Maybe I’m insane… maybe I’m not… I just purchased ANOTHER iPOD classic and I’m trying to figure out what I’ll do with it. I think that one will be favorite bands/songs and road trip tunes with my wife while the other two will be chock full of all metal and the other will be a mix of everything (rock, blues, country etc etc etc). This shuffle version will be that mix of everything. Let’s go!

“Come On (Let The Good Times Roll), Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland

Maybe an odd thing to say but I’m a bit of a late comer to the full Hendrix catalog. Sure, I know who the guy is having heard many a tune growing up and totally get his influence on many a guitar player but I only owned a couple of greatest hits from the man. It was only within the past couple of years that I actually purchased the studio albums he put out while alive. But I digress… “Come On” is pretty damn fat, fuzzy, groovy, and full of tasty licks, Jimi letting it rip in all of his glory with the Experience (that be Mitch and Noel) keeping up as best as they can. Fades out too early if you ask me…

“The Rest Of The Dream”, John Hiatt, Stolen Moments

In my opinion, any John Hiatt is good stuff. Maybe (maybe) this sounds a little dated with the 80s sounding keyboards (especially in that intro) but give it a few seconds and you’ll be rewarded with a nice little tune. Strong, driving playing with some really great guitar licks and one helluva chorus is what makes this one pop when it comes up on shuffle. Normally I absolutely love Hiatt’s lyrics and his turn of a phrase but with this one he plays it a bit safe, more of a strong feel good message cum love song but as always he carries it so convincingly.

“Mary Lou” Steve Miller Band, The Joker

Yes dear, there is more to Steve Miller than the hits… we all know the title song to this album (and I’m pretty sure we all have sung that chorus a few times too) but by golly there are a lot of other fun tunes that the man has penned that aren’t on your classic rock playlist. “Mary Lou” is a fun little playful rocker that’s really a bit too short for its own good, plus songs that have clavinets (or is that a Fender Rhodes in the left channel?) in them are extra special. Nice little outro with the band kicking it up a notch and Steve tossing out a few nice licks throughout the entire song.

“Fly Away”, Blackfoot Marauder

OK now, this is a GREAT song… it ain’t no “Train Train” though (THE pinnacle of Blackfoot and one of my all time favorite songs) but Rickey Medlocke and the boys could craft a southern rock special to fit along with the .38 Specials, Molly Hatchets, Skynyrds, and Marshall Tuckers of my early 1980s FM listening days. The band always leaned a bit more to the hard rock side but “Fly Away” is sprightly and tuneful with a great melodic intro, ballsy riff, and a banger of a chorus that sticks. And by golly, is that a banjo I hear popping up in the mix?

“War Machine”, Red Dragon Cartel Red Dragon Cartel

Woah… generals gather in their masses until some people say my love cannot be true. Err… no, but I give Jake E Lee a free pass here (and on a lot of things actually) as he DID play with Mr Ozzy Osbourne and the Sabs are a strong influence in his playing. And after such a long layoff he came back strong with Red Dragon Cartel, featuring a vast array of face melters including the seriously stomping “War Machine”. Solid vocally, solid rhythmically, but put a guitar in Jake E Lee’s hands your attention is going to be drawn to his six string wizardry. Play it loud!

“Give The People What They Want”, The Kinks Give The People What They Want

I’m fessin’ up here… as a long time Kinks fan I’ve always leaned to their more rocking side, especially as my introduction to their canon was via their incredible live album One For The Road. While Ray has penned many an all time classic it is often Dave’s metallic skronk that bends my ear and the title cut to their 1981 album is a perfect example. This is rock, this is heavy metal, this is punk, this is… something else and was to my young ears. The Arista years was a great comeback for the band as they leaned more arena rock and showed those young cats a thing or two.

“You Are Nothin'” The Hellacopters, Payin’ The Dues

This is rock, this is heavy metal, this is punk, this is… something (where have I heard that before?). Err nevermind. Where were we? Oh yeah, The Hellacopters and “You Are Nothin'”, which actually IS a great mix of rock/metal/punk- take the best of KISS, Sex Pistols, and Thin Lizzy with maybe a dash of AC/DC and you’ve got this song. I often wonder what they put in the water in Sweden because there are MANY a great band out there playing everything from solid rock like this to death metal. But man if there aren’t some great vocals here and some licks straight out of the Ace Frehley playbook. Good on ya fellas…

“I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, Elvis Presley The King Of Rock & Roll

Oh the timing… my iPod is playing a funny on me considering that we are three days away from the Santa man and Elvis decides to pay a visit to today’s post! Maybe even funnier is that I have very, very few Christmas songs on the iPod. At any rate, Elvis’ take on this holiday classic is first rate and you get a nice mix of E’s varied stylings… quite a bit of crooning, nice highs and dramatic lows, and a little bit of fun to boot (“messeltoe”???). My only problem with this version is that it’s just too darn short! Only two minutes but a great two minutes it is- great vocals by The King and his backup singers.

“I’ve Known No War”, The Who Face Dances

Oh I’m having a hard, hard time reviewing this one… I like the throwback to the synth (or is that “mouth harp”?) lick from their old chestnut “Join Together” but short of that this song sounds as “un-Who” as you can get. Where’s the thunder from John Entwistle? Is he even on this thing? I get hints of him in the chorus but he’s buried in the mix. And don’t get me started on the drums- I know it’s NOT Keith Moon but poor Kenney Jones is just relegated to some simple tapping. Pete Townshend is here (barely), but the saving grace is Roger Daltrey whose massive pipes save this one from ending up in the trash bin.

“Cry” 10cc, Collected

Really a Godley & Creme song and not a 10cc song but hey, who’s countin’… it shows up on that band’s Collected three CD collection so there you go. At any rate, I recall the first time I heard this song was via it’s oddly arresting black and white video as it segued from close up shots of people crying or lip synching with the lyrics with Godley and Creme popping up here and there. But from a song perspective it’s very strong vocally and features a nice pulsating rhythm and some decent synth washes, production courtesy of Trevor Horn (Yes, Seal, The Buggles, ABC, etc)

Gotta go with “Fly Away” as the best song in this batch followed by “Give The People What They Want” (both tunes stamped in my psyche from my youth) and “War Machine”