Tag Archives: my ipod

My iPod #253: Green Day – Deadbeat Holiday

 

“Deadbeat Holiday” is the seventh track on Green Day’s sixth album “Warning”, released in 2000. The album is one of Green Day’s ‘softer’ albums with less of a punk rock oriented sound and incorporating more acoustic elements (thank you Wikipedia). For this reason, it is not one of the band’s most acclaimed albums. But at a time when punk rock was not as big, it showed that the band were able to look in a new direction.

For myself, “Warning” was the last Green Day album I listened to. The Green Day:Rock Band had recently come out and the only albums of theirs I physically possessed (and still do) were “American Idiot“, “Dookie“, “Smoothed Out Slappy Hours” (which is quite a strange choice looking at it now) and the “International Superhits!” compilation, which I got way before realising that compilations are not the way to go. Buy original albums, people.

“Minority”, the title track, “Waiting” and “Macy’s Day Parade” were tracks that I had heard when I initially started listening to Green Day about ten years ago. They were singles, and their videos were available to watch on the band’s website. It was only the album tracks I had to go through now, and “Deadbeat Holiday” was another that was rather enjoyable. It’s about living an empty life and feeling miserable which isn’t so great, but the narrator’s knowledge that they are not alone in this situation is somewhat of a comforter. It is very poppy though, which does lighten the mood.

My iPod #252: Muse – Dead Star

 

Whilst fans waited for a new album after “Origin of Symmetry”, Muse released a video showing two performances in France the band did in October 2001. That video was simultaneously released with its accompanying soundtrack the following year in July. “Dead Star” was a new song the band recorded to promote the album and was released as a double A-side single with another song “In Your World”.

I was seven when this song was released so I had no idea the song existed until about 2006. “Black Holes” was coming out, and MTV2 practically dedicated half-an-hour slots to the band so I can only guess that I found out about the track when its video came up during the time.

The track is not one of their most popular (not appearing on an actual album may have that effect on a song) but to be fair, it is just as good as anything on “Symmetry”. Very loud as expected from early-noughties Muse. Great vocals by Matt Bellamy… as always. Brilliant instrumentation from Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard. Overall, a decent track. And probably the most metal thing they’ve ever done.

My iPod #251: Billy Talent – Dead Silence

The first time I listened to the Billy Talent’s fourth album “Dead Silence” (or fifth if you include their actual first album) I was lying in bed, ready to go to sleep and wake up for school the next morning. I tried to force myself to stay awake and pay attention to it, because Billy Talent are cool and it was their brand new album, but eventually I just became too tired and fell asleep about halfway through or so. However, I did regain enough consciousness to just about listen to the last few tracks.

The song is about trying to live in a time of war, with references to ‘soldiers’, ‘machine gun fire’ and ‘bombs’ in the lyrics, and ends with the narrator supposedly saying goodbye to his partner to join the army. Possibly. But Ian’s solos, various guitar licks, Ben’s passionate vocals and the pounding rhythm section of Jon and Aaron deliver a track conveying determination and hope for the future.

There is a music-during-the-credits-for-a-film vibe that I get from this track. I imagine “Swallowed Up by the Ocean” to be the music accompanying the sad ending, whilst “Dead Silence” captures the overall mood that the film delivers. I don’t know why. That’s just me.

My iPod #250: They Might Be Giants – Dead

 

“Dead” is the fifth track from They Might Be Giants’ major label debut, and third album, “Flood“.

I am at a loss of words in regards to it. There was something mesmerising about “Dead” the first time I listened to it in 2010; today it still raises that same feeling which I believe I could describe, but wouldn’t have the vocabulary to do so.

The keyboard set to ‘piano’, which is the only instrument used in the song, resembles something that would accompany a silent film from waaaay back or a parade of some sort due to its major key and marching tempo. It is Linnell’s depressing lyrics about not living life to the full, having regrets and people celebrating somebody’s death that puts things into perspective. Happy music with sad lyrics is a thing that the band is known for, but this may be the one that really gets to me.

It is beautiful. A real highlight from “Flood”.

My iPod #249: Nine Black Alps – Daytime Habit


“Daytime Habit” is a song recorded by Nine Black Alps whilst recording their second album “Love/Hate“. It ended up as a B-Side to the second single released “Bitter End”. (It is a big problem that none of Nine Black Alps’ official music videos are on YouTube; you’ll have to look for that song on your own).

I heard the track for the first time when browsing the group’s website. On there you can listen to “Everything Is”, “Love/Hate”, their B-Sides and a few of their old demos. I’ve said before that I do not have as much ‘love’ for their second album as much as I do for the one that preceded it and the ones that followed. If I could find the tweet I would also show you that the band posted that they wished they had recorded it better.* There was nothing wrong with the songs, I have two in particular that I think are very good, but it was mild and soft compared to “Everything Is” – it missed that cutting edge and the large front which the aforementioned album had.

“Daytime Habit” however is quite different. It has that glaring and menacing tone reminiscent of some tracks from “Everything Is”, but still has the close and tight sound of “Love/Hate”. It is an awesome song, and I believe if this and the many other B-Sides that were recorded during that period were actually put on the record I would have liked it a lot more. But that’s how it is I suppose.

Whilst on the topic of Nine Black Alps, THEY HAVE A NEW ALBUM COMING OUT. APRIL 21ST.  I’m on it.

They unveiled a song from it already. Listen to the newer one.

* I found the tweet.