Tag: Alternative Rock
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Weezer ‘Blue Album’ (1994)
Weezer’s debut album Weezer (more commonly known as the Blue Album) took nerd rock into the mainstream and kicked off what has since been a massively successful career. The album was produced by the great Ric Ocasek of The Cars fame, and his power pop influence can be heard extensively throughout the record in all…
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Pearl Jam ‘Ten’ (1991)
Born from the ashes of Seattle grunge outfit Mother Love Bone following the death of lead singer Andrew Wood to a drug overdose, Pearl Jam’s debut album Ten is a rare debut album from a band that didn’t really know each other all too well upon entering the studio. Guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff…
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Neck Deep ‘Life’s Not Out To Get You’ (2015)
Neck Deep’s 2015 sophomore album absolutely bucked the trend of the sophomore slump, delivering some of the best pop punk of the 2010’s which is saying something considering how much the genre had seen a resurgence in popularity that decade. Life’s Not Out To Get You sounds incredible– Lloyd Roberts’ and Matt West’s guitars are…
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Lit ‘A Place In The Sun’ (1999)
A Place In The Sun holds a special place in my heart in that it features “My Own Worst Enemy” which is the first song that I ever played live in front of a group of people. During eighth grade my middle school held a Talent Show where students were invited to participate. It was…
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Matthew. ‘Yesterday & Forever Ago’ (2023)
Today we’ll be covering my debut LP Yesterday & Forever Ago, which was officially released this morning. I previously covered the pretty wild turn of events that came about during the recording of this album in my writeup of the EP I released earlier this year entitled CAMBRIA: The Lost Sessions, so I won’t belabor…
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Brand New ‘The Devil & God Are Raging Inside Me’ (2006)
It’s hard to put into words what Brand New meant to me during my late teens and early 20’s. They were undoubtedly one of my favorite bands for a long period of time, held the top spot for a good chunk of that, and spanned multiple groups of friends. Deja Entendu was the soundtrack to…
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My Chemical Romance ‘The Black Parade’ (2006)
The Black Parade was emo’s answer to The Who’s Tommy, a concept album that sounded more like a Broadway musical production than a standard rock record. From soaring guitars to a rollicking rhythm section to Gerard Way’s distinctive gritty falsetto and dramatic enunciation, The Black Parade was Vaudeville on steroids and one of the most…
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Creed ‘Human Clay’ (1999)
Creed has long been a fixture in internet culture, first as a convenient punching bag for all that was wrong with the post-grunge movement that dominated the airwaves following Kurt Cobain’s death following Nirvana’s 1991 magnum opus Nevermind, and now as a sort of “return of the millennial” rallying cry in the 2020’s as rock…
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William Wild ‘William Wild’ (2014)
Along with having an absolutely kick ass album cover (this cover is seriously great), William Wild’s self-titled debut is a rollicking fun ride through Americana, Western folk, and 70’s rock and roll. Wild’s voice reminds me a whole helluva lot of Petter Ericson Stakee from Alberta Cross with a heavy dose of Local Natives vocal…
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Rainbow Kitten Surprise ‘RKS’ (2015)
Rainbow Kitten Surprise was quite the surprise (yes, pun intended) for me when I flipped on their album RKS yesterday. It was suggested to me by someone in January when I was collecting album recommendations for my one album per day listening project and ended up on a spreadsheet unattributed. Put another way, I have…
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Local H ‘As Good as Dead’ (1996)
Local H is predominantly known for their smash 90’s alternative rock single “Bound For The Floor” which is about as mid-90’s grunge as you can get– staccato downstroke guitar punches interspersed with lyrics that detail the weight of depression and a feeling that the feeling is inevitable without escape. It still sounds as good as…
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Hole ‘Live Through This’ (1994)
An album cover can be worth a thousand words, and Hole’s Live Through This certainly is one of those album covers. A manic pageant winner, mascara streaming down her face after a bout of tears, holding up a bouquet of flowers while an almost comically ostentatious tiara adorns her head. It’s a picture that evokes…
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Smash Mouth ‘Astro Lounge’ (1999)
With the sad news that Smash Mouth lead singer Steve Harwell is in the final days of his life due to liver failure, it only felt right to listen to their highly acclaimed 1999 album Astro Lounge this week. The lead single “All Star” has been a mainstay on any mix tape or playlist created…
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Counting Crows ‘Recovering The Satellites’ (1996)
Counting Crows’ breakthrough debut August And Everything After is the group’s most-known album due to the chart smashing hits “Mr. Jones” and “Round Here”, which (outside of being quite good songs) came at a moment in music history when grunge was King. The hippie-influenced roots rock of the Crows was a distinct counterpoint to the…
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Jimmy Eat World ‘Bleed American’ (2001)
I love a great album opener. It is a manifesto for an album that not only sets the stage but also defines what comes after it. Bleed American has an incredible opening song. The title track is hands down my favorite Jimmy song of all-time for about a million different reasons, the primary one being…
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Matthew. ‘CAMBRIA: The Lost Sessions’ (2023)
So this is a fun one! Today we’re doing a write up of my newest EP entitled CAMBRIA: The Lost Sessions that just hit streaming services while your wee little heads were asleep. Before we go into each individual track and the meaning behind them, a little history lesson on how this EP came to…
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Sinéad O’Connor ‘Lion and the Cobra’ (1987)
Yesterday’s tragic passing of Sinéad O’Connor at the age of 58 has rocked the music world. O’Connor’s advocacy for mental health, human rights, and victims of child abuse has made her a protest rock icon over the years, traits that ultimately transcended her artistic endeavors. Her own longtime personal struggles with trauma certainly influenced this…
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Depeche Mode ‘Violator’ (1990)
Depeche Mode’s Violator took the gothic undertones of 1985’s Black Celebration and turned it up about 11 notches to create a massive arena-ready avalanche of brooding synths that cascade throughout the entire album. We’ve mentioned this about a few bands in the past (The xx being a notable example) but Depeche Mode manages to blur…
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Harvey Danger ‘Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone?’ (1997)
Filled with sardonic wit and blissfully fuzzed-out guitars, Harvey Danger’s debut album Where Have All The Merrymakers Gone is a chef’s kiss representation of all the things that made 90’s alternative so titillating. Sean Nelson’s sneering and detached vocal approach is frankly a match made in heaven alongside Jeff Lin’s overdriven guitars, Aaron Huffman’s bouncing…
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Matchbox 20 ‘Yourself or Someone Like You’ (1996)
As a 90’s kid Yourself or Someone Like You is one of those albums you knew was big when you were growing up but never fully completely grasped just how popular it was until you do a quick review on Wikipedia two decades later. To this day it stands as one of the Top 100…
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Minus the Bear ‘Omni’ (2010)
Minus the Bear’s alternative prog rock bonafides had been well established by the time 2010’s Omni was released. As a high schooler I burned up their debut album Highly Refined Pirates, which featured math rock staples such as “Monkey!!!Knife!!!Fight!!!” and “Absinthe Party At The Fly Honey Warehouse”. These were the days when alternative indie bands…
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Turnstile ‘GLOW ON’ (2021)
Turnstile’s 2021 album GLOW ON was somewhat of a defining moment for hardcore music in that it broke down a lot of barriers for the genre commercially. This was an album that made multiple mainstream “Best Of” lists for album of the year (not just rock album, album album), charted at #30 on the Billboard…
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Soundgarden ‘Superunknown’ (1993)
Superunknown is a hard rock masterpiece, merging disparate elements of grunge, heavy metal, alternative rock, and punk into a vicious pistol whip of a record. There simply was no band better at combining elements of the snakelike grooves of Black Sabbath, the electric vocal hooks of AC/DC, and the raw primal energy of Nirvana. Simply…
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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ‘B.R.M.C’ (2001)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has largely been somewhat of a cult underground rock band for over two decades now, dipping into the mainstream during the garage rock revival in the mid 2000’s. They are a rock fan’s rock band through and through— grimy guitars, garage rock edgy drums, bass tones loaded with fuzz, and straightforward…
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Nirvana ‘Nevermind’ (1991)
As a skater punk during my early teens Nevermind (alongside Green Day’s Dookie) was on literal repeat as me and my buddy skated in front of his house on Cleo Avenue. To say it was a formative part of my childhood experience as I made the transition from a young kid to a young man…
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Sound City ‘Real To Reel’ (2013)
Ed. Note: Welcome to Sound City week here at Music of Matthew dot com! This week we’ll be covering some notable albums recorded at the legendary Sound City studio in Los Angeles, which was covered in great detail in Dave Grohl’s excellent 2013 documentary “Sound City”. To kick off Sound City week we’re starting with…
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Violent Femmes ‘Violent Femmes’ (1983)
It’s sort of shocking Violent Femmes debut album came out all the way back in 1983. It sounds more 90’s alternative rock than the majority of actual 90’s alternative rock bands, and in retrospect became one of the most influential alternative albums that effectively kickstarted the genre that would take over the mainstream world a…
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Alanis Morissette ‘Jagged Little Pill’ (1995)
Earlier this year we listened to Everclear’s So Much For The Afterglow and I talked your ear off about what makes the lyrics of 90’s alternative rock so great and enduring. As I said at the time: Peek under the hood of a lot of [the] songs and you’ll find some pretty depressing stories that…
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Sting ‘Mercury Falling’ (1996)
Sting is an absolute treasure to the world of music. I love nearly everything about him. His vocal talent is undeniable, rich with character. His bass playing is sublime and incredibly emotive. His storytelling chops are world renowned. But what I love most about his approach as a songwriter is his unabashed desire to take…
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Everclear ‘So Much For The Afterglow’ (1997)
90’s alternative rock holds a special place in my heart for a variety of reasons— it’s the almost comically distorted guitars, the undeniable influence of pop music, and the punk-like aggressiveness of the drums that make everything sound big and heavy, and lyrical themes that frankly pull no punches in the story they’re trying to…
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Sugar Ray ’14:59′ (1998)
Maybe it’s Mark McGrath’s frosted tips. Maybe it’s the tight and boxy drum production. Maybe it’s the smooth acoustic guitar. Hell, maybe it’s just simply the album cover art. But no matter what it is, there is no escaping that Sugar Ray’s 14:59 sounds exactly like a wet hot summer afternoon in the late 90’s.…
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Punk Goes… ‘Pop Volume 4’ (2011)
The “Punk Goes…” series has been a mainstay in punk rock since the early 2000’s and to this day I remember how impactful it was for me when I was 16 years old. I graduated HS in the class of 2006, and while original music absolutely appealed to me, hearing a punk band play a…
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The Cure ‘Disintegration’ (1989)
Epic. Grandiose. Expansive. Just a handful of words to describe The Cure’s 1989 magnum opus Disintegration. This was the album that returned The Cure to their goth-rock roots, and what a gloriously incredible return it was. One of my favorite albums this year. Lead songwriter and vocalist Robert Smith is a musical and cultural icon,…
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