The song recommendations will be a bit different from the album reviews. The songs that I pick won't be from weird artist and weird albums; these will be the deep tracks, the best of the unheard of some of the most popular artists ever.
So, without further adieu, the first song recommendation is Scandinavian Skies by Billy Joel. This song comes off of the album The Nylon Curtain, right in the middle of Joel's phase of rejecting the notion that he is the "piano man" and attempting to be more of an all-around artist.
Scandinavian Skies is a weird song. The speech of a flight attendant opens the track up, followed by a masterful drum line. Joel then proceeds to half-chant twisted lyrics about a trip to Europe over a strange mix of eerie string work and creepy sound effects.
And now, I'd like to give you a feel for the strangeness of the lyrics: "The tour of Germany was bleeding into our eyes/And we were sailing over Scandinavian skies/We had the Midas touch until we met the Dutch/And they exhausted our supplies."
If you've never heard any Billy Joel before, (yes, Piano Man counts) go here for a taste: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4nQB3V10i8.
Now that you're familiar with the traditional Billy Joel experience, go here for Scandinavian Skies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5g75rHKecM.
