Saturday Shuffle: BLS, Sabbath, Shooter Jennings, Aerosmith, Alice in Chains

And we're off and shuffling again:

“Fire it Up,” Black Label Society. From the album Mafia (2005). Talk box. That’s what I’m talking about. The song opens with one of my favorite uses of the thing, right up there with Alice in Chains’ “Man in the Box.” Listen to it a couple of times and try to get that melody out of your head.

“Iron Man,” Black Sabbath. From the album Paranoid (1970). This song is a bona fide metal classic. Probably one of the most recognizable riffs in metal. A great song. But it’s also a song that classic rock radio has ruined for me. I’ve heard it far too often, and I’m more inclined to hit skip than listen to it these days.

“Hair of the Dog,” Shooter Jennings. From the album Electric Rodeo (2006). Electric Rodeo remains my favorite Shooter album, and this is one of the best songs on it. It’s a dark, world-weary tale that blends country and rock ‘n’ roll and has a great chorus hook. And that lick right after he says “hair of the dog” in the chorus is just perfect.

“My Fist Your Face,” Aerosmith. From the album Done with Mirrors (1985). Done with Mirrors gets a bad rap from a lot of folks, but it’s not nearly as bad a record as people make it out to be. In fact, there are some pretty good songs on it, and this is one of them. It’s a raw rocker in the vein of their 1970s stuff.

“Heaven Beside You (acoustic),” Alice in Chains. From the album Unplugged (1996). Alice in Chains is that rare band that was just as spellbinding as an acoustic outfit as when they had the amps cranked up. I love this song, but it’s always been a mystery to me how they got it on the air – and in regular rotation – with the word fuck in the chorus.