My Favorite Songs – Summer 2020

As my summer comes to an end, I’ve realized my music taste has shifted drastically within the past three months. I went from glam metal’s Def Leppard, to pop rock’s Bon Jovi, to 90s pop’s Backstreet Boys, to heavy metal’s Metallica, to rock ‘n’ roll’s AC/DC. My music style is all over the place, but it seems to fit around the pop/rock genre. I don’t listen to a whole lot of heavy metal; I got into Metallica because of Def Leppard’s Rick Allen. Most of the time, it comes up by accident; I accidentally came across Pantera’s “Walk” on Spotify, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Because I go through phases of interest all the time, I thought it’d be fun to go through my favorite songs at the moment and see if I still dig these songs two years from now, haha! These songs are in no particular order, and for the sake of time, I’ll only mention ten songs for this list.

1. “Falling” by Harry Styles, from Fine Line (2019)

I heard this song on American Idol season 18, and I’ve been obsessed ever since. I was surprised by what I heard. It was a great melody, great lyrics, and I loved the piano. I knew Harry Styles could sing, but the emotion he poured into this song is beautiful. I like a lot of sad songs, and I don’t know why, probably because I can relate to them more (and can tie it to my own depressing love life).

2. “As Long As You Love Me” by the Backstreet Boys, from Backstreet Boys (1997)

Major mood change, aim I right? I was listening to the wrong “As Long As You Love Me” for the longest time, sorry Justin Bieber. When it comes to the Backstreet Boys, nothing compares to their 90s hits; it’s simple, classic, catchy choruses, and no DJ beats or whatever you call that beat drop stuff at clubs. Back in my fangirl days, I’d obsess over the cutest member of each boyband I was into at the time, but now I pay attention to the band’s stage presence, choreography, harmonies, and chemistry (on/off stage). There’s more to boybands than good looks, after all!

3. “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, from Metallica (1991)

I don’t know about you, but at the time, I thought that Kirk Hammett’s guitar solo was the wildest solo I’ve ever heard! I always thought Hammett was a free-spirited guitar player anyway; it was sloppy, yet careful and well-done. “Enter Sandman” was my first taste of Metallica, so I’m biased towards it, but what I love about the Metallica (1991) album is that the bass tone is loud and clear. Usually, I can’t hear the bass in most songs due to production, so that was a plus.

The music video was great too because the kid sleeps with snakes, haha! With COVID-19, I needed something to let anger out on; it’s better than yelling at the TV when they announce more COVID cases. 

4. “Nervous Shakedown” by AC/DC, from Flick of the Switch (1983)

True AC/DC fans will never understand why Flick of the Switch (1983) is so underrated! It doesn’t help that the band stopped playing those songs after the tour ended, but that’s understandable because people want to hear hits, etc. But I loved how different this song was to other AC/DC songs, with the slower tempo, groovy drums, and big backing vocals. But mainly, I thought “Nervous Shakedown” was such a badass title. I enjoyed the rawness of Brian Johnson’s singing, too, especially in the chorus. 

5. “Bed of Roses” by Bon Jovi, from Keep the Faith (1992)

Who knew you could write a good song when you’re drunk, or hungover in Jon Bon Jovi’s case? I love this song, but I dread whenever it comes on my playlist because Richie Sambora isn’t in Bon Jovi anymore. Nonetheless, I still dig Sambora’s guitar solo and praise Jon Bon Jovi for the beautiful imagery he portrayed through the lyrics.

6. “White Lightning” by Def Leppard, from Adrenalize (1992)

If only Def Leppard still played this song at gigs. It’s not funny how incredibly underappreciated Adrenalize (1992) is; I mean, why do you think Def Leppard still plays the sh*t out of Hysteria (1987) at gigs?!?!?! Adrenalize was the band’s tribute to Steve Clark, and the least they could do is perform the best song on the whole album at gigs (sorry, “Let’s Get Rocked”). “White Lightning” describes Clark’s struggle with his addictions; without mentioning his name, but if you’ve done enough research on the band, you’ll know the song is about Clark! Excuse me while I go cry my eyes out. 

7. “You Shook Me All Night Long” by AC/DC, from Back in Black (1980)

I’m biased towards this song too because it was the first AC/DC song I liked (sorry, “Back in Black”). Again, not bad for a band that lost their lead singer and came back with a new vocalist.

I watched some Mike the Music Snob videos on YouTube where he reacted to kids reacting to AC/DC, and he brought up a few points: most of AC/DC’s songs sound the same, the title is the chorus of their songs, and they are not music gods, they’re just a bunch of dudes that play rock ‘n’ roll. I agree to some extent, since “You Shook Me All Night Long” is the chorus of the song, but come on, “knockin’ me out with those American thighs”? Like, how did they come up with that?!?! Also, why mess with a selling formula? If it sells records, stick with it!

8. “Creeping Death” by Metallica, from Ride the Lightning (1984)

I’ll keep it short and sweet. I mostly like this song because of the “die, die, die” chant; there I said it!

9. “Lost in the Woods” from Frozen 2 (2019)

I don’t care if “Into the Unknown” got all the hype; Kristoff got the best song in Frozen 2, HANDS DOWN!!!! “Lost in the Woods” is like an 80s rock ballad, so it’s a no brainer; I’ve been obsessed with the song ever since I saw the movie in theaters. There are quite a bit of 80s music video references in that scene; the most memorable one for me is the reindeer heads mimicking “Bohemian Rhapsody” (technically, that song is from the mid-70s, but that period heavily inspired the music trends of the early 80s). “Lost in the Woods” was Kristoff’s big moment in Frozen 2; since he never got a full song in the first film, and he rocked it!  

10. “Rock of Ages” by Def Leppard, from Pyromania (1983)

You can bet I played this song a billion times throughout the entire summer because it’s “Rock of Ages;” it’s the national anthem of rock ‘n’ roll! I was supposed to see Def Leppard this past July for the Stadium Tour, and I was going to cheer Phil Collen on during his solo in this song, but it wasn’t my time this year. Don’t worry, I’ll make it my mission to see the band on tour when COVID goes away, and hopefully, I’ll get my chance to meet Def Leppard and scream my lungs out when they play this song! Long live rock ‘n’ roll!

I hope you enjoyed a small portion of my favorite songs at the moment. But let me know what you’ve been listening to this summer in the comments below!

Take care and see ya real soon!
Lana