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Thread: Five Songs That Have Made an Impact on Your Life

  1. #11
    Border Troubadour
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    Default Re: Five Songs That Have Made an Impact on Your Life

    In no particular order:

    Eagles - The Last Resort
    My absolute favourite song of all time. I've said more than enough about it on here over the years but no other form of art or anything similar has ever had such an impact on my life. Sadly that impact was probably to make me more of a sceptical nihilist sod than I was before, but in all seriousness the political and social messages within it are quite dear to me. The verse beginning 'Who will provide the grand design...' is just as good as any prose I have ever read in my life.

    Judas Priest - Breaking the Law
    A complete contrast, but my second favourite band behind the obvious. I forst heard this song on Jackass and a quick Google search left me hooked on the band. Though they have covered quite a vast array of metal types and messages over the years, they are the quintessential heavy metal band there ever will be, and as a teenager growing up their music and their message made me feel accepted (God knows by who) and OK with myself when very little else in the world did. BTL is by no stretch my favourite Priest song, and most of their early and mid-80s catalogue is far more impressive as an example of their ability, but this song is the first I ever heard of them, and as such probably has to be my choice!

    UFO - Doctor Doctor
    Hearing this for the first time was like being struck by lightening, sizzling off slightly and then being struck again several more times. I would put it forward as the perfect rock n' roll song - the calm intro building up into the cutting riff and lyrics so well constructed that you can sing in perfect time with the vocalist for most of the song; it is the very essence of what hard rock music is built on. Also a reasonable demonstration of the abilities of one Mr. Michael Schenker, for me one of the most underrated rock guitarists of all time. Watch any live performance of this (particularity back in the day) and it just personifies everything people think rock n' roll is.

    Kiss - God Gave Rock And Roll to You II
    A special mention to Argent who originally did this, but Kiss absolutely nailed the cover. It shares the same eager, hedonistic message as, for example, Take It Easy does, but I think much in the same way as I feel with Judas Priest's work, it's one of those songs that makes you feel like you belong to something and that no-one can take away from you, and again that helped me growing up and still helps me now in those odd occasions that you have a really bad run of it.

    Black Sabbath - War Pigs
    This song did as much for hard rock and heavy metal as any other song ever has for its respective genre. I think that much like The Last Resort it's probably shaped my politics and personal views more than anything, but it is still such a good example of what Sabbath were capable of as a band and how good a lyricist Geezer Butler is. Lines like 'Politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war / Why should they go out to fight, they leave that all to the poor' were very accurate for a lot of what had gone on in the world and rather prophetic of what would lie ahead. There are very few hard rock songs that create relevant commentaries on the likes of war and unrest (most of the time it's usually hypothetical destruction of mankind!). All that said however, the repetition of 'masses' in the first two lines annoys me greatly

  2. #12
    Stuck on the Border WalshFan88's Avatar
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    Default Re: Five Songs That Have Made an Impact on Your Life

    This is tough past #1. But here goes.

    Hotel California - Eagles

    Surprise surprise... Hotel California saved my life, gave me a purpose, and makes me feel good every time I hear it. I was in a dark place back in 2006/7 and a family friend suggested for me to play guitar and get into music as something to do with my time (as I'm disabled). I ignored him until January 2007 when he was in a horrific wreck. I then dug out my parents records and put stuff on. It was stuff I would soon appreciate if not love, but it didn't "hit" me. Then there it was. Hotel California. From the intro my interest was piqued and by the time of the solos my world had changed. I wanted to do THAT. And I dug out a guitar out of the closet, printed off a chord chart, and away I went. And I became a classic rock lover and guitarist. It still gives me chills and I'lll NEVER tire of hearing it. It is indeed my favorite song of all time, and with that being said, my favorite EAGLES song.

    Tumblin' Dice - The Rolling Stones

    There were two bands I was big into in the beginning of my guitar journey. The above mentioned band, and this one came a little later. I admired Joe Walsh and Keith Richards as my lead/rhythm idols. I heard this song and I was HOOKED on that swagger-filled rock n' roll. I LOVED the Stones, and still do. But at one point I would only play music from either the Eagles or the Stones, lol, and my soon to become friends broke me of that and then I opened my palate. But this song has stuck with me as being a perfect example of how less is more, groove counts, and just raw rock energy. This song is as addictive as cake and ice cream. It's my favorite Stones song by far, and it's the one I play the most often both as a listener and as a player as far as their music goes. Sick, sick groove.

    Walk This Way - Aerosmith

    Fun fact - I saw this band in 2004 WAY before I knew who the heck they were or became a fan or into music at all let alone a guitar player. They were my first rock concert that my parents took me with them to see. I remember NOTHING of this concert. Little did I know that I'd become a big fan of them. This song, much like Tumblin' Dice, has a rhythmic thing that I'm a sucker for. The guitar riff, the drum intro, the sleazy lyrics, I love all of it. If you look up the definition of what rock n' roll in the 70s was about, this song should be there. It is my favorite Aerosmith song but it's a favorite of mine regardless. I remember when I first heard it and I was enamored with the intro riff and the solos Joe Perry did. Again, sloppy rock pentatonic (mostly) with feeling and energy is what I go for and this has it in spades. Less is more when it comes to rock n' roll and this song just rocks!

    Back In Black - AC/DC

    I absolutely love this song and this band and this era of their music. Nothing against the late Bon Scott, but Brian Johnson on this album was just so great. Not only was it a good tribute to Bon, it had even more toughness to it while also appealing to a broader audience with a pop radio friendly edge. This song as fr as I remember was the first AC/DC song I latched onto and my first experience with the band. It is NOT my favorite AC/DC song (that's You Shook Me All Night Long from the same album), but it is my first AC/DC song I heard and it hooked me good. The combination of Malcolm's chugging Gretsch and Angus's singing SG just sounded so good. They were so stripped down and while they get complaints from people that all of their songs are the same, my point still applies here. Simple isn't always easy, and simple is best when it comes to rock n' roll music. These guys get the "roll" part, as do the above mentioned artists. It's important.

    Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin

    The first LZ song I ever heard was Stairway To Heaven but the one that I heard first after that that made me fall in love with the band was Whole Lotta Love. This song was tough as nails for the kind of music in the late 60s. It truly was the prototype of what would become classic hard rock/heavy metal. They had a lot of gusto and they just sounded MEAN and I loved that. They also knew how to groove. Jimmy Page is one of my top idols and his riffs and solos in this are legendary. I'm hooked when I listen to this song. I can't skip it, change stations, nothing. And I've heard it a lot. It just has a lot of swagger and rock n' roll"ness" to it. Jimmy Page defines rock n' roll and cool. He really put it all into this song. I still have to crank the volume up when it comes on. It really fits my kind of music to a T. Led Zeppelin is absolutely one of my all time favs, and I love this one.

    Now I left out a TON of songs that have made an equally big impact on me but if I kept going it'd be 20+. I have a hard time with lists past the first 2 or 3 for that reason. I love Guns N' Roses, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Fleetwood Mac, etc. But these came to mind first, so there ya go. I really am a guitar-focused classic rock electric guitar nerd and I love loud rock n' roll and this is a perfect example.

  3. #13
    Out on the Border Jeremy Lawrence's Avatar
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    Default Re: Five Songs That Have Made an Impact on Your Life

    "Already Gone" - it always gets me out of low periods, feeling sorry for myself, dealing with failure or rejection.

    "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key"

    -jl
    Jeremy Lawrence - Author
    "Already Gone: a Novel"
    http://smarturl.it/ey9snd
    https://www.facebook.com/alreadygonenovel/


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