Clang & Clatter

I just wanna wake up with IckMusic’s Friday Five.

Counting Crows - “Have You Seen Me Lately?” (Recovering the Satellites, 1996)
Counting Crows seems to get a bad rap, but I have always loved these guys. OK, Adam Duritz can be a bit much at times, what with the hair and his fondness for completely rearranging vocal melodies, or lyrics, or even entire songs live. While I really like the energy of the album version, I think I prefer the acoustic version found on Across a Wire.

Anthrax - “Gung Ho” (The Greater of Two Evils, 2004)
Anthrax released this “live performance” reinterpretation of its early-period material with then vocalist John Bush. As if this sacrilege wasn’t enough—at least in the eyes of diehard fans who refused to acknowledge Bush-era Anthrax in the first place—the band fell headlong into drama of soap opera proportions that found them with a revolving door in the vocalist position: Bush, Joey Belladonna, Dan Nelson, Bush again, and now currently Belladonna. All that to say that while I love Bush-era Anthrax as well as Bush as a vocalist (especially fronting Armored Saint), I’m not a big fan of the versions found on TGOTE.

Switchfoot - “Dare You to Move” (The Beautiful Letdown, 2003)
While a very strong album in its own right, this disc was a bit of a letdown for me (har har har!) compared with my favorite of their releases New Way To Be Human, seeing the band move in a more radio-friendly sound that helped them break big outside the CCM market. This song is actually a repeat—albeit with a much better mix here—from the band’s previous album, Learning to Breathe, where it was by far the strongest and most accessible track.

Beatallica - “A Garage Dayz Nite” (A Garage Dayz Nite, 2001)
A Beatles/Metallica mashup by a band with a singer that does a very good James Hetfield impression? What’s not to like about that?!

Mae - “Someone Else’s Arms” (The Everglow, 2005)
I’m sure a band named after an acronym of a college course on the study of sensation, perception, emotion, and meaning in art and music is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it should be. Mae is big on hooks and pop sensibilities, and while some might dismiss them as an emo act based on a few of their songs, anyone who actually takes the time to listen would not be so quick to pigeonhole them as such.

Short and sweet pre-vacation Friday Five today. And my first track sorted by name is Anthrax’s “A.D.I./Horror of It All” from Among the Living.

Saosin - “The Worst of Me” (In Search of Solid Ground, 2009)
Possibly the best song on this emo/screamo band’s most commercial (and most recent) release to date.

Glen Phillips - “Got to Get On” (The Unreleased Songs Compilation: Vol. 1)
Interesting track from a set of live versions of songs Glen had not released prior to its compilation. A bit different from the norm for Glen, but still really good.

King’s X - “Marsh Mellow Field” (Please Come Home…Mr. Bulbous, 2000)
Equal parts groove, sludge, and psychedelic. Love it.

Owl City - “Dental Care” (Ocean Eyes, 2009)
OK, confession time. Although I purchased this for my son during his brief obsession with this artist, I have kept it around since I find it catchy and not too annoying—at least most of the time. “I’ve been to the dentist a thousand times, so I know the drill.” Funny.

Smashing Pumpkins - “Siva” (Gish, 1991)
Michael recently questioned what he ever saw in Smashing Pumpkins. This is it. The slow, mellow middle breakdown is why I Mother Earth reminds me of Smashing Pumpkins at times.

Anthrax’s Scott Ian recounts the tale of a shopping trip in London with Metallica’s Cliff Burton that did not end as expected.

It’s time to hit shuffle again and see what iTunes serves up for IckMusic’s Friday Five. Here’s what happened today:

Anthrax - “Contact”/”What Doesn’t Die” (We’ve Come for You All, 2003)
Pointless album intro song “Contact” was first up today, so I’m going to cheat and include the second track from the disc “What Doesn’t Die.” Combined they form an excellent opening from one of my favorite Anthrax albums. This album is suited in every way for John Bush’s growling, aggressive vocals, and it is the release that actually got me excited about Anthrax again after the easy-to-overlook albums that followed 2001’s Sound of White Noise. It’s a shame this was Bush’s last proper release with the band before the reunion tour with Belladonna and all the soap opera-ish antics began.

Robert Plant and Tori Amos - “Down By The Seaside” (Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin)
There are a lot of good covers of Zep tunes on this disc. Too bad this isn’t one of them.

Anthrax - “Strap It On” (We’ve Come for You All, 2003)
Another track from this album?!  What’s up with your shuffle randomization algorithm, iTunes? Hey, works for me. And despite what the title implies, this song is about strapping on your guitar and thrashing out old-school style. Get your mind out of the gutter. Guitar solo courtesy of the late, great “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott.

Nirvana - “Breed” (Nevermind, 1991)
OK, I guess I’m one of those weird metalheads that doesn’t blame the Seattle grunge scene for killing metal. Some of those bands really needed to go away anyway. Good riddance. That being said, I’m also not one of those guys that thinks this was a perfect album or that Kurt Cobain’s entrance onto the music scene ranks up there with the Second Coming. As for the song itself, it’s definitely one of the better tracks off the album.

Caedmon’s Call - “There’s a Stirring” (my calm // your storm, 1994)
Speaking of the Second Coming, the last track for today is from my one-time favorite folk-/acoustic-based Contemporary Christian band. Slower live track with excellent harmony vocal arrangement accompanied by all manner of acoustic guitars, double-bass, percussion, and even a fiddle (or violin if you’re a fancy-pants music kind of person). Nice way to end this Friday Five.