I’m waaaay behind the game updating the list of music that I’ve picked up so far this year.  Q2 is almost over, but here’s what I grabbed in Q1:

Mantra Vega – Island

Elder – Reflections of a Floating World

Carcass – Wake Up And Smell The Carcass

Sasquatch – Maneuvers

Warren Zevon – I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead: An Anthology

Neil Young – Harvest

Neil Young – After The Gold Rush

Neil Young – Freedom

Sonny Rollins – Tenor Titan

Radiohead – The Bends

In Flames – Siren Charms

Cake – Fashion Nugget

Stanton Moore – All Kooked Out!

Blue Lou and the Accusations – Blocks Of Stone

Dropkick Murphys – Blackout

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers – Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton

Otis Redding – The Dock Of The Bay

The Ocean – Pelagial

Walking Papers – WP2

Dread Zeppelin – Un-Led-Ed

The Radiators – Total Evaporation

The Radiators- Law Of The Fish

Madness – Total Madness

Seemless – What Have We Become

Seemless – Seemless

Bruce Robison – Bruce Robison & The Back Porch Band

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers – Sonoran Hope and Dreams

The Coasters – Greatest Hits

Moody Blues – The Other Side Of Life

Charlie Haden – Nocturne

Zebulon Pike – And Blood Was Passion

Aaron Neville – The Tattooed Heart

Michael Martin Murphey – The Ultimate Collection

David Lindley – Very Greasy

Gin Blossoms – Follow You Down (single)

Joe Walsh – So What

Joe Walsh – There Goes The Neighborhood

Luscious Jackson – Fever In, Fever Out

Dream Theater – Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory

Ry Cooder – Bop Til You Drop

Red Hot Chili Peppers – What Hits!?

Little Charlie & The Nightcats – Deluxe Edition

Seal – Human Being

Thomas Dolby – Astronauts & Heretics

John Campbell – Howlin’ Mercy

Charles Brown – All My Life

OSI – Blood

Blues Pills – Lady In Gold

The Producers – The Producers

Porcupine Tree – Signify

Jefferson Airplane – The Worst Of

The Yayhoos – Fear Not The Obvious

Marc Ford – Holy Ghost

John Hiatt – Live In Texas (1994)

Terry Anderson & The OAK Team – National Champions

Terry Anderson – What Else Can Go Wrong

Paul Gilbert – Spaceship One

Racer X – Extreme Volume II

Terry Anderson & The OAK Team – Terry Anderson & The Olympic Ass Kicking Team

The Yayhoos – Put The Hammer Down

Stone Temple Pilots – Stone Temple Pilots

The Verve – Northern Soul (Deluxe Edition)

You’ve waited patiently and now yer gunna get it:  my numero uno, big enchilada, my mother of all 90s albums goes to Alice in Chains’ Dirt; a whirlwind mix of complex emotions, moody and often jarring soundscapes, and hefty performances spread out across all twelve cuts on this mighty fine record.  While I was a fan of their debut disc album number two is a huge leap forward, maybe not entirely stylistically but most certainly in the darker and more unsettling lyrical content that was light years away from the “feel good” 80s- certainly not everyone’s cup of tea but it grabbed me hook, line, and sinker due its unique mix of anthemic riff rock, subdued bluesiness, and often mindbending drone of musicality that stood alone from the pack.  That darkness, which I may not have fully understood from my own personal experience, was one that certainly intrigued me and made me feel like I was watching a movie or reading a book that involved a descent into drug induced madness that I did not want to go through myself.

Still…  Dirt is not just a dark and foreboding place for the meek at heart.  From a musical standpoint there are quite a few punchy, raise your fist and yell riffs to let out your inner headbanger, starting with the first three on the disc:  “Them Bones” is solid crunch, blasting out of the speakers with Layne Staley’s “AHHHH” teamed with a ballsy riff from Jerry Cantrell that grabs you from the get go.  Killer vocal here as both Staley and Cantrell harmonize together in parts and gel perfectly, often rising to great heights above the fat tones.  Next killer cut is the great “Dam That River”, maybe my favorite tune on the entire disc as Cantrell lays down a suitably solid and snarly riff as he and Staley once again nail an excellent harmonized vocal while the latter belts out a strong chorus.  Third cut “Rain When I Die” switches gears a little, a little more lowdown grunginess yet swirlingly chaotic during the first minute of the song before slipping into an easy groove and once again, a fantastic vocal from Staley and underscored by Cantrell’s lower octave.  An excellent way to kick off the album.

All that said, the meat of this disc is where things turn personal or more observational- the latter served well by “Rooster”, a bit of gloomy yet powerful blues that flows from gently strummed chords and a vocal that’s essentially understated menace during the verses until a full on sonic gutpunch during the “yeah, here come the Rooster” chorus, eventually settling back down again for consecutive verses.  This, my friends, is a stellar track and a great reason why I love this kind of music:  outstanding vocal, fantastic musical buildup between the verse and chorus section, excellent biographical lyric (about Cantrell’s father’s experiences in Vietnam), and killer tension ebb and flow throughout.  And speaking of ebb and flow, the hazy undercurrent of the ravages and darkness of substance abuse is obvious in the emotional spillover on the next series of cuts:  “Junkhead”, “Dirt”, “God Smack”, “Hate To Feel”, and “Angry Chair” (throw in “Sickman” too) are disturbing lyrically but musically engaging, often leading to a mental mind numb and a physical exhaustion by the time the last note rings out.  These songs almost feel like a story arc that’s painful to visualize yet oddly arresting, kind of like watching someone struggle through an awful experience and trying to climb out of their darkness while all you can do is idly sit by and hope and pray that they pull themselves together.

Last two cuts on the disc offer up the slightest glimmer of hope:  the beautiful yet somber “Down In A Hole” is fantastic-  Cantrell’s multitracked guitar intro blends acoustic and electric as his and Staley’s snaky vocal blend serves well in this melodic stunner; and final cut “Would?” kicks off with a subtly cool Mike Starr bassline before drummer Sean Kinney hits some tribal toms during the intro, while Cantrell’s subdued riff gains power during the chorus along with Staley’s powerful roar.  Both cuts are a little more reflective lyrically, coming to certain realizations about life decisions (“I’d like to fly…. but my wings have been so denied”) and maybe, just maybe, how others view those decisions (“so I made a big mistake…  try to see it once my way”).  The hope lies in the questioning of final cut “Would?”…

Am I Wrong?

Have I run too far to get home?

Have I gone?

And left you here along?

If I would, could you?

Bottom line, Dirt was an incredible musical and personal statement produced by a quartet of musicians going through various struggles during the early 90s.  Unfortunately, some of the personal demons expressed in the lyrics caught up to singer Layne Staley as his heroin addiction led to an untimely demise in 2002 plus bassist Mike Starr battled substance issues and passed in 2011.  Was Dirt a cry for help?  Possibly.  For many of us listeners out there it certainly was a distressing yet rewarding listen-  while I don’t listen much to the entire album these days, there are a number of songs that are in regular rotation.  A courageous, soul baring album that was a frequent listen during the decade and definitely stands atop all others as my favorite album of the 1990s.

I waffle quite a bit on my favorite Soundgarden album, usually depending on my mood or frame of mind at the time.  Some days I gotta go with 1989’s Louder Than Love, which was my first exposure to the band and a cassette(!) I played to death during the winter of that year as I trudged through snow covered streets as a door to door cable salesman.  That dark, grimy, and loose vibe showcased a band that started to lean a little more metal on top of their grungy drone; definitely more riff-centric guitar wise with unhinged rawk gawd vocal than before yet still unlike anything I’d ever heard.  It was a bit raw and certainly a bit more primal than what I’d usually listen to and definitely a much fresher take on some of those similar sonic elements.

But Badmotorfinger?  Damn…  talk about an entirely different beast.  More experimental, a bit more metallic, wildly dynamic, definitely more confident, certainly well produced, and arguably more “grown up” than previous records.  That looseness from the previous platter is relatively gone, replaced by more of a straight ahead pummeling of the senses in some areas and a denser groove in others with the occasional bits of frantic magnetism in various spots.  Terry Date’s production on Badmotorfinger, compared to his previous knob job on Louder Than Love, is top notch- guitars tones are thicker, bass sound is excellent, and drum sounds are solid.  As for the band as a whole?  They certainly brought their A game and ramped up their performances across all twelve songs on this nearly one hour disc.

Intro cut “Rusty Cage”s backwards clarion call of a riff is a stunner-  guitarists Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell bounce that riff back and forth before the rhythm section of drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd drop the hammer double time as Cornell eases into a steady vocal roar, reaching peak heat during the chorus and dropping gears in the back half of the tune before kicking up a notch before the song comes to a close.  This, my friends, is how to start an album!  But boy do things get even better from here-  next up is the sludgy groove of “Outshined”, featuring a slinky Sabbath riff and killer chorus with Cornell fully stretching his range, a mix of leonine roars, soulful bits, and manic screams.  Did I say manic screams?  Not to be outdone, third cut (and incredibly underrated) “Slaves And Bulldozers” is lowdown yet features a wide open mountain moving riff-  the rhythm section is in a deep, deep pocket as the guitars chug at a safe yet noisy, almost bluesy groove and Cornell once again shows off his formidable pipes as he ably shifts from understated menace in the verses to a sort of manic tension in the pre-chorus then full blown rock hero mode come chorus time.

Possibly the most metallic moment of the disc comes with the chaotic crunch of next cut “Jesus Christ Pose”, a mix of manic feedback and wildly distorted soundscapes at the front end of the song with a heavy palm muted riff and short bursts of oddly striking single note runs and bends backed with some excellent drumwork from Matt Cameron.  While Cornell is great here he takes a bit of a backseat to the almost relentlessly restless playing from his bandmates, not only on this cut but on plenty of others on this disc.  There is a dynamic shift in approach between songs on this album and sometimes within songs themselves that works incredibly well for Badmotorfinger–  take other speedy numbers like “Face Pollution” and “Drawing Flies” where the music is at the forefront and pushing the element.  However, compare that to the brilliant simplicity of “Holy Water” or the psychedelic bluesiness of “Searching With My Good Eye Closed” or the menacingly dense “Room A Thousand Years Wide”-  all three cuts more in the pocket with occasional mid-song freakouts yet leaving plenty of space for Cornell’s masterful pipes to weave their magic.

While Soundgarden would go on to even greater success come their fourth album (the mighty Superunknown) , they would never quite get as experimental or oscillate as wildly as they would on Badmotorfinger.  Amazing to look back now at the massive shift happening at the time (Pearl Jam’s Ten, Nirvana’s Nevermind, Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Blood Sugar Sex Magic were all released within a month of each other and the latter three on the same day) as alternative and grunge were capturing the public’s attention and ushering in a new movement, yet none captured my attention (and still captures my attention) near as much as this album.  An incredible musical statement.

If it wasn’t for my fellow record store compadre Don Plummer, it is highly unlikely I would have ever heard this absolutely fantastic album.  Girlfriend, and Matthew Sweet in general, was not something that would have been on my metal head radar in the early 90s but when you work in a record store, have the pick of the litter to listen to, and a fellow music fan that you work with, at least something on their playlist is liable to catch your attention.  And boy, did this album ever do that.

As a music fan, it’s often hard to describe favorite releases but if I had two words for Girlfriend I would call it “beautifully ugly”.  The dichotomy here is certainly a polar opposite but if you set aside a good hour to fully listen to this album you may understand what I’m talking about.  Sweet’s songs travel the sonic spectrum from full on rock, power pop, alternative, country, folk, and dreamy harmony; like some wild mix of Tom Petty, Neil Young, Cheap Trick, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Gram Parsons, Television, Cat Stevens, Todd Rundgren, and The Byrds all rolled into a giant ball across fifteen songs covering a wide range of emotions, written during Sweet’s impending divorce.  While the lyrical content in the songs run the gamut of heartbreak, despair, regret, and anger it is evenly balanced with a hope that things may turn out better and that new love may be on the horizon-  you may be going through a rough patch now but you will come out of this OK and things will get better.

So where does the beauty come in with such heart wrenching subject matter?  A good chunk of that comes via a combination of Sweet’s wistful, high tenor vocals and the richly layered harmonies that he lays down in many songs.  For example listen to his sweet (no pun intended) multi-tracked vocals on the killer power pop of “I’ve Been Waiting” and its mix of Beatle harmonies and Petty/Byrds jangle; or the melancholy tone paired with the Greg Leisz’ pedal steel work on the beautiful “Winona”; or how about the dreamy Beach Boy elegance found in the incredible “Your Sweet Voice”?  All great examples of the beauty, but…  what’s with the ugly?  Well, the ugly is actually beautiful in its own way but not what you’d call conventional beauty, especially with today’s clean and auto tuned production standards-  that “beauty” is in the mix of stellar, sometimes abrasive, often atonal yet excellent guitar work from Richard Lloyd and Robert Quine.

Take the first three songs from the disc-  “Divine Intervention” comes in with a bit of feedback before Lloyd and Sweet ride a loping, crunchy riff with a solid drum backbeat, Sweet’s yearning vocals and harmonies, and some absolutely wobbly yet searing guitar noodling that sounds like a cross between Neil Young and George Harrison.  Next cut, the aforementioned “I’ve Been Waiting”, is pure sunny pop along the lines of Tom Petty or REM with Lloyd once again stealing the show with a shimmering, jangly line and understated lead guitar bit.  Title cut “Girlfriend” rocks hard, guitarist Robert Quine on fire here with some solid riffs and tasty leads that counters the melodic chorus, Sweet’s harmonies, and Fred Maher’s killer drum work.  Those melodies, harmonies, and Sweet’s often gentle singing tones contrast well against the angular, caustic, heavier sounds from Quine and Lloyd, lending to an incredibly balanced musical experience and one moving album.

You want more examples?  Let’s check out some of the diversity of the remaining tunes:  How about the alterna-rock vibes of the warm vocals and crunch of “Evangeline” that features excellent interplay between Sweet’s chunky rhythms and Lloyd’s stinging guitar lines?  Or maybe the semi-flamenco vibe meets Lindsey Buckingham in the acoustic only “I Thought I Knew You”? How about the bluesy stomp of the menacing “Does She Talk?” featuring some dirty Quine riffery?  Or maybe your interest lies in the sweetly sung yet somber finale “Nothing Lasts” which features Sweet on acoustic and Quine adding some tasteful lead line accompaniment.

All in all, Girlfriend is a knockout of an album and one that ended up on many a critic’s best of the decade lists.  While Sweet has released a number of good to great albums since (check out the rocking 100% Fun), none really comes close to the excellence on display here.  If you like strong hooks, beautiful harmonies, great songs, poignant lyrics, and stunning guitar work, grab you a copy of Girlfriend today.

No sophomore slump here – The Black Crowes drop original guitarist Jeff Cease and pick up a monster player in replacement Marc Ford, who becomes quite the counterpoint to rhythm guitarist Rich Robinson and the “secret sauce” that helps push this album to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1992.  While debut Shake Your Moneymaker was an excellent disc, Southern Harmony adds a bit more muscular stomp ‘n swagger courtesy of the addition of Ford but also thanks to some excellent keyboard work from newcomer Eddie Harsch and female backing vocals on a good majority of the cuts.  These additions add more of a sonic density, fattening the songs with a certain thickness and, amazingly enough, increasing the warm soul power of lead singer Chris Robinson.

While some naysayers called the band Faces/Stones ripoffs on their debut, the Crowes really made their mark on this album and forged their own sound.  The one/two punch of “Sting Me” and “Remedy” is a monster; the former riding a nasty, chunky groove and features a strong Chris Robinson vocal with the latter cut a bit more smoother funkiness and laid back a hair in comparison.  Both tunes clearly set the tone for the album, showing off the excellent Robinson/Ford tag team as they lay down bedrock riffs and outstanding guitar fills.  Next cut “Thorn In My Pride” is incredible; Eddie Harsch’s intro keyboard is dripping with soul and the groove is mighty laid back and in the pocket and features another great Robinson vocal.  Not to be outdone, Robinson and the backing singers absolutely rule on the next two slow burners “Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye” and “Sometimes Salvation”- both cuts a bit of a lazy Sunday vibe, certainly not in any rush but incredibly strong on feel.

But man…  to me, the back half of this album is where the gems are.  “Hotel Illness” has a similar swagger as to the hits on the debut, but the three headed monster of “Black Moon Creeping”, “No Speak No Slave”, and “My Morning Song” are dead on perfect-  the band as a whole sounds loose, live, and wide open as if producer George Drakoulias flipped the record switch during a jam session.  “Black Moon Creeping” lives up to its title as it rides a nasty, creep of guitar chunk and talkbox, elevating the stomp during the chorus as Robinson and the female vocalists wonder “whatcha got buried in your backyard?”; “No Speak No Slave” shows off how well the Robinson/Ford interplay works-  the former with a solid rhythm, which the latter counters and eventually slays with a tasty solo; and “My Morning Song” includes silvery slide work between the two guitarists and balanced well by the fantastic keyboard work of Harsch, but that fab chorus is an earworm:

“March me down to the seven seas
Bury me with a ruby ring
Kiss me baby on an Easter Sunday day
Make my haze blow away”

(Not sure what it means, but hey…  it’s a doozy listening to it 🙂

The album eases out with a Bob Marley cover in “Time Will Tell”, sounding like a late night take well into the early hours of the morning featuring just the core band without the female vocals.  A bit contrary to the raucousness on display via the other cuts, yet a performance equally strong in passion and an excellent way to close out the album.

While the band went on to release a handful of other fantastic discs in the ’90s, none of them would rock as hard or reach the sonic heights of Southern Harmony.  After two more albums, bassist Johnny Colt and guitarist Marc Ford were out of the group and the band went through a series of replacements over the next two decades before eventually breaking up for good in 2015, leaving singer Chris Robinson to form his own band (the Brotherhood) and guitarist brother Rich rejoining with Marc Ford and late period bassist to form the excellent Magpie Salute.  For those that need their Crowes fix you now have  double the pleasure 🙂

Peter Gabriel is an example of an artist that I fully respected for his 80s catalog yet never used my hard earned spending cabbage to actually purchase one of his albums.  His videos were often quirky yet oddly arresting and the songs catchy but there were other artists that had captured my attention moreso during that period.  It wasn’t until the 90s that I eventually picked up his Shaking The Tree collection, which piqued my interest in the non-hits and prompted me to investigate his other material and eventually led me to his (at the time) fairly recently released US album.

US is a warm, musically rich release featuring a broad batch of material stretching from bouncy pop/R&B, world music, gospel, progressive/atmospheric, trip hop, and rock across its ten songs.  Written during a period after a failed marriage and rocky relationships, Gabriel walks the line between generating feel good tunes similar to what was on his commercial breakthrough So (“Kiss That Frog”, “Steam”) and more emotionally raw material of various strains (“Come Talk To Me”, “Love To Be Loved”, “Secret World”) that offers up more of an insight into Gabriel’s personal psyche than past material.  In some ways the focus is a little uneven and scattered possibly due to record company interference in wanting another “Sledgehammer”, yet with another excellent production job from Daniel Lanois and Gabriel’s naked emotions on display mixed with a raft of other adventurous material makes US #5 on my favorite albums of the 90s.

The years between So and US found Gabriel delving deep into world music, coming to fruition in the album Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ and eventually spilling over into some cuts on US.  Intro track “Come Talk To Me” kicks off with a beautiful introductory blast of bagpipes and features Sengalese sabar drumming, Asian/Middle Eastern woodwinds, and a magical mix of Gabriel lead vocal and backups from Sinead O’Connor and Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble.  Other experimentations show up in second track “Love To Be Loved”, propelled by Indian percussion and deep bass grooves from Tony Levin; the slinky, sexy propulsion of “Digging In The Dirt”‘s darker instrumentation and vocal light and shade; and adventurous keyboard interplay with duduk and African percussion in the mesmerizing “Fourteen Black Paintings”.  Gabriel’s ability to weave various instrumentation into the mix along with his unique vocal stylings makes his music such a rewarding listen, and on US he hits on another winning album.

Last comment on this album revolves more around the aforementioned “vocal stylings”:  on US Gabriel’s vocals are a bit more understated and vulnerable which offers up more of a soulful vibe in comparison with his earlier solo material and almost diametrically opposed to the energetic display on his Genesis records.  Cuts like the aforementioned “Come Talk To Me” and “Blood Of Eden” show a man in tune with a different musical ambiance than previous records, almost a bit world weary and defeated but still with enough hope that things will be better.  The raw emotion and honesty in “Washing Of The Water” is a perfect example- starting off with subtle percussive and string arrangements, Gabriel sinks deep into the song, singing mostly in an almost melancholy lower register during the intro and eventually into a beautifully moving higher section before reaching a crescendo with a bit of naked power during the “Letting go…” verse near the conclusion of the song.  Lyrically, this song is as real as it gets-  the pain that can occur in a broken relationship; not just personal pain but the pain that the person may have caused to a loved one.  A swirling, beautiful mass of emotions sung with much depth.

While US as a whole may be slightly uneven the positives absolutely outweigh any negatives that may be foreseen.  Peel away the bouncier cuts and delve deep into the lavish instrumentation and heartfelt sentiments of the lyrics and vocals in this deeply personal album and you will be rewarded greatly.  A highly underrated Peter Gabriel release.

Out of the entire Favorite 90s Albums list, Urban Hymns is the one that sticks out like a sore thumb-  not in comparison to the rest of the albums on the list, but for two reasons in particular…  number one, I probably listened to this album the least in the 1990s- thought “Bittersweet Symphony” was (and still is) a classic and never gave the rest of the album much of a chance.  And number two…  I may have listened more to this album over the last few years than I have any other album from the 90s.  Why is that?  Hard to say, but this disc has really grabbed me more over the past few years and my Verve fandom has increased tenfold since I originally purchased this disc in the late 90s.

OK, I’ll fess up…  I’m a rock dude first-  the heavier the guitars, the better I’m gonna dig it.  Throw in a lungbusting, charismatic vocalist and a solid thumping beat and I’m sold.  But…  I love hooks too, especially with a great riff and a killer chorus that sticks in the brain like an earworm.  So when I heard “Bittersweet Symphony” I was immediately knocked out-  there’s really no rock on the song at all but THAT HOOK…  there was just something psychedelically groovy in the soaring, uplifting vibe in the vocal and the orchestration that grabbed me.  This was quite a bit different from what I normally listened to although my tastes had grown quite a bit over the years (working in a record store will do that to you).  I bought the disc, played “Bittersweet Symphony” a gazillion times, then went on to the next song…  ummm…  kinda slow…  next song…  hmmm…  tempo picks up but this song kinda drags along…  next one…  oh jeez, another slow one.  It’s kind of pretty, but… next…  ah screw it, let’s play “Bittersweet Symphony” again!

And so it went for a few more years until one day I decided to revisit the disc again-  don’t remember exactly why; it could have been the iPod on shuffle mode and I heard something that I didn’t recall but was pretty intriguing, or it could have been that I started revisiting music from the 90s again (or maybe it was another viewing of 24 Hour Party People, a fab movie about the “Madchester” music scene in the early 90s).  At any rate, I pulled out Urban Hymns once again and this time something different hit me-  there are vast sonic soundscapes on this disc that I’d never really picked up on before.  This time I pretty much went into the disc with zero expectations and came out after a full listen a big fan of what I was hearing:  granted, there are some beautiful melodies here in the softer songs like the yearning “Sonnet”,  the sad and wistful “The Drugs Don’t Work”, and the melancholy “Velvet Morning”; all three songs filled with lush orchestration reminiscent of some late 60s/early 70s mellow singer songwriter led pop music from Great Britain.  But there was one slight difference that I’d not really noticed before-  the incredible work of guitarist Nick McCabe.

As I’ve gotten older my tastes have grown in various extremes and one of those ways is more atmospheric music of various shades and hues across the sonic spectrum and not just the headbanging, loud riffing of some older favorites.  An example of this is Nick McCabe’s brilliant work on Urban Hymns; everything from beautifully strummed acoustic passages, various washes of feedback, volume swells, tasty reverb and wah wah, and the occasional moment of heavy distortion.  While Richard Ashcroft’s melodies are often the key focal point of each song McCabe’s work is layered deep in the mix, offering up an outstanding, darker counterpoint to the often light and sweeter vocal.  Take “Weeping Willow”, a fairly easy going and casual Ashcroft vocal awash with various layers of McCabe guitar goodness- phased rhythm washes, heavy strums, beautiful guitar runs, and shimmering beauty.  Or take the menacingly understated psychedelia of “The Rolling People”, which rides a soupy riff awash in a maelstrom of feedback and dense guitar reverberations, or the stomping nod to the early days with “Come On”‘s heavy riffs and wall of noise.  And if that’s too much noise for you check out his counterplay to the acoustic rhythm and orchestrations in the gorgeous “Lucky Man”- no feedback overkill here, just some sweet electric guitar runs and tasty feels that fully supports this beautiful song.

If you’ve ever put an album on a shelf and not revisited it in a while, it may be worth it to give it a relisten as you may hear things differently than you did before.  And if you ever picked up the original Urban Hymns, I highly suggest that you pick up the super deluxe six disc box set that was released last year which includes the original album, b sides, live cuts, demos, and a DVD.  It is well worth it.  You may hear it in a way that you’d never quite heard it before.

Favorite album #7 of the 90s comes from a Canadian band that didn’t get its just due.  I thought that the early 90s were actually a cool time to be a music fan and there was a little bit of something for everyone, including a vast array of talented bands springing up in the rock/metal world that were a bit more alternative, some a bit more funky, and some quite a bit darker.  I Mother Earth ticked a number of those boxes; unfortunately, timing is often everything and with the band releasing debut album Dig during the height of grunge their brand of alternative/psychedelic hard rock was kicked to the curb as the labels were concentrating on finding the next Nirvana or Pearl Jam.  A major, major shame as Dig is an outstanding release with a wide, expansive sound; everything from Latin percussive rhythms, psychedelic/bluesy jamming, hard rock, funk, space rock, and all things in between.

I’ve pretty much gone into depth on this album via my first Under The Radar post (click HERE ) but there’s a few things I want to call out on this particular one, especially where this release fit in with the 90s as a whole- the musicality of this disc is what I missed from a good chunk of the decade.  There is so much free spirited, vast, brave, and challenging playing on this disc that takes elements from past artists of the previous three decades, mixed it all together, and still created something fresh and new.  This, to me, was a gigantic, progressive leap forward into a promising era of where music could go-  there is some killer playing going on here from the entire band, plus the tones and sonics on display via the mix were fantastic.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of the music of the era but what eventually was deemed as popular as the decade progressed had done a bit of a 180 degree turn away from where my interests lie.  Somewhere, experimental music of this design was shoved deep in those cobwebbed corners of the attic in favor of something much much different.

Ah man, what are ya gonna do…  I tell you what, here’s what you’re gonna do:  find this disc, go straight to track #8 “No One”, and TURN IT UP.  Dig the explosiveness of the percussive attack, the expansive guitar sounds, and the relentless and driven headbanging funk.  Next, to cool off that nasty sweat you’ve broken into, segue into the next track “Undone” and focus on the mellow psychedelia and groove on Edwin’s passive vocal and the bluesy tones of guitarist Jag Tanna.  As you get swept away in the lush, kaleidoscope of sound bop on over to track twelve and the spacey, monolithic build of “The Universe In You” and turn off the lights for the last four minutes of Floydian vibe, Hendrix bluesiness, Deep Purple heaviness, and Christian Tanna’s crashing Latin rhythms.  Oh yeah, and don’t forget to have the shuffle button on because you still have to bounce over to the massive crunch of “Rain Will Fall”, Doorsy raga/psych of “So Gently We Go”, the bouncy funk of “Not Quite Sonic”, and the rest.  And once you are done?  Start the disc from track one and play through again…  and again… and again…

Man…  out of all the local bands I caught back in the day I miss The Mimis the most.  My first exposure to the band was their opening slot at Bogarts opening for Blue Oyster Cult sometime in 1990-  first thought was…  who are these guys?  Second thought came midway through their set…  hey, these guys are pretty good!  Last thought as they played their final song of the night was…  damn, when are these guys playing again?  The set couldn’t have lasted more than 30 minutes and during that time I quickly became a major Mimis fan, eventually picking up their self financed release Fungusamongus and catching many a show during their all too brief run.

So how does a local band make it to #8 on my favorite albums list of the 90s?  Simple… these guys were literally a breath of fresh air; certainly the antithesis to what was popular on the radio at the time yet having certain elements that were starting to bubble up in the underground rock/metal scene of the time.  There was no guitar pyrotechnics, there was no banshee screaming, there were no ooey gooey bubble gum hooks…  no, this was a slightly darker, more atmospheric and open, often funky and groovy chunk of alterna-rock that crept into your pores, sunk its claws deep, and did not let go.  Hints of Soundgarden’s early material (think Louder Than Love) puts you in the ballpark, with maybe touches of guitar washes circa Love era Cult (Not Blue Oyster, but the Brit guys) and other grungier sonics yet all the while totally unique in its own right.

Listening to Fungusamongus is like a trip on the wayback machine-  it definitely takes me back to those killer shows at Sudsy Malones (bar in the front, laundry in the back), Shorty’s Underground, Annies, and wherever else I saw them.  The songs still hold up well regardless which version you listen to-  the original cassette has a different batch of songs than the CD that was eventually released in the late 90s or so, the first five on said CD includes some newish material that the band was working on at the time before singer/guitarist Mike Davis moved on to San Francisco to become a full time tattoo artist (check out his work at https://www.everlastingtattoo.com/mike-davis) with the last four coming from the previously released cassette.   Unfortunately, I can’t find my cassette of the original version because I’d rather use that fantastic Mike Davis drawn cover art so we gotta settle for the CD version instead, which took a band shot that was found in the inner sleeve of the cassette.  Oh well…

Oh yeah, the songs…  the original cassette was a great mix, featuring the tight and semi-funky riffery of “Wind Me Up”, the laid back stomp of “Patient Man”, the thunderously cool and slammin’ “Texas Wind” (featuring the cannon fire drumming of Bob Powers), and the downright funkiness of both “Pain” and “Mustard Pie”.  Mike Davis and Chris Donnelly provide some mighty fine and tasty guitar work and play well off each other, settling more for chunky rhythms and maybe more of a bluesier vibe with the solos, relying more on atmospherics and a “less is more” approach rather than guitar flash.  Bassist Karl Bach is solid too, content to provide an impenetrable foundation of rhythm to go along with the thunderous drums of sticksman Powers.  Newer songs that were added to the CD show off a slightly different vibe from the band, feature a bit of a bleaker yet noisier progression on cuts like “Big Money Jar” where Davis and Donnelly’s guitar tag team wrenches out multiple tones: caustic rhythms, thick sustain, wah drenched leads, all building into a massive sonic stew; and the driving and insistent “People Machine” with its screaming slide work at the tail end of the song.  Toss in more open and atmospheric songs like “Ten Feet Deep” and “Tight Rope”; both offering up different grooves, textures, and vibe between the two cuts:  the intro of the former shaped by Bach’s slippery bassline and Powers’ percussive touches builds into a heavier verse before idling back to the intro and eventually segueing back into another riffier section, while the latter builds off a swirling guitar intro and plays off the thump of the Bach/Powers backline with more fat and tasty guitar tones.

As with all of these songs the band does an excellent job on the tone spectrum, not just content to hit you over the head with the same riffs and ideas but concentrating more on sliding in and out of that rhythmically deep pocket with various shades, hues, and different layers of guitar, also leaving plenty of open space for Davis’ ultra cool vocals.  You can find the CD on Amazon and I highly recommend it.  As for the cassette…  it’s around the house somewhere-  I hope my Mimis T shirt is with it!

Album #9 comes from a band that was formed shortly after the death of Texas blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, featuring two members of the late guitarist’s band Double Trouble along with an 80s wunderkind artist and a young hotshot guitar player whose father was a lifelong friend and writing partner of Vaughan’s.  As part of their grieving process the four artists started jamming at the Austin Rehearsal Complex (hence the ARC of their name), playing a few live gigs here and there and eventually releasing their self titled album in 1992.  Their lone album (besides a 2009 live album) was chock full of bluesy and soulful rock that, while out of step with the 90s musical climate, should have deserved more attention.

If you’ve followed the career of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble you undoubtedly know the rock solid tag team of bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris “Whipper” Layton.  On this album the two veterans lay down an impenetrable backbone for the dynamic duo of Charlie Sexton and Doyle Bramhall II, two fellow Austinites who combine their vocal and guitar talents to produce twelve fantastic songs that mixed SRV/Hendrix guitar stylings with tuneful yet passionate vocals and casually cool bluesy rock vibe.  The combination of the four talents offered up something a bit fresh as it did not rely on standard blues derivations, instead focusing more on a killer mix of melody and in the pocket grooviness.  Still, the band could amp it up and amp it up well.

So, the songs…  lead cut on this disc and the one that received frequent radio play (at least around here) was the excellent “Living In A Dream” and its wide open chord voicings and killer shared vocal between Sexton and Bramhall.  The two voices are a bit different but blend extremely well, each taking a different verse or line in the song- Bramhall’s thicker tone offering up some deep soul while Sexton’s higher range tosses in some gritty bite. But it’s not just the voices…  guitar wise it’s a similar bag as Bramhall dips deep into the SRV\Hendrix trick bag while Sexton offers up cleaner tones overall; a  wicked combination that plays well throughout the disc, whether it be the lighter and good timey vibes of “Paradise Cafe”, the funkiness of “Good Time”, the greasy stomp of “Spanish Moon, or the swinging “Shape I’m In”.   Bramhall and Sexton bring it on their individually sung songs too:  “See What Tomorrow Brings” is a beautifully poignant reminiscence of Stevie Ray that features a top notch vocal and some tasty guitar work from Bramhall, and Sexton offers up the catchy and melodic soul in “Sweet Nadine”.

Oftentimes a great album saves the best for last and here we’ve got a dead on stinger in “Too Many Ways To Fall”, sung with fervent passion by Sexton as he covers a husky lower, gritty range mixed with mid and upper range conviction and occasional falsetto yelps.  While the vocal is stellar, Bramhall’s fretwork is not to be outdone as he absolutely nails some steamy and atmospheric leads topped off with some groovy rhythm work.  A fantastic blend of strong vocal and guitar work on this song from these two very fine players.

If you like blues based rock that doesn’t stick to the roots of a particular formula but offers up something fresh and new, track this one down.  There’s a little bit of this band for everyone-  hooks, fiery guitar playing, impassioned singing, and solid rock.  Buy it today.