A Message from Mike

Hello Everyone!

Next week we are wrapping up our 5th full year as a show and what a year it has been. We played 4 albums in full to celebrate 2003 in music. We celebrated the 5 year anniversary of our first ever show in October and we had a number of special shows throughout the year. Without each and every one of you listening, none of this could ever happen.

However with that being said, great things like this show don't last forever. Over the last year or so, my life has taken a dramatic turn in a different direction (for the better). I recently started a new job in North Jersey and signed an apartment lease in Union County with my wonderful girlfriend Diana. With WTSR being much farther away and my life moving forward, I have decided to leave the show and WTSR after 6 incredible years on the air.

I can assure everyone that despite my decision to move on from the show, Tom, Don, Craig and I will continue to be best of friends. These 3 guys (especially Tom who has been there since day 1) have been amazing to do the show with, go to concerts with, and just be friends with. I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done for me and for this show.

I also owe a huge thank you to all the listeners and callers we have had over the last 5 years. There are a few of you that have been calling in since the day we started. There are some we have gotten letters from (sorry I haven't been able to write back, I promise I will soon). We've even gotten Christmas cards, artwork, and a 5 year anniversary card from you guys. I cannot believe that so many people have stuck with us for so long and it is incredible when you think about it. We owe everything to you guys.

As far as the future goes, the Mike and Tom Awesome Show (in some form) WILL GO ON! Tom plans on doing the show as long as he possibly can. Craig and Don I'm sure will be making their usual appearances and as for myself, I do plan on visiting every once in a while when I can. But with my work schedule and the logistics of getting to WTSR, it is impossible to do on a regular basis.

The Top Albums of 2013 Countdown on December 14th will be my final show as a regular member. Thank you again to all of you for the last 5 years. I will never forget these great times and will carry them with me for the rest of my life!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Mike Leatherwood

Radio Show Playlist for 4/6/13

Hour 1
"Megalomaniac" - Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder
"An Honest Mistake" - The Bravery - The Bravery
"Underdog" - Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
"There's No Other Way" - Blur - Leisure
"Push Yourself" - The Courteeners - Anna
"Close to You" - The Early November - In Currents
"The Widow" - The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
"Six Feet Under the Stars" - All Time Low - So Wrong, It's Right
"Tap Out" - The Strokes - Comedown Machine
"Hold Me Down" - Minus the Bear - Omni
"All These Things that I've Done" - The Killers - Hot Fuss
"Boomboxes and Dictionaries" - The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim
"What You Know" - Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History

Radio Show Playlist for 3/30/13 (Deja Grave Show)

Hour 1
"Boys of Summer" - The Ataris - So Long, Astoria
"Smashed into Pieces" - Silverstein - When Broken is Easily Fixed
"Readyfuels" - Anberlin - Blueprints for the Black Market
"The Future Freaks Me Out" - Motion City Soundtrack - I Am the Movie
"Such Great Heights" - The Postal Service - Give Up
"Maps" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
"One Thing" - Finger Eleven - Finger Eleven
"Calling You" - Blue October - History for Sale
"Silver and Cold" - AFI - Sing the Sorrow
"For You" - Smile Empty Soul - Smile Empty Soul
"Handful of Redemption" - Boysetsfire - Tomorrow Come Today
"Numb" - Linkin Park - Meteora

Radio Show Playlist for 3/23/13

Hour 1
"Behold the Hurricane" - The Horrible Crowes - Elsie
"In Causta Verenum" - The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death
"That's What I Get" - Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
"Try Honesty" - Billy Talent - Billy Talent
"My Name is Jonas" - Weezer - The Blue Album
"Do You Want To?" - Franz Ferdinand - You Can Have It So Much Better
"Take the Power Back" - Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
"Heart-Shaped Box" - Nirvana - In Utero
"All that I've Got" - The Used - In Love and Death (REQUESTED)
"(Untitled)" - Simple Plan - Still Not Getting Any... (REQUESTED)
"If It Means A Lot to You" - A Day to Remember - Homesick (REQUESTED)
"Polyamorous" - Breaking Benjamin - Saturate (REQUESTED)

Radio Show Playlist for 3/16/13

Hour 1
"Where'd You Go?" - Mighty Mighty Bosstones - More Noises and Other Disturbances
"Precious Declaration" - Collective Soul - Disciplined Breakdown
"Red Letter Day" - The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About
"She Bangs the Drums" - The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
"Because We Can" - Bon Jovi - What About Now
"Bouncing Off the Walls" - Sugarcult - Start Static
"Our Revolution" - Halifax - The Inevitability of a Strange World
"Your Love Alone is Not Enough" - Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers
"Talk" - Coldplay - X&Y
"Get Over It" - OK Go - OK Go
"Victory Over the Sun" - Biffy Clyro - Opposites
"Slither" - Velvet Revolver - Contraband

Radio Show Playlist for 3/9/13

Hour 1
"Have You Ever" - The Offspring - Americana
"Stupid Girl" - Cold - Year of the Spider
"Jenny" - Walk the Moon - Walk the Moon
"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" - U2 - Batman Forever OST
"Shackler's Revenge - Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy
"No One Cares" - Atreyu - Lead Sails and Paper Anchors
"Closer" - Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
"On a Saturday" - Four Year Strong - Enemy of the World
"Dance with the Devil" - The Sounds - Something to Die For
"Let's Kill Tonight" - Panic! at the Disco - Vices and Virtues
"Bring You Back" - Hawthorne Heights - Skeletons
"Say You'll Haunt Me" - Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy

Radio Show Playlist for 3/2/13

Hour 1
"New Wave" - Against Me! - New Wave
"Ride" - The Vines - Winning Days
"Make Me Wanna Die" - The Pretty Reckless - Light Me Up
"No World for Tomorrow" - Coheed and Cambria - No World for Tomorrow
"Before Your Very Eyes..." - Atoms for Peace - Amok
"The Kill" - 30 Seconds to Mars - A Beautiful Lie
"Secret Valentine" - We the Kings - We the Kings
"Nice to Know You" - Incubus - Morning View
"Reach for the Sky" - Social Distortion - Sex, Love, and Rock n Roll
"Empty the Clip, the King has Been Slain, Long Live the Queen" - Fall of Troy - In the Unlikely Event
"Listen to Your Friends" - New Found Glory - Now Without a Fight
"Better Off this Way" - A Day to Remember - What Separates Me from You

Radio Show Playlist for 2/23/13

Hour 1
"Don't Hold Back" - The Sleeping - Questions and Answers
"Tearing Down the Borders" - Anti-Flag - The Terror State
"Graduation Day" - Head Automatica - Popaganda
"Cotopaxi" - The Mars Volta - Octahedron
"Perfect Life" - Red - Release the Panic
"Bling (Confessions of a King)" - The Killers - Sam's Town
"Don't Be So Hard" - The Audition - Controversy Loves Company
"All the World is Mad" - Thrice - Beggars
"The World at Large" - Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
"Into the Ocean" - Blue October - Foiled
"Title & Registration" - Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism (REQUESTED)
"Lasso" - Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
"My Own Worst Enemy" - Lit - A Place in the Sun

Radio Show Playlist for 2/16/13

Hour 1
"I Won't Lie" - Go Radio - Close the Distance
"Youth of the Nation" - P.O.D. - Satellite
"Deeper Well" - Nada Surf - High/Low
"Hands Open" - Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
"Cholla" - The Joy Formidable - Wolf's Law
"Amaze Us" - Fightstar - One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours
"Lies of the Beautiful People" - Sixx: A.M. - This is Gonna Hurt
"Sort Of" - Silversun Pickups - Swoon
"Young Blood" - The Naked and Famous - Passive Me, Aggressive You
"Policy of Truth" - Depeche Mode - Violator
"The Prison Song" - System of a Down - Toxicity (REQUESTED)
"The Day I Tried to Live" - Soundgarden - Superunknown

Radio Show Playlist for 2/9/13 (Epic Show)

Hour 1
"Knights of Cydonia" - Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
"Domino the Destitute" - Coheed and Cambria - The Afterman: Ascension
"Paranoid Android" - Radiohead - OK Computer
"Knights of Shame" - AWOLNATION - Megalithic Symphony
"Oceania" - The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
"#41" - Dave Matthews Band - Crash

Radio Show Playlist for 2/2/13

Hour 1
"The Hand that Feeds" - Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth
"Blame It on Bad Luck" - Bayside - Bayside
"Anybody Out There" - Civil Twilight - Civil Twilight
"Keasbey Nights" - Streetlight Manifesto - Keasbey Nights
"Bring It" - Trapt - Reborn
"Fire" - Sleeping with Sirens - Let's Cheers to This
"Mercy Me" - Alkaline Trio - Crimson
"Lake Ponchatrain" - Ludo - You're Awful, I Love You
"Grand Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy" - Fall Out Boy - Take This to Your Grave
"November" - Silverstein - When Broken is Easily Fixed (REQUESTED)
"All Signs Point to Lauderdale" - A Day to Remember - What Separates Me from You (REQUESTED)
"The Taste of Ink" - The Used - The Used (REQUESTED)

Review Track by Track: My Chemical Romance - Conventional Weapons

Review: My Chemical Romance - Conventional Weapons

In 2010, My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero told fans that the scrapped album from 2009 will eventually be released, possibly as MCR's "final" release. It turns out fans did not have to wait very long. In September, My Chemical Romance announced they would release "Conventional Weapons", comprised of 10 lost tracks released through five 2-song EPs over a span of 5 months. After listening to all 10 songs (and considering the 4 tracks that made it to Danger Days) I can confidently say that My Chemical Romance threw away gold back in 2009.

Let's start off my review of "Conventional Weapons" by taking a look at each EP individually.

DISCLAIMER: I am calling this a record/album. I understand it is a compilation and technically not a record, but I am referring to as such anyway.

Radio Show Playlist for 1/26/13

Hour 1
"Riot" - Three Days Grace - One-X
"Midlife Crisis" - Faith No More - Angel Dust
"Orange Crush" - R.E.M. - Green
"Let Down" - VersaEmerge - Fixed at Zero (Deluxe Edition)
"Birds" - The Starting Line - Direciton
"Bandages" - Hot Hot Heat - Make Up the Breakdown
"Breaking the Habit" - Linkin Park - Meteora
"We're All to Blame" - Sum 41 - Chuck
"Empty Hands" - Close Your Eyes - Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts (REQUESTED)
"Here is Gone" - Goo Goo Dolls - Gutterflower
"Miss Behavin'" - Emery - The Question (REQUESTED)
"Machinehead" - Bush - Sixteen Stone

Radio Show Playlist for 1/19/13

Hour 1
"Adolescents" - Incubus - If Not Now, When?
"Silence is the Enemy" - Papa Roach - The Connection
"Simple Song" - The Shins - Port of Morrow
"Kill the Light" - Lacuna Coil - Dark Adrenaline
"Polyamourous" - Breaking Benjamin - Saturate (REQUESTED)
"Ghost Man on Third" - Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends (REQUESTED)
"Pain Lies on the Riverside" - Live - Mental Jewelry
"Seventy Times 7" - Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon (REQUESTED)
"All that I've Got" - The Used - In Love and Death (REQUESTED)
"My Heroine" - Silverstein - Discovering the Waterfront (REQUESTED)
"Hang You from the Heavens" - The Dead Weather - Horehound
"Birth of the Economic Hitman" - Circa Survive - Violent Waves

Radio Show Playlist for 1/12/13

Hour 1
"Sabotage" - Beastie Boys - Ill Communication
"Arrows" - Fireworks - Gospel
"Ignorance" - Paramore - Brand New Eyes
"Dog Days Are Over" - Florence and the Machine - Lungs
"Ghosts on the Boardwalk" - The Bouncing Souls - Ghosts on the Boardwalk
"Nightmare" - Halifax - The Inevitability of a Strange World
"She Moves in Her Own Way" - The Kooks - Inside In/Inside Out
"Girl" - Beck - Guero
"The Only Survivor was Miraculously Unharmed" - Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation (REQUESTED)
"Duality" - Slipknot - Vol. 3: the Subliminal Verses
"Monument" - A Day to Remember - For Those Who Have Heart (REQUESTED)
"Head Like a Hole" - Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
"Do It Now, Remember It Later" - Sleeping with Sirens - Let's Cheers to This

Top Albums of 2012

Here is the top 50 albums of 2012, a list compiled by the Mike and Tom Awesome Show.  Hope you enjoy it.

Top Albums of 2011

So I forgot I never posted our top albums of 2011 post last year so now I'm going to do it.  The 2012 list will follow shortly.  Here were the top 50 albums of 2011 as told by the Mike and Tom Awesome Show: