Foo Fighters
One By One
2002, And here's the album that almost destroyed the Foo Fighters. Wow. So let's take a minute to talk history: they hire an expensive producer, go into an expensive studio and hammer out an album that costs a million dollars only to find that they hate the outcome. In-fighting leaves them on the verge of breaking up. They decide to play a few final schedules shows and ultimately a new spark is lit. So they go and re-record the album in Dave's basement with a new found intensity. The resulting album sells a buttload and wins a bunch of awards and the band subsequently still hates it, with Dave himself sort of infamously quipping that it only had "four good songs." Just wow. The truth is that it's not as bad as the band makes it out to be. But certainly it's not as good as the three albums that preceded it. But there's more than four good songs here, haha. "All My Life" is still a great single, and great album opener. "Time Like These" is also great, so those two singles alone sort of justify the album. "Tired Of You" is like this fucked up ballad. Interesting stuff. "Lonely As You" is probably my favorite here, though. What a weird track. It's kind of new wave, but kind of dark. Actually the whole album is pretty dark. Maybe that Pettibon is on point because there's a lot of raw emotions here. And maybe that's why the band hates it. It's a document of wasted money and a sour period that almost resulted in the end of the band. It's honestly not a bad album. It's almost great. But not great. But totally interesting.
Green Day
Insomniac
1995, Let's just get this out of the way: Insomniac is not "as good" as Dookie. It's just not. But in a lot of ways it has always been my favorite Green Day album. I can't help but think that Insomniac was an attempt to lose some fans. In many ways it feels like Green Day's In Utero or Pinkerton. It's a weird back-against-the-wall reaction to the pop success gained from their previous album. I mean, sure this still sounds like Green Day and all, but there's way less poppy hooks. The guitars are heavier. Nothing here sounds like it's intended to be a single. Nothing is all that upbeat. Only one song hits the three-minute mark. There's F-bombs galore. The self-deprecation here feels less like a call to outcasts and more reactionary. It just feels like an attempt to get less radio play. But there's lots of great tracks. "Armatage Ranks" is a solid opener. "Geek Stink Breath" and "Walking Contradiction" are surely fine singles. But "Brain Stew"... wow. Sure it became one of their bigger hits but I doubt they saw that coming. This is one ugly song. And it just totally rocks. I love it still. But maybe the real standout here at least as a mission statement is "86" which is an angry concession to the punk scene which had abandoned them after their success with Dookie. It really feels like a much angrier version of "Good Riddance" which would actually appear in demo form as a b-side to "Brain Stew" before becoming their biggest single ever on their next album proper. I'll take "86" any day of the week over that one though. As big as Green Day gets with their Broadway musicals and whatever, I doubt that new fans will even pay much attention to Insomniac. But yeah, that'd be my favorite I think.
The Flaming Lips
Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
2002, What the fuck? Seriously. How did this album do so well? I mean don't get me wrong, it's catchy as hell. Beautiful really. But wow. What a weird album from a weird band with a weird history, right? I guess I wasn't shocked by Yoshimi. I had been paying attention to the lips since at least the mid-90's. And certainly Zaireeka and The Soft Bulletin were pointing in this direction. But I had no idea they'd pull this off. They absolutely perfected this sound and it's just gorgeous. "Fight Test" is one of those openers that just destroys you. The first time I heard it, I had to start the album over and hear it again. One of those rare tracks that just throws you off balance and forces you to pay closer attention. This album is the Lips at their most affecting. The synths and orchestration... the direct lyrics. I mean, full disclosure: "Do You Realize?" still makes me cry. Maybe even more so with each year that I grow older. It's actually amazing that this album is just a centerpiece in such a brilliant career. It came about fifteen years after their debut, and could have been a high-point exit but alas, The Lips being The Lips was just a footnote in their history as they've gone through other phases since. Yoshimi may well be the one album by the band that's a cliche to love, but whatever. Call me a cliche. I love many of their albums - both before and after - but yeah, I love this album a lot.
Nirvana
In Utero
1993, Well... what to say? In Utero was a big deal when it was released. I was in junior high and I remember it well. I borrowed the cassette from a substitute teacher - I shit you not - who let me dub it (and Pearl Jam's Vs.) because I was talking up how much I loved those bands but didn't have the albums yet. Subsequently, my junior high buddies who also had no money dubbed In Utero off of me. I bring up the substitute teacher thing to illustrate a point. I have no quantifiable proof that Nirvana was the biggest band in the world in 1993, but in my little world they certainly were. Even teachers got it! I remember that In Utero scared me at the tender age of twelve. I mean Nevermind and Incesticide rocked, but this shit was heavy and dark. Hell, "Heart Shape Box" even scared Beavis and Butt-Head. But in hindsight - years removed from Kurt's death and with lots of "grown-up" experience under my belt, I've definitely heard this album with new ears. "Serve The Servants" is brilliant. Seriously brilliant. "Dumb" has got to be the most crystalline Beatles nod they ever pulled off, and manages to lull you with it's talk of drugs and hangovers. "Milk It" is amazing. Kurt always talked up the Melvins, but on this one he may have out-Melvined the Melvins. And it all ends with "All Apologies." When I say "it all ends," of course I mean their official album output. We can go on and on reading deeply into this album as some kind of suicide note - and in a sense the same can be done with the Unplugged album - but why? Why not just remember that In Utero is an amazing album full of ugly, raw, brooding songs. All the teeth were showing on this one. It will always be remembered as a totally important recording and for good reason. It just totally rocks.