I swear I'll get to more than this...

Track of the day: Beloved by Glay. Now, don't be concerned if you've never heard of this group before - I wouldn't blame you. They're a Japanese rock band that I got into way back in my hey-day of loving Japanese culture - in case I haven't mentioned, at least 15% of my available music library (probably) is Japanese stuff. I was convinced that J-Pop was the thing for me - sadly, eventually my loathing of everything pop carried over, and I stopped listening to it. J-Rock, on the other hand...

Anyway, about the track. I've loved this track ever since I first heard it, and if there's something I learned, it's that no new song can compete with an old one that's been rediscovered. This is one of the only songs I've ever found to touch me emotionally - it has one of the most beautiful guitar breaks I've ever heard. Understanding the lyrics isn't necessary - though, for J-Rock that's mostly in English, check out X-Japan. Since I stopped listening to them, Glay seems to have developed into more of a 'real' rock presence than the usual pop-rock thing that the Japanese seem to be addicted to. Though, they are also huge fans of Swedish and Finnish death metal over there, so I don't know... in any case, this track has always spoken to me. Everything about it... I even love the acoustic intro, which is saying a lot for someone who's never been a fan of the acoustic guitar. There's a specific point in the guitar interlude that I'm in love with - everytime I hear it I want to get a little weepy. There's nothing good I can't say about this track, but for the fact that it's not exactly head-banging material. A rare exception for me. Megaupload link is here.

All that being said, we may have a new contender for Album of the Week. I don't know how I'm going to make that decision, but I'm sure I'll come to something. The problem with 'anything' of the week is that I'm trying very hard to make sure I'm not exposing people to things they know I'll like - nothing I have an artist for in the 'essential artists' list, anyway. Also, I can't shove overly popular things in people's faces - I considered a Misfits track for a track of the day, and decided that if other people talk about a band on a regular basis, it has to get discarded. There are one or two exceptions, just because they're such good songs, but still, it's a tricky business. I'd also like things I haven't heard a thousand times before... sure, I could post a list of my favorite songs from way back when that I've had forever, but that would be pointless - because as much as this blog is about showing people new things, it's about discovering new things myself. Right now my bandwidth for the month is pretty much dried up, but I have a lot of new music to go off of. Most of that is Neo-Classical metal though, and I know how much people hate that unless they're old-school rockers trying to look avant-garde, or people who love virtuosos. Indie kids and Post-Grunge kids will never give it a chance, so I might be in a bind here.

Plus, it feels like all that's already been done before. I don't want to give reccomendations about Yngwie Malmsteen or Steve Vai or Joe Satriani, because maybe I feel they're not the right 'feel'? I have no idea, honestly. I'm trying to promote the lesser known stuff in the world, and all three of those guys have gotten a lot of publicity in their fields - so therefore, they're pretty much off-limits. That's a shame, because I just downloaded a 1.73 GB discography for Yngwie... most of it sounds all the same to me. Mistake? Maybe. I did the same thing with Vai. Luckily DragonForce's discography wasn't that large.

I will continue to sort through new things as I acquire them - I'm willing to bet I haven't listened to over half my music collection. Hopefully I won't have to resort to posting the same old stuff - and besides, just because it's a classic to me, doesn't mean other people have heard of it. I have a back-log just in case I run out of ideas, though I've got some cool new contenders for the rest of the week. Today's choice was a close call.

I'm considering posting upload links for all the songs of the day - I would if anyone let me know they were going to download them. If I get any indication of real interest or traffic, I'll start posting links - because so far, from outside reflection, my taste in music has not gone awry.

That's all for now.