#276: The Verve - Urban Hymns (1997)

Zack: Emily and I have a disagreement over whether or not The Verve are a one-hit wonder, a disagreement that may stem from the fact that she has worshipped at the gospel of Vh1 too long or because I severely overrate the quality of Love Is Noise. It went to No. 1…in Ireland. Okay, point taken. But the real point is that Bitter Sweet Symphony is a bitchin song and they went ahead and put that first, daring you to try and listen to the other 11 without doubling back and listen to those strings in the world’s most brass- and woodwind-less symphony. If you can get past that, it’s totally worth doing so. Not every song on this album is a winner, but there are plenty that can jump out at you during even a casual listen.

Favorite Tracks: Bitter Sweet Symphony; Weeping Willow; One Day

Emily: I was surprised to learn that The Verve, like many others on this list, have a whole album that's more than just the famous single over and over again. However, I think an album of Bitter Sweet Symphony played 12 times in a row would be preferably to the rest of Urban Hymns. It wasn't a bad album, just dull. Bitter Sweet Symphony starts it out on a high note with its iconic strings and hummable melody. From there, though, I just got bored. A few songs briefly picked up my interest, but they all seemed to blend together after a while. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for an evening of Urban Hymns, but I think The Verve should've just stuck with their one-hit strategy.

Favorite Tracks: Bitter Sweet Symphony; Space and Time; Velvet Morning

#275: The Everly Brothers - A Date with the Everly Brothers (1960)

Zack: When we initially picked this batch, I understand that Emily’s main reason for selecting this album was, “one of those dudes died recently.” By the time you read this, I’m sure it won’t be that recently. And I also hope that Kid Rock keeps alive and kickin’ for as long as possible. Nevertheless, I’m really glad she did because this album was a real pleasant surprise. The Everly Brothers sound a bit like Simon and Garfunkel were bred in captivity with the Beatles, then those genes were spliced with some random country guitar player who is charged with nothing more than standing in the background and trying not to stand too close to the spittoon. None of those acts are my favorite in the world (although the third is sure close), but they each work in their own way and still sound great when combined. A Date with the Everly Brothers just worked from start to finish and you could hear the influence they’ve had in every harmony.

Favorite Tracks: Stick with Me Baby; Love Hurts; Cathy’s Clown

Emily: As Zack mentioned, one of my reasons for picking this album was because Phil Everly had recently passed away and, as a result, his name and brotherly band were in the news. My other reason was that I had also recently listened to Foreverly, an album of Everly Brothers covers by Billie Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones. In their duets, Billie Joe and Norah reinterpret a '50s Everly Brothers album, Songs Our Daddy Taught Us. That album, as the name implies, is a collection of folk and country standards that the Everlys learned growing up. Though I haven't listened to the original, Foreverly combines beautiful harmonies with simple country undertones and surprisingly dark lyrics - an interesting and worthwhile listen. So that's what I expected going into A Date with the Everly Brothers - country-tinged folk, traditional yet dark lyrics, and harmonized duets. Aside from the harmonies, the two albums ended up not having much in common. Recorded and released in 1960, A Date with the Everly Brothers takes on pop and rock & roll without entirely losing the brothers' country roots. The resulting (original) music, combined with those signature harmonies, is early pop music at some of its best. Its influence on later '60s artists is clear, and it still completely holds up for a modern listener to enjoy.

Favorite Tracks: Cathy's Clown; Sigh Cry Almost Die; Donna Donna

#274: Dusty Springfield - A Girl Called Dusty (1964)

Emily: When I looked at our list to see what I was listening to tonight, I groaned a bit when I saw the name Dusty Springfield. Based on the name alone, I thought she was a '50s or '60s country singer - not exactly my cup of tea, and not at all what I wanted to listen to tonight. Imagine my surprise when the first song, Mama Said, started and it sounded like late-'60s Motown girl groups. The Ronettes and Darlene Love came to mind immediately, so I flipped over to Wikipedia to get a little more info about Dusty, and it turns out she's a mid-'60s British pop singer. The short album nimbly bridges the gap between the British Invasion sound of The Beatles and their brethren, and the soul-and-doo-wop influences of Motown. The end result is thoroughly enjoyable - an unexpected trip to Detroit by way of London.
Favorite Tracks: When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes; Will You Love Me Tomorrow; Nothing

Zack: I don’t really have much to say about this album. It was short, poppy, yet still had a soft soulful side. She sings a rendition of Mockingbird that I liked infinitely more than Eminem’s version. But most importantly, it was short enough that it never outstayed its welcome. Just like this post.

Favorite Tracks: When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes; Mama Said; Anyone Who Had a Heart

#273: Magazine - Real Life (1978)

Emily: Usually the magazines I read are Cosmo or something equally girly/trashy. Sadly, Magazine the band was not nearly as fun as magazine the publication. Since Real Life is a fairly early post-punk album, and the band was started by a guy from the Buzzcocks, it ended up being more punk than post. I liked that element, but overall I wasn't enthused. Post-punk has started to all sound the same to me, and it takes significant creativity to overcome the standard sounds of the era. Magazine started to do that, but didn't take it far enough. The end result, although not bad, was simply underwhelming.

Favorite Tracks: Shot by Both Sides; Recoil; The Light Pours Out of Me

Zack: I took a break from the deep Wu-Tang dive I’ve been on lately to listen to this album. I’d initially listened to it like a week prior but wasn’t really paying attention. I think I was playing around with ANES data at the time or something, and you know how interesting that can get. Anyway, Real Life did not sound like any Wu-Tang I’ve listened to, so I’m going to have to hold that against it. Then again, this did come out 25 years before Enter the Wu-Tang, and that album sounds like nothing else before it, so I can’t really be that harsh on that grading metric. Real Life was a pretty decent album. It didn’t sound quite as boring as a lot of the other post-albums we’ve come across, which I attribute at least a little to the fact that one of the founding members was literally in the post-punk phase of his career after leaving Buzzcocks. A few songs stuck out – those would be the ones listed below – but a lot of the songs just sounded mildly interesting and didn’t really draw me away from the GSS or Pew data I was playing with (welcome to my life). If I had to sum up this album in six words, I would go with: “Good, but didn’t bring da ruckus.”

Favorite Tracks: The Light Pours out of Me; Recoil; Motorcade

#272: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984)

Zack: I was listening to this album while outlining. When I got to the third song, I fell into a deep trance and felt a sudden, insatiable urge to commit some sort of high-profile political assassination. Next thing I knew, I was almost done with my outline and I was listening to a cover of Born to Run that I didn’t know existed nor want. Not to say that this album wasn’t good, but don’t cover the Boss like that. You are not Bruce. You are Frankie. And you may be on your way to Hollywood, but Bruce is from Jersey, and we handle our business a little different in the Garden State. Actually, the cover wasn’t half bad. Neither was this album, which was much lower on the cheese quotient than the most well-known track would have you believe. It wasn’t a particular great album either, but considering some of the other New Wave we’ve come across, I’ll take okay any day.

Favorite Tracks: Relax; Black Night White Light; Snatch of Fury (Stay)/Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Emily: At some point in the early '80s, people were really into Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Now, they only had one hit in the US (and a few more in the UK), but that one hit inspired legions of fans wearing colorblock T-shirts telling the world that "FRANKIE SAYS RELAX." These T-shirts were most appropriately worn with leg warmers and crimped hair, of course, and I doubt many of their wearers were actually die-hard Frankie Goes to Hollywood fans, since it's pretty hard to be a die hard fan of a band with one album and one song that broke up shortly after both were released. But I'm sure Frankie has some fans out there who still love this album. And they probably still love their leg warmers too, since Welcome to the Pleasuredome is completely stuck in the '80s. It's a middling New Wave album with some schlocky ballads, a few neon-hued dance tracks, and a surprisingly good cover of Born to Run. Must like their eponymous T-shirts, Frankie Goes to Hollywood hasn't exactly aged well, but their music isn't a bad a blast from the past.

Favorite Tracks: Relax; Wish the Lads Were Here; Born to Run