In addition to holding the record for being the most frequently reviewed band on Faster and Louder (today they surpass Roger Maris with write-up #62), Vista Blue is also the only band that I've ever reviewed both twice on the same day and on back-to-back days. The back-to-back day part of that has been accomplished today, and I know a lot of you are speculating about any improper benefits I may have received in exchange for facilitating such a milestone. Let me reiterate that it would be unlawful for me to accept any shipment of alcoholic beverages brought into the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from an unlicensed entity. The truth is that I just really love this band and really love writing about this band. I will go as far as to vow that I will continue to write about music for as long as Vista Blue continues to exist as a musical entity. So yeah, if Vista Blue releases a song in 2050 to celebrate Pete Crow-Armstrong's Baseball Hall of Fame induction, I'll almost surely be there to write a review that you can download from a microchip in your eyeball and read in your flying car.
Just when I was starting to wonder how nearly every band I love releasing an album in 2026 would impact the musical offerings of 2027, I get my first "I can't wait until next year!" moment. In March of 2027, Vista Blue will release an epic project titled 50 Stories. The album will include 50 songs, which will all be inspired by books and short stories Mike has enjoyed over the years. Given that I'm a book geek when I'm not busy being a music geek and a sports geek, I'm really stoked about this release. The brand-new single "Wooden Horse" is a sneak preview of the album. Leave it Vista Blue to take inspiration from Homer's Odyssey and come up with a love song! The song's release, of course, coincides with The Odyssey hitting movie theaters this week. It's something a little different for Vista Blue. It features strings arranged and recorded by Nicolas Ocampo and falls closer to pure majestic pop than it does to punk rock. That said, it still feels like a classic Vista Blue song.
Obviously, when you're putting 50 songs on an album (I still can't believe they're doing that!), there's going to be a lot of variety in terms of musical style. So this is just a little taste of what's to come. Mike and Mark really knocked this one out of the park, and I appreciate that the use of strings actually fits the song. They didn't say, "Let's put strings on this track because we can!" They put a lot of thought into this one, and I feel like the folks at Universal Pictures will be pretty upset they didn't know about the song in time to put it in the movie. This tune has bigtime closing credits energy! The connection to the Odyssey is undeniable, yet the song's relatability transcends any particular work of literature. Will this be on Christopher Nolan's personal playlist by year's end? I wouldn't be surprised!
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