Lay it Down

What a surprise! Another ballad.  Have you heard this song? It's exquisitely empathetic, sincerely sagacious   and chalk-full of fantastic rhythm, rhyme, and heartfelt affection. Not really, that's how they want you to imagine it, but they're really just singin' 'bout sex. Many people do not consider this to be "Aerosmith", but it is, just not in a classic sense. I can understand why people might be upset with it, it's not the classic stuff that Aerosmith is known for, but hey, just because this song isn't tragically traditional doesn't mean it's a domestic downfall, I think it's quite pleasing.  Lay it Down was released on O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits, in July of 2002, and was one of two songs on the album to be radically raw, along with Girls of Summer. I've never been crazy about Aerosmith, don't get me wrong, I'm a fan, of course, but they've never been my favorite, but I'm lusciously lustful for this song, especially the first verse, just a vindication or vacation from voracious vain.

Dancing in the Street

Wow, what a complete game changer, I had no idea that this song wasn't written by David Bowie, Mick Jagger or Eddie Van Halen, all of which did a cover of this song. This is Dancing in the Street, by Martha and the Vandellas. This song was released as a single of theirs in 1965, but was originally written by William "Mickey" Stevenson and Marvin Gaye, who's version I was unable to locate. This song was apparently thought of when Mickey was watching children cool off in Detroit (Rock City) in an open fire hydrant, and to him, they seemed to be dancing, Dancing in the Street. Though the song was meant to be nothing more than an innocent dance anthem, many protesters for the civil rights movement took it as being written for them, to invoke change in the nation. Many radio stations actually banned the playing of this song because many civil rights' demonstrators were playing it to form the crowds into a cohesive entity. Martha Reeves, the lead for Martha and the Vandellas  was interviewed on the subject, and officially stated that it meant nothing of the sorts, but that didn't stop them. It's a tossup for which of these versions I like best, I love the vocal work in Bowie and Jagger's, but Eddie's guitar, what can I say.

The Boys Are Back in Town

Ah, take a listen, this song is so easygoing and heartwarming. I don't care how satanic or demonic you might think Rock and Roll is, this song is so simplistic and nostalgic, I can't even listen to it without the shadow of a grin sneaking up on me. You may scoff because this is their most mainstream song, but this is a fantastic song, and was awarded number four hundred ninety-nine in Rolling Stone's top five hundred rock songs of all time. The Boys Are Back in Town was released on the Irish band, Thin Lizzy's sixth album, Jailbreak in 1976. Jailbreak was their most popular album, and this was the that gave them their rise to fame, as well as the title song, Jailbreak. The song is most praised for its double lead guitar solo, which features Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson, and is simply marvelous. Most people believe this song is about The Boys returning from a military school, but to me, it seems broader. In my opinion, it's just about getting together with old friends, and hanging out reminiscing about the good times. I hope you enjoyed the song.

Feel Like Makin' Love

Alright, well this is my favourite Bad Company song. Whenever I hear this song, I always think of Homer Simpson, a character from the popular series The Simpsons doing his rendition of it ( http://download.lardlad.com/sounds/season12/snow14.mp3 ) and it brings back the nostalgic feeling of being a child again, what a great television program that used to be. Anyways, this song was recorded on their second album, Straight Shooter, and was released June of 1975. This song was declared number seventy-eighth best hard rock song ever by VH1, a short-lived music television program that was pretty much MTV, except based on older music, oh yeah, and they were actually about music. Now if you listen to the chorus, you might notice (if you like The Who) that the riff is almost exactly the same as The Who's Sparks, an instrumental that was released six years earlier. I found this to be quite intriguing, as instrumentals are quite beautiful, but they have no lyrics, meaning that the notes and chords are everything, and if someone copies a riff off an instrumental, it seems more like a slap in the face than sampling a riff from a song with lyrics, but hey, that's just my take.

Rebel Rebel

Bowie's going of glam, his farewell, his acknowledgement of the end of an era. Rebel Rebel is a David Bowie song released in 1974 on Bowie's eighth studio album, Diamond Dogs. This is currently the most covered Bowie song, and was the last of his glam-rock songs, his trademark, his stamp. The first thing to notice when listening to this song is the intro riff; the most beautifully-haunting riff you'll ever find, always leaving a slight smirk at the corner of my mouth. If you consider the meaning of this song, a few things will come to mind. In my opinion, it's about the end of the glam age, the finality of the era where one could dress as the opposite gender and it would be perfectly acceptable in numerous situations; that's what it's all about, free love and not caring who knows.