{"id":47536,"date":"2008-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-09-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/mixtape-mondays-rough-gems\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T18:53:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T18:53:31","slug":"mixtape-mondays-rough-gems","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/mixtape-mondays-rough-gems\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixtape Mondays: Rough Gems"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

[Editor’s note: Cover images of albums previously reviewed on the DV have been linked to the review.]<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\"ledzeppelin_3\"<\/a> <\/td>\n\n
\n

“Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” Led Zeppelin <\/o:p><\/b><\/p>\n

Sweet and a little sad with a weaving skiffle beat, this is no Immigrant Song<\/i> or Kashmir<\/i>\u2019s churning beats and relentless drumming; instead, there\u2019s a lovely innocence in this ode to Plant\u2019s blue-eyed Merle dog , while Page\u2019s melodic guitar lines weaving through hand-clap accented verses add a catchy lightness not immediately associated with Zeppelin.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"nirvana_nevermind\"<\/a>
<\/a> <\/td>\n		\n

“Something In The Way” \u2013 Nirvana <\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/o:p><\/b> Propelled to the masses by the heart-pounding, dynamism of singles \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit\u201d and \u201cLithium,\u201d 1991\u2019s Nevermind <\/i>was legendary. But closer \u201cSomething In The Way\u201d takes a different approach, stripping the thick guitars away to a lone acoustic strum and Cobain\u2019s low, strained vocals. Lines like \u201cAnd the animals I\u2019ve trapped \/ Have all become my pets \/ And I\u2019m living off of grass \/ And the drippings from the ceiling\u201d and the addition of strings and slow, uneven drums in the chorus make this a haunting yet oddly stunning song that will lodge under your skin like a splinter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n\n
\n

“Slide Away” \u2013 Oasis<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>\n

The Gallagher brothers may be assholes, but they could still pen those flawless, wrenching pop songs. \u201cSlide Away,\u201d despite being overshadowed by the four other singles off Oasis\u2019 debut, is nothing short of gorgeous, all textured instrumentation, Liam Gallagher\u2019s soaring vocals, and solid lyrics, plus a lengthy, swirling fadeout. It\u2019s worthy of \u201cWonderwall,\u201d to say the least.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"queen_anight\"
<\/a> <\/td>\n		\n
\n

“\u201939” \u2013 Queen<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>\n

A surreal, evocative tale of love and space travel, this Brian May-authored song is a gem in the Queen crown. May\u2019s sweetly thin, reaching vocals are all emotion and imagination here, while the humming bass, breezy strums of acoustic guitar, and drummer Roger Taylor\u2019s astoundingly high backing harmonies make this one not to be skipped over to get to the \u201cBohemian Rhapsody\u201d head-banging.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"acdc_dirty\"<\/a> <\/td>\n\n
\n

“Ride On” \u2013 AC\/DC<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not often AC\/DC scale back the surging beats and lascivious lyrics, but \u201cRide On\u201d does just that (and still manages to stay catchy). Bon Scott is strangely endearing here, singing about loneliness and longing to light out rather than about his balls or offing someone — add in a sing-along chorus and slow-building guitars that lead up to an epic Angus Young solo, and you\u2019ve got a classic yet totally untraditional AC\/DC track.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\u00a0\"gunsnroses_appetite\"<\/b><\/a> <\/td>\n\n

<\/p>\n

“Think About You” \u2013 Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a><\/o:p><\/b><\/p>\n

This is a love song as only Guns N\u2019 Roses could do it: with blistering rhythms, Axl Rose\u2019s caterwauling vocals, and a larger than life swagger. Legendarily misogynistic, Rose has nevertheless laid down here a straightforwardly sweet track that, if not for the epic, crunching backbeats, would be a touching ballad.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"u2_achtung_199\"
<\/a> <\/td>\n		\n

<\/p>\n

“Acrobat” \u2013 U2<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>\n

Slotted penultimately in a string of hits, \u201cAcrobat\u201d tends to get lost in the shuffle. Still, with sharp stabs of guitar, hazed-over drums and bass, and the scrape of Bono\u2019s vocals on lines like \u201cYou can stash and you can seize \/ And dreams begin responsibilities\u2026So don\u2019t let the bastards grind you down\u201d lend this track a dark, painful sense of reflection that epitomizes the groundbreaking disc itself.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"neutralmilkhotel_aeroplane_150\"<\/a> <\/td>\n\n

<\/p>\n

“Two-Headed Boy” \u2013 Neutral Milk Hotel<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough to pluck a single cut out of this seamless album, a jaw-droppingly vivid, invigorating trip through Jeff Magnum\u2019s mind. Still, \u201cTwo-Headed Boy\u201d manages to jam in all of those elements: strangely gorgeous, surreal lyrics (\u201cAnd through the music he sweetly displays \/ Silver speakers that sparkle all day \/ Made for his lover who\u2019s floating and choking with her hands across her face\u201d), Magnum\u2019s rising, evocative vocals, and the punchy, everything-but-the-kitchen sink approach to instrumentation. \u201cTwo-Headed Boy,\u201d like its title would imply, really is unforgettable.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\"rollingstones_outofourheads_150\"
<\/a> <\/td>\n		\n

<\/p>\n

“Play With Fire” \u2013 Rolling Stones<\/o:p><\/b><\/p>\n

This brooding, compact track is worlds away from the Stones\u2019 riff-driven, Satisfaction-fueled fare. Propelled by Keith Richards\u2019 distorted guitar line and Mick Jagger\u2019s deep, clear vocals (plus, a studio janitor handling backup vocals, since the rest of the Stones had fallen asleep during the session), \u201cFire\u201d is an ominous, uncharacteristically downbeat riff on high society (and its succinct chorus is also a good tool to shake \u201cSatisfaction\u201d out of your head).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deep Cuts From Rock\u2019s Most Legendary Albums<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":49137,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tags":[],"feature_type":[11244],"class_list":["post-47536","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","feature_type-column"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/feature"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53063,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47536\/revisions\/53063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47536"},{"taxonomy":"feature_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature_type?post=47536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}