#5. Andrew W.K. - Music Is Worth Living For
Speaking of huge comebacks, it was honestly just a matter of time before Andrew W.K. came out with a new record. After all, it had been 12 years since he recorded a new record in the United States and 8 years since he had released one. Andrew's debut record ranks among my all-time favorite discs and his follow up The Wolf has some great jams on it as well. You could tell through Mother of Mankind and Close Calls With Brick Walls that he was literally just trying to make something, anything of his previous life. Unfortunately he had been embroiled in a legal battle which made it almost impossible for him to even use his own name for his recordings, and shrunk away from music in favor of motivational speaking. It's somewhat strange to think of the man behind hits like "Party Hard", "We Want Fun" and "Party til You Puke" to be doing speaking tours about the power of self-belief as a means to defeating depression, but here he was, and he was brilliant at it.
From the musical side of things, W.K. is absurdly talented. He's a beast behind the drum kit, a solid guitarist and (obviously, if you've ever listened) a piano virtuoso. When I first heard him sing way back in 2000 I found his voice annoying, but a second listen gave me someone who was just fun to listen to and sing along with. One of the cool things he has done over the years is use his "party first" mentality as a way of squashing his own personal demons. It doesn't seem as much of a "let's get wasted and forget" type of mentality; more like "party as a mindset for strength". You're Not Alone provides a lyrical and musical bulwark for fighting against the forces of the world that would have you brought down. Other great tracks include "Ever Again", "Break the Curse", "Give Up On You", as well as 3 spoken word interludes.
"Music Is Worth Living For" is a pretty simple call to arms, lyrically. Musically, the drums slam you into the song as W.K. screams and calls you along with him. There are flailing keys, driving guitars, and a jack-ton of sound. It's everything that he was in his first album, doubled. It's a massive humongous song - a figurative (and perhaps literal) lightning rod of positivity. It's exactly what you'd expect from a man who wears white khaki's every day of his life while playing a pizza-shaped guitar. The song garnered over 1.2m streams on Spotify while You're Not Alone made it to 197 on the Billboard 200, climbing as high as #9 on the Top Hard Rock Albums. I couldn't have imagined it to be this good, but sure enough here it is at #5. Long live the party!
Favorite line: "And I bet you never thought we had the strength inside. Yeah we almost died, and we kept on going"
Title: Music Is Worth Living For
Artist: Andrew WK
Album: You're Not Alone
Previous #5s
2017: Chris Cornell - The Promise
2016: blink-182 - Built This Pool
2015: August Burns Red - Identity
2014: Chvrches - The Mother We Share
2013: Born of Osiris - M∆chine
2012: The Shins - Simple Song
2011: Cold - The Break
2010: Matt and Kim - Cameras
2009: Michael Bublé - Just Haven't Met You Yet
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