Sum 41; Screaming Bloody Murder

I bought my copy of Sum 41's Screaming Bloody Murder today and, fuck me dead, it's brilliant!

They were so right when they said it was going to have the same vibe as ‘We’re All To Blame’ in relation to song structure and I love that! It’s up-beat, it’s heavy, it’s mature, it's dark, it's honest. It's one of those albums where you’re taken on a journey from beginning to end and couldn't possibly skip a song, much like the way I felt, and still feel, when I first heard Underclass Hero.

There is an evident theme of loss and pain on the record expressed through a range of different emotions. Deryck, as the main song writer for the band, has had to face and overcome many different trials in his life as of late, and I believe that is reflected through the songs that he has produced, whether intentionally or not. Songs such as 'Crash' and 'Exit Song' show the softer, more heartbreaking side of pain and, when you listen to these songs, it's difficult not to sense the emotion in Deryck's lyrics and vocals. Whereas 'Skumf*k' and 'Blood In My Eyes' show the more aggressive side to the same kind of loss. Not only is the album, in my opinion, about pain, but also about acceptance and a new beginning; picking yourself up after heartache and overcoming the hurt in order to find yourself once again. That's something that a lot of people can relate to and a message that everyone can take away from the record. It is through the three part A Dark Road Out Of Hell, comprised of 'Holy Image Of Lies', 'Sick Of Everyone' and 'Happiness Machine', respectively, that a story is told; a story of giving yourself over to another person, exposing yourself and your vulnerability, only to be hurt in the process and left scarred in the end. It shows a desire to want to move forward but not knowing the exact way to go about doing so. The opening song, 'Reason To Believe', essentially sums up the entire album, both through the lyrical content and the sound, and gives you a taste of what to expect from the rest of the record. The magical thing about music though is that, like most forms of art, it is open for personal interpretation; what one person might take away from this album could be something completely different to someone else.

With each new record that Sum 41 release, it is always so different from its preceder, yet they still maintain that ‘Sum 41 sound’. I love that kind of diversity within a band. Change is a good thing. It’s a sign of growth, as a band and as individuals. Screaming Bloody Murder is just another example of Sum 41's ability to reinvent themselves once again. It's a fusion of punk rock and metal, with many softer moments thrown into the mix, topped off with the always present energy of Sum 41. In the most simplest of terms, to quote a line I found online, "If Chuck and Underclass Hero met, and fucked, Screaming Bloody Murder would be the result." It's a record that I can highly recommend with utmost confidence.

To listen to the online streaming of Screaming Bloody Murder, check it out at Sum41.com.

Screaming Blood Murder Track List
1. Reason To Believe
2. Screaming Bloody Murder
3. Skumf*k
4. Time For You To Go
5. Jessica Kill
6. What Am I To Say
A Dark Road Out Of Hell
7. Holy Image Of Lies
8. Sick Of Everyone
9. Happiness Machine
10. Crash
11. Blood In My Eyes
12. Baby You Don't Wanna Know
13. Back Where I Belong
14. Exit Song

Stevo 32 + Jyssica = BFFLs

Need I say more?
lol

My Sydney Soundwave Trip!

I've just arrived back home from my week in Sydney and I must say I had an amazing time!! I had so much fun and got to meet some really cool new people. So many exciting things happened to me while I went away, so here are my little "diary entries" of my experiences so I can share the joy! :)

For now the only one I'm posting is to do with the day I arrived because I haven't exactly finished the others. But I thought I'd at least get something posted.

Saturday 26th February, Sydney Airport

This is a time and place to be remembered, people. Want to know why? Well, I MET JARED LETO AND DERYCK WHIBLEY! That’s right, you read correctly; airport stalking once again paid off cos I met JARED LETO AND DERYCK WHIBLEY!

OMG! It was AWESOME! Cindy and I had been waiting at the airport for a few hours after my plane from Melbourne had landed. We were determined to meet 30 Seconds To Mars! It was our mission and NOTHING would get in our way! Every time we saw a flight from Brisbane was arriving we’d go over to where a mass of people would be congregated around the carousel. The first time we did this, we were just casually waiting behind this huge group of tattooed and pierced men wearing black, when some guy came over to where we were standing and left his bags. He said to us, “hey, can you watch my bags?”, to which we said, “sure!” He came back over with some more bags and we all just struck up conversation. He was telling us how nice Australians were and how we’re so friendly, because despite the fact he didn’t know us and we didn’t know him, had he asked someone in America to watch his bags, the authorities probably would have been called, yet we simply said sure. He was so friendly and we would have been talking to him for about 10 minutes. Trying to suss out who this guy was, Cindy said that there seemed to be a lot of bands around. He then asked us if we knew what Soundwave was and that he was playing at Soundwave. We asked him what band he played in and turns out he was Travis Clark from We The Kings! Haha, it’s funny, cos I know their music, yet I have no idea who the band members are! I wish I knew who he was before I started talking to him. He then asked us if we knew where any good party places were in the city, and Cindy had no idea, nor did I seeing as how I’m not even from Sydney. We said it depended on where he was staying and he was so determined to let us know where he was going to be. He must have told us three times what hotel he was at! I only wish my memory wasn’t so bad and that I could have remembered what he said!!

Flight after flight we kept a look out for Mars but weren’t having any luck. On the arrivals board there was only one flight still to come in, so we figured we’d wait for it. For the entire evening, security had been looking at us and had to have known we were there to try and see someone. Every now and then we’d see someone walk passed with a clipboard and some kind of ID card, and we realised they had to have been with Soundwave cos they always appeared as a flight was about to come in. This one guy saw Cindy and I sitting down and came over and asked us if we were with Soundwave. We told him “no” and he kept walking. Then he came by again and we asked him if he was with Soundwave. He said he was. So we asked him if he had any idea who was coming in on the next flight. He said he couldn’t tell us, but he did ask who we were waiting for. Cindy showed him her tattoo and he’s just like, “I have no idea what that means!” So we told him we were waiting for Mars and we asked if he could just let us know about them. He was adamant that he wouldn’t tell us, so I asked if I could just have a quick look at his board. He was like, “no, sorry. I really can’t do that. I’ll get fired! But what I can do is tell you that they’re not going to be coming in until tomorrow morning.” Once he left Cindy and I were like, “nah, he’s lying just so we’d leave.” So we stayed. And thank fucking God we did! We continued sitting there when, behind us, Jared Leto appeared on the escalators!!! Cindy turned to me and was like, “Jys, it’s Jared. That’s Jared Leto. Oh my God, it’s Jared.” Earlier on Cindy told me to make sure she didn’t freak out in front of him, so I was just like “calm, stay calm!” She turned to me and was like, “I’m going in!” and got up and went over to him before he passed us. I was like, “Oh FUCK! It’s really him.. what do I do?!” So I went over to Cindy and Jared who, at this point, were in the middle of literally a 10 second hug, lol. As I approached Jared, he was still hugging Cindy but, he looked and saw me coming over too and was like, “oh my.” It was a good ‘oh my’, lol. It was an ‘oh, hello. Another person to see me,’ lol, the attention seeking whore. Then I gave him a hug too and asked if I could get a photo. He was like “sure, first could you just mind my bags. Don’t steal any of my fucking shit” and then he went to the toilets that were behind us. Then he came back and we got photos with him. We were like, “thank you so much” and he’s like, “oh, no thank you.” Oh, he’s just so amazingly gorgeous! He was so sweet and softly spoken, not to mention extremely patient with us. He spent about 10-15 minutes with us. I mean, JARED LETO HAD HIS ARM AROUND MY BACK, HIS HAND ON MY WASIT! Cindy then gave him this heart cushion and he was like, “oh, you’re so sweet.” By this time everyone else from the flight had pretty much walked by and he’s like, “okay, I should probably go now” and we’re like, “yeah, of course. Thank you so much again!” and he’s like, “oh, thank you,” then he started to walk away. BUT, before he left completely, he turned around and said, “see you” and did that salute wave thing. OH, SO CUTE! Honestly, it was fantastic! However, one image that I will never be able to get out of my mind is his entrance when we were still sitting down. As we looked over to him and saw him descending the escalators, it was so surreal! He was standing there, perfect posture, practically gliding down the escalators, pretty much like God, as time stood still. It was just, yeah.. HNNNG!

Once he’d left to get his bags I was shaking! My legs were about to give way! So we both went back to where we had been sitting before! The first thing I did was put on Facebook that I’d met Jared Leto, and then I called Emma. While I was spazzing on the phone to Emma, which she can vouch for 100 per cent, I looked back to the escalators and was like, “OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG. Emma, I.. just hang on.. Nup, OMG! Okay, I’ll get back to you,” then I hung up. While Cindy was like, “what is going on here?!”, I got up and walked over to DERYCK WHIBLEY! When I first saw him, during my spaz, I was thinking to myself, “no, this can’t be who I think it is.. it just can’t be. HOLY SHIT, IT IS!” haha. I went up to him and was like, “hey Deryck, I’m Jys. Could I please get a photo?” He was like, “of course”, and then we had our photo taken! asdfghjkl! I was still in shock from having met Jared, so to then meet Deryck was just unbelievable! Cindy then was like, “oh, can I get a photo too?” So she got hers taken. Then Deryck went to get his bags. We again walked back to our seats and Cindy was like, “so, who was that?” haha. She figured if I was making such a fuss, then she must want a photo too. I was like “dude! That was Deryck! Lead singer from Sum 41!” ASDFGHJKL!!! Then I called Emma back and explained what happened, lol. However, while I was on the phone to Emma, some big security-looking guy came over to us. I was on the phone, so he spoke to Cindy. What he said was, “I’m Deryck’s people. Are you staying in Sydney? (Yes). Are you doing anything tonight? (No). Could I have you’re number and we’ll call you to let you know where the party’s at.” Okay, so they didn’t end up calling, BUT DUDE! DERYCK WHIBLEY’S ‘PEOPLE’ GOT OUR NUMBER! Hahaha. Oh man, if only I could have partied with Sum 41!!! Then while still on the phone, (btw, this phone call when for quite some time), I look out the glass window we were sitting next to and see Cone McCaslin walk by!! That started a whole new round of spazzing, lol. I was half thinking about getting up and going outside to chase him, but I figured that would have really creeped him out, lol. I may not have got a photo, but I did get to see Cone for real!! So I guess that will have to suffice.

Finally we got up and, as we did so, we saw this guy that had also been waiting at the airport for people he wanted to meet. Earlier in the evening he’d also asked us if we were with Soundwave, to which he again said no. We told him we were hoping to see Jared Leto. This guy though was like, “oh, no. I hear he’s not a very nice person. The other two, sure; they’re fine. But Jared.. he has no time for people. He’s all about himself. Very rude man.” Well, Cindy almost lost her shit! Then he came back to us later on and said how a friend of his was a huge 30 Seconds To Mars fan and that they’d said that Jared would be staying at the Vibe Hotel. That bit of information made it a fraction easier for Cindy to not kill him, but it still took a lot of willpower! So, after we met Jared, this guy was still at the airport. So Cindy went over to him to tell him that he could now, “tell everyone that he’s ‘heard’ Jared is a very sweet and considerate person.” The walk over though.. haha. Cindy had this walk, a strut/march, that looked like shit was about to go down, lol. Once we’d sorted this guy out, we decided it was time to go home. We were told that there was another flight coming in that had been delayed that Shannon and Tomo were on but, by this stage it was after 10:30pm, so we caught the train home. After calling Emma I then proceeded to give Bee a call and fangirl to her as well, lol. I pretty much wanted to tell anyone who would bother to listen to me.

Cindy and I were insane for the duration on the train ride and pretty much well into the morning! And when I say ‘well into the morning’, I mean until 7:30am when we finally decided we should get some sleep before having to get up for Soundwave.