This is actually released in 1992, whoops, but it weirdly fits right here after Primus - two bands I used to often compare as eccentric early 90s bands that had cultish followings even then. That they would join forces later is a story for another album. Here, Phish find the groove they seemed to have lost on Lawn Boy, finding space to explore several genres and to show off their elasticity as a band without losing the point. Magilla is pure jazz and it’s wonderful, while the big rock songs that became staples of the Phish experience do their part to soar - Llama, Stash, The Landlady, Tweezer, and Chalk Dust Torture are all essential Phish. Cavern and The Mango Song are not far behind either. This seems to be a moment where Phish’s great ideas are also executed into great songs.
The Essential Track: Tweezer
Up Next: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
It doesn’t get lost on me that this is some eccentric stuff - bluegrass tied into jazz playing sometimes rock. Makes for a mind blowing cover of Michelle. A rockin’ rendition of Turtle Rock. The jazz composition that is the title track that serves as a heart of this album. A wild Star Spangled Banner. But I guess a band consisting of a virtuoso bassist, an electric banjo player, a “drumitarist”, and a piano/harmonica player isn’t going to produce the most straightforward sound. And all of this works so well, even before they later got Jeff Coffin who could play multiple saxes at the same time (yup). Craziness.
I’m not gonna lie, this was largely a pretty boring and overly long listen. Outside of the hits here, No Son of Mine, Jesus He Knows Me, and I Can’t Dance, this is a tough pill to swallow. The songs just kind of hang out there with very little movement or excitement. Just sort of bland. But they did have those hits and they are pretty good. It would seem a band with a 5 year recording break would have something more to say.
This is another classic band that delivered an album after a long layoff. And similar to Genesis, this album also feels like a shade of the former band, caught in some weird bland state like Knopfler and Co. are supposed to be adults now. A bit of a troubling trend on that front from bands that were at the forefront of their sounds. Granted, Dire Straits always had a bit of a laid back vibe, but for all the hitting of the mark they did on Brothers in Arms fusing elements of jazz and blues into their sound, here it seems more tired - outside of Calling Elvis and Heavy Fuel which are both excellent. Tough way to go out.
Part of me was thinking at the outset of this album that maybe it’s me just being ready at this point (and perhaps the world was for that matter around this time) to turn the page on classic rock and move on to the next thing. Perhaps that what this short run of albums would amount to? I was fine with Finishing Touches, Suzie Lightning, Model Citizen, and Angel Dressed in Black, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled by it. For me, the light switches on starting with the title track, full of Zevon’s humor and pacing, and continues through the remainder of the album with Quite Ugly One Morning, and Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead as my favorites. It may not be among my favorites from Zevon, but this rescues itself before it’s over.
The Essential Track: Quite Ugly One Morning
Up Next: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Into the Great Wide Open
“just being ready at this point (and perhaps the world was for that matter around this time) to turn the page on classic rock and move on to the next thing.“
And then you have Tom Petty next.
Let me tell you, Homer Simpson is cock of nothing!
- C. Montgomery Burns
wease wrote: Fri June 12, 2026 6:16 pm
It’s funny how you say this:
“just being ready at this point (and perhaps the world was for that matter around this time) to turn the page on classic rock and move on to the next thing.“
And then you have Tom Petty next.
Well, I am not saying I am moving directly into another direction, more that I started to question my lack of enthusiastic responses to these albums may start to be a symptom of that. While I would say that remains somewhat unresolved at the moment, the Warren Zevon album did pick up for me a bit after the first third, so it’s possible I just didn’t like the prior two albums all that much on their own merits. Tom Petty will answer some of that since I admit some level of bias, but at the same time, I have never been a huge proponent of Into the Great Wide Open. I think my existing memory is I have always liked it okay but that may be due to being sandwiched between Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers.
wease wrote: Fri June 12, 2026 6:16 pm
It’s funny how you say this:
“just being ready at this point (and perhaps the world was for that matter around this time) to turn the page on classic rock and move on to the next thing.“
And then you have Tom Petty next.
Well, I am not saying I am moving directly into another direction, more that I started to question my lack of enthusiastic responses to these albums may start to be a symptom of that. While I would say that remains somewhat unresolved at the moment, the Warren Zevon album did pick up for me a bit after the first third, so it’s possible I just didn’t like the prior two albums all that much on their own merits. Tom Petty will answer some of that since I admit some level of bias, but at the same time, I have never been a huge proponent of Into the Great Wide Open. I think my existing memory is I have always liked it okay but that may be due to being sandwiched between Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers.
Same. I have enough distance from Full Moon Fever and until Wildflowers that I should be able to listen with fresh ears. I mean, Learning to Fly is one of my all time favorite songs, particularly when he played it solo acoustic - I remember feeling overwhelmed by the crowd participation at the Garden when I saw him in 2011 or so - but I don’t remember much past that. Probably 5 songs on there that I can immediately bring into my brain.
Have you thought about at least adding the two new tracks from Greatest Hits to bridge between Wide Open and Wildflowers? Plus getting Stan’s last recordings in there.
Let me tell you, Homer Simpson is cock of nothing!
- C. Montgomery Burns
wease wrote: Fri June 12, 2026 9:19 pm
Have you thought about at least adding the two new tracks from Greatest Hits to bridge between Wide Open and Wildflowers? Plus getting Stan’s last recordings in there.
I wasn’t going to but I can certainly note that Mary Jane’s Last Dance was the impetus for initially getting their Greatest Hits, which was my Tom Petty bible from ‘93 until I started digging into the pre-Greatest Hits albums some years later. I had feverishly bought all the albums as they were released post-Greatest Hits
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Into the Great Wide Open
As noted before, in advance of this listen, this had always been the album between Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, and well frankly that sells this album short. What this has is maybe a zenith for Tom Petty when it comes to choruses, which soar under largely an open musical atmosphere. Perhaps it’s taking for granted that his songs have elements put together to form near perfect songs what feels like nearly every time, but going back to this is a revelation of just how great this album is. Out in the Cold is frankly a true contender here where it’s practically predetermined to be Learning to Fly, an all-time favorite of mine. All or Nothin’ also is peak soaring chorus. I mean, there’s no even close to weak moment here, so I was both wrong and seriously taking Petty for granted on these listens. Amazing album I should have given its due long ago.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Into the Great Wide Open
As noted before, in advance of this listen, this had always been the album between Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, and well frankly that sells this album short. What this has is maybe a zenith for Tom Petty when it comes to choruses, which soar under largely an open musical atmosphere. Perhaps it’s taking for granted that his songs have elements put together to form near perfect songs what feels like nearly every time, but going back to this is a revelation of just how great this album is. Out in the Cold is frankly a true contender here where it’s practically predetermined to be Learning to Fly, an all-time favorite of mine. All or Nothin’ also is peak soaring chorus. I mean, there’s no even close to weak moment here, so I was both wrong and seriously taking Petty for granted on these listens. Amazing album I should have given its due long ago.
Of the albums of the Feelies I have covered here so far, which is all the preceding albums, this is the most they have sounded like the Velvet Underground. They always wore that influence on their sleeves to some extent given their layered rhythms, but even the vocal delivery was calling this out to me. Influence or not, this is a great band with yet another great album of material, all of which is top notch. That the rhythms have even more space to explore here is exciting for me, especially on Find a Way and What She Said. Yet songs like Waiting, the title track, and Doin It Again bring it all home without the expedition that is those other two tracks. I really should have gotten into this band decades ago.
This is another very solid Pixies album, though it seems like there’s something missing here. Could be the lack of Kim Deal songs, or it could just be that the last two were so good that this is naturally being compared to them, but it is still an album worth exploring. Head On is a killer track here, and Planet of Sound stuck out immediately as well. This one read a little more punk, or maybe it just moved around a little less than the others. Either way it still feels like an album more than worth exploring.
This album fell a bit outside of the narrative of this band, which I was always sort of trained to go to 13 Songs, then Repeater, then The Argument, but this is a real solid outing from Fugazi, full with their signature abrasiveness. Exit Only was a nice intro and then Reclamation is them taking a quiet/loud/quiet bulldozer into your brain. Steady Diet, though instrumental, was also a big favorite, along with Long Division, Runaway Return, and KYEO. This band is still operating in their prime here, and this is definitely a worthy addition to the catalogue I didn’t even really know about.
With their second album, Green Day lean even further into the pop punk that will make them enormously popular in a few short years. 2000 Light Years Away, Welcome to Paradise, One of My Lies, 80, Android, and Best Thing in Town are all signature Green Day. What separates this album as an improvement is the slight demonstration of range in No One Knows, and One For the Razorbacks. I still can’t say I am totally enthralled with this band - they can be a bit too simple and tossed off for me, but they certainly hit all the marks they intend to, and brought countless fans with them on that journey on their next album.
This is really a late ‘90 release, but I missed it and I thought it was worth visiting since this band, basically R.E.M. with Warren Zevon, fits nicely between a couple of their day job releases. This album mostly comprises blues and a few other covers, and reveals a band really thick in electric blues, exactly the kind of stuff I would never expect from the R.E.M. folks. It is also my understanding they were not pleased with this release. That said, there are some barn burners in here, including Mannish Boy and Wang Dang Doodle on the blues end and an ever further unexpected cover of Prince’s Raspberry Beret. Wild and fun release for sure.
These guys sound almost immediately like the definition of alternative rock - or at least if someone asked me what it sounded like, this is exactly what I would describe. Fuzzy, poppy, guitar-driven rock music that evokes an evolution from but roots in 70s and 80s rock. And it sounds pretty great here. The Concept, December, I Don’t Know, Star Sign, Metal Baby, Alcoholiday, Guiding Star, and Is This Music? (the instrumental closer) all sound fantastic, and it’s real hard to pick a favorite with what was so consistently good throughout here. Certainly among the more impactful albums of the great year that was 1991.
The Essential Track: Star Sign (this is nearly random)
