My Pick on Top 10 Best Music Albums

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have always been fascinated with music. Recently, I googled "music" and explored various knowledge sites. It seems that the word "music" came from the word "Muses" that means the daughters of Zues who are advocates of knowledge such as Literature, Geography, Mathematics and, of course, Music. Personally, my passion does include Music. Only yesterday I had a jamming session with a famous local composer, Ahmad Izham Omar. We played some Blues and Rock and Roll alongside the band members of D'Kechewas (Azhar, Iesta, Kamal and Eddy). Our favourite genres may differ but once the band members click together, they produce magic... music magic. As an extension to my love for music, yesterday (also), I bought a brand new electric guitar - an Ibanez SA Series - in dark sexy red. I call her Scarlet Ibanez. Scarlet will share jamming studio with my other acquisitions, Sabrina Gibson and Frieda Fender. These 3 females are the only females that my wife will not be jealous of :)

So, given this passion, I thought I might as well end 2014 with a blog post that is less technical, more cultured, no politics and explores the right side of the brain (mine) that sheldom gets attention. Hence, I would like to share with you my pick on the Top 10 Best Music Albums... the kind where you will like all the songs and not skip tracks. Of course these are biased towards my kind of genre, which is rock. The Top 10s, in no particular order, are:

1. ... and Justice for All - Metallica: Metallica has always been my favourite band. There is no wonder why I start the list with Metallica. To be honest, my favourite album from Metallica is Master of Puppets because of a few songs, namely, Master of Puppets, Orion and Welcome Home (Sanitarium). However, I do skip some songs when I play the album. ... and Justice for All on the other hand, gives me a fuller appreciation of an album. I can just let it play from track 1 till the end. I think this is because, by far, this album showcases the best of musical performance of all the individual musicians in the band. The infamous bass drum beats by Ulrich and the mind blowing chords arrangement by Hetfield just set the benchmark for Heavy Metal. This album was also the debut for their bassist, Newstead.

2. Appetite for Destruction - Guns n' Roses: I grew up in the late 80's and early 90's where Rock and Roll was still strong. At that time hip hop was creeping into the mainstream pop culture and rock was diminishing. The only surviving Rock and Roll bands at that time were Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and Guns n' Roses. This album showcases magnificent Rock and Roll with Slash shocking the world with his awesome Blues scaled solos on the Gibson Les Paul and a music wizard touch for Rock and Roll by Izzy Stradlin, it just makes it a complete shout when Axl clads those songs with his lyrics. 

 



3. Come Hell of High Water - Deep Purple: What can I say? All 80's and 90's rock bands must have had their references from their predecessors. Deep Purple goes deep into influencing many rockers. Not so much of Rock and Roll but what they represented was the epitome evolution into Heavy Metal. The mastermind, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, is a genius. While other guitarist were still exploring the usual Blues scaled Pentatonic on Minor to suit the Rock genre, he was already on an adventure to go beyond those scales and combining other patterns inclusive of arpeggios at a tremendous speed. I salute Blackmore. True enough, when I had my guitar lessons, Deep Purple's solos are some of the toughest to follow. This album is a live recording of a decent selection of their songs.

 

 

4. Celebration Day - Led Zeppelin: Enjoying Deep Purple was intense. It gets too technical. When you wanna get out of that zone and just wanna be relaxed, Led Zeppelin offers a soothing easy Blues Rock and Roll feel. It feels good when you can play along the guitar solos with Jimmy Page as his was the usual template. What makes them cool is the grove in each song. It is the kind of Rock that does not demand head banging but a hippie dance.. whatever that means. That is the sort of happiness that Robert Plant can offer to his listeners. Celebration Day is a live recording of a reunion concert of the band members (the dead drummer, Bonham, was replaced by his son). At an old age, they can still perform a mind blowing Rock and Roll saga.

 

5. The Pulse - Pink Floyd: At one point, I had enough of Heavy Metals and Rock and Rolls. I wanted an alternative source of music appreciation. At that time, alternative meant the Grunge bands like Nirvana. However, I chose to look back. When everyone was hypnotised by Rock and Roll, Pink Floyd was already branching into alternative realm just like how Salvador Dali went into surrealism when other painters were on their tracks for modernist expressionism. This is also a recording of a live concert that has songs from across all of their albums. Floyd's fresh outlook into music brings you to a fantasy journey. You need not move your body to appreciate it. Your mind does all the work. Truly magnificent. Kudos to their main movers Roger Walters and Dave Gilmore.

 

 

6. Rubber Soul - The Beatles: Having Izham Omar as my mentor in music cannot depart me away from his favourite band, the Beatles. Their genre may not be within my likings but the relevance of what they contributed to the mushrooming of rock bands across the globe is just phenomenon. Some appreciation are acquired taste. Some required a bit of convincing before you can say, "Ahhh,.. I get it!" So I decided to buy all the albums by the Beatles. My first impression was, wow, Pink Floyd was not the only experimental alternative band of their time, the Beatles was the epitome unprecedented trend changer. You cannot imagine how they can be ahead of their time. Given my taste in genre, I have decided to choose a darker, less fun fair type melodic numbers. Hence Rubber Soul.

 

 

7. Ten - Pearl Jam: In the late 90's, many alternative (Grunge) bands emerged. These are the usual 4-chords per song type music with distortions to hide technicalities and sometimes, the bloody guitarists went against the normal convention for guitar string tunning of E-A-D-G-B-E. In that ocean of alternative bands, Pearl Jam made their way up by combining both Grunge and Rock and Roll feel. This way, they captured both youth and matured audiences. It was quite delightful for me to have known about them as they provided a bridge between the old wave (Rock and Roll) and the new (Grunge). So far, Eddie Vedder is my favourite Rock vocalist because his voice offers the depth for songs that comes from a wide spectrum of genre. 

 

 

8. Live in UK - Helloween: Exploring rock uncovers many sub-genres. You have Rock and Roll for a start. Then Heavy Metal, Black Metal, Grunge Alternative, and there was Speed Metal. Having the melody and the groves were not the only attributes that give you the adrenalin rush. Speed is the new substance for youngsters. Helloween is speed like no other. Their songs are so damn fast and with that crunchy "distortion"ed guitar riffs coupled with their shrieking-voiced vocalist, you are set to fuel your momentum especially when running a marathon. Live in UK is a live recording of a selection of songs from their albums. The reaction of the crowd in that concert, as apparent from the recording, is just overwhelming. People sang along to numbers such as Dr Stein and Future World.

9. Blood Sugar Sex Magic - Red Hot Chilli Peppers: In my quest to diversify my music appreciation (instead of remaining in the myopic world of Rock), Funk was a good chapter to push me to the boundaries but not too far. It was a rewarding journey. I used to practise my drumming to Red Hot Chilli Pepper's songs because their colourful Funk breaks the monotonous structure that Rock had traditionally embedded. Thanks to the drummer, Chad Smith, Red Hot Chilli Peppers managed to secure its position as the leading Funk band. Over its life this band produced many good albums but none ever surpassed the popularity of this album. Every song in this album tells a different musical story but yet all portraying that unique selling proposition of a new age Funk advocate.

 

10. Son gs of Innocence - U2: U2 is an Irish band that accumulated fan base big enough to challenge Madonna or even Michael Jackson in the 90's. The albums that made them famous were Joshua Tree and, subsequently, Achtung Baby. For me, notwithstanding that my favourite U2 songs are from these 2 albums, I still find myself skipping one or two songs when playing them. This year, 2014, they released their new album, Son gs of Innocence. The album showcases fresh new sounds but yet, unmistakenably U2 predominantly as a result of Bono's voice, that familiar drum beats by Muller and Adam's heartfelt bass lines. The Edge, the guitarist/keyboardist, on the other hand, has matured in song writing producing the most melodic albums I have ever heard. Kudos.

 

 

There you go! You may agree or not agree with my pick but hey, it's my post and this is who I am..... a rocker!! Have a pleasant year end holidays and see you in 2015!

My Top 10 list of cool rock tunes of all time

www.jam-the-eadgbe.blogspot.com

OCK is my favourite music genre. Recently I read a blogpost of a friend entitled My Top 10 Favourite Hard Rock Songs Of The 80s. Whilst some of his choice earned my concurrence, I'd rather spread the list to cover 70's and 90's as well coz the spectrum of Rock really progressed over those 3 decades covering many cool bands whose names remain as iconic idols for the modern day rockers. Hence, my list of Top 10, of course may not be to your liking but worthy of being shared nonetheless:

MY TOP 10 LIST OF COOL ROCK TUNES OF ALL TIME

10. SULTANS OF SWING (DIRE STRAITS)

Dr Mark Knofler is simply a music genius. No wonder why the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne conferred him an honorary doctorate for his contribution to human civilisation via his soothing easy listening rock and roll and melodious tunes that captures the hearts of many. His was a more wide spread acceptable rock style which had its appeal to non rockers as well. As the lead guitarist and the vocalist of Dire Straits, really, he has put the band on par with many others, some of which listed below. Whilst my music inclination was somewhat influenced by Dire Straits, it wasn't hard enough to my liking, although I must admit, those late night drives back home from work was maintained within an acceptable level of sanity by this song.

9. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (QUEEN)

The late Freddie Mercury and his band Queen is simply superb. He transends all Glamorous Rockers. No one have I seen has managed to potray glam rock to that level yet still managed to hold the attention of rockers of all time. Whilst rockers are often homophobic, they'll probably still accept Mercury. Me and my band tried to jam this song once - yup, you've guessed it - total disaster. The song is full of weird arrangements with variety of riffs and licks and timed at weird intervals and what not. You name it. Mercury made this song into a jigsaw puzzle for jammers. And of course, the lyrics caught everyone's attention with its imfamous "Mama Mia" and the ever controversial "Bismillah We Will Not Let You Go"

8. DR STEIN (HELLOWEEN)

Well, well , well. I grew up in the mid to late eighties when rock and roll was progressively transforming into heavy metal. There were many off shoots of heavy metal such as black metal, thrash etc but one subset caught my attention, ie. speed metal. These dudes in Halloween was super fast. This song in particular carried a unique attractiveness as it is alien in its content - a song on some sort of Frankenstein saga coupled with the speed metal riffs that set a higher benchmark for followers of speed metal. When I was abroad, I roamed all over the world to look for the particular CD that made this song famous, ie Halloween Live in UK. I looked for it for 10 bloody years in Australia, US, Malaysia and UK but finally managed to get hold of it in eBay, an old CD but the sound is still of good quality.

7. I AM A VIKING (THE RISING FORCE)

The Rising Force is a name that many may not have heard. Who was in this band? Well, the greatest guitarist of all time after the death of Hendrix, Mr Yngwie Johann Malmsteen, who, by the way, adores Hendrix like mad and even uses a Fender Stratocaster like Hendrix, ie cream and white and shit. This song was "the" song that introduced Malmsteen to the eyes of the world. This swedish bastard reinvented classical music in a hard rock presentation with his speechless arpeggio of notes. I started learning how to play the guitar because I was in love with many rock songs but I started to "really" play guitar solo after listening to Malmsteen's inferno charge of rush from his heartfelt guitar solos. Not to mention me and him, yea,.. me AND HIM, share the same name except that his has an extra "N" - Bloody Swedes!

6. SWEET CHILD O' MINE (GUNS'N'ROSES)

Sure Mark Knofler was academically superb and Malmsteen was a pioneer of classical arpeggio hard rock and Hendrix was a class of his own,.. but Saul Hudson (aka Slash) has an aura to him that made teenagers of his time go crazy over rock and roll. When I was old enough to appreciate music, there were only 3 surviving rock and roll bands - Rolling Stones, Aerosmith and Guns'n'Roses - although Deep Purple was still around but they were not that active. Naturally, the youngest and the coolest of the 3, ie G'N'R, won my heart. Slash, the lead guitarist of the band, was the reason why I did not follow the foot steps of Hendrix and Malmsteen in appreciating Fenders. Slash, in his own revelationised and revolutionised introductory solo lick for Sweet Child O' Mine opened my heart to Gibson Les Paul. I've tried that piece on many guitars but never can you get that fantastic sound by Slash other than on a Les Paul. So I bought a Gibson Les Paul to be my 3rd wife after my 1st human wife and my Ibanez RG Series. By the way, got tickets for Slash concert this 5th August 2010,.. yeeehaaaaaa!

5. SMOKE ON THE WATER (DEEP PURPLE)

I started listening to rock by the newer bands and only realised how significant the old timers are much later in my life. So I started listening to the grandfathers of hard rock. These granfathers, well, they really know how to create riffs that sticks in your head forever. Who can ever forget the introductory riffs to Smoke on the Water? That riff is the elementary piece for guitar beginners who are exploring rock chords rhythm (ie, the two or three string progression of chords in forming songs) - Simply superb arrangement by Deep Purple's lead guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore. I once went to Deep Purple's concert in Genting and blimmey, I realised that how Guns'n'Roses is to me, Deep Purple is to some old timer such as the CEOs of leading plcs in Malaysia. You see all these high profile Malaysian corporate figures listening to Deep Purple! So indeed, the era of 70's hippie rock was the main stream of that time.

4. STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (LED ZEPPELIN)

Malmsteen made me want to learn solo. Slash made me buy Gibson Les Paul. Deep Purple made me appreciate rock chords rhythm progression. Guess what Led Zeppelin did to me? Well, guitar plucking has never been manifested thoroughly as effective as the plucking for Stairway to Heaven. Until today, whenever I tune my guitars, I will always test the plucking of the verses in Stairway to Heaven - superb way of expressing A minor with the progression of bass-like running notes on the 4th string coupled with an epitome ending of alternative notes at 1st string to complete the plucking of the chord - not an expert in describing how it is played but that is my interpretation - I am sure it's not A minor all the way but it has to be variations of the A minor family. Anyways, yeahh, Stairway to Heaven, a classic example of a song that starts with a calm composition, inviting bridges and ends with chaotic distortioned rock-jumping riffs coupled with the superb solo by Jimmy Page, the band's lead guitarist.

3. LITTLE WING (JIMI HENDRIX)

Hendrix was in his own class. No one was ever in his category and none after him ever fit into it either. His was a unique one. He calls it "Freakish Blues". Whilst he has many freakish blues songs, Little Wing's blues has an attractiveness to it that mesmerised many guitarists. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Malmsteen, Satriani, Vai and many more did their versions of Little Wing but hey, Hendrix delivered the best. His was not too hard not too mellow. A soothing song with a twist of freakish blues and a feel that came from his heart suitably played from his infamous Fender Stratocaster. Today, jammers still do this song from various instruments, mainly guitars and the keyboards. Musicians of today have somewhat accepted Hendrix approach in guitar expression to be the prophesized revelation of blues. The modern hard rock and rock and roll evolved from blues anyway - so why not appreciate the roots?

2. ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL (PINK FLOYD)

I have loads of CD collections ranging from the old rockers such as Black Sabbath to the new ones like Pearl Jam, from the pop rock styled U2 to the hard core thrash of Sepultura,.. and what not. But if I was ever asked a question "If you are given a choice to only choose 1 CD not to be taken away from you or destroyed, which CD will that be?" The answer is Pink Floyd - Pulse. This is a recording of their concert and mind you, Another Brick in the Wall never failed to entertain me whenever we (my band) jam this song in the studio. Simply superb. I play the bass so this song, naturally, is close to my heart coz the bass, drives this song. I love this song and the chorus "We don't need no education...." is the epitome rebelious statement you can ever think of back in the 70's. I am also proud to announce that I heard this song being played last ever, live by Pink Floyd, on TV from Hyde Park, during the Live8 concert arranged by Bob Geldolf (Is that how you spell his name?). Pink Floyd never did appear in public after that - that was the last - unless they appear again after this blog post.

1. MASTER OF PUPPETS (METALLICA)

Ok. drum roll........ The number 1 rock song of all time, in accordance with my assessment, is the crunchy hard heavy metal dampened rhythms and macho screamings of Hetfield, the magical and melancholic solo of Hammett, the Black Sabbath influenced drumming by Ulrich and bold bass lines by the lagendary Burton.... Master.... of.... Puppetsssssssssssss............... I have to tell you. Metallica's music arrangement is superb. The crunchy riffs have the speed of Helloween and the melody of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin's heavy expressions. The complication of song arrangement has the sophistication of Bohemian Rhapsody. The middle bit instrumental mellow bridge has the melancholy feel that of Mark Knofler and Pink Floyd. The guitar solos have a dark character to it like the classical arpeggio of Malmsteen and the freakish Hendrix. And of course, if G'N'R has a stage presence for being a glam rock band, Metallica storms the stage like no other heavy metal bands have done - which makes them worthy of carrying the name "METAL"lica to represent the heavy metal population. If you've noticed for No. 10 to No.2 above, I have somewhat revealed how those songs (and bands) influenced my music inclination. How did Metallica influenced me? Well, in short, Metallica is the pandora box of rock to me. Without Metallica, I'd probably end up being a fan of some un'cool' types of music like those by Pet Shop Fuckin Boys or that geek Rick Astley. Thank God God opened my eyes to rock tunes!

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There are other cool songs for which if mentioned, you may not be familiar (the likes of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin or even Child in Time by Deep Purple),.. and there are also other bands and musicians who do produce fantastic rock songs but when limited to Top 10, they are not mentioned (such as Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Carlos Santana, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, Pearl Jam, Kromok, Sepultura, Ozzy Osborne and Black Sabbath, Tesla, Eric Clapton and the Cream, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Scorpion, The Police, Live, Eagles, Van Hallen, Def Leppard, Montley Crue, Loudness, AC~DC, Rainbow, Black Crows, ... and the list goes on forever).