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...

Three from the Train: Joe Bonamassa, Pearl Jam, Steely Dan

Every morning that I decide to drag myself to the city, I have a little over an hour to listen to music on the train. 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 want the world to appreciate as much as I do. Songs that make me say, "Ooh, listen to THIS! Isn't it great?!"

Some mornings are tough to choose only three songs from, but I will not break my own rule - 3 songs. Period. I'll also try to not repeat the artist, too often. Here's what I heard this morning:

Joe Bonamassa: "Bridge to Better Days"
Nothing quite blues rock on a Les Paul. If you haven't heard about this guy yet, get on it. The guy is in the discussion when it comes to great rock blues players, i.e. Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, etc. His sound is KILLER. This is from his 2006 release, You and Me which also features Carmine Rojas on bass and Jason Bonham on drums.



Pearl Jam: "Go"
I didn't get Ten. It just didn't click. And then I heard Vs. That, I got. It's a much harder, more in-you-face record than Ten. I was into that sort of music at that time: in-your-face. I was fed up with over-produced pretentious music. I needed something that hit me like a baseball bat to restore my faith that somewhere, raw, honest music still existed. This is the opening track from 1993's Vs., written by Pearl Jam's drummer, Dave Abbruzzese. You can kinda tell it was written by a drummer, can't ya?



Steely Dan: "Josie"
Cool. Slick. Funky. L.A. Smooth. Jazz. Refined. Mature. Josie. I love this track. Probably my favorite on 1977's Aja, like you can have a favorite track on such an amazing record. IMHO, Aja is Steely Dan's best work. It is such a refined and mature sound. like the band had finally arrived. Not to say that all their preceding records aren't great, too. They are. But this record gives me chills when I listen too it. And the list of players on this record reads like a who's who of Jazz-Rock (Larry Carlton, Jay Graydon, Lee Ritenour, Tom Scott, Steve Gadd, etc.).



Until next time...