Favorite Albums: 74 - 73

74. Automatic For the People by R.E.M. (1992)

This was the follow up to Out Of Time, and it is so vastly superior to that album that it's almost unfair to compare the two. Obviously, "Everybody Hurts" was an extremely popular song, but there was so much other good stuff on this album. It kicks off with "Drive", a very slow and plodding song. As bad ass as the album version is, the live version is a little better. It's faster, more driving, more urgent. Both versions are great though. "Try Not To Breathe" is a pretty song, very lovely, except that the lyrics are about an elderly person trying to end their life. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite" is one of the best true pop songs R.E.M. has ever recorded. The lyrics are absolute nonsense, but the music is great, and it actually sounds like they are having fun recording it. Great song. "Everybody Hurts" is next, and while it is indeed a good song, much like "Losing My Religion" I think it's a bit overrated. It's not the masterpiece everyone claims it is, and it's not even the best song on this album, to be quite honest. Still good, though, and the video is one of my favorites, but it's just not an "all time great" song. "New Orleans Instrumental No. 1" is, as the title implies, an instrumental. Quick little pretty song. "Sweetness Follows" is an absolutely amazing song. Just amazing. "Monty Got a Raw Deal" is pretty good. I kind of go through phases with this one on liking it and hating it. No real reason why, it just happens. "Ignoreland" is decent but I can't listen to it after a while. Again, no real reason why, just starts to get on my nerves. "Star Me Kitten" was originally supposed to be called "Fuck Me Kitten", but Warner Bros. told the band that they couldn't put the f-bomb on the cover, so it would just read "**** Me Kitten". So, they just changed it from "Fuck" to "Star". True story. Good song. "Man On the Moon" is an exceptional song. Because of its success, R.E.M. did the entire soundtrack to the film of the same name. Both are about Andy Kaufman, obviously, and both are great, I think. This is one of Michael Stipe's best vocal performances, and probably would be the best if it weren't for the horrid attempts at Elvis impersonations. Ill conceived, there. "Nightswimming" is a gorgeous song, Mostly piano and strings, with a little oboe thrown in for good measure. Th lyrics are a tad repetitive, but if that's the only weakness in the song, so be it. "Find the River" closes out this awesome album. It's a nice relaxing song, and brings a bit of hope at the end of what is undoubtedly R.E.M.'s most depressing album. Great ending to a great album.
5 Best Songs:
5. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite"


4. "Try Not To Breathe"


3. "Nightswimming"


2. "Man On the Moon"


1. "Sweetness Follows"


73. Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads (1984)

Classic live album, one of the most widely heralded out there. The set list is a bit out of order from what it was at the actual show, and as it is in the movie version, but for the most part it's extremely well done, if a little over produced. It starts off with "Psycho Killer", one of the greatest Talking Heads songs ever. Outstanding live, too, as it's just David Byrne with an acoustic guitar and a recorded rhythm section. Kicks ass. "Swamp" is next, and this is really the only weak spot on the album. Just a boring song. "Slippery People" is a pretty decent song, one that I kind of forget how good it is until I hear it again. From this point on, the album just gets epic. "Burning Down the House" is awesome here, probably the best version I've ever heard. "Girlfriend Is Better" is classic, awesome keyboards, awesome vocals, great song. "Once In a Lifetime" is also amazing here. Again, best version of this song I've heard, as well. "What a Day That Was" is stellar, absolutely perfect version of a really cool song. "Life During Wartime" became my favorite Talking Heads song for a while after I got this album. Love love love love love it. "Take Me To the River" closes out the album, a very good song to end on, bringing it to a smooth close. Overall, this album is a classic. It definitely deserves all the praise it gets. Now, I just have to get the double album version that came out a couple years ago that has the full concert in order on it. It will be mine. Oh, yes. It will be mine.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Girlfriend Is Better"


4. "Burning Down the House"


3. "Life During Wartime"


2. "Once In a Lifetime"


1. "Psycho Killer"

Favorite Albums: 116 - 115

Only 6 more "Best Of" or "Singles collections" or whatever left, and luckily they are more spread out, not bunched together. Here's the first.
116. In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. (1988 - 2003) by R.E.M. (2003)

This is not a comprehensive Best Of, for the record. It only covers the years the band was signed to Warner Bros. Records, and it was released as the last album of their contract just so they could get out of the contract. In fact, it isn't even comprehensive of their time with Warner Bros. "Drive," "Shiny Happy People" and "Bang and Blame" are just three of the 17 singles not included in this collection, and yet there are three new songs. So right from the start it's incomplete. The bonus edition of the CD includes 15 tracks made up of b-sides and live tracks, plus songs like "Fretless" (which Bill Berry admits in the liner notes should have been included on Out Of Time, but for whatever reason wasn't) and "It's a Free World Baby" that were album outtakes appearing on an R.E.M. album for the first time. And yet, even this disc feels incomplete because there are some b-sides that are missing that are really good, such as the band's covers of "Tom's Diner" "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" "Love Is All Around" and "Dark Globe," plus a few of their instrumentals. And yet, even with all these omissions, it's still a decent album. Ideal? Absolutely not. But decent.
5 Best Songs:
5. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
4. "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite"
3. "At My Most Beautiful"
2. "The Great Beyond"
1. "Bad Day"

(I suggest hunting down the official videos for "At My Most Beautiful" and "Bad Day" because they are pretty amusing.)

"At My Most Beautiful"


"The Great Beyond"


"Bad Day"


115. Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes (2005)

I know Elephant is most people's choice for best White Stripes album, and if not that then White Blood Cells, but for me Get Behind Me Satan is the shit. I love that every song has its own feel and personality, and the fact that it sounds like a jumbled mess is actually appealing. "Blue Orchid" kicks things off with a bang, and is actually pretty misleading as an intro to the album, as nothing else on the album is as heavy, really. There are points here and there, but nothing consistent. "The Nurse" follows, with a nice simple tune played on the marimbas and some random drum and guitar outbursts throughout. "My Doorbell" is without a doubt the most "pop" White Stripes song to date.
Sorry... I'm just not that into this today. Too much crap going on around the house. Next post will be better, I promise.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Wild Orchid"
4. "Forever For Her (Is Over For Me)"
3. "Little Ghost"
2. "My Doorbell"
1. "The Nurse"

"Little Ghost"


"My Doorbell"


"The Nurse"

Favorite Albums: 144 - 143

Man, I am gonna have to slow myself down on this shit. It's Monday night, and I'm already writing Friday's post. Guess it's better to be ahead, though, since I never know when the baby's going to let me write. No Greatest Hits or singles collections today, just 2 regular old albums. I know, I know... It's about time.

144. Foiled For the Last Time by Blue October (2007)

Foiled was released in 2006, then a year later re-released as Foiled For the Last Time as a double album. The first disc is the album, the second disc is a live album plus some remixes. The obvious hit here is "Hate Me," and for good reason. That is just an absurdly good song. And, as is the case with most bands on this list, the popular song isn't even the best one on the album. In fact, it may not even make the top five, not sure yet. Most of the songs on this album are pretty depressing. "Let It Go" is especally sad, and you can definitely hear the anguish in his voice as he sings "Why did I go that way? Why do I still? How could I let her go? Why do I feel?" "Overweight" is one of the faster paced songs on the album, and on an album full of apologies it is one of the least apologetic ones, with lines like "I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry I was sorry, but I'm happy that you're happy. This is no longer about me." "X Amount Of Words" is a good song, but seems kind of out of place because it has a bit too much of a techno feel to it. The two remixes of it at the end of the album just make it feel even more out of place.
The live songs on the second CD are all very good, and it's quite obvious they are a good live band. Almost all the songs from Foiled are included, plus a couple from their earlier CDs. The crowd is revved up throughout, and the band just feeds off it. The live version of "Hate Me" is absolutely awesome.
5 Best Songs:
5. "She's My Ride Home"
4. "Into the Ocean"
3. "Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek"
2. "You Make Me Smile"
1. "Overweight"

"Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek"


"You Make Me Smile"


"Overweight"



143. New Adventures In Hi-Fi by R.E.M. (1996)

This was the second-to-last really good CD R.E.M. released. (The follow up, Up, was the last good one.) Most of the songs were recorded while the band was on the road for the Monster tour, usually during sound checks, so it's considered by a lot of music sites as a live album. It's kind of an uneven album, and parts of it sound like remakes of songs from Monster, but it's still a fun album to listen to. Only a couple songs really stand out. "Departure" was co-written by the band Bauhaus. "Leave" is easily my favorite song on the album, but "Be Mine" is probably the best. "So Fast, So Numb" might be the last real rock song R.E.M. has recorded. Losing your drummer will hurt you like that. "Electrolite" is probably the best closing song on any R.E.M. album since Green, just because they didn't try to turn it into something it wasn't. All in all, it's a good CD, but not as good as it could have been had they waited until the Monster tour was over and relaxed a bit, instead of recording on the fly.
5 Best Songs:
5. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"
4. "Undertow"
3. "So Fast, So Numb"
2. "Be Mine"
1. "Leave"

"So Fast, So Numb"
He likes to scream during this song, so you may want to keep the volume a bit lower.


"Be Mine"
Not the best sound, but cool idea for a homemade video, so it wins.


"Leave"
Stuck with a live version. Grrr


Alrighty then... Cruising along now.