Top ten music

Today Alex J. Cavanugh is hosting the Top Ten Countdown Music Blogfest. It's almost impossible to pick a top ten, but that's the rule, and that's what I'm gonna do.

Since I'm a metal head, I have included some metal, of course, but there is other good stuff too, like Pink Floyd, Tom Waits and Giuseppe Verdi.

This is my list:

1. Stairway to Heaven, pre-metal classic by Led Zeppelin. The first time I heard this song at age 13, I was sitting in my room reading The Hound of Baskervilles. Every time I hear the song it reminds me of Sherlock Holmes.

2. Måneskyggens Slave by Gorgoroth. Old-school black metal at it's best, and the most desperate vocals ever recorded.

3. Freezing Moon by Mayhem. I still prefer the original studio recording with vocals by Dead (who committed suicide in 1991). Mayhem is still a good band. Last time I saw them live was in May 2010.

4. Mother North by Satyricon. The link will send you to the uncensored video, which was banned by MTV and most TV channels. Here is another cool version, recorded live with the National Broadcasting Orchestra. I've seen Satyricon live many times and Mother North is always the last song in the concerts.

5. Shine on You Crazy Diamond Part V1-IX by Pink Floyd. I've always listened to Pink Floyd, and I still do. Actually my favorite Pink Floyd song is Echoes from the Meddle album, but it's too long, so I picked this one in stead.

6. O Don Fatale from the opera Don Carlos by Verdi. I've seen this opera twice: The first time was in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) one year before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The second time was in the Vienna State Opera a few years ago. Mezzo-soprano is the voice I like best, and this is one of Verdi's best arias.

7. Lashed to the Slave Stick by Nile, a technical death-metal band from South Carolina with very good musicians and a special style.

8. In the Neighborhood by Tom Waits. I saw this video on TV in 1983, and ran to the store to buy my first Tom Waits album the next day. Since then I've bought many more.

9. Bobby Brown by Frank Zappa. The song was released when I was in junior high school. We didn't really understand the lyrics, but had a feeling it was a little bit dirty. So we brought the lyrics to English class and asked the teacher to help us translate it. She looked at the text, blushed and refused.

10. När vi två blir en by Gyllene Tider. I had to include one of the Scandinavian party hits from the 1980s, not because of the music, but for the memories of friends, girls, parties and good old days. Note the clothes, hair-cuts and glasses of the audience in the video.

There are many other bands that should have been on my list. Among those who almost made are Iron Maiden, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, black-metal bands like Taake, Burzum and Arcturus. And then there is all the classical music, operas by Verdi, Rossini and Puccini, Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz and The Planets by Holst. That's what would make up number 11 to 20 on my list >:)

(The picture is a book cover from www.amazon.com)