Wednesday Tunes: “Revelation” by Third Day
Sep 3, 2008 Just Plain Awesomeness, Music
First off, a little bit about my “music management” habits.
I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 1300 cd’s. With that many, sometimes it is difficult to decde what to listen to. So, what I do is go into iTunes and make individual playlists of different albums. I will do this to about 10-15 albums at a time. As I listen to them, I will delete the playlist. When they are all gone, I will do it again, only with different albums.
The latest cd by Third Day, Revelation, is one playlist that has not left iTunes since I made it months ago. I have listened to that cd at least 30 times straight through. Other playlists come and go, Third Day’s Revelation has stood the test of time so far. I think Confucius said that or something.
Anyways, the cd is a great rock cd. Not alternative, not really pop, just rock. The same way you could describe the Black Crowes, Collective Soul, or Lenny Kravitz. You know, Rock N’ Roll, man.
Each track really stands on it’s own, and unlike most cd’s these days, there isn’t any “filler”. You know, the crap included on a lot of cd’s to get the track-count up. Nope, each one of these songs is solid. From a production standpoint, it’s flawless. The guitars and vocals are layered to perfection.
There are a lot of “little things” that for some reason or another, I just love. For example, on the opening track “This is Who I Am”, there is a little drum fill coming out of the bridge going into the last chorus. It’s like this:
…bah dunga dunga dunga dunga…
Trust me, if you listen to it, you’ll know just what I’m talking about. I love that part!
The harmonies are top notch (Slow Down), one song has a guest appearance by the lead singer of Flyleaf (Run to You), and one song has cowbell (I Will Always Be True).
Seriously, go to Amazon MP3 Store or iTunes, listen to some samples, and by the album!
Tags: Music, revelation, rock, third day
Video of Third Day live on Leno
Jul 30, 2008 Just Plain Awesomeness, Movies, TV, video
In case you missed it, here is Third Day (my favorite band for the last 13 years or so) live on The Tonight Show on July 29th. Also, below the embedded video is a link to download it to your computer/iPod/iPhone. Enjoy!
YouTube Version:
Download the iPod/iPhone Version (720×400)
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Tags: leno, third day, tonight show, TV
Third Day featured me on their official blog!
May 7, 2008 Just Plain Awesomeness, Music, me
Third Day is my favorite band of all time. They have been for around 14 years or so. Well, I went to their blog today, and they featured a video that I had put up on Youtube of a band I used to play with covering a Third Day song.
They have been doing a feature called “Fourth Day”, where they post a video of someone covering a Third Day song. Today featured my video! So, go to their blog and check it out.
Third Day and Brad Avery part ways
Feb 28, 2008 Music
It looks like 13 years of awesomeness is about to take a sharp turn. Brad Avery, lead guitarist of Third Day, is parting ways with the band. From the official Third Day blog:
Third Day and Brad Avery have made the very difficult decision to part ways.
We appreciate Brad’s many contributions to the band’s career to date, including his work on our forthcoming album, but the time has come for us to follow our separate paths.
He has been an important part of Third Day for the last 13 years as we’ve traveled the world together and performed over 1,000 concerts. We will miss him as a band member but he will always remain our brother and our friend. Brad is a wonderful person, gifted songwriter and talented musician. We trust that God has amazing plans for his future.
I have been a huge Third Day fan since 1994 or so, and Brad has been a big part of that. He brought the rock to the band. If you ever saw them in concert, you would always remember the funny faces he made while shredding on a solo. I know Third Day will go on to make awesome music just like they have for the last 15 years or so, but this is still a pretty big blow.
We’ll miss you, buddy!
Here is a picture from WAY back in the day. Brad is on the far right. (click for larger image)
New Feature: The Friday Five
Jan 25, 2008 Grab Bag, Music, Thoughts
You have probably seen this on other blogs, but every Friday (that I remember to do it), I will post a list of 5 “somethings”. Not nessessarily a top-5 list, but there will be 5 of whatever I post. So here we go…
Friday 5: The 5 cd’s I would want with me if stranded on an island (with a cd player and batteries)
1. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 
The Decemberists are a band like few others I have heard. One song will be 4 minutes, and the next will be 16 minutes. That actually happens a few times on this cd, but it never gets old. The longer songs seem broken up into a couple of songs, just tied together under the same name. Style-wise, they have a folk-rock sound, often using a mandolin right next to the acoustic guitars. They sometimes sound Irish, although they are from the US.
2. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace
I have been a foon (get it, as in “foo” and “fan”? I just made it up, and you can use it too) since the first cd back in 1995 or so. I was in 9th grade when I heard it, and that was all it took. Now, 12 years later, ESPG came out, and I have not been able to get enough of it. It rocks as hard as any FF cd ever has, but not at the expense of good music.
3. Alice in Chains - Unplugged
This is an old one, but good grief, it is good. It is amazing how a band can have 2 singers that have such similar voices. They do most of their hits during this concert, and their musicianship really shines though in the acoustic arrangements of some of the songs. My favorite song is Nutshell hands down. Wow.
4. Andrew Osenga - Letters to the Editor vol. 1
At only 6 songs, this EP show what happens when a true singer/songwriter sits down to record some songs with a list of rules for the project (as in, none of the songs can incorporate the use of a guitar pick). It keeps it interesting. Each song is just Andy and his guitar, and one of the best Andy O songs I have ever heard came from it (Swing Wide the Glimmering Gates). This is inspirational as a musician.
5. Third Day - Third Day
Of any CD I own, this one is my favorite. I have been a Third Day fan since 1993, and I have managed to see them in concert 33 times over the years. This cd was their breakthrough cd into the CCM market, and to this day, I think it is their best one.
So there it is. Hopefully, if I ever get stranded on an island, I will have these supplies. I mean hey, something has to distract me from a smoke monster or the “Others”, right?
Tags: alice in chans, andy osenga, cd's, decemberists, foo fighters, lost, Music, third day
5 Things You Didn’t Know About the U.S. in Iraq
Jan 25, 2008 Current Events, Found Online
Mark Lee has posted an interesting piece on his blog about our country’s place in Iraq. His band recently played some shows over there for the troops, so this info is first-hand. I won’t list them here, but here is one of them with the description:
We do not currently import any oil from Iraq: Those opposed to the war like to cry “Blood for Oil”. but that’s not happening. Most of Iraq’s oil output comes from a large oil field in the hotly contested Kurdish region in the North, and most of this oil is exported to Turkey. As of now, not a drop is exported to the U.S. We get our oil from places like Canada, East Africa, South America, etc.
I had no idea about that one, or really any of the others. Regardless on your stance on the war, it is worth checking out.
