"What's Next to the Moon" - AC/DC

     Welcome readers! Thanks for joining me today. Well, we have made it to the end of the month. We have survived the holidays! For some it is an achievement and for others it leaves you feeling hollow. I always grieve the end of the holidays, but I will admit that this year has been easier since there wasn't even snow for Christmas this year! Utah is getting hotter and dryer each year, I swear. If only there were scientists and professionals warning about this for the last couple of years. Anyway, I hope December was a good month for you, it was a decent one for me. The fun of the holidays and more importantly the extra days off of work. Always hard to get back into the groove of working without having an extra day off within the month. We have had a ton of quality songs this month! A good average of 8/10 ratings, but that is to be expected from a website that covers mainly only songs that your malnourished author chooses. We have had mostly rock tracks of varying shades that comprised 18/31 songs, 4 country tracks, 6 metal butt kickers, 1 R&B, 1 reggae, and one punk track. This month has also had four 10/10 rated songs! I only give that 10/10 to the best of the best, mostly in my own opinion, but there is always a backing of it being genuinely a fucking great song. Opeth had one with "Blackwater Park", Bon Jovi with "Wanted Dead or Alive", the Pixies had us floating away with "Wave of Mutilation", and Ozzy brought in energy in with "I Don't Wanna Stop". So, thank you for riding along this month and tuning in! And thank you to all the bands out there that make this website such a joy to type out. For today, we come back to the ultimate hard rock group of all time, AC/DC. I am glad that AC/DC is having more tracks show up on the website. This will be our first AC/DC song from the Bon Scott era, my favorite era, so I am excited to give you one of those fun as hell tracks. "What's Next to the Moon" is kind of an odd AC/DC track. I mean, through and through it is still a cliché AC/DC track, but it has always stood apart from the others in my opinion. If I knew musical theory, I could probably tell you why, but I am just a simple long hair with dreams larger than a drive. Still, the track just feels like it was put together differently. We will get to that soon but since this is the first Bon Scott AC/DC track I wanna show some love to the man that put that sinful swagger in AC/DC in the first place. Bon Scott might not have been a traditionally trained vocalist who put Freddie Mercury to shame, but what he did have was loads of aura. He commanded the stage with ease and sleaze. Those famous vocals of a naughty schoolboy first helped AC/DC to even get on the rock radar. For a band like AC/DC, you would think they were instantly international superstars, but they had to work hard for it. Some of my favorite albums of mine from them were originally put down by critics and hardly sold well outside their home country of Australia. In time once albums like Highway to Hell came into the picture people went back and collected the rest of the albums and *bang* out of nowhere they were this uncovered grail of insanely potent rock music. They always had fans, with a stage persona and atmosphere this great, it is only natural there were plenty of fans pretty quick. Still, it did take them longer than you would expect to break out of Australia. Bon Scott was the band's second vocalist, the first being Dave Evans before the band became their own or put out any albums. He was with AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. Bon Scott died from alcohol poisoning, being put down as "death by misadventure" which is a term I have always dug. I mean, it is sad he died and all that jazz, especially while AC/DC was riding at the top of the world, but that is a very rock n roll way to die. Dying from alcohol poisoning would be a crappy way to go, though.

     Bon Scott was born in Scotland but moved with his family to Australia in 1952. Like many in the 1950s, he was struck by the rock n roll craze taking over the world, and had a special love for Little Richard. Scott and Richard are two different beasts, but in a strange way you can see the similarities with the noises and in your face approach. He dropped out of school at 15 and worked odd jobs here and there. He spent some time in juvi and after that tried joining the military, but they said "um.... no". So, back to working a slew of odd jobs, but during that time he started up his first band called The Spektors as a drummer and occasional singer. That band went nowhere, but you can find some of their recordings if you look hard enough now. They merged with another local band and changed their name to The Valentines, that found minor local success with the song "Juliette". The band didn't survive long, and Bon Scott decided it was time to move along and try his luck in a different city. He joined two more bands before getting his shot with AC/DC, the progressive rock group Fraternity and then Mount Lofty Rangers. The latter of which got into arguments often and for the final one Bon Scott smashed a bottle of whiskey (which he had been drinking) on the floor and took off pissed on his motorcycle and naturally wrecked the fucker which got him hospitalized. I have stood by one rule while upon a motorcycle, never ride when angry. Well, while recovering his old buddy from The Valentines, Vince Lovegrove, introduced Bon Scott to AC/DC who were looking for a new vocalist. They were hesitant since his accent was more than heavy, and also he was quite a bit older than the rest of the band, but they gave it a shot anyhow and the rest is history. A wise choice since I find Bon Scott AC/DC to really be the era in which they had pure gold that sounded unlike anyone else. It was raw and raunchy, young and reckless, drunk and spunky. I love Brian Johnson AC/DC too, buuut there is some rock n roll magic within those first albums. Wonder if AC/DC would have stayed such legends if Bon Scott stayed away from that whiskey. Guess we will never know. Anyway, the band released plenty of albums that found a quick fandom in Oceania, but it did take them a good minute to find international fame. Our song of the day comes off their 1978 album Powerage. In my opinion, this is their weakest studio album from the Bon Scott era. Still solid hard rock gold, and one that I love, but I cannot help but mention it. It also has the worst AC/DC album cover, I hate this album cover, and I am not even quite sure why. It is very much AC/DC, but something about it has always bothered me. AC/DC is the epitome of electric music, so it is only fair they have their iconic guitarist Angus Young being shocked with his electric hands on the cover. Powerage was the first album with new bassist Cliff Williams, a daunting task since the Young brothers were known to expect nothing but all your time and energy, or you get the boot, but he did quite well with the band. You can hear him serving up some solid bass lines and backing vocals on this album and many more in the future. "What's Next to the Moon" once again is kind of an odd track, a damn good one, but it just feels a little bit different. It is the 6th track on the album, a perfect place for it, the track comes between the more mellowed out "Sin City" and the confident "Gone Shootin'". "What's Next to the Moon" starts off with a moody intro that builds tension, all of which releases once the track's chorus kicks off. That chorus is the best part of the track. Truth be told, I am not quite sure what this song is about. It is multiple scenarios of our character almost killing his chick over and over again presumably on purpose but then coming back to saying "it's your love that I want, it's your love that I need". Does he need it that bad he wants to kill her? Kind of messed up. I mean, I guess in the end he does, but that is what confuses me. Also, what does the question of "what's next to the moon?" have to do with anything? I think I am missing something. The track alludes to multiple different characters and people, which only confuses things. Is he the train that crashed and killed Casey Jones? The villain in the Superman universe? Well, I don't know, but I do know that I really enjoy the song, though I don't care for the lyrics. Well put together track that isn't a straight shot AC/DC track but still is situated comfortably within that iconic AC/DC style. I hope you dig the track! A nice hidden one from AC/DC legendary discography. Glad to have it here and show it off to you! Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1978
Album: Powerage (1978)
Genre: Hard Rock
Mood: Rockin'
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Sex, Summer days, Working
Where To Next: "I'm the One" - Van Halen
Rating: 7 / 10

"Bubbles In My Beer" - Ray Price

     Alright, after we have had the red-hot rockers, mellow sweet talkers, and head knockers, let's take some time to show classic country the love. Ray Price is our star of the day, a man who steered the country music ship for an impressive amount of time. He is known for his vocal skills, which has many people putting him up there near the top of most impressive male country singers. I would put him at #2, right behind George Jones. Anyway, he isn't solely known for his great singing, he is also known for bringing in a faster country beat, something known as the Ray Price beat. That beat is almost always kicked off with his trademark fiddle intros that let you know exactly what musician is coming through your speakers before he even starts singin'. When I was first getting into country music way back, Ray Price was always a cornerstone of my listening and helped me navigate the many forgotten names of country music in the 1950s and 60s. Even now, I hardly have any country playlist out there that doesn't have a handful of his songs on there. I mean, he made it easy, since he put out 51 studio albums in his time and had chart topping hits from 1952's "Talk to Your Heart" all the way until 1975's "Roses and Love Songs". Following 1975 he still released albums that sold alright and had singles that charted without a hitch. He is an absolute legendary musician, so it isn't all too shocking he had hits all the way into the 1980s. Ray Price passed away in 2013 at the age of 87 after fighting cancer. Fuck cancer. Isn't it crazy how long country musicians live in comparison to rock stars? I mean... it makes sense but still. Country music has a ton of wild men as well, but they got their kicks on pills and booze in comparison to rockers and their love for hard drugs. Anyway, Ray Price has one of the most celebrated careers in country music and played a massive role in the progression of country music. For that, we thank you, good sir. Ray Price picked up the guitar at a very young age and honed both his picking and singing for years. He first desired to be a veterinarian and went to collage for it, not desiring to follow in the footsteps of his fashion designer parents. His time in school was interrupted by World War 2 when he was drafted into the marines and served a full tour. Once he got back to the US, he entered school again but found himself uninterested in his original vision. So he worked on a farm and started singing in joints around Abilene, Texas which eventually got him discovered and included in the radio program Hillbilly Circus based out of Abiline. Following that, he started singing on the Dallas program Big D Jamboree that soon after got picked up to be a nationwide broadcast, and he was along for that hayride. He met fellow musicians, both big time and small time, and that was his first taste of fame. One of his new friends was Lefty Frizzell in which he wrote a couple of songs for. This got his name out there even more, and he was picked up by Bullet Records who gave him his chance to cut his own songs. His first singles were "Talk To Your Heart" and his version of "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" both of which made it into the top 10 in the US country charts. His name was out there and due to his history with other musicians and radio programs it was only fate that soon enough he would be commanding his own troupe. In 1956, he released his first chart topping hit and also one of his most famous songs even today "Crazy Arms" which quickly became a country and rockabilly sensation with a shitload of covers. This was the second song I ever heard from Ray Price and knew damn well it was a cut above practically any other country song I had heard up until that point. Following that Price released a ton of songs that became country standards, having a ton of chart topping hits each year. His studio albums also sold immensely well, especially a favorite country album of mine Night Life out of 1963 which was his first #1 LP on the charts. I could go on, but I am having a hard time keeping on one thought, and also Ray Price would need a page of his own for me to even list half of his achievements.

     So I don't make this post a boring blunder, I will just get into our song of the day and the album it comes off of. I am damn excited to talk about one of my all-time favorite Ray Price albums that I swear doesn't get the love it more than deserves. In 1963 Ray Price had a ton of hit songs and was widely known as one of the visionaries of country music. A man built for the industry that knew which strings to pluck and who's songs to record to make hits. We could talk all day about Ray Price and his collection of original songs, but how about we talk about someone else's songs for a second? Our song of the day is a Ray Price cover of "Bubbles in My Beer" which was originally recorded by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys in 1947. Now, for those that have been reading here for a while might remember my Bob Wills post for "South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)" last month. Bob Wills is the king of country music and western swing. There are few musicians out there that had such a heavy hand in crafting country music. His name is plastered all over the faces of the country stars of yesteryear and even modernly. Bob Wills alongside his musical troupes defined what country music was going to be in a couple of years much like The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers did in the 1920s & 1930s, Roy Acuff and Hank Williams did in the 1940s, Ray Price and Johnny Cash did in the 1950s and onward. Ray Price recorded a whole album in dedication to Bob Wills called Ray Price Sings San Antonio Rose in 1962. One of countries greatest artists recording one of countries greatest artists backed by some of countries greatest musicians of the time including Willie Nelson. Easy to say that it was already meant to be one of his greatest albums of all time, well so far as I am concerned at least. I come back to this album often, and I chose this song during the first time playing through the album on vinyl format. The album starts off with an introduction by Ray Price where he talks about how great Bob Wills is, something I have always loved about the album. It also has an outro where he thanks you for listening, which just completes the package. From start to finish, the album is a joy and feels so personal, almost as if you were there when the album was recorded just hanging out with the band. "Bubbles in My Beer" has always been a favorite of mine from Bob Wills and I find it to be one of the songs of his that shows what country music will achieve once it found a solid foothold on the charts years later. There are a ton of great versions of the song, much like the majority of Bob Wills tracks, and I think that Ray Price does it almost the best. The drunk that the story portrays who has wasted his life watching the bubbles in his beer is sold best by the depressive yet potent vocals of Ray Price. The song is a quick one, not even making the 3-minute mark, but within that time you are left with something to remember. "Bubbles in My Beer" is one of the few tracks off the album that actually feels like a cover. Something about it feels less intense than the others songs, it feels like the track the local band plays while you go get another round before they jump into the next song. That might sound like I am talking down on the song, but if anything I am praising its easy to get behind temperament. Not every song has to be as beautiful as "San Antonio Rose" or as exciting as "Roly Poly", each album needs the breather track which "Bubbles in My Beer" takes from this set of songs. Does this version beat the original? Nope. But for an album made up to show some love to a musician that obviously left an imprint on the heart of Ray Price, it is a great version. If you liked the song but want some other versions then I suggest the versions from Hank Thompson, George Jones, Asleep at the Wheel, and Willie Nelson. Those are some top tier versions, but even those can't beat out the original, some things are just done too well at the start. Bob Wills is a legend, and Ray Price is as well. So, do yourself a favor and give the song a spin and take in some country history in this easily digestible track. Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1962
Album: Ray Price Sings San Antonio Rose (1962)
Genre: Country
Mood: Hopeless, Mellow
​Perfect For: Getting drunk, Warming a barstool at a dive, Chain smoking, Casual listening
Where To Next: "Take Me Back to Tulsa" - George Jones
Rating: 7 / 10

"Waiting on a Friend" - The Rolling Stones

     The Rolling Stones never seem to quit! Just recently, the band had to cancel their 2026 tour due to health related issues from guitarist and practical frontman Keith Richards. Yeah, I fuckin' bet, these dudes have been touring nonstop and recording music practically since 1962. I get it, they live and breathe the road, something I respect. Still, you gotta take care of yourself, so good on them for cancelling. I guess that is easy for me to say since I didn't spend 200+ bucks on that concert, but still. It ain't like the band is even slightly hurting for money since they are one of the highest selling artists of all time. This is the Stones fifth song to be included on the website, and I got a doozy with "Waiting on a Friend" which I am excited to talk about here in a second. I chose the track while starting to compile another list. Back before I posted this website and was legging years of work, lists were one of my most time-consuming but enjoyable projects. Growing up, I would check out a ton of websites where lists were their bread and butter. DigitalDreamDoor played a pivotal role in expanding my musical horizons, and even now I make sure to check back in every couple of months. My musical vision aligns with theirs more often than not. When first trying to figure out the vision of AintNoisePollution back in 2019 I was half tempted to put all my eggs in the list basket much like DigitalDreamDoor. I have an obsession with lists, so it seemed fitting, plus they don't take nearly as much time as some of my other projects. In the end, I decided to do lists alongside album reviews, which turned to lists alongside album reviews alongside music history. In the modern AintNoisePollution it is mostly blog posts alongside lists with hopefully album reviews coming soon. I think this is a good balance, it has lists for people wanting something to rip off and make a playlist out of, and it also has the slight music history notes within our song of the day posts. I run this website solely by myself, so I don't dish out material nearly as quickly as some other similar websites or the big boys like The Rolling Stone Magazine. Some lists take me weeks upon weeks to finish, and the one I am working on now is going to take me fucking forever! My top 500 rock songs of the 1980s. That means I am compiling a massive list of my favorite tracks from the decade which is easily over 1000 and having them fight head on to achieve the spot of "my favorites". If our musical vision aligns, then this is one you cannot miss! Keep an eye out! I do updates on the home page. It was while I was compiling the list I spent some with The Rolling Stone's Tattoo You (1981) and Emotional Rescue (1980), hence why "Waiting on a Friend" came along and was selected as my song of the day. This track fills me with all sorts of feelings, nostalgia being the one in forefront. Tattoo You practically defined the summer of 2013 for me. I must have listened to this album 100 times during that sweet sweet vacation. I can still smell the room I was living in at the time, feel the North Carolina humidity, and taste those stomach aching Milk Duds that I had an infatuation with at the time. During that summer, I was completing my first 100% run on a video game, the chosen one being my previous Red Dead Redemption. I had a radio with only one speaker that worked, but it got the job done, so I would turn the volume all the way down on the TV and do all the tedious tasks on the game to get that achievement while Tattoo You played mellowly in the background. I jumped between Tattoo You and Johnny Cash's massive compilation The Legend, which I similarly abused that summer. Man, isn't it weird how time moves along? During that time, I could listen to the same album countless times, but now I am always moving on to the next thing. I swear I don't stick with a band nearly as long as I used to, something I do shake my fist at the modern way music is taken in via streaming. I still wouldn't trade it, but I do miss the times when all you needed was a Rolling Stones and Johnny Cash CD.

     Alright, enough about reminiscing. I just can't help it when tracks like this one play, since it really meant the world to me at the time. I still adore the album and find it to be one of The Rolling Stones greatest, but I don't play it nearly as much as I used to. Tattoo You released in August 1981 and became the band's most successful release out of the 1980s, only maybe being rivaled by their 1989 album Steel Wheels. Though, outside of "Mixed Emotions" there aren't nearly as many essential Stones tracks on that one in comparison to Tattoo You. Maybe I have a bias, but I really don't think so, Tattoo You is the ultimate 1980s Stones album. Now, a lot of that is due to the album being mainly put together by previously written songs that came from some of their best albums but never made the cut. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, the band's dominant songwriters, weren't seeing eye during this period in the band so the music was obviously not getting written. I mean, each member was doing their thing to put out another album since their previous release Emotional Rescue did fairly well in 1980, but they needed to do it in unison to have something of value. So it was left to the band's production team, who took the reins and started combing through the band's previously unused recordings to see if there was anything of value there. Luckily for them, and us, there were plenty of great tracks! Some of which were practically completed, and the others just needed some guitar work here and lyrics there. So all the band had to do was come into the studio and get to recording to finish everything up. To some, that might seem like a cop out, a compilation of unreleased tracks in the form of a studio album, but to me, I don't see any fault in it. The majority of the tracks off of Tattoo You are great ones, and I am very glad the band followed through in releasing the tracks all prettied up. Songs like "Start Me Up", "Waiting on a Friend", "Neighbors", "Hang Fire", and "Slave" are great Stones tracks, some of which being some of their most well known like "Start Me Up". The fun thing about this album is you can almost tell track by track which songs were meant for which previous release of theirs. "Waiting on a Friend" seems like it came right out of their later 1970s sound, even though it was originally written while recording 1973's Goats Head Soup, which also makes sense. Now, what I find funny is the timing in which they released "Waiting on a Friend". The song is all about friendship, about needing a pal more than you need anything else. It is sort of funny they put together this song during a dark period in their history when tensions were high. The lyrics are fairly crude, but that is The Rolling Stones for you. They have a ton of songs that people just don't listen to the lyrics and play it loud. I mean, just check out "Brown Sugar", "Start Me Up", "Stray Cat Blues", "Star Star", and plenty of others. They aren't considered the original bad boys of rock n roll for just any reason. Still, even with the more crude lyrics, it is a pretty positive track overall. A friendship song, which there really aren't all too many friend songs out there, especially in comparison to the massive catalogue of love songs. I am not really here for the lyrics on this track, I am here for the dreamy atmosphere that is put out from the guitar. There is a peaceful note to this melancholy song, something that I come back to time and time again when I am feeling a little blue. There is a ton of percussion instruments being used, and they even had jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins come on board to give us a sax solo, a bona fide legend in the saxophone world. The last little fun bit of info for the track is its music video, which is one of their most popular. It just features the band meeting up off the streets of Manhattan and going for a beer. Though, what I find awesome about it is the building that Mick Jagger is waiting for a friend in is also the same building used for the album cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, which I hope to visit once in my life and get a picture in front of. A man can dream, and tracks like "Waiting on a Friend" are dipped heavily in that dreamy atmosphere. Well, I will just let you get into it. Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for our next post! Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1981
Album: Tattoo You (1981)
Genre: Rock, Pop Rock
Mood: Melancholy
​Perfect For: Lonesome mornings, Casual listening, Coffee blues, Lazy afternoons
Where To Next: "Who's Crying Now" - Journey
Rating: 8 / 10

"I Don't Wanna Stop" - Ozzy Osbourne

     When the month starts coming to a close, I always get stressed about how this month's page turned out. For a website called AintNoisePollution that is dedicated to the love of rock n roll, we don't often talk about straight laced rock n roll. If this website ever truly becomes big, which I don't have too high of hopes for, would it be a negative that one day we talk about thrash metal then the next reggae then the next southern rock? Or would it be a positive? I mean, it is the modern day, you can sample about anything out there all for the same monthly price of a streaming service or for free on the plethora of other resources, so in the end it isn't a big deal. Still, I forget people do have a lot of hate for other genres out there. People might come to this website for a solid dose of rock music, not for the others, and lose interest within a post or two. Truth be told, I am not trying to cater to just rock fans even if the vision of the website is certainly situated there, I am trying to cater to those that simply love music. For me, every song I include is a solid track, one that I dig and want to share, but for a lot of you out there it might be only 1/5th of the songs are enjoyable, if even that. Within December, we have had a pretty good selection of both the straight forward rock tracks and also all the varying forms of rock music out there, be it heavy metal or reggae rock. Sorry to go off on a side tangent, but I like to get these things off my chest. I also want to make it clear that no matter what genre I chose from, I always try giving out the best of the best of those genres. Plenty of the choices are certainly from my own personal collection, but after years upon years of deep study, I am confident that my radar is a strong one. I guess you are here reading this today, so maybe you agree. Anyway, enough about all of that for a moment. Ozzy Osbourne is our choice of the day, which only proves that my musical compass is indeed fine-tuned. Ozzy is a name everyone knows, no matter who you are. His person is almost more famous than his massively successful solo career and his time in the godfathers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath. This is the second time we zoned in on Ozzy on this website. Our previous post was a couple of months ago, when Ozzy passed away due to a heart attack. A day of darkness for the prince of darkness. That one was a heavy post where we talked about "See You on the Other Side" off of his seventh solo studio album, Ozzmosis. Ozzy had a massively impressive solo career, something quite rare after such a well known musician leaves the ship of the band that got him out to sea in the first place. Black Sabbath was dealing with some major infighting with musical differences and guitarist Tony Iommi's nitpicking in the studio, which had Ozzy feeling like he was just along for the ride. They kicked him out under the reason of his rampant consumption of drugs and liquor, which yeah that is true, but Ozzy forever stood up to those claims with the classic "so were you", which yeah also was true. Sabbath was well known for their antics and deadly addictions. Black Sabbath still rode on with Ronnie James Dio who found previous fame in Rainbow, which was another predecessor to heavy metal. Ozzy on the other hand was left with a big ol' paycheck and a lot of time on his hands. Ozzy being Ozzy locked himself in his self-imposed tomb and spent all that time and money on cocaine and booze, buying a one way ticket on an airline made of snow. Destination: an early grave. All he could see in his head was that his time was up, his days in the spotlight were at a close and soon enough he was to be back at the factory alongside the other downtrodden and forgotten souls that comprised of Birmingham like he was destined from birth.

    Though this wasn't the end of Ozzy, no, if anything it was a new beginning. His wife Sharon saw him through this dance with death, both out of love and due to her father's behest of making sure his investment didn't snuff out. Ozzy was signed to Jet Records under Sharon's father Don Arden, who was a legendary musical act manager that was there since the start of rock n roll. Don Arden was an infamous hard man, and few were a better match since Ozzy needed more than a helping hand. That is a story within itself, but maybe we will cover that next time we talk Ozzy, especially in a post during Ozzy's prime years in the 1980s. For today, we are talking about a later hit of his, and his final platinum selling album, 2007's Black Rain. Isn't it odd that such a rock legend has only been included twice here with 600 posts under our belt, and that the two choices were both from some of his less legendary albums? I guess it goes that way, but don't let that make you think these tracks are any less potent than some of his massively abused songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home". Black Rain was an important album in the rock world when I was growing up. While I already knew of Ozzy since a young age and listened to plenty of his songs, it was Black Rain that first let me see the face of this infamous icon of music. It was a fitting image, he looks wise, wicked, and wrecked all at the same time upon this hellish polluted man made war scene that has black rain falling all over his blackened visage. It wasn't the first album I listened to by Ozzy, but it was one of the first I remembered from start to finish. This was another CD that I religiously rented from the library, and I was especially fond of "Black Rain" and "I Don't Wanna Stop". As an adult, I admittedly don't come to this album nearly as much as the majority of his releases, but each time I do, I am completely pleased as punch. It is a heavy one that shows that even this long in Ozzy's career, he still writes fresh material that gets you banging your damn head. I also find Black Rain to have the coolest version of his logo. I had that logo printed out, and it rode in the front of my binder at school for years. "I Don't Wanna Stop" is prime Ozzy Osbourne, it holds one of the highest playing counts out of all the songs Ozzy ever put out. You can see why, the lyrics are a ton of fun and that chorus always has you redlining your vehicle. The playing from Zakk Wylde is one of the gems of the song. His famous signature way of making that guitar squawk always leaves your ears hungry for the next noise it makes. So between one of Ozzy's best choruses, the guitar work from Zakk Wylde, the drumming from Mike Bordin, and the reckless lyricism there is no denying that this is one of Ozzy Osbourne's greatest songs. "I Don't Wanna Stop" alongside the other single "Not Going Away" and the atmospherically perfect "Black Rain" are the reasons that Black Rain sold pretty damn well. I rarely hear the other two tracks out in the wild, so in the scheme of the tracks that survived the mainstream test of time, "I Don't Wanna Stop" is the powerhouse of the album. That is alright, though, that is like losing a fight to Superman. You can't be too upset when you lose to the best, right? I remember "I Don't Wanna Stop" was literally everywhere when it came out. Our local radio stations abused the living hell out of it, it was a song you heard on WWE and a ton of different sporting events, and it was one of those songs that even those that didn't like heavier music still had playing loud in their car. A heavy as fuck track for everyone with its pedal to the metal kick. Not every song off Black Rain was a zinger, but "I Don't Wanna Stop" is so good that it doesn't even matter, which saw the album hitting the platinum status. The intro to the track is fuckin' killer! Makes you start stomping your feet and banging your head. Lyrically it is almost a biographical Ozzy Osbourne track, one of many where he makes it clear everyone can eat his dust as he makes his way down the path of life in his own way, and often a little too fast. Zakk Wylde too has some serious power in this song! Both commanding the song at all times, his place in that very of the time intro, and that fucking slick guitar solo nearing the end. R.I.P. Ozzy, one of the last gods of heavy metal, all the music world will never be the same without his dark hand upon the dial. I know you already know the track, but turn your volume up high and play the song again! Fuck the neighbors! I am sure they wanna hear some Ozzy anyway, who wouldn't? Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 2007
Album: Black Rain (2007)
Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Mood: Reckless
​Perfect For: Driving fast, Getting a little too drunk, Working out, Reckless activities, Riding motorcycles...FAST
Where To Next: "Demon Speeding" - Rob Zombie
Rating: 10 / 10

"Somebody" - Slightly Stoopid

     Ready to get stoopid?! Today we turn our radar to some more reggae out of California. We slightly talked about the California reggae sound within our Tribal Seeds post this month, and Slightly Stoopid were one of the most important figures in setting up that sound. In comparison to bands like Rebelution, Stick Figure, Dirty Heads, and so on, they aren't nearly as reggae. Slightly Stoopid came a good bit before those groups and first found a sound based within punk rock. I compare them more to Sublime and Pepper than with the others, even if modernly they follow the more beaten path of modern American reggae. Slightly Stoopid can hardly be called solely a reggae band since they are known to have a ton of varying styles within their 9 studio albums and 3 live albums. They certainly have a reggae and dub backing but never leave the rock, folk, punk and hip hop styles alone and include them often. Their self-titled debut album came out in 1996 under the Skunk label, which was run by Bradley Nowell of Sublime and his buddy Michael Happoldt. They recorded that album while still in high school, and few artists were a better fit for their style than Bradley behind the mixing board. Bradley also played bass on the hidden track "Prophet". I won't lie, that first album is rough and nothing you should worry yourself with running home to play right away. Being a big fan myself, I found plenty to dig within, but those that like Slightly Stoopid for tracks like "Closer to the Sun" and "2 am" might be a little shocked to find an intense punk meets dub style on that debut. The same is to be said about the band's second studio album The Longest Barrel Ride, but that one at least shows that the band is going to become a big name in the reggae world in time. It is still punk heavy, though the playing is a little better and the musical direction is a little more focused into something fresh than something confused and spunky. The Longest Barrel Ride was the second studio album I listened to from start to finish from the band, so it holds a special place within my heart and tracks like "I'm So Stoned", "Free Dub", and "Slightly Stoopid" are ones that find their way into plenty of my playlists. Still, not the best album in comparison to their later ones. It was their final release under Skunk Records, and also their final album out of the 1990s. 2000 saw them releasing one of their best, Everything You Need, one of the best places to see the full vision of the band. They dropped some of their aggression for a more mellow time, I mean that aggression is still there without a doubt, but this is an album to drink some Blue Moon to, not Bud Light like the previous two. That ones holds some of their most respected tracks and personal favorites such as "Collie Man", "Officer", "Everything You Need", and their odd cover of "Leaving on a Jetplane". Just a party album for party people from party people. Within Everything You Need the band fully found their signature sound that they held on to for a long time up until 2012's Top of the World which had a sound that melded a little easier with most of the modern hot shots in the American reggae world. I personally mainly stick within their albums from 2003 to 2008 buuuut still love the modern sound, just differently. Anyway, while Everything You Need has just about everything you need, it has a hard time standing up to their most essential album Closer to the Sun. Now that is an album that I would suggest to just about everyone! It is the one which holds our song of the day, "Somebody".

     If there was one album that got me into reggae music, it was Closer to the Sun. This album means an obscene amount to me! If you have had the misfortune of knowing me in real life, you know that this album is one of my most cherished ones, especially for albums that came out in the 2000s. Before Slightly Stoopid I was immensely into Sublime which might as well be the uncle to Slightly Stoopid since their vibe, imagery, and style is damn similar. The first time I heard the title track off the album, I swear I saw god. Full body goosebumps! I was supposed to be doing something in class, but instead I was using my school time on the computer on a little music streaming website back in the day called Grooveshark, man those were easier times. I was crafting a playlist for some of my favorite metal songs so I could listen to them while pretending to do schoolwork, but on that day I figured I might as well create something to revolve around Sublime. I did a little research and soon found myself staring at the groovy album art of Slightly Stoopid's Closer to the Sun. That album cover looked to me to be a mix of some of my favorite bands of the time like the Grateful Dead, Sublime, and Bad Religion, so I already knew I was onto something. The first track off the album is a smooth one called well... "Intro". I was already digging it but once the first real song kicks off, "Babylon Is Falling", I was in hog heaven! I found another band to drool all over for the rest of my life, and even well over 10 years later, I am still drooling. Our song of the day is the third song off the album, and it is one of the least reggae ones off this album. Now, the track listing for Closer to the Sun is 20 songs long, and much like you should expect from Slightly Stoopid, it is a ton of different styles. One song might be dub and then the next is a more pop based track like "Somebody". It isn't shocking that this album became a classic in the California reggae world and became a hidden gem within other genres. "Somebody" has a ton of different influences within, and for a song that samples Wu Tang Clan it isn't very hip hop. A year prior to Closer to the Sun the band released their first live album in 2003 called Acoustic Roots: Live & Direct in 2003 which is one of my favorites from them and also is the first to show off what people always forget about Slightly Stoopid, the crazy talented acoustic guitar work from Kyle McDonald and Miles Doughty. You can hear that same talent going off casually in the background of "Somebody" but if you want an example of it being in your face then that is found within their most famous song "Closer to the Sun". Man, "Closer to the Sun" always gives me the biggest chills and the biggest smile! I sort of wish we were talking about that one today. No offense to "Somebody", but I cannot state how genuinely perfect that song is. There are just so many good tracks off this album. It is also the album that got the Slightly Stoopid name fully on the map. It hit the #1 spot on the Heatseekers chart which was the band's highest chart position up until Everyday Life, Everyday People achieved the top spot on the reggae charts in 2018. Tracks like "Closer to the Sun", "This Joint", and "Bandelero" are some of the band's most known tracks. The album isn't all too reggae from start to finish, so I am sure it was hard to place them when the album first launched to the top for a little while. Ultimately, the album peaked at only the 121st position on the billboard charts. Reggae never really tops the charts unless you are Bob Marley or Stick Figure, and especially the reggae style that came out of bands like Slightly Stoopid and Sublime that usually got fame later on down the road. Slightly Stoopid is one of the bands I have seen the most live, and if it wasn't for the price of tickets nowadays, I would be going each time they come to town. They do a great show! Well, I don't know where to go with this post. I mean, I hardly even talked about "Somebody" but that is alright. I will just let the music do the talking this time around. Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 2005
Album: Closer to the Sun (2005)
Genre: Reggae Rock, Alternative Rock
Mood: Smooth
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Driving around on a hot Summer day, Getting a buzz on
Where To Next: "Ho's" - Pepper
Rating: 8 / 10

"The Phantom Opera Ghost" - Iced Earth

     Welcome! Today, we spice things up again with some all mighty heavy metal! Are you excited?! I know you are. I sure am. There are hundreds upon thousands of great metal bands out there, but today we are talking about Iced Earth. This is their second time on the website, and the first since I got my vision for this portion of it buckled down for the most part. Iced Earth is one of those power metal groups that don't follow the power metal style set up by bands like Helloween and Blind Guardian. Nor do they follow the path set up by the American power metal style, but it certainly is a lot closer. They are in some ways like a hybrid between Manowar, Iron Maiden, Testament and Dio. I hate calling a band a hybrid between bands, it is often unfair, since bands like Iced Earth really are a beast all of their own. Iced Earth has a special sound to them, something heavy yet easy to get into. I have met few people who like heavier music that I couldn't get into Iced Earth, there is something devious in their hard driving galloping sound that always has you coming back for more. They are one of the groups that didn't switch up their sound all too much throughout their career, but still allowed certain changes to come through to keep them fresh for each new album. Their most recent album was released in 2017 and in my opinion features some of their greatest tracks. It was their first in 2 decades to not be a concept album, and it also features some more intense recording and songs to keep them still within the safety nets of the modern metal sound. They haven't released another studio album for a long ass time, 2017 was practically a whole different world from what it is now. I am not quite sure if there will be another one for a while due to the dumb ass decision from guitarist and primary lyricist and sole longtime member Jon Schaffer with his involvement in the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol. I hate how that practically killed Iced Earth. Following that, the whole band departed, and Iced Earth was dropped by their label. Good. Still, can't say I am happy about not having another Iced Earth album. I do love the band, even if their bandleader is a dumb ass. Anyway, don't let that hinder the band for you, please! Sometimes you gotta look past the person making the music, especially when the music is so damn thrilling. Iced Earth released their first studio album in 1990, it is one of my favorite albums of theirs and features this gross ass atmosphere that was hardly heard in heavy metal since the early days in 1983. It is raw and rough, it pulls no punches and gives no mercy! It is certainly much more amateur in comparison to their later material, but that is what I love about it. That debut also holds my favorite song of theirs, "When the Night Falls", one of the songs that got me into heavy metal in the first place. Their second album, Night of the Stromrider, refines their sound into something extremely potent. It was the first to truly show off their signature sound, and in my opinion, it is their best album. I know the others are more popular, but for me, I think Night of the Stormrider is their ultimate form. It has the traditional heavy metal sound but with an extra chainsaw massacre of intensity. Would I suggest starting there for your first album? No. But I do love that one. Their third album came out 3 1/2 years later and is another bona fide essential from their discography. Burnt Offerings shows off how great Iced Earth does at themed albums, and better yet how great of a songwriter Jon Schaffer is. The album features their longest song "Dante's Inferno" which is a track I never skip, fucking epic. By this point, Iced Earth had a strong fan following and a set sound to boot. Their 4th studio album The Dark Saga is an oddity in the metal world since it is a concept album revolving around the comic book character Spawn. It also is a tad bit more tame and even dances with progressive metal at some points, which rubbed some of the fan base wrong. It is still your typical Iced Earth album, but there is certainly a more thought out feeling. A great album, and a true gem to listen to from start to finish, no matter if you even know about the comic book series.

     They were now an established band that is known to put out great concept albums. They took that and ran with the next release, Something Wicked This Way Comes, in 1998. One of their greatest, hands down, and one to show off their place in the power metal genre. That was the first to introduce the original story that the band came back and expand a ton of times throughout their next albums called the Something Wicked Saga. Things were going well for the band, they had a solid set of great studio albums and even a remix album. In 1999, they released their enjoyable live album Alive in Athens, which is a tough yet unessential album of theirs. Great for fans, but feel free to skip and come back for it later. Well, I guess that was a quick minor album history up until this point, but we aren't here to talk about any of those. We are here to talk about their sixth studio album, Horror Show. This too is a concept album, well more of an album with a set theme. Each song is themed around classic horror characters and themes. We got the Mummy, Wolf Man, Jack the Ripper, Dracula, Frankenstein, Jekyll and Hyde, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Omen, and the one that our song of the day revolves, the Phantom of the Opera. Alongside all of those iconic monsters and movies, we got an original tale from vocalist Matt Barlow on "Ghost of Freedom" and a cover of Iron Maiden's instrumental "Transylvania" which is a treat. This is Iced Earth's only truly power metal album from start to finish. It is honestly sort of an oddity from their discography, and there are plenty of fans of the band that spit on it. I am not one of them, I honestly really love each track off this album, they are all so damn fun and diabolically well put together. Our song of the day is the final track off the album, "The Phantom Opera Ghost". It is my favorite track off the album, with a lot of the reason for that being that I have had a long time appreciation for the Phantom of the Opera. I first got into it due to one of the best stages off the kick ass video game Psychonauts. Man, I love that game, truly one of a kind game that I still come back to often. Anyway, one of the stages was themed around the Phantom of the Opera loosely. After playing that game as a kid, I got into that story a little more than I should have. It is kind of a messed up one, but I like the toxic romance and commentary of human nature. The novel is a damn good one, and the only version of the movie I have watched was the 2007 adaptation, which is a pretty one. I hope to see it on the big stage one day, but we shall see. I think they are doing it sometime this year, time to check ticket prices. For those that don't know the story, I won't explain it fully to you since you can go read it yourself and also the story is somewhat told within our song of the day. It is a pretty long track coming in at a hot 8 minutes and 41 seconds. The track starts up with the guitars setting up the mood before everyone else joins in and gives you full body chills at the 50-second mark. For those that this is their first time hearing Iced Earth, that intro before the vocals come in is exactly what you should expect from most Iced Earth tracks. This song is a great power metal track, but what makes it stand above some of the others off the album is it reaching back to their core almost thrash based traditional heavy metal sound that is the style in their first two studio albums. But who am I kidding? A lot of what makes this song so great is how well the story is told. You can feel the emotions of each part, and being someone who is fond of this story, it is a joy to follow along and relive the tale. The send-off at the 5:45 mark is one of the best parts off the whole album. It is the part of the story where Christine sees what deformity rests behind the mask of Erik, who indeed is the phantom of the opera, a deformed and crazy figure who lurked around the opera house and killed those who stood in his beloveds way so she could be the star of the stage. At this point, the tale turns dark very quickly. The atmosphere too turns dark, there is no waltzing and fun to be had, pure bloodlust and sorrow. That part never fails to give me chills. The song at first can come off a little silly, maybe even a little cringe inducing, but if you let it grow you will find yourself completely sucked into the story and the INTENSE playing from the band. Well, that is all from me, until next time my dear readers! Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 2001
Album: Horror Show (2001)
Genre: Power Metal
Mood: Dramatic
​Perfect For: Focused listening, Story time, Halloween, Showering
Where To Next: "Phantom of the Opera" - Iron Maiden
Rating: 9 / 10

"Blue Christmas" - Elvis Presley

     Man, this is my first Christmas song to show up on any of my song of the day playlists since I started in 2018. Like I mentioned in the Five Satins post, I am not one to hate Christmas music, but it never tends to make the cut. It could be since it does throw off a vibe of a perfectly good playlist, but I stand by my choice. When it comes to Christmas music, Elvis is your man! He has some of the best Christmas tracks to ever be, and many of them come off of his first Christmas album, and third overall studio album, Elvis' Christmas Album. Fresh out of 1957 within a decade of Christmas musics prime years, we have songs like "Here Comes Santa Claus", "Blue Christmas", "White Christmas", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", "Santa Claus Is Back in Town", and "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)" all of which are Christmas classics! I find that album to be the best Christmas album ever released, and with it achieving diamond status with the 1970 reissue of the album, and it being the one of the highest selling albums of all time, it seems I am not alone on that stance. Also like I mentioned previously, I have listened to this album every Christmas for the last while, it is something I crave and only uncork upon that jolly day. It was a fight for the song of the day. We had this Elvis album fighting against Black Label Society's live album Alcohol Fueled Brewtality, both of which defined this Christmas. My little lady and I listened to Elvis' Christmas Album while unwrapping our gifts and enjoying our first Christmas together since moving in with each other. Typically, for the last couple of years we would meet up at the end of the day and rush through the gifts so we could go to bed, but not this time. It was a morning of love and presents! I wish every day could be Christmas! Buuut I guess that would get mighty expensive fast. I have always agreed that it is indeed the most wonderful time of the year. Well, the holiday has moved along. We have New Years, and then we are back to having no extra days off and working a boring 9-5 until the Holidays come around again. Stupid work. Stupid life. Well, whatever, I guess things are alright so long as the band plays on! Elvis has always been one for Christmas, both in his private life and also in his musical career. Growing up poor, he drowned those he loved in gifts once that unreal amount of money started flowing in. That boy infamously loved shopping and spending money throughout his career, so Christmas was a time of joy for him. Elvis was immensely family driven, almost to a fault, especially before the death of his beloved mother. Elvis went so far to spread the Holiday cheer to go to jails and prisons and make sure that the families of those locked up still had plenty of cheer to go around. He would make massive donations to charities around Christmas, and on more than one occasion would buy a whole ass house for those in need. Outside his lavish lifestyle, he did more simplistic things such as set up a plethora of Christmas traditions around his property in Graceland and even going on motorcycle rides with friends and hang arounds singing Christmas songs. That same Christmas singing group led by Elvis would stop around houses in Memphis and sing Christmas carols, gaining the local name of the "Elvis Angels". Easy to say that Elvis loved Christmastime. Shit, I would too if the sales from that holiday had me swimming in more and more money. I wonder who even gets the money from him massive catalogue of Christmastime hits now. Each year his sales and streams skyrocket around this time, not like it matters since Elvis is still one of the most played artists of all time. Still, it crosses my mind each and every year, and I wonder that more about artists that aren't well known until Christmas comes around and that one Christmas hit of theirs plays. Meh, don't matter to me, so long as it is a good one and not a Christmas tune without soul! There are too many out there. But none are from the Midas vocals of Elvis Presley.

     Elvis was a massive name by the time he released the Christmas album Elvis' Christmas Album in 1957. So, it is safe to assume the album sold immensely well upon its release in October and only grew more popular as Christmas came closer. That popularity stuck around forever! It is the highest selling Christmas album of all time worldwide, and even is one of the highest selling albums in general to ever hit the market. I personally adore the first side of the album, the other is sort of too religious for my consumption, but I still let it play. When it comes to gospel there are few artists out there I let get away with it and Elvis is one of those, he sings with such passion it is hard to not enjoy the god talk in a way. Four of the god heavy songs on the album were originally recorded for the EP Peace in the Valley, which released in April of 1957. If you are one who digs gospel, then that is a good place to start with Elvis, but an even better is His Hand in Mine which came out in 1960. Anyway, I am not here for the gospel side of the album, even if it played 3 times that morning, since I just kept pressing the play button on the turntable to keep the Christmas atmosphere rolling. What I am here for is the Christmas tunes on side one, which once again features some of the best Christmas music ever! My choice could have been any of them, but I had to give it to the timeless "Blue Christmas". The song is the fifth one on the album, and even though it is probably the best track off of it, "Blue Christmas" melds wonderfully with the other tracks. No stolen thunder here since each song is a powerhouse of its own. "Blue Christmas" is a more sorrowful Christmas track, even though it sounds so damn happy. His loved one that left him behind is having herself a good ol' white Christmas, while Elvis sees snow of blue and has himself a blue blue Christmas. The background singers almost steal the show, especially during the chorus. Sorrowful Elvis is often best when he has The Jordanaires behind him, they complete the package! Got to give love to the Blue Moon Boys too, since they were the punch behind the majority of the prime Elvis albums and shows. Great musicians in their own right, and the perfect band to support the grandeur that is Elvis Presley. Anyway, "Blue Christmas" is one of the best Christmas tunes in my opinion due to the way Elvis sings, the backing band and vocals, and its lyrical theme that isn't quite copy and paste like most of the overly joyous Christmas songs out there. I like me some sad music, and while I haven't ever had a depressing Christmas (thanks mom), I still want some sad music. The track isn't overkill sad, like I said earlier it has a pretty happy atmosphere, and a lot of the lines are a little overpowered by the background singers and also that fun way Elvis sung in his 1950s material which makes it hard to understand without tuning your ear to it. Elvis wasn't the first to record the song, that honor goes to Doye O'Dell in 1948, but when Elvis records your song he both puts your name down in the history books and also completely controls your song. "Blue Christmas" was an early Christmas track that became a long time Christmas staple, especially once Elvis got his hands on it. If you want another great version then I suggest the versions from Ernest Tubb, The Beach Boys, and The Browns. I think The Browns do it almost as well as Elvis, buuuut that rock n roll is just too hard to beat! Well, for some of you out there, all you wanted to do was listen to yet another Christmas song, especially this one since it is heavily played as soon as Thanksgiving is over, buuuut deal with it. It is Elvis, man, the king of rock n roll! So, do me a favor and give it one more solid spin as the days of this Christmas become a memory and mundane normalcy consumes the work week in the days following New Years. Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1957
Album: Elvis' Christmas Album (1957)
Genre: Rock n Roll, Christmas
Mood: Christmassy? Christmas.... like? Wait... is Christmassy a word?! I'll be damned.
​Perfect For: Christmas morning, Sad Christmas, Christmas Eve, Wrapping presents, Opening presents
Where To Next: "White Christmas" - The Drifters
Rating: 9 / 10

"Unknown Legend" - Neil Young

     Sorry for the late post! You know how busy Christmastime can be. I am sure you weren't even here on the website, but if you were, then thanks! Well, hope the holiday was a good one for you! I have a little gift for you in the form of Neil Young! I know, I shouldn't have, but with a deal this good, how could I not? The talent of 100 musicians packaged into one sweet deal with the asking price of one's attention. Neil Young is one of the most respected names in rock music, he is one of the musicians that were always there on the backline. Even when his prime years ran out, there are a ton of great songs on his less acclaimed albums. He is one musician I have drank more than my fair share from his discography, and even all these years later I stop by very often. I just got an original copy of his 1972 essential Harvest on vinyl from my girlfriend for Christmas, something I am damn excited to play in its original form. She gave that alongside an original American Beauty by the Grateful Dead in great condition. Ain't she a doll?! Today, we aren't talking about great girlfriends nor are we talking about Harvest, we are talking about his similarly named and spiritual successor 1992's Harvest Moon. I am getting ahead of myself, first let's get a taste for who Neil Young is. I know this is his third time on the website, and I hope I don't repeat myself all too much, but I guess we will see. Neil Young is one of the musical masterminds that came out of Canada, being born in Toronto but pursuing his musical career in Winnipeg. At a young age Neil Young was smitten with that good ol' rock n roll sound, especially Elvis who he has openly referenced in a couple of his tracks. His love for music is a deep one, and for many of those destined to be a big name, he took that love and molded it into playing that said music. There are a ton of songs in his solo work where he talks about that deep love, with one of the best ones being off the same album that holds our song of the day "From Hank to Hendrix". As time moved on, Neil Young started up a couple of bands, none of which were scratching that itch, but within those bands he eventually met longtime friend and musical companion Stephen Stills. Furthering that, he met his fellow Canadian folk artist Joni Mitchell, a figure in his life that served as a muse as much as a friend. They have a strange relationship, but both Mitchell and Young are complex individuals. After touring around Canada playing to whoever had ears, he took the step that would be the first of many to make him one of the biggest names in rock music. Bassist Bruce Palmer and Neil Young sold what they could, got themselves a car and ran off to California for a new start with a pocket book full of fellow musicians names. Plus, Neil Young already had one of his written songs, "Flying on the Ground is Wrong", become a minor hit by The Guess Who. Eventually, both Young and Palmer ended up with Buffalo Springfield, a band that played a pivotal role in popularizing music out of the San Francisco scene and California based folk rock in the 1960s. Some of the band's best tracks featured Neil Young on vocals, and even more had his penmanship to give it that nihilistic but realistic melancholic Young style. I adore Buffalo Springfield! Though, this post will be massive if I go over Neil Young's long and impressive list of musical achievements and bands. Neil Young released his first solo album in 1968, a mellow yet not all too impressive self-titled release. That all changed once he found his sound within the next album Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, one of my all-time favorite albums.

     I wish we could just talk about that album, since I would sell my soul and firstborn for it. Though, time is short, and I don't have a kid and I doubt many would want my soul. That album was a sleeper hit upon its release, but soon after was regarded as one of his best albums. It was his third studio album After the Gold Rush in 1970 that Neil Young had his name plastered on everything from record shops to popular venues. He made it, and he kept it up for years, releasing a shitload of timeless albums and songs. All great things must come to an end and after a whole decade of top tier albums he released Hawks & Doves in 1980 which rubbed his fans and critics wrong. I think it is a decent album, it shows off his country style a little more proudly, but even I will still typically skip that album for something a little better. He experimented with a ton of different styles in the 1980s, which saw his album sales dropping rapidly and him getting sued by record labels for not putting out the same stuff he has been years prior. He dabbled in classic rock n roll, electronic, punk rock, new wave, country, rockabilly, and even jump blues. Each next album you listen to in the 1980s is a different flavor, that is for damn sure, and people weren't about it. Being a big Neil Young fan, I can find something to dig in each album, but there is no denying that it is nothing in comparison to his perfect 1970s albums. It seemed like Neil Young was fading away, he couldn't chart, and his fans moved on or stayed stuck within his core albums. That was up until 1989 when he released Freedom, which got his name back out there and sold fairly well that far along in his career. A lot of that came from the hit song "Rockin' in the Free World", a song people mistake as a patriotic song, which is hilarious since the lyrics are a serious punch in the gut to the same people trying to use it in their political campaigns. Neil Young found a second wind of fame, he released Ragged Glory following that, which is a loud and bold almost grunge like album that Neil Young pulls off strikingly too well. A live album followed that one, Weld, which is a showpiece to both Neil Young and his long time counterpart Crazy Horse. Finally, we get to the album that holds our song of the day, Harvest Moon. This is an essential for anyone gathering all the great albums Neil Young put out. I will admit that while this one is damn good, it still doesn't hold a candle to his earlier material. But who cares? Tracks like "From Hank to Hendrix", "Unknown Legend" and most importantly "Harvest Moon" are some of his best songs, certainly the best ones out of the 1990s Neil Young catalogue. My pick for the day is "Unknown Legend" which brings in that hopeless romanticism of the road that Young has included in a ton of his tracks. The song is a little country washed, but during the later side of the 1980s and forward, Neil Young proudly brought in that roots rock Americana thing that I think fits him like a glove. The lyrics to the track were written back when Young was making material for his 1978 goodie Comes a Time. The words tell the tale of a chick that rides her Harley-Davidson from town to town in search of something and nothing. A traveler's story which interestingly features a female lead, something that typically isn't a thing. Ultimately, our unknown legend finally settled down and had some kids, but still she hears that highway calling out her name. The song is written damn well, you can smell the grease and cigarette smoke in the café where she waitresses, you can feel the strange infatuation Neil Young has with this fictitious rambler. Our main character was inspired by Neil Young's first wife and also his second, so it makes sense that it holds a place within his heart. "Unknown Legend" is a smooth track, mellow playing sets the stage for the story. A great way to kick off the album, it almost topples "Harvest Moon" from the throne of best track off the album. Almost. Sort of. Shit, "Harvest Moon" is almost impossible to topple, but "Unknown Legend" puts up a good fight. Well, I hope you dig the track! Get yourself some cheap coffee or beer and have a toast for the unknown legend. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1992
Album: Harvest Moon (1992)
Genre: Roots Rock, Country Rock
Mood: Road Worn
​Perfect For: Riding motorcycles, Lazy autumn mornings, Mellow nights, Driving
Where To Next: "Any Old Wind That Blows" - Johnny Cash
Rating: 8 / 10

"To the Aisle" - The Five Satins

     Seems we have made it to Christmas Eve. For those that showed up to the website just recently, I post everything a day later. My song of the day choice that I make tonight will be the post for tomorrow. So, there are times like today, where I will say "Christmas Eve" but you will look up and see the date is wrong. I wish there was some way to fix that without messing up how I have done my song of the day stuff for the last 8 or so years. Anyway! Yes, we have made it to Christmas Eve. The magical day that gets you excited about the revelry of the next day. Also is the day full of regrets and stresses on the gifts you may or may not have bought. This year has been a hard one for me. I am typically a confident gift giver and always start early so I can take my time and get something perfect. Even with that, I swear I came up a little light this year. It could be since everything is so damned expensive, most online shopping experiences have cheap product ads being shoved down your throat, or maybe I am just running out of inspiration. No matter the reason, I do think I sort of bombed this one, but I easily could have had the same thought every Christmas, so who knows. I am still excited for it, Christmas is my favorite holiday. I try keeping the holidays exciting for my girlfriend, so I tend to put together some routes or activities to do for the holiday. This time we decided to check out a few locally popular places around Salt Lake County, a couple of houses that were supposed to have intense lights, and still stop by a place that has become our Christmas date tradition. Some of those choices were pure chaos, but that is what we get for trying to check lights the Tuesday before Christmas. We still had a lot of fun, and there were plenty of good choices for our song of the day, but in the end it was "To the Aisle" that defined that night. There are few better genres for Christmas light drives than doo-wop and 1950s pop/rock/R&B. "To the Aisle" played at a great moment in between checking out some of the "Christmas streets" that Utah has to offer. The track is one of The Five Satin's greatest, hands down. The Five Satins gathered a ton of attention with their 1956 track "In the Still of the Night", and for many modern listeners that might be the only track they know from The Five Satins. Can't blame someone for that, since there were a ton of groups during this time period that sounded very similar and released singles more than they released albums. "In the Still of the Night" is one of the greatest doo-wop tracks to come out of the 1950s, and I say that with confidence. It sold like hot cakes then, and still is a known song modernly since it has been included in plenty of movies and shows. It is one of those tracks that are a time capsule into the past. Essential song for anyone studying music, especially rock and pop music. While I adore that track, I would say our song of the day beats it. The Five Satins found quick fame with "In the Still of the Night" but fate wasn't kind to them after they hit fame. Almost instantly their leading vocalist Fred Parris was shipped off to the military and the group was left shambling to fill that void. Bill Baker was added to the ranks of The Five Satins, and the band bounced back onto the charts with their cover of "To the Aisle" in 1957.

     "To the Aisle" was originally recorded by Billy Dawn, and while that version is great, it can't hold a candle to the version from The Five Satins. This song is completely painted pink, as lovey-dovey as you can almost get out of a decade that floated plenty of their singles sales on love drunk teens. "To the Aisle" as you could have guessed covers the steps of a new relationship, each next moment having the boy in the relationship taking step after step closer to the wedding day. I love the track, it has a great romantic atmosphere that is so damn cute. Much like "In the Still of the Night" our song of the day is also heavily heavily heavily from its time. That to me is part of the appeal, but I will admit that it makes the song kind of novelty. I first heard the song when I was pretty young and first watched one of my favorite movies, American Graffiti (1973). That damn soundtrack has so many great songs! I breathed, ate, slept, and pissed that soundtrack for a long ass time before I decided to get heavily into each artist that had their songs show up on that album. The Five Satins were one of the first groups I took on. They have a good handful of tracks, but the majority of them have a hard time keeping up with "To the Aisle" and "In the Still of the Night", even if it pains me to admit it. The song is casually written, with its doo-wop style and vocal group prowess they do a great job of creating the setting in which your brain starts picturing the characters in the story. For some of you out there, it could even be mental imagery of yourself and your beloved. "To the Aisle" peaked at #5 on the charts when it released, and it is easy to see why. It is a damn romantic song, they don't make them like this anymore. There are a ton of different instruments that join the party to sell the romantic feeling on the track. It takes a solid couple of listens so you can hear it all. Lyrically, it is a romantic track like I mentioned earlier that follows the timeline of a new love until they finally tie the knot. This track would be one of my top choices for a wedding song is I ever get married. Marriage is a weird topic for me, and it is one I go back and forth on. Seems forced, stressful, and expensive. Plus, I used to have a crazy fear of wedding bells and rice, so I am still trying to fight back the fright. That doesn't mean I don't love my lady, because I do, but weddings are strange affairs to me. If I do end up getting married, I will proposition "To the Aisle" being one of the highlighted tracks. It is just too moving to not. Well, I guess we will see if this track pops back up while I cover my wedding on the website. Won't that be a trip? For now, it was the spotlighted track on a night of driving around for me and my love's Christmas date. I stand firmly that the best Christmas music came out of the 1950s, both the genuine Christmas songs and those that share a similar atmosphere. What was with rock music and Christmas music having a collab during that time? Plenty of the best Christmas tunes have rock 'n' rollin' lyrics like "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock". Plus, some of early rocks greatest had plenty of success in Christmas music like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Brenda Lee, The Beach Boys and The Crystals. I am not one of those that hate Christmas music, even when I worked in retail. Shit, I made it a point to buy Elvis's Christmas album out of 1957 (came on a Green vinyl, fancy), and a Sun Records Christmas compilation (came on Rudolph Red vinyl, also fancy). I have listened to that Elvis album on Christmas for the last 8 years, it is my favorite Christmas album. Damn, how many times can you say Christmas in one post?! Anyway, if you want something great to listen to tomorrow then I suggest that Elvis one, that or his 1971 one. For the moments in between when you are sipping on Eggnog, then take some time to listen to a Five Satins compilation, you will thank me. For now, take on this track, fall in love with love. Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1957
Chosen Compilation: The 5 Satins Sing (1957)
Genre: Doo-wop
Mood: Kissy Kissy
​Perfect For: Romantic drives, Weddings, Romantic Nights, Romantic Days, Romantic Afternoons, ...Romance
Where To Next: "I Only Have Eyes for You" - The Flamingos
Rating: 8 / 10

"How the Gods Kill" - Danzig

     Tell your kids not to talk this way, today we talk about Danzig! Glenn Danzig was one of the ghouls that made up the Misfits, one of punk rock's biggest names. Their logo and imagery is heavily used and abused, so much so I am often convinced people just like the look of the merch. I ain't one of those guys that see a pretty girl wearing a band tee and thinking "I bet she can't list 29 songs in alphabetical order", but when it comes to Misfits, I often wonder. It could be from plenty of times striking up conversations with classmates growing up and them staring at me like I just asked for their social. Anyway, Misfits are an iconic group even though they were strangely short-lived, but we aren't here to talk about Misfits. Still, you cannot broach the topic of Danzig without bringing them up. Glenn Danzig started up the Misfits in 1977 and tried time and time again to get the band signed by bigger labels, all of which laughed him off as a talentless scrub. There were plenty of singles and EP's released off the Danzig's own label, Blank/Plan 9, and all of them grew a massive cult following. Due to musical differences and frustrations, Danzig left Misfits behind in 1983, but the impact he had with his original vision left a serious imprint on punk rock, an imprint you can still run your fingers by in punk even today. Misfits are one of the cornerstones of punk music, so be sure to go check them out, though I really doubt you have made it this far in life without hearing their horror themed signature style. Danzig formed his next band, Samhain, during the closing years of the Misfits. For such an iconic musician, his second band sort of got forgotten in the winds of time. Samhain was originally viewed as a punk rock supergroup, but that is a label that Danzig and band tried steering away from. They weren't just there to try something new, they were there to bring pride to the horror punk name and even meld in a little heavier sound as time moved on. Samhain's final studio album Final Descent came out in 1990 and if they dropped some of the horror punk themes and style it would be fairly close to Danzig's first solo album which came out in 1988. Danzig's first album is... iconic! It is so damn good! An album that I will carry with me until death. I love every single song, I love the imagery, I love the simple yet immensely effective style, the heaviness that never drowns the album, the atmosphere, and everything else! I wish we could be talking about that album today, because I am in the mood to talk about how much I fuckin' love that album! I have always been fond of Danzig's vocals. His baritone and impressive range is always something that sets my soul at ease. I think our song of the day is one to really show that off, but we will get to that here soon. Anyway, that debut holds plenty of Danzig's most well known songs, and tracks like "Mother" defined the more mellow side of heavy metal in the late 1980s. That album didn't bring forth a completely original sound, but what it did was perfect the hard rock/heavy metal sound into a condensed and menacing sound. Everyone was busy either being fast as hell or thick and sludgy at this period in heavy metal, but Danzig was situated wonderfully to be a resting place between the face melting albums. Don't get me wrong, that debut has some seriously heavy suckers, but in the end it is fairly tame in comparison to bands like Slayer, Megadeth, Celtic Frost, and Mercyful Fate. I would almost consider it more of a hard rock album than a heavy metal one, but there is no denying its place at the heavy metal table of royalty. 

     The band put out their second album, Danzig II: Lucifuge, in 1990. This album showed them solidifying their sound and style to be instantly identifiable. Danzig got better with his lyricism, and it seemed like finally Danzig had a band he could ride into the public eye proudly. That album is also perfect, and I adore it, but for times sake we will move along. That third album Danzig III: How the Gods Kill is one of his best, and it is the album that holds our song of the day "How the Gods Kill". Can you still call it a title track? I would say so. What I adore about this album is the varying sounds. It isn't stuck in the hard rock style that the band's previous two albums were adored for, this one brought in a couple of sounds from Danzig's massive catalogue of musical styles that influenced him. You can almost feel the passion in this album more than the others, another thing that I really love about this album. I would say this is one of his darkest albums. He takes the stage as a man who sold his soul to the devil since the gods wouldn't hear his pleads. This album has some of Danzig's best lyrics, and it also has some of his best vocal performances. There isn't any leaning into a heavy shock appeal here, it is all genuine and human while still having this sharpened point of something not of this world. "How the Gods Kill" is arguably the most impressive track on this album. It has the perfect running time of just a few seconds shy of 6 minutes. It is the perfect time for Danzig to paint this picture of self exploration and answers. For some that come to Danzig casually, they might skip this track due to its long and moody as hell intro. Not your typical thing from Danzig, who is known for seriously heavy hooks from practically the get go. Though for us in the room, you know that Danzig sets his music up in a way to keep you satisfied the whole time and while he loves his hooks I would say he loves his drops even more. I can't think of another Danzig song that has a better drop than "How the Gods Kill" at 2:40, and I say that as someone who has religiously been listening to Danzig for 13 years. Leading up until that moment, the atmosphere is heavily dipped in inky tendrils that find their way into your ears. Glenn Danzig sings with talent and emotion. It features his signature shouts but also sees him taking a step back and singing in a more tame and pretty manner. He does a wonderful job of painting his picture, and as does his band, who plays without missing a beat. Guitarist John Christ has always worked wonders on Danzig albums, his more hard rock approach that knows how to set them up and shut them down is one of the leading reasons Danzig is still a well known name even all these years later. I have a soft spot for the drumming of Chuck Biscuits who originally was the drummer for hardcore punk pioneers D.O.A. and also played with some of the other big punk names out there like the Circle Jerks, Black Flag, and Social Distortion but mainly on live albums and tours. Still, he is an underrated drummer that brings a special texture to Danzig's signature sound. He wasn't part of Danzig when the band took the very strange turn into industrial metal following 1994's Danzig 4, which I can't blame him since those albums only have a couple of good songs in comparison to Danzig's first couple, which are sublime all the way through. We cannot forget about bassist Eerie Von, who has been beside Danzig from practically the start. Eerie Von even has some decent solo albums that I check out from time to time. Anyway! "How the Gods Kill" is one of the ultimate showpiece Danzig tracks, and I am confident you are going to love the track! So press play already! Come on! Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1992
Album: Danzig III: How the Gods Kill (1992)
Genre: Hard Rock
Mood: Murky
​Perfect For: Rainy days, Being done with the world, Finding one's self
Where To Next: "Return to Serenity" - Testament
Rating: 9 / 10

"When I Loved Her" - Kris Kristofferson

     Kris Kristofferson is a man who did a ton in his lifetime. He sadly passed away in September last year, and as you should when a legend passes, I dedicated that day to show love to his music and reflect on how much it means to me. When I say he did a ton in his life, I mean it, he had a highly successful country career being a pioneering musician in both outlaw country and progressive country with his unique take on country compositions and lyrics. Not only that, he had moderate crossover success with his records alongside then wife Rita Coolidge. Kristofferson found success outside his landmark country albums in movies, shows, and even video games. The cherry on top is how many charting songs he wrote for other musicians, many of which he recorded his own version of it within his 18 studio albums from 1970 to 2016. He is one of my all-time favorite country musicians, and a lot of that rests within his lyrical talent, that is after all the ultimate test for any country picker. It is the diary of the soul, and for artists like Kris Kristofferson, he lays it all out unabashedly. Like many starting out in the country world, he had a serious task of getting his name out there at the start. There were a ton of pickers on the scene, all fronting many different styles and personas, some of which found their fame first writing lyrics and others found that fame after years busking on the streets of music city row. Kristofferson already showed he had the talent with a pen when he won two prize winning essays of his appeared in the Atlantic Monthly and much in Kristofferson style approached touchy subject for the 1950s such as racial injustice. He wasn't solely some book nerd going to college for literature, he also did well enough in rugby to be included in an issue of Sports Illustrated while in college. Following graduating from both Pomona College and getting the invite to move to the UK to further his education and graduating from Merton/Oxford University, he did what any sensible person would do following that... he joined the military. But hey, to each their own, and it isn't all too shocking since he came from a military family. During his time in school and the military, he was trying to get his singing career to take off, but it never gained much traction. He married and moved to West Germany and served his time in the Army, achieving the rank of captain. Once his tour was up, he started teaching English in the United States Military Academy in New York state. On one of his two week leaves he ran off to Nashville to see about starting a career in writing music, and with his credentials it was only natural they welcomed him with open arms. He moved his family to Nashville and signed on with Buckhorn Music and had his first written song recorded called "Talkin' Vietnam Blues" for the truckin' country singer Dave Dudley. It didn't chart, but still it was something. He was a restless soul that didn't stop for anything and worked a plethora of jobs during this time to start up his career, even going so far as to work as a janitor at Columbia Records so he can meet musicians and music businessmen easier. During this time, he released his first singles "Killing Time" and "Golden Idol", which once again fell on deaf ears. In 1968, he started flying helicopters in Louisiana, flying workers to and fro from oil rigs. He would write songs and then spend most of his free time pitching his songs to anyone who would hear it, musicians, street walkers, and labels alike. After some time he discovered some people recorded some of his songs, big names too like Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Drusky, and Roger Miller. Roger Miller recorded "Me and Bobby McGee" which would later become a rock staple when recorded by Janis Joplin, who Kristofferson even had a short but passionate romantic relationship with in 1970. 

     It seemed like after all that work things were starting to pick up, but that wasn't enough for Kristofferson. He knew he wrote gold, and it was recently proven with the success of his songs like "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "Me and Bobby McGee". So, why not shoot for a musician that is the flesh and blood of country royalty? His later long term friend and fellow Highwayman, Johnny Cash. Through Cash's wife June Carter he offered up a ton of different demos and songs, and like the good woman June was, she brought them to Cash. Well, Johnny Cash is another busy man and never seemed to find the time to listen through those demos since everyone from Sue to Suzette were sending him songs to record. Impatient and confident, Kristofferson did what those with that raw determination to succeed in their dreams might do, he landed a damned helicopter in Johnny Cash's yard to personally hand off his song to Johnny Cash. Bold as hell, and something right out of a fuckin' movie. But it impressed Johnny Cash, impressed him enough he invited him to come along to a party at his house and show people what he was about. Kristofferson would then attend the Newport Folk Festival at the invitation from Johnny Cash and following that it was clear that Kristofferson was hardly matched in talent and musicianship in the country world. He switched labels and all the stars started aligning on one of countries most gifted songwriters. He would release his first studio album in 1970 simply entitled Kristofferson, which is my favorite album of his, and also is one of the earlier examples of outlaw country. That album is immaculate and a complete joy from start to finish. One of those albums that helped form me. Damn impressive writing grooves alongside Kristofferson's unique way of composing his music. It holds plenty of his most essential songs, a couple of them that already found easy success with other musicians. Lyrically, it was hardly like anything out there at the time. It held some protest songs, which wasn't something people often did in red, white, and blue blooded American country music. Tracks like "Blame It On the Stones" and "The Law is for Protection of the People" slandered society. He wasn't solely a musician who said what was on his mind and made that his niche, he still had plenty of songs the lovers could find a home in like "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "For the Good Times". Most importantly, Kristofferson had a way with words to talk to the people. He told tales of the real America, not the one they taught in schools and sold at the supermarket, but the real American experience. You find that in songs like "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", "Best of All Possible Worlds", "Duvalier's Dream", "To Beat the Devil", "Me and Bobby McGee", and "Just the Other Side of Nowhere". That album is an essential for anyone who considers themselves a fan of both country and folk music. A great album, an album that would go to inspire many in the outlaw country, folk country, and traditional country world. It was fresh and exciting, written by a man who walked many miles in a lot of different shoes.

     
​      After the success of the album and its later re-release which gathered even more love following the death of Janis Joplin due to her wonderful version of "Me and Bobby McGee", all eyes were on Kristofferson to see if he could do it again. His second studio album The Silver Tongued Devil and I released in 1971 and was met with praise from critics, and unlike his debut, it was an instant top seller on the hot country charts. His previous album still did marvelous but got thrown in with all the other new musicians in the ever populated country world, but he elbowed and kicked his name to be that of princely notoriety. The Silver Tongued Devil and I had everything that was perfect about his debut but took the more progressive route in composition​ a step further, having a sound that was almost more folk rock than country. Still a country album from a country musician, but something more. He has always been hard to place in my playlists for that reason, and that got even more difficult as time moved on, but we will surely get to that in another post. This album feels a lot more... well... drunk than the previous, which isn't all too shocking since he had a hell of a drinking problem at this time. I guess that is just a country star's rite of passage, but still, you cannot help but notice it. Though, that doesn't hinder the album in the slightest. Much like Neil Young's Tonight's the Night, that is some of what makes this a fun one. Like I stated about his previous album, there is still that knack of criticism of society, the imagery of a love struck drunk hopeless romantic, and the master stroke of a painter while Kristofferson talks of what the American dream really means. What is to be bought and what is to be sold. There are a ton of tracks I adore off this album, and in many ways I would say it is his second-best album to date. I was listening through it with my girlfriend while she did her hair and I cooked a freshly made frozen great value ravioli. It is the only Kris Kristofferson album that I own on vinyl, which is a tremendous shame, and I intend to change that sooner than later. Anyway, I think she liked it, but she has been into Kristofferson as well since I first showed her his version of "Me and Bobby McGee" which she found better than both Janis and Roger Miller. I could have chosen any song off this solid gold album, but in the end it was the lovely "When I Loved Her" that stole the night. This was the second song that I got really into when first listening through this album about 9 years ago. What is it that made this one a shining track? It feels dead honest. Not the type of love song where they worship this woman you see on the front of a Playboy magazine. A true love song, a song where the writer admits their faults and shows just how much his woman means to him, his woman who left on that southbound train. The song sometimes comes off too honest, especially with the first couple of lines, but once again that is part of the appeal. Humanity and all its faults. Ray Price was the first to record this track, and he does a great job through and through, but it doesn't have that hollow feeling like the Kris Kristofferson version. Kristofferson's feels exactly like someone's journal being read aloud while you take in both the sorrow and failure in Kristofferson's voice. It is a fairly straight forward track. Even with that said, it still is the kind of song that demands your attention. To not listen is like being one of those people that don't actually listen to somebody when they are talking. It feels like a friend telling you of his troubles, or maybe a drunk stranger that smells a little bit funny but you cannot fault them for it since he is obviously going through something. A pretty track that was well written and well performed to say the least. Well, I didn't mean for this post to be one of those big ass ones, but I am confident in the way it turned out. Kris Kristofferson isn't the type of musician you can simply write a small piece about. It comes with the territory. If you read along with me, and listened to the track, then you are my friend and I am ever so grateful you took the time to tackle the big post! So, I will leave you to the rest of your day, and I hope this track made it a better one. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1971
Album: The Silver Tongued Devil and I (1971)
Genre: Country, Folk Country
Mood: Hollow
​Perfect For: Heartbreak, Reminiscing, Being drunk, Casual listening, Lonesome Late Nights
Where To Next: "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" - Willie Nelson
Rating: 8 / 10

"I Can't Tell You Why (Live)" - Eagles

     How many times have we talked Eagles here so far? I mean, probably pretty damn low for how great the band is, but let's have a quick check. Looks like the band has had their place here 5 times, including our choice of the day. I recall on the last post for the Eagles that I was shocked to see that tracks from their 3rd studio album On the Border consumed most of our Eagles time on the website. In the end, I shouldn't be too shocked that the majority of my picks for the band have been from their first 3 since that is my favorite stage of the band. Their much more country rock style that gave the Eagles this open prairie feeling that I fell deeply in love with when first getting into the band. There are few better bands for going on drives than the Eagles, especially in that early stage. Once the band found that sound that made them immensely famous on their more mainstream Californicated sound we started seeing show through on 1974's One of These Nights there were still plenty of top tier driving songs. I would say their early stage compliments a desert highway (cool wind in your hair) during the blistering heat of summer, while their more soft sound is perfect for a night drive no matter the season. Overall, the Eagles are just a phenomenal band that have songs to match almost any moment out there. I have naturally been a big fan for a long ass time. Some of their songs have been with me throughout what feels like my whole life. They were one of the first bands that I got really into once I started my passion for older rock music. The Eagles are one of the greatest bands to start into classic rock, and I am not the only one that used them as a diving board to expose my ears to the older side of rock music. They are a timeless group that everyone knows. Tracks like "Hotel California", "Take It Easy", and "One of These Nights" are iconic songs that define what rock music is. You can jump into any of the Eagles studio albums and walk away with solid gold. They had a perfect run in my opinion when it comes down to their prime years. Their most recent studio album out of 2007 Long Road Out of Eden is their only weaker studio album, but it is rare a band can come back after 28 years and find success, especially when they release a double album with only maybe 1/4th of the songs having that special something. It is cool they went for it, and they certainly weren't hurting for money, but sometimes it is better to let sleeping dogs lie or just release another live album for the core fan base. Speaking of live albums, the Eagles have some seriously good ones. All of which do a wonderful job at showing off what makes them legends in the rock world.

     Our song of the day is one of the many wonderful tracks that come off their first live album. Like the majority of the tracks off Eagles Live, the live version is just as great as the studio version, some even being a little bit better if you ask me. They released that goodie in 1980 due to contractual obligations, and it was the final Eagles album all the way until they released their second live album Hell Freezes Over in 1994. Hell Freezes Over strangely enough was the first Eagles album I listened to from start to finish. I was just barely getting more into classic rock and the Eagles when I was 11, and I saw this album at the library when choosing what to rent for the week. I grabbed it since I liked "Hotel California" and saw it on the track listing on the back. I was immensely disappointed when I got home to find that not only was it a live album but that version of "Hotel California" was acoustic. I ended up throwing a mini fit and didn't listen to the album twice since I found it boring. Once I got a little bit older, I came back to it and was blown away by what I was missing before. I am not going to say it is better than their first live album, but it is right on its heel. One of the best rock live albums I have listened to, and I still make time for it even today, since some of those versions are a blast! Lastly, we have their 3rd live album Live from the Forum MMXVIII, which is a decent album. I only have listened to it once when it released, since it is one long ass live album. It is decent overall, nothing to really write home about nor is it anything in comparison to any of their other releases, but still it is nice to have some extra Eagles material and to see their sound without Glenn Frey who was replaced by his son Deacon Frey. Alright, that catches you up on their live catalogue, let's bring it back to their first live album out of 1980 shall we? They released that live album as a contractual obligation to Asylum (Elektra) Records since the band was already in the process of breaking up and had no intentions of writing new material, even denying a 2 million dollar offer to record 2 new songs. It is made up of recordings ranging from 1976 to 1980, all of which coming out of their shows in California from July in 1980 and October 1976. Eagles Live was mixed and cleaned up by Don Henley and Glenn Frey, who were on two opposite ends of the United States. It is one clean and fine picked live album which some people have a problem with, the Rolling Stones even called it "the most overdubbed live album in rock history". I really like this album and as I stated before, I find it to hold some tracks that rival that of its studio counterpart. The chosen song this time around is "I Can't Tell You Why" which is a mellow soft rock track that originally had its debut on the band's final prime album The Long Run which released in 1979. It was the first track to have Timothy Schmit on the vocals, and I think that is what makes it one of the best songs off the album. It is an oddity Eagles track, even though it hardly feels like it. Perfect melding in with the other big hits off of The Long Run like "The Long Run" and "Heartache Tonight". The live version is even better. The vocal performance is intimate and the atmosphere is heavy with lonesome nights and missed kisses. You don't hear Schmit again on vocals on the album other than being part of the massively famous harmony work that is in this album's most famous track "Seven Bridges Road". That one song would sell this whole album for me, fucking phenomenal track, we are lucky the rest of the album is worth every dollar as well. The second half of this song is smooth as butter, grooving and jamming. The guitar work is a ton of fun and never attempts to break atmosphere, no need to show off when it is all about each member giving it their all to hold onto that coffee and cigarettes at night kind of feeling. Every song off this album is a good one, and even with the longer running time of a double album you are satisfied the whole time, which is fairly rare for a live album. They didn't skimp on the final album they were to have for well over 10 years, I can tell you that much. So give the track a spin and see what I mean! Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1980
Album: Eagles Live (1980)
Genre: Soft Rock
Mood: Lonesome
​Perfect For: Driving at night, Cigarette breaks, Casual listening
Where To Next: "I'm So Afraid (1980 Live Version)" - Fleetwood Mac
Rating: 8 / 10

"Representing" - Tribal Seeds

     At the start of December we kept having genre blocks, something I was worried was making the month a bore to read. Now it seems I cannot keep in one place. Like any of us out there, we never think the thing we put our heart into is that good, and it becomes a stress. Both the source of your pride and your pressure. Well, it looks like we are jumping into reggae today! I know we had 311 previously, but they are a group of many influences and sounds. Our focused artist this go around is the Tribal Seeds. These dudes are one of the best bands to get into for that California reggae/reggae rock that has found a happy home within the music world since the 2000s in the United States. Reggae will forever be a genre that never really takes off here, unless your name is Bob Marley. I am honestly not even sure why. The genre seems to have a big ass misunderstanding and for some reason a lot of the older generations seem to think it is a "druggie/hippie music" and a lot of the younger generations don't give it much time. Stick Figure has done strikingly well in the main stream within the last couple of years, and bands like Rebelution, Iration, and Dirty Heads are close behind them. It is great people found a love within that certain sound of reggae, but they are missing out on a ton of great groups! Reggae is a self lubricating genre, much like folk and metal. So long as there are fans, there will be more music from it, even if the band never has the chance to buy a yacht. Maybe that is some of what keeps the genre so humble and positive. Money corrupts all. Don't misunderstand, some of the artists in the reggae world are doing alright for themselves to say the least, but overall they get enough to put out another album with bells and whistles and jump right back on that road. The many reggae shows I have attended has the band always saying they love Salt Lake City, and for a lot the bands out there I don't take that seriously since I know they said "we love you Denver" and "Las Vegas is our favorite city" right before they rolled on into our strange little soulful city. But when it comes to the reggae musicians, I do believe them. I have heard a few times that Utah always turns out for reggae music. It isn't too shocking since we have some world-famous nature in the state, and also SLC is quite liberal, so naturally we want that good time music based in positivity. Utah sure is a strange place. Anyway! Tribal Seeds was one of the first bands I discovered after I found a deep deep love for Sublime and Slightly Stoopid a couple of years before. Those two were the starting point for me in the reggae world, much like it seemed to be for many in the California reggae world. We all love Bob Marley, how could you not? But I do really love what reggae evolved into in the US when the 2000s rolled along. A ton of top tier bands. Sure, the style and sound doesn't differ all too much, but each group that made it to a higher status still has something special to them. For Tribal Seeds, it is within that spacey and airy atmosphere. They don't fully rely on the drops, nor do they rely on all that ganja talk, they rely on having a perfectly peaceful feeling to their music which is best experienced in their reggae classic The Harvest out of 2009. That album is an essential and is the last album of theirs to be solely independent of other bands with its roots reggae style. 

     Our song of the day "Representing" comes off the band's next studio album Representing which came out 5 years after their previous full studio album. This was the start of their new sound, and also put them on many more modern reggae fan's radars, since it was a lot like what everyone else was doing at the time. They still try hard to keep that original vision under wraps, but in the end it lost a little bit of the magic that made up The Harvest and their 2008 self-titled release. To me, I found it to be a negative, but to everyone else it seemed to be a positive. I still dig the album and there are some really great tracks off that sucker like "Moonlight" and our song of the day "Representing". Representing is made up of a ton of collaborating with other musicians and a couple that is Tribal Seeds by themselves. For our song of the day we have Vaughn Benjamin from the roots reggae band Midnite who was met with praise in the reggae world for their Rastafarian heavy album Jubilees of Zion which is another you wanna check out if you dig this track. "Representing" is the first track off the album of the same name, and in my opinion, it is the best one off its 12 song track listing. The track fronts some seriously groovin' dub style that doesn't let go of you throughout its full playing time. The inclusion of Vaughn Benjamin is a nice one. That is one thing that I truly love about reggae, is how much respect they show to the legends of the past. You can go to a reggae festival and see an old man doing heavily Jamaican reggae get followed by a strange ska punk band and then they bring out a modern star or one of the million of Marley's out there making music. Representing also included some others on the album like Michael Rose, Don Carlos, and Kyle McDonald of my beloved Slightly Stoopid. The tracks that see Tribal Seeds standing alone are some goodies too, but I come here for the song featuring some serious reggae powerhouses. It is a damn good reggae album for a summer day, or for me, it is a good one to work to. That is when I chose the track since I was in a reggae mood and first played this album and then followed it up with Fortunate Youth's Irie State of Mind since it has been a hot while since I listened to either of the albums. A strangely fitting set of albums to listen to while I did the dirty job of stretching raw hide while at work. It was probably due to the "good vibes" that bands like Tribal Seeds puts out and doesn't even break a sweat. If you are someone who likes reggae, then I think you will dig the hell out of this track! So here is my gift to you in the form of a peaceful song. Christmas is still a little while away, so expect more gifts of music as the days move along! And since you have been such a faithful reader, I think I will keep gifting these hot tracks to you, so long as you come and visit the website from time to time. Thanks for reading! Turn those speakers up and let the stresses of the holidays fade away in the bass lines. Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 2014
Album: Representing (2014)
Genre: Reggae
Mood: Groovin'
​Perfect For: Getting stoned (duh), Having a beer, Summer drives, Chilling in nature
Where To Next: "A Healing" - Midnite
Rating: 7 / 10

"We Live for Love" - Pat Benatar

     Sorry for the late post! We will be having two today. I was busy yesterday celebrating the graduation of my precious Alesha who just graduated with her bachelors degree. She is the only person that I personally know that has a college degree, shit, I think she is the only person who has ever been fully involved in my life who does. So, needless to say, I am proud of her for seeing it through! That also means she has more time to read my website! Or one would hope I suppose. Since we are on the topic of cute ladies with talent, let's jump into our spotlighted artist for this post, Pat Benatar. This is her first spot in the song of the day blog, something I am actually pretty shocked about since she is a quick go to for me when it comes to female rockers out of 1979 and the 1980s. Some might scoff at the fact that I call her a rocker, but that is exactly what she is. Sure, she had equal fame in the pop world and took that image more seriously as the 1980s moved along, but like calls to like, and I can tell she is one of us! I don't think there is a better example of that than her debut, which also happens to hold our song of the day. In the Heat of the Night is my favorite album of hers, and I do believe that will be the same for the good majority of us. It has a ton of soul! There is a good flow of styles on this album that show the versatility that is Pat Benatar. We got tracks like "Heartbreaker", "No You Don't", and "I Need a Lover" for the rockers out there. Then there are the poppy ones like "We Live for Love" and the intoxicatingly lusty "Rated X". A good portion of this debut is covers. Not the albums that cover the biggest names in the game, but more a passionate choice of lesser legends like Sweet, Alan Parsons Project, John Mellencamp, Nick Gilder, and two solid choices from the underrated pop rock group Smokie. There are only two tracks in which she helped write the lyrics for, but that is alright, she is indeed both a rock star and a pop star. Not to go on a side tangent, but have you seen how many fucking people are in the notes for a pop album?! It is insane! There are some super famous pop tracks that have like 8 people's names on the lyrics alone, and then the lyrics aren't even that good. Crazy. Pop is indeed music monetized, but there is admittedly a mass appeal to things that shine and sparkle, and even rockers such as myself get lured in by it. I mean, shit, the first Pat Benatar track we have here is one of her most pop heavy ones from the prime years. We will get to that here soon, though. So with an album mainly made up of great covers and a couple of originals, it is one that certainly is memorable. Her persona of being a tough chick with a sensitive side is always a joy to take into your ears. Her next album, Crimes of Passion, outsold the debut and is another great one that I think the majority of us here would enjoy from start to finish. It was her first Grammy winner which landed her the award for best female rock vocal performance, beating Grace Slick, Joan Armatrading, and Marianne Faithfull surprisingly. I am not saying that Benatar didn't deserve it, but beating Marianne Faithfull's Broken English is a feat of its own entirely, that album is great! Granted, if I went to a record shop and saw Crimes of Passion and Broken English side by side for the same price, I would gladly walk out with Benatar. Anyway! Pat Benatar was easily becoming one of the biggest names in the early 1980s and with the addition of her third album Precious Time, the fourth Get Nervous, and her final prime album Tropico she became a music icon for 1980s rock. She still found pretty good success with her other releases, but there is no denying that her first five are where it is at.

     Our song of the day this time is her pop rock track "We Live for Love". Like I said earlier, it is one of her most pop forward tracks alongside ones like "We Belong" and "Shadows of the Night". "We Live for Love" is one of the tracks written by Neil Giraldo, who has been behind the guitar for Benatar since the beginning. He also wrote a couple of the songs. We cannot also forget that Benatar and Giraldo have been married since 1982. Talk about fishin' off corporate deck, ey? Didn't Fleetwood Mac teach everyone the dangers of mixing love and musical careers?! Speaking of Fleetwood Mac, our song of the day is very similar to some Fleetwood Mac songs, especially on the Christine McVie lead tracks like "Everywhere". Granted, "Everywhere" came multiple years after, so maybe they took notes from this track. I think the similarities spawn out of the voices, sighs, and such going on the background of the chorus. The verses are immensely Pat Benatar, but that chorus seems to be right out of the 1980s pop handbook. Maybe something she helped write since In the Heat of the Night came along in 1979. The track is a catchy as all hell and shows off some of the truly beautiful singing Benatar can belt out when she's not busy using some rock n roll swank like we hear on her timeless "Heartbreaker". The good majority of the song revolves around the chorus also much in pop style. It is simply an enjoyable track that suits the newly-weds, teenage lovers, or strong long termers. Going off the lyrics, it is a bit more of a new love, a forbidden love even. This being written by her future husband and current guitarist, you can tell this was written from a personal place. I wonder how it would be to have a love letter written in form of song, and then you record it and release it as your fifth single, in which the Canadians ate it up. The love letters I have written in the past only got me restraining orders, so good on you Neil Giraldo! You bastard. All jokes. Straight up, it is a pretty song that was well put together with its easy to get behind nature. For an album of multiple moods and lyrical themes, it gives you a pretty good idea who Benatar is as a musician. I would find this debut to be the ultimate place to start, even with Crimes of Passion being her crown jewel. I just find In the Heat of the Night to show off her rock side a little better. Also, I have a fondness for each artist she covered, all of which do their songs justice or even almost overtakes the original in my books. Lastly, what makes this one such a great landing spot is how easy it is to both serve as the focus of the night or just a casual album you can let roll in the background. Some songs really want your undivided attention like "Rated X" and "My Clones Sleeps Alone" but even those put out an atmosphere that you don't even need to listen to the words to understand what the song is about. Well, I think that is enough for this post. Time for you to listen to the track! Hope you dig it! If not, well... come back next time with better taste! Just teasing. Stay tuned for more great music, who knows what the next post will bring! Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1979
Album: In the Heat of the Night (1979)
Genre: Pop, Pop Rock
Mood: Romantic
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Making Love, Romantic Drives, Date Night, Writing love letters
Where To Next: "Everywhere" - Fleetwood Mac
Rating: 7 / 10

"Honey Don't" - David Allan Coe

     We have talked about plenty of varying country musicians on this website, plenty of which were outlaws in one way or another, but few fit that outlaw image better than David Allan Coe. He forever followed the beat of his own drum, and you can just tell this dude loves music of all walks. Coe was a hell-raiser from the day the doctor smacked his bottom. Growing up he was in and out of correctional facilities for two decades, and even as early as the age of 9 he was sent to reformatory school to break his mean streak. It was during his time in the big house that he met the eccentric Screamin' Jay Hawkins, which was a blues and R&B musician that practically crafted the later shock rock genre. He was encoraged to start writing music, something that Coe gave a swing and found he had a natural talent for, and it was heavily laced in rebellion which was the only thing he knew. In comparison to the other country musicians of the time, Coe was a complete freak. He dressed rough and oddly, he had super long hair which was a big ol taboo in the country culture, happily displayed his tattoos, and even displayed his ass. So after all that time in and out of the joint, he did what any budding musician might do after that, he started busking on the streets of Nashville. He caught the eye of Plantation Records, and within a little time he released his first studio album Penitentiary Blues which isn't the most country album from his discography, that one is in a much more blues style, something Coe never quite left behind. This is not the album you want to start on with him, but if you are someone who likes starting from the beginning for a freshly discovered artist, then give it a go. What you might find is this album is damn dark, depressing and raunchy. That album didn't even slightly blow up, but it did allow him to get his name out there and tour with some big names like Grand Funk Railroad. He released his second album, Requiem for a Harlequin, within the same year in 1970, and it is another I wouldn't suggest starting in. I personally dig that album, even if it is a little odd with it being spoken word. It is a damn personal album where he recounts some of the events he saw or was part of during his earlier life. It is a psychedelic album with a blues chokehold, and while it isn't the best, it shows off his talent with writing lyrics. That talent was heard by others since he was an exclusive writer up until 1977 while still doing music on the side. Album by album he gained more of a cult following for his plain odd style, a style that moved into country in his third studio album The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy which released in 1973. Now we are cooking with fire! This album shows off the oddity that is David Allan Coe, but also introduces you to his early core country sound that rests in the outlaw country genre. It is a little more artistic and out there, much like Kris Kristofferson or Townes Van Zandt, but it is still mighty easy to get into. This was the first album of his I listened through from start to finish, and I was impressed to say the least. So impressed that I instantly listened to his next album Once Upon a Rhyme, and there you have it, he made a fan out of me! I find him to easily be the most thrilling country musician of all time. He does a splendid job of putting out solid country songs but with so much damn personality it feels like you know the guy personally. By that point Coe was a well known songwriter in Nashville, and his own career was starting to gain traction quickly, and both The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy and Once Upon a Rhyme were released by a major label. All in all he made it, he had himself a collection of rhinestone suits and albums that sold well. His name leaped upon the release of his 1976 album Longhaired Redneck, in which the title track became one of his most known songs. I think that is the best place to start within Coe's large ass discography, but there really isn't a perfect place to start, just depends on the mood you are in.

     By the time we get to the album that holds our song of the day, Compass Point, Coe had 12 studio albums, 1 soundtrack album, and a solid amount of charting tracks. Only two songs were high charters, "Longhaired Redneck" which showed off Coe's natural melding of country with his rock n roll swagger, and the hilarious "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" which is indeed the most perfect country song that was ever written. Our song of the day comes off his 13th studio album, Compass Point. This album is a damn fun one, and with its just shy of 30 minute running time, it is easy to take on at any point of the day. In a lot of ways, this is one of his most impressive out of his 42 studio albums. It was the first one where Coe started having his tracks move into each other, giving you a feeling you went on a trip and never even left the farm. David Allan Coe set up a perfect atmosphere on this one, the perfect amount of tracks (all of which were all Coe originals) with the perfect running time. Meticulous placement and playing leave you fully impressed with a musician that modernly has a ton of drinking songs in his top 10 on Spotify. I mean, David Allan Coe has a crazy large discography, all of which doesn't grow stale due to his natural ability of keeping his style fresh. This dude even played in a band called Rebel Meets Rebel which saw Coe playing alongside the brothers from Pantera, Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul and the bassist also from Pantera, Rex Brown. Honestly, it kind of sucks, but just knowing that album is there always makes me smile. Easy to say that Coe really did follow his own path in the music world, and it left him with one of the most well known names as a country outlaw. Our song of the day "Honey Don't" really shows off how great Coe is with that pen of his. The track is one that kicks off in a Jerry Reed type of style. Quick as hell playing backed up by harmonica with the words being sharpened to stab at anyone who has ever questioned David Allan Coe's credentials. I love how he gives a chance for his band to show off at the end of each fun as hell chorus and verse. That outlaw style of his shows through with some kick ass lyrics like "I've been a roadie for Satan, honey, I was a sound man for the devil you see", "I'm a guitar with a heart of a banjo", "I've served my sentence in a fender twin amplifier", and so many other very David Allan Coe and very kick ass lines. Plus, to make it all the more fun, he takes a jab at Bill Monroe on the final line, the same Bill Monroe that is one of the most well known bluegrass mandolinists. It is all in jest, but like the whole damn song, it is double-dipped in cocky behavior. There are a lot of country legends references in this album, be it the obvious ones like the track "Merle and Me" or the way he sings "Heads or Tails" like Johnny Cash. The album covers plenty of classic country music topics such as jail and romance. The most fun song off the album is the final track "X's and O's (Kisses and Hugs)" which is a head spin of a song that is made up of tongue twisters and clever writing. I cannot overstate on how impressive David Allan Coe is, and I think I chose a damn good one to show off his style for his first song on this website. This album is a damn good one, and one that sometimes is forgotten when people are moving through is albums. It is situated in the middle of his lengthy career, which found good reception even all the way through the 1980s and onward. He is somewhere between a cult musician and an absolute country legend. I think he is the type of musician you can never understand just stopping in for a greatest hits album. You gotta take the full dive into his material. You might come up stinking, but you will be stinking in love with his bold style. Well, whatcha waitin' for?! Give the song a spin! Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1979
Album: Compass Point (1979)
Genre: Outlaw Country, Country
Mood: Cocky
​Perfect For: Getting drunk, Going for a drive, Driving fast on a two lane highway, Casual listening
Where To Next: "You Took All the Rambling Out of Me" - Jerry Reed
Rating: 9 / 10

"Homebrew" - 311

     311 are one of those bands that seem to be about everywhere. In a strange way, they are kind of like the KISS of the reggae world. They have a crazy amount of merch for their crazy amount of fans. Their fan base can sometimes be a bit toxic, but that isn't all too shocking. Strangely enough, for a unity loving genre like reggae, their fans can sometimes be kind of assholes. Out of all the genres out there, I have been to a lot of reggae shows and each time I am sort of annoyed with the concert attendees. It tends to be a party crowd, which makes sense, but the sort of loud ones that talk about how many natty lights they drank the night before. That isn't a one shoe fits all, since there have been plenty of shows where the vibe was certainly there. The feeling of unity and peace. Though recently, I have noticed more people that look like they work as sales reps during the week. If I go to one more concert to watch a bunch of people grind into each other while wearing clothing that stopped being popular in 2009 I will go mad. I love the bands and those shows, and I never regret going to one, but it is an observation that I cannot help but notice. The other genre that I attend the most concerts for is metal, and they certainly have their assholes too, but it is a different breed of asshole. One is like the Walmart asshole, while the other is the Costco asshole. Truthfully, this might just be a regional issue. That or I am watching people more at reggae shows, since I tend to have my attention completely transfixed on the band during rock and metal shows, and these types are at each. This random rant shouldn't reflect poorly on the band, since the majority of reggae musicians out there are well known to be some good humans, but I cannot help but think of some of the sights I have seen while drinking overpriced canned beers at some shows. Lastly, I am not saying this is you if you are reading this and thinking I am going after you. Each crowd has a multitude of varying personalities and walks of life, and reggae crowds are no different. I love reggae, and I respect their vision. I just wish some of their crowds weren't full up on Billabong sales reps. Alright, time to leave that there and look at 311. Now, 311 isn't your exact idea of a reggae band. They are one of the most successful and famous out of the reggae rock genre, but the same can be said about rap rock, funk rock, and alternative rock. They have been around since 1993 and have changed up their sound as time and trends moved along. The majority of their albums are good ones, and I say that as someone who has listened through each of their albums a good amount of times, some a ton of times. If you go and look up reviews, you will find a lot of hate for the majority of their releases, but 311 is the kind of band people seem to love to shit on for no reason. Their shitload of fans only prove that they are doing something right, and it only goes to show that the majority of critics are too caught up in musical theory and Coldplay albums to see the vast musical forest for the trees. Fuck them critics, including me when I play that role. Their debut album came out in 1993, an album simply titled Music. This isn't the ultimate 311 album by any means, but it still holds some goodies, especially since that debut holds their most rap heavy style. That album didn't really gather all too much traction, but still got their name in the ranks of some of the best in the rap rock / rap metal genre. I go to that album mainly for the tracks "Do You Right" and "Paradise" but still try coming back for a full listen every couple of years. I have heavily abused the albums Transistor, 311, Don't Tread on Me, Voyager, and From Chaos for a seriously long time. All the way back when my mom, sister, and myself would regular libraries, I would always attempt to rent a 311 CD. Their self-titled third album was a massive part of my childhood, and even now that I have listened to its tracks 100+ times, it is still fresh and thrilling. A great band with a wide array of comfy sounds to play loud in your headphones.

     Our song of the day this go around is "Homebrew" off the band's second album Grassroots. The album rolled along in July 1994. 311 certainly is the epitome of a summer band, they are built to listen to while you feel that relentless sun cooking your cheeks. Grassroots held a lot of the original rap sound of the band's debut, but they equaled that out with their first full plunge into reggae music. I have always found this album to be a strange melding of Beastie Boys and Steel Pulse but with a little funkiness from Faith No More and a little heaviness to balance it all out. 311 put together an array of sounds and styles, a bold move and something not very easily done. They were poked and prodded by critics from the start, many of which found their attempt at fusing a lot of sounds together to be cool but poorly executed. I will agree that the band hardly felt like themselves, it felt they lost themselves in all the bands they loved and wanted to be just like them. That isn't always a bad thing, and even with all of that, this album still holds up as a great 311 album before they fully found the core sound that people later would be bringing into sound. Once again, fuck critics. Including me. This album does have some weaker moments, yet even those weaker moments are bristling with passion and raw energy. "Homebrew" is in my opinion the best track on the album. I might think that because it was the first track I ever heard off the album since the band's greatest hits album out of 2004 was one I constantly played growing up and always had within reach of my CD player. I still find that to be one of the best greatest hits albums out there. "Homebrew" was the only track off of Grassroots on that one. Once I got a little older and better understood music and the proper way of listening through an album to fully feel it I gathered plenty of more tracks to faun over like "1,2,3", I fucking love that song! Maybe soon we will talk about that reggae heavy song. For today, it is all about "Homebrew". This song is more of an alternative rock track with a rap rock backing. It is one of the best to explain my statement above about all the band that 311 were influenced by and brought into the recording studio. It has a very 311 guitar intro that moves into the rapping a little sooner than some of their other popular tracks. This track was a favorite of mine as a teenager, but as I grow older, I find more resonance in it. Mainly because that chorus. Nothing like a reminder track on being a wild youth that turned into a mature and spooked adult. Lyrically, I am not sure how all of it ties into each other, but the way it is sung and rapped is a blast. The jumping between Nick Hexum and S.A. Martinez is some of the greatness of early 311 before they ditched the rapping for the most part and went fully into a more corporate alternative rock/reggae rock sound. I love that one too but this early 311 really felt raw and personal, some of the reason I come back often, and also is one of the strongest reasons that 311 gathers fans so easily no matter the decade you were born in. This album in particular was purposefully made to sound rootsy. It was recorded half in studio and half simply within the band's house and had a heavy emphasis on having a raw and muddy recording style. 311's next album was the one that really shot them into fame, but this album might have been able to if it didn't refuse to play by the rules. That is what makes Grassroots a special one from their discography. This is 311's second song on the website, with the first being "Inner Light Spectrum". Between the two, I gave you some really quality 311, so now it is on you to listen to 'em. So, I will stop the post here and let you get to it. As always, I appreciate you stopping by! Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1994
Album: Grassroots (1994)
Genre: Alternative Rock, Funk Rock, Rap Rock
Mood: Energetic
​Perfect For: Getting stoned, Casual listening, Summer days, Getting that energy up
Where To Next: "No Control" - Pepper
Rating: 8 / 10

"Wave of Mutilation" - Pixies

     Bow mortals! To one of the most read into and unique names in alternative rock! The Pixies were one of the trailblazers in the early alternative rock world, well, alternative rock as it would come to be nearing the end of the 1980s. Before them, there were plenty of alternative rock groups, but they certainly got a little too close to the pop music sun to be modernly considered alternative rock. The Pixies on the other hand brought in something that was a little too close to the punk rock sun with its larger than life artsy fartsy approach. Punk rock itself might have been going through a rough spell nearing the end of the 1980s, but the impact the genre had on all of rock music since the 1970s is unreal. It would be the forefather to some of the most essential genres in the 1990s, like grunge and alternative rock, both of which had their golden years within that decade. They aren't quite punk rock, but the majority of bands within those genres had this little punk lacing to them, even if it was solely the freedom of expression punk gave. The Pixies had a sound and style that was before its time, a style that heavily influenced bands from the grunge and alternative rock world like the Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Weezer and also had its hand in influencing some of the most innovative bands in the up-and-coming indie world as much as it left an imprint on the pop punk genre that wasn't even a thing quite yet. Go through the albums that came out of 1987, and you will find hardly anything that sounds like the Pixies debut EP Come On Pilgrim, better yet go check out 1988 when the band released their bold first album Surfer Rosa in 1988. What makes that album bold, you might be asking? How about the unique atmosphere it put out unlike anything else, that or the lyrics that cover some really odd topics such as voyeurism. It doesn't stop there, the album cover featured straight up nudity which most artists and labels stayed away from, and they tried out some unique ways of creating that spacey feeling they are known for with recording some songs in the bathroom to give it that floating feeling, or adding distortion to the vocals using amplifiers. You can tell as soon as the album's first song "Bone Machine" kicks off that this is going to be unlike any other album out of the 1980s. Sometimes that can be a bad thing, but for the Pixies it is the innovation of art. Surfer Rosa is a perfect album, and one that you should certainly listen to once in your lifetime, even if it is simply for the history of music. It isn't one to disappoint, but let me warn you that it can get odd from time to time. Anyway, they took everything they learned from Surfer Rosa and refined it into a perfect sound for their next studio album, Doolittle. I would say that this is the ultimate album to start into the Pixies for those that have never listened through a complete album of theirs. From start to finish, it is one hell of a ride. In a lot of ways, it is much like their debut album, but they perfected each style they dabbled in within that debut. Let's look at the band's most timeless and famous song "Where Is My Mind?" off their debut album, it is the greatest Pixies track to ever hit the scene, but it feels a little bit lost, though that is some of its appeal. That is where "Wave of Mutilation" comes along, it is a great follow up to that track. It is based in an easier to get behind sound and doesn't rely on the madness atmosphere, which allows you to have your own take on the band's airy atmosphere. Their debut held the sickeningly aggressive "Something Against You" which then in turn evolved to the more potent and thought out "Debaser" or the similar yet more tame... "Tame". "Debaser" took all the anger of "Something Against You" but brought in something, once again, easy to understand and get behind. It is a little less abstract, but still holds the odd and unique lyrics that vocalist and lyricist Black Francis is known for. Those two albums are sisters, and both are perfect, just in their own way. One is raw and wicked and the other is refined and intense, it just depends on the mood you are in.

     We already kind of poked at our song of the day, so we will just get into it. "Wave of Mutilation" is the first song I ever heard from the Pixies, it was the track to start it all for me. I have been into the Pixies for well over 15 years, they were a group that I didn't quite understand growing up, but once I got a little more mature I found an absolute goldmine of music. While I was young I appreciated the bold style and the silly lyrics, though with age I found that bold style to be that of innovation, and the silly lyrics to be heavy with inner perversion and a true statement to the human condition, no matter how ugly. Speaking of the band's lyricism, it was a great choice they didn't go full in on the shock appeal. You can typically go through a whole album of casually listening and not even notice they are saying some gross shit. A lot of that comes down to how well the vocals play on words. How mesmerizing the backing vocals can be, and how in your face the lead vocals are. They become an instrument of themselves, playing the ever important role of paining a picture but with the colors of voice more so than the poetic nature of the tongue. "Wave of Mutilation" already is a strange song title, but what does it mean? The lyrics were inspired by the news out of Japan in 1989 that suicides were up, namely suicide murders were up where failed businessmen would drive their cars into the ocean with their family in tow. A song with this deep of a melancholy nature simply has to have some death lyrics, some things are just expected, and the Pixies do a great job at it. Once again, you can casually have this song playing and not feel the stinging touch of the reaper, but as soon as you stop what you are doing to take it in... you sort of feel like that businessman. It is a song that weighs heavily upon the soul and will leave you worn out by the time the track is up. Still, it is the Pixies, and they tend not to just repeat a song within the same album. "Wave of Mutilation" is the third track off of the album, it comes after "Tame" which is hardly tame by the time the song kicks off, and it comes before "I Bleed" which is a mellow one with an artistic touch. Both feel a little tame being surrounded by the song's heaviest hitters like "Wave of Mutilation", "Here Comes Your Man", and "Debaser", but still play the respectable role of keeping you seated and drawn into the perversion that is the Pixies atmosphere. "Wave of Mutilation" is one of my favorite Pixies tracks, it has held that title for a long time, and I don't think that will change any time soon. The track starts off with a catchy as hell pop leaning intro, it isn't shocking the band released a different version of the track as a b-side to the "Here Comes Your Man" single where they take on a more surf rock front. Surf rock is certainly one of their biggest influences. With that surf rock thing in mind, this track feels strangely nautical. The lyrics help push that atmosphere along. It feels like you died but live on as you travel the lonesome sea both for wisdom and for meaning. This might sound morbid, but if I was to end my life, I think "Wave of Mutilation" would be one of my top choices. It just feels like death... but in a more positive way. "My spirit will live on" kind of outlook on the inevitability of death. That is why I said the song is deeply melancholy. A very beautiful song that is constantly getting rained on. An essential Pixies track, one of their best, and one of my favorites of theirs. The chorus is great, the intro is great, the outro is great, the atmosphere is phenomenal, and the lyrical content is heady. A grand slam of a song. I swear we are getting some seriously top quality tracks this month, more than some of the others. I wouldn't be shocked if this month has more 10/10 tracks than any others up until this point. Well, for today, I give you another sacred 10/10 track! Though you might already know this song, give it some love once again. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1989
Album: Doolittle (1989)
Genre: Alternative Rock
Mood: Melancholy
​Perfect For: Numb days, Sunrises, Sunsets, Suicide, Casual listening, In depth listening 
Where To Next: "Safari" - The Breeders 
Rating: 10 / 10

"Saved By the Music" - Justin Hayward & John Lodge

​     We got ourselves a hidden gem today! Not so far hidden that it isn't in the eyes of rockers, but hidden enough you would have to dig to let its light shine! In some ways, this is a lost Moody Blues album, but to say that would be plain rude to those that made our spotlight album Blue Jays. This album was recorded by Justin Hayward & John Lodge in 1975 during The Moody Blues 5-year hiatus. In a lot of ways, it is very similar to The Moody Blues in which they were leading forces in, but there is still enough of a personal touch to sway it away from being too close to their home band. This little side project spurred one of the greatest hidden gems out of the 1970s, Blue Jays. It is all the beauty that you might find in a Moody Blues album but less progressive. "Blue Guitar" is the album's shining track and is one of the main things keeping it on the radar of passing rockers, even if the song wasn't originally released on the album. I find it funny that it goes that way, be it "Blue Guitar", "Dream On" by Aerosmith, or "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. A great track should never be forgotten, and there is no doubting the awesomeness that is "Blue Guitar". That was the first song I heard off this album and instantly fell in love with it. That track is genuinely moving, it was built on the beauty of a winter morning as snow silently falls. The majority of this album is beautiful, but none top the enchanting atmosphere of that track. 10cc is the backing band on that song too, which is a nice touch. Mixing one of the greatest progressive rock groups with one of the greatest progressive pop groups was bound to happen one day, and I am glad it was here on this album where it achieved absolute perfection. In some ways I wish it was that track we were talking about since I am now craving it, maybe I will listen to it after I relisten to "Saved By the Music" while I type this out. I have been smitten by The Moody Blues for the last 6 years or so. I mean, I loved "Nights in White Satin" and "Question" well before I jumped into their discography, but I wouldn't quite consider myself a fan then. The band's debut album is a strange British Beat album that tempted some artistic expression, but never took the jump. Their second album Days of Future Past released in 1967, and it took that artistic expression as far as you could legally get away with. That album is an absolute trip and saw The Moody Blues finding their well known progressive rock style that would make them absolute rock legends and a personal favorite. They kept on with that sound, sometimes adding in more psychedelia here and art rock there, and that set them up for the next 6 albums, ending with 1972's Seventh Sojourn. Following that album, the band went on a 5-year hiatus that didn't have the prettiest come back. The band fell apart due to stage fatigue after an exhausting world tour and other tensions that come with the music life. Still, the band had an obligation to fulfill with their label, but with the majority of the band wanting out, it fell upon Justin Hayward (vocalist, guitarist, and multi instrumentalist for The Moody Blues) to try figuring something out. He tired of England and wanted to return to his home in California to figure it out. Originally he intended to record something alongside keyboardist Mike Pinder, just the two of them, but once others started coming into the picture like bassist and lyricist John Lodge, Pinder decided he wanted out, leaving just Justin Hayward and John Lodge with some material The Moody Blues had already been working on. They had a daunting task, but with this high quality of musicians it seemed to be destined to be a good album. Overall, the album sold only okay but still achieved gold status in the UK, so that is something. If it was a Moody Blues album, I think it would have sold phenomenally, but it being a side project it was only met with positivity from fans and moderate success from the two singles "Blue Guitar" and "I Dreamed Last Night".

     "Blue Guitar" itself wasn't even included on the album, but was later included on the 1987 re-release, where it deserved to be. Something I didn't even know until I listened to the album on vinyl format just this weekend and was shocked to not see "Blue Guitar" on the track listing, since I have been streaming it since its discovery. Still, even without it being there, it is a great album with an impeccable atmosphere. I could have chosen any of those tracks, be it the melancholy "This Morning" or the dreamy "Maybe", but lo and behold it was destined to be a song with a title very fitting for the website "Saved By the Music". Have you ever seen an album cover and knew exactly what is to be within? Blue Jays is one of those albums. The best way to have you experience the amazing atmosphere of this album would be to listen to it, but the second-best way is just to look at that album cover and you will know exactly what is to be expected. "Saved By the Music" is a little more upbeat than some of the other tracks, but it is one smothered in a strange positivity and love for music. The thing that all of us can see eye to eye on, including the band. While this track isn't nearly as powerful as some of the others, it is simply one that is easy to get into. It asks nothing of you, it can play while you do just about anything, and it will please you to your last ear hair. A great track and a welcome addition to the website. "Saved By the Music" does a great job at keeping your attention too, it goes calm and then will come back with some serious power with an intoxicating harmony. The song teases an ending a couple of times throughout its playtime but always comes back to hit you with the fast-paced thumping of drums from session drummer Graham Deakin who is known to have played alongside The Who on a couple of different occasions and was the touring drummer for The Who's bassist John "Ox" Entwistle's solo work. He never had his name on billboards, buuuuut when you play alongside The Who, and it's member's solo work, you gotta have some serious talent in those sticks since Keith Moon is one of rock's finest drummers. Anyway! I think he deserves special focus on this track, more so than some of the others. Much in Moody Blues fashion, a lot of this album's thrill comes from the vocal harmonies and it's very well put together lyrics. Once again, while "Saved By the Music" is a great song, it isn't the ideal example of that, though I will say that I am fond of these lyrics on this track. Well, I guess I will make this one a shorter post! Less reading means more listening! Try the track out for size, and if you have the time, give "Blue Guitar" and "This Morning" a spin afterwards so they too can set your mind at ease. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1975
Album: Blue Jays (1975)
Genre: Rock
Mood: Positive
​Perfect For: Casual Listening, Mellow drives, Making tea, Doing chores 
Where To Next: "You and Me" - The Moody Blues
Rating: 7 / 10

"Finish What Ya Started" - Van Halen

     Welcome back! We just got done talking about Budgie, one of the greatest and most underrated hard rock groups out there, but today we turn our musical gaze at one of the greatest and well known hard rock groups to date, Van Halen. These dudes are absolute legends! There is no way you haven't heard any of their songs up until this point, and I say with confident that statement will ring as true today as it will 20 years from now. When you have musicians like this all under one name, you get yourself a band that is forever at the forefront of a genre. This is the band's 2nd time on the website, and even more shocking than that is that both of the choices have been from "Van Hagar" era. Like the majority of us out there, I am more of a David Lee Roth man when it comes to Van Halen. Still, I have a deep fondness for the Sammy Hagar era as well. Shit, I just love Van Halen on each and every studio album they ever released, even the less strong Van Halen III with Gary Cherone on vocals. It seems like everyone forgets about that album, and I wouldn't be shocked if Van Halen would like to keep it that way. Gary Cherone did a great job in Extreme (see "Play With Me") buuuut should have stayed there. Anyway! What I am trying to say is I don't discriminate when it comes to who is on vocals in Van Halen, but in the end it is all about David Lee Roth. With that out of the way, let's give you a little run-down on who Van Halen is (as if you needed it). They are a band that played a serious role in helping hard rock transition into the 1980s hard rock sound. Bands like Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, Rainbow, and many other names in the 1970s hard rock world were starting to die out. They had a choice to make. Do they alter their sound to keep their name being announced on the radio, or do they stay true to their rock mastery and fade away? Many tried to keep up, and many more saw their ending days when groups like Van Halen showed up on the scene. They had this style and sex appeal that was hardly seen since the golden days of Led Zeppelin. An almost glam style, but not in the way of Sweet, Slade, and Gary Glitter, it was something else entirely and was backed up by loud as hell guitar solos and in your face vocals that said words that made your grandma clutch her pearls. Van Halen was the future, they fronted a sound that kept all the roots of the hard rock legends of the past but also the skill and vision to usher in a new era of rock. Bands like Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt, Bullet Boys, and many others from the glammier side of American hard rock suckled directly from the teet of Van Halen. I can't say I blame them, they were something fresh but not completely original. The easiest pill to swallow in the changing music world that was having a hard time rivaling disco, R&B, and the feverish resurgence of pop music.

     They released their debut album in 1978 and completely controlled that year. Tracks like "Runnin' With the Devil", "Jamie's Cryin'", the Kinks cover "You Really Got Me" and others are rock essentials. The whole album is completely full of legendary songs. It also features one of the most impressive instrumentals in rock history "Eruption" which was an epiphany in the music world and guitarists across the globe were trying their hand at the massively talented guitar work of Eddie Van Halen. The album would quickly go on to be one of the highest selling albums in American history and left its spot in the rock history books for the world to see forever. They kept the energy up for their next studio album, Van Halen II, another perfect album from start to finish. That album is a touch more tame than the previous yet still keeps that party feeling up. A superb follow-up album to one that achieved diamond status. Van Halen II is a multi-platinum masterpiece that is best taken in with beer in hand. Their third album Women and Children First is Van Halen's most impressive album. Now, don't go rolling your eyes, because I do love their debut and consider it my favorite album of theirs, but Women and Children First is so well put together it blows me away each time I listen to it. Track by track they show they are more than just another party band, with each song bringing in something new. Not new in the way they are doing dub one track and then jazz the next, but more so they show that their sound has many different shades. One of the best albums out of 1980, but following that the band had a slight blunder with the growing pains that came with the transition between decades. Fair Warning is a still a stand-up album, but it lacked that jacked up punch in the pants that their previous albums had. I dig the album and proudly have abused it alongside their others for years upon years, but I too know that is a little lacking. "Unchained" is the shining track from the album, but the songs "Sinner's Swing!", "So This Is Love?", and "Mean Street" are also some goodies. The next album Diver Down shows the band finding their footing again, but still not finding the niche that saw them through the 1970s. I find this album to just be a boatload of fun, nothing to send to your mama or nothing to give to a friend for Christmas. There are some damn good covers on this one, okay original tracks, and some quick little instrumentals to spice it up. Many come to this album for their cover of Roy Orbison's "(Oh) Pretty Woman", myself included. Not an album you want to skip over if you are going through Van Halen, but still it lacked that kick in the bum. All of that changed upon their LEGENDARY 6th studio album, 1984. This one album shows off everything that was great about the 1980s hard rock. It is one of the highest respected albums in rock history and engraved their name deeply into the rock totem pole, even deeper than it already was. It gave them their second wind, and their sails were pushed along on that wind for the next multiple years. Tracks like "Hot for Teacher", "Jump", "Panama", and "I'll Wait" are sensational tracks. Some of them are more pop rock, some of them are fun rockers, and some are masterpieces like "Hot for Teacher". This was one of my favorite albums for a massive portion of my life, and I know each and every word of every single song like it is forever imprinted on my soul. The album sold immensely well in the United States and still very well across the globe. This album is essential, and you must listen to it at least once in your life. It is that good. Though, all great things must come to an end, and the band went ahead and released 5150 in 1986.

     5150 is the first Van Halen album with Sammy Hagar on vocals. I personally find it to be one of their best albums, and easily the best one with Hagar on vocals. It charted higher than 1984, it was actually the band's first chart topper, and the same is to be said about Sammy Hagar and his large collection of solo albums and other bands up until that point. The album is a great one, even if it was met with controversy upon its release. 1984 simply cannot be topped for the 1980s Van Halen albums, but this one is still one of their best, I don't care what anyone says. Sammy Hagar proved his power in Van Halen, and they went ahead and followed up on 5150 with 1988's OU812. This one is another goodie, every song might not be solid gold, but the ones that are great completely make up for it. Another one you cannot afford to overlook if you are trying out all the Van Halen albums out there. From start to finish, it is enjoyable. Sammy Hagar had a notebook full of potential lyrics and Eddie Van Halen had a whole mental catalogue of fast licks he was dying to lay out in the studio, so they went ahead and saw it through, and they ended up with OU812. In comparison to the first Van Hagar album, it feels a little better put together. It didn't rely on the massively successful ballad style of the previous album, but more so came back to that original Van Halen sound that jumped between insanely fast guitar playing and great chorus work to give you an album that was meant to party to. Sammy Hagar handled this very well and songs like "Black and Blue", "Finish What Ya Started", and the power ballad "When It's Love" became Van Halen classics! Well, we dropped the name, so I suppose we should talk a little bit about the track, yeah? "Finish What Ya Started" is as core Van Halen as you could ever want out of the non David Lee Roth era of the band. The track has a counting down intro before the smooth hand of Eddie Van Halen picks away. I gotta say that this is one of my favorite intros from Van Halen, a band that typically does memorable intros. The electric guitar plucks and clucks along while solid acoustic chords fill in any blank space. Sammy Hagar alongside the rest of the band give some great vocals. The chorus has everyone joining in to give it some layered vocal work. For the verses, Sammy Hagar has a fun way to sell the overall simple lyrics about sex without an orgasm, complete with Sammy Hagar screaming "finish me". The final 1:30 minutes of the track are pretty repetitive lyrically, but even then the band keeps it fresh with the constant picking vs strumming guitar battle. This track has a ton going on the whole time, which helps keep its shelf life so you can come back many different times and notice a different bit. The electric guitar work in a strange way is reminiscent of the way that Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits) plays. Not so much to think it is a rip-off, because this is Eddie Van Fuckin' Halen we are talking about, but still I have always found them similar within this track. The rest of the album wouldn't be able to hold up as well if it was missing "Finish What Ya Started". It is one of the best Sammy Hagar non-power ballad Van Halen tracks, and I say that with unshakable confidence. An overall fun song, not in the party way like some of the David Lee Roth stuff, but more so the Van Halen you listen to when you are hungover. The after party. Well, I won't take any more of your time. I appreciate you stopping by! This track can serve as our parting gift until next time we meet. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1988
Album: OU812 (1988)
Genre: Rock, Blues Rock
Mood: Laid Back
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Sex, Relaxing, Mellow summer evenings 
Where To Next: "Little Suzi" - Tesla
Rating: 8 / 10

"In the Grip of a Tyre Fitter's Hand" - Budgie

     I have good news! After a long wait, Budgie finally has most of their albums on Spotify! For the last couple of years they have only had their kick ass first two albums on there, but now they have the following 5 studio albums which completes their core 1970s albums. Most importantly, they have their amazing 3rd studio album Never Turn Your Back on a Friend on Spotify and probably other streaming services. Why is this such exciting news?! They are one of my favorites, and while I have had their songs downloaded to Spotify for the last while, I can finally include them in my playlists. That, and the local file system for Spotify works fine enough but can often be janky having songs sometimes appear and sometimes not. Lastly, I was dying to include more Budgie to my playlists, the more the merrier, and now we have it! So who is Budgie, and why should you care? Well, they are one of the finest hard rock groups of all time that truly deserves the same attention as some of the other legends out of 1970s hard rock and blues rock. Many say they are a mix between Black Sabbath and Rush, and in that I can fully agree, but you still need to add some other stuff in there since there is a blues touch there and a minor psychedelic one. Overall, Budgie knocks you dead! They are a damn potent group that serves as one of the early examples of heavy metal alongside bands like Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Blue Cheer, Deep Purple, Cactus, and others. Only a three-piece, but each member socks ya with some seriously heavy punches. Vocalist and bassist Burke Shelley is one of those vocalists that are hard to forget. His very high vocals and bass prowess is a leading force on why people often compare them to Rush. But Rush never got to this point of heavy. Metal legends Metallica famously covered their most essential (and kick ass track) "Breadfan" as a B-side to their "Harvester of Sorrow" single, and it was later included on their 1998 covers compilation Garage Inc. and I don't care what anyone says, they don't even get close to the Budgie version. I could write a book about how much I love "Breadfan"! It is one of my all-time favorite songs, and that statement hasn't been shaken since I first fell in love with it when I was 11 or so. A song that is in my blood every night and day, and one of the biggest reasons I was literally shaking when I checked to see if Budgie put their stuff on Spotify or not, and there it was. You see, I was checking it once a month for years, and one time they temporarily had some of their stuff appear 2 years ago or so, but then they once again got taken down. I hope this time is different, or all my blood sacrifices to the gods of rock has been for naught. Budgie means an immense amount to me, and now I have the opportunity to share them with you! That makes me damn glad since there are few bands out there more fitting to have you get to know your author than Budgie. The band formed in 1967 but didn't release their first studio album until 1971 with their self-titled debut. That debut is one of their most impressive, it shows the band in a more boogie/blues rock stage with a heavy dosage of distortion and a heavier sound than many in the rock world. It is an essential album for anyone studying heavy metal's roots. Black Sabbath might have brought the doom and gloom, but bands like Budgie brought the raw aggressiveness and speed of the heavy metal genre. A great album that I have been living off of alongside their second studio album Squawk for a good while. Both of those I would sacrifice my firstborn for, they are stellar albums, but they don't hold a candle to the band's definitive album Never Turn Your Back on a Friend. 

     Do you know how hard it was to not choose "Breadfan" as the song of the day?! I was relistening through all the newly added Budgie tracks to add them to playlists and such throughout most of Friday, hence why it was Budgie that was chosen. That, and I was ecstatic to tell you about it! Ultimately, I didn't choose "Breadfan" or "Zoom Club" for the song of the day, even if those two are some of my favorite tracks from them. I chose the peculiar yet groovy "In the Grip of a Tyre Fitter's Hand", a song that honestly explains the core sound of Budgie better than most. It starts off crunchy and distorted, but once the bass guitar twiddles on in it is all our funky warfare. Honestly, I am not sure what the song is about, especially with such a strange track title. This track is a perfect melding of their hard rock sound and the style they helped produce, heavy metal. "In the Grip of a Tyre Fitter's Hand" is one of many of the tracks off the album that show that Budgie finally combed down their proto metal sound in comparison to their previous two. It is also a fairly lengthy track that doesn't shy away from jamming out. One of those songs that as soon as I hear the intro while driving, I melt into my seat a little lower and whip out a fresh cigarette and enjoy the simplicity of life and art. One of those moments that few songs can achieve, but with a steady thumping bass guitar and hypnotic guitar pieces it is hard not to. The album cover, like the majority of Budgie albums, is a little odd, but it has this special aesthetic to it that I love. As I am sure you could have guessed, all of their albums have a budgie on them in one form or another. This one is strangely a budgie-human hybrid taming(?) a big ass bird and is about to fall off a cliff. That or he betrayed his companion by wipping him, hence why he is getting tossed off the cliff, in that case good riddance. Maybe that bird brought him to the nest and this is the fight of death? Not quite sure, but I am sure the album's title has a play in its meaning. That or I am trying to find god within a drawing of birds. Anyway! There is a ton to love on this album, and I mean that truly! Not only does it hold "Breadfan" that, once again, I could write a trilogy about, it also holds some of their best mellow tracks like "Parents" and "You Know I'll Always Love You" and also some of the raw and rocking primo tracks like our song of the day and "Baby Please Don't Go". "Breadfan" helped craft me as a music listener, and all the other tracks on this album only bolstered my position as a rocker and metal fan. Also, Budgie was the second band I ever went through their complete discography. I caught the fever following "Breadfan" and used them as the second group in my first rendition of my heavy metal studies when I was 13 or so. The first band I ever listened through was Cream, but that was a quick and intense burst of 4 studio albums with a few live ones powdered in. Budgie was a little larger, and they were also the first band to break my damn heart. I was under the idea at that age that a great band has mostly great material, but that is simply not the case in the grand scheme of music. Bands go through changes, be it artistic direction, line-ups, and styles. As does time, so if Budgie stayed solely in this form they never would have a chance as time moved along. Plus, the creative well will simply run dry unless you are a band like AC/DC and KISS that can mostly keep the same sound forever and smile. Not every Budgie album is a goldmine, something I was taught and honestly felt a little betrayed by back then. I find merit in all of their albums, all of which have some good tracks, but overall Budgie only has 5 truly kick ass albums, and that is where I spent most of my time. So to be able to listen to this track in completion once more was truly a joy. It was nostalgic, to say the least. I know for a fact we will be seeing more Budgie as time moves along, and am honestly shocked there hasn't been more up until this point. I chose an odd one for their debut here, but I have no regrets, I am saving some serious aces to blow your mind with! "In the Grip of a Tyre Fitter's Hand" is still a stand-up track, probably my fourth favorite track off the album, so I am still proud to have it here. Well, that is all for me, got to get ready for a work party. Wish me luck! Give the track a play! Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1973
Album: Never Turn Your Back on a Friend (1973)
Genre: Hard Rock
Mood: Jammy
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Having a beer, Having a poorly mixed cocktail, Getting stoned, Enjoying life 
Where To Next: "I Can See Inside Your Head" - Orang-Utan
Rating: 8 / 10

"Devil Woman" - Cliff Richard

     Have you gone over and checked out the album reviews section of this website? Well, hate to tell you, but it isn't nearly the beast it used to be. As you will see there, I sort of backed out of doing the album reviews for a little while until I get the vision of this website under control. I will let you read the story there, but for the sake of saving you time, it mainly covers my decision to step away from them due to losing some of the fire I had while doing it. It became a chore, which is the opposite of what music should be, that and the quality of the posts were weak to say the least. So I did a restart, I deleted hundreds of reviews all in the name of perfection and artistic direction. No regrets other than a shitload of wasted time. Do you know what the final straw was? Cliff Richard. Now that might sound cruel, or like I don't dig his music, both of those are indeed not true. It simply came down to a realization while I was setting up his artist page, which covered minor history and the complete discography alongside the reviews I have done up until that point. So, why was it Cliff Richard? Well, because that guy has a crazy amount of albums. 49 studio albums, 7 soundtrack albums, 3 cast recording albums, and 16 live albums. Not that unreal, since some musicians that have been around as long as him have a similar count, but that count still had me about to faint. It took forever to set up that page, and when it was time to start back into his discography with the "critic cap" on, I couldn't do it. I simply couldn't type. I got my first serious case of writer's block. I was looking at this precious website as a tremendous burden. Likewise, I was seeing album reviews as work, a hobby turned chore. So I stopped doing album reviews after that for a little while and couldn't seem to get back to it aside from dishing one or two out here and there, like Ricky Nelson's debut album. I wasn't scared by the prospect that I bit off more than I could chew with doing a reviewed run through hundreds of band's discography, I was scared I was losing touch with music, the thing that kept me ticking all these years. The one thing I never found fault in, and the only thing that has been steady throughout my whole life. Shit, music is my whole life, not to sound like an edgy teenager. Funny thing is, the majority of the albums and bands on my list had been previously listened to plenty of times before I would even get to the reviewing portions. Some of which easily into the hundreds of plays. I will admit, it saddens me to not do the album reviews, I have been doing them off and on ever since I was 11 or so in varying formats including by hand in notebooks or on various website projects I had in my youth. Still, I stand by my choice, I think this song of the day section is the true champion of the website. It gives me room to talk about all things music, and also to treat it as a journal that you get to read along to without a constant stream of information you could personally look up if you desired. It has a personal touch, and I love showing you music, no matter the genre. Lastly, it is 2025, sadly the majority of the population couldn't care less about albums. It is all about songs and tracks modernly that fill the spot in playlists and quick satisfaction. I love listening to albums, and many of you out there are the same, but that is the beauty of the song of the day section, it serves as a taster for album fans and also a full dish for those that listen to music track by track. Either way, I am so grateful you come here to read along with me. So thank you.

     Well, I intended for that to not be all about the website, but here we are. Feels good to get that off my chest. Alright, into the music! Today we are taking a look at Cliff Richard, one of the most successful selling artists out of the UK, only being beat by The Beatles and Elvis Presley, both of which are giants that nobody can see over their shoulders. Cliff Richard has a massive discography and a career that has lasted 67 years and is still running. An absolute legend in the music world, even though we hardly hear the name over here in the US. I first came across him when first getting into classic rock n roll alongside Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jack Scott, Carl Perkins, and many more big names. I have always been immensely fond of rockabilly and that old rock n roll. So, with that in mind, my main resting place in Cliff Richard's discography is his first material from 1959-1965, but mostly the first couple albums and singles from those years. I adore his rock n roll sound, but still have a ton of love for his 1960s pop and balladeer style that had the chicks swooning. Some call that early stage of Cliff the British answer to the Elvis Presley craze, and I can see the similarities, but they are still two completely different beasts, especially as their careers moved along. I haven't made it through all of Cliff Richard's discography, but I would say I have made it through half, and the majority of his albums are great. Some are a little mundane at times, but still enjoyable and worthwhile. For a musician that has had over 120 singles make it into the top 20 in the UK, that is expected. He is one of two musicians that have had a top charting hit in each decade since the 1950s, the other being our lord and savior Elvis Presley. There is no doubting the raw appeal that is Cliff Richard. He has switched his sound plenty, sometimes playing into the popular style of the time, and sometimes going off and doing some yawn inducing contemporary Christian music, so there is a place for each one of you if you take the time to find it. Today's choice is one of his most popular songs and comes out of his comeback album I'm Nearly Famous in 1976. "Devil Woman" is a bona-fide rock classic, and impressively enough it came out in 1976 which was 17 years after Cliff Richard had his debut in 1959. This album showed that Cliff Richard still had that selling power he did when he was a baby faced youth, especially within "Devil Woman" which was his highest charting song in the US and saw the album selling 2 million copies worldwide. For all the right reasons, the song is heavy with a mystic atmosphere. If you are someone who knows this song but never stepped off of its flawless petal, you might be shocked to see the other songs of his hardly ever resemble this style again. Not quite a one-off, but you would have to dig to find another. The track has a harder edge than the majority of his other material, especially up until that point. The album it comes off of, I'm Nearly Famous, isn't the best of his releases, but due to this one song I would consider it to be an essential from his diamond encrusted discography. Not the ideal place to jump in for a budding fan, but "Devil Woman" certainly is one of his most essential and could make a fan of you within its first minute. Still, you got to praise I'm Nearly Famous for finally putting Cliff Richard on the right path instead of beating the same old dead horse he was doing for years before this album's release in 1976. I hardly need to explain this song to you, it is a classic through and through, and I am sure you are already quite familiar with it. It covers the tale of a man that got cursed after gazing into the eyes of a cat that appeared at his door. While trying to get cleared of the curse, he visits a psychic just to find out that she was the one who hexed him in the first place, and he did exactly what she wanted him to do and is now controlled by this devil woman. A cautionary tale in a way, but overall just a fun track dipped in hoodoo that Cliff Richard performs excellently. Well, I will just let you get to listening to the track. I hope it is one that makes your day and also makes the cut in your ever-growing collection of songs! Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1976
Album: I'm Nearly Famous (1976)
Genre: Pop Rock
Mood: Supernatural
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Having a beer, Lazy nights at home, Running errands 
Where To Next: "Witchy Woman" - Eagles
Rating: 8 / 10

"Here's to Life" - Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution

     Welcome readers! Now, I cannot overstate how impressive it is that the Sex Pistols made serious waves and became an icon in the punk world solely by releasing one studio album. Equally impressive is the group we are talking about today, the Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution. Alright, I can't quite say that they are as impressive as the Sex Pistols, I mean come on, but still the Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution only released one EP with a whopping 5 songs. Even with that, the EP became an instant classic to the other side of the punk world that wasn't watching for the most aggressive hardcore punk album nor the ones wanting the next big pop punk release in 2001. If you couldn't have guessed it, these dudes were fronting something that has hardly been done, having an album dedicated to melding acoustic and punk music. A bold move since that is practically a death sentence on paper. Though even the most "anti acoustic" punker out there would be eating their words once the EP kicks off. I chose this song upon my first ever listen to the EP. When I was creating the playlist that I use to go through the years, I was instantly intrigued by the band's name. I didn't look into them, and I feared it was to be another punk clone that the genre has always loved spitting out, but now I just had to wait until my studies took me to 2001. Well, the day came, and I was glad to see their name crawl slowly across my screen with the first track off the album, "This Is a Call to Arms". I was instantly pleased as punch by the style, and all that waiting was worthwhile. By the middle of the album, I couldn't help but feel I knew those vocals a little too well, but strangely couldn't put my finger on it. That is when it occurred to me that it sounds identical to another band I have only sampled these last few years but am immensely excited to get more into, Streetlight Manifesto. A great ska punk group that shouldn't be overlooked. That same Streetlight Manifesto was put together by Tomas Kalnoky, the original vocalist from one of the most essential ska punk bands out there, Catch 22. It was like all the stars aligned for me to come across Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution, since I already have found a hearty home within the vocals of Kalnoky, especially in Catch 22's debut album Keasbey Nights. Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution is a musical collective more so than being a band. This one EP is made up by 17 musicians, many of which walk varying musical paths, but all are there under the banner of the bandits. How could that many musicians fit into 5 songs? Especially on an album sort of based in punk, which is infamous for having a 4 piece with each member contributing everything and nothing at the same time. Well, that is answered if you simply listen to the EP and you will quickly see. If this post has piqued your interest thus far, then give it a full spin. Unlike the majority of my other suggestions, this one is only 18 minutes long so you can do it easily while you make dinner and have a good time. It is a unique one, that I can promise. Not unique in an artsy way, nor one that is completely unheard of, simply something you likely haven't been listening to throughout the year. 

     While any of these 5 tracks could have been the song of the day, it was "Here's to Life" that impressed me the most. It is the second song off the EP, but is the first to not be an instrumental. It connects seamlessly to the intro track "This Is a Call to Arms" and is honestly best taken in with the two tracks played together. "Here's to Life" is one catchy as hell track, and if it wasn't for the vocals of Kalnoky and slight aggressive undertones, it would hardly be punk. Is this album punk rock? Honestly, I am not too sure, it is sort of more in the folk world in a strange way. Folk punk was slowly gaining more traction around this time, but still wasn't mighty enough to be its own genre, so I am not quite sure where to put the Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution. Once again, no need to get all caught up in genres, especially for a group like this that defy categorization. The whole running time of 5:18 goes down wickedly smooth. Every minute they mix it up a little bit while never losing that atmosphere. After the funky part with the drummer going off and launching off into a jazzy jam, they introduce more layers in the form of strings until the 2:50 mark when the piano joins in and the whole mood of the track shifts. A duet takes fold that is both introduced and ended by a pretty piano piece all before the band comes back in full power making you beg for the chorus to punk it up again. This little EP was supposed to just be some fun, a collective of ideas and sounds put together by Kalnoky. They ran out of copies upon its release fast as all hell, they even gave the thing away on their website. Soon after, it was released on CD and circulated around, once again pretty quickly. Even now, the stream count on their one EP is mighty impressive. I can see why though, this album has a ton of "umph" to it. The kind of "umph" that has you coming back and wanting to show friends. I know I will be coming back, and this EP will find a hearty home in many of my playlists and most importantly in my heart. Rent free. Streetlight Manifesto released 99 Songs of Revolution: Vol. 1 in 2010, a proposed multipart collection of covers that saw Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution making a comeback on some of the tracks alongside other little project and guest musicians. The album didn't sell too hot and didn't gain nearly as much critical acclaim as this EP here. With it being the first volume, you would think there would be more, but there still hasn't been a sequel to it. I wouldn't even consider it to be a Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution album, certainly more of a Streetlight Manifesto one, but still it is cool people got back together to perform some classics like "Just" from Radiohead and "Linoleum" from NOFX. Guess we shall see what the future shall bring, but for now please enjoy the song I have here for you today. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 2001
EP: A Call to Arms (2001)
Genre: Acoustic Punk, Acoustic Ska, Folk
Mood: C-A-T-C-H-Y
​Perfect For: Focused listening, Having a good ol' time, Appreciating music, Going for a bike ride 
Where To Next: "Roll Me Through the Gates of Hell" - Mischief Brew
Rating: 8 / 10

"Wanted Dead or Alive" - Bon Jovi

     I guess we are going for two Bon Jovi tracks within the same month. So, I hope you are ready for some more! Exciting, I know. Anyway, we already talked about how impressive Bon Jovi's career was with his large collection of platinum selling albums. Today, we talk about his crown jewel and 1980s masterpiece, Slippery When Wet. This album released in 1986 and sold like the hottest of hot cakes! People were already dying to buy this album following the massive success of the singles off of it, the most notable being "You Give Love a Bad Name" which was the band's first #1 charting hit. This album is also respected as the first "glam metal" album to have 3 songs hit at least the 10th spot on the charts. Once again, I find it hard to even put metal and Bon Jovi in the same sentence, though I would be an opinionated fool to not see the similarities between some of the tracks off this album and the material from Dokken, Ratt, Def Leppard, and others. For Bon Jovi, it really is a track by track ordeal when it comes to which rock genre he lands in. I have always found them to be more of a hard rock meets arena rock band, and that is shown off best in tracks like "You Give Love a Bad Name" "Livin' on a Prayer", and I'd Die for You", all of which are Bon Jovi royalty. Genres don't fully matter, I am just the type of dude to get caught up in them, but Bon Jovi has forever been a mental burden on trying to place. I mean, bands like Tool, Primus, Black Crowes, Jane's Addiction, and Rage Against the Machine are almost meant to be hard to define, but Bon Jovi is not, I think that is what makes the classification such a damn headache. Hard rock is my final stance, and even with the bread and butter power ballads Bon Jovi is known for, he always balances it out with some fist pumping rockers. There genuinely is something for every kind of rocker within this album, even those that claim they hate Bon Jovi but play this album in secret. Every single song is great! That isn't just my opinion, it seems society too deemed Bon Jovi to be one of the definitive musicians from the 1980s. The album instantly topped the charts, and stayed at the #1 spot for 8 weeks. The album achieved diamond status and is one of the highest selling albums in American music history. Even today, half of this album is radio staples. For my area you cannot go a day while playing a rock station without hearing at least one Bon Jovi, Metallica, and Linkin Park track. Bon Jovi will forever be carved into the history books of music, and will forever be a name synonymous with 1980s rock. Many have used Bon Jovi as a diving board into the pool of rock music of the past, and many more will as time moves along. They have a timeless sound that doesn't fully get stuck within its own decade, but still shows the glamorous side of the 1980s hard rock world. A good portion of that selling power is found within this album. It is a memorable release, be it for the guitar solos, the crisp as hell recording, great logo work, lyricism, or the album cover. The original idea of the album art is trashy as hell, and I am damn glad they used the one we know and love now. Originally it was supposed to be a bronzed bombshell wearing a wet T-shirt that says "Slipper When Wet", but the idea was dropped aside from the Japan release (go figure). The first idea was calling the album Wanted Dead or Alive and having the artwork being the band posing in cowboy attire, but that too was decided against and was instead used as the cover to the "Wanted Dead or Alive" single. Bon Jovi found moderate success before this album, but this was the one to thrust them into being one of the biggest names in music at the time. I always have wondered how it feels to suddenly become immensely famous, I am sure it is a blast but also terrifying. One thing I will probably never feel, but who knows? Share this website around! Make a poor boy's dreams come true, ey?

     Our song of the day off this beast of an album is one of the best off it's 10 song track listing, "Wanted Dead or Alive". I personally would say this is the best track off the album, but that comes down to opinions. A hot second would be "Never Say Goodbye", that track never fails to give me chills with how fucking powerful Bon Jovi's vocals are on that one. Anyway, "Wanted Dead or Alive" is a perfect track from start to finish. I seriously love the atmosphere and damn fine lyrics. Not the thought-provoking lyrics you would find in a Townes Van Zandt track, but the kind that is simply clever. It makes Bon Jovi seem to be some sort of traveling band of antiheroes. Lines like "but I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back, I play for keeps cause I might not make it back" is some great stuff, man. I have been a long time fool for westerns, I love the movies, novels, games, music, and most anything else. There is a simple romance in the cowboy of the west, something I often get lost in. I am not a cowboy myself, but I do enjoy a dime store novel gentleman thief character. Now that I think about it, I think Bon Jovi might be a big reason for that. I discovered this track when I was 9 years old or so, and have been a big fan since. It might honestly be the first thing that introduced me to the western and cowboy themes. I am an American, so obviously I have had the cowboy imagery all around since birth, but nothing quite like "Wanted Dead or Alive". How could you not be swooning from this damn track?! It is genuinely perfect! The intro is damn moody, it builds up the tension wonderfully. The 12-string guitar piece of that intro is iconic and really sucks you into its folds well before Bon Jovi comes in with his first like "It's all the same, only the names will change". Though by the time the vocals come in you are completely entranced, and if it was a different vocalist you might just lose that attention, but Bon Jovi has some solid gold pipes that are a pure joy to listen to. The song slowly ramps up throughout its playing time as the imagery of a hardened traveling man that is always on the run plays in your mind, and even that chorus still has this tension that is introduced at the start of the track. It isn't until the 2:42 stamp that you finally get that release. When that part comes around, I always get goosebumps, man. Talk about a set them up and knock them down moment. Each member of the band does a sensational job at setting up the mood and each having a voice of their own throughout its playing time. I would say it is one of many of the Bon Jovi tracks that practically everyone knows. It is impossible to have missed since it is on a ton of movies, shows, commercials, and practically any other form of media out there. Now, if you somehow have missed it up until now, then allow this form of media to introduce this legendary song. It would be my absolute honor. This song and album are the ultimate place to start within Bon Jovi. For those that have dug the songs off this album but haven't taken the time to listen through it, you really have to listen to it in completion. Bon Jovi isn't known for setting up a set theme or even being the type of musician who puts out albums best listened to in completion, but this one still leaves a serious imprint on your ears and heart. Well, I guess that is all from me this go around, give the song a spin and as always.... Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1986
Album: Slippery When Wet (1986)
Genre: Hard Rock, Arena Rock
Mood: Westernesque
​Perfect For: Having a couple of beers, Casual listening, Focused listening, Commuting, Being a rock n roll outlaw 
Where To Next: "Wanted Man" - Ratt
Rating: 10 / 10

"I Gotta Know" - Wanda Jackson

     Some of these posts I am more excited to lay out for you than others, and today's post is one of those. Wanda Jackson is a completely underrated musician in the modern tongue. Often considered "the queen of rockabilly" Wanda Jackson was one of the first female musicians to find a career in rock n roll music. Up until this point most female musicians tended to stay in the pop, country, and R&B fields, rock has always been a sausage fest, and that was especially true when Wanda Jackson released her first single in 1954 alongside Billy Gray with the country track "You Can't Have My Love". Wanda was a teenager upon that single's release, and it was her first taste of success. She didn't have another hit single until 1956 when she released her essential track "I Gotta Know". Now, from her first hit to her second hit, she went through some changes, mainly in the rocking field. Wanda Jackson is a rock n roll musician second, and a country musician first, she found her fame in the rock and rockabilly world but defined her career by her country twang. I was instantly smitten by Wanda Jackson the first time I look on her debut self-titled album that came out in 1958. She was one of my favorite discoveries out of my 1950s studies. I have been a massive rock n roll fan for a long time before then, especially when it comes to Elvis Presley, but it never occurred to me there might be a female variation to the king until I heard Wanda start up on that album. I mean, I guess Janis Martin ("Bang Bang") or Alis Lesley ("He Will Come Back to Me") might be a better fit for that title, but there is no doubting that Wanda and Elvis were cut from the same cloth. Both revolutionized rockabilly with a perfect melding of county and rock music. Obviously, Elvis blew any other musician out of that genre out of the water when it comes to sales, but Wanda still had moderate success. Something that is honestly surprising since the odds were stacked against her from the start due to being a woman and also since rockabilly never fully gathered much love. That brings me back to why I call her a country musician more than a rock n roll musician. She found her fame in rockabilly but found her career in country music, which saw her releasing 44 studio albums in her time, mostly all under the country genre. She is one of the few living originals of the rockabilly world and released her final album Encore in 2021. A damn fun singer and a strong figure in the female country world before icons like Loretta Lynn announced to the world that strong chicks in the country world were there to stay. Anyway, her debut came along in 1958 and while it failed to chart, it put her on the radar of disc jockies from sea to shining sea, some of which were watching for a full LP from the Wanda since she already had a couple of singles out there, two of which being hits. That first album is a great collection of country tracks sung in that well respected Wanda Jackson way where she weaponizes a southern belle drawl and mixes it with bar fight bravado. Strongly recommend for anyone looking for a solid country or early rock n roll album. Her next release is a compilation entitled Rockin' with Wanda which came out in 1960. It is within this compilation that we find our song of the day "I Gotta Know" which was released as a single in 1956.

     I find this to be the most essential track in her collection for a couple of reasons. My first is it shows you exactly who Wanda Jackson is as a musician, a strange hybrid of country and rock n roll that can flip on the drop of a dime. My second reason is since this was her first big single completely by herself in comparison to her first hit which was supported by Billy Gray. My final reason is since this is the song that had me falling in love with her style of singing. For a potential new fan of Wanda Jackson, I think "I Gotta Know", and the compilation Rockin' with Wanda, is the ultimate place to start with her massive discography. The track is a strong ringer, it utilizes some of the lyrical content typically found amongst male rock musicians of the time and shows that two can play at that game. The lyrics revolve around her seeing some dude that doesn't know how to treat a girl right since he is too hooked on that rock n roll. By the time he is supposed to take her home and cuddle up, he is too pooped from dancing, hence her frustrations. That and he hasn't even thought about marrying her since he is too hooked on that guitar sound (same). It is kind of funny that we had this song come after talking about "Woah Mabel" from Bill Haley & His Comets since they are the same lyrical concept but with the genders reversed. Though, in comparing the two, Wanda Jackson completely blows that track out of the water with "I Gotta Know". The song starts off sappy and lovey, something you would expect out of a female country musician of the time, but completely gets you with a right hook once the bopping style comes out of nowhere and then it returns to the lovely country style. You can see why this song was one of her biggest hits out of the 1950s, even if you aren't one for country music, Wanda has a natural way of sinking her claws into you and holding your attention with her damn fun way of singing. It is song like "I Gotta Know" that make her one of the best female musicians out of the 1950s as far as I am concerned. Her vocals are potent and abusive, sometimes it feels like she is yelling at you, but that is some of the power. A strong presence meets the rocking style of some of the biggest names out there at the time. She still has her lovely and mellow tracks, but as far as her 1950s material goes, it is all about that rockabilly. She is the queen of the genre, after all. Not only that, but she was 19 when she recorded "I Gotta Know" which makes the lyrics strike more true than some of the musicians in their 30s talking about youthful vigor and teenage problems. It is young and quick but still holds some of the traditional values that Wanda Jackson never lost throughout her career, so the older listeners still had something to hold onto. She wasn't recording for them, nor really for the money, she loved making music, and she did it with a hiccuping style. "I Gotta Know" keeps your attention the whole running time. Her fun way of playing with words, jumping between country and rock n roll, and the kick ass guitar solo that could fuel a hot rod are the leading forces on what holds your attention. Well, that is all from me today, I hope you dig this song! Wanda Jackson is a forgotten legend in the early rock n roll days. She has something for the rockabilly fans, rocka rollas, country boppers, and bible thumpers. Let's see what she has for you! Give her a listen! Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1956
Chosen Compilation: Rockin' with Wanda (1960)
Genre: Rockabilly, Country, Rock 'n' Roll
Mood: Boppin'
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Getting ready in the morning, Autumn drives 
Where To Next: "Bang Bang" - Janis Martin
Rating: 9 / 10

"Whoa Mabel" - Bill Haley & His Comets

      I swear we just barely talked about Bill Haley, but I suppose it has been a week or two, so I guess we shall do it once again. No complaints from me. Since we just talked about some of the history of Bill Haley and his band, we will fill in the gaps from the previous song of the day post out of the band's 1956 release Rock 'n Roll Stage Show into our spotlighted album today, Bill Haley's Chicks out of 1959. Rock 'n Roll Stage Show was the band's first proper studio album, though the band had already been releasing chart topping singles which made up the compilation albums that came before it. That album had a larger focus on the backing band in comparison to the other Bill Haley releases that obviously focus in on him more. A great one for a budding fan to move into after they take on the first three compilations from the band. Their second proper studio album is the first of three themed albums that Haley did for Decca Records. Rockin' the Oldies was released in 1957 and if you couldn't have guessed it from the title, it is an album of covers. Kind of funny since to us now Bill Haley is "oldies", or well it was when I was growing up, I wonder what the common term is now for the 1950s rock n roll. Anyway, for Bill Haley the oldies were popular standard tracks, some ranging back over 20 years before the recording of this album in 1957. There are a ton of great ones on this album, and the band does a wonderful job rock n rollin' songs that up until this point had no boppin' boogie versions. I think my favorite from that album is "Ain't Misbehavin'" but I have loved that song in every version since first hearing the Hank Williams Jr. version. The other prime picks off the album are "Moon Over Miami", "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter", "The Dipsy Doodle", but all are good in their more simplistically pleasing way, just a straight forward and fun album. Their next album is even more unique, yet a little weaker in my opinion. 1958 saw the band releasing their second of the themed albums for Decca, this time being folk songs from all around the globe tied up together with a rock n roll bow and called Rockin' Around the World. Bill Haley and band are massive music fans, so it must have been an utter joy to put together some well known folk songs from around the world but with some new rockin' lyrics and rock and roll style. It is honestly kind of a weird melding, but it is fun. It feels kind of like when you listen to a "punk goes pop" album. It is a lot of fun, but you can see why the original was famous as hell before someone came along and changed it up dramatically. Still, they keep themselves in a safe zone so it doesn't alienate the youth that comprised of Bill Haley's fan base. My favorite gems from this one are the rendition of "Kāua i ka huahuaʻi" called "Me Rock-a-Hula", the comfy "Piccadilly Rock" which follows the melody of "London Bridge is Falling Down", and lastly the band's strange take on "La Cucaracha" called El Rocko. Once again, a strange album that sometimes comes off too novelty or childish, but still is a worthwhile listen for someone moving through Bill Haley's discography. Those two albums are unique and bold, but nothing you need to go listen to right now. I dig them for the most part, but tend to come there last out of the compilations, singles, and other studio albums out of their 1950s material. 

     An album I tend to come back to often enough is the third album from the themed albums, and the band's overall eighth album, Bill Haley's Chicks. Those last two albums consisted of reworked songs to make them all about rock n roll, that was their theme, but for Bill Haley's Chicks the theme is well... chicks. As far as themes go, this one is kick ass, who doesn't like songs about chicks?! I don't know if there even has been another rock musician to put out an album about a bunch of different women. This album is made up of both original material and also covers, a lot of covers, but that is just the 1950s rock n roll way.  Our song of the day "Whoa Mabel" is one of the original tracks, it even had Bill Haley cowriting some of the words. "Woah Mabel" is the intro track to the album, and in my opinion, is the best on off of it, yet it is "Skinny Minnie" that was the highest charting single off the album. "Woah Mabel" has great call-outs and answers, and I think that is why I got into it so. A fun and fast track all about this gal Mabel that got hooked on the rock n roll and lost herself to the saxophone. A classic lyrical theme of the time, especially in rock outfits like Bill Haley. It also uses the all too classic "she won't, but her sister will" line that I honestly have always been fond of and pops up in a lot of rock bands. A quick and easy track that makes you want to meet this Mabel for yourself. All jokes. Also, I think Mabel is a god awful name, but it is one of those that didn't age too well. I guess Caleb in time might be a dumb name, shit, it might already be. I mean, the album is from the times so it is expected to see your old-fashioned names. Each song is about a different chick, the first is Mabel, but then it goes to Ida, Eloise, Dinah, Minnie, Mary Lou, Sue, Betty, Charamine, Corrine, Marie, and lastly we got Jean. I wonder what kind of modern ones we could do. I wish another group would do a concept album all about chicks modernly. If it is a Utah based band we are fucked. Tracks like "Brinsley from the City", "Kortni My Love", and "Sister Haizlee" just doesn't have the same feel to it. I am getting off-topic. As far as a studio album from Bill Haley in the 1950s goes, this one is a gem. A ton of fun like the others but filled with more quality tracks that the strange covers/rendition albums of the previous two years. The atmosphere is intoxicatingly from its time, same with the lyrics, and certainly the same with that album cover, but that is the fun of it all! Bill Haley & His Comets had one more album out of the 1950s in December 1959 called Strictly Instrumental, which yes is an instrumental album. It is a great way to end the year, but it is more so good for background playing than foreground. Still, a tidy way to end the decade in which they helped form the music that made the decade such a sensation and get marked down in the history books much better than the previous ones did. At least in the US. Things were about to change in the rock world in the 1960s, and Bill Haley couldn't keep up with the changing tides, much like everyone else from the same style out of the 1950s. So take the time to tip your hat to one of the legends that gave us rock music. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1959
Album: Bill Haley's Chicks (1959)
Genre: Rock n Roll
Mood: Fun
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Going for a rural drive 
Where To Next: "Carol" - Chuck Berry
Rating: 6 / 10

"Roulette" - Bon Jovi

     Alright, we now will break our streak of some damn fine heavy metal. Today we take a look at a band that is strangely sometimes thrown into the heavy metal genre, which is a damn strange take and also quite incorrect. Last time we talked a little bit about glam/hair/pop metal a good long while ago I ranted on and on how MTV and casual music fans started putting the heavy metal name on things quite far from it. Even today it happens, and in the 2000s there was a resurgence on just throwing some bands in the heavy metal category for no reason more than they are a little heavier. Heavy can be heavy, but that doesn't mean it is heavy metal. Bon Jovi is indeed not, but when it comes to the glam/pop metal scene, I would say that their debut is the closest to it. Still hard rock like the majority of their 1980s releases, but there is a little more of a raw knack that has it standing next to some of the more metal leaning hard rock names such as Motley Crue and Dokken. Bon Jovi is the exact face of hard rock in the 1980s, but also they are the face of power ballads. Bon Jovi has had a damn successful career, a good portion of their hits are still radio staples to this day and get plenty of love. It is impossible to not have heard "Livin' On a Prayer", "You Give Love a Bad Name", "It's My Life", "Bad Medicine", and so many others of Bon Jovi's other massive hits. As far as mainstream rock goes, Bon Jovi is a name that is at the top of the 1980s totem pole. Now, much like anyone who would be at the top of a mainstream rock totem pole, there are plenty of haters. I hoenstly don't think that Bon Jovi could even hear the shit talk, since his ears have been blown out due to arenas full of screaming chicks. Even now, Bon Jovi easily sells out stadiums. Even now you can go and buy some tickets to see them live while they are doing a month-long stint in New York at the Madison Square Garden next summer, you know the one, the venue that is held for only the best of names from all of the music world. A legendary venue, that this band that found their original fame in the 1980s, is still able to hold for almost a month straight. That in itself shows how much Bon Jovi hit in fame. So to the haters, kick rocks, Bon Jovi kicks some serious ass! I will admit, I am damn fond of the 1980s Bon Jovi and am not as into the later material. Those albums from 1992's Keep the Faith and on are still decent albums, but it is a track by track kind of ordeal in comparison to the electrifying albums that came out of the 1980s. I have abused the living hell out of their 1980s landmarks, but still have made time to go through the complete Bon Jovi discography up until their most recent studio album out of 2024 Forever, which was admittedly better than I thought it would be. For those 1990s albums and also the first three out of the 2000s I have listened to them a good handful of times, always wanting to love them as much as I do the band's early material, but I can't fall in love with it the same way. That is just me though, don't take my word on anything, be sure to check it out for yourself. Like all things art, it is subjective, and Bon Jovi is no different. Bon Jovi is one of the highest selling artists of all time, with every single studio release up until the 12th studio album What About Now hitting at least platinum in one or more countries. 1986's Slippery When Wet hit diamond status in the US and multiplatinum in almost every other charting country, an achievement hit by few. There is a lot to love within Bon Jovi, with many albums that are essential listening for any rocker out there.

     For today, we take a look at the band's self-titled debut release out of 1984. This album is a lot rawer in comparison to their other releases that are so damn clean and shiny you can see your reflection. This album often gets lost in the shadow of the band's other big time releases like Slippery When Wet and New Jersey, but the intro track and leading single "Runaway" gets the same love as the others big tracks out of the band. Shit, "Runaway" in itself is great enough to sell this whole album. For me, I found some of the other tracks to outshine "Runaway", but when the album is over it is always "Runaway" that is stuck in your head, do with that what you will. My lady is into Bon Jovi, chicks and Bon Jovi are simply a match made in heaven, and a while back I bought this album on vinyl format before I even had something to play it on. Now that I got myself a decent system and a good collection, it was time to see if poor storage and mishandling was to effect the quality of the vinyl. Luckily for us, it was clear as day, and I am fortunate I own an original copy of the album, hype sticker and all. We played the album while setting up the cheap Walmart Christmas tree we bought. Some households might have listened to a Bing Crosby Christmas compilation, but for ours we set up the Christmas tree to some Bon Jovi. Maybe we should make that a tradition since it was a good time. Bon Jovi does a great job of having a style that can easily be taken in when playing in the background and also can be highly enjoyed for listeners that are going to focus on each and every note. The playing isn't anything too intricate but is smooth and enjoyable. The vocals out of Jon Bon Jovi are thrilling as they come, he has some serious pipes that completely command Bon Jovi, guess go figure. The album didn't bring anything remotely new to the world, but who needs something new each and every time? They took all the great music going on at the time and steered the ship in their own style and did it damn well. I love each track off this album, and in my opinion, it is one out of two of the only Bon Jovi albums with a perfect track listing. Not a single bland track. Their debut album has a great flow, there are the heavy hitters and the more mellow ones. The intro track "Runaway" once again could sell the whole album, and it did, but there are enough seriously impactful songs to have this album leaving a good imprint on you even if "Runaway" wasn't there. A prime example of that is our song of the day, "Roulette". This is the second song off of the album. It comes right after "Runaway" which already gives this song a run for its money. It isn't a competition between songs to outshine each other, especially on an album where they are all relatively the same thing, so I would say "Roulette" is a perfect complimentary track to "Runaway". It keeps that intense energy up following the memorable and intense ending to "Runaway" and still manages to carve out its own presence on an album, once again, that doesn't change it up all too much. Damn strong vocals from Bon Jovi are the spotlight of the track, but I do have a love for that intro which snags more than asks for your attention. Lyrically it is pretty good, it uses casino and gambling metaphors for crimes of passion and that type of gal that eats men up while running away from herself. Not too shabby of a lyrical set, but nothing to write home about. I do have a thing for gambling metaphors, so it is a win in my books. The following song off the album "She Don't Know Me" is another goodie from the band and is the only song in the Bon Jovi songbook that wasn't written or cowritten by any member in the band, so at least Bon Jovi had his personal seal on "Roulette". Anyway, it is a straight forward hard rock track, nothing more nothing less. A fun one for a night of good times, be it having a beer or setting up a Christmas tree. For those Bon Jovi fans that don't give this album too much love, take this as a sign to try the album out for size again. Strong, straight forward hard rock that forces a smile. Enjoy!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1984
Album: Bon Jovi (1984)
Genre: Hard Rock
Mood: Energetic
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Night of hanging around home, Having a beer 
Where To Next: "Felony" - Dokken
Rating: 8 / 10

"Aealo" - Rotting Christ

     So far this month has been crammed with heavy metal. For those of my readers that come here for some good ol' rock 'n' roll, I apologize, but fate has deemed we need to talk about metal. Besides, the UFO track that kicked off this month is so damn good that it makes up for a month's worth of rock. Today, we talk about Rotting Christ! A lot of you might be thinking "with a name like that, I don't think it will be for me" but don't let that name fool you. Rotting Christ is certainly intense and dark, but they aren't so extreme that the intensity and darkness is their only claim to fame. These dudes knock you dead with a few different forms of black metal typically with a more gothic metal vibe. Rotting Christ front an atmospheric black metal sound that they brought into the metal world in the 1990s, a small section of the black metal genre which comes out of Greece. Once again, you would think the band would be like Cannibal Corpse or Deicide, but nope, there is a lot to them (not talking down on the other bands). I will admit, with a band name like theirs, they certainly grab your attention. Even before I was into the extreme metals when I was younger, I heard the band's name and remembered it. When the time came, and I got into the death metals and black metals, it was Rotting Christ that I relied on going into the black metal genre out of the 1990s. I mean, Europe is king when it comes to the extreme metals, that won't change any time, but I don't think there is any other metal band out of Greece that hit the same acclaim as Rotting Christ. They are local legends, and legends amongst the black metal fans of the world. The band put out their debut album Thy Mighty Contract in 1993 and it's the perfect example of black metal in that well respected style out of Greece that utilizes moonless murky atmospheres. For that debut, it is a touch more extreme than their later releases, a couple of tracks you can feel the influence of then popular thrash metal bands, but with a special Rotting Christ touch. I will admit, the album is a touch weaker in comparison to the heavy hitters that came out of the band's 2000s and 2010s releases, but being someone who likes the raw and raunchy starts of bands, I find a ton of merit in that debut. The band got stronger as they went along, their first two albums are fast and mean, but by their third studio album Triarchy of the Lost Lovers they found their core sound of melding the extremity of black metal with the mystical nature of gothic metal. I love that album, each song off of it is a dead ringer, but once again, they only got better as things moved along. They kept this sound for a good minute, sometimes even laying on the gothic metal style on more heavily like 2000s Khronos. The band was a hardworking one, never losing their vision of their metal through skill and dedication. It wasn't until 2010 and their 10th studio album Aealo that the band got the worldwide attention they deserved over a decade ago. It isn't too shocking since nearing the end of the 2000s people in the metal community started having feverish love for themed bands. Since Rotting Christ is one of the most famous out of Greece, they naturally are one of the best places to find lyricism and atmospheres of Ancient Greece. They have had that for a long time, but it fell a little short until people were really wanting those themed groups. A good portion of Rotting Christ's top songs are based around those lyrical themes. Still, they don't stop in one place, they cover a ton of different histories and mythologies, which is best shown on their awesome album Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy and the band's most recent album out of 2024 Pro Xristou. So be you a historian, metalhead, or both, there is a whole collection of great tracks waiting for you within Rotting Christ.

     Our song of the day is off the afore mentioned album Aealo, one of their best albums as far as I am concerned. The album holds one of their most beloved songs "Demonon Vrosis" which is easily one of their best tracks and serves as one of the greatest entry points into the band. There are a ton of other gems off this album like our song of the day "Aealo", "Noctis Era", and "...Pir Threontai" amongst other goodies. While this one wouldn't be my first album to tell someone to jump into the band, it would probably be the second suggestion. The album was released from the label Season of Mist, a label I have trusted for a long time for putting out great black metal and death metal. They dabble in a couple of other heavy metal genres, but black metal is their bread and butter. I came across them after hearing Gorguts 2013 studio album Colored Sands, and since that album has something special to it, I had to check out who put it out. I opened up a treasure chest of top tier bands and releases. Some albums I have already been digging I didn't even know they put out like today's choice, Beyond Creation's Earthborn Revolution, Defiance from Destroyer 666, modern Septicflesh, the comical yet potent later releases from Cannabis Corpse, and many more albums. A hidden hero of black metal that signs some powerful ass bands mostly out of Europe. They also take chances on the old guns that want to do another album like Saint Vitus and Atheist, and that in itself makes me respect the hell out of them. Great musical compass, so if you dig this song, then be sure to try out some of the other bands on the label's roster. Record labels are one of my favorite routes to take to discover bands, especially with how many bands are out there today and how hard it is to sift through the insane amount of groups. Anyway, getting a little off track. "Aealo" is the intro and title track off the band's album, and even though "Demonon Vrosis" is one diabolical track to try overtaking, I personally think "Aealo" is the best track off the album. They just barely released a rerecorded version of the song as a single just a couple of days ago. I listened to it on my new music Friday expansion day, and it made me fall in love with this song all over again. I never fell out of love with it, but it has taken the bench for a little while, but listening to the new version sparked that fire all over again. I am honestly not quite sure which version I like more. The rerecorded version feels a lot more intense and clear. What made me fall for the original version off the album is how evil it feels. Something about it makes you feel like you are being sacrificed to gluttonous gods. The whole track is hackle raising, and the lyrical content is no different. "Aealo" translates into thrashing, catastrophe, and destruction, and the lyrics of this song are exactly that. The best thing about this song is the chanting, certainly gives it one ominous feeling. The second-best thing about this song is that grand into, shit never fails to give me chills! That damn send off with the chanting is fucking heavy! Iridium heavy! It comes back to that send off a few times in the track, and it is what ends the track before "Eon Aernaos" has its turn to ravish you, but it never hits as hard as the intro. A great track for the month! Something that modern metalheads can get behind just as much as the ones that like the old school metal. Well, I will let the music do the talking, so be sure to give the song a spin! We will see if the next chosen song is a heavy one, like it has been this last little bit. As always, each day has the chance to bring something different. We could have Nat King Cole next just as much as we can have After the Burial, that is the beauty of AintNoisePollution! Always the best tracks and we rarely get stuck in one place. Even with all the heavy metal that is coming out of December so far, each song brings something different to its studded table. For today, I give to you Rotting Christ. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 2010
Album: Aealo (2010)
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Mood: Blood Hungry
​Perfect For: Sharpening your sword, Playing loud, Fast paced activities, Marching off to war 
Where To Next: "Titan" - Septicflesh
Rating: 8 / 10

"Blackwater Park" - Opeth

     Man, that last post was a big one! I won't do it often, I promise, unless you and your fellow readers like it more, then I will keep on. Well, guess we will see how today plays out. For this post, we take a look at one of the most unique names in progressive metal, Opeth. Progressive metal has been around for a hot minute, and much like their progressive rock forefathers, it tends to be a copy and paste genre for better or worse. That is certainly not the case with Opeth, they are a one of a kind band. There is a lot going on in each and every Opeth track. Their influences are wide, and they bring a lot of different styles into their albums. I have found each album to be a beast of its own with its own presence. Opeth is the type of band you can just in just about anywhere in their discography and walk away happy. For me, it was their 8th studio album, Ghost Reveries, that got me hooked on the band. I have tried exposing plenty of people to Opeth, and the majority of people can easily get behind it. Funny thing is that it seems people almost become overnight fans of the band, and those that got into Opeth got into it on their lonesome. Opeth certainly speaks loudest when you are alone in a room. Their atmosphere is genuinely all consuming, it feels like you are being dragged down into some depraved and inky realm where everyone is screaming yet you cannot hear it. The band's album covers often explain that better than I can put it into words. Top notch imagery and atmosphere that is addictive, so long as you can stand the longer songs. For music fans such as myself, I cannot get enough of long songs, especially when it is from bands like Opeth that genuinely need the time to explain the images they are trying to paint for you. I am sure there are plenty here today that love the band, but I am here for those that don't know Opeth, I am gunning for you with everything I got and am handing off a track off of one of their most impressive albums Blackwater Park. This was the second album I ever took in from the band following my heavy abuse of Ghost Reveries. I was drawn in by its album art and also my dabbling in some of the songs off of it like the epic "The Drapery Falls" and "The Funeral Portrait". I have had a deep love for Opeth and their imagery before I even got fully into the band all those years ago. They got some seriously kick ass album covers, and don't get me started on that logo! Luckily for you and I, their sound is just as powerful and dark. Opeth has been through a couple of different styles while still keeping their core sound close to heart. The band's debut Orchid out of 1995 is a lot more on the death metal side, even getting damn close to black metal for a lot of the tracks. It is the rawest sounding Opeth album out there, and also one you cannot afford to skip if you are getting into the band. An album that melds beauty with desperation. It sounded unlike anything else out there in 1995, and a lot of that is due to the band bringing in a ton of varying influences into the studio. The album failed to chart both in their home country of Sweden and the rest of the world. Opeth stayed underground heroes for fucking years, it wasn't until 2003 that they started to chart with their album Damnation, which is a lot more tame of an album. They blew up into masters of the progressive world with their following album Ghost Reveries, which is indeed not one of their tame albums. They kept on the charts with each studio album release following that. Their most recent album is an amazing 51 minutes, and in my opinion, stands as one of their best releases even with it being their 14th studio album. A great group that I cannot praise enough! 

     "Blackwater Park" is the title track off the album of the same name. I would suggest this as a beginning point to anyone interested in Opeth. This is a serious showcasing of their skills and plays as a middle ground between their two main sounds, the more tame and moody progressive rock tracks and the seriously intense progressive death metal sound. This was the band's breakout album, even though it didn't chart. The Opeth name was spreading quickly with its inky tendrils. It was within Blackwater Park the band fully found themselves and separated themselves from all the other names out there. In the grand scheme of progressive metal, this album is one of the greatest, hands down. You can tell that each and every strum or slam of the drums was well-thought-out. It is an album of art, but not the snobbish kind, more so the true idea of art if you would mix it with music. Expression in form of heavy drops, intricate playing, legendary composition, and wizened death metal growls. Can death metal be artistic? Absolutely. Opeth is showing you right here, right now. Each track off of Blackwater Park is its own animal, and that is a lot of what makes this album so damn powerful and infinitely replayable. Track by track they alter the flow of the songs, but all rivers lead into the final track off the album "Blackwater Park" where every sampled style fight and fuck to create an iconic finale. "Blackwater Park" has been placed high up on an obscene amount of lists as one of the best metal songs to come out of the 21st century. The album itself is high up on practically all lists of essential progressive albums, and the reason for that is expressed in its most glorious form on the title track. This song is a monster, coming in at 12 minutes long. It has this supernatural ability of holding your attention the whole time with its oxygen purloining atmosphere. The fact that I am fortunate enough to even be typing about this song gives me chills. It seems to be the closest a peasant like myself can get close to ascending into royalty. A truly powerful track that hurts my body with how much it makes me tense up and release. I am always concerned my goosebumps won't go away by the end of this song. High praise doesn't even cut how fucking impressive this track is. Songs like this come only every so often. King Crimson had a couple in the 1969 and the 1970s, Rush had their play at it, naturally there are the legends like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin that pulled it off. But still, these types of tracks rarely come around. The majority of the progressive metal and rock tunes with this long of playing time tend to grow stale. Sometimes they even feel novelty since they are so damn wonky. Opeth doesn't miss a single beat at keeping you in your seat while they command the surrounding space. Mastery in the dark arts of heavy metal. Even with the death metal vocals within this track and some of the album, it doesn't come off as too extreme. It is still completely enjoyable even for those that aren't fond of this kind of vocal style. It plays a role of importance at reminding you that Opeth is the one in control, a chaotic force in the ether. I have listened through all of Opeth's discography a good couple of times throughout my life, some albums getting more love than others, and each time I start Blackwater Park up again I am completely smitten with it for a good while no matter how many times I have previously abused its track listing. Flawless execution from the band, a one of a kind atmosphere only they can produce, great lyricism, and overall a marvel of an album. I chose the track while I was starting off my metal deep dive for 2001. When I create those playlists, I always start them off with the 4 albums that define that year in its respective genre. For metal of 2001, that is in my opinion Blackwater Park from Opeth, Toxicity from System of a Down, Iowa from Slipknot, and Mutter from Rammstein. It is both some of the definitive albums of the year, and also ones I personally believe to be at the top of the metal radar for that year. Anyway, typically I go through the albums fairly quick if I have listened to them an obscene amount of times throughout my life. I know it is crude, but I gotta keep to my studies, ya know? But I didn't even once think to skip a single song off of this album while it was playing. I felt entrapped in its sound. Like if I changed it, some spell would break and I would spiral out of control. So I listened to it in full and enjoyed every single second of it, even while being stuck in annoying ass traffic. In some ways, I was glad that traffic was there so I could stay longer within the cold embrace of this album. The mood was right, and my speakers were playing loud and striking true. Naturally, one of the songs were going to be my song of the day, and it just so happened that the majestic "Blackwater Park". The whole album feels like someone is watching you. Have you ever been sleeping and realized you were in a dream? The dream changes.. things get out of control and strange. Like you broke through some kind of forbidden barrier. Broke one of the seals. Those heavy chains are broken and now everyone and everything knows you are aware, and are aware of you. That is exactly how this whole album feels. So, if you have the time, give the album a spin. If you are short on time, then just go for "Blackwater Park" today, but be sure to come back and take in this album. It is beautiful. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 2001
Album: Blackwater Park (2001)
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Mood: Unsettling
​Perfect For: Quiet drives, Listening to loud by yourself, Reading Edgar Allan Poe, Focused listening 
Where To Next: "Triad" - Tool
Rating: 10 / 10

"The Struggle Within" - Metallica

     I didn't mean for the banner for this month to also be one of the most formidable choices out of it, but here we are. It is time, once again, to talk about one of the biggest bands in music history, Metallica! The band is as legendary as you can get. They are rivaled by none in the metal world for the throne of the most successful metal group of all time. Sure, Black Sabbath is second up and practically created the genre, but it is Metallica that brought it into the limelight. Also, if you couldn't have guessed it, they are the highest selling metal band of all time to boot. There is a ton to love about Metallica! I have been obsessed with music for all my life, so naturally I have talked to many fans across many genres about music and bands, and Metallica is always a hot topic. Many have foolish views on "selling out", "cry babies", or not being the most talented band, but on the other hand there are legions and I mean a whole army of fans for this band that will fight to the death for the glory of their metal. I am one of those. I hate the slander that popular artists get, and in the often toxic community that is heavy metal's savage fan base, those bands tend to get ripped apart. Still, those with something to say can say it, but that doesn't mean it is truth. My praising here that is inevitably about to happen follows the same rule. There is simply no denying that Metallica knew how to make music that people loved raging to. The type of stuff you play loud as all hell and sharped those middle fingers to. A powerful band that is fully deserving of their immense fame. The impact this band on heavy metal is almost unrivaled, they are a leading force in what made it so heavy metal had a place to stand on charting positions. I am sure someone would have inevitably taken up the reigns to do the same thing at one point or another, but Metallica is the band that I am proud to have in the emperors chair. Their impact will be felt forever in heavy metal and rock music. Bow mortals! Anyway, we have talked Metallica plenty of times here, 6 times to be exact. For their 7th time here on AintNoisePollution let's mix it up a little bit, shall we? Let's switch the praising for the exposure of the more ugly side of a band. Metallica has a ton of that ugly side, and I will use them as a testing ground on my writing abilities, and also to call out the elephant in the room. Firstly, let's talk about the rivalry between original guitarist of the band Dave Mustaine and the rest of Metallica. Now, Dave Mustaine was bitter about Metallica for a long ass time, and after hearing some of the material off of Megadeth's upcoming self-titled studio album, it seems there is still some bitterness there. Many always point fingers or say that Mustaine needs to get over himself, but I personally think he is completely in the right. Most of you assuredly know, but Metallica and Megadeth had some serious beef all the way until the 2000s. Famously being the most publicized and serious rivalries in heavy metal history. Dave Mustaine was the original guitarist for Metallica before the band blew up into legends. Mustaine was the one who wrote some of the epic riffage that we hear on Metallica's debut album Kill Em All on tracks like "Jump in the Fire", "The Four Horsemen", "Metal Militia", and "Phantom Lord", and also some of his material was used for Metallica's second studio album Ride the Lightning on its title track and also the intense "The Call of Ktulu". Those tracks are some of the most intense of early Metallica. Sadly, Dave Mustaine wasn't part of Metallica during those songs releases or recordings, they completely stole that shit and thought that Mustaine would take it lying down. That was their first mistake, since Mustaine is famous for his anger, that same anger that pushed him to make Megadeth to fight back. Megadeth never won that fight, but Mustaine's raw energy and unfiltered anger is what makes Megadeth so damn thrilling. All Mustaine got from the deal was a clenched fist and a lesson learned. Mustaine was kicked out for drug usage (they were all doing it) and his often violent temperament. The straw that broke the camel's back was Mustaine attacking frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich over James kicking his dog. A worthwhile reason if you ask me. Still, the biggest middle finger was the way it was handled. The boys were young, mistakes were made, and they sent Mustaine with no money on a long 4-day bus ride back to California from New Jersey without warning. No money, no food, and all his gear packed into a shitty bus that was moving through highways and long deserts. A lot of time to think. Still, they didn't stop there, throughout the Megadeth and Metallica record sale war they poked and prodded him in interviews, most of which came out of Lars Ulrich and his cocky little face. In a way, even the massive failure of an album Risk was brought about from Lars Ulrich saying the reason Mustaine can't compete is he never tries taking a risk, like Metallica was currently doing in the 1990s with Load and Reload. Well, he tried and it bombed. Not really fair to blame Metallica for that, but still, anger is one hell of a drug.

     We could talk hours upon hours of the Metallica and Mustaine controversy, but this post would be long as hell, much like it already is. Next up, let's talk about the biggest gripe people tend to have with Metallica.... selling out. Now, I don't ever blame a band for "selling out". I think the whole notion is foolish for people flipping out about it. I think most of us would, especially when there is a perfectly paved road ahead to do just that. Once again, Metallica just does not handle this shit well. They famously sued Napster for copyright infringement in 2001 alongside a couple of different artists. Now, that sounds fair on paper, right? These dudes were having people getting their music for free before the streaming age was even at half its current might. Still, it gathered a shitload of attention. What rubbed people wrong was the fact that Metallica was bitching about it. Not very metal, right? Well... actually yeah it is not, but metal heads are infamous for being immensely into the metal culture, almost to a fault. No life til leather. So, one of the biggest names in the metal world that in the previous decade cut their hair and changed their style to something more radio friendly following the immense fame of the infamous self-titled 1991 album is now suing people for using their music does seem that they only care about money. I think it goes both ways, I think they cared a lot about that gravy train that completely drowned their mashed potatoes, but also there were people sharing their albums across the World Wide Web like they owned it, what would you do? Something that you put a ton of money into and also a shitload of work into is now free for everyone when it previously wasn't? I don't think they were in the wrong. Looked like dicks as they defended it? Certainly. But they were in the right so far as I am concerned. It saw Napster swan diving and also rewrote what copyright was in the music world. There have been a ton of minor and major incidents in Metallica history. Be it the band kicking off an Alice in Chains song while Hetfield in "good fun" pretended to jab a needle in his arm following only shortly after Alice in Chain's vocalist died from a heroin overdose. Multiple claims to racism and uncalled-for jabs at a ton of different artists. A lot of claims that hold no water and are simply from those that have a random hatred for the band. But there are a ton of incidents where the band were simply being dicks. James Hetfield is well known for his onstage banter, which can be immensely insensitive, especially modernly. Their business practices have been questioned on multiple occasions, be it they allow ticket gouging companies to run their course, even going so far that many believe they are in cahoots with companies like Ticketmaster that are well known for skimming off more than their share of the cream or the stingy watch on merch peddlers. The way they are kind of like the Nintendo of the metal world with suing anyone for using their stuff, and their refusal of including their music in anything that doesn't seem to make them money. Be it video games, political campaigns, shows, movies, and practically anything else that doesn't smell of moolah. They are a greedy band, but who cares? The spirit of true heavy metal seemed to have been snuffed out in the mid-1990s. Don't get me wrong, metal is still doing great, but the original vision has certainly shifted and there is no reason that Metallica should get buried alongside countless other bands that have only 1/18th of Metallica's album sales.

     I will bring up one final thing and then get into our song and album, since that is why we are here today. The infamous Load and Reload controversy within the metal community that still has keyboard warriors across the globe duking it out in their Cheeto stained shirts. Metallica was the biggest name in heavy metal, waiting for their next album might as well have felt like waiting for god to collect his flock. 1991 saw Metallica releasing their self-titled album (The Black Album) to immense critical acclaim. It is indeed a perfect album in every single sense. They were already legends at that point, but that album thrusted them into everyone's CD collection, no matter their musical walk in life. An album you simply had to listen to, and even modernly you aren't a wizkid in the metal and rock world without uncorking that bad boy. So, when artists are faced with the task of following up that kind of album there are a couple of ways they could go. A perfect follow up that serves as a sequel to that legendary one, but more often than not they cannot match that same energy. Metallica didn't even try to have a sequel. They practically ended the story there and started up another one, but this time they took all the blood and spit that made their previous album a shining gem and replaced that will silicon and off brand soda. Now, I want to make one thing more than clear. I actually really like Load and Reload, not nearly as much as I love their thrash attack albums that made up their original sound, but there are a lot of tracks on those albums that are great, and I am not ashamed to say that loud and proud. There are a lot of weak tracks there too, but still the ones that are good are immensely well done. Still, in the metal world, it is a cardinal sin to change your sound that hard, especially when you are that famous. Word got around about this new "lame" Metallica that lost everything their fans were there for. They dropped their fans for the dollar. Their physical presentation was as lame as their new-found sound. It seemed to be the end of an era. It seemed like the world was taken by some snake oil vendor that skipped town before the pitchforks and torches came out. The heavy metal gods were nothing more than choir boys, something people couldn't come to terms with. It was there that a lot of this Metallica hate started in the music world. Funnily enough, I think people were just parroting what everyone else was saying, be it the metal community or be it the cool kids that barely discovered Metallica and did the metal horns with the thumb out. I will say, I wasn't there, so do with that what you will. Though, being a lifelong Metallica fan has had me asking many different fans of the band about this issue. I asked the veteran fans and also the newbies that are still hooked on "Enter Sandman" and "Master of Puppets", and I often get the same three answers. "I like both", "Only their heavy stuff is the good stuff" and more often than not "they sold out, they are hardly even metal, yadda yadda yadda". I always follow that one up with, why do you think that? And aside from those that are well versed in metal, the majority parrot the same shit or have no leg to stand on. They never even tried the album out for size, they don't even know their own enemy. Oh! Also, they all still love "Fuel", but who doesn't?! Anyway, I will leave that there, this post is a goliath and will probably end up being my longest one to date. 

     Alright, enough about all of that, I am up past my bedtime! For shame! Still, I want to state one thing. I love Metallica, I think they are one of the greatest bands ever to be, with a damn impressive amount of 10 / 10 tracks and albums. Nothing will shake me on that. I know they are asses, I know that all too well, but that doesn't stop me from being an avid fan of their music in all shades. Power, money, and fame do crazy things to humans, nobody should have that much, and Metallica is just another victim of that. At least in their later years they have used it for better, but still, there was a stage they played a thin line of playing the villain. Alright! Our song of the day this go around is "The Struggle Within" which comes off the band's landmark 5th studio album Metallica which released in 1991. It was an instant top seller, and has since gone on to be one of the best-selling albums of all time across the whole globe. It is a goliath and an album that is everything you could practically ever want. It shows the band taking a step away from their thrash metal roots, not quite leaving it out high and dry like their follow-up albums, but still there is no doubt it is there. The heaviness never went away, but it is more traditional heavy metal than a thrash metal album, especially on the massively successful singles that came off of it. Due to the immense size of this post, I will just leave you to do your own research or better yet listen to the damn album yourself if you haven't yet. We will just take a look at our song of the day, "The Struggle Within". It is the final track off the album and is certainly one of the heaviest off of it. Honestly, the second half of the album is where the heaviness is, and in my opinion, the better tracks. Side A might as well have been called "play at half volume" and the second half "play at full volume". "The Struggle Within" is a phenomenal way to end the album. It is the kind of song that gets stuck in your head for hours. The intro has wartime drumming with ominous guitars getting powered up in the background. The first 30 seconds of the album is there to get your hairs raising before the song kicks off with a fury. The track's lyrical theme is revolving around fighting your own worst enemy.... yourself. Metallica had a lot of problems, that much we already talked about, and none knew that better than the band themselves. The lyrics were written by frontman James Hetfield who wrote the majority of the lyrics for this album, the others being a band effort. My favorite part of this track is that intro, but I gotta give a ton of love for the 2:10 instrumental break and its damn fine send off after Hetfield says "struggle" and the guitar attack commences. The song starts off fairly moody but ends in a ball of fire, as any good final track on an album should. This is certainly the kind of track that makes you want to play the album again. My first time listening through the album confirmed that this album is certainly one for the history books. I am sure you thought the same, and if you are someone who has been sleeping on it, then what the hell are you doing here?! Go play the album already! You are missing out on solid gold, man! I don't mean that lightly, like genuinely, this is an album you have gotta listen to! "But Caleb you say that every time", yes I know, I need to stop doing that and choose my moments. Still, I will die on this godforsaken hill, check the album out already! The metal gods command it! The soldiers in the metal army command it! Personally, I.... simply will ask politely.... Either way, this track is waiting there for all of you, so play it again and again! Enjoy! ​

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1991
Album: Metallica (The Black Album) (1991)
Genre: Heavy Metal
Mood: Aggressive
​Perfect For: Banging your head, Driving dangerously, Getting drunk, Playing l o u d! 
Where To Next: "Black Curtains" - Megadeth
Rating: 9 / 10

"Wake Up Screaming" - Exciter

     Exciter is a band of one style, but it is within that style that the band found themselves as one of the first and most essential names in the speed metal genre. Speed metal might as well be North America's response to the powerful New Wave of British Heavy Metal subgenre that appeared nearing the end of the 1970s. Something fast as all sin, but still situated in the hard rock sound of the previous years. Speed metal is a tad bit more extreme than the NWOBHM subgenre, certainly more in your face. It is there that the core sound of heavy metal was birthed. It left behind a lot of its hard rock roots in pursuit of thorough blooded heavy metal. It is the genre that served as a breeding grounds for other genres to start their rise to power, most importantly thrash metal. If you haven't been reading along on the website long, or somehow couldn't have guessed it from the genre's name, speed metal is aggressive and fast. It doesn't have any room for progressive playing, deep lyricism, or pretty well anything that isn't gunning for a headshot. A relentless sound for a relentless fan base, a relentless sound that was a good bit more intense than anything else out there at the time. Exciter came along before almost anyone else with this new-found aggressive speed metal sound. Their debut album Heavy Metal Maniac is an essential listen for any metal heads out there that love a good history lesson. You can see how this album was a launching point for many bands to start up a band, and since that takes time, by the time they got it all together the genre sort of melded into thrash metal. There are many out there that think thrash metal and speed metal are the same genre, I am not one of those people. Speed metal is all about full-frontal assaults, while thrash metal has a hearty place for longer breaks and a heavier focus on choruses. Speed metal on the other hand starts fast, ends fast, and the instrumental bits are face melting shredding that leaves you burning. Thrash metal obviously snuffed out this genre pretty quick, especially since the style is admittedly an acquired taste, especially to the modern tongue and the mainstream. Still, no matter your opinion, you gotta give kudos to the bands that helped start it all like Exciter. Anyway, that debut album Heavy Metal Maniac is one that helped guide me when I first started my deep dive into heavy metal history when I was 13 or so. It is a perfect staple point on when metal was going to start getting out of the shadow of the hard rock legends of yesteryear. It is young and fresh. Within this one album, you can see some of the influence on other genres starting to show. We already talked about the album's place within thrash, but this kind of album also had a hand in the budding black metal genre and death metal genre. Something this raunchy and aggressive always lures in the freaks, so naturally those freaks made a band that sound slightly like Exciter, Tank, Raven and many more. Exciter isn't the type of band to sell too high, nor are they the ones to sell out open air venues, but that isn't what metal is about, especially at the time. They are the lifeblood of the metal world, the exact idea of the heavy metal vision. They had a small but loyal fan base back in the 1980s, and even now they find people like me that love that style and come back all the damn time. After Heavy Metal Maniac in 1983 they released a solid follow up in the start of 1984 called Violence & Force. Much like the band's name and the genre's name, this album's title tells you exactly what to expect from the get-go. A heavy as sin album that takes no prisoners. Another classic from the bands' discography. In some ways it is a little more thought out than their debut, but there is still enough raw energy to keep you up all night as the band plays on. 

     Those two albums will keep you happy for a long ass time, I still abuse them, and I have been abusing them for the last 10 years. Their third album is a seriously strong release. It came out of a time when metal was actually gaining some attention, for better or worse. 1985 is more importantly the year when expansion was happening rapidly in the metal world. Bands that seemed a little lost in the heavy metal fever were now realizing that they could pull that sound together and sell records to more casual music listeners, or maybe even the radio will play their singles. On the other hand there were plenty of bands that could give a shit less about record sales and released some albums that would go on to be some of the most important metal album releases in the 1980s like Possessed and their essential Seven Churches and Hirax with their punk heavy thrash metal hidden gem Raging Violence. A potent year for heavy metal music, and Exciter was there for the ride. They were kind of veterans at this point, they were metal before metal was cool. Still, they had to keep up and that is where their third album Long Live the Loud comes in. This album still has that good ol' Exciter vibe to it, but it is the band's evolutionary point. They realized they couldn't fully rely on breakneck speed and that is it, so they started trying out a couple of things while still representing that speed metal sound they pioneered. Our song of the day "Wake Up Screaming" is a perfect example of just that. This track is a ton more thought out, there are separate parts and the track itself comes in at 10 minutes long. It is the longest track off the album and the longest track I know of from Exciter. The intro is fucking great, it has this true metal feeling to it. Epic through and through, and it seems to have been built for that album cover. An evil sounding track with that early heavy metal vocal style from vocalist and drummer Dan Beehler. His shrieks completely seal the diabolical nature of this track. I am not sure if Manowar took serious notes from this track, or if it is the other way around. With that in mind, you can see how this album used some of the power metal glory that was getting more and more powerful as the days moved along. It is sort of hard to understand half the words of this track, but from the song title and the bits you can easily pick up, this song is about the dark lord serving up some terrible nightmares where you wake up screaming. I love me some dream lyrics, especially if the atmosphere is there to boot. You can easily feel where the dread is coming from with how well the band pulls together to paint pictures of cloven hoofed daemons who steal your face and rule your mind. The second part of the track ramps it up even higher, where the vocals even make me run out of breath while just listening to it. Overall a stellar song, one of their best so far as I am concerned. A tension building intro gives way to a wonderfully put together track that ends peacefully and sweetly. It doesn't grow dull for even a second. This style of heavy metal is what got me into the genre in the first place, and also is one of my all-time favorite atmospheres in all of music. Well, do me a favor and play the track, would you? Learn a little bit about heavy metal history and also learn some more about your author of these posts while you are at it. You can tell a lot about a person from their favorite atmospheres. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1985
Album: Long Live the Loud (1985)
Genre: Speed Metal, Traditional Heavy Metal
Mood: Damned
​Perfect For: Casual listening, Cold late night drives, Reading fantasy novels, Playing Elder Scrolls Online
Where To Next: "Gorgon" - Angel Witch
Rating: 8 / 10

"High Flyer" - UFO

     Welcome readers! It is time that we usher in winter! The season of beautiful snow, consumerist joy, and pain in the ass mornings. I can think of few better bands to usher in the full changing of the seasons for my area than UFO! They are a band that suits all seasons! They have the mystical and trippy tracks for winter like "Queen of the Deep" and "Star Storm", the more hard rocking ones to compliment a summer evening such as "Too Hot to Handle" and "Doctor Doctor", the mellow and moody for Autumn on "Lipstick Traces" and "Belladonna", and lastly some for the lovers of spring with "Lipstick Traces" and "Love to Love". Furthermore, they have been a constant top choice for my for the last 10 years. Their third album Phenomenon is one of my all-time favorite albums, and if anyone asks me there is a good chance it will be the first one that comes to mind. It is one heavy packed album, and plenty of their other albums are in the same vein. Such a great band that is somehow sort of forgotten. They have a hearty 939,000 monthly listeners, but I swear I never see people talking about this phenomenal band. It could be a regional thing, but still I think UFO deserves the same love as some of the other soldiers of hard rock like AC/DC, Scorpions, Deep Purple, and others. They have an impressive amount of quality albums, all of which I simply need in my vinyl collection! I surprisingly don't see too many UFO records hanging around at my shops, but once again I think it is a regional thing. That is alright, the amount of deep love I have for this band makes up for the whole damn state of Utah. Also, with you now having your time with the band here today, I am doing my part to keep the spirit of rock alive! I can't take all the credit, though, you made a choice to come here and listen along with me, and for that I thank you. I am talking like this is the first time UFO showed up on the website, this is UFO's third time in the song of the day blog. Those previous two chosen songs ("Boogie" and "Flying") are some epic tracks, but they both came out of the band's early sound which consisted of their first two studio albums UFO 1 in 1970 and UFO 2: Flying in 1971, and also their first live album in 1971 simply titled Live. Those albums are awesome! Hidden rock gems through and through. But that isn't the sound the band is known for. That sound is found within their greatest release, 1974's Phenomenon. Now, I will try keeping the gushing about this album to a minimum, but I want you to know that this album is.... fucking.... great! I mean ungodly good! In this album UFO took on a hard rock stance but didn't stray too far from the leaden psychedelic space rock sound they had on their previous releases. It was the first UFO album with Michael Schenker on guitar, one of my favorite guitarists. He was a part of the Scorpions alongside his brother Rudolf in their earlier days, and also started up his own kick ass band that is criminally underrated modernly, the Michael Schenker Group. I have found one thing to be truth, if there is a Schenker in any band or project, it is about to be an all out guitar attack on your senses. Michael Schenker is one of hard rock and metal's forgotten guitar gods. Anyway! Phenomenon didn't sell super hot upon its release but has since gone on to be one of the most potent of hard rock releases in the 1970s. Strongly recommend. That new sound was set up and the UFO name was spreading fast in the underground side of hard rock. Now it was time for the band to follow up that energy on another album, and it is within that album that we have our song of the day "High Flyer".

     Force It is as classic as it can get with UFO. It was the first to truly pull together their iconic hard rock sound. It left behind a good portion of their more psychedelic sound but replaced it with a new-found heaviness. The first sign this was to happen was on their previous release, an early example of heavy metal, "Rock Bottom". The style that is found on that track practically explains their follow-up album, Force It. This is another UFO album that is damn underrated and also is perfect from start to finish without a single weak track. The only thing I don't love about this album is the album art and the album's title. Due to the controversy in 1975 surrounding album covers that have nudity, suggestive themes, and homoeroticism, a good portion of the physical versions of this album have the couple kissing blurred out, having pants on or a picture of Schenker covering the depravity. People back then sure were funny. For years after this album's release, fans were wondering if the album cover featured a male and female or is it two girls. It is a male and female, and they went on to be part of the odd yet influential industrial group, the Throbbing Gristle. Lastly, I will say that while I appreciate the clever title name with its connection to the faucets surrounding the pictured room, it is in sort of poor taste with its sexual meaning. Alright, we have talked enough about the visual aspect of the album, let's get into the music, shall we? Our chosen track from an album of many worthwhile choices is "High Flyer". After you get a little rock fever from "Shoot Shoot" in comes "High Flyer" which is one of the tamest tracks off the album. One thing I love about UFO is how they set up the majority of their albums during their prime years. It is always an up and down. You will rarely get stuck in a style block on their albums. They always break up the heavy hitters with some more mellow ones. Their mellow tracks never seem out of place either, just a nice time that still manages to take your breath away, especially the ones like "High Flyer". The song starts off with some clean guitar work that steals your ear's attention so vocalist Phil Mogg can come on in and impress. UFO tends to have some common lyrical themes, songs of travel, growing pains, lost love, rock n roll, lust, and life upon the streets. "High Flyer" has some damn fine lyrics, lyrics I will admit I am not fully sure what they are about. It seems like the kind of track a band writes during this stage in their career, where the rigorous nature of touring and confusion of self take fold. UFO (mainly Mogg and Schenker) seem to have a thing of nautical symbolism and themes, another thing I love about the band. The track is simply a smooth one, nothing more, nothing less. It manages to hold your attention the whole time with its road worn atmosphere. I think it is one of my favorites off the album, maybe only being knocked down by "Let It Roll". Force It has a lot of great songs, that much is true, but that sea salt kissed atmosphere of "High Flyer" always has me coming back for more. This was the second album I listened to from UFO, and it was here that I knew I found a band that I was to forever adore. Force It showed the band wasn't the type of group that only released one good album, and it also showed the band could gather fans like it was nothing. Sadly, the group never topped charts with any of their amazing releases, but what they did do was serve as a strong backbone to rock music in the UK during the mid to late 1970s. There are those here that already know the band, those that know "Doctor Doctor" and "Lights Out" and stopped there, and then those that somehow haven't been bonked by the UFO bat. Well, no matter who you are, check this song out! You are gonna dig it, I can just feel it! Don't stop here, check out what else you have been missing. As always, if you need help moving through a band's discography then don't hesitate to shoot me an email from my contact page. I dedicated my life to rock music, and when it comes to bands like UFO, I would be more than pleased to show some more songs. Enjoy! 

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Year Released: 1975
Album: Force It (1975)
Genre: Rock
Mood: Calming
​Perfect For: Traveling, Thinking on life, Casual listening, Aimlessly driving
Where To Next: "Rainbow Eyes" - Rainbow
Rating: 9 / 10