Rutlefan

^^ Funny, I thought she was THE HOTTEST ever in that Adam Ant video. Was surprised (but then not so) to learn she was Stromberg's boat/helicopter pilot in The Spy Who Loved Me. For my money, the two most beautiful Bond girls in one film, her and Barbara Bach.

1. Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin 2. Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer 3. Life During Wartime - Talking Heads 4. Stone Cold Crazy - Queen 5. Supernaut - Black Sabbath 6. Electric Funeral - Black Sabbath 7. Monkey Man - the Rolling Stones 8. Life In the Fast Lane - the Eagles 9. Muse - New Born 10. Finding My Way - Rush 11. Kick Out the Jams - MC5 12. Rollin' and Tumblin' - Muddy Waters/Cream/Johnny Winter 13. Ain't Talkin' Bout Love - Van Halen 14. Children of the Grave - Black Sabbath 15. In the Flesh - Pink Floyd 16. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - the Rolling Stones 17. American Woman - the Guess Who 18. Takin' Care of Business - Bachman Turner Overdrive 19. the Rover - Led Zeppelin 20. Into the Void - Black Sabbath 21. Sunshine of Your Love - Cream 22. Long Cool Woman - the Hollies 23. Achilles Last Stand - Led Zeppelin 24. Anthem - Rush 25. An Ode to No One - Smashing Pumpkins 26. Sweet Leaf - Black Sabbath 27. Celebration Day - Led Zeppelin 28. You Really Got Me - the Kinks 29. Bastille Day - Rush 30. Black Night - Deep Purple 31. La Grange - ZZ Top 32. Detroit Rock City - Kiss 33. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana 34. Money For Nothing - Dire Straits 35. Barracuda - Heart 36. Question - the Moody Blues 37. Layla - Derek and the Dominoes 38. Smoke On the Water - Deep Purple 39. Back In Black - AC/DC 40. Day Tripper - the Beatles 41. Let's Build A Car - Swell Maps 42. Hair of the Dog - Nazareth 43. Eight Miles High - the Byrds 44. (Don't Fear) the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult 45, Iron Man - Black Sabbath 46. Gimme Shelter - the Rolling Stones 47. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen 48. Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin 49. Heaven and Hell - Black Sabbath 50. the Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin 51. Rock Lobster - B52s 52. Dirt - Alice In Chains 53. Little Guitars - Van Halen 54. Jumpin' Jack Flash - the Rolling Stones 55. Spoonman - Soundgarden 56. Victim of Changes - Judas Priest 57. Jailbreak - Thin Lizzy 58. Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne 59. Toys In the Attic - Aerosmith 60. Money - Pink Floyd 61. She - Kiss 62. 20th Century Boy - T. Rex 63. Godzilla - Blue Oyster Cult 64. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin 65. Green Grass and High Tides - Outlaws 66. Rockin' In the Free World - Neil Young 67. I Can't Explain - the Who 68. Time Stand Still - Rush 69. Limelight - Rush 70. Wild Child - the Doors 71. La Villa Strangiato - Rush 72. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry 73. I Feel Fine - the Beatles 74. Fire - Jimi Hendrix 75. Gimme Stitches - Foo Fighters 76. For Whom the Bell Tolls - Metallica 77. Powerslave - Iron Maiden 78. Master of Puppets - Metallica 79. Jesus Christ Pose - Soundgarden 80. Tornado of Souls - Megadeth 81. More than A Feeling - Boston 82. Riff Raff - AC/DC 83. Bang A Gong (Get It On) - T. Rex 84. Another One Bites the Dust - Queen 85. Breadfan - Budgie 86. Panama - Van Halen 87. Paranoid - Black Sabbath 88. Rusty Cage - Soundgarden 89. Bombtrack - Rage Against the Machine 90. Aces High - Iron Maiden 91. Aqualung - Jethro Tull 92. I Just Wanna Make Love to You - Foghat 93. Cross-Eyed Mary - Jethro Tull 94. Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas 95. Day of the Eagle - Robin Trower 96. Working Man - Rush 97. Yours Is No Disgrace - Yes 98. Arizona - Scorpions 99. My Sharona - the Knack 100. Combination - Aerosmith 101. Voodoo Child - Jimi Hendrix 102. Owner of A Lonely Heart - Yes 103. Smokin' - Boston 104. Sweet Child O' Mine - Guns N' Roses 105. Modern Love - David Bowie 106. the Prisoner - Iron Maiden 107. Hysteria - Muse 108. A National Acrobat - Black Sabbath 109. Escape - Journey 110. Rocks off - the Rolling Stones 111. Stone In Love - Journey 112. Flirtin' With Disaster - Molly Hatchet 113a. 2112: I. Overture, 113b. II. the Temples of Syrinx - Rush 115. Heartbreaker - Pat Benatar 116. She Sells Sanctuary - the Cult 117. the House Is A Rockin' - Stevie Ray Vaughan 118. Gator Country - Molly Hatchet 119. Love Stinks - J. Geils Band 120. Mean Street - Van Halen 121. Whole Lotta Rosie - AC/DC 122. Black Dog - Led Zeppelin 123. Run Through the Jungle - Creedence Clearwater Revival 124. Symptom of the Universe - Black Sabbath 125. N.I.B. - Black Sabbath 126. Purple Haze - Jimi Hendrix 127. I'd Love to Change the World - Ten Years After 128. Don't Take Me Alive - Steely Dan 129. Living After Midnight - Judas Priest 130. Falling off the Edge of the World - Black Sabbath 131. Country Girl - Black Sabbath 132. E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) - Blue Oyster Cult 133. Yellow Ledbetter - Pearl Jam 134. Megalomania - Black Sabbath 135. Jessica - the Allman Brothers Band 136. the Wizard - Black Sabbath 137. Symphony of Destruction - Megadeth 138. Walk This Way - Aerosmith 139. Love Removal Machine - the Cult 140. Communication Breakdown - Led Zeppelin 141. Caravan - Rush 142. I - Black Sabbath 143. All Day and All of the Night - the Kinks 144. Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz 145. Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison 146. Public Image - PIL

114. The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary

My three favorite b-sides that didn't appear on an LP (not already mentioned and not counting EP/extended singles tracks): The Exploding Boy by The Cure (backed In Between Days) All of Us by Big Country (backed In a Big Country) Annex by OMD (backed Enola Gay)

Also, Walk to the Water is a great b-side to With or Without You.

Stevie Knicks was furious that the rest of the band made the decision to leave the song off the album over her objections (not enough space). Personally, I far prefer it to Songbird or Oh Daddy (esp Oh Daddy), despite usually really liking C. McKvie's songs.

Great article. Love this ending, "If you’re not embarrassed by your youth, what good are you?”

One album not on this list is XTC's Skylarking. Its initial release, whose track list didn't include its now-signature song Dear God, was originally panned by RS as more evidence that XTC was exhausted and out of ideas, pandering to audiences with yet more pastoral nothings a la Mummer's Love on a Farm Boys Wages. Their negativity seemed to be validated by the lack of impact the album had on the charts. I remember this well as I really loved XTC and I loved Skylarking and wished more people would as well. I felt for XTC; not that their career needed validation from RS but they did seem to be struggling a bit (following Mummer and The Big Express) and a hit piece by RS didn't help a very good album that few seemed to notice (initially). I thought that review snarky, unfair and unwelcome; I could only wonder what XTC thought of it. Then Dear God, issued as the b-side of Grass (various stories exist as to why it was left off the initial pressing of the album), took off on U.S. college radio and the album was subsequently re-issued with Dear God included (Mermaid Smiled was sacrificed, which was too bad as it was/is a really excellent song, though it did show up later on compilation album Rag and Bone Buffet). The re-issued album, carried by the success of Dear God, took off on the indie/college charts. A different reviewer with RS, reviewing the re-issue with Dear God, claimed the now-commercially successful album a masterpiece. Today, RS lists it as #48 on its top 100 albums of the '80s. So is the album actually great vs completely forgettable just because it has Dear God instead of Mermaid Smiled? Of course not; two different reviewers, with their own taste and biases, each influenced by the album's apparent reception, apparently. This is what makes these reviews annoying, if you take them seriously, and which is why I don't take them seriously, just as I don't take car reviews seriously (it's all click bait in the end; everyone's trying to make a living). Re Dear God, hard to believe it was left off the album in the first place. A wonderfully crafted, powerful song that doesn't really say anything controversial or new, it just says it with emotional impact. The "problem of evil" is probably the strongest argument against a loving God and always has been to my way of thinking, at least phrased as "the problem of pain" ... so much unnecessary evil is due to us violent, brainy monkeys that it's existence never swayed me as strongly as the existence of pain and suffering which seems woven into the fabric of things, regardless of our human awfulness. That said I don't think the argument decisive but needs to be faced and Andy Partridge has done his part. As he said, he was trying to give voice to "a struggling agnostic." Perfectly understandable, and well done. p.s. Andy has written much more clever disses of organized religion than Dear God if one wants to get all upset about it. p.p.s. I found the original, critical, RS review by Rob Tannenbaum (http://chalkhills.or...e.html#rs870326). Not quite as blistering as I remembered but definitely down on the album and the band. E.g., the result (of XTC's and producer Todd Rundgren's collaboration) is "ultimately unsatisfying," revealing "the limitations of (Partridge's) pastoral vision through his reliance on repetition." Later, after the successful re-issue, Tim Sommer of RS praised the album as "the most inspired and satisfying piece of Beatle-esque pop since ... well, since the Beatles," comparing it favorably with such classics as Rubber Soul, Revolver, Pet Sounds and The Kinks' Village Green Preservation Society. Same world, different realities.

73. I Feel Fine - The Beatles

1. Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin 2. Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo -- Rick Derringer 3. Life During Wartime - Talking Heads 4. Stone Cold Crazy - Queen 5. Supernaut - Black Sabbath 6. Electric Funeral - Black Sabbath 7. Monkey Man - Rolling Stones 8. Life In The Fast Lane - The Eagles 9. Muse - New Born 10. Finding My Way - RUSH 11. Kick Out the Jams-MC5 12. Rollin and Tumblin-Muddy Waters/Cream/Johnny Winter 13. Aint Talkin Bout Love - VH 14. Children Of The Grave - Black Sabbath 15. In The Flesh - Pink Floyd 16. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones 17 - American Woman - The Guess Who 18 - Takin' Care Of Business - Bachman-Turner Overdrive 19. The Rover - Led Zeppelin 20. Into The Void - Black Sabbath 21. Sunshine of your love - Cream 22. Long Cool Woman - The Hollies 23. Achilles Last Stand -- Led Zep 24. Anthem - Rush 25. Smashing Pumpkins - An Ode To No One 26. Black Sabbath - Sweet Leaf 27. Celebration Day - Led Zeppelin 28. You Really Got Me - The Kinks 29. Bastille Day - RUSH 30. Black Night - Deep Purple 31. La Grange - ZZ Top 32. KISS - Detroit Rock City 33, Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana 34. Money For Nothing - Dire Straits 35. Barracuda - Heart 36. Question - The Moody Blues 37. Layla - Derek and The Dominos 38. Smoke On The Water -DP 39. Back In Black - AC/DC 40. Day Tripper - Beatles 41. Let's Build a Car - Swell Maps The opening... I think it's all of one note but it works

16. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones As we continue to work on the low-hanging fruit.

^^ I had a friend at the time who was really into the first album (with "Mad World"). I didn't really care for them thinking them kind of prissy Brits singing mopey songs so I was prepared not to like Songs from the Big Chair when it came out but whoa, it was unstoppable, like a force of nature. What VH's debut was to rock in '78 SftBC was to pop alternative in '85. Seemed like everyone liked it no matter what kind of music they were into otherwise. You mentioned "one side." Side 1 I assume. Side 2 is so cool too, while being very different from side 1. One thing that made the album so great.

1. Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin 2. Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo -- Rick Derringer

Teenage Riot Yo La Tengo

Thought of this one the other day, Ministry's Everyday is Halloween: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFPI9b9N6CQ Also like this from a one hit wonder, 88 Lines About 44 Women:

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die. I these were the only lines he ever delivered, they would be enough to make him one of the greats. RIP

So Benjamin is a loud and proud Browns fan! I always knew he was a good soul.

J.R.R. Tolkien famously (if you like Tolkien) wrote that he "cordially dislikes allegory in all its manifestations". Yet, he writes elsewhere ("Letters of...") that he considers LOTR a "fundamentally religious and Catholic work." For me, self-identified "Christian rock" is like really clumsy, pain-inducing allegory. With few exceptions from what I've been exposed to, I can't stand it; it's like that South Park episode where Cartman and the gang start a Christian band ("Faith+1" :D) by writing cheesy love songs and then replacing "Baby" with "Jesus," basically. I will admit that I am not at all fluent in the genre though; there might be some really good artists that I'll likely never hear. On the other hand, through the centuries, magnificent, soulful music inspired by the Christian faith has been woven into the cultural heritage of the West... classical, opera, gospel, blues, etc. Sometimes the religiosity is front and center, like Beethoven's Ode to Joy, but other times it's hidden under themes such as sin and redemption, as in so much blues and (deeper than most) artists like Dylan and Cash; like in the LOTR, Christian influences pervade the art without taking over (leaving the reader/listener freedom of interpretation, which was Tolkien's concern). That's what I like. I recall a quote from Bono, that he only likes artists that are "either running to or away from God." To some extent I'm like that too -- I think artists like Dylan, Cash, Sufjan Stevens, Nick Cave, etc. can be appreciated at a deeper level than artists without any spiritual aspect to their art -- but of course I also like plenty of music that has nothing to do with existential or spiritual struggles: hot rods, babes, black holes, dystopian tales of the future, and plenty of power chords for the sake of power chords. Some though, or many, would argue that even hot rods and babes are ultimately spiritual issues. So to the original question, I think my answer is no, but I do love good music that is spiritual in nature, or as Bono put it, is at least "running away" from God. I have a soft spot for writers like Kurt Cobain and Jeffrey Lee Pierce, whose music in an odd way I consider spiritual, because they wrestled with, and confronted, the pain and troubles of life, which ultimately are spiritual concerns, IMO.

^^ This is fantastic!

Meatyard is a good name for a person who takes those kinds of photos. Honestly, my first thought while looking at those photographs was, "This guy is seriously messed up." He certainly puts the gothic in American Gothic. He kind of foreshadowed some of the creepy horror of the last twenty/thirty years or so.

I might actually check this one out. For one, I didn't know this: In chapter five, during an interview with “Ort,” a colorful Athens denizen, craft beer expert, and old band friend, he explains to Lurie that the band’s name doesn’t stand for “Rapid Eye Movement.” They actually named themselves after Ralph Eugene Meatyard, a Kentucky photographer of enough repute that he once photographed Thomas Merton. But Meatyard was best known for his unsettling and blurry black and white photos of subjects, often his own children, standing around in the woods wearing Halloween masks. Notably, he signed his letters with a lowercase “r.e.m.”—exactly the way it appeared on the band’s early concert posters and albums. https://www.theameri...m-in-the-u-s-a/

"Spirit of Radio for obvious reasons"... Not criticizing as everyone is entitled to their opinion but what would be the obvious reasons? They totally escape me as I prefer the studio version to any live version I've heard. It's clean, it's strong, it's perfect, IMO. Again, not criticizing just curious.

What I said above. Live versions that make listening to the studio version pointless, more or less. There are probably few songs with both live and studio versions that one likes equally as much; you're almost always going to prefer one to another. I'm asking about those live songs that basically make you uninterested in the studio versions, or make listening to the studio versions difficult. There's only a few songs like that for me; I named three that immediately came to mind. As an aside, when I was young I overwhelmingly preferred live versions, albums like Around the World with Three Dog Night, Wings Over America, The Song Remains The Same, and All the World's a Stage being my early favorites. As an adult though, I almost always prefer studio versions, with a few exceptions, like most the tracks off of All the World's a Stage. But take The Song Remains the Same, apart from No Quarter, I'll take the studio version of every track even though I really enjoy the album.

No, that would be a different thread. I can think of many many many songs that have a recorded live version better than the studio version, and vice versa. Not a very interesting question I think. I meant what I said, though maybe "ruined" isn't the best word. How about, "Live versions that made the studio versions irrelevant for you."

^ True, my intro to Kiss was Alive! Buying the back catalog was an adventure in disappointment.