Classic Rock Song of the Day (Deep Cuts now being featured!!)

[Orbert]

Monolith and Audi-Visions are both a bit inconsistent, but, man, there are still some terrific songs on both of those records.

Audi-Visions?




Yes, there are some good songs in the next few albums.  A friend of mine had Monolith and I heard it a few times.  It was the first album of theirs that had tracks I wanted to skip, and that was back in the LP days when you couldn't really do that.  Today, I could pick up the CD and just skip those same tracks, or just not rip them in the first place (since I do all my listening on my iPod anyway), but basically I'd moved on by then.  I never picked up Audio-Visions, but I've heard that it too has some good songs.  I'm still an album guy, though, and always will be.

[KevShmev]

Damn it.

Audio-Visions!!!!  That is worth getting just for Relentless, although nowadays you can just go buy it for a buck at iTunes or amazon, which I would do immediately.  Terrific song, with a great guitar solo.

re: Monolith, A Glimpse of Home and On the Other Side are two of my favorite Kansas songs, and Away from You and Angels Have Fallen are both pretty darn good, as well.

[Orbert]

I listened to "On the Other Side" recently; I'm trying to remember how.  Good song.

Yeah, like I said, there are some good songs, but I really have trouble buy singles from any artist or band.  That's a slippery slope.

[KevShmev]

Eh, I don't see how.  Why rob yourself of listening to some good songs just because they might be on albums that otherwise aren't that great?

[Orbert]

If I buy singles, I'm paying real money for a collection of bits that, when played back using the appropriate software, through the appropriate hardware, make music.  I won't do that.  I have to have something physical for my money.  I won't pay money for a bunch of bits.

Yes, that's an old-fashioned and out-of-touch-with-reality attitude, but it's where I am.  I haven't yet made the jump to buying music in digital-only form, and I probably won't (especially when there are free alternatives).

Also, I'm not "robbing" myself of anything.  No one has taken anything away from me, including myself.  I just haven't paid money for the privilege of listening to a song.

[KevShmev]

I used to be the same way, so I know where you are coming from, but, given that the few physical CDs I still buy a year merely sit on my CD case and collect dust since I rip them to my computer and I end up always listening to the HQ mp3s of them, I finally changed my way of thinking a few years ago.  Hell, even the new Transatlantic and Flower Kings CDs, I only bought the mp3s of them online, when years ago I would have bought the physical CDs the second they were available since they are two of my favorite bands.

[Orbert]

But the album art and liner notes.

You're right, though.  I'm sitting here with three stacks of CDs in front of me that were ripped and never even returned to the CD rack.  Some were never there in the first place.  There's dust on them.  What can I say?  I'm an old-fashioned guy.  Also lazy.

[theseoafs]

If I buy singles, I'm paying real money for a collection of bits that, when played back using the appropriate software, through the appropriate hardware, make music. 

Records and CD's only make music if you have the appropriate hardware too.

I have to have something physical for my money.  I won't pay money for a bunch of bits.

Records and CD's are just a bunch of grooves.  The bits have the same information as the grooves, just in a different physical format.

[Orbert]

Oh come on, you know what I mean.  If something happens to my hard drive, I still have my CDs and can re-rip everything.  If all I had in the first place is an mp3 file, it's gone.  Yes, I make backups, but bits aren't just a different physical format; they're virtual.

Anyway, inspired by this conversation, I downloaded and listened to Monolith and Audio-Visions.  They're better than I remembered.  I think the problem is that there's not much new to them.  A lot of the songs reminded me pretty specifically of other songs from previous albums.  Here's the Robbie Steinhardt badass song.  Here's that bomp-bomp, bomp-bomp rhythm we first heard in "Icarus".  Here's the upbeat one that sounds like "Can I Tell You" or maybe "Bringing it Back" depending on whether it's sung solo or in harmony.

They were repeating themselves, a lot.  Pretty much the same issue I had with Boston past the first album.  Great sound, good stuff, but at some point you realize that that's all they have to say.  Kansas continued to expand and surprise me for five albums; that's better than a lot of bands do.  And if you love that and want more of the same, here it is.  I can understand that.  I'll listen to the same Yes and Genesis albums over and over, even the "lesser" ones, because I love it.  Kansas is good stuff, but if I need a Kansas fix, I'll reach for Leftoverture or Point of Know Return.  Maybe Song for America.  I just can't see myself ever thinking "I think I'll put on Monolith."

[KevShmev]

Well, while we're on the subject of proggy bands doing catchy tunes that were classic rock staples...

Emerson Lake & Palmer - From the Beginning

What an utterly fantastic song this is.  This is one of those songs I could listen to every day and never get tired of it; it is that awesome.  For as crazy and bombastic as ELP could be, their ability to write and perform a song like this, one that is soooo melodic and features no overplaying on either solo, is a big reason why I am such a fan.  Definitely a song in my book.

[Orbert]

One of my favorite ELP songs.  Definitely my favorite Greg Lake song.

[KevShmev]

Jethro Tull - Locomotive Breath

Another great song by Tull, one that has aged really well (like most of the Aqualung album).  This is such a classic rock mainstay that it was actually number 1 once on KSHE's local Rock and Roll 500 (an annual thing they do on Memorial Day weekend).  Other number 1s over the years that I remember are Stairway to Heaven, Tom Sawyer, Time, Won't Get Fooled Again and Dream On, so that is pretty good company to be in.  The only drawback to it being number 1 was that they must have been pressed for time or something, because by the time they got to it, they cut out the piano intro.   My thought, of course, was, if this song was good enough to be number 1, then why wasn't it good enough to be played in full (considering it is less than 5 minutes)?  But whatever.

[Orbert]

Great song.  The piano intro is really, really quiet, and when it comes around when I'm shuffling on my iPod, I always have to crank it and start the song over again.  I wouldn't be surprised if some radio stations have a "broadcast friendly" version with the volume equalized a bit.  That's the only reason I can think of to skip it, because yeah, the song isn't that long.  Okay, I guess the other reason is because you can barely hear anything anyway until the fast part starts.

My buddy's wife found out that I play the flute and requested that we play some Jethro Tull, and this is the one we picked.  It works because there's the piano intro, then the piano basically cuts out until the jam at the end, and I can switch to flute for the solo.  People always think that's cool.  It's a fun song to play.

[jingle.boy]

Good song, but it's not even the best on this album, so I gotta say it's BEYOND a stretch to put it at #1 on any countdown except "Jethro Tull songs that start with Locomotive"

[KevShmev]

True, but KSHE always juggled songs around from year to year, as opposed to having the relative same order every year, which would make it boring.  Basically, it was an excuse to play 500 of the best rock songs ever; the order didn't necessarily matter.

Cool story, too, Orbert.

[KevShmev]

Well, in keeping with the spirit of the April Fool's theme and all that...

Queen - Flash's Theme

I am not even sure I'd call this a classic rock mainstay, but what the hell, I have to put it somewhere, right?  The song is sort of catchy, but I can't say I ever have the urge to listen to it. 

[hefdaddy42]

 

DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE

[bosk1]

Good song.  I never had the album, so I didn't listen to it much, but it is catchy and pure Queen.

[Orbert]

I'm sure the Flash Gordon soundtrack is a great album, since it's full of Queen music, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy that one.  The movie itself is one of those "so bad it's good" movies, though it does have a genuinely great moments.  Oh yeah, the song.  Good song.

[jingle.boy]

You know, now that I think about it, I think this might have been one of the first movies I saw in the theater sans parent.  Went with my older brother and some other neighborhood friends.  The theme song was the only thing I remember about it.  Not a terrible song, but I probably only enjoy it for nostalgic purposes.

[masterthes]

great short Queen tune. Love the drum beat

[KevShmev]

Rush - Closer to the Heart

Definitely one of the band's most played classic rock tunes.  I admittedly was burned out on this song for years, but I've come back around to really loving it again.  It's such a simple and lovely song, and when you consider what else the band was writing in the 70s, it really stands out as pretty unique in their catalogue.  And it showed back then, even when they were knee deep in prog rock, that they could write a great simple song with a great melody.

[jingle.boy]

Different Stages absolutely killed the studio version for me.  That jam absolutely rendered the studio version unlistenable for me.

Top 10 Rush tune, despite it being one of their shorter ones.

[Orbert]

I have mixed feelings about this one, mostly because I was familiar with the album before the song became a big hit.  A Farewell to Kings was something of a turning point for Rush, and a lot of fans thought the title might be something of a "secret message" or at least have a double meaning in that Rush was clearly embracing keyboards as part of their sound, they were coming off a huge double live album that put them on the map, and were saying farewell to... something, and moving on to the next phase.

The title track heralded that change by introducing a theme on the synth almost right off the bat.   And then it ends in a slightly odd way both musically and lyrically with the line "closer to the heart".  It seems to come out of nowhere, but whatever, it's a cool phrase.

Then Side Two opens with a song actually called "Closer to the Heart".  And the lyrics don't really make a lot of sense, but they seem to consists mostly of

Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart, yeah
Closer to the heart

(okay, we get it)

Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart

Also, it's yet another song where the first part is mellow, then the second part is just a heavier version of what you just heard.  Rush had already done that a few times, and here it was again.

In isolation, I suppose there's nothing really wrong with the song, but it's always been one of the "lesser" Rush songs to me.

[Cool Chris]

I went on a retreat in my junior year of high school (Jesuit school) and this song was the 'theme.' So it was played at the beginning of, and at the end of, every group gathering. It was cool at first for us few Rush fans there (this would have been 1993, and most people in the PNW were all in to grunge). But I heard the song so much for those 3 days, I couldn't listen to it at all for a long, long time.

[jjrock88]

My favorite Trailer Park Boys episode had Rush in it.  Bubbles and Alex nail Closer to the Heart at the end of the show, which is what the episode was called

[KevShmev]

Eddie Money - Shakin'

I've always been amused that the line, "Her tits were shakin' till the middle of the night," was never edited for the radio, at least not here.   Good song, and pretty darn catchy. 

[Orbert]

I don't like most Eddie Money tunes.  Things like "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Baby, Hold On" don't last more than a few seconds on my radio if I happen to stumble upon them.  The uptempo ones are usually okay, including this one.  It is catchy.  Seems like it was kinda later-era Eddie, if I recall correctly.

I never listened that closely to the lyrics, except during the break.  If that's the line, then yeah, pretty cool.

[Jaq]

Every lyric I ever found for that song lists it as "we did some shakin' til the middle of the night." Even back then when the only place to get lyrics was the dying lyric section of Hit Parader.

But by god it SOUNDS like it's talking about her tits. 

[KevShmev]

It's tits; I just listened again and there is no way it is anything but.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I have always thought it was Jaq's "did some" version.  Regardless, every single time my band has played it, for years, I sang the "tits" version. 

[King Postwhore]

Dammit guys!  I was a teen then and I knew damn well her "Tits" were shakin'    My penis told me so.

[masterthes]

I don't like most Eddie Money tunes.  Things like "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Baby, Hold On" don't last more than a few seconds on my radio if I happen to stumble upon them.  The uptempo ones are usually okay, including this one.  It is catchy.  Seems like it was kinda later-era Eddie, if I recall correctly.

I never listened that closely to the lyrics, except during the break.  If that's the line, then yeah, pretty cool.

So, does that mean you like "Take Me Home Tonight" then?

[Orbert]

Ugh, no.  The uptempo ones are usually okay, but not that one.

[KevShmev]

The Tubes - Talk to Ya Later

I remember this song, but I had no clue who it was by until a few years ago, and was shocked to discover that it was by the same band that did She's a Beauty, an MTV staple when I was growing up, a couple years later.  It's a pretty good song, and I can see why classic rock radio embraced it, but I can't say I'd ever go out of my way to hear it.