Broken, Beat & Scarred

Long time no blog. Sorry about that. I've been busy the past few weekends - working on a Habitat for Humanity build, attending our youngest daughter's final Color Guard competition, preparing for and participating in the annual fantasy baseball draft.

Featured music in this post: "Breathe" by U2, "Broken, Beat & Scarred" by Metallica, "Bullets" by Creed, and "Buried Alive" by Alter Bridge.

Breathe - An excellent song from U2's new CD, "No Line on the Horizon". When I started this project, I said I wasn't going to add any new music to my iPod. But this is U2. Aside from that, "Breathe" is the first song alphabetically and it was added just in time to slip into this post. Besides, I made the rules, so I can use whatever loophole I want. (Isn't that how things work? It sure seems that way, seeing as how the easiest way to get named to a cabinet post is to screw your taxes up and owe the government tens of thousands of dollars. Dangit - I told myself I would avoid politics.)

Broken, Beat & Scarred - "What don't kill you, make you more strong", "Breaking your teeth on a hard life a-coming (show your scars)/Cutting your feet on the hard earth running (show your scars)/Breaking your life, broken, beat & scarred/We die hard". This is my favorite tune from Metallica's latest CD, "Death Magnetic". I think it's Metallica's best CD, along with the black album. The CD deals with addiction, abuse, and death. That hardly seems like the breeding ground for a song that is relentlessly positive and encouraging - and, yet, that's exactly what "Broken, Beat & Scarred" is. No matter what gets thrown at you, you come out stronger and ready to face more. When I listen to this song (which is very often), especially on this Easter Sunday, I can't help but picture Jesus, whipped mercilessly, having drug His cross up to Calvary, crucified, side pierced, leg bones shattered, and still saving me.

Bullets and Buried Alive - It's appropriate to find these 2 songs back-to-back. Bullets was on Creed's last CD, "Weathered". It's a great example of what went wrong with Creed. Before the release of Weathered, lead singer Scott Stapp told every media outlet he could get to listen that this was Creed's Sgt. Pepper - the CD that would cement their place in rock history. Creed's label and the rest of the band (those who remained, as Stapp had chased off bassist Brian Johnson earlier) allowed the group to dive headlong into Stapp's egomania and associated paranoia. Weathered frequently eschews Creed's former uplifting lyrics and transcendant sound to rail about perceived criticism and a drifting, noisy mess. (Not all of it, mind you, there's still some good stuff there.) So, after Creed had been smashed to bits by Stapp, the remaining members, Mark Tremonti (a tremendous guitarist) and drummer Scott "Flip" Phillips, reunited with Johnson and added singer/guitarist Myles Kennedy to form Alter Bridge. Alter Bridge is what Creed stopped being: a rock band. They make good rock music - some of it built around a message (like Blackbird, discussed in the last AlphaPod post) - but really just music. No paranoia, no indulgence of the front-man. Apparently, the band was asked by label executives to drop Kennedy and re-form Creed. Gladly, they stood their ground, backed Kennedy, and said no. I hope they continue to do so and keep putting out solid music.

• Breath of Water - Cave In
• Breathe - U2
• Breathe In - Paloalto
• Breed - Nirvana
• Bridge Over Troubled Water - Johnny Cash
• Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

This is the first set of multiple versions of a single song on my iPod. I prefer Cash's rugged and rough version.

• Brighter Than a Thousand Suns - Iron Maiden
• Bring'em Back Alive - Audioslave
• Bring It On Back - Jet
• Bring the People Together - Live
• Bringing It On Home - Triumph
• Broken - Jack Johnson
• Broken Road - 12 Stones
• Broken Toy - Keane
• Broken, Beat & Scarred - Metallica
• The Bronze Medal - Idlewild
• Brothers Unaware - Live
• Bryte Side - Pernice Brothers
• Bubble Toes - Jack Johnson : Now THIS is Jack Johnson.
  
• Buddy Holly - Weezer
• Bugs - Pearl Jam : Total crap.
  
• Built For the Future - The Fixx
• Bullet the Blue Sky - U2
• Bulletproof Weeks - Matt Nathanson : "What happened to bulletproof weeks in your arms?/What happened to sweet radio songs?/What happened to thinking that the world was flat?/What happened to that?" - Heartbreaking song of lost love. It will make an appearance later on a list of the saddest songs.
  
• Bullets - Creed
• Buried Alive - Alter Bridge
• Burn Away - Foo Fighters
• Burn Out Bright - Switchfoot
• Burnin' Up - Goo Goo Dolls
• The Burning Down - King's X
• Burning Love - Elvis Presley
• Burrito - Seether
• But Not For Me - Harry Connick, Jr.
• But, Honestly - Foo Fighters
• Buttercup - Sorta
• By-Tor & the Snow Dog - Rush
• By My Side - INXS
• By My Side - 3 Doors Down
• By Your Side - Default
• Bye Bye Love - The Cars

Summary:
Wrapped up the Bs.
Listened to 40 songs, skipped 2 (live versions of "Breed" and "Bullet the Blue Sky")
4 start with "Bring", 4 with "Broken", 5 with "Burn",

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Now playing: Elvis Presley - Burning Love
via FoxyTunes