Top 12 TOOL Tunes

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

The King's Daughter's First Contribution - A Top 10 AC/DC List

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)

Top 15 Van Halen Tunes (RIP EVH)

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

Top 12 Megadeth Tunes

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

Top 20 Metallica Songs

NOTE: As can probably be ascertained by this list, I find the first four Metallica albums vastly superior to their later efforts. Just personal preference but The Black Album marked a conscious effort to appeal to a wider audience and the follow-up efforts just haven't delivered the classic thrash hallmark that drew me to Metallica. I fully understand and respect an artist's desire to evolve sonically and creatively over time. As a fan, I simply prefer the formulas concocted on Kill 'Em All, Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets, and ...And Justice For All. Those four albums are stellar in their own different ways and paved the way to make Metallica the biggest heavy metal band of all time.

20) Spit Out The Bone

19) Enter Sandman

18) Don't Tread on Me

17) Orion

16) The Four Horsemen (credit to Dave Mustaine)

15) Battery

14) Leper Messiah

13) Blackened

12) For Whom the Bell Tolls

11) Seek and Destroy

10) The Thing That Should Not Be

9) Jump in the Fire

8) Trapped Under Ice

7) Damage, Inc.

6) Dyers Eve

5) Master of Puppets

4) Creeping Death

3) Disposable Heroes

2) Harvester of Sorrow

1) Ride the Lightning

Top 10 Def Leppard Tunes

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

Top 6 Dokken Tunes

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

Top 12 Ratt Tunes

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

Top 10 Queensryche Tunes

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.

Top 11 Ozzy Tunes

11) Shot in the Dark

10) Goodbye to Romance

9) I Don't Know

8) Hellraiser (obvious shared credit with Motorhead)

7) Crazy Train

6) Flying High Again

5) Mr. Crowley

4) Rock n' Roll Rebel

3) Over the Mountain

2) Killer of Giants

1) Suicide Solution

Top 10 Black Sabbath Tunes

10) Zero the Hero (with Ian Gillian) - note the riff similarity to Paradise City by G n' R

9) War Pigs

8) Heaven and Hell (with Ronnie James Dio)

7) Killing Yourself to Live

6) Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

5) Sweet Leaf

4) Symptom of the Universe (one of the first true "thrash metal" songs IMO)

3) Children of the Grave

2) Paranoid

1) Snowblind

Top 5 Iron Maiden Tunes

NOTE: Maiden deserves way more than 5 entries on this list but I'm going to need to really delve to come up with 5-10 more tunes. Just too many good ones to pick from. I will say the first couple of albums with Paul Di'Anno produced some great tracks. As Sebastian Bach of Skid Row was once quoted, "the definition of rock and roll is Steve Harris's right hand...."

5) Wasted Years

4) Killers

3) Aces High

2) Rime of the Ancient Mariner

1) Hallowed Be Thy Name

Top 5 Judas Priest Tunes

NOTE: I may add to this list in the future. There's so much good material out there for a band who has released 20+ studio albums with first coming back in 1974. The Priest cut a serious path in metal that cannot be denied.

5) Metal Gods

4) Victim of Changes

3) Grinder

2) Some Heads Are Gonna Roll

1) Devil's Child 

Top 10 The Cult Tunes

10) Wild Hearted Son

9) Fire Woman

8) Aphrodisiac Jacket

7) Spanish Gold

6) Nirvana

5) Love Removal Machine

4) She Sells Sanctuary

3) Sun King

2) Hollow Man

1) Little Face

A Few Top 5 and Top 10 Lists While Living With the COVID

 I was diagnosed with COVID about a week ago so I decided to put together a few Top 5/10 lists from some of my favorite artists. These lists are certainly not exhaustive and are primarily from the top of my head. I reserve the right to change my mind on these lists tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year. Such is the life of a tune hound, lists and musical inclinations are always evolving....

I'll start with Acca Dacca and include others in subsequent posts:

Top 10 AC/DC Tunes:

10) Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be

9) Night Prowler

8) Hells Bells

7) Gone Shootin' 

6) First Blood

5) Live Wire

4) Shoot to Thrill

3) Gimme a Bullet

2) Flick of the Switch

1) Shot Down in Flames