Top Ten Tuesday: Pharrell WIlliams "Happy"

This is such a fun video with lots of great cameos. My favorite cameo is probably the couple of shots of the Odd Future guys (Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler the Creator, and one other guy) because they look like they are having fun but you also get the feeling like they were having fun walking the line between having a good time just dancing and having a good time goofing around and looking silly. And that's my favorite side of those guys. The silly side.

This is a simple, catchy song and I'm glad it's in the Top Ten!

New Countdown: If I Didn't Know Any Better, I'd Say We Were in 2011 Again....

Bastille

MAN, I hope "Pompeii" makes it to July 14th. I don't even care what the number generator says that week. I know exactly who gets the picture at the top that week!

This one starts off super new and then settles into some of the songs we know and love.....although I suppose that's not entirely true. There are new songs and not new songs. Bonus songs and not bonus songs. Just like always. Enjoy!

Countdown #184

***Featuring***
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Cage the Elephant
Foster the People
Gnarls Barkley
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
Pearl Jam
Vampire Weekend
Young the Giant

One Year, 100 Albums: #41 Black Sabbath "Paranoid"

Black Sabbath Paranoid, 1970

This was a big leap for me in terms of buying an album I was frankly scared to buy. I had heard all about how crazy Ozzy was and all of the animal eating and all of that, so it seemed like this was going to be an intense album.

But it wasn't scary at all! In fact, you could almost say this album is almost....wholesome! It has a song warning about the dangers of drugs, an anti-war song, and a song about getting revenge against your enemies by traveling through time in an iron suit.

....

Ok maybe "wholesome" is taking it a little far, but the truth is, this is an enjoyable classic rock album where every song is memorable and there are drum solos and kickin' guitars and everything.

And if you're worried about the "Black Sabbath"/satanic stuff, the only mention of the stuff on this album is when they compare generals to witches in "War Pigs". Which is not exactly an endorsement of the lifestyle, you know?

Black Sabbath - Electric Funeral

You can buy Paranoid at Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes

Throwback Thursday: 1986

10. Miami Sound Machine - Conga
9. James Brown - Living in America
8. Stevie Nicks - Talk to Me
7. Paul McCartney - Spies Like Us
6. Mr. Mister - Kyrie
5. Whitney Houston - How Will I Know

Tough choice this week. Four songs from movie soundtracks. Two songs from Rocky IV. But I decided to go with this Whitney Houston song. I almost went with the Miami Sound Machine song. I enjoy it quite a lot, but this one edges it out by a nose.

4. Billy Ocean - When the Going Gets Tough (Jewel of the Nile Theme)
3. Wham! - I'm Your Man
2. Survivor - Burning Heart
1. Dionne - That's What Friends Are For

One Year, 100 Albums: #42 Led Zeppelin "Led Zeppelin"

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin, 1969

I checked the first 4 Led Zeppelin albums out of the library at some point in early High School. I wanted to get into hard rock and I had heard that they were the best avenue in. So naturally I started with the first album and felt....odd. It wasn't Slayer or Pantera or Megadeth or whatever I was expecting. It was different. Softer and harder at the same time. "Good Times, Bad Times" always reminds me of that thrilling confusion.

During one of my first times through this first album (it was the one I became VERY familiar with. I dubbed them all to cassette tape, but really only listened to this. I would get into the others much later (IV, II, then III)), my mom walked by. "Mom, this is Led Zeppelin," I said with pride.

"Yeah I know. I saw them in concert when I was a teenager."

"....oh."

And thus the mystery of my mom's rocker past began.

I know now that the first two Led Zep albums were largely based on their interpretation of blues standards, which is why they didn't sound like the hard rock/heavy metal I was expecting. But I defy you to point out a moment on any heavy metal album that matches the exhilaration of the seconds before the guitar solo on "Communication Breakdown"

So, in keeping with the Carole King album, here's a whole Led Zeppelin concert from around the time their first album came out

Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown

You can buy Led Zeppelin on Amazon, Amazon MP3, and iTunes

Oh hey! It looks like it was released exactly 42 years before my daughter was born! Cool!

Top Ten Tuesday: Bastille "Pompeii"

Another Alternative Top Ten Countdown alum makes the Top Ten on the Big Chart! What a fun, old-school feel to this video. I like a good narrative and this one has that. You know, it's funny that the two Alternative songs featured on TTT this week and last week are about a post-apocalyptic world. Weird.

New Countdown: OOOON Time!

Cage the Elephant

It's rather late, but I'm really proud that this is going to go up at it's regularly scheduled time slot tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it and I'll see you next week!

Countdown #183

***FEATURING***
Arctic Monkeys
Bastille
Cage the Elephant
Gnarls Barkley
Imagine Dragons
Lorde
The Neighbourhood
Pearl Jam
Twenty One Pilots
Vampire Weekend
Young the Giant