Jackson Browne “The Naked Ride Home”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#360 in the Series) is Jackson Browne, The Naked Ride Home This album is generally not considered to be the best Jackson Brown album. That honor belongs to the The Pretender, or Running on Empty, depending on your tastes, or for my mine, Saturate Before Using, which contains two of my favorite songs, “Doctor My Eyes”, and “Rock Me on the Water.” The Naked Ride Home, released in 2002, peaked at number 36 on the billboard charts, and was highly anticipated since Browne had not released a new album since 1996, the six years between records representing the longest recording gap in his career. Some critics have dismissed this collection, complaining that these...
Drive-By Truckers “Southern Rock Opera”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#324 in the Series) is Drive-By Truckers, Southern Rock Opera This is really an interesting project. Drive-By Truckers had been around since 1996. They had released three albums. None that would make them household names, not even “trailerhold” names. For years they (actually mostly band leader Patterson Hood) had been thinking about a project that would eventually go a long way to raising their popularity to what it is now. That would be the double album Southern Rock Opera. It was a tribute to the rock music of the south, leaning heavily toward Lynyrd Skynyrd. It would not just feature Skynyrd, but southern rock and southern lifestyles in general. As alluded to earlier,...
Ryan Adams and The Cardinals “Cold Roses”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#305 in the Series) is Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, Cold Roses. I’ve always appreciated artists that know the history of their roots and are not afraid to pay homage to them as well. This is the case with Ryan Adams. I’ve read more than once about his love for artists like Gram Parsons. His previous band, Whiskeytown were known for adding more than one Gram tune to their set lists. They even performed Gram’s, “A Song For You” on a tribute album. He’s also mentioned acts like Tom T. Hall, and Big Star as adding to his roots. How well respected is Ryan Adams? Well enough to have Willie Nelson ask him...
Ray Davies “Working Man’s Cafe”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#302 in the Series) is Ray Davies, Working Man’s Café. For as popular and respected as Ray Davies is and for as popular and respected as the Kinks were, they’re both still extremely under-recognized. (I’m not a big fan of the saying “underrated” but you know what I mean.) Yes, they are often considered one of the greats. That I see. It’s neither read, nor heard enough in my opinion. They’re top shelf in ANY team picture of all-time greats. Working Man’s Café was released by Ray in the fall of 2007. I think it’s one of his strongest efforts to date. This is a story-tellers delight. Not a surprise from Ray, I know....
Neil Finn and Friends “7 Worlds Collide”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#227 in the Series and #11 in the Live, Saturday Night Series) is Neil Finn and Friends, 7 Worlds Collide. Today we’re featuring a different type of ‘live’ album. The name of the project back originally was Neil Finn and Friends. The name of the album was 7 Worlds Collide. As the project continued, it was renamed‘7 Continents Collide. But I guess I should describe the project. Neil Finn is the leader of Crowded House. He was also one of the leaders of another New Zealand act, the Split Enz. About 10 years ago he decided to invite some of his favorite musicians to his homeland to live, eat, sleep and play music. ...
Monsters of Folk “Monsters of Folk”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#190 in the Series) is the self-titled debut from Monsters of Folk. The Monsters of Folk consist of four gents who are moonlighting from their day jobs. Conor Orberst and Mike Mogis are members of ‘Bright Eyes,’ M.Ward is the Him of ‘She and Him’ while Jim James (aka Yim Yames when solo) calls ‘My Morning Jacket’ home. This 2009 release wasn’t an overnight project by any means. The four of them had actually been trying to get this project off the ground since 2004. Time restrictions kept pulling them apart until late 2008. They actually put a good amount of this together playing backstage while on tour with their other bands. Sometimes...
Court Yard Hounds “Court Yard Hounds”
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#171 in the Series) is self-titled debut from, Court Yard Hounds. This was my surprise find of the year. It’s one of my favorite albums of 2010. For those of you not familiar with Court Yard Hounds, they are Emily Robison and Martie Maguire from the Dixie Chicks. I’ve always liked the Dixie Chicks. Taking their name from a Little Feat song got them going in the right direction from the start with me! However, I never was a huge fan that saw them in concert or bought more than an album here or there. (I do think the single “Not Ready to Make Nice” is superb!) So one night I’m watching David Letterman...
The Decemberists "The Crane Wife"
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#156 in the Series) is The Decemberists, The Crane Wife. The Decemberists are one of the more current bands that I’ve written up here on Cool Album of the Day. They have been a band since 2001 and actually began getting known about 2005. This coinciding with their move to a major label. They hail from Portland, Oregon. The band’s name refers to The Decembrists revolt in Imperial Russian. Many, including band leader Colin Meloy view the 1825 revolt as a communist revolution. The Crane Wife album was inspired by a Japanese folk tale. And you thought Rock and Rollers were shallow people! This was the band’s first album for Capitol Records. It...
Mandy Moore "Coverage"
Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#117 in the Series) is Mandy Moore, Coverage. I told you I’d pull out some weird things on this blog. Well I bet this one really blows your mind! Back to Ms. Moore. I bet your saying ‘What the ^%$( is he smoking!’ But take a look at this album. It’s an album full of cover tunes. (How many of those have we seen the past few years?) But what makes this one interesting is the song list that she chooses. Her performance of these songs was quite good. Some not so much but others were pretty solid. But let’s look at the songs. I was shocked when I saw this list. She...
Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel "Willie and the Wheel"
Today’s Cool Album of the Day is Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel’s, “Willie and the Wheel.” Which 2009 release sat in my CD player the most? It easily was Willie Nelson and Texas swing band Asleep at the Wheel teaming up for Willie and the Wheel. This was such a fun record. Short, only 36 minutes in length and just a bunch of fun. They covered ‘Hesitation Blues’ (Hot Tuna used to do a great rendition of this) and also ‘I’m Sitting on Top of the World.’ Some of my favorites included ‘Sweet Jennie Lee’ and also Oh! You Pretty Woman.’ One of the most accessible records I’ve heard in a long time. I real easy listen....
