Smells Like Alternative

Beck has had an interesting career in my book. After all, how could an artist top themselves once they gave us one of the most defining songs of a decade, which would be “Loser” of course.
Well, he did so with two of the best albums from the 90’s, 1996’s Odelay and 1998’s Mutations. Midnite Vultures in 1999 wasn’t as genius, but “Sexx Laws is a killer track. Then in 2002 Beck got a bit depressed and stripped down for the fantastic Sea Change. But ever since it seems like Beck has been trying to find his way again. Guero in …read more

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I’ve been revisiting this gem of an album lately and I seriously forgot how great it was.
Pinkerton was Weezer’s second album, released on September 24, 1996. It experienced a bit of difficulties from the get go, like scattered recording time since Rivers was at Harvard and had leg surgery. Heck, the album was almost pulled off the shelves because a security firm in California, called Pinkerton’s Inc., sued the band and their label Geffen for trademark infringement. Even with these set backs behind Pinkerton, the album failed to match the success of it’s predecessor, The Blue Album and was met …read more

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On August 27, 1996 Pearl Jam released their fourth studio album entitled No Code.
The album debuted at number on the Billboard 200 charts and then fell into almost obscurity. It was also the bands first album with drummer Jack Irons. However, it was, and remains, a hard album for fans to digest. The band is everywhere musically on the album. Ranging from standard straight ahead rockers like “Hail, Hail” to more worldly efforts like “Who You Are” to even a spoken track “I’m Open”.
No Code is so different then the band’s three previous releases that it pretty much divided Pearl …read more

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Well, today is the day that a lot of music fans have been waiting for.
After more than a decade long hiatus, the Bristol pioneers have returned with their their third album entitled Third, pretty clever huh?
Now, I haven’t picked up the album yet, or listened to all of it, so this is more of a reminder for everyone who happens to read this blog to go pick it up. You know it’s going to be a good one.
I’ve checked out some reviews (even though you can’t base everything on reviews, I just wanted to get some feedback) where I even …read more

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Growing up in the 90’s it was hard to ignore R.E.M.
Afterall, the band released back to back classics with 1991’s Out of Time and 1992’s Automatic for the People, only to be followed up by the 1994 rocker Monster.
Then, the Athens legends began a slow descent.
In retrospect, 1996’s New Adventures in Hi-Fi is actually a great album, but was hard to realize that then after the departure of drummer Bill Berry and the following releases.
Up from 1998, Reveal from 2001 and Around the Sun from 2004 are, for the most part, lackluster albums that many have forgotten.
Long story short, I …read more

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Besides the new Racounters new album, the only other release worth mentioning today is The Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray.
Wait a minute…didn’t that come out in 1992?
Yes, it did. But, it’s receiving the good old collector’s edition treatment.

So, here’s what the collector’s edition contains:
Disc one is the original album (with classics like “My Drug Buddy”, their cover of “Mrs. Robinson” and of course the self-titled track), plus ten bonus tracks; which are mainly demos of tracks from the album, but still very cool.
Disc two is a DVD filled with lots of goodies, like three live videos from Australia, such …read more

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Just a reminder that today is the release date for the soundtrack to the documentary Body of War.
The two-disc set features tracks from legends like Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, John Lennon to some great new acts like Bright Eyes. Tom Morello appears with Rage Against The Machine and The Nightwatchman, while Serj Tankian and Eddie Vedder appear with solo tracks and from their bands (System of a Down, Pearl Jam).
In fact, Vedder’s folksy and powerful track “No More” is the anchor for the entire album, since it was specifically written for the subject of the film Tomas Young. He unveiled the track …read more

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The not so serious Seattle band are back with a new album, which is their first album in four years, and will be on the road too.
These Are the Good Times People hits stores today and is the band’s sixth studio album; so if you enjoy the simplistic and goofy music of PUSA then you should snag a copy.
The band is also currently on the road. They’ll be on the west coast, which includes a stop at the SXSW Festival before heading to the east coast and then they’ll set off to Europe.
To hear some new tunes, “Ghosts Are Everywhere” …read more

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Back in 1996 a seemingly sweet girl popped up into the music world. However, she quickly established that she was anything but sweet.
I would have to say that Fiona Apple’s debut album Tidal was an unexpected way in giving women a new voice. It was anything but the classic “I am woman, hear my roar”, instead it was dirty and giving guys a taste of their own medicine.
The opening track, “Sleep To Dream”, is a fine example of this, as well as her breakthrough hit “Criminal” and “Shadowboxer”.
There are also gems on Tidal show that Fiona isn’t all bad, like the …read more

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This past Sunday, February 3, was a pretty big day…and I’m not talking about the Super Bowl.
It marked the 10th Anniversary of my favorite Pearl Jam album, Yield.
Released on February 3, 1998, Yield was the band’s fifth album and marked somewhat a return to the band’s more straight forward roots, following the huge success of Vitalogy and the underestimated No Code.
Most of the album was influenced by Daniel Quinn’s novel Ishamael, most notably “Do The Evolution” and the recording was captured on the documentary Single Video Theory.
Yield kicks off with a bang during “Brain of J”, which is apparently about conspiracy …read more

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