Thursday, April 28, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #33

#33. "Low Hangin' Fruit" – Tenacious D
Released: 17/5/12
Album: Rize of the Fenix


Two days in a row now a song has featured both on this list as well as last year's Top 100 Favourite Music Videos of All Time list, this one climbed very high though, getting to 22nd place. Also yesterday I said that the music video sometimes makes the song - that's exactly what happens here I have no shame in saying. Sure, the song "Low Hangin' Fruit" is funny. Very funny in fact. But the music video is just... something you have to see. It's so dirty and full of innuendo, and if that's your thing you'll love it. Some Tenacious D songs don't need visual aid, and as I said this song is fine, but it's value is multiplied by a hundred with this music video. There's a reason why I said it's my 22nd favourite music video of all time last year.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #34 go here.

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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #34

#34. "Lonely Boy" – The Black Keys
Released: 26/10/11
Album: El Camino

This video got featured in last year's Top 100 Favourite Music Videos of All Time list getting to a very respectable 56th place - mainly because it's so fucking brilliant. Honestly, if you've not seen this video, just watch it. Watch it NOW!

Thank you. As for the actual song, it's just the Black Keys at their best. Incredibly bluesy but in a hard rock kind of way, the song is so catchy and simple, a bit like the video in actual fact. The main riff is just so freaking cool and it's the glue that holds the song together. I don't mind admitting however that the video makes the song so so much cooler, sometimes it's the way it is with music, visual aid emphasises the strong points of a song, and this music video does just that.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!
If you missed #35 go here.

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Friday, April 22, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #35

#35. "Figure it Out" – Serj Tankian
Released: 1/5/12
Album: Harakiri


When I think of Serj Tankian's solo career I hate to say it but I don't think it's been that great. I'm not knocking his ability to make good songs or that he's a bad musician or anything, but I just look at his solo career on one side, and look at his System of a Down career on the other side and see just a massive difference in quality.

But with "Figure it Out", on first glance, you ACTUALLY think it's System of a Down. It's probably the most "SOAD" Serj has sounded doing his solo career. And that certainly isn't a bad thing... unless it makes your heart ache because of how much you wish SOAD would make more music again. If you haven't heard "Figure it Out" because you've rejected Serj's solo career and you love SOAD, if there's one song you need to give a chance it's this one. You won't regret it.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!


If you missed #36 go here.

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Monday, April 18, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #36

#36. "Panic Station" – Muse
Released: 31/5/13
Album: The 2nd Law


I think I might have talked about this before but "The 2nd Law" is probably my least favourite Muse album. It felt like the "jumping of the shark" moment for the band where they took their appreciation of Queen across the line towards openly copying them. They've taken a slight backtrack from this in their most recent album "Drones". But there were times on "The 2nd Law" where Muse went into "taking the piss" territory when it comes to their "inspiration" from Queen.

However with "Panic Station" Muse didn't do that. They went in a completely different type of homage. They went into the Eighties and paid their respects to INXS. So if you're thinking I'm hypocritical of the fact that I'm "cool" with the fact that they "copied" INXS but am not "cool" with them "copying" Queen then I'd understand that to a certain extent. But the reason why I love "Panic Station" is because it's so different. It's fun. It's very very cool. And in the end, Muse going in a different direction, away from Queen is a welcome inspiration in my eyes. And it's not like INXS are a band that people talk about enough nowadays.

What I love about "Panic Station" nearly as much as the track is the video. It's just Muse having a heck of a time in Japan wearing wacky outfits. And you can tell they genuinely had fun making this video. It makes the song that much better seeing the band have fun. Because at times it's always felt that Muse took themselves far too seriously and think far too much of themselves. Check the video out if you haven't before.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!


If you missed #37 go here.

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Sunday, April 17, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #37

#37. "Right Now" – PSY
Released: 20/10/10
Album: PsyFive

Now if you have been following this blog and this listing, this is the third and final PSY song in my list. I said there's a cap at three songs so this naturally means it's the highest entry. It was actually hard to choose three PSY songs because the man has released lots of good singles. That's right - lots. He's not a one hit wonder, or at least he shouldn't be. Seriously give his stuff a listen. He's a rapper, a pop artist who mixes electronic and RnB into his music as well. He's very talented and puts most Western artists to shame.

"Right Now" being my "favourite" is not an easy decision to make. But it's highest on the list because it's so damn catchy, but not in a cheesy way like "Gangnam Style" is. The video is pretty funny in parts too. I just genuinely love PSY, have no shame in doing so and encourage as many people with an open mind as possible to give him a chance, because he's so talented.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!
If you missed #38 go here.

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Saturday, April 16, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #38

#38. "The Vampyre of Time and Memory" – The Queens of the Stone Age
Released: 18/11/13
Album: ...Like Clockwork

The Queens of the Stone Age have only released the one album in this time frame and what an album it was "...Like Clockwork" was a slow burner for me. At first I thought it was by far the weakest Queens album. But that's because it's so different, so dark, and at times it can be a bit too much. "Smooth Sailing" aside there's very little "joy" or tunes to bop casually to on the album. And the nucleus of this very macabre infused album is "The Vampyre of Time and Memory".

Like the album as a whole I didn't think much of the song. I listened to it and it just didn't stand out at all. It just felt a little flat. The first few listens to it and nothing really changed. But all of a sudden, it just hit me. And when it did, the chills that went down me were unreal. The music video can speed up that process if you have similar feelings on the song. When you dissect the song, lyrically, musically and mentally, it's just a piece of genius. It's a stroke of strong quality, possibly one of the finest moments of Josh Homme's career. His voice is just pure melted gold. The piano is incredible. Those blues guitar twangs at the end of the first chorus are just bliss. When he finally says the title of the song, I don't know why but the song just lifts to another level. Like going to heaven. If you think I'm being over the top then I'm sorry but it's how I feel listening to this song nowadays. It's truly an incredible experience and I feel ashamed not to have "got" the song quicker than I did.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!
If you missed #39 go here.

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Thursday, April 14, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #39

#39. "99 Percenters" – Ministry
Released: 23/12/11
Album: Relapse


Ministry said that there last album would be in 2007 and they would do a farewell tour, so we weren't expecting to hear anything else by the band ever again.

Then 4-5 years later they bring out "Relapse" a very strong album considering the length of time it was between albums. The main single was this cracking track. "99 Percenters" is about the Occupy Wall Street movement that was going on in 2011. Even if you remove the politics from the track which, is actually quite difficult with a lot of Ministry songs, you still have a phenomenal industrial metal track. It just packs so much punch you forget this is a band that have been playing music for over four decades now and you can make a strong case to suggest that they're just as loud as they've ever been. Ministry are a timeless band that demand your attention if you like metal, there's a reason why they are considered the grandfathers of industrial metal.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #40 go here.

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Tuesday, April 12, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #40

#40. "Talk Dirty" – Jason Derulo
Released: 2/8/13
Album: Tattoos


Ergh, I hate that cover of the music single for the song. So cringy. I'm sure there's lots of ladies that love it I'm sure. You can tell I'm straight.

Anyways, I tried. I tried really hard in fact. I tried not to like this song. I really don't like Jason Derulo much musically or as a person in fact. I just dunno. He doesn't appeal to me in any way at all.

But this song. This song is just so so catchy. It's definitely one of the best RnB tracks of the decade thus far. The lyrics are cheesy and cringy but the music, the tempo, and in fairness, Jason Derulo's singing especially towards the end is great. I think so far it's the song that's defined Jason Derulo's career, he's always been seen as this RnB star that "could" be a huge superstar and he has the looks and the "swag" for it but could he actually back it up with a truly massive track? That's what he's done here and credit where it's due, it's a brilliant RnB track.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #41 go here.

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Saturday, April 09, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #41

#41. "Santo Domingo" – Jon Fratelli
Released: 28/2/11
Album: Psycho Jukebox


Despite it getting mixed reviews, I absolutely LOVED Jon Fratelli's debut album. I reviewed it for this website and to this day it's one of my favourite albums so far this decade. I can't believe it's now five years old. But, just like the first two Fratellis albums, Jon Fratelli's solo project was also terribly underrated, I shouldn't be surprised now.

Anyway "Santo Domingo", the lead single off the album is one of the better songs on the album and, with the video as you can see below, you can clearly see the Americana influences in Jon's writing for this album. He clearly became infatuated with American rock, the desert session and Las Vegas while writing this album. "Santo Domingo" is a great introduction into any attempts to like Jon Fratellis' solo work, so I can't recommend enough for you to check the track out below.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #42 go here.

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My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #42

#42. “Berzerk" – Eminem
Released: 27/8/13
Album: The Marshall Mathers LP 2


For a long time I preferred "Berzerk" to Rap God. Does that mean "Rap God" is higher on my list? Clearly, but you'll have to find out how high it got.

"Berzerk" was the first song I'd heard off the Marshall Mathers LP 2 album and I liked it straight away. I love how Eminem likes to use rockier sounds in his music, and the samples from Billy Squier and The Beastie Boys are just awesome. And you just knew that Rick Rubin was behind the track as soon as you heard it. In fairness the sequel to the Marshall Mathers LP does a grand job generally and "Berzerk" was definitely one of the highlights of the album and is one of Eminem's most kick-ass tracks he's ever done.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #43 go here.

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Friday, April 08, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #43

#43. “Sweet Sour" – Band of Skulls
Released: 6/12/11
Album: Sweet Sour

Band of Skulls are one of those bands that I expected to rise and explode onto the scene and become one of the bigger bands going into this decade. After hearing "I Know What I Am" in 2009 and hearing the potential this band had, I just... I dunno... just thought they'd be bigger by now. But they've bubbled under the surface pretty much their entire career thus far.

"Sweet Sour" however is one of their finest songs to date. I've spoken about how Band of Skulls sound like The White Stripes with half the natural guitar talent of Jack White but twice the female singing ability of Meg White, and that shows brilliantly here. The way this song plays, tempo wise, rises and kicks into some gorgeous blues garage rock around two thirds in is just superb. And the duel crooning at the end is bliss. Seriously give this song a listen if you like indie/garage rock, particularly The White Stripes. You might have found your new favourite band, god knows they deserve at least a bit more attention than they currently have.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!
If you missed #44 go here.

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Thursday, April 07, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #44

#44. “Eez-eh" – Kasabian
Released: 29/4/14
Album: 48:13


While I don't think the album "48:13" is as good as the previous album in "Velociraptor", the song "eez-eh" was a fantastic dancy indie pop hit. In fact, I liked it so much it actually was the third most played song on my personal media player in 2014. It's just such a boppy, happy track to listen to, arguably one of Kasabian's most easily approachable songs actually, I can't see that many people disliking it regardless of what music they like. It was the main single off the album and did quite well in the charts actually. I play the song quite often when I go the gym because it's got such a good tempo to it. The video is simple, silly but quite a lot of fun too, if you haven't seen it!

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #45 go here.

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Wednesday, April 06, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #45

#45. “Out of the Black" – Royal Blood
Released: 22/11/13
Album: Royal Blood


Royal Blood's debut single was a bit of a slowburner. It didn't catch fire as quickly as a few of the other songs, but for longevity, I think it's arguably outlasted the other songs. You may or may not be a wrestling fan, but it was the theme song for a WWE pay-per-view called Roadblock only last month, which suggests that the song got a good amount of airplay in America only recently.

For me, what I love so much about "Out of the Black" is that it really, REALLY reminds me of Muse. And I don't mean arena-rock-trying-to-rip-Queen Muse, but earlier days of Muse, circa-2002. In particular the song "Dead Star". You may or may not hear the influence I hear in "Out of the Black" from this song, but either way these two songs sound very similar in certain ways to me. And I just love that. Royal Blood ooze potential, and there's a reason why they're one of the most exciting British rock bands around at the moment, and they're just getting started.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #46 go here.

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Tuesday, April 05, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #46

#46. “Sandpaper" – Fozzy (feat. M. Shadows)
Released: 17/7/12
Album: Sin and Bones


If you know me personally, I'm a massive wrestling fan. And Chris Jericho (along with The Undertaker) is my favourite wrestler of all time. Now while I respect Chris Jericho for fulfilling his other passion in life which is music, and forming a metal band with himself as lead singer, it doesn't mean that I love his music as much as I love his wrestling ability. That's not to say Fozzy are a bad band at all and Chris Jericho is a bad singer, quite the opposite. It's just that they're not really my "thing".

But "Sandpaper" is a cracking tune. With a massive assist from M. Shadows, the lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold, Chris Jericho and co. make a great step forward in this song from their early days of a novelty parody metal cover band to starting to carve a good name in the metal genre for themselves. Sure the music video is cheesy, but this song kicks some serious ass and deserves your attention. If you've not heard Fozzy before and want to see what Chris Jericho is like as a metal rockstar, give this track a listen. If you're a fan of Avenged Sevenfold and you've not heard this song, you have nothing to lose either because you'll probably like it too. Basically, just listen to the damn song!!

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #47 go here.

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Monday, April 04, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #47

#47. “Never Never" – KoRn
Released: 12/8/13
Album: The Paradigm Shift

I was surprised with how much I liked this song. When I first heard it I didn't think much of it, but over time my feelings for it grew and grew. What I like most about it is that they still mix in a bit of the dubstep they used on the previous album. I loved their "Path of Totality" album so it gives me hope they haven't given up on that style of music all together. I ended up playing this song throughout 2013 and 2014 for that matter too, it's just a fantastic KoRn track, it's not a "killer" track or anything but it's a damn fine one regardless.

Here's the song if you want to hear it!
If you missed #48 go here.

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Sunday, April 03, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #48

#48. “Bridge Burning" – Foo Fighters
Released: 5/6/12
Album: Wasting Light


"THESE ARE MY FAMOUS LAST WORDS!!"

What an intro line. What an intro song. I reviewed this album five years ago and suggested back then that it's possibly becoming my favourite Foo Fighters album. I can now confirm that it's true - this is my favourite album of their 21 year career. And this song kicks so much ass. It's not tremendously different from a lot of their heavier tracks, but because it's the intro song, and it does its job so well, and its Foo Fighters at their noisiest and most explosive, I just fell in love with it very very easily.

Here's the song if you want to hear it!
If you missed #49 go here.

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Saturday, April 02, 2016

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #49

#49. “Supremacy" – Muse
Released: 20/2/13
Album: The 2nd Law


This is the second song by Muse on the list after "Madness" started proceedings at #100. Supremacy, if you didn't know, was the theme song for The Mercy Side throughout the year 2015. I've now changed it to "Ninety Nine" by Slaves but that's besides the point. The song is such a great song to use as a "theme song". I got the idea because I'm a wrestling fan, and there's a wrestler called Mark Andrews (aka Mandrews) who now wrestles for TNA, and while he was on the wrestling indies here in the UK he used that as his theme song.

I've always thought that "Supremacy" was one of the best songs off the album "The 2nd Law", which is actually my least favourite Muse album. Being the first song on the album, it's job is to set you up for what's to come and it does that job perfectly. With its fantastic guitar riffs and the way it speeds up towards the end, the song is just great. There's a good tint of James Bond in there too, and I mean that in a good way.

Here's the music video if you want to hear it!


If you missed #50 go here.

For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!