I wouldn't have it any other way.

First things first did y'all see Adam Lambert on Capital's Summertime Ball? Oh.My.Gods. You guys! That makeup! I honestly wanted to toss my laptop aside and go draw him ASAP. It's insane and I absolutely will go draw him right after this. I'd draw the same makeup on myself but believe me, my family does not appreciate creativity or independence. Oh my god what will the people say? Jesus fuck the people who cares. Also Adam changing Chers ''Believe'' into ''Do you know the muffin man?'' it's kinda totally hysterical and I'm so here for it. I only saw him with Queen, but he seems like a great preformer on his own, even if I'm not all into his solo stuff. Allergic to pop music and all that. Second thing is that while I'm here rubbing my hair with a towel because it never stops fucking raining and filling out my book wishlist (I am telling you guys book reading and book buying are two separate things) let me just say how desperatelly I'd need a glass of Chardonnay (or make that a bottle od Hamptons Water, got a taste to it now) to finish up this lengthy post that follows. 

Alright I'm really here for a record review for a change. Y'all know I love everything Bruce puts out right? Like there aint his music that I wouldn't like, but what does it say about me, if I say that I absolutely adore this album, and songs aren't even his? I mean...gods. Everything he does is perfect, but guys this is so flawless. It's just...oh my god. Like...I can't. I can't put it into words, from the first second you put that record on...and it starts with him just talking which softly trasits into a song...my god. What the hell is going on with this man? How can each album he puts out top the one before? I tell you what, if you were to look up the definition of music? This is it. He is it. This album is IT. Look no further, it's perfection on a freaking ginger vinyl. 

Alright lets start with this, if you don't like this album we can not be friends. Literally that's it. Game over. Because that's the negativity I don't need in my life. I need friends that understand and appreciate perfection. Second thing not me turning this up, while washing the car outside in my bikinis and howling along (mostly to the dog, nobody else will listen). Yes summer is back in the Balkans and it seems like we're all either melting or drowning. Second is more like it though because in between smothering heat there's  so much rain (or frozen rain) you'd not believe. 

This album is a cover album I already mentioned above, and it's a volume 1. apparently a part two follows. Oh! So exciting! Also side note but the original songs we all know I hope? I mean...nothing but mad respect to the original musicians, writers, singers, etc, but y'all know this is better right? First song I heard was ''Nightshift'' and I knew this is going to be huge. These are soul songs but somehow Boss manages to put even more ''soul'' into them. A whole new meaning, life, vibe...every single smallest detail, in the band, in the music (that guitar in ''When she was my girl''? Lord have mercy I need to fan myself, it's so perfect), and the voice? The voice! Orgasm material. The crooning, the growls, the bluesy sound. The fact that you hear rain in ''I wish it would rain''? Jesus take the wheel I can't take it. 

Here's the deal there's only two ways Boss does things, first it's hours upon hours in the studio, perfectionism and endless nights, doing things over and over till they are perfect (don't I understand that). Or he gets a sudden flash of creativity and basically does an entire album in a week, without going back and doing anything again, like he did ''Letters to you''. Then you got this one ''Only the strong survive''. He created this album in the early days of the lockdown (who said lockdown was useless? I did many times I know but still.), when he had too much time on his hands and went to do covers of his favourite songs. Let me point out that my man has flawless music taste, not that I'd expect anything else. 

I know what y'all are thinking though, that Springsteen just pulled a Rod Stewart with this album but it aint that way. Boss doesn't just do a static cover, he takes a song and makes it his own, stadium song, he shows us how the song makes him feel not just telling us he likes a song by making a cover of it. Also there's been covers on his concerts forever. I remember he did a cover of ''Shout'' on my first concert of his (OH MY GODS! Concert nr. 3 fast approaching and I don't know what to do with myself, about jumping out of my skin from excitement here, lol). 

Maybe what's surprising the most, the begining ''Only the strong survive'', modified a little (I love that little chuckle in between), but else just note per note the same, a wonderful tribute to Jerry Butler. But also the selection of songs on it's own, ever thought about that? Probably you have, but let me tell you how I feel about it regardless, aside from having multiple orgasms while listening of course. Lol. You got some serious classics on here like ''Turn back the hands of time'' but you also have something more ''modern'' like ''Soul days'' which is funny I was just raving about Dobie Gray or better Joe Elliott singing few lines, or better the title of the blog below is Gray's song. Imagine Boss covers that song, my mind might actually explode, or should I say implode? A little submarine joke for y'all. Then there's also 80's gems like ''Nightshift'' and ''When she was my girl'' (fun fact I actually love the Four Tops). And honestly it's not even surprising Boss is drawn to these songs is it? We both love that minor to major uplift, the soft build up, the gospel, the blues, the soul, the hope and the dreams you hear in the songs. God. And songs about lost love, and summer nights, and backroads and tragedy. I get that. I know that. I relate to that. I love that. 

To be honest even if he'd wanna modify the songs to make them his own, what would he even have to do? These songs are him in the end. This is him. Should we also point out how the music sounds like there's a 20 piece orchestra behind him, the entire freaking E Street band at least, but really it's just one man? Mr. Ron Aniello. WHAT?! How?! This is...woah. Mind blown up like that one emoji. You know which one. I mean okay, he's been a collaborator for ''Wrecking ball'' and ''High hopes'' both amazing albums, and it seems to me that with him there's this...how to put it, style? Perhaps that's the word. Style of music, or rather sound, that they've been exploring together. Maybe Ron was a push out of the comfort zone to do more exploring with his sound. A bloody brilliant push out of the comfort zone too.

I heard someone say that this is a very feelgood album about feeling bad. Fair point. Vulnereability is a common streak in this album, but it's presented in a more positive way, instead of everything being doom and gloom. If I understood it right though Rob and Bruce started recording this album and they named themselves the ''Night Shift'', probably working into late nights and that naturally progressed into the song ''Nightshift'' which is and will remain my fave on this album. Though, honestly, picking a favourite is so hard because all songs are fantastic. 

It's been some memory lane type thing if you look at it that way, wasn't it? Like the last couple of years, there's been old classics on tour, which he always shakes up a bit so not many concerts are totally identical. Picture me jealous over how he played ''The River'' the other day but he surely won't on my date. It's going to be GN'R all over again you guys. Then you got his entire life story in a book, which btw audio book in this case is a hell of a lot better, purely because he's reading it ddd. Then this hit Broadway, anothe thing to paint me jealous over. Can y'all imagine the Boss on Broadway? I'd sell my entire family for that. Not that anyone'd wanna buy them. Any of y'all went to see him btw? I'd not be against a full report. There were songs about old friends, songs about lost friends and of course ''Letter to you'' for which they used some old seventies material to make happen. 

Given that this album in many ways is nostalgic to Boss, revisitng his favourites, songs that mean something to him. It's kinda like...the album starts with the words ''I remember''...and it's a Seventies style album tbh, now think in the Seventies Bruce would of been that fiften yearold kid that just started playing, that just got his first electric guitar and started exploring his sound and place in the world. And now add that line he once said to that ''if you played in a bar on the central New Jersey shore in the sixties and seventies, you played soul music'' that's what this is. Soul. But then again if you think about it Bruce has always been a soul musician, he just never let that voice through, except on specially reserved projects, but here that's a different story. I just love how his phrasing draws out that quiet nostalgia of Dobie Gray (Bruce if you ever sing Drift away, I will die at your feet, just sayin). And the falsetto in the Temptations song, I love it, it's not only him celebrating his own favourites but a celebration of soul music in general.

Like, are y'all aware just how difficult creating cover albums is? There's a thin line between making the album sound like a complete copy, or too far fetched from the original sound and song. You need that right balance to make it perfect, and catching that balance sure isn't easy. At least it wouldn't be easy for me. I look at it from my artistic point of view. I constantly worry about originality of my work. Like the world is so full of music and arts and poetry and everything, it's so hard to be completely original. You're constantly inspired by something and it's bound to bleed into your work. But where is that line where something is inspired and something is copied? That's the tough part. With music it's even more difficult, I think it's safe to say people always prefer the original over the cover. I could probably list about 5 songs that I prefer covers of but that's about it, not me recently discovering a cover of ''Girl got rhythm'' by AC DC that is absolutely one hundred percent better than the original. Lol. Anyone got any good Scorpions covers? It's a recent thing that I despise them but also still love their songs and would rather not listen to them them? Does that make sense at all? 

Anyways back to the point, I don't even think this album was set out to be a cover album, I think it was made as a resurrection, as a way to celebrate old classics that we somehow forgotten or just don't hear much of, but to be fair these are some of the strongest vocalists and songwriters of all time and the songs, covers if you will, or better tributes, they're heartfelt, they're not just static songs, you can tell, and you can feel he loves these songs. You know these are his songs. And what an amazing way to bring a new light to these songs, to make sure they survive, to make sure new generations hear them. 

There's a moment in a song, I don't know if you're paying that close attention but on the ''Don't play that song'' by Aretha and Ben E. King, Boss goes off the charted teritory. He adds ''I remember those summer nights down by the shore, as the band played, with you in my arms, and we moved across that floor''. I mean these are such SUCH Bruce lines, and such a Bruce thing to do, adding up, making things a bit different than the original, saw him do it live twice, and if you think about it just how freaking genius and perfect he is, he is adding a piece of himself, a piece of who he is, essentially a piece of his own soul into something that's already considered living history. I love that. A couple of the greatest, entertwined in history forever. 

Now a couple of words on the album design. Firstly I love the clean black look. Absolute perfection. The man looks sexy as hell, the hand porn? Yeah I die. Did y'all notice the reoccuring car theme? Chapter and Verse, Western stars (back cover and my favourite photo of him, obvious reasons) and now this one? Let me point out that the man and I have absolutely matching car taste. I LOVE all of his cars, well him as well so it kinda fits. Did you notice how many details are put into his records? The inner sleeves, the whole gatefold, the gatefold actually has a car printed on the inside, the entire car theme bleeding on all components? I abolutely adore it. The picture inside the gatefold? Lord have mercy. I love how they added a poster that's a fun detail and I actually have another one from Born to run but that's that. It's funny in a way I'd love a Bruce poster probably framed on my wall, but it's not like I'd ever take it out of the vinyl. And I LOVE the neon orange and the etching of a speed meter. How freaking clever is that. Do you know any other artists with etched vinyl? Let me know, I'd love to hear it. Also the sound quality on this vinyl? It's actually fantastic, dynamic, rich, you can hear each instrument and you can hear his voice perfectly, a completely different experience than digital. 

Guys! Oh my god! The next post might actually already be the concert review given by how much I actually write lately. I am SO excited you have no idea! It's been far too long from the River tour which was my favourite tour to date. Another local concert tomorrow, we all know how much I love those right? Nothing like drunk kids and being spilled on and walked on. Fun times. But ya know, free tickets that come with a free drink coupon? This girl has her priorities sorted and knows you do NOT turn that down. Now if y'all excuse me I have about 13 drawings to finish up, poor time managing skills and simply putting things off each time there's a little sunshine outside (can ya blame me though?) led to that. Here's to early weekends! Enjoy guys. 

In the end that's all I want, a simple life with you.

Seems like ages have passed since I last wrote an album review. Seriously, any of all y'all know which was the last one? Children of Bodom perhaps? Who the hell knows…anyways I actually have a couple to catch up on. And also about a couple of books I read, and also a couple complaint posts about fucked up society and human insanity. Anytime now, when I bring myself to actually do it. BUT! This one needed no forcing myself to sit down and write. For this one, words came naturally. Flowing like a river. Look at me being poetic as fuck. And this one album I also actually listened to. A ''couple'' of times. I don't know what's going on lately but, I don't listen to much music *gasp*. Or watch Eurovision. I know you guys, I know. Revoke my European citizenship card. I deserve it.  (btw Finland my beloved, cha cha cha ;) I love it) 

So! This album came out on Friday (the 27th), and though this is being posted today (was waiting for the CD to show up in the mail to include pixs), it was written on Saturday (the 28th). Listen, I may have been up all night Friday night to listen to it. On repeat. A ''couple'' of times. Y'all didn't expect me to wait for my physical copy did ya? I mean though it was preordered months ago, and what's another week when you've already been waiting for months, buuuuut I just couldn't wait okay. I am so weak and I couldn't do it. This is the same situation as that ''no, I will not draw Tom Cruise this week'', well guess who has 3 half drawn portraits of him on her desk? Not me, no no, not at all. But it's not as bad as it sounds, I swear I have about 20 other drawings in the works too. Just, priorities.

Before you ask me and before we get into it, this album is a CD version because I love listening to him in the car. Might also get a vinyl version at some other time, if only for the bigger version of the pictures inside. Ha ha. 

This is that thing I keep telling you guys about. How modern times and streaming and youtube are fucking up music. It's all nice and dandy to share music videos on, but it's also taking the magic of getting an album. Like literally holding it, and playing it for the first time, from start to finish. (I know what I wrote in the first paragraph about waiting, shut up). I hardly know how that feels. And yes most of it is my fault, but you really can not dangle Kip Moore in front of me and expect me to take a step back and behave. Hello.

I remember writing the review for two of his other albums (wait two? One is missing! And also missing one of the albums, this is the fifth studio album, I only got four.) and they both started with praise about how much I love him. Hah. That hasn't changed one bit, I still absolutely love him. Or maybe possibly more. Cue in the endless sobbing over the fact that he's playing Cologne early May and I won't be there, even if this is the closest he's ever been to me. Deep sigh. Love is pain. Here I was yapping how I am crazy enough to go all the way to UK for one day for him, and now that he's more reachable, I can't go. IF there is a god above she must hate me. 

As I said for the other album, I will tell you the same for this one, it is perfect, perfect, perfect. Fucking absolute perfection. And even perfection is barely scratching the surface. I think he absolutely outdid himself, lyrically, musically, the voice? THAT VOICE! I don't even know where to start. In reality I hear Springsteen when listening to Kip. Not that they sound the same, but I hear him in that story telling. I hear him in that, you can sit with your eyes closed, listen to the lyrics and it's like an entire film is playing in your head. It's amazing to be able to say so much in a few lines of a song.

I know what you're thinking because I keep listening to the same crap. Oh but he's a country artist, what the hell are you thinking. In theory yes, he is. But really, it's more like his music has country roots and he's exploring elsewhere, a little pop, a little rock, a little bending the rules, a little experiment, and that's probably what is making his songs so good. So honest. So full of life ya know. So different really, the songs are not the same on this album by all means, they're all over the place, they're a freaking journey and my god what a journey it is. Can you guys just imagine if more musicians would just step out of the box, just dare to try something different? Dare to experiment and even if every single song comes out sounding different. So what? If it's good it's good. I don't understand putting out album after album and they basically all sound the same. A musician should be ballsy enough to dare and try something different, dare to still dream, dare to explore and grow. After all don't all of us artist want that? To grow? I know I will always want more, I'll always want to improve my drawings somehow. I know I will never settle. 

Kip especially stands out in the flood of country stars I'd say. Especially those singing about girls, beer and tractors (sorry Luke, you know I love you), just take this one song as an example, it's called Micky's bar (can we take a moment to appreciate that one of my fave bars in Vienna is also called that?) and it tells a story about a small town bar, regular clients and a girl called Jane (of fucking course it's Jane). It says ''Oh my make it a double, sweet Jane shootin' me a smile, oh my, my hearts in trouble, sweet Jane wants to stay a while''. It's an emotional tornado, it takes you on a path of slow burn romance. It's a simple song, with perfect vocals, perfect melody and just my god amazing writing. I am honestly just…amazed with how perfect the lyrics are on this album. I knew he had it in him, never doubted it, but jesus this is just over the freaking top. He is perfection. 

I can't pick a favourite song on this album. Like I can not, each one is special and perfect in it's own way, but really I knew this is gonna be huge ever since I heard the single ''Damn love''. 

Love is a reoccuring theme on this album. Of course. Or more like struggles with it. Relationships. Love. Life. Humans. 13 songs all together but this time there is less of that nostalgia, heartbreak, sadness, there is so much hope this time around. Hope for the future? Hope for…love? Just hope in general? I think hope is something we all need at this point. Just some hope that life can get better, that love can get better, that people can get better. That maybe somehow the world can get better.

Lets make something clear, ''Damn love'' the album titled song, the opener, it's fast paced, energetic, really that one that only needs one listen and you're hooked. But it's also the type of song you put on your fave greatest hits playlist and move on from the rest of them. But the real listeners, those that still appreciate music as art, those that sit down and listen to a song, really listen I mean, those will appreciate the introspective. They will enjoy the journey the album takes them on. They will enjoy exploring with Kip. They will appreciate listening and growing with him. They will appreciate the path and walk along side with him. Every twist and turn it leads you on. You'll know how to cherish that. Y'all know what I mean? It's music as it should be. Raw emotion. A story to tell. 

Guys! Listen to ''Heart on fire'' and tell me you don't hear ''Born in the USA''? Same vibe, same mood, same inspiration, same emotion, same love, same perfection. Same stadium moment, hot summer night, sunset over the stadium, lights, people, music, starry skies above. And nothing but you lost in the moment with thousands of strangers. Yes, in case you can't tell I miss this. Heart on fire is literally this.  Pop rock song, it's not country at all and I am obsessed with it, and yes baby, I would risk it all on you. Just saying, side note. 

''One heartbeat'' is a duet with the magnificent  Ashley McBryde, girl that voice! But let me point out that I was dancing to this song late last night in the headligths of a dirty AF Mercedes SUV, don't give me that look, I'd prefer a Silverado as well, but hey at least my jeans were skin tight and my boots were cowboy style. I fell in love with this song instantly, as soon as I heard the first few lines. They are just about the cutest thing on this planet. And honestly, don't we all need logic and reason in an insane world? I love you Kip okay, thank you for writing this song (whole album really), it's absolutely perfect and for 3:30 minutes in that dust, there was nothing, no worries, just the night, the stars, the headlights and this song. The worries just melted away. Expect me to get drunk at some point and butcher this song at karaoke. I apologise in advance, I really love it. Any volunteers to butcher the song with me? It's a duet after all…it just occured to me, this song is that cheesy romance books type thing that I love to read so much, you know…the fluffy cute things that make your teeth rot? Yep that. Imagine the goth girl with leather pants, black lipstick and a mean glare, reading sappy stories about two idiots in love. What has gone wrong in evolution I wonder? Or just, in my life at least. Maybe just the need for fluffy, cute, sappy, perfect, in a world that is anything but.

Can I just for a second point out that Kip said ''I still crave that companionship deep down in my DNA, and that's where Damn love comes from. There's a reason love and relationships have been written about so much, and why they continiue to get written about. Because at the core of us, that's what we desire the most.'' . Listen sweet cheeks I'm still waiting. Just saying.

You know what? The more I look at the whole album the more I feel like it's a journey on a search for love. A man looking for love and all the places he could be looking for it. Or better the places people go to look for love. Maybe the duet then represents the conclusion, two souls, one heartbeat. 

To conclude the rant with the song, a ballad, ''Mr. Simple''. I love it. You know why? Because it celebrates the simple things in life, the little things, the things that make life worth living but we all take them for granted. I love how the song starts, ''I've never liked the city, there's something 'bout them sounds''. You know what I hate the most about living in the city? Traffic, ambulance cars, railroad sounds, people. I've been craving to move out for a long time now. If only it could be as easy as the song says ''so, if you want the country, a simple life will do, just call me Mr. Simple, livin' simple with you''. That's all I'd want at the end of the day. Though if I stop here and comment on the only thing on this album that I did not like. It's in this song, and it's a line ''well, I've never liked the ocean''.  How dare you Mr. Moore? As part mermaid I am offended. Hah. That aside, I really felt the lines ''A hundred miles to the nearest road, nowhere to be, nowhere to go, just you and me soakin' up that sunset gold, drinkin' that beer ice cold, always got a hand to hold''. I'm either that boring or that old that this right here sounds like heaven to me. 

So that's about it, lets not spiral into long rants that don't make no sense and lets face it none of y'all have the patience to read. Enjoy the picture of my four beauties all together, so pretty, BTW did y'all notice how ''Damn love'' circles right back to ''Wild ones'' with the style and font? I absolutely love that.

''The people are the government, and the people have the power. All we have to do is awaken the power in the people.''

I'm literally sitting here in the middle of the night updating and writing shit posts for two of my blogs in order to keep my breathing (should I say panting?) under control. I watched the Witcher. Binged watched the Witcher and I have a couple of problems. Starting with how dare they cast Henry Cavill as the Witcher. Oh my gawd I'm not okay. That gray hair, yellow eyes and leather does things to me which in turn make me wanna do things to him. Bad bad things. Lol. Second thing they're giving us all these trailers, sneak peaks before the release and my mind the entire time was just ''bard bard bard bard bard''. Literally. No joke. OH MY GOD HAVE YOU HEARD THE SONG?! (Burn Butcher Burn) It came from a broken heart? Please unfollow, stop reading, block my posts because this is all I'm going to be talking about for a long while. Henry's voice in that Witcher mode growl? Lord help me I need Jesus and a confession. So damn sexy. And I would literally sell my soul to the devil twice to have him wrap his hands around my neck and growl into my ear (straight of set, in his Witcher gear still lol). Though my fangirling and freaking out aside, season two is better in every single way than season one was. Also, I need Henry's necklace bad! Anyone knows any good replica shops? Let me know if you do.

In more important news, my fellow Tumblr and Apple users, y'all seen this new tagging bullshit right? I hope every single employee at Apple gets beheaded. Sincerly. I prefered iPhones over Androids always but this? This is seriously crossing any and all lines of good taste. Why the fuck can't I use the tag ''mine'' anymore for my art? What kinda fucking problem can Apple have with that? I get tags for things that may be triggering but here's a wild idea how about banning triggering things all together so no tags are needed? Huh? I mean like look at an example banning the tag ''antisemitism'' is only preventing the discussion about it but not the content itself. The only message they're sending out this way is that creating a bricked up garden with hateful posts is acceptable on social media while pointing out that it's hateful is not. What the fuck for real. Listen to me and listen to me good, I aint censoring myself and fuck them iOS users (yes I know I'm one of them).  If anyone wanna read the idiotism of blocked tags here's the list  (Click me )

My fave gotta be suicide prevention and safe sex. WHAT IN GODS NAME IS BAD ABOUT THAT APPLE?!

Also that aside, I need to focus on the vinyl playing (yes finally after a year, a miracle my player still works after being neglected for so long) music, which was put on the player in order to either prevent me from going into a fit of rage over Apple and our government doing idiotic, fascistic bullshit or getting overly horny over the perfect human being that is Henry Cavill. Clearly wrong choice of music since I'm still both, angry and horny which in normal circumstances aint a bad thing to be honest, aint nothing quite like a little rough, hate sex. But back to the music there aint nothing hateful or rough about this man… 

Y'all know I do not like the Beatles. Really they're not my cup of tea. Over rated in every aspect and why the hell would you listen to the Beatles when you had the Stones? But their solo work I love. Most of it anyways. McCartney and Lennon at least. Lol.

This album came out in 1982 and it was released after John died. As a tribute to his solo career. It was supposed to come out in 81' but I believe it was held back for a year due to some legal bullshit. Isn't there always some legal bullshit? I think this had to do with that some songs were owned by Geffen and some by EMI and they probably couldn't come to an agreement. The album of course includes some of his biggest singles from his solo albums as well as my fave song by him which no is not Imagine but Stand by me. Though of course Imagine has better lyrics and story, aren't we all dreamers after all? I might be into Stand by me far more due to a fond memory tbh. It's not everyday at a karaoke bar where you get a musician who is supposed to be a good singer but had one too many drinks dedicate this song to you in a pink feathery boa, howling like a wounded moose. Good times. Now I don't even know what karaoke or a bar are to be honest.

Over all the selection of songs is alright but a little strange. I mean starting with ''Give peace a chance'' such a John Lennon thing to say. We all should give peace a chance, we all should live in peace but honestly, I don't have John's optimism or dreamer nature so I can't imagine the world giving peace a chance, at least not as long as humans live. It's a great start of the record though. ''Instant Karma''? Yes. I wish daily that Karma whoops some butts of some people that really deserve it. Another one of those, will I ever see it moments? It seems to me that this world is far more prone to favour idiots and assholes than it is to favour good people. I'm not even talking about myself here, I know I'm not perfect, I know I've made many mistakes, pissed off some people, hurt some people. But I know people that are nothing but kind and caring and loving and they seem to be on the receiving end of all bad things, always.

Third song side A is important. ''Power to the people''. I take it if you're here reading this post you know at least a little bit about John Lennon, you know his political stance and his ''rebelious'' nature. So you'll know this song is a Revolutionary statement. He wrote this song as a call to action of sorts, a response to the radical politics in the 60's. Deja Vu these days aint it?

Basically the phrase speaks for itself, obviously indicating that the people need to take control from the governments and institutions, which Lennon himself fought for and advocated. I often think how miserable and disappointed he'd be in the world we live in now. I don't think he'd enjoy watching the governments trampling rights and abusing people, or maybe I'm wrong and he'd be the voice of reason, the person that starts a proper riot. You know the kind that burns cities to the grounds. Metaphorically speaking, we all know John wouldn't hurt a fly. But you know what he said about this song? It was during the time him and Yoko (ugh) were doing the footage for the Imagine documentary, he was asked about the precise meaning of the song. Stupid question because wtf are you an illiterate idiot or…? Anyways what John said was ''The people are the government, and the people have the power. All we have to do is awaken the power in the people.''

This statement is exactly what I'm trying to make people see. People should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of it's people. The very first second people start being afraid of their leaders it's no longer democracy but totalitarism. And the fact that we let them get away with everything, the fact that we let them use and abuse us, let them decide what they think we should do with our lives, with our bodies, with our beliefs. It's absolutely perverse.

Cute story a month after this song was released the Chi-Lites ''(For God's sake) Give more power to the people'' came out and though they wrote mostly about love and heartbreak they occassionally released a political song as well. Though they wrote about feelings, didn't want to get involved, John Lennon was different, he was up to his balls involved.

And then you got ''Whatever gets you through the night''. Well John, freshly sharpened pencils, couple of sheets of blank paper and gallons of coffee. Most nights. Some nights staring at the nightly starry skies wondering if someone else miles away is looking at the same sky as I am. Some nights simply lost in my head in either scenarios that end up hurting me or fantasies in which someone and I'm not going to lie it's mostly Henry, is attending my deepest, darkest fantasies, making them come true. So there. That's what gets me through the night. What am I saying. Sometimes it's literally chilled JD Honey.

Fun fact. Whatever gets you through the night is Lennons only solo number one single in the US during his life and he was the last member of the Beatles to achieve this. Recording includes Elton John on harmony / back vocals and piano. And another fun fact / cute story. Elton bet John that this song would top the charts but John was so sceptical that he said if it does he'll appear on stage at one of Elton's preformances. So the song hit number one and Lennon appeared at John's Thanksgiving gig at Madison square garden in 1974, which was Lennon's last major concert appearance.

I don't need to specifically go into Imagine and why that song is so important and meaningful right? I think we all know what it means and what the message behind it is aye?

There's of course other songs on this album like; Dream (what are those?), Mind games (aren't we all subjected to those lately?), Love (what is that?), Happy Xmas war is over (is it though?), Jealous guy, (just like) starting over (that's all I really want, a fresh start), Woman (according to new Ios – tumblr tag block a woman no longer exists lol), I'm losing you (sigh), Beautiful boy (darling boy), Watching the wheels (what is he a dog chasing a car?), Dear Yoko (gross. Come on I can't be the only one with a distaste towards Yoko?). But those all aside let's focus on my fave one eh? Yes because it's my fave that's all you're getting.

The blonde singer that sang this to me in a bar. Oh my god. Lol. He butchered the song, if there was ever anyone turning around in their grave then it was John during this ''preformance''. Tho the lyrics were all correct the singing was…well..takes a few tequila shots to ''enjoy'' the howling. I also heard David from Simple plan sing Stand by me, few times. Loved it. But lets go back to the original song. Which is not Lennons at all! This always happens to me I love a song by a certain artist and learn it's not theirs at all but a cover. Sigh. Ok so the original was released in 1961 by Ben E King. And last time I checked there's about 400 versions of this song out there. Can you imagine that? 400 different versions of the same song. I imagine it's the same with Hallelujah though. Apparently King said it was inspired by Sam Cooke's song ''Stand by my father'' could be. And another reason why I like it. Lets be honest everyone knows I love me some Sam Cooke. Oh look another thing on my bucket list, I need like a greatest hits by Cooke vinyl with Cupid and Change is gonna come and most importantly Twistin the night away. Bestie and I would dance to that song on the frozen Lake Bodom being stupid together. Fun times. Imagine how much more fun it would be if that ice cracked under our feet. Lol. Thank god Finland is practially permanetnly frozen.

I love how John covered this song, I love the acoustic guitar and I love the solo in between. I always hate it when someone takes a song and wants to make it 100% the same. If you're a singer, put some of yourself in the song, make it your own nobody wants to hear the same song all over again only sung in a different voice. Like metal singers do with Disney songs? Yeah I love that shit.

Either way I need to wrap this up because there's a sketch of Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders on my desk screaming for my attention and if there's one thing I can't resist is fresh new sharpened pencils and a pretty face to sketch. Y'all watched this show btw? Amazing! I love it so much and Cillian Murphy is so good in it. I had a thing about him before, those eyes! But I feel like he was born for this role, clothes, face, hair! All of it fits. It wasn't my thing before till I was persuaded into watching it and since said person doing the persuading has to suffer through my moaning and panting over the Witcher…it was only fair I watch some of his content too. Thank fuck I did. (Also Tom Hardy!).

Right the album! The first posthumous release and it did super well, reaching number one in UK (of course it did) and number thirty three in US where it also went triple platinum but what's more important and also kinda creepy is that the front and back cover pictures (they're awesome aren't they?) were taken by the amazing Annie Leibovitz and just a few hours later John was murdered. Jeesh.

Either way, despite not being a huge fan this is an album I enjoy now and then. For calming your nerves and anger and horniness there's no better cure. Lol. I suggest you give it a spin.

So enjoy your week you guys, last week of 2021, I don't know should I be relieved or terrified? Either way I'm glad this shit year, another shit year actually, is finally ending.

Are we even still, Alive?

I've been really struggling with writing lately. Writers block. I guess. Or the fact that things I could write about are all too private, too R rated, and some just too painful. Maybe sometimes I find it stupid to write anyways. I'm mostly amusing myself and my few loyal readers (cheers guys I love you) but fact is as much as I want it, I'll never be popular like one of them influencers. I don't want to be tbh, I'm not stupid or naked enough for them but a few more hits, a few more readers, knowing that people care about what I write, knowing I maybe with my opinions and views changed someone elses…that'd be nice. 

I noticed this state or the world really killed my creativity. Drawing. Photography. Writing. Everything is too much trouble. Getting dressed in the morning is a hassle. Nevermind thinking and doing and being creative. Fucking impossible my god. The state of the world is really killing me tbh. Not being able to get away from it all, to just have a moment of peace and quiet is killing me. I can't put it into words what a strong desire to throw my laptop out my fucking window I get when I google a Finnish word and google asks me ''did you mean Coronavirus'' fucking fuck you google, words don't even look alike, and I for sure did not mean coronavirus. It never ends. You can never get away from it and that's all I want. For the world to shut the fuck up. We all have our own opinions, we all have the right to choose and all this bullshit force feeding is slowly but surely driving me crazy. 

Thing is, how do you make sense of all this crap that's happening? How do you make sense of anything really? How do you make sense of life? The world? Love? How do you explain anything? How does anyone? You know Isaac Newton thought that the world works like the gears in a clock. A well oiled machine. I guess that could give you some comfort, a sense of order, a sense of predictabilty, but that idea has been shot down by physics of the modern world, so we're back to square one. The universe is a strange strange place and we're nothing but insignificant moments that pass by faster than you can imagine. Sometimes everything seems pretty pointless to be honest. 

So while I pour myself a cold one (got a box full of it free from our local brewery – cheers guys I love you) and put on some music…here's a couple words on this album that's playing right now. I promise to hold back on the ''cute cupcake'' comments this time. We all know he's cute and I've been staring at him on my laptop wallpaper all day for months so, moving on. 

Would it be weird to get his signature tattooed though? Asking for a friend. Lol. 

You can check out Davids views on the current state of the world on picture four, it's at the begining of the CD booklet. While he put things into words very nicely it really annoys me because it brings us to the point of the issue. Everything revolves around THAT. You can't get away. You can't live in your own ''bubble''. ''I can't wait to see you all again''. Yes David, me too. Seeing you, seeing everyone I love again, but as you said there's no end in sight. Bless you if you can keep on holding to hope but seems to me that my hope has been long gone. 

But you're right about one thing, this album sure did take my mind off my worries for a little while and took me to a happier place. Well, places. Happier times. Concert life. Travel life. Living life. Feeling ALIVE. Shame the momentum was gone as soon as the CD ended. 

Songs on this album are as following; 

1. Stayin Alive

2. What a wonderful world

3. Happy

4. Paint it black

5. Beauty and the beast

6. Hit the road Jack

7. Dance of the Knights

8. Shallow

9. Enter Sandman

10. Circle of life

11. Thriller

12. Confutatis

13. Let it go

14. Bella Ciao

15. The 7th Allegretto

16. Game Rhapsody

First thing that stands out to me is that there are three songs from Disney movies. Okay, I know I said I won't go there with the cutey and so on but just one quick comment because it's melting my heart thinking about watching Disney movies with him. ''Netflix and chill'' kinda thing you know. Yeah that'd be nice. But moving on because really I feel like my point isn't getting across. I am not a fan because I think he's drop dead gorgeous, I am a fan because he is mad talented. It seems insane if you look at me the ''gothic Barbie'' as a friend calls me…but I have several CDs from all kinds of classical composers, with Bach being one of my faves (actual Johann Sebastian Bach not the pretty Bach you see at the side here). I actually started listening to Davids classical works first before going into rock crossovers which tbh were a gift from god himself for me. It's like two of your favourite pop punk bands going on tour together (All time low and Neck deep omg! One of my fave concerts ever. Fuck I miss concerts so much.), or finding a perfect outfit and then hearing it comes in black too. Or when they make a movie based on a book you like and it doesn't actually suck. Magic. 

You know that the New York Times calls him ''a wizard on the strings''? yup. So this ''Alive'' album is actually called ''Alive, My soundtrack'', first thing I noticed is that it came out on October 9th, a day after my birthday. Idk just find that nice for some reason. It makes no difference I just thought it's a cute coincident. Like my first and only concert of his I saw was also almost my birthday, October 12th. I didn't really check out on his website what he says about this album. I tend to avoid his website out of two reasons. One being the same as any other musicians website right now, the ''cancelled'' and the ''postponed'' messages make me sick to my stomach. And the other is, well have you seen the official site? His brilliant photographers and their work plastered all over is giving me serious heart palpitations, brain fog and hot flashes like I'm experiencing menopause.  No joke. The man is sexy okay. 

What I do know is that the album was recorded literally during the first lockdown and second and third, ah who's keeping track by now…and it must be a surreal experience. I mean you usually set a time, okay, here's a year, we're going to do this in this year, sometimes in between touring, we all know dates tend to get pushed back but normally that's how it goes. But here you are now, recording in a completely new world really. Completely different conditions and basically no real time limit. How do you even go about it? With so many songs in the world, so much music you love? Where do you start? I can't decide between my couple hundred albums what to listen to, never mind if I was picking a track list (almost wrote set list – I swear I'm going crazy) with only the best rock and pop rock songs. 

I know they recorded twice as many songs as there are on the CD…so, David, you know ''Use your Illusion'' has I and II? I mean I'm just asking…

Considering the foreword above and of course the title, it's pretty obvious that this album is very personal. Maybe the most personal of all of his records which there have been plenty of so far. It makes me wonder though, what do these songs mean to him. What memories they take him back to. I know what I feel, what I see, what makes me smile when a certain song comes on, but I can't help the curiosity, what memories do they bring up for him. It's one of those things I'd love to do, sit down and chat with such a brilliant musical mind to see what inspires them, what makes them who they are, where gives them the drive and the passion for their work. Why these songs. Why this type of music. Why…anything and everything really. One artist to another, though I barely consider myself an artist. Even less so lately. Inspiration and passion comes and goes I get it, but I have never felt like this before. 

David said in an interview; ''My heart beats for all the songs on this album, because I have an intense connection with every single one of them. To put it simply, I carry a little piece of all of them in my heart.''. That is what I'm curious about. What makes these songs so special. Especially Frozen's Let it go, though surprisingly I don't even have a problem imagining David as Elsa. Hah. 

I think the start of the album ''Stayin' alive'' is pretty damn genius. Why? Because what were we trying to do this pass year? Staying alive. Not because of a virus but because of going absolutely and utterly crazy. Though I think we could discuss how ''alive'' we really are at this point. I don't know about you guys but I feel rather zombie like lately. Going through the motions but not really living. Barely even breathing. I don't know. 

I'm going to go on a wild guess and say that ''What a wonderful world'' is on the album for the same reason I like it. It's such an emotional and beautiful song. The times it was written in were tough like times are now but still the song has this allure of hope. It feels hopeful and as a piece itself it's timless like Coco Chanels little black dress. And I'm going to take another wild guess that he listens to ''Enter sandman'' on a morning jog (if he does jogging) because that's what I'm blaring when angrily punching and kicking my boxing bag (or sparring partner) trying to get all the frustrations out through my martial arts training. I guess that's about as much as I can guess on the ''personal meaning''. 

Point here, this is another amazing album, you can see the love, the talent and passion he put into it. You can see the raw gift this man has, the crossover songs are constructed so beautifully. Every note is on point. Every note is just right. Nothing is out of place, nothing is left to chance. The album is a beautiful trip from start to finish and it makes you forget the world for a quick second. So there you go, here's a drawing I've been working on; 

I can never get him right. At all. Must be because of his gorgeous face. It's so hard to get his beautiful features just right, golden ratio and all that. Alright, putting this album back to the start, hopefully to give me a few more moments of peace and relaxation. Happy Monday y'all. Hope life is treating you much better than it's currently treating me. 

Happy Birthday my god damn Wild Child.

So. Here we are. Survived another lockdown. Kinda. Two more days if we're lucky, but my money is on two more months tbh. I can't say it was a good week because let's be serious it was anything but, but nothing Jack Daniels can't fix. Kinda. I've been torturing myself with memories, travels, concerts, hell bars even. Scrolling through all old pictures on the phone you realise just how dull your life has become. How much they took from us. And actually, in a funny way I'm laughing out loud because about two years ago my family called me insane for being dressed in a full Winter soldier get up. ''you can't walk around town with a mask covering half your face Nikki'' ha ha ha. Who's laughing now? Well nobody is but I think you got the point.

Glancing through these old pictures I figured I don't really miss anything as much as I miss Vienna. One of my favourite cities and frequent quick getaway / long weekend / concert location. I miss everything about it, I miss the music, the art, the beat of the city, fuck I miss freedom really. I miss the fact that I could walk down the streets of Vienna and feel more at home than I do at home. I've seen all my favourite bands in that city. I've seen exhibitions of some of my favourite artists. Tried some new foods. And spent what I think was the most surreal and romantic weekend there with a rockstar. Straight out of a movie. Yeah life in Vienna is much different, and much better, and I can't put it into words how much I miss it. I'd give anything to reset humanity and live in a normal world once again.

A normal world where the bars are open and you get to pick up a stranger for a night, no regrets just love kinda thing right? Ironically lately there's no love just plenty regrets. I guess one can hope in another life things will be better. In another life we can get back to that hotel room, room service, hot makeout sessions and pretending the world doesn't exist outside our room. A world where we play games that have you begging for more, games where you tease me if I want you I'll beg but you end up begging instead. A world in which you tell me again how you should never let me walk out and in the arms of another man and mean it. A world in which love is enough, and strong enough to handle whatever curve ball life throws at us. But the harsh reality is that you wake up alone, spend the days alone, with a vinyl playing and a bag of Haribo gummi bears trying to fill the void you feel inside. It's not really working but well…you can try. Booze doesn't help. Maybe sugar will.

So yesterday was April 8th. Alexi's birthday. Always thought it's cool we share birthdays in a way. The number 8th. His is April mine is October. I decided to celebrate it with Samantha Fox' ''Touch me'' and a shit ton of JD. Didn't need to extra curse or be extra pissed let's face it I already am everyday. Yesterday was chaotic just as he would of love it. Hyvää syntymäpäivää Alexi, minä rakastan sinua.

''The faint blaze of the candle of my life, slowly dying like a fire in a pouring rain. No sparks of hope inside, no shooting stars on my sky. On broken wings, no flying high.''

So in order to celebrate, a quick write up of the very vinyl spinning right now. Before I even get into the music, which is perfect from the first minute to the last, just look at the perfection that is this release in the first place. One of my favourite records, white, splattered, the ''halo'' of blood in the middle? Everything is absolutely perfect.

 

I aint going to disect this album song by song, that would of been too much. I guess it's too early still. Like it's too early for those magazines. I love the pictures in them so much but I still can't bring myself to actually read them.

I don't really read album reviews tbh, like when they come out, before I get them…I don't know, might be the fact that I really don't like people nor care about their opinions (unless asked) or it might be the fact that I said several times that critiques are assholes. Yes me included. I especially stayed away from any and all CoB reviews. Simple reason, they all started the same way, people bitch and complain about how good they used to be, and how ''boring'', ''down the hill'', ''stagnant'' they are now and a whole god damn discussion on why that is. Can you literally see me roll my eyes all the way into my god damn skull? I mean people are never happy are they? They are not happy when a band changes their sound too much (really, it's called evolving their sound get on with the program) and they're not happy with a band when it stays the same. Whatever you do you really can't please everyone so it's no point in trying at all. I guess I wish people were bitching less. I mean it's pretty easy, if you like something, enjoy it, if you don't move along, if you don't agree, unless asked for opinion move the fuck along.  So many unneeded words, so much negativity. Sigh.

Right so for those never happy always complaining, ''Halo of blood'' will be an improvment. You see changes, it's different than ''Blooddrunk'' and ''Relentless''. I love all of them but I suppose out of the three if I chose favourites, Halo of blood would be it. No doubt though that ''Hatecrew'' and ''Chaos'' are my favourite. Say what you will but that's what it is.

The album is something special because there are ten songs on it and they are completely different from each other and yet they are not even a little bit out of place and fit together perfectly. Straight from the start, song one ''Waste of skin'' hits you in the face , with that insane, super fast, fingers flying on the frets, melodic guitar, in sync with the bass and the keyboards. It's amazing. And just watching them hands flying up and down, shredding those chords is nothing short of completely mesmerising and erotic at the same time.

I give you one thing though, this is the eigth album but really should be the fifth, to me the sound sorta returns to Hatecrew era, it sort of makes a logical follow up. A logical part two if you will. And also it doesn't because the two albums in between were just what I mentioned above, explorations, developing and searching their sound. I guess the songwriting though here is quite a bit different. It's more diverse. More complex. You know what I mean? I love all songs, I love all lyrics. I absolutely adore ''Angels don't kill'', but I don't know there's some sorta new kind of depth here that I register differently. Sometimes I can't even explain what I mean or what's going on in my head.

What really shook me all over was ''Dead man's hand on you''. It was a shock, complete and utter shock. In a good way of course. Starting the song with acoustic guitar and clean vocals? I did not expect that at all. The brooding, dark acoustic sound, the sorta spoken words but then that explosive chorus? Shit it's freakin perfect. Sorta death metal, dark, ballad in a way. For me, one of those exploring the sound, exploring different types of music, and for sure a highlight in their career, producing something different, something just as equally amazing as the fast riffs and scratchy screaming vocals. I feel like this song is literally putting emotions into sounds. So many feelings, both put in the song and felt when listened to. It's just amazing and even if the whole album was just that one song, it would of been perfect.

This album really isn't just a collection of great riffs (which there are so many of on it) but also the addition of the perfect raspy, gritty, icicles and knives kinda vocals. It's also a perfect example of some of the best, innovative and technically perfectly executed writing up to date. It shows perfectly on the song ''One bottle and knee deep''. Pure freakin perfection. What a way to close up an album.

The whole thing is one of those moments, defining moments in music, where they reclaimed their throne in the Finnish melodic death metal scene and I believe that's a place nobody can ever take from them. Not now and not ever. I will always love Finnish music, they have only the best musicians but no matter what they come up with there will always only be one CoB and nothing and nobody can top that. and Halo of blood is a brilliant way to prove that they are the kings, the titans of Finnish melodic metal. They went back to their musical roots, schooled us with the best and most amazing riffs and showed us how vocals, guitars, drumming and keyboards should function together. Nothing short of a completely unique experience and nothing short of 40 minutes of pure power, ferocity, intensity and perfection. To put it shorter, this album is freakin amazing and it's got balls and there is nothing quite as perfect as turning the volume up sky high and screaming along to the songs. Best way to melt off all the frustrations.

Now to close this post and move on and get some shit done today…who am I kidding, we all know I'll just put the record back to start and not move a muscle…listen to me kids, as soon as I get home, throw off my bra, the day is over for me okay? And I don't even care if it's 11 am. Day – over. Now to conclude my endless ramblings, take a look at this beautiful gem on my jackets. Here's a way to keep Allu with me always. If you want one too, go to the etsy store link here (click me).

I miss you Allu, so much, hope you're happy, where ever you are because life down here without you is anything but happy. Happy birthday, I love you.

Wasted & wounded

That's how I feel these days wasted and wounded. More wounded than wasted actually. Wounded in a mental state kinda way.  There's only so much one can do to keep busy, distracted and well trying their best not to go crazy in the current state of the world. How's that working for you guys? I gotta admit my facade of sanity is slowly (or actually quickly) crumbling. As we head into yet another (big shocker huh?) week of lockdown, I'm finding it hard not to go absolutely bat shit crazy.

So while I sit here and contemplate life, begging the man upstairs and the man downstairs to let us travel again soon, here's some fun facts about another European country I absolutely love. Here's the deal, Berlin is it for me. No place cooler than Berlin. Also as a country, Italy. Aint nothing better than Italy. If you got the money, if you got the chance to go to Italy and you don't, you're just plain crazy. Italy is as close to heaven as there is on earth. BUT! Another country (and the first one I'm bolting to as soon as lockdowns and all the other bullshit are over) I love, is Finland. There aint nothing quite like Finland either. See Italy is perfect in their ocean, beaches, architecture, culture, history, food, Italians, climate, lakes, nature,…but Finland. God Finland.

Did you know that Finland has the most heavy metal bands in the world? Like when you think of music, I guess we all think of USA and UK first, which is insane because music as such is so much better in Scandinavia. There are literally more than 50 metal bands for every 100 000 people in Finland. Consider that there are about 5 540 000 people living in Finland, now imagine all the bands. Wild. Another thing that one should consider is that Finland is said to be the worlds happiest country. Obviously I need to move asap. Lacking happiness as I am, maybe the happiest country in the world can fix me. A little. Or a lot. The happiness factor depends on life expectancy, freedom of making life choices (all the big ones), economic strength, FREE education even on university level, no corruption, health care taken care of, and most likely just generally them being different more open minded people. Honestly if there's one thing I just can't take is conservative, dumb, hateful people.

Another fun fact which paints you a vivid picture why Finland is literally the country for me is the fact that Finns are the world's biggest coffee drinkers. Which surprised me and also is that a challenge? Because these days I swear I only run on coffee and fake promises of a better time, which means I am literally increasing the average liters of coffee consumed of my entire country. I actually assumed that if not the world, than Europe, biggest drinkers of coffee would be the French or Italians, but no, there go the Finns, probably staying awake all nights, writing metal songs or getting lost in the woods. So in translation that means 12 kg of coffee per person per year. And yet here I am, being called crazy for drinking five plus cups of coffee per day.

Here is another thing that I just LOVE about Finish people. You know me, in some ways this corona crap is actually a gift from god for me, I am enjoying the social distance and people not breathing down my neck in supermarkets…here's the deal, in Finland saying a quick hello and moving on your way when meeting an acquaintance is perfectly okay. Nobody is pushy, nobody is stopping you for a (mostly unwanted) snoopy conversation. I hate that so much here, always the same ''How's work? When are you getting married? How about children? Did you lose weight?'' blah blah blah. It's rude and none of anyone's business. This is probably why Finns are dealing with corona better because they naturally keep their distance from people in public areas. Can I like say god bless them? I mean is there anything more annoying than people literally brushing against you when there's literally meters of space all around that can be used? Ugh. Respect my personal space why don't you?

How about a couple of totally legit sports that exist in Finland? Not joking even a little bit these are real; wife carrying championship, mosquito hunting competition, mobile phone throwing, swamp football, air guitar. It makes me laugh just thinking about it. Like how cool is this? I don't like sports at all but this…this is just badass. Sports I could find myself enjoying besides ''catching guitar picks at concerts''. Fun fact, do you know what's the first prize for the winner of the wife carrying championship? The wife's weight in beer. Lol.

How about them Northern lights? Is there anything, anything more beautiful than them? I mean yeah truth that during winter there are weeks where the sun just doesn't rise and me being me loving the sun, a southern girl, that's rough, but isn't there something so comforting about the dark? And then those beautiful lights that light up the dark sky. Amazing. Opposite to dark days you also got days during the summer when the sun never sets, also called ''midnight sun'' (I see what you did here Meyer) which to me is far worse than dark days. I mean how do you function, how does your brain function when it's midnight and it's bright as day? Crazy.

All my feministic readers you'll dig this ''Finland is the most gender equal country in the world'' or one of at least. Okay, today that might not mean that much, we like to think that Europe is changing and women have more equal rights etc…BUT Finland was actually the first country in the world that gave women the right to vote. Today living in this privilege of never not having a voting right, we don't even see it as a big deal, but they gave women the right to vote in 1906 and that is definatelly a big deal.

But alright lets get back to music, which is after all the point of this post. Heavy metal actually has cultural significance in Finland. If you think about it, metal as a genre of music is completely misunderstood all over the world. People tend to have snarky comments, look down on metal heads, call them names, call the music ''noise'' etc. That's different in Finland. It's actually one of the most popular types of music and it's played on mainstream radio stations. Here we are force fed Pink, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, Justin Beaver and the closest to metal we get is Bon Jovi's Bed of roses, not even joking. Cute story the cultural significance of heavy metal in Finland was also noted and pointed out by the US president Barack Obama (don't you dare correct me, I don't count psychopatic clowns as presidents) back in 2016 at the Nordic Summit. Take that haters. And my neighbors, and actually parents, and just about everyone that ever sat in my car with me. Sigh.

Surely one of the most significant names of Finish metal we all know are ''Lordi''. They literally made history when winning the Eurovision song contest in May 2006. It doesn't even matter if you watch the event of how you feel about it, the point is that they were both the first Finish band to win and the first hard rock / heavy metal band to win. That was a breath of fresh air that hasn't repeated yet. It drives me nuts, metal and hard rock being over looked like it is, the Grammys? All the dumb looking for talent shows? Why does a pop star / Bieber wannabe / always win? I mean I know why, but WHY? What's funny here though is that Lordi gained some controversy because people interpreted their music as encouraging Satanism. Lol. Someone from here had to do it I'm sure. In fact it's funny because one of their members is actually a very ''up tight'' Christian (why do I hear Ivar Lothbrok spitting ''Christian'' in my head just now?) who writes church music and their song ''The devil is a loser'' is actually against Satanism. Kinda like that bitching over Motley Crue's ''Shout at the devil'' I imagine at the end of album promo Nikki's eyes were permanently stuck in his skull from rolling them at just about every reporter ''listen it's shouting AT the devil NOT with the devil''.

Some other bands that are from Finland that you just have to check out (but probably already know) are; Amorphis, Children of Bodom, Nightwish, Apocalyptica, HIM (obviously one of my fave though no longer together, also first Finnish band to release an album that becomes golden in US), The 69 eyes, Los Bastardos Finlandeses (my fave name haha), and a ton more, though I tend to be more into less known bands. Smaller bands which are every bit as good.

Which brings us to the (long awaited) point of this post. Weekend music recommendation. 

A band from Finland named after a city in California with the prettiest beaches. Santa Cruz. This ''self titled'' album isn't the first one btw, first one was ''Anthems for the Young 'n Restless'' EP with 6 songs back in 2011, then ''Screaming for Adrenaline'' in 2013, after which ''self titled'' came out in 2015, followed by two more albums. My favourite ''Bad blood rising'' in 2017 and ''Katharsis'' in 2019, more on those on another occassion.

This is a solid hard rock band that formed in 2007 inspired by all of the best bands out there, you know GN'R, Skid Row, Def Leppard, Van Halen,…a band which in 2012 landed a worldwide record deal with Spinefarm records. The same Spinefarm that has Airbourne, Anti flag, Black label society, and Rammstein. Though they're not their artist anymore, this I think is still pretty impressive as was their stage pressence at the time. A year later the band signed with TKO agency which gave them the chance of touring in the UK, Germany and Belgium and they got to tour with Skid Row. Oh my god! You guys! Can you imagine growing up with the posters of your heroes on your walls and then you're suddenly one of them, supporting one of the biggest bands on tour. They opened for a lot of other impressive names such as Sebastian Bach, Lemmy and Bon Jovi. Though since then the band went through several lineup changes I can't lie and say that I prefer anyone over the original one (I'm sorry Pav, I love you).

Alright the record starts with ''Bonafide Heroes'' which is one of the coolest album openings in general. It captures that raw early Skid Row sound, the ''youth gone wild'', the rebellion, the anger. I'm always a fan of songs that start slowly and gently then suddenly deliever a punch, even if this kinda ''punch'' might make you throw your car off the road if you listen to it in the car. Hey! Maybe this wanna be safety is why our mainstream radios only play easy rock and pop. The soft subtle choir type begining and the sudden kick into a furious ''noise'' is exactly what makes this a kickass opening. Imagine not knowing a band and this is the first album you get, first impression? Uh I think fuck yes!

Second song ''Velvet Rope'' continiues with the same angry energy and guitars that litreally melt your face off. What's so unique for me in this band is the incredible gift in the guitar playing area. We're so lacking that lately. More bands that sound (and look) like this. There wouldn't be a happier person than me out there if the 80's as they were came back. Men in tight jeans, leather pants, big hair, hair and glam metal. I'd sell my soul to the devil to see that.

Song three is my favourite on this album ''My Remedy''. I love the line ''I need to flee baby set me free''. I guess we all feel that way sometimes, now more than ever. It's actually the lyrics to this entire song that I love (check it out here click me ). This is like a total stadium anthem kinda song for me, warm summer night, drink in one hand, and the crowd singing this chorus back to the band. Yeah, not that I'll see this scenario any time soon. But this is how it feels, that hair raising moment. I mean I love everything about concerts but you gotta admit there aint nothing like the singer going quiet and the crowd picking up the song. It's amazing. Y'all seen the video for ''My Remedy''? Lol I love it.  All the hair! Also how cute is that priest? Lol.

''6 (66) feet under''. Also the number of feet down I'd like to bury certain people. Do you know I had the number 666 on my old car? Like metalic numbers stuck on the back of the trunk. I miss that car all the time tbh. The song! I love it so much the vibe, the lyrics, the melody, another stadium anthem right there. It's an addictive song and honey I'm on a diet of opiates. No joke. I love this song so much. The drums in it? Bitchin! And that guitar solo? Makes your underwear wet not to be explicit but really, it does. So do the vocals tbh. Man, Archie Cruz can sing.

''Bye Bye Babylon'' that line ''I will paint your fantasies to memories'' please do, anytime, anyday, I'm game. This song is less angry but perfect non the less. As the rest it has great lyrics and just perfect guitars and drums and bass and vocals, obviously all of it is perfect. Those high notes too? My god.

''We are the ones to fall'' follows, probably a more known song, amongst fans anyways. And that ''bloody'' video. Brilliant song. Straight from the get go the scream of ''we are the ones to fall'' the hair flipping the whole setting of the song. Hits just right. I'd literally write more about how great this song is but here I am stuck on the music video repeating for the third time because all that pretty hair, even if they end up beating each other up. I mean, I guess all bands have disagreements sometimes….

''Wasted & wounded''  with a music video made in Tavastia in Helsinki. Tavastia is only the coolest rock music club in Helsinki. Or one of the coolest in Europe tbh. I mean it's not a huge concert hall or anything it's a club for what less than 1000 people but guys it has it's charm. In the 70's the club was rented for weekly jazz, rock and disco gigs. And later in the 80's when it got it's legendary status as a rock club (basically the Viper room) there's been bands such as Dead Kennedys, Nick Cave and Hanoi Rocks. It is also one of the oldest European rock music clubs that are still in use. Right point here, Wasted and wounded is a dope song regardless of where the music video was made.

As it goes on with the ''Let them burn'' which has a live music video which gives you a glimpse of the bands great pressence on stage, nevermind who they want to burn. Lol. Song that follows the vibe of the album, the rest of the songs, angry, rebellious, passionate, perfect. Y'all caught that adorable Archies laughter in this song? At this point my sister would be like ''you have a thing about their singer don't you?''. Not at all. Lol. Not even my type. Lol.

''Vagabonds (sing with me)'' can you say no when they ask so nicely? It's a song that definatelly brings fans together. The ''fireeeee''? I died okay. I just love his voice so much. Another fast paced and loud song. Another one that's obviously pure perfection.

The album closes with ''Can you feel the rain'' which actually starts with sound effects of rain, storm, etc. Very ''Riders on the storm'' by the Doors. Who may as well be another influence for this band. If the rest of the album is angry and fast paced this is calm and gentle, while still a rock song. It's more…curious, soft. It picks up a bit towards the end with the just right ammount of power. Beautiful. I'd love a music video of the band playing it the rain, actually I'd like to be stuck in the rain with the singer. No, I don't have a thing for him at all.

You know what? Actually fuck everything I just said, this album is perfect from the first second to the last. Everything fits, the guitars, the drums, the bass lines and those angelic vocals. Their influences shine through so well, you can hear all those bands in their music, but still this fresh sound for newer generations to love and appreciate. And most definatelly they're a band whos sound is something we need more of. Whatever the future holds for the band as a band and individual members, I'm sure it's nothing but bright. With their talent and their sound? Stadiums and number ones no doubt.