I know... 1996 isn't over yet. But that's okay, because I'm not finished compiling this list yet! I've decided to start early and just revise this list as the year goes along. As such, some of the below listed albums may change chart position or drop off the list altogether depending on what gets released or what I happen to discover between now and January. So please check back periodically so you'll know what the correct albums to like are. Just kidding.
Note: Each entry below is linked to a review of the respective album, just in case you'd like a second opinion on any of them.
Some long-time fans argue that this is GBV's "sell-out" album, based on the argument that it wasn't recorded entirely lo-fi (actually, all but six songs out of 24 were) and that it contains a wealth of trendy distorted guitars. Anyone who spends time listening to it though will see that behind a superficial facade of hipness lie an abundance of classic GBV hooks, twists and downright great songs. True, one could easily imagine hearing such great guitar pop tunes as "Your Name Is Wild," "Underwater Explosions" or "It's Like Soul Man" on mainstream radio. But if you ask me, GBV should have been there long ago. Oh well, FM's loss is indie rock's gain.
Check out the GBV Homepage.
If you haven't heard the "Dead Man Walking" soundtrack (see below), chances are you haven't heard of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. That's cuz he's from India and don't sing in English, so most Americans aren't interested. That's a shame, because this is one of the most rewarding and beautiful albums you could add to your collection. Usually performing only native Qawwali folk tunes, on this collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Michael Brook, he cuts loose with a more contemporary (and yet timeless) assortment of atmospheric emotional adventures. In his homeland, his fans call have dubbed Nusrat "The Voice of God" and tend to work themselves into ecstatic frenzies listening to his music. If I weren't such a stodgy, heathen American, I'd join them.
Well, what's to say here? You already know what Petty sounds like and you already know that he can do practically no wrong. This, Petty's first foray into soundtrack composition, is just supporting evidence. No, it's not his best album (that would be 1994's "Wildflowers"), but it's almost certainly the best collection of love & loneliness songs we'll hear this year.
It's downright odd that I would ever include a soundtrack on a Top 10 list, let alone two at a time. But for a rather lackluster year in music, we have been somewhat compensated with pair of genuinely good soundtracks this year. This one defies the usual soundtrack trap by presenting not only a near flawless collection of great songs but also by maintaining a cohesive theme and feel throughout, all the way from the unlikely collaborations by Eddie Vedder with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, to Tom Waits, Steve Earl, Bruce Springsteen and even Johnny Cash. Even the contributions by Michelle Shocked, Suzanne Vega and Mary Chapin Carpenter steer clear of the predictably navel-gazing tripe that we have come to expect from them. And by the way, I haven't even seen the movie.
I can't believe the Butthole Surfers actually have a hit album, now, after well over a decade of subverting and inadvertently shaping indie and punk music from the darkest depths of the underground. They really haven't changed (that much), but what's odd is how perfectly at home they now sound alongside Beck, Stone Temple Pilots and countless others who are probably afraid to admit that they learned their best tricks from the Butthole Surfers.
Gargoyle Underground homeperch