298 - Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

Master of Reality captures the quintessential sound that Black Sabbath created as their template. This is a solid album that may not have songs that jump out at you like "Iron Man" or "Paranoia," but just because it doesn't quite meet up with the excellence of the previous album doesn't mean this one isn't any good.

Tony's guitar licks on this album certainly shines on the sluggish drive of "Sweet Leaf" or "Children of the Grave," but also has a delicate aspect to it in "Solitude" and the couple of interludes. The lyrics vary from praising marijuana to informing atheists of the torment awaiting them when the world ends (While "Into the Void" brushes on this, "After Forever" certainly has lyrics that any CCM rock band could easily find themselves using). While the particular philosophy espoused by the lyrics may change, the uniting factor in most of the songs is that the shit is going to hit the fan and you'd better be ready for it. The music reinforces the gloomy atmosphere with a machismo that belies the blue-collar background of the band.

Songs I knew I liked: None

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Sweet Leaf," "After Forever," and "Into the Void"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: None

297 - Weezer - eponymous/Blue Album

In the immediate aftermath of grunge came an alt-rock band that took Brian Wilson-esque lyrics, heavily distorted guitars cranked to 11, and dressed it all up in a package that was as white as Wonder Bread. Weezer's debut album (aka The Blue Album) starts off with a song that I originally thought was in intro to the band...until I found out that there wasn't a Jonas or Wakefield in the band. The listener is then taken on a tour of male teen frustration and dreams in a way that hadn't been explored much since the Beach Boys. There are certainly nods to the influence of the Beach Boys with "Surf Wax America" and the parallels between Weezer's "In The Garage" and the Beach Boys' "In My Room."

And these lyrics of teen life are brought up in the mix. I'm not a person that pays attention to lyrics, but I know most of the lyrics to the songs on this album. Although the guitars are loud and distorted, they tend to be used to propel the rhythm and not the melody of the songs. In the late 90's, I had some people over to my place and decided that I'd put Weezer on since I thought they were pretty innocuous and unlikely to cause any annoyance. However, one of the people that came over cracked about halfway through the album. The use of the distorted guitars as rhythm were driving him nuts ("It's just a pulse of 'Noise-noise-noise-noise...' through every single song!").

I found myself singing a lot to this album. That is particularly impressive for me since I'm fairly certain I haven't pulled out my copy of this CD since moving back to Huntsville nine years ago. It is still an enjoyable album for me. While there is nothing groundbreaking about this release, it is a great album with few dips and more than a handful of superb songs. I'm hopeful that a future list of the Top 500 might find this album creeping 50+ more spots closer to the top as any remaining disdain from the band when the album originally was released to be forgotten or forgiven.

Songs I knew I liked: "My Name is Jonas," "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here," "Buddy Holly," "Undone (The Sweater Song)," "Say It Ain't So," and "Only in Dreams"

Songs I didn't know but now like: I forgot about "No One Else," "Surf Wax America," and "In the Garage"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: None