This is a band that likes instrumentals more than most loud rock bands of their era but, even for a band that likes instrumentals, I’d say it’s a bold move to lead off your second album (the album that is almost always “difficult” for bands of this era) with a track that takes over 2 …
Category: 1995
The Island of the Day Before (1995) by Umberto Eco
This is a weird one, full of all of Eco’s typical obsessions but lacking many of the things that make some of his novels classics or, at the very, least enjoyable. I have read just over half his novels now, and this is my least favourite by a considerable margin.
The Gallery (1995) by Dark Tranquility
This is the other supposed epitome of the Ghothenburg melodic death metal scene. (Actually that’s not entirely true – there are three of them.) But I like it more than Slaughter of the Soul. It is slightly less acclaimed so I find myself just slightly out of step with the critics on this one.
The Ghost of Tom Joan (1995) by Bruce Springsteen
My two biggest problems with Bruce Springsteen are the hype I grew up with and Springsteen’s aesthetic as a producer (and/or the E Street Band). I’m slowly getting over the first one. And this is one of his few records that sort of addresses the latter problem.
R. Kelly (1995)
This is my first R. Kelly record and it is incredibly hard to know what to do with it knowing about the man. I have not watched Surviving R. Kelly yet, but I have listened to the Behind the Bastards episodes about him. I know he is a terrible person and he’s basically gotten away …
Slaughter of the Soul (1995) by At the Gates
So I read that this is a great example of the Gothenburg style of melodic death metal. And that’s where we’re at in the metal world – albums getting massive critical acclaim because they are especially representative of a local scene of a metal subgenre. It’s possible that celebrating the “best” of a nice of …
Liquid Swords (1995) by GZA
This is reputed to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time and I honestly have no idea why.
Soul Food (1995) by Goodie Mob
So record that has a song that lent its name to a style of music is probably a pretty deal, right? “Dirty South” has become the name of a sub-genre of hip hop, sometimes considered synonymous with southern hip hop, sometimes not, which was a pretty big deal at some point. So I feel safe …
Gangsta’s Paradise (1995) by Coolio
Coolio’s debut pleasantly surprise me if only because all I knew of him were the hits from this album, and I was surprised by sense of humour and his self-awareness, things that I didn’t know he had. But that very thing that I found really endearing on his debut – which I otherwise found too …
Daydream (1995) by Mariah Carey
I’m on my fourth ish Mariah Carey album. And, with listening to her actual albums, I’ve come to believe she may be the most technically gifted female vocalist in pop or R&B. (I might go even further than that.) With every album of hers I listen to, I become more and more convinced that she …
The Gold Experience (1995) by O(+>
I can’t claim to know Prince’s catalogue that well, especially since the ’80s. So you can’t take what I say as gospel. But, listening to this, I’m inclined to agree with the critical consensus that says it’s his best record of the ’90s (or one of them). There may well be better ones, of course, …
Up (1995) by Great Big Sea
There have been a lot of bands like this over the years. “Celtic rock” has existed since the ’70s and folk punk came not long after that. This particular band might be relatively unique given their focus on Newfoundland but I doubt it. (I have spent very little time in Newfoundland but I suspect there …
Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995) by Sparklehorse
My memory of Good Morning Spider, the only Sparklehorse record I’ve heard before this one, is that it was pretty harrowing stuff. That makes sense, given that part of it is about an overdose. But I guess I was expecting something similar. And though this record definitely has a “sad” vibe at times, I don’t …
Viva Last Blues (1995) by Palace Music
I like Will Oldham. I like his aesthetic, I like his songs. I basically like everything about him. (Is his affect a little pretentious? I guess. But it doesn’t bug me.)
Garbage (1995)
As I have said way too many times, I do not like post grunge. Usually, post grunge takes something I like and basically ruins it. However, Garbage avoid many of the most irritating aspects of post grunge, if you can even classify Garbage as post grunge. (In fact, that false categorization may explain why I …
Ben Folds Five (1995)
At some point during the last 30 or so years before this album’s release, the piano stopped being a rock instrument. That’s particularly weird given its primary in the creation of rock and roll, as it was piano and saxophone, before electric guitar, that helped create what became rock and roll (in part because they …
E. 1999 Eternal (1995) by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
I have had a hard time getting into (and just plain getting) hip hop for basically my entire music-listening life. One of the major barriers to me has been rap – I am a fan of musicality in music, and rap is often not very musically interesting to me. This is especially true of early …
Elliott Smith (1995)
Allow me to get something off my chest: this record is not “lo fi”. If you think this is “lo fi”, please listen to early Smog or early Sebadoh or early Ween or anything that actually qualifies as lo fi and then come back and listen to this. Smith doesn’t need your help. He’s a …
Dreaming of You (1995) by Selena
I remember the singles from the music videos and the ether, I guess, but that was a bit of a surprise to me. Frankly, all I remembered about Selena was that she died young. Like anyone who died young, there has been a lot of hagiographic “what if” since. But I’ve paid little attention to …
Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home (1995) by The Geraldine Fibbers
YES Where has this band been all my life? I read about them ages ago and I just took my sweet time getting to them. And for that, I’m sorry.
Not a Pretty Girl (1995) by Ani DiFranco
Ani had used bands at times before this record, despite her full, percussive guitar style that easily lends itself to solo performances. But on this record she decided to full band more of the time (to my memory) but by recording just her an her drummer.
Boombastic (1995) by Shaggy
I remember the title track a bit but not well enough to remember the whole thing. (And I’m still wondering if a remix was bigger in Canada because, honestly, it doesn’t sound that familiar with me.) But otherwise, I had no idea what I was in for. And I sort of dreaded this.
…And the Circus Leaves Town (1995) by Kyuss
I really like this band and I really like this sound. In fact, you might say I’m a sucker for bands who play music like this, no matter when. (I remember getting excited about Black Mountain even though they were not doing anything new.) But this is probably the weakest Kyuss album I’ve heard for …
Brown Sugar (1995) by D’Angelo
So I sat down to write this thinking I was going to write something and then I skimmed some reviews and saw this record categorized as “smooth soul” and it got me thinking: this record sure didn’t strike me as “slick” or “smooth” when I listened to it. Why did it strike others that way?
Exit Planet Dust (1995) by The Chemical Brothers
I remain fairly mystified by what to do with electronic music that isn’t very clearly pathbreaking. (Though I know some people would consider this album highly influential.) And so, as with most electronic music of the 1990s which fails to move me (so most of it), I have no idea what to do with this …
Tigerlily (1995) by Natalie Merchant
If you had asked me what I knew of Natalie Merchant before I listened to this album, I would have told you I know she was the lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs and I know she’s a featured vocalist on a couple of the Mermaid Avenue songs. That’s it. Well, now I know better.
Demanufacture (1995) by Fear Factory
I thought I knew metal relatively well, and alternative metal in particular, but I didn’t know these guys until I listened to Obsolete recently. And, listening to this, I didn’t know it was the same band.
Everything I Long For (1995) by Hayden
Despite being Canadian Hayden has mostly eluded me. (And I’ve, um, seen him live. Seriously.) I don’t know why but I’ve just never taken the time to listen to his albums. I’ve heard some of his songs at friend’s places and, yes, I’ve seen him at a festival. But I’ve never paid much attention and …
Sparkle and Fade (1995) by Everclear
I’m familiar with Everclear from their softer, later hits but I’d always heard “they used to be louder”. Well, I can confirm, that is indeed true.
I Should Coco (1995) by Supergrass
Every couple of years – hell, sometimes more than once a year – a new British band comes along that sounds like many previous British bands, but just different enough to sound “new” to enough people, and the British music press and some of their public lose their fucking minds over them. The band makes …