A Lifetime-Plus of Music

     1997 starts with an album released late in 1996, proving to be the #1 selling album of 1997.  Regardless of musical trends and genres, simple and light pop music will always have a market and an audience, and the visual flash of the Spice Girls were an instant hit upon the release of their debut album.  I have always respected the message of their biggest hit, particularly from a woman’s view, that solidarity and friendship is paramount to health and happiness in life.

     This record is a very easy and uncomplicated listen.  The album opens with “Wannabe”, their debut mega-hit that still is the identity song most associate with the Spice Girls.  Like many of their songs, the vocals are collaborative and alternated between the five singers, although usually each track somewhat features a lead part for one of them.  Simple, infectious pop music… it is hard to dislike a song like this.

     The rest of the album doesn’t hold quite the allure, but there are several other songs that were successful singles for the group.  The next two songs were also the next two songs released as singles.  “Say You’ll Be There” is another bouncy, up-tempo song that is as good a follow-up to “Wannabe” that they could have hoped to produce.  It gets a little cheesier with “2 Become 1”, a sappy ballad that while again laden with nice harmonies and a catchy chorus, this song is definitely a guiltier pleasure than most if you enjoy this one.

     The rest of the album is easy but uneventful, and it isn’t hard to see why it was so popular, packaged as it was.  I was actually a bit disappointed my favorite Spice Girls song, “Stop” wasn’t on this record.  I can’t say I always loved this track, but discovered it in early 2020 when the Struts covered it as a part of their COVID recording sessions.  Like this album, it is tons of fun and is paired up with the required dance moves that were hilariously showcased by Struts guitarist Adam Slack. 

     Nothing but respect here for the Spice Girls and their girl group vibe, the latest reinvention of a musical trend that dates back all the way to the 1940s and probably even before.  They are excellent ambassadors for their brand, as well as the UK pop scene in general.

     I started today by tapping into the music of another 1990s superstar, Sheryl Crow.  I should have noted her when mentioning the other mega-acts of the ‘90s who made it really big with their debut album, and when I saw her name come up on the list, my first assumption was that the album would be “Tuesday Night Music Club”, which actually came out in 1993 and featured mega-hits like “All I Wanna Do”.  Upon a closer look, I realized this was the follow-up album, her self-titled second album that was released in 1996.  This one made my list as it is album #475 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums of All Time.  Much as I did with the two major hit albums for Bonnie Raitt, I decided to listen to “Tuesday Night Music Club” first, as a prelude to “Sheryl Crow”.  I’m glad I did that for two reasons.  One, it was good to hear many of the songs we all came to know from that first album.  And second, in agreement with Rolling Stone (this time), I realized today’s album is even better.

     Unlike her first album, Crow took much more individual ownership on this album, with the production, songwriting, and performing, as she played almost all of the instruments here.  And that is an impressive feat, because this is a really good rock and roll album.  It still has plenty of hooks and pop-laden flavor, but it is a much more guitar-centric and edgier sound, all of which I enjoyed immensely.

     The album opens with a song I didn’t know, but it became an instant favorite, “Maybe Angels”.  The soulful blend of organ and guitar create a funky groove that sets the stage for the record.  Next comes what proved to be my favorite on a good album, a song most of you will recognize, “A Change Will Do You Good”.  I recall when I first heard this song many years ago, I realized there was even more to Sheryl Crow than I previously imagined.  The production and the funk-rock groove really carry this song, along with some entertaining visuals in the lyrics.

     “Home” adds a nice contrast with its mellow acoustic vibe, and reminds me of an all-time favorite, The Sundays.  The pace quickens with another funk-pop-rock track on “Sweet Rosalyn”.  Referencing Royal Street, this makes further sense when I learned she recorded this album in New Orleans.

     “If It Makes You Happy” is another great lyrical product, with a sad and driving melody.  Crow garnered a lot of praise for her stronger vocals and honest songwriting on this album, and this is a great example here.  “Redemption Day” takes us back to the acoustics, this time reminding me of Toad and the Wet Sprocket or R.E.M.  “Hard to Make A Stand” is a solid story-teller, and next comes her other big hit from this record “Everyday Is A Winding Road”.  This has never been major favorite of mine, even though I think it is a really well-written song, if that makes sense.  For some reason, I have never loved the chorus, which is particularly odd now that I learned the harmony vocals on this song come from Neil Finn of Crowded House.  Next comes “The Book”, which is an acoustic ballad that almost sounds as if it was recorded in front of the Preservation Hall Dixieland Jazz Band as they are warming up before the show.  The horns provide an eerie yet effective backing for this track.

     The last three songs are enjoyable if not spectacular, and I will acknowledge I was holding out hope I would hear “Steve McQueen” or “Soak Up The Sun”, which actually didn’t release until 2002.  “Steve McQueen” is my all-time favorite Sheryl Crow tune; it is just a great rock song referencing a true rock star masquerading as an actor.

      I was lucky enough to finally see Sheryl Crow in concert a few years ago, opening an outdoor show for Robert Plant in Maryland.  Her catalog of music is outstanding, and she is a great performer, in the studio and on stage.  She has come a long, long way from her early days as a backup singer for Michael Jackson on his “Bad” tour in the late 1980s, and her career is one any performer could be proud of.

     Today is one of the most highly acclaimed hip-hop albums ever, the debut record from perhaps the most financially successful rapper of all time.  “Reasonable Doubt” by Jay-Z is rated as album #67 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and is rated #4 on the Top 10 hip-hop albums of all time as rated by definitivedose.com.  For all of the hype around this record and for Jay-Z in general, I have never been an over-the-top fan of Jay-Z, and this record does nothing to change my opinion.

     I will acknowledge that he is a brilliant businessman, and a highly accomplished producer and talent developer.  However, as a songwriter, and much more so, as an MC, he just is not my cup of tea.  The tone of his voice is high and nasal, his flow is not as smooth or fluid, and he makes a lot of weird grunts around his rapping that just sounds weird.  There are certain other singles he has done over the years that I do like better, but there isn’t much on this album I really connect with.  To make it worse, like many in the hip-hop culture, there is a fascination with one of my favorite gangster movies, “Scarface”, but the content on this album taken from that movie is woefully amateurish and frankly embarrassing to any true “Scarface” fan.

     The album isn’t without highlights, even if they also magnify my point.  One of my favorite tracks is “Brooklyn’s Finest” (after the terrible Scarface intro), as it is a good back and forth for Brooklyn dominance between Jay-Z and Biggie Smalls.  I like the tune, but mainly because The Notorious B.I.G. lays down a much smoother compliment in contrast to his hosting artist. 

      This album taps in a lot to the rap sounds of the time.  “Dead Presidents II” borrows a main verse from Nas, “Devil’s” heavily samples Snoop, and “22 Two’s”, a hard diss on west coast rap, leads it off with the main chorus from “Can I Kick It” by A Tribe Called Quest. 

     Among my favorites within these road-bumps is the chill tune “Feelin’ It”, with a very Amy Winhehouse-esque vocal from Mecca.  It is one of the best blends of street anger and sweet relaxation, and her singing is top-notch.  “Cashmere Thoughts” has a really funky opening that pulls me in, and “Regrets” has a R&B feel that resurfaces elsewhere on this record.  One last preferred track I will call out is the last track, “Call I Live II”, with a pretty infectious horn riff that hypnotically drops a solid slow beat.

     Overall, not a terrible record, and there are some highlights, but I definitely don’t rate this anywhere near some of the other legends we have heard from recently.  In my naïve and relatively uninformed opinion, like Dr. Dre, I think Jay-Z would have been better served focusing on the production with limited rapping, letting smoother and better MCs carry a bigger piece of the rapping load.

     Today (tonight) is a challenging blog for me to write.  Seemingly, it should be a simple discussion on the next west coast rap sensation, Tupac Shakur and his double album “All Eyez On Me”.  However, between the music I have listened to and the television I watched tonight, I’m struggling a bit on the inside with the blurry lines of fictional and real-life violence.  Make no mistake, this entire double album, which was the first full double album released in the hip-hop genre, is a celebration of the thug life Tupac lived and died.  Musically, I can’t deny that I really like this record a lot, and for reasons I will cite below, I prefer it to most of the east coast New York rap albums I have listened to recently.  It is rated as album # 436 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums of All Time, and it is album #9 on the Top Ten Hip Hop albums of all time as rated on definitivedose.com.

     Let’s start with the music, and move on to the bigger discussion.  From a production standpoint, most of the songs on this album have a much more robust and lush backing than the bare-bones drum base of New York hip-hop.  Dr. Dre is only a partial contributor on this album, but his influence, sound and style from “The Chronic” and “Doggystyle” carry over on Death Row records to this entire production.  Most of the songs have really thick bass lines, and are much more melodic than their east coast contemporaries.  Songs like “How Do U Want It” and “Life Goes On” could be classified as R&B as much as they are hip-hop, other than the lead vocal track.  The backing vocals and instrumentation make these songs immensely listenable and very easy on the ears.

     The album opens with the mood setter “Ambitionz Az A Ridah”, and you know quickly Tupac that comes to this record angry and ready to fight following incarceration and several dust-ups.  It is a haunting tone that is cast, but it also a great hook within the confines of this intensity.

     Other stand-out tracks that really bump along include “Skandalouz”, which features Nate Dogg, “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” that features Snoop Dogg, and “Heartz of Men”.  Each one of these tracks grabs you from the first beat, and will all be automatic adds to my playlist collection.  As you can see here and elsewhere, another recurring theme on this album is collaboration, as a majority of the tracks feature some other artist in addition to Tupac.

     The signature song from this record is “California Love”, another collaboration with Dr. Dre, who raps the first verse of the song.  The funkified allure of this track is undeniable, and it remains today as one of the greatest hip-hop songs ever produced.  Not only is the groove unmatched, the adulation for California is just as lasting and impactful as other generational tributes to the west coast American sunshine dream like “California Girls” by the Beach Boys and “California Dreamin’” by the Mamas & The Papas.  For all of its challenges, there is no place in America or worldwide like the Golden State, and my own ongoing fascination with California originates from a childhood where my father lived primarily in southern California for two-plus years, and my visits were my first exposure to seemingly endless sunshine and the excess wealth and celebrity of Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

     Leave it again to Dr. Dre to co-deliver my other favorite on this album, the song “Can’t C Me” and yet another unmistakable signature bass beat.  Blending my love for funk and fat bass lines, you just don’t hear much else in the hip-hop world that thumps quite like this track, even if Tupac’s vocal delivery lacks the same smoothness we get from Q-Tip, Nas, Havoc or Tupac’s ultimate nemesis, The Notorious B.I.G.

     With that, let’s talk more about this east coast – west coast rivalry.  For the most part, it was treated by casual fans as somewhat of a musical cartoon.  Yet, when you peel it back and listen to the many back and forth songs and videos, and more importantly, understand the cultivation of violence that emerged during this time, is it really anything to laugh at or celebrate?  Most evidence leads to the conclusion that neither Biggie or Tupac’s murders were a direct result of this back-and-forth rivalry, but even if that is true, the desensitization and normalization of “thug life” and the resulting loss of life and criminal detainment are complex by-products of this generation and genre of music.  I’m as guilty as any… I typically love these songs and laugh and relish in their seemingly fictional video-game world of street violence, but as we saw with this end result, the consequences were anything but fictional.

     I realized tonight that my inner struggle with this fictional or non-fictional world reaches beyond the art form of music.  Currently immersed in the television show “Breaking Bad”, I had a long conversation tonight as I tried to deal with, somewhat unsuccessfully, the seemingly downward and irreversible spiral of the two main characters who originated as hapless, coincidental criminals who descended into continuous acts of violence, even if it was for the purposes of survival.  Is this what I want to watch or listen to with my limited free time?  I remain unsure on all of this, but it definitely impacted me, both in music and in television, particularly in an age where the world has suddenly become more violent and senseless with a brutal war waging as we speak.

     A lot to take in, and I’m probably best served shutting down for the night, but the struggle of today will roll on.  I love the funky groove, and like many, I’m drawn like a moth to the culture we center on with “All Eyez On Me” or “Breaking Bad”, but that doesn’t mean that this fascination is without consequence or conflict.

     Another highly successful album of the mid-1990s was “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?” by Oasis, a British band led by the combative Gallagher brothers, Liam & Noel.  Noel was the primary creative force and songwriter, as well as the lead guitarist, and Liam was the lead vocalist.  Rated as album #157 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Album of All Time, the band blended their indie rock roots with a double dose of Beatle-esque sound to create an impactful and really well-done album.

     There are two songs on this record most everyone knows, “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova”.  In particular, “Champagne Supernova” is a big favorite of mine, and is a really strong closing track for the album.  With its galactic and expansive concept and sound, this track is a just a beautiful song, and stands to me as their finest accomplishment.  “Wonderwall” is a good song but not quite on the same level for me.  For all of the success of these two songs, they were actually the fourth and sixth singles released.  Liam’s voice across this album is a blend of Joe Strummer, John Lennon and Billie Joe Armstrong. 

     What surprised me the most was how much I loved the rest of this record.  For all of their drama as two brothers who fought constantly, they did make a great record.  They aren’t the first brother duo to fight their way through a musical career. John & Tom Fogerty still don’t speak to this day, and other famous brothers like the Davies, the Wilsons, and the Everlys certainly had their moments as well.

     “Hello” is a decent opener, but perhaps my favorite new track to me comes next, “Roll With It”, a great up-tempo rocker with a very infectious hook.  Although I didn’t recognize it, “Roll With It” was their second single released from the record.  I think that is what strikes me most about this album, is how alluring each of these songs are on the first listen.  Many of these records are an acquired taste, but I loved this one from the first listen.

     Two other tracks that stood out for me were “Some Might Say” and “She’s Electric”.  “Some Might Say” opens with a Georgia Satellite-sounding riff, which is a long, long way from London.  “She’s Electric” very much taps in to the notion that they were building from a Beatles base, and it reminds me a lot of “Good Day Sunshine”.  A happy and very pleasant tune indeed, who says these guys don’t get along?

     I’m not overly interested in how many times they quit the band on each other or punched each other on or off stage.  At the end of the day, some tension and intensity in the band often creates great music, and this album is a hidden gem I’m happy to rediscover.

     The other massive mega-album of the mid 1990s was “Jagged Little Pill” by Alanis Morissette.   Released in 1995, this record was the #1 selling album of 1996.  It is also the 69^th rated album on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

     Alanis grew up as a successful, if somewhat depressed and unhappy child star in Canada, and she released two uber-pop dance albums as she reached early adulthood.  Credit to her, she recognized there was something more she could offer and in parallel with her move to Hollywood, she paired up with producer Glen Ballard and co-wrote and created this album, a much harder-edge record that was built around her evolving views on life, sadness, betrayal and frustration.

     The album opens with “All I Really Want”, the last of six singles released from the album, and it is a hypnotic opener that announced her new sound to the world.  I don’t really remember this song, but I really liked it, perhaps as much as any song I didn’t recall previously from this record.

     Public Service Announcement Time… I know less about the female gender than most people on this planet, but I do know this.  If you meet or come across a woman who is jamming out to “You Oughta Know”, my advice is to turn around and run away as fast as you possibly can.  She is most likely really angry, and if given the opportunity, would gladly murder you as collateral damage along with any other man she can find.  One of the saltiest and most wonderfully angry songs ever, “You Oughta Know” is a fantastic rocker that speaks candidly to the raw emotions of watching someone you love leave you, and quickly move on with someone else.  Two interesting observations on this song… First off, believe it or not, this song was allegedly written about her relationship with none other than Full House actor Dave Coulier.  Yes, that is right, the inspiration for this hellfire of fury is none other than Joey and his animal voices and terrible jokes… “CUT IT OUT.”  On a more relevant note, the guitar and bass on this song are provided by Dave Navarro and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I always liked this song, but once I realized how good that bass line was from Flea, it raised it up several notches for me.

     I really do like all of the other big hits from this record as well, and remember this CD being on frequent rotation back in the day.  “Hand In My Pocket”, “You Learn”, “Head Over Feet” and “Ironic”, even as the last song really tends to annoy my son, are all well-written songs and it is impressive how many big hits Morissette and Ballard were able to create for this record.  Of the songs not on the charts, my favorites are “Perfect” and “Right Through You”, as they are both the ideal blend of guitar rock and infectious pop.

     Alanis Morissette has had a long and successful career, but will always be defined by, and known for this monster record.  There are worse things to be associated with, and along with Hootie and the Blowfish and the Spin Doctors, are three of the largest single-album success stories I can recall, at least certainly from this decade.

“You seem very well, things look peaceful, I’m not quite as well, I thought you should know…”

“Did you forget about me, Mr. Duplicity, I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner, it was a slap in the face, How quickly I was replaced, and are you thinking of me when you…”

     Another important cog in the machine of east coast hip-hop today, with the duo from Queens Mobb Deep.  There is a lot of overlap with the other popular east coast acts of the day, and Nas, Raekwon, and Q-Tip, among others, all make an appearance on this album.   Their second release, “The Infamous”, is rated as album #369 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums of All Time.

     More so than Biggie, but perhaps less so than A Tribe Called Quest, I enjoy the bare-bones, reserved sound of this album, even as they spend most of their time highlighting the world of crime they are immersed in as two more who escaped from the projects.  The album has a smooth flow, and I like the sound of it in general, one song in particular, but one feature that is unique to this record that I really love are the spoken word preludes that precede several tracks.  It reminds me (and perhaps you) that all lyrical music is a form of poetry, and is refreshing to hear the spoken word flow so smoothly.  I like all of the preludes, but my favorite is definitely “(Just Step Prelude)”.  The two MCs in Mobb Deep are Havoc and Prodigy, and I particularly like the first half of this track featuring Havoc.  Like most MCs, the bar of measurement is Rakim, and Havoc is Rakim-smooth on this rhyme.

     Most of this album is pretty sparse in terms of instrumentation, which gives us a clear line to their vocals.  Every now and then I find a song that comes out of nowhere and becomes an instant favorite, and that happened here with the track “Up North Trip”.  Surprisingly this was not one of the singles from the record, but the primary melody and hook, along a great beat, sets the stage for a really catchy song.  After the opening intro, the rapping of the verse is set against just the drum beat, and it is really lush when the keyboard joins in for the chorus.

     “Shook Ones” was a single and is one of the best examples of the overall sound of the album.  It is all very listenable, and I love the softer tone of the rapping, even with the intense messages of a song like this.  I have always loved the name Mobb Deep, and I’m glad I can now speak with more familiarity as I keep adding to the playlist and my hip-hop awareness.

     In the mid-1990s, two major hit albums were released by relatively unknown artists.  The first of those is “Cracked Rear View” by Hootie and the Blowfish, led by their lead singer Darius Rucker.  Released in 1994, this album was the number one selling album of 1995 and produced several huge singles.  One thing I love about Darius Rucker is that as a black singer for a genre of music that was not terribly diverse, he has been widely accepted by many sub-groups of society that might have seemed an odd fit.  As a frat brother himself from the University of South Carolina (my dad’s fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, by the way), Hootie and the Blowfish were widely embraced by frat bros across the country.  Where do many frat bros assemble once they graduate?  Golf courses, and Darius Rucker and all of the band have become synonymous with the PGA Tour.  They often have played at tour events and parties, and he is now close friends with Tiger Woods and many other PGA tour pros.  Even now, he has successfully crossed over as a successful country artist, another genre not known for its diversity.  As I learned while listening more closely to this album and reading up on it, it doesn’t mean he sold out or compromised his own heritage in any way.

     Musically, the band is very easy to listen to, with Rucker’s deep, smoky, baritone voice and the band’s energetic and full sound.  Of the many singles that were omnipresent, I have always favored their first single, “Hold My Hand”.  It is a relatively simple song of love and support, but something about the harmonies have always really appealed to me.  I learned what the secret sauce was here today, as I found out that the high end on those harmonies is none other than David Crosby, the all-time master of the high harmony vocal.

     “Let Her Cry” is my second favorite song, with its story-telling of sadness and struggle, and a really compelling melody.  “Only Wanna Be with You” has always been a bit more of a fluff song for me, although I give him credit for not being overly emotional about ocean mammals, but rather his beloved Miami Dolphins.  Trust me, if I was a Dolphin fan, I would probably want to cry a lot as well.  Their fourth single, “Time”, is a slower and more contemplative song, but is a great showcase for Rucker’s voice.

     The opening track, “Hannah Jane”, seems to me like it could have been another hit single, with an extremely infectious chorus.  At some point, the record company probably finally felt they had squeezed all they could from this album, but this song sure sounds like a single to me and it is my favorite “new discovery”.

     Remember what I said above about Rucker and his band staying true to their principles?  The last single released was a song called “Drowning”, and although it opens like another aspiring pop single, it was actually a bold statement at the time against the inclusion of the Confederate flag in the state flag for South Carolina, and against racism in general.  1990s South Carolina (and America) may have been better than 1950s South Carolina, but in the upscale, white-dominated southern society where the band flourished, this song definitely ruffled some feathers and I love that they were willing to take that chance and tell the establishment of South Carolina that their reasoning here was way off-base.

“Why is there a rebel flag hanging from the state house walls, Tired of hearing this shit about heritage not hate, Time to make the world a better place”.

     Fast-forward to 2022, and that state flag is long gone.  We haven’t solved all of these complex problems, but we are making progress, and artists like Darius Rucker have helped, even by endearing himself and his band to a part of society who once would have openly shunned him.  This week, the PGA Tour is gathered in Hilton Head, South Carolina, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Darius and/or his band are somewhere in the mix, playing for a large crowd of adoring, if not very fashionably dressed fans.

“With a little love, and some tenderness, we’ll walk upon the water, we’ll rise above the mess.  With a little peace, and some harmony, we’ll take the world together, we’ll take ‘em by the hand.”

     Today is a challenging blog for me, as we have the debut album from The Notorious B.I.G.  My son is quick to tell me that Biggie is his all-time favorite rapper.  This record is extremely highly regarded, as it is album #22 on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums of All Time, and is also the #1 hip-hop album of all time as rated by definitivedose.com.  Hell, my favorite book store even has a cat named Biggie Smalls.  Everybody loves Biggie… and yet, I like but don’t love this album.  I will apologize in advance…

     I have listened to enough hip-hop during this experience to realize that my favorite hip-hop acts are on the smoother, funkier side.  Whether it is super-smooth Rakim, comically slick Snoop, or something low-fi like A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul, I typically prefer that to the more confrontational, angry and explosive sound of a rapper like Biggie.  There are exceptions, as a big fan of Chuck D, but in general I’m more likely to be down with some G-Funk or jazz-based hip-hop.

     Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike this album.  I love the autobiographical element of the record, the way he sets up his life story on “Intro”.  It also isn’t to say that Biggie can’t find that elusive vibe as well.  “Big Poppa” is probably my favorite track on the album, and both the main verse and chorus are what I love most about Mr. Smalls.  That flows right into “Respect”, with a perfect blend of hip-hop and Rastafari.

     “Juicy” is commonly singled out for its success as a hit, and is considered one of his best songs ever, but it is a perfect example of a song where Biggie’s vocals (in my opinion) might fit in better with a small dose of smooth and subtle.

     There is plenty to think about here, both in terms of tragedy and foreshadowing.  “Suicidal Thoughts” chronicles a friend’s recognition that his friend is in danger, and is one of the most honest and powerful tracks on the album.  Like many rappers of the day, Biggie’s life and those around him were intertwined with violence and confrontation.  More prophetic than anyone could have known, “Who Shot Ya” gave us a little too much of a look into the eventual violent ending to his life.

     Before I wrap up, I also want to single out “The What”, with a great guest appearance from Method Man in Wu-Tang Clan.  Their voices blend and contrast just right, and it further signifies the common bond of east coast New York rappers in the 1990s.

     As a cultural figure and centerpiece of 1990’s hip-hop, I love what Biggie delivered and represented.  Big in impact and stature, his influence across hip-hop is immeasurable.  Why the hooks from these tracks don’t quite grab me the way they do most others is not easily understood, but I’m glad I gave it a good go and will celebrate the songs I liked best as I am reminded one more time that the love of music or any art form is still a subjective process.

     Looking at loudwire.com’s Top 10 Grunge Albums of all time, we have two albums each from Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Soundgarden.  We get one album from Soundgarden-Pearl Jam hybrid Temple of the Dog, and the other spot goes to “Core” from the Stone Temple Pilots.  While I like all of those albums, I would find a spot somewhere for today’s album, the second release from STP, “Purple”.  These lists are subjective and you could make an argument this record is diverse enough in sound that it breaks the boundaries of whatever we considered “grunge” in the first place, but either way, this album has some fantastic music that easily stands up to most, if not all of those other classics.

     Still driven by Scott Weiland and the DeLeo brothers, STP demonstrates force and versatility on this record.  The record opens with a true grunge hammer on “Meatplow”, but in my opinion, things get more interesting as we stray from that course.  “Vasoline” is one of my two favorites on this record.  It has an outstanding riff, and the alternating vocals from Weiland between verse and chorus lift this song to the top of the pack.  “Lounge Fly” also tests the boundaries and features a guitar solo from Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers.

     “Interstate Love Song” may not be my all-time favorite STP song, but it certainly is close, and I do consider it the best overall song they ever produced.  The guitar riff, bursting through the subtle acoustic opening, synchs up with Weiland on top of his game.  It remains a radio classic to this day, along with being a perfect road trip song, and I know it is a personal favorite of my close friend Mike.

     In the middle of the album, you have a trio of lesser known songs that feature different styles from STP.  The sound diverges into more psychedelic and glam rock on “Still Remains” and “Silvergun Superman”, with the contrasting acoustic intermission of “Pretty Penny” that puts us up close and personal with Weiland.

     “Big Empty” is another of their best, a bluesy wander that is pondering and insightful all at once, and “Unlgued” is just another straight-up rocker in the same vein as “Crackerman”.  The album then flows into two last rock jams, before a ridiculously campy “Second Album” lounge singer emerges as a hidden track.

     Together with “Core”, “Purple” sets the baseline for which all future STP music would be measured against.  This is both good and bad, as it sometimes creates a barrier for fans who want more of the same when musicians like Weiland want to evolve and explore.  Like many of his peers, he seemingly dodged the specter of death for so long as he confronted addiction, and there were many years of false reports of his demise before it sadly was proven true.  His deeper vocal tone and range, along with his creative lyrical imagery cements his status as a rock star, for good and bad, and the Stone Temple Pilots will live on as one of the dominant rock acts of the 1990s.