Dez's Favorite 100 Rock/Pop Records, #'s 15-11

This is an eclectic batch...

15. Duran Duran – Rio, 1982
#15 defines a certain period of the 80’s…glitzy, superficial, dangerous, fun, excessive. But as with much of Duran Duran’s material, what on the surface may seem slight synthesizer pop, there is an interesting undercurrent of unease and melancholy. These guys were much better musicians than their detractors give them credit for (especially bassist John Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor), and Rio is their seminal release. It remains as glitzy and as listenable today as it was when it was released. The title track and “Hungry Like the Wolf” are both classic 80’s glam singles, accompanied by iconic music videos. But the album tracks are just as interesting, such as the brooding Roxy Music-ish “The Chauffeur” and “Lonely In Your Nightmare.” The highlight is “Save a Prayer,” which captures what is great about Duran Duran and also the essence of 80’s excess culture, it is both glamorous and wistful, and full of sweet regret. It is easy to make glamorous pop singles about the wild night on the town, but harder to write them about the morning after. DD simultaneously captures the seductive hedonism of 80’s excess and the consequences only fully understood on the day after. Even further, the song is ambiguous enough to where the listener is not sure whether Simon le Bon, even knowing the consequences, would have done anything differently.


ABOVE: Rio's iconic album cover

14. Pete Yorn – Musicforthemorningafter, 2001
Just when I thought I had discovered all the great music there was to discover, I came across this guy’s nearly perfect debut. Part Springsteen and part New Order, Yorn’s songwriting arrived almost fully formed. Infectious singles “Strange Condition” and “Life on a Chain” got lots of deserved play on college radio, but the rest of the record is just as good. There is not a bad song here. Yorn is a guitar player, but he was also a drummer, and his understanding of rhythm shows. What is great about this record is that as good as it is all the way through, he saves the most effective songs for the end with the triple shot of “On Your Side,” “Sleep Better” and “EZ”. He stumbled on his sophomore outing, but his third record was outstanding as well. Can't wait to hear more.

13. Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel (aka 'I', ‘car’), 1977
Gabriel’s solo debut is bursting with the joy of freedom. He had just shocked much of the rock world by suddenly leaving Genesis just as they were peaking at the forefront of the prog rock genre. He leaves behind the sprawling 10 minute prog epics and delivers a set of relatively concise tunes in a variety of styles, things that he had been wanting to try but could not within the constraints of Genesis. It is the sound of a man who is bursting with talent and ideas finally let loose to follow any avenue he found interesting. Not all of it works (like the odd barbershop “Excuse Me”), but it is thrilling to hear him try. “Solsbury Hill” is Gabriel’s personal declaration of independence from his old band, and gives an explanation of why he had to leave. “Modern Love” and “Slowburn” are assured rockers, while the odd “Moribund the Burgermeister” and “Down the Dolce Vita” show that he has not completely turned his back on art rock. As the notes of the beautiful closer “Here Comes the Flood” fade, one is left with anticipation for what Gabriel’s solo career would deliver in the future. He didn’t disappoint.

12. Big Star - #1 Record, 1972
Critic Jason Ankeny describes Big Star as "the quintessential American power pop band and one of the most mythic and influential cult acts in all of rock & roll.” If you think #1 Record is a rather presumptuous title for a debut, they back it up with the music. Unfortunately, nobody was listening at the time. But decades later people started to listen. Big Star is often referred to as “the best band you’ve never heard of.” If this list inspires its readers to pick up a couple of records they have never heard before, please let this be one of them. In a just universe, Big Star would be standing next to the Rolling Stones, Beatles and Who as one of the greatest bands ever. Instead, this Memphis unit was torn apart by self-doubt, fragile personalities, record label indifference, and bum circumstance. But listen to the promise on this record, the shimmering pop brilliance in Alex Chilton and Chris Bell’s songs grabs you immediately. Bell’s “Feel” and “In the Street” rock out, while Chilton’s “Ballad of El Goodo” and “Thirteen” capture adolescence perfectly (“Tell your Dad to get off my back / Tell him what we said about ‘Paint It Black’”) They combine the best of The Kinks, Who, Byrds and Beatles in their sound, and create something all their own. In turn, even if they did not have commercial success, many notable musicians cite them as big influences, such as REM. Go get this now. In one of the best deals in music, it is available in combination with the almost as great follow-up Radio City on a single disc.

11. Uncle Tupelo – No Depression, 1990
This is ground zero for the modern resurgence of country-rock, alt-country...or whatever you want to call it. Tupelo approached it from a punk/county/folk angle, and their groundbreaking and hugely influential debut is startling in its raw energy and emotion. By successfully pulling off the unlikely marriage between punk rock and country music, they inspired an entire subgenre in their wake. This record is so influential that it inspired the name of the ‘No Depression’ alt-country periodical and lent its name as an alternate moniker for the entire musical movement. (“No Depression” the song is a cover of the A.P. Carter classic). Out of the duo of Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar, it is Tweedy who would later emerge in his next band Wilco as a fan and critical darling on the alt-circuit; but back then, this was Farrar’s show. His stop/start brutal everyman rockers like “Factory Belt” and “Graveyard Shift” still thrill, while new classic country dirges like “Whiskey Bottle” and “Life Worth Livin’” stand up with the best barroom-at-2 a.m.-tear-in-my-beer weepers of yore. Equal parts Minutemen and Merle Haggard, they deftly bring these disparate influences together and create this grim masterpiece of Midwestern angst that only grows in stature with each passing year.