CD Odyssey Disc 81: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Well, another roll of the dice, another sharp turn. This one from rock to swing. As The Tick would say, "Most unexpected!"

Disc 81 is...Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Self-Titled)

Artist: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Year of Release: 1998

How I Came To Know It: I was swept up in the epidemic swing craze of the mid to late nineties - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy got a big jump from this craze, and many were infected. I think I knew them from the Swingers Soundtrack, which I reviewed way back at Disc 12.

How It Stacks Up: I only have the one BBVD (as they are known) disc. I guess it is fine, but not good enough to buy a second.

Rating: 2 stars, with a thumbs up.

As I alluded earlier, in their heydey, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (BBVD) was pretty big. I believe they even did a Superbowl halftime show, which these days is reserved for decades old rockers only.

BBVD did a pretty good half-time show as I recall, lot's of horns dancing back and forth in unison. A lot better than some of the acts, but not as good as we've had recently with Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, Bruce Springsteen sliding and taking out a camera guy, and my favourite - Prince playing guitar, backlit behind a white sheet. He played his guitar (shaped like his 'symbol') so that the resulting shadow play made it look like he had a giant "Prince Symbol" shaped penis.

That was by far, the best (and most subversive) halftime show ever. I think most people missed the whole thing, which made it that much better.

But I digress...

Back to BBVD. These guys really like their swing music. They play it with gusto, and they play it well. Every note is on. I think swing really needs this tight orchestration, particularly given the number of instruments involved. As they say themselves, in what is about as talkative as they get on this album, "It don't mean a thing/If it aint' got that swing." They illustrate their point more fully a few songs later by singing "Go Daddy-O!" and then hitting a horn solo.

As you can surmise, this music doesn't have much to say except "have a good time!" That is fine for what it is, and I did have a good time driving home to this the last two nights, including the phantom conducting we all do when we hear a catchy horn riff.

I know these guys are a deliberate throwback to the golden age of swing, when swing was probably pretty subversive and crazy, but to my modern ear, it comes off as a fairly derivative. To which, BBVD would say, "Hey, Daddy-o, don't hate our groove. We are what we are."

To which I would say, "Hey, it's my blog, cats, so it's my groove."

I think part of what makes swing attractive is the whole style aspect - the clothes (I recently bought an electric blue zoot suit which rules!), the mannerisms, the big funky pimp-daddy hats. Referring to a restaurant as a 'joint'.

It is like disco in that it is about the scene, and it is about dancing and having a good time, but it isn't about much else.

So at the end of the day revisiting the BBVD epidemc was fun, but it didn't connect like it did when I really had the fever.

Best tracks: Mr. Pinstripe Suit, You and Me and the Bottle Makes 3 Tonight, Go Daddy-O, Mambo Swing.

CD Odyssey Disc 67: Figgy Duff

The Odyssey now returns to the heart of Newfoundland folk music. If you're following along you know I had a bit of a thing for this stuff in the early nineties.

Disc 67 is...Weather Out The Storm

Artist: Figgy Duff

Year of Release: 1990

How I Came To Know It: I heard the song "Woman of Labrador" on Country Music Television (CMT) in around 1993. I went to go buy the album, but the only Figgy Duff album they had was ""Downstream". So I bought "Downstream". It was OK, but I really wanted that song "Woman of Labrador" so I kept going back until it this album was finally in stock.

How It Stacks Up: Figgy Duff has four studio albums over a 13 year span - I've got two. If you're reading comprehension hasn't failed you, you know which two. Anyway, "Weather Out the Storm" is definitely my favourite.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up

Figgy Duff is a folk band from Newfoundland. I seem to recall my friend Tony telling me that a "figgy duff" is a kind of pudding. I think that's what he said, and if I've got it wrong, well - then there oughta be a pudding called that. The world needs more pudding.

Whatever Figgy Duff means, they only have four albums. They weren't that prolific to begin with, and were prematurely disbanded by the tragic death of one of their main creative forces, Noel Dinn - who succumbed to cancer shortly after 1993's "Downstream".

I don't know if it is just that I have their two later albums or not, but Figgy Duff gets a little too into a new age, synth-pop kind of sound. This is particularly noticeable on tracks like "Weather Out the Storm" and "Heart of a Gypsy" which lead off this album. Both songs have strong fundamentals and would really benefit from being stripped down to more traditional folk arrangements. Still, you can't blame a band for experimenting - Capercaillie does it very well. It's just that not every band is as good as Capercaillie.

The tracks on this album that are stripped down are really quite good. In particular, "Woman of Labrador" is a solid 4 star song about the hard life of pioneering women in Labrador, who tended the house for weeks while their husbands worked the trapping line. The song ends with a bitter lament of a simple way of life lost:

"Daughter of Labrador
Those days are here no more
Wonder if your baby will ever understand
The hardships that you endured
When everyone you knew was poor
Sharing everything you had
And living off the land."

I'm also a big fan of "Yankee Skipper" which is a funny little sea shanty about a local woman who decides to accept the advances of a visiting Yankee skipper by the name of "Peter Nelson". She goes on his boat and as the song says "Whatever the captain asked of her/the maid she never grumbled."

In between each semi-bawdy verse we have some excellent fiddle reels. I love that sound of an east coast fiddle played well...

Anyway, spoiler alert! The story ends thusly:

"For sleeping with the yankee chap
Her own true love she lost him
But she got herself a fine pair of boots
Cost five dollars in Boston."

Not knowing what her boyfriend was like, or what boots were worth when it was written, it's hard to say if this was a fair exchange or otherwise.

The album ends with a murderous ballad about a man who chooses to go privateering to support his brothers. The song is called "Henry Martin". I'm not sure if it is my imagination, but it seems a lot of the time when a song is titled a man's full name, someone gets killed. I'll have to look for that ahead on the waves of the CD Odyssey.

Of note - all my four favourites on this album are traditional folk songs, arranged by Figgy Duff, which is fine for what it is, but sadly doesn't speak strongly to Figgy Duff''s own stuff holding its own. Thus I give 2 stars, where I might've been generous on another day and given 3.

To sum up: Do you really like Newfoundland folk music with a hint of new age production? This may be the album for you - both of you! The three of us can listen to it occasionally.

Best tracks: Woman of Labrador, Yankee Skipper, Rumbolt

CD Odyssey Disc 64: Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins

Here's my first appearance of Mark Knopfler - an artist who wears many different genres well. This time, it is his country side, on a collaboration album with C&W star Chet Atkins.

Disc 64 is...Neck and Neck

Artist: Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins

Year of Release: 1990

How I Came To Know It: I know Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits, but I'm also a fan of his solo work. This album is an early example of that work, although I bought it comparatively late. I took a rider on Chet Atkins, because I trust Mark Knopfler's stuff to be good.

How It Stacks Up: I have seven Dire Straits albums, and eight Mark Knopfler albums, of which two are collaborations. Of the two collaborations, I prefer the other one, but this one has its moments.

Rating: 2 stars with a Thumbs Up.

When I was a kid, my Mom had this greatest hits album by Chet Atkins called "Chet Atkins Picks His Best". My brother and I thought it hilarious to refer to this album as "Chet Atkins Picks His Nose", in fact I think my brother went one step further and had Mr. Atkins picking his bum.

This used to infuriate my Mom, who thought quite highly of Chet, a top notch guitar player in his day. The angrier she got, the funnier we thought Chet's inappropriate picking was.

Well, many years have passed, and I've grown up a lot. Well, not really - I still think that was pretty funny.

As for Mark Knopfler, he is my #1 guitar hero (with apologies to Buck Dharma and Jimi Hendrix). Knopfler can play any style and master it. This album has he and fellow maestro Atkins playing country, a little blues and that groovy Hawaian sounding guitar. They handle each amazingly.

That said while the playing is stellar, the songs themselves are just OK. Also, there are plenty of moments of total self-indulgence including an "impromptu" guitar-off between the two on "There'll Be Some Changes Made".

I like this album because it is clear the admiration Knopfler holds for Atkins (and it shows one of the influences that makes Knopfler such a versatile player). For just sitting and listening to, it isn't terribly exciting.

So, unless you are a Mark Knopfler completionist like me, I'd say skip this one. You might also pick it if you are a Chet Atkins fan, if you aren't already picking something else. Tee hee hee.

Best tracks: The Next Time I'm In Town

CD Odyssey Disc 61: Belle and Sebastian

The next entry on the Odyssey has a great album name.

Disc 61 is...Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant

Artist: Belle & Sebastian

Year of Release: 2000

How I Came To Know It: I was actually bought a Belle & Sebastian album for my birthday seven or eight years ago. This album (for brevity's sake I'll call it "Fold Your Hands") is me drilling through their back catalogue.

How It Stacks Up: I have three of Belle & Sebastian's albums. I think this one is definitely third on this list. I'd like to get Tigermilk, as I don't have that one, but I haven't been keen of late, and have been going in a different direction.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

Belle & Sebastian are a band from Scotland, and in the oughts are one of the chief musical exports from that country. In the indie/pop genre they seem to be a pretty big thing, since most music lovers know who they are, despite my never hearing them on the radio.

Then again, I never listen to the radio, so who knows if they are on it. I hope not.

I like this band because they have a cool mix of poppy upbeat songs with lyrics that are at times disturbing.

Consider a flighty pop song like "The Chalet Lines". The song is so gentle it might be a few listens before you really pick up on the lyrics. You start to hear them, and they go something like this:

"He raped me in the chalet lines
I had just said no for the final time
Although it's last month it's like yesterday
I missed my time, I don't think I could stand
To take the test, I'm feeling sick
Fuck this, I've felt like this for a week
I'd put a knife right into his eyes."

Actually, they're not something like that - that's them exactly. Yikes.

Visually, Belle & Sebastian album covers always remind me of Jones Soda bottles; they seem to have no connection with either the band. Just some random photo. See the young, sleep deprived girl above, clutching her book in the mirror. Why? Why? There is no right answer.

On the back of "Fold Your Hands"' liner notes there is another photo (couldn't find it online) featuring a bunch of folks dressed in 30s clothing, as well as a guy in a gorilla suit holding a platter. The picture's caption reads, "Please don't let them make me a monkey butler."

I don't know exactly what they're getting at, but at face value, I agree. No one wants to be forced to be a monkey butler. The suit is hot, and the pay is probably low. Also, you are probably blamed for breaking the china, even though it slips from your fingers because you are wearing a monkey costume. But I digress...

Anyway - somewhere between Kris Kristoffersen's constant decision to have only a giant picture of his head on his albums, and Belle & Sebastian's decision to choose detached arty photos of no particular purpose, I am sure the truth lies.

To return to this particular album, it is by far the most dark of the three I have. I don't mind the dark, it is all part of the experience of this band, and it makes them better.

However, "Fold Your Hands" is a little uneven, and for every strong pop track there is a song that veers into the weird but loses some quality in the process.

That said, there are many good tracks on the album, and it is worth a listen or two or three. If the lyrics creep up on you, don't be alarmed - they are creepy. It is meant to be that way.

Best tracks: I Fought In a War, Don't Leave The Light On Baby, The Wrong Girl, The Chalet Lines, Women's Realm

CD Odyssey Disc 45: Pearl Jam

And now we return to the crapload of new discs I have recently purchased. I think I'm going to have to limit these and maybe file a few before I review them. Too late for this one, though.

Disc 45 is...Back Spacer


Artist: Pearl Jam

Year of Release: 2009

How I Came To Know It: My old friend and former room-mate Greg introduced me to Pearl Jam from the beginning. He was in a grunge phase and I was in a folk phase, which made for some interesting music listening. Years later, I came to love Pearl Jam, and this album is just me buying their new release.

How It Stacks Up: I have ten Pearl Jam studio albums, which I think is all of them. I would rate this one...10th. Sad but true.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

I am a big fan of Pearl Jam. Even during the folk/grunge stereo wars of the early nineties, "Ten" was always one album I could handle more than most. Later, I really developed a taste for them.

And I'm not just a "Ten is their only good album" kind of guy. I like most of their later stuff as well (but more on those when I roll them). That's what makes Back Spacer such a disappointment; I know they can do better.

This album is frankly a little too much like the mass produced rock you'll hear every day on the radio. It is just ordinary.

It's not just the music either - it seems like Pearl Jam's got nothing to say, or at least nothing that jumps out at me after 3 listens.

Even the sort of slow, introspective song "Just Breathe" just reminds me of Eddie Vedder's excellent solo album for "Into the Wild", just not as good.

This album's cover art also has songs listed without track numbers - something I hate. Also, they didn't capitalize their song titles. I hate that in E.E. Cummings, so don't expect me to give pop culture a pass either.

Worse, it is one of those cardboard albums with all kinds of junk and folders you can pull out. Pearl Jam is notorious for this in later years. Just give me the cover, and a sleeve or booklet with songs or some photos. I don't need a bunch of different stuff to pull out.

So - apart from the formulaic songs, the lack of inspiration and the annoying cover art and album design, just what the hell did I like about this album?

Well, even at their worst, Pearl Jam is still a tight band, they can still play well. Eddie still has one of the great voices in rock and roll history, and there are a couple of tracks that are passable.

So for old times sake, I gave it a slight thumbs up - also, maybe it will grow on me one day, like the band has done over the years. We live in hope.

The verdict - there are a lot of great Pearl Jam albums out there. Please, please don't buy this one and judge them too harshly as a result. They are a great band, with a great catalogue of music.

Best tracks: Amongst the Waves, Unthought Known

CD Odyssey Disc 44: Mary Chapin Carpenter

After a chosen disc, the dice gods return to pre-eminence with another blast from my folk/country phase of the early nineties (I am realizing there are a lot of these).

Disc 44 is...Stones In The Road

Artist: Mary Chapin Carpenter

Year of Release: 1994

How I Came To Know It: I can't remember how I came to know Mary Chapin Carpenter. My friend Norm liked one of her albums, but ironically, it was one of the last ones I bought. I think I heard music off of "Come On Come On" on country TV and took a flier. This album was just me drilling through the collection.

How It Stacks Up: I don't have everything by Mary Chapin Carpenter - and this album is when I stopped buying everything. I have four of her albums, and I'd put this one 4th.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

Mary Chapin Carpenter is a crossover artist between folk and country.

Back in the nineties I met this girl through mutual friends. I really wanted to date her, and she wanted nothing to do with me - but that isn't what this story is about (mercifully). She told me that in her early career, Carpenter was a pure folk artist in Virginia, but she commercialized and went into the country genre more heavily. I was fascinated with finding that early stuff, but never did back then, and now the fervour has left me (like my desire for the girl). Maybe another time - for the music that is.

Anyway, this particular album is a further progression for her into country. Her great songwriting, and smooth, full voice are still present, but the album is just a little too produced over all. Also, it has that annoying Bruce Hornsby-sounding piano on there. I'd like her to dress it down a little so the songs could shine a little more on their own. That's not possible though - I guess that's the way it is. Some things never change.

That said, there are good tracks on here, and an album that evokes a consistent emotion of lost youth, and coming to grips with maturity. While it is not as consistently good as her other work, and it has the early infection of "new country" it is still worth a listen. Just don't start with this one - if you start early, you'll hear her early sound in this album, but otherwise it might slip you by.

Best tracks: Why Walk When You Can Fly, A Keeper For Every Flame, The Last Word, The End of My Pirate Days, Jubilee

CD Odyssey Disc 34: Michelle Shocked

In only 34 CDs the randomizer of the CD Odyssey has already selected 3 soundtracks and 2 Enya albums. Now it's Michelle Shocked's turn.

Disc 34 is...Captain Swing

Artist: Michelle Shocked

Year of Release: 1989

How I Came To Know It: This is just me drilling, after I liked my other two Michelle Shocked albums - You will recall Short Sharp Shocked from Disc 10 of the CD Odyssey

How It Stacks Up: I have 3 Michelle Shocked albums. This is by far the least of the three, but it still has its moments.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

Captain Swing is the follow up album to the hugely successful Short Sharp Shocked. It reminds me that every Michelle Shocked album is very different. She doesn't stick to one genre or sound, and it likely doesn't help her hold an audience.

Haven't heard of Captain Swing? Let's just say it was slightly less successful that the album that preceded it. So it goes...

Captain Swing wasn't a good enough album for me to keep drilling through her collection. Here, I stopped.

The album is what Swing would sound like if it weren't swing at all - but was Michelle Shocked's folk-punk version of swing.

On the plus side, there are very clever songs like "God Is a Real Estate Developer". Check out the opening lyric, where the end of days is compared to a real estate transaction:

God is a real estate developer
With offices around the nation
They say one day he'll liquidate
His holdings up on high
I say it's all speculation.


At the same time, sometimes I think Shocked gets a cutesy expression in her head and takes it farther than it deserves - "Cement Lament" comes to mind as one such expression.

So, this album doesn't inspire me to say much, but it has its moments, and it doesn't sound like anything else you'll hear - which is a plus.

Best tracks: God Is a Real Estate Developer, On the Greener Side, Silent Ways

CD Odyssey Disc 31: KISS

The CD Odyssey this week is taking a blast to the past. Before I get there, I have....an announcement!

I am going to fill my Zen with songs from the most recent entries. That way, I'll keep mixing up my MP3 player with tracks from what I've recently reviewed. Obviously certain artists must never be removed (BOC, Alice Cooper, Steve Earle) so I'll need to arrive at a reasonable balance - plus my Zen holds but 430 or so songs. At first, I saw this as a disadvantage, but now I see opportunity.

But I digress.

Disc 31 is...Lick It Up

Artist: KISS

Year of Release: 1983

How I Came To Know It: I've known KISS a long time - the first album I ever bought was a KISS record (I'll talk about that when I roll it). My brother bought Lick It Up when it came out, and I taped it off of him (ah, TDK - the piracy of the eighties).

How It Stacks Up: I don't have all of KISS' albums, but I've got a lot (10). I would say this is near the bottom. Maybe 9th (I'll discuss #10 when I roll it).

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

Lick It Up is one of those albums that seemed to proliferate in the early to mid-eighties. Great seventies rock bands feeling the pressure to sound more "metal" and appeal to a new generation. Other examples that come to mind would be Alice Cooper's 1986 offering "Constrictor" and Black Sabbath's "Born Again" also from 1983.

Ironically, while I was a huge heavy metal meat-head back in those days, I already liked all the bands vying for my affection.

Lick It Up is the "no make-up" album as well. Also, it is another album minus two original members (Peter Criss is replaced by Eric Carr and Ace Frehley by Vinnie Vincent). While I didn't (and don't) miss Peter Criss, this album does lack Ace's musical genius on the guitar.

Paul Stanley is still great, and remains a very unique hard rock voice. Even the songs Gene Simmons sings (I think he does "Not For the Innocent" and "And On The 8th Day") are strong.

Generally though, this album is uneven. There are 4 good tracks, an equal number of pretty bad tracks and a couple that aren't memorable either way.

KISS can still write some of the most ridiculously suggestive lyrics ever. Consider "Not For the Innocent"

I'm mean and I'm dirty, like none you've ever seen.
Bad habits drip like honey, no tongue can lick me clean.

Hilarious, and suitably shocking to be enjoyable in Grade 8. OK even now it is still kind of fun.

KISS was once my favourite band - but I was 8. This album is still fun in places, but doesn't really do them justice like their classics do.

That's OK, though - it was fun to be reminded of what life was like when I was 13, and I liked this album a lot more than I do now.

Best tracks: Not For The Innocent, Lick It Up, All Hell's Breakin' Loose, And On The 8th Day

CD Odyssey Disc 25: Audioslave

The penultimate "pre-rolled" CD Odyssey Disc 25 is...

Revelations

This picture is generic. My first attempt to find a photo resulted in a virus attack, and put me off the whole thing. Future albums shall have appropriate pictures - this time you get vinyl!

Artist: Audioslave

Year of Release: 2006

How I Came To Know It: I believe my friend Chris introduced me to Audioslave - telling me a band is made up of a mixture of Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine made for an easy sell.

How It Stacks Up: Audioslave only has 3 albums - Cornell is off doing pretentious solo work and Rage Against the Machine has decided to welcome back their perpetually angry lead singer into the fold. Revelations is their last work together (at least for now) and is far and away the weakest.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

Let me start by saying I really like Audioslave - a band that engenders a fair amount of dissension in the rock-fan world.

As far as I am concerned combining the genius of Chris Cornell's voice, with the amazing guitar playing of Tom Morello is inspired.

Unfortunately, while the guitar playing on this album is incredible, and some of the licks amazing, overall the songs are fairly forgettable. Also, Cornell is a bit too screechy.

I know, I know - screaming in tune is what Cornell does best, but here it comes off as a little pretentious and over the top, even for him.

The album's first 3 or 4 tracks show promise but they aren't followed up with strong material. Nevertheless, the technical mastery of Morello's guitar is on display, and Cornell sings well on a bad day, so the album is still worth an occasional listen.

Mark this one down for completionists only. It ain't bad, but you're better served with the excellent offerings of Audioslave's first two records.

Best tracks: Revelations, One And The Same, Original Fire

CD Odyssey Disc 24: Enya

Uh oh. This is embarassing. The randomness of the dice are going to make everyone think I am a huge fan of Enya, instead of the small, long ago fan that I am....

Disc 24 is...A Day Without Rain

Artist: Enya

Year of Release: 2000

How I Came To Know It: In my last Enya album review from Disc 11, I defended myself by saying I was sucked in like everyone else by Orinoco Flow. Well, 12 years later, here is another Enya album, but with no convenient excuse. I still liked her, and the single "Only Time" drew me back in just when I thought I was out. Like the Godfather, only not cool.

How It Stacks Up: I still own 5 Enya albums. I thought going in this would rank at the bottom but it is OK. I guess it is at the bottom, but not much separates it from Watermark.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

This is the second time I went into an Enya review hoping to hate it, but actually deciding that I enjoyed it (only not too loud, and not at stop lights).

Enya has a real soothing sound, and this album is just like that. The songs don't really go anywhere - kind of like techno music, except they are mercifully only 3 minutes long, and I don't hate them. They are just a little mood slice, sometimes in English, sometimes in Welsh and sometimes I think she just goes "aaahhh" or hums.

This album has an annoying quality that some artists think is nifty - not capitalizing song titles. If it wasn't cool for E.E. Cummings (take that E.E.) it isn't cool for you. Please stop that, and use your letters - and do it properly!

So, anyway - A Day Without Rain is is a bit flaky, but I like it anyway. I don't pull it out much, but I think I'll inflict it on the Tuesday night crowd coming over tonight. Hey - it is only 1 of 5 discs - toughen up!

Best tracks: Wild Child, Only Time, Cleora Ar Mo Chroi

CD Odyssey Disc 22: The Shins

It has been a tough week of CD Odyssey. Firstly, I haven't enjoyed knowing what CD is next (having had to roll 8 in advance before the CDs were packed away for home renos). Second, the renovations have sapped all my free time, making keeping up a little difficult. This weekend I will catch up.

And in that process, "indie rock" (whatever that is) makes its first appearance.

Disc 22 is...Oh, Inverted World


Artist: The Shins

Year of Release: 2001

How I Came To Know It: Sheila and I discovered the Shins simultaneously when they were the musical act on Saturday Night Live. We really liked them. Although "Oh, Inverted World" is their first album, it was the last one to join the collection.

How It Stacks Up: We have all 3 Shins albums. I have to say I really like the other two, but this one is the worst of the bunch.

Rating: 2 stars with a thumbs up.

I am not a huge indie rock fan, but there are good bands in the genre, and the Shins are one of those bands. They have a great ethereal quality to their music is is sort of indie pop, more than indie rock.

This particular album is simply blah, however. Most of the songs are not memorable, nor are they particularly distinct. One kind of runs into the next, but not in a good way, like with a concept album.

There is no denying the Shins' talent though, and I think they are a pretty innovative act musically. Or at least they sound that way to my untrained ear.

The 'hit' off this album "The New Slang" is a pretty good song, but just not good enough to pull this album into 3 star territory.

Also, I don't like how these edgy "arty" bands like to name their songs something obscure. How about picking a noticeable line in the song, rather than an obscure line. Making it hard for me to find the tracks I like does not make me like those tracks more.

Bottom line: There are two very good Shins albums out there ("Chutes Too Narrow" and "Wincing The Night Away"). Go get those. "Oh, Inverted World" is for completionists only.

Best tracks: The New Slang, Caring is Creepy, The Past and Pending

CD Odyssey Disc11: Enya

The dice choose a second album that is "the most famous" and the second album in a row that came out in 1988.

Disc 11 is...Watermark
Artist: Enya

Year of Release: 1988

How I Came To Know It: I discovered Enya like most people - I heard "Orinoco Flow" on Muchmusic and decided I liked it. In my defence, I was entering my "folk phase".

How It Stacks Up: I don't know how many embarrassing admissions this post is going to have, but here's another one. I own 5 Enya albums. Yikes. "Watermark" is probably the third best, or middle of the pack.

Rating: 2 stars (with an embarrassed thumbs up).

Enya got her start in Clannad, an Irish folk band with new age tendencies. Yes, I also like Clannad, but I refuse to be embarrassed about that until I roll them.

"Orinoco Flow" was a huge hit back in 1988. Even now when I replay it, it is a bit on the overplayed side, and its been many years since Enya saw serious rotation on the CD carousel. Still, it is a good track, and catchy.

The rest of the disc is not so catchy, but wears a little better. Enya has an ethereal quality to her voice. This is 1 part a very cool voice, and 1 part that she is famous for putting a ton of layers into her voice (lots of takes, all lined up together) to give her that unearthly ambience. It is artificial yes, but it works.

This is about as far as I stray into "New Age" and I think for good reason. I think Enya is to New Age what Phat Boy Slim is to techno. Yes, I have Phat Boy Slim, but I won't be embarrassed about that until I roll it.

This album gets a 2, but a thumbs up, because it is actually well written and creates a nice mood. It is even good for driving, but the embarrassment factor at red lights is really high. Not "Jerky Boys" high, but easily "Gangsta Rap" high.

I think everyone has music that they would find embarrassing at a red light. Mind you, most have the good sense to not post it on the internet.

After review, I'm keeping this album, and living with the shame.

Best tracks: Storms in Africa, Exile, Orinoco Flow, The Longships