“Pink Bedroom” John Hiatt, Two Bit Monsters

Come Two Bit Monsters, John Hiatt was starting to emerge from the “new Elvis Costello” tag that some critics had branded him with and started to be viewed more on his own songwriting merits.  “Pink Bedroom” is certainly a great blast of fun, less new wave-y in production and leaning more towards uptempo, rootsy rock and a bit of a precursor to the groovy “Slow Turning” that would come a few years later.  As always with Hiatt the lyrics are a blast, this time singing about a young lady that takes “Coca Cola with the valium” and thinks all her boyfriends are stupid.  Ahhh, young love!

“Half The World Away (Live)” Oasis, Definitely Maybe 

I was a bit of a latecomer to Oasis’ brilliance, certainly enjoying the hits but totally missing the boat on picking up any of their discs.  That all changed at some point in the 90s when I grabbed What’s The Story Morning Glory and got seriously hooked.  “Half The World Away” is found on debut Definitely Maybe with this version pulled from the extended version of the same disc released within the past few years.  Sung by Noel Gallagher (he being the main songwriter), “Half” is brilliant in melody and simple hookiness-  just a man, his voice, and his guitar.  Fantastic!

“Long Road To Ruin” Foo Fighters, Echoes Silence Patience Grace

I hate saying this, but the Foo Fighters are probably one of the last great rock bands that get a sniff of radio play; a fact that has always bothered me and should you too.  “Long Road To Ruin” is another smoker from a band that has more hits than a UFC fighter; a heavy yet tuneful rockin’ blast that sounds good cranked on your car radio.  Rhythm section as always is tight; Taylor Hawkins (Les Groper!) slammin’ the drums and Nate Mendel is groovy but with the Foos it’s Dave Grohl’s keen sense of riffiness that always steals the show.  And, of course, those high larry us videos 🙂

“Best Kept Lies” Cold Chisel, East

Quick, who is Cold Chisel’s lead singer?  Well, I’ll tell you…  Jimmy Barnes!  Ol’ Jimmy had a brief sniff of AOR radio in the States in the mid-80s but before then he was a bit of a star Down Under with Cold Chisel, a fine little rock band who didn’t make a dent in the US of A but were quite popular with the Aussies.  “Best Kept Lies” is a fine ditty, mixing a semi-Police vibe via a reggae-esque beat but with a bit more swagger; guitarist Ian Moss mixes up some dry and piercing guitar tones along with some killer keyboard work from Don Walker and Barnes’ cool and understated vocal.

“665” Soundgarden, Ultramega OK

Miss Chris Cornell big time.  You can consider “665” a bit of a throwaway track, a joke on the idea of spinning a record backwards to hear Satanic messages (yeah, we all did it, don’t try and deny it!) and other sorts of riff raff (it’s fun to smoke marijuana?).  All that stuff was fun and good for scaring your parents until the PMRC came on board and took it all too seriously (damn you Tipper Gore!) and started throwing Parental Advisory stickers on everything, which only encouraged kids to buy THOSE albums because…  well, there’s FILTHY stuff on it!  So yeah…  665…  Hail Santa!

“Sky Is A Poisonous Garden”  Concrete Blonde, Bloodletting

You remember Headbanger’s Ball don’t you?  At least you old timers do.  Hell, you remember when MTV actually played music videos?  Ha ha, yeah…  the good old days.  Well Concrete Blonde is one of those bands that shoulda been one of those fringe acts to pop up during those Saturday night shows because they definitely leaned hard and heavy at times, especially this song with its heads down, punky drive and James Mankey’s go for the throat guitar work. But hey, they may have been a bit too dark and too goth for the hair farmers and would have been played on 120 Minutes for the alternafolks.  Right?

“Angry Chair” Alice In Chains, Unplugged

Miss Layne Staley big time too.  The original version of “Angry Chair” (found on Dirt, THE best album of the 90s) has always been one dark brooder but on Unplugged that darkness is peeled back a bit, opening this one up to showcase the beautiful harmonies between Staley and guitarist extraordinaire Jerry Cantrell.  That Sean Kinney intro thump is great and all but this is more of a vocal showcase for Staley/Cantrell, whose unique blend highlights that tortured timbre of the former and softer shades of the latter.  Love the new AIC too but…  well, it’s not quite the same 😦

“Teenage Rage” The Kinsey Report, Powerhouse

I caught these guys opening for Living Colour on that band’s tour for Vivid and I can distinctly remember how different the guitar tones were between lead singer/guitarist Donald Kinsey’s Gibson SG and fellow guitarist Ron Prince’s Stratocaster.  Good God was it LOUD!  And good!  If you like uptempo bluesy rock then grab a copy of Powerhouse or debut Midnight Drive–  “Teenage Rage” gives you a great taste of the roadhouse rock and those tones; Kinsey loud, distorted, and in your face and Prince a bit more restrained and subdued but equally rocking.   (Sorry, couldn’t find a vid for this song in particular!)

“Strong Arm Of The Law (Live)” Saxon, The Eagle Has Landed

Those readers of this blog should be well aware of my love for the mighty Saxon.  I don’t recall offhand but this album may have been my first purchase from the band and boy what a great one to start off with (see my “Favorite Live Albums” post from a couple years back).  “Strong Arm Of The Law” is a classic-  take a simple yet hooky guitar riff and tubthumping drum ‘n bass, throw in a lyric that anyone can identify with, and spruce that up with a singalong chorus from a charismatic frontman and yer gunna love this band too.  A fist shakin’ anthem if there ever was one.

“Soul Finger” Jake E. Lee, A Fine Pink Mist

The mid 90s sure was an odd time for former hair era artists-  not that Jake E Lee should have been considered “hair metal” but he did play in Ozzy’s glammiest period and had his greatest success during the 80s.  But with Badlands having bit the dust due to the unfortunate death of singer Ray Gillen, Lee was left looking for new creative avenues.  So with guitar albums still selling decently the six stringer put out A Fine Pink Mist, handling all instrumentation himself and featuring tasty rockers like “Soul Finger”, a noisy, chunky rhythmic cut that deftly shows off Jake’s heinous guitar chops.

Best song this post goes to “Strong Arm Of The Law”, followed by “Angry Chair” and “Half The World Away”.  All live versions but great live versions, mind you!