Essential Studio Albums

[Jorge]

For a while Disintegration was my favorite album of all time.

I still very much love it but I don't think "Lovesong" fits very well

[LoathedVermin72]

I love The Cure and they were very important to my teen years, but I'd be lying if I said I reach for them anymore. Their slow, long, gloomy approach just doesn't really speak to me these days.

[Jorge]

The cool thing about The Cure is they have this whole different poppy side that isn't slow, long, or gloomy at all

[liebzz]

I thought it was a great album - I don’t go for gloomy as much either but for gloomy it’s about as good as I’ve heard.

[Jorge]

I love the drum patterns throughout, they're kinda hypnotic. Like in "The Same Deep Water As You", the longest and slowest song on the album, the drums really draw your attention even though they're not doing anything flashy

[LoathedVermin72]

The cool thing about The Cure is they have this whole different poppy side that isn't slow, long, or gloomy at all

For sure, "End of the World" is maybe my favorite song of theirs

[liebzz]

Mudhoney

…and now for a completely different vibe, we have Mudhoney’s full album debut. Already by this point, they’ve pretty much mastered a proto-Stooges sound mixed with all the different elements that make that early 90s Seattle movement special. We’ve covered a few albums that serve as a template, but this one is really fantastic - to the point where it’s hard to pick out a track because they are all killer. The 3 and 4 track here are probably my personal favorites, Get Into Yours and You Got It, but it’s a crapshoot really - just good hard effin’ rock music.

The Essential Track: You Got It

Up Next: Soundgarden - Louder Than Love

[liebzz]

Soundgarden - Louder Than Love

The second full length album from Soundgarden is a beast, summoning everything from the frenetic paced rockers to some real sludgy stuff and really shows this band’s range. Hands All Over, Get On the Snake, and Loud Love are my favorites here, and while this isn’t my favorite Soundgarden album (qualifying as my least favorite would be fair, but then again, when the least favorite easily clears the top half of my overall this, there ain’t no shame in that) - there’s really not much to complain about here except maybe the overly blunt Big Dumb Sex. Full On is a nice way to close this out too.

The Essential Track: Hands All Over

Up Next: Nirvana - “Bleach”

[liebzz]

Nirvana - “Bleach”

Nirvana would blow up into something entirely out of control with their next album, so it’s a little moment where we can enjoy some punk from from the sticks outside Seattle pushing raw punk and idolizing The Melvins whilst also creating elite-level choruses. I mean, for a guy and band that really spoke to a different kind of counter-culture and took a sort of purist stance on being non-conformist, they also produced these choruses that rival Tom Perry’s - granted, the subject matter here is typically more disturbing, but the point remains. No recess!

Oh, I should tell you that if there’s a sense of awe at Kurt Cobain’s craft touches with a sense of contempt for the purism, I think that’s pretty much my relationship with this music - but goddamn they sound amazing. Few very complaints here - every song is pretty much essential.

The Essential Track: School

Up Next: The Pixies - Doolittle

[wease]

School was always my favorite one from it, as well.

[liebzz]

Yeah though it is very close with maybe 4 or 5 other songs.

[liebzz]

Pixies - Doolittle

With all due respect to Surfer Rosa, I think that’s the album you have to go back to, the prequel if you will, to find the seeds germinating for the ultimate genius that finds THIS album. While Gigantic from Surfer Rosa in particular is indeed another level of genius, this is a whole album full of compelling tracks that indeed perfect the quiet-loud-quiet dynamic. Debaser, Wave of Mutilation, Here Comes Your Man, Monkey Gone to Heaven, Mr. Grieves, and Hey are all first listen perfection and the rest are songs that have the space to grow and bring more life to an already lively album that finds its groove in not having to be chaotic or loud, but set with perfect timing to feel the release of its energy. Loved this one quite a bit.

The Essential Track: Monkey Gone to Heaven

Up Next: Bob Mould - Workbook

[liebzz]

Yeah though it is very close with maybe 4 or 5 other songs.

Also wanted to note I have always had a soft spot for Love Buzz here. I mean About a Girl and Blew round out the 4 I was struggling between - all different angles of this band.

[bada]

I think I've started every Nirvana mix I've ever made with Love Buzz.

[liebzz]

You mean you don’t want the opening salvo of your Nirvana mix to be “Polly wants a cracker, think I should get off her first”

[liebzz]

Bob Mould - Workbook

This is quite the departure from the now-defunct Husker Du. This has the atmosphere that feels like an R.E.M. would have in the future - on the more acoustic driven songs more like their forthcoming albums from here, but in the more electric ones almost like an Accelerate or Collapse Into Now. The comparison less linear of course since this album comes first, but really a sense of what’s happening on an album from who would have tracked to me closer to punk or a harder edged alternative rock of the early 90s.

However you want to put it, this is an astounding album. Mould can just as easily burn the place down (Poison Years, Whichever Way the Wind Blows), as he can craft more intricately (the instrumental opening Sunspots is the example that comes to mind). Plus this first half is nearly unimpeachable - Wishing Well, Heartbreak a Stranger, See a Little Light, and Poison Years are all awesome songs. And the closing original trio of Lonely Afternoon, Dreaming I Am, and Whichever Way the Wind Blows all extraordinary. The bonus All Those People Know is also excellent. Damn fine album!

The Essential Track: Whichever Way the Wind Blows

Up Next: Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

[liebzz]

Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

This is actually the first full album I have ever listened to from Nine Inch Nails. I always struggled with this outside a couple of tracks, but with all this other music behind me, I was hopeful it would shed new light on Trent Reznor. I have to say it may have indeed done the trick. Despite my ongoing struggles with Skinny Puppy and Ministry, they actually provided the extreme in sound that gives more context for what NIN is doing. You can really hear the added dimension and really funkiness of the bass in Sanctified. Head Like a Hole is a well known classic. Something I Can Never Have, Sin, and The Only Time were also highlights for me. We went from not to exceed 2 songs to enjoying a full album without any qualifiers - that’s huge progress. Perhaps there’s hope for me yet.

The Essential Track: Head Like a Hole

Up Next: Killdozer - Twelve Point Buck

[LoathedVermin72]

[wease]

I’m not a fan of that style of music really, but Head Like A Hole fucking jams.

In my college days, one of the bands we went to see one Sat night at the local bar covered it and in the middle of it, they added the bridge from Even Flow. It fit seamlessly.

[liebzz]

I’m not a fan of that style of music really, but Head Like A Hole fucking jams.

In my college days, one of the bands we went to see one Sat night at the local bar covered it and in the middle of it, they added the bridge from Even Flow. It fit seamlessly.

This is kind of how I feel, but I am now able to stretch that across the whole album.