The 11 Best Songs By Rush

There are three things that plague the human race.: Terrorists, Telemarketers, and Traffic. There is no doubt if all three things were to disappear that the planet would be a much better place to live...in fact, it would be probably be very close to being a utopia. Imagine driving to work and you hit every green light. Imagine that not one person cuts in front of you and no one in front of you comes to a stop for no apparent reason. Imagine how happy you would be if you walked into work without having to use your brakes except to stop in your parking space. Driving to work with no traffic might be better than sex (I said might be). This list is for everyone who has to commute between San Francisco and Oakland. The next three months of your life will be hell. This is dedicated to all of you.

Buy Rush's new album Snakes and Arrows here

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Rush: (Thanks to Captain Kitt for the list)

1. 2112 (2112)
2. Tom Sawyer (Moving Pictures)
3. La Villa Strangiato (Hemispheres)
4. Red Barchetta (Moving Pictures)
5. Working Man (Rush)
6. YYZ (Moving Pictures)
7. The Trees (Hemispheres)
8. A Passage to Bangkok (2112)
9. A Farewell to Kings (A Farewell To Kings)
10. Animate (Counter Parts)
11. The Body Electric (Grace Under Pressure)

The 11 Best Rage Against the Machine Songs You've Never Heard

Right now the Rage Against The Machine reunion is happening. 7 years in the making and all you lucky Coachellans that waited in 100 degree heat are reaping the benefits. For all of us that are sitting in our air-conditioned homes and drinking ice cold lemonade, here's a something they can't get.

The 11 Best Rage Against the Machine Songs You've Never Heard:

1. Hadda Be Playing on The Jukebox (Live)
2. Darkness
3. Kucf The Police (Live)
4. Clear The Lane
5. Zapata's Blood (Live)
6. No Shelter
7. Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos (with Chuck D)
8. Bullet in the Head (Remix)
9. Bombtrack (Mark Goodier Session)
10. Bounce (with Snoop Dogg)
11. Guerilla Radio (DJ Shadow Remix)

Bonus: Calling Dr. Love (Shanti's Addiction) - Okay I know this is only a couple of members of RATM. But Maynard was on the first RATM album. And Tom Morrello and Maynard went to high school together...so seriously, it kinda counts.

The 11 Best Bands at Coachella

Festivals suck. All of them do. We think that they are great because a lot of great artists play at them. And sure, once in awhile a good performance is heard. But for the amount of money you pay, it's never worth it. Coachella is the bastardization of the music festival. More expensive to go for three days than to buy a used car. The drive out there is hellacious. The toilets are decorated with feces on the wall. It's hot. The food costs more than a dinner a Spago and tastes worse than a dinner at Del Taco. The crowd is usually filled with people you would never even invite over to your house. And 99.9 % of the time...the sound system is awful. If you're in the back of the crowd, you're lucky if you can understand every fifth word of the singer. So what's the point? There is no point. Good marketing and an awesome line-up sucks you in every time.

But if you already have tickets...then have a great time!

Here are the 11 best Bands at Coachella 2007

1. Rage Against the Machine (Freedom live)
2. Rodrigo y Gabriela
3. Kings of Leon
4. Ozomatli (Como Ves - Live at the Filmore)
5. Gogol Bordello
6. Arctic Monkeys (I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor - Reading)
7. The Roots (Mellow My Man live)
8. The Decemberists
9. Arcade Fire (Age of Consent - New Order Live Cover)
10. Tokyo Police Club
11. Amy Winehouse

The 11 Best Arctic Monkeys Songs You Haven't Heard

A couple days ago I looked at the arsenal of B-sides from Trent Reznor's 17 year career. Not counting instrumentals...the number tops out at around 13. Today's artist...the Arctic Monkeys had 14 B-sides before their second album even hit the store shelves. My old boss always told me you can judge a band's longevity by their B-sides. And it's somewhat true. Bloc Party had great B-sides and delivered a smashing good new double-album. The Killers had mediocre B-sides and their second album was lukewarm at best. With 14 Bees...you have some really good ones and some rather forgettable ones. But you can't deny the band's hunger to feed our hunger for great music.


Here are the 11 Best Arctic Monkeys Songs You Haven't Heard:

1. 7 (When The Sun Goes Down EP)
2. You Know I'm No Good (Amy Winehouse Cover) - BBC Radio
3. Settle For A Draw (When The Sun Goes Down EP)
4. Cigarette Smoking Fiona (Who The Kcuf are the Arctic Monkeys?)
5. What If You Were Right The First Time? (Brainstorm)
6. Stickin' To The Floor (When The Sun Goes Down EP)
7. Leave Before the Lights Come On (Leave Before the Lights Come On)
8. Despair in the Departure Lounge (Who The Kcuf are the Arctic Monkeys?)
9. Put Your Dukes Up, John (Leave Before the Lights Come On)
10. Who The Kcuf are the Arctic Monkeys? (Who The Kcuf are the Arctic Monkeys?)
11. Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts (I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor)

The 11 Best Non-Album Nine Inch Nails Songs

When it comes to making albums, Trent Reznor has a specific vision for each one. Hell, he took 5 years to get The Fragile just the way he wanted it. Each album is it's own entity. There's a path, a journey to each album experience. Because of this, there are very few throwaways in the Reznor's arsenal...but they do exist.

Here are the 11 Best Non-Album Nine Inch Nails Songs:

1. Perfect Drug (Lost Highway sdtk) - Probably one of the most complex radio songs of all time. From an orchestra of guitars to an actual orchestra. Maybe it was Reznor doing his Prince thing...but somehow, he got it just right.
2. Dead Souls (The Crow sdtk.) - One of the rare covers that holds water with the original. And let me tell, it's practically impossible to cover Joy Division and do them justice. Yet, Reznor does it like it's no big thing.
3. All That Could Have Been (All That Could Have Been) - Sure it's on an official NIN album but it's the only original song among remixes and live tracks. It deserves its own recognition. A fantastic song that has the emotional wrought of Hurt but also the enormous angst of Closer. A NIN masterpiece.
4. Metal (original version) - The version on Things Falling Apart is the remix. This extremely rare version is much more alive and kicking. Could have been an easy fit on the Downward Spiral.
5. Burn (Natural Born Killers soundtrack) - An electric-charged anthem that evolves in absolute mayhem.
6. Home (With Teeth Import Track) - The closest thing that NIN will ever get to a mid-tempo rock song. It's soft enough to play for your mom but the kids who hang out at 7-11 will mope to it, too.
7. Deep (Tomb Raider soundtrack) - A very strange up and down track. Sometimes I love this song...sometimes I hate it. Impossible to find since the soundtrack became out-of-print about two weeks after it's release.
8. Get Down Make Love (Pretty Hate Machine B-Side) - A nice cover of the Queen song. Nothing special. Pretty close remake. But a solid addition to the NIN catalogue.
9. 10 Miles High (The Fragile B-Side) - Rumored to be the original opening track for the album. It has the momentum....
10. Memoribilia (Downward Spiral B-Side) - more of a instrumental remix of an instrumental song. But Trent throws in some typical growls to keep this interesting.
11. Black Bomb (Jerry in the Bag) - Okay, it's not really a NIN song. But since Trent Reznor is pretty much NIN and he co-wrote and sings on this track...it might as well be a lost track. You make the call. Besides...it was either this or The New Flesh...

The 11 Best Nine Inch Nails Songs

I've been having a discussion with a friend of mine, his name is Barry, about who could win in a fight between Henry Rollins and Trent Reznor. Now, ten years ago, when Trent was a wastoid who weighed somewhere in the double digits, Henry Rollins could blow him down with his monster breath. But in the past few years, Trent has hit the gym in a major way and put on about 100 pounds of pure muscle. So, what was once a blow-out is now easily a primetime bout. Now my friend, Barry thinks Rollins could take Trent without much effort. His argument is that Rollins is crazy. If you ever saw him in his Black Flag days then it's easy to see that the guy could fly off the handle at any moment. That's all good and true...and I know Rollins could kick my butt any day of the week and Sunday...BUT, Trent's got something that could push him over the edge. Trent's a bit psychotic. The guy bought the Tate Mansion because he felt it would inspire him to write good music. He spent 5 years in a drug induced coma so he could write the Fragile. He sends hate mail to Guns N Roses message boards. And it only takes one listen of NIN's new CD Year Zero to know that the guy isn't firing on all cylinders. In a knock-down drag-out brawl, I give it to Trent by a nose.

Buy Nin's new CD here.

Here are the 11 Best Nine Inch Nails songs:

1. We're In This Together (The Fragile)
2. Sin (Pretty Hate Machine)
3. Wish (Broken)
4. Right Where It Belongs (With Teeth)
5. Ruiner (The Downward Spiral)
6. Last (Broken)
7. Hurt (The Downward Spiral)
8. Closer (The Downward Spiral)
9. Everyday is Exactly The Same (With Teeth)
10. Please (The Fragile)
11. Only (With Teeth)

Tune in tomorrow for the 11 Best Rare NIN tracks...

The 11 Best Bright Eyes Non-Album Tracks

Some people think Bob Dylan is a genius. Some people think he's master song writer. Others think he's the voice of a generation. According to Bob Dylan, he's none of the above. Through-out Dylan's career, he fought the labels that were thrust upon him. When he was folk music's savior, he recorded an album with electric guitars. When he was labeled as the chosen Jew, he became a Christian. When he was a washed out has-been, he recorded Time Out of Mind. It was as if, Dylan sought out a challenge with every new album. He never let himself get comfortable or complacent in his role. Even in the 80s, when the world accused him of going downhill and becoming a shell of his former self, he helped put together one of the most energetic acts of the entire decade with the Traveling Wilburys. Every decade brought us a new version of Dylan. A new sound to cherish and enjoy. In 3 years, Dylan will enter his 6th decade as a musician. When Johnny Cash entered his 6th decade, he gave us the brilliant American Recordings. If Cash is any indication of what Dylan has in store for us then we are a lucky lucky bunch.

Cassadaga marks the 10th year of Connor Oberst's career. Whether we will be talking about him in 40 years is a long way off but unitl then we can appreciate what he has given us thus far. Here's an different look at his career so far...

The 11 Best Bright Eyes Non-Album Tracks (prior to Four Winds):

1. Well Whiskey (Lua)
2. Loose Leaves (There Is No Beginning To The Story)
3. I Woke Up With This Song In My Head (Lua)
4. One Foot In Front Of The Other (Saddle Creek 50)
5. When The President Talks To God (Free iTunes download)
6. Oh, You Are The Roots That Sleep (Oh Holy Fools)
7. Messenger Bird's Song (There Is No Beginning To The Story)
8. True Blue (Lua)
9. We Are Free Men (There Is No Beginning To The Story)
10. Going For the Gold (Oh Holy Fools)
11. Burn Rubber (Take It Easy)

Buy The album here and get a FREE 3-inch CD with an excellent new Non-Album Track!!

The 11 Best Alice in Chains Songs

You know what sucks? Having the stomach flu. Not because you spend a good three days kneeling before a mildew infested porcelain wading cesspool...that part is bad, don't get me wrong. What really sucks about being sick is the lost time. A good chunk of your life is ripped away from you. Projects that are due pile-up in Eiffel-style stacks on your desk, so the moment you sit down, you feel like they're about to go Pisa and explode in a wild array of multi-colored paper like Rip Taylor dropped by to take your lunch order. Things that were due are now late. So you spend all your time on the "late" projects while the "now due" projects become late and you look like just the worst employee on the floor and your spot in the corner cubicle is severly threatened.

Last week was the anniversary of the death of Layne Staley, singer of the rock band Alice in Chains. Strangely...both Layne and Kurt Cobain died on the same day. Wow, that really is strange. Layne had one of the greatest voices in rock. A voice that will never be matched. And a voice that is severly missed.

Here are the 11 Best Alice in Chains songs:

1. Would? - Dirt
2. Rooster - Dirt
3. Nutshell - Jar of Flies
4. A Little Bitter - Last Action Hero Soundtrack
5. Man in the Box - Facelift
6. Sea of Sorrow - Facelift
7. Right Turn (featurning Chris Cornell and Mark Arm) - Sap E.P.
8. Heaven Beside You - Alice in Chains
9. Sickman - Dirt
10. Damn That River - Dirt
11. Brother - Sap E.P.

The 11 Hard-To-Find Nirvana Songs

I know I'm a few days late with the post. I blame it on this terrible cough/cold that's been running around. I've been stuck in bed all weekend unable to move. How bad was it? Well, I was so tired...I couldn't even gather enough energy to change the channel on my TV's remote control. I ended up watching all five hours of The Ten Commandments...and LIKED it. Heston was one sexy man...wait, did I just say that out loud? Anyway...13 years ago...Kurt Cobain supposedly killed himself. But most of us know that he is really off on some island in Fiji with Tupac, Bradley Nowell, and Eazy-E helping Axl Rose write the mythical "Chinese Democracy." A few years back, a collection of Nirvana unreleased tracks was officially released. Though exhaustive...it left out a few gems.

Here are the 11 Hardt-To-Find Nirvana Songs:

1. Paper Cuts - Ed, Ted, and Fred Demos
2. Talk To Me - Unreleased Live
3. My Best Friend's Girl - Outcesticide 5
4. Spank Thru - Subpop 200 version
5. Seasons in the Sun - Rio Session
6. About A Girl (Live) - Sliver E.P. UK
7. Spank Thru (Live) - Sliver E.P. UK
8. Turnaround - John Peel Session
9. Divine and Bright - Earth and Kurt Cobain
10. Down in the Dark - Mark Lanegan and Kurt Cobain
11. Opinion (with intro) - same song as the box set only this include the infamous intro

I've just realized I have scores of other Nirvana gems that I've never uploaded to my computer...so more to come.

The 11 Best Ozomatli Songs

In elementary school, my favorite baseball player was Wally Joyner of the Anaheim Angels or the California Angels as they were known back then. And what wasn't to like about this guy? In his rookie season, he batted .290, hit 22 home runs, 100 RBIs and 27 doubles. He side-stepped the sophomore slump by hitting 34 home runs, 117 RBIs, and 33 doubles. He was a superstar in the making. I collected all his baseball cards. In fact I had dozens of copies of each card for that one day he would be inducted into the hall of fame and I would cash in and get rich. Unfortunately, no one told Wally what I expected of him. Over the next 14 season he would only hit over 20 homers one other time and never again reach the 100 RBI plateau. I was bummed. I had hooked my trailer to a player that I thought would have a long and illustrious career. 18 years is nothing to shake a stick at but the guy hit less home runs in the last ten years of his career than Barry Bonds did in a single season. Though Wally continued to keep his batting average at a steady .289 and habitually stayed in on the leader board for doubles, he failed to turn into the player I hoped he would be. Now, I still like the guy. He was about as nice and friendly as professional ball players get. But as a kid, this was one of my first lessons in disappointment. As I grew older, I learned that this was just a part of life. As in ball players, directors, and musicians....everyone's human and nobody is perfect. And sometimes bands make awesome debut albums, making you their new #1 fan...only to release nothing but boring material for their rest of their careers.

Here are the 11 Best Ozomatli Songs:

1. Cut Chemist Suite (Ozomatli)
2. Eva (Ozomatli)
3. Como Ves (Ozomatli)
4. Who's To Blame? (Embrace The Chaos )
5. Oh Le Le (Ozomatli)
6. Saturday Night (Street Signs)
7. Believe (Street Signs)
8. Mi Gente (Coming Up)
9. Super Bowl Sundae (Ozomatli)
10. Cumbia De Los Muertos (Ozomatli)
11. Embrace The Chaos (Embrace The Chaos )

Buy their new album Don't Mess With The Dragon.

Tracks from Ozomatli's first EP Ya Llego!...

1. Eva
2. Cut Chemist Suite

The 11 Best Unreleased Nirvana Cover Songs

What many people don't know is how prolific Nirvana was. Not only did Kurt Cobain write incredible original songs, he was also astute at taking other people's songs and making intense but unique versions of them. There are supposedly thousands and thousands of hours of tapes of Kurt just sitting around the house covering other people's songs. Rumor is, he would turn on the radio and cover the song on the radio at the moment, whether it was Tupac, Pearl Jam, or Madonna. The guy could do anything. A few years ago, I stumbled on a great bootleg that had some of the better covers. Hope you enjoy them all...

The 11 Best Unreleased Nirvana Cover Songs...

1. Fortunate Son (CCR Cover)
2. Welcome To The Jungle (GNR cover)
3. More Than A Feeling (Boston Cover)
4. For All The Cows (Foo Fighters Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
5. This Is A Call (Foo Fighters Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
6. I'll Stick Around (Foo Fighters Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
7. Doll Parts (Hole cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
8. Violet (Hole Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
9. One Step Closer (Linkin Park Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
10. Last Nite (The Strokes Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)
11. I Fell In Love With A Girl (The White Stripes Cover - Kurt Cobain acoustic original)