3rd MyFABEMusic Awards: Rock Song of 2012

Doing concerts in the Philippines does help some foreign acts boost their stock, at least in my personal countdown.  This is pretty evident this year in my Rock Song of the Year category, where ALL of the nominated songs came from acts who did a show here in Manila in 2012!  

The reason why doing a concert here in Manila helps the act is that I review the playlist of the artist doing the concert - and because of it - I am introduced to that artist's discography which is not usually played by local radio.  

Looking at the songs nominated in this category this year, only one song, Simple Plan's Jet Lag, was ever played in local Manila radio.

The rest are just my personal favorites - gems I discovered from the artist's concert playlists - songs which they all performed in concert this year.


Here are the nominees for the 3rd MyFABEMusic award for Rock Song of the Year. 

Edwin McCain - Shooting Stars

Evanescence - Swimming Home

Simple Plan / Natasha Bedingfield - Jet Lag

Vertical Horizon - All Is Said and Done

Vertical Horizon - The Lucky One 

And the Rock Song of 2012 is Edwin McCain's Shooting Stars.

Songs That Best Describe My Career: Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten

I came across this question from the Philippine Star where the columnist asked her respondents this question, "What song best describes your career?" and it being a unique question I decided to answer it on my own.  However, instead of coming out with just one song, I came across three songs that I like very much which mirrors exactly how I decided to map out my career.

The second of these songs is Natasha Bedingfield's Unwrittten.  I discovered this song in 2005 when I bought her CD, way before it became famous.  It instantly became a personal anthem of sorts for me.  I just love the grab hold of your life mantra that she sings in this song - which is really perfect to the youth.  Even if I'm already in my 40s, that is exactly how I'm leading it. "Live your life with arms wide open/Today is where your book begins/The rest is still unwritten“. 

Related articles

• Ten Love Songs for Valentine's Day 2012: #4 Natasha Bedingfield - A Little Too Much
• Concert Review: Cyndi Lauper Mixes Her Old and New Stuff in Manila
• My OPM Myx Countdown Votes This Week - February 24
• Concert Review: Going MmmmBop with Hanson
• Concert Review: We Honestly Love You, Olivia Newton-John

The Five Songs I Would Release in 'Evanescence'

#1 Swimming Home This is my most favorite song in the Evanescence album.  I wonder why the record company didn't bother to have this released as a single.  It's haunting, ambient, beautifully sung and if it did become a hit, I would've to share this song with millions of other people.  And I don't want that!

#2 What You Want This is the song that opens the album and it's a great hard-driving song which will be the second song I would release from the album. #3 My Heart is Broken I am not surprised why the record company chose this as the carrier single of their album. It's the song that sounded very close to their previous hits, thus making it accessible to their fans and non-fans. However, since it does sound like their earlier work, the song didn't quite interest me since I was expecting a departure from their previous sound, or at least minimal changes, so as to keep the band sounding fresh! #4 Erase This I love the frenetic piano playing in the start! There were actually five other songs vying for the last two slots but this won the fourth slot due to that fantastic piano playing! #5 Lost In Paradise This was the other song that trumped the other three songs for the last slot. It's a ballad and starts out soft in the beginning but rocks to the max as the song progresses.

Related articles

• Concert Review: Double Treat with Evanescence and Bush
• MyFABEMusic Weekly Top 10 - February 24, 2012
• Album Review: Now A Fan of Avril Lavigne's Goodbye Lullaby
• OMD: An Essential Soundtrack of My High School Days
• Whitney Houston's Hidden Gems from Her Treasure Chest of Songs
• Concert Review: Cyndi Lauper Mixes Her Old and New Stuff in Manila
• My OPM Myx Countdown Votes This Week - February 24
• MyFABEMusic Weekly Top 10 - March 2, 2012

Evanescence's Swimming Home Stays At #1 for a Second Week

Evanescence's Swimming Home continues to lord it over my personal countdown list this week.



Here are my top 10 favorite songs for the week ending March 2, 2012 -

#1 - Evanescence - Swimming Home (1)

#2 - Blue - U Make Me Wanna (RE)


Because of their concerts last Saturday, Blue and A1's former #1 songs return to the top 10 f my personal weekly Top 10. U Make Me Wanna goes to #2 while A1's Same Old Brand New You enters at #3.  

#3 - A1 - Same Old Brand New You (RE)


#4 - Gotye and Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know (2)

#5 - Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up (3)

#6 - Katy Perry - Hummingbird Heartbeat (4)

#7 - Avril Lavigne - Push (5)

#8 - Only Love - Melissa Etheridge (6)


#9 - Natasha Bedingfield - A Little Too Much (#8)

#10 - Christian Bautista - Beautiful to Me (9)

Evanescence Back On Top of My Personal Countdown

Due to their concert last Sunday, Evanescence captures the #1 spot for the fourth time in my personal countdown with Swimming Home, a new track from their self-titled album - and a song they also performed that night.  Their former #1 songs were Bring Me To Life, My Immortal and Call Me When You're Sober

Here are my top 10 favorite songs for the week ending February 24, 2012 -

#1 - Swimming Home - Evanescence (NEW)

#2 - Gotye and Kimbra - Somebody That I Used to Know (9)

#3 - I Won't Give Up - Jason Mraz (8)

#4 - Katy Perry - Hummingbird Heartbeat (RE)

#5 - Push - Avril Lavigne (2)

#6 - Only Love - Melissa Etheridge (7)

#7 - Evanescence - My Immortal (NEW)

#8 - Natasha Bedingfield - A Little Too Much (#2)

#9 - Christian Bautista - Beautiful to Me (NEW)

#10 - Sitti - Sinong Mag-aakala (NEW)

Concert Review: Double Treat with Evanescence and Bush

It was a double treat for rock fans last night as Evanescence and Bush played solid drivin' rock music at the Araneta Coliseum.

Things started early, as Bush opened the show with Machinehead by 8:30PM.  The coliseum was not as full as that of Avril's, maybe around 60%, but it's a respectable number considering how many shows there were to choose from this Valentine's season!  I've always had a crush on Gavin Rossdale since before so it was great to finally see him perform live.  Apparently, the band had already broken up but regrouped last year to record a new album and voila, they are now on tour!  Which is just as well as you can see from the audience's reaction last night, that they still had fans.

I'm sure everyone's favorite moment was when Gavin went into the audience and got as high up as the Upper Box A crowd.  He even passed a few rows before me but there were grills and it was impossible to leave the seat to get a better picture. Well, his going around the coliseum was certainly a surprise!

Well, the band played some songs which I wasn't familiar with but they included my favorite, The Chemicals Between Us.  I only remember two hits from the band, Glycerine and Comedown, and they played both too, towards the end of their set.

After the Bush set, Evanescence followed 30 minutes later, opening their set with What You Want - one of my favorite songs from their new self-titled album.  My most favorite though is Swimming Home, which they did with an accompanying cellist!  They also did My Heart is Broken, Made of Stone, The Change, The Other Side, Lost in Paradise and Sick.

As expected, the crowd went wild when they did their hits, starting early with Going Under.  Towards the end of the show, they also did Call Me When You'r Sober and Bring Me To Life, which the audience sang along with, unsurprisingly.  The Evanescence set was further enhanced by the lights which changed constantly, so that the lighting of the band's name as their background would change as the show progressed, from dark blues, to green to yellow and even purple!

Well, they did an encore, with My Immortal and I choked in the middle of the song while singing along with them!  I guess I remembered someone in my past life, knowing that this song used to be special to me - but that was more than 10 years ago already.

Amy Lee came out all dressed in black and you can really appreciate her effort since some of her songs have high notes, and sometimes, she wasn't successful in reaching it.  As expected, when she spoke, her voice sounded raspy and gravel-ly, but she was very thankful for the experience of playing here and did not hesitate to egg the audience on to sing along with her.


After the show, I met up with my classmate from Spanish class, Marez, who came with her partner and his daughter and we posed for a picture.  Too bad they didn't sell any shirts or merchandise.  It would've been cool to have some!

Related articles

• Concert Review: 80's New Wave Party with the Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD)
• Concert Review: Avril Lavigne's Black Star Tour Manila
• Album Review: Now A Fan of Avril Lavigne's Goodbye Lullaby
• Five Avril Lavigne Songs I'm Looking Forward to Hearing Tonight

Evanescence New Album A Hit in the UK and the US

After a four year hiatus, Evanescence returns this year with a self-titled album which promptly debuts at #4 in the UK album charts.  It's their third UK Top 10 album - Fallen went to #1 in 2003 and The Open Door at #2 in 2006.

The album also becomes their second #1 album in the US.