My 30 Best Albums of the Decade: Number One

Well, this is it. I have to admit that I was astonished at the quality as well as the quantity of music recorded this decade. I really can't help but credit the digitilization of music, after all, all information yearns to be free and accessible, the way we acquire our music in this day and age is very conducive to establishing a very diverse and entertaining collection.

In retrospect, there may be an album or two I should have ranked a bit higher, The Rising comes to mind. But overall, I'm pleased with the way the list shakes out, even if #1 is a bit unconventional.

#1. American IV: The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash

Huh? Johnny Cash? In the time of the Dave Matthews Band, The White Stripes, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eminem, Pearl Jam, etc? Johnny Cash?

Absolutely.

If you had to decide who the Greatest American Musician was, would Johnny Cash not be in the conversation? Would he not be the favorite? Elvis Presley was an historic icon, there’s no doubting that, but he was more of a performer. As much as I love The King, he didn’t write his own music. Frank Sinatra would have been Elvis if television was as popular in the 1940s as it was in the late 50s, but as much as we love Frank, there really isn’t an argument for him to be The Best. Buddy Holly, the VASTLY underrated pioneer, just didn’t have the catalog. Other mega-stars and legends like The Doors, the Grateful Dead, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and Skid Row are legendary in their own right, but don’t quite have the iconic staying power as The Man In Black. There are jazz icons and country singers that have made an everlasting mark on the Great American Soundtrack, however they didn’t cross as many disciplines as those who would follow later, although many were prevented from achieving their ultimate potential thanks to societal norms.

No, I believe the discussion is boiled down to two competitors. Johnny Cash, and his friend and sometimes collaborator Bob Dylan. Personally I’d chose Dylan, but the argument can be made for Cash and even then, there’s no shame in being the runner up to Bob Dylan.

Do I think that I consider The Man Comes Around as a lifetime achievement award? Definitely – but not the way you might think. It’s not a case of “Let’s finally give Scorcese an Oscar”. It’s more along the lines of wow – what a fan-fucking-tastic treat this man bestowed upon us.

The crux of the album is Cash’s acceptance of his fate, the realization that his time on Earth is coming to a close. Instead of spending his days writing new material however (there are only 3 original Cash songs), he chose a collection of previously recorded works, some very well known and some obscure, that spoke to his bevy of emotions, his gratitude, and his regrets as the end drew near. In selecting songs that we already had familiarity with, he was able to convey these feelings in ways that new material wouldn’t have, at least not as substantially.

What separates this from being a run of the mill cover album? The depth and clarity with which he chose these songs. Limited to neither genre or period, the legendary musician spanned the globe as well as history to put together this farewell. In the process, he only happened to make the greatest music video in the history of music video’s with his cover of the Nine Inch Nails single “Hurt” – undoubtedly the most memorable of his performances on The Man Comes Around.

Beyond “Hurt”, Cash may be at his best on his home turf, country western music, in the way he tackles the traditional cowboy ballad “Streets of Laredo”. I mentioned earlier that I have a fascination with our own mortality and there’s no need to dive deeper into that, but the way that Cash slowly builds towards the end of the song, the cowboy’s acceptance that his time has come and he will not have time to right his wrongs is just gut-wrenching in its beauty. You know, if something beautiful can also be considered gut-wrenching.

Personally, his cover of the traditional Irish folk song “Danny Boy” shakes me to my core. I own multiple versions of the song, but what separates this one from the 345,376 different recordings is the raw and unrefined way in which it is being sung – and who’s singing it. The lyrics tell a simple, time honored story of a dying man bestowing his best wishes on a loved one he’s leaving behind. Often it’s sung by a healthy and strong tenor – which is fine, and often beautiful. But here we have a dying man, his deep and strapping voice fading and raspy bidding a farewell.

While the whole album is worth mentioning, especially his rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus”, one last cover I’d like to pay homage to is the Beatles’ “In My Life”. Probably my favorite Beatles song, the Cash version is 180 degrees different and like “Danny Boy” – is a contrast to the song we’re accustomed to hearing. While the original was recorded while the legends were in their prime, and decades later remains a staple at weddings – the ultimate symbol of looking forward to the future – lyrically this song was made for a situation like the one this great icon found himself in, as if the great John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote this 35 years early specifically for him. Like more than a few tracks on the disc, you can’t help but appreciate the unique love he had for his wife June, mourn its loss, and if your belief system allows, appreciate the fact that they are at eternal peace together.

I would be remiss to neglect at least one original Cash recording, and of the three, the title track is most likely to be have eternal staying power. While it basically plagiarizes the Book of Revelations (the man was old, cut him some slack), it tells the tale of the pending Apocalypse that may or may not happen in 2012 with great fervor, and the acknowledgement that one man will be facing his Final Judgment soon.

Three pages later and I still feel I haven’t done this album justice. I can’t think of any comparison to such a great gift being left to us by such a figure. Like #2 on this list, the album was produced by Rick Rubin and he deserves many kudos and accolades. But it’s the aura, career, emotion and ability of Johnny Cash that makes this album what it is. To me, American IV: The Man Comes Around is the #1 Album of the Decade. To you – if you’ve ever loved or lost, mourned or rejoiced – it’s worth a listen.

Johnny Cash made his mark on American cultural history over the span of half a century and in his final hour, he thanked us for allowing him to do so. Humbly, Mr. Cash, may I say that the pleasure was all ours.

My 30 Best Albums of the Decade: #2

And then there were two. Interestingly enough, both share a common denominator. Which will be revealed tomorrow.

#2. Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers

For a band that pretty much spans my entire music-listening life, I never really connected with the Red Hot Chili Peppers for some reason. I always enjoyed them, I owned a few of their albums and was familiar with basically of their work, but they never reached that level that other artists in my collection did throughout the last quarter century. While “Blood Sugar Sex Magik was probably one of my 10 most-played albums in high school, they still never hit the mark. I always loved a little bit of their CDs, but not really the CD as a whole.



Then came Stadium Arcadium.

It was if they took that “little bit” that I loved off each CD and rolled it into one massive double disc of near-perfection. From track 1 of disc 1 (“Dani California”) to track 14 of disc 2 (the quirky “Death of a Martian”) the band strikes gold all the way through. Really, I could go into what I love about each song but there’s twenty eight of them. Lets just say that there’s something for everyone’s taste.

Furthermore, the album tends to stand out as a whole rather than a sum of its parts. They keep their vintage sound but it’s enhanced with a more mature production and lyrics that are keenly aware of where they stand in the here and now. Probably no more than in their release and slightly overplayed “Snow”.

Now, there’ve been more than a few songs that have induced drunken sing-alongs in my life. Whether it was “American Pie” while I was 17 and drinking in the woods, or I was 19, “Me and Bobby McGhee” in a dorm room, or my early 20s (ok, and late 20s. and early 30s) and the tools of humiliation were a karaoke machine and “Friends and Low Places”, drunken singing has always been a most favored pastime of mine. Panda Guilt be damned. And yes, I’ve left a certain showtune off this mini-rundown on purpose.

But that summer of 2006 (probably the best year for music this decade by the way). I can’t ever recall a more passionate bellowing of a tune than “Snow” that year. Full details, as usual, are a little foggy. But we were in a friend’s living room and I believe it was actually the last time that the cops were called on us. (Which would make it over 3 years, which HAS to be a personal record – that, or I have deaf neighbors). It’s got a very accommodating beat, but more than that, some very resonating lyrics.


Too often critics and listeners alike are quick to proclaim an accomplished artists’ later work a “masterpiece” or “vintage”. We’ve been seeing that with Bob Dylan for the last 12 years. While I thoroughly enjoyed Modern Times and Time Out of Mind, let us not kid ourselves. As good as they are, they’re not Blood on the Tracks. They’re not Freewheelin and they sure as hell aren’t Blonde on Blonde or Highway 61 Revisited. How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb was quality U2 that shared similar traits with their early recordings. That doesn’t mean it was on par with The Joshua Tree.


Stadium Arcadium is different. Stadium Arcadium is not only “vintage” Red Hot Chili Peppers, it’s the definitive Red hot Chili Peppers. It’s the work of a band comfortable with their place in Rock History. I’d call it the culmination of a quarter century of the highs and lows that any band that’s been together that long experiences, but that would be unfair. Who knows, it may be topped. When you can cut an album this good at this stage of your career, no achievement is off the table. The only thing I’m taking off the table though, is saying that I’ve never really connected with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

My 30 Best Albums of the Decade: #3

This is it. The Top Three. I said the top 6 were thisclose, and they were. But I did not decide on what would be 2 and what would be 3 till this morning.

#3. Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King - Dave Matthews Band

September Eleventh. My life changed that day. When the clock struck midnight and 9/12 was upon us, I knew my life would never be the same. I’d say there’s maybe a week or two’s worth of watershed days in my life. There I was, at one of the area’s more famous locations at the time when everything I thought I knew was exposed as myth. Continental Airlines Arena. September 11, 1999.


It was the first of many Dave Matthews Band shows for me – events that would define this decade in my life. In the irony of all ironies, this “ultimate college band” didn’t make my rotation till the months after I graduated college. But I would spend the next ten years making up for lost time, and then some, as I traveled up and down the northeastern seaboard in pursuit of the higher plane of existence that comes with the DMB Experience (and 6 hour tailgate).

Before “Big Whiskey”, the band had cut 3 studio albums this decade. All enjoyable in their own right. None came close to the genius of their late 90’s trifecta of Crash, Under the Table and Dreaming, and Before These Crowded Streets. Until Big Whiskey.


Before the album was finalized, the band lost founding member and saxophone great LeRoi Moore, and to a degree, the entire album is a tribute to him, right down to his nickname “Grux”. LeRoi alone was worth the price of admission to a DMB show, whether he was opening the concert with a solo for “One Sweet World” or keeping you going on an extended bridge for a long jam like “Crush” or “Jimi Thing”. His presence both in the studio and live on stage has been sorely missed. Owners of “Big Whiskey” are treated with a short LeRoi solo to start the album, titled simply as “Grux”.

Maybe it was the loss of LeRoi that forced the band to get back to basics. After three consecutive “over produced” albums, BW&TGGK brought it all back home to what made the band so damn good in the first place: Insightful and emotional lyrics that were neither judgmental or preachy combined with instrumentals that felt more organic than manufactured. The band knocked this one out of the park.

The Highlights:


-After “Grux” fades away on the album, the fellas get right down to business with arguably the best song on the album: “Shake Me Like a Monkey”. One of many, many Matthews tunes with not-so-subtle sexual references, this classic jam translates very well live on stage.

-It’s followed up by their first released single from the album, “Funny the Way It Is”. While the lyrics are a little, say, simple, taken as a whole the song is classic DMB. If you love DMB staples like “Crash” or “Satellite”, you could argue that this is the best song on the album.

-The much more mellow, tempered and deep “Lying in the Hands of God” comes next and honestly, my only real gripe is that it can disrupt the flow of the CD. It’s a petty hang-up and really shouldn’t be held against them cause I could never dream of putting such incredible words together like that. Those who really dive into lyrics, emotions and human imperfection may argue that this is the best song on the album.

-“Alligator Pie” is arguably the best song on the album. A tribute, albeit an odd one, to Matthews’ youngest daughter, violinist Boyd Tinsley is the star of the show here.

-What one could consider the best song on the album, “Squirm” is a throwback Matthews tune that would have fit perfectly on “Crowded Streets”. An introspective analysis of humanity, that also confirms Dave’s infatuation with the fact that we all came from apes.

-If you like the vintage Matthews track “Tripping Billies”, then you’ll absolutely love “Spaceman”. The beat is much different but the “Eat Drink and Be Merry For Tomorrow We Die” theme is stronger than ever. Bring everyone down to the lowest common denominator and you’ve got yourself and your partner in life, if you’re so fortunate. Everything else is ancillary. It just might be the best song on the album.

-All in all, what I have come to accept as the best song on the album, “Why I Am”. It’s Why I Am unlikely to agree. Yeah. That line does it for me. The song is the band’s formal tribute to LeRoi and everything he meant to them, everything he inspired in them, everything he taught them, and everything they miss about him. If it wasn’t such an incredible balls-out jam, it would choke you up, in particularly the closing line of the last verse: “When my story ends, it’s going to end with him. Heaven or Hell, I’m going there with the GrooGrux King”.

I’m not giving enough credit to “Seven”, “Time Bomb” and especially “Baby Blue” – all near-perfect in their own right, but honestly, I’m spent.


The only “miss” on the album is the closing “You and Me”. In all seriousness, this song sounds like it should be the opening theme to a 80’s family sitcom.

Bringing it all back home, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Dave Matthews Band for the memories they provided me with over the last ten years; the dear moments I spent with my closest friends and family, my wife, and new friends I made along the way at the many different venues and hotel rooms throughout this quadrant of the nation. From Charlottesville to Albany, from Camden to Hershey, and smack in the belly of the beast on 33rd and 7th, the band and the people I shared the experiences with kicked my ass all decade long and I’m a better person for it.


And thank you for closing out the decade with a nearly perfect work of art (and using the word “Whiskey" in the Title)


Rest in peace LeRoi.

My 30 Best Albums of the Decade: #4

If my dear friend and former bunkmate found it absurd that Eminem was ranked higher than Bruce, I fully expect a gasket to be blown this time...

#4. American Idiot - Green Day

Poignant. Telling. Reflective. Captivating. American.

I could probably describe American Idiot with paragraphs full of one word sentences (no, really I can’t, the above took me five minutes) because the album itself conjures up many different emotions. But what gets me the most about the album in its entirety is the picture it paints of early decade America. Post 9/11. Pre-Katrina.

I first heard the title track like many other people (or, I should say “men”) – as it was included on the soundtrack for the Madden 04 Playstation game. Really, this was a stroke of genius for bands to promote their work – the song would play as you were shuffling through the game options: franchise set-up, trading, stats, schedules, everything but the actual game itself. And because Madden was more addictive than crystal meth, you’d put in your good 5 hours a day and hence, become one with the songs without even realizing it.

After about 2 weeks of playing Madden, I was like “Hey, this is Green Day. Didn’t I used to listen to them back in 1994?” Which led to “Wait a minute? Is this song actually speaking out against the masses?”

And that it was. The long story is that Idiot in its entirety is a critique of all aspects of suburban society, from the plastic entertainment options available to the easy way out solutions of prescription drugs. And fine, I’ll take that for what it’s worth at face value. The album as a whole follows the protagonist, “Jesus of Suburbia” on a long journey of unfortunate discoveries about reality. But surprise, surprise, what really hooked me with the entire disc is how Suburban America got called out on the carpet.

I mentioned earlier how many Americans selectively forget what the nation was like in 02-03: many of those chanting “Yes We Can” last year were also referring to French Fries as “Freedom Fries”. And for crying out loud. Was there ever a more petty, nonsensical, bigger display of immaturity in history? Renaming side dishes? Really? Well open a newspaper pal: France 1 – You 0.

What killed me here was being backed into having to defend France though. France versus the Cavemen was the most difficult match to watch since the Lakers and Bulls squared off in the 1991 NBA Finals.

The high water mark of the album is probably the spoken verse in “Holiday”:

Sieg Heil to the President Gasman, Bombs away is your punishment

Pulverize the Eiffel Towers, Who criticize your government

Bang bang goes the broken glass and Kill all the f*gs that don't agree

Trials by fire setting fire, Is not a way that's meant for me

In four short sentences, they manage to summarize everything that was wrong at the time, and in some cases still is:

· The propaganda tactics that would have made Joseph Goebbels blush

· The childish demonizing of France

· The rampant homophobia that’s been a stain on our search for a More Perfect Union

· The absolute intolerance for anyone who thought “Um hey…this might not be the best idea”

The most precious American value is our natural right of Free Speech, and in a time dominated by the steamrolling of Dixie Chicks albums and the unfortunate pouring of French wine and vodka down the sewer (alcohol abuse!) it was comforting to see someone take advantage of this sacred responsibility.

Like many albums, there’s some tracks that just don’t pass the smell test. “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is one of the more annoying tunes of the decade and about as useless as tits on a bull to the flow of the rest of the album. It’s deficiency is more than compensated though, from the “Jesus of Suburbia” suite, to the deeper, anthemesque “Give Me Novacaine”, all the way through the dramatic conclusion of “Whatsername”.

The album as a whole is a masterpiece coming from a very, very unlikely source. Combined with beer, “The West Wing”, and my wife’s sanity/love,I don’t know how I’d have gotten through the 1st part of the decade without it.

My 30 Best Albums of the Decade: #5

A twinbill Friday, why the hell not?

#5. The Eminem Show - Eminem

I don’t remember when exactly I had my first exposure to Eminem’s music, but I do know that by the time I did, I had already formed my opinion of him and it wasn’t too rosy. In terms of pop culture, there’s a general formula I often follow: The more coverage and exposure you get, the less talent you likely have. It’s almost like a bell-curve, and it was foolproof for the likes of Brittney Spears, Joe Buck, and anyone and everyone affiliated with or “competing’ on American Idol.

But Eminem defied the Exposure/Talent Continuum. Before even giving the music a chance, I thought he was a spoiled, whining, no-talent homophobe who sang borderline controversial lyrics simply to get notoriety and push record sales. My opinion was one based of turdlets of info from the mainstream media. Big mistake.

After slowly warming to him earlier in the decade on a song-by-song basis, a co-worker and friend burned me a copy of The Eminem Show upon it’s release in 2002. After a few listens-through, I was in absolute awe of just about every track (save for the stupid skits, a disturbing but tolerable 21st century development). For the next year, it seemed everyone I knew had come to the same realization as I did and this album seemed to always be on the stereo (or in some cases, they were much quicker than I to realize the man’s talent).

Taken on the surface (which is pretty much all the media bothered with) yes, the lyrics and visuals on The Eminem Show could be considered offensive, childish or obscene. However, when you take into consideration that (A) it’s the 21st Century and (B) what younglings were listening to before Eminem, you start to see the layers of genius buried beneath the unpolished surface.


Consider…


“Drips” – While it features descriptions of procreation you wouldn’t even hear in a locker room, it’s much more likely to educate someone about the perils of unprotected sex than 1950s-style health class lectures or having students carry around an egg for a week. Sure, you won’t be able to eat Sour Cream Dip for a while after giving it a good listen to, but I don’t recall spam like Brittney Spears or other early-decade best sellers warning people about the perils of AIDS. For all the campaigning Bono does, I don’t remember U2 ever telling it like it is.

“White America” – the ultimate Eff You to the hypocrites and those who prefer to put certain people and arts in certain boxes and cultural boundaries. You can break the song down line by line but there’s one that resonates and says it all: “Hip-hop was never a problem in Harlem, only in Boston, After it bothered the fathers of daughters starting to blossom”

“Without Me” – a simple ode to the media, critics and detractors. You hate me but you can’t live without me. I save you the effort of having to find something else to bitch about. You should thank me.


“Cleaning Out My Closet” – the one thing I do try to avoid is the drama about the dude and his mom and ex wife, but “Closet” is a powerful, soul searching, angry recount of the family drama that’s at the genesis of not only select songs, but his overall persona. And unlike some of his other maniacal and homicidal rants, this remains above the fray. The anger is there, thankfully, but the emotion is pure.

And my personal favorite track off the album:


“Square Dance”. A lot of people have painted over their 2002 selves through some pretty rosy revisionist history. A lot of people don’t remember the post-9/11 tension in the country, between the torch burning masses demanded the blood of all people brown, and the Fifteen Percenters who either didn’t see bombing the third world to smithereens as viable justice, or, who didn’t trust the “leadership” in place at the time to effectively execute such a plan. I remember saying to my wife “Where are the Bob Dylans? The Joan Baezes? The Byrds?”


It seemed like even music was following dehr orders in lockstep, nobody would simply call it like it was. Where was the dissent? Then there was Square Dance:


Yeah the man's back, With a plan to ambush this Bush administration,.
Mush the Senate's face in and push this generation,
Of kids to stand and fight for the right to say something you might not like

Amen Slim. Amen

My 30 Best Albums of the Decade: #6

Officially at the point where everything's a judgement call. At one point or another, I strongly considered all six of these remaining CDs to be my personal favorite of the decade. 'Twas that close.

#6. Elephant - The White Stripes

You just gotta love an album that continually kicks your ass and has you begging for more. In terms of sheer, raw, balls-out-unfiltered-kick-you-in-the-nuts from start to finish albums, I think there were only two in my life: Appetite for Destruction was one. Elephant is the other. Yeah, there’s been other albums that meet some of the criteria, but if you want to go start to finish with each track being un-skippable? This is it.

For too long, producers were getting too cute and creative, making the album about them and not the artist. Sometimes, like in the case of everything Rick Rubin seems to do, it works. Other times (cough: Glen Ballard) it comes across as disingenuous. But not with Elephant.

While “Seven Nation Army” is the most widely known track from the album – and arguably the best song of the decade, quarter century or any other marker of time you wish to choose, in my opinion the crowning achievement of the CD is “Ball and Biscuit” – a classic scotch-on-the-rocks-8-ball-corner-pocket roadhouse blues jam.

The catchy and quick “Air Near My Fingers” is one of those few songs that can get stuck in your head for days and have you not complaining about it. “There’s No Home For You Here” is just a savage asskicker.

It’s hard ranking this sixth, though I feel the same way about the pending numbers 5, 4, 3 and 2. I guess this decade’s going to be remembered for a lot of things: eight years of incompetence, The Jon and Kate saga, the Greatest Upset in Super Bowl History, the birth of Sonic in Northern New Jersey, among many others. But I’m starting to get the feeling that I’ll be looking back one day thinking how it was a renaissance of sorts of music, because despite my inherent desire to say everything new sucks, it’s simply not the case in this regard.