Part of a yearlong celebration of 25 of my favorite things in music from the last 25 years.

This list is woefully incomplete.

It isn’t fair to ask a music geek like me to limit himself to a finite number of loved albums from a specific time period.

So, why did I do it?

The best answer I can offer is this is a chance to chart my evolution as a music fan, which is something I rarely do. Music never stops and neither do I. This has been an opportunity to slow down, if only for a moment.

With that in mind, here’s the conclusion of my (highly abbreviated) favorites list. In case you missed them, you can find Part I here and Part II here.

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape (2002). I’ve been a Meshell fan since the first time I saw her on a side stage at the HORDE Festival in 1996. Her voice, her groove, that bass … this woman was nothing short of amazing. I’ve been neck-deep in her catalog ever since. Everything is good!

What makes this record stand out? I suppose it’s how earnest it is. It’s flat-out blunt. Meshell always has something to say, but this is really impactful. Any album that starts out with a voice saying, “You sell your soul like a piece of ass” deserves your complete attention.

The lyrics on these songs are intensely personal. This is nothing new, either. But again, there’s a distinct sense of urgency here. Pay attention! If this isn’t my favorite Meshell record, it’s in the Top Two.

NINE INCH NAILS, With Teeth (2005). By the time of this album’s release, Trent Reznor had fully embraced his newfound sobriety, and was writing songs to commemorate it. Some of the anger reflected in previous works like The Downward Spiral and The Fragile were demons that needed a certain amount of slaying. That’s what happens here.

Some critics found this album bland and redundant relative to previous Nine Inch Nails releases. I disagree. I found something highly relatable about these songs, even if Trent and I were dealing with different issues. A song like “Getting Smaller” drove a dagger right into the middle of my psyche. Trent was talking to me, reminding me that I’m not alone.

A PERFECT CIRCLE, Mer de Noms (2000). Debut albums don’t come much better. It must be nice to know you’re the frontman in at least two top-tier bands, which is where Maynard James Keenan found himself when he wasn’t busy knocking them dead with Tool.

Billy Howerdel was Tool’s guitar tech. As it turns out, he was also one helluva songwriter. His songs were deep and heavy, but also had a sense of delicacy Maynard couldn’t express in quite the same way he did with his main band. He’s the perfect voice for this group.

“Judith” might be the song I’ve played the most over these twenty five years. Deeply personal, angry as hell, cynical, and positively brutal. This tune is impossible to ignore. (As an added bonus, I had a terrible crush on Paz Lenchantin, the bassist in the song’s video.)

A Perfect Circle also provided me with one of my all-time favorite concert experiences, even if I did pay dearly for it. The band was playing at The Pageant, a 1,500 or so capacity venue in St. Louis. Just a few days before, I saw Jeff Beck in the same venue. What could’ve been an incredibly loud concert was kept under control by the sound men. So, I didn’t feel all that worried when I realized I’d forgotten my earplugs for the APC gig.

I walked into the venue and saw a PA system that would’ve worked just fine in a hockey arena. By the time the band concluded their set with “Judith,” my eardrums were all but melting! It was an amazing show, but my ears rang for at least the next 24 hours. Well, it was worth it!

A Perfect Circle Remains one of my favorite bands. I even got to see them at Red Rocks in Colorado. Don’t worry … I don’t go anywhere near a concert venue anymore without my earplugs.

PORCUPINE TREE, Deadwing (2005). The album that launched an obsession. Porcupine Tree was playing some of the most adventurous metal I had ever heard.

Ironically, it wasn’t interest in the band that led me to buy this album. I was eager to hear the guitar cameos by Adrian Belew, my musical idol. Adrian did a great job, of course. But it quickly dawned on me that this band he was hanging with was incredible!

“Arriving Somewhere, But Not Here” ranks among my favorite progressive metal songs of all time. This album saw heavy rotation on my sound system. Interestingly, the albums on either side of Deadwing, In Absentia and Fear of a Blank Planet, tend to be rated with higher regard for than this album. But Deadwing was my entry point, and will always be a sentimental favorite despite the very high quality of the other two records.

RADIOHEAD, In Rainbows (2007). I had been onboard with Radiohead since OK Computer in 1997. And while I enjoyed each subsequent album, In Rainbows really knocked me for a loop.

The band had wandered into electronic experimentation after OK Computer, which was fine with me. But In Rainbows brought them back to that “live in the room” feel I always enjoyed. From the Basement, a live in-studio video released to promote the album, helps to drive that point home.

This was the album Radiohead released digitally, allowing you to pay however much you wanted to for it, even if that amount was nothing. I remember paying ten bucks. Then I bought the CD. Then I bought the vinyl. I do believe Radiohead got more than my share for this brilliant recording. It’s been worth it.

RUSH, Clockwork Angels (2012). Talk about going out with a bang! Rush left it all on the field with their final studio album. It is written and played like a band a third of their actual age. I can only imagine the smiles in the control room once this album was complete and the band heard it all for the first time.

The album seemed to find that delicate balance between guitar and synthesizer, which was not always the easiest thing to do. Geddy Lee’s singing voice has never been more melodic. And Rush was also able to find that sonic balance between who they were and who they had become. “Headlong Flight” provides the perfect example.

Had I been in the studio, I would’ve had no problem hearing someone in the band say, “Guys, we’re never gonna do any better. Let’s call it a day.” Rush managed to end their studio career without sounding like a parody of themselves. Which is more than a lot of bands can say.

JOHN SCOFIELD, Überjam (2002). What in the name of Charlie Christian is going on here? A legendary jazz guitarist has embraced hip-hop and drum & bass grooves? There are raps? Well … okay, then. Best of all, it works!

Like Jeff Beck, John Scofield saw fit to allow his guitar to explore the sounds of the day. Some may say the album sounds very much of its day and choose to move on. I am not one of them. The album’s grooves are infectious and stand the test of time. Scofield shows the ability not only to carry the day, but the wisdom to get out of the way and let the music do what it needs to do without him.

Scofield also notes that Überjam was recorded without the added elements of drugs and alcohol. It’s amazing what can happen when one plays with a completely clear head.

SONAR with DAVID TORN, Vortex (2018). In 2015, I learned about a Swiss quartet called Sonar via an album called Black Light. I was positively blown away by the band’s complex and interwoven lead and rhythm lines. It almost sounded like each band members we was playing a different song, only to cobble them all together to create something even more exciting.

Three years later, Sonar struck again, this time with guitarist and sound manipulator David Torn for an album called Vortex. Torn’s addition sent Sonar’s sound to another dimension. Absorbing the sound always starts when scraping your jaw off the floor.

This is melody, rhythm, and exploration at its finest.

STEPHAN THELEN, Fractal Guitar (2019). Apparently, guitarist Stephan Thelan wasn’t able to fully express himself as one fourth of Sonar. In 2019, he unleashed Fractal Guitar on us. The compositions are unmistakably Thelen, but they were stretching into new realms.

Fractal Guitar’s songs were darker and more ornate. The bass lines were brutal and the addition of musicians outside of Sonar added unique voices to what were already other-worldly compositions. Things are allowed to go where they will, particularly when David Torn gets involved, sending his soundscapes into the stratosphere. I love it most during “Urban Nightscape.” What a twisted realm we have discovered!

Stephan has since released more “Fractal” music in more arrangements since this album, but sentimentality always brings me back here.

TOOL, Lateralus (2001). Ænima brought me into Tool’s fold, like so many others. And like so many others, I wondered if they could follow up that album with something even close to the same level.

Turns out they could.

Lateralus takes things to the next level. It comes out swinging and never lets up. Maynard James Keenan manages to turn a thirty-second guttural scream into a musical note on the “The Grudge,” the album’s opener. And only gets more exciting from there.

Tool brings the highest level of heavy musicality to their work. It never gets old.

WE LOST THE SEA, Departure Songs (2015). One minute I was looking for new post-rock. The next I had found the most important band to me of at least the last twenty-five years.

We Lost the Sea offered a post-metal album that is absolutely perfect. The album’s central theme is gallantry and loss, which came on the heels of the death of the band’s lead vocalist, who took his own life two years before this album’s release. The band decided to carry on as an instrumental outfit, and the rest — as they say — is history. Departure Songs is an absolute fan favorite. I feel privileged to have seen the band perform this album in full just ten feet in front of me. I used my camera to hide a few tears.

A friend told me how much he loves this band’s expert use of tension. It’s a terrific description. We Lost the Sea know how to push and pull on the musically emotional throttle, forcing us to feel every note they play. It’s not every day a metal song reduces me to tears, but “Bogatyri” does precisely that!

This is what music should be, regardless of genre.

STEVEN WILSON, The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) (2013). Porcupine Tree made me a Steven Wilson devotee. This album made sure that I needed to hear every note he ever played or wrote.

Raven … gave Wilson the chance to pay tribute to classic progressive rock while still driving forward with his own voice. Casual fans were no doubt converted into mega-fans, as his live audiences have grown steadily larger. Clearly, a connection had been established. And we haven’t let go since.

And there you have it. In this a great list? I like to think so. Do I still love these records? Without a doubt! My only complaint remains this list’s incomplete nature. I barely touched on jazz, which I now believe is worthy of its own list!

I hope you got something out of these selections. Here’s hoping you are encouraged to explore the albums you’re not familiar with.

Music is the best!

#cirdecsongs

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