Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1995…
#2 – Relish – Joan Osborne
Almost every album on this list is by an artist I’ve stuck with, for at least several more releases if not an entire career. This one is different.
Singer-songwriter Joan Osborne has released 13 studio albums, one less than a year ago. I might have listened to one of them briefly when it came out, but otherwise my appreciation for her is based completely on the excellence of her debut album.
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1995…
#3 – I’m With Stupid – Aimee Mann
I have a fondness for gateway albums, the first work you hear from an artist who goes on to be a favorite. Often those records remain among my favorites even if other work eclipses them creatively.
Aimee Mann’s I’m With Stupid was my first real exposure to the singer-songwriter, apart from knowing the hit single ‘Voices Carry’ by her band ‘Til Tuesday.
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1995…
#4 – The Bends – Radiohead
The most critically celebrated Radiohead album of the 90s is 1997’s OK Computer, and deservedly so. But I’ve always been partial to the band’s sophomore release, The Bends.
This album finds the band in a sweet spot between the straight-forward grunge of their debut Pablo Honey and the more experimental rock of future releases. The songs here are rather conventional but, due to the band’s performance and Thom Yorke’s yearning vocals, they’re extremely emotionally effective.
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1995…
#5 – Garbage – Garbage
This album might be the most 1995 record on my list of 1995 records. Garbage’s sound — alternative rock with a side of grunge — had its heyday in the middle of that decade.
And I’m not sure anybody did it better than this unlikely quartet, made up of three male American record producers and a mesmerizing Scottish female lead singer.
The week of May 22, 2004, found Usher in a familiar place on top of the Billboard Hot 100.
When Usher was named the headliner of this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, I was underwhelmed. But I guess that’s because I wasn’t paying much attention in the early 2000s when he was churning out hits faster than the charts could process them.
Consider that ‘Burn’ replaced Usher’s own ‘Yeah!’ at #1 and was later dislodged from the top spot by ‘Confessions Part II,’ another Usher track.
Meet Me In Montauk 