Essential Studio Albums

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Ever since I met Glenn Danzig, I’ve been convinced he should play Wolverine. Short, stocky little dude.

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Alice In Chains - Facelift

No surprise that I’ve been around this album for a long long time - especially the opening four tracks We Die Young, Man in the Box, Sea of Sorrow, and Bleed the Freak. Those at least are drilled forever into my brain. It Ain’t Like That is probably a touch behind that. And yet, for all the love this album gets, it actually may be my least favorite of the Layne Staley era. But I placed this where I did because the reputation on this album is that it leaned more into the hard rock/metal of the time rather than the music that would explode in less than a year. I am not sure on this listen that this is the case, as this played for me right in the sweet spot of the Seattle bands. Still a classic in any event, and essential to understanding the moments leading up to that big break.

The Essential Track: Man in the Box

Up Next: Jane’s Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual

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Jane’s Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual

The second and last album of Jane’s initial era (the self-titled is more of a live hybrid), this album peaks possibly higher than Nothing’s Shocking, but its valleys fall a bit lower. The band was more adventurous here sonically, playing with all sorts of sounds (the 7 minute Of Course might have been a bit much). Stop is such a killer opener for a high wire start, and Ain’t No Right carries much of that momentum, while Been Caught Stealing has always been a fun single for me (and a great video!). This thing for me though always came down to the two epic tracks in the middle, Three Days and Then She Did…, the latter of which is precisely the reason I am rooting hard for Stephen Perkins to join a particular band we haven’t gotten to yet. Helluva album. Again.

The Essential Track: Then She Did…

Up Next: Sonic Youth - Goo

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Sonic Youth - Goo

This is the first Sonic Youth album covered here since Daydream Nation. It’s maybe not as brilliant as that, but this is pretty damn good. The opening four, again, are amazing - Dirty Boots, Tunic (Song For Karen), Mary-Christ, and Kool Thing - and then add Disappearer and Titanium Expose were the best of the bunch for me. My Friend Goo is good fun too, though those six songs are pretty much all timers for me and this band. And yes, I fully admit their most accessible material tends to be my favorite.

The Essential Track: Dirty Boots

Up Next: The Pixies - Bossanova

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The Pixies - Bossanova

For the first few minutes, I had struggled to connect with this album - maybe the first 5 or 6 songs, while largely solid, just were a bit too incongruous. That said, I did really like Velouria. But then, All Over the World made everything right again, just the right mix of driving rock and rich textures that keep it interesting. And from there, this album is frankly awesome. I loved every minute from that moment on. Dig For Fire, The Happening, and Stormy Weather were my favorites from these, but this is 100% what I signed on for in the remainder of this album. Damn.

The Essential Track: All Over the World

Up Next: The Breeders - Pod

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The Breeders - Pod

You could introduce these folks as Kim Deal’s side band, but that might miss the point since the first thing that jumps out on this album is the sound of the drums, which have such a good punchiness to them that is needs immediate mention. This album also took me a few songs to calibrate myself, but it really launches for me on that mind-blowing cover of Happiness is a Warm Gun, and just takes off from there. The Breeders are never satisfied to just rock here, throwing in all sort of shifts in shape and atmosphere on here, and I think all of it works quite well. Hellbound, Fortunately Gone, Iris, and Metal Man are immediate favorites, but this is an album that begs for further listening, a knowing that these songs open up even more.

The Essential Track: Iris

Up Next: Mark Lanegan - The Winding Street

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Mark Lanegan - The Winding Sheet

Mark Lanegan really had a wonderful career somewhere slightly below the mainstream - solo records, Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age (okay, they may have been pretty big), Mad Season. It’s crazy how much he has touched. And here he is a jack of at least all relevant rock trades - from solo acoustic to full band electric work ups, and a few guest spots from a particular guy who was about to be a massive rock star. In fact, those tracks in many ways demonstrate the power Lanegan is capable juxtaposed with acoustic numbers like Wild Flowers as against the loud as hell Down in the Dark (Cobain lends backup vocals). The cover of Where Did You Sleep Last Night, this time Cobain on guitar, is also quite massive and great. This bluesy foreboding voice found so many great sonic homes here. An excellent album.

The Essential Track: Down in the Dark

Up Next: Bob Mould - Black Sheets of Rain

[Ello Sailor]

Thick and fast with the good shit now.

[liebzz]

Thick and fast with the good shit now.

I bided my time with ‘90. Now we’re rockin’.

[liebzz]

Bob Mould - Black Sheets of Rain

If his first solo album was a clinic in how to sound heavy with acoustic guitars, now this band just sounds heavy. It’s as if R.E.M. went full loud as hell, maybe this might be something like they’d sound - and it’s really effin’ great. It’s Too Late and The Last Night have almost a pop edge to them, but outside of that this thing focuses on some serious rock vibes, from Stop Your Crying and Hanging Tree to Disappointed and the culmination of this album’s raw and heavy sound with Sacrifice/Let There Be Peace. Even the bonus track, Turning of the Tide, is absolutely killer. Loved this one.

The Essential Track: Sacrifice/Let There Be Peace

Up Next: Steve Earle - The Hard Way

[Ello Sailor]

Thick and fast with the good shit now.

I bided my time with ‘90. Now we’re rockin’.

Did I miss Frizzle Fry

[oasisfan35]

Mark Lanegan - The Winding Sheet

Mark Lanegan really had a wonderful career somewhere slightly below the mainstream - solo records, Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age (okay, they may have been pretty big), Mad Season. It’s crazy how much he has touched. And here he is a jack of at least all relevant rock trades - from solo acoustic to full band electric work ups, and a few guest spots from a particular guy who was about to be a massive rock star. In fact, those tracks in many ways demonstrate the power Lanegan is capable juxtaposed with acoustic numbers like Wild Flowers as against the loud as hell Down in the Dark (Cobain lends backup vocals). The cover of Where Did You Sleep Last Night, this time Cobain on guitar, is also quite massive and great. This bluesy foreboding voice found so many great sonic homes here. An excellent album.

The Essential Track: Down in the Dark

[liebzz]

Thick and fast with the good shit now.

I bided my time with ‘90. Now we’re rockin’.

Did I miss Frizzle Fry

Coming soon.

[liebzz]

Steve Earle - The Hard Way

This is another excellent Steve Earle album, and yet the first thing that came to mind from this one was that this is precisely the sound it seems Springsteen was hoping for with his Wrecking Ball album decades later. Earle manages here to balance country, rock, and Americana perfectly - a sense of taking these elements and pushing them right to where this new decade was going. The Other Kind, Esmeralda’s Hollywood, Have Mercy, and When the People Find Out were my personal favorites - all in that tradition but with interesting moments that keep this fresh - everything here sounds quite good.

The Essential Track: Esmeralda’s Hollywood

Up Next: World Party - Goodbye Jumbo

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World Party - Goodbye Jumbo

There are moments here that just feel like the perfect classic rock band making near perfect classic rock, and then there’s moments where the moniker World Party make more descriptive sense - a range that’s surprising at times. I had not realized this was a post-Waterboys project that makes perfect sense in context. For me, I liked every song on this thing, but really got into Is It Too Late?, and Take It Up - both perfect balances of a Stones-like rock and pop. This is just a world I wish I knew a long time ago.

The Essential Track: Is It Too Late?

Up Next: The La’s

[liebzz]

Thick and fast with the good shit now.

I bided my time with ‘90. Now we’re rockin’.

Did I miss Frizzle Fry

Coming soon.

Checked my list and I believe we are 3 albums away from this.

[liebzz]

The La’s

This is the sole album from the La’s, a band I hadn’t really heard of until 2000 when Pearl Jam covered Timeless Melody on their tour on a nearly nightly basis it seemed. It’s a great song, and now I can comfortably say on a great album. I didn’t even realize that There She Goes was theirs so I guess you learn something new every day. Without delving into the bonus track (I’ll hang around for them tomorrow), the class for me is Looking Glass, which reminded me of prime Velvet Underground holding a rhythm and digging in over a substantial period. This is some good stuff.

The Essential Track: Looking Glass

Up Next: Phish - Lawn Boy

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Phish - Lawn Boy

This feels like that moment where people have their point when they say that Phish’s live performance doesn’t quite translate to the studio. Maybe it’s that they overcrowd these songs here where the live performance is just the four of them, or it’s an inability to make those long jams seem exciting in the same way it sounds live, but this album falls pretty far off what they accomplished in Junta. The Squirming Coil, Reba, Split Open and Melt, Bathtub Gin, Run Like An Antelope, and Bouncing Round the Room are all live staples, but the only version here that really smokes is Run Like an Antelope, which is fabulous. They would I think make good on this on subsequent albums.

The Essential Track: Run Like an Antelope

Up Next: Primus - Frizzle Fry

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Primus - Frizzle Fry

The conversation when it comes to this band has to start with Les Claypool being one of one. I mean, I can’t think of a soul that played the bass or thought of the bass in the same way that he does. And combined with this iteration of the band with Larry LaLonde’s more sweeping guitar riffs and Tim Alexander’s incredible drumming that has to counterbalance all the wild stuff Les is doing, this is a band to be reckon with. This album is particularly filled with highlights, and the sound on this remaster is perfect. To Defy the Laws of Tradition, Groundhog’s Day, Too Many Puppies, Mr. Knowitall, the title track, John the Fisherman, Pudding Time, and Harold of the Rocks are more than highlights for me, but a soundtrack to my late teens as I had all their albums blasting from my stereo. Heavy and cathartic in just the right moments with constant flashes of virtuosity. What a band.

The Essential Track: Harold of the Rocks

Up Next: Fugazi - Repeater

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Harold of the Rocks. Fuck yeah