One of the greatest album covers/titles in the history of albums, Satan Is Real is also highly contestable as the most mighty gospel record there is. It's easy to find ironic joy in the Louvin Brothers ode to Sunday worship, but like all the best performances of hymns to the Lord, Satan comes from a sincere place. The brothers Louvin were Baptists and the older Ira a reckless drunk maniac who killed himself and his fourth wife in a car crash six years after Satan. Mmm...the blood of Christ must've been delicious. This boasts the legendary title song, "The Christian Life", plus four other originals amongst the traditionals "Dying from Home, And Lost" and "Satan's Jeweled Crown". I can continue to never step foot in a church and enjoy this album equally.
Never gaining the worldwide record sales or legend status as Yes or King Crimson, England's Camel are respected by us prog purest who like our long songs, good musicianship, and pretentiousness. Moonmadness, (Camel's forth album and follow up to the instrumental The Snow Goose), is a stellar achievement that once again brought Andrew Latimer's so-so vocals back into the equation, be it sparsely. Likened to a non-outrageous or classically based Genesis, Camel is moodier and less virtuoso inspired than others in the prog universe. This is a good thing in this case since the material here is still incredibly strong. "Song Within a Song" is a glorious near-opener but "Another Night" is on a even higher plateau, a strong contender for the best 70s prog song of all time.
The best "band going through a divorce" album this side of Rumors, Richard and Linda Thompson closed out their singer/songwriter partnership and ultimately their marriage with Shoot Out the Lights. Five albums in, they now found themselves label-less and recorded a number of songs financed by Gerry Rafferty of "Stuck In the Middle with You" fame. These got them a deal with British label Hannibal and Shoot Out was then properly recorded in it's present form. But by the time it came out, the Thompsons were done. The opening pair of "Don't Renege on Our Love" and "Walking on a Wire" set the stage for all the inner-marriage reflection to be found here as both Thompsons trade-off lead vocals per song, beautifully so.
Rammstein came roaring back in 2004 after a three year break from Mutter, which was the first of their albums to incorporate a more organic, less-computer controlled vibe. Reise, Reise took this progression even further, resulting in the most groove oriented album of their career. Christoph Schneider's already impressive drumming was weightier and more diverse, adding more dynamics to songs like the title track, "Keine Lust", and "Morgenstern". The single "America" was the overall funniest song they had yet done, while "Mein Teil" arguably their heaviest, (both of which contained fantastic music videos, typical of the band). The final three cuts on Reise all mellow it out comparatively, showcasing Christian "Flake" Lorenz's soothing keyboard work above all else.
Fresh off the heals of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew sessions, axe-guru John McLaughlin and the fastest drummer this side of Buddy Rich at the time Billy Cobham helped put the multinational Mahavishnu Orchestra together in '71, releasing their debut The Inner Mounting Flame to a world of equally stunned and frustrated musicians and critics. Never was "jazz" this heavy or bombastic or the lines between it and rock so viciously blurred. The solos on Flame don't so much breathe the way most jazz music dictates; "Dawn" and "Vital Transformation" instead explode from the speakers, "The Dance of Maya" turns the blues on it's ass, and "Meeting of the Spirits" is just phenomenal by all accounts possible.
Having kicked drugs and drink from the previous decade plus of excess, Lou Reed reverted back to what he's always done best on The Blue Mask. Which is personal, stripped down songs and performances with minimal bells and whistles attached. This has been described as the songwriter's return to his Velvet Underground roots, (never more apparent than on "The Heroine"), though it more points the direction of all his future best albums with it's straight-forward, live band approach. The music for Mask was cut live in-studio and once vocals were added later on, done and done. "Women" and "Average Guy" are some of his funniest stuff in years, countered by the downbeat "The Day John Kennedy Died" and somewhat odd "The Gun", and the personal "My House".
The most overtly blues record thus far under the Danzig moniker, the second Lucifuge is a solid improvement over the still pretty damn solid debut. Thematically it doesn't deviate too far from Danzig nor should it, but Chuck Biscuits drum sound is less punchy and compressed and the album boasts an overall more loose feel. "Killer Wolf", "777", and "I'm the One" would sit right at home on a Howlin' Wolf record, Glenn excellently channeling his roots. "Devil's Plaything" and "Blood and Tears" are two oozing, slower ones that showcase his ability to sing his version of a ballad and "Snakes of Christ" and "Her Black Wings" should probably never leave his set list. You can smell the evil on this one and it smells like Danzig's hairy chest.
Seven years in the making, ten full years since his last proper studio album, and at this writing another thirteen inexplicable years since we've gotten a follow-up, (wah, wah), Peter Gabriel's Up finally emerged in 2002. Self produced and once again featuring a whole lot of personnel, (including his own daughter Melanie), Up was unfairly disregarded by many and spawned zero hits. Regardless, I immediately found it worth the wait. "Darkness" and "Signal to Noise", (the later of which features a live performance by the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan), are certainly amazing, but "Growing Up" is the song that always makes we wanna listen to this. This is probably one of the darkest themed PG albums, as some of the music is downright menacing, but none of it is less than glorious.
Southern hip-hop juggernauts Outkast dropped their first undisputed masterpiece with their third album Aquemini. It would only get better from here for awhile, but this was where Big Boi and Andre really began to blow heads. Outkast took the longest amount of studio time here that they ever had on a single record, and the results prove tenfold what a good idea it is to let a group just hitting their stride patiently do just that. The gargantuan list of musicians and guests featured mixed with the duo's flexible time schedule allowed for tight-ass results, "Rosa Parks" and "Return of the G" quite obviously flawless. "Da Art of Storytellin' (Pt. 1)" and "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" especially are two more of the finest moments in the Outkast book of tastacular jams as well.
Besides some stuffs from Enslaved, Norway has yet to produce a finer prog-metal jaw-dropper than The Sham Mirrors. Kristoffer Rygg/Trickster G. Rex/Garm mostly wrapped this one up on his lonesome, as keyboard shredder Steinar Sverd Johnsen and Hellhammer were growing indifferent to their bizarre side-project. But once released, Mirrors garnished such high praise that just like that, Arcutus decided to keep it going, sans-Garm who respectfully bowed out. Never again though did they come close to topping the seven utterly perfect tracks on here. "Kinetic" is one of the best things that ever happened to music and Garm's vocal tour de force, while "Radical Cut" and "Collapse Generation" remain some of the heaviest keyboard-based avant-garde metal there is.
Gram Parsons presence must've been infectious since every musician he touched in his short career seemed to bring out the country and western goodness and how. Parson's only work with the Byrds as a member was Sweetheart of the Rodeo, which was originally supposed to be a diverse undertaking of various pop music styles, Parsons inspiring Roger McGuinn and co to stick with pure country instead. Since this is the Byrds, obviously their favorite songwriter Bob Dylan is featured and the opening "You Ain't Going Nowhere" remains Rodeo's best track. The Louvin Brothers "The Christian Life" and the hoedown "Pretty Boy Floyd" get the ye-haw out as well, making this one of the first and still most adored crossover country albums of it's kind.
Still with the Faces, Rod Stewart dropped his third and best solo album Every Picture Tells a Story in 1971. Rod's first two folk-rock solo joints are also certainly worth getting, but this one here rocks harder than any of them and proved to be the English/white-Sam Cooke's biggest seller at the time. All of Rod's also great other band is on here and they turn the Temptations cover of "(I Know) I'm Losing You" into one of the greatest musical things period that ever happened. Easily I'd say it's Rod Stewart's most superb achievement, but Every Picture has plenty more. "Maggie May", "Mandolin Wind", and "Reason to Believe" all round out the last half and the title track and rock n' roll stomping "That's All Right" kick the first half's ass likewise.
Along with Ready to Die and Enter the 36 Chambers the previous year, Nas' Illmatic was that other debut that helped make East Coast hip-hop an undeniable beast again in the early '90s. Nas' first and by unanimous accounts best outing is highly regarded for it's many strengths, most assuredly Nas' own intricate, detailed, and dazzlingly lyrical flow. All of which detail his own personal upbringing in impoverished Queensbridge, New York. The first four real tracks on Illmatic, ("N.Y. State of Mind", "Life's a Bitch", "The World Is Yours", and "Halftime"), are so utterly perfect that the rest of this album could have Mace on it and it would still be a masterpiece. It's certainly worth noting as well that only nine full songs exist here and but one guest MC, pretty much unrepresented for a rap album.
Darker template in place from the previous year's Black Celebration, Depeche Mode stayed the path with Music for the Masses. Producing for the first time with them was David Bascombe, previous right hand man Daniel Miller taking a minimal role. "Little 15" and "I Want You Now" are probably the two hookiest here, while "Strangelove", "Never Let Me Down Again", and "Nothing" are top-notch 80s Depeche-ness overall and the instrumental "Pimpf" is easily the scariest song they ever did, basically tailor made for a horror movie. The album's title is a bit of a red herring, rather an inside joke that the band had no intention of making a more commercial album but liked the idea of giving the public the impression that maybe they were.
Anybody who's ever glimpsed my blog in the past would rightfully predict that my favorite band to also be in comic books would make an appearance or several here. First up is the album that gave Kiss their second chance at being relevant and first without make-up, Lick It Up. This basically is a slightly poppier version of Creatures of the Night, with the same producer, new guy Vinnie Vincent officially a member as opposed to just a ghost player, and an early metal sound front-to-back. Vincent brought everything he had to the table and co-wrote eight out of ten songs. "Exciter", "A Million to One", the title track, and outstandingly riffed "All Hell's Breakin' Loose" going down as some of the band's all time best material. Gene also has the butter-screaming highlight "Fits Like a Glove", his last good song for years.
As early as '69, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker had been trying to get their careers going as pop songwriters with minimal success, but in 1971 ABC Records Gary Katz took them on board and persuaded them to form their own band. Naming themselves after their favorite dildo in literature, Steely Dan cut Can't Buy a Thrill the next year and already this band was on the way to becoming one of the finest in all of pop music. Utilizing a full line-up at the time helped out by drummer Jim Hodder and one of the greatest mustached guitarists Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, three hits are here, all quite good. Briefly featured, extra vocalist David Palmer's sweet and sugary voice helped sell "Dirty Work" and Baxter's axe skills "Reelin' in the Years". Every song here is gold though and could've easily been a single me thinks.
Just as Muddy Waters best work has probably been featured in live form, B.B. King likewise has two utterly essential concert albums in Live at the Regal and Live In Cook County Jail. Though upon checking out King's 1956 debut Singin' the Blues, not at all surprisingly was the man able to kill it in studio. It's the usual deal for a 50's long player, (combining several singles along with new shit), but a good much of it ended up close to permanently in King's setlist, "Everyday I Have the Blues", "You Upset Me Baby", and "Sweet Little Angel" all so. Every song follows the same, classic 12-bar arrangement, but I can easily listen to this shit forever as King delivers easily some of the best singing in the history of the human voice.
Helped out by Grey's Anatomy, (which seems to have a good ear for picking quality indie folk/pop jingles for it's use), and the music video for "The Way I Am" going viral, Ingrid Michaelson scored big enough on her sophomore, self-released album Girls and Boys. Recommended to me by a fellow Doors fan perhaps oddly enough, I fell in love with this record right away and by the second time I heard it, it seemed I had simply always had it in my collection as every song proved memorable. Michaelson's range is almost Joni Mitchell-level impressive, but it's the songs that are truly superb. "Starting Now", "Breakable", the hidden track "Far Away", and my favorite "The Hat" are all just lovely.
The Replacement's other must-have album Tim was their debut for a major label, Sire Records in this case. Contestably close to Let It Be in quality, Tim boasts a far cleaner production job, which thankfully doesn't weight any of the material down. Paul Westerberg's vocals were still roaring out of the speakers as he seemed ever so incapable of writing anything remotely resembling a crap song. Tim's a more diverse offering than the garage rock perfection of Let It Be for comparison. The re-write of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" "Here Comes A Regular" is a pristine closer, and elsewhere there's the early rock 'n roll styled "I'll Buy", the noisy "Dose of Thunder", the swing of "Waitress In the Sky", and lovely ballad "Swingin Party". This is critic rock that can scarcely be argued with.
Even jumping over Elvis' self-titled first, Here Comes Little Richard is probably the very best original rock n' roll debut there be. So good that almost every song Little Richard became known for and you've heard is on it, opening with "Tutti Frutti" and then holla-in' through "Ready Teddy", "Slippin' and Slidin'", "Long Tall Sally", "Rip It Up", "Jenny, Jenny", and "She's Got It". Richard co-wrote five of em, standards each and all, but his vocal prowess is and has always certainly been his strongest asset. Few voices in all of popular music were ever even half as powerful and more than most recordings done in a confined studio space, Little Dick still blows...the roof off the place here.
Another "recorded on the road" album, (which was the style at the time), the Brothers Allmann's second Idlewild South only improved upon their self-titled debut, Tom Dold, (who was seemingly producing everyone), doing his first but not last production job with them here. "Midnight Rider" is the song everyone knows and their version of "Hoochie Coochie Man" has bassist Berry Oakley sounding-exactly-like-Johnny-Winter-to-the-point-that-it's-scary. Opener "Revival" might be the most Allmann Brothersy sounding Allmann Brothers song ever and "Please Call Home" possibly their best ballad. THEE southern rock band in history really was doing virtually everything right musically at the turn of the seventies and the ultimate live album At Filmore East came gloriously next.
If the opening dance/art-pop number "Love is the Drug" doesn't immediately pull you into Roxy Music's world then you just may need many a hug. Siren was the fifth Roxy joint and by this time, many of the awesome yet daft, proggier sonic elements were pushed aside and Brian Ferry and his eclectic mates really settled into a groove making totally pristine pop music. "She Sells" and "Just Another High" are just two songs that simply wouldn't have sounded like this on one of the band's earlier albums. Not that they would have suffered as a great song is a great song, just that Siren's consistently tighter style ultimately suites this material to a tee. And "End of the Line" has gotta be the best example there is as to Ferry's astonishing vocal abilities.
Since the beginning of their existence, Motörhead were on a mission they weren't aware of to pretty much invent speed metal. Their influence massive, just like Maiden, Sabbath, or Slayer, if you're a true metalhead, you can't deny Motörhead. Ace of Spades was their breakthrough and it pretty much picks off where the previous Overkill and Bomber left off. Vic Maile replacing Stones producer Jimmy Miller at the boards streamlined their sound a bit, though being hardened, road-trained musicians simply seemed to bring forth their best batch of songs. The all self-explanatory "Fast and Loose", "(We Are) the Road Crew", "The Chase is Better Than the Catch", "Love Me Like A Reptile", and "Jailbait" are great shit and it goes without saying that one of the most iconic metal songs in history "Ace of Spades" likewise is.
It took two albums and some EPs for White Zombie to get out of their system before Griffin records picked them up, at which point they knuckled down and offered up some mighty fine riffage in the form of their major label debut La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Vol. 1. This has "Thunder Kiss '65" which is still awesome, be it over played for years now and also "Thrust", "I Am Legend", "Black Sunshine", (mmm...Iggy Pop), and "Soul Crusher" all of which appropriately thrust and crush. But "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker/Psychoholic Slag" is straight-up metal perfected. Of course Rob Zombie's artwork and use of samples and b-horror song title slogans far outshine his abilities as a vocalist, but those coupled with J and Sean's groove-riffs = yes please.
After releasing the ridiculously soft "Wrapping Paper" for a laugh as their very first single to confuse/piss-off record buyers who were anxious as to what these guys' new group was gonna awesomely sound like, Fresh Cream was their proper LP debut a month later. Production wise, this isn't quite as hefty sounding as it perhaps should be and Clapton isn't featured nearly enough as a vocalist, but one could argue that this has the best track listing out of Cream's brief career. "N.S.U", Willie Dixon's "Spoonful", Delta blues standard "Rollin' and Tumblin'", the single "I Feel Free", Skip James' "I'm So Glad" and Ginger Baker's drum solo showcase "Toad" belong on any Cream playlist one could make. They may have kicked out the jams in a more unhinged fashion live, but here the playing is still mighty and fine all at once.
Before taking a ten year break until releasing a new album, the Lionel Richie dropped his third classic in a row, the big-ass selling Dancing On the Ceiling. The title track is silly, infectious, party-pop and if you don't start dancing like Carlton during it's chorus, then you just may be an inhuman monster. "Se La", "Ballerina Girl", and "Say You, Say Me" round out the hits with "Deep River Woman" featuring some of Richie's affinity for country music by having all of Alabama on backing vocals, and the nearly eight-minute "Don't Stop" tailor made for dance clubs. Though clearly not as strong as Lionel Richie or Can't Slow Down and further away than ever from the funk roots of the Commodores, Ceiling is still a damn solid pop release from a man who probably should be the president of the universe.
There really is only one stellar, (or possibly even listenable) rap-metal band and you'd be right to assume that Rage Against the Machine is that band. As a sequel to their phenomenal, self-titled debut, Evil Empire is almost destined to be inferior in comparison, but this means not a chainsaw in the end. Boasting a far better production with most of the sheen fortunately gone, as well as more percussive riffing and noisier fretwork from Tom Morello, the opening four songs here are as strong as anything on Rage. And "Tire Me", "Roll Right", and "Down Rodeo"? Same deal. Zach de la Rocha sounds as serious and pissed off as ever, but what this band has virtually never had in humor, they make up for with the opposite and rock way harder than any outfit ever has with a militant MC in their ranks.
Intentionally made to have a hit album, Sydney Australia's INXS got exactly what they put their knifey spoonys to with Kick. Even if there's people out there who've forgotten who INXS is, they and the rest of us have for sure heard "New Sensation", "Need You Tonight/Mediate", "Never Tear Us Apart", "Mystify", and "Devil Inside". So basically, no one would be able to tell the difference between this and an INXS greatest hits. Chris Thomas, (who's produced a mighty fine number of albums on this here list), worked with the band for the second and not last time, resulting in without question INXS' most successful-on-all-levels work. Michael Hutchence truly was a gifted vocalist; a sexy, Jagger/Morrison hybrid who sold everything on here with a confident swagger. One of the danciest rock records probably any era has to offer.
Certainly some killer jams, (mmm..."I Just Can't Get Enough"), were already in Depeche Mode's arsenal by 1986. But their first truly remarkable album was Black Celebration, their fifth go at it. Depeche were moving further from the sunny, almost disco pop of their earliest efforts with each release, Black Celebration in many respects acting as the first album that at once pointed the direction clearly that was to be taken AND offering up their most solid batch of songs in one record. "A Question of Lust" is easily one of their finest, "Sometimes" a wonderful ballad, "Dressed In Black" a far more sinister sounding one, and the one-two punch of the title track and "Fly on the Windscreen" make the intent perfectly clear, ominous lyrics and all.
The Berlin Trilogy finally out of his system, (but with plenty of avant-traces still left over), Bowie's first album of the '80s kicks off with one of the most superb and ridiculous songs of his career, "It's No Game (No. 1)". Being a song with a Japanese woman speaking half the lyrics because why not, it just may also have the most delightfully horrid vocal performance in rock music, Bowie not even trying to hit the notes properly and instead sounding like he simply wants his voice out of his body. And then Bowie yells at Robert Fripp to "shut up!" at the end of it. A perfectly daft opener and really, the rest of Scary Monsters does no wrong from there. "Kingdom Come" has another marvelously raw vocal and "Because You're Young" is one of the many Bowie album tracks that could've been an A-side.
I first caught wind of the Dixie Dregs around the time I saw them open for Dream Theater in the early 2000s and needless to say, that audience ate this shit up. As any fan of virtuoso musicianship could explain, you're bound to come across the Dregs sooner than later and their third album What If is the best place to start. "Ice Cakes" could be the funkiest piece of fusion ever performed by white boys, "Take It Off the Top" is the kinda rock stuffs that this band could turn sideways, and "Odyssey" is all the brilliant; a seven and a half minute epic that can still drop jaws. British folk and bluegrass elements abound, but the leads by all parties involved, (including the rhythm section of Andy West and Rod Morgenstein), are as balls-tight as all get out, Steve Morse's axe sweeping in particular.
The first Crosby, Still, and Nash album is one of the most perfect debuts in rock history. So how does the supergroup of three friends with the best vocal harmony abilities of all time follow it up? They bring in Neil Young of course. Granted Young only came in to do his thing on half of Déjà Vu, but the Canadian devil brought his A-game nevertheless. "Helpless" is a classic, "Country Girl" a dark ballad, and he and Stephen Stills "Everybody I Love You" a solid closer. The other three original guys were still writing nothing but hits, "Teach Your Children" and "Our House" becoming huge and "Carry On" sounding like it likewise should have. Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" is the most famous and best song here, a theme for the entire late 60's counterculture, CSNY providing the most recognizable version.
Jethro Tull returned and kicked the prog way up on their Aqualung sequel, Thick As a Brick. At once Brick is both a tongue-firmly-in-cheek parody of concept albums and unarguably one of the finest such concept albums ever made. And the ultimate way to make it as over-the-moon as possible was to not fuck around with individual songs or potential hit singles and instead go all in and just make one forty-three minute song. Thankfully the song they made, (broken up in two parts because vinyl records), was ridiculously good. As complex and dynamic as it is epic, "Brick" also benefits from being funny as shit if you pay attention. Ian Anderson devised it as a goof, crediting all the words to a fictitious eight-year old boy named Gerald Bostock. I guess he was trying to say even a kid can pull this shit off.
Ya can't argue really that Are You Experienced? isn't the most influential guitar player album ever made. Just as the Beatles before had made more people pick up instruments and form their own band than anyone else ever would, Jimi Hendrix either made those guitar players pick up their game or the drummers switch to guitar. All this would be for nothing though if the songs weren't as iconic as they are. "Fire", "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze", and "Foxy Lady" could be the four most recognizable classic rock songs of all time and "The Wind Cries Marry", "Manic Depression", and "Red House" don't trail too far behind. Some of these I'm a tad burnt out on and Jimi would only continue to improve as a songwriter and sonic innovator with the more control he gained in the studio, but the blueprint here is impossible to deny.
Mostly composed separately by the individual songwriters, Love This Giant was an experiment by St. Vincent and David Byrne to put an album's worth of songs together written with brass arrangements, drums, and that's about it. Along with Prince, Byrne still astounds in having a voice that apparently is a vampire as it sounds identical to the first Talking Heads album, over three decades old now. Vincent sounds as exquisite as always and probably the only complaint one could make about Giant is that her also dandy guitar playing is very sparely used on this one. Byrne of course has been great since always and I'd say this trumps even he and Brian Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, far as his pairing efforts are concerned.
The Trane's only Blue-Note-album-as-leader is not just very appropriately titled Blue Train, but it's also very much one of the sax legend's highest offerings. Coltrane once again worked with his Miles Davis rhythm section cohorts Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers, two gentlemen who have no shortage of now classic jazz recordings they've appeared on. Four of the five cuts here are Coltrane's own and none of them fall shorter than seven minutes. Also, none of them are slow, the title track, "Locomotion", "Moment's Notice", and "Lazy Bird" all positively smoke. The standard "I'm Old Fashioned" is Train's only ballad and I'd say the album's emphases on faster numbers makes the whole set work that much more. This early as a leader and Coltrain was easily on his way to legend status.
Sprouting from the limbs of the Jesus and Mary Chain, Scotland's Primal Scream dicked around for a few years with two albums of uninteresting, straight rock coming of it. Then acid house got into their knickers and working with the Orb, Hugo Nicolson, and the Rolling Stones old right hand man Jimmy Miller, their third album Screamadelica seemingly out of nowhere created the sound of ecstasy set to music. The Stones influence was still there in many of the chord progressions and Bobby Gilepsie easily has one of the lousiest voices in the history of popular music, but they did bring in Denis Johnson as a ringer on "Don't Fight It, Feel It" and some of the best dance beats and soulful background singing on any record. Least we forget, "Come Together" is here which can rightfully rank as one of the best songs of the decade.
On the near-brilliant Something/Anything?, Todd Rundgren broke up each side of his double album partaking in a different genre, all under the umbrella of his unique pop voice. For A Wizard, a True Star though, he almost seems to be playing those styles and about thirty-seven more all at once. Most of this high-ass album follows a consistent medley of barely songs that sound like someone with ADD who can play every instrument being allowed to make a record. To describe this album is kind of a silly waste of time, but to listen to it is one of the most enjoyably silly times you could have. On top of all the proggy, scatterbrain art-rock shenanigans on display, the best part is it's mostly done for laughs as a ten minute hodgepodge of doo-wop covers soon leading into "Is It My Name?", (which has some of the funniest lyrics ever), easily proves.
Posthumously released two years after Jeff Buckley's tragic death, Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk is an album that really shouldn't exist in this form. Buckley was struggling hard to follow up Grace, being his own worst critic every step of the way. He was about to start the sessions back up when he accidentally drowned at the age of twenty-seven, ultimately leaving us with mere "sketches" of his next venture. One could be cynical and say this is doomed to be great as it's technically an unfinished work, but this it's still outstanding material from arguably the greatest vocalist in all of music. "Yard of Blonde Girls", "Nightmares By the Sea", "Witches Rave", and "Everybody Here Wants You", (all of them originals), come pretty damn close to holding up to Grace.
Mr. and Mrs. Ihsahn put Peccatum together in 1998 along with Ihriel's brother Lord PZ, and all of their collective, far reaching influences came to a peak with Lost In Reverie. I picked this up basically because Ihsahn is a man who deserves your confidence and after hearing about Peccatum for awhile, their latest and easiest to find outing at the time seemed a logical place to start. The label "avant-garde metal" truly is appropriate here. Jazz musicianship, operatic vocals, clean, mournful singing, screams, typically brutal black metal riffs, complex guitar passages, odd time signatures, industrial elements, programmed and real drums, and some gorgeous melody all find their way onto Reverie. I shy away from no hyperbole in stating that "In the Bodiless Heart" is one of the finest songs ever written, per example.
Ask Rob Zombie what in the sam of fuck that full title means and he'll probably tell you it has something to do with his wife on a white horse, but regardless of all the goofy pretentiousness, White Zombie ended up going out on a high note with Astro Creep: 2000. With the addition of occasional Exodus/Testament drummer John Tempesta now in the fold, they proceeded to follow up their killer debut and ultimately better it. "Super Charger Heaven" could be the best Zombie song, "More Human Than Human" could be their best hit, and a more rhythmically driven, primal batch of metal permeates here. Solo Rob would take the increasing dance element way too far, but with Sean and J still on board, Creep delivers.
Megadeth's seventh and as it turned-out last album to feature the coveted line up of the two Daves plus Marty Friedman and Nick Menza, Cryptic Writings took their attempts at crossover success to its best place. The following Risk would be Menza-less and jumped the shark with it's intended commercialism, but here there was still plenty of the metal to go along with the standard rock song arrangements. First off, can you name ten more riffs better than "Trust"? Not easily. "She-Wolf", "Vortex", and "FFF" are far more crushing than anything on the previous Youthanasia and "A Secret Place", "Almost Honest", "Sin", and "I'll Get Even" are basically pop tunes with distortion. But they're also incredibly good ones. Never before or again would Dave Mustaine's more user-friendly writing maintain such high standards.
As a keyboard heavy, high-pitched-vocal-harmonized, glossy rock record that name drops many of America's more lighthearted pleasures, Breakfast In America remains very infectious. "The Logical Song", "Goodbye Stranger", and "Take the Long Way Home" we could all probably afford never to hear again because fuck you rock radio, but Breakfast would be easy to skip if the other seven songs weren't equally stunning. "Oh Darling", "Gone Hollywood", and "Just Another Nervous Wreck" all sound like they could've done just as well single-wise and "Lord Is It Mine" is a ballad just this side of underrated. But alas, the seven-plus minute "Child of Vision" is a masterpiece, featuring an extended boogie-woogie piano jam.
The first Liquid Tension Experiment came to be when the prog-label Magna Carta asked Mike Portnoy to put together his ideal supergroup. After many a guitar player couldn't schedule the time, he ultimately settled on longtime bandmate John Petrucci, but not before getting Tony Levin and soon-to-join-Dream Theater Jordan Rudess on board. From the get go they set out to make the most challenging instrumental music they could in the five days they had to do it and it's petty remarkable that it ended up being this good. Rudess coming in with a number of ideas ready certainly helped. Ignoring the nearly thirty-minute, in-studio jam "Three Minute Warning", the best moments are "Osmosis", the incredibly pretty "State of Grace", and the freakish musicianship fest "Universal Mind".
This was the first Iron Maiden outing where they began using synthesizers, thankfully sparingly as they provide just enough texture to the successfully proven Maiden-by-numbers formula. Adrian Smith and Steve Harris were still churning out galloping gold, the later's co-write with Dave Murray "Deja-Vu" and the former's "Wasted Years" proving to be Time's best shorter numbers, while the epics "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner", "Alexander the Great", and "Caught Somewhere In Time" showcased again Maiden's more prog-esque leanings. Time followed the World Slavery Tour's 187 shows in 331 days, a tour that would've killed most bands, but hardly seemed to slow the Maiden down.
Taking their long ass time per release, we'll have to see where Daft Punk goes from here, but at the moment Random Access Memories seems to be a definite game changer. Ridiculously hailed upon release, this is the first of the band's albums to make extensive use of live instrumentation and more guest collaborations than ever before. Nearly all of Memories ended up being chalk full of their best ever songs, (though I still can't make out if "Touch" is brilliant or just fucking high). "Give Life Back To Music" is one of the finest thus far this decade, good luck ever getting "Doin' It Right" out of your head, and "Contact" is an awe-inspiring, UFO-based closer. But the Pharrell Williams featured monster singles "Lose Yourself to Dance" and "Get Lucky" may be the two catchiest songs alive.
A return to form for Eric Clapton who spent the better part of the last two decades whacked-out on wowy sauce and now recently sober, I find that Journeyman belongs the victor far as his very finest solo album go. Utilizing a more adult contemporary, commercial rock sound, this features but one Clapton-penned song. The material that makes up the other eleven are a combination of covers and several Jerry Lynn Williams jams, the later kind of a non-hair metal, hit-making machine version of Desmond Child. The re-do of "Before You Accuse Me", "Pretending", "Bad Love", and "No Alibi" remain the most recognizable recordings here. But he also has his long-time friend George Harrison supply "Run So Far", the later sounding like a highlight from Cloud Nine, which Clapton also supplied lead guitar for.
New wave found it's only certifiable, shredding guitar god in Tom Verlaine with the Television debut Marquee Moon. By the mid-seventies, New York's Television were bubbling with confidence to the point where they both waited a number of years for their ideal record contract to show itself AND were openly unpleased with Brian Eno's production work on a number of demos they made. Takes some gusto to give Eno the could shoulder after the fact. But when Moon did finally drop in '77, it was as influential as anything great from the period. Incorporating jazz interplay, a barrage of chords, (the opposite of their fellow CBGB mates the Ramones), and more guitar solos than a "Free Bird" only set list, this album stood fascinatingly out in the NY punk scene. A scene which in all honestly, Television scarcely belonged.
Humor and dead-faced seriousness were often comfortable bedfellows for Type O Negative. Two of World Coming Down's similarly-titled songs "Everyone I Love Is Dead" and "Everything Dies" are so incredibly depressing that they boarder on parody. Apparently Pete Steele was later not so much a fan of Down as it brought back painful memories, so perhaps the sorrow so cartoonishly showcased is in fact genuine. Besides the "Dead" and "Dies" numbers, (the later of which is particularly amazing), "Creep Green Light" is as good a song as Pete Steele had and the man had many. The Beatles influence was always thrown around when describing Type O's sound so it's not surprising that they finally got around to making one of their obligatory studio-album covers a Beatles medley, of course including "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".
Much changed in camp Badfinger for No Dice. They had recorded their debut Magic Christian Music while still the Iveys, but the name change had occurred after the fact. Bassist Ron Griffiths was also sacked, (he quit actually), which prompted baby-faced Joey Molland to step in on guitar and then-guitarist Tom Evans to switch to bass. All the musical chairs playing now done, they cut No Dice once again for the Beatles Apple label and became rock stars, if not millionaires, (long story there). Their most famous song "No Matter What" and their most famous written song "Without You" are both here and really, that'd almost be enough. Evan's "Believe Me" and he and Molland's "Better Days" are up there as well, but as always, Pete Ham's compositions are the strongest in "I Can't Take It', "We're for the Dark", and "Midnight Caller".
