"Over the Hills And Far Away" by Nightwish from Over the Hills and Far Away EP

"He knew, without an alibi, / tomorrow's night would mourn his freedom…" Woo, can you say The Count of Monte Cristo meets, um, militaresque hard rock? (Seriously, if you like that style of music, it's a fun song, as evidenced by all the covers of it! Nightwish's version is only one of five that I can find record of.)

Okay, so strictly speaking, the tale's a bit different from Monte Cristo. Sure, the guy's wrongly accused—of robbery, with his pistol found at the scene—but he had no alibi for that night because he was with his best friend's wife. And the song laments the twosome waiting the "ten long years" so "back in his arms again she'll be." Uh, has nobody learned anything? And am I the only one who thinks it maybe a bit convenient that the man's pistol was at the scene of a robbery on a night he was with his best friend's wife, suggesting that maybe we're supposed to assume that the best friend himself planted the evidence?

Nightwish covered Gary Moore's 1987 song in 2001 for an EP. The "new" version had the same tune, but Nightwish updated it slightly. The two versions are therefore very similar (if you ignore Gary Moore's tenor vs. Tarja Turenen's operatic soprano). …It's not Tarja's best singing, honestly, but it's nice. If you can get into hard rock with an opera singer. Some people can't.

What gets fun in the song is the kinda martial quality to it. (The music video for the original by Gary Moore even has a row of presumed soldiers at their drums in some of those uniforms from a century or two ago.) The funniest thing for me is it sounds like something Nightwish would write, sounds like some bands that some parents now tsk over their kids listening to, and the original song's as old as I am!

As I mentioned in my coverage of the story, it's not exactly… edifying, unless you want to listen and snort at the "Aw, isn't that sweet that they're gonna make the exact same mistake that resulted in his ten-year incarceration in the first place?" So the message can be a bit disturbing, if that bothers you. But overall, it's one of those songs that sticks with you if you happen to like the sound. And the language is clean, as is standard for Nightwish even when they get into some of the topics that some people like avoiding.

Nightwish also kindly keeps its music video clean. Strange, confusing, and kinda silly if you happen to think about it, but nicely, er, dressed. (If that comment confuses you, don't worry; people who like knowing that kinda thing will get it.)

Overall, I suggest the song if you like hard rock, symphonic metal, or operatic metal and aren't easily swayed by lyrics.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 4/5
Overall: 9/10

"Lips of an Angel" by Hinder from Extreme Behavior

I used to think I liked this song a little… before I paid attention to the lyrics.

It's the guy's side of a phone conversation with an ex-girlfriend or a woman he wished could be his girlfriend, but she's evidently married or in some other situation that makes them unable to be each others' significant other at this time. Evidently they "never really moved on".

"Does he know you're calling me? Will it start a fight? No, I don't think she has a clue" concisely embodies what I dislike about this song. I'm sure this kind of thing happens, but the implicit deceit and lack of faithfulness makes me dislike it. The man does ask "Honey, why you calling me so late?" but "I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud. My girl's in the next room; sometimes I wish she was you."

There is no swearing or any of that, and they do apparently stay faithful in action if not in heart to their respective partners. But it's that unfaithful at heart that's the issue, here. And evidently, that's mild for Hinder, as their other single title "Get Stoned" suggests.

Austin Winkler's vocals are soothing. Not good, not bad, but soothing. And those are the best part about this song. The music is stock, the only personality to it being the usual band imitation. It's tolerable, but really… Can't radio stations find something better to play?

Hm… Hinder's "Lips of an Angel" or Evanescence's "My Immortal"… Hard choice.

Not.

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Lyrics: 2/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 5/10

"My Sacrifice" by Creed from Weathered

"I just want to say hello again…"

Before… what? Sounds like you died. You can say "hi" when dead… how?

Creed's oddly popular in Christian circles. I guess it is better quality than Christian rock in general, but… Creed isn't a Christian band. They use Christian allusions, true, but the band isn't Christian.

Maybe it's just the bands I tend to listen to, but it seems like guy singers prefer guitar-based rock, gals piano-based. The guitar-based music is better than some, but it doesn't sound anything special.

Um, have you tried opening your mouth? The singer has an average voice, demonstrating an average slur as he sings his not-so-average tribute to friendship and the sacrifices of 9/11 heroes.

Lyricwise, it's refreshing to hear about the strength of a non-romantic friendship. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel very fluid. Maybe it's me, but that's my impression of it, at any rate.

It's an okay song. I don't mind it; not that I particularly like it, either.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 3/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 6/10

"Animal I Have Become" by Three Days Grace from One-X

When I get in my mother's car, chances are some rock station will be playing. That I often avoid those stations on my own is well-established in my family. "Animal I Have Become," with its standard yelling and hard rock beat, would generally a prime example of 'songs Carradee would avoid.' The look on my mother's and my brother's faces one day when they realized that was me singing along with this song was priceless. (That it took them a near minute to realize who was singing was another matter.)

I first heard this song—or, at least, I was first aware of having heard this song—shortly after I saw Underworld last year. (The first one.) I highly enjoyed the literal fantasy element of this song of a newly-bitten werewolf or vampire struggling to cope with the beast now within. (The music video leans towards vampire, but I tend to think of the narrator as a werewolf.) Literalist me has great difficulty with symbolism, but the song was written as the singer admitting his darker side comes out in his music and coming to terms with it.

The lyrics themselves work very well, capturing the fear, frustration, pleading, confusion, and anger all wrapped into either the literal fantasy or the symbolic realistic meaning. They are pretty short and direct, but at least the songwriter ended when he had a tightly-woven song rather than trying to needlessly stretch it out. "Animal I Have Become" does repeat itself, but that repetition links the many conflicting emotions of the piece.

Now, I think he has a good voice, but much of the song yells, making it hard to tell. "Somebody get me through this nightmare—I can't control myself!" he yells in frustration and fear. The song addresses that "this animal" is who he now is; no one can change that, but he still pleads for someone to "help me tame this animal I have become!"

The word hell is used, though not as an expletive. ("I can't excape this hell.") It's overall a dark tone, with a sound I can only describe as "rough," though not in a musically unskilled kind of way. It suits the subject matter.

"Animal I Have Become" has helped me adapt to hard rock and the post-grunge influence, so I can tolerate them. I liked the song enough that I forced myself to sit through listening to it.

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Lyrics: 4/5
Music: 4/5
Vocal(s): 3/5
Overall: 7/10

"Numb" by Linkin Park from Meteora

Sweet lead voice! That's what I think when I hear the first verse. Usually, I can't stand screaming, but evidently from "Numb," yelling doesn't necessarily bother me in the same way. The way it's done and the choice of its location in this song (mostly) fit it really well. The narrator's frustration boils over into the mostly-yelling portions. Even then, I think it's more of an expression of frustration than anger.

Any topic will have a lot of songs on it. "Numb"s topic, being trampled by another's expectations, is no exception. Nonetheless, Linkin Park manages it well, with intense frustration fully expressed without a single curse. (Not all of their songs are as clean, evidently, so watch out if looking them up.)

Yes, the narrator's probably angry at a parent, but he's more frustrated and breaking under the pressure rather than outright rebelling. He's tried to obey, but "Every step that I take is another mistake to you." After so long of the other "holding too tightly afraid to lose control," "I'm tired of being what you want me to be… feeling so faithless, lost under the surface." It's not that he doesn't want to please his parent, but he can't. After years of pressure, he's "become so numb," "become so tired" that he's "so much more aware" of all the wrongful pressure and can't politely ignore it anymore.

Moreover, it's not merely a rejection of the parent because the singer is oh-so-smarter. The narrator knows he will likely make mistakes. He also knows his parent was "just like me with someone disappointed in you." Okay, a little of the rhyme is off, but as that's consistent it's likely intentional.

On a music level, it's the hard rock with hip-hop overtones that some call Nu-metal. It's not a mere beat accented by voices; there's more to the music than many bands have. Rather than the normal distinct vocals, drums, and maybe a background if you listen closely, the drums are really an integral part to the rest of the background. And the acoustic version is beautiful.

Hey, I can like something that's not gothic rock, you know. …Actually, considering this song's genre, it's a bit shocking that I like it at all. This style of music sounds suspiciously like my brother's preference, which usually sends me screaming out the door. (Fine, groaning loudly in protest.)

Still, if you can't stand hard rock whatsoever, I suggest you at least read the lyrics if not look up the acoustic version. Parents aren't the only ones who can catch someone "in the undertow" from "holding too tightly." As someone who had a high school drive me into poor health, I know from experience what it's like to "become so numb" that you don't care anymore. Though I love learning, all I care about now in school anymore is keeping my scholarships to get my degree to be done with this. And those people who destroyed school's fun for me weren't even my parents.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 5/5
Vocal(s): 5/5
Overall: 10/10