Albums in My Life: 1998

For most of 1998, I was seven years old. I don't remember a whole lot from this period specifically, though I'm sure I was starting to understand a little bit more of the world around me.



The Barenaked Ladies- Stunt
I remember when the Barenaked Ladies got really big, which was weird to me, since people were now flocking to a band that I had pretty much known of my whole life. My dad was an early adopter and picked up Gordon in Toronto years previously. It was kind of cool to see something I had liked get popular, but just like that, they were back to only being popular in Canada. This is probably their most popular record, and songs like 'One Week', 'Alcohol', and 'It's All Been Done' ensured its success, though 'Never Is Enough' cuts a little too close for me now. The line about Wendy's isn't an exact fit, but substitute a PhD for a Master's and Wendy's for Panera Bread, and that was my life in 2015.



Black Star- Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star
One of my college roommates introduced me to this album and Mos Def's The Ecstatic, and I was hooked. It was so unlike most of the hip hop I had heard at the time, being a pretty new convert to the genre. This album led me to discover a lot more in underground hip hop and is still a great album. Talib Kweli and Mos Def's chemistry on the album is undeniable, their lyrics thoughtful and hard hitting, and it's always a challenge to judge which rapper had the upper hand on a particular track.





Godspeed You! Black Emperor- F#A#∞
The same roommate actually turned me on to this band as well. He first showed me the Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada EP, and I didn't really dig it. It was a little too slow and uneventful for me at the time. A while later, I tried out their debut, heard the opening monologue on 'Dead Flag Blues', and it clicked. I totally understand the power of the drones and glacial dynamic shifts after this and this record now gets pretty regular rotation with me, and I'm probably one of the few that prefers this to Lift Your Skinny Fists. It goes to show that you should give some music a second chance. Maybe it'll hit you that next time.



of Montreal- The Bedside Drama: A Petite Tragedy
This record, probably one of the more underrated in the band's discography, really builds on the whimsical lo fi charm of their debut with a ambitious concept record; essentially tracking a relationship, from sweet beginnings to its bitter end. I really enjoy the very weaving and meandering way that Kevin Barnes writes his melodies. I feel like even when the instrumentation is stripped back like this, there's so many key and time signature changes that it would put some prog rock bands to shame.




The Offspring- Americana
I knew a kid in an after school program that had a copy of this CD, and he used to play it all the time. I felt like such a rebel listening to a record with swear words on it (give me a break, I was 7). Even so many years later, I still remember that, but I've also gained some appreciation for it as just a fun pop punk record. I got into this and other Offspring records all over again in college, when a friend used to play them all the time on his radio show. 'Pretty Fly for a White Guy' may have aged like milk, but 'Get a Job' and 'The Kids Aren't Alright' are still classics to me.



Next time, I'll share five records that came out in 1999 that really had an impact on me.



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Album Review: Weezer (The Teal Album)

So, you may have heard Weezer's couple of Toto covers last year, one of which ('Africa', because of course) got the studio treatment. This cover actually turned out to be one of Weezer's more successful charting songs in about a decade. Not surprisingly, Weezer took this success and attempted to build on it by releasing an entire covers album a few days ago. This was also successful; successful in both breaking the fanbase in half and redefining the meaning of pointless.

While this album isn't the worst thing ever, it's nothing if not predictable. All the songs here have been covered to death, and are played so faithfully to the original (excluding some slightly more overdriven guitar or a different synth patch) that it practically borders on an album of karaoke. Rihanna's Tame Impala cover on Anti comes to mind. I'm not opposed to a covers album from Weezer, but I was hoping for some arrangements that were a little more adventurous and a little less paint by numbers. Plus, as if somebody doesn't know this by now, Rivers Cuomo is not the best singer. He could have tweaked some arrangements to more suit his incredibly limited range, or he could pass the vocals off to Brian Bell (his vocal turn on 'Paranoid' wasn't half bad).

Weezer has a tendency to kill any good will they accumulate as soon as they get it, following up their best album in at least 15 years (The White Album) with Pacific Daydream, and now with this uninspired covers record. For tips on how to do covers right in my opinion,check out Xiu Xiu's album of Nina Simone covers or the Ramones' Acid Eaters. You could still tell what the songs were, but they made them their own. Hopefully, The Black Album has a little bit more effort put into it than this. This reeks to me of a band playing into a meme for some quick press and a few cheap streams.

Honestly, if I went into this album and picked it apart track by track, I'd be putting more effort into this record than Weezer did. It's ok for the band to have fun, but maybe you could let the listeners (aka the reason you're famous) in on some of the fun by, I don't know, trying to entertain?



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Albums in My Life: 1997

For the majority of 1997, I was six years old. I was in first and second grade during this time, and honestly can't remember much. A lot of these albums are still from discovering them later, but musical memories are starting to enter my experience.


Chumbawamba- Tubthumper
As a kid, 'Tubthumping' was pretty much inescapable. For people that weren't there, I can assure you, it happened. I really gained an appreciation for the album as a whole, as well as the entire anarcho punk Chumbawamba oeuvre, much later, but 'Tubthumping' was immediate and catchy as hell. It's such a weird hit to have, and the fact that I see it on a lot of worst songs ever lists is baffling to me. I am surprised it got popular in the US though; with the weird soccer chants, 'Danny Boy' diversion, and subject of getting pissed at the pub, it's a quintessentially British song. Maybe that's why it never confused me, having a English grandmother.



Modest Mouse- The Lonesome Crowded West
I first heard Modest Mouse around 2004, when 'Float On' came out. I had only heard that song, and thought that's what they were. Only later did I look back and discover this album. This record really sparks a wanderlust in me, and I really want to take a road trip every time I hear it. There's also something about this album that makes me a little sad too, almost like nostalgia for something I lost. 'Bankrupt on Selling' really gets me feeling that way. I like other Modest Mouse albums, but this one is the only one that instills that feeling in me.




of Montreal- Cherry Peel
One of my favorite bands' humble beginnings. I really enjoy the super lo fi aesthetic, whimsical tone and obvious Beatles homage. Also, the song topics are super weird. Plus, for 1997, the material for a pop record was pretty forward thinking. For evidence of that, just take a listen to 'Tim, I Wish You Were Born a Girl'.  Kevin Barnes would definitely explore more sexually charged topics later in his career, but for the next few records, of Montreal is a little more twee and chasted than they would be in the late 2000s.




Radiohead- Ok Computer


As I might have stated previously, I was a hold out with Radiohead, and still don't enjoy much Radiohead beyond this record. But, this record to me was probably their pinnacle; their most cohesive statement, and, about 22 years later as of this writing, as relevant as ever, if not more so. Technology really does rule everything we do, and in exchange for convenience, we really have sacrificed a lot of our personal freedoms. It has a lot of my favorite Radiohead songs as well. Both 'Exit Music (for a Film)' and 'Fitter, Happier' are beautiful, in their own way, even though the latter manages to make sad and creeped out in equal measure.





Sleater Kinney- Dig Me Out
I was a little bit too young to hear Sleater Kinney when they were first around, but having discovered them later, it's interesting that there's still not a band quite like them. The closest comparisons I can make is if Lush's Lovelife were way more intense and the guitar interplay were dialed up to eleven. This is probably their most accessible release, but it's still pretty raw and chaotic. I find myself getting lost in the intensity, but if you focus, you can really hear how the guitar lines weave in and out and compliment each other, in a more ferocious Moby Grape kind of way.



So, those are my picks for 1997. Check back in later for the albums from 1998 that really affected my life.

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."