RIP--Diego Corrales

Well, I am very sad to say that, at a mere 29 years old, Diego "Chico" Corrales is dead by wounds resulting from a motorcycle accident. He was one of the most exciting fighters of his generation whose spirit in the ring was an inspiration to a generation of boxers and fans alike. His never-say-die attitute toward fighting led to what many considered the most exciting fight in the last two decades against Jose Luis Castillo, a bloodbath comeback win that showed a rare heart and determination. To think that I will never see him in the ring again is something that is hard for me to think about right now, but that is nothing compared to the shock those around him must feel. Rest in peace, Chico. Your heart, your determination, and you will be deeply missed.

Happenings in Brazil

First, and more briefly, there's a story about the ongoing struggle of indigenous peoples in Brazil to reclaim land they once held. The article, while brief, hits upon all the issues at hand with the indigenous movement in Brazil - efforts to undo decades-old illegal land seizures, the government's past maltreatment of indigenous rights, farmer/indigenous struggles, use of the environment, racism, everything. Additionally, the story has extra interest, given that the recent reduction of the Brazilian government's environmental agency means indigenous peoples will be one of the most important groups at environmental protection. And for those maybe interested in the historical roots of the selling off of indigenous lands and their efforts to reclaim their lands, I give my HIGHEST recommendation that you check out Seth Garfield's book on the Xavante Indians.

Secondly, I would be slightly remiss to mention, in case you hadn't heard, that the pope is in Brazil. Not surprisingly, controversy has immediately erupted, as he goes after abortion again (nothing new here). In a rather novel idea for many United States politicians, Lula has announced that, while he does not personally "morally" approve of abortion, he is openly aware that it is a health need that the state should protect. While this is far from an open "legalize abortion" campaign on his part (which, to be slightly fair, would be a political disaster for him), it's far more than the Catholic Church will acknowledge, and thus, on day one, church and state have already butted heads here.

Of far more interst from the analytical point is exactly what the pope' s visit means to Brazilians. Ever since the 1960s, when Brazil was at the forefront of the budding liberation theology movement, Brazil has often diverged from doctrinal Catholic practices, particularly in philosophy and in liturgical practices (liberation theology hasn't even gone fully away, despite John Paul II's efforts). Many sectors of the media are covering the story from the aspect of "Pope trying to re-gather the flock in the wake of conversions to evangelicism and more evangelical-based liturgical services in the Catholic Church" (yet another example of the Church's efforts to be flexible and modernize to shepherd the flock. In an aside, the media in Brazil hasn't helped, tending to villify evangelical protestant churches and practitioners instead of actually addressing the shortcomings of the Catholic Church. Look, I'm no fan of evangelical religions, but if some guy in the rural areas finally overcomes his 20+-year bout with alcoholism and both he and his family are the happiest they've ever been, all because of evangelical beliefs, I'm not going to tell him, "sorry, you're wrong and damned, socially and spiritually".)

However, what's the most intersting to me is those individuals who are left out of the discussion altogether - the non-practicing (of any religion) in Brazil. I can't tell you how many people from my generation and younger I've talked to who completely refuse any religion. They almost always attribute this at least partly, if not fully, to their Catholic upbringing. And this isn't some teenage rebellion thing - the strictness, devotion, and fanaticism (I doubt Bill Donohue is going to be coming after little old me anyways) of the church (and sometimes of their family members) has not only driven them away from Catholicism, it's driven them away from religion altogether. Programming and shifting practices to the pious behavior of people like Marcelo Rossi don't help, and sometimes hurt even more the youth's interest in religion ("As if Catholicism weren't bad enough, now it's also looking like evangelicism. Get me out of here!"). Certainly, I have also met many people (some from the same traditional Catholic families that others have fled from) who still participate actively in the Catholic church, or in evangelical processes. Yet the tendency to view the Pope's visit as a mission to reconcile the growing presence of evangelicals in (still) dominatingly-Catholic Latin America ignores the complexity of and problems posed by those who have left the church and not gone to any other church. If Catholicism actually wants to address why its numbers are dropping (and if it doesn't, I don't care - I have numerous problems with the Church myself, to put it lightly), the number of converts to non-believing is one more example that, instead of blaming evangelicals, the church should look inwards a little more deeply.

Forgotten American Blogging Hiatus

Sorry to all for the lag in Forgotten American Blogging. Unlike most posts, these take real time (usually a couple of hours at least), and I am trying to finish a dissertation, get two articles out, and move. Not to mention my cat disaster. But it'll be back soon.

Historical Image of the Day

George Mikan

Posada

I am disgusted but not shocked that U.S. district court judge Kathleen Cardone has thrown out all charges against Cuban terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. Posada, who has admitted to blowing up a Cuban airplane in 1976 that killed 73 people and who masterminded a series of hotel bombings in Havana, is now a free man in the United States.

I cannot really comment on much of why the judge threw out the charges. She claims Posada was treated unfairly in his immigration hearing. Maybe, but I doubt she is so concerned with the thousands of other, non-terrorist, immigrants who are also not treated fairly by the United States. Cardone wrote in her decision, "This court finds the government's tactics in this case are so grossly shocking and so outrageous as to violate the universal sense of justice." More shocking and outrageous than blowing up an airplane and killing innocent people?

Whether or not the government had a legitimate case against Posada for immigration violations, there is no question that they should immediately deport him to Cuba, Venezuela, or perhaps a third Latin American nation. By keeping Posada in the United States, we are telling the world that we only denounce terrorism when that terrorist has not received CIA training and is not doing what the U.S. desires. We are hypocrites to the rest of the world and we deserve to be fully denounced for giving Posada asylum.

Of course, the fact that Cardone was nominated for her position by Texas Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn gives us a pretty good idea about why she threw out the charges against Posada, regardless of the actual merits of the case.

My Cat Clio

This is a bad time for lefty bloggers and their cats...

I am moving to Texas. I need to get out of my place by the end of month, from which I will be a bit nomadic until I start my job at Southwestern (and get paid!!).

I have two cats. Torvald is the sweetest cat in the world. He'll adjust fine, so long as I don't kill him first for pawing me in the face at 4 in the morning and demanding that I pet him.

My other cat is named Clio. This is a disaster. Clio is nearly 5 years old. When she was 4 months old or so, my ex-wife grabbed her and threw her in the house. That was the beginning. We wanted to adjust her to living with humans, but that never really happened. I suppose if we had worked with her intensively she might have adjusted. But we didn't, for a variety of reasons I guess. Anyway, I took her when we separated, mostly because my wife wouldn't. So I was stuck with her. Now, she gets along great with the other cats. At the time, she was the 4th cat. The other 3 were all whores for petting. You'd think she would have learned from the other cats that this pets thing isn't such a bad gig, but she didn't.

Along the way, we acquired a live trap, in which I've moved her 3 times now. The last time was close to a year and a half ago. I figured she would have forgotten the experience by now. I guess not.

I was supposed to be in Texas right now to deliver the cats to Lyrad for the summer. Clio won't get in the trap. She hasn't eaten in nearly 48 hours now. The food is in the live trap. If she wants to eat, she knows where it is. But this doesn't seem to be working.

I don't know what to do. I called a vet today. His response was pretty much, "Good luck with that." He suggested I throw a blanket over her, pounce on her, and throw her in a cat carrier. This doesn't seem too likely to work. But if she isn't in there by the time I get home this evening, that's what I'm down to. I can't see her not eat for any longer than this. I feel terrible as it is.

I have to take the cats to Texas this week. If I can't get her by Thursday, I have no other choice than to just put her out. I don't think she'll survive very long. But I don't know what else to do. It's a terrible situation. I don't actually like her, or really have any affection for her at all. But I don't want her to die.

Basically, this really sucks.

UPDATE: I wish I had thought of the idea of taking the other cat to the vet for the tranquilizers. Sadly, it is too late for that. She still wouldn't go into the trap last night. I tried to catch her this morning, with particularly disastrous results. I need to leave for Texas in an hour or so. I'll make one more attempt to catch her. Otherwise, I guess she's out. Sigh.

Historical Image of the Day

McLean Stevenson, close relative of Adlai.

The Clown Show Must Go On

I'm almost finished with Sari Nusseibeh's memoir, Once Upon a Country, I'll try to post a review of it in the next week or so. I can't resist, though, calling attention to this bit of typical Peretzian assholery:

I watched Nusseibeh, so to speak, write the book while he was in Cambridge at the Radcliffe Institute. Well, he didn't exactly write the book alone...and the title page doesn't pretend that he did. And I didn't literally watch him. His co-author was a man called Anthony David, a ghost-writer who followed him around Harvard taking notes. James Boswell to Dr. Johnson. Can't a real intellectual produce his own books?

Indeed, one could ask of Peretz: Can't a real intellectual produce books? Or are "real intellectuals" too busy spending their wives' money to indulge their obsessive anti-Arab bigotry? Needless to say, it's not uncommon for political figures to employ ghostwriters to help them compile and write their memoirs, so Peretz's catty insult would be ridiculous even if Peretz had ever written a book himself.

Good Times

Is there any better to spend an evening than 6 solid hours of grading?

I didn't think so.

Disgusting

David Neiwert reports on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials denying U.N. Human Rights Council representative Jorge Bustamante a permit to visit a concentration camp the government has set up for caught migrant aliens. Neiwert uses the term "concentration camps" as well. He is right to use that term, for that's exactly what this detainee center is. The Right has been quite enamored of concentration camps in recent years, as continued apologists for the Japanese concentration camps during World War II attests to. It is also disgusting that there has been almost no publicity of this camp, or so much about the nation's treatment of immigrants generally.

I am so infuriated by the sheer existence of this place that I almost forgot to mention the outrage of refusing to let UN representatives visit it. Has the United States become the Sudan? Serbia? Burma? Can we honestly say anymore that we have significantly better human rights policies for "undesirable peoples" than these places?

A Shameless Blog Plug

For those of you who fail to fully understand the genius behind the "Marmaduke" comic in the newspapers, might I point you to this blog. It lays it all out there for easy comprehension (and is way funnier, even if it's one of the more bizarre things I've seen lately). It's quite possibly the best 5-second waste of time there is.

Historical Image of the Day

Adlai Stevenson, 1956

Feith on Tenet

In a questionable example of editorial stunt-casting, the apparently still utterly and defiantly clueless Douglas Feith produces this jaw-dropper in his review of George Tenet's new ass-covering memoir:

Anyone can make an honest mistake. But the problem with George Tenet is that he doesn't seem to care to get his facts straight. He is not meticulous. He is willing to make up stories that suit his purposes and to suppress information that does not.

Oh my.

We are also informed that Feith's own ACM will be forthcoming. This presents a problem, as who will be found to review it who has even less credibility than Douglas Feith?

Worst lyrics ever?

Apparently, BBC radio has done a poll of "worst lyrics ever". I have a hard time getting fully behind a list that doesn't include "Yummy Yummy Yummy/I've got love in my tummy" or N'Sync singing "Your soul is like a secret/I just couldn't keep" (the horrors of working at a restaurant in the summer of 1998 - I heard that song to the point of vomiting). Still, I fully support the inclusion of Oasis (everytime I hear how "great" they are, I cite the lyric at hand), and there are some doozies on this list.

Enjoy.

1. Des'ree - 'Life'"I don't want to see a ghost/It's the sight that I fear most/I'd rather have a piece of toast/Watch the evening news"
2. Snap - 'Rhythm Is A Dancer'"I'm as serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer"
3. Razorlight - 'Somewhere Else'"And I met a girl/She asked me my name/I told her what it was"
4. ABC - 'That Was Then But This Is Now'"More sacrifices than an Aztec priest/Standing here straining at that leash/All fall down/Can't complain, mustn't grumble/Help yourself to another piece of apple crumble!"
5. U2 - 'Elevation'"I've got no self control/Been living like a mole now/Going down, excavation/High and high in the sky/You make me feel like I can fly/So high/Elevation"
6. Toto - 'Africa'"The wild dogs cry out in the night/As they grow restless longing for some solitary company/I know that I must do what's right/Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti"
7. Oasis - 'Champagne Supernova'"Slowly walking down the hall/Faster than a cannonball/Where were you when we were getting high?"
8. Duran Duran - 'Is There Something I Should Know?'"And fiery demons all dance when you walk through that doorDon't say you're easy on me you're about as easy as a nuclear war"
9. Human League - 'The Lebanon'"Before he leaves the camp he stops/He scans the world outside/And where there used to be some shops/Is where the snipers sometimes hide"
10. Black Sabbath - 'War Pigs'"Generals gathered in their masses/Just like witches at black masses"

Los Alamos Closes Its Archives

The recent privatization of Los Alamos National Laboratory has been an unmitigated disaster. I know this is surprising--What! Privatization can often be a disaster? Shocking! Employee morale is at an all-time low and massive retirements are likely to start soon.

What concerns me though is the recent decision by the Laboratory to cut off its archives from researchers. As a public institution, run by the University of California, the Laboratory has traditionally been fairly open to researchers. But now they are truly acting like a corporation and refusing even basic archival requests. One of the most important institutions in the history of the United States has now become almost impossible to study. This reflects the general anti-archival information bias of many corporations and the Bush administration. It's a sad day for researchers.

Jackson County, Oregon

Jackson County is not a good place. Although it has the semi-major southern Oregon regional center of Medford, the county has never adjusted to a post-timber economy. In response, Jackson County has closed all 15 of its libraries for lack of funding. Josephine and Curry counties, also in southwestern Oregon, face similar funding declines. All of these counties face tax increases in order to continue basic services.

Of course, local residents blame the decline of the timber industry for these problems. There is some truth in this idea, but it is far more complicated than they care to admit. County Commissioner Dennis C.W. Smith remarks, “The real problem is this segment of absolutists that will not tolerate any use of federal lands for timber resources." This is a less than veiled slap at the environmental community that filed lawsuits which helped severely curtail the timber industry throughout the Northwest in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Smith represents the thoughts of many, but they are wrong. What they don't understand is that the timber industry in the Northwest would be virtually dead now anyway. Globalization was already destroying the region before the spotted owl crisis put the final nail in the industry's economy. An increasing number of raw logs were shipped overseas and cheaper timber was pouring in from British Columbia, New Zealand, the American South, and the tropics. Like many regional industries, timber in the Northwest can't compete in a globalized economy. If the government stripped away all sense of environmental regulation, it is true that the region would see a brief economic revival, but that would be the calm before the storm of its complete collapse when all the timber was gone.

Most importantly in understanding the history of this problem is that the timber industry used the spotted owl crisis to get out of the Northwest. They could blame all these mill closures on environmentalists while moving their operations worldwide. Few timber workers saw that their real enemy was not the environmentalists, who like the timber workers, wanted to see trees remain in the region forever. The enemy was the big timber companies who had severely overcut the region beginning after World War II and reaching a crescendo in the 1980s. All of this undermined the ecological base of the forest, leading to the spotted owl lawsuits and the end of the regional industry. Of course, many small operators did lose everything. But the big multinational corporations that had slowly gained a stranglehold over lumber production over the previous decades did just fine.

Americans still get their wood supplies and they are cheaper than ever. The only people hurt by this were the timber workers of the Northwest. For them, I feel bad. But like old mining towns such as Butte and Leadville, Coquille, Bandon, and Medford need to understand that the industry is not coming back. For them to survive, they need to develop alternative economies. Ashland has done quite well. With Southern Oregon State University and the Shakespeare Festival, they have figured out how to create a successful economy without timber. Others have turned to tourism, which is increasingly tenable, particularly along the Rogue River. It is hard for people to change their ways after growing up understanding that the timber would also be around. Maybe the government needs to play a bigger role in transforming these areas, although they have been involved pretty heavily since the beginning of the Clinton administration. In any case though, it's time to move on.

Of course, there is actually a pretty damn active alternative economy in southwestern Oregon. That is marijuana. Southwestern Oregon and northwestern California provides a huge amount of pot for the nation. Of course, none of this is taxed. But when people talk of the economic decline of the region, they don't mention the very active and lucrative underground economy.

Thanks a ton to Maggie for sending this along

Historical Image of the Day

The less than respectable senator from New Mexico and Interior Secretary, Albert Fall

Duss's Top 10 Rock Albums

In order of release.

The Beatles, (The White Album)
This is the record that really opened the Beatles up for me. I wouldn’t say it’s their best, that’s Revolver, but something about this grand, brilliant, unfocused mess that creates for me the most palpable atmosphere of any of their recordings.

There’s a Riot Goin’ On, Sly and the Family Stone
It’s title an answer to Marvin Gaye’s question, I think it belongs on a list with Gaye’s masterpiece as one of the great protest records. That the tunes so successfully walk the line between traditional songs and loose jams is all the more amazing given that Sly recorded much of the music himself.

Ramones
Rock and roll demi-glace. And on the complete other end of the rock spectrum…

Boston
From the moment I first heard the BOMP!....BOMP!....BOMMMMMM that opens Foreplay at a Christian youth camp seminar about the evils of rock music, I was hooked. This is bloated, grandiose, hook-laden, radio-ready rock in all its unit-moving glory. Four part choir-boy harmonies? Yes. Double, triple, and quadruple tracked guitars? Hell yes. A drummer with one of the most formidable white guy afros ever? Absolutely.

Marquee Moon, Television
Who writes tunes like these? Television comparisons seem to get thrown around like confetti by rock critics these days, and they’re almost always misplaced. Rock hasn’t seen a front line which comes within sight of the technical skill and improvisational brilliance of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd, let alone one supported by a back line like Fred Smith and Billy Ficca, since the band broke up in 1978. Except when they’ve reunited and toured.

Learning to Crawl, Pretenders
Chrissie Hynde’s gorgeous vibrato often distracts from her genuinely brilliant songwriting, but I’ve always felt that she deserved a place among rock’s elite. It feels a little odd to nominate this album, as it was the band’s first after the deaths of bassist Pete Farndon and guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, both of whom were integral to creating the band’s sound, but I think this is the record in which Hynde truly came into her own as a songwriter. Session guitarist Robbie McIntosh did a great job of staying true to the band’s established sound while still showing off his own impressive skills.

The Joshua Tree, U2
War came very close to being on this list, but the more I thought about, I realized that this is my favorite of the band’s albums. I remember when it came out it seemed to reveal the meaninglessness of so much else that was on pop radio. Every time I hear it I’m still amazed at how effectively the arrangements and production serve the tunes and lyrics. Side A has the hits, but for me it really comes alive on side B. One Tree Hill and Exit are favorites.

You’re Living All Over Me, Dinosaur Jr.
This record was a Road to Damascus moment for me. You know that great footage of Keith Moon's drums exploding? That's what this record sounds like from beginning to end. I mean, these guys were just pummeling their instruments, the songs were roaring, tempo-shifting masterpieces, and the record sounded like it had been mixed through a Speak n’ Spell. I loved that they didn’t scoff at or reject classic rock conventions as a lot of punks tended to, they embraced and reinterpreted those conventions through a kind of country-punk sensibility. God bless J Mascis for liberating the Big Guitar Solo from the metal ghetto.

Truth and Soul, Fishbone
Rock history is full of bands who never got the recognition they deserved, and Fishbone is one of the most egregiously overlooked. At the height of their powers in the late 80s and early 90s, Fishbone were probably the best live rock band in the world. This collection of songs comes the closest of any of their albums to capturing the eclectic, frenetic, always about to fly off the rails brilliance of their live shows. And it kicks off with a Curtis Mayfield cover.

Loveless, My Bloody Valentine
Among guitar-pop aficionados, this album is kind of a secret handshake. It’s rare that I meet someone who knows it for whom it isn’t a favorite. Gorgeous, lush vocals buried underneath stacks of surging and swooning guitars. An unparalleled achievement in the craft of recording, and a truly sublime work of art. I treasure this album so much that I should probably buy a few more copies to stash in secret locations around the country, just in case.

Mister Trend's Top 10 Rock Albums

Here's my list. As Erik Mentioned, this could shift from time to time, but the main thing for me is, none of these has one "filler" track on them. My youth may also lead to a bit of scorn, but I defend every one of these choices with no regrets.

1. Sonic Youth – “Daydream Nation” – I don’t know what I can say about this that I haven’t said in public 1000s of times before. There are many albums out there that have great tracks, start to finish, but there is absolutely nothing like this one. The great, noise-hook chime of “Teenage Riot,” Thurston’s snarl on “Silver Rocket,” the brilliant fuck-off of “The Grudge,” the careening, out-of-control guitars and wails of “Burning Cross the Bridge,” the three Lee tracks (part of what makes the album so great – three Lee Ranaldo songs,) the sheer beauty of “Candle.” And the masterstroke – closing with “Trilogy,” moving from speedy cacophony to slow-burn noise to Kim Gordon coming through the speakers to rip your ears out. Some partisans say Sister is their greatest pre-major label, but Daydream Nation is not only their best – it’s the best.

2. Funkadelic – “One Nation Under a Groove” – this was really hard b/tween this and Maggot Brain, and while I’ve said elsewhere that “Maggot Brain” is the greatest solo ever, I think this is a better album, top to bottom. The rollicking of “One Nation Under a Groove,” the understated beauty of “Groovallegiance”, the long guitar work of “Promentalshitbackwashpsychosis Enema Squad (The DooDoo Chasers)” [which hides some cutting political commentary behind its scatalogical title, one of Funkadelic’s masterful ways to be critical of society, the government, racism), the funk of “Cholly (Funk Get Ready to Roll)…it’s all just a masterful rock album, start to finish. And “Who Says A Funk Band Can’t Play Rock?!” hit directly upon the issue at hand – funk was as much rock as everything else, and the tune backs that up.

3. Bob Dylan – “Bringing It All Back Home” – This may not be Dylan’s best album. But it’s my favorite (and quite frankly, I think you can make a strong argument for it in the “Highway 61 Revisited”/“Blonde on Blonde”/“Blood on the Tracks” debate). I love the variation from his then-new shift to more rocking material like “Subterranean Homesick Blues” and “Maggie’s Farm,” while still hanging on to a bit of his earlier work with “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”, as well as political-charged metaphors of “Gates of Eden.” And I absolutely love the zaniness that is the second-take (with the laughter from the prank the studio band played on him on the first take included) of “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”.

4. Dinosaur Jr. – “You’re Living All Over Me” – while they certainly aren’t hurting in the reputation department (certainly not as forgotten as Hüsker Dü), I never understood why Dinosaur Jr. didn’t become as mythically great to later generations as the Pixies did. The sheer force of this album – from opener “Tiny Fury Things” to the tempo-change of “Sludgefeast,” from the classic melody shifts of “The Lung” to the paranoia and fear of “Lose,” this album delivered 10 unbelievable songs that sound as advanced and radical today as they did 20 years ago. It’s even more impressive in that it was only the band’s second full-length. And the sheer volume of the album – Spinal Tap talked about turning it up to 11. I think J. Mascis and Lou Barlow and Murph did it. This may be the second-best album of the often-underrated, often-overlooked 80s underground scene.

5. Neil Young – “On the Beach” – To me, in some ways this is even more depressing than “Tonight’s the Night.” That album was recorded in a drunken stupor after the death of XXXXX, and the haunting immediacy of his death was felt on that album. However, on “On the Beach,” Young had had even more time to think about things, and his depression may have sunk in even further, leaving him feeling disgusted with his own life (“Vampire Blues”), isolated (“On the Beach”) and resigned to futility in the world (the brilliant criticism of himself and others in album-closer “Ambulance Blues”). Plus, he may have written the greatest and least-cheesey criticism of life in California in “Revolution Blues”. Often overlooked for “Tonight’s the Night,” I can’t find a better album by Young than this one.

6. The Breeders – “Last Splash” – It’s unfortunate that “Cannonball” became so tied to the grunge period, simply because the Breeders end up as one of the numerous grunge-one-hit-wonders in the narrative. However, this album was as original as anything coming out in the first half of the 90s, and showed a lot more variation than its grunge siblings. Everybody knows Cannonball, but there are so many other tracks people should know – the sheer “summer-is-here” joy of “Saints,” the ferocity of “I Just Wanna Get Along,” the banjo (yes, banjo) beauty of “Drivin’ on 9” – nobody else in the early 90s showed themselves not only so willing to try different sounds, but so wonderful in their endeavors. And, like Dinosaur Jr., all this on only their second album. Who knows what would have happened if heroin hadn’t derailed Kim and Kelly Deal in the mid-90s.

7. Pixies – “Surfer Rosa” – It is so hard to pick between this and “Doolittle” for me, but I think the fact that this still sounds as twisted as a pig’s tail now gives it the edge – as if Doolittle is the mildly-less-noisy (emphasis on “mildly”) cousin of “Surfer Rosa.” “Where Is My Mind”, “Broken Face,” “Gigantic,” “Brick Is Red,”….and so much more. And the sheer drugged, speed-burnout of “Vamos”. There has never been anything like the combo of Black Francis’s yelp, Joey Santiago’s guitar matching it, all while Kim Deal and David Lovering push it along with their grinding rhythm section.

8. Bruce Springsteen – “Nebraska” – To me one of the most haunted and haunting albums out there. Lots of people have commented on the blue-collar nature of Springsteen’s lyrics, but they were never as stark, before or after, as they were here. I still consider it rock - it's just rock stripped to its rawest. From the depressed longing of the title track to the jail-narrative of “Johnny 99” to the separation of friends on “Highway Patrolman” to the desperate plea of “Reason to Believe.” Doing this all as demos (just Bruce and his accoustic guitar in the basement on most tracks) was the masterstroke. Lyrics aren’t generally that important to me, but the lyrics here are some of the strongest on any album ever, and the music fits them perfectly.

9. Neutral Milk Hotel – “In the Aeroplane over the Sea” – Much is made about the “newness” of indie rock in the market and magazines, but this album is 9 years old, and is still the best the “indie rock” scene has ever produced. You know you’re in for something different when Jeff Mangum starts by singing, “When you were young you were the king of carrot-flowers,” but the sheer effervescence and conviction in his voice makes it sound as sincere as anything else out there. His voice, surrounded by the horns, accoustic and electric guitars, driven by beautiful melodies, makes Neutral Milk Hotel greater than the sum of their parts, as evidenced by tracks like “King of Carrot Flowers” (Pt. 1 and Pt. 2), “Oh Comely,” “Holland, 1945,” and “Two-Headed Boy, Pt. 2”. Like any list like this, there isn’t a single misstep on the album, and Mangum & co. gave a refreshing look on rock in the 90s in the wake of grunge.

10. The Who – “Who’s Next” – I’ve always been a Who guy in the “Who/Led Zepplin” debate (though I admit readily that at least Page and Plant and Jones had the decency to hang up the band after the drummer died). However, some of their work could be spotty, but not this one. As I said when Erik did his list, this is, to me, the greatest “straight-up” rock album ever. And I’m a purist – give me “Baba O’Reilly,” “Bargain,” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Also, while most “re-issued with bonus tracks” albums are garbage, the outtakes from this session are ungodly-good too (especially “Baby Don’t You Do It” and “I Don’t Even Know Myself”). Nobody ever sounded like Townsend/Daltrey/Entwhistle/Moon, and this is them at their best.

Lyrad's Top 10 Rock Albums

Well, here's my list. There's at least one metal hater on this blog who will likely scoff at half my choices, but so be it:

1. T. Rex: The Slider—Although I’ve already discussed The Slider in my Unsung Giants series, I will say again that this is the best album from one of rock’s greatest bands. Their pinnacle financially and creatively, it features some of the most playfully absurd lyrics I’ve ever heard. The album is a ton of fun from beginning to end, all the way to Bolan’s love song to Bolan: “Main Man.”

2. Tom Waits: Rain Dogs—Before Rain Dogs, I’d never have called a Tom Waits album “rock”, but this album completed the change that started with Swordfishtrombones which he’d seldom look back from since. Not a lot of piano blues here, but a lot of minimally orchestrated hard traveling songs featuring the great Marc Ribot and was, in fact, the first album in which I realized that man’s greatness. If there’s a downside to this album, it’s Downtown Train, but that’s Rod Stewart’s fault…fuck you Rod Stewart.

3. The Clash: London Calling—The Clash broke the mold of punk music. There is no band in the genre before or since with the wealth of influences and the ability to meld all of them into their own style. My personal favorite is “Lost in the Supermarket,” which starts with some very fast drumming to go into an extremely airy vocal line that is a satire in the same vein as George Romero’s great Dawn of the Dead.

4. The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St—If the Stones sounded like this every album, I’d own them all. But they don’t, and it’s pretty much this and Sticky Fingers for me. I love, once again, the variation in style that all still sounds like the Stones. Mick Jagger is at his most restrained, and he’d reach this kind of strength again. “Sweet Virginia” to “Torn and Frayed” is maybe the best one-two punch for me in the history of rock.

5. Sepultura: Roots—Simply put, this is the best hardcore album ever produced. But it’s a lot more than. It is the strongest evidence that metal is a rhythmic form rather than a melodic one. The ultra down-tuned guitars become a drone that underlies the complex beats of Max Cavalera on the kit, Carlinhos Brown on various percussion, and field recordings of the Xavantes tribe.

6. Neurosis: Enemy of the Sun—Where much of metal wallows in the gloom and doom of death, Neurosis instead celebrates the power and fury of the universe. The visceral power of the album is offset at the end by “Cleanse,” a thirty minute, trance-inducing combination of percussion, didgeridoo, and field recordings is an amazingly chilling finish to an amazing album.

7. Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation—If anybody wants to make me feel like I’m 16 again, play me the first few bars of “Teenage Riot” and I’m on my way to Icky’s Teahouse on 5th and Blair to see Bikini Kill with 300 other people in a venue that, legally, should only hold 50. This is the pinnacle of a great band’s great career.

8. Faith No More: Angel Dust—Faith No More is maybe my favorite rock band of all time, and I am still in love with what singer Mike Patton does today. This album is the reason. Upbeat, bizarre, and hilarious all the way to the cover of John Barry’s theme to Midnight Cowboy. At the point this came out, I had no idea that the ideas of rock music could be stretched so broad.

9. Guns ‘n’ Roses: Appetite for Destruction—There is no argument that this is the best hard rock album released in the 1980s and, exactly 20 years now since its release, there is still no album that more makes me want to jump on the table and rock out to some air guitar. Appetite single-handedly destroyed Glam Rock.2 Although it took a few years for it to completely fizzle, Axl deserves all our thanks.

10. The Velvet Underground: White Light/White Heat—Finally, the album that has defined my rock n’ roll esthetic. In 1967, the Beatles were experimenting with acid and sitars, which is cute and all, but Lou Reed, et al, were full blown junkies playing the dirtiest, loudest music ever produced. This is the New York underground on a sheet of vinyl, highly intelligent but highly screwed up at the same time.