Greatest Hits 1: No Knife, Silverchair, Def Leppard

I decided to start a new column on my blog related to music. Working on "Simon Says" has proven to be the inspiration for it, because there are so many music references in the comic. It's made me go back and recall some GREAT albums from the past. So, every entry in this column, I'll share my thoughts on three past albums, and while they aren't necessarily the band's "Greatest Hits" collections or even necessarily their most known LPs, they are some of my favorite releases by these particular bands.

No Knife's "Riot For Romance" - I first heard this band when my wife and I saw them open up for Sunny Day Real Estate on the "Rising Tide" tour in 2000. I had no idea who they were, but they were absolutely awesome and I immediately "special ordered" their cds (I was working for a music store at the time). "RFR" was their last album before their break-up (booo!), but honestly, it's probably my favorite album by them. Maybe it's because I listened to is so much when it came out in September 2002. My wife had gone back to work at this time after taking some time off following the birth of our first son. I have fond memories of driving around with Christopher on the weekends, going to comic stores or the park, and blasting this cd in the car.

Silverchair's "Frogstomp" - This was one of those cds that I could listen to over and over as a teenager and never get tired of it. It came out in the summer of '95 and the radio station 99X (based out of Atlanta) was one of the first stations to play Silverchair in the US. Hearing "Tomorrow" (their first single) always reminds me of driving to Atlanta with my sister to go hang out at Little 5 Points (shopping at Criminal Records, Wax N Facts, & Junkman's Daughter, and eating some Fellini's Pizza). Definitely a good, alternative/grunge sounding album that has a very mid-90s feel!

Def Leppard's "Hysteria" - I was much younger when this album came out, but the videos from it were constantly on MTV..."Rocket", "Pour Some Sugar On Me", "Women", "Love Bites", and of course, the title track. Being one of the only kids in elementary school that was really listening to hard rock/heavy metal back then, this release was like the breakthrough for others. The constant airplay made Def Leppard cool in the eyes (or ears, rather) of my friends and we could agree on music (finally!). My best friend at the time, Todd, was a HUGE Def Leppard fan and dreamed of being like Joe Elliot one day, haha. This album takes me back to living in downtown Macon, GA and everything associated with that time in my life!

Check back for some periodic "Greatest Hits" columns!

Til next time,
Matthew