Emotional Listening #2

The focus of this Emotional Listening post is mainstream alternative rock from the 1990s. These are records that I obviously knew existed (who didn't?), but either didn't care about then, or just didn't have much experience with. No shame.


Nevermind - Nirvana (Geffen, 1991)
When I was in late elementary school, I considered myself a fan of grunge, namely Stone Temple Pilots and select Smashing Pumpkins (who were only sort of grunge, I guess) and Soundgarden songs. Nirvana was really hit or miss for me. I've always loved "All Apologies" (more within the past two years than ever before), but other than that and one or two others, I couldn't have cared less. I realized exactly how silly this was towards the end of 2007 when I decided to invest some time in In Utero. A year-and-a-half after this initial appreciation, I will be so bold as to claim that their breakout Nevermind is actually a little better. Sure, In Utero is more badass, has less hit singles and was produced by Steve Albini as opposed to Butch Vig. But, I really like the way Nevermind sounds, and the singles are all good, even if I've heard them too many times by this stage in my life. There are actually some song on In Utero that I don't really care for, and I think every song here is at least solid. And, recently "Drain You" has unseated "All Apologies" as my favorite Nirvana song for the time being, thanks to Dave Grohl's perfect drumming and Cobain's sweet sweet melody during the verse, which is one of the greatest of all time.
Top jams: "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "In Bloom," "Breed," "Lithium," "Drain You," "On a Plain"


Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt (Trauma/Interscope, 1995)
Here's an album that's singles reek of nostalgia from sixth and seventh grades. Truth be told, I never actually completely dug this record. "Spiderwebs" and "Sunday Morning" are two of my favorite songs from 1997 MTV and 89X (No Doubt seemed to have promoted the record for FOREVER), but I didn't really get to like anything else from it until now. Now that I'm older and my tastes have matured, I can take Tragic Kingdom for what it is: a power pop album that is sometimes influenced by ska and reggae. It definitely gets obnoxious at points ("Don't Speak" still makes me want to vomit), but it is really fund and surprisingly interesting still.
Top jams: "Spiderwebs," "Excuse Me Mr.," "Just a Girl," "Sixteen," "Sunday Morning," "World Go Round"


The Presidnts of the United States of America - The Presidents of the United States of America (Columbia, 1995)
Here's another record by another band that I never got entirely into. Of course, I loved everything about "Peaches." As for this self-titled debut as a whole, I liked it alright. But, I think I was more into the idea of the band: a fast, poppy three piece rock band with a slight punk edge who played incomplete instruments (specifically two and three string guitars). Fifteen years later, I'm over the novelty and will take these clever, energetic rock songs at face value.
Top jams: "Kitty," "Stranger," "Peaches," "We Are Not Going to Make It," "Naked and Famous"


Pablo Honey - Radiohead (EMI, 1993)
I was introduced to Radiohead in early elementary school thanks to my cousins Tommy and Greg with "Creep" (just like most everyone else). In spite of them being my favorite band of all time, to this day I think it is probably the worst song the band has ever composed. It is bad. I got way into OK Computer basically when it was first released, and several years later decided Pablo Honey was probably worth a listen. For I long time, I felt that I was wrong, that it was a complete waste of time. Now, I feel I was a complete idiot about it the whole time. For me, there is no question that Pablo Honey is still far and away the worst album the band ever relesed. But, you know what? It's actually not half bad. On it, it seems like they're paying homage to their favorite American rock bands, R.E.M. and Pixies. Throw in a little grunge, and really, it's not a bad combination. There are definitely some great guitar rock moments throughout. I won't listen to it as often or with the same reverence as OK Computer or Kid A, or anything else of theirs for that matter, but I have finally found some worth in it, and I smiled. I now appreciate these humble beginnings, and am relieved by how far along they have come since.
Top jams: "How Do You?," "Anyone Can Play Guitar," "Ripcord," "Vegetable," "Prove Yourself," "Blow Out"


Evil Empire - Rage Against the Machine (Epic, 1996)
I never got even moderately into rap or hip-hop and probably never will, and there was only about a second where I liked the merging of those genres with rock 'n roll and hardcore. But I did have room in my heart for some mid and late 90s Rage Against the Machine jams (especially that "No Shelter" track from the Godzilla soundtrack). I need melody in my music intake, and there is absolutely none her. But what Evil Empire has in spades is an immaculate groove. When bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk are locked in, nothing can stop them. And Wilk is tight as hell and sure knows how to hit his drums right. He's like a funk or hip-hop version of John Bonham. Sure, Tom Morello's other-worldy guitar sounds are impressive (what he does on "Year of Tha Boomerang" is completely insane), but it's the groove that I love the most. I'm not even going to talk about Zack de la Rocha, so, whatever.
Top jams: "People of the Sun," "Bulls on Parade," "Vietnow," "Roll Right," "Year of Tha Boomerang"