Wang Dang... exemplifies Nugent's tightly crafted musicianship, too often drowned out by his mouth these days. He was no run-of-the-mill metal monger; I certainly wouldn't dismiss his body of work, at least his early stuff, as - *gasp!* - hair metal (in spite of his tenure with the Damn Yankees...), but rather top shelf rock and roll, in many ways how it should be done. His guitar licks and accompanying rhythms are impressively thought through, his stage shows intense and comical; I actually saw the Damn Yankees in Duluth, Minnesota in February 1991, and Nugent, of course, stole the show. In Wang Dang..., the guitar solo is typically hyper-active, and notably matched in its spastic energy by the bass line. Seriously, I have to wonder if the bassist had any thumb left after playing this.
"She's so sweet when she yanks on my meat..."
#138) "People are Strange" by The Doors - Jim Morrison was nothing if not a poet; some would say (maybe he would have, come to think of it) that he was a poet first, a rock star second. In the complete body of The Doors' work, their short-lived but monumental contribution to 1960s music, legend and lore, People Are Strange might be considered a throw-away by some. But the lyrics are pretty potent and poetic, as much about Morrison as anyone else, and yet at the same time mirroring everyone. Most people feel like this at some time in their lives, and good poetry should always reflect universality.
I mostly remember my older brother playing this song when we were kids, over and over, and being reduced to bitter tears by his smug insistence that Jim Morrison had written it specifically about me, at our parents' request. Looking back, maybe I was 'strange', even at age 9, to have ever been led to believe that was possible. Lol.
"Women seem wicked, when you're unwanted..."
