Top 5 - Daniel Aloi
1) Billy Bragg & Wilco, Mermaid Ave. (Elektra). Dusting off an archive of American folk icon Woody Guthrie's unsung and unrecorded lyrics and setting more than 40 of them to music may have seemed daunting, but the musicians Guthrie's daughter Nora chose to do it -- a British socialist folkie and America's premier roots-pop band -- pull it off with aplomb. Together, Bragg, Wilco and guest Natalie Merchant realize and, in some cases, contemporize 15 released songs as randy ("Walt Whitman's Niece," "Ingrid Bergman"), rowdy ("Hoodoo Voodoo") and reflective ("Eisler on the Go," "Birds and Ships") as the man who wrote the words. Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett of Wilco deserve special mention, the former for discovering the achingly beautiful love song "California Stars" and the latter for the faraway lonesome sound he lends such songs as "One By One."
2) The Knack, Zoom (Rhino). What a comeback! The adenoidal misogyny of The Knack's early hits like "Good Girls Don't" is gone, and the band is back from teen-aged power-pop oblivion with a mature, catchy-as-all-hell masterpiece brimming with melody, hooks and rock-solid songwriting. Glorious sounding from the opening anthem "Pop is Dead" to the zenlike "(All in the) All in All," drummer Terry Bozzio and founders Doug Fieger, Barton Averre and Prescott deliver the goods. This album should be blasting out of radios everywhere and drowning out Hanson. If you like the early stuff -- and, truth be told, this was the band I loved to hate back in the late '70s -- then their formative years are collected on a Rhino anthology also released in 1998.
3) Beck, Mutations (DGC). Yeah, I know, most critics love Beck because they're supposed to, so why does he need me tooting his horn too? Here's why: This is simply unexpected and all the more wonderful for it. The guy's known for taking chances and breaking new ground, but none of his albums to date are as rife with risk as this, originally set for release through Beck's indie deal with the Bong Load label. Half-jokingly referred to by its creator as "a collection of dirges and waltzes," it's a set of acoustic blues, folk, and full-on rock'n'roll songs sure to please even the most jaded ears. Standout tracks include the banana-republic travelogue "Tropicalia," with its infectious Latin beat carrying Beck's political commentary, and the self-aware an poetic laments "Dead Melodies" and "Bottle of Blues."
4) Robbie Fulks, Let's Kill Saturday Night (Geffen). Did I say Beck took chances? Well, Robbie Fulks has even bigger cojones. After two Bloodshot Records albums filled with classic bluegrass, bare-bones roots-rock and folk music set to smartass (and sensitive) lyrics, Fulks was lauded as the leading artist in "alternative" country. On his major label debut, he pretty much alienates the whole damned movement with a more rock-oriented full production (hey, if they give you the money, spend it, I say) -- but his songwriting remains top-notch
-- check out the title track, already adopted by 5 Chinese Brothers for their 1997 album, or "She Must Think I Like Poetry" for a bit of that old Fulks flavor, and why so many in the industry and the general populace simply love him.5) Richard X. Heyman, Cornerstone (Permanent Press). Proof that the best pure-pop artists today ply their craft in relative obscurity, their work lovingly put out by dedicated independent labels. New York City pop visionary Heyman's first album in at least four years (his last was on Sire a long time ago) is also his best, and you could say it's love songs, nothing but love songs. "Cornerstone," inspired by a stroll through the old neighborhood, is a metaphor for lasting love that reinforces the 14 songs here (many of them actually about old girlfriends) -- "Everything the Same," "Then She Arrives" and "All I Have" should be required listening for any couple that wants to beat the odds and stay together.
