MTV Unplugged In New York - Nirvana (1994)

Acoustic Nirvana for Nirvana Fans

When Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" reached millions of disenchanted young people in 1991, the grunge nation was born. When Nirvana's Kurt Cobain killed himself at the age of 27, that era started to fade. This acoustic performance, which was Nirvana's last time on television, is one of those rare records that defines an era in grunge rock music. 

On MTV Unplugged In New York, Cobain and company (including Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl) spend a lot of time paying tribute to their influences. Nirvana performs songs by the Meat Puppets, the Vaselines, and David Bowie. Cobain's blistering interpretation of Bowie's "The Man Who Sold the World" is one of few remakes that sounds better than the original. One disturbing note is that, of the six remakes on this disc, all six are either about death, the price of fame, or both.

While many may disagree, Cobain did not possess a great voice, and he wasn't a virtuoso guitarist. What made Nirvana's music special was the amount of feeling that Cobain put into every song and performance. Kurt didn't just sing his songs, he felt them. Cobain preferred to hit a bad note with a bead of sweat than to sing the right note without emotion. For many, that quality made his music hard to listen to. For others, it made him the best performer of this decade. A prime example of this can be heard on the unplugged versions of "Pennyroyal Tea" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night." 

MTV Unplugged In New York gives us a taste of what might have been had Cobain not decided to commit suicide. It is the profile of an artist who discovered that success does not equal happiness. Kurt Cobain took his own life before we were ready to lose him, but he left us with songs that will never be forgotten by those who really heard them.

Semisonic – Feeling Strangely Fine (1998)

Tuneful Alternative Power pop from the 90s

Rock critics love to gloat. It’s a critical part of their job, almost as significantly important as name-dropping and claiming to have the definitive opinion on every album ever recorded. Here’s how the story begins: In 1995, a rock critic friend picked the Minneapolis based, Alternative power pop rock band Semisonic as a "Band to Watch" for his year-end mag column. That was due to the band’s Pleasure EP. The band’s major-label debut, Great Divide, was later picked by Rolling Stone as one of the best albums of 1996, but for some reason he just never got interested in that second disc. Maybe he expected too much after hearing the band’s first EP. 

The opener on Semisonic's second studio album Feeling Strangely Fine (1998), "Closing Time," was a phenomenal No.1 Grammy Nominated Modern Rock hit - getting heavy rotations of alt-rock radio stations, and making you feel like how it was right back in ’98. Sure, it’s vaguely reminiscent of the guitar line from Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Bush’s "Little Things," for that matter, but the addition of the simple piano line is almost enough to make that riff sound new again. 

Next up is "Singing in My Sleep," a song that could easily have been written by Cheap Trick during their heyday (that’s a compliment, by the way). It’s about a long-distance love affair that’s kept alive by the couple’s trading of mix tapes. Have fun trying to spot all the songs referenced in the lyrics. On "Made to Last," singer/songwriter/guitarist Dan Wilson delivers a cryptic message to the band’s fans. "Never You Mind" is a bit too bouncy to really work, much like a Ben Folds Five track with less interesting lyrics (and without the really talented pianist). 

One of the many highlights on Feeling Strangely Fine is  the beautifully intense "Secret Smile" and "DND," a surprisingly touching song about a motel room rendezvous. In case you’re wondering, the song’s title refers to the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. "Completely Pleased" may be a first of its kind in rock and roll - a song in which a male singer actually sings "I want to leave you completely pleased." How many times have we heard a singer focus only on their own pleasure? Kudos to Wilson for turning an old cliché on its ear. 

Semisonic worked closely to with English record producer Nick Launay (Arcade Fire, Nick Cave, Killing Joke) to strip their songs down to their essential elements. They succeeded, and recorded a disc that makes you think as much as it makes you want to sing along. 

Admittedly, there are a few bloodless tracks here, and Semisonic’s sound is too clean and too easy on the ears to appeal to modern heavy rock fans entranced by the jagged edges of say Trent Reznor or Billy Corgan or Indie acts like Arcade Fire. But Feeling Strangely Fine has plenty of well-written lyrics hiding behind that nice wall of ear candy. Maybe my friend was right back in ’95 after all. Yeah, rock critics love to gloat.

Listen to the entire Feeling Strangely Fine (1998) album now on Grooveshark here or watch the Closing Time Video below!

Tiny Music . . . Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop - Stone Temple Pilots (1996)

Reminiscing STP's third and their most musically diverse album.

Ripping off the Seattle grunge sound is second nature to a lot of new alternative rock renaissance bands these days, but Stone Temple Pilots often simply called STP was one of the first pioneering grunge rock bands to do so and pay the price. The Stone Temple Pilots were one of the most critically despised bands on the planet then because they were playing an entirely different style of music before grunge got popular. 

When the band changed their name from Mighty Joe Young and started to play grunge, the "poseurs" label seemed all too fitting. STP's debut album, Core (1992), was seen as little more than a blatant attempt to cash in on Alice in Chains' sound. Their second album Purple (1994) was a giant step ahead of Core, and even some of the band's biggest enemies in the press had to confess that Purple was pretty good. That's why Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop(1996), their experimental third album was sort of a public statement to assert their musical talent and independent reputation.

This album unlike their predecessors was a complete departure from their trademark heavy grunge sound to new virgin territory mixing genres that included 60's style psychedelic rock,  jangle pop and even shoe gaze forcing the rock world to evaluate the band again. While many fans lambasted the album calling it a needless experimentation, STP critics considered this was proof of worthless imitators who had survived their questionable history. 

Tiny Music... only contains twelve tracks including 2 small instrumentals. "Art School Girl" is a strong remake of Tripping Daisy's "I Got a Girl" with Scott Weiland's trippy voice replacing Tim DeLaughter's smiling whimsy. "Lady Picture Show" uses the same guitar sound as "Interstate Love Song," but with a different flavour. However, Weiland's lyrics are the album's most glaring weakness. Consider this example: "My friend Blue he runs the show/ with hot pink purple China glow." Yuck. The best lyric on Tiny Music.. describes the Stone Temple Pilots almost perfectly: in "Ride the Cliché," Weiland sings "Just because you're so clichéd/ It don't mean you won't get paid." He should know. Scott Weiland was later fired from the band and its now called Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington.

In spite of less than expected commercial success, mixed reviews and a failed promo tour, fortunately for STP, Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop garnered enough mainstream praise with Rolling Stone calling it the Best STP Album ever. Lets face it, nobody ever claimed that STP could play catchy pop music, and "Pop's Love Suicide" "Tumble in the Rough" and "Big Bang Baby" are all fine examples of tuneful bubblegum grunge. In fact, "Big Bang Baby", "Lady Picture Show", and "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart" reached the NO.1 spots on the mainstream charts propelling the album to Double Platinum status. If you've only known STP for their grunge sound, at least for curiosity sake, you should definitely check it out.

Pearl Jam - Yield (1998)

Pearl Jam's Second Best Album. Period!

After the commercially and artistically disappointing 1996's No Code, Grunge pioneers Pearl Jam returned with their best disc since their smashing 1991 debut album Ten. Despite the amount of pressure on the band at that period, Yield sounds like a really good jam session that someone caught on tape. The band sounded looser, more sincere, and more inspired than they had on any album since their debut. A delight if you are a Pearl Jam or a 90s grunge rock fan like me!

Yield opens with the raucous "Brain of J." This song sends a strong signal that Pearl Jam was every bit as viable in 1998 as they were in 1992. Next up is "Faithfull," one of two songs written on the same day by guitarist Mike McCready. This song has a wide dynamic range, opening with McCready’s soft strumming before reaching what has been called "the Pearl Jam groove." The other track McCready wrote that day is Yield’s first single, "Given to Fly." Even though the song borrows quite heavily from Led Zep’s "Going to California," it’s still one of the most powerful tracks Pearl Jam had recorded in years. 

Another of Yield’s highlights, "Wishlist," finds the band more optimistic than in year’s past. Did you ever think you’d hear frontman Eddie Vedder sing, "I wish I was a messenger and all the news was good"? In fact, the overall feeling on Yield is more positive than on any of the band’s other CDs. Whatever the reason for this change may be, it was a welcome one and critics and fans alike positively loved this album. 

Other highlights on Yield include the folksy "Low Light" and the powerful "In Hiding." Other than one ill-advised, untitled track, there are no bum tracks on Yield, which makes it a drastic improvement over No Code. In the end, Yield is Eddie Vedder’s show. His stock may have dropped in the last few years, but he’s still one of rock’s premier frontmen. Vedder skillfully handles the wide range of emotions and topics on Yield, and he sings with a renewed sense of urgency. Grunge may be dead (well, almost), but Pearl Jam fortunately are still very much alive.

Natural Born Killers (1994) - Original Soundtrack

A Defining Movie Soundtrack from the 90's 

Film maker Oliver Stone couldn't have picked a better soundtrack producer for his 1994 ultra-violent cult movie "Natural Born Killers" starring Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Rodney Dangerfield, Robert Downey, Jr., Tom Sizemore, and Tommy Lee Jones than Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor. Reznor, the leader of Nine Inch Nails, was hired to sort through the more than 70 songs used in the film to create this a one of a kind soundtrack that would complement the controversial storyline incidentally based on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino.

The final product is one of the more eclectic soundtrack compilations ever assembled. In addition to the 27 songs which appear on the disc, snippets of dialogue from 27 different characters in the film can be also heard. How many other discs could feature greats like Patsy Cline, Peter Gabriel, Leonard Cohen, and Bob Dylan with the likes of Rage Against the Machine, Marilyn Manson, Jane's Addiction and Dr. Dre? Fans of every type of music will find something they like on this soundtrack. 

The disc opens with Cohen's "The Miracle" and ends with Tha Dogg Pound's "What Would U Do?" In between, it's a ride through the vibrant landscape of music past and present. Nine Inch Nails is featured on three of the disc's tracks. Two of them, "Burn" and "A Warm Place," are great tracks. There is also a remix of "Something I Can Never Have" from the band's debut album. The new mix of this song includes sound bites by some of the characters in the film, and the dialogue adds to the dark mood of the song. Reznor also remixes the Jane's Addiction song "Ted, Just Admit It." The remix, titled "Sex is Violent," features an interesting section of Diamanda Galas' "I Put a Spell On You." Similarly, the Peter Gabriel track "Taboo" is an exotic affair featuring support for Pakistani Sufi Legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

While some soundtracks are nothing but boxed collections of the songs you hear in the film, this one stands apart because it captures the tone of the film itself and the music of those days. Although this album never sold as many copies as the likes of other 90 hit soundtracks, say "Forrest Gump" or "Bodyguard" soundtracks, it is more adventurous and creative than either of those. Even after 20 years, there is yet to release an album of such vivid contradictions and extreme variety blended in one soundtrack. Perhaps, with the "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack, Trent Reznor wanted to set the standard by which other future soundtracks would be judged. A challenge that is still to be bettered!

Home - Staind

A post-grunge fav from the archives

Staind is part of the post-grunge, nu-metal generation coming out into the light in 1995. Having released over 7 albums to date, this track is from their 1999 second album - Dysfunction. Staind displays an obvious Alice in Chains connection: vocal harmonies, melody lines, guitar lines but to dismiss Staind as purely an Alice in Chains clone is not to give justice to the work presented in Dysfunction.

Dysfunction is a alternative grunge blend - a swirl of Alice in Chains meets Coal Chamber, it flirts with Tool and Soundgarden, it's best friends with Korn and Deftones, it's Creed and Stone Temple Pilots. Original? Yes and no - Given that last sentence, a little stretch on the imagination but they're good at it. The music is driving, punchy, heavy and might make you exceed the speed limit while listening on the way to work. "Home" as expected was a slow rising  radio hit. Bottom line: if you're a fan of any of above mentioned bands, check out Staind and this killer track.