Clang & Clatter

MAE - “Home” (Singularity, 2007)
I’ve been on a Dave Elkins/MAE kick lately since he dropped the first album from his new project Schematic. “Home” comes from MAE’s major-label debut, a solid effort which hit the charts at #40 on the Billboard 200 upon its release. Not bad for a band most folks have never heard of. If you haven’t heard Singularity (or MAE), you need to check it out. It’s a great album, and there’s not a bad song in the bunch.

Def Leppard - “Wasted” (Live BBC Studio Sessions, 1979)
My favorite NWOBHM-era Def Leppard track from a bootleg that my iTunes really seems to like dipping into lately. I won’t argue with today’s selection.

Gin Blossoms - “Mrs. Rita” (New Miserable Experience, 1992)
I can’t say I was a big Gin Blossoms fan back in the day, but I definitely had an affinity for their brand of tortured, jangly alterno-pop at one point.

KISS - “Makin’ Love” (Alive II, 1977)
I was a HUGE KISS fan from my adolescence on into my high school years. I honestly tried to like their output once the makeup came off, but by that point, my favorite member was gone (although, unbeknownst to me, he was largely absent way earlier than then), and I felt they had jumped the shark. Much of their work after Love Gun, including this “live” album complete with dubbed crowd noise (and excluding Ace’s excellent “solo” album and a few high points here and there), now seems cheesy to me at best, with most of it being absolutely cringeworthy.

PFR - “Forest” (Pray for Rain, 1992)
Another jangly alterno-pop band, this one from the CCM community, but with more Beatles influences than should be legally allowed. This song from their debut album is one of the better tracks and is a good representation of the album as a whole as well as the band’s sound throughout their career. I really used to love these guys, but at some point I just kind of moved on. I’m sensing a trend.

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

Every now and again I get lost in a Friday Five over at Popdose.

Ramones - “We Want the Airwaves” (Pleasant Dreams, 1981)
Alright. Already off to a good start. A slicker, heavier, more polished sound for the Ramones, but good nonetheless.

Mae - “Anything” (The Everglow, 2005)
Wall-of-sound production that is equal parts heavy, sweet, soaring, and shimmery. I can’t talk enough about how much I like this band.

The Wildhearts - “Tim Smith” (¡Chutzpah!, 2009)
Heck yeah! 3 for 3. This song from the most recent Wildhearts release—and probably the last unless something changes in the near future—is a sort of dedication to the Cardiacs frontman who suffered a heart attack and stroke in 2008. Heavy, thrashy verses and harmony-vocal-laden singalong choruses. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Glen Phillips - “The Hole” (Live at Messiah College in Grantham, PA, 11/15/2003)
Another great bootleg from this Toad the Wet Sprocket frontman. “The Hole” is one of those rare strange tunes that Glen has come up with during his solo career that has a way of digging into your subconscious and coming out when you least expect. I really need to try to get to one of his solo shows sometime.

Ginger Wildheart - “Westward Ho! (A New Reputation)” (555%, 2012)
Second track from the more experimental second set of songs from Ginger’s triple-album PledgeMusic project. This song in particular plays around with an island feel and electronic elements and prominently features vocalist Victoria Liedtke as it builds into a middle portion that sounds like an African tribal singalong with Victoria doing her best black gospel choir imitation à la Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky.” Lots of twists and turns and very enjoyable if you’re up for the ride. I can’t recommend the entire album enough.

Excellent Friday Five this week! Hope you enjoy yours.

My Friday Five needs more cowbell over at Popdose.

Y&T - “Don’t Stop Running” (In Rock We Trust, 1984)
Dave Meniketti has a great rock voice that reminds me a bit of Sammy Hagar, and he’s a great guitarist to boot. Not sure why these guys weren’t bigger.

Scorpions - “Lady Starlight” (Animal Magnetism, 1980)
This song has always seemed a bit out of place on this album—it’s too clean and too pretty, and the mix of Klaus Meine’s voice with the background vocals is almost too perfect, but I really like it. I guess the Scorps could have been an adult contemporary band if the rock thing hadn’t worked out so well.

Mötley Crüe - “Come On and Dance” (Too Fast For Love (Leathür Records version), 1981)
Dirty, sleazy rock ‘n’ roll, but Vince’s slightly off-key vocals almost ruin it for me. My favorite part of the song—and the both versions of the album for that matter—has always been Tommy’s cowbell. Rock ‘n’ roll definitely needs more cowbell.

Mae - “Embers and Envelopes” (Destination Beautiful, 2003)
More Mae goodness this week, although this is one of my least favorite songs on the album. Not that it’s a bad song. The rest of the album is just much stronger.

Rush - “Leave That Thing Alone” (Different Stages, 1998)
OK, so the next song iTunes served up was the first track “Fart and Wiener Jokes” from Brian Posehn’s comedy album of the same name. My thought is that if it’s not a real music track I’m not gonna include it here. “More Metal Than You” would have totally counted, though. Skip.

Next up is another Different Stages track, this time the instrumental “Leave That Thing Alone,” originally from Counterparts. I love this song, if for no other reason than Geddy’s excellent funky bass groove.

Friday the 13th doesn’t have to be scary with the Friday Five over at IckMusic.

Dream Theater - “Ytse Jam” (When Dream And Day Unite, 1989)
Excellent instrumental from Dream Theater version 1. The title is “Majesty” spelled backwards and alludes to the band’s name in its previous incarnation. The album as a whole has not aged well in places, but in others, it remains an excellent showcase of the band’s songwriting and playing prowess.

Alice in Chains - “Nutshell” (Unplugged, 1996)
This album which was recorded as part of MTV’s Unplugged series is probably my favorite from this “grunge” band, with “Nutshell” being one of the best performances from the set. Known more for his chunky guitar riffs than for his acoustic work, Jerry Cantrell shows just how well-rounded he is, providing his usual excellent harmony vocals behind Layne Staley’s unique—though sometimes annoying—voice. I think the songs benefit from the laid-back acoustic arrangements here, and given that AIC had not performed together as a band for nearly three years, they are amazingly tight. Unfortunately this would become one of Staley’s last shows prior to sliding into deep depression and his eventual overdose in 2002, giving many of the songs a weight and somberness in hindsight that they may not have carried at the time.

Caedmon’s Call - “Thousand Miles” (Back Home, 2003)
I’m not sure why iTunes keeps picking Caedmon’s Call, and this album specifically, from my library for Friday Fives, but in the case of this song, I don’t mind one bit.

Iron Maiden - “Moonchild” (Flight 666: The Original Soundtrack, 2009)
Another live cut from Flight 666, this time an often forgotten Maiden gem that popped up in my Friday Five for August 26, 2011. “Moonchild” is from a Puerto Rican show on the tour, and the crowd there is as wild as the South American audiences. And frontman Bruce Dickinson hams it up as usual. Maiden is such a tight unit, and you would be hard-pressed to find a better live metal band.

Mae - “Release Me” (Singularity, 2007)
I am pretty open about my love of this band on my blog, which may seem odd to many given my metalhead and snobbish musical tendencies, but I just can’t help it. I love just about everything Dave Elkins and company have ever put out, and this song and the album it comes from are no exception.

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.