Daily Heavy: As I Lay Dying - Through Struggle

This has become As I Lay Dying's signature song, and for good reason.

It kicks off with a tasty, bouncy guitar riff, which gets any crowd pumped - when I saw them live the floor was moving from the whole crowd headbanging.

The drumming in this song is authoritative - Jordan Mancino is one of the most consistent metal drummers and he really owns this song.

Vocalist Tim Lambesis, growls out his lyrics over the sublime melodic guitar riffs during the verses.

The song quickly reaches a semi-breakdown of sorts and then moves onto a softer passage with clean vocals, which then exchanges with the heavy part from earlier. The use of dynamics makes this song stand out as well as the pedal-tone guitar riffs playing on a theme.

The final breakdown/outro of the song is so brutal. The tempo drops a bit and the full force of the chugging guitars and bass hit you.

The video - well the synchronised headbanging that so many metalcore bands use when playing live was definitely in vogue when this video was shot. As I Lay Dying still do it to this day, but I'm fairly sure they were one of the first to make it a feature of their sets.

Daily Smooth: New Edition - If It Isn't Love

Here's another New Edition classic, from their platinum album, Heart Break.

Ralph Tresvant sings lead on this one.

The beat is so 80s - all the typical new jack swing components are in place - synths, heavy use of a drum machine and lots of layering.

I love the video to this song for some reason - no boybands bother to learn choreography like this anymore.

Daily Heavy: Parkway Drive - Boneyards

Coming from Parkway Drive's second album - the outstanding Horizons - this song is an intense blend of blast beats and some rapid riffing.

The combination of the low hardcore grunts, down tuned guitars and perfectly locked in drum and bass, give this song such impact.

Killswitch Engage guitarist, Adam D, produced this album and his signature production style is clear to hear; the guitar tone and even riff style sounds so much like Killswitch it is uncanny.

The pedal-tone riffs in the song's verses sound like they have been lifted from Killswitch's seminal album, Alive Or Just Breathing. This is no bad thing though - Parkway's vocalist gives them enough individuality to stand out from the metalcore crowd.

Daily Ghetto: Kanye West, Jamie Foxx and Twista - Slow Jamz

I haven't dropped a really massive ghetto tune in a while, so I thought it was time to pull out a big gun from Kanye's legendary debut album, The College Dropout.

This song blends Foxx's soulful voice and Kanye's relaxed flow over an amazing beat. Kanye produced this song, and really I feel that his best work comes in this capacity rather than as a rapper - don't get me wrong he is a great rapper, but an outstanding producer; I can't think of a weak Kanye beat!

Jamie Foxx adds a nice touch to the bridge section of this song as he name-checks some classic artists, and then Twista comes in.

What can I say about Twista - for a while he was recognized as the fastest rapper of all time, and although since surpassed in speed, there are very few rappers who combine his speed, flow and clever lyricism. The bars he drops in this song have become what everyone looks forward to hearing when this song comes on.

I cannot stress how good The College Dropout is - this is one of many top flight songs on that album. This song also features on Twista's Kamikaze, which is a showcase of his superior rapping ability over some nasty beats.

Daily Heavy: The Offspring - All I Want

As with most Offspring songs, this song is short but sweet.

A simple chord progression and up-tempo drumming pushes this song along.

The signature vocal harmonies come in during the choruses.

I was reminded of this song from a childhood spent playing Crazy Taxi on my mate's Sega Dreamcast - ah those were the days.

Daily Ghetto: Dorrough - Piece and Chain Swangin

My first Dorrough post was very well received so here's another banger from his debut album, Dorrough Music. 

This song has a synth heavy beat and Dorrough raps about his jewellery and his diamonds - gotta love basic rappers like this guy!

There's a rather boring verse from Slim Thug towards the end of the song, but Dorrough saves the song with a sick last verse.

There's auto-tune a plenty here in the backing vocals, and all this adds up to this song being a massive club banger.

Daily Heavy: Lamb Of God - Hourglass

Lamb Of God are one of the few modern metal bands that really sound unique.

The combination of midrange heavy guitars that aren't overly saturated, having a very diverse and distinctive drummer and a lead singer who does the "halfway between screaming and singing" so well, gives Lamb Of God the edge over many of their contemporaries.

The only band that sounds anything like them are the legendary Pantera.

Hourglass comes from their seminal album, Ashes Of The Wake. It showcases some tight but groovy riffing from the superb guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler as well as the feral drumming of Chris Adler.

Vocalist Randy Blythe growls in this song, showing off with some wild screams.

For me, the bridge section of this song is outstanding; the harmonized guitar riff requires such skill play and to sync up when recording, and exemplifies how great of a duo Morton and Adler are.

Ashes Of The Wake has to be one of the best metal albums since Pantera's Cowboys From Hell.

From the production, to the guitar tone, to the insane drumming, it is relentless and heavy.

Daily Smooth: Frank Ocean - Swim Good

This is the first Frank Ocean song I heard and it instantly got me hooked to his work.

It comes from his first major release, the mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra. 

It combines heavy bass and drums with a synth organ to great effect during the verses, while the instrumentation gets embellished with some keys during the choruses.

Ocean delivers his lines in a chilled out style for the most part, but pushes the boat out in the bridge and final chorus.

There is something so relaxing about Ocean's songs in general and I'd urge anyone who likes contemporary R&B to check out Nostalgia, Ultra as well as his stunning debut album, channel Orange.

Daily Heavy: In Flames - I'm The Highway

In Flames are one of my favorite metal bands.

I love melodic death metal, and along with At The Gates, In Flames produce some of the best work of this genre.

This song comes from their 2008 album, A Sense Of Purpose, and is one of the catchier tunes on it.

It kicks off with some nicely harmonized guitars before the full band comes in.

The verse riffs are fairly simple but effective and the chorus riffs get a nice kick from some rapid drumming in the background.

The bridge section has a nice heavy guitar riff behind it, and the solos are melodic and very tasteful - they drop into the song very seamlessly.

Vocalist Anders Fridén barks out his lyrics, which adds a nice percussive attack over the fairly groovy and bouncy guitar riffs.

Daily Heavy: The Faceless - Deconsecrate

Through all my guitar nerdiness I had heard of renowned shredder Michael Keene and how his band The Faceless were amazing, but I hadn't bothered to check out the band until very recently.

I'm glad that I stopped watching Michael Keene tearing it up at product demos at NAMM and actually watched a video by The Faceless.

This is some high level technical death metal; after the lengthy circus music-themed intro, the song breaks down into some ferocious riffing, blast beats and guttural vocals.

The musicianship in this band is at a very high level - some of the guitar work here is incredibly hard to pull off at these sorts of tempos. Bassist Evan Brewer is a somewhat of a modern age bass master - not only does he keep up with the guitarists in this band - he has a solo album that is written and played with just his bass and some effects pedals, which is a masterpiece in my opinion.

And then there's the drumming - to keep time at this speed and lock in so tightly with two highly skilled guitarists (Michael Keene and Wes Hauch are top notch shredders), is very impressive.

This song demonstrates the wide range of techniques in both the vocals (Keene handles clean singing, whilst lead singer Geoffrey Ficco brings the brutality), and instrumentation (Keene and Hauch show their worth in the solo section of this song).

The blend of synth organs, strings and Keene's vocals in the quieter passages give the faster and more brutal parts such an impact.

The album this comes from, Autotheism, is excellent.

Daily Ghetto: Rick Ross - Hustlin'

"Who the fuck you think you fuckin with I'm the fuckin bawz!!!"

What a way to open a song.

Rick Ross' most famous song, from his debut album Port Of Miami, is a straight up club banger.

Ross delivers his lines in that slow deliberate style that he has become known for, and the beat is very minimalistic, but I feel that it gives more of an impact to Ross' bars.

This song is one massive drug-reference; the official video says it all.

That said I've posted the explicit version below, because I find it silly to censor a song like this.

Daily Smooth: Bone Thugs-n-Harmony - Tha Crossroads

As far as best rap groups of all time go Bone Thugs are up there with legends like Run-D.M.C., N.W.A. and Public Enemy.

This is Bone Thugs-n-Harmony's biggest song, and also their most distinctive. If you listen to the album it comes from - the masterpiece that is E. 1999 Eternal - it sounds very different to the rest of the material. The beat is soft and a medium tempo and there is a classic catchy chorus.

Bone's signature smooth, but rapid flow is ever-present and this contrasts so nicely against the beat.

Very few rappers can match the pace of Bone Thugs - especially Krayzie Bone.

This song is dedicated to Bone Thugs' mentor and manager of sorts, Eazy-E.

I think it is fitting that such a legendary rapper has such an amazing song written for him.

Daily Ghetto: Big Boi (ft. T.I. and Ludacris) - In The A

Big Boi, T.I. and Ludacris - to me that is Southern rap royalty right there!

Big Boi samples his own song - Shutterbug from his debut solo album Sir Lucious Left Foot The Son Of Chico Dusty - to great effect.

This song is slower and the beat has a chopped and screwed feel to it - altogether it sounds heavier and more menacing.

T.I. drops some clever bars with such a sick flow then Big Boi comes in with a second verse that shows of all his witty lines and clear punchy delivery.

Ludacris finishes the song off nicely and arguably Atlanta's three biggest rappers come together to produce one of the strongest tracks from Big Boi's second album Vicious Lies And Dangerous Rumors.

The album might get overlooked because everybody is waiting for the next full OutKast album, but my word, Big Boi's solo stuff is some of the best Southern rap being put out at the moment.

Daily Heavy: Children Of Bodom - In Your Face

Children Of Bodom are one of the best modern melodic death metal bands around.

The level of skill that the band possess is high - guitarists Alexi Laiho and Roope Latvala are two of the best shredders on the planet at the moment.

This song comes from their 2005 album Are You Dead Yet? 

It starts with a thumping guitar and bass riff which continues all the way through the intro as the drums and keys layer over it. I'm not too fond of Alexi's voice, but just listen to the instrumentation in this song to fully appreciate what Children Of Bodom are about.

The riffs incorporate advanced guitar techniques such as sweep picking and whammy divebombs and harmonics.

The solo section of this song is stunning - Alexi and Roope rip through their solos and then we hear a power metal styled keyboard passage.

Everything about this song is heavy - the bass does such a good job of filling out the guitar riffs and the drumming is relentless.

For any metal fans who don't appreciate European metal bands, COB are a great band to start listening to.

Daily Smooth: Ginuwine - Differences

Woo!

Haven't posted a Daily Smooth in a while, but after listening to Ginuwine again I could not help but post one of his songs from his third album The Life.

Differences is a song about Ginuwine's wife. I think it is beautiful to write a song for that special someone in your life.

Ginuwine is on form in this song - towards the end of the song all the vocal gymnastics come into play and the chorus harmonies are so pleasant to listen to.

The beat is so silky and the backing melody locks in with Ginuwine's voice during the chorus to wonderful effect.

Enjoy an R&B superstar's finer works:

Daily Ghetto: Lethal Bizzle - Forward Riddim

POW!

This was THE hype song from back in the day. Forget Tempz Next Hype, this song is the UK hype anthem. It was banned in clubs because people would get too rowdy if the DJ ever dropped it.

Forward Riddim was one of the songs that got the Grime genre recognized as more than just an underground music scene in 2004, and propelled Lethal Bizzle into the spotlight.

The song starts with Lethal B spraying those now infamous bars that gets everybody going.

Then a whole host of MCs drop some bars, including Ozzie B and Neeko from More Fire Crew (Lethal B being the third member of the group), and D Double E from the Newham Generals.

This is a classic Grime beat as well - repeat the same thing for the whole song and just let the bars do the talking.

The video is about as ghetto as the song - just watch it to see what I mean.

Daily Heavy: Trivium - In Waves

In Waves is the crushing title track of Trivium's latest album.

Trivium hold a special place in my appreciation of metal music. They get a lot of crap from older metalheads that don't like their look, or the screaming, or some of their music videos, but I experienced hearing them before seeing them.

I recall hearing a few singles from their third album, The Crusade, and I just enjoyed the lead playing and fast riffing they employed - as a 16 year old getting into that kind of music it was all new to my ears.

Trivium have moved on a great deal since the sound of their first three albums - their fourth, Shogun, was a display of technical playing, longer songs and liberal use of 7 string guitars.

In Waves, sees a huge step up in the vocal performance from frontman Matthew Heafy, a change in drummer triggering more blast beats and grindcore elements into the rhythm section as well as shorter songs that prove to be very catchy. 

As far as consistent songwriting goes Trivium have put out their most consistent album with In Waves.

This song really showcases Trivium's new direction - Heafy's screams are more controlled and better enunciated, the guitar riffs have more of a groove to them (something I prefer to hear over the thrash-inclined riffs of albums past), and the guitar solos sit better as part of the song rather than sounding like an exercise in technicality.

Overall this song is such a powerful statement to make to kick of the album, but it sucks you into what I consider to be Trivium's best album to date.

As for the video - it is worth watching all of it.

Daily Heavy: After The Burial - Promises Kept

After The Burial are a very technically skilled metal band, who use extended range guitars and a nice mix of harsh and clean vocals.

This song showcases the brutal and tight rhythm guitars this band prides itself on. Some of the riffs are on a par with metal legends like Meshuggah.

The riffing starts out quite simple, but the guitars remain melodic. Brutal vocals intertwine with high pitched cleans and in the chorus there is a lovely melody line played by the lead guitar.

The second verse ushers in the low pitched syncopated guitar riffs I mentioned earlier.

The breakdown towards the end is earth-shaking. The sonic-pounding of the kick drum locked in with the guitars is majestic.

This song comes from After The Burial's most recent album, In Dreams, an excellent release.

Daily Ghetto: Bad Meets Evil - Welcome 2 Hell

This of the opening track of Royce da 5'9" and Eminem's debut Bad Meets Evil album, Hell: The Sequel.

This song is 3 minutes of freestyle rap with Royce and Eminem trading bars over a nasty beat.

Both rappers are on form and this sets the tone for the rest of this excellent album. Eminem calls out some celebrities, as does Royce, and both do it with a rapid-fire syncopated flow.

There is some top level lyricism in this song with lots of clever metaphors - give it a few listens because Eminem in particular packs a lot of them into his bars.

 

Daily Heavy: Killswitch Engage - The End Of Heartache

This is the title track of, in my opinion, Killswitch Engage's best album The End Of Heartache.

This album marked a change of vocalist, and subsequently song writing style, for the band.

The more rugged and hardcore styled bark of Jesse Leach was replaced by Howard Jones' smooth semi-operatic clean vocals and traditional metalcore screams.

This song showcases both of Jones' singing styles beautifully and makes you appreciate how much vocal range he has.

The guitars are fairly simple and melodic in this song - giving it a sort of metal-ballad feel.

This song has become one of Killswitch's most recognizable songs as well as a fan favorite and it is clear to hear why - it is catchy and has sing-along choruses.

I'd urge any metal fan to listen to the album all the way through - it is a landmark release for the metalcore sub-genre.

Daily Ghetto: Lil Scrappy - Head Bussa

This has to be one of the crunkest beats ever!

Lil Scrappy and Lil Jon lay it down on this ghetto anthem.

The lyrics are typical of Southern rap - Scrappy raps about violence, hos, guns, cars and being in the club. Lil Jon and Lil Scrappy shout the chorus true Atlanta style.

The bass on this song is big and nasty - perfect for blasting in your car before hitting the club.

The video looks like Scrappy and Jon rounded up some of their crew and they just got wild and filmed it - low budget indeed.

Head Bussa