Time for the Christmas music rant

Excuse my ignorance, but I'm not sure who Matt Smith is.

Matt Smith is the lead singer/song writer for the power metal band Theocracy.  On his first album he recorded all the vocals and instruments.  It is a highly celebrated album amongst fans of the genre.

Thanks!  I'll check him/them out!

Theocracy is re-issuing the debut with better mastering and a real drummer any day now if it hasn't already dropped in the US. But the original was still VERY impressive for a self-made one-man album.

Excellent music!  I'm going to add them to my Wish List.

I'm compiling all my favorite NON-TRADITIONAL Christmas songs of all time... if anyone is interested, I can upload the compilation for your holiday enjoyment...
Should be done by this weekend.

Title it, Scrooge Tunes.

Here are a few I'll be playing this season...   

Order of Nine did an excellent Christmas song a few years ago.  It's their take on Jacob Marley.

Redeemed Fool wrote:

Title it, Scrooge Tunes.

Thanks for the PERFECT title... I will !

              (<---the 12 evil nods of Christmas)

And TSO in concert is like one of the best concert experiences ever - flames and guitar guys on risers above the audience. My wife hates the same old TSO Christmas play theme every year... but the coliseum rock songs they have are great!

Theocracy - Wynter Fever is genius.
"Son you better stay away from that little ho, ho, ho. I saw you kissing her under the mistletoe."
I chuckle every time.

Welcome to CHM, pilgrimsprog!

Indeed, welcome to CHM Pilgrimsprog!

I always wonder how many grannies went to TSO for a nice Christmas musical and ended up in a rock concert?

While not the best metal album ever, I do like the Northern Light Orchestra's album "The Spirit Of Christmas".  While it does have a few traditional Christmas songs, most of these rockers have been written for this project.

Check out samples and purchase here:

http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Christmas-Northern-Light-Orchestra/dp/B002R6B5PY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386633638&sr=8-2&keywords=northern+lights+orchestra

I just discovered that NLO has done THREE more albums as digital only releases!  I found them super cheap at eMusic.  I might actually be able to get into some Christmas spirit this year!  Yippee!  Er...I mean, "Ho, ho, ho!"

The following is the list of all artists who contributed to the Northern Light Orchestra's releases:

• Bill Leverty (Firehouse)
  
• Bob Carlisle (Allies, Billy Thermal)
  
• Bruce Kulick (Kiss, Grand Funk Railroad, Union)
  
• Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, Giuffria, House of Lords)
  
• Danny Vaughn (Tyketto, Waysted, Vaughn)
  
• David Ellefson (Megadeth, F5)
  
• Dizzy Reed (Guns and Roses, Johnny Crash)
  
• Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio)
  
• Elliot Randall (Steely Dan)
  
• George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob)
  
• Glen Drover (Megadeth, Queensrÿche)
  
• Jason Hook (Five Finger Death Punch, Alice Cooper)
  
• John Davis (Q and Not U, F5)
  
• John Elefante (Kansas, Petra, Toto)
  
• Jon Gibson (Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson)
  
• Ken Mary (Fifth Angel, Alice Cooper, Impellitteri)
  
• Kip Winger (Alice Cooper, Winger, Alan Parsons, Jordan Rudess)
  
• Lanny Cordola (House of Lords, The Beach Boys)
  
• Lita Ford (The Runaways)
  
• Mark Slaughter (Slaughter, Vinnie Vincent Invasion)
  
• Reb Beach (Winger, Night Ranger, Dokken)
  
• Robin McAuley (McAuley Schenker Group, Survivor)
  
• Rose Stone (Sly and the Family Stone)
  
• Shane Gibson (Korn, Jonathan Davis and the SFA)
  
• Steve Conley (F5)
  
• Troy Luccketta (Tesla)
  
• Vinny Appice (Dio, Black Sabbath)
  
• Vivian Campbell (Sweet Savage, Dio, Whitesnake, Def Leppard)
  

I have found a zipfile on the computer of Nothern Light Orchestra.
Next week I'll listen to the Third Day Christmas CD again.

alldatndensum wrote:

I just discovered that NLO has done THREE more albums as digital only releases!  I found them super cheap at eMusic.

Aren't they kind of shady? At least one of those does have a CD version because I saw 2 on Amazon.

The original album was done on CD.  The two latter full lengths and the EP were released digitally.

As for eMusic, they are what they are.  Labels and artists agree to sell their wares there, but eMusic's model is cheap downloads.  If you sell through eMusic, you just have to know that they are going to sell for a super discounted price and the label & artist is going to get a smaller than usual cut.  Still, the labels are licensing their music to use there.  So, as long as it is a LEGAL download site, I am going to continue to use them.

I just discovered this the other night:

http://charlieparradelriego.bandcamp.com/album/merry-heavy-metal-christmas

$10 seems a bit much for a CD that's only about 30 minutes long, but I'm tempted.

BearDad wrote:

I just discovered this the other night:

http://charlieparradelriego.bandcamp.com/album/merry-heavy-metal-christmas

$10 seems a bit much for a CD that's only about 30 minutes long, but I'm tempted.

I agree. That's some good work there.

We haven't played much Christmas music around the house. But tomorrow night when we put up the tree we might play some. I'm not sure what yet

We're not even putting up a tree this year. First year in many years we haven't. I'm not complaining at all.