So at the behest of my friend Glen Russell I’ve finally completed my list (Who am I kidding? You all know I’d relish an opportunity to gush about some important albums!) Please read and enjoy – if you want a copy of ANY of these albums I will either email or burn you a copy at my own expense: it would be my pleasure!
I’ll have to post them in two separate posts just because it’ll take me a while to finalize and type descriptors etc. This list is in NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
- The Smiths – The Queen is Dead
Favourite Track – There is a Light that Never Goes Out
This album was on infinite repeat back in my late teens/early twenties (Yes it feels weird to refer to that part of my life in hindsight now). It’s the quintessential breakup/mopey single/unrequited love album, and let’s face it: for the majority of my late teens and early twenties I was a mopey single!
The Smiths in general provides a soundtrack to that chapter of my life. If only the song "How Soon is Now?" were supported by a cast of other stronger tracks I would have chosen the album “Meat is Murder” but I went with “The Queen is Dead” mainly because of it’s accessibility to non Smiths fans – I want you to listen to this album.
"There is a Light that Never Goes Out" will always be one of my favourite songs: the lyric ‘In a darkened underpass I thought ‘oh God my chance had come at last’. Then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn’t ask’ sums up anytime I didn’t have the courage to ask a girl out (It happened a lot back then).
- David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
Favourite Track – Moonage Daydream
My list wouldn’t be complete without Mr. Bowie making an appearance, and Ziggy is my favourite incarnation of Bowie (Who wouldn’t love an androgynous alien man with a lightning bolt make-up face!?!)
Seriously: EVERY track is a solid gem, and what is brilliant about the album is not just Bowie’s snarly vocals but Mick Ronson’s soaring and precise guitar work. Don’t believe me? Check out the live DVD of and watch Ronson’s solo on the live version of "Moonage Daydream" – I DARE you not to air guitar! Favourite lyric in the song is it’s second line: “I'm the space invader, I'll be a rock 'n' rollin' bitch for you”. It’s masculine but effeminate – fits perfect with the theme of androgyny in the album. (No I didn’t pick the album BECAUSE of this theme – I just think it catches Bowie at an interesting phase in his career/life)
- The Doors – The Doors
Favourite Track – Light my Fire
What can I say about the Doors? I was first introduced to them by my good friend Jeremy Johnson (I think he ICQ’d me an MP3 of “People are Strange” when I was back in high school. My favourite album of theirs is their debut – Morrisson’s lyrics were never my favourite part of The Doors though. I’m a HUGE Ray Manzarek fan and the organ solo in "Light My Fire" sums up his amazing ability to craft a song that is both eerie and melancholy. The album is also another one that I can listen to end to end without ever wanting to skip a track. If you have never seen it, I suggest watching Apocalypse Now if only to watch Martin Sheen experience a psychotic episode to the album’s last track; "The End" in the film’s opening scenes.
I’d also like to make an interesting observation: there’s a track on the album called “Backdoor man”. Zeppelin used this term as well in a “Whole lotta love”, and I’ve always found it neat that NO lead singer today would ever assert himself as a “backdoor man” for fear of the inevitable sodomy jokes that it would provoke. I guess that’s what makes this song cool: it’s meaning is lost in time.
- Peter Gabriel – So
Favourite Track – Red Rain
Back when I was in Grade 8 I was a bit of a music nerd (I still am). I was never (and still am not) a fan of grunge, so I was made the subject of a great deal of ridicule when I brought three albums to a Grade 8 party (Dire Straits – Brothers in Arms, U2 – The Joshua Tree and the abovementioned Peter Gabriel – So). Kids can be dinks, but I got the last laugh; those three albums are better than anything Smashing Pumpkins ever released!
“So” is an incredible album; every track tells a different story (not enough space to tell them all here, but ask me sometime!). The album was produced by Daniel Lanois (my mother is actually good friends with his sister, and I intend to hopefully one day land an exclusive audience with Canada’s greatest producer ever). As it stands in Peter Gabriel’s catalogue of music it is his most “accessible” album; I call it the gateway drug into a full-blown Peter Gabriel addiction.
My favourite track is the album’s opener “Red Rain”; it’s about a short story concerning a town where all the people kept their emotions inside until nature had to compensate by raining down blood (creepy but pretty neat!). It’s a song that showcases Gabriel’s AMAZING range as a singer, and the structure of the song is totally different from a normal pop song. Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant join Gabriel to perform a WICKED version live ; I suggest checking it out.
And yes, I know, "In Your Eyes" is an awesome song (and I knew it well before I saw “Say Anything”). If you want an extended version of the song with an extra verse I can email you an MP3.
- Dire Straits – Dire Straits
Favourite Track – Six-Blade Knife
I owe most of my favourite music to my father – he has excellent taste. The aforementioned Peter Gabriel album and the next album on the list, all represent albums that were in heavy rotation on our CD player in my childhood.
I know I mentioned “Brothers in Arms” earlier and, don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful album. However, there’s something more raw and real about Dire Strait’s first album – it’s a great night-time album to listen to. After living near London for a while I actually started to recognize a lot more of the name drops and references too (it felt like I had been finally let in on an inside joke). Mark Knopfler, the singer and lead guitarist of Dire Straits, is one of my favourite artists – he’s a great songwriter with guitar work and vocals that are equally unique. Knopfler’s solos in Down to the Waterline and Sultans of Swing are EPIC to say the least.
I love the feel of “Six-Blade Knife” it moves along at a slow jazzy pace and the cymbals sound so fuzzy that it reminds you of listening to an old LP record – an all-around great song to fall asleep to.
- R.E.M. – Automatic for the People
Favourite Track – Nightswimming
Another childhood favourite – this is actually the first album I ever heard the word “fuck” on (The album jacket had to list the song “Fuck me Kitten” as “Star me Kitten” so I actually never realized that the F-word was on the album until a bit later in life).
I went NUTS when REM played the opening track (“Drive”) at their concert here in Toronto this past summer; it’s not as good live as recorded but it was still wicked to see! In fact the band still plays quite a few tracks from “Automatic” on tour nowadays and (for shame) they rarely sell out shows in Toronto. Please go and see them on their next tour – they’re a band that puts on an amazing show and picks WICKED opening acts (They introduced me to another artist that made this list).
There’s a weird nostalgia involved in the album’s penultimate track "Nightswimming". Although I’ve never skinny-dipped, and I don’t even think I’ve ever been swimming at night, it’s a song that makes you think of summer camp. My favourite line would have to be “The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago, turn around backwards so the windshield shows, every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse. Still, it's so much clearer.” And hey, it’s one of the few songs with an oboe solo in my catalogue, so I positively HAVE to mention it!
- Joseph Arthur – Our Shadows Will Remain
Favourite Track – Stumble and Pain
I first saw Joseph Arthur perform when he opened for REM in Ottawa – he blew me away. He performs solo , but uses loop pedals to produce a dense and complex tapestry of sound – you have to see it to understand it. As is a Ryan Perera tradition (which consequently has led to some of my favourite musical discoveries) I purchased Arthur’s album. I was quite surprised when I gave it a listen; mainly because it sounded nothing like the live show.
The surprise was not unpleasant though; I was greeted by a 30 second track called “In Ohio” that flowed into “Can’t Exist”. I love short first tracks to albums; they feel like dedications to books, and this album had a bitter dedication to Arthur’s home state: “In Ohio, you were born, you will die alone, I’m gonna wait up for you” are the only lyrics.
My favourite song on the album is “Stumble and Pain” where Arthur collaborates with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to create an awesome but bleak soundscape; the best way to describe it would be to say that it’s noveau-prog-rock.
- Royal Wood – A Good Enough Day
Favourite Track – Juliet
Speaking of amazing opening acts and short first songs… I first saw Royal Wood (yes, that is his real name) with my friend Meg opening for Emm Gryner in Ottawa almost two years ago. We were both astounded; great lyrics and amazing musicianship (he’s a GREAT piano player). A few songs have jumped out at me since I’ve been listening to it, so picking a favourite was tough (“Safe Haven” and “Acting Crazy” are two wicked songs as well). “Juliet” was my favourite because I vividly remember when I first heard it: "Juliet" was the first song he played that night and Meg and I were near the front of the club away from the stage. I remember Meg and I having a discussion about wether or not the song was recorded (Meg correctly insisted that Royal had started his set, and I was wrong).
I also have a pretty cool story to tell about the song "I'm so Glad" .When I found out that my two friends Jeremy and Jacqueline were engaged one of my first thoughts was about what song they would pick. When I found out that “I’m so Glad” was one of the shortlisted songs I offered to learn how to play it for the wedding this summer. But, being the not-so-good guitar player that I am, I would not be able to decipher the chords from just listening to the song. On a whim I emailed Royal and explained the situation, and a week later I had the chords! I strongly suggest you go see him live: everyone with whom I’ve shared his music has enjoyed it thoroughly.
- Emm Gryner – Science Fair
Favourite Track – You do Something to Me
Unfortunately the only lady that made it onto my list, Emm Gryner is one of my favourite singer-songwriters. “Science Fair”, leapt out at me near the end of teacher’s college the way that most great songs or albums do. I was in a bit of a personal funk (I’ll spare you the gory details) but there was something about the way that her voice could shift from sad to angry that I sympathized with at the time (I was feeling both sad and angry about a great many things then).
My favourite track is actually her covering a Paul Weller (from The Jam ) track. The lyrics are amazing; “You do something to me, something deep inside
I'm hanging on the wire for a love I'll never find…”. Her voice is what really gets me though; there’s a part in the last chorus it where it breaks. While most pop albums would have gone for another cut of the song, an imperfection is what gets celebrated here – I love it.
- Weezer – Pinkerton
Favourite Song – The Good Life
Fine…I’ll admit it…I wasn’t IN to Weezer when they first hit the scene, but I started listening to Weezer more intently when I started working at Hrec. My friends Jill and Tom are responsible for a LOT of the music that I enjoy today because of the CD sharing that went on (in fact I think we usually did more music sharing than work in that department!). This album reminds me of running around flinging elastic bands and getting paper cuts (and sometimes filing doctor’s mail).
“Pinkerton” is an album chockfull of emotion (I guess that’s why Rivers Cuomo got depressed after the album was panned by critics back then). "The Good Life" is a good “happy day” song even though it’s about being old and decrepit; in a way it makes me want to enjoy these days as much as I can before I’m an old old man!
More to come later…I promise!
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