So, a new set of musical gems, this time all rock based to coincide with AC/DC's decision, finally, to make their back catalogue available for digital download. As of today you can get their tracks on iTunes with, I'm sure, others distributors to follow suit (although you still can't get them on Spotify).
There will be more rock gem blogs in the future so stay tuned. As always, the tracks are generated by my iPod completely randomly via its shuffle setting, so there's no specific order or reason as to why they're on here other than they've popped up from my indiscriminately from my rock playlist.
So here are the first ten...
1) Shake A Leg - AC/DC
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So, they've finally followed in the footsteps of The Beatles and have agreed to let iTunes sell their back catalogue after years of shunning the digital download world! I think they've probably realised that continuing to rely on physical sales alone and shunning downloads if futile, and they're hurting their pocket if they don't embrace it. Whether you like it or not, digital downloading is here to stay. So, putting AC/DC on shuffle, this was the first track to come out of my iPod. This one's from their 1980 album, Back In Black, which has sold 50 million physical copies worldwide, and probably a ton more now that it's available digitally. The Back In Black album was written as a tribute to Bon Scott, the Australian band's Scottish former lead singer who tragically died at the age of 33. The black album cover was to signal that the band was in mourning.
2) I Will Break You - Skunk Anansie
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This is a relentless distorted guitar fest! From their new album, "Black Traffic" this is a great track with some huge vocals from lead singer, Skin. If you haven't heard their album yet go and have a listen, it's well worth it. I'll be reviewing them live in December so look out for that.
3) As Heaven Is Wide - Garbage
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More guitar distortion and female vocals, this time from Garbage's first album, "Garbage" from 1995. The album was produced by Butch Vig, who also produced Nirvana's "Nevermind" and is a member of Garbage, and who just happens to be one of my favourite producers. Whilst this isn't my favourite Garbage track, I have to say that the first two Garbage albums, in particular, are fantastic. The thing I like about them is that they are not afraid to mix traditional rock with synths, programmed drums and other electronic devices. In the late nineties I wanted to be their lead singer, Shirley Mason! I just love her attitude.
4) Love In An Elevator - Aerosmith
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Ok, so maybe they're slightly cheesy, but Aerosmith have inspired even the hardest of hardcore rockers to play air guitar at one point or another! Released in 1989, the video for this track features Mötley Crüe guitarist Nikki Sixx's wife (she's the one who, at the beginning, asks Steve Tyler if he's going down...) and also Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry's wife (she's the topless one canoodling with him the in elevator), as well as various random characters such as Dorothy for the Wizard of Oz (God knows what that's about!).
5) Saturday Superhouse - Biffy Clyro
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From their 2007 album, "Puzzle", this is one of my favourite Biffy tracks (although I have quite a few of them). The cover art for the single featured a man on fire and was chosen after lead singer, Simon Neil, had suffered a bereavement. The entire sleeve was meant to represent anger, grief and sanity. The album climbed to Number 2 in the UK album chart.
6) B.Y.O.B - System Of A Down
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In acronym terms, "BYOB" usually means "bring your own beer", but SOAD have cleverly changed this to "bring your own bombs" in homage to the lyrical content of this track. Whatever your view on war, this track is a superbly tight heavy metal track, produced by Rick Rubin, from 2005. I particularly like Serj Tankian's cry of "Blast off! It's party time! And where the fk are you?!?!!!". I have a bit of a thing about people who are always late and I find it's particularly fulfilling to yell that at them as they arrive...although perhaps not so good to yell that at your boss....
7) Love Spreads - The Stone Roses
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From 1994, this track was the first single from their second album, "Second Coming". The song reached Number 2 in the UK chart and has been used on TV and in the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games. Two videos were made for the track after their label was not happy with the first one (which featured home footage and hidden images amongst footage of member of the band dressed in various costumes).
8) Jailhouse Rock - Elvis Presley
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As you can see, I have quite a liberal interpretation of "rock" as we have strayed into rock n roll...from the King himself, this was released in 1957 to coincide with the film of the same name, and was his 9th US Number 1. It came a year before he was drafted off into military service, and after he had signed a $25,000 record deal with RCA in 1955.
9) Club Foot - Kasabian
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Released in 2004 and from their debut album, "Kasabian", this track was written as a tribute to a Czech student who committed suicide as a political protest. It has been used in numerous films (including "Green Street", "District 13" and "The Guardian"), TV shows, and video games, as well as being used by Arsenal Football Club as a player entrance song. If you haven't seen this band live I would thoroughly recommend it as they are great.
10) If You Wanna - The Vaccines
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From their debut album, "What Did You Expect From The Vaccines", this was their third single and was officially released in March 2011, with a demo of the song having been released on YouTube in 2010 shortly after the band formed. The band immediately drew great reviews from the likes of Zane Lowe, The Guardian and Q magazine amongst others. I particularly like the urgency of this song, which is on a par with their first release of only one minute 24 seconds, "Wreckin' Bar (Ra Ra Ra)".
So that's today's set of rock gems! As I said, I'll continue the series at a later date, so stay tuned.
What did you think of today's selection? I'd love to hear from you so if you have comments, criticisms, or even general rants, post them below!
Rock image courtesy of marklar
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