YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 90 (Heaven And Hell)
(Originally finalized on August 18, 2024)
Preface: Formally, we're done grieving. But, since I've had the afterlife on my mind, I wanted to take a week to do songs that mention either Heaven or Hell. That's right - either one will do. And there're some really good ones, so let's get started.
Monday: Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven (Live) [The Song Remains The Same, 1976]
Comments: You had to have known this song was coming, so we'll get it out of the way right from the start. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Led Zeppelin fan, and I agree that this is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. But it's also one I've played to death, so I'm grappling with my instinct to take the road less travelled - which is why I picked the live version from The Song Remains The Same. Does anybody remember laughter?
Tuesday: AC/DC - Highway To Hell [Highway To Hell, 1979]
Comments: How appropriate is it that you have to climb a stairway to get to Heaven, but there's a highway leading straight to Hell? God forbid He should put in an escalator! Anyway, this title track from AC/DC's last album before original singer Bon Scott died tragically is almost as overplayed as Stairway To Heaven - and that's saying something. But, again, it's overplayed for good reason. So strap in, and wave to all the good intentions passing you by.
Wednesday: Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell [Heaven And Hell, 1980]
Comments: I really like the song Heaven And Hell by The Who, but I already used it for the Hellhound On My Trail theme. Luckily, there's a pretty damned good substitute featuring no less than then-burgeoning metal crooner Ronnie James Dio, singing for the band that practically invented heavy metal - Black Sabbath! Here's the title track from the first album produced by this monumental collaboration between metal legends.
Thursday: Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell [Bat Out Of Hell, 1977]
Comments: Although not having quite as much novelty value as Paradise By The Dashboard Light from the same album - Meat Loaf's 1977 debut (which also includes a piano ballad with "Heaven" in the title) - this title track is more of the same, combining Meat Loaf's powerful vocals with the theatrical style characteristic of his music, on another longform piece that stretches out to fill the better part of ten minutes.
Friday: Pat Benatar - Hell Is For Children [Crimes Of Passion, 1980]
Comments: It seems inappropriate to call this song an unexpected "treat", given the dark subject matter - child abuse - but musically, it's a powerful entry that I stumbled upon while researching songs about heaven and hell. I'd heard of it, and probably heard it once or twice over the years, but not having listened to that much Pat Benatar, it wasn't very familiar to me. But it's got that classic Pat Benatar early '80s rock 'n' roll energy.
Saturday: Bob Dylan - Knockin' On Heaven's Door [Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, 1973]
Comments: Only slightly behind Stairway To Heaven on the scale of popular songs with "Heaven" in their title, the cover version by Guns N' Roses would have been right at home on this list with the likes of AC/DC and Black Sabbath, but I'm in the camp that believes Axl Rose oversang it - hey, hey, yeah. Anyway, the softer feel of Bob Dylan's original version more effectively conveys the impression of a man lying in the dirt as his life slowly fades out.
Sunday: Pink Floyd - Run Like Hell (Live) [Is There Anybody Out There?, 1980]
Comments: We started this theme with a live track by one of my favorite rock bands of all time, so it seems appropriate that we should finish it with a live track by another one of my favorite rock bands of all time. This is from the live version of the band's seminal rock opera The Wall, introduced by Roger Waters in his full authoritarian dictator persona - which I can only assure you is satirical, and not reflective of his personal philosophies.
Honorable Mention: The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell/Heaven Knows [Going To Hell, 2014]
Comments: Melding allusions to both heaven and hell, I'm relegating these two songs to an honorable mention due to the era discrepancy. However, this album by the band fronted by the actress (Taylor Momsen) who played Dr. Seuss's Cindy Lou Who to Jim Carrey's The Grinch is one of my favorite post-millennial albums to listen to, and rocks just as hard as anything from the 1970s (but with a bit of a '90s aesthetic). Playing like a Catholic schoolgirl's ode to all the pleasures forbidden her by the church (actually, that's exactly what it is), it's a perfect choice for this theme, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity to provide you with an introduction.