Clang & Clatter

Led Zeppelin - “I’m Gonna Crawl” (In Through the Out Door, 1979)
Short of “Fool in the Rain” and “All My Love,” I have always had trouble getting into In Through the Out Door. I have to be in the right mood for “I’m Gonna Crawl,” so it usually gets skipped when it comes up.

Cheap Trick - “Takin’ Me Back” (Heaven Tonight, 1978)
It’s classic Cheap Trick. What’s not to like?!

U2 - “Crumbs from Your Table” (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, 2004)
I was hopelessly infatuated with this song for a few months, especially this stripped-down version from the bonus DVD.

Faith No More - “Easy” (Songs to Make Love To, 1993)
This one’s for the ladies in the house. Unexpected but excellently executed Commodores cover from the most recognizable (if not best) version of Faith No More. Mike Patton’s voice is a good fit for this one, and I love Big Jim Martin’s guitar solo.

Minutemen - “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love” (The Blasting Concept, Volume II, 1990)
I bought this SST compilation sight unseen (and unheard) from an SST catalog I got as a teenager based on an ad in Hit Parader or Circus or one of the other music rags available at the grocery store my family shopped at 10 miles away in the middle of nowhere Mississippi. Boy am I glad I did. Even though this particular comp often is seen as the point at which SST jumped the shark, it introduced me to a whole new world of music and bands like Saint Vitus, Black Flag, and Hüsker Dü. The Minutemen’s irreverent take on this classic Van Halen tune was one of my favorites, along with Hüsker Dü’s “Erase Today,” but it had to be listened to a low volumes due to the 2 F-bombs it contains. And clocking in at only 1:19, it took me longer to write this mini-review than it took to listen to.

You like my Popdose Friday Five too much.

Kansas - “Mysteries and Mayhem” (Masque, 1975)
I’m not super familiar with this particular Kansas album—I went back and sampled the entire disc, and this was one of only three tracks that I immediately recognized, the other two being “It’s You” and “Icarus - Borne on Wings of Steel”—but I like Kansas’ flavor of boogie-pop-prog. This sounds much more polished than their previous two albums, bearing more resemblance to its followup Leftoverture, one of my favorite Kansas albums despite my overexposure to “Carry On Wayward Son” and the pretentious “Magnum Opus” concept suite. I mean, if you’re gonna do a concept album, do a real concept album. But I have no gripes with “Mysteries and Mayhem.”

The Beatles - “You Like Me Too Much” (Help! UK Release, 1965)
“You Like Me Too Much” is a Harrison-penned tune that was rejected for the Help! movie, and as a result didn’t appear on the US release. Too bad, as it’s a nice little ditty with great vocal harmonies. Not much else to say. It’s the Beatles—either you like ‘em or you don’t.

King’s X - “Summerland” (Live at Cardi’s, Houston bootleg, 1987)
“Summerland” is one of my favorite King’s X songs of all time. This version comes from the same soundboard bootleg in my Five from a couple of weeks ago, the biggest differences from its final album version being a slower tempo and Ty singing the verses rather than Doug’s soulful Gretchen Goes to Nebraska vocals. I’ve linked the album version for those that may have never heard it.

Cheap Trick - “Cry, Cry” (Cheap Trick, 1977)
I’m not sure why I don’t listen to Cheap Trick’s debut more often. It has some great tunes on it. This one starts a little slow—although the tempo and the space allows you to hear Tom Petersson’s great bass tone—before it hits the catchy “Don’tcha call me on the phone” chorus section.

Pearl Jam - “Garden” (Ten, 1991)
I was infatuated with Ten for awhile after it was released. Then Vedder started mumbling and rambling like a complete idiot once Pearl Jam hit superstardom, and the band seemed to spiral off my radar. Fortunately the 2011 documentary Pearl Jam Twenty by Cameron Crowe redeemed them in my eyes. Some of the songs on Ten haven’t aged well, partly due to MTV and radio playing them into the ground, but “Garden” still seems to hold up.