photo & text by nacrowe
lets get this out right from the jump. CREED is a JOKE.
they likely will go down in musical history, fairly or unfairly, as the poster children for why the term POST-GRUNGE is very much permanently a PEJORATIVE. they are critically viewed at best as DERIVATIVE of other way more TALENTED bands (ALICE IN CHAINS, PEARL JAM, SOUNDGARDEN, etc.) and at worst CAREER OPPORTUNISTS with unmistakeable EVANGELICAL overtones that opened the door for a flood of unimaginably SHITTY bands in the late 90s and early 2000s with REDUCTIVE DEEP-VOICED, BARREL-CHESTED, AGGRESSIVELY MASCULINE singers from FUEL, HINDER, BUCKCHERRY, SALIVA, TRAPT, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, GODSMACK, PUDDLE OF MUDD and, of course, NICKELBACK. the legacy of CREED is that for a period they muddied the waters enough in the music industry that those TERRIBLE bands and their ilk passed as ACCEPTABLE to mainstream rock radio. so there you go, i got all of that out of the way. my introduction to the FLORIDIAN ALTERNATIVE ROCK band CREED was back in high school when i entered a boarding school in NEW ENGLAND in the fall of 1998. it was my freshman year and part of the deal was that every student was provided a personal laptop. at some point during the first semester this kid down the hall who was tech savvy clued everyone into this file called an 'MP3' that allowed you to download and save music on your computer. this was years before the first IPOD was released. i distinctly remember this classmate taking me to a fan website for some emerging band called CREED, where you could play their recent debut album MY OWN PRISON (WIND-UP, 1997) just by clicking one of these MP3 files after downloading some software called QUICKTIME. its all laughably PRIMITIVE now in this modern age of streaming, but back then this was REVOLUTIONARY. and i'll never forget that CREED was the first band i heard in this new manner. at the time i felt like the band was not TERRIBLE. their guitarist, id later learn to be MARK TREMONTI, obviously knew his way around a MEMORABLE arpeggiated ALTERNATIVE ROCK RIFF and the songs themselves were PLEASANT enough with a sense of STRUCTURED DYNAMICS, especially on tracks such "TORN," "ONE," "WHAT'S THIS LIFE FOR" and the title track "MY OWN PRISON." even in retrospect i think those songs compositionally are more SOPHISTICATED than fellow POST-GRUNGE peers in the like-wise CRITICALLY-DERIDED SEETHER, SWITCHFOOT, BREAKING BENJAMIN, CHEVELLE and STAIND. only when the much SUPERIOR ALTER BRIDGE (made up in part with CREED's rhythm section) came about years later with the UBER-GIFTED WASHINGTON STATE-based frontman / singer-songwriter MILES KENNEDY, would people recognize TREMONTI as a LEGITIMATE CREATIVE FORCE. much like LIMP BIZKIT, MEGADETH or MOTLEY CRUE before them, CREED's weak point was undoubtedly their lead singer SCOTT STAPP. on MY OWN PRISON the LAME CHRISTIAN IMAGERY and blatant RELIGIOSITY is somewhat held in check relative to later releases, but in terms of TONE and PRESENTATION, he seems to be comically aping that of fellow FLORIDIAN JIM MORRISON. even at the time i kept thinking that this dude is a total jock POSEUR with no real perspective or sense of IDENTITY outside of cliched and pathetically GENERIC CHRISTIAN-influenced ideated fantasies surrounding a simplistically BINARY good-versus-evil WORLDVIEW. its obvious his deep EDDIE VEDDER-esque VOICE, which sadly passed for TALENT (and unfortunately set the standard in the market), and not his LYRICAL IDEAS were his selling point. lyrically the GREAT ALTERNATIVE ROCK bands seemed to be dancing in this psychic zone where morality is complicated and truth is relative. that was what made listening to ALICE IN CHAINS, NIRVANA, SOUNDGARDEN and SCREAMING TREES on a LYRICAL level so COMPELLING since you very much got the sense that you were riding shotgun to a deep exploration of LAYNE STALEY / KURT COBAIN / CHRIS CORNELL / MARK LANEGAN's innermost FEARS, ADDICTIONS, FRAILITIES and PERSONAL FAILURES. with STAPP you are denied that and instead is this FACSIMILE in TONE but TOTAL COP-OUT in terms of CONTENT. this proclivity for VAPID and knuckle-draggingly HORRENDOUS CHRISTIAN-themed lyrics would only grow WORSE on successive releases which sadly became very popular. but the first album is relatively not that bad. it is also not that great either. its just meh and sadly that was the peak of my initial interest in the band. in short order they quickly became a JOKE. i wouldnt recommend MY OWN PRISON or any of their records, but would point for someone interested in POST GRUNGE to skip that genre and just search out REAL ALTERNATIVE ROCK bands like ALICE IN CHAINS, MELVINS, SCREAMING TREES, NIRVANA, MUDHONEY, SOUNDGARDEN, PEARL JAM and even STONE TEMPLE PILOTS for actual context. after that they can pursue the LACKLUSTER IMITATORS and CHARLATANS that came directly after to their hearts delight.
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photo & text by nacrowe
FEVER IN FEVER OUT (GRAND ROYAL, 1996) was such a MASSIVE album and i can personally attest that the single "NAKED EYE" was absolutely INESCAPABLE at the time. in fact it was practically the soundtrack to my freshman year of high school and the WONDERFUL memories of being bullied mercilessly at an ELITE NEW ENGLAND boarding school. i can only imagine the whirlwind of attention and expectation that followed suit for the band, who previously enjoyed a more stable UNDERGROUND reputation as a THOUGHTFUL and musically SOPHISTICATED, UPBEAT NEW YORK CITY ALTERNATIVE ROCK band with an URBAN, infectiously DANCEABLE SOUND and AESTHETIC and personal ties to the BEASTIE BOYS (KATE SHELLENBACH was their original DRUMMER). by the time the follow-up ELECTRIC HONEY (GRAND ROYAL, 1999) came around three years later, the four-piece became a three-piece with the AMICABLE departure of founding KEYBOARDIST VIVIAN TRIMBLE, who grew weary of life on the road and understandably wanted to stay more attuned to life back in NEW YORK CITY.
although ELECTRIC HONEY in comparison a bit more sonically STRIPPED-BACK with less of an emphasis on outright GROOVE, what takes its place of prominence in the mix is the GORGEOUS interplay of sung VOCAL HARMONIES, especially during CHORUSES, between JILL CUNNIFF and GABBY GLASER. it seems obvious that the line-up shift influenced this new emphasis on a hidden aspect of their SOUND that was their all along, but on songs like "CHRISTINE" and "LADYFINGERS" really make that point all too apparent. that is not to say they abandoned their SOUND as CONTAGIOUS, almost neo-DISCO numbers like "SUMMER DAZE" and "NERVOUS BREAKTHROUGH" as well as more SHOEGAZE-y, hypnotically HAZY tracks like "ALIEN LOVER" and "SEXY HYPNOTIST" will attest. while there is no single with the UNFORESEEN widespread appeal of "NAKED EYE" hidden in its midst of ELECTRIC HONEY, i'd argue its track-listing is more sonically VARIED than past releases. so many STRONG songs. until their reunion a decade and a half later, this would be the final recorded effort of their initial run. the BEASTIE BOYS' owned GRAND ROYAL label that released their three major releases followed suit two years later. it was the end of an era. to me LUSCIOUS JACKSON is one of those singularly ECLECTIC bands that could only come from a DIVERSE place like NEW YORK CITY. their music just inherently had that UNIQUE PULSE and SENSIBILITY that comes with walking down a crowded street in the city and cacophony of OVERLAPPING MUSICAL STYLES being thrown your way from apartments, stores, cell phones and subway ghetto-blasters. two decades later that GENRE-LESS MINDSET is arguably adopted by most MODERN MUSICIANS that grew up on STREAMING MUSIC and instant access to everything at the touch of a button. i feel like LUSCIOUS JACKSON in that respect were well ahead of their time and ELECTRIC HONEY, much as its immediate predecessor FEVER IN FEVER OUT, are ESSENTIAL listening. most definitely worth checking out. RIP VIVIAN TRIMBLE photo & text by nacrowe
the 1990s were an INTRIGUING adventure for the IRISH ROCK N ROLL band U2. they effectively shed their EARNEST, DO-GOODER image by taking on PERSONAS and CHARACTERS (i.e. THE FLY, THE MIRRORBALL MAN, MR. MACPHISTO) and playing overtly with concepts such as IRONY, SATIRE and PASTICHE common in both the 20th century DADA and POP ART movements. in essence the whole decade with its three albums, ACHTUNG BABY (ISLAND, 1991), ZOOROPA (ISLAND, 1991) and POP (ISLAND, 1991) were an exercise in the artistic freedom of not being yourself on record in the vein of DAVID BOWIE, THE BEATLES and LOU REED. arguably this approach started off incredibly with arguably the greatest record of their career to date, but came with diminishing returns soon after.
it appeared by the close of the decade that the band was CUTTING OFF THEIR PROVERBIAL NOSE TO SPITE THEIR FACE in the sense that singer-songwriter BONO was their major asset and differentiating factor in the marketplace, and it made little sense to diminish such on further releases. ACHTUNG BABY worked because it was such a CONCEPTUAL, VISUAL and SONIC departure in both STYLE and SUBSTANCE from their catalogue and really gave the band room to breathe and not be imprisoned by their own COLLECTIVE SINCERITY and AUTHENTIC, GOOD-WILLED nature. a one-off is nice, but a series of releases is a new trajectory and by the time of ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND (ISLAND, 2000) was released at the turn of the new millennium, it represented a new BACK-TO-BASICS, RETURN-TO-FORM era that harkened back to their IMPASSIONED and RIGHTEOUS 1980s heyday on albums like WAR (ISLAND, 1983), THE UNFORGETTABLE FIRE (ISLAND, 1984) and especially THE JOSHUA TREE (ISLAND, 1987). the band has been on that tip ever since. CELEBRATED tracks include the ANTHEMIC, HIGH-ENERGY and unironically OPTIMISTIC singles "BEAUTIFUL DAY" and "ELEVATION." taken together they represent an almost QUASI-RELIGIOUS testimonial to the power and glory of being live and feeling connected to the world. i can only imagine the feeling of writing those songs with those LYRICS in a TINY, STERILE recording setting and then the rush of having the world reciprocate that SENTIMENT directly back at you throughout global soccer and football arenas filled to capacity. but for me the tracks that standout are the more INTIMATE "NEW YORK," "KITE," and "WHEN I LOOK AT THE WORLD" which both take advantage of STRUCTURED DYNAMICS in which MASSIVE build-up CRESCENDOS take root from SOFTLY-SUNG, LILTED MELODIES. guitarist THE EDGE really outdoes himself on the LEAD SECTIONS which are highly EMOTIVE and expertly and efficiently composed and executed. you cant tell that it took all that UNBRIDLED EXPERIMENTALISM from the past decade to achieve those MINIMALIST GUITAR MELODIES that are that emotionally RAW. my recollection of this album is completely SKEWED by what came after it, namely the passing of JOEY RAMONE in the spring of 2001 and of course, 9/11. there was a certain NATIONAL CATHARSIS that happened in the UNITED STATES when U2 played the SUPER BOWL that year and paid tribute to the VICTIMS. i remember living with a relative in SACRAMENTO, half a world away from my family in KUWAIT (where i was on 9/11), and seeing the name i knew on that projected list while the band played. U2 is the type of band that has that sort of relationship with its audience where that fourth wall of pretense and bullshit can sometimes be temporarily dismissed and real SENTIMENT and reciprocated EMPATHY can traverse back and forth in a loop. in fact, i am having a DIFFICULT time thinking of another band that has that sort of effect. COLDPLAY aspires to such and the FOO FIGHTERS or GREEN DAY may have similarities in that regard but U2 undoubtedly has such in spades. 9/11 was such a MOMENT when the band definitely comforted and supported the UNITED STATES deal with the gravity of such an UNFORESEEN and severe CALAMITY. a few months early, in fact the spring of my junior year of high school when i was in KUWAIT, RAMONE famously was listening to "IN A LITTLE WHILE" when he passed away from LYMPHOMA. since childhood, RAMONE was a hero to both my brother and i. it felt like a part of our identity left with him, especially being in such a foreign environment. that U2 brought him SOLACE at the time of his passing also seems very much indicative of their PALPABLE trademark aura of EMPATHY, COMPASSION and GOOD-WILL. do i think this is their STRONGEST record? no. people will argue between THE JOSHUA TREE and ACHTUNG BABY forever (for the record: im firmly on the ACHTUNG BABY side), but ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND is nowhere near that level. but although i dont find it to be an ESSENTIAL U2 release, i do feel that it was an important TRANSITIONAL effort that laid the groundwork for MEMORABLE and QUALITY subsequent releases. seems ODD and eve WRONG to say this, but also it was released at an opportune time when the UNITED STATES arguably needed them the most after 9/11. to me this record speaks to that will to look ahead, create, move forward and look optimistically towards the future even in the face of wanton DESTRUCTION, DEATH and UNADULTERATED EVIL. im not a christian, but ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND feels very CATHOLIC to me. in the best way possible. less POPE BENEDICT IX and more ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI. definitely recommended. photo & text by nacrowe
i mean this is it.
when you consider 1980s HARDCORE PUNK ROCK there are arguably a few immediate bands that come to mind: BAD BRAINS, DEAD KENNEDYS, CIRCLE JERKS, MINOR THREAT, D.O.A., THE MISFITS and BLACK FLAG. and THE FIRST FOUR YEARS (SST, 1983) compilation is in essence a re-release of all the ICONIC pre-HENRY ROLLINS INDEPENDENT EPS such as NERVOUS BREAKDOWN (SST, 1979), JEALOUS AGAIN (SST, 1980) and SIX PACK (SST, 1981) when the band was fronted by a succession of VOCALISTS from KEITH MORRIS to RON REYES to DEZ CADENA. it doesnt get more ground zero than these AGGRESSIVE and extremely RAW PERFORMANCES of "NERVOUS BREAKDOWN", "NO VALUES," "WASTED," "CLOCKED IN," "WHITE MINORITY" and "FIX ME" in the history of HARDCORE or INDEPENDENT music writ large in the UNITED STATES. by the time ROLLINS joined in 1981 BLACK FLAG was well on their way to carving out an INDEPENDENT circuit of small veteran affair halls, elks lodges, backyards, bowling alleys and NONTRADITIONAL concert venues that would later be utilized and exploited in the 1990s by ALTERNATIVE ROCK and INDIE ROCK bands alike. these SONGS were the core of the gospel they spread and BLACK FLAG were nothing if not CULTURAL PIONEERS in that sense, along with fellow travelers in THE CRAMPS, VANCOUVER HARDCORE act D.O.A. and COLLEGE ROCK acts like R.E.M. and THE REPLACEMENTS it should be noted during the same period. i was aware of the band going back to elementary school years through reading KURT COBAIN interviews where he mentioned them along with the likes of FLIPPER and THE RAINCOATS, but it wasnt until high school that i was clued into them via a childhood friend i was visiting at the turn of the millennium in SOUTHER CALIFORNIA. through this friend i gained an APPRECIATION and context for what previously i experienced as DISCORDANT NOISE and SLOPPY MUSICIANSHIP. after that education getting to sear FEAR on that trip it dawned on me the UNRELENTING ENERGY and UNBRIDLED FURY that the MUSIC unleashed in a crowd. something clicked. it was as if BLACK FLAG was a soundtrack to that VIOLENT release of pent-up AGGRESSION and FRUSTRATION that comes with living in this country. that feel of SUBLIMATION rooted in being poked at by superiors at work, in the media, at the bank and at school to conform and acquiesce to the man. it was TRANSFORMATIVE and the music to me seemed more aligned with another COUNTERCULTURE HERO whose MUSIC i had come to know intimately when my family lived in NIGERIA a few years earlier: FELA KUTI. GREG GINN's furiously PRIMITIVE GUITAR WORK and these various VOCALISTS screeching their EXPLOSIVE DISSATISFACTION with society all came to be the same COHESIVE EXPRESSION in my understanding and i thank my friend for opening that door for me. also, the RAYMOND PETTIBON ARTWORK on those early EPs are SINGULAR in their absolute DEVASTATING DEPICTIONS of SOCIETAL COERCION and the physical BRUTALITY of VOILENCE. as someone that was repeatedly hazed in high school, discovering PETTIBON took me unflinchingly right back to the moment of ABUSE. the PERFECT primer for the proper MINDSET for listening to BLACK FLAG no doubt. THE FIRST FOUR YEARS is an ESSENTIAL release by an absolutely ICONIC band. it is a release well worth checking out and returning to again and again. photo & text by nacrowe
i usually shy away from writing about greatest hits collections since they are usually just CYNICAL cash-grabs with ZERO ARTISTIC VALUE, but i'll make an exception when it comes to 70s FUNK giants in the COMMODORES and their ALL THE GREAT HITS (MOTOWN, 1982) package. it basically has every stone cold CLASSIC and absolutely not-embarrassing LIONEL RICHIE banger in existence. everything from the savagely FUNKY "SLIPPERY WHEN WET," "TOO HOT TA TROT," "MACHINE GUN," "I FEEL SANCTIFIED" and "BRICK HOUSE" to the emotive saccharine sweet ballads of "THREE TIMES A LADY," "STILL" and "EASY." id file this record specifically under 'always makes me smile' since i can listen to it under any MOOD or SITUATION and can't help but nod, laugh and smile. just try.
somewhere along the lines, let's call it the the entire 1980s, RICHIE became popular but got off-track in a critical sense and became something of a PERENNIAL LAUGHING STOCK with ABSURD SCHMALTZ hits like "DANCING ON THE CEILING" and "ENDLESS LOVE." to date i feel like those songs and many others in the same vein obscured his image as one of the great TRADITIONAL POP SONGWRITERS of the MODERN era. my introduction oddly was through the MUCH-REVERED and INNOVATIVE ALTERNATIVE ROCK band FAITH NO MORE who covered "EASY" on their second record ANGEL DUST (REPRISE, 1992), which i assumed was a SEND-UP or a PARODY. nope. it as a straight DOWN-THE-LINE COVER with all the IDIOSYNCRATIC VOCAL INFLECTIONS carried over intact verbatim. the GENERATIONALLY-GIFTED SINGER MIKE PATTON can seemingly sing anything from any genre and he chose to go with UNADULTERATED RICHIE for a reason. i have no doubt its out of an abundance of respect for his SONGWRITING, COMPOSITION and VOCAL TALENTS, which consequently have never been respected up to level they deserve. it is always odd when a cover does that for a certain audience, but that is why FAITH NO MORE is essentially doing GOD'S WORK here. and those HARD-DRIVING 70s FUNK TRACKS rank with anything released by GEORGE CLINTON, ZAPP, EARTH WIND & FIRE, KOOL & THE GANG, CAMEO, THE GAP BAND or LAKESIDE in terms of sheer BOOGIE and downright DACEABILITY. i hold out that STEVIE WONDER, JAMES BROWN and SLY STONE may have him beat at his own game, but that is the case with nearly everyone who ever existed not named LENNON or MCCARTNEY. in practical terms, i sometimes have to catch myself when in the supermarket and "BRICK HOUSE" comes on because i just get transported to a whole DIFFERENT DIMENSION and MENTAL SPACE where things are alright and the GROOVE is everything. and for me that is the true to test of a GREAT ARTIST, how much their MUSIC just sends you off to a different EMOTIONAL sphere instantaneously where you bypass CONSCIOUSNESS and just live-and-die moment-by-moment in that UNDENIABLE GROOVE. that is the COMMODORES to me and RICHIE at his UNQUESTIONABLE peak. photo & text by nacrowe
the legacy of OL' DIRTY BASTARD to me is one of UNBRIDLED ORIGINALITY and FEARLESS EXPERIMENTALISM. it may be APOCRYPHAL, but it has been said that the dude entered the booth and went about his LYRICAL DEXTERITY without even listening to the BEAT itself. which kind of makes sense. much of what makes HIP HOP so INTOXICATING musically is the extent to which a GIFTED MC can layer a set of PERCUSSIVELY-EXECUTED RHYMES over an EXISTING track, creating a series of POLYRHYTHMS much like a WEST AFRICAN drum circle where such ODD TIME SIGNATURES ebb and flow from one another and create a MANTRA-LIKE effect. this is on full display with LYRICAL CRAFTSMEN in the TRADITIONAL school of ARTISTS like RAKIM, NAS, JAY-Z, EMINEM and THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. among others. in contrast, the UNORTHODOX RHYME SCHEMES of OL' DIRTY BASTARD are inherently UNPREDICTABLE and IRREGULAR in NATURE, so any POLYRHYTHMIC effect is entirely RANDOM and CIRCUMSTANTIAL, making his AESTHETIC entirely UNIQUE and AUTHENTIC unto himself. to date, no one sounds like him.
there is also a STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS vibe to his VOCALS, with much of it seemingly coming from the top of his head in the moment. the effect, especially among first time listeners, is quite MESMERIZING as if this HIGH WIRE ACT is meant to lose balance and topple over. which of course never happens, instead stumbling into the next VERSE with added MOMENTUM and DESTRUCTIVE potential. the absolute CLASSIC tracks off his debut RETURN TO THE 36 CHAMBERS: THE DIRTY VERSION (ELEKTRA, 1995) are "SHIMMY SHIMMY YA" and "BROOKLYN ZOO," which both showcase this invigoratingly ERRATIC sensibility on FULL DISPLAY, with OL' DIRTY BASTARD switching up topics and introducing NON SEQUITURS at a FURIOUS pace. with the WU-TANG CLAN, the only LIKE-MINDED rapper was GHOSTFACE KILLAH who similarly was all over the place with an OFF-KILTER DELIVERY, the difference being his GRITTY LYRICAL NARRATIVES were entirely COHESIVE with an overflowing of MULTIFACETED details shotgunning from his mouth. with OL' DIRTY BASTARD the plot as well as the details were always up for INTERPRETATION, much like an ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST painting. i was in my final year of undergrad when OL' DIRTY BASTARD PASSED AWAY and i took it pretty hard, which was ODD because i am normally quite INDIFFERENT to CELEBRITY DEATHS. with him i felt like there was so much QUALITY WORK left on the table, as he was recently let out of prison (where he was incarcerated on a NONVIOLENT cocaine possession rap) and was in the process of reintegrating with society and getting his LYRICAL BEARINGS back when he PASSED from an ACCIDENTAL overdose of cocaine and an opioid prescription for pain. as an ENGLISH student in college where i was trained to be HYPER-FOCUSED and concerned with things like METER, RHYME SCHEME and CADENCE, OL' DIRTY BASTARD was the prime example of a writer that literally MARCHED TO THE BEAT OF HIS OWN DRUM and created some DIZZYINGLY-EXECUTED GEMS that were HUMOROUS, COMPLEX and highly AFFECTING on an emotional level. still miss the dude twenty years later. RIP RUSSELL TYRONE JONES. WU-TANG FOREVER. photo & text by nacrowe
seemingly every popular CULTURAL MOVEMENT has their TRANSCENDENT, FRONT-OF-MIND acts that capture the collective imagination of the public such as with THE BEATLES, THE ROLLING STONES and THE WHO with the BRITISH INVASION during the early 1960s and arguably outshine similarly STELLAR acts like THE ANIMALS, THE YARDBIRDS and THE KINKS. alright, maybe THE KINKS should be in the former category and not the latter but you get the idea, the strength and depth of a CULTURAL MOVEMENT is likely the quality of those ALSO-RAN acts as much as the frontrunners. in the 1990s you had the BRITPOP scene that REVITALIZED BRITISH ROCK AND ROLL and undoubtedly was dominated by OASIS and BLUR, and to a lesser extent SUEDE, PULP and ELASTICA. below even that was a tier of bands that id argue were similarly UBER-TALENTED including SLEEPER, SUPERGRASS and THE VERVE.
in the public imagination, THE VERVE was in essence a public front for the gifted SONGWRITER RICHARD ASHCROFT and their third album URBAN HYMNS (HUT, 1997) is his MAGNUM OPUS. the band was primarily known for EARNEST SONGS about COMMON WORKING CLASS life, often delicately strummed on an acoustic with MINIMAL INSTRUMENTATION that put the aural focus on ASHCROFT's voice a la SONGS like "SONNET," "THE DRUGS DON'T WORK" and especially "LULLABY." there are also more SPACEY numbers like "THIS TIME" and "THE ROLLING PEOPLE" but those are less successful than his STRIPPED-BACK fair. with one quite NOTABLE exception. "BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY" is arguably one of the BIGGEST singles from the entire BRITPOP movement, being outshined in comparison to "WONDERWALL" or "DON'T LOOK BACK IN ANGER" by OASIS, "PARKLIFE" or "SONG 2" by BLUR or "COMMON PEOPLE" by PULP. maybe. whereas those other bands had other NOTEWORTHY singles, "BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY" represents THE VERVE's lone SHINING moment and it was definitely BITTERSWEET, give that its use of a orchestral sample off a ROLLING STONES SONG was not cleared by the COPYRIGHT holder, LEGENDARY manager ALLEN KLEIN, and subsequently the band lost all of its revenue from the single. their BIGGEST HIT was their BIGGEST DEBACLE and is an INFAMOUS CAUTIONARY TALE to date about the risk of not properly clearing all SAMPLES before publication. in 2019, ten years after KLEIN's passing, the bequeathed COPYRIGHT holders passed on the COPYRIGHT to ASHCROFT. but the DAMAGE was done. the SONG itself, with its LILTING STRING SECTION, is an UPLIFTING paean to living one's life to its fullest given the brief time we all have here in this physical realm. the SONG has been included on various greatest-songs-of-all-time lists and seemingly perfectly captured a deeply felt sense of unbridled OPTIMISM that took place during the BRITPOP era and the REVITALIZATION of BRITISH MUSIC and POLITICAL CULTURE during this period. that this career peak became a career low is a testament to the BRUTALITY of the MUSIC INDUSTRY and the need to have a skilled and loyal support team at the ready. URBAN HYMNS is definitely worth checking out, albeit i consider it a lesser album than those put out at the time by their BRITPOP peers in OASIS, BLUR, PULP, ELASTICA and SUEDE. photo & text by nacrowe
arguably the most universally CELEBRATED METAL album of the 1990s, PANTERA's uncompromisingly BRUTAL second album VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER (ATCO, 1992) defiantly waved the flag for the genre during the height of the ALTERNATIVE ROCK revolution that saw other legacy acts effectively bow down and acquiesce to its will (looking at you METALLICA, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX and SLAYER). its accomplished predecessor COWBOYS FROM HELL (ATCO, 1990) set the stage for this release with its GUITAR HEROICS via DIMEBAG DARRELL and their ZZ-TOP inspired attention to all things GROOVE, but VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER took it all to another level of INTENSITY and SONG-CRAFT.
UNDENIABLE tracks like "FUCKING HOSTILE," "MOUTH FOR WAR," and "A NEW LEVEL" where live show highlights for the rest of their career and showcase a FOCUS, COHESION and INTERNAL CHEMISTRY that the band built upon with later releases but never equalled again. although decidedly more MELLOW and SLOW-PACED, the ballads "THIS LOVE" and "HOLLOW" likewise showcased a SINGULAR attention to craft with MEMORABLE VOCALS and GUITAR MELODIES that intertwined to HYPNOTIC effect. arguably the STANDOUT track from an absolutely LOADED record is the single "WALK" with its INDELIBLE opening hammer-on, hammer-off GUITAR RIFF and that absolutely CRUSHING CHORUS that comes crashing in with SLEDGEHAMMER FORCE and ABRUPTNESS. that song in particular is a case study in efficiency and how less really can mean more to a track's EFFECTIVENESS. many consider "WALK" PANTERA's finest moment. not sure id go that far [my personal FAVORITE is "FLOODS" off of THE GREAT SOUTHERN TRENDKILL (ELEKTRA, 1996)], but point taken. the LEGACY of VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER is both its MEMORABLE songs and the context of which it was released. most of the LEGACY THRASH METAL bands turned in SUBPAR records in the 1990s attempting to follow suit with the ALTERNATIVE ROCK predilections for minimizing (if not skipping altogether) GUITAR SOLOS and [from a metalhead's perspective] hiding behind excessive DISTORTION instead of showcasing both TECHNIQUE and MUSICIANSHIP. METALLICA's LOAD (ELEKTRA, 1996), MEGADETH's YOUTHANASIA (CAPITOL, 1994) and later SLAYER's DIVINE INTERVENTION (AMERICAN, 1994) were more STREAMLINED affairs that seemed to capitulate to the MUSICAL AESTHETICS of the era whereas VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER and its successor FAR BEYOND DRIVEN (ELEKTRA, 1994) just came off like a giant MIDDLE FINGER to it all. remember, the PANTERA dude's were close longtime friends with the likes of ALICE IN CHAINS and the FOO FIGHTERS, even shared the stage with them on numerous occasions so there wasnt any personal ANIMOSITY at all. but in terms of the FRACTURED FRATERNITY that is the greater METAL COMMUNITY, PANTERA is nearly universally REVERED since they stood firm against the cultural tide when others patently SAID UNCLE to the music industry. and that BRAZEN STEADFASTNESS is as much a part of the popular lore surrounding VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER as the songs themselves and has singularly stood as a TOUCHSTONE for all METAL bands moving forward, from LAMB OF GOD, DEFTONES and HATEBREED to SYSTEM OF A DOWN, MUDVAYNE, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and beyond. VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER is a LEGENDARY record that continues to live up to and exceed its own hype and is absolutely ESSENTIAL for anyone interested in METAL. end stop. photo & text by nacrowe
i came across an INTERESTING cassette while at REPO RECORDS in PHILADELPHIA recently. all i knew about it going into the purchase was that the SONGWRITER was from ALBANIA and, truth be told, as a former PEACE CORPS volunteer who lived and worked in that country for 2+ years, i was already INTRIGUED. it is just so RARE to come across anything from that OBSCURE BALKAN country in the UNITED STATES, such that even a LIMITED-RUN, LO-FI INDIE FOLK record on an OBSCURE stateside INDIE label was something i was absolutely game for.
from what i could gather, GEA is a MULTI-MEDIA ARTIST based in TIRANA and her sophomore effort EVERYONE IS WORRIED ABOUT ME (LONELY BIRD, 2023) is a welcome surprise because it is a SPARSE, EERY and lyrically DARK record with overt themes related to SELF-HARM and DEATH. reminded me immediately of the ELLIOTT SMITH and NICK DRAKE in that regard, just the way the bare instrumentation really puts the focus and EMOTIONAL weight on the vocals. it all just sounds so DEVASTATING, especially on SOMBER tracks such as "CAT/DOG," "AND THEN YOU WEREN'T" and especially "BIRTHDAY SONG." during my time in ALBANIA i was involved with conducting interviews in neighboring KOSOVO as part of my work with the university in VLORA. most of these were related to their TROUBLED history with SERBIA in the 1990s and their STRUGGLE to survive, mount a resistance effort and ultimately the UPHEAVAL and TRAUMATIC experience of seeking refuge with their ethnic kin in ALBANIA. this is all to say that my admittedly LIMITED understanding of what makes up the ALBANIAN sense of IDENTITY is COMPLICATED. there is a strong sense of cohesion and deep-seated COMMUNITY, but often such tight bonds degrade into UNBRIDLED CORRUPTION and lack of any semblance of POLITICAL TRANSPARENCY. i can see how navigating such SIDE-DEALING as a native would feel wholly ISOLATING and FRUSTRATING beyond comparison. not to mention the at-times DEGRADING and REGRESSIVE attitudes surrounding women. my experience through ALBANIAN television was one of everyone attempting to be the next VACUOUS POP icon a la BRITNEY SPEARS, CHRISTINA AGUILERA or DUA LIPA (who coincidently is ethnically ALBANIAN). that something as emotionally wrought and lyrically COMPLEX as EVERYONE IS WORRIED ABOUT ME is coming from such an ISOLATED CULTURE makes me feel counterintuitively better about the country's long-term prospects. perhaps it may be waking up from a long slumber and finally seeing itself accurately in relation to its CULTURAL, POLITICAL and ECONOMIC INTEGRATION into EUROPE and the wider COMMUNITY. or i could just be projecting. either way, check out this recent release from GEA. definitely a welcome surprise i did not see coming. photo & text by nacrowe
the way i view PEARL JAM, their fifth album YIELD (EPIC, 1998) serves as kind of a CAPSTONE ARTISTIC STATEMENT that encapsulates their early cycle of releases that in essence represents the first phase of their long career. many saw it at the time as a RETURN-TO-FORM given their more STREAMLINED SOUND with RECOGNIZABLE commercial SINGLES as well as use of TRADITIONAL promotional methods (i.e. televised interviews and music videos) and EXTENSIVE TOURING. famously during their VITALOGY (EPIC, 1994) touring cycle they took on TICKETMASTER (and lost) and with the follow-up NO CODE (EPIC, 1996) there was a concerted effort to be lyrically OBLIQUE and quite CONTRARIAN with a sonically DISSONANT and aggressively ANTI-COMMERCIAL track-listing. it is arguable that from here on out their CREATIVE OUTPUT has been steady but more INSULAR and SELF-REFERENTIAL in nature. gone are the BIG SWINGS that marked several of the releases during this early cycle, but with that lessening of expectations surrounding NEW MATERIAL the band has transformed into a steady NOSTALGIC TOURING JUGGERNAUT with a cult following rivaling that of THE GRATEFUL DEAD, PHISH or RADIOHEAD.
in terms of the actual album, the STANDOUT YIELD tracks include the singles "DO THE EVOLUTION" and "GIVEN TO FLY" as well as the HARD-CHARGING "BRAIN OF J" and the PLAINTIVE "WISHLIST." its honestly a perfectly SERVICEABLE effort that fits seamlessly into a BACK CATALOGUE of similarly paced MATERIAL. from my recollection, the only reason it stood out at the time was the fact that the previous NO CODE effort was such an ODD aberration of a record seemingly designed to alienate and divide a devoted fanbase a la NIRVANA's IN UTERO (DGC, 1993). YIELD in comparison was more of the same FEEL-GOOD, EARNEST song-craft the band was previously known for as if nothing had ever happened. unfortunately i think their time had passed as by this point the CULTURE had moved past ALTERNATIVE ROCK and was entering a new phase dominated by overly AGGRESSIVE and EXAGGERATED MACHISMO (and quite frankly quite MISOGYNISTIC) typified by HYBRID METAL / HIP HOP acts like LIMP BIZKIT, KORN, DISTURBED, MUDVAYNE, SLIPKNOT, PAPA ROACH and EMINEM as well as more THOUGHTFUL, EXPERIMENTAL and ARTFUL fair like DEFTONES, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, INCUBUS and SYSTEM OF A DOWN. to me YIELD just feels like the last hurrah of a great band entering out of the peak years of their career and the beginning of their much longer run, much like their peers in the FOO FIGHTERS, as a VETERAN LIVE ACT in the spirit of ELTON JOHN, THE ROLLING STONES, TOM PETTY, BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and especially NEIL YOUNG. and there is nothing wrong with that. YIELD is definitely worth checking out but i would strongly suggest starting off with either TEN (EPIC, 1991), VS (EPIC, 1993) or VITALOGY to begin with as a primer. those are the absolutely ESSENTIAL PEARL JAM releases. photo & text by nacrowe
i mean, where do you even begin with THE DOORS?
to my ears they are the DEFINITIVE LOS ANGELES ROCK AND ROLL band of all-time fronted by arguably the greatest frontman of his generation in WILLIAM BLAKE-quoting FLORIDA transplant and the once and future LIZARD KING JIM MORRISON. some harp on the quality of his poetry in retrospect but nobody can question the UNBRIDLED CHARISMA and sheer SEXUALITY he brought to the equation. every SEDUCTIVE and CONFRONTATIONAL frontman from IGGY POP forward is molded in his REVOLUTIONARY aura. to many MORRISON is the very embodiment of the SEXUAL REVOLUTION that was the arrival of the 1960s COUNTERCULTURE passing into the mainstream. before THE DOORS and especially their self-titled debut THE DOORS (ELEKTRA, 1967) release, POP stars were WELL-MANICURED and GROOMED to present well to a WHOLESOME AMERICAN public, even THE ROLLING STONES. post-MORRISON it was game on. THE DOORS were the POETICIZED, SEXUALLY UNRESTRAINED, GRITTY personification of the AMERICAN DREAM for that era and undoubtedly influenced generations of musicians to come, everyone from the aforementioned IGGY POP (THE STOOGES), PATTI SMITH, NICK CAVE (THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, THE BAD SEEDS), IAN CURTIS (JOY DIVISION), MARK LANEGAN (SCREAMING TREES), CHRIS CORNELL (SOUNDGARDEN) and IAN ASTBURY (THE CULT) among many others. along with ARTHUR LEE's LOVE, pre-record deal THE DOORS were regulars at the FAMED WHISKY-A-GO-GO venue on the SUNSET STRIP. in fact they were the house band and de facto opener for larger touring outfits throughout the entirety of amassing the songs that would become THE DOORS album. most FAMOUS of which are the CELEBRATED singles "BREAK ON THROUGH (TO THE OTHER SIDE)" and "LIGHT MY FIRE." both speak of ROMANTIC LOVE as a means of PSYCHIC TRANSFORMATION that opens up and transcends our PEDESTRIAN DAILY EXPERIENCE. the LAIDBACK and decidedly more PSYCHEDELIC "ALABAMA SONG (WHISKY BAR)" really plays up on the OTHER-WORDLY tonal possibilities of keyboardist RAY MANZAREK's VOX CONTINENTAL organ on this highly IDIOSYNCRATIC KURT WEILL-composed, BERTOLT BRECHT cover song. for me this song in particular really sets up the SWIRLING, CARNIVALESQUE PSYCHEDELIA that is the tone of the IMMEDIATE follow-up STRANGE DAYS (ELEKTRA, 1967) release, especially on tracks such as "PEOPLE ARE STRANGE" and "STRANGE DAYS." but to me the most SIGNIFICANT THE DOORS track is the appropriately titled last number on the track list, "THE END," which is a HAUNTING OEDIPAL-tinged song that focuses on the ISOLATED DESPERATION and severe DARK UNDERBELLY of the drug and SEXUAL EXPERIMENTATION of the period, not to mention the VIETNAM WAR itself. it is a song that oozes out the HOLLOW feeling one experiences when loosing their INNOCENCE, however one defines such: POLITICAL, SEXUAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL or CHEMICAL in nature. there is a reason that along with BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD's "FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH" off their debut BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD (ATCO, 1966) release and CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL's "FORTUNATE SON" off their WILLY AND THE POOR BOYS (FANTASY, 1969) album, "THE END" is the most overused song in cinema depicting the VIETNAM WAR era, whether in conflict abroad or the bifurcation of sentiment back at home. as LEGENDARY ROCK N ROLL debut albums go, THE DOORS is arguably one of the most IMPACTFUL, right there with those of GUNS N ROSES, VAN HALEN, THE RAMONES, JOY DIVISION, OASIS and THE VELVET UNDERGROUND. whether you are a fan of THE DOORS and JIM MORRISON or not, it is an absolutely ESSENTIAL release well worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
in retrospect, i believe that KANY WEST's fifth album MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY (ROC-A-FELLA, 2010) marked a SIGNIFICANT shift in both his catalogue and career. up to this point, WEST through SHEER FORCE OF WILL had successfully positioned himself as the embodiment of several previous threads of HIP HOP, everything from the more SOCIALLY-AWARE, so-called "CONSCIOUS" rappers (i.e. COMMON, MOS DEF, THE ROOTS, etc.) taking their cue from A TRIBE CALLED QUEST and the NATIVE TONGUES collective to the more GOAL-ORIENTED and decidedly MATERIALIST strain personified by JAY-Z, 50 CENT and DRAKE among countless others. that WEST embodies both may seem like a COMPLETE CONTRADICTION, but that is kind of the point.
from this point forward WEST seems to take pride in his ability to CONFRONT and PROVOKE to the point that in a few years and a few album cycles he would come to completely lose the plot. before MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY his INDEPENDENT STREAK empowered him, for example, to completely COUNTER men's fashion at the time, replacing oversized clothing and sports jerseys for pink polo shirts and fitted jeans. it also allowed him to seek out EXPERIMENTAL COLLABORATORS in the ART world like VISUAL ARTISTS HARUKI MURAKAMI, VIRGIL ABLOH and GEORGE CONDO and in later years PERFORMANCE ARTIST VANESSA BEECROFT. that CONTRARIAN STREAK is also what led him in recent years to adopt the VIRULENT RACISM of CANDACE OWENS, NICK FUENTES and DONALD TRUMP. the way i see it, both MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY and its follow-up YEEZUS (ROC-A-FELLA, 2013) represents the point at which his head got too BIG and his UNCHECKED EGO led him to actually believe that his powers of INFLUENCE and INTELLECT separated him from HUMANITY. WEST's mother DONDA tragically PASSED AWAY prior to the making of his preceding album 808s & HEARTBREAK (ROC-A-FELLA, 2008) which was a consciously MINIMALIST affair that mourned the loss of not only his mother but a relationship with designer ALEXIS PHIFER. on that album WEST comes across as CONTEMPLATIVE and intensely PENSIVE about his participation and culpability in the dissolution of that relationship. it came across as MATURE and HEARTFELT. in contrast MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY, especially on tracks like "MONSTER," "BLAME GAME," "RUNAWAY" and "HELL OF LIFE," WEST seems to absolutely revel in his own demented and objectifying ideation surrounding WOMEN. it is quite STARTLING the likes of which the depths of his MISOGYNY is on full display throughout MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY, including CRUDE diatribes that are believed to be directed at KIM KARDASHIAN, the socialite / entrepreneur / reality tv starlet who he began dating and famously later married. i am not a psychologist, but it seems evidently clear that the DEATH of his mother had a PROFOUND effect on WEST's life, as it seemingly freed the guardrails on his ability to self-edit his lyrics and ultimately SELF-IMMOLATE his PUBLIC PERSONA on full display to EVERYONE. all that being said, on a purely musical level MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY is arguably his FINEST work. his use of pastiche to inventively interpolate DISPARATE SONIC ELEMENTS from different genres and historical eras of RECORDING TECHNIQUES (everything from KING CRIMSON, JAMES BROWN and MIKE OLDFIELD to MANU DIBANGO, MICHAEL JACKSON, CONTINENT NUMBER 6 and GIL-SCOTT HERON) is truly MIND-BLOWING on just a TECHNICAL and CONCEPTUAL LEVEL. on YEEZUS this same INCREDIBLE proficiency for artistically integrating SAMPLES into a COHESIVE statement would be further harnessed and STREAMLINED to the point of SPECTACULAR obliteration of said SAMPLES, but on MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY he is showcasing that UNMATCHED production foresight that differentiated WEST from his TALENTED PEERS, COLLABORATORS and MENTORS in NO I.D., RZA, Q-TIP, JON BRION, BO1-DA, PETE ROCK and the like. lyrically PROBLEMATIC and musically GENIUS-LEVEL, WEST with MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY and its accompanying short-film entered the conversation with the likewise CONTROVERSIAL legacies of everyone from RICHARD WAGNER, CHUCK BERRY, PHIL SPECTOR, IKE TURNER, MICHAEL JACKSON and MORRISSEY, all of whom made ASTOUNDING contributions to the progress of ART while harboring likewise ABHORRENT PERSONAL FAILINGS that tarnished their public image in perpetuity. do i recommend this album? yes, but with the caveat that one must at least consciously recognize that WEST is not a well-adjusted individual and that during this period in his life the unraveling of the plot was certainly underway. its a SAD narrative to tell you the truth. and very AMERICAN. photo & text by nacrowe
i remember when the RELOAD (ELEKTRA, 1997) album by METALLICA was released. i was in 8th grade at the time, living abroad in NIGERIA when a fellow classmate brought a copy to school that a relative had mailed in from EUROPE. at first i thought it was FAKE, or at best a PARODY, with the similar (i would later learn ANDRES SERRANO) ARTWORK, TYPOGRAPHY and all. being overseas, especially during a pre-internet era, meant that you were understandably always a bit out-of-the-loop and delayed with information regarding cultural matters back home like movies, books, records and such. quite honestly i thought RELOAD upon first sight was a JOKE or that i was being duped into believing this release could be real since the previous year's LOAD (ELEKTRA, 1996) release was famously very CONTROVERSIAL and DIVISIVE amongst their long-term fanbase for its DRASTIC STYLISTIC SHIFT away from THRASH METAL and embrace of ALTERNATIVE ROCK and more BLUES-based RIFFAGE, SOFT/LOUD DYNAMICS and TRADITIONAL SONG STRUCTURES. i could not believe they would double-down and release a companion album of the same ilk.
but they did. there was a half decade gap between the release and commercial success of the self-titled METALLICA (ELEKTRA, 1991) album [i.e. THE BLACK ALBUM] and that of LOAD. most of those intervening years were spent touring but crucially that period was also spent restructuring their contract with ELEKTRA RECORDS. the new agreement gave them more points on album sales as well as the future return of their entire catalogue in 2013. all this and other FAVORABLE business considerations for extending the life of their contract. LEVERAGE-wise the band was at their absolute PEAK during this period and created a wealth of material that severely challenged their previous SOUND, with lead guitarist KIRK HAMMETT and bassist JASON NEWSTED being more involved in the SONGWRITING PROCESS and outside SOUTHERN ROCK and even COUNTRY ELEMENTS coming into the MIX. the sound of LOAD / RELOAD in retrospect is the sound of a band not being told "no" by their REPRESENTATIVES, HANDLERS, MANAGEMENT, PRODUCERS, etc. they just had too much POWER and CONTROL and these releases are what they wanted to make given no limitations in terms of budget or STUDIO TIME, which is beyond INTRIGUING to consider. arguably the STRONGEST songs from both records could have created a COMPELLING single album, but instead manifested in the creation of two MEDIOCRE and unasked for ALTERNATIVE ROCK-esque METALLICA records. highlights of RELOAD include the THUMPING "DEVIL'S DANCE" and the decidedly MOODY "WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE" and "FIXXXER," but unfortunately most of the songs are pretty CRINGE-INDUCING like the REDUCTIVE and by-the-numbers "FUEL," "CARPE DIEM BABY," "THE MEMORY REMAINS," "BAD SEED" and "BETTER THAN YOU" tracks. and dont even get me started on "THE UNFORGIVEN II" which is still even in retrospect beyond LAME. personally i preferred LOAD, but RELOAD is arguably an UNEVEN but not entirely DISCARDABLE release. it suffers like LOAD from being compared to the absolute EXCELLENCE of the CELEBRATED band's THRASH METAL releases from throughout the 1980s which are ICONIC and among some of the most ORIGINAL, WELL-CONCEIVED and EXECUTED releases from the METAL genre writ-large. in that unbearable shadow these two releases are SUBPAR and artistic catastrophes. relative to their ALTERNATIVE ROCK peers in the 1990s, both albums pair FAVORABLE as interesting curiosities. so its basically all RELATIVE. definitely check out RELOAD, but only after first taking in the band's LEGENDARY first four releases. that is the context and particular lens i see this release through. photo & text by nacrowe
when mercurial co-VOCALIST / GUITARIST TOM DELONGE abruptly left BLINK-182 for the second time after the touring cycle in support of NEIGHBORHOODS (DGC, 2011), BASSIST MARK HOPPUS and DRUMMER TRAVIS BARKER were again left to pick up the pieces. the first go around they started the spin-off group +44 and released the EXPANSIVE and quite STELLAR WHEN YOUR HEART STOPS BEATING (INTERSCOPE, 2006) record to a decidedly disappointing commercial reception of the project. for all intents and purposes, that record was the artistic successor to the self-titled BLINK-182 (GEFFEN, 2003) album that found the group very much come into their own as MATURE PRODUCERS and SONGWRITERS. in retrospect, it is obvious that the record-buying public wanted a BLINK-182 record and not a new project.
lesson learned. when history repeated itself again and the two found themselves likewise stranded, they moved ahead and recruited the much CELEBRATED ALKALINE TRIO VOCALIST and main SONGWRITER MATT SKIBA to join BLINK-182 in DELONGE's absence. the show must go on. for the HARDCORE fans this was seen as a lateral move as SKIBA was a much HERALDED MUSICIAN in his own right and a WORTHY COLLABORATOR and DELONGE replacement. NINE (COLUMBIA, 2019) is the follow-up to the SKIBA debut CALIFORNIA (BMG, 2016), and like its predecessor is a COHESIVE and surprisingly SUCCESSFUL effort that marries the POP melodicism of CLASSIC BLINK-182 with the decidedly SARDONIC and downright GLOOMY lyrical persona that is SKIBA. STANDOUT tracks include the singles "DARKSIDE," "I REALLY WISH I HATED YOU," "BLAME IT ON MY YOUTH," "HAPPY DAYS" and "GENERATIONAL DIVIDE." all successful bands have a UNIQUE internal creative chemistry that is organically determined and often UNSPOKEN in nature but mysteriously relied upon nonetheless. what is INTERESTING is when lineups get shuffled around and the quality of their output wavers. at those times you get a sense of how IMPORTANT and almost ALCHEMICAL those DELICATE relationships actually are. such is the case with JANE'S ADDICTION and their myriad of projects featuring various core members (i.e. PORNO FOR PYROS, POLAR BEAR, THE PANIC CHANNEL, SATELLITE PARTY, PSI COM and so on). such is also the same of BLINK-182 and their reshuffled outside projects (i.e. BOX CAR RACER, ANGELS & AIRWAVES and the aforementioned +44). when SKIBA joined the band it was unclear if BLINK-182 could survive this permutation, but in actual fact they were creatively thriving along the similar historic lines of AC/DC, FAITH NO MORE, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, BLACK SABBATH and ALICE IN CHAINS before them. it was probably INEVITABLE but DELONGE later rejoined the band. again. so the legacy of NINE is a FRUITFUL trajectory of an ALTERNATE version of the group that prematurely ended. at least until DELONGE gets bored again and decides to leave and spearhead another LAME project with his publishing company. in my mind its a bit of a letdown that HOPPUS and BARKER let DELONGE back in but, you know, that is their prerogative. i just remember looking forward to the next SKIBA / HOPPUS / BARKER collaboration that seemingly will never come to pass. regardless NINE is well worth checking out and one of the STRONGER later period BLINK-182 releases that did nothing but further cement their legacy as a POP PUNK powerhouse. photo & text by nacrowe
growing up with an IRISH last name, you get a fair dose of INHERITED information about the struggles of distant relatives long-since deceased who emigrated out of IRELAND to both the UNITED KINGDOM and the UNITED STATES in search of a better life. its one of those things about IRISH IMMIGRANTS and their antecedents that i have a hard time understanding, the fact that a people whose IDENTITY is centered around COMMUNITY, SELF-SUFFICIENCY and RESILIENCE, who had such a rough go internationally at making a living on AMERICAN and BRITISH shores turn around and make it that much harder on the next influx of IMMIGRANTS.
IDENTITY and NATIONALISM is a FUNNY thing, especially with regard to IMMIGRANTS. the IRISH are not alone in this PREOCCUPATION. sometimes a band shows up that spurs ideas of NATIONHOOD and NATIONAL IDENTITY. for me when i think of IRELAND i think of the country that not only brought us U2 (via DUBLIN) and STIFF LITTLE FINGERS (via BELFAST), but also ENGLISH bands like THE POGUES (via LONDON), OASIS and THE SMITHS made up of the children of IRISH IMMIGRANTS. for me, being IRISH is almost as much about being away from IRELAND as it is about the place itself. its INTERESTING. my family derives from LIMERICK, which intriguingly enough is also the home of 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK band THE CRANBERRIES who put out one hell of a major-label debut album in NO NEED TO ARGUE (ISLAND, 1994). the most STRIKING feature of their music is the INTENSE vocals of singer DOLORES O'RIORDAN, who somehow seemed to ooze the PAIN, DESPERATION and VULNERABILITY of the FRACTURED IRISH psyche during THE TROUBLES that lasted from the late 60s well into the late 1990s. this is most PROMINENT in the PUNISHING brutality of "ZOMBIE," a eulogy of sorts to the WANTON PHYSICAL and PSYCHIC DESTRUCTION of the NEVER-ENDING CONFLICT. when i consider the lyrics of SHANE MCGOWAN and THE POGUES i think of a very CATHOLIC thread of ROMANTICISM in maintaining a sense of IDENTITY and COMMUNITY abroad while dealing with ISOLATION and DISTANCE. to me that longing is deeply IRISH. U2 and VAN MORRISON likewise trade on a POETIC LYRICISM that is the TRADITION of IRISH FOLK MUSIC. with THE CRANBERRIES they came across as unapologetically CURRENT and DIRECT in their approach. sometimes with ALTERNATIVE ROCK, the PAIN being emoted is of an OPAQUE nature. it almost seems to be more a form of general DISSATISFACTION at the state of the world rather than actual PHYSICAL or PSYCHIC DAMAGE. in the case of several NOTABLE SEATTLE bands (ALICE IN CHAINS, NIRVANA, SCREAMING TREES), the SUFFERING expressed almost seems related to SELF-INFLICTED drug dependencies run amok. in contrast, THE CRANBERRIES came across as AUTHENTIC and the AGONY expressed was of an EXISTENTIAL nature framed by their country's seemingly ENDLESS tolerance for churning out its young in a UNCEASING CONFLICT that only succeeded in producing mutual DEATH and MISERY. even by the standards of the time, their music stood out to me. and the connection to LIMERICK only deepened that bond. cant recommend NO NEED TO ARGUE any more forcefully. it is a beast of a record well worth reinvestigation, even if you aren't IRISH. their message is a UNIVERSAL one that finds its home in countless STRUGGLING NEIGHBORHOODS and COMMUNITIES, from the past sectarian ethnic TRAUMA of SARAJEVO to the current DEPLORABLE political and economic state of CARACAS. its arguably more RELEVANT now than ever before. RIP DOLORES O'RIORDAN photo & text by nacrowe
throughout the SMASHING PUMPKINS' extensive catalogue it is more than apparent that the generationally TALENTED songwriter BILLY CORGAN had been influenced by and seemingly fully internalized various MODERN genres of ROCK N ROLL, everything from POST PUNK, PSYCHEDELIA, THRASH METAL, POWER POP and SHOEGAZE to PROG ROCK, GLAM ROCK, INDIE ROCK, FOLK MUSIC and PUNK ROCK among others. arguably more than any other peer band of the era, this UNIQUE and largely SEAMLESS INTEGRATION of DISPARATE ELEMENTS is what makes ALTERNATIVE ROCK truly ALTERNATIVE.
the debut SMASHING PUMPKINS' album GISH (CAROLINE, 1991) stands out in their stacked discography for being sonically and stylistically more in line with the more aggressively DISSONANT and FUZZED-OUT SHOEGAZE and PSYCHEDELIA end of their influences than the later more REFINED and paired back offerings of later releases. this can probably be owed to the pronounced influence of SEMINAL LOS ANGELES ART ROCK band JANE'S ADDICTION and their likewise POWERFUL sound that played with the SUBLIME UNPREDICTABILITY of PSYCHEDELIA, the PRECISE TECHNICALITY of METAL and the OFF-KILTER, ANGULAR RHYTHMIC lull of POST PUNK. all through the IDIOSYNCRATIC PERSPECTIVE of PERRY FARRELL, arguably the originator of the what came to be the 1990s ALTERNATIVE ROCK movement a few years preceding GISH on their second album NOTHING'S SHOCKING (WARNER BROS, 1988). GISH and NOTHING'S SHOCKING to my ears are like sister releases, since there is obviously connective tissue there, not that the former is an artistic approximation of the later. big statement GISH tracks like "SIVA," "I AM ONE," "BURY ME" and "TRISTESSA" just sound COLOSSAL with big DRUM PARTS and MASSIVE swells of DISTORTION that shoot off into space. its almost like the PRODUCTION on a QUEEN album in that respect. speaking of which, this album marks the first CORGAN collaboration with BUTCH VIG, who would follow this a record with NIRVANA's NEVERMIND (DGC, 1991) before following-up with the SMASHING PUMPKINS again on SIAMESE DREAM (VIRGIN, 1993). the EXPERIMENTAL SONICS and PUNCHY nature of the more sonically AGGRESSIVE SOUNDS on GISH is very much a credit to VIG at this stage in his career and what he could achieve on a modest budget. the STANDOUT track to me on GISH is undoubtedly the more SUBTLE and NUANCED "RHINOCEROS," with its slow build-up and AFFECTIVE crescendo. it is the first in a long line of hauntingly BEAUTIFUL yet TENDER and HEARTFELT CORGAN songs that would come on subsequent releases like "LUNA," "MAYONAISE" and "DISARM" off SIAMESE DREAM, "PORCELINA OF THE VAST OCEANS," "1979," "CUPID DE LOCKE" and "THIRTY-THREE" off MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS (VIRGIN, 1995) , "PUG," "APPELS + ORANJES" and "PERFECT" off ADORE (VIRGIN, 1998) as well as "AGE OF INNOCENCE," "STAND INSIDE YOUR LOVE," "I OF THE MOURNING," "RAINDROPS + SUNSHOWERS" and "TRY, TRY, TRY" off MACHINA: THE MACHINES OF GOD (VIRGIN, 2000) among others. in my estimation, that lineage of tracks that kicks off with "RHINOCEROS" is the very reason the SMASHING PUMPKINS are an ESSENTIAL band of the ALTERNATIVE ROCK era. it is where they differentiated themselves from their peer groups in terms of both IMAGINATION and DEDICATION to an elevated nod to TRADITIONAL SONG-CRAFT. those AFFECTING tracks and the VULNERABILITY they represent are also the basis for the INTENSE disappointment i felt regarding CORGAN when he made his UNFORTUNATE heel turn in the 2010s with his alignment with the CONSPIRATORIAL and PREDATORY ALEX JONES / DONALD TRUMP crowd. but that is a topic for another time, probably when i get around to making an episode regarding the band for my radio show. until then, GISH is well worth checking out again and rediscovering. it is an INCREDIBLE debut effort from a TRAILBLAZING band. photo & text by nacrowe
i first came across the LEGENDARY BRONX rapper BIG PUN and the sole album released during his lifetime, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT (LOUD, 1998) back shortly after its release in the late 1990s when i was a freshman in high school. i was at a boarding school and literally the dude next door to me had that record on repeat day after day ad nauseam, so i feel like i learned that album practically by osmosis.
and to tell you the truth, i wasnt a fan. HIP HOP from the jump has long been about AMBITION and SUCCESS and the projection of DREAMS of better conditions unto the future that will hopefully materialize and lead to an improved financial future for one's family. a lot of the CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION and CHEAP BRAGGADOCIO related to the GAUDY flaunting of MATERIAL GOODS (CHAINS, CARS, CLOTHING or even literal MONEY itself) comes from that DARK REALITY of UNDERREPRESENTATION, INEQUALITY and loss of opportunity (OCCUPATIONAL and EDUCATIONAL for starters) that comes from decades of LACK OF COMMUNITY INVESTMENT that has long been a real pox on the inner-city. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT came out during the BLING ERA of HIP HOP during the late 90s and early 00s when the VULGAR and COPIOUS display of MATERIAL WEALTH was a given for most MAINSTREAM rappers. when i heard a track like "STILL NOT A PLAYER" back in that context of my high school dorm room and its lyrical focus on bragging about SEXUAL CONQUESTS and the accumulation of MATERIAL OBJECTS, i was uninterested and turned off effectively immediately. much like i was similarly DISMISSIVE (and still am) about the similar efforts of particularly EGREGIOUS offenders such as PUFF DADDY, T-PAIN, JIM JONES, LIL JON and the like. i was raised on a previous generation of HIP HOP in CYPRESS HILL, PUBLIC ENEMY, BEASTIE BOYS and A TRIBE CALLED QUEST and in time would grow to appreciate similar artists upon discovery in ERIC B & RAKIM, DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN, MOBB DEEP, MF DOOM, NAS, GANG STARR, BIG L, MADLIB, EMINEM and especially the WU-TANG CLAN, all RENOWNED lyricists known for their TECHNICAL ABILITY, FLOW, INVENTIVENESS and STREET-LEVEL perspective. at the time BIG PUN to me was more like the PUERTO RICAN version of PUFF DADDY. and for the record PUFFY is and always will be irredeemably LAME. where i should have been looking was the NOTORIOUS B.I.G. for a comparison. like BIGGY, BIG PUN was an EXPERT lyricist who championed his community and embodied the ASPIRATIONAL lifestyle that came with chasing MATERIAL OBJECTS. in the intervening years i have come to correct my initial reaction and respect the WORDPLAY and CRAFT of BIG PUN on tracks like "YOU AIN'T A KILLER," "TWINZ (DEEP COVER)" and "YOU CAME UP." the dude was particularly comfortable with RAPID-FIRE INTERNAL RHYME SCHEMES and bending WORDS and PHRASES to his will in an EFFORTLESS and INTERCHANGEABLE manner between both ENGLISH and SPANISH, which is something i still have not come across to same extent in years since. obviously BIG PUN is still much BELOVED in THE BRONX as well as PUERTO RICO and his untimely passing from a heart attack at 28 back in 2000 is a tragedy for that borough specifically as well as the greater HIP HOP community in general. posthumously the peer he is mostly compared to his EMINEM, with his penchant for turning REAL-LIFE experiences into rarified ALLEGORICAL LYRICAL CONTENT with an UNBRIDLED, CREATIVE FLOW that was both highly TECHNICAL and CRAZY CLEVER. obviously i got over my initial dismissal of BIG PUN and have seen the error of my ways. i feel like a lot of artists from that era i need to revisit and reassess. but thats on me. photo & text by nacrowe
arguably the defining moment of my life (so far) was when my family moved to NIGERIA from SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA in the mid-1990s. shortly after arriving during this pre-internet era a classmate introduced me to 311 via their breakout self-titled 311 (CAPRICORN, 1995) album and from there i sought out on subsequent overseas trips their previous MUSIC (CAPRICORN, 1993) and GRASSROOTS (CAPRICORN, 1994) albums. needless to say, these three records as well as the subsequent TRANSISTOR (CAPRICORN, 1997) release was an INTEGRAL part of my soundtrack to the TRANSFORMATIONAL experience of living and exploring WEST AFRICA as a teenager.
and for me that UNIQUE interplay between my memories growing up in a foreign culture and the music itself is what makes 311 such an emotionally loaded topic for me, as i am sure it is for all people and the CONSEQUENTIAL ART, LITERATURE, FILM and MUSIC they consumed at a PIVOTAL stage in their life. but i will try. it is evident with even a CURSORY listen of GRASSROOTS tracks like "TAIYED," "LOSE," "GRASSROOTS" and especially "8:16 A.M." that co-vocalist / rhythm guitarist and main songwriter NICK HEXUM seemingly knows his way around EVOCATIVE and SOOTHING JAZZ-based PROGRESSIONS. the sonic juxtaposition of MEMORABLE SINGLE-NOTE FUNK-based GUITAR RIFFS with HIP HOP production and vocal cadence, as well as REGGAE-indebted RHYTHMS and a layering of those SOPHISTICATED JAZZ CHORD INVERSIONS immediately differentiates the MUSICAL STYLINGS of 311 from that of likewise artistically FORMIDABLE, HYBRID ALTERNATIVE ROCK peer groups at the time like the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and later INCUBUS. drummer CHAD SEXTON likewise adroitly fuels this CONTAGIOUS kinetic energy and RHYTHMIC FORWARD MOMENTUM with patterns that are often HARD-DRIVING SHUFFLES, which makes sense given the SOPHISTICATION of the MELODIES and underpinning CHORD PROGRESSIONS at play, especially on COMPLEX showcase tracks such as "SIX," "NUTSYMPTOM," "LUCKY" and "APPLIED SCIENCE". worth mentioning also are the indelibly LYRICAL SOLOS of lead guitarist TIM MAHONEY that are reminiscent of THE GRATEFUL DEAD's JERRY GARCIA's lead work, especially with his IDIOSYNCRATIC penchant for the AUTO-WAH GUITAR EFFECT. STANDOUT moments include the MAHONEY leads on "LOSE" and "TAIYED." for me the highlight of the album (and arguably 311's catalogue) is the BROODING and emotively CHURNING buildup of the last track "1, 2, 3." the way the song EBBS and FLOWS and seemingly FLOATS along a MYSTERIOUS ethereal plane until it CRESCENDOS into a satisfying RESOLVE that gets me every time. its just musically SOPHISTICATED in a way that doesnt necessarily show-off that capacity, but leaves you as a listener SATISFIED and CONTENT. almost like a great PSYCHEDELIC BEACH BOYS or FLAMING LIPS track that takes you along on a LUSH AURAL JOURNEY. its an experience. lyrically the songs seems to be dealing with how to deal with REGRET for the past and the PSYCHIC PAIN and CONFUSION that comes with FORGIVING ONESELF and MOVING FORWARD. letting the past be in the past. life in NIGERIA could be quite BRUTAL at the time, dealing with all that comes with being a foreign child of PRIVILEGE amidst a military dictatorship. WANTON DEATH, POVERTY, INEQUALITY and HUMAN SUFFERING was something i witnessed at an INTIMATE distance as a teenager. it was easy to feel HELPLESS and completely IMPOTENT to effect change in that environment, never mind the social awkwardness of going through puberty. "1, 2, 3" was a song in particular during that period that i relied on to CALM ME DOWN and get me through some truly TERRIBLE days and for that i still feel decades later a SPECIAL affinity for 311 and their music. to me GRASSROOTS is their greatest moment in a career full of highlights, but that is probably more of an assessment based on my personal narrative then theirs. either way, GRASSROOTS is well worth checking out. much like the RICH and ECLECTIC 311 catalogue in general. enjoy. photo & text by nacrowe
THE BEATLES' EPIC SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (PARLOPHONE, 1967) record gets perpetually credited for being this LANDMARK CONCEPT album, but to tell you the truth, i dont see it. not that the songs are not TRANSCENDENT, with INNOVATIVE and absolutely SPECTACULAR tracks like "LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS," "BEING FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR. KITE," "SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND" and the STARTLING, GAME-CHANGING, MULTI-SECTION track "A DAY IN THE LIFE," this album is very much worthy of the praise it has received through the generations. but outside of the first song that sets up the LYRICAL CONCEIT of an extended outfit of lonely people in what i presume is a marching band, the whole "CONCEPT" falls apart. which is FINE since, as i said before, the songs stack up and more than hold their weight in their ECLECTIC and INVENTIVE GENIUS.
famously in 1966, THE BEATLES gave up touring after years of being unable to hear themselves play and decided to retreat to the more EMPOWERING and FULFILLING confines of the RECORDING STUDIO. gone was the pretense for creating something that could be recreated or facsimiled live and instead was the artistic gambit to truly utilize the STUDIO as an INSTRUMENT and push it as far as they creatively could. that sense of AMBITION and loss of pretense for REAL-WORLD applications is the actual CULTURAL LEGACY of SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND and set a STANDARD for generations of ROCK N ROLL bands to attempt to follow. everyone from THE BEACH BOYS, ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA, BLUR, THE FLAMING LIPS, RADIOHEAD and KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD have seen the scope and scale of this particular project as a beacon and an open invitation to likewise not limit their own CREATIVITY. that being said, its technically a MIRACLE that it exists given the PRIMITIVE state of the RECORDING TECHNOLOGY back in the late 1960s, as this album was recorded on a four-track ANALOG TAPE MACHINES. that means that all those layers of instruments, percussion and vocals had to be paired down to one of those four tracks with no ability to go back and revise. today with DIGITAL RECORDING TECHNOLOGY there is an ENDLESS amount of TRACKS that can be individually tweaked with near LIMITLESS parameters. SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND in that sense is as much a TECHNICAL feat as it is a CREATIVE one and the work of longtime producer GEORGE MARTIN and engineer GEOFF EMERICK should be duly commended. when i think about THE BEATLES, i always have to remind myself that their artistic partnership and UNPARALLELED EVOLUTION as a creative entity lasted only seven years across thirteen studio albums. it is absolutely MIND-BOGGING the PACE and QUALITY CONTROL of those releases. admittedly the first few releases from PLEASE PLEASE ME (PARLOPHONE, 1963) up through BEATLES FOR SALE (PARLOPHONE, 1964) had a litany of cover songs to pad their track-listings, but from HELP! (PARLOPHONE, 1965) onwards through ABBEY ROAD (APPLE, 1969) they essentially recorded whatever songs they had available. its ASTOUNDING that these records are as COHESIVE as they are, with MODERN bands having numerous finished songs left on the CUTTING ROOM FLOOR as par for course. back in the 1960s there was no sense that this ROCK N ROLL movement or the BRITISH INVASION cohort of bands would be anything but a FLASH-IN-THE-PAN, MOMENTARY CULTURAL PHENOMENON, so PARLOPHONE and other labels likewise pushed their artists for more PRODUCT. meaning at least two full-lengths a year with holiday non-album singles that also had original b-sides. i mean just the b-sides alone of THE BEATLES are amazing. all of this is to say that the POPULAR CONCEPTION of the making of SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND is that it was this huge masterplanned effort, when in reality these were just the next batch of songs. it is INTERESTING that GEORGE HARRISON and RINGO STARR are low on their assessment of such given their lack of creative participation relative to past efforts. i love this record, but from this PSYCHEDELIC, sonically ADVENTUROUS and EXPANSIVE period of the band, i prefer the truly DADA-esque and FREE-ASSOCIATIVE nature of the songs on its LESS-CELEBRATED follow-up MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR (CAPITOL, 1967). regardless, SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND is absolutely ESSENTIAL and worthy of all the hype through the generations. it is most definitely worth checking out. photo & text by nacrowe
i was only ten quickly approaching eleven when the seemingly OMNIPRESENT culturally dominating juggernaut that was the CRAZYSEXYCOOL (ARISTA, 1994) release by LEGENDARY ATLANTA R&B vocal trio TLC was released in the mid-1990s. seemingly everywhere i went as a kid in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, from local skating rinks to friend's birthday parties to theme parks (DISNEYLAND, KNOTT'S BERRY FARM and SIX FLAGS MAGIC MOUNTAIN) and summer camps, played "CREEP" and especially "WATERFALLS." those two songs in particular are part of the INDELIBLE SOUNDTRACK of my childhood and that era of POPULAR MUSIC in general.
the female singing TRIUMVIRATE is a pretty COMPACT and POWERFUL template in R&B (i.e. THE ANDREW SISTERS, THE RONETTES, THE SUPREMES, MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS, DESTINY'S CHILD, THE POINTER SISTERS), much like the VERITABLE power trio in ROCK N ROLL (i.e. NIRVANA, CREAM, RUSH, MOTORHEAD, ZZ TOP, THE POLICE, DINOSAUR JR, GREEN DAY). in essence you have a solo vocalist who is MELODICALLY SUPPORTED by SYMPATHETIC vocalists providing high and low HARMONIES and/or COUNTER-HARMONIES to fill out the SOUND. most of those aforementioned R&B GROUPS had such a prominently FEATURED singer like BEYONCE KNOWLES, DIANA ROSS, MARTHA REEVES and RONNIE SPECTOR with largely INTERCHANGEABLE backup-singers, as was famously the case with THE SUPREMES and DESTINY'S CHILD and their lineup shifts in particular. in contrast, what was COOL and UNIQUE about TLC was that all three members (TIONNE "T-BOZ" WATKINS, ROZONDA "CHILLI" THOMAS and LISA "LEFT EYE" LOPES) functioned as both FEATURED and harmonically SUPPORTING vocalists who provided the particulars of a given song. now it is ARGUABLE that LEFT EYE, with her IDIOSYNCRATIC SINGING / RAPPING STYLE and notoriously UNSTABLE high profile relationship with then-ATLANTA FALCONS wide receiver ANDRE RISON, may have been the member with the highest profile but within the COLLECTIVE, but functionally she was an equal to T-BOZ and CHILLI. i cant think of another three-piece FEMALE singing GROUP that functioned in this manner since these types of arrangements seemed TAILOR MADE to market and provide evidence of a future VIABLE solo career for a featured vocalist. one of the consequences of this MUTUALLY-SUPPORTIVE arrangement is that the GROUP chose to actively promote causes that were IMPORTANT to their COMMUNITY, the most NOTABLE example of such is the promotion of SAFE SEX and the importance of CONDOM USE in the fight against HIV/AIDS transmission during the promotional campaign for their debut album OOOOOOOHHH... ON THE TLC TIP (LAFACE, 1992). fighting the stigma of an inherently TABOO SUBJECT (as HIV/AIDS in a pre-MAGIC JOHNSON era was considered a scourge on the HOMOSEXUAL COMMUNITY) in the BLACK COMMUNITY and specifically the HETEROSEXUAL POPULATION was both NOTEWORTHY and undoubtedly COURAGEOUS. and it is something that id argue would never have happened had TLC just been an industry vehicle for the introduction and promotion of a potential future star, it was just too CONTROVERSIAL and UNMARKETABLE a topic for such a purpose. to me, TLC was all about the personalities and the MUSICAL INTERPLAY of its three members. in an odd way its a similar dynamic, in a different genre, to enjoying the likewise INVENTIVE MUSIC of the WU-TANG CLAN. on CRAZYSEXYCOOL tracks like "RED LIGHT SPECIAL" and "CREEP" you have INFECTIOUS paeans to FEMALE SENSUALITY, not in a COARSE or VULGAR manner, but in SUPPORTIVE, SELF-EMPOWERED mode that is highly UNUSUAL, especially at the time. "DIGGIN' ON YOU" likewise celebrates the INVIGORATING, much SOUGHT-AFTER moment of recognizing mutual ROMANTIC attraction. too often this topic in POPULAR MUSIC, especially from a FEMALE PERSPECTIVE is reduced to the women having to flaunt or DEBASE herself in the process, both explicitly in the presentation or more implicitly in the lyrics. here TLC showcases that moment from a position of EQUAL footing, as if a MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL PARTNERSHIP is in the process of blossoming. and obviously there is also "WATERFALLS," an UPBEAT song about thoughtfully considering ones actions before taking a DANGEROUS shortcut led by AMBITION, i.e. the ALLEGORICAL lyrics surrounding 'chasing waterfalls' instead of sticking to the more calm 'rivers and lakes that you're used to.' as the MUSIC video makes explicit, possible shortcuts include DRUGS and INFIDELITY and the PAIN, DAMAGE and SUFFERING incurred is not just on the individual, but the FAMILY and larger supporting COMMUNITY. its profound stuff and again, indicative of a COHESIVE GROUP in charge of their ARTISTIC and social messaging in a fashion fairly UNSEEN in their peers, past or present. CRAZYSEXYCOOL is undoubtedly an ICONIC 90s R&B album that is well worth revisiting and checking out again. id even argue its an ESSENTIAL release from the era, irrespective of genre. RIP LEFT EYE. |
NICHOLAS ARCHIVES
March 2024
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