Whole Mess O’ Stuff!

I’ve had a bunch of different kinds of stuff fall through the cracks lately, mostly as a result of having a legit job and not having all the time in the world to blog in a given day. So consider this my attempt to make up for that fact.

Tonight Amy Lee is dining on the cold, bitter taste of revenge. Word came out earlier today that former American Idol contestant Carly Smithson is joining Ben Moody, John LeCompt and Rocky Gray–the latter three of whom were unceremoniously dispatched from Evanescence over the course of the band’s career–in a new outfit entitled The Fallen. In a report from USA Today earlier today, word broke that the band will formally announce their existence on Monday, the same day the group’s first single “Bury Me Alive” will be availble for free on their website. Smithson bears a striking resemblance to Lee in looks and stage presence, singing Evanescence’s breakout hit “Bring Me to Life” during her stint on Idol. I’m a bit skeptical of the former members of Evanescence forming what is essentially Evanescence 2.0 (it didn’t really work out for Myles Kennedy and the members of Creed), but I’ll bite for now. And if you think the band’s name isn’t related to Evanescence’s 2003 debut album, then I’d also like to tell you about pre-sale tickets for the next Guns N Roses tour.

Evanescence – Bring Me To Life [iTunes] (YSI)

I meant to post this last week during the Women In Music theme, but again, time wasn’t with me. But a few weeks back I was given the debut EP by a band named Darling Parade. It would be incredibly easy for to chalk Darling Parade up to a fairly adept Paramore clone. And honestly, no one would fault you for it. But that doesn’t change the fact that Darling Parade are talented and at their absolute worst, a serviceable power pop act. Do I expect huge things from them? No. But if one Paramore’s good, how bad can two be?

Darling Parade – Tangled [iTunes] (YSI)

Last night my girlfriend (who’s from Ohio and knows a thing or two about the Midwest) sent me the following text message:

jack and diane…the midwestern version of living on a prayer…i hate the midwest

Funny ’cause it’s kind of true. Then Matt at Addicted to Vinyl presented John Mellencamp and on Bon Jovi as the new contestants in his Cage Match feature. That’s twice in the last two weeks that Vinyl has beat me to the punch on something (Tapestry being the other). I got my eye on you guys…

John Mellencamp – Jack and Diane [iTunes] (YSI)
Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer [iTunes] (YSI)

Finally, last week Rise Against dropped the video for their unofficial new single “Hero of War”. The track is unofficially a single as a result of the song’s subject matter, a teen who joins the army and is traumatized by the horrors of war, not exactly being friendly with all parts of the country. Regardless, the song is beautiful, and conveys exactly the kind of blend of anger and melodic weariness that Rise Against are so damned good at. Clip is here, as embedding is disabled.

==TJ==