Best Ever Albums

Re: Discography Dives!

dihansse — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 16:31:25 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 02/26/2018 21:31

dihansse wrote:

zdwyatt wrote:

Grant Lee Buffalo Discography Ranked:
1. Mighty Joe Moon (1994)
2. Copperopolis (1996)
3. Fuzzy (1993)
4. Jubilee (1998)

They're all good albums but I think they really hit their mark on their second and third albums. As I mentioned previously, I rank Mighty Joe Moon as one of the best albums ever. If you've never listened to these guys, start there. Or, you can check out this handy Spotify playlist I made!

Up next: The Everybodyfields.

Your overview of Grant Lee Buffalo records made me want to relisten to these albums as well (which I admit I overlooked a bit).

To me all their albums are great but I have a bit of a different ranking:
1. Copperopolis with two highlights: Arousing Thunder and Bethlehem Steel
2. Fuzzy: I guess I rank this one higher because it's the first album I bought of them so this would be the one I listened to the most in my youth and with three highlights: Jupiter and Teardrop, Fuzzy and Grace
3. Mighty Joe Moon which I suppose is ranked a bit lower because there's no outstanding tracks (but of course all of them are at least good as well).
4. Jubilee with APB as the highlight.
I hope with you that with these posts more people will discover this great band.

And I must admit I've never heard of Everybodyfields...

Just to come back on Grant Lee Buffalo. Have you heard the new Grant Lee Phillips album:

Widdershins by Grant Lee Phillips

I already like it better than than the Grant Lee Buffalo albums!

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 10:59:55 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/19/2018 15:59

The Everybodyfields Discography Ranked:
1. Nothing Is Okay (2007)
2. Plague of Dreams (2005)
3. Halfway There: Electricity And The South (2004)

All these albums are worth checking out but their third and final record is the killer. If you want to check them out (and I hope more people will), here's a Spotify playlist.

Up next: Coheed and Cambria

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 10:52:18 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/19/2018 15:52

Nothing Is Okay (2007) by The Everybodyfields
Rating: �...�...�...�...�...
Favorite tracks: Wasted Time, Lonely Anywhere, Down By The Water (hidden track)

This is the wonderful, inevitable culmination of the work that precedes it. It's such a beautiful record, filled with heart-wrenching lyrics. It's dark and melancholy, with strong melodies and harmonies. Jill Andrews completely overshadows Sam Quinn, especially on Wasted Time, their best song.

They broke up after this album and Sam Quinn basically disappeared back into the Knoxville music scene. But Andrews has gone on to have a relatively successful solo career. She also has a new project coming out called Hush Kids, which I am very excited about. It's another partnership with a male singer-songwriter.

For whatever reason, this particular partnership didn't work out. But they did put out one perfect album before they called it quits. It makes me sad that it will go unheard by most people.

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 11:09:15 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/14/2018 16:09

Plague Of Dreams (2005) by The Everybodyfields
Rating: �...�...�...�...
Favorite tracks: Can't Have It, Leaving, In Your Boots

I will definitely have to come back to this one as I could see it becoming a favorite. It feels more like a band that's found its sound, whereas the debut was a band that just sounded folksy (albeit good). Everything mixes together really well here. Just see the live performance in the linked video to see what I mean.

There's also a notable jump in songwriting skill from Jill Andrews who claims all the real high points on this record. It's funny to think of this as capturing the work of a developing writer. For their next album, she will write what I consider their best song and easily one of my favorite sad songs of all time. And on this album, I can totally hear her working towards that.

Link

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 12:08:46 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/13/2018 17:08

Halfway There: Electricity And The South (2004) by The Everybodyfields
Rating: �...�...�...�...
Favorite tracks: So Good, T.V.A., Pairlee

I discovered them with the release of their amazing final album, after which they promptly split up. Even though I own this album and its followup, I definitely have not given them the attention that I gave to the final record.

This is a strong debut. Sam Quinn, one of the songwriters and vocalists, won a contest on the strength of the song "T.V.A." He has an unusual voice, which works in the context of the Americana/indie folk sound they're going for. The other vocalist and songwriter, Jill Andrews, is the one with a conventional "good" voice, so I tend to gravitate towards her tracks more than his. But where they're really magical is on tracks where they sing together. It's a strange mix but it works for me.

Link

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 11:45:42 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/13/2018 16:45

2. The Everybodyfields (Johnson City, Tennessee, 2004-2009)

Another short lived group with all of three studio albums:

Halfway There: Electricity and the South (2004)
Plague of Dreams (2005)
Nothing is Okay (2007)

Their final album is their highest ranked album, coming in at 363 for the year. It's also the only album that appears on charts other than my own. None of their albums are in the top 1,000 overall.

Re: Discography Dives!

dihansse — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 14:26:07 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 02/12/2018 19:26

zdwyatt wrote:

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 10:30:06 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/12/2018 15:30

Grant Lee Buffalo Discography Ranked:
1. Mighty Joe Moon (1994)
2. Copperopolis (1996)
3. Fuzzy (1993)
4. Jubilee (1998)

They're all good albums but I think they really hit their mark on their second and third albums. As I mentioned previously, I rank Mighty Joe Moon as one of the best albums ever. If you've never listened to these guys, start there. Or, you can check out this handy Spotify playlist I made!

Up next: The Everybodyfields.

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 09:40:59 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/12/2018 14:40

Jubilee (1998) by Grant Lee Buffalo
Rating: �...�...�...�...
Favorite tracks: 8 Mile Road; Truly, Truly; Everybody Needs A Little Sanctuary

This was the beginning of the end for this band. Prior to entering the studio, Paul Kimble (bass) left the band. Grant-Lee Phillips and Joey Peters (drums) continued on to record this final album. Phillips had this to say about the record:

"The celebrational spirit of Jubilee actually brought a renewed optimism to me personally. The album was well received and understandably the expectations at the label were high, probably too high. Although the highly refined Jubilee had brought the band considerable success at radio with 'Truly, Truly,' a shift within the industry was well underway. The label's constant nagging about 'Call-out Response' was both a new term and a bewildering concept to our ears. The basic strategy: a radio station arranges to call up a listener who is asked to consume about 30 songs over the phone, perhaps 20 seconds of each. From this remote encounter, the listener will then proceed to judge the material. Insufficient call-out response was a big reason that Jubilee hardly got a shot at Warners."

Despite "Truly, Truly" being their biggest single to date (#11 on the modern rock chart), the album didn't take off. Personally, I think the album runs too long. And the approach from Copperopolis (according to Phillips, "new arrangements were becoming more ambitious and the lyrics often more meticulous") ends up going too far for my taste. The band doesn't really have the sound they did on their first three albums, which may also be because Kimble produced those. And the lyrics feel a little overworked at times, a little too clever. The album is solid and definitely has a handful of really great tracks. But I do think it's their weakest offering.

Link

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Fri, 9 Feb 2018 11:57:18 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/09/2018 16:57

Copperopolis (1996) by Grant Lee Buffalo
Rating: �...�...�...�...⭐
Favorite tracks: Bethlehem Steel, Arousing Thunder, Homespun

The opening 10 seconds of this album are so great. It's this great blend of acoustic and electric and it just gets me excited for the album every time I hear it. The first half of the record is every bit as good as Mighty Joe Moon and includes what is probably my favorite Grant Lee Buffalo song, "Bethlehem Steel." The album does lose steam in the second half, though there are still a couple of really strong tracks. In fact, if the album ended on the dreamy "Hyperion and Sunset," it would be just about perfect. Still, this is definitely my second favorite album in their catalog.

Link

Re: Discography Dives!

bobbyb5 — Fri, 9 Feb 2018 07:53:32 GMT

Author: bobbyb5

Posted: 02/09/2018 12:53

zdwyatt wrote:

Fuzzy (1993) by Grant Lee Buffalo
Rating: �...�...�...�...
Favorite tracks: Wish You Well, Dixie Drug Store, Soft Wolf Tread

I got into this band with their second album and never really gave this one much of a chance. It is often the case that my favorite album by a band is whichever one I hear first. If that happens to be something other then their debut, it creates this weird thing where I struggle to get into the earlier albums because they basically don't yet sound like the band I like.

I think that's definitely the case here. This is a good album, but I still prefer the follow-up, for reasons I probably cannot fully articulate. This definitely sounds like them, just not enough like them. Maybe it's the lyrics, which are a huge factor in how I judge music. My favorite albums have turns of phrase that just stick with me. I'll wake up and some little fragment of word and melody will be in my head. To me, that's peak song craft. And there just aren't many moments like that on this record. In fact, the best example of that is the song "I Will Take Him," which was a B-side from a single and doesn't appear on the album.

Link

I didn't think this was someone I would like, but then I heard that song on that Carpenters tribute album If I Were a Carpenter. And I really liked it. So I bought Mighty Joe Moon and I liked that too. I still do.

Re: Discography Dives!

dihansse — Thu, 8 Feb 2018 17:00:18 GMT

Author: dihansse

Posted: 02/08/2018 22:00

I definitely have to revisit this band: I have all their CD's but have neither of them in my top charts currently.
Anyway: good idea Zdwyatt and I'll certainly follow your posts here with interest.

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Thu, 8 Feb 2018 12:05:33 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/08/2018 17:05

Mighty Joe Moon (1994) by Grant Lee Buffalo
Rating: �...�...�...�...�...
Favorite tracks: Happiness, Mockingbirds, Honey Don't Think

Grant-Lee Phillips is the vocalist and primary songwriter for this band. He's had a strong solo career (and regularly appeared as one of the buskers on Gilmore Girls) and I've always been impressed with his songwriting. In a 1998 interview with Charlie Rose, Michael Stipe listed Phillips as one of the songwriters with a “direct connection to the source” and “a conduit to something much, much greater.”

I don't think he's ever been better across the length of an album that he was here. This is one of my all-time favorites; I currently have it at #1 for the year and #2 overall. Listening to it now, after having listened to Fuzzy yesterday, I think I have a better sense of why I prefer it to the debut. There is just more happening in the songs on this one. There are more interesting guitar bits in the background and more vocal harmonies. The overall effect is that the songs just have more depth to them.

Link

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Wed, 7 Feb 2018 12:39:44 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/07/2018 17:39

Fuzzy (1993) by Grant Lee Buffalo
Rating: �...�...�...�...
Favorite tracks: Wish You Well, Dixie Drug Store, Soft Wolf Tread

I got into this band with their second album and never really gave this one much of a chance. It is often the case that my favorite album by a band is whichever one I hear first. If that happens to be something other then their debut, it creates this weird thing where I struggle to get into the earlier albums because they basically don't yet sound like the band I like.

I think that's definitely the case here. This is a good album, but I still prefer the follow-up, for reasons I probably cannot fully articulate. This definitely sounds like them, just not enough like them. Maybe it's the lyrics, which are a huge factor in how I judge music. My favorite albums have turns of phrase that just stick with me. I'll wake up and some little fragment of word and melody will be in my head. To me, that's peak song craft. And there just aren't many moments like that on this record. In fact, the best example of that is the song "I Will Take Him," which was a B-side from a single and doesn't appear on the album.

Link

Re: Discography Dives!

Mercury — Wed, 7 Feb 2018 12:31:37 GMT

Author: Mercury

Posted: 02/07/2018 17:31

I love Grant Lee Buffalo's first 2 albums and that is all I have heard of the discog thus far. Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on those albums.

Re: Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Wed, 7 Feb 2018 11:49:05 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/07/2018 16:49

1. Grant Lee Buffalo (Los Angeles, California, 1991-1998)

I am starting on easy mode, as this is a band I already love and that I think is underrated. They also have a short discography of just four studio albums:

Their debut is their highest ranked album, coming in at 47 for the year. None of their albums are in the top 1,000 overall.

Discography Dives!

zdwyatt — Wed, 7 Feb 2018 11:30:13 GMT

Author: zdwyatt

Posted: 02/07/2018 16:30

As I work on rounding out my charts, especially for years before my music obsession began (~1992), I have been trying to think of interesting ways to dig into older records. Simply listening to the top 20 albums for a given year has proven largely fruitless. Instead, I thought it would be fun to listen to artist discographies in order. And I might as well write about them, because otherwise I'd have to work. And so: Discography Dives!