10 Most Anticipated Albums of 2013

Well, since its been a few hours since the Top 20 of 2012 post, I figured now would present the 100 albums I'm looking forward to next year. So here is goes y'all!

10.) TBA - Maroon 5
9.) TBA - Family Force 5
8.) TBA - Daughtry
7.) TBA - Carly Rae Jepsen
6.) Paramore - Paramore
5.) A Messenger - Colton Dixon
4.) Rise - Skillet
3.) To Be Loved - Michael Buble'
2.) Fading West - Switchfoot
1.) Release The Panic - RED

Top 20 Albums of 2012

Well yes! It has come the time where I reveal my 20 favorite albums of the year, along with the ones I'm looking most forward to in the coming year. This is just my opinion, you guys can of course form your own opinions about this year's music. So here it starts! (:

20.) Born And Raised - John Mayer
19.) Hello, My Name Is... - Bridgit Mendler
18.) Night Visions - Imagine Dragons
17.) Vital - Anberlin
16.) Eye On It - tobyMac
15.) O God Save Us All - Disciple
14.) Gravity - Lecrae
13.) The End Is Where We Begin - Thousand Foot Krutch
12.) Changed - Rascal Flatts
11.) Hard 2 Love - Lee Brice
10.) III.V (EP) - Family Force 5
9.) Overexposed - Maroon 5
8.) Live 2012 - Coldplay
7.) Red - Taylor Swift
6.) Kiss - Carly Rae Jepsen
5.) California 37 - Train
4.) Battle Born - The Killers
3.) The Midsummer Station - Owl City
2.) Life Will Write The Words - The Rocket Summer
1.) Scars & Stories - The Fray

Well, there you have it, my favorite albums of 2012! If you think I've missed anything, feel free to tweet me @A13XVANDERSPEK.

Until Next Time,
Alex

2012 in Review and 2013 Preview

Well, this has been a pretty awesome year for me. Got my first date to a dance (which turned out to be a disaster), saw Switchfoot (my favorite band) for the first time, and one of the best things was going to Disneyland with my family all year. I also turned 18. It’s crazy to think that I’m officially a “legal” adult now. But, I don’t have my licence, so I don’t exactly have the freedom I’m entitled to, but it gives me more time to hang with my family. I am going to try to get it soon, but until then, I don’t have it! Now to tell you about 2013, which I am really excited for!

Well, to start off, yesterday, I bought a Taylor Swift ticket for her concert on August 24th. That just happens to be the day before I turn 19! That is pretty much going to be the best birthday weekend ever. Well, not only am I going to see my 2nd favorite artist next year, I am also graduating High School! These 14 years of school have been just been awesome and I can’t believe these years have gone by so fast. I am also going to start my freshman year of college next year. 13 also happens to be my favorite number, so it is ironic that so many big things are happening next year. I really don’t have anything else to say, so I will keep everyone updated through my journey next year. And be sure to keep following cuz imma do my annual award “show”

Until Next Time, Alex

Album Review: O God Save Us All by Disciple

What to say about Disciple? Well, I have been a fan since I heard "After the World" and have bought almost all of their albums now. They have all had the perfect mix of ballads and then Metal. O God Save Us All is no exception to that. The newest 11-track effort from the Christian Rock quintet is probably one of their best albums yet. What I like most about it is that it has a lot more songs with amazing guitar riffs at the beginning. If you like Heavy Rock with the perfect amount of ballads, I suggest buying this album.

The album kicks off with the heavy, lead guitar led track, Outlaws. It's a song that's talking about how when the world tempts you, you feel like there is no other way but the world. They are suggesting being "Outlaws" to the world and following the path of Jesus and all he has for you. The title track perfectly follows Outlaws, with the theme of how we all need to be saved by God because we have been cursed by the sinful ways of this world. What to say about R.I.P.? Well for one thing it starts off  with yet another guitar riff, which I love. It's a song that's saying Jesus rested in peace for three days to save us from our sins. After that song, you take a break with a few ballads, which are also awesome.

The ballad streak starts off with Once and For All. It talks about the war between Jesus' perfect, but hard road to heaven, or Satan's sinful, easy way to hell. He wants to give everything that's of the world up once and for all. The next ballad, Someday, is another powerful song. In it, the band says, that someday all the hell of this world will go away and we will be all happy in Heaven and there won't be pain or any of the world to harm us. Draw The Line was the lead single off the album, and could easily be played in churches for worship. It says how we will draw the line on everything that is of the world. After the ballads, we go back to the heavy Disciple we have all gotten to know and love.

The next heavy song is called Kings. It is a song about how we are poisoned by the world, but we are kings of ourselves, and can make our own choices. "We are kings with a King" is my favorite line in the song. Unstoppable is a song about the end times and how we are gonna have to fight against Satan in the end, but with God on our side, we will be unstoppable and will be in eternity with Him when we win. The One is actually one of my favorite songs on the entire album. The lyrics are talking about how no matter what we do, God (The One) is always and will always be watching what we do, whether it is good or bad. The last two songs are also really emotional with lyrics.

Beautiful Scars is at the borderline of metal and a ballad. Jesus, still 2013 years later, has the beautiful scars that save our lives everyday. He will forever have them to remind us of that day He died on the cross to save us all. The last song, Trade a Moment, is a ballad. But it is a ballad, I'm guessing, about the singer and main songwriter, Kevin Young's wife. It's saying that even though I'm on tour for most of the year, when I come home, let's trade a moment and dance across the sky.

O God Save Us All has no flaws throughout the whole album. The quintet has never ever ceased to please their fans and with every album, they just keep getting better and better. I really hope we don't see a tweet next year that suggests they are going their separate ways, because I really love these guys and hope they stick around a little while longer. Great job once again guys!

Rating: 15 out of 10

Purchase Links: iTunes, Amazon MP3 (Only $5 on Amazon)

Top 3 Songs: Draw The Line, Beautiful Scars, and O God Save Us All

For Fans Of: Metallica, KoRn, R3D

Album Review: The Midsummer Station by Owl City

Adam Young, better known as electronic pop superstar Owl City, first became famous when Fireflies was released as his first single in early 2009. After that single debuted at number one on Billboard, you could see that Young was already started on what is now the biggest Electronic Pop artist in music. If you listen to the new album The Midsummer Station. You hear more than just the electronic he is known for. There are hints of rock (Dementia and Embers), Dubstep (Bombshell Blonde), and even soft rock (Silhouette). Young has always been a musical inspiration to me, and makes no excuses or exceptions on the new record.

Young begins the album with Dreams and Disasters, a track that, in my opinion, sounds a little bit like David Guetta/Usher's hit song Without You. It's a song that's basically saying, if you have a dream, don't quit and make it a disaster. The second track, Shooting Star, was the albums lead single. What the song is suggesting is that even though the world will try to bring you down, don't let them, it's your life!

If you've listened to any of the album, you will realize that the theme is basically dreams. Almost every song has something to do with dreams. Gold falls nothing short of that. It is saying that even though you don't believe in your dreams, everyone else does. The 4th track on the cd is Dementia and features guest vocal's from blink-182's Mark Hoppus. This happens to be my favorite song on the album. It's a nice electronic rock tune that suggest, once again, that even though you feel like giving up, "keep the pace just in case all the magic dies."

I'm Coming After You is a sweet love song that has the singer telling his love to stay cause he misses her. Speed of Love is a song that portrays everyone trying to find love. Even though love is a very hard race to win, keep it going, cause in the end, you will win.

One of the best songs on the album and probably my favorite, Good Time is a Summer anthem that will remain on your playlist well into winter. It features guest vocals from Call Me Maybe artist Carly Rae Jepsen. It's basically a fun song that says you can have fun and a good time no matter what. Embers is another one of my favorite songs on the album. It's another song about chasing your dreams, so there is not much more to say about it.

That one soft rock sounding song is Silhouette. It's probably, in my opinion, the most beautifully written song on the album. Young says in the song that he wants to put his fears and failures to bed and that's pretty much the theme throughout the whole song. Track 10 on the album, Metropolis, was written by Young's very good friend, Matt Theissen of Relient K. He says in the song that he left his heart in Metropolis, basically saying he found love there. The final track on the physical and Amazon MP3 version of the album is Take it All Away. It's a sad breakup song where the singer, although doesn't relationship to end, it's for the best.

As I mentioned before, the theme throughout The Midsummer Station is dreams. This is also the first album Young collaborated with others for writing the tracks for the album. Even though it was released at the end of Summer, this is a very Summery album, but will remain on your playlist well into December. Great job once again Adam!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Purchase Links: iTunes, Amazon MP3

Top 3 Songs: Embers, Good Time, and, Dementia

For Fans of: David Guetta, Carly Rae Jepsen, blink-182

Until Next Time, Alex

Album Review - Eye On It by tobyMac

Kevin Michael McKeehan, better known by his stage name, tobyMac, has been on the Christian Hip-Hop/R&B ever since 1987 with dc Talk. When they broke up 14 years later, Toby decided to release his first solo project Momentum. Three years later comes the very successful Welcome to Diverse City. A few of the songs were featured in Movie/TV ads, SprortsCenter, and The Dr. Phil Show. Let's fast forward another three years and Toby releases Portable Sounds, his first album with collaborations. Those include American Idol contestant Mandisa, Shonlock, and Kirk Franklin. That was yet another very successful album for Toby. If you go ahead about 2 1/2 years, City on Our Knees, the lead single from Tonight is released, this song becomes number one on billboard and win him yet another Dove award. This album has another bunch of huge collaborations including his nephew, lead singer of Relient K, Matt Theissen, John Cooper, lead singer of Skillet, and Israel Houghton. You think that's successful? Let's forward to this week and he releases Eye On It. As I'm writing this review, it is still number 1 AND 2 overall on iTunes. You can tell already this is going to be a successful album! Mr. tobyMac, I would love to thank you for releasing another album to make my iPod and me smile! All the great things I'm about to say in this review are well deserved!

Me Without You, the first single off the album is one of Toby's most "poppy" songs ever. It talks about his faith and how he basically cannot be without God, or he would be lost. The second song on the album, Steal My Show, is a more mellow song off the album that is Toby saying, "God, whatever you want me to do, I'm in!" Probably my favorite song off the album is the title track. It is that one heavy rock song Toby always has to have on his albums, and also features Britt Nicole. Toby needed one more song for the album at the end of June and was currently on writer's block. He wanted to quit, but knew he couldn't, he had to keep his eyes on the prize and eventually wrote this anthem.

Forgiveness features one of Christian music's biggest rappers, LeCrae. It talks about, even though sometimes we feel like we don't deserve it, God is always there with forgiveness. Speak Life is another amazing anthem from the album. It's telling you to tell people great things, because you never know when those few words can be life-saving/-changing for someone. Unstoppable is a song that features Group 1 Crew's Blanca Reyes. It's saying that even though Christianity is a hard religion to be a part of, we are an unstoppable religion.

Does it ever seem like you act bigger than God? Toby can't explain it better than in Lose Myself. He feels like sometimes he is bigger than God and is telling God to take everything that he is and loves. Family, the 8th song on the album, is an anthem for couples who are on the edge of divorce. In the song, he is portraying a family struggling to stay together. In Thankful For You, McKeehan is working in a diner at the beginning of the song, as he is on the verge of his rapping career.

One thing Toby loves less than God, but more than anything else is his wife. He portrays that love perfectly in Made For Me. He's saying, that even though his wife and him have a lot of differences, that doesn't stop him. If you're a long-time tobyMac fan, you will know that every one of his solo albums has one song that his son, TruDog sings. He has matured so much with the new track Mac Daddy (Tru's Reality). He talks about saving up for a Mac laptop and looking for a job in the song. Favorite Song, the final track on the standard version of the album, features Jaime Grace. It compares God to his favorite song, because He sticks with him all the time.

Eye On It is going to be yet another hit album from Christian pop's biggest artist. There are slow ballads, such as Family all the way to going-to-be-dance-anthems like the title track. Even though the album has so many summery songs, it will be on your playlist even when it is snowing or freezing outside! This album is a must-buy for pop fans!

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Purchase Links: iTunes, Amazon MP3

Top 3 songs: Eye On It, Unstoppable, Mac Daddy (Tru's Reality)   

For Fans of: LeCrae, KJ-52, Group 1 Crew

Until Next Time, Alex

20 Most Anticipated Albums of 2012

Now for the most anticipated of 2012:
20.) Plans Within Plans - MxPx
19.) Lost In Transition - Sixpence None The Richer
18.) TBA - Project 86
17.) TBA - House of Heroes
16.) TBA - Showbread
15.) Scars & Stories - The Fray
14.) TBA - Paramore
13.) TBA - The Classic Crime
12.) TBA - Relient K
11.) Believer - Kutless
10.) Crave - For King And Country
9.)  TBA - Tenth Avenue North
8.) The Hurt and The Healer - MercyMe
7.) TBA - P.O.D.
6.) TBA - TobyMac
5.) TBA - Flyleaf
4.) NOW - Fireflight
3.) Paralyzed - Brian "Head" Welch
2.) The End Is Where We Begin - Thousand Foot Krutch
1.) TBA - Skillet

Top 20 Albums of 2011

I was going to do this in two separate posts, but I am a tree hugger, so yeah! But this is honoring the best albums of 2011 and the new faves of 2012! Get ready, cause this is going to be awsome!

First off, The top 20 of 2011:
20.) Soul Surfer Soundtrack
19.) Moutains Move - Kristian Stanfill
18.) Live At The Masqurade - Thousand Foot Krutch
17.) Get Closer - Keith Urban
16.) Unbroken - Demi Lovato
15.) Ceremonials - Florence + The Machine
14.) Anthem Song - Aaron Gillespie
13.) Neveroddoreven - Shonlock
12.) All Things Bright And Beautiful - Owl City
11.) Listen To The Sound - Building 429
10.) Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay
9.) Scripted - Icon For Hire
8.) Destiny - Beckah Shae
7.) I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home) - The City Harmonic
6.) Crazy Love - Hawk Nelson
5.) Until We Have Faces - R3D
4.) III - Family Force 5
3.) The Anthem of Angels - Seventh Day Slumber
2.) Break The Spell - Daughtry
1.) The Reckoning - NEEDTOBREATHE

Academy of Alex's Favorite Music 2012 Music Awards!

First, to start off, this is the first annual AAFM Music Awards and I am very excited to award these musicians these very deserving awards! Even though no trophy will be involved, they have Spiritual trophies waiting for them in heaven!

 First award of the night is single of the year. This artist, in my opinion, hit the top of my charts with this song and I can't stop listening to it! The winner is... "Renegade" by Daughtry.

Now it comes to the second award. This is Female vocalist of the year. She had a very successful year with a Disney Channel show and a number 1 pop song, "Watch Me." This award goes to Miss Bella Thorne!

Well, since we just had female vocalist of the year, now it is time for male vocalist. This person excelled both on and off stage. He had not one but two number 1 songs "Strong Enough" and "My Own Little World." The award goes to... Matthew West!

Album of the year was the hardest award to pick, cause there were so many good ones!! Album of the year goes to... NEEDTOBREATHE's "The Reckoning."

Wow! There are only a couple of awards left to "give out." This next award is entertainer(s) of the year. This is my favorite band, and there is no mistaken how good they are! They won this award because of amazing concerts, including pyro and shooting fireworks out of their bass. They are planning to realease a new album in August or September. They deserve this more than anyone else. The artist is Skillet!!!

The award eeryone has been waiting for! Artist of the year!!!! This artist proves every time they realease an album, they just keep getting better. Even though they have arena-filling Alt-Metal songs, these guys can sure write a good ballad, too. Their album "Until We Have Faces" released almost a year ago and is an amazing album. Give it up for R3D!!!!!!!!

I seemed to ski an award! Video series of the year These are the funniest five guys I have ever seen! The title of their series is the "Really Real Show!" Family Force 5!!!!!!!!

Well, that is it for the awards for this year! I hope everyone is satisfied with the winners and see you next year!!

Until Next Time, Alex