As a music fanatic, it means a great deal when a song speaks to me. Good songs are like air and food to me, I need a steady supply of them to fuel my life. So I spend a great deal of time looking for and thinking about my favorite songs, and I enjoy telling the world about them.
Please excuse the inconsistent formats, these were culled from various blogs I ran over the years. They are in chronological order, which unfortunately is a meaningless sequence, so you may want to use the tags to look for artists you may be familiar with or want to learn more about.
Achtung Baby
Alice in Chains
anger
Aristotle's Hope
authentic self
big picture
Bon Jovi
calling
change
chords
Cliff Campbell
Cloud Cult
consciousness
Craig Minowa
dada
Darroh Sudderth
Dave Grohl
decision-making
depression
desire
Doug Pinnick
dreams
Dream Theater
emotional backlog
emotional muscle
emotions
entrepreneur
experience
Fair to Midland
fear
fear of success
featured
feeling
freddie mercury
glen phillips
goal-setting
goals
growth
guitar
habits
happiness
healing
hope
HSP
illness
In Flames
Intuition
Japan
jerry cantrell
John Lennon
journey
King's X
loneliness
Lyrics
Matt Langley
mental health
mental illness
metal
Metallica
Michael Brown
Midnight Oil
Minnasia
music theory
nickel creek
observation
passion
Paul McCartney
peace
Pearl Jam
Performance
Pet Shop Boys
Porcupine Tree
queen
Radiohead
romantic relationship
satisfaction
self-actualization
self esteem
SHEL
singing
Songwriting
soulmate
Steven Pressfield
Steve Vai
stress
stuck emotions
success
suffering
System of a Down
The Beatles
The Presence Process
Toad the Wet Sprocket
Todd Nichols
Tom Volkar
Tool
Ty Tabor
U2
vision
worthy challenge
YouTube
- Ozzy Osbourne “No More Tears” Power Comes In Layers
- 4 Layers to Musicmaking
- What Makes Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android” So Perfectly Uncomfortable
- What Makes This Song Impactful: Imaging Dragons “Believer”
- Unlocking the Mystery: Why Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” Knocks You Out
- Unlocking the Mystery: Why Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” Is Their Quintessential Song
- Unlocking the Mystery: Why We Listen to 10+ Minutes of Led Zeppelin’s “Achilles Last Stand”
- Unlocking the Mystery: How the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” Impresses without Impressive Melodies
- Unlocking the Mystery: How the Beatles’ “Come Together” Gets Under Your Skin
- Unlocking the Mystery: How Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “All I Want” Uplifts
- How Rock n Roll Empowers Me
- Why Singing Along Is Good for Your Soul
- Nirvana “Smells Like Teen Spirit”: What Went into Writing an Anthem of a Generation
- The Most Important Instrument in a Rock Band
- The Beatles “Nowhere Man”: Let the Song Speak
- Seeing the Art in Dada’s Quirkiness
- The Beatles “Nowhere Man”: Arranging a Lean, Mean Impact Machine
- The Beatles “Nowhere Man”: How to Write a Song about Insecurity
- Rock n Roll Is a Sane Reaction to an Insane World
- 22 Albums That Changed My Life (Part 3)
- 22 Albums That Changed My Life (Part 2)
- 22 Albums That Changed My Life (Part 1)
- Do You Like the Music or the Musician?
- 3 Personal Development Lessons We Can Learn from Slash
- “Just Keep Swimming”
- What Makes a Recording Timeless
- U2’s Slow Decline (and What They Still Have to Offer)
- Bonding and Music
- How Pet Shop Boys Pointed Me toward Progressive Rock
- How Cloud Cult’s “There’s So Much Energy in Us” Reduces Me to Tears
- Music as the Mood Regulator
- Carpark North “Burn It” and the Freedom to Project
- Instrumental vs. Vocal Music
- Do You Relate to Music?
- Holiday Got You Down? Here’s a Fix…
- When I Grow Up I Want to Be Like Mateus Asato
- The Dreams of My Songs
- Bon Jovi, Metallica and Pursuing What We Need
- Metallica’s “Frantic” and Metal’s Power to Channel Our Inner Pain
- SHEL’s “Is the Doctor in Today” and the Power of Music
- The Jelly Jam: “Stay Together” from Shall We Descend
- King’s X “Gretchen Goes to Nebraska” Review
- Toad the Wet Sprocket “Dulcinea” Review
- Toad the Wet Sprocket “Fear” Review
- Cloud Cult “The Seeker” Review
- Cloud Cult “No Hell” and What We Bottle Up Inside
- In Flames “Disconnected” and Why Feeling Pain Is Better Than Not Feeling at All
- Death Cab for Cutie “The New Year” and the Power to Create Meanings
- Cloud Cult “You’re the Only Thing in Your Way” and Unblocking Your Flow
- David Bowie and His Dare to Be Strange
- King’s X “If” and Being Too Attached to Your Ideal
- Build a Habit of Winning
- Pondering Surviving vs. Thriving: Patty Griffin “Chief”
- Toad the Wet Sprocket’s “Architect of the Ruin” and Our Role in That Demise
- Considering the Value of Your Dream in R.E.M. “Losing My Religion”
- Affirming Your Importance Listening to Radiohead “Airbag”
- Consider the Ticking of Time Listening to Dave Matthews Band “Ants Marching”
- Heart “There’s the Girl” and Choosing to Do Something You Know Is Wrong
- Learning a Sobering Lesson Vicariously Listening to Sting “I Hung My Head”
- Envisioning the Use of Time While Listening to The Winery Dogs’ “Time Machine”
- Pondering the Cost of Pretending from Foo Fighers “The Pretender”
- Consider the Risks: Van Halen “Jump”
- Black Lodge “Breviculum” and Surrendering to Darkness (Temporarily)
- Reclaiming the Power to Change: Counting Crows “Murder of One”
- Song Reflections: Audioslave “Be Yourself”
- Song Reflections: Guster “Either Way”
- Song Reflections: Blackfield “Where Is My Love?”
- Song Reflections: Tori Amos “Spark”
- Song Reflections: Soundgarden “Fell on Black Days”
- Song Reflections: Nickel Creek “This Side”
- Song Reflections: The 77’s “This Is the Way Love Is”
- Song Reflections: Emmylou Harris “Deeper Well”
- Song Reflections: Red Hot Chili Peppers “Californication”
- Song Reflections: Dada “Time Is Your Friend”
- Song Reflections: Porcupine Tree “Shallow”
- Song Reflections: Peter Bradley Adams “Family Name”
- Song Reflections: Harrod & Funck “Hand Draws Flowers”
- Song Reflections: Genesis “No Son of Mine”
- Song Reflections: Fair to Midland “Musical Chairs”
- Song Reflections: Copeland “Chin Up”
- Song Reflections: Cloud Cult “There Is So Much Energy in Us”
- Song Reflections: Townes Van Zandt & Lyle Lovett “Lungs”
- Song Reflections: Midnight Oil “Bring on the Change”
- Song Reflections: Tool “Vicarious”
- Song Reflections: The Jelly Jam “Stay Together”
- Song Reflections: Toad the Wet Sprocket “Amnesia”
- Song Reflections: System of a Down “Deer Dance”
- Song Reflections: Pet Shop Boys “You Only Tell Me You Love Me When You’re Drunk”
- Song Reflections: Carpark North/Michael W. Smith “Save Me from Myself”
- Song Reflections: Socionic “Epiphany”
- Song Reflections: Christa Wells “Renovate”
- Song Reflections: Jerry Cantrell “Psychotic Break”
- Song Reflections: Dishwalla “Counting Blue Cars”
- Song Reflections: In Flames “In Plain View”
- Song Reflections: Vertical Horizon “Everything You Want”
- Song Reflections: Queen “The Show Must Go On”
- Song Reflections: Princess Mononoke Theme Song (English Version)
- Song Reflections: Alice in Chains “Hollow”
- Song Reflections: King’s X “A Box”
- Vertical Horizon: Everything You Want
- Alice in Chains and Heavy Lyrics
- Dada “Time Is Your Friend” from El Subliminoso
- The National: “Mr. November” from Alligator
- Dishwalla “Counting Blue Cars” from Pet Your Friends
- In Flames “Leeches” from Come Clarity
- Porcupine Tree “Shallow” from Deadwing
- Fair to Midland: “Musical Chairs” from Arrows and Anchors
- Brynn Andre: Self-Titled
- In Flames: “Liberation” from Sounds of Playground Fading
- Fair to Midland: Arrows and Anchors
- Cloud Cult: “Running with the Wolves” from Light Chasers
- In Flames: Sounds of a Playground Fading
- Cloud Cult: Light Chasers
- The National: “Apartment Story” from Boxer
- Alice in Chains: “Check My Brain” from Black Gives Way to Blue
- King’s X: “Prisoner” from King’s X
- The 77s: “The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes & The Pride Of Life” from Seventy Sevens
- The Nightwatchman: “The Road I Must Travel” from One Man Revolution
- William Belote: “E=mc2” from Portraits of Albert E.
- Fair to Midland Rocks St. Paul
- Fair to Midland: Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True
- Catches of the Week: Nels Cline, Cloud Cult, Steve Reich, Apocalyptica
- Brynn Andre’s Pink Dress EP
- King’s X “False Alarm” from Manic Moonlight
- Oceansize: Everyone into Position
- Tool “Jambi” from 10,000 Days
- In Flames “The Mirror’s Truth” from A Sense of Purpose
- Toad the Wet Sprocket “Something’s Always Wrong” from Dulcinea
- Dream Theater “These Walls” from Octavarium
- King’s X “Cigarettes” from Dogman
- Toad the Wet Sprocket “Stories I Tell” from Fear
- In Flames: “The Quiet Place” from Soundtrack to Your Escape
- Soundgarden “Burden in My Hand” from Down on the Upside
- System of a Down “Deer Dance” from Toxicity
- Toad the Wet Sprocket “Torn” from Pale
- Midnight Oil “In the Valley” from Earth and Sun and Moon
- King’s X “Shoes” from Dogman
- U2 “Bad” from The Unforgettable Fire
- In Flames “Come Clarity” from Come Clarity
- Toad the Wet Sprocket “Pray Your Gods” from Fear
- Dada “Ask the Dust” from American Highway Flower
- Laura Gibson: “Funeral Song” from Beasts of Seasons
- In Flames “Cloud Connected” from Reroute to Remain
- Dream Theater “As I Am” from Train of Thought
- Metallica “Frantic” from St. Anger
- King’s X “Vegetable” from Manic Moonlight
- Patty Griffin: “Chief” from 1000 Kisses
- In Flames “Disconnected” from A Sense of Purpose
- Midnight Oil “Bring on the Change” from Breathe
- Tool “The Grudge” from Lateralus
- U2 “Even Better Than The Real Thing” from Achtung Baby
- Ozzy Osbourne “I Just Want You” from Ozzmosis
- The Cranberries “Free to Decide” from To the Faithful Departed
- Nickel Creek “When in Rome” from Why Should the Fire Die?
- Metallica “The Day That Never Comes” from Death Magnetic
- In Flames “Take This Life” from Come, Clarity
- Alice in Chains “Grind” from Alice in Chains
- U2 “A Sort of Home Coming” from The Unforgettable Fire
- King’s X “Dogman” from Dogman
- In Flames “Crawl Through Knives” from Come Clarity
- In Flames “Reroute to Remain” from Reroute to Remain
- Alice in Chains “Your Decision” from Black Gives Way to Blue
- Dream Theater “Glass Prison” from Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
- King’s X “Higher Than God” from Tape Head
- In Flames “Touch of Red” from Soundtrack to Your Escape
- King’s X “If” from Ogre Tones
- Alice in Chains “A Looking in View” from Black Gives Way to Blue
- Renee Stahl “You Didn’t Know” from Hopeful, Romantic
- Review: Toad the Wet Sprocket – Coil
- Review: U2 – October
- Timelessness from Timeliness