To Cry You A Song - Animals

I was originally going to do this with song titles, and actually found many animals mentioned (including some odd ones like a sealion, dolphin, monkey, and bee). But then I looked at band names and was surprised at how many were named after animals. I figured I could put together a better list of songs when choosing from an artist's entire catalogue, and in fact, it turned out better than I expected. This particular list includes 15 very good to excellent songs, with 10 being Desert Island songs (marked with an *).

You may notice some notable names are missing from this compilation. Obviously, The Beatles fit the category, but because this turned into a more hard rock/heavy metal compilation, I decided to leave them off. Also, there's no Whitesnake, because technically the name's not about an animal. The same is true for W.A.S.P. Also missing are bands with intentionally misspelled names, such as Ratt and Jackyl, and bands with an adjective or qualifier before the name, such as Iron Butterfly, Fuzzy Duck, White Lion, etc.

Animal Tracks: (wow, another unintentional bad pun)

1. Budgie - Zoom Club (9:56)*

2. Buffalo - Intro: Pound Of Flesh / Shylock (10:33)*

3. Bull Angus - Run Don't Stop (4:27)*

4. Buzzard - Save Me (3:51)*

5. Chinchilla - Father Forgive Me (5:10)

6. Great White - Desert Moon (4:32)*

7. Jaguar - Eighties (3:49)*

8. The Lizards - Hungry World (4:41)

9. Praying Mantis - Panic in the Streets (3:43)

10. Raven - Ballad of Marshall Stack (5:38)*

11. Scorpions - Lovedrive (4:52)*

12. Viper - Knights of Destruction (3:13)

13. Wild Turkey - Butterfly (4:55)

14. Wolf - Genocide (3:41)*

15. Zebra - Arabian Nights (5:19)*

Disc length - 78:20

Albums:

Budgie - In for the Kill (1974)

Buffalo - Volcanic Rock (1973)

Bull Angus - Bull Angus (1971)

Buzzard - Gambler (1984)

Chinchilla - The Last Millenium (2002)

Great White - Hooked (1991)

Jaguar - Run Ragged (2003)

The Lizards - The Lizards Rule (2003)

Praying Mantis - Time Tells No Lies (1981)

Raven - All for One (1983)

Scorpions - Lovedrive (1979)

Viper - Soldiers of Sunrise (1987)

Wild Turkey - Battle Hymn (1971)

Wolf - Black Wings (2002)

Zebra - Zebra IV (2003)

Time and A Word...

Well, more like 30 words. Or 30 bands, to be specific. As an addendum (of sorts) to the previous post, I thought I'd have a little fun and get these great bands out there once again. The bands are listed horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, and are forwards and backwards. Check out the list below the letters for the band names hidden within.

Q D F B J I K A S A R U M N M O X Y A F
X G A S K I N O D M V J I O V E W U G J
T S H B U F F A L O Z Z A T T A C K E R
R S F A Q C E W F R F Y I G S R V G T K
E A G H W D I J V E H J O B I X H J I N
T N R S J U O N D Y W W M F R C V L O I
T E L I X I R Z A U Y E Y D L T L P U O
I G H V A H F K E R K I E E O E R G A B
O O Y E D S A L B X G F N D R D I B P U
A Q V V N I K D O B L U A S D U T L W L
R U I E F U A C I D M Z J G B H M O C L
I F R D R Z I R W Q S Z D U A G R O I A
G D U A S L T V C I D Y N I L D S D Z N
A V S B J P O B U F E D A O T R X Y U G
K S D U I O T R R U R U H J I A S M G U
R Z B G K L T E D S K C T H M Z C A B S
I D S T R A Y D S E I K U S O Z O R R W
G S E I B A B R A W F D R Q R U T Y A U
E E S D Y I R G G H K L T D E B G H S D
T F K W A H R E T N I W A G H S U G N A

Acid, Angus, Aria, Attacker, Bloody Mary, Bodkin, Buffalo, Bull Angus, Buzzard, Elixir, Fuse, Fuzzy Duck, Gaskin, Granicus, Killer, More, Moxy, Murasaki, Overlorde, Sir Lord Baltimore, Stray, Sword, Toad, Totty, Trettioåriga Kriget, Truth and Janey, Virus, War Babies, Weed, Winterhawk

Top Ten (and others) - Obscure Bands

Some of you may know these bands, but I'm guessing that most people haven't heard of them or at least aren't very familiar with them. It's an interesting mix that includes bands from all over the world, including four U.S. bands in the top ten. The top ten list includes three albums from this decade that definitely deserve your notice, while the notable releases are predominantly from the 1970s and 80s.

If you'd like more information on any of these bands, post a comment below or in the chat box on the right and I'll get back to you.

Obscure Top Ten (actually 11, because of a tie):

91.52 -- Murasaki - Impact (1976)

91.16 -- Buffalo - Volcanic Rock (1973)

91.04 -- October 31 - Meet Thy Maker (1999)

90.97 -- Aria - Armageddon (2006)

90.82 -- Elixir - The Idol (2003)

90.27 -- More - Blood & Thunder (1982)

90.23 -- Overlorde - Return of the Snow Giant (2004)

90.18 -- Saviour Machine - Saviour Machine I (1993)

90.13 -- Toad - Toad (1972)

90.00 -- Attacker - Second Coming (1988)

90.00 -- Trettioåriga Kriget - Trettioåriga Kriget (1974)

Other obscure releases:

89.81 -- Acid - Maniac (1983)

89.72 -- Sortilège - Métamorphose (1984)

89.60 -- Killer - Wall of Sound (1981)

89.60 -- Buzzard - Gambler (1984)

89.57 -- Bull Angus - Bull Angus (1971)

89.35 -- Virus - Thoughts (1971)

89.32 -- Moxy - Moxy (1975)

89.29 -- Fuse - Fuse (1970)

89.28 -- Silver Mountain - Shakin' Brains (1983)

89.21 -- Billy Lee Janey - Soul Driver (2008)

88.82 -- Angus - Warrior of the World (1987)

88.74 -- Apocalypse - Apocalypse (1988)

88.67 -- Brocas Helm - Into Battle (1984)

88.62 -- Gamma - Gamma 1 (1979)

88.47 -- Sword - Metalized (1986)

88.46 -- More - Warhead (1981)

88.44 -- Winterhawk - Revival (1982)

88.37 -- Gaskin - End of the World (1981)

88.28 -- Twenty Sixty Six and Then - Reflections On the Future (1972)

88.23 -- Lucifer's Friend - Lucifer's Friend (1970)

88.21 -- Totty - Totty (1977)

88.16 -- Fuzzy Duck - Fuzzy Duck (1971)

88.06 -- Bodkin - Bodkin (1972)

87.82 -- Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come (1970)

87.56 -- Virus - Revelation (1971)

87.41 -- Stray - Stray (1970)

87.38 -- Weed - Weed (1971)

87.04 -- War Babies - War Babies (1992)

86.31 -- Truth and Janey - No Rest for the Wicked (1976)

82.74 -- Granicus - Granicus (1973)