Shake Your Blood - Probot

Artist: Probot
Song: Shake Your Blood
Year: 2004
Album: Probot

Showing his love for all things metal, Dave Grohl decided to work on a project that would feature most of his metal heroes collaborating with him. Some were able to work things out and play on the album. Some weren't. The results of what did happen were spectacular.

The biggest single on the album was "Shake Your Blood". It sounds like a Motorhead b-side. That's probably due to the fact that Lemmy from Motorhead sings on the song. The song has a toe-tapping, headbanging beat led by Dave Grohl on the drums and Lemmy's signature vocals.

The video is a spectacle in metal excess. Swooping camera angles and 66 girls from the adult website Suicide Girls make the video all about shaking the blood up. It can be a dizzying effect if not properly prepared.

I'm hoping that Dave Grohl puts out another Probot album eventually. The songs on the album rock. It may not be a huge seller, but there are the fans out there who will snap it up, as soon as it's released. "Shake Your Blood" was voted the number 2 metal video for the millennium by MTV2. That has to tell you something.

Lyrics:
Looking for relief in your miserable life
You need some rock and roll
And you better get it right
Got to roll them bones,
Do everything they say
If you're cool, you're the fool.
Make it work everyday.

Rock out, make it quick
My, my, my, let it rip
Rock out, feeling good.
Break your heart. Shake your blood.

Out upon the stage, crowd is going wild,
Love to see them women, babe
I ain't in denial.
Make you crazy too. Make you show it out.
Feeling good, get some wood
You should, You knew you could

Rock out, do it now
My, my, my, show me how
Rock out, make it good.
Break your heart. Shake your blood

Want to be a winner, want to be the man.
Want to drive yourself insane,
Join up with the band
Want to fall in love, want to make your mark
Want to get out in the storm, want to break
A thousand hearts

Rock out, strike it rich
My, my, my, it's a bitch
Rock out, I knew you could
Break your heart. Shake your blood

Baby Please Don't Go - Aerosmith

Artist: Aerosmith
Song: Baby Please Don't Go
Year: 2004
Album: Honkin' On Bobo

After years of talking about it, Aerosmith finally released their blues album in 2004. Did it measure up to all the hype? No. But it was a damn fine record. There were a smattering of originals mixed in with lots of standards. By standard, I mean they've been covered by almost every artist under the sun. You would think that there would be no new ground to cover. You'd be right.

Don't underestimate the power of Aerosmith though. Once Steven Tyler gets a hold of a song, it is eternally his. Steven's unique vocal stylings make any song an instant Aerosmith song. Case in point with "Baby Please Don't Go". Aerosmith takes a classic blues song and amps up the volume and the intensity. You can almost feel the dirt. It feels like the rock version of the blues played at a seedy dive.

In a perfect world, this album would have been out in the late eighties. This would have performed very well in the Pump era. Still, I'm grateful to have this album. "Baby Please Don't Go" is one of the many highlights on the album. It reminds me of their live shows. Not the ones that they put on for television spots, the ones that they put on during the grind of a tour. Those are full of little moments like this.

I'm hoping for a purging of unreleased blues tracks from the Geffen days. I doubt that it will happen, but one can dream. I never thought that this album would see the light of day. I just wish it was a little better received by the casual fans. It's a great album, once you give it a chance.

Lyrics:
Baby, please don't go
Baby, please don't go
Baby, please don't go down to New Orleans
You know I love you so
Baby, please don't go

Well, your mind done gone
Well, your mind done gone
Yeah, your mind done gone left the county farm
You got the shackles on
Baby, please don't go

Before I be your dog
Before I be your dog
Before I be your dog, git you way down here
I make you walk alone
Baby, please don't go

Baby, please don't go
Baby, please don't go
Baby, please don't go down to New Orleans
You know I love you so
Baby, please don't go

Know how I feel right now
My baby's leavin', on that midnight train
And I'm dyin'

Baby, please don't go
Baby, please don't go
Baby, please don't go down to New Orleans
You know I love you so
Baby, please don't go

Common People - William Shatner

Artist: William Shatner
Song: Common People
Year: 2004
Album: Has Been

Yes. It's true. I have a William Shatner song on the iPod. I like his musical efforts. But this requires no alibi. No excuses. This song plain rocks. It has become the definitive version of "Common People". Far exceeding Pulp's original version.

I thought I'd have myself a good laugh when I picked up Shatner's new album. I "get" the Transformed Man album. I know exactly what he was trying to do. Still, his renditions of pop songs always made me smile and chuckle. This is not one of those moments. It makes me smile, but in a respectable sort of way.

Shatner's lyrical style actually enhances the song. It works for the indie alterna-rock sound of the song. After nearly forty years, he found a style that compliments his vocal styling. I was simply amazed. People still fall silent to Shatner when I play this song, but it is out of awe instead of speechlessness.

I would welcome another album full of William Shatner. I think the world has finally caught up with him. As long as he doesn't cover any Beatles song, he should be fine. Maybe he should leave that to Leonard Nimoy.

Lyrics:
She came from Greece,
she had a thirst for knowledge.
She studied sculpture at Saint Martin's College.
That's where I caught her eye.

She told me that her Dad was loaded.
I said, in that case I'll have a rum and coca-cola.
She said fine, and in thirty seconds time she said,

I want to live like common people.
I want to do whatever common people do.
I want to sleep with common people.
I want to sleep with common people, like you.

Well, what else could I do?
I said, I'll see what I can do.

I took her to a supermarket.
I don't know why, but I had to
start it somewhere, so it started there.

I said, pretend you've got no money.
She just laughed, and said
oh you're so funny. I said, yeah?
Well, I can't see anyone else smiling in here.

Are you sure you want to live like common people?
You want to see whatever common people see?
You want to sleep with common people?
You want to sleep with common people, like me?
But, she didn't understand,

[Jackson]
She just smiled and held my hand.

Rent a flat above a shop.
Cut your hair and get a job.
Smoke some fags and play some pool.
Pretend you never went to school.

But still, you'll never get it right.
When you're lying in bed at night
watching roaches climb the wall,
if you called your Dad he could stop it all.
Yeah.

[Shatner]
You'll never live like common people
You'll never do whatever common people do.
You'll never fail like common people.
You'll never watch your life slide out of view,
and dance and drink and screw

[Jackson and Shatner]
because there's nothing else to do.

[Shatner and Chorus]
Sing along with the common people.
Sing along, and it might just get you thru.'

[Chorus]
Laugh along with the common people.

[Shatner and Chorus]
Laugh along, even though they're laughing at you

[Shatner]
and the stupid things that you do
'cause you think that poor is cool.

[Jackson]
Like a dog lying in a corner,
they'll bite you and never warn you.
Look out.

[Shatner]
They'll tear your insides out
'cause everybody hates a tourist.

[Jackson]
'Cause Everybody hates a tourist,
especially one who thinks
it's all such a laugh.

[Shatner]
Yeah, and the chip stains' grease
will come out in the bath.

[Shatner and Jackson]
You will never understand
how it feels to live your life
with no meaning or control
and with nowhere left to go.

You're amazed that they exist
and they burn so bright,
while you can only wonder why.

Rent a flat above a shop.
Cut your hair and get a job.
Smoke some fags and play some pool.
Pretend you never went to school.

But still, you'll never get it right.
'Cause When you're lying in bed at night

[Shatner]
watching roaches climb the wall,
if you called your Dad he could stop it all.
Yeah.

You'll never live like common people

[Shatner and Jackson]
You'll never do what common people do.
You'll never fail like common people.
You'll never watch your life slide out of view
and dance and drink and screw
because there's nothing else to do.

[Chorus]
I want to sing with common people, like you.
I want to sing with common people, like you.
I want to sing with common people, like you.