On the Horizon...

Hey everyone,

There are some pretty big things coming up that you may be interested in.  I have news on Green Day, The Chariot, and Fireflight.  There is also some items of interest coming to our friends Pop Deflators, but first let's cover the news.

Green Day

Although Valentines Day is one of my least favorite holidays, and is also over a week past, I thought you might want to know that Green Day gave the world a Valentines gift by announcing that they are in the studio again.  February 14th was the first official day of recording for Green Day's new album!  With respect to Green Day and the music they have produced in the past, I can only hope that this album is one of the best they have.  Their last release 21st Century Breakdown didn't fair too well with the "old school" fans of Green Day like myself.  Will they continue in their emo-esque crusades, or will this album be a return to their roots as punk-rock icons of the late 90's? According to the band's fan site, this album promises to be more punk and less political.  We shall see...

Chariot's Latest Album Long Live
In Stores Now!

It's been a month or two since we've seen some solid news from the Christian side of the music industry.  So it brings me a lot of excitement to tell you that The Chariot is currently working on a new album as well.  They recently put out a Twitter post asking Billy Corgan, frontman of the Smashing Pumpkins, if he would like to work on the album with them as a guest.  My mind is going a thousand different directions with this.  Billy Corgan and the Chariot??  Could be an interesting blend of style/genre... I guess we have to wait and find out.  In the meantime, here is a little Chariot love for ya!

Fireflight

Also in the Christian rock realm is a new single by Fireflight.  It's just a single, not the promise of a new album... believe me I looked.  The link to the video for the single, entitled "Stay Close", is up on the Pop Deflators Facebook page.  Be sure to give it a listen.  If the band continues to write like this for a new album, I won't be upset at all, especially since their last effort For Those Who Wait kind of fell flat on me. That is just my personal opinion, some people really liked it.

Where do we go from here?

Speaking of the Pop Deflators, my work with the crew has continued, although I haven't got to cover any shows yet this year.  We are discussing and have made a few changes for the fans.  We have a new podcast up and running on iTunes.  We are also looking to start doing video podcasts, so you can see our beautiful faces!  With the thought of video comes the idea for a graphic logo to play behind us.  This is where you guys come in.  What should the logo do?  Should it explode, should the fire move?  Let us know what your thoughts are.  You can either comment here, or post your thoughts to the Pop Deflators wall on Facebook.

Grammy Whammies!!

Whammy

For those of you who don't know what a Whammy is... it's a character from the game show, Press Your Luck. I used to watch that show almost everyday as a kid!  The Whammies made their appearances when a contestant stopped on them, and then lost the game.  "No Whammy, no Whammy.....STOP!"

That being said, I have to give a few Whammies to some (not all) of the Grammy performances.  There was good, bad, and "what was THAT!!!" in this year's show, so let's get started with some positive things about the Grammy show.

Bruce Springstein opened the show with the E Street Band, singing a semi-patriotic anthem entitled "We Take Care Of Our Own."  Although I have never been the biggest fan of Springstein's work, I can at least say that he did a decent job for his age, and kept to his signature sound.

Bringin' Back Motown

Next up is Bruno Mars... again, I am not a fan of his music per say, but I do appreciate the homage he paid to the early days of rock n' roll in the 1950's and 60's era.  His stage set and costume were brilliant in the tribute they paid to the Motown era.

I could go on listing artist by artist, but then you would all be really bored, and my fingers would get tired, so here goes the summary of my "positive thoughts"... Paul McCartney can still rock, Taylor Swift actually knows what real country is, and the tributes to Glen Campbell, Etta James,  and Whitney Houston were touching and nicely done. Props to Jennifer Hudson especially, she was fantastic in her handling of a very sensitive area in music right now.

Foos Rockin' Out!

Now, I need to take some time out for the really awesome parts of the show. Of course, anyone who reads this blog on a semi-regular basis knows that I am a Foo Fighters freak, and maybe hero-worship Dave Grohl a little too much.  To you guys I say.....you're right.  But anyway, The Foos made a great showing not once, but twice in the Grammy show, and took home an award for Best Rock Performance to boot! I love the amount of heart and energy the Foos put in to each show. It's infectious and travels right through the TV screen! I was a little miffed with the network for cutting off Dave's acceptance speech though.  If you go to the Grammy video site, you can see an edited version of speech in which Dave makes a gorgeous point of where true music comes from.  Just bear in mind it's not the whole things, cause he doesn't scream "Long live Rock N' Roll!!" at the end of it.  I wouldn't do justice to the Foos if I didn't mention their wardrobe choice for the evening as well.  Only they can pull off t-shirts under suit coats.

Moving on to another, very cool and surprising moment for me.  Adele...I really didn't know much about her before the Grammys, but I have to say that I have a whole new respect for her as an artist.  She is unlike anyone, and has a unique voice unlike anyone I have heard or known in the music industry so far.  Her come-back performance following vocal surgery was truly amazing.  You can check that out here.

Chris Brown vs. Q-Bert: See the resemblance?

Among the evening's annoyances are Chris Brown with his lip sync happy version of the video game, Q-Bert, in early Nintendo days; Rhianna with her repetitious lyric of "we found love in a hopeless place" ten-million times in 2 minutes; Carrie Underwood with her completely disrespectful upstaging of Tony Bennett; The Beach Boys Tribute which looked as thought they would rather be taking a nap than singing; Katy Perry- you're fake fuse-blowing ruse was clever, but your music still sucks, nice try. Add to the list Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson with their so-called country duet.  Sounds more like bad pop-music to me.  Let's be honest, country music hasn't really been country since Hank Williams Sr. But the "special" (as in short-bus) award goes to none other than Nicki Minaj.

WHAT WAS THAT!  I won't be surprised in the least if the Roman Catholic Arch-Diases doesn't sue the pants off of her for the next three decades for the amount of sacrilege that took place on that stage!  That was NOT cool. It was NOT innovative. It WAS just plain dumb.  Honestly, words fail me as to how bad this was... so if you missed it... here is the link.  May God have mercy on your soul as you watch this.

So to sum up the Grammys...the good, the great, the bad, the annoying, and Nicki Minaj - who single-handedly caused every pope to roll over in their grave simultaneously.  Congratulations! 

Super Bull...

Hey guys!!

Sorry I have been such a slacker lately when it comes to getting the news up and in your faces.  A lot of craziness has happened, and you can rest assured that the Pop Deflators crew and I have a lot of things to say about recent events.

This particular post is going to focus on the Super Bowl Halftime Show, featuring Madonna. In order to make up for that catastrophe, I will also review Hats Off To The Bull, the latest album release by Chevelle.  I know I had mentioned the album back in November, but now I have it and have listened to it...so I get to review it.

Let's start with the hard part, Madonna...

She's Not Xerxes!?!?

Now before you start thinking that I am going to bash her, and tear her in a million pieces, let me say this... she has done a lot of good for the music industry in her career and her talent, be it strange at times, is undeniable.  She has carved a place for herself that is unique and no one, despite the efforts of Lady Gaga, can fill.  But here is where the tricky part comes in...

Because I respect her contributions to music, why she make a choice to enter the football field being carried by Roman soldiers?  This was watching 300 done by the cast of Glee. It's confused, and scared me at the same time...and the show hadn't even started yet!
I can appreciate that she did a wide array of songs from her catalogue as most of her fan-based is now in their late 30's and early 40's, so I have no problems with that.  What I do have problems with is her "guest-stars", and the over-emphasis on her dancers and performers over her.  I thought MADONNA was the star of the Halftime show, not her dancers or cheerleaders for that matter.

I still can't believe this is real.

In my honest opinion, the highlights (meaning the good points) of the show were the drum-line remix, and the stage effects. The entire field and stage were converted into a LED screen for the show, which displayed some really cool lights and effects.  I could go into how those are created, but I don't want to bore you.  Besides, if you watched the Super Bowl, then you've already lost enough brain cells as it is. Not only because of the Halftime show, but the commercials this year were just plain STUPID.  Who knew that the most boring game ever could be turned into a movie?  Battleship?  Really?  What's the dialogue going to be, "Captain, missile coming in B-4...miss!"

Hats Off To The Bull Cover

Okay, enough about Madonna, let's focus on some good stuff for while.  Back in November I announced that Chevelle would be coming out with a new album entitled Hats Off To The Bull.  I recently picked up the album, and I have to say that it's definitely Chevelle.  They have managed to keep their signature sound on this album.  I would almost say that this album is a throwback to the style that Wonder What's Next was written in.  Their current single from the album "Face the Floor" is getting regular airplay here on the East Coast, and I don't mind it at all.  It definitely gets stuck in your head.  For more information on the album, or to purchase the songs, be sure to visit iTunes, or Amazon.

Stay tuned...the Grammys are coming......mwahaha!!!