190n120: 30 Years of Music with Adam Johnson...Episode Nineteen: "You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles"

134. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska (1982)

I don't know about "the Boss", but Springsteen at least took the piss out those who maligned him as a stadium shining pretty boy. This is the very first record I bought with my own money. The Old Book Barn in Forsyth, Illinois gave me many things, but this is by far the most important. I don't know what the hell happened before or after this album, because this is the best thing Bruce Springsteen has ever done.

Springsteen is notably eloquent, but these are downright savage short stories. Sometimes I wonder if Cormac McCarthy took a few cues from these songs. Intimate (but definitely produced, no matter what the studio lore may say) and exhilarating - let's just take a look at one of my father's favorite lines, from "Reason To Believe":

Seen a man standin' over a dead dog lyin' by the highway in a ditch

He's lookin' down kinda puzzled pokin' that dog with a stick

Got his car door flung open he's standin' out on highway 21

Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run

Recommended Listening: Nebraska, Johnny 99, Highway Patrolman, My Father's House


133. Goatsnake - Vol. 1 + Dog Days (2010)

When Southern Lord Record's Greg Anderson decided to form the heaviest blues band in the world, he cast his players well. Scream's Pete Stahl brought his wonderful yowl to whip up the Obsessed's rhythm section into a projectile earthquake. They come and go as they please, just as vikings should, but they always flatten everything in their wake.

Recommended Listening: Slippin' the Stealth, What Love Remains, The Orphan



132. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland (1968)

I would say the playing on Axis: Bold As Love (1967) is better, but Electric Ladyland was the pinnacle of the Experience. Hendrix got to cut loose in the studio, too, playing with loops, stereophonics, and samples to the point of collage. But, sadly, Jimi left this world before he had the chance to leave rock-and-roll for more ambitious galaxies.

The classics aren't near the best stuff on the album, just to say. Skip the pop songs and get weird.

Recommended Listening: Voodoo Chile, Burning of the Midnight Lamp, House Burning Down, Voodoo Child (Slight Return)


131. Tool - Lateralus (2001)

Yep - I had the CD with the layered packaging, and I thought it was awesome.

For fear of sounding like a prick, Tool is often the best band people with poor taste in music like. Having said that, I will always stand by them; I am a Tool fan through and through. My admiration began in high school (of course it did) and has stayed with me for over fifteen years. Because they accidently sold millions of CDs (a horse is a horse is a horse) they can afford to do whatever the hell they please - sabbaticals that last for years, annual April Fools jokes, elaborate abstract music videos. I'd love to do that.

Also a positive quality--they're really good. I've mentioned before that I love Maynard James Keenan's instrument. Aenima (1996) will always be his best forthright performance, but Lalteralus gives us a different, more mature Keenan with a few different tricks at his disposal. Vocal effects notwithstanding, the man fucking screams full force for over seventeen seconds before fading under a tidal wave of angular distortion. He doesn't stop, the guitars just get louder. Wow.

And Adam Jones, Danny Carey, and Justin Chancellor bring calculus to roaring life with their playing. I've always felt inclined to rhythms, and boy does this band tap into that. Some may find their playing trite or meandering, but a good player is a good player. In other words, don't hate the player, hate the game.

Recommended Listening: The Grudge, Parabol/Parabola, Ticks and Leeches, Lateralus