Cuz you're Not Hardcore Unless you LIVE Hardcore!

Clip of 'Legend of the Rent' from School of Rock:

According to the greatest teacher ever, Ned Schneebly (aka. Dewey Finn), you 'must LIVE harcore' to 'BE hardcore'.  Well, I, my friend, am NOT 'hardcore'.  I used to be into metal, back in high school.  I had the black steel toe boots and the camouflage shorts.  I went to Ozzfest and saw Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, White Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Black Sabbath.  If you saw me now, you'd be like, are you for real, bro?  I would say, yes, I am for real.  There was a time where all I listened to was headbanging 'diarrhea', that's what my grandpa would call my taste in music.

I still have hung on to some of my old metal/punk/grunge cd's.  For my 30th birthday, I made a list, a tribute to the 30 greatest 'hardcore' rock songs of all time.  It was an homage and a so long to a type of music that I have mostly abandoned since leaving my carefree 20's.  That ship of safety pins and mosh pits has sailed away.  I prefer much calmer music now, so calm that most of it would probably put you to sleep.  Every now and then, though, I like to dust off that Powerman 5000 or Metallica cd and let it roar.  I find, though, that I feel very old for music that loud.  I used to own a KISS shirt (that my sister stole) which said 'If it's too loud then you're too old'.  Touche, Gene, Paul, Peter, and Ace, touche!

Reproduced below (IN ORDER) is my 30 hardcore rock songs of all time:
*Note- I never listened to death metal/more hardcore bands like Sepultura,  Megadeath, Anthrax, or Mudvayne.  I just never got into that stuff!  So many will consider some songs on this list too fluffy and softcore to be considered hardcore.  Some I consider hard rocking and edgy because of the lyrics or instrumentals while others have a lot to do with the rock out with your socks out video!  Take a look and see for yourself.

30) No Doubt- 'I'm Just a Girl'  (1995)

29) Garbage- 'Only Happy When it Rains' (1996)

28) Green Day- 'Basket Case' (1994)

27) Marilyn Manson- 'Man That you Fear' (1997)

26) Bush- 'Everything Zen'/'Comedown' (1995)

 

 25) Hole- 'Violet' (1994)

24) The Runaways- 'Cherry Bomb'(1976)

23) The Plasmatics- 'The Damned' (1983)

22) David Bowie- 'Scary Monsters and Super Creeps' (1980)

21) Powerman 5000- 'When Worlds Collide'(1999)

20) Queen- 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (1975)

19) Soundgarden- 'Black Hole Sun' (1994)

18) Sonic Youth- 'Kool Thing' (1990)

17) Silverchair- 'Anthem for the Year 2000'(1999)/'Pure Massacre' (1995)

16) Aerosmith- 'Cryin'/'Eat the Rich' (1993)

15)- Twisted Sister- 'We're Not Gonna Take It'/'I Wanna Rock' (1984)

 

14) Muse- 'Uprising' (2009)

 13) Iron Maiden- 'Run to the Hills' (1982)

12) Guns n' Roses- 'Welcome to the Jungle'(1987)

11) Sex Pistols- 'Holidays in the Sun' (1977)/'Anarchy in the UK' (1976)

 

10) Metallica- 'Unforgiven'(1991)/'Master of Puppets' (1986)

 

9) Black Sabbath- 'Paranoid'(1970)

8) Smashing Pumpkins- 'Bullet with Butterfly Wings' (1995)

7) System of a Down- 'Toxicity' (2001)

 6) White Zombie- 'More Human than Human' (1995)

5) Nine Inch Nails- 'The Perfect Drug' (1996)

4) Dead Kennedys- 'Holiday in Cambodia' (1980) /Misfits- 'Die, Die My Darling' (1984)

3) Nirvana- 'Heart Shaped Box'(1993)

2) Pearl Jam- 'Jeremy' (1991)

1) Pink Floyd- 'Another Brick in the Wall' (1979)

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I also must mention that while volunteering for the Obama campaign at the HQ in Midtown, I met Ben Apatoff who writes a blog about heavy metal.  We got to talking about metal and music; our conversation inspired me to write this post and share my '30 songs that rock' list.  His blog is: Apatoff for Destruction

  As you might notice, my list spans quite a long period of time, from about 1970 to 2009.  That is 40 years of loud, hard rock n' roll.  I wanted people to realize that the idea of 'hardcore' didn't just suddenly originate, nor did it come about with the advent of metal in the 80's.  The punk movement was going strong in the UK in the mid-70's and even the glam rock movement had some heavy hitters.  I hope my list makes you realize how long rockers have been head banging and hip thrusting. 

I will leave you with these clips that some kids made I found on Youtube; I found them mildly entertaining. Enjoy!

 'You're Not Hardcore' series:

Episode 1:

Episode 2:

Episode 3:

 

Rockingly and shockingly yours,

  ~R~