Song of The Week

The song of the week this week is Elected, by Alice Cooper. This song chronicles Alice's joke bid for president. This song as released as a single in 1972, and was also released on the 1973 album "Billion Dollar Babies." Originally, this song was released on the Alice Cooper Group's debut album, Pretties For You" as the song "Reflected". The song wasn't great, and some of the lyrics were described by Alice himself as mostly gibberish. The song has plenty of lines about how great a president he'll be, and how establish a third party "a wild party!" The song ends with two lines that perfectly describe the character of Alice Cooper : "Everybody has problems/ and personally, I don't care. This song is just, overall, an awesome song, and you should check it out if you haven't already.

Album Review: The Clash

Album Review: The Clash

Year Released:

UK Version:1977

US Version: 1979

Rating: UK Version: 99/100

US Version: 95/100

This album is about as good as a punk album can get, both versions, and especially the UK version. Just to clear up any confusion, there was a UK version released in 1977, and the record distributor in the US refused to release it. It was released with six different songs, including the single version of "White Riot", instead of the album version. The US version was released in 1979, after The Clash's third album, London Calling, was released. Both albums are masterpieces, though I would argue that the UK original version is slightly better. It's the way it was meant to be released, after all. Of course it's better.

So, let's dig into the review. The UK version starts with "Janie Jones" while the US version starts off with "Clash City Rockers".  Honestly, I think "Clash City Rockers" is a better opening, and it didn't even make it into the UK version. Anywhere else, and I wouldn't want it on the album, but it's the perfect opening, even if it's not their best song. Janie Jones is overall a better song, but in this circumstance, "Clash City Rockers" is slightly better.



Next up on the UK version is "Remote Control". This song is a rant against conformity, and oppression. It was released as a single without their permission, and they disowned it after it  came out. The song "Complete Control", which was released on the US Version as a retaliation to "Remote Control". The first two lines are: "They said release 'Remote Control'/ but we didn't want it on the label". So, as you can tell, they didn't want to release it.


The next song is "I'm So Bored With the USA". the title is pretty self-explanatory, and it's a really good song. It and the song "London's Burning" deal with boredom. "I'm So Bored With the USA" also deals with all the problems, like drug addiction, that faced the United States at that time. It's one of my favorite songs on this album, and it's great. The song "London's Burning" also deals with boredom, and drug use. It's specifically about Amphetamine Sulfate, and why it's a bad drug. It's one of the best songs on the album.

The rest of the album is great, too with some highlights include "Career Opportunities", a song about how no one can find jobs, "Police and Thieves" a cover of a reggae song by Junior Murvin "Garageland, a song celebrating their garage band status, and on the US version, and "I Fought the Law", a cover of a song by Sonny Curtis of The Crickets. It's an amazing album, and you should totally listen to both versions, or any version you can get your hands on. It's one of the greatest punk albums of all time, and a great album in its own right.