5. Sugar - Copper Blue
Rykodisc, 09/1992
2023: The year Alex re-discovers the 90s! No, I remember reading about Copper Blue when it came out in some magazine or other (Probably Spin. Let's call it Spin.), but in the 90s, you couldn't just hear the music you wanted to, particularly if US radio refused to play it. This was 1992 album of the year for the N.M.E. in England. Anyway, I saw this CD's bluish case in the record store a time or two, but never shelled out the $$ to hear it. I wish I had. This is top-notch 90s pop. Maybe not as anthemic as Husker Du's "New Day Rising", but smoother and more radio friendly. Which again, makes me wonder why they didn't play this on the radio.
4. Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
Virgin Records, 06/1998
OK don't kill me. For some unusual personal circumstances, I had never heard this album until 2023. Pre-Adore, I was a Smashing Pumpkins fan. I didn't pony up the insane amount for "The Aeroplane Flies High", but if you have a friend who does, skip Pistachio Medley and the A-sides, it makes an insanely good 100-minute cassette.
I have even heard Ava Adore on the radio, but for reasons, I didn't get Adore when it was released. Soon, the general opinion was that it was OK, not great, and the world moved on from Smashing Pumpkins. Billy Corgan slowly morphed into Uncle Fester, and eventually broke up the band.
...And a few years later, I heard "Zeitgeist" when it came out, and that was bad; so I just never felt the need to revisit Adore.
Turns out, it's a pretty good album. I also heard Machina for the first time this year. It's a good-but-not-quite-great album. Maybe 2024 will bring Machina II and Judas Ø to my ears. who knows?
3. The Breeders - All Nerve
4AD Records, 03/2018
Good morning!
More 90s. Yay for the Breeders. Everything the Breeders do sounds good, but one of the problems with their later-period albums was that most of the songs sounded like half-a-song-idea that wasn't really fleshed out. This album fixes that. These are good songs that deserve to be spun alongside Last Splash and Safari and Pod.
2. The Cranberries - Something Else
BMG, 03/2017
An irish band, rereleasing mellower versions of their old catalog. Sound familiar? It could be argued that this record, which came out in 2017, was the Cranberries running out of ideas. It's 10 chamber-pop rerecordings of songs from their first 4 albums plus 3 new chamber-pop songs that fit right in. In hindsight, given the problems that Dolores O'Riordan was having, it's a miracle we get to hear these anyway. I find myself a bit saddened with the realization that I will never get to see the Cranberries live.
So why is this album so good, and U2's Songs of Surrender so bad? (trust me, it's not good) For one, personal taste. Also, Dolores and the Cranberries seem genuinely into these versions. The songs are road-worn and comfortable. The new songs fit in pretty well, and the string section floats effortlessly through the whole thing. There was love and care and effort in the recording. The U2 project was mostly the Edge during the pandemic, going stir-crazy and recording mellow keyboard versions of songs that didn't need reinventing, with little input from the rest of the band.
Anyway, if you're a Cranberries fan, check this album out. It's growing on me each time I listen to it.
1. Shellac - The End of Radio
Touch and Go Records, 06/2019
Radio One! Play the drums!
A 12-track, 2-LP collection of two Peel Sessions Shellac did in 1994 and 2004. These have been floating around for some time (particularly the 1994 session), but in this format, they sound FANTASTIC. Shellac has always been about good sound, and in some ways, their music sounds like what the platonic ideal of what rock and roll guitar, bass, drums, and vocals should sound like. A bit dirty, a bit angry, but perfect.
This record encompasses all there is to love about Shellac. This is now Shellac's best album. These songs sound fantastic. Live, they stretch out and breathe. Sure, you could argue with the tracklisting. We don't need Canada twice. It really could use Copper and Wingwalker (and Didn't We Deserve, if you like punishment). But this record is perfect sound. Hear it on LP. It's stunning.
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