Eli Young Band

The Eli Young Band makes country music. They were just at Rodeo Austin. They make some great songs like "Say Goodnight", "Crazy Girl", and "Even if it Breaks Your Heart". They have five albums, four of which came out in 2008. Their most popular album is "Life At Best"which came out in 2011, it has their three most popular songs. The album was their 'big break' so to say, because it's what has made them popular. Unfortunately I had already made plans to go out of town when they were at the rodeo. Here is "Even if it Breaks Your Heart"

Thriller

In the past class, we listened to "Thriller" by Michael Jackson. It sold 225 million copies within the first two years and had three #1's on the Top 200. I thought the album was pretty good, but I'm not a huge fan of the way it sounded. I didn't dislike any songs of the album. I thought "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was good, I liked the ending more than the rest of the song. I liked the sound of "The Girl is Mine", but I didn't like the lyrics, I thought they were cheasy. I like the 3 song power punch of "Thriller", "Beat It", and "Billie Jean". They are all pretty iconic songs of his, and they all have pretty good sound. I also likes "PYT" I thought it had good sound and rhythm. Overall, the album was pretty good, and it has 3 of Michael Jackson's best songs ever.

Elvis Castello

In class we listened to Elvis Castello's "My Aim is True". I personally liked it. I thought it was good, because I liked the sound much more than the type of punk sound we've been listenenkng to more recently. I thought he still got the kind of message that other bands have gotten across, even though it didn't sound like the other. I thought the lyrics were good too. He threw some punches, if someone could do that, through his lyrics. Overall, I liked the album.

Funk and Disco

In class we listened to some funk song. Mr. A made a good point, that there really is no such thing as a good funk album, because it is all released in Singles. Funk is also music primarily intended to make people dance, because it is mostly just music with a good or bad beat and sound with very few lyrics. It doesn't have any texture to it either. When I say texture, I mean that there is no deep message to any songs. These types of songs make a ton of money because it makes people want to dance and it makes people happy, and it can just be background music. I personally don't like disco/funk because it can be really annoying. Some of it can be good, but for me, the majority of it is annoying.

English Punk

Today we talked about the difference between English Punk and American Punk. American Punk wasn't very dangerous. They weren't dangerous, because they didn't do anything or sing about topics that made them dangerous. English Punk on the other hand, was dangerous. They were much more snarly and rebel like. We listened to the Sex Pistols, who I didn't like because their singer's voice was obnoxious. Then we listened to "I Fought the Law" originally by Bobby Fuller Four but covered by The Clash. The Fuller Four's version of the song was wimpy, not dangerous, and kind of pathetic. The Clash's version was dangerous and sounded much more like Punk. I liked The Clash's version much more because it was more upbeat and sounded better. Here are the two renditions of "I Fought the Law" :

Patti Smith & The Talking Heads

In class we listened to Patti Smith and The Talking Heads. We listened to Patti Smith's album "Horses" and I really didn't like it. I didn't like it because it had an annoying sound, I didn't like the lyrics, I wasn't a fan of her voice, and she made weird and annoying noises. Overall, I was not a fan of hers. Then we listened to The Talking Heads. I didn't dislike them, but I didn't like them. They were kind of that band that just didn't really matter to me. I didn't like the lead singer's voice and I didn't like the noises that they made either. I did sort of like the sound in some songs though. One thing that I have started to notice, is that the more punk the music gets, the more weird noises the singers begin to make. Overall, I wasn't a big fan of today's music.

Zac Brown Band

Recently I've been listening to the Zac Brown Band . I really like them. I think I like them as much as I do, because they harmonize well, they sound good, and they have really good lyrics. Some of my favorite songs by then are Goodbye in her eyes, Chicken Fried, and toes. They come in early April, and there is a large chance that I'm going to go see them.