PIXIES
DEATH TO THE PIXIES
1997 – 4AD
Produced By STEVE ALBINI, GARY SMITH & GIL NORTON
1. Cecilia Ann
2. Planet Of Sound
3. Tame
4. Here Comes Your Man
5. Debaser
6. Wave Of Mutilation
7. Dig For Fire
8. Caribou
9. Holiday Song
10. Nimrod’s son
11. U-Mass
12. Bone Machine
13. Gigantic
14. Where Is My Mind?
15. Velouria
16. Gouge Away
17. Monkey Gone To Heaven
The Pixies broke up in 1993, and alternative music was never quite the same. Sure, they reformed in 2004, but we all know how reunions go…a whole lot of their strange madness was gone and never came back. Death To The Pixies is their first compilation album, and it consists of material from their first and only four albums that really matter. This album has been out of print since 2004, when it was replaced by Wave Of Mutilation: Best Of Pixies. The newer set contains pretty much all of the songs here plus six more, including a cover of Neil Young’s “Winterlong”. Which means, realistically, that Death To The Pixies is unnecessary and doesn’t serve much of a purpose, unless you want to have all of their albums.
For seven years, though, Death To The Pixies was the only compilation out there. It served as a great introduction to the band, with so many of their best tracks all in one place. How can you argue with having “Debaser”, “Wave Of Mutilation”, “Here Comes Your Man”, Gigantic”, and “Where Is My Mind?” all on a single disc? The individual albums are all great and essential, but sometimes, even from the Pixies, you just want the greatest moments. This is a fine compilation, but you’ll probably only find used copies, and the 2004 album is better anyway. Death To The Pixies is a fine listen, but it’s hard to find, it’s obsolete, and there are better options out there to get the best of this great band.
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ALICE IN CHAINS
MTV UNPLUGGED
1996 – COLUMBIA
Produced By TOBY WRIGHT & ALICE IN CHAINS
1. Nutshell
2. Brother
3. No Excuses
4. Sludge Factory
5. Down In A Hole
6. Angry Chair
7. Rooster
8. Got Me Wrong
9. Heaven Beside You
10. Would?
11. Frogs
12. Over Now
13. Killer Is Me
The story of Alice In Chains and their singer, Layne Staley, is one of the toughest and saddest in rock history. Staley was just 34 when he died a terrible, sad and lonely death at the hands of his drug addiction. The last album Staley recorded with the band was for the MTV Unplugged series in 1996…less than six years later, he was dead. Before Staley’s descent into drug oblivion, Alice In Chains was one of the more exciting and interesting bands to come from the Seattle scene. They had released three very cool and excellent albums (plus the most successful EP in history, Jar Of Flies) in the first half of the 90’s. But MTV Unplugged was, because of Staley’s condition, their first show in two and a half years.
The historical significance of this show cannot be understated…but it’s also a pretty average showing by the band. Their trademark vocal sharing by Staley and Jerry Cantrell is on full display, and they make their way through the hits with relative ease. The unplugged setting suits the band well. But there isn’t a lot here that you don’t get from the original studio recordings, so outside of the sentimental value, there isn’t that much to hang your hat on. “Over Now” was the single, and the hits are here…”Rooster”, “Down In A Hole” and “Heaven Beside You”. It’s historically worth having, but in the end, musically, it doesn’t add much to their sad legacy.
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JUDE COLE
I DON’T KNOW WHY I ACT THIS WAY
1995 – ISLAND
Produced By RON ANIELLO
1. Speed Of Life
2. Believe In You
3. Move If You’re Goin’
4. Lowlife
5. Joe
6. Sheila Don’t Remember
7. Take The Reins
8. Madison
9. Hole At The Top Of The World
10. Heaven’s Last Attempt
Jude Cole began his career as a sideman, playing with the likes of Moon Martin, The Records, and Del Shannon. In 1987, he released his self titled solo debut. For the next decade, he tried to make his way as a singer-songwriter. He had more success making single songs for soundtrack releases than as an album artist. I Don’t Know Why I Act This Way is his fourth album, and it went, like the rest of his albums, almost completely unnoticed. This album had no hits, and while it has a nice sounding acoustic base, there aren’t much in the way of songs to hold it up. In fact, the only song here that leaves any kind of positive impression is the opener, “Speed Of Life”. But there isn’t much after that.
The strangest track is “Joe”, which is about a guy who is really not likeable at all. Cole is not bad lyrically, but his musical arrangements fall flat at every turn, with one too many instrumental tricks. Too bad, because Cole does have a good voice and some good ideas. He would release one more album, without a label, before dropping his solo career to concentrate on being a record company executive (he co-founded Ironworks with Keifer Sutherland), songwriter and producer. He resumed his recording career in 2021, and no one really noticed. Unfortunately, Cole has proven to be better suited at being more behind the scenes than at the front to the stage. His best work is with others and on soundtracks, but not here.
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PHANTOGRAM
EYELID MOVIES
2010 – BARSUK
Produced By PHANTOGRAM
1. Mouthful Of Diamonds
2. When I’m Small
3. Turn It Off
4. Running From The Cops
5. All Dried Up
6. As Far As I Can See
7. You Are The Ocean
8. Bloody Palms
9. Futuristic Casket
10. Let Me Go
11. 10,000 Claps
Phantogram is an electric rock duo from New York consisting of Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel. Eyelid Movies was their debut album, and while it was considered a good first effort, it did not gain a lot of sales. Both Carter and Barthel play multiple instruments and sing, with Barthel’s dreamy softer voice being the group’s definitive sound. They do not embrace the universe of dream pop as do bands like Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins or My Bloody Valentine, meaning that they aren’t necessarily better with the lights out. The beats are more straightforward, and the songs on which Carter sings lead do tend to be weaker. But Eyelid Movies does serve as a good starting point for them.
“When I’m Small” is the best song here by quite a bit. Barthel’s vocals are a thrill, and the song glides rhythmically as well as anything the duo has ever done. Carter’s best vocal is “You Are The Ocean”, a song that includes a somewhat surprising amount of guitar. Phantogram has released four albums so far and continue to grow musically, even though they have not quite found the ability to produce any kind of a major hit. Still, they are a very interesting project, and are always worth listening. Eyelid Movies is the best starting point for discovering Phantogram. It won’t blow you away by any means, but it is a very good record. And if you like this, there are three more to choose from.
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NEW GRASS REVIVAL
BEST OF NEW GRASS REVIVAL
1994 – LIBERTY
Produced By SAM BUSH
1. Love Someone Like Me
2. Sweet Release
3. In The Middle Of The Night
4. Saw You Runnin’
5. Revival
6. Hold To A Dream
7. Can’t Stop Now
8. Metric Lips
9. Unconditional Love
10. Friday Night In America
11. You Plant Your Fields
12. Let’s Make A Baby King
13. Do What You Gotta Do
14. Let Me Be Your Man
15. Callin’ Baton Rouge
16. Big Foot
17. Angel Eyes
18. I’m Down
If progressive bluegrass was ever a thing that was popular, then we’d all know about New Grass Revival. As it is, they stand as one of the most talented, most critically disliked, and underrated bands of the seventies and eighties. Talented? This banjo / guitar / mandolin / bass quartet had a number of members, but their classic eighties lineup of Sam Bush, Pat Flynn, Bela Fleck and John Cowan was as good as any band of its time. Disliked? More like misunderstood. They took traditional bluegrass music and added a pop sensibility and look that a lot of people found distasteful, despite how great it was. Underrated? That, my friend, speaks for itself. These guys were simply great.
This 1994 compilation features the eighties lineup, as well as their best known song, “Callin’ Baton Rouge”, which became a hit for Garth Brooks. The playing here is blinding and superb, and vocally, you’d be hard pressed to find a band with better singing. They released five studio albums during this decade, all of which are, unfortunately, hard to find. This Best Of set contains all of the highlights, all of the should have been hits, and more great playing and singing than groups like the Eagles and Poco came up with in the entire decade of the seventies. Their songwriting was terrific, and they weren’t afraid to take on material by The Beatles and Bob Marley…and they were once even Leon Russell’s touring band. Check this out. It’s amazing stuff.
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STEREOLAB
TRANSIENT RANDOM-NOISE BURSTS WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS
1993 – DUOPHONIC / ELEKTRA
Produced By PHIL WRIGHT
1. Tone Burst
2. Our Trinitone Blast
3. Pack Yr Romantic Mind
4. I’m Going Out Of My Way
5. Golden Ball
6. Pause
7. Jenny Ondioline
8. Analogue Rock
9. Crest
10. Lock-Groove Lullaby
One of the strangest and coolest bands of all time. Stereolab is led by its two founding members, guitarist / keyboardist Tim Gane and singer / multi-instrumentalist Laetitia Sadier. Sadier sings in both English and French, and their music changes from song to song just enough to make it nearly impossible to determine exactly what they play. They’ve released 13 albums, with most of their understandably minimal success coming in the United States. Their music, along with their strange album titles, is considered to be avant-garde, but they are surprisingly much more listenable than most artists who carry that tag. Stereolab is weird, but they are also tuneful, fun and more than interesting to listen to.
“Jenny Ondioline” was released as an EP single, and went pretty much nowhere. The rest of Transient (it was their second album) is cool, upbeat, very different, and a pretty terrific listen. The experimental nature of what Stereolab does means that this won’t be on a lot of people’s radar, but that’s okay. This is one of those unpopular albums that, if you find it and can be open to what they do, will be a most pleasant surprise. It’s a lot of distortion, from the guitars and keyboards to the vocals, but it also somehow rocks. Stereolab went on hiatus in 2009, and although they came back a decade later, they have released no new music since. This is a band very worth checking out, and this album is as good as any place to start with them.
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BLAKE BABIES
SUNBURN
1990 – MAMMOTH
Produced By GARY SMITH
1. I’m Not Your Mother
2. Out There
3. Star
4. Look Away
5. Sanctify
6. Girl In A Box
7. Train
8. I’ll Take Anything
9. Watch Me Now, I’m Calling
10. Gimme Some Mirth
11. Kiss And Make Up
12. A Million Years
In the world of early alternative rock, one of the more overlooked bands was Blake Babies. They released four albums between 1987 and 1990, with Sunburn being the final one. It was considered to be their finest work, and the band looked like they were about to hit it big…but then, they went on hiatus in 1991, then broke up in 1992 when Juliana Hatfield went solo. There have been reunions, but those are never the same. This trio (also including John Strohm and Freda Love) had no hits, but were well known on the college radio circuit. Their music is kind of a punkish folk-rock, jangly and catchy, with the contrast of Hatfield’s sweet vocals and Strohm’s punchy guitar.
Sunburn is a fine album. “I’ll Take Anything” includes Hatfield joyously quoting the cartoon character Wimpy’s catchphrase “I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”. Strohm’s vocal turns on “Girl In A Box” and “Sanctify” work well, and the occasional interplay between the two works nicely. It would have been cool to hear what the next album could have been, but that didn’t happen until a decade later during a brief reunion. Hatfield and Strohm have worked together in other bands, notable Some Girls and Antenna. Sunburn is worth seeking out as a reminder that not all of the great 90’s alternative bands were getting lots of airplay, and that if you forgot about Blake Babies, you forgot about one of the best.
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GEORGE STRAIT
LATEST GREATEST STRAITEST HITS
2000 – MCA
Produced By TONY BROWN & GEORGE STRAIT
1. The Best Day
2. Murder On Music Row
3. Carrying Your Love With Me
4. Adalida
5. Lead On
6. Carried Away
7. Blue Clear Sky
8. We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This
9. I Can Still Make Cheyenne
10. True
11. King Of The Mountain
12. Round About Way
13. You Can’t Make A Heart Love Somebody
14. One Night At A Time
15. Today My World Slipped Away
How great is George Strait? This compilation covers just 5 years of his career, from 1994 to 2000…and it’s exceptional. You won’t find any pop country or bro country or anything else other than real traditional country, sung by one of the very best. Strait’s commitment to his craft and to the foundations of his music make him one of the most respectable artists of his time. His voice is pure gold, and his taste in material (he didn’t write any of the songs here) is impeccable. His career has been consistent and great in every way. This album is no exception…you won’t find a weak track here anywhere. Nor is there a less than perfect performance. You can’t go wrong with George Strait.
The first two songs were recorded for this album. “The Best Day” was a number one hit. And “Murder On Music Row”, a duet with Alan Jackson, talks about the decline of traditional country music in Nashville. It was a minor hit despite not having a single release. The rest are from the four albums Strait released between 1994 and 1998. A couple of notable hits are not here… the number one hit ”I Just Want To Dance With You” and “Check Yes Or No”. That’s okay. Everything here is great. “Adalida”, “We Really Shouldn’t Be Doing This”, “One Night At A Time”. Take your pick. You can’t miss with any of Strait’s albums, and one like this that is nothing but best tracks is an easy choice. A country music must have.
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NINE INCH NAILS
PRETTY HATE MACHINE
1989 – TVT
Produced By TRENT REZNOR, FLOOD, JOHN FRYER, KEITH LEBLANC & ADRIAN SHERWOOD
1. Head Like A Hole
2. Terrible Lie
3. Down In It
4. Sanctified
5. Something I Can Never Have
6. Kinda I Want To
7. Sin
8. That’s What I Get
9. The Only Time
10. Ringfinger
Nine Inch Nails is associated so much with nineties music that it’s easy to forget that their first album, Pretty Hate Machine, came out in the eighties. What made this album something worth hearing was that Trent Reznor wasn’t afraid to make industrial music that not only rocked, but which also contained more pop oriented song structures. The results were powerful. Pretty Hate Machine was a solid hit, and it paved the way for the next decade of success for Nine Inch Nails. It was good enough to survive tensions over the promotion of the album between Reznor and TVT Records, leading to a successful jump to Interscope Records, and became known for a trio of successful singles.
“Head Like A Hole” was the breakthrough hit. “Down In It” and “Sin” are fine as well, but the real winner here is the haunting “Something I Can Never Have”. It’s a simmering and slower song driven by a beautiful and distorted piano riff. Also, the 2010 reissue contains a blistering cover of Freddie Mercury’s “Get Down Make Love”. The pair of Nine Inch Nails releases from the nineties, The Downward Spiral and The Fragile, made them a household industrial name, but this is where it all started for Reznor, and you’ll want to hear it again. Pretty Hate Machine is dark, loud and well written music filled with anger and angst that launched a good run for Reznor. A great start to a career, and a fine end to the decade of the eighties.
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ZERO 7
SIMPLE THINGS
2001 – ULTIMATE DILEMMA
Produced By ZERO 7
1. I Have Seen
2. Polaris
3. Destiny
4. Give It Away
5. Simple Things
6. Red Dust
7. Distractions
8. In The Waiting Line
9. Out Of Town
10. This World
11. Likufanele
12. End Theme
13. Salt Water Sound
14. Spinning
This duo from England makes music called Chill-Out, which makes me very happy. It’s electronic music that’s designed for relaxing and doing not a whole lot of everything. Simple Things is their first album, and it will remind you in some ways of the French band Air and their classic album Moon Safari. There are vocals on about half of the songs, which touch on various styles. There are strings, acoustic guitars, and a wide array of keyboard sounds. Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker made a record that’s a smooth and cool landscape that you’ll want to stay inside of all day. You’re not going to find anything upbeat here, which is just fine. This is a safe place for you to, you know…chill out.
Simple Things is their biggest seller, and it does boast a few real highlights. “Destiny” was their biggest hit, and features vocals from Sophie Barker and Sia. Also of note are “In The Waiting Line”, “I Have Seen”, and “Distractions”. The instrumental tracks work just as well as the ones with vocals, and the album almost makes it all the way through without the songs blending into each other. There was a remix album of Simple Things released in 2003 that is worth hearing as well. Zero 7 is still out there, although they haven’t put out a new album since 2009’s Yeah Ghost (there have been a handful of singles and and EP’s). Simple Things is still their shining moment, something you’ll want to chill out to at least once.
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