Quinta-feira 27 Nov 2014, 7h:26

Figured I'd do a bit of writing for a change, so I've come up with an idea. I'm asking myself this question:

If you could only listen to one song from each artist in your top ten, which ten songs would you choose and why?

I'm doing this for two reasons - one is to get my opinion out there in writing for the hell of it, and the other is that I'm certain anyone reading this won't agree with my choices at all (my tastes are eccentric at best).

1) Iron Maiden - Journeyman

Maiden are first on my list but last to be written, as I really had no idea what to choose! I could have easily gone for another dozen tracks to put up there. I plumped for Journeyman in the end, from 2003's Dance of Death, partly because I love it, and partly because it forms part of a pattern you'll notice as you read through the other nine entries. When listening to the track it always makes me think of sitting by a campfire watching a golden sunset, which is ideal for a closing track. It's moody without being downtrodden, poignant without being cheesy, and perfectly fine for sitting back and relaxing to after a hard slog through the album (in a good way mind, I like the album as a whole too!)

2) Therapy? - Crooked Timber

With a band such as Therapy?, the natural instinct is to choose something from their 90s heyday, and indeed there are plenty of tracks that I would be happy to put down here, but I've gone for something rather different in the title track to 2009's Crooked Timber. The soundscape is fantastic, the drumming is spot on - it provides atmosphere and depth without being overbearing, and the melodies and chord progressions further add to this feeling. It's fairly unique in the band's repertoire also, the only other track with a similar exploratory feel being Exiles off the same album.

3) Dream Theater - Octavarium

Bands like Dream Theater are welcome answers to questions like this, as due to their proggy nature they have recorded a number of tracks long enough to be the equivalent of an entire EP. I've gone for one such track, again off an album of the same name, Octavarium, released in 2005. Octavarium was in fact the first DT album I ever listened to, back when I didn't listen to a lot of music, so it holds a lot of good memories for me, and the final track sets them perfectly. The moment when the fingerboard kicks in at just shy of four minutes sent tingles down my spine on first listen, and it remains one of my favourite musical moments.

4) The Prodigy - Narayan

This was a remarkably difficult choice, and I'm still not certain of it, but this gem, off 1997's wildly successful Fat of the Land, is one of those tracks I go back to again and again. It doesn't have the pace or energy of the more well-known tracks from the album, but it's incredibly atmospheric, and listening to it feels like going on a mystical journey, which is never a bad thing. Special mention to Out of Space, a tune which still feels as fresh and vibrant as it will have been over 20 years ago, and which might have made the list if I wrote it another day.

5) Muse - Map of the Problematique

Now we come to the first of the bands I rarely listen to these days. This will be fairly contentious, but for me the band peaked with 2006's Black Holes and Revelations, so it felt natural to choose a track from it. In all honesty, in terms of an overall track, MotP probably isn't their greatest work, but I love it purely because of the intro, it manages to hit the spot perfectly for me. If I were to choose a track based on the entirety of it, I would most likely go for Butterflies & Hurricanes off of Absolution, the way it builds to that crescendo at the end also does a pretty good job of resonating with me.

6) Pendulum - Sounds of Life

It's truly a shame that Pendulum chose the direction they took, and that they will almost certainly never go back to making outstanding, forward-thinking drum & bass, but at least Hold Your Colour exists, from 2005. Much like my Prodigy choice, there are other tracks on the album that are far better known and received, but I've found in recent years that if I decide to listen to the group, that Sounds of Life has been my go-to track. I love the way it washes over you, the synths and vocals are excellent, and for me it remains a classic example of liquid d&b done right.

7) Nirvana - You Know You're Right

I'm laughing as I come to Nirvana, as I've not listened to them for numerous years, yet they still hold a place firmly on my top ten. I've gone for the opening track off their eponymous compilation album, Nirvana, from 2002. As stated earlier, I got into music pretty late, and I bought this in around 2003-4 based off the buzz more than anything (they've always been popular with teens so it made sense), so the title track was in fact my first proper introduction to the band, and at the time I absolutely loved it. Fully half the tracks on the compilation became favourites for a long while, but YKYR stood out to me among the rest.

8) Bruce DIckinson - Tears of the Dragon

Finally, 80% of the way in, we come to a track that readers of this entry might just agree with! Bruce Dickinson's solo work flew under the radar for the most part, with perhaps the two albums from the late 90s prior to the Maiden reunion being the most popular, but the closing track from 1994's Balls To Picasso is something a little bit special. Metal ballads can quite easily fall on the cringey side of things, and I'm sure there are people who believe this track to be no exception, but to me it's absolutely fantastic. If you get the chance, listen to the live version on Scream For Me Brazil; hearing thousands upon thousands of people intensely singing along as if their lives depended on it is a remarkable experience.

9) Oasis - Champagne Supernova

It would be remiss of me not to include something from (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, perhaps the biggest album from late '95. Growing up as a kid in 90s England I had Britpop injected into my veins, and as it goes so do Oasis, and with them goes Morning Glory. As has become apparent through this list as much as I love hard rock and loud banging music, there's always something about a stripped-down, chilled-out track that makes me feel so good, and Champagne Supernova is one of the best at it. It is every bit as emotional and powerful as anything the band have ever done, and a fitting farewell to what turned out to be their greatest moment.

10) London Elektricity - Hanging Rock

I am genuinely surprised to see London Elektricity not only make my top ten, but make it comfortably, though there was a period 6-7 years back where I was getting into d&b and went on a massive Hospital binge. The track I've chosen isn't from the album I listened to the most back then (Syncopated City), though I could have easily picked a number of tracks from that for my list (Sat Nav ran it close), but from the previous effort, Power Ballads from 2005. The track practically ticks every box for me on what makes an enjoyable d&b track, from the upbeat nature, to the way it builds, to the sparse but properly utilised vocals.