YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 175 (Evil Ways)
(Originally finalized on December 16, 2025)
Preface: We've been good. We've been bad. And now things are about to get ugly. This week, we're taking bad to its logical conclusion - we're getting downright evil!
Monday: Santana - Evil Ways [Santana, 1969]
Comments: Released just days after their performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, we're going back to Santana's debut album for their first Top 10 charting hit - an effective example (at a radio-friendly length of just under four minutes) of their instrument-focused jam band format. Who needs The Grateful Dead?
Tuesday: The Yardbirds - Evil Hearted You [Having A Rave Up, 1965]
Comments: Sounding a bit like a James Bond theme that was left on the cutting room floor, Evil Hearted You (written by Graham Gouldman, who also penned The Yardbirds' hits For Your Love and Heart Full of Soul) advances the band's trajectory into sonic experimentation with the substitution of Jeff Beck for (at the time) blues purist Eric Clapton.
Wednesday: Steve Miller Band - Evil (Live) [The Joker, 1973]
Comments: Appearing like a bolt from the blue, on the same album side that paired one of Steve Miller Band's biggest hits with an obscure live cover of a Robert Johnson song, is this equally unexpected searing slow blues. I don't know where it came from, or why there isn't a studio version, but I honestly think it's the best thing this band ever recorded.
Thursday: Roy Buchanan - I'm Evil [Live Stock, 1975]
Comments: I had some tough choices to make for this theme. No foolin', I had almost enough songs about evil women to fill out the whole week. But I've already used the best one, and how often do I get a chance to showcase underappreciated guitarist Roy Buchanan? Plus, I think this live track synergizes well with the last one.
Friday: Bad Company - Evil Wind [Desolation Angels, 1979]
Comments: Bad Company's initial run is front-loaded with hits (four of the ten tracks on their first greatest hits compilation, 10 From 6, are from their debut album, and a whopping eight are sourced from their first three albums), but this album cut from their fifth of six (the one that brought us Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy) stands out as an overlooked gem.
Saturday: Iron Maiden - The Evil That Men Do [Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988]
Comments: Iron Maiden were well-established by the time they went into the studio to record their seventh album - a sort-of concept album based on a fantasy novel by Orson Scott Card (who also wrote Ender's Game). The concept - which has been tied to voodoo via the blues - is the mystical powers allegedly inherited by the seventh son of a seventh son.
Sunday: Dio - Evilution [Strange Highways, 1993]
Comments: Although not as popular a subject as rainbows, I had several Dio songs to choose from for this theme. Ultimately, I settled on this one (passing up a title track, and one from his original tenure with Black Sabbath), from the album Dio's band released following the singer's short-lived reunion with Black Sabbath in the early '90s.
Honorable Mentions: I'm deliberately bending the rules here to hand out a double honorable mention, in order to highlight the two 21st century artists I'm going to be showcasing over the next two weeks, because they both just happen to have songs about evil that I like! The first is Joe Bonamassa with Blue And Evil, from his 2010 album Black Rock. Recorded in Greece, it has a Mediterranean flavor. That it's not one of my favorite of his musical experiments is borne out by the fact that, despite a guest appearance by B.B. King, this is the only track that really stands out to me. But I love the contrast created by its acoustic intro and outro. Next up is a really deep cut (titled Evil Is But A Shadow) from pop star slash rock star Miley Cyrus' most creatively off-the-wall album, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, recorded with The Flaming Lips. Released in 2015, it's about as much of a musical left turn as could be envisioned after the runaway success of Bangerz.