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Post by impulse on Mar 25, 2021 15:28:15 GMT -5
I recently did a deep dive into Motorhead after largely only knowing the hits, and cannot agree more. I neglected to ask n my other post: what took you so long? Short answer, like with many other things: time. Just didn't get around to it. Longer answer: About 15 years ago I was still very early into my musical journey. If Metallica was my root at the time, I started exploring outward into harder stuff and backward to trace influences. It was still relatively well known mainstream-ish heavy bands. Ended up with a greatest hits compilation, and while a few songs were pretty good, most were samey, and Ace of Spades was the clear best of the bunch. I thought I had the general idea of the band figured out, and I never had much interest in going too much deeper. Fast forward to now, I have since gotten into A LOOOOOOOT more music, particularly satellite genres and a broader range of stuff. I started checking out where different flavors and influences came into my thrash metal, so started working backwards. I've backed into more punk, crossover, hardcore, more pure traditional metal, stuff etc. Classic rock that was proto-metal/proto-thrash and going back forward, etc. It's hard to trace musical lineage back from modern heavy genres and not circle back to Motorhead eventually, which happened. Then I stumbled upon a write up ranking their albums, and I was surprised to see just how many albums they've put out. I looked into that and here we are. I was surprised at how much I liked some of their 90s stuff.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 26, 2021 10:05:31 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
#17 - Carmelita - Warren Zevon
Zevon's paean to heroin addiction. This one has made my list for at least the last couple of years. I actually discovered it through a cover by Dwight Yoakam (that guy again) and Flaco Jimenez. This is one of the great drug songs and it's a very un-Zevon-like song lacking the acerbic wit that is his trademark. I think that makes it all the sadder and sweeter because we find ourselves rooting for the poor junkie whose methadone has been cut off. The imagery is fabulous, as is expected from Zevon.
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Post by impulse on Mar 28, 2021 13:23:16 GMT -5
As a tangential follow up to the mention of Cardi B’s WAP in the other thread, I stumbled upon this parody the other day.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 28, 2021 13:29:31 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
#16 - How Can I Love You - The Country Side of Harmonica Sam
I've gone on and on about these guys. It still blows my mind that a Swedish band is making some of the best traditional honky-tonk you're going to find today. Without a new album in 2020 they didn't get as much play as they have in the last few years, but this one from their 2019 album "Broken Bottle, Broken Heart" clocks in respectably in the top 20.
Here's hoping for a new album in 2021.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 29, 2021 9:21:49 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
#15 - Flyin' Shoes - Robert Earl Keen
Final entry for Townes' song and my obsession of the year by the great Robert Earl Keen. I'm not sure I have a lot to add other than Keen does a great job with this one as usual.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 30, 2021 9:56:40 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
#14 - Thoughts and Prayers - Drive-By Truckers
This was the big one off of the Truckers first album of 2020 "The Unraveling."
I'm not looking for a fight. There are currently six firearms in my house. But the mantra of "thoughts and prayers" is meaningless and insulting.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Mar 31, 2021 9:07:42 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
#13 - Will the Wolf Survive - Los Lobos
I don't care what anyone says, "How Will the Wolf Survive" is one of the best albums of the 80s. And this song is a huge part its greatness. Los Lobos had spent a decade largely playing weddings and parties around Los Angeles, occasionally opening for big acts, before releasing their EP "...And a Time to Dance" which got them enough recognition to get a big label release with "Wolf."
That decade gave them a chance to perfect their craft and to put together a sound and a musical selection that was uniquely theirs and allowed them an opportunity to successfully integrate their Chicano heritage in to their music.
Beyond the history this song is just a great look at the lives of immigrants in the U.S.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 1, 2021 9:38:28 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
#12 - The Heart That You Own - Dwight Yoakam
This was the fifth (yes fifth) single from Dwight's fourth album. The album was a turning point that saw a bit of a change in tenor from the neo-honky tonk of his first three albums.
To me this is Yoakam at his best as a songwriter. This is just a good old-fashioned country ballad with all the heartbreak that entails. But I'm just a huge fan.
"Used to be I could love here for free Way back before you bought the property Now I pay daily on what once was mine Lord I probably owe you for these tears that I cry"
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 2, 2021 10:01:45 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
#11 - Mr. Bojangles - Jerry Jeff Walker
There's probably no doubt that this song was bolstered by the death of Walker late last year. But I also have no doubt it would have been somewhere on the list anyway. This is just one of the great standards of the last half of the 20th century.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 2, 2021 12:58:37 GMT -5
Ringo Starr released an EP late last month. I'd seen the tracks slowly dribble out on Spotify, but figured that they'd presage an album. It's interesting to see a still pretty big act release an EP.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 4, 2021 13:45:36 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
#10 - Dreamsicle - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
The top ten starts off with, possibly, my favorite song off Isbell's new album. There's a lot going on in this one. In some ways it hearkens back to Southeastern and the kind of harsh life songs that Isbell explored there. But there's also a fair amount nostalgic yearning for those whose childhood's weren't so bad. Always in the forefront is Isbell's masterful imagery.
Ultimately, no matter how much nostalgia we have for childhood and however idyllic it may seem in retrospect there's usually a lot of heavy stuff going on, hopefully, but not always, in the background. Isbell is able to show both sides of that. But there's still that hope for a dreamsicle on a summer night in a folding lawn chair.
"Call you both some holiday Tell you why I moved away Say, 'Everything’s gonna be okay You can come see me'"
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 5, 2021 9:59:26 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
# 9 - Hurt - Johnny Cash
One of the great covers of all time, I'm not sure there's a lot for me to say about this one. Cash experienced an late career renaissance in his work with Rick Rubin and this cover of the Nine Inch Nails song may have been its Mona Lisa.
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Post by impulse on Apr 5, 2021 13:43:55 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020 # 9 - Hurt - Johnny CashOne of the great covers of all time, I'm not sure there's a lot for me to say about this one. Cash experienced an late career renaissance in his work with Rick Rubin and this cover of the Nine Inch Nails song may have been its Mona Lisa. I like to badly paraphrase Trent Reznor whenever this version comes up. As I recall, he was hesitant about how well it would work out having this song covered. His songs are his babies, and they are very personal to him. Then he heard the song and said well, that’s his now.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 6, 2021 9:27:32 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020
# 8 - And It's Still Alright - Nathaniel Rateliff
Rateliff was a new discovery with his 2020 album from which this was the title track. In retrospect it likely shouldn't have taken nearly this long to find him as he's been around for the better part of a decade exploring the R&B corners of Americana.
Just a quality ballad that ticked a lot of boxes that needed ticking in the last year.
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 6, 2021 12:24:15 GMT -5
Most listened to songs of 2020 # 8 - And It's Still Alright - Nathaniel RateliffRateliff was a new discovery with his 2020 album from which this was the title track. In retrospect it likely shouldn't have taken nearly this long to find him as he's been around for the better part of a decade exploring the R&B corners of Americana. Just a quality ballad that ticked a lot of boxes that needed ticking in the last year. Although he was around as a solo artists long before the formation of the Night Sweats, I find his early solo stuff far less accessible... It's almost too introspsective to the point that I have trouble maintaining interest.
The first Night Sweats album, on the other hand, is essential listening. All killer, no filler.
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