Heavy metal music is quite scary to many people even without the visuals. But add the visuals and the backstory along with titles like “Raining Blood,” you’ve got a genre of music that’s pretty great for Halloween. But then you add the macabre images of classic acts likeAlice CooperandOzzy Osbourneor Nu Metal giants likeRammsteinorRob Zombie, metal is horrifying.Stone Sourisn’t a shock metal group, but cofounder and lead singerCorey Taylorleft the band in 1997 to replaceSlipknot‘s original frontman, and became known for an outrageous, downright brutal stage image.
DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH TIME HAS PAST. In 2000, Stone Sour reunited, and Corey Taylor fronted both Stone Sour and Slipknot concurrently. While Slipknot released some of their heaviest music, Stone Sour had radio rock singles. The band released their debut self-titled album in 2002 with the single “Bother,” which was on the Spider-Mansoundtrack, though Corey Taylor was the credited artist on the soundtrack. In 2006, Stone Sour released their sophomore record, Come What(ever) May.Like the band’s first record, Come What(ever) May was a hard rock/ alternative metal album, featuring baleful bass-lines, gravel vocals, and angry explicit lyrics. But there were some quieter, albeit moody moments on the band’s sophomore record. “Sillyworld” is a sardonic acoustic-driven, politically-motivated track that earned the band a number 2 hit on the Rock charts. The final track, “Zzyzx Rd.” is a love song to Taylor’s wife and mentions overcoming addiction and getting out of a place of depression. But track 8, “Through Glass,” is Stone Sour’s biggest hit, reaching number 1 on the rock charts. The acoustic rock track is unlike anything else on the record, and because of this song that I had heard on the radio, I checked out the brutal rest of the record.
IT’S THE STARS THAT LIE TO YOU. Corey Taylor wrote “Through Glass” when he was in Sweden. More specifically, he wrote the song about his thoughts when he experienced an inability to change the European MTV station because he was suffering from food poisoning. Taylor told The Gauntlet:
I was sitting in a European hotel room watching a music video channel, seeing act
after act after act of this insane, innocuous, plastic music. They were plastic,
bubbly, gossamer-thin groups where it was really more about the clothes they
wore and the length of their cheekbones than it was about the content of the song
they were singing. It really made me mad. I was like, “Is this it? Have we just gone
full circle? Did the singer/songwriter revolution never happen? Is it just the same
drivel from the same replicate over and over again?
The video also takes a jab at big music production, showing how artificial modern music has become. Taylor suggests that the music industry has just become cameras and props, all of which disappear after reporters leave. I doubt that Taylor would have positive things to say about the state of pop music in 2022, but thanks to streaming platforms, music is more individualized to the listener’s particular tastes today. There are many artists who are taking back the reins, though the music industry has cut costs as new music doesn’t make much money. But does artists driving their own sound make music more authentic? Or are artists just chasing algorithms?
MUNA’s first two albums weren’t exactly uplifting, at least as a whole. Sure there are moments of empowerment, but the glass appears half-empty more times than not with songs about breakups and lost loves. On 2019’s Saves the World, two songs act as companions to a terrible breakup. “Stayaway” is an if/then song, explaining why the speaker won’t go out. She might see her old friends or the friends of her ex and might be dragged back into a bad romantic situation. “Who” is a song that speculates about the person who replaced the speaker. “Who are you singing about now?” Katie Gavin pleads on the chorus.
WHEN I GO OUT AGAIN… In the fall of 2021, MUNA returned with the bright duet with Phoebe Bridgers, the lead single “Silk Chiffon” from their third and self-titled album. While the other pre-release singles were not as hopeful as the lead single, all of them were more optimistic than the last album’s twin break-up tracks. There was, however, the album’s final single, released with the album, which was so musically different from the previous singles. “What I Want” was also lyrically different from any MUNA track. The ebullient club song feels like an ‘00s Max Martin production. MUNA, for the record, self-produced the song. On an episode of Song Exploder, the group talked about the inspiration behind the song. Taking a synth loop created by Naomi McPherson, singer Katie Gavin took the piece to a Zoom co-writing session with Brett “Leland” McLaughlin. Gavin told Leland, “I want something that’s unapologetic and fun.” Leland encouraged Katie Gavin to go for an uncharacteristic sound and use words for phonetic purposes rather than overanalyzing word choice.
I’M GONNA MAKE UP FOR IT ALL AT ONCE. Both Katie Gavin and Leland, queer artists, in the Song Exploder episode, talked about how the lyrics of “What I Want” were both “pandemic-informed” and a reaction to internalized homophobia. Gavin talks about how her Irish-Catholic upbringing caused her to hold some internalized homophobia. Leland said, “Certain parts of me, out of necessity, needed to be repressed. I spent more of my life not being myself than being myself.” The result is a song that disregards the admonishment of repressive systems and flaunts the gay experience. It’s a club banger, though MUNA explains that none of their band actually parties much. Katie said, “We’ve had many conversations about ‘what if people think it’s okay to go get fucked up all the time?’” She goes on to explain, “From my mid-20s to—I just turned 30—and that’s been a kind of on and off ‘I’m sober for a while, and I’m not sober. And I think just after testing it out for a few years, I like it more being sober.” Naomi chimes in that the song is “honoring nightlife as having such a fundamental . . .history for queer people.” Ultimately, the club is a metaphor for being able to let your guard down when you find a community. It’s hyperbolic. MUNA offered support after the Pulse nightclub shootings. But “What I Want” is a song about escapism everyone needs sometimes.
As promised, here is my Top 10 list for albums of the year. It’s a bit late and I’m sure that in time, the importance of this list will change and that albums I hadn’t listened to would chart. I decided to give preference to the albums I blogged about most but I also slipped in a few that I thought would be culturally significant. There were a few cuts that I thought hurt a little, Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS, the Barbie: The Albumsoundtrack, and boygenius’s The Record. I wanted to include some albums that didn’t make the critics’ picks lists to give light to some underrated artists. I hope you enjoy these albums as much as I did—and am doing now.
10. The Showby Niall Horan. It’s funny how the other One Direction members have been totally eclipsed by Harry Styles. While Styles is certainly talented, and his production team has incorporated some of the most interesting elements into mainstream pop, former bandmate Niall Horan has been sadly overlooked. The Show is an album by an artist who seems to enjoy music from the folk, campfire-ready “You Could Start a Cult” to the tempo-shifting “Meltdown” to The Beach Boys-sounding “Heaven.” A deluxe edition has a beautiful duet of “You Could Start a Cult” with Lizzy McAlpine.
9. Tensionby Kylie Minogue. This album may not be a “10 Out of 10,” but it certainly got me into Minogue’s back catalog. It’s a dance record that you can kind of turn your mind off for, with perhaps the exception of “Hold on to Now.” Tension feels like a party that’s been going on for a long time but not getting old. There’s something about the lead single “Padam Padam” that feels like a Disney villain song. The title track is also an album highlight. I’d listened to Kylie a little before this album. I liked “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” as a kid, but wasn’t obsessed with it. I listened to 2018’s Goldena few times. But Tension made me a fan.
8. Gloriaby Sam Smith. Pop music looks good on you, Sam. While “Unholy” was the biggest hit of their career and “I’m Not Here to Make Friends” was also a considerable hit, Gloria was pretty underrated. It’s interesting that Smith has started their career with critical acclaim—music for adult contemporary stations—but now the singer has stepped into the 2020s version of shock pop reminiscent of the ‘10s. The album Gloria, though, is tame compared to the scandalous music videos accompanying the singles. I thought Gloria was an experimental album. Smith worked with Calvin Harris and Jessie Reyes on several songs. Pop, R&B, Disco, EDM, and even the Gregorian-Chant-inspired title track make the album an interesting ride. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Smith.
7. Bewitched by Laufey. Last year I listened to Spotify’s Crushed Velvetplaylist and heard Laufey’s “Dreamer.” The playlist consists of new songs that, from production or composition, sound like they could have been from the ‘50s. Laufey had begun making waves last year with her single “From the Start.” The acoustic lounge song gained attention on social media and raised hype in the young singer’s album Bewitched, which topped Billboard’s Jazz albums. The album displays a truly talented artist who I hope we see collaborating and making incredible music in the future.
6. Something to Give Each Otherby Troye Sivan. We needed this album after the nightlife drought of the pandemic years. After the subdued sounds in the break-up EP In a Dreamin 2020 and the love songs in non-album singles after the EP, Something to Give Each Other takes a tonal divergence with singles “RushRush” and “Got Me Started.” In the third single, the ballad “One of Your Girls,” Sivan shows vulnerability confessing a situation when men who identify as straight propose hooking up with the young gay icon. It’s a more sexually mature Sivan album, but it feels vital, young, and free.
5.The Albumby Jonas Brothers. One of the things that made a good album of 2023 was flaws. I haven’t seen this one make a critic’s list, but I think that Kevin, Joe, and Nick leaned into the cheesiness that a Jonas Brothers’ album that fans expected but achieved a musicality we listeners weren’t expecting. It’s yacht rock, gospel, pop, and hints of disco, funk, and country. Jon Bellion’s production team crafts some interesting arrangements, though several of the songs could benefit from an instrumental breakdown. It’s a very short album. I didn’t think that I would enjoy a Jonas Brothers album as I enjoy this one. It was a great album to enjoy last summer. It was the idea of summer even when summer wasn’t a “Summer in the Hamptons.” Maybe it will mean something next summer.
4. In the End It Always Doesby The Japanese House. The sophomore record by Amber Bain’s ethereal musical project is beautiful. “Boyhood” ranked in my top ten songs of the year, but also “Touching Yourself” is a beautiful song about a long distance relationship that is delivered in a way that you could play in any cafe despite the song’s lyrical content that is breezed over with Bain’s lush instrumentation and vocals. Collaborations with MUNA, Charli XCX, The 1975’s Matty Healy, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon are all welcome guests, but the chief resident of The Japanese House, Amber Bain, is an excellent host on a great record.
3. Javelinby Sufjan Stevens. The pathologically private singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens has been given more than a lifetime’s worth of sadness and tragedy. It was a tough year for Stevens who was suffering from Guillain-Barré Syndrome when he announced the album’s release, having to relearn to walk. Then he announced that his partner Evan Richardson had died last April, apparently coming out. Javelin may be a grief tribute similar to his magnum opus Carrie & Lowell. I would rank the album higher, but Javelin feels like a sequel. I think that it’s lyrically refined but it doesn’t have the raw details we come to expect from a Sufjan album. “So You Are Tired,” “Goodbye Evergreen,” and “Shit Talk” are my favorites so far. More analysis of this record coming soon!
In 2020, amid America’s racial reckoning following the brutal murder of George Floyd, many artists of color came to prominence. Jon Batiste had been playing drums and percussion from the age of 8 and classical piano from the age of 11. Influenced by classical, jazz, R&B, and pop, Batiste released his first album, Times in New Orleans, at 17 and was accepted to study music at Juilliard. After earning his bachelor’s degree, Baptiste went on to earn a master’s degree also from Julliard. In 2004, while studying at Julliard, Batiste formed the jazz band Stay Human. In 2015, Steven Colbert hired Batiste and Stay Human as his house band for The Late Show with Colbert. Batiste’s career has been characterized with prestige, collaboration, activism, and gradual name recognition.
THAT’S JUST WHO I AM, THAT’S JUST MY RADIO. I first heard of Jon Batiste from his contribution to the Souloriginal soundtrack. Batiste composed original jazz pieces for the 2020 Pixar film. Along with co-composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who created the otherworldly synthesizer pieces in the score, Batiste received many awards and nominations, including wins for Best Original Score at The Golden Globes, The British FilmAwards, The Academy Awards, and Best Score for Visual Media at the Grammys. In addition to Batiste’s nominations for his work on Soul, Batiste’s fifth album WE AREwon Album of the Year at the 2022 Grammy Awards. Batiste’s win was controversial as none of the singles from the album were hits and the record had left the Billboard 200 albums chart before the Grammys and only returned after the ceremony. Batiste’s 2023 album, World Music Radio, was also nominated for a 2024 Album of the year, but lost to Taylor Swift’s Midnights. Batiste’s 2023 album is a largely collaborative concept album. The album follows a being from another planet who observes the music of earth and ultimately uses Earth’s music to create a “potpourri of the far-flung musical languages of Earth.”
DON’T WANT TO SHARE A MUMBLING WORD. Jon Batiste’s music inspired many in 2020, giving a performance with Matt Whitaker on the steps of the Brooklyn Public Library on Juneteenth. Batiste grew up in a family that had been active in the fight for civil rights, and the accomplished musician has donated proceeds from singles and projects to charities that support human rights. Batiste’s latest album World Music Radio aims to give the listener a global perspective. Featuring artists like Lil’ Wayne, Lana Del Rey, Jon Bellion, and Kenny G, Batiste shows that he’s a musician’s musician. Today’s track, “Be Who You Are,” features American rapper JID, Korean girl group NewJeans, and Colombian singer Camilo. The lyrics of the song encourage listeners to embrace their uniqueness. The collaboration between the artists from three continents—North and South America and Asia—suggests a global perspective in pop music. Bringing together the sounds of pop, R&B, K-pop, and Latin pop, “Be Who You Are” both reminds listeners that music is global and suggests that perhaps the future of pop music may not be in English. It might just be time to join Duolingo if you want to enjoy pop music in the future!
January wasn’t too early to start thinking about an Endless Summer Vacation, at least for Miley Cyrus. The singer’s eighth studio album came out last March, and the first single, “Flowers” was dropped in January. The single builds on the theme of her last LP, Plastic Hearts, and its lead single “Midnight Sky,” in which Cyrus declares “I don’t belong to anyone / I don’t need to be loved by you.” In “Flowers,” Cyrus realizes that she can buy her own damn flowers rather than accept a half-hearted gift from a lackadaisical lover. The singer’s target, of course, is ex-husband Liam Hemsworth.
WE WERE GOOD, WE WERE GOLD. Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth met on the set of the 2010 Nicholas Sparksfilm adaptation of The Last Songin 2009. The two dated on and off until getting engaged in 2012. They broke off their engagement in 2013 on good terms, dating other people until 2016 when they announced that they again were engaged. The couple married in 2018 but announced their separation the next year and the divorce was finalized in 2020, the couple citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their divorce. In “Flowers,” Cyrus claims, “I didn’t wanna leave you, baby / I didn’t wanna fight.” But in the end, she realizes, “I can love me better than you can.” Cyrus realizes that she doesn’t need the spark of a romantic gift when she can take care of herself. It’s better to “hold [your] own hand” if your partner isn’t there for you completely.
I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS. In January when Miley Cyrus first released “Flowers,” avid pop music listeners caught a reference to Bruno Mars‘ “When I Was Your Man.” Liam Hemsworth had reportedly dedicated the song to Cyrus when the two were married. Cyrus, though, takes Mars’ weepy ballad about a lover’s regret and turns it into a revenge anthem, even releasing it on Hemsworth’s birthday, January 13th. The song references several incidents in their relationship, including their lost Malibu home, which burned in 2018. The Mars’ track focuses on the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” of lost love, almost as if the listener were a victim of his ineptitude. Cyrus, however, refuses to be a victim. Self-love is better than whatever she was experiencing, and in the case of “Flowers,” the biggest expression of self-love is revenge. But it’s not a “good 4 u” kind of revenge. It’s perhaps more damaging to the ego of certain men in a hetero-normative relationship. The subtle jabs at using birthdays as release dates and wordplay about meaningful events reinforce this, but the true revenge is, “Sorry Bruno, I don’t need you. I can do it myself! In fact, I’m growing my own flowers in the alcove garden of the expensive home I bought with my success!”
The pandemic was a mixed blessing for music. On one hand, bands were unable to tour, which cut off the lifeblood of the music industry. Album sales, which used to drive the industry, were decimated by the end of the ‘10s as music shifted to digital sales. But even digital sales slowed, and streaming became the industry standard. Even when albums were selling, bands needed to tour, often relentlessly, to make a living. When the pandemic hit and forced touring bands to stay home, several bands found a way to distribute the experiences of a live show via Internet livestream. With the public stuck at home, many of the old bands decided to get back together. It turned out that millennials now had money to spend on the band that they loved in their youth.
HE CALLED BACK HOME, BUT THEY JUST MISSED IT. Seth Roberts took 2020 as an opportunity to reform his old band,Watashi Wa. Roberts had several bands before the Watashi Wa reunion, but Watashi Wa was Roberts’ first band. Roberts worked with close friends and reached out to friends from the scene he had known for years, bands that influenced Watashi Wa, and bands that toured with them. The result was People Like People, released in 2022. Almost everything about the album was experimental, from the wide-ranging sounds of punk from pop to hardcore to the lyrical content that Roberts described to the Hit Piece Podcast as “Optimism for the future.” Eight of the thirteen tracks feature another band, some are well-known bands from Tooth & Nail Records’ early days, while others were part of the scene that never broke through. The album’s opening track, “Let Me Prepare You,” features Florida-based band Gasoline Heart. On the Labeled Podcast, Roberts talks with host Matt Carter about the origins of the collaboration.
DARKER THAN DARK TIMES. According to the interview, part of “Let Me Prepare You” came from a collaboration between Seth Roberts and Gasoline Heart that appeared on Gasoline Heart’s album. Matt Carter then talked about his one-time experience with Gasoline Heart’s lead singer Louis DeFabrizio, whose band The Kick, a predecessor to Gasoline Heart, opened for Carter’s band Emery on their first tour, the Tooth & Nail Tour, in Orlando. According to Roberts on The Rumors Are True podcast, DeFabrizio was in Seth’s band Eager Seas after the original Watashi Wa line-up left the band. DeFabrizio and Gasoline Heart have never been famous but have been important in the background of the scene. The band is name-dropped on Anberlin’s “There Are No Mathematics to Love and Loss.” They released one albumYou Know Who You Are on Mono vs. Stereo, the rock label of Gotee Records, in 2006. It’s the most-produced album in their discography and the only one without profanity, though the Christian-label released You Know Who You Are was far from a tame Christian Rock record. I’ve attempted to see Gasoline Heart twice at Cornerstone. Let’s just say DeFabrizio is quite a character. He was kicked out of the festival in 2011. He seemed to be quite drunk and was fighting with the festival organizers. That was my only experience with seeing the band, so I was always fascinated with why Louis was so well-liked in the scene. Of People Like People, Roberts told Hit Piece Podcast that he hopes his listeners will be “challenged by . . . [the album] or maybe to think a little different than the mainstream media.” Roberts has said on several podcasts that he has worked for NewsCorp, and on The Rumors Are True Podcast that the original version of “Let Me Prepare You” had an audio clip of his friend talking about his opinion of the vaccine. Tooth & Nail Records encouraged Roberts to cut the clip, saying that it might make the album polarizing. “Let Me Prepare You” and People Like People is a more conservative take on the pandemic, but Roberts ultimately wanted to create a conversation, rooted in optimism.
Zara Larsson is a Swedish singer-songwriter who began her career on the Swedish version of Got Talent, called Talangwhen she was ten. She won the series and began recording songs in 2012. Her debut EP Introducingwas only available in Scandinavia where her lead single, “Uncover” topped the charts in Norway and her home country. In 2013, she signed a contract with Epic Records in America, which broadened the signer’s exposure to a bigger audience. But in 2014, Larsson released her first full album 1, only in Scandinavia. Larsson has released four albums, with Venusbeing her most recent, released earlier this month. The third single, “On My Love,” was released last September. David Guetta produced the track. It’s an airy electronic track, which is pure emotion. The upbeat song is the basis for introducing my eclectic workout mix. It’s a playlist more about pumping and less about thinking.
I’m taking a break from writing this week and just delivering playlists. I don’t have any parasocial commentary on NewJeans and their massive 2023 hit “Super Shy.” Instead, today, we’re looking at the big songs from the last two years and songs that might be big this year. Below is the Spotify edition of 2024+. The Apple Music edition will come later. I will also reveal my favorite song from last year a the end of the post!
Following Blue Neighbourhood,Troye Sivan released another collection of songs celebrating queer love in 2018. This time, Bloomwas less about love in the abstract and more about sex. Songs like the title track dealing with anal sex, the Apple Music edition of the album’s opener “Seventeen” recalling how the singer lost his virginity to an older man on Grindr when he was seventeen, to a song about his boyfriend who “Tastes like Lucky Strikes” may take a few listens to understand the euphemisms.
SHINE ON, DIAMOND. Bloom holds an 85% on Meta-Critic, meaning that most reviews were favorable. In America, though, Sivan’s music mostly is confined to the LGBTQ+ community, and Bloom didn’t make a splash in the mainstream pop market. But looking at the promotion, Sivan’s team clearly had the young star’s sights on conquering the charts. A track with Ariana Grande, a performance, albeit a polarizing performance, on Saturday Night Live, and a guest spot on Ellen weren’t enough to raise the singer’s pop stardom. The first single from Sivan’s sophomore LP, “My My My!” topped the Billboard Dance Club Songs. NPRand Pitchforkpraised the album. The former said reviewing Sivan’s “My My My!” video: “[i]t’s not every day you see a young, skinny, queer kid get to be completely himself in a music video, and Sivan makes us want to dance along with him.” His performance on SNL, though, divided viewers. It ranked as the ninth-worst performance, according to a video by WatchMojo.com. Many wondered who the singer was and why they should care about a singer “trying to be Aaron Carter“?
I DIE EVERY NIGHT WITH YOU. In Korea, though, you can easily hear Troye Sivan’s music when you go shopping or go out to eat, and this is every single the singer puts out. One of the questions that I’ve had in my own coming out journey is why are some LGBTQ+ figures so big in Korea? Korea is a country that neither criminalizes homosexuality nor grants rights 1)against discrimination 2) for civil unions, marriage, inheritance, or adoption 3) any specific protection under the law. Singers like Troye Sivan and Sam Smith became huge in Korea although only one Korean celebrity has publicly come out, which initially ruined his career. In America, maybe Troye Sivan’s SNL performance is still too gay for the mainstream. The country has made progress in LGBTQ+ representation, but maybe homophobia is preventing Sivan from becoming a huge star, much in the way that if an A-list Hollywood actor were to come out (Tom Cruise, John Travolta) it is still speculated to be a career suicide. As with singers of the past who came out or were later found out not to be straight, it was easier for the listeners to accept that singer–after all celebrities aren’t like us, right?–rather than recognize it and accept those around them who were not straight. I always hope that Troye Sivan, Sam Smith, Freddie Mercury, Elton John, and so many other LGBTQ+ celebrities can be a point of discussion about accepting the community in one’s own backyard.
If x then happiness. Find x. Simple algebra. What is the one thing you want for life or for the moment? How do you get it? That’s the problem. I can think about some times in my life when I thought everything was coming together only for it all to fall apart. There was this awesome housing situation in college until my roommate called to say that he wasn’t coming back next year. Or establishing the “dream team” at two of my schools. Spoiler alert: it never lasts, and new drama comes up to make the dream team more of a nightmare. If only I had that promotion. If only I bought X. If only that person was available. X-Y= happiness. But what happens when it doesn’t happen? What happens when the exact opposite happens. You don’t get the promotion. Maybe you get fired. They get married rather than breaking up. The relationship turns abusive or maybe hidden infidelity. What happens next? That’s what this synth-pop single by Years & Yearsdeals with.
I DREAMED OF A LIFE SO BIG AND TALL. Robert Burns wrote in “To a Mouse“: “Best laid schemes o[f] mice an[d] men [go oft awry].” Years & Years is a group I’ve gotten into gradually. I found Alexander’s usage of religious imagery in much of the band’s songs interesting. Themes of longing for connection, gender/queerness, and ritual permeate around the sounds of synths and a grooving beat. Olly Alexander certainly isn’t the first openly gay musician to hit the radio, but most singers don’t use same-sex pronouns in their music as do Years & Years. What I’ve found when listening to the band is that it takes a while for their songs to hit me, but when they do each song becomes a transformative experience both musically and lyrically. Today’s song seems to be about parents’ divorce, but it could also be about falling in love with someone in a relationship waiting for the other relationship to end.
WEAKNESS WON’T BE YOUR SAVIOR. I used to be a disappointment prepper, maybe I still am. I figure if I think that the worst case could happen, I’ll be satisfied with whatever outcome happens if it’s not the worst thing, and somehow I’ll be prepared to deal with the worst case if it does happen. I was a chronic worrier when I was a kid. When I was in kindergarten, my dad’s truck caught on fire. The truck stalled in the driveway after my dad delivered firewood to a customer. My dad, sister, and I sat for a few seconds in the truck. My dad later said that he was puzzled why the truck had died but I just thought we were sitting waiting to go in the house like we would do sometimes. Then we started to see ash coming form the hood. My dad yelled at us, “Get out!” He grabbed my sister and I didn’t bother opening my heavy door. I was out the door right behind my dad. Next thing I knew, the flames grew and my dad was spraying the open hood with our garden hose. He eventually sold the truck, but I started to have a fear of old trucks and fire after that day. The fire safety videos at school kept me awake very late many nights, particularly in the winter. Would a stray log roll out of the stove? Could I be sure that the electrical wiring was done right in the house? And every type of natural or unnatural disaster I learned about I added to my prayer list–my handover to God to watch over me and my family when I couldn’t be in control. I don’t know when I grew out of this. I don’t remember my prayer list from ten years or after being a list of “save me from ….” I think started to learn that I couldn’t control everything and that sometimes you are just a victim no matter what precautions you take. But still, I catastrophize events in my personal life. “I’m pretty sure that _____ might happen. If it does, I will need to do ____.” But I’m trying to fight that instinct and just let things happen. Whatever happens, “The future will be rearranged.”
Heavy metal music is quite scary to many people even without the visuals. But add the visuals and the backstory along with titles like “Raining Blood,” you’ve got a genre of music that’s pretty great for Halloween. But then you add the macabre images of classic acts like Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne or Nu Metal giants like Rammstein or Rob Zombie, metal is horrifying. Stone Sour isn’t a shock metal group, but cofounder and lead singer Corey Taylor left the band in 1997 to replace Slipknot‘s original frontman, and became known for an outrageous, downright brutal stage image. 
Mixtapemotions 