Best music evah vai häh?

Master Of Puppets

Metallica

1986 III 3

The reference metal record: everything else came either before Puppets or after it. And possibly much better crash course introduction to real politics than anything you’d find from an average bookstore.

You’re Living All Over Me

Dinosaur Jr.

1987 XII 14

Suddenly Cobain seems positively cheery compared to J Mascis. A sort of a ”Nevermind 1.0” if you will.

For me YLAOM is just about a perfect blend of rawness, pop sensibilities and guitar-driven rock. Boy, am I glad I found this record!

I get a distinct feeling that this is probably close to what the great, late Mr. Cocaine would have wanted to do had he known how to play guitar better. Naturally I’m glad he didn’t know and just decided to work around those obstacles instead like so many before and after him.

The force of Kurt is strong on this one (anachronistic statement – I know – sue me).

For contrast: the Pixies certainly have a moment here and there but overall I can’t really see myself ever enjoying their full-length albums no matter how much I’d give them my tender loving and care, where as I’m pretty positive that, in time, I can appreciate Neutral Milk Hotel’s ”In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” as an album rather than just two or three outstanding songs off of it. If I’m being honest. Naturally, YMMV.

Cowboys From Hell

Pantera

1990 VII 24

Few bands can truly reinvent metal music. Pantera just might have done it better than anyone else, and it all started with this record. True, the follow-up album might be the angriest album ever recorded, but it only hints at what Phil Anselmo’s vocal range is capable of.

***

I sailed on a day cruise with my buddies from Turku to Mariehamn, Åland Islands last summer – where we would board our skipper’s yacht and cross over back to mainland in due course – and what do you know: a tribute band called Plantera (from Gothenburg, Sweden if memory serves me right) had a gig in town the night we arrived.

Of course I told everyone to come check it out with me. I was myself half-joking, not really expecting much. I mean I don’t really listen to music much these days, let alone metal. And some hobbyist posse trying to imitate Phil’s register AND Darrell’s guitar virtuosity?

Please…

Well, they all tagged happily along even though none of them had ever really – if at all – listened to Pantera back in the day. I guess we were all euphoric on drink and in anticipation of the upcoming days of sailing and mooring on random islands, and just wanted some place to fly the night away in any case.

At least I was, and just about perfectly sedated on deceptively tasty mixture of cheap red and coke, too, of which nickname I kept forgetting, so I just started calling it oxymoron, the first thing that spring to mind (ed. note: it’s of course called kalimotxo and you should try it if you haven’t already, cheap AND good, there’s god after all, eh?).

Trust me the whole house was on fire on that already warm summer night. Even my ”big daddy” buddy who is something of a musiikkikyttä when he’s borderline sober couldn’t resist the temptation to mosh. It was surreal, but good fun.

And get this: back at the boat after the gig my friend’s GF asks out loud that why aren’t we listening to this sorta music all the time? Okay, she was well wasted – we all were – but she kept yakking the whole trip back to mainland about how fucking good the band had been. 

She’s a drummer herself, and used to tour with other bands, so I trust her judgment. Most of our little posse seemed to share her positive view anyways. As for myself, I only wished they would have played more stuff from… well, you can probably guess the rest.

Yeah, guess I’m just one of those ”the glass is half empty” -kinda people.

But suffice to say that nostalgia rarely feels that good.

R.I.P. Dimebag, you are sorely missed.

Use Your Illusion II

Guns N’ Roses

1991 IX 17

Apparently all the primo tunes on II & I were conceived years earlier (even before -87). Guess the rest were written as fillers.

I have this theory that most musicians can’t really sustain their creativity beyond few years and this certainly seems to be the case with G’NR, too. The energy and naivety doesn’t last much past mid twenties – thank god.

Still playing rock music when most of your contemporaries are having ”real” careers and ”real” families, the appeal of banging drums, smashing guitars, yelling to a microphone, getting shitfaced and sleeping in a tour bus (I don’t care how expensive it is) has got to mean that much less to you each passing day. Even if you do have groupies.

An aging rocker is one of the sorriest sights on Earth. If you don’t believe me, take a look at this: THE AXL ROSE DISASTER – ROCK IN RIO 2011. It’s Axl alright, just not the same one that put the music business to it’s knees. Really breaks my heart to see one of my original musical heroes in such a sad despair.

At some point Axl will look back on his life and realize that he truly let his ego ruin one of the greatest  live rock bands EVER over nothing at all. Axl was without a doubt the greatest r’n’r singer (and a true rockstar!) in his heyday.

IMHO, there’s only a handful of respectable pastime pleasures suited for a 50-year-old bloated ”rockers”, and trying to rock out like it’s still the 80s, ain’t it. Namely painting, writing and/or singing country comes to my mind.

Make no mistake, this is the year the band peaked, even if I personally feel that their EP ”Lies” (1988) is their most solid recording that has ever seen the daylight. Maybe it’s because I never owned their debut album which – to me – apart from one phenomenal song and two great rock tunes, never managed to move me much.

Nevermind

Nirvana

1991 IX 24

Always return to this record. If you can’t appreciate Nevermind, you can’t appreciate good music.

Even before Nevermind was officially out the r’n’r bedrock was already showing signs of gigantic tremors. MTV’s up-and-coming VJ threatened to quit if they won’t air it. Even a competing record company big whig said he needs to circulate the record because people deserve to hear it. It was that good.

Well, I don’t need anybody telling me otherwise. The hairs that still rise on my arm when I listen to Nevermind are an undeniable signal that somebody did something just right.

Nevermind came at a time when Cobain hadn’t yet totally bought his own drug-enhanced bullshit about the total wretchedness of life, fame, love and everything. Such a waste of a perfectly good life. They never learn, do they?

In the alternative universe this balding lovable jerk is still driving around aimlessly in his old beat-up Volvo pulling pranks on innocent bystanders and getting wasted on… well, whatever, nevermind.

Countdown To Extinction

Megadeth

1992 VII 14

Their first and probably only album where everything just locked into its place. If Puppets was a Political Science 101 course, then after Countdown you’ve got all the credits in for a Master’s Degree in Social Sciences.

I feel there’s no great art without bitterness, and few artists have been as bitter as Mustaine. Often his words are as venomous as they are true. Masses don’t appreciate folks who speak their mind. I’ve never much cared for people who never say anything about anything that matters. Makes me wonder if they can think at all.

Every thinking (wo)man is bound to err once in a while. Thinking and speaking one’s mind freely is like playing with fire: it doesn’t ”only” cost friendships and careers, it costs lives too.

Just what happened to Dave after CTE, is anyone’s guess.

To me the man was never as intellectually sober and honest as when he wrote CTE. Not much of a live band – at least from what I’ve personally experienced. Have a huge respect for the man when it comes to musicianship, tough.

This guy could operate with ease in any music field if he wanted to. Hugely talented person and probably one of the fastest thinking guys in music history. It really is a huge mind fuck that some of the smartest people around us are so frequently also some of the most retarded ones simultaneously.

If jebus is your preferable choice of drugs then so be it. Just keep it to yourself, bro. And another worthwhile tip would be to start getting daily news from more media outlets than just Alex Jones…

That goes for all of ya.

Souvlaki

Slowdive

1993 V 17

Wow. Just wow. My love for all things metal in my tender years pretty effectively narrowed down what kinda music I could enjoy listening to at that time.

And that my friends is one of the sorriest things in life. Open up, it’s never too late, and it will be transcending experience – trust me. 

Shoegazing definitely fits the description here. Stone Roses had an outstanding tune, ”I Wanna Be Adored”, but other than that, more or less meh. My Bloody Valentine? Sorry, didn’t do anything for me.

Siamese Dream

The Smashing Pumpkins

1993 VII 27

As with Nirvana, it took one album to perfect their art.

Corgan has one of the most unusual singing voices in rock history. He’s no Axl or Mercury, for sure, but in this album at least it’s right there where it needs to be.

Hands down, fantastic record.

Icon

Paradise Lost

1993 IX 28

In Paradise Lost we, once again, observe just what is possible when singer stops being afraid of hearing themselves sing (or band being afraid of hearing their singer sing).

Rule #1: If you can’t sing, learn how. Likewise if you can’t play an instrument, learn how.

Rule #2: If you can’t be bothered, then just get a day job and leave music creation to folks who will endure the excruciating four week period or so that it takes to learn to sing and play an instrument.

***

Icon also proves that in music too, and in music particularly, I must stress, less is more.

This is exactly why no one listens to progressive rock music. It’s just too f*cking convoluted for its own good.

Let me put it this way: if you can’t image a 40-year-old trucker guy being able to sing along  your songs, don’t bloody make ’em!

Last I heard Paradise Lost was desperately imitating Depeche Mode or something along those lines. Now, they’re probably making disco. Or grind metal. Or jingles. I couldn’t care less.

I have my Icon and it’s good enough for me.

Weezer (The Blue Album)

Weezer

1994 V 10

So sweet, so funny, so sincere and played like they’ve been doing this for ages (and maybe they had). You simply can’t go wrong with a combination like that.

First they all want success, then they all reject it, then they either die (Nirvana/Kurt) or accept it (Weezer/Cuomo).

Bitchin’ about how you’re tired of having sex with groupies is such a cliche, although Cuomo might have just been a smartass in the follow-up album.

Never the less the passive-aggressive defensive attitude kinda sorta killed the original playfulness of Weezer for me, even if he did continue to write more catchy tunes later on.

For most bands something like Pinkerton would have been a major breakthrough, even a magnum opus.

Only Weezer already nailed it the first time around.

I mean seriously, how to topple something like the Blue Album? It just can’t be done. Not ever. You hear me Cuomo? With your superduper IQ, I’m sure you can save the world too – if you wanted to. Please considerer doing it.. just for lultz?

Dummy

Portishead

1994 VIII 22

”Nobody loves me… not like you do.” Dummy is at the same time very beautiful and very sad album indeed. It’s a good question to ask yourself from time to time whether you listen to sad music because you’re sad or whether you are sad because you choose to listen to sad music. Nick Hornby made a valid point here.

I project that the UN will eventually ban sad music because it’s a weapon of mass destruction. So, enjoy it while it lasts, kids!

Subterranean

In Flames

1994 XI 2

EP, LP… I don’t care about formats. I just care about the music – so shoot me. Only 5 songs (including an instrumental score) and total run time of 21:33. That’s pretty damn good 22 odd minutes if any one asks me, though.

In Flames is what I would call a band in progress. Their first three recordings all feature different singer – or ”singer” – so I think it’d be fair to simply call ”Subterranean” a band in its own right, or rather, a one-off project by two extremely talented guitarists: Glenn Ljungström and particularly Jesper Strömblad who seems to be one of those rare multi-instrumentalists who – I’d imagine – could operate with ease in any musical sphere, honestly.

Even still, I’d check out their debut ”Lunar Strain” and follow-up ”Jester Race”, just to have a clue where they went from here – and where they originally came from. But for me personally somewhere along the line the band turns from In Flames 1.0 into 2.0 which to me seems like more or less a different entity, and something that ventures beyond my personal tastes.

I am actually no fan of death metal style grunting but the guitars on ”Subterranean” are so glorious that I just let it slide.

”Subterranean” is usually labeled as melodic death metal, but in my view there’s just so much more to it. The combination of aggressive riffs and uptempo and upbeat folkish tunes probably should not work – but for some reason it does.

”Subterranean” feels like angrier Metallica that is simultaneously on LSD and in terrible pain – and still enjoying and laughing about it. Hetfield/Hammett combo would probably shit their pants before deciding to call it quits and pawn their guitars if they heard these two guys guitar battling live on stage…

Still, a word to the wise: if you don’t take the time to learn to sing half decent, then do everyone a favor and just shut the f*ck up. Nothing else to it, really.

PS. At least check out their instrumentals ”Timeless”, ”The Jester’s Dance” and a violin rendition of traditional Swedish folk song ”Hårgalåten”.

Frogstomp

Silverchair

1995 III 27

I don’t know how the hell 15-year-old punks could pull off something like this on their first try. Must be that f*cking ozzie sun supercharging everyone down under since birth…

Short Bus

Filter

1995 V 8

Sometimes computers serve us better than well. Another album that redefined metal.

What Filter did afterwards is of no concern to me.

The Presidents Of The United States Of America 

The Presidents Of The United States Of America 

1995 VII 25

These guys seem to have such a playful attitude towards making music that words fail me in trying to grasp the essence of it. Just their choice of instruments oozes good-will and playfulness: basitars and guitbasses. :)

Playfulness in general – and in music creation particularly – is so incredibly rare these modern times, that that alone is a reason enough to put these guys on the pedestal.

All-around good feel record that still manages to make some valid points about life – and kittens! At points it’s just down-right funny as hell. Some fillers for sure, but I suppose that goes with the chosen territory.

We all think we know this album and/or band but do we really?

Different Class

Pulp

1995 X 30

It may be that Different Class simply came out as the finest album that anyone has ever recorded. Certainly this is true for all Brits. Absolutely no fillers here, pure gold from start to finish.

Jarvis writes better than majority of authors, and he knows it. Different Class reads like a good book as it ought to. It’s like a crash course to life, love and everything. If you can’t afford to go to university, buy this album and you’re covered.

Forever relevant, at points endearing and uplifting, other times dirty, low and depressing. Always witty and never boring.

If you can’t handle Different Class, you can’t handle life.

Heavy Petting Zoo

NOFX

1996 I 31

The minute guys (it’s a guy thing, admit it) realize that slowing down is always more effective than speeding up, they have a chance at achieving something truly worthwhile: great songs, great orgasms – you name it.

Punk rockers do have it the worst, though. Why? Because they absolutely need to believe in their own bullshit the longest (maybe for life) about staying ”true”. It’s immature and self-defeating way to view and live life, plus that’s what helped kill Kcurdt (and many before and since him).

Take note: the same records that all the true believers bash the most, always contain some of the best music that’s out there. All parents want to see their children succeed – just not too much.

HPZ turned out to be the child who went on to graduate from Harvard, who married the sweetest girl/boy you will ever know, who pulls 200K a year with benefits, and who is still liked by all – because well, s/he’s just perfect.

High/Low

Nada Surf

1996 VI 18

Perfect pop/rock. Every teenager should hear ”Popular”. Repeatedly until they’ve learned its many lessons. Debuts’ don’t come better than this.

October Rust

Type O Negative

1996 VIII 20

The world’s first (and only?) metal band that doesn’t take itself – not to mention metal music – seriously, but who put writing good songs its top priority.

It’s funny how most metal heads are surprisingly easy-going and even intellectual people, yet they often listen to music that is as insular as it gets.

There’s really not much breathing room if you operate in the field of metal music – which must be really suffocating to an artist who sees little value in playing ”Paranoid” for the rest of his/her life.

Thanks to TOP, more teens might be willing to take up on playing keyboards (instead of electric guitar). That alone is a massive accomplishment.

Simply a fantastic record through and through.

R.I.P. Steele – you are sorely missed.

Attack Of The Grey Lantern

Mansun

1997 II 17

Not just criminally good debut, a criminally good album. It’s a real shame that artists like Paul Draper just do not seem to stand a chance in this world of mediocrity. Tisk, tisk.

Apparently this album was pretty much already done when Radiohead was only getting started in recording their most seminal stuff – which is pretty interesting stuff in my book.

OK Computer

Radiohead

1997 V 21

An album one really ought to listen in its entirety. It feels like one single song that reminds us about just about everything we hate and love in life.

Because of my – in some way – unfortune musical upbringing, I shrugged this album off like it was sour milk. I just didn’t give it a chance. I might have heard something but I failed to listen to it.

Simply brilliant record and one of my all time favorites no question about it. If you’re feeling cheery and alive, and want some antidote to that ailment, then look no further. 

Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 

HIM 

1997 XI 20

Valo and co. went on to do great things in their career (in their own frame of reference), but nothing that would top their debut as far as I’m concerned.

In my view there was clearly another direction they could have followed just as easily. I guess, that for most struggling artists, they reach a point where they have to decide if they want to continue as this crazy posse narrowly escaping all categorizations or really try to make a living out of it.  A real career out of it.

I think it’s pretty self-explanatory that Valo wanted to find out if they had what it takes to go where the money’s at. And sure enough they did.

But it must be a real mindfuck when one realizes that you’ve turned this free-spirit child of yours into this guy or gal who not only doesn’t really want to go out venturing like s/he used to, but who positively seems like s/he can’t even appreciate that aspect of life anymore. If it ain’t safe, it ain’t safe. I totally understand that concept. What I also understand is this: if it’s safe, it is, well, most likely boring, predictable and bland.

Mutations

Beck

1998 XI 3

When you already have your material ”ready”, this is what you can do in a studio in just two weeks. Frankly I’ve never understood why anyone would willingly pay for the use of a studio if they have nothing to work with to begin with…

I’m pretty sure we’d get more and better stuff out if more artists/bands would adhere to this two-weeks-in-a-studio rule. 

Beck on his lyrics: ”On the one hand, they’re incredibly important; on the other hand, they shouldn’t be important at all.” I think Cobain would agree.

It matters how you record your music. We’d all be making music with just computers if the results just wouldn’t leave us so damn cold, unaffected, for most parts…

I’m pretty sure this record will remain as Beck’s magnum opus when all the dust has finally settled. For me christianity and scientology (just to mention two belief systems) are just two alternative methods that promise to rid you from your money and your wealth in exchange for a ”purer” conscience and general ”understanding”. All I can say is that if it works for ya, then good for you, hunny. Just keep it to yourself, that’s all.

Showbiz

Muse

1999 X 4

A chore to listen to in its entirety but what an original debut! Muse might possibly have been the most interesting act to follow since Radiohead’s ”OK, Computer” (1995).

As a mediocre three-chord-guitarist, I humbly take off my imaginary hat to pay respect to Matthew Bellamy’s obvious guitar virtuosity and general inventiveness and capability when it comes to conjuring soundscapes that seem otherworldly.

Bellamy isn’t probably the greatest lyricist alive, but then again, I think his aim lies elsewhere to begin with.

Anola

Penniless

2001 II 12

This is not just a great pop rock record from a band that happens to hail from Finland.

It’s a standout record never mind where its roots might ultimately lay – whatever the f*ck that’s supposed to mean anyways.

For some folks it seems like a band’s nationality would somehow be automagically a valid argument in itself for expressing, say, quality.

I never did quite understand this position, and I still don’t.

All I’m going to argue is that if a record this good would have been released and properly marketed in the US of A, there’s a mighty good chance all of these guys would be millionaires now.

But no one said world’s a fair place and I think Anola is trying to convey pretty much the same overall message. And I for one couldn’t agree more with such sentiments.

By The Way

Red Hot Chili Peppers

2002 VII 9

An album that grows on you. I’ve never really understood why RHCP has felt it necessary to ”funkify” their sound for so long – or rather, at all. To me it’s always felt out-of-place’ish, more or less forced, not to mention, unnecessary.

I appreciate the band’s drive, good humor, openness and all such positive qualities and then some. But in hindsight, hanging desperately onto funky elements all those years has only managed to hold the band back, never to fully find it’s own sound. I don’t think RHCP merely reinvented itself in BTW: I think they finally found home.

There are fillers, sure, but that’s always the case with RHCP. For some strange (and likely very poor) reason RHCP always crams too much stuff on one record. Maybe they (and the people they choose to collaborate with) have never heard the expression: quit while you’re winning.

A Rush Of Blood To The Head

Coldplay

2002 VIII 26

Pretty much perfect pop music. Not all can be the most inventive lyricists, but then again, don’t you think that it’s all been said a million times before in any case?

I honestly don’t understand where all that hate stems from. If you don’t like artist/band X, it’s real simple: don’t listen to it. It works exceedingly well.

For example, I never need to listen to Bob Dylan’s wailing (if you want to be a writer, then be one) nor Rolling Stones’ or Bruce Springsteen’s business savvy music of mediocrity. Anyone who feels like they need to play 3-4 hours concerts is a bloody hack as far as I’m concerned.

Songs For The Deaf

Queens Of The Stone Age

2002 VIII 27

If I were to spend a summer night somewhere in the desert boozing and watching semi-nakid ladies getting it on with each other, this would be my choice of music to zoom the night away.

I don’t think it would be even possible to make this kinda music, say, in downtown L.A. At least these desert rats are doing more than just wasting precious water resources in places where they shouldn’t even be in the first place.

Scarlet’s Walk

Tori Amos

2002 X 28

I suppose this would be ideal road tripping music traversing the great outdoors they call US of A. But ”Your Cloud” alone is a reason enough for me to call this Amos’ greatest achievement yet.

***

I saw Amos perform in Ljubljana’s Tivoli Hall – on the 2007 American Doll Posse tour – which isn’t much of a venue in itself but it sure has hosted some pretty legendary artists inside its guts including the great Satchmo, Zappa and Bowie just to name a few.

What I didn’t know at that time though is that this place was also the the second last concert some obscure 90’s band called Nervahna played in its career. And folks in the know argue the last good one in fact.

You see, I have this special place inside of me that’s just meant for Kurt to quietly reside in. We don’t meet that often anymore but I always enjoy our little visits to one another when we do. So, had I known then that this place held such a sweet (and sad in retrospect) secret, I’d probably enjoyed and pondered my time there much more than I honestly did, hearing Amos sing her songs to us. I’ve never been a huge Amos fan and was pretty much just tagging along with my significant other if truth be told.

Her music can get quite quickly quite overbearing. She’s just got her own very particular style and she – as far as I can tell – pretty much sticks to it. She’s got a massive repertoire of original songs that seem frightfully good, consistent quality in general, so maybe it’s only natural that I struggle in trying to cherry-pick her standout songs from the rest. 

It was a funny venue with eerily little people attending, too. Or at least that’s the impression I got (the lights were dim to non-existing off stage). It was like really low-key gathering. I didn’t expect anything like that at all so that definitely had a part to play in my experience. It was pretty neat, though. Different. Something I’d actually like to experience again. Almost like a regular club gig where you could interact with the artists (and they with you) if you wanted to. I figure that if you never hear anything really bad, that can be a disadvantage, too.

I believe that by being able to make those distinctions, the music will mean much more to you than it otherwise would. I mean how to find that funniest guy or that sweetest girl from the crowd if the whole crowd seems more or less sweet and funny and therefore lovable? I propose that that may in fact be the sole reason we actually need fillers. ;)

Anyways, you could have taken just a couple of steps and you’d be playing the piano with Amos. People seemed like sort of aimlessly wandering to and fro between the stage and the front row. That for one, seemed pretty odd considering that there’s this major American artist performing a couple of meters in front of you, and chances are you might never see her there again, yet you feel like taking a short stroll seems like a good idea. :)

It really was more like being in a primary school gymnastics hall (which it more or less actually was, in hind sight, since it was built and mainly functions as a multi-purpose sports arena). But – now that I think of it – in a good way.

Baby I’m Bored

Evan Dando

2003 III 17

I don’t know if one should really call this solo work with so much stuff originating from a fellow musician. I’ve just decided that I don’t care who wrote what and when. I’m just glad this record was made.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Belle & Sebastian

2003 X 6

Touching, funny, mean and wholly true. Just like life. Only this record is upbeat.

Two things I don’t really understand, though:

1) everyone raving about ”If You’re Feeling Sinister” (1996) which is more or less repetitive, overwrought and just boring record that feels like it’s never going to end either. More like a long embarrassing whine if anyone asks me.

2) everyone dissing ”Storytelling” (2002). I think it’s a brilliant record that – for me at least – really crystallizes what a good ”soundtrack” record really ought to be like: a piece of art in its own right. I think the film itself was also pretty good to just being ok, but this record on the other hand is so satisfying for me on multiple different ways. Ingenuity at work here if anyone asks for my opinion. One of the few records I personally will want to listen to from start to finish. And then appreciate life more than I did before those 34 minutes and 45 seconds.

You people need to stop blindly parroting what critics say about this or that and fucking listen to the records for yourselves for fucks sake. That’s the only way you could even hope ever learning anything from those experiences.

I’m guessing 9 critics out of 10 tend to hear music – they just fail to listen to it.

Shadows Collide With People

John Frusciante

2004 II 24

If it wasn’t for ”Il Duce” Frusciante, RHCP might still be that pot smoking happy-go-lucky jamming group full of love and democracy… whose songs no one would remember, let alone could sing along to. 

It would be an understatement to call the man ”merely” a guitarist.

Never did understand what was so great about BSSM apart from three (3) great songs (”I Could Have Lied”, ”Breaking the Girl”, ”Under the Bridge”) and one infectious tune to jump up and down to in a concert (”Give it Away”).

Can you guess who wrote those?

Hi-Fi High Lights Down Low 

Lodger 

2004 VI 26

Yay! This is Beck’s and PUSA’s illegitimate crack baby.