Unknown Dog

The Lanois entry might be stretching the “classic rock” definition a bit, but he certainly has enough links to it to qualify by association. Without further ado…

Joni Mitchell – Hejira
It doesn’t reach out and grab as much as her critically acclaimed “Blue”; nor does it contain any of her trademark songs that are generally more famous as covers by other hippies such as “Woodstock,” “Both Sides Now,” or “Big Yellow Taxi,” but “Hejira” has more depth and distinctiveness than her other releases. (At least the ones I’ve heard.) Mitchell’s guitar work shines on this album. Upon close inspection, simple sounding chords are actually incredibly complex, often involving bizarre tunings and progressions. Throughout the album these distinctive chords are woven with some innovative fretless bass play. The result is subtle but moving. While it might not be as gripping as some of Mitchell’s other work, it is full of depth and richly introspective poetry. This album really creates a mood. Driving alone late on a rainy night with this album playing can really suck you in and make the guitar work almost haunting.

The Beatles – Revolver
Ok, so it’s on every “Top 100 Albums Every Made” list ever made, so how “underrated” can it be? All I know is that “Abbey Road” might be the only Beatles album in my collection that I listen to as much as “Revolver,” and that’s actually giving “Abbey Road” the benefit of the doubt. The “White Album” is great, but disjointed – albeit with intent – and is also full of annoying landmines like “Rocky Raccoon” that have become downright intolerable over time. “Sgt. Pepper’s” would make my list of most overrated albums. I’m sure it was revolutionary at the time, but I guess you had to be there, and I wasn’t. “Revolver” on the other hand, is a masterpiece of the 60s. I’ll even grant that “Yellow Submarine” and “Dr. Roberts” are, well, kind of dumb, and that leaves barely 25 minutes of remaining music to rave about but I’ll still contend it’s worthy of this list. This is the album that might be quintessential Beatles, as it bridges the gap between the early pure pop single era and the later more complex and revolutionary albums that more define their legacy. The renowned singles like “Taxman” and “Eleanor Rigby” that start the album provide good examples, but many of the better tracks lie near the end. The album concludes with “Tomorrow Never Knows” – perhaps the Fab Four’s best venture into psychedelic rock.

Bob Dylan – Nashville Skyline
Another short album on the list, proving once again that bigger isn’t always better, “Nashville Skyline” actually doesn’t even break the 30 minute mark but it sure does pack a punch. Make no mistake about it, Dylan’s escapade to Nashville to record an album with Johnny Cash is country music – a genre I normally detest – but the result is one of the most beautiful collections of songs imaginable. Unlike many of Dylan’s more critically acclaimed albums, this one lacks exaggerated harmonica solos, trademark out-of-key wails and hollers, and any political protest themes – all of which can turn a lot of listeners off to Dylan. This is just a collection of beautiful songs. “Lay Lady Lay” is the lone single of fame and is rather indicative of the album’s style and feel, but it’s really just one of ten songs that all stand the test of time. In spite of its country music foundation, the album actually has an upbeat and happy feel. Some banjo-picking helps with this on songs like “Country Pie” and on others Dylan shows off his knack for making songs about lost love highlight the positive memories rather than focusing on the loss, and this is apparent on the beautiful opening track, “Girl From the North Country.” The album ends on a positive note of new love found with “Tonight, I’ll Be Staying Here With You.”

Daniel Lanois – Acadie
Any album that contains songs that flow effortlessly between English and French is probably worth owning and this one in particular in a real gem. Best known for his work as a producer for acts like Peter Gabriel, R.E.M. and Robbie Robertson, Lanois’ solo album is a beautiful collection of ballads paying homage to his Quebecois upbringing and the people who share his heritage. The album is a blend of rock, new age and folk with a very clean but ethereal sound. The songs feel rural and generally paint of picture of simple people with simple lives, but Lanois doesn’t shy away from weaving in some serious topics. In many ways the lyrics make the composition seem a bit out of the ordinary. For example, the song “Jolie Louise” deals with some dark issues, but the music and singing remain upbeat. At times while listening to this album you might find yourself happily whistling a song about an alcoholic who beats his wife and loses his family. I won’t try too hard to speculate about Lanois’ motives, but the approach creates a unique feel and interprets this dark side of human nature as at least a natural battle, rather than taking the more standard approach of the judgmental or analytical. That’s not to say this is a noire album, and many of the other songs like the lovely opener “Still Water” focus on simple, happy times.

Robbie Robertson – Robbie Robertson
Speaking of fine albums produced by Daniel Lanois, Robertson’s 1987 solo release is one of the better albums of the decade that flew under the radar. Joined by guest musicians Peter Gabriel, Bono and The BoDeans, this collection of songs has withstood the test of time. The standout, “Somewhere Down the Crazy River” remains one of my favorite tunes to this day, and actually invokes the Frogman of the BoDeans with great success. Robertson captures a pseudo-Tom Waits feel on a lot of these tracks, but doesn’t completely fall into a whiskey-soaked wasteland. This is a well-thought out album and the former member of “The Band” clearly put a lot of studio time into its composition. While he does lean heavily on his star-studded guests, particularly on the first two tracks featuring Peter Gabriel, The Edge and Bono, the album manages to remain cohesive. Rather than leaving it thinking he was resting on their laurels, the listener appreciates what Robertson brought to the table and his influence on all these great musicians. Joseph Campbell would be proud of him as well. The album’s themes have a heavy myth and storytelling feel. “Somewhere Down the Crazy River” is classic narration, while others simply rely on metaphors like “broken arrows” to project their message.

It’s been slow around here lately so I thought I’d throw some musical food for thought out to the blog. After loading an insane amount of music to my iPod, I started thinking about the albums in my collection that have stood the test of time, and in a lot of cases they weren’t albums that I would have expected to have left such a lasting impression the first time I encountered them. It’s impossible to quantify the criteria I used to make this list, but it includes some combination of how influential an album was, and just flat-out how much I like to listen to it, weighed against my perception of its critical acclaim, both worldwide and within my group of peers. As an end result, I thought I would throw them out to the blog to see if there was agreement and to stimulate some conversation and hopefully get a few more suggestions added to the pile.

As usual, I got carried away and ended up with 20 albums. To keep this in digestible portions, I divided them into four rather forced categories and I’ll stagger their release to the blog. Today’s will be “Influential Alternative.” In the near future, “Classic,” “British 80s/90s” and “Punk, New Age and Drug-Soaked Rock Operas Featuring Giant Cheeseburgers” will hit the press.

I also have to cite bias for not including a few artists, most prominently Bob Marley, The Church and its derivatives, and Luna/Galaxie 500 on the list. I just find myself too biased toward a lot the work these artists have produced. I would probably call Galaxie 500’s “On Fire” the single most underrated album of all-time and I would find it hard to not put at least five albums by The Church or their derivatives. As a result, I decided to just leave these off the list completely and focus on albums that I can hopefully be at least a little more objective about.

Influential Alternative

The Velvet Underground – 1969 The Velvet Underground Live with Lou Reed
Rolling Stone magazine put The Velvet Underground into the mainstream consciousness when they named three of their studio albums to their Top 100 list of albums from 1967-1987. It is hard to find a band that was more influential to modern music and thanks in large part to Rolling Stone and the praise that was afforded them by bands like R.E.M., their efforts finally got the credit they deserve, but this much lesser known live release is also essential. This is, bar none, the best live album I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing. There isn’t even a close second. VU’s studio albums (with the possible exception of “The Velvet Underground & Nico”) don’t portray the impromptu grooves of a live show and this album manages to capture Lou Reed in an intimate club setting interacting with the crowd. The songs themselves embody everything that is on the studio albums and then some. The live venue allows Sterling Morrison the freedom to groove and jam into his long trademark solos. Even the crowd is perfect. The album lacks the random drunken frat-boy shouts that all but destroy some otherwise fine live albums like Ben Harper’s “Live From Mars.” The crowd talk and interaction that is heard does nothing but add to the album and helps the listener feel as though they were lucky enough to be in attendance.

The Feelies – Crazy Rhythms
Lost in the shuffle of a changing 80s underground movement that spawned bands like R.E.M. and Luna; The Feelies deserve props for some albums that helped change the face of rock. “Crazy Rhythms” is a release that reaches back into the rock n’ roll foundation of the 60s to help propel alternative music into the 90s. It includes covers of “Paint It Black” and “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide (Except for Me and My Monkey)” but the standouts are the originals that draw on a heavy Velvet Underground guitar influence. A notable downside to this release is that it has to be without a doubt the worst mixed album in my entire collection. At reasonable volume listening levels there are stretches that last a minute or more where almost nothing can be heard. This one could certainly be helped with a re-mastered release. In spite of this significant downfall, the songs do build nicely once they can actually be heard with tunes like “Moscow Nights” and “Original Love” capturing the jingly building guitar that would so effectively bridge the gap between 60s influences and modern alternative music.

Camper Van Beethoven – Vampire Can Mating Oven
Somewhere between the college radio hit “Take the Skinheads Bowling” and the release of “Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart” that permanently secured a place for Camper in the upper echelon of alternative music, David Lowry & Co. released a charming little EP called “Vampire Can Mating Oven.” With only six original songs plus a cover of George Harrison’s “Photograph” the inconspicuous little album laid the groundwork for their transition to greater critical acclaim. The song “Never Go Back” is actually recycled on “Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart” and is a fair representation of the EP’s other melodic tracks such as “Heart” and “Seven Languages.” Beyond the opening three tracks the remainder of the offerings drift into more of the campy old school sound before concluding with the accessible Harrison cover. While it is not nearly as complete as the two final studio albums the band would release before calling it quits for almost a decade, it is a succinct slice of what the band would become.

Pixies – Surfer Rosa
Some albums sneak up on the listener and take time to absorb. This isn’t one of them. “Surfer Rosa” is about as subtle as a brick to the head. To be honest, I don’t really have a grip on this album’s place in history, but if anything’s short of one of the two of three most important albums released in the past 20 years then I think it’s underappreciated. Kurt Cobain was likely the biggest benefactor. Nirvana released “Nevermind” just at the tipping point of the alternative/grunge movement. The album and its hit single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” were simply the final piece placed on top of a strong foundation that began with “Surfer Rosa.” In fact, I believe Kurt Cobain even admitted in an interview that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” started as a cover of “Gouge Away.” (That song appears on “Doolittle” but it certainly sprung from the roots of “Surfer Rosa.”) Numerous critics point to Sonic Youth’s “Daydream Nation” as the precursor of the grunge movement and I just don’t see it. It certainly deserves mention, but somehow Sonic Youth became the media’s darlings and their albums have become extremely overrated. In terms of impact, “Surfer Rosa” was such a leap into new territory that it lacks a peer. There have been cheap imitators and influences that have gone in every direction, but there’s still nothing like it. As far as pure listening enjoyment is concerned, I like “Doolittle” and the “Come On Pilgrim” EP that’s included on the “Surfer Rosa” cd as much or more than I enjoy “Surfer Rosa” but the impact of that album is so undeniable it has to make the list.

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Everyone who knows me is undoubtedly tired of hearing me rave about how great this album is, but I won’t let that stop me from shouting its merits from the rooftop for all to hear one more time. Considering Wilco’s own record company set them free rather than release this album, I think it’s still safe to say that it’s underappreciated. It takes several listens to really appreciate this album and it may never be fully digested, but when it finally does get engrained in the subconscious it packs a punch. As Shrek would say, this album is like an onion, it has layers. I find myself discovering new things every time I hear it. At first it seems like a simple mix of mellow songs and pseudo-pop, but over time a complex mix of sounds and motifs reveal themselves. Jeff Tweedy manages to blend together things that sound like clocks, trash can lids, and who-knows-what-else into an actual melody. At times I’ve been unexpectedly hit with realizations that parts of songs remind me of a wide range of influences – everything from Camper Van Beethoven to The Cure. The recurring motifs and message of this album isn’t even apparent at first, but eventually it becomes clear that the album is about communication, and its limitations. This album is simply so good on so many levels that it has to round out the first installment of the list.