Getting back to business..

7. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995) - Smashing Pumpkins

I noticed I hadn't touched the 90's yet, which seems waaay out of line, given that it was the decade that brought us Tamagotchi, Power Rangers, and, of course the Nintendo Gameboy. What not a lot of people know is that other stuff happened in the 90's too! Nelson Mandela got out of jail, Bill Clinton "did not have sexual relations with that woman", CERN published their new project, an information superhighway designed mainly for the purpose of pop-up advertising, known as "Teh interwebz", and Billy Corgan shaved all his hair off, and donned a black t-shirt with "zero" emblazoned across the chest, capturing the hearts of pissed off teenagers worldwide.

If you haven't heard of Mellon Collie, I guarantee that you've heard at least one track from it and it's buried there in your brain, waiting to be reawoken. (unless you were born in the late 90's or whatever it is we call the 2000's... noughties is stupid, and I won't say it..) It's probably Tonight, Tonight. Go, listen and then continue reading. I'm not going anywhere.

It's not terrible, is it? And that's far from my favourite track off the album, which, at just over two hours, is packed with quality tunes! Billy Corgan himself describes the album as being based on "the human condition of mortal sorrow". Under the heavy coating of douchebaggery, read "Life". That's what this record is, a chronicle of all the emotions and experiences of life, which in Billy's head required serious studio messing. "Thru The Eyes Of Ruby" contains 70 guitar tracks... But hey, It's a great album!

Highlights include: Bullet With Butterfly Wings, Love, An Ode To No One, Zero

Ben's Verdict:

Something special (this might be a long one)

6. Sainthood (2009) - Tegan And Sara I was going to leave this record for later in the list (which I HAVE written! It exists, I'm not winging this... not entirely.), but then I saw that this record had been shortlisted for The Polaris Music Prize (It's a Canadian thing. They're up against some big enough indie bands, like Caribou, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out in September.) And so, filled with delusions of grandeur I envisaged that my plug might well give them a helping hand on their way to scooping the award!

Back in the real world, I only came across this Indie Pop duo recently (to my eternal shame), and was unable to catch their live show in Dublin, or their instore in Tower Records due to "big important exams" I should have studied for! Don't be fooled by the "Indie Pop" label though... This is by no means an album about how hard it is to find good skinny jeans, or how lattés are becoming so expensive that writing in Starbucks is no longer financially possible- some of this stuff is incredibly raw, while at the same time being catchier than AIDS (tasteless? yes. I know, that's why I said it) We've all probably had the infectious synth-poppy "Alligator" in our heads at some point this summer, but there's some major tunage throughout the album (which is the first album on which the sisters, yes they're sisters, should've mentioned that, but I'm not scrolling up, came together to write songs as a pair.) And did I mention that their producer is god? Well, he is! Chris Walla, I salute you! He's from Death Cab For Cutie

Anyway, I digress... repeatedly. This album, and its predecessor "The Con" have provided hours of quality listening time. (Just noticed, while I was writing this it became my birthday! Isn't that nice?) From a guitarhead point of view, it's INCREDIBLY refreshing to see a band that plays something other than Gibson Les Pauls.. From what I've seen of the Youtubes, they use the Malcolm Young Signature Model Gretsch G6131, which earns them +5 respect points, although I did spy a Les Paul in one video...

Back to the point, this is a QUALITY album, but the real experience is to be had at their live shows (what's the benefit to plugging albums anymore? You're all just downloading them illegally, while looking up LOLcats or porn, while you tell anyone who'll listen how much you "liek mudkipz" anyway... Musicians need moneez too, except for Bono. Do your worst to Bono.), where fans are regaled with amusing anecdotes of their childhood, life on the road and whatever other shit pops into their heads! Great live banter and a fantastic album!
Highlights include- Hell, Red Belt, Alligator, Sentimental Tune

Ben's magical birthday verdict:


'Tis a good 'un!


tegan and sara herpes and weed banter @ terminal5- 3 of 26

For A Change..

5. N.W.A. And The Posse (1987)- I noticed that I seemed to be covering fairly recent rock records and nothing else, so I decided to cover one of the more varied albums on my list today! Whatever happened to hip-hop? These day's it's all T-Pain and that guy who seems to want to make love in some club or other... Whatever happened to people like Public Enemy? Why the autotune craze? This classic hiphop record isn't just an N.W.A album, it's actually a compilation of tracks produced by Dr. Dre phD BA MD. It features such hip-hop deities as N.W.A, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Rappinstine, and The Beastie Boys are sampled on "8 Ball". Some great numbers on here, like Boys-n-The Hood, but there are some pretty terrible tracks too... Witness Fila Fresh Crew's shambolic reinvention of Twist and Shout, in the form of "Drink It Up". Seriously, listen to that... It's not even the funny kind of bad... It's just irritating.
Highlights include: Boyz-n-The Hood, A Bitch Iz A Bitch

Ben's verdict:

A personal favourite

4. De-loused In The Comatorium (2003) - The Mars Volta Yet another debut album, by one of my favourite bands ever. The Mars Volta consists of Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, two ex-members of At The Drive-In- another great band who will receive a plug here at some point, and an ever changing lineup of backing musicians. This album isn't for everybody, that much is certain. It tells the tale of "Cerpin Taxt, a man who tries to kill himself by overdosing on a mixture of morphine and rat poison. The attempt lands him in a week-long coma during which he experiences visions of humanity and his own psyche. Upon waking, he is dissatisfied with the real world and jumps to his death." Which kind of happened to a band member, Jeremy Michael Ward, a month before release... Died of a heroin overdose.. So nooooot exactly party tunes, but still a great album, with appearances from Flea and John Frusciante, both of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on a couple of tracks (Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt and Cicatriz ESP respectively)
Highlights include: Take The Veil Cerpin Taxt, Son et Lumiere/Inertiatic ESP and Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of). Really though, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez would *Falcon Punch* me in the groin if he thought I was encouraging people to listen to single tracks, as it's supposed to tell a story.
Ben's Verdict: -Great stuff, if you're cool with a bit of insanity!

(note: I'm using the alternative album cover here, because it's just so much more impressive!)

Number 3

3. Bottoms Of Barrels (2006)- Tilly And The Wall - Ever heard of a band with a tapdancer instead of a drummer? Now you have! This indie pop quintet from Nebraska, though somewhat obscure, have featured in quite a few ads... Their single "Pot Kettle Black", which incidentally is on "O", an entirely different album was featured in 90210, ads for Seth Rogan's "Observe and Report", and a Jaguar ad.. Although mainly here for the novelty value, their album has some decent songs. My favourites would be "Bad Education", which they performed on Letterman, and "Rainbows in The Dark". The tapdancing has to be seen to be believed...

Ben's verdict: Fun(ny) at first, but it does wear a little thin...


For the lulz, here's a video.. no, I wasn't joking about the tapdancing!

Another Album

2.Them Crooked Vultures (2009)- Ooooh, let's do a supergroup today! When Kurt Cobain's untimely demise brought about the end of iconic Grunge band Nirvana, things weren't looking up for the world of rock.. Fortunately, drummer Dave Grohl went on to form Foo Fighters, who have done pretty well for themselves over the last decade or so. Apparently Krist Novoselic did something too, but nobody cared.
Then, Dave decided to go back to drumming, but not just with anyone- having recorded with Josh Homme, guitarist and vocals of Queens Of The Stone Age, on their album Songs For The Deaf, he enlisted Josh, and a certain someone you may have heard of- John Paul Jones, bassist for Led Zeppelin. The result is an album jam-packed with catchy riffs, funky beats, and everything you could expect from such veterans.
Highlights include: Mind Eraser; No Chaser, Elephants, and Dead End Friends.
Ben's verdict:

75 Albums

1. Are You Experienced (1967)- The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Ok, so I assume most people have heard of Mr. James Marshall Hendrix, even if they just played Purple Haze on Guitar Hero that one time. Are You Experienced was the debut album by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and it is has achieved deserved legendary status worldwide. Highlights include: Hey Joe, Foxy Lady, Red House, Purple Haze, The Wind Cries Mary (another track given somewhat of a revival by Guitar Hero), and Fire.
This gets a solid 5 stars from Ben.