Turning away from the sweet pop of Out of Time, R.E.M. created a haunting, melancholy masterpiece with Automatic for the People. At its core, the album is a collection of folk songs about aging, death, and loss, but the music has a grand, epic sweep provided by layers of lush strings, interweaving acoustic instruments, and shimmering keyboards. ...
In contrast to the directness of Green and Document, this may seem like a return to the abstractness of the early years, but that isn't the case. Out of Time is among R.E.M.'s best work -- a mature, balanced, graceful collection of pop songs quite different from Murmur and Reckoning. Buck, Berry, and Mills switch instruments frequently, keeping ...
Canada's beloved funny guys the Barenaked Ladies have proved to be more than just a novelty act. Four albums into their wavering career, Stunt was golden for American fans and BNL found themselves chiefing the mainstream scene during the late '90s. So to issue a greatest-hits collection might be appropriate for those fans who caught on late, but ...
As debut albums by young bands go, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars is nearly flawless. With a slight southern twinge in her voice, the 23-year-old Brickell churned out brilliant lyrics and captivating vocal performances, backed by the solid and innovative players that comprised the original New Bos -- Kenny Withrow, Brad Houser, John Bush, and ...
Time Capsule is an excellent, 18-track collection that offers a comprehensive overview of the B-52's' career, from their kitschy post-punk beginnings to their unexpected chart success in the early '90s. Along the way, all the big songs -- "Planet Claire," "Rock Lobster," "Private Idaho," "Quiche Lorraine," "Summer of Love" (in its original mix), ...
A compilation of singles, B-sides, album tracks, and BBC sessions assembled for the American market, Louder Than Bombs is an overlong and unfocused collection that nevertheless boasts a wealth of brilliant material. Since Hatful of Hollow was unavailable in the U.S. at the time of the release of Louder Than Bombs, this compilation contains large ...
Many observers were prepared to write off the B-52's after the release of Bouncing Off the Satellites. Granted, the album was completed in the wake of Ricky Wilson's death, but the group appeared bereft of new musical ideas and were sounding rather stale. In other words, the last thing anyone expected was a first-class return to form, which is ...
Weighing in at 14 tracks, Greatest Hits is a good, basic collection of the Bangles' biggest singles, containing all the hits, including the previously non-LP "Hazy Shade of Winter," plus a couple of album tracks and, for the dedicated, a new cover of the Grass Roots' "Where Were You When I Needed You." It may be easy to carp about fine album ...
Fables of the Reconstruction was intentionally murky, and Lifes Rich Pageant was constructed as its polar opposite. Teaming with producer Don Gehman, who previously worked with John Mellencamp, R.E.M. developed their most forceful record to date. Where previous records kept the rhythm section in the background, Pageant emphasizes the beat, and the ...
For their third album, R.E.M. made a conscious effort to break from the traditions Murmur and Reckoning established, electing to record in England with legendary folk-rock producer Joe Boyd. For a variety of reasons, the sessions were difficult, and that tension is apparent throughout Fables of the Reconstruction. A dark, moody rumination on ...
John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask's gender-bending, heartbreaking musical soundtrack, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, has already become something of a cult classic, particularly with indie-rockers, so Wig in a Box: Songs From and Inspired by Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which features artists ranging from Yoko Ono to They Might Be Giants, brings ...
The B-52's were one of the great new wave bands, one of the ones who defined the style and cut one of the great records of their time (their eponymous debut), an outfit who maintained a dedicated following even as they fell off the radar of critics and hipsters, a group who overcame a tragic loss (guitarist Ricky Wilson) to make a startling, ...
Friends successfully targets the same demographic of the television show -- twentysomethings that have grown too old for the noise and clutter of college life, yet reluctant to give up the commraderie (and, indeed, friendship) that stress creates. So, it's a collection of '80s college rock favorites (R.E.M., Paul Westerberg), '80s college rock ...
Basically a singles collection from R.E.M.'s first five albums, Eponymous gives the listener a sense of the band's change from folk-rock to rock. The songs are intelligently selected, distilling most of the best moments from their first five albums for IRS. Included is the original single of "Radio Free Europe," and different mixes of "Gardening ...
Pushing through the sophomore jinx that gave Blind Man's Zoo its preachy feel, 10,000 Maniacs offer up a baker's dozen of wonderful folk-pop songs with hard-hitting messages, nearly matching the brilliance of their debut. Natalie Merchant is a few years older here, a few tribulations wiser, and a few shakes looser, although that's not to say she ...
As if to acknowledge that Barenaked Ladies' third album, 1996's Born on a Pirate Ship, was a blunder that wouldn't do much to advance the Canadian group's U.S. image, Reprise Records quickly followed it up with the live set Rock Spectacle. This was a wise move, as years of nearly nonstop touring had helped the group transform from a jokey folk ...
Spanning 31 songs and two discs, one covering "The Most Popular Recordings" (aka "The Hits") and one covering "The Obscure & Unknown Recordings" (aka "The B-Sides and Cover Versions"), Rhino/Elektra's 2004 compilation Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure & Unknown Recordings of 10,000 Maniacs is as good a career overview as could be assembled. The ...
Barenaked Ladies are a little less interested in the quirky and comic on their second album, perhaps recognizing that They Might Be Giants have that niche covered. Instead, though, they are showing their sensitive folk-pop roots, which makes them winning, if a little wet. (XTC, anyone?) But one thing they aren't is "alternative," a matter dealt ...
Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart closed with Lowery singing about how "Life Is Grand" in pointed response to "those of you who have appointed yourselves to expect us to say something darker." So when Key Lime Pie came out, its moodier music and imagery, not to mention that soon after the fact the band fell apart on the tour for the album, led ...
Ever since Edie Brickell got up on-stage one night with a Texas band called New Bohemians in the mid-'80s, her musical career has been a series of happy accidents. So, it should be no surprise that her solo work has been only occasional. Her split from New Bohemians after 1990's Ghost of a Dog was followed by her 1992 marriage to Paul Simon, with ...
Leaving behind the garagey jangle pop of their first recordings, R.E.M. developed a strangely subdued variation of their trademark sound for their full-length debut album, Murmur. Heightening the enigmatic tendencies of Chronic Town by de-emphasizing the backbeat and accentuating the ambience of the ringing guitar, R.E.M. created a distinctive ...
10,000 Maniacs' breakthrough album and creative high point, In My Tribe offers a survey of social concerns, including child abuse ("What's the Matter Here"), illiteracy ("Cherry Tree"), war ("Gun Shy"), and the environment ("Campfire Song") -- all tackled subtly and tastefully without too much preaching or pretension and in believable, real-life ...
Natalie Merchant's lyrics have a subtle urgency on such tracks as "Eat for Two" and "Trouble Me," while the band contrives textured folk/rock backing and producer Peter Asher creates a well-articulated rock sound. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Gordon picks up where the Barenaked Ladies' famous demo "The Yellow Tape" left off and moves them into majors. Their first for Reprise, this witty songbook finds the Canadian five-piece to be a clever group -- charming, but not childish, yet the Barenaked Ladies are pretty close to overstepping the boundaries of silliness. The thing that keeps ...
With Lowery's by-now more sharply sung words up front and Segel's multi-instrumental abilities helping to lead the way, the quintet came up trumps more often than not. "Eye of Fatima (pt. 2)," for instance, could have easily fit in on most of the group's earlier records at the start. Even so, the addition of some screaming Lisher guitar solos on ...
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