Unbiased Reviews by Real People
|
|
Unbiased Reviews by Real People
50 of Rock Music's Favorite Deep Cuts - Part One (50-41)Jun 4, 2007 (Updated Jun 12, 2007) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Rock and Roll's Greatest Obscure Songs from the Biggest Names in Rock Music History. Part 1. What do I mean by obscure? I'll tell you that I don't mean unheard demos, b-sides or anything like that. I'm just talking about songs that probably will not appear on the band's Greatest Hits albums. The songs that are ignored by radio, and the casual music listener in general. These are the lonely tracks that deserve a chance to be heard. Some people call them "Closet Classics" or "Deep Cuts" - these are the tracks that people may have missed along the way, so break out those old CDs you haven't played the whole way through and give these songs a listen. The only rule I had made for myself, is that I will only list one song per band, which doesn't mean anything for you really, except it makes it a little more challenging for myself to have to choose which song to include on this list. One more thing, these songs are not in any real order, 50. Take Your Whiskey Home from Van Halen, Women and Children First 1980. Van Halen (not Van Hagar) do not really have any truly obscure songs. Classic Rock radio loves the band and plays just about everything the Hard Rock group recorded. Yet, I feel that one album, Women & Children First, in particular gets underrated, under appreciated or little attention aside from the songs Everybody Wants Some or And the Cradle Will Rock. The band released a perfect album, no filler - great taste, and the choice here for best obscure Van Halen song was a toss up between a couple of others on this album. I go with Take Your Whiskey Home because the band showcases a bluesy, fun, party song that rocks real hard. Eddie Van Halen's acoustic guitar work is very impressive before they break into the heavy section of the song and Diamond Dave's whisky-like vocal remain unmatched, and sound as fresh today as they did 27 years ago. http://www.epinions.com/content_249072094852 49. Try and Love Again from The Eagles, Hotel California, 1976. The Eagles had an amazing run of success album after album for most of the 1970s. Try and Love Again is found on their fifth studio album, Hotel California and written by bassist Randy Meisner. Meisner also sings lead on this track as he usually does on the songs he writes. Try and Love Again has a laid back counrty groove with soothing harmonies from Don Henley and Glen Frey. The song sounds like it could have been a hit song in its own right. It's understandable that the track has become somewhat of a Deep Cut amongst huge hits like Life In The Fast Lane, New Kid In Town and arguably their most famous single Hotel California. Supposedly, The Eagles are supposed to release their seventh studio album this year, it would be nice but I'll believe it when I hear it. 48. Apache Rose Peacock from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 1991. It's true that the Chili Peppers never stray too far from the formula that has brought them such success time and again. Anthony Kiedis's lyrics are as insipid and inane as ever, but this song is about the musicianship of the three musicians in the band. Blood Sugar Sex Magik marks John Frusciante's second album with The Peppers, and his prowess of the guitar gels well with Flea's aggressive bass style and timekeeper Chad Smith. Apache Rose Peacock is run-of-the-mill Peppers, but is a song that may get easily lost among an album of hits liek Under The Bridge, Give It Away, or Breaking the Girl. This entry shows the hardship of trying to come up with fifty different artists. 47. It's Easy from Boston, Don't Look Back, 1978. To find something obscure from Boston proved almost impossible, but with the passing of Brad Delp somewhat recently, I thought it would be fitting to pay homage to him and Boston. Their 1976 debut was the fastest selling debut for an American band up until that point, and radio still plays just about all of the tracks from that album. Their second album, Don't Look Back was released on my eighth birthday. It's Easy feels like it has a harder edge during the verses, almost sounding KISS-like, if you can believe that. The big difference are Brad Delp's impossibly high vocal soaring, and Tom Scholz's signature guitar leads during the break. Brad Delp, RIP. 46. Six O'clock in the Morning from Ringo Starr, Ringo, 1973. The song is found on Ringo's classic album, Ringo. This album from 1973 started an unwritten tradition among Ringo albums, it's the only place where all four Beatles would appear on a record together, although separated by songs. One song on here, I'm The Greatest was written by John Lennon, and Lennon appears on the track singing background vocals and playing piano, while George Harrison is on guitar and Ringo Starr is on drums and lead vocal. The one song that Paul McCartney appeared on is the one track he'd written, called Six O'clock in the Morning. McCartney and his wife Linda can be heard singing background vocals behind Starr, and although Ringo spawned famous singles like Photograph, You're Sixteen and Oh My My, it's Six O'clock in the Morning that stands out as best track on the album. McCartney's beautiful melody and some of his best lyrics really suit Ringo well. Ringo's vocal adds to the song's attraction and couples well with the McCartney duo singing along with him. This is definitely worth a listen. Plus, it serves as another clue to the death of Paul McCartney as the lyrics sing- ♫Six o'clock in the morning, you've just gone to sleep/I wipe a tear from my eye♫ http://www.epinions.com/content_143098875524 45. Silverfish from Belly, King, 1995. Tanya Donnelly and crew have been given a lot of attention with their debut album Star with such songs as Gepetto and Feed the Trees, and rightly so. But when they released their second album, King in 1995, no one cared despite it's superiority to Star in every way. Any track on King is an obscure deep cut, so I just chose my favorite, Silverfish. Tanya Donnelly had the right musicians behind her with this album, and her melodic songwriting had reached a peak. Silverfish has such beautiful interweaving melodies on this slow alternative rock ballad, which stay with me for days after a single listen. I think the whole album, King should be given a chance or at least a revisit, it's just so good. 44. The First Time from U2, Zooropa, 1993. One of the most beautiful songs I had heard from U2 is this gentle ballad The First Time from their 1993 album Zooropa. This song is spiritual with Christian referrences, such as the lyric I have many mansions and Keys to his His kingdom coming. Bono states the song is about losing your faith, and actually when the band played this live, Bono added a lyric Yeah I threw away the key, but only grace can give it back to me, making it more positive. It's a dark and moody song, and a favorite with U2 fans, but new for the casual listener. I wholy recommend looking this song up. 43. John, I'm Only Dancing from David Bowie, single, 1972. This song was released by RCA as a single in the UK, but not here in the US due to it's apparent homosexual content to some. It wasn't until ChangesBowie a compilation album from 1990 did I hear this song, and it instantly became a highlight for me. The song is pure British Pop Rock of the early 1970s, it's very upbeat and almost as androgynous as Bowie himself. ♫John, I'm only dancing, but she turns me on...♫ - the lyrics are meant to be comical I think. David sounds like he triple tracked his vocal in some spots and it's just about at that point where it's difficult to distinguish that it's David's voice. ChangesBowie is a great compilation album that showacse the highlights of his career, and it may be the only place you hear this short enjoyable track. 42. Not To Touch The Earth from The Doors, Waiting For The Sun, 1968. As far as The Doors go, it is sort of difficult to find a deep cut in their small catalog of music. When it comes to radio, not too much of their music is played outside their greatest hits. I chose Not To Touch the Earth because of its psychedelic feel, and the fact that the infamous lyric ♫I am the Lizard King, I can do anything♫ comes from this track. The song is typical Doors music, but it's one of their best tracks. This is definitely worth a listen and I'd like to suggest the DVD-Audio/DTS/Dolby Digital 5.1 version found on their 2006 box set Perception. 41. You're So Square, Baby I Don't Care from Elvis Presley, A Date With Elvis, 1959. This song was written by the song-writing team of Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, the same pair that brought you Elvis hits like Hound Dog, Jailhouse Rock and more. I'm hardly a fan of Elvis Presley, but he is called the King of Rock N Roll, so I think he's worth a mention. On this song, Elvis gives a dose of very early rock and roll, and at the same time gives an awesome vocal. His voice sounds sharp, powerful and rocking. This is a track not heard all that much at all, and it was never a single. This is my favorite Elvis track by far, definitely worth a listen. 50 of Rock Music's Favorite Deep Cuts - Part One (50-41) 50 of Rock Music's Favorite Deep Cuts - Part Two (40-31) 50 of Rock Music's Favorite Deep Cuts - Part Three (30-21) 50 of Rock Music's Favorite Deep Cuts - Part Four (20-11)  |
| Read all comments (8)|Write your own comment |
by thewisefool
by donkee
by Freak369 by Freak369
