themusicaddict's 2,506th Published Blog: My Top 2505 Most Played iTunes Songs: Part 2 (Finished July 2nd, 2017)

Hello,

To acknowledge how many blogs I've written, I'm posting selected songs from my iTunes playlist. Of the several thousand songs on my iTunes I'll count down selected songs of the top 2,505 most played songs. Starting from #2,505 all the way to the most played song on my iTunes. The listens is the number of listens each song was played.

Ever since I've discovered I could find interesting and usually unknown songs on the internet I've been adding a lot of those songs to my Mac. A lot of times a song isn't very good, but every once-in-a-while I find a great song. This is one of those songs.

1300) Addison Road "All That Matters" (18 listens):

This is a Mormon hymn that I've listened to relatively a lot of. It's not even one of my favorite hymns, but that's what listening to music usually on shuffle will do. All I could find was the instrumental, karaoke version.

1200) "Holy Temples On Mount Zion" (19 listens):

Again country isn't my favorite, but there have been a lot of great country songs through the years.

1100) The Judds "Love Can Build A Bridge" (20 listens):

This is a band I thought would be bigger, but their last CD didn't live up to the preceding CD.

1000) New Politics "Give Me Hope" (21 listens):

The greatest band of all time, no arguments allowed. 900) Led Zeppelin "Dancing Days" (22 listens):

The second Neil Diamond on my countdown. 800) Neil Diamond "Longfellow Serenade" (23 listens):

Like New Politics another band that had one great CD, but not much notable after that. But this is a great CD and a great song.

700) The Heavy "What Makes A Good Man" (24 listens):

600) Van Halen "Feels So Good" (26 listens):

500) Mark Chesnutt "I Just Wanted You To Know" (27 listens):

400) Hoobastank "Crawling In The Dark" (29 listens):

300) Taylor Swift "Enchanted" (31 listens):

200) Jefferson Starship "Stranger" (33 listens):

If you hadn't figured it out yet, I love Madonna!!! 150) Madonna "Like A Virgin" (35 listens):

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's 2,505th Published Blog: My Top 2505 Most Played iTunes Songs: Part 1 (Completed June 29th)

Hello,

This is my 2,505th published blog. Obviously I'm not going to post all 2,505 of anything. But I want to acknowledge how many blogs I've written. Of the several thousand songs on my iTunes I'm counting down the top 2,505 most played songs. I'm going to post selected songs from my iTunes playlist. Starting from #2,505 all the way to the most played song on my iTunes. The listens is obviously the number of listens each song was played.

This version is from a movie called "Singles Ward". I won't try to explain what that is exactly but if you want to find out more do some research on the Mormon/ LDS church. The version on my iTunes is by a band called Ponchillo, however that version isn't available on Youtube. Thus I went with the version by The Lower Lights. 2505) Ponchillo "There Is Sunshine In My Soul" (12 listens):

2500) Pink "Walk Away" (12 listens):

2400) Ellie Goulding "Joy" (12 listens):

2300) Taylor Swift "Ours" (Live)" (13 listens):

2200) James Taylor "Traffic Jam" (Live) (13 listens):

I love pop and rock music, but enjoy the quiet song as well. I discovered the gospel music of Amy Grant several years ago and I still love a lot of her music. 2100) Amy Grant "Father's Eyes" (13 listens):

If you hadn't figured it out I love 80's music!!! 2000) John Mellencamp "Hand To Hold On To" (14 listens):

Coming up very soon on my Top 106 Greatest 80's Era bands. 1900) Van Halen "And The Cradle Will Rock" (15 listens):

1800) ELO "Telephone Line" (15 listens):

What a beautiful and an amazing song. 1700) Neil Diamond "Hello Again" (16 listens)":

One of the most beautiful women in pop music, also one of the most talented musicians. 1600) Alicia Keys "Caged Bird" (16 listens):

Two more 80's classic with this and the next song. 1500) George Michael "Faith" (17 listens):

1400) Peter Gabriel "Big Time" (18 listens):

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Greatest 80's Era Bands Addendum: XTC, Part 1 (Finished July 18th, 2017)

Hello,

When all is said and done I don't know that XTC will be on my Top ? Greatest 80's bands. And I probably wouldn't even think of them in this context if it wasn't for their amazing 1989 CD "Oranges & Lemons". That's one of the best semi-obscure CDs of the 80's, amazing song after amazing song. It's not often a band peaks on their 11th CD, which is what XTC did with "Oranges and Lemons".  XTC was a bit of a quirky band, they didn't make a lot of so-called radio friendly songs. However in spite of themselves, they did have a few songs played on the radio. These are some of their best songs.

"The Loving":

"King For A Day":

My favorite XTC song: "Mayor of Simpleton":

With all the nonsense going on with repeal and replace Obamacare, this song seems to be so prophetic about the American president. "Here Comes President Kill Again":

"Chalkhills and Children":



"Dear God":



"Senses Working Overtime":



"I'm The Man Who Murdered Love":



"Respectable Street":



"Making Plans For Nigel":



Life Begins At The Hop":



"The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead":



"This Is Pop":



"All You Pretty Girls":



"Garden of Earthly Delights":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands #35, Loverboy: Their Best 80's Era Songs Part 1: #27-#19 (Finished July 4th, 2017)

Hello,

I wish I had more time to blog, but I have to earn a living. Anyway the next band on my Greatest 80's Era bands is Canadian rock group, Loverboy. The Mike Reno led band had several big hits in the 80's era. The last I heard they are still touring and recording. Their last CD is 2014's "Unfinished Business", but it seems their business might be finished. They haven't released another CD since then. This blog morphed into Part 1 of my Loverboy countdown blogs.

The key members of Loverboy over the years:

Current members

• Mike Reno – lead vocals (1979–1988, 1989, 1991–present)
• Paul Dean – guitar, backing vocals (1979–1988, 1989, 1991–present)
• Doug Johnson – keyboards, backing vocals (1979–1988, 1989, 1991–present)
• Matt Frenette – drums (1979–1988, 1989, 1991–present)
• Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve – bass, backing vocals (2001–present)

Former members

• Scott Smith – bass, backing vocals (1979–1988, 1989, 1991–2000; died 2000)

A brief band introduction is coming. I have 77 Loverboy songs on my iTunes. As of yet Loverboy hasn't been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I'm sure that's only a matter of time. This series of blogs covers 1980's "Loverboy" to 1987's "Wildside".

27) "Too Hot":



26) "It Don't Matter":



25) "D.O.A.":

24) "Love Will Rise Again":

23) "Always On My Mind":

22) "Teenage Overdose":

21) "Jump":

20) "It's Never Easy":

19) "Passion Pit":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Addendum, Fleetwood Mac: Their Best 80's Era Songs Part 4: #10-#1 (Completed June 25th, 2017)

Hello,

10) "Second Hand News":



9) "Everywhere":

8) "You Make Loving Fun":



7) "Dreams":



6) "Sara":



5) "Don't Stop":



4) "Little Lies":



3) "Hold Me":



2) "Gypsy":



Not only Fleetwood Mac's best song, but one of the best songs of all-time. 1) "The Chain":

Not the most enthralling version of this song, but a live version of "The Chain":



The original studio version:

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Review of Prince's "Purple Rain" (Updated, Perhaps Not Finished July 5th, 2017)

Hello,

From the opening of "Let's Go Crazy" when Prince says "Dearly beloved we are gathered together to get through this thing called life..." you know you are in the world of Prince. Since he's one of the most creative musicians ever, enjoy the ride.

Honestly I've been waiting for a "Purple Rain" (Deluxe Version) for a long time, but realistically I had given up on it ever happening. If Prince hadn't died, I have my doubts that it would have happened now. The loss of Prince will always be felt in the music world, but I'm glad for this release. Now if you're looking for one or more amazing songs that would have fit right in with the original "Purple Rain" that song isn't here. However there are some perfectly good songs, any new music from Prince is always a good thing. The questions are 1) How is it? 2) Do the new songs and revamped songs make this CD worth adding to your collection? 3) Is it worth the relatively hefty price for a 3 disc CD when you can pretty much listen to any song now on your phone? I'm not rating the songs from the original CD as that's been a lot better by others. (Numbers in parenthesis are the length of the song and then the song's rating from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best score.)

1) "Lets Go Crazy" (Prince and The Revolution):

2) "Take Me With You"(Prince and The Revolution) :

3) "The Beautiful Ones" (Prince)

4) "Computer Blue" (Prince and The Revolution):

5) "Darling Nikki":

6) "When Doves Cry" (Prince and The Revolution):

7) "I Would Die 4 U" (Prince and The Revolution):

8) "Baby I'm A Star"(Prince and The Revolution):

9) "Purple Rain" (Prince and The Revolution):

This is one of the songs on this CD that starts out well and has some good musical ideas. However it just goes on too long, especially since the last few minutes is very repetitive. This song didn't need to be any longer than 5 minutes. I can't think of a musician who did funky as well as Prince, this song definitely brings the funk. 1) "The Dance Electric" (11:30, 6):

All too often this is the filler type of song that's on reissues. 2) "Love and Sex" (5:01, 4):

The first 5:57 is very similar to the original "Computer Blue", which buoys the song. Then we have another speech by Wendy and Lisa. That's followed by new lyrics, singing and talking from Prince. 3) "Computer Blue (Hallway Speech version)" (12:19, 7):

The deluxe version would have been better served without this song. 4) "Electric Intercourse" (4:57, 3):

The "Our Destiny" portion is some good funk and "Roadhouse Garden" has some more funk. 5) "Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden" (6:25, 6):

Again the ranking would be higher, if the song had a better edit. 6) "Possessed" (1983 version) (7:56, 5)

This song is good as it is, but it would have benefitted from a more judicious cut. 7) "Wonderful Ass" (6:24, 7):
A light frothy little ditty. 8) "Velvet Kitty Cat" (2:43, 7):
9) "Katrina's Paper Dolls" (3:30, 5):
I liked this song better when it was shorter and it was called "We Can Funk". 10) "We Can Fuxk" (10:18, 7)
A nice, gentle piano ballad. 11) "Father's Song" (5:31, 7):

Single Edits and B Sides

The single version, a couple of minutes shorter than the song that appears on the original soundtrack. 1) "When Doves Cry" (3:48, 10):

Perhaps the best new song on the 3 discs. 2) "17 Days" (3:56, 7):

That iconic intro is shortened and it gets into the song faster, just a great, great song. 3) "Let's Go Crazy" (edit) (3:47, 10)

Just what you would expect of a dance mix. 4) "Let's Go Crazy" (special dance mix) (7:35, 7.5)

A very good song, the funk master strikes again. 5) "Erotic City" (3:56, 8): The Revolution version:

Too much of a good thing. 6) "Erotic City (Make Love Not War Erotic City Come Alive)" (7:23, 6)

7) "Purple Rain" (4:05, 10):

8) "God" (4:02, 5):

This is the instrumental version. 9) "God (Love Theme From Purple Rain)" (7:58, 4):

It's a real gut punch when you find out why the protagonist is having another lonely Christmas. 

10) "Another Lonely Christmas" (4:53, 6):

11) "Another Lonely Christmas" (extended version) (6:47, 5):

12) "I Would Die 4 U" (edit) (2: 58, 10):

At 10:18 this is way too long, cutting the song in half would have made it twice as good. The longer the song went on the lower the score became. 13) "I Would Die 4 U" (extended version) (10:18, 3):

Essentially the original version. 14) "Baby I'm A Star" (edit) (2: 49, 10)

Essentially the original version. 15) "Take Me With U" (edit)" (3:43, 10)

1) Is it good? The original CD is one of the best CDs of all-time, for any genre, for any decade, for any taste. It has everything you'd ever want in a CD. 2) Do the new songs and revamped songs make this CD worth adding to your collection? I would say "yes", but that's a guarded yes. Honestly none of the new songs and different versions are needed, unless you are a completist. There are enough interesting songs on this CD to make it worth the while of huge Prince fans and completists. 3) Is it worth the relatively hefty price for a 3 disc CD when you can pretty much listen to any song now on your phone? On amazon you can get the physical CD for $25, the MP3 for $18. Again if you are a huge Prince fan or completist, then yes it's worth your money and your time. If you aren't either of those, this probably isn't the CDs for you. If you're wondering yes I did buy it. I'm a big Prince fan, but don't quite reach the level of a completist. Overall I would give this CD a 7.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Addendum, Fleetwood Mac: Their Best 80's Era Songs Part 3: #19-#11 (Completed June 25th, 2017)

Hello,

When I originally published this blog somehow I left out "Fireflies". I discovered that mistake when I was working on posting the Top Ten and I was short a song.

19) "Gold Dust Woman":

18) "Family Man":

17) "Fireflies":



16) "Tusk":

15 ) "Save Me":

14 ) "I Don't Want To Know":

13 ) "Seven Wonders":

12 ) "Go Your Own Way":

11) "Big Love":

I recently published my 2500th blog, to honor that achievement I'll be publishing a series of blogs surrounding the 2500 number.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Review of Styx's "The Mission" (Finished June 20th, 2017)

Hello,

Did you know that Styx had a new CD? Did you know that Styx was even together any more? To be honest it's not really Styx any more, it's more like the Tommy Shaws. This is Styx's first new CD since 2003. Styx released a new CD in 2005, but "Big Bang Theory" is a covers CD. Styx's last new CD was 2003's excellent "Cyclorama". Then in the 20 years preceding that, Styx only released two new CDs.

• Chuck Panozzo – bass, backing vocals (1972-1984, 1990-1992, 1995-present)
• James "J.Y." Young – guitar, backing and lead vocals (1972-1984, 1990-1992, 1995-present)
• Tommy Shaw – guitar, lead and backing vocals (1975-1984, 1995–present)
• Todd Sucherman – drums (1995–present)
• Lawrence Gowan – lead and backing vocals, keyboards (1999–present)
• Ricky Phillips – bass, backing vocals, guitar (2003–present)

With the three longest current members of Styx being in their early or late 60's, why would Styx even bother to make a new CD? I don't know the answer to that question, but Styx did make a new CD. It's a concept album about a mission to Mars, which honestly brings us back to the 70s. That's when the concept CD seemed to be all the rage. The loose structure of a story is written by Shaw and Will Ekanovich. Ekanovich's name is all over this CD, besides helping with the story he also plays some of the instruments, helped write the songs and is also both the producer and engineer.

Of course a mission to Mars in pop culture is nothing new. It's an idea that has intrigued mankind for the last several decades and maybe even longer. Recently we had the Matt Damon movie, "The Martian", also "Mars Invades" and "John Carter". There's also the National Geographic TV series about a mission to mars, simply titled "Mars". It might be one of the most popular pop culture space stories.

All that leads to the question is the CD any good or not? Does this CD rawk? But my question is why would you think it would be good? Surely the members of Styx are rich enough now, is it even worth going through the effort of creating new music? And does this whole concept remind anyone else of Boston's "Third Stage"? I hope I answered those questions, and others, as I completed this blog.

Here's "The Mission" in full:

1) "Overture":

2) "Gone Gone Gone":

 "Got to get my message to you". 3) "Hundred Million Miles Away From Home":

4) "Trouble At Big Show":

5) "Locomotive":

6) "Radio Silence":

7) "The Greater Good":

8) "Time May Bend":

9) "Ten Thousand Ways":

10) "Red Storm":

11) "All Systems Stable":

12) "Khedive":

13) "The Outpost"

14) "Mission To Mars":

The three best songs are "Gone Gone Gone", "Hundred Million Miles Away From Home" and Radio Silence". The "Overture" sets the stage then the CD launches behind the power of "Gone Gone Gone" and "Hundred Million Miles Away From Home". Unfortunately that one two punch is diminished by the weakness of "Trouble At The Big Show" and the non-locomotive "Locomotive". It should have been titled "Slow Train".  Trying to rebuild the CD's momentum the next song is "Radio Silence". It's a very good song, although I don't know that it reaches the level of great. For the most part the rest of the CD is mid-tempo and not very memorable songs. The last two songs of the CD are both solid, "Outpost" and "Mission To Mars". It starts out well and ends well, but the middle could have used some punching up.

It's doubtful Styx ever reaches their 70's and 80's stardom ever again, who knows if that's a priority for them any more? While this is a decent CD, I doubt they'll ever make another classic CD. No more "Paradise Theatre", "Kilroy Was Here" or even their late career classic "Cyclorama".  But as a late career CD, there's no shame in "The Mission". It's an up and down CD, but that's to be expected this late in their career. I'm just glad they can infuse new songs into their setlist. I saw Styx in concert a couple of years ago and the majority of their songs were 40 years old. Even these amazing songs can get tiresome after awhile, even tried and true set lists need a infusion of new blood. 

Who should buy this CD, die hard fans, people looking for inexpensive nostalgia and those looking for new work from a classic band. I'm glad that Styx took a chance on "The Mission". Although it wasn't entirely successful, there are still some enjoyable moments. So yes it was worth it to create new music. Does the CD rawk, sorta. I really want to give this song a better grade, but after being honest with myself I can't give it a better score than a 6.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Addendum, Fleetwood Mac: Their Best 80's Era Songs Part 2: #26-#20 (Finished June 18th, 2017)

Hello,

26 ) "Stand On The Rock":

25) "Skies The Limit":



24) "Love Is Dangerous":



23 ) "You and I, Pt. 2":

22 ) "Tango In The Night":

21 ) "Think About Me":

20) "Love In Store":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Review of Papa Roach's "Crooked Teeth" (Deluxe Edition)

Hello,

This is my review of Papa Roach's "Crooked Teeth (Deluxe Edition)". Along with the 13 new songs, there's also a recorded concert from Detroit.

This CD starts off with a solid 1 2 punch of "Break The Fall" and even more potent title track. Papa Roach keeps the foot on the gas with the f-bomb spewing "My Medication", which is followed by another firebomb "Born For Greatness". This is a great song with a bit of a poppier feel.  It's followed by the solid "American Dream" and "Periscope". "Periscope" is strengthened by the vocals of Skylar Grey. Three more highlights are up next "Help", "Sunrise Trailer Park" and "Traumatic". "Sunrise Trailer Park" is the best song on the CD, although it incorporates too much Hollywood Undead. I realize that Papa Roach came first and maybe Hollywood Undead originally incorporated from Papa Roach. The number in parenthesis is the songs' ranking from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. The three best songs are "Sunrise Trailer Park", "Traumatic" and "None of The Above".  The album then closes out with three more good/great songs "Ricochet", "Nothing" and "Bleeding Through".

1) "Break The Fall"(6.0):

2) "Crooked Teeth" (7.0):

3) "My Medication" (8.0):

4) "Born For Greatness" (great song) (9.0):

5) "American Dreams" (8.0):

6) "Periscope (feat. Skylar Grey)" (8.0):

7) "Help" (9.0):

8) "Sunrise Trailer Park (feat. Machine Gun Kelly)" (10.0):

9) "Traumatic" (9.5):

10) "None of The Above" (10.0):

11) "Ricochet" (9.0):

12) "Nothing" (9.0):

13) "Bleeding Through" (8.5):

Honestly I wasn't expecting much from this CD, but this is a lot better than I expected. I would like to see them if they come to Salt Lake on concert. After a slow start, "Teeth" picks up speed with the third song "My Medication". The next several songs are firebombs highlighted by the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth songs. The CD was released on May 19th, but has yet to make cultural impact. But that's to be expected with more rock oriented music (or as Google Play labels it Alt Metal- what the hell does that even mean?). But for those rock music fans that discover this CD will be very pleased. It's nowhere near the top of pile of all-time rock releases. But in the year of 2017, in the midst of pop and hip hop music dominance, this is a very solid CD. It will fit in with a rocker's music library very well.

Overall I would give "Crooked Teeth" a solid 8. The live CD is good also, I would give it a 7. I wish more of Jacoby's talk was edited out. Talking with the audience works great live, but it loses most of it's appeal on CD. That's especially after repeated listenings. Also telling the crowd to repeatedly "jump" is also a non-starter. The highlights of the CD include "Getting Away With Murder", "Between Angels and Insects" and the always angry masterpiece "Last Resort". 

themusicaddict

Review of Jack Wright: The Songs and Stories of Neil Diamond At Layton High School June 12th, 2017

Hello,

This is my review of the Jack Wright concert, a Neil Diamond tribute act, at Layton High School in Utah. The concert was originally scheduled to be at the Ed Kenley Amphitheater. It had to be moved due to weather, the concert wasn't affected negatively in anyway. Recently I posted 17 of Diamond's best songs, Wright performed all those songs except for "Longfellow Serenade". Wright also played 4 songs that I didn't post in that original blog. Those four videos are below as well as some songs that I wanted to hear again.

Anyway Wright and his band put on a lively show. Not only that but Wright told some stories about Diamond. His band obviously isn't as big as Diamond's band, but still five other musicians by himself. Wright kinda looks like Diamond and sounds a lot like him. For instance the song he hated, "Song Sung Blue", which he said was a verse after a verse after a verse after verse. Wright said that Diamond's loathing of this song led to him splitting from his then label. He said his song about being homesick, "I Am...I Said", was his favorite song.

1) "Cherry, Cherry" and Band Introductions

Probably my favorite Diamond song. 2) "Forever In Blue Jeans":

3) "Solitary Man":

Wright said this is Diamond's most "sexy" song. 4) "Play Me":

5) "Song Sung Blue":

6) "Love On The Rocks":

A song he wrote and sold to the Monkees and was a big time hit for them. This is Diamond's version. This song was one of the highlights of the night. 7) "I'm A Believer":

8) "If You Know What I Mean":

9) "Cracklin' Rosie":

10) "I Am...I Said":

Fifteen Minute Break

11) "Crunchy Granola Suite":

12) "Kentucky Woman":

13) "September Morn":

Featuring Wright's "Reggae Rap"14) "Red Red Wine":

15) "Hello Again":

16) "Holly Holy":

17) "Shilo":

18) "Sweet Caroline":

19) "Sooliman":

20) "Heartlight":

He closed his concert with a spirited rendition of 21) "America":



and as the band walked out of the auditorium they played a reprise of "Sweet Caroline".

If you get a chance go see Jack Wright and his band, they put on a very good show. Also the tickets are very affordable, you can't go wrong with 21 Neil Diamond classics.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands Addendum, Fleetwood Mac: Their Best 80's Era Songs Part 1: #36-#27 (Finished June 18th, 2017)

Hello,

Both Fleetwood Mac and myself were born 50 years ago this year. Although technically Fleetwood Mac doesn't turn 50 until July, 2017. Fleetwood Mac has sold over 100 million CDs and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

This is another band that should have made my Top 80's Era bands of all-time. But again they are one of those bands that I mostly considered a 70's band. When I get done with this blog series, I'm going to go back and rerank all these bands and I'm guessing Fleetwood Mac will be in the Top 50. But the 80's era covers from 1977 to 1993. For Fleetwood Mac that was huge as that means their classic 1977 CD is included, "Rumors". It's one of the best CDs of all-time and it's the ultimate divorce/ break up CD. It's a CD that I've specifically written about previously. Every time I listen to it I remember just how great of a CD it is. This blog comprises from 1977 "Rumors" to 1990's "Behind The Mask" plus 5 singles that were released in that time frame.

When most people think of Fleetwood Mac, this is the members they most think of. Many of the main members have stepped away from the band only to come back. The band even completely broke up from 1995 to 1997, although they continued to work together individually.

• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion (1967–1995, 1997–present)
• John McVie – bass guitar (1967–95, 1997–present)
• Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–present)
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitars, vocals, keyboards (1974–1987, 1993, 1997–present)
• Stevie Nicks – vocals, tambourine (1974–1991, 1993, 1997–present)

Although those are the main and longest serving members of the band, there have been some other notable members. Peter Green was one of the man people behind the start of the band, he was in the band from the beginning to 1971. Also Jeremy Spencer was in the band the same timeframe. Bob Brunning was also at the beginning, but he was mainly a placeholder until John McVie joined. When Lindsey Buckingham left the band before the making of "Behind The Mask", Billy Burnette and Rick Vito joined the Mac to help make that record. Buckingham does receive a credit on "Mask", as he played the acoustic guitar on the title track. 

Most of the members have released solo music as well, of course Miss Nicks has been the most successful of all the solo acts. She is my 69th Greatest 80's Musician of All-Time. However Lindsey Buckingham had one of the quirkier pop hits ever in "Go Insane". 

Although the band hasn't released new music since 2003's "Say You Will", the band continues to tour. On June 9th Buckingham and Christine McVie released the wordy titled "Lindsey Buckingham/ Christine McVie". It was suppose to be a Fleetwood Mac CD, but those two went ahead and released it due to Nicks' focus on her solo career. Miss Nicks recently stopped here in Salt Lake on her current tour. (Thanks to Wikipedia.org for the biographical info.)

36) "As Long As You Follow":

35) "Never Going Back Again":

34) "Love Shines":

33) "When It Comes To Love":



32) "Paper Doll":



31) "Eyes of The World":



30) "Caroline":



29) "Sisters of the Moon":



I like all the singers of Fleetwood Mac, but Stevie Nicks has one of the most amazing voices of all-time. 28) "Freedom":



27) "Not That Funny":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands #36 Hall & Oates: Their Best 80's Era Songs Part 3: #10-#1 (Finished June 11th, 2017)

Hello,

The Top Ten 80's Era Songs of Hall and Oates:

10) "Out of Touch":

9 ) "Say It Isn't So":

8 ) "Method of Modern Love":

A remake of the Righteous Brothers classic 7) "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling":

6 ) "Maneater":

5 ) "Kiss On My List":

 4 ) "You Make My Dreams Come True":



3) "Family Man":



2 ) "Adult Education":

1) "Private Eyes":

themusicaddict

The Best of Neil Diamond's Career

Hello,

I have the great opportunity to go see Jack Wright Monday night, for those of you who don't know Wright is a Neil Diamond Tribute Act. Here's a Jack Wright performance followed by the best of Neil Diamond over his long, illustrious career. This blog is a celebration of Diamond's long career. In terms of the 80's era Diamond is #86.

Jack Wright Sampler of Neil Diamond songs:

"Sweet Caroline":

"Cracklin' Rosie":

"I Am...I Said":

"Song Sung Blue":

"Shilo";

"America":

"Play Me":

"Soolaimon":

"Holly Holy":

"Hello Again":

"Cherry Cherry":

"Love On The Rocks":

"Heartlight":

"Longfellow Serenade":

"Forever In Blue Jeans":

"September Morn":

"If You Know What I Mean":

"Solitary Man":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Review of Modest Mouse in Salt Lake City, June 5th, 2017 (Finished June 11th, 2017)

Hello,

On Monday June 5th, 2017 I went with my rock concert girlfriend to see Modest Mouse and Morning Teleportation at The Complex in Salt Lake City. This is my review for the Morning Teleportation portion of the concert. Since I'm unfamiliar with with Morning Teleportation I don't know the name of the songs they played.

Morning Teleportation features two guitarists, one of the guitarists doing the singing, a drummer, a keyboardist and a beaver? The keyboardist had a beaver stuffed animal sitting on his set. They played 8 songs, which was about 5 songs too long. They had some good moments, but not enough. Forty five minutes was just two long for them to play. They also suffered one of the same things that hindered Modest Mouse, a lot of random noises in their songs and songs just ending. All the bizarre random noises were also irritating to the ear.

I would describe their music as a combination of Syd Barrett early Pink Floyd, Fiery Furnaces and some Modest Mouse flourishes thrown in. Morning Teleportation is a long way from being a headliner. No shame there, just keep on working. Keep on expanding your sound and make your music more accessible. Here's a couple of songs from Morning Teleportation, I believe this is the first song they played Monday night, "Expanding Anyway":

"Re-wiring Easily":

Following their set was some of the worst in between sets music I've ever heard. 

After about a half-hour of standing on the hard concrete in the midst of sweaty youngsters Modest Mouse finally took the stage at 9:15, taking to the stage to the sound of buzzing. Modest Mouse isn't a conventional band. At least on record this quirkiness works for them. They have a lot of good songs and I had spent a lot of time getting more familiar with their catalog. Despite that I didn't many of their songs. Looking at the list below the only songs I recognize without hearing them are 4, 7, 8, 10, 19 and 20.

1) "3rd Planet":

2) "The Tortoise and the Tourist":

3) "Never Ending Math Equation":

4) "Dashboard": (Oh good a song I've finally heard of!)

5) "Dramamine":

6) "Gravity Rides Everything":

7) "Bukowski":

8) "Satin In A Coffin" (One of the few highlights of the night.)

9) "Trailer Trash":

10) "Wicked Campaign":

11) "Lampshades On Fire":

12) "Fly Trapped In A Jar":

13) "The Ground Walks, With Time In A Box":

14) "Custom Concern":

15) "A Different City":

Encore, the encore break was at least 10 minutes- which is just unneeded. That same buzzing sound that started the show was going on through the entire encore break.

16) "Parting of The Sensory":

17) "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes":

18) "Dark Center of the Universe":

19) "Blame It On Tetons":

20) "The Good Times Are Killing Me" (I like this song, but their arrangement was terrible.)

Modest Mouse was one of the worst concerts I've ever seen. They played too many songs that I didn't know. The reason why I didn't know most of those songs is because they weren't very good. A lot of times it was two or three boring songs in a row. For the most part the arrangements weren't  good, songs just stop unpredictably, there's little coherence in the setlist. When Isaac Brock spoke he was weird and what he was saying wasn't intelligible. When a performer says "we're not done yet" and one is less than happy about that, that gives you an idea of this concert. Standing the whole concert on a hard cement floor also doesn't add to a concert.

I wish they would've closed the set by not playing those first two songs- we had enough boring, lesser known songs by that point. Then I would suggest play the good arrangements of "Tetons", "Good Times" and the song everyone was waiting for "Float On". Honestly this encore was boring, none of these songs came off particularly memorably. I probably would have left earlier if I had known they weren't going to play "Float On". And if I'd known how much of a disappointing concert it would've been, obviously I wouldn't have gone.

The die hard Modest Mouse fan was probably pretty happy at their bizarre setlist, but for the average fan it was disappointing. If you were to ask me I would let you know there's no point seeing Modest Mouse in concert. There were very, very few highlights on a night of several disappointments.

Next concert: Seeing Jack Wright, the Neil Diamond tribute act, on June 12th. Although a tribute act that should be a lot better. I'll be able to sit, I'm familiar with the songs and hope for a great evening.

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Best of Avenged Sevenfold (From thetoptens.com) + Selected Songs from "The Stage" (Finished June 10th, 2017)

Hello,

1) "The Afterlife":

My personal favorite Avenged Sevenfold song!! 2) "Nightmare":

3) "A Little Piece of Heaven":

4) "Bat Country":

5) "So Far Away":

6) "Beast and the Harlot":

7) "Seize The Day":

8) "Critical Acclaim":

9) "Almost Easy":

10) "Unholy Confessions":

Selected Songs From "The Stage", their latest CD:

"The Stage":

"Paradigm":

"Angels":

"Simulation":

"Fermi Paradox":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands #36 Hall & Oates: Their Best 80's Era Songs Part 2: #19-#11 (Finished June 9th, 2017)

Hello,

19) "Open All Night":

18) "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid":

17) "Everything Your Heart Desires":

16) "One On One"

15) "Mano A Mano":



14) "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)":



13) "Wait For Me":



12) "So Close":



11) "Did It In A Minute":

themusicaddict

themusicaddict's Top 106 Greatest 80's Bands #38 Oingo Boingo: Their Best 80's Era Songs Part 2: #19-#11 (Finished June 3rd, 2017)

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10) "Flesh N' Blood":

9) "Just Another Day":

8) "Sweat":

These are 5 of Oingo Boingo's Top 7 songs, they're all nearly equally amazing songs. The difference between 1 and 7 isn't that much thus I pondered the final rankings through the night.

7) "No Spill Blood":

6) "Wild Sex (In The Working Class)":



5) "Not My Slave"

4) "Who Do You Want To Be Today":

3) "Only A Lad":

2) "Stay":

1) "Weird Science":

themusicaddict