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New Music Monday Blog Texas Hippie Coalition Peacemaker

In this Music Monday blog, we are going to get into one of my favorite new artist in the last five years.  I have been a fan since their indy release where I pick it up from www.CDbaby.com.   The band is called Texas Hippie Coalition and the record is their third, which is called Peacemaker.  This band was formed in the northern part of Texas in 2008.  They tour to support from coast to coast for “Pride Of Texas.”  THC, who is Texas Hippie Coalition, calls their music “Red Earth Metal.”  They were influenced by the southern hard rock and some country.  THC signed with Carved Records and release their first national release which is called “Rollin’.”  “Rollin'” topped on the United States Heatseekers, which is entering or new music, at number 29.  “Peacemaker” was released in 2012 under the same record company and this is the record that will be review in this Music Monday blog.  Let us get into the music.

Hands Up

Hands Up starts out with a nice guitar work at the beginning.  It has some great drums and bass work too.  I love the singer’s vocals.  He has the classic rock to Pantera twist to his singing.  This has a nice driving feel to the song.  I love the feeling of this song and this is a great opening track.  I love the start so far to the record. Great ending to the song too.

Damn You To Hell

I love the start of this song.  It reminds me of something from Pantera back in the day.  This is a really great start for THC on this record.  Damn You To Hell has a nice driving feeling to it.  I really enjoying the guitar solo towards in the end of the song.  I love the lyrics and they are right in your face.  This song has a nice ending.

8 Seconds

I love the start of this song from the drums, bass, and guitar.  I love how the guitars bend and twisted between each other.  I love the lyrics and the melody.  This is a great song.  There is some nice guitar breaks  towards the middle of the song.  I love the build up to the end of the song.  Nice ending from the guitar and the drums.

Outlaw

I love the start of this song.  It has a metal country feel in his vocals.  There is some nice drums and guitar work.  I really enjoying the lyrics.  This is one of the best songs I heard from this band.  I love the chorus riff from the guitar.  I love the pace of this song too.  It has a nice guitar solo towards the end of the song.  It has a nice ending to the song.

Turn It Up

Turn it Up has some nice guitar work with some great drums and bass.  I love the singing from the singer when came into the song.  You can tend that it is about to snap into something heavy, which it does during the chorus.  I love the lyrics to this song.  This band could be huge in the 1990’s or even the 1980’s.  I love the pace to this song.  This is a great song.  So far this record is not a disappointment.  I love the guitar solo towards the end of the song.  There is some well placed back up vocals which makes sense in this song.

Wicked

I love the throw back 1980’s heavy guitar riff.  It rides on one note with the bass echoing it.  It is heavy as hell and I miss that in songs today until then.  I love the lyrics from the singer.  It has some great lyrics.  This song reminds me the good old days of metal.  I love the pace to this song.  There is a nice guitar solo towards the end of the song.  This is a great song.  I love how they ended the song.  Perfect on the fade out towards the end of it.

Don’t Come Lookin’

I love how they started out with the acoustic guitar and back to the distorted guitar.  It also had a nice short guitar solo towards the beginning of the song.  This song is a well written song.  They did a great job in all parts of the band on this song.  I love how they are bring the touch of the acoustic guitar.  I love the guitar solo towards the end of the song.  I have not heard some good guitar solos from a newer metal group in a long time.  It is very nice to hear it.  It has a great ending like all the rest of the songs.

Sex & Drugs & Rock And Roll

This song has some great guitar work and I love the effect that they put on it at the beginning.  I am also loving the acoustic guitar touch to this song just like Don’t Come Lookin’.  The singer is singing his heart out of this song.  There is some well written lyrics on this song.  He has some great ideas on songs.  I love the theme of this song.  I love the touch on the singing at the end of the song.  This is a great song.

Paw Paw Hill

I love the start of this song.  It has a heavy folk and southern theme.  It comes in with some great guitar work that is heavy as hell.  I love lyrics that touch on the sweet leaf and moonshine.   This song has a nice pace to it.  He has written some great lyrics on this song too.  I feel this song needs a guitar solo to break up the singing.  Asides that, this is a great song.

Peacemaker

I love the beginning of the song with the singer and the high-end bass riff.  Bassist goes lower as the song goes on with the nice touch with the guitar and drums.  I love the lyrics.  I have a feeling this song has back meaning that will come out in the later part of their career.  There is some nice guitar work from the rhythm and the lead.  I love the guitar solo towards the end of the song.  This is a great song.

Think Of Me

I love the piano action and the nice over the top guitar solo.  I really love the singing from the singer and the lyrics.  There is some great guitar work when it hits the main part of the song.  This is a great song and I did not see this one coming from this band.  I love the theme and lyrics in this song.  THC did a great job writing this song and record.  This is today’s power Ballard taken to the next level.  Nice guitar solo towards the end of this song.  I love the fact that they finish this song with the piano and then go back to the drums, guitar, and bass.  I love how they ended the song with the piano and the singer.

Here is the current line up of Texas Hippie Coalition:

Big Dad Ritch – Vocals
John Exall – Bass
Wes Wallace – Guitar
Gunnar Molton – Dummer

Here is their website and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.theoutlaw.com

Twitter:  @THCOffical

In closing, I am really happy with this record.  THC did a great job on this record and I love the process of this band as they move through their career.  I enjoy the music and the feeling of the old times when I was growing up listening to Pantera and White Zombie.  I am glad there is a band like Texas Hippie Coalition.  I am looking forward to seeing this band live.  I hope to see more music in the next few years.  This band is for really and I will write any review to get more people to know this band.  This is modern-day metal and I hope they stay together.  I hope one time in my life I could have some beers with this band.  Go get some!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser

New Blog Linkin Park Living Things (2012)

In this blog, we are going to take a look at the new record from Linkin Park called Living Things.  Linkin Park was founded in 1996 in Agoura Hills, California.  Linkin Park has sold over 50 million records world-wide and has won two Grammy Awards.  In the beginning they took the style of nu metal and rap metal and made their style.  By their third record, which is Minutes To Midnight in 2007, they began to study other music influences.  That record had the third best debut for any new music that was release that same year.  Living Things is their fifth record in their studio career.

What am I expecting from this record?  I am looking for them to go back to their old school ways to get their first fan base happy but keep on the pace from their Minutes To Midnight.  I believe they will try to build on that and their fourth record, which is A Thousand Suns.  How much I do not want to see but I am expecting to see little more of the rap feel on this record.  I believe Chester will be screaming more on this record than what he has not in the last few records.  Linkin Park found their sound and I believe they will build on it in Living Things.

Here is the band members of Linkin Park on Living Things:

Rob Bourdon – Drum

Brad Delson – Lead Guitar

Dave Farrell – Bass Guitar

Joe Haln – Turntables, keyboards, and Samples

Mike Shinoda – Vocals, Rhthm Guitar, Keyboards, Piano

Chester Bennington – Vocals

Lost In The Echo

Lost In The Echo starts out with keyboard and turntables work.  It has a nice drum beat with rapping over the top and nice back up vocals.  It has a nice smooth flow to the song.  Chester comes in with a nice singing lines.  This song has a nice flow to it.  This song has some nice turntables work on it.  Nice beat for the opening song, this set the mood of the record.  It is a very well written record.  This is great opening track for Living Things.

In My Remains

In My Remains starts out with a nice turntables and samples with some keyboard.  Drums roar with the bass to give it a nice intro to the song.  I love the music that  Chester is singing over and then guitar comes in few seconds after the intro.  Mike does a great job on the back up vocals.  I love the feeling of this song and very well written lyrics to it.  I love the drum work in this song.  This is a great song.  I love it!

Burn It Down

Burn It Down was their first single of Living Things.  It starts out with a nice keyboard to samples along with some turntables.  Nice back up guitar riff to balance everything out.  I love the lyrics in this song.  This song has a feel that it should have been off the Minutes To Midnight.  I love the singing by Chester and the back up singing.  Mike rapping makes sense for this part of the song.  It is not forced like most of the time.  However, the later part of their career, they have learned to place his rapping in the best part of the song.  It is more impactful now.  I feel this song could have guitar solo.  I love the ending of Burn It Down.

Lies Greed Misery

Lies Greed Misery has a nice keyboard and now the samples with Mike rapping over it.  I will say dude can rap his ass off in these songs.  I am not a rap fan but  he has done a great job on this record.  I love the rhythm of the rap.  I love the singing from Chester.  It is right fit for the theme of the song.  There is the scream that made Chester famous.  Nice ending to this song.

I’ll Be Gone

I’ll Be Gone has a nice build up intro to the song and then the kick in on the guitars.  It drops off with Chester singing with a nice samples and keyboard behind him.  It has a nice drum beat with bass pushing the song to another level.  This is a thinking man’s song.  I really love the flow of this song.  I have to say this song is one of the best ones off this record so far.  I would not be shocked if this is their next single off Living Things.

Castle Of Glass

I love the samples to the keyboard and then the nice singing from Mike.  The drums have a nice simple feel to it that fits the song.  Castle Of Glass has a nice driving feeling to it.  I really digging the singing from Mike.  I like the lyrics and the guitar work.  I really wish they would play this song live.  This is a really good song.

Victimized

Victimized has a nice samples and a crazy drum beat.  Drummer is very underrated to all the drummers that are playing music right now in their generation.  Rob has played his ass off in this whole record.  I love how Chester is screaming which fits it and Mike has a nice rap to follow.  This is a pretty angry song.  Victimized is a quick and to the point song.

Road Untraveled

Road Untraveled has a nice sound effects follow by keyboards.  This band is always looking to do something different which is good but it is starting predictable.  Mike has written great lyrics and singing his heart out on Road Untraveled.  I love the feeling from the drums and the flow of everything else.  I feel this song could use a guitar solo not a guitar playing low-end.  Another thinking song to add to my list.  There is not too many you can say that about Linkin Park.  This is a great song.

Skin To Bone

Skin To Bone has a nice intro.  I love the drums at the beginning.  Nice work from Joe on this song.  He has taken over this song so far which is an awesome thing.  I love how they use Chester in this song.  This is not one of my favorite songs but I love the feel of it.  Plus, it is nicely written song.

Until It Breaks

Until It Breaks starts with a nice rap from Mike.  Once again, they are placing him very well for the non rap fans in the world.  He is more and more making me start to like rap.  I love the music behind him.  I really love the rap lyrics from Mike.  He did a great job on this song.  Just like Mike, they learned to place Chester in great spots.  This is a great song.  I really love it.

Tinfoil

Tinfoil has a classic Linkin Park intro that we all have grown to love from this band.  This song is a nice intro to Powerless.

Powerless

Powerless has a nice keyboard along with some good lyrics being sung over the music.  Powerless has a nice simple bass and guitar lines with a very good drum beat.  It also has a well placed back up vocals.  This is a very well written song.  This band has pour their heart out on this song.  It is powerful and impactful with a nice drive.  It is a nice finish to this record.

Here is their websites and twitter addresses:

Website:  www.linkinpark.com and www.lpunground.com

Twitter:  @linkinpark

In closing, Linkin Park has grown on me over the years.  I remember when they roared on the scene and pushing the limits of music.  They have change the scene of music and influenced several newer bands.  I have enjoyed their last three records and not really a fan of the first two.  I never was a rap fan but they have grown on me.  This record is not their best but it is right behind Minutes To Midnight to me.  They do a great job on their live show and I was kind impressed by it.  This is going to be a pretty strong statement but I believe Linkin Park is today’s Pink Floyd.  They know when to explore their sound and change some things.  They are a very talented band and they will be around for a long time.  I just hope their Burn It Down song is not their good-bye song.  I will be looking forward to seeing them live again and I will be joining their fan club.  Go get some Living Things!  Drink it!  Enjoy it!  Metal it!  \m/

Cheers!

Bill DJ Weiser

Email:  djweiser13@comcast.net

Twitter:  @djweiser