Category Archives: 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.

Music

64: This Time (Dwight Yoakam)

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Album: This Time
Artist: Dwight Yoakam
Year: 1993

1. Pocket of a Clown
2. A Thousand Miles from Nowhere
3. Home for Sale
4. This Time
5. Two Doors Down
6. Ain’t That Lonely Yet
7. King of Fools
8. Fast as You
9. Try Not to Look So Pretty
10. Wild Ride
11. Lonesome Roads

Dwight takes the best of Buck Owens’ sound and makes it more palatable for my generation. Unfortunately, his songwriting often lacks anything special. Most of his albums have one to three pretty good songs and a lot of boring filler. My two favorite songs of his (Sorry You Asked? and Nothing) appear on the album Gone, but not much else does. This Time, however, is pretty consistent from beginning to end.

A Thousand Miles from Nowhere is a powerful ballad that is easily the highlight here. Fast as You emphasizes Dwight’s sultry voice that made the ladies go crazy twenty years ago. Pocket of a Clown is a fun, whimsical tune.  Try Not to Look So Pretty is also a very pleasant song. The rest are nothing special, but are easy sing-a-longers that haven’t begged me to skip them. If you ever wanted to check him out, this album is a pretty good representation of what he has to offer. Or you can you watch him beat his wife in Sling Blade. He’s good at that, too.

Music

65: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles)

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Album: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Artist: The Beatles
Year: 1967

1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With a Little Help from My Friends
3. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing a Hole
6. She’s Leaving Home
7. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
8. Within You Without You
9. When I’m Sixty-Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning Good Morning
12. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13. A Day in the Life

Considered the best album of all-time by more than one publication run by Baby Boomers, Sgt. Pepper is also one of the best-selling albums of all time. I hesitate to call it overrated because that only comes off as snobbish, but it’s not even my favorite Beatles album. Perhaps I’m not that big of a fan of psychedelic rock, but I think the album’s biggest problem is that despite having the appearance of a concept album, it is very disjointed.

Both Sgt. Pepper songs contribute nothing to the album, being essentially the same boring, uninspired song twice. Thankfully, the rest of the album makes up for it. While I don’t like it as much as Joe Cocker’s cover, With a Little Help from My Friends is a pretty sweet album opener. Lucy has a pretty boring melody, but then the album takes off with seven solid songs in a row. She’s Leaving Home has great harmony and a nifty little message about runaways. Harrison’s Within You Without You, an Indian song (complete with Indian instruments such as the dilruba, tabla, swarmandal. and sitar) has grown on me over the years.

But the reason Sgt. Pepper makes this countdown is A Day in the Life. Rolling Stone ranks it as the 28th greatest song of all time. In my top 100, which includes genres besides 60s and 70s rock, I have it as the 37th greatest song of all time. John and Paul are never more perfect together, and the orchestral glissandos and final sustained piano chord round out the lyrics–and the album–beautifully.

Music

66: Diamond Rio (Diamond Rio)

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Album: Diamond Rio
Artist: Diamond Rio
Year: 1991

1. Meet in the Middle
2. This State of Mind
3. They Don’t Make Hearts Like They Used To
4. Mirror, Mirror
5. The Ballad of Conley and Billy (The Proof’s in the Pickin’)
6. Nowhere Bound
7. It’s Gone
8. Norma Jean Riley
9. Mama Don’t Forget To Pray for Me
10. Pick Me Up
11. Poultry Promenade

Diamond Rio won the Horizon Award after bursting out onto the country scene with their debut self-titled album, and it’s easy to see why. Their music easily fit in with the more modern sound country was adopting while utilizing acoustic guitars, mandolins, and extensive use of keyboards. And for the most part, their lyrics were upbeat and optimistic, something not often heard in this genre.

Meet in the Middle, Mirror Mirror, and Norma Jean Riley are the crowd favorites. The first two are fine, but have lost something over the years. However, Norma Jean Riley, a song about a guy telling his friends where to go while he tries to pick up a woman out of his league, is still a great tune. Nowhere Bound is less interesting lyrically, but is a perfectly crafted song with great hooks. The Ballad of Conley and Billy heavily features the mandolin and is a treat to listen to. Even more so is Poultry Promenade, a pure instrumental, and a home run to end the album. It’s fast despite feeling effortless, and suggests a confidence that the band knew they were going to be around for a while.

And they were around for a while. In 12 years they released 7 studio albums and had 5 number one hits (as well as a slew of top tens), never letting up with the energy or optimism. They haven’t done much since 2002, as their sound seems to have lost popularity. But they were a breath of fresh air for country music in the 90’s.

Music

67: Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy (Chris LeDoux)

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Album: Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy
Artist: Chris LeDoux
Year: 1992

1. Call of the Wild
2. You Just Can’t See Him from the Road
3. Little Long-Haired Outlaw
4. Making Ends Meet
5. Whatcha Gonna Do with a Cowboy (w/ Garth Brooks)
6. Hooked on an 8 Second Ride
7. I’m Ready If You’re Willing
8. Look at You Girl
9. Cadillac Ranch
10. Western Skies

There are at least a dozen county stars, if not more, that I like more than Chris LeDoux that don’t have an album on this countdown. In fact, Chris released 31 studio albums, and I like about 13 of his songs. It just so happens that ten of them were on this album.

A national rodeo champ, he eschewed Nashville and wrote and recorded songs on his own label. He received occasional airplay, but he was only a hit amongst his rabid fans who enjoyed his songs about bull-riding and tobacco. Yes, he has more than one song that is an ode to Copenhagen.

He became a little more famous after Garth Brooks dropped his name in one of his songs, and LeDoux eventually relented and signed with Liberty Records. This is his second album and easily his most successful. While four of the songs here were on previous albums, they’re polished up a bit to make them more palatable for my ears. And there’s only one rodeo and zero tobacco songs, so that helps, too.

His two greatest hits, the duet with Garth and Cadillac Ranch, still hold up today. My favorite, though, is about a lonely old rancher, still going at it in You Just Can’t See Him from the Road. Look at You Girl is a pretty sweet ballad as well.

LeDoux died from an autoimmune disease in 2005 at the age of 56, so we won’t be hearing any more from him, though his musical peak seemed to have faded long before then.

Music

68: Pieces of You (Jewel)

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Album: Pieces of You
Artist: Jewel
Year: 1995

1. Who Will Save Your Soul
2. Pieces of You
3. Little Sister
4. Foolish Games
5. Near You Always
6. Painters
7. Morning Song
8. Adrian
9. I’m Sensitive
10. You Were Meant For Me
11. Don’t
12. Daddy
13. Angel Standing By
14. Amen

If you thought yesterday’s album was pretentious…

Jewel Kilcher was 21 when this album was released, and it’s obvious at times. I wrote a lot of poetry in high school, and some of it sounds a lot like what she’s done here. And you certainly wouldn’t want to put my poetry to music. Daddy is the worst example. It’s about child abuse and is more or less breathing anger for a few minutes. Pieces of You is another example of a teenager’s way of saying no to prejudice, but at least it’s easier to listen to. I fondly remember playing it on a jukebox at a billiards hall, just because it’s a stupid song to play billiards to.

But it’s also obvious that there is talent here. Her first two singles, unfortunately, turned off a lot of possible fans by sounding whiny. Who Will Save Your Soul and You Were Meant For Me are decent songs, but they were overplayed and they’re not the best examples of Jewel’s voice. Foolish Games is what reeled me in, especially when I heard the album track, which resonates more than the overproduced radio version.

Painters is the one “music to poetry” song of hers that I really enjoy, partly because her voice is good and partly because it’s a pretty darn good poem. Adrian has also grown on me over the years, a song about a childhood friend that falls into a coma after an accident. It’s wretchedly sad, though not really a sing-a-longer.

The end of this album really weakens it. I’ve already discussed Daddy, and the other three songs, while inoffensive, really add nothing. If this were a ten song album, it would likely rank in my top fifty.

Music

69: A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (Panic! at the Disco)

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Album: A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out
Artist: Panic! at the Disco
Year: 2005

1. Introduction
2. The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage
3. London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines
4. Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks
5. Camisado
6. Time to Dance
7. Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off
8. Intermission
9. But It’s Better If You Do
10. I Write Sins Not Tragedies
11. I Constantly Thank God for Esteban
12. There’s a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought of it Yet
13. Build God, Then We’ll Talk

Yes, I’m actually going to defend this album’s placement on the list, so shut up and listen to me complain about it for a second.

I didn’t realize until going to write this review that the band was in high school when they began working on this album, finishing it after graduation. It should have been obvious, if only for the fucking pretentious song titling. They have zilch to do with anything in any of the songs, so recalling which song title goes with which song is impossible. I actually had to listen to each song again to remember which ones I was going to give a hot rating to because I couldn’t place the title.

I’ll also admit that the lyrics, without exception, are completely insincere. They heavily discuss social issues such as marriage, adultery, alcoholism, and prostitution, yet at no point do you ever feel it coming through the music. They’re cleverly written, with some pretty sweet uses of rarely used words in songs (surreptitious!), but nothing is going to move you.

But I can’t deny that at least three or four times per year I listen to this album from start to finish, cranking it loud. It’s upbeat and energetic, great for driving. The verses and choruses are endlessly repeated, making them catchy (and since the lyrics are uninspiring, catchy is the way you gotta go). I enjoy their voices and think they harmonize well. And I love the production. The first half of the album uses synthesizers and drum machines, while the last half uses organs and accordions. As you can see, I prefer the last half of the album, but they both work with what they do.

I haven’t listened to anything else they’ve done. I’ve heard they went away from the stylings of this album, which was a smart move. While I appreciate the uniqueness of this record in my collection, it’s definitely something I have to be in a mood for, and two would not be better than one.