John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

There is so much to love about this album - Coltrane's playing is just the tip of the iceberg. Give a few listens to Elvin Jones's drums, though, which are as wild as anything Keith Moon did for The Who. While conceptually, it's a spiritual album, it would be enjoyable even without that knowledge. The songs hold up individually, with the chaotic skills present on "Part III: Pursuance" showing how Coltrane's quartet toed the line between hard bop and free jazz, the brisk track's melody seemingly taken apart and reassembled into something totally new. But it's together, as a whole album that A Love Supreme shines, with each part leading logically into the next, culminating with the serenity in "Part IV: Psalm." At just over 32 minutes, it manages to be a tight album without a moment of filler. Combine that with its wild ambitions, and its place in the upper-echelon on jazz albums is well-deserved.

Panic! at the Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out

When do we get to compare 00s emo and 90s gangsta rap for lyrical cliches? There are so many guns, hospitals and pills in this album, it's the first thing I think of. Panic! here are catchy but not too distinguishable from what Fall Out Boy was doing at the time, aside from mild dance elements that provide additional hooks.  The media savvy approach some songs take (Webzines! Photo ops!) expose a self-consciousness that is a bit unbecoming for a band so young and so not-famous-yet. The dance-meets-rock-meets-wordiness thing was done to death in the mid nineties during the Britpop era. Despite being from Vegas, Panic are too young, with the strip joint in "But It's Better if You Do" sounding like something gleamed from the movie Striptease rather than real experiences.

Supergrass - I Should Coco

From an American standpoint, Supergrass are perhaps one of the most underrated bands of the 90s. They haven't but out a bad album yet and have slowly assembled one of the most accomplished discographies in rock. It's probably possible to argue for days which is their best work, but I Should Coco, their debut, is definitely the most fun. At a brisk 35 minutes, it speeds through its songs with a manic pace, until track 10, "Time," slows things down a bit. Their giddiness might be a short-term detriment, though, as the compositional complexity of their songs cannot come through without repeated listens. With careful listens, though, the details found in their harmonies, tempos, etc. reveal a jerky, punkish masterpiece from the britpop era.

The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Flying Burrito Brothers

In 1970, Gram Parsons, that fickle trust fund hippie, departed from the Burrito Brothers for a solo career, leaving Chris Hillman as the head of the band. In his time with the band, he helmed or at least helped the band through one undisputed classic (The Gilded Palace of Sin) and one arguably only slightly worse album (Burrito Deluxe). In 1971, The Flying Burrito Brothers was released, and what chance did it have to measure up to their first two albums? That is the trouble with judging this album. Hillman and co. try hard to recapture what Parsons called "Cosmic American Music," and succeed except for a lack of excitement. Well-chosen covers of songs by Merle Haggard and Bob Dylan ("White Line Fever," "To Ramona," respectively) prove more memorable than Hillman's originals, though "Four Days of Rain" and "Can't You Hear Me Calling" are spirited, but don't stick. And that sums up The Flying Burrito Brothers as a whole, too: its playing and songwriting are adequate, but never much more.

The Pixies - Doolittle

Doolittle is easily a canonized indie rock classic, so is there much left to be said about it? What was notable to me on my latest listen is how vicious the band sounds on the faster numbers, while the slower number are a Pulp Fiction cool. The band is fully in control here, with Francis Black and Kim Deal playing off each others' voices throughout like a battle between the sexes. The Pixies' lyrical style tends to lean towards the surreal, with Doolittle seeming to balance its polished sound with a bit more of a violent edge (correct me if I'm wrong). As always, the playing is more than accomplished, with "Wave of Mutilation" hiding some tricky changes in tempo within its sweet, relaxed melody. Side note: Doesn't "La La Love You" sound like a precursor to 69 Love Songs?

Jimmy Eat World - Clarity

Jimmy Eat World are an emo band. This much is true - but on Clarity they take pride in the fact that they can stretch far beyond that. The album plays like a dream. Moments can be jarring, tones shift from song to song. The closing "Goodbye Sky Harbor" is achingly beautiful, though when I first heard it, I thought the CD was broken until new instrumental elements crept into the mix toward the end. Clarity thrives on this kind of beauty, though - Bleed American, its followup, would contain tighter songs and stronger hooks, but Clarity is a curious kind of album. It's a dense record, whose production is on par with Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom, even if the songs can't quite distinguish themselves from each other. While moments here and there meander a bit, the melodies and string arrangements make it feel important, a big moment from a band hitting its stride.

2Pac - Me Against the World

The cliche is that rap albums are 60 minutes about shooting people, bitches, hos and flashing money and one song tacked on about how the rapper loves his mom. When listening to 2Pac's Greatest Hits, I can't help but feel that way when "Dear Mama" comes on. Here, it fares better among the soulful productions while Pac waxes insightful about the thug life. He puts his sensitivity on full display here, with the songs celebrating nostalgia ("Old School") or wondering if there is a better way of living ("Me Against the World"). Arguably, it's on this album that the 2Pac legend hinges; without the soul-baring moments like this album, the braggadocio of All Eyez on Me would be bone-headed. That fact alone would make it a quintessential 2Pac album. The fact that it's musically accomplished (not a bad song in the bunch) makes it one of the great 90s hip-hop albums.