Nickelback - Shakin' Hands

I love how Nickelback can make a song very dirty, but still no explicit lyrics in them. This is a great example.

This song charted at #49 on the Canadian Hot 100 before eventually being released as a single. It has since re-entered at #92 The song charted at #11 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks and #24 on Billboard's Rock Songs.

Scissor Sisters - Fire With Fire

Guitarist Del Marquis discussed the song's music video with Digital Spy: "We wanted to make a video where we claimed the streets as our own because we'd never really done that before. You know, we've never had as much fun shooting a video. We rode around on the back of that truck for about six hours beginning at 11pm at night. There were drunk people yelling at us, people looking sheepish because they were taking home one night stands and people puking on street corners. It was a real good time, shooting that video!"

Gogol Bordello - Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher)

Gogol Bordello is a Gypsy punk band from the Lower East Side of Manhattan, formed in 1999 and known for theatrical stage shows and persistent touring
Much of the band's sound is inspired by Gypsy music. The band incorporates accordion and violin (and on some albums, saxophone) mixed with punk and dub.

Muse - Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)

In this song, Matt Bellamy, the singer, reflects on the true power of love. He explained on BBC Radio 1 that it was written after he broke-up with his long-term girlfriend at the end of 2009, and was based on his feelings at the beginning of their relationship.

The video first shows Matt Bellamy playing on his piano while red smoke rises from the background. When the first "love is forever" is uttered, the scene shifts to a scene from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.
Muse are said to be Twilight author Stephanie Meyers' favorite band, and the English three-piece previously contributed their song "Supermassive Black Hole" to the soundtrack of Twilight, and a remix of "I Belong To You" appeared on the New Moon soundtrack in 2009.

 

Thirty Seconds To Mars - This Is War

Jared Leto, the singer of the band, told MTV News: "The song is really about conflict, and the album really is about it too: the inevitability of conflict, the blessing of conflict and what we can all learn from it. We've certainly had our fair share of it. So for the 'This Is War' video, we wanted to explore another side of it. So we decided to portray soldiers in conflict."

The music video was shot on April 7, 2010. A 30-second teaser was released and the music video was set to premiere in June 2010. However, it was delayed. The film features 30 Seconds to Mars as US Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan. The video was supposedly leaked on April 1, 2011. In response to the leak, the band stated that they would release the full length video soon. On April 6, 2011, nearly a year after the video was shot, it was finally released
 

Green Day - Last Of The American Girls

This song peaked at #26 on the US alternative rock charts.

The music video alternates between the band playing in a desert and the character Gloria (Lisa Stelly) who appears in the video for "21 Guns", and is also a protagonist in the story of the album 21st Century Breakdown. Gloria is shown taking part in everyday activities, such as brushing her teeth, watching television, and cleaning her nails.

Shinedown - The Crow & The Butterfly

Frontman Brent Smith explained on the radio interview program Rockline that while the band were writing the new album, he had a dream about a mother whose son passes away. He wrote the song about the mom dealing with the death of her child and trying to move on.

"The Crow & the Butterfly" peaked on the Billboard Rock Songs chart at #1. It was Shinedown's first single to rank at #1 on the Billboard Rock Songs chart.  

Tonic - Release Me

Tonic is an American rock band that has earned two Grammy nominations to date. The band was formed in 1993 by Emerson Hart and Jeff Russo. 
This song is the only single from their lastest, self-titled album. 

The Push Stars - Outside Of A Dream

The Push Stars made a lot of great songs in the early '00s.
This one is about being in love with somebody who loves somebody else. She lives the dream, but you are outside of it, just watch it happening, and hope that one day she will be yours. But years pass, they're still together and you have to watch them get merried, and her getting pregnant. That's when you realize, that the dream is over, she will never be yours again...

The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

Brian Fallon was hesitant to use the song title. He told Spinner: “You call something American anything you better have something to back that up with,” he said. “It’s like an English band calling a song English something, you have a big thing to live up to. The song is kind of about my American life, about the things that have happened. They present you this American dream and it’s not like this specific thing, you find out you just have to work. You don’t step outside and get famous, that’s not the way it goes. It’s like that anywhere else in the world.” 

The Cure - Lullaby

This is based on a recurring nightmare Robert Smith had as a child where he was eaten by a giant spider; Smith says the song is about the fear of sleep.

The 1990 Brit award winning music video was inspired by David Lynch's 1977 debut horror movie Eraserhead.

Daughtry - You Don't Belong

Daughtry was formed and is fronted by Chris Daughtry, who was a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol. Their self-titled debut album was released in November 2006. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200, went on to sell more than four million copies in the United States, and has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.

This song is the opening track on their second album, and it's one of the best songs on the album, but it was never released as a single. I just love how Daughtry can shout "NO!!", I feel like shouting NO also every time he does it. :)

Something Corporate - I Woke Up In A Car

This song is about touring, and being on the road constantly. It has its charm, and feels great floating, but at some point you have to come back to reality, don't you?

Sarah Bettens - Daddy's Gun

Another great song by Sarah Bettens. This one is raising awareness on gun control. Every 3 hours a child is killed by a gun...

Sarah Bettens - Come Over Here

This song is about encouraging somebody to come out of the closet.
Sarah is the lead singer of K's Choice. She has had a large lesbian fanbase since the beginning of her career with K's Choice, but it wasn't until May 2002 that she officially came out to the public.

There were plans to license this song for episode 409 of the American series The L Word. However, the plans fell through due to problems involving the songs' co-writer and record label.

 

Péterfy Bori & Love Band - Felébredni egy szerelemből

Another hungarian song, the title is translated as "Waking Up From A Love". 
The band was formed in 2007, they are one of the first from the new wave of alternative bands in Hungary. The band was taking a rest from January 2011 to May 2012, because the lead singer was having a baby. She returned one year ago, and they are still making great songs.

Papa Roach - Last Resort

This was the first major-label release for Papa Roach; they recorded for an independent label for 5 years before signing with Dreamworks. Tobin Esperance (the bassist of the band) says the band did not expect "Last Resort" to be as big as it was: "No one ever thought it was going to be a huge, huge hit, but I guess you never expect anything, really, when you're first starting out."

This song is about suicide. It takes the perspective of someone who feels frustrated and confused to the point that ending it all seems like a valid option. In in interview Esparance said that "Last Resort" was so popular because the meaning of the track struck a note with fans: "I think the lyrics had a lot to do with it. Because originally the song was about a friend of ours that we grew up with, and he was going through a rough time in his life. And there was that suicide element to it, just like growing up and the struggles of life and questioning whether or not you want to keep going on, and I think a lot of people connected with that. For the kids who had also gone through those kinds of feelings, those kinds of emotions, the lyrics really helped connect with that song."

Dave Matthews Band - Typical Situation

This is the third single from Dave Matthews Band's first album "Under the Table and Dreaming". The single did not chart, but is still frequently played at live shows.
It was inspired by the poem "A Prayer in the Pentagon" by Robert Dederick.
The poem can be read on The Zen Blog.

Kispál és a Borz - Kicsit szomorkás...

This song is from the soundtrack of an iconic hungarian comedy movie from 1997. It is a parody of the socialist musicals in the 1960s.

Founded in 1987, in the town of Pécs, Hungary, Kispál és a Borz was probably the most successful Hungarian alternative rock group to date. This song skyrocketed their popularity since it was their first song to get major media coverage. Before this song they were only popular in underground scenes.

The actual music video is only uploaded in crappy quality to youtube, so here's the song with just a still image throughout the video, but good sound quality.

The Fray - Never Say Never

The song was certified Platinum by the RIAA in August 2010 and was ranked #100 on Billboard's Hot 100 songs of 2009 list. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 2010.
This is a direct love song between two people who are "pulling apart and coming together again and again." 


A set used in the aftermath of the plane crash scene in the 2005 Tom Cruise movie War of the Worlds was used for this song's music video.

Zac Brown Band - Chicken Fried

Zac Brown told the national radio show GAC Nights: Live From Nashville: “The song is basically just a list of all the things that I love. Pretty much, this is who we are. And granted it was four or five years ago when we finished the song and we wrote it, but that’s the roots, and basically it’s like the more we get along and the older we get, there’s very few songs that you can say ‘I believe in,’ and those are the things that I want to write about and sing about. And that was just one of those things that was captured in that song.” 

The Zac Brown Band first recorded "Chicken Fried" in 2003 and later included this version on their self-released 2005 album Home Grown. Later on, in 2006, The Lost Trailers covered the song as their first release for the BNA Records label. Although The Lost Trailers' version had entered the country charts, it was soon withdrawn from radio and replaced with "Call Me Crazy", as Brown had changed his mind about licensing the song to BNA. "Call Me Crazy" then went on to peak at 43 in mid-2006. In 2008, the Zac Brown Band re-recorded "Chicken Fried" for their fourth album, The Foundation. This re-recording was then released in mid-2008 as the band's first single, reaching Number One on the country charts in late 2008. As of October 16, 2013, the song has sold 4,000,000 million copies in the United States.

Live - Lightning Crashes

While it wasn’t officially released as a commercially purchasable single in the United States, the song received enough radio airplay to peak at the #12 position on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay music chart in 1995.

The band dedicated the song to Barbara Lewis, a 19 year-old friend of the band who was killed in 1993 by a drunk driver who was fleeing from the police after a robbery in York, Pennsylvania. Barbara had many of her organs donated including a liver to a 10 month old baby, and the song lyrics reflect how her death enabled others to continue living. 

János Kulka - Fehér babák

János Kulka is a famous Hungarian stage/TV/movie actor, and he released two solo albums by far.

He is the Hungarian voice of Hugh Laurie in the dubbed version of House M.D. He has a nice, soothing sound, and he covers songs from hungarian and french authors mostly, inculding some musical theatre songs.

The video is just a slideshow of the actor, but the song is great!

Owl City - Fireflies

"Fireflies" is a synthpop song and the debut single from Owl City's album Ocean Eyes. Relient K vocalist Matt Thiessen is featured as a guest vocalist in the song. Relient K is an awesome band, you can expect some videos from them in the future in my blog.

This song reached #1 place on several charts, including the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Adam Young (the singer of Owl City) told the story behind the song to AntiMusic: "It was 2AM and I was sitting on the floor in my parent's basement with a MicroKorg on my lap. I built this synthy legato, 'ping' sound routed through a lowpass filter and ran it through a bunch of guitar pedals. I come up with a little cascading part that wound up as the intro and verses of a song called 'Fireflies.'
I have insomnia and I've always had a tough time falling asleep for as long as I can remember. I wanted to sing about my inability to sleep in a whimsical way that portrayed the condition as lighthearted and almost more of a 'blessing' than a curse. It's ironic that when sleep and I cannot bring ourselves to meet is often when inspiration strikes hardest. I'd just been on vacation to Iowa the week before I wrote the song and was amazed at how many fireflies came out at dusk. I didn't really have to think about making a connection between insomnia and lighting bugs, it just sort of happened and the song basically wrote itself. It was a lot of fun."

K's Choice - 16

So as i mentioned in the previous post their original name was "The Choice". When they learned of another group in the U.S. named The Choice, they changed their name in order to avoid legal problems; they decided upon "K's Choice" by going through the alphabet to see which letter would sound best in front of the word choice. Since they thought they needed a story behind the new name, they used to tell that the K referred to Joseph K. from Kafka's the Trial, but later the band revealed the arbitrariness of choosing the "K".

K'S Choice - Come Live The Life

In the early 1990s, Sarah and Gert played in an amateur band, The Basement Plugs. This led to the discovery of Sarah, who was offered a chance by a label; mainly because of her smoky, enigmatic voice. Under a more English name, Sarah Beth, she appeared on several movie soundtracks with covers including "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (originally by Hank Williams) for the movie Vrouwen Willen Trouwen (Women Want To Marry) and a duet with Frankie Miller, "Why Don't You Try Me", (originally by Ry Cooder) for the movie Ad Fundum.
She was offered a contract and formed a band with her brother Gert. The band was named The Choice and in 1994 they recorded their debut album The Great Subconscious Club.

K's Choice - Everything For Free

K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are siblings Sarah Bettens (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). 

Their music can be described as guitar-based singer-songwriter rock or folk-rock. It ranges from very delicate and intimate singer-songwriter songs to songs that are stronger, more active and louder. Sarah's smoky, enigmatic voice is the band's best known characteristic.

Korn - Oildale (Leave Me Alone)

The song's title references Oildale, a suburb of Korn's hometown of Bakersfield, California. Even though the lyrics don't mention the town, they appear to be referring to frontman Jonathan Davis's troubled past.

The song's music video portrays a young boy living in Oildale: "We thought it was fitting to have the first single and video from Korn III – Remember Who You Are be 'Oildale (Leave Me Alone)', since Oildale is near where we grew up as kids," said Davis. "It's a poverty-stricken area surrounded by endless, rich oil fields. The money doesn't really help the local people and it's tough for local kids to get out of there. I feel blessed that our music busted us out."

Keane feat. K'naan - Stop For A Minute

The song is one of two tracks on Night Train EP on which K'naan makes a contribution. Chaplin (the lead singer) told The London Times: "We had two songs we couldn't finish. It turned out K'naan had been a fan for years. He came to the studio, listened to the gaps in both songs and, a few hours later, presented us with fully formed ideas. We didn't give ourselves time to navel-gaze."

The song contains the couplet : "Sometimes I feel like a little lost child/ Sometimes I feel like the chosen one". Keybordist Rice-Oxley told The Independent May 7, 2010 both lines are from the heart. "I'm reading [British comic actor who had a life-long struggle with depression] Kenneth Williams's diaries at the moment," he explained. "I'm really interested in someone like that, with all the mess and depression. I really associate with people who are honest about their fear of failure. If I feel that I've written a really great song, that's pretty much what I live for. My identity's dependent on it. But there are days I'll spiral into thinking: 'I can't write any more. I literally can't finish even a crap song.' I live in fear of the day when everyone turns round and says: 'Actually, you're right!' That really haunts me. That whatever I had is gone. I spend the whole time dreading that feeling that I'm not good enough. And it's that same fear that leads to thinking: 'If in doubt, stick to the well-trodden path and let's do another "Is It Any Wonder".' But then Tom gives me a kick up the arse."

Katie Melua - The Flood

The song was written by Melua, Robbie Williams' longtime writing partner Guy Chambers and one-third of the pop production team the Matrix, Lauren Christy.

Melua told The Sunday Times April 18, 2010, that she decamped to Los Angeles to write with Christy and this was one of the first fruits from their sessions: "Lauren listened to the demo, then played me a piano riff Guy had sent her," she recalled. "I adored the riff. Something in the way it moved reminded me of Georgian music. We used the riff and the song suddenly clicked. At that stage, it was a ballad, but with a very strange structure. That idea of breaking down traditional structures, of taking the songs through lots of twists and turns and tempo changes, became the key for the album."
Melua returned to London and met up with Chambers, who not only agreed to his riff being used, but ended up contributing to a further five tracks for the album.

The music video was directed by Kevin Godley, who has also directed videos for Eric Clapton and U2, as well as having directed the video for Melua's "Nine Million Bicycles". It features Melua performing the song playing the piano on a spinning platform surrounded by male dancers. You can see some great coreography in this video.

P!nk - So What

The song was P!nk’s first #1 solo hit in the U.S., reaching the top spot in its fourth week on the Hot 100. The lyrics are based on her separation from motocross racer Carey Hart, which occurred six months prior to the release.

P!nk told the story of this song: "So What was a joke. I heard this beat from Max Martin. It's such a fun beat, so fun. And I was actually kidding when I said "I guess I just lost my husband, I don't know where he went." Ha ha, that's really funny. Let's keep it and it just kind of went from there. And it just got more and more wrong. The more lines we wrote, the wronger it was. And we kept it because I don't really care. I don't think about the consequences when I write songs and now I am regretting every second of it. No, I'm not."

The music video for "So What" was directed by longtime collaborator Dave Meyers. It shows P!nk drinking while riding a lawnmower, sawing down a tree, streaking on a red carpet appearance and other activities. The video also features a cameo appearance from Hart.

 

Jimmy Eat World - Seventeen

Another great song form their early days. 
Being dumped by their record label in 1999 may have been the best thing that ever happened to these guys. Since then they have broken through to the mainstream.

This is the last Jimmy Eat World song posted for a while, I promise. :) 

Jimmy Eat World - Digits

A song from the very early days of Jimmy Eat World. Sometimes I love it, sometimes it sounds annoying to me... :) 

Jimmy Eat World - Cautioners

A nice song from the 2001 album of Jimmy Eat World called "Bleed American". 

Contrary to popular belief, the band name acronym (JEW) is not a reference to the band's religious beliefs, nor to singer Jim Adkins. The band's name came from a crayon drawing made after an incident between Linton's (the guitarist) younger brothers, Jim and Ed Linton, who fought frequently. Jim usually won, but Ed sought revenge by drawing a picture of Jim shoving the Earth into his mouth; the picture bore the caption "Jimmy eat world".

Katy Perry - Hot N Cold

The single reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Perry's second consecutive top three single, after her previous worldwide hit "I Kissed a Girl". 

Perry says the song is about a real guy - an ex-boyfriend who she could never get a read on. Said Perry, "One day this person would send me a text and I would be so thrilled about it because I had been waiting for some kind of sign - a smoke signal. He would be all interested and then I would just lose him, or one day he would want to see me and then one day he wouldn't. I didn't know what was wrong with him, if he was bipolar, or if he was wearing a mood ring. I took the theme and the song kind of spilled out of me."

The music video for "Hot n Cold", which was partially filmed at First Christian Church of North Hollywood, casts Perry at a wedding, about to exchange vows with her diffident fiancé Alexander (played by Perry's friend, actor/model Alexander Rodriguez). 

 

Jimmy Eat World - Pain

A song about addiction to painkillers.
The video, which was directed by Paul Fedor, features a young man who constantly does things which cause him pain(including throwing himself down stairs, draping himself in meat and letting attack dogs maul him), but he doesn't appear to feel any of it. He is followed and constantly attacked by two twin children with baseball bats. At the end the young woman featured in flashes through the rest of the video arrives by his side, and when the twins hit him again, he finally has a reaction to pain. At the end of the video they walk off together. The video also featured footage of the band playing from the inside of a garage. For undisclosed reasons, the twins in the video bear a striking resemblance to Ari and Uzi Tenenbaum from the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums.

Jimmy Eat World - Sweetness

This song is about having strong feelings for a person who doesn't feel that way about you. When you are near that person you get a special "sweet" feeling. "The Sweetness Will Not Be Concerned With Me" is saying that that person doesn't feel the same way.
Punknews.org stated that "'Sweetness' is so unbelievably catchy, I'm having trouble coming up with an analogy to get it across."

The video for "Sweetness" features the band performing at various locations, including a bedroom, a bar, and a concert. Some basic computer graphics are also present through the video.

 

Jimmy Eat World - Carry You

This song was originally was part of Jim Adkins' previous solo experimental album called Go Big Casino.

Jim Adkins on Rock Louder said: "I wrote this about how, with distance and time, it becomes easier to invent qualities that may not have existed in a relationship. You find yourself falsely believing that those qualities could be included in a current version of the relationship."

Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino

The song title is taken from the name of a previous solo experimental album of front man Jim Adkins called Go Big Casino. Some Go Big Casino songs have later appeared on Jimmy Eat World albums, including "Hear You Me," "My Sundown" and from their Chase This Light album, "Carry You."

 

Jim Adkins comments on this song on flaglive.com: "It is basically a loser's anthem. I picture a burnt out musician who moved to Vegas to work, but is holding on to the dream of a life that just gets farther away. The song is basically that character sitting down and telling an up-and-coming rocker 'how it is.'"

 

The music video was shot at the Las Vegas Neon Museum Boneyard in a single day (with a return for pickups at night), featuring the band playing among the yard's old billboards and casino neon signs. While the band plays during parts of the verses Jim Adkins is seen walking around parts of the yard dragging his guitar with him. As the video progresses it switches between night and day, with many of the billboards and signs being lit up, with the moon also in view.

Jack Johnson - You And Your Heart

Johnson told MTV News: "This song started off with this guitar riff that I had around for a while, actually had it on the last record, and we liked it, but we didn't have any words for it yet, nothing came natural, so I didn't use it. And at some point, some of the books I was reading started leading me in a certain direction, kind of like this broken king character. That area you get in sometimes, where you stop trusting your heart and you start thinking too much about logic and this and that. So it's basically about that separation that can happen between the self and the heart and trying to trust your heart again."

 

Johnson directed the song's music video, which features the singer surfing and floating in the ocean as waves swoop around him. "I was looking at the camera singing and I can't figure out when the wave's going to hit me from behind," he told Billboard magazine. "That was fun to do. It was a physical challenge."

 

 

Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody

This song won three awards at the 2010 Grammies: Record of the Year, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals.

 

Frontman Caleb Followill wrote this song about longing for somebody to have a cuddle with while feeling lonely on the road. He said on his band's website: "It's about being far from home."

Caleb told Uncut magazine October 2008 the story of the song: "The meat of song was written on tour. When I came up with 'I could use somebody,' I didn't know if I was talking about a person or home or God. I felt immediately that it was a big song, and it scared me away. Then, when we were writing the record, Matthew kept sayin', 'What's that song, man?', and I acted like I didn't know what he was talking about. Then, finally, I went, 'All right, we'll do it,' and as soon as we started playin' it, the producers looked up and said, 'Whoa, that's a good song.' I was like, 'OK.'"

 

 

Muse - Resistance

On 21 February 2010, “Resistance” entered the UK Rock Chart at #2. Following from its success on the Rock Chart, on 28 February 2010, the single entered the UK Singles Chart as a new entry at #38, beating previous single: “Undisclosed Desires”, which only peaked at #49. 
When this song climbed to #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, two places above "Uprising" at #3, Muse became the first act in the survey's 21-year history to claim two of the top three spots simultaneously.

The song makes several references to the novel "1984", by George Orwell. Matt Bellamy (the singer-songwriter) said in an interview: "I think if you had to boil it down to one theme, it would be the idea that there's some sort of romance taking place in this, call it contemporary England, with all the b--locks going on everywhere – you just think to yourself, 'It's a bunch of b--locks isn't it?'. So if I was in doubt as to where to go with certain lyric or song I'd go back to those initial thoughts. Like Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. I read the book when I was at school and I only really took in the political side of it, but I read it again and the romance side moved me – this idea that love was the only place where there was some freedom from all the b--locks. The act of love can be a political act in those kind of scenarios, as the one place where the state can't invade your privacy. That love story touched me more than the overall political meaning of the book. So I'd say that was one of the cornerstones of the album, really, the love story in that book."

The music video for "Resistance", which features footage of the band performing live on The Resistance Tour, debuted on 14 January 2010, and was directed by Wayne Isham in Madrid (Palacio de los Deportes, 28-November-2009).

Hole - Skinny Little Bitch

Courtney Love penned this song with Hole guitarist Micko Larkin. She told MTV News why she feels the subject matter strikes a chord. "It just felt zeitgeist. It just felt right," Love said. "There are so many skinny little bitches doing so many bad things. It was like, remember when Paris Hilton used to say 'That's hot?' ... It was just the right phrase for the right time."

 

Love told MTV News the titular "Bitch" doesn't actually exist. "We haven't found her yet," she said, with a laugh. "A lot of reviews have focused on whether the 'Skinny Little Bitch' is me, except I've only become skinny [in my 40s]. I only figured out how - when I'm stressed, instead of overeating, under-eating - in my 40s. And I've never been little. I'm 5'11"; there's a lot of me. So I'm not really skinny, nor am I little. I might be a bitch though."

 

This is the second video for this song, it is also called  "the least expensive Courtney Love video ever". It features Love singing "Skinny Little Bitch" while getting a tattoo and is less than two minutes in length.

 

 

Godsmack - Love-Hate-Sex-Pain

And now a bit of hard rock by Godsmack.
"Love-Hate-Sex-Pain" climbed the Billboard Alternative Songs, the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks and the Billboard Rock Songs, peaking at twenty-four, two, and five respectively, making it the band's 19th Top 10 hit at active rock radio.

The song is a rare balladic number and its origins lie in a tune that drummer Shannon Larkin and guitarist Tony Rombola wrote several years previously. Larkin told Pop Culture Madness: "Love-Hate-Sex-Pain is special to me because I feel it has a different sound for the band, and it was a song that Tony and I put together many years ago, and honestly never imagined it being picked for a Godsmack record. When Sully put the lyrics and melody to it, it was like seeing a child grow up."

This song does not have an official music video, the piece below just showcases the album cover of "The Oracle". So you don't have to watch, just enjoy the sound.

Fun Factory - Close To You

A fine piece of 90's eurodance music, from one of the biggest stars at that time, Fun Factory.
The music video features the front lady of the band, Marie-Anett Mey at various locations, but actually she is not the singer. The real singer of the band was Balja, her real name is Balca Tözün. Balja can be seen in the video of "Groove Me".

Snow Patrol - Just Say Yes

Snow Patrol makes some of the best love songs. Just like this one.
Lightbody (the singer-sogwriter of Snow Patrol) told BBC News that the song is about, "loving someone so much that you get exasperated they aren't showing the same amount of passion that you are".

This song was originally written for Gwen Stefani, but she rejected it. Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls was then given permission by Lightbody to record it for her solo debut album, which was later shelved. Snow Patrol later took the song back and recorded it for their compilation album Up to Now.
 
The video was shot in an inflatable dome (called the Eventhaus Plus) in Poland. The dome was enhanced by lighting and projection The video features the band members dressed in white performing the song on their instruments.

Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life

The most popular song of Third Eye Blind, one of my favourite band during the university years.
It was released in June 1997 as the first single from their self-titled debut album, released in 1997. It was a major hit of the 1990s, reaching number four in the U.S. number one on the Modern Rock Tracks and the Top 40 in the UK.

Beneath a catchy, upbeat melody, with rapidly spoken lyrics and references to popular culture, the song contains dark lyrics about a drug user's descent into crystal meth addiction and his implied sexual activities while trying to "want something else."

The video features many scenes with motor scooters and a 1960 Chevrolet Impala filmed around San Francisco.
The music video version of the song is a little bit shorter than the album version, one small part is skipped, and it's actually censored, they distort and make unintelligible the words "crystal meth".

Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer

Aaaaand the winner of the "Bad Hair" competition is Bon Jovi!!! :))))
Funny hair from almost 20 years ago. Thank god they changed their style over time, and didn't stick to that image. :)
Regardless of the funny looks this is a very good song, a great inspirational piece. Gives you strength to "keep the faith"... The song is about a fictional working class couple, Tommy and Gina, who struggle to make ends meet and maintain their relationship.

In 2006, online voters rated "Livin' on a Prayer" #1 on VH1's list of The 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s.

The music video was recorded at the Grand Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Bon Jovi - Everyday

"Everyday" is a song of independence and defiance, similar to "It's My Life" and "Have A Nice Day".
Speaking in a video interview, Bon Jovi claims, "We went after something that was a little more aggressive than (what) we had done before, but still had a big chorus, and had something to say". In reference to the song, Richie Sambora added, "Time is the most precious thing that you have, so you should try to live every moment to the fullest".

The music video shows the band performing in New Mexico by the VLA Radio Telescopes, while different cities around the world are "hit" by numerous red TV boxes (Bon Jovi appears on the screens as the huge telescopes send out the signal all over the world). The people from these cities seem to be bored, but as soon they watch the TVs, they "start having fun".

Therapy? - Nowhere

Therapy? had their biggest success in the mid-1990s. Although now vanished from the charts and wide media attention, the band continues to release material, gaining enough attention to enable them to tour and entertain a loyal following.
"Nowhere" was released in 1994 reaching number 18 in the UK Singles Chart, and number 6 in the Irish Singles Chart.

Against Me! - I Was A Teenage Anarchist

This song from Against Me! is a reminder of the teenage rebel inside us. Catchy tune and great lyrics, and an awesome music video.
The singer said in an interview about the song:
"I'm fine with the song making people feel nostalgic, but that's their nostalgia, not mine. I'm not asking myself the question of 'Do you remember when you where young and you wanted to set the world on fire?', I'm 29, I AM young, and I've never forgotten that I want to 'set the world on fire.'"
The music video for the song features Laura Jane Grace in traditional punk clothing running through a park being chased by a police officer, who catches and starts beating her.
Yep, in the music video you can see a dude, so what's with the name "Laura Jane"? Tom Gabel, the singer of the band is currently undergoing gender transition, so Tom Gabel now goes under the name of Laura Jane Grace. Wonder how the songs will sound after the gender transition is finished. Laura Jane will stay together with her current wife, they won't break up because of the gender transition.

Vitamin String Quartet - Tribute to U2 - With or Without You

Still Irish bands, and for many this is the greatest of them all - U2. But this time on strings.
For a few years I was really fascinated by the string covers of my favourite music. The fascination now dissappeard, but I still like these.

Vertical Horizon - Everything You Want

"I am everything you want, I am everything you need
I am everything inside of you that you wish you could be
I say all the right things at exactly the right time
But I mean nothing to you, and I don't know why"

I  am sure most of us had these kind of feelings at least once. "Everything You Want" is arguably Vertical Horizon's best-known single. It peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart and U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 Tracks Chart in the Summer of 2000.

Lead vocalist Matt Scannell said in a 2010 interview:
""...I was in love with this girl, and she was just a broken person. She kept turning to everyone except me for love and acceptance, and I wanted so much to help her. I wanted to be the one to give her everything she wanted, but I couldn't. She just couldn't accept it from me, and it was that pain, that led me to creating the song.^"
Actually I had a very similar experience with my last girlfriend, the difference is, that after a long hard year she started to accept me... Don't ask me why... :)

Bruce Dickinson - Tears Of The Dragon

A great heavy metal ballad, from one of the greatest heavy metal singers, Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden. He went solo for a while, but he didn't achieve as much success as with Iron Maiden. 
His biggest hit was "Tears Of The Dragon" the first single from his second album.
The song is talking about the departure of Dickinson from Iron Maiden.

Natalie Imbruglia - Torn

Cute song by a cute girl. It was a big hit in the year when I started university.
 
It is originally a song by Ednaswap(1995) and was covered by Natalie in 1997. The cover got much more famous than the original, actually in 2012, Torn wass declared as The No. 1 Best Pop Song by Q Magazine in their Q Special Edition 1001 Songs Ever.

The music video, directed by Alison Maclean, features a continuous shot of an apartment that never changes its angle of vision. Shots of Imbruglia singing along with the song are interspersed with footage of her and Jeremy Sheffield engaging in a romantically inclined conversation. The two actors are seen fumbling their lines and positions; and the director constantly steps into frame to redirect the two.

The Cranberries - When You're Gone

A great love song from one of the best irish bands ever.
Dolores O'Riordan has an amazing voice, I love most of their songs.

Nickelback - This Afternoon

A fun party song for summer days. The music video is a bit stupid, but it's fun anyways.

Nickelback will finally come to Hungary in November, I can't wait to see them live.

Theory Of A Deadman - Little Smirk

"If heaven is a place where the angels go,
Well then I've got a story to tell..."
I sure could tell some stories about angels and hell. :)
Catchy lyrics in the chorus, and overall a great song about revenge. Although I'm not a revenge type of guy, this song is still great.

Red - Ordinary World

The first music video in my blog.
This is a great Duran Duran Cover, in my opinion better than the original. Except the guitar solo, I like it better in the original version.
Since I just broke up with my girlfriend, I can relate to this song very much. I have to return to the ordinary world...