Brandon E Taylor's Weblog Cogitations, Meditations, and Ruminations

Random Shuffle

• "Stranglehold" - Ted Nugent

What a riff and what a solo! There are two things the Motor City Madman does very well - play guitar and hunt. Ted's clean living and his policy to only eat meat that he harvests himself (e.g. through hunting and fishing) probably has something to do with the fact the he is still rockin' hard at the age of almost 58.

• "Three Wooden Crosses" - Randy Travis

Wonderfully touching musical parable about the power of faith and redemption. Listen to this one twice to get the full effect (the end might be surprising to some when they first hear the song). "I guess it's not what you take when you leave this world behind you, It's what you leave behind you when you go."

• "Orange Blossom Special" - Ralph Stanley

One of the all-time classic banjo songs played by one of the all-time classic bluegrass banjo pickers. What more need I say?

• "Hall of the Mountain King" - Savatage

I fondly remember blowing my first set of car stereo speakers with this song. The song still makes we want to stand up and scream with Jon Oliva when he belts out (after a dramatic pause): "In the Hall of the Mountain King!!!" btw...you can hear an arrangement of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" in the previous track: "Prelude to Madness".

• "Walk a Little Straighter" - Billy Currington

A sobering - pun intended - and touching song about the awesome responsibility of being a parent and the effect our actions have on our children. Our children look to us as role models and stumbling around with a beer constantly in hand sets a poor example. ( Sep 09 2006, 10:52:00 PM PDT ) Permalink