Three for the Ride: ZZ Top, U2, Tonic

Some days, I take the train to work. Other days, I drive. Either way, I listen to music on the way. I put the iPhone music player on shuffle, and off I go. Calling my collection eclectic would be an understatement. It's often an interesting mix. There are songs though, that I really wish the world could appreciate as much as I do. Songs that make me say, "Ooh, listen to THIS! Isn't it great?!"

Here's what I heard this morning:

ZZ top: "Jesus Just Left Chicago"
Billy Gibbons is one of the most under-rated guitarist out there. The guy is amazing. And I love his voice, too. I was listening to a Joe Bonamassa Podcast, recently, and he called out the guitar solo in this song as one of Billy's five best, ever. I have to agree. I am such a huge fan of the band's first era of Texas blues-heavy records such as Fandango, Degüello, and the masteriece this song is from, 1973's Tres Hombres.



U2: "Red Hill Mining Town" 1987's Joshua Tree is an amazing record. With 25 million records sold, it is, by far, U2's biggest-selling album. U2 was at the very top of their game. It's hard to pick a favorite song on the album. This is definitely one of mine. I love the melody, the progression, and of course, Bono's vocal on this track. I also really like Edge's multiple guitar parts on this song, particularly the sliding one-note part in the background of the verses.



Tonic: "Knock Down Walls"
Tonic had a couple of respectable hits on the US Mainstream Rock chart in the late 90's with "If You Could Only See," and "You Wanted More." This song is off their second studio album, Sugar, released in 1999. One critic once described their music as being full of "heavy, distortion-laden guitars." Heck yeah!



Until next time...