Uncivilized

It's been about two months since my last post.  I'd like to say that there's been a lot going on in that time, but I'd be lying.  I've just been a lazy sumbitch.  No I don't really care lol.  BUT...for your listening pleasure, I give you this.  Hey Sesame Street cast, you're on!

That should give you a good laugh for a while.  But anyhow...

The big day is just a little over ten months away.  Might as well be in a week or two, really.  With my Schedule From Hell that I've been on over the past eight months, it's just been coming along so fast, it's not even funny.  Gives me a little bit of time to reflect, really.  See, years ago, I was NOT a good guy.  In any way, shape or form.  I was constantly angry.  At people around me, and closest to me.  At myself.  At pretty much the world in general.  I had a really short fuse, and everything was fair game.  And because of that anger, I've done some pretty terrible things to some people that were closest to me.  And in turn, I end up losing everything.  Worse comes to worse, and I end up finding myself in a sense of dispair, nearly tragic at times.  And it took just about my entire family to pull me out of it.  Obviously I've come out of that hole since that time, and I am forever grateful for it.  I once had love and lost it, along with my ability to feel happiness and joy.  Now?  I'm the happiest I've been in years, and my heart has once again been filled with that joy and love I've been missing for years.  I have everyone I know to thank for that.  See, the things I'd done, I thought I would never be able to forgive myself for.  But knowing how laid back I've become, and how much I've relaxed, and hell, how I've been able to let someone into my heart, I think that's my way to forgive myself, and with that I've been able to move on. 

Anyway enough of that mushy love fest we just had there.  Y'all know who you are, and I love you all for being there for me, in good times and bad, blah blah blah. 

Something I've never been able to understand over the past few years is how a person can be wronged so greatly by people that they are supposed to trust the most, and then be painted as the bad guy.  This has happened to me at least three times in the past five years.  Samantha Kullinger.  Alexandra Buckley.  Kayla Williams.  Three of the best friends I'd had in this amount of time, and not only, one way or another, have they all done a great injustice to me, but, especially with the latter, wronged my fiancee as well, and yet, all of a sudden I'M the bad guy.  In Samantha's case, she looked down on me for having nothing, and living out on my own in a humble setting.  In Alex's case, she stole rent money from me to score drugs.  Then cheated on her boyfriend (who I've talked to a few times, and trust me, the guy's as good as they come) a handful of times AT LEAST, while I stood by and did nothing to help the poor guy.  In Kayla's case, she blasted my fiancee Heather, in a public forum, and then cut ties to ME just because I'm even WITH Heather in the first place.  I'm sorry, but a friend's signifigant other is OFF LIMITS no matter what.  It put a lot of things in perspective for me.  See, I have felt for years that no one in this world is better than anyone.  I was wrong about that.  For I just named three people that I am above, head and shoulders.  See, while I've seen them in the dust, I know where my life is going.  I know what the future holds.  I'VE got my shit together, and the future looks bright as can be.  I'm better than them, and trust me, BROTHERS, I'll say it right to their face and spit in it if I were to ever be given a chance.  They can just smile and like it

And I'm gonna laugh all the way into the sunset.

2nd Chance CD of the Week
Bad Salad
Uncivilized (2012)

Tracklist
Crowded Sky
Nemesis
Mourning
The Second Calling
Damned
The Sights Within
Dawn of the Machine



     Over the past five years or so, I've come across hard rock/metal bands that aren't confined to the United States.  Nightwish from Finland.  Within Temptation AND The Gathering from the Netherlands.  And now, Bad Salad from Brazil.  I've been paying close attention to this band over the past two years, back to the first time I saw a video on Youtube of guitarist Thiago Campos and a splitscreen of other musicians from around the globe doing Dream Theater songs.  I haven't been that impressed by a cover band in many many ages, so you can imagine my excitement when I learned that Campos was putting his own band together, and were working on an album of original material.  Enter drummer Caco Goncalves, bassist (and Thiago's brother) Filipe Campos, and lead singer Denis Oliveira, and you've got a recipe of epicness that harkens back to admitted influences such as Dream Theater, Metallica, The Beatles, Queen, and Iron Maiden.  I had heard their first original song, "Crowded Sky" in 2010, and my jaw DROPPED!  Sure there was a LOT of the aforementioned bands' flavors in the mix, but with their own twist. 

Fast forward to just a couple of weeks ago, and Uncivilized was finally released.  The 78-minute album wasn't just listening to a new album by a new band, it was an EXPERIENCE!  The Brazilian quartet could not have possibly picked a better vocalist than Denis Oliveira, as his singing can be as searing, or as soft and sweet, as any talented singer can muster.  Starting off with "Crowded Sky" the band just puts the gas petal to the floor and demands your attention.  At 6 and a half minutes, this is the shortest song on the album.  The rest of the disc's tracks run anywhere from 9 to 15 minutes, and it sure as hell doesn't sound like it.  For the entire length of the album, you are not bored for a single attention.  Thiago Campos's guitar playing is akin to Dream Theater's John Petrucci, who in his own right is a guitar legend.  Concalves drums as though he has eight friggin' arms, and I would give my soul to play as well as he does on this record.  Filipe sounds like he's practically beating the hell out of his bass, and I love every second of it.  Songs like "Dawn of the Machine," "Damned," and "Nemesis" are great examples of these.  Every member of the band takes a turn in writing lyrics for every song here, and damn it all, I know that I've always wanted to be a songwriter, but I wish I could write as well as these guys.  All in all, Bad Salad is Brazil's best kept secret, and for the major part, if you haven't seen these guys play on Youtube, then you've never heard of them.  Listen to me now, LOOK these guys up.  You won't be disappointed.  They're already huge in their home country, and I hope to all things that are holy that they blow up just as big, if not more, right here in the US.

Thumbs up
Miller