Country is a weird genre. It’s like folk or R&B in the sense that genre purity makes a little more sense than it does in other genres. Every so often in country and folk, there is a return to something (mostly) more traditional. And there always seems to be a need for it. But, unlike …
Category: Music
Slipper When Wet (1986) by Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi broke when I was too young to really be aware of them – I was not yet five when this album came out. And they had peaked before I was really conscious of the music on mainstream radio – my family listened to oldies stations – and before I was conscious of my …
A Taste of DNA (1981)
Like all No Wave this stuff is aggressively difficult. Lindsay’s guitar scratches and makes sounds some people probably didn’t no could come from a guitar. And his vocals are only a little more accessible, between yelling, shouting, speaking and yelping. The drums vary from being seemingly random to playing somewhat recognizable rhythms. As others have …
Never Too Much (1981) by Luther Vandross
So first off, I don’t know if I’m seeing things but doesn’t Vandross look like Mos Def on the cover of this album? Anyway…
Amigo (1976) by Arlo Guthrie
I haven’t heard “Alice’s Restaurant” in years and, honestly, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the entire song, given it’s length. But anyway, I listened to this because it’s considered by some critics to be one of Guthrie’s best albums. That appears to have been a mistake.
Shaft Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1971) by Isaac Hayes
People just love this album. And I guess I get it, sort of. The title track is iconic and certainly one of the most famous movie themes of the ’70s. But the rest of the album – and it’s a long one – is not up to that standard.
The Exciting Wilson Pickett (1966)
I’m a hypocrite because I’ll rip into Motown for including old hits on new albums but I’m apparently completely fine with Stax (um, I mean Atlantic) putting “In the Midnight Hour” on this album. So much of that has to do with how much I prefer southern soul to Motown and a lot of it …
Bluejean Bop! (1956) by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps
It’s hard to know exactly what to do with Gene Vincent’s debut album. On the one hand, it’s clearly an important record both in the sound and the fact that this is a band playing the music, not a group of session musicians. But it also sounds more dated than a lot of the early …
Time (The Revelator) (2001) by Gillian Welch
I was aware of Gillian Welch, and I think I’ve heard her sing backing vocals on other artists’ work, but I didn’t really know much about her before this. I have some vague memory I might have listened to another one of her albums once and then dropped it, simply because the reviews weren’t quite …
1st Born Second (2001) by Bilal
Is it just me or does Bilal sound like Snoop on the opening? Maybe it’s just me, but it’s weird. Anyway…
Celebrity (2001) by *NSYNC
Like, what the hell happened? This album is a quantum leap in quality from No Strings Attached. It’s not even remotely close. Some of this is actually…good. And it really makes a case that, at least sometimes, it’s good that the talent take over from the handlers in the manufactured pop music space. Because, well, …
Rings Around the World (2001) by Super Furry Animals
One of these bands that I’ve heard the name of many times but never really heard. Or maybe it’s just that the name sticks in your head. Either way, I’ve heard of them without ever hearing them, until now.
Hot Shots II (2001) by The Beta Band
Their debut was a surprising delight. I’ve since read that they may have disowned it but I really enjoyed it so I find that a little weird. (It’s been long enough that I don’t remember well enough if it was just too long or if it was too ambitious or too silly. Regardless, despite its …
Aaliyah (2001)
This is like a British LP from the ’60s where it was released around the same time as a hit single but, in order to encourage you to buy the single instead of the LP (which you presumably buy anyway?) the single is left off. (Not the American version of selling you the single twice …
Beats, Rhymes and Life (1996) by a Tribe Called Quest
I have only ever heard their debut (but I’ve seen the movie!) so I cannot really comment on how this is “darker” than their previous albums. (Though it certainly seems darker and angrier than their first.) It does seem like opinion is split between those who think it’s another fine album and those who think …
It Was Written (1996) by Nas
This has a reputation, to put it mildly. And I’m pretty sure I’m not the one to sort the reputation from the actual record. But I guess I’ll try.
We Can’t Be Stopped (1991) by Geto Boys
So, for reasons I will never understand, YouTube Music – where I do most of my listening to new music – only has the “screwed” version of this album. I didn’t know that meant something and so I listened to it. And I was extremely confused as you might imagine. I knew I had at …
Trisha Yearwood (1991)
I have no investment in country music, so whether or not a particular album indicates “a star is born” is irrelevant to me. Perhaps if there was something truly distinct, I might notice but I don’t know that Yearwood’s from Georgia and, having heard numerous singers from many different genres, I’m not sure why Yearwood’s …
Into the Great Wide Open (1991) by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The Jeff Lynne infestation of Petty’s Full Moon Fever has been allowed to fester and now infects the entire band. I understand this was a big hit, and I grew up with the two biggest songs here too, but this is a particularly polished version of the Heartbreakers, that is relatively unrecognizable to the band …
A Future Without a Past…(1991) by Leaders of the New School
I must admit that I was kind of charmed on the first listen to this album. That charm wore off a bit with repeated listens – why that happened is probably a long story – but that initial positive vibe is pretty rare for me with hip hop, especially hip hop that is this obsessed …
Woodface (1991) by Crowded House
I can’t figure it out, but I know “Chocolate Cake,” “Fall At Your Feet” and “Weather With You.” I’m confused because I was 9 when this album came out and only “Chocolate Cake” reached the Canadian Top 10. Somebody must have had this album, or a greatest hits record or something, right? Anyway, it’s created …
Especially for You (1986) by The Smithereens
Like many people, I’m probably listening to this – and taking it seriously – in part because of Kurt Cobain. I did not enjoy Green Thoughts but it’s been long enough that I forgot about that, so I was able to approach this with fresh ears and be more charitable to it than I would …
Dreamtime (1981) by Tom Verlaine
Marquee Moon is one of my favourite albums of the ’70s so this should be right in my wheelhouse. And it mostly is. Verlaine is a better songwriter than a lot of his contemporaries (with the notable exception of David Byrne), though he’s hardly an all time great. He has a good sense of melody, …
Beauty and the Beat (1981) by Go-Go’s
This is undoubtedly an important record. It is possibly the most successful debut album by an all-female band, at least to this point and history and it might have also been the first all-female band album to hit US#1 (though I’m not 100% sure where I read that and can’t find it now). It’s trailblazing …
Foreigner 4 (1981)
Foreigner were big too early for me – I wasn’t born when this album was released and was just born when its second single came out – but were too late and too poppy to fit into classic rock radio once I discovered it in the ’90s. (Well, I speak for this version of the …
The Silver Tongued Devil and I (1971) by Kris Kristofferson
There are people who will tell you that Kris Kristofferson is the Greatest Songwriter of All Time. (Don’t believe me? Watch Country Music.) This is a preposterous claim on its face for at least two reasons. The first is that there may not be a GOAT songwriter in English or in any language. And second, …
Tim Hardin 1 (1966)
This record has a pretty sterling critical reputation and one has to think that has to do with the overall quality of Hardin’s songs and the fact that this is a debut (so it likely took a few people off guard). Because there is a pretty problem with this album and most of the reviews …
Rooty (2001) by Basement Jaxx
When Basement Jazz were at their heyday, I knew basically nothing about European dance music. I’m pretty sure I thought Basement Jaxx and Daft Punk and (I’m sorry to admit) Massive Attack were all the same thing. I did not care an iota about this stuff (and stuff that didn’t sound like it, apparently!), but …
Oh, Inverted World (2001) by The Shins
I listened to Chutes Too Narrow 12 or 13 years ago, when I possibly could still remember the Garden State thing, and it made no impression on me. I haven’t listened to this band since.
The Tyranny of Distance (2001) by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
I fell like I had some vague idea of this band’s existence. The name certainly rings some kind of bell. But I certainly didn’t know that they were born as a bedroom project and the bound was founded after they were named. (Which is really more common than you would think.) Anyway, I didn’t know …