“Prepare yourself for ten explosive tracks of grit and tenderness”, the band wrote on their Facebook page, and with ‘Drama for Life’, they stayed true to their promise. The song is largely reminiscent of some of their earlier releases, particularly on albums like Carnival of Rust (2006) and Revolution Roulette (2008).

Following the lead of the well-defined, loud riffs and dominant drums, Marko Saaresto sings the anthem to someone who has been “sentenced to drama for life.” As usual, the Poets stay true to their name and the better part of the song remains the extremely well-written and sharply descriptive lyrics.

What you can particularly like about this song is the difference in the atmosphere of the chorus compared to that of the rest of the song. True to his reputation, Marko covers a wide vocal range in one song, and even does a speaking bit at 2:17. With all that, the song still manages to present itself as a whole unit, delivering its message loud and clear: how self-destructive the subconscious mind can be.

As Marko elaborates, “The song is about the workings of the wonderful machine that is the human mind. The machine that can create unique and brilliant new ideas but also cause us so much trouble. So often our minds drive us towards these checkmate situations as if we had this internal designer playing an aggressive game of chess against ourselves.”

Accordingly, the lyric video shows Marko using expressive body and hand movements to visualize the idea of the song.

The song makes it to a 7.5/10, only because we’re hopeful that the rest of the album would show the Poets venturing more out of their comfort zone and exploring newer territories in terms of musical style.

WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO HERE!

And now, more than a year after the release of their latest album, Ghost Stories, Coldplay have just released a new single, titled ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’.

‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ is the lead single off the band’s upcoming album, which will be titled A Head Full of Dreams, and is scheduled for release on December 4th.

Listening to ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ for the first time, it won’t take you long to realize the huge difference between this sound and the one which Coldplay had in Ghost Stories or most of their previous albums. Getting more adventurous, as the title of the song implies, Coldplay made a leap onto a genre they have never experienced with before, which is Disco.

The single is upbeat, light-hearted, quite catchy, and with a simple set of lyrics. Initially, ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ was met with an angry reaction from the band’s fans who seem to think that Coldplay is somehow selling out, making music that appeals to the general populous.

But hasn’t that always been the case? Coldplay has gathered a wide fan base since day one. They have managed to unite lovers of various genres under one umbrella. It’s wrong to confuse their desire to try something new for “selling out,” simply because Coldplay is an already popular band that isn’t looking to make a comeback.

In fact, ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ sounded to me like the better, more professional version of what the band tried to do in Mylo Xyloto, and it’s definitely not a new thing to see, bands trying out different genres in later stages of their career. It was done before by Arcade Fire in their latest release, Reflektor, and it was a huge success.

‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ is a song you could listen to when you just need to relax. The simple lyrics are nothing but Martin asserting his love and admiration for someone who makes him feel alive, and while the wording of the lyrics may strike some people as lazy, it struck me as honest, smooth, and to the point – you don’t need to think much about what he’s trying to say. You can just listen, nod along, or dance your ass off, and the song would still be enjoyable.

The key to enjoying this song and, I expect, A Head Full of Dreams, is just taking it for what it is, without trying to think so much about how much more meaningful the songs could have been, simply because they weren’t made for that purpose.

In my opinion, ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ is only Coldplay doing what they do best, which is making music that appeals to anyone and that keeps playing in your head after you listen to it.

It makes me very excited to see what other kinds of songs A Head Full of Dreams has for us.

Listen to ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ below and enjoy the smooth, laid-back and yet very far from boring tune!

Following their album release in July of 2012, El Morabba3 quickly gained popularity within the Arabian rock music scene, they just as quickly established themselves as an icon of the fresh spirit of rebellion and defiance to their youthful audience.

Muhammad Abdullah (bass, vocals), Odai Shawagfeh (guitar, keyboard/synth), and Dirar Shawagfeh (drums) continue to hold their high position in the Arabian music scene with the recent release of their latest single; ‘El Mokhtalifeen’.

If you know El Morabba3 then you know that their music is not the kind of which you can listen to without thinking. It’s only logical that we attribute their rising popularity to the unique and unusual sound they provide and their thought provoking all-Arabic lyrics.
‘El Mokhtalifeen’ didn’t stray from that path. In fact, it only served to re-establish it.

What’s most admirable about El Morabba3’s upcoming album is that it’s completely funded by their fans. A few months ago, the band started a crowdfunding campaign on Zoomaal, a campaign which ended in a huge success, achieving a 120% of its original goal.

‘El Mokhtalifeen’ is, as the band refers to it, a sneak peek into their new sound, and all what it does is make us thrilled for the new album.

Listening to ‘El Mokhtalifeen’ for the first time is not an easy experience, however a very unique one. Evidently, the band has altered its sound, relying a lot more on electronic effects, but not forgetting that acoustic is essential for depth, and managing to blend these two aspects perfectly. El Morabba3 confirms their new directions on their website, stating that they are “Exploring richer instrumentation and orchestrations with the addition of a string section, a trumpet and more pronounced electronic loops, playbacks, keys and synth bass.” 

Richer is definitely the right word to distinguish between ‘El Mokhtalifeen’ and some of the band’s older songs, like ‘Asheek’ and ‘Laykoon’. With a more irregular arrangement and a smaller set of lyrics, ‘El Mokhtalifeen’ still managed to sound powerful and heartfelt.

I can go on for days about how a refreshingly unique experience this song provides, however, I can go on for years about the music video.
The music video for ‘El Mokhtalifeen’ is one of the best I’ve ever seen. The song’s intensity is captured through outstandingly meticulous videography, contrasted with the simplicity of the set, and backed up by the mouth-dropping costumes.

The costumes especially have an alien characteristic to them that captures you at first sight. Adding the unique choreography, the video becomes entrancing, and what I like most is how it tells a story with a clear climax and ending, yet the story itself can be whatever you want it to be.

Whether or not you like listening to ‘El Mokhtalifeen’, you can’t help but feel proud of such a well executed indie production, which, most importantly, is all in all Arabian.

The release date of El Morabba3’s sophomore album is yet to be announced, however, we’re sure it’s within this year. Until then, we’ll stay on the edge of our seats!

Edited by: Bishoy Nader

‘Cut the Cord’ is the first single of the band’s 5th studio album, Threat to Survival, which is set to be released on the 18th of September 2015.

Their latest studio album release being Amaryllis (2012). Shinedown fans have been anticipating a new release for quite a while. And when ‘Cut the Cord’ came to life, the excitement was and still is as intense as the song itself. Following its release, the song reached number 1 spot on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.

In an official statement following the single’s release, Brent Smith, Shinedown’s lead vocalist says; “Our only hope making music is to make you feel something, anything.” As far as making us feel something, ‘Cut the Cord’ doesn’t fail to deliver.

If you’re a Shinedown fan then you most probably are used to their elegant loudness and neat intensity. This song confirms that Shinedown are staying true to their rock n’ roll essence. However, it does signify that the new album will have a generally different atmosphere than Amaryllis, although it won’t be any less strong. To back that up, in an interview with Loudwire, Smith stated that the upcoming album will be the band’s “strongest record ever.”

‘Cut the Cord’, from the first second, is a song that is simply about freedom. One of the things you could easily love about Shinedown is their straightforwardness and simplicity in delivering powerful, heartfelt messages.

The type of video they chose to film for the song backs up that statement. The video is nothing more than the band performing the song and giving it their absolute best, and the performance doesn’t fail to match up to the song. I think this is one of the things that the spirit of rock is about: performing simply and wholeheartedly. The rawness of the video perfectly captures what makes Shinedown special.

With Smith’s steady and unique voice and the organized highs and lows before and after the chorus, ‘Cut the Cord’ is very easy to get familiar to and possesses the kind of rhythm that rings in your head long afterwards. However, it might have a touch of conventionality to it, which could have been avoided by the addition of a guitar solo or more variations in the guitar rhythms.

All in all, ‘Cut the Cord’ has succeeded in getting us excited for Threat to Survival. And to add to the excitement, it was recently announced that Shinedown will be touring with Breaking Benjamin this fall, starting off on October 16th.

But as for now, all we can do is mark our calendars and listen to ‘Cut the Cord’ until we get enough.

Edited by: Bishoy Nader

Since 2004, Nasty Fingers have released an EP and two albums, Green Zone (2008) and Little Noises (2013), through which they continued to evolve their style, finally reaching a new blend that appeals to any fan of pure Rock, no matter what the prefix.

‘Nuestro Amor’ is the second single from Little Noises, released on January 30th, 2015, and preceded by ‘5 Unidades’. Through ‘Nuestro Amor’, the band does not fail to deliver what it promises: a direct and fresh sound that brings in elements from Punk Rock as well as Classic Rock. The song starts off with a raw guitar sound, with instruments adding up gradually, until finally a climax is reached that continues throughout the song, only pausing after the first minute to give you a breather with a Classic Rock feel to it.

Being the second video single released by Nasty Fingers, ‘Nuestro Amor’ certainly affirms what Nasty Fingers always say about themselves: that they are constantly evolving. Although the video does not follow a clear story line, the generally darkly lit setting fits the song and sets the mood correctly. The pace of the video mostly picks up with the music, providing an enjoyable visually interactive experience.

However, it’s agreed upon that videos that revolve around a certain plot relating in any way to the lyrics or music, perform better when it comes to the promotion of the single, rather than abstract videos like this one, which are not particularly found intriguing by mass audiences.

Overall, the release of this video single is certainly an important landmark for Nasty Fingers, the video being much better than the one for ‘5 Unidades’, and serving as something of an introduction to wider audiences.

 

Edited by: NJ Bakr