David Bowie Dollar Days
Carried by doleful piano, sad-eyed sax and Bowie’s valedictory couplets (‘I’m falling down/It’s nothing to me’), this wistful ballad was an instant highlight of Blackstar. When Bowie passed away two days after the album’s release it took on new depths of poignancy.
Iggy Pop Gardenia
Bowie might have left the planet, but Pop and co. did a watertight homage, with shrieking funk guitar and a slinking bass line decorating a world of cheapo motels and black goddesses in shabby raincoats.
Metallica Moth Into Flame
Driven by anvil-heavy chuggage and James Hetfield’s bullet-belt delivery, this was a six-minute smash-and-grab that saw the thrash aristos nudge vintage form. All that plus the best guitar solo Kirk Hammett has played this millennium.
Bon Jovi This House Is Not For Sale
“It’s about integrity, and what we were going through these last three years,” Jon Bon Jovi explained in a none-too-veiled dig at the band’s former guitarist Richie Sambora. Even without his sideman, this chunky blue-collar anthem announced emphatically that the Jovi were back in business.
Motörhead Bomber (Live)
The air-raid siren. The rabid Munich crowd. The squeal of feedback… Lemmy might be gone, but when you heard this frantic opener from the posthumous Clean Your Clock you could almost see him snarling at the mic stand.
Glenn Hughes Heavy
Not just heavy, but also buck-your-hips funky, this highlight of Resonate saw chippy riffs and bludgeoning drums joust with the Voice Of Rock’s somersaulting soul-boy vocals.
Red Hot Chili Peppers Go Robot
“It’s quite literally about humans and robots becoming friends and lovers,” Anthony Kiedis told us of The Getaway’s ghostly standout. Far removed from the Chilis’ trademark frat-funk, these juddering riffs and icy synth lines were the ideal soundtrack for groping a cyborg.
