Another two weeks bring another ecclectic grouping of songs, although I don’t go too heavy metal this time, just a few peppered in there. A bit of my hip hop side is on display in the first part with some classic pre Fergie Peas and a polarizing figure, Cardi B as well as my top 40 love with 5 Seconds Of Summer. The late nineties and early 2000s seems to be the median line here this week, with the oldest song on any of my playlists yet, released in 1978, but I have some all time favorites who will make appearances again, including Taproot, Incubus, The Dillinger Escape Plan and, of course, Foo Fighters.
Track #1: Black Eyed Peas Featuring Esthero – Weekends – Bridging The Gap (2000)
I feel like a bit of a hipster with the Black Eyed Peas because I loved these guys when they first hit the scene, especially their work with Ontario singer Esthero. Her style complimented theirs well and paved the way for the arrival of Fergie to the group. It’s a great groove to start this playlist, a different direction for the second one I’ve put together.
“Jumping music, swift d.j.’s
Smoke machines and laser rays
Look out weekend ’cause, here I come
Because weekends were, were”
Track #2: Taproot – Mine – Welcome (2002)
They are easily one of my favorite bands of all time with their first three albums always in a pretty regular rotation, I fell in love with this Ann Arbor, Michigan group when I saw them open for Deftones during the White Pony tour. Every song has become a favorite as almost thirty of their songs sit on my Liked Songs list on Spotify. I think this track is a brilliant way to kick off a record.
“You’re my blessing in disguise
You make me realize
Just how and where I want to be
Years from now”
Track #3: Cardi B – Up – Up (2021)
Cardi is, without a doubt, a controversial figure in music and on the net but one thing is for sure, she is one of the best rappers in the game, gender aside. My wife is definitely the reason why I listened to her at all, causing me to really like her Invasion Of Privacy record, and this one was on a loop for me when it was the official theme song for WWE Summerslam in 2021. That all said, why do we have all of these other singles and no new album, Cardi?
“Big bag bussin’ out the Bentley Bentayga
Man, Balenciaga Bardi back and all these bitches fucked
It’s big bags bussin’ out the Bentley Bentayga, man
Birkin bag, Bardi back and all you bitches fucked”
Track #4: Fozzy – Purifier – Boombox (2022)
Ahhh, we now have the collision of my passion for wrestling and my love of hard rock and classic metal as the first song from current AEW wrestler and all time legendary wrestler Chris Jericho’s band Fozzy lands on the list. Jericho and guitarist Rich Ward always front such great and catchy hooks and Purifier is the final third to a phenomenal kick off of their album, Boombox.
“Shining a light while you hide your demons
Pray for me, pray for me
Throwing your stones from a glass house broken
Pray for me, pray for me
Purifier, purifier
Your day’s coming”
Track #5: 5 Seconds Of Summer – Youngblood – Youngblood (2018)
The first earworm of both of my playlists is rearing it’s head here as this is a group that I really only have this one track as a liked song. Who knows? Maybe it will be a group that I pick up more on like Glass Animals bu the drums to this sizeable single really made it catchy and something I found myself mumbling in my head later after listening. It also kind of continues a vibe on this current playlist I think.
“You push and you push and I’m pulling away
Pulling away from you
I give and I give and I give and you take, give and you take”
Track #6: Hayley Williams – Teardrop – Teardrop (2021)
Why, yes, this is the theme song for the Hugh Laurie show, House! Massive Attack has a few songs that were used prominently in television and movies but Paramore’s Hayley Williams lending her vocals to a cover of this takes it to a beautiful new level. The work she does with the more complex pieces adds the flair that we’ve been enjoying for years and it always makes me backtrack a bit to her first solo record, Petals For Armor. This recording also comes from Jack Antonoff’s 7th annual Ally Coalition Talent Show and she’s wearing a towel.
“Love, love is a verb
Love is a doing word
Fearless on my breath
Gentle impulsion
Shakes me, makes me lighter
Fearless on my breath”
Track #7: Spoon – Don’t You Evah – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007)
Chill grooves and vibes, that is exactly what Austin, Texas rock band Spoon is bringing to this track, starting with a rough snare intro with some simple guitar licks that fill out in sound as the song progresses, getting bigger and bigger. The crazy thing is the whole time, this song is still that same chill groove. To me, this feels like a track you’d want with you on a road trip, a song that handles the mood and calms you while still rocking. You really gotta love Spoon and their atmosphere.
“Don’t you never think it’s right
Bet you think you had to but it doesn’t feel right
Bet you never think it feels right
Famous-sounding words make your head feel light
Petals getting picked, with the love-yous
And the love-you-not
Five years going by
Everyone is standing on their side”
Track #8: The Dillinger Escape Plan – Widower – Option Paralysis (2010)
A loungy beginning with piano and a crooning Greg Puciato, the first single of their 2010 record sets you up with twinkling keys before its evolution to one of those patented Dillinger furies that peel your face off neatly with some calculated thrash. I loved Dillinger Escape Plan deeply as a band and anticipated each record. Also, a hell of an act live and I’m glad I have that memory.
“Obsessed with thoughts that deform
Held on by hope to the one
Crippled because of chains
That eclipse reality
Crushing into truths we all perceive
Without perceiving”
Track #9: Rammstein – Feuer Frei – Mutter (2001)
What a crazy group these Germans are. I can’t even begin to explain my love for this group but ever since the first time I saw them live, I considered these guys kind of in a category of their own. Mutter is a hell of a second album and this track lives up to its fiery name big time with some real scorched earth energy. It also makes me think of the Vin Diesel movie XXX every time I hear it.
“Bang Bang”
Track #10: Incubus – Redefine – S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (1997)
On a list of the greatest first songs on an album, there is without a doubt a place for this immediate energy boost from, in my mind, one of the greatest albums of all time. So many points of this song I get lost in, like that bass slap breakdown from Alex Katunich AKA Dirk Lance and José Pasillas flying on the kid behind him. How about the extra oomph that DC Lyfe gives it with his turntables? This is a hype song for me.
“Imagine your brain as a canister filled with ink
Yeah, now think of your body as the pen where the ink resides
Fuse the two, kapow! What are you now?
You’re the human magic marker, won’t you please surprise my eyes?”
Track #11: The Police – Can’t Stand Losing You – Outlandos D’Amour (1978)
My love of music I have to give to my mom for inspiration because I always felt like if there weren’t movies or cartoons going, there was definitely a song playing and this iconic trio was always in the rotation. I love the rocky drive to this song with that signature Police sound, Stewart Copeland absolutely rocking that kit. I love their breakdowns so much, even as a kid, and getting a good rock out to it now, nothing has changed in my feelings for it. All of this said, still really needy and obsessive behavior from Sting, very concerning.
“Called you so many times today
And I guess it’s all true what your girlfriends say
That you don’t ever want to see me again
And your brother’s gonna kill me and he’s six feet ten
I guess you’d call it cowardice
But I’m not prepared to go on like this”
Track #12: Foxy Shazam – I Like It – The Church Of Rock And Roll (2012)
Eric McNally and his Cincinnati, Ohio rock band were a wild thing to come across when I first heard their single, A Dangerous Man, a song destined for this list eventually. With a Freddie Mercury-style flamboyance and crazy energy, my love for them was solidified when I saw them in concert. Now, this song, HAHAHA, is an insane choice for an introduction but this song has a catchy hook and a danceable groove that just gets into your bones. The last guitar lick at the end of the chorus is so damn cool.
“Big magic woman
Oh you got me
Under your spell
You hypnotize
Me with your hips and thighs
I wear these shades
So when I stare
No one can tell”
Track #13: Papa Roach – She Loves Me Not – Lovehatetragedy (2002)
My love for the heights of nu metal is fully on display early and before the heavyweights like Korn and Limp Bizkit which is surprising for me. Yes, the conduit for my love was obviously the release of Last Resort, an angsty theme song that spoke to a generation but I have a soft spot for Jacoby Shaddix and his Vacaville, California band’s lead single from their third album. I love the build to his “LIFE’S NOT FAIR” lyrics at the end. A true chef’s kiss to a great song.
“When I see her eyes
Look into my eyes
Then I realize that
She could see inside my head
So I close my eyes
Thinking that I could hide
Disassociate so I don’t have to lose my head
This situation leads to agitation
Will she cut me off?
Will this be an amputation?“
Track #14: Foo Fighters – Good Grief – Foo Fighters (1995)
After a musical depression took hold of me, caused by the death of Kurt Cobain, my best friend Rogan picked up the debut album of Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters and it rejuvenated me. We listened to this record over and over and over again, taking each track into our minds, devouring every moment the Mighty Dave gave us and this was by far my song on the album. That heavy strumming chorus gets me every time and I headbang along with it almost against my will. This song is an all-timer for me.
“Since I’m puttin’ down
All of the true things around, but I like it
Handed down my crown
Given the jewels and the answers of May
The thought of bein’ ousted
Comes and goes, comes and goes
When I think about it
The wind blows”
Steve Stebbing 