Bored one day I decided to sit down and have a guess at my favourite
tracks. This is not something I find easy to do as a lot of groups I love the
album as a whole without really having a strong preference for an individual
track. This was going to be a top 10 but I decided I had better try and get
a big list to select from. I then started putting them to Mini Disc to compare
the tracks. Then two Mini discs, then I decided I would leave it like this.
It just fills 2 Mini Discs in Mono or 4 CD-r’s and was a real joy to compile
on a day I was feeling terrible with my ME. This is in
no particular order except it plays well.
I recently updated this and luckily my Mini Disc as it is now
over 5 cd-r’s.
I don’t have time for a full update but as time have progressed I am carrying a lot of essential MP3’s on MP3 players and phones. And one track I am missing here that is essential for me and possibly my favourite piece of music is
| Suite Lingua Mortis | Rage | Speak Of The Dead | This ticks so many of my boxes. I have loved this tracks from the first time I heard it. | 21:56 |
| Track | Group | Album | Why | Length |
| Jungle | Wakeman With Wakeman | No Expense Spared | This song has an interesting computer programmed beat to it and my favourite Rick Wakeman singer Chrissie Hammond on it. The solo from Rick at the end is great. | 05:39 |
| Freebird | Lynyrd Skynyrd | Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd | A song I would like played at my Funeral. It happens to be about someone dying and of course has the classic three guitar ending. Brilliant. | 09:07 |
| March Of The Black Queen | Queen | Queen II | Classic Queen. Plenty of variation. Terrific stuff. | 06:34 |
| OO-OO-EE | Blues Band | Brand Loyalty | I like the humour of a guy have a bad day, Going to the bar, getting picked up, her husband turning up and ending up in the bar again | 04:01 |
| Life On Mars | David Bowie | Hunky Dory | Another Classic track from Bowie this time made for me by Rick Wakeman’s keyboard part and the lyrics. | 03:52 |
| Everyday | Slade | Old New Borrowed And Blue | A Surprisingly subtle song from the lads. Probably my favourite | 03:10 |
| Shadow Play | Rory Gallagher | Photo Finish | It’s on my first Rory Album and I have always liked the reference to Jekyll and Hyde for some reason | 04:45 |
| Northern Lights | Renaissance | A Song For All Seasons | I saw this on Top Of The Pops and liked it. It was in a friends car years later I rediscovered it and what a classic band Renaissance were. | 04:07 |
| Fly To The Rainbow | Scorpions | Tokyo Tapes | I love the guitar Feedback solo at the end. It is a good track beforehand to. | 09:44 |
| La Grange | ZZ Top | tres Hombres | The Best track on their best album. Very hypnotic in feel. I was hard pressed not to add another track | 03:54 |
| Caroline Says II | Lou Reed | Berlin | Like the rest of the album this track has great atmosphere on it. This is the story of a Woman who suffers at the hands of her partner. She gets so out of it on speed she feels nothing. Strong stuff. I was tempted to include The Kids and The Bed on this selection but just managed to resist. The Bed in particular has strong lyrics sang delicately | 04:13 |
| Frankenstein Unbound (2001 Remixed Long Version) | Lana Lane | Echoes From The Ocean | The Song that got me into Lana Lane. I love Erik Norlander’s Keyboard playing | 08:41 |
| Captured City | Praying Mantis | Metal For Muthas | The song that got me into Praying Mantis. I like the strange way they sing the lyrics and the guitar breaks. | 05:31 |
| Whisper In The Night | ELO | ELO | Yet another Roy Wood track. Again I am drawn by the ballady nature and the classical instruments | 04:49 |
| Heroes | David Bowie | Heroes | A great song and one with surprisingly little melodic backing. To my ears it is more changing noise. | 06:10 |
| Walking In The Park | Graham Bond | There’s A Bond Between Us | Graham Bond made some great music (and some poor stuff) this is a favourite though. "Walking In The Park and my feet just can’t keep still I told you I loved you last night and you know I always will" sums it up for me really | 03:30 |
| Computer Eyes | Ayreon | Actual Fantasy | Arjen Lucassen the man behind Ayreon has written so many great tunes I tend not think of his albums as a whole. This track really does stand out for me though. I like the keyboard rhythms most on this | 07:27 |
| No Laughing In Heaven | Gillan | Future Shock | I love the Lyrics about a man going to heaven only to decide it was really hell. | 04:58 |
| Merlin | Rick Wakeman | King Arthur and the Knights of the round table | My favourite Wakeman track. Great variety and I love the section of low Moog. | 08:54 |
| I Was Cool | Bluesville | Bluesville | This a by a local band I used to love watching. I love the Story and the guitar line in it. | 03:43 |
| California Man | Move | None | Roy Wood gets yet another credit with this great Rock’n’Roll type tune. Fantastic. | 03:37 |
| Season End | Lana Lane | Queen Of The Ocean (Japanese Edition) | I was very unimpressed by the Marillion original. This one really caught me. Lana really brings out the lyrics and I like the Keyboards from Erik Norlander | 05:17 |
| Dianne | Therapy? | Infernal Love | The Cello was the initial attract but then I listened to the Lyrics. Great stuff. | 04:59 |
| It’s Alright/Gypsy | Black Sabbath | Technical Ecstasy | From my all time favourite album I had trouble deciding a track for Sabbath and ended up unable to break this album pairing up. It’s alright is really soothing and I like Bill Ward on Vocals. Gypsy starts with a great drum rhythm (I am normally deaf to drums) and is another great song. | 09:17 |
| Fall of the Peacemaker | Molly Hatchet | No Guts No Glory | Great song similar in structure to Skynyrd’s Freebird perhaps a bit more rounded for me. | 08:05 |
| One Of The days | trespass | Metal For Muthas II | Just A great dual guitar song. And a local Suffolk band at that. | 03:49 |
| Criminal Mind | Gowan | Au Quebec Live | Gowan sings this song so well. This live version just accompanied by his Piano setting keyboards is by far the best. He writes some great stuff | 07:17 |
| How does it Feel? | Slade | In Flame | Two Great songs on one album and I am really torn as to which I prefer. This is such a great song but I probably just go for Everyday. Or do I? | 05:55 |
| Comfortably Numb | Pink Floyd | The Wall | Good Lyrics, great guitar | 06:21 |
| Wear A Fast Gun | Wizzard | Wizzard Brew | A great Ballad from Roy Wood. I am a sucker for these hence ELO’s Whisper In The Night Too. I like the cello ending in particular | 09:11 |
| The Lights Burned Out | Magnum | Chase The Dragon | Another group I find tough to identify a standout track on despite loving several albums. At second guess this is one track though. I like the vocals and the keyboard lines | 04:28 |
| Child In Time | Deep Purple | In Rock | I love the clarity of the opening keyboard notes. But mainly of course Ian Gillan’s vocals. The middle section’s not bad either | 10:18 |
| It Happened today | Curved Air | Air Conditioning | My Favourite Song by Curved Air. I am drawn by the Violin in it | 05:02 |
| Beads Of Ebony | Praying Mantis | Time Tells No Lies | This is my favourite song from my 2nd favourite album of all time. Since I have known the lyrics are about seal culls it is even better | 05:27 |
| Starship trooper | Rick Wakeman | Fields Of Green | 4-5 minutes of great soloing from Rick at the end. I can’t normally resist repeat playing it! | 12:22 |
| The Cat | Blues Band | Ready | A great high energy Blues song. Poor Cat! | 04:06 |
| Carlsberg Special | Wizzard | None | Manic Harpsichord or Piano, Sax, flutes and Horns great stuff. Too good to be a B Side of a single and never get a complete CD release (the intro was missing on my version) | 04:07 |
| She’s Not There | Santana | Moonflower | I just love Santana’s soloing and this track contains a good example. | 04:08 |
| Pale Blues Eyes | Velvet Underground | Velvet Underground | This is simple and vulnerable song from Lou Reed. I am not sure why I am drawn so strongly to it. | 05:42 |
| The Hangman And The Papist | The Strawbs | From The Witchwood | Rick Wakeman on keyboards and a great story about a man who is ordered to hang his brother | 04:13 |
| Searching | Blackfoot | Marauder | It was a toss up between this and Good Morning from the same album. This one for it’s sensitivity and guitar solo ending. | 05:39 |
| One Small Step | Ayreon | The Dream Sequencer | Again it was extremely tough choosing a track from this excellent album but this one just makes it for me. I am extremely partial to Edward Reekers voice and there are great keyboard and guitar parts on this. | 07:42 |
| Boogie No More | Molly Hatchet | Flirtin’ With Disaster | A fantastic song I originally over looked when compiling this list. There is a particular run in the middle of the guitar section I find really funny as it feels like it is falling off the guitar. It’s the first Hatchet I heard and got me into them. Curiously I stopped at one album until a friend suggested them years later and I now realise they are my favourite Southern Boogie Band. | 6.10 |
| Angel Witch | Angel Witch | Angel Witch | Rather fast for me but a great tune. Even my little brother likes it. | 03:25 |
| High Upon High | White Spirit | Metal For Muthas II | I have always had a strange Fascination for White Spirit. I guess it is the keyboards and guitar mix. This was my Intro to them | 04:34 |
| Lord Is It Mine | Supertramp | Breakfast In America | It was tough choosing a track from this great album but this is mine. Again I like it’s sensitivity | 04:10 |
| A Moment In Life | Praying Mantis | A Cry For The New World | The chorus for this really got to me when I first for the album. | 06:01 |
| Family Business | Fish | Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors | Strangely two songs here deal with abuse. Lou Reeds being the other. This is far more subtle and asks what should happen if you hear it happening next door to you. Good stuff. | 05:17 |
| Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited | Move | Shazam | My favourite move track. I have always like this extended version of the track. For years I was baffled by part of the tune and recently I have discovered Roy Wood seems to have borrowed Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring from Bach. | 07:42 |
| Fighting Man | Gillan | Mr Universe | Another Great Vocal Performance From Ian Gillan and a great song from Colin Towns to set Gillans career back on course | 07:26 |
| We’re All Alone | Rita Coolidge | This is an odd choice for me and one based very much on my youth. I got this as a single and I remember smootching a lot to this at the village Teeny bopper discos. I find it interesting it has a good guitar section even though it is not my general style | 03:42 | |
| I’ve Got A Gal In Kalamazoo | Glenn Miller | Orchestra Wives Soundtrack | I guess most people will wonder how this gets in my list but my of my early influences were based on my sisters tastes in music and she liked Glenn Miller. I have always loved this track the most because I like the additional vocal section at the end on the original film version. Things like "my my how she grew" and a reply line of "Man did she grew" tickled me somewhat. Great song. I am always excited when listening to Millers music. | 08:43 |
| Goodbye Alone | Mostly Autumn | Music Inspired By Lord Of The Rings | I use this track to test Hifi equipment. Nice Strings great guitar and excellent all around song. | 06:54 |
| Cold Metal | Ambeon | Fate Of A Dream | Astrid Van Der Veen is/was apparently only 14 when she wrote and sung the Lyrics for this track. Again it is one that grabs my attention due to the interesting topic. The song is about laying on a railway track and waiting for a train to come and kill her. Strong stuff. I really like the way Arjen does some nice guitar solos too. Overall it’s like Ayreon meets Kate Bush with hints of Mike Oldfield’s Moonlight shadow. Interestingly Astrid had never heard of these artists. | 06:52 |
| Kayak | Seagull | Merlin | As I have stated in my Ayreon comments my favourite Ayreon singer in Edward Reekers. I therefore checked out the band he was in and discovered this song. I am pretty sure this song is based on a story. Fact or fiction I have never managed to find out. | 04:11 |
| Tonight | Blackfoot | After The Reign | I like this song because it reminds me of my partner when we are apart | 03:42 |
| What U Give U Get Back | Scorpions | Eye II Eye | This is not a popular Scorpions album but I quite like it. This track was one of two tracks Maria and I chose to dance to at our wedding. The sentiments of this track our very true for us. | 05:02 |
| Dance With The Devil | Cozy Powell | This is a track I always remembered seeing on Top Of The Pops. It was so unusual to see a drummer lead song. I later discovered it in a friends disco and always used to get it played. This has great memories for me | 03:22 | |
| Intergalactic Space Crusaders | Star One | Space Metal | Another excellent track from the author of Ayreon. This one is based on Blake 7 and works really well for me | 05:23 |
| Meet Me At The Jailhouse | Wizzard | Wizzard Brew | An overblown monstrosity I couldn’t resist adding it despite already having Wear A Fast Gun from the Album. I love the Sax at the Start | 13:33 |
| The Little Man Who Wasn’t There | Glenn Miller | There is a 2nd Miller track which I have discovered in more recent times. I feel certain it was based around the "Kalamazoo" style. This one has lyrics which seem rather radical for its age though. One day I will try and read up on its origin | 03:05 | |
| Homegrown | Damian Wilson | Cosmas | On the right tracks I really love Damian’s voice. This is the sort of singing that works best for me. I like the fact I don’t really understand the lyrics on this one | 04:27 |
| Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming | Deep Purple | Purpendicular | I love the guitar line in this one in particular but the whole song is a classic (obviously!) | 07:32 |
| Hocus Pocus | Focus | Live At The Rainbow | Fantastic track. I can’t believe initially forgot to add this into my top tracks | 08:30 |
| After Prayers | Rick Wakeman | Softsword | A gentle love song from Rick. The vocals are very effective | 05:28 |
| Day Sixteen: Loser | Ayreon | The Human Equation | I love the mix of instruments and voices on this. Who else would mix Rolf Harris with Death Screams. Excellent Stuff | 04:47 |