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<div> <h2>You Need to Hear this Song #7</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation — I’ve All I Need, Liam Gallagher (As You Were, 2017)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*5UZdOLcvZ2MrbqXi1o7WGA.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="af1f">#1 <b>Primal Scream</b> / Mötley Crüe / <i>Decade of Decadence</i> /1991</p><div id="89f4" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/heavy-rotation-1-54a2c85dc770"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Hear This Song #1</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation: Primal Scream, Mötley Crüe (Decade of Decadence, 1991)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="a3b9">#21 <b>Kick it Out</b> / Heart / <i>Little Queen</i> / 1977</p><div id="f3f9" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/especially-right-now-you-need-to-hear-this-song-21-94bad1d3b1f8"> <div> <div> <h2>(Especially Right Now)You Need to Hear this Song #21</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation — Kick it Out, Heart (Little Queen, 1977)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*hGz7gI63F-4gTencu-K9vQ.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="b26d">#13 <b>Wishlist</b> / Pearl Jam / <i>Yield</i> / 1998</p><div id="f376" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/you-need-to-hear-this-song-13-42b390760340"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Hear this Song #13</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation — Wishlist, Pearl Jam (Yield, 1998)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="7abf">#28 <b>We’re Going to Miss You</b> / James / <i>Millionaires</i> / 1999</p><div id="e988" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/you-need-to-listen-this-song-right-now-28-b92356b70b50"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Listen this Song Right Now #28</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation — We’re Going to Miss You, James (Millionaires, 1999)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*Ju4DvaqbP_KR10kVj3m2uw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="25e6">#4 <b>Stevie</b> / Kasabian / <i>48:14</i> / 2014</p><div id="fdae" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/heavy-rotation-4-b7ec26e5c57f"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Hear This Song #4</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation: Stevie, Kasabian (48:13, 2014)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="6feb">#10 <b>Jump into the Fire</b> / Harry Nilsson /<i> Nilsson Schmilsson</i> / 1971</p><div id="efd2" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/you-need-to-hear-this-song-10-6da57ec40bc7"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Hear this Song #10</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation — Jump into the Fire, Harry Nilsson (Nilsson Schmilsson, 1971)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p> # Options </div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="1a49">#27 <b>Weather With You</b> / Crowded House / <i>Woodface </i>/ 1991</p><div id="d872" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/you-need-to-listen-this-song-right-now-27-bc7b5a07add7"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Listen this Song Right Now #27</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation — Weather With You, Crowded House (Woodface, 1991)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*fCVOFoBcDLEIlajd6G1AXw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="dea6">#29 <b>Pretty Boy</b> / Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Bird / <i>single</i> / 2022</p><div id="08ff" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/you-need-to-listen-this-song-right-now-29-901ad9e580bd"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Listen this Song Right Now #29</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation — Pretty Boy, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (single, 2022)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*WvBcmnWvTmcYK39d9X0ybg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="0659">#23 <b>Miss Gradenko </b>/ the Police / <i>Synchronicity</i> / 1983</p><div id="cb36" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/you-need-to-hear-this-song-23-994a26cb5784"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Hear this Song #23</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation — Miss Gradenko, the Police (Synchronicity, 1983)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*Gdni7QxqgVpa7rJqSHCaBw.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="7810">I am going to throw one more in, only because I truly love this song and I think everyone should hear it. I still get chills every time I hear it.</p><p id="5b3b">#3 <b>Chinatown</b> / Bleachers with Bruce Springsteen / <i>Take the Sadness out of Saturday Night</i> / 2020</p><div id="07cd" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/heavy-rotation-3-52114f73ef06"> <div> <div> <h2>You Need to Hear This Song #3</h2> <div><h3>Heavy Rotation: Chinatown, Bleachers w/ Bruce Springsteen (Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night, 2020)</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="5639">I really do hope that you like what you have just read. If you want unlimited access to thousands of writers, consider a subscription to Medium. It will set you back $5 a month, and if you use the link below, then I get a slice of that that I will put towards buying this record on vinyl. Just as soon as I get a record player.</p><div id="d8b2" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/membership/@73srabt"> <div> <div> <h2>Join Medium with my referral link — Scott-Ryan Abt</h2> <div><h3>As a Medium member, a portion of your membership fee goes to writers you read, and you get full access to every story…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*H8aUKQRGBvt2mEJP)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Song Reviews

Writing About Music: Greatest Hits and Biggest Misses

Let’s call it a labour of love

Photo by blocks on Unsplash

Part 2 of this article can be found here.

I think that out of all of the topics that I’ve written about, music has to be my favourite. I have avoided trying to find and write for a specific niche, but of the 184 articles I’ve banged out here since this time last year, music and travel are the ones that have provided the most inspiration.

I guess I should just face it.

I come back to it every few days. In fact, of that number, 31 of them (or 17%, if you are following along with a calculator handy) have been part of a series that I initially called Heavy Rotation, then changed to You Need to Hear This Song and most recently adjusted to You Need to Listen to This Song Right Now, to give things a bit more emphasis. And because the headline analyser that I use said so.

Like seemingly a relative handful of people in my legion of readers, I get a song in my head on a given day, and I feel the need to write about it. A bit about the band, what was happening in music at the time, who their contemporaries were, where the song fits in their discography, and a deeper analysis of the music composition and lyrics.

Really, I aim to learn why and how this song is so memorable to me and why it had me humming all day. I encourage listening to the song while reading.

The people at The Riff have been gracious and kind enough to publish every last one of them. There are many great writers there if reading about music is your thing.

It’s definitely my thing. I started buying records at a young age. Then tapes, then CDs, then downloads, and now Spotify. Shortly, I plan to go back to records. I go to as many live shows as possible, and music has always played a front-row role in my life, so I’m not surprised that these are the articles I enjoy writing the most.

Depending on how I choose to look at it, the trouble is that these are among my least trafficked articles based on views, reads, percentage, fans, and of course…the big kicker: money earned.

I want to say I don’t care, but of course, I do. But what am I going to do? It has only reinforced my opinion of writing for a niche. But let’s face it, the numbers refuse to lie.

But when has it only ever been about numbers? They might tell you the cold, hard facts but are also where dreams go to die. The only thing to do is keep on trucking.

At some point, every band that I have ever loved has put out some greatest hits package. For the artists, the idea was to have all of their best work in one place — a retrospective of their body of work — with a few new ones thrown in to get people who already owned that music to buy it again. For the record company, it was a chance to cash in one more time.

Similarly, I am doing the same here. After a painstaking review and cross-referencing, I have also compiled a set of ten music / specific song articles that I wrote in a rather transparent attempt to cash in one more time.

I’ve included the five most trafficked and the five least, but I won’t tell you which column heading each falls under. That’ll be for you to decide.

Thanks for reading. And Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World.

#7 I’ve All I Need / Liam Gallagher / As You Were / 2017

#1 Primal Scream / Mötley Crüe / Decade of Decadence /1991

#21 Kick it Out / Heart / Little Queen / 1977

#13 Wishlist / Pearl Jam / Yield / 1998

#28 We’re Going to Miss You / James / Millionaires / 1999

#4 Stevie / Kasabian / 48:14 / 2014

#10 Jump into the Fire / Harry Nilsson / Nilsson Schmilsson / 1971

#27 Weather With You / Crowded House / Woodface / 1991

#29 Pretty Boy / Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Bird / single / 2022

#23 Miss Gradenko / the Police / Synchronicity / 1983

I am going to throw one more in, only because I truly love this song and I think everyone should hear it. I still get chills every time I hear it.

#3 Chinatown / Bleachers with Bruce Springsteen / Take the Sadness out of Saturday Night / 2020

I really do hope that you like what you have just read. If you want unlimited access to thousands of writers, consider a subscription to Medium. It will set you back $5 a month, and if you use the link below, then I get a slice of that that I will put towards buying this record on vinyl. Just as soon as I get a record player.

Music
Rock N Roll
Song Review
Rock Music
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