The 11 Best Songs By Smashing Pumpkins (Post-Break-Up)

The post break-up years of the Pumpkins might as well be considered the dark years.  Billy has had to endure years of criticism for everything he put out.  Zeitgeist was criticized for sounding too much like the original Pumpkins (true story).  Teargarden was criticized for being given away for free.  I remember reading one review where the writer said that "A Song For A Son" was an excellent song but he hated it because it was made by Billy Corgan.  Billy just couldn't win.  But when you listen to the material with a unbias view...it's surprising how consitant the sound is to the 90s Pumpkins.  They may be the only band of their peers who has maintained such a solid hold on their rock roots.  Listening to the new reissues back-to-back with stuff like Zeitgeist and Teargarden...there's a definite kinship to the material...it's not like Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots who have abandoned the sound that made them who they are.  Along those lines, the best thing about the reissues...the reason why we're here....is that they haven't done the same thing as the other recent reissues.  Billy has fought the loudness war.  He didn't make all the music levels blasted up.  The highs are still high and the lows are still low.  As criticized as he is for being musical pariah...he sure knows what the hell he is doing.

Here are the 11 Best Songs by Smashing Pumpkins (Post Break-Up):

1.  A Song For A Son (Teargarden By Kaleidyscope: Songs For A Sailor)

2.  Tarantula (Zeitgeist)

3.  Doomsday Clock (Zeitgeist)

4.  Freak (Teargarden By Kaleidyscope: The Solstice Bare)

5.  The Fellowship (Teargarden By Kaleidyscope: The Solstice Bare)

6.  FOL (FOL Single)

7.  That's The Way (Zeitgeist)

8.  Lightning Strikes (Teargarden By Kaleidyscope: Vol. 3)

9.  7 Shades of Black (Zeitgeist)

10.  G.L.O.W. (Guitar Hero Single)

11.  Pox (American Gothic)

Buy the Smashing Pumpkins new reissues Gish & Siamese Dream...now!!

The 11 Best Songs By The Smashing Pumpkins (Pre-Break-up)

Back in the 90s, Smashing Pumpkins were it.  Nirvana had faded since Nevermind and wouldn't perk up again until Kurt died.  Pearl Jam was big until No Code...then slipped away quickly.  But the Pumpkins kept going strong.  Through Mellon Collie in the late 90s, they were the biggest rock band out there.  Even when nu-metal rap-rock took over...the Pumpkins stayed relevant.  In hindsight, the Pumpkins have been kicked down in importance behind Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and even Stone Temple Pilots...but during the 90s they were hands down the heavyweight champs.  Over the past couple of years, all the 90s bands have been re-releasing their epic albums with new mastering and bonus tracks.  Nevermind was mediocre with a bunch of song all freely available on the internet and in better quality...and apparently the remastering is blown out.  The new version of Ten was so cheesy, I didn't even bother to listen to the remastering of Vs. and Vitalogy.  But...the bonuses were decent...albeit only a handful of songs were released.  Both re-issues were a bit of a let down.  But the Pumpkins re-issues for some reason seem the most exciting.  Both come with a full DVD concert (winning!) and a full CD of bonus tracks...some have been leaked on the internet...but a lot still are still surprisingly unheard of.  It's like the Pumpkins took a lot of care in making a package that people would want...and not just one that they could sell.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Smashing Pumpkins (Pre-Break-Up):

1. Siva (Gish)
2. Disarm (Siamese Dream)
3. Bullet With Butterfly Wings (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness)
4. I Am One (Gish)
5. Soma (Siamese Dream)
6. Galapagos (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness)
7. Starla (Pisces Iscariot)
8. Stand Inside Your Love (MACHINA)
9. Rhinoceros (Gish)
10. Tonight, Tonight (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness)
11. Thru The Eyes of Ruby (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness)

Buy the new Smashing Pumpkins Deluxe Re-Masters now!!  Gish & Siamese Dream

The 11 Best Chris Cornell Solo Songs

It's the last few minutes of Thanksgiving.  I hope you're all full of turkey and are ready to hit the mall.

Stay tuned for my Black Friday experience.

Here are the 11 Best Solo Songs By Chris Cornell:

1.  You Know My Name (Carry On)
2.  Sunshower (Great Expectations)
3.  Can't Change Me (Euphoria Morning)
4.  Seasons (Singles)
5.  Billie Jean (Carry On)
6.  Killing Birds (Carry On)
7.  Flutter Girl (Euphoria Morning)
8.  Never Far Away - Rock Version (Scream)
9.  Moonchild (Euphoria Morning)
10.  No Such Thing (Carry On)
11.  Enemy (Scream)

Buy Chris Cornell's Songbook...now!!

The 11 Best Black Friday Record Store Releases

Every April...us old dudes who still own record players crowd around record stores to pay a lot of money for limited edition colored vinyls with one extra track.  But Christmas has come early this year.  The wonderful folks at RSD have a new day for us...like a teaser trailer for spring's epic event.  Black Friday features a much smaller amount of releases but some exclusive and exciting ones none-the less.  Here's some of the most interesting releases...and click here for the the full list.


Here are 11 of the Best Releases for Black Friday:

1. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Kiss My Amps Live (No one has made a bigger effort to support vinyl than Tom Petty...so this live EP with songs from the Mojo tour promises to sound amazing.)
2. Wilco - Speak Into The Rose (a 4-song EP with two unreleased tracks from the Whole Love Sessions)
3. Janis Joplin - Move Over 7-inch box set (4 7-inch singles with unreleased tracks and versions)
4. Iron & Wine - Morning Becomes Eclectic (An collection of live tracks recorded for the show)
5. The Kings of Leon - The Early Vinyl (The first three albums on vinyl with a 4th album of unreleased material)
6. The Byrds - Eight Miles High & The Times They Are A-Changing (Two singles that were never released)
7. Ryan Adams - Do I Wait/Darkness (two songs from the Ashes & Fire sessions)
8. Silversun Pickups - Seasick (Unreleased Tracks from the Swoon Sessions)
9. The Civil Wars - Tracks in the Snow (Two new holiday tracks and two live tracks unavailable anywhere else)
10. Craig Finn - Honolulu Blues (The first single with solo material from the Hold Steady frontman)
11. Sea Wolf - Song of the Magpie (Two unreleased tracks produced by Mike Mogis)

Check out Black Friday here.

The 11 Best Moby Remixes of the Past Decade

Why does everyone think that Tim Tebow is such a douche?

What has the guy done really except be an uber outspoken Christian?  Sure you could fault him for being outspoken.  Or a Christian...but is anything that he's saying really that awful...or just annoying?  The guy goes to foreign countries and builds houses for poor people.  How does that make him a douche?  He plays his own style of football...wins games...yet we hate him.  Why? I have no idea...but the guy really is just a douche.  I think some people are just douches.  No matter what they do...they are just annoying.  Tebow will never escape being a douche...and I can say that cause I have to root for him every weekend as a Bronco fan.  So far...that's been pretty damn fun.

The 11 Best Moby Remixes of the Past Decade:

1.  Wait For Me (Laidback Luke Remix)
2.  Mistake (Funkagenda Remix)
3.  Walk With Me (Carl Cox Remix)
4.  Disco Lies (Freemasons Club Mix)
5.  Lift Me Up (Superdiscount Mix)
6.  One Time We Lived (Kap Bambino Remix)
7.  Ooh Yeah (Kris Menace Remix)
8.  Beautiful (Fuck Me I'm Famous Mix)
9.  Mistake (Yuksek Remix)
10.  I Love To Move In Here (Holy Ghost! Remix)
11.  Slipping Away (Focus People That Slip Remix)



Buy Moby's new deluxe edition of Destroyed...now!  Basically it's a whole new album!  Worth it.

The Unknown: Tegan & Sara - The Pro

There's some sort of adverse reaction I have to live albums. Maybe it's years of buying them and expecting great things...only to listen to them one time and cringe at the thought of ever listening to them again.  The only live albums that I have ever really found have repeat listening potential are acoustic albums.  Mainly, this is because the songs sound much different than their original produced counterparts.  That's why when I first heard about the new Tegan and Sara album my instant reaction was one of disappointment.  Then, when I learned that it was an acoustic performance, my interest was re-peaked.  Granted most of Tegan & Sara's songs are already riding the line between acoustic and produced, this definitely lured me in.  The new album is listenable to say the least.  I'm not as blown away as I hoped...but I am looking forward to giving it multiple spins.  Maybe it's because their identical twin sister lesbians...and in the back of my head, I think that if I listen to the album...maybe I have a chance.

Here is the Tegan & Sara - The Pro:

1.  Come On Kids
2.  Love Type Thing
3.  Man With Two Brains
4.  In Your Room
5.  Give Chase
6.  Sweetness Follows
7.  One Second
8.  I Take All the Blame
9.  Sheets
10.  Light Up
11.  Wrists
12.  It Was Midnight
13.  Suffer

Buy Tegan and Sara's new live album, Get Along, now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Sigur Ros

I don't know what it is about Sigur Ros songs but they are always disappearing off my computer.  It's the strangest thing.  I've bought all the CDs, so I'm merely burning them into my computer.  But for some reason, every couple months when I check in to give them a listen...the complete song files are just missing from the computer.  The actual folder is missing as if it has been deleted.  This has happened with a couple of other artists but never as much as it has happened with Sigur Ros...at least a half dozen times.  The only thing I can guess is that it's happening because they're from Iceland.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Sigur Ros:

1.      Hoppipolla (Takk...)

2.      Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur (Med Sud I Eyrum Spilum Ednalaust)

3.      Saeglopur (Takk...)

4.      Vid Spilum Endalaust (Med Sud I Eyrum Spilum Ednalaust)

5.      Svefn-G-Englar (Agaetis Byrjun)

6.      NjoSnaveLinin - Track 4 ( () )

7.      Agaestis Byrjun (Agaetis Byrjun)

8.      Gobbledigook (Med Sud I Eyrum Spilum Ednalaust)

9.      Ny Batteri (Agaetis Byrjun)

10.  Vaka - Track 1 ( () )

11.  Hljomalind (Hvaf - Heim)

Buy Sigur Ros' new live album, Inni...now!!!

The 11 Best Remixes By Justice

There's really only one news story that taken over this week and that's the horrid appall of the Penn State football program.  It's a story so vile that it wouldn't even be believable in a horror film.  But real life is always stranger than fiction.  It's a story so disgusting you want to blame anyone and everyone involved in the situation.  And I believe that's what happening. What bothers me most is the person who seemed to have the least part of the whole situation getting the worst of the media scorn and that's Joe Paterno.  I think the reason that he's getting the worst of it is because he is the most public figure in all of this.  And they're punishing him with the clear-sighted hindsight vision..  Obviously looking at the situation now, Paterno should have done more...but it's not like he didn't do anything.  Yet, he's received the most media attention...some for praises and others for damnation.  I'm not here to defend him or hang him...kind of the opposite.  I merely want to point out...that in this whole scandal...we need to focus on there real monster.  Sandusky, the coach who committed these vile crimes, should be the person hung out for public scorn.  If you read the list of charges against this horrible scum bag it will make your stomach churn.  We be should be  publicly hanging this demon.  We should be telling the world...this is what a monster looks like.  He should be the focal point of all the news casts...Paterno should be a footnote.  And if it's shown that he knew more than he's letting on than he should be punished.  But let's keep the real venom aimed at the one who is behind these heinous crimes.  Let justice be served.

Here are the 11 Best Remixes By Justice:

1.  Electric Feel - MGMT (Justice Remix)
2.  NY Excuse - Soulwax (Justice Remix)
3.  Get Your Boots On - U2 (Justice Remix)
4.  Human After All - Daft Punk (Justice Remix)
5.  She Wants To Move - N.E.R.D. (Justice Remix)
6.  The Fallen - Franz Ferdinand (Ruined By Justice)
7.  Let Love Rule - Lenny Kravitz (Justice Remix)
8.  Nazis - Mr. Oizo (Justice Remix)
9.  Love Stoned/I Think She Knows - Justin Timberlake (Justice Remix)
10.  As Above So Below - The Klaxons (Justice Remix)
11.  Blood on Our Hands - Death From Above 1979 (Justice Remix)

Buy Justice's new album, Audio, Video, Disco, now!!! (Only $4 for a limited time!!)

The 11 Best Songs By Mutemath

I'm continuing on with my catch-up week with the very underrated Mutemath...

This has been a busy week with sex scandals.  Between Herman Cain's sexual comments, to Bieber's sexual exploits, to the sheer ugliness of Penn State.  I mean how lucky are both Cain and Bieber to have their sex scandals break at the same time as Penn State.  You hear what Cain and Justin did and your instant reaction is that they are total pigs...then you hear about the coach at Penn State in the same breath and you can't even react.  The thought of a monster of that magnitude makes everything else seem so petty.  Will Cain be our next President?  Will Justin still be a teen heart throb as a daddy?  Will anyone ever want to go to Penn State ever again?  What I think is the most noteworthy aspect of this whole situation isn't the disgraceful actions as much as that they keep happening.  This isn't the first Presidential sex scandal (Clinton), a teen star getting pregnant (Jamie Lynn Spears), or a coach molesting boys (the list is too long).  Most sadly, none of these will not be the last.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Mutemath:

1.  Chaos (Mutemath)
2.  Goodbye (Armistice)
3.  No Response (Armistice)
4.  Control (Mutemath)
5.  Break The Same (Mutemath)
6.  Stall Out (Mutemath)
7.  Burden (Armistice)
8.  You Are Mine (Mutemath)
9.  Spotlight (Armistice)
10.  Typical (Mutemath)
11.  The Nerve (Armistice)

Buy the new Mutemath, Odd Soul, now!!

The Unknown: Middle Brother - Live at the Paradise

With a slower music week, I decided to go back and hit a couple of releases from the past few weeks I may have missed.  First up is Deer Tick's new album out about two weeks ago.  When Middle Brother's new album came out a few weeks ago, I did a list for Deer Tick.  Now with a new Deer Tick album I figured it's only fair to do a Middle Brother post.  With only one album...can't do a best of...so I hope this concert is a decent substitute.

I am always intrigued by how bands with one album decide what songs to play in concert.  Why not just play their album from beginning to end?  What's the point of mixing it up in a different order?  Shouldn't the tracklist of songs on the album be the best order for the songs?  If not, then why put out the album with the songs in that order?  It's like watching a movie out of sequence on DVD versus the way it was shown in the theaters.  That would just be weird...yet with music that's normal.

Here is Middle Brother - Live at the Paradise March 3, 2011:

1.  Blue Eyes 
2.  Mom and Dad
3.  Thanks For Nothing
4.  Someday
5.  Daydreaming
6.  Blood and Guts
7.  Theater
8.  Me Me Me 
9.  Wilderness 
10.  Million Dollar Bill 
11.  Middle Brother
12.  Portland
13.  Twist and Shout

Buy Deer Tick's new album, Divine Providence, now!!