Falling In Reverse- The Drug in Me Is You

Hey, y'all!

So, you've probably realized I was missing last week (as was addressed in a post on Saturday) and then didn't post Tuesday. I'm not gone! As I said in my last post, I didn't have internet at the place we were staying over spring break (which is ridiculous, because hotels have free wifi, but this CONDO didn't). Then, I got back from break and was playing catch-up. My homework piled up big-time, and I actually fell asleep with my laptop laying on my stomach last night. BUT, I was finally able to finish this up and get it posted. There will still be a new post Saturday, per usual!

ANYWAY... It's time for me to talk about another CD on my shelf! As always, I put my iTunes on shuffle, and the CD containing the first song that played is the one I'll be talking about!

Release Date: July 26, 2011

Genre: Post-Hardcore, Alternative

Track Listing

1. Raised by Wolves
2. Tragic Magic
3. The Drug in Me Is You
4. I'm Not A Vampire
5. Good Girls, Bad Guys
6. Pick Up The Phone
7. Don't Mess With Ouija Boards
8. Sink or Swim
9. Caught Like a Fly
10. Goodbye Graceful
11. The Westerner

Falling In Reverse lineup on this CD:
Ronnie Radke- lead vocals
Jacky Vincent- lead guitar
Derek Jones- rhythm guitar
Nason Schoeffler- bass guitar
Scott Gee- drums, percussion

About Falling In Reverse: 
When Ronnie Radke was arrested in 2008, he was kicked out of Escape the Fate, the band he was singing for at the time. Falling In Reverse was actually formed while he was in prison, and they even began putting out music while he was still in prison. When he was released from prison in December 2010, the band began recording their debut CD, The Drug in Me Is You. Their sophomore release, Fashionably Late, was released in June 2013.

My Opinion about Falling In Reverse:
I have really mixed feelings about this band. First off, I don't like Ronnie Radke as a person. I think he's a complete jerk who needs to grow up and pull himself together. As far as their music, I'm very torn. Half of their music is stuff I really enjoy and think is really great. The other half is so bad it's good- guilty pleasure music. I'm very confused how that music could come from the same person.

About the CD:  

As I said earlier, this CD was recorded almost immediately after Ronnie was released from prison. The sound on this CD is fairly consistent (especially when compared to their second CD) and it is the post-hardcore sound which I consider to be the Falling In Reverse "sound". Guitar solos, which are some of Falling In Reverse's best moments, are all over the place in this CD, and it improves it significantly.

IMHO: 
This is my favorite Falling In Reverse CD. I like the consistent sound much better than their completely disjointed sophomore release featuring everything from post-hardcore, to rap, to country. Although this CD still has some songs that are so bad they're good, but overall, I enjoy it.

As always, I'm going to give each song a rating out of 10 and then give a brief explanation of why it got that rating. 


Raised by Wolves- 9.5/10. It's a really strong opener. Really catchy and a great mix of clean and unclean vocals!
Tragic Magic- 8.5/10. One of many songs where Ronnie is writing about himself and being arrogant, but I really like the breakdown in the second half of the song.
The Drug in Me Is You- 9.5/10. I completely love the guitar in this song. The chorus and verses are really different, but both really great. And I love the bass in the verses. It's great.
I'm Not A Vampire- 10/10. My favorite song on the CD. I think it's really fun. It has some of the silly Ronnie lyrics, but they make me laugh rather than roll my eyes (Hi, my name is Ronnie, I'm an addict/ Daddy should've never raised me on Black Sabbath... I just love it!). And the guitar and bass parts are great.

Good Girls, Bad Guys- 9/10. I'm so mixed on this song. I really love the music but the lyrics are abysmal. (Just wanna kiss your lips/ the ones between your hips; sexy, please text me/ I'm ready for you... REALLY?). I hate the lyrics but it's just so catchy that I can't hate it or that great guitar solo. But it loses points for those terrible lyrics.
Pick Up The Phone- 9.5/10. Once again with these bass parts that I love. I also really like vocals on this one. Yes, for once, Ronnie Radke is one of the main reasons I like a song. Shocking.
Don't Mess With Ouija Boards- 8.5/10. I'm not sure what it is about the unclean vocals in this song... but I just don't like them. Usually I'm a pretty big fan of Falling In Reverse's use of unclean vocals, but the unclean vocals for the first half of this song aren't my favorite. I like the breakdown in the middle, though! I guess they're just a bit too heavy-handed. But otherwise I like the song!
Sink or Swim- 8.5/10. I thought the unclean vocals were a little heavy-handed in this one as well, but otherwise, it's a really interesting, and pretty eclectic song.
Caught Like a Fly- 9/10. I love the carnival-like sound. It's really cool and unique! And for once I really enjoy Ronnie being kinda angsty.
Goodbye Graceful- 8/10. This is the least played song on the CD. I think I just overlook it a lot because overall, all the songs on this CD are great, and this one's just kinda average.
The Westerner- 9/10. Oh look, another one all about Ronnie! But really like this one. Like Sink or Swim, this one is kinda eclectic. It transitions through several markedly different sections, each of which is really great.

Favorite Songs: I'm Not A Vampire, The Drug in Me Is You, Raised By Wolves, and Pick Up The Phone

Least Favorite Songs: Goodbye Graceful- it just gets lost in the mix.

Video! 

I'm Not A Vampire music video

The Drug In Me is You music video

Rating: 9/10. The average is about a 9, and I think that's accurate. It's good but not absolutely spectacular.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Have any questions? What did you think of Falling In Reverse? Let me know in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Hope you enjoyed! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!

McFly- Motion In The Ocean

Hello, again! Did you miss me? First of all, you may have noticed that this blog has been moved to a new account. YES, it is still me! This is simply my normal account. Putting it on my main account makes it easier for me to get it written. And I can cross-promote my blogs easier as well ^-^ 

Release Date: November 6, 2006

Genre: pop rock, pop punk

Track Listing

1. We Are The Young
2. Star Girl
3. Please Please
4. Sorry's Not Good Enough
5. Bubble Wrap
6. Transylvania
7. Lonely
8. Little Joanna
9. Friday Night
10. Walk In The Sun
11. Home Is Where The Heart Is
12. Silence Is A Scary Sound (Hidden Track)

McFly is:
Tom Fletcher- lead vocals, guitar, keyboard, piano, ukulele
Danny Jones- lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, producer
Dougie Poynter- bass guitar, vocals, guitar
Harry Judd- drums, percussion

About McFly: A lot of this is copied from my post about their Greatest Hits album. They were formed in 2003, and have had the same lineup for a decade. They've released 5 studio albums: Room On The 3rd Floor (2004), Wonderland (2005), Motion In The Ocean (2006), Radio:ACTIVE (2008), and Above The Noise (2010). Their other albums are soundtracks, live, and compilations. Each of their CDs has a distinct sound. Room On The 3rd Floor, their debut album, actually broke a Beatles record in 2004. McFly became the youngest band whose debut CD debuted at #1 on the UK charts. A little obscure and seemingly unimportant, but it's a small victory. This album definitely has a Beach Boys vibe. 2005's Wonderland is definitely a lot more orchestral, and actually includes an orchestral piece composed by Tom. 2006's Motion In The Ocean & 2008's Radio:ACTIVE are the most similar of their albums, and are my personal favorites (Radio:ACTIVE is my personal favorite album ever). These two definitely showcase the band's rock side. Above The Noise, their 2010 release, is more of an electropop album, and the weakest, in my opinion.


My Opinion about McFly: (Once again, mostly copied from the last one) As I said on my last post, they're my absolute favorite band. Not many Americans know about them, but I love them. I actually first saw them when they were in Just My Luck. I forgot about them and then in 2007 (my Jo Bro obsession time) I was watching an interview with the JoBros where Nick said his favorite song was Transylvania by McFly. I watched the video and thought it was weird, and again, I forgot about them. (Transylvania is now among my all-time favorite McFly songs!). It wasn't until I discovered that the Jonas Brothers got their song, Year 3000, from the band Busted that I actually started listening to McFly. The Busted guys are close friends with McFly, which is how I really discovered McFly. And when I realized that they were the band in Just My Luck, everything really clicked. Anyway, long story long, it was a weird winding road to discovering them, but I really love them, and I love all of the members. Tom is my favorite, though. Yes, Tom of the wedding speech fame. I've told everyone for years that Tom is perfect, and now people understand. McFly is also the exception to the dumb blonde rule. Tom, the only natural blonde, is the brain, and Danny, the only one who's been brunette for 99% of the time he's been in the band, is the lovably dim-witted front-man. (OK, he's not really dumb, but it IS a running joke that he's the slow one... Because he thought an egg was a vegetable. Poor boy)

 About the CD:  It was released in 2006, just a year after they released Wonderland and the soundtrack to Just My Luck. Motion in the Ocean shows a relatively large change from the sound of Wonderland. In my opinion, the Motion in the Ocean sound is the one that they held onto the longest, and the one that I consider to be "their sound." Both this CD and their 2008 CD, Radio:ACTIVE, have more of a rock sound than either of the ones before or after.   

IMHO: It's my second favorite McFly CD, after Radio:ACTIVE. I do, however, feel that it has some really high highs, and some pretty low lows. For example, of the 12 songs, 4 of them are among my top 15 (if you want the breakdown, 2 of them are in my top 5, 1 is in 6-10, and 1 is in the 11-15 range). HOWEVER, about 3 of them find themselves among my all-time least favorite McFly songs... which still isn't a bad place to be, since I love all of their songs, but there is quite a distinct range there.

Favorite songs: Sorry's Not Good enough and Transylvania are both in my top 5 McFly songs ever ('Sorry' finds itself at #2, and Transylvania is #4). Star Girl is either 6 or 7. Bubble Wrap falls somewhere between 11 and 15, but I can't remember where. All four of those are just amazing. 

Other gems: I absolutely LOVE Little Joanna. Friday Night is also a fun one. I also like Please, Please and We Are The Young.

Video!

Sorry's Not Good Enough music video

Transylvania music video

Rating: 9.5/10. This is one of my all time favorite CDs. Some of my all-time favorite songs are on it, and it's just overall really awesome. Even the worst songs on the CD are really good.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Are you glad to see me back? Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of McFly? Let me know all of this in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Still taking comments on the time they're posted, because if you haven't noticed, I schedule them to post at the same time, as I'm either asleep or at work at noon! Hope you enjoyed! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!