Sometimes, in order to get an awesome thrill, you need to crawl out of your element a bit.  And by crawl….I mean crawl.  Have you tried spelunking?

It’s one of the best body highs you adrenaline junkies (or aspiring adrenaline junkies) could ever hope for.  It has this f*cked up way of terrifying you and fulfilling you simultaneously and trust me, that’s a good thing.

Caves aren’t normally too hard to find, at least not in the U.S.A.  Scouting down good caves, however, does get tricky in certain parts of the U.S.A.

Finding good caves around large cities, for instance, can be a challenge.  It’s not that they don’t exist, it’s just that they’re not as in demand for city-slickers in most cases and therefore, harder to find.

Finding decent caves worth your time near New York City might be the biggest challenge of all.  Thanks to Howe Caverns, though, spelunking and being a New Yorker can, in fact, work together.

Howe Caverns, located to the west of Albany, is only 2-3 hours from New York City.  And it’s well worth the drive.  Not only are the sprawling caves well managed and beckoning, but three different types of tours are offered through the caves:  the lantern tour, the traditional boat tour, and the adventure tour.

I can proudly speak on behalf of both the traditional boat tour and the adventure tour when I say that Howe Caverns is amazing.

If you find yourself to be one of the concrete jungle herd, consider doing something revitalizing for your body and mind like spelunking.  Because it’s bad ass.

BAND: Coheed & Cambria

TOWN: New York, New York

MEMBERS: Claudio Sanchez, Travis Stever, Michael Todd, Chris Pennie

THEIR DEAL: This New York band has developed their fan base on concept albums, based off of a science fiction story line in a series of comics written by singer, Claudio Sanchez.  And the music is pretty technically awesome, too.

THE DIRT: The band had a run of shows in New York back in October that are now being turned into a huge box set for the band.  It’ll include performances of their 4 studio albums as well as four live DVDs and a documentary DVD. Expect it out March 3.

If you like emo music, I’m not going to pretend to understand why.  But I will tell you something:  today is your day.  On this day, two bands released albums.  These two bands happen to be going on tour together, too.  They’re band friends and it’s really cute.  Fall Out Boy released their “Folie a Deux” today.  It sounds very Fall Out Boyish, but….there is something different about it.  I can hardly put my finger on what it is that is different…but it does seem as though the boys are falling into the shoes of men.  Or…they’re trying to.

The other said band, All American Rejects, released their “When The World Comes Down” today.  It sounds pretty much exactly like everything I have ever heard from them.  You decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

In other news, Soulja Boy released a new album today, too.  And it’s not about a super hero of any sort.  I have to say, what I have heard of this album is so weird that I actually like it.  He’s got some creepy and deep vocals juxtaposed against distorted lead guitar with standard hip-hop beats.  If nothing else, it’s interesting.

Other albums released today:

Dave Matthews Band, “Live at Mile High Music Festival“

Keyshia Cole, “A Different Me“

Jamie Foxx, “Intuition“

Don’t try to act like you’re not pumped to go grab Britney’s Spears‘ new album, “Circus” today.  The much anticipated album finally drops today.  Britney is back is such a cliche phrase, but yo, the girl is back.  She looks good again.  Her beats are more hook-filled than ever.

I’m proud of the girl.  Not just for ‘coming back’, but for coming back stronger.  Good job, Brit.  Now go get some star-shaped scarifications and make all of the preteens think it’s cool.

In other pop type news, Akon also released an album today.  “Freedom” hits shelves today with catchy R&B/Hip-Hop/Pop tunes and even though it isn’t my favorite cup of tea, I’ll be the first to admit that it is good.

Akon has got his sh*t together if you ask me…musically speaking.  I don’t know jack about his personal life or head space. Read More »

The Killers have become much like George W. to me.  With each passing year, I found myself asking more intently: are people really falling for this?  I don’t mean to be a hater.  In fact, I thought, “Mr. Brightside” was a cute and catchy song.  But with their new album, “Day & Age“, I’m thoroughly shocked.

Are The Killers blatantly ripping off the 80’s, in whole, or has no one told them that it’s all been done?  Eh.  But hey, if you’re into that scene, regardless of originality, this album will probably be something that you love. Read More »

THE BAND: Nine Inch Nails

HOMETOWN: Cleveland, Ohio

MEMBERS: Trent Reznor and whomever else.

THEIR DEAL: This industrial-leaning and widely-respected borderline-legendary band has gone from scratch demos in Trent Reznor’s bedroom to selling out arenas across the globe over the span of their career.

THE DIRT: Since the group is solely based around Reznor’s music and vision, they have gone through multiple lineup changes over the years.  This time, however, their lineup change is a bit drastic.  Replacing the ever-so-gifted Josh Freese, the drummer of Lostprophets, Ilan Rubin, will now be the sitting drummer for Nine Inch Nails.  I have one question: who paid Trent Reznor to give a band like lostprophets a listen to begin with?

Usually, there’s at least one album I’m excited to hear each Tuesday.  Although the music industry is undeniably filled with a lot of crap, there are almost always some good artists that manage to highlight a week of bad releases.  While not all of the artists releasing albums today are ‘bad’, I can’t say I’m excited about any of them.

In case you didn’t yet notice through Beyonce’s new Myspace billboarding, she has got a new album out.  Apparently, she is displaying her alter-ego in this release, “I Am…Sasha Fierce“.  First of all, I kind of hate the word ‘fierce’.

Secondly, I kind of hate Beyonce.  Beyonce has long referred to her on-stage persona as “Sasha” and now she’s given Sasha her very own album.

Sound nuts to you?  Don’t worry; it sounds nuts to me, too.  Her single, “If I were a Boy”, is boring.  She decorates the songs with her usual unsolicited arpeggios.  I can’t say I expected anything more…but considering the album is oriented around her alter-ego, it would have been refreshing to hear something new and different out of Beyonce. Read More »

THE BAND: Mastodon

HOMETOWN: Atlanta, Georgia

MEMBERS: Brann Dailor, Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher, Troy Sanders

THEIR DEAL: This heavy metal band has is Grammy-nominated and noted everywhere as being one of the best metal bands around.  They know how to shred, sure, but they can do it while actually having a certain beauty and structure in the music.

THE DIRT:  The band has been touring Europe recently, but now the quartet has to continue as a trio.  Guitarist Bill Kelliher was hospitalized for what seems to be pancreatitis.  The tough guy is hanging in there and sources say he is stable, but Mastodon persists on, one guitarist less.