My iPod #149: Queens of the Stone Age - Burn the Witch

"Burn the Witch" was released as the third single from Queens of the Stone Age's fourth album "Lullabies to Paralyze". That album was their most recent when I started listening to the band's music in 2005, and I can remember the video for the song being shown multiple times on the television.

"Lullabies" is a much darker album, believe it or not, compared to "Songs for the Deaf". The guitars are much harsher and there is an overall sense of gloom and obscurity that is built in each song. "Burn the Witch" is no different. The song begins with these harsh whispers before jumping into its ominous stomping beat which carries on throughout the song along with the contrast of Josh Homme's falsetto vocals with Mark Lanegan and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top's gravelly, lower tones. The bass line which mimics the vocal melody of the verses repeats throughout too, and all of these combined make up a tune which will disturb you to your soul.

The music video builds this feeling of doom with very freaky imagery. It does look quite cheap and you don't know whether to laugh because everything looks fake, but who wouldn't feel a little discomfort if you witnessed a witch with an army of skeletons coming towards you? You wouldn't just feel a little bit frightened. You'd run away, duh.

Have fun. Sweet dreams.

Jamie.

My iPod #148: Billy Talent - Burn the Evidence

"Burn the Evidence" is the closing track from Billy Talent's second album, "Billy Talent II", released in 2006.

By that time I'd been listening to Billy Talent for about a year or so, but it was only their material from their first album. When were they going to release something new? Well, it was when they uploaded their demo for "Red Flag" on their myspace page that I found out that something was coming pretty soon. It was an exciting time.

"Billy Talent II" came out and for me was just as good as their first. The band had a lot less anger in their sound but you could sense that it was still there. The album cover summed up that statement.

"Burn the Evidence" describes the scene of a man who drives a luxury Sedan, crashes and plummets through the windshield. It's unclear whether this is intentional. I thought it was. Users on songmeanings.com say otherwise. It seems to me that the narrator was also built up for great expectations, those didn't go as planned and so he kills himself. It's not a sad song though. The instrumentation is delivered with determination and the lyrics depict a person thinking forward instead of feeling pity on himself. Whatever it is, it's a very good closer for an album.

Did you know it's in the same key as "Living in the Shadows"? I'm very sure they are the same structurally too. I sing the bridge from "Shadows" to the instrumental break in "Burn the Evidence" all the time. They are very similar.

Jamie.

My iPod #147: Feeder - Burn the Bridges

It was in the midsummer of 2006 when the advert for Feeder's brand new compilation "The Singles" started to be shown regularly on the television. If anyone doesn't know who Feeder are or you've never listened to their material, "The Singles" is a good place to start. Even though it is a compilation, it is one filled with 20 tracks of their most popular songs.

Out of the twenty, three new tracks were recorded for exclusive inclusion on the album. "Lost and Found" and "Save Us" were released as singles; "Burn the Bridges" was not, and it still amazes me that it wasn't.

In the wake of the compilation's release, Feeder's official website had a major overhaul in design. It was basically changed so it had the same colour theme as the album cover, but it also let users listen to short samples of the tracks that were included. "Burn the Bridges" was the one which I jumped around to and played my air guitar to all around my living room, but before I knew it the sample was over and I had to start from the beginning all over again.

My cousin bought "The Singles" for me and gave it to me as a present on Christmas Day. I then went ahead and broke my original Playstation 2 just as I inserted the disc into it. That was a bad time for me. That's a whole different story.

The point is "Burn the Bridges" is one of Feeder's best. I think it's great.

Jamie.

My iPod #146: Lostprophets - Burn Burn

I owe a lot to EA Sports and their FIFA series. Not only because they made me more of a football (soccer...) fan, but because the music they had on their soundtracks was amazing! If I wasn't playing FIFA, I don't know what music I'd be listening to now. I definitely wouldn't have my diverse taste that I have in music, if I do say so myself.

It's going to be ten years since I've started listening to Lostprophets, and it's all because this song was in FIFA 2004. Oh wow. Remember those times when the whole year was in the title instead of the last two numbers? Yep, I have been playing FIFA for that long.

"Burn Burn" was released as the first single from the band's second album "Start Something", which is my personal favourite and what I consider to be their best. It was one of the songs on that particular FIFA game that I learned the words to and would sing-along to whenever it came on, just because it was so energy-inducing.

It's all about rebellion, which ties in with the theme of "getting up and doing something" which is present throughout the album. There's plenty of "gang vocals" too, and is a good song to yell to whilst on a drunken night out with your mates. I'm not speaking from experience, I'm just saying you may want to do that if you're into those activities.

Jamie.