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Music

55: Eye of the Zombie (John Fogerty)

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Album: Eye of the Zombie
Artist: John Fogerty
Year: 1986

1. Goin’ Back Home
2. Eye of the Zombie
3. Headlines
4. Knockin’ on Your Door
5. Change in the Weather
6. Violence is Golden
7. Wasn’t That a Woman
8. Soda Pop
9. Sail Away

Is that a zombie on the album cover or a werewolf? Either way, most critics and fans felt confused by this album and it failed miserably. CCR’s frontman didn’t release another solo album for eleven years after this flop. I’m in the camp that not only enjoys it, but feel it’s better than his #1 album Centerfield, which had too much screaming for my taste.

Goin’ Back Home is a synthesized instrumental that really isn’t worth anyone’s time, and the album pretty much gets better in slow increments from there on out. Most of the songs are classic rockers that highlight John’s guitar work, with repeating beats and choruses. Violence is Golden is his one protest song on the album, but he tries to be funny with it. It’s worth it just to hear him rhyme TNT and enemy.

Soda Pop is a tounge-in-cheek song about advertising. I mostly love it for the chorus which is repeated at least 20 times. Sail Away is one of John’s prettiest ballads and has an almost angelic quality to it, which is bizarre if you know the rest of his work. Overall, this certainly isn’t the best from Fogerty, but if you like him and you like simple rockers, then you might want to give this a go.

Music

56: Cooleyhighharmony (Boyz II Men)

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Album: Cooleyhighharmony
Artist: Boyz II Men
Year: 1991

1. Please Don’t Go
2. Lonely Heart
3. This is My Heart
4. Uhh Ahh
5. It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday
6. Motownphilly
7. Under Pressure
8. Sympin’
9. Little Things
10. Your Love

The debut album for the proteges of Bel Biv Devoe, Boyz II Men burst onto the pop charts with (appropriately) some really awesome harmonies. To be honest, their lyrics rarely do much for me, and many of their ballads are very simplistic. But damn if I don’t find myself swaying to their velvet voices in This is My Heart or beat the steering wheel during Motownphilly. Yesterday is a bit overrated for me, but still solid. And Under Pressure, as they explicitly state in the intro, is a pretty great example of them blending harmony with hip hop.

Interestingly, the album is divided into slow songs in the first half, and up-tempo songs in the second half. I’m not sure that would work for every album, but it seems appropriate here.

I didn’t care much for their sophomore album, though I did dig their duet with Mariah Carey, at least the first eighty-thousand times I heard it.

Music

57: Begin to Hope (Regina Spektor)

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Album: Begin to Hope
Artist: Regina Spektor
Year: 2006

1. Fidelity
2. Better
3. Samson
4. On the Radio
5. Field Below
6. Hotel Song
7. Apres Moi
8. 20 Years of Snow
9. That Time
10. Edit
11. Lady
12. Summer in the City

Despite my affinity for jam bands, I also love a singer/songwriter who can play a mean piano.

I struggled ranking this album considering it has songs I adore as well as loathe. I’m not a huge Regina fan as I find her glottal stop thing she does pretty obnoxious, as well as her songs that eschew melody or structure. The last half of this album has quite a bit of that, though I do enjoy Edit a little bit.

Begin to Hope, however, has probably my favorite first half of any album. Fidelity is an incredibly sad song despite it being about falling in love. Better is above average. Samson and On the Radio are both in my top 30, both lyrically and musically perfect.  I prefer her version of Samson on her 2002 album Songs, but this one is pretty damn good, too. And every time I hear Hotel Song, I sing about orca whales and owls pretty much the rest of the day. If I’m listening to this album, I often turn it off after Hotel Song.

There are extended versions of this album that add a whole slew of songs. If you’re so inclined, Dusseldorf is a pretty good track.

Music

58: Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)

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Album: Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy
Artist: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Year: 1970

1. Some of Shelly’s Blues
2. Prodigal’s Return
3. Cure
4. Travelin’ Mood
5. Chicken Reel
6. Yukon Railroad
7. Livin’ Without You
8. Clinch Mountain Backstep
9. Rave On
10. Billy in the Low Ground
11. Jesse James
12. Uncle Charlie Interview
13. Mr. Bojangles
14. Opus 36
15. Santa Rosa
16. Propinquity
17. Uncle Charlie
18. Randy Lynn Rag
19. House at Pooh Corner
20. Swanee River
21. Uncle Charlie Interview #2 / Spanish Fandango

With 21 songs, you’d think it was a double album. In reality, it’s a lot of short songs and instrumentals. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is most famous for their song Fishin’ in the Dark, but they released a ton of albums before that song ever hit the airwaves. This one’s my favorite.  Like many folk albums, a lot of the songs are borrowed, but they’re borrowed pretty damn well.

The album is strongest at the beginning. Some of Shelly’s Blues (Michael Nesmith) is a classic, but it doesn’t let up for a while after that. The instrumentals are true jugband material, replete with mandolins, a washtub bass, a washboard, conga, accordion, and lots o’ pluckin’. Some of the more solid vocals are on Prodigal’s Return (Kenny Loggins) and Livin’ Without You (Randy Newman).

Then the album is broken up with random interviews with some old guy named Charlie (an in-law of the album’s producer), who is supposed to be Mr. Bojangles. They’re not terribly interesting, and the harmonica is pretty obnoxious. Thankfully, Mr. Bojangles is strong enough to help you forget.

The rest of the album is hit and miss, with the hits being Propinquity (Michael Nesmith) and House at Pooh Corner (Kenny Loggins). I can’t explain why I’m obsessed with this version of the Three Acre Wood homage, but they turned a pretty but nap-inducing lullaby into an uplifting romp.

The album ends with another silly interview, but that’s a nitpick for this otherwise fun folk record.

Music

59: Supernatural (Santana)

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Album: Supernatural
Artist: Santana
Year: 1999

1. (Da Le) Yaleo
2. Love of My Life (with Dave Matthews)
3. Put Your Lights On (with Everlast)
4. Africa Bamba
5. Smooth (with Rob Thomas)
6. Do You Like the Way (with Lauryn Hill and Cee Lo Green)
7. Maria Maria (with Wyclef Jean)
8. Migra
9. Corazon Espinado
10. Wishing It Was (with Eagle-Eye Cherry)
11. El Farol
12. Primavera
13. The Calling (with Eric Clapton)

I honestly had never even heard of Santana when this album was released. I still have never listened to anything else he’s done. I bought the album based on the singles where he’s just playing guitar while a current star was singing, but it makes the countdown due to his songs that I don’t understand most of the words to.

Put Your Lights On is my favorite track, a pretty haunting tune. I’m also a fan of the overplayed Smooth and the overplayed Maria Maria. The rest of the collaborations I can take or leave, especially Lauryn Hill’s. Santana and rap just don’t mix. And while Clapton’s guitar playing is pretty sweet, I’m not a fan of the chanting in his song.

I enjoy all of Santana’s singles. My favorite is probably Africa Bamba, though it competes with Yaleo and Corazon Espinado. His voice is nothing special, but his songs here are quite relaxing and are a nice break from the sometimes overproduced singles.

Music

Album Creator: Tracy Lawrence

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A pretty significant country star in the 1990’s, Tracy Lawrence has a deep southern drawl and primarily sang about country’s staples, drinking and cheating.  I think one of the reasons I like him is because he stays away from political stuff and how awesome being a southern redneck is. In other words, he’s the opposite of Toby Keith.

He has three albums that almost made the cut, but each one has at least two songs I strongly dislike, so it wasn’t going to happen. His most famous album is probably I See It Now. With each song released from the album he did a music video where he leapt in and out of different scenarios a la Sam Beckett in Quantum Leap.

Anyway, using my rule that only fifteen songs can make (which somehow seemed tougher than when I did it with Johnny Cash), here’s a hypothetically awesome album by Tracy Lawrence. Most of these are on his greatest hits albums, though there’s a few that either didn’t chart well or were never released.

1. Renegades, Rebels, and Rogues
2. Runnin’ Behind
3. Sticks and Stones
4. Somebody Paints the Wall
5. I Threw the Rest Away
6. Can’t Break it to My Heart
7. Alibis
8. My Second Home
9. As Any Fool Can See
10. Is That a Tear
11. Time Marches On
12. From What We Give
13. How A Cowgirl Says Goodbye
14. Livin’ in Black and White
15. If The Good Die Young

Runnin’ Behind holds a special place for me, being one of the songs that got me hooked on country music.

Music

60: Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)

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Album: Bridge Over Troubled Water
Artist: Simon & Garfunkel
Year: 1970

1. Bridge over Troubled Water
2. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
3. Cecilia
4. Keep the Customer Satisfied
5. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
6. The Boxer
7. Baby Driver
8. The Only Living Boy in New York
9. Why Don’t You Write Me
10. Bye Bye Love
11. Song for the Asking

This may be the only time I can think of that a group or band with more than a couple albums had their very last one be their best. And it’s not even close. I can’t make it through any other Simon & Garfunkel album, despite loving songs on each of them. Scarborough Fair is one of my favorite songs, but the album it’s on is a snooze-fest. Bridge Over Troubled Water, on the other hand, is solid from beginning to end.

I’m not as huge of fan of the title track as most people are, but it’s a pretty solid ballad. Thankfully, the awesomeness keeps on coming. El Condor Pasa is a very pretty tune. Cecilia is goofy fun, and I love the clapping throughout. Keep the Customer Satisfied is a hidden gem, with one of my favorite choruses ever.

It’s the same old story
Everywhere I go,
I get slandered,
Libeled,
I hear words I never heard
In the Bible
And I’m one step ahead of the shoe shine
Two steps away from the county line
Just trying to keep my customers satisfied.

So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright is a touching obituary, and then we get The Boxer, a wonderful song with wonderful singing. It’s my second favorite S&G tune. Baby Driver is another fun, up-beat song.

Unfortunately, the album kind of whittles down after that. Bye Bye Love is a decent cover of the Everly Brothers hit, but I’d rather just be listening to the original. And why are we hearing it live? It makes for a very disjointed feeling, and would have been placed better at the end of the album. The other three songs are quite unmemorable, though they’re at least pleasant. Still, if this were a seven song album, it would likely place in my Top 25.

Music

61: Stormy Blue (Stormy Blue)

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Album: Stormy Blue
Artist: Stormy Blue
Year: 2001

1. Talk Back
2. I’m Sweet
3. Midnight Creeper
4. Star Child
5. I Give My Love to You
6. By Your Side (Instrumental)
7. By Your Side (Vocal)
8. Jo (Vocal)
9. Jo (Instrumental)
10. The Everlasting End (Vocal)
11. The Everlasting End (Instrumental)
12. Show Me
13. Man of God

A short-lived rock band (with a bluesy feel) out of Chicago, Stormy Blue never really did anything outside of its hometown. So why did I notice them? My senior year of college I signed up for something or other at one of those booths outside and I got to reach into a bag and blindly pull out a CD. This was it.

It’s produced by Chicago soul-man John “Stormy” Colley (who arranged some of his biggest work in the 60’s as a teenager), though even the liner notes don’t make it clear who’s singing. I don’t really know how to describe their sound. Perhaps a poor man’s Teddy Pendergrass if he had a band with the occasional synthesizer? I’ll just say that if I was in a blues bar and heard this lineup of songs, I’d leave pretty satisfied. They are generally honest, simple songs. Occasionally overproduced, and the three consecutive songs with separate instrumental versions is a bit much. But it’s a calming album.

Music

62: Gordon (Barenaked Ladies)

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Album: Gordon
Artist: Barenaked Ladies
Year: 1992

1. Hello City
2. Enid
3. Grade 9
4. Brian Wilson
5. Be My Yoko Ono
6. Wrap Your Arms Around Me
7. What a Good Boy
8. The King of Bedside Manor
9. Box Set
10. I Love You
11. New Kid (On the Block)
12. Blame It on Me
13. The Flag
14. If I had $1000000
15. Crazy

An extremely talented group that never really could gain any steam in America despite having a #1 hit, the Barenaked Ladies are a great mixture of creative (but mostly not kitschy) lyrics and harmonies. Their debut album Gordon shows of their talents very well, if also their weaknesses.

The album starts out with a bang, with Hello City, upbeat and you can sing along to it before it’s even over. Enid has some amazing harmonies, perhaps the best BNL has ever had. Grade 9 is a pitch perfect explanation of what it’s like to be fifteen years old, and then we get to their magnum opus, Brian Wilson. It’s catchy, it’s sad (mostly about Brian’s life going in the shitter), and it’s a great tribute to the Beach Boys front man. While some worried that Brian Wilson would react negatively to the song, he loved it and even covered the song and sang it with BNL. It’s one of their songs that is even better live.

Be My Yoko Ono is catchy but the not-so-subtle insult to John Lennon gets old after a while. Other highlights are What a Good Boy (about parents living vicariously through their children), Box Set (about a band that sells out and releases a you know what), and The Flag (about spousal abuse).

Their most recognizable song, If I had $1000000 is also here. I thought it was hilarious when I first heard it, but it gets old really fast, and if I never listen to again I’ll be okay with that.

Music

63: The Stranger (Billy Joel)

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Album: The Stranger
Artist: Billy Joel
Year: 1977

1. Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)
2. The Stranger
3. Just the Way You Are
4. Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
5. Vienna
6. Only the Good Die Young
7. She’s Always a Woman
8. Get It Right the First Time
9. Everybody Has a Dream

Earlier in his career, Joel wrote a song called The Entertainer, where he bemoans how the record industry stifles talent. One of his complaints is that artists get pressure to cut the length of their songs so it can be made to fit onto tight radio segments. One example of this is Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. It’s epic, seven and a half minutes long, a layered, lyrically interesting song. But it got left off the radio in favor of easy fluff like She’s Always A Woman.  

Thankfully, the album is laden with solid music. Movin’ Out is a great track-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack. The Stranger might be my second favorite on the album, less so for the lyrics than the eerie whistling at the beginning and end. Another pleasant surprise for me is Vienna. The album’s weakest song is the final one–a near-gospel–which is never a good idea, but at least it isn’t terrible.

I think Joel is a great songwriter, but he’s not that great at love songs. I think that might be because the women he sings about in his songs sound incredibly obnoxious, thus I can’t identify with his feelings for him. But his melodies are generally easy enough that I can muscle through them and enjoy his stronger offerings. The Stranger is certainly one of them.