E is for Eccentric

There's something about taking music as one's life work that brings out the bonkers in people. Somehow, being a professional musician morphs people from being of this world into beings from another realm entirely.


Take Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr Bungle fame and the following:

* Faith No More covered the Eastenders theme tune at Leeds Festival 2009.

* There track 'Caffeine' was written about a sleep deprivation experiment Patton undertook.

* Faith No More once played a festival where bottles of piss were used as missiles aimed at the band themselves. In good humour, Patton threatened to drink the next one that landedon the stage. A man good on his promise, he downed it and proceeded to throw up throughout the remainder of the set.

* He used to shit in hairdryers in hotels.

* Patton provided the voices of the monsters in 2007's 'I Am Legend' starring Will Smith.

D is for Debuts

It's often said a band's classic work comes together in their third album - think Radiohead 'OK Computer', Metallica 'Master of Puppets' and Manic Street Preachers 'Holy Bible'.

After testing the water with the debut and getting past that difficult second album, things usually come together to create a masterstroke the third time around.

Personally, I like the uncertainty of a debut, the sound of a band discovering themselves and in some cases a rawness that just can't be captured again.

Here's my list of debuts that defy the third album rule:

* The Clash - The Clash
Yes, I know 'London Calling' is cited as the classic here and while that album is a true work of art, there's something about 'The Clash' that just speaks to me. Edgy, stripped down and angry, the lyrics and sound just give me that same rush of adrenaline I felt the first time round. If you don't own it, you should.

* Killing Joke - Killing Joke
I own a few of these, including the just released 'MMXII', but their 1980 eponymously titled debut and its unmistakable brand of industrial post-punk simply can't be beaten. Want to know what the impending apocalypse will sound like? It's already been recorded here.

* Guns n Roses - Appetite For Destruction
It's got 'Welcome to the Jungle', 'Paradise City' and 'Sweet Child o' Mine' - how could a band possibly top that? Not to mention that Axl Rose was already well on his way to becoming an asshole the moment this album was released.

* Pearl Jam - Ten
Born into grunge and yet still going strong, Pearl Jame have successfully managed to dodge the curse of pigeon-holing and a passing music trend. This stunning collection has some awesome riffs and hasn't aged a day.

* Arcade Fire - Funeral
A modern classic with amazing moments throughout and completely captivating when performed live. Also one of the best albums of the last decade and while their later stuff is also worth a listen, I don't think this one can be topped.

C is for Cover Versions

A good cover version, by definition, is a song transformed. It's what happens when a band has the vision to see past the original, to take a song in a new direction and completely run away with it. I think it's pretty lame when bands can't manage to put their own spin on a song, when they don't have enough character or heart to give it a new personality - afterall, who wants a shitty, second-rate version of the original? No, they'll be none of that here. Come with me and I'll show you five bands who have the vision to make a song their own...


Here's my top five cover versions:


'Whiskey in the Jar' - Metallica
A traditional Irish drinking song taken on by Thin Lizzy back in the early '70s, but completely remolded by Metallica into a meaty beast of a track. And, it's got awesome riffage you can't help but sing along too.


'Hurt' - Johnny Cash
A truly haunting and thought-provoking number by Nine Inch Nails, some say about heroin addiction, some say about suicide. Latterly destroyed in an appalling cover version by Leona Lewis. However, while the original makes for heavy listening, Johnny Cash's take on the track is simply beautiful and he makes it into his own story of a man at the end of his life apologising for his mistakes. If you don't like this you have no heart.


'To Have and to Have Not' - Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards
It's got attitude, it's got swagger and soundwise, it comes with a lot more balls than the original by folk/punk singer Billy Bragg. That's not to say I don't love the original - as a leftie and political song writer, Bragg's lyrics always stand way above the music and always capture the world just how it is.

Check out these prophetic lyrics:

The factories are closing and the army's full,

I don't know what I'm going to do,

But I've come to see in the Land of the Free

There's only a future for a chosen few

'The District Sleeps Alone Tonight' - Frank Turner
The one man acoustic warrior is the maestro of cover versions, effortlessly turning Black Flag's 'Fix Me' and Bad Brain's 'Pay to Cum' from bile-ridden blasts of pure fury into songs that could easily pass for his own. Here, he takes The Postal Service's electronic number, removes the fluff and strips it back down to its bare and beautiful bones. Stunning.


'Immortal' - Clutch
There's making a song you're own, then there's totally re-writing it. Once upon a time, this dirty rock gem was a '70s classic rock, Free-sounding Leslie West (of Mountain) number titled 'Baby I'm Down'. Not only was West ok with it being rewritten both lyrically and musically by Clutch, he helped them do it.


This is part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, find out more HERE.