Pop can be great, and remixes of pop tracks can be even greater! Since I have already made it very clear that covers are something I enjoy a lot, the fact that I like remixed tracks shouldn’t come as a shock. Lady Gaga is a true pop star, and someone I find myself listening to more that I should admit. This remix of her single Telephone is a really great club remix of a fun track that always gets me in a good mood.
Week 38: Green Day – Hitchin’ A Ride
I think most people who were teenagers in the mid to late 90s have some sort of relationship with Green Day’s music. As someone who have always enjoyed music, I certainly have listened to my fair share of them over the years. Their 1997 album Nimrod remains one of my favorite albums of theirs, and there’s something special with this particular track. The trashy guitars and vocals together with a few fun oddities makes it stand out.
Week 37: Noctural Rites – Not Like You
The track this week is a power metal track full of energy that starts off with a bang. It also has what I consider to be one of the most fun guitar solos of all time, starting around 3 minutes into the song. Those facts alone would be enough to make this a great track, but when you add a talented vocalist on top of that you have a true winner.
Week 36: ZZ Top – Precious And Grace
The masters of hard rock blues released this classic back in 1973. Maybe not the most well known track by ZZ Top or even from their excellent Tres Hombres album, but one of my favorites. The guitars are very dark and the main riff is super catchy. About a minute and fifteen seconds in the track really opens up which fits the lyrics of the track perfectly. An example of really imaginative song writing.
Week 35: Alice Cooper – No More Mr. Nice Guy
This week’s track is a real classic by legend Alice Cooper. I’m always intrigued when you consider just how long people like Alice Cooper have been active and actually relevant. This track is a great example of 70s hard rock with interesting lyrics and great composition.
Week 34: East Village Opera Company – La Donna È Mobile Redux
While technically covers, I wouldn’t call what East Village Opera Company produce that. Their tracks are highly accomplished compositions, and such a departure from the original work that you’d need another type of description for them. This track is one of their absolute best, and an improved version of one of the tracks from their debut album. It’s energetic, rhythmic and simply put just a great track.
Week 33: Hans Zimmer – Up Is Down
Hans Zimmer is one of the best contemporary composers, and his work in movies is impressive. I knew pretty early on that I wanted to include his work from the Pirates of the Caribbean as track of the week, and picking which one was fairly easy for once. It’s a very energetic track with amazing orchestration and great use of both brass and woodwind instruments.
Week 32: Ugly Kid Joe – Cats In The Cradle
It’s been a while since a cover was track of the week, so what better track than this as the next example of why covers can be fantastic? Ugly Kid Joe’s version of this classic is not only great, but I have a lot of early teen memories attached to it. I remember thinking it was super cool, and even though I’m so, so much older now I still think it’s pretty awesome.
Week 31: RMB – Matisse
I listened to a lot of rave in the mid 90s, which has stuck with me until today. One of the best rave acts was a German duo called RMB, and this is one of their absolute best tracks. The main sample is taken from a Swedish movie from 1984, and they use it very cleverly. What I like about all RMB tracks is how they layer them, making them interesting to listen to again and again.
Week 30: Volbeat – Still Counting
I wanted a track from Volbeat’s 2008 album Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood to be the track of the week, but I honestly had a very hard time choosing which of my two favorite tracks to go with. In the end, it was the first few lyrics from this track that made me go with this one over Hallelujah Goat, which has a great title. What I like most about this track is that it’s hard and heavy with great vocals.