So wild and free so far from me, you're all I want, my fantasy.

I mentioned the term ''real fan'' in the post below I believe. But if not, I mentioned it plenty of times before. I've been listening to it on replay non stop these days. So here I am throwing myself into research, let's see what the good old google and tumblr think. What is a real fan?

Urban dictionary, top definition goes like this;

''A person that actually likes a music artist that doesn't use illegal downloads like a a fake weirdo that spends all their time on facebook and trying to get a good playcount, to 'boost' their social status!''

It would appear that all definitions of a real fan means, you spend all your money on the thing you're obsessing over, lose sleep because you're busy obsessing over it, them, her, him, whatever else floats your boat. And clearly defending it till you die. Okay. Not at all psychotic.

Do you want me to tell you what I think a ''real fan'' is? A person that (if we talk about musicians) actually buys their music instead of downloading it, a person that supports the musician to the best of their ability, seeing a show, buying a shirt but without it meaning you will skip a couple of meals or bills. A person that enjoys what this object of adoration does but doesn't obsess over them. And most importantly a person that is mature enough to admit their ''babies'' fucked up when they do something bad.

Here's the deal, I can't for the life of me begin to understand this ''competition'' and comparisons who is the biggest fan. I don't care if you're here since last week or for 30 years, you're just as entitled to enjoy someones music, a book, a movie, a tv show, as the rest of the ''die hard fans'' that have been here since day one do. I find this so stupid. By those standards I could never be a fan of 90% of my favourite musicians because honestly when they started out I wasn't even born yet.

And I've been hearing a lot and I do mean A LOT of this crap lately because of Bon Jovi's last tour. Here's the deal, I love Bon Jovi, really I do. I have all their CD's, couple of vinyl records (want to get all I'm still missing), t shirts, DVD's, other merch, you name it. But I am not obsessed with him. I was not happy when Sambora quit, to me he was a vital member of the band that can not be replaced but I gave the new guy a chance, actually, thank god I did because in Milan few years ago, that was the best concert I was at, but here's the deal, I can't pretend and blindly support something I don't believe in no more.

The last album ''This house is not for sale'', doesn't sound like Bon Jovi at all. And while I support musicians trying out something new, like the Boss did with Western stars which is a stroke of genius, this one isn't. You can literally and painfully see how badly Sambora is missing in the band. Why? The music is just crap. Richie added soul, blues, classic rock sounds the ones you hear on their biggest stadium hits into the songs and now…? The songs are soulless, they sound like they came from a machine, forced to produce music, to satisfy radio listeners who don't care about anything else but a few catchy chords and are too lazy to swich radio chanels anyways.

I mean let's be honest, the album is a disgrace for the band. It fell from number one on the chart to 127 in less than three weeks, I suppose that says something too. So many people were excited for new music after so much touring only to be super disappointed with this monstrosity, not to mention the mixing that is just bad, bad, bad. And the lyrics? Cheesy. Not in a good way like Always, In these arms, Born to be my baby, no those are all amazing, beautiful songs, but cheesy in a way I wanna roll my eyes all the way into my skull and turn off the radio.

And the last tour. Oh my god. I don't even know where to begin. Bon Jovi today are a tiny fucking shadow of the Bon Jovi they were a few years ago. I know what you're going to say, he's not 20 anymore, he sings all the time. I'm sorry, but, Mick Jagger? Joe Elliot? Axl Rose? Fucking AC / DC? And lets not even start with Bruce Springsteen, all that touring, long shows, new album, and 236 fucking shows on Broadway. So don't even start that ''he sings a lot'' crap with me.

Let's make one thing clear, I don't enjoy writing nasty things about Bon Jovi, as I said I love their music, I love Jon as a person, I am completly melted at his smile alone but so help me jesus delusional fans emailing me all the time about ''not knowing shit'' about music really pissed me off.

Here's the deal, if you go, for the vibe which I'm sure is still great, if you go because you love a stadium show where people do most of the singing then that's great, awesome for you. But for the rest of us, I don't know, for tickets with a price tag 100 plus euros, I would expect a bit more than listening to back vocals and the crowd, I can get that listening to my neighbors playing Singstar on Playstation every Sunday for free. So no thank you. It's not true that nobody sounds good on a stadium and it's not true that it's the speakers or the sound guys who are to blame. Not by far, someone like Bon Jovi would afford a sound mistake for about say 10 minutes of the first show not the entire tour.

It's like he says before singing that one song ''my voice is shot''. Yes, yes it is. It just doesn't have the power it used to, doesn't reach the range it used to and to be honest it's painful to watch. Seven or how many people singing now, and he parades around flirting with the crowd, and those desperate housewives with raging hormones, who are most likely slightly tone deaf as well all go crazy. I apologise if some of us were born with a little thing called musical talent and actually listen with our ears not eyes. Though not going to deny this, the Colgate commercial smile? That is damn beautiful and would make me weak in the knees too. And yes I did nearly lose it when he almost touched me in Milano as well, but hell, all that, and my fawning and obsessing was soundtracked with good music.

And the support in Austria, Skid Row? Really? Here's another news flash, I LOVE Skid Row, but they and their music died for me when Sebastian Bach left, so first two albums I listen to non stop, and the rest…well might as well be. So that's that. With all that said it's fairly obvious why I opted out of seeing Bon Jovi last week, even if, I admit, it hurts. I would love to see one of my favourite bands again, but I don't want the perfect picture, of that perfect night in Italy ruined by a show where he's barely struggling through.

With all that being said, don't think anything changed. I love the band. One of my favourite bands, always was, always will be, maybe I won't be a ''real fan'' like those desperate women are that I mentioned above but at least I'll be a smart fan. And honestly, all I really want is for him to sort out his voice. Not for us, not to give more pleasure to his fans, or to make more music and money or whatever else capitalistic reason there may be. I want him to sort it out for him, he's an artist, a singer, and what's a singer if he can't sing no more? I honestly feel hurt and saddened watching these recent youtube videos and I just wish and hope he gets the help for his voice he needs, and if there's nothing to be done, then take the high road out like Motley Crue did.

Now, this was not the point of todays post. Wanted to do a review of an album I waited for forever. And because I'm all over the place, I just spent 20 minutes on Bon Jovi, the post will continiue with Def Leppard, while I listen to The Offsprings ''Want you bad'' on reply. Believe me, my mind is even more scrambled then these posts are. Like having 50 tabs opened on a computer, one playing comercials, one playing music and you have no idea where it's coming from and what's happening. Kinda like that.

Leppard get a lot of shit too, people talk crap about them, critics do, they're never happy. They say there hasn't been a good album from them after Pyromania but you know, it's their right to feel that way. I love Leppard, always did, always will. And yes, if Joe starts sounding like shit I'll be here admiting that too.

Speaking from the market point of view, Def leppard hit major success with Pyromania, it sold in over 10 million copies in US alone and was certified diamond. Pyromania is actually a big deal from a different point of view. You know how managers, producers, record labels, love to exploit and use their artists? Well Leppard got nothing but major support from their label and their producer which gave them a year and over one million dollars to record this album. Woah huh? That meant that the album HAD to sell over a million just to break even which is actually a big leap of faith for any record label to take. Specially because High n' dry didn't do so well.

The entire sound of this album aint perfect that's a fact, the snare drum is a bit ehhh and the slight AC DC vibe is just out of the context for me, though of course, Elliot and Clark kill it on every single song. Joe's vocals are phenomenal. Strong, powerful and completely harmonic. Though of course the songs are not Springsteen brilliant lyrical vise they are as amazing as any other hair metal from that time period.

Recording Pyromania btw began with Pete Willis but we all know how that ended. His playing still appears on all song but sometime in the middle of recording he was replaced by the amazing Phil Collen (have you seen the man lately? My god!) who actually added his bit for the Stagefright as soon as he came on board, and it's a great song but the fake live crowd is a bit stupid to be honest.

Album actually starts with Rock! Rock! Till you drop and that's about as perfect as it can be. I can imagine that song starting just about any album from this genre of music. Of course that just means if I play it a bit louder my family always complains ''can't you listen to something nicer for a change? How about something soft? Always the yelling and that noise''. Excuse me if I like noise…she said while Keith Urbans Blue aint your color plays in the back for the third time and while Too late for love is actually my favourite song off this album. Oh well. I told you I'm a mess didn't I?

Too late for love is amazing, it's slow, it's dark, it's sang with emotion, and it never really goes into that disgusting cheesy territory which makes it far more tolerable than say ''I will always love you''. shoot me please if I ever have to hear it again. This is a slow and heavy song at it's finest and honestly it's brilliant. I remember hearing it the first time actually, and at that point I had no idea who's song it was. We listened to heavier stuff at home so if I didn't have a vinyl or a CD to listen to the whole thing through it literally flew under my radar. So this song, I heard it first in my first year of high school. A guy I went to school with had it on his phone. A phone mind you that could keep maybe 5 songs and that was enough to make us happy (fuck I'm getting old) and he'd listen to this song during a break. Woah man, love on first note I'd say. I never found out what it was though, because the idiot that I am I never asked. I heard it about a year later again on the radio where I memorised lyrics and literally googled them later to see what it was that I loved so much and got a huge fucking shock seeing it's Leppard, embarrassed not to know Joe's voice as well. Man.

Die hard the hunter on side A though? Not a big fan. The effects like that fake live crowd are a bit much and it's just...I don't know somethings off, can't really even pin point what it is. Maybe it's a bit boring or a bit dragged out. Or just a shot at something that really isn't them. God knows. I just know I don't like it overly much.

You know what's a real highlight besides Too late for love of course? Photograph! Oh my god that song. Obsessed. Nothing but love. I loved it live with old pictures on the screen behind the stage. Amazing. And Joe's voice really peaks there. It's nothing short of spectacular I tell you. That's the song. Not A song but THE song. Like Bon Jovi have Living on a prayer and others, Leppard also have others but Photograph is one of the songs. Vocals that start out slow and grow over the song are amazing as is but then also it's a totally catchy song that has you hooked first time you listen to it.

''So wild and free so far from me, you're all I want, my fantasy.'' Mine too. Most days.

Side B starts with Foolin I believe. Which is some wanna be ballad but I guess the sound works and if nothing else you can hear the bass loud and clear, more than on other songs. And then there's of course also Rock of Ages. The song that musical was named after. It's a good movie despite the critics hating it. They hate everything anyways. And that allusion to Nikki and Vince yeah that's just wild. But this song is one of the strongest moments on the album if you ask me.

Rock of ages is great comparing to the end of the album anyways. It ends with Comin' under fire which could be another hit but what is that ''action not words'' about? It's like…I don't know Steel panthers mockery to hair metal.

After Pyromania we know what's up. Band started writing new material but then in 84' Allen lost his arm in that car accident and it took three years for Hysteria to come out. In any case thank god things turned out the way they did, I mean not Rick losing his arm but all the rest, because Hysteria really is perfect just the way it is and it wouldn't be without him.

Alright that's about it, for this week anyways. I've got a stressful week ahead and believe me vacation can't come too soon. Take it easy guys, a bit for me too. I know I won't.

Opća opasnost u tebi non stop svira.

It's that time of the year again. When I go to a local event and bitch and complain about hating people. Deep sigh. I feel like I should open a bottle of Sauvignon just to get through this post and relive the trauma.

I don't know why I bother. Oh right, because I love music, and I love the bands, and I hate their listeners. There is something fundamentally wrong with concert goers. I get it, you're stressed, you don't give a fuck about music, you just wanna let some steam, you came to ''party'', all nice and dandy but hello could you possibly do that in a local bar where you bother nobody instead of on a concert with thousands of other people that will strangle you if you lean on them one more time? Well I would. The rest probably wouldn't notice. When people are this drunk it doesn't matter if you're a person or a lamp you probably serve the same purpose.

I feel like musicians on stage are just a ''distraction'' for these people. They wouldn't notice if it's youtube videos or actual people up there and it's not right nor is it fair. How do they say in Poldark? ''tisn't right, tisn't fair, tisn't fit, tisn't proper''. Or something along those lines anyways. This is a musicians job and worse their love and passion, they give their everything into every show, they love preforming, they love music, they love their fans and this is how we repay them? And people wonder why nobody plays here? Well why should they if a bunch of drunk fucks is all they get?

See I'm no angel if you follow my IG you'll see I like a drink now and then just like any other person. But the difference is that I know how to drink responsibly and actually remember where I was, what I did, who I did, the night before. Which I would say is a virtue most people don't have these days. It's not just them, it's the festival I'm complaining over as well, what can you expect when alcohol is cheaper than water and ID's are a long forgotten myth nobody bothers to check.

I don't really care you know, if you're an idiot you're an idiot, and good music is wasted on you, fine. What actually does bother me that these drunk fucks ruin the fun for everybody else. I can't enjoy a concert where people are constantly walking back and forth stepping on my feet, like can you stay put for one fucking song? Your drink will wait at the bar. Second thing is, does anything, ANYTHING on my polished hair, makeup and leather clothes scream that I want a beer shower? It doesn't does it? So why on earth do people feel like throwing beer around? Why? So I can come home with sticky hair smelling like the dirtiest, smelliest bar or the worst drunk of em all. Ugh. Why do people stand in front of the stage, with their backs turned to the stage fucking chatting? What is that? WHO does that? I'm so confused. Okay if you're not say in love with the lead singer I get you can look around a bit instead of being glued to the stage, but turned away and gosspining? That's like…I can't even. Jesus take the wheel because I've seen enough.

And probably most important question of them all, why? Why do you feel the need to get so drunk that you literally have a black out and the biggest hungover the next day? That's something I'm dying to know. God gave you alcohol to have fun and mingle and meet people and losen up a bit, not to make a complete idiot out of yourself because you don't know where boundaries are. Just like a little news flash, guys you're not cool trying to pick up women while wasted and finally brave enough to say something dumb to a pretty girl, trust me, they are not impressed, and girls there's nothing and I do mean nothing attractive about a girl acting like a bimbo or a total whore while shit face drunk. Nothing cute, cool, attractive or interesting about you at that point. And anyone worth your time would run a mile from you.

I could probably rant for 10 more pages about how I despise people and I only plan to hang out with dogs from now on but that was not the point of this blog post at all. Humans though. Ew. This is why I keep telling people to get dogs. Much nicer personalities than 80% of humans.

I guess if we go back to the post from the same festival last year there's going to be the same complaining and bitching, but honestly I can't even help it. The same things that NEVER change really do annoy me.

Anyways let's move on to music or I'll never get to it. I do keep saying how important it is to support local bands, music you have in your own country, so I never mind paying a ticket and see a local band I love that's trying their best and is really talented. Unfortunally due to all the reasons I listed above and more, managements, producers, etc, there's not many such bands. Shame. Here at least anyways.

And there is just ONE local band I am willing to suffer through literal hell for, to sing along to songs that are probably hardwired in my brain by now. A band whos gigs I'm pretty much always at. Front rown, sidestage, VIP, backstage, whatever works. I may be a bitch but I'm a loyal bitch as my friend would say. I love this band and no other local bands compare. My boys in Šank rock were super amazing as always, playing all the songs I love most except ''Nekaj več''? What was that about?

This year I wasn't a free added program for the security in the front row, I was a bit back enjoying the show from a more distant space and side stage, because as I said, people ew. But I loved this band since I was less than a year old and still love them today. Best band this country has, and probably the BEST guitar player on this side of the planet. No joke. Bor Zuljan is amazing. If you don't believe me ask Ibanez, they'd know, even if somehow they think that Slovenia and Israel share the same flag (what the hell is that about Ibanez? Go change Bor's profile and fix that flag, some official site that is).

There was a lot about the band being ''over played'' because they play at this festival every year. Dumbest thing I ever heard, first of, it's a three day festival, if you don't like them there's surely more music for your taste there and if they really were over played then I'm pretty sure the crowd wouldn't demand them and they sure as hell wouldn't have the biggest crowds at the festival. It's obvious they are absolute favourites. Some songs more than others but you know how it goes, biggest hits are always most loved too. People are sheep. God help them. No wait, Jesus, he was a shepherd no? I don't know, I'm Odins wolf not a lamb of god.

By the way, my huge respects to the bass player Cveto, playing shows with a fractured foot. Respect man, that aint easy and you're a real rockstar.

There was actually a second band I was willing to suffer for Friday night. Fell in love with this band years ago and it's all Bon Jovi's fault. Why? Because they were their support group in Croatia on that concert that probably everyone in Slovenia went to. That was so long ago though, when was it 8.6.2011, had to look up. Hell. 8 years ago. My god. I miss Bon Jovi did I say? It's really tearing my heart apart that I'm not going to see them later this month. And I miss Richie even more.

Right so ''Opća opasnost'' or if I translate ''general danger'', is a band Bon Jovi's management chose as the opening band and though I had no idea who they were at that point, the crowd knew very well. But I liked them, it doesn't happen often that I like a band I never heard of before from the get go but it did with them. They don't tour here at all, so l literally waited for 8 years to see them again. Hell. And you know what? I'm glad I even got the chance to see them again, because just two years ago during what I'd only call a fucking nightmare, the entire band could be killed in a stage accident. I have a weak stomach for those my god.

Good things come  to those who wait or something like that isn't it? Well it paid off. Waiting I mean. I loved their entire set. I loved them being total goofs, I loved the music, I loved the silliness. I loved it all. Loved the ''whitesnake'' moments on stage as well. Kill me I'm a redblooded woman like all the rest, I get hot under my collar when rockstars do a little sexy dance or ''inappropriate'' touching on stage. Or they take it a step further like Jon Bon Jovi does and dance and swap spit with their female fans. Can I just point out that THAT makes me insanely jealous? I'm just saying. What I'd do for a slow dance with Jon Bon Jovi to Bed of Roses. No wait scratch that, what I wouldn't do for a bed of roses with Jon Bon Jovi…sigh…too much info? I suppose so. Let's move on before I get hot under my collar again.

Alright, the band came on stage late, at about 1 am, and if that aint late in my book, their drunk crowd was passed out at that point. Their loss. They lost a great party if they were in fact sober enough to follow along.  The singer has an amazing voice, loves to joke, loves to ''move'', it's too much fun watching them on stage. Their songs are also great. And the little mix of ''Croatian national songs'' they do in between is perfect. Let me point out that the ''Croatian national songs'' are Guns n' roses, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Metallica, etc. Perfect.

This is actually a band every bikers girl, biker, or just a person hanging out with bikers will know. They play on so many biker meet ups it's insane that I never got the chance to see them before. Match made in heaven really isn't it? Tough bikers, Harleys, rock music? There's a lot in my life I miss right not now just Richie Sambora and Bon Jovi…

I guess it is what it is, I honestly hope I won't be waiting another 8 years for them to come back. Or forever for Richie to come home. Sigh. Let's end this post with a short video shall we?

 

One of my favourite songs, I'll leave you guessing why that may be. Cheers guys. 

Moonlight, moon bright, where's my lucky star tonight?

I think I always feel most inspired or say motivated to write a post about albums and bands that I love most. Which is not that often, bands don't produce new albums each month no matter how much I may want it. Lets face it, a new album by the Boss each month? I'd be spoiled rotten. And I suppose after a while it would get boring. No more anticipation or looking forward to something. Where's the fun in that? 

You probably put two and two together and know already who I'm writing about today. The only real love of my life. The most amazing man on the planet. The kindest soul. The Boss himself.

Western Stars is the nineteenth studio album by the Boss. Sigh. Which means I'm only missing about 10 albums on vinyl. I got everything on CD but I only got about 13 records, 9 studio albums and the rest live or single editions. I need to change that. Like those Pokemon fans say ''gotta catch them all'. Still more likely to happen, having all Boss albums than having all Presley albums. I could probably cover my entire house in his albums and still have some left over.

So! The album came out on June 14th (and I have it already!) and this one is different because it's a new studio album and the first one after Devils and Dust with all original material. And you know what? He will already start recording a new album with the E Street Band in the fall. EXCITED!

I paced myself with this one. I only listened to ''Hello Sunshine'' when it was released in April but the rest I wanted to wait, to experience that whole 80's vibe when you had to wait for the album, put it on, spin it, play it from the first song to the last, no skipping, getting lost in it, and letting it blow your mind. And you know what? It was bloody well worth it. Because it did blow my mind.

I was obsessed with Wrecking ball for the longest time (still am) but I think this album tops it. It has to be Bosses best work in years. If not the best album of all albums in years. It's not that it's amazing, it's that it's mindblowing, perfect, out of this world, orgasmic, insane, beautiful, soulful, touching, inspiring,…there are really not enough words to describe it.

Get ready for a cowboy album. It's a fusion of pop and rock and country music. Almost like creating a completly new style of music. Seriously guys, he is not a musician, he is the Boss. Only he could pull off such a twist in musical genre and make it as perfect as he did. 

Going solo in Springsteens world though means something completely different than it meant say for Queen. We all saw Bohemian Rhapsody right? And what happens after Freddie went solo and ''killed'' Queen? If you read the book Born to run you can read all the details about Bruces relationship with his E Street Band. It's not just a band, not just a couple of hired musicians + his wife. It's obvious that they're family, and apart from that, a family that's been writing and recording with him since 1970's. Now that's not a small thing.

I gotta say though, I despise the term ''real fan'' but lets use it here for a second, a real fan will admit that not everything their ''babies'' do and put out is the most perfect thing after the invention of fire. I am not a fan of the album Devils and Dust it's not my favourite thing at all. Maybe Nebraska put the bar too high but honestly D&D was a bit of disappointment.

And I'm happy to say that Western stars is galaxies away from D&D. Not only it's fresh, and different and something completely new, it's majestic, it's wonderful and it's a journey. A journey which I heard, shocked some fans so much that he had to assure them that he'll be back to ''normal'', recording with the E Street Band ''as soon as possible''. People get upset so easy. Don't they want their favourite musicians to grow and evolve and try different routes? Explore something new? Nobody wants album after album sounding exactly the same without any imagination at all.

It doesn't sound like Springsteen at all but on the other hand if you could expect such a brilliant album from anyone then it's most definatelly going to be him. A brilliant mind, like Bosses is, a brilliant mind that can take you million miles away from his New Jersey beginings and yet make you feel right at home at the same time.

This album brings back memories to more innocent and turbulent times. It has a light tone, gentle, soulful voices, and this peaceful vibe that goes in a strong contrast with the world outside. Horrible, harsh, dark world. The album makes you calm yet troubled as soon as you let yourself get lost in the lyrics.

Boss dusted off a new style and voice he hasn't used in years, some of it sounds like it did on Nebraska and some of it we never heard before. Western stars channels the sound of songs such as Galveston and By the time I get to Phoenix by Webb. The lyrics are light, even though some darkness creeps in from time to time too. About people who's lives aren't really what they expected them to be. But then these songs aren't songs you turn up as loud as it goes and have an entire stadium scream along to, like Born in the USA or Dancing in the dark, these songs….you take a 65' Mustang on top of a hill, put the album on, sit on the hood on a long summer night with an ice cold beer and enjoy the sunset.

What I always did and always will admire most about the Boss is his way of making music. Storytelling. The way he writes his lyrics. In a way where a 3+ minute song could write up an entire movie script, with original characters and real peoples lives. His voice is soft, gentle, intimate, like he's singing to a small theater audience and yet his lyrics are so alive that what he sings can actually play like a movie in your head. Assuming you have at least a bit of imagination. But where Wrecking ball and High Hopes (which really was just a collection of covers and unreleased songs) were angry and a response to the political issues going on in the world right now, this one is a 360 turn away from that. It starts with a song titled ''Hitch Hikin''' which sounds almost like a folk song, sung by a lost man with nowhere to go, someone drifting with the wind wherever the road takes him.  It's a great introduction to a record that brings a new sound and a new look on things.

Most of the songs talk about men who try to numb themselves or lose themselves in work, so they don't think about lost love ''Hard work'll clear your mind and body, the hard sun will burn out the pain''. That's what he sings in Tuscon train and it's one of the few songs on this record where you can actually anticipate a happy ending. Basically, every single song is a story on it's own, and together they're an epic novel.

A press release stated that the album contained a “range of American themes, of highways and desert spaces, of isolation and community and the permanence of home and hope”. Which is the perfect way to describe it. I suppose it hits home to Springsteen too if you consider his struggle with mental health.

The song that I can relate to most, the song that I love most on this album is ''There goes my miracle''. It was the second single released and when you listen to it you can hear a heavy 60's and 70's California pop influence. It's different, it's emotional, it tugs at your every heart string, I mean if you don't feel something listening to it then you might as well be heartless. ''Heartache, heartbreak, love gives, love takes, the book of love holds its rules, disobeyed by fools'' and ''there goes my miracle, walking away''. Don't you think it paints a perfect picture? We all lost someone we loved at some point, we all walked away from our very own miracles not even aware of what we're losing.

And you see the plot twist? Where Tuscon train gives you hope, hope of running away, getting lost in a whole new town, whole new world, starting a new life and making it work, by the end of the album these dreams just float away, like a piece of paper in the wind, or a soap bubble exploding into thin air. He sings about endless roads ahead ''miles to go is miles away'' and you wonder what's the point? Maybe we're all just destined to drift around, never really finding that right place to settle and find our own happiness. The funny part is that the songs are extremly soothing, the voice is soothing and calm but deep down you know, the stories these songs sing about, they're not enough to make things right, they're not happy stories, they're not going to fill you with a warm happy fuzzy feeling. But what they'll give you is probably more important, a sense of understanding and in a way realising that things rarely turn out as you plan them and sometimes it's okay if you're not okay. You pick yourself up and move on like the drifters in Hitch Hikin do. 

It's a record you'll love on the first listen, but it's also an album that grows on you, the more you listen to it the more you'll love it. It's an experience not just a record and I promise you, you'll love all 50 minutes of the ride.

And P.S. can we just point out how brilliant the whole album design is? The front and back covers alone are gorgeous but then there's the inner sleeves and not to mention the inner inner sleves, even they got pictures. How amazing is that? And Boss just looks badass as a cowboy. Don't fight me on that.

Enjoy your week y'all, and go listen to this album. At least on youtube if you're not convinced enough to buy it just yet. Cheers.