Shake It Up #2

(song links to be added later)

Satellite – Guster

Great song, the vocals are very 60’s garage and the music is full of jangle and tasteful guitar licks with a great bass line. Nothing to complain about here.

Midnight - Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani proved one thing with his music, the more talented a guitarist who can “shred” the less shredding they actually do. This is not a song about playing his guitar as fast as he can this is a short instrumental that very quickly builds, climaxes and then closes itself out. Very effective for just playing the guitar for 1:43

Foreplay/Longtime – Boston

One of Boston’s best. Boston is one of those bands that recorded every thing Loud with a capital L. I mean they are louder then Deep Purple! The great guitar tone and the sing-a-long lyrics make this a classic.

The Fame- Lady GaGa

One thing I love about Lady GaGa is she uses guitars, not the cliché electronic beats that plague most dance music. Sure the drum machines are boring dance rhythm but they are topped with the most interesting sounds; from electronic bleeps to effective guitar loops.

You Love The Thunder – Jackson Browne

I have heard a lot of people express hate towards Jackson Brown and then exalt the Eagles in the same breath. This I don’t get unless your prefer Eagles songs like the sterile (but rockin’) Life in the Fast Lane instead of the delightful Take it Easy (actually written by Browne). This song is very indicative of Browne’s style. Tasteful country rock with plenty of piano and slide guitar in tasteful manageable amounts.

Laissez-Moi Tranquille – Warren Zevon

A song completely in French…that is really good, and it isn’t just nonsense words either. The titles means “leave me alone” and I put the rest of the lyrics into a translator and while they didn’t perfectly translate and looked a little off I could get the general gist of the song. Man that takes talent to write a song in a language you are not a native speaker of.

Would? – Alice in Chains

I think this song is overrated. It is plodding and dark sounding sure but that is all it is. I really have little else to say about it. An ok song not worth much attention.

Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine – Elvis Presley

Not the best indicator of what Elvis is all about. Pleasant rockabilly with a rollicking melody but pretty weak compared to some other prime Elvis tunes.

Catch the Rainbow – Rainbow

All I need to say about early Rainbow songs are, Richie Blackmore on Guitar and Ronnie Dio on vocals…What more do you want from an early Metal Band? This one is moody and atmospheric instead of loud and riff filled but that shows that they are not one trick ponies.

Born Under the Wrong Sign – Nazareth

This is a great dark funk number. Nazareth will always be known for their cover of “Love Hurts” which is great and one of the good power ballads, but they are so much more then that. This song is off their most diverse album and is one of my personal favorites, echoey guitars , talkboxes, over a very professional and funky

Top10 Albums of 2009: #8

8.) The Fame Monster Deluxe Edition (includes The Fame)-Lady GaGa
Best Song: On The Fame Monster: Teeth
On The Fame: Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Could Say).


Wait, Wait, WAIT!! Before you go get a pitchfork for me putting Lady GaGa above a group I called the successors of The Who let me explain myself. Lady GaGa is actually a great artist, a brutal force in the mainstream pop industry something that has been missing on the scene for quite a while. She is not dumb. She knows exactly how much spot light she wants and knows how to market herself. But all this would be meaningless if the songs weren’t good. And if you are willing to let a fusion of dance music and glam rock tendencies to infect you ears you will be bobbing your head like there is no tomorrow.

Of course if you are looking for sincere heart tugging from your music you are in the wrong place. This is music to groove, not be breath taken by. The fact that not a single track on either album seems uninspired or cliché amazes me since that is how I feel about most dance music. (I am kind of cheating cause the second disc is her first album from last year) on The Fame Monster the song “Teeth” reminds me of Fleetwood Mac’s “Tusk” but only in the fact that they are both these primal romps that grab you. Also great is the hilarious ABBA like “Alejandro”. As for The Fame, make sure you don’t miss the very pleasant and charming (musically at least) “Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Could Say)”; the part that goes “cherry, cherry, boom, boom” just puts a smile on my face.