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Rock The Night

Europe

The Final Countdown

1986

 

This song is pure, unadulterated cheese, and I love it!  Besides from the obvious exception I had no real idea what to expect when I went to see Europe at Download festival in 2013 but my god it was an experience.  These guys were incredible live, the guitar playing was phenomenal and the songs were all ridiculously catchy, this one however really stood out to me and has been a mainstay in my rock playlist since.  Well worth checking out!

 

Uneasy Hearts Weigh The Most

Dance Gavin Dance

Dance Gavin Dance

2008

 

I'm not really sure how I came across this band, but, I am glad I did.  These guys blend Indie, Prog and Post rock together in an excellent fashion creating a style that is rare to hear.  This particular song leans into their Indie influences primarily and is groovy with great instrumental guitar hooks.  The instrumental is also very good at highlighting the lyrical content with tense chords and a frantic rhythm in the lyrics self reflecting moments.  All in all this is a great track with plenty of interesting aspects to keep you listening.

 

Walkabout

The Red Hot Chili Peppers

One Hot Minute

1995

 

Walkabout is a track off of The Red Hot Chili Peppers 6th album.  Compared to some of their other work this is a fairly chilled out affair.  Featuring a beautiful wah wah guitar part and  some of the best, in my opinion, bass work I've heard from flea. I have fond memories of learning to play this track when I was younger and can still remember how excited I was when I finally nailed it! An incredible song in an unfortunately mostly underrated album.

 

That's All

Genesis

Genesis

1983

 

This time I'm venturing into some pop rock courtesy of the legendary Genesis.  This song is led by an incredibly catchy keys part that the vocals mirror.  This track is a great lesson in song pacing, slowly building throughout with more and more elements being added as the song progresses.  There's a reason why Genesis were one of the bigger bands of the 80's!  This track definitely has some disco influence in there with some nice syncopation between the keys, bass and drums. All in all this is just an excellent track and shows some of the key strengths of the band as a whole.

 

Good as Hell

Lizzo

Barbershop: The Next Cut

2016

 

Up until recently I had never heard of Lizzo before but luckily the all powerful auto playlist algorithm put Lizzo's 'Juice' in my path.  A disco inspired R&B song, when I first heard it I immediately shared it with Dan, as he often encourages and reinforces my love of disco and funk music, and he informed me that he had been hearing it on Radio 2 for the last couple of weeks.  Naturally I told him off for not telling me about it!  From there on I started looking at her back catalogue which was full of songs that I really liked, this one however stood out to me as it became a sing-along track at work with one of my colleagues.  This is  just a great retro infused hip hop song full of messages of loving yourself for who you are! Although quite different to everything else on this list its one that deserves a chance from you at least!

 

 

 

 

Take It From Me

Kongos

Egomaniac

Released  15th April 2016

 

Kongos are a South African American band, now based in Phoenix, Arizona. Their style consists of South African influences in terms of percussion, synths, and Sam’s favourite instrument, the accordion. The band consists of four brothers.

This track is from their third album Egomaniac which is full of grooves and sing a long songs.

 

Mother

The Amazons

Future Dust

Released 4th February 2019

 

I have only recently started listening to The Amazons. I bought this particular album on the strength of this song and it didn’t disappoint. This track starts the album and instantly gives you a taste of what is going to happen throughout. A nice heavy riff kicks in with a nice lead guitar line before the verse kicks in with a great vocal melody. The chorus is extremely memorable and leads back in to the intro riff which gets better throughout the song.

 

Charlemagne

Blossoms

Charlemagne E.P

Released 5th October 2015

 

I’m not sure how I first heard this track but I was hooked from the first listen. This track also appeared on their debut album after being released as part of their first E.P. I listened to this track before I went to Amsterdam and I spent the entire time I was there whistling this song so it’s a bit of an ear worm. It’s quite simple in terms of vocal melody as it follows the synth line for the chorus which is the first part of the song that you hear. There’s a nice ascending synth in the bridge and some effectively placed harmonies.

 

Fire It Up

Modest Mouse

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

Released 20th March 2007

 

I got in to Modest Mouse after reading Johnny Marr’s autobiography. This entire album features Johnny Marr on guitar and you can definitely recognise his playing on some of them. They have quite a dreamy/chilled atmosphere to this track. The electric kit blends in effortlessly to that vibe and features a nice guitar solo too. This is probably the most accessible track on the album, I’ll leave Nathan to post about the weirder songs out there!

 

 

Little Red Corvette

Prince

1999

Released 9th February 1983

 

This is a classic and definitely captures the sound of the time. Synths, solo’s, great vocals, great song writing, everything that you would expect from Prince. The lyrics are basically the story of a one night stand which is cleverly written and features a good use of metaphors. The song reached number 2 on the UK charts.

 

 

 

 

 

Killswitch Engage - My Curse

 

Through my teenage years I was in to the much heavier side of music. Killswitch Engage were one of my most listened to bands through this era and I still partake nowadays. Howard Jones is a fantastic vocalist and they do a killer cover of Holy Diver.

 

2 STYX - Kula Shaker

 

In my opinion the most underrated band of the 90s. Kula Shaker might be most well known for their song 'Hey Dude' and 'Hush', originally done by Deep Purple. However, with songs like 'Govinda' and 'Tattva' they experimented with the likes of Indian cultural music and ambient sounds. I've gone with their closing song on the most recent album because of it's epic chorus.

 

Royal Republic - Anna Leigh

 

Swedish Hard Rock band Royal Republic have defined what it means to change a sound completely. Going from comedic lyrics with punk riffs to a throwback disco record, they've established themselves to a bigger and better status. And I'm seeing them in October!

 

Deep Purple - Child In Time

 

Deep Purple are easily one of my favourite rock bands! They are responsible for some of the best riffs ever written and have made any child pick up a guitar to learn 'Smoke on the Water'. I haven't been that cliché and instead picked their 10 minute prog epic with some of the best vocal work of all time!

 

Weezer - If You're Wondering.

 

I absolutely adore Weezer! This is taken from their album 'Ratitude' which wasn't well received at all by anybody and I agree, it kinda sucks, despite having an amazing album cover. BUT, it has one of my favourite Weezer songs, it screams Summer throwback and makes me happy from the beginning chord.

 

 

 

 

 

To The Light

The Stone Angels

The Stone Angels

 

This track started out with Nathan playing a riff that he thought was too heavy to work as the basis of a song.  However after being told to play it much slower it started taking shape as a song that we could use.  The track was missing something though and we couldn't figure out what so as a joke Nathan suggested a key change with what he thought at the time was a silly and over the top transition riff... and that's what happened! Proving that no idea is a stupid idea if you can pull it off with conviction!

 

In The Eye of the Viper

Surrge

 

Surrge are a band that we had the pleasure of playing with at the Giffard Arms in Wolverhampton when we were on tour last year.  Surrge played excellently that night and definitely left a positive impression on us! We wanted to feature them here sooner but they've only just put a song online for us to feature so here they are now!  These guys play crunching thrash inspired riffs with great melodic vocal lines over the top.  Think Nightwish meets Metallica! A great sounding band with great people playing in it check them out now!

 

Scarlet Heart

Velvet Echoes

 

We had the pleasure of playing with Velvet Echoes at the Underground in Plymouth very recently and although they were a member down at the time they still played a great show! Great melodies with crunchy riffs interspersed throughout. We would highly recommend going to see these guys soon if you are able.

 

Have Mercy On Me

The Stone Angels

Spirit, Love and Higher Meanings

 

If you've ever seen us live you definitely know this track, its our go to opening track and a definite fan favourite song. If your reading this blog and haven't heard this song yet, well... I'm not really sure how you got here!

 

We All Feel The Same

Dead Ground

 

Dead Ground are a rock trio from Exeter.  There music, for the most part features hard hitting riffs and vocals reminiscent of Muse, This track does more of that with an absolutely monstrous riff exploding out of the outro. These guys have great energy live and have great songs to back that up!