Tag: rock

Mötley Crüe – Saints Of Los Angeles (Album of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week10 Comments

This week I’m on to one I’ve meant to talk about for a while – what today remains the most recent studio album from Mötley Crüe. This album occupies a weird spot in the catalog – it was a long-awaited comeback after 8 years of no albums and also released in the same year as 3 other long-awaited comeback albums from legacy rock acts. This one is equal parts gushed over and glossed over and divides fan opinion sharply at times.

Mötley Crüe – Saints Of Los Angeles

Released June 24, 2008 via Mötley Records

My Favorite Tracks – Saints Of Los Angeles, White Trash Circus, Goin’ Out Swingin’

Crüe had not released a full album since 2000’s New Tattoo, a record that did not feature drummer Tommy Lee. SOLA was the first full band action since 1997’s Generation Swine. The band had been on ice for a bit in the early 00’s but then were able to pull off a highly-publicized “reunion” despite only being gone for a few years. The tours with the original four were big hits and the band eventually got together to record this new album.

When I say “the band” got together, what I mean to say is that Nikki Sixx got together with Sixx AM guitarist DJ Ashba, Sixx AM singer James Michael and longtime Aerosmith collaborator Marti Frederiksen to make the new Mötley Crüe album. This grouping is credited with writing every song on the album, while Mick Mars has credits on 7 of the tracks. Neither Vince Neil or Tommy Lee appear in any songwriting capacity. I do presume that a few of the names in the songwriting list might also appear in audio form on the album to a degree, but again I don’t know.

As for who actually played on the record, well, there’s no telling. Recent news and gossip involving the ugly Mick Mars split indicates that a lot of people who aren’t on the Crüe roster have played on the albums. I don’t know who, when or where and I’m not going to bother guessing since the whole affair is pretty gross and hard to track the accuracy of.

The album has a lot of songs, with 13 tracks coming in at 44 minutes. The album has been reissued a handful of times since 2008 but there are no bonus tracks or deluxe versions to concern one’s self with, at least to my knowledge.

L.A.M.F.

This is an intro piece that sets the stage for the music to come. This is a pretty cool little deal, it highlights the issue of Los Angeles with scores of people flocking there to hit it big in acting or whatever, but 4 out of 100,000 actually making it. This sets a gritty tone early, Mötley Crüe will not simply be writing love letters to their beloved City of Angels.

Face Down In The Dirt

The first song proper is a simple yet very hard-hitting banger that covers the theme of not wanting to be a worker drone in society. It might seem a bit odd for a band who’d been successful for 27 years or so to write a song like this but the song works 100%, so there’s nothing really to argue with here.

What’s It Gonna Take

This one goes back to the band’s early days before they were successful, talking about living with girls and being rejected by record labels. It’s a pretty cool song and it’s nice to look back for a minute on those early days before Crüe broke out and helped set the table for 1980’s music.

Down At The Whiskey

This one is also an early nostalgia trip, obviously being about days at the famed Whiskey club in L.A. At this point the album is solid, though these sorts of “glory days” tracks are setting the table for an ok but unspectacular album. It could use a real kick in the ass to get it to the next level.

Saints Of Los Angeles

It didn’t take long, welcome to the next level.

The title track is a gritty, sleazy look at Los Angeles and the scene. This doesn’t “tell a story” so much as set the table for an experience in the seedier side of L.A. This song nails the feel of that and is just a massive, ass-kicking track. Gang vocals on the chorus are provided by a number of guests, including Jacoby Shaddix from Papa Roach, Josh Todd from Buckcherry, the aforementioned James Michael, and Chris Brown from Trapt. (Yes, the dude from Trapt is the same guy who turned Trapt’s social media account into his personal litter box a few years back)

Mutherfucker Of The Year

It’s a great song and also a new award at work. This one is all attitude, Mötley Crüe have been one of the bands with an actual reputation big and, at times vile enough to live up to the moniker. It is almost like a true theme song for them.

The Animal In Me

This one kicks the pace down a notch, it’s not a true ballad but it dances on that line a little bit. It’s a song about rough sex, kinky stuff, whatever. This one is pretty run of the mill, not my favorite by any stretch.

Welcome To The Machine

Here the pace ramps back up for a tune presumably about being a part of the record industry. It’s a bit ironic from Mötley Crüe, since they were one of a very few bands who were able to take control of their old album masters and gain rights almost no other artist has. But this song isn’t that deep, it’s just venting about the disposable nature of artists once they’re done, all just to make some shareholders rich.

Just Another Psycho

This one is a mid-paced affair that is simply about being nuts. This feels like a bit of a filler track but it’s listenable.

Chicks = Trouble

The fun factor ramps up big time here with this crazy song about a gold-digging woman spending the guy’s money. I’ve never had to deal with this problem because I’ve never really had money, but this song is really fun to play.

This Ain’t A Love Song

Another one that’s a whole lot of sleazy fun, it’s all about hooking up with a good time gal. This is the kind of song Crüe probably would have liked to write back in the ’80’s but it might not have gone over that well. 20 years later the climate was far more indifferent to this stuff so here it is, warts and all.

White Trash Circus

Heading toward the end and the hits keep coming. This is another sleazy song simply about how messed up the band has been over the years, and these guys have quite the stack of tales to tell about their misgivings and transgressions. One line mentions how they’ll never go away and that has held true, even when they themselves said they were going away.

Goin’ Out Swingin’

The closer is a total banger of a song. This hits hard and fast and doesn’t let up and is a great finale for the album. This one sets the band’s attitude of keeping at it until the bitter end, whenever that end might actually be.

Saints Of Los Angeles was an initial success for Mötley Crüe. The album hit the US Billboard charts at number 4 and sold 100,000 copies in its first week. It also charted in several other countries, pulling down a gold certification in Canada. Sales did not continue long after that first week, leading several in the band to become disillusioned by what they considered flat sales. Someone maybe should have briefed them on how album sales were going in general in 2008, I don’t know.

The album had a good reception from fans, though there is certainly divided opinion on it. Many did crow about the involvement of the Sixx AM members, feeling that this Mötley Crüe record is just a Sixx AM album. My take on it is this – if this is what the Crüe sounds like with DJ Ashba and James Michael involved, then write more Crüe albums with Ashba and Michael.

In the end this one holds its own pretty well in the Mötley Crüe catalog. I ranked it number 4 back when I did the Crüe album ranking. I feel like SOLA is the band truly realized with the darker and uncensored themes which they probably couldn’t have gotten away with in the ’80’s.

2008 was a year when rock heavyweights Guns N’ Roses, Metallica and AC/DC all released long-awaited “comeback” albums and it’s possible Mötley Crüe got a bit lost in the shuffle, but it’s also possible that this one did a better job. (Except for AC/DC, that album was excellent) We don’t know if there will actually be another Crüe album, they apparently don’t have a full album’s worth of material yet with new guitarist John 5. If this is the last actual full-length, well I feel like they got it right in the finale. If there is more material to come, I think there is a hard road to traverse to equal or better this one.

Pulp – Common People (Song of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week6 Comments

When Britpop gets brought up, it’s almost always a focus on the “Battle of Britpop” and the rivalry between Oasis and Blur. But when a “best songs of Britpop” list springs up, there’s often a whole other song at the top of it. If you are even halfway decent at guessing, you could probably figure that the song is Common People by the band Pulp.

Common People was the lead single from Pulp’s fifth album Different Class, which released toward the end of 1995 in the height of the Britpop phenomenon. The single was released 5 months in advance of the full-length.

While Pulp benefited from the wave of British alt-rock, they themselves were not newcomers to the scene – Pulp were formed in 1978 and were on the indie circuit until the 1990’s brought their form of music more into style. This was a case of a scene finding a band, rather than a band finding a scene. Nor was the success sudden – Pulp were a rising star already through the early part of the decade as alt-rock became the new dominant form of rock.

Common People is an upbeat, keyboard-driven tune, which has been the general territory of Pulp through the years. Its dance-ability differentiates it from the more rock-oriented “Britpop,” though Blur did have moments of electro-tourism in their music. Pulp’s simpler, “retro disco” themed take on songs worked extremely well here and caught the attention of music fans the world over.

The song’s theme is a big one – it addresses the issue of “slum tourism,” where people of means want to live in squalid conditions as some kind of thrill seeking thing. And while the song was dramatized a fair bit for effect, there is truth behind the opening lines. Common People was inspired by when singer Jarvis Cocker attended St. Martin’s College in 1988. He ran into a girl who was Greek and was studying art, and the girl indicated an interest in living “like common people.”

Cocker did add a bit to the song, chiefly that the girl was pursuing him, while in reality Cocker was pursuing the girl and she was not at all interested. There have also been attempts to nail down who the woman was and a few interesting possibilities came up, though nothing has definitely been said about the matter.

Common People does accomplish its mission in railing against the idea of class tourism. For a well-off person to “slum it” for a bit is really nothing – all that person has to do is pick up the phone and call, as in the case of the girl in the song, she can call her father and he can stop it all. For the common person, there is no one to call to get a lift out of the despair of being broke and having no prospects for a better future beyond a winning lottery ticket that never comes.

This song became a huge hit in the Britpop era of 1995, the single hit number 2 in the UK and sold over a million copies, it also propelled the album Different Class to also move a million each in the UK and on the continent. Common People has endured as a top shelf tune since its release, it is often found at or near the top of most “Best of Britpop” lists and NME magazine even voted it the best song of the 1990’s. Many bands from all across music have covered the song, one very notable rendition came from 2004 and the tandem of William Shatner and Ben Folds. The pair were joined by Joe Jackson for a pretty unique and crazy version of the song that got a lot of attention and did a lot to kick off Shatner’s quirky music career.

For Pulp, Common People would be their magnum opus, though the band held serve through the 1990’s as their sound was more diverse and proved able to navigate the sudden closure of the Britpop shop. Pulp have split and reconvened a few times through the 2000’s, including having just been on a reunion run this year. But no matter what they do now, their crown jewel of a song will remain immortal and speak to the lives of many all over who know all too well what’s it like to live like common people.

Alice Cooper Live 8/15/23

On By bigbadburchIn live music6 Comments

I’ve seen a fair few shows in my time but I’ve also missed many acts for whatever reasons. One act I had not seen live was Alice Cooper. It wasn’t for lack of opportunity – Alice has played extensively in this area the entire time I’ve been alive, it’s not like it was ever a chore to see him. I just never got around to doing so.

All that changed this past Tuesday, August 15. Alice has been touring with the Mötley Crüe and Def Leppard perpetual stadium tour and Alice has also been doing solo off-dates. My humble little village was lucky enough to land one of these shows and so now I’ve experienced the thrill of Alice Cooper live.

This show was at the Juanita K. Hammons Hall For The Performing Arts, a theater style venue on the campus of Missouri State University. I wrote about it previously when I recapped seeing John Mellencamp there. I decided to save a few bucks and take in the show from the upper balcony. While the lower two levels were nearly full, the upper portion had a fair few seats left. In my own row of 54, I was the only patron. It was kind of funny watching people in the full first 3 rows of this section jostle back and forth while I sat in peace. I was the highest person up for awhile but then a couple came and sat in the very top row, thus ruining my pointless brag about being the highest one up in the crowd. The view was still fine, though it was a steep haul getting to my seat. Here’s a pic of my view.

This was Alice playing all alone, no openers or anything. Alice has maintained a near-constant live line-up for the past decade or so, with the one exception being the brief departure and return of guitarist Nita Strauss last year. Ryan Roxie and Tommy Henriksen join Nita on guitar, Chuck Garric handles bass and Glen Sobel has the drums.

I won’t bother trying to run down the entire setlist, because whoever from our show updated the list on setlist.fm did a piss poor job of it. I was familiar with all but two or three songs I heard so it’s not some big deal. This did feature something like 22 songs so it was a pretty jam-packed set. This was mostly a hits set, starting with massive classics like No More Mr. Nice Guy and I’m Eighteen. More of the obvious classics were played, like Billion Dollar Babies, Welcome To My Nightmare and Under My Wheels.

There was a fair bit of attention paid to Alice’s late ’80’s/early ’90’s period, as the Hey Stoopid album got three tracks in the set – the title track, Snakebite and Feed My Frankenstein. There was a huge Frankenstein that came out for a brief moment and for a second I was wondering what Eddie was doing there, but that’s the wrong show. Poison from Trash was included, as was Lost In America from The Last Temptation album.

The songs were rapid fire, one right after another. Alice was often changing garb in the very brief dark spots between songs. It’s pretty sad that a guy 30 years older than me can change clothes way faster than me but such is life. There were spots for a short drum solo and also a guitar showcase, mostly featuring Nita.

The stage set was something like a courthouse with two huge staircase things that band members used here and there. All of this would come into play later, as we got a bit of a mini-story with the last handful of songs. The Ballad Of Dwight Frye kicked off with Alice being straight-jacketed and eventually beheaded at the behest of his wife Sheryl and the band moved into I Love The Dead. But then Alice would escape, as the song Escaped kicked off. He seemed to be put away again, but there’s a solution for that – how do you get out of criminal charges? Get elected. (Ok that works most of the time, I guess) Elected ended the little story with Alice running for president, which he actually does every four years as a gag.

There was no long gap before the encore, as the band quickly shifted into School’s Out, which was an extended jam that also featured a portion of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall. Alice took time to introduce the band, his wife and himself. Nita honestly got the loudest reception of anyone, she has really staked a name for herself these past few years. The band then wound down School’s Out and that was it.

This was an amazing show, I’m very glad I finally got off my ass and went to see Alice Cooper. The crowd was very lively and into the show, it was impressive because I’ve seen some pretty lame ass crowds at Missouri shows in the past. But this all-ages group was very into Alice and was rocking the whole time. Alice Cooper has been at this for many, many years now and the guy still has it with no signs of slowing down.

I did snap a few pictures but from my bird’s nest view in the mostly dark my pics did not come out worth a damn. Thankfully my buddy Shawn was up far closer and got a few good ones, here’s one at the end of Elected.

Liam Gallagher – Knebworth ’22 (Album of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week4 Comments

This will be a quick and easy AOTW, this live set just hit shelves last Friday and it doesn’t require rocket surgery to have a listen and look at. An old warrior relives his glory days at the site of one of his biggest historic triumphs, getting the rare chance to live in the moment one more time.

Liam Gallagher – Knebworth ’22

Released August 11, 2023 via Warner Records

Oasis played two historic shows at Knebworth House in 1996. Those gigs were the apex of Oasis’ hype and popularity and are often seen as the zenith of the Britpop movement. In 2021 the Gallagher brothers released a live album and documentary about their Knebworth experience, and in 2022 Liam was booked as a solo act to rekindle the old magic again. Over 250,000 people attended the 1996 Oasis gigs, in 2022 Liam would play two nights to a total crowd of 170,000.

My recap of the Oasis Knebworth album and film can be found here.

Liam played his two shows in early June of ’22, just shy of 26 years after the Oasis sets. He would bring an assortment of material, both from his three-album deep solo catalog and several Oasis standards. While he played 21 songs each night, the album offers a slimmer version with 16 songs, with 9 Oasis songs and 7 Liam solo tunes. Most of the omissions aren’t really a big deal except for one which I’ll get to during the huge encore section. One song did get played on night one but not on night two – the solo single Shockwave, which is on this live package.

There was also an unfortunate omission from Liam’s band – he had often been joined the past few years by former Oasis mate Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs. Bonehead spent a good part of 2022 in treatment for cancer, which he was cleared of last September. He was unable to join Liam’s tour and Liam dedicated More Power to Bonehead at the shows.

The setlist for the live album is as follows:

Hello

Rock N’ Roll Star

Wall Of Glass

Shockwave

Everything’s Electric

Roll It Over

Slide Away

More Power

C’Mon You Know

The River

Once

Cigarettes And Alcohol

Some Might Say

Supersonic

Wonderwall

Champagne Supernova

The live set holds pretty constant through the performances – the songs are executed faithfully by the band, a few of them get an uptick in tempo due to the energy of the huge live performance. Liam holds serve pretty well through this long set. He does get a bit shouty in a few places but I think that’s a consequence of the music going hard as opposed to any issues he was having. Overall Liam sounds really good for someone who has a thyroid disease and had to re-find his voice in order to launch his solo career. He doesn’t get to some of the crazy performances he did in 1996 but his presentation here is well done.

The set jumps between solo songs and Oasis tracks for awhile, one interesting Oasis inclusion is Roll It Over from 2000. It’s not one I’d expect to be on a setlist for a huge show like this but the song works pretty well and is an under the radar pick for the set. Liam performs most of his solo singles here, when he gets to More Power he does a 4-song suite of his songs, concluding with his most renowned solo effort Once. He announces that Once is the last song, though there is one monster of an encore coming.

The encore is an all Oasis affair and kicks off with Cigarettes And Alcohol. That one is performed almost as a heavy metal or punk track, it goes heavy and hard. Some Might Say gets a bit similar treatment, while Supersonic is actually toned down a notch and has a psychedelic vibe to it that stands out even from old Oasis performances. Wonderwall is handled in great fashion, with Liam letting the crowd sing the chorus. The audience knew the words, not only to Wonderwall but most of the other songs, even Liam’s solo singles.

Champagne Supernova closes the night. Liam dedicates the song to his mom Peggy, who is in attendance. It doesn’t seem to be announced from the stage anywhere, at least on the album, but former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire makes a guest spot on the song, just as he did with Oasis at Knebworth in 1996. The album goes out with Liam thanking the crowd and then the guitar ringing out for about a minute after the band is done, apparently they have Nigel Tufnel’s old Fender with that famous sustain.

A few songs were left off, both Oasis cuts like Stand By Me and Liam’s solo songs like Why Me Why Not and Diamond In The Dark. None of those exclusions really bother me, this thing is a 76 minute long album as it is and I can understand making a few tough choices to keep packaging reasonable. But there is one notable exclusion from the Oasis encore section – Live Forever was performed both nights but didn’t wind up on the record. I would have loved to have that song on this album, but for whatever reason it wasn’t included.

The album is pretty well done, there are a few rather abrupt edits that I find odd for a label like Warner to leave on, they clearly cut something out between Liam honoring his mom and the actual start of Champagne Supernova and there are a few other spots that weren’t blended in that well. They aren’t major issues but they do stand out.

Overall Knebworth ’22 does a good job of capturing this historic performance. The atmosphere of an 85,000 strong crowd carries over through the audio, everything feels grand and heavy, like there’s literally electricity in the air. All the instruments sound good, the drums sound almost a little too good but that could just be how they set up to capture things, it’s not all that hard to get a great live sound recorded in the 2020’s. This one is more for the invested Oasis and Liam fan, though people who were in during the 1990’s might find the set a nice bit of nostalgia. It’s about as close to an actual Oasis reunion as we’re likely to get and this set does bring back a bit of that old Knebworth magic from way back when.

Sammy Hagar – This Planet’s On Fire (Song of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week5 Comments

The song pick this week is a track from Sammy Hagar’s fourth solo album Street Machine. This album hit in 1979 and was kind of a lull in Hagar’s career – he wouldn’t see true solo success until 1982 and Standing Hampton. But there were still plenty of worthy songs early on in Sammy’s first solo outing and today’s track is one of those.

This Planet’s On Fire (Burn In Hell) did get a singles release in the UK though it didn’t set the UK charts on fire. It would feature over 40 times in live setlists through the early 1980’s before Sammy joined Van Halen and ran off to mega-stardom. He does not appear to have played it since, though such setlist aggregation sites aren’t always accurate so I don’t know.

Today’s song is one of Sammy’s heavy metal-leaning tracks that he was very fond of doing. He had tried to keep Montrose in a metal direction in the early 1970’s, which led to his exit from that group. While Sammy often plied his trade in rock, he could be found exploring the emerging world of metal from time to time.

The standout part of this song is, of course, that riff. It is a roller coaster ride up and down the fretboard on this one. It will get a person to take notice, that’s for sure. There is also plenty of soloing in the wordless moments to keep the guitar lesson going. Hagar would revisit this style of running riff a few years down the line with the song I Don’t Need Love from Three Lock Box.

Lyrically the song is pretty easy to figure out – everything is messed up and everyone has punched their ticket to H-E-double hockey sticks. It doesn’t sound like a bad thing in this case – as with a lot of Sammy at his best, it’s a party all the way to the bottom. It’s not the same kind of Hell as in a preacher’s sermon or as depicted by about 666,666 black metal bands. Maybe it’s really more like Heck, I don’t know.

This song has kind of hung out in the lower rung of Sammy Hagar’s catalog. His time in Van Halen will always be the topic of discussion, and his solo stuff includes his big hit I Can’t Drive 55 and his more modern incarnation as a hard rock Jimmy Buffet. His brief stint with Montrose might garner more attention than a lot of his early solo career before ’82, even.

But Hagar’s early stuff has gained some notice. I know I was one of many to gravitate to this song the first time I heard it way back when. And I wasn’t the only one – in 2022, Dave Mustaine and Megadeth cut a cover version of it for certain versions of their album The Sick, They Dying … And The Dead! The cover featured vocals from Hagar as well.

This Planet’s On Fire may not have set the world on fire, but this is still top-notch stuff from the Red Rocker. It doesn’t get much better than this trip straight to Hell.

Oasis – My 20 Favorite Songs 10-1

On By bigbadburchIn Song Rankings7 Comments

Now on to part two of my list of favorite Oasis songs. If you missed the first part, head here to play catch up. No real further elaboration needed here so it’s right into my ten favorite tunes from the Gallagher brothers and their cohorts.

#10 – Rock N Roll Star

The opening track from the debut is a killer slice of rock music. This song spells out the dreams of Noel Gallagher in his early days of playing music and his ambitions for Oasis, dreams he would realize many times over. But before stardom hit he and Oasis were just a bunch of council estate lads from Manchester, dreaming as many of us do for a different kind of life. Even outside the song’s deeper meaning, this is just a great rock and roll tune, it’s exactly why I listen to this stuff.

#9 – D’ You Know What I Mean?

And now, the first single from Be Here Now, the 1997 album that came in with more hype than ever but fell a bit short of what were impossible expectations. This one is over 7 minutes long but every second of it works, even the oddball helicopter noises and Morse code stuff at the beginning. Musically this is really solid and slots in well with other Oasis anthems, lyrically it is all style and no substance but there’s some hidden lyrical gems in here. Some are borrowed from the Beatles, others are original quips. This one sums up the Oasis attitude really well.

#8 – The Masterplan

We now arrive to another B-side from Noel’s golden era of songwriting in 1995. This was originally the B-side to a single Oasis released called “Wonder Wall,” maybe you’ve heard of it. Noel cranked this song out because he needed another B-side for the single and when he was told that this was good enough to be on an album he didn’t listen. He should have, because this song is wonderful. Noel handles the vocals on this one about “coming of age” or even just accepting where you are at whatever point in life and doing what you please. It’s also worth watching the Knebworth ’96 documentary to see the part where this song features, it’s a very touching piece of the film.

#7 – Slide Away

It’s back to the debut album again, it’s almost like there are a lot of really good songs on that one or something. This is an actual love song, something Noel wrote for an old girlfriend. It’s a wonderful song musically, and also Liam totally kills it singing this one. And for the last mention of Knebworth on this list – the second night’s performance of Slide Away is the highlight of the concerts and an absolutely splendid rendition. But you’ll have to seek it out on your own, I’m posting the studio track here because it’s easier to find and I’m lazy.

#6 – Cigarettes & Alcohol

Again from the debut record and one of its singles. The pace is kept down here but the track just oozes rock and roll sleaze. The song gets at the heart of stuff like cigarettes and alcohol – they are small distractions from a dull and dismal life of work and being on the low end of the earning scale. I suppose the true meaning could be missed, though it’s kind of right there out in the open. Even if the topic is a bummer, the song itself is a great jam that gets the spirits moving.

#5 – Columbia

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned the album yet in this series, but this song comes from the debut Oasis record Definitely Maybe. Columbia was originally intended as an instrumental cut to use as intro music but the band later decided to add words to it. As with many good Oasis songs, the words here aren’t saying much and especially on Columbia there really isn’t shit here lyrically. But the song is absolutely great, it is a total vibe setter and is just cool and awesome. It’s kind of like pro wrestling entrance music for a hipster.

#4 – Morning Glory

This did NOT come from the debut album, I’ll let you guess which album it’s off of. Oasis had their share of banging song and this one is the mother of all bangers. This one rocks asses off, something a lot of people probably didn’t realize Oasis were capable of. The song is about drugs and specifically cocaine, something the members of Oasis have masters degrees in.

#3 – Live Forever

Yes it’s also from the debut album. Noel wrote this one earlier on and it’s when he and others realized that he was on to something more than the average chap looking to make it in music. This was meant as a response to the depressing nature of grunge, the music of the day back then. This one is just a beautiful song, it says about all there needs to be said. It’s pretty easy to see why this song has resonated with so many people.

#2 – Don’t Look Back In Anger

Back to the second record for one of the many singles from it. It’s another majestic song, wonderfully composed and performed. Noel took the vocals on this one, a choice that gets questioned to this day but it still worked out just fine. There is a nice message to the song about letting go and moving forward, and yet also the song is full of mind-twisting riddles through the lyrics. It all just works so well and it’s a masterpiece of a tune.

I have previously discussed this on in greater detail on my S-Tier songs series.

#1 – Champagne Supernova

At the top of my mountain of Oasis songs is this long, trippy cut from the second album. This song is such a trip and a journey, can’t say where exactly you wind up but it is worth the ride. I really got into Oasis when I first heard this one, I’m pretty sure my actual reaction was “WTF was that?” This isn’t a song with some message or even a meaning, it means whatever the listener needs or wants it to mean. What it means to me is over seven minutes of pure enjoyment.

That does it for my favorite Oasis tracks. Feel free to offer your own personal favorites below. I will tackle an Oasis album ranking at some point but I have a few others lined up first so it’ll be a little while. Until then, head to the nearest dive bar, ask for a Champagne Supernova as a drink, and see what you get.

Oasis – My 20 Favorite Songs 20 – 11

On By bigbadburchIn Song Rankings7 Comments

And now, nearly two years into this website blogging thing I’ve been doing, it’s time to finally spit out a favorite songs list. I intended to start this way back when but just never got around to it. It’s not really hard to do so I don’t know what the hang up was. But there’s no time like the present so here we go.

I’ve chosen to tackle Oasis first. I wrote about them a bunch when I started this but haven’t got a ton into them lately. When I was debating on exactly how many songs I was going to post I wound up with being able to fill 20 spots, so I’ll go with that. I’m going to split this into two parts. There isn’t a ton of writing on these but the YouTube clips take up a bit of space and I want to keep things kind of clean.

So the first 10 will be up today then the top 10 will be tomorrow. Pretty simple concept so off we go.

20 – Gas Panic!

This track hails from the band’s fourth album, 2000’s Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants. The album as a whole had a psychedelic vibe and this song benefited greatly from it. It’s actually about Noel Gallagher having panic attacks which were attributed to his drug use and the music fits a drug trip sort of thing perfectly. I’d kind of passed on Oasis after their mid-90’s glory days but this one is a gem from their life after the peak.

19 – The Shock Of The Lightning

This one comes from the final Oasis album Dig Out Your Soul which hit in 2008. Oasis actually had a bit of a late-life comeback just before their 2009 implosion and this single was fair part of that. It rocks pretty hard, gives off vibes of the classic Oasis while still hanging out in that trippy territory they’d done quite a bit in through the 2000’s. This one made it easy to get a bit excited about them again, though fate had other plans.

18 – My Big Mouth

First appearing live at the legendary Knebworth 1996 gigs, this song got its studio version on 1997’s Be Here Now. This one is a total banger and it addresses the Gallagher brothers’ reputation for having big mouths. This did nothing to shut them up, it was just a song they sang, but this was a good cut. This is one where I do prefer the Knebworth live presentation a bit to the studio track but the studio cut is still really good.

17 – The Hindu Times

It’s on now to Heathen Chemistry from 2002 and the lead single from that record. While the album was all over the place, this song was a good lead off and probably the strongest song from the record, though not the most well-known. This is a light, cheery and a bit of a trippy song. Noel named the track based on a t-shirt he saw in a shop but the lyrics were written later and have no connection to the title. But it’s no matter, this is a really good one.

16 – Lyla

Up next is the lead single from Don’t Believe The Truth released in 2005. This is a simple, fun song about a gal who is really great or something. It’s not a love song per se, more of just this person is generally awesome kind of thing. This one really has the vibe of Oasis getting it right and is one of the best singles of their 2000’s era.

15 – Wonderwall

And here we are. I know that music is relative and subjective, and that a lot of people don’t have exposure to a lot of things that seem common to others. But if you haven’t heard this song you’ve literally been living under a rock since 1995. The most secluded of hermits have heard Wonderwall.

This was the mega hit that still rings loud and clear 28 years later. It might be overplayed but that doesn’t really affect my opinion of it much. This was a very well-done song and there’s a reason it got so popular. I’m honestly never upset to hear it, no matter how many times I already have.

14 – Acquiesce

This one originally appeared as a B-side to Some Might Say in 1995, then this got its own single release ahead of The Masterplan compilation in 1998. It features both Liam and Noel singing, with Liam handling the verses and Noel on the chorus. This is one where the studio version is very good and this easily could have been an album track, but the Knebworth live performance of this really puts it over the top. That raw, energetic version is massive and a must-listen.

13 – Supersonic

The first of probably more than one from the red hot debut Definitely Maybe, this is a total hard rock ass kicker. The lyrics are straight up nonsense and great fun and the song is just a magical trip to where the hell ever. While many think of Oasis as a one hit wonder, they clearly had more up their sleeves, even from the word go.

12 – Cast No Shadow

The second pick here from the band’s magnum opus (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? Oasis were not a band prone to a lot of sad songs, and even when they did go that route they were often sweet and sentimental about it. But here they did pursue the more forlorn path of outright despair, offering a dirge about a hard luck guy. The song was inspired by and dedicated to Richard Ashcroft of The Verve, someone who had his fair share of knocks through the 90’s music scene. This was a bit of a thematic departure for Oasis but this is more my kind of sad song, generally speaking.

11 – Some Might Say

The first part of the list wraps up with another of the many singles from WTSMG. This is a pretty nice alt-rock track at mid-pace that also has some fun with strings of words that don’t really say a hell of a lot, though there’s also some bits of common wisdom in there too. This song often gets overlooked by the heavyweights it’s paired with on the album but people really shouldn’t sleep on this one.

That nails down the first part of the list. The top ten will be known tomorrow. Part II is now live.

Neil Young – Ordinary People (Song of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week5 Comments

Last week I finished off my Iron Maiden singles series with the 18-minute whopper Empire Of The Clouds. While throwing that together I was reminded of another 18-minute slugfest so that one gets the spot as the Song of the Week.

Neil Young originally composed this song in 1988 just after releasing This Note’s For You. The song theoretically was available for the album Freedom a year later, which was Young’s huge commercial comeback, but it was shelved because Young was concerned the audience might not take to the horn section.

Ordinary People got aired out some live over the years but did not see a studio version until 2007. The album Chrome Dreams II comprised a few older cuts as well as new material and the mammoth song finally got a release in 2007. The name of this album even calls back to old, unreleased Young material – the original Chrome Dreams was ready in 1976 but was shelved and its songs appeared in different forms elsewhere. The album sat for 47 years and is just now about to be released on August 11th of 2023. But that’s not today’s concern, there’s more than enough to talk about.

The song runs for 18:12. That’s a pretty vast undertaking and not something that hordes of music fans would be into, but Neil Young always marches to the beat of his own drummer so this isn’t something out of bounds for him. Hell, Chrome Dreams II has another 14 minute long song on it, No Hidden Path. It was even nominated for a Grammy in 2009.

Ordinary People comprises 9 verses over the course of its run. The song operates on the same formula the entire time – a verse that winds up with a bit of a chorus-like reprise at the end, then a bit of instrumental jam. That’s really all the song does for 18 minutes is repeat this process. There are no interludes, no movements in arrangement or anything like that. It’s just a straight jam all the way through.

The question becomes – does it work? It’s extremely long, it runs the same ground all the way through without the kinds of movements that most “long song” purveyors employ, and hell, it doesn’t even have a chorus. But, as it stands, yeah, the song is pretty good. It hooks you in pretty quickly with its rhythm that becomes almost hypnotic as the song goes along. Each spot between the verses holds a bit of horn and guitar jamming and it’s worth it to check out what’s going on through those passages.

And the verses serve to pay tribute to the title of the song – the ordinary people. Each verse is its own little story about someone screwing over the common people or maybe actually helping them out. Young offers up some choice phrases that he revisits later in the song, “patch of ground” people is one that really sticks out and also sums up the experience. It does honor the hardship and perseverance of not being one of the “silver spoon” people.

The song would be quite a feat to pull off live, especially given how much would have to be cut to fit it in. But Neil has managed 8 performances of it, all from 1988 and ’89, according to setlist.fm. The sites accuracy might be off too, especially going back to gigs that old, so it’s possible this got aired out a few more times. There is at least one recorded live performance found in Young’s insanely extensive archives series, that version runs more brief at 12 minutes and the band shifted up the verses some for that version.

The concept is something that honestly shouldn’t work. If someone pitched to me the idea of just playing roughly the same stuff over and over for 18 minutes without any breaks in the action or major shifts in the song to keep things fresh I would dismiss the idea out of hand. But here we are with just that and it’s something I enjoy quite a bit. Neil Young does exactly whatever the hell he wants, of course, and if he wants to play for 18 minutes then let him have at it.

Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine (Album of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Album of the Week4 Comments

It’s a well-told story by this point – rock music changed forever in 1991. What had been was gone and, no matter nostalgia movements, there was no going back. But the story around rock and 1991 leaves out a lot, including the huge buildup to “alternative” rock before ’91. Rock always had an alt side and several acts were already breaking the surface even before the fateful summer of grunge.

But for all the twists and turns rock and metal would take in the early 1990’s, one of the most influential artists of the era would get his start a few years sooner, in 1989.

Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine

Released October 20, 1989 via TVT Records

My Favorite Tracks – Sin, Head Like A Hole, Terrible Lie

Nine Inch Nails was the brainchild of Trent Reznor, who would be the band’s only member for the recording of the debut album. Reznor was able to record for free in a studio in Cleveland, Ohio; where he worked during the day then was allowed to do his recording at no cost.

The music here can bear multiple descriptors and still be pretty accurate. It is inudstrial, though far more rooted in conventional rock than many legacy industrial acts. It can easily be called electronic rock, though such a term doesn’t really mean much other than synthesizers and like instruments were used. And this was certainly alternative, in that it didn’t sound like much of anything else that was going on at the time. Yet, anyway.

Trent Reznor was the only musician involved in the bulk of recording Pretty Hate Machine, though others contributed spot appearances. The album was produced by a committee though, with Reznor and four others earning production credits. Among those was Flood, who had a long career in engineering and was now stepping up into production and whose future would be entwined with Nine Inch Nails’ rise.

The original issue of Pretty Hate Machine was 10 tracks at 48 minutes. A 2010 reissue includes a Queen cover and there are some other odd editions that comprise bonus tracks taken from the album’s many single releases, but today I’ll stick with the OG tracklist.

Head Like A Hole

Opening the album is the earliest NIN signature song and the album’s second single. This one comes in with synthesizer action but also sticks to a conventional rock formation, this song is probably as close as it gets to heavy metal on the first album. The verses spell out the presence of God Money, the true all holy presence that runs everything, then the chorus ramps up and lashes out, its refrain “I’d rather die than give you control” being a very recognizable shout from over 30 years prior.

Head Like A Hole has remained a NIN staple since release and is the band’s most played live song. Note that the music video features a remix of the song, though it is not radically different from the album cut.

Terrible Lie

It’s on to another NIN staple cut, this one wasn’t a single but has been in wide circulation anyway. This one keeps a slower pace but does still hit pretty hard. It’s one that sounds mostly more conventional though it still features plenty of synth and electronic programming. This one sees Reznor questioning god and religion, something he would not stop with here. Though this one is far less blasphemous and pointed than subsequent forays on the topic would be. This one is more about the disconnect between promise and reality, and the desire to cling to the fantasy.

Down In It

Up next is another album single and also the first song Reznor wrote for NIN. This one sees Trent showing off some rap skills and also goes very hard on the electronic side of things. Reznor has said that the song is a complete rip-off of Dig It, a 1986 track from influential act Skinny Puppy. And yeah he’s right about that.

The song is about what a lot of this album is, which is late teenage heartbreak and angst. It was based on an early relationship of Reznor’s and while the song is general enough to apply to a lot of things, the relationship angle is an obvious one. Also, the end of the song literally uses the “Rain, Rain Go Away” nursery rhyme for whatever reason. Kind of funny.

There is a funny story about how the FBI became involved with lost footage from the music video, but the story is lengthy so I’ll save it for another time. It’s widely available on Wikipedia and elsewhere for the super curious.

Sanctified

Here is a more atmospheric track that employs the electric elements to great effect. It couples the idea of relationships with the holy elements of purification, as though one is ascending or cleansing through the act of being with someone. Reznor has mentioned that the “relationship” might actually be one with drugs, though the song works quite well in the more conventional context of relationships.

Something I Can Never Have

A more quite ballad, and one that’s very forlorn. This revolves around love and loss, the unobtainable and the loss of what was. Reznor would showcase a special talent for this quiet electronic ballad style over the years, of course the culmination of that is a tale for later. This song got used for the soundtrack to Natural Born Killers, which Reznor produced.

Kinda I Want To

“Nine Inch Nails” and “fun” aren’t often words used in the same sentence but here on the debut we have a bit of it. It’s more upbeat, though still a bit twisted. I know nothing about dancing but I’m sure people could dance to this. This song centers around being tempted by something and the struggle around it, though honestly it sounds like the decision to go for it is already made. There’s no telling what the actual temptation is here – sex, drugs, slot machines, take your pick.

Sin

Up next is the album’s third single and my favorite from the record. Sin is, in its original form, a bit of a dance-pop tune, though with a theme and lyrics with a much darker bent. This song was remixed extensively, several versions exist and it’s done in a different style live, with less “fun” synth and more dark tones.

Sin is about what you would think a song named Sin is about on a NIN album. It does specifically deal with what sounds like an inadequate person in a relationship who’s caught in a power dynamic and is just fodder for their partner.

There is a music video for Sin, but it features a lot of sin and isn’t around on the usual video services. It’s around in other places for the sinfully curious.

That’s What I Get

This song turns down the intensity for awhile. It opens with a very weird yet compelling noise accent, then gets very quiet through the verses as Trent laments being cheated on. The song’s second half picks it up a bit but it’s still fairly minimal.

The Only Time

As the album winds down here’s another one that’s a bit minimal but is a fair bit louder than the track prior. This one is also kind of “fun” and deals yet again with being tempted by someone and all the feelings that go along with that for a young, naive person.

Ringfinger

The closer is a bit of an electro jam, with a fair bit of synth going on that’s more of the musical main event than an accent. Lyrically this tackles the “bliss” of marriage, as the title would indicate. There’s a small section with a very twisted electronic riff that would become a NIN staple going forward.

Pretty Hate Machine was a solid debut that would kick-start the legend of Nine Inch Nails. The album would chart very modestly on Billboard at 75, though word of mouth spread news of this new act around and the band caught fire. The album would eventually be certified triple platinum. Reznor would form a band for touring, the early live incarnation of NIN included Robert Patrick, who would go on to start Filter a few years later and land some hits of his own.

The word on Nine Inch Nails spread fairly quickly, by 1992 they were a fixture on MTV and elsewhere. It was also a pretty diverse crowd checking them out – the goth kids, industrial and synth-pop fans, metalheads and rockers, and hip-hop fans all came along for the ride. Axl Rose was one very famous early NIN adopter and he would take the group on a Guns N’ Roses European tour.

By the time 1995 rolled around Nine Inch Nails was one of music’s most unique and awe-inspiring acts, and the use of electronic/industrial music would seep its way into heavy rock for the rest of the decade. While it’s easy to pick on the emotionally immature themes of Pretty Hate Machine, something everyone including Trent Reznor does, the album still resonates with fans to this day and several songs are auto-includes on a setlist that now has a ton of material to pull from.

Sure, it was grunge in 1991 that symbolically changed music forever, but Trent Reznor had his own hand in shaping the future with his unexpected debut in 1989. Things would not be the same and Nine Inch Nails were a huge part of the new machine.

Mr. Mister – Broken Wings (Song of the Week)

On By bigbadburchIn Song Of The Week9 Comments

I’m going back to the wonderful world of 80’s pop rock for this week’s song pick. Mr. Mister had a brief but successful career and this was one of two mega hits for the group. It was an age where synthesizers and technology were all over music, and Mr. Mister did not squander the opportunity to create something out of it.

Mr. Mister was the brainchild of Richard Page and Steve George, who had a project called Pages in the late ’70’s that didn’t gain much traction. The pair spent the next few years as session musicians for a number of pop luminaries, then formed Mr. Mister to give it another go on their own. They were joined again by their friend John Lang, who did not play in the band but provided lyrics. This time they’d garner a lot more notice.

Broken Wings hails from the group’s second album, Welcome To The Real World, released in late November 1985. While Broken Wings was released as a lead single a few months prior, it would gain hold of the top of the charts in December ’85, and the next single Kyrie would do the same.

Today’s song is a pretty simple one – musically it’s a pop rock thing, perhaps even new wave to some degree, I don’t know. It is electronic based with a lot of delays on the guitars, synth stuff and electronic drums going on. It’s not an “organic” rock song, which personally is fine by me, I’m up for something different once in awhile.

Lyrically the song is pretty easy to grasp – like, get up and fly. It does have a bit of depth to it, this isn’t some vapid pop experience. There’s a longing for a relationship and better times in the song, then the chorus with its motivational “fly again” is a pretty uplifting thing. The song does keep a pretty melancholy tone through it, which is probably why I like it.

There is an interesting quirk lyrically – the line from the chorus “Take these broken wings and learn to fly” is identical to one found in a Beatles song, Blackbird. This was not meant as an homage to the Beatles – rather, lyricist John Lang had read the 1912 book Broken Wings by Kahil Gibran and used that as inspiration. It was described as a totally unintentional aping of Paul McCartney’s lyrics. I don’t recall any controversy over it, but also I was 8 at the time so I probably wouldn’t have noticed, they didn’t air music news during episodes of G.I. Joe.

Mr. Mister scored big with their twin number one singles, but success wouldn’t linger for long. Their next album did not move a lot of copies and their 1990 album Pull was recorded but didn’t interest the label and the band broke up. That album wound up being released a whopping 20 years later. Mr. Mister did not reunite at all, though the members have collaborated on various other projects in the years since.

Broken Wings has remained on airwaves in many forms since its release, through movies and TV, as well as video games. In fact, the inspiration for this post was me hearing the song on my latest playthrough of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, where Broken Wings takes up residence with several other pretty damn good songs on the soft rock station Emotion. After the heavy metal pounding of V-Rock, Emotion is probably my next-favorite station on the game.

This song holds up pretty well far outside of the shine of the 1980’s. Of course, that’s just my opinion. But I think Mr. Mister landed a pretty damn good tune with this hit.

For my two parter on the music of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, check out the links below

Part 1 – The Music of Vice City

Part 2 – V Rock