Category Archives: Listing It Up

Alt Rock, Country, Folk, Hip Hop, Indie, Listing It Up, Live Shows, Metal, Music, Personal Entry, Pop Rock, Punk, Rock

Best Of 2010, At Least According To BHP…

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It’s that time of year everyone (in case you forgot), the time of the year where I look back at all that defined 2010.  I am sure many of you can agree that 2010 was not that bad of a year and there were some pretty good releases / events that happened.

I had a good 2010 thanks to all of my great friends.  I went on two mini road trips to see bands I adore and had good times doing so without injury.  There were plenty of albums to keep me going and a good share of bands made their way to play Cleveland.

So, as a blogger I feel it is my duty to continue my “Best Of…” posts yearly.  I am sure I will miss something but here we go:

Best Punk Albums:
Iron Chic – Not Like This

-Hands down my favorite release this year.  Catchy punk rock at its finest.  They kick ass live too.

Menzingers – Chamberlain Waits

–Easily my second favorite release of the year.  This band is going places.  I can not wait for a follow-up release.  They kick ass live as well.

Bad Religion – The Dissent Of Man

-It’s Bad Religion, need I say more?  30 years as a punk rock band with no sign of giving up any time soon.  It is as if getting old is cool…well it is if you are Bad Religion.

RVIVR – RVIVR

-It was brought to my attention that I overlooked this important release.  I knew I was forgetting something as I thought of what albums I really enjoyed…  Ex-members of Latterman as well as a few whose roots cross with members of Jawbreaker in a band?  Yes please.

Best Rock Albums:
J. Roddy Walston & The Business – J. Roddy Walston & The Business

-I’d be lying if I said that I did not listen to this album 3 times a week.  A few of my friends have been fans of J. Roddy for a couple of years now and thanks to them so am I.  This album is so fun to listen to and so well written that I am shocked all those mainstream music magazines failed to put them on their “Best Of” lists…  Jerks.

Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

-I am sure many of you know my slight obsession with this band.  Their new album slid more towards the rock and less of the punk but I am ok with that.  From start to finish this is an excellent release.

Against Me! – White Crosses

-Kind of funny how much I love these guys seeing how I used to hate them 5 years ago.  I love the direction they are taking with their new material and I am sure many will disagree.  Yes, it is not anything what they used to sound like and that is why they are considered to me now as a rock band.

The Black Keys – Brothers

-I have to give some love to this Akron, OH duo not just because I reside near the city they started in but also because they dropped a solid album.  If you have not listened to this album yet, do it.

Foxy Shazam – Foxy Shazam

-Here’s another album I almost forgot about!  Some might think these guys are going to just be another one hit wonder but I disagree.  Foxy Shazam kicks some serious ass!

Best Metal Albums:
The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis

-Love this album.  So much better, to me, than their last release.  Heavy and full of energy.  They put on a killer set at the Warped Tour this past summer too.

Deftones – Diamond Eyes

-Nice to see the Deftones continue moving on.  I was super excited when this album dropped earlier this year.

Best Folk Rock Albums:
Frank Turner – Rock N Roll EP

-All I have to say about this EP is that if you are a fan of Rock ‘n Roll you need to hear the song “I Still Believe”.

Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More

-Still in shock these guys are from the UK…  Not that it is a problem or anything, but they play Americana folk-rock as if they grew up in the mountains.  This album was a suprise listen for me in 2010.  Very addicting if you like this kind of music.

Best Indie Rock Albums:
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

-Never thought in a million years I would admit be being an Arcade Fire fan, but this album brainwashed me into one.  Catchy as hell and just a solid release.

Bars Of Gold – Of Gold

-I love surprises.  Bars Of Gold surprised me with how awesome they were.  Best underground album I have heard in a while.

Band Of Horses – Infinite Arms

-This album snuck up on me.  It took three listens and now I can not get enough of it.

Best Hip-Hop/Rap Albums:
Sage Francis – LI(F)E

-Oh Sage Francis…  You are a talented talented man.  I was not too sure about this album upon my first taste of it, but it is exceptional.  Love the way this guy puts words together.  I also really liked how he got some of the music for some of the tracks – he had indie bands work with him.

Eminem – Recovery

-This guy is good once again.  The end.

Best Film Soundtrack:
Tron: Legacy Soundtrack – Music By Daft Punk

-I had bee waiting for this release since early 2010 when it was announced that the French dup would be providing the soundtrack.  It is insane.  Insane as in good.

Best Shows I Attended:
The Avett Brothers @ House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH

Frank Turner / Social Distortion @ House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH

Bed Folds @ House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH (minus the douche I almost got into a fight with)

Dale Watson & His Lone Stars @ Beachland Tavern – Cleveland, OH

Most Fun Shows I Attended:
NOFX @ Madison Theater – Covington, KY

Gaslight Anthem @ Lifestyles Pavilion – Columbus, OH

The Facials as NOFX @ Now That’s Class  – Cleveland, OH
-Seriously, one of my favorite memories of 2010.  My pals The Facials practiced their butts off to do a Halloween-inspired NOFX cover set.  They nailed it. It was just one of those nights where I was surrounded by friends and felt like a kid. That right there is a show.

Worst Shows Attended:
Van’s Warped Tour
–I did not even make it past 5 o’clock this year.  I got to see some of my favorite bands including Face To Face, but overall it was far too hot outside and I just was not feeling it as I had no clue who most of the bands were on the tour.  I guess a time comes one day when a punker gets too old for this shi-, not to mention, my circle of friends dwindled significantly (2).  After being at almost all of the Warped Tours since they started – I am done (I say this every year…).

Worst Albums Released:
Brokencyde
–Words can not describe how I feel about this band.  I will not even go there.

3OH!3
–Any band that collaborates with Keisha or however she spells it is instant THE SUCK.  I really liked the band’s first album but could not stand their recent effort.  Nice guys, but just not my cup of tea.

Album I Did Not Get Whatsoever:
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
-Why is everyone giving this album 5 stars?  I do not get it, am I missing something.  I do not think it is that good at all.  That is me of course…  Give me his older material any day.

Looking Forward To In 2011:
Social Distortion’s New Album

Those Darlins’s New Album
–I got a sample of their new material when I saw them play at the Beachland Tavern and I must say…impressive.  I look forward to their new release as it appears as if they have changed up their sound a little.

The Bonnaroo 2011 Line-Up
–This will be the ten-year anniversary and I am hoping for a line-up unlike any other)

SXSW
–I think I am actually going to be able to make it this year finally…

Making new friends and hearing new music. I always look forward to something new.

What are your favorites of 2010? I want to hear! This comment section below doesn’t fill itself out you know!!!

Thanks to all my readers. 2010 was fun – here’s to 2011. Happy holidays everyone!

Akron, Cleveland, Death, Festival, Good Times, Listing It Up, Live Shows, Music, Personal Entry, The Awesome, The Suck

Listing It Up: Best / Worst Of 2009 According To BHP

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Nothing like waiting until the last minute…  With less than 10 hours to go I give you my Best / Worst list of 2009.  Mind you none of these are in order/ranked, they are just the best / worst I have been pondering over all year long… Enjoy.

Best Albums:

  • The Avett Brothers – I & Love & You
  • Mastodon – Crack The Skye
  • Frank Turner – Poetry Of The Deed
  • Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus
  • Converge – Axe To Fall
  • Those Darlins – Those Darlins
  • Gallows – Grey Britain
  • Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid
  • P.O.S. – Never Better
  • BlakRoc – BlakRoc
  • The Sidekicks – Weight Of Air

Best Unreleased Album:

  • Dangermouse & Sparklehorse – Dark Night Of The Song

Worst Albums:

  • Brokencyde – I’m Not A Fan But The Kids Like It
  • Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue
  • Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major
  • Sugar Ray – Music For Cougars

On The Fence About Albums:

  • Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
  • Drummer – Feel Good Together

Guilty Pleasure Albums:

  • Owl City –Ocean Eyes
  • Brokencyde – I’m Not A Fan But The Kids Like It

Best Box Set Released:

  • Coheed & Cambia – Neverender

Best Anthology Released:

  • Fat Wreck Chords – Wrecktrospective

Best Festival I Attended:

  • Bonnaroo – Bruce Springsteen, Merle Haggard, Public Enemy, NIN, Andrew Bird, Wilco, Beastie Boys, Al Green, Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis, Phoenix and many more.

Best Shows I Attended:

  • The Avett Brothers @ Akron Civic Center – Akron, OH
  • Dan Auerbach / Those Darlins @ Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH
  • Converge / High On Fire @ The Grog Shop – Cleveland Hts., OH

Loudest Show I Attended (EVER):

  • Mastodon @ Beachland Ballroom – Cleveland, OH

Most Unsuspecting Show I Attended (with good reason):

  • Britney Spears / Pussycat Dolls @ The Value City Area – Columbus, OH

Worst Show I Attended:

  • Gin Blossoms @ Cain Park – Cleveland Hts., OH

Best Local Acts I Saw Live:

  • Nicholas Megalis
  • Unsparing Sea

Best Movies:

  • Zombieland
  • The Hangover
  • District 9
  • Inglorious Basterds
  • Up
  • Star Trek

Worst Movies:

  • G.I. Joe
  • Transformers 2

Movie That You Should Not Watch When Your Heart Aches:

  • 500 Days Of Summer

Best TV Show:

  • Community

The Awesome:

  • Bouncing Souls celebrating 20 years as a punk band and releasing a song a month all year.
  • Greg Ginn (of Black Flag) agreeing to play a couple of songs for free at Blue Arrow Records courtesy of myself and Addicted To Vinyl.
  • Going to Bonnaroo with two of my favorite people and then coming home and immediate going to see Rancid / Rise Against from backstage.
  • Seeing Those Darlins 4 times live.
  • Matt’s wonderful girlfriend scoring me an autographed personalized CD from Frank Turner as well as a hi-five.
  • Meeting the fine folk at Thirty Tiger Records followed by shopping at Grimey’s while pit-stopping in Nashville.
  • Getting my Melt Bar & Grilled tattoo (I’m #47).
  • Having friends from all around come up to visit and see the magic that is called Cleveland.

The Suck:

  • November 5th, 2009
  • My laptop crashing
  • My external hard drive crashing
  • Changing for the better.

RIP (there were plenty more but these are ones that stuck with me):

  • Michael Jackson
  • James “The Rev” Sullivan
  • DJ-AM
  • Taylor Mitchell
  • Vic Chesnutt
  • Les Paul
  • Jay Bennett
  • Brittany Murphy
  • Captain Lou Albano
  • Patrick Swayze
  • Jim Carroll
  • John Hughes
  • Walter Cronkite
  • Billy Mays
  • David Carridine
  • Dom DeLuise
  • Bea Arthur
  • Jeremy Lusk
  • Heath Ledger

So with just a few hours left I would like to say goodbye to 2009.  It was a fun and incredibly rough year for me.  I see big things happening in 2010 for me.

Resolutions?  A couple I suppose…

  • Portion Control – I can eat and now I need to watch how much of it I do
  • Personal Conquest – I have ideas and will follow through
  • Sugar – I am limiting my intake
  • Live – I plan on attending more shows this year than previous years
  • Blog On – I will continue making BHP bigger and better so that people actually will COMMENT on here…

Do you have a best of you wish to share or do you think I overlooked someone?  Let me know.  Email me at broken@brokenheadphones.com or comment below.  I want to hear from you!

Cleveland, Listing It Up, Live Shows, Music, Punk, Top 12

My Top 12 Live Punk Rock Albums

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I just viewed a clip of an amazing video taken from a Bruce Springsteen live show recently where he brought punk rock legend Mike Ness on stage to play “Bad Luck”.  Have you seen it?

This was just another one of those random concert highlights made possible by a live show with a performer who had a good idea for the evening and the fans who were all in attendance that night now have ultimate bragging rights as they can say “I was there.”

I have always been a fan of live shows and will always be.  It’s one of those things in life that I enjoy doing and can not see myself quitting anytime soon.  The atmosphere alone with screaming fans and endless smiles makes the experience worth returning to.  I love being a part of the evening and telling friends what I saw the next day followed by a bold “I was there” bragging statement about something only the ticket holders that night got to see before anyone else.

I admit I do not attend as many shows as I used to but I still make an effort to hit a few local venues and festivals every year just to keep the momentum going.  If a band I am a fan of rolls through town I do what I can to make arrangements to get to the venue that night to see them.

When not driving downtown to see shows I like to occasionally listen to a live show from the comfort of my home.  It’s easy to say I would rather be in a packed club listening to live music as the experience is like none other, but sometimes just hanging out at home is good enough as well.

Having a decent collection of live albums I thought I would narrow things down a bit and ask myself:

What Are My Top 10 Live Punk Rock Albums?

Scratch that…

What Are My Top 12 Live Punk Rock Albums?

Twelve is much better of a number to work with where there is so many live CDs to choose from.

Sure I could have a top live shows list from all genres but that would take me forever. As a music lover there are a ton of recorded shows out there that I own or have listened to that have had a huge impact on me. I think it would be best to start with baby steps with the genre of music that means the most to me; punk rock.  I also decided to keep it to actual releases by record labels and include no bootlegs (although I have some amazing live shows that never were released…)

After pondering this question for a couple of days I soon realized how hard this was for me to answer.  I had a nice sized list of live shows in my head but found it was no easy task to narrow down.  For the record, this was a very difficult list to compile for me as a fan.  There are so many other bands that deserve to be on this list but these top twelve mean the most to me.

In no particular order I here are my top twelve live punk rock CDs:


Social Distortion – Live At The Roxy
Mike Ness and crew always put on a good live show and this CD is listening proof.  Having been a long time fan of this band it was clear that this CD needed to be on my list.  Mike Ness more than a punk rock legend, the guy, to me, is a god and will be playing his heart out on stages all over the world until he is 100 years old.  I will never grow tired of this CD ever.


NOFX – I Heard They Suck Live
Without a doubt this was one of the most entertaining live CDs I have ever heard.  I remember buying the cassette and playing it over and over memorizing even the talking in between songs.  NOFX puts on a fine show as well featuring all sorts of independent hits.  I find it humorous that I list this CD directly after Social D because this show was played at the Roxy as well to a crowd of rowdy fans.  If you have not heard it you are missing out, unless you are not a fan of NOFX.


The Clash –From Here To Eternity Live
Ok I am sure you are wondering why this album has a big line through it.  Truth is I loved this CD for years until I heard a recent live release…


The Clash –Live At Shea Stadium
Now before you all jump on me and remind me that this CD is just The Clash (minus the original drummer) playing more popular songs hear me out.  This show was not even a headlining show (they were opening for The Who) and the year was 1982; right about the time The Clash was headed on a downward spiral the would lead to the dismissal of the group.  The set was shorter than their other live CDs but to me it was a great listen start to finish.  I have listened to this CD a lot since it was released and it has made me reignite my love for one of the greatest punk bands of my time.


The Dead Kennedy’s – Live At The Deaf Club
Just thinking of how this shoe was recorded in 1983 still amazes me.  My first and only taste of a live performance by this band was when I heard the improv “Night Of The Living Rednecks” on Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death.  I was sucked in by Jello Biafra’s method of story telling on this track and of course a fan of The Dead Kennedy’s so it was more or less a bonus to me when a full length live CD was finally released.  It also kills me that I was 2 years old when this concert took place.  I’d love to hear from someone who was at this show just to hear their personal experience.


Ramones – Loco Live
Do I really need to explain myself here?  Over thirty quick punk rock classics on one CD from the band that started punk rock in the states.  I don’t think many folk can disagree that this CD belongs in anyone’s live punk CD list.  It’s not top quality but it sure is fun as hell.


Bad Religion – Tested
This CD was not added into my collection for quite some time mainly because the CD was not readily available locally to me.  Once I did get my hands on it though it became one of my favorite CDs to listen to by Bad Religion.  I loved how the band recorded this CD, by plugging directly into their mics which in turn eliminated a lot of the crowd making for a more solid listen.  With a solid setlist and exceptional performance by the punk rockers this is one of my favorite love CDs out there.


Flogging Molly – Alive Behind The Green Door
This Irish punk rock act is, without a doubt, one of the greatest bands to see live in my opinion.  One thing I love about this disc is that it was released before any of their studio albums and recorded at Molly Malones, the bar where this band got their start.  There are not a lot of bands out there that have followed this approach by releasing a CD full of songs that later would be studio recorded on to various releases over the years.  The performance is clearly under the influence but ever so much fun.


Misfits – Evilive
The recording of this live show is horrible yet I love it.  It is about the closest listen I have ever gotten to true live Misfits from back in the day.  I did once witness the Misfits when Michael Graves took over the singing duties but it was no Glen Danzig and spite the good time I had it was not a genuine Misfits experience.  This is a show I only dreamed of saying “I was there.”  Full of classic songs,  I also loved hearing Henry Rollins guest sing on “We Are 138.”


Death By Stereo – Death Alive
Many people may have not heard this CD when it first released as it was first given out for free with issues of the Volume 3 issue of Law of Inertia magazine in 2003.  In 2007 the live performance was reissued by the band as Law Of Inertia went out of print and many fans missed out on this incredible recording.  If you are a fan Death By Stereo or just good wholesome hardcore punk you really should check out this CD.  This benefit show is full of so much energy I am surprised no one was hurt in the recording of it.


Face To Face – Live: Face To Face
Trevor Keith and crew have always had a special place in my punk rock heart.  I love this band, always will, and this CD is listening proof of how great they are.  The songs are all raw and full of energy and just impress track after track.  When I think of a live album that I could listen to over and over again this is the one.


The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Live From The Middle East
Ska is not dead, never was, never will be.  Ska may not be very popular these days but if you are a fan of the genre I suspect will be making a comeback soon, I am sure you know who the Bosstones are and very well have heard this CD.  The performance contained in this CD makes it worthy of multiple listens.  Such a great CD from beginning to end.


Against Me! – Americans Abroad!!! Against Me!!! Live In London!!!
Singing and shouting and good times for all on this CD.  If you only have New Wave in your collection I think it would be best to put that down and go out and find this CD.  I find myself singing along as if I were actually at the show while listening to this CD.  That to me is a good live album.

Again, this list was so hard to compile.  I would make a list of a whole bunch of band’s live CDs and then start crossing them out once I thought of another.  I am sure I will be hearing from a lot of folk telling me I missed someone and at that time I will smack myself in the head and hate myself for 9 seconds because I forgot about a phenomenal show.  I am ok with that though because I know there are a lot of awesome shows out there. A lot of artists can be put in this list but after all, it is my top 12.

I’d love to hear what your top 12, 10, even 2 are!  As music fans we are entitled to what we like and sharing the love for music is a great thing.