#296: Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking (1988)

Zack: I’ve fostered a pretty intense hatred for Jane’s Addiction dating back to when I listened to One Hot Minute at like 14 and immediately decided that I wanted nothing to do with that album or Dave Navarro moving forward. It’s nine years later and I still have never relistened to that album, but I’ve been forced to officially end my Navarro embargo as of 45 minutes ago. And I have to say, it’s not as bad as I’d feared. Turns out that the sort of heavy guitar edge that was so out of place on One Hot Minute works a little better in its original context. You can almost see why a record label would want to work with these guys, despite their Wikipedia page reading like a satire of an out-of-control rock group and their frontman apparently being in the running for biggest douche in the universe. Seriously, how delusional does one have to be to come to the conclusion that they deserve 62.5% of royalties in a four-man band? And how obviously insane do you need to be to intimidate everyone else to go along with it? I don’t care what the album title says, that is downright stupefying. Anyway, I can’t say that I have plans to ever play this album again and I fail to see how this band was somehow a big enough deal that their goodbye tour became frickin’ Lollapalooza. But I’m starting to see why some of the hype is there.

Favorite Tracks: Jane Says; Ocean Size; Mountain Song

Emily: Jane's Addiction has vaguely been in my consciousness for a while now. Dave Navarro always shows up on those countdown/list/nostalgia shows I love to watch for hours on end as a commentator, usually on metal or the '90s (and I'm pretty sure '90s metal too). Jane Says is played with some regularity on my local alternative radio station, and it pops up on Pandora once in a while too. However, beyond these small references I didn't know much about the band or their music. After listening to their studio debut, I don't really feel like I need to know more. I found the music kind of boring, trapped somewhere between metal and alt-rock without a clear point of view. I guess that's what happens when you debut in 1988, in the midst of hair metal mania and still a few years too early for grunge. Hey, at least we got Lollapalooza out of them.

Favorite Tracks: Jane Says; Standing in the Shower... Thinking; Ted, Just Admit It...

#295: Ramblin' Jack Elliott - Jack Takes the Floor (1958)

Emily: Ramblin' Jack Elliott is an early folk singer in the vein of Bob Dylan, with country undertones that also reminded me of Johnny Cash. Jack Takes the Floor is a bit like At Folsom Prison, due to the spoken introductions to a few of the songs and the live sound culled from performances rather than studios. However, Ramblin' Jack doesn't have the songwriting prowess of either Cash or Dylan. He mainly reinterprets traditional folk songs or presents somewhat humorous observations of everyday life. I didn't find this approach too interesting, but it definitely helped lay the groundwork for the masterful songwriting that later came from the genre.

Favorite Tracks: Cocaine; Salty Dog; Dink's Song

Zack: Ramblin’ Jack Elliott apparently had the same mentor as Bob Dylan – Woody Guthrie, whose works we crossed on Mermaid Avenue – but he’s definitely more of a pure folk artist. Wikipedia describes him as an “interpretive troubadour” compared to Dylan’s independent songwriting, and that description is dead on. Jack Takes the Floor features two covers of even older songs and two renditions of traditional folk songs to go along with seven original songs that all sound like they could have been passed down for decades anyway. Jack Takes the Floor is the type of album that listeners of classic folk or country would enjoy and anyone interested in the history of American music must check out.

Favorite Tracks: Salty Dog; New York Town; Cocaine

#294: Megadeath - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? (1986)

Zack: I liked Peace Sells a lot and I can easily see it slipping alongside Metallica’s Black Album and Ride the Lightning (not on the list but damn good) as something I throw on every once in a while to get pumped. That’s pretty much been the ceiling for any metal album we’ve come across, so you should take that as a ringing endorsement. They’re clearly one of the big four thrash metal bands for a reason. That said, I want to point out that Peace Sells seems to have earned Megadeth a reputation as a metal band that writes socially conscious songs. That’s utter bullshit. Admittedly, I’m only going off one album, but there is only one song on this entire thing that doesn’t have to do with the occult, satanic rituals, or being exiled to Devil’s Island. Maybe the bar is a tad too low when 12.5% of an album needs to have some sort of political message to it and that qualifies as socially conscious.

Favorite Tracks: Good Morning/Black Friday; The Conjuring; My Last Words

Emily: Zack has put this album on our potential listen-to list for a while now, and I never picked it. I'm not exactly sure why, but subconsciously I think the combination of "mega" and "death" indicated music that I didn't exactly want to spend 45 minutes of my life listening to. This time, perhaps influenced by Zack bookending it next to Venom and Slayer, I picked Megadeath for this metal album go-round. Turns out that Megadeath is significantly less scary and obnoxious than their name implies. Yes, it's a thrash metal album through and through. However, the music is melodious and the singing is actually singing (rather than glorified screaming). Peace Sells moves swiftly and caught my ear, even as a non-metal fan. I doubt I'll add it in to my rotation of music, but it wasn't the worst way to spend 45 minutes.

Favorite Tracks: Peace Sells; My Last Words; Good Morning/Black Friday

#293: LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out (1990)

Zack: For some reason, I don’t think of LL Cool J as a golden age rapper. And I don’t mean that as some sort of knock on LL Cool J, just that he’s at least retained enough cultural relevance that I don’t think of him in the same way I think of say…Slick Rick. And yet Mama Said Knock You Out is a few months older than I am and was already LL’s fourth album. On it, LL raps ferociously, especially on the title track and a few diss tracks like To Da Break of Dawn. There’s also a fair amount of diversity. For example, there’s a song entirely of cereal puns called Milky Cereal that crossed its spoon metaphors in a few places and overall was just kind of dumb. In general, I was more into the hard-hitting stuff than the softer, “I’m LL Cool J and I’m chiseled from rock so you should show me your boudoir” songs. Which I thought was interesting since it’s the latter that I associate with LL more closely. Overall, I liked Mama Said Knock You Out and I could see myself adding a few songs to some playlist down the road, but I don’t have any urge to dive into his discography any deeper.

Favorite Tracks: Mama Said Knock You Out; Illegal Search; Eat ‘em Up, L Chill

Emily: At the ripe old age of 22, LL Cool J released his fourth album, Mama Said Knock You Out, after having commercial success through the early waves of hip-hop throughout the mid-'80s. This album seems, though, what really started to bring him critical acclaim in both the hip-hop community and the mainstream music press. He starts to bridge the gap between the '80s golden age, with its goofier lyrics and heavier influence of funk and soul, and the harder sounds that came to prominence in the '90s. In general, I preferred the former side of LL Cool J. The title track, though, was my favorite because it really brings the two eras together. In the (relatively short) timeline of hip-hop and rap, LL Cool J has been a figure throughout, adapting a bit to the times while still staying true to his sound. On Mama Said Knock You Out, that adaptability shines through.

Favorite Tracks: Mama Said Knock You Out; Eat 'em Up, L Chill; Around the Way Girl

#292: Black Flag - Damaged (1981)

Emily: When we were picking the current group of albums, I was reading a biography of Dave Grohl that Zack bought me a while back. We had just seen Foo Fighters at Firefly, so it was a fitting read to get through post-festival back-to-work sadness. What I didn't expect from the book was a fairly comprehensive history of all of the music that influenced Dave Grohl in his youth, especially before he joined Nirvana. Grohl grew up in suburban Washington, DC, and during his teenage years an underground hardcore punk scene was developing in his midst. Influenced by the bands he saw in rec centers and church basements and listened to on vinyl that he ordered from the backs of DIY 'zines, Grohl played drums and guitar, joined a bunch of different hardcore and punk bands, and ultimately made his way to Seattle to join Nirvana. One of the bands chronicled that had a formative influence on Grohl was Black Flag, and that's precisely why I chose to listen to it now. Black Flag was one of the most influential bands to emerge from the underground hardcore scene. Black Flag started out in California, but became part of the DC scene when Henry Rollins (a fairly scary man with a really large neck) became their lead vocalist before recording Damaged. Hardcore took the anarchist elements of punk, both musically and politically, and turned them up even more. The result frequently approaches fits of screaming rage with a little bit of guitar thrown in. Fortunately, Damaged only approaches that unpleasant threshold a few times. At its best, Rollins' scream-sung vocals meld perfectly with the band's power-punk drums and guitars, creating music that just begs to be performed in a small club or basement with hundreds of young people like Dave Grohl jumping, slam dancing, and yelling along like their lives depended on it.

Favorite Tracks: Rise Above; TV Party; Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie

Zack: I’d heard about Damaged from Cracked, my go-to depository for time-wasting lists (suck it Buzzfeed!) so I already knew to expect violent anti-parentism from this record. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I assumed that at least one track would have a bridge that was just a man putting a condom on or some other audial representation of contraception and/or abstinence (Kenny G?). Tragically, I don’t think I got that. Damaged is one of the formative albums from the hardcore punk subgenre, which apparently is where annoying straight-edge people come from. When I was listening to it, I couldn’t help but think of a line from the show Orphan Black, which I started watching recently. In the scene, the main character is talking to her foster mother about how the latter exposed her to punk music. The foster mother laments that she took up the music, but left behind “all of the politics.” What made that line interesting to me was that both sides are vital. Damaged definitely has both sides. Musically, Damaged was heavier than your average punk, but in line with albums we’ve heard from around that same time (Dead Kennedys has been my favorite example). Politically, well, the album starts with a track called Rise Above that isn’t about zeppelins. Overall, I didn’t love either the music or politics of Black Flag as much as I hoped I would. In general, I seem to favor either the original punks of the '70s or the punk revivalists of the '90s (minus Green Day for obvious reasons). Hardcore especially seems to turn me off. Maybe it’s because I’m just not real enough for it. Maybe it’s because it shares too many cursory similarities to Napalm Death which still prompts flashbacks and episodes. I don’t know. All I can say is that Damaged was clearly a good album, just not one that I feel inclined to listen to over and over again.

Favorite Tracks: TV Party; Rise Above; Padded Cell

#291: Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley (1956)

Emily: I'm kind of surprised it took us nearly 300 albums to get to Elvis, because when you think (okay, when I think) of rock and roll in the '50s, Elvis is who immediately comes to mind. Just think about it: in a soda shop, with girls in poodle skirts - Elvis has to be playing on the jukebox. His music really defined the era by taking rock and roll to the mainstream. From this self-titled debut album, it's easy to see why it caught on. The songs are breezy and catchy, with blues rhythms that take out the emotion and replace them with upbeat rockabilly. It's a simple formula to get heads turning and toes tapping. This formula didn't start with Elvis, but he definitely honed it in his early career. And in all walks of pop-music life, it's been imitated ever since.
Favorite Tracks: Blue Suede Shoes; Blue Moon; Tutti Frutti

Zack: I listened to this album while organizing my loose change into those little sleeve things since apparently my local bank exists in a parallel universe where there aren’t coin counting machines, perhaps one where this album was just released. The task was mindless in just the right way that I was able to still focus on the album completely, which is good since my first real exposure to Elvis was through his ongoing beef with Eminem. It was very brisk and had a certain classic feel to it. All of the songs were sort of…simple. All the songs are about either seducing a girl, being in love with a girl, or having your heart broken by a girl (which I’m now referring to as the songwriter life cycle). Obviously Elvis didn’t invent the music he’s so strongly associated with from scratch and it isn’t fair to just say that this is a starting point in popular rock and roll, but what’s notable about Elvis Presley the album and the artist more generally is how sturdy a foundation was left for everyone that followed. I liked Elvis’s debut as an album, but I really appreciated it more as a blueprint for everything else that came after.

Favorite Songs: Blue Suede Shoes; I Love You Because; Tutti Frutti

#290: Hawkwind - The Space Ritual Alive in Liverpool and London (1973)

Emily: The primary genre Hawkwind is classified under is "space rock." What exactly, though, is space rock? Beyond just being rock! in space! yeah! Is it alien rock? A martian boogie-woogie? The totally metal sound of galaxies colliding? Or just the total emptiness of sound floating through an infinite universe? On Space Ritual, Hawkwind decides that space rock is prog-rock meets electronic, with some of those martian grooves in there too. Since this is a live album, there are few tracks of stage proclamations about space, the universe, and I think a few minutes on alien probing (the word orifice was distinctly mentioned). I assume the live experience was full of space-like imagery and sounds as well, adding to the immersive experience. Without that extra element, though, Space Ritual just seemed like a recorded experimental rock album - albeit one that was extra spacey.
Favorite Tracks: Orgone Accumulator; Lord of Light; 7 by 7

Zack: I didn’t really know what to think about Hawkwind. I didn’t think I loved it. I didn’t think I hated it. I didn’t think I was ambivalent toward it. It exists. I listened to it. Step 3. Moving on. I’m still trying to fill out Step 3, but all I’ve got is that it should be some sort of reaction. I listened to it hours ago at this point, but nothing substantial has come to me. It was a double album, so I split the listening into two halves and got lunch in between. It’s a live album, but the crowd noise only really comes into play at the very ends of songs, so it usually doesn’t even feel live. I think what confuses me the most are the quasi-skits that break up a lot of the songs. They tend to be sci-fi ramblings about space that go on for two or three minutes in between songs, and I don’t understand why they’re there. If I were in the audience on the day they’re recording, I would be frustrated that they were taking up my time to do those, but I would understand and appreciate that space rock is a complex genre and instruments need to be switched out or tuned. But the album seems to be heavily mixed to remove a lot of the liveness, so why not just take those out and get this album length a little farther away from the 90 minute mark? I don’t know. I really enjoy The Flaming Lips and all their weird space rock nonsense. It’s fun and quirky and just generally sonically pleasing. At times I liked the songs. At other points I was just confused. Like they were pushing the weird quirky factor just a little too hard. I don’t know. I still don’t. My only real take from this album would be that it’s probably great if you’re super into prog rock. But if you’re just a casual fan, this is probably one you can skip over.

Favorite Tracks: Orgone Accumulator; Lord of Light; Down Through the Night

#289: Ali Farka Toure - Savane (2006)

Zack: Over my winter break, I went through and listened to a ton of the albums that appeared on various publication’s “Best of 2013” lists. I found a ton of new artists that I love and several albums that I listen to religiously now. But I don’t think any find was bigger or more surprising that Bombino. His album Nomad is fantastic from start to finish, and worth checking out by anyone and everyone. While I don’t know if Bombino was influenced by Ali Farka Toure in any way, it sure sounds like it. Whereas Nomad merges world music with classic rock influences like Jimi Hendrix, Ali Farke Toure combines African folk music with the blues seamlessly. It was really refreshing to hear, especially since the world genre tends to be so hit-or-miss.

Favorite Tracks: Banga; Savane; Ledi Coumbre

Emily: I also immediately thought of Bombino as I listened to Ali Farka Toure. Both musicians take the traditional folk music of their home countries and fuse it with modern influences - Hendrix and other rock music for Bombino, and classic blues for Ali Farka Toure. Both musicians are also highly regarded as guitarists, bringing together these genres with deft musicianship. Unlike other "world" music, which essentially just takes the music of one non-Western culture and dubs it "world" because it's not the kind of music we make or listen to in America, these artists truly make world music by bringing together the musical traditions of generations and cultures from all across the globe.

Favorite Tracks: Soya; Savane; Yer Bounda Fara

#288: Chemical Brothers - Exit Planet Dust (1995)

Zack: My three favorite electronic albums, as of right now, are Air’s Moon Safari; Chemical Brothers’ Exit Planet Dust; and Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories. What I find so interesting about that is the fact that those three albums could not be more different. Moon Safari, which we listened to years ago, is a relaxing “chillout” album that is just perfect. Random Access Memories is a wonderful journey through music, complete with not one but two super poppy Pharrell songs. And Exit Planet Dust is heavier than either of those two, with almost a little rock edge to it. I find this disparity to be so interesting because I’ve typically been so down on so many of the electronic albums we’ve listened to. Surely there must be some sort of trend that will predict which electronic albums I’ll like and which I’ll despise with the sort of fury that only exists in the hearts of the truly depraved. But if we commit the cardinal sin and look only at the dependent variable, no trend emerges. I don’t know why that is. But Exit Planet Dust is an awesome electronic album that avoids many of the pitfalls that usually frustrate me with so many other albums. Namely it avoids being repetitive while still not relying on sudden jumps in sound (essentially building up a nice, smooth continuity that doesn’t rock you to sleep) and doesn’t drag on forever (under 50 minutes is totally acceptable, but it’s worth noting that Daft Punk close in on 80 minutes and remain entertaining throughout…although that does kill the relistenability). This isn’t a good editing album like Moon Safari is, but I good totally see myself turning it into a good grading album. Yes, that is what I was doing while I listened to it in the first place.

Favorite Tracks: Chico’s Groove; In Dust We Trust; Life Is Sweet

Emily: On the continuum of electronic albums we've listened to, this is probably one of the best ones. Sure, there were a few songs in the middle that were a bit grating on my ears, but I will inevitably feel that way as a fan of melody and non-computer instruments. However, both the beginning and end of Exit Planet Dust are strong examples of taking electronic music and adding rock and pop sensibilities. The result is an interesting listen, an album that seamlessly blends together for its entirety and held my attention in a way that electronic music usually doesn't.

Favorite Tracks: In Dust We Trust; Leave Home; Life is Sweet

#287: Tina Turner - Private Dancer (1984)

Emily: Tina Turner started out as an R&B singer with her husband Ike, who is perhaps better known for his abusive tendencies than his music. I thought she broke out and got her solo start during the late '70s, embracing disco with the likes of Diana Ross. Turns out she stayed with Ike a bit longer than that, and her post-divorce debut was Private Dancer in 1984. She makes a clean break from her old persona, eschewing R&B in favor of shimmering pop, rock, and dance music. What keeps this album from blending in with other '80s pop, though, is Tina Turner's powerful and emotional delivery of the lyrics. Whether it's a storytelling ballad (Private Dancer), a funked-out cover of an R&B classic (Let's Stay Together), or a new pop anthem (What's Love Got to Do With It), Turner's soul-powered voice sets her apart from all of her influences and imitators.
Favorite Tracks: What's Love Got to Do With It; Private Dancer; Let's Stay Together

Zack: I’ll admit that I’ve never really listened to anything by Tina or Ike Turner, with the lone exception being Every Planet We Reach is Dead off of Gorillaz’s Demon Days. I don’t even know the words to a single Tina Turner song, which somehow just feels wrong to say. Additionally, I accidentally refer to this album as “Tiny Dancer” frequently. I’m not ashamed of that last point at all because it always makes me think of a miniature Tina Turner, like a little Tina Turner Tinkerbell, dancing around provocatively, and then I giggle. But the first two confessions I am ashamed of. And I’m glad I get to correct them here. On that note, Private Dancer was pretty good. According to Wikipedia, 70 percent of it became a single. That makes sense, since each and every song seems to have been crafted to blow up on the radio. I think that is the perfect measuring stick of a pop album, too. I was most strongly drawn to a lot of what Wikipedia assures me are the biggest hits – What’s Love Got to Do with It, Let’s Stay Together, and Better Be Good to Me specifically. I don’t know if I would really characterize Private Dancer as a great R&B album (and all that that entails) but I thought it was a great pop album.

Favorite Tracks: I Can’t Stand the Rain; Better Be Good to Me; What’s Love Got to Do with It

#286: Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II (1984)

Zack: There are so many influences in Meat Puppets second album that I could easily break my record for longest post (a record that I believe currently sits at only a modest infinity words) breaking down all the comparisons I made. Instead, I want to focus on two that maybe don’t stand out as much but I thought were the most interesting. First off, there is a real protogrunge element here. The musical origins of grunge are sort of fascinating to me, and the only real precedent I’ve heard before this was some of the electric elements on Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps (relistened to it for the 1012^th time yesterday and it’s still amazing). It seems to be crystallizing a little bit more clearly in a few places here, at least enough that I was surprised to see this album came out in the first half of the 80s. Second, long live cowpunk! Cowpunk isn’t an actually good genre, but it may be my favorite just because of how awful that portmanteau is on the eyes. There was a little cowpunk in Drive-by Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera – a remnant of their earlier days – but this is the first time where whole songs have clearly fallen under that glorious category. I’ve always struggled to explain cowpunk to people, usually just needing to resort to YouTube clips of Social Distortion playing (read: slaughtering) Ring of Fire. Now, I am armed with multiple examples of the horror monster that it is.

Favorite Tracks: Aurora Borealis; Oh Me; Lake of Fire

Emily: I recognized the Meat Puppets from their guest appearance on Nirvana's MTV Unplugged album. They come on near the end of the set, and join Kurt Cobain as he covers a few songs off of Meat Puppets II. From all the times I've listened to that Unplugged album, I never really thought much about the Meat Puppets. I just assumed they were another Seattle grunge band, friends with Nirvana from back in the day and got invited to jam with them for one of their biggest audiences and albums to date. Turns out the Meat Puppets far predate Nirvana, and they're from Phoenix instead of Seattle. And those songs Kurt Cobain took on? Not exactly from a grunge album. Meat Puppets II is incredibly diverse in its influences, ranging from country to punk to psychedelic and everything in between. The Nirvana connection does make sense though - grunge rose out of the same diverse alternative roots in the '90s that the Meat Puppets thrived in in the '80s. And I'd like to hear the cowpunk spin that the Meat Puppets could put on Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Favorite Tracks: Plateau; Lost; New Gods