The Black Keys' new single, Fever

After a short break, blues rock band, The Black Keys are back with a new single from its upcoming album, Turn Blue. The first single released on Turn Blue is called "Fever". The track features front man, Dan Auerbach's raspy vocals and dirty guitar sound. The track is instantly recognizable as a Black Keys song, although there will obviously be more synths on this album than the band's 2011 Grammy Award winning album, El Camino.

The band premiered the video via YouTube. The only graphic on the video is a blue and pink spinning spiral. The song immediately got praise from old fans and new fans, alike.

If "Fever" is any indication of the direction that The Black Keys are heading in with, Turn Blue, then new and old fans will surely not be disappointed with the new album.

You can listen to the song here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZZUY32iCzU

Lullabies to Paralyze

Rock band, Queens of the Stone Age is no stranger to "weirdness". Things got weird on its fourth studio album Lullabies to Paralyze. The ninth anniversary of that album is today, and why not celebrate this anniversary with buying the album on vinyl?

After the critically acclaimed album, Songs For The Deaf, the band wanted to change things up again. They knew that they could not make another Songs For The Deaf, so instead they made up a dark, mysterious fairytale inspired by The Brothers Grimm. This fairytale was given the name, Lullabies to Paralyze.

The album is much more varied than its predecessor. It contains the slow opening track, "This Lullaby" and then soon reaches a poppy sound with "In My Head". The album of course still contains classic Queens of the Stone Age rock anthems, such as "Little Sister" and "Burn The Witch".

The album closes with the slow ballad, "Long Slow Goodbye". The track even has a hidden strings section at the end after about 50 seconds of silence. Quite a Beatles-type way to end an album.

Gibson Guitar 2014 lineup

Les Paul Melody Maker:
This guitar looks like a Les Paul (it is single cut, not double cut), but has the classic Melody Maker sound that many musicians love.

2014 Les Paul Junior:
This guitar has the same classic sound of the Les Paul, but modified and more affordable!

2014 Les Paul Studio, Les Paul Futura, Les Paul Studio Pro, Les Paul Classic, Les Paul Signature, Les Paul Traditional, Les Paul Peace, Les Paul Standard, Les Paul Standard Plus and Les Paul Standard Premium:
Very similar to the older models of the Les Paul, but Gibson has released new finishes!

2014 SG Junior:
This guitar, just like the Les Paul Junior, looks exactly like its sister guitar, just modified and more affordable for the rookie guitar player.

2014 SG Special, SG Futura, SG Standard and Derek Trucks SG:
Updated models of the classic SG with new finishes!

2014 Firebird:
Updated version of the classic Firebird. This guitar is available in Classic White, Heritage Cherry and Vintage Sunburst.

Best place to buy records online

Discogs is a well-known website among all vinyl collectors. Discogs is a website where people can validate the genuineness of their records. The site contains matrix codes and different clues for when a record is genuine or counterfeit. Discogs is run a bit like Wikipedia because it is updated by the public.

The original goal of the website was to create a database for information on electronic music. The website soon grew into something much larger. Discogs started allowing all genres of music to be included in its database. By 2003, the website included most genres of music, including hip hop, funk, jazz, rock, soul, blues and reggae. Nowadays, the database even includes non-musical albums.

Discogs also has a marketplace component on its website. The marketplace works like eBay-- someone sells their item for a requested price and then people can buy it. However, Discogs is a safer website to buy records on than eBay. Discogs has a very strict policy: if a buyer is unreliable, they can not sell an item on Discogs again.

Although I still prefer record stores, Discogs is a good alternative for that one rare album I can not seem to find in a store.

Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage

Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage
This documentary takes the viewer through the history of the band and the current status of the band. The audience gets to see an in depth view of the progressive rock band. W
ho they are and how the band became such a huge influence on many other bands. The film includes interviews with the band, as well as famous fans of the band.

The film was well received by fans. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video back in 2011, but lost to a documentary on The Doors, entitled When You're Strange.

The fan interviews come from musicians from well known bands, such as Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Jack Black of Tenacious D.

Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral

My favorite album, The Downward Spiral was released 20 years ago today. This album not only redefined the industrial rock sound, but it made Nine Inch Nails a well known band. After the infamous Woodstock performance, front man Trent Reznor soon discovered the nasty side of fame. He did not like it at all.

Now in interviews, Reznor reflects on "The Downward Spiral Era" of his life. He feels bad for the man he used to be, but he does not miss him. Who was Reznor back in 1994? Tracks like "Heresy" and "March of the Pigs" describe the old Reznor. "March of the Pigs" describes Reznor's frustration with the press, and in "Heresy" Reznor yells out his frustrations about God.

When one listens to the album in full (as it is meant to be listened to), the listener is taken on a journey as a man's (speculated by fans to be Reznor himself) downward spiral. The album starts out with "Mr. Self Destruct", which is the introduction of the character's frustrations with his life, and then ends with "Hurt". "Hurt" has been covered by Johnny Cash and is mistakenly referred to as a Cash song. Many fans believe that in the title track, (the track before "Hurt") "The Downward Spiral" the character kills himself to relieve his pain. Then "Hurt" is the character's suicide note.

Reznor still performs "Hurt" at Nine Inch Nails' live shows. He usually ends the encore with the song, but gives it a whole new meaning instead of being a suicide note. Nowadays, with Reznor's positive outlook on life, "Hurt" can be looked at as hope for anybody struggling with suicidal thoughts and pain.

Neon Bible

Today, seven years ago, indie rock band, Arcade released its second studio album entitled, Neon Bible. The album is centered around themes of war and the state of the United States during that time.

Songs like the gloomy (in a good way) "Windowsill" and the short title track,"Neon Bible" perfectly showcase this theme. However, a song like "My Body Is A Cage" focuses on a completely different theme. The track discusses social anxiety and uncertainty. "My body is a cage that keeps me from dancing with the one I loved but my mind holds the key," sings Butler throughout the song.

Just like all Arcade Fire albums, the theme of youthfulness is present. During the band's live show, the song "No Cars Go" is a fun anthem for any type of audience. In the song, Butler refers to himself and his band as kids. "Us kids know/ No cars go/ Where we know," sings Butler during the bridge of the song.

This album can also be credited with bringing indie rock music into the mainstream, and for that the band should be recognized for.