October 2015 - Demon Days from Gorillaz

Demon Days - Gorillaz

Why?

Music from the Gorillaz is certainly out-of-place when placed next to the rest of my favorites. Although I'm strongly opposed to rap music general because of its of the indecency that rules the genres, I could have completely refuse it because I came to love Demon Days early on. It isn't a straight rap album (keep in mind that the Gorillaz project is lead by Blur's singer Damon Albarn), but I've come to appreciate every bit of it, especially the rapping. At a time when I was just starting to explore new genres, Demon Days won me over with an overwhelming diversity in sound and made me comfortable with types of music I'd previously rejected.

Let's take it track by track.

(Song-specific commentary coming soon!)

Track 1: Intro

Track 2: Last Living Souls

Track 3: Kids With Guns

Track 4: O Green World

Track 5: Dirty Harry

Track 6: Feel Good Inc.

Track 7: El Manana

Track 8: Every Planet We Reach Is Dead

Track 9: November Has Come

Track 10: All Alone

Track 11: White Light

Track 12: DARE

Track 13: Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head

Track 14: Don't Get Lost In Heaven

Track 15: Demon Days

"In these demon days, it's so cold inside, so hard for a good soul to survive."

"Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine."

September 2015 - Love Is The End by Keane

Love Is The End - Keane 

Why?

As we've gone through the music portion of this first year, I've often mentioned what I call the 'four core bands' of my youth. Even though each one of them has a number of extraordinary songs that I will never forget, they each have a single song that, in my eyes, clearly outshines the rest. We've seen those songs from three of the bands already. For Keane, this song came several years later in 2008 and, for me, marked the end of these bands' best years. Love Is The End radiates a profound sincerity from solemn beginning to desperate end in one of the greatest song crescendos I've ever heard. It also currently reads on my iTunes account as my most played song of all time.

"I still do depend on you so don't say those words. You wrung me through."

August 2015 - The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Why?

The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy transformed the film industry, that much is undeniable. It had an outstanding, definitive soundtrack, a believable portrayal of a fantasy world, and visuals like no one at the time had ever seen. My favorite part of a good story, however, will always be the characters, and my favorite stories are often the ones that have a lot of them to root for. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring not only blew me away with the best-depicted fantasy world I'd ever seen at the time, it also offered the most entertaining and well-constructed set of main characters I'd ever known, and it remains one of the best.

"Keep it secret. Keep it safe."

July 2015 - Brothers On A Hotel Bed by Death Cab for Cutie

Hall of Famer #3:

Brothers On A Hotel Bed

Death Cab for Cutie

2005

Why?

We've already seen songs from two of the so called 'four core bands' of my youth, Coldplay and Snow Patrol. Death Cab for Cutie was another and is the one that stands out most to me this very moment because of their excellent recent album and my terrible mistake of letting laziness keep me from their concert last week. There are a lot of Death Cab songs I'd like to put here, but "Brothers On A Hotel Bed", for me, was the clear choice. This songs carries with it a profound musical sacredness, an immediately overwhelming peace that begs my attention with the very first chord as if not giving this song all the attention I have is a disservice. Few songs hold such an emotional weight in my life, and it achieved that value with its flawless composition and the simple sincerity of its words.

"Brothers On A Hotel Bed" currently ranks as my 15th most played song of all time, which is a position only reached by songs that have been with me for a long time. In fact, out of my top 20, it hit my iTunes collection the earliest when I started using my first iPod in 2006. My first taste of Death Cab came in the form of two of their albums simultaneously: Plans, the album we're pulling from here, and the earlier Transatlanticism. Included here are songs like "I Will Follow You Into The Dark", "Soul Meets Body", "The Sound of Settling", and plenty of other popular greats -- really no weak song whatsoever, but Brothers was always my favorite. At a time when I was starting to realize that quieter, more sentimental songs were usually the ones that meant the most to me, Brothers was an invaluable addition to my small library.

The song is, of course, led by piano, but just as important as its introductory chords is their background, which can easily go unnoticed. Very faintly, we hear a mixture of sounds that's hard to pinpoint. The best description I've got is that it sounds like a casino room in the distance, which, somehow, pours a lot more emotion into the piece than the silence they could have left there. One minute in, and we get drums, electric guitar, and bass instead. Synthesized sounds and an acoustic guitar join in later, helping the song build slightly more and more energy as it goes along. Overall, it never strays far from its initial sense of serenity, thanks in great part to Ben Gibbard's fitting voice.

And, as always, the lyrics are a huge factor in why I came to love this song like I do. Let's take a look.

You may tire of me as our December sun is setting

Cause I'm not who I used to be

No longer easy on the eyes 

But these wrinkles masterfully disguise the youthful boy below

Who turned your way and saw something he was not looking for: 

Both a beginning and an end 

But now he lives inside someone he does not recognize 

When he catches his reflection on accident.

On the back of a motor bike 

With your arms outstretched trying to take flight 

Leaving everything behind 

But even at our swiftest speed we couldn't break from the concrete 

In the city where we still reside. 

And I have learned that even landlocked lovers yearn for the sea like navy men 

Cause now we say goodnight from our own separate sides 

Like brothers on a hotel bed 

Like brothers on a hotel bed 

Like brothers on a hotel bed 

Like brothers on a hotel bed

My interpretation of the message here is the first phrase itself: you may tire of me. Ben sings of growing older, touching on the change in physicality and identity, the yearning for things gone by, and a subtle fear of what age brings -- or doesn't bring -- with it. It's not just about the age of a person, however, it's about the age of a love, one that time beats upon until the two who are in this love feel it slipping away. Eventually, although they try to escape the descent, they reach the point where it seems awkward for them to be sleeping together... like two grown brothers in the same hotel bed. This portrayal speaks volumes and I could go on and on about each line and concept, but that's not quite what I want to accomplish here. The band's always especially strong with lyrics, but this is a highlight for me in that regard.

Please, enjoy this song yourself.

Here's a live recording.

Here's a cool jazzy cover.

And one more interesting take

"Now he lives inside someone he does not recognize"
Brothers On a Hotel Bed
Song #3

June 2015 - Diablo II

Now for the last of my lists' beginnings. Although I'd call music a greater passion of mine, video games have offered me endless creative inspiration and game design is where I've chosen to place my college study. The first member of the game portion of my hall of fame is...

Diablo II (2000)

Why?

Those near to me know that my greatest aspiration is to be an accomplished novelist. They don't know that this is where it all started. My interest in Diablo II drove me to read my first adult-level fantasy novels, which caused my to start creating my own characters and stories. Now storytelling is my dominant desire and creative writing is perhaps my greatest strength. 

As you'd expect from a game named after the devil, it's not the most appropriate for a seven-year-old, which is where I was when it came out. My start with the game was watching my dad play it with his two brothers and cousin. I still remember which characters each had chosen and what areas I saw them in.

My dad didn't let me play until about three years later. I never became especially immersed in the game because it was already somewhat outdated by the time I got to it, but I was drawn back to it multiple times in the following years. I beat it first at about age 10, then again at 14, and a third time at 17.

The Diablo series is one of three massively successful series from Blizzard, the other two being Starcraft and Warcraft (a la World of Warcraft). I like to call Blizzard the Pixar of the gaming industry -- high quality is basically a guarantee in every new release. Diablo is the least popular of the three, which isn't actually saying much, but I call it my favorite. The cool thing about Diablo is that it's the first major game of its type, where the player controls the one character from above. That style has been pulled into many other big games since, including Torchlight, Titan Quest, Sacred, and many more.

Diablo II, like its predecessor and successor, takes place in a medieval-style fantasy world where a great conflict between angels and demons prevails. Mundane humanity is torn apart in the middle of the war, powerless and even bothersome in the eyes of either side. Some humans, however, prove themselves as skilled warriors, becoming not only heroes, but the only hope of the angels as the seven Lords of Hell, the Great Evils, grow more powerful.

The player chooses between seven classes. The Amazon hits hard with her spear and javelins. The Assassin excels with traps. The Necromancer summons undead minions. The barbarian is brutal in attack. The Sorceress harnesses the elements. The Druid transforms into various animals. The Paladin uses protective spells and heavy armor. I first completed the game with the Necromancer, then the Paladin, then the Amazon, all on the normal difficulty, which is somewhat pitiful, looking back.

The character, or team or characters, fights through the forces of hell in separate acts, each with its own setting and Lord of Hell. Act I sees the warriors in a typical countryside setting with Andariel, the Maiden of Anguish, waiting at the end. Act II is in a desert setting concluding with Duriel, the Lord of Pain. Act III is a jungle where Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred, serves as the final boss. Then the character is taken to the depths of Hell in Act IV to fight the devil, Diablo, the Lord of Terror. An expansion adds the Assassin and Druid characters, as well as Act V, where Baal, Lord of Destruction, is mounting an invasion.

A major highlight was the game's soundtrack. In terms of music, Diablo II is a contender for my favorite of all time. The threat of evil was much more prevalent thanks to creepy compositions like this:

Blizzard has always been top of the line with cinematics. Diablo 2 was no exception.

As you see, the game's now out of its time. I find it hard to enjoy anymore, especially because I've given a lot of recent time to the excellent sequel. Diablo II is mainly here for the immense influence it had on me creatively. I was fascinated with the progression of the story to various locales with both desperation and danger forced into every step by the overlying purpose. I also came to adore the array of characters, which make or break an experience for me. Both heroes and villains were well-crafted visually and within the grand scheme of things, with each playable character finding a unique role and each dangerously-powerful villain terrifying in its own way. Most impressive was the way in which Diablo II, because of the large number and strength of horrific enemies and the nature of the plot, made you feel truly heroic upon reaching victory. That's why it's game #1.

"Not even death can save you from me."

"Stay a while and listen!"

May 2015 - Carnavas from The Silversun Pickups

(Apologies here... Blogger deleted the paragraph I wrote for each song. I'll rewrite them somewhere down the road...)

And the 1st member of my album hall of fame?

Carnavas from The Silversun Pickups (2006)

Why?

First of all, I'm thrilled to start up this list. The album format is my favorite way to enjoy music. Songs are just chapters. Albums are the full stories. When an artist treats it that way, it's magic. 

At the time this album came out, I was wrapped up in the world of soft alternative rock listening to Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Death Cab and the like. "Lazy Eye", the song you would know from this album, if not any others, fit in perfectly with that style. That song brought me in to experience the rest of the album, which is the band's first. Most of the songs heavier and darker, a musical vibe that wasn't new to me, but one that had never impressed me. The Silversun Pickups' electronic distortion, along with their unique lyrics and smart songwriting, however, would go on to have such a strong emotional hold on me that they were the first band of which I knew every member by name. Nikki Monniger, the bassist, is also a major reason why I picked up the bass guitar at 15. 

I don't want to skimp out on this masterpiece. Let's look at ever song from start to finish, as an album is meant to be heard. 

(Song-specific commentary coming soon!)

Track 1: Melatonin

Track 2: Well Thought Out Twinkles

Track 3: Checkered Floor

Track 4: Little Lover's So Polite

Track 5: Future Foe Scenarios

Track 6: Waste It On

Track 7: Lazy Eye

Track 8: Rusted Wheel

Track 9: Dream At Tempo 119

Track 10: Three Seed

Track 11: Common Reactor

"That's when it turned on me: a motorcade of 'meant to be's."
"Who are we to promise we'll be leaving shortly?"

April 2015 - Run by Snow Patrol

Second inductee to my song hall of fame:

Run - Snow Patrol

Why?

Since I've been working chronologically so far, let's take a step back. We started off my song list with "Don't Panic" by Coldplay, which was the first band that really impressed me emotionally and made me think more about exploring music. This craving led me to surface-scratching in many different genres: reggae, electronica, R&B, Enigma (which, as we've seen here, has its own category), and others. All of that aside, my musical taste came to revolve around what I call my four core bands, upon which my young musical taste was based. Those four bands are Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Death Cab for Cutie, and Keane. I know now that I had the promise of longevity there. Keane and Snow Patrol released music in 2012, Coldplay last year, and Death Cab for Cutie last month.

Out of those four, the next one to blow away ten-year-old me was Snow Patrol with their masterpiece "Run" in 2003 from the album Final Straw. "Run" is the first love song that I fell in love with. It wasn't superficial. It wasn't arrogant. It wasn't constructed to appeal to the masses, but it still did because it was sincere both in prose and in composition. If you know the album, then you might remember that this song came right after "Chocolate", another massive hit. Those two songs together were an audible powerhouse for the giddy listener I was.

"Run" varies quite a bit from my first choice. Most noticeably, it's slower, moving from a 2-minute to a 6-minute duration, leaving plenty of time for us to revel in the harmonies. It also added strings to the mix, which I always love to death, and it used them very well. I'd say the biggest difference, however, is its shift to a romantic theme, while quite brilliantly maintaining the element of inspiration in the meantime. As somewhat of a hopeless romantic, I appreciate the words and what meaning they might take on later in my life. I'll highlight my favorite lines, but I truly like each one.

I'll sing it one last time for you

Then we really have to go.

You've been the only thing that's right

In all I've done.

And I can barely look at you,

But every single time I do

I know we'll make it anywhere

Away from here.

(Chorus)

Light up, light up

As if you have a choice.

Even if you cannot hear my voice,

I'll be right beside you dear.

Louder, louder

And we'll run for our lives.

I can hardly speak. I understand

Why you can't raise your voice to say.

To think I might not see those eyes

Makes it so hard not to cry

And as we say our long goodbye

I nearly do.

(Chorus)

Slower, slower,

We don't have time for that.

All I want is to find an easier way

To get out of our little heads.

Have heart, my dear.

We're bound to be afraid,

Even if it's just for a few days,

Making up for all this mess.

(Chorus)

I think Snow Patrol's always been good with lyrics, particularly in their love songs. Here, the singer reaches a helping hand to his/her lover, addressing both the uplifting strength of their love and the fearful pressures of the dire situation they're caught in. The title shows up in a line we may take for granted because we hear it so much: "We'll run for our lives." They're running together and that makes all the difference. A beautiful concept.

There are two music videos for the song, both of which use the shorter, single-edition. The first is my favorite because that's the one I remember seeing when I was young.

Here's the original-length version, which has some extra space between the verses and a longer finale.

Leona Lewis liked the song enough that she covered it five years later. This is one of the best covers I've ever heard of any song and you may decide you like it better. Not me, but it's excellent.

"Have heart, my dear. We're bound to be afraid."

Run - Snow Patrol

Song #2