Radiohead - "Paranoid Android" - Song of the Day - (3/31/15)

The clever Radiohead song "Paranoid Android" and the animated music video changed something in my brain forever. The music is stunning, with flawless production, and there is no other band that could put a song like this together today. Even at the time back in 1997, while Radiohead dropped a new way of thinking, the only comparisons made were with classic rock bands like Pink Floyd. OK Computer was completely ahead of it's time, and may still be, the whole album is brilliant straight through. This song to me is as powerful as the Queen hit "Bohemian Rhapsody" and with a similar format. There is no real verse and chorus structure to the song. It's like a classical composition with different sections all together making a piece. Certain parts are repeated but not exactly the same, and the song just keeps progressing right until the end. Radiohead really set a high standard for grunge moving forward, and they have always remained on the cutting edge of new rock music ever since.

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Stone Temple Pilots - "Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart" - SOTD - (11/23/14)

Growing up in the grunge rock era naturally Stone Temple Pilots are one of my favorite bands. They represent a quintessential grunge rock style very popular in the 90's. Other than maybe Nirvana, there really is no band better at firing me up. This song "Trippin on a Hole in a Paper Heart" comes from the album Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop the 3rd album released by the band back in 1996. This was a more experimental album for the band compared to the mostly hard rock music on the first two albums Core and Plush. This video is footage of the guys from around the same time as when they were producing the album. They locked themselves in a house/recording studio and busted out some amazing riffs. I will always love Stone Temple Pilots, they represent a great part of my life when I first started playing guitar in a band with my friends. This video is from the Official STP Youtube Channel, go there to check out more from this legendary grunge rock group.

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Battles - "Atlas" - Song of the Day - 10/16/14

Battles is a very experimental style of rock band, they are all talented musicians that can go off on musical tangents leaving the listener wondering what just happened. "Atlas" comes from the debut album by Battles entitled Mirrored. The album name is very fitting due to the incredible use of patterns found in many of the songs. Battles sort of reminds me of Primus, using powerful banging bass slaps along with raw recordings. This is about as indie as you can get with rock music and vocals, just when it seemed like everything had been done before musically, Battles comes through with a new take on grunge music. Mirrored is a long song basically split into tracks, thus the abrupt ending, so you have to listen to the whole album to get the full effect. You can listen to the entire Battles album Mirrored here on Spotify.

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Muse - "Hysteria" LIVE - Song of the Day - [10-13-14]

Muse puts on one of the best live performances in the rock genre, so I had to share a live video. They are a very complete band, some songs are so rich with a musical story it's almost like watching a film, just all audible. This song "Hysteria" come from the album Absolution. I love this bass line it's very difficult to play and it's completely vital to the song, normally the drummer keeps the beat but not on the song "Hysteria" everyone follows the bass. Muse really blew up in America when the song "Knights of Cydonia" hit every rock radio station back in 2006. Every Muse album is a masterpiece, they are a very well established and highly skilled group of friends with fame all over the world and rightfully so, they rock!

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The Bloodhound Gang - "Along Comes Mary" - Song of the Day - (9/26/14)

The Bloodhound Gang is one of my favorite grunge/punk rock bands. More often than not the lyrics are goofy and funny, but the music is strong rock music. "Along Comes Mary" is a special single found on the soundtrack for the film "Half Baked" and also on The Bloodhound Gangs album Show Us Your Hits a best of album for the band. This is the official video for "Along Comes Mary."

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Beck - "Hell Yes" - Song of the Day - [9/20/14]

Beck is one of the best producers/performers on the planet. He is never afraid to experiment with new ideas, and more often than not he succeeds in everything musically. This song "Hell Yes" is from Beck's album Guero an incredible record all the way through. Beck has so much variation from song to song, he goes from grungy punk rock, into some blues, and then all the way to full electronic compositions. He is always on the cutting edge with music, so make sure to keep up with Beck. Most of his amazing music catalog can be streamed here on spotify.

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The White Stripes - "Icky Thump" - Song of the Day - (9/12/14)

Man, there was something magical about The White Stripes. It's too bad Jack and Meg aren't together anymore, although Jack White remains in the lime light with new projects, Meg has not been actively in a band since The White Stripes split up back in 2011. This song "Icky Thump" is the album title track, and a great example of the beautiful energy between the duo. The White Stripes have such a raw sound, their music makes you feel like you are hanging out with friends in a garage and having a personal jam session, except for perfectly timed out and creating a brilliant full sound. Every album The White Stripes released were packed with creativity and originality. The White Stripes break up represents the death of an era of grunge rock, it was barely still hanging on but it died that day officially. Soon we will have to refer to grunge rock bands as classic rock, as they should be.

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System of a Down - "Chop Suey!" - Song of the Day (9-5-14)

System of a Down is one of the only true rock bands out there anymore. Everyone else went down the punk/emo path, while System of a Down just kept it hard as fuck. You can't hate on strong difficult rock music like theirs, it's unfounded. This is the official video for "Chop Suey!" probably the most popular System of a Down song, or maybe "Toxicity." Regardless, if you listen to rock music you have to have some System of a Down in your catalog or you are just slacking.

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Incubus - "Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)" LIVE - SOTD - (8/5/14)

Incubus used to be a super funky band when they first started out. This song "Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)" is a straight up jam from the album S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Their style back on the early albums I like to refer to as porn rock. Early Incubus like this is considered classic to me at this point, I know every word of the entire album and I find it hard not to sing along. Incubus is still kicking and they rock out their older jams to perfection live, like we see in this video. If you got into Incubus later in their career you should definitely take a look back to Fungus Amongus, Enjoy Incubus, and S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

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Cake - "Frank Sinatra" LIVE - Song of the Day - [7/29/14]

Cake is an awesome alternative grunge rock band that still remains intact today, one of the only bands left from the era. This is a live performance of "Frank Sinatra" the opening track from the album Fashion Nugget performed on Letterman. Cake gained a huge following from their song "The Distance" also from Fashion Nugget and they now have seven full albums each are excellent. You can find tour dates, music downloads, and more at the Official Cake Website.

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Foo Fighters - "I'll Stick Around" (Song of the Day) [2-25-14]

The Foo Fighters have become a massive band and one of the only true rock bands left in my opinion. "I'll Stick Around" was the second single from the album Foo Fighters. The self titled album was one of the first CDs I ever purchased as a teen. For this first Foo Fighters album everything was created by Dave Grohl, he recorded every instrument and all the vocals himself. The self titled album was never intended to become so popular. Dave Grohl once said, "The first Foo Fighters record was not meant to be an album, it was an experiment and for fun. I was just fucking around. Some of the lyrics weren't even real words." Grohl would later assemble a band to play the music at live shows, and eventually for the creation of more albums. Now the Foo Fighters are huge and known all over the world.

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Nirvana - "Love Buzz" [Song of the Day] (2-11-14)

This clip is from Live, Tonight, Sold Out!! it's a concert version of 'Love Buzz' my favorite song from Nirvana's first album "Bleach". Nirvana was a major influence for me as a teenager and their music still holds up as some of the most entertaining rock music. Most people know the album "Nevermind" and consider that the start of Nirvana. It is true that the band blew up in popularity after "Nevermind". The band's debut album "Bleach" was created by a hodge podge of different people like Pat Smear who is now a member of the Foo Fighters. Also for "Bleach" Chad Channing was the drummer and not Dave Grohl. Grohl would join the band before the album "Nevermind" in 1990. The film Live, Tonight, Sold Out!! is a glimpse into the lives of the touring rock stars in the early 90's. I used to own it on VHS, it should be up in it's entirety online somewhere.

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