You must hear this album.

10 Songs About The Power Of Music, Part 1

2012-01-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

Every now and again, we like to mix things up at “You Must Hear This Album.” This time, we’re spotlighting 10 notable songs about songs, in two installments: melodic odes to music itself, the very thing that inspires us, excites us, comforts us, and informs us. Music accompanies us through all of our rites of passage: when we get married, when we graduate, when we drive to work, and when we

"Close To You," by Carpenters

2011-12-11T12:49:00.000-08:00

Some of the greatest albums in the Rock-and-Roll canon were recorded in the early 1970s. To wit, “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye, “Tapestry,” by Carole King, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Simon and Garfunkel, “Dark Side Of The Moon,” by Pink Floyd, and classic recordings by David Bowie, Elton John, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Nick Drake, and James Taylor, to name just a few. One of my

"Don McLean," by Don McLean

2011-09-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

In 1971, Don McLean released the single, “American Pie.” This classic song brimmed with imagery of the United States in the 1950’s, as well as the sadness of Buddy Holly’s premature death and McLean’s pointed, rock-and-roll commentary about “the Jester,” Elvis Presley, stealing Holly’s rightful place in the Rock-and-Roll pantheon “in a coat he borrowed from James Dean and a voice that came from

"Pieces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.," by The Monkees

2011-07-31T16:46:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows The Monkees story: the Hollywood trade newspaper, “Variety,” listed an ad titled, “Madness!” enlisting actors and musicians to play a Beatles-like, “Help”-inspired television program, and Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith were selected out of hundreds of hopeful applicants, including (as legend has it) rock legend, Stephen Stills, and the murderous Charles

“Hejira,” by Joni Mitchell

2011-06-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Karen Carpenter: The girl-next-door with the milk chocolate voice. The Carpenters were dismissed in their 1970’s hey-day due to their squeaky-clean image and a few questionable song choices, post 1976, and counter to 2010's pop landscape, Karen’s singing was never about bombast or vocal acrobatics; she simply sang the song, and she did so exquisitely. Download this album: A

"A Christmas Album," by Barbra Streisand

2010-11-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Barbra Streisand is a polarizing figure, artistically and politically. Everybody seems to have something to say about the renowned singer: Quincy Jones called her a “national treasure” in 1994, George W. Bush begrudgingly honored the living legend in 2008 with a Kennedy Center Honor, in what may have been his most awkward Presidential moment ever. Some even worship her:

"2:00 A.M. Paradise Cafe'," by Barry Manilow

2010-10-01T19:29:00.000-07:00

I like Barry Manilow. Well, I like his music, anyway; I’ve never met the legendary entertainer, who stepped onto the pop music landscape in 1973, wearing platform boots and a sequined, blue jumpsuit and hasn’t been out of the spotlight since. Now, mind you, I’m not a “Manilooney,” one of the superfans who follow Manilow around the country, show to show, like the “Deadheads”

"Ancient Heart," by Tanita Tikiram

2010-09-08T19:43:00.000-07:00

In 1988, two generations of talent united, one from the 1960’s / 1970's, and one from the 1980’s: Rod Argent, keyboardist and songwriter in the legendary 60’s band, The Zombies (see previous entry), who went on to become leader of the 70’s prog-rock band, Argent, scoring a 1972, #5 hit, “Hold Your Head Up,” paired up with Tanita Tikiram, an unknown, British ingénue with a chaffed, world-weary

Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1, by George Michael

2010-07-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

Does “pop music” have a place on “must hear” album lists? As my gentle readers know, I often argue that it does, and George Michael’s work is a big part of the reason why rock critics today take pop music seriously, and his 1991 album, Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1, is "Exhibit A." While still teens in the UK, Michael and his musical partner, Andrew Ridgeley, formed the

“New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh),” by Erykah Badu

2010-04-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

Paul Simon is a marvel. He has written and performed legendary song after legendary song over the past 40-plus years, while putting out startlingly few actual solo albums in the process: only ten original albums in that timeframe, including two soundtrack albums. That’s approximately one album every four years…way too few for such an iconic and consistently significant

"Baja Sessions," by Chris Isaak

2009-08-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

Best known for his 1991 hit, “Wicked Game,” used in the creepy David Lynch film, “Wild At Heart,” Chris Isaak makes living through sad and tormented personal relationships sexy and hip. Don’t believe me? Check out his second best-known sort-of hit, “Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing,” used in the trailer of another creepy film, Stanley Kubrick’s, “Eyes Wide Shut.” See what I mean? In Isaak’s Elvis

"Homebrew," by Neneh Cherry

2009-07-21T19:43:00.001-07:00

Neneh Cherry stormed America’s shores in 1989 with her nimble, eclectic, hip-hop-meets-outer-space debut, Raw Like Sushi. That album's three-minute, bump-and-grind marvels, “Buffalo Stance” and “Kisses On The Wind,” charting at #3 and #8, respectively, elevated radio waves to higher ground in the final summer of that neon-filled, Voodoo Economics-lovin’ decade. But Cherry’s music wasn’t just

"Days of Future Passed," by The Moody Blues

2009-06-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

This album never makes it to any “best albums of all time” lists, and I’ve always wondered... why is it not cool to like Days of Future Passed? Maybe it’s the ostentatious, John Lennon-esque “I’m-saying-the-opposite-so-I’m-profound” title, or possibly it’s the over-the-top spoken interludes which bookend the album, with their “heavy,” faux philosophical, ridiculous lyrics

"The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner," by Ben Folds Five

2009-06-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

Ben Folds Five is best-known for the hit single, “Brick,” from their 1997 album, Whatever and Ever, Amen. It’s subject matter, the collateral damage that comes from a young couple’s decision to have an abortion, is a strange topic for a hit single, but there you have it. The trio’s leader, Ben Folds, is largely seen as the driving force behind the group, and Ben Folds Five is often regarded as

"Court and Spark," by Joni Mitchell

2009-05-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

I think I’ve listened to this album for days. In fact, I listened to it again just this morning. Like most others, my introduction to this highly acclaimed 1974 album was through its two hit singles, “Help Me,” and “Free Man In Paris.” And while the hits remain classics, they aren’t even the best part of Joni Mitchell’s commercial zenith, Court and Spark. Before “Help Me” bounced onto top 40

"Bryter Layter," by Nick Drake

2009-05-06T23:22:00.001-07:00

“I never felt magic as crazy as this,” Nick Drake sang in “Northern Sky,” from Bryter Later, and the sentiment served as a perfect summation of this ethereal and magnificent album. With it’s unhinged flutes and wacka-wha guitars, the album could only have been made in the early seventies. It’s impact, however, transcends time. But so does Nick Drake, who released only three studio albums during

"Blue," by Double

2009-05-04T19:33:00.000-07:00

The sub-genre of smooth jazz hit new commercial peaks in the early 1980’s. A momentum fueled, no doubt, by 1970’s crossover artists like George Benson, Patti Austin, and Al Jarreau. Not only did smooth jazz proliferate to the point of newly established radio stations for the style, but smooth jazz artists also became regular fixtures on the pop charts in the early to mid 80’s. Some of these

"We Started Nothing," by The Ting Tings

2009-05-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

My Dad set up a basketball hoop in our driveway in 1981, and we used to play a game on sunny summer afternoons we called, “H-O-R-S-E,” where we’d take turns calling the shot, and each consecutive player would have to make the same shot or garner a letter. Miss enough shots to spell out “H-O-R-S-E” and you were out of the game. Last player without the H-O-R-S-E moniker won. What can I say? We were

"What's Going On," by Marvin Gaye

2009-05-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

I recently watched a 1983 interview with Marvin Gaye by radio host, Tom Joyner, taped just a year before Gaye’s untimely death. It was an embarrassing waste of time. The vapid interview finds Gaye at times rolling his eyes and careening off topic, distracted and bored. At one point, Gaye places his chewing gum behind his ear, explaining that it was a way to keep his ears clean. Gaye was visibly

"#1 Record," by Big Star

2009-04-08T20:13:00.001-07:00

Everyone from Tom Petty to REM to Teenage Fan Club to Matthew Sweet to Fleet Foxes and still others claim to have been influenced by Big Star’s brand of classic power pop, and their influence is certainly palpable via popular music that arrived in its wake, but paradoxically, their albums sold merely handfuls of copies upon release – literally. So unless the dozen or so fans who purchased their

"Between The Lines," by Janis Ian

2009-03-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

Janis Ian stumbled onto the scene in 1965 as a fourteen year-old wunderkind, writing and performing “Society’s Child,” a then scandalous song about a white schoolgirl falling in love with a black schoolboy. The song reached number 14 on the pop charts in spite of being banned by most radio stations across the country, with one radio station reportedly being burned down

"Stardust," by Willie Nelson

2009-03-01T08:16:00.001-08:00

Willie Nelson spent the 1960’s writing hits for other country superstars, including two of his best known songs in the same year, 1961: “Hello Walls,” a number one hit for Faron Young, and “Crazy,” a top ten hit for Patsy Cline. Yet, solo success was elusive. But finally in 1975, derailed and tired of trying to fit the trends du jour, Willie Nelson decided to just be himself

"In Rainbows," by Radiohead

2009-02-09T20:10:00.001-08:00

Having fulfilled their major label contract, Radiohead quietly released the revolutionary album, In Rainbows, through their website in October 2007, asking fans or the curious to simply pay whatever they felt the album was worth. While no exact figures have been released by the band, insiders indicate approximately 1,000,000 downloads of In Rainbows

"Matt's Mood," by Matt Bianco

2009-01-27T04:07:00.000-08:00

“Matt Bianco” was a trio, formed in 1983 with Danny White, Mark Reilly, and prominent vocals from Polish chanteuse Basia Trzetrzelewska. The name of the group is fabricated; a fictional secret agent, which came from the group’s love of TV and film spy themes. Their music is European pop, strongly influenced by samba and jazz. The band’s debut, Whose Side Are You On? scored

"Subtítulo," by Josh Rouse

2009-01-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

Josh Rouse is just one theme song in the right "date movie," or just one fluke hit record away from being the biggest rock star on the planet. He’s the music world’s best-kept secret, and it was only coincidental that I stumbled upon his music almost a decade ago. I first heard of Josh Rouse in a radio interview in 2000 to promote his (then) new album, Home. On the strength

"Astral Weeks," by Van Morrison

2009-01-03T22:25:00.000-08:00

In April of 1993 I was finishing my senior year of college, and about that time I went for my once-a-semester haircut. While waiting my turn at the barbershop, I thumbed through the two year-old magazines stacked under each chair and found an interview with Tanita Tikiram, who had just released her third album…two years earlier. The album was, Everybody’s Angel, and I owned

"Odessey and Oracle," by The Zombies

2009-01-03T08:11:00.003-08:00

Almost everybody who knows this album by the Zombies found it through its 1969 hit single, “Time of the Season.” The lyrics are way over the top: “What’s your name? Who’s your daddy? Is he rich like me?” Who talks like that? Not exactly “sweep a girl off her feet” kind of talk, right? I suspect the lyrics were meant to reflect the 1967 “Summer of Love” mindset: strangers meet, strangers exchange

"A Song for You," by The Carpenters

2008-12-31T16:43:00.000-08:00

Being a Carpenters fan in high school in 1985 was a lonely road. On the positive side, it felt cool somehow, punk even, to be into this virtually unknown, very un-cool brother / sister act from over a decade before: Karen and Richard Carpenter. Nobody, and I mean nobody else in my school (save for a few teachers) knew about the Carpenters. Conversely, it was impossible to really be a fan, because