First 10 Songs: Monday Morning Playlist

Well, it’s July, the start of a new month, and Monday means back to work for some people. So here are the first 10 songs in my playlist that started off my day on my commute to work and how I found out about these tracks. So pour yourself a cup of morning coffee and throw on some tunes to get the day started.

Rollins Band is the solo project from legendary vocalist from Black Flag, Henry Rollins. I first heard this track when I played one of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games. I think it was part 3. I found out about so many bands through those games.
This record when it came out was a monster! When I first saw the Wait and Bleed video back in 1999, I bought the CD at a Warehouse Music store in Monterey, CA, for 10 bucks. I’ve been a Slipknot fan ever since. Too bad the band has been through so many slumps lately. The band has been imploding for the last few years, unfortunately.
Another band who I discovered through video games. This was one I believe was on the first Tony Hawks Underground. I swear those games were meccas for punk rock and hip-hop music alike. Whatever was good for the skateboarding culture. Awesome time.
Not many fans of music could comprehend mixing metal with classical, but damn they pulled it off very beautifully. Also, with the legendary composer Michael Kamen at their side. A composer of many famous movies like Pink Floyd: The Wall, Highlander. Die Hard and many others up until his death in 2004. I did more research on the guy after Metallica had released this incredible double CD in 1999.
I didn’t get much into hip-hop back then because I was obsessed with punk rock and metal, and I was really picky when it came to rappers. Cypress Hill caught my ear when they released Skull & Bones. Their double CD rap (skull) and rock (bones) record. Some rappers, when they mix rap with the rock it doesn’t flow well and Cypress Hill changed my mind about that, but this track had a Spanish guitar riff with their flow that blends so beautifully its like butter. This album released much later after Skull & Bones but still equally good.
This track came on the bonus track digipak version of the album. This was not on the original pressing but still a good high energy track that shows the 9 in their prime.
I always knew about Down when I was growing up. Pantera vocalist, Phil Anselmo side project. Much different from Pantera, Down has a stoner / sludge metal vibe to it, which I love. I found out about them from that music channel, Much Music on that show Uranium, such a cool band. It was the Stone the Crow video. Hailing from New Orleans, you can feel the NOLA vibes while you hear it.
I first heard Skindred back in the early 2000s with their most famous song, Nobody. I thought they had a unique style to them. Mixing the reggae vibes with metal guitars and blasting drums. It was a change up of something women could dance to, and then the next thing you see, a mosh pit forms in the middle of the crowd. I lost sight of them for a while, but when I found out they were still making music, I found this gem. Very cool and unique style.
Nas was and is very prolyphic. I always did like Nas, especially when he did his collaboration with Korn back in 2003. One of my best friends is a fanatic with old school hip-hop leading up to the early 2000s. He passed this onto me. He knows the kind of hip-hop I look for. A good flow, good beats, someone who is wordsmith with a vast vocabulary and a story to tell. Nas checked all the boxes for me, and I was not disappointed.
The Urge was awesome. A Ska band that could have gotten more recognition but unfortunately this was not a popular genre. I found out about them when I saw the video for Jump Righ In featuring Nick Hexum from 311. Some years later I was reminded that I dig the style and the band so I went on a search to find this record. After browsing every record store from where I was living at the time I found it in the bargain bin in Street Light Records with a price of 3 dollars, Score!. This record had so many good tracks from heavy, to groovy, to just simply chill out mode. It was a very diverse record. Still a shame that they didn’t get more noticed when this got released.

Thanks for reading. If you haven’t heard of any of these check em out. Open up to something new to you no matter what year it was released because music is timeless. I know I always have an ear open to something I never heard before from any genre.

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