So what now?
Where go I?

Back during my High School years a friend of mine asked me to pick up a copy of the Black Album for him. I lived near the record store, so he just gave me the money to buy. He gave me permission to open it and give it a listen. What an eye opening experience that was. Never before did I hear the sounds coming out from the speakers. The story of the Sandman, the story of the Unforgiven, that guy that roams wherever he damn well wants to, the God that Failed, the friend in misery and that struggle from within. That album opened my eyes to so many new thoughts and ideas that had never crossed my mind.

Well, so Death Magnetic isn’t an eye opening experience for me. But I can certainly see it being an that kind of experience for some High School kid listening to Metallica for the first time in his life. This new album takes from a piece from everything they have done before. It’s a perfect vehicle to introduce a new generation to what Metallica is about. Once you listen to this album you can pick up any previous album and you will likely find at least one song that will remind you of what you just heard here.

This is without any doubt the best album they have put out since the Black Album. I became a fan of the band through that album back in 1991. After that I went back and listened to their previous albums and I was amazed at their sound. The urgency of it, the darkness of the music as well as the lyrics. I now urge you to pick up a copy of this album and embark yourself in the same journey I started 18 years ago. Ok… so you may have to be a little bit open-minded when it comes to the Load, ReLoad and St. Anger era. But even in those albums you will find some good songs, so give them a try also.

This was my most anticipated release of 2008. I wasn’t disappointed. Without a doubt; the best of 2008.

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Calling Christian and Gloria

How do you follow up what’s hands down the best album of your career? Where do you go after telling the stories of St. Jimmy and Jesus of Suburbia? American Idiot is perhaps one of the best albums of the last decades; perhaps even of the century. Keep in mind we’re only 9 years into the new century.

21st Century Breakdown, Green Day’s latest album, follows the same concept format of American Idiot. However, this new album stands on its own as it tells a complete different story. This time they tell us the story of Christian and Gloria. A poignant critique of government, war, society and religion. Far removed from the irreverent and childish jokes in Dookie and Nimrod, but just as entertaining to listen to as their great songs of the past. Many of the songs still carry the trademark Green Day sound, while some venture into new territory.

The album is divided into 3 acts: Heroes and Cons, Charlatans and Saints and Horseshoes and Handgrenades. The story being told this time follows the life of Christian and Gloria after the presidency of George W. Bush and the mess he left behind. Christian is a self-destructive, self-absorbed and impulsive kid, while Gloria is more of the activist and political type. They are forced to take care of themselves after everyone else they’ve trusted has turned their backs on them.

The music that accompany the story is fairly trademark Green Day, expect the songs where they adopt a more grown-up Pop-Rock and Arena-Rock sound. Experimenting comes natural and doesn’t seem forced. On the contrary, the music flows and blends with the story perfectly. When I listen to this album I play it from beginning to end without the need to skip any of the songs. I can’t say the same things for many other artists, or even some previous Green Day productions.

For me, this was the most anticipated release this year and I have to say that it lived to the expectation. This, without any doubt, is the best album released this year. Buy it and judge for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.

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Stereo static is not the same as static stereo. Static stereo is what you would call a radio that has a static sound to it. Stereo static on the other hand is when you hear the static, well, in stereo :-)

In any case; I came up for the name for this blog from a song I heard recently and I thought it would be perfect to describe my thoughts about music as well as other things. Don’t get me wrong; I love music and in many occasions music has helped me tremendously. Let’s put it this way; without music, I wouldn’t be typing this blog right now. No, it wasn’t that I was on the verge of committing suicide or anything like that. Simply, that is how I expanded my knowledge of the English language. Through music is that I learned many of the things I didn’t learn in school. As for other things. Well, let’s just say I reserve the right to use this blog to write about other things in the media that are making noise.

So, why Stereo Static? Because a good amount of the music hitting the airwaves and store shelves today is just rather, uhmm, … crap. That’s the best way I can describe it in words that wouldn’t be offensive. There is still plenty of great music out there, but for some reason most of the music being shoved down our throats, and ears, by the mainstream media just sucks.

Now that I made my opening statement let us begin presenting the evidence. For the record, I am not out to just criticize musicians. I completely understand that regardless how bad their product is, it wasn’t without some talent that they are where they are. (Though there are some people out there that really have no talent.) What I hope to accomplish here is just their product itself.

Let the fun begin…