everything that's on my mind

Honorable Mention edition

With some notables from last year out of the way (as seen in my previous post), today begins the countdown of my favorite albums released this year. Like the albums from 2008, these are albums that still warranted a mention despite the fact that they did not make my top twenty list. Several of these migrated back and forth between being on and off the list while I was trying to narrow it down. In the end, these six didn’t make the cut, but were strong contenders.

So, here’s the list of honorable mentions (in no particular order):

Black Gives Way To Blue – Alice in Chains
It’s been 14 years since their last album, a period of time that included the tragic death of lead singer Layne Staley. Thus I feared that a post-Staley AIC would only be a pale imitation of what once was, but they have returned in fine form. Jerry Cantrell shares vocals with new member William Duvall and the results are very gratifying. Listen to: “Check My Brain“, “A Looking In View“, “Black Gives Way To Blue”

 
Sci-Fi Crimes – Chevelle
Chevelle has never really deviated too far from their formula, and perhaps that’s a bad thing. But their style of hard driving rock continues to be a favorite of mine. This album is comparable to their previous work, although I believe it is stronger from beginning to end than anything they’ve done since Wonder What’s Next and it was hard to leave it off the list. Listen to: “Jars“, “Sleep Apnea“, “Roswell’s Spell”

 
Lost Channels – Great Lake Swimmers
I discovered this Toronto folk band last year. On their fourth release, Tony Dekker’s vocals drive the album, and their largely acoustic instrumentation coupled with wonderful vocal harmonies create a very pleasant sound. It’s a great album, and while there are some upbeat songs, it’s still perfect for listening to when you’re in a mellow kind of mood. Listen to: “Palmistry“, “Still“, “Pulling on a Line”

 
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
I first heard Isbell on a Drive-By Truckers album a couple of years ago, and enjoyed his solo debut last year. But this newest release is my favorite of his to date. It is a great rock album with a little southern flavor to it. Everything I’ve heard from him I’ve liked more than what came before it, so I’m looking forward to what comes next. Listen to: “Seven-Mile Island“, “Good“, “Soldiers get strange”

 
Innocence & Instinct – Red
I stumbled upon Red’s excellent debut a few years ago, and there was no sophomore slump here. They’re back with another dose of their melodic hard rock and lyrics that are a bit darker than on their debut (inspired in part by Dante’s Inferno). I just assumed this would easily be a top twenty album, but it fell only because there was so much to include this year. Listen to: Death of Me, Start Again, Shadows

 
Townes – Steve Earle
This was actually my first Steve Earle album, though I’ve become a big fan and since downloaded two others from eMusic. This one is a tribute album Earle recorded featuring songs of his mentor, the late Townes Van Zandt and is very well done. It also makes me want to now get some TVZ music (though I’ve yet to do so.) Listen to: “Pancho & Lefty“, “Colorado Girl“, “To Live Is To Fly”

That’s it. That’s the list.

Up next: the bottom half of the top twenty.

This week’s now playing features the new releases from grunge heavyweights Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains. I decided to comment on both albums in one post since I have some common things to say by way of introducing them.

Considering they were both born into the grunge music era in the early 1990′s, I didn’t hear much from Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains due to the fact that I was largely absent from the popular music scene of any kind during that time (see my review of DMB last week, where I made mention of this as well.) Even now I’m not certain I can name a grunge band beyond the four I’ll mention below.

I remember Nirvana’s breakthrough with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and Nevermind when I was still living in Memphis a year or so after I had graduated college, and also the success of Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” and Ten. It would still be a couple of years, I believe, before I actually bought my one and only grunge album – Soundgarden’s Superunknown, which is still one of my favorites from the 90′s.

But despite missing out on much of the music at the time, I eventually stepped back into the past and acquired the likes of Ten and Nevermind, along with other albums from Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. When it came to my attention a couple of months ago that both Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains were releasing new material this fall, I found myself looking forward to hearing what both had to offer.

 
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Pearl Jam

I remember Pearl Jam largely from the Ten album, and I haven’t really kept up with them much since. So I was somewhat surprised to hear the new album, which sounds less like the grunge I remember them playing and more like a straight ahead rock and roll album, with a little pop and punk thrown in the mix as well.

There are many things I could say about this album, I suppose, but the first is this: Buy it. Now. It’s just an amazing rock album and you need to hear it. While I was never a big fan of Eddie Vedder’s voice back in the 90′s, I really love the way he sounds here. Perhaps my broader musical tastes these days have allowed me to enjoy him more than I did 15 years ago, I don’t know. The highlights for me personally include opening track “Gonna See My Friend”, “The Fixer”, “Johnny Guitar” and my current favorite “Just Breathe”. But I could easily have listed the other tracks as well. Truly, there is not a bad track here at all.

I didn’t think I’d buy another album this year that could possibly break into my top three from my mid-year list, but I think I’ve found a contender, and I highly recommend it.

The only thing negative I could possibly say is that it’s too short. At only 37 minutes, it leaves you wanting more. But perhaps that’s a good thing. It’s a much better than being glad it’s over.

Here’s “The Fixer” and “Just Breathe”:

 
Black Gives Way To Blue
Alice In Chains

The first concern I had when I heard of the new album was this: will it still be Alice In Chains without singer Layne Staley? Since he died of a drug overdose in 2002, I couldn’t help but wonder what a post-Staley AIC would sound like. Would it just be a pale imitation of what they once were? Like Journey without Steve Perry?*

My second concern was that it’s been 14 years now since they released new material. Is their best work behind them and were they simply trying to recapture magic that is long gone? It’s hard enough to “come back” after that length of time, but I thought it would be far more challenging considering concern number one.

Well, I was immediately encouraged upon hearing a couple of new tracks on youTube a while back – “Check Your Brain” and “A Looking In View”. No, the album is not Dirt, and yes, it’s not quite the same without Staley. Nevertheless, I am very pleased. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell and new member William Duvall share vocals on the album and do a fantastic job. Cantrell’s guitar work is still solid and they’ve produced some great tracks here. Standouts for me include the aforementioned tracks, along with “Lesson Learned” and the title track, a tribute to Staley with piano provided by Elton John. It’s possible that some AIC fans will be disappointed in this album, but it’s hard for me to imagine why.

Here’s “Check My Brain” and the title track:

* Since my facial expression and sarcastic tone do not translate to text, I wanted to point out that the Journey reference was a joke. I hate Journey because they suck.