Cross-legged on a barstool, like nobody sits anymore

Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

#458 : Southeastern - Jason Isbell (2013)

After releasing three little-heard solo albums, Isbell turned his personal travails — fresh sobriety, getting married — into what would become his opus. “It gave me a story to tell,” the songwriter said of Southeastern, which featured his sharpest literary writing (“Elephant”), newfound vulnerability (“Traveling Alone”), and his new calling card (“Cover Me Up”). The album set a standard for new-age Seventies-inspired singer-songwriters and coronated the Alabama native and his wife and bandmate, Amanda Shires, as the new king and queen of Americana.

I'd not heard of Jason Isbell but assumed he was one of those US country megastars whose music doesn't travel overly well across the Atlantic.  In most cases, this would be a safe bet but to my pleasant surprise I thought this was a fine album.  He's got a good voice and it's a strong selection of songs with deeper lyrics than you might expect from the genre.  And yes, "Elephant" is sharply literate - heartbreakingly so for far too many unfortunately, so approach with caution but I think it's probably one of my favourite finds on the list so far.

"Customers also listened to" Drive-by Truckers - who used to feature one Jason Isbell amongst their ranks, so I imagine there may well be similarities!  Wikipedia also informs me that his albums do sell reasonable over here - so I duly apologise to the army of UK Jason Isbell fans for not previously being aware of him and am happy to be included in their number from now on!

#457 : I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got - Sinead O'Connor (1990)

“How could I possibly know what I want when I was only 21?” the Irish art rocker asked on her breakthrough second album. Sinéad O’Connor struck a nerve with her keening voice, her shaved head, and her tortured grandiosity in “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “I Am Stretched on Your Grave.” But she hit Number One with an obscure Prince breakup ballad, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Originally just filler on a flop album by the Family, it became O’Connor’s signature song.

Was this really released 30 years ago? 30!?!  Have I really avoided listening to this album for that long?  I mean I had heard "Nothing Compares 2 U" once or twice, but a whole album of Sinead's "tortured grandiosity" seemed like something I could live without.  And starting the first track with The Serenity Prayer didn't exactly do anything to convince me otherwise...

...but as a whole I'd say the album is OK.  Not brilliant, but OK - I suspect if it didn't have that song on it coupled with the strong cover design, it would have sold closer to 7 copies as opposed to the 7 million it actually racked up.  She has a nice voice but most of the songs drift by almost unnoticed - the version I listened to had "Nothing Compares 2 U" rated as 10/10 and all the other tracks unrated.  Wikipedia also has very little to say about the album - maybe her various grandstanding antics mean that people have little space left to have opinions about her music.  Actually, some of the tracks on the bonus disc from the 2009 release are more interesting to listen to including her contribution to Red, Hot and Blue (which is an album I'd like to see on this list, but suspect we won't) and her doing the Twin Peaks "sometimes my arms bend back" thing (for no obvious reason, as far as I could tell).  But they don't count for this review - sorry, Sinead!

Her Wikipedia entry is somewhat unsurprisingly slightly longer and is well worth reading, with this gem hidden amongst all the controversy - "O'Connor said she had begun to grow her hair back, but that after being asked if she was Enya, O'Connor shaved it off again".  "Customers also listened to" Alanis Morrisette and Macy Gray - which doesn't surprise me, although I was expecting to see The Cranberries in there as well.  All in all, I'm pleased to have finally listened to the album but won't be bothering to do so again.

#456 : Greatest Hits - Al Green (1975)

“In Memphis, you just do as you feel,” Al Green told Rolling Stone in 1972. “It’s not a modern, up-to-par, very glamorous, big-red-chairs-and-carpet-that-thick studio. It’s one of those places you can go into and stomp out a good soul jam.” In collaboration with producer Willie Mitchell and musicians like drummer Al Jackson Jr., Green was a natural album artist, making love-and-pain classics such as 1973’s Call Me. But this collection makes for a unified album in itself, compiling hits like “Let’s Stay Together,” “I’m Still in Love With You,” and “Tired of Being Alone” into a flawless 10-song suite.

Hmmm - another greatest hits album.  I can't say I'm massively familiar with the Reverend's work, but I was expecting a sweet slice of soul music which I would initially like and soon get bored with (and yes, I realise I'm a complete philistine).  And that's pretty much what happened - yes, he's got a great voice and yes, the music is smooth and yes, the tracks are all great but when you put it all together I just don't care to listen to it.  I might as well just stick "Let's Stay Together" on repeat play for an hour (and I'm not going to do that either).

"Customers also listened to" Marvin Gaye and Wilson Pickett - both of whom I am more likely to engage with (but not a lot more).  I'd also say that considering he's an ordained minister who sings of love and happiness, he seems like a thoroughly unpleasant man.  So, I think the chances of me revisiting this album are quite slim.

As I'm now a fully paid up member of the UK wing of the Jason Isbell fan club, there can obviously only be one winner.  Yes, it's Sinead O'Connor!  Or maybe not - Jason Isbell's album was a very pleasant surprise indeed.

#461-459 - Three unexpectedly pleasant surprises
#455-453 - Not a lot in common between this lot