I wrote the following in 2010.
I decided to write about these four bands that have always been the closest to me in mind, body and soul. These are the CDs of each I would take with me if there was an afterlife. Or I get lost on a deserted island Tom Hanks style.
The Beatles
Revolver
1966
“Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream.”
At that point I knew this was different. That it happens on the last song makes no difference. I played the CD again because I wanted to hear that finale again. Not just the one song but the whole thing. It’s a never ending battle between this and Sergeant Peppers for which one I loved first and I don’t know what compelled me to pick Revolver for this list over Sergeant Pepper’s except that I can listen to I’m Only Sleeping and Doctor Robert and Tomorrow Never Knows over and over again.
Is that a sitar I hear? Are those violins? Is that Ringo singing a catchy song?
Some cringe at the mention of The Beatles because they consider them overplayed, old and best left to exist in old men’s hazy memories. Get on a bike and turn it up and you’ll be as happy as Jack Tripper cruising down the sunny bike lane.
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II
1969
I had my tattoo done while the first 6 songs of this played. The guitar starts the car and Robert Plants’s voice revs the engine. Bonham’s drums then stomp on the pedal. Hold the fuck on to your hat. The wonderful blues they explored on their first album were squeezed together with the inherent skill of rock n’ roll they possessed to completely overtake the field. There’s nothing like the alternating guitar licks on What Is And What Should Never Be at the 3:20 mark. The Lemon Song carries so much it’s been known to clog tiny earbuds. The end of Heartbreaker into the beginning of Living Loving Maid is an unforgettable combo similar to We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions. If you play Thank You for your loved one and they are not moved they must be a space pod or are a zombie, chop their head off and kill it with fire. I really want to write about every single song on this CD but discover the sweetness with your own ears.
Metallica
Master of Puppets
1986
I’m not going to sit here and convince you why you should like Metallica or listen to them or even regard them with anything more than a disgusted look. What I am going to tell you is that listening to this album is akin to being so full of emotion that you want to explode and scream and jump so high you wish you could fly. A snarling beast from an unknown place and time unleashes itself on your brain with no regard for laws and civil behavior. It feels like an aural Taser shocking my whole body awake and it’s a challenge to stay under the speed limit if I’m driving. I consider this the “just right” porridge of Metallica albums. Ride The Lightning is great but disjointed and spastic, And Justice For All is spectacular but eventually long and draining. Master is a CD you can turn on, get your metal on and then go on with your life of spiritual fulfillment.
U2
Pop
1997
The first thing you need to do is skip over Discoteque. Not because it isn’t any good but I can tell you’re SO biased against it that you can’t hear anything else. So just skip it. Achtung Baby is great from top to bottom, but Achtung Baby is 1980-1990’s U2 at its best. Pop is the best that U2 could have been in the future. The use of samples, overdubs, sequencing and programmed drumbeats were a bold step for U2 but even with all of that in the end, it’s still a U2 album. After Achtung and Zooropa, the band found a perfect mix of the past with what they felt they wanted to achieve going forward. Bono’s vocals are as usual, heartfelt, soaring and inspiring but also distorted, subersive and reveal a tinge of longing. Seeking some sort of answer for the world around them, the songs are like trippy pop hits that swing from a feeling of euphoria to despair. The guitars are grinding and a continuous drone throughout. The group as a whole uses every tool in the changing music world to its advantage. The spirituality throughout the CD adds a sense of despair. Asking if God or Jesus would react or change things around them or should he continue seeking material wealth. The emotions this CD evokes from me while driving are to look through my windshield into the great blue expanse and feel like a bird flying high with no limit. In 1997 Radiohead released their seminal CD OK Computer which took the music world by storm. With Pop, U2 released an equally incredible effort. If you don’t believe me put both CD’s on a playlist and hit shuffle. You’ll discover something amazing.
Unfortunately, U2 didn’t continue the journey and reverted to the same formula from earlier in their career on their subsequent studio albums. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
These are the CDs in recent memory that I can still listen to over and over again. I think I’ve become angrier in my old age.
Nirvana
In Utero
1993
I'm experiencing something amazing right now. I'm not sure what it is but I’m riding it out very carefully. If I wanted to scream out I would be in good company yet here I was willing to conceal the fear and the pain. I'm still in the grips of it, a feeling that takes my breath away but I can still breathe. I feel my heart quickening but I'm surviving. I can drink some water or I can continue with the vodka. The water seems to have no effect so the option of vodka is the only hope. Listening to the music makes me feel comfortable even when it’s quick and loud. It annoys you and sounds like a mash of horrible noises. But to me it’s a cure for the feelings that are turmoil inside. Let it wash you of your easy shields and stop hiding.
Sublime
Sublime
1996
There has to be some happiness around here doesn’t there? Well, this might be as close as you get. And yet, we’re still talking about drug addiction, theft, adultery and murder. A block party for the other side of the tracks is what’s happening here. The guys are telling stories of good times and bad times. Sometimes it involves violence and sometimes it’s just about drinking to excess. Most actions are drug influenced which makes them a lot funnier but also poignant because of the way the lead singer Bradley Nowell died. Not because he wanted to escape life but because a life in which you desire escape through enhancement must be a life that must not have gone according to plan at some point. And if it makes you feel good when you’re down, it must make you feel all powerful when you’re happy. Right?
Radiohead
Kid A
2000
I can name that CD in 5 notes. The first 5 notes of this CD are a call to another world. In this world words and music fall over you into your ears and into your brain. It calls to the front emotions meant to lift you to the heavens and then walk around the world to the next journey and a possibility of not breathing and not comprehending what’s next. Allow it to take you to the next plane, the plane where floating is all you can expect to do because it’s what you can control. There’s something about the sonic scenery in this CD that is poetry. I call it audio crack and through headphones it’s audio heroin. But don’t worry it won’t hurt you. Let it have its way with you and you’ll feel so good your only request is for more.
System Of A Down
Toxicity
2001
Go big or go home. Get strong or get down. Fight or give up. Some of us go through our lives never having to get angry, never having to stand up to fight for what we want. Some of us lead charmed lives in which the strongest emotion we feel is joy. Some of us should be so lucky. Music, movies, drawings; art that speaks to the dark parts of the soul is important too. It’s important because it’s an outlet for emotions that have no place in society anymore. There are dark alleys in life that everyone avoids and if someone takes a turn down them then they become an outsider, a deviant to the norms of society. Every once in a while, it leaks out in the light of day and some people understand it or laugh at the absurdity in which it conflicts with the usual order of things. Maybe when you face it a nervous laughter escapes your lips because it betrays your comfortable view of life. Music like this has existed throughout time because the emotions they feed have existed forever.