John Hult
This week as I was listening to a spectacular album from Hank Williams III with plans to review it and once again find the diamond in the garbage dump, and I got to thinking (strange, I know). No one will hear this album.
Not really no one, I guess. All of you, upon reading my endorsement of the son of a country music legend and grandson of a country music deity, will scurry like fuzzy lemmings to your preferred music store and plop down the valuable beer dollars for his old style honky-tonk masterwork “Broke, Lovesick and Drifting.” But you are not enough, and this state of affairs is straight deplorable.
There are so many great albums that seem destined to lie dormant like an eager volcano waiting forever to be purchased so that they may erupt with pure and blinding rock power. These long suffering gems, alas, remain mostly passed over, flipped through unnoticed as music shoppers wonder why they can never find anything decent while their roommate indecisively scans the Playboy video collection.
He could have just ordered the videos online and saved like you did and saved an agonizing trip to Megamusicworld but no, he didn’t want his mom to see the videos on the credit card statement. She might not pay the bill then.
So to help remedy the situation a bit and because I like making lists I’ve decided to remind you about a few of the best albums from the nineties that you may not have heard of or may have forgotten about after the videos came in the mail. That way you can watch them with the sound off and kill fewer brain cells.
Jeff Buckley, “Grace” Not only is it criminal that this soulful falsetto died so young on the verge of breaking through into major stardom, it is criminal that so few CD binders contain this one of a kind tone poem. This album’s raw, penetrating emotion is so powerful it could move Mike Ditka to tears.
Best Tracks – “Lover, You Should Have Come Over,” “Hallelujah”
The Dwarves, “The Dwarves Are Young And Good Looking”This may well be the best punk album ever released, and easily the catchiest. Major record chains are loathe to put it on shelves, however, as its customers may well be quite offended by the topless girl in a wrestling mask on the cover. If you would be offended by this, sorry. Buy the album anyway, or at least find a few MP3s. You can always turn the cover inside out or draw a fat black bar across the girl’s chest.
Best Tracks – Too tough to call. The album is barely a half hour long, so skip “Everybody Loves Raymond,” for goodness sake. You don’t really love him anyway, do you?
The Pharcyde, “Bizarre Ride 2 The Pharcyde”These guys have gone under the radar, but with albums like this floating around, they can’t be completely forgotten. The Pharcyde’s inventive, unmistakable sound, infused with horns, slow thump bass beats and irreverent shouts can’t hide the humor. This is three parts pure hip hop silliness with one part commentary and even that is pretty funny. After “Yo Mama,” you may even be able to stumble through a decent game of Dirty Dozens.
Best Tracks: “Otha Fish,” “Officer”
The Afghan Whigs, “Gentleman”This is the best work this band has done, and the most succinct presentation of singer/guitarist Gregg Dulli’s poetic self-hatred and self appraisal. Almost no other rock songwriter has been so morbidly honest in attempting to explain why men cheat, lie and womanize. The band has been nearly forgotten, and Dulli has become has become a joke thanks to an ego that wouldn’t back down and a talent that did, but this album is definitely worth the clams.
Best Tracks – “Debonair,” “My Curse.”
The Reverend Horton Heat, “Liquor In The Front”This one was tough to call because every album by this Texas rockabilly trio is excellent. “Holy Roller,” the 2000 Greatest Hits collection, may well be your best choice, but “Liquor In The Front” provided seven of the collection’s 24 tracks. It also contains “Big Sky,” The Rev’s instumental theme song.
Best Tracks – “Big Sky,” “One Time For Me.”
Related posts:
Follow Us!