Call The Police, This Whole Place Is Gonna Burn

Everyone needs to watch this.  Not just because I love Michael Jackson, but because this song is about an issue that we all need to be aware of: how we're ruthlessly destroying our planet.  With this video, Michael portrays the issue of our dying Earth in such an intense way and whether you like his music or not, I ask you to watch this video.  It successfully gets the message across and after seeing it for the first time I was completely blown away. It won't allow me to post the video right in here, so please take the time to follow the link below, watch, enjoy, and understand.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FZcAzZOyOg

     As I'm sure you're all aware, Barack Obama has been elected to be our country's next president.  Some of you approve; some do not, but honestly I think Obama is going to be one of the best things that happened to America in a long time.
     I remember way back when he was nothing more but the Democratic candidate, my mom had said to me, "Do you know how much history he'll make, how much history America will make if he becomes the first African-American president?  As much as I'd like to see if happen, I doubt he'll win.  I probably won't see that in my life time, but you may... possibly even your younger sister."  As the election got closer, my mom's doubt whittled away.  Three generations in my household got to witness the first African-American president; got to witness a major mark in history: my mom, myself, and my four year old sister.  Obama is the start of a new era, it's time for change.
     Let's use Obama's tax plan as an example.  Many have disagreed on it, but have they actually thought about it?  It's probably one of the best ideas I've ever heard!  He wants to raise taxes on those who can actually afford to pay them, and lower them for those who can't.  Seriously, what's so wrong about that?  If taxes come and you can just send the money out and be done, not a thought, not a worry about having to buy food, then you can afford to pay a little extra.  As my mom stated, "They can deal with buying one less latte every day to pay a few extra taxes."
     After eight incredibly long years of Bush, the change is going to be a releive to us all.  Whether you like it or not, You're stuck with Barack Obama as the president of your country.  He needs to be respected like any true American would respect their president.  Prepare yourself for great things, prepare yourself for a better America.

Yes, we can.

photo cred to www.eitb24.com

With new technology revealing itself every month, teenagers find it easy to fall into the grasp of the virtual world.  What with webcams, Instant Messenger, Myspace, Facebook, etc.  It's easy for our generation to lose their sense of reality, their sense of what a real life is like.  Sure, everyone wants to look great in their Myspace picture, but what about stepping out of your house and learning what the world is like and how to get by once you're on your own?

Take a look at yourself right now.  How many friends do you have?  Now subtract the ones you've gained on Myspace, Facebook, Buzznet, and any other form of internet communication.  Now tell me how many you have.  How many do you know in person; that you're able to see every day?  It could be a decent amount, or it could be not many at all.  I'll be honest with you right now, that my list isn't very full.

I'm writing this to talk about internet addiction, and I'm going to admit that I'm one of the many people who have fallen under the virtual spell.  This is the third day I haven't left my house, and all I can manage to do is refresh my Myspace homepage and Facebook asking my virtual friends if they want to hang out.  Rarely do I ever pick up the phone and call my real friends to see what they're doing.  Rarely do I even leave my box of a room to spend time with my mom or my four year old sister.  I talk on the computer, I eat at the computer, I watch TV while at the computer, I even fall asleep at the computer.  I have a problem, and I don't know how to fix it.  Most of you are probably thinking that I'm crazy, but I just want you to think; how much does the internet impact your life?  Does your only best friend live halfway across the country?  Have you every dated anyone that lives two states away?  I will proudly say that I have met some of the most amazing people that live far away, but they're not the only good friends I keep.  I have also never dated anyone simply online, that's just pathetic.

Once you realize how much your life revolves around what goes on in your laptop, it becomes frustrating.  I know that once I wake up, I have to check my e-mail, Myspace and Facebook.  I know that I'm going to give a half-ass attempt at making plans for the day, but then resort to my e-friends for entertainment.  Once it hits around 8 PM, I realize I wasted a whole day and there's no hope in making plans now that it's too late in the evening.  It depresses me knowing that I have this problem, and I feel so incredibly lazy whenever I think of doing anything productive with myself.  I'm going downhill and I need to switch to reverse before I crash.

I just wanted to write about this, because it's been bothering me all day, and if you're reading this, do yourself a favor and don't fall into this kind of trap.  If you realized that you're in the same position I'm in, do yourself a favor and try to get out.  No one needs to fall into the hands of the world's technology, we just need to learn how to use it in a healthy manor.

So as we all know (or don't know), my favorite band is From First To Last.  I've been a fan for almost three years now, and I've fallen in love with their music, and the band has helped me through all of my serious, and little every day problems.  If you know anything about the band, you would know that singer Sonny Moore left the band back in early 2007 to start his own solo project.  Since then Matt, Travis, Derek, and new-but-not-really-so-now bassist Matt Manning have been trying to get back on their feet and show that they can survive as a band.  Now, From First To Last has been touring almost non-stop and their self-titled third album is due to come out at the end of April.

As I was flipping through May 2008's issue of AP Magazine, I came across a review of the new album.  Excited, I quickly got comfy and ready to read what I then noticed was a two star review.  This is what I found:

"following some controversy ignited by supposed vocal problems, from first to last singer sonny moore parted ways with the band he fronted for three years in feb 07, citing a desire to pursue a solo career.  the remaining three members, led by the group's guitarist, primary songwriter and original vocalist matt good, seemed unfazed, penning a new album and entering the studio with modern-rock producer josh abraham at the end of 07.  the speed with which fftl jumped back into the fray following moore's departure, paired with good's role as songwriter for the majority of the band's previous tracks, may lead one to believe that moore wasn't necessarily central to fftl's sound.

as it turns out though, he was.  fftl's third full-length, which follows 06 heroine, is not without merit, but is undeniably underwhelming.  while heroine wasn't necessarily pushing any previously untouched musical boundaries or reinventing the post-hardcore/screamo genre, it displayed a band who'd found a sound that worked for them- and their fans.  on from first to last (self titled cd), however, you can almost hear how hard the band (who enlisted matt manning as bassist for this album) are trying.  it's almost as though they know they have something to prove and are expending all possible energy to do so, rather than relaxing to craft an album that represents their evolution and new goals.

on one hand, tracks like "profound" (a title seemingly lifted from pete wentz's journal) and that i'm-fucked-up-you're-fucked-up love song "a perfect mess" maintain the group's signature surging guitars allowing good to ape moore's combination of nasal melodies and growling yelps.  "we all turn back to dust", on the other hand opens with the unlikely sentiment, "little soul your dreams are waiting/grab them up, hold them closely." the same guitar riff repeats over and over as good failingly tries to sound inspirational.  the record has it's share of merciless hooks (unfortunately accompanied by cliched lyrics) and is not entirely dissmissible, mostly because the songs get stuck in your head whther you like them or not

but when a band self-titles their third album, it's usually interpreted as a statement of purpose; this album defines who they are and want to be remembered as.  if that's really the case, from first to last might want to consider a name change"

Okay, seriously, what the hell!  First off, "supposed vocal problems"?  There were deffinitely some vocal problems that had to be dealt with!  It's not like they dropped so many shows and tours just because they COULD.  And the whole "Sonny actually WAS central to the band's sound" thing, yeah he contributed his own ideas when he was in the band, but he never was THE band.  The author seriously acts as those who only listened to the band because Sonny was hot.  And how was Heroine not pushing any musical boundaries?  Have they not listened to the whole album straight through?  Give me one band that sounds like From First To Last in Heroine.  The author also states how with Heroine they had also found a sound that works for them and that they should stick to that sound.  What's the point of growing as a band if you don't decide to take risks or experiment.  Who wants to hear the same CD twice?  One of the things that REALLY got me though, was "who enlisted matt manning as bassist for this album."  In case you didn't know, Manning is and has been an official member of the band and wasn't just brought in to record on their CD!

Now the author goes into a paragraph of bashing and comparing, not once giving them any respectable amount of credit for all they have been through as a band and how well and far they came.  Matt's vocals are compared to Sonny's and honestly, Matt's voice just blew me away the first time I heard it.  I had no idea he was capable of doing so great.  Matt isn't Sonny so of course he's not going to sound like him.  They're two different people with two different voices.  Also, We All Turn Back To Dust happened to keep my head level soooo many times since it's come out, don't even try to tell me that Matt "fails at sounding inspirational".  All of their music is so important to me, and their lyrics are NOT cliche :|

And last, but not least, the closing statement of this article.  Wow, can you say HARSH!  Fuck, if that were said about my band I would be very insulted.  Honestly I belive that whole comment is quite rude and I know this is a review, but I would never let something that sounds so low be posted in an article.  This seems more like a personal opinion than a music review, and I have a feeling that 99% of From First To Last's fans would agree with me on this.