Music Shuffle Monday 05.24.10

1. "The Hardway" by dcTalk
dcTalk was (and I think still is) one of the biggest bands in CCM (Contemporary Christian Music), having sold the most records thanks to heavier crossover album "Jesus Freak." This one off their album prior to "Jesus Freak" though, and it's one of the handful on that album I actually liked. It's a bit of a softer/mellower sound, but it's got a good message - the chorus goes "Some people seem to have to learn the hardway/ I guess I'm the kind of guy that has to find out for himself/ I had to learn the hardway/ I'm on my knees and I'm crying for help." Christian or not, it's a song that pretty much everyone can identify with, as we've all done stuff in our lives that unfortunately we had to learn the hard way that it probably wasn't the best thing to do.

2. "Boten Anna" by Basshunter

Also known as "Now You're Gone" on Basshunter's 2nd (Amercanized) album. This one came out sometime after his hit "Dota" (which is about sitting around, play the Warcraft map of the same name and chatting in Ventrilo voice chat). Boten Anna is about an IRC chat bot named Anna who can "ban you, ban you so bad." Unfortunately, with his latest album Basshunter decided to Americanize both songs and turn them into sappy techno songs inside of keeping with the awesome geeky internet/gaming references that gained him a large part of his following. It's still a pretty catchy techno/dance song regardless which lyrics you use.

3. "Deceiver" by Disturbed

Not gonna lie, I haven't listened to the album this one is on (their 4th studio album, "Indestructible") that often as the version I have of it is really low quality. This is a pretty typical Disturbed song though - heavy chords, melodic sounding... dark... not really much else to say. They're release their next album "Asylum" this fall though... which means tour-time!

4. "Zydrate Anatomy" from Repo! The Genetic Opera

Repo... either you love it or hate it, and it's got a cult following much like that of Rocky Horror (it has been called the Rocky Horror of my generation, which doesn't surprise me). It's got a great cast though and the songs are awesome - Giles from Buffy is the Repo Man, Paul Sorvino is the main bad guy and Sarah Brightman has a pretty important role as well. This is probably one of my favorite songs from the musical though - it's catchy, dark and gothic, and was just a fun scene, explaining one some of the stuff in the musical as well (ie: what Zydrate is, the whole plot point with Blind Mag, etc). If you like musicals - especially dark ones - and don't mind a handful of f-bombs and Sweeney Todd level of over-exaggerated gore, be sure to check out the original Repo Man movie!

5. "The Fame" by Lady Gaga

This is more of a medley of Gaga's songs off her debut album and came as a bonus track on the copy of the album I got. Starts off with "Just Dance" and works through most of the songs on the album, mixing them together. I'll admit, Gaga's one of my guilty pleasure listens - her songs are catchy, the innuendos are pretty funny, and make me want to dance and put me in a good mood. Plus, who knows what she'll be wearing next - you almost want to watch the award shows and her videos just to see what crazy ensemble she's going to show up in! I wish I could afford a ticket to Lollapalooza this year just to see her perform live, as she's headlining one of the nights.

And that's your Music Shuffle Monday list for this week.

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