Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young (Weld)
Sparrow - Marvin Gaye (Here, My Dear)
Cortez the Killer - Neil Young (Weld)
(For somebody with just a semi-casual interest in Young, and who likes the stuff with Crazy Horse more than the stuff he did alone, Weld is just about the perfect live album to own. Both this performance and the one a couple of tracks up are terrific)
3. Allegro - Bach (Three Violin Concerto in D Major)
Meant for You - The Beach Boys (Friends)
By-Tor and the Snow Dog - Rush (All the World's a Stage)
2. Adagio e sempre piano - Bach (Piano Concerto in D Major)
The Fountain of Lamneth - Rush (Caress of Steel)
(Extremely flawed, but it has enough nice characteristics to make me keep it on my iPod. I really dig the quiet opening, and the epic guitar line that pops up from time to time is a nice attention-grabber)
Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead (The Bends)
Liebestraume Nocturne No. 3 - Liszt
4. Finale: Allegro - Beethoven (Piano Trio 6)
Jazz From Hell - Frank Zappa (Jazz From Hell)
Like Spinning Plates - Radiohead (Amnesiac)
Gallow's Pole - Led Zeppelin (III)
Excerpts from Octopus - Gentle Giant (Live: Playing the Fool)
I'd Love Just Once to See You - The Beach Boys (Wild Honey)
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun - Pink Floyd (A Saucerful of Secrets)
5. Shepherd's Song - Beethoven (Symphony 6: Toscanini)
(Symphony 6 is my favorite Beethoven symphony, and possibly my favorite symphony by anybody. This movement, the finale, has a devestating emotional impact on me)
Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats - Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)
The Undercover Man - Van Der Graaf Generator (Godbluff)
Regyptian Strut - Frank Zappa (Lather)
(It's amazing how much better this track sounds as the opener of Lather than stuck in the middle of Sleep Dirt. Proper track sequencing for the win.)
Follow You, Follow Me - Genesis (Three Sides Live)
1. Allegro con brio - Brahms (Piano Trio in B)
King Kong - The Kinks (The Kink Kronikles)
2. Largo - Beethoven (Piano Concerto 1: Brendel)
Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World - The Ramones (It's Alive)
Tonight's the Night - Neil Young (Tonight's the Night)
It Hurts Me Too - Bob Dylan (Self Portrait)
Deadend Street - The Kinks (The Kink Kronikles)
The Name of the Game - ABBA (The Album)
2. Adagio ma non troppo / Allegro vivace - Rachmaninoff (Symphony 3)
Not Great Men - Gang of Four (Entertainment!)
3. Rondo: Allegro Scherzando - Beethoven (Piano Concerto 1)
(The first one isn't a top-notch Beethoven piece overall, but I've always dug this movement. It's very memorable, if nothing else)
Behind the Wall of Sleep/Bassically/N.I.B. - Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath)
Friends - Ween (The Friends EP)
Preparation - Camel (The Snow Goose)
Summer's Cauldron - XTC (Skylarking)
Beggin' the Blues - Bessie Jones (Alan Lomax's Blues Songbook)
It's A-Happening - The Magic Mushrooms (Nuggets)
The Ancient - Yes (Tales from Topographic Oceans)
The Spirit - The Moody Blues (The Other Side of Life)
(This track is completely ridiculous. The fact that I enjoy it is one of the great embarrassments of my music tastes)
Act 3, No. 19. Pas de six II. Variation 1: Allegro - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Uncle Jack - Spirit (Spirit)
Stuck Inside a Cloud - George Harrison (Brainwashed)
6. Gigue - Bach (Cello Suite 3)
Nothing Else Matters - Metallica (Live Shit: Binge and Purge)
She's Not There - The Zombies (The Singles Collection)
(One of the very best singles from the band's pre-Odessey and Oracle era.)
Politician - Cream (Wheels of Fire)
Old John Robertson - The Byrds (The Notorious Byrd Brothers)
Mind Games - John Lennon (Mind Games)
Prologue - Renaissance (Prologue)
(A great mix of rock-guitar rhythms, classical piano and Annie Haslam's vocal pyrotechnics. Some of the notes she hits in this are completely ridiculous)
Nothing to Say - The Kinks (Arthur)
No Reply at All - Genesis (Archive 1976-92)
2. Andante Cantabile - Mozart (Piano Trio 5)
Southbound Again - Dire Straits (Dire Straits)
Little Baby - The Rolling Stones (Stripped)
4. Allegro Vivace - Rachmaninoff (Symphony 2)
I am Citizen Insane - Radiohead (Com Lag)
Sooner or Later (One of Us Must Know) - Bob Dylan (Blonde on Blonde)
Setting Me Up - Dire Straits (Dire Straits)
The Price of Admission - Van Der Graaf Generator (Present)
Mother Sky - Can (Soundtracks)
(One of my top 5 Can tracks. I'm not sure if it's better than Halleluwah or Bel Air, but it sure rocks harder than those tracks, or arguably almost anything the band ever did. Jaki Liebezeit and Michael Karoli are fantastic in this track)
Sparks Will Fly - The Rolling Stones (Voodoo Lounge)
Mirror Door - The Who (Endless Wire)
The Firebird Tableau 2 / Disappearance of Kastchei's Palace and Magical Creations, Return to Life of the Petrified Knights, General Rejoicing - Stravinsky (Firebird Suite: Stravinsky)
(If I was gonna pick one classical piece of music to finish off one of these lists, this would be it. Of course, it sounds a little naked without segueing into a Yes concert)
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
07-01-09 tracks
One of My Turns - Pink Floyd (Is There Anybody Out There?)
Editions of You - Roxy Music (For Your Pleasure)
(The greatest Roxy Music track, and that says a lot. Futuristic 50's proto-rock at its very best, with the most amazing knob-twiddling solo I've yet heard)
Money - The Beatles (With the Beatles)
2. Adagio molto - Beethoven (Piano Sonata 5: Brendel)
Impromptu Op. 90 No.2 in Eb - Schubert
Aviary - Saint-Saens (Carnival of the Animals)
Summer Song (In the Autumn) - Peter Hammill (Fool's Mate)
Don't Stand So Close to Me ('86) - The Police (Message in a Box)
(Not terrible, but I'm kinda glad that these 1986 sessions, in which the members of the Police were going to re-record some of their older tracks for a greatest hits album, fell apart before more songs got this treatment)
Dear Father - Yes (BBC Sessions)
Gotta Serve Somebody - Bob Dylan (Slow Train Coming)
Can't You Hear Me Knocking - The Rolling Stones (Sticky Fingers)
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana (Nevermind)
(I know it's been overplayed to oblivion, but I still think it's a good song. This may be because I didn't watch MTV or listen to the radio as a teenager, and didn't have a copy of Nevermind until my mid-20's)
Contrapunctus XIII, a 3 / Rectus - Bach (The Art of Fugue)
6. Gigue - Bach (Cello Suite 2)
Highway Patrolman - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
Soldiers - ABBA (The Visitors)
No. 13 Moderato assi / Molto piu mosso - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Under Ice - Kate Bush (Hounds of Love)
Billy 4 - Bob Dylan (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid)
Roundabout - Yes (Endless Dream - Canandigua NY, 1994)
So You Say You Lost Your Baby (acoustic) - Gene Clark (Echoes)
Tennessee Flat-Top Box - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
Fourteen Bagatelles - Bartok (Solo Piano Music)
Our Song - Yes (90125)
(A fun piece of up-tempo, cheerful pop music with nice instrumentation. 90125 was a really swell album, if you ignore the two stinkers)
All You Need is Love - The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour)
Bird Calls - Charles Mingus (Mingus Ah Um)
Let's Dance - The Ramones (Ramones)
Honey, Just Give Me One More Chance - Bob Dylan (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan)
(One of two silly tracks that ends an otherwise pretty serious album. Along with I Shall be Free, a perfect end to one of my favorite albums ever)
Gotta Get Away - The Rolling Stones (Singles Collection)
Trick of the Light - The Who (Who Are You)
As Tears Go By - The Rolling Stones (December's Children (And Everyone's))
2. Andante con moto - Mozart (Symphony 39: Bernstein)
Variation 16 a 1 Clav. Ouverture - Bach (Goldberg Variations)
Black Sheep of the Family - Rainbow (Richie Blackmore's Rainbow)
Mystic Blutsturz - Amon Duul II (Wolf City bonus tracks)
Montana - Frank Zappa (You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 4)
The Air - Frank Zappa (Uncle Meat)
Water Woman - Spirit (Spirit)
Fixing a Hole - The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)
5. Finale - Bartok (Concerto for Orchestra)
(Concerto for Orchestra is SOOOO GOOD.)
Take Me to the River - Talking Heads (More Songs About Buildings and Food)
Tommy Can You Hear Me? - The Who (Live at Leeds)
Rebel Waltz - The Clash (Sandinista!)
How to Fight Loneliness - Wilco (Summerteeth)
Worried Life Blues - Eric Clapton (Just One Night)
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - ABBA (ABBA)
They Punctured My Yolk - The Flaming Lips (Clouds Taste Metallic)
More Than This - Peter Gabriel (Up)
America - Yes (Keys to Ascension)
(The first few times I listened to this album, I would skip this track because it was a cover and I assumed it would suck. Far from it: it's easily the highlight of the whole set. It's chock-full of goofy and interesting features, and one of my favorite live Yes performances.)
Friends - The Beach Boys (Friends)
Watching the Wheels - John Lennon (Double Fantasy)
If Not For You - Bob Dylan (The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3)
No God, Only Religion - Spiritualized (Royal Albert Hall 1997)
1. Allegro - Mozart (Piano Concerto 9: Brendel)
I've Seen All Good People - Yes (Endless Dream - Canandigua NY, 1994)
I Can See For Miles - The Who (The Who Sell Out)
(Not sure if this is the best Who track ever, but it's the best one of the 60's for sure, and arguably the single song that better sums up the good sides of 60's rock than any other)
You Make it All Worthwhile - The Kinks (Soap Opera)
No. 11 Scene: Allegro Moderato / Allegro vivo - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Journey to the Center of the Mind - Amboy Dukes (Nuggets)
Seven Days - Bob Dylan (The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3)
Dancing Queen - ABBA (Arrival)
7. Variation V - Beethoven (Kakadu Variations)
Damage Case - Metallica (Garage Inc)
Scherzo A La Russe - Stravinsky (Fireworks: Stravinsky)
X. Allegro non troppo / Piu Vivace / Maestoso come I - Mendelssohn (Symphony 2)
1. Allegro - Bartok (String Quartet 5)
Breakdown - The Alan Parsons Project (I, Robot)
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan and The Band (Before the Flood)
Swamp - Talking Heads (Speaking in Tongues)
I've Had Enough - The Who (Quadrophenia)
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple (Machine Head)
Canarsie - Frank Zappa (Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar)
Walls - Yes (Talk)
Because - The Beatles (Abbey Road)
Act 3, No. 19. Pas de six: III. Variation II: Andante con moto - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Limelight - Rush (Moving Pictures)
Still ... You Turn Me On - Emerson Lake and Palmer (Brain Salad Surgery)
(Proves that no song, no matter how good it might be otherwise, can fully get away with the crime of rhyming "sadder," "madder," and "ladder." I like the song, but sheesh.)
Editions of You - Roxy Music (For Your Pleasure)
(The greatest Roxy Music track, and that says a lot. Futuristic 50's proto-rock at its very best, with the most amazing knob-twiddling solo I've yet heard)
Money - The Beatles (With the Beatles)
2. Adagio molto - Beethoven (Piano Sonata 5: Brendel)
Impromptu Op. 90 No.2 in Eb - Schubert
Aviary - Saint-Saens (Carnival of the Animals)
Summer Song (In the Autumn) - Peter Hammill (Fool's Mate)
Don't Stand So Close to Me ('86) - The Police (Message in a Box)
(Not terrible, but I'm kinda glad that these 1986 sessions, in which the members of the Police were going to re-record some of their older tracks for a greatest hits album, fell apart before more songs got this treatment)
Dear Father - Yes (BBC Sessions)
Gotta Serve Somebody - Bob Dylan (Slow Train Coming)
Can't You Hear Me Knocking - The Rolling Stones (Sticky Fingers)
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana (Nevermind)
(I know it's been overplayed to oblivion, but I still think it's a good song. This may be because I didn't watch MTV or listen to the radio as a teenager, and didn't have a copy of Nevermind until my mid-20's)
Contrapunctus XIII, a 3 / Rectus - Bach (The Art of Fugue)
6. Gigue - Bach (Cello Suite 2)
Highway Patrolman - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
Soldiers - ABBA (The Visitors)
No. 13 Moderato assi / Molto piu mosso - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Under Ice - Kate Bush (Hounds of Love)
Billy 4 - Bob Dylan (Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid)
Roundabout - Yes (Endless Dream - Canandigua NY, 1994)
So You Say You Lost Your Baby (acoustic) - Gene Clark (Echoes)
Tennessee Flat-Top Box - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
Fourteen Bagatelles - Bartok (Solo Piano Music)
Our Song - Yes (90125)
(A fun piece of up-tempo, cheerful pop music with nice instrumentation. 90125 was a really swell album, if you ignore the two stinkers)
All You Need is Love - The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour)
Bird Calls - Charles Mingus (Mingus Ah Um)
Let's Dance - The Ramones (Ramones)
Honey, Just Give Me One More Chance - Bob Dylan (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan)
(One of two silly tracks that ends an otherwise pretty serious album. Along with I Shall be Free, a perfect end to one of my favorite albums ever)
Gotta Get Away - The Rolling Stones (Singles Collection)
Trick of the Light - The Who (Who Are You)
As Tears Go By - The Rolling Stones (December's Children (And Everyone's))
2. Andante con moto - Mozart (Symphony 39: Bernstein)
Variation 16 a 1 Clav. Ouverture - Bach (Goldberg Variations)
Black Sheep of the Family - Rainbow (Richie Blackmore's Rainbow)
Mystic Blutsturz - Amon Duul II (Wolf City bonus tracks)
Montana - Frank Zappa (You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 4)
The Air - Frank Zappa (Uncle Meat)
Water Woman - Spirit (Spirit)
Fixing a Hole - The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band)
5. Finale - Bartok (Concerto for Orchestra)
(Concerto for Orchestra is SOOOO GOOD.)
Take Me to the River - Talking Heads (More Songs About Buildings and Food)
Tommy Can You Hear Me? - The Who (Live at Leeds)
Rebel Waltz - The Clash (Sandinista!)
How to Fight Loneliness - Wilco (Summerteeth)
Worried Life Blues - Eric Clapton (Just One Night)
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do - ABBA (ABBA)
They Punctured My Yolk - The Flaming Lips (Clouds Taste Metallic)
More Than This - Peter Gabriel (Up)
America - Yes (Keys to Ascension)
(The first few times I listened to this album, I would skip this track because it was a cover and I assumed it would suck. Far from it: it's easily the highlight of the whole set. It's chock-full of goofy and interesting features, and one of my favorite live Yes performances.)
Friends - The Beach Boys (Friends)
Watching the Wheels - John Lennon (Double Fantasy)
If Not For You - Bob Dylan (The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3)
No God, Only Religion - Spiritualized (Royal Albert Hall 1997)
1. Allegro - Mozart (Piano Concerto 9: Brendel)
I've Seen All Good People - Yes (Endless Dream - Canandigua NY, 1994)
I Can See For Miles - The Who (The Who Sell Out)
(Not sure if this is the best Who track ever, but it's the best one of the 60's for sure, and arguably the single song that better sums up the good sides of 60's rock than any other)
You Make it All Worthwhile - The Kinks (Soap Opera)
No. 11 Scene: Allegro Moderato / Allegro vivo - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Journey to the Center of the Mind - Amboy Dukes (Nuggets)
Seven Days - Bob Dylan (The Bootleg Series Vol 1-3)
Dancing Queen - ABBA (Arrival)
7. Variation V - Beethoven (Kakadu Variations)
Damage Case - Metallica (Garage Inc)
Scherzo A La Russe - Stravinsky (Fireworks: Stravinsky)
X. Allegro non troppo / Piu Vivace / Maestoso come I - Mendelssohn (Symphony 2)
1. Allegro - Bartok (String Quartet 5)
Breakdown - The Alan Parsons Project (I, Robot)
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan and The Band (Before the Flood)
Swamp - Talking Heads (Speaking in Tongues)
I've Had Enough - The Who (Quadrophenia)
Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple (Machine Head)
Canarsie - Frank Zappa (Shut Up and Play Yer Guitar)
Walls - Yes (Talk)
Because - The Beatles (Abbey Road)
Act 3, No. 19. Pas de six: III. Variation II: Andante con moto - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Limelight - Rush (Moving Pictures)
Still ... You Turn Me On - Emerson Lake and Palmer (Brain Salad Surgery)
(Proves that no song, no matter how good it might be otherwise, can fully get away with the crime of rhyming "sadder," "madder," and "ladder." I like the song, but sheesh.)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
06-24-09 tracks
2. Andante Con Variazoni - Beethoven (Violin Sonata 9)
Heart of Glass - Blondie (Parallel Lines)
(One of the most likable songs ever. Only somebody with a kneejerk hatred of anything remotely discoish could dislike it)
Dali's Car - Captain Beefheart (Trout Mask Replica)
Are You Sitting Comfortably? - The Moody Blues (Caught Live +5)
Spray - Can (Future Days)
Tried So Hard - Gene Clark (Echoes)
Wishful Sinful - The Doors (The Soft Parade)
Little Child - The Beatles (With the Beatles)
Nervous - The Moody Blues (Long Distance Voyager)
(The chorus is cheesy, but the verse melody and the accompanying delivery are really pretty)
I Never Thought I'd Live to be a Million - The Moody Blues (To Our Children's Children's Children)
Living in Fame - The Clash (Sandinista!)
Maybe I'm a Leo - Deep Purple (In Concert 1970-72)
Southern Man - Neil Young (After the Gold Rush)
Rocks on the Road - Jethro Tull (Catfish Rishing)
One Time - King Crimson (THRAK)
(A really weird song. Is this really supposed to be King Crimson trying to do something vaguely mainstream? It's far too twisted and strange to work on that level. It's a nice moody track, either way)
Clara and Prince Charming - Tchaikovsky (The Nutcracker)
By-tor & the Snow Dog - Rush (Different Stages)
Rip, Rig and Panic - Rahsaan Roland Kirk (Rip, Rig and Panic)
Symptom of the Universe - Black Sabbath (Sabotage)
(Black Sabbath doing proto-thrash. Plus it has that super smooth transition into that spanish guitar-driven coda in the last minute)
Sparrowfall - Brian Eno (Music for Films)
Water - The Who (Rarities 1966-72)
Jiving Sister Fanny - The Rolling Stones (Metamorphosis)
Please Don't Touch - Steve Hackett (Please Don't Touch)
Blue in Green - Miles Davis (Kind of Blue)
2. Rondo. Allegro Vivace - Beethoven (Cello and Piano Sonata 1)
Hey Jude - The Beatles (Past Masters Vol 2)
(An obscure song that nobody except me has ever heard)
The Red Telephone - Love (Forever Changes)
Walk it Down - Talking Heads (Little Creatures)
South Saturn Delta - Jimi Hendrix (South Saturn Delta)
Golden Lady - Stevie Wonder (Innervisions)
(One of the all-time great happy pop songs of the 70's)
Sweet Virginia - The Rolling Stones (Exile on Main Street)
What if We Give it Away? - R.E.M. (Life's Rich Pageant)
The Right Time - The Animals (The Complete Animals)
Tennessee Flat-top Box - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
I'll Keep on Holding on - The Action (Nuggets 2)
Shoot to Thrill - AC/DC (Back in Black)
There's a Ghost in My House - The Fall (458489 A Sides)
Sing Swan Song - Can (Ege Bamyasi)
Pussy Cat Dues - Charles Mingus (Mingus Ah Um)
Ankaa - Brian Eno/Robert Fripp (The Equatorial Stars)
Politician - Cream (Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2005)
Secret Touch - Rush (Vapor Trails)
3. Allegro Assai - Mozart (Piano Concerto 19: Brendel)
(A lot of classical connosuiers don't like Brendel, considering him a bit too dry and without personality, but I think the classical world always needs at least a couple of "originalists" running around. It'll be sad when he dies)
Neal and Jack and Me - King Crimson (Beat)
Bound for Infinity - Renaissance (Prologue)
2. Adagio - Beethoven (Piano Trio 4)
Friends - Ween (The Friends EP)
(Ween's take on trashy slick euro disco pop, complete with over-the-top autotune. Wonderful stuff)
Cheat - The Clash (The Clash (U.K.))
I Predict - Sparks (Angst in My Pants)
Moonlight Drive (demo) - The Doors (Essential Rarities)
2. Adagio - Beethoven (Sympphony 4: Toscanini)
Can't Get it Out of My Head - Electric Light Orchestra (Eldorado)
Nocturne No. 8 in D flat, Op.27 No.2 - Chopin
2. Allemande - Bach (Cello Suite 3)
Canon per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu - Bach (The Art of Fugue)
Can't Afford No Shoes - Frank Zappa (One Size Fits All)
Life During Wartime - Talking Heads (Fear of Music)
("I've changed my hairstyle so many times now I don't know what I look like." Pure poetry)
Cassandra - ABBA (The Visitors)
Birthright - Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe (An Evening of Yes Music Plus)
Waltz in C# minor, Op. 64 No. 2 - Chopin
Back in NYC - Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)
Masquerade - Yes (Union)
Empty Spaces/Young Lust - Pink Floyd (The Wall)
You Got Me Rocking - The Rolling Stones (No Security)
I've Just Seen a Face - The Beatles (Help!)
Moonlight Mile - The Rolling Stones (Sticky Fingers)
Perfect Circle - R.E.M. (Murmur)
(One of my two favorite R.E.M. tracks. The atmosphere is beautiful)
King Kong - Frank Zappa (Uncle Meat)
Buenos Tardes Amigo - Ween (Chocolate and Cheese)
While You Were Art II - Frank Zappa (Jazz From Hell)
Blues Variation - Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Pictures at an Exhibition)
(Hee! A rock band, adapting a classical piece, by sticking in a blues jam, and doing the blues jam all wrong by making it driven by a hammond organ. It's funny how something that looks like the worst thing ever on paper can be so much fun)
Something for Nothing - Rush (All the World's a Stage)
(The lyrical philosophy of the song bothers me, but the vocal melody and delivery are great, and the song has strong enough riffs to make it one of my favorite Rush tracks of the 70's)
Don't Go - Yes (Symphonic Live)
4. Allegro con fuoco - Rachmaninoff (Symphony 1)
Turn it On Again - Genesis (Three Sides Live)
Strange Kind of Woman - Deep Purple (Fireball)
(I prefer live versions of the track from this era, but even the studio version is close to being the perfect blues-pop-rock song)
Heart of Glass - Blondie (Parallel Lines)
(One of the most likable songs ever. Only somebody with a kneejerk hatred of anything remotely discoish could dislike it)
Dali's Car - Captain Beefheart (Trout Mask Replica)
Are You Sitting Comfortably? - The Moody Blues (Caught Live +5)
Spray - Can (Future Days)
Tried So Hard - Gene Clark (Echoes)
Wishful Sinful - The Doors (The Soft Parade)
Little Child - The Beatles (With the Beatles)
Nervous - The Moody Blues (Long Distance Voyager)
(The chorus is cheesy, but the verse melody and the accompanying delivery are really pretty)
I Never Thought I'd Live to be a Million - The Moody Blues (To Our Children's Children's Children)
Living in Fame - The Clash (Sandinista!)
Maybe I'm a Leo - Deep Purple (In Concert 1970-72)
Southern Man - Neil Young (After the Gold Rush)
Rocks on the Road - Jethro Tull (Catfish Rishing)
One Time - King Crimson (THRAK)
(A really weird song. Is this really supposed to be King Crimson trying to do something vaguely mainstream? It's far too twisted and strange to work on that level. It's a nice moody track, either way)
Clara and Prince Charming - Tchaikovsky (The Nutcracker)
By-tor & the Snow Dog - Rush (Different Stages)
Rip, Rig and Panic - Rahsaan Roland Kirk (Rip, Rig and Panic)
Symptom of the Universe - Black Sabbath (Sabotage)
(Black Sabbath doing proto-thrash. Plus it has that super smooth transition into that spanish guitar-driven coda in the last minute)
Sparrowfall - Brian Eno (Music for Films)
Water - The Who (Rarities 1966-72)
Jiving Sister Fanny - The Rolling Stones (Metamorphosis)
Please Don't Touch - Steve Hackett (Please Don't Touch)
Blue in Green - Miles Davis (Kind of Blue)
2. Rondo. Allegro Vivace - Beethoven (Cello and Piano Sonata 1)
Hey Jude - The Beatles (Past Masters Vol 2)
(An obscure song that nobody except me has ever heard)
The Red Telephone - Love (Forever Changes)
Walk it Down - Talking Heads (Little Creatures)
South Saturn Delta - Jimi Hendrix (South Saturn Delta)
Golden Lady - Stevie Wonder (Innervisions)
(One of the all-time great happy pop songs of the 70's)
Sweet Virginia - The Rolling Stones (Exile on Main Street)
What if We Give it Away? - R.E.M. (Life's Rich Pageant)
The Right Time - The Animals (The Complete Animals)
Tennessee Flat-top Box - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
I'll Keep on Holding on - The Action (Nuggets 2)
Shoot to Thrill - AC/DC (Back in Black)
There's a Ghost in My House - The Fall (458489 A Sides)
Sing Swan Song - Can (Ege Bamyasi)
Pussy Cat Dues - Charles Mingus (Mingus Ah Um)
Ankaa - Brian Eno/Robert Fripp (The Equatorial Stars)
Politician - Cream (Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2005)
Secret Touch - Rush (Vapor Trails)
3. Allegro Assai - Mozart (Piano Concerto 19: Brendel)
(A lot of classical connosuiers don't like Brendel, considering him a bit too dry and without personality, but I think the classical world always needs at least a couple of "originalists" running around. It'll be sad when he dies)
Neal and Jack and Me - King Crimson (Beat)
Bound for Infinity - Renaissance (Prologue)
2. Adagio - Beethoven (Piano Trio 4)
Friends - Ween (The Friends EP)
(Ween's take on trashy slick euro disco pop, complete with over-the-top autotune. Wonderful stuff)
Cheat - The Clash (The Clash (U.K.))
I Predict - Sparks (Angst in My Pants)
Moonlight Drive (demo) - The Doors (Essential Rarities)
2. Adagio - Beethoven (Sympphony 4: Toscanini)
Can't Get it Out of My Head - Electric Light Orchestra (Eldorado)
Nocturne No. 8 in D flat, Op.27 No.2 - Chopin
2. Allemande - Bach (Cello Suite 3)
Canon per Augmentationem in Contrario Motu - Bach (The Art of Fugue)
Can't Afford No Shoes - Frank Zappa (One Size Fits All)
Life During Wartime - Talking Heads (Fear of Music)
("I've changed my hairstyle so many times now I don't know what I look like." Pure poetry)
Cassandra - ABBA (The Visitors)
Birthright - Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe (An Evening of Yes Music Plus)
Waltz in C# minor, Op. 64 No. 2 - Chopin
Back in NYC - Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)
Masquerade - Yes (Union)
Empty Spaces/Young Lust - Pink Floyd (The Wall)
You Got Me Rocking - The Rolling Stones (No Security)
I've Just Seen a Face - The Beatles (Help!)
Moonlight Mile - The Rolling Stones (Sticky Fingers)
Perfect Circle - R.E.M. (Murmur)
(One of my two favorite R.E.M. tracks. The atmosphere is beautiful)
King Kong - Frank Zappa (Uncle Meat)
Buenos Tardes Amigo - Ween (Chocolate and Cheese)
While You Were Art II - Frank Zappa (Jazz From Hell)
Blues Variation - Emerson, Lake and Palmer (Pictures at an Exhibition)
(Hee! A rock band, adapting a classical piece, by sticking in a blues jam, and doing the blues jam all wrong by making it driven by a hammond organ. It's funny how something that looks like the worst thing ever on paper can be so much fun)
Something for Nothing - Rush (All the World's a Stage)
(The lyrical philosophy of the song bothers me, but the vocal melody and delivery are great, and the song has strong enough riffs to make it one of my favorite Rush tracks of the 70's)
Don't Go - Yes (Symphonic Live)
4. Allegro con fuoco - Rachmaninoff (Symphony 1)
Turn it On Again - Genesis (Three Sides Live)
Strange Kind of Woman - Deep Purple (Fireball)
(I prefer live versions of the track from this era, but even the studio version is close to being the perfect blues-pop-rock song)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
06-16-09 tracks
Please Let Me Love You - The Byrds (In the Beginning)
3. Rondeau (Allegro) - Mozart (Violin Concerto 3)
Nettie Moore - Bob Dylan (Modern Times)
Fawn - Tom Waits (Alice)
You Make it All Worthwhile - The Kinks (Soap Opera)
Bike Ride to the Moon - The Dukes of Stratosphear (Chips from the Chocolate Fireball)
(XTC's alter-ego doing late 60's psych pop. This song is unbelievably great)
In Hiding - Genesis (From Genesis to Revelation)
I'm Always in Love - Wilco (Summerteeth)
(Probably my favorite Wilco song)
2. Andante - Mozart (Symphony 38)
An Cat Dubh - U2 (Boy)
Scene 2. Petrushka's Room - Stravinsky (Petrushka: Stravinsky)
Scherzo - Bartok (Duos for Two Violins)
I'll Take the Rain - R.E.M. (Reveal)
Neal and Jack and Me - King Crimson (Beat)
Oh! Susannah - The Byrds (Turn! Turn! Turn!)
No One Came - Deep Purple (Fireball)
Octopus - Van Der Graaf Generator (The Aerosol Grey Machine)
In My Life - The Beatles (Rubber Soul)
(It might be sentimental, but the melody is lovely, and the electric piano is a fantastic touch)
Dong Work for Yuda - Frank Zappa (Joe's Garage)
Low Life - The Police (Message in a Box)
Octopus - Syd Barrett (The Madcap Laughs)
Still ... You Turn Me On - Emerson Lake and Palmer (Brain Salad Surgery)
Iberia 1. Par les rues et par les chemins - Debussy (Images pour Orchestre)
V. Gavotte - Bach (Cello Suite 6)
iv. Agnus Dei - Bach (Mass in B Minor)
I Went to Sleep - The Beach Boys (20 20)
Vege-tables - Brian Wilson (SMiLE)
(The best moment of this song, of course, is when the old outtake "Mama Says" gets resurrected as this song's middle-8. It's a blissful piece of cathartic absurdity)
Harold Land - Yes (Yes)
Xanadu - Rush (Exit ... Stage Left)
(Quite possibly the best Rush recorded performance ever)
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel (So)
Childhood's End - Pink Floyd (Obscured by Clouds)
Pressure - The Kinks (One for the Road)
1.2 Allegretto un poco agitato - Mendelssohn (Symphony 2)
Here She Comes Now - The Velvet Underground (Here She Comes Now)
A Gallon of Gas - The Kinks (To the Bone)
Force Ten - Rush (A Show of Hands)
Biko - Peter Gabriel (3)
(It might not have the same power it once did, what with Apartheid being a thing of the past, but I still find a lot of oomph in lines like, "When I try and sleep at night/I can only dream in red/the outside world is black and white/with only one color dead")
Shamemaker - Ween (La Cucaracha)
A Rose for Emily - The Zombies (Odessey and Oracle)
Sweet Betsy from Pike - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
I. Prelude - Bach (Cello Suite 4)
Make it Rain - Tom Waits (Real Gone)
God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols (Never Mind the Bollocks)
We Walk - R.E.M. (Murmur)
(The most underrated track on R.E.M.'s best album. It may be relatively simplistic, both musically and lyrically, but it's a genial kind of simplicity)
The Purpendicular Waltz - Deep Purple (Purpendicular)
Can't Get There from Here - R.E.M. (Fables of the Reconstruction)
The Saxophone Song - Kate Bush (The Kick Inside)
Table Top Joe - Tom Waits (Alice)
Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine - Brian Wilson (SMiLE)
Welfare Mothers - Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps)
Floating - The Moody Blues (To Our Children's Children's Children)
3. Adagio ma non troppo con affetto; presto - Beethoven (Piano Sonata 28: Brendel)
The Fool on the Hill - The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour)
Nightswimming - R.E.M. (Automatic for the People)
(A little overrated, and not even the best ballad on the album, but a nice song nonetheless)
Artists Only - Talking Heads (More Songs About Buildings and Food)
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye (What's Going On)
3. Adagio molto e mesto / 4. Allegro - Beethoven (String Quartets Op. 59/F major)
4. Allegro molto, quasi presto - Beethoven (String Quartets Op. 18/G Major)
3. Adagio cantabile / Allegro vivace - Beethoven (Cello and Piano Sonata 3)
Beast of Burden - The Rolling Stones (Some Girls)
Miss You - The Rolling Stones (Some Girls)
Happy - Peter Hammill (Fool's Mate)
1. Allegro - Brahms (Violin Sonata 3)
Why Does Love Got to be So Sad? - Derek and the Dominos (Layla and Assorted Love Songs)
(Layla gets all the headlines from this album, and not unjustifiably, but this song is nearly as good. Clapton's speedy solo is one of the best I've ever heard from him)
Backsliding - Radiohead (Hail to the Thief)
Lemmings (Including Cog) - Van Der Graaf Generator (Pawn Hearts)
(Falls apart slightly after the great opening three minutes, but it's not a terrible track overall. I even kinda like the extremely ugly parts in the middle)
Valedictory - Gentle Giant (The Power and the Glory)
3. Rondeau - Mozart (Violin Concerto 4)
Hey Hey My My (Into the Black) - Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps)
Get Out of My House - Kate Bush (The Dreaming)
(Kate Bush makes angry "hee haaaaaw" noises like a donkey. That's enough to make any song awesome)
Frantic - Metallica (St. Anger)
God Speaks to Marty Robbins - The Who (Endless Wire)
Sin City - AC/DC (Powerage)
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC (Back in Black)
Mindrocker - Fenwyck (Nuggets 2)
A Taste of Honey - The Beatles (Please Please Me)
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young (After the Gold Rush)
Sweet Dreams - Yes (Live at Long Beach 1975)
(I just think it's incredibly awesome that Yes was doing this track in 1975. An official version from this tour can be found on the boxset, The Word is Live)
2. Allegro molto cappricioso - Bartok (String Quartet 2)
The Story of Bo Diddley - The Animals (The Complete Animals)
Weasel Face - The Ramones (Halfway to Sanity)
Two Steps Back - The Fall (Live at the Witch Trials)
The One That Got Away - Tom Waits (Small Change)
Lazy Day - The Moody Blues (On the Threshold of a Dream)
So What - Metallica (Garage Inc)
(An incredibly, ridiculously vulgar song, but in this cover version it manages to come across as funny more than threatening. It's a great, intense rock song either way)
Son - Jethro Tull (Benefit)
Rondo - The Nice (The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack)
Falling Off the Edge of the World - Heaven and Hell (Radio City Music Hall 2007)
2. Andante tranquillo / Vivace - Brahms (Violin Sonata 2)
Sugarlight - X (Los Angeles)
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - The Byrds (Unissued)
Susie Q - The Rolling Stones (12x5)
(One of the best covers the band ever did, and that says a lot)
3. Rondeau (Allegro) - Mozart (Violin Concerto 3)
Nettie Moore - Bob Dylan (Modern Times)
Fawn - Tom Waits (Alice)
You Make it All Worthwhile - The Kinks (Soap Opera)
Bike Ride to the Moon - The Dukes of Stratosphear (Chips from the Chocolate Fireball)
(XTC's alter-ego doing late 60's psych pop. This song is unbelievably great)
In Hiding - Genesis (From Genesis to Revelation)
I'm Always in Love - Wilco (Summerteeth)
(Probably my favorite Wilco song)
2. Andante - Mozart (Symphony 38)
An Cat Dubh - U2 (Boy)
Scene 2. Petrushka's Room - Stravinsky (Petrushka: Stravinsky)
Scherzo - Bartok (Duos for Two Violins)
I'll Take the Rain - R.E.M. (Reveal)
Neal and Jack and Me - King Crimson (Beat)
Oh! Susannah - The Byrds (Turn! Turn! Turn!)
No One Came - Deep Purple (Fireball)
Octopus - Van Der Graaf Generator (The Aerosol Grey Machine)
In My Life - The Beatles (Rubber Soul)
(It might be sentimental, but the melody is lovely, and the electric piano is a fantastic touch)
Dong Work for Yuda - Frank Zappa (Joe's Garage)
Low Life - The Police (Message in a Box)
Octopus - Syd Barrett (The Madcap Laughs)
Still ... You Turn Me On - Emerson Lake and Palmer (Brain Salad Surgery)
Iberia 1. Par les rues et par les chemins - Debussy (Images pour Orchestre)
V. Gavotte - Bach (Cello Suite 6)
iv. Agnus Dei - Bach (Mass in B Minor)
I Went to Sleep - The Beach Boys (20 20)
Vege-tables - Brian Wilson (SMiLE)
(The best moment of this song, of course, is when the old outtake "Mama Says" gets resurrected as this song's middle-8. It's a blissful piece of cathartic absurdity)
Harold Land - Yes (Yes)
Xanadu - Rush (Exit ... Stage Left)
(Quite possibly the best Rush recorded performance ever)
Sledgehammer - Peter Gabriel (So)
Childhood's End - Pink Floyd (Obscured by Clouds)
Pressure - The Kinks (One for the Road)
1.2 Allegretto un poco agitato - Mendelssohn (Symphony 2)
Here She Comes Now - The Velvet Underground (Here She Comes Now)
A Gallon of Gas - The Kinks (To the Bone)
Force Ten - Rush (A Show of Hands)
Biko - Peter Gabriel (3)
(It might not have the same power it once did, what with Apartheid being a thing of the past, but I still find a lot of oomph in lines like, "When I try and sleep at night/I can only dream in red/the outside world is black and white/with only one color dead")
Shamemaker - Ween (La Cucaracha)
A Rose for Emily - The Zombies (Odessey and Oracle)
Sweet Betsy from Pike - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
I. Prelude - Bach (Cello Suite 4)
Make it Rain - Tom Waits (Real Gone)
God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols (Never Mind the Bollocks)
We Walk - R.E.M. (Murmur)
(The most underrated track on R.E.M.'s best album. It may be relatively simplistic, both musically and lyrically, but it's a genial kind of simplicity)
The Purpendicular Waltz - Deep Purple (Purpendicular)
Can't Get There from Here - R.E.M. (Fables of the Reconstruction)
The Saxophone Song - Kate Bush (The Kick Inside)
Table Top Joe - Tom Waits (Alice)
Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine - Brian Wilson (SMiLE)
Welfare Mothers - Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps)
Floating - The Moody Blues (To Our Children's Children's Children)
3. Adagio ma non troppo con affetto; presto - Beethoven (Piano Sonata 28: Brendel)
The Fool on the Hill - The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour)
Nightswimming - R.E.M. (Automatic for the People)
(A little overrated, and not even the best ballad on the album, but a nice song nonetheless)
Artists Only - Talking Heads (More Songs About Buildings and Food)
Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) - Marvin Gaye (What's Going On)
3. Adagio molto e mesto / 4. Allegro - Beethoven (String Quartets Op. 59/F major)
4. Allegro molto, quasi presto - Beethoven (String Quartets Op. 18/G Major)
3. Adagio cantabile / Allegro vivace - Beethoven (Cello and Piano Sonata 3)
Beast of Burden - The Rolling Stones (Some Girls)
Miss You - The Rolling Stones (Some Girls)
Happy - Peter Hammill (Fool's Mate)
1. Allegro - Brahms (Violin Sonata 3)
Why Does Love Got to be So Sad? - Derek and the Dominos (Layla and Assorted Love Songs)
(Layla gets all the headlines from this album, and not unjustifiably, but this song is nearly as good. Clapton's speedy solo is one of the best I've ever heard from him)
Backsliding - Radiohead (Hail to the Thief)
Lemmings (Including Cog) - Van Der Graaf Generator (Pawn Hearts)
(Falls apart slightly after the great opening three minutes, but it's not a terrible track overall. I even kinda like the extremely ugly parts in the middle)
Valedictory - Gentle Giant (The Power and the Glory)
3. Rondeau - Mozart (Violin Concerto 4)
Hey Hey My My (Into the Black) - Neil Young (Rust Never Sleeps)
Get Out of My House - Kate Bush (The Dreaming)
(Kate Bush makes angry "hee haaaaaw" noises like a donkey. That's enough to make any song awesome)
Frantic - Metallica (St. Anger)
God Speaks to Marty Robbins - The Who (Endless Wire)
Sin City - AC/DC (Powerage)
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC (Back in Black)
Mindrocker - Fenwyck (Nuggets 2)
A Taste of Honey - The Beatles (Please Please Me)
Only Love Can Break Your Heart - Neil Young (After the Gold Rush)
Sweet Dreams - Yes (Live at Long Beach 1975)
(I just think it's incredibly awesome that Yes was doing this track in 1975. An official version from this tour can be found on the boxset, The Word is Live)
2. Allegro molto cappricioso - Bartok (String Quartet 2)
The Story of Bo Diddley - The Animals (The Complete Animals)
Weasel Face - The Ramones (Halfway to Sanity)
Two Steps Back - The Fall (Live at the Witch Trials)
The One That Got Away - Tom Waits (Small Change)
Lazy Day - The Moody Blues (On the Threshold of a Dream)
So What - Metallica (Garage Inc)
(An incredibly, ridiculously vulgar song, but in this cover version it manages to come across as funny more than threatening. It's a great, intense rock song either way)
Son - Jethro Tull (Benefit)
Rondo - The Nice (The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack)
Falling Off the Edge of the World - Heaven and Hell (Radio City Music Hall 2007)
2. Andante tranquillo / Vivace - Brahms (Violin Sonata 2)
Sugarlight - X (Los Angeles)
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - The Byrds (Unissued)
Susie Q - The Rolling Stones (12x5)
(One of the best covers the band ever did, and that says a lot)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
06-09-09 tracks
Luftschloss - Eno, Moebius and Rodelius (After the Heat)
Music Must Change - The Who (Who Are You)
(A fun and interesting song from a fun, interesting and underrated album. And to think that they had to use a squeaking shoe to keep tempo because the rhythm was too simple for Keith Moon to play)
Virginia Avenue - Tom Waits (Closing Time)
Send Me No Wine - The Moody Blues (On the Threshold of a Dream)
Cherry Ball Blues - Jack Owens and Bud Spires (Alan Lomax Blues Songbook)
4. Menuetto; Trio; Polonaise; Trio - Bach (Brandenburg Concerto 1)
2. Andante - Saint Saens (Piano Concerto 3)
Going Solo - The Kinks (Word of Mouth)
(Most of this album is terrible, full of terrible 80's production values and just plain ole bad ideas, but this is a warm, lovely way to finish the album)
Find Her Finer - Frank Zappa (The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life)
2. Andante con espressione - Mozart (Piano Sonata 9)
Indiscipline - King Crimson (Absent Lovers)
Taxi Grab - Jethro Tull (Too Old to Rock 'N' Roll, Too Young to Die)
Wouldn't it be Nice? - The Beach Boys (Pet Sounds)
Walk Over You - AC/DC (Highway to Hell)
In Bloom - Nirvana (Nevermind)
(Nevermind is one of those albums that, to me, became underrated for being considered overrated by so many people. It's full of great songs, and this is one of them)
Double Bass - Van Der Graaf Generator (Present)
My Best Friend - Jefferson Airplane (Surrealistic Pillow)
A Simple Game - The Moody Blues (Prelude)
Hey Joe - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Are You Experienced?)
Purple Haze - Frank Zappa (The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life)
The Lamia - Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)
(One of the most beautiful songs on the album, though not in any sort of traditional way. The atmosphere created by this song is surreal and strange, but lovely all the same)
Simple Twist of Fate - Bob Dylan (Live at Budokan)
Juicy John Pink - Procol Harum (A Salty Dog)
3. Allegro - Mozart (Horn Concerto 3)
Hard Times in New York - Bob Dylan (Bootleg Series Vol 1-3)
A Legal Matter - The Who (The Who Sing My Generation)
I am the Walrus - The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour)
(He lies! The walrus was Paul!)
Oh My Pregnant Head - The Flaming Lips (Transmissions from the Satellite Heart)
Beauty Queen - Roxy Music (For Your Pleasure)
Return of the Son of Monster Magnet - Frank Zappa (Freak Out!)
Secret Touch - Rush (Vapor Trails)
(VT is a terribly produced album, and it's easy to lump all of the songs together as a sorta unlistenable mess. This is one of the standouts that act as an exception to the rule)
Andantino - Mozart (Concerto for Flute and Harp in C)
1. Andante sostenuto - Saint Saens (Piano Concerto 2)
Down to the Waterline - Dire Straits (Dire Straits)
I Don't Want to Know - Fleetwood Mac (Rumours)
Giant - Gentle Giant (Gentle Giant)
Minuet and Trio - Mozart (Divertimento 17)
Palo Alto - Radiohead
Will Anything Happen - Blondie (Parallel Lines)
My Generation - The Who (The Kids are Alright)
(This is the performance that ended with an explosion behind Pete, making him angry enough to grab the guitar out of the host's hands and smash it on TV. And thus begins one of the awesomest movies ever made)
Atrocity Exhibition - Joy Division (Closer)
Empty Glass - The Who (Who Are You bonus tracks)
3. Scherzo. Allegro Vivace / Trio - Beethoven (Symphony 3: Toscanini)
The Water is Wide - Bob Dylan (Live 1975)
New Year's Day - U2 (War)
New Languages - Yes (The Ladder)
My Back Pages - The Byrds (Younger Than Yesterday)
(One of the very few Dylan covers I've heard that exceeds the original, and that says a lot given that the original is one of my very favorite Dylan songs)
Interzone - Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures)
The Wanton Song - Led Zeppelin (Physical Graffiti)
A Punchup at a Wedding - Radiohead (Hail to the Thief)
Stagnation - Genesis (Trespass)
(A song that gets better, more gorgeous and more moving with each listen. A fine use of 9 minutes)
Needles in the Camel's Eye - Brian Eno (Here Come the Warm Jets)
Love Minus Zero / No Limit - Bob Dylan (Live at Budokan)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - The Beatles (Help!)
Rock the Casbah - The Clash (Combat Rock)
Francesca da Rimini - Tchaikovsky
2. Andante - Mozart (Violin Concerto 2)
Sweetness - Yes (Yes)
Revolution - The Beatles (Past Masters Vol. 2)
Music Reincarnate Pt. 4 / The Realization - Rick Wakeman (No Earthly Connection)
Amy - Elton John (Honky Chateau)
Romeo and Juliet - Tchaikovsky
Don't Need a Reindeer - The Moody Blues (December)
(I'm not especially thrilled that the Moodies made a Christmas album, but it's a much better album than it has any reason to be. Plus, this song is yet another one of Hayward's great up-tempo formulaic pop songs he's done since the 80's started. Say what you will, but the man had this formula down pat.)
Music Must Change - The Who (Who Are You)
(A fun and interesting song from a fun, interesting and underrated album. And to think that they had to use a squeaking shoe to keep tempo because the rhythm was too simple for Keith Moon to play)
Virginia Avenue - Tom Waits (Closing Time)
Send Me No Wine - The Moody Blues (On the Threshold of a Dream)
Cherry Ball Blues - Jack Owens and Bud Spires (Alan Lomax Blues Songbook)
4. Menuetto; Trio; Polonaise; Trio - Bach (Brandenburg Concerto 1)
2. Andante - Saint Saens (Piano Concerto 3)
Going Solo - The Kinks (Word of Mouth)
(Most of this album is terrible, full of terrible 80's production values and just plain ole bad ideas, but this is a warm, lovely way to finish the album)
Find Her Finer - Frank Zappa (The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life)
2. Andante con espressione - Mozart (Piano Sonata 9)
Indiscipline - King Crimson (Absent Lovers)
Taxi Grab - Jethro Tull (Too Old to Rock 'N' Roll, Too Young to Die)
Wouldn't it be Nice? - The Beach Boys (Pet Sounds)
Walk Over You - AC/DC (Highway to Hell)
In Bloom - Nirvana (Nevermind)
(Nevermind is one of those albums that, to me, became underrated for being considered overrated by so many people. It's full of great songs, and this is one of them)
Double Bass - Van Der Graaf Generator (Present)
My Best Friend - Jefferson Airplane (Surrealistic Pillow)
A Simple Game - The Moody Blues (Prelude)
Hey Joe - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Are You Experienced?)
Purple Haze - Frank Zappa (The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life)
The Lamia - Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)
(One of the most beautiful songs on the album, though not in any sort of traditional way. The atmosphere created by this song is surreal and strange, but lovely all the same)
Simple Twist of Fate - Bob Dylan (Live at Budokan)
Juicy John Pink - Procol Harum (A Salty Dog)
3. Allegro - Mozart (Horn Concerto 3)
Hard Times in New York - Bob Dylan (Bootleg Series Vol 1-3)
A Legal Matter - The Who (The Who Sing My Generation)
I am the Walrus - The Beatles (Magical Mystery Tour)
(He lies! The walrus was Paul!)
Oh My Pregnant Head - The Flaming Lips (Transmissions from the Satellite Heart)
Beauty Queen - Roxy Music (For Your Pleasure)
Return of the Son of Monster Magnet - Frank Zappa (Freak Out!)
Secret Touch - Rush (Vapor Trails)
(VT is a terribly produced album, and it's easy to lump all of the songs together as a sorta unlistenable mess. This is one of the standouts that act as an exception to the rule)
Andantino - Mozart (Concerto for Flute and Harp in C)
1. Andante sostenuto - Saint Saens (Piano Concerto 2)
Down to the Waterline - Dire Straits (Dire Straits)
I Don't Want to Know - Fleetwood Mac (Rumours)
Giant - Gentle Giant (Gentle Giant)
Minuet and Trio - Mozart (Divertimento 17)
Palo Alto - Radiohead
Will Anything Happen - Blondie (Parallel Lines)
My Generation - The Who (The Kids are Alright)
(This is the performance that ended with an explosion behind Pete, making him angry enough to grab the guitar out of the host's hands and smash it on TV. And thus begins one of the awesomest movies ever made)
Atrocity Exhibition - Joy Division (Closer)
Empty Glass - The Who (Who Are You bonus tracks)
3. Scherzo. Allegro Vivace / Trio - Beethoven (Symphony 3: Toscanini)
The Water is Wide - Bob Dylan (Live 1975)
New Year's Day - U2 (War)
New Languages - Yes (The Ladder)
My Back Pages - The Byrds (Younger Than Yesterday)
(One of the very few Dylan covers I've heard that exceeds the original, and that says a lot given that the original is one of my very favorite Dylan songs)
Interzone - Joy Division (Unknown Pleasures)
The Wanton Song - Led Zeppelin (Physical Graffiti)
A Punchup at a Wedding - Radiohead (Hail to the Thief)
Stagnation - Genesis (Trespass)
(A song that gets better, more gorgeous and more moving with each listen. A fine use of 9 minutes)
Needles in the Camel's Eye - Brian Eno (Here Come the Warm Jets)
Love Minus Zero / No Limit - Bob Dylan (Live at Budokan)
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - The Beatles (Help!)
Rock the Casbah - The Clash (Combat Rock)
Francesca da Rimini - Tchaikovsky
2. Andante - Mozart (Violin Concerto 2)
Sweetness - Yes (Yes)
Revolution - The Beatles (Past Masters Vol. 2)
Music Reincarnate Pt. 4 / The Realization - Rick Wakeman (No Earthly Connection)
Amy - Elton John (Honky Chateau)
Romeo and Juliet - Tchaikovsky
Don't Need a Reindeer - The Moody Blues (December)
(I'm not especially thrilled that the Moodies made a Christmas album, but it's a much better album than it has any reason to be. Plus, this song is yet another one of Hayward's great up-tempo formulaic pop songs he's done since the 80's started. Say what you will, but the man had this formula down pat.)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
06-02-09 tracks
Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist - Genesis (The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)
Little Wing - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Axis: Bold as Love)
(I don't love this album as much as most people seem to, but even I think this is an all-time classic)
The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou - Frank Zappa (The Man from Utopia)
Sheena is a Punk Rocker - The Ramones (It's Alive)
All of a Sudden (It's Too Late) - XTC (English Settlement)
South Bound Saurez - Led Zeppelin (In Through the Out Door)
This is the One - The Stone Roses (The Stone Roses)
The Analog Kid - Rush (Signals)
You are What You is - Frank Zappa (You are What You is)
(A fun, goofy, rhythmic romp of political incorrectness)
Join Together - The Who (Rarities 1966-72)
I'm Free - The Rolling Stones (Stripped)
Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World - The Ramones (It's Alive)
Spanish Bombs - The Clash (London Calling)
The Firebird Tableau I / Kaschei's Awakening - Stravinsky (The Firebird Suite: Stravinsky)
Listen to My Heart - The Ramones (It's Alive)
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict - Pink Floyd (Ummagumma)
(One of the weirdest experiments of Pink Floyd's career, and still a favorite of mine. The voices sped up to sound like little chipmunks still cracks me up)
You Shook Me - Led Zeppelin (BBC Sessions)
Neon Knights - Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell)
Thousand Island Park - Mahavishnu Orchestra (Birds of Fire)
Runnin' Blue - The Doors (The Soft Parade)
Tantalising Maggie - The Nice (The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack)
C.R.E.E.P. - The Fall (The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall)
A Question of Temperature - Balloon Farm (Nuggets)
(One of the goofiest one-hit wonders of the 60's, and one of the highlights of the Nuggets set)
Peel the Paint/I Lost My Head - Gentle Giant (Live - Playing the Fool)
Pretty Girl - Ween (12 Golden Country Greats)
Little Bird - The Beach Boys (Friends)
Bouree - Jethro Tull (Stand Up)
(Ian Anderson has regularly said that Bach would probably punch him in the face if he were alive and able to hear this, and he might be right. It's an awesome cover, if a bit sacreligious)
She's So Fine - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Axis: Bold as Love)
Soul Love - David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust)
Take Me With U - Prince (Purple Rain)
No Man's Land - Syd Barrett (The Madcap Laughs)
Bury My Body - The Animals (The Complete Animals)
Cat Food - King Crimson (In the Wake of Poseidon)
(One of KC's few instances of doing something silly in the 60's and 70's. The "NOT EVEN FIT FOR A HORSE" line cracks me up every time)
You Caught Me Smilin' - Sly and the Family Stone (There's a Riot Goin' On)
Time to Kill - Gentle Giant (Free Hand)
Fireside Song - Genesis (From Genesis to Revelation)
Man with an Open Heart - King Crimson (Three of a Perfect Pair)
Into a Game - Van Der Graaf Generator (The Aerosol Grey Machine)
Down in a Hole - Alice in Chains (Dirt)
Home Sweet Home - Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel 2)
America (US single edit) - The Nice (The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack)
Do the Neurotic - Genesis (Archive 1976-92)
(A great instrumental from the Invisible Touch sessions, which would have been one of the two best tracks on the album had it made it on)
2. Presto - Beethoven (String Quartets Op. 18/B-flat Major)
Why Pick on Me - The Standells (Nuggets)
Last Flowers - Radiohead (In Rainbows, bonus tracks)
4. Allegro - Beethoven (String Quartets Op. 18/C Minor)
The Decline and Fall of Me - Sparks (Angst in My Pants)
Big Fat Ma and Skinny Pa - Louis Armstrong (Hot Fives and Sevens)
Boy, What a Night - Lee Morgan (The Sidewinder)
Twentieth Century Fox - The Doors (The Doors)
Pat-Trip Dispenser - The Fall (The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall)
Carpe Diem Baby - Metallica (Reload)
2. Andante - Bach (Piano Concerto in F Major)
Procession of the Wise Elder - Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring: Stravinsky)
Burn - Deep Purple (Made in Europe)
(I'm no fan of Mk. III Deep Purple, but this is always a great track, whether in studio or live)
I'll Cry Instead - The Beatles (A Hard Day's Night)
I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
House of the Risin' Sun - Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan)
(Beats the living snot out of the more famous Animals cover. This is a completely depressing rendition of what is supposed to be a completely depressing song)
Mere Pseud Mag. Ed. - The Fall (Hex Enduction Hour)
Water - The Who (Live at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival)
Fireplace - R.E.M. (Document)
Starfish and Coffee - Prince (Sign of the Times)
We Can Work it Out - The Beatles (Past Masters 2)
Ya Ya - John Lennon (Rock & Roll)
Go to the Mirror! - The Who (Live at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival)
(One of the best Tommy songs, and one of the highlights of the band's live performances in the era)
2. Adagio - Brahms (Violin Sonata 1)
Hymn 43 - Jethro Tull (Aqualung)
2. Adagio molto espressivo - Beethoven (Violin Sonata 5)
Pulled Up - Talking Heads ('77)
I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know - Bob Dylan (Self Portrait)
Duke of Prunes - Frank Zappa (Orchestral Favorites)
Excerpts from Octopus - Gentle Giant (Live - Playing the Fool)
Are You Ready Eddy? - Emerson Lake and Palmer (Tarkus)
(An incredibly atypical way for the album to end, but the album is better for it.)
Tusk - Fleetwood Mac (The Dance)
Mrs. O'Leary's Cow - Brian Wilson (SMiLE)
America Drinks - Frank Zappa (Absolutely Free)
Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground (Live 1969)
Thanks but No Thanks - Sparks (Propaganda)
Family Snapshot - Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel 3)
Before They Make Me Run - The Rolling Stones (Some Girls)
Little Wing - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Axis: Bold as Love)
(I don't love this album as much as most people seem to, but even I think this is an all-time classic)
The Man from Utopia Meets Mary Lou - Frank Zappa (The Man from Utopia)
Sheena is a Punk Rocker - The Ramones (It's Alive)
All of a Sudden (It's Too Late) - XTC (English Settlement)
South Bound Saurez - Led Zeppelin (In Through the Out Door)
This is the One - The Stone Roses (The Stone Roses)
The Analog Kid - Rush (Signals)
You are What You is - Frank Zappa (You are What You is)
(A fun, goofy, rhythmic romp of political incorrectness)
Join Together - The Who (Rarities 1966-72)
I'm Free - The Rolling Stones (Stripped)
Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World - The Ramones (It's Alive)
Spanish Bombs - The Clash (London Calling)
The Firebird Tableau I / Kaschei's Awakening - Stravinsky (The Firebird Suite: Stravinsky)
Listen to My Heart - The Ramones (It's Alive)
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict - Pink Floyd (Ummagumma)
(One of the weirdest experiments of Pink Floyd's career, and still a favorite of mine. The voices sped up to sound like little chipmunks still cracks me up)
You Shook Me - Led Zeppelin (BBC Sessions)
Neon Knights - Black Sabbath (Heaven and Hell)
Thousand Island Park - Mahavishnu Orchestra (Birds of Fire)
Runnin' Blue - The Doors (The Soft Parade)
Tantalising Maggie - The Nice (The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack)
C.R.E.E.P. - The Fall (The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall)
A Question of Temperature - Balloon Farm (Nuggets)
(One of the goofiest one-hit wonders of the 60's, and one of the highlights of the Nuggets set)
Peel the Paint/I Lost My Head - Gentle Giant (Live - Playing the Fool)
Pretty Girl - Ween (12 Golden Country Greats)
Little Bird - The Beach Boys (Friends)
Bouree - Jethro Tull (Stand Up)
(Ian Anderson has regularly said that Bach would probably punch him in the face if he were alive and able to hear this, and he might be right. It's an awesome cover, if a bit sacreligious)
She's So Fine - The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Axis: Bold as Love)
Soul Love - David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust)
Take Me With U - Prince (Purple Rain)
No Man's Land - Syd Barrett (The Madcap Laughs)
Bury My Body - The Animals (The Complete Animals)
Cat Food - King Crimson (In the Wake of Poseidon)
(One of KC's few instances of doing something silly in the 60's and 70's. The "NOT EVEN FIT FOR A HORSE" line cracks me up every time)
You Caught Me Smilin' - Sly and the Family Stone (There's a Riot Goin' On)
Time to Kill - Gentle Giant (Free Hand)
Fireside Song - Genesis (From Genesis to Revelation)
Man with an Open Heart - King Crimson (Three of a Perfect Pair)
Into a Game - Van Der Graaf Generator (The Aerosol Grey Machine)
Down in a Hole - Alice in Chains (Dirt)
Home Sweet Home - Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel 2)
America (US single edit) - The Nice (The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack)
Do the Neurotic - Genesis (Archive 1976-92)
(A great instrumental from the Invisible Touch sessions, which would have been one of the two best tracks on the album had it made it on)
2. Presto - Beethoven (String Quartets Op. 18/B-flat Major)
Why Pick on Me - The Standells (Nuggets)
Last Flowers - Radiohead (In Rainbows, bonus tracks)
4. Allegro - Beethoven (String Quartets Op. 18/C Minor)
The Decline and Fall of Me - Sparks (Angst in My Pants)
Big Fat Ma and Skinny Pa - Louis Armstrong (Hot Fives and Sevens)
Boy, What a Night - Lee Morgan (The Sidewinder)
Twentieth Century Fox - The Doors (The Doors)
Pat-Trip Dispenser - The Fall (The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall)
Carpe Diem Baby - Metallica (Reload)
2. Andante - Bach (Piano Concerto in F Major)
Procession of the Wise Elder - Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring: Stravinsky)
Burn - Deep Purple (Made in Europe)
(I'm no fan of Mk. III Deep Purple, but this is always a great track, whether in studio or live)
I'll Cry Instead - The Beatles (A Hard Day's Night)
I Walk the Line - Johnny Cash (The Legend)
House of the Risin' Sun - Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan)
(Beats the living snot out of the more famous Animals cover. This is a completely depressing rendition of what is supposed to be a completely depressing song)
Mere Pseud Mag. Ed. - The Fall (Hex Enduction Hour)
Water - The Who (Live at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival)
Fireplace - R.E.M. (Document)
Starfish and Coffee - Prince (Sign of the Times)
We Can Work it Out - The Beatles (Past Masters 2)
Ya Ya - John Lennon (Rock & Roll)
Go to the Mirror! - The Who (Live at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival)
(One of the best Tommy songs, and one of the highlights of the band's live performances in the era)
2. Adagio - Brahms (Violin Sonata 1)
Hymn 43 - Jethro Tull (Aqualung)
2. Adagio molto espressivo - Beethoven (Violin Sonata 5)
Pulled Up - Talking Heads ('77)
I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know - Bob Dylan (Self Portrait)
Duke of Prunes - Frank Zappa (Orchestral Favorites)
Excerpts from Octopus - Gentle Giant (Live - Playing the Fool)
Are You Ready Eddy? - Emerson Lake and Palmer (Tarkus)
(An incredibly atypical way for the album to end, but the album is better for it.)
Tusk - Fleetwood Mac (The Dance)
Mrs. O'Leary's Cow - Brian Wilson (SMiLE)
America Drinks - Frank Zappa (Absolutely Free)
Sweet Jane - The Velvet Underground (Live 1969)
Thanks but No Thanks - Sparks (Propaganda)
Family Snapshot - Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel 3)
Before They Make Me Run - The Rolling Stones (Some Girls)
Sunday, August 16, 2009
05-22-09 tracks
The Spirit of Radio - Rush (Permanent Waves)
(I must say, there are worse ways to kick off the day than with a song that starts with, "Begin the day with a friendly voice...")
Scene III: Apotheosis - Stravinsky (Orpheus)
Were We Ever Really Safe in San Antonio? - Frank Zappa (Guitar)
Sandstorm - Peter Gabriel (Passion)
Hare Krsna - Husker Du (Zen Arcade)
Sorrow - Pink Floyd (PULSE)
China My China - Brian Eno (Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy))
(Not one of Eno's best songs ever, but it's worthwhile if only for featuring the world's one and only typewriter solo)
Before Night Falls - Peter Gabriel (Passion)
The Crukster - Giles, Giles and Fripp (The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp)
Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 69 No. 1 - Chopin
If Dogs Run Free - Bob Dylan (New Morning)
Don't Leave Me Alone with Her - Sparks (Propaganda)
When My Baby Smiles at Me - Benny Goodman (Live at Carnegie Hall 1937)
2. Canzonetta (Andante) - Tchaikovsky (Violin Concerto)
2. Largo ma non tonto - Bach (Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor)
Pas d'action - Stravinsky (Orpheus)
Mushroom Head - Can (Tago Mago)
I Can't Reach You - The Who (The Who Sell Out)
(An absolutely top-rate pop ballad. The whole song captures longing for another as well as any that I know)
Girl From the North Country (with Johnny Cash) - Bob Dylan (Nashville Skyline)
Book of Saturday - King Crimson (Larks Tongue's in Aspic)
Sister Disco - The Who (Who Are You)
High C - Sparks (Sparks)
I Believe (When I Fall in Love it will be Forever) - Stevie Wonder (Talking Book)
The Great Marsh (1) - Camel (The Snow Goose)
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun - Debussy
San Ber'dino - Frank Zappa (One Size Fits All)
3. Menuetto. Allegro - Haydn (Symphony 102)
Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd (Atom Heart Mother)
(Not the most successful side-long track I've ever heard a rock band do, but it's got a lot of nice bits)
Broken Home, Broken Heart - Husker Du (Zen Arcade)
1. Allegro molto moderato - Sibelius (Symphony 6)
(I remember reading once that Sibelius said that this symphony reminded him of freshly fallen snow, and I couldn't agree more)
Animate - Rush (Counterparts)
4. Allegro - Beethoven (Piano Sonata 12: Brendel)
4. Rondo: Poco Allegro e Grazioso - Beethoven (Piano Sonata 4: Brendel)
Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead (The Bends)
(Easily one of the two best tracks on the album, and it points the way to the darkness and paranoid depressive gloom that would characterize so much of the band's later work)
Burn - Deep Purple (On the Wings of a Russian Foxbat)
1. Introduzione (Andante con moto) / Allegro Vivace - Beethoven (String Quartets op. 59/C Major)
Going to a Go-Go - The Rolling Stones (Still Life: 1981 American Concert)
No Friend of Mine - Sparkles (Nuggets)
Variation on Terpsichore - Stravinsky (Apollo)
2. Allemande - Bach (Cello suite 1)
With Drums and Pipes - Bartok (Out of Doors)
I Could Write a Book - Miles Davis (Relaxin')
Whiplash - Metallica (Kill 'Em All)
Tonight I'll be Staying Here with You - Bob Dylan (Live 1975)
(It's funny how this live album makes this track sound like a perfect concert opener, despite the fact that it was apparently not used as an opener at all during the tour)
I Looked Away - Derek and the Dominos (Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs)
Badge - Cream (Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2005)
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (Live Evil)
Hey You - Pink Floyd (The Wall)
Can't Get it Out of My Head - Electric Light Orchestra (El Dorado)
(This is probably my favorite ELO song of the few that I know, and that title isn't lying)
Two or Three Spectres - Peter Hammill (Nadir's Big Chance)
No. 13 Moderato Assi / Molto piu mosso - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Cosmik Debris - Frank Zappa (You Can't do That on Stage Anymore Vol 3)
2. Adagio ma non tonto - Bach (Brandenburg Concerto 6)
Connection - The Rolling Stones (Between the Buttons)
I Once Wrote some Poems - Peter Hammill (Fool's Mate)
1. Allegro non troppo - Brahms (Violin Concerto: Hahn)
My Heart - Louis Armstrong (Hot Fives and Sevens Vol 1)
Turn the Page - Metallica (Garage Inc)
The Thrill of it All - Roxy Music (Country Life)
(One of the best songs about post-breakup depression imaginable, which is all the more remarkable because the song doesn't hint at actually being about that until close to the end of the track.)
Hope - Rush (Snakes and Arrows Live)
Do it - The Doors (The Soft Parade)
Tonight's the Night - Neil Young (Tonight's the Night)
Thank You for the Music - ABBA (The Album)
VROOOM VROOOM - King Crimson (VROOOM VROOOM)
Suite No. 1 - Giles, Giles and Fripp (The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp)
Steam - Peter Gabriel (Us)
Rock and Role - Peter Hammill (Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night)
Downtown - Tom Waits (Heartattack and Vine)
Seven and Seven is - Rush (Feedback EP)
Contact - The Police (Reggatta de Blanc)
Sharleena - Frank Zappa (Them or Us)
Something's Coming - Yes (Beyond and Before: BBC Sessions)
(One of the biggest crackups in my entire music collection: the earliest incarnation of Yes doing a cover of a song from West Side Story. It's freaking awesome)
2. Adagio - Brahms (Violin Sonata 3)
(I must say, there are worse ways to kick off the day than with a song that starts with, "Begin the day with a friendly voice...")
Scene III: Apotheosis - Stravinsky (Orpheus)
Were We Ever Really Safe in San Antonio? - Frank Zappa (Guitar)
Sandstorm - Peter Gabriel (Passion)
Hare Krsna - Husker Du (Zen Arcade)
Sorrow - Pink Floyd (PULSE)
China My China - Brian Eno (Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy))
(Not one of Eno's best songs ever, but it's worthwhile if only for featuring the world's one and only typewriter solo)
Before Night Falls - Peter Gabriel (Passion)
The Crukster - Giles, Giles and Fripp (The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp)
Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 69 No. 1 - Chopin
If Dogs Run Free - Bob Dylan (New Morning)
Don't Leave Me Alone with Her - Sparks (Propaganda)
When My Baby Smiles at Me - Benny Goodman (Live at Carnegie Hall 1937)
2. Canzonetta (Andante) - Tchaikovsky (Violin Concerto)
2. Largo ma non tonto - Bach (Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor)
Pas d'action - Stravinsky (Orpheus)
Mushroom Head - Can (Tago Mago)
I Can't Reach You - The Who (The Who Sell Out)
(An absolutely top-rate pop ballad. The whole song captures longing for another as well as any that I know)
Girl From the North Country (with Johnny Cash) - Bob Dylan (Nashville Skyline)
Book of Saturday - King Crimson (Larks Tongue's in Aspic)
Sister Disco - The Who (Who Are You)
High C - Sparks (Sparks)
I Believe (When I Fall in Love it will be Forever) - Stevie Wonder (Talking Book)
The Great Marsh (1) - Camel (The Snow Goose)
Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun - Debussy
San Ber'dino - Frank Zappa (One Size Fits All)
3. Menuetto. Allegro - Haydn (Symphony 102)
Atom Heart Mother - Pink Floyd (Atom Heart Mother)
(Not the most successful side-long track I've ever heard a rock band do, but it's got a lot of nice bits)
Broken Home, Broken Heart - Husker Du (Zen Arcade)
1. Allegro molto moderato - Sibelius (Symphony 6)
(I remember reading once that Sibelius said that this symphony reminded him of freshly fallen snow, and I couldn't agree more)
Animate - Rush (Counterparts)
4. Allegro - Beethoven (Piano Sonata 12: Brendel)
4. Rondo: Poco Allegro e Grazioso - Beethoven (Piano Sonata 4: Brendel)
Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead (The Bends)
(Easily one of the two best tracks on the album, and it points the way to the darkness and paranoid depressive gloom that would characterize so much of the band's later work)
Burn - Deep Purple (On the Wings of a Russian Foxbat)
1. Introduzione (Andante con moto) / Allegro Vivace - Beethoven (String Quartets op. 59/C Major)
Going to a Go-Go - The Rolling Stones (Still Life: 1981 American Concert)
No Friend of Mine - Sparkles (Nuggets)
Variation on Terpsichore - Stravinsky (Apollo)
2. Allemande - Bach (Cello suite 1)
With Drums and Pipes - Bartok (Out of Doors)
I Could Write a Book - Miles Davis (Relaxin')
Whiplash - Metallica (Kill 'Em All)
Tonight I'll be Staying Here with You - Bob Dylan (Live 1975)
(It's funny how this live album makes this track sound like a perfect concert opener, despite the fact that it was apparently not used as an opener at all during the tour)
I Looked Away - Derek and the Dominos (Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs)
Badge - Cream (Live at the Royal Albert Hall 2005)
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (Live Evil)
Hey You - Pink Floyd (The Wall)
Can't Get it Out of My Head - Electric Light Orchestra (El Dorado)
(This is probably my favorite ELO song of the few that I know, and that title isn't lying)
Two or Three Spectres - Peter Hammill (Nadir's Big Chance)
No. 13 Moderato Assi / Molto piu mosso - Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake)
Cosmik Debris - Frank Zappa (You Can't do That on Stage Anymore Vol 3)
2. Adagio ma non tonto - Bach (Brandenburg Concerto 6)
Connection - The Rolling Stones (Between the Buttons)
I Once Wrote some Poems - Peter Hammill (Fool's Mate)
1. Allegro non troppo - Brahms (Violin Concerto: Hahn)
My Heart - Louis Armstrong (Hot Fives and Sevens Vol 1)
Turn the Page - Metallica (Garage Inc)
The Thrill of it All - Roxy Music (Country Life)
(One of the best songs about post-breakup depression imaginable, which is all the more remarkable because the song doesn't hint at actually being about that until close to the end of the track.)
Hope - Rush (Snakes and Arrows Live)
Do it - The Doors (The Soft Parade)
Tonight's the Night - Neil Young (Tonight's the Night)
Thank You for the Music - ABBA (The Album)
VROOOM VROOOM - King Crimson (VROOOM VROOOM)
Suite No. 1 - Giles, Giles and Fripp (The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp)
Steam - Peter Gabriel (Us)
Rock and Role - Peter Hammill (Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night)
Downtown - Tom Waits (Heartattack and Vine)
Seven and Seven is - Rush (Feedback EP)
Contact - The Police (Reggatta de Blanc)
Sharleena - Frank Zappa (Them or Us)
Something's Coming - Yes (Beyond and Before: BBC Sessions)
(One of the biggest crackups in my entire music collection: the earliest incarnation of Yes doing a cover of a song from West Side Story. It's freaking awesome)
2. Adagio - Brahms (Violin Sonata 3)
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