2009 Year In Review: Music

Lots to talk about here so let's get right to it.

What went wrong? My least favorite CDs that I really wanted to be good would have to be the new ones from Brand New Sin, Distilled, and Lita Ford's Wicked Wonderland. I just hated almost everything about both of them and I've liked a lot of stuff by both artists. Bleh.

Comebacks... Ace Frehley returned with Anomaly and I really dug a couple of songs on it, but most of it wasn't good I thought. I was disappointed. I did however like Cheap Trick and Foreigner's new CDs and welcomed them back with open ears. Nothing compares to the comeback of Alice In Chains in my book though. I didn't really think it could be done without Layne but I'll be damned if Black Gives Way To Blue isn't just awesome. It got a whole lot of spins from me this year and will in future years I can assure you. KISS finally put out a new CD, Sonic Boom, and while it didn't blow me away by any means I thought it was a catchy pop/rock CD and was pleased.

New bands... my very favorite is Heaven and Hell, which you could technically say isn't a new band as Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice feel more like the Dio-era Sabbath. It's just a big, heavy CD that you can't possibly listen to and not make the devil horns and bang your head. Not possible. Another "super group" of sorts (I hate that term for the record) that tops my list of favorite new bands is Chickenfoot, featuring Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith. I wasn't blown away by their CD at first, but within a week I really got into it and have played it a lot. It's fun, catchy rock n roll with excellent harmonies from Anthony and Hagar. Not a new artist per say, but new to me this year and I love the dude now, is country artist Jamey Johnson. I just love this guy and his old school country tales. Lastly, another heavy band that I just got into this year is Destrophy and their self-titled CD.

Favorite country CDs... well this isn't really fair as I only buy a few country CDs a year (I download singles though) but I'm confident my 2 choices are great CDs no matter how many I bought... Jack Ingram's Big Dreams & High Hopes and Keith Urban's Defying Gravity. Both CDs rock at times and are probably under the "nu country" banner.

Best laugh... Steel Panther's magnificent opus "Feel The Steel" is just absolutely brilliant... also filthy, catchy and funny as all hell.

Arkansans... our very own Kris Allen had a pretty good year I guess, winning American Idol and releasing his first post-Idol CD. The CD debuted at #11 and he wrote or co-wrote 9 of the 12 tracks. I didn't buy it, but I downloaded "Live Like We're Dying" and think it's a pretty good upbeat, poppy little track. I hope he has a long career personally.

Let's get to the big stuff I guess.

My favorite songs of the year for various genres:

* The Lonely Island ~ I'm On A Boat (comedy)
* Steel Panther ~ Stripper Girl (comedy)

* Brad Paisley ~ Then (country)
* Keith Urban ~ Kiss A Girl (country)
* Rascal Flats ~ Summer Nights (country)
* Randy Houser ~ Whistlin' Dixie (country)
* Jamey Johnson ~ My Way To You (country)

* Eminem ~ Bagpipes From Baghdad (hip hop/rap)

Rock/Pop:

* Cavo ~ Champagne
* Chickenfoot ~ Sexy Little Thing
* Heaven & Hell ~ Bible Black
* Breaking Benjamin ~ I Will Not Bow
* Hurt ~ Wars
* Alice In Chains ~ Check My Brain
* Creed ~ Rain
* Deepfield ~ Give Until It Hurts
* Far ~ Pony
* Destrophy ~ Why I Hate Goodbye
* Maylene and the Sons Of Disaster ~ Step Up (I'm On It)
* Marilyn Manson ~ Four Rusted Horses
* Chevelle ~ Letter From A Thief
* Seventh Void ~ Heaven Is Gone
* Tantric ~ Coming Undone
* Sick Puppies ~ You're Going Down
* The Last Vegas ~ I'm Bad

And lastly... my 20 favorite CDs of the year:

20. Throwdown ~ Deathless
19. Daughtry ~ Leave This Town
18. Five Finger Death Punch ~ War Is The Answer
17. Jack Ingram ~ Big Dreams & High Hopes
16. Bruce Springsteen ~ Working on a Dream
15. Wolfmother ~ Cosmic Egg
14. Burning Borders ~ Yesterday's Gone
13. Queenrsyche ~ American Soldier
12. Papa Roach ~ Metamorphosis
11. Pearl Jam ~ Backspacer
10. Tantric ~ Mind Control
9. Maylene and The Sons of Disaster ~ III
8. Creed ~ Full Circle
7. Megadeth ~ Endgame
6. Marilyn Manson ~ The High End of Low
5. Breaking Benjamin ~ Dear Agony
4. Keith Urban ~ Defying Gravity
3. Chickenfoot ~ s/t
2. Heaven & Hell ~ The Devil You Know
1. Alice In Chains ~ Black Gives Way To Blue

As I've said before, 2009 was another great year as far as I'm concerned. There was a lot of music that I'll still be playing years from now.

2009 Year In Review: Concerts

Reading through a lot of blogs for year end thoughts, I've seen a lot of people talk about how it was a down year in music (once again! they exclaim) but I have to say I found a whole lot to like as I usually do. It's been a great year with several great artists I've discovered and been to concerts from Vegas to the world famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. I've seen the full scope again from washed-up hair bands to country stars to Rock N Roll Hall of Famers. So my friend 2009, you get 2 thumbs up from me... and you will be missed.

So let's start with my favorite concerts of the year, and despite the fact that I had a lot to pick from it was still not near as many as I've been to in several recent years. Age catching up? You shut yer mouf! Well, probably. But regardless, here are my...

Top 5 Favorite Concerts of 2009

1. Metallica with Machine Head at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (more here)

2. Gary Allen with Jack Ingram at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville (more here)

3. KISS with Buckcherry at Verizon Arena in Little Rock (more here)

4. Keith Urban with Sugarland at Verizon Arena in Little Rock (more here)

5. Tora Tora reunion show at The New Daisy on Beale Street in Memphis (more here)

That was 5 awesome shows, but it still leaves off so many others that I loved... like Daughtry with Cavo and Theory of a Deadman just this month, Queensryche in Nashville, Black Stone Cherry and Bombay Black back in the Spring, Mudvayne and Nonpoint just before that show, Faster Pussycat with Bullet Boys at the Rev Room and finally AC/DC with The Answer way back in January. And I haven't even mentioned the big Edgefest show (because it was so brutally hot and I'm not a big fan of the festival type shows anymore I guess... see the "too old" bit above) with Korn, Static-X, Black Label Society, Mudvayne, Burn Halo and a lot of other sweaty, tattooed metal rockers. Oh it was a good show, but I stood on a paved parking lot for 8 hours in direct sunlight for most of it and 90+ degree weather chugging as much water as I could. That took away a lot of the enjoyment of some cool bands, trust me on that.

Searching back through my blogs it seems I hardly posted a mention at all one of my favorite musical moments of the year, and that's back on my March Vegas trip when I went to see Monster Circus at the Hilton, met them, got a picture and sat side stage. They are a collection of rockers from bands like Twisted Sister, Motley Crue and KISS that play a bunch of great old 80s tunes along with some acrobats, fire breathers, a ring master, an evil clown guy and sexy dancers on stage. It's a very Vegas style show with some solid tunes like “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” “Crazy Train” and “Highway to Hell.” A bit cheesy you say? Perhaps. But a helluva great time and the packed crowd loved it as well.

Check out my picture with the guys below... Fred Coury (Cinderella), Tony Montana (Great White), John Corabi (Motley Crue, Ratt), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot, Whitesnake, Dio) and Bruce Kulick (Kiss) .


So yeah, 2009 will be tough to top, but I'll give it a shot.

Bucket List Add: Beer Biking in Amsterdam

Tourists cycle as they drink beer and sing karaoke on a beer bike in Amsterdam.

Party While You Pedal: Beer Biking in Amsterdam

The 69 Eyes are Dead N' Gone

Here's The 69 Eyes video for "Dead N' Gone" taken from the album "Back In Blood" once again directed by MTV star and close friend Bam Margera, who also stars in the video. These guys are Finnish and have sort of that metal/goth groove going. Odd, but I'm liking their songs and have downloaded several from the new CD.

It's Time To Burn

I guess I should warn you in case you are offended by nuns playing guitars, confessional rocking, wet t-shirts and the f-bomb... you probably don't want to watch Taking Dawn's newest video "Time To Burn." Personally I watched it 3 or 4 times in a row just to warm up. The Las Vegas rockers are described on the Road Runner site like so: "a rock 'n roll timebomb just waiting to explode on an unsuspecting public." Well now that just sounds messy.

Their CD is out Jan 26th and I'll definitely be picking it up.

Turn this party anthem up!

Sunday Funnies

Latest Strikeforce Recap

Holy crap what a show on Showtime on December 19th. Strikeforce put on a helluva card and are quickly becoming a promotion I'll support no matter what. I already went all the way to St. Louis to catch them live and I haven't missed a Showtime or CBS show yet. So check out this highlight reel from the the Dec. 19th show and relive one of the years best nights of MMA action in 2009 for my money.


Highlights include King Mo vs. Matt Whitehead, Matt Lindland vs. Jacare Souza, Josh Thompson vs. Gilbert Melendez, and Cung Le vs. Scott Smith.

Rockin' The Beer Gut?

OK, how in the living hell did I get nearly all of the way through the year without somebody telling me about this song? From a group called Trailer Choir, here's "Rockin' The Beer Gut." Awesomeness.

Spreading Yuletide Fear

Every Christmas season as I'm going through my holiday movies, I probably have a few that most people don't exactly consider classics. One such movie is Santa's Slay. But I'm pretty sure I know why it's not on everyone's holiday viewing list, although I love it. You get your money's worth if you only watch it for the opening 5 minutes when James Caan, Chris Kattan, Rebecca Gayheart and Fran Drescher are sitting around the family dinner table bickering before Santa (former professional wrestler Bill Goldberg) comes down the chimney, kicks the family dog into the ceiling fan, roasts Fran and proceeds to destroy the entire family. This pretty much sets the tone and tempo for what you're in store for.

It's vile, vulgar and absolutely ludicrous... but it's a blast. If you like horror comedies and Christmas movies, this is a great mix. Actually it's pretty much the only Christmas horror comedy I can think of other than Gremlins I guess. So at least it's the 2nd best one.

According to "The Book of Klaus", Santa's actually Satan's only son, who loses a bet and has to spread Christmas cheer for 1000 years, which has just expired. So Santa's pissed off and now, evil and jacked, he's setting houses on fire, making out with "ho's," driving candy canes through people's eyes, impaling a guy with a Jewish Menorah, beheading gift-openers and generally causing Christmas havoc! Oh yeah, Santa's sleigh is pulled by a buffalo (hell-deer) and he runs old ladies off the road. In what other film does Santa have big guns and deliver quips such as "Aw, Grandpa got run over by a reindeer"? Looking for a film where Santa tries to run down people on a Zamboni machine? Look no further.

Honestly though, the cast is pretty good in addition to all the great cameos in the opening scene. Goldberg is perfect for his role as he doesn't say a lot, rarely emotes and smashes lots of stuff. Santa never looked so intimidating. Emilie de Ravin (Claire on "Lost") and Douglas Smith have major roles and both are likable. The gassy Grandpa who seems to know what's going on is played perfectly by veteran actor Robert Culp. Dave Thomas is also a great sleazy pastor.

I think the best part of the film is the way Santa kills people in various holiday-themed ways, usually followed by a snappy one-liner. You can catch a few nods to It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story and even the classic Rankin-Bass Christmas specials. There's pretty much something in this movie to offend everyone, so if you take it seriously you're sort of missing the point. It's a cheesy, b-movie and it knows it. You really don't have time to get sick of the schtict either, with a run time of just over 70 minutes.

So give it a shot. I think someday this will be required holiday viewing, possibly as a double-feature with Bad Santa.

Santa (reading "A Christmas Carol"): "Christmas can sure scare the Dickens out of people."

Son of Son of Christmas Funnies

This is the final batch of comics for this Christmas, so enjoy them extra. Seriously, even if one isn't funny you should laugh anyway. And have a Happy Christmas!

Here's what's gone before:

Holiday Funnies
More Christmas Funnies!
Another Batch of Christmas Funnies
Some More Funnies For Christmas
Another Round of Christmas Funnies
Son of Christmas Funnies

As always, click 'em for bigger views:

Movie Review: Infestation

Synopsis: A slacker awakes to find himself weak and wrapped in a webbing; after realizing that the world has been taken over by giant alien insects, he wakes a ragtag group of strangers and together they fight for survival.

OK, I really expected this to totally suck but you know what? It was sort of fun. Just accept that it's a very campy, low-budget B movie and you just might enjoy it as I did. It's sort of a poor man's Zombieland meets Shaun of the Dead... with giant bugs instead of zombies.

You get to the fun very early as only about 10 minutes into the film the big creepy crawlies begin to chow down on people. From there it's never boring, although not really a fast pace. It moves along enough to keep it from being too slow while still giving the characters some backstory. There's some great, goey gore and while the CGI effects aren't exactly up to Avatar standards or anything, they're just right for this film as the bugs look pretty good.

The direction is solid as well, but the acting is actually what lifts it a bit over what I expected. Chris Marquette as the slacker and Ray Wise as his Dad are great and the supporting cast is good, with a couple of hot girls and enough others in the surviving group to provide for bug food as the movie goes along.

A well-done campy little comedy/horror monster flick.

6/10

Son of Christmas Funnies

You wanted more so you got more! Or maybe you didn't want more, but I did. And hey it's my blog so here they are. Plus what would I do with all these after Friday? They just lose a little punch in July ya know? So here are more. Don't spend 'em all at once. And be prepared to be smashed in the face with so much more Christmas joy this week you'll vomit!

Here's some links for the previous ones as well:

Holiday Funnies
More Christmas Funnies!
Another Batch of Christmas Funnies
Some More Funnies For Christmas
Another Round of Christmas Funnies

As always, click 'em for bigger views: