Nevermind The Posers

Greensboro 4/1/91, GnR Appetite for Destruction, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts I Love Rock 'n Roll, and Hole Celebrity Skin cassette tapes. That's how I roll. - TNT

TNT’s Top 5
5. Celebrity Skin by Hole – This is the only Hole album I can tolerate.  Believe it or not, I enjoy these tracks in traffic and there is no good explanation as of why.
4. A Live Grateful Dead tape from Greensboro 4/1/91 – Best cassette I ever purchased, feels like I’m at the concert every time I play it.  Featuring “Dark Star,” “Black Peter,” “Love Light,” and “Baby Blue”, I’m happy the guy I got this tape from was being forced to “make some space in the garage” by selling them.  One man’s space is another gal’s musical gold!
3. Appetite For Destruction by Guns N’ Roses – If I had a soundtrack to my childhood, it would probably be this album.  Musically speaking, not in the sense that I was dancing with Mr. Brownstone or loaded like a freight train/flyin’ like an aeroplane/speedin’ like a space brain…just that I was raised listening to a lot of Guns N’ Roses.
2. I Love Rock ‘n Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – Cassette tapes are awesome, especially in this case, because it’s my only musical outlet for some Joan Jett.  “I Love Rock ‘n Roll,” “Crimson and Clover,” and “Bits and Pieces” are epic driving songs!
1. METALLICA! – Absolutely any song or album by Metallica = the greatest driving music of all time!  Be careful, you know you’re going to speed…it’s pretty much a given.

Angela’s Top 5
For me, this one is mostly about the songs I listen to in the car, because that’s where I listen to 95% of my music…because that is where I am 95% of my day.
5. A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! at the Disco – I love keeping this one handy because it’s one of those albums where I can listen to every single song and not get sick of it.  Too bad they hit the sophomore slump with their follow-up album.  I really loved this one.
4. Infinity on High by Fall Out Boy – I used to despise Fall Out Boy until they made this record.  I have most of this album on the iPod and gravitate towards it pretty often.
3. Yes, Virginia by Dresden Dolls – Since I bought this album it’s been with me or at least in my car at all times, just in case I’m in serious need of good music when all else fails.  I also tend to listen to a lot of Amanda Palmer’s solo work off Who Killed Amanda Palmer.
2. Coral Fang by The Distillers – It’s a great album to rock out to while I drive, very much a summer soundtrack!
1. The Spill Canvas. . .assorted tracks –  Another band whose albums I don’t physically own, but have most of their complete albums on the iPod.  Certain songs of theirs like “Polygraph Right Now,” “Lullaby,” and “Not Over You” never get old for me.  Plus, I love singing them full throttle in the car.

Daniel Edward’s Top 5
5. By The Way/Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers – It’s a tie between these two because both are always in my car and both are great soundtracks to any driving adventure.
4. “Move Your Feet” by Junior Senior – A fun song that everyone loves!
3. “Telephone” by Lady GaGa featuring Beyoncé
2. “The Church of Hot Addiction” by Cobra Starship
1. “Oh My God” by Ida Maria – My favorite song to listen to when I’m stuck in traffic!

Klone’s Top 5
5. Dumb and Dumber: Original Movie Soundtrack featuring Various Artists (1994) – One of the original road trip movies before there was a film just called “Road Trip”, “Dumb and Dumber” was a generational flick about a couple complete morons who have a wacky adventure from Rhode Island to Aspen.  It’s an eclectic selection of tracks from bands like Crash Test Dummies and Butthole Surfers.  I’d probably never buy an entire album from any of the artists on this disc, but the collection, and the association with the film, and the memories of many road trips to Pennsylvania where my Grandma used to live make this one of my always in the car CDs.
4. Fallen by Evanescence (2003) – One of the die-hard, awesome from beginning to end, can listen to the entire disc on repeat at least twice albums I’ve purchased in the new millennium.  The only day this disc was not in my car was the day I was importing it through iTunes so I could put it on my iPod.
3. October Rust by Type O Negative (1996) – My first Type O album was the instant classic Bloody Kisses (1993), and it completed my introduction to the band after my first exposure to tracks like “Black No. 1” and “Christian Woman”, which were popping up on the airwaves and putting the band on the rock world’s radar.  When I discovered a new album was being released, it was an instant pick-up for me, and I was not disappointed by a single track.  Their cover of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” is worth the price of the disc alone.  Another great disc for road trips.
2. Lost Highway (Soundtrack From The Motion Picture) featuring Various Artists (1997) – I’m a huge David Lynch fan, so when I heard he was doing a film called “Lost Highway”, I was intrigued to see what the master of the bizarre and macabre had in store for us.  Keeping in mind that this was a David Lynch piece, I knew the soundtrack would be more of a compendium album than a soundtrack, and could be played as a stand-alone collection of awesome tracks from a collection of amazing artists.  Everyone will recall the Nine Inch Nails track “Perfect Drug”, which set the stage for more darker tracks like Smashing Pumpkins’ “Eye” and Lou Reed’s cover of “This Magic Moment”.  This one definitely messed with my head on a dark drive home through the woods of the Pocono Mountains the weekend I bought the CD in 1997.
1. “<My Most Current Mix>” featuring Various Artists (2010) – This might be considered something of a cop-out for my #1 this week, but it’s as completely honest as can be.  Anyone who’s been in my car knows that I always have a mix CD in the car with whatever songs I’ve become most recently obsessed with.  Current mix (as of 7/23/2010) includes: The Cult – “Sweet Soul Sister”, Lady Gaga – “Alejandro”, Train  – “Hey Soul Sister”, Jack Johnson – “You and Your Heart”, Chevelle – “Letter From A Thief” & “Jars”, Breaking Benjamin – “I Will Not Bow” & “Follow Me” & “Give Me A Sign”, Chester Van Beethoven – “Pictures of Matchstick Men and You”, Dead Can Dance – “Carnival of Lights”.

Honorable Mentions: Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf (1977), Purple by Stone Temple Pilots (1994)

Mark’s Top 5
5. “The The Empty” by Le Tigre –  Although I haven’t listened to them in quite sometime, listening to this song recently reminded me of why I started listening to them in the first place.  Fantastic electro-rock/punk that adds two minutes of kick-assery to my morning commutes.
4. “In a Big Country” by Big Country – Such an incredibly written and fun rock song that makes your trip just that much more enjoyable, courtesy of rock guitars twisted to sound like bagpipes.  Needless to say it is in regular rotation on the ol’ iPod.
3. Shifting Skin by ON– I have mentioned this album/artist on many Top 5’s, and will continue to do so as long as this album kicks the ass of all music on terrestrial radio (As of today, it has spent the better part of 10 years in my car).  At this rate, the album will never leave my car.
2. Dead Can Dance/Spleen and Ideal by Dead Can Dance – The first and second releases, respectively, from DCD have recently found a home in the speaker system of my car, where they are cranked at full blast, drawing some of the strangest ‘What the fuck is that?’ looks at traffic lights.  If they only knew what they were missing.
1. “Utopia” by Brendan Perry – The first single/free download from Dead Can Dance’s Brendan Perry is a beautiful and haunting electronic ballad that delicately blends the world music overtones of DCD with swirling, synthetic orchestral arrangements and beautifully crafted song writing.  This music is perfect for soothing you during a car ride, regardless of its length, so it’s usually best to play twice.  🙂