Volume 18, Track 4
“Happy” by The Rolling Stones (1972) Keith Richards has sung lead vocals on about a dozen Stones songs over the years[1] and while you may be more familiar with “Before They Make Me Run” (off of Some Girls) it is “Happy” that is probably the best song that he was the lead on[2]. In its [...]
Volume 18, Track 3
“Sweet Virginia” by The Rolling Stones (1972) I do not think I can properly assemble the right string of words to explain how much I love this song. The previous sentence is not an admission of defeat but rather a preface that this post will be unabashedly and wholly subjective. “Sweet Virginia” is a mellow [...]
Volume 18, Track 2
“Rip This Joint” by The Rolling Stones (1972) “Rip This Joint,” the second track on Exile On Main St., is at its core like a late ’50′s/early ’60′s style rock song except that it is louder and more full-bodied. The opening riff, if it wasn’t so heavy and instead was played higher or with more [...]
Volume 18, Track 1
“Rocks Off” by The Rolling Stones (1972) Say what you want about The Rolling Stones (insert any complaints you may have with the band here) but one thing is really not up for debate: they know how to start an album. “Gimme Shelter” starts Let It Bleed, “Sympathy For The Devil” starts Beggar’s Banquet, “Brown [...]
Volume 18 Introduction
“Well you can’t say yes, and you can’t say no Just be right there when the whistle blows I need a sanctified mind to help me out right now. Be my baby for a little while. Won’t you be my little baby for a while?” — “All Down The Line,” the 15th track on Exile [...]
Volume 17, Track 14
“Ninja Gaiden” by Minibosses (2005) If you have ever played Ninja Gaiden, the groundbreaking 8-bit NES game that intertwined separate animated story sequences in between levels, you will remember a game that was difficult because of the glitches in it that caused guys you had just killed to suddenly reappear[1]. Like “Super Mario Bros. 2,” [...]
Volume 17, Track 13
“Chelsea Dagger” by The Fratellis (2006) If you don’t use your DVR to skip all commercials or you have watched or seen a Blackhawks game on TV or in person, you should absolutely know the song “Chelsea Dagger” by The Fratellis. The catch is that you most likely don’t know it by name (or the [...]
Volume 17, Track 12
“The Modern Age” by The Strokes (2001) The late ’90′s/early ’00′s saw a trend of bands producing rock albums that purposely withheld additional engineering and effects during production and recording (this was called “garage rock” or “neo garage rock” by some). The White Stripes were kind of the poster children of this movement[1] but The [...]
Volume 17, Track 11
“Vesperbell” by Highspire (2004)” In the summer of 2004 I decided to undertake a mission, and the mission was to see if I could find a band that produced an album that tried to rival the shoegazing power of Loveless by My Bloody Valentine[1]. One of my searches turned up with someone saying that some [...]
Volume 17, Track 10
“Not About Love” by Fiona Apple (2005) “Not About Love” starts with a low-level rumbling, like a soft thunder from a few miles away. Musically, this song makes good use of tempo shifts, with Apple and her piano at the helm of it all. Lyrically, this song… look, I’ll be the first to admit that [...]
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