Here’s a fun song from Barenaked Ladies’ fifth (and, one could argue, last great) album, Maroon. Their next three original studio albums were uneven and then Steven Page left the band, raising the question of whether a band minus its co-founder and lead singer should still be considered the same band.
Is Pink Floyd without Roger Waters Pink Floyd in anything but name? How about Journey without Steve Perry?
When Nelly Furtado went from hippy-dippy ‘I’m Like a Bird’ mode to trashy pop star over the course of two albums, the makeover seemed desperate.
But apparently she knew what she was doing, as the second album, Loose, became her biggest hit, ultimately selling 12 million copies worldwide.
Furtado cited artistic reasons behind the genre change-up — a desire to stretch her music into the R&B and hip-hop arenas and away from the more world-music influences of her debut.
Enjoy ‘The Blessings,’ another great songs from Dar Williams’ greatest album, 1996’s Mortal City.
That record falls into the rare genre of albums that are close to perfect but for one glaring, horrible misstep. In this case, it’s the title track, a 7-plus minute half-spoken, half-sung short story about a couple that meets during a power failure.
The Afghan Whigs’ 1965 is one of the sexiest albums I own, not just because its overall sound and feel is sexy (which it is, in spades) but because many of its songs are actively about sex.
Take today’s Random SOTD, ‘Neglekted,’ which to my untrained literary eye appears to be about a woman requesting a specific sex act.
Eminem couldn’t have picked a more appropriate title for this lazy effort from his 2009 album Relapse.
This track is a sloppy retread of a dozen other, and better, songs about Slim Shady working out his issues through violence against women. What was edgy and disturbing — and a catalyst for discussions of how far art can go — nearly a decade earlier is yawn-inducing here.
Meet Me In Montauk 