807. Jagged Little Pill

Jagged Little Pill
Alanis Morissette
1995

Tracks
1. All I Really Want
2. You Oughta Know
3. Perfect
4. Hand In My Pocket
5. Right Through You
6. Forgiven
7. You Learn
8. Head Over Feet
9. Mary Jane
10. Ironic
11. Not The Doctor
12. Wake Up
13. You Oughta Know (2)
14. Your House

We had a really great stretch of female singer/songwriters which was rudely interrupted by an avalanche of britpop. This album clearly has its roots in Liz Phair and Tori Amos's music, but it's brattier and consequently sounds less mature.

Of course, it's still fun. And of course "You Oughta Know" is iconic. Her vocals sometimes grate, but I suppose that is part of her style. And she is vastly superior to her endless parade of imitators, from Cher Lloyd to Avril Lavigne. 

It's not quite as timeless as its obvious influences, but I think it definitely deserves its spot on the List.

RATING: 3/5

806. Timeless

Timeless
Goldie
1995

Tracks
1. Timeless
2. Saint Angel
3. State Of Mind
4. This Is A Bad
5. Sea Of Tears
6. Jah The Seventh Seal
7. A Sense Of Rage (Sensual Vip Mix)
8. Still Life
9. Angel
10. Adrift
11. Kemistry
12. You And Me
13. Inner City Life (Baby Boy's Edit)
14. Inner City Life (Rabbit's Short Attention Span Edit)

I didn't have the slightest inkling as to what jungle music was, but maybe this is common knowledge among the musically inclined. If you're like me and your musical claim to fame is taking flute lessons in the fourth grade, allow me to explain: Jungle music is a curious mix of rave and reggae sounds, characterized by percussive loops and lots of breakbeats. Does that sound like something you want to listen to? Yeah, me either.

I suppose it's always interesting to hear a new genre. I think the List has presented us with just about every genre and combination of genres there is. But I don't really like electronica or reggae, so the breeding of the two styles wasn't exactly something I was thrilled about. Also, these tracks are l o n g.

More of an oddity than a must hear album.

RATING: 2/5

805. (What's the Story) Morning Glory

(What's the Story) Morning Glory
Oasis
1995

Tracks
1. Hello
2. Roll with It
3. Wonderwall
4. Don't Look Back in Anger
5. Hey Now!
6. Some Might Say
7. Cast No Shadow
8. She's Electric
9. Morning Glory
10. Champagne Supernova

(What's the Story) Morning Glory contains Oasis' biggest hit, Wonderwall, so it was a pretty sure bet the album was going to show up here. Lyrically, it's not particularly impressive but it was still an improvement from Definitely Maybe.

This band doesn't have the best vocals, but I guess that's okay with this style of music; it's not like they have to belt out Broadway hits. I am probably being overly harsh, it's a perfectly fine album, just not very original.

I'm sure this album has a heavy nostalgic feeling for many people, but with fresh ears, it was just kind of meh.

RATING: 3/5

804. Brown Sugar

Brown Sugar
D'Angelo
1995

Tracks

1. Brown Sugar

2. Alright

3. Jonz In My Bonz

4. Me And Those Dreamin' Eyes Of Mine

5. Shit, Damn, Motherfucker

6. Smooth

7. Cruisin'

8. When We Get By

9. Lady

10. Higher

This is more along the lines of what I thought the general 90s sound was, I guess I was in denial about how much Britpop there was. Ditto for derivative hip hop. 

I wish modern R&B was more like this album, just smart and sexy. Based on my experience with hip hop, I expected "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker" to be a really ugly track. It wasn't. This album was actually full of bangers that I will be adding to my playlist.

A very good album to represent a genre we don't really see on this List a whole lot. Probably because there are a lot of shitty R&B albums out there, but they made us sit through a lot of heavy metal crap so what gives?

RATING: 4/5

803. Leftism

Leftism
Leftfield
1995

Tracks
1. Release The Pressure
2. Afro Left
3. Melt
4. Song Of Life
5. Original
6. Black Flute
7. Space Shanty
8. Inspection (Check One)
9. Storm 3000
10. Open Up
11. 21st Century Poem

I listened to this yesterday, but couldn't really think of anything to say about it. It's yet another dance album, which you are obviously meant to experience in a drastically different atmosphere than the one found at my apartment on a Monday night.

It would work better in a club setting, which is now an archaic term that references a place where people could socialize, dance, and imbibe the necessary drugs and alcohol to make this music enjoyable. 

I know it's not entirely the band's fault that I didn't enjoy this, but it still felt pretty dated.

RATING: 2/5

802. Different Class

Different Class
Pulp
1995

Tracks
1. Mis-Shapes
2. Pencil Skirt
3. Common People
4. I Spy
5. Disco 2000
6. Live Bed Show
7. Something Changed
8. Sorted For E's & Wizz
9. F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.
10. Underwear
11. Monday Morning
12. Bar Italia

The bad thing about doing this List in chronological order is that when we're stuck in a trend, like, say, britpop, it gets really repetitive and monotonous. But the good thing about going in chronological order is that when something comes along to shake up a formula, it stands out a lot more.

This was slightly more sophisticated than the britpop albums before it. The clearest influence in this album is David Bowie, as it had a lot of elements of glam to it. I really appreciated the lyrical quality of this album, as well as Jarvis Cocker's vocals, which were sexy as hell. 

I also read that Cocker once fell out of a window trying to impress a girl with a Spiderman impression. At least some men still know how to do romance right.

RATING: 4/5

801. Liquid Swords

Liquid Swords
GZA
1995

Tracks
1. Liquid Swords
2. Duel Of The Iron Mic
3. Living In The World Today
4. Gold
5. Cold World
6. Labels
7. 4th Chamber
8. Shadowboxin'
9. Hell's Wind Staff / Killah Hills 10304
10. Investigative Reports
11. Swordsman
12. I Gotcha Back
13. Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

Another milestone for the books, 801, meaning we only have 200 albums to go! And this officially ends my Album-athon weekend. So much good music squeezed into two days.

So this is another solo effort from a member of the Wu-Tang Clan. It starts off rather strangely, with a child talking about his samurai father. They sure like their Eastern influences. I mean, that was a little weird, but oddly, it worked. This might actually be my favorite solo effort by somebody from the Wu-Tang Clan so far. The tracks were all fairly mellow, with great beats that had an almost soporific quality to them.

I feel like we are just bouncing between hip hop and britpop albums, with an occasional world music entry thrown in every so often. It's getting a little monotonous, but at least the recent quality of the albums has been good.

RATING: 4/5

800. A Northern Soul

A Northern Soul
Verve
1995

Tracks
1. A New Decade
2. This Is Music
3. On Your Own
4. So It Goes
5. A Northern Soul
6. Brainstorm Interlude
7. Drive You Home
8. History
9. No Knock On My Door
10. Life's An Ocean
11. Stormy Clouds
12. (Reprise)

800! We are truly in the homestretch now. I'm still on track to finish by the end of 2020, which is a goal I'm very excited about. Gotta get something out of the Lost Year, even if it is just the end of a decade-long project.

Thankfully, we can celebrate the 800 milestone with a high quality album. Their sound was similar to Oasis, but maybe just a little more thoughtful, with a little more of an edge. I particularly enjoyed "On Your Own," and "A Northern Soul." 

The entire album was just...cool, which is certainly not an adjective that can be used to describe every Britpop album. They were a tracks in there that I wasn't as enthusiastic about (ahem "Brainstorm Interlude") but overall a very good album.

RATING: 4/5

799. Femi Kuti

Femi Kuti
Femi Kuti
1995

Tracks
1. Wonder Wonder
2. Survival
3. Frustrations
4. Nawa (Intro)
5. Nawa
6. Plenty Nonsense
7. Stubborn Problems
8. No Shame
9. Live for Today
10. Changes

I have previously listened to albums by Femi Kuti's father, Fela Kuti, which I had completely forgotten. It's so nice having this blog so that I can always look back and see what my opinion on something was, no matter how much embarrassment said opinion causes my present self. 

From what I've read, Femi Kuti seems to be slightly less political than his father in his music, but I could be wrong about that since I don't know the language. I think this is known as Nigerian pidgin English, which isn't the easiest thing for me to understand although I did catch snatches of meaning. I still enjoyed this and I particularly liked the long instrumental bits before the vocals began.

Way to make your father proud Femi Kuti!

RATING: 4/5

798. Alien Lanes

Alien Lanes
Guided by Voices
1995

Tracks
1. A Salty Salute
2. Evil Speakers
3. Watch Me Jumpstart
4. They're Not Witches
5. As We Go Up, We Go Down
6. (I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger
7. Game of Pricks
8. The Ugly Vision
9. A Good Flying Bird
10. Cigarette Tricks
11. Pimple Zoo
12. Big Chief Chinese Restaurant
13. Closer You Are
14. Auditorium
15. Motor Away
16. Hit
17. My Valuable Hunting Knife
18. Gold Hick
19. King and Caroline
20. Striped White Jets
21. Ex-Supermodel
22. Blimps Go 90
23. Strawdogs
24. Chicken Blows
25. Little Whirl
26. My Son Cool
27. Always Crush Me
28. Alright

I groaned when I saw the length of this track list, but it's actually a pretty short album, and the songs are only about a minute each, with the shortest song lasting 19 seconds.

As a staunch defender of the "less is more" truism, this appealed to me. This approach certainly wouldn't work for every style of music, but for the lo-fi genre it really did. This album isn't a main course; it's more of an amuse bouche. But I didn't mind, and my bouche was very much amused.

Of course, the brevity of the songs left me wanting more, but that's exactly what you want from an album.

RATING: 4/5

797. The Bends

The Bends
Radiohead
1995

Tracks
1. Planet Telex
2. The Bends
3. High And Dry
4. Fake Plastic Trees
5. Bones
6. (Nice Dream)
7. Just
8. My Iron Lung
9. Bullet Proof ... I Wish I Was
10. Black Star
11. Sulk
12. Street Spirit (Fade Out)

This is a hard album to classify. I think the most accurate comparison would be the Pixies, but the style is so distinct that you can't really equate it to anything that came before it.

My favorite part of this album was the amazing lyrical quality, but really the entire album is firing on all cylinders in terms of vocals, instrumentals, and just the raw feeling of the music. Radiohead wasn't afraid to be weird in moments, but they still remain wholly accessible. 

So far, I think it's safe to say this is the best album to come out of 1995.

RATING: 5/5

796. I Should Coco

I Should Coco
Supergrass
1995

Tracks
1. I'd Like To Know
2. Caught By The Fuzz
3. Mansize Rooster
4. Alright
5. Lose It
6. Lenny
7. Strange Ones
8. Sitting Up Straight
9. She's So Loose
10. We're Not Supposed To
11. Time
12. Sofa Of My Lethargy
13. Time To Go

This is another band that I didn't think I knew, but I recognized "Alright" from the cinematic masterpiece, Clueless. That association alone is enough to win my favor, but thankfully this album doesn't have to rely on its movie connections to make me like it. 

Britpop doesn't always sound fresh, but Supergrass approaches this album with such enthusiasm that they manage to make it sound new. They were clearly influenced by the Kinks and the Buzzcocks, but they sound different somehow. Maybe kinder, or more hopeful? Either way, I was totally bugging.

I am getting kind of tired of listening to Britpop, so I was pleased they brought something new to the table.

RATING: 4/5

795. Elastica

Elastica
Elastica
1995

Tracks
1. Line Up
2. Annie
3. Connection
4. Car Song
5. Smile
6. Hold Me Now
7. SOFT
8. Indian Song
9. Blue
10. All Nighter
11. Waking Up
12. Two To One
13. Vaseline
14. Never Here
15. Stutter

I didn't think I knew Elastica, but I recognized "Car Song." Actually, many of these songs sounded familiar, but I think that has to do with Britpop being a pretty derivative genre.

I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. I really like all their obvious influences, and it's interesting hearing the Britpop sound updated for the 90s. It doesn't sound quite as fresh as something from Blur or Oasis, but I still enjoyed it. 

So a pretty good album, but it didn't leave much of an impression. Still, it's always nice to hear from more women on the List.

RATING: 3/5

794. Me Against the World

Me Against the World
2Pac
1995

Tracks
1. Intro
2. If I Die 2nite
3. Me Against The World
4. So Many Tears
5. Temptations
6. Young Niggaz
7. Heavy In The Game
8. Lord Knows
9. Dear Mama
10. It Ain't Easy
11. Can U Get Away
12. Old School
13. Fuck The World
14. Death Around The Corner
15. Outlaw

We took a quick break from listening to artists who died horrific deaths, but we are back on the hearse with this album. I know he's a big deal and everything, but I would rather not listen to music by an accused rapist. An unreasonable request, I know.

Like Ready to Die, this album is seemingly prescient of 2Pac's demise, which makes it pretty eerie to listen to (particularly "Death Around the Corner"). But I was still taken aback by how mellow this was, even with all the anger behind the lyrics. I actually really liked "Dear Mama," which was a surprisingly sweet tribute to 2Pac's mother. And there were some catchy hooks in there as well.

Not something I want to listen to again, but better than Biggie Smalls at least.

RATING: 3/5

793. Exit Planet Dust

Exit Planet Dust
The Chemical Brothers
1995

Tracks
1. Leave Home
2. In Dust We Trust
3. Song To The Siren
4. Three Little Birdies Down Beats
5. Fuck Up Beats
6. Chemical Beats
7. Chico's Groove
8. One Too Many Mornings
9. Life Is Sweet
10. Playground For A Wedgeless Firm
11. Alive Alone

The 1995 albums have been pretty good so far, but I am still waiting for an album to prove my birth year was the single greatest period of human existence. Unfortunately, we are not there yet.

So more acid house, which is definitely not my favorite genre. I suppose they are trying to create something different here by expanding the sound to something that can actually be played outside of a rave party. But I don't think they've achieved that goal yet; this was still rather boring to listen to without the proper drugs and setting.

Just not my style, but not terrible either.

RATING: 2/5

792. Scream Dracula Scream

Scream Dracula Scream
Rocket From the Crypt
1995

Tracks
1. Middle
2. Born In '69
3. On a Rope
4. Young Livers
5. Drop Out
6. Used
7. Ball Lightning
8. Fat Lip
9. Suit City
10. Heater Hands
11. Misbeaten
12. Come See, Come Saw
13. Salt Future
14. Burnt Alive

After the two hour Smashing Pumpkin album, it was nice to reach an entry that didn't overstay its welcome. This album was full of short, punchy songs that were surprisingly catchy.

It's interesting to listen to this after Green Day's Dookie. Dookie was a more mainstream take on the genre, but Rocket from the Crypt is really uncompromising in its punk sound. Naturally, I like Green Day better, but I still enjoyed this.

Oddly, some songs, like "Used," reminded me of Elvis Costello, and that's always a good thing.

RATING: 3/5

791. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
The Smashing Pumpkins
1995

Tracks
1. Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness
2. Tonight Tonight
3. Jellybelly
4. Zero
5. Here Is No Why
6. Bullet With Butterfly Wings
7. To Forgive
8. Fuck You (An Ode To No One)
9. Love
10. Cupid De Locke
11. Galapogos
12. Muzzle
13. Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans
14. Take Me Down
15. Where Boys Fear To Tread
16. Bodies
17. Thirty Three
18. In The Arms Of Sleep
19. 1979
20. Tales Of A Scorched Earth
21. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby
22. Stumbleine
23. XYU
24. We Only Come Out At Night
25. Beautiful
26. Lily (My One And Only)
27. By Starlight
28. Farewell And Goodnight

A two hour album? Really? Don't they realize I am trying to hit the 800 milestone this weekend? How utterly inconsiderate.

Milestone mania aside, two hours was still way too long for this entry and I actually like the Smashing Pumpkins. This is a very self indulgent album that could really benefit from some editing. The first half was far superior to the second. In fact, we should have just cut them off at track number 17 ("Thirty Three" was my personal favorite, then it was just downhill from there). 

"Bullet with Butterfly Wings" was also pretty damn good as well.

RATING: 3/5

790. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...
Raekwon
1995

Tracks
1. Striving For Perfection
2. Knuckleheadz
3. Knowledge God
4. Criminology
5. Incarcerated Scarfaces
6. Rainy Dayz
7. Guillotine (Swordz)
8. Can It Be All So Simple (Remix)
9. Shark Niggas (Biters)
10. Ice Water
11. Glaciers Of Ice
12. Verbal Intercourse
13. Wisdom Body
14. Spot Rusherz
15. Ice Cream
16. Wu-Gambinos
17. Heaven & Hell
18. North Star (Jewels)

This is the second solo album we have from an artist with the Wu-Tang Clan, and once again I'm impressed by the quality and originality of their music.

So I guess this isn't the first mafioso rap record, but it did resurrect the genre which had mostly died out by the late 80s. Naturally, it is not my favorite style of music, but I thought it was an interesting twist on gangsta rap, which by now has been done to death by less talented artists. 

It didn't have quite the same impact as Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), but I think it is better than the Method Man album that preceded it.

RATING: 4/5

789. Maxinquaye

Maxinquaye
Tricky
1995

Tracks
1. Overcome
2. Ponderosa
3. Black Steel
4. Hell Is Around The Corner
5. Pumpkin
6. Aftermath
7. Abbaon Fat Tracks
8. Brand New You're Retro
9. Suffocated Love
10. You Don't
11. Strugglin'
12. Feed Me

So another trip hop album, and I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit. I didn't even recognize "Black Steel" as a Public Enemy track, with its trip hop makeover.

I don't typically like trip hop albums, partly because they seem really dated now. But this one actually remained fairly timeless. I didn't love the lyrics, but overall, a more pleasant experience than I typically associate with the genre.

Worth a listen, for "Black Steel" alone.

RATING: 3/5

788. Smoker's Delight

Smoker's Delight
Nightmares on Wax
1995

Tracks
1. Nights Interlude
2. Dredd Overboard
3. Pipes Honour
4. Me + You
5. Stars
6. Wait A Minute
7. Prayin' (For A Jeepbeat)
8. Groove St
9. Time (To Listen)
10. Man Tha Journey
11. Bless My Soul
12. Cruise (Don't Stop)
13. Mission Venice
14. What I'm Feelin' (Good)
15. Rise
16. Rise
17. Gambia Via Vagator Beach

I have a somewhat ridiculous notion that I want to hit 800 this weekend. And yes, I fully realize that I need Milestones Anonymous. In the meantime, I will indulge my madness and celebrate Album-athon 2020.

As the album title indicates, this music is probably best enjoyed while smoking a joint and scrutinizing a fish tank. I was not engaged in such happy activities while listening to this, but as background music it was still somewhat enjoyable.

So I am not too into ambient music, but this was still fun for what it was.

RATING: 3/5