List Number Two.......


It is time for another of my great music list. Dave posted another top five list. It was of overlooked albums. He has provided another good list. I do agree Dave, that all of those albums are overlooked in some way. Especially Dear Ephesus and Shaded Red. I encourage anyone to go check his list out (http://teacherdave.blogspot.com).

Now to my list. This list will be of the greatest songs of all-time. Now, I tried to think of my whole music loving life to make this list. It consist of songs that span from my early teenage years on. I must give some of Trevor's commentary on music before presenting the list. I am huge on songwriting/lyics. Their are many songs better musically than what you will see. Musically this may not be the best song by the particular band presented. I think of three things when rating my songs: lyrical content, musical style, and its effect on my life personally. These three things combined is how I came to my conclusions. I hate it when people are shallow about their music. They say "yea, this songs rocks, its my favorite song" but they have know idea what it says, and they will be listening to the next new radio hit the next week saying the same thing. You will not find shallowness here.

List #2: The Greatest Songs of All-Time

Honorable Mentions: I am sorry for ones that I might have missed.
"King of the Closet" - Blindside
"The Flight of Peter Pan" - Dear Ephesus
"Six Sirens" - Project 86
"Body Be" - Johnny Q Public
"Jesus Freak" - dc Talk
"Standed" - Plumb
"Open House" - Plankeye

#5 - "We're A Band" - Audio Adrenaline - This song was the anthem for me and my buddies back home. This song made Christian rock, Christian rock back in the early '90s for us.

#4 - "Execution" - Grammatrain - The greatest pro-life song ever. Plus, this song just rocks.

#3 - "I want To Be A Clone" - Steve Taylor - Christian satire at its best.

#2 - "Bliss Is" - Poor Old Lu - Let everyone get their suprised looks out that there is a Poor Old Lu song here. I did only want to limit myself to one Poor Old Lu song. This is my favorite Lu song. It just rocks the house.

#1 - "Beautiful" - Plankeye - Now, I have been called a monk when it comes to relationships. I am not seen as a sappy romance type of guy. But, my favorite song of all-time is a love song. Can you believe that coming from Trevor? Well, it is true. I do look forward to finding the love of my life one day and this song expresses in many ways, the way I want to feel about her. Ahh, isn't that sweet.

Agree? Disagree? Any comments? Please respond Here.

The Counter Goes over 100.......

I do not know if anyone has noticed my hit counter at the bottom of the screen. It has gone over the 100 mark. Now I know that I account for some of these hits, and my dad accounts for alot of them, but the counter does count unique hits. So, people have actually been to my Blog. Thank you for you attention!

Blah Blah Blah.......

So I am sitting at the computer thinking about what to say. I know I need to post and I actually have the time to do it. I know I am starting my top five list series, but I do not want it to be the topic of my post for a week. I want to break it up. I do not want the people who read me to be thinking, "Geese, it just another of Trevor's dump top 5 list where he rants about bands I have never heard of." I want to post my list, but cause you the least amount of pain.

Hey, I just thought of something. For all you Bible people out there ( I am one too). One of the more interesting and thought provoking scriptures to me is found in Mark 8:22-26.

22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, 'Do you see anything?' 24 He looked up and said, 'I see people; they look like trees walking around.' 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, 'Don't go into the village.'

I have poured much thought into this set of verses. It brought about many questions, because there is some strange happenings in these verses. First of all, why did he take him out of the village? Did he take him alone? Why did he spit in his eyes? This comes to the most interesting part. In verse 24 the blind man said "I see people; they look like trees walking around." Why did he say that? What did he mean by that? Hmmm, makes you think, huh? Now I have already put much thought and study in this set of verses. I think I have an idea as to what Jesus is trying to get across here. But, I am interested in what YOU think. So, think away and repond. If I have enough interesting responses I might just have to make another posting out of this subject. I might even tell you what I think.
Respond to this HERE.

One other thing. Dave and myself have made a step in the direction of a dream we have had. Thoughout college we always talked about how we wanted to review movies together. Well, it has begun. A new Blog has been started for that purpose. Better Than Critics is your new home of movie criticdom. So please visit http://betterthancritics.blogspot.com.

Respond to this posting HERE.

The First of Many List........

A while back Dave posted a top five Christian songs for the past 10-13 years. This of course inspired me to conjure up a handfull of top five list myself. My series of top five list will include: Best Bands, Best Songs, Best Albums, Best Song Writers, Favorite Guitarist, Best Album Cover Designs, Best Hardcore Bands, and one bonus category that you will have to wait in anticipation to find out. Yes, I know this list looks extensive. Well, it is. See, there are many really good bands out there and I wanted to include as many as possible. I also wanted to show diversity among bands. Their are bands that are just good in general, their are bands that write that one great song, ones that make great albums that require listening to the whole thing everytime you turn it on, individuals that are amazing writers that can pierce the heart with their message, and I can go on and on. I am sure that many of you will not know or never heard of the bands that I will mention. I have been one to prefer the underground movement of music, scoping out the "coffee house" scene. These picks were hard choices and may even change one day(my #1 will never change!). I guarantee the quality of music in my choices.

List #1: The Greatest Bands of All-Time

Honorable Mentions: I just have to give a shout out to some bands. Narrowing it down to five is tough.
Blindside - Great hard rock from Sweden.
Project 86 - Even if the music sucked(which it does not) Aaron Schwab's writing would still put this band toward the top.
Fold Zandura - AKA Mortal, the best in industrial rock.
dc Talk - They just have to be here, they deserve it.
Shaded Red - Have put out some of the most spiritually fulfilling music I have heard.
Five Iron Frenzy - The best Ska band ever period.

#5 - Grammatrain - The first real hard rock band that Forefront Records signed (Maybe the last). Great music, great songwriting, and great live shows. Discography: Lonely House, Flying, Live in Germany.

#4 - Dear Ephesus - The beginings of Emo Rock as I see it. Back in high school I went to a concert to see the Insyderz and came out enlightened with emo. The only reason Dear Ephesus is #4 and not #3 is because they did not have the longevity that the next selection had. Masterful musicianship and songwriting. Discography: The Consolation of Pianisimo, Absent Sound of Me.

#3 - Plankeye - As I entered into the early Christian rock scene with my friends, Plankeye hit a sweet spot. My friend Kirk just randomly(without knowing what they sounded like) bought The Spark(Plankeye's 2nd album) and we instantly were in love. Discography: Spill, The Spark, Commonwealth, One and Only, Relocation, Strange Exchange, Wings to Fly.

#2 - Common Children - My #1 selection is one of the most underrated bands of all-time, but Common Children is THE most underrated, underplayed, unrecognized band ever. Amazing is what they are. Their second release Delecate Fade is one of the greatest displays of artistry in music. I have felt like I have lived with Marc Byrd's lyrics on many occasions in my life. Shame on you if you do not know the music of these guys. Discography: Skywire, Delicate Fade, The Inbetween Time.

#1 - I do not even have to write anything for the people that know me. They know what band is on the top of my list. This band is the only thing that can draw major bias on all my list to come. You will see them mentioned over and over. They are in included in a very small handfull of bands(Prayer Chain and Mortal are a couple in that handfull) that helped to propel the Christian rock music scene in the early 90's to what it is today............

Drum Roll............

None other than....Poor Old Lu. Discography: Mindsize, Sin, Straight Six, Star-Studded-Super-Step(demo re-release), A Picture Of The Eighth Wonder, In Their Final Performance(they came back), Chrono (1993-1998), The Waiting Room.

Let me know what you think. Give me your list even. Respond HERE.

Something Else That I Must Add........

I must add another comment about Lord of the Rings........Two Towers to be particular. I was happy to see that LOTR: Two Towers was nominated for Picture of the Year by the Oscars. In my persoanl bias, I think it should win. The Hours, Chicago, and definately Gangs of New York will not be as timless as LOTR, but one of them will win it, unfortunately. I do say that all three LOTR movies should of swept all three years that we are going through. But, because fantasy is seen as second class by the movie award people, they will just give them a nomination. BUT, this leads me to my BIGGEST disappiontment in the lack of nominations by the Oscar people. Somebody, tell me why......Sean Astin did not get nominated for a best supporting actor for his role as Samwise Gamgee!?!??!!?? Ian McKellen, rightly so, recieved a nomination for his role as Gandalf the Grey in The Fellowship of the Ring. But, what is this crap about not giving Sean Astin a nomination? For anyone that is familar with the character of Samwise Gamgee, know that Sam is THE example in literature of friendship and commitment to someone. Sean Astin has done a superb job portraying this great and pivital character. Like always, I am very disappionted in the Oscars. So, I give props to Sean Astin and so should you.

Rely to this message HERE.

A Week Later........

So as a friend put it, "your blog honeymoon is over." That is because it has been a week since my last posting. My Dad even got on to me for not posting for a week, what is that? And some of you are saying, "he told his Dad about his blog?" Yes, it is true, I don't hate my parents, and I do somewhat try to let them keep up on my life. So, for my lacking, sorry to all who care, I am sure it will happen again.

Last week was kinda tough. I have been doing the working nights thing for a few weeks now. The first week was pretty easy, but with the second came the pains of adjustment. Your lifestyle does change some when you work nights. This week should be alot better.

I was gonna put up a write up on the big V-Day, but I figured that I shouldn't get started. I didn't wear black like I kinda planned. I whore green.

Lately I have been listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtracks from both movies. I am captured by them. They are amazing. Yes, you are hearing this from me, the total rock'n roller. Even though I am all about the hard rock stuff, I do have a great taste in Jazz/Swing and some Orchestra music. But it has to a special kind of Orchestra music. The Lord of the Rings soundtracks fit that special kind. It is epic, thrilling, moving, aw inspiring, and makes an already great story better when you watch and listen. I have always admired John Williams and his work with the Star Wars soundtracks, but Howard Shore has surpased good ole John with his work with The Rings. I am very anxious to see The Return of the King, but am very anxious to hear the music also. I must end my Rings talk by saying that I actually have read the books. And I encourage anyone out there to read them.

Rely to this message HERE.

A Quote..........

"If you change your input, it will change your output."

- Zig Ziglar

Another night of work........

For those who do not know, I work a full-time night security job at my college. I get to hangout at a dorm all night and get paid for it. I do have certain responsibilities that I must fulfill, but it is a laid back ordeal. It allows me to do homework without distractions and do stuff like this. So, if some stuff I write sounds weird at times, it because of a lack of sleep.

I keep a pretty good eye on the news. So, it looks like the case has been made by Secretary Powell. I do wish that war could be avoided, but it is time to blow Saddam out of his bunker.

I want to note that I have set up a response forum. This is so you, the reader, can give me feedback to what i say. I would really like to know if you are actually reading. I will end each entry will the like to my forum. Zetataylor's Response Forum.

I will leave you with some words from "Shiv" by Stavesacre

Nothing lost, just cut away
Nothing left to hinder me
Pushing on, stronger everyday
Leaning into the wind that used to carry me

Snow in Oklahoma.......

I just got back in from some good old tackle football in the snow. Since it only snows in Oklahoma maybe once or twice a year, you have to savor the moment and put your life on hold to go smear someones face in it. See, I have decided that OBU (Oklahoma Baptist University) harbors pansy men. We put word out early in the day that we were playing football. We get to the field to play and there is this huge group of girls playing tackle football. We had to pull teeth to get ten guys to show up. Hence, OBU has pansy men. We still played and had fun, us few men of OBU!!!

Rely to this message HERE.

The Beginning........

This is the beginning.....which hardly anyone will see.....unless they go back and read the archives. I give props to the few people who will start at the beginning with me. Who will be mainly Dave (teacherdave.blogspot.com), who is the person respondsible for getting me into this. So now we begin this journey.......lets see what kind of crap we can come up with!!!