themusicaddict's Review of Karin Slaughter's "Fractured" Will Trent Series Book (Small Spoilers)

Hello,

"Fractured" is book 2 in the Will Trent series, it was released in 2008. I wrote my review for the first book in the series, 2006's "Triptych" on November 9th, 2016. The next book in the series is the 2009 novel "Undone".

Book 2 continues the story of Will Trent, GBI agent, dyslexic and brilliant investigator. This time Trent is called into a case where one teenage girl is murdered and one teenage girl is kidnapped. The dead teenager is Kayla Alexander, who originally was mistaken for Emma Campano, the missing teen.

Trent is paired with Faith Mitchell, a woman that loathes him for good reason. He investigated her mother, who was a crooked cop. After some initial distrust, they find a way to work together. Mitchell quickly realizes Trent is a fair person and just wants to find the truth. She also figures out that he has trouble with reading. By the end of the book they work so well together that they become partners and will continue to work together in future installments. Trent continues is on again, off again relationship with Angie Polaski. Other than comfort I'm not sure what either one of them gets out of the relationship. I think those two need to break up and thank goodness Angie isn't pregnant.

Other familiar characters are back for book 2, people like Amanda Wagner, Hamish Patel and Charlie Reed. Also this book introduces Victor Martinez, who it seems may be a love interest for Faith Mitchell going forward.

After two books is the Will Trent series an absolutely amazing, can't put down book series. I would say no. But it does have a lot going for it. I like the characters, especially the very driven to find the truth Will Trent. I love Faith Mitchell and hopefully they would eventually get together, although they would have to resolve major roadblocks for that to happen. But Victor Martinez seems like a good guy.

Would I recommend "Fractured", yes I would. One thing about series is that the reader usually knows the major characters already from the previous books. That way the author can just dig into the story without explaining who everyone is. I would give this book a solid B, I already have Book 3 checked out from the library. That book being "Undone", this was my first experience with Will Trent. I read about 100 pages before realizing it was a later book in a series. Then I went back and read the first two books in the series. When I first was reading "Undone" I had a very difficult time putting it down.

Although I plan on reading "Undone" soon, that doesn't mean that's the next book I'll read. I'm also considering Pether Matthiessen's "The Snow Leopard", Paolo Bacigalupi's "The Windup Girl" and Jay McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City". There's just not enough time to read all the great lit that has been written.

themusicaddict

The Best Songs of Green Day's "Revolution Radio"

Hello,

Actually that title is a bit of a misnomer, pretty much every song on this CD is great. Like Metallica's recent CD, this is a very good CD. It's good to see older bands still kicking butt after so many years performing together. I give "Revolution Radio" a B+. Check it out.

Green Day is: Current members

• Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica (1986–present)
• Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals (1988–present); lead guitar (1986–1988)
• Tré Cool – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1990–present)

Current touring members

• Jason White – guitar, backing vocals (1999–2012, 2016–present; official member 2012–2016)
• Jason Freese – piano, keyboards, saxophone, trombone, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2004–present)
• Jeff Matika – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2009–present) (Thanks to Wikipedia.org)

Green Day is touring. They have a show in L.A. on December 11th and then take a holidays break. Then they are a European tour starting January 10th in Italy and will tour Europe until February 8th. Then they take another break before coming home to the USA, where they'll play a few dates. There are no shows set for Salt Lake City as of yet.

Here are some of the several great songs from "Revolution Radio":

"Somewhere Now":

"Still Breathing":

"Troubled Times":

"Revolution Radio":

"Say Goodbye":

"Outlaws":

"Bouncing Off The Wall":

"Bang Bang":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Review of "The Night Of" (Small Orange Spoilers)

Hello,

I heard good things about "The Night Of" when it was first released. I watched about 5 minutes of an episode and wasn't impressed. But I've kept on seeing very positive reviews about this show, so I decided to give it another chance. Eventually I got around to watching it again and I devoured the 8 episodes in a very short period of time.

Riz Ahmed (soon to be seen in "Rogue One") is accused murderer Naz Kahn, who's at the center of this show. His victim is the incredibly gorgeous Andrea Cornish, played by Sofia Black D'elia. Michael Kenneth Williams is Naz's protector at Riker's Prison. John Turturro, who plays John Stone, is one of Naz's lawyers. Stone is a lawyer that will usually plead out anyone for $250. However he sees something more in Naz than his usual sleazy clients. Amara Karan plays Chandra Kapoor, another lawyer for Naz.

On the prosecutor's side is long-time and about to retire detective Dennis Box. Box sees the murder scene and immediately jumps to the conclusion that Naz is guilty. He still thoroughly investigates the case as he's both a great detective and someone that wants to do his job correctly. Jeannie Berlin plays prosecutor Helen Weiss. All of these actors do an amazing job.

Turturro's John Stone is a great character. There's a recurring storyline about the battle he has with his allergies. But he also is a very compassionate person, which is why he fought so hard for Kahn. It's also why he rescued Andrea Cornish's orange cat on her death. The cat inflames his allergies, but he still takes care of the cat. He keeps the cat locked in a room he doesn't use as he struggles with whether he should keep the cat or not. He does what he can to mitigate his allergies while taking care of the cat. I love the final scene when we Stone head out to represent one more sleaze bag and we see the orange cat walking free in his apartment. It seems against his better judgement he has decided to keep the cat. The fate of the cat and Naz fit so well together.

Those are the main characters so how is the show? One thing I always judge a show on is how it ends. "The Night Of" has a great and very satisfying ending. It's completely believable, we believe Naz when he says he doesn't even know if he killed Andrea or not. Also the ending isn't a cliche and is very satisfying for not being predictable or clear cut.

For the most part all of the characters are believable, doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Most of the characters are decent people. Some of these decent people make mistakes, but when they do they do what they can to fix those mistakes.

I would give this show a solid A and highly recommend it to anyone who likes smart, challenging TV.

themusicaddict

The Best Songs from Metallica's 3 Disc CD "Hardwired to Self-Destruct" (Finished November 26th, 2016)

Hello,

While driving around the last couple of days I've been listening to Metallica's solid 10th CD "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct". This is a very good CD, I would give it a solid 8.5. This CD is going back to the classic long songs of days of yore. One thing about Metallica, they always come to rock your world. Two of the CDs have new material on them, the third CD is a collection of new and old live tracks, the previously released song "Lords of Summer" and some other goodies. These are the best ten songs from these 3 CDs. And yes Metallica is upcoming in my Top 106 Greatest 80's bands eventually.

Currently Metallica is singer James Hetfield, guitarist Kirk Hemmett, bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Lars Ulrich.

"Atlas, Rise!":

"Halo On Fire":

"Confusion":

"ManUNkind":

"Here Comes Revenge":

"Lords of Summer":

("Ronnie Rising Medley" (A Light In The Black / Tarot Woman / Stargazer / Kill The King)

"Fade To Black"):

"Jump In The Fire":

"Creeping Death":

themusicaddict

Getting To Know Catfish and the Bottlemen (Completed November 24th, 2016)

Hello,

My rock concert girlfriend- how cool is it to have a rock concert girlfriend?- asked me if I wanted to go see Catfish and The Bottlemen for only $10. I guess the regularly priced tickets are $27, but this is a Black Friday promotion. The concert is on December 6th, 2016. After listening to their two CDs I highly recommend that anyone that likes good rock music and will be in the Salt Lake area on December 6th to join my rock concert girlfriend and I. And if you are interested to definitely take advantage.

They formed in Wales in 2007 when McCann and former member Billy Bibby started playing together at a bed and breakfast in Wales.

Current members of Catfish and the Bottlemen are Ryan Evan "Van" McCann, lead vocals. Matthew Benjamin "Benji" Blakeway, to continue the theme of alliteration, is of course their bassist. Robert "Sideshow" Bob" Hall plays drums and Johnny "Bondy" Bond is the lead guitarist. Thankfully they are better at writing music than coming up with nicknames. (Thanks Wikipedia for the biographical details.)

This is a full recent performance of Catfish and the Bottlemen, Live At T in the Park:

These are their 5 five star songs:

"Kathleen":

"Postpone":

"Anything":

"Oxygen":

"Red":

They have several 4 star songs, these are a random few of those:

"Pacifier":

"26":

"Heathrow":

"Twice":

"Fallout":



"Hourglass" (starring the young Obi Wan Kenobi):

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 49 The Rolling Stones: Their Top 21 80's Era Songs Part 1 #21 to #11 (Finished November 21st, 2016)

Hello,

Without a doubt The Rolling Stones are one of the greatest bands of all-time. And if this was a blog series about the greatest bands of all-time, undoubtedly they'd be higher. However this is a blog series on the greatest 80's bands of all-time. And this is a countdown of their best 80's era songs- you won't see "Paint It Black", "Satisfaction" or "Gimme Shelter" anywhere on this list. Thanks to the Rolling Stones for all the great music over the years. The Rolling Stones main members during the 80's era were Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood and Bill Wyman.

21) "Hang Fire":

20) "Hold Back":

19) "Fight":

18) "Can't Be Seen":

17) "I Wanna Hold You":

16) "Terrifying":

15) "Mean Disposition":

14) "Hearts For Sale":

13) "Emotional Rescue":

What is up with 80's videos having cartoon cats in them? 12) "Harlem Shuffle":

11) "Love Is Strong":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 52 Peter Gabriel: His Top 29 80's Era Songs Part 3 #10 to #1 (Finished November 23rd, 2016)

Hello,

Without further adieu here's themusicaddict's Top 10 Peter Gabriel 80's era songs as formulated through a complex scientific method- meaning they go in order of how much I like each song.

10) "I Don't Remember":

9) "Shakin' The Tree":

8) "Red Rain":

7) "I Have The Touch":

6) "Solsbury Hill":

5) "Don't Give Up" featuring Kate Bush

4) "Shock The Monkey" (with Sting) :



"Shock The Monkey" (studio version):



3) "In Your Eyes":



2) "Big Time":



1) "Sledgehammer":

themusicaddict

The Most Interesting Songs of July 24, 1982 (Finished November 16, 2016))

Hello,

I like to write these kind of blogs every once-in-awhile, all thanks goes to Entertainment Weekly and Billboard magazine. Also thanks to Youtube.com for being able to listen to some of these songs quickly and remind myself what they sound like. These are the top songs from mid July 24, 1982. Usually I just post the 10, but I think this time I'm going to post the songs most interesting to me. They may not be the biggest hits, the most memorable or even the most timeless songs. No the only the thing they share is being a great song. Again they really did make music better in the 80s. Enjoy!

I didn't remember how much country music was in the Top 40 at the time. Of the top 20 songs this week, three of them are country songs. There are a lot of other country songs in the countdown and these are some amazing country songs also.

89) Michael Martin Murphy "What's Forever For":

85) Jerry Reed "She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft):

84) Asia "Only Time Will Tell":

49) The premiere performance of one of the Top 100 greatest songs of all-time. Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind":

44) Alan Parsons Project "Eye In The Sky":

38) Haircut 100 "Love Plus One":

30) Gary U.S. Bonds "Out of Work":

27) Donna Summer "Love Is In Control (Finger On The Trigger)":

22) The Go Go's "Vacation":

I know what you're thinking. Rick Springfield, Rick Springfield? I've always had a soft spot for him, as he and his band were my first rock concert. It was on Halloween night, early 80s in Salt Lake City. It was a great concert. 21) Rick Springfield "What Kind of Fool Am I":

18) Alabama "Take Me Down":

16) Crosby, Stills and Nash "Wasted On The Way":

Hasn't love been a little bit hard on all of us? 12) Juice Newton "Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me":

9) The Motels "Only The Lonely":

7) The Human League "Don't You Want Me":

5) The Dazz Band "Let It Whip":

2) Toto "Rosanna":

And then just a completely random that I stumbled across on Youtube the other day, Tracy Ullman's "They Don't Know About Us":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 50 Kenny Loggins: His Top 28 80's Era Songs Part 1 #28- #21 (Finished November 16th, 2016)

Hello,

I know that I have some blogs unfinished, I'll finish many of those soon. But today I wanted to start working on the three blog series for Kenny Loggins. From the 70's working in Loggins and Messina to the "Danger Zone" in the mid 80's to the excellent work he did with Blue Sky Riders Loggins has had an amazing career. Loggins is probably most known for all the amazing songs he's provided for soundtracks. A lot of artists contribute throw away songs to soundtracks. But Loggins has given some of his best songs to soundtracks.  Four of the songs from soundtracks are in the top eleven Loggins songs. Al Gore also called his "Conviction of the Heart" "the unofficial anthem of the environmental movement." (Thanks to Wikipedia) Loggins also has produced great music with Stevie Nicks, Steve Perry, Michael McDonald and U.S.A. For Africa. I have 29 Kenny Loggins songs on my iTunes.

This isn't one of his 80's era songs, but this is one of my Top 5 favorite Kenny Loggins song, "Return To Pooh Corner":

28) "Celebrate Me Home":

27) "Junkanoo Holiday":

26) "Somebody Knows":

25) "Keep The Fire":

24) "I Gotta Try":

23) "If It's Not What You're Looking For":

22) "I'm Gonna Do It Right":

21) "Daddy's Back":

themusicaddict

The Top 200 on the iTunes Album Chart: Just What Year Is It?

Hello,

First of all I'd like to thank all the Veterans that have fought for and represented this country over the last 250 years or so. Thanks for your bravery at Yorktown, Iwo Jima, The Battle of the Bulge, Antietam, Cu Chi, Korea, Fallujah, Baghdad and all the other places our soldiers have sacrificed, fought and died for this great country.

That's one of the things I loathed the most about Donald Trump's campaign, his whole make America great again nonsense. America is still great!! To paraphrase Norma Desmond "America is big, it's the politicians that have got small".

I was looking at the iTunes Top 200 album charts today and I noticed how many old CDs are on that countdown. Some of these CDs are almost 50 years old and they are still on a 2016 Top 200 album countdown? I realize that some of these are on sale and that helps their sales increase. But I think the key factor is the quality and the timelessness of this music. I say this as I listen to the soundtrack of "Sing Street", which is a new movie with it's roots solidly in the 80s. Long live the 80s!!

Here's a sampling of some of the CDs represented on today's, November 11th, 2016, album charts.

This CD is out today, so obviously it's not old. However Sting had some of the 80's most amazing songs- both with The Police and solo. I listened to this CD last night and I wasn't that impressed, maybe it will grow on me. Sting's voice sounds a little worse for wear now. However his talent still shines through and his new music is so much better than so much out there now. Most of the new music on the countdown make me want to hold my nose. 

3) Sting's "57th and 9th", this is one of the better songs from Sting's new CD "Petrol Head":

21) Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A.", this is "Dancing In The Dark":

While this CD has some amazing songs on it, this seems to be a bit of an odd duck to be on this list. Although Sting shows up on this CD as well, singing "Money For Nothing". Honestly this isn't even a very good CD. It starts with three straight great songs, which then is followed by filler. 

22) Dire Straits "Brothers In Arms", this is "So Far Away":

23) Guns N' Roses "Appetite For Destruction", this is "Nightrain":

28) Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet", this is "Never Say Goodbye":

46) The "Suicide Squad" movie and soundtrack are new, it still is full of classic music. That includes that seems as timeless as ever, Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son", War's "Slippin' Into Darkness" and remakes of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me". This is the rap lite version of Grace's cover of "You Don't Own Me":

64) The "Guardians of the Galaxy" soundtrack. I'm posting two songs from this CD.

Rupert Holmes "(Escape) The Pina Colada Song":

The Runaways (featuring a very young Joan Jett and Lita Ford) "Cherry Bomb":

67) The Clash's "London Calling", this is "Train In Vain":



76) "Classic Power Ballads", this is Slaughter's "Fly To The Angels":



Night Ranger's "Sister Christian":



79) David Bowie's "Legacy", this is "Modern Love":



There are so many great songs on this album, that I just can't pick one!! 94) Carole King's "Tapestry"

"So Far Away":



The hauntingly beautiful "Tapestry":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Review of Karin Slaughter's "Triptych" (Spoilers Galore)

Hello,

This is my brief review of Karin Slaughter's "Triptych". This is the first book in the now 9 book Will Trent series.

The main characters are policeman Michael Ormewood, Ormewood's cousin John Shelley, Trent, Trent's ex-lover Angie Polaski and a few others.

Briefly Michael Ormewood is a cop and the book starts with him being called to a notorious crime ridden housing project in Atlanta. He finds a woman murdered and her corpse no longer has her full tongue. The murder is bad enough by itself, but eventually they realize this is the work of a serial killer. Will Trent is called in from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to help with the case. There's a shocking twist coming up, but it completely caught me off guard. I didn't see the twist coming and it's done pretty well. It feels real, it's not just a twist to have a twist. Be warned nothing is what it seems to be.

Some things The book is written by a woman and so I was a bit surprised the language she used in describing women's body parts. A lot of slang and graphic terms. It's very realistic, but not very palatable. I like the different perspectives of the characters. For instance, Michael Ormewood's wife is Gina. Michael still thinks she's beautiful, but Angie Polaski refers to her as "mousy". Two different people are going to have two different perspectives. For instance, some people think Donald Trump will be a good President, but people with common sense know that he won't be.

Well what did I think about the book. I liked it so much that I already have the next two books in the series waiting for me at the library. I read the book very quickly, which due to limited time I rarely do. After finishing the book I was in that post reading a great novel afterglow and I excitedly spent a few minutes looking for the next book to read. I started reading Jodi Piccoult's "The Storyteller". I plan on reading Slaughter's "Fractured" next though.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 52 Peter Gabriel: His Top 29 80's Era Songs Part 2 #20 to #11 (Finished November 15th, 2016)

Hello,

20) "Down The Dolce Vita":

19) "Perspective":

18) "On The Air":

17) "Come Talk To Me":

16) "This Is The Picture (Excellent Birds)":

15) "Steam":



14) "Not One Of Us":



13) "Walk Through The Fire":



12) "That Voice Again":



11) "Games Without Frontiers":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands # 52 Peter Gabriel: His Top 29 80's Era Songs Part 1 #29 to #21 (Finished November 7th, 2016)

Hello,

This blog is about the multitalented Peter Gabriel, and it covers the CDs from 1977's Peter Gabriel 1: "Car" to 1992's "Us". Among his many contributions to pop culture include being the former lead singer of Genesis, musician, songwriter, working in several genres and the man that has created some of the most unique songs to have ever become big hits. Gabriel is best known for "So", which has sold 5 million copies in the USA alone. Although I expected that number to be bigger. He also has written the scores for "Birdy" and "The Last Temptation of Christ"- which he titled "Passion".

29) "Blood of Eden" (featuring Sinead O' Connor"):

28) "Here Comes The Flood":

27) "San Jacinto":

26) "Wonderful Day In A One-Way World":

25) "Digging In The Dirt":

24) "No Self Control":



23) "Biko":



22) "And Through The Wire":

21) "Mercy Street":

themusicaddict

In A Mandatory Metallica Music Mood: Including New Metallica Music!!

Hello,

I'm in a mandatory Metallica mood this morning. Downloading MP3's from LiveMetallica.com is a bit frustrating. I eventually worked it out, although it took me much longer than it should have. If you are smarter than me and love Metallica, go to livemetallica.com for free and reasonably priced live MP3's. It should be easier for you than it is for me, but my Windows laptop was putting all sorts of roadblocks in the way of using livemetallica.com's download manager.

Metallica is coming up on my Top 106 Greatest 80's musicians, they are in the Top Ten. I couldn't wait that long to write a Metallica blog. I hope you don't mind. I can't wait to put this in my car's CD player and play it loud!!! Metallica's new CD "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" will be available November 18th, 2016. Here's three new songs from their new CD, first up "Moth Into Fire":

"Atlas, Rise":

"Hardwired":

Now here comes some classic Metallica. Enjoy!!!

"Ride The Lighting":

"Master of Puppets":

One of my all-time favs, but isn't it one of everyone's all-time favs? "One":

This video features scenes from "Saving Private Ryan" and it is a great reminder of the sacrifices made by so few for so many. One veteran told me only 1% of all Americans have served in the armed forces, which is shocking to think about. With Veteran's Day on Friday, November 11th, 2016 let's thank all the brave veterans that have fought for this still great country. "Fade To Black":



"For Whom The Bell Tolls":



"Wherever I May Roam":



"Enter Sandman":



"Of Wolf and Man":



"The Black Album" is definitely my favorite Metallica CD. "My Friend of Misery":



"Nothing Else Matters":



"And Justice For All":



"Fuel":

themusicaddict

Coming Soon: My # 52 of the Top 106 Greatest 80's Musicians: Peter Gabriel

Hello,

As you may have heard, the Chicago Cubs won the 2016 World Series champs. They have broken over a century of bad luck, bad karma (depending on how much you believe in curses) and bad decisions. I've spent a lot of time watching baseball as of late and was going to stay up as late as Game 7 lasted. Despite me being very tired today, it was worth every minute to revel in breaking the 108 year title drought. How often is it that you get to see something that hasn't happened for 108 years. I'm already looking forward to 2017 Spring Training when I'll be cheering for my Cubs, A's, Braves, Dodgers, Pirates, Red Sox and Orioles. I love baseball and as you can see I love a few teams.

Thanks 2016 Cubs for all the great memories. Best wishes to David Ross and the Red Sox's David Ortiz following their retirements. Ortiz was the most clutch MLB player I've ever seen, especially that 2013 World Series when he went crazy. Although David Ross hitting a homer in his final game and also Game 7 of the World Series is pretty spectacular.

Anyway on to Peter Gabriel, I will eventually organize these songs into one or two countdown blogs. As for now I'm trying to avoid the most obvious Peter Gabriel songs.

"Games Without Frontiers":

"Shock The Monkey":

"Steam":

"Digging In The Dirt":

"Mercy Street":

"I Grieve":

"The Book of Love":

themusicaddict