ROB’S FAVOURITE ALBUMS
themissiondistrict
Mar 26, 2008
Hello again everyone. So I guess I must still be a bit of a contemplative / nostalgic mood now that the release date for Youth Games has finally arrived. So since we are finally releasing our first album (available now on iTunes!) I thought it might be kind of fun to look back on some of my favourite albums and talk a little bit about what makes them so special to me. This isn’t a definitive list of the best albums of all time, and they are in no kind of order - these are just a few records that I love. Feel free to post your favourites in the comments, or you can always feel free to praise my fantastic taste in music, or berate me for being a tone deaf, tasteless fop. Yes, I just said fop. I am officially an 80-year-old British man.
WEEZER – PINKERTON
These days it’s easy to forget how great a band Weezer once was. I really dislike their latest album, Make Believe, and that in turn has forced me to reexamine whether they ever truly were the rock gods that I thought they were when I was younger. But no matter how you look at it, the answer is a resounding yes. I will always have a soft spot for the Blue Album, with its sun-drenched California pop music buried under layer upon layer of distortion and 90’s grungy angst, but Pinkerton will always be the quintessential Weezer album for me. After becoming one of the biggest bands in America through several smash singles like ’Buddy Holly,’ ’Say It Ain’t So,’ and ’The Sweater Song,’ they made the decision not to use the services of legendary Cars frontman Ric Ocasic (who produced the Blue Album) and decided to produce their follow up record themselves. The result was noisy, unconventional, and featured some of the most deeply personal and heart-wrenching lyrics ever recorded. And it was not at all what people were expecting. The sales indicated as much, as the album initially didn’t sell even a fraction of what the Blue Album did, the singles failed to catch on with radio and MTV, and most fans, music journalists, and industry players were writing Weezer off as a flash in the pan. This supposed failure became a huge mental obstacle for frontman Rivers Cuomo, who left the music industry to go to Harvard and did not tour or put out a new album for almost 5 years. In the meantime however, Pinkerton found itself an extremely devoted cult following who were drawn to the amazing, albeit unconventional, pop songs and the heart on sleeve lyrical anguish (which, incidentally, has since inspired an entire generation of songwriters.) Sales of the album climbed steadily as more years went past, and Weezer’s lack of activity, as well as the departure of bassist Matt Sharp, contributed to its legend, enough to eventually inspire Cuomo to come out of semi-retirement and put out…a series of subpar albums that have disappointed a legion of extremely loyal fans, myself included (although for the record, I think Maladroit, the 4th Weezer record, is really really good.) In any case, nothing Cuomo or Weezer did before or since will diminish the importance of this record, which these days is looked back on as one of the great accomplishments in the history of modern rock music, and deservedly so.
GUNS N ROSES - APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
For years, my older brother Matt tried to get across to me just how great Appetite for Destruction is, but I was young and foolish and refused to listen. You see, after Nirvana put out Nevermind, Guns N Roses became hopelessly, tragically uncool, and I wasn’t going to be the one kid in my school going on about how cool Axl, Slash and company were and risk being mocked mercilessly by my peers. This is ironic because after Appetite gained popularity, it rendered a whole generation of hair metal bands completely obsolete, but by the time they became obsolete themselves, they had been lumped together with so many of the bands that they had helped to destroy. But seriously though, this is quite possibly the greatest rock record ever made. From a production soundpoint it is absolutely stunning, the guitar and drum sounds are massive, and it features one of the most exciting, dynamic vocal performances ever from a young Axl Rose. Many of you now know Rose as an overweight, deadlocked, football jersey wearing fool, but at the time he was handsome, revolutionary and downright dangerous. Its impossible to overstate how much of a departure this album was from what was popular at the time. Not many people realize this because they didn’t really become popular until the early 90’s but Appetite came out in 1986, a time in rock music when it was considered cool to wear spandex tights and mascara and tease your hair like the star of a low budget excercise video. Guns N Roses brought back a certain punk rock rebelliousness to mainstream music, both with their music and lyrics and in the general bad ass way that they conducted themselves (read Slash’s autobiography if you want to know what I mean.) Anyways I absolutely love this album. Matt, you were right. Sorry about that.
MICHAEL JACKSON - OFF THE WALL
Although he may look like a hedious mutant and has been accused of molesting children on multiple occasions, believe it or not, in the late 70s / early 80s, Michael Jackson was pretty much the coolest guy on the planet. The obvious choice here is his 1982 masterpiece, Thriller, but I prefer the darkhorse pick, 1978’s Off the Wall, which was his first breakthrough album as a solo artist. The main reason I love Off The Wall so much is because in today’s Pop / R n B landscape everything you hear is synthesized, sampled and controlled with computers to the point that it doesn’t really even matter who is singing the songs anymore. I mean, Rihanna has some great songs and everything, but it could really be anyone singing Umbrella - Pro Tools can ensure that whoever is singing is hitting the absolute perfect note, and the hooks and great beats come pre-written and pre-programmed. There is a certain rawness to Off the Wall that just doesn’t exist within the genre anymore, all the instrumentation is done by live musicians who craft some of the danciest tunes ever recorded. I can’t stress enough how good the production on this album is. Quincy Jones has had a long and storied career in music (including Jackson’s more popluar and well-known follow up) but as far as I’m concerned, this is the absolute pinnacle of his work. And then of course there’s Michael. He is at the absolute top of his game, his voice is immaculate, and the vocal hooks are incredible. And remember, this was a time when Michael could still sing about women, love and romance and have it sound convincing. The one two punch that starts the album, ’Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough,’ and ’Rock With You,’ are two of the best songs Michael ever did, and they were both number one singles. Off the Wall went on to sell 7 million copies, established Michael one of the most popular solo musicians on the planet, and set the stage for his follow up, Thriller, the most popular album of all time. No matter what has happened in Michael’s private and professional life in the decades since, Off the Wall is still a great, great record.
THE BEACH BOYS – PET SOUNDS
Growing up a Beatles fan, I always sort of wrote off the Beach Boys as a completely mindless pop group who appealed to the Beatles’ predominantly young and female fan base but without any of the same musical subtlety or nuance that would later lead the Beatles to become the greatest rock band of all time. Boy could I not have been more wrong about that. Early Beach Boys songs are beautifully written and performed, and they have the uncanny ability to bring you back to the innocent days of pre-Vietnam America even if, like me, you were not even close to being conceived at that point. However, it was after hearing Revolver, the Beatles’ first real foray into the more experimental, avant garde direction that would later come to define them, that Beach Boys leader and producer Brian Wilson decided he wanted to make a record with a little more substance. The result was Pet Sounds, which has since become widely regarded as one of the greatest albums to come out of the 60’s, and is quite possibly the best pop album of all time. The songs, anchored by singles like ’Wouldn’t It Be Nice,’ ’Sloop John B,’ and ’God Only Knows,’ feature the signature Beach Boys harmonized vocals, but with time signatures, arrangements, and instrumentation that were unconventional at times and downright bizarre at others. Pet Sounds catapulted the Beach Boys to the very forefront of American pop music and established them as an artistic force that could stand toe to toe with their chief rivals, the Beatles, and for a time they did. After the release of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Wilson wanted to respond with an even more artistic, experimental album that would eclipse Pet Sounds and make the Beach Boys the greatest pop group in the world. Unfortunately, the rest of his band mates were either unwilling or unable to follow him in the somewhat wild direction he was trying to lead them, which ultimately lead to him suffering a complete mental collapse that he has never really recovered from (although, as a sidenote, the album in question, Smile, was finally completed with Wilson’s new band in 2004, and is unbelievably good, although it loses points for taking 4 decades to make.) In any case, on a personal level, whenever I’m having one of those days where nothing seems to be going my way and the whole universe seems to be working against me, all I have to do is listen to Pet Sounds and I’m magically transported to a perfect place where the summer is always just beginning, and the only responsibilities I have are to the sand and surf. Although, it is worth mentioning that I also spend those days frantically huffing an ether-soaked rag*, which may have more to do with the whole magical transportation thing than I am letting on.
*I don’t actually do this.
PAUL SIMON - GRACELAND
This is one of those albums that I remember vividly from my dad playing it constantly when I was growing up, but it wasn’t until I got a little bit older that I realized just how great it really was. It’s interesting because Paul Simon had already conquered the folk rock scene in the 60’s, and probably could have gone through the rest of his career doing not-as-good follow ups to the type of music that made him famous in the first place, which made it all the more interesting when he released this eclectic 1986 masterpiece. Simon had been traveling in Africa prior to making this album, and became enamoured with the music and culture there, so Graceland was infused with tribal rythyms and chants in addition to Simon’s poignant, quirky pop-rock. In the hands of a lesser songwriter, this could have been an absolute disaster (for example, just try to imagine if Bon Jovi tried the same thing,) but Graceland became his most popular album ever, peaking at 3 on the Billboard, and really cemented Paul Simon as one of rock’s all-time great songwriters. The songs themselves are amazing: standouts are The Boy in the Bubble, Graceland, I Know What I Know, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, and of course, You Can Call Me All, the big single off the album, which has a random, unintentionally hilarious music video starring Chevy Chase (who you probably don’t realize was a massive movie star when this song came out.)
No matter what your stance on music is, it is impossible not to love the bass solo in that song. Fact. I love Graceland!
So as I said before, this is not a definitive best-ever albums list. I purposely left off anything by the Beatles or Zeppelin, just because I highly doubt any of you are interested in reading 5,000 words on why exactly I like Zeppelin III so much. These were just a few albums that I think are great, and who knows, maybe in the future I’ll post some more of my favourites. Now that Youth Games is finally out, I wonder if it will eventually inspire someone with the same type of emotional response that I get from these records. Anyways we are just about to get busy with a really hectic March: playing Canadian Music Week, and MTV Live in Toronto, then immediately driving down to Austin for South By Southwest. It promises to be quite the month so when we are back there will be tons of content going up so you can see and read about exactly what types of shenanigans we have been up to. Until then, goodnight and Godspeed everybody!
WEEZER – PINKERTON
These days it’s easy to forget how great a band Weezer once was. I really dislike their latest album, Make Believe, and that in turn has forced me to reexamine whether they ever truly were the rock gods that I thought they were when I was younger. But no matter how you look at it, the answer is a resounding yes. I will always have a soft spot for the Blue Album, with its sun-drenched California pop music buried under layer upon layer of distortion and 90’s grungy angst, but Pinkerton will always be the quintessential Weezer album for me. After becoming one of the biggest bands in America through several smash singles like ’Buddy Holly,’ ’Say It Ain’t So,’ and ’The Sweater Song,’ they made the decision not to use the services of legendary Cars frontman Ric Ocasic (who produced the Blue Album) and decided to produce their follow up record themselves. The result was noisy, unconventional, and featured some of the most deeply personal and heart-wrenching lyrics ever recorded. And it was not at all what people were expecting. The sales indicated as much, as the album initially didn’t sell even a fraction of what the Blue Album did, the singles failed to catch on with radio and MTV, and most fans, music journalists, and industry players were writing Weezer off as a flash in the pan. This supposed failure became a huge mental obstacle for frontman Rivers Cuomo, who left the music industry to go to Harvard and did not tour or put out a new album for almost 5 years. In the meantime however, Pinkerton found itself an extremely devoted cult following who were drawn to the amazing, albeit unconventional, pop songs and the heart on sleeve lyrical anguish (which, incidentally, has since inspired an entire generation of songwriters.) Sales of the album climbed steadily as more years went past, and Weezer’s lack of activity, as well as the departure of bassist Matt Sharp, contributed to its legend, enough to eventually inspire Cuomo to come out of semi-retirement and put out…a series of subpar albums that have disappointed a legion of extremely loyal fans, myself included (although for the record, I think Maladroit, the 4th Weezer record, is really really good.) In any case, nothing Cuomo or Weezer did before or since will diminish the importance of this record, which these days is looked back on as one of the great accomplishments in the history of modern rock music, and deservedly so.
GUNS N ROSES - APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
For years, my older brother Matt tried to get across to me just how great Appetite for Destruction is, but I was young and foolish and refused to listen. You see, after Nirvana put out Nevermind, Guns N Roses became hopelessly, tragically uncool, and I wasn’t going to be the one kid in my school going on about how cool Axl, Slash and company were and risk being mocked mercilessly by my peers. This is ironic because after Appetite gained popularity, it rendered a whole generation of hair metal bands completely obsolete, but by the time they became obsolete themselves, they had been lumped together with so many of the bands that they had helped to destroy. But seriously though, this is quite possibly the greatest rock record ever made. From a production soundpoint it is absolutely stunning, the guitar and drum sounds are massive, and it features one of the most exciting, dynamic vocal performances ever from a young Axl Rose. Many of you now know Rose as an overweight, deadlocked, football jersey wearing fool, but at the time he was handsome, revolutionary and downright dangerous. Its impossible to overstate how much of a departure this album was from what was popular at the time. Not many people realize this because they didn’t really become popular until the early 90’s but Appetite came out in 1986, a time in rock music when it was considered cool to wear spandex tights and mascara and tease your hair like the star of a low budget excercise video. Guns N Roses brought back a certain punk rock rebelliousness to mainstream music, both with their music and lyrics and in the general bad ass way that they conducted themselves (read Slash’s autobiography if you want to know what I mean.) Anyways I absolutely love this album. Matt, you were right. Sorry about that.
MICHAEL JACKSON - OFF THE WALL
Although he may look like a hedious mutant and has been accused of molesting children on multiple occasions, believe it or not, in the late 70s / early 80s, Michael Jackson was pretty much the coolest guy on the planet. The obvious choice here is his 1982 masterpiece, Thriller, but I prefer the darkhorse pick, 1978’s Off the Wall, which was his first breakthrough album as a solo artist. The main reason I love Off The Wall so much is because in today’s Pop / R n B landscape everything you hear is synthesized, sampled and controlled with computers to the point that it doesn’t really even matter who is singing the songs anymore. I mean, Rihanna has some great songs and everything, but it could really be anyone singing Umbrella - Pro Tools can ensure that whoever is singing is hitting the absolute perfect note, and the hooks and great beats come pre-written and pre-programmed. There is a certain rawness to Off the Wall that just doesn’t exist within the genre anymore, all the instrumentation is done by live musicians who craft some of the danciest tunes ever recorded. I can’t stress enough how good the production on this album is. Quincy Jones has had a long and storied career in music (including Jackson’s more popluar and well-known follow up) but as far as I’m concerned, this is the absolute pinnacle of his work. And then of course there’s Michael. He is at the absolute top of his game, his voice is immaculate, and the vocal hooks are incredible. And remember, this was a time when Michael could still sing about women, love and romance and have it sound convincing. The one two punch that starts the album, ’Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough,’ and ’Rock With You,’ are two of the best songs Michael ever did, and they were both number one singles. Off the Wall went on to sell 7 million copies, established Michael one of the most popular solo musicians on the planet, and set the stage for his follow up, Thriller, the most popular album of all time. No matter what has happened in Michael’s private and professional life in the decades since, Off the Wall is still a great, great record.
THE BEACH BOYS – PET SOUNDS
Growing up a Beatles fan, I always sort of wrote off the Beach Boys as a completely mindless pop group who appealed to the Beatles’ predominantly young and female fan base but without any of the same musical subtlety or nuance that would later lead the Beatles to become the greatest rock band of all time. Boy could I not have been more wrong about that. Early Beach Boys songs are beautifully written and performed, and they have the uncanny ability to bring you back to the innocent days of pre-Vietnam America even if, like me, you were not even close to being conceived at that point. However, it was after hearing Revolver, the Beatles’ first real foray into the more experimental, avant garde direction that would later come to define them, that Beach Boys leader and producer Brian Wilson decided he wanted to make a record with a little more substance. The result was Pet Sounds, which has since become widely regarded as one of the greatest albums to come out of the 60’s, and is quite possibly the best pop album of all time. The songs, anchored by singles like ’Wouldn’t It Be Nice,’ ’Sloop John B,’ and ’God Only Knows,’ feature the signature Beach Boys harmonized vocals, but with time signatures, arrangements, and instrumentation that were unconventional at times and downright bizarre at others. Pet Sounds catapulted the Beach Boys to the very forefront of American pop music and established them as an artistic force that could stand toe to toe with their chief rivals, the Beatles, and for a time they did. After the release of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Wilson wanted to respond with an even more artistic, experimental album that would eclipse Pet Sounds and make the Beach Boys the greatest pop group in the world. Unfortunately, the rest of his band mates were either unwilling or unable to follow him in the somewhat wild direction he was trying to lead them, which ultimately lead to him suffering a complete mental collapse that he has never really recovered from (although, as a sidenote, the album in question, Smile, was finally completed with Wilson’s new band in 2004, and is unbelievably good, although it loses points for taking 4 decades to make.) In any case, on a personal level, whenever I’m having one of those days where nothing seems to be going my way and the whole universe seems to be working against me, all I have to do is listen to Pet Sounds and I’m magically transported to a perfect place where the summer is always just beginning, and the only responsibilities I have are to the sand and surf. Although, it is worth mentioning that I also spend those days frantically huffing an ether-soaked rag*, which may have more to do with the whole magical transportation thing than I am letting on.
*I don’t actually do this.
PAUL SIMON - GRACELAND
This is one of those albums that I remember vividly from my dad playing it constantly when I was growing up, but it wasn’t until I got a little bit older that I realized just how great it really was. It’s interesting because Paul Simon had already conquered the folk rock scene in the 60’s, and probably could have gone through the rest of his career doing not-as-good follow ups to the type of music that made him famous in the first place, which made it all the more interesting when he released this eclectic 1986 masterpiece. Simon had been traveling in Africa prior to making this album, and became enamoured with the music and culture there, so Graceland was infused with tribal rythyms and chants in addition to Simon’s poignant, quirky pop-rock. In the hands of a lesser songwriter, this could have been an absolute disaster (for example, just try to imagine if Bon Jovi tried the same thing,) but Graceland became his most popular album ever, peaking at 3 on the Billboard, and really cemented Paul Simon as one of rock’s all-time great songwriters. The songs themselves are amazing: standouts are The Boy in the Bubble, Graceland, I Know What I Know, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, and of course, You Can Call Me All, the big single off the album, which has a random, unintentionally hilarious music video starring Chevy Chase (who you probably don’t realize was a massive movie star when this song came out.)
No matter what your stance on music is, it is impossible not to love the bass solo in that song. Fact. I love Graceland!
So as I said before, this is not a definitive best-ever albums list. I purposely left off anything by the Beatles or Zeppelin, just because I highly doubt any of you are interested in reading 5,000 words on why exactly I like Zeppelin III so much. These were just a few albums that I think are great, and who knows, maybe in the future I’ll post some more of my favourites. Now that Youth Games is finally out, I wonder if it will eventually inspire someone with the same type of emotional response that I get from these records. Anyways we are just about to get busy with a really hectic March: playing Canadian Music Week, and MTV Live in Toronto, then immediately driving down to Austin for South By Southwest. It promises to be quite the month so when we are back there will be tons of content going up so you can see and read about exactly what types of shenanigans we have been up to. Until then, goodnight and Godspeed everybody!
