Music Month II: Top 10 Rock Bands of All Time

Greetings, reader!

For the final post of the second edition of Music Month, I'm going for quite the ambitious topic - the top 10 rock bands of all time. I want to be clear that these are my top 10 all-time favorite bands on a very subjective level, as the 'objectively greatest' / most impactful and iconic bands have been listed many times and such a ranking would be less personal.

Usually, I limit my honorable mentions to five. Today, there are about two hundred bands that I feel would deserve a mention. I've tried my best to limit them to just the ones that have a really, really special place in my heart.

Here are my honorable mentions: Aerosmith, Anti-Flag, Apulanta, Awesome Snakes, Black Flag, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Deep Purple, Def Leppard, Dire Straits, Dream Theater, Dropkick Murphys, Eppu Normaali, Flogging Molly, Foo Fighters, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Haken, Journey, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Meat Puppets, Metallica, Mötley Crue, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, No Use, Poison, Queen, Radiohead, Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Scandinavian Music Group, Sex Pistols, Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Squealers, Säätövara, The Airborne Toxic Event, The Ataris, The Offspring, The Rolling Stones, The Who, TOTO, U2, UFO, Unknown Decoy, Ursus Factory, Van Halen, ZZ Top.

10. Pink Floyd

My dear friend Olli once described Pink Floyd like this: you take a chord, and you stay on that chord, for like much longer than one would expect, and do all sorts of things while staying on that same chord for such a long time - and when the chord eventually changes, it feels like a monumental, earth-shattering moment. That's a pretty apt description.

One of the quintessential prog rock bands, Pink Floyd found its way into my heart through their wildly atmospheric soundscapes, with Richard Wright's synth layers and David Gilmour's guitar masterstrokes especially doing their part to create a dreamy, psychedelic sound quite like no other. A typical question among Pink Floyd fans is "which is their best album, The Wall or Dark Side of the Moon?", to which the correct answer is "Wish You Were Here" - but really, just the fact that one band did those three works of art (not to mention Meddle) speaks volumes.

9. Rage Against the Machine

"YEAH I'M ROLLING DOWN RODEO WITH A SHOTGUN, THESE PEOPLE AIN'T SEEN A BROWN-SKINNED MAN SINCE THEIR GRANDPARENTS BOUGHT ONE"

Speaking of unique sounds - out of all the bands that combine the street cred of 90's hip hop, the brutally rocking sounds of heavy metal, the sheer fucking attitude of punk rock, and the sick groove of funk, well, Rage Against the Machine is the only such band I know of. If there's one band who you can always recognize in a heartbeat without mistake, it's this insane genre combination that works so much better than one would think on paper and just goes so fucking hard.

"NETWORKS AT WORK, KEEPING PEOPLE CALM; YA KNOW THEY WENT AFTER KING, WHEN HE SPOKE OUT ON VIETNAM"

With their passion for civil rights and the liberal movement heavily showing in all of their music, RATM is the essential protest music artist for modern rock fans like myself. There's nothing like Killing in the Name to fuel one's anger at the still-broken system of my dear secondary home country, nothing like blasting Wake Up on the drums while fully immersed in the serious issues that banger is about, nothing like turning the volume to the max while listening to Know Your Enemy and just feeling the band's well-reasoned rage spark something deep within you like a cleansing spiritual experience.

"SOME OF THOSE THAT WORK FORCES, ARE THE SAME THAT BURN CROSSES"

Also, I'd like to point out that the band once teamed up with documentarian Michael Moore to shoot the music video for Sleep Now in the Fire in the very heart of Wall Street, and they played there until the police showed up to arrest them, which is up there among the very coolest things a rock band has ever done. The next day, Fox News dubbed them "a pro-terrorist group" for speaking out on behalf of the Palestinian people, and it just so happens that RATM has quite a few songs about that sort of propaganda bullshit.

"BELIEVIN' ALL THE LIES THAT THEY'RE TELLIN YA, BUYIN' ALL THE PRODUCTS THAT THEY'RE SELLIN' YA, THEY SAY 'JUMP' AND YOU SAY 'HOW HIGH', YOU BRAIN-DEAD YOU GOT A BULLET IN YOUR HEAD"

8. Less Than Jake

Then for something much more laid-back - this ska punk band is definitely the least well-known and least iconic band that made it into my top 10, as they have been a massive favorite on a subjective level for a long time. Based in Gainesville, Florida, and making songs that cover many topics such as living in Gainesville, Florida, being raised in Gainesville, Florida and wanting to leave yet not being able to leave Gainesville, Florida, Less Than Jake are just such an ultimate feel-good band with their fun energy and creative fusion and skate punk and ska tropes.

I found this brilliantly titled group via the use of their song That's Why They Call It a Union in the soundtrack to Tony Hawk's Underground 2, a childhood favorite that is an amazing fantasy-comedy game as well as a pretty decent skateboarding game. I enjoyed the song so much that I had to look the band up and listen to their other material, only to find that this wonderful song wasn't even among their best material. What a breath of fresh air this band is.

7. Rush

When it comes to prog rock, Rush is the one giant that manages to oust even the Pinkest of Floyds in my view. This Canadian trio has taken the ideas of out-of-the-box creativity to some wild extremes in terms of rhythm, melody and songwriting structures, which has made the world of music infinitely richer with the existence of masterpieces like 2112 and Xanadu.

The genius maestro at the backbone of the band always was my all-time favorite drummer and absolute hero Neil Peart, although the value of Geddy Lee shredding bass, keyboards and vocals simultaneously cannot be understated (nor can guitarist Alex Lifeson's otherworldly use of scales and modes). For the part of me that enjoys imaginative, barrier-breaking music, you really can't do much better than Rush.

6. Green Day

As of June 20th last year, I've been a twenty-three-year-old man. Of course, this comes with the scientifically baffling exception that whenever I listen to Green Day, I'm fourteen again.

There are many bands that are nostalgic for me, but Green Day nostalgia is just on another level. Listening to their music is sticking a f**king pin into time, suddenly flooding my memories with my own teenage years and everything that went with life at the time when I first went down the Green Day rabbit hole. I had a good chuckle looking at my Spotify Wrapped last year, because despite the multitudes of new music I had found, Green Day was somehow my #1 most-listened-to-band in the lord's year 2022. It must be an accumulation of all those times I've added a timeless modern classic like When I Come Around or 21st Century Breakdown to spice up a playlist, and all the days I felt like going with some ultimate comfort nostalgia.

Discovering Green Day during my first years as a drummer and a songwriter made it damn sure that both my drumming and my songwriting will always carry the strong influence of Tré Cool and Billie Joe Armstrong with them. When I was tasked with writing the music for some lyrics that my band Säätövara's bass player Riku had written, I figured that a 90's style pop punk song would be appropriate because Riku and I both grew up to a Green Day soundtrack, and I ended up composing what can only be described as a love letter to Green Day (you can find it on Spotify under Säätövara - Veikon Sienipiisi). Out of all different kinds of music out there, the simple teenage angst -fueled pop punk of Green Day will always be one of my favorites.

5. Guns N' Roses

Is Guns N' Roses the best name for a band in history? Possibly yes, certainly in the running, but not necessarily. However, what I will say is that no other band has a name quite as accurate for their style of music. The title really says it all - for a band that did some of the most wild, dangerous and energetic hard rock of their time, while also breaking our hearts with some of the most emotional and gripping power ballads in rock music, you just can't come up with a better name. Out Ta Get Me, Welcome to the Jungle, You Could Be Mine - that's the guns. And November Rain, Don't Cry, Estranged - that's the roses.

Adding my love for this band is my love for their story - having read the biographies of Slash, Axl Rose, Duff McKagan and even Steven Adler, I've been very invested in their unique and dramatic story for a long time. This made it into the sweetest of payoffs when three members of the original lineup finally buried the hatchet some years ago, and I got to see Axl, Slash and Duff on the same stage, which had felt like an impossible scenario for so long until it happened. Much love for this chaotic, utterly wonderful band.

4. Iron Maiden

For a Finnish male rock musician, I'm about 100x less into metal music than one might expect. I never fully got into the world of metal, at least on the level as my many, many metalhead friends have. As far as the subgenres of rock go, I've always a much bigger spot in my heart for prog rock, punk rock, hard rock and OG rock n' roll than I have for metal. Nothing against heavy metal, mind you - I greatly appreciate the genre and many of its bands, songs and musicians - it just hasn't ever been my #1 thing like it is for most Finnish male rock musicians in my generation.

So, yeah, of course I'm an Iron Maiden fan. It's the cliché favorite metal band for people who aren't that into metal, and at least in my case, the stereotype fits. Ever since my brother Ville discovered Iron Maiden through a CD burned by our cousin, which kicked off with The Trooper, we've been upping the Irons as proud members of one of the most fierce and loyal fanbases in music. There are a million little things that come together to form my love for the band: the dramatic and atmospheric lyrics, the brilliantly dynamic song structures, the heroic guitar harmonies and epic modulations, the addictive 80's NWOBHM sounds, Bruce Dickinson's Shakespearean style of singing and of course, the engine that has kept the band running with his creative vision and fierce passion for all these decades, Steve f**king Harris. When you write songs like Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Hallowed Be Thy Name and Brave New World, you deserve a lifetime spot in my all-time favorite bands.

Also, their live energy absolutely rules, even at their current old age.

3. AC/DC

If you're reading this blog, you very likely know me as a person, and if you know me as a person, you've possibly heard of my secondary band Squealers. And if you've heard 5 seconds or more of any Squealers song, it's probably quite clear that I'm a lifelong AC/DC fan.

I remember overhearing AC/DC's T.N.T. as a very little kid, when my Dad was showing my older brother Ville what rock music is all about. I was curious to learn more, but my parents gave me somewhat evasive answers, figuring that I might be too young for music about Hell and sex and booze and guns and whatever the f**k Who Made Who is about. In what is possibly my earliest music-listening memory, my Mom had left me downstairs to play while having a B-I-N-G-O children's record playing in the background, and the genius that I was had managed to eject the CD and switch into AC/DC's Live album, to the absolute shock of my mother when she re-entered the room. Say what you will, that little dude knew what he wanted to be all about.

As I mentioned in last week's post, I was nine when my Dad took me to see my first rock n' roll concert - the Aussie legends themselves, performing at Helsinki's Olympiastadion. This live experience blew my mind, and I've carried it with me ever since. No matter how much my taste in music has evolved over the years, learning to appreciate complex rhythms and exotic harmonies and creative melodies, there's just something about a 3-minute song with a simple riff, three chords, Phil Rudd playing the basic 4/4 beat for the whole time, and Bon Scott belting out semi-nonsensical street poetry, that hits different.

2. Rise Against

There's music that makes your heart race. There's music that makes you pump your fists. And then there's music that hits the very core of your values and who you are as a person, fueling you with pure and raw passion, and that music for me is Rise Against.

The only band whose lyrics resonate with my worldview and political opinions even more than the similarly titled Rage Against the Machine, this is a band that has spoken to me on such a level that I consider myself to be a better person because of them. Lines from discovering their music in high school can be drawn to choices I've made in life - I reckon that their pacifist anthem Hero of War had a hand in my journey to choosing civil service over the army, just like being blown away by the power of environmental rant The Good Left Undone very possibly sent me on the path that had me officially joining Finland's Green Party after the bogus election results less than a month ago.

While there's a lot to love in the compositional side of Rise Against (no drummer has influenced my playing style with Säätövara as much as Brandon Barnes), the biggest reason for the Chicago-based punk group being this high on my list is most definitely their lyrics. Of course, it helps that the messages come across in drastic, fast-paced and adrenaline-fueled compositions that channel the fury and desparation of what they're singing about with perfection. But the lyrics themselves - that's what it's all about.

Take Make It Stop (September's Children), for example. In September 2011, there were several teenage suicides in the U.S., by LGBTQ+ youths who had been bullied and hadn't gotten the help they needed. As a reaction to this, Rise Against wrote Make It Stop, with the vital message of "Humanity really needs to get its god damn shit together RIGHT FUCKING NOW" coming across with gripping perfection, with phrases like "What God would damn a heart / What God drove us apart" and "Too much blood has flown from the wrists / Of the children shamed for who they chose to kiss" and "It's always darkest just before the dawn / So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong", not to mention the instrumental section on top of which vocalist Tim McIlrath reads the names and ages of the victims. The fastest way to bring me to tears is reading the YouTube comment section of Make It Stop's music video, which is just filled with stories from people who credit still being alive to this song's existence as a helping hand in a cold world. When you think of the power of music, and what good music can do in one's life, the greatest example is music like this, credited with saving human lives.

And that's just one example. I could've just as easily discussed Prayer of the Refugee, Swing Life Away, The Good Left Undone and a multitude of other songs, which are roughly on the same level of life-altering power. I wouldn't be the activist-spirited civil rights enthusiast I am today if it wasn't for Rise Against, and I sure as hell would've had an even harder time getting through shit like the Trump years if I hadn't had this band's message resonating with everything that was going on.

1. The Beatles

I was at a university event in the fall of 2021, when one of the then-new freshmen came up to me and said, "You're the Beatles guy, right?". My first impulse was to correct him, saying that The Beatles Guy is professor Jouni Koskimäki, one of our teachers who had written his dissertation on The Beatles and has been described as the leading Beatles expert in the Nordic countries. Then it hit me - Jouni had retired the previous year, and the new freshmen wouldn't know who he was. I, on the other hand, was the third-year student who was always at the campus drinking coffee from a Beatles mug, had put together a Beatles cover band project for my favorite professor's retirement party the previous year, and was writing my bachelor's thesis on the use of the Beatles' music in music education. It dawned on me, as with a slightly bewildered look I nodded and said, "Yeah, I suppose I am the Beatles guy".

Before my subjective love for the Fab Four materialized, the foundation had been laid in the form of a more objective appreciation for the band's massive and unmatched influence. My junior high school music teacher Rami-Jussi had made sure that the astronomical influence of changing the course of popular music with revolutionary takes on music videos and album covers, having a major part to play in the very birth of genres like heavy metal and prog rock, and breaking every sort of popularity record such as having more chart-topping singles than any other artist (a record they still hold, over 50 years later) wouldn't be lost on us. Well, on me, at least - I'm not sure if anyone else was listening. I know I sure as hell was.

And when I started to realize, on top of this historical admiration, that their music f**king rocks, there was no stopping the hype train. Years later, I proudly roam the halls of our campus with the reputation of "Beatles guy", having recorded the drum tracks for both Säätövara albums with sticks that I brought from Abbey Road in London, regularly ending most Spotify playlists with the three last tracks of the Abbey Road medley and ending most karaoke nights with a heartfelt rendition of All You Need Is Love.

Thank you for reading! This post concludes Music Month II, and next week I'll return to my usual movie/TV themes with a banger - in honor of May th 4th, a.k.a. International Star Wars day, I'm ranking (almost) all the Star Wars movies AND television shows!

Music Month II: Top 10 Concerts I've Been To

Greetings, reader!

There are very, very few things in this world that are better or as good as live music. So, as the second edition of Music Month continues, today's post is somewhat of a love letter to live music. Similar to the "Top 10 movie experiences of my life" post I did a few years back, this post is a bit less critical/analytical than most of my posts, as it's written with a very personal touch. These concerts have been, for various reasons, the very best live music experiences in my life.

Also, if I've seen a band more than once, I'm only including their best gig to make the list more diverse and interesting.

Here are my honorable mentions: Bon Jovi at Ratina, Tampere 2013; Pulse at Paviljonki, Jyväskylä 2016; Slash at Hartwall Arena, Helsinki 2013; Unknown Decoy at Poppari, Jyväskylä 2020; Ursus Factory at Lutakko, Jyväskylä 2020.

10. Haken at Tavastia, Helsinki, 2019

I actually saw Haken live for a second time just this month - but even though some elements were better this time around, I do see my first experience of seeing Britain's best prog metal band live as the overall better gig. This is mainly due to the setlist, as the 2019 gig included The Architect and 1985, which are my 2 favorite Haken songs, while those masterpieces were absent from the 2023 gig (understandably so, as they focused on new material as the two most recent albums hadn't gotten tours to be played on until now).

Also, the Tavastia gig included a fan dressed in a giant cockroach costume being invited to dance on stage while they play Cockroach King, as well as an encore that ended with a prog metal cover of TOTO's Africa. Other than that, it's many elements that apply to both Haken gigs I've seen - astonishment at the technical skill of the musical wizards in the band, amusement at their live presence being that of jazz musicians instead of the typical metalhead/rockstar tropes, and enjoying it all in the best company (Atte and Eetu, dear friends from high school and diehard prog metal enthusiasts, were my partners in crime for both shows).

9. No Use at Riihivuori, Muurame, 2017

No, really. If you haven't heard of No Use, that's likely because they're a local thrash metal band in which several of my friends play. But in all honesty, this doesn't make the top 10 as a nice shout-out to them, but because on its own level it really is one of my favorite live music experiences. In terms of raw and real grittiness, this gig was just something else.

Where to start? The band played on a small, set-up stage halfway down a downhill skiing slope, as a part of some snowboarding event. It was snowing heavily, and the band's gear was only barely covered. The falling snow definitely hit some of the drums but drummer Taneli Manninen played on, paying no mind to the wetness. The freezing temperature felt like it should turn guitarist Tuukka Pitkänen's bare fingers into icicles, yet he played his riffs and solos quite flawlessly. In short, it was a perfect "everything's going to shit, but hey, the show must go on" gig. I even remember participating in a two-person mosh pit with fellow crowd member Tatu Telin, who since then has joined No Use and is their current bass player. Funny how life works out.

8. Metallica at Kantolan Tapahtumapuisto, Hämeenlinna, 2019

We drove out to Hämeenlinna with my father and brother. As I knew that several of my high school compatriots were also at the gig, I arranged a rendezvous with them at some point, and ended up watching the gig with them while Dad and Ville kept each other company. To this day, whenever the 'Tallica gig of 2019 comes up with the boys, they always fondly remember my Dad buying us all beers to show his appreciation for our tight-knit group of rock enthusiasts. Good times.

The gig itself? Absolute dynamite. Metallica is somewhat of a polarizing live band among musicians, as many have criticized drummer Lars Ulrich's lack of capability to stay in tempo like a typical professional drummer. This drummer's two cents: Ulrich's creativity and unique playing style more than make up for his time-keeping issues, and what Metallica does when playing live is hellishly impressive: while Lars doesn't always hit the mark in a conventional manner, the band has played together for so long that they all stay in the exact same occasionally-fluctuating tempo as Lars, finding their own unique groove from it. And really, unless you're a purist and an elitist, what does it matter whether a drummer keeps a metronome-like beat or not, as long as everyone in the band has the same pulse?

Also, their setlist was pure fire. Master of Puppets ending the first set before the first sort-of encore, which started with my all-time favorite Metallica track For Whom the Bell Tolls, and ended with the rapid-fire energy blast of Seek & Destroy? Intense stuff, man. Not to mention the second encore starting out with the brutal Spit Out the Bone, before closing things off with the classic combo of Nothing Else Matters and its perfect transition into Enter Sandman.

7. Flogging Molly at The Circus, Helsinki, 2019

So, here's a funny story. My friend Atte and I discovered the Celtic punk band Flogging Molly by accident, through a pun, in the first year of high school, and quickly became fond of their music. The following summer, I was a volunteer worker at the Provinssi festival, and by some miraculous chance, this not-that-well-known Celtic Punk band was performing there. I obviously went to see them, and when they were throwing stuff to the audience before their last song, their bass player Nathen Maxwell threw a can of beer, and I proudly caught it. (And politely gave it to the thirsty-looking gentleman next to me, as I was a young-and-mild underage angel).

Three years later, Atte and I traveled to our nation's capital to see Flogging Molly together. The whole gig was amazing - the live energy of punk rocking maniacs on the drums, guitars, bass and vocals spiced up by accordion, violin and mandolin players dancing and prancing around with their folksy style is quite the sight to behold. They also played all of my favorite Flogging Molly tunes, and the mood in the audience was ecstatic. And, as they are getting ready to bring things to a close, bassist Nathen Maxwell throws a beer into the audience, and Atte catches it. Out of all the common experiences a set of best friends can share, that sure is one of them.

6. The Aristocrats at Äänekoski, 2016

One of the most experimental things that I've seen this neo-progressive rock band do is choosing to do the Finland portion of their European tour in Äänekoski, out of all places. I'm assuming that they planned the tour by blindly sticking pins on a globe and seeing where they end up.

Also, this was not just a mere gig: the first portion was a workshop by this power trio, as they opened up the backstories to three of their songs, explaining how they were written and what sorts of musical phenomena went into them. Then, we got an actual full concert including these three songs and many more, from one of the most technically skilful rock lineups in existence.

Being a drummer myself, I was especially mesmerized by Marco Minnemann's out-of-this-world drumming. I got to meet him after the gig, and I'm not sure if I've ever been quite as star-struck. All in all, a fantastic experience.

5. Foo Fighters at Hietaniemi, Helsinki, 2017

Some people think that you turn 1 year older when the clock hits the actual time of your birth on your birthday, whereas others think that you've entered a new age immediately when the clock strikes midnight and the date turns into your birthday. I reckon the first one makes more logical sense, but I'd like to believe in the second one, because that would mean that I turned 18 years old while watching the Foo Fighters live.

Yep, my last day as an underage person was spent travelling to Helsinki, and watching an epic array of warm-up performers (VANT, The Kills, Apulanta AND Biffy Clyro) before getting to main performer, whose set lasted well past midnight and into the date of my 18th birthday. The setlist was incredible, too: I had seen their standard setlist for that tour online and was expecting that (it was a typical 'save all the greatest songs to the end' set) - but for whatever reason, they went a different route in Helsinki. Dave Grohl and company OPENED with Everlong, followed by Monkey Wrench and Learn To Fly, and even so, they were able to keep the momentum up till the end.

4. Apulanta at Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, 2019

This one might look like an oddly high ranking, but I'm sticking with it. Apulanta is the one Finnish band that I've been a fan of for the longest - I loved their music as a little kid, and I still get excited over it to this day. I've seen them live three times - the first time, at the Lutakko club in my hometown, was cool as hell, and the second time, as one of the warm-up bands for the previously mentioned Foo Fighters show, was very decent. But the third time I saw them, in a special concert celebrating their entire career so far at the prestigious Hartwall Arena, blew it out of the park.

First of all, this was no normal concert with one song following the next song. This was a spectacle, with an overarching alien invasion plot coming into play between every few songs, complete with fake news clips that they had shot with a real, famous Finnish newscaster. When the climax of this plot was reached, with the arrival of big hit Pahempi Toistaan at the end of the set, lead vocalist Toni Wirtanen jumped into a makeshift spaceship to shoot the aliens down while singing the song.

Also, the setlist felt like it was divided into several mini-gigs. After the first set of 'normal songs', they shifted the whole stage set-up and played several of their old, nu-metal-influenced songs with a DJ on stage with them. Then, they played many of their grandest songs with slightly new arrangements, accompanied by a full-on orchestra. After this, the band (even the drummer) took to the front of the stage, to play many of the punk rock hits from their golden years to my absolute delight (I would never in a million years have expected to see the underrated Minä Olen Voittaja from their second album in concert, and this surprise made me squeal with joy).

They even opened their encore with the beautiful Valot Pimeyksien Reunoilla, which Wirtanen dedicated to the women of his life - his mother, wife and daughter - who were all there in the audience. Tears, man.

3. Iron Maiden at Kantolan Tapahtumapuisto, Hämeenlinna, 2016

Iron Maiden has been one of my (and my brother's) very favorite bands from our childhood to this day, and we've been lucky enough to see them live more than once. The dearest of these memories was the 2016 gig, from the Book of Souls World Tour. The Kantolan Tapahtumapuisto venue is just different gravy, and the band was really in their element.

What really made the concert special was the fans - Iron Maiden has one of the most fierce and loyal and all-around awesome fanbases in the world, and the Finnish people's love for metal music and this individual band was on full display. Quite often in Finnish concerts, the people in the front rows are the only scream-and-yell-and-jump fans while the people in the back resort to nodding their heads with their hands in their pockets. Here, however, we were quite far from the stage in the middle section of the audience, yet pretty much everyone there was shouting the lyrics along, pumping their fists and waving their hands, and it was great to be a part of such an invested and energetic audience.

Also, an encore starting with Number of the Beast, followed by Blood Brothers and concluding with Wasted Years, goes f**king hard.

2. Guns N' Roses at Kantolan Tapahtumapuisto, Hämeenlinna, 2017

Here's another story of my brother and me - big Guns N' Roses fans from childhood, we had a phase in our youth when we got heavily interested in the dramatic story of the world's most dangerous band, reading the biographies of Slash, Duff McKagan, Axl Rose and even Steven Adler to really get the full picture of what went down in their dynamite rise to fame and their notorious mess of a break-up. Reading all that left us with two thoughts: 1) it would be the coolest and most triumphant thing in the world if the members made amends after all these years and were to reunite, and 2) realistically, that was never going to happen. One had to dream, but an idealist's pipe dream was all it felt like, too good to be true. Too much damage had been done, and the words 'not in this lifetime' had become quite the catchphrase for the idea of such a reunion.

Years later, a childhood dream came true. Slash, Axl and Duff made up, going on tour and even naming it the 'Not In This Lifetime Tour' as a wonderful reference to those infamous words. I had spent years listening to the old Guns N' Roses, fully believing that I would never see those musicians on the same stage, and I don't think I've ever been proved wrong in such a majestic fashion.

1. AC/DC at Kantolan Tapahtumapuisto, Hämeenlinna, 2015

Yep, the top 3 is all shows from this sweet venue in Hämeenlinna, and the one topping the ranking is my first time there. A part of me wanted to pick the other AC/DC gig I've seen - their Helsinki Olympiastadion concert from 2009, which was my first rock concert. You never forget your first, even if you were only nine. The fact that my dad took me to an AC/DC show when I was nine might been as weird by some (my mom) and as borderline bad parenting by others (also my mom, at least at the time) but I see it as grade-A evidence of being an awesome, kick-ass parent. I mean, look at how I turned out - when you listen to the material of my second band Squealers, I'd argue that music like that can only be made by someone lucky enough to have a parent who raised them on rock n' roll and took them to see AC/DC at the mere age of nine years.

But despite the magic of the first, I had to choose my second time seeing AC/DC, the main reason being that we were up front, just a few meters away from Angus Young whenever he pranced to the catwalk for some serious guitar work. Seeing the world's most rocking band from such a close distance, with the volume blazing and the audience's energy matched only by the levels of the retirement-age dinosaurs with the energy of rebellious teenagers on stage, was cathartic. Around one per cent of Finland's population was estimated to be there, at the opening event of this massive venue, and we sure enjoyed the hell out of ourselves.

Of course an AC/DC show is made all the better by their legendary stage props - the iconic inflatable doll from Whole Lotta Rosie, the Hells Bells bell, the cannons-and-fireworks spectacle of For Those About to Rock (We Salute You), you name it. But the most spectacular thing of all was Angus, running amok while spreading the righteous message of rock and roll with his insane guitar solos. What an experience.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for the final post of Music Month II, as I rank the Big One: My top 10 favorite bands of all time.

Music Month II: Top 10 Classical Composers

Greetings, reader!

As the second edition of my music theme month continues, today's topic is classical composers. I was a bit nervous writing this list, as my expertise in classical music is quite lacking and nothing compared to my expertise in rock music, for example. Still, I've listened to enough classical to have the opinions it takes for a top 10 favorite composers -list, so here is my (hopefully not too uninformed) take!

Here are my honorable mentions: Claude Debussy, George Gershwin, Franz Liszt, Henry Purcell, Maurice Ravel.

10. Antonio Vivaldi

One of the biggest names in baroque, Vivaldi was a massively influential composer whose music still makes for a fun and elegant listen over three hundred years later. Vivaldi is best known for the Four Seasons series, which has certainly earned its spot among the classics (the deep melancholy of Winter and the fresh beauty of Spring encapsulate their subject matters with aplomb). Many of his other greatest works also fall into the violin concerto category, although he was also heavily invested in a multitude of other endeavors from operas to church music.

9. Philip Glass

U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

Yes, one American composer found his way into an otherwise heavily European list. While almost all of the greatest greats in the realm of classical music come from the olden age, there is something to be said for modern classical - an area in which Philip Glass has been a total game-changer, keeping new classical music at least somewhat relevant for decades. And yes, I say 'has been' and not 'was', because as of my time writing this, Glass is still very much alive, aged 86 years.

While he worked on musical theater and film scores, which would seem more up my alley music taste -wise, my favorite Glass compositions actually are some of his more 'conventional' classical pieces - I'm especially fond of the deeply touching Metamorphosis -series. And, as far as his less conventional works go, the man wrote a symphony based on Heroes by David Bowie.

8. Georg Friedrich Händel

"You can't Händel the truth!"

-Jack Nicholson in the classical music action movie that Hollywood hopefully completes one day

One the quintessential baroque composers, Händel saw the grandiose dynamics and large-scale dramatics of the music in his time, and understood the assignment. His choral arrangements in works like the Messiah oratorio are about as majestic as music can be, not to mention how harmonically creative said work is. Händel is also the genius behind Zadok the Priest, the coronation anthem that was re-worked by Tony Britten in 1992 into one of my favorite pieces of music in existence - the UEFA Champions League anthem. Truly the stuff of legends.

7. Richard Strauss

Okay, I'll be honest with you - I haven't listened to very many of Strauss' works. He's somewhat of a one-hit wonder for me. But, when that 'one hit' is my #1 all-time favorite work of classical music, that alone has to put Strauss quite high on my list.

The piece in question is the tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra, from the famous 'Sunrise' opening act that many know from its genius use in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), all the way through the eight less-known but also amazing sections that follow it. It's a true larger-than-life masterpiece of the highest order, and I really should become better acquainted with Strauss' other works one of these days.

6. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Say what you will, this guy is like the Beethoven of classical music. The absolute genius behind countless operas, symphonies, violin concertos and really any sorts of compositions that people were doing in the era of classicism, there seems to be no limit to this guy's creativity. Also known for his eccentric (many would say 'asshole') persona and Tom Hulce's brilliant portrayal of him in the great film Amadeus (1984), Mozart certainly carved himself into music history as one of its most recognizable and influential names.

I know a few classical music enthusiasts who consider Mozart to be overrated, and I suppose the composer's overall acclaim is so high that even my placement of him at #6 instead of the top 3 could be seen as such a statement. But it can't be denied that works like Requiem in D minor, Allegro in D Major and Symphony No. 40 are steeped not just in music history but in the very essence of human culture, in a way that very few others have accomplished. So even when Mozart isn't often my #1 pick to listen to if I'm in the mood for classical, I still feel compelled to rank him high due to the sheer genius and artistic value of his compositions (not to mention that many of them are undeniable bangers).

5. Johannes Brahms

Brahms, on the other hand, is one of the best possible composers whose music to put on when a pseudo-enthusiast of classical music such as myself feels the urge to listen to some classical, when having one of those "jeez, I haven't listened to anything except pop punk for the last two months" moments. Brahms' music is easily accessible for the non-trained ear, making him a decent 'gateway composer' for people looking to get into classical music. Of course, for people who do know their shit, there are layers to just how well Brahms' imaginative composition structures and elegant harmonies work.

As one can surmise when looking at my full top 10, the era of classical music that resonates with me the most is the romantic period - the sheer emotional expression, beautiful dynamics and amount of memorable works from that time and style make for one hell of a tapestry. And Johannes Brahms is a very important part of this recipe.

4. Johann Sebastian Bach

"I'll be Bach"

-Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the aforementioned Classical Composers action flick

Yeah. Bach is only at #4 instead of #1 for subjective reasons, as there are a select few composers whose work I enjoy even more, but I do see a sound argument for Bach deserving the #1 spot on pretty much anyone's list. If one uses the term 'genius' about the folks seen up until now on this list - Vivaldi, Händel, Brahms, even Mozart - the same logic would make 'full-on f**king wizard' the most appropriate term for Bach.

While music history is full of special magic dudes, from Purcell to McCartney and from Davis to Collier, there has only ever been (and there will only ever be) one Bach. Analyzing his compositions - well, I don't consider myself smart enough to really analyze them myself, but just reading and listening to experts' analyses of his compositions - is always quite mind-blowing, because his use of harmony and counterpoint was just so next-level amazing. Works like The Well-Tempered Clavier, the St Matthew Passion and Toccata and Fugue in D minor are quite the revolutionary pieces that helped shaped the sound and legacy of classical music (or just music in general) as a whole.

3. Jean Sibelius

If Philip Glass had me going "U.S.A.! U.S.A.!", then this ought to provoke my other home country's equivalent: "Suomi mainittu, torilla tavataan!"

I've always found it startlingly impressive when a composer can discuss certain themes and ideas in their music, without the use of lyrics. Sure, you can compose away with a certain idea in your mind, but the artistic expression required for you to do so in a way that the same idea is transferred all the way to the listener, is quite something. And that's something that Finland's own Jean Sibelius was a downright expert in, as many of his works have to do with the beauty of Finnish nature - and as someone who regularly experiences the beauty of Finnish nature, that beauty can be heard and felt in Sibelius' works in a strikingly powerful manner.

He also composed multiple beautiful pieces inspired by the national epic Kalevala, seven symphonies (the fifth of which has the absolute coolest ending to a symphony there is), and of course the Finlandia, which is even more of a "sing this dead-seriously, hand on heart and tear in eye" anthem for our nation than our actual national anthem.

My grandmother on my mother's side, Mirja, is the biggest Sibelius fan I know. The aging composer was still alive in her youth, and I recall hearing the very moving story of her, an overall well-behaved girl, skipping school in order to listen to the radio broadcast of Sibelius' funeral upon discovering that they wouldn't be listening to it at school. True appreciation for a national icon right there.

2. Ludwig van Beethoven

This guy really is like the Mozart of classical music (I'm really good at analogies). Seriously though, you can't beat the Beet. This absolute powerhouse of a composer left behind an impressive body of work, with his perhaps biggest legacy being his entire re-inventing of the symphony as a concept. The majestic nature of his Third (not to be confused with the film Beethoven's 3rd (2000)), the magnificent structure of his Fifth (not to be confused with the film Beethoven's 5th (2003)), the rich and inventive harmonies of his Seventh (not to be confused with the film Beethoven's Big Break (2008)) and the utter motherf**king glory of his Ninth (known for its use in A Clockwork Orange (1971) and the European Union, also not to be confused with the film Beethoven's Treasure Trail (2014)) - it's a pretty unmatched legacy.

Then there's his collection of piano sonatas - and not to be basic or anything, but I have to single out the best-known one. Sonata No. 14, better known as the Moonlight Sonata, is probably the most haunting piece of music ever created, which I do not say lightly.

1. Gustav Mahler

Okay, I know I just said that the legacy of Beethoven's symphonies is unmatched. And I stand by that, on the level of cultural and historical impact. But on the subjective level of my own music taste, there is one composer whose symphonies I enjoy even more, and that is the man who Captain Raymond Holt has referred to as "the original punk rocker" and "one bad boy". I'm of course talking about the artistic mastermind of the late romantic period, Mr. Gustav Mahler.

Sitting down to listen to Mahler is just a vibe of its own. I once listened to his Third Symphony while doing absolutely nothing else for the entire two-hour duration, just looking out the window as the sun went down and taking in all the music, and this was a more or less cathartic experience. Mahler's expression of powerful themes and deep-lying emotions through his music is endlessly impressive, and I have a special fondness for how he does endings. The final moments of the final act in each of his symphonies are just the perfect wrap-ups for said works, whether it's the sheer church-bell triumph of the Second, the mountain-moving world-shifting heavy-artillery climax of the Third, or the expectation-defying choice to go with an elegant and classy close instead of the usual fireworks for his Ninth and final symphony, written with his impending death in mind at the end of his life.

Every now and then, it does one's soul good to just stop what you're doing, sit down and listen to what Mahler has to say with his music.

Thank you for reading! Music Month II continues next week with a love letter to live music, as I rank the top 10 concerts I've been to.

Music Month II: Ranking the Albums of The Beatles

Hello, goodbye!

Every now and then, I'll do a theme month focusing on something else than movies and television - so far I've tackled music, literature and football with such projects. Last year's Music Month was such a hit, in fact, that I'm going for a sequel! So, for April 2022, prepare for some kick-ass music-related lists.

The first of my four music-themed posts is a ranking of the albums by the arguably greatest rock band of all time - The Beatles. They recorded and released twelve studio albums in their career (some would say thirteen, but I'm not counting the studio-album-compilation-album-soundtrack-album hybrid Yellow Submarine for the purposes of this list), and analyzing them in the form of a ranking is a great way to look at all the creative directions their music took throughout the 1960's. So, without further ado, this is my ranking of the Beatles' albums!

12. Beatles for Sale (1964)

The Fab Four never really did a bad album, but their fourth outing is definitely as close as they got to that. While it is salvaged by bangers such as Eight Days a Week and their cover of Chuck Berry's Rock and Roll Music, there is no escaping the fact that Beatles for Sale is an overall weak and semi-boring album when compared to the rest of the band's works.

The core of this explanation can be found from the contrast between what the band wanted and what was wanted of them. By this point, Lennon and McCartney had evolved as songwriters (Harrison was finding his creative voice as well) to the point that they were able and willing to go into more creative and complicated directions than the straight-forward Beatlemania-phase pop rock that had made them popular - but the studio executives weren't ready for that yet. Beatles for Sale is essentially a band ready to experiment, not being given a chance to experiment, forced to repeat the same schtick they've been doing for the past three albums, and their lack of excitement shows.

11. With the Beatles (1963)

After my take on Beatles for Sale, I must clarify that there was nothing wrong with the simple Beatlemania-era charm back when it was fresh and the band's heart was still in it. The group's sophomore album may not be an artistic masterpiece, but it sure is a solid listen with some hellishly catchy tunes and heartstring-tugging harmonies.

While the album is somewhat lacking in great original material as Lennon and McCartney were still in the process of growing as songwriters, the album contains some of the very best covers they ever did - Chuck Berry's Roll Over Beethoven and The Marvelettes' Please Mr. Postman are covered brilliantly, as is Meredith Wilson's Till There Was You, where Paul's singing voice is at its most pure and angelic. Ringo Starr also gets to showcase his charming-if-not-technically-majestic singing chops in I Wanna Be Your Man, one of the album's better original compositions even though the band itself saw its value as 'fuck it, let's give this song to the Rolling Stones'.

10. Let It Be (1970)

I've never been the biggest fan of the Beatles' final album to be released, although I do see the appeal - its highpoints can be seen as some of the highpoints for rock music as a whole, with iconic songs like Get Back, The Long and Winding Road and the legendary title track. But as a whole, as an album you listen from start to finish, there's just something that doesn't quite do it for me.

It has to do with the fact that the band was going through a tumultous period while writing these songs as well as recording them, as all four had grown into songwriters with their own artistic vision and own direction, ready for a solo career, getting ready to call it quits amidst escalating tensions. I'm not sure if it's a case of these tensions literally translating into the music, as in 'the band couldn't write as beautiful and harmonically coherent music when their personalities weren't in harmony', or if it's more of a placebo thing (knowing the context behind the album, one can't listen to it without thinking of all the drama and in-fighting, which makes the listening experience more upsetting). Either way, Let It Be is an album where the sum of its parts isn't as great as the individual parts, but dammit if those parts aren't worth some heavy recognition all the same.

9. A Hard Day's Night (1964)

This charming work from the height of Beatlemania hits a sweet spot - the boys had grown as songwriters and instrumentalists after the first two albums, but they weren't yet tired of doing the same thing as would be evident on the fourth album. A Hard Day's Night was also the first Beatles album to consist entirely of original compositions, proving that there was less need for covers in the mix now that the group had really found their own voice.

While no song on A Hard Day's Night is a 10/10 world-changing masterpiece, the overall level is very solid and there are some certified bangers, like Can't Buy Me Love, If I Fell and obviously the title track with its iconic opening chord. While albums like this don't reach the artistic heights of later Beatles, it's still a very charming and endearing listen and quite the collection of tunes in its own right.

8. Revolver (1966)

Now, I know that many Beatles fans would place Revolver much, much higher. While it is a severely important album and many of the songs are undeniably awesome, there's just something that prevents it from being among my top tier favorites.

I think it has to do with its position as a bridge between the simpler, early material of the Beatles and the experimental and psychedelic later phase - sure, this is often seen as Revolver's strongest suit, but for me, it makes the listening experience feel a bit emptier than many other Beatles albums. Due to the more experimental direction, there isn't as much fun charm as in the earlier albums, but due to that journey still being in the making, the experimental stuff isn't as genius and otherworldly as it would get to be in subsequent albums - so, while Revolver is sort of a 'best of both worlds' album, it also is a bit 'worst of both worlds', not hitting any of the band's strengths completely.

That said, it's still remarkable enough to make it ahead of Let It Be and A Hard Day's Night in my ranking, which is no small feat. Like I said, the album's importance in the band's development is not lost on me, and individual songs like Eleanor Rigby, Tomorrow Never Knows and Here, There and Everywhere are unforgettable pieces of music.

7. Please Please Me (1963)

I'm also aware that many Beatles fans wouldn't put the debut album quite this high on their lists. While I recognize that the band was still a work in progress at this point, I can't help but greatly enjoy Please Please Me in its own right as a simple (by Beatles standards) and lovable debut work, full of charm and energy and just a generally good time. Tracks like I Saw Her Standing There and the Twist and Shout cover are rock n' roll heritage, while tunes like Ask Me Why and Please Please Me are just heart-meltingly sweet. The perfect listen for a chill Saturday morning.

6. Rubber Soul (1965)

The group's sixth studio album comes from the folksy mid-60's era of the Beatles, as the simple conventions of Beatlemania had been moved on from and there was taste for experimentation in the air, but the really escalating rabbit hole of experimentation starting with Revolver hadn't begun just yet. This makes for a bunch of songs that have more substance and more complexity than most songs from the earliest albums, while still maintaining a heavy dose of the magic of the young and fresh Beatles.

Rubber Soul is more or less one of those albums where the sum of its parts is far greater than the parts as individuals - I've seen many fans put this album in their top 3 or even as their #1 favorite, yet tracks from it are hardly ever in anyone's top 10 favorite Beatles songs. However, the overall quality of songs in this wonderful tapestry is so high that even when none of its tracks are among the band's very highest tier, they still make for some killer music - the banger value of Drive My Car, the exotic atmosphere of Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) and the delicious amiability of Michelle, just to name a few.

5. Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

ROLL UP! ROLL UP FOR THE MYSTERY TOUR! ROLL UP! ROLL UP FOR THE MYSTERY TOUR!

Magical Mystery Tour might be one of the least thematically stand-out Beatles albums, as the overall style and atmosphere is very "let's just do Sgt. Pepper's again". But that doesn't matter, because the amount of great songs is downright insane.

You've got the anthemic and deeply underrated title track, the catchy banger Hello, Goodbye, the deep-down-the-rabbit-hole psychedelia of I Am the Walrus, the artistic majesty of Strawberry Fields Forever and the evergreen beauty of Penny Lane, all on the same record. Seriously, looking at the track list, one might mistake this for a 'Best of' compilation album instead of a studio album.

And then there's All You Need Is Love, the unbridled masterpiece that takes the spot as my #1 favorite Beatles song of all time, in addition to being in my top 10 favorite rock songs of all time. So there's that.

4. The Beatles (1968)

The Beatles, also known as The White Album, really has no right to work as well as it does. By 1968, the Fab Four had grown as artists to a point where all four had their own artistic visions, which were wildly different from each other, and the band's titular studio album is without a doubt their least coherent, most convoluted album. Featuring off-the-wall madness ranging from Paul McCartney's old-timey 'granny music' and Ringo Starr's sweet and simple songwriting all the way to George Harrison's obscure artistics and John Lennon & Yoko Ono's deep-end experimentation, while songs range from hilarious comedy music to dead-serious ballads and from radio-friendly easy listening all the way to the song that gave birth to heavy metal, the White Album should, by all rights, be an absolute mess.

And you know what? It is a mess. In the most glorious way.

Somehow it just doesn't matter that it's four wildly different albums rolled into one. Many albums work because of their thematic consistency, but this one finds a way to turn its utter lack of theme into a positive force: the songs just keep on coming, and you have no idea of knowing what this crazy album is going to do next, as it just keeps on surprising you. Featuring rock n' roll classics like Back in the U.S.S.R., touching ballads like Blackbird, progressive masterstrokes like Happiness Is a Warm Gun, sing-along fun-time songs like Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da and whatever the f**k Piggies is, this is a treasure chest that just keeps on giving.

And how fitting it is that the album's ending turns the escalation to a maximum: the penultimate track is the avant-garde soundscape Revolution 9, which continues to divide opinions and spark debates to this day, and after that, we end things in the most appropriate fashion imaginable: Good Night, a lullaby with my man Ringo on lead vocals.

3. Help! (1965)

Ah, right in the sweet spot for my inner folk rock enthusiast. The very next album to be released after my least-favorite instalment Beatles for Sale, this one succeeds for the same reason that that one doesn't: here the group was given the creative freedom to show how they've grown, and boy, does it show. While the band was still young and charming enough to have plenty of the early magic in the mix, the songwriting and arrangements are quite simply loads better than in previous works.

Help! is also a great album in the exact opposite way as the White Album: with this one, it's a tight-knit grouping of stylistically coherent songs, which works extremely well as a whole. It's also just one of the most delightful and ear-pleasing albums to listen to, with the sweet harmonies, touching melodies and chord progressions just being a delicious treat throughout the whole thing. Also, when the same album contains the all-time great love song I've Just Seen a Face, the downright sacred title track Help! and the universally recognized beauty and iconic status of Yesterday, that album deserves some serious praise.

2. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

For a long time, I considered Sgt. Pepper's to be the group's greatest album, as do many others (fellow prog rock enthusiasts in particular, as this experimental masterpiece had quite a major role in the birth and shaping of said genre). While a certain individual (which we'll get to in a minute) barely ousted Sgt. Pepper's in my view a few years ago, it was a difficult idea to come to terms with - with pretty much any other band, an album of this level would be a no-brainer for the #1 spot.

I distinctly remember listening to the whole thing through for the first time, as I was lucky enough to experience this in old-school vinyl format at a friend's house. Concept albums were a fairly new thing for the 14-year-old edition of Veikko Hoffman, so it pretty much blew my mind how the songs transitioned into one another, upholding the psychedelic and otherworldly atmosphere throughout the whole thing. It's the title track, until suddenly it's With a Little Help from my Friends, and then it's Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds all of the sudden, and the album just keeps on giving.

And of course it ends with A Day in the Life, one of the most larger-than-life and artistic pieces of music I've ever come across. I still get goosebumps every time the ending of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) morphs into that iconic guitar strum and the accompanying piano chords.

So, how is an album this great not at first place? Well, I've got two words for you, and those words are...

1. Abbey Road (1969)

I always loved this album, but it was just a few years ago when I had the realization that I like it even more than Sgt. Pepper's. I take my rankings seriously, and I had grown so accustomed to Sgt. Pepper's being my #1 favorite, that this lead to somewhat of a crisis - I had to consult my girlfriend at the time (very much a Beatles enthusiast herself), and my favorite university professor (arguably the leading Beatles expert in the Nordic countries, who did his disseration on the Beatles and who inspired me to do my bachelor's thesis about the use of Beatles music in music education) about this dilemma. Finally, the truth had to be accepted - as heartbreaking as it was to move Sgt. Pepper's down a slot, the fact is that the place in my heart for Abbey Road looms even larger.

While there are many reasons for this and I could easily write a 10-page essay on the levels on which Abbey Road works, there is one idea that really sums it all up: this is the one studio album I can think of where every type of good music can be found. I'm not talking about genres, but rather ideas: when you think about different ways in which a song can be good, different reasons why we enjoy music - they can all be found on Abbey Road.

You've got the spirit-lifting feel-good music in Here Comes the Sun, the out-of-the-box artistic expression in Because, the impressive showcase of the performers' musical skill in Oh! Darling, the emotionally powerful ballad in Something, the cool and entertaining rock n' roll atmosphere in Come Together, the easy-listening chill music in Octopus's Garden, the creative and wild songwriting in You Never Give Me Your Money, and the Shakespearean large-scale anthem in The End. All of that. On the same album. Christ.

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week as I continue Music Month II with a ranking of my top 10 favorite classical composers.