The regard for The Carl Stalling Project stunned me, a good stun: as much as I watch Looney Tunes to this day, I didn’t think the music deserved immortalizing on its own. Besides this development, the 1990 Pazz & Jop results showed a continued interest in post-sixties psychedelia, singer-songwriter narcissism, and, thankfully, hip-hop noise. In one of those coincidences without which life would be a shriveled thing, my local Starbucks blasted Digital Underground’s “Doowutchyalike” — the long version! They would improve on Sex Packets, but I struggled with its placement; this went double for A Tribe Called Quest’s debut.
I note the absence of country, for example Dwight Yoakam’s If There Was a Way and Carlene Carter’s I Fell in Love. Food Network star Trisha Yearwood’s husband Garth Brooks sold a few copies of No Fences too.
Most of the mehs have songs worth preserving, and I have across sundry media: Blue Sky Mining‘s title track, Brick by Brick‘s Iggy-Kate Pierson duet (not the ones called “Pussy Power” and “Butt Town”), All Shook Down‘s appropriately titled “Sadly Beautiful.”
Finally, I had heard not a note of Robin Holcomb until last Tuesday.
I ranked the entire list.
Meh
World Party – Goodbye Jumbo
Iggy Pop – Brick by Brick
The Replacements – All Shook Down
The Black Crowes – Shake Your Money Maker
Jane’s Addiction – Ritual de lo Habitual
Was (Not Was): Are You Okay?
Sound, Solid
Lisa Stansfield – Affection
Red Hot and Blue
Midnight Oil – Blue Sky Mining
A Tribe Called Quest – People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
Faith No More – The Real Thing
Pixies – Bossanova
Lou Reed/John Cale – Songs for Drella
Bob Dylan – Under the Red Sky
Prince – Graffiti Bridge
Los Lobos – The Neighborhood
Guy – The Future
Yo La Tengo – Fakebook
Van Morrison – Enlightenment
Living Colour – Time’s Up
Good to Great
Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
Pet Shop Boys – Behaviour
Sinéad O’Connor – I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
Digital Underground – Sex Packets
Sonic Youth – Goo
Neil Young – Ragged Glory
Eno/Cale – Wrong Way Up
Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
Deee-Lite – World Clique
3rd Bass – The Cactus Album
The Chills – Submarine Bells
Paul Simon – The Rhythm of the Saints
Rosanne Cash – Interiors
L.L. Cool J – Mama Said Knock You Out
Youssou N’Dour – Set
The Jury’s Out
Texas Tornados – Texas Tornados
The Neville Brothers – Brother’s Keeper
The Carl Stalling Project
Humanizing The Vacuum 