Due to a busy week I just got around to watching the Brit Awards last night. More than one artist started their acceptance speech with “Finally!” Hahahaha
With the Grammys fresh on my mind, U2 starting the show singing Get on Your Boots was a bit anti-climatic as was Coldplay’s performance. Is anyone else scared of Bono’s Herman Munster shoes? --J
Showing posts with label U2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label U2. Show all posts
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
I wouldn’t be surprised if Chris Martin, clever as he is, knew full well that by enlisting the sonic assistance of Brian Eno on their latest album Viva La Vida (or Death and All His Friends), that the already present comparisons to U2 would be now undeniable. But by working with Brian and not hiding it Coldplay takes control and throws it in your face. Yes, they are influenced by the sounds of U2. Yes, like U2 they even take themselves too seriously at times, but I dare anyone to hear the opening notes of their songs and think that it’s a U2 song and not Coldplay.
VLV is a wide-angle beautiful work of art. It doesn’t force itself on you, which is exactly why I keep listening to it. Eno’s own ambient music and his collaborations always allow for the listener to make a choice; to pay attention when one wants and not when the song dictates. I read one review that encapsulates the album for me perfectly. The writer felt that the band steps back into the scenery at times letting the music tell the story without words and then comes back into the spotlight to offer the occasional rock-out; all very Eno and all the while maintaining their identity as a band.
The album begins with a sweeping instrumental called “Life in Technicolour” that leads in a catchy little stomp-clap tune called “Lost!” that refuses to leave my head. “42” reminds a lot of the Rush of Blood to the Head era Coldplay. It’s got that lonely piano and Chris demonstrates his falsetto with the regretful tone he’s so well-known for and then halfway through rocks out. “Lovers in Japan” just makes me want to skip down the street. “Reign of Love” is a beautiful ambient piano-piece that reminds me a lot of that scene in Trainspotting when Renton dives down into the toilet to find the opiate suppositories (seriously). The Asian twangy sound of “Strawberry Swing” is incomparable to me, but it does have a pinch of David Bowie thrown in which is itself reason enough to give it a listen. “Death and All His Friends” is going to be stunning live. Towards the end there’s a second version of “Lost!” called “Lost?” that is the piano version that I think my friend M will put on repeat. There’s also an acoustic version of “Lovers in Japan” that just calms the soul.
Y’all, I have tried to find the negative in this cd and I can’t. I recommend everyone try it. Just note: if the temptation arises to compare this band to U2, try listening to Gang of 4 and The Clash and realize that U2 were once “inspired”, too. -K
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Our Women
When K and I were drinking through the awful Snowden set at the Kings of Leon show last month, at some point K laughed and said to me, “God we are misogynists, aren’t we?!” Yes, we can be hard on women in music but I think K’s recent post about Brandi Carlile and Amy Winehouse proves that we also can support our sex as well. I have been listening to the Amy Winehouse record and I don’t really like the big hit “Rehab”, but do love You Know I’m No Good, Back to Black, and Love is a Losing Game. I also have a few ladies on regular rotation. I had forgotten my iPod recently and had to listen to what I had in my office. A friend had given me Mary J Blige, The Breakthrough to listen to and I hadn’t because I was way burned out on her cover of One with U2 . A. was obsessed with that song last summer and I had had enough. Left with silence as my other option, I gave The Breakthrough a try and have been puzzled by it ever since. I love the first song on the record, No One Will Do. What I am puzzled by or maybe what intrigues me is the self-help/preachy nature of this record. Mary J has gotten her act together and goddamnit she is going to help all of her fans do the same. Is this Oprah or Mary J? I don’t’ know if this is different than her other records but I don’t think I’ve listened to another artist that writes in this style. I keep coming back even though I don’t need Mary J to help me out of a destructive relationship. I unexpectedly like the music.
The other CD that’s in heavy rotation is Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins’ Rabbit Fur Coat. Jenny Lewis is the frontwoman for Rilo Kiley. This record is really dreamy and quiet, which I love, especially the song Happy. It’s as if during the recording sessions, there was someone in the room next to them that they were trying hard not to disturb. I like the harmonies on it as well. The other interesting song on it is a cover of Handle with Care by the Traveling Wilburys. Joining her on this track are Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst. Could there be a more perfect person singing the words “handle me with care” than Conor Oberst? I like some of his stuff but he always sounds to me like he has the razorblade poised at his wrist. He is the voice of desperation.
There could probably not be two records more different than the two discussed here, but both interesting in their own right. --J
The other CD that’s in heavy rotation is Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins’ Rabbit Fur Coat. Jenny Lewis is the frontwoman for Rilo Kiley. This record is really dreamy and quiet, which I love, especially the song Happy. It’s as if during the recording sessions, there was someone in the room next to them that they were trying hard not to disturb. I like the harmonies on it as well. The other interesting song on it is a cover of Handle with Care by the Traveling Wilburys. Joining her on this track are Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst. Could there be a more perfect person singing the words “handle me with care” than Conor Oberst? I like some of his stuff but he always sounds to me like he has the razorblade poised at his wrist. He is the voice of desperation.
There could probably not be two records more different than the two discussed here, but both interesting in their own right. --J
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
25 Greatest Live Bands Now
It’s Monday at 8:00am and I am standing at a newsstand in the Memphis airport jonesing for some music magazines when I reach for the new SPIN. Johnny Knoxville is on the cover, but what catches my eye is the top headline: “The 25 Greatest Live Bands Now”. I must buy this. I’ll only comment on the bands on the list I’ve seen…
Number 21 – Against Me!
A good live performance, okay, they’re low on the list, so I’ll accept that.
Number 14 – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I’m a little surprised by this. See our review of their St. Louis show for more background.
Number 13 – My Chemical Romance
Okay, I’m with you having seen them twice last year. They are solid performers and know their audience.
Number 11 – Queens of the Stone Age
Yeah, they put on a good show.
Number 9 - Prince
Only number nine? Is there a guitarist out there that makes playing look so effortless? Now, I’m starting to question you, SPIN.
Number 4 – Red Hot Chili Peppers
When you say “Greatest Live Bands Now”, I’m assuming you mean if I went to see them on their current tour. I could see the Chili Peppers being up there about fifteen years ago for the unexpected factor, but I don’t know if I agree about today. I would go to see John Frusciante, but I don’t think he alone can rank a number four. Maybe I’m just bitter that St. Louis is nowhere on their tour schedule this year!
Number 1 – U2
What?! Yeah they’re good, but Jim DeRogatis didn’t use the phrase “impassioned windbaggery” to describe some of Bono’s onstage commentary for nothin. They should be on the list but I question them being number one. Is this like figure skating where they give the gold to the “seasoned performer”?
But SPIN, as I sit at the gate waiting for my flight, if I didn’t think I would be branded a security risk, I probably would have screamed. What were you thinking with no Foo Fighters on the list? They’re so good live that most of the audience needs a cigarette afterwards. Even when I’m not feeling all the songs on their latest release, I can always depend on a stellar live show.
I’ll have to console myself at their concert in Chicago this Friday night, cigarettes in hand. --J
Number 21 – Against Me!
A good live performance, okay, they’re low on the list, so I’ll accept that.
Number 14 – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
I’m a little surprised by this. See our review of their St. Louis show for more background.
Number 13 – My Chemical Romance
Okay, I’m with you having seen them twice last year. They are solid performers and know their audience.
Number 11 – Queens of the Stone Age
Yeah, they put on a good show.
Number 9 - Prince
Only number nine? Is there a guitarist out there that makes playing look so effortless? Now, I’m starting to question you, SPIN.
Number 4 – Red Hot Chili Peppers
When you say “Greatest Live Bands Now”, I’m assuming you mean if I went to see them on their current tour. I could see the Chili Peppers being up there about fifteen years ago for the unexpected factor, but I don’t know if I agree about today. I would go to see John Frusciante, but I don’t think he alone can rank a number four. Maybe I’m just bitter that St. Louis is nowhere on their tour schedule this year!
Number 1 – U2
What?! Yeah they’re good, but Jim DeRogatis didn’t use the phrase “impassioned windbaggery” to describe some of Bono’s onstage commentary for nothin. They should be on the list but I question them being number one. Is this like figure skating where they give the gold to the “seasoned performer”?
But SPIN, as I sit at the gate waiting for my flight, if I didn’t think I would be branded a security risk, I probably would have screamed. What were you thinking with no Foo Fighters on the list? They’re so good live that most of the audience needs a cigarette afterwards. Even when I’m not feeling all the songs on their latest release, I can always depend on a stellar live show.
I’ll have to console myself at their concert in Chicago this Friday night, cigarettes in hand. --J
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Running to Stand Still and Say Goodbye
Whenever I go home to Huntsville I have to brace myself to face the ghosts of failed romances and friendships. You may not be able to imagine that so much life can happen in a relatively small southern city, but it can. The lack of city activities fosters strong relationships and friendships. You get used to lazing around at people’s houses and get to know their families. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world, but you only realize the beauty in something when you no longer have it, don’t you?
When I go back now, I remember all the good and bad living I did, but there is one particular person that is present in almost every one of those memories, T. A 1998 wake was the setting of our first hook-up, so we joke. We held hands after paying our respects and that’s when it started. Maybe this was an omen, but we didn’t look at it in that way. We looked at it as two lost souls finding love via one of the most brutally honest events one can experience.
The next several years consisted of me telling him where to go, casual hook-ups, reconciliations, earth-shattering break-ups, him telling me where to go, casual hook-ups, reconciliations, and on and on. Despite the ups and downs, we were nothing but true to each other. Actually, we weren’t always faithful, but we never pretended to be anything but our true selves with each other. One of the things that we were true to each other about was the fact that we were both seriously music-obsessed. Together we spent a lot of time listening to music and talking about it. There is one band, however, whose music embodies our entire 8-year pathetic, yet exquisite on and off again relationship: U2. We were both lifelong fans, but his love of them trumped mine. He would get an itch and make me listen to a song like “A Sort of Homecoming” from beginning to end and then want to discuss its greatness. When this kind of mood would grab this 6’2” dude, his big blue eyes would widen and he would get a far-away look. It always made me smile. If he could do anything it was make me melt with his child-like love for this music. I always felt very safe with him. Even when, at hearing this from me, he would answer with the question, “what do I protect you from? Bandits?” He knew exactly what I meant, but he liked making me laugh. And this he did often, including in 2004 when I called him from a Sydney hotel room (one of many I lived out of) crying my eyes out because I was painfully homesick. Even in another hemisphere, through his humor and comforting words he could force me to rest my mind and stop the racing thoughts I would often suffer. This is a man who saw me anorexic, over-medicated, hammered, spoiled. Yet he still saw beauty and child-like innocence in me (though I was convinced the well was dried up there). We sought solace in each other, really, and that’s what always brought us back together.
Back to U2. One year, T presented me with a handful of mixed cds he made that contained several live performances of U2 music representing different phases in their career. Long before we had iTunes or Limewire, we had Napster!
1. Greatest Hits Live. This disc included Surrender, Bad, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and a great version of Whiskey in The Jar. This last piece is mostly sung by the crowd, which gives me chills even now.
2. Pop Life in Mexico. This disc included all of the songs performed on the VHS. “Miami” is a highlight. When you live in Huntsville, you hear tornado sirens often during storm season. Some of us, including T and myself, learned to look forward to this season. It had a way of shaking things up and reminding you that there was something bigger than you in this universe. The sirens in this song give me that funny feeling in my stomach that I always got when I would know it was time to seek shelter.
3. Zoo TV Tonight. Like Pop Life in Mexico, this disc includes the songs one sees on the VHS. My favorite is “Ultraviolet”, which I don’t believe is on the VHS. It’s my favorite song from Achtung Baby. T knew this and made sure to get it on the cd. Bono’s lyrics became a vehicle of sorts for T. Through him, T could express what he was feeling towards “us” when he couldn’t do it himself. This song is an example of that. I didn’t mind. Bono helped us communicate just fine when things were good and even more so when things were bad. In many ways, Achtung Baby’s themes of betrayal and redemption represent a huge part of our relationship.
In 2000, we drove across Arizona together and had the best and worst road trip of our lives. We listened to a lot of music together (Oh, the amount of Rush he subjected me to), but U2’s Pop was a constant part of the soundtrack. He had seen Pop Mart at Sun Devil stadium in Tempe during that tour. Miles away from Huntsville, T had a connection to U2 in that desert state and it would become that way for both of us.
When U2 took All That You Can’t Leave Behind on the road in 2001, T and I both saw them perform in Atlanta. We weren’t together at this time. In fact, we were both there with other people, but we knew we were there together. It wasn’t a week after that show that we were hooking up again. One song from that cd, “Kite”, stands out in this collection. Back then, he called me once to ask if I thought of him when I heard it. Of course I did. How could I not when I hear “I’m a man, / I’m not a child/ A man who sees/ The shadow behind your eyes”. I could never hide from him, no matter how much I sometimes tried.
A lot of life happened throughout our life together, which ended for good in March of 2006 (we even got involved with other people at some point). Throughout, U2 remained a part of our lives until the final end with How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb’s “Original of the Species”. A couple of weeks ago on my way to California, when I was flying over the AZ desert, where we had once been exhausted and road-weary, I sat alone in the back of an empty plane and this song came on through my earbuds. For a couple of months, I had been running away from accepting the fact that I had said my final goodbye to a friend and lover who had always been there in life and in mind. Forced to slow down because of the plane, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing as I watched the familiar desert landscape slowly roll away under me. I accepted that it was the end of an era for two people who for years couldn’t seem to resist each other. We had often saved each other from the darkness, even though at times each led the other sans apology into an emotional abyss. I will never understand exactly why he wasn’t the one for me. But, I know that I have to accept some truths, no matter how incredible they seem to be.
In the end, I’ve returned from my first trip back to Huntsville since the final breakup and decided I needed to write about how much U2 means to me with reference to T, now another figurative ghost in that town. The years I spent with him will forever be protected and locked away in my heart, but played out again and again with every U2 song I will ever hear. As I re-read this post, I feel as though I have failed at truly representing what U2 and T mean to me, but it’s been nice to sit still and finally say goodbye.
Goodnight, Dublin-city. -K
When I go back now, I remember all the good and bad living I did, but there is one particular person that is present in almost every one of those memories, T. A 1998 wake was the setting of our first hook-up, so we joke. We held hands after paying our respects and that’s when it started. Maybe this was an omen, but we didn’t look at it in that way. We looked at it as two lost souls finding love via one of the most brutally honest events one can experience.
The next several years consisted of me telling him where to go, casual hook-ups, reconciliations, earth-shattering break-ups, him telling me where to go, casual hook-ups, reconciliations, and on and on. Despite the ups and downs, we were nothing but true to each other. Actually, we weren’t always faithful, but we never pretended to be anything but our true selves with each other. One of the things that we were true to each other about was the fact that we were both seriously music-obsessed. Together we spent a lot of time listening to music and talking about it. There is one band, however, whose music embodies our entire 8-year pathetic, yet exquisite on and off again relationship: U2. We were both lifelong fans, but his love of them trumped mine. He would get an itch and make me listen to a song like “A Sort of Homecoming” from beginning to end and then want to discuss its greatness. When this kind of mood would grab this 6’2” dude, his big blue eyes would widen and he would get a far-away look. It always made me smile. If he could do anything it was make me melt with his child-like love for this music. I always felt very safe with him. Even when, at hearing this from me, he would answer with the question, “what do I protect you from? Bandits?” He knew exactly what I meant, but he liked making me laugh. And this he did often, including in 2004 when I called him from a Sydney hotel room (one of many I lived out of) crying my eyes out because I was painfully homesick. Even in another hemisphere, through his humor and comforting words he could force me to rest my mind and stop the racing thoughts I would often suffer. This is a man who saw me anorexic, over-medicated, hammered, spoiled. Yet he still saw beauty and child-like innocence in me (though I was convinced the well was dried up there). We sought solace in each other, really, and that’s what always brought us back together.
Back to U2. One year, T presented me with a handful of mixed cds he made that contained several live performances of U2 music representing different phases in their career. Long before we had iTunes or Limewire, we had Napster!
1. Greatest Hits Live. This disc included Surrender, Bad, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and a great version of Whiskey in The Jar. This last piece is mostly sung by the crowd, which gives me chills even now.
2. Pop Life in Mexico. This disc included all of the songs performed on the VHS. “Miami” is a highlight. When you live in Huntsville, you hear tornado sirens often during storm season. Some of us, including T and myself, learned to look forward to this season. It had a way of shaking things up and reminding you that there was something bigger than you in this universe. The sirens in this song give me that funny feeling in my stomach that I always got when I would know it was time to seek shelter.
3. Zoo TV Tonight. Like Pop Life in Mexico, this disc includes the songs one sees on the VHS. My favorite is “Ultraviolet”, which I don’t believe is on the VHS. It’s my favorite song from Achtung Baby. T knew this and made sure to get it on the cd. Bono’s lyrics became a vehicle of sorts for T. Through him, T could express what he was feeling towards “us” when he couldn’t do it himself. This song is an example of that. I didn’t mind. Bono helped us communicate just fine when things were good and even more so when things were bad. In many ways, Achtung Baby’s themes of betrayal and redemption represent a huge part of our relationship.
In 2000, we drove across Arizona together and had the best and worst road trip of our lives. We listened to a lot of music together (Oh, the amount of Rush he subjected me to), but U2’s Pop was a constant part of the soundtrack. He had seen Pop Mart at Sun Devil stadium in Tempe during that tour. Miles away from Huntsville, T had a connection to U2 in that desert state and it would become that way for both of us.
When U2 took All That You Can’t Leave Behind on the road in 2001, T and I both saw them perform in Atlanta. We weren’t together at this time. In fact, we were both there with other people, but we knew we were there together. It wasn’t a week after that show that we were hooking up again. One song from that cd, “Kite”, stands out in this collection. Back then, he called me once to ask if I thought of him when I heard it. Of course I did. How could I not when I hear “I’m a man, / I’m not a child/ A man who sees/ The shadow behind your eyes”. I could never hide from him, no matter how much I sometimes tried.
A lot of life happened throughout our life together, which ended for good in March of 2006 (we even got involved with other people at some point). Throughout, U2 remained a part of our lives until the final end with How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb’s “Original of the Species”. A couple of weeks ago on my way to California, when I was flying over the AZ desert, where we had once been exhausted and road-weary, I sat alone in the back of an empty plane and this song came on through my earbuds. For a couple of months, I had been running away from accepting the fact that I had said my final goodbye to a friend and lover who had always been there in life and in mind. Forced to slow down because of the plane, I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing as I watched the familiar desert landscape slowly roll away under me. I accepted that it was the end of an era for two people who for years couldn’t seem to resist each other. We had often saved each other from the darkness, even though at times each led the other sans apology into an emotional abyss. I will never understand exactly why he wasn’t the one for me. But, I know that I have to accept some truths, no matter how incredible they seem to be.
In the end, I’ve returned from my first trip back to Huntsville since the final breakup and decided I needed to write about how much U2 means to me with reference to T, now another figurative ghost in that town. The years I spent with him will forever be protected and locked away in my heart, but played out again and again with every U2 song I will ever hear. As I re-read this post, I feel as though I have failed at truly representing what U2 and T mean to me, but it’s been nice to sit still and finally say goodbye.
Goodnight, Dublin-city. -K
Friday, June 30, 2006
Music To Write Reports To
In a hotel room in southern California last week, I sat in front of my laptop and wrote reports for work while listening to this pretty varied playlist. Be warned. This playlist is all over the damn place (like me). -K
Love Train – Wolfmother
Wolfmother is a breakout band hailing from Australia. This song makes me feel crazy sexy. It’s a marriage of Sabbath riffs, Zeppelin-esque vocals (that I mistook for Jack White when I first heard this song on the radio) and funk. It’s my favorite song that I’ve downloaded this summer.
Bliss – Muse
I read in a 2005 Alternative Press magazine that Muse is the band that all your favorite bands are into. I saw Muse here in St. Louis. It was the first time I went to a concert on my own. Razorlight opened. At this show, I met two guys who were Muse superfans. One of them had traveled from Newfoundland to see them in St. Louis. I love meeting superfans and I loved this show.
Free - Donavon Frankenreiter
In 2004, this song was in heavy rotation on the radio in Melbourne, Australia. One Saturday, my British friend Moo and I took a hike up into the hills surrounding the city. We heard this song a million times on this day, but it didn't matter. This song is so full of good feeling that you can't get sick of it.
Pass It On - The Coral
These guys hail from Merseyside, England. Pass It On's plucky guitar, easy rhythm, and message of acceptance and moving on was a light during dark times for me back in the winter of 2003/2004. The claustrophobia I experienced at work and in Huntsville as a result of an awkward breakup with a coworker was cause for me to climb the walls. To escape the gossip at work I would sit in my cubicle and listen to streaming Virgin Radio. It was on this station that I first heard Pass It On. It is extremely easy on the ears the morning after if you are in the habit of finishing a bottle of red wine every night just to get to sleep. Dark days are gone, but this song remains a remedy.
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - ABBA
I love ABBA. When I hear this song, I have vague, but happy memories of red geraniums, German family members, and a sunny garden. Lovely.
Photograph – Def Leppard
I always think of the early days of MTV when I hear this song. It’s so full of hooks! Gotta love it.
Dancing With Myself – Billy Idol
Billy Idol music is ageless to me. This song makes me feel alive just like it did when it was in heavy rotation on MTV in the 80s. Every time I hear it, I want to dance like Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club. Oi, sexy!
Thunder Road – Bruce Springsteen
I love this man’s work so much. This may be my favorite song of Bruce’s besides “Racing in the Streets”. On a cold late November night, this song came on while I was driving down the NJ Turnpike heading to Woodbridge, NJ, and I sang every word. Loudly. Bruce has a way of telling stories through song that is unmatched in my opinion. Pianos, saxophones and melancholic story-telling make up all that I love about this artist.
Rocket Queen – Guns N’ Roses
I have always thought that the change in the middle of the song was amazing. When I read Chuck Klosterman’s opinion of this song in Fargo Rock City, I wondered how I could meet this man. I’m here in St. Louis, Chuck. I’m here.
If You Want My Love – Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is one of those bands that I have fallen in and out of throughout my life. The light in this song has, for me, never gone out.
Snow (Hey Oh) – RHCP
What’s a trip to California without some RHCP? I’m currently celebrating their new release. On a related topic, RHCP’s cd BloodSugarSexMagik was the very first cd I ever owned.
Under Pressure – The Used/MCR
I’m a lifelong Queen and David Bowie fan. I was a little nervous when MCR covered this song as it is a little ambitious. I am really impressed with this cover. For a time all proceeds went to the Tsunami Relief fund when purchased on iTunes. This cover nails it.
Original of the Species - U2
I do my love of U2 no justice with this tiny blurb. I have been a supporter of U2 since the early 80s (I, unlike many hardcore fans, feel that POP was not a disappointment, but a successful and admirable departure). Someday I’ll write about what this music means to me in a proper post, but for now just know that this song is U2 doing it to me again…
Time to Burn – The Rasmus
This band hails from Finland. I wouldn’t have known about them had I not been scouring YouTube for vintage HIM videos months ago. The vocals are a bit strained at times and the poppy production is not always my cup of tea. Their album may at times even sound like a more sinister Backstreet Boys production, but I’m not ready to write them off yet. Their music has a powerful and melancholic sound that makes me think they are almost there…
Don’t You Ever Leave Me Baby – Hanoi Rocks
Before there was Nightwish, HIM, or The Rasmus there was Hanoi Rocks. I hear an influence of the New York Dolls in this song. I first heard of Hanoi Rocks back in 1984 when drummer Razzle’s death in “the” car accident with Vince Neil was reported on the news. This song is not epic or cathartic, but it represents what I like to hear when I just want to get out of my head a little bit and sing along.
MakeDamnSure - Taking Back Sunday
This is an emo band and an emo song (see Emo Memo below), but I love this song.
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
I have always enjoyed the Englishness of The Smiths. I really think that one could write a paper on their lyrical irony and how this music somehow reflects English society and one’s reaction to living in it. Yeah, no.
Love Train – Wolfmother
Wolfmother is a breakout band hailing from Australia. This song makes me feel crazy sexy. It’s a marriage of Sabbath riffs, Zeppelin-esque vocals (that I mistook for Jack White when I first heard this song on the radio) and funk. It’s my favorite song that I’ve downloaded this summer.
Bliss – Muse
I read in a 2005 Alternative Press magazine that Muse is the band that all your favorite bands are into. I saw Muse here in St. Louis. It was the first time I went to a concert on my own. Razorlight opened. At this show, I met two guys who were Muse superfans. One of them had traveled from Newfoundland to see them in St. Louis. I love meeting superfans and I loved this show.
Free - Donavon Frankenreiter
In 2004, this song was in heavy rotation on the radio in Melbourne, Australia. One Saturday, my British friend Moo and I took a hike up into the hills surrounding the city. We heard this song a million times on this day, but it didn't matter. This song is so full of good feeling that you can't get sick of it.
Pass It On - The Coral
These guys hail from Merseyside, England. Pass It On's plucky guitar, easy rhythm, and message of acceptance and moving on was a light during dark times for me back in the winter of 2003/2004. The claustrophobia I experienced at work and in Huntsville as a result of an awkward breakup with a coworker was cause for me to climb the walls. To escape the gossip at work I would sit in my cubicle and listen to streaming Virgin Radio. It was on this station that I first heard Pass It On. It is extremely easy on the ears the morning after if you are in the habit of finishing a bottle of red wine every night just to get to sleep. Dark days are gone, but this song remains a remedy.
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - ABBA
I love ABBA. When I hear this song, I have vague, but happy memories of red geraniums, German family members, and a sunny garden. Lovely.
Photograph – Def Leppard
I always think of the early days of MTV when I hear this song. It’s so full of hooks! Gotta love it.
Dancing With Myself – Billy Idol
Billy Idol music is ageless to me. This song makes me feel alive just like it did when it was in heavy rotation on MTV in the 80s. Every time I hear it, I want to dance like Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club. Oi, sexy!
Thunder Road – Bruce Springsteen
I love this man’s work so much. This may be my favorite song of Bruce’s besides “Racing in the Streets”. On a cold late November night, this song came on while I was driving down the NJ Turnpike heading to Woodbridge, NJ, and I sang every word. Loudly. Bruce has a way of telling stories through song that is unmatched in my opinion. Pianos, saxophones and melancholic story-telling make up all that I love about this artist.
Rocket Queen – Guns N’ Roses
I have always thought that the change in the middle of the song was amazing. When I read Chuck Klosterman’s opinion of this song in Fargo Rock City, I wondered how I could meet this man. I’m here in St. Louis, Chuck. I’m here.
If You Want My Love – Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is one of those bands that I have fallen in and out of throughout my life. The light in this song has, for me, never gone out.
Snow (Hey Oh) – RHCP
What’s a trip to California without some RHCP? I’m currently celebrating their new release. On a related topic, RHCP’s cd BloodSugarSexMagik was the very first cd I ever owned.
Under Pressure – The Used/MCR
I’m a lifelong Queen and David Bowie fan. I was a little nervous when MCR covered this song as it is a little ambitious. I am really impressed with this cover. For a time all proceeds went to the Tsunami Relief fund when purchased on iTunes. This cover nails it.
Original of the Species - U2
I do my love of U2 no justice with this tiny blurb. I have been a supporter of U2 since the early 80s (I, unlike many hardcore fans, feel that POP was not a disappointment, but a successful and admirable departure). Someday I’ll write about what this music means to me in a proper post, but for now just know that this song is U2 doing it to me again…
Time to Burn – The Rasmus
This band hails from Finland. I wouldn’t have known about them had I not been scouring YouTube for vintage HIM videos months ago. The vocals are a bit strained at times and the poppy production is not always my cup of tea. Their album may at times even sound like a more sinister Backstreet Boys production, but I’m not ready to write them off yet. Their music has a powerful and melancholic sound that makes me think they are almost there…
Don’t You Ever Leave Me Baby – Hanoi Rocks
Before there was Nightwish, HIM, or The Rasmus there was Hanoi Rocks. I hear an influence of the New York Dolls in this song. I first heard of Hanoi Rocks back in 1984 when drummer Razzle’s death in “the” car accident with Vince Neil was reported on the news. This song is not epic or cathartic, but it represents what I like to hear when I just want to get out of my head a little bit and sing along.
MakeDamnSure - Taking Back Sunday
This is an emo band and an emo song (see Emo Memo below), but I love this song.
There Is a Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths
I have always enjoyed the Englishness of The Smiths. I really think that one could write a paper on their lyrical irony and how this music somehow reflects English society and one’s reaction to living in it. Yeah, no.
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