22. Viva Voce: Get Yr Blood Sucked Out

I am excited to be writing about a fantastic band...Portland's own Viva Voce. Viva Voce trace their beginnings to Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1998, but relocated to Portland in 2001. Choosing an album to review for you was difficult because I cannot definitively say one is better than another, but their sinister sounding fourth album, 2006's Get Yr Blood Sucked Out (an allusion to the evils of the record industry), is when I first heard them. It's also their debut for Barsuk Records.

Viva Voce, in 2006, consisted of the husband and wife team of Kevin and Anita Robinson (they have since added two members). For this record, they played every instrument save trumpets on one song and an extra piano on another. Yes, we are talking about another guitar/drum combo from the same time period as The White Stripes, The Black Keys, and Deadboy & the Elephantmen, but, to be sure, there are different influences at work here. Get Yr Blood Sucked Out is lush, sultry, and complex, and is miles away from the garage rock sound of their aforementioned contemporaries.

The album begins with "Believer", a tense-chant of a song that sets an eerie tone. Sebastian says it sounds "like monsters marching". Kevin and Anita lay out incantations as a cool, calm two-voice harmony (they've shared vocals throughout their career)..."I'm a believer now/I'm a believer now/And there's nothing that I can do/To keep me safe from you". And as if she absolutely could not wait, Anita begins shredding her first of many guitar solos about forty-five seconds in. On "When Planets Collide" we get a taste of a song structure similar to "Alive With Pleasure" from their third album The Heat Can Melt Your Brain. The shifting movements of "When Planets Collide" create the feel of a mini-opus.

Kevin finally takes lead vocals on "From The Devil Himself", the album's main attention grabber (and my favorite track). Once again, Anita's guitar screams at the top of its lungs while Kevin sings in his powder-coated, Victor DeLorenzo voice (of Violent Femmes fame). I guess I also have a thing for hand claps. Other standout tracks include the marathon "So Many Miles", the piano-laden "We Do Not F**k Around", the pretty pop of "Faster Than A Dead Horse", the surprising catchiness in the wispy-soft 60s sound of "Special Thing"(again, love the sweet hand claps), and the weary "Never Be Like Yesterday", where the mood of the song matches its content...an all night fight between two halves of a concrete random couple. I don't know if this song is written from experience, but the Robinsons were certainly on the same page for this album.

This Tuesday (6/21) marks the release of their sixth album The Future Will Destroy You. They'll be performing a free show at 6:00 at Music Millennium on E. Burnside in Portland. I'll be there. Maybe you can get out for the night too.

Here are two videos from Get Yr Blood Sucked Out. The first is the official video for "From The Devil Himself". The second is a performance of "Believer" from Easy Street Records in 2006. Perhaps I'm amazed because I can barely sing and breathe at the same time, but watching Kevin play drums with one hand (notice the stick twirls), play harmonica with the other (including solos), and singing to boot just boggles my mind. You also get to see Anita looking cute in her typical cowgirl-esque outfit while melting your face off with her guitar work. It's not quite what you expect.

Break Time!

Marc, Turn That Down! will be taking a short break so the teacher side of me can wrap up the school year. Be back with another post on Sunday!

21. The Cure: The Head On The Door

The Cure have taken their fans on a thirty year roller coaster ride. They've been at it since the mid-70s and have gone through numerous transitions...both lineup changes and musical output. Robert Smith and company have delivered a host of labeled music over the years: post-punk...gothic rock...new wave. I've had a lot of favorite bands in my time, but, for me, the 80s begins and ends with The Cure. This post highlights their 1985 album The Head On The Door.

In 1985, I began helping my brother, Jeff, at his nightclub called The Ferry Club in Staten Island, New York and everything fell into place for me musically. I'm not sure how much work Jeff got out of me in bewteen my runs to the DJ booth. I would literally drop what I was doing to go ask my musical guru, DJ Mark the Spark, what that song was and who this band is. Two important songs from that year helped alter my musical tastes forever...The Cure's "Inbetween Days" and "Close To Me".  

The Head On The Door is the sixth Cure album. It marked the return of bassist Simon Gallup to the band and was the first for drummer Boris Williams. Guitarist/keyboardist Porl Thompson also joined Robert Smith and keyboardist Lol Tolhurst as an official member of the band at this time as well. The Head On The Door follows a goth-gloomy group of releases from The Cure that are all absolutely wonderful: Seventeen Seconds (1980), Faith (1981), Pornography (1982), and The Top (1984). For THOTD, The Cure learned how to mesh the gloom and doom of the previous albums with a more radio friendly sound which increased their commercial success and fan base tremendously. 

The album opens with a quick drum-intro by Boris Williams, then barrels into the familiar, cheery guitar to create the perfect pop melody that is "Inbetween Days". It is a smile-inducing song through and through...in any company, at any time of day. It is also the perfect example of this gloom and doom meets "C'mon, Get Happy!" juxtaposition. Consider the lyrics to "Inbetween Days"..."Yesterday I got so old I felt like I could die/Yesterday I got so old it made me want to cry"...not quite happy times for Robert Smith. However, in spite of the melancholy, it remains one of the catchiest, most danceable Cure songs to this day.

"Inbetween Days" is followed by a few experiments. "Kyoto Song" has a far east quality to it, while "The Blood" employs a Spanish-flamenco sound. One of my favorite Cure songs, "Six Different Ways", has many layers of instrumentation giving it a light, airy, childlike sound. Side one closes with the epic "Push". It's "Push" that is the gateway to the continuing sounds of the band. With about two minutes of classic Cure sounding guitars before Robert Smith chimes in, you might recognize this as a track on any album hereafter.

The highlight of side two is "Close To Me". Prominently featuring xylophone-like keyboards and some garish hand clapping, "Close To Me" seems an unlikely club hit, but its quirkiness had people on the dance floor every night. "A Night Like This" is another strong track, although the saxophone solo seems a bit dated now. And harkening back to the days of black leather and ghost white faces, the album closes with the gloriously dark and dreary "Sinking".

The Head On The Door is a perfect album from the perfect time. The Cure had become the godfathers of goth and had taken it as far as they could. They were looking for a new direction and found it with The Head On The Door...a wonderful meld of old and new...of dirge and dance.

The video I've provided for you is from an old BBC2 rock music show called The Old Grey Whistle Test (catchy title, huh?).  The video contains two Cure performances. "Inbetween Days" begins about one minute in and is immediately followed by "Close To Me". The quality isn't wonderful, but I felt it was more important to show the band as it was in 1985. Enjoy!

20. The Doors: The Doors

Marc, Turn That Down! is going way back for this next post...over 40 years back...to the 1967, self-titled debut album from The Doors. In fact, to emphasize how far back we're going, here's a short list of long-gone people who might have grooved to Jim Morrison and company at least once in their lifetime: the father of the atomic bomb--J. Robert Oppenheimer; saxophonist/composer--John Coltrane; baseball Hall of Famer--Jimmy Foxx (who made his major league debut in 1925); singer-songwriter--Woody Guthrie; 1928 gold medal figure skater--Sonje Henie; leader of the American civil rights movement--MLK; Argentine guerilla leader--Che Guevara (though he was probably busy that year, and I don't think Bolivia had any good radio stations at the time anyway); and deafblind author and political activist--Helen Keller (well...she could've felt the vibrations and grooved just the same).

The album The Doors is universally hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time. As far as debut albums go, The Doors is often rated anywhere from #1 to #5 all time on any reputable list. It is the place to start if you are interested in exploring classic rock music, and, overall, is the band's best album.

Just like the leadoff hitter in baseball sets the table for the rest of the lineup, the first song sets the tone for the album. If we single out the very first song from a band's very first album, we see some greats throughout time..."I Will Follow" by U2 (Boy), "Gloria" by Patti Smith (Horses), "Foxy Lady" by Hendrix (Are You Experienced?), even "Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns and Roses (Appetite for Destruction). However, I envy the young fans who, in 1967, put The Doors on the turntable and heard "Break On Through (To The Other Side)". Without knowing what the future held for The Doors, they must have been awestruck, for "Break On Through" is the greatest debut-leadoff song of all time.

What follows "Break On Through" is a cast of characters that range from German Opera ("Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)") to Chicago blues ("Back Door Man"). The entrancing song "The Crystal Ship" was my first exposure to The Doors. As a youngster, I would listen to my brothers' 45s and I remember playing this song, the B-side to one of the most well-known songs in history, "Light My Fire", over and over, believing it to be the better of the two. "Twentieth Century Fox" and "Soul Kitchen" are outstanding songs that stir up similar feelings in me, and singing one often leads me to sing the other in a sort of Glee-style mash-up (minus the choreography).

The Doors closes with the 12 minute musical drama "The End". Building to a series of crescendoes like Ravel's Bolero three times over, this Oedipal opus hypnotizes the listener with Robbie Krieger's haunting guitar, John Densmore's rolling drums, and Jim Morrison's poetic visual imagery. It does so for all of about nine minutes before arriving at the final, explosive, psychedelic climax...and the denouement, "...The end of laughter and soft lies/The end of nights we tried to die/This is the end". All in all, the song is a perfect ending to this timeless Doors album.

Ah, videos! For you I have provided the video for the restored, uncensored version of "Break On Through" (which includes the lyric "...She gets high!"). The video is the same as the original, so it's a bit choppy when the word "high" is returned to its proper place. The second video is the 3 minute speed version of "Light My Fire" from The Ed Sullivan Show. Once again, the word "high" was the cause of controversy as Morrison was supposed to compromise his lyrics by singing "Girl we couldn't get much better" instead of "...higher" during the national TV performance. He did not. After the show The Doors were told that their six future appearances on the show were now canceled, to which Morrison replied, "Hey man...we just did the Sullivan show." The final video of the day is "The End" live from the Hollywood Bowl. It's fifteen minutes long, but, after viewing these three videos, one is reminded that any young boy from the day who aspired to be a rock star had Jim Morrison to thank for those aspirations. He was one of the most iconic rock stars of all time.

19. Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Their 2006 debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, became the U.K.'s fastest selling debut album...moving 360,000 copies in its first week. To put that in perspective, it sold more on its very first day than the rest of the Top 20 albums combined. But what's amazing about Arctic Monkeys and their debut is that there was no huge record label promoting the release. The band signed with indie label, Domino, just six months prior to releasing their first album. It was the fans and the internet fan-based sites that had been spreading the word for the previous two years. How good does the music have to be to virtually change the way new bands are promoted and marketed?

Arctic Monkeys began playing gigs in 2003. The band then recorded 17 demos and burned them onto CDs that were given away at their shows. From there, word spread and files were shared via fan-based internet sites. Arctic Monkeys didn't mind that because they were giving the songs away for free as it was and admitted to having no idea how to get their songs online themselves. This DIY method of marketing brought hoards of hungry fans to their shows who already knew the songs. There were crowd-wide sing-alongs, and they hadn't even released an album.

Released in America in early 2006, Whatever People Say I Am... is a concept album of sorts. Each first person narrative deals with nightclubbing in Northern England...the fights, the girls, and the romance. Lead Monkey, Alex Turner, though just a baby (as you'll see in the videos below) demonstrates incredible songwriting skills. "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" (the album's first single) contains funky grooves tied to a machine gun clip set by drummer Matt Helders. Turner is keen to rhyme whatever and whenever he can, but his cadence and content flow smoothly through the narration without sounding forced ("I bet that you look good on the dancefloor/I don't know if you're looking for romance, or.../I don't know what you're looking for"). Most of the album continues the pace of "...Dancefloor" but two of the slower songs, "Mardy Bum" and "Riot Van", already show the lyrical and musical maturity exhibited on later albums Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007) and Humbug (2009).

Other strong tracks include the second single "When The Sun Goes Down", the meanderingly titled "You Probably Couldn't See For The Lights But You Were Staring Right At Me" and "Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secure", and the song NME placed at number 10 on it's list of 100 greatest tracks of the decade, "A Certain Romance".

Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is one of my favorite albums of all time. Alex Turner is a master of observation and tells his stories like someone way beyond his experience. The sounds are infectious and the album contains not one skippable moment.  Here is a great video of "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" (which came in at number 28 on the same NME list). The second video is my favorite track from the album, "From The Ritz To The Rubble", as performed on the BBC show Later with Jools Holland. Finally, a live performance of "A Certain Romance" at Pinkpop 2007.

18. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Orange

If you've been keeping track of Marc, Turn That Down!, you might have noticed a lack of 90s music being reviewed. They were mostly dark days, the 90s. So many favorite bands seemed to forego their successful pasts and pull new sounds from a grab bag like contestants on a reality TV show (R.E.M., U2, and The Cure). Others were strong only a short time ago and the negative forcefield of the 90s hit and tore them apart (Pixies, Stone Roses, and Echo & the Bunnymen). For some, Father Time was shaking his glass, and it was last call (Big Audio Dynamite, PIL, Violent Femmes, and Fishbone). The decade was not without it's share of classics, and there will be plenty of posts highlighting those, but, overall, 1990-1999 were not the strongest ten years of music.

New on the scene in the early 90s were bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins as the grunge genre reared its ugly flannel-wrapped head. The music was mind-blowing, but certainly couldn't be labeled as fun. Enter The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and their 1994 album Orange (stocked with rhythm and blues, rockabilly, punk, noise...you name it)! Jon Spencer is a demonic-Elvis of a frontman, but singing is not quite high on his priority list. This is 45 minutes of "music first"...followed by attitude, virility, and...somewhere down the line come songwriting and singing. And the lyrics, to be sure, aren't much more than shouting out the names of the cities where The Blues Explosion is "number one". He also channels early east coast hip hop by glorifying the band with shout-outs constantly throughout the course of Orange...You can hear the words "Blues Explosion" over 25 times. The rest of the lyrics focus on Spencer's sex drive or are virtually incomprehensible. However, this is a product of JSBX enjoying themselves...imbibing and having fun...and that's the target audience. It's not dinner music.

Orange grabs you right away and immediately lets you know what's in store. "Bellbottoms" opens the album with the trio (Spencer, guitarist Judah Bauer, and drummer Russell Simins) pounding out the intro over Spencer's growling mumble, while Bauer and Simins cheer him on as if curbside at the start of a fight. Then kicks in the 70s disco strings and the party is on! However, JSBX is at its best on Orange when the band tones it down a bit and maintains control (for example, "Dang" is powerful but painful). After "Bellbottoms", the list of great tracks include "Sweat", "Orange", Blues x Man", "Full Grown" (At this point, Jon would like you to know that young girls..."16, 17, 18...just don't know what's happening" and that he needs a full grown woman.), and "Flavor". "Flavor" features a phone-call cameo by a young Beck, and this provides us with one of the great moments from Orange. With smooth, mellow verses from the up and comer finished, Beck asks Spencer if he'd like him to do one more take. He is taken aback as Spencer ignores him in favor of shouting, "You got the flavor!" until Beck sings it with him.

This is JSBX's best album. Every album that came after it made an attempt to match Orange, but none could. Sheer power, fun, adrenaline...Orange was a blast!

I was disappointed with the videos I was able to provide for you. The first is a version of "Flavor" from an album of remixes...nowhere near as good as the original Orange version. The second is a promotional video for "Bellbottoms" that begins about two minutes in...skipping the entire introduction, which includes the mood-setting 70s style strings arrangement by Kurt Hoffman.

Summer's almost here. There's lots of great music coming your way soon. Don't let radio dictate your choices. Go out and get what you want!

17. Jeff Buckley: Grace

I have a local record store owner, Tim Cretsinger, to thank for introducing me to Jeff Buckley in 1994. Tim owned Groovacious Platters in Keizer, Oregon (he and his wife have since moved the store to Cedar City, Utah). He pushed and pushed, day after day, until I finally left his store with Jeff Buckley's Grace. He knew I'd like it...but, the truth is, I didn't...not at first.

Why Grace and I didn't connect right away, I don't know, but I know when it did. I remember my one and only Jeff Buckley show at a long-since-gone club called LaLuna, in November, 1994. I was excited, but not to see him...I was excited to catch his opening act. I had come to know the music of Brenda Kahn, and couldn't wait to finally see her perform and meet her (I was 25 and she was cute).

Skip to Buckley approaching the stage: After Brenda Kahn's performance, it was Jeff Buckley's turn. Out walked this little man in a floor length fur coat...sunglasses (I think)...and a fuzzy white hat with a full brim (I swear it could've looked something like this). The venue was considered medium-sized, but this show was in the balcony section only...very intimate. He had to walk through the crowd to reach the stage. What a spectacle it was to see the thick crowd part to let this wee pimp look-alike stroll in nonchalantly with his backing band respectfully two steps behind. I remember thinking the ego was bigger than the man himself.

Once on stage, Buckley was personable, engaging, and genuinely happy to be there performing for us. The show was incredible. I chose to go by myself (try it if you haven't). He began to perform and it was as if I heard the Grace songs again, for the first time. Buckley's voice and the entrancing guitars of Michael Tighe and Buckley himself, and the bass of Mick Grondahl coalesced into a enormous wave of sound and emotion...and I gave in to it. What I originally thought was slow-moving, background music grabbed my attention that night with claws that dug deep. Unbeknownst at the time, I was hooked only to be heartbroken two and a half years later. On this day, May 29, 1997, Jeff Buckley went for a fully-clothed swim in the Wolf River in Tennessee...and slipped away forever.

When he died, Jeff Buckley left behind his only full-length album, Grace...an incredible legacy. Songs like "Last Goodbye", "Lover, You Should've Come Over", "Grace",  and "Mojo Pin" are potent enough to bring tears. His version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was tabbed, in 2003, as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone. The album, itself, frequently appears on "Greatest" lists compiled by magazines such as Rolling Stone, NME, Entertainment Weekly, The Guardian, and many others...and it'll be on your list as well if you invest the time to really hear it. Go visit your local record store (Thanks Tim!).

Here's Jeff Buckley performing the title track to Grace on the BBC Late Show in 1995 and his interpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (neither of which are the album versions). Finally, my favorite, "Last Goodbye" the only official video from the album. Thank you, and rest in peace, Jeff.

16. Billy Bragg: Workers Playtime

Left-wing political activist and romantic troubadour Billy Bragg has been at it for over thirty years. From his punk-pub rock days in the seventies to his English folk sounds of today, Bragg has delivered a melange of political songs and songs of unrequited love...often with stark accompaniment. His third full-length album, 1988's Workers Playtime, explored a more expansive sound than fans had previously known. It was also his first collection of songs that relied more heavily upon his romantic storytelling skills than his polemics.

Bragg is fine being labeled a political songwriter...he is troubled by being dismissed as one. On Workers Playtime political songs are few and far between. Instead, he opts for a backing band and orchestral arrangements to strengthen beautifully spun tales of unanswered affection. This theme is present in the rollicking opener "She's Got A New Spell", and is spread evenly throughout the album until the fantastic finale, "The Great Leap Forwards".  Along the way, Billy Bragg demonstrates his amazing lyrical talent:

in the beautiful ballad "Must I Paint You A Picture" he writes, "Most important decisions in life are made between two people in bed. I found that out at my expense"

from "Little Time Bomb"--"He holds your letters but he can't read them as he fights this loneliness that you call freedom..."

from the poignant "Valentine's Day Is Over"--"Someday boy you'll reap what you've sown...and you will see that what's wrong with me is wrong everyone that you want to play your little games on..."

and again, from "Valentine's Day..."--"Thank you for the things you bought me. Thank you for the card. Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard; that love between two people must be based on understanding. Until that's true you'll find your things all stacked out on the landing..."

finally, from the lively "Life With The Lions"--"I hate the arsehole I become everytime I'm with you...I know when I leave the room they say what's up with him, but love is not a game you play to win, girl...love is not a game you play to win."

Workers Playtime is a great call for a road-trip. It's a great sing-along as well (you really get to practice your thick English accent). I've included a video from back in the day. It's a live performance of "She's Got A New Spell"...a fun "tropical" version, if you will, that shows a bit of Bragg's lighter side. The second video is a 2006 appearance on the now defunct Henry Rollins Show from IFC (promoting the 2-disc remastered release of Workers Playtime). He performs an updated version of "The Great Leap Forwards". Many of the political references from 1988 are changed here, and he introduces himself rather egotistically stating, "Some people sing about love...some people sing about war...some people sing about a better world to come. Well I sing about all three and this is my theme song..." Bragg is an incredible activist. He works hard to make the world a better place...consistently, effectively standing up to those in power and providing a voice for those who must be heard. So I say you've earned that intro, Billy. Let 'em have it!

15. Kings Of Leon: Aha Shake Heartbreak

Bear with me...

I recently watched the movie "Black Swan" (starring Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, and Vincent Cassel) and loved that it had something for everybody. Here's how I see it...even if you didn't like the movie, you had to admit that it had it all. There was murder, sex, psychotic characters, human-to-animal transformation, club music, girl-girl "Bring It On"-type competition, and dancing...ballet en pointe. It was a psychological thriller centered around an 1877 Russian ballet! Wow! Girl or guy...if you couldn't find something in there that you liked, then there is no pleasing you.

Trace the evolution of Kings Of Leon and we find they too have something for everyone (not sure about the human-to-animal transformation though). There's the upbeat Southern rock and blues influenced albums from the early years (2003's Youth and Young Manhood and 2004's Aha Shake Heartbreak) when they were recently freed from the restrictions of their religious upbringings. There's the polished arena-rock sound of 2008's Only by the Night and 2010's Come Around Sundown. And right in the middle we have Because of the Times from 2007, which has a little bit of both. I'll take the risk and stereotype the early years as targeting and achieving more of a male audience ("Black Swan"). The later albums were apparently designed to attract the ladies ("White Swan").

KOL's second album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, is a strong record. It's raw...raunchy blues, seeming countrified at times. Caleb Followill's unique vocals beg the question "Is he drunk, or did he just wake up?" It doesn't matter...you're probably one or the other when the desire to hear this album hits you. This album builds upon the southern-rock sounds of their debut. The band had no idea how to play their instruments in 2003...literally. Aha Shake Heartbreak is simple, musically, but it's still amazing how far they came in such a short time for this release. Prepare for most every song to rock your socks off in a seventies style...especially "Slow Night, So Long", "King Of The Rodeo", "Pistol Of Fire", "The Bucket", "Razz", and "Four Kicks". Much of their lyrics center around partying, fighting, sex, and insecurity...unleashing all of their pent up frustration and angst. This album comes from their hearts and loins, and the listener can feel this record as legitimate...it's not an effect.

Naturally, KOL was much more of a hit across the pond than here at home. It wasn't until KOL released their softer, more polished sound that they achieved commercial success here in America. I'm hoping, as many early fans of KOL probably are, that someday we'll experience a return to the early days of fire and debauchery. Until then, we have Aha Shake Heartbreak making the case that rock and roll is the voice of youth and desire...not classical training and effects. For Aha Shake Heartbreak, KOL's rock and roll is all "Black Swan" and no "White Swan". Here's the video to "Four Kicks" to emphasize that point.

14. Joy Division: Substance: 1977-1980

On May 18, 1980, Joy Division singer-lyricist Ian Curtis took his own life in the kitchen of his Macclesfield home. This ended the short career of a superb band. Fortunately for us, artists from contemporaries like U2 and The Cure to post-punk revivalists like Bloc Party and Interpol took up the reigns, citing Joy Division as a major influence.

Choosing a Joy Division album to highlight was a chore. The purist...the invested fan in me wanted to choose their 1979 debut, Unknown Pleasures. Then I thought I might choose both Unknown Pleasures and 1980's posthumous release Closer. Those were, after all, the only two studio albums produced by the band. Instead, I chose the compilation record Substance: 1977-1980. Substance is Joy Division's singles compilation and is the companion record to New Order's Substance (New Order, of course, was formed by Joy Division members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris after the death of their singer). Joy Division's Substance contains the four songs from their first release in 1978, An Ideal For Living, allowing you to hear their original punk sound. It also includes four singles not appearing on the two studio albums, and their B-sides, as well as several other previously released tracks.

Once producer Martin Hannett grabbed hold of them in 1979, Joy Division's sound adopted its more well-known sparse, eerie, and spacious qualities which captured the mood and expression that followed punk rock. They became pioneers of the post-punk movement. Most of Ian Curtis's lyrics center on darkness, loss of control, crisis, failure, and sorrow...not the band to listen to if you're in the mood for margaritas with the girls, but it's important stuff! I saw a recent shot of bassist Peter Hook wearing a shirt stating "We Made HISTORY, Not Money". Missing out on Joy Division's body of work truly is skipping an important piece of music history.

As for the album itself, "Transmission", "Digital", "Atmosphere", "She's Lost Control", "Dead Souls" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart" are incredible, incredible songs (emphasis on "Transmission", "LWTUA", and "Digital"). These may be the stand out tracks, but Substance is packed with thought-provoking, poignant music steeped in mystery and regret. 

I was fortunate enough to see Peter Hook's controversial performance of Unknown Pleasures in its entirety last year at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland...one of only eleven U.S. shows. You can click on the link above to read about the controversy. In short, some felt he was capitalizing on Ian Curtis's death to make money. I, however, was overjoyed at the chance to hear a Joy Division set performed right in front of me. The night was everything I hoped it would be (except for the 45 minute video of the life of Ian Curtis and Joy Division in lieu of an opening band...all information Joy Division fans had seen or already knew). Being part of the crowd screaming to the chorus of "Transmission"...closing my eyes and experiencing one of my favorite songs of all time, "Love Will Tear Us Apart"...granted, about halfway through the night Hooky started to sound more like Tom Waits than Ian Curtis, but the mood and the expression was present for me!

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't advise you to watch the movie Control by Anton Corbijn. Newcomer Sam Riley gives a remarkable performance of Ian Curtis in this biopic based on Ian's widow Deborah Curtis's book Touching From A Distance.  The movie is centered around Curtis's pain and depression...his battle with epilepsy, and the rigors and pressures of his being famous.

Here are two videos for you. The first is a recording of "Transmission" from their only TV performance in which we get a glimpse of Curtis as a performer. Of his "dancing", he once hinted that it's a type of sign language for the lyrics (unfortunately, the best clip I could find is tainted with an intro and closing from English performance poet John Cooper Clarke's "Evidently Chickentown"...bloody monotonous!). The second video is the official BBC video for "Love Will Tear Us Apart". This version is a bit "faster" than the original. It's more fun to play and sing, but it's not the original...take that into account. As evidence of their influence, I'll share this...while searching for the video for "LWTUA", I found versions from U2, Bjork, The Cure, Nouvelle Vague, David Gahan (Depeche Mode), Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Arcade Fire, Paul Young (just what Ian would've wanted), Fall Out Boy, Broken Social Scene, Gavin Rossdale (Bush), and, the very best cover of this brilliant song, by Jose Gonzalez. Thanks so much for reading. Please let me know if you enjoyed it.

13. Menomena: Friend And Foe

Click to enlarge and see
Craig Thompson's intricate details

Sometimes, you know what you're getting into, but, usually, you happen upon music by chance...a CD playing in the background, or a song on the radio from a band you've never heard. And then sometimes, you have tickets for a show and decide to actually make it there in time for the opening act. Catching a band live on stage is a much more potent lure for me, and for this next post, I've decided to share an album from a band that most will not know...a band that I happened upon by chance.

My wife and I had tickets to see Bloc Party at Portland's Roseland Theater in 2009. Seeing the opening band is part of the whole night's experience and we made it there in time to see local band, Menomena, perform most of their set. We had no idea who they were and didn't even know their name upon arriving. However, we were quickly smitten as the trio constantly swapped vocal duties and played a variety of instruments throughout the show...from saxophones and a foot synthesizer to a laptop and glockenspiel (as well as your basics...guitar, drums, and keyboards). By the end of the night, we agreed that Bloc Party was great, but the opening act had upstaged the headliner. We had found a new toy for our ears.

2007's Friend And Foe is officially listed as Menomena's third studio album. However, their second, called Under An Hour, is a three track instrumental (at about 17 minutes per track) that comes across as more of a concoction of a side project rather than a connection between 2003's debut, I Am The Fun Blame Monster! (an anagram for "The First Menomena Album"...and being rereleased next week with nine bonus tracks) and Friend And Foe. So this is, for all intents and purposes, their second release in the normal-length-songs category.

You'll notice beautiful tempo changes right away on the roller coaster ride of "Muscle'n Flo". It begins with crashing drums that leave you as quick as they come, only to hit you soon again with a vengeance. "The Pelican" follows with a relentless pounding that might sound harsh but somehow turns into a sing-along just a few plays later. Other great songs include "Wet And Rusting", "Weird", and "Rotten Hell". The second half of the album is anchored by "Boyscout'n" which sounds like it could've come from Elvis Costello's strange masterpiece, The Juliet Letters, and "Evil Bee" which provides the album with its most memorable lyrics..."Oh to be a machine...Ohhh to be wanted...to be useful..." repeated over several different musical arrangements throughout. It all works wonderfully!

Also worth mentioning is the packaging for Friend And Foe...it's amazing. Created and illustrated by Craig Thompson, it contains die-cuts, decoder rings, and hidden messages (most of which I've not found). In 2007, it was rightfully nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.

Again, Menomena are from Portland, but have developed a great following across the country, and they are extremely accessible. Here's a fun video of them performing "Weird" in a Brooklyn home for the Plum TV show Juan's Basement. Enjoy, and thanks for reading.

12. Squeeze: Singles-45's and Under

Squeeze's Singles--45's and Under is the first compilation album I've posted on Marc, Turn That Down! I first enjoyed Squeeze thanks to my cousin Kevin back in the early eighties. I remember hearing them on his cassette player while we were competing to see who could stuff the most popcorn into our mouths (the contest proved to be endless since the popcorn melts...the last number I remember was 114 pieces). 45's and Under was released in 1982 and contains hits from the band's first five albums. This includes five songs from the seventies, so it's also the first album spanning two decades.

Squeeze was a U.K. pop band breaking into the music scene during the beginnings of the new wave era. Over the years, the band has gone through numerous lineup changes, but Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford remain the constants. Throughout their lengthy career (which continues even today), they have enjoyed moderate success in the United States, but 45's and Under is packed with tracks that have charted all over the world. Eleven of the twelve songs broke into the top 100 somewhere (with the U.K. Singles Chart leading the way). The only song never to crack the charts is "If I Didn't Love You", which, to me, is one of the better songs on the album.

The album is organized chronologically, beginning with 1978's "Take Me I'm Yours", which showcases the trademark dual vocals of Difford singing an octave lower than Tilbrook. The bubble-gum pop sounding "Goodbye Girl" follows, then two very hip songs "Cool For Cats" (during which, my Sebastian says, "Why does this English guy talk so fast? I can't understand him...too fast for me!") and "Up The Junction". Soon after, we hear a group of their best, "Another Nail For My Heart", "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)", "If I Didn't Love You", "Is That Love", and the track reaching the highest chart position in the U.S. (from this album), "Tempted". "Tempted" is, I believe, the only song sung by a band member other than Tilbrook or Difford. One time keyboardist Paul Carrack provides lead vocals here (you can also hear producer Elvis Costello in the second verse singing "...The people keep on crowding...").

Squeeze is a band that can be enjoyed in any company, at any time, and this compilation album exemplifies that point. If you've been interested enough to have read this far, you should definitely grab the 2004 DVD Glenn Tilbrook: One For The Road. This inspirational, uplifting documentary follows Tilbrook on his first solo tour around the U.S. in a crumbling motor home. It's wonderful, and it'll draw you closer to the band as you witness Tilbrook's passion for his music and his fans (he even accepts an impromptu invite to play in someone's home). Here, my friends, is the video for 1979's "Cool For Cats". Kudos to the band for making it through the whole song whilst the high-energy Squeeze Girls bounced around in their Squeeze jackets. See you in a couple of days!

11. Violent Femmes: Violent Femmes

The self-titled debut album from the Violent Femmes in 1983 was one of the most memorable albums created. Ten pop songs (in the original release...12 later) about yearning for love, sex, and affection...performed in such a way that makes them impossible to forget, or mistake for anything else. The simple sounds of the three musicians (guitar, bass, and snare drum...with brushes) delivered in their signature aggressive, driving manner, and the magically quotable lyrics by Gordon Gano (most of which were written while he was still in high school) made the band 80s gods on college campuses throughout the U.S.

The Violent Femmes released eight studio albums during their time, but the most well-known songs were hatched here...Who do you know that couldn't recognize the opening intro to "Blister In The Sun"?...or the count-up in "Kiss Off" ("I take one, one, one cause you left me...")? Other distinctly memorable moments include Gordon's whiny begging (but in a good way) in "Please Do Not Go" and the slow, child-like, a cappella introduction to "Add It Up" ("Daaaaay after daaaaay, I will waaaaalk and I will plaaaay..." This was the song that had college kids wondering why they can't "get just one kiss" (among other forms of affection) at the top of their lungs. How about the xylophone from "Gone Daddy Gone"...the darkly menacing length of "Confessions"..."Prove My Love" ("...third verse, same as the first!"), "Promise", "To The Kill", and the sadly-sweet "Good Feeling" to close the door on this gem. There's your ten...every one of them perfect songs in their simplest forms combining to produce an outcome greater than the sum of its parts.

This album is grossly underrated...no accolades! No mention of the Violent Femmes on any music magazine's lists of the greatest whatever (probably "Best Bands from Milwaukee, Wisconsin" but I didn't really look). Well, I can say with confidence (and perhaps a bit of stubbornness) that they all missed the boat here. I can't understand how it was overlooked. The album has sold over 1,000,000 copies. It was another album that was near impossible to find in used record stores, meaning, if you bought it, you loved it, and you kept it. It was, in short, one of the great albums of the 80s.

The Violent Femmes were also tons of fun to see live. I saw them on six separate occasions (The last of which was in Portland. I went with my friend Ana, who eventually became Ana Matronic of the Scissor Sisters.). Every performance was excellent. But, alas, a huge rift regarding rights and royalties between Gano and bassist, Brian Ritchie has sealed the fate of the band, and the Violent Femmes are no more. Here, you have, not one, but three videos to enjoy! I could not choose between "Blister...", "Kiss Off", "and "Add It Up"...then remembered...Hey!  I'm the boss here. Who says it has to be only one? Happy Mothers' Day! Treat her right.

10. Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream

When your drummer is severely addicted to heroin, your guitarist and bassist are in the midst of a bitter feud (having just broke off their relationship), and your frontman is a suicidally depressed tyrant...how can anything other than a magnificently powerful album be the result?

Citing the success of their first album, Gish, in 1991, and the release of Nirvana's Nevermind and Pearl Jam's Ten later that year, critics labeled the Smashing Pumpkins as "can't miss"..."the next Nirvana". This incredible pressure to succeed intensified their already problematic situations. Yet, somehow, they managed to not kill themselves (or each other) throughout the writing and recording process, and created their brilliant second album, Siamese Dream in 1993. 

Siamese Dream spawned four great singles. Three of them, "Cherub Rock", "Today", and "Rocket", were thick with fuzz, and hit hard...continuing the style of Gish.  The effect-laden sounds of layer upon layer of guitar fused with Billy Corgan's vocals produced a highly creative noise designed to repeatedly smack you in the ears. They were not, however, limited to screams and fuzzy guitars. Similar to Nirvana's "Polly" and Pearl Jam's "Black", the Smashing Pumpkins had "Disarm", the album's fourth single...a softer, personal song. The four singles stand out as obvious radio-play choices, but every song on Siamese Dream is strong. Other great tracks include "Quiet", "Mayonaise" and the near nine minute "Silverf**k".

I saw the Smashing Pumpkins at a club in Portland in 1993. It was a fast paced show...high energy all the way through. However, only two distinct memories from the concert come to mind. I remember Billy Corgan thanking Shudder To Think and The Frogs for opening the show and then threatening to end the night right then and there if the crowd continued to boo The Frogs. I think he said, "Do not boo The Frogs. DO NOT boo The Frogs. We will walk off this stage right now if you boo The Frogs." The Frogs were awful (Though, mysteriously, they have a decent cult following). I also remember Corgan on stage, by himself, under a spotlight, closing the show with the beautiful "Sweet Sweet" from Siamese Dream. Here, however, is the video to "Cherub Rock", the song Rolling Stone readers picked as the 25th greatest guitar track of all time. Thanks for reading!

9. U2: War

Many of you felt I was a bit hard on U2 when referencing them in my post of R.E.M.'s Accelerate. I said 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was not the "rock album" that U2 hyped it to be. That's still true...I still say I was disappointed (and Bono and I still aren't talking). However, I'll make it up to them in this post by floating back 28 years to their wonderful album, War...and a time when everything about U2 was different...musically and lyrically.

On War, the third studio album by U2, Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen, Jr. were at their most politically charged...and they took a lacerating, energetic approach to getting their messages across.

Released in early 1983, after the adolescent innocence of Boy (1980) and the abstract spirituality of October (1981), U2 stormed the international charts with War. Three singles hit the airwaves starting with "New Year's Day" then followed by the club-worthy "Two Hearts Beat As One" along with one of the greatest protest songs of all time, "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Everything about this album stands apart from anything they had done before or have done since.

Musically, it was fierce. It was a response to those who felt they were too sincere and not "punk" enough. It is much harsher than any other U2 album. The Edge's guitar feels different...much more raw. Listening to it now, I can hear the same riffs that we hear on more recent works, but, on War, it sounds unpolished, more visceral. The closest album, musically speaking, seems to be 1991's Achtung Baby, but  Achtung Baby is missing the lyrical muscle that Bono provides throughout War. Without War's underlying messages and overall theme, the music would lose a valuable partner.

Larry Mullen, Jr. claims the drums were "real basic" and hoped to "make it more complicated on the next LP". But the drums drive so much of this album. Every U2 fan has struck some surface to the cadence of the military-like intro to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (some of you may be doing it right now!). The hard-edged "Like A Song..." and "Two Hearts Beat As One" showcase his powerful drumming as well.

I was just learning to enjoy adolescence when I first heard War. My older brother had the vinyl and I played it and played it. The black and white cover concept...the stark contrast between the letters stamped in red, "U2/WAR", the missing lyrics (words to only six of the ten songs were provided), and the black and white photo of "the boy"...that boy...hands clasped behind his head, cut lip, piercing stare. We wondered who he was and wondered about his story (turns out he's Dublin photographer Peter Rowen). There was, in 1983, a sense of mystery about this band that exited for good four years later with the release of The Joshua Tree. I didn't know them during this time of War. I didn't have internet, I didn't have much information about them. I only knew...they were political, they seemed like they were on my side, and they were coming. They were going to be big...so like them now before everybody jumps on board.

Well, everyone jumped on board. Over the years, War has sold about 5,000,000 copies, and U2 continued to make great music...up until...well, there I go again...No! I'm staying positive! One of my favorite albums of all time, War is still magnificent. Listening to it today is a great reminder of when U2 first achieved greatness. Here is a video of U2 performing "Sunday Bloody Sunday" from the War tour DVD U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky.

8. R.E.M.: Accelerate

I was so proud to be an R.E.M. fan when Accelerate was released in 2008. Is this album their best? Not at all...and by a pretty good distance. It's just that, even though the band steered clear of pinning a label on the sound of Accelerate, the hype about R.E.M.'s return to their old sound surfaced prior to its release. And so, the wait was on...was it true? Would R.E.M.'s new album be a departure from their recent, rather underwhelming work? I was skeptical, because U2 had released How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb a few years earlier under the guise that it was a rock album ("It's taken us twenty years...but this is our first rock album" -Bono, from the DVD documentary U2 and 3 Songs). U2 are one of my favorite bands, and my goal is to keep things positive in my posts, but it was false advertising. Atomic Bomb was not a rock album. I count about two and a half songs worth of "rock," thank you very much. So, based on R.E.M.'s previous three albums, Up (1998), Reveal (2001), and Around the Sun (2004), and the disappointment of believing U2's earlier hype, I was preparing for más decepción.

The band, themselves, were not happy with their previous record, Around the Sun, going so far as to admit that "if [they made] another bad record, it's over." However, R.E.M. had delivered the goods when Accelerate hit the record stores! Right out of the gate, "Living Well is the Best Revenge" reminds R.E.M. fans of what once was (circa 1986-1987). "Man-Sized Wreath" and the album's first single, "Supernatural Superserious", would fit perfectly amongst the songs of Green from 1988. "Hollow Man" follows with verses reminiscent of Out of Time (1991) or Automatic for the People (1992) and a chorus that takes the listener back even further. The album lags a bit after the first four songs (though the songs "Accelerate", "Until the Day is Done", and "Horse to Water" should also be given a round of applause), but Accelerate, the album, satisfied me, a big R.E.M. fan who'd felt something was missing after drummer, Bill Berry, left the band in 1997.

I'm a fan of several bands who have been plugging away for twenty to thirty years (U2 and The Cure spring to mind). Naturally, people grow, band-members change, dynamics change, goals change, and, inevitably, the music changes. Because I'm one who's steeped in nostalgia, I often hold onto that original sound...the sound that drew me in years and years ago...and I'm sometimes (more often than not) disappointed with new music from experienced artists. R.E.M.'s Accelerate is an album that did not disappoint. They tried hard to rock...to get back to the sounds that earned them a huge devoted fan base, and I feel they really succeeded. Now, hopefully the recently released Collapse Into Now can grow on me. Here's "Living Well is the Best Revenge" live from Austin City Limits.

7. Pixies: Doolittle

It was April, 1989...22 years ago this month...that The Pixies released Doolittle. Have you heard it? If so, honestly, you don't need to read any further. You know exactly what I'm going to say. If you haven't, here's the link you need. Now buckle up!

This is the second full length album from The Pixies (always a bit awkward deciding whether to say "Pixies" or "The Pixies"...whether to capitalize "PIXIES" or not...they probably don't care either way, and would simply giggle at my indecisiveness). It follows another great album in 1988's Surfer Rosa (which many Pixies fans claim as their favorite...however, I believe that might just be because of Doolittle's commercial success...something Surfer Rosa never achieved, keeping it more underground). Combined, the two albums easily make up the band's strongest work.

Fifteen songs...twelve of which are under three minutes.  Black Francis (as he was known at the time) fought for this concept. He took his producer to a record store, pulled Buddy Holly's Greatest Hits from the rack and said, "If it's good enough for Buddy Holly..." I happen to love a good two minute song. It always leaves you wanting more...and if it happens to be no good...that's fine...it's over quickly. In the case of The Pixies, each song is a gem and a half!

The album begins with the incredible "Debaser", a song based on Salvador Dali's 1929 surrealistic film Un Chien Andalou (the line "slicing up eyeballs" stems from an early scene from the film)...followed by a song, "Tame", that would become the epitome of their sound...loudQUIETloud. This sudden loud to quiet dynamic would be extremely influencial to several bands, most notably, Nirvana, who, upon completion of the writing of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" believed it sounded too much like The Pixies, and that people were "going to nail [them] for this". "Wave Of Mutilation" and "I Bleed" follow respectively, and then comes the song "Here Comes Your Man". "Here Comes Your Man" has been described by...me...as the perfect pop song, showing the versatility of The Pixies, both lyrically and musically.

Soon after, we have "Monkey Gone To Heaven", one of the best Pixies songs, highlighting the biblical influences in the songwriting (you can also hear it in "Dead" and "Gouge Away'). Y'know, I'm seriously going to run out of space before praising this album as much as it deserves. I should mention "La La Love You" is a cult favorite, and "Hey" is another fantastic song.

This album, Doolittle, voted as #226 on the list of all time greatest albums by Rolling Stone, and as #2 all time by the UK magazine, NME, is jam-packed, straight through. It laid the groundwork for 90s rock, and the band, itself, even influenced existing legends such as David Bowie and Bono. Doolittle continues to sell well today, reinforcing its status as one of the greatest albums ever, and The Pixies reunion this past decade has gone a long way toward influencing a younger audience...thankfully!

By now, you must be dying for it, so here it is...actually, it was difficult to pick one video to attach here. I went with "Monkey Gone To Heaven"...enjoy!

6. Tom Waits: Nighthawks At The Diner

Saying Tom Waits is a good storyteller is the equivalent of saying that Diego is pretty good with animals and zip lines. Waits is one of America's greatest singer-songwriters. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March of this year with his typical humor, stating, "They say I have no hits and that I'm difficult to work with...like it's a bad thing."

We are currently enjoying the twilight of a career spanning over four decades, and there's tons of music to choose from, but I've chosen to highlight his 1975 double album, Nighthawks at the Diner. Recorded in front of an intimate studio audience, Nighthawks showcases Waits's storytelling prowess to its full extent. He is a wordsmith to the highest degree, paying such close attention to the details of everyday life. On Nighthawks, Waits spends the evening cracking jokes, singing his songs, and explaining the stories behind the songs. There are 18 tracks on the album, but seven of them are one to three minute introductions which is where he's free to entertain off the cuff (though, to be sure, much of the intros are rehearsed). For an hour and a half he dishes his stories stuffed with line after line of wonderfully explicit descriptions...employing metaphors, alliteration, personification, vivid verbs, you name it...if only my 4th grade writers could take a little trip down Waits Lane.

Take these quotes for example: On one's state of mind after a night out--"It's kind of around 2:30 in the morning...and you've been standing on the corner of 5th and Vermouth..." Or the simple movement of the moon--"...Looks like a yellow biscuit of a buttery cue ball moon rollin' maverick across an obsidian sky." The intro to "Eggs and Sausage" has Waits describing the food at some of the one and two star eating establishments he's frequented--"...[my] veal cutlet came down...tried to beat the s**t outta my cup o' coffee! ...Coffee just wasn't strong enough to defend itself!" Finally, in "Emotional Weather Report", Waits describes the state he's been in since she left him by saying, "Tornado warning issued for the western region of my mental health," and "...the extended outlook for an indefinite period of time 'til you come back to me, baby, is high tonight...low tomorrow...and precipitation is expected."

Side one and side two of the double album are superb...including "Emotional Weather Report", "Better Off Without A Wife", the eleven minute "Nighthawk Postcards", and the marvelous introductions that accompany the songs. The show does lull a bit after halftime, but he closes it out with the great story of "Big Joe And Phantom 309" (written by Tommy Faile and originally performed by Red Sovine in 1967...also, perhaps the influence for the character "Large Marge" in Pee Wee's Big Adventure?) and the five minute closing (where he bids farewell with the phrase "I gotta go see a man about a dog"). Here is a video of Waits performing "Eggs And Sausage" on the Mike Douglas show in 1976 courtesy of VH1. The video is long (9:30) because it includes the post-performance interview in which the chain-smoking Waits has some fun answering Douglas's questions...but young Tom seems pretty nervous as well. Enjoy.

5. The Cult: Love

The Cult began in England in the early 80's as The Southern Death Cult;
a post-punk, goth rock  band with a heavy Native American influence. They then dropped the "Southern", and by 1984 had toned down the gothic connotations of their name by calling themselves, simply, The Cult.

Prior to 1984, The Cult relied upon their goth rock influences (such as Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate) for their sounds. They altered that sound for a very cool album called Dreamtime, and then, in 1985, released the album Love.

Love is the first of many albums from 1985-1986 you'll read about on this blog. Maybe the music was better, maybe not, but my ears were opened for the first time during this period. In 1985 my brother, Jeff, opened a Staten Island nightclub called The Ferry Club, and DJ Mark the Spark played amazing sets of music that blew crowds away. As an eager, yet musically naive teenager...it was "Nirvana".

Songs from Love were played in clubs alongside the synth sounds of the day, yet the Love songs swirled with a 60's psychedelia. There were no keyboards of any kind...and how often did you hear guitar solos in nightclubs? No songs epitomize this time in The Cult's history like "Rain" and "She Sells Sanctuary". There was a sense of pseudo-mysticism about the band...similar to The Doors (in fact, Cult frontman, Ian Astbury, was reportedly offered the role of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's 1991 movie The Doors, but turned it down). It really set them apart from bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode, Secession, and Heaven 17. It didn't make them better, just made them stand out. Unfortunately, their sound didn't stand out enough to Americans.

It was the desire to make it big in America that forced the transition into the final career change...hard rock. Over the years, Love has sold well (over two and a half million copies), but, at the time, America wasn't catching on. The Cult felt a change to a harder sound was due. They toured with bands like Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, and Metallica and produced some more good albums including 1987's Electric and 1989's Sonic Temple (both of which America loved)...but that was it for the sounds of Love.

Sidenote: In May, 1987, The Cult should have been the opening act for Billy Idol at Madison Square Garden, but that show was canceled thanks to an asbestos problem. Billy Idol then went and played The Limelight, while The Cult played an impromptu show at the Ritz. I went with some high school friends and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. It was their Electric tour, but the set had its share of Love songs as well.

I used to say, "Wanna know how good an album is? Try finding it in a used record store." Well, reissues and remastering have made that test obsolete, but there was a time when you couldn't find a previously owned copy of The Cult's Love...because it was an absolute keeper.  Here's "She Sells Sanctuary" to help you enjoy your day.

4. The White Stripes: Elephant

"This album is dedicated to, and is for, and about the death of the sweetheart." These words, taken directly from the liner notes of 2003's Elephant, the fourth disc from The White Stripes, represent the basis of their loose concept album.  The idea being that we now live "in a disgusting world of opportunistic, lottery ticket holders caring about nothing that is long term..." Somewhat true, yes? This album, however, bucks that trend and should be treasured for years to come.

I remember hearing "Seven Nation Army" for the first time. Like much of America I had no experience with the first three White Stripes albums other than the great "Fell In Love With A Girl" from 2001's White Blood Cells. I enjoyed that song immediately, but the Lego-animated video by Michael Gondry is what made me stand up and take notice.  (Click on the song title to watch it...it's incredible.) I put "Fell In Love..." on a mixed CD for Chelo who was living in Arizona at the time and was receiving CD's from me in the mail every other week. This one had twenty-something songs with the word "Girl" in the title. Anyway, I was excited to hear more from The White Stripes and the release of Elephant was right around the corner. I don't listen to the radio or watch MTV (not that they play music anymore anyway), so I hadn't heard anything prior to opening the package. Popping that disc in the stereo and hearing those first seven notes...let's just say "Seven Nation Army" could never be confused with any other song. And it's just the start of one of the most amazing albums of all time. 

The album reached number six in America (though it debuted at #1 in the UK...why do they always seem to know something we don't?). Rolling Stone slotted it at number 390 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time...gravely underrated! They did say it was the fifth best album of the decade and pegged "Seven Nation Army" as the sixth* best song of the decade. However, Elephant, an album created by two musicians (Jack White being one of the greatest guitarists of all time), using no computers in the writing, recording, mixing, or mastering is downright nasty. It's thick, and fuzzy, and pissed-off, and stunning, and is worthy of a spot in any discussion of the best albums ever. Here's the video to "Seven Nation Army" to get you through the day.

*Is there any word in the English language more difficult to say than "sixths"...as in two-sixths? Try pronouncing that word correctly...nope...try it again, but say it slowly this time.