EAR FARM's Valentine's Day Mix 2: Easy Cheesier

Ah Valentine's Day. That syrupy sweet, send flowers to your special someone, son of a gun of a shopping day holiday. If the lords of commerce didn't make off with all of your available credit over the Christmas/Chanukkah season then here comes good ol' February 14th to finish you off. But, but, you don't have to go spending money at the chocolatier, or Hallmark, to get the most out of this holiday. The way I see it, whether you've got a sweetheart or not, chances are you'll be listening to music today. And that's where EAR FARM comes in...

My own favorite gift to give (and receive) on this special day has always been the old reliable personalized mix. Not the most original idea, but there is a great deal of genius (and/or love, lust, longing, displeasure, disdain...) that can be relayed in the execution of a well put together mix. Last year EAR FARM posted a very special mix for your enjoyment - EAR FARM's Easy Cheesy Valentine's Day Mix. This year, EAR FARM's Valentine's Day Mix is back with big hair and tons of guitar solos. In other words, it's even cheesier.

Please enjoy this special gift from EAR FARM to all of you. Download it and give it to your sweetheart and tell him/her that you put the mix together yourself, or enjoy listening to it together and watch the sparks fly (remember, this is a mix meant to be listened to first song to last - it's better that way, trust me), OR (if you're without sweetheart) download this over-the-top lovey dovey cheese fest and burn it to CD and smash it. One way or another, I hope you enjoy.

EAR FARM's Valentine's Day Mix 2: Easy Cheesier

1. "Wait" by White Lion - BUY the album
In 8th grade I "dated" my second official girlfriend for about two weeks. I remember it seeming like 6 months. Sadly, I didn't really care for her very much but agreed to "go with her" because she asked me and she was tall. Our dates consisted of meeting in between classes to hold hands in the hall and a few long talks on the phone on school nights. Then one I day I decided to end the charade and broke up with her. The next day she gave me a copy of White Lion's album Pride (a cassette of course) - she had drawn hearts all over the liner notes and highlighted some key portions of the lyrics. Namely, "wait, I never had a chance to love you".

2. "When I See You Smile" by Bad English - BUY the album
This song smells like strawberries. Or, the hair of the girl I went to my 8th grade dance with (different from the above mentioned 8th grade girl) smelled like strawberries and we slow danced to this song. Yes, my first time dancing with a girl was to this song. Cheese much?

3. "Born To Be My Baby" by Bon Jovi - BUY the album
Why is this one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs? Because it's AWESOME. Check these lyrics out: "Rainy night and we worked all day / We both got jobs 'cause there's bills to play / We got something they can't take away / Our love, our lives"... It's like "Hand In Glove" except written by a dude from New Jersey.

4. "Heaven" by Warrant - BUY the album
Don't get me wrong, I adore this song. But I can't help but laugh at this one line: "no matter what your friends might say." I've always imagined her friends being the ones who inadvertently named Warrant's debut album. Something like "Trisha, STOP seeing that loser from Warrant. He's dirty, he's rotten, he's filthy, and he'll only be stinking rich for about another year and then America is going to lose faith in hair metal. But that Rob Van Winkle guy, now HE is a keeper."

5. "I Remember You" by Skid Row - BUY the album
Only recently did I realize how great Sebastian Bach's voice is and yet, this song was always there as proof if only I would've paid attention. I think I was too busy being a youth gone wild or something. How about that classic bend in the guitar solo at 3:13, eh? Money.

6. "Love Walks In" by Van Halen - BUY the album
This is the first of two songs on this list that I learned how to play on piano thanks to my friend's older sister. She was cool like that, except when she was busy making fun of our air Rush sessions. Whatever. In my opinion, this is the best Van Hagar song. And, for some reason, it reminds me of that scene in Rocky IV when Rocky is cruising in his car by himself at night. Perhaps because "Love Walks In" sounds eerily similar to "Burning Heart".

7. "Save Your Love" by Great White - BUY the album
Fun fact: Great White's 1987 album was titled Once Bitten... and the follow up in 1989 was called ...Twice Shy. Fun, right?

8. "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses - BUY the album
An all-time classic smack dab in the middle of the mix to bring everything into focus. Take note of that when making mixes of your own. The midpoint (often song number eight) is the make or break moment. Anyway, not much to say about this song that you don't already know. Except... well, you might not know that this song was supposedly written about Erin Everly. According to wikipedia: "Rose and Everly met in 1986 and dated for many years before Axl spontaneously proposed, allegedly threatening to kill himself if she refused. They married in Las Vegas on April 28, 1990. One month later, Rose filed for divorce, but the two reconciled and decided to stay together. Everly's miscarriage further strained the marriage, and in 1991, the two had the marriage annulled. In 1994, Everly filed a lawsuit against Rose, claiming that he physically abused her. The charges were settled out of court..."

9. "Love Song" by Tesla - BUY the album
This is another classic. Heck, they all are. Again, it's the lyrics that make me go "hmmmm". Listen to them. Sounds to me like it's about a guy who is friends with some girl (but always wanted more) and is offering her a shoulder to cry on now that she's been dumped. He basically begs her to notice him - "Love will find a way...so look around, open your eyes." Gosh, give her some space creep.

10. "Home Sweet Home" by Mötley Crüe - BUY the album
Here's the other song my friend's sister taught me on piano. Or, the intro at least. The rest of the song doesn't have much piano. Too bad she didn't teach me the kick ass guitar part instead.

11. "When I Look Into Your Eyes" by FireHouse - BUY the album
This song reached #8 on the charts when it was released in 1992. Seriously, think about that. I submit that there is no better evidence of how long it takes for American pop music taste to shift than the song "When I Look Into Your Eyes" by FireHouse.

12. "Angel" by Aerosmith - BUY the album
Joe Perry's intro riff just pulls you right into this song. You can not resist. And if you listen closely you just might notice that this is the very moment that Aerosmith went from being bad ass rockers to being everyone's favorite anthemic stadium filling MTV band.

13. "Still Loving You" by Scorpions - BUY the album
Oh baby. Talk about cheesy love songs and guitar solos. This song should definitely be in Guitar Hero 3. There's a version of it featuring George Lynch on guitar that is pretty f'ing amazing but nothing beats the original, soaring vocals of Klaus Meine.

14. "Talk Dirty To Me" by Poison - BUY the album
Question - does Bret Michaels always talk directly to C.C. right before a solo? I think he does. At any rate, this song is the stuff that happy Valentine's Days are made of: "At the drive-in / In the old man's ford / Behind the bushes / Till I'm screamin' for more / Down the basement / Lock the cellar door / And baby... talk dirty to me"

15. "Just Like Paradise" by David Lee Roth - BUY the album
That kick ass solo that's over all too soon? Yeah, this song features Steve Vai on guitar. Belee dat.

16. "More Than Words" by Extreme - BUY the album
Do you know how funky Extreme was before this song came out? Like funk-metal or something. Seriously, they were. Like Faith No More but horrible. Then, in the summer of 1990, they released a beautiful little audio greeting card known as "More Than Words" and the band, the world, was never the same. Soon after it came out I bought the cassingle and taught myself how to play the song on guitar. And I know I'm not the only one. Thanks to "More Than Words" there's a whole legion of dorks just like me out there who count this song among the "covers" they know how to play. Yikes is right. I'd say it's pretty easily the most popular romantic ballad ever released on August 7th and definitely the perfect ending for EAR FARM's second Valentine's Day Mix.

***Download the entire mix as a .zip HERE***