Holy shit guys, my third blog post in 4 weeks. I should have been mining 90's nostalgia for the last 10 years I wasn't posting. I also need to ask: does anyone else post on Blogger or is it a forgotten platform? Well, I am here and I am posting, and this is my 25th blog post. Winning.
We did 1994, 1995 and now we are doing 1996. I definitely will go back and do 1993, but am on the fence going back any further because I only got back into music in November 1992, thus, I don't feel I can do justice to any lists pre-1993.
Researching the albums that came out in 1996, a few things stood out to me: one, a lot of albums released showcased a "serious" side of artists. Check out some of the cover art for records released in 1996 - even Sheryl Crow traded in rays of sunshine for goth chic. 1995 had the bounce of Britpop, it had Shania; it had Def Lep, Van Halen and Bon Jovi churning out some power ballads. It had alt rock artists dabbling in acoustic balladry, some with strings. The music seemed more positive and maybe more fun. Or maybe it was angst balanced with fun, given Smashing Pumpkins put out 28 new songs. Maybe that's the only thing that stood out to me then: 1996 seems like it was less fun than 1995.
I was still in university and 1996 was a good year for me. I have zero complaints, but it seems that some of your favourite artists may have had some complaints and they weren't afraid to share these feelings with the world.
ALSO, all these albums are now 30 years old. Crazy.
The 1996 list is going to be 25 albums. But like the 1995 list, let's first talk about a few that didn't make the grade.
- "Down On The Upside" - Soundgarden. Looking back, when I re-wrote the past and changed my ranking of 1994 albums, I should have expanded the list to 15 or 20 albums, but hey, this thought just came to me. "Superunknown" is definitely in my top 15 of 1994. "DOTU" has some good tracks, but overall, does not match the consistent greatness of "Badmotorfinger" or "Superunknown". The band then called it quits in 1997, seemingly because they weren't having fun anymore.
- "Load" - Metallica. I will confess that I've never been a huge Metallica fan and those bastards kicked me off Napster in the early 2000's because I downloaded "I Disappear" from "Mission: Impossible 2". Maybe that taints my opinion, but it could be the fact that this album is over 75 minutes long, which it is proud to state on the hype sticker. Some good tunes, but, yeah, when they cut their hair they should have also considered trimming the running time of this record.
- "Crash" - Dave Matthews Band. This is a band that I liked up until the year 2002 or 2003. They are talented musicians, but in my opinion, the music has not aged well. Still, "Two Step" rules.
- "Odelay" - Beck. I like Beck. He's a chameleon, but I prefer sad and mellow / pop star Beck vs. weird and quirky Beck. The singles on this album are great. I can't name a non-single because every time I try to revisit this record, I end up reaching for "Sea Change", "Mutations", "Modern Guilt" or "Colors" instead.
- "Bringing Down The Horse" - The Wallflowers. I was super obsessed with "One Headlight" when it came out. I think once I played it 7-8 times in a row while driving, pissing off my passengers. Still a great song, but I rarely revisit this album. Give me "(Breach)" any day of the week. Also, please reissue it on vinyl.
- "Sublime" - Sublime. It seems everyone loves Sublime. I'm not one of these people. I like their singles, but I never really got into them and not sure why.
- "Everything Must Go" - Manic Street Preachers. I like this band a lot, but my fave album of theirs is "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours", so you will need to wait for the 1998 list to see if it charts!
- "Yourself Of Someone Like You" - Matchbox 20 (or is it Matchbox Twenty?). Many people dunk on MB20 (sometimes myself included), but their debut is earnest pop rock gold. However, I do not revisit it enough for it to make the list!
Alright, here is the list - jeez, my "didn't make the grade write-ups" already has a tinge of the 1996 dour vibe. I'll try to pick things back up!
25. "Razorblade Suitcase" - Bush. As an album, it's uneven. But "Swallowed" still hits hard and "Greedy Fly" should have been a huge hit and that's enough to power this record into the top 25. People like to put Gavin Rossdale down, but dude knows how to write a solid rock song and he's still churning them out today.
24. "First Band On The Moon" - The Cardigans. Many were introduced to The Cardigans through "Love Fool" which graced the "Romeo + Juliet" soundtrack. Well, I definitely was. So, I backtracked and found that The Cardigans are a really good band and this is a really enjoyable album.
23. "Congratulations I'm Sorry" - Gin Blossoms. The Gin Blossoms' debut carries a lot of weight with me. It is one of my favourite debut albums and still holds up well today. Half of "Congratulations" is top shelf tunage, while the back half is so-so. "Not Only Numb" deserved to be a bigger hit (if it was even a single).
22. "Spice" - Spice Girls. The most fun album of 1996, maybe by default. Yes, the Spice Girls make it onto the list. Yes, only half the album is actually good, but that half is very good. "2 Become 1" is ballad gold and "Wannabe"? Come on, put any music snobbery you have away for 2.5 minutes and let it take you over.
21. "The Score" - Fugees. Not going to lie, I really didn't like this album when it came out. Hearing "Killing Me Softly" coming out of every dorm room in residence in 1996 was annoying. But time and perspective got me to sit down and listen to the full album about 10 years ago. And I realized what I was missing.
20. "Dust" - Screaming Trees. "All I Want" got me in the door, but "Sworn + Broken" is the reason why this album remains my favourite Screaming Trees album and why it is number 20 on the list.
19. "Three Snakes And One Charm" - The Black Crowes. Huge fan of this band (even their new stuff is pretty rockin'). This album though was the first one of theirs where I was like...something's missing. Still the first six songs are really, really strong and "Better When You're Not Alone" is a great late track ballad. "Good Friday" sounds like nothing they had done before and it is the most effective track here IMHO.
18. "She's The One OST" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Like the Black Crowes, I'm a huge TP fan and was first in line to buy this soundtrack when it hit shelves. At the time, I was not aware that a lot of the material was recorded during the "Wildflowers" sessions as that record was intended to be a double album. While this album does not reach the brilliance of "Wildflowers", it has great moments (to me, there is no such thing as a bad Tom Petty album), such as "Walls (Circus)", and the beautiful "Angel Dream (No. 2)". I know I saw "She's The One", the movie, but I have zero memories of it.
17. "Trouble At The Henhouse" - The Tragically Hip. A Canadian institution. Contains "Ahead By A Century" which is like a second national anthem in Canada. This is a solid album overall and helped me come around to this band, as I was very much on the fence before.
16. "Ænima" - Tool. I admit I had to copy the spelling of this album to get the weird font right from Wikipedia, so you can read all about this record by clicking on the title. I do respect Tool and I do like this album but I've come to the realization that Tool will never be my favourite band, nor a band I go out of my way to listen to, and I'm cool with that. Still, when we played weekly Risk games in 2nd year of university (I know, so cool), we did spin this album and it was the perfect soundtrack for world domination.
15. "Fashion Nugget" - Cake. Their version of "I Will Survive" is one of the best cover songs I've ever heard and I will die on that hill. Also, "The Distance", what a riff. It's very satisfying that Cake is still touring and playing amphitheaters to boot.
14. "Evil Empire" - Rage Against The Machine. Does "Bulls On Parade" still rock hard? It does. And their reunion concert is one of the best live shows I've ever seen.
13. "One Chord To Another" - Sloan. Could be my favourite Sloan album but it's a toss up between this and "Twice Removed", which should have been on my 1994 best of list. Goddamn! Still, this whole album flows together amazingly well, a feat this band consistently achieves, made even more awesome given there are 4 singers and songwriters in the bunch!
12. "Sheryl Crow" - Sheryl Crow. Goth chic cover shot. References to drugs on lead single "If It Makes You Happy". Where did fun loving Sheryl Crow go? No matter, this album has aged very well. "Maybe Angels", "Home", "Redemption Day" + the singles are all great. This and "The Globe Sessions" are my favourite Sheryl Crow albums.
11. "Coming Up" - Suede. In 1996, Suede was a "no fly zone" for me still. I did not get into this band until 2007 via their "Singles" collection. But "Coming Up" is a banger...sure it trades the moodiness of "Dog Man Star" for pop sensibilities, but new guitarist, new rules. And, hey, Britpop still ruled in 1996.
10. "1977" - Ash. My first taste of Ash was through the "Angus" soundtrack, released in the summer of 1995, right before I went to university. I kept hearing the song "Goldfinger" on 102.1 The Edge in the summer of 1996 and I was hooked. When I saw this album staring back at me at Music In Orbit (RIP) in downtown Guelph, I took the chance. Glad I did, as now Ash is one of my favourite bands of all time.
9. "Slang" - Def Leppard. I told you in the 1995 blog that I dig this album. It's true, I do. And until I picked up the recent Record Store Day vinyl reissue, it eluded me for 10 years, even though I had my hand on the 2016 vinyl reissue twice. And I didn't pull the trigger. Anyway, this album has the distinction of being the least Def Leppard sounding album in their discography. They embraced grunge hard and I honestly think it suits them. "Work It Out" is so good, as is "Truth?", "Turn To Dust", "Deliver Me". Should have had a better fate, especially after "When Love And Hate Collide" greased the wheels.
8. "The Aeroplane Flies High" - The Smashing Pumpkins. Yes, this is boxset of the band's "Mellon Collie" singles with associated b-sides. Is it an album? Not really. Is it my countdown? It is. We need to talk about how Billy Corgan and Noel Gallagher were secretly waging a b-sides battle between 1994-1996. And not just putting out throwaway numbers, many of these b-sides could easily have appeared on "Mellon Collie". Brilliant stuff, especially "Set The Ray To Jerry" and the title track.
7. "No Code" - Pearl Jam. Also purchased at Music In Orbit (RIP), when I picked up "1977". At first, I was not interested in purchasing this album because The Edge kept playing "Who You Are" ad nausea when it came out. But something told me to bring the CD home with me that day and you know what, this is one of my favourite PJ albums and "Off He Goes" is one of my favourite songs, period.
6. "Scenery And Fish" - I Mother Earth. OK, so albums 6 through 2 could change positions depending on what day it is. All are super strong. "Scenery And Fish" was another album we played during Risk in 2nd year. I can't tell you how many times I've listened to this album. I feel this was a tremendous leap forward after "Dig" (still a great album) and I'm still waiting for the promised 20th anniversary vinyl to drop. Guys, this album is 30 years old, come on, get it pressed already.
Ok, so I've spoken about how 1996 was less fun than 1995 (except for Spice Girls and maybe The Cardigans and Cake) so we are going to do a "fun quotient" rating for the top 5 of 1996.
5. "Unplugged" - Alice In Chains. My favourite "Unplugged" album of all time. It's funny because in the 90's Alice In Chains was like my 5th or 6th Seattle band and over the past 20 years, they've probably become my favourite. Perspective. This show is so good.
FUN QUOTIENT RATING: 3/5. Despite the dark lyrics, the band is having a great time during this performance, joking between songs and saying how happy they are to be playing live.
4. "Tiny Music...Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop" - Stone Temple Pilots. "Purple" was my #2 album of 1994. "Tiny Music" was another step forward in the band evolving their sound. This album is off-kilter but it works, mostly because Weiland is such a chameleon. Is "Adhesive" one of their most underrated tracks? I feel the answer is yes.
FUN QUOTIENT RATING: 2/5. A lot of the songs are about Weiland's struggles with substances. "Big Bang Baby" is tongue and cheek, so it's gonna push this up from the 1 rating I was going to go with initially.
3. "Recovering The Satellites" - Counting Crows. While "August And Everything After" contained the "sunny" hits "Mr. Jones" and "Rain King", the lyrics had a dark undercurrent to them. The folk arrangements sort of disguised this. "Recovering" turns up the guitars and Adam Duritz unloads his psyche on everyone. Hell, I love "August" but I think I love this album more. Also, can we please get a vinyl reissue of "This Desert Life"? "Angels Of The Silences" does not get enough credit or love...such an amazing song - killer first single.
FUN QUOTIENT RATING: 1/5. Not a lot of happiness on display here!
2. "New Adventures In HiFi" - R.E.M. AKA the album where the casual R.E.M. fan got off the train maybe for good. There is no "Losing My Religion" or "Everybody Hurts" here. "E-Bow The Letter" was such an odd choice for the first single. I loved it on first listen. This is my 2nd favourite R.E.M. album and my 2nd fave of 1996. This got me through 2nd year university, just like "Up" got me through 4th year (wait for the 1998 list!).
FUN QUOTIENT RATING: 2/5. Not a lot of fun here, the album was recorded on tour stops I believe after Bill Berry survived his brain aneurism ... but still more fun than Counting Crows seem to be having.
1. "Pinkerton" - Weezer. The divisive 2nd album. A total 180 from the "Blue" album. I remember buying this album on release day from the on-campus Looney Tunes...honestly, as an aside, having an on-campus record store was both the most awesome and most dangerous thing. When I popped the CD into the stereo, I was not impressed. Seemed to be abrasive, underproduced, with lyrics that were very honest. But I stuck with it. I related to it. I defended it. And when I took creative writing courses in 4th year, the "confessional" style was the template I used for all stories I wrote. To very limited success. Hey my confessions were not interesting. Weezer, I hope I made up dropping the "Blue" album from #1 to #4 in my 1994 list by putting you at #1 in 1996. As another aside, when Weezer are good, they are damn good, but when they are not good, I can't even "courtesy" buy the albums.
FUN QUOTIENT RATING: 2/5. You know, "Pink Triangle" is a funny song. "The Good Life" shows that Rivers wants to break out of his rut and "El Scorcho" has some funny lines. I realize this album is not trying to be funny, but it does bring a tiny bit of fun. Hey, more fun than the Counting Crows are having.
There you have it, 1996 wrapped, with Alice In Chains achieving the highest fun quotient rating of the top 5. For the 20 people that read this blog (I truly appreciate you), my next entry is either going to go back to 1993 or continue forward to 1997. We will see which way the wind blows.
Until next time...
