Here is another of those wonderful sophomore albums I mentioned a week ago. Three of my top six fall into that category, which could be a coincidence or could be evidence of some universal musical truth the nature of which has thus far eluded me. Anyone want to take a stab at it?
Lyle Lovett’s sixth album, The Road to Ensenada, was the logical culmination of everything he’d done before. It struck a balance between his country and jazz sides, leaning a bit toward the former, but it didn’t have the schizophrenic feel of And His large Band… or Pontiac.
On those records, Lovett basically dedicated a side apiece to his country work and another side to his big band and gospel sound. On Joshua Judges Ruth he scaled the country back and sometimes strayed too far into sleepy ballad territory.
I’m contemplating a theory that excellent albums within a genre I don’t normally like receive an extra boost due to the odds they’ve overcome.
Last week’s example was Garbage’s Version 2.0. That album, and the band in general, features a heavy, borderline electronica sound that generally turns me off. But their particular execution of it works like gangbusters. I believe if I were a techno fan, that album might strike me as very good but not worlds better than my other favorite albums in the genre.
Last week I mentioned the large number of sophomore albums on this list and hinted at another list of great second albums.
Today’s featured album is something more traditional — a fabulous debut. Great first albums are special because not only do they contain memorable music in their own right, they are invested with the promise of what’s to come. When discovering a new artist who instantly clicks, it’s hard not to imagine how that career might develop over future decades.
I recently named Toad the Wet Sprocket as my favorite 90s band so it should come as no surprise that their best album shows up on this list.
Dulcinea, released in 1994, is so good that today’s SOTD marks the sixth song I’ve featured from it, and I featured one of those twice.
