The OCTOLIST is upon us and it all kicks off with a band that just announced a twenty-fifth anniversary tour complete with original masks and jumpsuits! The metal doesn’t end there, as I’ve peppered in some Sevendust, Canadian legends Alexisonfire and the all-woman powerhouse Conquer Divide, angry love and lust songs from Gambino and Meg Myers, catchy tunes from Barns Courtney and TV On The Radio and some good nostalgia songs too. Start out with a heavy blast, courtesy of Corey Taylor and the gang.
Track #1: Slipknot – I Am Hated – Iowa (2001)
One of my favorite bands of all time, a nine-member assault out of Des Moines, I was in complete awe when I saw this band for the first time on the smaller stage at Ozzfest ‘99 at UBC Thunderbird Stadium. I would have originally thought that I would have posted a song of their debut record, one that I listened to over and over again, front to back, but then this short ripper off their sophomore follow-up came on and I knew this would be a killer way to kick off this new list. The decibels are loud, the drums are flying and the adrenaline flows.
“Now I’m not pretty, and I’m not cool
But I’m fat, and I’m ugly and proud, so fuck you
Standing out is the new pretension
Streamline the (sic)ness, half-assed aggression
You gotta see it to believe it, we all got conned
All the mediocre sacred cows we spawned
Put your trust in the mission
We will not repent, this is our religion”
Track #2: Childish Gambino – Heartbeat – Camp (2011)
Ever since my good friend Tyler introduced me to the YouTube troupe, Derrick Comedy, I’ve been interested in the writing of Donald Glover. Of course, Community came next and the love for Troy and Abed In The Morning and so on but it took a while for me to realize that Donald had moved on to creating music and this track was the first that made it into my ears. A jealous spiteful venom of a song directed at an ex-lover, Gambino gives weight to all the feelings we might have experienced ourselves after a nasty break-up where there’s still a little bit of longing or lust at the edges of it.
“I wanted you to know
That I am ready to go, heartbeat
My heartbeat
I wanted you to know
Whenever you are around, can’t speak
I can’t speak
I wanted you to know
That I am ready to go, heartbeat
My heartbeat
I wanted you to know
Whenever you are around, can’t speak
I can’t speak”
Track #3: Soundgarden – The Day I Tried To Live – Superunknown (1994)
It was only a matter of time before these grunge rock legends made their first appearance on a playlist I put together and, of course, it had to come from one of the greatest recorded records ever. The second single off the album, sandwiched in between Spoonman and Black Hole Sun, it has been described as a fatalistic song about trying to do one’s best and failing, despite having the best intentions, something that the late and very missed lead singer and writer Chris Cornell wrote so beautifully. I will also say that the metal band Sevendust did a pretty solid cover of this recently too. I think Lajon Witherspoon’s voice is a good conduit for Chris’s voice.
“I woke the same as any other day
Except a voice was in my head
It said, “Seize the day, pull the trigger
Drop the blade and watch the rolling heads”
The day I tried to live
I stole a thousand beggars’ change
And gave it to the rich, yeah
The day I tried to win
I dangled from the power lines
And let the martyrs stretch, yeah”
Track #4: Sevendust – Waffle – Home (1999)
Speaking of that glorious cover version, ever since I first heard the vocals of lead singer Lajon Witherspoon on the track Black from their debut self-titled record I loved Sevendust but this first single off of their follow-up record solidified them as one of my favorite groups of all time. Formed in Atlanta, Georgia, Sevendust became synonymous with heavy metal as I knew it in the late nineties and early 2000s, almost like the measuring stick for anything heavy and melodic in the nu-metal scene. You better believe that I sing along to drummer Morgan Rose’s baking vocals screaming “Whatever you saaaaaay”. Yeah, I eat that stuff up.
“Bring me your light
Make my life worth something more
Show me the light
Bring the light”
Track #5: MEG MYERS – Desire – Sorry (2015)
The raw energy and drive of this song made me take immediate notice when I first heard this song on the radio and I said “Who is this? I need more in my life!” Hailing from Nashville, Tennessee, Meg hooks into an inner sexual monster that threatens to not only use up her lover but to devour them completely amid a heavy strum and darkly plucked guitar chorus that gets stuck in my head like a delicious earworm. Plus, that solo after the bridge is so unexpectedly awesome and I definitely air guitar my way through it. Do yourself a favor and watch the music video, it’s really great.
“Honey, I wanna break you
I wanna throw you to the hounds
Yeah, I gotta hurt you
I gotta hear it from your mouth
Boy, I wanna taste you
I wanna skin you with my tongue
I’m gonna kill you
I’m gonna lay you in the ground”
Track #6: Barns Courtney – Fun Never Ends – 404 (2019)
If you haven’t had the pleasure of listening to a Barns Courtney album in its entirety, then I suggest you do it immediately because this alt-rock singer and songwriter out of Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England is incredibly gifted at making great songs with catchy hooks to them. The mainstream is probably more familiar with big singles of his like 99 or Glitter and Gold but this song is an exhilarating out for a drive rocker that has an anthemic chorus to it and a hard-hitting beat that keeps your head bopping. Barns is deserving of a high level of praise and this song, for me, is one of my favorites he has in his arsenal.
“Put on your sneakers
Blow up the speakers
Oh, you pleasure seekers
Well, what do they know?
Your ears are burnin’
They’ve got you squirming”
Track #7: JENNIE – You & Me – JENNIE Special Single
Not only a pop song but a K-POP group from a member of one of the biggest K-POP groups of all time, Blackpink, and yeah, there probably won’t be a lot of them on this playlist but this one was too catchy to not play. The second solo single from JENNIE, this film has all those electro beats that kind of draw me a bit into the genre and I really like how deep that bassline goes. Like I said, I’m not a K-pop stan, as they say, but I really like this track.
“You know I gotcha
You know that I got you like that
Ain’t nobody gonna have your back like the way I do
You love it, just say you do
You know you got me
Everything you do, everything you did
Everything I wish I was with, makes me feel alright
I’m just saying, so”
Track #8: The Luka State – Feel It – Fall In Fall Out (2021)
A pandemic discovery I found through Spotify in looking for something new, I heard this ripping track first from this Winsford, Cheshire, England indie rock band and I loved it. From the moment frontman Conrad Ellis sings “Won’t you let me rest my head?”, I was so hooked in. The build into this track and the drive of the song spurred me to take in the rest of the album and it is still one that I throw on pretty often. These guys are keeping rock in England alive for sure.
“It’s cold outside
I’m drunk again
Let me through the front door, l just wanna see you
I’ll apologize about before
I can be a real dick without knowing
And
Won’t you let me rest my head?
In the morning we’ll be fine
Won’t you let me rest my head?”
Track #9: Ciara featuring Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot – 1,2 Step – Goodies (2004)
Oooooooh weeeeeeee! Yeah, this song is super catchy and Ciara arrived on the scene as a total star. The beat is great, and makes you want to move and I always sing along with this track, especially all the parts with Missy, an all-time rap icon in my opinion. This song also really reminds me of my Rogers Videos days and a trailer for a Canadian dance movie called How She Move that my co-worker Michaela and I would obsess over and hilariously riff about. I guess you really had to be there but this classic song will always have a place in my heart and it makes this playlist even weirder.
“Automatic, supersonic, hypnotic, funky fresh (Ha!)
Work my body, so melodic, this beat rolls right through my chest (Yup)
Everybody, ma and papi, came to party, grab somebody
Work ya body, work ya body
Let me see you one, two step (Here we go!)”
Track #10: TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me – Return To Cookie Mountain (2006)
I don’t know how everybody else discovered this incredible Brooklyn, New York five-piece but for me, it was when this song was a playable track on Guitar Hero 5 and I played the hell out of it. Remember that game? I miss those times. Anyways, now, through my Spotify recommendations, this group has become an easy favorite and I feel like I’m discovering new tracks all the time.
“Dream me, oh, dreamer, down to the floor
Open my hands and let them weave onto yours
Feel me, completer, down to my core
Open my heart and let it bleed onto yours
Feeding on fever, down on all fours
Show you what all the howling is for”
Track #11: Alexisonfire – Side Walk When She Walks – “Watch out!” (2004)
This is easily one of my favorite records of all time and, while I could have gone with singles like Accidents or No Transitory, there’s something about the mix of vocals that made me opt for this song first. Hailing from St. Catharines, Ontario, this band is part of the defining pillars of post-hardcore, at least in my music tastes and a song like this just drives home my point.
“Now I’m afraid of open water
But I often bathe in sin
Let’s be honest
You know you shouldn’t bother
Cause with me, it’s impossible to win”
Track #12: Collective Soul – Gel – Collective Soul (1995)
This is a song that goes way back to my days in the 90s creating mixtapes out of songs I taped off of the radio. Young Steve listened to this track over and over again and even celebrated the Jerky Boys movie when it came out because the song was on the soundtrack. Is it a comedy that holds up? I have no idea because it isn’t available anywhere but I digress. This is one of many great tracks off of one of the best albums, front to back, of the nineties.
“Well let’s bungle (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
And live to tell (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
How we came together (uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh)
Yeah, how we gelled”
Track #13: Conquer Divide – wide awake – Slow Burn (2023)
This song making it to my playlist is a testament to making sure you add music to your liked songs list all the time. Most likely due to my love and appreciation for bands like Eyes Set To Kill, In This Moment and Within Temptation, my recommended music list put me onto this Michigan metalcore band with ties to the U.K., Canada and Serbia. An all woman five piece, I really got into their work with this second record, one that came eight years after their 2015 self titled debut and it was this song that started the journey into their sound. Kiarely Castillo and Janel Duarte’s voices in clean and unclean tandem are beautiful together. Huge fan of these ladies and hopefully the next album isn’t an eight year journey again.
“If I stay away (Away)
Would you only suffocate?
Bleed me out until I break?
I’m wide awake (Awake)
It’s getting harder to pretend
It’s you I won’t resent”
Track #14: Harry Styles – Matilda – Harry’s House (2022)
A beautiful and emotional song from, not only one of the the best albums of 2022, but one of the best albums of the past decade, this song is Styles flexing his skills at writing a touching ballad that resonates. Ninities girls will pick up and love the song if they had a childhood attachment to the Roald Dahl adaptation Matilda because that is the source that Harry pulls from. Harry’s House is a special record that doesn’t have a skippable track but this one really is a total showstopper and I love that it can do it with some quiet simplicity.
“You’re just in time, make your tea and your toast
You framed all your posters and dyed your clothes, ooh
You don’t have to go
You don’t have to go home
Oh, there’s a long way to go
I don’t believe that time will change your mind
In other words, I know they won’t hurt you anymore
As long as you can let them go”
Steve Stebbing 