#203: Coldplay - Parachutes (2000)

Zack: Let’s put a little context into when this album came out. I was 10, and a huge Eminem fan. I was still two years removed from owning my first CD, but that’s where I was at that time. Slim Shady LP came out the year before and Marshall Mathers LP about two months prior. I was so into Eminem and, in general, the popular rap scene at the time, that I tended to eschew alternative music as annoying, both the established acts like U2 and R.E.M. that had defined the previous 10 years of the genre and the newer bands like Coldplay an Foo Fighters that would define the following ten. I remember finding Yellow to be a brutal couple of minutes every time it came on the radio. Now, things are obviously quite a bit different. I love the alternative music scene and Foo Fighters specifically are one of my favorite bands. Songs that I used to hate like Times Like These and Trouble I now appreciate as staples of modern rock. And my animosity towards Coldplay has drastically dissipated. But I still had never listened to an entire Coldplay album before. I have their complete discography and have made it halfway through several of their albums. If I’m being honest, they just have some great singles and remind me of so many other great bands. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to listen to listen to Viva la Vida only to end up listening to Lost and Violet Hill a few times, putting Paradise on repeat (more recently of course) and then just going and listening to Fake Plastic Trees, some Muse, maybe a U2 song, and then playing Foo Fighters. Coldplay gives me a major case of musical ADHD. And so I was afraid I would need some Adderall to get through this album. But, lo-and-behold, it held my attention just fine. That’s probably because it is really, really good. It starts out pretty strong, builds up to a run of fantastic songs in the middle – including the two big singles – then slowly lets down and ends with a strong last track (with a hidden song as well) that reminds you how pleasant the past 40 minutes were and inspires you to go back and relisten to several of the less-popular songs that you otherwise would have overlooked. Quite frankly, this album made me happy that I’ve moved on from my shallow musical tastes from when I was 10.

Favorite Tracks: Shiver; Trouble; Sparks

Emily: I've never really come across anyone who is a die-hard Coldplay fan. My friend Matt (he wrote for us a while back, if you remember) got tickets to see them for his birthday last year. While he was excited, Coldplay definitely wouldn't have been his first choice. One girl that I'm Facebook friends with (whom I worked with a few years back) frequently posts about her love for Chris Martin, so I guess she's one. Coldplay is a band that many people find pleasant and enjoyable for the few singles played on the radio, but most won't delve too much further into their discography. Parachutes was the first time I've listened to a full Coldplay album - fitting, since it's their debut as well. Now, I think I understand those as-yet invisible Coldplay fans, the ones that fill stadiums and actually buy these albums and listen to them right when they come out (as opposed to, say, 12 years later for a blog...). Coldplay's debut is refreshingly honest, open, and beautifully done. They've gone a bit more over-the-top in recent years, but Parachutes is more intimate. Minimal musical arrangements are punctuated by the piano and Chris Martin's vocals. While I don't know how well these songs play with their current stadium crowd, I can see them working so well in a small club - and with every audience member singing along.
Favorite Tracks: Shiver; Yellow; Spies

#202: Boston - Boston (1976)

Emily: Back in high school, I was playing Rock Band with the guy I was kinda-sorta-dating at the time (yeah, long story). He started talking about how much he loved Boston, which prompted my wonderfully informed response: "Who's that?" Then he proceeded to select More Than a Feeling, and said "They sing More Than a Feeling. That song." I said "Oh. Yeah I know that song. Didn't know who sang it," and he started to play along on the Rock Band drums and ignore me (yeah, like I said, long story). Anyway, Boston is one of those bands where everyone knows that one song but may not know any other songs by them, or even know who sings that one song at all. Boston's debut, on which that one song everyone knows appears, kinda sounds the same as More Than a Feeling throughout the whole thing. It's arena rock through and through, lots of big guitar solos and sing-along choruses. They figured out a formula and stuck with it, succeeding the most on - you guessed it - More Than a Feeling. I guess that's why it's the one song everyone knows - regardless of whether they can identify Boston by name.
Favorite Tracks: More Than a Feeling; Let Me Take You Home Tonight; Rock and Roll Band

Zack: You probably expect me to write something about More Than a Feeling, don’t you? Well, you’re wrong. I’m going to write about Peace of Mind, the second song on the album, because they play it all the fucking time at work and somehow I never paired Boston with it. Once those opening strumming came in, I recognized it right away and was absolutely blown away that I hadn’t figured it out sooner. I mean, you know what Boston sounds like. It’s like that-song-that-won’t-be-named done over and over and over again but in slightly different ways. High-pitched male vocals? Check. Heavy guitar riffs? Check. And we’ve got a Boston song. Peace of Mind has all of that and I still never put it together. I’m ashamed of myself. Anyway, Boston is Boston. If you’re in to that sort-of cheesy hard rock scene, they’re perfect. They’re a slightly better version of Kansas, which is my way of telling any young musicians out there not to name their bands after a city or state since the results seem to be overwhelmingly poor. Anyway, Boston. If you listen to Classic Rock radio, you’ve probably heard every song on this entire album a billion times. It is what it is.

Favorite Tracks: Foreplay/Long Time; Something About You; More Than a Feeling

#201: The Temptations - Cloud Nine (1969)

Zack: The Temptations are one of those bands that everyone has heard of, but I’m not really sure who has really delved into their discography. I don’t know who out there is a raging Temptations fan, but I would like to meet this person and study them for science. I have personally never really listened to them, so the possibility was I want to say alluring. But I found Cloud Nine to be underwhelming. I didn’t really have any preconceived expectations going in, so I wouldn’t say that I was upset that it didn’t live up to what I wanted from it. And I wouldn’t say that it was repetitive – the mix of psychedelic influences with more traditional soul sounds was interesting. But it left me wanting more. I would have liked to have seen them delve more into the psychedelic side, instead it feels like they just dipped their toes in the water. I can’t say I would have preferred if this album was entirely psychedelic soul; I liked both halves about equally. Honestly, I don’t even know what I want. All I know is that I left this listening experience thinking the album was good, but wishing I thought it was great.

Favorite Tracks: Cloud Nine; I Gotta Find a Way; Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing

Emily: I tend to agree with Zack on this one. Cloud Nine simply underwhelmed me. I enjoyed the soul sound, and especially the psychedelic instrumental interludes on Runaway Child, Run Wild. For the most part, though, it was meh. I was expecting to hear some late '50s/early '60s Temptations here - you know, the songs I've actually heard before. Everything was new, but not in an exciting new way. The psychedelic sound was an interesting mix, but the soul felt like what I'd heard from them before but not as good. I don't know if we'll be listening to more Temptations as the list goes forward, but if so I hope we can rewind the musical clock on them about 10 years.

Favorite Tracks: Runaway Child, Run Wild; Don't Let Him Take Your Love from Me; Cloud Nine

Now Presenting...The 200 Album Awards!

It’s been about a year and a half since we passed the 100 album mark. We’re sorry it took us so long to reach the next milestone, but now that we’ve successfully completed 20 percent of our objective, it seems like an appropriate time for somber reflection on all the brave hours lost fighting to protect us from boredom and homework. So, please, join us in a moment of silence…

Aaaaaand we’re done. Now that that is out of the way, it feels like the right time for celebration and joyful remembrance of albums both good and bad. That’s right; it’s time for our second 1001 Album Review Award Show!

While it did, admittedly, take a bit of pleading and both literal and figurative prodding, we’re excited to announce that Billy Crystal agreed to host the ceremony. Then we discovered, much to our chagrin, that Billy Crystal wanted to be paid for it. We turned to our fallback plan of getting James Franco and Anne Hathaway to host, but discovered that James Franco-Anne Hathaway-Oscars jokes have become tragically outdated. Pressed, we decided to dust off our evening gowns and host this special event ourselves yet again. Here’s hoping Ricky Gervais answers his voicemail in time for the 300^th one, though.

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Zack: This first award will require a bit of explaining. Perhaps you could even say that it is rather…confusing. Oh you don’t get that yet? This is the award for the most confusing album. How about now? Some albums just raise questions. That is not a comment on the quality, just a statement on the fact that there is some lingering element to the listening experience that prevents you from merely finishing the album and moving on. Sometimes, you need answers. The nominees for the "General Petraeus Award" are…

The Good, the Bad & the Queen – The Good, the Bad & the Queen

Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician

Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

Moby – Play

Holger Czukay – Movies

And the winner is….The Good, the Bad & the Queen! Moby made us ask why someone would just stop making a good album halfway through. Holger Czukay made us question what the hell Krautrock is. Butthole Surfers and Devo probably tie for quantity of questions raised. But if you’re talking quality of questions, nobody beats The Good, the Bad & the Queen. With a star-studded lineup like that, how is this album not emanating awesomeness? How is it possible to listen to it and not immediately hit replay. It just doesn’t make sense. And I suspect it never will.

Emily: My first award goes out to those albums we listened to way back when, in a time where we were fairly productive on this blog. I often say that I want to listen to certain albums again but I also often forget to when scrolling through the recesses of my iPod's artist list. Now, though, after looking back through the beginning of this last 100 group, a few albums deserve better than to be gathering virtual dust after one listen. The nominees for the "Relisten Now (or Later) Award" are...

The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics

Lou Reed - Berlin

Radiohead - The Bends

Joni Mitchell - Blue

Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future

The winner is...Radiohead! You see, a couple months back I actually did return to Radiohead. I was working on a paper and needed some music to calm my mind and keep me focused. I came across Radiohead in my iTunes library, turned it on, and just fell into it. Even after the paper was complete, I relistened to it a few more times. Looking back at my original review, I wasn't a big fan but predicted that I needed another listen or two to fully appreciate it - that was true, and only took a year to realize it. First impressions are one of the faults of this blog, and I'm glad to have given this album (and soon the other nominees) a second chance.

Zack: If someone has the audacity to compile a list of albums and include in the title a pseudo-threatening reference to my (most likely) untimely demise, you think they would also have the courtesy to make sure all of those albums are good. Tragically, when your goal is the perfectly symmetrical 1001, sometimes a few fillers have to get added in. Sometimes they’re worse than that. These are those times. The nominees for the "Deep Throat Award" are…

The Louvin Brothers – Tragic Songs of Life and Death

KISS – Destroyer

Willie Colon and Ruben Blades – Siembra

Queen Latifah – All Hail the Queen

Buck Owens – I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail

And the winner is….. The Louvin Brothers, Tragic Songs of Life and Death! This one was tough. I mean, it was clearly between Louvin Brothers and Buck Owens all the way. The others weren’t very good, but they weren’t as tortuous as those two. But how to decide between two horrendous albums that seemed to be trying to undo all the goodwill Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams, and Silver Jews built up? I ultimately decided on length. Tragic Songs is about seven minutes longer than Tiger by the Tail. If you’re going to suffer, might as well do it for a shorter period of time.

Emily: As we've learned so clearly over the past 200 albums, one's musical taste may not reflect that of someone else. Some of the albums that we "must hear before we die" may have actually made us want to, well, die. Or at least attack our eardrums with a pointy object. The nominees for the "Ear Splitter Award" are...

Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92

Buck Owens - I've Got a Tiger by the Tail

Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician

ZZ Top - Eliminator

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

And the winner is...Butthole Surfers! I think this album actually caused me physical ear pain. It was weird, but not in a good way. Definitely an unpleasant way. They had such promise for fun ridiculousness with that band name too...though I guess the album title should've been a clearer indicator for me to brace myself (not that I had a choice - thanks list-writers!)

Zack: We try and point out when an album is just transcendentally great whenever we can, but it’s hard to account for staying power. You may be blown away by an album the first time you hear it, but progressive listens take away some of the glamor. Likewise, extra plays can add value. After those initial listens, we try to provide the most honest review we can, but we often have to try and project for these variables. Even in varying degrees of retrospect, things can get mixed up. For instance, if I were to re-do the last best album ceremony, my nominees would be almost completely different (Hendrix, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Jeff Buckley, and Pixies). But here we can at least try and nail down some semblance of a comparative analysis. With that in mind, the nominees for the "Hindsight Award" are…

The Clash – London Calling

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Radiohead – The Bends

Nas – Illmatic

Patti Smith – Horses

And the winner is…The Clash, London Calling! It was album No. 108 for us, and even back then I called it on par with my winner from the previous awards and what I had long considered my favorite album of all time, The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Are You Experienced?. Time has not swayed my mind. In fact, it’s reinforced it. I listen to this album all the time and it never loses its luster. Horses and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot are both excellent. Illmatic remains my second favorite hip-hop album of all time (behind Eric B. and Rakim’s Paid in Full, which isn’t even on the list, as I’ve mentioned a thousand times). And The Bends pretty much singlehandedly got me through Hurricane Sandy (note: gratuitous exaggeration). But London Calling is on a different level than just mere greatness. When people ask what my favorite album is now, I tell them it’s a tie. And I expect to feel the same way when we clear 300 albums as well.

Emily: Picking my favorite albums of the last 100 was extremely difficult. Partially this was because it's been so long since I've listened to some of them, but it's also because there were just so many fantastic albums in this group. Some are noted classics, while others snuck up on me and quietly blew me away. There are some notable exceptions to the nominees for this award, but like with all awards shows that inevitably happens. While considering the nominees for the "I Can Barely Pick Just One! Award," feel free to debate the merits of my choices.

Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

The Clash - London Calling

Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Patti Smith - Horses

The Beatles - Revolver

And the winner is...The Clash! Yes, Zack and I agree on this one. London Calling is indisputably one of the greatest albums of all time. It's innovative, unique, and just plain awesome. My words just can't do it justice. Of course, all of the nominees are deserving of the title of "greatest" - that's why they're on this list after all. However, London Calling is simply a cut above the rest.

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Thank you for taking the time to indulge us in our celebration. Normal posts will return shortly. With winter break right around the corner for us, we’re hoping to make quite a bit of progress in the upcoming month. We’re a fifth of the way there, guys. It’s not happening quickly, but it is happening. That’s a victory in itself, right? Right? Please say right…

#200: Queen - Sheer Heart Attack (1974)

Zack: This is absolutely an unfair criticism, but I am exceedingly frustrated with this album because I listened to it on the train and I had to constantly alter the volume. It just wouldn’t decide if it wanted to be loud or quiet. In another setting, I would probably appreciate the diversity. But on a train where one song I’m straining to hear over all the choo choo’s and the next I’m trying to avoid glares coming from the lady sitting across from me because apparently she’s a homophobe and doesn’t like Freddy Mercury (I’m making that up. She seems like a nice lady and I’m sure any potential disdain for Freddy Mercury has more to do with a negative opinion of facial hair or other reason that doesn’t involve sexual preferences. Please don’t hate me, lady sitting across from me. I want us to work this out. Don’t go. Oh, it’s your stop? Okay, it’s cool if you go then.) The other bit of unfair criticism I have is that I am a stormtrooper purist. I like my stormtroopers to be tall and have terrible aim. That’s it. I don’t want them rocking stilettos, even if that would make at least three of my fantasies come true. Other than that, I thought Sheer Heart Attack was a solid album and a good exposure test for me, since I used to rather anti-Queen. I also believe Freddy Mercury is probably the greatest frontman of all time, but I’ll save that for when we listen to A Night at the Opera.

Favorite Tracks: Killer Queen; Stone Cold Crazy; Flick of the Wrist

Emily: I have been a Queen fan for a really really long time and I'm not quite sure how that came about. Maybe because Bohemian Rhapsody was and is on classic rock radio all the time, and that song's sheer awesomeness led me to listen to more. Or it was that time my mom taped (yeah, it was a long time ago) their Wembley concert from PBS and I got to watch the genius performance of Freddie Mercury in my living room. But I think I liked Queen before that, otherwise I wouldn't have watched it. Hmm. Tis a mystery. Anyway, in all of my years of Queen appreciation, somehow I had never heard all but one of the songs on Sheer Heart Attack, and of course that one song was Killer Queen. Night at the Opera tends to get all of the love, but now that I've heard all of Sheer Heart Attack I think that love deserves to be shared. Musically it's all over Queen's arena rock spectrum - boisterous rock, power ballads, and the like - and all brought together by Mercury's amazing one-of-a-kind voice. Queen was probably at their best when performing live, but since we can only do that now with aid of VHS tapes (or a DVD, that's probably out their somewhere), listening to this album a few times comes close.

Favorite Tracks: Killer Queen; Brighton Rock; Flick of the Wrist

#199: Emmylou Harris - Red Dirt Girl (2000)

Emily: One would think that, after a decades-long career filled with countless albums, performances, collaborations, and guest appearances, Emmylou Harris would be satisfied to just chill for a while. I guess that's not how she does it. Red Dirt Girl marked a milestone in Harris' career, as it was her first album that she wrote or co-wrote the majority of the music. She usually does covers, but judging from this album she should've gone with songwriting a long time ago. The album is both country and folk, with each song telling a story. I personally enjoyed the tracks that leaned more towards folk and were even a bit edgy - specifically I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now and Tragedy. The latter is a duet with Patti Scialfa and has Bruce Springsteen on backup vocals, which is not something you hear everyday on a country album but it definitely made the song more raw and a bit rockin'. After this album, I'm pretty sure Emmylou didn't slow down from churning out more music - and I hope she's sticking to songwriting.
Favorite Tracks: Tragedy; I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now; Bang the Drum Slowly

Zack: It’s always exciting when a young musician starts to expand their catalogue enough that they no longer feel the need to rely on covers to fill a set-list. Emmylou Harris reached that point of maturity when she was barely past 50. Hey, better a late bloomer than not at all. I’m joking, obviously. When you work in the realms of folk and country, it seems that not covering the classics is a way of giving the history of the genres the finger. But here, where Harris starts to really branch out on her own, she hits paydirt. A lot of the songs are really just beautiful. They’re very subtle but melodic. It doesn’t rock you to sleep, but makes you feel at peace. Also, she features both Bruce Springsteen and Dave Matthews. I’ve never been so torn.

Favorite Tracks: Red Dirt Girl; J'ai Fait Tout; One Big Love

#198: The Prodigy - Music for the Jilted Generation (1994)

Emily: For having such a scary looking dude on the album cover, Music for the Jilted Generation provided surprisingly inoffensive background music for my afternoon of Internet surfing and homework. It's electro-rave music, certainly not my favorite, but it blended into the background well enough that a few times I didn't even realize a song ended until halfway through the next song. There are pulsing backbeats minus the headache-inducing bass. I even caught myself typing to the beat a few times. The Prodigy's music may not have been the most engaging to me, but it served its head-bobbing purpose. And it certainly wasn't the worst electro we've encountered thusfar. I'll take The Prodigy's steady beats over a pastiche of clanging noises any day.
Favorite Tracks: No Good (Start the Dance); 3 Kilos; Voodoo People

Zack: I’m not positive, and I’m too tired to look this up, but I think this may be our first rave music album. We’ve done techno and electronic dance and chillout and ambient, but I don’t think we’ve done rave until this point. So…was it good for me? Eh, I’ll just say this time it wasn’t over too quick. It was kind of a hit-or-miss thing, much like Daft Punk although probably less cool. The biggest hit was definitely 3 Kilos, which just kicked all sorts of ass. The biggest miss was probably the song that directly followed it: Skyline. It was clearly meant to sound like a futuristic dystopian drag racing rave party. Obviously. But that just wasn’t too enjoyable to me. I think that’s really where the problem lies. When this album tries to create songs meant to be background music for movie scenes, it just fails. Merging that raveness with the ambient elements that excel for such songs just doesn’t work. When the music itself is allowed to shine through, it can be pretty damn entertaining, though.

Favorite Tracks: 3 Kilos; Voodoo People; Poison

#197: Echo and the Bunnymen - Crocodiles (1980)

Zack: I’m pretty sure we listen to the same album every 20 or so. At 197 is this, at 174 was Siouxsie and the Banshees, at 153 is Bauhaus, at 137 is The Jesus and Mary Chain, at 117 is Dinosaur Jr. Wow, I really didn’t even mean to make it that uncanny. To be fair, that last one was a bit of a stretch, but the overall kind of rockin’ thing with an ethereal quality is consistent. Really, I would trace it back to album 87 (a 30 album jump – sue me), Fear of Music by the Talking Heads. Perhaps it’s a testament to their influence that so many bands seem to be trying to imitate that sound, but it’s starting to bug me. I mean I like it, but it’s just hard to write about so often. If this is going to be a pattern, I’m probably going to be shit out of luck by album 327, which will be “More of the Same” by Does it Matter. As for this one, umm, fuck. It’s a debut, so there’s that. It sounds a lot like those ones I just mentioned. If you like them, it’s definitely worth checking out. It’s going to be a tough road to 1001.

Favorite Tracks: Read it in Books; Stars are Stars; Happy Death Men

Emily: My only previous exposure to Echo and the Bunnymen before today was occasionally hearing their cover of the Doors' People are Strange on Radio 104.5. It's a dark and creepy song, but undeniably cool. For that reason, I thought Echo and the Bunnymen would be much stranger than they actually were. And much cooler. I enjoyed Crocodiles for its post-punk rock sound that didn't have the same warped, distanced vocals as many others we've heard so far. However, I agree with Zack that there wasn't much innovation going on here. Post-punk seems to be a genre of imitation. If you like that sound (which luckily I do), you'll be satisfied with the multiple variations on the same theme. If you don't, then you may prefer actual crocodiles to Echo and the Bunnymen's Crocodiles.

Favorite Tracks: Crocodiles; Rescue; Pride

#196: Holger Czukay - Movies (1979)

Emily: I have no idea what this album has to do with movies. Then again, I have no idea what this album has to do with anything. The first song, Cool in the Pool is about just that - getting cool in the pool on a hot day. While I rather enjoy pools, I don't know what this song is doing here. It's a nice companion piece to the Aquabats song Pool Party, but I doubt Holger Czukay would appreciate the comparison to a ska band made up of fake superheroes in bright blue tights. The rest of the album made sense together - 3 ambient tracks that flowed naturally from one to the next, so much so that I didn't even realize that the songs changed until halfway through each. But a rhymey pop song about pools thrown in there too...uh, what?
Favorite Tracks: Hollywood Symphony; Oh Lord Give Us More Money; Persian Love

Zack: Krautrock may not be the greatest musical genre out there, but it does have the best name. Movies is kind of a weird, but unassuming example. I didn’t really like it, I didn’t really hate it, I just had to say “Oh Krautrock! You’re so nonconformist. You do your own thing, don’t you, Krautrock.” Movies is Krautrock (which at this point I am just trying to write as many times as possible) with a twinge of experimental, psychedelic, and worldy goodness. But it still is uncompromising in its Krautrockness. Because of that, and my lack of prior experience with Krautrock, I can’t really compare it to anything. Or maybe that’s just because my brain is fried from all the writing I’ve been doing lately. Either way, Krautrock and roll, yo.

Favorite Tracks: Oh Lord Give Us More Money; Hollywood Symphony; Persian Love

#195: Morrissey - Viva Hate (1988)

Zack: Our first foray into the mind of Morrissey was remarkably forgettable. If I remember correctly, and there is a pretty high chance that I do not, I found Meat is Murder to be whiny and kind of dull, but still kind of looked upon it favorably because it still sounded okay I guess. Was that right? Lord knows I’m not going to go back and check. I end up revisiting a lot of the albums we listen to at some later point, something I’m quite proud of since I constantly am noticing different elements to songs or lyrics that I never would have caught had my experience been a one-time thing. I never went back and relistened to Meat is Murder. Maybe I should, but I just have absolutely no motivation to do so. Viva Hate, on the other hand, has something worth revisiting. I believe the Ancient Mayans called it chutzpah. It combines an ethereal quality – which I thought was present but wondrously misused in Meat is Murder – with a little thing called variety. There are real differences between songs! How novel of an idea. I don’t think it’s necessarily the greatest album I’ve ever heard, maybe not even a great album. But at least there are certain qualities that hint that exploring it deeper is a worthy investment of your time.

Favorite Tracks: I Don’t Mind if You Forget Me; Suedehead; Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together

Emily: After reading Zack's review, I decided to look back and see what I thought of the Smiths. I've listened to Meat is Murder a couple times since then, and I really enjoyed it then and still do now. There's something about Morrissey's voice that just gets me every time. I hope to relisten to Viva Hate as well at some point. There's a lot going on on this album, from changes in tone to lyrics that hearken to the breakup of the Smiths to a political current that envisions Margaret Thatcher on the guillotine - and more. It was difficult to pick up on all that with just one listen, but what I did hear this first time through I enjoyed. There are few songs that are more upbeat than the Smiths, as well as those that are just as beautifully melancholy. It's worth at least a few listens, and I continue to look forward to exploring more and more of Morrissey's discography as we continue through the list.

Favorite Tracks: Late Night, Maudlin Street; Suedehead; I Don't Mind if You Forget Me

#194: Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)

Zack; Ah, the train. The pinnacle of modern technology 150 years ago. I jest, I actually love train rides. They take my mind off of so many of my problems, partially because they rarely come with a wireless signal. This always adds another wrinkle to album-listening as well, since I can no longer rely on merely Wikipedia-ing random factoids about a band or album to take the place of having really poignant things to say. I can’t out-think the music. And so, on this album, I decided to really put that to the test. I don’t even know when this album was made. I have absolutely no clue who these guys are. Below, you can see my notes as they were originally written. The first song made me think of Hendrix, and then from there I decided to try and match every song with an artist. Let’s see the results:

1) Hendrix-esque? Free styling, element of virtuoso

2) Definitely not Hendrix, acoustic, lots of call and response (Crosby, Stills & Nash?)

3) Garage rock-ish, Stooges/Iggy Pop

4) Weird hybrid of David Bowie and Talking Heads

5) Lynyrd Skynyrd, which is hilarious because it’s only 1 minute long

6) Vocals are off, but the song composition itself reminds me of Springsteen

7) I’m almost positive this is actually a Pink Floyd song. I think it was originally called Shine On You Crazy Diamond part 26.

8) Early Eric Clapton, with only a mildly mind-bending solo

9) Allman Brothers. Not dead on, but the exaggerated sense of freewheelin’ is there as well as a section where a guitar gets ripped to shreds

10) Electric Light Orchestra? This one was hard to peg but I think ELO is the best mix

11) Elton John motherfucker. Weird to say because it’s not piano-driven, but the robustness of the song is classic Elton.

12) I’m calling bullshit on myself for this one, but I got The Killers. It reminded me of Exitlude off of Sam’s Town

Well that’s conclusive. So these guys are some kind of mix of psychedelic rock, folk, garage rock, glam rock, post-punk, southern rock, experimental rock, blues rock, and alternative rock that probably came out some time between the sixties and last year. Oh, and my iTunes labels them as jazz, so don’t forget that element. Case closed. Seriously though, they’re pretty diverse sounding with a lot of interesting compositions. It’s hard to peg this album, and even trying to feels like pidgeonholing it. I’d stop short of saying it was fantastic. I don’t think it really nails any element that they incorporate particularly well. But the range that’s involved is pretty darn impressive. I especially liked the songs where they drifted towards the virtuoso stuff. Hendrix, Duane Allman and Clapton are probably my three favorite guitarists of all time, so it was cool hearing some element of what they all do in the same album.

Favorite Tracks: When I Touch You; Street Worm; Prelude – Nothin’ to Hide

Emily: Zack listened to this album by accident in lieu of another jazz album we had previously chosen. Fine by me, since I don't know much from the jazz on this list anyway. When I turned on this album, though, it was most certainly not jazz. Sure, there are some jazz-rock elements to it. But it's primarily psychedelic, with some roots, folk, country, and classic rock all thrown in there. These disparate influences didn't really come together for me. There were a few songs that I enjoyed, but the album as a whole was inconsistent and a bit confused. I think Spirit needed to pick one genre - say, jazz, since that's what we and Wikipedia classified them as anyway - and do it really really well before adding in a few external influences. Otherwise it sounds like 12 songs off of 12 completely different albums.

Favorite Tracks: Prelude - Nothin' to Hide; Street Worm; Mr. Skin

#193: The Cardigans - First Band on the Moon (1996)

Emily: You know that song that goes “Love me love me, say that you love me....fool me fool me, go on and fool me…la la la la la la la la la…”? Even if I just sang the la-la part instead of actual words, if you know any ‘90s music I’m sure you’d figure it out right away. But if I asked who sang that song, I would be met with a long awkward pause followed by, perhaps, “Spice Girls? S Club 7? Or was it B*Witched? No idea...but it’s so catchy!” It’s actually by The Cardigans, a Swedish pop band, from their breakthrough album First Band on the Moon, and the song is called Lovefool. You probably had no idea about any of that, which is what’s happened to most one-hit wonders throughout the decades. If you can’t stop happily humming Lovefool once you hear it, though, I definitely encourage you to check out the whole album. It’s filled with upbeat pop songs with a very mid-‘90s flair – even a pop-slow-jam version of Black Sabbath’s Iron Man. And now I’m singing Lovefool again...those Swedes sure know how to make some catchy music.

Favorite Tracks: Lovefool; Never Recover; Iron Man

Zack: Storytime: I was having a terrible day. When I got home, I put this album on and it really took the edge off. I mean, it’s so ridiculously infectious that you really can’t help bobbing your head back and forth. The secret is that the songs are all designed behind the lollipop-sweet vocals. Her voice is so sweet, I may have gotten a cavity. Terrible jokes aside, it really is just that upbeat. All of that said, I’m still not completely in love with this album. I’m in love with the lead singer, but the album raised mixed emotions overall. This feeling is epitomized in their super poppy rendition of Black Sabbath’s classic Iron Man. That really is a song meant to be kind of dark and brooding. But there they go, poppifying the hell out of it. They just really missed the spirit of the song overall, but it still sounded very catchy. I couldn’t say that I disliked it, but it just felt kind of unnatural. A lot of times, the Cardigans nail the right balance of sweet indie pop and sincerity (Lovefool, Been It), but there are still those one or two instances where it just doesn’t really feel right that prevent this album from being the sort of classic, montage-ready albums that it should be destined to be.

Favorite Tracks: Lovefool; Choke; Been It

#192: Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session (1988)

Zack: This is a tale of two albums. On one hand, when I first listened to it, it almost sent my sickly body into a coma. It was so boring. It has hints of folk and blues and alternative country, all things that I am on the record saying I enjoy to various degrees. But it was all done in such a lo-fi, dull way. It was so hard to even notice it. Overall, I really didn’t like it. But then I read the Wikipedia page. This album was done using only one microphone. They had to do the vocals over a PA system because they were in a church and you wouldn’t have been able to hear anything over the few electric instruments without it. That…is actually kind of cool.  Accounting for the method of production, I came around about an eight of a click. I didn’t do a 180 and start loving this album, but I at least understand why it sounded so boring. I’ll probably never relisten to it, but at least I know that I listened to something kind of innovative like that.

Favorite Tracks: Postcard Blues; Sweet Jane; I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry

Emily: With a name like Cowboy Junkies, I was expecting a whole lotta yee-haw from this album. Traditional rip-roaring, drunk-ass country music. Needless to say, I was surprised when the first track was a slow acoustic guitar accompanied by an ethereal female voice. And so was the next, and the one after that. That's when I finally checked out the Wikipedia page and found out the Cowboy Junkies are nowhere close to yee-haw. They're Canadian, for one, and this albums is considered to be more on the folk end of country. Now that made sense. The lead singer's beautiful voice is well-suited to the sound, folk and country tinged with the slow swing of jazz. The jazz-influenced tracks were my favorites of the album. They rose above the beauty and lightness of the rest of the album with more complex musical heft behind the instrumentation and vocals. I'll take that over yee-haw any day.

Favorite Tracks: Working on a Building; I Don't Get It; Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)

#191: Tom Waits - Rain Dogs (1985)

Zack: Rain Dogs took me a few listens to fully comprehend, but I think I’ve finally got it pegged. It’s Captain Beefheart all grown up. Now, we both hated – neigh despised – Captain Beefheart, but this is on a whole other level. They’re similar in the unorthodox, scraggly voices and the experimental instrumentation. But they’re so different in execution. Tom Waits is able to simultaneously coexist in the realms of artistry and alluring melody. According to my recollections, Captain Beefheart did not do that. Now, maybe this just reflects my maturation as a music connoisseur, which I really do think is happening. In fact, I intend to go back and give Captain Beefheart another shot just to make sure. But, before I have relistened to that album, I want to give credit to Tom Waits instead. He made one hell of an album in Rain Dogs. He has another four albums on this list. And I really can’t wait.

Favorite Tracks: Clap Hands; Downtown Train; Walking Spanish

Emily: Zack listened to this album first, and he predicted that I wouldn't be much of a fan. At least, not at first. After he played me Clap Hands, though, I was optimistic. Rain Dogs is certainly atypical of my normal taste in music, but something about it completely drew me in. I felt like I was listening to a guy on stage at a smoky dive bar, instead of listening to that same guy through my headphones on my couch during a hurricane. Waits has the soul and voice of an old bluesman, filling his music with real emotion and pain. This Wikipedia quote pretty much sums it up: his voice sounds "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car." Damn. The music is dark and haunting (though sometimes relieved by random jaunts of polka), but I couldn't help but listen in closer with every smoky note. I know I'll be listening to Rain Dogs again. I just can't shake it.
Favorite Tracks: Clap Hands; Jockey Full of Bourbon; Hang Down Your Head

#190: Van Morrison - Astral Weeks (1968)

Emily: I think the best way I can describe this album is musical impressionism. Like the impressionist painters, Van Morrison elicits a dreamy, ethereal quality in each and every song through both the subject matter and the execution. He's singing about love, but barely says it outright. He simply leaves the listener with its impression. Each song's seemingly simple melody is beautifully crafted with a blend of pop, folk, and classical music. Something about this album drew me in on the first listen that I just want to listen to it again and again. There is just so much to figure out and discover, the layers of theme and musicality that can only be discovered by repeated listening. Astral Weeks is repeatedly listed as one of the best albums of all time, period. My words simply cannot do it justice, so go and listen to it for yourself. I'll join in, just to hear it again.
Favorite Tracks: Madame George; Astral Weeks; The Way Young Lovers Do

Zack: Alright I’ve listened to this album three times over the course of the past week but not a single time was I drinking Jameson. I think I listened to it wrong. But that certainly didn’t stop me from enjoying the album. How could you? It’s just such a perfect combination of so many awesome things. It’s sophisticated, yet folksy. It’s poppy, but still kind of rocking. It’s jazzy. I’d have an antithesis to that, but the opposite of jazz is lame, and this album was far from lame. It was the kind of album that they just don’t make any more, not because it’s old fashioned, but because I’m pretty sure this album isn’t replicable. It is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. So, you know, listen to it and junk.

Favorite Tracks: The Way Young Lovers Do; Sweet Thing; Astral Weeks 

#189: The Human League - Dare! (1981)

Zack: I have a very deep, spiritual connection with the song Don’t You Want Me. The chorus of which plays whenever I walk down city streets. I know, it’s kind of a weird thing and I’ve often wished for something a tad more subtle (some Right Said Fred, perhaps). But, alas, my wishes have always been in vain and so I have grown accustomed to the blaring synths. But I never bothered to check what the origins of this accursed song were. Until now, that is. The Human League, apparently, are responsible for that incredibly catchy song, as well as several others. It’s not hard to see why. They write synthpop so poppy and synthy that it probably makes Owl City weep tears of jealousy. Obviously, Don’t You Want Me is the biggest song on this album, but I was incredibly drawn to Seconds. It was like this weird, obstructively melancholy iceberg in the middle of a sea of upbeat pop. Apparently, it’s about the assassination of JFK. On a second listen of Seconds, that started to make more sense. There are mentions of parades and a loud booming before describing his face going white. But, at first, I wasn’t paying attention to the lyrics because I was so distracted by how somber the music was. It’s weird for me to eschew paying close attention to lyrics, so that should capture just how gripping the story told by the synths is. It was masterful storytelling that didn’t even need the words. It’s funny how hit-or-miss New Wave has been on the list. There are pretty clearly good and bad categories and no one seems to fall in between. The Human League isn’t at the Duran Duran level (I still listen to The Chauffeur all the time), but Seconds alone brings it damn close.

Favorite Tracks: Seconds; Don’t You Want Me; Open Your Heart

Emily: This was one of my favorite New Wave albums we've listened to thus far. Synth-heavy music can go one of two ways: dark, mopey, and weird; or fun and danceable pop. Both have their merits, but I prefer the latter, the realm in which Dare! clearly resides. I only knew Don't You Want Me before listening to the album, a wonderful earworm of song that rivals Tainted Love and Whip It for catchiness. The rest of the album lives up to the delight of that song as well. Though few songs inspire deep consideration (Seconds being an exception), it's a solid, fun synth-pop album that will have you bobbing your head and busting out some cheesy (err, sweet) '80s dance moves.

Favorite Tracks: Don't You Want Me; The Sound of the Crowd; Love Action (I Believe in Love)

#188: Joan Baez - Joan Baez (1960)

Emily: Joan Baez is one of the founding mothers of modern folk, if not the founding mother. She was one of the first, way back in the early '60s when a lot of artists were just getting into rock and roll and British mod, she was delivering stripped-down renditions of traditional folk songs. This album is a preview of the protesting, outspoken, Bob-Dylan-girlfriend Baez of the late '60s. Each song is a traditional ballad, but she makes it her own by rearranging the music to only focus on an acoustic guitar and her pure, clear voice. The spiritual undertones of many of the songs reminded me of synagogue music of my childhood. The cantor played an acoustic guitar while singing simple songs about the holidays, Torah stories, or Moses - none too different than Baez's rendition of Little Moses. Donna Donna is a Yiddish folk song too, which is probably why this connection became so clear to me. I think 1960 Baez would make a great cantor in this sense. I can easily imagine choruses of children singing backup while she plays the guitar and expresses the universal ideals of these traditional songs. I'm sure the more badass Baez of later years would disagree with this image, but the beautiful simplicity of this debut conjures it for me.
Favorite Tracks: House of the Rising Sun; Donna Donna; Mary Hamilton

Zack: How does one go about outfolking folk music? Why, by taking standard folk tunes and reworking them so they sound like your brand of stripped-down, sincere folk music. Folk! Joan Baez on Joan Baez takes a bunch of songs, some of which will undoubtedly sound familiar, and transforms them so they are clearly Baez-esque ballads. Baez! I’m sorry, but when I don’t have anything funny to say I often just resort to saying the same words over and over again until they themselves sound funny. Folk. Folk. Folk. Baez. Baez. Baez. See it yet? I have nothing funny to say about this album because it is a rather beautifully honest display of songs that are specifically picked so they will sound vaguely familiar, while also being different enough because of the way in which they are played. Take, for instance, House of the Rising Sun. You’ve probably heard it somewhere, maybe by The Animals (full disclosure: I didn’t actually remember the name of the band who played that version and had to look it up) or Muse or the first part to Green Day and U2’s version of the Saints Are Coming. Point is, you’ve heard it somewhere, but not the way Baez does it. Quite a few songs are like that. Admittedly, I hadn’t heard quite a few of them before, but by the end of the album, they all felt very familiar.

Favorite Tracks: House of the Rising Sun; Mary Hamilton; Silver Dagger

#187: Garbage - Garbage (1995)

Zack: Butch Vig must be a cocky motherfucker. After producing Nevermind, one of the most influential albums ever, he killed time producing for bands like U2 and Depeche Mode. Finding that apparently too easy, he decides to start up a band with a couple of friends and do their thing. Desperate for a female singer, they contact someone from another band and tells her to check the production credits on Nevermind. What, are you going to say no to the guy who helped break down an entire generation of music and remake it as something else entirely? Who says no to that guy? And so, there’s all the backstory you need to understand Garbage. Or at least all I’m going to give. I actually listened to this album like a week ago but my schedule kind of works in a wax and wane kind of way. Now that it’s beginning to wane, I can finally capture my feelings about this album. Namely “Hey, this is catchy,” and “Hey, this is really catchy.” That’s really all I thought about. Sometimes I would click over and see I was three songs past where I thought I was. But it wasn’t a problem because I was fine just going back and relistening to them. It was a very pleasant experience, but one that I didn’t feel really hit me too hard. I’d be happy to go back and relisten to Garbage, but I doubt there’s any way I will do it religiously. That’s probably the best way I can put it.

Favorite Tracks: Supervixen; Stupid Girl; A Stroke of Luck

Emily: There's something about female lead singers that just catches my ear. Not all female singers, mind you - I'm not that reverse-sexist. But many of the female singers on this list bring such power to pop and rock that you can't help but be enthralled. That's how I felt about Shirley Manson, lead singer of Garbage. She has the alterna-chick attitude down pat, but her singing adds a soft edge to the toughness. She kind of reminded me of Gwen Stefani with No Doubt. Makes sense, since both Garbage and Tragic Kingdom were released in 1995. While No Doubt mixed alternative pop with ska and reggae, though, Garbage mixed it with grunge. Makes sense that Butch Vig, the production mastermind behind Nevermind, also brought Garbage together. It's a winning mix that I really enjoyed. This is an era of music that I always find myself coming back to anyway, and now this album will definitely be added into that rotation.

Favorite Tracks: Queer; Supervixen; Dog New Tricks

#186: Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (1982)

Zack: Iron Maiden is always going to be remembered for being one of the most ridiculously insane, over-the-top performance groups ever. Their stage shows are notorious for being circuses (circi?) of Biblical imagery, violence, and blood on blood on blood. Despite that, I’ve always felt that they had some of the more sonically sound music of their contemporaries. It’s hard to argue with Black Sabbath’s legacy, but I think it can easily be argued that, on an evaluation of the two bands ability to make consistently rockin’ music, Iron Maiden is the superior. Admittedly, I’ve never been all that into either band, and I’ve probably spent more time digesting the music of Sabbath in a very critical way. This is the first Iron Maiden album I’ve listened to in its entirety (I think – you can never be too sure with what I’ve listened to growing up, but I don’t recollect any instances so it’s at least relatively safe to say). And supposedly this is their best one. But I’ve listened to several Sabbath albums before, and was never nearly as impressed as I was here. I didn’t love this album. But I liked it and a lot of that has to do with Iron Maiden’s ability to make really heavy music that also doubles as being just plain really good. While there are undoubtedly some examples of that in Sabbath’s catalogue, I wouldn’t say it’s as pervasive.

Favorite Tracks: Children of the Damned; Run to the Hills; Hallowed be Thy Name

Emily: Controversy seems to follow metal bands around - or maybe they just tend to invite it. Apparently The Number of the Beast was super controversial 30 years ago when it was released because conservative Christians thought Iron Maiden's members were a bunch of satanists. I mean, their album title does explicitly refer to satanic numbers. And the album cover features a...cartoon devil? That's not even scary. That could be part of a Looney Tunes dream sequence or something. Damn, those conservative Christians might be overreacting a bit. And for that comment they'll probably call me a Satanist too - oh well. For all of the controversy, Iron Maiden put together a solid album. It's a half hour of consistently fast, loud, and good music. I usually don't say that about metal, so you should know it must be good. I can see this playing well to a live crowd too, with lots of moshing and shouting along. And perhaps some protesters outside getting pummeled by a guy with a cartoon Satan on his jacket.

Favorite Tracks: 22 Acacia Avenue; Invaders; Run to the Hills

#185: Earth, Wind, and Fire - That's the Way of the World (1975)

Emily: Anybody who has ever gone on a car trip with my family (Zack included) knows how much my dad loves Earth, Wind, and Fire. When we got our first car with a CD player back in the day, one of the first CDs he bought was an Earth, Wind, and Fire best-of compilation and he immediately added it into the must-play rotation. I got my first iPod a couple years later, and he requested a personal playlist that contained 2 of his favorite CDs - Barry White and that same EWF compilation. To this day, a few cars, CD players, and iPods later, he still requests the playlist on every single car ride. The routine of my brother and me groaning from the backseat and then begrudgingly pressing play on "Daddy's playlist" has been repeated so many times that it's comical. When I was younger, I didn't really see the appeal of the band, but as I've expanded my musical taste and knowledge (through this blog and otherwise) I've grown to enjoy their unique brand of soulful funkiness. Upbeat classics like Shining Star can always get a party started, and to this day they manage to bring immense energy and excitement to their live shows (mostly because of this guy). Even if I roll my eyes when my dad requests to listen to the EWF Greatest Hits for the umpteenth time, I'll inevitably still be singing along and grooving in the backseat.
Favorite Tracks: Shining Star; Reasons; Yearnin' Learnin'

Zack: Funk is such an interesting genre. It is a merger of so many other influences, yet is so distinctive. If we were to create a funk spectrum for comparison purposes (certainly not because I’m taking a break from working with spectrums of democratization), I think we would need to establish Parliament/Funkadelic as the exact epitome of funkitude. If we position the funk at the exact center of an x-axis, we would derive something like this:

                                                                                                                                            

Jazz                      R&B   Soul               Funk                     Psychedelic Rock             Blues

For context, Funk lies on space 0. Soul is on -2, R&B on -3, and Jazz on -5. Psychedelic Rock is on 3 and Blues is on 5. For those who are curious what a y-axis would compromise, it would be style of vocal delivery. Tending towards the positive y would be silent funk. Tending towards the negative y would be spoken word or rapping. A value of 0 on the y-axis would be a combination of singing but mostly chanting But that’s not important. What is important is that the coordinates for Earth, Wind and Fire – assuming Parliament/Funkadelic exist on the coordinates (0,0) – would be approximately (-1, 1). They have more of a soul influence, but still maintain a strong sense of funk. Additionally, they also work in the occasional spoken word portion, and kind of avoid the whole chanting thing. Does this make everything clearer? If not, avoid political science.

Favorite Tracks: Shining Star; See the Light; Yearnin’ Learnin’

#184: 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (1966)

Zack: Can someone please explain to me how an electric jug works? It’s got me really confused. I’ve done a substantial amount of research on the subject ever since I read that the 13^th Floor Elevators used one on this album, and I’ve seen photographic evidence that they exist. But just how and why? As baffling as the how is, the why is an even more preposterous problem to postulate on. Why is this happening? I don’t mean to let on that this album wasn’t enjoyable. In fact, quite the opposite. It was a pretty entertaining time. Blues, garage rock, folk and psychedelic influences all seamlessly merged. All are genres I appreciate, and they are all used effectively here. But the inclusion of the electric jug wasn’t quite as seamless. It deserves its own Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell skit on SNL. More electric jug is something that should be shouted from the rafters in an effort to create laughter. Surely, the idea that an electric jug, with subtlety thrown to the wind, is just the last element necessary for a song to reach its true potential provides the sort of fodder that only requires some long wigs and tight pants to push over the edge into the boundaries of late-night television. And that, my friends, is what I took away from this album.

Favorite Tracks: Kingdom of Heaven; Roller Coaster; Thru the Rhythm

Emily: I really, really enjoyed this album, but I'm not quite sure why. I know it wasn't the unique element of the electric jug. I'm still not quite sure how that works, considering a jug is an empty bottle and bottles generally do not require electricity. And I agree with Zack that it seemed pretty pointless. To me it sounded like simulated bubbles popping, like a Spongebob Squarepants sound effect repeated over and over again. Not exactly a versatile or even necessary instrument. Seriously, jugs should not be electrified. But jug or no jug, I really liked the 13th Floor Elevators. This album was upbeat and fun, but not poppy or vapid. The proto-psychedelic sound is firmly rooted in blues, rock&roll, and early '60s garage rock. This album came slightly before psychedelic got weirder and more famous, so the rock roots definitely set it apart. That still doesn't answer why I liked this album so much though. A lot of albums came out of this era with similar influences, but this one just resonated with me. Alas, an unsolved mystery. At least, perhaps, until I listen to it a few more times.

Favorite Tracks: You're Gonna Miss Me; Reverberation (Doubt); Fire Engine

#183: Patti Smith - Horses (1975)

Emily: This is not punk as we usually know it, yet somehow it embodies everything about punk. Patti Smith has the fuck-you attitude down to a T, but she's not screaming at you by any means. Her music is as beautiful as it is kickass. She incorporates elements of jazz, garage rock, and even spoken-word poetry to create 8 powerful, near-perfect songs of emotion, anger, and attitude. My favorites by far were definitely the two 9-minute tracks influenced by spoken word - Birdland and Land. Each seem so simple on the surface, a gentle melody with intermixed spoken and sung vocals. But beneath lies something much more powerful, poetic, and raw. Patti Smith should be considered a poet by anyone's definition, and her contribution to punk and, really, all modern rock music (and a debut no less!) is absolutely a classic. My words are certainly not doing it justice, so just listen to it for yourself. I know I'll be listening again and again.
Favorite Tracks: Birdland; Land; Gloria

Zack: I mentioned in passing a few dozen albums ago how excited I was to listen to Horses. I had heard so many amazing things about this album. That it was where that weird protopunk/garage rock era flips up both middle fingers and officially becomes punk, that it was absolutely mind-bendingly great, and that it was the kind of album that, well, everyone should hear before they die. It certainly didn’t disappoint. Horses is unreal levels of goodness. It has all the punk anyone’s heart could desire but still manages to stay musically strong. From that first line, “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine,” you know that it is unequivocally on. This album is not taking any prisoners, and you’re going to like it and that’s that. Boom. That simple. And yeah, it really is that simple. I don’t care if you can’t stand punk music. My guess is neither does Patti Smith. This is the kind of album that, as long as you’re not Mr. Rodgers or Ned Flanders, will speak to you. As long as you have ever been angry about something at some point in your life, you’re going to get where this album is coming from. We’re beginning to near our second 100 album award show, and I already know I’m holding a spot for this album.

Favorite Tracks: Gloria; Land; Free Money

#182: Buck Owens - I've Got a Tiger By the Tail (1965)

Emily: I do commend Buck Owens on having an adorably creative band name. The Buckaroos? That sounds like a touring children's band that has its own Western-themed TV show, definitely something that would've been on in the '60s. Like Woody's Roundup in Toy Story, or something along those lines. The music itself, though, I didn't enjoy as much. Buck Owens is very much traditional country - that's all it is. Not much twang, but lots of the standard country themes: laments about loneliness and love lost mixed in with some happier tunes about falling in love and enjoying the good times. My favorite, though, was the one with no words. It was simple, calm and pleasant. Not my favorite song ever, but a nice interlude in an album I otherwise didn't really enjoy. Some of these tracks have become standards of the genre, or they were standards first and Owens covered them. I'm actually not quite sure; Wikipedia wasn't clear on that. Either way, this album is a country standard. Not my thing, but if it's yours you'll enjoy this album. But I'm pretty sure everyone will love the band name.
Favorite Tracks: A Maiden's Prayer; We're Gonna Let the Good Times Roll; Trouble and Me

Zack: And here we were making such progress. I had really started to get into country. Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Silver Jews had grown tremendously from where Johnny Cash had planted that wonderful seed. I listen to Cash in my free time so frequently! Yeah, the Louvin Brothers had been a mighty set back. But so what? I thought my newfound appreciation of country might be tougher than that. I really thought we had a chance in the long run. But then Buck Owens happened. I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail isn’t particularly twangy, so I didn’t have that excuse. It just was so damn boring. It was embarrassingly bad to the degree that I had to turn the volume way down so no one else could overhear what I was listening to during my office hours. It was like when you’re near that weird kid in school and you don’t want anyone to see you two together lest they immediately assume you are both buddies or something. It was only 28 minutes long, but from how frequently I glared at my minimized iTunes with nothing but fury, you would have guessed three times that length. If Buck Owens has a tiger by the tail, I can only hope that the tiger is only biding its time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike (or puurrrrfect moment – sorry).

Favorite Tracks: We’re Gonna Let the Good Times Roll; Memphis, Tennessee; Wham Bam

#181: 2Pac - Me Against the World (1995)

Zack: The 2Pac and Biggie debate is one that dates back I believe to ancient cave paintings. I swear it's even involved in most debate team competitions. Well, it's time for me to bring an end to the controversy. 2Pac is better than Biggie. There, I said it. Want a reason why? Well, first off, when hipsters started getting into hip-hop to be ironic, they immediately sided with Biggie. That should be all the argument I need, since everyone knows hipsters are always wrong. But I will proceed anyway, because I think if I just stopped here it would sort of anti-climactic. 2Pac is the better lyricist. Both he and his East Coast counterpart spent most of their rhymes mining the deepest recesses of their self-doubt and fears, but only one seemed to be able to consistently take those raw emotions and put them into words that aren't featured in Big Poppa. Clearly, Pac wins there. Both had legendary partners-in-crime behind the production booth (Dre for Pac, Diddy for Biggie), but only one of those people has an entire generation of rap fans on their edge of their seats waiting for another installment to his discography. Need help narrowing it down? The other only makes real news now when he's surgically removing initials from him name. Finally, we come to flow. I will admit that Biggie is smoother than Pac.  But keep in mind that neither of these emcees made their living off rapping about what classy individuals they were. Yes, the smooth delivery provides a striking contrast to the content, but this juxtaposition is only revolutionary for like 4 songs. Pac was limited by his own voice, but he did the most with what he could. Overall, Pac is just a more mature rapper. And Me Against the World, while I don't think it is his best work, is a mature album. It's about a man who has come to terms with his mortality and, to a lesser extent, his morality, and is trying to find the appropriate medium for it. Just look at the face on the cover. Does that look like a man who has his shit figured out? God no. But it's a man who has come to terms with the fact that his shit is not figured out, and is willing to admit that and move on with the randomness of life. I think Biggie comes to terms with the finality of life on Ready to Die, but not the randomness. He seems to treat it like it's destiny that he should tragically leave the world; maybe he believed that big figures like him need to go out in big ways. Pac, here, I believe has the epiphany that he might die tomorrow. He might die at 98 years old. There's no way for him to know, but he needs to get that uncertainty out. And from that complex notion stems a complex and layered album. That is definitely better than Biggie's stuff.
Favorite Tracks: If I Die 2Nite; Can U Get Away; Dear Mama

Emily: As diligent followers of the blog know, one of Zack's goals is to get me to appreciate rap, and perhaps even like it. More often than not he has succeeded, but this time I just wasn't feeling it. I guess I'm not a 2Pac person - maybe I'll be more of a Biggie fan, but I doubt it. I think part of it is the way I first listen to an album. As I've said many times, the lyrics are secondary to my ears the first time I listen to an album. I tend to focus on the beats, the instruments, the flow - just not lyrics. I need to listen to an album a few times to really appreciate its lyrical message, and I think that would definitely be true with 2Pac. His introspective, personal lyrics are the true focus of Me Against the World, and everything else is secondary. Maybe I just listened to it backwards and another few go-throughs would deepen or change my perspective, but I don't know if I'll have the initial interest to try.
Favorite Tracks: Can U Get Away; Dear Mama; Lord Knows

#180: Sabu - Palo Congo (1957)

Emily: This album adds a new element into the never-predictable genre of world music: the conga drum. Sabu is a conguero, or Latin percussionist, and really shows his skill on Palo Congo. This album has so many influences that I'm sure I couldn't name them all: jazz, African rhythms, traditional Latin beats, big band, and more. The consistent theme is the driving drumbeat of the conga. Though I could do without the call-and-response vocals that were slightly more yelled than sung, I enjoyed the genre-bending variety of instrumentation and sounds that were all brought together by Sabu's deft drumming.
Favorite Tracks: Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso; Tribilin Cantore; Choferito-Plena

Zack: This is a strong bounce back from that last salsa nightmare. Palo Congo avoids an easy fate of being repetitive and boring through the inclusion of the bongo drums. They infuse just enough of something special that the songs all avoid sounding just like another typical salsa song but all stop short of dominating the songs completely. A few other alterations to that typical salsa sound, like the prominent use of an electric guitar on the final track, Tribilin Cantore, also help to diversify each song from the Willie Colon and Ruben Blades of the world while also staying true to the type of songs men like Tito Puente helped popularize.

Favorite Tracks: Tribilin Cantore; Choferito-Plena; Rhapsodia Del Maravilloso

#179: Kraftwerk - Autobahn (1974)

Zack: A long time ago, a friend explained electronic music to be in the context of two bands: Kraftwerk and Daft Punk. As I came to understand it, Kraftwerk is the first electronic band to give everyone else the tools to make this genre of music as we know of it, but Daft Punk is the first band to really modernize the scene and make it what it is today. Essentially, Kraftwerk is Moses and Daft Punk is Jesus. Now, as you may or may not remember, I didn’t really like Daft Punk, so this had me worried. What would it mean if I like Kraftwerk but didn’t like Daft Punk? Would I have to convert to electronic Judaism? Or what if I couldn’t stand either of them? Would I then be an electronic atheist? There were some real consequences to this album that I needed to come to terms with before I did anything. Before I actually say how I felt about it, I should probably report that I really started to notice what my friend had told me back then. You could hear a lot of different electronic mainstays being utilized in Autobahn. For example, I noticed some Aphex Twin-esque ambience and some looping of instrumentals (namely a pan flute, I think). It was pretty clear that this was the fertile ground from whence an entire genre and even culture sprouted. As for how I felt about it, I think the best word is grateful. I’ve struggled to understand electronic albums in the past, especially ones that had been hyped to me. The genre, so far, has been hit or miss with a lot more misses. But I think I had a breakthrough here. The album itself was okay, but I really began to pick up on the smaller things that make an electronic album good. I think this may have been an important step for me that will help me come to better appreciate electronic music sometime in the future.

Favorite Tracks: Autobahn; Kometenmelodie 2; Morgenspaziergang

Emily: Though electronic music has been around since the '70s, it has really come into the forefront recently with the advent and rapid popularity growth of EDM and dubstep. I'm not particularly a fan of either, but my guess is that most people who have recently gotten in on the trend have no idea where electronic music got its start. Well, Kraftwerk is pretty much the start. While playing Autobahn back-to-back with, say, Skrillex's new album may sound incongruous, the connection is there. In addition to synthesizer, Kraftwerk included real instruments and vocals to create a unique and seamlessly combined sound - just like how Skrillex and his cohorts merge vocal and musical samples with their own electronic beats. All electronic music seems to have this mash-up idea at its core, and it all started with Kraftwerk driving down the Autobahn.

Favorite Tracks: Autobahn; Kometenmelodie 2; Morgenspaziergang

#178: The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)

Emily: I'll admit, when I first saw that Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness clocks in at over 2 hours I was a bit overwhelmed. Especially after listening to Nick Drake's 28-minute-long Pink Moon, an album at over 4 times the length was a daunting task. Would I be able to pay attention to the whole thing? Would it keep dragging on, seemingly never-ending? Would I even remember which songs I liked (and didn't) by the end? Luckily, if any album should be two hours long (and few should), Mellon Collie should be that album. It's ambitious in length, breadth, and scope, but The Smashing Pumpkins live up to that ambition wonderfully. They explore a variety of musical styles and instrumentation, from subdued classical piano to modernist synthesizers to grungy guitars. It all works, and the band switches up the style so drastically from track to track that it held my attention for the whole two hours and constantly kept me wondering what would come next. Even the singles that came from this album are wildly diverse, yet they all stand as alt-rock classics. If only The Smashing Pumpkins ambition and talent could withstand the egos (well, one giant Billy Corgan ego) that brought them down - maybe we could've had a phenomenal 3-hour follow-up to review.
Favorite Tracks: Bullet with Butterfly Wings; 1979; Zero

Zack: Despite the fact that this behemoth of an album is 2 hours long, I must have listened to it at least two dozen times before. It’s just one of my all-time favorites to press play and just let go. I never really had a reason for why I liked it so much, but this quote by Billy Corgan sums it up pretty well: “I'm waving goodbye to me in the rear view mirror, tying a knot around my youth and putting it under the bed.” He also mentions that he aimed the album at people 14 to 24. Hey, that’s me! When I thought about the specifics of when I listen to it, I realized that’s it’s usually situations where I’m really stressed. You know, when there’s some big, bad adult thing I need to do when I just want to go lay out in the sun or whatever. For its massive size, Mellon Collie really hit its target on the head. Soundwise, it’s very diverse. There are songs that are rough and physical sounding. There are songs that are moody and brooding. There are songs that are vulnerable. And there’s everything in between. Sometimes, they kind of miss (see: Fuck You). Most of the time, they hit (see: all six singles and a whole host of other songs). Really, it’s just an exceptionally good album that both blows you away and sucks you in at the same time. Now, that doesn’t change the fact that Corgan is a huge prick who has sabotaged the band to the point that they haven’t been anywhere close to a consistently solid album on the level of Siamese Dream in over 15 years, let alone Mellon Collie levels of greatness. But that doesn’t change the fact that, once upon a time, Smashing Pumpkins put out one hell of an album.

Favorite Tracks: To Forgive; Tonight, Tonight; Bullet with Butterfly Wings  

#177: Nick Drake - Pink Moon (1972)

Zack: Nick Drake’s life (and the songs he wrote about it) sounds like someone tried to create the ultimate tragic character. A recluse with a serious case of depression, his music is as powerful as it is unassuming. It’s just a single acoustic guitar and his melancholy vocals. But it still finds a way to speak to the saddest parts of you. Plus, it’s so short that even the length feels tragic. Like the life of the album was just cut short before it’s time. Sort of appropriate for his final work. There’s not much that can be said about it beyond that it is so sad that it makes the face on the front look like it’s having the time of its life. Clearly this is the kind of album meant for people to stumble upon and experience. I’m really glad I did.

Favorite Tracks: Which Will; Place to Be; Free Ride

Emily: Listening to Pink Moon is like reading someone else's diary. It's so honest and deeply personal that part of me felt like I wasn't supposed to hear it, that no one was supposed to hear it, that Nick Drake wrote and recorded every song as a personal note in order to exhume his feelings. In a way that happened when it was first released - the album didn't even sell 5,000 copies. Like old diaries, the records were stored in dusty boxes as Drake's life came and went. Only in the last few decades did people begin to literally and metaphorically clear away the cobwebs and rediscover these personal laments. I can see why the acclaim was inevitable though. Each short song, only accompanied by a simple acoustic guitar, sounds like it could have been recorded in any era, and its sadness (however personal) can deeply affect any listener.

Favorite Tracks: Parasite; Pink Moon; Which Will

#176: Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out (1959)

Emily: Yesterday at work, I has a jazz compilation playing over the gift shop sound system. It was just a jazz kind of day, especially knowing that next on the list was a classic jazz album that we actually have as part of our gift shop CD rotation. A high school kid that was part of the tour came in the shop, noticed the music, and proclaimed that the shop must be awesome because "any store that plays jazz is going to be awesome." Okay, maybe the kid was a bit pretentious, but I see his point now that I've listed more closely to Time Out. As easily as this album became pleasant background music for my afternoon activities, it frequently grabbed my attention with its tempo changes, varied instrumentation, and bouts of improvisation. That's why jazz works so well in a store (or restaurant, or any place of business). For the most part it subtly enhances your experience in the background, but when it draws your attention it becomes a signature aspect of your visit. Of course, this theory only holds for certain jazz music - Kenny G need not apply - and the Dave Brubeck Quartet seems to fit the bill perfectly.
Favorite Tracks: Everybody's Jumpin'; Three to Get Ready; Blue Rondo à la Turk

Zack: Funny story. I ended up riding throughout Siouxsie and the Banshees and had enough time left over that I figured it was worth starting a new album. I’m so glad I did. I really didn’t know what to expect from this album, knowing only beforehand that it was jazz and that it was old. Now that I have time to look it up on Wikipedia, I’ve discovered that it’s practically experimental jazz for its use of unusual time signatures. Yeah…I didn’t notice that at all. But what I did notice was that this was a true quartet. All the instruments are featured roughly equally. If pressed, I’d say that the bass was a bit weaker than the rest, but the performances from the drums, keys, and sax were all indistinguishably good. The quartet really seemed to feed off each other and build a tune collectively. Solos rolled up and then receded slowly, only to be replaced by another. And never did they miss a beat. Time Out, overall, is just a great example of what happens when a group plays together is complete harmony.

Favorite Tracks: Blue Rondo à la Turk; Take Five; Everybody’s Jumpin’

#175: Aerosmith - Pump (1989)

Zack: I’ve never been the biggest Aerosmith fan, mostly on the grounds that they’re kind of annoying. They may be called “America’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band,” but I’ve never heard any evidence to support that claim. Now I haven’t listened to Aerosmith’s complete discography, but I have listened to their biggest album (Toys in the Attic) and I’ve now listened to their comeback album as well. And I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed both times. They’ve just always struck me as a band trying to be as great as their predecessors. Like they’re chasing the legacies of other great blues rock and hard rock bands but all they can produce is a cheap imitation. Just look at Slash’s tribute to them as the 59^th best musical act ever; he is forced to quantify them in the terms of the Rolling Stones. Those two bands are natural comparisons, with their blues influences and all, but Led Zeppelin seems to me to be the closer link. Zeppelin came immediately after the British Invasion had lit the world on fire, but they became big by doing it their own way. Aerosmith started around the same time, but they just seemed (at least to me) to put out record after record of hackneyed, formulaic stuff. It takes a special kind of group to see the shadows of the greats, dutifully pay their respects, and then go on and become their own entity. As far as I’m concerned, Aerosmith has never done that. You could listen to an Aerosmith album, or you could go make a mix from the Stones, Zeppelin, AC/DC, and maybe a bit of the Yardbirds and get something a lot better that doesn’t feel like a knockoff.

Favorite Tracks: Janie’s Got a Gun; Don’t Get Mad, Get Even; What It Takes

Emily: Zack is not exactly an Aerosmith fan, as you can tell. I'm not really either, but I can't really think of bad things to say about Pump. Then again, I can't really think of many good things either.  Everything about Pump just sounded generic to me. That's how Aerosmith is seen too, so it makes sense. After all, Steven Tyler ended up on American Idol 20 years after this - generic pop-rock breeding more generic pop-rock. Anyway, Pump takes blues rock, hard rock, and pop influences and blends them together into radio-friendly hooks and riffs. It's consistently upbeat and rocking, but scaled down for a mainstream audience. Perhaps watered down is a better way to describe it. There's nothing really to set it apart. Aerosmith does best when they do something unique, like collaborating with Run-DMC on Walk This Way. Unfortunately, unique doesn't really come through on Pump.

Favorite Tracks: Love in an Elevator; Hoodoo/Voodoo Medicine Man; Janie's Got a Gun