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2001: year in review (was: Re: favorite CD's)
I couldn't resist. Unfortunately there were very few good albums released
this year, but here's the only one's I can think of...
Over The Rhine...duh...although I thought some tracks were waaaay to slick
for them, some sounded a little too much like Tori, although most of the
songs were still great...as for the rest...
REM - Reveal. Continuing in the direction of "Up," definately a more
focused sound, although I don't think the songwriting was as good as on
some of their previous albums.
Bjork - Vespertine. Subtle, spacy, epic, and brilliant.
Spiritualized - Let It Come Down. The big pompous epic of 2001, and it's
an amazing piece of work.
Yes - Magnification. Aging prog-rockers prove that there's still hope for
both the genre and of aging 70's rock stars making good music.
Stevie Nicks - Trouble In Shangri-La. Her best solo album yet, although
somewhat disjointed due to a number of producers involved, her songwriting
hasn't been that sharp since the "Rumours" era.
Dream Theater - Live Scenes From New York. Who has the balls to put out a
3-disc live album? You gotta give the band props for that, and it's a
brilliant performance.
The Black Crowes - Lions. A major creative step forward for the band,
despite garish cover art. The band's most experimental album to date.
Depeche Mode - Exciter. After the exceptionally downtrodden "Ultra" in
'97, the band sounds revitalized and (relatively) more upbeat, producing
their best album since 1993.
Transatlantic - Bridge Across Forever. This "supergroup" (consisting of
members of Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, and Marillion)
released the prog-rock album of the year, consisting of three extended
compositions in the 70's prog tradition.
Journey - Arrival. A great AOR album that no one noticed, the band
replaces Steve Perry with Steve Augeri, who sounds just like Steve Perry,
and releases an incredibly solid slab of melodic, driving rock, their
strongest album in over 20 years.
The New Deal - The New Deal. They describe themselves as "live progressive
breakbeat house." In reality, imagine three jazz-heads playing totally
live improvised house/techno music. Unreal...
Ocean Colour Scene - Mechanical Wonder. An underrated brit-rock band who
remains totally unknown in the states, sadly. This, their fifth album
didn't get them any more recognition but it's an excellent slab of
intelligent brit pop/rock.
Tortoise - Standards. If you haven't heard these guys, you owe it to
yourself to check out this album or "T.N.T." A mix of jazz, electronic
music, and fusion that can't really be explained without hearing it.
And now...the worst albums of 2001:
Bon Jovi - One Wild Night Live 1985-2001. What should've been the arena
rock album of the decade turned out to be a weak, poorly compiled affair
that even the band wasn't happy with. The power and enerrgy of the band in
concert rarely comes through on this disc.
Aerosmith - Just Push Play. 50+ year old guys going through a midlife
crisis making an album that sounds nothing like their namesake.
Dave Matthews Band - Everyday. Dave keeps the other guys in the band, but
basically wipes them off the record, and releases one of the most boring
pop records of the year, completely devoid of the musicianship and input
from the rest of the band that characterized their previous releases.
Dave Matthews Band - Live In Chicago. Another live album with the same
damn songs we've been hearing way too much for almost 6 years now.
Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls. An interesting idea, but most of the
covers on here fall completely flat. Bob Geldof's "I Don't Like Mondays"
is pleasant enough, but most of the songs here are downright embarassing.
Paul Oakenfold - Ibiza. Yet another bland mix from what is otherwise an
excellent trance DJ. His live sets still smoke, but his releases have gone
steadily downhill since '98.
Travis - The Invisible Band. An album as equally boring as their
debut. Flame me if you want, but these guys' generic acoustic pop/rock is
no different than anyone else.
The Orb - Cydonia. A far cry from '97's brilliant "Orblivion." Supposedly
there's another new record coming out next year, let's hope it's a little
better.
The "Live Phish" series. Six whole live Phish shows, none of which are
really outstanding, some with lesser quality than can be found on people's
bootleg trade lists.
Pink Floyd "Echoes - The Best Of Pink Floyd." There's no way you can
reduce Floyd's catalog down to two discs, unless you edit the hell out of
some of their songs, which is what they did. A shame...
Sorry for the long post, I got a little carried away. Peace all,
Steve C.
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