Feels Like the First Time

Some people do great things right out of the gate and then disappear forever (Harper Lee, Christian Laettner, Tag Team). And then there are those who despite not looking very promising in the beginning, go on to do great things (Jimmy Carter). Today, an ode to some of modern musics' greatest innovators and music-makers whose first albums were, well, not that great.


The National - The National
This is a band searching for its sound. Clearly, they didn't find it here. While The National might be indie rock's current kings, the trip to the throne was full of murky and kind of boring alt-country. Fitting then that the band best known for making albums that take time to grow on you, took their own sweet time growing into being a great band.

Radiohead - Pablo Honey
Sure it was awesome but let's be honest, "Creep" was a total ripoff of mid-nineties angst ala "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Beck's "Loser," and the Smashing Pumpkins, "Zero." Most of Pablo Honey is sappy and kind of embarrassing (and the band wouldn't argue this). Radiohead's rise from just another nineties grunge rock outfit to making a handful of the best albums known to mankind is comparable only to the Beatles metamorphosis from boy band to inventors of modern music.

Nirvana - Bleach
While some purists (read: fun hating, annoying contrarians) may claim Bleach was truly Nirvana's best record, the truth is, most of it is downright unlistenable. While moments like "About a Girl" show the amazing songwriter Cobain hid under all those blown out amplifiers, songs like "Floyd the Barber" are the musical equivalent of water boarding.



Bright Eyes - A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997

Whiny doesn't even begin to describe the upper-middle class complaints of a young Connor Oberst. However the singer/songwriter was able to finally channel all that teen angst into a pretentiously-titled emo-folk epic, Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground and has since seemed to settle on an easy going country-rock sound with songs about fortune tellers and long road trips. Though his latter albums have lacked the emotional depth of the early stuff, the feeling is more genuine and mature.



Neutral Milk Hotel - Everything Is...

The first official EP of Neutral Milk Hotel, Everything Is..., is a messy collage of headache-inducing noise. Apart from the title track (a fun fuzzy psyche-pop tune) this album is just pure throwaway. The next album out of these guys however, was one of the most moving and amazing pieces of art of the 20th century.

Reunited And It Feels So Good (Wishful Thinking Edition)

Over the last couple of years we have seen some pretty major acts get back together - The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., My Bloody Valentine and recently Pavement, just to name a few. Now I am a realistic person. I know some bands are better off staying split, but what about the bands who might still have something great left to give the world? Here, a list of groups who need to bury the hatchet and start shredding the axe.

1. The Smiths - Johnny Marr is running around with Modest Mouse (which is like an NFL player on a high school team) while Morrissey continues to make his just-bearable solo albums. Really guys, this is better than bringing joy to millions of die-hard Smiths fans across the world? Really? Modest Mouse? Seriously? Okay then.

2. The Smashing Pumpkins - Not Billy Corgan, some girl on bass, an Asian guy on guitar and a some teenage drummer in the background - I want the real deal, D'arcy, James, and Jimmy. Otherwise you are not allowed to call yourselves The Smashing Pumpkins. Got it?

3. At The Drive-In - The reason you may not have heard of them is because they broke up right after their debut album started to gain some attention, and right before I was supposed to see them in concert (thanks for nothing). The band has split into two different groups now - The Mars Volta and Sparta - neither of which kicks as much pure unadulterated arse as At The Drive In.

4. Neutral Milk Hotel - I've already covered this one in the past, but allow me to repeat myself. Jeff Mangum, I know, you had a break down, the stress of touring and being kind of nuts takes its toll. How about you just go into the studio and cough a couple times into the microphone just so we have something. Anything!

Grandaddy - Maybe the saddest story here, the band broke up because they were too poor to keep doing it. You did your part Grandaddy, reaching for something higher than just mainstream success, giving us epically beautiful songs about the break down of modern society - comparing your blues and the numbness of our generations ennui to a cell phone on standby. No I don't blame you. I blame America.

Who do you want to see reunite?