I managed to catch part of the video for the Proclaimers song ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ while I was channel-surfing yesterday. Unfortunately, that one thirty-second encounter last night has left me with that song running through my head all day today.
Posts Tagged ‘Alice Cooper’
The Uncoverables
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010My Current Top 10 Songs (June 2010)
Friday, June 4th, 2010There are the songs that you consider to be your favorites, and then there are the songs that you actually listen to. And at least for me, the two don’t always line up. Here, I present my current top 10 songs, according to the play count in Windows Media Player:
- Poison
Artist: Alice Cooper
Album: Trash
I knew I liked this song–after all, I specifically ordered Trash just to get it. But I had no idea that I played it so much that it had gotten all the way to #1! - Hell is Living Without You
Artist: Alice Cooper
Album: Trash
Not a surprise here–this is actually one of my favorites, being a collaboration between Alice, Richie, Jon and Desmond Child, and I knew I listened to it a lot. It’s in most of my custom playlists. - Cum on Feel the Noize
Artist: Quiet Riot
Okay, a bit of a surprise here. I like Quiet Riot well enough, but they aren’t one of my all-time favorite bands. But evidently I really like this song. - Roulette
Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: Bon Jovi
Odd choice here. I’m guessing because it shows up early in the list when I list out all of the songs in my collection, so I end up starting here a lot. Otherwise, I don’t really seek this one out. - This Ain’t a Love Song
Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: These Days
I would have actually expected this one to rank a bit higher–in the #1 or 2 range, because this is actually a favorite that I do seek out on a fairly regular basis. - Rainbow in the Dark
Artist: Dio
Album: Holy Diver
I would have put this one as another of my top favorites–I know I seek this one out a lot, and include it in my playlists. - Why Aren’t You Dead
Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: 100,000,000 Million Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong
This isn’t a song that I truly think of as one of my favorites–if I were asked, I probably wouldn’t list it in my favorites. But I do include in a lot of playlists, which most likely accounts for its rank. - Temptation
Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: 100,000,000 Million Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong
This is another song that I would have expected to clock in much higher. This is one of the songs that I truly do think of as a favorite–but I guess I don’t actually listen to it as often as I would have thought. - Santa Fe
Artist: Jon Bon Jovi
Album: Blaze of Glory
Another well-liked but not essential track. Evidently I listen to it way more than I thought I did. - Nobody’s Hero / Livin’ on a Prayer (demo)
Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: 100,000,000 Million Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong
I think this only got up this high because I replayed it a bunch of times when I was writing up a random song post on it. I can’t think of any other explanation for it.
I find it interesting that there are no songs whatsoever from Stranger In This Town–even though I’ve long considered that to be my favorite album of all time. Also conspicuously absent–anything from Slippery When Wet–only the most essential Bon Jovi album ever…
The Company Is Better Outside (at least at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Monday, December 21st, 2009This year’s batch of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were announced awhile ago. While the ongoing omission of popular favorites like Bon Jovi and the simply shameful snubbing of Alice Cooper were already known outrages, the induction list is a further outrage, at least as far as I’m concerned.
KISS and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were snubbed in favor of ABBA. That’s just ridiculous; ABBA is anything but a rock band. (I won’t argue the induction of The Stooges and The Hollies, both of whom have more than enough rock cred. I mean, look at the Hollies. They started out as nothing more than a pop knockoff of the Beatles, but then artfully transcended that beginning to become a pretty cool rock and roll band.)
There’s just no good explanation of the supposed Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s ongoing policy of inducting anyone with a few hits that hit it big on mainstream radio. If this continues, they will have absolutely no credibility left with anyone. (That’s assuming that they have any credibility now, which as far as I’m concerned, they don’t.) Madonna before Deep Purple? You’ve got to be kidding me.
They keep on talking about how you have to be “influential” to get in, but then they leave out Deep Purple, quite possibly one of the most influential bands ever to perform. If you hand a person an electric guitar and ask them what they want to play, I can guarantee you that the riff they want to play is NOT from a Madonna song. But Madonna is in, and Deep Purple, creators of Smoke on the Water, the greatest riff ever, are not.
The way it’s going, if someone wants to prove whether they’re a real rock star, all they have to do is answer the question: “Are you in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?”
(Here’s a hint: the correct answer is “No”, at least if I’m doing the asking.)
Snubbed Again by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Friday, September 25th, 2009For the second year since their eligibility, Bon Jovi has been snubbed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (There’s more information at the LA Times.) One could argue that they are one of the most influential bands to have come out of the 80s. Many of the bands that Bon Jovi has influenced are just now coming into their own. Perhaps in a few years, once a few more of the bands that are proud to claim Bon Jovi as an influence and inspiration have really hit it big, Bon Jovi will be considered for eligibility. There are plenty of bands out there that certainly sound like they were influenced by Bon Jovi, like the Killers, Daughtry and the All-American Rejects.
I love the All-American Rejects. I’m still bummed that I bought tickets for the Prudential Center shows before the opening acts were announced and I ended up with Gretchen Wilson instead.
Alice Cooper isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame either, something which seems like a glaring oversight to me. After all, KISS is nominated this year. They were pioneers in a lot of respects, and certainly very deserving of a spot in the Hall, but they were also influenced by Alice Cooper’s work in a ton of ways. It just doesn’t seem fair to me that they should make it in before Alice Cooper does.
Rock Star Vampires
Friday, September 18th, 2009There’s a new movie called “Suck” coming out about a vampire band. I first heard about it listening to the satellite radio, but the DJ didn’t give much information on the movie itself. Actually, when I heard about it on the radio, I thought it sounded sort of lame.
I guess I figured that, like everybody else lately, they’d be doing the sensitive vampire thing, which I don’t care for. I prefer vampires to be tougher–if they were all whiny and sensitive, they’d have been completely wiped out centuries ago.
I suppose I should have known better–if they had Alice Cooper on board, it had to be decent. Now I’ve found an article from ABC News that lays out more details on the movie. This one, at least, doesn’t take itself anywhere near so seriously–it’s a comedy. And it has Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop, who both should bring plenty of authenticity to the rock elements of the movie.
It’ll be interesting to see if this makes it to the movie theaters around here. If it does, I’ll be looking forward to seeing it. Hopefully, if it was received well enough at the Toronto International Film Festival, it will get a run in the theaters.
Random Song: Hell Is Living Without You
Monday, July 13th, 2009Artist: Alice Cooper
Album: Trash
I actually purchased this album at the same time as Richie Sambora’s Stranger In This Town. (There’s a Random Song pick for Rosie too.) This was the one that I listened to on the drive home that day. I initially bought this album for no better reason than that I had discovered the video for Poison on the internet and loved the song. Since I was already ordering Stranger, I just tacked Trash onto the order as well.
I can understand why the purists among Alice’s fans don’t like this album. It sounds like hair metal. (Well, actually, it sounds like it was produced and heavily co-written by Desmond Child, which it was.) However, it was a perfect fit for pop radio in its day. And it also explains why I was instantly attracted to the songs from this album.
That first day, driving home in the car, something about Hell Is Living Without You stood out in particular. It sounded an awful lot like a Bon Jovi song. I initially just wrote it off to recognizing Child’s writing style as a common influence. It wasn’t until I got it home and actually checked all the songwriter credits that I discovered that Jon and Richie actually were co-writers on the song as well.
If you listen closely to the song, you can hear a lot of the same lyrical qualities that Jon and Richie bring to their power ballads. They have a singular ability to create emotionally powerful lyrics while at the same time delivering solid rock in a tidy, radio-friendly form. Alice Cooper’s influence on the songwriting is also a powerful presence, bringing a darker, more menacing tone than is present in Bon Jovi’s work. (Only Alice could take what is fundamentally an intense, beautiful love song and make it feel menacing. It’s his gift.)
The unfortunate thing about this is that this is a really under-appreciated song. (It doesn’t get played anywhere, not even on the Boneyard on XM.) The album was disowned by Alice’s hardcore fans because it represented too drastic a shift in sound. If this song had been released by Bon Jovi, this song has all of the makings of a hit (at least in my opinion). It would certainly fit in right alongside all the rest of Bon Jovi’s power ballads.
This is still one of my favorite songs of all time. I still stop whatever I’m doing when I hear it come up on the stereo and sing along, with hand gestures. I have a weakness for all the bombast of big power ballads, and Hell Is Living Without You delivers on all counts. Plus, the extra bit of a dark edge that Alice brings to it makes it deliciously different from every other power ballad that I’ve ever heard.
I’d love to hear Richie perform this song, but seeing as how they reverted right back to doing I’ll Be There For You instead of These Days, the chances of hearing something like this performed is nonexistent.