NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

  The rise of Imagine Dragons ' popularity coincides with my first musical famine--a time when I was so disinterested in music that I stopped keeping up with it. I can't blame the ex-Mormon band for causing that musical famine because there was a lot going on in my life at that time. Like many college graduates entering the workforce, music gets demoted in terms of priorities. There are also shifts in musical tastes about every five years, and the music that was the soundtrack to some of the best years of your life isn't relevant to the next half-generation. It's how you go from a 23-year-old kid in your dorm room discovering progressive-shoegazer EDM with pop leanings to "everything sounds generic, and I think I hate music now." I LIVE MY LIFE IN BLACK-AND-WHITE. Still, many crotchety music critics agree that there was a musical drought in the '10s, and they cite Imagine Dragons' status as the biggest rock band of that decade as proof. From the band&#

The fourth track on Blueprints for the Black Market , " Cold War Transmissions ,"  Anberlin   starts to establish themselves as a potentially heavy band. The production on the track sounds reminiscent of the early-'00 sounds of Trapt or Trust Company , when having a hard rock song was the key to Alternative Rock success. Until Cities , Anberlin was on the path to becoming a harder and hard rock band, but with New Surrender and Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place   started to embrace a more ambient sound, with some notable exceptions. However, with the band's planned final album Lowborn and on their upcoming release Silverline on July 29th, Anberlin is back and heavier than ever! SIDE BY SIDE WE FACE EACH OTHER. Stephen Christian has talked about how feedback from Anberlin's fans helped him to become a better lyricist. There is a significant improvement on the band's next record, Never Take Friendship Personal as some of the lyrics on Blueprints for the Bla

Thirty Seconds to Mars exploded on Alternative Rock radio with their second album, A Beautiful Lie . The album produced four singles, including the number 1 hit " From Yesterday ." Fronted by actor Jared Leto , who was then known for playing supporting roles on movies like Fight Club , Alexander , and American Psycho as well as the lead in the film Requiem for a Dream , the singer was not yet a household name. But once Leto won an Oscar for best supporting actor in Dallas Buyers Club , Jared Leto the actor far outshone Jared Leto the front man to an Alternative Rock band. Just before that success, though, was the 2009 Thirty Seconds to Mars record, This Is War . THE BIRTH OF A SUN, THE DEATH OF A DREAM. This Is War is a concept album that plays on several lyrical and musical themes. Nothing in the lyrics of the record is specific about what the actual or metaphoric war the band is fighting. But behind the scenes, Leto and his band, composed of his older brother Shannon on d

   Jonezetta 's  Popularity   brings back memories of being 21. Although the album had come out the year  before, I had been hesitant to buy it. But after tours with  Anberlin  and  MuteMath , I decided to buy the album and put it into the CD player of my 2001 midnight blue Toyota Corolla S, my second car, and the car I had paid for with my own money. This album is one that is forever linked to the hot black interior, the red night-driving display, the drivers licenses-less friends and the friends of my little sister that I had to tote around. It was also the summer that I decided it was time to go to Cornerstone. I'VE BEEN DRIVING ALL NIGHT . My friends don't always vibe with my musical tastes and that's ok. I'm a little scared of people who like the same music as me. It makes me wonder when someone's going to hand us a big cup of Kool-Aid. However,  Popularity  was quite a hit among my friends. It's dancey and just '80s retro enough to be put in your p

When a rock band gets as big as Linkin Park got, it becomes trendy to hate the band. I must admit that during their career, I wasn't in line with every step the band took--mainly because of the band's usage of profanity from their third album throughout the rest of their career. However, I could never understand critics and listeners who casually compared the band to butt rocks like Nickelback . Yes, Linkin Park's music is formulaic at times, and the band knew how to write a song to get on the radio. The comparison between Linkin Park and any other rock band seems like comparing Nickelback to Nike because Linkin Park was a brand more than band, complete with a consistent audio and visual aesthetic. The band didn't simply create records, but told stories. I'M SWIMMING IN THE SMOKE OF THE BRIDGES I HAVE BURNED. Linkin Park's fourth record, A Thousand Suns , is a multifaceted concept record. The band intended for album to be listened to in one sitting, inviting li

Hippo Campus ' debut record landmark comes five years into their career. A solid, unpretentious indie release, landmark is the perfect soundtrack to spring and summer. Musically, lead singer Jake Luppen in a hyper-aware, somewhat ironic lyric in the album's first full song " way it goes " describes the album as "easy going shit" in which the lead singer "just grab[s] a guitar and moan[s] and shit[s]." But while the "easy going" songs on landmark sound effortless, the lyrics certainly are not just nonsensical "moaning." Rich with imagery of time, color, and place, the songs on landmark start to become quite vibrant, showing the band's keen erudition in lyric writing. IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME.     In the middle of the "easy going" record, Hippo Campus shares a somber moment on the track " monsoon ," which sounds a bit like it could fit in in the middle of Death Cab for Cutie 's Plans .  Rather than a

It's been 20 years since the post-grunge " Hanging By a Moment " was the number 1 song of the year. Although the Christian Rock band  Lifehouse  never actually topped the weekly charts, the song had so much statistical force via radio play and record sales that the song became one of rare cases when a single that peaked at number 2 could   actually claim the number 1 position for the year.  No Name Face   featured three singles, but none were as big as "Hanging By a Moment." For the band's follow up, Lifehouse signed a Christian music marketing deal with Sparrow Records.  Stanley Climbfall  was no where near as successful as the  No Name Face,  but a sophomore slump didn't plunge the band into obscurity. In 2005, the band released their self-titled album which boasted their number one hit which was appearing in every TV show that year, the prom/wedding favorite, " You and Me ."  I WAS YOUNG BUT I WASN'T NAIVE.  " Blind ," the band