"That Rock 'n' Roll Will Never Die"

On Wednesday as I'm sure many of you will be aware the annual Brit Awards took place. Apparently celebrating British music the ceremony included a speech from Arctic Monkeys lead singer Alex Turner in which he declared that Rock and Roll will never die. I have included the full speech below.

Now I'm not going to write a rant about his speech or the timing of his speech, mainly because I agree with the context of what he has said, however nor am I going to tell you how the Arctic Monkeys are the greatest band at the moment etc because although I like and I listen to the Arctic Monkeys a fair bit, I believe there are many great bands from many different genres of rock and roll that deserve to be mentioned in amongst this whole claim that rock and roll will never die. Regarding the Arctic Monkeys however, I would not say they are the sole protectors of the future of rock music. Not in Britain and not in the world. 

However there are many different styles of rock bands in the world under many different terms (punk, indie, emo, glam, folk and more) and we as people grow up with different styles that our parents introduce us to, that our friends show us, that the internet gives us, that our opinions lyrically agree with. I have friends who will swear down by different rock bands and rock types. Many like myself enjoy a variation of these different styles. However a lot of these bands do get very little publicity in comparison to some of the stuff that is in our charts nowadays. 

Unfortunately for music we live in an era where talent shows produce artists generically formed so that please people when it comes to sight but really in comparison to many other artists, these people lack talent. A lot of them seem to give a perception that they lack respect regarding rock music. Whether that be their lifestyle or the image they are trying to perceive. A lot try to make rock look glamorous and the most desired profession despite the fact that they are not a rock act. Rock is not a totally glamorous profession. A lot of the rock bands we see today have not had the privillaged upbringings that many popstars have today. Popstars like Lilly Allen who grew up knowing showbiz thanks to her dad. Many didn't have a musician school like the Brit school, albeit some of the newer ones have had this. Many have started off on the underground scenes and have had to work their way up from there, some to the disappointment to many of their fans (for instance, the punk scene was not too happy when Green Day signed onto a main stream label).

Now it may seem unfair but rock is actually the purest form of chart music you can really find. Especially when they were the people who chose to pick up the guitar and learn it, wrote the words and got a few friends and made a band. It's refreshing. They also appreciate it more as they have had to rise up from playing gigs as supporting acts in halls, to playing at arenas and stadiums. They influence many people. Often a rock star has issues however and the business of rock is therefore less attractive than it seems. A lot of songs in rock are wrote about ghosts of the band members lives, they have more of a meaning than most genres and often the bands we find ourselves listening to are ones we emotionally, lyrically and musically in one form or another relate to. I find with many this happens in teenage years, as you are growing up, going through those puberty changes and the other gender comes far more important to your life. I evidence this by pointing you in the way of +Ryan Steppel who grew up loving the arctic monkeys with these factors in place, just as I did with Green Day. Sure other bands come along but the first band you connect to in that way is almost certainly a band you will listen to a fair bit from then on. Not as your only band, maybe not as your favourite, but if I'm honest I couldn't imagine having an iPod with no Green Day on it (amongst others now) and I am sure others feel the same. 

Going back to a lot of songs being wrote in the ghosts of the band members, we can be talking death, love and often at some point in a rock bands career drugs. And sometimes these are very, very dark people, yet their darkness creates incredible music. The most notable rock star who did this was Kurt Cobain, such a dark person he ended up killing himself (unless you read and believe the conspiracies), then there's the artists that have had issues that have led to rehab, the band splitting and more. Pete Doherty, Billie Joe, Chris Wolstenholme. I also regard Amy Winehouse in this section as close to the rock genre. It isn't all glam.

These people, their antics and their fashions are now highly mimicked by artists who don't have the right to relate themselves to rock music. That said, they do sell the music. By this I am on about acts I would say are generic. I am talking One Direction and the X Factor generation. This music is not as pure as rock. It also will never be as longstanding as rock. Look at rock bands we still hear of today, who made a career for 50 years, from the Rolling Stones to the surviving members of the Beatles and Queen. One Direction may be huge now but they won't leave much legacy. Then there are artists like Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus. Until recently, two innocent young adults who got lucky, one with YouTube and one with Disney. Now both are more famous for filling our papers with their wannabe controversy, some of it beyond low (I've said it before, Miley Cyrus, regardless of her music and whether you like it, is now one truly disgusting being if you look at pictures of her live shows the last 6 months. It's wrong. Drink/drug driving in Biebers case is also low). Maybe they are doing this for attention or to be "rock stars", maybe they're doing it because the fame they have managed to get has led to them cracking as people or them wanting to push boundaries that shouldn't be pushed. Many rock stars from the past show some boundaries don't need this push. 

One thing is for certain. In 50 years when bands are reflected on. It's by far the most likely that of all the award winners last week, it'll be the Arctic Monkey's, their music and the boundaries they pushed in indie rock and rock as an overall genre that'll be remembered. The rest most likely will just be other acts. 

From Awesome and Perfect to Cheap and Tacky.

This post was kinda based on a lot of incidents in the last 24 hours. And this post is gonna be disliked by many, however it is my opinion and if there is one thing I'll never do it's hide my opinion. Yes this post may have been triggered, to be honest it almost appeared yesterday but now seems a more than relevant time for me to write this. Maybe it'll spark a debate. In which case, good. Although I'm mentioning no names, I know some people will think they know who I'm talking about. You're probably right. But to be honest, I don't care, because apparently I'm an "arsehole". So to some people, I shall live up to that definition of myself from last night!

Relationships come and go. That is a reality in life. Some won't work out. That's fair enough. You tried, you gave it a go and it didn't work. And with the majority of these cases it's just that it didn't work. A lot of these it's then not that hard to gradually reform a friendship. But then there are others, ones where people don't properly respect their partner, sleep around and lose the right to have a relationship. I've seen people, who have lost trust for the opposite gender because of this sort of thing. 

I'm one of these people. I've seen the most awesome, perfect person (in my eyes) turn into the most cheap and tacky person. And how do I have time for them then? But it's not just one person. And it's not all because of what once happened when I was close to this person. But what's happened afterwards. In all honesty, for me, as a heterosexual male, it was finding out that after some of the stuff that happened the same person had now slept around far easier than anything that person was like when I knew her, that made me think cheap and tacky. The girl that I originally met respected herself and that was one of the great things about her. The girl that I get the perception of now, especially from her twitter feed, doesn't respect herself, claims guys are all the same (apparently we do all the fucking over? That's ironic...). But this post isn't about one person, that's just a personal example. 

Then these people, they then sleep around easy. I remember hearing how many a person had had since. Instantly I found that person far more unattractive. And considering where that person was once in my opinion that's saying something. It hurt to find out that they had become like that. They had made themselves what I can only describe as common. 

..

So basically the jist of this part of my post is, it isn't cool to sleep around, whatever the excuse. To look for what you once had with someone else is a common excuse, but it's still not a reason. You're never gonna find someone the same, emotionally or in bed as someone else however many people you shag, date at the same time, get with in a nightclub. I'm sure you get it.

Also all of this can gain you a reputation, regardless of if people find you attractive, if you get a reputation for being "easy" people are not going to try to get with you because you're attractive. People actually will be looking for a quick shag with no strings and see you as a perfect option. Unfortunately that's how it goes. There are people of both genders who will look for a quick shag, even if girls claim it's always men and that they're always the victim. That's another general perception. But if you make yourself seem easy, you're not gonna attract the sort of people at aren't going to "fuck you over" and that's your doing. You've made yourself seem cheap, common, tacky. You've put yourself in this situation and once you've put yourself here it's incredibly different to change the perception of yourself that you have created. Even if you make an excuse like some guy has screwed you over or something, it's not gonna work. You just have to deal with it by actually showing yourself some respect and not going for that.

So yeah, because I've wrote this in two sessions, it may not make sense and I may have to do a follow up to this. However I feel I have got most of the point about this. Be awesome and perfect to one person or wait for that person (although I'm not saying find one relationship and it'll definitely last forever, I'm saying wait for someone you want a relationship with at the time) rather than cheap and tacky and going around. In the long run, it'll be much better.

If you have an opinion with this then yeah, leave a comment below. Tell me what you think. Do you agree? Disagree? Why? 

Finally I'll admit it....Liverpool CAN win the league!

It was 8.30pm on May 25th 2005. Hope was gone, happiness seemed far away, the fear of going out in a Liverpool shirt the next day or showing my face to Chelsea and United fans had kicked in. Yep, Liverpool were on course for a record defeat in the Turkish Capital City Istanbul. My sister proceeded to do a victory dance as she found the score. We all knew it was a forgone conclusion, as I said I wanted to watch them lose the final "like a man" trying to hold back the tears of frustration, disappointment, unmet hope. AC Milan were going to win their 7th Champions League and fair play to them, they'd destroyed Liverpool. As the Liverpool fans walked out for the second half, where we all knew they'd carry on receiving a beating, on the TV set, you could only hear one set of fans and they were singing You'll Never Walk Alone, fans that had spent thousands on seeing this final, hoping for the fifth European Cup, already, at half time, facing going home seeing a record final defeat. 

But that is what it means to be a Liverpool fan. Unlike any other fan in England, the Liverpool fans will stick behind their team. The travelling kop will always try to pick that team up. And this is where it all changed. Somehow deep down, if you listen to the men that played that match, the inspiration of hearing those fans sing that song and realisation of how many people were willing them to do something in the match back at home and across the globe inspired them to at least put it all into the second half. That's when it all changed...

Nine minutes into the second half, the ball flew into the box and the greatest Liverpool player in the premier league era,Steven Gerrard, got his head to the ball, sending it past Dida. Was there hope? Probably now, but at least there was a consolation, making it easier to go to school the next day and put up with the jibes of Liverpool's defeat. But then, just as that was going through my head Smicer scored a cracker. We were back in it...We COULD win the European cup! Okay we were still outsiders but then....PENALTY. Alonso had to score for Liverpool to do it, but it was saved. But on a night where everything had gone wrong until a few minutes earlier the rebound appeared at Alonso's feet and the game was suddenly 3-3. Liverpool had come back. The rest they say is history. History that many a Liverpool fan has on DVD. History that many a Liverpool fan can use to this day when it comes to their chances this season. 

For Liverpool have been written off by many yet again. Maybe initially with good reason, the Liverpool under Roy Hodgson, Kenny Dalglish and the first months of Brendan Rodgers showed little fight, little spirit. They would go a goal down and look dejected, accepting defeat. That was not the Liverpool I fell in love with, the Liverpool I adored. It was far from it. Liverpool did their talking on the pitch, but not now as off the pitch politics such as Hicks and Gillet, Fernando Torres' sudden departure and the debacles of Luis Suarez were the main talking points. Only one man remains from those teams Liverpool fans fell in love with in 2001 and 2005. Steven Gerrard and besides from Jamie Carragher, Gerrard was the only player over those years who looked as frustrated, as disappointed with the team as I (and I'm sure many other fans) felt. But again it's changed, the old Liverpool teams spirits seems to have finally been unearthed by current manager Brendan Rodgers and his men.

On Saturday Liverpool beat Arsenal 5-1 at Anfield, but really, the result that shows how Liverpool have moved onwards from the past few years and back to a team comparable with that of the team at Istanbul that famous afternoon was the 3-2 win at Craven Cottage. That was MY Liverpool, they were back. Not because of the performance over the 90 minutes, defensively we were not at all at the races, but there was fight, and not just any fight. The fight was undying. At no point in the match did the team drop their heads and settle for a loss or a draw. And it happened. Sturridge got into the box, where he was bought down. Liverpool had a penalty to bring the win back home. Standing up, knowing what the penalty meant to the clubs chances of a top four push I could barely watch as Gerrard stood up to take it. Not willing to put my hopes up I convinced myself the great man would miss the penalty. However the net rippled! The ball was in. Liverpool had done it. Relief, excitement, joy. Feelings that sometimes only football can give you. But one that hadn't been there for a long while also came back with that goal. The feeling of belief. 

Belief that there is actually a chance this could be Liverpool's year. Why though. Surely Chelsea and City have bought (that being the chosen word) the better and stronger squads. Surely they have the better players. This is where I both agree and disagree with people who claim this. Liverpool right now have the best strike force in England and one of the best 5 in Europe. Suarez and Sturridge are comparable to strike forces like Bale, Ronaldo and Benzema, Messi, Sanchez and Pedro, Cavani and Ibra, Aguero and Negredo. They also have one of the best players to have graced the planet in my lifetime. Not just by playing but sheer presence, leadership and support. Steven Gerrard. Any team with Steven Gerrard is a better team. The spirit and passion that man can just simply inject into a team is phenomenal. He is quite simply an astonishing man when it comes to his influence even when his game is having an off day. And then there is his passing ability. The pass to Sturridge last night was just simply a world class assist. And for the first time in a long long time, you feel that Gerrard has the right team around him, the first time since at least the 2008/09 season. 

Liverpool also have another thing many teams lack. The freedom and fearlessness of youth. Players like Sterling and Flannagan right now don't fear losing, but crave winning. It comes with the age. And more players like this are being injected into the team and they're good. They're not run of the mill. Flannagan and Sterling are future England internationals, I'd go as far to say, unless something goes wrong, they're future England starters. Flannagan has looked as good as the recent England number one right back, Glen Johnson who will now struggle to get his place back. Sterling is as good as any other fast English winger right now and could easily be a wildcard for Brazil. There's also Coutinho who is a technically outstanding player and is only of the age of 21. Some people may argue that he can be played out of some games due to a lack of strength, but then there are times when he makes something remarkable happen.

But what do Liverpool need to win the league? Well they need that fight, but that fight comes with spirit. Spirit we are seeing more and more of. The teams united. There are no divides. At teams like City and Chelsea this feels less of the case. The Mata saga for instance at Chelsea. Players who feel like they should be in the first team not wanting to accept the bench as their fate. Both clubs have more big personalities. Yes Liverpool have the leader Gerrard and then Suarez. But Liverpool have worked to accustomise the personality of Luis Suarez (and to an extent Daniel Sturridge) into the whole team. There is no unrest. The players know their roles and they know they're all very important to the cause. From a player who currently more of a bench player like Aspas and Alberto to the rotation players such as Toure to the starters like Henderson, Suarez and Sturridge. They know their place, the spirit. For the first time in years I can say This Is Liverpool and boy, does it feel good to have them back! 

External factors also exclaim why Liverpool can win the league. Chelsea, City and Arsenal all have European ties, big European ties. It's a distraction from the tightest race for the league in years. Liverpool don't have that this season. So if there is a chance to knock over the big spending teams City and Chelsea maybe that time is now. One thing is sure. Chelsea and City fans will be left embarrassed if Liverpool come from here to win the league with a team including players like Jon Flannagan of the youth academy and Raheem Sterling.

Whether or not they win a trophy this season and whether or whether not they're in the Champions League next season, one thing I know is that the fans, they will sing the names of the players, the songs of the team. As a Liverpool fan, one thing you know you will do is that you will stick behind the team. And right now it's far easier as they're on the up!

So here you go, after writing Liverpool off all season, so not to get my hopes up amongst these reasons. I now will happily admit. This Liverpool team CAN win the Barclays Premier League, even if it's an outside shot, a low percentage of probability. This team can win it! This season could be that year. But even if this season isn't, this Liverpool team, they're to stay. 

If you keep an eye on this blog, the next Liverpool post will be about Brendan Rodgers. How #RodgersOut turned to #RodgersIn. Featuring a mention of David Moyes and Manchester United!

Ooops!

Hey there!

Oops, I haven't tweeted for months! Apologies.

BUT I'm back! I know it's been a while, but like I was writing posts I never finished, or became ones I didn't want to send due to what they were about and stuff. But it's been a while and I don't think I can desert this blog as I actually enjoy writing. Despite the fact I have a dissertation I should be doing right now as to be honest, it's a constant worry in life at the moment.

So I haven't posted since New Years, so maybe I should make this post about me and what has actually happened since then and stuff. Although that simply says let's talk about New Years and the fact I'm 21 (which I just accidentally wrote as 32...that was a little scary haha).

Well New Years was in Plymouth and it was awesome. Everyone got drunk, we probably made resolutions and we probably all broke them within an hour, they were probably all "I shall stop drinking"...FAIL! But so far what has this year been...

I guess in the first 5-6 weeks of the year for me it has been a bit of a mixed bag. Work is now the factor that drags me down, although towards the end of last year I was feeling possibly the happiest and most free since before the London 2012 Olympic games (not because the Olympics made me permanently moody though!), I dunno how I changed my outlook, it kinda just happened when Liverpool beat Spurs 5-0, which I think was totally unrelated, however I decided I wouldn't go back so since then it has been a move forwards only operation. Which has been good. I mean, I'm not going into detail but it doesn't feel like anything in the past is getting me down, just that dissy and the fact I lose my Uni Independence in only a few months!

And then I am 21. Well this is strange, I can now drink in America which makes any prospect of a trip over the Atlantic, way more attractive. In the UK however it feels like there is not much more I can do and stuff. It's just a number anyway. It's in your head where you're old, young, tired, fed up, optimistic, damaged goods, innocent etc. Maybe not so much a choice, maybe in a way it is, but it's how life's treated you I guess. So after hitting a new number, I've had to really get used to the idea I have to do a lot of work, most days, to get my dissertation done. So that is what I'm doing. Well aiming to do every day and then hopefully doing. So wish me luck as I write and ask questions about media piracy!

Right, I shall post about some real subjects later. I will also start making a thing of my sections on this blog more often. But for this post at least I must bow out. Thank you and goodnight!