Cover of Wisconsin Death Trip When I need to clean out some cobwebs and get some work done, I have some go-to albums. Static-X Wisconsin Death Trip (1999) does the trick. This is best-in-class industrial metal that makes White/Rob Zombie sound like kids banging on trash cans (which I think is how those recording sessions [...]
82: Kerry Livgren – Seeds of Change
Jan 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Kerry Livgren of Kansas is probably one of the greatest rock song writers of the twentieth century. If you look at the library of Kansas' music alone, his signature progressive rock sounds make up the best of their music. Around 1978 Livgren began to have issues with personal faith and there was a conflict within [...]
83: Cake – Fashion Nugget
Dec 30, 2009 By 4 Comments
Cover of Fashion Nugget I find myself quoting songs from Cake's Fashion Nugget (1996) quite a bit. There is something about that album Cake hasn't quite recreated since. Fashion Nugget is a finely crafted album of art rock with poetic vision and catchy pop and rock hooks. It's solid from the opening track, "Frank Sinatra" [...]
84: Avenged Sevenfold – City of Evil
Dec 29, 2009 By 2 Comments
85: Def Leppard – Pyromania
Dec 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Cover of Pyromania Admit it: you like Def Leppard's Pyromania (1983) as much as everybody else in the world. Yes their newer stuff is embarrassing and they can't pull off the old stuff like they did the first time. However, Pyromania was that one defining moment some bands have where they have relevance. They created [...]
86: The Dead Milkmen: Big Lizard In My Backyard
Dec 22, 2009 By 2 Comments
87: Larry Norman – Something New Under the Son
Dec 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment
There are a couple of things about Christian rock I need to address before continuing. First, I grew up in Arkansas surrounded by a hostile Southern Baptist atmosphere. I got into Christian rock as an alternative to the mainstream music I was told would send me to hell (not joking). There's a whole story there [...]
88: Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show – Sloppy Seconds
Dec 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Cover of Sloppy Seconds When I was eight I was given Dr. Hook's Sloppy Seconds (1971). I can't remember the logic of giving an eight-year-old such a raunchy album. Believe it or not, I didn't get any of the meaning of the lyrics in this outrageous album but I played it relentlessly, memorizing every filthy [...]
89: Jellyfish – Spilt Milk
Dec 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Cover of Spilt Milk What happens when They Might Be Giants knocks up Queen and they have a precocious and gifted child? You might have something close to Jellyfish, a short-lived alternative band with only two albums under their belt before they broke up. Jellyfish's second album, Spilt Milk (1993) is worth seeking out and [...]
Long Way From Home by The Heavy