So as you may know there’s a cap on three songs per artist in this Top 100 listing and this is the final song by the Arctic Monkeys featured. It’s also the third song from the album “AM”, which shows you how damn good that album was, or at the very least how good the singles were. “Do I Wanna Know” is just such a sexy song. That riff, no matter how simple it is, is just gorgeous. In actual fact the whole song is quite simple but incredibly effective. In a certain way it reminds me of “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes in the respect that you just have a plain but memorable riff along with the vocals as the key to the track, everything else while fantastic acts as cherry on top rather than a fundamental part of the music process. It’s a wonderful track and when I first heard it I just could not stop listening to it because once it got into my head it took a long time to leave. And that my friends, is a sign of a magnificent track.
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.
The Dead Weather, if you didn't know, are a supergroup consisting of members of The White Stripes, The Kills, Queens of the Stone Age, The Raconteurs amongst other bands. They've actually just released their third album, so they're not a one off gig. In fact, in my opinion, I like them more than The Kills and The Raconteurs, nearly as The White Stripes... but QOTSA are one of my all time favourites so... Anyway. They're a really good band that are pretty established now, so it would surprise me if you at least hadn't heard of them, if you like your rock music. Their albums are pretty good too so don't judge them on singles alone. But as singles go "Blue Blood Blues" is a belter. It has some excellent guitar work (what would you expect from Jack White) and it's just funky as hell. Go and check it out below.
Hey everyone, we're half way there. Thanks for keeping upto date with this list. It's been 50 days... here's to the next 50! If you want to see a recap, or have missed the list so far, here's from #100 to #51...
#100: "House of Fun" - Madness
#99: "Cosmic Love" - Florence and the Machine
#98: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
#97: "Keine Lust" - Rammstein
#96: "Bassline Junkie" - Dizzee Rascal
#95: "The Salmon Dance" - The Chemical Brothers
#94: "stevie" - Kasabian
#93: "The Hardest Button to Button " - The White Stripes
#92: "If I Had a Tail" - The Queens of the Stone Age
#91: "Lullaby" - The Cure
#90: "Dance" - Saul Williams
#89: "Pork and Beans" - Weezer
#88: "Pure Morning" - Placebo
#87: "Rockstar" - Nickelback
#86: "Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson
#85: "Life on Mars" - David Bowie
#84: "I'm on a Boat" - The Lonely Island
#83: "Virtual Insanity" - Jamiroquai
#82: "Just a Day" - Feeder
#81: "Poison" - Alice Cooper
#80: "There There" - Radiohead
#79: "Dancing in the Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
#78: "Psychosis Safari" - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
#77: "Common People" - Pulp
#76: "Forgot About Dre" - Dr Dre and Eminem
#75: "Fat" - Weird Al Yankovic
#74: "Links 2-3-4" - Rammstein
#73: "Cars" - Gary Numan
#72: "Dragula" - Rob Zombie
#71: "Here it Goes Again" - OK Go
#70: "Gangnam Style" - PSY
#69: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" - Green Day
#68: "Smack My Bitch Up" - The Prodigy
#67: "Leave Before the Lights Come On" - Arctic Monkeys
#66: "Scream" - Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
#65: "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz
#64: "Sweating Bullets" - Megadeth
#63: "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes
#62: "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel
#61: "I Want You So Hard (Boys Bad News)" - Eagles of Death Metal
#60: "In the Air Tonight" - Phil Collins
#59: "Twisted Transistor" - KoRn
#58: "I Just Had Sex" - The Lonely Island
#57: "Girls and Boys" - Good Charlotte
#56: "Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
#55: "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes
#54: "Ashes to Ashes" - David Bowie
#53: "My Band" - D12
#52: "Coma White" - Marilyn Manson
#51: Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades - Brand New
#50: Firestarter - The Prodigy
#49: United States of Whatever - Liam Lynch
#48: Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
#47: Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm
#46: Enter Sandman - Metallica
#45: Tribute - Tenacious D
#44: Bad - Michael Jackson
#43: Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve
#42: Without Me - Eminem
#41: Man That You Fear - Marilyn Manson
#40: Fat Lip/Pain for Pleasure - Sum 41
#39: Stay - Shakespears Sister
#38: Slam - Pendulum
#37: Cradle of Love - Billy Idol
#36: Jack Sparrow - The Lonely Island
#35: Hey Ya! - The Outkast
#34: Paranoid Android - Radiohead
#33: All the Small Things - Blink 182
#32: Amish Paradise - Weird Al Yankovic
#31: Only - Nine Inch Nails
#30: Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
#29: The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson
#28: White Limo - Foo Fighters
#27: Buddy Holly - Weezer
#26: Walk This Way - Aerosmith and Run DMC
#25: In Bloom - Nirvana
#24: Fight for Your Right - Beastie Boys
#23: Knights of Cydonia - Muse
#22: Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D
#21: Starfuckers Inc. - Nine Inch Nails
#20: Prince Charming - Adam and the Ants
#19: Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
#18: Underground - David Bowie
#17: Everlong - Foo Fighters
#16: Telegram Sam - Bauhaus
#15: Freak on a Leash - KoRn
#14: Shut Me Up - Mindless Self Indulgence
#13: Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.
#12: Hurt - Johnny Cash
#11: I Want to Break Free - Queen
#10: Closer - Nine Inch Nails
#9: White and Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic
#8: I'm Afraid of Americans - David Bowie and Trent Reznor
#7: Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
#6: Thriller - Michael Jackson
#5: Coffee and TV - Blur
#4: Low - Foo Fighters
#3: Rabbit in Your Headlights - UNKLE and Thom Yorke
#2: Take on Me - A-ha
So my favourite music video of all time is...
#1: "Just" - Radiohead Release Date: 1995 Director:Jamie Thraves Fun Fact: To this day, no one knows what the secret message is in the video, Radiohead won't reveal anything!!
So it's all over now. Sorry if you're disappointed at all. Obviously I'm not. And I'm sure there are those who do agree that this is one of the best music videos of all time. What can I say about this video? It's simple and incredibly effective. A man lies in the street for no reason at all and gets a lot of people concerned. Why is he lying on the floor? Why won't he say why? Why can't we touch him? That's the beauty of this video. It's using the power of psychology, the power of the unknown. We have no idea what the hidden message is in this video. Professionals have tried and failed to work it out. And twenty years later after this video comes out, the secret in the video is only known to Radiohead, presumably the director, and... that's about it? We'll never know. If you haven't seen this video, please watch it. It's just such a simple yet crazy idea that riles me up big time. WHY IS HE ON THE FLOOR?! So yeah. This is my favourite music video of all time and I just love it. And hate it. But love it far more than hate it, for sure! Note: This is the third and last video from the year 1995 in this list.
Here is the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to go back to #100 on the list or here for #2! So that's the end! Thanks so much for joining me in revealing my 100 favourite music videos of all time. It's been a long 101 days but I've enjoyed it. It's been a lot more well received than I ever imagined and it's made me think of doing a Top 100 list of different varieties more often. I may do one list per year. So stay tuned for the next one! Before I love you and leave you I want to share some statistics, like I always do, that may interest you! Multiple Music Directors Akiva Schaffer - 4 videos (#36 Jack Sparrow - Lonely Island, #58 I Just Had Sex - Lonely Island, #61 I Want You So Hard - Eagles of Death Metal, #84 I'm on a Boat - Lonely Island) Mark Romanek - 3 videos (#10 Closer - Nine Inch Nails, #12 Hurt - Johnny Cash, #66 Scream - Michael and Janet Jackson) David Mallet - 3 videos (#11 I Want to Break Free - Queen, #54 Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie, #79 Dancing in the Street - David Bowie and Mick Jagger) Michel Gondry - 3 videos (#17 Everlong - Foo Fighters, #63 Fell in Love With a Girl - White Stripes, #93 The Hardest Button to Button - White Stripes) Liam Lynch - 3 videos (#22 Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D, #45 Tribute - Tenacious D, #49 United States of Whatever - Liam Lynch [unconfirmed]) Samuel Bayer - 3 videos (#52 Coma White - Marilyn Manson, #69 Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day, #98 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana) Steve Barron - 2 videos (#2 Take on Me - A-ha, #18 Underground - David Bowie) Jonathan Glazer - 2 videos (#3 Rabbit in Your Headlights - UNKLE, #83 Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai) Spike Jonze - 2 videos (#7 Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim, #27 Buddy Holly - Weezer) Dom and Nic - 2 videos (#8 I'm Afraid of Americans - David Bowie, #95 The Salmon Dance - The Chemical Brothers) Weird Al Yankovic - 2 videos (#9 White and Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic, #32 Amish Paradise - Weird Al Yankovic) Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris - 2 videos (#15 Freak on a Leash - KoRn, #48 Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins) Joseph Kahn - 2 videos (#23 Knights of Cydonia - Muse, #42 Without Me - Eminem) David Fincher - 2 videos (#31 Only - Nine Inch Nails, #37 Cradle of Love - Billy Idol) Marc Klasfield - 2 videos (#40 Fat Lip - Sum 41, #47 Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm) Walter Stern - 2 videos (#43 Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve, #50 Firestarter - The Prodigy) Wayne Isham - 2 videos (#46 Enter Sandman - Metallica, #64 Sweating Bullets - Megadeth) Jay Levey - 2 videos (#75 Fat - Weird Al Yankovic, #81 Poison - Alice Cooper) Multiple Music Artists Radiohead - 3 videos (#1 Just, #34 Paranoid Android, #80 There, There) David Bowie - 3 videos (#18 Underground, #54 Ashes to Ashes, #85 Life on Mars) [also #8 I'm Afraid of Americans with Trent Reznor, and #79 Dancing in the Street with Mick Jagger] Foo Fighters - 3 videos (#4 Low, #17 Everlong, #28 White Limo) Michael Jackson - 3 videos (#6 Thriller, #44 Bad, #86 Smooth Criminal) [also #66 Scream with Janet Jackson) Weird Al Yankovic - 3 videos (#9 White and Nerdy, #32 Amish Paradise, #75 Fat) Nine Inch Nails - 3 videos (#10 Closer, #21 Starfuckers Inc, #31 Only) [also #8 I'm Afraid of Americans with David Bowie) Marilyn Manson - 3 videos (#29 The Beautiful People, #41 Man That You Fear, #52 Coma White) The Lonely Island - 3 videos (#36 Jack Sparrow, #58 I Just Had Sex, #84 I'm on a Boat) The White Stripes - 3 videos (#55 Seven Nation Army, #63 Fell in Love With a Girl, #93 The Hardest Button to Button) Queen - 2 videos (#11 I Want to Break Free - Queen, #19 Bohemian Rhapsody) KoRn - 2 videos (#15 Freak on a Leash, #59 Twisted Transistor) Tenacious D - 2 videos (#22 Low Hangin' Fruit, #45 Tribute) Nirvana - 2 videos (#25 In Bloom, #98 Smells Like Teen Spirit) The Prodigy - 2 videos (#50 Firestarter, #68 Smack My Bitch Up) Rammstein - 2 videos (#74 Links 2-3-4, #97 Keine Lust) I was going to do some charts but I haven't got Microsoft Excel anymore and the online one sucks when it comes to doing graphs. Ah well. That's all from me today and once again I thank you for joining me. Until next time, take care!
#17: "Everlong" - Foo Fighters Release Date: 1997 Director:Michel Gondry Fun Fact: This is legendary talk show host David Letterman's favourite song, he had heart surgery in the year 2000 and he cites it as a song that "helped him get through" his recovery. Last week on the last ever episode of the David Letterman Show, the band played the song at the end of the show!
This is also the third and final video directed by Michel Gondry on my list, the other two where tracks by the White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army" which got to #55 and "Fell in Love With a Girl" which got to #63! Man, I love this video. I love the Foo Fighters. I said earlier when I introduced "White Limo" which got to #28, choosing three videos by this band is hard. I could honestly say possibly ten tracks by this band could have made my list if I never set the caps on. "Everlong" is actually quite a dark video. Yet it has some hilarious moments. The whole "massive hand" thing is very bizarre but it's so funny and awesome. Don't lie, you wish you could increase the size of your hand by four times and slap the shit into people!! I wish I could anyway! And the best part of the video for me, is when Dave Grohl gets the wooden nunchuck-like things, whips them about for about six seconds to look badass, then drops them and uses his massive hand anyway! It's just a hilarious part of the video... but as I said it's truly quite a dark video as well. A world within a world where evil huntsmen are after Dave Grohl's girlfriend (played by the great drummer Taylor Hawkins), and chasing them between the two worlds. Also Dave Grohl makes a heck of a good punk. I think that's it when it comes to my thoughts on this amazing video! Watch it again if you haven't seen it recently... or at all!
Here is the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #16 on the list or here for #18!
Hey everyone, we're half way there. Thanks for keeping upto date with this list. It's been 50 days... here's to the next 50! If you want to see a recap, or have missed the list so far, here's from #100 to #51...
#100: "House of Fun" - Madness
#99: "Cosmic Love" - Florence and the Machine
#98: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
#97: "Keine Lust" - Rammstein
#96: "Bassline Junkie" - Dizzee Rascal
#95: "The Salmon Dance" - The Chemical Brothers
#94: "stevie" - Kasabian
#93: "The Hardest Button to Button " - The White Stripes
#92: "If I Had a Tail" - The Queens of the Stone Age
#91: "Lullaby" - The Cure
#90: "Dance" - Saul Williams
#89: "Pork and Beans" - Weezer
#88: "Pure Morning" - Placebo
#87: "Rockstar" - Nickelback
#86: "Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson
#85: "Life on Mars" - David Bowie
#84: "I'm on a Boat" - The Lonely Island
#83: "Virtual Insanity" - Jamiroquai
#82: "Just a Day" - Feeder
#81: "Poison" - Alice Cooper
#80: "There There" - Radiohead
#79: "Dancing in the Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
#78: "Psychosis Safari" - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
#77: "Common People" - Pulp
#76: "Forgot About Dre" - Dr Dre and Eminem
#75: "Fat" - Weird Al Yankovic
#74: "Links 2-3-4" - Rammstein
#73: "Cars" - Gary Numan
#72: "Dragula" - Rob Zombie
#71: "Here it Goes Again" - OK Go
#70: "Gangnam Style" - PSY
#69: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" - Green Day
#68: "Smack My Bitch Up" - The Prodigy
#67: "Leave Before the Lights Come On" - Arctic Monkeys
#66: "Scream" - Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
#65: "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz
#64: "Sweating Bullets" - Megadeth
#63: "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes
#62: "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel
#61: "I Want You So Hard (Boys Bad News)" - Eagles of Death Metal
#60: "In the Air Tonight" - Phil Collins
#59: "Twisted Transistor" - KoRn
#58: "I Just Had Sex" - The Lonely Island
#57: "Girls and Boys" - Good Charlotte
#56: "Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
#55: "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes
#54: "Ashes to Ashes" - David Bowie
#53: "My Band" - D12
#52: "Coma White" - Marilyn Manson
#51: "Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades" - Brand New
Got it? Good. Well then, let's start off the Top 50! #50: "Firestarter" - The Prodigy Release Date: 1996 Director:Walter Stern Fun Fact: Even though it's not got any gore, violence, horror, swearing or drug use or anything visibly controversial, the video was banned before the watershed on certain channels because it was apparently too scary for children!
Ah yes. Firestarter. Such a great video. What's fascinating about this video is that they have done far more controversial videos than this... yet this one caused so much more controversy (probably "Smack My Bitch Up" being the only exception). Why? All it is, is Keith Flint, doing a promo video to the song with a mohican in an underground tunnel! But if you have seen the video, or if you watch it now, you will see why it caused some discomfort. Keith Flint is very intimidating in this video, bopping around like a lunatic, slapping his head constantly, getting in the "face" of the camera throughout. But it's just a brilliant video, despite very little actually happening. Keith Flint has incredible presence and a certain scary aura about him, and frankly, you can't keep your eyes on him. You barely notice that there are other people in the video other than him, that's how much you're fixated with the man!
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #49 on the list or here for #51!
#55: "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes Release Date: 2003 Director:Alex and Martin Fun Fact: The song has since become a HUGE football chanting anthem across the world, but in particular in Italy!
Here is yet another simple concept that looks incredibly awesome when put into music video format. Who would have thought that a journey down a load of triangles with changing images would have been so cool? The video is simply, Jack White, Meg White, an elephant and some skeletons being used repeatedly in a mixture of white, black and red triangles. But it looks so so cool, and you can't help watching the video. I love simple ideas when they look great, and this is one of the simplest ideas in this entire list of music videos. It's just one heck of a good video, and also, of course, one hell of a fantastic song!
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #54 on the list or here for #56!
#63: "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes Release Date: 2002 Director: Michel Gondry Fun Fact: Jack White actually asked Lego if they would like to put some lego pieces with each single that sold, but Lego refused. After the single became a massive hit, Lego contacted Jack White again to do the deal but then he refused!
This is the second song by the White Stripes (so far) on this list, and both videos have been directed by Michel Gondry. It's simply a fantastic video, using Lego to do a whole music video. Don't forget this was before Lego did all of these amazing video games and the movie and so on, so I suppose you've got to give great credit to the White Stripes and Michel Gondry for thinking outside of the box. The video just looks amazing and you can clearly see how much effort they put in to the video, brick by brick building each frame, it's just insane really.
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #62 on the list or here for #64!
#93: "The Hardest Button to Button" - The White Stripes Release Date: 2003 Director: Michel Gondry Fun Fact: 32 drum kits, 32 amplifiers, and 16 microphone stands were used in this video. The drum kits were then donated to a music school!
What can I say about this video that, if you've seen it before, that you don't already know? It's just a great video that uses pixilation animation to fantastic effect. Even if you don't like the song, you're mesmerised looking at the video - you just can't help it! Another interesting fact about the video is that Beck has a cameo towards the end - he's the man who gives Jack White the "box with something in it". I never knew that until recently! It's just a great video that if you haven't seen it before, you really need to!
Here's the video for your enjoyment!
Click here to see #92 on the list or here for #94!
It's disappointing that nearly half of "Alpocalypse" is rehashed material, but even so, it's a decent but underwhelming effort.
“Alpocalypse” is Weird Al Yankovic’s thirteenth album, and
was released just over four months ago. That’s quite a statement, thirteen
albums in twenty-eight years; Alfred has had a heck of a career. I wouldn’t say
his career has been the greatest, or the easiest, or the most successful, but
he’s a legend at the craft he performs and deserves the respect of every
musician regardless of age or genre.
Just in case you’ve never heard of Weird Al Yankovic, and
trust me, there are those who haven’t, Weird Al is now 52 years old. He is a
parody artist, one of the first, and now probably the most famous worldwide. He
takes a song that was popular and changes the lyrics for comedy value. He has
had many ‘booms’ in his career, his first being the early eighties when he
started off, back in 1984 he had a very famous parody called “Eat It”, a
version of “Beat It” by Michael Jackson. “Eat It” took the music of “Beat It”
and changed the lyrics, and made a song about someone who was fussy with his
food “just eat it!”. It was with this track Weird Al started to find he was
onto something with his songs. In 1988 he found more success with a second
Michael Jackson track, this one was “Bad”, which he turned into “Fat”, a song
naturally about a man being overweight. In 1992 another decent hit was “Smells
Like Nirvana”, a parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and this song
took the mickey out of the fact that Kurt Cobain’s famous vocals were hard to
understand sometimes. Weird Al Yankovic found it difficult in the nineties when
many of his songs barely got airplay, but of those tracks, the most famous was
in 1996 when he parodied Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” and turned it into
“Amish Paradise” a song celebrating the lifestyle of the Amish.
But it wasn’t really until 2006, five years ago, when Weird
Al had finally got the major recognition he arguably deserves. He released
“White and Nerdy” a parody of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’”. The original was about
‘riding dirty’; gangsters riding in cars with drugs, and Weird Al changed the
lyrics dramatically into a song about white nerds who want to be cool and hang
out with the cultured black population. It was a brilliant parody, no, a
brilliant song, and was the platform Weird Al needed to finally start to get
the recognition of the younger population. The album that came out with that
hit, “Straight Outta Lynwood”, Weird Al’s twelfth effort, was a huge hit and
was fantastic. I reviewed it around five years ago but that review has
disappeared into the obscurities of the internet. I gave it ****1/4 stars and
touch on its greatness in my Top 10 Albums of the Noughties here.
So this is Weird Al’s thirteenth major effort and his first
since the fantastic album that was “Straight Outta Lynwood”, released five
years ago. So what has Weird Al got up his sleeve this time? Well, if I say
that the material on this album is new I’d by lying. Yes, this is Weird Al’s
first major album in five years but three years ago Weird Al released “Internet
Leaks”, a five track EP, and five of the songs on this album are actually those
songs. Keep in mind this album is twelve tracks long, that means nearly half
the album is re-released material. Now, Weird Al hasn’t been criticised for
this by many people but I personally wasn’t approving of this move. For the
fans who bought “Internet Leaks”, the hardcore Weird Al fans, it probably feels like
being a little ripped off I’m sure. The songs that were on Internet Leaks are "CNR", "Skipper Dan", "Craigslist", "Ringtone" and "Whatever You Like".
The album starts with "Perform This Way" a parody of "Born This Way" by mega star of the moment Lady Gaga. Now this song has a story of its own; Weird Al approached Lady Gaga's management for permission to use her song, not that he has to, by law he can do parodys but out of respect he always asks the original artists. He bent over backwards for her management, something he doesn't do, he gave them ideas of what the song will be about, made all the proceedings to go to charity, and even, make the song for them to listen to before it was released. That also, was created on the spot as he was busy doing an Australian tour. The management rejected the idea, and it was a complete waste of Al's time. As a consolation he released it for nothing on Youtube. Lady Gaga was hounded about this on Twitter for the next 24 hours, and it turns out she had no idea about Weird Al trying to contact her, and that she was a fan and definitely approved his version of her song.
Now onto my review of the track itself. Well, I don't really think it's that good to be honest. It's okay, but it lacks the invention that other parody's Al has done in the past. I need to give credit where it's due, Weird Al didn't have much time to produce this track, but surely, after he got full and proper permission from Gaga herself, surely he should have reworked the song and made it sound richer, and more crisp? Based on how the song came about, you can feel that the song was rushed and not done as finely as it could have been. Another problem personally I have with this song is that it's aimed directly at Gaga and her lifestyle rather than a complete parody lyrically. Most of my favourite Weird Al tracks are where he takes the music from a song and changes the lyrics dramatically into a completely different topic, rather than talk about the artist. One of the reasons "White and Nerdy" was so good was that the song had nothing to do with gangsters driving fast and taking drugs. It was about white nerds doing nerdy things. It makes the song stand out on its own while being funny at the same time.
Track two is a style parody. Once again if you're not familiar with Weird Al's work, as well as do direct parodies to artist's tracks, Al also does style parody, where he takes an artist's general sound and makes a song in that style. He doesn't often release style parodies as singles but he usually has a few on each album. Track two is one of my favourite style parodies on any Weird Al album. It's called "CNR" and it's done in the style of The White Stripes, and it sounds fantastic. The guitars and the drums are great and sound just like the original band, and the lyrics are pretty damn good too. "CNR" tells the story of Charles Nelson Reilly, a real life actor and comedian, most famous for his work a game show called "Match Game". He died a few years ago, and Weird Al pays overdramatic homage to the guy, talking about his superhuman capabilities, in a very similar vein to the internet meme Chuck Norris Facts. It's a great song on its own and even funnier with all the silly 'facts' about CNR.
"TMZ" is the third track and like the website itself, it has loads of 'oh my god!' celebrity stories in its lyrics and just mocks the stupid obsession that many people have with celebrity status. The song it's parodying is "You Belong To Me" by Taylor Swift. Track four is "Skipper Dan" and is a style parody of alternative rock band Weezer. The lyrics are about a man who despite having a degree has to resort to working as a tour guide. These two songs are okay, they're a step below the quality from the previous album "Straight Outta Lynwood".
Next on the album is the polka. Again, if you're not too familiar with Yankovic's work in nearly every album there's a polka styled medley, that incorporates many famous songs all wrapped up in a polka track. They're fan favourites and are often always fun to listen to. In this track, appropriately called "Polka Face" mixes a lot of the more modern pop and RnB tracks like "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, "Womanizer" by Britney Spears, "So What" by Pink, "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry and "Tik Tok" by Kesha. Comparing this to the other polkas on the other albums, it's pretty good, not the best, but it's difficult to rate polkas as Weird Al has to work with what's popular today.
One of the best highlights of the album for me is "Craiglist", another style parody, this one paying homage to The Doors and even the original keyboard player from the original band plays in this track. "Craiglist" sounds fantastic, once again the music is close to perfection in comparison to the originals. The song itself is about the website Craiglist, which specialises in online advertising for pretty much anything and everything. The lyrics are great and it's just one of the best songs on the album.
I personally find the album gets better as it goes on, with further highlights being track eight "Ringtone", a style parody of Queen and talks about how annoying personal mobile ringtones are. While the quality of the Queen parody is not as good as the previous ones on The Doors and The White Stripes, the lyrics make up for that by being very funny. In terms of direct parodies my favourite is track nine, "Another Tattoo" which is a parody of "Nothin' On You" by B.o.B. and naturally talks about a guy getting many many tattoos. As I said previously, my favourite parodies tend to be the ones that change the lyrical subject completely, and this is a great example of that, the lyrics work so well with the beat and style of the original song.
Weird Al likes to have a song of great magnitude either near the end of the album or as the last track. He follows this trend by having "Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me" as the final track. The song is not as long as similar songs on other albums, but is very similar in style to "Don't Download This Song", the final track from "Straight Outta Lynwood". In fact, it almost sounds exactly the same but the lyrics have changed. I don't know if it's just me that feels this way but because the songs sound so similar I can't help but feel that it's a bit lacklustre in effort by Yankovic.
All in all "Alpocalypse" is a decent but disappointing effort. "Straight Outta Lynwood" was such a great album and all the pieces in the jigsaw fit perfectly, where as this album feels disjointed. There are some very good tracks on here and some songs that are just below par. Having nearly half the album full of rehashed material was a bad move in my opinion and definitely has a direct impact on the quality of the album. If you like Weird Al Yankovic then I think you'll like this album overall, but if you're new to his work then I'd avoid starting your interest here, and get "Straight Outta Lynwood" instead, that album has great quality all over from start to finish where as this album lacks in certain areas.
Rating: ***3/4 stars
Stand out tracks: "CNR", "Craigslist", "Another Tattoo"
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Hey there. Here's another one of my Mixtapes. This one celebrates the art of the B-Side. The B-Side is an underrated tool in music. Always initially considered inferior to its A-Side, it has to hope that some people like the A-Side enough for it to be listened, and then hope that its greatness some how outshines the song it's actually supporting. It's a bit like a support act for a gig really. There have been some fantastic B-Sides in music and I'm here to celebrate my favourites. I have a few from all sorts of different eras here so there's a decent selection. Not familiar with my Mixtapes? Here are the rules.
A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The
list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further
recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids,
downloading is wrong!
Before I get into the Mixtape, I have to set some caps. First and foremost, the B-Sides in this list were not released as singles, not before, not afterwards. They are not to appear on an album before or after either, unless it was a bonus track or on a bonus CD, or released on the album as part of a re-issue at a later date. EPs don't count either, but it can however, appear on an album full of B-sides, rarities, a mixture with live tracks and compilations. It can also appear on soundtracks. Another rule, is that Double A-Sides don't count. I know there's a stringent criteria here but it gets messy easily if you let lose all these criterias.
Anyway, let's get to it! My favourite B-Sides!
I Am the Walrus - The Beatles (A-Side: Hello, Goodbye) [Also appears on: Magical Mystery Tour (Soundtrack)]
And that's it! If you like some of the artists above but have never heard these great B-Sides give them a whirl. Do you have any ideas about what other Mixtapes I can make? Have you got any other B-Sides you want to mention? Comment below if you do. That's it from me today to take care and spike your hair. Have a good night.
To view part 1, click here. To view part 2, click here. To view part 3, click here. To view part 4, click here. To view part 5, click here. To view part 6, click here. To view part 7, click here. To view part 8, click here.
20 songs to go. Here are what I consider are the 20 most important songs of the decade, from #20 to #11. Enjoy.
#20. "When You Were Young" - The Killers Released: 18/09/06 Album: Sam's Town Accolades: Nominated for Best Rock Song at the Grammys, #4 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2006, #37 in XFM's 100 Greatest Songs of All Time, Nominated for Best Track at the Shockwaves NME Awards Appearances: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (video game), SingStar Amped (video game), Rock Band (video game) Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #14 (#1 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Australia and New Zealand - #10 After the amazing success of "Hot Fuss", The Killers surely knew that the next album had to have an impact for them to maintain their major success in the UK, and further stamp their feet in their homeland of the US. "When You Were Young", the lead single off the second album, did exactly that. Sure it's not as catchy and dancy as "Somebody Told Me", and it's not as indie rock as "Mr. Brightside", but there was something nice and fresh about "When You Were Young". The band mention a huge Bruce Springsteen inspiration going into the studio for "Sam's Town" and you can definitely feel it in this track. It was remarkably successful, it's still their highest charting song here in the UK, despite there being just one more song by the band that I think tops it. You'll see that song further into the Top 20.
#19. "The Scientist" - Coldplay Released: 4/11/02 Album: A Rush of Blood to the Head Chart Positions: UK - #10, US - #18 (in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Poland - #1 No accolades, no appearances. In fact at the time, it wasn't that huge in sales either. Yet I don't think that many songs by Coldplay have had the long term impact this song has. "The Scientist" has longevity that emphasises what this list is about. This list is about many things, it's about chart successs and sales, it's about accolades. It's about how often the song appears in other media. But most importantly, these are the songs that I'm predicting will still be played in 10, 20, 30 years time from now. And I'm telling you, this song will be played for many years to come. "The Scientist" isn't an energetic song, it isn't a foot tapper. But the melody, the piano, the memorable chorus, the video, everything about it is iconic. This is arguably THE Coldplay song of the decade. I say arguably, as I think there is one more song by the band that has more importance. You'll see that song soon.
#18. "Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand Released: 12/1/04 Album: Franz Ferdinand Accolades:
#1 in Village Voice Pazz and Jop's Best of 2004, #1 Triple J's Hottest
100 of 2004, #100 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time, #41 in Q
Magazine's 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks, #34 in Q Magazine's Best Songs by
British Bands, #6 in Q Magazine's 100 Greatest Indie Anthems, #16 in
NME's 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever, #7 in MTV2's Greatest Indie
Anthems Ever, #44 in Pitchfork Media's Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s, #327
in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time Appearances:
Sony PSP (handheld consone advertisement), NHL 2005 (video game),
Madden NFL 2005 (video game), Sports Tonight (sports TV show), Guitar
Hero (video game), Guitar Hero Smash Hits (video game), SingStar Party
(video game), SingStar Pop (video game), Just Dance 2 (video game),
Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2 (video game), Rock Band (video game),
Hancock (movie trailer), PBS Kids GO! (childrens education
advertisment), Meet the Fockers (movie trailer) Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #6 (#3 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Canada - #7 Finally!
A song with LOADS of accolades and appearances! I haven't had a song
with this many entries in both sections for a while, I was starting to
lose faith! Seriously though, it's hard to deny how much of an impact
this song made. An arguement can be made that this song started the Art
Rock revival (Radiohead aside of course), with bands like Art Brut, Bloc
Party and Athlete rising afterwards. And the song was so damn catchy as
well. Franz Ferdinand won't beat this track in terms of impact,
although on a personal level I prefer other tracks. The best thing about
"Take Me Out" was that it pretty much at the time came out of nowhere.
It got a small amount of airplay before it gor released, and then all of
a sudden it just got more and more popular as the week went on. It
ended up getting to #3, but I reckon it would have gone straight to #1
if they promoted it earlier. Regardless, this song is a classic now I'd
say.
#17. "Viva la Vida" - Coldplay Released: 25/5/08 Album: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends Accolades:
Winner of the Song of the Year at the Grammys, Nominated for Record of
the Year at the Grammys, #9 in Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2008,
#2 in Rolling Stone's Readers Best Songs of 2008, #5 in Blender's Top
144 Songs of 2008, #8 in Village Voice Pazz and Jop's Best of 2008 Appearances:
iPod (portable media advertisment), iTunes (digital media
advertisment), Medium (TV series), 90210 (TV series), Moving in America
(radio show), A Favorita (TV series), The Simpsons (TV series), Chart Positions: UK - #1, US - #1 (#3 in Modern Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Czech Republic and Slovakia - #1 This
song got to #1 in America. It's the first British song that got to #1
in America since 1996, when the Spice Girls got there with "Wannabe".
That on its own is a remarkable achievement, and Coldplay should be damn
proud of that. I touched on this on my Most Important Artists of the Decade
listing, where I said Coldplay got closer and closer to the #1 spot in
the UK and the US, but they kept failing. When this song came out, I
don't know why, but it just felt right. Man, I don't really like this
band but I can see why this song was so successful. It just sounds so
pure, it's the buildup of all the Coldplay songs built into one track.
The classical music, Chris Martin's vocals, the chanting, the song
manages to be beautiful and catchy at the same time, and it's hard for a
song to do that. So all in all, I'm happy we got another band to break
America officially, regardless if I like them or not.
#16. "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes Released: 7/3/03 Album: Elephant Accolades:
Winner of the Best Rock Song at the Grammys, #6 in Rolling Stone's 50
Best Songs of the Decade, #8 in Q Magazine's 100 Best Guitar Tracks, #5
in NME's 50 Greatest Tracks of the Decade, #75 in VH1's Greatest Hard
Rock Songs, #21 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All
Time, #20 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time, #30 in Pitchfork
Media's Top 500 Songs of the 2000s, #2 in Observer Music Monthly's 75
Songs of the Decade, #2 in Channel V Australia's Top 1000 Songs of the
2000s, #1 in Consequence of Sound's Top Rock Tracks of the 2000s, #1 in
WFNX Radio's Top Rock Tracks of the 2000s, #286 in Rolling Stone's Top
500 Greatest Songs of All Time, #1 in Rhapsody's Top 100 Tracks of the
Decade Appearances: Democracy Now! (news program) Listings: Best Riffs, Best Videos, Top 100 Songs of the Decade Chart Positions: UK - #7, US - #76 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Germany - #4 Wow.
So far in this listing no song has got THAT many accolades. Even though
I've only put one appearance down, it's important to note that this
song was a HUGE anthem in the FIFA World Cup in 2006. Loads of different
fans from many different countries world wide sung the tune to this in
the crouds, it was amazing. It's also important to note that on a
personal note, this song has featured in FOUR of my categories now,
which are my favourite riffs, my favourite music videos, my personal top
100, and now, the unbiased top 100. No other song has done that on this
website. In fact, just in case you wanted to know, this song is the
last song that is featured both on the biased and unbiased listings. So
why is this song so well received? It's just a simple guitar riff that
is played over and over again. The truth is that I have no idea really,
it's just so fricking catchy, the lyrics are quite smart, that guitar
riff is just beautiful despite it being so simple, and while I try not
to use music videos as reason for each entry, the music video is just as
simple a concept as the guitar riff, but equally as effective. It's
just quite simply, a piece of genius this song. I honestly don't think
The White Stripes will top this effort popularity wise. It's just
perfect.
#15. "All Summer Long" - Kid Rock Released: 5/4/08 Album: Rock 'n' Roll Jesus Appearances: WWE Backlash 2008 (wrestling pay-per-view) Chart Positions: UK
- #1, US - #23 (#4 in Hot Country Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere
- Australia, Austria, Europe, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland - #1 Getting
to #1 in 6 different countries is impressive on any scale and Kid Rock
did just that with this huge summer hit. If you listened to music much
in the summer of 2008 then you simply couldn't get rid of this song, if
you like it or not. With it's riff that was borrowed from "Sweet Home
Alabama", and its general warm lyrics about having a good time in the
summer (Kid Rock manages not to be so crude in this track) it was just
universally popular with a lot of people. It wasn't musically his finest
piece, hell I don't think he even put much effort into the track but
that's probably the key, Kid Rock just got everything right with this
song, he didn't need to overload it. It's just a nice summer song.
#14. "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" - The Darkness Released: 17/3/03 Album: Permission to Land Accolades:
#47 in Q Magazine's 101 Greatest Guitar Tracks, #493 in Blenders
Magazine's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, #276 in Pitchfork's
500 Top Tracks of the 2000s, #94 in VH1's Best Hard Rock Songs Appearances:
Karaoke Revolution Volume 2 (video game), Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades
(video game), The Bill (TV series), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
(movie), SingStar (video game) Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #35 (in Mainstream Rock Tracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #5 Regardless
of how badly The Darkness fell from their hill back halfway through the
decade, this song was a huge hit. It was the pinnacle of success, it
was the song that if you would choose if you had to describe the band
with a single track. The ridiculous falsetto, the awfully cheesy video,
the leotards, the Queen-esque guitar solos, the lyrics about cheesy
love, everything. It's what The Darkness was. And it was only denied the
#1 spot by the huge RnB hit "Where is the Love?" by the Black Eyed
Peas. The Darkness really set the bar with this track, unfortunately for
them it was a bar they were never able to reach again (unless an
amazing comeback proves me otherwise). Either way, the song is still
definitely well thought of by many people.
#13. "All the Small Things" - Blink-182 Released: 18/1/00 Album: Enema of the State Appearances:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series), Charlie's Angels (movie),
Clockstoppers (movie), Rock Band (video game), Guitar Hero 5 (video
game), Guitar Hero: On Tour (video game), Rock Revolution (video game) Listings: Best Videos Chart Positions: UK - #2, US - #6 (#1 in Alternative Songs Chart), Best Elsewhere - Austria - #4 Well
this song is a classic. It really is. The reason why it's not higher is
because I need to spread 10 years evenly. This song is just oozing of
pop punk. It'll forever be known for its video, where the band take the
piss out of boybands to fantastic comical effect. But the song itself,
in its simplicity, is just a charming teenage boy's track. And there's
nothing wrong with that. When I think about how I made this listing, I
thought about predicting what songs will be played from the decade in
10, 20, 30 years time. And this song fits into that category. No
dispute. This song is a classic, it will never go away. And kudos to
Blink-182 for that.
#12. "Somebody Told Me" - The Killers Released: 15/3/04 Album: Hot Fuss Accolades:
#9 in XFM's Top 100 Songs of the Decade, #4 in Triple J's Hottest 100
of 2004, #60 in Absolute Radio's 100 Best Songs of the Decade, #41 in
NME's 100 Greatest Tracks of the Decade, Nominated for Best Rock Track
at the Grammys, Nominated for Best Alternative/Rock Dance Track at the
International Dance Music Awards Appearances: Rocky Balboa (movie), Rock Revolution (video game), DJ Hero (video game) Chart Positions: UK - #3, US - #51 (#3 in Hot Modern Rracks Chart), Best Elsewhere - Poland - #1 Another
song that you pretty much call a classic now. The Killers started their
very successful career with this indie belter. "Somebody Told Me" got
very high for a debut rock song, and it still pretty much remains the
song to beat for the band in terms of impact. They've had hit after hit
after hit, yet they've not shook this song away as being THE song to
represent The Killers. "Human", "When You Were Young" and "Mr
Brightside", all great tracks, but in my eyes are inferior in importance
in comparison to this song. Look at those accolades, this song is rated
highly by the NME, Triple J, Absolute Radio and XFM, four highly
reputable music critics.
#11. "Valerie" - The Zutons / Mark Ronson Released: 19/6/06 / 15/10/07 Album: Tired of Hanging Around / Version Accolades: Nominated for Best British Single at the BRIT Awards Appearances: 2006 FIFA World Cup (football coverage), 27 Dreses (movie) Chart Positions: UK - #9, Best Elsewhere - Ireland - #32 / UK - #2, Best Elsewhere - Holland - #1 Yeah
this song only got to #1 in one country, but what you may not have
known is that this song got to #1 in Holland, then they released an
acoustic version, and they both versions the iTunes #1 and #2 spots.
That was the Mark Ronson version by the way. But
before that, The Zutons released the original version. Now the original
was a surprise hit, it was the second single off the album and it more
than matched the first single ("Why Don't You Give Me Your Love". It's
by far their biggest hit.
But... let's
be honest, it's the Mark Ronson version that made this song just
marginally miss a place in my Top 10. It was just huge. He really made
the song his own. Amy Winehouse's vocals were perfect for the song, and
the chirpy music was just splendid. I bet The Zutons love AND hate Mark
Ronson for completely picking their song to pieces and remodelling it in
his image. But it was an incredible cover version, and the amazing this
is that it was only released ay ear later. It wasn't an old track
rehashed, it was a recent song that got reworked, and the quality
between the two is ridiculously obvious. Mark Ronson solidified his
reputation immensely after this song.
Top
10 time tomorrow. We're almost there. It may have took a long time for
us to get here, but I've enjoyed it and I hope you have. What song will
be in the Top 10? Make your predictions in the comment section below.
Have a good night.
To view part 10, click here. To view the winner, click here. To view my methods and explanations, click here. To view a full archived stats index of the songs listed, click here.
