My Favorite Songs

Chris, you made me do this. I just want to know what my favorite songs are. Hell, If you want, review the choices I make.

One thing I decided on was not using the same artist more than twice. I also chose songs from bands I like. No one-hit wonders. Here we go in no particular order:

Kick out the Jams (MC5)- 6 words. KICK OUT THE JAMS MOTHER FUCKERS! You will see a different me when this song comes on. It kicks me into a frenzy. While most of the song is three notes repeated, you can deny the energy that exists. Wayne Kramer and Sonic Smith are the reason this would be the song that I would like to cover the most if I ever had the chance to play guitar in a band.

Crossroads (Cream)- This song proves Clapton is God. This Robert Johnson song covered by the power trio known as Cream was never recorded in the studio. The most famous version was recorded live. It's hard to believe, especially when you hear Clapton's solos. His guitar playing is so focused and precise but at the same time burns the blues right in ya. Back Clapton up with an energetic Jack Bruce on bass and a dynamic Ginger Baker on drums and you got a Cream classic.

Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)- Not much of a suprise. The video to this song saw an unbelievable amount of airtime. Why? Cause people were hooked. A song about frusteration. Generation X was fed up with the ultra-conservatism and materialism of the 80's. It was time for a change. I can think of no song better to be an anthem for grunge, no for the whole Generation than the balls to the walls of aggressive sounds of Nirvana.

All Along the Watchtower (Jimi Hendrix Experience)- My favorite artist playing probably the best song ever. I am still blown away by the solos in the song. The song has a desperate and confused (made possible by Dylan) yet intense (added by Jimi) mood to it. "There must be some kind of way out of here" is the first line and you know that this is not a song about happiness. Has been one of my favorites since the first time I heard it.

Search and Destroy (Iggy Pop and the Stooges)- A classic from another proto-punk band out of Detroit. The same thing in common is the insane amount of energy pulsating from the words, style, and sound of the song. The song is about one thing: Destruction. Although the sound quality of Raw Power is horrible, I don't think the song would have the same rawness otherwise. This song is reason I think I might be going deaf.

Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (Led Zeppelin)- I struggled. I truely struggled to pick one out of three Led Zeppelin songs (the other two were Dazed and Confused and Stairway). I chose this one because it reminds me of a girl I knew at the dorms last year. We were close but she moved away. She loved classic rock and Led Zeppelin was one of her favorites. This song reminds me of her but that's not the only reason this song made it on the list. This song has SO much emotion and intensity in it, going between the acoustic and distorted power chord section. That's why we all love Zeppelin.