Album of the Month (2024)

January

Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair (1993)

I've got to give Exile in Guyville a lot of credit. I had always seen it on these indie hipster critics' lists, but never gave it a listen. Regardless of its ranking on any lists, the album quite impressed me (more than I thought it would). There's great guitar tones found on Exile in Guyville, everything is very washed and chorusy. While the tone is very 80s, it is organic and not cheesy. Liz Phair has a very deadpan and monotone style of singing - it's a very sarcastic / feminine style of vocal delivery. I think it goes away from girls being expected to sing all perfect-esque (ala Julie Andrews or someone from a previous generation). While I find these observations on most songs on Exile in Guyville, the tracks do indeed find a way to sound different from one another. I especially like the humor on "Help Me Mary", it's as if she is trapped with a bunch of moronic meatheads in her house. Most songs on Exile in Guyville don't last too long, and are exceptionally upbeat and catchy (while still being twisted in disguise). I find "Dance of the Seven Veils" increasingly getting caught in my head. And "Never Said" feels like the definition of what a great nostalgic 90s song can be (the background vocal overdubs are superb). But there's plenty of sentimental numbers, such as "Canary" and "Shatter" which invoke all kinds of emotions. I would say the sleeper song with the "coolest" attitude is definitely "Stratford-On-Guy". Man, this song feels so irregular at the beginning so but closes with so much power in its chorus. And "Strange Loop" is an exceptional and fitting close to Exile in Guyville (don't forget about the bass solo). Some of Liz Phair's style potentially feels influenced by Chrissy Hynde of The Pretenders, but I can't say for sure.

February

Loveless - My Bloody Valentine (1991)

Maybe the band name and album title are fitting for the month of February, perhaps? Looks like I incidentally timed this up well. The Loveless album cover alludes to a thick and warping haze. It conveys a distorted hazy unhinged pop style, which incorporates a lot of detuned sounds that can feel rather demented (but really cool). The vocals aren't as pronounced and brought to the top of the mix, but I believe that is part of the style. Likewise, I recall melodies rather than lyrics here on Loveless. There's crazy elephant-esque bizarre like sounds on the opener "Only Shallow" and "Touched" which are a unique and awesome touch. Guitarist Kevin Shields definitely has his imprint here. I can't speak to what was being played back in 1991, but I feel "When You Sleep" has massive radio potential. It has all the makings of a hit song, and the same can be probably be said for "I Only Said". While the middle of the album seems to be the strongest, I really am a fan of how the rest of Loveless concludes. "Sometimes" really reminds me of a well written Smashing Pumpkins song, with its dream-pop style. Perhaps Billy Corgan took some inspiration here for the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness record. The Mellotron esque flute on "What You Want" stands out, and the songwriting style parallels that of Yo La Tengo. The closer "Soon" is incredibly catchy, although I am not convinced it needs to be nearly 7 minutes long. To my understanding Loveless is a landmark album for the Shoegaze genre, it's what helped to send it into motion. I've always been familiar with the Shoegaze, but this is my first real effort to listen to it. It certainly leaves me intrigued, although I am not sure if I will find myself exploring more of it right now (not sure if I feel that compelled). But My Bloody Valentine is definitely the first band that comes to mind with Shoegaze now.

March

Ghost Reveries - Opeth (2005)

About over a year ago or so, I had listened to Damnation by Opeth, but wasn't all that impressed. I thought it was decent, but didn't find myself coming back to it (note that Ghost Reveries is a completely different album). And somehow here I am, with a lot more metal under my belt (especially when it comes to metal with "harsh" vocals). I think I pushed off Opeth to the side for the longest time because I didn't enjoy the vocals. Now I tend to view the vocals as a strength for the band. Some quick observations on Ghost Reveries tend to be that of rule breaking. The formula for a good metal band (in my head) has always been two guitars, bass and drums. I have never been a fan when synths or keys get added to the mix (i.e. Dream Theater). But immediately "Ghost of Perdition" breaks all of those stereotypes. The keyboard parts work because they're musical! It's not forced down your throat, it is dialed in with healthy amounts. I enjoy them a lot, and I believe that the songs are strengthened by the keyboardist Per Wiberg's parts (I'm always a sucker for a good Mellotron). Ghost Reveries contains plenty of beautiful and mesmerizing acoustic passages complimented by absolutely brutal riffs and vocals. I do really enjoy Michael Akerfeldt's vocals here, whether they are clean or screams. Even the screamy vocals are pronounced mildly clear (he's definitely singing something). The growl at the 6:30 mark of "Ghost of Perdition" feels like a giant sea creature or monstrous being is coming around the corner awaiting your demise. It's badass. Lots of prog influences are found on Ghost Reveries (see the beginning of "The Baying of the Hounds" and "Beneath the Mire", or just every other song). I'm not really a prog guy myself, but everything here is done well (there's even a vibraphone found in the middle of "The Baying of the Hounds"). It's very impressive that Michael Akerfeldt is taking on all of these roles, from the wide range of vocals to the lead and rhythm guitar. I'm serious when I say these guitar solos are tasty, they're some of the best I have heard in awhile. Everything Akerfeldt and Opeth does feels very articulate. "Atonement" has a lot of nice Eastern influences without going off the rails, including a lot of well placed swells in reverse. I remember many mornings of waking up real early listening to "The Grand Conjuration" as the alarm on my phone. I'm not sure if this song gets mentioned enough. It really hits you in the mouth with its relentless barrage of demonic motifs. The drums here almost feel like a predecessor to a trap beat - "The Grand Conjuration" is a really fun song.

April

The Flying Burrito Bros - The Flying Burrito Brothers (1971)

I was listening to a lot of The Flying Burrito Brothers while driving around in Guadalupe Mountains National Park - it fits the scenery very nicely. I also ended up doing a lot of driving in the month of April going from Corpus Christi to Austin several times. So much of the weekends felt like they were by medium of a car. "White Line Fever" is a great driving song. It's almost like a trucker anthem. Turns out this was written by Merle Haggard; I actually think the Burrito Brothers cover improves on the song. Likewise, I remember hearing "Colorado" for the first time and being so drawn to it that I had to seek it out. The song exemplifies all that is good about the early 70s. It blends country and pop and good songwriting seamlessly, it's the song that led me to seek out the rest of The Flying Burrito Bros. It fits in with the music coming out of the Laurel Canyon area during this time period. "Hand to Mouth" is another blue collar working song, I enjoy it a lot. "Tried So Hard" has a really beautiful and sentimental chord progression on the verses, and the instrumental break over the verse is done so well. It looks like this is the album with the first major lineup switch - it's after Gram Parsons departs the band to do his solo stuff. Chris Hillman does the majority of the singing from what I understand. Generally I don't listen to bands like the Allman Brothers or Lynyrd Skynyrd after a major lineup change. But I don't really find this album dropping off in quality by any means. It might not be on the same level as The Gilded Palace of Sin, but it's pretty damn close. The only other album I was listening to this month was Watershed by Opeth, so this was a little bit of a toss up. They were really the only two albums I indulged in this month.

May

Come Away With Me - Norah Jones (2002)

I've known Norah Jones through her live recordings (Austin City Limits, solo live albums), collaborations, and especially her haunting cover of "Black Hole Sun" at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. Likewise, I've known "Don't Know Why" - it's a terrific and heart wrenching song. It felt like it was one of the most memorable songs of my sophomore year of college. Perhaps it is the ultimate FOMO (fear of missing out) anthem with the line "don't know why I didn't come". People like it for a reason, it's a marvelous song. But for whatever reason, I never dove into the rest of Come Away With Me (and still to this day, I don't know why). It is an absolutely lovely album, stellar and packed until to the end with excellent songwriting. A few songs have what I call the descending "nostalgia" chord progression - when done well this progression can really hit your emotions (see "Seven Years" and "Shoot the Moon"). I find myself reaching for these songs pretty often, But perhaps no song is more accessible to anyone than "Feelin' the Same Way". I don't know what it is, but a song so simple as this takes me back to many places in time - it's superb. "Lonestar" could be a nod to Norah Jones' relationship with Texas, as she grew up there for a decent portion of her childhood. "I've Got To See You Again" is a romantic and sultry number, a bit mysterious, especially with the Eastern influences. "Painter Song" is a great old school song, it almost feels like it comes directly from the Great American Songbook, I love it. Norah Jones did an excellent job of attracting top notch musicians to play on Come Away With Me - including Bill Frisell and Brian Blade. She brought some of the best musicians to capture the studio album that would catapult her career. I'm very attracted to this album, and this era of Norah Jones. If I had access to a time machine, perhaps one of the things I would do would be to go back for Norah Jones in the early 2000s.

June

Deliverance - Opeth (2002)

Some might say Deliverance is Opeth's darkest album, but I think there are still plenty of colorful moments found within. It's pretty and brutal at the same time - a lot of the moments are some of the darkest stuff I can enjoy. Even though the beginning of "Wreath" punches you in the face, there's a lot to explore. The song gets your blood going initially, but has a very compelling interlude found just about two minutes after. I find a lot of sorrow, grief, anger, despair, and spite in this chord progression. If you don't feel during that "Wreath", perhaps there is another level of despair awaiting you which you haven't quite experienced in life. The title track "Deliverance" is absolutely top notch, it might be the best song I've found this year (outside of a handful of other Opeth songs, such as "Heir Apparent", "The Drapery Falls", you don't want me to go on). The first time "Deliverance" really hit me (probably the first listen) I had to take a step back and take a moment. "Damn, they've done it again". What other metal bands are sneaking in a slide guitar on a track as brutal as this (along with a grand piano)? Again, the musical decisions work because they are musical. I wouldn't change anything about "Deliverance", even with it being nearly 14 minutes long. "A Fair Judgement" is very Pink Floyd esque - especially in the beginning, it leaves you almost in a trance like hypnotic state. This song can really get stuck in my head (you can't not relate to a song that talks about losing track of time). "For Absent Friends" is an absolutely heart wrenching instrumental, it is so damn beautiful. Perhaps one day I will try to cover it myself on guitar. I'm still not totally sold on "Master's Apprentices", it might be the odd man out, but I need to give a few more listens on it before I have a better idea of a verdict. The vocals initially on "By the Pain I See In Others" are very off putting, and the circus / carousel part in the middle might not be for everyone, but man do I enjoy the song. The ending just fills you with adrenaline, it's probably one of the most messed up / dissonant songs I thoroughly enjoy. It's such a badass yet simple riff executed perfectly. Every song on Deliverance is indeed very long, but they all find a way to maintain my attention throughout. It's funny because I don't think the length will scare off the average listener, they will most likely be scared off by a multitude of other things (death growls, skull crushing riffs, etc).

While Opeth tends to get labeled as prog metal, I think the band goes above and beyond anything that a genre could label. Everything flows with purpose and meaning, with vigor and at times, defeat. Michael Akerfeldt has also stated that the Deliverance sessions were somewhat rushed and forced. Even if they were, this truly is an example of a band in its creative peak. I'm so glad Deliverance turned out the way it did. After listening to Deliverance from Ghost Reveries, Watershed, and Blackwater Park, I'm starting to realize that Opeth is a (minimum) four album band now. That holds a lot of weight for me personally. Most bands will ride out a timed creative peak and put out two to three really kickass albums, but then lose their direction and ambition. But that isn't the case here - I haven't quite heard a band like Opeth. They're extremely ambitious. But everything they go for they achieve, while breaking any musical "rules" as needed along the way.

As a side note, I've still been listening to a lot of Norah Jones lately. I think Norah Jones cancels / balances out Opeth, and Opeth cancels / balances out Norah Jones with where I am at in life right now.

July

Still Life - Opeth (1999)

I swore the Opeth phase craze would die down (at least on this list), but now we gotta take a moment to talk about Still Life. It's clearly the most romantically charged and colorful of the Opeth albums I have heard so far. It tells a story (from what I understand) of someone who was banished from his hometown village. But after being banished, he finds himself still in love with a certain girl from his hometown (presumably Melinda). He comes back to reunite with his love, but ultimately pays a price. I have a bit of a personal story that lined up incidentally with this album. My story particularly relates to a well-timed trip I just took to Peru, specifically Lima, Peru. The album began to click for me on another level when I began to "live" my version of the album out (needless to say, Still Life was on repeat for me while in Peru).

While most Opeth albums take some warming up to, Still Life was perhaps the least accessible of the albums I have listened to so far (maybe I'll blame the first few listens for being on shitty car speakers). "The Moor" and "Godhead's Lament" are both knockout tracks, taking you on an ebb and flow of emotions. There's lots of harmonized lead and rhythm guitars found throughout, its akin to 1980s neoclassical metal. And then there's always the signature beautiful acoustic passages (it seems almost formulaic for an Opeth song). But again Opeth does it right every single time - making things musical. Sometimes it feels as if I could stay in the acoustic passages forever, but the transitions in Still Life always make sense. The band is very confident in the transitions, which trickles down to me being confident as a listener. Opeth tells me when we are stopping to admire the roses, or when we are stomping them all down (plus burning down the village along the way) - and I listen. The band is very sure of themselves. I know it can't be easy to blend such drastic shades of light and dark as done here.

If someone were to tell me Still Life was their favorite Opeth album, I would understand. The two Martins - Martin Lopez and Martin Mendez absolutely leave their imprint on this record.

And Michael Akerfeldt is a damn musical genius. He's nearly a god in the musical realm. He is perhaps the best (and most well-rounded) frontman I've ever seen in metal. He is potentially one of the best frontmen and songwriters of all time. I will not digress. I'm here, and I am drinking the Kool-Aid. In this moment I am ready to crown the band, I believe Opeth is one of the best bands to ever do it, and I've only heard half of their repertoire.

August

My Arms, Your Hearse - Opeth (1997)

Alright, hear me out. I genuinely tried to listen to something other than Opeth this month. And I did. I made a strong effort to listen to From Mars to Sirius by Gojira, and I can say that I liked it. But did it truly resonate with me, did it have a gravitational pull? Not so much - I can't say that it elicited much of an emotional response. I would flip on Gojira, then just come back to Opeth. I'll continue to leave the door open on From Mars to Sirius though.

I could sit here and talk about how My Arms, Your Hearse didn't totally click for me on the first listen, but I'm realizing that no matter what, all of Opeth's albums didn't quite click for me on the first listen. A few more listens always help to solidify the Opeth listening experience, and then I become hooked. My Arms, Your Hearse has really innovative stuff - considering Opeth's catalog as a whole, and even just the year 1997 in metal music. A lot of this just feels juicy. The piano intro found on "Prologue" is a fantastic way to start the album. I can safely assume not many other death metal bands are doing this. "April Ethereal" feels like an uphill climb, and "When" is a super powerful track that forces you to climb even higher. The two songs feed off each other and take your heartrate through the ups and downs of acoustic folk passages and adrenaline inducing guitar riffs. I also enjoy "Madrigal" as short as it is; it has a nice atmospheric touch that stands on its own. But the highlight of the album (and perhaps this era of the first few Opeth albums) has to be "Demon of the Fall". I feel "Demon of the Fall" is the dividing point of My Arms, Your Hearse - I tend to compartmentalize everything as pre and post "Demon of the Fall". I could talk a lot about this song, it's incredible. I honestly think "Demon of the Fall" needs to be longer. At just 5:30, it would be cool to see a guitar solo in the middle, and a reprise to the short chorus. You can't just give me an adrenaline inducing chorus / theme that is not even repeated? If you're still reading, know I could really talk about "Demon of the Fall" for awhile - there's so much to be said here. The screams are wicked, the guitar riffs are wicked. I just wish this had more of a traditional verse /chorus type of form, especially in the middle. I could live in the middle of the song forever. "Karma", to me it feels right to end the album here.

I can always remember find the 5:35

The ending is very reminiscent of Slipknot's/

The vocals found on My Arms, Your Hearse are demonic and menacing, which meshes well with the album cover. It is known that that Michael Akerfeldt had a cold during the recording of the album (if you can hear any distinction in his voice), which perhaps benefits the vocal tonality. However, I don't think he really develops his true singing voice here (it wouldn't be until Still Life).

My Arms, Your Hearse is a different Opeth album, with a different pace and feel. I must say the lack of guitar solos and refined clean vocals has ultimetely grown on me. It's led me to recognize that this is the album where Opeth became Opeth. I think it's the biggest leap in their early career. ould title "Album of the Month 2024" "Neil explores Opeth in backwards order

Pretty unqiue because the average Opeth song feels about 10 minutes long, these found on My Arms, Your Hearse are about 6 minutes long. A lot of these songs could be a lot longer. lack of guitar solos

September

Live at Sin-é - Jeff Buckley (1993)

The first non Opeth album since May

Love the Bob Dylan influences here. I guess it makes sense that Jeff's father Tim Buckley was in the same Greenwich Village scene at roughly the same time as Bob Dylan.

Great solo arrangements interesting perspective. Tons of actual witty humor found within, the one making fun of classic rock radio stations is still extremely funny 30 years later.

October

Panamericana - Las Rubias Del Norte (2006)

November

Mahashmashana - Father John Misty (2024)

December

The Mantle - Agolloch (2002)

Damn this one is bleak.