Rainbow

In tribute to Ronnie James Dio's passing this past month (due to cancer), I thought it only fitting to offer a great song from his days in Rainbow. The song "Kill The King (Live)" is available on Amazon from a live cd in Munich from 1977. Great song by one of the greatest metal vocalists to have ever lived. I was blessed enough to see him with Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell) as my first real rock show. He will be missed.



As an extra treat, check out this old music video cartoon to a song he sang. Trippy but beautifully animated video, amazing song, and Dio singing rock make this something not to miss. Enjoy!!

House of Heroes

Hey Younglifers (and everyone else), quick update today with a fun christian band called House of Heroes. Christian music as a genre can be hard to find for free so stuff like this is appreciated. Even though they are technically classified as Christian, they have a very broad appeal and should be enjoyable by anyone. They have a great varied sound that mostly stays within alternative but can range from poppy acoustic to even a heavy metal sound (within the same song even!) Amazon has 4 free songs from 2 separate locations. The first is a three-song EP titled "The End is Not The End" containing the songs "In The Valley of the Dying Sun", "If", and "Lose Control." "In The Valley of the Dying Sun" in particular is really good if the high vocals in the chorus don't annoy you. The other songs do not have that falsetto though... If you download it as an album it's free but if you do it song by song there will be a cost. The second is a free Christmas song off of another 3-song EP titled "The Christmas Classics - EP". "Silent Night" is available for free and is an honestly good cover with a nice string ensemble through the bridge. If you don't have an Amazon account, you will need to make one for free but it will ask for info like credit card for billing (it is Amazon after all.)

The video below is for "In The Valley of the Dying Sun" and is actually a very good video and adds extra layers of meaning to the song. Warning: There is lots of blood and violence in the video. Enjoy nonetheless!!!

UPDATE: The Christmas single has been removed by Amazon (they are often temporary deals) but the EP is still intact. Another song from their newest album is available from here if you post a message through Twitter about it. Please give them a chance and download this great music!!!

Los Straitjackets

Here's a fun one for you. A surf rock band that plays wearing mexican wrestling outfits! Sound weird enough? Not to worry, they are really good. Los Straitjackets have been around for a while providing quality surf rock (and Christmas-themed surf rock) since 1994.

Amazon is currently offering 2 free songs from 2 different albums. The first is a Christmas song "(I) Deck The Halls" from the album "Yuletide Beat." The other is a song called "Fortune Cookie" from the album "The Further Adventures of Los Straitjackets." Have fun!

Barenaked Ladies

I didn't think that I would be able to really talk about my FAVORITE BAND on this site without just ranting and not offering any music. Thank goodness for Amazon proving me wrong!! Almost everyone knows BNL for their singles "One Week", "Pinch Me", or "If I Had A Million Dollars" but not many people seem to know them beyond that. BNL just released their newest album "All In Good Time" as a four man band (now that the lead singer is gone due to disagreements and drug charges 2 years ago.) Fans of BNL can find this album to be completely polarizing - meaning that they either love the new direction or scream for the old stuff. I personally really like it even though it is very different and has a strong indie vibe running through the album. Amazon is offering one of the better tracks for free here and I highly recommend you check it out. At one point I could have offered a BNL podcast off iTunes and a full recording of their first concert as a 4 man group but both have been removed... Oh well, enjoy the music vid to the newest single "You Run Away" that is easily the best song of the album.

UPDATE: The song has been removed by Amazon. I will always be on the lookout for more free music from BNL (even though I now have every studio album!!!!) and will update you as soon as there is something worth posting. Sorry...

Tips to Finding Your Own Free Music

I wanted to do this from the start to let you search reasonably for your favorite bands without cheating. I sort of have a list of what and where to check if I want music from a band and I thought you might appreciate the advise.

1st stop: Band's website

Always a great place to start. Find out more about them, check the media or songs or albums section for possible mp3s or other fun goodies, and check the news sections that will sometimes have links to other websites that might have music.

2nd stop: Band's Record Label Website

Not many people try this but either the band's website or a quick wiki search will pull up all record labels they have worked with. Lots of labels will offer free music from their bands as a promotional tool. One of the general rules usually is the bigger the label, the less likely to find free music. If they are owned by a company like Sony or Warner or something similar, move on.

3rd Stop: Purevolume.com

Probably my favorite site for music discoveries! Tons of bands have profiles through purevolume and a lot offer free music as incentives. The site even has a chart feature for bands offering downloads (signed and unsigned). Word of caution here though because sometimes fans make profiles and upload music for download that is completely illegal. Tips to find the real deal: if labeled "Pro" at the top (if they are professional), labeled "On Tour", has an actual band description or a decent picture, links to the real band site or itunes. These are definitely safer bets but it can still be hard to tell...

4th stop: Band's Myspace or Facebook

Myspace has closed its mp3s for download but that doesn't mean that some artists won't still find ways around that. A lot of bands will offer special promotions or pre-releases to fans through myspace or facebook and occasionally even twitter so consider adding them.

5th stop: Various other music hosting sites

There are tons of other sites out there like Shockhound, Jamendo, Stereogum, Amazon's free mp3 section, LastFM, Soundclick, and others. Some of these sites might require membership. I'll update as I find and remember more...

6th stop: Google search

The reason this is so far down the list is the temptations are too great and the searches usually too broad. Warning!!! Do not open any sites with mp3 in the name or anything involving torrents. These are mostly completely illegal!! Because google has modifiers be sure to put a - in front of any word that you don't want popping up. I would suggest adding it with the words lyrics and torrent.

Enjoy these tips to finding your own music. If you find anything good, tell me.

Flogging Molly

Yeah!! Flogging Molly sits comfortably in my top 5 list of all-time favorite bands. Think of them as a Celtic rock group similar in many ways to Dropkick Murphys (minus the heavy punk influence) but still very unique and worth your time. Meaningful and entertaining lyrical content, completely original music and rhythms, and did I mention the fact that it is heavily celtic-influenced (I LOVE CELTIC MUSIC!!) I could ramble on and on...

I am very pleased to offer 2 free songs from their newest live album. The first ("The Story So Far") is available off Amazon here. The second ("Requiem For A Dying Song") was located by a friend here. The site simply asks that you sit though a commercial (that I never had to watch) and it offers the link for your free track. Also really consider buying (yes, buying...) their past albums including "Drunken Lullabies", "Within a Mile of Home", "Swagger", and "Float." ENJOY!!!

UPDATE: Both songs have been removed by the corresponding hosts but I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for more opportunities to share music from this amazing band. Sorry...

Sister Hazel

Another set of tracks that may very well be a limited time offer. Amazon is currently offering 20 free songs from Sister Hazel! Best I can describe them is some kind of folk styled-alternative rock similar to bands like Blues Traveler and maybe even a little like Hootie and the Blowfish. If anything resembling country normally scares you (like it does for me), give them a try. You can find all the tracks in an album here or download them individually from their respective albums (Absolutely, Release, Bam! Volume 1, and Lift.) If you download it as an album, you will also need to install a small Amazon Downloader program that should work on any type of computer. Check out the song below to get some kind of idea what they're like, and enjoy!!