Seconds by U2

A great deal of the fans of U2 have most likely never heard this song. I was in college when U2 was breaking from a college band across the pop divide in the mid eighties. When the album War was released the foundation of rock and roll might well have shifted.

The album War was one of the great albums in rock and roll history, not only for the incredible music it featured but because it was the beginning of the widespread acclaim of U2. The early albums Boy and October had made them the quintessential college band but they were still far from the mainstream success that would happen in 1987 with The Joshua Tree.

With songs like Sunday Bloody Sunday and New Years Day War is usually the place that new or next generation U2 fans start. Still more often than not that is where they stop. Two Hearts and traditional concert closer " 40" might be the choices for those who want to go one step further.

This morning listening to First Wave on the satellite when Seconds came on I was floored at what am amazing song this is. With it's constant beat, it's fade out and fade in the song owes as much to Pink Floyd as it does to the Beatles but when one considers that this is an album track. An album track that features the sing song " Airborne ranger" marching song as background noise no less but still an album track. Taken along with " Refugee" these two songs sealed the deal on what might be one of the most thematically true rock and roll albums in history.

Coming from Ireland and witness to the troubles as the grew up no one could speak with more authority than U2 on the perils of war, declared or not and speak they did. This was an incredible album, something I was jarringly reminded of this morning. Sometimes it is easy to forget how meaningful music is to you when you are 19 years old. This morning I got a glimpse into my past and remembered. It only took a " Second"

The Cure's Greatest Hits

80's music nostalgia is rampant these days. For someone like me who graduated in the early eighties that makes sense of course. The eighties certainly saw a great variety of music. The early eighties for us cool kids meant Van Halen before Jump brought them to the whole world's attention, Bruce singing Nebraska and not Born in the USA, and of course the first last album by the who It's Hard which featured Athena and Eminence Front. The ultimate test of course is did you buy The Final Cut by Pink Floyd and if you did, did you get it?

With all that however what I find one of the more enjoyable trips down 80's nostalgia is the melancholy music of the second half of the eighties. On the First Wave satellite station it often seems between The Cure and The Smith's with a little Thompson Twins thrown in they have time for little else. And surprisingly for me, that is just fine.

Maybe it is because while I was aware of these bands the first time around they were not overplayed on my floor in college. Whatever the reason The Cure in recent weeks has certainly become turn it up music in my vehicle. My kids look at me and say " Really Dad?" It is kind of a two fold look. Not just this is awful but this is not your normal awful music. So I will be the first to admit it is a stretch.

However as the saying goes the heart wants what the heart wants. Listening to The Cure's Greatest Hits album this morning there is no doubt of my being dead on in my assessment.

I cannot listen to Close to Me without tapping my foot. The stomp beat, post Clash and the absolute unique voice of Robert Smith on Why Can"t I Be You is infectious. Now truth be told this music is not for everyone. I have a friend who I am sure would revoke my membership in the he man club if he read this but I think it is well known I am pretty open when it comes to music.

Eventually The Cure went a tiny bit more mainstream or mainstream went a tiny bit more Cure and songs like Just Like Heaven became a success on the mainstream charts. Smith's vocal is a little clearer but he still had the breathy quality you either appreciated or did not. He certainly was not going to change. The peak of the mainstream success, rightly so, came about with " Lovesong" which by any standard is a great performance.

Also on the greatest hits album is one of my favorites. Lullaby, perhaps because it does not make any effort at being liked, it is odd, and Smith's voice is the voice that we remember when he was just the hardcore groups. The Cure really never got enough credit for the cleverness of their songs, the beats, the music itself, much stronger than was thought. Smith's voice, so original, tended to dominate everything else.

One cannot neglect the poppy " Friday I'm in Love " which appeared like a bolt of sunshine in the early nineties. You had to sing along, it was infectious, but the question for most Cure fans was what the hell is this. Did Mr. Smith finally get some anti depressants. No matter the song was one of their most popular and with the contrast to previous records it certainly was original.

I have to offer however that a couple of songs are inexplicably missing. Fascination Street which featured Smith in full Smith voice and has been offered in multiple versions for the hardcore fans certainly should be on this compilation. The obviously missing song in any collection of The Cure's Greatest Hits however is not including Pictures of You. When I think of everything that makes one think of music from The Cure this song has it. When Smith sings" I've been looking so long at these Pictures of You that I almost believe that they're real" captures all the sadness and depression that good or bad encompassed so much of the music of The Cure.

This band made many memorable songs, when you look over a list, you are shocked to realize just how much music they made. With Morrisey touring to stand out reviews in the states right now one wonders if a reborn Cure might not be far behind.

Fleet Foxes, Helplessness Blues

This album was released today. If you would like to hear it to see what all the fuss is about you can go to Rolling Stone.com and stream the whole album. This is surely one of those albums that you need to hear a few times. Amazon also has a one day special today making it available for just $3.99

As I write this I am on my second listen and it is a very good album. Music for me at this time in my life has a pretty high threshold between I like it and I will buy it. I have too much music now to listen to what I have properly. Still, the more I listened to this the more I liked it.

Clearly the folk, alt rock wave continues to rise. The harmonies on this album are wonderful. The influences are everywhere. At first I thought Crosby Stills and Nash and that is true but one also can hear the Beach Boys but for me I hear alot of Simon and Garfunkel though the instrumentation is a little trippier, in places it is like S & G were being backed by a little bit of Pink Floyd.

To compare it with something current you might call it a more etheraal Mumford and Sons. Listening to the title song and the harmonies makes your heart skip and soar and makes you want to hug someone you love. At least it does me. The rest of the album is just as intersting.

Great music. Buy it today

Let it Bleed by The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones have an invaluable catalog of great music. Somehow in our house with our worship of the Beatles, my son's infatuation with The Who, our Led Zeppelin like and my trippy Pink Floyd attachment it would seem that The Stones are overlooked. Perhaps they are. It is a mistake.

From 68 to 74 especially they made some amazing music. In my collection however this song is clearly the one most played. Not a single but a title track on a very popular album this is a stellar song. Mick snarls through the leaning ,bleeding and creaming that he says well all need someone for and the song is one that we all can sing well in the car all by ourselves.

Recently I picked up Love in Vain from the same album and this song too is of the same vein. Slow beat, Mick warbling and another song you can sing well. The Stones rocked and we all know that. They might well have been at their best however when they slowed it down such as on this song.

Shine on you Crazy Diamond

I love Pink Floyd. Animals, The Wall, Dark Side they all make my list of desert island albums. Wish You Were Here was a five song full length album written after the incredible success of Dark Side of the Moon. Beginning and ending the album are the two parts of the song Shine on You Crazy Diamond.

I downloaded it off Amazon the other day. I had heard parts before, the shortened live versions or the greatest hits version. But I wanted to hear the whole thing. The album's most known song, Wish You Were Here served as a ode to Syd Barrett, the founder of the group who had slipped into mental illness and left the band years before. This song in it's epic length also served as a song for Syd.

It is, like much of Pink Floyd, uncompromising in it's vitality and, to many, it's inaccessibility. After all 22 minutes plus just for two different stanza's of actual singing.

What does it mean. It means that Pink Floyd became one of the biggest bands in the world. It means that this happened after their founder slipped away into a mental haze. It means that they never forgot his influence. It means that as soon as they were beyond the record company's instruction and " untouchable" they made sure Syd knew how they felt.

Shine on You Crazy Diamond is a personal message we all get to hear.

Pink Floyd, Animals

So after the disappointment of Kid A I pushed the IPOD wheel up a couple of places to Pink Floyd and am currently listening to Animals. There are times where Pink Floyd easily fits in the Top !0 list of my favorite music. The last six months they have been lodged their consistently. Pink Floyd is one of the polarizing bands in music. There are not too many people who say that the music is " OK" One either loves it, gets it, feels it and one wonders what all the fuss is about.

Listening to Sheep right now on this album i must count myself in the former. I get it , feel it and at times am in awe of the music these people made.

I tell my son what music he has to try, he has started to sift through the Pink Floyd selections focusing mostly on Dark Side of the Moon which is a great place to start, but I have told him there is so much more. I am sure he will find it.

It is music that in todays aural world provides a backdrop that few bands can offer.

Amazon Music Store- Radiohead today

Have you checked out the Amazon Mp3 store. I do not know if they are making significant inroads on the Itunes monopoly but they should be. Each day they have a Deal of the Day and often times these are albums well worth having. Today for example they are selling the complete album of Kid A by Radiohead for $1.99.


At that price even if someone just wants to know what all the fuss about this album was they can easily find out. I do not pretend to be a Radiohead expert of even really a fan. Before the purchase of this album my Radiohead collection consisted of the song Creep from very early in their career. They have certainly ventured down different roads since then.


This album Kid A was all over the Decade's best albums stories you saw in the last couple of months. Rolling Stone had it listed as number one. Clearly in this case I think best does not equal most popular but when does most popular ever mean best. Not in music that is for certain. I have heard Radiohead compared to Pink Floyd which is probably unfair to both parties but I look forward to listening to this album.

Check out the Amazon MP3 store.

The Art of Pink Floyd

I have been listening to a great deal of Pink Floyd lately. When were kids of course we all listened to The Wall but at least as a teenager I did not really appreciate the music. Here in middle age Animals. Wish You Were Here and of course Dark Side of the Moon all have gotten better with age. The music is not easy but it is essential. My itunes collection bulges with so much music that at times hitting Shuffle All Songs is the only way to decide what to hear. However hitting Pink Floyd and shuffle never fails to bring about great music.

And yes I have done the Wizard of Oz/ Dark Side of the Moon trick. At times certain events certainly do match up. My son watched it with me and wanted to believe it was " on purpose." I cannot imagine that it was as with an album it would be much harder to match up.

Certainly a band releasing albums with just five songs such as Wish You Were Here was a band willing to trust their audience would follow them. On that album two of those songs were the two part Shine on You Crazy Diamond their tribute to Syd Barrett.

For those who have followed them for a long time and for those still today discovering their music it is a journey well spent.