Clang & Clatter

I stole your Friday Five over at IckMusic. Ain’t never gonna let it go.

KISS - “I Stole Your Love” (Alive II, 1977)
Another classic from KISS’s second live album. Same annoying fake crowd noise.

Caedmon’s Call - “Mystery of Mercy” (Back Home, 2003)
Version of the Andrew Peterson-penned song that I covered in the 2/17/2012 Friday Five. Not much else to say about it.

Coheed & Cambria - “Delirium Trigger” (The Second Stage Turbine Blade, 2005)
I love most of the music produced by the C & C music factory (no, not that C & C Music Factory), but good grief, I wish I understood the story arc behind these albums.

Iron Maiden - “Iron Maiden” (Flight 666: The Original Soundtrack, 2009)
I’ve gotten so used to Trivium’s version of this song that the original sounds old and slow to me these days. But a great song nonetheless. The Flight 666 rockumentary has some excellent live footage. The Central America and South American crowds are completely insane (see also: Rush in Rio). Looks like a fun time and quite a refreshing difference from the typical spoiled, cooler-than-you American concert goer.

Mötley Crüe - “Starry Eyes” (Too Fast for Love (Leathür Records version), 1981)
The original Leathür records version of one of my favorite songs off the Crüe’s debut album. A couple of friends and I literally wore out the cassette version of the Elektra release of this album. Good times playing air guitar, air cowbell, and trying to sing in Vince Neil’s Mickey Mouse falsetto. Can I get the real Mötley Crüe back?! Whatever happened to these guys?

Extreme - “Smoke Signals” (Extreme, 1989)
Super-tight funky groove? Check. Great guitar tone and showy solo from Nuno? Yup. Vocal harmonies? Got ‘em. What did we leave out? Oh, what about lyrics? Let’s see …

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Don’t be playing ball in the street. What you sow is what you will reap.”

Horrible. Just horrible. I get the joke. It’s just not funny.

Dream Theater - “Far From Heaven” (A Dramatic Turn of Events, 2011)
I really haven’t given this disc the listen it deserves. I think I just got tired of the drama surrounding the departure of founder and former drummer Mike Portnoy and the ensuing he said, he said media storm. The only LaBrie-penned tune on the latest from Dream Theater, “Far From Heaven” is a soft, sweet ballad, and clocking in at only 3:56, it has to be the shortest Dream Theater song of all time.

Counting Crows - “Colorblind” (This Desert Life, 1999)
Another ballad, this time from Adam Duritz and company. And yes, it has the expected pretentiousness and self-deprecation, but for some reason it just works for these guys.

KISS - “I Want You” (Alive II, 1977)
I never got into Alive II the way I did with Alive!, even though it has some of my favorite KISS tunes on it. I didn’t notice it at the time—cut me a little slack, I was a bit too young and starstruck—but the overdubs and the fake crowd noise gets a little unbearable after awhile. And then Paul completely destroys the song with his antics at the end. Nice.

Accept - “Head Over Heels” (Balls to the Wall, 1984)
I love it when iTunes surprises me with a song I haven’t heard in awhile. I literally wore out this album and the its followup Metal Heart when I was in high school. Like the Scorions, Accept didn’t have a good grasp on the English language, and it really showed in most of their lyrics. But at this point in their career, they, like their fellow countrymen, had mastered the ability to craft a heavy song with good melody and a wide range of dynamics. And Udo Dirkshneider’s squeely, growly voice was just enough to remind you that this wasn’t “poser” metal.

You don’t need to be a fortune teller with a crystal ball to know it’s time for the Friday Five with IckMusic!

KISS - “Hooked on Rock and Roll” (1972 KISS/Lips Demos)
Demo that is, ironically, from back before KISS became a real rock ‘n’ roll band. Bop-shoo-bop, shoo-bop-bop-shoo-bop?! Seriously, best as I can tell, the collection of demos from which this comes was actually from Peter’s pre-Wicked Lester (and by extension, pre-KISS) band Lips.

Pink Floyd - “Goodbye Blue Sky” (The Wall, 1979)
“Look mummy, there’s an aeroplane up in the sky.”

KISS - “Black Diamond” (Alive!, 1975)
Considering today is Paul Stanley’s 60th birthday, it’s fitting that iTunes picked another KISS tune (maybe I should have made it an all-KISS playlist?). It’s hard to believe I was only 5 when this album came out, and I wish I had a nickel for every time I played guitar on a tennis racket pretending to be either Ace or Gene. Alive! is very nearly a perfect live album (overdubbing accusations aside) and contains the now definitive versions of their early hits (at least for the songs from the self-titled debut). Peter’s vocals on “Black Diamond” really make the song for me. I wish I could have frozen time for KISS at this moment right here.

Sugar - “Fortune Teller” (Copper Blue, 1992)
Though I was aware of Hüsker Dü in the 80s through a couple of mail-order SST compilation cassettes, I somehow missed out on Bob Mould’s excellent 90s output with Sugar. I guess I was too wrapped up with college, Anthrax, the burgeoning grunge scene, and MTV. I’m grateful that a co-worker introduced me to Sugar around 1999, a point in time where I was probably more prepared to appreciate it.

The Police - “Can’t Stand Losing You” (Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings, 1993)
A repeat from my January 6 Friday Five. Looks like my iTunes has a bit of a Police crush lately. At least it picked a good song.

Epiphone has just announced a new Ace Frehley tribute model Les Paul. From the press announcement:

Epiphone is proud to announce our tribute to Ace Frehley, one of rock’s most influential guitarists, with the Epiphone Limited Edition Ace Frehley “Budokan” Les Paul Custom Outfit. As the lead guitarist for KISS (and the original designer of the famous KISS logo) Ace Frehley is renown around the world as one of the Les Paul guitar’s most exciting ambassadors as well as one of rock’s greatest showman. Ace single handedly inspired a generation of guitarists to pick up rock and roll’s most powerful axe. Now, Epiphone makes this iconic guitar available to players everywhere.

This looks like a pretty sweet piece of gear. The only thing missing is the fake drop-out smoking pickup. It will be limited to a run of 1000 and comes with a custom hard case, a certificate of authenticity, and a photo of the Space Ace himself. So if you have a few thousand dollars to spare, go get yours today.

Read the full announcement here.

I think I’m goin’ blind from shufflin’ IckMusic’s Friday Five!

Rush - “The Spirit of Radio” (Rush in Rio, 2003)
Rush has always been an amazing live band, and this DVD/CD combo helps solidify the fact that the band was as good as ever in the early 2000s. The Rio crowds are crazy fanatical about their music, and this entire concert is a lot of fun.

Coheed and Cambria - “The Velourium Camper I: Faint of Hearts” (In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, 2003)
Comic book rock from the very talented and creative mind of Claudio Sanchez. I just wish all of their stuff was as catchy as this. Heck, I wish the second half of this song was as catchy as the first half. “Koo koo k’choo!”

Dinosaur Jr. - “Goin’ Blind” (KISS My Ass, 1994)
Admirable kover of this klassic KISS kut. Ahem. I didn’t really know what to think of this album when it first came out, especially since it was so closely controlled by Gene and Paul. But then again, what in the KISS circus isn’t?! This is definitely one of the better tracks from this collection that stylistically is all over the map.

The Wildhearts - “Top of the World” (The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed, 2003)
Ginger should be the most sought-after songwriting partner in the world. At the very least, he and The Wildhearts should be a much, much bigger deal than they are. Catchy, well-written songs, great melodies, and crunchy riffs.

Mutual Admiration Society - “Think About your Troubles” (Live at The Bowl at Lime Kiln, 8/17/2004)
I’ve never really cared for this Harry Nilsson cover, but I love the combination of Glen Phillips and Nickel Creek. They recorded and completed their debut album in 3 days, but it took 3.5 years to get it released due to record company shenanigans. The recorded versions of their songs are good, but this collective really shines in a live environment.

It’s Friday, I’m in love (with IckMusic’s Friday Five)!

Glen Phillips with Nickel Creek - “Let It Fall” (Live at the Red Light Cafe, Atlanta, GA, August, 1, 2003 at the Atlantis Music Conference)
Newgrass trio Nickel Creek joined former Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman Glen Phillips for the second set of this excellent live performance. They played acoustic versions of everything from TTWS, Glen Phillips, and Nickel Creek tunes to Randy Newman and Elliot Smith covers. “Let It Fall” is a track from Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins’ debut solo album and is one of my favorite songs that Glen has ever lent his vocals to. If you’re interested, you can pick up the entire set at the Internet Archive’s live music archive.

Soasin - “Sleepers” (Saosin, 2006)
Melodic emo/screamo track from Saosin’s debut album. I know little of the band’s history other than a vocalist change that at one point seemed to polarize fans of the Newport Beach, CA post-hardcore outfit. Showy, excessive, dynamic, and emotional, the track is much too short at 2:51. But I like it.

The Cars - “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” (The Cars, 1978)
I can remember a time back in the early- to mid-80s in my teens when I used to spin this vinyl at least once a week—back when I actually had the vinyl and a turntable. I have neither these days, but I do have these lovely 0s and 1s to listen to whenever I get the itch for some early Cars goodness. Their debut is still one of the best albums these guys ever released.

Hayseed Dixie - “Let’s Put the X in Sex” (Kiss My Grass: A Hillbilly Tribute to KISS, 2003)
I’ve always had this affinity for cover tunes—even more so these days since I discovered the Coverville podcast several years ago—and over the years I’ve amassed quite a few hokey covers of songs that I never really cared for in their original form. “Let’s Put the X in Sex” is once such song, and I would like to forget that one of my favorite bands of all time ever released it. As a matter of fact, I like to pretend that the KISS of Unmasked and onward is some impostor band that has the real Gene Simmons chained up in a dungeon someplace.

Queensrÿche - “Get a Life” (Hear in the Now Frontier, 1997)
HITNF was the last Queensrÿche album to feature guitarist and founding member Chris DeGarmo, and in my opinion, was the point where the band began a downward spiral they have yet to pull out of. While I liked quite a bit of the followup Q2K, they have released little since this album that I could really grab onto or identify with as a huge fan of their progressive metal beginnings of The Warning and their excellent 1982 EP.

Friday. Five songs. On shuffle. Here we go…

I’m beginning to get the impression that maybe I have different musical tastes than most in these here parts and that there’s the possibility that some of the IckMusic regulars may not have heard some of the songs that I post here. So beginning with this Friday Five, I plan to include links to the tracks that exist in Spotify for any of the more curious among us. I hope that’s OK.

Collective Soul - “Giving” (Disciplined Breakdown, 1997)
There was a period where I was absolutely infatuated with anything Collective Soul put out. The band’s third album may not have produced as many hits—only two—or as many instantly familiar tunes as some of its other albums, but I actually like it better than most of the others. Maybe it’s because it was born in the midst of management difficulties, money troubles, and lawsuits. Or maybe it’s simply that Ed Roland knows how to write a good song.

Joe Satriani - “Hands in the Air” (Is There Love in Space?, 2004)
One of the things I have always liked about Joe Satriani is that he doesn’t just noodle around on the guitar just for the sake of noodling. The man can shred with the best of them, but he always seems to be more concerned with creating a real song with a real melody and a groove. Give me that over guitar wankery any day.

Yes - “Changes” (Yesyears, 1991)
A live version of one of my favorite songs off 90125. Not much else to say.

KISS - “Black Diamond” (KISS, 1974)
Klassic Kiss. And while the first album did not capture the spirit or the energy of the band’s live performances, I will always have a soft spot for it in my heart. I love the unpolishedness of Peter Criss’ vocals, and it contains some of my favorite guitar work from Ace Frehley. That being said, I really could do without the outro effect of the tape slowing down.

Toad the Wet Sprocket - “Comes a Time” (Coil sessions outtake, 1996)
I have had this song in my collection for so long, and since Glen Phillips has performed it live so often and recorded versions of it for other projects, I have become so familiar with it to the point that I forget it’s not an official TTWS release. Beautiful mostly acoustic tune with electric embellishments underneath and even a solo, and it contains Phillips’ typical poetic lyrics and themes.