Coming Home

No. 6: Marc Broussard - Carencro

Two years ago, I was working at KSOU radio in Sioux Center, IA, preparing for a move to Jackson, MS. Even though we belonged to a music servicing group, Island Records still sent us a lot of singles and albums. The music director there often gives them the obligatory 10-second listen before he dumps them.

Now picture "Carencro" from Marc Broussard. Who? I was there when he popped it in, and the first song was on a slow fade in...and finally some weird drums or stomps or something came in. And then a delta bluesy guitar. And then a grovelly old black man. HOLD IT!!! Wasn't there a young white guy on the cover? Yeah! But the guy singing sounds like a B.B. King or John Lee Hooker! Yup, still a white guy. When I noticed that the song was actually about driving to New Orleans, that combined with the black-sounding white guy and blues guitar and unique drums/stomps, and I took home the CD.

Before the following Christmas, I was hooked on Marc Broussard and had vaulted "Carencro" to one of the best albums I owned. Yeah, that's how good it is!

This is one of the most unique and versatile CDs I have ever heard, and you really need to go to the website to get a better feel for the music. (www.marcbroussard.com)

"Home" is all I made it up to be, and has splashed in rock and country markets. "Come Around" sounds like a Harry Connick Jr. jazzy tune. "Rock Steady," "Save Me" (my favorite) and "Where You Are" are top-notch pop rock songs. "The Wanderer" and "Hope For Me Yet" are stripped-down acoustic tunes that are simply outstanding. Broussard even has the vocal flexibility to pull off some club jazz in "The Beauty Of Who You Are," "Lonely Night In Georgia" and "Saturday."

It's impossible to put this album into one category. It's incredibly unique and really that good. Really.

An electric combination

No. 7: No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom

No Doubt is kind of like a buffet line...you have all these great options for food, so why would you keep taking the same dish over and over? I say load your plate with as many things as possible!

Enter No Doubt. Eric Stefani, the group's founder, was still with the group as Tragic Kingdom was being recorded. He brought the ska feel and the love of an 80s group, Madness. Eric forced his little sister Gwen to sing, and she was inspired by Julie Andrews from "The Sound of Music." Bass player (and song inspirer) Tony Kanal was into marching band and jazz. Guitarist Tom Dumont had recently joined and added his heavy metal background. And then there was drummer Adrian Young, who became more famous for wearing g-strings on stage than for lying about how long he had actually been playing drums.

So the influences...ska, Julie Andrews, jazz, marching band, heavy metal, and...well, who knows about Adrian Young. And out comes 14 incredible, incredible songs. Everyone has heard "Spiderwebs," "Just A Girl," and "Don't Speak."

I love "Different People." It's one of those songs where every different instrument or vocal is delectible. And Gwen shows off some incredible control of her voice...from nearly whispering to nearly screaming, and the tight vibrato she flairs during high "screaming" notes blows my mind.

This entire album is packed with goodness (and a bit of vitamin C!) and it just seems fitting that the 14 tracks end with "Tragic Kingdom." The music continues to increase in tempo at a suicidial rate, finally culminating in an explosive "death" as a trumpet plays "Taps" and a saxophone plays "Star Wars." And that's it!

Tasted good, didn't it?

Little Dylan

No 8: The Wallflowers - Bringing Down the Horse

If it wasn't for my girlfriend buying this CD for me a couple of months ago, I would not have been able to include it on this list. I knew it was an awesome CD, don't get me wrong, but I didn't own it for some odd reason (I know, sometimes I defy logic!)

Anyway, it's hard to believe that it was 10 years ago that Jakob Dylan and his band came out with this album. The radio hits are well-known: "One Headlight," "6th Avenue Heartache," "Three Marlenas," and "The Difference." My favorite is "One Headlight" with "The Difference" a close second.

But don't forget about the "B-sides." There are 11 good tracks on this CD..."Laughing Out Loud" and "Josephine" being good examples of the "other" songs.

What I like about The Wallflowers is their music and Dylan's voice. It's a voice I can't do. Maybe "One Headlight" is the hardest, but it's so breathy and yet grovelly that my throat is too dry to sing halfway through the song. But I love the blues rock (almost country!) guitars and the B3 organ. And the vocal harmonies are enticing. Sometimes there are no background voices, but you can still hear harmonies. I like that.

What ever happened to The Wallflowers?

Needed to talk about Maddux

Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux turned 40 today. He may not be the best pitcher in the game anymore, but ESPN's Tim Kurkjian calls him the 6th-best pitcher of ALL TIME!!!

Few things are as entrancing to me as a pitcher who has control of his pitches and the game. I still remember Kerry Wood blowing 20 strikeouts on the Houston Astros in just his 5th major league start. His curveball was insane. I still remember Kevin Brown pitching the San Diego Padres into the 1998 World Series. And Greg Maddux. Wow. Leo Mazzone, who was his pithcing coach in Atlanta for about a decade, said Maddux is the smartest pitcher he has ever seen and will ever see. He plans out a game in his head and has even said he would get a certain guy to pop out to third base in the third inning. And he did, of course.

Anyway, check out Kurkjian's article. Very nice.

The volcano erupts

After stewing quietly, the volcano suddenly spews out more than anticipated...

No. 12: Newsboys - Love Liberty Disco
No. 11: Newsboys - Take Me To Your Leader
No. 10: Newsboys - Thrive
No. 9: Newsboys - Step Up To The Microphone

I like the Newsboys...can you tell? Basically anything from the Jody Davis era (guitar) I love. Let's see, how can I keep this short?...

LLD - wow, what an afro by Davis. A unique, 70s, retro sound for sure, but I really like it. Every Newsboys album has some incredible track at or near the end that turns the listener to God in a heart-wide-open moment. It's "I Surrender All" on this CD.

TMTYL - "Cup O' Tea" and "Lost the Plot" are two of my favorite Newsboys songs ever. Both have my required tempo change/explosiveness feel. "Lost the Plot" was the encore on that tour, and Peter Furler playing his guitar alone on stage in the dark to open it up before everyone exploded in with video images showing on the backdrop...eah, that image and feeling will forever stay pasted in my head.

Thrive - Oh, this whole CD is incredible. "The Fad of the Land" into "John Woo" is one of my favorite album song transitions of all-time. And Davis' guitar work on this album are drool-worthy. The album closes with "Lord (I Don't Know)," which IS the Newsboys' best album-closing song ever.

SUTTM - Can you imagine the concert spectacle of three huge microphones hanging from the backdrop? Each one smokes and is layered in lights... Nice. Um, yeah...the CD. "WooHoo" gets the listener as excited as it's title would suggest. "Entertaining Angels" might be the best Newsboys song ever. "Hallelujah" is an odd yet enticing song with a dance beat. (gasp!) And the album closer, "Always," sums up the comfort of our Father in heaven..."to be my father in the fatherless days."

The Newsboys. Love em. Lots.

And now, on with the countdown

No. 13: Steven Curtis Chapman - Declaration

Let me first say that from here on in, these are albums that I can listen to ANYtime. Sometimes I only listen to certain music when I'm in certain moods, but the final 13 albums on my list transcend mood.

Frankly, I never got into SCC's music all that much...I only own two of his albums. But I guess based on two things I bought this CD. I met him once and he seemed incredibly humble, knowledgeable, respectable, and...normal; and two, a couple songs on this album are written about a missionary martyr I was named after.

Steven Curtis Chapman. Declaration. I hesitate to write about this one because I can't do it justice. Theologically it is probably one of THE best albums I have ever heard. And the production is simply outstanding...I continue to hear little sounds, phrases, layers, instruments...oooohhh, and that is what makes music good to me.

"No Greater Love" and "God Follower" are the two songs about the story of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Pete Fleming, and EdMcully. Mincaye, one of the five's murderers who is now converted, chants in his native tongue on "No Greater Love." And that transition from that song and Mincaye's chanting into "God is God" (both musically and thematically) is divine.

"Bring It On" is an incredible flair on something Oswald Chambers wrote, "Huge waves that would frighten an ordinary swimmer produce a tremendous thrill for the surfer who has ridden them." And "Magnificent Obsession" is a cry I only wish my heart had for God.

Please, if you're going to buy one album out of all the ones I talk about here, buy this one. Declaration is incredible. I only put it at 13 beacause my musical taste is a little more towards rock than SCC usually does. But for anyone with less of a rock taste than me (which is most of you reading this), this is for you!