favourite albums in 2013

Hiya, worlds worst blogger award is definitely mine. College has absolutely killed all my spare time. I finished ages ago for Christmas and had a couple of days to do fun stuff and what not. Then all my spare time this week has gone on public affairs revision, shorthand speed building and oh, work. So yeah. I've had this post in my head for a while now and I thought I should probably crack on and get it out there. So, here we have, my favourite albums of this year.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD - HAIL TO THE KING
How predictable am I? But yes, Hail to the King. I love how huge and theatrical this sounds, especially on Shepherd of Fire. Each song is heavy, desperate to be played at ear splitting volume. M Shadows' voice carries you through each song, each story. There's themes of war and being imprisoned, death and being away from home. Synyster Gates dialed down the guitars to great effect and the introduction of Arin Illejay as drummer saw Avenged take the first steps to moving on. It's exciting, with a lot of interesting lyrics, and it's shooting them into the stratosphere.
Favourite song: Acid Rain.

ALTER BRIDGE - FORTRESS
Predictably one of my most anticipated albums of this year. I fell in love with Alter Bridge when I heard AB III way back in 2010. Fortress is AB's darkest, angriest album to date. They've shaken off all the Creed associations. Each song tells an intricate tale, Addicted to Pain surrounds a destructive, abusive, inescapable relationship, Bleed it Dry borders on the political and All Ends Well is a comforting reminder to all those feeling a bit lost or stuck. Myles Kennedy's vocal is perfect, and there is never a dull moment. Big surprise comes in the form of Mark Tremonti taking charge on Waters Rising. It's exciting, fresh, but keeping in with a classic Alter Bridge sound and feel.
Favourite song: Lover.

FALL OUT BOY - SAVE ROCK AND ROLL
Oh my heroes. Fall Out Boy seemed to appear from absolutely nowhere with this album. There wasn't much time to create too much hype and anticipation as the bomb of My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark was dropped and not long after, the rest of the album. It's quickly become my favourite Fall Out Boy album. Every song is different and it's not like anything else on my iPod. Patrick Stump's voice is stunning, and the lyrics are so clever. I think part of the appeal with it, is a few songs were a bit of a 'right song at the right time' moment, especially Miss Missing You. I was on board with this album from the start and I remember streaming it on my work experience and feeling excited about the music. (fangirl mode deactivated)
Favourite song: Just One Yesterday

HEAVEN'S BASEMENT - FILTHY EMPIRE
I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Heaven's Basement for a while. I liked the EP. Then that singer walked out on them. For a while, I didn't like the replacement's voice. He couldn't sing the old songs, because they weren't written for him to sing. Enter Filthy Empire and suddenly I fell for Heaven's Basement all over again. Aaron Buchanan's vocal fits in much better with this set of songs. There's a slight nod to their origins with Can't Let Go (previously on their self-titled EP) it's slightly heavy, in a more accessible way, each song is bigger and better sounding than the one that comes before it. A couple of ballads sprinkled here and there make for a strong, well rounded debut.
Favourite song: Be Somebody

MALLORY KNOX - SIGNALS
Mallory Knox were 2013's British band for me. After hearing Lighthouse at the end of last year, I was completely sold. Signals was a real surprise. In the past I've championed You Me At Six, Young Guns etc when they'd just started out, release full length albums and so forth, but with all of those I'd never liked an album as much as this one. The singles are very poppy, radio friendly rock. Death Rattle is a personal highlight, a much heavier sounding track. The songs feel like they have more depth than a lot of band's releases out there. There's plenty of hidden meanings, open for interpretation. It definitely gives them the edge they need in such an over saturated market.
Favourite song: Death Rattle.

Other albums I could've written about, but then this post wouldn't been the length of a Harry Potter novel:
30 Seconds to Mars - Love Lust Faith Dreams
Tonight Alive - The Other Side
Bullet For My Valentine - Temper Temper
Korn - The Paradigm Shift
Deaf Havana - Old Souls

Instagram weekly update #001

pink kinder egg, saturday night turbo, oreo the hamster, happy weekend face.

 

Bit of a different post today. Unfortunately, I've got nothing else to talk about but myself and rather than leave my little blog post-less for another week or two, I thought I'd write something even if it is meaningless and a bit dull.

My friend came to stay last weekend, which prompted a trip to Asda so I could buy Rekorderlig (standard) and a ridiculously big pizza. Obviously, I couldn't resist picking up one of the new Kinder Egg's. And got a bit too excited about the fact I got a My Little Pony toy in it. Me and two of my best ones had an impromptu trip to the cinema last night. Having been to the all you can eat, absolutely every food ever buffet, we decided to see Turbo. It was really cute, not quite what I expected, but still pretty decent for a kids film! A couple of weeks ago, our old hamster, Percy died. My sister had just bought him a new cage the week before, so not to waste my sister's money (or a decent, shiny, new cage) we got a new hamster. Named Oreo by my sister (not the most original at naming things) he has the biggest ears I've ever seen on a hamster.

My journalism course is well and truly taking over my life at the minute. I've not had chance to read anything. I'd started the first Mortal Instruments book and I'm not even halfway through yet. I've got a few albums I want to post about, but again, I've not had chance to have a 'proper' listen to any of them. I've skimmed over Deaf Havana and Tonight Alive. Korn's album might be the first I write about, but I'm seeing Alter Bridge on Tuesday in Manchester so it's kind of all been about Fortress at the minute. 

But yes, the course is super intense. I'm in 9-4ish Monday through to Thursday and then work 6-10 each evening. So, in short, I'm constantly knackered and getting more and more annoyed that I barely have time to myself during the week. The weekends however are a different story. I've been trying to do something 'fun' at least every weekend, whether it be a night out or cinema trip, whatever. The course has been getting me down a bit, because I'm always tired, I've found it harder to remember things quickly and find myself on 'auto-pilot' quite a lot. 

Hopefully, I'll be able to write something about Alter Bridge this weekend. I've got half term off (yay), so hopefully I'll post some more then. (:

Fortress

Back in 2004, Myles Kennedy stepped into the void left by Scott Stapp. Creed were done. Enter Kennedy, and the creation of Alter Bridge. Back then, Myles Kennedy thought he was stepping into something that was so established in the US, he worried fans would hate him.

Fast forward to 2013, Alter Bridge have released their fourth album, lost that Creed sound and Myles Kennedy is an absolute hero in his own right.

'Fortress' is going to be the moment Alter Bridge lose all the Creed connotations for good. It's so far removed from 2004's 'One Day Remains', it's unbelievable. They aren't as big in the US, of course, but in the UK and Europe, they are a huge deal. 'Fortress' is only going to cement that fact even further.

Opening song, in true AB fashion is like a punch in the face in the best possible way. The Spanish, flamenco sound introduces us to 'Cry of Achilles' a thunderous song, filled with lyrics of doubt and a slight hint towards some positivity. Lead single 'Addicted to Pain' follows, the story of an abusive relationship an individual doesn't want to leave. It's heavier than previous singles, and with that leading the way, it's clear the remainder of the album is going to be much darker than the likes of older albums.

'Bleed It Dry' touches on the environmental and the political, it won't suit everyone's tastes. If that track has you wanting to turn off, wait until you hear the bitter and scathing 'Lover'. This song shows off Kennedy's true talent, it's emotional and angry.

The mid section of the album melts into one, the songs sounding fairly similar, those are the ones that take a few listens to tell them apart. Guitarist Mark Tremonti takes the lead on 'Waters Rising', a bold step for him as on previous albums he's remained fairly silent when it comes to vocals. He took a tiny step into the spotlight on 'AB III' singing duet 'Words Darker Than Their Wings' with Myles Kennedy. Since the release of his solo album in 2012, it seems Tremonti is more willing to take on vocal leads.

'Cry a River' is a personal favourite, it's bitter and twisted lyrics are masked by the upbeat guitar work and fast pace. Ballad of the album comes in the form of 'All Ends Well' a song that will no doubt speak volumes to fans across the globe. It's not quite as lighters in the air as past ballads 'Wonderful Life' (from AB III) and 'Watch Over You' (Blackbird) and it might not be as much of a crowd pleaser, but it's still emotionally charged and has the words that will mean something to someone. Closer 'Fortress' is a huge wave of a song, a perfect finish to what is without a doubt one of the albums of 2013.

On a personal note, I only fully took to Alter Bridge upon the release of AB III. They are a good, solid band, and the more material they've released, the more they've shaken that slight hint towards Creed. They've been through a lot, with record label battles and fighting to get their songs out there. In the UK they've gone from playing student unions to a dozen people to headlining major arenas up and down the country. Their music has pulled on the heart strings of so many individuals and will more than likely continue to do so.