Canadian Music Countdown!

As a Canadian, I’ve been celebrating my country’s 150^th birthday. To that end, I thought I’d do something different and talk about music again. Specifically, Canadian music. So we’re going to do a quick round-up of Canadian bands/singers you should listen to (if you aren’t already). As many of you already know, I come from a heavily classic rock/metal background and that does tend to inform my choices. I suppose that’s what happens when the first albums you own (on tape!) were Bryan Adams’ Reckless and Def Leppard’s Pyromania. So no Celine Dion, or Justin Bieber (we all apologize for that one), or Nickelback, or anyone like that. Everyone already knows Canadian acts like Leonard Cohen, The Guess Who, and Shania Twain, so I think I’m safe concentrating on others. So let’s see what we’ve got!  

Honorable Mentions

Men Without Hats- So I just found out today while researching for this list that Men Without Hats are Canadian and I thought I’d share that information for anyone who still likes rocking The Safety Dance. 

Steppenwolf- Another band I didn’t realize was Canadian. And given the number of jokes that have been made in our house lately regarding the Justice League movie and how they could reference Magic Carpet Ride or Born to be Wild  when the villain shows up, I thought it was worth the mention. 

Exciter- Here’s a band I’d heard of, but never really listened to before. I looked them up and started listening to their first album, and got hooked by the thrashy, Motorhead feel the first couple of songs had. Definitely one I’ll add to the repertoire. 

A Tribe Called Red- Electronic/dubstep/dance, etc. might not be my bag when it comes to music, but I have to talk about A Tribe Called Red. I first saw one of their videos posted online by a friend, and I thought it was fabulous. They combine those musical styles I mentioned above with traditional Native American drums and singing. It makes for an amazing blend of past and present all in one. 

The List

Rush- How could I start with anyone else? Rush is not only a great Canadian band, but just a great band period. Whether you’re talking Geddy Lee’s unique voice given to the complex lyrics, or Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart’s mastery of their respective instruments, Rush is always worth talking about. 

The Tragically Hip- There are few bands as so very Canadian as ‘The Hip’, and none that I’ve found that sound similar. I was lucky enough to be able to see the broadcast of their final concert last summer at a drive-in movie theater, and it was packed. If you don’t know them, give them a listen, because there isn’t anyone else out there like them.  

Unleash the Archers- I’ve talked about UtA before, and in fact just reviewed their newest album. So I guess it’s no surprise I mention them here. In a genre where female-fronted bands have an unfortunate tendency to sound very similar it was such a breath of fresh air to find one that takes a page from Iron Maiden or Judas Priest than Nightwish. I’ve been hooked from day one, and as I said, their newest effort, Apex, more than lives up to it’s name.  

Art of Dying- We saw these guys open for Disturbed a number of years ago and it made us fans. They were fun and energetic on stage and after the show and I just want to put them out there if you want a good hard rock band to listen to. 

Jeff Healey Band- A more ‘classic’ entry this time. I never saw him live, only in video, but watching Jeff Healey play guitar is fascinating. For anyone unfamiliar, he was blind and played with his guitar in his lap. His music takes me back to listening to it on the radio as a kid, and he did a killer cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. 

Tom Cochrane- I wasn’t crazy when Rascal Flatt’s covered Life Is a Highway, mostly because I grew up with the original version. Music was just as important growing up as it is now that I’m grown up in my own home, and one album that had heavy rotation at my folks’ place was Tom Cochrane’s Mad Mad World. Solo, or a part of the band Red Rider, you should definitely check it out.  

One Bad Son- I was lucky enough to see these guys twice in one year, opening for two very different bands (Def Leppard and Judas Priest). They were great both times, including teasing a different Metallica song each time. Another band I think needs more attention. 

April Wine- The next two entries are definitely nostalgic for me. I got a lot of my classic rock love from my folks and what we listened to as kids. These were two of them. I remember my mum having Nature of the Beast on vinyl and as an adult I bought it on CD. But just listen to Roller or I Like to Rock, you can’t help but at least tap your foot along. 

Loverboy- We all know Working for the Weekend, possibly from that Saturday Night Live sketch (or maybe I’m dating myself there), but that’s only one song. There’s so much more to be had, and so much glorious 80’s-ness. Seriously, I’m listening right now to a song of their most recent album, and it is awesome and could fit in with anything in their back catalogue.   

Triumph- Rounding out my list is a band I found as a teenager. I heard Fight the Good Fight and I was hooked. The lyrics have almost a power-metal feel to them, with something like Magic Power veering into almost Dio-esque territory. But it’s very much a rock band, and a damn good one at that.

Well, everyone, that’s my list. Researching this list was a lot of fun and it reminded me of a lot of music that I hadn’t listened to in years. There’s so many other bands that could have gone here, my starting list was at least twice as long and it was hard the whittle it down. So I hope you enjoyed this very small sampling of Canadian music and we’ll see you next time!  

Music Review: Unleash the Archers- Apex

Hey everyone I’m back again with a new review. I should have written this one up already, but I wanted to listen through a few more times and really get nice and comfortable with the album and story before I put this up. But now is the time and we’re going to talk about Apex, the new album from Canadian metal act Unleash the Archers. So let’s get right down to it! 

I was introduced to Unleash the Archers through, of all things, Facebook. A friend had shared the video for Tonight We Ride from their previous album and on a whim, I listened to it. Not long after I bought said album (Time Stands Still), and the rest is history, as they say. I had Apex on preorder as soon as the option was available, picking it up in a bundle pack that was not only awesome, but showed up a day early in my mailbox. 

Shirt (comfy btw), flag, stickers, signed postcard, and of course the CD!

Since then we’ve had it on rotation in the car, in the house, I even have it on my phone to listen to if I have an early shift at work before the store opens. This is a concept album, with an overarching story told through each song. I’m not going to get really deep into the story itself, as I guess you could call that ‘spoilers’. If you do want a track-by-track breakdown you can watch that here, here, and here, courtesy of vocalist Brittney Slayes. I’m just going to give you my quick thoughts on each song and then quickly the album as a whole. 

1-Awakening: Clocking in at just over seven minutes, the opener gives you a taste of all the goodness to come. It is our introduction to the protagonist of the story, the Immortal, and setting the stage for the rest of the album. As a song, it’s big and powerful and a great way to start off. 

2-Shadow Guide: Where Awakening is a very modern-sounding metal song, this one has a very old-school feel. When discussing it, the other half and I use the term (Iron) Maiden-y a lot. That’s not just true for this song either, the whole album is this blend of modern and classic sensibilities. This is also the shortest song at just under four minutes, but not lacking anything for it. 

3-The Matriarch: The introduction to the antagonist of the piece, this is the heavy metal version of a campfire story. It was one of the two songs released prior to the album coming out, and so it was nice to hear it in context in the full album. A faster song with a lot of energy.  

4-Cleanse the Bloodlines: This was the first song I heard from this album, as it debuted with a video about a month before release. After watching it, it was a very long month waiting for the full thing. What can I even say about this one? It’s literally everything you want in a power metal song. 

5-The Coward’s Way: We’re mid-album now, so this is probably a filler song, right? No! There is no filler here. In fact, this is when the quest really begins. It also kicks the tempo back up again. 

6- False Walls: At just over eight minutes, this is a massive song in more ways than one. I get that old-school feel again really heavily; a Maiden-y, Priest-y, 80’s-metal kinda feel. It’s one of my favorites on the album. 

7-Ten Thousand Against One: This is your ‘anthem’ song, and I bet it’ll be killer live. This is a headbanging, fists-in-the-air powerhouse. It’s my other favorite song.  

8-Earth and Ashes: This song actually shows us a bit of a different side of the Immortal despite being a very fast-paced song with a rather somber tone. It’s starts off a little slower, but as soon as those drums kick in they don’t let up until the very end. It also features (clean!) vocals from guitarist Andrew Kingsley. Generally he and fellow guitarist Grant Truesdell do provide backing vocals, but as growls, as they do on the other songs on the album. 

9-Call Me Immortal: The Immortal’s quest comes to an end and he begins the journey home. I really love the guitar solo in this one, and it’s really catchy. It’s really energetic and you can’t help but at least tap your foot to it. 

10-Apex: And we end off with the title track and the Immortal’s return to his home. There is a riff is pure Maiden goodness (you’ll know it when you hear it), but the whole things is just such a powerful and uplifting finale that really just brings it all around and together again. 

Overall? I love this album. On their last one, Time Stands Still, it sometimes seemed like the guitars especially just weren’t powerful (or maybe loud?) enough and were completely overshadowed by Brittney’s powerful voice. This time around I don’t find that at all; everyone is balanced and complements each other fantastically. It’s one of those rare albums that I prefer to listen to in order so that it lets the story play out from start to finish (the other being Iced Earth’s Framing Armageddon) rather than randomly. I highly, highly recommend it and you should definitely check it out because it’s Unleash the Archer’s best album yet and nothing I’ve said here does it justice.  

Final verdict- Apex definitely lives up to its name. 10/10           

Movie News Roundup!

Sadly, no movie reviews this time around. I hope to change that for next week, but for now, let’s look at some of the news around the internets. There's actually quite a lot to talk about; we've got superheroes, adaptations, rumors, anime, trailers and more! So let's get to it!



Wonder Woman Origin Trailer

We started off our week with a new trailer for the Wonder Woman film, dubbed the ‘origin’ trailer. There were some really interesting things in this trailer, including a young Diana and showing her Amazonian training. There are a few things that are especially intriguing to me: the idea that she should be trained to the extent that she is and that there is some truth that she shouldn’t know (I have a pet theory about this, but I could be way off on it). I really love one of the last shots there where she brings the gauntlets together lightning builds around them, it’s a great contrast to earlier in the trailer where their powers go off and she seems scared of it. I have hope for this one, and my little girl is really excited to see it, so I hope it all pans out.


Box Office
I just had to mention this quickly. Beauty and the Beast absolutely slayed this weekend, opening at $170 million domestic ($350 million worldwide total) and knocking Batman v. Superman off top spot for a March opening. It’s already the second-highest grossing film of the year behind Logan (which passed $500 million total worldwide). I haven’t seen it yet, so I have no idea how good the movie itself is, just that a lot of people must have been excited for and/or enjoyed it. It will be interesting to see how the next round of Disney live-action does, with Mulan scheduled for November of next year and Aladdin (directed by Guy Ritchie) about to begin casting. I’m intrigued, especially since they seem to be doing all of my favorites all at once.


Dark Tower 

 Now to another project I’m anticipating. Up till this point we have had so little regarding this adaptation/sequel-ish of Stephen King’s iconic gunslinger. No trailer yet, but now we’ve finally got a poster. I’m not entirely sure why they’ve gone the Inception/Doctor Strange angle for this, but it’s a neat visual. Especially Matthew McConaughey’s Man in Black upside down at the top, with Idris Elba’s Roland and Tom Taylor’s Jake at the bottom right-side up. As someone who loves the books, I can’t explain this choice, but I can tell you that the tagline is exactly what I thought they’d go with. It’ll bring in fans like me, even ones skeptical about the whole sequel/not adaptation of the thing, and pique the curiosity of people who don’t know what the phrase means in the context of the story. I also found an article posting a song (link is the whole thing from YouTube) that was supposedly supposed to be from the trailer that never materialized in October (though was apparently leaked. I didn’t see it either way). Again, another dark, moody cover of a classic. This one is somewhat better than the last few, at least. What makes me scratch my head is that it would be an excellent choice of song had they gone with Roland’s appearance from the book, but since they aren’t doing that, why use it? Either way, I really, really hope we get a trailer or something soon, if only to show us what we’re getting into come July.


Godzilla Anime

Let’s switch now from gunslingers to kaiju. Netflix is apparently working on an anime film featuring the King of the Monsters for later this year. It apparently has a more futuristic setting for the big guy to stomp through, and will be the 30^th Godzilla film produced by Toho. Not many other details yet, but once there’s more to tell, I’ll be sure to let you all know. Kaiju are a big deal (pun intended) in our house, so once it’s released, I’ll definitely be checking it out.

How big is Godzilla in our house? Big enough that Cookie Monster got a makeover for one of the kids' birthday parties.

Guardians Cast
What’s a movie news article without some Marvel, am I right? News is out that Sylvester Stallone and Michael Rosenbaum have parts in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 in roles that are significant to the film and the greater MCU. Of course, no word on who they are playing, but there is plenty of speculation back and forth on who they could be. This video posits Stallone could be playing an incarnation of Nova, but nothing else at this time. I’m not going to speculate too much (although I could totally see Rosenbaum as The Watcher) because who knows how Marvel/Disney is going to connect things at this point. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see, unless we get another trailer that gives us something more.



Valerian Trailer for Trailer
So, director Luc Besson released a trailer for a trailer for his Valerian and the City of the Thousand Planets on Twitter for his birthday. It doesn’t really tell you anything new at this point. I’ll check out the full trailer on the 29^th and see what happens. I’m not overly interested in this one, the first trailer made me feel like someone had smashed Mass Effect and Guardians of the Galaxy together, but in a cynical way, not a good way. So that’s there, if you want to check it out.

Commander Shepard would like her armor back. With the N7 logo reattached.

More Matrix?
I’ve seen rumors swirling the past few days about a reboot of The Matrix. I am, for the record, absolutely against such a remake. Apparently now it’s not a remake, but another film set in the same universe. That I can deal with. I really liked The Animatrix, so I would be down to see more of that world that wasn’t a prequel or a retread or any of those fancy buzzwords. Because you aren’t going to recapture the greatness of that first film, so I’d much rather see other parts of this world and other stories.


Unleash the Archers
One final note to music and especially heavy metal fans. A favorite of ours, Unleash the Archers, has a new album coming out that you can preorder now! I already did, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it (my preorder said shipping to arrive June 2^nd). Just had to share some love for Canadian metal.


Well, that’s what I’ve got for this week, everyone. What do you think of some of these rumors/stories? Anything exciting, anything make you want to tear your hair out in frustration? Next time I’ll hopefully have some new reviews, Power Rangers is out next weekend, as is Life, or might hit up Beauty and the Beast, depending on how much time we have. See you then!