I'm playing a lot of 80s music this week.
My high school 20th reunion is coming up in October, and I've volunteered to throw together the playlist for Friday night's festivities. (I'm assuming a band will be playing on Saturday).
I graduated in '88.
And, boy, was there a buttload of crap on the radio that year.
Here's my tentative track listing. My approach has been to embrace the cheese, only temper it with the music the various cliques would have listened to.

Faith George Michael
Need You Tonight (static revenger mix edit) INXS
Beds Are Burning Midnight Oil
Would I Lie To You? Eurythmics
Living On A Prayer Bon Jovi
Damn Good David Lee Roth
Secret Separation The Fixx
Absolute Beginners David Bowie
Wishing Well Terence Trent D'Arby
Eternal Flame The Bangles
The Reflex Duran Duran
Celebrate Youth Rick Springfield
Subdivisions Rush
Kiss Me Deadly Lita Ford
Cover me Bruce Springsteen
Keep Your Hands To Yourself The Georgia Satellites
Bitchin' Camaro The Dead Milkmen
Blister In The Sun Violent Femmes
Never Gonna Give You Up Rick Astley
Will You Still Love Me? Chicago
Poison Arrow (US Remix) ABC
Paranoimia (with Max Headroom) Art of Noise
Control Janet Jackson
Bizarre Love Triangle (Extended Dance Mix) New Order
Angel Of Harlem U2
Big Time Peter Gabriel
Sweet Child O Mine Guns N' Roses
Save It For Later The English Beat
Life in a Northern Town The Dream Academy
Digging Your Scene The Blow Monkeys
U Got The Look Prince
Land Of Confusion Genesis
Relax Frankie Goes to Hollywood
New Song (peter black & hardrock striker mix edit) Howard Jones
Uncontrollable Urge Devo
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) The Proclaimers
Crazy For You Madonna
Waiting For A Star To Fall Boy Meets Girl
King Of Pain (Re-worked) DJ Icey
Wouldn't It Be Good Nik Kershaw
Never Tear Us Apart INXS
Lips Like Sugar Echo & the Bunnymen
Walk This Way Run-D.M.C.
Shadows Of The Night Pat Benatar
I Hate Myself For Loving You Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Voices Carry (Single Mix) Aimee Mann
Shattered Dreams Johnny Hates Jazz
The Bottom Line Big Audio Dynamite
Pop Goes the World Men Without Hats
Desire U2
Money For Nothing Dire Straits
Perfect Way Scritti Politti
Heaven Is A Place On Earth (Sound Invaders Remix) Belinda Carlisle
West End Girls Pet Shop Boys
Just like honey The Jesus and Mary Chain
Sussudio Phil Collins
Face Dances, pt.2 Pete Townshend
Owner Of A Lonely Heart Yes
Waterfall (Remix) Wendy & Lisa
You Spin me Round Dead or Alive
Where's The Party Madonna
Let My Love Open The Door Pete Townshend
It's A Mistake Men at Work

I set myself a tough subject for this week's list a few weeks ago, and in some respects I'm glad I gave myself the extra time to prepare this list - while I had a lot of options for it, it proved to be a tough one to whittle down.

So what is this list about? Songs about historical events. Documenting actual events - although to make things a little simpler, the band may not have actually been there at the time! There is of course often a thin line between songs about events and those about wider concepts. For this reason I removed a number of tracks from the initial list simply because they fell into the latter - I wanted songs that were clearly about documented events.

As always, if you have any better suggestions, please leave comments...

Primordial
The Coffin Ships
Subject: Irish Potato Famine

First on the list is the song that inspired this subject - an extraordinary, ten minute outpouring of fury at the suffering and humiliation endured by this band's forefathers and the Irish Nation in the mid-1840s when the famine was at it's height. Primordial are a proudly Irish band, who somehow successfully merge celtic folk influences with their doomy, blackened metal sound, and while their songs often have something to say, they have never done so with such power as this.

Manic Street Preachers
The Intense Humming of Evil
Subject: Nazi Concentration Camps

Probably one of the darkest songs the Manics ever wrote - and really, that's saying something bearing in mind that this is track eleven on The Holy Bible - this six-minute epic details the horrors of the concentration camps. The alien-sounding samples of clanking machinery just add to the horror.

The Clash
Spanish Bombs
Subject: Spanish Civil War

Another Manics track I could have chosen would have been If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - about those who went to assist the fight against Franco in Spain. However, missing out that (and the fact that I had the pick of many other, and better, Manics songs) meant that I could include this cracking track that also is about the fight of the Republicans against Franco in the Spanish civil war.

Iron Maiden
The Trooper
Subject: Battle of Balaclava

One of Iron Maiden's best-known (and best) tracks, with an instantly recognisable guitar riff that opens it, the battle the song is about is better known for it being the battle where The Charge of the Light Brigade occurred.

U2
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Subject: The Troubles

Not strictly about the titular event, but actually about watching The Troubles unfold helplessly, and the anger at watching two sides kill each other. I don't doubt that there are many other songs about this period of Northern Ireland's history, but this has always struck me as a particularly great track.

Sepultura
Manifest
Subject: Carandiru Prison Massacre

Sepultura - at least until Max Cavalera left the band - were always a band proud to proclaim their Brazilian heritage. And in addition, they were not averse to pointing out the bad sides of their country, either - and this brutal track about the infamous prison in São Paulo and the police treatment of it's inmates sounds like the chaos of a prison riot. Justice appeared to have been served some fourteen years after the riot, only for the charges to be quashed.

Peter Gabriel
Biko
Subject: death of Steve Biko

Another subject covered by many, many artists was the troubles of South Africa and in particular the anti-Apartheid movement - of which the most prominent track on the world stage was this haunting track by Peter Gabriel, an elegant eulogy to a man who was crushed by a system that didn't want him to empower others.

The Specials
Ghost Town
Subject: Thatcherism and Industrial Decay

Specifically about the band documenting what they saw as the slow death of their home city (Coventry), over the years it has taken a wider significance as effectively the song that immediately evokes everything that was bad about 1981 (the riots, the recession...).

Midnight Oil
Beds Are Burning
Subject: the forcible movement of the Pintupi, the last group of Indigenous Australians to leave their traditional lifestyle to join the "modern" world

A burning sense of injustice fires through this track, now over twenty years old and still a brilliant piece of political songwriting. The apology, of course, for this and everything else meted out to the indigenous peoples in Australia only came this year - and in the meantime Peter Garrett dissolved the band in 2002 to pursue a political career.

Levellers
Battle of the Beanfield
Subject: the eponymous event in 1985

So, one last track - and as this was always the closing track wherever it appeared (on CD or in the live setting), this being at the end of the list seems particularly apt. In some respects this brings things full circle, too - dealing with the shame, humiliation and suffering of one group of people, but in a considerably different and smaller scale than that Primordial were dealing with at the top of this list.

The Battle of the Beanfield was the first real test of police power after the end of the Miner's Strike, and the allegations of police brutality against the new-age travellers convoy who were being stopped from getting to Stonehenge has always left a nasty taste in the mouth. This video is worth watching about it - in particular the ITN reporter whose report at 09:28 in the video never made it to air at the time.

Top Artists:

01 Air
02 Midnight Oil
03 David Bowie
04 Depeche Mode
05 The Cure
06 Die Fantastischen Vier
07 Apocalyptica
08 Pink Floyd
09 Portishead
10 Chet Baker


Top Albums:

01 Depeche Mode – Exciter
02 Purwien – eins
03 Oomph! – Wahrheit oder Pflicht
04 Killing Joke – Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
05 Element of Crime – Romantik
06 My Brightest Diamond – Bring Me The Workhorse
07 Die Fantastischen Vier – Die 4. Dimension
08 Mike Oldfield – Amarok
09 Portishead – Dummy
10 The Cure – Disintegration


Top Tracks:

01 My Brightest Diamond – The Good & The Bad Guy
02 My Brightest Diamond – Gone Away
03 My Brightest Diamond – We Were Sparkling
04 Mike Oldfield – Amarok
05 My Brightest Diamond – Dragonfly
06 My Brightest Diamond – Something Of An End
07 The Cure – Fascination Street
08 My Brightest Diamond – Workhorse
09 New Order – Blue Monday
10 My Brightest Diamond – Disappear

Ich denke mal, jeder kennt Beds Are Burning von Midnight Oil, dieses doch schon ziemlich scheiß berühmte Lied aus den 80ern. Jap.
Deswegen beschäftigt mich umso mehr, warum in aller Welt Mother North von Satyricon mit den Zeilen "Mother North, how can they sleep while their beds are burning?" beginnt. Ich meine, popkulturelle Anspielungen schön und gut, aber doch nicht von einer Black Metal Band, die von Tod und Teufel und nordischen Mythen singt?! Ich frage mich einfach jedes Mal, wenn ich das Lied höre, was zum Geier die Herren sich dabei gedacht haben - als Musiker (so wie so ziemlich jeder normale Mensch, der im Leben mal Radio gehört hat), auch wenn sie Black Metal spielen, muss doch diesen Song kennen und sofortige Assoziationen mit ihm anstellen und warum will eine Band wie SATYRICON in einem ihrer bekanntesten Stücke gleich zu Anfang Brücken zu einer Achtziger-Jahre-Pophymne schlagen?!?!
Ich hab gegooglet und nichts gefunden bezüglich dessen, dass dieses "Beds are burning" irgend eine englische Redewendung oder sonstiges ist, was irgendwie neutral behaftet wäre, es ist einfach nur ein verdammter Chorus von einem Radiosong, deswegen... WARUM Satyricon, warum warum? Falls irgendwer darüber mehr weiß und mich aufklären kann, was die Norweger sich dabei dachten oder ob sie sich gar nichts dachten und den Songs vielleicht einfach nicht kannten (was ich mir aber nicht vorstellen kann), wäre ich echt dankbar, weil das beschäftigt mich zutiefst XD

1. Crowded House
2. The Beatles
3. The Go-Betweens
4. Split Enz
5. INXS
6. Talking Heads
7. Spiderbait
8. Midnight Oil
9. Franz Ferdinand
10. Powderfinger
11. Hunters & Collectors
12. Sarah Blasko
13. Grinspoon
14. Green Day
15. Neil Finn
16. Queen
17. Foo Fighters
18. Finn Brothers
19. Duran Duran
20. The Grates
21. Hoodoo Gurus
22. Kisschasy
23. Blink-182
24. Tim Finn
25. Little Birdy
26. AC/DC
27. Pete Murray
28. The White Stripes
29. Red Hot Chili Peppers
30. The Living End
31. Cold Chisel
32. David Bowie
33. Liam Finn
34. Icehouse
35. Fuck off! At the Fuck off
36. Grant McLennan
37. Muse
38. Eskimo Joe
39. Sum 41
40. Regurgitator
41. Arctic Monkeys
42. End of Fashion
43. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
44. Rogue Traders
45. Led Zeppelin
46. The Vines
47. Killing Heidi
48. The Offspring
49. Switchfoot
50. The Used

1. How did you get into 29?:
They were popular at the time. (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22?:
That one that goes doo doo whoaahhh. (Kisschasy)

3. What's your favorite lyric by 32?:
Wow, what a perfect artist to choose. "Haa haa haa, hee hee hee, I'm a laughing gnome and you can't catch me," sits among his best. (David Bowie)

4. What is your favorite album by 49?:
Haven't heard enough. (Switchfoot)

5. How many albums by 13 do you own?:
Define 'own'. If by 'own' you mean 'obtained illegally', then five. (Grinspoon)

6. What is your favorite song by 50?:
I can name my least favourite songs. All of them. (The Used)

7. Is there a song by 39 that makes you sad?:
All their songs make me sad. (Sum 41)

8. What is your favorite song by 15?:
They're all quite godly. (Neil Finn)

9. What is your favorite song by 5?:
Wow. That's a big ask. I haven't listened to them for a while but from what I can remember the last flavour of the month song of mine from these guys was I Send a Message. (INXS)

10. How did you get into 6?:
Through some super dance moves by David Byrne in Stop Making Sense. (Talking Heads)

11. What is your favorite album by 40?:
They've only really good one good album, and I haven't heard it (Tu Plang). (Regurgitator)

12. What is your favorite song by 10?:
I can't name a favourite. It isn't any of their new stuff though. (Powderfinger)

13. What is your favorite album by 30?:
Their debut. Kicks anything they've made since. (The Living End)

14. What is your favorite song by 38?:
No favourite but they've got some good singles. (Eskimo Joe)

15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy?:
Yes. Girls. On. Film. (Duran Duran)

16. How many times have you seen 25 live?:
Nonce. (Little Birdy)

17. What was the first song you ever heard by 23?:
Who knows. I was young. I was adolescent. I thought streaking was funny at the time. (Blink-182)

18. What is your favorite album by 11?:
Human Frailty. (Hunters and Collectors)

19. Who is a favorite member of 1?:
Chris Hooper. Oh wait, I mean... Neil Finn? (Crowded House) (This is the stupid question we get for the number one artist!?)

20. Have you ever seen 14 live?:
Never. And never. (Green Day).

21. What is a good memory involving 27?
Don't know. His second album was a pretty bad memory though. (Pete Murray)

22. What is your favorite song by 16?:
The one song by Mr. Fahrenheit and he's traveling at the speed of light and they're gonna make a supersonic man out of you. (Queen).

23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47?:
Their number one single. (Killing Heidi)

24. What is your favorite album by 18?:
Only two to choose from, but their first one was lo-fi and seemed more like an album than a collection of songs. Unless you mean within their entire catalogue. (The Finn Brothers)

25. What is your favorite song by 21?:
Like Wow - Wipeout. (Hoodoo Gurus)

26. What is the first song you ever heard by 26?:
I don't think anybody can answer this question. (AC/DC)

27. What is your favorite album by 3?:
What a great question! Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express, without a doubt. (The Go-Betweens)

28. What is you favorite song by 2?:
... You really want me to answer that. That's like saying, who was your favourite Beatle. Oh wait. That's easy. Ringo. (The Beatles)

29. What was the first song you ever heard by 33?:
Second Chance. A brilliant song. (Liam Finn)

30. What is your favorite song by 8?:
Ohhh. The power and the passion... ohhh the temper of the times. OHHHH THE POWER AND THE PASSION. Sometimes you've got to take the hardest line. (Midnight Oil)

31. How many times have you seen 17 live?:
None. Wouldn't be a bad gig actually. (Foo Fighters)

32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy?:
NO. (Rogue Traders...)

33. What is your favorite album by 12?:
The second one. Definitely. Ranks so far up there like you'll never believe. (Sarah Blasko)

34. What is the worst song by 45?:
WORST SONG BY LED ZEPPELIN? (HEAD EXPLODES) (Led Zeppelin)

35. What was the first song you ever heard by 34?
Wouldn't know. It would be on the radio as a kid. (Icehouse)

36. What is your favorite album by 48?:
No and no. (The Offspring)

37. How many times have you seen 42 live?:
None. (End of Fashion)

38. What is your favorite song by 36?:
Ohhhhhhh. How could I choose? If it's from his solo repertoire then I definitely can't. (Grant McLennan)

39. How did you get into 28?:
Cause they had a cool video clip. Actually, several of them. (The White Stripes)

40. What is your favorite album by 7?:
The Unfinished Spanish Galleon of Finley Lake (Spiderbait)

41. Is there a song by 31 that makes you happy?:
Flame Trees. I know it's not meant to, but it's a damn good song. (Cold Chisel)

42. What is your favorite album by 41?:
Never. (Not even gonna write the name of the band)

43. What is your favorite song by 24?:
Not Even Close is a good one. (Tim Finn)

44. What is a good memory you have involving 46?:
Lol. When they trashed a gig organised for them by Triple M and got banned forever from that station. (The Vines)

45. What is your favorite song by 35?:
BEEEEEEP.

46. Is there a song by 9 that makes you happy?:
All their ones that have the words "lalalalala" in them. And there's heaps. (Franz Ferdinand)

47. What is your favorite album by 4?:
Time and Tide. (Split Enz)

48. Who is a favorite member of 37?:
Matt Bellamy, of course. (Muse)

49. What is the first song you ever heard by 43?:
Can't recall. Probably Gold Lion (and that was pretty late). (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

50. How many albums do you own by 20?:
Here's that word 'own' again. Using previous definition: One.

1. How did you get into 29? Metallica

Nothing Else Matters was mine and my first boyfriends song.... So i started listening to S&M alot while i was around him

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? Tina Turner

Wow... ummm prolly "We Dont Need Another Hero"


3. What’s your favorite lyric by 33? Cold Chisel
" And who needs that sentimental bullshit anyway?/ Takes more than just a memory to make me cry?"

( "Flametrees" if you wanna know lol)


4. What is your favorite album by 49? Queen Adreena

Um. no fave album, just really gotten into them recently so just have fave songs lol


5. How many albums by 13 do you own? Fall Out Boy
Umm most parts of 5 albums and handfuls of other tracks.


6. What is your favorite song by 50? No Doubt

What choose?? your asking me to choose?? lol.... I;ll go with the entirety of the album Tragic Kingdom..... But if i have to choose one ill go with End it On This.

7. Is there a song by 39 that makes you sad? Good Charlotte

Actually, i do. its called "The Truth".... and its a headspace song for me and jesuschrist when the mood hits that song can make me bawl my eyes out...

8. What is your favorite album by 15? Linkin Park

Fave album of theirs is actually hard, cos i loved Hybrid Theory.... But i really really like Minutes to Midnight ( albeit its insanely over played in my friends car......)

9. What is your favorite song by 5? Green Day
Fave song by Green Day would have to Longview. Although up for contention would also be Brain Stew and Jesus of Suburbia.



10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? U2

I think there are plenty.... standouts would have to Gloria, The Unforgettable Fire, Everlasting Love or Pride ( In the Name of Love)

11. What is your favorite album by 40? David Gray
I dont have any full albums of his, but my fave songs are from White Ladder.

12. What is your favorite song by 10? Jack Off Jill

Jack Off Jill is a mixed bag, because many of the songs exemplify all the bad headspaces of mine...

Favourite song would be Fear of Dying.... Though close second would be, Nazi Halo, Poor Impulse Control, and When I Am Queen.

13. What is a good memory you have involving 30? Guster

Discovering the song "Either Way". I was kicking ass at some stupid online bubble game and this song randomed on . I hadnt actually stopped to listen to it and have loved it ever since.... Considering its the only song by them i really like and its in my top 30 for the last 3 months, you can see how much i love this song lol...



14. What is your favorite song by 38? Queen

Again with the Favourite song business!! Its Queen, they are full of all sorts of awesome. Favourite song would have to be either Dont Stop Me Now or Save Me......

15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you happy? Placebo
Placebo?? make me happy??? I thought they were supposed to do the opposite... hmmm.... Song To Say Goodbye... for some ironic reason.... and probably Protege Moi in some strange bizaare twist lol.


16. How many times have you seen 25 live? Matchbox Twenty

Never... my stupid friends didnt think i wanted to go and i wanted to strangle them when they went on about the concert. They were meant to perform at Tempus Two winery up in the Hunter Valley, but they sold out there tooo..... *cries* would of loved to have seen Matchbox 20 live....

17. What is the first song you ever heard by 23? Scared Weird Little Guys

Well... Whatever it was, it was entirely Matys fault cos he was trying to get me into them and it worked lol....

It was prolly "Shopping and Parking" from Live! at 42 Walnut Cresent.


18. What is your favorite album by 11? Sarah McLachlan

Surfacing would have to be my fave album..... so many awesome songs :D

19. Who is a favorite member of 1? Bruce Springsteen

Hehe Bruce of course :D

20. Have you ever seen 14 live? Pink Floyd

Sadly no. Would of loved to though... but all things considered i dont see it happening anytime soon :P


21. What is a good memory involving 27? Nightwish

Singing their songs in the car with my friend Shelley :D


22. What is your favorite song by 16? The Dresden Dolls

Favourite song by them would be The Perfect Fit.

23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47? INXS

First Song???? fuck thats a big ask.....that i remember, would be Original Sin.... but the first one would of been whatever played on Triple M by INXS around when i was born.....


24. What is your favorite album by 18? John Williamson
I actually only have one album of his.... The Platinum Collection :P


25. What is your favorite song by 21? John Farnham

Gah!!! Why cant i have the album one for this one lol....

Fave song would be...Give Me a Reason, closely followed by Pressure Down.... but only just...

26. What is the first song you ever heard by 26? Avril Lavigne

This is easy :) Complicated, it was the first song released over here in Aus :)

27. What is your favorite album by 3? Midnight Oil

Easily it is Blue Sky Mine. Considering its the one i grew up on, the whole album is full of awesome :D

28. What is you favorite song by 2? Sweeney Todd Movie Cast

Epiphany :D


29. What was the first song you ever heard by 32? Alanis Morissette

You Oughta Know.


30. What is you favorite song by 8? The Who

*cries* i have to choose???

* sigh* okies... ummmmmm Baba O'reilly only just ahead of 1921 from Tommy.

31. How many times have you seen 17 live? The Dresden Dolls


Never. I would love to though!!!


32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy? Helen Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp

By The Sea... its sooo cute!!


33. What is you favorite album by 12? 30 Seconds to Mars

I dont have any of their albums..... :(


34. What is the worst song by 45? Bryan Adams
His duet with Barbara Streisland annoys the living shit out of me...Its jsut so over the top.

35. What was the first song you ever heard by 34? AC/DC

For Those About To Rock ( We Salute You).... Parents had the album of the same title on record and used to play it up at full ball and lie on the then carpeted lounge room floor inbetween the speakers and just feel the music.... :)

36. What is you favorite album by 48? Snow Patrol

I dont have one :(

37. How many times have you seen 42 live? Crowded House

Once. during the Olympics in 2000.


38. What is you favorite song by 36? Billy Joel

We Didnt Start The Fire.... but I Go To Extremes is a close second.As is Shes only a Woman :)

39. What was the first song you ever heard by 28? Emilie Autumn

Gothic Lolita

40. What is your favorite album by 7? Icehouse

agian i dont have any specific albums... * cry*


41. Is there a song by 31 that makes you happy? Alice Cooper
*snickers* Happy?? hahaha....

prolly Cold Ethyl... even though its a tad morbid, most of his stuff is lol....

42. What is your favorite album by 41? The Angels

Now im not talking about that stupid girly crap Im talking about eh Aussie rock act The Angels... and my fave album by them is the " The Finest Hour.... and then some"

43. What is your favorite song by 24?The Offspring

Bad Habit, and Walla Walla.

44. What is a good memory you have involving 46? Savage Garden
Going to their concert with Elliot, his mum, and Tristen back in the day.... :D it was awesome :D

45. What is your favorite song by 35? Frenzal Rhomb

oooohhhhh!!!! too many choices... prolly You Cant Move Into My House, Racist, and Guns Dont Kill Ducklings.

46. Is there a song by 9 that makes you happy? Michael Jackson

Awwwwww i know which one... History.


47. What is your favorite album by 4? Bon Jovi

Although i like tonnes of his songs, fave album is Have a Nice Day cos i actually own it.

48. Who is a favorite member of 36? Billy Joel

Duh Billy Joel lol


49. What is the first song you ever heard by 43? INXS
Just Keep Walking

50. How many albums do you own by 20? A Perfect Circle

I own about 4.

The rules:
"Take your top ten artists overall, and list:

(1) The first song you heard by them.
(2) The song that really got you into them.
(3) Your current favorite by them."


Many of these artists i can listen to their tracks over and over again and never get bored. Many of their songs have gotten me through things and also ive just gotten obsessed with specific songs and had them on repeat for hours at a time... enjoy the list :D

Linkin Park
This is really here cos i get in moods for it, and listen to the same song over to get the words for it lol...

1)One Step Closer
2)A Place For My Head
3)Hands Held High

Green Day
Another artist up here for the sheer amount of songs i have by them.... Been to 2 of their concerts, and they were both awesome :D

1)Longview
2)Longview
3)Church of Sunday

Sarah McLachlan
Change of pace, and for those headspaces that ive spent waay too much time in. I love the sound of her voice, and the rawness of the topics of which she sings of.

1)Angel
2)Black and White
3)Sweet Surrender

Bruce Springsteen
I grew up on Bruces stuff. Im strangely attracted to the whole premise of growing up in New Jersey in a blue collar world that i feel is so similar to me, yet if you knew me, im so far removed from that.... I just love the images he describes and the needs/wants... Every picture he draws with his lyrics are how i see my world, or want a guy to see me .

1)Born In the USA
2)Cover Me
3)Born To Run

David Bowie
See this is a hard one... cos ive listened to him my entire life and the first song i remember hearing was when i was only 4, but i know hes been around for years before that lol.... Im a massive Bowie fan, its very hard to chose favourite songs as i love most songs hes done. Labyrinth is my fave movie above all.

1)Underground
2)Modern Love
3)Fall Dog Bombs the Moon


Midnight Oil
First Aussie artist. It doesnt suprise me that these guys are up here. Im patriotic, opinionated, idealistic, and i thrive on the passionate ways these guys address these issues. I fight for the right and just things in life and i want to beleive we can make a differnece. There are too many people who are so selfish and just dont care about so many things in this world. Peter Garrett is a lovely man who is as humble as they come.

1)Blue Sky Mine
2)King of the Mountain
3)im torn between Antartica, River Runs Red, and Armistice Day

Metallica

This is an interesting one. I will claim that im not a huge Metallica fan, there are many songs of theirs im not a huge fan of. But, i do have a large range of songs of theirs that i love. Besides that, Metallica has some songs that have been eye openers for me about the people in my life, and although i have no new albums of theirs, the songs of theirs i do have will not die lol.

1)Nothing Else Matters
2)Low Mans Lyric or Hero of the Day
3)Tuesdays Gone


U2
When asked, i have always said U2 is my favourite band. And yet, they are 8th in this list...... Again another artist i love the images they write of, the topics they sing of, and they are awesome in concert. The reasons i like them are very similar to those of Midnight OilBut they are much more international of thought that Midnight Oil, who speak of the issues here at home. Combined with sappy songs, they are the allrounders of my music tastes :)

1)Gloria or One
2)Sunday Bloody Sunday
3)Windows In the Skies

A Perfect Circle
And then we have an artist who i claim im not a massive fan of.... I've had 2 ex boyfriends who loved these guys, and i do really like their stuf. They tap into my bad headspaces and idealism.

1)The Package
2)The Outsider
3)Pet


Avril Lavigne

While the inclusion of Avril may make me look bad or otherwise squander any chances i had of respect for my taste in music, I just want to point out that I really got into Avrils music when i was younger, her stuff came out when i was totally in the right age group/headspace for all that teen whiney stuff - funny, i was a teen. Her stuff taps into that part of me still, and although ive been on here for only a year, i still like her stuff.

1)Complicated
2)Losing Grip
3)Hot

absolia's top albums
1. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (228) 2. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (148) 3. Tori Amos - American Doll Posse (148) 4. VAST - Nude (122) 5. Tori Amos - Boys for Pele (121) 6. Tori Amos - To Venus and Back (121) 7. The Smashing Pumpkins - Adore (116) 8. Pixies - Trompe le Monde (114) 9. The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (111) 10. Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville (103) 11. Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold (102) 12. PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea (95) 13. The Chameleons - Strange Times (93) 14. Tori Amos - Scarlet's Walk (90) 15. Mary Timony - Mountains (84) 16. Poe - Haunted (81) 17. Helium - Magic City (81) 18. Pixies - Doolittle (80) 19. The Smashing Pumpkins - Gish (75) 20. VAST - Music for People (72) 21. Helium - The Dirt of Luck (68) 22. Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes (65) 23. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights (65) 24. Hole - Live Through This (62) 25. Sonic Youth - Experimental Jet Set, Trash & No Star (61) 26. Tori Amos - Under the Pink (60) 27. Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (60) 28. Interpol - Our Love to Admire (59) 29. Stone Temple Pilots - Core (58) 30. Tripping Daisy - I Am an Elastic Firecracker (57) 31. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow (56) 32. Hole - My Body, the Hand Grenade (56) 33. Sonic Youth - Dirty (55) 34. Local H - As Good as Dead (54) 35. The Smashing Pumpkins - Pisces Iscariot (54) 36. Pixies - Bossanova (50) 37. Mary Timony - The Golden Dove (50) 38. Mary Timony - Ex Hex (50) 39. Sonic Youth - A Thousand Leaves (50) 40. Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel (49) 41. U2 - Zooropa (46) 42. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (45) 43. The Shins - Oh, Inverted World (43) 44. Echo & the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here (43) 45. Pixies - Surfer Rosa (42) 46. Midnight Oil - Diesel and Dust (40) 47. Jeff Buckley - Grace (40) 48. Blondie - Greatest Hits: Sound & Vision (39) 49. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (38) 50. PJ Harvey - Is This Desire? (37)