It Took Me A While To Get Into...
These aren't ranked. These are albums I couldn't give a shit about
when I first heard them but that now I enjoy. |
| 1 |  | Blur
Think Tank
The obvious problem with this album is that it sounds nothing like Blur, and
that it sounds like Damon probably had a gun to everyone's head during
the recording sessions. But once I'd had a while of listening to Gorillaz stuff
and realized the man's really into these types of grooves and this isn't a
cash-in or a hat-tip to buddy Fatboy Slim, I was able to come back and
appreciate these songs for what they were - a catchy bunch really. |
| 2 |  | Local H
Here Comes The Zoo
The thing about Here Comes The Zoo, for me, is that it kicks off with "Hands
On The Bible", which to me is the most boring Local H song. I know it was a
single and people love it but I could never understand - it's slow and it
goes nowhere. Beyond that I saw this album as more of the same after
Pack Up The Cats and As Good As Dead seemed to do everything you could
do with this type of set-up and Lucas's type of songwriting. After seeing
Lcoal H live a couple times, though, I've come back to them and have
started to listen to them not like an artifact of the grunge era but as some
really catchy songsmiths. Here Comes The Zoo, I found, is actually not a
replica of earlier efforts - it's a bit more rock n roll somehow. You can hear
the transition towards the much-more-noticed PJ Soles album on many of
these tracks. |
| 3 |  | Husker Du
New Day Rising
New Day Rising is not Zen Arcade. When I first put it on, I was actually
pretty pissed off that there were songs in major keys and there was no
droning 13-minute album closer. It just took some getting used to. I like
how many of these songs sound fractured like they just gave up on them.
Like Pavement in a way. |
| 4 |  | Mastodon
Crack The Skye
Mastodon was and is one of my favorite bands, but it has really pissed me
off when I read these reviews about how "Finally, they've matured!" or
"Finally, they have some vocals!" or finally anything. The fact of the matter
is that Blood Mountain is the best album ever made, period. And Leviathan
is the second best album ever made. Crack The Skye's new Alice In Chains
- esque direction confused me and I digested the music slowly, but I like it
now. I just still think the vocals are goofy as hell, and that there are a few
really stupid Ozzy-sounding moments in The Last Baron. |
| 5 |  | The Number Twelve Looks Like You
Worse Than Alone
It's definitely true the group seem to have calmed down considerably after
the chaos that was Mongrel, and I remember my first listen to Worse Than
Alone wanting more. It just sounded too....normal. Weird though, I don't
feel that way at all anymore, and I probably like this more than Mongrel
now. |
| 6 |  | Opeth
Watershed
A lot of metalheads dis this album because it's by far the most accessible
one Opeth has released. Whatever. You should like music for being good,
not for being a particular kind of genre. So don't go into Watershed
expecting anything. Just expect it to be good, because that's what it is. |
| 7 |  | Bad Religion
The Empire Strikes First
Same story really. This is an example of the band stretching out a little bit.
I remember feeling particularly put off by the ballad-type "Into Another
Abyss", but now ironically that's one of my favorite. And without a doubt,
this album is close to the top of the heap for Bad Religion in my book. Right
up there with Stranger Than Fiction, which I had similar reservations toward
when I first heard it. |
| 8 |  | Fear Before The March Of Flames
The Always Open Mouth
I don't know what is wrong with me. This is one of the coolest albums
ever. But I just remember thinking, "Nothing ever happens on this album."
It's nothing like the previous Coalesce-sounding Art Damage. But I love
that about it now. Problem is, nope, I'll never be coming around to the
piece of garbage they released next (Fear Before.) |
| 9 |  | Nirvana
Bleach
Not catchy at all. I think it was once I got more into bands like Big Black
and understood where Kurt was coming from that I liked this much more. |
| 10 |  | Harvey Milk
Courtesy And Good Will Toward Men
Or really anything by Harvey Milk. This album is pretty challenging, just like
their excruciating live shows. Even if it seems ridiculous, try listening to the
album all the way through. Then do it again. That's the way to discover
that there are melodies happening. You just gotta slow your head down. |
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