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)

To Cry You A Song - NWOBHM

Here's another recurring post that I'll probably drag out longer than necessary. The idea here is my recommendation for a single CD (up to 80 minutes) containing top-rated songs based on a specific genre, year, band, country of origin, theme, etc.

I've listed the artists, songs and song times first, along with the length of the CD. Below the CD track list, I've listed the artists, albums, and years of release in case you actually want to create this CD yourself. I'll follow this same format (but with a lot less introductory crap) on subsequent posts.

My first post (as if you couldn't tell by the title) is a CD featuring New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands. You've probably noticed that some famous bands are missing from this compilation. I did this intentionally so that some lesser known songs could get some attention. (And besides, I'll probably post about Iron Maiden, Saxon and Def Leppard at some point anyway; it's easy enough to create a single disc of top-rated songs by each of these bands.)

By the way, there's no real insight to the track order; I just listed the songs in order of release date. Also, I tried to stay in the early 80s, but a few songs released after this time period were much to good to ignore.

NWOBHM Tracks:
1. Angel Witch - Angel Witch (3:25)
2. Fist - You'll Never Get Me Up (In One of Those) (2:49)
3. Samson - Vice Versa (4:44)
4. Warrior - Let Battle Commence (5:01)
5. White Spirit - Midnight Chaser (5:17)
6. Diamond Head - Am I Evil? (7:42)
7. Gaskin - End of the World (3:38)
8. More - I Have No Answers (5:44)
9. Vardis - Blue Rock (I Miss You) (4:30)
10. Demon - Don't Break the Circle (4:43)
11. Raven - Ballad of Marshall Stack (5:38)
12. Savage - Let It Loose (3:17)
13. Witchfinder General - Quietus Reprise (6:29)
14. Grim Reaper - See You in Hell (4:24)
15. Blitzkrieg - Night Howl (3:30)
16. Elixir - Born Loser (4:55)
17. Jaguar - Eighties (3:49)
Disc length - 79:35

Albums:
Angel Witch - Angel Witch (1980)
Fist - Turn the Hell On (1980)
Samson - Head On (1980)
Warrior - Let Battle Commence (1980)
White Spirit - White Spirit (1980)
Diamond Head - Lightning to the Nations (1981)
Gaskin - End of the World (1981)
More - Warhead (1981)
Vardis - The World's Insane (1981)
Demon - The Unexpected Guest (1982)
Raven - All for One (1983)
Savage - Loose 'n' Lethal (1983)
Witchfinder General - Friends of Hell (1983)
Grim Reaper - See You In Hell (1984)
Blitzkrieg - Ten (1996)
Elixir - The Idol (2003)
Jaguar - Run Ragged (2003)