Tag Archives: Decades

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Song of the Day #6,602: ‘One Man Wrecking Machine’ – Guster

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2006…

#8 – Ganging Up on the Sun – Guster

I discovered the Massachusetts-based alternative rock band Guster around 2000, after their third album — Lost and Gone Forever — brought them wider attention. That was an indie delight, with a lo-fi DIY aesthetic that suited its clever songwriting.

Then came 2003’s Keep It Together, on which the band’s co-founder/drummer Brian Rosenworcel used sticks (rather than his hands) for the first time, and Guster proved they could deliver tight pop songs with an edge. That remains my favorite of their albums.

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Song of the Day #6,601a: ‘Ankle Deep’ – Tom Petty

Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 2006…

#9 – Highway Companion – Tom Petty

Only three of Tom Petty’s 16 albums were solo releases while the other 13 were recorded with the Heartbreakers. Given that members of the Heartbreakers play on all three of the solo records, it’s arguably a meaningless distinction.

But whatever set apart those solo albums — creative control, general sound, studio atmosphere — it clearly made a difference. As much as I love Petty’s work with the Heartbreakers (including my favorite of his albums, Damn the Torpedoes), I have all three of his solo releases in my Tom Petty Top Five.

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Song of the Day #6,601: ‘Cellphone’s Dead’ – Beck

I intended to pick up my Decades series this week by moving on to 1987, as I dug into the excellent 1977 lineup a few months ago. Then I realized I somehow skipped the final year of the 6’s. So I’m correcting that oversight over the next several weeks and exploring the albums of 2006.

As usual, I will count down my personal favorite albums from the year before exploring critically-acclaimed and/or commercially successful albums with which I’m less familiar.

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Song of the Day #6,508: ‘Elevation’ – Television

Concluding my look at the albums of 1977…

Another seminal debut album from 1977, Television’s Marquee Moon got me thinking about how the artists from this era were really bouncing off of each other in interesting ways.

Earlier this week, I heard so much Elvis Costello in The Jam’s first album, even though both artists debuted the same year. And in this album, I hear so much Talking Heads, whose debut album also came out in ’77.

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Song of the Day #6,507: ‘Blue Bayou’ – Linda Ronstadt

Continuing my look at the albums of 1977…

I’ve been considering a Linda Ronstadt deep dive for awhile now, and I’m finally ready to commit. Something about her eighth studio album, Simple Dreams, charmed me enough to send me back through the rest of her catalog. Stay tuned for the details in future weeks.

In the meantime, I’ll sing the praises of this album, the best-seller of Ronstadt’s career and, at the time, the second best-selling album by any woman (after Carole King’s Tapestry). It even knocked Rumours from the #1 spot after 29 straight weeks.

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