#407: The Replacements - Let It Be (1984)

Zack: This album came out a decade before it sounds like it did. Seriously, I thought it was a really solid alternative album from right after the grunge era. It sort of sounded like an edgier Oasis. Turns out, I was way off. The Replacements started as a punk band (which I honestly could have guessed from the name alone) then decided they had gotten tired of trying to break guitar speed records and slowed it down a tad. Wikipedia claims that this made them a post-punk band, and in a strictly literal sense I suppose that’s true. It did come out after the band had personally gone post punk. But the sound is pure alternative rock. If you’ve read any of my other posts over the past 6 years, you know that that is about the nicest compliment I can give. Let It Be features some great melodies and never gets boring. More importantly, it created a sound years before others invented it. That along makes it worth a listen.

Favorite Tracks: I Will Dare; Seen Your Video; Androgynous

Emily: It takes a lot of balls to call a rock album Let It Be. Even if it sounds nothing like the Beatles, there will be inevitable comparisons to one of the best albums by one of the best bands of all time. That was my first thought when I saw the title of this album by The Replacements, but that thought didn't last long at all. As Zack noted, rather than reaching back in time to its predecessor-in-title, it seemingly leaps into the future. Its nod to the past is to the fast, angry punk of the '70s and early '80s, Then it skips over the dreary elements of the post-punk of its time to the alt-rock sounds that rose to prominence ten to fifteen years later. You can hear the influence of this sound in countless songs and albums from the '90s through today, many of which I love and have loved since my teenage years. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed Let It Be (with nary a thought of the Beatles in my head) and I will certainly be returning to it.

Favorite Tracks: We're Comin' Out; Favorite Thing; Unsatisfied

#406: Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time (1989)

Emily: You don't necessarily think of white red-haired women singing the blues, but Bonnie Raitt somehow makes it work. It definitely was not a straightforward blues album, though. A few songs have slick and polished production more reminiscent of pop and country music (and definitely characteristic of '80s), while others have a slightly shaggier quality that provided more of a blues and rock vibe. Both strategies work fairly well and create a cohesive sound reflective of an artists straddling multiple musical worlds, but I preferred the latter.
Favorite Tracks: Real Man; Nobody's Girl; Thing Called Love

Zack: After the novel I wrote for N.W.A., I figured I would keep this review brief. Nick of Time was a good album, but I didn’t find it particularly exciting. It was the epitome of 4-out-of-5 star. Solid throughout, no complaints to be voiced, but hardly engrossing. As I listened to it, I found myself generally liking every song, but there really aren’t any that I would plan on relistening to. Overall, there are certainly worse ways to spend 40 minutes, and Nick of Time is certainly a good album, but I left the experience certainly unimpressed.

Favorite Tracks: Real Man; Nobody’s Girl; I Ain’t Gonna Let You Break My Heart Again

#405: The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969)

Zack: I was able to stealthily make sure that the first two Rolling Stones albums we listened to were my favorite two, so it’s all downhill from here. Not really, the listmakers (for once) did an excellent job in picking the 6 Stones albums they included, so Let It Bleed is privy to all the same praise I’ve heaped on Exile on Main Street and Aftermath. If I was to issue any criticism to this album, it would be that the primary singles – Gimme Shelter and You Can’t Always Get What You Want – are just too good. They bookend the album and totally eclipse all the songs in between. For most other Stones albums, the singles are strong but there are a couple of other songs on there that I love almost as much as the singles. Here, there’s a pretty strong drop-off from my first 2 favorite tracks to the third. But that comment is minor, since there’s really no filler track on Let It Bleed.

Favorite Tracks: Gimme Shelter; You Can’t Always Get What You Want; Midnight Rambler

Emily: The Rolling Stones are such an iconic band that I tend to forget exactly what they sound like. It's like they've just been part of the cultural backdrop for so long that they tend to blend in with every other band from that era, all of the musicians who have stood the test of time. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. It means I'm surprised every time I actually listen to a whole Rolling Stones album. I forget how strong the blues influence is in their music, especially earlier albums like Let It Bleed. I think they're most successful, though, when they take that influence and make it entirely their own. That especially shines through on the most iconic songs from this album - Gimme Shelter and You Can't Always Get What You Want. These songs are classics for a reason. And it's a great reminder when you haven't heard them in a while of why this band remains relevant nearly fifty years after this album was released.

Favorite Tracks: Gimme Shelter; You Can't Always Get What You Want; Let It Bleed

#404: N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (1988)

Zack: I’ve listened to Straight Outta Compton before, although only a handful of times. I distinctly remember the last time I listened to it because it was the day after the grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. I, like a lot of people I think, was pretty horrified and angry. The Department of Justice has since released a report saying that Wilson acted in self-defense and I am willing to believe the DOJ on this matter, but a man died and that was at least taking to a formal trial setting, I believe. I spent most of the day after stewing in my frustration, and I naturally drifted toward albums which talked about these issues to soundtrack my disgust. Straight Outta Compton was one of them. It’s fascinating (and very depressing) that an album that came out the same year as He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper could speak so clearly to the events of today. And it’s even more fascinating when you consider the public outcry to black men expressing themselves that occurred then, in light of the fact that when I’m writing this Colin Kaepernick is dominating headlines for refusing to stand for the national anthem. And that, ultimately is what I think makes this album so special. If you isolated only the musical contributions, it would still be worth including in this list. I’ve listened to a fair number of albums that came out the same year as Straight Outta Compton (The Great Adventures of Slick Rick, Love Live the Kane, By All Means Necessary, and Follow the Leader for example) and nothing I’ve heard sounds like this. Dre and Yella really changed the sound of rap by building songs more around the bass than the drums. The rapping is solid, and I will go to my grave arguing that MC Ren is terribly underrated as a rapper. The lyrics have their grimace-inducing moments (like all of I Ain’t Tha 1), but they are more often than not clever and powerful. But beyond all of that, this album stars a conversation, and it’s one we’re still talking about today. That’s what makes it one of the most influential rap albums of all time.

Favorite Tracks: Fuck Tha Police; Straight Outta Compton; Parental Discretion Iz Advised

Emily: Last year, Zack and I, along with another friend, went to see the movie Straight Outta Compton. I was reluctant to go at first, because I wasn't sure how much interest I would have in a movie about gangsta rap in the late '80s, especially a group I had barely listened to before. Turns out I was wrong - I really enjoyed the movie. I left the theater feeling like I learned a lot about N.W.A. and their place in both music history and the larger cultural dialogue about the black experience in America. And that experience led me to pick Straight Outta Compton, the album, to listen to for this blog now. Many of the songs, particularly Fuck Tha Police and the title track, were featured heavily in the movie to show how controversial yet prescient the group was in 1988. While there are songs on this album that are embarrassingly sexist and outdated, the ones that stood out back then remain relevant to the issues facing the world today. Both Straight Outta Compton the movie and the album reflect a particular era in music and history, but tell stories and reflect a mood of discontent that remain startlingly relevant today.

Favorite Tracks: Straight Outta Compton; Fuck Tha Police; Parental Discretion Iz Advised

#403: Liars - They Were Wrong, So We Drowned (2004)

Emily: A few songs into this album, I turned to Zack (who was sitting next to me on the couch watching TV) and told him that I thought this album sounded like spooky Halloween noises. It reminded me so much of the CD you buy at the costume store to provide some ~ambiance~ for the haunted house in your suburban garage. This album is mostly just weird noises being passed off as experimental music. Although a few of the later tracks did actually have some melody and rhythm to them, those aspects were overshadowed by the sheer weirdness and dissonance of it all. The Halloween vibes may have been seasonally appropriate, but if that's what I wanted I would've just turned on the Monster Mash.
Favorite Tracks: Hold Hands and It Will Happen Anyway; We Fenced Other Gardens with the Bones of Our Own; If You're A Wizard Then Why Do You Wear Glasses?

Zack: You know how I normally bemoan every post punk album for sounding identical and just generally not being very interesting. Well, the good news is that I won’t be doing that on this one. For starters, I thought this album might have promise because it appears towards the end of the post punk list I created, and I generally tend to like bands considered post punk revival (Klaxons, Interpol). But apparently I just completely misclassified it. This album really belonged in the experimental rock category, and it is pretty clear to me know that this is less Kaiser Chiefs and more a swarm of bees driven mad with bloodlust. It was really unpleasant and strange, which made it very different from all of those 80s post punk albums, but not at all in a good way. I thoroughly disliked this album, and I honestly struggle to find any redeeming qualities about it. I would have gladly taken an uninspiring but innocuous 80s album by like Siouxsie and the Banshees.

Favorite Tracks: We Fenced Other Gardens with the Bones of Our Own; There's Always Room on the Broom; Hold Hands and It Will Happen Anyway

#402: Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar (1996)

Zack; I was pretty apprehensive of this album. On the one hand, there are things like the title or the artwork or the names of the songs. On the other, I kind of like the few Marilyn Manson songs I’ve encountered in the wild (namely Beautiful People and Vampire) and I remember watching Bowling for Columbine when I was a kid and seeing Marilyn Manson be probably the most thoughtful and articulate person in that whole documentary (I rewatched that interview before I wrote this and it still kind of holds up, especially the part where he says “I wouldn’t say anything to [the people of the Columbine High School community], I would listen to them because it’s the one thing that no one did.”) Both of those points gave me hope. I found that the album confirmed that my reasons for hope were right. While I was listening to it, I was reminded of this band that I’ve gotten kind of into in the past few years, Deafheaven. In terms of general sound, there really aren’t that many similarities. But what I like about Deafheave is how well produced the rollicking metal riffs and screeching sound. It’s metal, but it sounds really lush. The production on Antichrist Superstar was comparable in that sense. Even if this album growled where Deafheaven tend to scream, there was a richness to the music that was really impressive. I don’t think I’ll ever get really into it, and I probably won’t ever listen to it again (when I crave metal, which is rarely, I usually just rotate between the aforementioned Deafheaven and early Metallica, and I’m content with not branching out much from there). But it’s certainly worth a listen, even for the less thrashy among us.

Favorite Tracks: The Beautiful People; Antichrist Superstar; Tourniquet

Emily: I always associate Marilyn Manson with his cover of Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode. For the longest time, I thought that was his song, not a cover. Even when I hear the original I always assume it's the Marilyn Manson version. Before today, I'm not sure if I had even heard any of Manson's own songs. Personal Jesus is certainly more approachable to an unaccustomed listener (like me) than most of Antichrist Superstar, but I liked this album more than I thought it would. Yes, it has its moments of disorienting anger and distortion, and it's about 20 minutes too long, but there's grandiose performance and melody surrounding it all. And it just works, better than I thought it could.

Favorite Tracks: The Beautiful People; Angel with the Scabbed Wings; Tourniquet 

#401: The Ramones - Ramones (1976)

Zack: Oh man. I used to listen to this album all the time. Then I just kind of stopped listening to it one day, probably because I discovered that London Calling could scratch any itches I had for 70s punk music. Honestly, I think I’ve missed it. It can be kind of rough, but in an unabashed way. There is a surprisingly clear vision for what the album is supposed to be, which is pretty remarkable considering this was the debut by a band that was, in many ways, inventing a new aesthetic. It knows exactly what it wants to be and really hits the mark. You can imagine how bands often considered the contemporaries of the Ramones, namely The Clash and the Sex Pistols, heard this and just said yeah let’s do this now. And while the Sex Pistols made the sound more aggressive and the Clash brought in a more diverse group of influences and merged them into punk, it’s clear that the Ramones left a great foundation for them to work off of. I still prefer London Calling, but my appreciation for this album was definitely rekindled.

Favorite Tracks: Blitzkrieg Bop; Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World; Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue

Emily: I was introduced to the Ramones many years ago in a perhaps unusual way. Rather than a cool friend or cousin playing a few tracks for me, I first came to love Blitzkrieg Bop when it was featured on the Jimmy Neutron movie soundtrack. I have no idea why my brother and I decided we needed to have that CD for endless future car rides, but it's a surprisingly good, albeit random, collection of pop music. Alongside Aaron Carter, Britney Spears, and a Lil Romeo/Nick Cannon cover of Parents Just Don't Understand, the soundtrack also features some classic punk and pop jams - most notably We Got the Beat by the Go-Gos and Blitzkreig Bop by the Ramones. While the Ramones probably would not want to see their music in the company of these other artists, let alone on a soundtrack for a Nickelodeon kids movie, it kinda makes sense to have it there. Blitzkreig Bop, much like the rest of the Ramones' eponymous debut, is a simple yet hard-driving wallop of power-punk. It's the rough-edged predecessor of the punky '80s pop of the Go-Gos and their peers, as well as the scores of pop-punk bands that emerged in the '90s and '00s. But the Ramones did it first, and they still did it best. While the coolness factor may not be quite the same after years of marketing and soundtrack features, this album stands the test of time with punks and non-punks alike.

Favorite Tracks: Blitzkrieg Bop; I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend; Let's Dance