Blueshadow's Bon Jovi Blog » Miscellaneous Rock

The ten songs that made me like music

admin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:02:44 +0000

As you may know, I grew up during the heyday of grunge, but that style of music never spoke to me at all. (Actually, I was so utterly alienated by grunge that I spent years unable to understand what it was that made people hardcore fans of any band.) I picked up an album here and there over the years as a song caught my fancy, but it wasn’t until I bought that copy of Cross Road that everything started to come together for me to really become a fan of rock music.

So, presented here in chronological order, are the songs that led me to discover that rock and roll really can be awesome.

The Sound of Silence
Artist: Simon and Garfunkel
Album: Sounds of Silence
I swiped my mother’s cassette of Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits when I was a kid. For some reason, this song stood out in my memory–and had a tendency to get stuck in my head for days at a time. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but it was the first step to my eventual love of rock and roll.
Bat Out of Hell
Artist: Meat Loaf
Album: Bat Out of Hell
This was my first baby step into the world of rock and roll on my own. My original copy of this song was on a cassette copy of Meat Loaf’s Greatest Hits that I got as a birthday present after mentioning that I liked the song. In many ways, Meat Loaf’s work was what bridged the gap between the Broadway soundtracks that I had been listening to, and rock music.
Stairway to Heaven
Artist: Led Zeppelin
Album: Led Zeppelin IV
This was one of the first rock songs that I discovered that really spoke to me. As you can tell, I really went through a phase where I was into songs of utterly epic length…
Refugee
Artist: Tom Petty
Album: Damn the Torpedoes
I got my first Tom Petty CD because I had this song stuck in my head from hearing it on the local classic rock station, and it fit in with the story of a comic book that I was drawing at the time. Petty was one of the first artists that I really found to be accessible–his songs were things that I could understand, but at the same time, they were awesome pieces of music.
Wanted Dead or Alive
Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: Slippery When Wet
That one copy of Cross Road that I bought purely to get this song was pretty much the turning point in my discovery of music. I think I must have played that CD about ten time the first day alone. This was finally a band that really spoke to me–and the fact that their lead singer happened to be completely gorgeous was a lovely bonus.
Paint it Black
Artist: The Rolling Stones
Album: Flashpoint
Flashpoint was the first live album that I ever bought. But the song itself intrigued me long before I ever bought this album. As a matter of fact, it was one of the critical decision-making factors in buying this album–it had to have ‘Paint it Black’ on it. The end result was that I fell in love with live albums and what they could capture.
I’m Eighteen
Artist: Alice Cooper
Album: Love It to Death
After I’d discovered that I really liked hard rock, I went digging around in my parents’ basement through their old records in search of new stuff to discover. As it happened, I discovered Alice Cooper that day, and never looked back. One more step harder and darker… and I liked it.
One Light Burning
Artist: Richie Sambora
Album: Stranger in this Town
Sure, I owned several other CDs from heavily blues-influenced bands (like Led Zeppelin) when I bought Richie’s first solo album. But it was Richie who really made me realize how much I liked that sound. I went through a phase where I listened to this album–and especially this song–almost all the time.
Rainbow in the Dark
Artist: Dio
Album: Holy Diver
I first encountered this song because it had been mentioned on Deadliest Catch. Hey, I bought Cross Road because it had the theme song to that show on it; I figured this song was worth a listen. As it turned out, it was well worth listening to, and here I started to become a metalhead.
Welcome to the Jungle
Artist: Guns N’ Roses
Album: Appetite for Destruction
Back when I had a longer commute, I used to drive past a used record store every time that I drove through town instead of taking the highway. One day, I gave in and stopped there on my way home, and wound up buying a copy of this album. I stuck it in my CD player to listen to on the rest of the drive home. This being summertime, I had the windows down when I got stuck in traffic. I wound up getting funny looks from people in the cars next to me. Evidently blond girls who drive purple cars aren’t supposed to listen to this song. But I was OK with that. And that was when I realized that rock and roll had become part of my identity.

Discoveries

admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 01:20:31 +0000

So I went on a road trip up into New England with my mother this past weekend. We stopped off in Newport to get some lunch and take a break from riding in the car, and while I was taking a walk I found a record store.

Now, I can’t walk past a record store when I find one.

There’s something satisfying about finding a CD that you didn’t know you wanted before. You can’t really get that from buying music online.

That was part of how I got into metal; it was looking at the covers of the albums that sat in the same section of the record store as the albums that I already knew I liked. (I guess that plays back into what I’ve said before about appreciating album cover art. That was what sold me on a lot of heavy metal.)

Needless to say, finding that record store was basically the highlight of my day. My mother wound up more or less dragging me out of there.

Random Song: Everybody Out of the Water

Family is Everything

admin — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:32:23 +0000

I spent a lot of time with my family over the holiday weekend, and it struck me that it was my family that really played a big role in introducing me to rock music.

Yes, my parents did indulge whatever phase I was in, whether it was Broadway soundtracks or pop music. But they were also the ones who introduced me to Led Zeppelin and the Beatles. One of my earliest music-related memories is of being fascinated with ‘Yellow Submarine’, and pestering my parents to play it for me, because I was too little to operate the turntable on my own.

I listened to what they listened to, which was a wide variety of classic rock. Today, I’m sure that it set the foundation for what I listen to today, because they were the ones that introduced me to Alice Cooper, and a lot of other great stuff.

I’m pretty sure that they were relieved the year that I asked for a Led Zeppelin CD for my birthday. (And it definitely made agreeing on something to listen to in the car a little bit easier when my taste started to move more toward rock and away from pop.)

Stuck In My Head

admin — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:35:37 +0000

For some reason, I sometimes wake up in the morning with a song stuck in my head. I’m not sure why this is; it’s often not even a song that I’ve heard recently. But it happens. And for whatever reason, I had it happen to me THREE TIMES this week.

Monday/Tuesday: ‘Hallelujah’
This one is unusual in that I do know where it came from; I heard a clip of the song in a movie on Sunday night. But it lingered for two days. It may not be my first choice in a live Bon Jovi show, but it is still a beautiful song.

Wednesday: ‘Spaceman’
I’ve known this song for years and it still bounced around my skull all day on Wednesday. I was pretty much singing the whole thing to myself, over and over again. I’m not sure if that’s more or less annoying than ‘Hallelujah’, where I only remember some of the words, so I end up just humming the melody to myself.

Friday: ‘Dream Police’
The universe has a sense of humor. Why else would I have woken up with this stuck in my head today?

No related posts.

Ultimate Valentine’s Day Playlist of the Unlucky

admin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 02:58:30 +0000

For those of us less lucky in love, I present my personal list of the Top 5 best ‘love sucks’ songs…

Love Bites
Artist: Def Leppard
Album: Hysteria
This is an easy pick, but the chorus in this one makes it. It’s got all of the melodrama you could ever want.
Rainbow in the Dark
Artist: Dio
Album: Holy Diver
A classic song about abandonment, with a great hook and the incomparable voice of Ronnie James Dio.
Life Is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back
Artist: Meat Loaf
Album: Bat Out of Hell II
This is more a general song about how much the universe sucks, but love does get called out specifically.
Why Aren’t You Dead?
Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong
Maybe the ultimate question after any breakup–here taken to the logical conclusion.
You’re Breakin’ My Heart
Artist: Harry Nilsson
Album: Son of Schmilsson
This one is about as blunt as it’s possible to be.

Ozzy and Slash Pics from House of Blues

admin — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 00:00:11 +0000

Monsters and Critics has a photo gallery of Ozzy and Slash from the House of Blues in Hollywood. I couldn’t resist taking a closer look, since these are two of my favorite rock stars. (Ozzy’s work is just plain great, and Slash is my second favorite guitar player after Richie.)

Most of the pictures are standard publicity shots. However, there’s a really good one of Slash smiling at something toward the end of the gallery. You know I’m a sucker for rock stars who dress the part, and he’s got the look going. Plus, I love that he hasn’t cut his hair and still wears the top hat.

I originally encountered Slash’s work through Guns N’ Roses, like pretty much everything else. But his solos and work with that band were what left me interested enough to continue following his career. It was all of his other work that cemented his position right behind Richie Sambora as one of my favorite guitarists.

Review: Alice Cooper on Behind the Music

admin — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 02:41:20 +0000

I’ve been lucky with the random channel surfing this week. Yesterday, I stumbled across Alice Cooper’s episode of Behind the Music, which I hadn’t gotten to see before.

Granted, Behind the Music can be kind of predictable–rise to stardom, spin out, come back. However, I watched a lot of the show back when I was in college, and I still have a fondness for it. And Alice Cooper’s was a good one.

They gave a good history of his career. I really hadn’t given that much thought to how revolutionary Alice Cooper’s work really was. I knew that he was one of the first shock rockers, but I hadn’t thought about what that meant. It really gave me the history of how the Alice Cooper character evolved.

It also got me interested in some of his newer albums, especially stuff like Dirty Diamonds and Along Came a Spider. I’m more familiar with his older work, and this rekindled my interest in his stuff.

I would totally classify this one as worth watching.

Alice Cooper interview

admin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 02:24:02 +0000

The Boston Herald has an interview with Alice Cooper about his tour with Rob Zombie.

It’s a good interview–covers a lot of different stuff. Part of it includes the first good statements I’ve seen from him about being nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and I think he explained his reaction to it really well.

I love Alice Cooper’s work. The guy is amazingly creative. He creates stuff that’s not like anything else out there–and somehow manages to keep changing it up and keeping it fresh. I like getting an insight (however small) into people like him and their creative process and interviews like this one give me that little insight.

Rock of Ages on the Tonight Show, and other things

admin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 00:42:56 +0000

I did catch most of the Rock of Ages touring company performance on Monday’s Tonight Show. Note that I did say ‘most’. It was a long Monday, and I fell asleep on the couch before the end of the 11 o’clock news.

But I did wake up pretty much right when they started ‘Don’t Stop Believin’. This particular appearance by the cast just served to remind me that I still haven’t gotten around to seeing it for myself yet, even though I’ve loved the concept since I first heard about it.

I checked the tour schedule online, and at this point it looks like it’ll actually be easier for me to see the Broadway production in New York City than to catch any of the tour performances. So at this point it looks like that’ll be the focus of the planning for my next trip into the city.

The only problem that I have is that it looks like the next trip that I’m going on, the usual crew wants to bring along another person who’s dead set on seeing Jersey Boys. We’ve already discussed the fact that I really don’t want to see that particular show. (Even leaving Rock of Ages out of the discussion, I can think of at least two other shows that I’d rather see.)

Ultimately, at this point, I’m thinking that we’ll probably split up. That way everybody will get what they want.

Tribute Band Review: Live Wire at Penn’s Peak

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:44:06 +0000

This is the second half of the post that I started on Monday. This is a Bon Jovi blog primarily, after all, so Bad Medicine got their own post all to themselves. But the set by Live Wire (an AC/DC tribute band) was the main event. I probably wouldn’t have gone to see Live Wire by themselves, but I do like AC/DC, and in combination with Bad Medicine, the show was too tempting to pass up.

They did have the same technical issue that made some of the vocals difficult to hear if you were in the back, just like Bad Medicine did before them. But I just moved up front, and since I knew the words already (and so did everybody else), it wasn’t a problem. That was the only downside in the whole show.

In terms of musical skills, these guys are really good–we’re talking serious skills. All of the songs that they did in their set were spot-on, and performed perfectly. Their lead guitar player does an amazing job of replicating Angus Young’s performances. They put a lot of effort into providing a complete experience, and it really pays off for them.

I have to say that if I had the opportunity to see either of these tribute bands–Live Wire or Bad Medicine–again, I would certainly take it. Like I said on Monday, they aren’t the real thing, but they’re really good all the same.