Music, music, music

I know my entries lately have been half-assed and really weak. Its crazy how busy life gets when you have a family. Not only do I not have time to sit down and write anymore, I don't even have time to sit down and think about what to write.

"You Can't Stop The Underground..."
There is one thing I can always blab about though: music. This summer I spent a lot of time listening to music and discovering new bands. I listened to hundreds of songs and became a fan of dozens of young, underground groups. Chaser, Antagen, the Willkills, One Big Lie and Skyline Collapse are just a few of my new favorites. I didn't realize how starved I was for new, good music.

I came to realize that - contrary to what I originally thought - the underground punk scene as we knew it in the 90's has experienced a rebirth. There are many people out there who, like me, feel incredibly disconnected from and abandonned by many of the bands and figures who were integral parts of what was once punk rock. People are angry at the utter lack of concern and the emphasis on vanity. Fortunately these people have joined, in a total DIY spirit, to re-form the scene and the lifestyle that they once held so close to their hearts. It is very refreshing.

What was once underground has exploded into a grotesque, mainstream caricature of its former self, where closely held ideals have become fashion accessories and where once incorruptable figures like Davey Havok now sport their newest hairstyle on the cover of Rolling Stone. Thankfully there will always be those who have a natural attraction to counter culture movements. There will always be the underground.

The Best of the Best?
I've been thinking lately about my all time favorite albums. It is an incredibly difficult list to narrow down but I'm going to give it a try and get it down to 10. These are in no particular order and there is no doubt in my mind that there are probably dozens that I just didn't remember off the top of my head. If I think of any more later on (which in inevitable, I'm sure) I will make sure to add them. In the meantime, here are my top 10 favorite albums:


Bad Religion - Suffer
It was a toss up between this and No Control. Suffer gets the edge because it has more of a "classic" element that I just can't seem to put my finger on. This was Bad Religion's triumphant return after disbanding years before and nothing they would record after would be better than this ablum. Suffer set the tone for what would be 90's punk rock: fast, melodic yet agressive music blended immaculately with harmonic vocals. "Do What You Want" is still one of my all time favorite songs.

Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power
Quite possibly the best metal band off all time. I had a hard time deciding between VDP or The Great Southern Trendkill but I've loved this album for so long that it is hard to top. There are so many good songs on this album like Walk, By Demons Be Driven, Hollow and This Love, but my favorite has to be Fucking Hostile.

The Vandals - Live Fast, Diarrhea
The thing I love about the Vandals is that they don't pretend to be something they are not. They classify their music as comedy and don't try to be some preachy band condemning society's corruptibility or advocating the fall of the government. They leave that to the Propaghandi's of the world (who's album How to Clean Everything could have easily made this list). LF,D is just fast, fun punk rock. It was one of the first real punk rock albums I ever bought and it will always be near the top of my list of favorites. The best songs are Let the Bad Times Roll, And Now We Dance, Johnny Twobags and Kick Me.

Misfits - Collection II
Ok, I know this is kind of cheating because its really a compilation of old Misfits material, but from start to finish this is one of the greatest cds you can buy. The Misfits of old (before Glenn Danzig's departure) is one of the greatest and most influential bands of all time. The pioneers of horror punk kicked a lot of ass in their day and Collection II keeps that tradition alive over three decades since the Fiends first started playing together. Its hard to single out the best songs since each and every one is classic, but I'll give it a go: Attitude, Demonomania, Braineaters, Children in Heat and, of course Last Caress

Bob Marley & the Wailers - Uprising
Picking out a favorite Bob Marley album is like trying to choose your favorite child, its impossible. I went with Uprising because it contains my 2 favorite reggae songs of ever: Coming In From the Cold and Pimper's Paradise and it would be criminal not to mention Redemption Song. The only way this album could be any better would be if it had a studio version of Punky Reggae Party.

Pennywise - Full Circle
Pennywise is one of my favorite bands but I'll just come out and say it anyway, most of their albums sound exactly the same. It makes distinguishing between them difficult at times unless you have track listings in front of you and it makes is incredibly hard to pick a favorite. Since I can't put all of them on here I picked Full Circle because it undoubtedly has the most heart and is the one I can relate with the most. This album was Pennywise's first effort after the suicide of their bassist and founding member Jason Thirsk. It has a lot of personal material that tugs at my heart strings. Whenever I hear the remake of Bro Hymn Tribute I get chills.

Snoop Dogg - Tha Last Meal
A lot of people might be surprised to find this on my list of favorite albums. I like hip hop only when it is done well. Snoop Dogg is really the only mainstream hip hop that I can stomach these days. While I was tempted to put on Heiruspecs' A Tiger Dancing or even Snoop's classic Doggystyle neither of them could top Tha Last Meal. The best songs on it is Hennesey N' Buddah, Ready 2 Ryde and Set It Off.

Buju Banton - Til' Shiloh
This is just damn good reggae. Despite Buju's character flaws and reported bigotry against homosexuals, he still knows how to make a great roots reggae album. I discovered this record in college and it, along with Black Uhuru's unification, always puts me in a good mood. The highlights include Champion, Murderer, Wanna Be Loved and Not an Easy Road.

H2O - Nothing to Prove
Its going to be hard for me to limit what I write about Nothing to Prove because I could go on and on about how great it is. H2O has always been a great band, but they finally reached their potential with this album. It came out in May and is their first record in eight years. I've always felt that H2O, while being very well respected in the punk and hardcore communities, was a band that was stuck between two scenes. They have hardcore roots yet play melodic punk and seemed to have a hard time solidifying their identity. Well they certainly hit their stride with Nothing to Prove; it is their best album and could be one of the best hardcore/punk album EVER. My favorite songs are 1995, Heart on My Sleeve, Sunday and What Happened?

The Descendents - Milo Goes to College