Clang & Clatter

After a week of vacation and a long week of after-vacation catch-up, I’m back with a Friday Five. I know you’re excited.

Dio - “The Last in Line” (The Last in Line, 1984)
One of my favorite Dio songs, and Vivian Campbell just rips on that guitar solo. Too bad the video was so cheesy. Cyborg overlords harnessing the power of teenagers playing video games?! But hey, it was the 80s.

Queen - “You Take My Breath Away” (A Day at the Races, 1976)
Beautifully melancholy tune that is reminiscent of Sheer Heart Attack’s “Lily of the Valley” in places.

Led Zeppelin - “Hots on for Nowhwere” (Presence, 1976)
Boogie number that I nearly always manage to skip when listening to Presence. It’s not that it’s a bad song, but how in the world can you top “Achilles’ Last Stand”?!

Poundhound - “Rev” (Massive Grooves From The Electric Church Of Psychofunkadelic Grungelism Rock Music, 1998)
“Have you ever been to the electric church?” 21-second opening track from Doug (dUg) Pinnick’s Poundhound solo project that may have been the inspiration for his “Welcome to the First Church of Rock ‘n’ Roll” speech during the middle section of “Over my Head” on recent King’s X tours. I love Doug in the context of King’s X and even most of his side-projects, but for some reason I’ve never really been able to fully get into his solo stuff. By the way, he has new solo album called “Naked” due out in May. Not necessarily my cup o’ tea, but it might be yours. And with that, I have written more about a throwaway intro track than any other song in my Five. Meh.

Anthrax - “Packaged Rebellion” (Sound of White Noise, 1993)
Some Bush-era Anthrax closes out today’s Five. I didn’t quite get this album at the time, what with the departure of Belladonna and the change of style, but I’ve grown to really like it over the years. “If you say it, mean it; if you mean it, do it.”

The Beatles - “Things We Said Today” (A Hard Day’s Night (UK Release), 1964)
Love this McCartney-penned jangly Beatles tune.

Glen Phillips - “Far Away” (The Unreleased Songs Compilation, 1st Edition, Disc 1)
Live performance (from March 2001 as best as I can uncover) of a song Glen has yet to release from a fan-compiled collection of such tunes. While not one of this best performances (the guitar playing starts to get somewhat sloppy toward the end), Glen, as always, is great live.

AC/DC - “Let Me Put My Love Into You” (Back in Black, 1980)
Classic AC/DC in all its unsubtle glory. What can I say about Back in Black that hasn’t been said before? One of the best rock albums ever made, and one heck of a brave move to introduce a new vocalist to replace one as iconic as Bon Scott.

Anthrax - “Indians” (Among the Living, 1987)
Among the Living was Anthrax’s breakthrough album and is arguably one of their best releases, becoming a thrash classic. “Indians” finds the band at its most socially aware and politically correct, an acknowledgement of the mistreatment and disrespect of America’s native peoples, and it quickly became one of their most popular songs and a concert staple. Ironically, then (and current) frontman Joey Belladonna, himself part Native American (Iroquois to be exact), often donned a “skateboard” cap with “INJUN” scrawled across the turned-up bill and wore a full Native American ceremonial headdress during the performance of the song. While I absolutely love the song (and the album, and even the band at the time), as an admitted Native American history buff, I sometimes wonder about the sincerity of the sentiment, especially given its inclusion alongside tracks about comic book characters, drug-abusing comedians, and “poser” rock stars.

Queensrÿche - “Some People Fly” (Hear in the Now Frontier, 1997)
HitNF gets panned a lot, but I quite like this song. It just seems Queensrÿche began to lose its way during the grunge and post-grunge movements and the upheaval they caused in the music industry.

I honestly did not see this coming, what with the Grammy nomination for “I’m Alive” and the upcoming Metal Alliance Tour. Anthrax has released an official statement on its website and Facebook page, but for the life of me, I can’t find the original press release of Caggiano’s announcement.

I think I hear the chants of “Dan Spitz” in the distance.

Let’s get lyrical (a creative way for me to do a short Five since I’m swamped at work).

Mae - “Painless” (The Everglow, 2005)

Until this empty place is filled, I’ll keep pretending

Devin Townsend Project - “Hyperdrive!” (Addicted, 2009)

Sail away, Hey I’m sorry
Every day’s a new day

Metal Church - “Burial at Sea” (The Dark, 1987)

I saw the charts, I saw the maps. I know we’re way of course.
I’ve got to stop this captain, His twisted wicked force.
We’re on our way to certain death to drown among the ice.
I’ve got to stop this madness or the ship will pay the price.

Leaving Araby - “Armistice Is A Dirty Word” (Slightly South of Scene, 2006)

If it’s war, then you win.
I’m just too tired, so hold your breath.
It’s too late to talk about it.

Anthrax - “Belly of the Beast” (The Greater of Two Evils, 2004)

You walk this earth without a heart

Nothing much to tell you, I’ve got Friday Five on my mind.

Coheed and Cambria - “Sentry the Defiant”
Coheed frontman Claudio Sanchez unveiled a new song from the band’s as yet untitled sixth album by way of a guitar cam video posted to YouTube on Valentine’s Day. He claimed the acoustic version was “literally the first time [he] played the song through in its entirety,” and after catching the video, I quickly jumped in line to claim a copy of the audio when it was made available on the band’s website.

Anthrax - “Taking the Music Back” (We’ve Come For You All, 2003)
“Taking the Music Back” is a great example of why WCFYA was my favorite album from John Bush era Anthrax. Lots of energy and tons of attitude, coupled with lots of melody and—dare I say it—some pop sensibility to boot. It also doesn’t hurt that the songwriting on the album is good.

Def Leppard - “Overture” (Live at the BBC, 1979)
Live bootleg version of a song that the Lep had released on an EP that eventually found its home on On Through the Night way back when they were still a New Wave of British Heavy Metal band. Clocking in at nearly eight minutes and containing several thematic shifts, “Overture” was no doubt intended to be a grand, epic statement from the band similar to that of progressive bands of the day. This recording shows a young, hungry, energetic band belting out something that sounds somewhere between Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden that today remains quite a bit different from anything else they ever recorded.

King’s X - “Talk to You” (Faith Hope Love, 1990)
“Talk to You” is a wild, careening King’s X tune with twists and turns and stop-start rhythms that sounds like it could run off the tracks at any moment. For years I’ve wondered why my favorite band has been overlooked so often, but as I listen back now, I’m keenly aware that King’s X was probably just a bit too much for casual music listeners to take in. Oh well, their loss.

Ginger Wildheart - “In Vino Veritas” (555%, 2012)
Another tune from Ginger’s latest solo project—this time an instrumental—and the third track today to feature more than a few rhythm changes and thematic shifts. The title translates to “in wine [there is] truth,” but for the life of me, I can’t figure out the connection. Maybe it was the inspiration?

Second great Friday Five in a row. I’m starting to get worried.

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.