Hear Me Out: Dog Days' Best In Show, Part 2 (1997-2012)
A couple of weeks back, I mentioned ten awesome and/or important albums that have the distinct privilege of being released during the months of July and August, a virtual musical dead zone where labels keep the good stuff locked in their cupboards for the fall shopping season and have stopped adequately promoting the marquee releases that came out in spring.
We covered a good chunk of the 90's during Part 1. Today, let's have a look at 1997-2012, and ten more albums that beat the odds and captured that elusive Summer Greatness.
PRIMUS
Brown Album
Released: July 8, 1997
With their commercial heyday of Pork Soda and Tales From The Punchbowl behind them, Primus set out with a new drummer to make an edgier, more mature album. Sadly, Brown Album was doomed to fail; a new band member, a pretty terrible cover, and a poor choice for a lead single (Shake Hands With Beef) were all sort of damning. Releasing the thing in July certainly didn't help. At the time, Brown Album was the first Primus album since Frizzle Fry to not gain at least a gold certification in the U.S., a feat they would never accomplish with a new album again. Shameful, considering Brown Album just might be their best.
THE TRAGICALLY HIP
Phantom Power
Released: July 14, 1998
Admittedly, The Tragically Hip's discography has gotten spottier and more polarizing as the years have passed. As Gord Downie's wordplay and the band's sense of musical adventure have ebbed and flowed, they've been guilty of veering a little too far off course by times, crafting albums too different, too subdued, too smart. Phantom Power is sort of all of these things, but all of these things done right. Bombastic rock scorchers sit alongside pensive ballads, with the band at the top of their game hitting all points in between. Too many folks can't look past Road Apples when discussing The Hip's greatness; truth is, Road Apples was the start of a devastatingly great decade for the band (both commercially and artistically), and they closed it out with an absolute beauty.
THE WHITE STRIPES
White Blood Cells
Released: July 3, 2001
It seems like forever ago, but there was a time before Seven Nation Army when The White Stripes were a scrappy, underground duo wallowing in the shadows of semi-obscurity. 2003's Elephant propelled them to unfathomable heights, but White Blood Cells was the album that opened the door. Raw, unfiltered, minimalistic, hard-ass blues rock was something virtually no one was trying at the turn of the century; when White Blood Cells roared and spit its way to the top of the year end best-of lists, one got the sense that nothing would ever be the same.
THE STROKES
Is This It
Released: August 28, 2001
What The White Stripes did with relentless touring and word of mouth, The Strokes did with hype. As the blogs fawned over this hot new band from NYC, interest in The Strokes grew wildly. With all the press and anticipation, expectations grew too. The thing is, Is This It didn't disappoint. Albert Hammond Jr.'s angular guitar attack and Julian Casablancas' lazy drawl made for a sound that was thrilling in its freshness. Of course they'd never match it; they were one of the rare bands blessed (or cursed) to have perfected their sound on the first try.
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
Songs For The Deaf
Released: August 27, 2002
By the time Songs For The Deaf was released, Josh Homme's reputation had preceded him; longtime axeman for revered stoner metal troupe Kyuss, Homme had released a pair of groove-heavy, good time platters in QOTSA's self titled debut and 2000's Rated R (which spawned a minor hit in The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret). So what to do with album number three? Make it a quasi-concept album detailing a drive out to the desert, complete with radio interludes and a mammoth guest list. However, as good as Homme and all of his friends are on the album, at the end of the day it belongs to Dave Grohl; almost a decade removed from Nirvana's last album, Grohl made his official return to the kit on Songs For The Deaf. And proceeded to beat the living shit out of them.
KINGS OF LEON
Youth & Young Manhood
Released: August 19, 2003
If we can all agree that ten years is a pretty long time, then let's also agree that ten years is a hell of a long time in rock n' roll years. Look no further than Kings of Leon; the shaggy kids on the Youth & Young Manhood album cover are a far sight from what they are now. It may have taken a few albums to break into the mainstream consciousness, but their debut is a stunner in its own right. The raw Southern fury on display was far from perfect, but its exuberance and willingness to get dirty hit on a primal level; it's a brash album that strikes with reckless abandon and is a jolt of energy that could only have been fueled by youth.
MASTODON
Leviathan
Released: August 31, 2004
Mastodon's second full-length is a classic case of a classic album that, by rights, shouldn't have worked. A twisting, ugly album whirling around concepts of water (and, more specifically, Moby Dick), Leviathan isn't the type of album that typically propels a band to success. And yet, the performance speaks for itself; the four members' interplay and seemingly effortless mastery of the instruments sparked a change in the landscape. No longer was metal the exclusive realm of Satanism and violence. As it turned out, there was room for great white whales and tribulations of the high seas. Mastodon would go on to better themselves not once (2006's Blood Mountain) but twice (2009's Crack The Skye); but Leviathan stands alone as the album that heralded not only the true arrival of a brilliant new band, but also a brilliant new age for heavy metal.
AGAINST ME!
New Wave
Released: July 10, 2007
Having earned themselves a loyal following through years of hard touring and finding a modicum of success with previous release Searching For A former Clarity, Against Me! found themselves on a major label for 2007's New Wave. Perhaps already seeing the writing on the wall in regards to fickle, narrow minded fans eager to jump ship as soon as they signed the contract, the band didn't bother pretending to do anything with New Wave other than break into the mainstream (or, perhaps, bend the mainstream to their will). New Wave took everything fans knew about Against Me! and threw it out the window; the songwriting was tighter and sharper, the hooks meatier, the soundscape more flushed out. It was an attempt at moving forward against a tide of mohawked legions that wanted nothing more than to push them backwards. The resulting album was brilliant, a giant artistic leap. A leap that lost them a good chunk of their fan base, yes, but a leap that replaced them all with better fans.
ARCADE FIRE
The Suburbs
Released: August 3, 2010
Having already become indie darlings on 2004's Funeral and caught the ear of some of music's heaviest hitters with 2007's Neon Bible, one could easily see Arcade Fire's hourglass emptying as their acceptance level threatened to reach critical mass and boil over into indifference. Rather than build the concepts higher or into more difficult territory, The Suburbs scaled it all back a bit, hearkening back to childhoods, reliving simple pleasures, taking a moment to enjoy fond memories. To be sure, The Suburbs is a long, drawn out, sometimes pretentious affair; but it's also musically vibrant, reaching into several genres' worth of history and wringing every emotion they can out of them. It's not as consistent as the two albums that came before it, but The Suburbs' diversity and adventurousness make it a winner.
BARONESS
Yellow & Green
Released: July 17, 2012
To tell the whole story of Yellow & Green is a complicated and somewhat premature affair. Its impact is somewhat overshadowed right now by the bus crash that ground the band to a halt just after the album's release and culminated in two band members being unable to continue playing the music they helped to create. It's a tragic side to the story, but it shouldn't discount the album itself, because the album is glorious. Less than a year after its release it's hard to gauge its importance to the band or to rock music as a whole. But, the fearlessness it takes for a metal band to sneak away from the genre's silly "restrictions" and veer into a broader sonic playground certainly makes Yellow & Green one of the bravest records to be released in the last five years. Its near flawless balancing act of brawn and beauty just so happen to also make it one of the best albums released in the last five years.
We covered a good chunk of the 90's during Part 1. Today, let's have a look at 1997-2012, and ten more albums that beat the odds and captured that elusive Summer Greatness.
Brown Album
Released: July 8, 1997
With their commercial heyday of Pork Soda and Tales From The Punchbowl behind them, Primus set out with a new drummer to make an edgier, more mature album. Sadly, Brown Album was doomed to fail; a new band member, a pretty terrible cover, and a poor choice for a lead single (Shake Hands With Beef) were all sort of damning. Releasing the thing in July certainly didn't help. At the time, Brown Album was the first Primus album since Frizzle Fry to not gain at least a gold certification in the U.S., a feat they would never accomplish with a new album again. Shameful, considering Brown Album just might be their best.
Phantom Power
Released: July 14, 1998
Admittedly, The Tragically Hip's discography has gotten spottier and more polarizing as the years have passed. As Gord Downie's wordplay and the band's sense of musical adventure have ebbed and flowed, they've been guilty of veering a little too far off course by times, crafting albums too different, too subdued, too smart. Phantom Power is sort of all of these things, but all of these things done right. Bombastic rock scorchers sit alongside pensive ballads, with the band at the top of their game hitting all points in between. Too many folks can't look past Road Apples when discussing The Hip's greatness; truth is, Road Apples was the start of a devastatingly great decade for the band (both commercially and artistically), and they closed it out with an absolute beauty.
White Blood Cells
Released: July 3, 2001
It seems like forever ago, but there was a time before Seven Nation Army when The White Stripes were a scrappy, underground duo wallowing in the shadows of semi-obscurity. 2003's Elephant propelled them to unfathomable heights, but White Blood Cells was the album that opened the door. Raw, unfiltered, minimalistic, hard-ass blues rock was something virtually no one was trying at the turn of the century; when White Blood Cells roared and spit its way to the top of the year end best-of lists, one got the sense that nothing would ever be the same.
Is This It
Released: August 28, 2001
What The White Stripes did with relentless touring and word of mouth, The Strokes did with hype. As the blogs fawned over this hot new band from NYC, interest in The Strokes grew wildly. With all the press and anticipation, expectations grew too. The thing is, Is This It didn't disappoint. Albert Hammond Jr.'s angular guitar attack and Julian Casablancas' lazy drawl made for a sound that was thrilling in its freshness. Of course they'd never match it; they were one of the rare bands blessed (or cursed) to have perfected their sound on the first try.
Songs For The Deaf
Released: August 27, 2002
By the time Songs For The Deaf was released, Josh Homme's reputation had preceded him; longtime axeman for revered stoner metal troupe Kyuss, Homme had released a pair of groove-heavy, good time platters in QOTSA's self titled debut and 2000's Rated R (which spawned a minor hit in The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret). So what to do with album number three? Make it a quasi-concept album detailing a drive out to the desert, complete with radio interludes and a mammoth guest list. However, as good as Homme and all of his friends are on the album, at the end of the day it belongs to Dave Grohl; almost a decade removed from Nirvana's last album, Grohl made his official return to the kit on Songs For The Deaf. And proceeded to beat the living shit out of them.
Youth & Young Manhood
Released: August 19, 2003
If we can all agree that ten years is a pretty long time, then let's also agree that ten years is a hell of a long time in rock n' roll years. Look no further than Kings of Leon; the shaggy kids on the Youth & Young Manhood album cover are a far sight from what they are now. It may have taken a few albums to break into the mainstream consciousness, but their debut is a stunner in its own right. The raw Southern fury on display was far from perfect, but its exuberance and willingness to get dirty hit on a primal level; it's a brash album that strikes with reckless abandon and is a jolt of energy that could only have been fueled by youth.
Leviathan
Released: August 31, 2004
Mastodon's second full-length is a classic case of a classic album that, by rights, shouldn't have worked. A twisting, ugly album whirling around concepts of water (and, more specifically, Moby Dick), Leviathan isn't the type of album that typically propels a band to success. And yet, the performance speaks for itself; the four members' interplay and seemingly effortless mastery of the instruments sparked a change in the landscape. No longer was metal the exclusive realm of Satanism and violence. As it turned out, there was room for great white whales and tribulations of the high seas. Mastodon would go on to better themselves not once (2006's Blood Mountain) but twice (2009's Crack The Skye); but Leviathan stands alone as the album that heralded not only the true arrival of a brilliant new band, but also a brilliant new age for heavy metal.
New Wave
Released: July 10, 2007
Having earned themselves a loyal following through years of hard touring and finding a modicum of success with previous release Searching For A former Clarity, Against Me! found themselves on a major label for 2007's New Wave. Perhaps already seeing the writing on the wall in regards to fickle, narrow minded fans eager to jump ship as soon as they signed the contract, the band didn't bother pretending to do anything with New Wave other than break into the mainstream (or, perhaps, bend the mainstream to their will). New Wave took everything fans knew about Against Me! and threw it out the window; the songwriting was tighter and sharper, the hooks meatier, the soundscape more flushed out. It was an attempt at moving forward against a tide of mohawked legions that wanted nothing more than to push them backwards. The resulting album was brilliant, a giant artistic leap. A leap that lost them a good chunk of their fan base, yes, but a leap that replaced them all with better fans.
The Suburbs
Released: August 3, 2010
Having already become indie darlings on 2004's Funeral and caught the ear of some of music's heaviest hitters with 2007's Neon Bible, one could easily see Arcade Fire's hourglass emptying as their acceptance level threatened to reach critical mass and boil over into indifference. Rather than build the concepts higher or into more difficult territory, The Suburbs scaled it all back a bit, hearkening back to childhoods, reliving simple pleasures, taking a moment to enjoy fond memories. To be sure, The Suburbs is a long, drawn out, sometimes pretentious affair; but it's also musically vibrant, reaching into several genres' worth of history and wringing every emotion they can out of them. It's not as consistent as the two albums that came before it, but The Suburbs' diversity and adventurousness make it a winner.
Yellow & Green
Released: July 17, 2012
To tell the whole story of Yellow & Green is a complicated and somewhat premature affair. Its impact is somewhat overshadowed right now by the bus crash that ground the band to a halt just after the album's release and culminated in two band members being unable to continue playing the music they helped to create. It's a tragic side to the story, but it shouldn't discount the album itself, because the album is glorious. Less than a year after its release it's hard to gauge its importance to the band or to rock music as a whole. But, the fearlessness it takes for a metal band to sneak away from the genre's silly "restrictions" and veer into a broader sonic playground certainly makes Yellow & Green one of the bravest records to be released in the last five years. Its near flawless balancing act of brawn and beauty just so happen to also make it one of the best albums released in the last five years.
Comments
Post a Comment