STAIND
BREAK THE CYCLE
2001 – FLIP / ELEKTRA
Produced By JOSH ABRAHAM
1. Open Your Eyes
2. Pressure
3. Fade
4. It’s Been Awhile
5. Change
6. Can’t Believe
7. Epiphany
8. Suffer
9. Warm Safe Place
10. For You
11. Outside
12. Waste
13. Take It
This is Staind’s greatest moment, by far. On their third album, Break The Cycle, this band continued to build the bridge between the grunge of the nineties and the more pop metal that would grow in the 2000’s. On this album, they found their audience, and they found what every metal band of the eighties could have told them at the start of their career…that the path to stardom is lined with power ballads. Staind not only discovers this, they ride it almost into the ground. And so, just like every Poison or Winger or Cinderella album that came before them, it doesn’t matter how heavy these guys can be (the promise of the opening track, “Open Your Eyes”, is never quite fulfilled). What matters here is “It’s Been Awhile”, the rebirth of the power ballad for sure. And there’s more where that came from.
Aaron Lewis is the lead man in Staind, and much of the schizophrenic nature of this album is on him. They rock hard, and then they ice you down with ballads like “It’s Been Awhile” and “Epiphany”. This album was one of the biggest hits of 2001, and guaranteed Staind a mass audience for the next decade. This album is a big part of the soundtrack from that year, but the fact is, it’s not strong as a whole. There are too many tracks that end up as background noise, and too much of a disparity between the rockers and the ballads. It’s well played, and it’s well produced, but it ultimately just does not stand up well as a whole. You might like a few of the tracks here, but you will be less than likely to like them all, or even most of them. In the end, this mega seller is average at best.
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ME’SHELL NDEGEOCELLO
PEACE WITHOUT PASSION
1996 – MAVERICK
Produced By DAVID GAMSON
1. The Womb
2. The Way
3. Deuteronomy: Niggerman
4. Ecclesiastes: Free My Heart
5. Leviticus: Faggot
6. Mary Magdalene
7. God Shiva
8. Who Is He And What Is He To You
9. Stay
10. Bittersweet
11. A Tear And A Smile
12. Make Me Wanna Holler
So much soul in this woman. Me’Shell Ndegeocello has been hard at it since the late 80’s. She played in a few bands, and even auditioned to be the bassist for Living Colour. She’s been making really good solo albums since 1993. She has been nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and has never won one. She is highly acclaimed and loved by her peers. But all of that has not translated into much big time success. Her biggest hit was a duet with, of all people, John Mellencamp on a cover of Van Morrison’s “Wild Night”. She’s had excellent singles stall on the charts, and she’s been almost forgotten since her career began. So, her second album, Peace Beyond Passion, is a really good record. It shows off her ability to pull from many styles of music, and yet never loses her smooth, funky self in trying to be more than what she is.
This album follows up her debut, Plantation Lullabies, quite nicely. “Leviticus: Faggot” was a decent hit, and probably would have done better with some lyrical cleanup…but you do what you do, you write what you write, and you don’t do so to make others happy. She gets that. Her cover of Bill Withers’ “Who Is He And What Is He To You” is one of the best tracks of her career. “Stay” is also a high point. She can be quite blunt, which can be off putting, but she can also soar with the best of soul singers. She also plays many different instruments herself. She has, so far, released twelve studio albums, with not any of them soaring any higher than this. Ndegeocello deserves to be heard more, and this is as fine a place to start as any.
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AGENTS OF GOOD ROOTS
ONE BY ONE
1998 – RCA
Produced By PAUL FOX
1. Come On
2. Two Bucks In Cash
3. Miss America
4. Upspin
5. Miss Misbelieving
6. Shortchange
7. Smiling Up The Frown
8. Time Bomb
9. Hoping, Waiting, Longing
10. Hobby
11. Where’d You Get That Vibe?
12. I’ll Be Back
Agents Of Good Roots was an American band that built a good following playing the college circuit in the mid nineties. After a pair of self released albums, they were signed by RCA and released their major label debut, One By One, in 1998. They scored a pair of decent hits with “Come On” and “Smiling Up The Frown” before ending up on tour with the Dave Matthews Band, getting signed by Matthews label, and releasing the absolutely lifeless follow up album, Needle And Thread in 2000. But One By One is actually one heck of an album. Their energy is awesome, the songs are mostly very good, and even though they had a sax player, they never overused him. In 1998, this was an album worth hearing by a band worth watching. They could be heavy, artsy, and they had a groove that obviously attracted Matthews to them.
The two minor hits are fine, but there’s more to this band than those songs. “Miss America” is a real rocker that even namedrops The Black Crowes. “Time Bomb”, “Where’d You Get That Vibe?” and especially “Two Bucks In Cash” are great, as is the mellower and soulful “Hoping, Waiting, Longing”. These guys seemed to be on the edge of a major breakthrough…instead, the next album sank like a rock and they were never heard from again. Too bad. One By One isn’t the greatest album in the world, but it showed a world of promise, and it still sounds pretty great today. You might have to look for it these days, but because of the interwebs, it won’t take you long to find it. A lot of great bands came from the nineties…but don’t forget the almost greats like Agents Of Good Roots.
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CONCRETE BLONDE
BLOODLETTING
1990 – I.R.S.
Produced By CONCRETE BLONDE & CHRIS TSANGARIDES
1. Bloodletting (The Vamopire Song)
2. The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden
3. Caroline
4. Darkening Of The Light
5. I Don’t Need A Hero
6. Days And Days
7. The Beast
8. Lullabye
9. Joey
10. Tomorrow, Wendy
Unlike a lot of people, my first exposure to Concrete Blonde was not with this album and their biggest hit, “Joey”, but rather with the follow up to this, Walking In London. An album which I absolutely love. Which is what makes hearing Bloodletting kind of a letdown. Don’t get me wrong…this is a good album. But except for the above mentioned hit, all of the things that, for me, make Walking In London so great are missing here. This is more of a gothic and down sounding album, it’s overproduced to the point of sounding muddy, and most importantly, the vocals of Johnette Napolitano are mostly buried. What I am saying is that Bloodletting could have and probably should have been a much better album than it was. Sadly, Concrete Blonde was never to get beyond this level, and they split up in 1996 after a pair of good albums went unnoticed by almost everyone.
The standout song here is, without question, “Joey”. All of a sudden, after eight tracks of what sounds like fighting to be heard, Napolitano finally takes off. She soars on this track, which is always the best thing about this band. “Joey” is a gorgeous hit…it sounds like it would have fit better on Walking In London than here. Other highlights include the powerful “Days And Days”, and “Tomorrow, Wendy”, a song about a woman dying of AIDS.
There is enough good material here to understand why Bloodletting was their brief commercial breakthrough. It’s not a bad record. It may just take you some time to get it. And you’ll wish that Napolitano had let loose the way she does on the choruses of “Joey” more often. When she is on, it’s all good.
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PAUL MCCARTNEY
MCCARTNEY
1970 – APPLE
Produced By PAUL MCCARTNEY
1. The Lovely Linda
2. That Would Be Something
3. Valentine Day
4. Every Night
5. Hot As Sun / Glasses
6. Junk
7. Man We Was Lonely
8. Oo You
9. Momma Miss America
10. Teddy Boy
11. Singalong Junk
12. Maybe I’m Amazed
13. Kreen-Akrore
1. Suicide (Outtake)
2. Maybe I’m Amazed (Live 1974)
3. Every Night (Live)
4. Hot As Sun (Live)
5. Maybe I’m Amazed (Live 1979)
6. Don’t Cry Baby (Outtake)
7. Women Kind (Demo)
The initial reactions to Paul McCartney’s first solo album were tempered not by the music on it, but the way he chose to release it. He basically came out and said “I’m breaking up The Beatles. And here…buy my new album”. Despite the fact that the album sold really well, it did not sit well with critics for a very long time. Now…McCartney is not, by any means, a masterpiece. Or even a great album (something that Paul has only been close to once in his long career, and it wasn’t here). It has, however, risen above the ashes of its past to be heard as what it actually is. It’s one in a very long line of frustratingly average McCartney albums. It has some really terrific moments, and it has tracks that leave you scratching your head…and most of it has disappeared almost completely from his live repertoire over the years.
The gem here is clearly “Maybe I’m Amazed”. It’s one of Paul’s greatest songs, and it still endures today. But there are also some tracks here that, while sounding almost unfinished, are pretty terrific. “That Would Be Something”, “Every Night” and “Teddy Boy” have that irresistible McCartney hook. But while these gems are here, you also have to sit through what pretty much no one wants to hear: McCartney instrumentals. Pointless and boring, they bring what could have been a charming do it yourself album down to earth. McCartney is just like the rest of his solo career: uneven, great at times with too much filler. The second disc was added in 2011: it’s all outtakes, demos and live versions. For the truly dedicated only.
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SIMON AND GARFUNKEL
SIMON AND GARFUNKEL’S GREATEST HITS
1972 – COLUMBIA
Produced By PAUL SIMON, ART GARFUNKEL & ROY HALEE
1. Mrs. Robinson
2. For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her (Live)
3. The Boxer
4. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) (Live)
5. The Sound Of Silence
6. I Am A Rock
7. Scarborough Fair / Canticle
8. Homeward Bound (Live)
9. Bridge Over Troubled Water
10. America
11. Kathy’s Song (Live)
12. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
13. Bookends
14. Cecilia
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had been a duo since back in 1957 when they were known as Tom And Jerry. They broke up in 1970, and with the exception of a bunch of one off’s, they never really got back together. Too much history, and all good things must, you know. In 1972, Columbia released Greatest Hits, an album that has remained in print and which has had good sales ever since. The songs span from their debut album in 1964 to their finale in 1970, with four live tracks (they had not released a live album at the time), and the rest from their studio albums. At the time, the live tracks added value to the album, but they have all since been released on live albums. It’s a pleasant compilation, offering nothing other than what you would expect…the greatest hits.
For those new to the duo, this is a perfect introduction, although there probably aren’t many who haven’t heard them by now. It has the immediacy of the hits, but it lacks the charm that their albums had with the non radio tracks that were often just as good. It might have been better, actually without the live tracks, which they faded the applause into the following studio tracks for a strange effect. Like most greatest hits albums, you pretty much know what’s coming next, which makes it great for roadtrips, but not the best serious listen. Still…”America”, “Scarborough Fair”, “Mrs. Robinson” and “The Boxer” all under one roof is pretty fantastic. You won’t need this if you’re a big fan, because you’ll already have everything else. But it’s still pretty great.
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JACKSON BROWNE
LATE FOR THE SKY
1974 – ASYLUM
Produced By JACKSON BROWNE & AL SCHMITT
1. Late For The Sky
2. Fountain Of Sorrow
3. Farther On
4. The Late Show
5. The Road And The Sky
6. For A Dancer
7. Walking Slow
8. Before The Deluge
In the 1970’s, before he started making political and preachy albums that almost no one wanted to hear, Jackson Browne was everything good about the Los Angeles singer-songwriter movement. And he was never better than on his third album, 1974’s Late For The Sky. It’s an almost masterpiece, an almost perfect example of what was so appealing about the scene, and an almost perfect set of songs. Browne, told by label owner David Geffen to cut the time and cost down, used his touring band, as well as some friends like JD Souther, Dan Fogelberg and Don Henley. There were no big hits, yet the album has endured throughout the years because of its quality. You can feel how personal these songs are. And that has always been when Browne is at his best, when he’s sharing from edeep within.
“Fountain Of Sorrow” is a masterful track. Lyrically, it’s Browne at his poetic best. “Walking Slow” was a should have been hit that never made it up the charts…to bad, because it’s one of Browne’s most upbeat and catchy songs. “For A Dancer” and “Late For The Sky” are also excellent, and should be recognized as two of Browne’s better songs. His next album, The Pretender, was much more successful, further overshadowing how good this one was. The entire output from Jackson Browne in the seventies is worth hearing, and the centerpiece of it all should be the lesser known of those albums, Late For The Sky. This is where Browne really finds himself as a songwriter, and where he reaches heights that he rarely found on future releases. In my opinion, this is the best Jackson Browne album. It’s not perfect, but it’s beautiful, and captures all of the artist’s strengths.
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GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR
SQUEEZING OUT SPARKS
1979 – ARISTA
Produced By JACK NITZSCHE
1. Discovering Japan
2. Local Girls
3. Nobody Hurts You
4. You Can’t Be Too Strong
5. Passion Is No Ordinary Word
6. Saturday Night Is Dead
7. Love gets You Twisted
8. Protection
9. Waiting For The UFO’s
10. Don’t Get Excited
In the late seventies, there were three angry young musicians who emerged from the ashes of punk. One was Elvis Costello. The second was Joe Jackson. And then there was Graham Parker. Squeezing Out Sparks, his fourth album, was a departure from his previous soul sound. Bringing in guitarist Brinsley Schwartz, this record was edgier and focused on Parker’s almost dangerous sounding vocals. It was, unfortunately, not as big of a hit as Costello’s My Aim Is True or Jackson’s Look Sharp. But this is a fine album by Parker, maybe the high point of his career. Parker figured out very quickly how to sneer his way through a set of songs, and it works quite well. You know you’re in for a good time at about the halfway point of “Discovering Japan”, and it rarely lets up from there. A couple of tracks don’t quite fit the setting, but for the most part, it’s right on the mark.
“Discovering Japan” was a single, as were “Protection” and “Local Girls”. But you also get songs like the fine “Nobody Hurts You” and “Saturday Nite Is Dead”, sneering shots of don’t really give a shit rock and roll. Schwartz plays a stinging guitar throughout to complement Parker’s acidic singing, but best of all, on most tracks, they never lose sight of the pop allure of these songs. Hooks are seemingly everywhere, and they take good advantage of them. It’s not perfect…songs like “Waiting For The UFO’s" and the ballad “You Can’t Be Too Strong” don’t quite work. But overall, this album is a lost almost classic from the end of the seventies. If you’re a fan of Elvis and Joe, then you’ll love Squeezing Out Sparks. It could have been, and should have been, much bigger than it was.
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BUILT TO SPILL
PERFECT FROM NOW ON
1997 – WARNER BROS.
Produced By PHIL EK
1. Randy Described Eternity
2. I Would Hurt A Fly
3. Stop The Show
4. Made-Up Dreams
5. Velvet Waltz
6. Out Of Site
7. Kicked It In The Sun
8. Untrustable / Part 2 (About Someone Else)
Straight outta Boise. Built To Spill has been, since 1992, guitarist and singer Doug Martsch and a forever rotating cast of players…Martsch once said that his intention was to be the only permanent member of the band, which he was for quite a few years. In 1995, they were signed to a major label, and the resulting album, Perfect From Now On, was a fine effort. Martsch follows in the footsteps of the likes of Neil Young and J. Mascis to become a rare thing…a guitar hero for the nineties. This album features more intricate songwriting from Martsch, longer songs, and even a cello on five of the eight songs. A band that should have been much bigger, and an album that should be more listened to and talked about than it is, Perfect From Now On is an indie rock dream come true.
Not everything here is perfect, but the tracks that are make this more than worth the time. Three songs here stand out above the rest (all over six minutes in length): the opener, “Randy Described Eternity”, will grab you and hold you. It’s the perfect start for the album. “I Would Hurt A Fly” is just as good, and the centerpiece, “Velvet Waltz”, is simply brilliant. Martsch’s guitar work is stellar, and it sounds cool like alternative rock was supposed to be. Martsch still keeps Built To Spill alive after nine albums, including a 2022 release (When The Wind Forgets Your Name). Keep your eyes and ears open…there’s bound to be something coming at some point. In the meantime, give Perfect From Now On a spin…you’ll be happy you did.
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I’m a big fan of them but saw them live a few years ago as the support act af Dinosaur Jr and didn’t really like them, I suppose because their set was too short. They’re coming back to Belgium in May and now as the main act and I’m doubting if I would go. But I suppose I should go.
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