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.

Music

35: Steers & Stripes (Brooks & Dunn)

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Album: Steers & Stripes
Artist: Brooks & Dunn
Year: 2001

1. Only in America (D)
2. The Last Thing I Do (D)
3. The Long Goodbye (D)
4. Go West (B)
5. My Heart Is Lost To You (D)
6. Good Girls Go To Heaven (D)
7. When She’s Gone, She’s Gone (B)
8. Ain’t Nothing ’bout You (D)
9. Unloved (D)
10. Deny, Deny, Deny (B)
11. Lucky Me, Lonely You (D)
12. I Fall (B)
13. Every River (D)
14. See Jane Dance (B)

Come 2001 I was worried about Brooks & Dunn as their music had been slowly worsening over their past few albums. The first time I spun this I was floored. Part of that, in retrospect, was my low expectations. But I was happy to see my favorite country artist come back and put together something great.

Only in America is probably the least annoying flag-waving song in country music, as it’s more about opportunity than arrogance, but it still reveals some ignorance about luck and circumstance. Thankfully, the rest of the album sticks with the duo’s bread-n-butter, relationship songs. Trisha Yearwood helps out on The Last Thing I Do, which is a lyrically improved version of the standard “trucker’s comin’ back home” song. The album’s major hit is The Long Goodbye, which isn’t terribly inspired but showcases Dunn’s amazing, amazing voice. I’m not sure anyone in country music can do a break-up ballad like Ronnie Dunn. Simply gorgeous.  His voice is also showcased well on My Heart Is Lost To You and Unloved, the latter surprisingly not released as a single. Every River, the worst song on the album, was released however, and predictably was the album’s only single not to be a top ten hit.

Kix only gets five of the fourteen songs on the album, but he does his best. One of his best five songs, When She’s Gone, She’s Gone, is a beautiful break-up song that is more about breaking up with New Orleans than the girl. Kix was always the stronger songwriter, and he really puts you in the city.   See Jane Dance is as dumb as it sounds, but Brooks knows it and it’s pretty inoffensive.

Brooks & Dunn released three more albums after this one before they broke up, and none of them were able to reach what they did here. Their songs eventually seemed less like collaborations than two guys doing their own thing and just combining their work for a release. I was neither surprised, nor sad, when they broke up.  But they had an awesome run.

Music

36: Maybe You Should Drive (Barenaked Ladies)

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Album: Maybe You Should Drive
Artist: Barenaked Ladies
Year: 1994

1. Jane
2. Intermittently
3. These Apples
4. You Will Be Waiting
5. A
6. Everything Old Is New Again
7. Alternative Girlfriend
8. Am I the Only One?
9. Little Tiny Song
10. Life, in a Nutshell
11. The Wrong Man Was Convicted
12. Great Provider

The second album by the Barenaked Ladies takes right off where Gordon ended, with incredibly creative lyrics. While the ballads don’t have as much emotional weight, the up tempo songs are even better. Life, in a Nutshell is easily my favorite song by the band, and only partly because their grammar skills (which are better than they admit in These Apples) stand out by correctly using “she” vs. “her.”  A small thing, but I appreciate it.  I can also identify with Jane, as I’ve been the safe guy in the friend zone, and the frustration in the lyrics is both genuine and sweet.

Other highlights are Intermittently, A, and Little Tiny Song, which I hope was inspired by the existential cow from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe. Alternative Girlfriend was a popular single in Canada, and I like it, but it really should have ended with “So we can get out of this town, cuz it makes me sick.” Instead, like a Bryan Adams ballad, it continues past it’s natural endpoint and does the chorus again.

The album ends on kind of a whimper. The Ladies are famous for their energy, and ending with two slow songs just feels wrong. But the first ten tracks are enough to make up for it.

Music

37: Remember (Rusted Root)

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Album: Remember
Artist: Rusted Root
Year: 1996

1. Faith I Do Believe
2. Heaven
3. Sister Contine
4. Virtual Reality
5. Infinite Space
6. Voodoo
7. Dangle
8. Silver-N-Gold
9. Baby Will Roam
10. Bullets In The Fire
11. Who Do You Tell It To
12. River In A Cage
13. Scattered
14. Circle of Remembrance

Rusted Root, an acoustic jamb band from Pittsburgh, became moderately known after their first studio album, When I Woke, peaked at #51 in the chart and their only hit, Send Me on My Way, got a bizarre amount of movie and commercial placements. That and a growing fan base helped their second album, this one, peak at #38. They haven’t had much success since, though they continue to do well in concerts. While it’s true their music isn’t all that commercial, I think they just haven’t done much interesting since this album.

It’s hard to describe why I like this album. Some of the lyrics are unintelligible, which is par for the course. The lyrics that are understandable are vague like poetry but I’m not sure they’re supposed to be analyzed; rather, the words seem more of an excuse for the band to belt out some music. The music draws from African (including voodoo), Latin American, and Native American influences, and relies heavily on percussion and the unique vocal stylings of Michael Glabicki. In fact, your tolerance for his voice will likely dictate your interest in their music.

There are no songs on Remember that I would point to and say “okay, this is awesome,” but the album is consistent from beginning to end, which just doesn’t happen that often.

Music

38: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John)

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Album: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Artist: Elton John
Year: 1973

1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
2. Candle in the Wind
3. Bennie and the Jets
4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
5. This Song Has No Title
6. Grey Seal
7. Jamaica Jerk-Off
8. I’ve Seen That Movie Too
9. Sweet Painted Lady
10. The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34)
11. Dirty Little Girl
12. All the Girls Love Alice
13. Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock ‘n’ Roll)
14. Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting
15. Roy Rogers
16. Social Disease
17. Harmony

Most double-albums contain a lot of filler and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is no exception. Thankfully, the filler is mostly okay and the rest is excellent, so Elton gets the only double-album for this countdown.

Funeral for a Friend is a risky way to begin the album, being an instrumental, but it segues into the appropriately titled Love Lies Bleeding, a classic rocker. They combine for an epic anthem that make you feel like you’ve played an entire album when it’s over, only there’s sixteen songs left. Things stay strong from there with the superior version of Candle in the Wind. I don’t really care about Marilyn Monroe, but it’s a touching tribute nonetheless. Bennie and the Jets has grown on me over the years, mostly thanks to the song’s unique rhythm. And then you have my favorite song by Elton, the title track. The melody is insanely gorgeous, and the lyric is a unique view of the city mouse/country mouse dichotomy. Only Elton can sing “horny back toad” in a ballad and get away with it.

It’s hard for the rest of the album to match the intensity of the first four songs, but it does its best. This Song Has No Title doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s quite catchy. Grey Seal has a pleasant pop melody. And I don’t even mind Jamaica Jerk-Off, despite my general dislike of the classic Jamaican beat. It leaves be with a better taste, anyway, than I’ve Seen That Movie Too, which repeats the chorus way too many times and isn’t terribly interesting either.

The second album starts off with a song about a hooker who services sailors, and of course it has probably the album’s sweetest sounding melody. And if Goodbye Yellow Brick Road ended here, it would likely make my top 20. But it goes on, and on, and on. Danny Bailey is a generic gunfighter song. Your Sister Can’t Twist is a generic rocker. Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting sounds really good but isn’t terribly interesting. Roy Rogers is a generic cowboy song; it sounds nice, but the lyric doesn’t match that of Candle in the Wind. Social Disease and Harmony also sound good, but don’t do much to stand out. The two exceptions are Dirty Little Girl and All the Girls Love Alice. The former has incredibly misogynistic lyrics, and even though I’m sure Elton sang it ironically, it just sounds awful. And the latter is about a adultery and statutory rape and doesn’t paint a pretty picture of lesbians. If the melody wasn’t do damn catchy I’d probably color it blue as well.