Daily Heavy: System Of A Down - Chop Suey!

Whilst moving from the playing the classical guitar to playing electric, certain songs and riffs are ingrained in my progression to becoming a metal and rock based guitarist, and this song is one of them.

The intro riff, as the drums start to fade in, and the bass intensifies warns you that this song is going to go off. A long, building intro is a feature of many SOAD songs, and in this, their most acclaimed, what comes afterwards is total mayhem.

A thumping, chugging guitar riff, backed my furious drumming leads into that signature shouted vocal.

The dynamics in this song make the heavy parts have so much impact. Serj Tankian can sing so beautifully, and in the metal world a lead singer of this caliber can propel a band to superstardom, which is certainly the case with SOAD.


The album this comes from, Toxicity, makes it onto countless "best metal albums of all time" lists, and if you give it a listen you'll understand why - it is epic!

Chop Suey!

Daily Smooth: Ne-Yo - Because Of You

The title track of Ne-Yo's second album is one of his all-time best.

I love how the subtle piano backing plays off the heavy beat and the slapped bass.

There is a lot of layering going on here, we get strings and some subtly muted guitar as the song progresses.

Then we get Ne-Yo's wonderful voice holding the whole thing together as well some tasteful harmonies and backing vocals in the pre-chorus and chorus.

Ne-Yo is a top level songwriter - just look at his writing credits - and his skill comes through in this  beautiful song.

Because Of You

Daily Ghetto: Kanye West - Cold

This Kanye freestyle comes from his record label's compilation album, G.O.O.D. Music's Cruel Summer.

DJ Khaled features on this massive tune in which Kanye brags, disses and calls out Kris Humphries.

The beat is repetitive, but so damn catchy.

This is one of the many hits from Cruel Summer, which is one of the best compilation albums of the last 3 years or so.

Cold

Daily Heavy: HORSE the Band - Cutsman

A friend of mine and I chanced upon HORSE the Band whilst messing around on the internet during a jam session.

We actually could not believe our ears; this song manages to take elements from most punk, hardcore and metal subgenres, and fuse them all together in one song.

It sounds incoherent upon first listening to it, but give it a few more listens, and it somehow works.

I can't even put into words how odd this 80s and 90s era Nintendo-inspired band sounds, but Cutsman is a sonic explanation of their unique brand of music.

Enjoy this flurry of techno, hardcore, metal, avant-garde mayhem.

Cutsman

Daily Smooth: Mario Winans - I Don't Wanna Know

When this song dropped, back in 2004 it was one of the biggest R&B hits of the year.

Heavily sampling The Fugees classic, Ready or Not, this song changes the key and ups the tempo all while having a pulsating 808 style bassline in the mix.

Winans' silky voice tells of his woman betraying him and has so much emotion behind it. I especially enjoy the call and response section between Winans and Enya during the bridge.

Label-mate and collaborator of Winans, P.Diddy, drops a rapped verse towards the end which sits nicely and adds some punch to the song.

The album this comes from, Hurt No More, is excellent throughout. A great listen if you like more soulful R&B.


I Don't Wanna Know

Daily Heavy: Despised Icon - Day of Mourning

Despised Icon, along with Whitechapel, are one of my favorite deathcore bands.

The guitar riffs they churn out are so malevolent sounding and the fact that they have two vocalists mean they put on a fantastic live show - I saw them on tour with Parkway Drive a few years ago, the pits were nuts.

This song comes from their final album of the same name and features high tempos, frantic drumming and of course two big nasty breakdowns that fits nicely into the middle and end without sounding out of place.


Day Of Mourning

Daily Smooth: Ginuwine - Pony

Oh man this beat is so juicy - I love how chopped up it sounds.

Ginuwine lays down some sumptuous, sexual-innuendo laced lines with the most soulful delivery.

This song comes from his debut album, Ginuwine...the Bachelor, which is an R&B classic.

This makes a nice change from the slow jamz that were released during the mid 90s.


Pony

Daily Heavy: John Murphy - In The House In A Heartbeat

This song was made famous by being on the OST for the horror film 28 Days Later.

This is a perfect showcase of how repetition and an evolving theme can keep the listener interested over a long period of time, without the need for vocals.

The blend of bass, piano and acoustic/electric guitars before the percussion even kicks in is majestic, you get to fully appreciate the layering of this song and its wonderful composition.

Towards the end, it even begins to sound symphonic.

This is a masterpiece in modern instrumental music.

In The House In A Heartbeat

Daily Heavy: AxeWound - Cold

If you are into UK metal, you'll know that Bullet For My Valentine have recently released their fourth album Temper, Temper. As a longstanding Bullet fan I gave the first two singles from it a listen and they were dire; I was hoping that they had some good stuff saved for the rest of the album - no such luck. Compared to any of their previous work or even their contemporaries like Funeral For a Friend, their fourth attempt is dire.

So why have I prefaced this post with my short but damning review of Bullet's latest album?
Because only a few months earlier, Bullet frontman Matt Tuck released the debut album of his side-project AxeWound, and it was excellent.

The album, Vultures, sees Matt Tuck alongside vocalist Liam Cormier of hardcore band Cancer Bats, as well as members of Pitchshifter, Rise To Remain and Glamour of the Kill.
The brutality on this album reminds me of Bullet's Hand Of Blood EP as well as their debut album The Poison. 

It seems that this sort of music is still well within Matt Tuck, but clearly he needs his main band to release commercially acceptable tripe to be able to fill stadiums come headlining tour time.

This song is simple, but so catchy and heavy at the same time. Some punchy guitar riffs back up Tuck and Cormier's growls and screams during the verses and we got some more melodic vocals during the choruses.

But the highlight of this song has to be the breakdown at the end - it is earth shattering.

I hope for the integrity of Bullet For My Valentine that they begin to make music like this song again.

Cold

Daily Ghetto: Skepta - Hello Good Morning (Grime Remix)

This is a UK-USA mashup; Grime artist Skepta injects some pace and excitement into P.Diddy's already excellent song Hello Good Morning.

The beat is much heavier in this version and the tempo gets increased, turning this song from a rumbling synth-laden affair to a ferocious club banger.

Skepta spits his bars with intensity and clarity, something that elevates him above so many other Grime MCs.

The second verse sees Diddy and Skepta trading lines and then we get some sung vocals by one of Diddy's backing group, Dirty Money.

The production on this song is tight and I think it is a good showcase for UK music rather than some of the rubbish this scene has produced (I'm looking squarely at you Chipmunk).

Hello Good Morning (Grime Remix)

Daily Smooth: Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love To You

Well, because today is Valentine's Day I had to post one of the soppiest slow jamz I could muster up.

So here's one of Boyz II Men's many smash hits from their second album II.

I'm not even going to go into what this songs is about - the title says it all. As with most Boyz II Men songs, we get a nice sampling of Wanya and Shawn's sublime voices in the verses and then some of the sweetest harmonies you'll ever hear during the choruses and bridge.

This sort of song is the hallmark of Boyz II Men, and the album II is loaded with songs like this - guys take note - you can play this without skipping a track and your lady will love it.

So there we go - one for the lovers.


I'll Make Love To You

Daily Smooth: Chris Brown - Damage

Let me preface this post by saying that there seems to be a link between good to exceptional pop and R&B singers and their somewhat disturbed personal lives.

Michael Jackson, R.Kelly and Bobby Brown all fall into this category.

Yes Chris Brown is a woman-slapping douche with anger issues (recent beefs with Frank Ocean and Drake as well as throwing chairs out of buildings), but let's just appreciate the music he makes.

Damage comes from Chris Brown's second album Exclusive - one of his best efforts along with F.A.M.E.

This song lets Chris' voice shine because it sits fairly high in the mix and the instrumentation here is quite simple.

This is a quality modern slow jam - and the harmonies and ad libs towards the end are excellent.

Damage

Daily Ghetto: Juicy J - Bandz A Make Her Dance

This was one of the biggest tunes of last year.

If you follow this blog you will remember that I am a massive Three 6 Mafia fan, so when I caught wind of Juicy J releasing another solo album, with this as the lead single I was seriously excited.

The beat and production on this song is huge!

Since last year every other rap song was "(insert artist here) ft. 2 Chainz" this song, predictably has 2 Chainz on it.

Unfortunately the abhorrence that is Lil Wayne makes a mid-song appearance, but he does not bring the song down too much.

For the record, there is a version of this song that has just Juicy J rapping on it - by far the best incarnation if you don't want to hear Wayne's whiney voice.


Bandz A Make Her Dance

Daily Heavy: Meshuggah - Bleed

If music were to embody an event, this song would be a war cry;

Bleed is a relentless, surgically tight, sonic assault.

When you have two guitars and the kick drum blasting that machine gun-like riff for the first 3 minutes or so, you know you're in for a great metal song.

The way the riff gets played in a higher octave to start with and then the low notes of the 8 string guitars hit you later on takes you by surprise.

Vocalist Jens Kidman's off kilter growls add a level of brutality to this song that has to be heard to be understood!

Meshuggah are one of my favorite bands and I'd urge anyone that loves metal to check them out.

Bleed