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Band’s weekly Lockdown Sessions series has previously tackled songs by the Who, Van Halen and Bob Marley and the Wailers
Band’s weekly Lockdown Sessions series has previously tackled songs by the Who, Van Halen and Bob Marley and the Wailers
Band’s weekly Lockdown Sessions series has previously tackled songs by the Who, Van Halen and Bob Marley and the Wailers
Band’s weekly Lockdown Sessions series has previously tackled songs by the Who, Van Halen and Bob Marley and the Wailers
Singer, who died 40 years ago this week, got a Bay Area crowd banging their fists to “Highway to Hell” before the song had even come out
The double-LP set boasts upwards of 30 previously unreleased demos, B-Sides, and live recordings.
The White Stripes’ De Stijl receives 20th anniversary companion release
Alex Young
The White Stripes’ sophomore album, De Stijl, celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2020. To mark the occasion, Jack White’s Third Man Records has announced a special vinyl-only companion release featuring unreleased demos, B-sides, and live recordings from the era.
As was the case for the companion release to The White Stripes’ self-titled debut, the De Stijl 20th anniversary package is available exclusively through Third Man Records’ Vault subscription service. However, if you’ve been looking for an optimal time to sign up, now may be it.
That’s because the double-LP set contains upwards of 30 never before heard tracks. Among the choice selections are Jack White’s original acoustic boombox demos for De Stijl, with many of the tracks featuring alternate and unused lyrics. Additionally, LP 1 boasts previously unreleased covers of Thee Headcoats’ “You’re Right, I’m Wrong” and the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself”, recorded at Corduroy Recording Studio in Melbourne, Australia in Fall 2000.
The second vinyl captures The White Stripes’ New Year’s Eve 2001 performance at the Magic Stick in Detroit. Across 17 tracks are the band’s only known covers of AC/DC’s “Let There Be Rock” and “Dog Eat Dog” featuring Chris McInnis on bass, one of the only times the band employed the instrument in a live setting. The live recording ends with a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “After Hours” sung by Meg White, which marked her only performance of the song. The entire set has been speed-corrected and remastered in high-quality directly from the original board tape.
The 20th anniversary package also includes an archival booklet featuring unseen photographs, flyers, posters, hand-written lyrics, and other band memorabilia.
De Stijl 20th Anniversary Package:
LP 1 Tracklist
01. Truth Doesn’t Make a Noise
02. A Boy’s Best Friend
03. Sister, Do You Know My Name?
04. I’m Bound to Pack It Up
05. Expecting
06. Vanilla Fields
07. Piano Octaves
08. You’re Right, I’m Wrong
09 I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself
and more!
LP 2 Tracklist
01. Let There Be Rock (AC/DC cover)
02. Dog Eat Dog (AC/DC cover)
03. You’re Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)
04. Hello Operator
05. Death Letter
06. Little Bird
07. Lord, Send Me An Angel
08. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
09. Apple Blossom
10. Broken Bricks
11. Cannon
12. Truth Doesn’t Make a Noise
13. Jolene
14. I’m Bored
15. Let’s Build a Home / Goin’ Back to Memphis
16. Suzy Lee
17. After Hours (Velvet Underground cover)
The White Stripes’ De Stijl receives 20th anniversary companion release
Alex Young
AC/DC will release their new studio album in the next two months and tour later in 2020, if an Australian broadcaster is to be believed.
AC/DC’s 1980 opus ‘Back in Black’ has been certified 25 times Platinum in the United States with sales of over 25million units.
This Guns n’ Roses classic is a staple due its ferocity and menacing message. With lyrics like “I want to watch you bleed”, this angsty tune sends a message to the opposing team letting them know that they are in for a hard time. With Axl’s loud, screeching voice, and the thunderous roar of the guitar, this song is definitely one to get any sport fan off their feet and screaming along with the fearless lyrics.
This classic sports anthem almost never saw the light of day, and surprisingly started out as a reggae influenced track. When convinced to release it on their 1981 album Tattoo You, the band had no idea they would be creating a sporting phenomenon. Played live during the halftime of Super Bowl XL, the Stones energized the arena with their already rocking jam and cemented the song into legendary status. Filled with double entendres and a classic guitar riff, the track never fails to gets the crowd singing along and doing air guitar in the middle of the aisle.
This classic from the husband-wife duo really gets the blood pumping. From the loud, thunderous punch of the guitar during the chorus and the fighting spirit of the lyrics, this song lets the opposing team know that they are in for a fight. With the slow and steady beat of the verses, it builds the crowd’s anticipation before unleashing the loud chaos of the chorus. It’s a song that builds in pressure, and it does the same thing for its audience.
This hard rock classic from AC/DC finds a spot in nearly every sports arena. It’s used as the opening song for the Chicago White Sox and Washington Nationals in baseball, as well as the Los Angeles Kings in hockey. It’s a fitting start to a game, with an immediately recognizable opening guitar riff and the bombastic bass of the chorus. Arguably one of the band’s heaviest tunes, this song gets the crowd pumped up and energized for the game to come. No sporting event is complete without it.
Is there anyone out there who DOESN’T associate this song with sports? Released in 1972, the track was split into two parts, the first having vocals and the second, which is the one played at most events, being purely instrumental. It is so popular that the New Jersey Devils use it as their goal song, and when they tried to replace it, fans were outraged and demanded its return. Forever linked to sports, “Rock and Roll Part 2” will have the crowd singing “Hey!” and pumping their fists in the air.
Gob Bluth would be proud of us for putting this song on our list. This synth heavy tune from Swedish band Europe may appear to be just another glam metal song from the 80s, but it caught on with sporting events and has remained popular ever since due to its catchy and memorable hook. Songwriter Joey Tempest has said that the song was never meant to be a single, let alone a major hit, but we’re glad they changed their minds, as no sporting event would be complete without it.
In the UK, the song’s most successful cover was released in 1963 by the Liverpudlian Merseybeat group Gerry and the Pacemakers, peaking at number one on the UK singles chart for four consecutive weeks. Sung by Liverpool fans in 1963, the song quickly became the anthem of Liverpool F.C. and is invariably sung by its supporters moments before the start of each home game with the Gerry and the Pacemakers version played over the PA system.
This song became a pop culture phenomenon in 1997 and remains extremely popular to this day due to its association with the sports fandom. Featuring the signature “Woohoo!” over the loud, nearly unintelligible lyrics of the rest of the song, this alternative rock anthem always has fans pumping their fists in the air and woohoo-ing along. Intended as a satire of grunge music, the track has been used in almost all sports, from hockey to baseball. Not bad for a song that wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.
Ever since being used as the theme song of “Rocky III”, this song has achieved tremendous success, both in the field of sports and outside of it. It was so popular when first released that it was the #2 overall single of 1982, behind only Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical.” It is now one of the best-selling singles of all time, and remains a popular staple in the field of sports due to its rocking guitar and motivational lyrics. No sporting event or workout session is complete without a spin of this sports classic.
This arena-rock tune is a sure-fire way to get a crowd pumped up and singing along. With the signature stomping sound of the verses, the crowd always stomps along, their feet slamming the ground and their hands clapping together. The sound is not complete with the chanting of “We will rock you,” and when tens of thousands of people stomp and sing together, it creates a sense of community in the arena that no other song can match.
The title track off of the Man in Black’s American IV: The Man Comes Around album, this doomsday song draws heavily from the Biblical Book of Revelations for its lyrical content. Inspired by a dream Cash had in which Queen Elizabeth II compared him to “a thorn tree in a whirlwind,” Cash’s own research discovered a similar phrase in the Book of Job, which led him to pen “The Man Comes Around.” Evoking imagery of the judgment of a man, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and imminent Armageddon, the religious warnings of this song are made even more unsettling when delivered by Johnny Cash’s calm, soothing voice.
Conceived by Bono as a conversation between Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot, this doomsday song has a more romantic quality to it, which masks the darker nature of its lyrics. Spoken primarily from the perspective of a remorseful Judas, it emphasizes a bleak dwelling on the inevitable end of times, which adds to the song’s somber tone. Divided into three parts which discuss the Last Supper, Judas’ kiss on Jesus’ cheek in the Garden of Gethsemane and Judas’ eventual suicide, “Until the End of World” draws on themes of betrayal, guilt and despair which make for an appropriately apocalyptic song.
A year before Black Sabbath would release their first album, CCR released this doomsday track whose dark imagery and lyrics evoked heavy metal before heavy metal truly began. Despite sounding light-hearted and upbeat at first listen, “Bad Moon Rising” is in fact a warning about an approaching apocalypse, which includes hurricanes, lightning storms, and overflowing rivers that are “bound to take your life”. Cautioning the listener to be prepared for death and that one eye will be taken for an eye, “Bad Moon Rising” is all the more chilling because of its seemingly jovial embrace of the apocalypse.
A thrash metal gem rife with foreboding imagery, the closing track on Slayer’s third album Reign in Blood remains a staple of the band’s live shows and one of their most well-known songs. Beginning with an ominous riff that warns of the chaos to come, “Raining Blood” erupts into a metal maelstrom, which foretells of a demonic force lacerating the sky and returning to power as the most sacred of laws are abolished. Wielding the merciless dual guitar attack of Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo’s thunderous drumming and Tom Araya’s haunting vocals, “Raining Blood” welcomes the apocalypse with open bloody arms.
A song that takes a more positive approach to dealing with the apocalypse, “1999” is less about despair and more about making the most of the time you have left. When the year 2000 brings about purple skies, destruction and war, the title track off Prince’s fifth studio album encourages celebration and good times instead of fighting or fleeing in terror. Reasoning that life is just a party and parties aren’t meant to last, this more optimistic doomsday song takes a more glass half-full approach to the end of the world, which is a refreshing take on an otherwise gloomy subject.
Third single track from the third album of the same name is about weather changing and disasters in USA, so far that New York and California drown in overflowing ocean. However, artistic directing of the music video of this song by Adam Jones and using Stop-Motion technique, made this apocalyptic song a lot more epic.
One of The Clash’s most memorable songs, the title track off of their third studio album also serves as one of the most notable doomsday songs around. With lyrics that describe an approaching ice age, mass mechanical failure, dying crops and the flooding of London, “London Calling” does not wallow in sorrow over the impending doom but instead takes it in stride. With other apocalyptic topics such as nuclear annihilation and “zombies of death” being referenced, this track is a greatest hits list of potentially world-ending disasters and mayhem befitting an end-of-times song.
Beginning with a chilling bell toll which was all the more ominous given the recent passing of singer Bon Scott, “Hells Bells” served as the opening track to Back in Black and as Brian Johnson’s first official foray as AC/DC’s new singer. Spoken from the perspective of Satan himself, this song tells of the devil bringing rolling thunder, lightning and hurricanes as he rings the titular bells. With no one willing to resist and no prisoners being taken, there is little hope for those on the side of good, spelling certain doom for those not willing to join in the apocalyptic destruction. With Brian Johnson’s screeching wail on full display, it’s no surprise that “Hells Bells” is still an AC/DC concert staple.
A song that showcases the darker side of singer Jim Morrison’s poetic talents, “The End” lives up to its name with its eerie sense of approaching disaster and darkness. Beginning as a dream-like ballad which devolves into a murderous nightmare, the song explores the mind of a man who wants to murder his father and his mother. With the destruction of the nuclear family arguably serving as a metaphor for doomsday itself, “The End” also touches on the generation gap in the late 60’s in the phrase “all the children are insane,” which also carries an apocalyptic tone about the conflict between generations sparked in part by the Vietnam War.
Originally released on their fifth studio album Document, this rather cheerful doomsday song by R.E.M juggles the usual dire apocalyptic themes, while maintaining a sense of optimism that is echoed in its simple yet effective music video. With lyrics that touch on natural disasters, political turmoil and social issues, “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” captures the overwhelming weight of the world’s problems in its rapid-fire delivery. However, the song also tries to look on the proverbial bright side of the situation and rejoices in the fact that we will all have some time alone, perhaps suggesting that in this time we will find a way to reflect and begin the world anew again.
