7 albums that I love...
HOMOGENIC |Â 1997 | BjĂśrk
âHomogenicâ definitely was a bombshell upon release. There might not have been a single electronic music offering in the last 30 years that changed the genre like this one did. The âbeats and stringsâ formula was something very new then ago, especially with those vulcanic beats. An emotionally raw and musically eclectic masterpiece that never sounds dusty, even 20 years after its release. The record gave us some of her finest and most iconic songs, like âAll Is Full Of Loveâ, âJogaâ and âHunterâ - but never forget the epic âBacheloretteâ, the song that introduced me to her world.
PEACEÂ | 1999 | Eurythmics
I already wrote a lot about this album in my Annie Lennox post, yet I still need to add a few things.
âPeaceâ came about as something that at first just happened. Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox had already established their solo careers and worked extensively, with Annie having fully developed her soulful force, while Dave had primarily worked as a producer. In the albumâs accompanying documentary, they explained that first they just happened to write four songs together. They looked at them and realized that it was great what they were doing and either they stop right now or make a full album. They decided on the latter and so came âPeaceâ to be, their most powerful work on both a level of emotion and production. In each of their respective qualities, they had enhanced their skills and this has come to full display in songs like âAnything But Strongâ and âIâve Tried Everythingâ with their wonderful lyrics, overall composition and detailed soundscape, âI Saved The World Todayâ with its melancholic feel, or âForeverâ with its over-the-top-and-more bombast. Each of the eleven tracks is a highlight in its own way and I could write endlessly about why exactly it is like that.
The last thing I need to add: âPeace Is Just A Wordâ - this saying makes all the things in this world we care about and think are overly important seem so small.
FANTĂME | 2016 | Utada Hikaru
Years had passed since she did announce her hiatus from the music business, and then she came back. Similar to âPeaceâ, it is a comeback album that showed something much more mature compared to the artistâs previous work. While Hikkiâs previous albums mostly sounded like a collection of strong and less strong songs, âFantĂ´meâ turned out to be her first that was truly a whole piece. For the first time, no song feels like a filler. Although there are definitely some outstanding tracks on it, the songs are strongest when they are together with one another. âHanataba wo kimi niâ (en. âa bouquet for youâ) with its bittersweet thankfulness needs the joy of âNijikan dake no vacanceâ (en. âtwo-hour vacationâ) and the forceful âKouya no ookamiâ (en. âwolves in the wildernessâ) needs the spherical melancholy of âBoukyakuâ (en. âoblivionâ). But the strongest combination is âJinsei saikou no hiâ (en. âthe best day of my lifeâ) and âSakura nagashiâ (en. âflowing cherry blossomsâ), the two last tracks on the album. The former talks about meeting her now-husband, after the tragedy of her motherâs suicide had struck her. She talks about how in her darkest time, the best thing ever had happened to her. The latter then is a visit to not having the ability to say goodbye in the case of a premature death. Already having been released in 2012 to accompany the release of the heartbreaking anime film âEvangelion: 3.0 You can (not) redoâ (from my beloved Evangelion franchise), it is the dearest song to me among her whole discography. There are so many things I want to say about this song, which already has a life in so many ways of its own (as an Evangelion theme song, as a standalone release), but the relationship with âJinsei saikou no hiâ gives it yet another very special one.
BARE |Â 2003 | Annie Lennox
âBareâ can be very difficult in the beginning. At first, I couldnât really get into it. But one day, it started to open up...
Now, it is a work of healing to me. Heartbreaking and self-therapeutic, yet not whiny in any way. The emotions are undisguised, in a soul that was already present in Annieâs work before, but never in such a raw and natural form. There is no fabulous âDivaâ, no âMedusaâ, it is just her, bare. And astonishingly relatable.
âPavement Cracksâ has now become my very favourite song of hers. Every now and then, I start to cry while listening to the it, because it hits directly into my heart. âIâm going nowhere and Iâm ten steps backâ, the feeling of being lost on a quest to a meaningful life, yet not knowing what it is that will fulfill it.
The opener âA Thousand Beautiful Thingsâ has a bitter way of recounting the beautiful things in life to it, along with a magic, shimmering soundscape. This soundscape is also evident in âHonestlyâ, feeling so light, yet it has hints of a traumatic experience in the near past.
The songs âLonelinessâ, âThe Saddest Song Iâve Gotâ and âErasedâ feel in some way like a trilogy. âWoah and I know, yeah and I know, what you feelâ she roars, the glistering, âPeaceâ-esque instrumental playing in the back of the first of these. In the end she makes a shout out to the world, especially to a lost one, singing âhere I am, standing in the crowdâ, but âyou keep me here like a cancelled flight, an empty train running through the night...â. The lyrics are incredibly fitting to all these strong emotions. The second of the song is so stripped down to the core of what it is - the saddest song sheâs got. Downcast, on a truly hurtful day, âand Iâm frozen still, unspoken still, heartbroken, remembering something I forgotâ. The harmonies with the second voice do underline all so well. Then there comes âErasedâ, a song that fights, deals with the loneliness, the broken heart. It swings strongly.
This album full of personal, yet universal pain and healing, with incredible lyrics...
LIVE à BERCY | 1997 | Mylène Farmer
Before Mylène Farmer put out her 1995 album âAnamorphosĂŠeâ, she was known as a very goth pop singer, in her lyrics often trapped in her misery, as it seemed. Then, she broke out.
âLive Ă Bercyâ, the live album (and only non-studio album in my list) to her 1996 tour supporting her rock-driven, life-affirming comeback brings just this out best and puts it over the top. Visually, the tour was full of the best of the 90â˛s, all the things I love, silver-shiny boots, her iconic hairdo, crazy, lightly dressed dancers and a huge screen following her face all through the concert. Musically, the songs, her newer tracks as well as the older ones, mostly have a 90â˛s rock bend to them, yet they never sound the same. The arrangements are diverse, with majestic strings in âAinsi soit-je...â, glistering e-piano in âLâautre...â and an eerily beautiful, stripped down soundscape in âRĂŞverâ. The performance on this song remains one of her most iconic live moments, when she, every now and then interrupted by her overwhelming emotions, sings like an elf her ode to love and understanding.
The whole double CD is a celebration of life in all its forms, for example rocking in a Gregg-Araki-esque way in âLibertineâ and âQue mon coeur lâcheâ. The 90â˛s diva feel comes most to visibility with her vogue-ing in âCaliforniaâ and the aforementioned âLibertineâ, but she seems compassionate enough to never sound and look like she were above us. She is a queen of the outcast, many gay, lesbian, bi, pan and very queer.
If there is one album, that shows as a whole why I love Mylène Farmer, it is definitely this one.
HOUNDS OF LOVE |Â 1985 | Kate Bush
There is one album, on which Kate has managed to balance her experimental crazyness and her pop balladry in the most perfect way possible. That one is âHounds Of Loveâ.
Side A is home to some of her most well known songs, like âRunning Up That Hillâ, the title track, âCloudbustingâ and also the âletâs-get-mad-and-jump-aroundâ-like âThe Big Skyâ.
Side B showcases âThe Ninth Waveâ, a story about a woman lost at sea. Transcending from track to track, it builds up from the hauntingly beautiful, yet desperate âAnd Dream Of Sheepâ to the cinematic âHello Earthâ. Her character descends from the sea up above the sky during just one half of the LP. I donât know, it might just sound simple to say, but.... amazing.
RIDE |Â 2017 | Loreen
Being the most recent album on this list, âRideâ just had a very short time so far to make its way into my heart. Yet, contrary to many of the aforementioned, it came out at exactly the right time for me and thus immediately became one of my favourites ever.
I hadnât really expected Loreen to put out a record like this. Sure, I had already liked her music very much but she mostly did just play safe. I would have never thought she would give in to such a risk. And then, she did. All the sounds are so raw. So many elements are thought out in a unique way, not clean, not conformed, as they would usually be in pop music.
And there is one of the most fascinating atmospheres present you could imagine. A ride across the night sky. âJupiter Driveâ and âLove Me Americaâ best describe this feeling. Synths are mixed with strings and drums in a very alternative way that make each listen all the more rewarding, while the lyrics are about longing, love and passion in a dark and dreamy way. âRockets will fly you to the moon, but I would die for youâ, she sings in the latter. There seem to be many messages hidden in the songs that I donât get yet, although this makes it even more fascinating to listen to them over and over again. It keeps on giving.
âHate The Way I Love Youâ is full of such a strong and yet beautiful pain. The guitars, nearly non-present in Loreenâs work before 2017, are a welcome addition. They seem to be one of the things I never thought her songs would need, but as it turns out, especially with this song (and âHeart On Holdâ should also be mentioned in this case), it is exactly what makes it even more unique, combined with the other elements.
I am definitely curious about where she will head next. What this album proved to me is that she really is a unique artist to watch out for.