I remember a time when I was younger, when hopes and dreams crashed and fell onto the ground, when regrets were overflowing and when tears were ever present.
That was the time, the lonely time, when The All-American Rejects came into my life, with their not-so-emo sound, but oh-so-angsty lyrics.
Yes, Dirty Little Secret was the one that started it all, but yesterday I stumbled upon Dance Inside, something I tried so hard to forget, something that somehow still hurts, something that was never meant to be…
You don’t have to move, you don’t have to speak lips for biting.
You’re staring me down, a glance makes me weak eyes for striking
Now I’m twisting up when I’m twisted with you
brush so lightly and time trickles down, and I’m breathing for two
squeeze so tightly.
I’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.
this moment seems so long
Don’t waste now, precious time
we’ll dance inside the song
[Chorus]
What makes the one to shake you down?
Each touch belongs to each new sound
Say now you want to shake me too
Move down to me, slip into you
She sinks in my mind as she sheds through her skin touch sight tastes like fire hands do now what eyes no longer defend hands to fuel desire
I’ll be fine, you’ll be fine
this moment seems so long
Don’t waste now, precious time
we’ll dance inside the song
[Chorus]
Ooo, ah [x8]
And I’ll be fine, you’ll be fine
Is this fine? I’m not fine
Give me pieces, give me things to stay awake (stay awake)
Peter Gabriel is one of the greatest things that ever happened to music and me, so it was only natural for me to attend the greatest sermon that ever graced my eyes. Yes, I tend to use hyperbole when talking about gods, so please bear with me.
The Back to Front concert hosted on the 8th of May of this sweet year (joking, this year has been everything but sweet to me) was met with great expectations by me, and I am happy to say that these expectations were surpassed by Mr. Peter Gabriel.
I tend to Google the plot synopsis before I watch movies and TV shows, but I never look for set lists online, because I want my live experience to be virgin and genuine. So, except for one video of In Your Eyes, I didn’t know what to expect from Back to Front.
Mr. Peter Gabriel is very punctual, fortunately, and I did know that, but I didn’t expect to see him at 8:00 on the stage, announcing the beautiful Jennie Abrahamson & Linnea Olsson, who served as his backing vocals too.
I was glad to see that this great artist I have loved since I was little was still full of energy, with his raspy voice somewhat changed – it has a deeper, more serious tone, but it’s still sweet and full of hope. Whenever I listen to him I managed to drift away and dream of home, and dream of dreams, all the while I’m dancing and floating in space.
I tried several times to tell you about this experience, but I never had the full dictionary available. I am so sorry for being so poor with regards of words, and I am sorry I lack the imagination to tell you about one of the most awesome experiences I had when it comes to live music.
I remember the crowd, that special crowd you see only when live „old music” is playing. The crowd that suffered the limitations of the old regime, the crowd that found liberation in music, the crowd that still has values and still dreams while having its eyes open.
I remember not fitting in that crowd, because I am too young to fit in there, but not fitting in the Tiesto crowd either, because that doesn’t make me feel safe or warm, but I also remember Mr. Peter Gabriel making me feel at home with his music, so I guess there’s no greater achievement for an artist.
I remember feeling quite unsure of how to dance and act during O But, but I remember feeling full of home while listening to Come Talk To Me. Shock The Monkey was great, of course, and innovator, but then Family Snapshot followed, and I was left WTF?!
Digging In The Dirt was there to remind us of Perter Gabriel’s eclectic taste in music, as were Secret World, and The Family And The Fishing Net. No Self Control was awesome, musically and visually, and with Solsbury Hill the Master touched old fans and new ones alike. This part of the concert ended with Why Don’t You Show Yourself?, a song that’s part of the soundtrack for a movie that’s a part of a trilogy about drugs, prostitution (I think) and religion. The song has a message, but I think its concept was lost somewhere on the way, because the public was very bored during the performance.
The peak of the concert was, of course, the reiteration of So, the 1986 album. Red Rain started this session with red visuals, and everyone singed along with Peter Gabriel. Sledgehammer followed up and everyone was already high on music, but when Don’t Give Up started it was clear that this is the best version of the song. I am sorry, Miss Bush, but Linnea Olsson beat you at your own game. That Voice Again and Mercy Street slowed down the people, but thank god for Big Time, whose only purpose was to renew everything in anything. This song is truly so much larger than life, even after all this time. We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37) is so underrated, and I really don’t understand why, and so is This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds). These two should’ve been taught in music classes, because stylistically they are so out of this world, I can’t even begin to…
The concert should have ended with In Your Eyes. Where else can I see 40+ year old guys singing songs that belong on teen flick soundtrack? But no, the next two songs pushed the public away, at least here in Romania. The Tower That Ate People and Biko ended in a distant note what should have been left at awesome.
The whole concert was a great experience, and I must admit that the crowd was even more engaged in the show than I expected. Even though some of the songs were a little bit too artsy fartsy for their own good, Peter Gabriel pulls that off, so kudos for him. I’d love to see him again!
I’ve been hooked up on a lot of things lately – music has been a refuge for me, so it’s kinda understandable that I’m always playing something in the back of my head. I also dream of living in a musical, so there’s that.
But there’s one album that keeps creeping up on me while I try to work, or meditate, or, you know, just breathe.
OneRepublic‘s Native is their best effort so far, and that’s easy to see if you check how many times I’ve hit play and not skip while listening to their stuff.
The album has spawned a few hits so far, and everyone knows the oh-so radio friendly Counting Stars and even Burning Bridges, but there’s so much to this album than what meets the ear.
Counting Stars is dependable, for lack of a better word, but it’s poppy and dancey, and that can never be a bad thing, right? It’s full of energy, but it doesn’t have that urban sound that Tedder strives to achieve most of the time. It’s just a safe song, and I can live with that. (7.5/10)
If I Lose Myself is deep, deeper than expected from the second song of this album. It starts soft, but in just few seconds it builds up to so much more. The song incorporates the urban sound that Ryan Tedder loves so very much, and it feels like home for OneRepublic. This song smells like summer, and that’s never a bad thing. (9.5/10)
Feel Again is such a pop anthem, it hurts. In a good way. I could use it to pump up the energy while hitting the gym, and I love it for that build up that can be heard while playing the chorus. (8/10)
What You Wanted is a beautiful ballad, filled with feelings, because… Love. I just feel safe, at peace whenever I hear this song, and they lyrics are pure poetry for us people looking for meaning and love. (9/10)
I Lived is the best song for declaring mistakes. How can you not love it?! So full of energy and belief, this song opens the eyes and brightens the day, and I just love it. (10/10)
Light It Up makes you witness a little switch – from the pop anthem to the sexy pop anthem. Charged with electricity, this song uses the bass line more, and that means only one thing: sex! Too bad the sexiness is short lived… (8/10)
Can’t Stop is just a cry for something (or someone) you lost. It’s sad, and selfish, just how I like my songs. It’s a plea, a bargain, a quest – something that never ends well. But Tedder’s vocals on this one send me goose bumps and chills, so the song rises through his voice. (9/10)
Au Revoir feels a little misplaced on this album, with all the violins and the strings, with all that peace that emerges through its words and sounds. The beginning of the song states perfectly the mood that it induces me… „Today I’m not myself”. (8/10)
Burning Bridges is, by far, my favorite song off Native. I love the hopeful sound it has, and the urban beat that can be heard throughout the song. Ryan Tedder never sounded this good. (10/10)
Something I Need gives me the impression that Ryan Tedder is an addict, and he likes his addiction very much, thank you. This song is playful and fun, and hopeful, and lustful, and that’s kinda awesome, don’t you think? (9.5/10)
Preacher is, again, one of the songs that don’t feel like a part of this album. But somehow, this song fits perfectly. The story is great, the first time I listened to it made me cry, and I never had a grandpa. Maybe I should have had one… (10/10)
Don’t Look Down is, by far, the most forgettable song of the album. Whenever I get to listen to it, I’m always amazed by how little I know this song. I couldn’t rate it, if I wanted to. (?/10)
Something’s Gotta Give is the urbanest of the urbanest from this album. It’s a weird song, that seems to drag on too long, it never feels like home, but somehow, I never push skip whenever this one hits my earphones. (10/10)
Life in Color starts out like a Christmas song, so cheery and colorful (see the pun? please laugh at my pun!), and it just fills me with joy and happiness. (9/10)
All in all, this album is awesome. I never want to push skip, I only want to listen to it while walking around the town. Now, since the weather allows me to…
Tracklist: 0:00 Counting Stars 4:16 If I Lose Myself 8:24 Feel Again (With Heartbeats) 11:27 What You Wanted 15:26 I Lived 19:19 Light It Up 23:29 Can’t Stop 27:39 Au Revoir 32:30 Burning Bridges 36:48 Something I Need 40:49 Preacher 44:55 Don’t Look Down 46:37 Something’s Gotta Give 51:28 Life in Color 54:51 If I Lose Myself (Acoustic) 58:42 What You Wanted (Acoustic) 1:02:05 Burning Bridges (Acoustic)
I used to listen to that other Disclosure song (particularly the Flume remix of You & Me), but now I found a new obsession to sum up some of the things that happened in the past few weeks or so.
All of the hope, and the ruin, and the wanting, the desperation, the frustration, the waiting and the breaking of the spirit.
Sam Smith‘s voice is so comforting and it makes me feel as if even bad choices are good enough to stand on their own. Oh, well. At least I had the memories.
(Never [3x])
You lift my heart up when the rest of me is down (never)
You, you enchant me even when you’re not around (never)
If there are boundaries, I will try to knock them down (never)
I’m latching on, babe, now I know what I have found (never)
I feel we’re close enough I wanna lock in your love I think we’re close enough Could I lock in your love, baby?
Now I got you in my space
I won’t let go of you (never)
Got you shackled in my embrace
I’m latching on to you (never)
Now I got you in my space I won’t let go of you (never) Got you shackled in my embrace I’m latching on to you (never)
I’m so encaptured, got me wrapped up in your touch (never)
Feel so enamored, hold me tight within your clutch (never)
How do you do it, you got me losing every breath (never)
What did you give me to make my heart beat out my chest (never)
I feel we’re close enough
I wanna lock in your love
I think we’re close enough
Could I lock in your love, baby?
I feel we’re close enough
I wanna lock in your love
I think we’re close enough
Could I lock in your love, baby?
Now I got you in my space
I won’t let go of you (never)
Got you shackled in my embrace
I’m latching on to you (never)
Now I got you in my space
I won’t let go of you (never)
Got you shackled in my embrace
I’m latching on to you (never)
Latching on to you
I won’t let go of you (never)
Latching on to you
I won’t let go of you
(Never let go, never let go)
Throwback Thursday has no meaning in this realm, the Romanian windy sh*thole I live in, so I’m always waiting for people to ask what the hell is TBT.
For me, TBT is the memories I ran from, I grew up from, I enjoyed and I learned from. Those memories are what made me, in the end, my beautiful, awesome self that graces the earth today.
SO today I picked Rite of Spring to express what I forgotten for a few days. I’m glad all that darkness is over. Enjoy!
I was locked all day in the summer heat,
In a small brown house in Suburban Street, With a skateboard and my shit guitar, I’d dream all day that they would get me far,
My dad would ask me about my grades,
The asshole sports that I never played.
And then I’d ask about the girls he’d date,
Behind our backs when mom would stay up late.
It was near when I turned sixteen,
Got kicked out of school, and so it seemed
that things were closing in and ready to blow, My dad moved out about that year or so,
It took an hour to start a punk rock band
To offset my fucked up family land And as I held my mom would start to cry I swore ourselves a better life
If I had a chance for another try, I wouldn’t change a thing It’s made me all of who I am inside And if I could thank god That I am here, and that I am alive And everyday I wake I tell myself a little harmless lie The whole wide world is mine
The summers gone, the years have passed, My friends have changed, a few did last,
The smallest dreams got pushed aside,
The largest ones that changed my life, And all I wish for has come to pass From Rock N Roll, to love and cash It’s all success if it’s what you need Do what you like and do it honestly
If I had a chance for another try,
I wouldn’t change a thing
It’s made me all of who I am inside
And if I could thank god
That I am here, and that I am alive
And everyday I wake
I tell myself a little harmless lie
The whole wide world is mine
You know I am a little bit crazy and I obsess a little bit too much, but I guess that’s sort of endearing, because you keep coming back, right? Riiiight?!
You already know I love The 1975 (and they love me back, cause I posted a picture on Instagram which featured one of their songs), so I guess a review of their self-titled debut album is needed.
The 1975 is an ethereal piece, filled with synth sounds from the future of 1985 ( 1975 plus a decade), weird, but very familiar. (8.5/10)
The City is angst-y and angry and I love it! It’s my first contact with the band, but it won’t get old too soon. It gives me hope and makes me want to run away, it makes me wanna get drunk and make mistakes. I just love the rock sound of this piece. (10/10)
M.O.N.E.Y. is, of course, weird, because The 1975, people, The 1975! I’m not sure if I like it, because I think it’s a bit too electronica for me, but I must agree that the sound is very mature for the band. I guess that lyrically it does nothing for me, so maybe that’s why I’m not a big fan of this song. Also, very nice the thing with the sax! (7/10)
Chocolate is a very happy song, with a perfect combo of rock, electronica, great lyrics and a beautiful English accent. The guitars are awesome, also the drums, and the rhythm of the overall song. (9/10)
Sex starts out so very powerful, I find it a great song to roam freely on the highway. And, sometimes, this is all I need from my music. All that rhythm, all those issues from the lyrics… Awesome product! (8/10)
Talk! seems, at least after the first few lines, like it doesn’t belong on the album. But musically speaking, it blends in perfectly and builds on the core that is The City. (7.5/10)
An Encounter… with an alien! This is how this song sounds like. It’s an instrumental piece, but I don’t think I drank enough to like this one. (5/10)
Heart Out… Well, in 2008 I had those electronica bands that popped out from everywhere. Heart Out sounds so 2008, but it’s so much better than that. It’s youthful and danceable, so I like it, thankyouverymuch! (9/10)
Settle Down sounds a bit like The City, but with a little more spunk. It is still awesome, but I have to say I was a little bit let down by the perpetual lack of inspiration from the band. (9/10)
Robbers is one of my favorite songs off the album. It sounds so serious, and Matthew Healy‘s vocals are so airy and dreamy. The sound of the drum is a growing obsession in my heart. The whole song is a plea, it’s so filled with love… I can’t even start to… (10/10)
Girls. Another favorite of mine, but this time with a little more joy and happiness. The video is so funny (and it’s directed at Robert Palmer‘s Addicted To Love, so kudos for that!), and the whole song is so fastforwardonlove, gotta love it! It just makes me happy. (10/10)
12 is another instrumental piece that, as usual with me and instrumental pieces, it speaks nothing to yours truly. (?/10)
She Way Out and the guitars. Lovely. Sad. Young. Filled with mistakes and filled with regrets. (8/10)
Menswear is from outer space. I think I’m feeling some Kraftwerk in that, or at least something along those lines. Still, nice to meditate on that. (8/10)
Pressure gives me the feeling I’m back in the 90s. And I wonder where Kenny G is? (9/10)
Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You is, basically, the perfect ending to this perfect album. It’s so peaceful and quiet and makes me love you so much right now! (10/10)
The album is cohesive and the songs blend very well, regardless of the sound they have. The whole aspect is somewhat ethereal and alien, with future sounds combined with ’70s synths, the ’80s sax and ’90s energy. Some of the songs make me want to dance, and some of them make me want to cry, but most of them manage to do make dance while crying. This is what makes The 1975 – the album – so addictive.
Track list: 01. The 1975 00:00 / 02. The City 1:20 / 03. M.O.N.E.Y. 5:07 / 04. Chocolate 8:43 / 05. Sex 12:31 / 06. Talk! 15:58 / 07. An Encounter 18:45 / 08. Heart Out 19:57 / 09. Settle Down 23:22 / 10. Robbers 27:22 / 11. Girls 31:38 / 12. 12 36:00 / 13. She Way Out 37:14 / 14. Menswear 41:13 / 15. Pressure 44:39 / 16. Is There Somebody Who Can Watch You 48:20
I was planning on reviewing the latest Miley Cyrus album (yeah, I know, right?!), but before that I wanted to show you the album signed by The 1975 (you know them, old obsession of mine).
But my day was turned upside down (well, not quite) by the unexpected news that… Drum roll, please!
Well, take a look at that. Let that sink in for a second or two…
And let me tell you what that means to me.
This means that my childhood is so-so near and that music that I hold dear to my heart is even nearer. I was a weird kid, as you already know by now, and I remember two videos with incredible precision.
And of course there are other sounds that mean the world to me, but Peter Gabriel was there with me when I grew up and I definitely want to see the guy live as soon as I can.
Soon being on 8th May, 2014. When certain things are to be celebrated. 🙂
