The Friday Five: April 6, 2012
Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
“No One Like You” by Scorpions (from Hard Rock Gold, 2009)
(In my best Beavis voice:) YES! RAWK!
Do you know why this song rocks so hard? It isn’t the notes that guitarists Schenker and Jabs play, it’s the space they leave in between that builds the tension and makes you nod your head. (See also: AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long”)
“I Walked In” by Brougham (from Can’t Hardly Wait, 1998)
Who? Oh, dear God, this is awful. I rarely do this, but I’m not submitting myself to any more torture than required. Skip!
“Revolution” by Judas Priest (from The Essential Judas Priest, 2006)
Wait, this isn’t Jane’s Addition’s “Mountain Song”? Let’s see when it came out … according to Wikipedia: “Revolution” is a song on the album Angel of Retribution, by the heavy metal band Judas Priest. It was their first single since 1992’s “Night Crawler” to enter in the United States charts.it reached #23 in the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Okay, so this is totally inspired by “Mountain Song,” right?
According to the producer Roy Z: “The bass intro to ‘Revolution’ is actually from a cassette tape the band recorded back in the 1970s. We loaded the riff into Pro Tools and built the rest of the song around it. We went for a raw, modern ’70s vibe. It is a wide-open rock and roll song.”
Way to CYA, boys.
“I Found Love (C+C Underground club mix)” by C+C Music Factory (from Ultimate, 1995)
I don’t have any issue with C+C Music Factory. At the time, I’d happily dance my ass off to these tunes once or twice a week. Nowadays, I can’t bear to listen for more than a minute or so. Skip!
“Best of Your Heart” by Rufus & Chaka Khan (from Street Player, 1978)
Every single one of you should be listening to more Chaka Khan. The world would be a better place.
What’s on your shuffle today?
5 Comments
jhallCORE
1) Buddy Guy and Junior Wells — “Don’t Leave Me” (Alone And Acoustic, 1991 reissue).
2) Steve Earle — “Mystery Train, Part II” (Train A Comin’, 1995).
3) Buddy Guy — “Thank Me Someday” (Living Proof, 2010).
4) Miles Davis — “All Blues” (Kind Of Blue, 1959).
5) Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions — “People Get Ready” (People Get Ready! The Curtis Mayfield Story, 1996).
Enjoy the weekend.
Phil
“Shut up, Beavis. Uh huh huh huh.”
“No One Like You” is definitely in my list of top 10 favorite Scorpions songs of all time.
Phil
Def Leppard – “See the Lights” (First Strike, 1979)
An “album” of demos from back when Def Leppard was a bonafide NWOBHM band. The “album” was later unofficially released without the band’s consent. “See the Lights” is not the best song on the collection—that designation would have to go to “Wasted” or “Sorrow Is a Woman,” both of which were released on On Through the Night—but it’s not bad, either.
Black Sabbath – “Never Say Die” (Symptom of the Universe: The Original Black Sabbath 1970-1978, 2002)
Ozzy had already quit and rejoined Sabbath by the time Never Say Die was recorded, and he pulls no punches when expressing his dissatisfaction with Sabbath at that point in his career, calling it “the worst piece of work that I’ve ever had anything to do with. I’m ashamed of that album. I think it’s disgusting.” With the exception of the cheesy ending, “Never Say Die” is a great, fun tune—should any Sabbath song be “fun”?!—although it sounds like it would fit better on Blizzard of Ozz.
Smashing Pumpkins – “Today” (“Unplugged” 100% Pure Acoustic Performances, 1993)
I never really cared much for the original, so a bootleg recording of an acoustic rendition of it is probably not going to rate very high for me. The performance is uninspiring and limp, with no musical embellishments until the very end when Iha adds an arpeggiated section, and Corgan struggles to hit some of the higher notes as he whines his way throughout the song. Sounds like they don’t even like it very much.
Galactic Cowboys – “Through” (At the End of the Day, 1998)
And unfortunately Galactic Cowboys’ career was almost through at this point as well. ATEOTD is one of my favorite GC albums, containing the excellent “The Machine Fish Suite,” but I’m ashamed to admit I usually skip this one. Not that there’s anything much wrong with it. I just don’t usually turn to Galactic Cowboys when I want to hear a ballad.
Rush – “Cinderella Man” (Different Stages, 1998)
Not sure why, but this version always sounds really sloppy to me, and Geddy seems to really be straining to hit some of the notes. Odd for a band that is usually so tight.
Mike
What else am I gonna do on this stinkin’ train? It’s not really stinking, actually. At least it won’t be until I take my shoes off. Bazinga!
1) Wendy & Lisa-“White Flags of Winter Chimneys”-Totally atmospheric title track from their most recent album. These ladies have put together a very solid catalog as a duo.
2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.-“Morning Thought”-This was the free download of the week during one of the weeks I actually remembered iTunes has a free download of the week. It’s a pretty good song, too. I’m almost tempted to explore more of these folks. But–I hate hipsters. And most of the music they like. But I’m wearing fitted jeans. OH NOES!!!!
3) Elvis Costello-“I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself”-White Stripes—–>Dusty——->Elvis. None of the three are bad, though.
4) k-os-“Crucial”-This guy was an MTV2 discovery (might have been the only artist I ever discovered through MTV2.) He’s everything Wyclef Jean tries to be and fails out. I saw him open for Handsome Boy Modeling School six or seven years ago, and…let’s just say I would’ve been just as happy leaving before Paul and Dan got on stage.
5) Josh Rouse “Streetlights”- Win #1: This song cribs it’s chorus from “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Win #2: This song is absolutely gorgeous. Josh can be hit or miss, but this song is amazing. Playing it twice.
Dennis
Seems like most of the New Yorkers I follow on Twitter are at the Garden for Springsteen. So as I follow along praying he doesn’t do Kitty’s Backso that I have a shot of seeing it Monday, here’s another Boss themed Friday Five
1. “I Wish I Were Blind” from Chicago 10/14/05. This was the solo Devils & Dust tour. He jokes that this is from what’s considered to be his weakest album but that in Norway it’s considered his greatest masterpiece. I was updating my personal set list spreadsheet, and it might have been the most diverse of any of the relatively meager number of shows I’ve seen. He played this one on an electric piano.
2. “Jesus Was An Only Son” from Devils & Dust. Speaking of Devils, here’s one that’s appropriate for this of all Fridays. I think more of this album than some if not all of my Bruce fan friends. This is one of my favorite songs on the record.
3. “Hearts of Stone” from Tracks. Guess it’s mellow Boss night. Southside of course made this one his own, like he did with a lot of other Springsteen-penned castoffs, but the sax solo here is all Big Man at his soulful best.
4. “Red Headed Woman”from The Christic Institute Benefit 11/17/90 bootleg. I guess it’s also solo Bruce boot night. I tracked this one down for its killer solo piano version of “The Real World”.
5. “Prove It All Night” from Winterland 12/15/78. Closing out with a burner. If you don’t love the piano & guitar intro that Roy and Bruce were doing on this tour, I’m not sure we can be friends
Hope you hear something great this weekend!