The nice thing about Bob Boilen at NPR's All Songs Considered is that he does such a good job of making me think about music.
Today, he asked readers/listeners to weigh in with their favorite driving songs. That got me thinking about what might well be the all-time best cluster of driving songs on a single album, namely the first three songs on Son Volt's 1995 release Trace -- "Windfall," "Live Free" and "Tear Stained Eye." I first heard Trace driving down Route 33 east of Harrisonburg, coming down from Skyline Drive in the pitch of night in a friend's Volvo with her stereo blasting. Thanks, Lisa.
Earlier in the month, Boilen asked readers three short questions:
- What year was the best year for music?
- How old were you when that music was being made?
- How old are you now?
The years 1967, 1968 and 1969 totally stole the show, and not because a bunch of old farts bum-rushed the survey. No, the majority of people who selected those years were not even born then.
I immediately thought about 1992 when Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted was released -- as well as releases by Buffalo Tom, the Jesus and Mary Chain, L7, GWAR, the Beastie Boys, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Lemonheads, Ministry and Luscious Jackson.
Of course, 1991 wasn't so bad either -- the year of the last good R.E.M. album (Out of Time), Jawbox's Grippe, the Pixies' Trompe le Monde and new releases from Elvis Costello, Nation of Ulysses, Fugazi, The Cult, Public Enemy, U2, My Bloody Valentine. Oh yeah, that was the year Nirvanna's Nevermind was released. (I officially hated that album until 1997.)
Posted by: Jack Goes Forth | August 13, 2008 at 21:10