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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 6, 2021 12:34:28 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020 # 8 - And It's Still Alright - Nathaniel RateliffRateliff was a new discovery with his 2020 album from which this was the title track. In retrospect it likely shouldn't have taken nearly this long to find him as he's been around for the better part of a decade exploring the R&B corners of Americana. Just a quality ballad that ticked a lot of boxes that needed ticking in the last year. Although he was around as a solo artists long before the formation of the Night Sweats, I find his early solo stuff far less accessible... It's almost too introspsective to the point that I have trouble maintaining interest.
The first Night Sweats album, on the other hand, is essential listening. All killer, no filler.
Yeah...his stuff with the Night Sweats is good stuff. It just had escaped my notice until the last year or so.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 7, 2021 9:36:45 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
# 7 - Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - Kris Kristofferson
This is easily one of my favorite songs of all time, though I tend to default to Johnny Cash's version. Kristofferson's self-titled debut album is a tour de force of songwriting. I was recently looking through albums from 1971 and it's astonishing how many albums released that year had covers of songs from his 1970 debut. This one was actually first recorded in 1969 by Ray Stevens and Kris has said it's the song that both opened doors for him and allowed him to quit working for a living.
The song epitomizes world-weariness and the desire for something better with very little real chance it will come along.
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Post by majestic on Apr 7, 2021 14:38:23 GMT -5
My Favorite Bands:
1. Boston. I love their first 3 albums. The guitar sound plus great vocals from Brad Delp (RIP). Plus their first album came out while I was in high school and captured my ears immediately. More Than a Feeling is my go to song when I feel down to lift my mood. Saw them in concert when they did their entire third album plus stuff from the first 2 albums.
2. The Cars. I love their sound and quirky lyrics. Like Boston their debut album was fantastic and so many good memories from high school are triggered when I hear one of their songs. However they were not a good band to see live.
3. Led Zeppelin. Iconic. 4 great musicians that together did awesome music. More songs from my youth. Stairway to Heaven is still a masterpiece even if it has been overplayed.
4. Journey. Moving into my college years. A great sounding band on album and in concert. Great to listen to on a date. Or see in concert. Steve Perry had an amazing voice.
5. AC/DC. My guilty pleasure. Just raw simple rock. Back in Black is a classic. I remember hearing the debut of that song on the radio.
6. Stryper. Not their 80's stuff so much but their new stuff from the 2000's has been stellar. They are one of the few bands from the 80's that make new music that is great. I know some of you will mock them but their new stuff is good if you like metal. They are so under rated as a band IMO. I have seen them in concert and they are so consistent as musicians.
7. Alter Bridge. Creed without Scott Stapp. And Myles Kennedy replacing him as lead vocalist. Myles has some great pipes on him that elevates their songs. And Mark Tremontti is a beast on guitar. A really under rated band IMO.
8. Van Halen. I liked both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar eras but lean more to the DLR songs just because of the time period they were popular.
9. Guns N Roses. Another guilty pleasure that burned out so quickly. Their early stuff had so much energy... it just blew me away.
10. Disciple. Probably most of you won't know this band. I have seen them in concert several times and their shows are high energy. My one daughter got me hooked on their music.
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Post by impulse on Apr 7, 2021 15:57:15 GMT -5
I do or did enjoy quite a few of those bands at one point or another. Constant overplay has turned me off to them, but the fact they were good enough to be so overplayed remains.
I do think it's interesting that Alter Bridge is essentially the same band as Creed just with a different singer, but they sound so different. I don't think there is a song by either band I would confuse as being the other's. Tremonti is a great player, no doubt.
It's amazing that Back in Black was a studio album and not a greatest hits album with the amount of excellent songs it has alone. I really like AC DC when they are on point even if you could pick the good songs off of all of their albums from the last 30 years and have just one good album's worth of material. The strength of their earlier material and Back in Back alone is worth the price of admission.
You've got me curious enough to check out modern Stryper!
I agree that GnR burned out fast and came and went a while back, but man, if Appetite for Destruction isn't a fantastic rock album, I don't know what is.
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Post by majestic on Apr 7, 2021 16:18:59 GMT -5
impulse if you are serious about Stryper I recommend the singles "Yahweh" "Divider" "Do Unto Others" or "Take it the Cross".
Their last 4 albums were "No More Hell to Pay" "Fallen" "God Damn Evil" and "Even the Devil Believes". I also liked their album "The Covering" where they do covers of their favorite songs from Sabbath, Ozzy, Judas Priest, Kansas, etc.
Also about Alter Bridge - listen to Myles do their songs acoustically. Serious goose bumps! I also like Myles Kennedy when he plays with Slash. He makes a good replacement for Axl.
I realized the debut albums of Boston, The Cars, Guns N Roses & Brian Johnson with AC/DC all were monster hits that could be a greatest hits album.
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Post by impulse on Apr 7, 2021 16:56:13 GMT -5
Yeah, why not? I like metal, and you piqued my interest. I will give it a spin.
Yeah, he's an interesting voice (Myles). Alter Bridge is an odd mix of styles. I think I will give them another thorough spin soon.
It's so cool when a band just puts out monster albums like those. It's disappointing when they peak on their debuts, though, but I doubt that is the case for those listed.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 8, 2021 9:45:43 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
# 6 - Big City - Merle Haggard
Title song off of Hag's 1981 album this was his 27th number one country hit. It's a paean to small towns and wilderness and the working man's dream of getting away from the city grind.
The song also showed that entering his third decade as a bona fide country legend Haggard could still both record and write songs that stood with the best of his early output (the album also had "My Favorite Memory" and "Are the Good Time Really Over").
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Post by impulse on Apr 8, 2021 10:54:24 GMT -5
impulse if you are serious about Stryper I recommend the singles "Yahweh" "Divider" "Do Unto Others" or "Take it the Cross".
Their last 4 albums were "No More Hell to Pay" "Fallen" "God Damn Evil" and "Even the Devil Believes". Wow, you aren't kidding. That is some solid classic heavy metal. I am pleasantly surprised. Stryper, huh? Who would have thought.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 9, 2021 9:54:56 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
# 5 - Bury Me on a Rainy Day - Otis Gibbs
I discovered Gibbs in 2019 or 2020...and he's the real deal. He's very much a folk artist with roots influences. This song was the closer on his 2009 album "Grandpa Walked a Picketline" and while the Woody Guthrie influence isn't necessarily there on this song it runs through his music. He's also well known for a podcast (to which I've not listened) interviewing other musicians.
This one just feels like it could have easily come off a front porch from the 1930s. And that's just a great thing.
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Post by impulse on Apr 9, 2021 10:59:00 GMT -5
majestic, your recent post motivated me to go back through Alter Bridge's albums. For a long time, their dominant "alternative" side turned me off to a lot of their music as I've not historically been a big fan of that sound, but I've recently come to appreciate it more (in some cases, tolerate, but progress is progress). Reminding me of Pearl Jam is now no longer an instant deal-breaker, though, so this is interesting. On their first album, I can definitely still hear the leftover Creed stylings, but it's already something different. Like with Tremonti's other projects, I still find myself most drawn to the songs where he leans more into his heavy side than his alternative power ballady side. Metalled-out Tremonti is still my favorite Tremonti, but the band is good, and Myles Kennedy is a good fit. I could probably put together enough songs to have a Tremonti playlist now between all of his work, which would not have been true a year ago. Thanks for mentioning them!
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Post by impulse on Apr 9, 2021 11:44:27 GMT -5
The Blackbird album isn't faring as well as One Day Remains, I'm afraid. So far, it mostly sounds like power ballads dressed up in alternative and post-grunge trappings.
Since power ballads, alternative sound aesthetics and post-grunge's slick, polished monotony are my least favorite elements of their respective source genres that AB is clearing borrowing influence from, this one isn't sitting too well with me.
Still, Ties that Bind is good, and the solo in Blackbird is no joke. Come to Life is good, too.
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Post by majestic on Apr 9, 2021 11:48:39 GMT -5
Like with Tremonti's other projects, I still find myself most drawn to the songs where he leans more into his heavy side than his alternative power ballady side. Metalled-out Tremonti is still my favorite Tremonti, but the band is good, and Myles Kennedy is a 👍 fit. for me I'm more drawn to Myles vocals. Seriously his vocals when they do acoustic shows cause goosebumps. And check him out in concert with Slash. Great stuff.
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Post by impulse on Apr 9, 2021 13:34:51 GMT -5
I may have to do that sometime. To be honest, he's good, but he's not my favorite part of the projects he's attached to that I like. I'm mostly a guitar guy, anyway.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 10, 2021 15:21:16 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
# 4 - Thunderstorms and Neon Signs - Wayne Hancock
I love Wayne the Train. The guy has been neo honky-tonk/neo-western swing for over twenty-five years and in a just world he'd be a star instead of working in relative anonymity.
This was the title cut off his first album and is almost uncertainly his biggest song. This would have fit right in in 1955 and Wayne would have vied with Lefty Frizzell for who took the mantle from Hank Williams.
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Post by majestic on Apr 10, 2021 19:36:21 GMT -5
My Favorite Bands #11-15.
11. Foreigner. Along with Boston & the Cars I feel like I "discovered" this band back in the 70's. Me & millions of other listeners!. From Feels Like The First Time to Jukebox Hero and their monster hit I Want To Know What Love Is they were part of the soundtrack of my high school & college years. I loved Lou Gramm's vocals both in the band & his solo efforts. I was fortunate enough to see them in concert several times.
12. The A's. A band that no one probably heard of, unless you grew up in Philly in the late 70's. They were part of the local Philadelphia scene from 1978-1982. After Last Night was the hit off their debut album and A Woman's Got the Power from their second album with the same name as the song. They were known for their live shows in the Philly area. They were similar to the Cars in their sound.
13. Yes. I was not a fan UNTIL my best friend took me to see them in concert. WOW! they were in the round at the old Philly Spectrum arena in the late 70's. They sounded so great. Like an entire orchestra with complex arrangements. I immediately went out and bought their albums. Unfortunately they went for a more mainstream commercial sound in the mid 80's and lost something IMO.
14. Theocracy. Modern prog metal with intense lyrics (with a Christian worldview) and insanely long songs. Their one song is 22 mins long! I hope to see them in concert someday.
15. Queen. What can you say. They did so many great songs in different genres. I felt like they kept re-inventing themselves. Iconic classic music. Freddie Mercury - what a frontman!
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