Breaking Who?

So, I've discovered a new band. Now, they aren't a new one by any stretch of the imagination, they do have three albums (that I've found). There was a local radio station FREE 94.1 - WYSP "The Station that Rocks" that I used to listen to all day. They used to have Howard Stern in the morning, then the Barsky Show midday, Matt and Huggie for two hours, and finish with Kidd Chris on my way home. It was an all talk format from 5 AM until 7 PM during the week, and I loved almost every minute of it while driving from site to site (Matt and Huggie were annoying). Well, it started with Stern leaving then being replaced with the god-awful David Lee Roth. They then brought the Opie and Anthony (blech) syndicated show back for a few hours in the morning, but that didn't last. In one week, they fired most of the on-air talent, and "Brought the Rock Back" and made it a rock station again. Which basically means they started playing really bad rap/metal fusion or pop/rock stuff that passes for what I consider rock these days. In all of this, my radio station listening moved to the sports radio station WIP - 610 AM on your Philly radio dial. That's really unacceptable, since all they talk about is the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers and Sixers - and bag on the Redskins.

It appears that I've gotten too old for that "dang kid music" of rap, rap fusion, and that type of vibe. I sometimes will get to a store, and there's inevitably some white kid from the suburbs in a track suit three sizes too large for him, baseball cap turned sideways, really scruffy hint of a beard, earring, inevitabling blasting some urban garbage at a decibel level that shakes my window from the new row over. It's really annoying, and I just don't get it. So, in light of that fact, I've shunned a lot of the newer music in favor of remaining securely in the late '80's Hair Metal era, or the early 90's grunge that I'm comfortable with. I'll include RUSH in this, as Jim Jardine turned me onto them while we were roommates in Virginia, even thought they don't really fit in the hair metal or grunge music. So, in light of these facts, I was out of the loop for any new music probably since we've moved here back in 2001.

So one Wednesday, I was listening to 93.3 WMMR - the other rock station in town that actually plays Queensryche still, and heard this song that I just couldn't get out of my head. I was lucky enough to have that song be at the end of a 3 song set, so they named the artist and song. Breaking Benjamin "Breath" . I went home that day, logged into iTunes, and listened to the song clip again still loving it. I then decided to check out the album it was on "Phobia" and ended up using 10 bucks of my iTunes gift card (perfect birthday gift for me - March 24th) to buy the whole album. I didn't know there were groups putting out this heavier type of music that I like. I was under the assumption that 3 Doors Down and the like were what was passing for my type of music. Boy, was I wrong. There are still some really good heavier metal bands, nothing to the like of Metallica, Megadeath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden from my youth, but good enough for me to actually download some current music. In the end, I now own all three of Breaking Benjamin's albums - and the kicker is that they are from the Philadelphia area, so they come around here when they can, apparently. They are on tour with Seether, and some other band I've never heard of, or you can always watch their videos on YouTube. I recommend "Breath" "Diary of Jane" or "Polyamorous" for your listening pleasure. I have some of their videos posted on my Facebook page as well. Finally, something to drown out the freakin' people who keep bothering me while I'm trying to work. I can't wait for them to come local, so I can see them in person.