188. Counting Crows - This Desert Life (1999)




Counting Crows' third album was when the group really started to fade away in the public eye. First single 'Hanginaround' got a fair amount of play around here but that was it.

I don't recall ever being a big fan of that song but the rest of the album I quite enjoyed. They took quite the country turn on this one which was a welcome change. You have to change things up to keep going as a band and it was a big contrast to the mostly electric guitar Recovering The Satellites.

'Mrs. Potter's Lullaby', 'Four Days', and 'St. Robinson In His Cadillac Dream' are among my favorite songs by the Crows. 'Colorblind' is really good too. As often the case with CC, the lyrics are much of the highlights. I've always been a fan of Duritz's writing.

189. Marcy Playground - Shapeshifter (1999)




Marcy Playground's second album was when the group started to fade away in the public eye. First single 'It's Saturday' got a fair amount of play around here but that was it.

I wasn't really a big fan of that song to begin with but the rest of the album I quite enjoy.

'America', 'Bye Bye', and 'Our Generation' are among my favorite songs by MP.

I am an unabashed fan of CC.

Yeah, I have always liked them, which is very weird, because I blanket hate white people with dreads.

Me too, on both counts. It's one band that no one ever talks about.

Oh I got lots of those but it wouldn't do to talk about them here. No one really wants to know I think The Fixx's Shuttered Room is super cool.

190. Fiona Apple - When The Pawn... (1999)




Perhaps more notorious for its title than the content, Fiona's second disc is a step up from her first. It's got more energy to it than the moody Tidal and explores her sound a bit more.

However, upon relistening, I don't particularly care for it. I love 'Limp' and 'Fast As You Can' but the rest I can do without. You can clearly see why they were chosen as singles. But relistening now (especially after hearing and loving Extraordinary Machine), this album falls flat for me.

Whether I like the albums you are going through or not doesn't matter...this is an amazing undertaking that I cannot imagine attempting.

i'd try it, but at over 2000 albums, i'd have to do at least 2-a-day to finish in over 2 years. cool idea. i might eventually try it, just to go through all my old stuff, maybe stop once i complete 1989, or something.

Yeah, I've listened to everything I've got as I got 'em, but trying to do the whole collection in a row would pretty much keep me from listening to anything new for a few years.

I've only got 443 cd's, apparently, but it's still taking me longer than I thought it would.

Mostly because I'm not doing one every day. There'll be large gaps between certain discs either because it's something like Zaireeka which requires a lot of preparation to listen to, or because it's something like this last one that wouldn't play properly on my stereo or computer. I had to finally listen to it on my Playstation.


I'm still undecided as to what to do about old albums I've purchased while doing this. I guess I'll make an addendum onto the end when I'm caught up to '07.

191. Ben Lee - Breathing Tornados (1999)




'Cigarettes Will Kill You' was the first song I heard from Ben Lee. I loved it. It reminded me so much of the alternative and post-grunge bands I had grown up on and loved throughout junior high.

When I finally looked into other tracks, I loved them all, especially his more indier earlier material, and his duet with Liz Phair.

Breathing Tornados is the only album I own by him currently but the rest are all on my shopping list. The only reason I don't own any of them yet is because I can't find them anywhere, sadly enough.

That is still some of the worst cover art I've ever seen.

And as annoying as Ben Lee is (and his last album had blanket coverage here for what felt like a year), Cigarettes Will Kill You is pretty much undeniable

I was just thinking that when I was listening to it today.

He's all waxy and plasticy and horrible. And the background looks so badly CGIed. And what is it anyway? Donuts on poles? Pretty bad.

I see why there's two versions.

192. Beck - Midnite Vultures (1999)




I remember when Beck was interesting and exciting. When each new album was incredibly different than the last. I mean, look at where this one falls. Right between Mutations and Sea Change. It sounds nothing like either of them. It's all funky and sexy. (Definitely the funkiest album to probably ever be released by a Scientologist.)

On the whole, I don't like it as much as Odelay or Sea Change, but tracks like 'Nicotine & Gravy' and 'Mixed Bizness' are so good. A lot of this is really good, you just really have to be in a certain mood to enjoy it.

193. Danny Michel - Fibsville (1999)




I discovered Danny Michel when he opened for Guster at their Toronto gig. He reminded me of a folkier Hawksley Workman. I ended up finding one of his albums used cheap, then sought out more. They're all fabulous.

Opener 'Coalmine' is a tender, singable ballad. 'Mr. Black' is a catchy, pop-rocky song about meeting Black Francis/Frank Black/Charles Thompson. 'Whale Of A Tale' is a funny, epic song. And the rest are all intermittently catchy, hummable, singable, and poppy.

Isaac Hayes might disagree with this statement.

Oh, right... I forgot about him. And he quit South Park because of it too.

194. Hawksley Workman - For Him And The Girls (1999)




Hawksley's debut is a top ten album for me. I can't put across how much I love it.

The opening yodelling on 'Maniacs' grabs you and warns you this is going to be something different. From the sexy ticking of 'Tarantulove' to the tender ballad of 'Safe And Sound' to the bouncy pop of 'Bullets', the entire disc is just fabulous. It never really repeats itself and each song is new and exciting.

I love nearly every single song on the disc and try to include one on every mixtape I make. The lyrics are my favorite part, though, and there are so many songs with lines that make me swoon. I have a totally heterosexual man-crush on him. For sure.

And with that, we are done with the twentieth century.

Huzzah!

But you haven't reviewed anything by Tara Kemp or Snap! yet.

I didn't realise I have more cd's from the past six years than I do from the first hundred years before that.

Or Bang Tango, for that matter.

Hawksley Workman really used to be great. I wish he hadn't caught TEH sux0rz.