The Favourite Bands Tag

It’s time that I create another tag, and this one hit me out of the blue as one of the blogging ideas that I’ve been having lately. So I’m starting August strong with a fun post like this one that you can do too!

In this particular tag I’m going to be talking about bands! Writing about music and bands is what made me start this blog in the first place and continues to be one of the driving forces to keep this blog alive today with album reviews, monthly musings with music, how I feel about the music industry, fan struggles, etc.

I asked myself, why didn’t I do a tag for this already? Ever since I moved to WordPress I was seeing significant posts and nominations with tags and blog awards and the last one I created was a success so I thought why not do another one?

I always prepare the questions in advance and some of them I had to change to give different answers so I will answer each of my questions as well as provide a little info about each band for anyone interested in checking them out and my current favourite song by each of them, so let’s begin!

A band that changed your life?

Lordi, no contest, don’t get me started. If you’re a long-time reader of my blog then you know already that I wouldn’t be writing anything here if it weren’t for Lordi. For newcomers, long story short they inspired me to not give a shit what people think about me and find the right passion for myself when other things I tried weren’t working out: the right passion I found was writing this blog.

They may look intimidating as monsters but they are total softies and the friendliest guys and gal (since they’ve always had one female member since the beginning) I’ve ever known. I don’t agree with everything they have done to promote themselves (like some of the things Mr. Lordi has done recently are questionable) but they still hold a special place in my heart.

Their music is catchy with a great horror theme that I never get tired of and my favourite song by Lordi is a rare track from their third album:

A band you like that disbanded?

I’m gonna go with Motörhead on this one. They started in the ’70s and went all the way to the end of 2015, then disbanded when lead vocalist/bassist Lemmy Kilmister passed away just before we could ring in 2016.

I wanted to get into them for a while when my friend told me lots about them, and how he had seen them live a few times. When I listened to one of their albums I thought it needed some time to grow, but inside my heart was hungry for more because of my attraction to the amazing riffs, solos, and overall catchy tunes. Most of their songs aren’t very long either, but if you can put out a catchy sound then the duration doesn’t matter.

However, I ignored that small desire in my heart for years when I became sidetracked by other bands and passions from there on. Now, my budding love for this band has just resurfaced thanks to one of the games I’m currently playing. Motörhead has an expansive discography so I have a lot of ground to cover, but in time, that love for them will eventually fully blossom, I can feel it!

I also want to get to know them more as people, as my friend told me, Lemmy was, apparently, a man with a huge heart and I like to hear that so my curious heart desires more.

What song do I currently like at the moment? I’ll go with this one:

A band you’d like to get into more?

This one was tricky but I think Battle Beast would be a good answer in this case. I mean what’s not to love? They’re Finnish and I love Finns, it’s a power metal sound and a female vocalist. Lately, I often have to push myself to get into a band, like really get into them and there hasn’t been anything that has pushed me enough to dig deeper with Battle Beast for some reason.

I guess that’s what I get for not being as engaged when I saw them co-headline with Sabaton in 2015 when you’re saving your voice and energy for the latter. Eventually, something will make me listen to Battle Beast some more, or maybe I just need to take my chances and pick an album to start with.

Right now I am currently jamming to this song:

A band you’ve never seen live but want to?

There are a lot of bands that I want to see live! But, if I really had to choose only one for this post, it would be Orden Ogan! They have some amazing songs and a friendly community so there isn’t much drama either.

Although they seem much more local, they still acknowledge their fans worldwide even if they cannot tour everywhere. They’re very down-to-earth and each of their albums have a specific theme to them with their mascot Alister Vale. They combine the elements of power, folk and progressive metal to give us a unique sound and what I heard was love at first listen.

The opportunity for me to see them live is quite low since they are practically unknown over in my country but I remain hopeful that someday they will tour here or I will fly to Germany to see them.

I love so many songs by them but this one will always have a special place in my heart for making me a fan:

A band you wish you could hang out with?

Definitely Sabaton! They may seem serious because they make music about history and their songs are so powerful that every time I listen to them I want to crank it up, like I’m at one of their concerts again! I have seen them live three times and they put on a hell of a show where my voice and neck hurt for a week afterward. I’ve learned a lot more things in history thanks to them that wasn’t taught to me in 10th grade.

So why would I want to hang out with them? Well behind all the history theme they are hilarious guys! I don’t know, what I’ve seen from interviews and fan-made videos they just sound like they could be fun to be around. Sadly, none of the shows I’ve been to have had a meet n’ greet for me to attend and I’m not the kind of girl who goes to bars in hopes of meeting them there, or in general. I remember my last Sabaton gig, I wore my tank earrings for the first time and joked with the girl at the merch booth how I wished I could show them to Joakim! He would love it!

And if you read my blog regularly then you already know which song I’m going to pick because I sing it in my dreams!

A band that was love at first listen?

Easy as pie, it’s KISS! Some people may never understand a band like KISS, like why they wear makeup and do crazy things on stage like fire-breathing, blood-spitting, and fireworks but those types of people who don’t get them are just too close-minded. If KISS never existed then a ton of other bands wouldn’t either. For some, it was the music, and for others, it was the live performance with all the pyro and stuff. They are one of the most influential bands on this planet.

I first saw a picture of them in middle school and thought who were they, I heard the occasional song on TV but never fully invested my time in them. When I discovered Lordi, they talked about how big fans they were of KISS so I finally decided to check them out and then I was instantly hooked. Their songs are catchy and full of upbeat sounds that always make me happy even in the darkest times.

I have also seen them thrice and have gone dressed up as the Demon to each of the shows. The fanbase is large and loyal (as long as you avoid the purists) and it saddens me that they won’t be around much longer. I love every era of the band, from the original four in the ’70s to the current line-up.

I will never get tired of this song just like Mr. Lordi never will:

A band that you rely on to improve your mental health?

This was a tough one but I decided that it should be GWAR, they can be extremely controversial but there’s just something about their thrash metal sound that makes me feel better. If I’m extremely angry or anxious, I like to listen to GWAR to calm down. They allow me to release that tension without taking it out on another human being. I believe that’s much healthier as music can have a healing ability in it that is criminally underappreciated.

They do have their own theme which combines sci-fi and horror with a lot of monsters, aliens, and gore. Often what they do at their live shows is they will spray fake blood into the audience, have many different stunts and they will even bring clones of celebrities and politicians that they will kill on stage as they perform. It’s crazy for sure.

I have seen them live once, unfortunately, it was after Dave Brockie’s death so I didn’t get a chance to see Oderus in action but the other band members were great. Sawborg was directly in front of me as I got drenched like hell! They also have some new music out which I’ll probably binge listen to on my next night shift.

One great song that I was happy to hear live, well, I can’t go wrong with this:

An underrated band you love?

I think Within Temptation would be a great example of this. In Europe, everyone knows them, but here in Canada, nobody does, except for a few of my friends and maybe some other symphonic metal fans that I will only see at concerts. Another band that doesn’t usually tour here. But, their music is incredible: symphonic metal with strong melodies that are beautiful enough to pierce the soul. Even their latest releases that don’t have as much, say, electric guitar to it, are great, and Sharon has my dream voice when it comes to singing.

I wish I could sing like her but I always have to change the key since my voice isn’t as high as hers. I first heard of them when I was listening to a heavy metal radio show from the UK and the host played three songs by the band after that. I tracked down all those songs, listened to them, and further expanded from there.

This beautiful song I never get tired of:

And that’s it from me, if you want to do this tag, here are the questions for you to copy and paste into your post:

A band that changed your life?

A band you like that disbanded?

A band you’d like to get into more?

A band you’ve never seen live but want to?

A band you wish you could hang out with?

A band that was love at first listen?

A band that you rely on to improve your mental health?

An underrated band you love?

I’m not going to tag anyone specifically because I believe people should be given the choice to write about this or not. Also posting your favourite song by the band you give for each question is not mandatory, but if you want to do it, you’re welcome to.

Happy writing!

👽Emily