Technical difficulties descend on the show this week but Chloe is a pro and we salvage a one-sided video recording! This week I give my thoughts on the new Blumhouse horror Imaginary, we both have our thoughts on Australia’s official submission for the Academy Awards this year plus some big new television series hits Netflix. All this and more on this special episode!
This week I take in Jack Black as the dragon warrior for the fourth time, Millie Bobby Brown playing action hero and John Cena steals the show again in a very R-rated comedy from one of the guys that brought us Dumb And Dumber. Lots of great television, including Kate Winslet and HBO’s new collaboration as well as a few great Blu-ray arrivals.
Get ready for a weird but largely heavy ride of fourteen songs as metal definitely won out above all but I still manage to squeeze in the greatest of all time with The Beatles, a childhood melodic treat in the Wilson sisters and a deep crush that I had from the nineties. Yes, this might be one of the odder mosh pits of track groupings but I was obviously in need of some energy here.
Track #1: Miike Snow – Genghis Khan – iii (2016)
Trying to start off this playlist with something mellow and maybe a little bit boppy and this song from this Stolkholm, Sweden indie pop band. Known largely for their bigger hit Animal, I found myself digging into their discography after getting into the Klaxxons, Bloc Party and We Are Scientist and this group really had so many great track to add to my liked songs. Plus, any song that has a singable piece with no real lyrics is a winner to me.
“I know there’s no form
And no labels to put on
To this thing we keep
And dip into when we need
And I don’t have the right
To ask where you go at night
But the waves hit my head
To think someone’s in your bed”
Track #2: Anthrax – I’m Alive – Worship Music (2011)
Anthrax is an interesting band to me as I’ve seen them so many times in concert, always killing it live, but they aren’t one of my regularly listened-to bands day to day. That said, anytime they come on I’m never skipping it and when this song popped up, I knew I wanted to add it to the list. Hammered into my brain by playing NHL ‘12 for hours on end, this song is a great crunchy metal song with a solo from Scott Ian that just flies on the wings of a metal god. Yeah, it’s a damn cool song.
“I’m alive to be the demon
I’m alive to be the one
Yeah-eah-eah-eah
Hell, it lives in everyone”
Track #3: Arcade Fire – Ready To Start – The Suburbs (2010)
The Suburbs was the real beginning of my love for Arcade Fire but this was the kick-off to their superstardom I think, much to the chagrin of the fans who had already been listening to Funeral and Neon Bible religiously. Thanks to this album and, firstly this song, I was able to go back and fall in love with those records too. There is a triumphant shaking off of the shackles to this song that I really like and the kind of themes that reoccur in Arcade Fire’s work.
“Now I’m ready to start
I would rather be wrong
Than live in the shadows of your song
My mind is open wide
And now I’m ready to start
And now I’m ready to start
My mind is open wide
And now I’m ready to start
Not sure you’ll open the door
To step out into the dark
Now I’m ready”
Track #4: Mastodon – Steambreather – Emperor Of Sand (2017)
I’ve been a big Mastodon guy ever since I saw the video for March Of The Fire Ants on MuchMusic’s Loud. I had a cherished hoodie from their Crack The Skye merch and every record brought new greatness. Another concept-guided journey, this album might be one of my favorites as it is pretty much a record with no skippable tracks on it. With the grinding fade into a dark guitar-driven opening, this song gets into your bones before melting the world away with a killer solo. The music video for this kicks ass as well and is totally metal to the core.
“I wonder who I am
Reflections offer nothing
I wonder where I stand
I’m afraid of myself”
Track #5: The Beatles – You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – Help! (1965)
The Beatles are an unreachable and unattainable level of regard to me and my family, so much so that it’s hard to pick which of their songs that I wanted to share first but there’s something about this John and Paul written song that gets me. I loved Eddie Vedder’s cover of it simply because the composition of it is so good that it is really transitional to artists and their versions are just as great. I also really love that essentially this is a Bob Dylan song, written by the greatest band of all time.
“Here I stand head in hand
Turn my face to the wall
If she’s gone, I can’t go on
Feeling two-foot small
Everywhere people stare
Each and every day
I can see them laugh at me
And I hear them say
Hey, you’ve got to hide your love away
Hey, you’ve got to hide your love away”
Track #6: Default – Live A Lie – The Fallout (2001)
Another Canadian band arrives on the playlist but this time the band is from my home province, British Columbia. I’ve loved this Vancouver four-piece since their weeks during the Fox Seeds competition put on by the city rock station 99.3 The Fox, a band that is entwined in the memories of a certain time in my life. This is also my favorite song off of this record and you can tell how well Dallas Smith would eventually fit into the country genre within his first lyrics.
“I can’t seem to find out what I feel
Burned out dreams of others which I can’t steal
Take or leave this way I seem to you, it eats right through you
Ripped up parts of things I should do
I’ll run around and tell you screaming”
Track #7: Serj Tankian – Empty Walls – Elect The Dead (2007)
System Of A Down is an all-time favorite of mine so it was a given that I would love the side projects of both Serj Tankian and Daron Malkian but Serj is the one that has felt most like a direct extension of that same message. Serj’s lyrics are always powerful and it’s songs like this debut single of his debut solo record that stand the test of time. His messages are always pointed and he never pulls any punches and this song sets up that continued truth as well as a fantastic record.
“Don’t you see their bodies burning
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication?
Don’t you see their bodies burning
Desolate and full of yearning
Dying of anticipation
Choking from intoxication?”
Track #8: No Doubt – Happy Now? – Tragic Kingdom (1995)
Tragic Kingdom was a huge part of the soundtrack of the mid-nineties for me and I swear it didn’t just stem from my massive crush on Gwen Stefani. The reality is that together as, at the time, a five-piece, each of them is so individually talented and tight as musicians and this track showcases that. Side note, Gwen’s vocals are so fantastic on this album, especially this song, so one of a kind.
“The contemplator all those years
Now you must adhere to your new career
Of liberation, you’ve been cast
All by yourself, you’re free at last”
Track #9: Heart – Crazy On You – Dreamboat Annie (1975)
This classic track brings me back to a young Steve, probably five six years old, listening to the tapes in his mom’s car. These incredible songbirds with crashing guitar sounds hooked me at a young age and sent me on my path of loving rock and roll. This song is a perfect mid-seventies rock staple, starting with the incredible into. Brilliant and a piece of Vancouver’s influence on music history as well.
“Wild man’s world is crying in pain
What you gonna do when everybody’s insane?
So afraid of one who’s so afraid of you
What you gonna do?”
Track #10: Chimaira – Pure Hatred – The Impossibility Of Reason (2003)
This is probably the biggest adrenaline boost I have put on any of the playlists and it probably seems jarring but just know that I think this song does exactly what it is intended to do, jack you the hell up! Andols Herrick is on the list of my favorite metal drummers of all time and this song has a brilliant lead in him a good building riff and then we fly into the song with a searing scream from Mark Hunter. This track brings me back to seeing them live at the Commodore (I think), a great early 2000s concert memory.
“I have told you things need to change
You never listened or came to my aid
The vicious cycle has not changed
My time’s spent rearranged”
Track #11: Soilwork – Mercury Shadow – Natural Born Chaos (2002)
Natural Born Chaos is an album that brings me back to the days of burnt CDs and hastily scrawled labels.Best believe that this was an album I listened to until it skipped as I was hooked by the Helsingborg, Sweden band’s raspy to melodic to operatic vocal drive and fiery guitars. This, along with In Flames, got me into the Scandanavian sound in metal and this song is relevant recently as they released the Swedish language version of it in December.
“When there comes a time
With a feast on what used to be mine
Sent from the front to the back
All in numbers and hellish black
When there comes a time
With a feast on what used to be mine
Sent from the front to the back
All in numbers and hellish black”
Track #12: I Prevail – Visceral – True Power (2022)
Damn, this playlist is heavy! And it features the Beatles, whaaa? Yes, after two blistering metal tracks lets shift to the subgenre of post hardcore, which I brought on the last list with Bring Me The Horizon. This Southfield, Michigan really got onto my radar with their record Trauma but this track, that wasn’t chosen among the six singles that were released. Sitting as the penultimate song on the album, it might be my favorite.
“Are you afraid of the dark?
It’s coming straight for your heart
Do you know if you exist or it’s all in your mind?
If you wanna find out, look death in the eye
So take it back (Take it back) to the start
Are you afraid (Are you afraid) of who you are?
Do you know if you exist or you’re barely alive?
If you wanna find out, look death in the eyes
And say, “I am visceral””
Track #13: The Heavy – How You Like Me Now – The House That Dirt Built (2009)
If it wasn’t for me getting really into the Cinemax series Strike Back when the first season hit in 2010 I wouldn’t know of this Bath, Somerset rock band. They have a sound that is immediately contagious with big moments and a bad ass style that struts it’s stuff with this track in particular. This is a definite shift in pace here but it’s still just as bad ass.
“Now there was a time
When you loved me so
I couldn’t do wrong
Now you need to know
See, I been a bad, bad, bad, bad man
And I’m in deep
Yeah
I found a brand new love for this man
And can’t wait ’til you see
I can’t wait”
Track #14: Silverchair – Madman – Frogstomp (1995)
Closing this playlist out with something heavy as that seems to be the theme in the back end here but this is also a first as it is the only instrumental track I’ve brought up so far. A killer three piece from Newcastle, Australia, Daniel Johns and his crew were a huge obsession of mine when their debut album came out in 1995 and I listened to that disc until it was hot. I remember thrashing around to this song so much, a precursor to my moshpit years. This was my beginning grounds here.
“Madman”
This week on the show, I take Chloe to Arakkis for my thoughts on the long-anticipated Dune Part Two, Adam Sandler excels in another rare dramatic role, Taika Waititi’s new movie was a bigger hit with me than others and FX has a damn good new series adaptation. All this and Chloe’s review of Five Nights At Freddy’s, so dig in!
This week on the show, Steve and Chloe look at Diablo Cody and Zelda Williams’ new graveyard romance, a new Canadian-made comedy that surprised big time, a comedy-drama featuring another great Steve Zahn performance and so much more. Plus, Chloe gives her thoughts on a superpowered direct-to-video Bruce Willis flick.
For most of tis third playlist, I as really cooking something up that was pretty accessable for a broader audience. Capital Cities is safe, Van Halen is a classic ripper, Letters has a great comedown after that, its all going well until I unleashed a major contributor to the end of the Limp B-I-Z-K-I-T. That song being a great nu-metal groove aside, I brought it home with a great hip-hop track with an atmospheric beat to end.
Track #1: Capital Cities – Safe And Sound – In A Tidal Wave Of Mystery (2013)
Peppy and immediately catchy, this leading track off of this Los Angeles pop duo’s debut album started becoming an earworm in 2011, two years before its release, and by the time the record was available it was everywhere. Those trumpets, that beat and the repetition almost make your body sway to it unconsciously. One of the two, Ryan Merchant, stated that they see the songs as an “anti-doomsday anthem” and I kind of love that.
“I could show you love
In a tidal wave of mystery
You’ll still be standing next to me
You could be my luck
Even if we’re six feet underground
I know that we’ll be safe and sound”
Track #2: Van Halen – Unchained – Fair Warning (1981)
My love for Van Halen is definitely handed down from my mom, as cassettes for OU812, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge, 1984 and Fair Warning were always ready for listening. So, when I started listening to Jay Mohr’s podcast Mohr Stories, I picked up on this great track as his theme song and it rejuvenated my love for it. I also love it when David Lee Roth talks to the audience and this song’s got a great piece of that.
“Thought you’d never miss me till I got a fat city address
Non-stop talker, what a rocker
Blue-eyed murder in a size five dress”
Track #3: Letters To Cleo – Here And Now – Aurora Gory Alice (1994)
This song comes on and my inner Ben Wyatt from Parks And Recreation comes out and I’m grooving to the great drive of this Boston band’s only commercially successful song complete with that fantastic Kay Hanley lyric delivery. Speaking of Kay, her wink to Ben at the side of the stage and his reaction is exactly like me when I saw Veruca Salt in concert as a teenager. Beat for beat, no difference.
“And it might be
The comfort of a knowledge of a rise above the sky
But could never parallel the challenge of an acquisition in the
Here and now, here and now”
Track #4: Taylor Swift – invisible string – folklore (2020)
Folklore is a record that I have to credit with both making me a fan of the 2023 crowned billionaire and giving me one of the records that got me through one of the most isolating parts of my life, the pandemic. Taylor’s storytelling is all on display in this beautifully written song, another perfect collaboration between her and The National’s Aaron Desner and it may have at one time been linked to Joe Alwyn but I’m pretty sure it’s all about the Big Yeti, Travis Kelce now.
“A string that pulled me
Out of all the wrong arms, right into that dive bar
Something wrapped all of my past mistakes in barbed wire
Chains around my demons
Wool to brave the seasons
One single thread of gold
Tied me to you”
Track #5: Black Pumas – Fire – Black Pumas (2019)
The first time this track popped into my headphones while on a random shuffle, it made me pause everything I was doing. Black Pumas are a band that feels like they pull from so many different influences but the classification of “psychedelic soul” seems like a great start. This song started my fandom for them and I can’t get enough of Eric Burton’s voice, it’s just incredible. It spurred me to buy the record immediately on their website. Maybe it will make you do the same.
“If there’s a fire, call the fireman
If you’re in pain, baby, call a doctor
Don’t be afraid to say, “I need you”
I will understand, help me understand you, oh
Understand”
Track #6: The Parlor Mob – Everything You’ve Be Breathing For – And You Were A Crow (2008)
Even though this Asbury Park, New Jersey band has been around since the mid-2000s, it wasn’t until Spotify said “Hey, you’ll like these guys” that I got into them. That said, these guys fit into that Raconteurs, Black Keys and Blue Stones vein of rock and that twangy riff to start the track pulls you in right away. I also had to let my wife know that no, they aren’t Greta Van Fleet and predated them by eight years.
“Little one, how can it be
You hurt yourself but do not see
And everything you’re breathing for
Will let you down and leave you sore”
Track #7: Dr. JOE – Keep On Coming – Glad You Called (2020)
Another discovery I made in 2020, this Austin, Texas artist, by way of Salina, Kansas really gripped me within the first five seconds with a big sound and a groovy piano. Band leader Joe Sparacino and the group haven’t released a full record yet but this five-song EP is the beginnings of something fantastic in my opinion and hopefully, a full record is coming down at some point. Following up the track by Parlor Mob, this is definitely carrying a certain sound in this playlist.
“I keep on coming
Keep on running keep on climbing
Til I’m flying way up high
And still I keep on coming
You better run
If you’re that celebrated son
Showcasing trophies you ain’t won
You know I keep on coming”
Track #8: Royal Tusk – Shadow Of Love – Mountain (2014)
This was the first track from this Edmonton, Alberta rock band that I had heard, thanks to the Vancouver radio station The Peak 102.7 back when they were able to showcase more Canadian artists. I was hooked immediately with that heavy little hook and got familiar with their debut EP Mountain very quickly after. I love a trio with a loud sound and Royal Tusk has a great command of that.
“No matter what you said
No matter how you said
It never meant much anyhow
Cause I’m the one you love and I know how it was
To give a love that gets around
And we’re falling out
And the fire is fading slowly
Even in the dark, I’m scared of my shadow of love
Shadow of love
Shadow of love”
Track #9: Bring Me The Horizon – sTraNgeRs – sTraNgeRs (2022)
I got into this Sheffield, England band way into their pretty huge fandom but this screamed to the inner emo inside of me that is too stubborn to die. Yes, through this my love for post-hardcore was born and Oli Sykes is kind of the giant at the top of that genre’s mountain. This song is a great example of his ability to write with pointed messaging that is close to him and it has a pop-punk familiarity that I like a lot.
“We’re just a room full of strangers
Looking for something to save us
Alone together, we’re dying to live and we’re living to die
Dying to live, living to die
We’re just a room full of strangers”
Track #10: Interpol – Memory Serves – Interpol (2010)
Kicking off with a beautifully echoing guitar riff from Daniel Kessler, this song is a great five-minute representation of why I love this New York City band. Paul Banks’s voice and lyrics are so resonant in a track that exudes such sadness, especially his piece in just before the outro. It is such a darkly resonant song that feels like it should be listened to at night, in the dark.
“It would be so nice to take you
I only ever try to make you smile
No matter what, we’re gonna keep you occupied
But only at your place
Only at your place”
Track #11: Limp Bizkit – Eat You Alive – Results May Vary (2003)
Way to screw up the vibes of this playlist with a dirtbaggy song from Fred Durst and company as they leaned into a supposed relationship wiith Britney Spears that was flat out denied by her, I know. This song is also the single that started the mighty Bizkit’s fall from the top but it still rocks even though it has some laughably gross lyrics.
“I just want to look at you
I just want to look at you
I just want to look at you, oh, all day
There ain’t nothin’ wrong, no
There ain’t nothin’ wrong with that
Once you seep in
Under my skin
There’s nothing, there’s nothing
In this world that could wash you away
Once you seep in, yeah
Under my skin
There’s nothing, there’s nothing
In this world that could wash you away”
Track #12: The Smashing Pumpkins – Thirty Three – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995)
I would argue that this is the most beautiful song that Billy Corgan has ever written or one of them at least and it brings me back to the time of first collecting CDs and getting this landmark double album for Christmas. Any song off this record transports me back to a time in my high school life and this, the final single released from Mellon Collie, might be my favorite on the record.
“Speak to me in a language I can hear
Humor me before I have to go
Deep in thought, I forgive everyone
As the cluttered streets greet me once again
I know I can’t be late
Supper’s waitin’ on the table
Tomorrow’s just an excuse away
So I pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own”
Track #13: Big Wreck – That Song – In Loving Memory Of… (1997)
Some good late nineties Canadiana for the list as any time this Ian Thornley led group’s big landmark track comes on the radio I still crank up the volume. I love Big Wreck’s sound to this day and am a big fan of Ian’s solo work so this is definitely not the first time this part of Canada’s great rock contributitions will appear on one of my playlists. The lyrics to “That Song” are so beautifully wistful as well and I appreciate it on that level.
“So I always fool my friends and we head down there
You think that we are en route
We just drove past your old house
And you weren’t there
And I’m always great when I’m hanging
With your buds and they lie
They think that I’m just fine
Its always been that way, just a pocketbook Brando”
Track #14: Kid Cudi featuring Ratatat – Alive (Nightmare) – Man On The Moon: The End Of Day (2009)
Kid Cudi is a rapper I felt connected to pretty quickly as an existential stoner myself, so his rhymes and composition really jived with my atmosphere. The Man On The Moon records have always been my favorite and because of this track here, Ratatat was put on my radar and I have loved everything about this Brooklyn-based electronic duo ever since. I also think this is a great track to go out on with this playlist. Calming after the Fred Durst too.
“I watch the sun collapse and took up in the clizzoud
I am the lone wolf, go where I wanna
Let the moon shine, be the guide to the lizzight
Even when I stray away, the light never left me
Uh, I learn to follow my instinct
Blinded by the light, rather that than the evil
Feelin’ out of place in a room full of people
Try and be the same, but you know you’re not a sequel
Your fate will be
Whatever it shall be, be, be, be, be
Won’t fight no more
I let these things just be, be, be, be”
This week marks a new beginning for What The Hell Should I Watch as Steve’s daughter Chloe Stebbing joins the podcast full-time. Madame Web is the first up this, an “experience” in theaters, followed by Russell Crowe playing drone pilot for Liam Hemsworth, a French film that will make you salivate and the new Christian Petzold, now available from Criterion.
This week I have a couple of smaller films with Molly Manning Walker’s cautionary tale and an office character drama starring Daisy Ridley. I also dig into the fortieth anniversary 4K of Footloose, gush about the new Universal Monsters Collector’s Edition and new mini-series on both Netflix and AppleTV+.
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”
This week I got to see if the Taylor Swift conspiracy theory around Argylle held any weight, a Mads Mikkelsen Vancouver International Film Festival Favorite favorite gets its theatrical release and a great sexual exploration Canadian comedy which also played the same festival. Two new Criterion Collection entries get some well-deserved love from me and some solid Warner Archive releases.
