The 11 Worst Songs by the Eagles

Don't get me wrong...I like the Eagles. I grew up on their music. And I haven't been this excited about a new CD coming out since the new Radiohead. Funny you should bring up Radiohead. The month of October (of 2007) is going to be a very important one in defining the future of music. On one end of the spectrum, you have Radiohead. They released their new album for free on the internet, embracing the future of music distribution. On the other end of the spectrum, the Eagles have embraced the past, by only releasing their new CD (Long Road Out of Eden) at Walmart. Okay...okay, let's just put aside all the political implications of an uber liberal band only releasing their music in a super store chain run by a neo-conservative family. Here's the biggest problem with Walmart, unless you live in a small town America...they don't exist. There are very few Walmarts in big cities. I live in Los Angeles, the closest Walmart to me is 25 miles away and about a 45 minute drive. My brother lives in San Francisco. He said the closest Walmart to him is over an hour away on the other side of the bay. In the age of convenience, why would the Eagles choose to distribute their album in the most inconvenient way possible?

I guess you can buy it via MP3 here...but only if you have Internet Explorer...too bad I have Firefox.

Here are the 11 Worst Eagle Songs:

1. These Greeks Don't Want No Freaks (The Long Run)
2. Funky New Year (Christmas Single)
3. Disco Strangler (The Long Run)
4. Early Bird (The Eagles)
5. Good Day in Hell (On The Border)
6. Tryin' (The Eagles)
7. Certain Kind of Fool (Desperado)
8. Chug All Night (The Eagles)
9. The Girl From Yesterday (Hell Freezes Over)
10. Journey of the Sorcerer (One of these Nights)
11. Seven Bridges Road (Eagles Live)

The Best Non-Depeche Mode Songs by Depeche Mode Members

Halloween was much easier when you didn't have a kid. Sure it's more fun now...but I can't dress up like a serial killer when I have a 2-year-old daughter. That might actually be illegal in some states. I was going to be an evil clown...but even that will probably give her nightmares until her early teens. And if she has nightmares, that means I don't sleep. And it's not like my wife lets me eat the candy from Halloween anyway. I was allowed more candy when I was seven. Now if I eat more than a mini-snickers bar, I can't fit into my jeans. Life used to be so much better when I didn't know what a scale was.

The members of Depeche Mode are all growing up too. They are no longer the boy pop band from England. They are now full-fledged rock stars. How can you prove that: solo albums. Martin Gore has two, Alan Wilder (ex-member) has a bunch in his other band Recoil, even Alan Fletcher has an unreleased album (Toast Hawaii). This week, Dave Gahan released his second solo album, entitled Hourglass. It's a huge step forward from his first debut...maybe Gore will let him write a few more songs for the next DM album...

Here are the 11 Best Performances by Depeche Mode members outside of Depeche Mode:

1. Compulsion - Martin Gore (Counterfeit E.P.)
2. I Need You - Dave Gahan (Paper Monsters)
3. Dirty Stick Floors - Dave Gahan (Paper Monsters)
4. Reload - Dave Gahan (with Junkie XL)
5. Gone - Martin Gore (Counterfeit E.P.)
6. Coming Back To You - Martin Gore (Leonard Cohen Tribute Album)
7. In A Manner of Speaking - Martin Gore (Counterfeit E.P.)
8. Hold On - Dave Gahan (Paper Monsters)
9. Don't Look Back - Recoil (Liquid)
10. I Cast A Lonesome Shadow - Martin Gore (Counterfeit 2)
11. Last Breath - Recoil (Unsound Methods)

Buy Hourglass here and get a bonus DVD.

The 11 Best Depeche Mode Songs

In high school, you're surrounded by people who are popular, people who are sports stars, people who love drama, and people who disappear into the paint on the wall. When you're young and stoned out of your freaking gourd, you think that everyone you go to school with is going to go onto fame and fortune. The football QB will be playing for the Raiders someday, the President of the debate team will go onto Congress, the drama kids will get a spot in a hot indie movie. The truth is...none of this will ever happen. The QB will go onto sell real estate. The President of the debate team will likely become an overpriced lawyer who gets divorced annually, and the drama kids will either end up in rehab or teaching drama. Maybe...just maybe, the kid that everyone ignored may go onto some sort of success...developing the next big website or selling a screenplay to Spielberg.

Depeche Mode is that kid.

For years they were ignored, scoffed at, belittled and told that their 15 minutes of fame was 15 minutes past due. But 25 years later, they have remained as one of the premiere bands of the 1980s. Take that Richard Marx!!

Dave Gahan, lead singer of Depeche Mode (do I really have to say that?), is releasing his 2nd solo LP today. It's called Hourglass. If 25 years into your career, you get to release your 2nd solo CD...and there's still interest in what you're doing...well, that means you're doing something right. You don't hear people knocking each other down to get the new Loverboy CD (except for Walmart)....and Loverboy used to be huge. HUGE, I tell you.

Here are the 11 Best Depeche Mode Songs:

1. Enjoy The Silence (Violator)
2. It's No Good (Ultra)
3. But Not Tonight (Black Celebration)
4. Photographic (Speak and Spell)
5. Somebody (Some Great Reward)
6. Never Let Me Down (Music For The Masses)
7. Halo (Violator)
8. Shake the Disease (Catching Up With Depeche Mode)
9. Strangelove (Music For The Masses)
10. Walking in My Shoes (Songs of Faith and Devotion)
11. Sea of Sin (World in My Eyes B-side)

My 11 Favorite Albums

Yesterday was my birthday. Thanks for all the warm regards.

Every year on my birthday, I listened to my favorite albums. This year was slightly different since I had my 2-year-old with me. Instead of rocking out...I was singing the ABCs with Dora the Explorer and Old MacDonald with Elmo and Big Bird.

Here are my 11 favorite Albums: (in no particular order)

1. Nirvana - Nevermind
2. Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction
3. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
4. The Cure - Disintegration
5. Depeche Mode - Black Celebration
6. Radiohead - The Bends
7. Heatmiser - Mic City Sons
8. Pearl Jam - Ten
9. R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
10. Tool - Aenima
11. Triplefastaction - Broadcaster

THE UNKNOWN: Radiohead - Photographic Memory

1.2 million. That's how many people download Radiohead's new album (In Rainbows) in its first week of release. 1.2 million. That's bigger than the Backstreet Boys at their peak. That's up there with Nsync...Garth Brooks...Kayne West...What the hell? When did Radiohead become a boy band? All I've been reading all week is how pissed off fans are that the song files are only 160kbs. Really? Out of 1.2 million people, how many people are complaining about this? 50? That's like .00001%. That's not news. That's a bunch of crybabies. Don't give them anymore face time, it emboldens them. Like terrorists. The more you talk about what they are doing, the more they are going to do.

What's more interesting is that Radiohead stands to make 10 million dollars from the sales of this album....if true, that would mean Radiohead would hold the record for the most profit for an artist from any single album sale. In fact, with the release of this album, Radiohead might become the most profitable artists (based solely off record sales) EVER.

Way to go Head. If you haven't bought the album...or downloaded it for free. You can do it here.

Here is Radiohead - Photographic Memory

1. The Amazing Sounds of Orgy
2. Cuttooth
3. Lull
4. Bishop's Robes
5. Talk Show Host
6. Molasses
7. Trans-Atlantic Drawl
8. Fast Track
9. Kinetic
10. Worrywort
11. Fog
12. How I Made My Millions

The 11 Best Joy Division Songs

Do you know how hard it was watching the movie Control based on the life of Joy Division singer, Ian Curtis? It's a 2-hour black and white movie about a guy who commits suicide. Granted, it's a very good movie but I literally had to leave the theater and go and rent Evan Almighty just to keep myself from running my car off a bridge (and in LA, there are no bridges, which means I would have needed to drive to Long Beach to do it.) By the way, Evan Almighty...almost as depressing only for not the same reasons.

Here's the deal, if you like Joy Division, go see this movie. If you appreciate Joy Division, go see this movie. If you think you're cool because you don't go see mainstream movies, then, yeah...go see this movie.

This is the first movie directed by photographer/video director, Anton Corbijn. So...if you like Depeche Mode videos, then go see this movie.

If you want to see a movie where shit blows-up...then don't go see this movie.

Buy the new soundtrack to Control...it's a great sonic snapshot of the time period.

Here are the 11 Best Joy Division Songs:

1. Love Will Tear Us Apart (Substance)
2. Atmosphere (Substance)
3. Transmission (Substance)
4. Disorder (Unknown Pleasures)
5. Isolation (Closer)
6. Shadowplay (Unknown Pleasures)
7. Dead Souls (Substance)
8. Walked in Line (Still)
9. Failures (Substance)
10. New Dawn Fades (Unknown Pleasures)
11. She's Lost Control (Unknown Pleasures)

The 11 Best Morrissey Songs

Is there anything more arbitrary than a Morrissey song? I thought I was in trouble when I tried to do a "best of" for Radiohead...but I luckily slid by that one unscathed. Maybe it was all the B-Sides I listed the day before. But picking the best Morrissey is like deciding which of your kids you like best. Better yet...deciding which Morrissey songs are the best is like deciding which of your kids to save from a burning building when you can only save one! That may seem like an exaggerated example...but have you seen Morrissey fans? If you spell his name wrong they'll castrate you on the spot.

Last night, I saw night 9 of Morrissey's 10-night stay at the Hollywood Palladium. This is the last concert series before the Palladium is demolished for possible remodeling...although the word is it may be turned into a mini-mall complete with a Dunkin Doughnuts and a Panda Express.

It's a very sad day for my live music viewing life. I have seen countless great shows at the Palladium (Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Foo Fighters, Rage Against The Machine, Green Day, Tool, Alice in Chains). This is a piece of my musical history...gone forever. Going out with Morrissey was almost poetic. I have never seen Morrissey, even though I've been a Smiths fan all my life. For lack of a better word...it was "perfect."

The 11 Best Morrissey Songs:

1. Tomorrow (Your Arsenal)
2. I Don't Mind If You Forget Me (Viva Hate)
3. Everyday is Like Sunday (Viva Hate)
4. Why Don't You Find Out For Yourself (Vauxhall and I)
5. We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful (Your Arsenal)
6. Will Never Marry (Bona Drag)
7. First of the Gang To Die (You Are The Quarry)
8. Suedehead (Viva Hate)
9. Sister, I'm A Poet (World of Morrissey)
10. The Youngest Was The Most Loved (Ringleader)
11. I Like You (You Are The Quarry)

The 11 Best Radiohead Songs

Today's topic...what is stealing?

A Sony exec recently claimed that if you buy a CD in a store, then upload it to your computer to use in your ipod...then that is considered "stealing." Sony's feeling is that anytime you make a copy in any way, shape, or form...whether it's for a friend or just for yourself...then that is stealing and should be punishable by law. Forget about how you regulate something like this. Forget about the 100s of millions of people who have done this and would be guilty (remember their failed "mixed tape" lawsuit?). What is truly amazing is how the record industry continues to shoot themselves in the foot. Suing your customers is not a way to win them back! I buy a lot of CDs...a lot. My wife is ready to divorce me over the amount of money I spend. I have no problem paying for music for a fair price. But there comes a certain point where the record industry needs to wake up and realize that the industry has changed. Downloading is here to stay...the only way it will go away is when someone invents something new. The only way to survive is to adapt or become extinct.

Sony's statement was made on the same day that Radiohead released their new album in a radical new way. It's available only on their website for download...and the price? That's up to you. You can pay $10 Euro...you can pay $1 Euro...you can pay nothing. The consumer makes the price. Radical, huh?

Now, I will say...I do believe it is wrong to download albums from bands illegally. Downloading a track to see if you like the music should be the exception. If you like it, support the band. Go buy the album (or a t-shirt)...they deserve it.

If you want part two of the Radiohead B-sides...then go buy the new album...here.

Here are the 11 Best Radiohead Songs:

1. The Bends (The Bends)
2. Paranoid Android (OK Computer)
3. No Surprises(OK Computer)
4. Karma Police (OK Computer)
5. Idioteque (Kid A)
6. My Iron Lung (The Bends) (OK Computer)
7. Like Spinning Plates (amnesiac)
8. A Punch-Up At A Wedding (Hail To The Thief)
9. Exit Music (OK Computer)
10. Fake Plastic Trees (The Bends)
11. Creep (acoustic) - (My Iron Lung EP)

Yeah...yeah...I left a bunch of songs out (High and Dry, 2+2=5, How To Disappear, Fade Out, Polyethylene, True Love Waits, Electioneering)...but HEY! It's Radiohead...they're all great songs. And I have to draw the line at 11...cut me some slack.

THE UNKNOWN: Radiohead - Caisson Disease

There are certain people in this society that are loved and worshiped by many while at the same time, completely despised by others. For example...Bill O'Reilly. He is loved by millions of Americans. Many of his viewers take his exact words as Gospel. Those who abhor him think of him as devil in a blue suit. His opinions have caused countless arguments and even fist-fights among his fans and his dissenters. But love him or hate him...he's a very integral figure in our society. Last week, Bill was blasted by many for making some racist comments about black restaurants. If you listen to his radio interview, it's pretty obvious that his quotes were taken out of context. You can trust me on this, I'm not one who would normally come to Bill's defense. It didn't matter what Bill said...the media wanted him to sound like a racist a-hole, so they twisted his words to make them as derogatory as possible. On the flipside, last week, the right wing, once again started their onslaught of the "anti-American" propaganda aimed at Bruce Springsteen. It's amazing that the right wing, who claims to be unfairly crucified for their views would hold a grudge against Bruce Springsteen for over 20 years, all because he wouldn't let Ronald Reagan use "Born in the USA" for his campaign. And one of the people leading this anti-Bruce campaign...Bill O'Reilly.

As we prepare for In Rainbows....Here is the first of 3 Radiohead B-side albums: (Caisson Disease, Photographic Memory, and Out Monochrome). As with all b-side albums, in order to get me post the second part (the third part won't be complete until next year), you must buy the new album. And for all of you think I'm not checking...I am. That means you Walther, Damon, Alessandro, Kelwin, Ghillie, Xylia, Dorran, Zin, Jozlyn, and Englebertha.

Caisson Disease

1. Maquiladora
2. Killer Cars
3. India Rubber
4. Pop Is Dead
5. Faithless The Wonder Boy
6. Million $ Question
7. Yes I Am
8. Inside My Head
9. How Can You Be Sure?
10. Coke Babies
11. Banana Co.
12. Stupid Car

The 11 Best Bruce Springsteen Songs

BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCEEEEE!!!!!!

The Best Bruce Springsteen Songs

1. Born To Run (Born To Run)
2. Dancing In The Dark (Born in the USA)
3. American Skin (Live in NYC)
4. Thunder Road (Born To Run)
5. Lost in the Flood (Greetings From Ashbury Park, NJ)
6. Brilliant Disguise (Tunnel of Love)
7. I'm On Fire (Born in the USA)
8. Atlantic City (Nebraska)
9. My City of Ruin (The Rising)
10. Streets of Philadelphia (Philadelphia Soundtrack)
11. Roslita (The Wild, The Innocent)

New Bruce Springsteen CD in stores this week. It's called Magic. And believe it or not, it can actually do Magic. I swear...I've seen people buy the CD and then just up and disappear. It's crazy.

Buy it here, here and here...all for under $9...that's cheaper than lunch and will last longer!!

And due to popular...and sometimes harassing emails...I'll post part 2 to the Foo Fighters this weekend.

THE UNKNOWN: Foo Fighters - For My Disgrace

I haven't played it yet. It's been out a week and no matter how hard I've tried I haven't been able to get my hands around it. The problem is that I'm married and my wife won't allow me to get it. She thinks I'll spend too much time on it. She thinks that I need to be doing important things like working and taking care of our kid. Look, hands down...this might be the most important release of the year. There is nothing else out there that has as much important as this. If I don't get it, then I'm never going to feel adequate with my friends. Everything I've heard about it is amazing. It's supposedly one of the best releases of all time. I am so bummed!

Besides the epic release of Halo 3...the Foo Fighters new disc came out last week. If you haven't bought it...you really should. Supposedly it's great to listen to while playing Halo 3. But I'm not allowed to get an Xbox in the house...so how would I know?

I know I promised a Part 2 of the 3 part Foo Fighters B-side anthology...but I decided to skip 2 due to time constraints. Here is part three...

Foo Fighters - For My Disgrace

1. The One
2. The Sign
3. Skin & Bones
4. Kiss The Bottle
5. Normal
6. Spill
7. I'm In Love With A German Film Star
8. I Feel Fine
9. Born on the Bayou
10. FFL
11. Never Talking To You Again
12. World (demo)

Buy the new Foo Fighters here and here and here....all for under $10.