Mercy Licks - February 2013

Hey there, and welcome to the second edition of my Mercy Links. This section is basically me revealing to you the ten songs I've been listening to the most every month. I did January last month and, while I'm a little late, I bring you February's ten songs now.

So what are the Ten Mercy Licks of February 2013? Let's find out...

#10: "Laid to Rest" - Lamb of God
You'll notice a theme with a lot of the songs in this list. And that theme is Guitar Hero. If it wasn't for Guitar Hero I would have never even thought about liking Lamb of God. I don't really like bands that shout from the bowels of fiery doom much, not when it's pretty much the only thing they do. But Lamb of God are one of the better bands in that bracket. And I do enjoy a couple of songs by the band. "Laid to Rest" is a pretty damn cool track.

#9: "Get to the Gone" - Static-X
I have been playing this a lot recently in general. I was surprised it didn't make last month's list. It's my favourite Static-X song and I have recently really been listening to a lot of Static-X. It's just so awesome, I love everything about it. I prefer it to the singles off the album, being "Cold" and "Black and White". If you like your industrial metal, seriously, give this track a listen.

#8: "Ayo Technology" - 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
I had forgotten all about this track for years until my good friend reminded me. I really don't like 50 Cent. At all. He pisses me off big time and I really don't rate his music. But, naturally, working with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, two of the better performers in RnB, brings the best out of Fiddy. It's a really catchy track and it's probably the best work 50 Cent will do, at least in my opinion.

#7: "Linchpin" - Fear Factory
I'm not a big Fear Factory fan to be honest. As industrial metal bands go they're not one that inspire me to rock out much. But "Linchpin" is totally badass. I really really like this song, so much that it may actually make the Top 10 in March as well. I have been playing it an incredible amount and to be honest, I'm not tiring of playing it yet. It's just awesome.

#6: "YYZ" - Rush
Here's a medley of Guitar Hero songs I've played a lot through the last month. The first being "YYZ", possibly one of the greatest instrumentals of all time, or at least I think so. I'd never really listened to Rush before I played Guitar Hero, and in honesty, I'm not a fan of the band but "YYZ" is just a piece of musical genius. It's funny as in some ways, it sounds a lot like the basis of Sonic music in the Megadrive era, yet ten years before. Just give it a listen if you haven't before.

#5: "Carry on My Wayward Son" - Kansas
As I said, this is a Guitar Hero medley of songs I've been playing a lot recently, but you could also put in a huge assist to Supernatural for this one. Most people nowadays think of Supernatural when it comes to this song anyways, and I have been watching the series a lot recently. I've always appreciated "Carry on My Wayward Son" because the guitar riff is so awesome, in honesty hair metal isn't my thing and it took me a while to like the rest of the song, but I really do now. It's a cracker of a track and love putting it on.

#4: "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Man, what a song "Free Bird" is. It's just one of the best classic rock songs of all time. And it has to be played in the full nine minute version, no shortcuts. I recently saw "The Devil's Rejects" and the scene in the film that has "Free Bird" in it is used to perfection. The song just has an attachment to pop culture that will never fade, as far as I'm concerned. And of course, I love playing it on Guitar Hero, it's just great.

#3: "YOLO (feat. Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar)" - Lonely Island

It's funny that this is the third most played song on this list as I'm actually a little underwhelmed by the new Lonely Island track. This is the first single off the new album coming out soon, their third album, but when you compare this track to the promoting singles off the other two albums, namely "I Just Had Sex" and "Jizz in my Pants", it just doesn't compare in comedy value and music quality. But it's still quite good, and the video is pretty funny too. The best thing about "YOLO" is simply, that it means we're getting a new Lonely Island album which is fantastic news.

#2: "Bangarang (feat. Sirah)" - Skrillex

There were two songs that flew away with the amount of times I played them, and this marginally lost out on the top spot. Bare with me here. You may remember me saying I really don't like dubstep, nor do I really listen to chart music or popular music. But I have been going to clubs a lot more recently and this kept on coming on, and I loved dancing to it. I never knew it was Skrillex, nor what it was called for months. I kept asking my friends but, well, how can you describe a dubstep track in sound without making a lot of "bwa bwa bwub bwub" noises? Exactly. So I finally found this track and I just love it. Fair play to Skrillex, despite me really disliking him, I now like two of his songs. Ah well.

#1: "Back in the Saddle" - Aerosmith

Unlike the other tracks on this list that have appeared in Guitar Hero games, this entry isn't really because of the game. It's actually because of Supernatural. The song came on when I was watching series 6 and I forgot how absolutely badass it is. It's by far my favourite Aerosmith song. "Carry On My Wayward Son" appeared on this list because of Guitar Hero, this appeared beause of Supernatural. But you can say I've definitely had my fill of Guitar Hero and Supernatural this month and that's what makes this list what it is.

So, that's a wrap for today. I hope you've enjoyed this list. Until next time, take care!

If you liked this article you might want to read:

• Mercy Licks - January 2013 - Listing
• Metal is Dead - Music Article
• The Rise and Fall of Guitar Hero - Game Article

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Noughtie: My Guilty Pleasures

Overall Favourite Artists | Best of 2000 | Overall Least Favourite Artists | Best of 2001

Where Are They Now? | Best of 2002 | Best New Artists | Best of 2003 | My Guilty Pleasures

Best of 2004 | My Favourite Riffs | Best of 2005 | Underrated Artists | Best of 2006
 My Favourite Albums | Best of 2007 | Best Videos | Best of 2008 | Most Important Artists
Best of 2009 | 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade | 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade

Welcome to Part 9 of 22 of the Noughtie series. This, for me anyway, is a slightly embarassing listing as I'm going to reveal 10 songs by 10 artists I really don't like. Some of these artists were featured in my Least Favourite Artists article, yet I can't help but like some of these songs. Let's get to't.

10. "Gives You Hell" by The All-American Rejects

I don't hate this band, I'm quite non-committal about them, that's why they're #10. They're a slightly dislikable emo band, yet this song got quite popular, it definitely got played a lot. The more I listened to it the more I tolerated it, and eventually started to like it. The video, if in the right mood, is quite good to watch too.

9. "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi

Man, I can't stand Bon Jovi. My fiancee and her family love him and play him often when we travel by car, while I sulk in the corner. Well this song is an exeption. I don't even know why,  I just can tolerate it. I find myself singing it when it comes on the radio or whatever.

8. "Losing Grip" by Avril Lavigne

If you aren't a huge fan of Avril chances are this song passed you by. It was the fourth single off her debut album (after the horrendous songs like Sk8er Boi and such), and rarely got played on TV or Radio. But I actually don't mind it, I saw it on Kerrang! way back when it came out and decided to listen to it, I dunno why, and actually thought it sounded okay. It shows that she has slightly more talent than I thought she did beforehand.

7. Lonely at the Top - The Ordinary Boys

Another band I can't stand really, but this song is yet another exception. I find it quite catchy. I heard it quite regularly on the radio when it came out and thought it was a decent track. Then they followed it up with the horrendous "I Luv U" and I started hating them again.

6. Figured You Out - Nickelback

First mention of Nickleback in the series and unfortunately it won't be the last. Like them or hate them, they have had a great success in the last decade. More about that in other listings though. I hate this band, but they have done a couple of songs I don't mind, this one being one of them. I think it sounds okay. It's another one of those singles that unless you're an avid Nickleback fan, may not have heard. It's okay. That's my opinion anyway.

5. Teenagers - My Chemical Romance

Man, I hate this band so much. I fucking, hate, this, band. And I hid feelings about this song for sometime. I tried to hate it I really did. But it's really catchy. It's got a fantastic chorus, and Gerard Way's vocals aren't as frustrating to listen to as normal. I still hate that man. Why does one of the hottest women in metal have to go to him? Sigh...

4. God Put a Smile Upon Your Face - Coldplay

You can add the album "A Rush of Blood to the Head" as an album that is okay, by a band I don't like. I was in a very happy period of my life when this album came out and a good friend had a copy and played it often. This was my favourite song on it definitely, I think it's possibily their best song. It's a good little track.

3. This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race - Fall Out Boy

The only song by the band I actually think it quite good. I do also like the self-parody video, it gives the band some character, and that the band is not all about Pete Wenz after all. Seth Green being in the video is a huge plus of course. But yeah, the song is quite catchy, I like the beat in the first verse and the chorus is quite good too.

2. Harder to Breathe - Maroon 5

I heard this song before they got really big. If you haven't heard it, check it out because it's actually quite cool. This was their debut single, which didn't get anywhere because mainstream pop don't care about cool songs, then they released "This Love" afterwards and got huge. Everyone then forgot about this really cool song and not many people have looked for it since. I heard this, thought the band was quite cool, then heard everything else afterwards that they released and hated them. Oh well.

1. Superman - Stereophonics

I don't like the Stereophonics. I don't hate them, but I don't like them. This is the only song by the band I like. But I don't like it, I love it. It really kicks ass. It just sounds so cool, it's not your typical Stereophonics song which is probably why it's that good. If you haven't heard it before, check it out:

So there's my Top 10 songs that I consider are guilty pleasures. As a rule, I really don't like those bands, even hate some of them. Yet those songs are good tracks, that show that you can like songs even if you don't like the bands. I shall be back on Sunday, with the best of 2004.