I have to admit that i stopped experimenting with new bands with the dawn of the the new millennium. I drew the line at the year 2000. I did try to listen and experiment but i could not get myself to fall in love with any bands. My favorite decade is without doubt the 80's, the era of glam rock, leather, hair spray, make up and chick like looks. For me, bands like Europe, Whitesnake, Metallica, GNR, Dokken, Winger, Motley Crue etc stand out from this decade. This time frame is closely followed by my next favorite, the 90's. The new sound of the 90's broke into the scene with the success of Nirvana. Soon bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney etc became well known. A lot of them were from Seattle and soon Seattle was known as the birth place of Grunge. Now grunge was not only about music. It was all about torn clothes and a carefree attitude towards the world. If you woke up in the morning and did not brush your teeth and if you always wore torn clothes and listened to Nirvana or Pearl Jam, you were a grunge fan. My next favorite decade is the 70's. This era was dominated by Rock N' Roll and bands like Zeppelin, Sabbath etc were responsible for setting the gauge by which bands would be rated and measured even decades later. These three decades gave rise to a large number of hit singles. Bands rose to fame, bands fell from fame, many individuals died. I believe that if people like Lennon, Hendrix, Joplin, Randy Rhodes, Cliff Burton, Kurt Cobain etc were still alive today, would would have been listening to different tunes today. Every band has been guilty of making commercial hits. Some of these hits have taken these bands way beyond their fan base and they have had wider record sales and more air time on the radio. Some of these songs have been used and abused over and over again. Raped to the core. For example a person who has no idea who Pink Floyd are, will know the song "Another Brick in the Wall". Ask him if he knows Pink Floyd and you will get blank stares. So this is my personal list of songs that i believe that has been used and abused by non-fans.
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall.
No doubts that these guys are the greatest ever. No doubts that "The Wall" was one of their greatest piece of work. Waters is the greatest song writer and Gilmore is one of the best guitarist alive. But there is a lot more to The Wall than Another Brick in the Wall. Get a life guys. You cannot listen to just one song on the album. This is a concept album and each song leads into the other. The whole album has been made in such a way that if you put your player in repeat mode, you would not know when the last track has ended and when the first one has begun. You probably listen to this single and love the melody, but have no clue what he is singing about. NO, he is not singing about construction.
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
One of the greatest bands ever. The first band to explore the dark side of everything. Ozzy was the perfect frontman for Sabbath. Iommi was the perfect guitarist, playing with two fingers less, his riffs were never below par. With each new album, his riffs got better and better. Paranoid was not even supposed to be on the album. After the band finished recording the album, they needed one more song to fill in space on the record. Iommi came up with the riff and Ozzy sang to it. The whole song was a last minute jam result that was recorded in less than a few hours and filled the album. The album was even named Paranoid. This single became a commercial success and went to Number one and received a lot of air play. Non sabbath fans too liked this song. These days everyone knows the song paronoid, but some dont even know that Ozzy used to sing for Sabbath. Shame.
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
Where do i even start with this one? Every one likes GNR. Every person who listens to rock, has at some point come across this band. In fact, GNR was the first rock band i listened to and it was through GNR that i got inducted into the world of rock n roll. Initially my world of GNR consisted of, yes, you guessed it, Sweet child O' mine and of course Knocking on Heavens Door. As for the latter, i bet most people think that GNR wrote it. For someone who has never listened to rock, GNR is a good band to start with. These two songs set the right tone. Not too heavy, and not too soft. Has good melody and the lead to Sweet Child has an attractive ring to it, that could attract even the most hard core rock n roll hater. But guys, please move on. There is a lot more to GNR than Sweet Child. Dont be stuck and get left behind. Its like tasting one dish in the buffet and saying that the buffet was awesome.
AC/DC - You Shook me all Night Long.
These Australian rockers created a new genre of music all by themselves. Monotonous straight drumming, high pitched vocals and blues based guitaring by the Young brothers, Malcom and Angus, sets AC/DC apart from any other band. Songs like Higway to Hell and Hells Bells earned them flak and at the same cult status among the fans. However it was the song You Shook me all Night Long that made them heard outside their fan base. Radio stations that refused to play regular AC/DC songs, began to play this one more than once each day. Sure its a crowd puller and no doubts that its an awesome song, but this is not the real AC/DC.
Eagles - Hotel California
I could write a whole new article on just this one song. This song was a winner for the band but at the same time this has been dragged into controversies. The band has been accused of forming an alliance with the devil himself and many say that this song directly refers to the Satanic Church in California. Every eagles fan will know this song. Ever person who has never heard of the Eagles will know this song. Every single person who have never heard a single song or owns a single CD, will know this song. Some like it for its commercial smell, some listen to it because somehow it feels cool to listen to something that has been knee deep in controversy. This song successfully breaks all barriers including language. You can find versions of this song in almost any language on earth. Almost every single cover band playes a cover of this song at one of theor concerts. Ask them, "do you like any other song by Don Henley" and you will hear, "Henley?? Don who?
Pink Floyd - Another Brick in the Wall.
No doubts that these guys are the greatest ever. No doubts that "The Wall" was one of their greatest piece of work. Waters is the greatest song writer and Gilmore is one of the best guitarist alive. But there is a lot more to The Wall than Another Brick in the Wall. Get a life guys. You cannot listen to just one song on the album. This is a concept album and each song leads into the other. The whole album has been made in such a way that if you put your player in repeat mode, you would not know when the last track has ended and when the first one has begun. You probably listen to this single and love the melody, but have no clue what he is singing about. NO, he is not singing about construction.
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
One of the greatest bands ever. The first band to explore the dark side of everything. Ozzy was the perfect frontman for Sabbath. Iommi was the perfect guitarist, playing with two fingers less, his riffs were never below par. With each new album, his riffs got better and better. Paranoid was not even supposed to be on the album. After the band finished recording the album, they needed one more song to fill in space on the record. Iommi came up with the riff and Ozzy sang to it. The whole song was a last minute jam result that was recorded in less than a few hours and filled the album. The album was even named Paranoid. This single became a commercial success and went to Number one and received a lot of air play. Non sabbath fans too liked this song. These days everyone knows the song paronoid, but some dont even know that Ozzy used to sing for Sabbath. Shame.
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
Where do i even start with this one? Every one likes GNR. Every person who listens to rock, has at some point come across this band. In fact, GNR was the first rock band i listened to and it was through GNR that i got inducted into the world of rock n roll. Initially my world of GNR consisted of, yes, you guessed it, Sweet child O' mine and of course Knocking on Heavens Door. As for the latter, i bet most people think that GNR wrote it. For someone who has never listened to rock, GNR is a good band to start with. These two songs set the right tone. Not too heavy, and not too soft. Has good melody and the lead to Sweet Child has an attractive ring to it, that could attract even the most hard core rock n roll hater. But guys, please move on. There is a lot more to GNR than Sweet Child. Dont be stuck and get left behind. Its like tasting one dish in the buffet and saying that the buffet was awesome.
AC/DC - You Shook me all Night Long.
These Australian rockers created a new genre of music all by themselves. Monotonous straight drumming, high pitched vocals and blues based guitaring by the Young brothers, Malcom and Angus, sets AC/DC apart from any other band. Songs like Higway to Hell and Hells Bells earned them flak and at the same cult status among the fans. However it was the song You Shook me all Night Long that made them heard outside their fan base. Radio stations that refused to play regular AC/DC songs, began to play this one more than once each day. Sure its a crowd puller and no doubts that its an awesome song, but this is not the real AC/DC.
Eagles - Hotel California
I could write a whole new article on just this one song. This song was a winner for the band but at the same time this has been dragged into controversies. The band has been accused of forming an alliance with the devil himself and many say that this song directly refers to the Satanic Church in California. Every eagles fan will know this song. Ever person who has never heard of the Eagles will know this song. Every single person who have never heard a single song or owns a single CD, will know this song. Some like it for its commercial smell, some listen to it because somehow it feels cool to listen to something that has been knee deep in controversy. This song successfully breaks all barriers including language. You can find versions of this song in almost any language on earth. Almost every single cover band playes a cover of this song at one of theor concerts. Ask them, "do you like any other song by Don Henley" and you will hear, "Henley?? Don who?
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