The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 2000.

The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem, 2000, 1:12

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 

Overlong, bloated with skits, and endlessly rapping about how he can't be kept silent and the people who are gunning for him because he tells it like it is and how fame is something he isn't comfortable with.  And yet... it can't be denied Eminem's a genius when it comes to rhyme, pacing, meter, and lyrical flow.  All those samples and beats and overdubs are the product of a lot of work, but Em makes it look easy.  His raps sound tossed-off, raw, and immediate.  Sometimes too raw and immediate.  The homicide fantasy "Kim" is nightmare fuel that really should have stayed in his private listening booth. But when Eminem is on the top of his game he's impossible to ignore.  Favorite tracks: "The Way I Am," "The Real Slim Shady," "Marshall Mathers."

Get Skintight, the Donnas

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1999.  Prince?  Not Prince.

Get Skintight, the Donnas, 1999, :38

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

The rough, raw sound of rebellious teen girls mostly re-writing "Bad Reputation" over and over. No angst, but all grrl power with a confident strut. "Now the neighbors are around says turn that shit down / I'm not breakin' the law / I wanna break your jaw." No singing lessons required. Nor are complex lyrics — "I Didn't Like You Anyway" is a feisty puerile kiss-off. It's great! Favorite tracks: "Party Action," Too Fast For Love," "Zero."

Before These Crowded Streets, Dave Matthews Band

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1998.

Before These Crowded Streets, Dave Matthews Band, 1998, 1:10

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Probably nobody does the shambling, loose-limbed, rat-a-tat funk jam thing better than the Dave Matthews Band, but it's just not my thing.  What really turned me off here was how on some tracks Matthews employs this over-the-top, growling, histrionic voice.  Way too much drama in my jam, man.  The otherwise beautiful, Middle East raga-tinged "The Last Stop" is particularly egregious in this regard.  The overall musicality is superb.  When he keeps things on an even keel, it's much more pleasant.  Favorite tracks: "Rapunzel," "Don't Drink the Water," "The Stone."

Tubthumper, Chumbawumba

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1997.

Tubthumper, Chumbawumba, 1997, :55

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This album is the third, I think, out of this entire project's existence that I have previously listened to all the way through. But it was something like one time, back when it first came out, so it's probably due for a reassessment. I make no apologies for liking the smash mega-hit single for which the album is named; it may be dulled by ubiquity but that is a damn fine singalong song. The electro-pop and dance influences are not really my thing, but they do it well, and there is overall an eclectic collection of styles on this album. Also, I like their politics. Union forever! "If any ask us why we died / We tell them that our leaders lied / Sold us out down the riverside / Whose side are you on?" Favorite tracks: "Tubthumping," of course, the beautiful vocal showcase "One By One," "The Big Issue," "Drip, Drip, Drip."

Return Of the Aquabats, the Aquabats!

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1996. 

Return Of the Aquabats, the Aquabats!, 1996, :34

★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

These guys wear their pop culture nerdiness more openly on their sleeves than even MC Frontalot. This is nerd-ska, full of references to Star Wars and superheroes and Devo and play-doh and GI Joe, and that's just the first song. They're like They Might Be Giants, if the Johns had eschewed books, science, and cleverness and instead just watched a lot of cartoons and science fiction. I read that the drummer, guitarist, and keyboardist all left right after recording this album, and the surf-ska sound here later gave way to pop punk. So now I don't even have a good sense of what this band sounds like. Oddly, though I myself am a nerd, I am repelled by this album. I'm not enthralled by nostalgia for childhood cartoons or songs about Martian girls or five-and-a-half minute long songs about leaving a girl because her breath is bad. All of these are delivered with simplistic lyrics and a goofy, annoying Elvis-like "comedy" voice. Sample lyric: "Chewbacca! Chewbacca! Lake Titicaca! / Chewbacca's on a scooter man, holy crap!" Ugh. At 34 unbearable minutes, this album feels overlong. Reel Big Fish, I was too harsh on you. Favorite track: "Idiot Box." Least favorite track: "Pinch And Roll," a song about scratching your balls, with a bridge consisting of nonsense sung in a shitty fake Jamaican accent. Hilarious! 

Ben Folds Five, Ben Folds Five

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1995.

Ben Folds Five, Ben Folds Five, 1995, :46

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

I'm familiar with most of Ben Folds Five's work but never got around to their first album, even though "Uncle Walter" was a minor hit on MTV. Since then, I've heard most of these songs in live or demo versions. However, the originals are superior, bright and energetic. Excellent piano-driven power-pop. It's clear from this album that this talented quintet would be going places. Favorite tracks: the beautiful "Alice Childress," "Best Imitation of Myself" (sounds like a lost They Might Be Giants song), "Uncle Walter."

Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age, Public Enemy

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1994.

Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age, Public Enemy, 1994, 1:11

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Cut out a few of the lesser tracks, throw out the extended skits, shorten the choruses a bit, and give Flava Flav a sedative, and you'd have a Public Enemy album easily as strong as their late '80s classics. Basically Chuck D should probably treat Public Enemy as less of an art collective and more as his backing band. He's still fiery and angry here, and the best moments are all him. It takes guts to stay in a game when you're considered 20 years too old, dis the gangsta rap that brings the big bucks, and point fingers at drugs and alcohol as a crisis in black culture. "Rather rap my black ass off / Getcha hooked on phonics / Good enough to know no endo / Throw it out the window / Along with the Super Nintendo." Now that's a rhyme.  And also "Talkin that drive-by shit / Everybody talking that gangsta shit / Slaves to the rhythm of the master." Preach, Chuck. Maybe a four-star album?  Favorite tracks: "So Whatcha Gone Do Now?," "Race Against Time," "What Side You On?"

Liberation, Divine Comedy

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1993. 

Liberation, Divine Comedy, 1993, :51

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

This is the second album under the name Divine Comedy, but the first that followed Neil Hannon's artistic vision and marked a change in style.  Hannon played guitar, bass, and keyboard on this, but it's hardly a one-man effort; there's percussion and a string session.  Anyway, this is ornate, lush orchestral pop of the typical Divine Comedy style.  His sound really coalesced quickly.  The instrumental "Europe By Train" gets tiresome and is overlong; Hannon's strength is in his robust, fruity, public-school British voice and literate, witty lyrics.  If you like Belle & Sebastian, and if you don't you're a yokel with no taste, you'll like this.  Favorite tracks: "Your Daddy's Car," "The Pop Singer's Fear Of the Pollen Count," "Lucy."

Slanted and Enchanted, Pavement

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1992.

Slanted and Enchanted, Pavement, 1992, :39

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

My friend Robert's favorite album of all time!, depending on his mood.  Lo-fi fuzzy buzzing punctuated with guitar feedback squeals, and a deadpan vocal delivery that is very much of its era.  Underneath all that '90s "oh well, whatever, nevermind" slacker indie noise is raw talent, energy, and (if you listen hard enough) melodic jangle pop.  At times it can be quite Beatles-esque, in its way.  I'm not a huge fan of the noisier parts, like "Chelsey's Little Wrists," but those parts are mercifully short.  Favorite tracks: "Zurich Is Stained," "Here," "Perfume-V."

On Every Street, Dire Straits

Currently doing one album for each year, 1960-2020. Today: 1991.

On Every Street, Dire Straits, 1991, 1:00 

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

The last, and probably worst, studio album by an extremely talented band. This one is more representative of Knopfler's later laid-back Slowhand tendency than I like. Knopfler's Bob Dylan vocal imitation is cranked to maximum Bob.  A Dire Straits album you'll put on at a party when you don't want any dancing to get in the way of the polite conversation.  Favorite tracks: "Calling Elvis," "Heavy Fuel," Bug."