“House of Pain”
by The White Buffalo (originally by Faster Pussycat)
from the album Happy Endings: Music from the Showtime Series Californication)
2014
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I got here in a roundabout way. I was watching an episode of Californication this morning and it ended with a different song which I was going to post, but looking into it opened a Pandora’s Box, so I’ll save that for another time. Looking into that got me to this EP, and this song stuck out for me as well.
“Thunderstruck”
by Ministry, 2Cellos, Steve’n’Seagulls, (originally by AC/DC)
from all over the goddamned place
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I was thinking about picking an AC/DC tune for a #karaoketuesday post, but I’m sober enough right now to realize I could never pull off an AC/DC tune unless it was a swing number or something. Which got me thinking about covers that are done in a different genre than the original version. So, ladies and gentlemen, I present “Thunderstruck” as performed by three, radically different groups. But first, let’s take a listen to the original and still bad-ass AC/DC original.
“War Pigs”
by Faith No More (originally by Black Sabbath)
from the album The Real Thing
1989
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Let’s get things straight. “War Pigs” is a bad-ass song all on its own. Even if you’re not an Ozzy-worshiping Sabbath fan, you can most definitely appreciate the bad-assedness of “War Pigs” I mean the lyrics alone are the fucking jam, but you layer in some sludgy bass and rusty chainsaw guitar licks over the top and that’s a recipe for successful head-banging. But what happens if you add about 25% more funk?
“Killing in the Name”
by Rage Against the Machine
from the album Rage Against the Machine
1992
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Obviously pretty much every RATM song is a power song in every sense. It’s probably why I can’t claim to be a huge fan – I didn’t get into them until I was old enough to need to take them in smaller doses. I own 2 or 3 of their albums and could only name 2 or 3 of their songs. This one is pretty much the king of the hill.
Continue reading June Power Songs: “Killing in the Name”
“Earth Rocker”
by Clutch
from the album Earth Rocker
2013
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Power. This song has it in spades.
“Earth Rocker” starts with a slow build, just simple bass line and a ride cymbal, but even then you can tell it’s about to pummel you over the head with something. It’s not until a couple of verses in that you understand the message – quit being a whiney shit Lance and do something worthwhile.
“Disorder”
by Slayer & Ice-T
from Judgment Night
1993
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There were a couple of other more mellow duets I had been thinking of posting first for the next #AprilDuets entry, but I wanted to be kind to Lance and completely scrub Thom Yorke out of his head. If Slayer and Ice-T can’t do it, I don’t know what can.
“Cult of Personality”
by Living Colour
from the album Vivid
1988
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When I started regularly hitting up karaoke, I was having a hard time figuring out what songs to sing. As previously mentioned, my tastes tend to run 80s/90s alternative and there just wasn’t much to choose from that seemed karaokey. So I ended up stuck with 80s ballads or pop songs.
One night after some failed attempts at winging new songs, I was dejectedly flipping through the Karaoke Champ book and I stumbled across the Ls. And then I saw it, right in the middle of the second page… Continue reading Karaoke Tuesday: “Cult of Personality”