I just realized that it’s Friday the 13th. In light of that and Tony Iommi’s recent cancer announcement, maybe I should have made this an all Black Sabbath Friday Five. Oh well…

Kansas – “Bringing It Back” (Kansas, 1974)
Boogie-jam cover of a J.J. Cale tune from future AOR prog-rock darlings that relates a tale of bringing something back from Mexico. Wonder what that could have been?!

King’s X – “Lies in the Sand (the ballad of…)” (Ear Candy, 1996)
Yes! This is more like it. Slow, arpeggiated tune from the trio’s underrated and under-appreciated one-and-only attempt at a hit album (or album of hits) after receiving pressure from Atlantic Records. Ear Candy was a bit of a shock to the KX faithful after the grungy Dogman, but it has remained one of my favorite albums by King’s X. For my money, you would be hard-pressed to find a guitarist as emotive and expressive (while remaining relatively unknown in most circles) as Ty Tabor.

Caedmon’s Call – “Valleys Fill First” (Long Line of Leavers, 2000)
Another departure from the norm of sorts, this time from the folky-turned-poppy CCM group Caedmon’s Call. The band experimented with a wide range of styles on this disc, including adding a brass ensemble on the opening (and possibly best) track. Solid pop tune from a very accomplished group of musicians.

Counting Crows – “If I Could Give All My Love (Richard Manuel Is Dead)” (Hard Candy, 2002)
Hard Candy is quite possibly my favorite album from Counting Crows. A mixture of poppy, upbeat, and accessible tunes and Duritz’ typical brooding, moody, self-deprecating lyrics makes for one of their most cohesive releases. And there is some excellent guitar work throughout.

Queensrÿche – “My Empty Room” (Operation: Mindcrime, 1988)
Filler segue track from this Seattle prog-metal band’s magnum opus. Queensrÿche has tried over the years to top this wildly successful concept album, but in my opinion has only come close a couple of times, first with Mindcrime‘s follow-up Empire, the album responsible for making the band a household name due to the success of the single “Silent Lucidity,” and then again with Tribe, the 2003 release that saw the return of founding member and guitarist Chris DeGarmo, who collaborated on a handful of tracks. Fans hoped for a full-fledged reunion of the original lineup, but unfortunately it was not meant to be.

Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair – Jennifer Larmore, “My Native Land”

I totally love this song and I love this arrangement.  My sister-in-law made her Lincoln Center debut in 2010 singing alongside Jennifer Larmore.  It was pretty awesome.

Killer Cars – Radiohead, “The Bends (Japanese Version)”

This is the first Radiohead song I ever heard.  I’m not sure what makes this the Japanese version.

Caught a Lite Sneeze – Tori Amos, “Boys for Pele”

I’ve been on a Tori kick lately.  It’s nice to hear the old school stuff.  I’m trying to actually like her newest album, Night of Hunters, instead of just liking the concept.  I am liking her daughter’s voice a lot, especially on “The Chase” which is my favorite cut so far.

Jeremy – Pearl Jam, “Live in Amsterdam”

Standard tape-recorder-in-the-pocket bootleg from 96.  Barely even recognizable as a song.  

A Moment Like This – Kelly Clarkson, “Thankful”

Clearly, I need to clean out my iTunes folder.  I should get extra points for honesty, for not skipping past this song and pretending that my fifth song was “(I Did All My Acid In) Grade 8” by Bruce McCulloch.  WHICH IS AWESOME.

“Give Youth a Chance” by The Ruts from The Crack (1979). I have been on a bit of a punk kick lately and have been listening to a lot of the Ruts. I adore this band and I wish more people were aware of their genius.

“The Princess Appears” by John Williams/London Symphony Orchestra from Star Wars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack. This actually comes from a box set of the soundtracks of the original trilogy that I got in, like, ’93? It contains 4 discs: the soundtracks of the three films and a disc of outtakes/unreleased tracks. It was pretty much all I listened to when I was studying for tests in high school.

“Drop Dead Gorgeous” by Republica from Republica (1996). Holy shit. I haven’t heard this song in years. I didn’t even realize I owned it.

“Red Hot” by Debbie Gibson from Out of the Blue (1987). When I was nine years old, this album was EVERYTHING.

“Paradise (Not for Me)” by Madonna from Music (2000). Madonna’s new album is going to be called M.D.N.A. That album title is real dumb, Madge.

1) Miles Davis —”Flamenco Sketches” (Kind Of Blue, 1959). Can’t go wrong starting off the Friday Five with some classic Miles.
2) Patty Griffin — “Useless Desires” (Impossible Dream, 2004). I’ve never met Patty but I’m convinced I love her more than Robert Plant does.
3) Prince — “Nothing Compares 2 U” (The Hits/The B-Sides, 1993). Great live duet with Rosie Gaines.
4) Ben Harper — “Fight For Your Mind” (Fight For Your Mind, 1995). A bit of a downer with what came before but I do like the furtive muscular accompaniment here.
5) Lucinda Williams — “Soldier’s Song” (Blessed, 2011). Nice pairing with the previous track and great storytelling. Consider myself blessed to have Lucinda be a regular staple in the Friday Five selections of late.

Enjoy the weekend.

Today’s Friday Five on a train to Boston:

1. The Beach Boys, “Hang on to Your Ego (Highlights from Tracking Date)”: from The Pet Sounds Sessions box. I did not skip over this one like I initially thought to, although I certainly get confused about how to react to these tracks when I listen to them. I only fleetingly get the “a classic is being constructed before my very eyes!” vibe. Maybe it’s just me.

2. John Mayer, “Not Myself”: oh hey 15-year-old Mike, could you knock next time? Seriously, I enjoy this song, but it’s funny how differently the guy sounds on subsequent records. He’s fine-tuned his instrument some, I’d like to think.

3. The All-American Rejects, “Breakin’”: so once I interned for a major music label (it rhymed with Flinterscope) and I enjoyed a lot of free CDs. It was sort of a reward for years of legally obtaining music and an attempt to sate my curiosity about pop music. I can’t bring myself to get rid of most of them (outside of that AWFUL Chris Cornell/Timbaland album), which is how we got here. Halfway decent pop/rock chords with hysterically atrocious lyrics. “Breakin’s what your heart is for”? I need to invent a machine that sighs heavily for me.

4. Squeeze, “Grouch of the Day”: from the semi-underrated Ridiculous, 1995. There’s some great vocal work here, both the usual doubling of Sirs Difford and Tilbrook as well as bassist Keith Wilkinson, who did some great harmonies on their ’90s work. The “bop! oh-oh-oh-oh” between choruses is a nice little moment of sunshine.

5. Bread, “Make It with You”: buying dirt-cheap ’70s compilations never fails to confuse me about the whys and wherefores of how people got laid back then. It seemed every genre had their share of tunes with which to mack. Now, there’s so many songs that make you want to sit on opposite sides of a couch.