Today’s random selection is a bonus track from Garbage’s 2012 album Not Your Kind of People.
This and other bonus tracks were released as part of a “deluxe edition” of the album, a practice that became more and more common during the CD era. Deluxe editions seemed to fade a bit as CDs gave way to streaming, but I’ve seen more of them creep up lately.
Today’s random selection has the distinction of being my least favorite Counting Crows song. The opening track of the band’s fifth album, 2008’s Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, ‘1492’ is a loud and graceless rock song that lacks the nuance and melodicism of the band’s usual output.
Following four stellar albums released between 1992 and 2002, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings was the Crows’ first miss. A concept album featuring one side of rockers and one side of acoustic ballads, the collection produced only a couple of memorable tracks.
My last 2004 album is one I have heard before, but only once. It made an impression on me not because I found it any good, but because it epitomized the idea of a critical darling that I find unlistenable. A true emperor’s new clothes situation.
A Grand Don’t Come For Free is the sophomore album by English rapper Mike Skinner, who records under the band name The Streets. It’s a concept album that follows a young man’s exploits in losing a thousand pounds and trying to earn it back. Upon release it was hailed as one of the best albums of the year.
My blind spot for R&B music emerges again as I consider Usher’s 2004 album Confessions, a massive hit with which I have almost zero familiarity.
This album, the singer-songwriter’s fourth, was the sixth best-selling album of the entire 2000s in the U.S. and produced four #1 singles. You’d think those songs would instantly ring a bell for somebody who was in his early 20s and an avid music listener at the time.
After releasing five albums with her ska punk band No Doubt, Gwen Stefani started working on solo material. Her initial plan was to focus on collaborations and soundtrack songs, but she soon amassed enough material for a proper studio album.
No Doubt went on hiatus in 2003, freeing Stefani to complete Love. Angel. Music. Baby., a dance pop record that owed a lot more to Madonna than the ska sound of her band. Stefani co-wrote every song and partnered with a laundry list of big-name producers.
Meet Me In Montauk 