The 11 Best Songs By The Monkees

The Monkees were never taken seriously as musicians but the music they made was universally loved.  When they debuted, many of their peers considered them a joke.  They were a watered down knock-off of Beatlemania.  A cheap magician's trick on the American public.  Five decades later, the joke's on everyone else.  The Monkees may not be the greatest rock n roll band...they may not even crack the top 100...200...maybe even 500.  But the one thing they are is iconic.  And that's something very few bands have ever achieved.

Davy Jones RIP

Here are 11 Best Songs By The Monkees:

1. Daydream Believer (The Monkees)
2. Hold On Girl (More of the Monkees)
3. Last Train To Clarksville (The Monkees)
4. For Pete's Sake (Headquarters)
5. Let's Dance On  (The Monkees)
6. I'm A Believer (More of the Monkees)
7. Valleri (The Birds, the Bees, and the Monkees)
8. Randy Scouse Git (Headquarters)
9. Porpoise Song (Head)
10. I'm Not Your Stepping Stone (More of the Monkees)
11. Pleasant Valley Sunday (Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.)

Buy music by the Monkees...now!

The 11 Best Songs By Cursive

I've been slow on the draw this month...but it's not my fault.  I blame the lack of quality music from our rock n roll vets. Outside of Van Halen...February has been a slow month for artists with solid resumes.  There have been some strong releases which I promise to get to at the end of the week for an early 2012 recap, but there haven't a lot great releases by experienced artists.  I'm not sure why Jan-Mar tend to be the dumping grounds for music.  I would think with a new year, labels would be vying for setting the stage for a new sound.  Right now...Van Halen is owning it!  A band who has been dormant for almost 30 years is now the big dog on campus.  It didn't matter that their album came out in February.  It only mattered that it came out.  Like they said in the movie Sideways, it isn't the day you decide to drink the nice bottle of wine that makes it important.  The day you drink the wine is what makes the day important.  Music should be the same.  It's not the release date that matters...only that the album is being released.

The 11 Best Songs By Cursive:

1. Rise Up! Rise Up! (Happy Hollow)
2. Some Red Handed Slight of Hand (The Ugly Organ)
3. Dorothy At Forty (Happy Hollow)
4. The Recluse (The Ugly Organ)
5. The Martyr (Domestica)
6. In The Now (Mama, I'm Swollen)
7. Sierra (The Ugly Organ)
8. Into The Fold  (Happy Hollow)
9. Art Is Hard (The Ugly Organ)
10. The Great Decay (Burst and Bloom)
11. We Built This City (A.V. Under Cover)

Buy Cursive's I Am Gemini...now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Slayer

This past weekend was the Hollywood rock stars' excuse to throw lavish parties...better known to us common  people as the Grammys.  Probably the least credible award show on the planet but strangely over the past few years, it's become the most watchable of all the award shows.  Since they've stopped giving out awards during the telecast and focused more on filling the show with plenty of live performances, it's been surprisingly watchable.  Also, they've stopped catering to the 14-year-old American Idol audience.  With the Beach Boys, Glen Campbell, Tony Bennett, and Paul McCartney it was an odd irony that the Grammys focused so much on saluting the music industry's rock n roll roots while it still seemed stuck nominating current popular albums over truly ground breaking material.  The Foo Fighters and Bon Iver getting huge nods was pretty cool.  And did anyone notice that Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse got nominated for best rap song?  I get Adele's huge sweep of the awards...even though I think the album is a bit overrated.  When Arcade Fire won last year...I thought Grammy might have seen the light.  But when the announcements came out this year and Kanye's album was not nominated so they could ensure that subpar albums by Rihanna and Lady Gaga got noticed, I once again lost faith...at least in the Grammys...but not in music.  Dave Grohl saved that show.  Dave might be single handedly bringing rock back.  He's the only one who got a standing ovation for his speech.  He's the only person that performed THREE TIMES.  And he did it all wearing a Slayer t-shirt.  Long Live Dave Grohl!

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Slayer:

1. Season in the Abyss (Seasons In the Abyss)
2. Raining Blood (Reign In Blood)
3. Angel of Death (Reign In Blood)
4. The Antichrist (Show No Mercy)
5. Chemical Warfare (Haunting The Chapel EP)
6. South of Heaven (South of Heaven)
7. Silent Scream (South of Heaven)
8. Hell Awaits (Hell Awaits)
9. War Ensemble (Seasons In the Abyss)
10. Black Magic (Show No Mercy)
11. Ghosts of War (South of Heaven)

Buy Slayer Albums now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By Whitney Houston

I honestly have to say I was never a fan.  But I did respect her.  The woman could sing.  I also can't deny her impact on music and society.  But because of my lack of knowledge on the subject...I had to call in an expert opinion to give a true fan's perspective.  Thanks to Sonny for the list.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Whitney Houston:

1. Step By Step (The Preacher's Wife)
2. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Whitney)
3. I Will Always Love You (The Bodyguard)
4. How Will I Know  (Whitney Houston)
5. Saving All My Love For You  (Whitney Houston)
6. I Have Nothing  (The Bodyguard)
7. Greatest Love Of All (Whitney Houston)
8. Take Good Care of My Heart  (Whitney Houston)
9. All The Man I Need (I'm Your Baby Tonight)
10. Hold Me  (Whitney Houston)
11. You Give Good Love (Whitney Houston)

Buy Whitney Houston's albums...now!!

The 11 Best Songs By Van Halen (DLR Era)

Hell has frozen over.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Van Halen:

1. Panama (1984)
2. Unchained (Fair Warning)
3. Hot For Teacher (1984)
4. Dance the Night Away (Van Halen II)
5. You Really Got Me (Van Halen)
6. Jump (1984)
7. Ain't Talkin 'Bout Love (Van Halen)
8. Women In Love (Van Halen II)
9. I'll Wait (1984)
10. Little Guitars (Diver Down)
11. Jamie's Cryin' (Van Halen)

Buy the new Van Halen album, A Different Kind of Truth...now!!!

Rush Day (2-1-12): The 12 Best Songs By Rush of the 70s

Thirty-five years into their epic ground-breaking career Rush is still not in the rock n roll Hall of Fame.  Whoever thought when we reached Rush Day (2-1-12) four decades after the release of their album, 2112, that Rush would not only still be working men...not only would they still be a spirit of radio to be reckoned with...but that would still not have received the Limelight they deserve from the rock n roll community.  There's really no excuse, especially when bands like Donovan, Dr. John, John Melloncamp and ABBA are getting in before them.  Nothing wrong with these other bands...but more influential than Rush?  Really?

This spring a new Rush album is coming...but until then...let's take a look back at their first decade of work before we celebrate the next one.

Happy Rush Day!

Here are the 12 Best Songs By Rush of the 70s:

1. Anthem (Fly By Night)
2. A Passage To Bangkok  (2112)
3. 2112 (2112)
4. Working Man  (Rush)
5. Closer To the Heart (A Farewell To Kings)
6. Finding My Way  (Rush)
7. Fly By Night  (Fly By Night)
8. La Villa Strangiato  (Hemispheres)
9. The Twilight Zone  (2112)
10. Hemispheres (Hemispheres)
11. A Farewell To Kings (A Farewell To Kings)
12. Here Again (Rush)

Buy Rush stuff here!

The 11 Best Songs By Leonard Cohen of the 70s

Recently, the hottest music news seems to be dominated by classic artists.  There's Madonna at the Super Bowl.  The Velvet Revolver reunion.  The Van Halen reunion shows and new album.  Bruce Springsteen's got a new album. Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney have new albums.  Will Guns N Roses reunite for the rock n roll hall of fame? and tomorrow is Rush day.  I think there are two reasons why these classic rock artists continue to dominate headlines.  First of all, because they made great music once and continue to the boundaries of music...and secondly because people just like rock music better.

Leonard Cohen has never been the most prolific when it comes to making albums.  Now in his sixth decade of making music...Leonard is only releasing his 12th album.  That's like Ryan Adams' output in a down year.  When he touches down, he makes the loudest lull out there.  With four albums in the 70s, Leo doubled his output in any other decade, which makes it the most fun decade to explore.

Here are the 11 Best Leonard Cohen Songs of the 70s:

1. Avalanche (Songs of Love and Hate)
2. Famous Blue Raincoat  (Songs of Love and Hate)
3. The Smokey Life (Recent Songs)
4. Lover Lover Lover (New Skin For the Old Country)
5. Take This Longing  (New Skin For the Old Country)
6. The Guests (Recent Songs)
7. Chelsea Hotel #2  (New Skin For the Old Country)
8. Don't Go Home With Your Hard-On  (Death of a Ladies Man)
9. Love Calls You By Name  (Songs of Love and Hate)
10. Ballad of the Absent Mare  (Recent Songs)
11. There Is A War (New Skin For the Old Country)

Buy Leonard Cohen's new album, Old Ideas...now!!

Free Music Fridays: Paper Bag Records Sessions

Wilco played in LA this week and I missed it.  Here's the worst part...I didn't even know they were playing.  There was a time where I went to see 3-4 concerts a week.  Now if I see that many a year...it was a good year.  Part of having kids and working all the time, you give up certain things.  Concerts seemed to be one of the first things to go.  But now my kids are getting old enough that soon I'll start taking them to shows.  Thankfully the internet has at least kept me up-to-date with all the new music out there, so when it is time to go to the shows with them...I'll be caught up with all the fresh young bands.

Get the sessions here for free!!
http://paperbagrecords.com/downloads/the-paper-bag-sessions

The 11 Best Songs By Rodrigo y Gabriela

I will never understand Apple.  They really have no ability except to repeat the same mistakes over and over and over.  First off, I can't figure out how to turn off Genius from constantly connecting and using up the internet bandwith.  But what's worse is that every time it tries to connect, it makes me fill out my password.  It's annoying because I don't even want Genius to connect but it does anyways...AND...I can never remember my password.  That shouldn't be an issue but apple has the most ridiculous parameters for passwords (needs letters, numbers, and capital letters).  Apple doesn't realize that people use mostly the same passwords.  Asking them to create a new password with all your parameters is counter-productive.  Since every website needs a password nowadays...making your site the one site where the password needs to be different is only going to piss us off.  Now we have to remember a new password...it's just not going to happen.  We'll forget it...then every time we sign in...we're going to need to reset our password.  If I have to do that every time I check in it's only going to discourage me from coming back.  I know this sounds silly and petty to complain about but should Apple the company that everyone thinks is so customer-friendly...be a bit more customer friendly?

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Rodrigo y Gabriela:

1. Buster Voodoo (11:11)
2. Diablo Rojo (Rodrigo y Gabriela)
3. Orion  (Rodrigo y Gabriela)
4. Hanuman  (11:11)
5. Foc (re-Foc)
6. Tamacun  (Rodrigo y Gabriela)
7. 11:11  (11:11)
8. Temple Bar  (re-Foc)
9. Paris  (re-Foc)
10. Master Maqui  (11:11)
11. Take 5 / One (Focing Version 9)  (re-Foc)

Buy Rodrigo y Gabriela's new album, Area 52...now!!!

The 11 Best Songs By The Hold Steady

For music releases...the first couple months of a new year is usually a dead time filled with leftovers, new bands, and sophomore albums.  It's very hard to make lists for bands with one album since their list is pretty much every song on their debut album.  There's really no point in making a list. It's like eating a BLT and then making a list of the five favorite ingredients in the sandwich.  The only real surprise is if the tomato knocks off the bacon...or some nut bread or rosemary mayo somehow sneaks up the chart.  But I've never been big on order of songs over the inclusion of specific songs in the lists.  That's why there's no lists for Big Pink or Cloud Nothings...two of my most anticipated albums this month.  But finally things are rolling...and there are more lists to be made.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Hold Steady:

1. Stay Positive (Stay Positive)
2. Stuck Between Stations (Boys and Girls in America)
3. Soft in the Center (Heaven Is Whenever)
4. Sequestered in Memphis (Stay Positive)
5. Hot Soft Light (Boys and Girls in America)
6. Both Crosses (Stay Positive) 
7. Cattle and Creeping Things (Separation Sunday)
8. The Weekenders (Heaven Is Whenever)
9. The Swish (Almost Killed Me)
10. Constructive Summer (Stay Positive)
11. Chips Ahoy! (Boys and Girls in America)

Buy Craig Finn's new solo album, Clear Heart Full Eyes.