#95 Mission of Burma-Vs.

Artist: Mission of Burma
Album: Vs.
Label: Ace Of Hearts
Year: 1982

The final Mission of Burma studio release during their first tenure as a band (wow that's a lot of qualifiers) remains one of the best post-punk records, and one surprisingly overlooked by the punks. But though not as cool or often name-dropped as many SST or Touch and Go records of the same time, Vs. is one of the best 80s punk records.
"Secrets" really sets the stage, by building up awesome tension for over its first full minute, without a single lyric sung. By the time the lyrics and the song fully kick in, it sounds like ...well...the band say it best..."It's the pulling of the undertoe/when you can't control the wheel." It's a common theme throughout the album, musically, that it feels like the band is losing control.
The songs are constantly challenging and the songwriting goes in many different directions. The highlight is still "Mica" to me. But every song has it's own charm. And where as their previous releases were really well-constructed post-punk, here it feels like they just hit record and let shit FLY. Vs. remains a stellar album all these years later, and hasn't aged a bit, even when compared to some of that new stuff they put out.

#96 Bill Withers-Still Bill

Artist: Bill Withers
Album: Still Bill
Label: Columbia
Year: 1972

Bill Withers was not the only songwriter-based funk artist in the early 1970s, but his story remains unique. He was never a creative genius like Stevie Wonder, never got into substances like Bobby Womack, and he never sought out the fame that those two and many others had. Instead, his whole career was subtle, from the music to the man, and his 1972 sophomore effort Still Bill still sums him up perfectly.
It's a departure from his debut a year earlier in a couple of ways. First off: while he wrote 10 of the 12 songs on Just As I Am (the cover of "Everybody's Talkin'" is exceptional), the arrangements were often subdued. A few string arrangements here and there only bring out just how minimalist a lot of the album is. Also, while I wouldn't consider it a happy album, per se, the themes of many songs seem to be positive, whether about a beautiful girl or his grandma.
Still Bill, on the other hand, is mostly a mean album. Except for the brilliant and timeless "Lean On Me," about neighbors being neighborly in a small town, Withers has a bit of a mean streak. "Who is He (And What Is He To You," and "Take It All In And Check it All Out" are directed at a women in anger, and the songs that do talk about a love existing, "Use Me" and "Kissing My Love," the message is less we're in love as it is we're both getting ours without regard for each other, so fuck it!. The rest of the songs, by and large, focus on distrust and disillusionment in some way or another.
Going back to the point about its predecessor being more stripped down, Still Bill is a damn muscular album. Leaving behind Sussex and Booker T. on production, this Columbia Records release is fuller, and while it's still held down by Withers and an acoustic guitar, the fullness of the sound brings out every instrument and gives it a punch. The album sounds just so thick and full, in ways that might've even hurt Just As I Am.
Though some of the songs on his first two albums ("Use Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", and "Lean On Me", namely) are classics, Withers is not an international superstar by any means. He had a few more hits in his career, but always laid low. Not because he was some genius recluse trying to get away from the spotlight, but just because...he...stopped playing. But Still Bill is one of his landmark records, and one of the most unique and exciting records of its time.

#97 Superchunk-Foolish

Artist: Superchunk
Album: Foolish
Label: Merge
Year: 1993

Foolish represented a turning point for indie rock pioneers Superchunk in a lot of ways. First off, though the band had founded Merge Records, this is the first album of Superchunk's that label released (Matador was responsible for the first three). More importantly, however, the band was at a personal crossroads, as Mac and Laura (lead singer and bassist, respectively) had split up romantically, and the effects are not only felt in Laura's damning cover art, but Mac's lyrics as well.
Foolish is quite possibly the early-adulthood breakup record. There are many "breakup" records, and there will be more on this list. But regardless of the actual age of the bands making those (Van Morrison was under 25 at the time of Astral Weeks for example) most great breakup records have an unbelievable sense of maturity for the artist recording them. Foolish however, is a rare instance of early-20 somethings singing about the early-20 something blues, and not sounding like jackasses.
There are songs that deal with reminiscing the good times ("Driveway to Driveway"), the moment you realized it all went wrong ("Like A Fool"), one of those many, many fights ("Why Do You Have to Put a Date on Everything") and of course, the breakup itself ("Keeping Track"). We've all been there, and in true Superchunk fashion, Mac sings about it in ways we can all relate to. In the course of such great songs, the music kicks ass, too, with some of the hardest rocking and anthemic songs the band ever did.
So with such high praise for the record, why do I have it down at 97? Sequencing. Songs 1-9 are absolutely stellar and done brilliantly, and then there are songs 10-12, which are amazing, don't get me wrong...but why not close with the gut-wrenching "Keeping Track"? Why end it on such a muted note as "In A Stage Whisper"? I don't know. Every song kills, but this continues to irk me. Foolish remains one of the best guitar records of the 90s though, and is a perfect companion for those recently-single blues.

#98 Donny Hathaway-Everything Is Everything

Artist: Donny Hathaway
Album: Everything Is Everything
Label: WEA
Year: 1970

Donny Hathaway's first solo album remains a true soul masterpiece today, 40 (!) years after its release, as it's a great example of briding the gap between 60s soul and 70s funk. At the time of it's release, he was already known by many and had contributed to the works of The Impressions and Roberta Flack among others.
The A-side of this record is R&B-pop hit after hit. The title track, "Je Vous Aime (I Love You)", and "Misty" are all excellent songs. More than half of the tracks on the album are at least co-authored by Hathaway, and many of the songs also feature composition credits by the musicians backing him. Every crescendo, every instrumental fill that works so well on the A-side probably owes something to the closeness felt between the lead singer and his backing band. Yet it's the B-Side that really makes this album a masterpiece.
"Thank You Master" and "The Ghetto" are brilliant early-70s funk songs. The former takes up a political standpoint, with lyrics referencing slavery, and lush orchestration that would pave the way for bands like The O'Jays. The latter, however, is a repetitive stone-groove, more in line with the stylings of Ohio Players, where playing and feel, with a clear homage to jazz routes, are the centerpiece. The album ends with a cover of "Young, Gifted, And Black" a Nina Simone song that Aretha Franklin would adopt for an album two years later. This pointed towards Hathaway's future which revolved around covers and heavy orchestration.
Hathaway's career took several directions after this album and before his abandonment of show business in the mid-1970s, before his early death in 1979. But his first album remains a great example of an ordinary man making extraordinary art.

#99 Silver Apples-Silver Apples

Artist: Silver Apples
Album: Silver Apples
Label: MCA
Year: 1968

I seem to go long periods of time without listening to this album, and by the time I get to it, I figure I'll probably have grown tired of it. But that never seems to be the case. Silver Apples first album remains one of the best, most unique poppy psychedelic albums of the late 1960s. The duo consisted of a drummer and singer who played a series of oscillators. Yet the nine songs on this debut are warm and vibrant with a sound that can fill a room.
The album's strength lies in its subtly. Being that half of the band is just a rhythm section, it makes sense that it would be hard to really make complex melodies with only one player on a melodic instrument. But sure enough, it's the buried-deep chord progression of the chorus of "Program" and the stop-start of "Whirly-Bird"...the subtleties, are what make each melody truly unique.
Of course, along with the unique melodies are the absolutely groundbreaking tone of the record. Even The United States of America, who also experimented with oscillators, don't come close to creating such a unique sound. And the album's influence was far reaching, and clearly Suicide and Spacemen 3, among others, owe something to it. Extremely simple melodies done in an absolutely unique manner...really a great record.

#100 Blues Project-Projections

Artist: The Blues Project
Album: Projections
Label: Verve Forecast
Year: 1966


I fucking love Al Kooper. Later on in this list you'll see him mentioned in several other albums, certainly, but I couldn't resist putting The Blues Project on this list.
It's not for the fact that they are an essential band of all-time. And it's not just because I always have a soft spot for exceptional garage rock. But their second album, released in November 1966, still is fresh and exciting. For a band whose origins were blues-folky in nature, with roots in the New York Bowery, being able to release this tour de force is magnificent.
Kooper's strength as bandleader here, as usual, is his ability to make ordinary pop songs exceptional. With the exceptional playing of the rest of his band, simple songs like "Cheryl's Goin' Home" and "Steve's Song" are transformed with great leads, perfect drumming, and great hooks.
Of course, for a blues-based band, the covers are essential. The long, drawn-out "Two Trains Running" and "Caress Me Baby" is the best of the band's material of that ilk. Kooper's "Wake Me, Shake Me," aside from the minor-hit "No Time Like the Right Time" is still the band's best song, and the Chuck Berry cover is performed exceptionally.
The album concludes beautifully, as well, and "Fly Away" points to the pop music Kooper would eventually create with Blood, Sweat, and Tears. Again, beautiful arrangements and wonderful yet simple playing are the song's strength.
This album isn't earth-shattering and I don't know of any greater impact it's had on the history of music. But simple things done well deserve credit, and with all of the above, in addition to smart production by Tom Wilson (see Bob Dylan) that retains a gritty feel and gives it no sheen, the album still is awesome with more could've been hits than most of its garage rock peers.

100 ALBUMS

So I haven't updated this thing in 5 months, and from time to time I get that feeling that I need to share my feelings about an album. This urge, combined with my time spent in classes jotting down an updated list of my 100 favorite albums of all-time has given me the reason to re-start writing here.

So the next 100 posts will be in order from 100-1 of my favorite albums. If I've already reviewed the album, I'll post the old post and any new feelings I have on the thing. The list I've come up with does combine personal preference with historical importance occasionally, which I often take into account when I'm thinking of what albums I love.

If I don't write about an album on the list, also, perhaps I'll write about a near-miss!

So thanks for reading. Tomorrow I will write about album #100: The Blues Project-Projections