Still listening to that \Wayne's World"" soundtrack tape you got in the fifth grade? Does the genre ""alternative"" still mean something to you? Cardinal Arts is happy to provide help with a list of essential albums for anyone looking to expand their musical horizons. By no means is this list exhaustive, but it's a good start.
Prime choice:
(Universal)
With classic rock spanning three decades, how does one choose an album to represent so many years of greatness and over indulgence? Why not start at the beginning?
Released in the late '60s, this early Who album is an unknown classic. Comprised of commercials and songs, this is the first example of Townshend's fascination with concept albums. The only recognizable songs are ""I Can See for Miles"" and ""Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand."" However, other standouts include ""Tattoo,"" ""Our Love Was"" and ""Armenia City in the Sky."" The album is emblematic of the beginning days of the Who. No stadium rock here, but rather their classic mod sound that made them famous. Besides, where else can one hear a song about deodorant?
Also check out: The Band,
Prime choice: Willie Nelson,
(Sony)
Most country music today is more about image than anything else. Shania Twain, Keith Urban and the Dixie Chicks all have neatly cultivated personas that seem to relegate the music to secondary status. And the music itself isn't very country at that, sleekly produced like pop, except for the occasional fiddle or steel guitar.
The antidote to all this prefabrication is Willie Nelson. He's never worn a midriff-baring top, nor has he ever been in a Dr Pepper commercial. He has released more than 100 albums over the last 40 years, specializing in a down-home brand of country storytelling. Nowhere is this more on display than on , the album that vaulted Nelson into stardom in 1975. One of the most unlikely bestsellers of all time, this sparse, intimate concept album details the story of a preacher who murders his ex-wife and heads out on the road.
Filled with melodic guitar solos and amiable piano work, this album relates the story in brief songs and themes. This method requires some concentration to follow the plot, but keeping up is not really necessary. Instead, Nelson's smooth voice and expert musicianship keep the album moving pleasantly down the road, whether the listener knows where they're going or not.
Featuring Nelson's first big hit in ""Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,"" is a testament to the power of stripped down, bare- essentials country music. A superbly concise endeavor, it ranks as one of the best country albums ever.
Also check out: Hank Williams,
Prime choice: Ramones,
(Rhino)
On the strength of their first two albums and countless live shows, the Ramones almost single handedly kick started the punk rock movement. In the process, they gained a healthy cult following, but their attempts to create the perfect rock album and gain widespread success always fell just short. Then came .
Released in 1977, the album combined Joey's love of 1960s pop music with Dee Dee's hard-edged songwriting and Johnny's seemingly endless combinations of four guitar chords. The result was an unabashedly catchy album celebrating the slovenly life of a punk in the mid-'70s. ""Cretin Hop,"" ""We're a Happy Family"" and ""Teenage Lobotomy"" gleefully betray a world filled with drugs and decay.
What set the Ramones apart from other punks, though, was the joy with which they tackled these subjects, employing three-part harmonies, hand claps and tambourine to amazingly appealing effect. Quite simply, ""Sheena is a Punk Rocker"" is one the most perfect pop songs ever recorded. It's simple but it's not dumb, and therein lies the genius of the Ramones.
In the end, though, mainstream success eluded the Ramones, due partially to a freak accident involving Joey and a teapot, and it's too bad. At their best, and is their best, they packed more dark humor, wit and infectious melodies into two minutes than should be humanly possible.
Also check out: Velvet Underground and Nico, (self-titled)
Prime choice:
(Columbia)
Bob Dylan was just starting to make a name for himself when he recorded his second album. It turns out it was one of his finest. Weighted by hits like ""Blowin' in the Wind"" and ""Don't Think Twice, It's All Right,"" this album is able to stand the test of time. Protest songs like ""Masters of War"" and ""A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"" still apply to today even though they were written 40 years ago.
The album is mixed with both serious and lighthearted material. ""Girl from the North Country"" still stands as one of Dylan's best ballads while ""I Shall Be Free"" is simply a fun pop-culture romp. Charmingly timeless, this album proves that Dylan was well on his way to superstar status.
Also check out: Nick Drake,
Prime choice: De La Soul,
(Tommy)
De La Soul's first album, , is not only an essential for the eclectic music listener, but also a time capsule depicting a brighter era of hip-hop. The light-hearted lyrics, imaginative language and sample heavy beats serve as artifacts to a time when rappers were allowed to make fun music while expressing themselves creatively. Few albums since, including subsequent De La work, have demonstrated the same balance of great music and even greater integrity.
In the 24 tracks on , Posdnuos, Truygoy and Mase masterfully bounce from one inventive topic to the next. Using a completely original style slang, the three MCs rhyme jovially about sexual liberation, anti-materialism and personal hygiene. Still, almost every track serves as an allegory for a larger philosophy. The song ""Tread Water"" seems to be a goofy Curious George-like story about De La interacting with talking animals, but is laced with both social and environmental messages. Within all the fun and happiness, tracks like ""Ghetto Thang"" and ""Say No Go"" are slipped in to confront the very serious issues of street life and drug abuse.
The unsung hero of is definitely producer DJ Prince Paul. Though his unrestrained sampling practices got De La sued by the geriatric rockers The Turtles, is arguably the best-produced hip-hop LP to date. Paul discretely splices snippets from two or three pre-existing songs to create a completely new sound. Like something out of an audiophile's lucid dream, Steely Dan and Otis Redding are combined in the song ""Eye Know"" to make a surprising beautiful harmonious chorus.
Because of its masterful production and ground-breaking peaceful and fun sound is not only the quintessential hip-hop album, it is also the most important.
Also check out: Outkast,
Prime choice: Ella Fitzgerald,
(Universal)
Jazz is all about spontaneity'something sorely lacking in the highly produced, docile tones of the ""smooth jazz"" that now regularly pollutes FM airwaves and dental office waiting rooms.
Thanks to the likes of Kenny G., a whole generation of descendants of suburban soccer moms has grown up with no appreciation of the mixture of reckless abandon and relentless precision that makes true jazz.
A good launching pad for the jazz-disinclined is to pick up something by Ella Fitzgerald, an eminently listenable vocalist who was always backed by top-notch ensembles.
Try her classic 1960 live recording, , which brings Fitzgerald together with the Paul Smith Quartet for a series of memorable jazz standards.
Surely the most notable track on the album is Fitzgerald's rendition of Bobby Darin's ""Mack the Knife,"" during which the ever charming vocalist fails to remember an entire verse (this was a brand new tune at the time, folks). This leads her to ask the quartet, the audience and generations of record listeners, ""What's the next chorus to this song now? This is the one now I don't know.""
Other remarkable tracks include stirring interpretations of ""Our Love is Here to Stay,"" ""Misty,"" ""The Lady is a Tramp,"" ""Summertime"" and several others.
No matter what the tune, though, it is Fitzgerald's rich, buttery voice that keeps jazz novices and fanatics alike continually coming back for more.
Also check out: John Coltrane,
Prime choice:
(Drag City)
Before there was Pavement, there were the Silver Jews. Formed in 1989 by Stephen Malkmus and David Berman while attending the University of Virginia, this loosely knit collective has released four full-length albums. Their third effort, 1998's American Water, is an indie-rock masterpiece. But this is no Malkmus side project: the former Pavement lead singer is relegated merely to backing vocals and lead guitar on this album.
Instead, the lone songwriter is Berman, whose dry wit and vivid imagery overwhelms the listener with its originality. The Silver Jews traffic in the same brand of erudite, earthy college rock as Pavement, but with Berman, there are less obscure allusions and more profundities and witty observations, ranging from insightful to absurd.
The man can also turn a phrase. Throughout the album, he consistently delivers clever lines, such as ""Do unto others and run like a mother,"" or ""Like background singers, they all come in threes."" Coupled with some of Malkmus' best guitar work, is one of the most consistently amusing and satisfying albums of the '90s. Even topping some of Pavement's peak work, this is a instant classic.
Also check out: God Lives Underwater,
