%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |    My primary Writing.com blog. |
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Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics). Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:  "The Soundtrackers Group"  "Invalid Item" "Blogging Circle of Friends " "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" "JAFBG" "Take up Your Cross" Thanks for stopping by!  |
| "Resurrection Jukebox" | Day 2 | Prompt ▼ "American Girl" by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers While this song isn't my favorite by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, I'm including it because it's the very last song he played at his very last concert. This is from the Hollywood Bowl on September 25, 2017, a stop on their 40th Anniversary tour of the United States. I actually considered trying to get tickets to this concert because I'd always wanted to see Tom Petty live, and the Hollywood Bowl is by far my favorite concert venue. I ended up not going, and to my and everyone else's surprise, this wound up being Tom Petty's last live performance because he died of accidental overdose just about a week later, on October 2, 2017. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were never my favorite band, but they were a band that was consistently very good. Especially later in their career, they had so many hits to draw from, every concert, every greatest hits album, etc. was just packed with great songs. Tom Petty is one of those artists that I can call up on Spotify and just randomize a playlist of all his tracks and listen to it for hours before I get into the lesser known stuff. And so many of his songs are just laid back, toe-tapping songs that I bet his concerts were really fun to go to. Not all spectacle and high energy and cranked up volume, but something you could take a picnic basket and some drinks to and enjoy listening to in the open fall air of an afternoon at the Hollywood Bowl. I'd love for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to come back for one last performance or, maybe, for me to be able to go back in time to enjoy this last performance when it happened in 2017. |
| "Resurrection Jukebox" | Day 1 | Prompt ▼ "Shadow of the Day" by Linkin Park This is a band that double-checks the "Resurrection Jukebox" criteria as they'e been on hiatus since the death of lead singer Chester Bennington in July of 2017. And this is definitely a band I'd love some new music from. Each of their first three albums (Hybrid Theory, Meteora, and Minutes to Midnight) were incredibly influential for me, and each one gave us something new in terms of their sound. I will admit that I'm somewhat partial to songs like "Faint" and "Bleed It Out" which heavily feature Mike Shinoda's hip-hop input, but it's songs like "Shadow of the Day" that really highlight the band's versatility.I've always loved Linkin Park's story. Mike Shinoda started the band and initially called it Xero, people came and went from the band as they struggled to catch on. Chester Bennington joined the group and brought a rock aesthetic to contrast with the electronic and hip-hop stylings of Shinoda. They changed their name to Hybrid Theory, later changing it again to avoid name confusion with an existing band called Hybrid. Originally called Lincoln Park (after the Santa Monica park), they modified the name to Linkin Park in order to secure a domain name. As they developed their first album (titled Hybrid Theory, as an homage to their former band name), record execs encouraged Chester to fire Mike and make a more straightforward rock album. Chester refused and they released the album they wanted to make... which went on to sell 4.8 million copies its first year, became the bestselling album of 2001, netted them three Grammy nominations (and one win) and were invited to tour with some of the biggest names in rock music. Over a 12-month span of time, they performed at more than 320 concerts. That pretty much catapulted them into the stratosphere, and their unique sound that they refused to compromise on and always pushed forward with new ideas resulted in the band being one of the most successful bands of the 21st Century, with over 100 million albums sold and nearly two dozen major awards. As someone who quickly tires of "same old, same old," bands like Linkin Park are exciting to me because you never know what they're going to come up with. New albums don't just have new songs, but also new sounds. New instruments and arrangements and styles and influences. Not everything is a winner, but I can point to at least a couple songs on every single Linkin Park album and either say, "I've never heard anything like that before," or, "That song is amazing." "Shadow of the Day" is a bit in both camps, as it's an emotionally-charged song that doesn't rely on any of their usual industrial beats or calling-card rap-rock mix of lyrics and styles. It's pared back, simple, and effective. So, yeah, if I could get a new album out of any former band, I think I'd love to see what Linkin Park could come up with these days. |
| Explainer ▼ Movies  Jungle Cruise Jurassic World: Dominion Werewolf By NightTelevision  Never Have I Ever (Season 3) The Terminal ListI didn't watch a lot this past month, and there wasn't a lot that I found particularly compelling. All three films were kinda fun but mostly mindless entertainment, and The Terminal List on the television side was pretty dull despite being based on a book that I enjoyed reading. The only real bright spot this month was the third season of Never Have I Ever which has quickly become one of my all-time favorite Netflix shows. There's so much humor and heart in each season, and they're really growing their characters in exciting ways. TOP PICK: Never Have I Ever (Season 3) |
| WDC 48-Hour Challenge: Media Prompt | Prompt ▼ Imagine Dragons is one of those bands that I don't really understand how they got so famous. A lot of their songs are catchy, sure, and I have a quite a few playlists with their tracks on it, but these guys put up monster numbers in terms of earnings, concert attendance, etc. They're one of the most commercially successful bands of all time and I really scratch my head and wonder why. Are they as bad as some people say? No. Some people act like they're the new Nickelback, and I don't think that's the case. Although, to be fair, I do see a lot of similarities between Imagine Dragons and Nickelback in terms of them probably not deserving all the hate they get, but probably don't deserve the massive fandom that they have either. Imagine Dragons has claimed sales of 75 million albums worldwide, which puts them in the same territory as Christina Aguilera, Alabama, Nirvana, Kenny G, Bob Marley, The Police, Gloria Estefan, Barry Manilow, KISS, and Aretha Franklin. And just short of artists like Tom Petty, Van Halen, The Black Eyed Peas, Shakira, Tim McGraw, and R.E.M. Considering many of these musical acts started years or even decades before Imagine Dragons formed in 2008, it's a pretty impressive accomplishment how many albums they've sold. This isn't one of my favorite songs the band has. I'm partial to "It's Time" and "Demons" and "Thunder." Their song "Zero" for the Ralph Breaks The Internet soundtrack is pretty good too. Are they more enduring songs than some of the other people listed above? Can't say that they are. Someone once made the observation that a lot of pop songs these days (and alternative songs could be included in this) are disposable; they're massive hits when they're playing, but no one remembers them by the time the next song comes around. How many of us still listen to J-Lo's early songs? Or Britney's old albums once the new one drops? But other artists like Taylor Swift or Michael Jackson or Ed Sheeran have this quality to their songs where someone's just as likely to be listening to their earlier stuff as their most recent stuff. It's something I often think about when it comes to modern pop music, and I think - at least for me - Imagine Dragons fits into the former category where the songs are very catchy and popular in the moment, but years later an older song will come on and everyone goes, "Oh yeah, I totally forgot about this song!" I have a feeling "Natural" is headed in that direction. It was released in 2018 and it's already getting hard to find on playlists now that the band has released half a dozen other singles since then. |
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