I came across this the other day and was totally taken aback by it. I didn’t expect it to be this good. Earlier this year, Weezer released the Teal Album, which is all covers. On the record, they covered bands like Tears For Fears, Toto, The Turtles and Black Sabbath. Interestingly, this cover is not sung by Rivers Cuomo. Instead guitarist Brian Bell takes on lead vocals and knocks it out of the park.
Weezer (Black Sabbath)- Paranoid:
So, Slayer has annouced their absolute FINAL tour. They will be going out with quite the diverse line up featuring, Primus, Ministry and Phil Anselmo & The Illegals with the latter playing a set of Pantera songs. With this in mind, I thought now would be a good time to put together my ultimate Slayer set list.
Guideline 1: What line up of the band would it be
Guideline 2: Where would you want to see the show
Guideline 3: maximum 25 songs (In order of how the set should go)
Lineup: Tom Araya, Kerry King, Dave Lombardo, Gary Holt, and in a perfect world Jeff Hanneman
Venue: Forum, Los Angeles
Set List:
01) South Of Heaven
02) Angel Of Death
03) Piece By Piece
04) Mandatory Suicide
05) Altar Of Sacrifice
06) Dead Skin Mask
07) Ghosts Of War
08) War Ensemble
09) Hallowed Point
10) Spirit In Black
11) Divine Intervention
12) Eyes Of The Insane
13) Psychopathy Red
14) Blood Red
15) Criminally Insane
16) Reborn
17) Spill The Blood
18) Disciple
19) Seasons In The Abyss
Encore:
20) Hell Awaits
21) Raining Blood
Back in 2000, while riding high on their acclaimed album Relationship Of Command, At The Drive In was the musical guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. This performance of their seminal classic “One Armed Scissor” was fantastic. I remember watching it that evening and thinking that this band was really something awesome. Back then, At The Drive In were one of the best live bands in the world. They had the complete package, the songs, the live show and the energy. This is still one of the coolest performances on late night TV to this day, in my opinion.
At The Drive In- One Armed Scissor (on Late Night with Conan O’Brien 2000):
On the unsung masterpiece that is Razorblade Suitcase by Bush, there was one single released that had a video that was absolutely badass. The song and video I’m talking about is “Greedy Fly.” The song was the second single from the album and the accompanying video really inhabited the song. The video was directed by Marcus Nispel, who directed videos for bands like Faith No More and No Doubt. The video has this sort of Seven meets The Crow vibe. In fact the video was shot in one of the same buildings in Downtown Los Angeles as Seven was. The videos dark and eerie cinematography is the perfect mood setter for the song. Plus this song just rocks.
Bush- Greedy Fly:
Thrice is one of those bands that has never played it safe. They’ve always had a vision and direction that they wanted to go and they went for it. No matter what, they stayed true to themselves and delivered the goods time after time. Throughout their 20 plus year career, Thrice has made some very profound albums that have shaped many peoples musical stories. I still remember hearing Illusion Of Safety way back when, and how that left an impact on me and started to change up what I was listening to at the time.
Identity Crisis:
The Artist In The Ambulance:
Beggars:
Within the rock world and it’s many subgenres, there is a real sense of creativity blossoming. It’s been there for a long time but, a lot of those bands are starting to really get their due. One such band is Pinkish Black. This duo of Daron Beck (keyboards and vocals) and Jon Teague (drums and synths) has been around since 2010. Since then, they have released four studio albums including their newest, 2019’s Concept Unification. Pinkish Black have taken heavy music and flipped it, creating something that is as progressive and experimental as it is psychedelic and cinematic. The synth driven approach has given this band the layers and textures it needs to stand out. I was thining of a way to describe them and I think I found a good description. Imagine Type O Negative mixed with a John Carpenter score. Their new album is quite the auspicious release. It’s an album that really gets under your skin (in a total good way) and it seeps into your veins, as each song takes you further down the rabbit hole and expands your mind. Pinkish Black is a band not only for now but the future of what synth driven music can and should be.
Pinkish Black- Concept Unification:
It’s been a minute since Cold has released new music (2011 to be exact). Well, the wait is over, as Cold has released the single “Shine” from their upcoming album The Things We Can’t Stop. This song is Cold at a more mature stage but, with the same emotional charge that they’ve always been known for. The new album is out September 13.
Cold- Shine:
On September 13, Korn will be releasing their new album, The Nothing. The band again worked with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Mastodon, Deftones, Foo Fighters, etc). The first single “You’ll Never Find Me” is out now. This song has a similar vibe of the last album (The Serenity Of Suffering) and somewhat of a Life Is Peachy element. One has to think that will all the turmoil of Jonathan Davis’s wife passing, he’s got a lot of “feelings” to get through on this new album.
Korn- You’ll Never Find Me:
On August 16, Killswitch Engage will release their new (and eighth) album Atonement. Today the band released the first single, “Unleashed.” Speaking on the song, singer Jesse Leach said “Unleashed’ is about inner passion and rage coming up to the surface. We all have that wild within that often stays dormant until a tragic event triggers and awakens it. This song is about that awakening within. I feel we were able to capture something raw and intense on this song and I’m stoked for everyone to hear it! The new album Atonement is a reflection of perseverance and passion through the trials and suffering of our existence.” The album also features guest spots from Howard Jones formerly of the band and now singer of Light The Torch, as well as Testatment’s Chuck Billy.
Killswitch Engage- Unleashed:
The song is Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You.” To this day, any time this song comes on, I feel the need to blast the hell out of it. This song is one of my all time favorites and it’s without a doubt one of the best songs of the 90’s. Plus the whole album So Tonight That I Might See, is one of the most quintessential albums of the 1990’s. “Fade Into You” is the type of song that can be perfect for many different occasions. To name a few there’s the happy I’m in love moment, the sad melancholy one, and my personal favorite, the last song of the night. It’s a perfect song. The lyrics, the music, melody, vocals, production, everything. It’s just one of those songs that when you hear it, it brings you to a place that just takes over. So take a few minutes and enjoy this wonderful song!
Mazzy Star- Fade Into You:
Mazzy Star- So Tonight That I Might See:
