1. Thunderstruck
2. Shoot To Thrill
3. Back In Black
4. Who Made Who
5. Heatseeker
6. The Jack
7. Moneytalks
8. Hells Bells
9. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
10. Whole Lotta Rosie
11. You Shook Me All Night Long
12. Highway To Hell
13. T.N.T.
14. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)
The second live album from AC/DC, and the first of the Brian Johnson era, is nowhere near as inspired as the first one, If You Want Blood You’ve Got It. Pulling songs from more recent times as well as from the Bon Scott era, the band sounds rushed and somewhat tired…going through the motions, if you will. It’s not that they sound bad (they don’t)…they just sound like they want to hurry up and get this show over with already.
If You Want Blood is a much better set, as is the later Live From Atlantic Studios and Let There Be Rock: The Movie, both from 1997. If you have to have live from this period, this one is still out there…but there are better options for live from this band. There is a video of this show (Live At Donington), as well as a 2 CD collectors edition. Skip the latter: one disc is tough enough.
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THE SHINS
OH, INVERTED WORLD
2001-WARNER BROS
Produced By JAMES MERCER & THE SHINS
1. Caring is Creepy
2. One By One All Day
3. Weird Divide
4. Know Your Onion!
5. Girl Inform Me
6. New Slang
7. The Celibate Life
8. Girl On The Wing
9. Your Algebra
10. Pressed In A Book
11. The Past And Pending
The Shins were formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico by James Mercer. He was already into his 30’s when the band’s debut album Oh, Inverted World was released in 2001. The Shins became instant critics favorites, and for good reason. Oh, Inverted World is a great way to start off a career. It’s far from perfect, but it’s still very good. The band recalls a lot of great pop music from the past, particularly The Zombies, who seem to be channeled in almost every track here.
The centerpiece of the album is “New Slang”, right in the center of the tracklist. “New Slang” is as catchy as indie rock has ever been, with a strong acoustic strum throughout, and as good a melody as you’ll hear this century so far. “Caring Is Creepy” is also excellent. Oh, Inverted World was just the start: The Shins have released three more albums, all stronger than this one. But this is still a great addition to their discography, and a great way to start with this band.
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JOAN ARMATRADING
GREATEST HITS
1996-A&M
VARIOUS PRODUCERS
1. Show Some Emotion
2. Cool Blue Stole My Heart
3. Love And Affection
4. The Weakness In Me
5. Rosie
6. I’m Lucky
7. Drop The Pilot
8. Down To Zero
9. Kind Words (And A Real Good Heart)
10. Whatever’s For Us, For Us
11. Willow
12. Me Myself I
13. (I Love It When You) Call Me Names
14. All The Way From America
15. Back To The Night
16. When I Get It Right
17. Heaven
18. Temptation
19. Kissin’ And A Huggin’ (Live Version)
The terminally underrated Joan Armatrading has made a career out of making whatever music suits her at the time: she is a rocker, adult contemporary, jazz, reggae, blues, folk and anything else that suits her at the moment. She is incredibly diverse, and has a catalog that is much more impressive than you know. When Tracy Chapman broke out in 1988, she was hailed as the next Joan Armatrading. And so this 19 track collection from 1996 contains absolutely no filler at all. It’s a great place to start for an introduction to one of the most talented and overlooked performers of the rock era.
This collection has it all. The should-have-been hit songs here is powerful: from her breakthrough “Love And Affection”, a mesmerizing and beautiful ballad, to the catchy rockers like “Drop The Pilot” and “(I Love It When You)Call Me Names”, to the slick reggae of “When I Get It Right”, Armatrading does not disappoint. This is a solid collection, and all of the tracks are essential. Armatrading will almost surely win you over if you give her a good listen. Start here.
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I love Joan Armatrading. I just got so excited right now when I saw her name brought up on this site. I'm not sure I ever have before. I don't have this particular greatest hits album though. She had like a whole string of good albums in the late 70s and 80s. And a couple of the 90s. These are my Top 10 albums by her. In case anyone cares. Lol
Me Myself I
The Shouting Stage
To the Limit
Hearts & Flowers
Sleight of Hand
Walk Under Ladders
Show Some Emotion
Joan Armatrading
The Key
Secrets Secrets
AZTEC CAMERA
STRAY
1990-SIRE
Produced By RODDY FRAME & ERIC CALVI
1. Stray
2. The Crying Scene
3. Get Outta London
4. Over My Head
5. Good Morning Britain
6. How It Is
7. The Gentle Kind
8. Notting Hill Blues
9. Song For A Friend
Several New Wave bands from the 80’s turned out to be lesser known and mostly forgotten. These bands also tended to be the ones that actually made music beyond silly synth pop. This is the gray area of 80’s music where you will find Aztec Camera. Headed by the kind-of egocentric Roddy Frame (who used himself as the opening act on many of the Camera’s tours), this band had more depth musically and lyrically than most of their contemporaries. They also had fewer hits, and were somehow far less cool than bands like The Thompson Twins and A Flock Of Seagulls.
Following the massive UK success of Love (their worst album), Stray came out with virtually no commercial success…but with far better music. It’s a surprisingly diverse album, and features much more guitar than you’d expect. The closest to a hit here was “Good Morning Britain”, a collaboration between Frame and Mick Jones of The Clash. The album rocks in places, but also has soft, highly emotional material (“Stray”, “Over My Head”) to make it balanced and very solid. A forgotten album that deserved a better fate than what little sales it got.
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1. Down to The Wire
2. Burned
3. Mr. Soul
4. Broken Arrow
5. Expecting To Fly
6. Sugar Mountain
7. I Am A Child
8. The Loner
9. The Old Laughing Lady
10. Cinnamon Girl
11. Down By The River
12. Cowgirl In The Sand
13. I Believe In You
14. After The Gold Rush
15. Southern Man
16. Helpless
1. Ohio
2. Soldier
3. Old Man
4. A Man Needs A Maid
5. Harvest
6. Heart Of Gold
7. Star Of Bethlehem
8. The Needle And The Damage Done
9. Tonight’s The Night (Part 1)
10. Tired Eyes
11. Walk On
12. For The Turnstiles
13. Winterlong
14. Deep Forbidden Lake
15. Like A Hurricane
16. Love Is A Rose
17. Cortez The Killer
18. Campaigner
19. Long May You Run
Decade is, very simply, perfection. Maybe the best compilation album of all time, this 3 record (2 CD) set contains all the best of Neil Young from Buffalo Springfield, through Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and his solo career through 1977. And it could have been longer…such is the career of Neil. And to this day, outside of owning his entire discography, this is the best introduction to one of the most important artists of the rock era. They simply don’t get better than this.
It would have been interesting if Young had stayed with the Decade concept: what would Decades 2, 3 and 4 sounded like? What would be set for inclusion on Decade 5? We’ll never know, I guess. But we still have this…an amazing document that show just how amazing the beginning of Neil’s career really was. Essential.
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NINE INCH NAILS
THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL
1994-NOTHING/INTERSCOPE
Produced By TRENT REZNOR & FLOOD
1. Mr. Self Destruct
2. Piggy
3. Heresy
4. March Of The Pigs
5. Closer
6. Ruiner
7. The Becoming
8. I Do Not Want This
9. Big Man With A Gun
10. A Warm Place
11. Eraser
12. Reptile
13. The Downward Spiral
14. Hurt
The early 90’s were not just about the birth of grunge and the death of hair metal, New Wave, and classic rock. There was also this thing that came out of Cleveland called Nine Inch Nails. With only one real member (Trent Reznor), NIN released a dance album called Pretty Hate Machine at the end of the 80’s, then dropped this album in 1994. It was perfect for the changing musical landscape, as it was something unknown to the masses. The album is heavy like nothing else had ever really been: industrial, metal, techno: it was all in one place for really the first time.
The Downward Spiral is a concept album about a man spiraling toward suicide. “Hurt” and “Closer” were both big hits (with the former being later immortalized by Johnny Cash), and Reznor’s music became something with mass appeal: something it sounds like it never wanted at all. But The Downward Spiral is also an uneven collection, with loads of filler and waiting for that next cool moment. The next great moment comes, just not often enough. The good stuff is worthwhile, though.
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ALICE IN CHAINS
DIRT
1992-COLUMBIA
Produced By DAVE JERDEN & ALICE IN CHAINS
1. Them Bones
2. Dam That River
3. Rain When I Die
4. Down In A Hole
5. Sickman
6. Rooster
7. Junkhead
8. Dirt
9. God Smack
10. Hate To Feel
11. Angry Chair
12. Would?
Sometimes, a train wreck of a band can make a pretty good record. Alice In Chains did it. And for such a mess of a group and for one so short lived, they managed to be pretty influencial. Dirt is their second album, and was a monster success. Peppered with hits throughout, it’s amazing the album was even made. All four members were battling addictions at the time, and the record is a mostly depressing mess that somehow manages to work. Bassist Mike Starr would leave the band afterward (he died last year), and singer Layne Staley passed away in 2002.
But of the 12 tracks here, 5 were hits, including “Rooster” and “Down In A Hole”. The album also has “God Smack”, which was later taken for the band of the same name. This is dark, weird grungy stuff, heavy, and somehow a lot of fun. Things never really worked for Alice In Chains again, but Dirt is still a pretty great album.
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Rosie Vela was a model and actress during the 80’s who decided to try her hand at music. You would expect the results to be terrible…they most certainly are not. Zazu (a collection of Vela’s original songs) is a quirky, strange and extremely catchy album, led by the seductive and smoky voice of Rosie Vela. The album did much better in Europe than it did in the US, with a hit single in “Magic Smile”. The centerpiece, however, is “2nd Emotion”, a rollicking and very danceable song stuck in between the more moody pieces that make up the rest of the album.
Zazu is also notable for bring Walter Becker and Donald Fagan together five years after the breakup of Steely Dan. Despite the moderate success of this album, Vela has not recorded anything since, and has made only sporadic appearances: in a couple of films (“Heavens Gate” and “The Two Jakes”), and as a backup singer for Electric Light Orchestra on their Zoom tour. Zazu is a fine surprise if you can find it.
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ARETHA FRANKLIN
I NEVER LOVED A MAN THE WAY I LOVE YOU
1967-ATLANTIC
Produced By JERRY WEXLER
1. Respect
2. Drown In My Own Tears
3. I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)
4. Soul Serenade
5. Don’t Let Me Lose This Dream
6. Baby, Baby, Baby
7. Dr. Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)
8. Good Times
9. Do Right Woman – Do Right Man
10. Save Me
11. A Change Is Gonna Come
This may be, very simply, the best soul album ever made. People forget just how much of a vocal force Aretha Franklin was in the late 60’s, but she was the one contemporary singer who Janis Joplin could aspire to be, and who every female singer since has wished she could be. Aretha had more soul, more power, and more feel…not to mention talent and sheer vocal ability…than any soul singer before or since. Christina Aguilera and Celene Dion have nothing on Aretha Franklin.
This album? Overlooked. Like I said, maybe the best soul album ever made. “Respect”, “Do Right Woman-Do Right Man” and the title track should be enough for you, but there’s also not a minute of filler. The best group of soul musicians of the time. Amazing songs. Aretha in her prime. This album is a must have, and should be owned by anyone who loves soul music, past or present. This is Soul 101. It’s never going to be better than this…no one has beaten this album in 50 years so far…so I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet.
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