Alternative Rock Nostalgia Buzz

Hello everybody, My book "Keeping It Tight In The Old Dominion: A History of Virginia Rock Music" is now available. Please check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Tight-Old-Dominion-Virginia/dp/1608444147/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274892849&sr=8-1 http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Keeping-It-Tight-in-the-Old-Dominion/Pete-Crigler/e/9781608444144/?itm=1&USRI=keeping+it+tight+in+the+old+dominion

Okay, here we go, I know I have uploaded this list quite a few times but this time it's for real! 1. Gin Blossoms-Found Out About You 2. Boston-More Than A Feeling 3. Anthrax-Belly of the Beast 4. Nilsson-The Moonbeam Song 5. 311-Prisoner 6. Sly & the Family Stone-Thank You (Fallintme Be Mice Elf Agin) 7. Love-Always See Your Face 8. Faith No More-Ashes To Ashes 9. Counting Crows-Colorblind 10. The Judybats-Saturday 11. Monster Magnet-Powertrip 12. Creedence Clearwater Revival-Who'll Stop the Rain 13. The Ocean Blue-Breezing Up 14. Snow Patrol-Run 15. Miracle Legion-The Backyard 16. The B-52’s-Private Idaho 17. The Drifters-Under the Boardwalk 18. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins-I Put a Spell On You 19. The Rutles-I Must Be In Love 20. Morphine-In Spite of Me 21. The Flys-Got You (Where I Want You) 22. Otis Redding-You Left the Water Running 23. Faith No More-King For A Day 24. Metallic...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘80s: XTC When it comes to XTC, mostly everyone talks about “Dear God” and that seems to be about it and it’s absolutely unreal that a song like “The Mayor of Simpleton” is rarely mentioned. It is without a doubt one of the best pop songs of the eighties and it is undoubtedly a high watermark in a career littered with them. The song starts out like a typical XTC song, folky but with an edge and then Andy Partridge’s voice comes in and right away, one gets the feeling that this will be a different type of XTC song and that’s exactly what happens. With a mixture of folk, pop and Motown-like backing vocals, the song becomes otherworldly. As you continue to get into the song, you quickly realize the lyrics are typical Partridge but that doesn’t matter. Speaking as one of the world’s dumbest and most perplexed men, Partridge sings about a girl who’s in love with him despite his total lack of knowledge about how the world works. But that’s the thing about XTC that’s so...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Thelonious Monster Thelonious Monster were without a doubt, one of the most fucked up bands of all time but in their time, they released some excellent singles. In 1992, they released one of their absolute best, “Blood Is Thicker Than Water.” Starting off with a slow, acoustic intro, frontman Bob Forrest talks about his family; first he reminisces about his sister and the bond they once had and then he moves onto how he fears he’s turning into his father. But then the whole band kicks in and the song moves into high-gear punk. By the time they get to the chorus, the band becomes a cohesive whole they seem to be having a blast just being on the same page. Just having the song end wasn’t enough so instead, the song just fades out to quiet, which is the best way and really the only way it could end. Despite the song being absolutely kickass, the album it came from, Beautiful Mess was more scattershot. Also, despite major-label backing, the band wasn’t able to...

Forgotten Album of the Month: Therapy? While I have already spoken about Therapy? a while ago with “If It Kills Me,” the band is just so underrated that one of their best records deserves a spot here. In 2000, the band released Suicide Pact: You First on the very tiny Ark 21 label and the record was almost immediately forgotten about in America. Elsewhere, critics decried the record as being too dense and heavy but that’s one of the record’s great strengths. The record kicks off with “He’s Not That Kind of Girl,” a hard-rocking track that kicked the shit out of all the crap-rock of the era and still does. By playing as hard and throttling as they can, the band were playing through all the bullshit they’d gone through with their previous label, A&M. The record’s rocking intensity continues through to what’s probably the best song on the record, “Wall of Mouths;” not only is it the best song on the record, it’s probably one of the best songs of the band’s career, which is quite a fe...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘80s: Sons of Freedom Of the many alt-rock bands that came out of Canada in the ‘80s, probably the most underrated and forgotten has to be Sons of Freedom. Hailing from Toronto, the band managed to ride a wave of notoriety to small success bolstered by one of the best tracks of the era, “The Criminal.” Kicking off with a powerful, chugging riff, the band comes in droning, until frontman James Newton begins singing in a hypnotic tenor that you can’t escape. Singing about an ex and how’s he basically following her around, the lyrics are straight to the point and as a result, the song becomes all the more powerfully hypnotic. By the time the solo comes around, everything comes together and the band collides together at once and the begins coming to a kickass end. Unfortunately, despite the song’s power, the band ended up getting bogged down in label politics. By the time of their next record, 1991’s Gump , they had essentially fallen off the proverbial pop culture ...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘90s: Stabbing Westward Stabbing Westward are now looked at as basically another band to jump on the industrial bandwagon that was so huge in the mid-‘90s but for a time they were one of the most popular bands in the country. In 1996, they hit it big with “What Do I Have to Do?” a kind of industrial ballad that was their calling card. But it was the second single off of Wither Blister Burn + Peel that was their best song: “Shame.” Kicking off with a slow burning intro, the band soon kicks in with a kind of mid-tempo approach that really gives the song its kicks. Vocalist Christopher Hall then begins singing in his normal soulful croon that really fits in with the song’s vibe. While most of Stabbing Westward’s songs deal with life and love, the haunting creepiness of “Shame” sticks out in their catalog. As the song continues, the breakdown allows Christopher the chance to explore his vocals and to give the song heightened atmospherics. Then as the band comes back...