I know the year's almost half over but, better late than never. Here's my
Top 10 of 1997
This is one of those records I fell in love with on first listen.
I had seen the Tories live several times before the record came out and was very
impressed with their sound. The album really captures their sound wonderfully.
The easiest comparison to make is Jellyfish. The singer (Steve Bertrand) does
sound quite a bit like Andy Sturmer on several songs but hey, I ain’t complaining.
In addition to Jellyfish, I hear nods to Material Issue, T-rex, the Fab Four,
and The Rembrandts. The production is this record is great…amazing guitar sounds,
well thought out arrangements, great vocal harmony parts, so on, and so on.
Every track is full of hooks and memorable choruses. It’s refreshing to hear a
band singing about light-hearted topics like aliens, classic movies, and television
shows. Definitely my pop record of the year! Kim Shattuck is one of the best pop songwriters around. She can cram
so much tasty stuff into a song: melodic verses, catchy choruses, great guitar
parts, etc. etc. And, she does it all in about 2 ½ minutes! She toned down
her screaming on this record quite a bit but didn’t wipe it out completely.
So fans of the "Best Scream in Pop" won’t be disappointed. She
definitely hasn’t lost her sense of humor either as is apparent by the title
of the song "I’m a Dick." Overall, this record is stronger and
more consistent album than their previous release, "Blonder and
Blonder." (Which also made my Top Ten for that year). This was easily my favorite country record of the year.
The "alternative country" scene is thriving these days and the
Derailers are one of the leaders of the scene. On first listen you’d swear
Buck Owens summoned the spirit of Don Rich and cut a new record. It is true
the Derailers get compared to Buck Owens & the Buckaroos about as often
as I get compared to Nick Lowe…well probably not that much! But, on repeated
listens you pick up on the arrangements, instrumentation and song styles that
Buck never did. For example, on "California Angel" they run a pedal
steel through a Leslie to emulate the sound of a surf style organ. The vocals
and harmonies on this record are top notch. Both singers have wonderful little
nuances in their voices that you pick up with each successive listen. I really
can’t say enough about how great this album it is. Green Day has always been one of my guilty pleasures. I started
listening to ‘em after seeing the video for "Longview" on MTV. I
bought Dookie right after and was hooked instantly. Billy Joe is another
one of those guys who knows how to write a hook and keep throwing it in your
face. "Insomniac" their follow-up to "Dookie" had me a
bit worried about my boys. On this album the hooks were gone and I was all but
ready to write them off. Enter "Nimrod." Not only are the hooks back
but Billy Joe’s songwriting developed tremendously. This album isn’t crammed
full of balls-to-the-wall punk-pop like its predecessors. On this album the
band shifts between punk-pop ("Nice Guys Finish Last", "The
Grouch"), straight ahead power pop ("Redundant", "Worry
Rock", "Uptight"), surf instrumentals ("Last Ride In")
and even folk inspired pop ("Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)."
This album is by far the best of the band’s career and proves that Green Day
aren’t your typical angst ridden punk rock band.
Although not as strong as his last album, "I Feel Alright"
(which was my #1 record for that year), "El Corazon" is a great
album. Many have said this album feels like the halfway point between "Train
A Comin’" (his all acoustic album) and "I Feel Alright" and I
think I’d have to agree. On this album he has songs that have that same great
ringing acoustic guitar sound that was used on "I Feel Alright" but
he also does straight ahead bluegrass, similar to songs on "Train A
Comin’". My favorite cuts are the Hank Williams inspired "The
Other Side of Town." The production on this song is tremendous. He
really captures the feeling of listening to an old record by including
the "pops and scratches" sounds. And he doesn’t just have ‘em
at the beginning of the song and fade ‘em out when the song begins (which
has become a cliche almost as common as the "hidden track".) He
has ‘em going through the entire song! Another great record from one of the
most gifted songwriters alive today. Ryan Adam, lead singer/songwriter for the band, is a 22 year-old
wonder kid. Listening to his singing and writing, you’d never guess he was
so young. He draws inspiration from everyone from Gram Parsons to Paul
Westerberg. What is it about these alt-country bands and the Replacements?
You listen to Wilco, Old 97s, and Whiskeytown and you can definitely hear the
Mats influence poking in and out of their songs. The album is full of great
roots rock without a single clunker. If Adam can control his alcohol consumption
and find some permanent bandmates, who knows how unstoppable Whiskeytown could be? What a great band! These guys do it all, honky-tonk, rock ‘n’ roll,
folk inspired rock, and weepy ballads. And the wonderful thing is they pull
it off! The songwriting and singing are top notch. Listening to this record
makes you feel like your sitting in a smoky bar in the south, sucking down an
ice-cold beer, listening to the greatest country bar band around. Why aren’t these guys HUGE??!! I asked myself that question
when "Phaseshifter" was released. And now with "Show World"
out, I’m more perplexed than ever. Pure power pop with huge nods to
Cheap Trick. I’m grew tired of all the Matthew Sweet bashing that took place when
this album was released: "He’s in a slump." "He’s not
progressing." "Yeah, it’s a good album but I expect more from
someone like Matthew Sweet." "He’s covering old ground." Blah,
blah, blah…! This is a very strong album that any pop artist would be proud to
have released. So it isn’t as good as "100% Fun"…big deal…I think it’s
better than "Girlfriend." I consider this Jeffrey’s first true pop record. His previous releases are great but on this one he’s lightened up on the overt Beach Boys references and dishes out an album of great pop songs. Jeffrey has one of the best voices in pop and after listening to this record I think you’d agree with me. |