Tuesday, January 27, 2004
BALLPARK MUZAK
Chris (great point bringing up how everyone and their mother uses "Hell's Bells" for their intro; by the way, in Chappelle's Racial Draft sketch ODB's new name was revealed to be "Ol' Dirty Chinese Restaurant") and Paul have basically opened up a whole can of thought that I wasn't going to delve into with any detail, but now I've been spurred on, so here goes...
I'll think of a lineup-specific post at another time, but all I can think of right now is the top ten songs that I would want to hear when I stepped up to the plate, walked out of the dugout on my way to the mound, or trotted in from the bullpen. I played baseball for eleven years as a youngster, and dabbled in intramural softball when I was 19. Given such experiences and baseball aspirations, any person playing baseball for that long would eventually have the topic of "what song would I want played when I stepped up to bat?"
Unfortunately, I probably have a huge revolving door when it comes to this. I could probably ask myself the same question next week and come up with ten different answers. Since it's me, this whole thing is going to be in-your-face in some way. Basically the number one thing is that the first ten seconds of the song has to be top-notch (or have what I like to call that "ominous feeling" in a song...you can feel it's going to let loose), unless you want the Safe DJ to cue up the middle of the song or something. If he can or has the competency to do just that, then the list may change at another time. For now, here's my top ten "if I stepped to the plate" songs, intro based.
-- Van Halen "Somebody Get Me a Doctor"; This one always gets me pumped up. I could have easily put "Unchained" on here, but that has been used before (Paul Abbott, I think), so I'm trying to branch out a little here.
-- Disturbed "Intoxication"; dammit, now that I think of it, this song would have been perfect for Carlos Guillen. Still, the intro is a thumper. "Liberate" wouldn't be bad either if the DJ knew when to cut out before the verse (cursing!!).
-- Metallica "Creeping Death"; possibly my favorite Metallica song of all time. Prerequisite thumping intro present in all its glory. For the five people out there who like post-Black album Metallica, my pick is "Ain't My Bitch." Another 'Tallica song with an intro is "The Frayed Ends of Sanity." I was trying to remember the title of that song, and I had to play the song through in my mind (to the chorus) to get it.
-- Megadeth "Holy Wars...the Punishment Due"; every second of this song is great, and the intro is no exception. Everyone and their mother has used "Symphony of Destruction." "Rattlehead" off the first album is great too.
-- the Cult "Earth Mofo"; just picked the first Cult song I could think of that pumps right out of the gate. "Soldier Blue" has a good shuffle beat, though there's a bunch of songs off their latest album that could go here too ("American Gothic"). Some people have used "Rise," I think NASCAR used it for something.
-- Foo Fighters "Good Grief"; an unsong song off what basically was the Dave Grohl solo album (he played every note himself). The first album was pretty top-heavy in that the four songs that got significant radio airplay were the first four tracks (sequentially) on the album. Then for some reason they ended up doing "For All the Cows" (8th track?) on Saturday Night Live, even though I'm fairly sure it wasn't a big radio play-getter. Other Foo songs that could have gone here: "I'll Stick Around," "Weenie Beenie," "Low," "Generator," and many more that I can't think of right now.
-- Motorhead "Ace of Spades"; from the horrible movie Air Heads -- "trick question! Lemmy IS God!"
-- Iron Maiden "The Wicker Man"; the song that ushered in the new era of Iron Maiden gets the nod here. Iron Maiden songs tend to have a lot of movements and a lot of them start out with a lighter intro.
-- Guns N' Roses "You Could Be Mine"; you guessed it right. This was the Terminator 2 song with the awesome video and everything. Maybe "Nightrain" might be a good fit here.
-- Queensryche "Queen of the Reich"; bow down to the high note. I couldn't think of a lot of blistering Queensryche intros other than this one and the title track off Tribe. Maybe "Resistance" or "Surgical Strike" might fit here, I don't know. For those of you questioning the presence of Queensryche on this list, keep in mind it's my list, and I like them way too much. Hell, I've seen them live three times.
So for now, there you have it: ten songs that I wouldn't mind hearing when I stepped to the plate. I've noticed right away that I've left Judas Priest off the list, but that's partly due to "Metal Meltdown" having the long shred part before the song kicks in. I could probably go on for hours about this topic, but it might be bending the parameters set by the mere title of this humble weblog.
Ten rockin' intros...feast forth!
And to Chris, who hopes he hears OutKast "Spread" at the Safe...that song is dirty as hell, but like I said, "Semi-Charmed Life" has been played endlessly at the ballyard.
[edit ~2:55p -- Okay, so I totally aped Chris and tacked on the Amazon links. I'm not sure why I didn't link sound clips in the first place, but good idea, Chris. Also, if the songs aren't linked, it's because they're not any of the first through fifth tracks sequentially on their respective albums.]
I'll think of a lineup-specific post at another time, but all I can think of right now is the top ten songs that I would want to hear when I stepped up to the plate, walked out of the dugout on my way to the mound, or trotted in from the bullpen. I played baseball for eleven years as a youngster, and dabbled in intramural softball when I was 19. Given such experiences and baseball aspirations, any person playing baseball for that long would eventually have the topic of "what song would I want played when I stepped up to bat?"
Unfortunately, I probably have a huge revolving door when it comes to this. I could probably ask myself the same question next week and come up with ten different answers. Since it's me, this whole thing is going to be in-your-face in some way. Basically the number one thing is that the first ten seconds of the song has to be top-notch (or have what I like to call that "ominous feeling" in a song...you can feel it's going to let loose), unless you want the Safe DJ to cue up the middle of the song or something. If he can or has the competency to do just that, then the list may change at another time. For now, here's my top ten "if I stepped to the plate" songs, intro based.
-- Van Halen "Somebody Get Me a Doctor"; This one always gets me pumped up. I could have easily put "Unchained" on here, but that has been used before (Paul Abbott, I think), so I'm trying to branch out a little here.
-- Disturbed "Intoxication"; dammit, now that I think of it, this song would have been perfect for Carlos Guillen. Still, the intro is a thumper. "Liberate" wouldn't be bad either if the DJ knew when to cut out before the verse (cursing!!).
-- Metallica "Creeping Death"; possibly my favorite Metallica song of all time. Prerequisite thumping intro present in all its glory. For the five people out there who like post-Black album Metallica, my pick is "Ain't My Bitch." Another 'Tallica song with an intro is "The Frayed Ends of Sanity." I was trying to remember the title of that song, and I had to play the song through in my mind (to the chorus) to get it.
-- Megadeth "Holy Wars...the Punishment Due"; every second of this song is great, and the intro is no exception. Everyone and their mother has used "Symphony of Destruction." "Rattlehead" off the first album is great too.
-- the Cult "Earth Mofo"; just picked the first Cult song I could think of that pumps right out of the gate. "Soldier Blue" has a good shuffle beat, though there's a bunch of songs off their latest album that could go here too ("American Gothic"). Some people have used "Rise," I think NASCAR used it for something.
-- Foo Fighters "Good Grief"; an unsong song off what basically was the Dave Grohl solo album (he played every note himself). The first album was pretty top-heavy in that the four songs that got significant radio airplay were the first four tracks (sequentially) on the album. Then for some reason they ended up doing "For All the Cows" (8th track?) on Saturday Night Live, even though I'm fairly sure it wasn't a big radio play-getter. Other Foo songs that could have gone here: "I'll Stick Around," "Weenie Beenie," "Low," "Generator," and many more that I can't think of right now.
-- Motorhead "Ace of Spades"; from the horrible movie Air Heads -- "trick question! Lemmy IS God!"
-- Iron Maiden "The Wicker Man"; the song that ushered in the new era of Iron Maiden gets the nod here. Iron Maiden songs tend to have a lot of movements and a lot of them start out with a lighter intro.
-- Guns N' Roses "You Could Be Mine"; you guessed it right. This was the Terminator 2 song with the awesome video and everything. Maybe "Nightrain" might be a good fit here.
-- Queensryche "Queen of the Reich"; bow down to the high note. I couldn't think of a lot of blistering Queensryche intros other than this one and the title track off Tribe. Maybe "Resistance" or "Surgical Strike" might fit here, I don't know. For those of you questioning the presence of Queensryche on this list, keep in mind it's my list, and I like them way too much. Hell, I've seen them live three times.
So for now, there you have it: ten songs that I wouldn't mind hearing when I stepped to the plate. I've noticed right away that I've left Judas Priest off the list, but that's partly due to "Metal Meltdown" having the long shred part before the song kicks in. I could probably go on for hours about this topic, but it might be bending the parameters set by the mere title of this humble weblog.
Ten rockin' intros...feast forth!
And to Chris, who hopes he hears OutKast "Spread" at the Safe...that song is dirty as hell, but like I said, "Semi-Charmed Life" has been played endlessly at the ballyard.
[edit ~2:55p -- Okay, so I totally aped Chris and tacked on the Amazon links. I'm not sure why I didn't link sound clips in the first place, but good idea, Chris. Also, if the songs aren't linked, it's because they're not any of the first through fifth tracks sequentially on their respective albums.]
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