Best Movie This Year, new music by The Killers, Eddie Vedder with Tom Petty, Savatage

"ABOUT TODAY (Theme To "Warrior")      THE NATIONAL

Tom Hardy is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors.   His last four films are Inception (epic), This Means War (I thought it was fun, a guy's chick flick), Warrior, and Dark Knight Rises (he's Bane).     WARRIOR was actually released in the fall of 2011 but I didn't see it until just recently.   It's got a incredible 8.3 rating on IMDB and 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.   Great scores, but I think they are too low!!!   It's my favorite movie I've seen this year.  Taking a page from Stallone's Rocky movies, an underdog gets a shot at the title.    But that doesn't do the film justice.   Nick Nolte should have won an Oscar for his portrayal of the ex-alcoholic father.   Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Morrison are brilliant as Tommy's brother and sister in law.   But the true star is Tom Hardy and his commitment to the lead character, an ex-Marine who competes in a Winner Take All UFC tournament.  I'm not a big fan of mixed martial arts training but I was mesmerized by the action in the ring.  Scene after scene takes your breath away, from the confrontation between son and long lost father, the brothers meeting the night before the tournament, the brutally realistic fight scenes, the high school students rooting for their teacher.    You'll be enthralled and cheering the whole movie!    100% recommended.   Here's the theme song and a special short version with movie dialogue included.

"RUNAWAYS"      THE KILLERS (UPDATED OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Finally new music by The Killers!   "Runaways" is the lead single from a new CD called Battle Born due out this fall.   Four years since the last CD but they're back with a vengeance.  A true rock anthem with swirling guitar riffs, unrelenting drum beats, Brandon Boyd's scream-it-out chorus, and lyrics that remind me of a lost Springsteen track.   ""We're all just runaways, I knew it when I met you,  I'm not gonna let you runaway, I knew it when I held you I wasn't letting go".  I really liked Entertainment Weekly's description of the song as 'a Jack & Diane story of exuberant young love'.  If the rest of the CD is as powerful as this track, it may rival the sales of "Hot Fuss", The Killers breakthrough masterpiece.  

DAILY MUSIC TRIVIA:  What Dire Straits song did The Killers cover on their Sawdust CD?  

"THE WAITING"    EDDIE VEDDER and TOM PETTY

"Oh baby don't it feel like heaven tonight, don't if feel like something from a dream"  -  Could those lyrics be anymore apropos then on this incredible night.   I'm so jealous for the Amsterdam audience this June 24th.   During Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers show, Eddie Vedder comes out and performs "The Waiting" with the band at the Heineken Music Hall.  There wasn't even a need for a big introduction, Eddie shows up in his traditional flannel shirt, Tom has a drink from his beer, and they jam out to the 80's Petty classic.   After Eddie sings the first bridge, Tom (on lead guitar) changes up the first guitar solo and then joins Eddie on vocals.    The video's quality is really good for a concert bootleg video.

"BELIEVE"    SAVATAGE

Growing up in the Tampa area in the late 80/90's, you had to know Savatage.   I once saw them at ML Chasers, a rock club on US 19 in Clearwater.  Their CD, Gutter Ballet, was an MTV Headbanger's Ball favorite in 1989.   The Oliva brothers actually started their metal band at an Astro Skate in Tarpon Springs, FL not far from where I live!   Savatage's theatrical themes,rock operas, and their refusal to play anything radio-friendly, set a line in the sand, you loved them or hated them.  "Believe" starts off exceedingly slow but give it a minute or two and the intensity of Oliva's voice mixed with the heavy guitar riff is pure metal bliss.   As you know, the uncommercial Savatage ironically became the massively successful, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, who sell out arenas every Christmas season. 

 

Godsmack Covers Joe Walsh: Whitesnake, Godsmack, Brandon Flowers Of The Killers, Gotthard

"ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY"    GODSMACK

Godsmack covered Led Zeppelin's "Good Times, Bad Times" and now they're taking on 70's guitar hero, Joe Walsh, and his epic rock anthem, "Rocky Mountain Way".  The new version replaces Joe's funk guitar rendition with thunderous beats and nu-metal guitar riffs, same song with a totally different feel.  Some interpret the lyrics as escaping to the simple times up in the mountains of Colorado and others see it as a drug themed song reaching for the highest high.

"LOVE AIN'T NO STRANGER"    WHITESNAKE

David Coverdale has to be considered amongst the top rock vocalists of all-time.  Reminiscent of Robert Plant in so many ways, the power of his voice and his intrinsic ability to bring it way down to a whisper and still dig deep into your soul.  David even looks like Robert!   The Whitesnake classics all have that big hook chorus that got the rockers punching their fists to the air.   The lineup for this song included Vivian Campbell, Rudy Sarzo, and Adrian Vandenberg, potentially  the finest collection of metal superstars in one band. 

"JENNY WAS A FRIEND OF MINE"    BRANDON FLOWERS

Recorded at the rock music shrine, Abbey Road Studio, Brandon Flowers of The Killers channeled that retro 80's sound made popular by bands like the The Smiths and The Cure.   This song appeared on their breakthrough CD, Hot Fuss.   The big hits were "Mr Brightside", "Somebody Told Me", and "All These Things I've Done" but the song I chose always stood out as a tribute to the bands that inspired The Killers.   

"THE CALL"    GOTTHARD

Please give this video a viewing!!   Take about wearing your heart on your sleeve, giving your heart to the one you love, this video will change your mind!    Gotthard's lead singer, Steve Lee,  passed away in 2010 but his music lives on.   The biggest selling metal band out of Switzerland have filled my IPod with blistering rockers and beautiful ballads.   They just released a new CD with a new lead singer and I'm surprised at how good it is!