Every Blink-182 album in a minute.

I can't even deal with this big fat chunk of musical awesomeness. Enjoy!

Give The Drummer Some.

Another day, another top ten - and honestly, what better way to spend a monday afternoon is there?
Like most of us, I'm always banging on about my favourite bands, singers, and guitarists - particularly considering I've got a soft spot for long-winded guitar solos, BUT how often do we celebrate our drumming friends? Not often enough if you ask me... So it only seems fair that we do that now, and everything is better when put into an order of a top ten, so here goes nothin'. My Favourite drummers of all time....


10. Chad Smith - Red Hot Chili Peppers.
A seriously killer drummer who is without doubt the driving force behind everybody's favourite funk rock heroes - he locks that rythm section down tighter than a drum head.

9. Ginger Baker - Cream.
It's pretty much all thanks to this guy that we are lucky enough to have been exposed to so many exciting, and explosive rock drum solos over the years - he practically invented them! Serious cool points.

8. Keith Moon - The Who.
Technically, not the best. Sonically, not the most precise. Creatively, can't be touched. He was utterly unique, and his penchant for pushing the boundaries is what makes him truly incredible. He shunned conventional beats, and hardly ever played hi-hats, instead double-bass drummed his way through songs giving The Who their unique, and powerful sound.

7. Ian Paice - Deep Purple.
A man who really lives up to his last name - frighteningly fast, and full of flair. It's all about the speed, but for someone who works his way around a drum kit in unbelivable time he barely breaks into a sweat, and just to rub it in the faces of us mere mortals, often looks like he isn't even trying.

6. Mike Portnoy - Dream Theater. 
Technically perfect, and taking complexity to never-before-seen heights, Portnoy is a man who is capable of dropping jaws, and popping eyes with his inspiring, and exciting talent - maybe even a little too great for the band he is most famous for playing with. Sorry, I went there...

5. Dave Grohl - Nirvana.
He might be the frontman of universally popular, and internationally successful chart-topping Foo Fighters, but before all of that Dave Grohl was just a skinny long-haired kid playing drums for a little grunge band called Nirvana. Ever heard of 'em? I know, I can't believe it either! :-p
Let's just run through his cv once more shall we... Scream? Check. Nirvana? Check. Foo Fighters? Check. Queens Of The Stone Age? Check. Them Crooked Vultures? Check. Woah. That's a lot of drumming, no wonder he's the king of cool.

4. John Bonham - Led Zeppelin.

(If my dad reads this, I'm sure he'll kill me for not putting his favourite long-haired rocker on the top spot so this may well be my last post... argh!)

John Bonham is known for his powerful, heavy drumming that provide the backbone for some of the greatest songs ever written - his signature bass-drumming is packed with raw emotion that has the genius ability to bring tears to your eyes whilst packing a serious punch. One of the greatest, and most respected rock drummers of all time. Hero. 

3. Neil Peart - Rush. 

As technical as he is creative - note, using the butt end of his sticks like it was no big deal, Peart is known for his outlandish, and mind-blowing solos. One of the most respected drummers on the planet who can switch from slow groove, to fast paced rock within seconds. Plus he can add kick-ass songwriting to his arsenal of talents, being the primary lyricist for Rush. 

A man who was most definitely born with a drum stick in each fist, ouch!

Extra cool points for drumming in your underwear! 

2. Joey Jordison - Slipknot.
Without question the greatest metal drummer of all time - a true master of his trade, that has proven his talent time and time again performing with bands such as Korn, Rob Zombie, and artists as renowned, and legendary, as Lars Ulrich. Thunderingly powerful, lighting fast, and supremely technical skills put this masked master only one off the top spot...

1. Travis Barker - Blink-182.
No one has made a career out of drumming quite like this man - he has transformed his trade into an art in its own right - in fact, he's practically turned it into a sport, and even proved it could be the main focus of any album with his 2011 debut solo release 'Give The Drummer Some'. No one is as experimental, fast, nor versatile as Mr. Barker on the drums whether it's his signature pop-punk-perfect double-time drumming, or his creative, off-the-wall hip-hop innovation he is simply in a league of his own. Constantly working, and demanding more from himself whilst pushing boundaries that continually stun and excite the music world, he has proven time and time again that he is undoubtedly the greatest drummer in the world today.

Yeah, that's right buddy you won! Well done you. 

Woah, I'm worn out - and I totally hate myself for not making Neil Peart number one but whatever I love me some Travis. P.s Sorry Dad! 

What do you think? Who's your number one drummer? 

p.p.s Ladies, I haven't forgotten some of our best known female drummers - they're getting a whole list of their own very soon! :-)

Friday Favourites:

Favourite Song of The Week: 
Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter - Iron Maiden.
Maiden are the kinds of Creepy Cool, and this little baby is no exception to the rule! This is also a sublime vocal performance from Mr Dickinson that I could listen to over, and over. So you know what to do, fetch ya daughter!


Favourite Album of The Week:
Enema Of The State - Blink-182.
Since I'm turning 20 (sob, sob) on sunday, the most approriate way to spend my final week on earth as a teenager was to thrash around in my pyjamas to some seriously cheesy pop-punk!
This was Blink's first release after moving to MCA records, but they showed no signs of maturing or conforming to commercial record label success with songs such as 'Dysentary Gary' - Cut to me asking my dad what dysentary is when I was about 12, went down well! HA!
Nothing sums up my teenage years better than Blink-182, skateboarding, and obsessing over boys who look like Tom Delonge so it seemed only right that I would play the crap out of this all week. Love it!

Favourite Video of The Week:
Celebrity Skin - Hole.

So as we all know, it was International Women's Day yesterday and it seems only fitting that I celebrated my listening to some of the greatest ladies to ever grace a stage - Courtney Love is my personal favourite, and here she is doing what she does BEST, being a total babe and this video is so clever, and gorgeous! Enjoy!

Favourite Quote of The Week:

"I want every girl in the world to pick up a guitar and start screaming!" - Courtney Love

Favourite Tom Delonge Moment of The Week:
In fact this is a lot of funny moments all in one, but jeez he's my favourite human ever! Gah.

Per-lease watch the whole thing, and piss yourself laughing!


Happy Friday Everybody! 

Songs I'm obsessed with at the moment...

Ready Yet? - Canterbury
Songs like this that just get on with it from the word go are always a cracker! Canterbury are horrendously under-rated, and this January release shows us how talented they really are when it comes to penning a good rock tune. Plus the lead singer's cute as! Winner.

Bones - Young Guns
We all know that this band rock the roof off the place, and this song is no exception - straight up rock n roll smarts, and a solid radio jam. Enjoy!

After Midnight - Blink-182
One of my favourite songs from Blink's latest album, Neighborhoods, this is a total killer and is as romantic as hell. Love it.

Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye
This is one of the most beautiful, lyrically and vocally, songs I have heard in a long while.
Contrary to popular belief, Gotye has been around for yonks and this single, from his third album, has blown up and is being played all over the radio - do yourself a favour and check out all his stuff, you won't be dissapointed. Kinda like Sting meets Anthony Kiedis, sort of... ish.

Arguing With Thermometers - Enter Shikari
Catchiest riffs ever? Check. Amazingly written, and relevant lyrics? Check. Man running about with hilarious moustache? Check.

You Got Me - Taking Back Sunday
Gotta hand it to these guys, they just deliver every single time. The video is the best thing I've ever seen, the high-energy drumming reminds me of old TBS. Party on!

You seemed so sweet at the start, but the start's all wrong.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to Blink 182 at an early age when someone bought me 'Dude Ranch' at a car boot sale. I remember thinking 'I like that man's funny squeaky voice', and from that moment my love affair with a certain Mr. Tom Delonge began.
Unlike most of my friends my interest and admiration with Blink went beyond 'all the small things' and 'what's my age again?' - in fact, I've never loved those two tracks all that much. Their music was the soundtrack to my childhood, and I doubt I could ever truly dislike anything they created - but I came pretty close...

If I'm brutally and completely honest I recoiled in horror and slammed the off button within a few minutes of listening to 'Neighborhoods' for the first time.
Here's the irony of it all - the only criticism I could ever throw at this band would be that they have the tendency to be a little, shall we say, 'samey' BUT here they are doing something vastly different by offering a new sound and I'm sitting here like, 'I don't think I love it all that much you guys..." However, once I just quit acting like a hard done by 13 year old, I appreciated the quality of the music as it is, and stopped wishing it would sound like 'Take off your pants and jacket."
It's quite a strange album that smacks of juxtapositions all over the place - It seems untidy and incomplete in areas yet tight and together in others.  Some of the lyrics are beautiful, and some of them seem careless and very unblinklike.
Technically, this is a superb album - Travis Barker's drumming is better than ever, and his love of hip-hop rhythm is evident, particularly in 'Heart's all gone' and 'MH 4.18.2011', the riffs are tight and the openings are original. BUT it doesn't pack a punch in the way that anyone would expect from these pop punk masters - the sporadic, off-the-wall, slap dash and immature approach (think Dysentary Gary) seems to have been replaced by something that feels quite grown-up and mature. Put it this way, there ain't one song on this album that could be played whilst the trio run down through the streets of L.A wearing nothing but a smile (and an impressive collection of body art)...
Yes it sounds a lot like Angels and Airwaves but I'm sure that's because of the change in Delonge's voice, and the introduction of synthesized guitar.
The majority of the songs are catchy, and it's abundantly clear that the band has progressed and has become a brand new band; a hybrid of Box Car Racer, +44 and, of course, Angels and Airwaves.
'The Mark, Tom and Travis show' means something quite different now; of course, it seems only natural that this album would move away from the familiar, home comforts of their old sound now that they are in such different places in their lives; they're dads now, they're husbands (or were, in Travis' case), they each have their own side-projects and, clearly, this has been an enormous influence over this album.
It's good, it's different, it's catchy. Props to the guys for pursuing a new direction, and regardless of feedback negative, or positive this album is going to be a huge success. (I hope.)