Songs You Should Listen to Part Eight

The Stone Temple Pilots return to this list after a short absence. I previously plugged Plush, and now,Interstate Love Song . This song didn't impress me at first, but, after a decade and a half, I definitely recognize it's brilliance. It opens with a minimalist, Mazzy Star-esque riff, before turning into a great post grunge rock n roll song. Purple is more polished then it's predecessor Plush but may, in fact, be edgier and more rebellious. Great lyrics, great hook, indelible impact on music. Can't be missed.

"Breathing/is the hardest thing to do/With all I've said/And all that's dead for you/You lied/Good bye."

If I just dedicated these music hubs solely to Elvis Costello, I would never run out of material. Good Year for the Roses is a cover (Originally written by Jerry Chestnut and performed by George Jones), as are all the songs on Almost Blue and is one of the best cover albums of all time. This album often prompts me to believe that Costello is actually an American songwriter, with his nod here to American country music, but, alas, he is from across the pond. And he's bloody brilliant. This song is sweet and gorgeous.

"After three full years of marriage/It's the first time that you've ever made the bed/I guess the reason we're not talking/There's so little left to say we haven't said/While a million thoughts go running through my mind/I found I haven't spoke a word."

The Juliana Theory was one of those late 90's early 2000's emo/pop bands that took up the mantel vacated by the Get Up Kids. Bands like Further Seems Forever (with whom Juliana Theory toured), Hot Rod Circuit and Jimmy Eat World helped take emo from it's unmelodic, harsh, whiny roots into the melodic and beautiful realm of pop music. The Juliana Theory, made up of members of hardcore band Zao, amongst others, was one of the best at this. This song actually epic on the brilliant Emotion is Dead and the interesting Love albums. It grips your heart with its hook and also with it's passion.

"In your eyes I see a darkness the torments you/And in your head where it dwells/I'd give you my hand if you'd reach out and grab/Let's walk away from this hell."

If you didn't see their performance on Saturday Night Live back in February, you missed out. Karmin has their first full length album coming out on April 12th but the buzz around this band is huge after their spectacular performance of this song on SNL. Karmin is a duo consisting of Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan, who are engaged to each other. Amy is famous for wearing her hair in a 1940's style "suicide roll" and for being able to switch from singing soaring pop melodies to busting out raps that recall the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. The band's energy and joy is infectious. I'm a believer. Are you?

"This is more than a typical kinda thing/Felt the joints in my bones where you were touching me, oh oh/Didn't want to take it slow/In the days, going crazed, I can barely think/You're replaying in my brain, find it hard to sleep, oh oh/Waiting for my phone to blow"

Philadelphia's screamo pioneers Thursday make a second appearance to this list, this time with Steps Ascending off of their nearly as brilliant second Victory release, War all the Time . This song is rich with Thursday's typically melodic melancholia mixed with interesting guitar work and a driving rhythm section. The guitars jangle and Geoff Rickley's fashionably off pitch voice soars, jumps, dives, gargles and melds with the sonic landscape. The lyrics are both ethereal and searing.

"Freeze the frame/Between the gunshot and the hole it makes/A spinning bullet hangs in the middle/There's no way to stop it/It will hit its mark"

Jimmy Eat World's Clarity , even more than a decade since it's release, still remains one of my favorite albums of all time. It has truer staying power that many albums don't. To Me This Is Heaven combines a soothing and intelligent melody with emo undertones, pop overtones with a trace of trance (Go ahead. Try not to sing it). It's a brilliant song by the kings of emo power pop and, as I've said many times, no matter where the spot is, Jimmy Eats World always hits it.

"When the time we have now ends/When the big hand goes round again/Can yous till feel the butterflies?/Can you still hear the last goodnight."

I've realized in the last six months that, not only is Queen the greatest, most eclectic and brilliant band to ever walk the planet, but Killer Queen is their best song. In true Mercury fashion, the lyrics are bold and glamorous. The steady, insistent piano riff blends in well with one of Brian May's best and most melodic guitar solos. And lets' not forget Queen's typically masterful and interesting four part vocal harmonies. Pure genius...

"To Avoid Complications/She Never Kept The Same Address/In Conversation/She Spoke Just Like A Baroness/Met A Man From China/Went Down To Geisha Minah/Then Again Incidentally/If You're That Way Inclined."

Irvine, California's Thrice is just a brilliant, electic rock band and this track, off of 2005's Vheissu is phenomenal. It's also a noticeable departure from their first three albums, which had a heavy punk influence. Between the End and Where We Lie lulls you into relaxation with a mellow, melodic verse, before exploding into an upbeat and powerful chorus, and continues to take you on this schizophrenic musical journey and until the track disappointingly ends. This is one of their lesser known songs, but one of of their best.

"where daylight breaks on you and shines into the/grey that sleeps beneath your skull/daylight breaks on you and burns away the/grey that suffocates your soul"

For a brief time in the 90's, shoegazer music took center stage (think early Star Flyer 59, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club). Hum were proponents of this and had some success with their debut single, Stars off of You'd Prefer an Astronaut . Their follow up album, 1997's Downward is Heavenward, while not as commercially successful as its predecessor, is a much more polished, musically mature release. If You are to Bloom holds to the standard elements of shoegazer music, but also adds some catchy hooks and guitars that flirt with the treble side of things. It's a great song that i usually repeat over and over and over again. Shoegazer still lives, but it's not the same.

"I'm thinking of your failing green eyes/Smiling as they greet the day/They can't see me/And now I'm picturing us opening up wide/Drinking down our days in haze and bliss/Together till it stumbles aside/But I just sit and wait for a rhythm in a perfect little Feeling"

I generally don't care for black metal, but Finland's Opeth is an exception. They are very unique and eclectic, combining elements of progressive rock, folk, and classic rock. the lyrics as sung as often as they are growled and screamed and the musicianship, as this song clearly demonstrates, is top notch. Damnation is a brilliant album and this song is the album's peak. The piano, guitar and vocals all combine in a perfect euphony of musical perfection.

"There's innocence torn from its maker/And stillborn, the trust in you /This failure has made the creator/So would you tell him what to do."

Thanks for Reading.

A FREELANCE WRITER, HONORS STUDENT AND GOVER PRIZE FINALIST, JUSTIN W. PRICE (AKA, PDXKARAOKEGUY)IS A POET, SHORT STORY, BIOGRAPHY AND HUMOR WRITER. HIS POETRY COLLECTION, DIGGING TO CHINA, WAS RELEASED FEBRUARY 2ND, 2013 BY SWEATSHOPPE PUBLICATIONS AND IS AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.COM, BARNES AND NOBLE AND THROUGH YOUR LOCAL BOOKSELLER.

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All rights reserved. Copyright Justin W. Price, April 7th, 2012.

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