I’m Your Third Man, Girl: Gaslight Title Next Record ‘American Slang’

"There are no names and none of the old stuff. I feel like I've said a lot of what I had to say about that old stuff. I'm moving on. ... ['American Slang'] is a hyper-literal album. These stories are coming out of my life and the reflections on the things I've gotten as I've gotten older. It's more autobiographical, definitely more direct. Not so shrouded in mystery. I'm not trying to confuse anyone with a trail of images on this one." —Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem, talking about his band's forthcoming album, "American Slang"

Third albums proved game-changers for many of my favorite bands. For some reason, that third release always seems to make a dramatic impact on the artist’s career, whether positive or negative.

Going by Fallon’s quotation above, looks like The Gaslight Anthem are following in that tradition. I’m trying not to read too much into it or allow one comment to influence my feelings toward a CD before I’ve even heard one cut. But when he talks about getting rid of the stories and the names, etc., it gives me pause. This could be reflective of an entire identity shift for the band, because I’d argue those are some of the core elements of The Gaslight Anthem.

But I don’t want to go too crazy. Fallon has yet to write a song I don’t like, so why all of a sudden should I think he’s going to start now? If he’s writing about more personal stuff, fine—I like him, so I’d like to know more about him, anyway.

The possibility that "American Slang" could change Gaslight forever got me thinking about other third records. Here’s a look at some of my favorite artists’ third albums, and what those records meant to their respective careers:

“Rock N Roll,” Ryan Adams (2003)

Forced by his record label to record this train wreck as a more “appropriate” follow up to his previous album, “Gold,” Adams traded in his country blues for awful rock and roll imitation. Though he’d come back with some spectacular songs over the next several years, after this his career never got fully back on track and didn’t fulfill the promise of his first two CDs.

“A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar,” Dashboard Confessional (2003)

Dashboard plugs in! It was a pretty big deal at the time, and led to a great album. Unfortunately, it was the last great one for Chris Carrabba. Electricity has not served him well in the years since, as he’s drifted further and further into the morass of weak, generic pop/punk. “Hands Down” is gold, though.

“Before These Crowded Streets,” Dave Matthews Band (1998)

OK, technically it’s their fourth album, but “Remember Two Things” is more like an extended EP than a full-fledged album. Regardless, the wheels started getting a little loose on what was certainly the band’s weakest album to date. At the time I convinced myself all of these longwinded tracks were awesome, but turns out there were only a couple truly great songs: “Crush” and “The Dreaming Tree.” The rest are just OK, and it would take the band more than a decade to recapture their previous glory.

“To Bring You My Love,” PJ Harvey (1995)

For her third album, Polly Jean expanded her palette by creating a fuller, thicker, almost industrial sound at times around her incisive voice. In moving away from the raw-nerve feel of her first two albums, Harvey created what was hailed by many as one of the best albums of the ’90s.

“Boys and Girls in America,” The Hold Steady (2006)

The hardcore fans can argue all they want over which of THS’ four albums is best, but most people had never heard of the band before this one. It put them on the map in a major way, landing on several year-end top 10 lists.

“Led Zeppelin III,” Led Zeppelin (1970)

The turning point in Led Zeppelin’s career, “III” saw the band step outside the hard-rock blues of their first two albums to embrace wider sounds, namely acoustic folk. At the time people didn’t really know how to handle a beautiful track like “That’s the Way” coming from the malevolent gods of thundering riffs, but without “III,” there probably would’ve been no “IV.” Oh yeah, “Immigrant Song,” “Gallows Pole,” and “Tangerine” weren’t half bad, either.

“Vitalogy,” Pearl Jam (1994)

This album was just weird and dark enough to do exactly what the band hoped: Blow a hole in their popularity and bring their stardom down to a more manageable level. They'd never be on the cover of Time magazine again, and that's the way they wanted it. "Vitalogy" also, by the way, includes some of their greatest songs, including “Corduroy,” “Immortality,” and “Better Man.”

“OK Computer,” Radiohead (1997)

Not a Radiohead fan, I cannot comment with authority on the specifics of this album. However, I do know it was a watershed moment for the band and was hailed as one of the best albums of the decade. Seems to me it set the path for all Radiohead would accomplish in the next one.

“Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” The Smashing Pumpkins (1995)

Billy Corgan and the Pumpkins peaked both artistically and popularly with this monster double-disc set, which featured some of the band’s biggest hits including “Tonight, Tonight,” “1979,” “Thirty-Three,” “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” “Zero,” and my favorite Pumpkins song, “Muzzle.” Corgan has been no less ambitious since, but the results haven’t been nearly as satisfying as this mid-’90s classic.

“Final Straw,” Snow Patrol (2003)

With this record the Irishmen shed some of the idiosyncrasies of their first two albums and moved toward a slightly more traditional pop/rock form. Songs like “Run,” “How to Be Dead,” “Chocolate,” and “Spitting Games” set the stage for their U.S. breakthrough three years later with “Chasing Cars.”

“Born to Run,” Bruce Springsteen (1975)

This needs no explanation, I presume.

“Tiny Music … Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop,” Stone Temple Pilots (1996)

“Huh?” That was basically my reaction when I first heard this album. Over time, I’d come to appreciate this record very much thanks to great tracks like “Seven Caged Tigers,” “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart,” and “Art School Girl.” But in the “Led Zeppelin III” tradition, “Tiny Music” sounded absolutely nothing like anything STP had done before. Much of it was psychedelic avant garde art-pop, and my teenage ears just weren’t ready for it. Looking back, it was the band’s best artistic achievement, if not their best album (that goes to "Purple").

“War,” U2 (1983)

The band’s first mega-album, “War” propelled U2 to superstar status on the backs of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day.” They’d never be the same again. Nor would rock and roll.

“White Blood Cells,” The White Stripes (2001)

Though it’s not one of my favorite Stripes albums, Jack White wouldn’t be Jack White as we know him today without this breakthrough effort, thanks to the two-minute ditty “Fell in Love with a Girl.” The Lego-ized video caught everyone by storm, and White went on to become one of the most important and productive musicians of the decade.

‘We Came to Sing Out A Chorus’: Brian Fallon, Live at the Black Cat, 1.16.10

You want to know if a songwriter can really hold his water? Stick him on a bare stage on a Saturday night in front of a packed room armed with nothing but a $200 acoustic guitar and a microphone.

That was the scenario for Brian Fallon this weekend at the Black Cat in D.C. Over the course of a fun and loose hour and a half set, The Gaslight Anthem frontman proved his punk/soul music has real chops (as if we didn’t know that already, but still). Fallon played nearly a dozen Gaslight songs, and all held up extraordinarily well. Stripped bare of the pounding drums and electric guitars, it was impressed upon me yet again what a fabulous songwriter the man is.

Standing out in particular were “Old White Lincoln” and “Casanova, Baby!” On record, these are a couple of freewheelin' uptempo cuts; in one of my reviews I called “Lincoln” a throwaway rocker in the tradition of Springsteen’s “The River” album. But taken down to this level, they become much more serious, effective affairs; not better, necessarily, but definitely more intentional.

Other change-of-pace highlights were “We Came to Dance,” “Senor and the Queen,” and, of course, “1930”; these became almost entirely new songs. Other choices lent themselves perfectly to this setting, quiet Gaslight cuts like “Blue Jeans & White T-shirts,” “Here’s Looking At You, Kid,” and “The Navesink Banks,” whose opening riff drew one of the largest responses of the night. I had already heard acoustic versions of “Great Expectations” and “The ’59 Sound,” and these were as good as ever Saturday night. And Fallon threw in “Film Noir,” which worked quite well despite his own doubts.

Fallon was chatty and in good spirits all night, despite the catcalls and obnoxious song requests from drunken morons. He opened the show not with a song, but a five-minute talk on how this show would peel back “the mystique” of the rock and roll singer. Well, Fallon’s never had much mystique to begin with, and that’s one of the reasons why I love the guy. There was absolutely no self-aggrandizement to the evening, in the way I’ve seen other, more famous frontmen handle these types of shows. Amazingly, though, Fallon was able to tell a joke and have a laugh, then jump right into a song and be lost in that moment as if it was the most serious thing in the world. Overall, it wasn’t as emotionally transcendent as a typical Gaslight show, but it was a different kind of awesome.

For the encore, Fallon was joined onstage by his friend and opener, Dave Hause, lead singer for The Loved Ones. This was actually the weakest point in the show, as their two voices clashed more than complemented one another. Encore opener “Call It Off,” a Tegan and Sara cover, was close to awful, but things got better from there.

Fallon demonstrated a new depth to his voice by taking the lead on Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” and the two of them finally hit their stride on a wondrous take on Patty Griffin’s “Long Ride Home.” Covering Social Distortion’s “Ball & Chain” will bring any house down, and then they wrapped up with an outstanding “Gone,” a Bouncing Souls cover they said they figured out right before the show.

Though he talked about how much he loves the Black Cat and how proud he is of the success his band’s had, he didn’t specifically address the irony of the situation Saturday night. The last time he played that venue with Gaslight was Feb. 8, 2008, opening for The Loved Ones in the tiny room downstairs. Now, less than two years later, Hause opened for Fallon, on the mainstage, not even needing the band to basically sell the place out. More than anything, it was good to see the intervening days haven’t changed him all that much. Saturday night’s show felt like just a guy playing a guitar in front of some friends.

All that said, there’s a reason Dave Hause is Dave Hause and Brian Fallon is Brian Fallon (no disrespect to Hause—I loved his set, especially the songs he wrote outside of The Loved Ones; “Resolutions,” “Pray for Tucson,” and “C’mon, Kid” were three of the best of the night, from either guy). When Fallon took the stage and (finally) lit into “Great Expectations,” it was clear once again he has that intangible “it” factor; it’s not mystique, necessarily, but honest, instantly likable charisma. And there’s no peeling that back.

Brian Fallon

Black Cat

Washington, D.C.

1.16.10

MAIN SET

Great Expectations

We Came to Dance

Have You Ever Seen the Rain (CCR cover)

Film Noir

The Navesink Banks

The ’59 Sound

Senor and the Queen

Blue Jeans & White T-shirts

1930

Old White Lincoln

Casanova, Baby!

Here’s Looking At You, Kid

ENCORE (w/Dave Hause of The Loved Ones)

Call It Off (Tegan and Sara cover)

Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)

Long Ride Home (Patty Griffin)

Ball & Chain (Social Distortion)

Gone (The Bouncing Souls)

Show Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Albums of the Aughts: The Top 10

Over the course of the past year or so, I've been going through my CD collection to highlight my favorite albums from each year of the decade. Here, then, are the best of the best, for the first time ranked in order of preference (which was very difficult). There probably aren't many surprises if you've read this blog much at all, especially in the past couple years. The one thing that stood out most to me in compiling the list is there are three covers albums on the list, starting with …

10. “Renegades,” Rage Against the Machine (2000)

There’s something to be said for going out on top, and RATM certainly did just that with this hammerfist of a record. Tom Morello’s guitar squalls on opener “Microphone Fiend” still sound as incendiary today as they did when I first blasted this album at maximum volume in college. And that’s just the first track; Morello continues to bring the heavy all the way through, on standout cuts like “Pistol Grip Pump,” “I’m Housin’,” “How I Could Just Kill A Man,” “Maggie’s Farm,” and, of course, the spectacular Springsteen cover “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” One of the seminal bands of the ’90s, Rage kicked off the aughts by saving their best for last.

9. “Pearl Jam,” Pearl Jam (2006)

Though my love for Pearl Jam in the aughts was more about the concert experience than the studio albums, this release remains one of my favorites of the decade. After two subpar albums, the band found its footing again with a back-to-basics approach. “Pearl Jam” highlights all the things I love about Pearl Jam and propelled the band into one of the best periods of its career. The album’s heavily partisan lyrics forced it down in my rankings over time, but nevertheless this record is a monster, without a single weak track (yes, I’ve even come around on “Army Reserve”). Even after hundreds of listens, it still gets my blood pumping.

8. “American V: A Hundred Highways,” Johnny Cash (2006)

Cash’s posthumous final American Recordings release is also my favorite. It’s an intimate look at the Man in Black in his last days—at his most fragile (opener “Help Me,” “If You Could Read My Mind”) and defiant (“God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” “Like the 309,” “Further On (Up the Road)”). The most striking track for me, though, remains “I Came to Believe,” in which Cash poignantly summarizes his Christian faith in just 3 minutes, 45 seconds. In that one song you hear the peace that passes all understanding, and you understand how Cash found the strength to record one of his greatest albums in the face of imminent death.

7. “Elephant,” The White Stripes (2003)

There are at least four albums Jack White produced this decade I considered for this list. “Elephant” isn’t perfect, but nothing White does ever is. It’s part of his slapdash charm, actually. More than any other White record in the aughts, though, “Elephant” is the one I always come back to. It has everything I want in a White Stripes CD: Sprawling guitar epics like “Seven Nation Army,” “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself,” and “Ball and Biscuit”; smoking rockers like “Black Math” and “Hypnotize”; and childish playful tracks like “In the Cold, Cold Night” and “It’s True That We Love One Another.” I was shocked by its breadth and depth on the very first listen, and “Elephant” only got better with age.

6. “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” Wilco (2002)

This is the album that keeps on giving. More than seven years after its release, different songs continue to speak to me in new ways. A few years back it was “Ashes of American Flags”; this year it was “Poor Places”; in 2012 it’ll probably be “Radio Cure,” my least favorite track. “Foxtrot” is the album Jeff Tweedy had been building up to for his entire career, and it cost him dearly—his health, bandmates, a record deal. But the result is a dense, difficult, rewarding experience of seemingly bottomless potential and modern classics at just about every turn.

5. “Boxer,” The National (2007)

I keep looking for a song I don’t like on The National’s most recent and best album, and I just can’t find one. When I’m forced to call wonderful tracks like “Ada,” “Gospel,” and “Guest Room” some of my “least” favorite entries on the album, well, then it must be a pretty special CD. “Boxer” is so powerful, in fact, I can’t just listen to it any old time; it’s reserved for when I really need it—either to focus on a difficult task, or to just relax and do nothing but disappear inside some of my favorite music of this or any decade.

4. “Raising Sand,” Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (2007)

The biggest surprise of the decade, “Raising Sand” combined two of my favorite voices into one of the most beautiful albums I’ve ever heard. Plant and Krauss don’t so much complement one another as intertwine in some otherworldly realm that could’ve been dreamed up in a Led Zeppelin song. Neither one outshines the other, yet both have spectacular moments to call their own (specifically, “Nothin’” for Plant and “Trampled Rose” for Krauss). “Raising Sand” is risk and reward, personified.

3. “Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea,” PJ Harvey (2000)

PJ Harvey’s turn-of-the-century masterpiece was a constant companion this decade. This monumental album adapted itself perfectly to any situation, whether I was on a long drive or an all-night study bender. From the clarion call of opener “Big Exit” to the ethereal mist of closer “We Float,” Harvey tapped every facet of her talent and sound over the course of 12 supple, spectacular tracks. She’s never been better—before or since.

2. “Sink or Swim,” The Gaslight Anthem (2007)

To paraphrase “High Fidelity’s” Rob Gordon, so much of rock and roll is about pain, suffering, heartbreak, depression. The Gaslight Anthem acknowledge that pain, they absorb it, and they move on. In a decade that saw so much fear and suffering, TGA was a beacon of joy at the end of the long tunnel of these past 10 years—genuine hope emanating from deep empathy and a determination that, no matter what, these dark times won’t beat us down and suck all the pleasure out of life.

Frontman Brian Fallon’s lyrics on his band’s debut album are essentially several different meditations on this central theme. Though “we always love the sad, sad songs” most of Fallon’s own on this record boil down to the last line of the first verse of the first song: “I thought about how fortunate I feel to be alive.” As a fellow Christian, these are words to live by.

1. “The ’59 Sound,” The Gaslight Anthem (2008)

Gaslight’s first album brought all sorts of comparisons to other bands, both peers and predecessors. “The ’59 Sound,” to these ears, ended those comparisons. It’s aptly christened, as this stripped-down, reverb-drenched album of the decade saw the band manifest the soul-music-as-punk-rock vibe they carry around in their hearts.

I don’t know what else I can say at this point other than I simply love, love, love this record. It fits any mood, any occasion, any requirement of circumstance. I return to it for energy, for joy, for peace, for renewal. It is my favorite album of this decade, and the next 10 years will be hard pressed to better it.

Albums of the Aughts: 2008

My 2008 was without question dominated by The Gaslight Anthem, who released one of my favorite albums of all time. That doesn’t mean there weren’t other outstanding CDs that managed to horn in on TGA’s spotlight, though. They are:

“Attack and Release,” The Black Keys

I was initially disappointed with the duo’s latest effort, because with Danger Mouse at the helm I expected … more. Instead, “Attack and Release” basically sounds like any other Keys album, with a few subtle twists (like flute! and banjo!). After it sinks in, the album settles just fine, with standout tracks like “I Got Mine,” “Psychotic Girl,” “Remember When (Side B),” “Oceans and Streams,” and my …

Favorite Track: “Strange Times”

[original review]

“The ’59 Sound,” The Gaslight Anthem

For their second album, The Gaslight Anthem fully manifest their mission to turn classic R&B and soul music into punk rock with an ear for pop accessibility. With its lo-fi, reverb-drenched feel, this is an album that matches its writers’ old souls. Every song is good and more than half are great, making repeated listens not just a must, but a joy. With this record, the band shed all comparisons and fully crystallized their own sound. More than a year later, it continues to reward.

Favorite Track: “The ’59 Sound”

[first review]

[second review]

“Senor and the Queen” EP, The Gaslight Anthem

Stunningly, “The ’59 Sound” was the other great record this New Jersey quartet released in 2008. This EP offers up four of the band’s best songs, and provides a good transition from the more straightforward punk of their 2007 debut to the soul/punk of the next album—“Senor and the Queen” sounds like “The ’59 Sound” minus the reverb. And have they ever delivered a better mission statement than the title track? “We’ll bury these old ghosts here …” indeed.

Favorite Track: “Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?”

“The Odd Couple,” Gnarls Barkley

Wow, possibly the most underrated album of the decade. Though it didn’t have a breakout smash like the duet’s stunning 2006 debut, “The Odd Couple” also eschews “St. Elsewhere’s” spacey detours. Gnarls’ second effort is a more cohesive album, focusing on Cee Lo’s evocative depth in soul singing. It may not be quite as frenetic an affair as the previous record (“Run,” aside), but that’s fine by me. Never understood why this second great album from Gnarls Barkley didn’t get more attention.

Favorite Track: “A Little Better”

“Stay Positive,” The Hold Steady

“Constructive Summer” opens this album with an explosive guitar riff, and The Hold Steady never look back over the course of 14 sprawling, brawling tracks of good ol’ rock and roll. Frontman Craig Finn’s lyrics put up a barrier between me and his music, but that doesn’t mean these songs don’t speak to me as pure grooves. Though 2006’s “Boys and Girls in America” is considered the band’s best work, I slightly prefer this record for its broader sound and changes in direction. There are still big rockers like the aforementioned “Summer” and “Sequestered in Memphis,” but there are also tender numbers like “Lord, I’m Discouraged” and my …

Favorite Track: “Both Crosses”

[original review]

“Only by the Night,” Kings of Leon

Ironic that Kings of Leon’s weakest album of their past three was the one that finally made them superstars in the U.S. “Weakest” is a relative term, though. The first half of “Only by the Night” is outstanding and as good as the Kings have ever been; it’s the second half that falters, with one too many slow songs bogging things down. Still, these are nitpicks. “Only by the Night” was a breakthrough because it delivers a handful of outstanding tracks, namely “Closer,” “Manhattan,” “Use Somebody,” “Sex on Fire” (though, yes, it’s silly) and my …

Favorite Track: “Crawl” (also the first KOL song I heard—live and in person)

[original review]

“Konk,” Kooks

No slippage here for these spry Brits, who followed up an outstanding 2006 debut with something even better. “Konk” is almost painful it’s such a perfect pop/rock record. It’ll put a smile on your face, get your head bobbing, and your toe tapping. Start to finish, this CD is just fun, with hooks, melodies, and harmonies to spare. The Kooks are one of the more underrated bands of the decade (at least in the U.S.).

Favorite Track: “Love It All”

“Red of Tooth and Claw,” Murder by Death

I covered everything I love about this album a few weeks ago. To sum up: The dark vocals of Adam Turla and the haunting electric cello of Sarah Balliet combine to make modern cowboy songs unlike anything else I’ve heard this decade.

Favorite Track: “Fuego!” (but this changes all the time)

“Consolers of the Lonely,” The Raconteurs

The Raconteurs’ second album fulfills all the promises made in my head the first time I heard Jack White and Brendan Benson were teaming for an it’s-not-a-side-project. 2006’s “Broken Boy Soldier” was … nice, but was more a tease than a fulfillment of their potential. “Consolers of the Lonely,” on the other hand, is massive, with White and Benson channeling all their considerable power into 14 of my favorite tracks of the year. This is what Jack White sounds like with a full band at his disposal. Be afraid.

Favorite Track: “Carolina Drama” (but this changes all the time)

[original review]

“Mission Control,” The Whigs

For their second album, it’s like the Whigs went through my CD collection and decided to make a best-of compilation in their own words. The Athens, Ga., trio takes a whirlwind trip through the past three decades of rock and roll, delivering one of 2008’s best records. If you don’t like a particular song, just wait about three minutes because the next one won’t sound anything like it. “Mission Control” is an astounding feat for one band to take so many sharp turns in so short a span (the album clocks in at less than 40 minutes). I don’t pretend to know what the Whigs’ actual influences are, but here’s what these ears hear: Pearl Jam, The Clash, Snow Patrol, Foo Fighters, the La’s, Social Distortion, and more.

Favorite Track: “Right Hand on My Heart”

HONORABLE MENTIONS

“The Airborne Toxic Event,” The Airborne Toxic Event

“Sea Sew,” Lisa Hannigan

“The Virginia EP,” The National

“Break Up the Concrete,” The Pretenders

“Slumdog Millionaire,” soundtrack

“Dear Science,” TV on the Radio

“Twilight,” soundtrack

Albums of the Aughts: 10 for 10

Here is a compilation of my 10 favorite songs from 10 of my favorite artists of the decade. Each of these musicians/bands mark a significant period of explosive fandom in my life at some point during the past 10 years.

The criteria:

• All songs have to be from this decade (which is why PJ Harvey isn’t on here, for example).

• I had to see them in concert at least once (except for Johnny Cash, for obvious reasons).

• I had to obtain all of the albums they released this decade (which is why Murder by Death isn’t on here, for example).

• I had to follow them fervently for at least one year (which is why Kings of Leon, The Hold Steady, and Snow Patrol aren’t on here, for examples).

• They don’t necessarily have to still be one of my favorite artists/bands (which is why Chris Carrabba is on here, for example).

So, here we go …

Ryan Adams

1. I See Monsters (from 2003’s “Love Is Hell, Pt. 2”)

2. Come Pick Me Up (from 2000’s “Heartbreaker”)

3. Let It Ride (from 2005’s “Cold Roses”)

4. Rosalie Come and Go (from 2001’s “Gold” bonus disc)

5. My Love for You Is Real (from 2007’s “Follow the Lights” EP)

6. Goodnight Rose/Two/Everybody Knows (from 2007’s “Easy Tiger”)

9. Gonna Make You Love Me (from 2001’s “Gold”)

10. La Cienega Just Smiled (from 2001’s “Gold”)

Chris Carrabba

1. Vindicated (from 2004’s “Spider-Man 2” soundtrack)

2. Ender Will Save Us All (from 2000’s “The Swiss Army Romance”)

3. So Impossible (from 2001’s “So Impossible” EP)

4. Hands Down (from 2003’s “A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar”)

5. The Moon Is Down (from Further Seems Forever’s “The Moon Is Down,” 2001)

6. Don’t Wait (from 2006’s “Dusk & Summer”)

7. So Beautiful (from 2003’s “A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar”)

8. The Good Fight (from 2001’s “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most”)

9. In A Big Country (from 2006’s “Don’t Wait” single)

10. The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most (from 2001’s “The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most”)

Johnny Cash

1. God’s Gonna Cut You Down (from 2006’s “American V: A Hundred Highways”)

2. I Came to Believe (from 2006’s “American V: A Hundred Highways”)

3. I See A Darkness (from 2000’s “American III: Solitary Man”)

4. Further On (Up the Road) (from 2006’s “American V: A Hundred Highways”)

5. One (from 2000’s “American III: Solitary Man”)

6. Personal Jesus (from 2002’s “American IV: The Man Comes Around”)

7. Hurt (from 2002’s “American IV: The Man Comes Around”)

8. The Man Comes Around (from 2002’s “American IV: The Man Comes Around”)

9. On the Evening Train (from 2006’s “American V: A Hundred Highways”)

10. I Won’t Back Down (from 2000’s “American III: Solitary Man”)

The Gaslight Anthem

1. The ’59 Sound (from 2008’s “The ’59 Sound”)

2. Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis? (from 2008’s “Senor and the Queen” EP)

3. We Came to Dance (from 2007’s “Sink or Swim”)

4. Great Expectations (from 2008’s “The ’59 Sound”)

5. 1930 (from 2007’s “Sink or Swim”)

6. I’da Called You Woody, Joe (from 2007’s “Sink or Swim”)

7. I Coulda Been a Contender (from 2007’s “Sink or Swim”)

8. Miles Davis & the Cool (from 2008’s “The ’59 Sound”)

9. Film Noir (from 2008’s “The ’59 Sound”)

10. Angry Johnny and the Radio (from 2007’s “Sink or Swim”)

The National

1. Slow Show (from 2007’s “Boxer”)

2. Daughters of the Soho Riots (from 2005’s “Alligator”)

3. Fake Empire (from 2007’s “Boxer”)

4. Mansion on the Hill (from 2008’s “The Virginia EP”)

5. Lucky You (from 2003’s “Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers”)

6. Secret Meeting (from 2005’s “Alligator”)

7. Start A War (from 2007’s “Boxer”)

8. Mistaken for Strangers (from 2007’s “Boxer”)

9. About Today (from 2005’s “Cherry Tree” EP)

10. Green Gloves (from 2007’s “Boxer”)

Pearl Jam

1. Life Wasted (from 2006’s “Pearl Jam”)

2. Sad (from 2003’s “Lost Dogs”)

3. Love Reign O’er Me (2006 Christmas Single)

4. I Am Mine (from 2002’s “Riot Act”)

5. Insignificance (from 2000’s “Binaural”)

6. Unemployable (from 2006’s “Pearl Jam”)

7. Come Back (from 2006’s “Pearl Jam”)

8. Grievance (from 2000’s “Binaural”)

9. Severed Hand (from 2006’s “Pearl Jam”)

10. Arc (from 2002’s “Riot Act”)

Bruce Springsteen

1. Long Time Comin’ (from 2005’s “Devils & Dust”)

2. Nothing Man (from 2002’s “The Rising”)

3. My City of Ruins (from 2002’s “The Rising”)

4. The Rising (from 2002’s “The Rising”)

5. You’re Missing (from 2002’s “The Rising”)

6. Radio Nowhere (from 2007’s “Magic”)

7. Further On (Up the Road) (from 2002’s “The Rising”)

8. The Wrestler (from 2009’s “Working on a Dream”)

9. Lonesome Day (from 2002’s “The Rising”)

10. Mrs. McGrath (from 2006’s “We Shall Overcome”)

U2

1. Beautiful Day (from 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind”)

2. Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own (from 2004’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”)

3. Walk On (UK Single Version) (from 2001’s “Walk On” single)

4. Breathe (from 2009’s “No Line on the Horizon”)

5. Vertigo (from 2004’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”)

6. Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix) (from 2002’s “The Best of: 1990-2000”)

7. The Ground Beneath Her Feet (from 2000’s “Million Dollar Hotel” soundtrack)

8. Magnificent (from 2009’s “No Line on the Horizon”)

9. FEZ—Being Born (from 2009’s “No Line on the Horizon”)

10. City of Blinding Lights (from 2004’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”)

Jack White

1. Seven Nation Army (from The White Stripes’ “Elephant,” 2003)

2. Hello Operator (from The White Stripes’ “De Stijl,” 2000)

3. I’m Bound to Pack It Up (from The White Stripes’ “De Stijl,” 2000)

4. Icky Thump (from The White Stripes’ “Icky Thump,” 2007)

5. I Just Don’t Know What to Do With Myself (from The White Stripes’ “Elephant,” 2003)

6. Carolina Drama (from The Raconteurs’ “Consolers of the Lonely,” 2008)

7. These Stones Will Shout (from The Raconteurs’ “Consolers of the Lonely,” 2008)

8. Portland, Oregon (from Loretta Lynn’s “Van Lear Rose,” 2004)

9. Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground (from The White Stripes’ “White Blood Cells,” 2001)

10. Black Jack Davey (from The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” single, 2003)

Wilco

1. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (from 2002’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)

2. Company in My Back (from 2004’s “A Ghost Is Born”)

3. You Are My Face (from 2007’s “Sky Blue Sky”)

4. Impossible Germany (from 2007’s “Sky Blue Sky”)

5. I’m the Man Who Loves You (from 2002’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)

6. Jesus, etc. (from 2002’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)

7. Poor Places (from 2002’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)

8. Ashes of American Flags (from 2002’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)

9. Kamera/War on War/Heavy Metal Drummer/Pot Kettle Black (from 2002’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”)