Author: ifmyalbumscouldtalk

After the tumultuous year of 2001, we slowly began the act of getting back to normal, whatever that meant. 2002 was significant in that the last half of the year was the beginning of my older son’s last year of high school. By the end of 2002, we had received word that he would be going to Butler University on an academic scholarship. Personally, I was disappointed that he would become the first one in our family since my maternal grandmother not to go to Ball State. And guess where she went? Butler, of course.

Coaching wise, 2001 was the year in which I was coerced to get back into track. After that one year of coaching basketball on the greatest staff, the boys track coach no longer wanted to be in charge of the whole team. He simply wanted to coach the distance runners. So, he approached me first about taking his position with him becoming one of my assistants. After that, the full court press was put on by the boys and girls Athletic Directors, the principal, one of the assistant principals and the girls team coaches. It was nice to feel so wanted, but basketball was still my first love. So, it was Coach Bull who helped me the most with this decision. He said that he did not want to lose me, but he did not want to hold me back either. He said that I had the chance to put my stamp on a program that was in as bad of shape as Alexandria’s had been. The only problem was Hamilton Southeastern was quickly becoming one of the largest schools in the state, so we would be taking a beating the first couple of years.

So, in 2001, I had a group of freshmen who had some talent and loved the sport, so I made the “no-brainer” decision to develop those kids and fill in the rest of the spots with older kids until the talent improved. Needless to say, 2001 was brutal. But, we did get better in 2002, even winning an invitational toward the end of the season due to our improvement and our budding team depth. Let’s just say that we were gaining confidence as a team as I weeded out the older kids who had problematic attitudes.

Probably the highlight of 2002 was not coaching or teaching, but being a parent. When your child is a junior, the parents organize what is known as The Post Prom, an event of games and entertainment for the high school kids that takes place at the high school after the Prom is over. Every year, the parents transform the school into a themed wonderland of fun entertainment. And, each year, a group of parents are in charge of a show. Over the years, the parents have played movies, performed SNL-themed variety shows, talent shows and the like. This time, I was on that committee and my wife nominated me to write this show when I wasn’t at the meeting. Great!

Well, I did remember at the Winter Talent Show that a group of teachers had formed a band and played a song to the delight of the students. Afterwards, the group never performed again. My idea was to due a send up of VH-1’s Behind the Music about this group the guys called Flying Squirrel. So, my wife proceeded to tape them answering questions in the manner of This Is Spinal Tap and The Rutles. Everyone understood what I was doing, so these knuckleheads ran with it. It goes without saying that these guys were brilliantly funny. And, since I had a student teacher, I was able to do some video editing to create the show, complete with the school’s principal doing a Lorne Michaels-like bit begging the band to come back together for a free dessert from the school cafeteria to reunite, to their sleazy manager (another hilarious teacher), to a roadie talking about the band’s groupies (a parent that everyone knows), to the groupies (some hot moms) saying they inspired the music (my nod to Almost Famous), to a band member leaving the band for a solo career (he did a rap number and the Worm), to a band member never realizing the other guy left the band, to a dream-like origin story of the band’s name, and capped off with a new performance by the reunited band. And the kids loved it. The other teachers all said that was the best one. Personally, I don’t know if that is true, but it was fun, even though two of the moms never understood what we were doing and tried to sabotage it every step of the way. I kept telling them to watch one episode of VH-1’s Behind the Music, but they never would. Fortunately, the others on the committee had my back and supported this throughout.

Unfortunately, I never got to do the show for my younger son’s Post Prom because of my stupid back. That will be a regret I will take to my grave since he had helped with the whole Flying Squirrel show. Anyway, let’s take a look at the music of 2002 that inspired me.

Andrew W.K. – I Get Wet (2002). One day, my older son came home from work with a new CD saying that he had something that would remind me of everything that was great about Eighties music. I quickly had learned to be skeptical whenever he came in saying that because the music would be his punchline. Instead, what I heard was the best of metal, punk and pop being rolled up into one relentless headbanging album. For once, he was paying homage to my music and not making fun. At least, that’s how I choose to remember it.

Bruce Springsteen – The Rising (2002). Just when you were beginning to think we were remain in a post-9/11 funk came word that The Boss had summoned the E Street Band to the studio for a reunion. And, the resulting album was all about healing, specifically the healing of relationships, like the families of the victims of 9/11, the people of the United States and the band members themselves. What a beautiful album about healing! And, it had to be Springsteen and the E Street Band to do this.

Christina Aguilera – Stripped (2002). For the most part, Aguilera has wasted her pipes behind crappy music. And, for most of this album, she continues that route. Except on “Beautiful,” that song written by her producer and former 4 Non Blondes leader Linda Perry. No, Perry captured Aguilera at her most vulnerable while singing that song. And, that’s how Christina should be recorded ALL the time. At least on this album, she is more about her emotions that her technique. Her perfectionism is getting in the way of her becoming the voice of a generation. At least she came pretty close on this album.

Coldplay – A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). Coldplay was obvious in who their biggest musical influence was, U2. While on their debut, they took a more sleepy approach, this album is the one in which they made their influences their own sound. Remember, U2 never had many piano-based hits. So, Coldplay was able to wrap that U2 influence around a piano to create the band’s first major singles “Clocks” and “The Scientist.” Coldplay was proving they were ready to ascend to the rock throne soon.

Eminem – The Eminem Show (2002). The question should be, “Will the real Eminem please stand up?” Em was in a creative battle with his Slim Shady persona, and Shady seemed to be winning at the time. While this album was not quite the world-stopping brilliance of The Marshall Mathers LP, this was still a stellar album that had the rapper questioning his own role in the world of hip hop. He proved he was an artist for the ages.

Johnny Cash – American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002). Just when, in your own mind, the collaboration between the Man in Black and producer Rick Rubin could no longer pay dividends, the duo releases this wonderful album of vulnerability on a world hungry for a statement like this. And, they saved the best song of their decade-long work together for what now resonates as a deathbed confession, Johnny’s version of the Nine Inch Nails classic “Hurt.” Cash discovered a whole new level of emotion and truth in that song, making the definitive version (sorry Trent!) of the song. Then throw in Cash’s stellar cover of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus,” and you now have a wonderful one-two punch.

Justin Timberlake – Justified (2002). Of all the boy band members of those dominant bands from the late-Nineties, did anyone honestly have money on Timberlake having the breakout solo career? I sure never expected Justin to become something of a new Michael Jackson. Hell, this album reminds me so much of Off the Wall that it’s not a joke any longer. After listening it the album or the first time in my older son’s room, I couldn’t believe what I had just heard.

Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane (2002). Well, it seemed like alternative music was becoming pop music. My older son kept telling me that this band was an alternative band, but I kept telling him there was little difference between Maroon 5 and the great Redbone of “Come and Get Your Love” fame. Oh well. Maroon 5 IS a pop band, and a damn good one at that. This was a pretty good start for the band.

Norah Jones – Come Away with Me (2002). Don’t get me wrong! I think Norah Jones is a great artist. But, I did get tired of this album when every middle-aged woman kept playing it everywhere I went. Personally, I love the light jazz/singer-songwriter vibe of the album, and Norah executes it with panache. But, when the soccer moms latch onto an album they sure can take the enjoyment out of it.

Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf (2002). Here is one of the heaviest bands of the new millennium. Plus, it’s always fantastic to hear Dave Grohl behind the drums. And the way the band solidifies around Grohl’s beats and Josh Homme’s guitar licks is a thing of beauty. I love this album!

The Roots – Phrenology (2002). America’s favorite rap band was back with a vengeance. The rhymes are insightful, the beats are slinky and the musicianship is impeccable. The Roots prove they are much more that a rap group, since they are talented and versatile musicians as well. This is post-modern band.

The Vines – Highly Evolved (2002). Of course, a band from Downunder will be ready to jump into the pop punk/new garage band sweepstakes. After all, it is a natural sound for bands from that continent. The newest entry was The Vines, who exploded from the speakers with this excellent album. Luckily, The Vines were playing a concert at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame when we were there. So, my boys can be seen in the crowd on the taped show of the concert on MTV. Great band, great performance, but too bad they could not maintain the momentum.

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002). Originally, Wilco lead Jeff Tweedy was a member of alt.country innovators Uncle Tupelo. Then that band splintered into Son Volt and Wilco. Many thought Son Volt would become the next big thing, but it was Wilco who persevered. Initially, Wilco continued down the country rock path blazed by the original band, but slowly the band evolved to include more Radiohead-like textures. So, when the band handed in this album to their label, the label rejected it. Undaunted, the band went seeking a new label. Eventually, they found one, and the album was released to a litany of critical praise. Once again, this proves the musicians know and the bean-counters don’t. This is a terrific transition album as you hear a band change into alternative rock darlings.

And, there you have it, 2002 in a nutshell. And, as always, until next time, peace.

So far in this series, I have covered 841 albums that are on my list, with the majority of them coming from the twenty-year prime of my life which runs from 1975 through 1995. As the years get to be more current, the impact of those years are not as great. Now, if I were running my own radio station, or streaming service, I would continue to pimp the “best” current music, while generally not falling for much of the crap that is considered popular, much as I did in my listening prime.

And as I began this list a little over a year ag, I knew that I would be leaving off some pretty terrific music. These lists are inherently flawed due to the biases of the people creating them. That’s why people find the new 500 Greatest Albums list in Rolling Stone so controversial, since the influence of the Boomers is waning, as evidence of a quick comparison to the 2012 list to the current one. My sole complaint is that London Calling by The Clash is no longer a Top 10 All-Time Album? Please. If I were to rank the albums on my list, it would fall somewhere between the two, which is where I sort of fall generationally speaking.

As far as 2001 is concerned, you can basically divide the music into two categories: pre-9/11 and post-9/11. And, those poor artists whose albums actually dropped on 9/11 never really found a home. For example, anyone remember the band P.O.D.? They were a quasi-Christian rap/metal band, ala Limp Bizkit but with a positive message. Prior to 9/11, that album was being hyped to the hilt due to the success of the band’s previous album. Unfortunately, that album was released on the day that the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked, while a fourth plane was crashed before it could hit its DC target, be it the White House or the Capitol Building. All of a sudden, loud, abrasive music was no longer part of the healing prescription for music. Now, the public was seeking songs which were musically soothing with hopeful lyrics, which explains the soaring popularity of U2’s “Walk On,” John Mellencamp’s “Peaceful World” or that all-star charity single, originally released to raise funding for AIDS research, a cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic “What’s Going On,” which seemed to speak to the millennials I was around at the time. So, P.O.D.’s career assent came to a screeching halt.

So, 2001 ended up being a year that was something of an anomaly musically speaking. Let’s take a look at the albums that made a lasting impression on me.

Alicia Keys – Songs in ‘A’ Minor (2001). Can you believe the audacity of this young twenty-something neo-soul artist in covering a Prince B-side? First, you gotta give her credit for tackling the man’s music. Next, she made a great move covering a B-side and not one of his better known songs. Finally, she made the damn thing her own. Oh, the song? “How Come You Don’t Call Me.” Still, the songs that made Keys’ career were “Fallin'” and “A Woman’s Worth,” tunes that belie her age at the time.

Daft Punk – Discovery (2001). Daft Punk caught my attention back in 1997 with their stellar EDM/acid house mix Homework. Then, unlike many of their electronic peers, the French duo went silent for four long years. When they reappeared, they played up their rockin’ robot personas (kinda a reverse Kraftwerk man machine schtick) and hit the Seventies disco and Europop sounds harder which made for a more pleasant listening experiences. This album contains what is arguably their greatest song, “One More Time,” which I feel would make for a fantastic Cher cover version. Oh, and Kanye found inspiration for one of his future songs on this album that goes by the title of “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.”

Destiny’s Child – Survivor (2001). When Destiny’s Child hit the airwaves in the late-Nineties, they were written off as just another teen group. But, somewhere along the line, these girls became women, and with that maturity came a focus to create great R&B music. This album opens with a trio of timeless songs that only predicted the future solo success of Beyoncé: “Independent Women, Pt. 1,” “Survivor” and “Bootylicious.”

Drive-By Truckers – Southern Rock Opera (2001). This band is the “radical left” of the new southern rock movement that is influenced as much by punk and Stax as it is by Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet. This band’s lyrics are the grandkids to Ronnie Van Zandt’s Seventies lyrical output in that both are struggling to come to terms with the South’s original sins of slavery and bigotry while attempting to move forward in their current worlds. Leader Patterson Hood, son of one of the musicians who rose to fame as a session player in all of those landmark albums created in Muscle Shoals for artists as diverse as Skynyrd, Seger, Al Green and Aretha Franklin. Hood and co-leader Mike Cooley created the first modern day southern rock classic with this album that deals with the grapple between being a modern Southern Man and the baggage of the past. This is just as good as any Skynyrd album from that band’s prime. The scary part is that DBT just keeps getting better, especially when the incomparable Jason Isbell was a member of the band after this album.

Gorillaz – Gorillaz (2001). Gorillaz is the virtual band dreamed up by Blur lead singer Damon Albarn, with help from Tank Girl comic book creator Jamie Hewlett and Dan “The Automator” Nakamura. The trio created the music and accompanying videos in which a group of cartoon characters “play” the music, not unlike The Archies or Josie & the Pussycats. The difference is that Gorillaz records some terrific dance/rock/pop music that borrows heavily from hip hop as well. “Clint Eastwood” is the big song on this album.

Jay-Z – The Blueprint (2001). One of the more memorable things about my boys in 2001 was the day they tried to sync up their CDs of The Blueprint in order to play it, in their words, “twice as loud” by using two stereos. It took them several false starts before they got the timing correct. It goes without saying that this moment only enhanced “Izzo (H.O.V.A.).” By the way, this album only solidified Jay-Z’s ascension to the NYC rap throne vacated after the untimely death of The Notorious B.I.G. From this point onward, NYC belonged to Jay-Z.

Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American (2001). Personally, I loved the whole pop punk/garage punk thing that was happening in the wake of Green Day, Weezer and Blink-182. It reminded me of the new wave gravy days high school and college days. For one album, Jimmy Eat World was the epitome of this new sound, especially on their timeless hit “The Middle.” I continually relived my glory days as I listened to this album.

Missy Elliott – Miss E…So Addictive (2001). Good Lord! Was “Get Ur Freak On” played everywhere back then or what? And rightfully so! That was a great song on a great album. Now, Elliott was confident in her abilities as a songwriter, and her collaboration with Timbalake was second nature. The evidence is all over the album. No, it is not as startling as her debut album, but the sheer confidence exuded throughout the album is the story of this one.

Ryan Adams – Gold (2001). I remember my older son really being big on Ryan Adams’ music at the time. A year earlier I had gotten him into Gram Parsons and had a double CD set that collected Parsons’ work with the International Submarine Band, The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and his solo stuff. After he discovered Adams’ original band Whiskeytown, my son was really sold on the more recent alt.country stuff that was flying around. And, that stuff included solo Ryan Adams. I remember Graham listening to “New York, New York” quite a bit to help him deal with 9/11. Just think that Adams had recorded that song months before 9/11 happened, yet it sounded like he had written the song in its wake. Crazy, just crazy.

Sum 41 – All Killer No Filler (2001). Another one of those pop punk bands, only Sum 41 had some definite musician chops. The album’s title was a rip-off of Jerry Lee Lewis describing his music, it was full of punk classics, especially the hit “Fat Lip.” And remember CD days when bands would include a hidden song and you’d hear this extra song that had no credits on the insert? Well, of course, Sum 41 did this, only that song either paid homage or parodied Iron Maiden on it perfectly. Honestly, I think the song is paying homage to the metal band, while the accompanying video is parody. Don’t you love it when an artist has its cake and eats it too?!

The Strokes – Is This It (2001). New York critics had been waiting for a new NYC music scene ever since the original CBGB-based scene got too big to remain contained in the Bowery. About 25 years later, a whole new independent rock scene that had soaked itself in left-over beer from the punk days arose just when us older folks needed some new rock music. And the band that towered over the others at the time, The Strokes, hit a grand slam on their first trip to the plate. While this album reminds me of Television, sans the guitar hero solos and posturing, it is a 21st century creation through and through. Unfortunately, the band has never reached the heights set by the music on this album.

The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001). If you only knew this band because of their hit song “Fell in Love with a Girl,” you might want to lump The White Stripes in the whole pop punk thing. The only thing is that guitarist Jack White and drummer Meg White, a divorced couple who made beautiful music together, were much deeper than they. They were actually a blues-based rock band in a minimalist version of Led Zeppelin, with the ability to jump genres not just from song to song but within a song itself. Jack White quickly established himself as the guitar hero for the Millennials.

Tool – Lateralus (2001). Everyone’s favorite new millennium version of Rush and King Crimson channeled through punk was back with yet another complex, dark art metal classic. Tool’s musicianship is unparalleled in this day and age of splicing together sampled music run through an iPhone’s Garage Band app. It’s always reassuring to hear just how steeped in the Seventies this band is.

And that wraps up my take on the music of 2001. Until next time, peace.

After spending the 1998-99 school year teaching middle school science at my hometown Pendleton Heights Middle School, I quickly began a search for a high school teaching position. Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall that I would never get a high school teaching or coaching position in my hometown, so I started my search in school systems near me. The nice thing was that I received two interviews AND job offers at the small school where I student taught, Eastern Hancock Jr. and Sr. High School, and the one of the fastest growing school districts in the state, Hamilton Southeastern High School. Both schools wanted me to teach chemistry and coach basketball as an assistant. So, I went with the larger school, Hamilton Southeastern. Plus, I knew their newly hired head basketball coach through my dad. You see, Coach’s dad and my dad had coached against each other when Coach was in high school. That’s what got me hired, but it was my ability that kept me around.

That one year being a boys varsity assistant coach was an awesome experience. The four coaches on the staff were exceptional people, and we had great chemistry. The assistants were encouraged to use our ideas to improve the offense or defense as needed. Coach Bullington (or Coach Bull as we all called him) had a basic outline to his offense and defense, and he left the details for tightening up things to his assistants, which was a cool way to coach. Now, all of us have a vested interest in how the team performs. Personally, I loved to quietly analyze a team’s performance until I have diagnosed their problems. Once I had a grasp as to the deficiency (or deficiencies), I would talk to Bull, make my suggestions as how to improve the problems and show him how I would improve them through drills. If he agreed, then he turned you loose. That’s the reason all three of his assistant coaches became head coaches, though I was the only one who did not stick with basketball, not that Bull really wanted me to leave the program for track. However, he was one of my biggest supporters. Likewise, when Coach Satt took over for Bull to become the head coach of HSE, which he still is in that position nearly 20 years later. And, Coach Grace went on to coach at a couple of noteworthy high schools before hanging up his whistle.

I have often described that coaching staff as if we were The Beatles. We were great together, while all of us eventually went on to become pretty successful on our own. First, Bull left HSE after three years for Pike High School, where he won a State Championship, then retired. Satt, as I said earlier, continues to coach at HSE, where he has coached two Mr. Basketballs, a handful of Indiana All-Stars and won a couple of Sectional championships. Grace was the head coach at a couple of prominent high school programs in Indiana, but left the profession so he could watch his children in their sports. And, me? Well, I will continue to cover that. Though I led some pretty remarkable coaching staffs as the head boys varsity track coach, none of them compared to the chemistry this basketball staff had.

The cool part is how much laughter we shared that year. That’s what I remember the most, followed by the first win of the season (the game plan was totally mine too!), Bull’s 300th career win, the night we beat a school that had fired Bull about a decade earlier (never had I heard a coach so fired up to beat a crappy team), the game when the fire alarm went off at an opposing school in the middle of the second quarter and we had to evacuate the court (and one of the referees got arrested at halftime too!) and the night when the whole staff nearly got ejected from the last game of the season over the worst officiating crew ever. Greatest. Season. Ever. And we were only a couple of games over .500 for the season.

Still, once again, Y2K had some great music, and the world did not end. So, let’s see what’s on my list from the year 2000.

D’Angelo – Voodoo (2000). D’Angelo returned in 2000 with his sophomore album that continued his neo-soul explorations that he innovated on his debut release Brown Sugar. On this LP, the man must have asked himself what would soul sound like if Prince had started the genre. From there, he worked both forward by incorporating hip hop sensibilities and backward as he soul vision bought in not only Seventies soul but jazz and light funk as well. This sound made him more than a retro artist, as Lenny Kravitz or Boyz II Men could at times sound like. No, D’Angelo has his own thing going on as he mixed and matched the talents of The Roots, Lauryn Hill, Raphael Saadiq, among others, in creating the sound on Voodoo.

Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). Many people, my sons included, have stated at one time or another that this album may be the greatest hip hop joint of all-time. Now, I don’t feel all that qualified to designate any album as the greatest in the genre. But, I will say that this is one helluva album and should have won the Grammy for Best Album that year. And, remember, I love Steely Dan, but they did not deserve what amounted to be a lifetime achievement award for their comeback album. Their album was nowhere near the cultural phenomenon this album was. It was ubiquitous and remains a landmark release in all of music.

Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes – Live at the Greek (2000). To be perfectly honest, when I first read about this pairing, I was very skeptical. How would a roots rocking band ever mix well with one of the greatest hard rock guitarists of all-time? Well, I was totally wrong! This was a pairing made in heaven. Seriously, the Crowes are well-versed in the musical language of Zeppelin, giving the music enough musical diversity that kept it fresh. Plus, lead singer Chris Robinson’s vocals can nearly match the soaring timbre of Robert Plant on the Zeppelin songs. This album was a revelation.

Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory (2000). Rarely does the best band of a genre show up at the end of that genre’s run, but that’s exactly what happened when Linkin Park broke through in 2000. This rap/metal ensemble turned up the angst to 11, while smoothing out the rough edges from the Slipknot/Limp Bizkit sound so their tunes would be more commercial. Plus, their secret weapon was lead vocalist Chester Bennington, who had the ability to scream like a Death Metal banshee, rap like a minor league white rapper (but in a good way) and croon like a teen idol. Couple Bennington with the angst-ridden aggressive pop sound and you have a guaranteed hit.

Madonna – Music (2000). So, what’s a diva to do when she seems to be on a never-ending music innovation roll as Madonna was for nearly the past two decades. Well, after the success of her amalgamation of dance, techno and pop on Ray of Light, Madonna looks back at her roots in the disco floors of the late-Seventies. Then, she adds some new millennium sounds to create some of the most exciting club music of the year. This is the sound of a master looking back in order to move forward.

Marilyn Manson – Holy Wood (In the Valley of the Shadow of Death) (2000). As the Nineties were ending, Manson was reeling from the sting of the blame laid at his feet for the Columbine massacre and the commercial dud of his Glam Mechanical Animals. So, he regrouped, refocused and re-emerged as his old nasty heavy metal/industrial rock perverted self. This was the sound of a wounded man reclaiming everything that made him great in the first place.

*NSYNC – No Strings Attached (2000). In the boy band sweepstakes around the turn of the century, there were truly only two groups who could stake claim the throne: Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC. Both bands had their backers, and rarely did a fan love both bands. But, this album sold a ton during the first week of its released. So many copies that this album has the record for most units moved during the first week of its release. And, *NSYNC had a secret weapon in their lineup, a lad named Justin Timberlake, who will go onto getter heights as a solo artist, actor and Jimmy Fallon pal. Give the Y2K Boy Band award to *NSYNC.

Outkast – Stankonia(2000). Once again, the most innovative hip hop sounds were being created by Outkast, this time on their brilliant Stankonia. Sure, they built there sound on a P-Funk foundation, but they found ways to warp those sounds while never ignoring the pop hooks in each song. The emotional centerpiece of this album is the apologetic “Ms. Jackson,” which is an apology to Erykah Badu’s mother for Andre 3K getting Ms. Badu pregnant. It remains a very poignant moment in hip hop history. This album changed everything in the rap world.

PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000). Maturation is a natural progression in people across the spectrum but is rarely seen in the rock world, especially when an artist is known for her angst-riddled anguish in her original run of albums. Yet, all of a sudden, Harvey looks back on her life only to discover a more mature manner in which to express her anger. As opposed to blowing her audience away with her bluster, now Harvey takes the listener by the hand and shows the aftermath of an emotional bomb being dropped on a maturing adult. This is the sign of maturity within the comfy confines of rock music.

Radiohead – Kid A (2000). After Radiohead released their previous album O.K. Computer, the world was ready for how the band was going to continue to save rock music from itself. Once again, the band answers the bell and comes out swinging. Not only is Radiohead wailing away at the technology of the day, but also the current music from a machine, EDM. Radiohead completely blows up everything in its sights. This is one of the first albums that bypassed the rock conceptions of the Boomers and Gen X and completely geared its sounds for the Millennials. This album is a seismic shift indeed.

Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker (2000). Before his whole misogynous allegations surfaced, Adams was considered to be something of a modern day Gram Parsons, a cat who was bringing the country rock sound into the 21st century. Originally, Adams was a member of one of the original Nineties Americana bands Whiskeytown. Unfortunately, that band broke up before they could experience much success. But, when Adams began to do his own thing, the expectations were placed squarely on his shoulders. Heartbreaker is just the kind of album that gets those with their fingers on the pulse of genre all sweaty with excitement. This is a modern mix of Parsons and Neil Young.

The Hives – Veni Vidi Vicious (2000). As the new millennium rolled around, young people were yearning for the raw sound of the original punk movement of 1977. First came Green Day, The Offspring, and others in their wake. Initially, this all started as a trickle but was beginning to catch a little stream. Into the void steps The Hives, ripping through their songs like amphetamine-driven version of The Cars, sans the synth. This is more pop punk (nothing more than harder, faster power pop) than most of the old CBGB sound. It may not have been art, but I like it!

U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind (2000). When we last heard U2, they were doing some crazy sonic experimentations with the attempted marriage of their Dadaist rock sound of Achtung Baby/Zooropa with the EDM-based rock sound of Pop. After getting all of that out of their collective system, the band then began to look back in order to move forward. So, now, after a decade of experimentation with their basic sound, it was time to reach back to their mid-Eighties days of soaring anthems loaded with sincerity for inspiration. The result was this album being a definite embrace of all stages of their development in order to create this album. And, this was definitely their finest LP in a decade, proving that U2 still had creative life flowing through their veins.

Now that we are finally taking about music from the 21st century, let’s take a look where we stand in this list. Currently, we have 19 more years to cover (2001-2019) with 159 albums. I cannot believe how close we are to finishing this thing off. Until next time, peace.

During the 1998-99 school year, I experimented with teaching middle school kids. Let’s just say that it was not as successful as I had hoped. Teaching middle school kids takes a special person, and I am NOT that person. I discovered that I prefer teaching budding human beings as opposed to whatever early teens are considered. Plus, I discovered that I was at my best when I was pushing students out of their comfort zones, and, well, just the basic work in science is out of the comfort zones of most 12- and 13-year-old kids. Additionally, I discovered that you really cannot go back to your old school, as I could not get a high school coaching job in my old school system, even though I just had success at Alexandria. So, I coached the seventh grade boys basketball team and bid my time for a year.

During the summer of 1999, I was training for the Chicago Marathon as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. By July, I had been hired as a high school chemistry teacher at Hamilton Southeastern High School. Later, I was hired as a varsity assistant basketball coach. All of that happened at the end of June. So, on July 3, my family went to my wife’s family reunion, which was a blast. I played basketball and baseball all day long with the teens, mainly because I still had the energy of a teen even though I was in my mid-thirties. And, that was the last time I ever had that amount of energy running through my body.

On Independence Day, 1999, I went out for a small four-mile run with my brother-in-law Bruce. Up to that day, I had been running all of my ten-mile or less runs at five minute, thirty pace. Yet, on that day, I planned to cut the pace by a minute per mile so Bruce and I could run together. Unfortunately, by the two-mile mark, I could not feel my legs. This was not the normal pain from running. I could NOT feel my legs. I kept slowing my pace, finally telling Bruce to just go on because I was not right.

What should have taken me 20 to 25 minutes ended up lasting 45 minutes as I limped and walked my way back to my in-laws’ home. Of course, my wife was frantic since she could not imagine what could have happened to me. Of course, I took a week off from my training to rest my legs. When I started the training back up, the same thing happened on the third day of running, only this time I was in the middle of an eight-mile run. When I finally got home, my wife immediately drove me to the sports medicine walk-in clinic at a nearby sports med group. Initially, I was diagnosed with a double hip flexor strain, which is funny because one strain is more of a sprinter’s injury, not a distance runner’s. It took about three months and three doctors until someone discovered that I had a herniated disc between L4 and L5 vertebrae in my spine, along with some “trauma” to both L4 and L5. It seems I had injured my back in high school, once during a basketball game when I went back first into some bleachers and the other when I had been showing off while playing baseball with some little kids in the neighborhood, lost my balance and went back first into a tree. It seems that either accident, or both, caused a crack in one vertebra and lots of bone and cartilage debris to accumulate around the nerve branches coming off the spine that went down both legs. Thus began my now two-decade battle with my back issues that all came to a head on that day in 1999.

However, on the positive side, the music was pretty good. So, let’s take a look at my favorites from 1999.

Backstreet Boys – Millennium (1999). Pop music geared toward the tweens and early teens has been around since the dawn of rock music. In the late-Fifties and early-Sixties, teens had the Teen Idols. In the late-Sixties and early-Seventies, we had the bubblegum groups. In the Eighties, it was New Edition, Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, Boyz II Men and New Kids on the Block. By the late-Nineties, as a backlash against all the alt.rock and gangsta rap floating around, teen artists began popping up again, with the Backstreet Boys becoming one of the first to break big. Their smooth R&B-based vocal harmonies coupled with their stylish videos made Backstreet the first to strike it big with the little girls.

Blink-182 – Enema of the State (1999). After Green Day smashed down the wall that kept punk rock on the outside, more and more pop-oriented punk bands began to have commercial success. And, none were better than Blink-182, a pop punk trio from San Diego who marketed their brand of punk with much snotty teenaged boy crude attitude. It was Blink’s collective sense of humor that separated them from the rest of the wannabes and opened the floodgates to the pop punk phenomenon of the early-2000s.

Britney Spears – …Baby One More Time (1999). In a post-Madonna pop world, you just knew that the world was ready for a Lolita-type of pop queen. And, into that Nabokov-sized Freudian void steps a former Mouseketeer from the Nineties version of the Mickey Mouse Club turned teen video vixen Britney Spears to exploit the raw sexuality of a teenaged girl in a pop world. However, if you listen to the music without the visual, you have some fairly solid dance/pop tunes to capture the listeners’ ears. Honestly, her early videos made me very uncomfortable, but her songs were real earworms.

Eminem – The Slim Shady LP (1999). So, at the same moment when all the teen-oriented artists began to make strides on the charts, on the complete opposite side of the moral line enters one of the most exciting artists in a decade. His name was Eminem, a white rapper who was everything that Vanilla Ice never was, in a word legit. Em allowed his producer, the great Dr. Dre, to channel his inner alt.rock world in creating a whole new world of beats. Dre had set the aural tones for N.W.A; then Snoop, The D.O.C. and himself; and, now, for the new millennium, Eminem.

Fiona Apple – When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King (1999). Oh, the Nineties were a time when women began exerting the muscles as musical idols. So far, we’ve had strong personas from Tori Amos, Liz Phair, Missy Elliott, PJ Harvey, Björk and Alanis Morissette, so in waltzes a young lady who seems to be influenced by Kate Bush with a Nineties attitude. Fiona Apple, a little petite woman with the brashness of all of the aforementioned female artists, hit like a sledgehammer. Rock would never be the same again.

Foo Fighters – There Is Nothing Left to Loose (1999). Who knew that Dave Grohl would become the last big rock star left in the world? Here, his band created one of the finest pop punk, Cheap Trick-influenced albums. After this album, the Foos would grow into one of the biggest rock bands left on Earth.

Moby – Play (1999). This type of album would have NEVER been made in the Eighties. First, this is an EDM album, constantly kneeling at the alter of Kraftwerk. Second, the concept behind the album is that every song is intended by Moby to be used in commercials. Commercials?!?! Twenty years earlier, that notion was considered selling out. Now, it was a total subversion of the commercial world. Yet, this whole thing works as art. This was Moby’s finest moment.

Rage Against the Machine – The Battle of Los Angeles (1999). The world’s most controversial band made the Nineties’ most overtly political album that rocked. This is the type of album that is missing today. This is in a single word, incendiary.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication (1999). RHCP’s best lineup is singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante. The originally joined forces after original guitarist Hillel Slovak passed away for the Mother’s Milk LP in 1989. Then, in 1991, they hit the big time with Blood Sugar Sex Magik. After which, Frusciante freaked out and bolted. Then, he returned for this album, allowing the band to rediscover that successful chemistry that made them so great. This album proved without a doubt that this was the best lineup.

Santana – Supernatural (1999). It had been nearly 30 years since Santana had created a commercially successful album. In the intervening years, the band had been mostly hit-and-miss, and, unfortunately, mostly miss. Now, under the guidance of the legendary Clive Davis, Santana was paired with many current artists like Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20 and Dave Matthews to create a modern sounding version of the classic Santana sound. This was a fresh-sounding merge of Latin sounds, blues, rock and hip hop. And, it was successful beyond belief and won a boatload of Grammys.

Slipknot – Slipknot (1999). Just when you think that metal is dead, along comes a new band with a fresh take on the old format. Taking their cue from Kiss, Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper, the members of Slipknot wore unique masks during performances that made them appear as deranged mental patients, or at least killers in their own horror films. Their rhythms were heavier, as they added percussionists to the rhythm section, not for texture but for menacing power and volume. They added turntables for scratching and sample for more power and volume. The whole collective seemed as if they were exorcising their demons simultaneously as they play and record. Thrash had finally been turned up to 11.

The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin (1999). Every so often, one of the strange underground bands of an era creates such a beautiful, off-kilter album that somehow catches the imagination of the masses. In the Eighties, Love & Rockets did it, as did XTC on Skylarking and as the Dukes of Stratosphear on Psonic Psunspot. As the 20th century was about to turn over, The Flaming Lips filled this void. This band’s pop has always been ornate and beautiful in the eye of the beholder. But, with this lush album, these Oklahoma natives created a sonic landscape so out of sync with the times that it came off as timeless. The Flaming Lips had officially left their punk days behind.

The Roots – Things Fall Apart (1999). Back in 1999, hip hop artists rarely used live musicians when making their music, even though the Beastie Boys had broken that barrier earlier in the decade. Then, along comes this band from Philadelphia, who totally changed the face of rap on this outstanding album. From this point on, hip hop artists began to use live bands to back them, and The Roots became eventual mainstays of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Now, this uncommonly talented group of musicians are icons. This is where everything broke open for them.

Now, we can put the final nail in the coffin containing the 20th century. Next time, we will begin the 21st century. Peace.

About once a month or so, my pain-ravaged body will go into shutdown mode. I really don’t know when it will happen, but when it does, there is nothing I can do but sleep. I must have slept over half of the day Saturday. Fortunately, it happened when my wife had to meet with her four brothers to decide what to do about her parents’ home and property, so she was gone all day. Of course, I had planned to spend the day finally listening to the 13-LP box set of Prince’s Sign ‘o’ the Times remastered classic. Now, I will have to spread the enjoyment out over several days. Let’s just say that what I have heard on the first album of the newly released material is awe-inspiring. Prince had six LPs worth hit albums recorded during this legendary three-year period of creativity beginning in 1985 and ending in 1987.

So, anyway, we are up to 1998 in my list of My 1000 Favorite Albums. Now, the spring of 1998 was the last few months of my tenure at Alexandria. However, it ended on the highest of highs. In 1998, Alexandria did the unthinkable for a 2A school. They won the first state championships in two sports in one school year, basketball and baseball. And, while many of the sports teams did exceptionally well that year, the next biggest story was my track team.

Like I had said previously, these guys were some of the finest competitors I have ever coached. I only wish they had the coaching staff I worked with at Hamilton Southeastern because I feel like these guys could have had so much more to pull out of them than I could as their only coach. What they accomplished was solely on their own. I gave them their workouts and had to trust they would follow them as I could not be overseeing guys throwing the shot and discuss on one side of the school and jumpers on another, while the sprinters and hurdlers were sharing the front straight of the track, God knows where I had sent my distance runners to run for their miles. But, for some reason, the captains at each event kept the others in line and focused. Eventually, it all paid off.

Once again, Alexandria track had been the laughingstock of the sports program. Whoever had coached in the past never cared about practices or meets much because they were in a word terrible. Then, two years before I became the head coach, a young guy had taken over as head coach. He didn’t know much about track but he hated to loose. And, when I took over cross country, he immediately asked me to be his assistant. Together, we worked to change the working environment and attitude, which was easy because the kids in this small town hated to lose at anything. Unfortunately, that head coach left for an administration position at another school, so I became the head coach in 1997. By 1998, the kids that we focused the future on were now juniors and seniors, so I was expecting big things.

No matter how hard these guys competed, they kept finishing second or third in the invitationals, even though we were beating many of those teams in head-to-head competitions. Big meets are a different animal. Fortunately, I knew how to push these guys’ buttons. And, the biggest button was someone saying they were not good. The day before the conference meet, the local newspaper released its weekly paper. Immediately, I turned to the sports column that was written by a former AD at the school. Now, that man loved his Alexandria sports and was a fine man. I continue to have great respect for him. But, in his column, he slighted the track team basically saying they had a good season but would only finish fourth in the eight-team meet. There it was! I had those guys immediately. I copied that exact quote and handed it out to the team at our team meeting the night before the meet. I told them that according to the times that I had sent in for seeding, which were now two weeks old, said they would finish fifth as a team. But, when I substituted their more recent times, I told them they could win, no matter what happens with Peru’s stud All-State sprinter, who unfortunately was injury-prone.

The next day came, and when the meet started, one of our workhorses was laying an egg on the track. He scratched all attempts in the long jump and did not qualify for the finals in the high hurdles. My team was freaking out, so I gathered as many of them as possible, told them to relax and let the meet come to them. I said this happens all the time and that people will pull surprises as the meet continues. In other words, I bullshitted them.

At the half-way point in the meet, we were in last place in the team standings. And, then it started to happen. In those last events, we flexed our muscles. We went from also-rans to studs in the course of those events. As a matter of fact, when the last race, the 4x400m relay, was lining up, we were in first place by one point. All we had to do in the last race was to finish according to our seed, third, and we would win the school’s first track conference championship ever. And, that’s exactly what happened. Those guys, all of them had competed in three prior events each, were exhausted but dug down to finish a close third place. When the team standings were announced, only 10 points separated the champs, us, for sixth place! As a matter of fact, we finished first, second place was one point behind us, third place was 2 points back and fourth place was 3 points out. It was the craziest meet ever, but my guy prevailed and are now immortalized on the school’s sports wall of fame as the only boys’ track team on the wall. And that is a testament to these guys’ character. Today, all of them have successful jobs and families, so coaching them only made me appear to be good.

Dixie Chicks (now, The Chicks) – Wide Open Spaces (1998). Of course, the trio is known as The Chicks, but I will still refer to the artist’s original name for the sake of this blog. So, when this multi-talented group of women combined their skills, they set the musical world, not just the country world, on fire. Sure, The Chicks were steeped in country, but they also displayed flashes of Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and other significant artists from the country side of rock. They had their very own sound, with the lyrics written by some tough women. With this album, The Chicks proved they were going to be a musical force for the ages.

Hole – Celebrity Skin (1998). Courtney Love and her band followed up their 1994 breakthrough album Live Through This four years later with a bigger commercial hit in Celebrity Skin. Of course, controversy followed Ms. Love as she attempted to move forward with her life after losing her husband Kurt Cobain. At the time, she was rumored to be dating lead Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan, who was now being held up as the ghost songwriter of the tunes on this album. As if a woman could actually write their own music. Not!

Incubus – Make Yourself (1998). Sure, Incubus were steeped in the alt-metal hybrid that was popular in the late-Nineties. But, this time, the band used R.E.M.-producer Scott Litt, whose work emphasized the moodiness of the band’s songs. This moodiness, along with the cleaner production values, made the band more commercially enticing. Thus, this album put the band on the map, however briefly it lasted. My fondest memory of this album was hearing my older son’s high school garage band learning to play the songs on this album to play in the school talent show.

Korn – Follow the Leader (1998). After Rage Against the Machine broke, it seemed as if there were a million bands with a metal/hip hop fusion sound getting airplay in MTV. Hell, there was Limp Bizkit, Marilyn Manson, White Zombie (and Rob Zombie as a solo artist) and, of course, Korn, leading the way. Korn was next to Manson in the scary sound department. You just felt an uneasiness in the air as their album played or during a live performance. Either way, I always felt as though I should sprinkle some Holy Water on the CD player after my track guys listened to this Korn CD while they were lifting weights. Yet, there was something about Korn that I liked. It was more than “Freak on a Leash” too.

Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). Recently, Rolling Stone released an updated version of their Top 500 Albums of All-Time list. No longer was the list being dominated by the tastes of Baby Boomers. Now, Gen X and Millennial critics’ opinions were being recognized. So, it should not surprise many out there that this album is in the Top 10 on this list. And, it deserves its placing. Hill was the counterpoint voice in the Fugees, bringing not only a feminine point-of-view to the great band’s musical statements, but she was also the social and personal centerpiece. So, while much was expected of Ms. Hill on her first solo album, no one could have predicted just how focused this album would be. The versatility in her vocals, going from a tough girl rap to a tender lover singing voice within the course of one song, was spellbinding. And, while she made it very clear that her children would come before her career, no one really took her seriously. Now, since she has released very little music in the interim years, this album has taken on a more poignant landmark in her all too brief career.

Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (1998). Here is another great album by a female artist released in 1998. Lucinda Williams was another terrific artist in the newer Americana scene that was led by Counting Crows, The Jayhawks, Son Volt, Wilco, among so many others. But, what Williams accomplished on this album still resonates to this day in the genre. Ms. Williams definitely hit a home run on this album release, perhaps the best of her illustrious career.

Madonna – Ray of Light (1998). Through the Eighties and early-Nineties, Madonna rarely took time off from her career. But, in 1998, Madonna ended a four-year hiatus with the release of her Grammy winning album Ray of Light. On the LP, pop’s most famous musical chameleon, patterned after David Bowie’s career, Madonna hooked up with techno producer William Orbit in order to give her pop/dance sound a modern overhaul. And, the result was this mesmerizing hybrid of influences that reinvigorated Madonna and poised her for a strong opening at the beginning of the 21st century.

Outkast – Aquemini (1998). You know what the cool thing about modern popular music is? The coolest thing is that the music rarely gets stale. Once that begins to happen, along comes a fresh new artist ready to overturn the applecart of the status quo. At the time, gangsta rap and other tales about thug life were growing thin with some listeners. So, when a rap group pops up from Atlanta of all places, using P-Funk samples and a surrealist, nearly Dadaist, approach to their music and rhymes figured to shake up the establishment. The best example was the duo’s hit song “Ms. Jackson.”

The New Radicals – Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too (1998). I’ve written about this album before, but I will say it again. This album is totally underappreciated. The New Radicals brought took the influences of Daryl Hall & John Oates AND Todd Rundgren. This is just a beautiful mix of power pop and blue-eyed soul. And, the unique thing about this band is that the leader, Gregg Alexander, who never shied away from controversial statements about the state of the music industry to his belief in left-wing politics, broke up the band after scoring a lone Top 40 hit (“You Get What You Give”) in order to be an actual one-hit wonder.

And that wraps up the next-to-last year in the old millennium. We have currently covered 815 albums on my list, leaving 185 LPs over 21 years to go. See you next time. Peace.

1997 was the year when my coaching success was finally beginning to caught up with the success I was having in the classroom. I know that is a weird statement to make, but I rarely had issues getting students to work in the classroom. I simply wanted them to achieve more than their status quo, which goes against the American teenager’s credo. But, when it came to my sports, my competitive nature always was larger than my athletic gifts. Yet, through sheer tenacity of both me and my teams, we were beginning to have success.

Cross country had been a dead sport for about 20 years at the school, and boys’ track fielded “teams” that were made up of 20 or fewer athletes. As a matter of fact, Alexandria only had one good runner back when I was in high school, and he graduated in 1978. So, in essence, there was not much of a history in track or cross country. I told the guys that everything they would accomplish would be history. In 1996, my first year coaching cross country, the AD’s daughter was named All-State Second Team. In 1997, both boys and girls teams finished second in the conference after finishing seventh the first year. The boys even finished in the top 5 teams at the Sectional meet to qualify for the school’s first Regional appearance in Cross Country.

In track, we overcame much that poor schools have stacked against them. Our facilities, generally speaking, were crap, even though we did get the track resurfaced for the first time in 20 years (also, it was the last time the track has been resurfaced, believe it or not). Things were so bad that the school had stopped competing in the pole vault, which meant we were walking into every meet down AT LEAST nine points, more at big invitationals. And, my last words before getting off the bus to compete was, “We are losing by 9 points (or 18 at an invitational), who’s going to make it up?” Then, I get off the bus and lead the team onto the track. Every time we got to a meet, everyone on that bus was as pissed as me, but it worked as motivation. These guys would constantly loose a championship by a point to a larger school, but every time they were ready to challenge them again, refusing to give an inch even when they should have lost. Fortunately, 1997 set up 1998, which I will get to next time.

So, what were the best albums of 1997? Let me simply say that Master P did not have a hand in any of them.

Björk – Homogenic (1997). Man, did this little Icelandic lady ever loose her chanteuse label to become a full-fledged rock artist. Here marriage of electronica, pop, rock and dance really turned the apple cart over. This remains her finest album.

Buena Vista Social Club – Buena Vista Social Club (1997). This album is named after a historic members-only club in Havana, Cuba during the pre-Castro days. Those were a time of rich musicianship, with most of these musicians never getting their acclaim in the States as former bandleader Desi Arnaz did. So, the great guitarist and musicology of sorts Ry Cooder went to Cuba to record an album with these forgotten musicians while also filming a documentary about this whole adventure. This album is a history lesson in Cuban music as you can hear the blending of jazz, mambo and much playfulness found in the simple love of playing. This album shows that music is the universal language.

Elliott Smith – Either/Or (1997). Even though this was the man’s third album, he kind of burst on the scene because his song “Angeles” was included in the movie Good Will Hunting. But, this guy was much more than that song. This album is pure acoustic indie pop bliss. Unfortunately, he would die tragically at the age of 34.

Janet Jackson – The Velvet Rope (1996). Janet went full-on nympho goddess on this album. It’s like she had decided to take on Prince’s Dirty Mind and update the music. Whatever happened, I like it!

Missy Misdemeanor Elliott – Supa Dupa Fly (1997). Here it is, the most acclaimed album by a female hip hop artist. And, that is a sexist statement, because this is a landmark hip hop period. She and Timbalake burst onto the scene with this fantastic album with strong songs full of dope beats.

Radiohead – O.K. Computer (1997). I remember in the early-Eighties when people were comparing The Cure to Pink Floyd, especially the earliest version of The Floyd. And, I thought they were daft. Nobody is like Floyd. Except now. You see, it took a Gen X band who grew up with computers to fully comprehend what it would take to become a Floyd in the Nineties. Technology causing alienation? Check. Weird-ass sounding guitars emulating and immolating the blues? Check. Using technology of the day to heighten the drama of the music? Check. Former art school students? Check. See where I’m going? Of course, Radiohead will blow up that notion soon enough.

Sleater-Kinney – Dig Me Out (1997). And, here my friends, is when the dream of The Runaways became real. Sleater-Kinney is a fantastic punk band who happens to be all-female. And no one cared! All everyone could hear is the great punk-based music this band was creating. They breathed a whole new life into the 20+ year old genre.

The Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death (1997). This album proved that Ready to Die was not a fluke. And, for a moment, Biggie could stake claim on being the finest MC on the planet. Unfortunately, he was murdered right as this album was being released, so we’ll never know the heights he might have climbed had he lived. Could he have adapted like Jay-Z or Snoop, or fallen off the face of the world?

The Prodigy – The Fat of the Land (1997). Thanks to this album, techno, or electronic dance music (EDM), was now worldwide. And, this ain’t no disco, either. This is a head-on aural assault that plays like a thrash metal band meeting up with Lou Reed at his most inaccessible. The sound is both menacing and danceable. The album was one stunning statement.

The Verve – Urban Hymns (1997). By 1997, Britpop was flaming out as the masters, Oasis and Blur, were imploding and the excitement was being drained by a bunch of wannabes. But, with this album, The Verve made a statement to the world that the Britpop dream was not yet dead, and that young Brits still wanted to be a combination of The Beatles, Stones and Kinks all the while becoming rock stars. This album is magical, especially the controversial lead single “Bittersweet Symphony.”

And that’s my take on 1997. I’m sure some of my younger readers will object and that’s fine with me. But, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Looking back over the years, 1996 was a fairly nondescript year. Sure, there were a smattering of pretty cool things that happened within my family, yet, everything seemed to remain status quo. Actually, if there was ever a year during which I finally felt I were too old for popular music, it seems to have all started in 1996.

Now, don’t get me wrong! 1996 had some excellent albums released during its 12-month reign. The problem was that I was no longer getting a visceral movement from the best of these albums as I had during 1995. For someone who had  managed to maintain his youthful love of popular music he entered is mid-thirties, imagine his shock as he felt the music of someone’s youth not playing a true meaning in his life. This was a proposition I was not ready to tackle. So, I left the current music to my students and my boys, especially my older song who was inching closer to his primo teens.

So, let’s take a closer look at 1996.

Beck – Odelay (1996). Beck’s canny amalgamation of hip hop, dance, alt.rock, pop, folk and rock came to fruition on this album. Odelay just seems to play like a Greatest Hits album in the best way, since so many songs were radio hits. This album is the Beck album that should have won the Grammy.

Fugees – The Score (1996). In the hip hop world, there always seems to be an artist who is willing to upset the fruit cart in order to advance the genre. In the early-Nineties, we had the Afro-Centric Native Tongues collective pushing black culture into the limelight. That was followed by the jazz-based sounds from Eric B & Rakim, countrifried rap of Arrested Development, the gangsta rap of the N.W.A family and the Beatlesque sounds of PM Dawn. Next up was the sweet Seventies soul sound of the unparalleled Fugees. I never thought Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” would ever get touched by a cover, except the Fugees did just that. This album is loaded with greatness.

Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt (1996). In the hip hop world, there is a lineage of great M.C.’s that runs from Kurtis Blow to LL Cool J to Eric B to Chuck D to Ice Cube to 2pac to The Notorious B.I.G. The next one in line is Jay-Z, who dropped this debut album and let the ripples felt throughout history as few would experience. Jay-Z is most like The Beatles in his cultural impact continues to be felt long after he stopped changing the world with every release. There might be a kernel of truth that he might be the greatest rapper ever.

Marilyn Manson – Antichrist Superstar (1996). It had been a while since a “scary” or “Satanic” rock artist had kicked up a lot of dust in his wake. Back in the Eighties, it seemed like Ozzy Osbourne was the Right’s whipping boy for every bad about rock music. So, when it came to an antihero to rise in the Nineties, that person better take his persona to a whole new level. So, the latest entrant into the Alice Cooper sweepstakes come a man who plays up a dark androgyny, penchant for all things Satan and a David Bowie unmatching eye colors. Plus, he and the member of his band had the audacity to get their stage name from the combination of a first name from a famous female model/movie star and a last name taken from a serial killer. It’s as if this man who called himself Marilyn Manson was courting controversy while playing a mix of metal, shock rock and industrial music. What a marketing genius!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Murder Ballads (1996). If there was an artist who was perfectly developed to record an album of murder ballads, it was Nick Cave at this very moment. Cave takes to the genre as if he were born to play the folk songs, even writing some of his own songs that fit perfectly with the originals he covered. Once again, I get to use the phrase hauntingly beautiful to describe a Nick Cave album.

Sublime – Sublime (1996). I once asked a former student and huge Sublime fan why Sublime resonates with his age group, and his answer floored with with its simplicity. Ronnie said that Sublime married the middle class dreams of gangbanging rappers with the actual nihilism of middle class reality in the key of ska. Of course, I made his quote sound much more poetic than it actually was, but the point was the same. Unfortunately, Sublime leader Brad Nowell succumbed to a heroin overdose just as the album was taking off, much like what happened to the Gin Blossoms.

Tool – Ænima (1996). When I first heard Tool, I thought, “My God! What is this?” It was metal, but it was artier than just straight metal. Maybe, Tool were a modern day Rush. Then, I listened to this album again, thought, “Nope! This is too dark for Rush.” Finally, it hit me – Tool is a modern day King Crimson, complete with the dark progressive intentions and all. Once I made the connection, Tool quickly became a band I admired.

Weezer – Pinkerton (1996). So, what’s a band to do when their debut album immediately became an underground masterpiece not unlike Cheap Trick’s debut from 1977? With Weezer, when you have so many options, such as admission into Harvard, more detailed studies into what makes a hit record and what does not, and decided to turn your lyrics more inward. In the process, the band unwittingly laid the groundwork for a branch of pop-punk called emo. And, that singer-songwriter lyrics in a pop-punk setting was a whole new thing as exemplified by Dashboard Confessional, though that band never neared the excellence of Weezer on Pinkerton. Many will argue that Weezer left their greatness on this album. And, I will argue they are wrong.

Wilco – Being There (1996). In the early Nineties, there was an excellent country punk band called Uncle Tupelo. Despite their innovations, the band split into two new bands. The first group immediately found acceptance from critics as Son Volt. The other band ended up being the bigger and more influential band called Wilco. Initially, as on this album, Wilco maintained its course as the new saviors of country rock. Though, that would change soon enough. However, on this album, Wilco was in full country rock mode, and Being There stands right with the two Jayhawks albums as the finest example of modern country rock.

With that, we come to the end of my 1996 list. As you can tell, the lists will get smaller, but those albums will only become that much more powerful. Peace.

This is the last year on my list in which I will spend more than one day covering the great albums released during a particular year. If I biased toward any music, once again, they are those years during which I was growing up, specifically 1975 through 1995. With that stated, let’s finish up 1995.

Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995). Oasis did it! They continued to stretch our their musical limbs, only to achieve everything they set out to accomplish. The Gallagher brothers held their sibling rivalry in check long enough to perfect that Beatles/Stones/Kinks/Soup Dragons/Smiths sound their were on the cusp of defining on their debut album. Oasis created the perfect English band sound, one that transcended the whole Britpop throne and never matched by Blur, Suede or Supergrass, who all came close. This is an album for the ages.

Phish – A Live One (1995). Phish are the Grateful Dead of Generation X., a great jam band that HAS to be experienced in a live setting. In all honesty, you could spend a fortune just to hear all the concert glory. But, if you want one manageable live album to discover what all the fuss is about, look no further. This double CD has it all, from the band’s only hit song “Bouncing Around the Room” to their strange showstopper “Wilson” to their appropriately titled jam song “Gumbo.” This album has all the magic.

Prince – The Gold Experience (1995). Back in 1995, Prince was in a war with his label Warner Bros. Rumor has it that Prince was in the midst of one of his fertile creative periods, as he had enough material for TWO triple albums. The first one, Prince wanted to release the project under the title of The Dawn. This project would have included these albums in an interesting order. Instead, three albums were release separately as Come, The Gold Experience and Chaos & Disorder. Of the three, The Gold Experience was the better album, though all three make for a compelling listen. When Prince got his freedom, he immediately dropped another triple-CD affair called Emancipation. Still, this album marks the last time during which Prince released a truly great album.

Pulp – Different Class (1995). While Oasis may have created the best Britpop album and Blur nailed the best song, it was Pulp who nailed down the best description British class differences on this album called Different Class. Their British hit song “Common People” really does nail the cultural differences in the social hierarchy of life in the UK. Personally, I prefer this album to the others in the Britpop sweepstakes.

Radiohead – The Bends (1995). I saw Radiohead open for R.E.M. back in 1995. And, I was pleasantly surprised by the band’s musical growth on this album. In all honesty, I did not care for the debut album. However, The Bends was a much more satisfying listen. Throughout this album, Radiohead stretched the boundaries of their sound, taking it in much more interesting places than the tired alt.rock sound found on their debut. This is the album in which Radiohead was developing into a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act.

Supergrass – I Should Coco (1995). Much like the Nuggets-era of American garage rock, Britpop held the same sway over the youth of the UK. So, it should not have been a big surprise when three teenagers bonded over their favorite British rock artists such as The Beatles, Blur, David Bowie, The Buzzcocks,  Elton John, Madness and The Who to create their debut album. All rock music should be this energetic.

The Jayhawks – Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995). The Jayhawks matured into one of the finest country rock acts since the Eagles heyday of the mid-Seventies. Throughout this album, I am reminded of those peaceful, easy feelings I got from my pre-Hotel California Eagles albums. The Jayhawks did a cover of Grand Funk’s “Bad Time” that is a power pop delight. But, the main attraction is the “Blue,” “I’ll Run Away” and “Miss Williams’ Guitar” triple-timeless song sequence. And, standing heads above all else on the album is the opener “Blue,” arguably the greatest country rock song ever.

The Smashing Pumpkins – Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995). This double album has everything that makes a double album so awesome in the first place. This is an album of overabundance, in sounds, guitars, instrumentation, vocals, literally everything. But, the grand abundance never overreaches itself. It’s as if lead Pumpkin Billy Corgan totally understood what need needed to done in the correct amounts. It’s just a great album about growing up. And, “1979” really does remind me of that year.

And, that my friends, was the way it was in my music collection back in 1995. Until next time, peace.

1995 was a crazy year. During the first half of the year, I completed my first year of teaching, while coaching sixth grade boys basketball and junior varsity baseball. Then, in the fall, I would be starting my second year of teaching with one totally new coaching experience.

It seems that someone told our administrators, including our Athletic Director (AD) that I had been a runner during high school, afterwards having a cup of tea with the college team. In all honesty, I was not talented enough for a position on the Ball State team, though a couple of friends of mine from other high schools who were on the BSU Cross Country team were really putting the full court pressure on me to come out for the team. Of course, I withstood their inquiries, but sometimes wonder if I could have adjusted to college training techniques and developed into a competitive runner. Then again, I really don’t waste my time with such thoughts.

So, long story short, the Alexandria AD contacted me about becoming the varsity cross country coach of BOTH the boys and girls teams. Basically, 20 years had passed since the school had a cross country team, so I was turned loose to do whatever I felt necessary to get these teams rolling. The bottom line was that the AD’s daughter, an excellent all-around athlete and future Indiana basketball All-Star team member wanted to compete on a cross country team, so Mr. Garner came through. What Mr. Garner underestimated about me was my burning desire to win/compete. Yes, my teams were terrible that first year, but they steadily improved until during the fourth year of the program, the boys team had won a county championship. However, in 1995, I was coaching the daughter to a second team All-State honor, while the other girls and boys kept a modest improvement from week to week. Needless to say, I was hooked to the point where I gave up coaching baseball in order to become an assistant boys’ track coach.

In addition to teaching and coaching, I was beginning to let go of my music passion by cancelling my subscriptions to Rolling Stone and Spin magazines. Now, I was going to live vicariously through my students and my older son.  Which means, we need to get this list moving.

2pac – Me Against the World (1995). This son of a Black Panther picked up the rebel mantle and channeled his gift into the world of rap. Of course, this was the perfect avenue for the young Mr. Shakur. 2pac was able to transcend the thug life of the streets to forge a new rap sound from the O-town (Oakland). 2pac found himself in a sweet spot somewhere between N.W.A, The Chronic, Ice-T and Schooly-D. He was now the poet to a whole new subset of ghetto prisoners.

Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill (1995). Now, it seems inevitable that someone would take the confessional point of view of Tori Amos and marry it with the angry young woman lyrics of Liz Phair in a clean pop/alternative rock setting that would sell millions upon millions of albums. What was surprising was the vehicle was a little petite Canadian woman who got her start as a pop star in the vein of a Katy Perry. Frustrated by that experience, Morissette looked inward and wrote and album’s worth of great songs with a uniquely female point of view. This album was an event looking for a place to happen.

Björk – Post (1995). Back in 1988, an Icelandic band called The Sugarcubes released an album that quickly became a critic’s darling behind the unique vocals of lead singer Björk. Slowly, she worked her way out of the band in order to pursue a critically acclaimed solo career. Her debut album was a little culture shock as Björk dove head first into electronica. Now, on here sophomore album, the singer honed her sound, even toughening it at times to come off more industrial, to created this magnificent album.

Daft Punk – Homework (1995). Finally, someone made a modern disco record. Seriously, this robotic French duo had obviously cut their teeth on Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder’s Donna Summer productions (“I Feel Love”) and all the early synthpop singles from UK of the late-Seventies and early-Eighties. This was fresh and modern but still seemed as though it were totally created during the disco era of NYC.

D’Angelo – Brown Sugar (1995). When D’Angelo arrived on the scene in the mid-Nineties, R&B had gotten a little too formulaic. Instead, D’Angelo came in with a pure sex quality that had been lacking in R&B since a pre-car crash Teddy Pendergrass. There was a vocal swag in D’Angelo that his contemporaries all lacked. Plus, D’Angelo was willing to walk to his own beat in order to deliver his vision of Southern Fried soul strained through a Prince-esque willingness to tackle his own vision. He would quickly become a major player on the scene.

Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters (1995). When Kurt Cobain was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, people were immediately wondering what would happen to the other two guys in Nirvana. Bassist Krist Novoselic went into the political system, while drummer Dave Grohl had stockpiled a collection of his own songs for the formation of a replacement band. Initially, Grohl helped out Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers with a SNL appearance. Still, he formed his own band and released this excellent debut. Today, Dave seems have become the last rock star on Earth, while Cobain was cast as the first anti-rock star.

Garbage – Garbage (1995). This album may SOUND like an alternative rock album, what with off-kilter song arrangements, moments of seemingly uncontrolled noise and a female vocalist with a thin, airy voice. But, don’t be fooled as this is a pop album of first-rate material. This debut album is so good that it casts a very long shadow on the band’s whole catalog as they never could get the balance quite right again. But, for one brief moment, Garbage found some studio magic.

No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom (1995). By the mid-Eighties, I was personally feeling nostalgic for new wave. Fortunately, into that void stepped a former ska band from the same Southern California scene that had spawned Fishbone. The difference is that No Doubt played up its pop/rock roots, making them perfect for mainstream success in the mid-Nineties. And, of course, the band’s not-so-secret weapon was their beautiful and charismatic lead singer Gwen Stefani who quickly became the band’s focal point. To this day, I have always wished that No Doubt and Weezer had toured together.

And, that’s where we’ll stop for Day 1. See you next time. Peace.

This is one of the last multi-day entries in this current topic. I believe there is at least one more multi-day blogs left, but it could be two. So, let’s get this thing going.

R.E.M. – Monster (1994). After our heroes from Athens, Georgia, released two mega-hits to kick of the Nineties, R.E.M. decided to jump head-first into the current alternative scene that, ironically, the band had unwittingly opened the gates to 11 years earlier. In response to grunge and all the other stuff being popularized, R.E.M. created their most glam and trendy album to date. Monster is the sound of four thirty-somethings cutting loose and having a ball. This album is extremely underrated and underappreciated within their stellar catalog.

Soundgarden – Superunknown (1994). Soundgarden was the last of the Seattle Big Four to strike it rich. This album is where the band reached their potential with their Zeppelin-like mix of metal, grunge, blues, psychedelia, punk and funkish rock. “Black Hole Sun” is the band’s most enduring song.

Stone Temple Pilots – Purple (1994). On Core, STP were jumping from influence to influence to musically surround their Gen X lyrics. So, when the world heard this album, we all discovered this was a band for the ages. STP proved through sheer will and constant touring that anyone can develop their own sound that has resonated through the decades. The big hits were “Big Empty” and “Interstate Love Song.”

The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die (1994). With the help of producer Sean “Puffy” Coombs, Biggie Smalls created the East Coast’s answer to gangsta rap. Coombs may have developed the music, but it would have been nothing without Biggie’s easy to understand tales of inner city life. It’s still a shame that he was taken at such a young age.

The Offspring – Smash (1994). Talk about a left field hit, this album a big one. The Offspring released this album on Epitaph, a small independent metal label and put this album into Billboard’s Top 5 on the Album Chart. Sure, The Offspring were a little metal, but they were a whole lot more punk. This album, along with Green Day’s Dookie, helped push punk rock into the American mainstream.

TLC – CrazySexyCool (1994). On TLC’s first album, they proved to be just another group of teenage women on a trajectory that was marrying bubblegum with rap, new jack swing and other modern sounds in R&B. So, imagine my surprise when I first heard this album. TLC had literally matured into strong beautiful black women who were ready to exert their creative control. “Waterfalls” remains one of the best Prince-sounding songs of the Nineties.

Tom Petty – Wildflowers (1994). For Petty’s second solo album, he enlisted super-producer Rick Rubin to help him work on stripped down sound. What the pairing did was creatively a master stroke. The pairing allowed Petty to develop his music without too many embellishments, which made for an exciting new direction of his music. This album represents the moment when Petty grew from a young rocker into a mature traveling troubadour.

Velvet Crush – Teenage Symphonies to God (1994). When I came across this CD at a Best Buy in Indianapolis, I discovered it in the Christian Rock section of the music. The album must have been categorized as a Christian act due to the album title, which is a quote from Beach Boy Brian Wilson when describing their music found on Pet Sounds.. Man, does the Velvet Crush live up to its album title. This has everything that is so delightful about power pop music. This is a little gem.

Weezer – Weezer (The Blue Album) (1994). When I first heard this band, I was absolutely convinced that I was listening to THE Cheap Trick of the Nineties. One day, I will have to do a compare and contrast blog between CT’s debut and this one by Weezer. This is a beautiful album in its simplicity juxtaposition with the tough sounding guitars. And much like Trick 17 years earlier, Weezer can stake claim to being much more than a power pop album. And, that’s what makes Weezer so compelling to follow through the years.

With that, I’ve put 1994 to rest. Peace.