Alice in Chains

Album: ‘Alice in Chains: Greatest Hits‘
Year: 2001

I know I’ve said this a lot, but this is the kind of music I would have been listening to in high school if I was a bit cooler and had some awareness of the times I was living in. But, for me at least, Alice in Chains flew under the radar until I went to college and I was confronted with the music I should have known but I seemed to keep in the periphery for the sake of, well, inferior sounds.

Their brand of alternative was very dark. So dark, in fact, that i made me kind of uneasy to hear it in the beginning. Songs like “Man in the Box” and “Angry Chair” made me feel upset and angry for no other reason than the tone of the songs got on me and I couldn’t wash it off like so much indelible ink. Now, taking a less seminal and more objective view of the music, I am able to appreciate that this band took something that was tailor-made for the counterculture and challenged that culture to go dark until they saw what frightened them the most: their own sense of morbid fraud.

Track of Distinction: “No Excuses” edges out the hypnotic “Rooster” proving I still enjoy the lighter side of dark even as I near 40.

Alice Cooper

Album: ‘Alice Cooper’s Greatest Hits‘
Year: 1974

It can be difficult to wrap ones mind around the fact that music like Alice Cooper paved the way for modern metal music, but the proof is all right there. He has the rough edge, the sense of hardcore sound, and the sense enough not to care what anyone thought. That’s metal AF right there.

But much of Cooper’s groundwork seems to be swept aside and forgotten by younger generations who believe that the likes of Metallica invented metal when, in fact, it had been in the works for nearly two decades prior. I tend to forget this sometimes until I hear the likes of Cooper, The Stooges, and Black Sabbath and it brings me back to earth and reminds me that metal didn’t start as the grinding roar we know today: it started as something just hard enough to make parents ask the kids to turn it down a bit.

Track of Distinction: “Billion Dollar Babies” should be the unofficial theme of our current presidential administration.

Alex Clare

Album: ‘The Lateness of the Hour‘
Year: 2011

As I mentioned a while back, I’m a sucker for music from ads and from TV and movies. I sought out this album after I heard “Up All Night” as the opening theme of the short-lived Doctor Who spin-off Class and, as it happens so often, it found its way onto a running mix. What I didn’t know was that this album also housed Clare’s dubstep track “Too Close” that was used in an … ugh … Internet Explorer ad. But don’t let that scare you away.

This album shouldn’t be defined by these two songs, though. It’s a soft pop record at its heart filled with love, soul, tenderness, and some troubadour sensibilities that come through tracks that, quite often, are over-produced. I would love to hear a stripped-down or acoustic version of this album to really find its heart.

Track of Distinction: “Hands Are Clever” is a great blend of Clare’s soul and electronic sides making it one of the more balanced tracks on the album.

Alestorm

Albums: All of them. It’s only five but I’m bury and l am also very lazy. So be it. Also, I’m suffering from some latent affects of having my fucking mind blown!

Admittedly, when I first heard about this band, it sounded fucking stupid. Then I listened to “Drink” and I thought it might actually be brilliant. These Scottish metal heads made a catchy track that hits most (if not all) of the major pirate tropes in one go and it was well-crafted. It immediately found a place on one of my running mixes. Then, before I started listening to their albums, a third thought entered my mind (new record!): what if they’re a one-trick pony?

I’m not going to say that pirate lore is deep and broad, but the band seemed to find a way to keep the topic fresh across five freaking albums. Sure, there is a bit of overlap in much of their stuff–every album included a dirge and at least one true drinking song–but the rest was as lively and varied as the sea itself including a daring and beautiful instrumental that nearly made its way as ToD. On the other hand, they made a song perfect for your last day at a shitty job. How nice of them! How truly Scottish of them!

Track of Distinction: “Wolves of the Sea” is part battle anthem and part drinking song and all fun, which is absolutely what every pirate song should be. Because, if you’re drunk enough, do you even really die?

The Album Leaf

Album: ‘Into the Blue Again‘
Year: 2006

This album is yet another that I do not remember adding to my collection, but here it is. It was probably a result from a free album giveaway but I don’t know for sure. I’m not mad, but it makes me think I may need to have my memory checked.

It isn’t a bad album. It’s not a very memorable album. It is categorized as Post Rock but I don’t know if it qualifies. It revels in its instrumentals and brings out its best work when the lead singer shuts his trap and lets the listener take the reigns in the musical landscape. I might need to take this one for another trip to really get a bead on it.

Track of Distinction: “See In You” was good and worth your time.

Alanis Morissette

Albums:
‘Jagged Little Pill‘ (1995)
‘Under Rug Swept‘ (2002)
‘So-Called Chaos‘ (2004)
‘Jagged Little Pill Acoustic‘ (2005)

I find it peculiar that, enjoying Alanis and her sound as a teenage boy, would get me so much street cred later in life. I guess it makes sense that, at the age ‘Jagged Little Pill’ hit (14) I probably shouldn’t have been into strong, female artists. But when “Hand In My Pocket” hit the airwaves and I was sucked in. If ever there was a song that had staying power, it’s a song that was written almost completely in Tweets nearly two decades before that was a thing. Then “You Ought to Know” made me think, “Geez, guys can suck. Hope I don’t become that.” It was then I probably became “woke” (*remembers everything I did between the ages of 15 and 23*). Nevermind.

But Alanis also proved that as fast as an artist can rise on sheer venom and will, he or she can come down just as fast. By the time we got her revealing follow up “Thank You,” it was clear that her unbridled, Canadian edge was blunted so middle America wouldn’t have to expose their kids to the issues they were likely experiencing but never taught about. Sure, she has put out a lot of albums since, but she never got that spark back, hence my collection only being four-deep. Shame.

Track of Distinction: “Perfect” cut this nearly-38-year-old man so deep it touched his inner child who still remembers how words like these felt.

Alabama Shakes

Albums:
‘Boys & Girls‘ (2012)
‘Sound & Color‘ (2015)

I will eternally be a sucker for a female vocalist whose music works for her benefit and not the other way around. Instead of being drowned by auto-tune or an instrument arrangement that tries to top her sound, Brittany Howard’s voice is allowed to soar and roam free as she establishes herself as one of the most dynamic soulful vocalists in contemporary music.

The sound is a lot of soul with some jazz and rock elements scattered in to keep things from getting to comfortable. The first album is, by far, the more accomplished effort because the sound was more organic. They weren’t trying to shoehorn in a catchy riff or hook to get listeners; they just let Howard sing and tried to keep up. By the time ‘Sound & Color’ came to be, some poor production choices were made and Howard’s voice and lyrical style seemed to be pushed to the bad for a more avant-garde jazz sound that is more progressive but also manages to forget its greatest asset. I’m hoping the next album rights the ship.

Track of Distinction: “I Ain’t the Same,” with its blues-rock grittiness and smooth soulfulness edges out “You Ain’t Alone” and “Hold On” and hearkens back to a bygone day of powerful black vocalists.

The Alan Parson’s Project

Album: ‘Eye in the Sky‘
Year: 1982

Originally, I picked up this album because the instrumental “Sirius” is used as the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ Tunnel Walk Song and I thought it might be good to have on a workout mix. Turns out, a good hype song isn’t always the best thing to run to, so I kinda stowed it until now.

While my initial information about this band was, at best, a bit misinformed, I was curious. What I found was a band that did a good job at blending some good classic rock riffs with a bit of soul, some folk tendencies, with a little bit of that electronic wave that would come to define rock music in the 80s. There were a lot of high notes on this album and not a lot I would change. My only issue is it wasn’t substantial enough to warrant repeated listens, but I might give it another spin one of these days.

Track of Distinction: “Old and Wise” sounds like if the Moody Blues was actually a competent band, with good orchestration and some pretty good lyrical work making it acutely profound.

The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band

Album: ‘Poor Until Payday‘
Year: 2018

When the package with this album hit my mailbox a week ago, I thought I had made a mistake. I could have sworn the release date was in October. I looked it up and I was right–this album doesn’t drop until this coming Friday. I guess I’m such a big deal with this music blog that has a single-digit readership that they decided to give me an advanced copy for review. Or it was a shipping mistake. Either way.

I listened to the album in one sitting because that is the best way to take in one of the Reverend’s works. This album was much like the last one in that he does a good job treading the line between twangy, bluesy country and heartland rock that makes him so damn impressive. The big difference is he’s allowing his country side to come out more as it is the most consistent part. The gospel country parts in songs like “Get the Family Together” work in great juxtaposition with the more backwoods twang of “Dirty Swerve” and “I Suffer, I Get Tougher” while leaving enough rock in “Poor Until Payday” for folks like me who only like to dip their toes in the swamp every now and again. In all, this is a good album that doesn’t stray far from the band’s temperaments but that seems to work for them for now.

Track of Distinction: “You Can’t Steal My Shine” has a great gospel country feel that has the requisite positive message but is also rough around the edges to allow it some dimension.