Rock of Ages - 100 Songs - 100 Artists: Master List

Buddy Holly & The Crickets	That'll Be the Day	1957
Roy Orbison	Crying	1962
The Ronettes	Be My Baby	1963
Otis Redding	I've Been Loving You Too Long	1965
Bob Dylan	It's All Over Now, Baby Blue	1965
Beach Boys	God Only Knows	1966
Buffalo Springfield	For What It's Worth	1967
Love	The Red Telephone	1967
The Jimi Hendrix Experience	The Wind Cries Mary	1967
Van Morrison	Astral Weeks	1968
The Zombies	Hung Up on a Dream	1968
Donovan	Hurdy Gurdy Man	1968
The Beatles	While My Guitar Gently Weeps	1968
King Crimson	21st Century Schizoid Man	1969
Cream	Badge	1969
Sly and the Family Stone	Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)	1969
George Harrison	Beware of Darkness	1970
John Lennon	God	1970
Paul McCartney	Maybe I'm Amazed	1970
Creedence Clearwater Revival	Ramble Tamble	1970
James Brown	Sex Machine	1970
Grand Funk Railroad	Sin's a Good Man's Brother	1970
Led Zeppelin	Since I've Been Loving You	1970
Tim Buckley	Song to the Siren	1970
The Kinks	Strangers	1970
The Velvet Underground	Sweet Jane	1970
Nick Drake	Things Behind The Sun	1970
Don McLean	American Pie	1971
T.Rex	Jeepster	1971
The Temptations	Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)	1971
David Bowie	Life on Mars?	1971
Flower Travellin' Band	Satori Pt. 1	1971
The Rolling Stones	Sister Morphine	1971
Faces	Stay With Me	1971
Elton John	Talking Old Soldiers	1971
Deep Purple	Highway Star	1972
Lou Reed	Perfect Day	1972
Big Star	Thirteen	1972
Stevie Wonder	Living For the City	1973
Mott The Hoople	Foxy, Foxy	1973
The Who	Love Reign O'er Me	1973
John Cale	Paris 1919	1973
Pink Floyd	Time	1973
Roxy Music	Love is the Drug	1975
Parliament	Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)	1976
Warren Zevon	Desperado's Under The Eaves	1976
Neil Young	Like A Hurricane	1977
Television	Marquee Moon	1977
Brian Eno	Spider and I	1977
Electric Light Orchestra	Mr. Blue Sky	1978
Nick Lowe	So It Goes	1978
Elivs Costello & The Attractions	What's So Funny Bout (Peace, Love & Understanding)	1978
Kraftwerk	Neon Lights	1978
XTC	Making Plans for Nigel	1979
The Police	So Lonely	1979
The Clash	Guns of Brixton	1980
Echo and the Bunnymen	Crocodiles	1980
Talking Heads	The Great Curve	1980
Adam and the Ants	Prince Charming	1981
Michael Jackson	Wanna Be Startin' Something	1983
U2	Sunday Bloody Sunday	1983
Prince	Let's Go Crazy	1984
New Order	Bizarre Love Triangle	1985
Tom Waits	Jockey Full of Bourbon	1985
Public Enemy	Bring The Noise	1987
Guns N Roses	Welcome to the Jungle	1987
Sonic Youth	Teen Age Riot	1988
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds	The Mercy Seat	1988
Pixies	Bone Machine	1989
Depeche Mode	Enjoy the Silence	1990
Primus	The Toys Go Winding Down	1990
My Bloody Valentine	Only Shallow	1991
Pearl Jam	Porch	1991
Soundgarden	Jesus Christ Pose	1991
Teenage Fanclub	The Concept	1991
Nirvana	Heart Shaped Box	1993
Red Hot Chilli Peppers	Soul To Squeeze	1993
The Lemonheads	The Great Big No	1993
Nine Inch Nails	Closer	1994
Jeff Buckley	Lover, You Should've Come Over	1994
Stone Temple Pilots	Silvergun Superman	1994
Stereolab	Cybele's Reverie	1996
Wilco	Misunderstood	1996
Radiohead	Climbing Up the Walls	1997
Foo Fighters	Everlong	1997
The Refused	The Deadly Rhythm	1998
Pavement	Carrot Rope	1999
Built To Spill	Time Trap	1999
The Flaming Lips	Do You Realize?	2002
Queens of the Stoneage	No One Knows	2002
The Rapture	House Of Jealous Lovers	2003
Arcade Fire	Crown of Love	2004
Death From Above 1979	Romantic Rights	2004
Mastodon	Blood & Thunder	2004
Franz Ferdiand	Take Me Out	2004
Electric Six	Dance Epidemic	2005
Islands	Rough Gem	2006
Dinosaur Jr.	Pick Me Up	2007
Beck	Chemtrails	2008
Portishead	Machine Gun	2008

Rock of Ages: Portishead - "Machine Gun" (2008)

So here we are at the final post for Rock of Ages (minus a ssummation of the entire list.) We started waaaaaay back in 1957 with Buddy Holly & The Crickets and 52 years later we have finally hit a stark contrast in music. It's weird to think that Rock and Roll as we know it is only a little over 50 years of age. Alas, music has changed drastically as we look back on the list. Musical technology has jumped leaps and bounds ahead from the birth of the electric guitar way back in the 30's. But I digress. The fact of the matter is in 2008, a group who lay dormant for 11 years came back with an album so powerful and groundbreaking, it was a pleasant surprise. Portishead's Third is a sound scape of psych rock and melancholia perfectly meshed together. Their are countless perfect tracks, but none as perfect and brutal as the single "Machine Gun." This song is about as mechanical as it gets. With a furiously intense synth drum backing and no melody whatsoever besides in Beth Gibbons completely shattered voice, "Machine Gun" is aptly named. This song is devastating and has the same shrill death rattle of the weapon of mass destruction it is based on. It's harrowing and fitfully beautiful all in one.

"Machine Gun" is not an easy listen. It's tragic and dark and very harsh on the ears until near the end when a lonely synth comes in and plays this simple yet surprisingly hopeful melody amidst the clatter and ratatat of the synth drums. It swirls in from nowhere and is utterly captivating. The band created such a great atmosphere using a bare minimum of sounds and effects leaving most of the song up to Beth Gibbons to give it the real emotions. It's truly a testament of her talent as a singer to be able to convey such heart wrenching beauty amidst such a din of despair. A heartbreaking work of staggering genius, Portishead's Third has many twists and turns and when the twisted metal of "Machine Gun" comes on, you know you've been truly captivated by the brilliance that you've just witnessed. It may be hard to listen to at first, but it's true beauty shows in time.



Well folks, that's it! The end of the list. There are many MANY other great songs I'm sure I missed. Stay tuned for a master list of the 100 Rock of Ages Tracks as well as the start of our next feature: 2000 - 2009: A Decade in Movies and Music.

Rock of Ages: Beck - "Chemtrails" (2008)

It's hard to believe we are finally here, the last two tracks. It's also a surprise that it took this long to arrive at the Beck song. He is easily the most influential artist on my life from my own era. I look far and wide for anything Beck related music wise. I've hunted down rarities, b-sides and live concerts that I've attended or that have a fantastic set list. When people ask "Why do you love Beck so much?" part of the answer is that his career has yet to dissatisfy me in any way. He may have had lackluster moments (ie. The Information) but for any of the lackluster, there has been massive high points (ie. every album from Mellow Gold till Guero and then of course Modern Guilt.) Which get's us to where we are today. 2008's Modern Guilt was the exact opposite of The Information. It's a short album with 10 tracks and doesn't get bogged down in excess. It harkens back to Beck's earlier career yet shows new direction in sound. The first track I heard from it blew my mind on many levels.

"Chemtrails" is a harrowing track that surges back and forth like the ocean tide. It's lyrics are stark and nihilistic. Musically it sways from Beck's falsetto and a murky, organ filled haze. As the chorus comes, the rhythm section comes to life. That's an understatement really as the drums come in full force like a crashing wave. The bass amps it up with a funky groove as the falsetto and organ haze carry over without noticing the bombast that swells forth. It goes back down for every verse until the end of the last chorus where strings, the intense rhythm and a guitar solo come together to make one of the most riveting Beck songs finalize in a fast drop off. It's a very surprising song that is easily the high watermark of Beck's career. Although not at all on the sillier side that Beck sometimes can be construed as, it's definitely more definitive of his eclecticism. It's Beck at his musically and lyrical greatest.



Up Next: The Final Track in the Rock of Ages Countdown goes to Portishead

Rock of Ages: Dinosaur Jr. - "Pick Me Up" (2007)

Surprisingly, Dinosaur Jr., and it's original lineup of J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph came back from the dead to recreate their sound and make an album almost 20 years after they splintered off as a band. 1988's Bug was the last album the three original members of Dinosaur Jr. did before breaking apart and even though J's attempts at keeping the name alive found some great albums, the sound was somehow a little different. When 2007 rolled around and Beyond dropped, it was a pleasant return to form, yet an upgrade of sorts. It was still Dinosaur Jr. making bloody good and loud as fuck rock and roll, but it was more mature and fleshed out. "Pick Me Up" is definitely the most compelling song in Dinosaur Jr's career. Everything is amped up to the highest heights and the grandiosity of it is only in it's length and constant shifts in scope and tempo. It may be an epic, but nothing is glossy about it. The signature sludge of Dino Jr. is still heavily intact. Thanks mostly in part to Mascis wonderful songwriting and Murph and Barlow's insistent rhythm section.

"Pick Me Up" has 5 significant movements during it's 6:32 sprawl. It's one crushing opening and verse/chorus riff starts things off intensely before the squeel and churn of the pre-bridge comes howling in. After this first bridge we get a slower breakdown of sorts. Slower only compared to what preceeded it. Less constant waves of distortion and more intense but pointed riffing which immediately flows into the best guitar solo of the new millenium. The guitar solo continues to the end when the final movement sees the loudest wave from Murph's drums and Barlow's thumping bass. It's rivetting. It's like watching a single shot intense scene in a film. Brilliantly choreographed and never a moments rest. I could see someone mashing this song up to the intense single shot climax in Children of Men and it making it more badass. One thing that is very impressive about "Pick Me Up" and Dinosaur Jr. in general is their ability to make such loud, bombastic and engaging music with just three people. It's breathtaking and it's good to have them back and in their best form yet. This year's Farm is almost as good as Beyond if not better once I let it sink in. We'll see.



Up Next: Beck finally emerges on the Rock of Ages list

Rock of Ages: Islands - "Rough Gem" (2006)

There is something to be said about Islands and it's that they are one of the most fun bands around. Their first album Return to the Sea is a delightful mix of what Nick Thorburn did with his prior group, The Unicorns, and something a little more cohesive. Don't get me wrong, The Unicorns album is stellar in every way possible, but it seemed to be a stepping stone to what Islands does as a band. They mix more textures and structure to it's pop music and definitely a vibe that seems a little more thought out. I could be totally wrong here, but proof positive is the power that "Rough Gem" has over it's listener. Thanks to a little online MP3 swap called Nighthawks that a friend of ours started, I was introduced to this slice of synth pop. The song is a dancey number laden with strings, synths, bleeps and bloops throughout and one of the most kinetic bass lines I've heard from a band such as this.

"Rough Gem" is the kind of song as I mentioned before like "Carrot Rope" and "Mr. Blue Sky" that can immediately bring a smile to my face. It reminds me of better days, of frivolous times post college and of reveling in the bright and sunny goodness of life. The line "I had a dream it was all a dream" really hits home to me sometimes as life sometime seems like a dream but it's reality. This song gives you those emotions. What "Rough Gem" does is kind of set a time and place in my life. It's like a hash mark of a time of change, renewal and progressing greatness in all things. Since hearing the song, life has been just that much brighter.



Up Next: Dinosaur Jr. dust off their fossilized past to come back with a searing rocker

Rock of Ages: Electric Six - "Dance Epidemic" (2005)

From the first time I heard of the band, I knew that I had a long relationship ahead of me with the Electric Six. It has been a great relationship. In all fairness, E6 should probably be my favorite band of all time. In due time and with a new release again this year, their forthcoming record Kill is due out Oct. 20th, they might just take that throne. Nevertheless, 2005 revealed the release of their most solid album to date in Senor Smoke. The album is a party pleaser and has plenty of everything abotu Electric Six that I love, catchy hooks, cooky jokes and tongue in cheek satire. They aren't a joke band as much as a satire on joke bands? It's really hard to explain. All I know is they are consistently good and show many indie scene bands that you can have fun both on record and live and still create good music. My best example of what Electric Six does better than any other dance punk/nu-wave/disco punk band of the new era is simply stated in their charming and incredibely catchy track "Dance Epidemic." The opening lyrics give you a jist of where this band is going:

Your body goes to waste
Every minute you don't give it to me
I'm dyin' for your sins on the dance floor
Can't you see?"

Anyone who can't see the thrill and fun in that is a robot or a hipster robot. "Dance Epidemic" has easily the catchiest bass riff I've heard. The synths embellish the track less than take it over like so many dancey synth pop bands have done. The guitars soar with their power chords and the rhythm section is what keeps the track going. The bravado of Dick Valentine as front man is beyond great and is unique in it's strangeness. He's not quite Mick Jagger or Roger Daltrey, but he doesn't need to be. He's on the level with the likes of David Byrne and Gordon Downie of the Tragically Hip. It's a magical tune that gets you up off your booty and out on the dance floor. Electric Six has this power of doing so that is uncanny. I've never enjoyed a band live as much as E6.



Up Next: Islands sing about a girl's best friend

Rock of Ages: Franz Ferdinand - "Take Me Out" (2004)

When Franz Ferdinand first came on the radio and when I first saw their trippy, paper cut out looking video for their first single "Take Me Out," I knew I was going to get something special. A throwback to the sound of Britain's past, but with infused updates and modernizations. Not many, but enough to make the garage rockers from Scotland something fresh and new yet familiar and retro. The self titled debut and the "Take Me Out" stand as a test of the 00's. Retro was in and not just on the level of 80's rip-offs. What we got instead with this single is a romping, mod sound, much like the early Kinks or Who coming from our stereos. The opening to the song was a jangly fast paced guitar riff and snappy drums that quickly turned into a disco, slow rocker that would get any square off the wall and onto the dance floor. At least, in my mind, that is what it may have did for me. Anyone who thinks the 00's are devoid of great catchy riffs and pop songs, then look no further than to Franz Ferdinand.

Unlike other recent entries on this list, "Take Me Out" is a catchy riff that is not embodied in either synthetic sounds or in harder, faster rock music (see posts on "No One Knows", "Romantic Rights" and "Blood and Thunder" for other amazing catchy riffs, but the opposite effect of this track.) The disco drum beat is one thing that keeps this track moving. Like the mechanics of a great machine that produces people to dance, the rhythm section along with the appropriately beat driven guitars are reminiscent of both early 60's mod sound as well as late 70's new wave like XTC. It's a refreshing sound. Alex Kapranos, the suave front man, brings his own swagger to the lead vocals somewhere between the bravado of Mick Jagger and the confident croon of Frank Sinatra, but with a rock and roll attitude. They would stay consistent although less jaw dropingly fun with their latest two records, but Franz Ferdinand has set themselves apart from the nu-wave movement to become something special. Amidst throwbacks to the 80's, they made it possible to still be cool and current whilst being retro.



Up Next: Your body goes to waste every minute you don't give it to Electric Six

Rock of Ages: Mastodon - "Blood and Thunder" (2004)

Metal is something I am new to. I have always listened to select tracks from bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and such, but I never did the proper research. Metal may be the most intensely fractured genre I can think of. From nu-metal garbage to black metal scariness to stoner metal amazingness, it's a daunting task to jump into. Luckily for me, back in 2005, at the WEXP Radio Station, a little band from Atlanta, Georgia called Mastodon came steam rolling into my ears. Although I didn't instantly buy everything of theirs in site (that would come recently with Crack the Skye), I still was captivated. Their song "Blood and Thunder" was a brutal riff of thrash metal and lyrics about Melville's Moby Dick. And when I say thrashing riff, I mean one of the catchiest metal riffs you will ever hear. It starts off with the guitar and then the entire band joins the fury. Lyrically it's about Ahab's lust to hunt the fabled white whale, which the main chorus is a badass gang vocal screaming of "WHITE WHALE! HOLY GRAIL!" It's captivating in it's brutality and it conveys the kind of madness Melville infused into Ahab himself.

Mastodon break it down with easily one of the simplest yet most intense guitar riffs before the bridge surges like the surf around the ship itself. "Blood and Thunder" amps it up when singer and bassist Troy Sanders belts the blood curdling scream of a fantastic bridge:

"Split your lungs with blood and thunder
When you see the white whale
Break your backs and crack your oars men
If you wish to prevail

This ivory leg is what propels me
Harpoons thrust in the sky
Aim directly for his crooked brow
And look him straight in the eye"

All the elements together, the frantic and fantastic drums, the crunchy and thrashing riffs and the stellar metal vocals, make "Blood and Thunder" a revelation for metal music.



Up Next: Franz Ferdinand's incessantly addictive stomp

Rock of Ages: Death From Above 1979 - "Romantic Rights" (2004)

Quite the opposite of the last Rock of Ages, Arcade Fire's "Crown of Love", Death From Above 1979's "Romantic Rights" is the opposite of love lost. This song is of lust found. The lyric "This game will save us if we don't die young/c'mon, c'mon now yeah have some fun" should give you an idea of the polar opposite we are talking about here. Anyway, the contrast is not the reason DFA1979 gets the nod here at Rock of Ages, it's more because it's a fucking blisteringly awesome dance track with only two guys helming the project. Sebastian Grainger as drummer and lead vocals and Jesse Keeler on bass, synths and backing vocals bring their a-game on their only LP You're a Woman, I'm A Machine. And especially on their most well known track "Romantic Rights." The song opens with a crazily distorted bass guitar riff that Adrian Belew would be jealous of before the drums kick in and raise the sound level to extensive heights. The super sexual lyrics are orgasmically crooned and the dance punk fury is amped up heavily.

Sad for us that DFA1979 only released one glorious LP. It's furious rocker that sinks its catchy teeth into you. The breakdown on "Romantic Rights" brings in a funkier tone, but the funk is still at a high octane pace with bone crushing drums still prominent. It's ferocity is matched with it's sexuality. No love here, just lust and looking for fun. He makes claims of "we could do it and start a family" but something about that line is less inclined to the idea of actually starting a family and more of the fun that comes before that. Keeler and Grainger make that ever present with their music. Even the title of the album is pretty obvious that it's less about the identity and more about the acts that move them to do what they do. Their music is mechanical in a way as well and less romantic. Even though "Romantic Rights" sounds like a beautiful love ballad, it is nothing more than a sex infused rocker and it's better for it.



Up Next: Mastodon beckons the call of Ahab

Rock of Ages: Arcade Fire - "Crown of Love" (2004)

It's hard to deny the near perfection of Arcade Fire's 2004 album Funeral. It is easily the best thing that has been released in the new millennium. Poignant and heartbreaking and filled with intense orchestrations, it's a dauntingly enjoyable listen to enjoy. It is chock full of perfect songs, but the one that is near and dear to me is "Crown of Love." A beautiful mourning ballad of loss, as many of the songs on Funeral are, the track sways with melancholy strings and heartfelt vocals. Just like our entry from the eternal Jeff Buckley, "Crown of Love" is about love lost, but how sometimes that love that got away is still the greatest love of all. It's lyrics are superb and this is my personal favorite passage from the track:

"They say it fades if you let it,
love was made to forget it.
I carved your name across my eyelids,
you pray for rain I pray for blindness."

Arcade Fire paint a gorgeous picture of love and loss on Funeral and "Crown of Love" is the high point of those feelings. The end of the main set of lyrics swells and turns into the most harrowing disco-beat I've ever heard before coming to a slow fade-out. It's the kind of excitement that brings a tear to your eye in it's beauty. The strings swell, the piano pounds along with the sadness of the lyrics and the idea of lost love on such a grand scale is so affecting sometimes. No one ever said heartbreak was easy, but Arcade Fire make it fitfully brilliant and engaging at the same time.



Up Next: Death From Above 1979 packs a punch

Rock of Ages: The Rapture - "House of Jealous Lovers" (2003)

My first experience with a lot of bands in the 00's came from an excellent compilation known as Yes New York. The reemerging New York rock scene led to many great bands and a handful of greats appeared on that compilation. The Strokes, Interpol, The Fever, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Secret Machines, The Rogers Sisters and this entries artist The Rapture were all present and representing the goods. My first exposure to The Rapture was their electro track "Olio" which is spacey and eerie and addictive. When Echoes, the bands second album, finally dropped, I picked it up from our college radio station and instantly fell in love. The main reason the album rocks is that it packs in many shifts in sound from the spooky and eerie electro tracks to the piano ballads to the ultra dancey cowbell infused rockers. That's where "House of Jealous Lovers" comes into play. It was made for dancing. The vocals are strained as he screams above the din of the dance floor. The bass is groovy and flourishes over the wildly searing and jangly guitars. The percussion section tears it up, especially the aforementioned cowbell.

"House of Jealous Lovers" has this mid-section countdown that is groovetastic. It finally comes to its long conclusion and explodes back into the beat that is infectious and inescapable. It's hard to imagine a party in this new decade that doesn't coem with hearing The Rapture. Their second record, Pieces of the People We Love is equally as great as Echoes and packs as much dance punk into it's disc as this one. "House of Jealous Lovers" was hard to top, but luckily for us, The Rapture has kept a strong footing enough to equal it's greatness on the follow up. Not many bands that formed in the 00's were able to keep a strong footing. Now let's see if their next disc will be as awesome. I'm going to guess yes.



Up Next: Arcade Fire write a beautiful love song

Rock of Ages: Queens of the Stoneage - "No One Knows" (2002)

There is no doubt in my mind that Josh Homme is the King Midas of rock and roll today. Everything he touches turns to gold. His own career with Queens of the Stoneage to tracks he's collaborated on with bands like Unkle or Mastodon have all come out to be monolithic brilliant rockers. Their 2002 record Songs for the Deaf is a masterwork of the 00's. It is pure, unadulterated rock brilliance from start to finish. The album's motif of someone flipping through the channels of a radio ties together the great rock tracks, but even without that gimmick, you bet the songs themselves stand up. Thanks to Dave Grohl on the skins, this album gets an added bonus of having one of the greatest drummers of our generation unleashing years as front man for Foo Fighters out on that set (no offense, Foos, but Grohl belongs behind the set.) "No One Knows" is the kind of track that pummels with it's heady riffs, it's jumpy and totally groove filled bass work and it's ultimate and desperate pounding on the drums. It's main riff will bore a hole through your head into your brain and make up shop inside until it pummels the listener into submission.

"No One Knows" has one of the best breakdowns in rock history as well. As the chorus melds into a fast paced guitar solo, frenzied drums and ever funkier and faster bass explode into a frenzy of sound that pops then quickly drops back into the main riff. It's riveting every single time. Josh Homme's croon over this song is the only angelic thing amidst devilsh rhythms and sounds. Although Queens of the Stoneage lost Nick Oliveiri, one of the best bass players around, they still churn out great rocking. Homme is also teaming up with Grohl and John Paul Johns under the moniker Them Crooked Vultures. Although the King Midas of rock has seen a lot of tummult with his own band, he still has "No One Knows" to show that he still has that throne.



Up Next: The Rapture kicks off the last ten songs of Rock of Ages and does it with loads of cowbell

Rock of Ages: The Flaming Lips - "Do You Realize??" (2002)

The Flaming Lips' 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots was a watershed moment for my life as a fan of music. I've always known the Flaming Lips for their 90's one hit wonder "She Don't Use Jelly" and never new much of their prolific psych rock. With Yoshimi, they ushered in a new era of cool psych rock. It was poppy and futuristic as well as intricate and bizarre. Embedded on this album is one of the most straightforward and beautiful songs of the new millennium. The existential anthem "Do You Realize??" is a moving pop song that is transcendent and important to this generation. The songs beautiful chorus depicts perfectly the optimistic feeling of the music and definitely shows the power behind the message:

"And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round"

Amongst the goregous lyrics of "Do You Realize??" is equally beautiful orchestration. It's a sweeping anthem that is laden with strings and a beautfiully easy and strum-alongable chord progression making this song a peftect sing-a-long song of finding the beauty in life no matter how short it may be or how futile it may sound sometimes. Wayne Coyne hits the nail on the head on existential galactic wonderment. It's easy to question existence in the face of the universe, but it's beautiful to appreciate it and to understand that every moment is important. "Do You Realize??" is the new generations most uplifting track.



Up Next: Queens of the Stoneage enlist one of the greatest drummers of all time

Rock of Ages: Built to Spill - "Time Trap" (1999)

The end of the 90's as stated before was kind of weird. But luckily a lot of the music that was hidden under the surface or was popular amongst the indie community and college rock radio was still of stellar quality and was pointing towards the future of music. Built to Spill is an interesting indie rock band. They have all the qualities of what would be a perfect 70's rock band. Sprawling guitars, catchy hooks and fantastic poetic lyrics. It took time for me to hear of them even though by the point their magnum opus Keep it Like a Secret dropped in 1999, they were already well into their career. "Time Trap" is kind of the theme song to a new millennium looming. It opens with easily one of my favorite bass lines in all of modern rock music and slowly builds into this wafting surge of guitars. It's a haze of sound that washes over you and makes you force your pedal to the floor and as you hit 88 miles per hour at the peak of this sound, it cuts back and you are in a new place. The lyrics come in, the guitars hush up a bit and the rhythm section lays back only yo be posed for another all out assault on the senses. It's a truly riveting experience that Built to Spill create.

When "Time Trap" opens up again, we get this woozy, swooping guitar solo over a frenzied outro of bass and drums that slowly fades out to the end. It's a fade out that could just be an extended jam as the riff swoops and swirls and the beat kicks in large and fast. "Time Trap" is a song you never want to end so when it finally fades away, it's likely you will skip back and play it again. Luckily the rest of Keep it Like a Secret is fantastic so even if you want "Time Trap" to end, you will get treated to some of the best guitar rock around. Built to Spill continues to release solid records to this day and their new record is due out soon. I'm excited.



Up Next: The Flaming Lips write the most moving song of the new millennium

Rock of Ages: Pavement - "Carrot Rope" (1999)

Approaching the new millennium, the end of the 90s saw a strange turn for the worse in alt. rock. Post Grunge like Nickelback and Godsmack were taking over, bubblegum pop from Britney Spears and the copious amount of boy bands flooded the airwaves and nu-metal was stinking it up big time. Bands like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Weezer all changed into more bloated versions of themselves. It was a strange era. One of the eras most important bands, Pavement, was finishing their tour of duty as a band and breaking up. Just like the Refused in a way, they left us on a high note. Pavement's final album, Terror Twilight is now 10 years old and feels as contemporary as ever. It's indie rock at it's purest state and if anything, was a sign post to the churning underground rock movement that would soon be launched into the forefront with bands like The Shins, Arcade Fire and Death Cab for Cutie coming to popularity in the 00's. They left us with the classic "Carrot Rope", a lazy summers day of a song that gives nothing but sheer joy to the listener.

"Carrot Rope" is a song that encapsulates a time for me. It was the transition from high school to college. The transition to kid to young adult. It's a song that bridged the era of my days as someone who just liked rock music to someone who loved it. It's a fairly simple song with the usual strange poetics of Stephen Malkmus driving the song. I equate this song to ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky" as it's a panacea for the broken hearted or just downright mopey person. It's guitar line is sunny and bright, it's easy to dance to rhythm keeps it moving and it's a perfect closer on an album that saw the end of a transcendent band. Usually when a band you love is done, you are left asking for more, but Terror Twilight is nothing short of a perfect finale to a band whose career took many creative turns and left us with five solid albums of perfectly crafted rock.



Up Next: Built to Spill finalize the 90's

Rock of Ages: Refused - "The Deadly Rhythm" (1998)

The Shape of Punk to Come is one of those all too important albums that exploded in the late 90's that really changed the way music would be made. Thanks to Refused, they were able to do something drastically different then the pop punk of bands like Green Day and Blink 182 could offer. To this day, I can't stand either Green Day or Blink 182. Although I'm not punk rock, as I've said before, I can smell bullshit pretty easily. Luckily for The Shape of Punk to Come, there is nothing but pure, unadulterated rocking. "The Deadly Rhythm" stands atop as my personal favorite track on a record popping with excellence. The song starts with a jazz music sample and quickly jumps into the ear splitting and earth shattering riff. Punctuated with extremely fast drums, the bone splitting guitar riff furies through. Just as furious are the lyrics which are highly against the political machine. A key lyric, and one of my favorites from the album, comes in this song: "We consume our lives like we are thankful, For what we are being forced into."

Somewhere near the halfway point, "The Deadly Rhythm" does something that I have never heard in a hardcore song before: the jazz breakdown. When you hear blistering guitar work and extreme ultra-violent drums, do you expect a bass fiddle solo with a jazzy drum beat, spacey guitars and spoken word? I didn't upon listening to it the first time, but lucky for me it came and surprised the shit out of me. That's what Refused does so well on The Shape of Punk to Come. They weren't afraid to bend the boundaries of what punk and hardcore music could do. Anything from spaced out interludes to the fantastic jazz breakdown on this track, anything seemed possible. Sadly for us, Refused were in fact "fucking dead" as one of their song titles states and ended on the highest note of their career. Luckily, they left us on a transcendent piece of rock music that will surely someday be revered more so than it is.



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Rock of Ages: Foo Fighters - "Everlong" (1997)

For my dime, Foo Fighter's "Everlong" is the definitive song of my generation. Something about it just strikes a chord with the 90's and on. It's a fantastically furious rock track that roars back and forth and takes no prisoners. The Colour and The Shape is one of the best albums of the 90's as well. Less groundbreaking than some, but it's overall ability to rock hard and change tone over its 40 plus minutes is uncanny. It's the 90's Who's Next. Dave Grohl is far and away one of our generations finest rock songwriters and damn good front man to boot. Although he occasionally returns to the drum set, he still holds his own as a guitarist and vocalist. "Everlong" is a beautiful love song filled with images of loss and longing. Musically, it's a fever pitch of fast drumming, extreme riffing that builds during the choruses and explodes in the bridge. It's a perfect rock song and a perfect pop song.

What the Foos did with the 90's alt rock sound was turn away from the mopeiness of Grunge just enough that their music was far mor accesible without losing any of it's edge. The Colour and the Shape stands as a concept album of sorts about the arc that a relationshipt travels from start to finish. "Everlong" is that song pining for the love of the past that has moved on and wondering if "things could ever be this good again." Taylor Hawkins' drum performance on this record is one of the most outstanding of the history of rock music. It's extremely fast paced hi hat mixed with heavy hitting snare action is the concrete behind a stellar riff from Dave Grohl. It's a blistering song that is unescapeable at this point as one of the pantheon tracks of the 90's.

Did I mention the music video is amazing?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H0BMfqFP9c

Up Next: Refused changes punk and hardcore forever

Rock Of Ages: Radiohead - "Climbing Up the Walls" (1997)

As is with most monolithic albums, it's hard picking singular songs from them. Radiohead's OK Computer is no different from the many other amazing albums that have come out in all of rock history. It's chock full of greatness. So choosing one was hard, but I guess it's more or less just one that points ahead more so than other songs for Radiohead. After finally seeing them live during their amazing In Rainbows tour, "Climbing Up the Walls" has climbed up to my personal favorite Radiohead song. Radiohead went from alt. rock upstarts to completely visionary artists in just a few years time. In 1997 when OK Computer landed, it was the first step toward the avante-garde that Radiohead would soon create in 2001 with Kid A. "Climbing Up the Walls" is the first song to point to this murky, synthy, ambient creep that would become a Radiohead staple. It's slow pulsing in and out blips of oozing sound marked with heavily saturated drum effects is more reminiscent of something Nine Inch Nails would produce, but coming from Radiohead it's utterly intriguing. Thom Yorke's vocals are so muddled in effects and sound, it sounds alien. It's a chilling experience that soon will erupt into a frenzied midsection.

As much as Radiohead was still steeped in guitars at this point, the overall production and eerie sound of "Climbing Up the Walls" takes organic instruments and totally melts them down into something else and when it cools off, it's a chilling, harrowing sound that evolves. The song comes late in the album and after plenty of other heart wrenching and gear churning songs like "Exit Music (For A Film)" or "Fitter, Happier"but the track still comes as a surprise. The swelling strings and other worldly sounds are something that just immediately captivates. A tell-tale sign of things to come, "Climbing Up the Walls" is a truly revolutionary track amidst many on an album that is definitive of our generation.



Up Next: Favorite song of the 90's goes to........ Foo Fighters

Rock of Ages: Wilco - "Misunderstood" (1996)

Wilco's "Misunderstood" is how I felt about the band when I first heard of them many moons ago. I heard the label alt country and immediately said "no thanks." If someone said "Neil Youngcore" I would have listened to them since Summerteeth dropped. Alas, I did my proper research and here I am, a bonafied Wilco fanatic. Their 1996 record Being There is a sprawling record of seemingly mismatched songs, but for me it's a work of genius. It may be a bit long, as most double LP's are, but there isn't a whole lot of filler. It get's started off perfectly with the decidedly moody and spacey "Misunderstood" which points to the future of the band. A few years down the line they would put out Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and many of the tracks have the same atmosphere and melancholy longing that this song had years before it. Every time I listen to the track, it's hard to overcome that the song is in fact from 1996.

Wilco is lucky enough to have one of this generations best songwriters. Jeff Tweedy weaves words beautifully. Poetic and sometimes a bit elusive, "Misunderstood" is a sort of homecoming and realizing things are completely different. It's that feeling you get when you don't even know yourself sometimes. It's a sad song indeed and a strange kick off to an album that the first half has some of the catchiest rock tracks you'll hear. Being There may not be the monolithic artistic achievement of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot but it was a precursor to those experimental times.



Up Next: How can one chose a single song from Radiohead's OK Computer?