Nickelback - This Means War

Nickelback open their seventh studio album, Here and Now, with this up-tempo song. Chad Kroeger explained the album title to MTV News: "It's called Here and Now because it just represents a snapshot in time, a snapshot of who we were when we made it," he said. "And of all the names we had, it was better than Wizard Beating."

 

 

Adele - Set Fire To The Rain

Many of the songs on 21 such as this one are about the heartbreaking ending of Adele's first real relationship. She told MTV News in an interview to plug the album's release: "It broke my heart when I wrote this record, so the fact that people are taking it to their hearts is like the best way to recover. 'Cause I'm still not fully recovered. It's going to take me 10 years to recover, I think, from the way I feel about my last relationship. It was the biggest deal in my entire life to date. He made me totally hungry. He was older, he was successful in his own right, whereas my boyfriends before were my age and not really doing much. And he got me interested in film and literature and food and wine and traveling and politics and history, and those were things I was never, ever interested in. I was interested in going clubbing and getting drunk."

Our Lady Peace - As Fast As You Can

Continuing with the motif of trying new things on Curve, Our Lady Peace decided to record the individual drums on this song separately. Guitarist Steve Mazur said in 2012 that the idea behind this was to get "a bombastic live, almost distorted, drum sound" on the track.

Volbeat - Still Counting

"Counting all the assholes in the room, well I'm definitely not alone..." :)

My Chemical Romance - Bulletproof Heart

1980s heavy metal bands such as British outfit Judas Priest inspired this song. Gerard Way explained to Spinner: "That song actually reminded me in an odd way of all the best stuff of '80s what is called cock rock, but not all of it was. Judas Priest is considered metal, but it's great rock 'n' roll. It's having nothing to do with that era of metal, the hair rock, but then having everything to do with like the birth of power-anthem metal."

3 Doors Down - Every Time You Go

"Every Time You Go" never entered the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 4 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which acts as a 25-song extension to the Hot 100.

Train - Drive By

Monahan is singing about a guy who is attempting to convince a girl that their one-night-stand was not just a "drive by." The protagonist insists that he wants a lasting relationship. Speaking with Digital Spy
the Train frontman admitted that it is "an indirect song about meeting [his] wife." Monahan added: "I really did not expect I was going to fall in love with her that day. I said I'm never going to move to Washington where you live and I'm never going to have kids or get married, just so you know. So we've been married five years, we live in Washington and we have two children and that whole threat worked out great."

Thriving Ivory - Where We Belong

This is the last single from Thriving Ivory released in 2010. Let's hope they return someday and make more great songs.

The Tea Party - Heaven Coming Down

This single reached No.1 on the Canadian mainstream charts in 1999. The Tea Party has a very unique sound, I love their songs. 

The Offspring - Days Go By

Speaking with Rolling Stone, Dexter Holland said that the Offspring are trying to impart a message through the Days Go By album. "Part of why I chose 'Days Go By' as the single and the title of the album is because it really kind of shows – not only with me – that the world has been through a sh--ty few years and it's been really tough on a lot of people," he explained. "People have really gotten hurt and, at the end of the day, no one's gonna pick you up.

You've gotta pick yourself up and figure out how to move on," he continued. "So I guess acknowledging that it's been tough, but also having a message of hope, is what I really wanted people to take away from this record."

Theory Of A Deadman - Out Of My Head

A fun song from the fourth album of Theory Of A Deadman.

Neon Trees - Animal

During an interview with myYearbook, Tyler Glenn was asked what inspired this song. He replied: "Vicious women. Does that sound sexist? I don't intend it that way, but particular vicious girls that claw you up but you love it so much anyway, if that makes any sense.…"

stellastarr* - My Coco

The biggest hit from stellastarr*. Enjoy!

Shinedown - Bully

This song is an anthem that addresses bullying. It sends a message of strength to those who are victims, reassuring them that they're not alone and there are many who have made it through. "We don't have to take this back against the wall, we don't have to take this we can end it all," sings frontman Brent Smith. Kerch told Bravewords.com that there wasn't any specific event that prompted to write a song about bullying. "I think we've all witnessed it in our lives," he said. "It's definitely more in the news; it's a hot ticket item right now. But I think that also exists because of the social media outlets – Facebook and Twitter, things like that. Really the song wasn't about one specific occasion, just bullying in general. You can't let yourself get bullied in life; you have to stand up for yourself and have a sense of pride in yourself and don't take it anymore. It's for anybody of any age group, whether you're a kid being bullied around, or even in your work place being bullied by your boss; it's universal, it's for everyone."

Jake Owen - Barefoot Blue Jean Night

It was Owen's former girlfriend who convinced him to record the song. He recalled to The Boot: "I was almost finished with my record. I had that song on my email. I listened to it over and over one night when my girlfriend at the time came downstairs, and we were breaking up. She said, 'You're an idiot if you don't record this.' I think she thought I was an idiot anyway, which is why she was leaving, but I did listen. [Laughs] She liked it, and for a girl who never mentioned much about my music, because I think my music is the one thing that kept me away from her, so she never complimented me much on it - for her to say that, I knew. I already knew in my mind it was a good song, but when she said that, I was like, all right, I'm cutting it. So it worked out. It's weird, I knew it would be a hit, but I didn't know it would be this big. I don't know what else to base it off of, because I've never had anything like that. I've had hits on the radio, but this is different. I keep telling folks, there's a difference between a hit song and a career song, and this is a career song."

Serj Tankian - Harakiri

System of a Down leader Serj Tankian's third solo album, Harakiri, is titled after the Japanese term signifying ritualistic suicide. It was inspired by reports he heard in early January 2011 of mass bird and fish deaths around the world. "The omen was not lost on me," he said. "Varied creatures on earth were committing massive hara-kiri. Do they know something we don't about the coming times or the sustainability of the environment?" The symbolism of entire species eradicating themselves on a large scale is an underlying theme on the entire record.

 

 

Santana - Shape Shifter

Shape Shifter is the title song from the twenty-first studio album (thirty-sixth album overall) by Santana. This album is the first from his new record label Starfaith Records, which is distributed by Sony Music Entertainment, owners of most of Santana's albums (except those recorded for Polydor Records which are owned by Universal Music Group).It is also the first album since 1992's Milagro that does not feature guest singers in any of the songs, a style that characterized Santana's albums since Supernatural. The album contains only one song with vocals ("Eres La Luz").

The Script - For The First Time

Danny O'Donoghue of The Script told the story behind the song in an interview with Merrick, Dools & Ricki-Lee on Sydney radio station Nova 96.9. Said O'Donoghue: "The song 'For the First Time' was about a time when we got back after touring around the world. We wanted to press palms with the people who had really gotten us there, and we got home and realised there's a stark reality out there, the recession has hit, people are losing their jobs and their valuable things, and we thought, this almost pales in comparison to our news. We started the song, and it ended up being a bit bleak and we felt we really needed a great message in these, to turn it around... so we needed a message of hope, as being are being stripped of all these things they're realising what's really important. It's all about going back to basics, drinking cheap wine, eating your dinner off the floor. That's when you meet each other for the first time, when you have nothing."

Richard Cheese - Die Motherfucker Die

A great lounge cover of an aggressive and wild Dope song. :)

Our Lady Peace - Heavyweight

This song (and the whole Curve album) was inspired by the retired Canadian boxer George Chuvalo. Chuvalo fought between 1956 and 1979 and was only knocked down twice in 93 career fights. He fought boxing legend Muhummad Ali twice, once in 1966 and then again in 1972. Ali was unable to knock Chuvalo out and called him "one of the toughest guys I ever fought." Our Lady Peace liked Chuvalo's spirit both inside the ring and out and decided to write songs that embodied that same spirit. An old picture of Chuvalo throwing a punch serves as the cover of Curve.

The Band Perry - If I Die Young

Kimberly Perry told The Boot about this cut: "That song works on so many levels and means different things to different people. It was just one of those songs that you felt like was meant to be on planet earth. We were just real humble to have the pen and paper in hand when it was ready to come, and for us it is a statement of contentment. We finished that song and just looked at each other and said, 'How cool is this that we were able to put feet to our dreams?' So many people work so hard for so long and for whatever reason are not able, or don't have the opportunity to access their dreams. So for us it was a statement of you know what, if it all ends at this moment for whatever reason even at our young ages, we've gotten to live and love so well and so completely. And that's what it means to us."

Marilyn Manson - No Reflection

Manson stated in an interview with NOVA while touring Australia in early 2012 that the video for the song would contain segments shot with "never before used technology" stating that he has a friend that "works for National Geographic".

OneRepublic - Good Life

Ryan Tedder's lyrics are actually about a trip he took to London. But the OneRepublic frontman knew to have a hit he'd have to make it more universal and also something he could relate to, since he would have to sing it every night. "I'm not thinking, 'Let's write something that's going to make the kids dance,'" he told Radio.com. "You have to write something that you want to sing every night. So the hardest part with every song, personal and universal, kind of getting that balance."

Linkin Park - Burn It Down

Mike Shinoda was asked to explain the song's meaning during an interview with KROQ's Kevin & Bean. He replied by directing it back at the band saying, "Kinda like what we do in pop culture, we build somebody up to be the next great thing then we like to destroy them at the end of the day. And, we've lived through that so I think there's a lot of personal energy that went into the connection of that story."

Cee Lo Green - Fuck You

You may have thought the inspiration for this song was a heartbreaking lady whom upset "The Lady Killer." However, Green disclosed the hit came about as a result of creative differences with his label, Elektra Records. "I did 'Fuck You' to be an asshole, to be spiteful toward the label," he said. "Because it had taken about three years to do The Lady Killer, and I just felt that after recording almost 70 songs I could not please them."

The Cranberries - Tomorrow

This is the first single from the Roses album. The song finds frontwoman Dolores O'Riordan reflecting on how we should follow our instincts more and was inspired by real-life concerns of parenthood and mortality. "It's about the way we sometimes hyper over-escalate things in our minds, overthink things when sometimes spontaneity and just jumping in is better," she explained to Billboard magazine. "Tomorrow you might not have that moment back again. So it's really about moving on and also about kind of looking at the younger generation and how they worry about all kinds of silly things. They don't think they're silly, but when you're older you know better."

Kent - 999

Kent is a Swedish alternative rock band. In Scandinavia, they are often compared to bands like U2, Coldplay and Depeche Mode. Kent briefly attempted an international career with English versions of the albums Isola and Hagnesta Hill and an accompanying American tour for the former, but they gave up after failing to achieve the breakthrough they had hoped for.

This is the verse repeated at the end of the song:
"The 999 things that I would never do
They are weighed up by 999 worse things I have done
The 999 things that I would never do
They are weighed up by 999 worse things that I have already done"

Keane - Silenced By The Night

Keane keyboardist Tim Rice-Oxley explained to MTV News that the song provides a good starting point to the album. "It does the job of a single pretty well in that it's a simple introduction to the themes of the album - the journey we all go on chasing our dreams, trying to navigate the bumps with a bit of grace, trying to hold on when things get really rough," he said.

Katie Melua - Better Than A Dream

A great song from the Georgian-born, British singer Katie Melua, from her fifth studio album Secret Symphony. The song was written and originally recorded by Mike Batt whose version was used as the closing credits theme of the 1990s animated series, The Dreamstone.

Snow Patrol - This Isn't Everything You Are

Frontman Gary Lightbody explained the song's meaning to The Sun: "It's three stories in one - each verse is a different person in my life that was going through a difficult time. Then the chorus is about trying to explain that everything isn't as bad as it might seem."

Lightbody told Billboard magazine that he wrote this song "to try to protect" the three people experiencing difficulties, adding that he wanted, "to show them that there were people there for them whenever they needed. Sometimes it's hard to reach out, it's hard to ask for help. It's a recurring theme on the record."

 

Skrillex - Bangarang

This energetic banger is the second single and title track off Los Angeles electronic producer Skrillex's fourth EP. The song features the vocals of Sirah who gives a lot of shouts to all her "lost boys." The rapper also features on another Bangarang track, "Kyoto."

John Mayer - Shadow Days

Mayer broke up with Jennifer Aniston in March 2009, after dating her for ten months. He continued to retain strong feelings for the actress, and its been suggested that the singer penned this as a "goodbye letter" to his former girlfriend. A source told US Weekly: "'Shadow Days' is about Jen. It really took him a long time to get over her. He really loved her a lot. He wrote the song as a farewell letter knowing [Jen] would hear it. Ultimately he's done a lot of self reflection though and he realizes they weren't right for each other."

Hurt - How We End Up Alone

The first single from The Crux album, "How We End Up Alone", was released through iTunes on January 3, 2012 and peaked at Number 10 on the Billboard 20. The Crux was released on May 1, 2012, and peaked at Number 75 on Billboard 200. This was the highest Billboard placement in the band's history.

Guns N' Roses - Patience

This song was a trendsetter in its use of all-acoustic instrumentation. This song made it safe for hard rockers to display their sensitive, vulnerable sides in a more understated way rather than utilizing the power ballad format.

Shiny Toy Guns - Le Disko

This song takes place in a dance club, and describes a girl who is a temptress. It seems that guys are not her preference, as we find out in the line: "if what they say is true, your a boy and I'm a girl, i can never fall in love with you."

Garbage - Blood For Poppies

"The song is meant to feel sort of like an abstract dream," said frontwoman Shirley Manson. "The inspiration came from a story I had read in Los Angeles Times about the opium trade and also from watching the documentary Restrepo. It's not literal in any sense whatsoever but it's a song about disorientation and delusion and the human struggle to stay sane in the face of insanity." 

Eve 6 - Here's To The Night

This song is about a one night stand, but it was commonly misinterpreted as a nostalgic song signifying the end of something special. As a result, it was was often played at school graduation ceremonies.

Republic - Sose voltál, mindig vagy

You were never, you're always...

David Bowie - Starman

Woody Woodmansey was the drummer in Bowie's backing band, The Spiders From Mars. In 2008, he spoke to Uncut magazine about his impressions of this song: "I love 'Starman' as it's the concept of hope that the song communicates. That 'we're not alone' and 'they' contact the kids, not the adults, and kind of say 'get on with it.' 'Let the children boogie': music and rock 'n' roll! It lifted the attention away from the depressing affairs in the '70s, made the future look better. 'Starman' was the first Bowie song since 'Space Oddity' with mass appeal. After 'Starman,' everything changed."

Counting Crows - Untitled (Love Song)

In an era when Alternative Rock and Hip-Hop were polarizing Top-40 radio, Counting Crows fit the Pop middle ground with their traditional, rootsy sound. Many stations put them in hot rotation (along with another Crow: Sheryl), since they had a sound that was contemporary but unlikely to alienate core listeners. This is one of their songs from 2012.

Collective Soul - You

This is one of two songs on the "Rabbit" album hat were a collective writing effort by the band, a rarity in Collective Soul's recording history. "We've never written together as a band," Roland told Billboard magazine, "so it was a new experience. I think it's the confidence that the other guys have gotten in their music skills and the songwriting and also, for lack of a better term, me letting go of my ego a little bit and going, 'You know what? These guys can do this.' And it was a lot of fun."

Rammstein - Du Hast

Although the German phrase does not translate to English, "Du hast" can mean "you have," but it can also mean "you hate." Therefore the song has two meanings. One being sort of "You hate me but still want to marry me" (the song is about marriage) and the other being "You want to marry me but I don't want to."

Better Than Ezra - Absolutely Still

This song reflects on the fragility of love and relationships. Frontman Kevin Griffin remarked in publicity materials that this song, "is about when you're with someone, and you have those fleeting moments of clarity when everything is right between the two of you, and you can block out all the chaos and noise outside. You don't have to say anything and everything is understood. Before it all goes wrong, there are all those perfect moments of bliss."

Auróra - Ez a város

Between 1984 and 1988 the band was playing under false names in order not to attract the attention of the “old friends”, the Hungarian Secret Service. At this time the band caught the attention of some Austrian punks who invited “Aurora” to play in Vienna. This was the first time the band played a cocncert outside Eastern Europe.

Auróra - Kifacsart citrom

Aurora was founded in Győr, Hungary by the young local punks “Vigi” (guitar vocals), “Galacs” (bass), “Polyak” (drums) and “Dauer” (vocals). This was in 1982, at the height of the Hungarian punk blast, a period in which a punk gig caused big agitation, occasionally by starting riots.
“ We started criticizing the Soviet Army a little bit too early. It wasn’t really a surprise when the authorities sent us for a trial because of anticommunist lyrics. Our original singer “Dauer” had to spend two years in prison because according to the authorities he had chosen a the “wrong words”, Vigi reminds of the old, “romantic” days.

12 Stones - Bulletproof

This is the second single from the band's fourth studio album. They released an official lyric video for it, but didn't make a real music video.

Nickelback - When We Stand Together

Nickelback wanted it to look like they were performing in the Serengeti for the music video, so director Justin Francis  brought the band to a field 30 miles outside of Los Angeles and digitally erased the city from the background in the wide shots. The clip also includes shots of people standing together during times of crisis.

Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter

Like many great songwriters, Damien Rice was part of the proletariat before he earned a living in music. Growing up in Kildare County, Ireland, he found himself working at a call center in the late '90s. His job was to cold call households and try to sell them products like insurance and mortgages. As anyone who has engaged a telemarketer in conversation is aware, this is a miserable job and one that requires a bit of mental dissociation. On one of Rice's calls, a woman answered the phone and began such a dialogue.

As Rice told the story when he would introduce the song at concerts, he enjoyed speaking to this lady and became smitten. They spoke for about an hour that day, not about financial products but about their hopes and dreams, developing quite a rapport by the end of the talk. For months, Rice "followed the lead" by calling her during his shifts, where they would continue their increasingly intimate chats.

Then one day she stopped answering. In these days before the proliferation of the internet, tracking down an unrequited love was more complicated than a Google search, but Rice was determined to find this woman. From his call list, he determined the address associated with the phone number, and he hopped a bus to the residence. He hid in the bushes until the woman emerged, and when she did, she was on her way to school - the woman was just a girl, maybe 16 years old.

Crestfallen, Rice realized that when he had called, she was on summer vacation, and she stopped answering when it was time to return to school. She had been using him for entertainment, and Rice was devastated. "The Blower's Daughter" was the song he wrote about the incident.

Csík Zenekar - Csillag vagy fecske

This is a traditional hungarian folk cover of a great hungarian alternative song.

Metallica - Hell And Back

This song was recorded for the band's Death Magnetic sessions but had not been released on the album itself. It was later released on the Beyond Magnetic EP.

The Airborne Toxic Event - All I Ever Wanted

A great song from The Airborne Toxic Event's second album.

Korn - Narcissistic Cannibal

Frontman Jonathan Davis on the song's meaning: "It's about me watching people who are so narcissistic destroy themselves. They basically eat themselves alive because of their narcissism. That's the gist of the story."

Daughtry - Crawling Back To You

The song's music video is a simple one of the band performing the song. Talking about the clip, Chris Daughtry said, "We wanted it to be a performance video not necessarily based on any narrative or story." The singer added, regarding his philosophy of filming visuals: "Whenever I do a video I have a hard time faking it. I always lose my voice at the end of a video shoot because I give it all every single take."

U2 - Sweetest Thing

Bono wrote this as a birthday present to his wife, Ali. On her birthday, he was working on recording The Joshua Tree, so he was trying to make up for it.

U2 recorded this for The Joshua Tree, but left it off because they felt it did not fit in on the album. It was originally released as the B-side to a 7" single that also included "Where The Streets Have No Name" and "Silver And Gold."

 

 

U2 - With Or Without You

The Edge used a distortion device called an "Infinite Guitar" to create the wail. It was invented by Michael Brook, who The Edge worked with on the soundtrack for The Captive. Brook created the Infinite Guitar by replacing the pickup on a guitar with a magnetic device that vibrates the strings. Co-producer Daniel Lanois told Mojo magazine January 2008 about the recording of this song: "'For 'With Or Without You' we had the rhythm and the chords then we were testing Michael Brook's Infinite Guitar Invention. I asked Edge just to play a little something with it. He did two takes and those are the ones in the ultimate mix of 'With Or Without You.' Beautiful sounds, stratospheric."

Cavo - Let It Go

Cavo frontman Casey Walker told Artist Direct about the meaning of this track: "It's a very meaningful song. It's the most personal song I've ever written. In my opinion, the first line of the second verse is the catalyst of the song—'There's a chance to change or stay the same.' I was at a point in my life where I realized that I had two options. I could either change or go down the other road and stay the same. Thankfully, I chose the right option. I can go back and think about that moment in time every single night that we play live and know I made the right choice."

U2 - Even Better Than The Real Thing

This song began with the title "The Real Thing" during the Rattle And Hum sessions. It's a play on the Coca-Cola slogan "It's The Real Thing," and the song was intended to make a statement about commercialism.

U2 performed this on the Zoo TV tour with huge monitors flashing messages and video clips behind the band. It was mocking the advertising messages that were constantly bombarding the public.

Richard Branson asked to use this to launch his Virgin Cola, a competitor of Coke, but U2 refused.

 

 

U2 - Mysterious Ways

While recording this in Berlin, U2 came up with the basis for their song "One." In a rush of creativity, they put together "One" and finished "Mysterious Ways" later. This was very refreshing for the band - they were having a hard time coming up with anything and even considered breaking up.

The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice

This innocent love song is told from the perspective of a young man who is deeply in love and enjoys spending every waking moment his sweetheart. In an era when most Americans married in their early 20s, these kind of songs often ended in wedding vows, but Brian Wilson took a different approach, making it a song about savoring their time in the present, as they are too young to be married. Even though he was very sophisticated musically, Wilson was looking for ways to relate to the teen audience and hit upon the "too young to be married" theme for this song.

Sum 41 - Motivation

This song is about having a lack of motivation. Deryck Whibley said in an interview that this song is like your Sunday, when you can't be bothered doing anything.

Bruce Springsteen - We Take Care Of Our Own

The song's music video was directed by Thom Zimmy and shot in early January 2012 in an abandoned theater in Asbury Park. Reflective close-ups and slow-motion images of working class Americans augment shots of Bruce performing. "You work with spontaneity," explained Zimmy to Uncut magazine. "The end of that video, for instance, where the people are walking, wasn't planned. The weekend we were shooting, the Light of Day charity concert event took place in town, so we gathered up some fans and people in the streets of Asbury Park and had that shot happen, then incorporated it into the video. With Bruce, you're planning, but you're always open to the moment."

Sum 41 - Makes No Difference

This was Sum 41's first single and their first video. The video was filmed in Toronto, where DMX was working on the movie Exit Wounds. He crossed paths with the band and offered to make a guest appearance, which Sum 41 accepted.

Sting - Shape Of My Heart

Sting said in 1993: "I wanted to write about a card player, a gambler who gambles not to win but to try and figure out something; to figure out some kind of mystical logic in luck, or chance; some kind of scientific, almost religious law. So this guy's a philosopher, he's not playing for respect and he's not playing for money, he's just trying to figure out the law - there has to be some logic to it. He's a poker player so it's not easy for him to express his emotions, in fact he doesn't express anything, he has a mask, and it's just one mask and it never changes."

Sting - Englishman In New York

Sting wrote this song about famed gay author Quentin Crisp and his experiences as an outcast. Crisp moved from London to New York in 1986, and Sting spent several days with the author.

Sting - Fields Of Gold

This song is about feeling joyous, but knowing that the joy is going to end someday. Sting wrote it after he bought a house near a barley field. The sunsets and the colors of the field were an inspiration for the lyrics, along with his love at the time, Trudie Styler, who he married in 1992. Styler has said that the song is one of her favorites.

Black Stone Cherry - White Trash Millionaire

Drummer John Fred Young explained the song's meaning to Rock AAA: "The song is actually about a Trans Am that Chris (the signer) had. It was the same kind of Trans Am that was in the Smokey and the Bandit movies and he had it for a few months before he sold it. That's actually what the song is about. Everybody around the world has a little bit of trash in them and it's just a fun song with us being ourselves."

Snow Patrol - New York

Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody struggled with writer's block when penning Fallen Empires. Speaking to Q magazine, the singer explained how a chance meeting with R.E.M. vocalist Michael Stipe at a Californian studio rejuvenated his writing process. He recalled, "I couldn't even write my name on a cheque. It was that bad at the time ... (Stipe arriving at the studio) was amazing because the first song I ever played live was R.E.M.'s 'Find the River' at a school concert."

Although Stipe's input was minimal, it was enough to inspire Lightbody to rediscover his muse. He recalled, "Michael just made a few suggestions here and there. On the track called 'New York' there was a line, 'Your face has never left me.' He said, 'That sounds like you've got a girl's head in your bag.' So we changed that."

Relient K - Baby

Relient K's awesome cover of the popular Justin Bieber song. :)

Rammstein - Mein Land

This is the first single and only previously unreleased track from German Industrial Metal band Rammstein's retrospective, Made in Germany 1995-2011. The English translation of the title is "My Land" and the song is a parodic satire about European xenophobia and Anti-Immigrationists. It was released on November 11, 2011 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and internationally three days later.

Daughtry - Poker Face

Chris Daughtry made a cover of the popular Lady Gaga song. Enjoy. :)

 

R. Kelly - Ignition (Remix)

The original "Ignition" was originally going to be one of the songs on R. Kelly's forthcoming album at that time called Loveland; the album got leaked later on, and Kelly decided to turn Loveland to Chocolate Factory, record mostly new songs and remix some of the songs on that album. "Ignition" was one of the songs he decided to remix after people in the studio liked the end part of the song, which would later become the intro to the remix.

REO Speedwagon - Only The Strong Survive

The band was named after a fire engine. The Name "REO Speedwagon" Refers to Ransom Earl Olds, the founder of Oldsmobile. The Speedwagon was one of the Models prior to Oldsmobile. 

R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts

Most of this song was written by R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry. This is an anti-suicide song. Berry wanted to reach out to people who felt they had no hope. He quit the band in 1997 shortly before recording their album Up. After that album, the band almost broke up, but decided to continue as a trio. Berry became a farmer.

 

 

R.E.M. - Shiny Happy People

Michael Stipe calls this "A really fruity, kind of bubblegum song." In an interview with The Quietus, he said that he was a bit embarrassed when it became a big hit, but it's an important song because it shows a different side of him. Said Stipe: "Many people's idea of R.E.M, and me in particular, is very serious, with me being a very serious kind of poet. But I'm also actually quite funny - hey, my bandmates think so, my family thinks so, my boyfriend thinks so, so I must be - but that doesn't always come through in the music! People have this idea of who I am probably because when I talk on camera, I'm working so hard to articulate my thoughts that I come across as very intense."

Queen - Another One Bites The Dust

John Deacon claimed in a 1980 interview that Roger Taylor opposed the song's drum beat. This is backed up by the comments of several figures in the Days of our Lives documentary, who noted that Taylor hated having tape put on his drums to deaden the sound.

However, the drummer denied this in an interview with Mojo magazine October 2008. He insisted: "I'd already had an ineffectual pop at that kind of music with 'Fun It,' on the Jazz album. I was never against 'Another One Bites The Dust,' but I was against releasing it as a single."

Queen - I Want To Break Free

The video for this song parodies a popular British television soap, Coronation Street. The opening sequence features all the band members in drag (Mercury as a housewife, Deacon as grandmother, Taylor as a schoolgirl, and May as a housewife). This confused many people who didn't catch the reference. Brian May was asked in an interview with Q magazine March 2011 whether each band member's character in the video was an accurate reflection of their personalities? He replied: "Of Course! Everybody thinks that was Freddie's idea because it looks like something that he would love to do but it actually came from Roger's girlfriend at the time, strangely enough. It was her idea to pastiche the Coronation Street women."

Queen - We Will Rock You

Queen guitarist Brian May wrote this, and claimed the idea for the song came in a dream. He told Mojo magazine October 2008 that he wanted to "create a song that the audience could participate in."

In the Days of Our Lives documentary, he remembered a gig where the crowd chanted the Liverpool Football Club anthem, "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the band as they left the stage. "I went to bed thinking, 'What could you ask them to do?' They're all squeezed in there, but they can clap their hands, they can stamp their feet, and they can sing," he noted. "In the morning I woke up and had the idea in my head for 'We Will Rock You."

Open Stage - Kalinka kaland

This is a fun song from a Hungarian parody band.

Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

This is about the Spanish civil war, and the idealism of people from around the world who volunteered to join the International Brigade Franco's fascist army, hence the line, "So if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists."
The title of the song comes from a republican propaganda poster of that time. On it, under a formation of Nationalist bombers, a killed child can be seen. The slogan of the poster is "If you tolerate this your children will be next." 

Manic Street Preachers - A Design For Life

James Dean Bradfield revealed to the NME that the band nearly split after Manic guitarist Richey Edwards disappeared in 1995, adding that the remaining Manics technically weren't together for six months that year. Explaining how they came back together, he recalled: "I was living in London and [Nicky] sent me some lyrics in the post. Two [sets] arrived; one was called 'Pure Motive' and one was called 'A Design For Life.' They both had a hint of violence and reaffirmation about them, what working class attitudes should have. And then I atomized the two sets of lyrics and wrote some music to it, which came really easily. I rang him up and said, 'I found the song that will give us reason to exist as a band!'"

Magna Cum Laude - Ugorj

Another Hungarian song. Enjoy.

The Limousines - Internet Killed The Video Star

Eric Victorino, who handles vocals and songwriting in the band, said: "The song is about how music changes, electro and pop music give way to rock n roll and back again, it's a cycle - the big lesson though is that you gotta have fun. We knew when we were recording this one that it was going to end up being the catchiest tune on the album, the lyrics came out quick and they're kind of like a sequel to the Buggles song."

Lou Reed And Metallica - Brandenburg Gate

This is the first song on Lulu, a collaborative album between rock singer-songwriter Lou Reed and heavy metal band Metallica. The album is the final full-length studio recording project that Reed was involved in before his death in 2013.

Kiscsillag - Sirály

Enjoy this great hungarian alternative ballad.

Papa Roach - Burn

Frontman Jacoby Shaddix told Rock AAA that this song is a one-fingered salute to their former record label, Geffen/Interscope, with whom the band had a major falling out. Said the frontman: "There's a lot of two-faced s--t in this business. Geffen/Interscope pissed me off – it was a really bad ending with them.
They released a greatest hits record against our will. We told them we didn't want to do it because we were at completely the wrong point in our career. They owe us a good chunk of money and they don't want to give it to us. We're like, 'F--k you, we're done.'"

Hinder - Lips Of An Angel

Sometimes inspiration for songs comes quickly. Hinder singer Austin Winkler wrote this song in just 20 or 30 minutes with drummer Cody Hanson while the two sat in Hanson's living room. Winkler came in with the first line - "Honey, why you calling me so late?" - And the rest of the song just flowed out naturally.

The story in the song about having trouble letting go of a former love is real - it's what Winkler was going through with an ex-girlfriend. He told the story to Hanson, who already had a guitar progression in mind, and the two finished the song very quickly.

Everclear - Everything To Everyone

Lead singer Art Alexakis says, "It's kind of an angry song. That person is within everybody, I think everybody has this ability to try and be everything to everyone, to try to please. I think there are 2 aspects of it - there's the pleaser, who doesn't always show his true self, always plays nice and as time goes on shows more and more of himself, but there's also the people who are everything to everyone who are manipulators and users." Art has encountered many of these people in the entertainment industry. 

Disturbed - God Of The Mind

This is a b-side from the Sickness single. It is also present on the Lost Children compilation album. The title comes from the band calling the songs "their children", because they can't pick a favorite. The Lost Children features all of Disturbed's b-side tracks that were recorded during a time period of 11 year.

Bonanza Banzai - Induljon a banzáj

Bonanza Banzai formed in 1987 in Budapest, Hungary following the new wave and the Depeche Mode trend, it became one of the most popular Hungarian synth-pop band. The band members started playing music in the university. This is one of their biggest hits from 1989.

Coldplay - Paradise

The song finds Martin singing of a young girl's dashed hopes and dreams of paradise. The Coldplay frontman told Billboard magazine that Mylo Xyloto is a concept album, which is, "loosely a kind of romance in an oppressive environment." This song appears be some sort of sequel to the previous single, "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall," whose title is even included in "Paradise"'s lyrics.

Chris De Burgh - The Living Years

A great cover of one of the best songs from Mike And The Mechanics.
This song is written from the perspective of a son who has a conflicted relationship with his father. After his father dies, he discovers that he and his dad had a much stronger bond than he ever realized, and the son regrets not saying more while his dad was alive.

Carolina Liar - Drown

Singer/guitarist Chad Wolf told Alternative Addiction how this Max Martin produced tune came about: "The crazy thing with that song is it kind of came along and developed over time. Max discovered it and kept us working on the track," he explained. "It developed out of this idea that sometimes you just have to throw yourself into something completely and kind of drown in it to create something new. Basically what that song became was the theme of the whole record. That idea began to permeate every single thing that we did. It became the red thread for every track on the album."

 

The Kevin Adamson-directed music video finds the band drowned in paint as they perform the song. Wolf told AOL Music the clip was an enjoyable shoot. Said the frontman: "Believe it or not that was so much fun for everyone. It really didn't take too long - it was two hours at the most - and it was all shot at three times the speed of the song so we could create some slow motion. From the confetti and the paint, I would say it took a week to get all of that out!"

 

 

Ben Folds - The Luckiest

This song was originally written for the 2000 movie Loser, directed by Amy Heckerling. It was deleted from the movie along with the scene it was written for, making its way that year onto the album Rockin' the Suburbs.

Vincze Lilla & Kiki - Júlia nem akar a földön járni

This is a song from 1988, a collaboration of two of the main popstars at that time in Hungary.
Julia doesn't want to walk the earth.

KFT - Balatoni nyár

Another song from KFT, this is a sentimental one. The lyrics are about memories of the summer spent with a girl at Lake Balaton.

Ash - Girl From Mars

Two different videos exists for this song. The first, the UK promo video, was directed by Peter Christopherson and is described by the band as a "cross between 'Give It Away' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the 'Natrel Plus' TV ad". The band (especially drummer Rick McMurray) hated the video so much that when the time came to release the song in America, they re-filmed it. Directed by Jesse Peretz (who also directed Foo Fighters's "Big Me" video), the video sees Ash playing the song as part of an art exhibition, and mesmerizing a small girl watching the band. 
Below you can see the much hated version. :)

Angels And Airwaves - Surrender

Another awesome song from the Love album.

 

Angels And Airwaves - Epic Holiday

A great song from the third studio album of Angels And Airwaves.

KFT - Afrika

KFT was founded in 1981 in Hungary. KFT (Korlátolt Felelősségű Társaság - "Ltd." in English) is the first true alternative new wave band of Hungary, they had immense popularity in the '80-s, writing hit songs like Bábu vagy, Bál az Operaházban, Balatoni nyár and Afrika all became cult classics in Hungary. Their songs have a strange, abstract lyrics, thanks to lead vocalist András Laár and keyboardist Tibor Bornai. Afrika is one of the most popular hungarian songs ever in karaoke bars.

U2 - One

The band wrote this song in Berlin after toiling there for months trying to record Achtung Baby. The Berlin Wall had just fallen, so the band was hoping to find inspiration from the struggle and change that was coming to the region. Instead, they found themselves at odds with each other and unable to do much productive work.

This song came suddenly - the bones of it written in about 30 minutes by most accounts, and it rejuvenated the band creatively. When they left Berlin, they had little to show for it except for this song, but they were able to complete the album back home in Ireland with this song as the centerpiece. Says The Edge: "It was a pivotal song in the recording of the album, the first breakthrough in what was an extremely difficult set of sessions."