Oklahoma In Flames...

i think i have the worst schedule in existence. i seem to sleep in way too long and stay up way to late. it's like i'm an owl or a cat. i do my normal stuff at night and i sleep almost all day just like those two animals. it's really become a bothersome habit that i need to break. i guess if i had a job i would be more inclined to stop this nonsense and get myself back on track. ugh... i feel like i'm loosing time to be more alive than what i currently am right now.

yeah, so today is thursday and i'm thinking that this might be my last post for at least a day or two depending on my current whereabouts this weekend. i plan on being here saturday to see the Deftones, so i'll probably post then, but for now let's wrap up this week of Converge, tribute by way of fellow touring bands with a group of nice fellows who go by non other than, uh, well Thursday. heh heh go figure...



here is a band i've briefly mentioned before in the Envy thread, but now it's officially their time. thursday is a band that i have a strong connection to for various reasons, but mostly for the fact that they represent my desire to change my outlook on life and also my desire to listen to better music than Slipknot, Mudvayne and Korn. yes, me and this band go all the way back to my dreadful high school years in oklahoma. besides having an extremely crappy home life with my divorced parents, i also suffered from lots of boredom and the ridicule of my fellow peers at west moore high school. it's no wonder i dropped out of baseball and spent most of my time in the smokers parking lot getting high and jamming music constantly.

let's see, well for the facts, thursday hail from new brunswick, new jersey and started back in 1997. they have been through the ups and downs of the music world and have almost broken up several times. thankfully they are still together and making great music which is where they mean business. i have only seen the band one time and that was at warped tour back in 2006. (i wish is saw them back in 2003 when they opened for the deftones...) still, it was a wonderful performance and something to hold my appetite until i can see them on their own headlining slot. their stage presence and manner of which they play live is aw inspiring. they also connect to their fans on a much more personal and deeper level than most bands do. there is an intimate quality that comes from their music that many people find solace and comfort with. it's almost like the band has read your mind and knows exactly how you feel. it takes a lot of guts to be able to do something like that, and thursday happen to have those guts!!!



going back to my high school drama, i first discovered this band in 2002 on MxTxVx back when they sort of played music videos. it was for the song above which is called, "cross out the eyes." it was a very radical (in my opinion...) departure from the almost comical nu-metal scene i was wrapped up in at the time. these guys looked like normal dudes playing music that seemed intense and yet more free from overproduction and saturation of which all those nu-metal bands were drowning in. i was immediately drawn in and became curious as to what this all was. there was actual singing and also screaming, but the screaming seemed more desperate and not so much tough guy. it was very very different, and yet i had no idea about any of this style or genre. i was about to get a very huge awakening.

it was also about this time when i discovered At-The Drive In, and if you want the full story on that i suggest you go read that mega post as well. but like i mentioned there, i suddenly found myself surrounded by a style of music i had no freekin' idea existed. yeah, i knew about punk rock, but not hardcore!!! i heard bands scream, but not painfully from their throats and with real meaning!!! i was awakened from my dreaded hibernation of baggy pants and greasy hair. i cut off all styles and rearranged my wardrobe. baggy pants became skinny pants, and my long hair became short and untidy. and finally, my music became less drop tuned chugga chugga and more mathy/post-hardcore indie style. my friends took notice and thought i was going soft. "dude, this s*** sounds like pop music!!!" heh heh, yeah he was right. but whatevers!!! i took it all in and loved every minute of it!!!

and now i'm 25 and no longer 17. times have changed and this type of music has evolved into an almost unrecognizable demon of it's former self. it's sort of sad really. sad to see something that helped free you from a personal hell turn into a blob of gastric crap that was vomited out by the people who made it big in the first place. i just hope i'm not guilty of making that happen. if so, i apologize sincerely. i just hope i'm doing this band and the music they made justice by telling you all this personal story. music is a very important thing and we need to treat it with respect and not bastardize it...

so today you will find the bands entire discography. i know at times i seem to either post an entire catalog, or just a few albums at a time. for the most part i try my best to do the artists justice and get everything under the sun on here, but if it's too freekin' big ala Bad Religion, then i'm only going to post my personal faves. but for the band thursday, it's not a problem to post it all!!! so, skipping their 1999 summer tour ep, we come to their debut called, Waiting. this is the band at their youngest and it's possibly their most 90's style emo sounding effort to date. it's very sporadic and it details a young band trying to find their place in music. still, it's a great little album and one to not miss simply because it's beautiful. in second is the album that got me into the band as well as many MANY other people. it's called, Full Collapse, and it takes me back to the summer of 2002. i got this album when i was at summer school and i listened to it just about every day. the entire album is fantastic and there isn't a song to skip on it. (in my opinion!!!) this is where you might go head first if interested in the band. so, after that we have the Five Stories Falling, ep which contains possibly their best song ever written called, "five stories falling." it's an anthem and often played live. it gets a huge crowd response every time. after that we come to their third full length called, War All the Time. i personally believe this to be their crowning achievement as a band. no, it's not my favorite, but i do recognize it's very important placement in their history. it's their first major label release, and also their heaviest. the subject matter at hand is also more deeply involved with the politics at the time and it was a tough road for the band as well. the pressure to be the next big thing was in their face and with this type of music, you can't really be like Nirvana. heck, nirvana didn't want to be nirvana!!! yeah, so after that they took some time off then released the album, A City By the Light Divided. this was a good album too, but a lot of people began to fall off and their shows become less crowded. the following year was the release of the compilation album, Kill the House Lights, and then another year passed before they released their split with the japanese post-rock/screamo band, Envy. this little split saw the band taking on more epic song structures and proportions. this all developed more and was finally seen on their latest full length, Common Existence, which is the last thing to post on here. thursday is still around, but have gone back to the drawing board and are rallying behind more smaller and intimate shows, thus them touring with converge this year. if you are anywhere near this band, do me a huge favor and go see them. even if you have to pay for a show with them as the opener, go see them. it will totally be worth your time and money. music doesn't get this good often...


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Write these words back down inside
We have burned their villages and all the people in them died
We adopt their customs and everything they say we steal
All the dreams they had we kill
Still we all sleep sound tonight
Is this what you wanted to hear?
We erased all their images and dance
And replaced them with borders and flags

At the top of this time line you'll remember
This is the lipstick on the collar
And in my own life I've seen it in the mirror
sometimes at the cost of others hopes

So write these words back down inside
That's where you need it the most
and without conviction of heart you will never feel it at all
Yeah, we all dance to the same beat when we we're marching
Yeah, the TV tells us everything we need to know
And this scene is painting in all the fashions of the moment
And history is all the same

Everything you say you stole
Every dream you dream you bought

Blushing...

ugh, i felt sick after eating mexican for lunch today. not that it was bad food, it's just that my stomach, for some odd reason, acted like it couldn't hold the food down. this is a weird situation since i love mexican food and i always have it under control. today all was not well though. maybe it's because i had a hot chocolate this morning and we had lunch around eleven, or maybe it's because of my nerves and stress. regardless, i feel much better now as i type this. let's see how the weekend goes for us. apparently, we are to get another massive snow storm coming this weekend. it's going to hit us saturday morning and drop over ten inches or so. i guess winter wants to mess with us one more time before it finally goes away for the summer. this is completely fine with me. i love winter and hope it can stay for as long as it can!!!

today is a massive post on one band. this one band is very unique and something i'm very grateful for discovering on my own. here today, is the band, Envy.



first off, envy is from japan. all their lyrics are sung in japanese and there is nothing wrong with that. when first listened, it doesn't take long for one to notice the depth and pure emotion that is contained within this music. envy are a hardcore/screamo/post-rock band that has been around since 1992. over the years, their music has greatly evolved from frantic screaming, to almost godly beauty in the form of lush instrumentals, and spoken word vocals. comparisons to bands like, Explosions In the Sky and Mogwai, are frequent and not far off, but that shouldn't pigeonhole them. they are one-of-a-kind in the fact that they pave their own way with their brand of chaotic elegance and graceful unrest. this is music for the sleepy ones who wake from nightmares with angry thoughts or peaceful feelings. there is a mix of all kinds of emotions contained here, that one must contemplate where, and who they are as an individual and a living organism. most seriously, this music can change your life, or change your day depending on your overall attitude and such...

it's been a real pleasure to know this bands music for a few years now. they hardly, if ever, come to american and play shows, so if by chance that opportunity comes along, by golly, TAKE THAT CHANCE, and go see them!!!

right here is their ENTIRE, discography. the only thing i'm leaving off are their early splits and 7inches because those are all compiled in a latter release, so you got it all here anyway. first thing to start with is the album, Breathing and Dying In This Place. take note, that this is an early release and it contains their spastic screamo/skrams style of music and not the post-rock style they would latter be known for. still, it's an interesting place to start, seeing as how the band has evolved so much over the years. next is the album, From Here To Eternity and then the ep, Angel's Curse Whispered In The Edge Of Despair. (you might want to get used to the long album titles, because the song titles can top it!!!) again, these are early releases and chaotic pieces of music. next we have two more ep's, titled, The Eyes Of Single Eared Prophet and Burning Out Memories. following those two we come to the awesome lp, All The Footprints You've Left Behind and the Fear Expected Ahead. this is the start of the bands change in sound and structure. they cut off a lot of the hardcore elements and begin to stretch out the song lengths and flow. check out the song, "chain wondering deeply" for a great example. okay, so with all of those behind us, we now come to what many fans consider the bands best work, the lp titled, A Dead Sinking Story. this is where i first started with the band, and to see them from their past all the way to their current present, i will say this is their final gap between hardcore/screamo to post-rock gods, and perhaps their best work. there is great continuity in this album, and all the slow buildups presented within are some of the best payoffs i've yet heard in music. the ideas behind this album are solid, and it's just really intense and satisfying to hear. now is the album for those hardcore collectors. Compiled Fragments: 1997-2003, is the bands best effort to put all of their hard to find material into one great package. all their early splits with bands such as, Sixpence, Endeavor, Iscariot, This Machine Kills, and Yapheto Kotto, are all contained here along with a few unreleased tracks, some singles, and live tracks. overall, it's worth it for those who are hardcore about all that stuff. following that release we come to the album, Insomniac Doze. this is their album following a dead sinking story and, like many might have thought, it takes the band into the post-rock world and almost leaves behind their hardcore roots. don't take that the wrong way though, because when needed, the band still rips most throats wide open. it's just that this time, it's all a bit restrained and more carefully used in conjunction with the dynamics of the song craft. the song titled, "scene" is probably my favorite track the band has ever done and one to check out below. phew, almost done here!!! okay, now for the last three. next we have the ep called, Abyssal. it's another great album and a short stop in between full lengths. but wait!!! the band hasn't released anymore full lengths yet??? no, no, instead they released two more split ep's with some well known bands in music today. first is the split with metal/shoegaze artist, Jesu. this split is awesome in the fact that envy seem to be doing more experimental approaches to their craft by mixing in some electronic elements. no, they haven't gone techno, but instead have tried out a minimalism idea, and for me, it works. it's great to hear and offers something new and different from the band. and now we come to the last release, which happens to be a split with, now emo legends, Thursday. this is the album that made many people notice envy, and that was entirely the point behind it. thursday are an awesome band, and they know good bands when they see them. they have often spoken highly of envy, and recently borrowed some of their post-rock style for their newest releases. it can most definitely be heard on this little split, and it's once again, totally awesome. envy are on the top of their game, and one band to not miss. give them a look see and lay back to listen to beauty and chaos.


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don't mix foods...