Journal

978. Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chili Peppers
This is my favourite Chili's track - so cool and laidback. Makes you feel like you should be on a roadtrip...

977.Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy
Again, not really a fan of this but as pop rock goes it's ok....Personally I would not have put this song in the top 1000 of all time

976.The Man Who Sold the World - David Bowie
Bowie doing what he does best - eerie, dramatic, strange. From the first album of his (of the same name) that I ever heard and it always astounds me to think that its 40 years old...

975. Slow Hands - Interpol
Supposedly post-punk this is a great guitar track with a sinister ambiance and bittersweet lyrics.

974. What's My Age Again? - blink-182
I adore this song; it's so fun and the lyrics are just commical. Obviously tounge in cheek like a lot of blink-182 stuff - to quote the song "no-one should take themselves so seriously..."

973. The Scientist - Coldplay
Such a beautiful piano-led ballad. Even their haters cannot deny the tear-jerking heartbreak this song conveys.

972. Trash - Suede
"we're trash, you and me..." So carefree and oblivious you feel like shouting it from the rooftops with Brett Anderson. Oh and who doesn't love his Ziggy-esque vocals?

971. Questions And Answers - Biffy Clyro
Biffy track from 2003 proving they were rocking long before Puzzle...

989. New Rose - The Damned
Racy guitars, driving bass and throaty vocals. Punk as it should be.

988. Everything Must Go - Manic Street Preachers
90s rock revival track with immense choruses and sublime strings.

987. Crosstown Traffic - Jimi Hendrix
One of Jimi's most accessible and popular tunes - and it's easy to see why. Catchy and quick he shows how to make a rock classic in just 2 minutes 18 seconds.

986. She's Electric - Oasis
One of my favourites from Oasis showing their fun side with droll lyrics and bright chords. A soud that defined the 90s.

985. Otherside - Red Hot Chili Peppers
A moody, dark Chili's song from 2000 brilliantly depicting the thorny subject of battling drug addiction.

984. The Great Beyond - R.E.M.
Not heard this before I don't think...first thing that strikes me is the bizarre, surreal imagery. Quite hard to understand but sometimes the best songs are!

983. Spread Your Love - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
One of the best bands of the 21st century and Spread your love demonstrates why - dirty, gritty, and just plain kickass. Sounds fresh and vintage at the same time. Which other rock bands have the guts to use harmonicas these days??

982. I'm Not OK (I Promise) - My Chemical Romance
A song that seemed to become every teen geeks anthem. Actually sounds better to me than it did then. Take it with a pinch of salt.

981. Maybe Tomorrow - Stereophonics
Beauiful and melancholy. Kelly Jone's vocals are delicious here.

980. Every You Every Me - Placebo
This one doesn't do much for me as I generally find Placebo quite samey although i quite like the grisly lyrics here - "my body's broken, yours is bent..."

979. She's So High - Blur
Great slice of early britpop. Not as simple as it may sound on first listen - there's a lot going on here but of course the predominant part is the repeating grimy lyrics "she's so high....I want to crawl all over her" all sung in Damon Albarns wonderfully cockney accent.

...of all time.
Ok for some reason I've decided to start this mammoth task of listening to all the songs on the list - partly through being fed up of listening to the same songs all the time, wanting to hear so called classics that I've never actually listened to, rediscover stuff, and just to see if the list is any good!
This is going to require dozens of journal entries but I'll try and do them in some sort of batch. Here we go....

1000. Sound and Vision - David Bowie
As you might guess from looking at my top artists I already know and love this song. Very interesting track with sparse lyrics combined with an upbeat, chirpy melody.

999. This Ain't A Scene,It's An Arms Race - Fall Out Boy
Personally I don't like Fall Out Boy but I suppose this is a good singalong type of thing for pop rock fans.

998. Where Is My Mind? - Pixies
Never heard this one before (as Bowie said "the best band you've never heard of" although, I have heard of them). I like this track with the dark refrain of "where is my mind...?" and the anthemic choruses. Nice use of bass.

997. The Bitter End - Placebo
Energetic yet lyrically dark (as the title suggests) and still radio friendly.

996. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd don't really do much for me but I love the mournful guitar and poignant lyrics on this classic which has clearly had an influence on so many songs since.

995. Map of the Problematique - Muse
Dramatic, theatrical, epic. Everything you would expect from Muse.

994. Two Doors Down - Mystery Jets
Fantastic song that uses far too many keyboards and horns to not belong in the 80s. Classic indiepop tale of "young love" (see what I did there?..) which always has me singing and dancing.

993. Set The Fire To The Third Bar - Snow Patrol feat. Martha Wainwright
Gorgeous, haunting single from Snow Patrol's Eye's Open album with Martha Wainwright dueting on vocals. Deserves top spot in their ballads list - miles ahead of Chasing Cars.

992.Leaders Of The Free World - Elbow
Angry and heavy, this song really packs a punch and will strike a chord with most who are "sick of working for a living..."

991. La Tristesse Durera - Manic Street Preachers
Apparetly about Vincent Van Gough. Fresh, cool track from the Manics.

990. Devils Haircut - Beck
90s classic that mixes rock with danceable beats brilliantly. With some distorted screaming thrown in at the end.

Brandon Flowers - Flamingo

We have previously heard snippets of Brandon Flowers’ musings on life in Las Vegas (particularly on The Killers’ Sam’s Town album) but the idea is fully developed here in Flamingo. The juxtaposition of dramatic, optimistic sounds and cynical lyrics on first track Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas reflects Flowers’ love affair with the city.

On Only The Young Flowers’ tells of how “only the young can breakaway” – something he has succeeded at although he sounds almost regretful. Another personal theme on Flamingo is religion – which may be a little unexpected on an album titled after Las Vegan signage. However On The Floor is a gorgeous hymn complete with gospel choir whilst Magdalena is, surprisingly, an instant sing-along.

The first single taken from Flamingo is Crossfire, an achingly beautiful ballad comprising of powerful vocals, a running bass and thumping piano. In the same vein is Hard Enough where female vocals add an new dimension and one of the album’s highlights Playing With Fire. On this song Flowers’ mournful singing and wailing guitars creates a moody, emotional atmosphere.

There is no point pretending this solo album is dramatically different from a new Killers album – it isn’t. But it is more personal, a more honest look at life and illustrates the paradox if Brandon Flowers’ life: pop star; family man. Las Vegan; Mormon. It may take a few listens to understand exactly what was trying to be achieved here but Flamingo is definitely a grower.

Tommy Reilly supported Justin Currie on his last live. Stepping (or tripping I should say) onto the stage Tommy Reilly looks exactly how he should – endearing, vulnerable, slightly bewildered yet mature all at the same time. His songs, which spawn from the same gene pool as Damien Rice and Paolo Nutini, reveal tales of love and heartbreak that seem impossible yet are sung with such sincerity you have to believe them.

His rapport with the crowd makes him seem even more genuine claiming that the next song “might be sh*te” for example, (it wasn’t, for the record.) His lyrics echo Justin Currie himself with their obscure metaphors and perfect imagery; a example of this: “I dropped my words on the floor, can you pick them up for me?” from the song Words on the Floor.

Tommy Reilly is a singer/songwriter in the earliest stages of growth which is what makes him so exciting. It’s not perfect but it’s talent, pure and simple. One to watch.

Thu 1 Apr – Bad Company, Joe Perry Project

The sound of increasing heartbeats pulsating through the stadium moments before Bad Company take to the stage only heightens the anticipation at the thought of witnessing a true classic rock band. As the band stride onto the stage and burst into their classic hit Can’t Get Enough (exactly how they used to start their shows in the 70s) it is clear Paul Rodgers and co are set to give a first-rate show to kick-start their 2010 tour. This is immediately followed by Rock Steady and Burnin’ Sky (with Rodger’s hammering away on the piano) instantly reminding us what a fantastic repertoire of hits Bad Company have and how capable they are of putting on a stadium performance.

Rodgers, thankfully, seems to have toned down the over-the-top cabaret style he adopted whilst in Queen but still maintains the amount of showmanship required to make a great frontman. And then, of course, there’s the voice. The incredible bluesy, soulful voice which sounds as good as ever and carries those hard rock classics as well as the beautiful acoustic ballads such as Seagull. This track is wonderfully stripped down to just Mick Ralphs and Rodgers a makes a great contrast to the rest of the show.

The band fly through their impressive back catalogue, including the majority of their blinding 1974 self-titled debut. One of the highlights however, was Shooting Star which Rodgers introduced as “a song which tells a story”. The song is generally about all rock stars who have died and a montage of images of Elvis, Hendrix etc are shown during the track. As most fans will know however, the song has an even closer meaning for Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke and as pictures of Free’s late guitarist Paul Kossoff are shown it is enough to bring a tear to any fan’s eye. Equally heartbreaking are images of Bad Company’s original bassist Boz Burrell who died just four years ago.

For the encore, they play, inevitably Bad Company as well as Ready For Love before leaving he stage all too early, it seems. However, if this is how Bad Company aim to carry on the rest of the tour, audiences are in for a treat, particularly for those who doubted whether they could pull off these gigs to such a high standard. Bad Company…till the day we die.

Fri 4 Dec – New York Dolls

New York Dolls stroll onto the stage with an assured cool that only those who have been in the business of rock 'n' roll for over 30 years (in the case of singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain) could have.
They open the night with Looking for a Kiss from their 1973 debut album and follow it up with 'Cause I Sez So from their most recent album of the same name. The songs flow into each other perfectly and are both greeted and performed with the same amount of energy and excitement which shows New York Dolls are still making great new music to rival their previous work. This is refreshing as many revived bands now just seem to become a travelling jukebox of greatest hits.
Throughout, there is a good mix of new material and tracks form the 70s such as Jet Boy and Subway Train. Another highlight from their 2009 album is Better Than You which is performed with such sincerity by Johansen, showing he can tackle full-blown rock songs and unorthodox love songs in equal measure.
The band were clearly basking in their revival and rightly so. Johansen still has a gloriously infections smile that instantly takes away the years and he has the moves to go with it too(particularly when performing Dance Like A Monkey.) The band obviously love playing together, old and new members alike and are all in their stride, remainging unfazed when a stage invader appears attempting to kiss Johansen (he just continues with that grin!)
Sylvain takes to the microphone (for a while at least) to begin singing Loney Planet Boy as a tribute to late guitarist Johnny Thunders.
The crowd suddenly gets much wilder for hit Trash which the band end up playing as the reggae style version from their latest album. The last number of the night Personality Crisis is met again with the same surge of adrenaline by both the band and crowd.
David Jo and The Dolls are a shining example of a band who are continuing to create great new music, be an incredible live band and above - be cool after all these years!

“Sigh No More” – Mumford & Sons

From the first mellow acoustic guitar sound heard on title track Sigh No More followed by the haunting Fleet Foxes style harmonies, you know that Mumford & Sons have you wrapped into their world of love, heartache and emotion. The song begins apologetically but builds into an uplifting, optimistic crescendo; proclaiming “love will not betray you, dismay or enslave you/ it will set you free”.

This increasing tempo and change of mood is a running theme throughout the majority of the album, including Awake My Soul and The Cave where words of inspiration and faith are offered – “I’ll find strength in pain” – complimented again by those rising harmonies and twanging folk guitars.

The introduction of horns on Winter Winds greatly emphasises this feeling of hope and Roll Away Your Stone provides an increasingly jolly sound.

One of the standout tracks from Sigh No More is the unforgettable White Blank Page – a heart wrenching song about a lost love where Marcus Mumford’s husky vocals on the line “where was my fault/ in loving you with all my heart?” makes you empathise completely.

I Gave You All begins subtly but climbs to a hateful climax with Mumford’s growling, spitting vocals and crashing electric guitars.

Current single Little Lion Man provides catchy melodies and tales of self loathing and regret – “I really F****d it up this time/ didn’t I?”

Thistle and Weeds and Dustbowl Dance throw up a few surprises in the form of harder, heavier rock through use of thudding pianos, a booming double bass and thundering electric guitars.

After The Storm brings relief from the “storm” of instruments heard in the previous song (Dustbowl Dance) and leaves you with one final optimistic message about coping with life’s difficulties.

Sigh No More is a triumphant, hopeful debut and has the power to capture and convey your own emotions as well as those of the band. If you’ve been waiting for that near-perfect debut of 2009, at long last – here it is.