2015 Album Awards!

I don’t really fancy myself as an album reviewer (guys over at sites like Sputnik do just fine at that). However, I have a real passion for sharing music, and love the thought of putting something in front of people out there that might not have heard it yet. Because of that, and because the albums I love fuel my concert decisions, I wanted to share some of my favorite albums from 2015. Last year featured releases by countless big names in the industry – names like Trivium, Sevendust, Three Days Grace, Halestorm, Shinedown, Marilyn Manson, Five Finger Death Punch, Lamb of God, Bullet for My Valentine, and on and on. However, many of these releases landed somewhere on the scale between mediocre and very good. None of them, however, really stood out as impressionable.

However, 2015 was definitely not void of spectacular albums. As I looked back at my catalog and reviewed countless other “top albums of 2015” lists to make sure I didn’t miss any albums, I had a more difficult time than usual whittling down to the top 5 albums. In fact, I couldn’t, and so what you’re left with below is 5 really great runners up, and one album of the year.

Hope you enjoy!

Rock on the Range 2016: Lineup Announcement

Rock on the Range released it’s lineup on Monday, and after two days of letting it marinate, I had to get some thoughts down on what is sure to be a fantastic, record-setting weekend in Columbus. Rock on the Range is North America’s biggest rock festival, and they are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. For the eighth straight year, The Music Pill will be gathering our crew and heading from Indianapolis to Columbus to participate in the chaos.

Here is a breakdown of the lineup, including my opinion on the headliners, a breakdown of many of the middle-of-the-pack bands, a few bands that have something to prove, and some can’t miss bands that you may never have heard of. Hope you enjoy!

Concert Review: Amaranthe

Amaranthe, Butcher Babies, and Lullwater
November 5th, 2015
The Palace Theater – Stafford Springs, CT

As a fan of heavy music, I always look for unique and creative bands that separate themselves from the masses. I’m always looking for that band that stretches my understanding of music and genres and makes me think. Enter Amaranthe: a Swedish metal band that blends power metal, death metal, electronica, and pop-style vocals to create sound that makes you want to mosh and sing at the same time. They have great musicians, and feature three vocalists, using male/female co-lead singers to pair with a third vocalist who focuses only on screams. As I started digging into this band, I found myself becoming a really big fan. For the past several years, I’ve been trying to catch an Amaranthe show, and they just hadn’t played a show in the Midwest that worked with my schedule. However, I would finally get my chance to the see the mighty Amaranthe when their tour schedule and a work trip of mine crossed paths in a small town in Connecticut.

Concert Review: Clutch

Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and The Shrine
Psychic Warfare Tour – Oct 13th, 2015
The Vogue Theater – Indianapolis, IN

Anytime I get the chance to see Clutch, I take it – no questions asked. They are veterans of the stage, with over two decades under their belt and the original lineup in tact. Their music touches just about every genre on the planet – maybe most evident by a relatively new song called DC Sound Attack, that features a killer Go-Go beat on a cowbell as a prominent theme. Seemingly nothing is out of bounds for Clutch – Metal, stoner rock, blues, southern rock, and many more fall right in their wheelhouse, and the result is a seemingly endless catalog of fantastic songs, and albums that range from solid to absolute classic. However, in my humble opinion, their real brilliance only comes to life during their show. Oh man that live show…

My most recent opportunity to catch them live was at The Vogue in Indy, which is a great small venue in the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis. (Recently, Nonpoint and 10 Years performed there). Clutch was on tour supporting their latest (eleventh!) album, called Psychic Warfare, and hit Indy on a rainy October day. To open up the night, The Shrine and Corrosion of Conformity both put on really good shows, and my initial introduction to both bands was one of pleasant surprise. As CoC finished their show, I snagged one last Sun King WeeMac and headed to the front of the venue. Something told me that the mob was about to go wild… My expectations couldn’t be higher Clutch – let’s do this.

Concert Review: Foo Fighters @ Wrigley

The Foo Fighters
Sonic Highway World Tour – Aug 29th, 2015
Wrigley Field – Chicago, IL

In 2014, The Foo Fighters released an HBO special entitled “Sonic Highway”. In the documentary, which Dave Grohl called a “love letter to the history of American music”, the Foo Fighters toured the country visiting eight music-laden cities, like Nashville, Austin, LA, New Orleans, and more. In each city, they wrote and recorded a song that paid homage to the history of music in that town, and the result was their latest album, also titled Sonic Highway. It was amazing experiment that not only paid tribute to music of all kinds, but also gave insight into how The Foo Fighters write songs from very real inspiration. The first episode of the documentary, and possibly my favorite episode, talks about Chicago, and the beginning of Dave Grohl’s interest in punk music. Chicago is the place where Dave went to visit his cousin Tracy as a teenager, and ended up seeing his first live show: Naked Raygun at the Cubby Bear. This episode of the documentary also resulted in the best song on the album – a killer track called Something from Nothing.

Shortly after the documentary and the album dropped, rumors started circulating about a Foo Fighters tour. In all my years of going to concerts, The Foo Fighters have always eluded me – so my antennas were up. The first show I saw announced was a one-off performance at Wrigley Field, across the street from The Cubby Bear. What an epic chance to catch The Foo Fighters for the first time live. On October 27, 2014, nearly a year before the actual show, tickets went on sale, and my crew was ready. We had 7 people logged on trying to get tickets, and fortunately enough, two of us got through (the tickets sold out in minutes). Finally, after 15 years of listening to their music, I was going to be able to see Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters live, and in one of my favorite places in all of the country – Wrigleyville. I could not wait for this experience.

Concert Review: 10 Years / Nonpoint

10 Years / Nonpoint
When The Sky Cracks Open Tour – Friday, July 17th, 2015
The Vogue – Indianapolis, IN

As my music tastes have matured, I have really started gravitating towards what I like to call mid-major bands. Taken from world of college athletics, my analogy alludes to bands that may not be as well known as some others, but have no trouble standing toe to toe with any of the powerhouses. Sure, I love catching bands like Muse, Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, and Machine Head in front of 10,000 fans. But for my money, a small venue show of a band like Clutch, Aranda, Shaman’s Harvest, Foxy Shazam, or Crobot can be equally as entertaining. There’s just something about these smaller bands that seems more personal, and easier to connect with.

This tour featured two great mid majors – 10 Years and Nonpoint have both been around for a decade, and are a great example of smaller bands that do absolutely everything right. I’ve been a fan of both of these bands for years – I remember my introduction to 10 Years in 2006 at a local festival, (which caused me to sing Wasteland for two months straight). I also remember my first Nonpoint show – a mud-soaked, sweat-drenched, nonstop mosh pit party on the Jager stage at Rock on the Range in 2010 that I will never forget. A rare chance to catch both of these bands at a great small venue 20 minutes from my house? SOLD!

Concert Review: Breaking Benjamin

Several years ago, I forced myself to sit down and document my bucket list – a list of bands that I desperately wanted to see before I got too old…or they did. Breaking Benjamin was one of the first bands that came to mind. At that time, catching a show was out of the question, as singer Benjamin Burnley was sick, and the band was in a nasty legal battle over the band name and material. My general assumption was that Breaking Benjamin as I knew it was probably over. However, I still put them on my bucket list and held on to hope.

Much to my thrill, in 2014 it was announced that BB was on it’s way back, with a brand new band surrounding Burnley, a new album, and some heavy touring planned. I was ecstatic. After 12 years of anticipation, I was finally able to check them off my bucket list at Rock on the Range 2015, but rather than blog about that show, I decided to hold off until 3 days later, when we had the opportunity to catch them up close in personal, for a headlining set in a small venue in Indianapolis called the Egyptian Room. Breaking Benjamin – let’s do this.

Rock on the Range 2015: Day 3

Day Three of Rock on the Range 2015. This day’s lineup featured a lineup as diverse as ever – with the chance to see Crobot again, a Halestorm show that I was hoping would surprise me, and a Tech N9ne show that was sure to be an outlier in a day full of hard rock and metal. On top of that, it was all culminating for a massive Linkin Park show to headline the weekend. We loaded up the van for the third straight day, with a slight headache and my beloved Monster Rehab, headed back to Mapfre Stadium for the grand finale.

Art of Dying

The day opened up with Art of Dying, a band that was introduced to me at ROTR in 2011 (see the review here), and they were a pleasant surprise. Get Through This and Die Trying were strong enough tracks to peak my interest, and I was excited to see what was in store for this band. Fast forward 4 years, and I haven’t heard much from them since. Unfortunately, this show didn’t quite stack up well to the previous one. I still enjoyed a handful of their songs, including a surprisingly fun version of Rise Up, but overall show seemed like a slightly less energetic version of the one four years ago and didn’t feature anything that stood out or felt unique. Not a BAD way to open up the day, but I was excited to move on.

Rock on the Range 2015: Day 2

Ever since Rock on the Range went to the three day lineup, day 2 has always started the same. I wake up super early: I’m sore, tired, and dehydrated, and I have a brief period where I mumble to myself “There is absolutely no way that I can do this for two more days.” Just another great part of having 15 years of concerts under your belt. However, once we get ourselves together, get some food in our stomachs, and get to the venue, things start to turn around. We start tailgating, the music starts blaring, and slowly but surely, my excitement overcomes my soreness. Saturday’s lineup featured a great list of bands, including several brand new to the scene, a couple old favorites, and the chance to see legendary Judas Priest. It was a warm, rainy day on Saturday – with lots of clouds to block the hot sun, and lots of chances to see some great bands. Game Face time. Rock on the Range 2015 Day 2. Let’s do this.

Rock on the Range 2015: Day 1

Seven years ago, I was 23 years old, just out of college, and had all the free time in the world. I was single, with no kids, and lived in an apartment. It was also the first year that a friend of mine happened to stumble onto some info about an up and coming festival called Rock on the Range. I’ve been in love ever since. This past weekend, for the seventh consecutive year, a group of my crazy, music-obsessed friends from all over the midwest (nine of us this year) piled into a rental van and headed to Columbus to catch the 2015 version of the mighty Rock on the Range. We were equipped with every tailgating accessory you can possibly imagine (planned to the minute detail), and a perfect concert weather forecast: clouds and a little tiny bit of rain.

As the festival has grown each year, so has my blogging effort. This year, like last, I will do three separate blogs on the three separate days of this festival. First up – a Friday lineup packed with great bands, and headlined by my favorite band, Slipknot. I was juiced when we got to Columbus, and even though some of us had driven all night to get there by 10am, I couldn’t get into the venue fast enough.

My only hope: that this year would simply live up to previous year’s incredible experiences. That’s no easy feat my friends. ROTR 2015 – I’ve been looking forward to you for exactly 362 days. Let’s do this.