The Truth About Music

"What's hot, what's not, and whats next in pop music"

Top Six Songs of the Week: 10/25/09-10/31/09

By Harris posted October 31, 2009 at 09:40

With Halloween festivities getting underway tonight it’s time to break out my playlist of my favorite scary themed songs for this night of frights!! “Tubular Bells” by Mike Oldfield: For me no song is more terrifying than this classic from “The Exorcist.” If you want to scare people on the 31st have this song playing outside your house. “Time Warp” by Rocky Horror Actors: For me nothing beats the crunchy vocals and beautiful chorus provided in the original recording of this classic party song. “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr: Weather you consider this a Halloween song or not, it’s one of my favorites and for some reason it always comes on around this time of the year. “This Is Halloween” by Panic at the Disco: Although both Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco have covered songs from “Nightmare Before Christmas” Brandon Urie’s voice lends itself to being scary [...] Continue...
Fall Out Boy’s Epic Fail

By Harris posted October 30, 2009 at 09:20

In one of the most interesting progressions of my music listening life, the dial is finally starting to turn the other way. After hating Fall Out Boy originally my opinion them finally changed sometime after “From Under The Cork Tree” and continued on through their next album. When the band released “Folie a Deux” my view on them began a downward tumble and seeing the band perform live a few months ago furthered this drop. At that time I laid out a Fall Out Boy recovery plan and from what I can tell it has not been followed (see “Advice for Fall Out Boy from May, 2009). With that in mind the band is now set to release a greatest hit’s album titled “Believers Never Die: Greatest Hits.” The album features almost every single from the bands four major releases and a brand new single “Alpha Dog.” I have two [...] Continue...
Harris’ Song of the Week: United States of Eurasia by Muse

By Harris posted October 29, 2009 at 15:42

Paying tribute to one of the better albums of the fall, my song of the week is a tribute to two great bands. Although Muse is credited with the writing and performing of “United States of Eurasia” a lot of credit must be passed to the band that clearly inspired this song. Weather it is written or not this song draws directly on the style that Queen used to write some of the great rock songs of the ’70s. This song, which spans over five minutes long, is a journey through the minds of both Muse and Queen as we hear many different sounds. The opening riff reminds you of the opening to one of the bands many ballads and as you hit the chorus you would swear you were listening to “We Are The Champions.” You quickly realize that the sound is in fact Muse, but the amazing blend [...] Continue...
Deep In The Heart Of Texas: Music in Austin

By Harris posted October 28, 2009 at 23:27

Sitting in the lobby the evening after arriving in Texas and I’m somewhat overwhelmed. Venturing outside our hotel this morning we walked down 6th Street and were immediately surrounded by bars, restaurants, clubs and live music venues (sometimes all combined into one). The amount of live music venues was astonishing. All pounded inside one single street that was about ten Manhattan blocks long, were venue after venue. What made it all the more interesting was that inside each one was a band. These were not places that ever go quiet. On a relatively quite, rainy night in Austin each club had a band residing inside, playing music that ranged from country to jazz to classic rock covers. For someone who has never explored much music outside the east coast, I am really enjoying the fact that music seems to surround everything here. Aside from music I am completely in love [...] Continue...
Are We Not Sensitive To Lyrics Anymore?

By Harris posted October 28, 2009 at 09:28

I remember a time when I was in middle school that artists such as Eminem, Nelly, and even Green Day were ridiculed for the content of their lyrics. Some were worse than others (especially in Eminems case) but topics of drugs, murder and cursing were generally looked down upon. Tuning in to Sirius radio this morning I heard they would be playing a new song by John Mayer, someone that my mom, sister and grandma all listen to. The song was called “Who Says” and the opening lyrics are “Who says I can’t get stoned, turn off the lights and the telephone.” I’m not pretending like these are offensive lyrics but I think it is interesting that Mayer wrote a song with such a bold statement in the leadoff spot. I know what your thinking, our parents grew up in a time when drugs were rampant and not thought to [...] Continue...
The Truth About Music Radar: October 27th, 2009

By Harris posted October 27, 2009 at 10:34

As I woke up today, I realized that we had begun one of the most profitable, sad and remembered week the music industry will see in years. The end of the week marks the opening of “This Is It” the documentary that showcases the final weeks of Michael Jacksons life as he prepared for his upcoming tour. The music radar for this Tuesday includes just one album to pay respect to the king of pop. Going by the same name, “This Is It” came out yesterday and is the soundtrack to the upcoming movie. As many of my readers grew up in a time after Jackson, it is a bad week for new releases and therefore a great time to go back and listen to his music. Go out to a local record store and purchase “Thriller” or spend some money with iTunes and buy his old recordings with the [...] Continue...
Did U2 and Bono Just Play The Largest Concert Ever?

By Harris posted October 26, 2009 at 10:22

Sitting here on Monday morning I can’t make up my mind. Am I impressed with U2? Of course I am. Do I think it will be a growing trend? Certainly not. Anyone who missed it, last night on YouTube, U2 performed a live concert that was streamed by hundreds of thousands of viewers. It was the first time that a large scale concert was simultaneously broadcasted around the world via the internet, for free! It gave rich and poor, young and old a chance to check out one of the largest bands in rock history in a live music event. The band proved that it could work, my question is does it make sense? People love music but there is s stream of listening that is set in stone within many communities. You hear a song on the radio, you purchase said song (or album if you are kicking it [...] Continue...
Top Five Songs of the Week: 10/18/09-10/24/09

By Harris posted October 24, 2009 at 12:37

After a few weeks off, I decided that I enjoyed my top five songs of the week posts on Saturday. Here’s this weeks: “Fireflies” by Owl City: Since choosing this song as a song in my head on September 8th, the song has gained incredible attention and is now the #1 song in iTunes. “1901″ by Phoenix: After hearing this song driving in my car months ago, I finally gave it a real listen and found it to be incredibly catchy and melodic, similar to MGMT. “Keep Holding On” by The Glee Cast: Although the original song (Avril Lavign) was amazing, “Glee” continues to produce amazing arrangements of songs I love. “Everything” by Alanis Morissette: For some reason I decided I needed to download this song which reminds me of “Clerks II.” Really great song by a great artist. “3am Spanish” by Hockey: Last weeks song of the week, this [...] Continue...
Who’s Next On The Stadium Tour Circuit

By Harris posted October 23, 2009 at 17:31

Since 1966 when The Beatles first invaded New York, playing a now world famous show at Shea Stadium, these types of shows have been played only by the biggest and best names in entertainment. These arena and stadium tours have hosted names such as AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen and The Who over the years with the most recent mainstay on the circuit being Green Day. Although bands come and go, playing these large capacity shows once in a while, a true stadium band is one that can only and does only perform at these venues. In recent years bands such as Fall Out Boy and The Fray have toured arena’s. Taking the performance to the next level, playing and consistently selling out these large capacity venues is the trick. The question I pose today is what band will be the next to achieve rocks highest honor. Bands considered must be consistently [...] Continue...
Windows 7, the Best Thing for Apple Since…

By Harris posted October 22, 2009 at 20:06

Today is one of the biggest days for Microsoft in the last 10 years. After the extreme failure of their last operating system, Windows Vista, the Fortune 500 Company has released its next generation operating system. Windows 7 will be released and alongside a crafty marketing campaign, the new operating system will hope to derail Apple and all that they stand for. Microsoft’s problem in all of this is that the Cupertino based Apple is one step ahead of the game. Every time they make a move, Microsoft takes an action hoping to mimic the effect. My favorite example comes from the string of advertisements that the two companies have released. Although both are extremely creative, it is always Microsoft trying to catch Apple. Apple released “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” and Microsoft countered with “I’m a PC and I’ve been made into a stereotype.” Each time one company [...] Continue...