21. Pernice Brothers - Yours, Mine & Ours (2003)

In High Fidelity, John Cusack's character gives his list of best side one, track ones and then gets blasted by Jack Black for playing it too safe. But he lists instant classic songs like Smells Like Teen Spirit and Let's Get It On. The first track of an album is very important. Joe Pernice of Pernice Brothers knows that. The first song on Yours, Mine & Ours is called The Weakest Shade Of Blue, and it's an absolute pop gem that sets the tone for the album to come.

(My side one, track one top 5 is in the Misc. Lists section.)

The album is just over 30 minutes, 10 songs, every one of them a keeper. Joe Pernice's voice is at once familar and engaging, weathered enough to lend gravitas but still light enough to hit those sweet high notes. The music is well-crafted, unobtrusive. Some of the reviews I've read call the lyrics poetry. I can see that, if you think poetry is mysterious and undecipherable lines full of lots of outstanding imagry (I kind of do think that). I have no clue what most of these songs are about, but they all have moments that jump out at you and stick, lines like: "an intense night of fake sleeping," and "it would feel so good to see you cry."

There's one song that I do know what it's about, kind of. It's called Judy, and the narrator mentions watching TV on which "she fills the screen with ruby and emerald green." He goes on to wonder about the "the 'somewhere' in her song." With those two clues and the title I assume it's about The Wizard Of Oz, but other than that I'm lost. The narrator is upset about something, possibly a divorce, and someone is sleeping, and he wants someone to tell someone else to "tell her that you saw me." Good stuff.

Again, it doesn't really matter so much what it all means. At times things seem emotional and troublesome, other times they seem happy, and it's nice to just be along for the ride. Like the lyrics, I don't really know anything about the Pernice Brothers, but I do know that I really like this album, and I read another review that said this isn't even their best one!

Rating: B+
Fave Song: Sometimes I Remember

REO Speedwagon: R.E.O. Speedwagon (1971)

REO Speedwagon got its start in the late 1960s on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. The band grew out of a friendship between a students Neal Doughty (piano/keyboard) and Alan Gratzer (drums). Joining up with a couple of other musicians, they took the name R.E.O. Speedwagon. It wasn't long before they started getting gigs at parties and bars, doing covers of the hits of the day. The band cycled through several players in its first three years, with Gratzer and Doughty as the only constants. One-by-one they added the members that would form the first "official" lineup: singer Terry Luttrell in early 1968, bassist Gregg Philbin later that summer, and guitarist Gary Richrath at the end of 1970. Richrath was a native of Peoria, 90 miles northwest of Champaign, and had essentially stalked the band until they let him join. It was a good move, as he not only an accomplished guitarist, but also a songwriter. With Richrath the band ascended to the n...

Stuck, or Obsession Cessastion

You may have noticed that things have slowed down around here. I had the summer off from teaching, and I spent it with my 7 month-old son. I gave myself permission to make this blog less of a priority. Well, "less of a priority" is putting it lightly. Initially, I considered an abrupt retirement. But then I reconsidered. Maybe the proximity to Brett Favre is causing this. If you're a long time reader, this is probably not all that surprising to you. Since 2007, it has become an annual ritual for me to soul-search about my waning interest in music. First I blamed an inability to express myself and a lack of quality music . Then in 2008 I cited new technology and the death of the album . Last year I wrote about how my changing life priorities hindered my ability to seek out new music. I've done a lot of thinking about it this summer and in truth I believe this was all just dancing around the issue, a slow realization of something I didn't want to admit to myse...

Billy Joel: Greatest Hits, Volumes I and II (1985)

As you may know, I'm something of a connoisseur of compilations. I have three guidelines that I like my greatest hits to follow, though I am open to these rules being disregarded in certain cases. It's not an exact science. Billy Joel's 1985 Greatest Hits Volumes I and II (an odd title for a set that was never sold separately) is proof of that. It mostly follows the rules. The songs are in chronological order. There are no remixes, just a couple of single edits; there are two live songs, but those were actually were the versions that charted. And there are two new songs - we'll get to them eventually - but both ended up in the Top 40, so in retrospect that was a good decision. My mom bought the double LP when it came out and then dubbed it to a tape that lived in her car for at least three years. It and An Innocent Man were part of the soundtrack of the second half of my first decade of life. So I have a hard time criticizing something so ingrained in my consciousne...

3 Minutes, 49 Seconds

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