A long and boring thing about music, and then F&B.
Ahhhhhhh Maroon 5 new album yesssssssss. Is basically what yesterday consisted of. First of all, it should be known that I am not really... a music person. Despite me being in symphonic band from the 4th - 12th grades, I don't have a huge craving for music. As a teenager, I think I bought, like, five CDs? And I got a few as gifts. I mean, I enjoy music, of course. But I clearly did not enjoy it - popular and lyrical or symphonic and instrumental - as much as many of my peers.
HOWEVER, I do have one great love. And that love is Barenaked Ladies. The first time I heard “One Week” on the radio, I was addicted. I can still remember exactly where I was when I heard a single from each new album. Almost every BnL song I have heard I have a deep and abiding love for. (An exception: “Shopping.” Which I hate with a passion. It was on a commercial once, and I wanted to kill the TV.) My Love for BnL is so great that even when I was a terrified, socially-anxious college freshman, doing some ridiculous getting-to-know-each-other exercise, I was willing to say that my favorite band was the Bare. Naked. Ladies. In front of 20-odd people I. Did not. Know. Half of said group gave me a WTF look or outright laughed, because I am sure they had never heard of them (and/or thought they were uncool?). This was, I assure you, a great trial, but apparently my love for BnL conquers all. Even mind-numbing terror.
I own all of BnL's albums since they “made it” in the US. I realize this makes me a bandwagon-jumper, or something, because I wasn't a fan since Gordon; but in all fairness, I was too young and not Canadian enough at the time to be very aware of them back then. I am still not Canadian, BTW, though my age did change.
There is a second band that instigated a whiplash reaction when I heard them on the radio, and that band is, of course, Maroon 5. Now, obviously my love for them does not reach BnL levels, because I only remember where I was when I heard “Harder to Breathe,” not anything else, and it was only recently that I bought any of their music. But still. Last summer, I played “Moves Like Jagger” over and over and over, and never got tired of it. Adam Levine's voice does something to my brain.
And that voice is why I love love love this new album. Since I care very little about “sincerity” or “depth” or whatever else the critics are skewering them for lacking, and I care more about whether the song a) sounds awesome (see above: Adam Levine and my brain) and b) makes me want to dance around the kitchen, it is definitely a hit. It doesn't hurt that I've been very in the mood for pop/synth-ish stuff lately. “Payphone” (sans the rap part that makes absolutely no sense to me), “One More Night,” “Lucky Strike,” “Ladykiller,” and “Doin' Dirt” are... well, awesome. Soooooooooooooooooooo much. “Sad” is beautiful, as is “Beautiful Goodbye”; I quite like “Love Somebody” and “The Man Who Never Lied,” but I'm a little less sold on “Daylight” and “Fortune Teller”. “Tickets” was a complete miss for me, but that is okay, because one out of twelve is not bad at all.
So kudos, Band, for making me groove while washing the dishes. And truly, thank you, because happy upbeat music really does help when one is not feeling very happy and upbeat.
In other news completely, here is a mashup of feels about Franklin & Bash:
[Possibly spoiler? Not really. Mostly incoherent.]
Awww, they didn't keep Skeletor? Clapton? Clapator? Sad. Pindar ILU. Judge Pro Tem Franklin was ~awesome~. VEST WITH ELECTRIC BLUE LINING yes you got a DVR rewind and pause. I HAVE ELECTRIC BLUE LINING THAT I WAS GOING TO USE IN A VEST. IT IS FATE. Badass Carmen. When does a Carmen-centric sidestory happen? SOOOOON PLZ PLZ PLZ. Not enough Damien. D: But I guess he had a big part last week.