Our Hero

Pete Hero @ Pete Thomas Crabtree added me in my old MySpace account last year, but I wasn't paying too much attention to their songs, regretfully.

Having made another MySpace account, I added up my old friends, as many as possible, and Pete Hero was included. Just yesterday, something took me by a great amount of surprise: Pete dropped a comment on my page.

No musician has ever done this before, knowing their hectic schedule.

Then again, I liked how much he bothered to interact with fans, or in my case, non-fans.

So I told myself that I have to check out Not Your Hero and when I did, I found out that one of their members, Tim Hero @ Tim Brown, had suffered a tragic death.

Story copied from NYH's MySpace blog:

Before i start i will let you know this is the hardest thing i have ever had to do or say. Some of you may already know, some of you may not.. Tim Brown - Bass/Vocals of Not Your Hero tragically died yesterday (Sunday 3rd September 2006). Tim was rushed into Frenchey hospital on Wednesday 16th August with a brain hemorrhage (A malfunction of an artery in a place in his brain). Tim fought hard for the first week and bit with small signs of recovery but took a turn for the worst last monday. This caused them to operate and find that the initial damage was alot worse than first expected, this put Tim into a very critical condition. Over time the swelling and pressures in his brain kept increasing which was causing more damage to the brain. During this critical period Tim also got severe pneumonia to his right lung. By yesterday morning the damage and pressures in his brain were just too much and despite Tim being one of the best fighters around, he sadly passed away. The hemorrhage happened at random whilst Tim was sleeping at his home in Sturminster Newton at about 2am on the wednesday morning. For all of you who dont know Tim, he was by far one of the nicest and funniest people this world has to offer, always a smile on his face, never a bad word for anybody. If ever with Tim you would know you would have a fun time(i remember being removed from Alton Towers because of his insistance of us pulling our pants down for the camera on the water ride). Tim was also one of the most talented musicians and song writers around, helping Not Your Hero to write and record their debut single 'Ask Away' which is set for release through Universal in a couple months, and video heading onto MTV2 in just a couple weeks. It pains me to know Tim wont be around to experience and see the success of his music. Words cannot describe the way myself, Nick, Jonny, his family, gf and friends are feeling and going through right now. It truely has been the worst 3 weeks of all of our lives. Not Your Hero WILL continue, playing with a session player in Tims position. We intend to try as hard as possible to make this single a success and score a high chart position for Tim, it is his dream and nobody deserves it more. We are going to need everybodies help in getting this single to number one for him! Not Your Hero will never die, and we keep going to become the big name in music Tim dreamed of. We have a show this saturday at Yeovil Ski Lodge, this show is going to go ahead to pay tribute to a guy who had everything going for him, and the best friend anybody could ask for. Would Love to see you there. Please feel free to leave comments (sending messages will fill our inbox and will take us a long time to go though!) Tim - You will ALWAYS be loved by us, and we WILL make you proud and we will reach and achieve your goals you set out to achieve with Not Your Hero. Pete, Nick and Jonny Not Your Hero Tim - We all love you so very very very much! never forget

I greatly admire the band for the fact that they strengthen themselves to go through and overcome this obstacle, if not for themselves, for their dearly departed friend.

Even if you don't like their music, you can't deny their attitude.

Not Your Hero is a band that truly deserves to live on, in my opinion.

ASK AWAY is a special song, Tim wrote it & sung lead vocals & his dream was to get it into the charts. Thankfully we also have the ASK AWAY video with Tim who tragically died not long after recording it & sadly never got to see it. As a lasting memory we are hoping to with your help make his dream a reality.

So? What are you waiting for? Give the song a listen!

Carmen.

Simple Plan & Good Charlotte

Has anyone heard of Simple Plan's new single/video, 'When I'm Gone'?

Honestly, I was afraid to click on the play button when they put the song on their MySpace blog. I was a bit nervous, not knowing how their new song is going to turn out.

But thankfully, all my worries were for nothing.

They were still the band I grew to love for their straightforwardness in their lyrics. They might have changed just a little, but definitely for the better.

I felt guilty for nearly comparing them to Good Charlotte, who went

from:

The Anthem So it’s a new day/ But it all feels old/ It’s a good life/ That’s what I’m told/ But everything it all just feels the same/ At my high school/ It felt more to me/ Like a jail cell/ A penitentiary/ My time spent there/ It only made me see

to this:

Keep Your Hands Off My Girl You carry Dior bags and you got your Chanel/ You wear Louie Vitton, HG and YSL/ Now I got Bathing Ape, I got DCMA/ I got brass knuckles hanging from my neck and my chain/ I got a model 26, but she stays in her place/ I got a kershaw neatly tucked inside of my waist

For those who had been passionate GC fans, for the fact that they wrote heartfelt songs (i.e. Emotionless), they would've felt that their love and effort and support for the band had been scarred.

For those who loved them for their faces, they would continue their support, no offense intended.

For those who listened to 'what's hot', they would love the new GC.

Me? I was a fan who loved them for their songs, especially ones off The Young And The Hopeless.

I even thought that The Chronicles Of Life And Death was okay.

But Good Morning Revival turned me off.

In other words, a good band gone bad.

I was glad SP didn't follow in their footsteps. When I'm Gone is unexpected, yet something I would embrace. With this, I can safely say that the rest of the album is most likely going to turn out just as good. If it doesn't, then I'll still love them for being SP.

Click here to listen.

Carmen.

Eric Dill

When The Click Five first started out two years ago, with Eric Dill being the frontman, I was already a fan, not to mention that I had a sneaking suspicion that the band wouldn't last long.

My instincts told me, with just one glance at Eric, that he would go solo someday, and the band might just fall apart. I even pondered if his solo career would turn out well, or would just crash and burn.

But dear instincts, you were only half right.

He did go solo, but his solo career turned out to be better.

His new songs have reflected the more mature side of him, and as the band had said earlier about his leaving, more 'hard rock'. Well, it's not really that hard nor heavy, but it was definitely deeper and darker than Greetings From Imrie House, which was loaded with power pop tracks with an edge of sugar rush.

As for the band, I think Kyle Patrick @ Kyle Dickherber is a fine replacement. His low-pitched vocals has definitely brought the entire band to a different level, making them stronger and frankly, better.

Either way, my support goes out to them both, and I wish them luck.

Hope to hear from Eric soon!

Carmen.