100 Albums, 100 Words (70-61)

70. Van Morrison – Common One (1980)

Van Morrison chants this album like a mantra, imbuing it with its own holy flavor. This is fitting as a short of loose spirituality is present thematically. Musically, this is a cousin of Astral Weeks, but lyrically it seems to vaguely deal with some ancient, mysterious power. Morrison seems to be speaking most explicitly about the power of the arts, as implied by his own musical prowess and also through a litany of literary giants he names, including Catcher In the Rye and the poetry of Blake, Eliot, Coleridge and Wordsworth. But really, it’s the music here that matters most.


69. Aerosmith – Rocks (1976)

Rocks is the grimier of Aerosmith’s two great albums, and its “Rats In the Cellar,” one of the hardest songs ever, provides a nice contrast to “Toys In the Attic.” The band has gone from fun to ugly, from high to low; it serves them well. This album also features some of Aerosmith’s wilder experimentation, featuring Whitford and Hamilton on lead guitar and Perry on bass and vocals at various points. Most will remember the hit singles, “Back In the Saddle” and “Last Child;” they are the only foundation upon which this heavy of an album could have been built.


68. Blues Brothers – Briefcase Full of Blues (1978)

I understand the argument that this is perhaps the fakest blues album ever, and I may even accept it, but fake as it is, it’s a damn good jump-blues imitation. As the brothers prophesize in an onstage speech, this album brought to life for several people a dying genre and introduced this music to audiences who otherwise might not have heard it. Its hard to believe that John Belushi didn’t truly believe in this music, and his homage shows as he calls out Floyd Dixon and Willie Mabon. Hiring members of the Stax house band wasn’t a bad move either.


67. Led Zeppelin – Untitled (1971)

The hardest of rock albums. Although “Stairway To Heaven” is among the most overrated songs ever recorded (there’s a reason it was never released as a single), that doesn’t mean it’s bad (nor that I need to read fantasy novels until I know who the “May Queen” is and how to “spring clean” her) and the rest of this album is terrific. John Bonham’s drumming on the opening of “Rock and Roll.” Robert Plant’s soaring vocals on “Battle of Evermore.” Jimmy Page’s exquisite picking on “Going to California.” John Paul Jones thundering bass on “Misty Mounain Hop.” This just rocks.


66. Van Halen – Van Halen (1978)

The incendiary eight-finger tap erupts from the vinyl grooves as Eddie Van Halen’s fingers spin faster than the turntable. This album announced the arrival of 80s hair metal two years before the decade began and even longer before the genre established itself. Van Halen is the template, offering up all the staples of the genre. Party tunes built around scorching riffs (“Runnin’ With the Devil”), a front man who walked right out of a comic book (Roth), and at least one great power ballad (“Janie’s Cryin’”?… well, this is pre-Hagar). Unfortunately, these atomic punks would only stay together through 1984.


65. No Doubt – Rock Steady (2001)

Rock Steady encapsulates good times. It is a rhythm record, one that exudes danceability and builds its shifts around the texture of the tempo. Despite the occasional semi-clunkers (“Running”), the album is very listenable throughout, featuring three terrific singles and a slew of other gems, like the stalker fantasy “Detective” and the Prince-induced fever of “Waiting Room.” The latter especially stands out. Prince produced this and his fluttering falsetto provides backing vocals on the chorus; it’s his best performance since the 1980s. Most of all, this album is the best piece of evidence that Gwen never should have gone solo.


64. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (1959)

I place a high premium on lyrics, but some records stretch sounds out in such new ways that words would only detract, and Miles Davis experiments in improvisational scales fit the bill. The jazz album to have is one which moved jazz beyond be-bop and into a new age, breathing new life into it and influencing just about everything to come. In addition to Davis’ visionary fervor, the sidemen aren’t bad either: Coletrane, “Cannonball” Adderly, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb, not to mention Wynton Kelly. From the opening notes of “So What” you know this is something special.


63. Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music (1952)

ORIGINAL HIPSTER MAKES ULTIMATE MIX TAPE, INSPIRES GENERATION
HARRY SMITH COLLECTED THESE 84 SONGS. RECORDED FROM 1926 TO 1932. INVENTION OF ELECTRONIC RECORDING TO GREAT DEPRESSION. RECORDED IN APPALACHIA AND LOUISIANA. PULLED FROM PERSONAL FOLK AND COUNTRY COLLECTION. ALSO INSTRUMENTAL STOMPS AND GOSPEL HYMNS. WROTE UP LINER NOTES. MUCH LIKE THIS. PUT SIX DISCS IN THREE SECTIONS. BALLADS. SOCIAL MUSIC. SONGS. SPAWNED FOLK REVIVAL. MANY MUSICIANS REDISCOVERED. CLARENCE ASHLEY. BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON. MISSISSIPPI JOHN HURT. CARTER FAMILY. DOCK BOGGS. ESTABLISHED STANDARDS OF GENRE. COO COO BIRD. KASSIE JONES. OMIE WISE. STACKA LEE. STILL POPULAR AMONG UPPITY FOLK MUSIC AFFICIONADO TYPES.


62. Arrested Development – 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days In the Life of… (1992)

When Speech gets to preaching on here he is able to infuse a bleak political landscape with healing spirituality, is able to both criticize the downfalls of organized religion, particularly Baptist churches, while expressing how a life lived for God should be a progressive lifestyle. “Mr. Wendal” taught me what good hip-hop could be like, and “Fishin’ 4 Religion” and “Give A Man A Fish” continued to mine that same vein, politically educated, intellectual lyrics that tickle the mind rhymed over a delectable bass beat laid down by Headliner. Oh yeah, that and “Tennessee” and “People Everyday” are endlessly danceable.


61. Jefferson Airplane – Surrealistic Pillow (1967)

Time for a myth-debunking pop quiz!




1. Which of the following statements is NOT true. Grace Slick:


a. was hot until she discovered 80s fashion.
b. is credited with writing the groups second biggest single, included here.
c. is the core of the group.
d. stole “Somebody To Love” from her previous group.


2. Marty Balin is:


a. the nucleus Surrealistic Pillow is built around, having helped compose five tracks, and three
by himself (including the sublime “Comin’ Back To Me”).
b. an excellent guitarist.
c. a founding member of the Airplane.
d. All of the above.


Answers: 1.c., 2.d.

100 Albums, 100 Words (80-71)

80. Metallica – Ride the Lightning (1984)

At the opening of “Fight Fire With Fire” one may think that Metallica has gone soft; after a few seconds the song breaks into a rock-hard riff that maintains the melodicism achieved in the introduction. “For Whom The Bell Tolls” makes Cliff Burton’s case as the great lost bassist. “Fade To Black” is a great ballad. “Creeping Death” is speed metal. Metallica has songs which are better than just about anything here (“Master of Puppets,” “Unforgiven,” “One”), but on no other album have they been able to sustain such a high level of searing guitar work and excellent songwriting throughout.


79. Loretta Lynn – Van Lear Rose (2004)

Loretta looks like the queen she is gazing out from the front yard on the cover of Van Lear Rose. Jack White was able to revitalize her career, inspiring her to write the whole album and providing some fiery licks. As a result, the album includes some of her best material, including “Portland, Oregon,” (I need to try sloe gin fizz.) “Family Tree” and “Van Lear Rose.” “Mrs. Leroy Brown” is one of the funniest novelty songs ever, and one of the smartest – a post-modern response to the misogyny of men characterized by Jim Croce’s folk-hero “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.”


78. Hank Williams III – Straight To Hell (2006)

While I may not be quite the crazed drug addict Hank III paints himself to be, I’ll sure as hell drink to it, toasting Kentucky Deluxe to “Pills I Took.” We share so many things… a hate of mainstream country, a seething hate for Kid Rock, and a love of our “Country Heroes.” Also, anyone who makes a forty-two minute song, even if it is a medley, is cool in my book. Estranged from Wal-Mart, Hank Jr., and even his own record company, Hank III has space to be a “Crazed Country Rebel,” and makes this, the essential cowpunk record.


77. Aerosmith – Toys In the Attic (1975)

Permanent Vacation (before they added the wings logo to the cover) was my first tape, but Toys In the Attic was my second, and my first real introduction to what rock’n’roll could be. It established Aerosmith as my first favorite group, which they remained from 1987 through 1992. The song titles alone intrigued me; “Uncle Salty”? Best of all, this is the songwriter’s favorite Aerosmith album; not quite as rocking as Rocks, but better crafted and more melodic. “You Hear Me Crying” is the band’s best ballad and “Round and Round”’s circular riff makes it live up to its name.


76. Elvis Costello and the Imposters – The Delivery Man (2004)

Alternating between rockabilly rave-ups and tear-jerkers, Elvis Costello created one of the finest country albums ever, and perhaps too sincere in its aims to even label it alt. country or country rock. Of the rave-ups, “Bedlam” is the most mind-blowing, featuring a barnstorming bass line and jagged guitar riffs. Cameos from Emmylou Harris bring to life the best ballads, especially “Heart-Shaped Bruise.” Musically it could be King of America 2, but thematically it deals with heartache among the working class and the hot-button topic of religion and politics, most specifically the evolution-vs.-creationism thread that runs through "From Monkey To Man."

75. Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy (1989)

Although Time Out of Mind received more attention, this was the true beginning of Dylan’s comeback. Here Dylan first teamed with Daniel Lanois, who provided the swamp-like feel Dylan needed to examine the world’s moral compass, as he does on “Ring Them Bells” and “Man In the Long Black Coat.” “Most of the Time” features a killer bass line and heartbreaking tension in the lyric. “Where Teardrops Fall” is gorgeous. There are weaknesses: “Political World” gets preachy, though it rocks; “Disease of Conceit” is ick; “Born In Time” was left off. Still, this album holds its own among Dylan’s best.


74. U2 – Achtung Baby (1991)

Sometimes, sequencing is everything. On Joshua Tree, the hits are all front loaded, whereas here “One,” “Mysterious Ways” and “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” are spread out enough that the magnificent songs between them – “So Cruel,” but also the transcendent “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?” and the intricate blaze of “The Fly” – receive the attention they deserve. Released as singles, these songs didn’t perform as well as some of the other songs on the charts, but their placement on the album makes them stand out in contrast to their surroundings; this is why Achtung Baby works so well.


73. Bob Dylan – Modern Times (2006)

Modern but not contemporary, this album conjures the ghost(s) of T. S. Eliot (and Henry Timrod) to help make sense of this mortal plane. In Chronicles, Dylan claims that he prays that he can be a kinder person, something that each of us wants. That idea is present throughout this album, an album haunted by the apocalypse as much as any other in Dylan’s career. Dylan’s wry observations, set to rockabilly boogies, mid-tempo shuffles and rich piano ballads, thrust the world’s flaws in our face and ask us to accept the world anyway; a brave solution in a troubled time.


72. June Carter Cash – Wildwood Flower (2003)

One experiences a slight twinge when hearing June Carter declare “all the injuns in them hills have gone berserk” in “Road to Kaintuck.” Eek! This pang comes not only from the slur she has just spouted, but also from the virile force of anger her voice ushers forth. It’s scary. Even at 73 June was the toughest lady on either side of the Mississippi. The duet with Johnny on “Temptation” makes “Jackson” pale in comparison. June’s homespun commentary, particularly her stories about Lee Marvin, tie the album together, giving the ancient songs a continuity and a place in American tradition.


71. Byrds – Sweetheart of the Rodeo (1968)

Sweetheart of the Rodeo served as country rock’s coming out party, hosted by Gram Parsons. Perhaps the best track here is “Hickory Wind,” featuring an aching melody both sung and written by Parsons. McGuinn sings on the majority of the album, much to Parsons chagrin, though the results are as delightful as anyone could hope for. The song selection is another joy, mixing the traditional (“I Am A Pilgrim,” Guthrie’s “Pretty Boy Floyd”) with covers of contemporary material (Dylan’s “Nothing Was Delivered” and “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”). It is this album we have to thank for Wilco and The Jayhawks.