Distorted Reality

Sometimes in life we have things that distract us from the way things really are or the way that they should be.  I find that many people search for such things to escape on or temporarily forget what is going on.  While I understand the need I dont think that is a good idea because it is just like running from the problem.  Drinking and drugs certainly can distort reality.

There is a band that had success in the UK but saw little of it here in the states.  Their best song in my opinion made it on the Cant Hardly Wait soundtrack and actually has two versions one for the UK and one for the US.  I have included the US one here for you.

Feeder - High

Another song that I wanted to feature has a similar theme and ironically is a band of brothers from the UK as well.  They are famous for many fights, really long songs and lots of radio play.  Perhaps they were the greatest influence for modern rock bands in the UK.  Notice I said modern rock people so dont get insulted that I didnt mention the beloved Beatles.  While their first album was alright their sophomore album entitled Whats the Story Morning Glory was perhaps their best.  They did follow up with some good albums but ultimately they couldnt replicate that same success.  Perhaps their songs were just too long and all too similar to keep going and the fighting amongst themselves didnt help either.

Here is one of my favorites from that said album.  They have many from that album I could feature but this is one of the most famous ones.

Oasis - Champaign Supernova

Rockers with a Look

I have talked a lot about hair for rockers but there seems to be a look for rockers too.  You can look in the past and see it included mullets, big hair, long hair, crazy messed up hair, ripped pants, white ts, t-shirts with weird sayings to the grunge look.

This band perhaps has perfected the "geek" look and still has been successful with rock.  I really feel their first album was and still is their best and they actually have gotten worse over the years.  Who else could sing about a garage, a sweater and the name Jonas before little boys made it famous?

Perhaps they have made being a "geek" really cool.  They portray that in this song which is one of my favorites by them and is classic 90s rock. I apologize for the cheesy video but there wasnt a music video for this song.  You can find it off their self-titled album or "the blue album".

Weezer - In the Garage

Rock and Piano

Rock has been defined by steel, flying v's, and distortion every since someones amp was damaged and delivered a different and unique sound.  Does rock really work well with other instruments?  I guess it depends on who you ask.  In my opinion it didnt work for Metallica on their S&M album.  It works well for Apocolyptica though and it seems to be a good groove for Ben Folds.

Ben Folds has a different sound and can go from loud to soft, mellow to vulgar.  It is a good mix sometimes.  Without the band Ben Folds Five here is my favorite song of his going solo.

Ben Folds - Landed

A Bit of an Obsession

I always thought that punk rock was somewhat of an obsession.  As a person with a wide variety of musical taste I never just got stuck in one genre.  Many people I knew got stuck in punk rock and it seemed that so many bands that sounded like Blink 182 surfaced all over the late late 90s till a few years ago.

One band that has that sound that didnt really get a lot of attention or have a lot of success was a small band The Summer Obsession.  Here is perhaps my favorite track from them.  They worth a listen or two if you are looking for "undiscovered" stuff.  Unfortunately the band is broken up so you wont find new stuff from them but enjoy what they did have.

The Summer Obsession - Do You Remember

Classic Band

If you have headed to smaller venues and casino preformances lately you might have caught this last band.  Even though they might not be selling out stadiums like in the 90s they have been a classic band for over 10 years.

You really cant beat their music.  They are definately in my top 10.  They are perhaps one of the only bands that has brothers in it and is still together.  They first started to "Shine" pleading for light from heaven.  They taught us how to "Gel" and made our favorite month "December".  We found out who the "Smashing Young Man" was and discovered "The World I Know" and our suicidal tendencies.

They didnt stop there.  Their third album Dicipline Breakdown didnt sell as well and is very much under estimated because it is a great album.  Next they gave us a Dosage with "Run" and a few other tracks again under estimated.  They released another album and even did a duet with Elton John and that record didnt sell well either but was good.

After a bit of a break they gave us "Hollywood" and "Home" which that album isnt as good but there is a greatest hits album somewhere in that mix.  If you have a chance to discover or rediscover Collective Soul please do so.  You wont be disappointed!  Here is a great track from their Dicipline Breakdown album you will love

Collective Soul - Blame

Back At It Again

This band released their first album Sixteen Stone and it sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. alone.  It is a British band but they had little success in their home country.  The album is one of my favorites of the 90s for sure.  Every track on it is great.  They followed with three more albums which didnt have as much success and then disbanded in 2002.  If you ask me people under estimated the band because those albums are good just definately not as great as their first Sixteen Stone

Gavin Rossdale frontman for Bush started his own career and released an album with one song hitting the top 40 and had not recognizable success after that and the album didnt sell that well.  He did marry Gwen Stefani who has been in full support of his career as of late.

It is announced that Bush is releasing an album out in October.  For those of you who remember "Machinehead",  "Everything Zen", "Glycerine", and "Comedown" you might recall "Greedy Fly", "Chemicals Between Us", and "Headful of Ghosts".  I dont have a video of it but I do have a link to listen to the new song.  While it isnt my favorite and I wanted to feature Headful of Ghosts you can check out this new song!

Bush - Afterlife

Words of Suffering

There is perhaps an art to delivering lyrics that can convey such misery, suffering and pain to the masses that only a few singer/songwriters have.  Billy Crogan might fit that bill.  He was influenced by the Cure which if you know them ironically needed a cure for their own misery as well!  Maybe it is the completely bald head that drove Corgan to write such "gothic or dark" lyrics.  But it works well if you bought a "ZERO" t-shirt in the 90's.

The Smashing Pumpkins were a great band!  After they broke out with "Today" from their album Siamese Dream they released a double album, Mellon Collie and the Infinate Sadness, which won the hearts of some critics and called it groundbreaking.  It does have a wide variety of style to the songs on there.  Billy Crogan in an interview said he hated the album and thought it was their worst one.  Perhaps more of his skillful gothic lyrics I guess.  It sold over 18 million copies in the U.S. alone and I feel is my personal favorite of theirs.

After tons of drug use, internal fights, excessive touring, overdoses and a death the band broke up.  They did reunite and worked a lot with Marilyn Manson.  If you combine that with the ideas of James Iha (fellow Pumpkins band member) that rock was going more electronic you get the song "Eye" on the Lost Highway Soundtrack, "Perfect" and "Ava Adore" from the Adore album and this treasure song which I believe is their only grammy win.  It combines their electronic styling with their rock format like "Bullet with Butterfly Wings". From the Batman & Robin Soundtrack:

Smashing Pumpkins - The End is the Beginning is the End

Murder of Music

Perhaps there is nothing more classic than a rocker with impeccable ability to write music and a classic hairdo.  While the hairdos are usually reserved for the 80's rockers, Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows does make my list of most unique hairstyles for frontmans.  You really cant beat the lyrics on their songs on their first two albums which I maintain are their best for sure.

Despite their success of Mr. Jones and Around Here on the album August and Everything After two of the best tracks really didnt make as much radio plan and didnt sell as well.  One is Sullivan Street which is more of an electric acoustic set and the other is a classic crows sound rock song.  It also includes in the lyrics of the third verse the reason for their name from a divination rhyme.  I dont have a music video of it because I dont recall one even being filmed so here is a youtube vid with a band photo on tour for support of their live album and the audio recorded with it.

Counting Crows - A Murder of One

Name that Tune

One band always tops my list of favorites.  They actually released a new album and are touring and the song is pretty good but perhaps one of their best is one of their first.  The Goo Goo Dolls have many different hits and honestly I still think people have underrated them.  Despite their political affiliations over the past election I still like them.  Here is one of their more acoustic songs and the first one to help them hit it big.

Goo Goo Dolls "Name"