Seems like it’s been forever since I’ve done one of these.  Time to give you my two cents on the first ten songs that pop up in shuffle mode on the iPod.

“Prowler” Iron Maiden, Beast Over Hammersmith

Yeah boyee, old school Maiden has always been the shizznit; here new boy Bruce Dickinson takes on a Dianno era classic on his first tour with the band and he nails it, band totally on fire and Dave Murray with an incredible, fiery solo.  Rumor has it that this Hammersmith was going to be an officially released live platter and VHS(!) release with Dickinson; however, dodgy video quality tabled this until it was released as part of the killer Eddie’s Archive box set in the early 2000s.  Love Bruce but I prefer Dianno’s punkier vox on his versions.

“2 Point 8” Roomful of Blues, That’s Right!

Swing, baby!  And swing they do; Roomful Of Blues drops the hammer on this mostly saxophone led instrumental, lots of jump jive and wailin’ goin’ on with some fantastic horn solos and one groovy organ rumble too.  Think sock hops, girls in poodle skirts, Dippity Doo slicked hair, and people twistin’ and gyratin, and getting their groove on like no other, fingers a snappin’ , hands a clappin’, and toes a tappin’.  If you like some uptempo swing, these cats do no wrong.  Great stuff here.

“Move In Silence” Gruntruck, Inside Yours

I always liked Gruntruck’s brand of low down grunginess, think a bit more of a funkier Soundgarden; maybe less the preponderance of that band’s love for Sabbath but leaning a little more Aerosmith.  At any rate “Move In Silence” is a quick slab of that funky/dirty grunge, kinda Rocks era ‘Smith mixed with Stooges rawness.  Saw these guys and Screaming Trees open for Alice In Chains at the height of grunge and it was a fantastic show.

“Space Truckin'” Overkill, Coverkill

Love Overkill, love Deep Purple even more, but do not love Overkill covering Deep Purple quite as much (and probably wouldn’t enjoy Deep Purple covering Overkill but hey).  Problem number one…  no groove here AT ALL but that’s hard to do when you have a superior drummer such as Purple’s Ian Paice.  Problem number two is that this heavies things up too much during the verses, a bit ham fisted in the riff but saved by a spirited chorus and its spinning, descending riff.  Let’s go a solid C-.

“400 Metres” Sloan, One Chord To Another

Sloan is a Canadian gem-  quite a bit Beatle-y in tunefulness and that band’s multiple singers and writers, with “400 Metres” maybe tossing in a bit of Bowie/T Rex in the psychedelic stew.  “400” starts with an insistent piano note and drum pattern with some really cool guitar work, even sounding a bit like Robert Quine/Richard Lloyd on Matthew Sweet’s great albums yet tosses in a backwards guitar solo that sounds like the great Joe Walsh.  Worthy of your time if you like power pop.

“Gardenia/Asteroid/Supa Scoopa” Kyuss, Sky Valley

Why weren’t Kyuss bigger?  Well, Josh Homme is raking in the dough with Queens Of The Stone Age but for my money his days in his original band along with John Garcia’s vox, Brant Bjork’s drumwork, and (for this album and next) Scott Reeder’s groovy basswork is the ticket.  My copy of the Sky Valley album lumps these three together- “Gardenia” with its fat grooves and choppy chunk fab riff; “Asteroid” floors us with an outer space psychedelic wobbler of a riff doused in massive feedback and gradually building tempo; and “Supa Scoopa” brings it home with a cool Garcia vocal and Sabbath rumble.  Great cut!

“Don’t Run Our Hearts Around” Black Mountain, Black Mountain

It’s always interesting to see how many Sabbath influenced bands I have in my collection.  Black Mountain might actually be more of a Sabbath/Pink Floyd influence, with this song sounding a bit Jack White-ish due to the vocal (especially in Stephen McBean’s vox, who probably drank from the same vocal well).  Toss in a bit of San Fran psych courtesy of keyboardist Amber Webber’s ultra cool vocals, which fall in that smoky Grace Slick range.  This is a great little band for those of you that may dig the Sabbath riffage, psychedelic vox, and spacey keyboards.

“One Man Army” Pro-Pain, The Truth Hurts

First few notes on this riff (and only the first few) makes you think NYC’s Pro-Pain is covering Sabbath’s classic “NIB” but the comparison stops there.  This may have been the first Pro-Pain song I’d ever heard and it’s a good ‘un if you like odd genre mixes to create something a bit fresh and new-  take a hot metal riff, throw in a hardcore vocal bark, sprinkle that with hints of rap, then toss in shades of industrial and you got something totally different.  Oh yeah…  and THEN add a sax solo?  WHHHHAAAAAAAT???  Yeah cool man, totally cool.  I swear 🙂

“We Close Our Eyes” Oingo Boingo, Boingo Alive

Somewhere in the late 80’s, genius songwriter Danny Elfman (yeah, the soundtrack dude…  Batman, Rugrats theme, among many) moved his band Oingo Boingo away from the high energy ska stomp of the band’s early days into something a bit more sing a longish and tuneful.  “We Close Our Eyes” is a brilliant example of the change, driven by an energetic Elfman vocal and some sweet keyboard lines topped off by some great background vocals by the band.  If you’re looking for those horns you won’t find them here, but you WILL find a fine little earworm that will be stuck in your brain for awhile.

“E.R.K.S” Cycle Sluts From Hell, Cycle Sluts From Hell

Cycle Sluts From Hell one and only album is a fun release; a sweet mix of biker rock with shades of White Zombie/Circus Of Power but led by a hell raising foursome of vocal power courtesy of Queen Vixen, She-Fire of Ice, Honey One %er (swoon), and Venus Penis Crusher backed some NYC metal/hardcore vets.  Vocals are more of a menacing sneer/warchant shared amongst the ladies which works really well with the music, leaning thrash in some spots but falling mostly in that heavy Priest/KISS range and the drums are suitably banging.

Song of the week goes to “Prowler”, followed by “Gardenia/Asteroid/Supa Scoop” then “2 Point 8”