A band of it's time..

*Current line up of Lostprophets*

I've been a fan of Lostprophets ever since I was in my secondary school days. And during that time, they were still playing Nu-Metal music (2004). They were well known for their hit songs, such as: 'Last Train Home', 'Wake Up', 'Shinobi vs Dragon Ninja' and 'Burn burn'. The other great thing about them is that, they do know how to blend in a little bit of the Punk Rock vibe into their music alongside with Nu-Metal, which are very obvious to the ears, if we paid attention to the style and key features of their music.

In 2006, came the release of their latest album, 'Liberation Transmission'. The band headed for another direction (musically), from Nu-Metal to Emo-Punk. The reason? Critics were saying that the band were a 'copy' of Linkin Park. But their new direction actually proved themselves worthy with a string of catchy singles in the album, such as; 'Rooftops', 'Can't catch tomorrow (Good shoes won't save you this time)' and 'A town called hypocrisy'. And now fans can wait no more for the band's next album which is said to be released in a few months time (said to be in May). And now they're on tour.

Lostprophets are Ian Watkins, Stu Richardson, Lee Gaze, Jamie Oliver and Mike Lewis. Their drummer (Ilan Rubin) recently left the band to join with Nine Inch Nails.

Skit

Eclipse (Static Spike)

I live in this prison
Where days go by, along with the seasons
Hiding all of my sins
Are all myself to keep
The future ahead is dark
I wonder if I'm done
What do I have to commit?
Do I have a passion to omit?
Can I grasp onto the hands of Midas?
Or do I end up suffering with the beat of hunger?
At the end of the day
Everyday sums up the same

*Please be reminded, that this is a poem of my own. Not some source that I took from, but all from my head. No plagiarism*

No limits

Been surveying for a guitar for a week. Knowing me, Ibanez would be a primary target of mine. It's pretty hard to find an RG model that is made in Japan at around RM1000-1400. Most of the RGs are made in either Indonesia or Korea. Although the Indonesian craftmanship is catching up with the Korean mades, I think it's wise to get one with a Mahogany body. Upgrade the pickups, then it'll be a fighting machine. RG321MH? I don't think I need one with a tremolo system. If anybody here has a Japanese RG, please quote me a good price. :)

Hurt

I just recently did my first gig at ICOM. And for the record, it was absolutely bad. I came in as a guest performer yesterday. Decided to play 'Hurt' by Nine Inch Nails (Johnny Cash's version). I came up on stage, and I had my guitar cable plugged into the amp and the mic facing in front of me. The feeling? Horrendously nervous. Before the performance, I did a sound check and I had already found my EQ for the vocals and guitars. Coming back to actual performance, I struggled on first attempt, the mic level wasn't high enough and I started panicking while playing. Yes, you may have guessed it..I forgotten my chords and paused for a while. Up to a point that I accidentally cursed in front of the audience for the reason that I was frustrated, but I apologized to everybody and calmed down.

So then, came the 2nd attempt when the mic EQ was back to my preferable settings and I performed well. For a first gig in college, heh...I'll never forget that drastic moment...so scary. But some of the lecturers encouraged me to play more often on stage during friday performances, because they think I got potential???? Sometimes I do wonder whether it's a potential or a duty as a performer to do what I need to do. Lecturer's like Mr Nilesh asked me to form a band in my course and he says he is looking forward. Though with much anxiety after the show, I had to snap out of it and remind myself that I'll do even better.

Some of my friends who were performing yesterday, even had a heavy smoke before their show. But of course, drinking and smoking before a show to calm the nerves down is never my ritual. Meditation? I don't think that helps me a lot. Some of my friends say that I had b*lls to do it as a solo. (I was supposed to have a piano accompaniment but she stepped back by the very last minute). But yeah, to be honest, I was really a nervous wreck and nuff said. Time for me to work on my next performance when I have the time. But it's good for experience to actually see where I stand. To come to think of it, I finally realized why I decided to play that song. It represents well as to what I went through for these couple of years. With the tunes so calm but with powerful words. It had gotten a strong effect on me when I was playing that song. Here are two of the videos of the same song. Listen to it and you'll have a better understanding as to what I'm talking about..


Nine Inch Nails-Hurt


Johnny Cash-Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover)