Posts tagged: album
Takin’ a Trip to 1996 (feat. Griff)
Episode 4
Nick Cave and the Bad Seed’s Murder Ballads (Mute Records)
Released in the US on February 20th Murder Ballads was a concept album about murder. Sixty-four people are murdered over the course of ten songs and that includes the album’s closer, a Bob Dylan cover in which no one is technically killed. Each song tells a different story, but they all end up the same. “Henry Lee,” which features PJ Harvey, tells the story of a woman scorned by the man she loves. So she kills him. “Where the Wild Roses Grow,” which features Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue, tells the story of a man courting a young woman by the name of Eliza Day. Then he kills her. I’m not for sure why, but he does. “The Curse of Millhaven” starts out innocently enough, but it’s soon revealed that Loretta is a green eyed lunatic who has been killing and committing arson for years in the small fictional town of Millhaven. Perhaps the two most gruesome songs are a reinterpretation of the traditional folk song, “Stagger Lee” and the fourteen minute epic, “O’Malley’s Bar” about a man who goes into a bar and explains in detail the systematic murder of his fellow townsfolk. While Murder Ballads may not be for everyone, the stories and characters created by Nick Cave and company demand the attention of the listener with rich imagery and buckets of blood.
Songs:
The Kindness of Strangers
Death Is Not the End
Henry Lee
Where the Wild Roses Grow
The Curse of Millhaven
Stagger Lee
Song of Joy
Takin’ a Trip to 1996 (feat. Griff)
Episode 2: Pantera’s The Great Southern Trendkill (East West)
Released on May 7th, The Great Southern Trendkill was Pantera’s follow up to their successful ‘94 album, Far Beyond Driven. Tensions between the band and vocalist Philip Anselmo, due to his increased heroin use, resulted in the music being recorded in Dallas while the vocals were recorded in New Orleans. Because of this the production of the vocals is more elaborate than Pantera’s previous recordings, both to its benefit and detriment. Overall the album is a mixture of some of the band’s best efforts as well as some of their more easily forgotten songs, at least since their glam rock days. The main two highlights on this album for me is 10s and Floods, the latter of which contains what many fans tout as being Dimebag Darrell’s greatest and most complex guitar solo. To me the musicianship between the band is what gives this album flashes of brilliance. It may not be Pantera’s best, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Metal Magic.
Songs:
The Great Southern Trendkill
Suicide Note Pt. I
(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin
Drag the Waters
Suicide Note Pt. II
10s
Floods
Ride My Rocket (1983 Metal Magic Records)
Takin’ a Trip to 1996
Episode 1: Soundgarden’s Down On the Upside (A&M)
A&M released what would ultimately be Soundgarden’s last studio album, Down on the Upside, on May 21st, 1996. Even in High School this was my favorite Soundgarden album. I was never a huge fan of Badmotorfinger, although many fans count this as their favorite, and I really liked Superunknown even though I felt some of the songs were rather lacking and had a bit of filler feel to them. Down on the Upside is by no means a perfect album, but many of the songs are among the band’s best. The album has a more experimental feel to it as the band extensively used open guitar tunings and odd time signatures. My favorite single from the album would have to be “Burden in My Hand.” I’ve always been a fan of depressing songs about death and murder, but there’s something about the way the acoustic guitar sounds on this song that always intrigued me in my youth. The three songs that follow this are to me the weakest songs on the album. “Never Named” and “Applebite” are uninspired and meandering respectively while Kim Thayil’s sole writing contribution, “Never the Machine Forever” feels like it would’ve fit better on Superunknown than on this album. But it’s the final few songs that always had me putting this CD on in the nineties, “Overfloater” being my all time favorite Soundgarden song. The closing song, “Boot Camp,” is a slow, somber end to Soundgarden’s career and goes to show that it’s possible to go from a heavy fast song like “Ty Cobb” and end with a short, beautiful sounding song that seems oddly predictive of the band’s ultimate outcome. Down on the Upside remains my favorite of Soundgarden’s albums. It’s worth checking out again if you haven’t heard it in a while. Perhaps you might discover just how great some of these songs were. Join me again next time as I continue takin’ a trip to 1996.
Songs:
Zero Chance
Blow Up the Outside World
Burden In My Hand
Never Named
Applebite
Never the Machine Forever
Overfloater
Ty Cobb
Boot Camp
I finished uploading all the songs for Sad Bastard Ballads. A track list and a somewhat lengthy commentary about the album can be found here.
