Great Musicians & Great Christmas Songs Combinations: 15 Great Christmas Songs for 2015 (Finished December 2, 2015)

Hello,

There are a lot of great Christmas songs, but some versions are better than others. I wanted to combine some of my favorite singers and their great renditions of Christmas songs. Enjoy!

1) Mormon Tabernacle Choir "The Hallelujah Chorus":

2) The Eagles "Please Come Home For Christmas":

3) Jars of Clay "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen":

One of my all-time favorite Christmas songs, a yearly staple for me. 4) Jeremy Fisher "Snowflakes":

5) The London Symphony "Dance of  The Sugar Plum Fairy":

6) Michael Crawford "Mary Did You Know":

 7) Phillips, Craig & Dean "O Come All Ye Faithful":

8) The Waitresses "Christmas Wrapping":

A double shot from the best, and only, Christmas rock band I know of: Trans-Siberian Orchestra:

9) "The Prince of Peace":

10) "Back To A Reason":

11) Casting Crowns "While You Were Sleeping":



12) Lady Antebellum "Baby It's Cold Outside":



13) Band Aid "Do They Know It's Christmas" (Extended Version):



I was looking for a complete Christmas CD the other day. Of the most recent releases Battistelli's Christmas CD is the most complete. I urge you to check out her Christmas CD, simply titled "Christmas". 14) Francesca Battistelli "Heaven Everywhere":



15) Sarah Brightman "Arrival":

No, I won't be posting Christmas song blogs from here until Christmas. I'm working on a CD review blog, another songs on themusicaddict's radar and reviews of "Jessica Jones", "Mockingjay Part 2", the book "A Farewell To Arms" and many other things.

themusicaddict

Merry Christmas From themusicaddict Our Savior and Songs About Him: For He Lives

Hello,

Although I consider myself a fairly religious person, I don't want to shove my values down anyone's throat. But on the other hand if people are looking for answers I also want to be open to that possibility. For your consideration:

It's hard to believe to how hard it is to find a great version of this song. When I think of this song I think a female solo singer singing the traditional arrangement. (Note: Trisha Yearwood, I know you are a country music singer, but you don't need to add twang to such a beautiful song.) I haven't found a version up to my standards as of yet. Eventually "Away In A Manger":

Miss Mariah Carey "O Holy Night":

Miss Carrie Underwood: "What Child Is This":

Miss Sinead O' Connor "Silent Night":

Bayside's rocking version of "Angels We Have Heard On High":

Whitney Houston with a great choir "Joy To The World":

Multiple Choirs "O Little Town of Bethlehem":

In my head I hear a choir singing this song. "Hark The Herald Angels Sing":

"Do You Hear What I Hear":

Casting Crowns "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day":

Merry Christmas,

themusicaddict

Songs on themusicaddict's Radar November 27th, 2015 (Started November 27th, 2015)

Hello,

Sadly Rdio.com has announced that they've sold most of their "key assets" to Pandora and will be closing down. I have a few weeks to find a new music streaming service to supplement my iTunes library. Rdio shutting down is making me very sad. I loved everything about that streaming site, I loved the low cost, how easy it is to use, it's wide selection and how it let me know about new music by artists that I love. Thanks Rdio for letting me listen to the new Vamps CD and also the "Doctor Zhivago" Original Broadway Cast album. Reviews of both coming soonish.

There are a lot of music streaming options. I have an amazon.com Prime membership, but it only has one million songs available now. I know how ridiculous this sounds, but that's just not a whole lot of songs. Thus I know at least one more music streaming service. Right now I'm checking out Google Play, which I've previously used. It has thirty million songs available and one of the bands I've discovered on there was Sheppard, who I've previously written about. Another band I've discovered is Mister Wives.

First up a triple play by Misterwives, "Hurricane":

"Not Your Way":

"Reflections":

The Foo Fighters have recorded a 5 song EP titled "Saint Cecelia", which is available free at amazon.com, Google Play, foofighters.com and probably a bunch of other places. My favorite song on the CD is the title track "Saint Cecelia":

Here's the actual 19 minute EP:

A double shot from Tracy Champman, "Telling Stories":



"Bang Bang Bang":



Another double shot, this one from Run-D.M.C. ""What It's All About":



"Papa Crazy":



From one of Tears For Fears lesser known albums "The Hurting", this is "Memories Fade":



Hollywood Vampires' "Raise The Dead":



My Chemical Romance' "Bulletproof Heart":



Shinedown's "Cut The Cord":



No Doubt's "Looking Hot":

To be continued......

themusicaddict

Have You Heard This Amazing Song? Sheppard's "Geronimo" + A Couple Of Other Great Songs from "Bombs Away"

Hello,

The lyrics are a little silly, but still an enjoyable song by Sheppard "A Grade Playa":



"Smile":



"The Best Is Yet To Come":



"Find Someone":



"Halfway To Hell":



"Flying Away":

themusicaddict

the musicaddict's Review of Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's "Illuminae: The Illuminae Files_01" (Finished 11/23/2015)

Hello,

Last night I finished the very good "Illuminae: The Illuminae Files_01". Thanks to the Davis County (Utah) library system for me being able to check this book out. This book has 599 pages, but it's approximately only about 400 pages of reading. This book was released on October 20th, 2015.

It features this line on the cover "First survive. Then tell the truth".

This is a very enjoyable book. I'm hoping since this is "Files_01", that there will be a "Files_02". There certainly seems to be enough story left remaining to have at least a second book.

"Illuminae" tells the story of a love triangle between teenage boy Ezra Mason, teenage girl, Kady Grant, and the self-aware AI AIDAN. The action starts on the planet of Kerenza, site of an illegal mine, which is owned and ran by Wallace Ulyanov Consortium (WUC). They're raided and attacked by the corporation Bei-Tech, which is a competing mining company. About 3 hours before the attack Kady broke up with Ezra- but it seems like the two have a bond that won't ever break. It's not a traditional narrative, instead it's a collection of interviews, journal entries, messages between Kady and Ezra and thoughts from AIDAN itself.

AIDAN (Artificial Intelligence Defense Analytics Network) is aboard the Alexander. The Alexander is ran by a government organization United Terran Authority (UTA). After a valiant defense of the people that's aboard it, the Alexander was able to escape Kerenza. However sadly it was damaged in that initial attack. AIDAN was designed not to hurt the people aboard the Alexander. Was it the damage it suffered at Kerenza or something else- but the self-aware AI started making decisions that wasn't in the favor of it's crew and civilian refugees.

The Alexander escapes with science spaceship, The Hypathia, and heavy freighter, the Copernicus. Their advanced technology that can successfully navigate wormholes was damaged. They set out on a slow motion race to the Heimdall Jump Station, which is a 6.5 to 7 month journey. They have the Bei Tech warship, the dread naught Lincoln (BT042-7N) on their tail. The Lincoln trails by a bit but they eventually will catch up to The Alexander and The Hypathia. The Copernicus was destroyed by AIDAN after leaving Kerenza.

The book follows the events over the few months following the Kerenza attacks. The book follows the love triangle of Ezra, Kady and AIDAN. The Phobos virus also makes an appearance and an intriguing cast of characters make up the book.

I highly recommend this book and give it a solid A grade. I love the layout, design and the writing style of Kaufman and Kristoff. Hopefully they're busy working on a follow up now. I love the characters, especially Kady and Ezra, and their love story. AIDAN is a bit too malevolent to me and I never quite trust it. But the book is full of humor, romance, friendship, courage, the beauty of the human intellect. I suggest this book to all fans of reading.

The book I'm reading now is Earnest Hemingway's "A Farewell To Arms", I'm liking it so far.

themusicaddict

Davis High's 2015 Excellent Performance of "Les Mis"

Hello,

I had the privilege of going to see "Les Mis" with my daughter and her friend last night at Davis High in Kaysville, Utah. I consider myself a "Les Mis" snob, which is why I mock the very average movie, but thoroughly enjoyed last night's performance at Davis High. Although the whole cast was very good I would like to highlight five of the performances.  Niall Thorley was great at Jean Valjean. In a not very big role Josh Downs stood out at as The Bishop of Digne. Aubrey Bell stood out for her full fleshed performance as Fantine, her performance really shows the pain Fantine suffers. And a hat raised to our favorite despicable couple the Thenardiers. It seems both Seth Callor and Nicole Hess enjoyed so much playing this lovable, despicable twosome.

Tonight is the last performance, check it out if you can get tickets.

Sadly, I couldn't find any videos of this year's performance. This is from the same high school, but in 2008.

"The Confrontation":

"Prologue":

"One Day More":

From the 10th anniversary performance at Royal Albert Hall, Ruthie Henshall singing "I Dreamed A Dream":



From London West End 2008 performance: "At The End of the Day":



This is probably my favorite ever performance of "Stars", Mr. Norm Lewis:



"Who Am I":

themusicaddict

Long Song Blog #2 Special Neil Young and Meat Loaf Songs Only (Started November 18th, 2015)

Hello,

These are some of my favorite long songs and I'm doing a long song blog for the songs of Meat Loaf, and Neil Young. My working definition of long song is at least 7:00, number in parenthesis is how long the song is. First up a few long songs by Neil Young:

"Down By The River" (9:20):

"Ordinary People" (18:13):

"Cowgirl In The Sand" (9:08):

My favorite of all of Neil's long songs. This is off his amazing CD "Sleeps With Angels", a CD you should really add to your collection. "Change Your Mind" (14:45):

A perfectly fine song as it is, but it would be so much finer if a few minutes less: "No Hidden Path" (14:33) (This version is "only" 9:47):

Now for the master of the long 7:00 + minute song,  Mr. Marvin Lee Aday. He's better known as Meat Loaf:

For those wondering the name of the female singer is Aspen Miller. "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) (10:48):

"Bat Out of Hell" (8:29):

"Objects In The Rearview Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are" (7:39):

"Paradise By The Dashboard Light" (8:25):

"Life Is A Lemon and I Want My Money Back" (8:18):

"A wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age." Ain't that the truth! "Everything Louder Than Everything Else" (Wasted Youth) (7:59):

"A Kiss Is A Terrible Thing To Waste" (7:31):

This song is 7:58 on some of his CDs, but I can't find a good video for that version. I went with the "You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth" (7:58) video below:

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Favorite Long Songs (Updated and Finished November 16th, 2015)

Hello,

These are some of my favorite long songs and I'll probably be doing a long song blog for songs of Meat Loaf, Neil Young and other bands that have several great long songs. My working definition of long song is at least 7:00, number in parenthesis is how long the song is.

First up, the greatest band of all-time, Led Zeppelin. "Stairway To Heaven" is a great song, but am I the only one who thinks it gets played too much? I didn't think so, so here's "Since I've Been Loving You" (7:27):

Don McLean's "American Pie" (8:31):

The Doors "When The Music's Over" (10:56):

The Doors "The End" (11:48):

Guns N' Roses "November Rain" (9:07):

Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (10:01):

Going truly old school here, Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" (15:08):



Queensryche "Suite Sister Mary" (10:22):



Metallica "One" (7:45):



Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (7:12):



The Who "Won't Get Fooled Again" (8:33):



B.B. King "Why I Sing The Blues" 8:32):



Billy Joel "Goodnight Saigon" (7:17):

themusicaddict

Best of G N' R's "Use Your Illusion" 1 & 2 (Finished November 16th, 2015)

Hello,

I don't think any true rock fan would deny that "Appetite For Destruction" is one of the greatest CD ever- of any genre. It's 12 tracks of butt kicking rock music, some of the most iconic songs ever come from that CD. However G N' R did release other very good CDs- two of those CDs are "Use Your Illusion" 1 & 2. Those twin CDs released September 17th, 1991 have several great songs on them. Now there are some great songs that I'm not including in my list below. Songs that were live staples or popular before these twin CDs were released.  Those songs are "Live and Let Die", "Don't Cry", "November Rain", "Civil War", "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "You Could Be Mine".

The lesser known great songs from Disc 1 are:

"Dust N' Bones":

"You Ain't The First":

"Bad Obsession":

Bizarrely enough Axl dedicated this song to Warren Beatty. Warren Beatty? "Double Talkin' Jive":

"The Garden":



"Coma":

From Disc 2:

"14 Years" (With Izzy in 2012, sadly not great sound):



"14 Years" (Much better sound from 1991):

"Yesterdays":

"Shotgun Blues":

"Pretty Tied Up":

"Estranged":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict Wonders Is The Original Lineup of Guns N' Roses Really Going To Reunite: Suggested Setlist Songs

Hello,

The first blog I ever wrote was about when would Guns N' Roses release the long awaited follow up to the "Use Your Illusion" twin CDs. They did and that CD was "Chinese Democracy", which was a decent but also slightly disappointing addition to the G N' R discography.

It's been a great year in concerts for me, in the last several months I've been able to see Motley Crue, Alice Cooper (who was surprisingly very good) Def Leppard, Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin and -one of these is not like the others- The Band Perry. I've long ago given up on a Led Zeppelin reunion and up to yesterday I had done the same about the original Guns N' Roses lineup. I love G N' R so much that I'd even seen the Axl Rose only Guns N' Roses back in 2011. That was good, but nothing matches the quality and danger of the original lineup. You never knew what was going to happen at a Guns N' Roses show. Someone asked Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx about this on Twitter. Sixx replied in all capital letters "THEY ARE. EVERYONE KNOWS".

 Of course if G N' R come anywhere near Salt Lake, I'll be going. I already have a rock babe to go with. It would be great if they actually would bring some new songs to the setlist as well. Also "Live Era '87-'93" is a pretty mediocre live CD, I suggest releasing a new and better live double CD. Here's some songs I'd love to hear live again from the original lineup.

First up, my absolute favorite Guns N' Roses song "Mr. Brownstone" (Guns N' Roses sang about the life they lived and it was full of many ugly moments.) :

How does Axl sound now? "Mr Brownstone" from 2014:

A song the original lineup wouldn't play, but should, "Better":

"Knockin' On Heaven's Door":

"Don't Damn Me":



"Coma":



"November Rain":



"Pretty Tied Up":



"Patience":

Just a personal request: I know that Axl has put on a few pounds over the years. But if he can still sing, who gives a damn? Please stop mentioning it.

themusicaddict

Songs On themusicaddict's Radar, November 11th, 2015: Thank You Veterans!

Hello,

Happy Veteran's Day to all, especially to all veterans and their families. America appreciates your hard work, courage and for all that we enjoy!

Here's some songs on my playlist. 

I know it's a cliche, but it's so true:

1) Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The U.S.A.":

2) Ellie Goulding's "Codes":

Three songs from Seal's excellent new CD "7":

I wonder which NFL telecast will this be the first that this song is played? 3) "Redzone Killer":

4) "Monascow":

5) "Life On The Dancefloor":

6) Sara Bareillies "Never Ever Getting Rid of Me":

7) Bryan Adams "We Did It All":

8) Jake Miller's "My Couch":

Although this song is over 5 years old, it's still in high rotation on my iPod. 9) Taylor Swift's "Sparks Fly":



10) Taylor Swift and Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny From The Block":

I know you probably won't believe this, but I completely missed this song when it first came out. It's a great song! 11) Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars) "Uptown Funk":

12) Fitz and the Tantrums "Out of My League":

Um I can't tell if this is lip sync? Not! 13) Kat Graham's "Heart Killer":

14) Bee Gees "Nights On Broadway":

15) Skillet's "Salvation":

16)  Spin Doctors "Two Princes":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 12 Madonna Songs

Hello,

All numbers and NR in parenthesis are where the song is in Rolling Stone's rankings, NR = not ranked. And away we go......

12) "Into The Groove" (2):

Yes, I'm surprised this song isn't much higher either. But pretty much for every song on this list I think that song should be higher. 11) "Like A Virgin" (5):

Quite simply one of the greatest ballads of all-time: 10) "Crazy For You" (11):

Quite simply another one of the greatest ballads of all-time. 9) "Live To Tell" (7):

8) "Lucky Star" (35):

7) "Holiday" (22):

6) "Who's That Girl" (23):

I do realize that the songs from "Evita" aren't technically "Madonna songs", but she did sing them. And while they may not be "Madonna songs" aren't most songs a product of an entire group of people. While Madonna may not have helped create these songs, she certainly made these songs her own. This list could have a few more songs from "Evita", but I just decided to have one song represent the whole CD. Right now I'm pondering a blog of my Top 12 Broadway Musicals and "Evita" will certainly be on that list. 5) "Buenos Aires" (NR):

A great song and one of Madonna's best videos: 4) "Express Yourself" (12):

This song was featured in "Dick Tracy", six of Madonna's Top 12 songs are from movies. 

3) "Vogue" (3):



Live at the 1990 MTV Music Awards:

Seriously Rolling Stone, you only have this song as the 46th best Madonna song. It's listed behind such non-classics as "Bitch I'm Madonna", "Hollywood" and "4 Minutes"? Really? Don't worry Rolling Stone I fixed it for you.

2) "Papa Don't Preach" (46):

1) "Like A Prayer" (1):



"Like A Prayer" (Live from Paris, 1991):

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Reviews of Recent and New CD Releases (Updated November 24th, 2015)

Hello,

All grades will be coming eventually.

1) Bryan Adams "Get Up": My initial reaction- wow, that's not a very good CD. When I review CDs I like to listen to them at least two or three times, this CD grew on me a bit when I was listening to it for it's second time. Highlights include "We Did It All" and "Brand New Day". However it seems my initial reaction was accurate. Grade: C

2) Old Dominion "Meat and Candy": My initial reaction- meat and candy? together? ew! However I quite like the first few songs. Highlights: "Snapback", "Wrong Turns" and "Said Nobody". Too quickly the songs become a bit repetitious. It started out strong, but after a few songs the songs became nearly indistinguishable. Grade: C

3) Sara Bareilles "What's Inside: Song From Waitress" Highlights include "Opening Up", "Never Ever Getting Rid Of Me"and "Bad Idea" (featuring Jason Mraz). It's okay. Grade: C

4) Alanis Morissette "Jagged Little Pill" (Collector's Issue) This is a 4 CD set.

A) A remastered take of the remastered "JLP": This remastering won't change your mind about this CD in anyway. Quite simply one of the greatest CDs of the 90s. Grade: A+

B) Outtakes from the original recording sessions: "Highlights include "The Bottom Line", "Closer Than You Might Believe", "Death of Cinderella" and "These Are The Thoughts". But it's clear why many of these songs were left off the original CD. Grade: C+

C) Acoustic takes on the original songs: this CD doesn't highlight some of the other things about these songs. It's pretty much the same songs played acoustically. Grade: B-

D) A concert performed at the Subterranea in London on September 28th, 1995: A very energetic performance by Miss Morissette and her excellent band. Grade: B+

This is just one amazing CD and all the bonus CD's bring out the greatness of the original "Jagged Little Pill". Is it a must have for your collection? Probably not, but I will probably add it to my collection someday. Overall grade for the entire collection: B

5) Seal "7": I love Seal, I love his voice, his delivery and his choice of the songs he sings. His recent divorce from Heidi Klum was obviously on his mind based on the lyrics of many of the songs. Highlights include "Redzone Killer", "Life On The Dancefloor", "Half A Heart" and "Monascow". This is a very good CD. Grade: B

6) Def Leppard's "Def Leppard": Highlights include "Let's Go", "Invincible", "Sea of Love", "Man Enough" and "All Time High".  They will never make another "Pyromania" or "Hysteria" again, but this is a good enough late career CD. You got to keep on releasing new music to stay at least partially relevant. Grade: B-

7) Jeff Lynne's "ELO": "Alone In The Universe" Release date: 11/13/2015 From what I've heard so far though this sounds like a pretty weak CD. After listening to it a couple more times, it's better than I first thought. It's still not a great CD though. Highlights include "When I Was A Boy" and "Ain't It A Drag" Grade: C-

8) Ellie Goulding's "Delirium": One of the worst CD covers in the last several years, pointless nudity. Highlights include "Codes", "Love Me Like You Do" and "Lost and Found". I want to listen to it a couple of more times before I give it a final grade.

9) Eric Church's "Mr. Misunderstood": I was finally able to listen to this full CD, thanks Rdio. Highlights include: "Mistress Named Music", "Kill A Word" and "Record Year". It's not great and it's not terrible. Grade C+

10) Tim McGraw's "Damn Country Music" Highlights include "Here Tonight" and "Love Runs", other than those two highlights this is a pretty generic country album. Grade: C.

11) Adele's "25": Release date: November 20th, 2015 "Hello" is a decent, but not amazing, song. I can't give this a proper review as I'm not planning on buying the CD any time soon. That and Adele has greedily sadly declined to allow it to stream on music websites. Of course it may not be Adele it may be her record company or some other entity.

12) Vamps "Wake Up" (Deluxe) Release date: November 27th, 2015. Review coming soon.

13) Fiction Plane's "Mondo Lumina": Highlights include "Where Do We Go From Here", "Flesh and Bone", "Real Life" and  "Walk Through The Fire". Some CDs grow on me over time and some start to lose their charms. This CD is one of those that's growing on me. This CD is much better than I expected it to be. Grade: B

14) Sugarcult's "Start Static": Okay this is an older CD- 4 1/2 years old- hey but I never reviewed it. I'm still hoping that Sugarcult will make new music and they will finally break out big. Highlights "Stuck In America", "Bouncing Off The Walls", "Pretty Girl (The Way)", "How Does It Feel" and "Crashing Down". Grade: B-.

15) Tracy Chapman's "Greatest Hits": The soul troubadour who sang some of the 80's most beautiful and haunting songs. Now she's back with a greatest hits CD (just in time for Christmas shopping) so how is it? I understand why this 18 track CD isn't just all 11 songs from her debut self-titled plus a few other songs. That would be lame. However to only have 3 songs from her amazing debut CD is also a bit crazy. After listening to the CD, maybe she should have included all 11 songs from her debut CD. I do like the more recent songs like "Telling Stories", "Bang Bang Bang", "Speak The Word" and of course "Give Me One Reason". Songs from her debut CD that should have been on her Greatest Hits include "For My Lover", "Why" and "Baby Can I Hold You". Grade: B- Grade for her self-titled debut CD: A+

Upcoming blogs, Madonna's Top 12 Songs, another Songs on themusicaddict's Radar and I also plan on finishing a previous Songs on themusicaddict's radar.

themusicaddict

Songs On themusicaddict's Radar, November 6th, 2015: Some Of The Best of Broadway + Other Music (Finished November 9th, 2015)

Hello,

Last night I bought tickets to take my daughter and her friend to see "Les Mis" at a local high school, there has been a lot of "Les Mis" music going through my head. Yes, I can hear the people sing! The "Les Mis" musical adaption from a couple of years ago was a mess, Russell Crowe cannot sing. Other than Eddie Redmayne, Anne Hathaway and Samantha Barks, the singing was below par. And what Borat and Helena Bonham Carter did to the Thenardiers was disgraceful. But all of that will be redeemed by seeing the play live.

Goosebump inducing stuff here "Do You Hear The People Sing/ One Day More":

"At The End of the Day":

Philip Quast "Stars":

From a more recent play "Hamilton", "The Schuyler Sisters":

Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford "Phantom of The Opera":

Another one from the incomparable Sarah Brightman (featuring Andrea Bocelli) "Time To Say Goodbye":

"Les Mis" is a much better play than "Phantom", but "Phantom" is far superior as a movie:



Non-Broadway Division:

Jan and Dean "Dead Man's Curve":



The Beach Boys "Surfin' USA":



The Beach Boys "Surfer Girl":



Shinedown's "If You Only Knew":



A double shot of Miss Alanis Morissette "All I Really Want":



"Death of Cinderella":



A double shot of the new country rock band, Old Dominion's "Wrong Turns":



"Said Nobody":



Walk The Moon's "Anna Sun":



Def Leppard's "Broke and Broken Hearted":

themusicaddict

Shinedown Concert Review 10/30/2015 Maverick Center, Part 2 (Finished November 5th, 2015)

Hello,

This is part 2 of a two blog series on the Shinedown/Breaking Benjamin/Nothing More concert on October 30th, 2015. First a caveat, unlike Def Leppard, whose songs I've probably heard a couple of hundred times, I'm not quite as familiar with the music of these three bands. I like several songs by Shinedown, but don't know them as well. Part of the fun of a concert is singing along with the songs. What I'm saying is my grade would be higher if I had been more familiar with their songs.

The quick review: too much talking, in fact way too much talking. Not enough singing and definitely not enough songs. Shinedown said there were 7,000 people in attendance, the crowd definitely filled in as the night went on.

A bit before Shinedown took the stage, the National Anthem was played. Most people were confused by this- is this part of the show? are we suppose to stand up? where's the flag? Most of us eventually stood up and then we sat back down when it ended. Then over the PA a rocked up version of "99 Problems" played- which would be a perfectly good song if the b word wasn't used in it. Shortly there after Shinedown took the stage. Setlist:

1) "Cut The Cord": A great opening song!

2) "Fly From The Inside"

Brent Smith's speech about getting along and saying hi to those around you. While I'm sure he was being sincere it came off as not particularly inspiring. You can hear this speech on the Shinedown live CD "Somewhere In The Atmosphere". The video contains some of the jibberish Smith spoke this past Friday. It also features the great song "If You Only Knew":

3) "If You Only Knew" A great song, I'm not sure why it's so heartening to hear that famous rock stars have girl problems as well. It's not just me!

4) "Unity"

5) "The Crow and The Butterfly":

6) "Diamond Eyes (Boom-Lay Boom-Lay Boom)"

7) "I'll Follow You"

8) "Enemies"

9) "State of My Head"

10) "Bully"- A very disappointing, muted version of this song.

11) "How Did You Love":

12) "Second Chance":

13) "Simple Man"

14) "Sound Of Madness"- Again this song didn't rock as much as it should have.

Other songs Shinedown could have, and should have, played as the headliner. I don't think I've ever been to a concert were the middle band played more songs than the headliner. I know that this tour they are billed as co-headliners, but still!

".45":

"Adrenaline":

"It All Adds Up":

"Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide":

"Black Cadillac":

"Amaryllis":

"Oblivion":

"Left Out":



"Outcast":

Although one of my favorite current bands this simply wasn't a great show. My suggestions more singing, more songs and less talk. However Shinedown is still one of my favorite bands. Brent Smith has that amazing voice, they have a lot of great songs and I also love the lyrics.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Personal Top 40 Songs of Madonna Continued #24-#13 (Finished November 3rd, 2015)

Hello,

All numbers and NR in parenthesis are where the song is in Rolling Stone rankings, NR = not ranked. And away we go......

24) "La Isla Bonita" (25):

Captured on Madonna's first tour, this is truly a time capsule video. 23) "Dress You Up" (15):

Just an absolutely amazing performance of this song, not sure what the point of having Babyface there though? 22) "Take A Bow" (30):

21) "This Used To Be My Playground" (45):

20) "Till Death Do Us Part" (NR):



I don't remember ever seeing this video before. 19) "True Blue" (33):



18) "Open Your Heart" (Live) (16):



Honestly I'm surprised this song is so low, it just shows you how many amazing songs Madonna has had in her career. I definitely remember this video! 17) "Material Girl" (17):



16) "The Power of Goodbye" (NR):



15) "Causing A Commotion" (15):



I'm surprised this song is so high on my list, but this is a great and often overlooked Madonna song. 14) "Cherish" (28):



13) "Borderline" (4):

themusicaddict