It's a Musical Life

Card of the Day:	Reversed Seven of Coins
Interpretation:	Anxiety? Check. Impatience? Check.

I have a problem: I love to sing.

I constantly have a song stuck in my head, and if the area around me is silent, I start to sing. Not hum, sing. Now here's the thing. I am in a choir, and I know SOME choral pieces and solos, but that is not my preferred choice of genre. I listen almost exclusively to rock and "metal". Mind you, "rock" is such a broad catch-all term that I actually listen to a wide range of stuff. From pop rock to nu-metal, I probably would listen to it (I'm not a huge fan of classic metal or death metal). One caveat, I have to be able to sing along to it. It's the main reason I don't listen to death metal: what on earth are they saying?

I've had this argument many, many times. I do not believe death metal screaming in music is necessary, or even has any value at all. The argument I've been told before is that "it conveys the emotion better". Ok, so you have this anger, and it would sound "wrong" if you conveyed it through pretty singing. That I can understand, but it is wrong. Yes, if you're not careful when singing, you can ruin the emotion. One of the things I have been learning in choir is how to convey emotion through the singing, anger is no exception. For an example, I will point you to the band Disturbed. No, I will not claim they are the best band out there (I like them, but art is subjective), but the vocalist knows how to inflect anger in his singing. But most importantly, you can UNDERSTAND what he's saying.

Note that last part. There are some bands that utilize death metal screaming that I listen to, although the songs that make heavy use of it are generally tuned out when they come up. I listen to All that Remains, Bullet for my Valentine, Chiodos, and Rise Against. The difference between them and most bands that use screaming? You can actually understand what they're saying! If you can't pick up the lyrics through casual listening, the singer is doing it wrong.

Of course, there are people who listen to the instrumentation as well, and enjoy guitar riffs and solos more than the singing. There are merits there, but I focus almost exclusively on the voicing and the rhythm. It's a bad habit of mine, so I apologize.
On that note, here are my top 5 bands, in no particular order:

• Blue October - Beautiful lyrics, a singer who's range is only slightly higher than mine, instead of playing around in the stratosphere, and a violinist. So much yes.
  • Genre: Rock
  • Top three songs:
    
    • Into the Ocean
    • Balance Beam
    • Picking up Pieces
• Rise Against - Mature topics to a driving beat, and the singer has a "hardcore melodic" style to his voicing. Very enjoyable, though it irritates me to no end that his range his higher than mine.
  
  • Genre: Punk
  • Top three songs:
    
    • The Strength to Go On
    • Dancing for Rain
    • From Heads Unworthy
• Boysetsfire - Very politically charged. Beautiful voicing and excellent topics.
  
  • Genre: Post-hardcore
  • Top three songs:
    
    • White Wedding Dress
    • Bathory's Sainthood
    • Last Year's Nest
• Foo Fighters - Honestly, slap the "alternative rock" or "progressive rock" on something, and there's a VERY good chance I'll love it. They also sing my theme song.
  
  • Genre: Alternative Rock
  • Top three songs:
    
    • Learn to Fly
    • Everlong
    • All My Life
• Disturbed - Hard, driving beats. Fast tempo. Rhythmic singing. Not to mention the singer is FANTASTIC.
  
  • Genre: Hard Rock (Nu-Metal)
  • Top three songs:
    
    • Indestructible
    • Down With the Sickness
    • Inside the Fire

Honorable mentions go to Avenged Sevenfold and Mindless Self Indulgence

Yesterday's Card:	Reversed Temperance
Reflection:	Last night was useless. Everything in balance? Not in this case. I need to get my act together.