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Tunes

Best tunes of 2001: #15 The Cranberries “Analyse”

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My wife Victoria had been a fan of The Cranberries for a while, especially their sophomore album, “No need to argue”, which came out around the time when her and I were still just friends, just getting to know each other. She followed the group through their third and fourth albums, and I’m reasonable sure she went to see them live at Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto in the summer of 1999 or 2000. I also really enjoyed “No need to argue”, but had gotten into the band the year earlier with their debut album, “Everybody else is doing it, so why can’t we?”. Unlike Victoria, however, I didn’t go in for their next two albums.

Then, the band’s fifth album, “Wake up and smell the coffee”, came out in 2001 and as I mentioned in my last post in this series, I was doing a lot of digging for music so I decided to give the new stuff a shot. I found the first two songs “Never grow old” and this one, “Analyse”, a fresh return to form, which makes sense to me now that I know that producer Stephen Street (who produced their first two) returned to work with them on this album. I played it for Victoria, who liked it as well, and after that, we’d both bop along to “Analyse” on more than one of the many road trips to Toronto and back that we endured in those days.

That messy opening drum line by Fergal Lawler becomes lovingly enveloped by jangly guitars that sound like a perfect blend of “Dreams” and “Linger”. Of course, the music easy on the ears but we can’t talk about The Cranberries without talking about the voice of Dolores O’Riordan. Those beautiful set of lungs and vocal chords are adept at producing yelps and snarls and heavenly chorus, all within the same breath, though on “Analyse” she is subdued, just teasing us with explosions until just the right moment and then, she unleashes it upon us.

As many of you reading this are likely aware, the world was robbed of that blissful voice last January when Dolores O’Riordan was found dead in a hotel room in London. As far as I know, cause of death has yet been made public knowledge but what we already know is that she was a talent that won’t ever be reproduced.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2001 list, click here.

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: Suede “Suede”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: Suede
Album Title: Suede
Year released: 1993
Year reissued: 2018
Details: Gatefold sleeve, Limited edition, 25th anniversary, 180 gram, Double LP, silver vinyl, Record Store Day exclusive

The skinny: Along with Blur’s “Modern life is rubbish”, Suede’s debut, self-titled LP set the groundwork and etched out the blueprints for the Britpop phenomenon of the mid-1990s. The deadly duo of Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler made for sleazy and salacious glam rock, the likes of which we will never see again. This 25th anniversary silver edition comes with 9 B-side tracks released during the era on the second disc of the set, which spells bonus, any way you slice it.

Standout track: “The drowners”

Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 1991: #22 Red Hot Chili Peppers “Under the bridge”

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So I’ve never been a big fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

My friend Elliott tried back in the day, playing their fourth album, 1989’s “Mother’s milk”, for me incessantly. I understood that it was different and in some ways innovative, but it never spoke to me. Then, when the first single from “Blood sugar sex magik” came out and my friend was all over it, I was not. In fact, “Give it away” drove me nuts. The rest of the album wasn’t my thing either but there was one song (and I’m sure you can guess which) that caught my ear and I’ll get back to that in a sec.

Since then, the LA-based funk rock band led by founding members Anthony Kiedis and Flea has reached legendary status, becoming one of the more successful bands to come out of the early 90s alt-rock explosion. But because I’ve never really paid that much attention, I hadn’t really grasped the true extent. That is, until they were slotted to play Ottawa Bluesfest a couple of years ago and the night they were headlining sold out, the first time a night has sold out in the festival’s history.

Of course I would like “Under the bridge” out of all of RHCP”s songs up to that point. At first listen, it didn’t really sound like them. In fact, when Kiedis wrote it, he didn’t want to bring it to the band because he didn’t think it fit in with the rest of their work. It was a deeply personal piece for him, expressing his loneliness and reflections on his history with drugs. “Blood sugar sex magik”’s producer, Rick Rubin convinced Kiedis to share it with the rest of the band and he was right to do so.

That now famous guitar intro by John Frusciante is just beautiful. You know the one where he is standing solo on a pedestal, wearing a chullo, like he is a misfit angel casting glory on us all before Kiedis lays down his heavy weight.

“Sometimes I feel
Like I don’t have a partner
Sometimes I feel
Like my only friend
Is the city I live in
The city of angels
Lonely as I am
Together we cry”

Though the feel is completely different than, say “Suck my kiss”, the sound is still definitely Red Hot Chili Peppers. The drumming is somewhat more restrained but Flea’s bassline is still muscular and funk heavy. Frusciante’s guitar through the rest of the song tempers Kiedis’s mood and almost eases him into a faster tempo. Then, the choirs joins in and it is epic.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 1991 list, click here.