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 2005 and The Information in 2006 weren’t horrible albums, but they felt like Beck was trying way too hard to once again find that funky genius that gave us so much great music from the 90’s.

Modern Guilt, however, proves that Beck has indeed found his way.

Sure, it was easy to get swept into the hype of the new album when it was revealed that Danger Mouse was producing it, but there is no let down folks. Everything from the hypnotic, conspiracy filled first single “Chemtrails” to the psychedelic embraced “Gamma Ray” and “Modern Guilt” to the jazzy Cat Power collaboration “Walls” to the classic sounding Beck track “Profanity Prayers” are…well…just awesome. And what really seals the deal is the closing track “Volcano”, which is one of those head bopping tunes where just close your eyes and feel the music. Very good stuff.

The only complaint about Modern Guilt is that it’s too short, it’s only about 35 minutes long. But hey, quality not quantity is always a good philosophy.

Overall, a great album with a unique theme dealing with today’s crazy world, which is certainly worth the cost.

Here’s a live performance of another new track, “Youthless”.

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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 with mixed reviews from fans and critics.

However, this Madame Butterfly inspired album is my favorite in the Weezer catalog. It’s actually even one of my favorite albums from the 90’s.

Pinkerton stands out from the band’s other albums because of the constant themes of finding and losing love, which is probably one of Rivers favorite topics, but the entire is focused on this theme. It also just rocks out. It’s a non-stop, foot tapper sing a long of an album. The only track that slows down is the closer, “Butterfly”.

I actually can’t name any favorites from Pinkerton, because that’s just not right. Trust me, if you don’t own this album then go out right now and pick up a copy.

Here’s the tracklisting with some links and comments.

1. “Tired of Sex” – A great opening track that’s about getting tired of sex. Weird, huh?
2. “Getchoo” – A rather aggressive track, which I think is about the narrator being just a bit too pushy in the pursuit of his love interest.
3. “No Other One” – Not as aggressive as the first two tracks, but still a rocker track about a girlfriend that does some illegal activities.
4. “Why Bother?” – A pretty upbeat number, just kidding. Giving up never sounded so catchy.
5. “Across The Sea” – A sweet song dedicated to a Japanese fan.
6. “The Good Life” - OK, this is actually an upbeat tune that cheers me up whenever I feel down.
7. “El Scorcho” – The first single from Pinkerton that has lots of cultural references.
8. “Pink Triangle” – An interesting song about a guy who falls in love with a lesbian.
9. “Falling For You” – Starts off with peaceful intro and then kicks into a rocker about (surprise, surprise) falling for someone.
10. “Butterfly” – A strictly acoustic, and very depressing, song.

Video for “El Scorcho”

VCD video for “Pink Triangle”

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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 Jam’s fan base. There were some that believe it’s a great album and have full heartily supported the band from then on. While others may have given up on the band and insist that Pearl Jam haven’t done a great album since.

Personally, No Code is a true gem from Pearl Jam. It contains some of their most emotional songs, which proves that they were a better band than Ten, Vs., or Vitalogy let us believe. No Code showed us that they were a thought provoking band that awakened their listeners spiritually and emotionally.

The first six tracks,”Sometimes”, “Hail, Hail”, “Who You Are”, “In My Tree”, “Smile” and “Off He Goes”, have little in common except for the fact that their probably the strongest opening six tracks on any Pearl Jam album. Their wonderful songs that I can’t get tired of. The album also gave us the highly inspirational track “Present Tense” and the beautiful lullaby “Around The Bend”.

If you’ve forgotten about the album, or never listened to it, then give it try. It’s underrated, but unforgettable. And after all, it almost broke the band up, so give them some love for such an effort.

“Present Tense” (Live)

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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 one that stated that Third will become the band’s masterpiece. So, for the most part the reviews have been positive, such as one from Culture Bully, but also check out what the fans have to say on Portishead’s official forum.

For now, enjoy some videos from Third.

“Magic Doors” (Live in studio)

“Machine Gun”

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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 haven’t looked forward to a new R.E.M. album in a long, long, long time.

So, does the band’s latest release, Accelerate, fulfill expectations?

Absolutely. Critics were actually right when they announced that this is R.E.M.’s best release in years.

The guys sound exceptionally fresh, as if they’re catching a second wind just to respond to current events.

Accelerate is a right to the point and solid rocker, with some classic R.E.M. sprinkled in between.

This is album should defiantly be picked up.

Check out these tracks:

“I’m Gonna DJ”

“Living Well Is The Best Revenge”

And, of course the video for “Supernatural Superserious”

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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 as “Ride With Me,” “Alison’s Starting To Happen” and “It’s About Time, eight music videos for tracks that include ”Mrs. Robinson” and “It’s a Shame About Ray”, commentary from the main Lemonhead Evan Dando and some footage of the band having fun in the land down under.

So, for any Lemonhead fan, this a must. And, if you don’t own this classic 90’s album then get out the door and pick yourself up a copy. There is no way that you can resist the fuzzy vocals of Evan Dando over the poppy and melodic alt-rock tracks that were the soundtrack to so many people.

Ah yes, nostalgia.

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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 last April at Jack Johnson’s Kokua Festival in Hawaii and took it with Pearl Jam to Europe and then Lollapalooza. The version that appears on this soundtrack is a live cut with Ben Harper (the studio version can be found on the deluxe edition of the Into The Wild soundtrack).

Proceeds from sales of the soundtrack will benefit Iraq Veterans Against the War.

For more info on the soundtrack, there’s also a link for the film’s site, click here.

Here’s the video for “No More”.

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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” and “Mixed Up SOB”, and a full list of tour dates check out the band’s MySpace page.

For now, enjoy the video for “Mixed Up SOB”, which was directed by none other than “Weird Al” Yankovic.

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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 especially loungy “Slow Like Honey”, the semi-tropical “The First Taste”, and the piano driven “Pale September”.

Overall, Tidal proved to a powerhouse of an album, without loud guitars and screaming vocals. That’s quit an accomplishment from an artist in the 90’s. Although her career seemed to hit some bumps along the way, no one can argue that Fiona Apple hasn’t influenced a new generation of female artists and it all started with this album.

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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 theories, as if the title didn’t give it away. It segues perfectly into “Faithfull”, which seems to be about religion until it morphs into a song about relationships. From there the seldom live played “No Way” proves how great this band is.

Then the back to back hits enter with the beautiful “Given To Fly” and the simple, yet complex “Wishlist”. “Pilate” follows, which is one of the two tracks written by bassist Jeff Ament; which were also his first lyrical contributions on a Pearl Jam album.

“Do The Evolution” roars by next, which besides being a powerhouse of a song, is also remembered for the Todd McFarlane animated video. The band then gets a little silly with the untitled track, which seems to follow the more experimental tracks like “Hey Foxymophandlemama, That’s Me” from Vitalogy and “I’m Open” off of No Code.

“MFC” sneaks in next and proves to be a perfect driving tune, which is then proceeded by the other Ament song “Low Light”, which is one of my all time Pearl Jam favorites. “In Hiding” follows Ament’s gem of a song, and was influenced by the work of reclusive author Charles Bukowski.

The album comes to it’s conclusion with yet another experimental type track, “Push Me, Pull Me”, before ending with the splendid “All Those Yesterdays”.

Although Yield was the first Pearl Jam album since Ten not to debut at number one on the Billboard charts, it’s still become arguably a classic to fans. For those who have never picked the album up, you should be ashamed of yourselves, it’s damn good and should be in most people’s music collections.

Here’s “Faithfull” from Single Video Theory

Here’s the video for “Do The Evolution”

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