Trent Reznor’s tortured, angry persona got old for me pretty quick for a couple of reasons. One; a performative aspect began to creep into it after Nine Inch Nails achieved massive mainstream success, and two; the bloat of 1997’s The Fragile was a major turn-off. It just seemed like too much to get through). With… Read More “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails (1994)
“Hungry Like The Wolf” was the first time many of us in America heard of Duran Duran. Perhaps more importantly, “Hungry Like The Wolf” marked the first time many Americans saw Duran Duran. And while there was certainly a contingent of people who saw the Fab Five as major eye candy (like my cousin Antoinette… Read More “Hungry Like The Wolf” by Duran Duran (1982)
I don’t know if you’ve ever lost a friend to suicide. I’ve lost several; off the top of my head I can count four in the last seven years. And in at least one of those cases, I feel as though there’s something I could’ve done to save them, or something that I did do… Read More “How To Save A Life” by The Fray (2005)
I have to start by saying that I find Morrissey an absolutely reprehensible human being. That said, he has a way with words that occasionally taps into great sentiment. And the main hook of “How Soon Is Now?” (“I am human and I need to be loved…”) is one of the great lyrics in rock… Read More “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths (1984)
Squeeze’s Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook are a songwriting duo on par with…yes, I was gonna write Lennon and McCartney. While I can’t say I totally believe that (I mean, we are talking John and Paul here), they have written some incredibly tuneful songs in their day. “Hourglass” was their biggest U.S. hit (although other… Read More “Hourglass” by Squeeze (1987)
Apparently, Thom Yorke doesn’t like “High And Dry”. What is with this guy and his best songs? Anyway, don’t listen to Thom Yorke. “High And Dry” is one of my favorite Radiohead songs, and it’s from what I consider the second most essential Radiohead album, 1995’s The Bends. It’s certainly the song (and the album)… Read More “High And Dry” by Radiohead (1995)
Tell me do you think it’d be all right If I could just crash here tonight You can see I’m in no shape for driving And anyway I’ve got no place to go Talk about a great way to start a song. Those opening words grabbed me and shook me as soon as I heard… Read More “Hey Jealousy” by Gin Blossoms (1992)
Let’s get the semi-embarrassing part of this out of the way: the first version of “Heroes” I became familiar with was the late ’90s remake by The Wallflowers that was on the soundtrack of the Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie. Did I know that “Heroes” was a Bowie song? Yes. Had I heard it a few… Read More “Heroes” by David Bowie (1977)
It was late June 1996. I’d just attended my second ever Pride celebration. I feel like it was still mid day, and I was at a Chelsea bar called King. They were having a post-Pride underwear party and, having never attended an underwear party before, was curious to see what it was all about. I… Read More “Here Comes The Rain Again” by Eurythmics (1983)
I’ve toggled back and forth on my rating of “Celebrity Skin” since…well, at least since we were in the “C”s. I think my final decision is that it belongs here with the rest of the songs that I consider perfect. It’s a kick ass three minute rock song with a killer guitar riff, a wink-smirk… Read More “Celebrity Skin” by Hole (1998)
