Top 15 albums that will always be important to me

I stole this from Jon Ozaksut on facebook, so all credit to him. I'll make this go from 15 to 1, and I'll try to make the entries short enough.

15: Green Day American Idiot: So let me start out by saying, yes, a lot of my albums aren't going to be the coolest. That being said, this album resonates. I bought American Idiot when it came out, and it helped lead to my political changing. I grew up a Republican idiot and changed when I grew some brains and formed my opinion. It's a good album, I go back every now and then and I should go back to it sometime soon.

14: The Clash London Calling: Or, how I got into punk rock of the 70s. So many good songs here, and I always forget how many good ones there are until I go back and listen to it again.

13: Barenaked Ladies Stunt: Sometimes you want music that will make you think, and sometimes you want to have fun. This more falls into the have fun, but I always enjoy In The Car. Fun and peppy, it's what I think of on car rides with friends.

12: Beatles A Hard Day's Night: This is so low not because I like it least, but because while it resonates and was one of the first ones I listened to, it led to me getting more Beatles albums because this one was so awesome. The boys know how to rock and expressed so much in so few words. Plus, come on, Can't Buy Me Love.

11: Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler Best of: When I bought this, I only wanted Brothers in Arms because of that West Wing episode. I barely ever listened to it, until I threw iTunes on shuffle. Then songs started popping up, and those songs were good. Going Home, Money For Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, so many that are great. It has definitely taught me that when I buy a CD, listen to the whole damn thing. There will be some other good ones on there; this is also why I buy CDs still instead of singles a lot, but they better be good CDs.

10: Van Halen Best of Both Worlds: Everyone loves Van Halen. If you don't love Van Halen, you haven't listened to enough. They exemplify the 80s to me, power ballads and stadium anthems. The news that David Lee Roth is a part of the band again and is making a new album incredibly excites me.

9: Marvin Gaye Best of: My dad in the 70s had a lot of music that you wouldn't expect a stuffy white guy to listen to, like the platters, temptations, foundations, Marvin Gaye, all sorts of stuff. Kids used to act him, "Mr. Zuidema, why do you have those bands? They don't seem like something you would listen to." And he always told them, "It's about the voice, and the music." Same with Marvin Gaye. The man knows what he's talking about, and I love me some 70s soul. This is also why I really love Cee-Lo's F*** You.

8: AC/DC Back in Black: Sex, drugs, rock and roll. They have been singing about it for years, and this album is always fun to blast while driving in the suburbs. Angry, anthemic, and awesome, I love every track on this album. This album was probably one of the major reasons I love hard rock.

7: Stevie Wonder Best of: I love Stevie Wonder. His songs just always make me feel awesome and happy. If I'm having a downer day and I want a pick me up, I just turn on this CD and start rocking out and singing along. Every song on here just makes me peppy.

6: Paul Simon Graceland: Jack gave this to me sometime at U of C, I want to say around or after one of the California trips. I initially liked a few of the songs on it but I've been listening to it a lot since then. Every song on there makes me feel groovy and has definitely fueled a lot of my love of what can best be described as easy listening. The man knows his music and has such great song writing abilities. I need more Paul Simon cds.

5: John Denver and the Muppets Christmas Album: To me, I can't fully get into the Christmas season unless I hear this CD. There's so many memories attached to this CD, rides in the car to and from my gramma's place on Christmas Eve. Wanting to stay up for Santa and never getting to. Decorating a Christmas tree and fully getting into the Christmas spirit. Every Christmas I can never find the CD, and every Christmas I burn a copy of it to listen to. I hardly ever listen to it between New Years and Thanksgiving, but that one month? Oooh, over and over again.

4: Queen Greatest Hits: More memories here. Every time our family went to Minnesota, Mom and Dad threw this on. My sister and I grew up knowing the words to Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody to Love, and Crazy Little Thing Called Love. I have to believe two things. First, my parents used to be cool until we came along and ruined it, and they chose Queen because they needed something that was the anti-Raffi to listen to. I still listen to this CD all the time, because Freddie Mercury knew how to rock. The man could move everyone and it's a shame he's no longer with us.

3: Motion City Soundtrack Even if it Kills Me: I listened to this CD all the time on the way back and forth from Purdue these last 3 years. I grew to enjoy every one of these songs as they hit that perfect mix of expression and rock for me. It seems like a buddy comedy to me at times, and a romantic movie at others. Whatever I need at the time, it's there.

2: Bruce Springsteen Hammersmith London 1975: This is a live concert at London. This is also the most rocking thing I own. It's essentially live versions of the first 3 CDs worth of songs (Greetings from Asbury Park, The Wild the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, and BTR), and it's incredible. This CD was the reason I went to a concert 3 years ago, and it was one of the best nights of my life, even including that stupid ticket for blowing through a red light i insist was yellow. I have to go to another one sometime soon, as it's a transcendent experience. The man knows how to put on an amazing show and if he ever has another tour, I'm going on it. Everyone should go see one of their heroes sometime, and time is running out for me.

1: Bruce Springsteen Born To Run: I got this CD from Edmund during a math meeting. And it may be the greatest CD I own. I read somewhere once that while Bruce has a voice on par with Brian Williams, he has the greatest expressive ability of any singer out there. This was the third CD he made, after Asbury Park and E Street Shuffle. He was going broke and about to be out of the music industry, so he threw everything he had into this album. The result was magical. If you want a recommendation, try Thunder Road and the title track and Jungleland. You will not be disappointed.

And hey, at least this post was happyish?

Musicians of Note

So I knew I forgot to do something today....

These music posts are not the easiest to write, as I gotta try to figure out why I feel the way I do about something. When I start these off, I get a decent idea of who I could write about, but then ideas change and new bands are chosen. When I opened up this post, I was going to write about Queen. Then I realized I already did Elvis last week, and if I go down this road, it's going to be two weeks and then I have to start figuring out why I like the Beatles. So I'm going to go back to the roots of this, and try to find slightly unknownish bands and see if I can re-introduce them to people.

Huey Lewis The Jam were an English band from the 70s and 80s who largely focused on Mod revival music. Mod revival was a style where past songs were used as a backbeat to new, punk-style lyrics. For example, in the Jam's song "Town Called Malice" you can hear the bassline from "You Can't Hurry Love," and you can hear the bass from the Beatles "Taxman" in the song "Start!"

So it's fast music with 60s sounds included in. What's not to like there? The other interesting thing about The Jam was that as opposed to their punk peers, wearing ripped shirts and scuzzy jeans thanks to Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten, The Jam wore nice suits and looked presentable. With my love of debonair style, you gotta admire that. Plus they were willing to critique other bands and styles they didn't like. Their song "A Bomb In Wardour Street" is about how typical punk music is just about fighting with the rest of the members of the punk scene. And they also were willing to attack those who prey on the weak as well. The song "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" calls out those who smell of "too many right-wing meetings" who end up beating the narrator of the song to death.

Their song "Strange Town" to me speaks of the loneliness you get when you try to go back to someplace you once knew, but it's been cleaned up and all the heart, character, and dirtiness is gone from it. It's now a tourist trap for people to visit and admire. Combine that with "When You're Young" about how you can take the world on when you're young, but the world comes back and smashes you to bits in the end, and you've got a nice melancholy style going on. But you've also got "Beat Surrender" about how you have to care about living your life and being as happy as you can be. There's also the previously mentioned "Start!" about finding love wherever you can, even if it's only for 2 minutes.

I guess I like them because they give me the beats and sounds I want while still having meaningful lyrics behind them. They can get political, with "That's Entertainment" deriding the use of the poor commoner lifestyle as subject for TV shows, or "Going Underground" about how nukes and fighting aren't the answer.

I like them, feel free to take a listen and check them out.



We'll start with "Start!" because I'm cool like that.



"When You're Young" because I like rebelling against negativity, and the fact that I can be awesome now and all, as I'm young. The world still hasn't beaten me down yet.



"Beat Surrender" doesn't have a music video I can find, as it was one of the last songs they recorded.



And we end with "Going Underground," and as it's still 11:56 here on the east coast, I got this done. Woo, go me. See people tomorrow for the usual Monday zaniness.

Friday Musicians of Note

So I'm sorry I'm late with this, I was busy playing Rock Band with friends yesterday and never got around to writing this. So I'll write it today and everyone will be happy. I'll be happy that I continued my weekly column, Mary will be happy that I'm posting on the weekend, and the rest of you will be happy to have something meaningful to read.

This week I'm going to focus on someone very well-known but not so well-listened to. Considering he died 33 years ago, that's sorta understandable. I am of course, talking about Elvis.

Now you all know him, but have you ever listened to his music? Holy crap does he have some good songs. There are the old standards you all sorta know, "Jailhouse Rock," "Love Me Tender," "Viva Las Vegas," etc. But let's break things down a bit, let's talk about why Elvis is a) so good and b) so inspirational to other musicians.

Nowadays, you kids today with your rap music, with the hipping and the hopping, don't know what the rock used to be all about! That is, musicians today cross over so many platforms and interchange so many styles that we forget that used to never happen. You know who the famous white singers were in the 50s? Sinatra, Bennett, etc. Standards singers who didn't doo-wop but croon. They sang slowly and meaningfully, but kids liked faster music. Elvis incorporated all different types of music into his act; blues, gospel, rockabilly, rythym and blues, he MADE rock and roll. It's because of Elvis that Timberlake was willing to co-operate with Timbaland, why the Beatles were able to play the rock songs they created. And the other nice thing about Elvis was that he wasn't a racist. He not only acknowledged his debt to the singers he took from, but he also was pretty anti-segregation. That's another big part of why white parents hated him, which consequently made kids love him.

But enough about what came about because of him; let's talk about what he created. I'm sure everyone vaguely knows Elvis, but there's so many good songs that it's hard to limit myself to a few paragraphs. If you want some of his faster rock and roll tunes, with driving beats and a great bassline, then I recommend "Don't Be Cruel," "All Shook Up," "Jailhouse Rock," "I Got Stung," or "Bossa Nova Baby." And if you want crooning and caring from someone who understands the sadness or emotions you're feeling, then go for "Love Me Tender," "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," "In the Ghetto," or "Can't Help Falling in Love." And if you want something hilarious to listen to, try "Teddy Bear," "Surrender," "Little Sister," (which other than the vocals sounds Beatlesish), "Return to Sender," "Little Less Conversation," or "Devil in Disguise."

The good thing about Elvis dying so long ago is that he's mostly lost the label of "big fat joke" that he had at the time of his death. Michael Jackson is currently going through that now, as people remember how kickass Thriller and Bad actually are. 20 years from now, it'll just be another part of his character that people mention in passing and don't care too much about as they focus on the music. Elvis at the time of his death had ballooned out to be huge, but nowadays most people just remember the good parts of Elvis and the great music such as the following songs.



If I Can Dream, a song that showed what side Elvis was on in the civil rights struggle while also being really peaceful.



I wish I could be that cool in jail. I would probably be crying more often than leading a dance number.



Viva Las Vegas, which I did not get to viva when I went to Las Vegas. Don't go when you're 20, you can't gamble. The family part of the vacation was fun though, and I did get a nice hat, so there is that. But no gambling.



Burning Love, one of my favorites. Because it's fun and passionate, and quite right for dancing to and all that. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and all

An Extended Rant on the Music Industry

There are two things in the world I firmly believe. First, I can't stand settling for mediocrity. It angers me when that's what I see people doing in their lives, and i'm sorta scared that it's gonna happen to me. Hence the writing here, the eventual movie i'm totally gonna make you guys i swear, the eventual guitar that i'm going to learn to play as well. Complacency and mediocrity scare and anger me. The second is that I always see worth in rebelling against the darkness, the void. I really like the idea that no matter what we're fated to do, enough spirit and will can change anything; the future isn't written and what have you. The Cubs can and will come back, the Bears can still make the playoffs, I'll finish my thesis really soon (btw, totally just figured some research out so rewarding myself with this post), etc. But I want to address the first point with the following rant. As usual, I have no idea how many of you actually care about this, but as this is my blog, we'll be talking about it. The music industry today is terrible. The whole idea of it, really. From marketing to the music being produced to the singers that are famous to how it's packaged and sold to us.

The reason this rant exists is because I heard Avril Lavigne's shitty song "Girlfriend" on the radio yesterday. And yes, while this rant could be summarized as "I hate Avril Lavigne," it's not entirely her fault that she and her ilk have ruined music. I blame executives, good musicians, bad musicians, MTV (oh how I loathe MTV), Hot Topic (they're getting a good paragraph in this rant), the general recording industry, and to some extent as well, iTunes.

But where to begin with this all? Let's start with what prompted this whole rant: shitty musicians. There used to be heart in music (and I'm not saying that it's entirely gone) and there used to be caring. It used to be more about what it sounded like and not how it looked. Granted, with talent, you can overcome looks. It's just a matter of how much talent. You look like Paul Potts, you need Paul Potts levels of talent to make up for it. You look like Jim Belushi, you need....a lot more talent than Jim Belushi has. But the other half of the argument is that looks don't make up for talent. Just because Avril Lavigne looks like a "hot" representation of punk music doesn't make her singing abilities good. Just because Jessica Simpson looks pretty and blond doesn't imply that her singing is acceptable. And just because Spencer Pratt tells his stupid bitch wife that she has some talent doesn't mean that it's anywhere close to true.

Now don't get me wrong, sometimes you can get both in one package, like Taylor Swift or Tony Bennet or Frank Sinatra. Sadly, look at that list of singers. Two old guys and one young girl. Video really did kill the radio star. There are some vaguely decent looking singers today and all, but it's been mostly pushed out of the way for attractiveness, style over substance and all. Britney Spears got hired because of her body, not because of her "great" talent. When MTV started with videos and all, singers had to look good, which became more important than music. Look at Lady Gaga. She's based her career around incredibly wackjob visual stunts while ignoring the music, giving us "gems" like paparazzi or puh-puh-puh-poker face. Puh-puh-puh-please. And yes, I did just make that puh-puh-puh-pun. That one too.

And if we're going to be completely honest with ourselves here, even the good singers have some blame for the state of music. If the Ramones and the Clash hadn't expressed their anger against the establishment with punk music, we wouldn't have Fred Durst and Good Charlotte who only picked up the "anger" part and ignored the intelligent lyrics part. If NWA and LL Cool J had never begun rapping, I wouldn't be hearing Vanilla Ice or ICP thinking they could rap too. If Led Zeppelin had never made "Stairway to Heaven" I might not have been subjected to Creed. If the Beatles had never done drugs, we probably wouldn't have most of the 60s, 70s, and consequently the entire musical generation and all that.

But if you look at those statements, we need the Beatles, Floyd, NWA, Zeppelin, and the Ramones. So I can't blame the good musicians for having bad imitators. We as a culture need to better stop the bad musicians from getting popular. Yes, hating on Creed and Fred Durst is easy, but we need to hate on them more effectively. It's not enough to yell at kids for listening to Avril Lavigne, you have to provide them with real punk music like Black Flag. You take away the Lady Gaga and listen to some Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye instead. And you don't buy bad music. Yes, we all have our guilty pleasures, but you know what? When we reward Smash Mouth, we get more Smash Mouth.

Furthering that point, marketing. Bill Hicks has a great rant on marketing that's well worth hearing. "By the way if anyone here is in advertising or marketing... kill yourself." It's not just the fact that because of them we have these bad bands, it's thanks to them that these bad bands keep getting promoted. I just went to the Hot Topic website, because I clearly enjoy hurting myself. I could cut myself, but this is faster. First, let's consider the baby section. That's right, hot topic has a baby section. Because what better way is there to say, "I'm a crappy parent!" than by dressing your kid in (page 1) a marilyn manson shirt, a disturbed shirt, a Korn one, or an avenged sevenfold one. I can guarantee you that not only has the kid not heard of those bands, in 15 years when he grows up he's gonna think they're crap. Furthermore, a Clash onesie? Really? Johnny Cash? and B.I.G.? They're dead! Get used to it! Then I go to the band tees section for adults and my life gets really sad. You know what's number 3? A picture of Justin Bieber skateboarding on a tee shirt. Now I've heard this kid sing. He's a 12 year old boy with a voice I thought stopped existing when castratti went out of style. They make Lynyrd Skynyrd clothing when no one knows of more than two songs by them, one of which is only played or suggested ironically. If you're a legitimate fan of Skynyrd, then why don't you go get'r done the hell outta here. And the other, random bands I didn't mention? It looks like Ed Hardy got lazy and just started throwing words and paint at shirts and sold what sticks. Hey, let's add a penguin with a headband. whoaaaaaaaa, wacky.

And marketing is raping the corpses of good bands, too. Let's go back to Hot Topic. They sell Ramones tee-shirts to kids who not only were born after the Ramones stopped existing but within the next 2-3 years to kids who were born after Joey Ramone died! Crusing the website again, I highly doubt that anyone who listens to the Wu-Tang clan as a real band is going to want to pay hot topic for one of their shirts. The fact that hot topic is selling shirts for the Jam or ODB when 90 percent of the kids don't know who those people are is depressing as hell. For heaven's sake, bands now are going in trying to figure out the best way to sell out to hot topic. I'd bet good money that Henry Rollins wasn't figuring out the best way to sell Black Flag tee shirts when he was writing "Rise Above." And the truly depressing part is that none of the kids know who people like Clapton or Bowie are, yet hot topic is selling their shirts.

But it's not just about caring about the music and making sure you support those who do, in some way that doesn't give hot topic money. Let's look at the way music itself is marketed towards us. Pop radio is made up of the same 20 songs, cycled over and over, as we all know. But it's not just that basic level of it. It's the iTunesinization of it all. You go to iTunes, chances are you're not buying all the Led Zeppelin songs (unless you're Anna), you're there to buy "Rock and Roll" or "Stairway to Heaven." Going back to dumb ol' Avril Lavigne, you're not buying the whole awful CD, you're buying Girlfriend and maybe one or two of her other songs, if you really hate yourself. The Beatles and AC/DC actually sorta have it right, in that since they won't let people buy the individual songs on iTunes, you either experience the songs on the radio or/so that you buy the CD. You don't just get "You Shook Me All Night Long," you get "Givin' The Dog A Bone" as well. More than just buying "A Hard Day's Night" you also get "I Should Have Known Better." And then we go from the way we buy songs to what singers have come to stand for. I'm willing to bet a whole mess of money that Bob Marley and the Dead stand for more than pot and getting high. But thanks to selling posters for dorm walls, (and in the Dead's case, crappy stoner word of mouth), no one cares what their music is actually about. However, Flock of Seagulls did stand for having crappy haircuts, so I'll give marketing at least one point.

Yes, there is something to be said for singles and not getting stuck listening to Avril Lavigne's other crappy songs, or the fact that I'm not stuck paying for any more Motley Crue than the one track of Dr. Feelgood I own. But I guess I'm just hoping for a time when the music is rewarded for being good instead of just being mediocre. I want bands that freaking rock, not those that are clearly in it for the money. And yes, you could counter my arguments by saying "Band X that you like clearly sucks because of Y and Z!" But when people/bands/(whatever the hell she is) like Avril Lavigne are getting paid millions to play crappy songs that are about the same subject over and over again, something is wrong with the whole system.

That's my main beef with her and Good Charlotte and Fred Durst and all the other terrible bands, going back to point 1. It's not that they're getting paid for inferior product, which they are. It's not that they have fans of their inferior product, which for some reason they do. Hell, Creed had fans. It's that their songs are all exactly the same, and mediocre in that sameness! Good Charlotte's first CD is them bitching for 12 tracks about how their father left them and all the "haterz" at school "be hating." And I'm not exaggerating that, I once owned that CD. And what happens when they put out a new CD? It's the same damn subject! Only this time, they've included rich people in their rant, which, weirdly enough includes them! I'll buy your man of the people bull crap when you sell your freaking mansion and stop dating Ashlee Simpson, slick. This isn't me criticizing them for criticizing the powerful; it's the fact that they say specifically target the rich and famous, which, last I checked, they freaking were!

And Avril? All her songs are about how "this boy doesn't like me because I act punk" or "he likes me but not enough." And yes, while that crap, or Good Charlotte's crap, sells albums, at least Zeppelin gave me vikings or dragons occasionally. The Beatles gave me songs about things getting better or living in a submarine or (whatever Revolution #9 was about) to go along with the songs about girls. Change your tune (literally in some cases, Good Charlotte) so it's not the same thing every time I go to a new track! Oh, and in this next song, you're totally going to feel the pain the singer feels about a girl, just like the previous 4 tracks! Hell, even AC/DC, who only write songs about sex, drugs, or rock and roll, have somehow not only managed to find huge success with those three subjects, but they vary them enough so that the album isn't boring!

I guess I could sum this up as if you're gonna form a band (and what idiot isn't going to, hell, i've thought about it) make sure you're doing it for the music and that you know more than three chords and one song idea, you shmuck. And if you get lucky enough to sell out to the man, get what you can I guess, since I know if I could sell out and earn some money, I would in a heartbeat. Finally, hey, you damn kids, get off my lawn and stop ruining music.

And I still hate Avril Lavigne.

Friday Musicians of Note

So the other post I wanted to get out here was about music. As I realize far too many of you don't care about sports and baseball (which I don't understand how that can be, but whatever) I also want to throw up a post about some bands I like. And yes, I went with the cheap pun, musician, note, etc. har har har, i'm just like fozzie bear.

In any case, this will be a weekly thing where I talk about a band I like, why I like them, and then throw some youtubes of their songs up here. Maybe you'll find a band you like, maybe in a few weeks this turns into me detailing the greatness of Huey Lewis and the News because I've run out of bands. (Man, I hope I don't end up having to write a long opus about why "Back in Time" speaks to our generation)

But anyway, we'll start this off with a band that's still playing (that's right, I actually know some musicians that are still recording and alive!) The band is called Motion City Soundtrack, and I've liked their stuff for a while. I want to say I got into them through Tim and Chris (which I'm willing to bet are the reason I got into a fair amount of my modern music).

Now, I'm not a music critic. I could throw big words like zeitgeist or pop-punk fusion or garbage like that here. You would read it and say "Holy crap John is a full bag of douche." But I know what I like. I like fiery passion. That's what it always boils down to with all my music. I can get behind you if you want to sing about how you love some girl or feel some feeling, but dammit, emote the hell out of it while you do! Don't get me wrong, there are some slower songs I like, but as a general rule, quicker = better. (and yet I don't listen to speed metal. Huh.) So I like my music quick and passionate. If it's too fast, it runs the risk of losing the meaning for me and I end up not liking it as much. And yet I also like songs about love and girls and such, because I am clearly a hopeless romantic idiot.

Motion City Soundtrack (hereafter MCS) combines all of what I like. They have fast songs, they have songs about girls, and as a fun bonus they have pop culture references. Their song "Calling All Cops" starts out with the line "Calling all cops and autobots" before transformers was cool again. The song "Antonia" namedrops Indiana Jones and Annie Hall. They mention "Ocarina of Time" in a song from the new CD. They even named a track "Pulp Fiction" on their most recent CD, which they then proceed to rip in the song!

But it's not just name dropping. They also know how to make the songs catchy and fun to listen to. Try listening to "Broken Heart" or "Stand Too Close" or "Point of Extinction" or "Capital H" or "@!#?@!" and try not to bob your head in time with the music. It's catchy without being aggravating, which is what makes it fun.

And as I said, hopeless romantic idiot. So the songs about girls are actually some of my favorite music about love and girls and such. Give "When 'You're' Around" or "It Had To Be You" or "Broken Heart" or "Her Words Destroyed My Planet" a try and you'll see what I mean.

But enough about me fellating the band for you. I (if I figured this out right) have thrown a few youtube videos of the songs I really liked below, and if you like them, feel free to ask me for some more songs by them, or even a CD or something. The more people I can introduce to some bands I like, the off chance I'll stumble into something they think I like, and thus more music for me. Enjoy!

The Future Freaks Me Out, a song constantly in my grad-school addled brain.



This is the song "@!#?@!" which is catchy and has cursing, so enjoy it kids!



Even If It Kills Me, a song that has given me some hope for a while.



and we close with Antonia, a song about a girl.