Friday, September 21, 2007

Quiz #89 - Iggy Pop "Lust for life"

Perfect Friday tune...

UPDATED:

There's a reason why many consider Iggy Pop the godfather of punk — every single punk band of the past and present has either knowingly or unknowingly borrowed a thing or two from Pop and his late-'60s/early-'70s band, the Stooges.

The one song most identified with former Stooge Iggy Pop's solo career, "Lust for Life" is also quite possibly the most upbeat, exuberant tune he ever cut. There's a heavy influence from co-writer David Bowie in the hip-shaking, glammed-up swing of the drumbeat, which dominates the song from start to finish and is doubled at one time or another by all the instruments. Really, it's the only hook the song needs; it's immediately memorable without being all that melodic. Pop bleats his hard lyrics with the ferocity of a survivor who's visited the absolute depths of life without having been consumed, and that's really what the song is about: making your way through everything life can throw at you, screwing up along the way but emerging stronger for it. Pop's persona gives the song a rougher edge than it would have otherwise, a harder-rocking grit that marks it as the product of an equal collaboration, not just Bowie's imagination.

While the music definitely feels glammed up and a little bit campy — not just the swinging rock & roll beat, but touches like the male falsetto voices echoing Pop on the chorus — it's due to Pop's performance and lyrical contributions that the song never loses its strutting machismo. "Lust for Life" was originally released on the 1977 album of the same title, but remained a somewhat overlooked classic until it was used as the opening-credit theme for the 1996 film Trainspotting, after which it became a staple at college parties and radio stations.


[source]



Iggy Pop "Lust for life"
Album "Lust for life" - 1977





Thursday, September 20, 2007

Quiz #88 - Kula Shaker "Hey dude"

Hey dudes and dudettes... does it ring a bell?
Be sure to tell me what you think this band is called til next Thursday.

UPDATED:

By reviving the swirling, guitar-heavy sounds of late-'60s psychedelia and infusing it with George Harrison's Indian mysticism and spirituality, Kula Shaker became one of the most popular British bands of the immediate post-Britpop era. More musically adept and experimental than Cast, Kula Shaker nevertheless worked the same vaguely spiritual lyrical territory, but musically they brought the overpowering rush of Oasis to psychedelia, a genre that the Mancunians had previously avoided. The band's classicist approach to rock & roll earned them both critical praise and derision, as they quickly rocketed to the top of the British charts.


[source]



Kula Shaker "Hey dude"
Album "K" - 1996











Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Quiz #87 - Vixen "How much love"

Not only blonde and beautiful, but also quite talented :)

UPDATED:

Described by some as "a female Bon Jovi," Vixen is an all-female band that has specialized in very slick, commercial, and glossy hard rock and pop-metal. Vixen was never a favorite among rock critics, whose barbs didn't prevent the band from selling millions of albums in the late '80s. Formed in Los Angeles in 1981, bandmembers Janet Gardner (lead vocals), Jan Kuehnemund (lead guitar), Share Pedersen (bass), and Roxy Petrucci (drums) payed more than their share of dues on the L.A./Hollywood club scene before signing with EMI in 1987. Vixen's self-titled debut album came out in 1988, and the CD sold millions thanks in part to the single "Edge of a Broken Heart" (which enjoyed heavy exposure on MTV). Released in 1990, Vixen's second album, "Rev It Up", had its share of catchy, infectious material but wasn't the big seller EMI was hoping for. With the rise of alternative rockers like Nirvana and Pearl Jam in 1992 and 1993, so-called "corporate metal" bands such as Vixen suddenly found themselves out of vogue.


[source]



Vixen "How much love"
Album "Rev it up" - 1990











Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Quiz #86 - Love/Hate "Wasted in America"

Just a small hint there, you still have to earn those presents...

UPDATED:



Heavy metal band Love/Hate was initially formed as Data Clan in 1984 by vocalist Jizzy Pearl, guitarist Jon E. Love, bassist Skid Rose and drummer Joey Gold. The band recorded one album before Pearl left to sing with L.A. Rocks; Data Clan replaced him with Jim Wilkinson and changed their name to Love/Hate. By 1987, however, Pearl returned and after playing around Los Angeles for a year, Love/Hate signed with Columbia.

The group's debut album "Blackout in the Red Room" was released in March 1990. Two singles from the album — the title track and "Why Do You Think They Call It Dope?" — received some airplay on commercial radio and MTV, but by 1992's Wasted in America, heavy metal had become commercially passé and Columbia dropped them soon after its release. Love/Hate moved to the Caliber label and released "Let's Rumble" in May 1994, an album much rawer than their previous material. Another label switch, to Mayhem Records, resulted in October 1995's "I'm Not Happy". 1999 saw the release of "Let's Eat".


[source]



Love/Hate "Wasted in America"
Album "Wasted in America" - 1992

Kicking off with perhaps their best single yet, Wasted in America's title track propels Love/Hate into what initially promises to be another amphetamine-fueled romp through hard-rock excess. This promise soon turns to disappointment, however, as the subsequent songs lack the focus of the band's once fabulously straightforward sound. If anything, Love/Hate is guilty of trying to cover too much ground, and pieces like "Spit," "Happy Hour," and "Yucca Man" alternate reliably catchy choruses with strangely jagged, off-kilter verses. The result is more disjointed than exciting, and further attempts at creepy atmospherics ("Cream," "Don't be Afraid") and acoustic forays "Don't Fuck With Me," "Social Sidewinder" are more amusing than interesting. Of the remaining tracks, the only real winning moments arrive with the interesting dynamics of "Time's Up" and the pop hooks of "Miss America." Hardly a bad album, Wasted in America simply leaves a lot to be desired when compared to its predecessor.

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Monday, September 17, 2007

Quiz #85 - Deep Purple "Call of the wild"

This video quiz expires next Monday, September the 24th.

UPDATED:

Deep Purple survived a seemingly endless series of lineup changes and a dramatic mid-career shift from grandiose progressive rock to ear-shattering heavy metal to emerge as a true institution of the British hard rock community; once credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the globe's loudest band, their revolving-door roster launched the careers of performers including Ritchie Blackmore, David Coverdale, and Ian Gillan.


[source]



Deep Purple "Call of the wild"
Album: "House of Blue Light" - 1987

Though it was considered a disappointment upon its release (indeed, its production was much too sleek at times, and it lacked the creative daring of "Perfect Strangers"), 1987's "House of Blue Light" has actually stood the test of time just as well, if not better, than its predecessor. The second effort from the re-formed Mark II lineup, this album showed Deep Purple searching for an '80s-flavored hit single, and by doing so, sounding uncomfortably similar to guitarist Ritchie Blackmore's other band, Rainbow. Virtually all of the record's first half suffers from this (especially "Unwritten Law" and "Bad Attitude"), but things improve with the Eastern-flavored melodies of "The Spanish Archer" and "Strange Ways." The eerie sound textures explored on the latter evoke memories of classic Purple, and finally allow some space for soloing from Blackmore and keyboardist Jon Lord. And the telltale lyrics to the equally interesting "Mitzi Dupree" (based on a true story), are vintage Ian Gillan, as the singer combines James Bond-style international intrigue with high comedy.

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Sunday, September 16, 2007

September - First Week's Chart

Not much of a chart there, only Cassandra managed to gather 30 points :)

Now everybody go back and do the compulsory reading for Quiz #75, #76, #77 and #78, :P

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Quiz #84 - Rob Zombie "Living Dead Girl"

UPDATED:

The longtime frontman for metal superstars White Zombie, Rob Zombie was born Robert Cummings on January 12, 1966, in Haverhill, MA, forming the group soon after moving to New York City circa 1985. He subsequently worked as a bike messenger, porn magazine art director, and production assistant for the classic children's TV series Pee-Wee's Playhouse, concurrently leading White Zombie through a series of cult-favorite indie releases.

In mid-1998 Zombie made his solo debut with the album "Hellbilly Deluxe"; when it sold more copies in its first week of release than any White Zombie record before it, he disbanded the group to forge ahead as a full-time solo act, issuing "American Made Music to Strip By" in the fall of 1999.


[source]



Rob Zombie "Living Dead Girl"
Album: "Hellbilly Deluxe" - 1998