I have been a user of iTunes since 2011. This service has allowed me to bring music back into my world and to reconnect with so many great songs from my past. One of the things that I really like about music is that so often a given song has a strong association with a time or moment in my life. I have also found that every now and then a recent song inspires me. So, I thought that I would share my latest five downloads and a bit about my thoughts on each song.
- Holiday - Green Day (2005) - This band's music is labeled as punk rock, a genre that I am not a fan of. However, this is a pure rock anthem song that fully energizes me. This song is not anti-American, it's anti-war!
- Billy's Got a Gun - Def Leppard (1984) - Pyromania is an iconic work of rock n' roll that dominated the mid-80s. Though I was swept away in its magic at the time, I don't find that it holds up all that well today. In a moment of nostalgia, I picked up what many would consider a "B-side" track from that album, but it was as strong as any other tune on that work.
- Fall Down - Toad the Wet Sprocket (1994) - A band with a quirky name that had a handful of hits in the early 90s. They sound like a clone of The Gin Blossoms or the other way around. Sometimes I find it difficult to tell their original pop songs from the later Muzak elevator versions. However, this song, which came out at the end of my time in graduate school, has always been one that made me turn the volume up a couple of clicks. Definitely a tune to call your Dulcinea.
- New Girl Now - Honeymoon Suite (1984) - This band was definitely a rising act in the mid- to late 80s but was quickly forgotten once Nirvana and the grunge movement came on the scene. Yet this song from their debut album is one that made me dream of being a rock star. It just exudes an attitude of cool.
- The Big Money - Rush (1985) - When I was in high school in the early 80s, one of my friends was a huge fan of the band Rush. To be a contrarian, I decided that I wouldn't like them. However, when The Big Money was released, I thought that it wasn't too bad. When I found out that the band was only a trio, I was floored that so few folks could produce such a layered, intricate, and full sound.
