Thursday, November 29, 2012

George is my favorite Beatle!

 He will always be my favorite Beatle
  
On this day, 11 years ago, we lost George Harrison to lung cancer. He was 58 years old. (February 25, 1943 – November 29, 2001) Sad, sad, day. Actually, "sad, sad, day" is an understatement. Devastating is more like it. Massively devastating.
I'm not going to get all mushy and write a novel. I might save that for his birthday in February... ha! George Harrison is one of my all-time favorite musicians. He was one of those quiet geniuses. Those are the best. He was just brilliant. A Brilliant musician, and he had a brilliant mind. George was just amazing.



  


Rest In Peace, George. We truly miss you. 



Peace, Love, & Music,
~Lizzy Lepp 


Saturday, November 24, 2012

Long live Freddie Mercury!

On this day, 21 years ago, the world lost one of rock's greatest legends.

Don't worry, I'm not going to get all mushy with this post. I will say this, though: Freddie Mercury was the greatest frontman ever.  And he'll always be the greatest frontman ever. It doesn't get much better than Freddie. A few people might come close... close, but no cigar. His powerful vocals, his flamboyant stage persona, and his genuine enthusiasm... he was just the greatest. Legendary. One of a kind.

Whenever I complete my time machine, I am definitely going back and seeing him perform live and in the flesh. I seriously envy anyone who had the opportunity to attend a Queen show with Freddie Mercury. I know that HAD to be an incredibly epic experience. Absolutely epic. Hell, I get goosebumps and teary-eyed just from watching "Queen Rock Montreal"... it happens every time I watch it. Every time. Green with envy. And not just "Queen Rock Montreal"... all of that occurs whenever I watch any Freddie Mercury/Queen performance. The rock world music world suffered a HUGE loss when Freddie died. We need Freddie Mercury... can we please have him back? Please?


Yes, I know... the obvious choice. But "Bohemian Rhapsody" is the greatest song EVER.
I had to post this one!!! I had to!!! Haha!
The show must go on...

 Rest In Peace, Mr. Mercury. We miss you. Dearly.


Peace, Love, & Music,
~Lizzy Lepp 

Friday, November 23, 2012

X - "Visual Shock Vol. 2"

X - "Visual Shock Vol. 2"

This is rather long... almost an hour, but it's worth watching!


The majority of what is shown here is concert footage (taken from various performances). It also shows them walking around/hanging out on the streets of New York, as well as "Yoshiki in Paris". It would have been fun to experience that in person! During the New York part, a few people actually stop dead in their tracks. They get a lot stares and "WTF" looks... and at the end , one guy actually lifts up his sunglasses! haha! No dude, you are not looking at a pretty Japanese chick walking by... you're looking at a pretty Japanese dude. There are also random sequences (like the opening scene) that occur a few times throughout all of this, that serve as fillers? Or maybe it's supposed to add to the "visual shock" ? It's a bit weird... but interesting. Towards the end, they show the music video for "Endless Rain", and it ends with more concert/fan footage behind the ending credits, as well as a thank you message to the fans.

A little background information for those who have zero knowledge about this band

X = X Japan. They changed their name to X Japan in 1992. This was made (or released) in 1989, so they were still under the name X.

If you saw a picture of them without hearing their music first, you would probably think they sounded like Poison or Enuff Z'Nuff (or any of the other U.S. glam/hair metal bands... nope! They started out as a speed metal band... but later progressed into a rock band emphasizing on ballads. Their outer appearance/look does not match their music. Guys with big hair... and I mean BIG!!! Makeup galore... in glammed out clothing... playing speed metal. Ha! That makes for some interesting stuff!

They achieved their breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second album, Blue Blood.

They're massively f*cking huge in Japan (my brother gave his approval of this statement). In Japan, they're what The Beatles, U2, and The Rolling Stones are to the West, combined. They were at their hugest peak during the mid-90s. However, they are still massively important/popular over there.
SO massively huge that drummer Yoshiki had to move to the States because he became too huge/popular. He couldn't go anywhere or do anything without being swarmed by a sea of fans. Yoshiki is the head honcho, by the way. He's their songwriter and does almost all of the interviews.

hide and Taiji are no longer with us. R.I.P. (hide died in 1998 and Taiji died in 2011.)
Going back to their hugeness and massive popularity, hide's death practically shut Japan down for a while. Seriously. Fans mourned outside of the gates for miles. MILES! Thousands of fans gathered on the streets and sidewalks... if not more. I've seen stuff on youtube... it's massively depressing. My brother is the huge X / X Japan fan around here, but watching all of that still gave me the sniffles. Sad, sad, stuff, man. Sad, sad, stuff. Think of Kurt Cobain's death + John Lennon's death times 50. Maybe even more. 
Although hide is deceased, the band still considers him a member and introduces him at every concert. The group also goes as far as playing audio/video of his voice/guitar for some of the songs. Also, I believe they've even used a hide hologram? That's massively rad... yet massively eerie.

That concludes the brief X / X Japan 101 lesson. Class is dismissed.
We can all thank my brother, Nick, for the lesson... haha!



Peace, Love, & Music,
~Lizzy Lepp

Thursday, November 22, 2012

This is what you need...

Now that I've completely bummed everyone out with my previous post (Remembering Michael Hutchence), I think we are in dire need of a good time!! Well, maybe not in dire need... but a good time is a must. So here we go!! 

Australia and the U.S.A. now share the same date
November 22nd. 
This post is not going to focus on text, like the previous one... this post will consist of pictures of Michael as well as INXS, and an INXS Spotify playlist that I've made. We're going to honor/remember Hutch, as well as honor/remember INXS with Michael. No mushy stuff... just some visuals and some rad tunes. It's what we need. I want this blog to load as smoothly as possible, so I will limit the pictures to only a few... or maybe just set them all as 'small'. haha! 

Let's have a good time...
 (I do NOT own any of these photos... please don't sue my ass!)




Peace, Love, & Michael Hutchence,
~Lizzy Lepp


P.S. - Spotify doesn't have "Elegantly Wasted"... that's why the playlist lacks songs from that album!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Remembering Michael Hutchence...

Michael Kelland John Hutchence January 22, 1960-November 22, 1997

I'm wearing my INXS shirt today. It's November 21st here in America, but it's November 22nd in Australia. Michael Hutchence died sometime in the A.M. (somewhere between 7am and 11:50am) on November 22nd, 1997 (Australian time)... which still would've been November 21st our time. Make sense? Yes? No? Maybe? Well, we're in the same boat... because for the most part, this confuses me too. I start the honoring/remembering (whatever you prefer to call it) on the 21st... and it lasts for two days. This year, Thanksgiving "turkey day" lands on November 22nd, so I have to write this blog today instead, and do all of the core festivities today. That should be okay, because of the time difference... I think?! I'll try to do as much as I can tomorrow... but we'll see how that goes.

I hate the feeling I have during these two days. It feels like someone has kicked me in the gut. For the entire two days. 

Every year, it's the same tradition: I wear an INXS shirt, listen to INXS for most of the two days, watch their music videos, and watch their "Live Baby Live" concert DVD. Yeah, I take this very seriously. As much as I hate this day and the 22nd, it's all about keeping Hutch's memory and spirit alive, as well as his legacy. Just because he's gone, he shouldn't be forgotten. I usually get some sort of flack for it, but zero f*cks are given.

INXS is one of my favorite bands... Michael Hutchence INXS. I love a lot of bands, but INXS will always, always be in the top 3. Mhm! Always. Michael Hutchence was f*cking fabulous. FABULOUS. Where should I begin? I'll start with his voice. His voice = sex. If sex had a voice, it'd be Michael Hutchence's. I'm pretty damn sure of it. Not only did he have sex for a voice, but he also had the voice of an angel. It's just perfect. It's smooth, silky, sexy/sensual, sultry... and at times, haunting. He will forever be my favorite vocalist. I have a few favorite vocalists, but he's definitely #1. As far as overall frontmanship goes, Michael will forever be near the top of my list for that, too. Very few frontmen beat him in my world, I would say Freddie Mercury being the only one. He gets compared to Jim Morrison and Mick Jagger... and I see the comparisons. But they're only minor comparisons; he wasn't either of them, he was just Michael Hutchence. A white dude who had soul and swagger. Songwriting... let's go in that direction! His lyrics are absolutely amazing, and absolutely beautiful. Between him and Andrew Farriss... that is some superb songwriting right there. Hutch and Andrew are my 2nd favorite songwriting duo... only behind Lennon/McCartney. I am dead serious. 
I guess I can talk about his looks... he was alright. ha! NO! That man was absolutely gorgeous. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!!! He was sex on a stick. Just... beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful; inside and out. He was just special. Unique. He was one of a kind. 

I also liked his personality. I like the adorably mysterious thing he had going... the sexy yet sweet charm... wild yet shy... his sensuality, and the way he moved. Just, everything. He was just it. He was the ultimate rock star. Whenever someone asks me what my definition of a rock star is, I tell them, Michael Hutchence. He was a rock god and will always be a rock god.

He's gone, but I will always adore him, and he will always fascinate me. He was just so cool. Too cool.

Rest In Peace, Hutch... my Aquarian brother

 Now let's jam!! Here are just a *few* of my fave tunes :)
 (I'll be posting my INXS Spotify playlist tomorrow!)

My favorite INXS song!










Peace, Love, & Music,
~Lizzy Lepp  

 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Touring ends for INXS

This was just posted on their website and Facebook:

INXS ….. THE TOURING ENDS ….. THE MUSIC LIVES ON


Perth, Western Australia, November 11: It ended fittingly where it began 35 years ago, in Perth, when INXS drummer Jon Farriss declared to a 15,000+ capacity house on the opening weekend of the brand new Perth Arena and the final night of the Matchbox Twenty / INXS Australian tour that from this point INXS would bring down the curtain as a live touring band. In a fitting homage to the band,Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas joined the band (INXS) and vocalist Ciaran Gribbin on stage and performed INXS’s signature closer, Don’t Change, in the band’s encore.

The remaining band members of INXS, Tim, Andrew and Jon Farriss, Kirk Pengilly and Garry Beers issued this statement.

“We understand that this must come as a blow to everybody, but all things must eventually come to an end. We have been performing as a band for 35 years, it’s time to step away from the touring arena”

“Our music will of course live on and we will always be a part of that.”

“We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all the friends and family that have supported us throughout our extensive career. Our lives have been enriched by having you all as a part of the journey.”

INXS forged their reputation as one of the world’s greatest live bands, relentlessly touring the US, Europe, South America, and the Far East constantly throughout the 80’s and early 90’s, fuelled by the success of records such as Listen Like Thieves, Kick, X, and Welcome To Wherever You Are.  

That hard earned and hard won live reputation took INXS to the very pinnacle of the live world touring circuit with such memorable performances headlining iconic venues across the world… in the UK [Wembley Stadium 80,000], the US [Texas Stadium 60,000] and Rio De Janeiro [Rock in Rio 120,000].

But with the high, came a bitter and cruel blow… the loss of their charismatic and irreplaceable front man Michael Hutchence in November 1997.

“It’s been 35 years for INXS as a live touring band and unbelievably it’s been 15 years ago since we lost Michael” said Jon Farriss.

“We lived for each other in the trenches and we loved each other. It was the six of us against the world and then suddenly and inexplicably we were but five. We were lost right at the moment we were on top.”

The band struggled to deal with the enormity of it all and the easy solution was to just call it a day. “We never took a soft option, it was the adversity, the challenge and the struggle that forged us into the live working band we became. And this was as big as it could possibly get when it came to a challenge” said Andrew Farriss, “and in the end we decided for a whole bunch of reasons to march forward. To us there was no other option, families always move forward.”

The bands manager Chris Murphy said, “They believed unconditionally in each other and they also believed unconditionally in the music. People fade, sometimes way too early… that is life whether we like it or not. To live to 80 plus is a life well lived. To lose Michael so young was a tragedy for all of us. But with this band, their legacy, their music was just so damn good, it was always destined to live beyond all of us.”

The last 3 years has seen a resurgence of INXS with their songs being hammered on radio and a rise in audience numbers with the live show. The song Original Sin, with Rob Thomas on vocals, reached number 1 on the Billboard dance charts.

As Jon Farriss says, “INXS’ touring days could never last forever. We wanted it to end on a high. And it has.”

The band will be making no further comment at this time.
End statement…

__________________________________________________________________________

 This seems a bit too long to just be a "hey, we're going to stop touring" announcement. This sounds like a break-up. 
I love INXS with all of my heart and soul... but it's about friggin' time. Let's be honest, INXS died when Michael Hutchence died (RIP). I know that's a terrible thing to say, but it's true. J.D. Fortune helped revive them for a little while... but when they parted ways with him, they died their second death. They should've called it quits when Michael died. If not when Michael died, then when things with J.D. Fortune went bad. But yeah, this was inevitable. I'm saddened by this, but like I said, it's inevitable. I applaud them for lasting this long. I'm also thankful and grateful that I was able to see them live in concert. Not with Michael (sadly), but with J.D. ... and let me tell you, that was one of the greatest concerts I have ever been to. I will never forget that one.

One last thing, who actually wrote this press release? I think it's absolute ass that they didn't even mention J.D. ONCE. Yeah, things might've gone sour between them and J.D., but he's still a part of INXS' history. You can't just permanently erase him from the equation. ALSO, there hasn't been a resurgence of INXS within the last 3 years. The massive resurgence came with "Rockstar: INXS". That put them back on the relevance map, that is what made people start talking about INXS again, that introduced them to the younger generation, that re-introduced them to a lot of people... and that is what helped temporarily revive them. The last 3 years might've shown a 2nd resurgence... but let's not exaggerate here. 
I also think this announcement could've and should've came about... oh, I don't know... 3 months earlier? Or whenever the tour started? Not calling this a farewell tour and not letting the fans know that this would the LAST time they would get to see them live, is absolute ass. So many Australian fans (and/or fans from all around the world) are probably kicking themselves in the ass for not making it out to see them on what was now their FINAL tour. Their final tour with them being the support act? Wow. I think this is a shitty way of handling things... but I'm not blaming INXS... I'll do the usual Chris Murphy blaming. Ha.

Anyway, thank you, INXS, for making uber fabulous music. Thank you for putting on one hell of a live stage show. Thank you for making music that will forever make me happy and will forever give me goosebumps. I will always love you.
 



Peace, Love, & Music,
~Lizzy Lepp

Monday, November 5, 2012

Vh1 Classic's "America's Hard 100"

I have nothing to say about this countdown, except that it is comical. Absolutely comical. It is an absolute joke! I wasn't even going to blog about it but a friend of mine asked me to put the list in my blog, because he doesn't get Vh1 Classic. I will update this blog as soon as the nightly episodes end.
 Every time Vh1/Vh1 Classic decides to do a countdown involving hard rock/metal songs, they always choose the same damn songs. They're just in a different order this time. Also, Vh1 Classic chose the ballot and had fans/viewers vote for their favorites. So yeah, once again, this is NOT going to be a legit countdown. If you're basing a countdown around the hardest rock/metal songs, the most logical thing to do is sit down and listen to the songs (shocker!) and rank the songs from the least hardest to the most hardest. Logic, people. When you base a hard rock/metal countdown around fan voting or network favoritism, you'll end up with "Silent Lucidity" ranking higher than "Bring the Noize" (I almost had a stroke)... and "Kiss Me Deadly" ranking higher than "Walk". Not even kidding. Just a little warning: this list may cause some ulcers... some strokes... and/or some massive nerd raging.

#100 - 91
#100 Public Enemy & Anthrax - Bring The Noize, #99 Queensryche - Silent Lucidity, #98 Corrosion Of Conformity - Dance Of The Dead, #97 Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun , #96 Foo Fighters - Everlong, #95 Jane's Addiction - Stop!, #94 Faith No More - Epic, #93 W.A.S.P. - Wild Child, #92 The Cult - Fire Woman, #91 Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town.

#90 - 81
#90 Marilyn Manson - The Beautiful People, #89 Ministry - Just One Fix, #88 Van Halen - Hot For Teacher, #87 Slayer - Raining Blood, #86 Cheap Trick - The Dream Police, #85 Rage Against the Machine - Bulls On Parade, #84 Heaven and Hell - The Mob Rules, #83 Rollins Band - Liar, #82 Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin', #81 Sepultura - Slave New World.

#80 - 71
#80 Alice In Chains - Rooster, #79 Scorpions - No One Like You, #78 Overkill - Elimination, #77 Van Halen - Jump, #76 KISS - Rock & Roll All Nite, #75 Alice Cooper - Poison, #74 Testament - Over the Wall, #73 Stone Temple Pilots - Wicked Garden, #72 Dio - Rainbow In The Dark, #71 Korn - Freak on a Leash.

#70 - 61
#70 Pantera - Walk, #69 Lita Ford - Kiss Me Deadly, #68 Queensryche - Jet City Woman, #67 L.A. Guns - Bitch Is Back, #66 Tool - Sober, #65 Rob Zombie - Dragula, #64 Deftones - Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away), #63 Nine Inch Nails - Closer, #62 Led Zeppelin - Kashmir, #61 Great White - Once Bitten, Twice Shy.

#60 - 51
#60 Anthrax - Got The Time, #59 Ratt - Lay It Down, #58 Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls, #57 Warrant - Cherry Pie, #56 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - I Love Rock 'N Roll, #55 Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss, #54 Whitesnake - Here I Go Again, #53 Pantera - Cemetary Gates, #52 White Zombie - More Human Than Human, #51 Foo Fighters - My Hero.

#50 - 41
#50 Motorhead - Ace of Spades, #49 Motley Crue - Girls, Girls, Girls, #48 Judas Priest - Breaking the Law, #47 Krokus - Screaming In The Night, #46 Iron Maiden - The Trooper, #45 Deep Purple - Highway Star, #44 Rush - Tom Sawyer, #43 Metallica - Enter Sandman, #42 Ratt - Round and Round, #41 Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock.

#40 - 31
#40 Dokken - Into the Fire, #39 Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It, #38 AC/DC - You Shook Me All Night Long, #37 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit, #36 Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song, #35 Heaven and Hell - Shadow of the Wind, #34 Alice Cooper - Eighteen, #33 Alice In Chains - Man in the Box, #32 KISS - Shout It Out Loud, #31 Aerosmith - Love in an Elevator.

#30-21
#30 Def Leppard - Photograph, #29 Skid Row - 18 and Life, #28 Motley Crue - Dr. Feelgood, #27 Aerosmith - Dream On, #26 Danzig - Mother '93, #25 Megadeth - Peace Sells, #24 Heart - Magic Man, #23 Def Leppard - Rock Of Ages, #22 Scorpions - Rock You Like a Hurricane, #21 Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize.

#20 - 11
#20 Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills, #19 Black Sabbath - Iron Man, #18 Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon, #17 Bon Jovi - You Give Love A Bad Name, #16 Heart - Barracuda, #15 Dream Theater - Pull Me Under, #14 Megadeth - Sweating Bullets, #13 Rush - Limelight, #12 Cinderella - Gypsy Road, #11 Black Sabbath - Paranoid.

#10 - 1
#10 Poison - Talk Dirty to Me, #9 Guns N' Roses - November Rain, #8 AC/DC - Back In Black, #7 Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train, #6 Dio - Holy Diver, #5 Accept - Balls to the Wall, #4 Poison - Nothin' But a Good Time, #3 Guns N' Roses - Paradise City, #2 Type O Negative - Black No. 1, #1 Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer.

See what I mean??? It's okay to shake your head...

There you have it, folks! This is the complete list. The list that was "voted by the fans"... but you know what? This WASN'T what the fans voted for. Nope. I told you this was a joke! I knew from the moment I saw "Bring the Noize" at #100, that this wasn't going to be legit. No way was this legit. There's even proof! Fans are completely outraged (I have been reading their comments on Vh1 Classic's Facebook page and their tweets to the Vh1 Classic page.) A lot of fans are threatening to boycott the channel. Their response to the angry fans? "The fans voted"... yeah, right. The fans may have voted, but Vh1C tampered with the results. Clearly. Somebody left this on their Facebook wall and this CLEARLY shows that Type O Negative's "Black No. 1" slaughtered Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer". This also shows that "Holy Diver" had more votes than "Balls to the Wall", "Nothin' But a Good Time", AND "Paradise City"... but, whatever.
 
 Also... 2 POISON SONGS IN THE TOP 10???? 
REALLY????
On what planet is Poison hard rock or heavy metal? Really? And "November Rain"??? Where in the f*ck is "Welcome to the Jungle" ?? That is WAY harder than "November Rain" AND "Paradise City". Where is Metallica's "One" ?? Skid Row's "Slave to the Grind" and "Monkey Business" are both hard rock/heavy monsters... where were those??? "18 and Life" made the ballot, instead?? Seriously. Epic freaking fail.  
 


Peace, Love, & Music,
~Lizzy Lepp

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Since it's Rick Allen's birthday...

It's time to gush about how much I heart him.
It's also time to jam to some Def Leppard!!!!

  
Rick Allen, aka "The Thunder God" is 49 years old today! That only makes me feel a tad old. I've been jamming to Def Leppard since I was two years old... that would have put Rick at about 24/25 years old. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun! Ha.
Anyway, Rick Allen is at the top of my list for 'inspirational people'. Yep... he's my #1, and he always will be. He did not let losing an arm stop him from being a drummer. His determination, drive and persistence, helped him get back behind his drum kit. In fact, all of that was responsible for him putting together the idea of building his electronic drum kit. What his missing left arm lacks, his feet make up for. 

To me, Rick Allen just screams motivation.

He could have given up so easily, but he didn't. He didn't back down. He fought the fight and refused to lose.  
That's inspiring.


His charitable work should also be noted. Rick Allen does so much for people. With his Raven Drum Foundation and the work he does with the Wounded Warrior Project... Rick is just absolutely amazing. And he does so much more. So full of love. And absolutely self-less. I just love him. (I should also probably mention that Rick was recently chosen as a recipient of a Wounded Warrior Project 'Carry Forward Award'!)

  
Some Leppard tunes? Yes, yes! I could over board with this, but I won't. I'll just post five of my many faves
  Okay, I lied... haha! 6 songs...


There ya have it! I have massive love for Rick Allen. Mhm. Massive love!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RICK!!!!
(Scott Gries, Getty Images)



Peace, Love, & Music,
~Lizzy Lepp