What was good last week and 8/28/2020 releases I'm looking forward to

 Last week was actually busier than it appeared to be on the surface from the post I gave.  Sixx AM (a side project of Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx) released a single against COVID with guest singers Corey Taylor (of Slipknot and Stone Sour), Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) and Brantley Gilbert (Country Rocker whose song "Kick It In The Sticks" once served as Kyle Seager's Walk-up Music) and guest guitar work from Guns N Roses/Velvet Revolver/Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators rock and roll phenomenon Slash.  So if you ever wanted a Motley Crue-Guns N Roses teamup, it does exist.

Hard Rock also got a couple of women-led singles with Lzzy Hale's third release in three weeks, a collaboration with Apocalyptica called "Talk To Me."  Apocalyptica is actually a Cello-based Heavy Metal Project and released two singles collaborating with Sabaton earlier this year.  Evanescence also released a new single called "Use My Voice" which was a powerhouse showcase for Amy Lee.

On the lighter side of things, Hope Darst's album "Peace Be Still" is the best CCM I've heard in a long time, namely because it feels free of Political ties and more focused on God Himself.  Joe Legend and Gary Clark Jr. teamed up to release a great song called "Wild" that I would recommend in the wake of the shooting of Mr. Blake this week to show solidarity with these people who have suffered too much.  And last but certainly not least, Dolly Parton released the first single from her upcoming Christmas album "A Holly Dolly Christmas," this being the classic "Mary, Did You Know?" a personal favorite of mine, asking the mother of Jesus if she knows how special her child will become and has already been.

It's a busy week album-wise, so here are the top albums I'm looking forward to tonight at 9:00 pm PDT.

Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony-S&M2: Metallica, the most popular thrash metal band in the world (I sat next to a man from Japan at a BabyMetal concert and "Enter Sandman" came on and we both knew the lyrics), teamed up with the local Orchestra last year for a fantastic blend of metal and orchestrated music, giving the performances an "epic" feel.  "Nothing Else Matters" and "Moth Into Flame" have already been good singles, now I'm just wondering if the rest of the album can hold up to it.

Katy Perry-Smile: From Thrash Metal to Pop, Katy Perry returns to release her newest album.  The last two singles have been good and fun and I'm hoping to hear more of Perry's fun style and sense of humor on this album, we all could use some levity at this point, either that or spending two hours a day lying on our beds trying to achieve mindfulness.

Allman Betts Band-Bless Your Heart: I've heard from my cousin who lives in Atlanta (which is where the group is originally from) the title is Southern for "Go **** Yourself."  However, more to the point is the "Allman Betts" are Devon Allman, the son of Gregg Allman, and Duane Betts, the son of Dickey Betts, making them the inheritors of the Allman Brothers Band.  The group does present a good Southern Rock style, though they can meander a bit with their guitar work.  They also did a cover of Tom Petty's "Southern Accents" on their first album last year and I actually cried a little, able to identify with the feelings of growing older and things long thought to be permanent and always there changing into something unrecognizable.

Rick Wakeman-The Red Planet: A concept artist from the former keyboardist of Yes.  This one is all about Mars and its topography, with track names like "Olympus Mons."  Rick Wakeman has always been a fantastic keyboardist, making the fantastic "Criminal Record" in 1977 and even working with Ozzy Osbourne no less than three times; contributing the keyboards for the Black Sabbath song "Sabbra Cadabra," playing the keyboard intro to Ozzy's solo career song "Perry Mason" and having him sing "Buried Alive" on "Return to the Centre of the Earth."

Bettye LaVette-Blackbirds: A blues album by a great singer with a long history.  I was once poking around her Spotify and was surprised how many British Rock Covers she had done, from "It Don't Come Easy" by Ringo Starr, "All My Love" by Led Zeppelin, "The Word" by The Beatles and "Isn't It A Pity" by George Harrison.  In addition to this album featuring Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," a song too relevant for our times, this may feature a cover of The Beatles' "Blackbird," which was Paul McCartney's commentary on racial issues, asking for African-American women to "take this broken wings and learn to fly/all your life/you were only waiting for this moment to arise."

A Special Day For Music

 Today's a special personal day for music, as it is both Billy Ray Cyrus and Rob Halford's birthday.  Halford was born in 1950 on this day, BRC was born in 1961.  Other important people whose birthday is today include Sean Connery, Regis Philbin, Tim Burton and my late Uncle on my Mother's side.  In honor of the fantastic music of Billy Ray Cyrus and the projects of Rob Halford, this year, I made a 50-song playlist in Spotify:

1.)    Achy Breaky Heart-Billy Ray Cyrus

2.)    Folsom Prison Blues-Billy Ray Cyrus

3.)    Hey Elvis-Billy Ray Cyrus, Bryan Adams, Glenn Hughes

4.)    Ready, Set, Don’t Go-Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus

5.)    Stand-Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus

6.)    Tulsa Time-Billy Ray Cyrus and Joe Perry

7.)    You’ve Got A Friend-Billy Ray Cyrus and Emily Osment

8.)    Brown Eyed Girl-Billy Ray Cyrus

9.)    Over the Rainbow-Billy Ray Cyrus

10.) I Love You This Much-Billy Ray Cyrus

11.) Enough is Enough-Billy Ray Cyrus

12.) The Past-Billy Ray Cyrus

13.) Some Gave All-Billy Ray Cyrus

14.) Never Thought I’d Fall In Love With You-Billy Ray Cyrus

15.) The Freebird Fell-Billy Ray Cyrus

16.) Thrillbilly-Billy Ray Cyrus

17.) Somebody Said A Prayer-Billy Ray Cyrus

18.) Face of God-Billy Ray Cyrus

19.) I’m American-Billy Ray Cyrus

20.) Nineteen-Billy Ray Cyrus

21.) Chevys and Fords-Billy Ray Cyrus and Johnny McGuire

22.) Old Town Road-Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus

23.) Climb to Glory-Billy Ray Cyrus, Eddie Raven, Mark Plummer, Lee Roy Parnell

24.) Killing The Blues-Billy Ray Cyrus and Shooter Jennings

25.) We The People-Billy Ray Cyrus, Montgomery Gentry, Waylon Jennings and Others

26.) Starbreaker-Judas Priest

27.) Diamonds and Rust-Judas Priest

28.) The Green Manalishi with the Two Pronged Crown (Live)-Judas Priest

29.) Living After Midnight-Judas Priest

30.) Never The Heroes-Judas Priest

31.) Breaking the Law (Live)-Judas Priest

32.) Halls of Valhalla (Live)-Judas Priest

33.) Victim of Changes (Live 2015)-Judas Priest

34.) March of the Damned-Judas Priest

35.) Love Bites-Judas Priest

36.) Jawbreaker-Judas Priest

37.) Hell Bent For Leather (Live 1979)-Judas Priest

38.) Victim of Changes (Live 1979)-Judas Priest

39.) Running Wild (Live)-Judas Priest

40.) Breaking the Law-Judas Priest

41.) Hell Bent For Leather (Live 2015)-Judas Priest

42.) Black Wedding-In This Moment, Rob Halford

43.) Man on the Silver Mountain-Rob Halford, Doug Aldrich, Scott Warren, Jeff Pilson and Vinny Appice

44.) Breaking the Law (Live)-Halford

45.) Blackout (Live)-Halford

46.) Straight Up-Phil Campbell, Rob Halford

47.) Protected By The Light-Rob Halford

48.) Joy To The World-Rob Halford

49.) Hark!  The Herald Angels Sing-Rob Halford

50.) Away In A Manger-Rob Halford

I hope you can listen to some enjoyable music today and do some community outreach.  Sunday night sadly saw another senseless Police Brutality Murder, this time in Wisconsin.  I was encouraged by the words of Brewers Manager Craig Counsell (he was a player for the Marlins among other teams when I was a kid) that it was a needless violent act and he would be checking with his players to make sure they were okay.  I'm already doing the best I feel I can do at this point, but if I ever falter, I would like someone to point out my shortcomings.

My First MLB Game by Myself

 

               Five years ago today, I saw my first Major League Baseball game completely by myself.  I went to Seattle the previous day on the BoltBus and stayed overnight in the Hostel, because it was a Sunday afternoon game between the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago White Sox.  This was done intentionally because the Mariners had revealed at the start of the 2015 season, they would be wearing special uniforms for Home Sunday games, cream-colored uniforms with a blue and gold color scheme and no last names on the back, creating a faux-retro look.  My Dad said, when seeing them on TV, that the uniforms resembled the ones the Mariners wore from 1987-1992.  The White Sox also wore alternate uniforms, black tops with white lettering.  I had seen this on them almost twenty years prior, when my family took a trip to South California and we saw the Chicago White Sox at the then California Angels.

 

               The Mariners were entering a period of transition, as General Manager Jack Zdurencik had recently been fired and Jerry DiPoto, a former starting pitcher, had been hired to take his place.  Taijuan Walker, who rejoined the Mariners this year, started for them this game, doing a masterful job if I recall correctly.  John Danks was on the mound for the White Sox.  The thing I remember most was Robinson Cano smacking a home run to center field, which the White Sox’ Jose Abreu also did the next half-inning.  Mark Trumbo also got the start as the first baseman, but handed it over to Logan Morrison in the ninth.  Tom Wilhelmsen got the save, but didn’t come out to “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)” by Jimi Hendrix as I’ve heard is the norm.  I never saw that combination, in 2012, when he came out to close against the Giants, they played AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long” and in 2014’s Turn Back the Clock Game to 1979 against the Astros, they played Heart’s “Barracuda.”  (I do think that was an acceptable time-period substitute, since both Hendrix and Heart are from Seattle) The Mariners ultimately won the game 8-6, promising some good times ahead.  And let’s be honest, from 2016-2018, they were competitive and these last two years are more about getting the young players’ feet wet than trying to get to first.  Consider these the 1989-1993 before the 1995-2001.

                 I am hopeful when this pandemic is over I can once again go to Mariner games by myself, it gives me a feeling of strength and independence.

Andre 3000 and Chris Cornell

 I decided over the last two days to try to get back into writing for this more, namely so people can know my experiences.  My family recently got into ancestry.com and is trying to piece together my ancestor's lives, and I want the details of my life to be easier to find for future generations.  So, here are some of my experiences.

               Recently, my Mom talked about a stand-up comedienne whose 0-key broke on her computer and rather than spend $200 getting it fixed, simply searched for rapper Andre 3000 on Google, only needing to go to “Andre 3” before it would fill in the rest and she would always have 0s.  I actually was able to guess his name because I’m somewhat familiar with Andre 3000.  He is part of Atlanta-based Hip-Hop duo Outkast with a man named Big Boi, who made the song “Hey Ya.”  Andre 3000 himself sings that song and it’s famous for its repetition of “All right” so it goes “All right, All right, All right, All right, All right, All right, All right, All right, now ladies!” in fast tempo.  It’s also credited with introducing the world to the phrases “Hey, Fellas!  ‘Yeah!’  What’s cooler than bein’ cool?  ‘Ice Cold!’” and “Shake it like a Polaroid picture!”  In her 2014 tour, Miley Cyrus sang a medley of this song with Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.”

 

               Andre 3000 also had a show on Cartoon Network in the mid-2000s called “Class of 3000,” which featured many different styles of music and very loose, rubbery and fluid animation.  The characters were depicted with stretchy limbs and the show had a very off-the-wall sense of humor, making it one of the better programs on the channel at the time.  A user on DeviantArt even drew Fire Emblem; Three Houses character Byleth in the style of the cartoon, because Andre 3000’s character was a music teacher, much like how Byleth is a Professor in the game.  Voice talent for the show beyond Andre 3000 included Tom Kenny (best known as the voice of SpongeBob Squarepants, but also voices the Mayor and Narrator in The Powerpuff Girls and Wheelie in the live-action Transformers movies), Phil Lamarr (The title character in Static Shock and the Green Lantern in Justice League) and Jeff Bennett (Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Dad from Dexter’s Laboratory, Smee from modern cartoons featuring Captain Hook as well as half a million others).

 

               Andre 3000 has also been referenced in the web series Homestar Runner, in the cartoon “Halloween Fairstival,” clicking on Pom Pom dressed as the mascot for Big Boy Burgers has Coach Z comment, “So, Big Boy, Pom Pom?  I was going to be Andre 3000, myself!”  Obviously confusing Big Boy with Big Boi.  Years later, in the 2015 Halloween cartoon, “The House That Gave Sucky Tricks,” Coach Z does dress as Andre 3000, namely, his appearances in the “Hey Ya” music video, where he played every member of a band.  As such, Coach Z’s costume changes throughout the cartoon and rapidly in his Easter Egg, where he does the repetition of “All Right” and after saying “Now Ladies!” Marzipan says “No.” and Coach Z dejectedly says “All right…”

 

               On a somewhat sadder note, I wish I’d known of Soundgarden earlier.  The intense guitar work, clashing with the screams and understated emotions of lead singer Chris Cornell, they were one of the best bands to come from Seattle.  Chris Cornell was a Classic Rock fan who stepped into the next chapter of that phase and carried the torch himself, and he’s one of my top 5 singers from the Seattle area, alongside Geoff Tate, Duff McKagan, Brandi Carlile and Ann Wilson.  He had a great sense of humor, too, as he showed on the Live At The Artist’s Den Album.  He mentions the performance is being filmed for a PBS show called “Artist’s Den,” then doubts they’ll make it on they air, “If I were them, I’d be going ‘fuck that.  No one’s going to donate money for this.  They’re gonna cancel their checks!  ‘I was watching the history of President Van Buren and now this Soundgarden bullshit, I want my fucking check back!  My 8 dollars!’”  Later in the concert he states PBS stands for “Public Bitch Sessions” and proceeds to yell out several expletive-loaded sentences that the audience repeats back to him, “THIS IS BULLSHIT!”  “FUCK THIS SHIT!”  “FUCKIN’ HELL, I’M GLAD I GOT TO AIR THIS SHIT OUT IN PUBLIC!”  It is truly hilarious to me, thought maybe that’s because I wasn’t allowed to say such stuff growing up.

An 8/21/2020 Release and what I liked last week

 

Last week had a good dose of releases with Miley Cyrus’ single “Midnight Sky” continuing her three-year quality music streak and a surprise EP by hard rockers Halestorm called “Reimagined,” where they covered themselves, reinterpreting their music as more acoustic, more grungy and also featuring Evanescence’s Amy Lee as a duet partner to Lzzy Hale on “Break In.”  It also featured a cover of “I Will Always Love You,” which mostly consisted of just Lzzy and a piano, and is one of my favorite covers this year, up there with the release of Chris Cornell’s version of “Patience.”  Actor/Singer Anthony Ramos, famous for playing John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the Broadway Musical “Hamilton” and G-Team Soldier Martinez in “Godzilla; King of the Monsters,” also released a song called “Stop,” which is a fun song that sounds like it should be on the radio.  My brother was pleasantly surprised when I showed him the movie I wanted to see during our weekend had an actor from the movie he wanted Mom and I to see (and we did the following night).

 

Speaking of Hamilton, I recommend watching it on Disney+.  A lot of the issues of seeking freedom from tyranny resonate to today and encourage me to do what I can for the Biden-Harris campaign.  Remember that History has its eyes on you, so don’t throw away your chance to help end this pandemic, work for the lower and middle classes and make history for African-American and South Asian women in the United States.  If not, chances are the pandemic will continue indefinitely, the military and police will be used in organized genocide against the LGBTQ+, African American, Native American, Latin American, Muslim and Reconciling Congregation Communities in this country and the United States will die, bankrupt, by being carpet-bombed by the combined forces of the European Union, China, Canada and Japan.  This is not me merely suggesting a “worse case scenario,” this is a very real possibility with that genocidal glutton for wars we cannot afford to keep fighting in power.  And how much do you want to bet he will “executive order” away term limits if given the chance?

 

On a brighter note, here’s the top release of this week:

 

The Aquabats-Kooky, Spooky, In Stereo!  I don’t blame you if you don’t know who they are.  I didn’t know until ten years ago, when the Puppet Strong Bad (from homestarrunner.com) showed up at their Atlanta concert to sing “Pink Pants” off their then-latest album.  This sparked a working relationship between Matt Chapman (the voice one at homestarrunner.com) and the band, and when “The Aquabats Super Show” began airing on The Hub (the Channel that aired My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic and Transformers; Prime), Matt would occasionally play characters while cheap, Power Rangers-esque monsters caused havoc.  Matt’s most fondly remembered character was Carl, a wizard in a wrestling mask with a familiar voice (Strong Bad’s).  The Aquabats mostly make comedy-styled rock and roll, but it’s all original music and lyrics.

 

This is also Demi Lovato’s birthday, and she was the first artist I saw live way back in 2009 at the WaMu Theater in Seattle.  I since have seen her at the KeyArena (now renamed the Climate Pledge Arena) in Seattle and hope to have opportunities in the future to see her, her song “I Love Me” from earlier this year was great.  Happy 28^th Birthday, Demi Lovato!

What's good this week and last week in music

 Well, I recently got back from a weekend out of town and it was a good refresher for my mind.  I feel much more calm in my apartment and on the Internet than I was before.  Also, Kamala Harris is who I wanted to be President, so I feel very good about the Biden campaign.

Last week's good releases were:

Out in the Rain by Cory Marks with Lzzy Hale: A duet between a country-rocker and a heavy metal lady who appreciates country music (she's worked with Eric Church before and rooted for the Nashville Predators when they were in the Stanley Cup Finals).  It worked very well and was worth the anticipation.

For Once In My Life by Noah Cyrus: Possibly a Stevie Wonder cover, does have a slightly "older music" vibe to it.  Definitely has a very positive sound and feels very liberating, which is refreshing because she often seems to struggle with depression.  Highly recommended for those who are feeling sad right now.

A New Day Now (20th Anniversary) by Joe Bonamassa: A re-release of his first album with new guitar/vocals (at least according to Amazon), it has a good mix of blues and pure kick-butt rock and roll that is fun to listen to and just feel great with.  Great riffs and guitar work and the bassist also does a good job on some tracks.

What I'm looking forward to this week is:

Solitude by Tori Kelly: An artist who teamed with Christian artists Kirk Franklin and for KING and COUNTRY in one of the first great encouragement singles released after the pandemic, this appears to be (from the first single) an EP about how she's dealing with it in her personal life.  It's about her family from the first single, so it's not about God, but not everything a religious person talks about needs to be.

Miley Cyrus-Midnight Sky: Advertised on her Spotify Page.  She's been on a roll musically since the "Younger Now" album and this will probably continue that.  I don't know if it's a single, an EP or an album yet, though.

Robby Krieger-The Ritual Begins at Sundown: The Doors Guitarist releases an album of what is actually smooth, relaxing guitar work.  Amazon actually defines it as Jazz and one of the singles featured a saxophone.  "Slide Home" was a good single.

My Sister-in-law Playlist

Here's a playlist I made on Spotify in honor of my brother's wife.  She really likes modern pop, Disney and country music and loves Christmas music.  I tend to play this on January 4th, which is her birthday and is during the Church Christmas Season, which doesn't end until January 6th.

Cortney:

1.)    What Child Is This-Carrie Underwood

2.)    Silent Night-Sara Evans

3.)    Folsom Prison Blues (Live)-Johnny Cash

4.)    God Only Knows-For King & Country, Dolly Parton

5.)    Rock My World – Little Country Girl-Brooks & Dunn

6.)    Play Something Country-Brooks & Dunn

7.)    Like A Country Song-Billy Ray Cyrus

8.)    Unbroken-Joel Smallbone

9.)    Don’t Call Me Angel-Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey

10.) Slide Away-Miley Cyrus

11.) Before The Storm-Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus

12.) The Most-Miley Cyrus

13.) Part of Your World-Miley Cyrus

14.) Hands of Love-Miley Cyrus

15.) Some Gave All-Billy Ray Cyrus, Craig Morgan, Jamey Johnson, Darryl Worley

16.) Amazing Grace-Billy Ray Cyrus

17.) The Other Side-Billy Ray Cyrus

18.) Run Rudolph Run-Billy Ray Cyrus

19.) Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town-Miley Cyrus

20.) GNO-Miley Cyrus

21.) These Four Walls-Miley Cyrus

22.) She’s Not Him-Miley Cyrus

23.) Put a Little Love in Your Heart-Billy Ray Cyrus

24.) Achy Breahy Heart 25^th-Billy Ray Cyrus and the Silver Mullet Band

25.) Tenntucky-Billy Ray Cyrus

26.) You’ve Got A Friend-Billy Ray Cyrus and Emily Osment

27.) You Can’t Lose Me-Billy Ray Cyrus

28.) The Climb-Miley Cyrus

29.) Malibu-Miley Cyrus

30.) Achy Breaky Heart-Billy Ray Cyrus

31.) One and the Same-Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato

32.) Let it Go-Demi Lovato

33.) U Got Nothin’ On Me-Demi Lovato

34.) Here We Go Again-Demi Lovato

35.) Party-Demi Lovato

36.) Skyscraper-Demi Lovato

37.) Sorry Not Sorry-Demi Lovato

38.) Stone Cold-Demi Lovato

39.) Cool for the Summer-Demi Lovato

40.) Confident-Demi Lovato

41.) We Wish You The Merriest-Idina Menzel and Josh Gad

42.) Ocho Kandelikas-Idina Menzel

43.) Caroling, Caroling-Idina Menzel

44.) A Hand For Mrs. Claus-Idina Menzel and Ariana Grande

45.) Silent Night-Idina Menzel

46.) December Prayer-Idina Menzel

47.) River-Idina Menzel

48.) Let it Go-Idina Menzel

49.) Dear Prudence/Do You Want To Build A Snowman-Idina Menzel

50.) Cake/Black Dog-Idina Menzel

51.) Sweet Home Alabama (Live in the Fox Theater, Atlanta, GA, July 1976, alternate version)-Lynyrd Skynyrd

52.) Sweet Home Alabama-Lynyrd Skynyrd

53.) Pour Some Sugar On Me (Live 2011)-Def Leppard

54.) You Say-Lauren Daigle

55.) Deliverer-Vicky Beeching

56.) The Wonder Of The Cross-Vicky Beeching

57.) Yesterday, Today and Forever-Vicky Beeching

58.) Turn Your Eyes-Vicky Beeching

59.) Boot Scootin’ Boogie-Brooks & Dunn

60.) Honky-Tonk Stomp-Brooks & Dunn, Billy Gibbons

61.) Against the Wind-Brooks & Dunn

62.) Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)-Ronnie Dunn

63.) Believe-Brooks & Dunn

64.) Bad on Fords and Chevrolets-Sammy Hagar and Ronnie Dunn

65.) Part of Your World-Jodi Benson

66.) A Place Called Slaughter Race-Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Cast

67.) I Won’t Back Down-Ronnie Dunn

68.) Wonderful Christmas Time-Demi Lovato

69.) Into the Unknown-Idina Menzel, AURORA

70.) Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People (cont.)-Jonathan Groff

71.) Lost in the Woods-Jonathan Groff

72.) Happy Xmas (War Is Over)-Josh Groban

73.) Wonderful Tonight-Ronnie Dunn

74.) Against The Wind-Ronnie Dunn

75.) Red Solo Cup-Toby Keith

76.) God, Your Mama and Me-Florida-Georgia Line and Backstreet Boys