All posts by Beau

Music

25: Just For You (Neil Diamond)

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Album: Just For You
Artist: Neil Diamond
Year: 1967

1. Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
2. The Long Way Home
3. Red Red Wine
4. You’ll Forget
5. The Boat That I Row
6. Cherry, Cherry
7. I’m a Believer
8. Shilo
9. You Got to Me
10. Solitary Man
11. Thank the Lord for the Night Time

I am an unabashed lover of Neil Diamond despite the fact that nearly all of his songs are complete fluff, with the rest being as cloying as possible. The passion he’ll imbue banal lyrics is admirable, and the guy can write a solid melody.

Just For You is his second album and it looks more like a greatest hits collection. Red Red Wine and I’m a Believer became famous because of UB40 and The Monkees, respectively, but he’s got six other pretty big hits here. And the non-singles aren’t too shabby either.

You Got to Me and Thank the Lord for the Night Time have significant harmony sections that my friend and I used to sing together late night at Perkins. Yes, we were those people. At least we tried to keep the volume down.

Music

26: Rabbit Fur Coat (Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins)

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Album: Rabbit Fur Coat
Artist: Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins
Year: 2006

1. Run Devil Run
2. The Big Guns
3. Rise Up with Fists!!
4. Happy
5. The Charging Sky
6. Melt Your Heart
7. You Are What You Love
8. Rabbit Fur Coat
9. Handle with Care
10. Born Secular
11. It Wasn’t Me
12. Happy (Reprise)

Jenny Lewis is more famous for Rilo Kiley and for starring in The Wizard, but has ventured out into solo work as well. While I’m not a big fan of her second solo album, Acid Tongue, where she invited a bunch of guest musicians to play along with her, I’m a huge fan of her collaboration with The Watson Twins.  There’s a pretty significant “finding religion” theme throughout, and it feels more like a manufactured theme than any genuine transformation for Lewis, but either way, it works for me.

The Watson Twins are an excellent complement to Jenny’s voice, especially on Rise Up with Fists!! and The Charging Sky, two fantastic songs. And for the most part, the lyrics tell pretty good stories. Melt Your Heart and You Are What You Love are a testament to her writing. Unfortunately, the album slides a bit after the latter. The title song, while a pretty painful story about a upper middle-class girl with a shitty mother, has a repetitive rhythm that sounds like a children’s song, and I don’t think it matches the lyrics. The rest of the songs are fine, but don’t stand out for me and I don’t feel motivated to finish the album.

But if you like Rilo Kiley, you have to give this album a listen.

Music

27: Mad Season (Matchbox Twenty)

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Album: Mad Season
Artist: Matchbox Twenty
Year: 2000

1. Angry
2. Black & White People
3. Crutch
4. Last Beautiful Girl
5. If You’re Gone
6. Mad Season
7. Rest Stop
8. The Burn
9. Bent
10. Bed of Lies
11. Leave
12. Stop
13. You Won’t Be Mine

I was very excited when this album came out and I came away feeling it was the best album I’d ever listened to. Mad Season is definitely more polished than the band’s first album, but as the years have gone by it has lost something. I think part of it lies in the first song, where Rob Thomas sings about how he’s not angry anymore. It’s autobiographical, as around this time Rob got engaged and a lot of the bitterness and cynicism kind of melted away. I’m happy for him, really, but while Mad Season still contains some passion, it is mostly missing the rawness that turned me on to them initially.

Rest Stop still contains that mood, but the chorus is repeated about eighty-four times, ruining the mood by the end. Stop is as angry as anything you’ll hear from Matchbox Twenty, but it’s one of the weaker songs lyrically. The songs that are great musically aren’t all that emotionally resonating.  Still, the music is good enough that I still enjoy listening to the album. There are no songs I dislike, and it ends on a pretty solid note with You Won’t Be Mine, a haunting tune featuring Thomas on the piano. Other favorites are Last Beautiful Girl, Black & White People, Mad Season and Bent.

I have liked virtually nothing Thomas has put out since this album. I felt More Than You Think You Are was wretched outside of the mediocre singles. And every single since has done nothing for me. His songs, initially inspired, have become incredibly generic and flat.

Music

28: No Easy Walk to Freedom (Peter, Paul and Mary)

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Album: No Easy Walk to Freedom
Artist: Peter, Paul and Mary
Year: 1986

1. Weave Me the Sunshine
2. Right Field
3. I’d Rather Be In Love
4. State of the Heart
5. No Easy Walk to Freedom
6. Greenland Whale Fisheries
7. Whispered Words
8. El Salvador
9. Greenwood
10. Light One Candle

Everyone’s favorite folk hippies are most famous for puffing on magic dragons, leaving on jet planes, and blowing in the wind. And while I certainly like all of that, this is my favorite collection. Right Field is a classic original, detailing the shame of playing right field for a Little League team.  Greenland Whale Fisheries is an almost 300 years old sea shanty and they do it justice. No Easy Walk to Freedom is a great tribute Nelson Mendela; I’m sure when he was freed four years later it was a fabulous day in the Peter, Paul, and Mary households.

My two favorite songs are State of the Heart, an elegant ballad by Peter, and El Salvador. It’s a scathing, powerful protest song about the then civil war that the U.S. was involved in, and it got the band booed at concerts. I was too young to be aware or concerned about the conflict, so it holds little emotional resonance for me. All I know is that Peter Yarrow rocks it out and it sounds awesome.

Music

29: Hoist (Phish)

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Album: (Hoist)
Artist: Phish
Year: 1994

1. Julius
2. Down with Disease
3. If I Could (with Alison Krauss)
4. Riker’s Mailbox
5. Axilla, Pt. 2
6. Lifeboy
7. Sample in a Jar
8. Wolfman’s Brother
9. Scent of a Mule
10. Dog Faced Boy
11. Demand

Hoist is Phish’s most pop-friendly album, put them on the map for general audiences, though their follow-up album, Billy Breathes, was even more popular. I like both albums, but this one has more of my favorite songs. I tend to prefer their songs that highlight the guitar and drums rather than Trey Anastasio’s voice. His voice is fine, but on some songs, like Lifeboy, he has this high-pitch monotone thing going that ruins everything.

The album begins with an upbeat jam in Julius that really sets the table. Down with Disease was the most popular single from the album; it’s done well, but lacks the bite I would like. If I Could is my favorite song on the album, thanks in no small part to Alison Krauss, who has now made two albums this week as a guest singer. It’s a simple but beautiful ballad.

Riker’s Mailbox is just thirty seconds of noise, but they got Jonathan Frakes to play trombone for it, which is pretty awesome. Axilla, Pt. 2 is a nice jam. I have no idea what the heck is going in Sample in a Jar, but it has a fantastic melody. Wolfman’s Brother is an extended jam with empty lyrics but I find it very relaxing. Scene of a Mule is a crazy folk song about a cowgirl who makes her mule take a dump to defeat hostile aliens. It’s funny, but not terribly pleasant to listen to very often.

Dog Faced Boy is an honest, acoustic ballad that I enjoy, but your mileage may vary.  I generally stop the album there. Demand is an extended jam following a guy driving recklessly down the freeway for several minutes before a terrible crash, followed by a prayer. The jam is okay, but not great, and too long to deal with.

Music

30: The Big Room (M2M)

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Album: The Big Room
Artist: M2M
Year: 2002

1. Everything
2. Jennifer
3. Don’t
4. Payphone
5. What You Do About Me
6. Love Left For Me
7. Miss Popular
8. Wanna Be Where You Are
9. Leave Me Alone
10. Sometimes
11. Eventually

Alright, hear me out.

Norwegians Marit Larsen and Marion Raven released their first album, Shades of Purple, while still in high school to pretty good success. They had a top 30 hit in Don’t Say You Love Me here in the states, and it went top 10 in several other countries as well. Mirror, Mirror, my favorite song of theirs, also did okay. They were popular among the Disney Channel crowd, released a ton of music videos, and toured relentlessly, or as much as teenagers can. Their songs consisted of pretty standard pop hooks and melodies, but their ballads were pretty bad.

Still in their late teens, they released The Big Room. They toured with Jewel, who was promoting This Way at the time, and I got to see them live. Their energy was infectious, they both play instruments, and their songwriting seemed a little more pointed than your average teen pop band, so I picked the album up. It really is well done.

Unlike their first effort, they wrote and were the lead writers on every song here, and it shows. They were obviously mature for their age, but still teenagers. I love this line from Jennifer:

She’s a fragile girl
Skin like porcelain
Shame on you, if you would hurt her

She’s adorable
Oh so vulnerable
I wish that somebody would drop her

On one hand, she idolizes this girl and doesn’t want her love interest to treat her poorly. On the other hand, she desperately wants this girl to break in some way so her love interest might turn his attention to her. Nothing terribly new, but refreshingly honest.

My favorite song, easily, is Don’t Say You Love Me. I’m sure a significant part of that is that I lived this song when I was a teenager. She is in love with a guy who also loves her back, but he’s too afraid to break up with his current girlfriend to be with her. She won’t let him cheat with her, but wants to be as supportive as possible. I was that guy, and was grateful I had someone mature and supportive on my side.

The girls also aren’t afraid to use some profanity on the album, though because their market was primarily young girls, there is some censorship.

While there’s not much here as far as top-tier music, it is certainly consistent in quality and energy from beginning to end, which is why I’ll spin the whole thing on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the studio broke up the band shortly after I saw them in concert due to poor sales, and they’re both now in solo careers. Marit’s has been much more successful, which is nice to see because she certainly has the better voice.

Music

31: Mud on the Tires (Brad Paisley)

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Album: Mud on the Tires
Artist: Brad Paisley
Year: 2003

1. Mud on the Tires
2. Celebrity
3. Ain’t Nothin’ Like
4. Little Moments
5. That’s Love
6. Somebody Knows You Know
7. Famous People
8. Hold Me in Your Arms
9. Whiskey Lullaby (with Alison Krauss)
10. The Best Thing I Had Going
11. The Cigar Song
12. Make a Mistake
13. Make a Mistake with Me (instrumental)
14. Is It Raining at Your House
15. Spaghetti Western Swing
16. Farther Along
17. Kung Pao

I promise is the final Paisley album on the countdown. Mud on the Tires is his third and the most consistent from beginning to end. Mud on the Tires is classic country, easy to listen and sing along to, and was an instant smash. Celebrity is a fun and honest critique of the desire to be famous. Then the album shoots off three decent consecutive slice-of-life songs before Somebody Knows You Know, a sad and cynical break-up song, showing off Paisley’s tenor voice.

Famous People is a cute song about an actress visiting small-town Kentucky.  Whiskey Lullaby is a crushing song about alcohol abuse and Krauss is great as usual. The Cigar Song is a funny tune that plays on the urban legend of the guy who insures his cigars against arson and the collects on the insurance after he smokes them. Then the album’s highlight for me is Make a Mistake, the shortest song in my top 500, coming in at 1:33.

The end of the album wraps up with Brad’s usual, an instrumental, a gospel song, and some talking songs by the Kung Pao Buckaroos that do nothing for me beyond the initial listen. Thankfully, they are at the end so I can skip them. Fourteen consecutive good songs is enough for me.

Music

32: Time Well Wasted (Brad Paisley)

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Album: Time Well Wasted
Artist: Brad Paisley
Year: 2005

1. The World
2. Alcohol
3. Waitin’ on a Woman
4. I’ll Take You Back
5. She’s Everything
6. You Need a Man Around Here
7. Out in the Parkin’ Lot (with Alan Jackson)
8. Rainin’ You
9. Flowers
10. Love is Never-Ending
11. The Uncloudy Day
12. When I Get Where I’m Going (w/ Dolly Parton)
13. Easy Money
14. Time Warp
15. Time Well Wasted
16. Cornography

Paisley’s fourth album further his ascendance to one of country’s elite, though not surprisingly, my three favorite songs were non-singles. The singles are fine enough and are worthy listens as well, but I hate to think that if I had never bought this album I’d be missing out on three great songs. I’m not surprised I’ll Take You Back wasn’t released as it’s a patented Paisley tongue-in-cheek ditty. But Out in the Parkin’ Lot is a great and surprisingly philosophical duet about bar parking lots, and Rainin’ You is a power ballad that tugs at the heartstrings.

As for the rest, The World, Waitin’ on a Woman, and the duet with Dolly are pretty solid as well.  The Uncloudy Day is his usual hymnal, in the vein of Willie Nelson’s version, and a 30 second outtake at that. The final track, Cornography, is just a a bunch of guys (including George Jones and Little Jimmy Dickens) telling a story with a ton of innuendo. It’s funny, but not something I want to hear when listening to a music album.

Music

33: Alright Guy (Gary Allan)

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Album: Alright Guy
Artist: Gary Allan
Year: 2001

1. Man to Man
2. Devil’s Candy
3. What I’d Say
4. Man of Me
5. Adobe Walls
6. What’s on My Mind
7. Alright Guy
8. The One
9. I’m Doin’ My Best
10. I Don’t Look Back
11. What Would Willie Do

Gary Allan’s velvet voice has allowed me to forgive his relatively weak lyrics as evidenced by my owning his first five albums.  I stopped because they’re continuing to get worse and I just can’t support that anymore. He reached his zenith with his fourth album, Alright Guy. In retrospect, this should probably be somewhere around #50, but too late now!

The biggest hit from this album is The One, a super-generic ballad that is romantic I guess, but signals the weak point of the album for me. Until that point, the album is definitely #33 material. What I’d Say is an honest and painful look at what it’s like to be around an ex. Adobe Walls is a simple song about a tryst with a Mexican girl, but Gary’s voice about makes me melt.

The title track is a bit awkward, but worth it for mention of “book of pictures of Madonna naked” and referring to police officers as “a couple of dicks.” It’s out of nowhere for the normally mild Allan. The final highlight is What Would Willie Do, which more or less spends several minutes pointing out every fault of Willie Nelson, up to and including how ugly he and his family are. He uses this information to point out that life can’t be that bad and if a guy like this can do something with his life, then maybe you can, too. It’s obvious Willie didn’t take offense, as on Allan’s next album they sang a duet together.

Music

34:Green River (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

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Album: Green River
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival
Year: 1969

1. Green River
2. Commotion
3. Tombstone Shadow
4. Wrote a Song for Everyone
5. Bad Moon Rising
6. Lodi
7. Cross-Tie Walker
8. Sinister Purpose
9. The Night Time Is the Right 

Creedence released three albums in 1969 (!!!)  Their first album of the year, Bayou Country, helped the band become popular on the heels of Proud Mary. Green River was their second and also their best.

One amazing thing about John Fogerty is that he was able to write songs about places he had never lived and make you think he had been there his whole life, when in fact he was from San Francisco. Green River is one of those songs that harkens back to children growing up in the 50’s in bayou country.

Commotion is a frenetic rocker and one of their best up-tempo songs. Tombstone Shadow is an autobiographical about John’s visit with a fortune teller that didn’t go so well. It sounds like something Screamin’ Jay Hawkins would have done. Wrote a Song for Everyone is a great ballad about insecurity. Bad Moon Rising is probably the most famous song from the album and one I’m rather tired of, but it’s still a good sing-a-long.

Ever since I started keeping track, Lodi has been in my top five songs of all-time. Fogerty has said it’s a “sad, sad song about a bad, bad photographer.”  It’s also about a bad, bad musician.

After this the album kind of sputters. Cross-Tie Walker has an incredibly boring rhythm. Sinister Purpose is pretty heavy-handed on the lyrics, but it’s got a pretty sinister sounding guitar going on, so it’s a good listen. And then we get to the song that knocks Green River out of the top 20. The Night Time is the Right Time is uninteresting, too slow, and has the backups all singing “Wah-Doo-Day” between every single line. It’s obnoxious and I can’t stomach it very often.