Beat it

In music, the most audacious projects don't always yield good results, take for example the collaboration between Coldplay and Jay-Z on the song “Lost.” I won’t say I hated it, because that would sound a bit shallow and disrespectful. I shall simply say I thoroughly disliked it, which sounds a wee bit more technical and well thought out.

In some cases the gamble actually pays off, and that exactly what happened with the song, Beat it. Quincy Jones, engineered a rock meets soul music crossover like none other. He wanted Michael Jackson’s then upcoming album, Thriller, to have a rock n roll song, which Michael wasn't really that into. But of course the song was made and, it was an absolute master piece which together with the rest of the songs on the album, won the Late Michael Jackson numerous awards, and millions of fans worldwide. The only loser in this gamble was Eddie van Halen. He didn’t actually lose anything, though he didn’t gain much.

 
 Michael Jackson was a beautiful soul blessed with immense singing talent, showmanship and ingenuity. But we all know he was never an all-out rock musician, and with the song Beat it, his music took on a whole other visage and was able to be heard in a different light. Granted the light was silhouetted in the deep and dark shade of rock n roll, fans didn't care, the song rocked them to the bone.

Beat it isn’t you typical Michael Jackson song. The song is actually closer to heavy metal than it is to soul or pop. It has that heavy opening synthesizer sound that eases you into a heavy guitar riff and of course there's that not so small matter of the guitar solo. In short, not many Michael Jackson songs have such an arrangement, and frankly its quite something. The riff by itself is the kind that a great guitarist would be blessed to have. Just imagine a great riff like that in the repertoire of a guitarist like Led zeppelin’s Jimmy Page, or better yet Eddie van Halen himself.  It would actually make more sense to have a riff like that on Van Halen song than on a Michael Jackson song. But then again it would be just another riff in the long list of great riffs by such a great guitarist. All in all It’s quite an intricate piece of rhythm guitar playing, a mesmerizing one at that.
 
Most people say rock musicians are crazy, and this song presents another example of that. It’s no secret that Eddie van Halen is a great guitarist, and of course if it wasn’t for maybe a few of other great guitarists, he’d be the greatest to ever play the instrument. But as great as his playing is, he did a generously crazy thing; he put what is without a doubt one of his greatest guitar solos on this song for the price of nothing. I mean when Quincy Jones asked him to put a solo on the song, he didn’t ask for anything, he just did it, For free! If that isn’t being crazy, then I don’t know what is. Of course he was grilled by his Van Halen band mates for it, but he’s Eddie van Halen, the guitar god, and musical genius. I personally still think it was an act of carelessness, but what do i know, i'm just a fan.

30+ years on and Beat it is still one of the greatest songs ever recorded. Many attribute it's success to Michael Jackson, but the real genius behind this mega hit was Quincy Jones. it was his industry and resourcefulness that gave us this legendary piece of music.

Sex and Candy-Marcy Playground

In 1997, Marcy playground released what is undoubtedly their finest work, a song that many fans thought would set them on their way to mainstream success. Sadly, they never really got there. I remember the first time i listened to this song, for your information, it wasn't in 1997, it was in 2007. In my mind i was like, "OMG, this is a  really good song, and if this was 1997, I'd be so freaking out," then i silently listened to the remainder of the song and then went on to listen to the next song on my playlist .

Sex and candy is an alternative rock  song that you could call a grunge or post grunge song, or you could just stick with calling it alternative rock, not that it really matters. Sex and candy is just one of those songs about nothing in particular that make you want to listen to them over and over again until you don’t want to listen to them anymore. Another example is Fuel’s  ”Hemorrhage,”  which is also not one of the greatest songs of all time, but just one of those that you never forget once you give them a listen.

 Not Many Rock music fans remember Marcy playground or this song. This is because the song is not an anthem nor is it a common classic radio favorite like Bon Jovi's "Living on a prayer" or The Eagles' "Hotel California. It’s just one of those rare ones that you’d be lucky just to listen to. The other reason is because Marcy Playground isn’t a very popular band, of course if they were as popular as say, the foo fighters, then maybe you might have heard of this song once or twice. Those that do remember the song, probably remember it because Maroon 5 covered the song and put it on their 2014 album titled, V. As you can see, its not an offense to not know this song. On the contrary, "i've never heard of it!" is the common answer you'd get if you went about asking random people if they've heard of this song.

.

The song is a simple composition, and is actually quite flat that one one wouldn't be ridiculed for labeling it uninteresting. The lyrics also don't do it any favors, because by themselves they don’t really mean much. The vocal delivery is also not that great or as pronounced as many would like. So yeah the song has carefree vibe and one of the few positives is its decent riff. In all fairness, it should be another ordinary song, the kind that sounds like it bored the guy who was sang it as he was attempting to sing through the lyrics sheet. But it is this simplicity that makes it a good song. It's very easy to sing along to and of course quite catchy. The fact that the song isn’t complex makes you appreciate the simplicity put into its composition, I mean it’s simply a great song that’s easy to fall in love with. I won’t say the song is incredibly good, because it has close no standout bits to exaggerate about. Sex and candy is one of those songs that are good because they are just good.