My Favourite Songs- Part V

It is time once again to look at a few of my favourite songs of all time. I never have to strain my brain to think of these... my faves are always right there, foremost in my mind. I think about them often, even if I don't listen to them often. Though some of these songs got a lot of play thirty or forty years ago, but not so much now, they still remain the top of the tops, the best I've ever heard.

Those are mighty big boots to fill, but Elton does it nicely for the Pinball Wizard

Today I'll kick off with a tune that grabbed me by the ya-ya's way back in the late 70's, when I first spun Cheap Trick's third record, Heaven Tonight. Pretty cool album overall, but it was Auf Weidersehen that really went over the edge. Surely their heaviest song of that early era of this very durable band.

Not only is the music heavy, and I mean downright metallic... and aggressive, but those lyrics (available here) are nothing to sneeze at. Sure, there are those that mock the words of the song, saying they are silly and juvenile. Well, it's rock'n'roll! Isn't that what most rock music is? "Auf weidersehen" is German, and translates as "goodbye". The song is about suicide, maybe not as doomy and depressing as Ozzy's Suicide Solution, but with a bit of a lighter lyrical flair... sort of. Cheap Trick is famous for their twisted humour and it shows here. The lyrics are basically a series of "goodbyes" in various languages, serving as a farewell to a suicide victim. A bit grim in a sense, but comical if you approach it properly.

That crisp gutsy chugging on verses perfectly complements the expansive slashing chords on the chorus. And what a riff... er, riffs. Guitarist Rick Neilsen invented many memorable riffs and patterns on his axe over the years, and this particular song boasts a couple of my favourites. There's a garage punk band feel toward the end of the tune, when Bun E. Carlos thrashes his drum kit with joyful abandon. And that's appropriate, since Trick emerged out of a punk-ish sound on their first album.

The Who's Pinball Wizard is a rock classic, to be sure, but I actually prefer the version by Elton John. In fact, I knew this song first - and best - from an early record purchase as a kid, Elton John's Greatest Hits, Volume II. I've seen the movie Tommy, where Elton sings with The Who backing him up onstage. But it was Elton's studio re-do, with his own band, that I discovered on that Hits II record.

Elton substituted a choral piece and piano for The Who's acoustic guitar intro, and the emphasis is on piano throughout. Rightly so, since he's a wiz on the keys. It's a jumpin' rock song to begin with, and Mr. John runs it through his special filter with supreme success. I can't say it surpasses The Who's version, but it's something different, and very exciting. And it was his rendition that I heard first and listened to most for several years. Elton's voice and the new arrangement work so well that I can't find any fault with the song. Yes, The Who do play a definitive version of the song... but Elton makes it his own when he plays it.

Photograph may not be the best Def Leppard song, but it holds the most nostalgia for me. And it is indeed a very cool "light" metal track. Photograph signaled a shift in the music biz; hard rock and metal were being prettied up for commercial success on MTV, radio, and in album sales. The album Pyromania, from which the song came, shot through the stratosphere in popularity and sales.

The opening guitar riff is among the most identifiable in music, as is the cowbell-driven chorus. The heavily-layered vocal harmonies could have been overkill, but in the end, they are so perfectly balanced with the big, BIG chugging guitars and very 80's-sounding drums that it all gels into a pop-metal classic.

When I hear Photograph, I am transported back to my high school years, when this song played everywhere... every boombox, every Walkman, every home and car stereo, at every party, at every beer-swilling moment. I even owned a Union Jack sleeveless t-shirt, just like singer Joe Elliott wore. But I was too self-conscious to wear it more than once.

The Conjuring, by thrash-masters Megadeth, took a good long time to become a favourite. I had the album Peace Sells... But Who's Buying back in the 80's, and later on CD, yet some of their tunes just didn't resonate much with me at the time, so I listened to them far less. But fast-forward a couple of decades, and man, this particular early Mega-gem absolutely shreds... and impresses the hell out of me.

The intro's creepy plucked guitar line simmers beneath Mustaine's spoken-word invitation to a black magic ceremony. The theme here delves so deep into the dark arts that singer-songwriter Mustaine refused to play the song live for many years, saying he blamed his early fascination with the occult for his misfortunes in life. But he has since changed his stance on that and now plays The Conjuring in concert. Lyrics are here, if you are so inclined.

When the whole band clicks in, the heavy factor jumps to 10. The long instrumental breaks are heavenly, even if the subject matter is more on the evil side. The hammering drums, bass, and chugging rhythm guitars contrast the riff-laden breaks and searing solos. This is pure headbanging, mosh-pit music. Thrash at its best.