State Champs - The Acoustic Things

I want to start this review by stating that I've never heard any music by State Champs, the album was suggested by my friend last night. This opinion is purely based off of this album with no comparison to their other music. Having said that, I will be listening to their other albums in the near future to check out their "normal" sound. Also, I want to let you know that I do these reviews as I am listening to them to give you raw feelings...on with the review!

Simple, yet visually appealing cover. The English teacher side of my brain tells me that this may be hinting at the lighter tone of the album. The other half says they chose that album cover because they thought it looked nice. 

There are only 7 tracks, and that's because your ears can only handle so much beauty. The singer, whose name is Derek DiScanio, has an impressive handle on his voice. He sings with rougher vocals throughout the entire album, which is aesthetically pleasing to my ears. I appreciate when bands can keep their edge even when doing acoustic albums, like Alex Gaskarth in the song Remembering Sunday (All Time Low-So Wrong, It's Right). 

Favorite tracks from this album include:

Hard To Please- "I think I'm just afraid to fall". Take chances and break your mold. Sometimes We get too attached to what we know and never risk failure. I also enjoy the layering of vocals in this track

Easy Enough- "I just wanna be more than a memory". Well-rounded song from the lyrics to the guitar chords. I especially favor the ending when the instrumentals drop out and only the vocals ring out for a couple more verses

I would suggest this specific album to people that enjoy bands such as All Time Low, La Dispute, The Story So Far, 

This album came out this year in October, and I'm quite sad that I haven't heard it until now. I can't wait to listen to more of their music.

until next time, Erinn xx

**also I want you to know that I'll have an album cover opinion in each review because I'm an artist and album covers are something I take a bit of time looking at when I check out cds**

Any albums you want me to review? Just comment them below and I'll check them out!

Good Charlotte - The Young and the Hopeless

Let's start these off with album cover review and go from there. Gorgeous cover! Maybe it's just because I like old-timey things that I enjoy this cover so much but it's so cool...I mean look at that mushroom cloud. 

Okay on to the music. So I've been listening to Spotify lately and The Anthem(track #2) started playing and it immediately prompted me to make this purchase. Great message and aggressive tempo. I really could use that line to sum up the whole album. Starting from track one (a New Beginning) you feel the angst and musical talents of Billy Martin, Joel Madden, Benji Madden, and Paul Thomas. 

Other favorites on the album are:

Hold On - highly encouraging to stick it out through the rough times. No matter if you think everything is in pieces, someone is there for you. Nice reminder. Great pick me up. 

Moving On - Just life happening and never stopping. Things change and so do people, but that's what is supposed to happen. 

I understand that this album is an a few years old (2002) but it's an excellent addition to any pop punk collection. The amazing thing about music, is that it generally can speak to people no matter how old the songs are. This is an album that I would recommend to anyone that enjoys instrumental music. That might sound dumb, but I know there are people that only listen to electronic music. I would suggest this album for people that listen to Green Day, Tonight Alive, Simple Plan, Neck Deep, and Blink 182. 

Any albums you want me to review? Just comment them below and I'll check them out!

More about how I dealt with depression

I shared this with an acquaintance on Tumblr, and I thought I'd share it with you:
Well, when it started I didn't do much at all and so it got worse. I started to shut out my friends and I didn't talk to anyone at all if I could avoid it. As cliche as it may sound music was great therapy to me. When I was angry I listened to angry music and when I was sad I listened to sad. I realized that the music was helping me feel like someone understood and was, in a way, pushing these hidden emotions to the surface. That was the first step. I had to confront my anger, fear, and thoughts that I kept pushed down in my heart/mind. Journaling kind of helped with that. After I got the feelings to the "surface" I thought that if music could do that, I'm sure it could help bring me back to socializing and just life in general as a "new person". So I started listening to bands like All Time Low that had songs about being happy, and putting your cares away. Just anything that had that pop punk sound that made me happy. The music reminded me that there's a whole world outside of myself that I can't let slip by, because down the road I would have missed all of this because I needed to deal with my internal issues.Also, I pray. If that's not your thing, just find a way to release these emotions outward (like journaling). It's nice to get them out, and talking helped calm me down when I was stressed. Slowly I chose friends that I could seriously talk to about this. And it's still a struggle sometimes to get out there and do things. Like tonight I'm going to this festival thing with a friend and my instinct is to stay home but I'm forcing myself to go because I need to get out of the house. I still criticize myself and kinda beat myself up, but I think about life and the darkness I was in a month ago and I decide to not dwell on that insignificant issue anymore. I also learned that dealing with a problem upfront will cause less pain emotionally down the line.

Concerts

These are all of the bands that I’ve witnessed with my own eyes and ears…

Random Concert-Canton, OH: Jeremy Camp

Burning Up Tour 2008-Cleveland, OH: The Veronicas, Demi Lovato, Jonas Brothers

Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009-Cleveland, OH: Wonder Girls, Honor Society, Jordan Sparks, Jonas Brothers

Wonder World Tour 2009-Cleveland, OH: Metro Station, Miley Cyrus

Quicken Loans Arena 2009-Cleveland,  OH: Tran Siberian Orchestra

Jonas Brothers World Tour 2010-Cleveland, OH: Allison Stoner, Camp Rock Cast, Demi Lovato ( + met her), Jonas Brothers

Cleveland Indians post-game concert 2011-Cuyahoga, OH: Relient K

Reach Conference 2011-Columbus, OH: Chasen, B. Reith, Decyfer Down, Phil Stacy, Anthem Lights

Battle of the Bands 2012-Canton, OH: Orange Ryme, Oh Tear The Veil, White Sky Outcast, Messy Face, KentState, Good Hours, Honest Abe, Less Than Three!, 

Cleveland Indians post-game concert 2012-Cleveland, OH: Brandon Heath

National Youth Conference 2012-Louisville, KY: Abandon, Worth Dying For 

Reach Conference 2012-Columbus, OH: One Accord, Jeff Deyo, Anthem Lights

Alive Festival 2013-Atwood Lake Mineral City, OH: Capital Kings, Kari Jobe, Sidewalk Prophets, Shine Bright Baby, Family Force 5, NEEDTOBREATHE, Switchfoot

Reach Conference 2013-Columbus, OH: Phil Stacy, LoveLikeViolence, Family Force 5

Random Free Concert-OH: Satellites & Sirens, Anthem Lights

Belden Village Mall 2014-Canton, OH: R5 

Warped Tour 2014-Cuyahoga, OH: Echosmith, Real Friends, The Maine, The Ready Set, The Summer Set, We Are The In Crowd, Cute Is What We Aim For

Where We Are Tour 2014-Detroit, MI: 5 Seconds of Summer, One Direction

Summer Concert Series 2014-Akron, OH: Zoso The Ultimate Led Zepplin Experience

Updates and info for all of you lovely people!

      I have lots to update you on so here we go!!!

• As I have apologized many times for not being constant on this blog, here I am saying sorry again. Good news though, my study hall class at school has computers so I should be able to update a few times a week. YAY
• I'm adding new content to this blog. In the past I've blogged about books and just life in general. That isn't going to end because life continually happens and books are being read. I am going to also blog about music. As you may know from the past few posts, music has been a heavy influence in my recovery. I thought it would be cool to blog about new music/bands I'm listening to. This way you can add more to your musical libraries! 
• By adding music, I am adding a new page at the top of this blog (like my bucket list page). That page will have the new album I'm listening to, a link to my album review for said album, and a recommended song to check out. 
• another tab will be an upcoming dates tab so you all know what I'm doing. haha
• I deleted my list of 100 books in a year for 2014 because I failed and only made it to like 23. whomp whomp waaaaaaa. Oh well, next year I'll try to get closer
• and you're still awesome

That's all folks! 

-Erinn xx