High Variance

All Men Play on 10

  All men play on ten,
  Never gonna turn down again.
  All men play on ten,
  Never gonna turn down.
 
           "All Men Play on 10" 
           Manowar, Sign of the Hammer, 1984

Songs that celebrate rock and roll are a dime a dozen. I mean, I love Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock and Roll” and Ozzy Osbourne’s “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll” and even Huey Lewis’ “Heart of Rock and Roll” as much as anyone, but the idea is a little played out.

On the other hand, songs that literally demand to be played loud and explicitly proclaim the band’s love of loud music are tremendously under-appreciated. It’s a much smaller genre, but I can (and do) listen to these songs over and over.

Here’s a list of my favorites (Ping version):

  1. “All Men Play on 10” Manowar
  2. “Turn Up the Radio” Autograph
  3. “I Love It Loud” Kiss
  4. “Shout It Out Loud” Kiss
  5. “Louder than Hell” Motley Crue
  6. “We Like It Loud” Rough Cutt
  7. “Turn It Up” Ted Nugent
  8. “The Right to Rock” Keel
  9. “I Wanna Rock” Twisted Sister

The first track, “All Men Play on 10” by Manowar is not the most popular, but definitely has the most testosterone. Everyone has probably heard “Turn Up the Radio” by Autograph as it got tons of airplay during the eighties, but Kiss has to be the undisputed king of the category with two contributions: “I Love It Loud” and “Shout it Out Loud”. “Louder than Hell” from Motley Crue wasn’t one of their hits, but it’s always been one of my favorites. Rough Cutt’s “We Like it Loud” and Ted Nugent’s “Turn It Up” are more obscure, but still classics.

The last two songs on my list are honorable mentions because they’re really more straight up rock anthems than only tangentially suggest that music shouldn’t be turned down. Keel’s “The Right to Rock” says

  Don't let anyone tell you
  How to live your life
  We won't turn it off
  We won't turn it down
  'Cause it's our way of life

while Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock” says:

  Turn it down you say,
  Well all i got to say to you is 
  Time and time again i say, "no!"
  No! no, no, no, no, no!

I’m absolutely certain I’ve left out some important tracks. So any suggested additions will be much appreciated!

Update:

I asked for help on Classic Rock Forums and got some great suggested additions:

  1. “Loud” Sammy Hagar
  2. “Shout” Grand Prix
  3. “Blow Your Speakers” Manowar
  4. “Loud and Clear” Autograph
  5. “Play It Loud” Diamond Head
  6. “Play It Loud” Saxon

I can’t believe I forgot to include “Blow Your Speakers”, but the other five tracks are new to me. Every one is worth a listen–cranked up all the way of course!

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