I was in too good of a mood today, and it worries me a little. Not the being in a good mood part - that actually made the day easier, especially when you consider how frustrated I was with so many things the day before and the sheer volume of f-bombs that went off inside my head during the 20 or so minutes after school before I finally was able to get out of there. No, after all that the good mood was welcome. It's just that it was a really bad time for one.
National Novel Writing Month begins as soon as Saturday Night Live ends this weekend, and I plan on starting in on my book right on that inaugural minute of November. Thing is, the book I have planned and mapped out (all in my head at this point because taking any notes would be cheating) isn't particularly happy. I don't think I'd call it depressing or dark so much, but its certainly thoughtful and introspective, and, I won't lie, a little sad. And for me to be able to write at my best, I need to kind of construct a mood that will match the voice and tone of the book. Which, you know - not happy. So somehow I have to cut this good mood loose.
And why is this a problem? Why would it be so difficult to do? Because of the music. I wrote about a big new release day in September when I bought a whole bunch of new albums that all came out at the same time and how I was so buzzed about having all of that new music. Well, it happened again this past Tuesday. Here's the rundown:
Train: Save Me, San Francisco
I really like Train, even if they now kind of seem like one of those bands struggling to hang on to a relevance that just may have passed them by. But this new album, the first one in something like four or five years? I'm really, really liking it. A lot of wordplay in the lyrics, some interesting electronic touches to what was always a sound rooted in classic rock, and an album full of songs that are just happy, rockin' songs. This album does not help with shaking off the good mood, but it's hard to put it aside.
Creed: Full Circle
I thought Creed was okay back when they were popular some ten years ago, even if many of the songs were a little too muddy-sounding for my taste. But then after they broke up and reformed with a new emotionally-stable singer and called themselves Alter Bridge, I liked them a lot. Now they're back to the Name Brand to cash in on past glories and nostalgia, but at least the band sounds a little less muddy and a little more like Alter Bridge, while still being it's own thing. Not a landmark but I like it, and there are a good number of songs on there that will get some serious play in the coming months and years.
Winger: Karma
I have a cousin who told me once that music should never be called a "guilty pleasure," because if you're lucky enough to have music that you enjoy there's nothing to feel guilty about. And this is coming from a guy who has everything from Alice Cooper to Donny & Marie on his iPod. One of the bands I enjoy that OTHER people would call a guilty pleasure is Winger, the 80s band of "She's only seventeen..." fame, which is a song that was a lot less creepy to like when I was in my late teens / early 20s instead of my early 40s. But luckily there are other Winger albums out there for me to secretly enjoy, including this new one. This isn't an example of an 80s band trying to prove they've matured as time has gone by, but a band that shows they still got it. And for anyone who might write them off as the Aqua-Net joke they were known as back in the day? I disagree. There is some significant talent in this band.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Night Castle
The newest TSO album, and the second one that isn't all about Christmas songs. I have yet to decipher what awkwardly-contrived storyline has been created to link these songs together, but at least I can still enjoy most of them at face value for the music. Though it irks me a bit that once again they blatantly ripped themselves off for a couple of tracks on the album. By this I mean that Trans-Siberian Orchestra began as a pretty darn good metal band called Savatage, which is probably one of the worst band names ever. But they were a good band, very melodic, and morphed into TSO about ten years ago when they realized they could cash in on playing holiday music and touring behind it if they hired a few more musicians. Two songs on this new album are note for note remakes of older Savatage songs.
Transatlantic: The Whirlwind
Here's an album that was never supposed to happen. TA is a progressive supergroup featuring four incredibly talented musicians that hardly anyone has ever heard of; frankly, if you know Transatlantic at all you don't need me to tell you who they are, and if you don't know them then no explanation is going to be worth your time. This is a 2 CD edition of the album - the first CD is made up of one song broken into several different parts, but still linked together as one piece of music -- more than 77 minutes long. For one rock song. This I think is pretty cool. The other CD has some shorter songs on it, in addition to some obscure covers. And since this album really was never supposed to happen in the first place, I'm very happy that I even have been able to play and listen to it one time.
And in a couple days I'll have to more or less shelve all of them to lock my head into the playlist of emotion and melancholy I've put together to listen to while writing my 2009 November Novel. Gotta do what you gotta do, and for me to write productively at all, I need the music that's going to push me in the direction I need to go.
I'll keep you posted....
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