Mr. Grinch-The Coats

39.) Philadelphia Freedom-Elton John

40.) Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds-Elton John

41.) The Boys Are Back In Town-Thin Lizzy

42.) Jesus Is Just Alright With Me-The Doobie Brothers

43.) The 12 Days of Christmas-Straight No Chaser

44.) Chain Gang-The Nylons

45.) Happy Together-The Nylons

46.) Poison Ivy-The Nylons

47.) Drift Away-The Nylons

48.) Part of Your World-Jodi Benson

49.) The Bitch is Back-Miley Cyrus

50.) Some Gave All-Billy Ray Cyrus

51.) Bohemian Rhapsody-Queen

52.) Love Can Move Mountains-Celine Dion

53.) I Hate You Then I Love You-Celine Dion and Luciano Pavarotti

54.) Testify To Love-Wynonna

55.) I Don’t Know Why-Shawn Colvin

56.) The Adventures if Han-John Williams

57.) Out In The Highways-Steven Curtis Chapman

58.) Cinderella-Steven Curtis Chapman

59.) The Asteroid Field-John Williams

60.) Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord-Godspell

61.) Day by Day-Godspell

62.) Seasons of Love (Live)-Idina Menzel

63.) You Say-Lauren Daigle

64.) Bennie and the Jets-Elton John

65.) Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting-Elton John

66.) I Saw Her Standing There-Elton John and John Lennon

67.) Tiny Dancer-Elton John

68.) Somebody to Love-George Michael with Queen

69.) Yellow Submarine-Ringo Starr

70.) Don’t Stop Me Now-Queen

71.) The Girl Is Mine-Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

72.) Say Say Say-Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson

73.) The Way You Make Me Feel-Michael Jackson

74.) Billie Jean-Michael Jackson

75.) Thriller-Michael Jackson

76.) Run Through The Jungle (Live)-John Fogerty

77.) London Skies A John Lennon Tribute Medley-David Lanz

78.) Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters-Elton John

79.) Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (Live, Moscow 1979)-Elton John

80.) Crocodile Rock/Get Back/Back in the USSR (Live, Moscow 1979)-Elton John

81.) Rocket Man (Live, Moscow 1979)-Elton John

82.) Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me-Elton John