Irish Pride

This week’s band hails from a bar room in Los Angeles. Their Irish influences over an American punk rock sound have become an international sensation. This band’s name is Flogging Molly.

Flogging Molly first started performing in the late 90′s in a bar in LA. It was a steady gig at a pub called Molly Malone’s. Thus when the seven members that make up the band decided to name themselves, they named themselves after the pub.

Flogging Molly’s music is classified as punk rock. However, they use Irish instruments and melodies to bring a Celtic overtone to the whole project.

Some examples of their music are, Drunken Lullabies, Seven Deadly Sins, and Salty Dog.

Another unique sound that the band is infamous for are drinking songs. For a band that has it’s roots in a bar, they do justice to the genre. Such songs as, Fuck You I’m Drunk, have very few instrumentals in them for the sole purpose that they’re meant to be chanted by groups of belligerently drunk people.

The band has a new album coming out this March called Float.

That’s Classic

This week I’ve decided to talk about one of my favorite musicians. You’ve undoubtedly heard one of his famous songs at some point in your life. I’m talking, of course, about Billy Joel.

Billy Joel’s music is filed, in the itunes music store or (for some older readers) a record store, under classic rock. However, Joel always strayed from the sound of his co-genre counterparts such as, Led Zeppelin or The Eagles. Both of whom were enormous influences in the genre of classic rock. What set Billy’s music apart from the crowd was his influence in European classical music. This taste for sophistication in a song, more than likely came from his heritage. His whole family was from Germany and his father was an accomplished piano player.

Thus, the piano is heavily featured in almost all of Joel’s music. His ability to play the instrument is clearly at a masters level. The soothing and stunning melodies that Joel plays on the piano are so captivating that they can literally change someone’s mood into whatever the tone of the song is. Some examples of this exemplified piano playing are in Joel’s songs “She’s Always a Woman” and “Piano Man.”

A theme in Billy Joel’s music seems to be making a life for yourself in the New York/ New Jersey area. In fact the tone of most of his songs were arguably blues. They dealt with troubles such as getting kicked out by your landlord or drowning your life long dreams in a bar, listening to the sound of a piano. This connects his music to the average person living in and around New York City, which could explain some of his popularity in the area. His song’s “Movin’ Out“, “Cold Spring Harbor” and “New York State of Mind” bare references to New Jersey, Long Island and New York City. Also, take note that in these songs, Billy Joel uses a lot of saxophone. Using woodwind instruments such as this is another sign of his classical influences. Honestly, if you need another example, just look at his hair in the “Movin’ Out” video. He looks like Mozart.

Billy Joel is a music legend comparable to Sir Elton John. And I hope you take the time to listen to his music. Even if you find that you’re not a big fan of his music, I guarantee you’ll hear it again somewhere. So the next time you find yourself in a bar on 29th street, deep in thought, and you hear that signature piano sound start to play; you can think about the man behind the music and maybe even sing along.

Fight for the Music

Welcome to my introductory blog. As the first of many posts, I’ll introduce the theme of my blog and then go into the first topic.

If you’ve read the about me page you know that I’m in love with music. I’ve decided that my borderline creepy obsession should be encouraged. Therefore, every week I’ll be posting about a different band. Doesn’t matter what genre of music they are or whether they’re alive, dead, together and touring or broken up and looking to punch each other in the teeth. I’ll talk about how they were formed, what kind of music they play, talk about their biggest hits and give a few little known facts about them. I will also always be sure to include a link to their home page for any further exploration.

So this week’s band is……..The Foo Fighters.

The Foo Fighters are an American rock band, formed by the current lead guitarist Dave Grohl. Grohl was originally the drummer for the Seattle based sensation, Nirvana. However, after Kurt Cobain died in 1992 Grohl was forced to keep his music career alive. After many studio experiments and contacting musician after musician, the outcome of the project was a debut album called, “Foo Fighters.”

The band gained popularity and an international fan base with such hits as, “Learn to Fly”, “My Hero”, “The Pretender” and “In Your Honor.” These hits have contributed to the hypnotic sound that so many people now find synonymous with the rock band.

One notable aspect of the band is that they make very elaborate and probably very expensive music videos. However expensive these cinematic sequences may be, they provide anyone with access to youtube a great way to experience the band. A couple of these videos contain famous cameos, such as Jack Black and his brother (whose name escapes me) in the “Learn to Fly” music video.

The Foo Fighter’s new album, Echoes, Patience, Silence & Grace is hailed as a return to the band’s classic sound. The first track on the album, “The Pretender” has become popular with many radio stations world wide and caught the attention of many new fans!