“It’s Who You Know”, X Wild Gift

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghcBd7Ii66s

With a slam bang wallop Billy Zoom riff, Los Angeles’ X kicks down the door with a fine two minutes of punkabilly greatness that is too short for its own good.  Lead vocals/bassist John Doe is in fine croon ‘n sneer form here countered by fellow vocalist Exene Cervenka’s high wail and DJ Bonebrake’s trap rattling, but it’s really that careening Zoom guitar that provides the real kick in the pants.  More fun than you can shake a stick at.

“Back Seat Confidential”, AC/DC Bonfire: Volts

From the massively awesome Bonfire box comes this early take on “Beating Around The Bush” with entirely different lyrics but mostly the same music, although quite a bit rawer.  Gives you a great idea how Mutt Lange shorn off those rough edges to make ‘DC huge rock titans come Highway To Hell.  What’s interesting here is that this feels like an extension of the relentless boogie of Powerage but turned up a bit more in intensity and…  Fiyah!  (oh, wait… that’s not for a couple more albums).

“Kick Out The Jams”, Rage Against The Machine Renegades

Going for a bit more groove, RATM takes on this MC5 classic and puts their own spin on it-  less frenetic in pace than the original but totally slamming nonetheless.  Frontman Zach de la Rocha plays the vocal relatively straight compared to his ferocious takes on their original material and does an admirable job. The rest of the band?  Rockin’ mighty and rockin’ hard…  Tim C with some growling tone and sweet runs backed by Brad Wilk’s bashing and Tom Morello’s angry crunch.  A tasty cover.

“I’m The Man”, Cheap Trick Sex, America, Cheap Trick

From the rarely seen animated movie Rock & Rule comes this lost Cheap Trick cut finally released on CD on their great Sex, America, Cheap Trick box set.  You want to hear a primo rock vocalist?  Robin Zander proves why he’s the man of 1000 voices, giving serious throat power to this relatively brief cut that shows a heavier side to Rockford’s finest that runs counter to the power pop of the hits.  Songs like this prove how underrated these guys have always been.

“Reach Out”, Iron Maiden Best Of The B-Sides

Man, hearing this brings back TONS of memories as I literally ran to the record store to pick up the “Wasted Years” single waaaaay back in 1986.  Played the A side to death and was totally gobsmacked (a British term for ya!) by this Adrian Smith penned AND sung cut on the flip.  H’s always awesome tunefulness is one of those strengths of the band that was sorely missed during his absence for most of the 90s and “Reach Out” shows this off in spades, especially during that soaring chorus.

“All Of My Heart”, ABC Absolutely: Best Of ABC

Where would my listening tastes be if I didn’t have MTV in 1983?  ABC was one of those bands that were the total opposite of the Maidens, AC/DCs, KISS, and Cheap Tricks that I normally listened to but there was so much melodic and elegant goodness that I couldn’t ignore it.  “All Of My Heart” is beautifully lush; a musical smorgasbord of strings, keyboards, and excellent musicianship laying the groundwork for the ultra cool and suave Martin Fry’s stellar crooning.  Great production from Trevor Horn.

“No Prayer For The Dying”, Iron Maiden No Prayer For The Dying

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvd7706UUns

As much as I hate to say it, 1990’s No Rest For The Wicked was the beginning of an odd period for the band- Adrian Smith gone, Bruce Dickinson gets a bit raspier, and those big and bold knob jobs by Martin Birch are a thing of the past, leaving us with more of a “back to the roots” rawness.  In hindsight, was it really THAT bad?  Naaaaah… the title cut is one of the better tunes, its nursery rhyme melody features some excellent guitar work and Bruce gives us his all.  Nice charge midway through to bring ‘er home.

“Hallowed Be Thy Name”, Iron Maiden The Number Of The Beast Single

OK, so much for shuffling through 20,000+ songs and ending up with three here but too much Maiden is never enough.  If you want one song to show off what Iron Maiden is all about, “Hallowed” is as good a choice as any (especially the live versions)- killer mood setting intro, excellent guitar work, fab melody and incredible dynamics, topped off by an exceptional Bruce Dickinson vocal.  This version (Brixton 2002) gooses the crowd participation a little bit but it’s the energy dammit!  A great example of why I love this band as much as I do.

“Blue Light”, Cathedral The Carnival Bizarre

Did I mention dynamics?  Yeah, I did…  so Cathedral blesses us with a smooth buildup before getting a bit trippy…  hints of haunted keyboards and bongos make their presence known as the band adds a subtle, sci-fi psychedelica to the proceedings.  And singer Lee Dorrian-  not the most precise and “on pitch” vocalist out there but one with a ton of character, especially come the spoken word piece toward the back end of the song.  Not typical of this band’s style but a decent change of pace.

“Crystal Planet”, Joe Satriani Crystal Planet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLJtO_iRbA8

I really don’t listen to a ton of instrumental music but I’ve always dug Joe Satriani’s work.  Kicking off with a vaguely middle eastern motif, the song eventually kicks into heads down rock mode as it leans a little close in spiritual vibe to Surfing With The Alien but with plenty of twists and turns to make this its own unique beast.  As always, Joe is in top form with liquid smooth runs and spacey chops- kinda like an out of control magic carpet ride in outer space.

Song of the week…  no contest…  “Hallowed Be Thy Name” by a WIDE margin because that song IS the essence of Iron Maiden.  I’ll take “Reach Out” and “I’m The Man” for the silver and bronze medal.