It’s been a little while.  Nothing really struck me, until now.  Brett Favre retiring?  No.  Spring training going strong in the midst of the Roger Clemens scandal.  No, that’s not it either.  The college basketball season winding down to conference tournaments and eventually into the great time of the year call March Madness (get those brackets filled out).  Well, that’s not quite what’s inspired me either.  No, what has brought me to the keyboard is a melancholy trip down memory lane.

The hair band craze hit during my 20′s.  I was full of piss and vinegar (was?) and found something that expressed not only the times but a lot of what I was going through.  Ah, what a time.  But the music of that time doesn’t really inspire or bring back the memories of regular good ol’ rock and roll.  I’m not talking about the empty junk that you hear now.  I’m talking about real music where the words and notes joined together to create a story that goes to the very fabric of life. (Sorry, but sports takes a back seat today)  There was so much great music being made it was next to impossible to choose a favorite band.  Aerosmith, the Doobie Brothers and so on.  We always used to joke about how you know you’re old when your music started playing on the classic rock radio stations.  Well, that time has come.  Most of those great songs now play on those stations.  They bring me back to a simpler time only to make me slip into a malaise when the filler commercials come on indicating that I am listening to “classic” rock.  Crap!  So, in no particular order, here are some of what I feel are the greatest rock bands and rock songs of all time.

 The aforementioned Aerosmith has to rank near the top on many lists.  Unfortunately, the younger generation know this great band by songs such as “Love In An Elevator” and “Dude Looks Like a Lady.”  Well, they’re okay but if you really want to hear great music listen to “Back In the Saddle” and “My Big Ten Inch”, not to mention what I feel is the original great rock ballad “Dream On.”  Steven Tyler had such a great rock voice that was both melodic as it was cutting.  His upper range was phenomenal.  Hearing the latter part of “Dream On” still gives me chills.  Oh what drugs can do in an effort to ruin one of God’s wondrous creations.

Boston’s self titled debut album is outstanding from the guitar fade in of “More Than a Feeling” all the way until it’s over.  This music is timeless.  The raw emotion of something lost to finally hookin’ up with “It’s Been Such a Long Time.”  Their follow up “Don’t Look Back”, while not the masterpiece of the first album, still packs great hooks and melody.  “Third Stage” was okay, but it was obivous the album was done to satisfy contractual obligations.  It totally lacked balls.

The Doobie Brothers were all about partying and having a great time.  Their music was all about feeling good.  Before Michael McDonald came along and turned them into pussies, The Doobies totally rocked.  “Jesus Is Just Allright” and “China Grove” capture the essence of the band while “Listen to the Music” is arguably one of the greatest rock songs of all time.  It’s one of those pieces of work that will cause you to turn up the radio and start bopping.

Rush tried to have some commercial success in the ’80s but failed miserably.  Sadly whenever I bring up their name most people turn up their noses at it.  Take a trip back to “Moving Pictures” or even further with “2112″.  “All the World’s a Stage” is still one of the best live albums….EVER!  Neil Peart’s drum solo in the middle of “Working Man/Finding My Way” is nothing short of a miracle.  There has never been a drummer as talented and gifted as Peart.  He is truly amazing.

Any Journey fans out there?  Sure, you’ve heard of a lot of their music.  Most has probably been during the ’80s with their “Frontiers” album skyrocketing them to fame.  However, again, go back a little further.  “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’”, “Wheel In the Sky” and “Just the Same Way” will rock your ass off.

There’s many, many more that I could wax poetic on (Foreigner, Dave Mason and Styx to name a few) but I’ll leave it up to you to do some research.  Listen to classic rock but focus on the late ’70s and early ’80s.  That’s when rock music was at it’s best.  (Screw Led Zeppelin)  Come take the trip that I try and take every day.  Things were better back in the day.  If we can all put our minds in a place that this music attempted to take us the worries and horrors of the world will go away and we can all live in peace.

Love!