Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Six Pack of the Week: Guilty Pleasures

We've all been there. You're out with your friends and then, out of the blue Come Sail Away comes on your iPod. Everyone looks at you like "What the hell man?!" All you can really say is "I don't know, my brother must have been messin' with my playlists. I *DON'T* listen to this shit".

Of course, they don't believe you. You can blame it on your bro, the wife, even the damn cat and they aren't going to believe you. Now they know what you secretly listen to when you're in your car by yourself. It isn't the super-cool indie bands, no Vampire Weekend or The Decemberists - hell, not even The Raconteurs. You're blastin' Sweet Child 'O Mine and pushing yourself into falsetto as best you can to sing along.

I suppose it's nothing to really be ashamed of. Well, yes it is. It really, really is. But this week, despite the shame, we're going to share some guilty pleasures with you. First off, I (Kraig) will share mine:

Boston - More Than a Feeling

I have a special place in my heart for the genre dubbed "Arena Rock". For those of you unfamiliar with rock 'n roll history, this is the rock that came before "Hair Bands" and just after Zeppelin.

I can't quite explain the feeling these bombastic ballads give me deep down in my insides, nor can I deny them. I just turn them up to 11 when I'm alone in my car. I don't even think my wife knows I listen to this shit.

But seriously, listen to the guitar tone in this song - it's a beautiful thing. The harmonies are brilliant. Alright, I'm done defending Boston now.


Buy some music from Boston: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace

Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

Here it is, the big one. The mother of all arena-rock ballads. It gives me chills when the vocals drop in over the top of the keys. I don't know why, it's nothing spectacular, but I just want those kids to meet up on those damn midnight trains going anywhere...


Buy some music from Journey: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace

Brock's:

Cute is What We Aim For - There's a Class for This

Definitely one of the most cutesy of the emo-pop bands (seriously, just look at the band name), these guys write undeniably catchy songs to make you tap those toes. As much as I just want to hate them, I find myself singing along to every song and secretly looking forward to their next album.

[mp3] Cute is What We Aim For - There's a Class for This

I won't tell if you buy some Cute is What We Aim For music: Amazon | iTunes
And check out their website: Official | Myspace

A Fine Frenzy - Rangers

This one definitely falls under the category of "blame on the wife." A Fine Frenzy is beautiful, haunting piano pop written by a waifish red-headed woman. I saw her perform on the Carson Daly Show, and immediately ran out and bought the cd. Of course, what I mean is that my wife did that...

[mp3] A Fine Frenzy - Rangers

Buy A Fine Frenzy's music: Amazon | iTunes
Visit the websites: Official | Myspace

Stu's:

Avril Lavigne - Naked

It seems wrong to preface a guilty pleasures post, but that's exactly what I'm going to do! I like Avril's old stuff and by "old stuff," I mean anything before her most recent album, The Best Damn Thing. I really want to make a 'worst damn thing' joke but I think you're already there, so we shall skip it.

Anyway, most think of her as a member of the pop-punk genre but at least half of her early tracks are pop-rockish, which makes it understandable that I like it, right? ...right? Ok, I'm not foolin' anyone. Oh, and I'd like to apologize to anyone who accidentally found this post while searching for porn; sorry, unintentional.

[mp3] Avril Lavigne - Naked

Buy some pre-The Best Damn Thing music from Avril Lavigne: Amazon | iTunes
The Internet's on computers now: Official | Myspace

John Mayer - Something's Missing

I think all three of us would agree that Mayer's first album, Room for Squares, was pretty alright. However, at some point between when it came out and when every teenage and pre-teen girl decided to swoon over him, I was supposed to stop liking his stuff. I never got the memo. Damn. And as much as I want to call him a sellout for seemingly skewing songs towards his teenage fans, I keep listening, sooo...

[mp3] John Mayer - Something's Missing

Buy some music from John Mayer: Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online: Official | Myspace

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

'More Than A Feeling" is my guilty pleasure, too!! Great post.

Kraig said...

Emily, I'm glad to know I'm not alone!

Dan said...

REO Speedwagon, Kansas, Styx, Foreigner. Just off the top of my head.

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable! I get such a hard time from my friends about my "Hair Brush Hits" as we call them over here. I have too many a Guilty Pleasure to mention but for some reason two always turn up hand in hand on my playlists; one being Boston and the other Rainbow "Since You've Been Gone." Feel good as it's hootin tootin best!