Friday Featured Track
The song that has been on my brain the most this week:
- “You,” Collective Soul, from the new album “Collective Soul” (AKA “Rabbit”).
Since I received my advance copy of the new Collective Soul album a week or so ago, I’ve listened to it with the kind of single-mindedness only a diehard fan can embrace.
In my album review, which I posted here earlier today, I praised the Georgia rockers for their incredible track record of producing superb power ballads.
For this week’s FFT, I want to highlight my favorite of these ballads, the gorgeous “You.” This ballad really soars, with frontman/songwriter Ed Roland passionately paying tribute to his lover without ever getting into the soppy cliches that bog down so many love songs.
Interestingly, “You” is the first song that Collective Soul has ever written as a unit, according to press notes for the album.
The song is Collective Soul at its pop finest and ranks up there with “Tremble for My Beloved” and “Under Heaven’s Skies” as the band’s best ballads.
-BAM
Friday Featured Track
Ed Roland performs last month at Tulsa’s SpiritBank Event Center. (BAM photo)
- “Welcome All Again,” Collective Soul, from their forthcoming album “Collective Soul” (AKA “Rabbit”).
One of my all-time favorite bands, Collective Soul, releases its new album Tuesday. It will be the group’s second self-titled CD, but it has gained the nickname “Rabbit” because of the cover art by Atlanta photographer Joseph Guay.
I received earlier this week my review copy of the CD and will bringing you my review next week.
I don’t want to reveal too much, but will tell you that even though I’ve been following the band since its mid ’90s post-grunge heyday, they were still able to surprise me. Several of the tracks on the album have them experimenting in new ways but still sounding like Collective Soul.
My Friday Featured Track this week is the opening song on the album, the driving rocker “Welcome All Again,” which in classic Collective Soul tradition has an irresistible guitar riff and Ed Roland’s great vocals, plus some gorgeous piano flourishes.
The band opened its Tulsa show last month with “Welcome All Again,” which manages to sound both intense and upbeat, and it really electrified the crowd. It’s a great way to start a record.
-BAM
Friday Featured Track
The song that has been in my head the most this week:
- “Don’t Cost a Dime,” Martina McBride, from her 2009 album “Shine.”
For the final post of Martina McBride Day here at BAM’s Blog, I’m highlighting my favorite song her new album. “Don’t Cost a Dime” reminds us again that love is more important than money and is one of the only currencies that keeps its value in hard times anyway. It’s a simple message, but one worth hearing again during these often gloomy times. Plus, it makes a great one-two shot of positivity with her upbeat hit single “Ride.”
Don’t forget, McBride will play two Oklahoma shows this weekend: tonight in Thackerville and Saturday in Miami. For more information, go to www.martinamcbride.com.
-BAM
Friday Featured Track
The song that has been on my brain the most this week:
- “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” Simple Minds, from the soundtrack to the 1985 film “The Breakfast Club.”
Since the sad word of filmmaker John Hughes’ untimely death at 59 broke Thursday, this song has been cycling through my head. The theme of one of his best films, “The Breakfast Club,” it became one of the signature songs of the 1980s. Scottish New Wave band Simple Minds took the song to No. 1 on the U.S. charts, and it remains their best-known track.
Enjoy the song – and if your a child of the ’80s/early ’90s, the nostalgia – with the original video, posted here from YouTube. And if you haven’t seen “The Breakfast Club,” for crying out loud, be sure to watch it ASAP.
-BAM
Friday Featured Track
The songs that have been on my mind the most this week:
- “Romeo and Juliet,” Dire Straits, from the 1980 album “Making Movies.”
and
- “Love Story,” Taylor Swift, from her 2008 album “Fearless.”
Maybe I’m just in a romantic mood this week, or maybe I’ve just got a penchant for Shakespearean tragedy. But I’ve had these two very different musical takes on the Bard’s most famous play alternately running through my head.
With its arpeggiated guitar opener, delicately intricate instrumentation and Mark Knopfler’s distinctive vocal delivery, Dire Strait’s melancholy “Romeo and Juliet” has become a classic rock ballad. It’s been covered by several artists, including The Killers, Indigo Girls and Edwin McCain. It also has been featured in many movies, though it always reminds me of the 1995 comedy-drama “Empire Records,” which boasts a strong ’90s soundtrack.
Teenage country-pop singer-songwriter Taylor Swift takes a much more unabashedly romantic approach in her hit “Love Story,” which has a happy ending. This is a song that has slowly grown on me. Initially, it was too syrupy for me – and honestly, it still comes across as extremely happy-happy – but I eventually warmed to the teenage optimism and the lovely instrumentation, particularly the soaring fiddle.
Of course, these aren’t the only popular songs to gain inspiration from Shakespeare’s well-known play, but they do offer contrasting views of his age-old story of star-crossed love.
-BAM
Friday Featured Track
The song that has been on my brain the most this week:
- “Light Up My Room,” Barenaked Ladies, from the Canadian alt-pop band’s seminal 1998 album “Stunt.”
Between the speedily delivered witticisms of the monster hit “One Week” and the all-too-true nonsense of “Who Needs Sleep” (which was my theme song in college and sadly continues to be my anthem to this day), it was easy to overlook “Light Up My Room” on BNL’s breakout album “Stunt.”
But this quirky, melodic love song has always been one of my favorites from that irresistible album. The lyrics are so off the wall, but at the same time, you can picture them in your head. They creatively convey the time-worn message of love overcoming a dearth of material goods.
And the music is pretty terrific, too, with layers of sound creating a depth of feeling and a tinge of wistfulness to go along with those wonderful words.
Check out this YouTube video of BNL frontman Ed Robertson performing “Light Up My Room” acoustic as part of his “Bathroom Series.” It doesn’t have all the sonic layers of the album version, but it’s still a great song.
-BAM
3D’s Friday Featured Track
My featured track this week is the song “Prophets” off the A.C. Newman album “Get Guilty.” I’ll go ahead and admit that I had never heard of A.C. Newman until a couple of months ago when this song was used in the season finale of How I Met Your Mother. (A funny coincidence since he’s a Canadian pop sensation and fans of the show know that the character of Robin is ashamed of having been just that in her youth.)
I found myself watching and re-watching the scene in which the song is played. It was so catchy, I just had to investigate. I found the song on itunes and was as pleased with the full version as I had been with the portion used on the show. It now has a permanent place on my ipod.
—3D
Friday Featured Track
The song that has been stuck in my head for weeks now is “So They Say” from the soundtrack to “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” I have had the DVD for a while now and realized one day that I would have to get the soundtrack because I kept listening to the songs over and over. That’s a big deal for someone who doesn’t usually like musicals.
The soundtrack is great, but anyone who has the DVD knows that there is a musical commentary for the show that contains several good songs, so I’m hopeful they’ll put out a second soundtrack with those songs. In the meantime, you should enjoy the soundtrack but beware, you will find yourself singing about freeze rays and bad horses …
—3D
3D’s Bonus Friday Featured Track
I have always felt that “Men at Work” could have been one of the best bands of the 80’s if they had just stayed together longer. Still, while they were together, they gave us a ton of great pop hits. My favorite has always been “It’s a Mistake,” which combines a great hook, political commentary, and one of their always funny videos. Please watch and enjoy despite bad video quality.
—3D
Friday Featured Track
Since Collective Soul was in concert in Tulsa on Tuesday and BAM is such a fan, I thought I’d go with them for the featured track this week. The song that has been on my mind for a couple of days is “Welcome All Again ” from their new self-titled album, which will be released in August. It is one of their more rock oriented songs, and I enjoyed it a lot when they opened the show with it. If you want to hear it now, this song is already available for download from iTunes.
—3D
