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Post by Kapitan on Feb 12, 2020 23:43:39 GMT
This is one I don't recall how I stumbled across: I'd never heard of the Fast Romantics (a Toronto-based band that was apparently recently reformed, members-wise, and had a new sound at that time) before ... or since, actually. But back in 2015, one way or another, this song appealed to me immediately.
It's an Elvis Costello-ish piece of singalong candy. I mean, can you resist a refrain like "Julia, I think I'm fin'ly gettin' through to ya"? Great little guitar riff, too. Cool bass line. And chimes. I love chimes.
Pretty sure I've never seen the video before today.
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Post by jk on Feb 13, 2020 14:01:23 GMT
This is one I don't recall how I stumbled across: I'd never heard of the Fast Romantics (a Toronto-based band that was apparently recently reformed, members-wise, and had a new sound at that time) before ... or since, actually. But back in 2015, one way or another, this song appealed to me immediately.
It's an Elvis Costello-ish piece of singalong candy. I mean, can you resist a refrain like "Julia, I think I'm fin'ly gettin' through to ya"? Great little guitar riff, too. Cool bass line. And chimes. I love chimes.
Pretty sure I've never seen the video before today.
That's rather sweet. Knew someone who went under the name of Julia. Yes indeed, chimes with everything!
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 16, 2020 22:32:24 GMT
Here's a little underground, hipsters-only song you've probably never heard before ... "Livin' on a Prayer," by Bon Jovi.
I heard this while getting my haircut yesterday and couldn't help but think, damnit this still sounds good on the radio. Sure, there's plenty to tease. Jon Bon Jovi is one of the prettiest fellas you're going to see (wait, is that me teasing, or me being jealous?). The line that Gina "brings home her pay for love," is pretty weird... And the talk box on the guitar is a novelty, to say the least.
But you know what? That bass line in the refrain is one of my all-time favorites, an agile and melodic part whose motion is a great contrast to the longer-lasting, single-note "whoas." And those whoas! They're the dressing on what has to be considered among the best rock anthems ever. (The aforementioned bass line, per Wiki, was actually an overdub written and played uncredited by Hugh McDonald, not by Bon Jovi's bassist Alec John Such.)
Big hair, silly clothes, MTV era excess, sure. But this glammed-up Springsteen rocker was a #1 hit and triple platinum in the US, and a Top 5 hit basically everywhere in the western world.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Feb 16, 2020 22:52:22 GMT
Here's a little underground, hipsters-only song you've probably never heard before ... "Livin' on a Prayer," by Bon Jovi.
I heard this while getting my haircut yesterday and couldn't help but think, damnit this still sounds good on the radio. Sure, there's plenty to tease. Jon Bon Jovi is one of the prettiest fellas you're going to see (wait, is that me teasing, or me being jealous?). The line that Gina "brings home her pay for love," is pretty weird... And the talk box on the guitar is a novelty, to say the least.
But you know what? That bass line in the refrain is one of my all-time favorites, an agile and melodic part whose motion is a great contrast to the longer-lasting, single-note "whoas." And those whoas! They're the dressing on what has to be considered among the best rock anthems ever. (The aforementioned bass line, per Wiki, was actually an overdub written and played uncredited by Hugh McDonald, not by Bon Jovi's bassist Alec John Such.)
Big hair, silly clothes, MTV era excess, sure. But this glammed-up Springsteen rocker was a #1 hit and triple platinum in the US, and a Top 5 hit basically everywhere in the western world.
And, "Livin' On A Prayer" has become both a DJ staple and a sports' anthem.
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Post by kds on Feb 16, 2020 22:56:50 GMT
I loved it in 1987, and I love it now.
When I was in my late 20s, one of my best friends and I would often spend Saturday nights at a local tavern. Now, we're fairly reserved. I love my Sabbath, Priest, and Maiden. He loves Metallica, Slayer, and Pantera. But when Prayer would come on the jukebox (and it did, damn near every Saturday), we serenaded the bar.
Such a great singalong chorus, awesome Sambora guitar solo, and relatable lyrics. Most everybody has been Tommy or Gina at some point.
By the way, I find it quite comical how Tommy's "whisper" is the loudest non chorus vocal.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Feb 17, 2020 1:59:29 GMT
I don't want to say I could never be friends with someone who is unable to let themselves go and just get carried away by the chorus of this song... but it would be something I'd have to tease THEM about. How could anyone not like Livin' On A Prayer? It's an anthem for everyone with a heart and a pulse.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 23, 2020 16:05:34 GMT
How about one of the greatest songs in the history of rock and roll, "Everyday" by Buddy Holly? This is a stunner from the classic 1958 album Buddy Holly (not credited to "and the Crickets," though they are present).
The simple DIY arrangement of knee-slaps and typewriter percussion, stand-up bass, subtle but increasingly prominent acoustic guitar, and of course celeste, make it feel intimate--a perfect context for Holly's sweet vocal. Even the laughably square "swing" of the celeste solo--sorry, Mrs. Petty--add to the song's charms.
My sole wish is that they'd added a vocal harmony, just simply diatonic harmony starting at the root (above the fifth where the melody starts). We know Buddy was happy to overdub. (You're welcome, Mr. Holly. I know you've been seeking the advice of someone wholly unqualified to second-guess you all these years.)
I've known this song as long as I've known any songs, as my dad was a big Holly fan and so we had some records around the house. So maybe I've just got a soft spot for it. But I truly believe this one is as good as anything. (That it shared an album with some of the great rockers--"Ready Teddy," "Peggy Sue," "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)," and "Rave On"--as well as "Words of Love" and "Listen to Me," I mean my goodness. What an album.)
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Post by B.E. on Feb 23, 2020 16:25:04 GMT
How about one of the greatest songs in the history of rock and roll, "Everyday" by Buddy Holly?
It truly is an all-timer. I received The Best Of Buddy Holly (20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection) as a gift around the time of its release in 1999. I lived on that for a decade before digging deeper. It's amazing how fresh those songs can sound. Both decades later and after dozens, if not hundreds, of listens.
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Post by B.E. on Mar 10, 2020 13:42:28 GMT
Here's something a little different. I had trouble falling asleep last night so I ended up exploring sections of my iPod that hadn't been heard from in years. That's where I was reminded of this whimsical tune. It's got an unusual time signature and some nice bass clarinet playing. His lead vocal is also among his better ones (i.e. more accessible). Check it out, it's short.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Mar 12, 2020 1:21:08 GMT
Here's something a little different. I had trouble falling asleep last night so I ended up exploring sections of my iPod that hadn't been heard from in years. That's where I was reminded of this whimsical tune. It's got an unusual time signature and some nice bass clarinet playing. His lead vocal is also among his better ones (i.e. more accessible). Check it out, it's short. This is a cool little song, I love the clarinet/guitar combination, it's really charming and unique. Some really neat twists and turns in the vocal melody, too. It's always fun when a song does things you don't expect.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 12, 2020 1:28:01 GMT
I really enjoyed that, B.E., thanks for posting it. (And thanks bellbottoms for bumping it; I'd have forgotten to reply.) Definitely some left turns in the changes to keep it interesting. I love that it's as short as it is, being so quirky. It isn't asking a ton of you, not overstaying its welcome while giving you something you weren't thinking.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 28, 2020 0:20:13 GMT
Humor me, people! I know that I previously plugged the Cotton Mather feat. Nicole Atkins song "Girl Friday," but tonight I'd like to share a (purely) Cotton Mather ballad--and I mean a big, majestic, even epic ballad--called "Monterrey Honey." By now you might have guessed that I'm a loyalist to an almost absurd degree (and seriously, any of you not familiar with KonTiki are only hurting yourselves), but this is worth at least one listen, if not the 10,000 younger-days-after-bar drives home listens I've given it.
The aforementioned KonTiki is known as a mid-90s DIY Revolver-meets-Highway 61 Revisited (plus just a touch of Squeeze?) affair.
"Monterrey Honey" is far from any of that. Originally an acoustic-and-vocal demo (actually considered for the aforementioned album), then filtered through an assortment of mixes, the eventual product that made the 2001 damn-near posthumous The Big Picture was a vocal powerhouse of a torch song with accordion, harp, mellotron ... the works. It also has a handful of lyrics I personally can't help but love: She asked me, "Aren't you done yet?" And then broke my heart with her last cigarette. Yikes. Anyway. It's big. It's dramatic. You'll get weird looks from family, friends, and neighbors when you belt out the refrain at the top of your lungs. It might not be among their dozen best songs, but what it is, is "Monterrey Honey."
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 28, 2020 0:29:50 GMT
It's a very good song. Emotional vocal, and yes, heartfelt lyrics. I can feel what he's singing. I do hear a little Dylan in there, maybe circa-Blood On The Tracks.
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 31, 2020 17:25:49 GMT
"In Quintessence" opens Squeeze's fantastic 1981 album East Side Story. I love this song--probably most of anything on that album, and far more than the album's big hit "Tempted" (which might not crack my top half dozen songs from the album).
The almost rushed--certainly at risk to be rushed any moment!--feel is one thing that always jumped out at me. For some reason, that tempo and the octave-harmony vocals strike me as nervy, jittery despite the steady backbeat. I love the main guitar riff (and the solo), too. I don't have a ton else to say about it except that I used to try to convince some bandmates that we ought to perform the song live (and was always turned down). Great song!
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Post by Kapitan on Sept 8, 2020 14:48:21 GMT
Sharon Van Etten's 2014 song "I Know" is a disarming powerhouse. This is a solemn, even mournful song with a lustful undercurrent.
The music could hardly be simpler, mostly alternating elementary piano block chords with the occasional simple embellishment.
Van Etten sings from what seems to be the perspective of a woman who has found herself as "the other woman" and is neither comfortable with the arrangement nor intending to end it. The opening line is startling, "Now I turn into a lover on the side." And as she continues, sometimes softly and other times powerfully, she repeats again and again, "I know, I know." Sometimes it feels like someone admitting her own mistakes, someone who knows what is right: "I know, I know." Other times it's as if she's comforting her lover: "I know, I know."
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