Your Love

So today I performed this song for my school, so I figured, "hey, that's a good song, why not write a post about it?" So here I am. Your Love was written by John Spinks, the guitarist and vocalist for The Outfield. Your Love was released in their debut album, Play Deep, which was released in 1986. The song made it to number six on the Billboard Top 100 Tracks, and is their most popular. Something interesting I came across was that the members of the band are opposed to drug use, which I thought stood out, because, well it was the eighties, and they were an English pop rock band. I can see how these lyrics can be interpreted many different ways by the people who listen to them, but this is my interpretation. I believe this is about a guy who's woman is out of town, and he needs someone, so he calls upon someone from his past, maybe someone he's "been" with before. Clearly he still has feelings for her, and he tries to voice his feelings for what he needs. Hearing this song after playing it makes me feel like our band is inadequate, and does them no justice to perform their music.

Runaway

Runaway, one of Jon Bon's most popular, was written in 1980, and was submitted into a local songwriting contest. After doing this, he was told to assemble a band in order to perform it. He hastily got a group together, and they were known as Jon Bongiovi and the Rest. This group was not the lineup for Bon Jovi, but rather a temporary group created to perform this immensely popular song. Richie Sambora caught up with Jon after a show, and requested for a position as the lead guitarist. Jon gave him a shot, and when they next met, Richie had the material down, he continued to become the official lead guitarist, and Bon Jovi was born. Released in their 1983 album "Bon Jovi", this song was their first hit. It became a huge sensation in the summer of 1983, and hit number thirty-four on the US Billboard top 100. This song has a very haunting intro, which ties in well with the lyrics, which are about neglect and prostitution. It's about a girl who has a father that gives her no attention, so she resorts to fleeing from that frontier, toward men that treat her the same way. From lack of attention and contact, she turns to prostitution, in order to please others, not thinking of her own distaste for how she lives.

Good Times Roll

Stop! Don't pause the song, the first few bars may seem a bit off at first, but listen on. Good Times Roll was written by The Cars, and released on the first album, The Cars, which was released in 1978. The album itself was immensely popular when it came out, and they had to suspend their second to be released on a later date, so as to not clash with the remaining popularity of their first. This song has a funky intro I'll admit, and even into the verse, but as soon as that second guitar and drums enter into the song, it transforms the song, adding plenty of body, and quite and sturdy feel to it. The song was written by Ric Ocasek, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist, and he creates the sort of psychedelic and surreal feel to the song, with lots of synth, many now refer to this as new wave rock. My personal feelings about the subject that the song refers to is a euphoria, and trying to keep those good times, so Let the Good Times Roll!

Photograph

I know my last post was regarding a Def Leppard song, but I couldn't help myself. Throughout the day, this song has been playing inside my head, and I could not be happier, for this is one of those songs that I could listen to over and over without getting tired of it. Released in Def Leppard's third album, Pyromania, this song reach number one on the billboard's top tracks. I would love to categorize this song as a power ballad, but it's a little heavy to be one, and the vocals just don't quite match those of a power ballad. However, this song has a similar feel to it, and is one of my top Def Leppard tracks. This song is about someone that you just can't get your hands on, someone in your mind, your heart maybe, but they are not tangible to you, they are built up in your mind, due to you being unable to meet them and realize that they are human too.

Hysteria

This is one of my favorite song by Def Leppard, Hysteria. Reaching number ten on Billboard Hot 100 (the US standard for singles), and released in their 1987 album, Hysteria, is what many of us refer to as a power ballad, featuring heavy instruments and a ballad vocal style to it. This song features a classic rock drum beat, and a very clean guitar sound to it on the verse, which makes the chorus very prominent with a light distortion applied to a second guitar. This song is heavily layered, with many vocal tracks, as well as instrumental ones. This song is about wanting to be with someone so bad that it hurts, and you just have to know if they're with someone else, it's about excitement over someone so much so that you can't get them out of your head, and you obsess over them continuously.

No One Like You

This has to be my favorite Scorpions song of all time... The intro itself sends me into a rock n' roll coma, I have a thing for songs that go straight into a solo, but this is just the tops, the combination of the heavy drums and the high end guitar solo is just fantastic, and it really sets the stage for this fantastic song. To those of you who read this and decide not to listen to it, you're making perhaps the largest mistake you've ever made, for this song is a classic, and should not be forgotten. Written by the German metal band, Scorpions, this song was released on their eighth studio album, Blackout. Blackout was released in 1982, and this song reached number one on the US Billboards for rock tracks. This song was originally written in German, but I can't find the original anywhere, and, as a result of the translation, a lot of the song's meaning is lost, which is a little disappointing. But yeah! Great song, please listen.