Initially I had Travis’ The Invisible Band lower on this list, possibly as low as #10. But the more I listened to it in preparation for this blog entry, the higher it crept.
This was the Scottish band’s third album and the follow-up to 1999’s smash hit The Man Who. That record is also excellent, and ushered in an era of emotional rock music alongside Coldplay’s Parachutes. But for my money, The Invisible Band is an even grander achievement.
Barenaked Ladies probably spent about five minutes writing this song from their 2003 album Everything to Everyone. It’s goofily catchy but gets old about 30 seconds in.
Apparently this intentionally superficial ditty was written in response to comments then-President George W. Bush made in the aftermath of 9/11. He encouraged Americans to “go shopping” as a way to both help the economy and not let the fear of terrorism keep them from living life as they always had.
‘All Night’ is the penultimate track on Beyoncé’s extraordinary 2016 “visual album” Lemonade. The early single ‘Formation’ closes things out, but this track is the emotional resolution, and on of the album’s best songs.
Much was made of the anger on Lemonade‘s early tracks (“he better call Becky with the good hair”), and people initially thought the album might even be Beyoncé’s very public way of leaving Jay-Z.
My list of favorite albums in recent years is so dominated by female artists that it’s a shock to look back at 2001 and see how bro-tastic my tastes were then.
Lucinda Williams’ Essence, my #6 album of that year, is the only work by a woman in my top ten.
Now, in my defense, I haven’t found a lot of strong female contenders among the albums I missed out on in 2001. Maybe it just wasn’t a strong year for women in music. But it is striking, especially coming off of a year when five of my top seven albums were by women.
Ron Sexsmith’s Blue Boy comes in at #7 on my list of 2001 albums. This was my first exposure to the Canadian singer-songwriter and remains my favorite of his albums.
Produced by Steve Earle, Blue Boy has a more polished and eclectic sound than Sexsmith’s first few releases. He dabbles in reggae and torch styles, along with his usual quiet balladry and pop rock staples, and manages to make it all sound of a piece.
Meet Me In Montauk 