So many great tunes to choose from that I had to do a Top 25.
25) Rainier Fog
24) Again
23) Love, Hate, Love
22) Frogs
21) Voices
20) Man In The Box
19) Angry Chair
18) Put You Down
17) Rotten Apple
16) Down In A Hole
15) Rooster
14) Sea of Sorrow
13) Dam That River
12) Would?
11) Hollow
10) What The Hell Have I
9) We Die Young
8) Bleed the Freak
7) Check My Brain
6) Nutshell
5) Sunshine
4) Rain When I Die
3) Them Bones
2) It Ain't Like That
1) Junkhead
A true tune hound will admit when he missed the boat on an artist. TOOL has been around since I was a sophomore in high school and I had my head buried in grunge and alternative, the prevailing sounds of the time. Maybe it was too much to digest for a high school kid clamoring for easily accessible riffs, chord progressions, and standard song structures (e.g. intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, verse, outtro).
I did hear more of TOOL once I made it to college and rock radio and MTV become more accessible. Yet again, my feeble musical mind wasn't ready to commit the time and resources necessary to understanding and appreciating TOOL. Maynard and company are a unique group and an acquired taste. Odd time signatures that constantly change and song structures that aren't of this world are not easy to adapt to. And we haven't even scratched the lyrical surface yet. It's a cocoon of sensory overload for the virgin listener.
With the release of Fear Innoculum in 2019, I was able to hear Pnuema and for some strange reason it was palatable with Adam Jones's intro riff and Justin Chancellor's piercing bass lines. It was the gateway and I took it and ran with it and haven't looked back. TOOL is literally unlike any musical artist I've ever heard and I don't know that it can every be recreated in a similar form.
Oh, Danny Carey is simply not human....
12) Bottom
11) 7empest
10) Schism
9) Forty Six & 2
8) Ticks & Leeches
7) The Pot
6) Invincible
5) Right In Two - contains my favorite lyric of all time
4) Aenema
3) Pneuma
2) Lateralus
1) Lost Keys (Blame Hofmann)/Rosetta Stoned - These two tracks must always be played in the proper sequence
I should note that my daughter is an early teenager with a keen ear for stellar music. Her breadth and depth of knowledge of GOOD music far transcends that of myself at a comparable age. Granted she has the benefit of iTunes and a tip top mentor (her father) and doesn't have to travel 40+ miles to shop for cassettes and CDs but I digress. She's a student of the game and is always searching for something new to her. She's an old soul and wise beyond her musical years...a musical savant if you will...
Without further ado, I give you The King's daughter's top 10 AC/DC tunes:
10) What's Next to the Moon (damn, that's good....should've been on my list)
9) Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
8) Badlands (good deep cut selection)
7) Stand Up
6) Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
5) T.N.T.
4) Thunderstuck
3) Girls Got Rhythm
2) Rising Power (great lesser-known track from Flick of the Switch)
1) Down Payment Blues (great track from one of the best albums in the entire catalog)
NOTE: This is a Van Halen list, not a Van Hagar list. I may be so inclined to do a Van Hagar list in the future but a Van Cherone list is out of the question....
15) Little Dreamer
14) Secrets
13) On Fire
12) And the Cradle Will Rock...
11) Dance the Night Away
10) Where Have All The Good Times Gone
9) Atomic Punk
8) Hot For Teacher
7) I'm The One
6) Panama
5) Mean Street
4) Somebody Get Me a Doctor
3) Fools (credit goes to my daughter for making me appreciate this track more than in the past)
2) Ain't Talking 'Bout Love
1) Unchained
12) Set the World Afire
11) Symphony of Destruction
10) Addicted to Chaos
9) Hangar 18
8) Wake Up Dead
7) Peace Sells
6) Tornado of Souls (shout out to Marty Friedman for that blistering solo)
5) A Tout le Monde
4) Devil's Island
3) Rattlehead
2) Holy Wars....The Punishment Due
1) In My Darkest Hour
10) Comin' Under Fire
9) Women
8) Animal
7) High 'n Dry
6) Rock of Ages
5) Gods of War
4) Too Late for Love
3) Billy's Got a Gun
2) Let It Go
1) Photograph
NOTE: Dokken was one of those bands whose artistic merit (aside from George Lynch's guitar work) doesn't really go beyond that of the 80's hair metal scene. They successfully mixed all the necessary ingredients and were fairly successful from 1983 to around 1987. That being said, I really enjoy a lot of their tunes. Takes me back to the good ol' days.
6) Don't Close Your Eyes
5) Prisoner
4) Breaking the Chains
3) The Hunter
2) Lightning Strikes Again
1) Into the Fire
12) Way Cool Junior
11) You're In Love
10) Lay It Down
9) Back For More
8) Tell the World
7) You Should Know By Now
6) Round and Round
5) You're In Trouble
4) Lack of Communication
3) Scene of the Crime
2) Dance
1) Slip of the Lip
10) Take Hold of the Flame
9) Silent Lucidity
8) Prophecy
7) NM 156
6) Queen of the Reich
5) Eyes of a Stranger
4) Another Rainy Night (Without You)
3) Surgical Strike
2) Empire
1) Operation: Mindcrime
Mindcrime and Empire probably reside most heavily in listeners minds...and for good reason. However, The Warning (1984) and Rage for Order (1986) really set the stage for what would come after in my opinion.
