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.
I ordered this week’s posts randomly, so imagine my surprise when the first voice I heard when firing up Ray Charles’ Genius Loves Company was that of Norah Jones, yesterday’s featured artist.
Jones is one of 12 artists with whom Charles teamed up for this collection of duets, the last album he would record before his death in June of 2004. The album was released posthumously two months later, becoming Charles’ first #1 record in 42 years.
Thank you for bearing with me during my unexpected hiatus from daily blogging. I hope my hastily assembled batch of placeholder songs (none of which I actually heard before posting) proved diverting enough in my absence.
I now return to my look at the albums of 2004, with five left to cover in the latest installment of the Decades series.
Continuing my look at the albums of 2004…
Scottish alternative band Franz Ferdinand released their self-titled debut in 2004 to great success in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The band emerged as one of the leaders of the post-punk revival, alongside such acts as the White Stripes, The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys.
My appreciation for this genre is inconsistent. I’ve enjoyed some of the White Stripes albums, and I do like the idea of muscular but melodic music in general, but I don’t count any of these bands among my favorites.
Meet Me In Montauk 