Singers with Amazing Voices

As you've probably noticed from reading my blog, I really like listening to music. The other day, I was thinking and I was trying to figure out who my favorite vocalists are, and so I compiled a list. Not all of them are sing lead, but all of them have amazing voices, and their music is really worth checking out!

(On an extremely coincidental note, I'm watching The Five on TV and they're doing a segment on their favorite singers. Weird, right?)

Jen Ledger
Band(s): Skillet
Notable Songs: "Salvation," "Fire and Fury," "Hero," and "Yours to Hold [Live]"
While Jen isn't the lead vocalist for Skillet (John Cooper is), she has contributed her beautiful voice to many Skillet's songs. She normally plays the drums, but since she joined the band in 2008, she has sung on more than ten different songs. She is an incredible drummer as well, which is especially noticeable at Skillet's live shows.
She's also British. 

 


Stephen Christian
Band(s): Anberlin, Anchor & Braille
Notable Songs: "Alexithymia," "Self-Starter," "City Electric," and "Readyfuels"
Stephen has been the lead vocalist for Anberlin since it was founded in 2002, and for his acoustic side project Anchor & Braille since 2004. He has an incredible and elegant voice, and it's just really... mesmerizing. He's also written a book, The Orphaned Anything's, and started a non-profit
organization, Faceless International.

Valentine's Day Songs for the Single and the Not-Single

(Okay, I didn't know what I was supposed to say there. Honestly, "Not-Single" was the best I could think of)

Ladies and gentleman, it is that time of year again! The time when flower and chocolate sales go up really high, when everything thing turns pink, and when you can't turn around without seeing something heart-shaped. Yes, I'm talking about Valentine's Day, a holiday with the sole purose of celebrating love.

Alright, full disclosure - I've never really cared for Valentine's Day. And before you write me off as a bitter teenage girl, let me explain. Usually, I just kinda saw it as an excuse to get free candy from V-Day card exchanges with my friends (of course, most of it was just bland lollipops and Fun Dip). I'm kind of too old for that now though, so this lovely holiday (pun not intended) has become pretty useless to me.

Also, I can't stand people who write stuff like "Happy Singles Day. #foreveralone"

Anyways, the point of this post was not to talk about Valentine's Day and what I think about it. The point is, I've compiled a list of songs for you to listen to this Valentine's Day, whether you're single, married, in a relationship, whatever. I'm compiled this list from my own resources (like the CD rack next to my computer).

And, as a fair warning, there are duplicate artists (for example, Flyleaf shows up once on both lists).

Click the jump to see the list!

Christmas Music

It's that time of year again. The time when your local radio station plays the same set of Christmas songs over and over and over again until you're ready to punch Rudolph in the nose. Well, I may have the solution for you.

Now, I have nothing against Christmas music. It's just that... Well, it's often overplayed or repetitive. I've made my own Christmas music playlist of songs by some of my favorite bands, whether they're original or covers of other songs.

For starters, if you like bands like Hawk Nelson, Switchfoot, Anberlin, Kutless, Thousand Foot Krutch, or Sanctus Real, then you should check out the album X Christmas. It's part of the X series of compilation albums put out by BEC recordings, and it features all of the artists mentioned above, plus a few more. A lot of the songs are covers, but there are a few originals like "His Favorite Christmas Story." You can listen to the entire album here.

Want more Christmas music? Click the jump!

Things Change. Get Used to it.

This might make some people mad at me.
Not that it really matters, because no one really reads this, haha, but still. Anyway, this blog will probably focus on music and other nonsense surrounding it. For starters - GUYS. Rise comes out in FOUR DAYS. Listen to the singles:

Sick of It
American Noise
Rise
Not Gonna Die

...Anyway.

The real reason I decided to blog is this: People complaining about the ways bands sound. I was listening to one of the new Skillet songs for like the hundredth time, so I flipped through some comments on YouTube. People say things like, "I miss the way they used to sound..." or "This is so different from the way they used to be..." And I think, "No DUH." Of course a band is going to sound different album to album. I mean, what do you expect? They get new members, listen to new music, get influenced by different things. Case in point - listen to the following Skillet songs in order. It's the first track off of their last four albums.

Alien Youth (Alien Youth)
Forsaken (Collide)
Rebirthing (Comatose)
Hero (Awake)

To those of you who actually listened to those songs, give yourself a pat on the back. Anyway, do you see my point? The band's sound changed through time. It's perfectly normal for that to happen. There's no use in complaining and saying, "I wish they stayed the same" or "What happened to the old [band]?"

Click to make it bigger!

And yes, I do understand that even if a band stayed the same way, people would still complain. I saw
this graphic (see right) once on Anberlin's Instagram page. Seems about right to me. No matter what you do, people are gonna criticize. Still, I think some fans need to realize that bands will change. That's just the way it goes - nothing can stay the same forever.

Which leads me to my next topic.
Click the jump!

Blogging Because I Feel Like I Should

First of all, Happy Easter!
Okay, now that that's out of the way, I just felt like blogging because there's a lot of stuff I want to talk about, and just one of those things isn't enough for a whole post to itself. I'll probably jump from one thing to another without much explanation, so hopefully I won't lose you. I've got some stuff about Rise, Kristen May, and some other stuff that I'll think of as I write. So here goes nothing...

Album art for Rise.

If you read my last post, you heard me fangirl about Skillet's new album, Rise. If you missed that, here's what it said: Rise is Skillet's first concept album, it's being released June 25, and the first single from it, "Sick of It" is being released on iTunes April 9. If you want to know anything else, go read my post. :P Anyways, I have more news for you! The album art for Rise showed up on Facebook and Instagram recently! So there it is, on the right. I think it's pretty cool, and for some reason, I think of the album art for Comatose when I look at it. Does anyone else?
On the subject of Rise, Skillet also posted another teaser for "Sick of It," and personally, I think this one sounds better than the previous teaser. I can't wait to hear the whole thing on the ninth!
Oh, just thought of something else! So, click the jump to read about the new Percy Jackson movie and Kristen May singing "So I Thought."

Flyleaf Concert (2/24/13)

Hello again! So, two days after that Thousand Foot Krutch concert, I went to go see Flyleaf at the same place. Right now, they're on tour with Drowning Pool, who I hadn't heard of before. It was pretty interesting, because both bands have just gotten new lead singers (Kristen May, replaced former Flyleaf vocalist Lacey Sturm back in October-ish). Anyway, if you want to read more about the concert, click the jump!

CCM Magazines

An article about Flyleaf from the Feb '06 issue

Hey guys! I never posted about my amazing find (well, amazing to me at least), so I thought I would do that now. Anyway, I was looking through some stuff in my youth group's classroom, and I found a stack (ten total) of old CCM magazines! CCM Magazine is a Christian music magazine that used to be published physically, but they stopped doing that in 2008. You can subscribe to the online version of the magazine now, though. So obviously, my copies of the magazine are pretty outdated (the newest one is from July 2007) but it's still a lot of fun to read through them. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much about Skillet, but there is one article from the February 2006 issue that talks about Flyleaf when they were first getting started. I scanned it, so there it is on the right (you can click the image to make it bigger so you can read it). 

Five questions with Trevor McNevan.

The other thing I found interesting was a short interview with Trevor McNevan from Thousand Foot Krutch and FM Static in the December 2004 issue. It's just five questions, but it's pretty fun to read. My favorite is #4, haha.

Anyway, I thought this would be fun to post today. Enjoy the scans, and if I find anything else interesting, I'll let you know!

Note: In order to make the articles big enough to read, you can click them, which will open the picture in a sort of slideshow thing, then right click the picture and press "view image." It should then open up an a way that you can zoom in on the text :)

Sorry about that...

Hey guys, sorry it’s been a while since my last post. So… first of all, happy new year! Haha. Anyway, there hasn’t been very much worth blogging about. I went to a TFK concert and a Flyleaf concert this past weekend, and in January, we went to Winter Jam again. And uh… that’s about it. My life is just so interesting.

But the whole reason I wanted to blog right now was because I decided to start writing book reviews for some books that I’ve read recently. I’ve been going to the library every few weeks and reading a lot of books, so I wanted to start writing reviews. So I’m going to start that soon-ish… probably sometime tomorrow, or late tonight. I’ll write again soon!

"Fans"

(not the trippy kind)

I'm sick, sick, SICK of all the people whining about Flyleaf. So yes, I'm going to rant a bit. Okay guys, this is kind of my opinion: If you are really, truly, a fan of a band (say that three times fast), you'd like them despite lineup changes. Does this seem logical, or am I just crazy? Yeah, it's okay to be upset for a little bit, but seriously, after nearly two months, I think it's time to move on. We're all going to miss Lacey Sturm as Flyleaf's lead singer. But come on, do you really have to insult Kristen and post hateful comments on every Flyleaf video and Facebook post? Especially the ones who say that they're no longer going to listen to the band. They claim to have been huge fans of Flyleaf, but they completely turn their back when Lacey leaves.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to continue loving their music. Okay? I'm not worried about how they're going to sound or what's going to happen. And, honestly, you need to give Kristen some credit. Anyone willing to take the place of a much-loved lead singer and be able to listen to all of that hatred and criticism deserves a chance, if not some respect. I think I like her. And I understand that I might be being a bit harsh to people here, but I think I have the right to voice my opinion. Kristen May is a great singer, and although I had my doubts before, I think she's a good choice for Flyleaf's new vocalist.

Rant. Over.

You may now continue with your normal lives.
Oh yes, and all of the pictures in this post belong to Flyleaf, not me.

More Fire. This Fire Involves Flyleaf

So, Flyleaf posted something about a little secret show they had, and Kristen May (their new singer, in case you missed that) performed with them for the first time. So there's a video of "Fire Fire". Honestly, I don't think it sounds all that bad. Kristen seems like she'd be able to do a lot of their new songs very well. It's a few of the older ones, like "I'm So Sick" and "Cassie" that I'm worried about. But she is much better than I thought she would be. Anyway, here is the video:

For those of you reading this on a mobile device, here's the link.
And also, if you want to listen to the album version of "Fire Fire," click here.

Final Flyleaf Post for a While, I Promise

So uh, yeah, sorry I'm a little bit late. It's been kinda screwed up around here lately, with the hurricane and school and sleepovers and all that other chaos lately. But here I am! And, last Saturday (Nov. 3), I got my Flyleaf package in the mail! Actually, I wasn't there to receive it myself, since I was at an AWESOME sleepover party, but when my mom came to pick me up, she gave it to me.

By the way, that party was a blast! It was my friend Emily's fifteenth birthday, so she had a party in her cousin's basement. It was me (no DUH), Emily, Nina (the cousin), and Libby. We didn't go to bed until like, six in the morning. Then I woke up at nine, and everyone else got up at eleven. It was interesting. In short, we played logo quiz, listened to Nina and Libby's music (which means mostly Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Green Day, and My Chemical Romance), talked to Siri on the iPad, watched the Percy Jackson movie (Nina and I talked through the entire thing), played/watched Just Dance 3(?), and ate cupcakes. Yeah, it was a lot of fun!!

Okay. Sorry, got a bit sidetracked there. So, back to the Flyleaf stuff, I got the cheapest package, the one with the CD and the t-shirt. I was thinking about the poster too, but when I got the CD, I realized that the album "booklet" folds out into a poster. So I'm probably gonna ask my dad to color copy it at his office. Maybe I'll get some for my friends too. Except almost none of them like Flyleaf. Sigh. Well, I'll get some extra copies anyway.
Oh, and I finally got to listen to the whole album! My favorite songs are... Who am I kidding? I like them all!! Their new version of "Broken Wings" is great, by the way. And I may have mentioned this before, but I love how some of the other band members (Sameer and Pat) sing on some songs. Honestly, I think this is my favorite Flyleaf album. Yeah, it might not be as heavy as "Memento Mori" (disclaimer: listen to "Green Heart), but I love it. And even though this has nothing to do with anything, but they mention fire a lot on this album too.

So uh... With that, see ya later!

"Hold fast, don't you look at the past. Because hope and love last beyond the end." - "Stand"

"That's enough now, dry your tears. It's been a long eleven years." - "Fire Fire"

I love these lyrics!

I. Hate. Hurricanes.

Well, it could be worse. I could live in New Jersey.
Yes, people, I live somewhere near the East coast. So that stupid Hurricane Sandy had to come along and kill my electricity. You know what makes it even worse? Yesterday was the release date of "New Horizons!" Okay, the orginal orginal plan was to buy the CD at like Wal-Mart or something the day it came out. That got scratched when I saw the pre-order package that came with that awesome-looking t-shirt. The orginal plan then was to order the t-shirt package thingy, and then look up the songs on like YouTube or something yesterday. That's where Sandy came in and knocked out my power. So here I am, sitting in the library, blogging and listening to this stream of "New Horizons" online. Anyway, once I get my shirt and CD, I'll blog about that.
I haven't been able to listen to the whole album yet, but so far, I'm liking it. "Fire Fire" is great!
Hang in there, readers! Don't get blown away!

- Thechumbles.

Guys, I'm in Denial

I feel like someone broke up with me. I guess that's one way to put it. I don't know if I can handle it, I'm not sure what to say. Last night, I did my sneaky thing and checked all of my favorite band's Facebook pages, and one post caught my attention. "ANNOUNCEMENT from Flyleaf." Of course I clicked on it.
Geez, I was so unprepared for this:

Click the jump for the rant!

Official "New Horizons" Album Art

*cue fangirling*

So the 100% official, legit cover artwork for Flyleaf's "New Horizons" has just been released! I am pretty sure I freaked out when I saw it. Pretty sure, at least. It's so amazing! Seriously, click it and admire all of the detail. Like "Memento Mori," this cover art was also created by Flyleaf's bassist, Pat Seals.

Oh, and as a bonus, I found the track listing!

 01. Fire Fire
02. New Horizons
03. Call You Out
04. Cage On The Ground
05. Great Love
06. Bury Your Heart
07. Freedom
08. Saving Grace
09. Stand
10. Green Heart
11. Broken Wings

October 30 cannot come soon enough!

Generic News and Thoughts That I Think You Should Read Even Though You're Supposed to be Working or Something

Longest title in the history of mankind. Score!

Aaaaand moving right along.

So I'm still trying to get used to the new Blogger interface... I tried to hang on to the old one as long as I could, but I guess this isn't as bad as I thought. Just... I dunno, different. But not like completely alien. It sorta has this Google Docs-ish feel to it, and I happen to use that thing a lot. But anyway, if this thing looks like freakishly formatted, that would be why.

And I'm gonna keep jumping from topic to topic because I can get away with it. I asked my friend the other day if she thinks I have ADD, and she says, "Without a doubt yes."

Next topic of discussion: Music! Yeah, so hopefully you've listened to "Call You Out" and liked it. If you did, I have good news for you! "New Horizons" (the entire album) is going to be realeased on Tuesday, October 30! EXCITED!!
And also, Thousand Foot Krutch finally released their remixes for "Light Up The Sky" and "Let The Sparks Fly"! You can download them here. And while I'm talking about TFK, I would so kill for a wristband that says "Be The Change". Note to self: write TFK an email.

Yes, I've been having an obsession with wristbands lately. I had an OCD moment the other day when I went to my friends' School of Rock show and bought a wristband there. And then I realized I could put wristbands on both of my hands. *slow, sarcastic clapping*.

So yes, there is more still! Click the jump to read it!
You know how tempting it is.
Just click it.

"Call You Out"

Okay, I'll be honest here: I was not having the best morning today. Lack of breakfast maybe, ot it might've been my PE class (I cannot do a "correct" push-up to save my life). Either way, I was feeling pretty pathetic. So I treated myself to homeroom this afternoon, which was okay. At one point, I got a bit bored and decided to check all of my news feeds on my Yahoo! page. And I'm still not a Facebooker, but I do subscribe to some of my bands, Flyeaf in this instance, through my Yahoo! page. Guess what I saw? "Listen then share our latest song 'Call You Out' from out upcoming album 'New Horizons'. What do you think?"
Yep, that made my day better :D
So here's the link to the song: Call You Out - Flyleaf
It's much heavier compared to "New Horizons", which was something I, along with a few friends of mine, had been kinda worried about. I mean, you have "New Horizons", which is a very happy and upbeat song, but what about the other "darker" Flyleaf songs? Well, "Call You Out" just reassured me that there will be some.
And it also made me happy.

Oh, speaking of music, of you haven't gotten TFK's "The End is Where We Begin", it's on sale for $7.99 or something like that on iTunes. Check it out!

New Horizons Music Video

Probably my favorite Flyleaf video to date. I absolutely love this!

Oh. Right. So today the music video for Flyleaf's song "New Horizons" was realeased! And it took me a while to find it, so since you're here, I'll save you the trouble:
New Horizons
I watched it twice already. And I'm starting to wonder if the ending has to do with Lacey's birthday (which is today, September 4). I don't know, it's just a thought.
But anyway, enjoy the awesome music video and have a great day!

I fail at keeping this blog updated

Sorry!

Okay well for starters, in music-related news, both "Draw the Line" (Disciple) and "New Horizons" (Flyleaf) are released as singles on iTunes! "Draw the Line" is $.99, and "New Horizons" is $1.29, but they're both worth every penny :D I just absolutely love them both!

Moving along from that, I had my friends Libby and Emily over yesterday to hang out. I guess maybe as a nice way to end the summer. :( So sad about it ending... but oh well. Anyway, we did a lot of talking. We also went and saw Brave at a movie theatre near my house, and that was pretty fun. Oh, and we drank Mountain Dew floats. Like a root beer float, but with MD (technically they were Libby's idea). It was DELICOUS!!! And I only made a mess ONCE! New record!

And then last night we went to youth group and I had a near miss with the edge of the barn. We were playing capture the flag and I was running past the barn and there was a small slope there. I reached out to tag someone, then I lost my footing, and started sliding down the slope. And there's part of the barn (which is made up metal) that sticks out over the slope so I basically BARELY avoided cutting my forehead on the metal and sending myself to the ER. That would NOT have been fun. But I got out okay, minus one grass stain and I had the wind knocked out of me. But I'm okay :)

Anyways, that's about all for news! Hopefully I'll blog again soon!

Ohio Trip

Top Thrill Dragster

Okay, the only real reason I'm writing this now is cause I got this new Blogger app and I'm trying it out. So there.

Anyway, this past weekend my family and I went to Ohio for... Four days. We got there LATE Friday night. Saturday, we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame/Museum, which was fun (except for te fact that I'm musically challenged and it didn't make a whole lot of sense but oh well). I got some really nice earrings there too. On Sunday, we went to this Science museum that was pretty much right next door to the Hall of Fame. And then Sunday evening, we drove to Sandusky and went to Cedar Point Sunday night, all of Monday and a good part of Tuesday. We got home right around midnight on Tuesday. So yeah, that's my trip!

There are more pictures after the jump!

Oh yes, and while I'm here, I think I should point out that Flyleaf's new single "New Horizons" is going to be released Tuesday, August 21! Yay!

Draw The Line & New Horizons

Guess who found a new Disciple song? ME!
Yeah, so that's what happens when you browse YouTube for live Diciple videos. You come across videos of them performing new songs from their new album, "O God Save Us All". This song is called "Draw The Line". Honestly, I've heard better Disciple songs, and this song really didn't get my as hyped up for their new album like "New Horizons" did for Flyleaf. But, eiher way, it's still worth checking out. Hey, it's Disciple. you know you want to look at it :)
Draw The Line

And this is weird, cause as I'm writing this, my friend Zach texted me a link to where you can listen to Flyleaf's "New Horizons", and it's not live. Like, recorded. In a studio. Bonus!
And here's the link for that:
New Horizons
Just to clear things up, this is NOT YouTube. So you'll click the play button next to Flyleaf.
The End.