So much of what Rage did became cliche by the end of the decade that approaching this after hearing too much Rage and too many Rage imitators, it’s really hard to imagine how fresh this must have sounded in late 1992.
Category: Music
Calenture (1987) by The Triffids
I can’t speak for the Australian critics, but i feel like the American critics who went gaga over this record are guilty of a fairly common problem, where they over-hype a band from a “smaller” English-speaking country like Australia or Canada when if the same band appeared in the US or the UK they might …
Floodland (1987) by The Sisters of Mercy
I have never heard The Sisters of Mercy before and only know of them by reputation. So I got a surprise when I found out that this was basically the lead singer and songwriter’s solo album, as the original band broke up before it was created. I don’t know that this means anything, especially since …
Savage (1987) by Eurythmics
I don’t know Eurythmics very well. Sure, I know their biggest hits, but that’s it. And I only ever recently sat down to listen to an Annie Lennox album. So I have no idea about context here. For example, I had no idea they were so damn prolific. (Seriously, what the hell? 7 albums in …
Nightfall (1987) by Candlemass
I am, I supposed, a peculiar kind of metal fan. I like a lot of metal but one of the things I love about great music is particularly un-metal: variety. So every time I encounter one of these bands that practices within a very specific metal sub-genre, I find my love of variety challenged by …
The Lion and the Cobra (1987) by Sinead O’Connor
I get why this record was such a big deal when it came out: in 1987 it seemed rare that someone with such a distinctive voice comes along, who writes her own songs, and who seems like her artistic personality is already fully formed.But I think that, in retrospect, that view says more about 1987 …
Plastic Surgery Disasters (1982) by Dead Kennedys
This is, if anything, fiercer than Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. It’s also slightly more ambitious, with that horn part, and the spoken word introduction and outro.
Thriller (1982) by Michael Jackson
Much like Bad, so many of the songs from Thriller were hits when I was a little kid that I know more of this record than I could have ever imagined. That knowledge once again puts me in a weird position, having the memory of what some of these songs sounded like to me as …
A Kiss in the Dreamhouse (1982) by Siouxsie and the Banshees
I am really big fan of JuJu for many of the same reasons I like this record: there’s this balance between the dark. “gothic” lyrics and Siouxsie Sioux’s vocals, and the often shimmering neo-psychedelic guitar and sound effects. But I definitely get a sense of deja vu. And I get that sense even though this …
Computer Games (1982) by George Clinton
Though credited to George Clinton, this is a Parliament album in all but name: it is performed by the same people and the general vibe of Parliament permeates everything. The only difference really is the context: it’s the ’80s, and technology has changed and “Planet Rock” is a thing.
Buena Vista Social Club (1999, Wim Wenders)
I have had a copy of the album for over a decade and so I must say that (much of) the music featured in this film is quite familiar. But I had long erroneously thought that the album and the film were more closely related and so I found myself quite confused for a good …
The Bob’s Burgers Music Album (2017)
Much like The Simpsons (at least back when I watched it) music plays a very significant role in Bob’s Burgers. In fact, it plays an even more significant role, given the singing propensities of multiple characters in the Belcher family. This album collects the featured songs from the show, as well as a few covers …
Morning Phase (2014) by Beck
Beck and the critics both seem to agree this is some kind of spiritual sequel to Sea Change. Now, I’m not sure I would have set what I’m going to say had I not read that, but I suspect I would have.
The Second Annual Report (1977) by Throbbing Gristle
What do we do with this, the official debut of one of the most important industrial bands ever?
Funkentelechy vs. the Placebo Syndrome (1977) by Parliament
So i didn’t love Clones of Doctor Funkenstein at all. In the interim, I don’t know if I’ve changed (I think I am more accepting of the general zaniness of P-Funk now than I was) or maybe this is just a lot better.
Slowhand (1977) by Eric Clapton
At some point during Clapton’s recovery from heroin addiction, his style of music changed rather drastically. He still played the blues but a lot of the fire and rawness of that playing was gone. His solo records from the ’70s (excepting the first one) all have a similar pop blues style, even if the individual …
All n All (1977) by Earth Wind and Fire
Earth, Wind & Fire are yet another one of those bands I have preconceived notions about, due to over-exposure to a couple of hits songs. Let this be the nth reminder to never judge a book by its cover.
Saturday Night Fever Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1977)
I don’t like disco so you can imagine that when I found out this was a double album I was… unhappy.
Rocket to Russia (1977) Ramones
What do you do with a band like the Ramones if your a music fan who sees artistic evolution as an essential part of greatness? I have thought about this for years and still never figured it out.
The World is a Ghetto (1972) by WAR
All I knew of this band was “Low Rider” and “Why Can’t We Be Friends?”. Despite the evident commercial success of this record I had never even heard the title track or the successful single from this record. I had literally no idea what I was getting into. But this is great stuff: the majority …
Can’t Buy a Thrill (1972) by Steely Dan
My understanding is that this full-band debut album is not really canon or at least is looked as an immature effort by fans of the band’s later music. But I must say that I think I like it more than their other music.
Easter Everywhere (1967) by The 13th Floor Elevators
The 13th Floor Elevators’ debut album is viewed as a trailblazing psychedelic masterpiece by people who have apparently never heard Revolver but I can’t say I’ve ever been that impressed by it; vaguely psychedelic folk rock to my ears, significantly abetted in its psychedelic vibes by that electric jug, an utterly unique instrument, but only …
The Amboy Dukes (1967)
In some circles this record has a reputation as a bit of a lost classic as there is a certain type of person who just loves this kind of vaguely psychedelic rock music from the late ’60s.
“Luciferian Towers” (2017) by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
I think it’s easy to listen to GY!BE and think that all their albums sound (somewhat) the same. I get that at some level. (I think it’s wrong, but I get it.) Rise and fall, rise and fall, rise and fall. The pattern of their compositions is certainly familiar even if the music within them …
Mogwai Young Team (1997)
By 1997, post rock had existed for some time but I think you could make a compelling case that the sounds we most associate with post rock were still not that common within this horribly named genre, which is really a bunch of different genres. The grandeur and epic scale of much post rock was …
Joya (1997) by Will Oldham
Though I have heard far from all – not even half – of Will Olham’s music, I think it’s safe to say that Oldham is one of my favourite songwriters to debut in the 1990s. He may be my favourite. Something about his lyrics connect we me, even though I don’t always recognize his situations, …
Around the Fur (1997) by Deftones
Whenever I first heard the Deftones, I thought they were Nu Metal. I thought that because a) they were definitely marketed as part of that moment in time by the music video channels and b) I wasn’t one who was going to discern – it was all noise to me. Later on, I read some …
nimrod. (1997) by Green Day
People tell me this is Green Day’s diverse, experimental record. There’s some humour there in that description but from everything I’ve read, it is relatively diverse compared to their other ’90s albums. (I myself have only ever listened to Dookie.)
So Much for the Afterglow (1997) by Everclear
I don’t know this band save for “Wonderful” so I cannot tell you whether the Beach Boys-esque opening to the title track is a giant left turn or not. If it is, that’s brave of them. But, for those of us who do not know this band, it’s the wrong note to start the album. …
Liar (1992) by The Jesus Lizard
I love Goat so much that the first time I listened to this, I was severely disappointed. Why? Well, because it’s not Goat. We often get into this weird position when we love a record and it’s the only record we’ve ever heard by a band, where everything else seems to pale in comparison.