OUR LADY PEACE
NAVEED
1994 – RELATIVITY
Produced By ARNOLD LANNI
1. The Birdman
2. Supersatellite
3. Starseed
4. Hope
5. Naveed
6. Dirty Walls
7. Denied
8. Is It Safe?
9. Julia
10. Under Zenith
11. Neon Crossing
Grunge…Canadian style? Maybe. Our Lady Peace always sounded more like Soundgarden than Pearl Jam ever did, and they sounded more like Pearl Jam than Stone Temple Pilots ever did. But they were also never from Seattle, and they were always heavier than any of those bands. They were also huge in Canada, while not so much south of that border. Too bad, because Naveed, the debut album from OLP, is one heavy and entertaining album. And not only sounding like a grunge band, these guys had a lot of feedback going for them, as well as a hefty dose of U2 sounding guitars. Naveed was a great start, and the band would grow from here to their best album, Naveed’s follow up from 1997, Clumsy. But there is plenty to boast about here. Led by singer Raine Maida, who could go from sounding half asleep to full throated metal screamer in a few seconds, these guys were never boring.
Naveed (Persian for “bearer of good news”) is front loaded, and nicely so. In fact. The first five tracks on the album were released as singles. “Supersatellite” and “Starseed” are the best of the bunch, but the entire first half of this album will keep you moving. The second half is hardly inferior, but hey…it would have been hard to match those first five tracks. This is a very solid debut by a band that knows how to bring it, and that has the songwriting chops to keep everything interesting. Clumsy, released in 1997, is a better effort, but you really can’t go wrong with this as a debut. They sound seasoned and mature, an impressive start from a band that had only been together for a very short time. Our Lady Peace is a band worth checking out, and Naveed is the perfect starting point for that. Highly recommended!
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FIONA APPLE
WHEN THE PAWN…
1999 – CLEAN SLATE / EPIC
Produced By JON BRION
1. On The Bound
2. To Your Love
3. Limp
4. Love Ridden
5. Paper Bag
6. A Mistake
7. Fast As You Can
8. The Way Things Are
9. Get Gone
10. I Know
Fiona Apple’s debut album, Tidal, was very good…but it was also somewhat of a chore. This unsmiling tiny waif of a singer songwriter with the huge voice seemed to be sad all the time, and you wondered if she would ever lighten up, even just a little bit. On her When The Pawn… (the entire title is an 80+ word poem that still holds the record for the longest album title to have ever charted), she shows that she had, indeed, lightened up…a little. But more importantly, she had found a whole new world of melody and hooks. If you gave up after Tidal, you may want to revisit her music. When The Pawn…is, by no means, perfection, but it’s a lot more listenable and tuneful than her debut. And for someone with Apple’s raw talent, that is a very good thing. Because while her songs may sometimes drag, her vocals and her piano skills most certainly do not.
“On The Bound” opens this album with a wonderfully surprisingly melodic boost. It is, from the start, her most melodic tune. “Limp” is Apple at her acidic best, but with one hell of a damn fine hook. “Paper Bag” is uncharacteristically upbeat and catchy, and “A Mistake” is one fine single…a smart and mature hit single if there ever was one. And “Fast As You Can” was a worthwhile hit. The fine songs shine like diamonds, but the rest goes pretty much nowhere, and keeps When The Pawn… (along with its title) from being a full fledged classic. But still…you’ll want When The Pawn…because half an album’s worth of cool songs from Fiona Apple is worth the price of half an album’s worth of average tunes. It’s better than Tidal, and it shows Apple’s progression from a mixed up teen to a growing and exploring young woman very well.
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THE POLICE
GHOST IN THE MACHINE
1981 – A&M
Produced By THE POLICE & HUGH PADGHAM
1. Spirits In The Material World
2. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
3. Invisible Sun
4. Hungry For You (J’Aurais Toujours Faim De Toi)
5. Demolition Man
6. Too Much Information
7. Rehumanize Yourself
8. One World (Not Three)
9. Omegaman
10. Secret Journey
11. Darkness
During their brief career together, The Police were one of the more innovative and complex bands of their time. That they were a three piece band remains impressive, as their albums are as full and complex as anything by bands with twice the personnel. Ghost In The Machine is their fourth album (out of five), and while it may be a bit of a slip as far as songs are concerned, it’s a major step forward for the band in terms of their playing. The hits most certainly are here: even at their least commercial (this is their least commercial sounding album), The Police were kings of the airwaves. But Ghost In The Machine is almost like a prog album. It contains songs that are most definitely not made for radio, and that display a depth surprising for this band that was only a few years removed from “Roxanne”.
“Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” is pure pop heaven. “Spirits In The Material World” couldn’t help but be a hit, and “Invisible Sun”, while unconventional to say the least, can’t help but be catchy as hell. But it’s on this album that The Police get deep, and might lose you in the process. There’s a song in French (“Hungry For You”). And the second half of the album might leave you puzzled if you’re looking for those great Police pop hooks. Still, Sting’s vocals are never overdone here, and the playing of Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland is as tasteful and interesting as it would ever get within the confines of this band. They followed this with the monster hit Synchronicity, and then they were gone. The direction of Ghost In The Machine would have been interesting to follow in later years, but we’ll never know. They were capable of taking what they did here a lot further…but they never did. This is a strong album. Not their best, but worthwhile.
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BABES IN TOYLAND
FONTANELLE
1992 – REPRISE
Produced By LEE RANALDO & KAT BJELLAND
1. Bruise Violet
2. Right Now
3. Bluebell
4. Handsome And Gretel
5. Blood
6. Magick Flute
7. Won’t Tell
8. Quiet Room
9. Spun
10. Short Song
11. Jungle Train
12. Pearl
13. Real Eyes
14. Mother
15. Gone
That whole brief riot grrl thing from the 90’s has been credited a lot to Courtney Love. But make no mistake…this is really where it came from. Babes In Toyland came from the same Minneapolis scene that brought us The Replacements and Husker Du, but this all female trio was more punk than either of those bands. Led by Kat Bjelland (who taught Courtney how to dress and scream the part), this band got it right exactly one time. After a decent debut album and a follow up EP, they came out swinging and kicking with Fontanelle in 1992. This was their major label debut, and they certainly made the most of it. With producer Lee Ranaldo (guitarist for Sonic Youth), Bjelland and company created the blueprint for Hole’s Live Through This (except Fontanelle is a lot heavier and a lot scarier) and every other riot grrl group from Bikini Kill to 7 Year Bitch to Sleater-Kinney and beyond.
Bjelland is a true punk. To the core. She spits anger and bile as well as any male punk singer, even managing to sound more dangerous than most guys. “Handsome And Gretel”, “Magick Flute” and “Bruise Violet” are the tracks that put them on the map, but there are plenty of other gems on this album. The songs are truly punk…mostly short, fast and angry as hell. All of which makes this album, even with its couple of clunker tunes, an absolute joy. The magic and pure rampage of Fontanelle was gone by their next album, but there will always be this to fall back on. Want goosebumps? Listen to Bjelland snarl on songs like “Won’t Tell” and you’ll have experienced what was so cool about that little movement, and about that moment in time when Babes In Toyland was the exciting and amazing future of females who really do rock.
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LUCINDA WILLIAMS
WEST
2007 – LOST HIGHWAY
Produced By HAL WILLNER & LUCINDA WILLIAMS
1. Are You Alright?
2. Mama You Sweet
3. Learning How To Live
4. Fancy Funeral
5. Unsuffer Me
6. Everything Has Changed
7. Come On
8. Where Is My Love?
9. Rescue
10. What If
11. Wrap My Head Around That
12. Words
13. West
Here’s a lesson for us all…including myself. I bought West in 2007 with the expectation that it was going to be an amazing album. It is, after all, Lucinda Williams. And Lucinda had never made a bad album. I was immediately taken aback by the repetition of the two opening tracks, and my mind was closed for the rest of the album. So, years later, it was time to revisit West. With a fair and open mind. And here’s what I discovered. What I had thought for years was a terribly misguided and massively disappointing album is actually a pretty beautiful piece of work. This is not the alt-country rocking Lucinda Williams of Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, but something unexpected and pretty wonderful. West is a mostly laid back Lucinda, with some really great musical tracks and a pretty amazing set of lyrics. And it’s really very good.
And yes, the first two tracks might put you off…they did with me. But they are better than you think initially. And after that? West begins to flow like a grand old river. The album suddenly blossoms into something really lovely, and shows that Lucinda hadn’t lost her mind after all. But the real test here was going to be “Wrap My Head Around That”, a nine minute track that finds Williams actually rapping. What I had thought was simply a misguided attempt at being current and relevant is actually a good centerpiece for the album. It’s different, it’s heavy (there’s some pretty scorching guitar work on this song), and somehow, it works. So, the lesson here, for myself and everyone else? Don’t be too quick to judge. Sometimes, music needs some time to settle into your mind, and sometimes, it takes a few listens…even a few years for it to sink in the way it should. So, my apologies, Lucinda. I’ll never doubt you like that again.
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PAUL & LINDA MCCARTNEY
RAM
1971 – APPLE
Produced By PAUL & LINDA MCCARTNEY
1. Too Many People
2. 3 Legs
3. Ram On
4. Dear Boy
5. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey
6. Smile Away
7. Heart Of The Country
8. Monkberry Moon Delight
9. Eat At Home
10. Long Haired Lady
11. Ram On
12. The Back Seat Of My Car
1. Another Day
2. Oh Woman, Oh Why
3. Little Woman Love
4. A Love For You (John Kelly Mix)
5. Hey Diddle (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
6. Great Cock And Seagull Mix (Dixon Van Winkle Mix)
7. Rode All Night
8. Sunshine Sometime (Earliest Mix)
Maybe the most telling result of the breakup of The Beatles was that it was proven that neither John Lennon nor Paul McCartney could sustain their songwriting over the course of an entire album. This was especially the case with McCartney, whose first solo effort had a couple of fine tracks and a load of filler. Ram was meant to be a collaboration with his wife Linda, but make no mistake…this is a Paul solo album. And just like every other early album by him solo or with his band Wings, it’s the same story…a small handful of fine tracks alongside music that would have never seen the light of day on a Beatles album. On Ram, Paul starts building the band that would become Wings, and he sets the formula for basically every studio album of his career to date (with the exception of the very good Band On The Run). This is Paul at his uneven yet very consistent same self.
The big highlight is “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey”, which is Paul at his Abbey Road best. It’s really just a handful of unfinished songs welded together…and it works. Very well…”Uncle Albert” is still fresh and entertaining today. “Too Many People” is a great tune, complete with its digs at Lennon. But there’s nothing else here that will really stick in your head, making it yet another McCartney 2 hits and a pile of filler album. It’s well crafted, and it’s interesting to hear Paul cut loose at this stage of his career, but it’s hardly great. As for the bonus disc…”Another Day” is a fine hit, a non-album single. And “Hey Diddle” is a nice acoustic surprise. But the rest is cutting room garbage, mostly studio jamming with Paul wailing high vocals with no discernible lyrics. If you must have Ram, get the single disc original album and skip the bonus material. But Paul is at his best either live, on a compilation, or on Band On The Run.
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THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN
EMERGENCY & I
1999 – DESOTO
Produced By J ROBBINS & CHAD CLARK
1. A Life Of Possibilities
2. Memory Machine
3. What Do You Want Me To Say?
4. Spider In The Snow
5. The Jitters
6. I Love A Magician
7. You Are Invited
8. Gyroscope
9. The City
10. Girl O’Clock
11. 8 ½ Minutes
12. Back And Forth
In case you don’t remember, 1999 was a pretty great year for music. And one of the brightest lights from that year was this independent band from Washington DC, and their exceptional album, Emergency & I. The Dismemberment Plan (a phrase that came from insurance salesman Ned Ryerson, the best character in the film Groundhog Day) had released their first two albums on the independent DeSoto Records, and had been signed to a major deal by Interscope. So they had access to bigger money, a better studio, and a lot more time to make the album they wanted. The results are simply awesome. Emergency & I is a great album that never got its day commercially…before the album could be released, they were dropped by Interscope, so they released this on DeSoto. It’s a powerhouse, smart and excellent from start to finish.
Singer Travis Morrison gives songs like “The Jitters”, “A Life Of Possibilities”, and the great “You Are Invited” a new level of excitement. This band rocks, but here, there’s so much space, and so much room for everything in every song. Their punk roots are here, but there’s so much more. This may have been the greatest indie album of the decade, a startling, melodic, and incredibly listenable record. The Dismemberment Plan broke up in 2003 after only four albums, and because they spent the whole time on a small label, they were never really well known. But man…talk about a hidden gem. You should pick this album up. It’s refreshing to this day, and it’s pretty much flawless from start to finish. It’s quirky, fun, tuneful, and a great find. Very highly recommended to anyone who likes music from the golden age of indie rock.
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TAME IMPALA
CURRENTS
2015 – FICTION
Produced By KEVIN PARKER
1. Let It Happen
2. Nangs
3. The Moment
4. Yes I’m Changing
5. Eventually
6. Gossip
7. The Less I Know The Better
8. Past Life
9. Disciples
10. Cause I’m A Man
11. Reality In Motion
12. Love / Paranoia
13. New Person, Same Old Mistakes
Tame Impala may be a band on the stage, but in the studio, it’s a complete solo project of Australian musician Kevin Parker. He plays and sings everything, produces, and even records at his own home. Talk about do it yourself. Currents is the third Tame Impala release, and continues the steady progression that began with the albums Innerspeaker and Lonerism. Currents was a top ten album in the US, the UK, and went to number one in Parker’s native country. And deservedly so. This is a psychedelic blend of rock, pop and disco, and it’s exceptionally good. If you’re looking for guitar rock, you won’t find a lot of that here. But what you will find is adventurous and well crafted music that never slips into boredom. This is a dance album, filled with pop hooks and upbeat tracks that will keep your interest from start to finish.
Currents boasts five singles, which helped make this the best selling Tame Impala album. None of the singles charted very high, but they were enough to showcase Parker’s ability as a songwriter. “Let It Happen”, “Cause I’m A Man” and “The Less I Know The Better” are the best tracks here, while “Love / Paranoia” is a fine example of bouncing between straight R&B and psychedelic. At this time, there has been only one album from Tame Impala in seven years. Hopefully there will be more, because the first four albums have shown that this is music well worth hearing, and it will be exciting to hear what Parker does next. Here’s hoping that it won’t be too long. In the meantime, check out the albums that are out there. It’s a very worthwhile journey. Pop without the emptiness. In fact, modern pop that’s actually pretty cool.
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CEX
MARYLAND MANSIONS
2003 – JADE TREE
NO PRODUCTION CREDIT
1. Drive Off A Mountain
2. Stop Eating
3. Take Pills
4. Kill Me
5. My Head
6. New Maps
7. Stillnaut Riyan
8. The Strong Suit
The heavy industrial music of Nine Inch Nails influenced a slew of young musicians in the 90’s. One of these was Baltimore’s Rjyan Claybrook, who records under the name Cex. His first album came out while he was still in high school, and his sound had developed over the years from what is known as intelligent dance music (mostly instrumental) to the Trent Reznor influenced darker industrial sound of his seventh album, Maryland Mansions. Because Claybrook is a true independent, he makes his own kind of records. Which turns out to be interesting, for sure. An earlier album was named for the Britney Spears release, Oops I Did It Again, while a later album called Actual Fucking was actually about a bunch of different US cities. As for Maryland Mansions, Claybrook acknowledges that this is heavily influenced by NIN, right down to the album title that is really close to one of Reznor’s early protégé’s.
Claybrook plays pretty much everything here, and he handles both the singing and rapping. This could almost be classified as an EP, as it’s woefully short…Maryland Mansions clocks in at only 25 minutes. This is a darker and much more industrial work than anything Cex had released before. The album opens with “Drive Off A Mountain”, a strange industrial adventure, then takes a sharp left turn to “Stop Eating”, which is a rap song about how food is killing us all. This is what Maryland Mansions is like. The music can be unexpected, and lyrically puzzling…but you can sure as hell dance to it. Claybrook has released ten albums since this one, and has never been afraid to alter his musical direction. He’s lately been distracted by theater, but it’s a good bet that he’ll be back to recording soon. A strange, but pretty satisfying disc from an under the radar and not so well known artist.
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GANG OF FOUR
ENTERTAINMENT!
1979 – WARNER BROTHERS / RHINO
Produced By ANDY GILL, JON KING & ROB WARR
1. Ether
2. Natural’s Not In It
3. Not Great Men
4. Damaged Goods
5. Return The Gift
6. Guns Before Butter
7. I Found That Essence Rare
8. Glass
9. Contract
10. At Home He’s A Tourist
11. 5:45
12. Anthrax
13. Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time
14. He’d Send In The Army
15. It’s Her Factory
16. Armalite Rifle
17. Guns Before Butter (Alternate Version)
18. Contract (Alternate Version)
19. Blood Free (Live)
20. Sweet Jane (Live)
If you’re going to name your band after a group of Chinese revolutionaries who were charged with treason and imprisoned, you should not expect people to take your music lightly and expect to hear light sunny pop. Gang of Four was a group of college students from Leeds with very strong political leanings, heavy influence from the mid 70’s wave of British punk bands, and a funky beat you could sure as hell dance to. They made exactly one important album: that would be this one. Entertainment! Is their 1979 debut, and it’s pretty exciting stuff. It’s wildly political, but doesn’t come across as preachy. It’s catchy as hell, with Andy Gill’s stinging guitar punctuating pretty much everything. “Damaged Goods” was the band’s first single, and “Anthrax” has been called one of the most powerful political songs of all time.
The best track here is “At Home He’s A Tourist”, which features some powerful guitar work from Gill. There are plenty of highlights, and plenty of great songs here. This is what was great about the first wave of British post punk. This version (Rhino) also features the entire Yellow EP from 1980 and four previously unreleased tracks, two of which are live, including Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane”. Gang Of Four broke up in 1987, and have reunited several times since then. There have been nine studio albums since Entertainment!...none of which are as good as this. The compilation 100 Flowers Bloom will suffice for the rest of their career. But Entertainment! is a once in a career powerhouse of an album. It’s nearly perfect, and it rocks pretty damn hard. This is one of the better albums from the end of the seventies, and one of the best in the immediate wake of punk.
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