It’s been four years since I posted. The past four years were… busy. I took up some new hobbies, acquired some new medical issues and diagnoses, and generally got lost in all the busy-ness that comes with all of that. After some time off of work doing physical therapy for my wrists, I’m back to a point where I can consider being on a computer more frequently. And in recent months I’ve been politely needled for not stating strong favorites.

This combination of things got me considering how to combine things. After all I do need to periodically see how well my wrists handle the rigors of hours of typing. And I need to ease my way back into tech. And I wanted to give people insights into personally important Genres, Albums and songs. And it seemed that by explaining the importance of each on my personal blog would do all of the above.

About This List

This is not a comprehensive list of every genre I listen to. It’s those that seemed appropriate and representative of the range I usually listen to, and for which I have at least two albums among the 115 that I own. As well this is written in a semi-structured and semi-stream-of-consciousness manner with references to prior entries. (For example, my ability to appreciate Queen’s News of the World was directly impacted by Metallica’s Ride the Lightning. News of the World is first. Ride the Lightning is much later.) If that style isn’t for you, read no further.

Also, keep in mind that on any one day, I might be craving Bach or Beethoven (absent from this list) over anything on this list. And some days, I just indulge in fun little bits of fluff like Intergalactic or I genuinely want to listen to old school Hip-Hop. Insane in the Membrane is a fun one.

Classic Rock

This genre is a massive one that defies easy definition. However, there are bands that are often used as examples within the genre. Queen is one such band. It’s also the genre I heard most when growing up. (It was just called “Rock” back then.) So this genre has helped shape many of my views of music.

Queen, News of the World

When I was a teenager, my brother borrowed this album, a vinyl LP, from an uncle. Yet I was the one that got the most play out of it. While I’d seen Flash Gordon and The Highlander, both of which Queen did the soundtracks to, I was really only familiar with their songs that played on the radio.

And so this album introduced me to the broader, nearly operatic, range of Freddie Mercury’s voice. I was astounded. Further drawing me in was that the songs weren’t as fluffy as the soundtracks. Some are very powerful songs, like Spread Your Wings. And it was my first serious introduction many musical concepts and just how overall talented Queen was as a band.

All the songs on this album hold a special place in my heart.

So in no particular order here are three semi-randomly selected songs.

Three Memorable Songs

  1. Spread Your Wings. This was the first bittersweet Melancholy song I ever truly listened to. It’s a beautifully bittersweet song that will move any listener. On this album its melancholy is only topped by “All Dead, All Dead” or “My Melancholy Blues,” the latter of which is over the top and /almost/ satirical.

  2. Sleeping on the Sidewalk. This song was one of the first commentaries on the music business that I ever paid attention to. I found it both playful and moving as well as a cautionary tale “Beware of those who would use and discard you.” The following song, both on the album, and in my list you what to say to those sorts! The combined story, lesson, and subsequent song serving as both a tie-in and response to users really stuck with me.

  3. Who Needs You. This light airy number is quite acerbic in every way possible. I immediately loved the contrast of sweet music and sharp cutting beautifully delivered lyrics, once I actually listened to the words. In my teenage brain, this was almost as “Punk” as much of The Clash’s works. (I’d not heard much Punk, yet, nor most of The Clash’s repertoire. I was 15 or 16.)

NOTE: Given the variety of styles on this album, I’m not sure if it qualifies as Classic Rock, but the band certainly does.

Punk-Adjacent

The Clash, Cut the Crap

I never owned a lot of punk albums despite liking a lot of individual songs. My best friend growing up introduced me to Punk via The Clash. I bought as many albums as I could afford (not many). By the end of High School I’d either borrowed or listened to them all. And when my best friend was thinking of joining the Army (bailed at the absolute last minute) he gave me a farewell present. It was a greasy punkified t-shirt, sleeves cut off, and the lyric to “Movers and Shakers” written on it in black magic marker. I kept that until I bought my house in 2005.

This album isn’t fully punk. But it definitely has the punk spirit. Many of the songs are electronic adjacent and pop adjacent, eventually what they played would be called “Post-Punk” but it was all definitely in the style of The Clash (absent Mick Jones).

Three (or Four) Meaningful Songs

  1. Movers and Shakers. This is both an experimental song and in some ways a return to The Clash’s Punk Roots. (They drifted away with a couple albums). In addition, it’s a song of hope. And when my friend gave me the going away gift it was him telling me he knew I’d “make it.” But I also knew it meant we were going our separate ways. And we did. He also wasn’t hopeful for himself. The good news is unless his uncommon name and face are possessed by another, he landed on his feet. I googled him once several years ago. Apparently he’s a biology professor.

  2. Three Card Trick. This is a political punk song decrying imperialism/sweatshops and framing it as a three card trick, most famous of which is the Three Card Monte. The Clash introduced me to considering the larger political context of music. Although I was still a bit slow on the uptake when younger, I never stopped trying to learn. For that reason I’ll always be fond of this song.

  3. Dirty Punk and Play to Win are tied. I kept waffling about which one to put here.

    What they have in common is they’re light-hearted and fun.

    • Dirty Punk is a fun return to The Clash’s Punk roots. It’s also lyrical fluff. And everyone needs a fluff song in their rotation. (The main refrain is about the narrator driving his great big car on someone’s backyard and boulevard. It’s silly and it has spirit!)
    • Play To Win is an eclectic little number featuring some light music and sounds of a video game arcade during the non-refrain parts. British banter in some very strong accents, at times unintelligible feature for these bits as well. The refrain is sung and not particularly deep. All in all this song further introduced me to the concept that songs need not be mostly lyrical, or even sung. It’s always a fascinating, delightful, and fun cacophony for me.

Grunge

The 90s saw a several breaks from the overt anger of Punk and the Pollyannaish stylings of pop music bear fruit. Among these genres were Emo/Goth, Post-Punk (also larger umbrella term for other subgenres, akin to Alternative), and Grunge. To me, Grunge is typified by Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. It embraces a raw gritty feel that is like a thin yet pleasant coating of grime for the soul. It embraces sounds music intentionally avoided, vocalists who had a limited range, but knew and used it well. It embraces imperfect, and highlights it as a point of beauty and passion, with a broader range of emotions vs Punk or Pop. The first time I heard it, it was like curling up in an old, familiar, blanket. It still is, in every way possible.

Nirvana, Nevermind

This was the first Grunge album I bought. I got it on cassette tape in college along with a couple of REM albums. I was barely able to afford them. And as many of my earlier album purchases, I knew of and greatly liked a single song from the album. The first track, Smells Like Teen Spirit was the only one I knew, and only because it was overplayed on the campus radio station. As much of an influence as it had on me at that time, and since, it isn’t among the three I’ll cover.

As I found out in listening to the rest of the album, there were far more interesting tracks to indulge in. And the track sequence/overall album composition helps drive home larger messages. Sadly my love affair with my tape was cute short when my boom box destroyed the tape, two years later. It would be around a decade before I replaced it with a CD. Since, it’s often been in my rotation. Like other albums, all the songs on this album are dear to me.

Three Songs that Still Capture My Attention

  1. In Bloom. Using nature derisively in direct metaphor (Nature is a whore) and direct and overtly mention of sexual anatomy (Turned erection blue) were both lyrical firsts for me. Coupled with the fact that the people Cobain sings about “Don’t know what it means” hit me in a way that few songs have. While very directly about Nirvana’s superficial fans who (even today) don’t bother to look beneath the surface of the lyrics, it brought about a certain intriguing unease in me. I’d not yet recognized that most people (often superficial fans) process the world very differently than I do. So I always felt like I was missing something. This song opened my eyes to the fact that most people don’t see the world like me, not even Cobain. That I would miss things because of all the social shorthand I have no access to. But also, that these people, will miss things I have insights to. While Cobain’s words are a bit derisive, I took away very different message versus the superficial one in the lyrics, and it serves as a corollary to the one in Come As You Are: “Just do your best and accept others while trying to look at things from others perspectives.” However, it would take me many years to be able to put it into words, this being the first time I’ve ever written those words.

  2. Come As You Are. While I’d heard it droning on the radio, occasionally, I didn’t really listen to the lyrics until I owned the album. And when I finally paid attention it reached me in a way that Smells Like Teen Spirit didn’t. While many have speculated that the song is purely about Heroin, a problem for Cobain, I never fully bought in. There are too many other allusions. And for me the song has always been about the very simple message in the song’s title: “Come As You Are.” For an awkward late teens, early 20s kid, this was a potent message. Given all the other differences in how I process the world I’d encounter on my journey, this message helped keep me somewhat grounded as well as being as accepting of others as I can. I wish I could say I had the success I’d later find in Cobain’s quote about one lyric, “And I Swear, that I don’t have a gun.” His intent was to tell people there’s enough room for everyone, no matter how broken they feel. And his lyrics weren’t about any one specific person. But I’m human. I’ve got my successes and failures in accepting others. Everyone does. That’s why we should all just come as we are. And do our best.

  3. Something in the Way. This song hooked me from the word go. And it breaks from many musical norms. The lyrics are a droning bit of almost nonsensical metaphor couched as someone living under a bridge and occupying their time with various thoughts. The subdued, tension building, delivery of the lyrics and accompanying music give the sensation that (to use a very US-centric idiom) “the other shoe is about to drop” at any moment.” Yet the only relief from the building tension is the end of the song and album. (Ignoring the hidden track).

    At that point in my life “something” was building. Yet I couldn’t quite see it. I’d not yet fully learned a skill that continues to serve me well - interoceptive interrogation. So my ignorance was in the way. The other shoe would drop a few years later – massive fistulization due to Crohn’s. It nearly killed me. It nearly ended the album of my life. I didn’t make this song connection until after I repurchased the album. Around the fifth or sixth listen the memories started reforming. A few more listens later and I had fully made the connection, well after the fact.

    And this song has gained renewed significance for me as of 2020. I love comic inspired movies. That I love horror and dystopian stories makes it no surprise that I’m rather fond of dark comic stories, such as The Batman. This song features prominently, and in my opinion, underscores the tension of the moments it’s played. And being played both when The Riddler, and The Batman, are central figures of the scenes both binds their stories, and tells us the other shoe is going to drop. Something big, and life changing (or ending) is going to happen. And it does, in that story. And The Batman only sees the full picture, well after the fact. That makes this song a bit of an enjoyably cathartic double gut-punch.

Power Pop

Power Pop is a heavily Grunge influenced style of music typified by and partially founded by the likes of Foo Fighters. And so I’ve picked one of their albums. I own their first four albums and love ‘em all.

Foo Fighters, The Colour and the Shape

This album is packed with fun, well composed songs. Some possess a surprising depth of meaning for Power Pop, a genre often leaning heavily into the Pop elements. The album composition has them flow nicely and I love listening to it on repeat.

Three Songs That Still Pack an Emotional Punch

  1. Hey, Johnny Park! After many years of listening to it, I finally looked up what it’s about: Grohl said it’s about 15 different things. And the lyrics reflect that it’s about many different things, none presented particularly straightforwardly. And I find that presentation fun.

    One item I found remarkably relatable is it was named after Dave Grohl’s best friend until age 12. They hadn’t talked since age 14. He hoped if he named a song after him that maybe he’d call. I had a friend like that but never got so famous as to be able to do exactly that. So after learning this about the song, it endeared the song even more to me.

  2. February Stars. I haven’t seen any official statements about what this song is about. But, the lyrics seem to suggest it’s about “just holding on,” whatever that might mean to the listener and Grohl. From what I’ve gelaned, by the point Dave Grohl wrote this song, he had a lot of loss/things dissolve on him (I think he was in his late 30s). Some of these include Cobain dying, Nirvana imploding after, and I believe a divorce. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is even more to his story. The lyrical content alone makes this song remarkably relatable, generally, as well as personally to me. That it comes from a similar place in Grohl’s life makes it even more relatable.

  3. My Hero. I love this one for being so down to earth and upbeat at the same time. It’s a celebration of the potential in everyone no matter how “common” or humble. While simpler in composition that Rush’s Nobody’s Hero, it addresses similar themes, while also carrying its own unique message. (I’m a huge Rush fan.) The upbeat nature, and message make this a song I sometimes put on repeat.

Heavy Metal (1980s)

What can I say about this genre other than it was born not long before I was. And I found it by way of Glam Metal (Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Kiss…etc.) My first album (vinyl) was Glam Metal, either Def Leppard or Kiss. I can’t quite recall which anymore. My cousins that lived in town introduced my brother and I to Heavy Metal and Glam Metal. I found Heavy Metal far more appealing for its more visceral feel and lyrical content.

Metallica, Ride the Lightning

I can’t say I have any that I favor most. I could barely afford to buy anything for myself before I was 16. So, I went with recommendations from peers. So, this album pick is really based on nostalgia and firsts.

This album was the first non-glam metal album I bought as a teenager. (I’d bought a vinyl from Kiss a couple of years earlier as well as Def Leppard, also vinyl) It was also one of my first cassette tapes (Weird Al or The Dead Milkmen were the absolute first there). It was also my first Metallica album. On top of all of that, I was really into H. P. Lovecraft as a teen and young adult (this factors in).

This album has driving beats, uncompromising lyrics, and songs that are, first and foremost, horror stories. This was the album where I realized many songs are also stories. That these songs were horror stories really hooked me! Also, had I not gotten this album I might not have fully appreciated Queen’s News of the World.

Three Songs That Stuck With Me

  1. The Call of Ktulu. This title is an overt reference to H. P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Call of Cthulhu.” It’s also a moody, metal, instrumental, at nearly 9 minutes long. It was the first time I listened to an instrumental song of this length! I would repeatedly listen to it imagining scenes from the story, trying to get the music to match up in my head. I eventually came to the conclusion it was more “inspired by” than an attempt at capturing the original story. And I loved that about it.

  2. For Whom the Bell Tolls. I had no idea what I was getting into with this song. It was so visceral and raw. And it further opened my eyes to the potential of horror stories in song format. And like the original story – an uncompromising story about the horrors of war – this song pulls no punches. It’s still a bit of a gut punch when I listen to it today, even if it’s a little softer of a blow vs the first time I heard it. Oddly, I’ve never actually read the story that inspired it. But I have read about it!

  3. Creeping Death. This is another horror story in song format. The title could be a reference to one of the evil gods in H. P. Lovecraft’s mythos, and I took it as such at the time, especially, since they already had one such reference. However, the lyrics are an homage to Old Testament stories. They paint a very dire picture of some aspects of human behavior framed as the narrator in the refrain “Creeping Death.” This song still makes my skin crawl in the most delightful of ways! (If you’re not a horror fan, just trust that for us fans it can be delightful.)

Industrial Metal

Fear Factory, _Obsolete (1999, extended edition)

In a gas station, while on a road trip with some friends, around 1999 to 2000, I bought this album. I bought it because I liked the morbid duality of the cover art. I’d never heard of Fear Factory before. My friends hated it immediately on hearing it. I loved it immediately.

The main set of songs, in the original release, constitute a concept album. Asking to pick favorites among these is like picking a favorite chapter in a book. I recall the story over the chapters. It does have other songs as a part of the extended release that aren’t a part of the main story. I’ll cover two of those. But honestly for favorites it’s a tie among all the remaining songs. All but Cars are a bit screamy. They’re all very passionate. I still love all of ‘em today.

  1. Obsolete (The Main Story). This story is an about dystopian future. Machines (Securitron – a mechanized and AI controlled police-state) has decided humanity is obsolete. The protagonist, Edgecrusher, decides to fight against the machines starting revolution and acting as its leader. Most of the songs are from his perspective. Many of the songs both serve the story as written, but also tell snippets from the singer’s life as metaphor. “Descent,” for example, while written as Edgecrusher wondering if the fight is worth it, is a peek into Burton C. Bell’s life. (Bell has had bouts of crippling depression.) While “Resurrection” is about him clawing his way out of those depths. These and other personal struggles he’s had show through, to some degree, in all the songs.

    By the end of the album Edgecrusher dislikes what has happened to humanity and, as an individual has failed. He’s apprehended. The song Timelessness is the last song in the story, and features audio of Mario Savio’s “Gears Upon the Levers” speech. In my opinion, that speech is as potent and important of a speech today as it was when Savio first delivered it.

    Despite the terrible outcome, the lesson of this story, to me, is about retaining ones humanity in utterly inhumane conditions and fighting against systems that dehumanize us. I believe those are things everyone should do. To me the reasons are self-evident. So that makes this story one I enjoy, in moderation (It’s not a happy story!)

    As well, these songs showcase Burton C. Bell’s clean singing abilities in addition to his more visceral styles (growling, screaming/shouting). His “clean” style is key to some of the emotional impact of songs like “_“Timelessness.” This contrast of styles, produced by a single person, fascinates me and adds to the appeal and impact of this album and story.

  2. Cars. This is a cover of the Gary Numan song from 1979. I love this cover. Numan even sings on it. It’s a great song. It’s about … just listen to it. It’s a fun song. It’s a bit of fluff. It’s fun fluff. Go have some fun fluff.

    Oh, and apparently the original was also about a road rage incident Numan was involved in. He apparently had to lock his doors to stay safe from harm. I guess he wrote it in about 30 minutes? That’s impressive! And I love this song even more after learning that. But, I mostly love it because it’s fun fluff. (I prefer this version to the original, ever so slightly. But I still love the original.)

  3. 0-0 (Where Evil Dwells). This song was inspired by the real life murder of Gary Lauwers by Richard Kasso, Jr. Kasso was under the influence of what’s presumed to be LSD at the time, perhaps contributing to the brutal nature of the crime. Many facts of the crime and social context are present in the lyrics. But it’s a song meant to entertain. It’s not meant to accurately recount and analyze the incident.

    And this song is NOT for everyone. It’s a screamy, graphically violent song. It opens with a partial quote from Videodrome, which also features in the main refrain: “Long live the new flesh!” Using this quote in the refrain serves to drive home the accused Satanic nature of the murder, Kasso, and a group affiliated with Kasso. Since this happened during The Satanic Panic it’s safe to assume that larger social context factors in. And it does make for good fodder in Industrial Metal lyrics. The driving rhythms, refrain, composition, and subject, and raw passion of this song still reach to my core, today.

“White Boy” Blues

This genre encompasses attempts at genuine blues, and rock-adjacent blues sounds by bands with a white singer. They don’t quite capture the soulful sounds of original blues artists. But they do create a sound unique to their intersection. And it’s a sound I like.

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, All I Want Is Everything - The Best Of (1979-1991)

This album was my introduction to this genre and artist. While no longer really in touch with the mentor and friend who introduced me to this genre and album, this album evokes fond memories of him and those times in my life. In addition to those memories it was one of the first times I actually listened to and thought about the content of Blues/Blues-adjacent lyrics. It’s powerful stuff. As with other albums holding these sorts of potent memories it’s tough to state definitive favorites. I love all these songs for their own reasons.

So below are songs whose memories spoke to me as I was writing this. I didn’t put much thought into ranking them.

For example, “New Coat of Paint”, a very bluesy song, is playing as I write this part. I’m LOVING IT. I just might put this song on repeat. And yes, I wrote this part after picking the songs below. This is it’s only mention.

Some Songs That Have Stuck With Me

  1. I’m So Anxious. This song captures the frenetic pace of advertising and the fear of missing out anxiety it seeks to induce in the consumer. While the exact commercials it references are very US-oriented and rooted in the time it was written, the theme of this song has stood the test of time. The persistent relevance gives it even more replay value than it’s superb execution and composition. I’m always a sucker for songs like this.

  2. All I Want Is Everything. This is the title track from the album. It’s a wonderful, blues-rock song emblematic of Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. The irony and excess reflected in the title are woven throughout the lyrics. It has a certain appeal to indulging in ones vices, but taken to what should have been an ironic extreme. Sadly the singer wasn’t being ironic. Only enjoy this song ironically. That extreme of indulgence is just unhealthy. When taken ironically, this song is a bit of an indulgence-catharsis. And, I usually enjoy a good catharsis in song form. This has given this song lasting replay value for me.

  3. Captured. This song is more 70s to 80s pop-rock adjacent. It’s very much a love song. But the music is not as saccharine-sweet as many of contemporaries. This combination of breaking presentation slightly from its contemporaries, engaging different metaphors, as well as direct statements where others would insinuate, give this song a special place in my heart. The music is well executed, Southside Johnny’s singing demonstrates more of his actual range giving it a lot of replay value.

  4. Trash It Up. This is an honorable mention. It’s another song about indulgence. This one rejects prim and proper style and behavior (a major social taboo at the time) where the narrator is basically telling his lover that they should “Trash It Up.” It’s far more rock adjacent than most of the other songs. And it’s not just about how they’ll dress in public. Fredericks of Hollywood lingerie is named in one of the refrains. It’s got both a raw, yet somewhat subdued feel that just speaks to me. And it’s clearly indulging in the “promise of what is to come,” should they choose to Trash It Up.