I'm a musician, singer/songwriter, blogger, writer, poet, bodybuilder, movie lover, music lover, video gamer, history/political buff, conservative/republican, etc. I like to do a lot of things.
Princess Leia was a huge part of everyone’s childhood. She was especially a big part of mine. That character was important to me like to most people. It was Princess Leia that helped get people interested in Star Wars. Without that character and without Carrie Fisher playing her then Star Wars would have been nothing.
Yeah, Carrie may have been a very liberal woman and she may have been no fan of Donald Trump but hey… everything doesn’t always have to be about politics, right? Leave politics out of things for once. Princess Leia was an iconic character. She was somebody we all grew up watching. Princess Leia is still loved by everybody today.
She wasn’t just an actress, though, she was also an author who wrote several books over the years and I think I remember reading one of them. I think it was “Wishful Drinking”, not sure. She was a great writer. Her writing is pretty interesting. I also followed her twitter page which was also interesting. I received one of her books, “The Princess Diarist” as a Christmas gift from a friend of mine yesterday (pictured above) so I’m looking forward to reading that one too.
Carrie also appeared in many other flicks other than Star Wars for example her hilarious role in “The Blues Brothers” movie (see video below). She also had small roles and cameos in many other films as well such as “The Burbs”, “When Harry Met Sally” and many others.
There’s no chance of Carrie returning as Leia for Star Wars Episode 8 which is a bummer but I’m sure they’ll make her appear as a force ghost somehow. I’m bummed like everybody else. She was a great talent and an interesting lady. Yet, another sad loss in 2016.
Well here it is, the Top 15 Music albums that came out this year. These are the albums that I could find that were actually good this year. I’ll post 15 of ’em, going from 15 to 1. The no. 1 choice will be my choice for Best Album of the year. I’ll post the album cover and a track along with it.
Enjoy:
15. Rihanna “Anti”
(Yeah sometimes I do like some pop music and I’m a fan of Rihanna. Heard all of her albums. Heard her newest album she released this year and I think “Anti” is actually a very good album. I heard it on Apple Music streaming earlier this year. Didn’t buy my own copy yet but I will soon. Love the album.)
14. Avenged Sevenfold “The Stage”
(I’ve been a fan of Avenged Sevenfold for a long while. This album is quite a huge surprise. So different than their earlier stuff. This album is like a rock opera and concept album. If you want something different than their typical nu-metal sound like they’re known for, this album is worth a listen.)
13. Lita Ford “Time Capsule”
(I’m a huge fan of Lita Ford. I love The Ruanways and all the girls from that group. Lita came back with a new record this year and it’s a pretty sick album. She still kills it. Great rock n’ roll on this album.)
12. Joe Bonamassa “Blues of Desperation”
(I’m a huge fan of Joe Bonamassa. Have been for a long time and this is his best album he has done in a long while. He’s a blue guitarist but he’s known for making tight blues rock. He brings back the blues rock in this album and it’s a killer record. Loved it!)
11. Phish “Big Boat”
(I didn’t really care for this album on the first listen but after a couple of more tries, it really grew on me. Now I believe that this is Phish’s best new album. Now I always find myself listening to it a lot. Phish seems to get better every album they do. Love this band!)
10. The Monkees “Good Times”
(The Monkees still kill it after all these years. Even though this is a new Monkees album with new original songs, they still sound like the Monkees. They’ve never changed their sound and style of music. The Monkees are the same guys: Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith… minus Davey Jones who passed away in 2012. The Monkees continued on without him and they still sound real good)
9. The Pretty Reckless “Who You’re Selling For”
(I’ve been a big fan of the Pretty Reckless for a long while and this is their best album they’ve got. It’s a pretty sick album. Different than their previous albums. Taylor Momsen’s singing on this album is so good and the guitar playing is great too. I couldn’t stop listening to this one.)
8. Steve Vai “Modern Primitive”
(Steve Vai came out with a new album along with “Passion & Warfare 25th Anniversary”. I was never a big Steve Vai fan but I just started getting into his music and I’m really digging his stuff a lot now. His new record is pretty amazing stuff really. Some of the best guitar playing you’ll ever hear!)
7. Amon Amarth “Jomsviking”
(Yeah, I’m a metalhead as some of you already know and I”m a fan of Amon Amarth, viking metal. This is a great band and this is their best album.)
6. Opeth “Sorceress”
(I’ve just started getting into Opeth like I said in another blog post. I’ve been listening to them all year long. They came out with a new record this year and it’s very good. Get it if you enjoy prog rock and want to hear something different.)
5. Megadeth “Dystopia”
(The mighty Megadeth came out with a new record this year and I would have to say this is their best new album. It had to be in the top 5 for sure. I dig every song on it and always find myself listening to it repeatedly.)
4. Dream Theater “The Astonishing”
(I’m a big fan Dream Theater. I’ve been listening to them for the past several years now. They came out with a new record that is a concept record. Two discs and it has over 2 hours of music. The album is played like a staged musical of some sorts. Tells a story. John Petrucci said the inspiration for the album was a mix of Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. It is both a science fiction and fantasy story. I think this is Dream Theater’s best album in a long while. This has Petrucci’s best guitar playing and James Labrie’s singing is great too.)
3. Led Zeppelin “The Complete BBC Sessions”
(So Led Zeppelin came out with the full and unedited BBC Sessions concert which is about time really. I thought Jimmy Page did a great job putting this one together. I love Led Zep’s BBC Sessions concert. This was the best remaster disc that Jimmy put out, really. This album is just amazing. I love all three discs.)
2. Metallica “Hardwired to Self Destruct”
(So Metallica finally came out with their new album this year. This album got a lot of mixed reviews. Some hate it, some love it kind of thing but I think the whole album is really good. Loved every song. I believe it is their best album since the Black Album, in my opinion. This album had to be high on the list. Finally, Metallica improved their sound quality in the studio and Lars improved his drumming too. I’m gonna be listening to this album a lot, I think.)
1. David Bowie “Blackstar”
(So David Bowie released a new record on his birthday earlier this year in January. Then he passed away suddenly two days later after the album’s release. I’ve been a huge Bowie fan for years and this album really is beautiful & amazing stuff. It’s a masterpiece for sure. I couldn’t stop listening to this record ever since it first came out. Even though the album has 7 tracks, it’s still a beautiful record. Bowie’s singing is jaw droppingly haunting and the music is killer on it, too. Different than his earlier stuff. It was believed that Bowie was trying to say goodbye before he passed with his record. He definitely had a message with this album for sure. This would have to be my choice for best album of this year ’cause it really is an amazing record. I loved everything about it. This is one of those records I can listen to over and over again and would never get tired of.)
Well, there’s my top 15 Best Music albums. I’ll do the movies list after I see “Star Wars: Rogue One” which I will see that film tomorrow afternoon. Looking forward to it!
For some reason, I find myself reading comics and graphic novels more. I don’t know why. I guess my interest in comics is growing. When I was a kid, I used to be a comic collector but I stopped for a long while. I’m thinking about getting back into them. Those three comics above were a gift from a friend of mine for Christmas. Never thought I would become a comic book collector but I thought I would finally get into them. Goal for 2017?
I could start buying comics and graphic novels online like amazon and Ebay maybe. I could also start buying them from the Comic Depot store in Saratoga Springs. I would like to start collecting mostly Batman & Superman stuff ’cause I’m a huge fan of both Batman & Superman. Why would I want to start collecting comics? Well most importantly, I like the stories so I’ll probably buy them to read. A lot of die-hard collectors like to collect them just to have them as a collector’s item ’cause they think they maybe worth something. Yeah, they could be worth something but I’ll just buy them ’cause I like the stories, ya know? I love Batman & Superman stories.
If I were to start buying comics again would I buy comics of other superheroes too? Maybe but not a whole lot. For Marvel comics, I would read the Punisher ’cause I love the Punisher. I love the Wolverine so I would read a lot of his comics too. I was never a big comic book reader but I should start.
As far as Batman goes, I’m becoming a huge Batman addict lately. I just love the stories and characters. I’ll try to get into more comics this year ’cause for some reason I find myself reading them more. Reading comics is actually pretty cool.
It is believed by many if you support Trump, you’re a bad and horrible person. They think that if you support Trump, you would lose support from people. You would lose a lot of respect from your friends, your own family members and other people. The question you have to ask is: Has my support for Trump hurt me? No not at all. In fact, people like me a lot more ’cause of my support for Trump. I’ve gotten a lot more twitter followers ’cause of it. This blog has even picked up more followers and readers (which I thank them for). Also, people has been “liking” my Pro-Trump posts in facebook a lot.
Has people bad-mouthed me for my support of Trump? I may have had a few attacks by Trump haters online but not that bad. People hasn’t attacked me for supporting Trump that much in person in the real world as well.
So for anybody that says you’re a disgusting person for supporting Trump, don’t listen to them. Usually the only people who says that you’re a bad person for supporting Trump are those die-hard liberals. Mostly those Bernie and Hillary fanatics. I remember during the primary election, Ted Cruz got his supporters to hate Trump but I see that Ted has now gotten his supporters to support Trump for the General Election which was pretty amazing to see. That was another reason why Trump won the election ’cause Ted got his supporters to vote Trump.
Supporting Trump is actually good for America. Don’t listen to those idiots who says it’s a bad thing. Honestly, you’re the one hurting yourself ’cause of your die-hard liberal politics and wanting Bernie or Hillary for president. That’s not what America wants to see.
I’m not hurting myself at all for supporting Trump… as a matter of fact, I feel very PROUD of it and not ashamed at all for supporting him. Yeah, people do pick on me for supporting Trump sometimes but not that bad. I’ve got nothing but mostly positive responses for supporting Trump for the most part so I’m good.
So I haven’t played live acoustic shows in a long time… well, there’s a few reasons for that…
1) I’m trying to improve my musicianship. Get better with singing and guitar playing.
2) Trying to write new original songs and learn new covers to play live ’cause playing the same songs live gets boring after a while. I like to mix it up at live gigs.
3) I still don’t like this area’s music scene… if there ever was one.
If I were to start performing live acoustic gigs again, it would just be for a few shows out in Saratoga Springs. I don’t think you’ll ever see me perform in downtown Albany ever again. They call that area Smallbany for a pretty good reason, I would say. I’m not really a big fan of this area’s music scene anymore. Haven’t liked it for a long time. Reasons being… people in this area are too crazy and there are a lot of nutjobs out there for sure. This area’s music scene still hasn’t changed which is nice (sarcasm). Lot of musicians with huge egos and nasty attitudes around here for sure. This stuff still goes on. This area is too cliquey and can get dramatic. A lot of opinionated people around here.
Plus, it’s getting a lot harder to get gigs nowadays anyways. There’s no point in travelling many miles to some bar room to just a few people, ya know? That’s why I would only play a few shows near my hometown if the opportunity ever comes up but I would play live again at some point. Just when the time I feel is right.
Yep, this area’s music scene is still crap and I will always stand by it. My opinion, my blog, my thoughts, my life so if you don’t like it and it offends you? Go away. I don’t even go out to see other bands & artists hardly at all except to go out to see EBJ sometimes but that’s about all.
Hell, I might not even play live gigs at all ’cause honestly, I enjoy making music exclusively for the internet more and I prefer that.
Sad news to report that legendary pop singer, George Michael has just passed away. I wasn’t a big fan of his music but I heard a lot of his songs on the radio and over MTV like most people. Whether you liked his music or not, you can’t deny that he was a hit maker. This guy wrote and sung a lot of hit songs that we’ve probably heard on the radio many times especially his Christmas hit, “Last Christmas” which was a hit song by Wham. “Last Christmas” was a hit Christmas song that everybody should know. You hear that song being played on the FM radio and hear that as background music at shopping malls around the Holiday season. George is also known for other hit songs such as “Faith” and “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”. He did a lot of hit songs that we all know and love. 2016 took another good one. Sucks. 😦
There were several music artists that pulled out of performing at Trump’s Inauguration on Jan. 20th with the latest being singer Andrea Bocelli. I guess the reason Andrea Bocelli backed out is ’cause he was afraid it might hurt his career. Many of Bocelli’s fans threatened boycott is why. Did Bocelli make a huge mistake? I would say so!
Many people would think Jackie Evancho’s career would be over just for performing for Trump’s inauguration but if you really believe that, you really are a delusional person who is probably brainwashed by the MSM. In fact, Jackie’s career skyrocketed ’cause her Christmas album, “Someday At Christmas” shot to #1 in the Classical Billboard Charts after agreeing to team with Trump.
I’m almost pretty sure Kanye West’s album sales has gone way up since his meeting with Trump too. Ya see? Supporting Trump won’t hurt you as a person at all. Supporting Trump isn’t all that bad, stop being a bunch of cowards!
What Grover Norquist said about liberals is so true. They really do look at the US government as if they’re Santa Claus which is really sad and pathetic. Perfect example of that, I’ll never forget their reaction when the government finally gave them “gay marriage” in the USA. They acted like little kids who just got a new bicycle from under the tree. They had the same attitude when Obama finally stepped in about the North Dakota Access Pipeline. Sadly that’s how liberals look at Obama too, they look at him as if he’s Santa Claus.
Liberals rely on the government too much which is sad.
Ever since the Godfather of Soul, James Brown passed away 10 years ago today, I never forgot him. Ever since then, I mentioned his anniversary passing each year. While it’s Christmas, never forget that a music legend left us 10 years ago.
I fucking love James Brown! Huge fan for sure. I thought his music was genius. Now don’t go accusing me of becoming a James Brown fan just because he died, I’ve been a fan of his long before that. I listened to his music for a pretty long time!
I just got these from the family earlier this morning. So yeah, no more video game buying for myself for a long while ’cause I have plenty of video games to keep me busy. I’ve been wanting to get Skyrim SE ever since it came out ’cause like a lot of people I’m a huge Skyrim nut myself.
I’ve also been wanting the new Deus Ex game. Got the “Hunger Games” blu-ray set… I’m a huge fan of the “Hunger Games” movie series. Saw all 4 “Hunger Games” movies in the theater. I didn’t buy any of them on BluRay yet ’cause I’ve been waiting for the Hunger Games bluray set and it’s finally here now that the movies are all done.
As for “The Conjuring 2”, I’m a huge fan of the Conjuring series too. They are horror films that are actually very scary! I’m enjoying them so far. “The Conjuring 2” is like one of the best films of 2016.
Merry Christmas to all my blog readers, social networking followers, fans/supporters and even the haters. Hope you’re having a good one. Rock on!
Kev
The Official Music Website of Kevin Brock – Brocking N' Rolling
K'Brocking 
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