The Top 5 Albums of 2006 At The Half

Thus far 2006 has been a lean year for music. There is just as much great music out there as always but the gap between the best work and everything else is wider than usual. That said, let's take a look at the best of the year up to this point.

1. The Corrs - Home If you told me a year ago that I would find The Corrs among my list of favorites for this year I would have snickered. However the band embraced their roots and that turned out to be a great thing. See why on my full review of their latest CD, Home.

2. Mark Knopfler & Emmy Lou Harris – All The Road Running Knopfler has long been my favorite guitarist and one of my all around favorite singer-songwriters and bandleaders. Even with his usually high standards Harris helps make this CD one of his best non-soundtrack albums in years. The Sultan Of Swing does it again!

3. James Hunter – People Gonna Talk Your 50s and 60s R&B dance party is in full swing. Hunter’s first international release is an homage to Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and James Brown. The full review can be found here. You must see Hunter live if you get the chance. His stage show is even better than the CD.

4. World Party – Dumbing Up It’s been awhile but Karl Wallinger has released another CD imitating the music of The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones. This time around he adds in a little hip-hop for flavor. Despite the obvious influences he manages to make each of these songs his own. Wallinger proves that the old saying "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery" is an accurate one. His falsetto vocals on the opening track are a dead ringer for John Lennon's on "Baby, You’re A Rich Man."

5. Alison Moorer – Getting Somewhere I still believe Moorer’s sister, Shelby Lynne, is the superior talent but Moorer has turned out a fine CD with Getting Somewhere. Produced by her husband Steve Earle, it is a pleasant upbeat pop-sounding record of light rock, but dig deeper and listen to the dark lyrics and you’ll find that she confronts her frightening adolescence and childhood head on.

Other worthy candidates include the latest releases by Roseanne Cash, Sarah Harmer, The Wood Brothers, and The Saw Doctors, all which could sneak up on this list as time passes.

Comments

  1. Urban Daddy3:15 PM, July 10, 2006

    I randomly came across your blog and realized that i have not heard much from any of these Albums, so I'm off to find some songs to listen to.

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more