Shuffling through another ten songs on the iPod and giving you my two cents on each.  Enjoy!

“Green River”, John Fogerty Premonition

A dead on classic if there ever was one, John Fogerty lets rip on this version via his 1997 live album Premonition (which is highly recommended).  Note this is Fogerty solo with a crackin’ good band, most notable player being former Mellencamp skin basher Kenny Aronoff.  Fogerty’s voice is in great form and his guitar playing has a bit of raunch and bite, extending the song a bit with a tasty solo.  Not too far removed from the Creedence version.

“The Invocation”, Dew-Scented Invocation

From Germany comes this oddly named band, here featuring a fairly strong cut in “The Invocation”.  A bit of a herky jerky thrashin’ riff in spots with a couple of groovers thrown in for good measure, this cut has some vague death metal tones courtesy of Leif Jensen’s commanding hardcore bark.  If you’re looking to graduate to some heavier music and have always liked the thrash ‘n stomp but you’re unsure about more aggressive vocals, this may be a good start.

“This Is Where I Belong”, The Kinks Face To Face

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaC0sXzH9o8

Do I ever love The Kinks!  Definitely an all time favorite band for me, especially as Ray Davies has written many a killer kut over the years.  “This Is Where I Belong” is a fine little ditty, maybe a bit underrated yet likely in that middle tier of songs that are good, not great, but certainly not awful.  Quite catchy, well sung and played (nice drumming from Mick Avory!), plus a decent organ line hidden deep in the mix to add another element.  Also, brother Dave adds nice guitar touches and backing vocals as well.

“Skin and Bone”, The Kinks Muswell Hillbillies

A Kinks double shot!  If the previous kut was just good then “Skin And Bone” is definitely in the very good category courtesy of the loose playing, hilarious lyric, and overall fun vibe.  Dave Davies’ guitar playing has an almost country/rockabilly vibe (although that could be Ray) and brother Ray’s vocal is in the pocket as he grooves along with the rest of the band.  I keep waiting for this to show up in the next Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers commercial 🙂

“Hey Buddy”, Life Sex & Death Silent Majority

Life Sex & Death was one of those oddly memorable concert experiences from back in the day (just Google the band or check out vids on YouTube and watch Stanley- you’ll know who it is when you see him).  At any rate, “Hey Buddy” moves from an acoustic slow burner into a semi-rocker, not quite power ballad territory but more of a heavier Beatles vibe a la “She’s So Heavy”.  Unfortunately the band released only one album but fell off the face of the earth once grunge overtook anything remotely hair metal.

“Elevation”, U2 All That You Can’t Leave Behind

U2 gets semi trip hoppy on “Elevation”, a groovy little number with a fun singalong “Woo ooh” bit and some psychedelic bits courtesy of some fuzziness from The Edge and various other vocal touches.  I believe this song was a minor hit from the band with the album as a whole being a bit of a return to form.  And that Bono cat?  Not sure what he’s singing about half the time but the dude does a great job of selling a song.  One of the better recent cuts from the band.

“Revolution”, The Cult Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lteomt5CWq4

If you’ve never checked out The Cult’s earlier material pre-Sonic Temple, then “Revolution” may be a good place to start.  Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy leaned closer to goth/new wave in those early days but had classic rock roots deep in their veins, especially via Astbury’s killer pipes.  But don’t sell Duffy’s guitar work short here-  you’ve got various layers from echoey bits, chime-y rhythm playing, and some sweet lead lines.  Likely a great live tune for them back in the day.  Good stuff.

“Insurgeria”, Mob Rules Savage Land

Some killer power metal here, Savage Land being the band’s debut and “Insurgeria” showing off the best of the genre-  strong melodic vocals and Iron Maiden inspired guitar work.  Not quite as happy or speedy as fellow countrymen Helloween or Gamma Ray, Mob Rules slots in more as chunkier riffsters of epic proportions.  Kinda like taking the cleaner vocals of say Dokken mixed with Maiden or Dio and you’re in the ballpark.

“The Wait – New High in Lows” Overkill, W.F.O.

Kicking off with a snippet of Al Pacino dialogue from the underrated Carlito’s Way, Overkill kicks into a banger with plenty of thrashy chops mixed in with the occasional Sabbathesque nod.  Plenty of presto changeos as the song bounces around from one slamming riff to another and Blitz does a typically fab job on vocals, but uggghh…  that ping pongy bass tone from DD Verni is hard to ignore.  Other than that, plenty of headbanging goodness to go ’round.

“Pelvis Pusher” Vintage Trouble, The Bomb Shelter Sessions

Essentially a rewrite of Wilson Pickett’s “Land Of A Thousand Dances” (without the na nas) with more rock chops, but don’t let that stop you because this is damn good in its own right.  Singer Ty Taylor is an incredible singer with tons of rhythm and blues, soul, and rock grit to match greats like Otis Redding, James Brown, Al Green, and the aforementioned Pickett.  Saw these guys in concert a couple of years ago and they are the real deal with this cut definitely a highlight.  Fantastic stuff!

Pick of the week…  gotta go with “Green River” with “Skin and Bone” and “Pelvis Pusher” rounding out the top three.