Favorite Albums of 2000s: #6

Recap so far...

7.  All Right Here – Sara Groves

8.  The Beautiful Letdown – Switchfoot

9.  Remedy – David Crowder Band

10.  Divine Discontent – Sixpence None the Richer

11.  This Mystery – Nichole Nordeman

12.  Learning to Breathe – Switchfoot

13.  The Chess Hotel – The Elms

14.  Add to the Beauty – Sara Groves

15.  Get Behind Me Satan – The White Stripes

16.  She Must and Shall Go Free – Derek Webb

17.  Arriving – Chris Tomlin

 

This brings us to…

 

6.  All That You Can’t Leave Behind – U2

 

I recently decided to move U2 up to the position of the 2nd best band in history, behind only the Beatles.  And while i never thought it possible for the Beatles to be dethroned, i’m this close to doing it.

 

This release from October 2000 is U2’s best work since 1987’s The Joshua Tree.  It garnered the band a whopping 7 Grammy Awards, either for the album or its singles.  The song “Beautiful Day” alone snagged the band 3 of those Grammys.

 

There’s not a bad track on this album.  My favorite is Elevation.  Kite is overlooked. 

 

I would call this U2’s most accessible album.  It’s the one i would offer to the average non-fan to get introduced to the band.  It’s one i could see playing with my parents in the room, and not being on edge that it’s bothering them.  I don’t see these as negative things at all.

 

On a final note, this is an album that took on added resonance after the 9/11 attacks.  It’s almost eerie to listen to this album in that context, almost as if it were written in and for the aftermath.  Almost every track seems to connect, from the obvious “New York” and “Peace on Earth” to “Walk On” and others.

 

Other links:

·       Elevation live at Slane Castle

·       Special 9/11 themed video for Walk On

·       9/11 tribute performance

·       Super Bowl 2002 halftime show (Beautiful Day)

·       Kite live

·       Moving Grace video.  I’ll take it.

Favorite Albums of 2000s: #7

7.  All Right Here – Sara Groves

 

You’ll notice in these lists that i’m a lyrics guy.  I like music that has something meaningful, perhaps even important, to say, and i prefer these things to be said in non-obvious ways that are an admixture of elegance, cleverness, poetry, passion and timelessness.  Sara Groves is a premier songwriter, and she shines nowhere better than in this 2002 release.

 

My favorite track, and sure to be part of a future slideshow, is You Cannot Lose My Love.  This is a song that will be with us for a long, long time.  Another 5-star tune is “Maybe There’s a Loving God”.  The only track i could do without is Tornado.  But there are so many excellent songs here that i completely overlooked a gem like “Fly” until just recently.

 

Snippets of the lyrics (full listing)…

·       And in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars and more like character

·       Every heart has so much history.  It’s my favorite place to start.  Sit down awhile and share your narrative with me.  I’m not afraid of who you are.

·       Pause in your busy day, look extra long my way, wink at me across the room.  Kiss me longer.  Touch my arm when i am by your side.  So i can fly.

·       And love to me is when you put down that “one more thing” and say nothing will come between you and me.  Not even one more thing.

·       They have a chart & graph of my despondency.  They want to chart a path for self-recovery.  They want to know what i’m thinking, what motivates my mood, to spend all night in the backyard, staring up at the stars and moon… Maybe this was made for me, for lying on my back in the middle of a field.  Maybe that’s a selfish thought, or maybe there’s a loving God.  Maybe i was made this way, to think and to reason and to question and to pray.

·       Man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief, drug down to the city dump, spread eagle on a cross beam, propped up like a scarecrow, nailed like a thief, there for all the world to see.

·       ‘Cause if you sit at home “you’re a loser”, “couldn’t you find anything better to do?”  Well, no, i couldn’t think of one thing i would rather waste my time on than sitting here with you.

·       You will lose your confidence, in times of trial your common sense.  You may lose your innocence, but you cannot lose my love.

 

Other links

·       Video for Less Like Scars

·       Interview from 2003

 

Next up: a wonderful album from the band that gave us the best album of the 1980s (and perhaps of all-time)

Fave Albums of 2000s: #8

8.  The Beautiful Letdown – switchfoot

 

The review in Christianity Today covers my thoughts pretty well on this one, the pinnacle (so far) for switchfoot.  I still think these guys have a Joshua Tree in them.  Or maybe they’ve already released it, but just over a series of albums rather than encased into a single CD.  I own all their CDs, and enjoy them all, but Beautiful Letdown is my favorite.

 

From the driving modern rock of Meant to Live and This is your Life to the elegiac 24 and On Fire, switchfoot delivers.  Musically and lyrically.

 

Snippets of the lyrics (full listing)…

·        We were meant to live for so much more

·        We want more than this world’s got to offer, we want more than the wars of our fathers

·        I don't know what they're gonna think of next, genetic engineers of the most high tech.  A couple new ways to fall into debt.  I'm a nervous wreck but I'll bet that that T.V. set tells us what we've wanted to hear

·        It was a beautiful letdown the day i knew that all the riches this world has to offer me would never do.  In a world full of bitter pain and bitter doubt, i was trying so hard to fit in, until i found out…

·        I don’t belong here

·        Easy living, you’re not much like the name

·        We are a beautiful letdown, painfully uncool, the church of the drop-outs, the losers, the sinners, the failures, and the fools

·        The tension is here, between who you are and who you could be, between how it is and how it could be

·        Today will soon be gone, like yesterday is gone

·        We’ve got information in the information age, but do we know what life is outside of our convenient Lexus cages?

·        Yesterday is a wrinkle onyour forehead… This is your life.  Are you who you want to be?  This is your life.  Is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose?

 

It just hit me… this is Ecclesiastes and Solomon.  And it’s funny, whenever i finish one of these write-ups, i wonder… how could this album not be ranked higher?  I may have missed the boat on this one.

 

Other links

The band talks about the album

Meant to Live video

This is Your Life

Ton of switchfoot videos

 

Next up: the highest ranking album by a solo female artist

Fave Albums of 2000s: #9

The most recent release, from 2007, on these lists is my #9 selection...

9.  Remedy - David Crowder Band

Will naturally suffer by comparison to its predecessor (A Collision, still to come), but this is a fantastic album in its own right.  This is DCB stripped bare, musically, lyrically, emotionally, whatever.  This is DCB coming to grips with pain, clinging to our Remedy.  Bare, but i wouldn't call it unplugged or anything.  They're still quirky, fun, poignant, deep, all that.

The premier track is Surely We Can Change.  Sometimes at work i need to pull up that link and just listen to the song.

Full track listing.  Most links are live versions on youtube.

1. The Glory Of It All
2. Can You Feel It?
3. Everything Glorious - this is the song we used on our family video for 2007
4. … neverending …
5. Never Let Go
6. O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
7. Rain Down
8. We Won't Be Quiet
9. Remedy
10. Surely We Can Change

This is one that may keep rising over the next couple of years as it dwells in me.

Next up: #8, the best album by my favorite current rock band.  It may or may not be a letdown.

Favorite Albums of 2000s: #10

Starting off the top 10, listing them one at a time, with this gem...

10.  Divine Discontent - Sixpence None the Richer

I love Leigh Nash's voice, that soft, airy, beautiful female vocal.  And i've been a fan of Matt Slocum's songwriting since his days in Love Coma (still have that cassette tape somewhere).  I pretty much wore out my CD of their debut album The Fatherless and the Widow.  

I remember buying Divine Discontent soon after its release in 2002, but life circumstances (somehow, don't ask me what) kept it off my radar screen.  It wasn't until i got my mp3 player loaded that the greatness of this album hit me.  I'd hear a Sixpence song, find myself tapping along and wondering what album it was from.  Invariably, it was this one.  This was an album that snuck up on me.

Their previous album was the one with the giant hit "Kiss Me" and successful follow-up "There She Goes", but this one is the more solid album from start to finish.  The only chart hit was the remake of the fantastic pop song "Don't Dream It's Over", originally a hit for Crowded House.  It's a perfect fit for Leigh's voice, though therein is also the downside, as there's really nothing new about Sixpence's version.

My favorite track is A Million Parachutes.

Breathe Your Name video

Leigh on Letterman, explaining the band's name (in case you were wondering)

Holden Beach

We returned yesterday from our spring break trip to the beach.  This year, we went to a new place, Holden Beach.  Holden is the island next to Oak Island, where we've been twice before.  It is about halfway between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach.  A very family oriented place with mostly large houses, and very few condos (and those are 2 stories high at most).

We took some good pictures with Caroline's new digital camera, and i hope to have some of those up soon on the family page (and will post a link here when that is ready), but here is one photo to get it started.  This is Emily & Jackson down on the beach, taken by Caroline...

The weather wasn't great, due to high winds most of the week.  That limited our options.  But we had a good time.

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Favorite Albums of 2000s: 11-17

See previous post for fuller explanation.  Sorry for the delay.  I somehow lost my tally sheet where i had ranked the albums.  I finally just decided to redo it all, but i'm afraid that i've forgotten something.  Nevertheless, here is my list of numbers 11 through 17...

17.  Arriving – Chris Tomlin

Winner of a Dove award in 2005, this put the Texas songwriter firmly on the CCM map, and had legions of worshippers singing along to his catchy melodies.

 

16.  She Must and Shall Go Free – Derek Webb

Piercing lyrics for the church from the former lead singer of Caedmon’s Call.  Wedding Dress is an incredible song.

 

15.  Get Behind Me Satan – The White Stripes

I have a feeling i would enjoy all of their albums, but this is the only one i own.

 

14.  Add To The Beauty – Sara Groves

We’ll see more from Sara later in our top 10, but this one makes the grade.

 

13.  The Chess Hotel – The Elms

My vote for the most overlooked album of the decade.  Solid, fun, and meaningful Midwestern American rock & roll.  Share it with all your friends, and rock out on Saturday night.  Here are videos for "Nothin' to Do with Love", "The Way I Will", and "Bring Me Your Tea".

 

12.  Learning to Breathe – switchfoot

Their breakthrough album, Grammy-nominated, but not their best.  Three killer songs (Dare You to Move, title track, and Love is the Movement), plus 8 more solid tracks.

 

11.  This Mystery – Nichole Nordeman

Chock-full of well-written songs.  Reflective pop for the introspective, the thinkers.  Check out "Why" and "Fool for You".

 

Next up: The Top 10

If you like this list, just wait to see the top 10.  You’ll either be annoyed that i got the lists flipped, or jazzed that there could be 10 albums better than these.

Rough First Half

My Baylor Bears made the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time since 1988 (and only the 2nd time since 1950).  Their first round game is today, and is currently at the half.

Not a great start for the Bears.  Purdue is very well coached and disciplined.  They play hard and aggressive defense, reminding me somewhat of Coach K's Duke teams.  Baylor is down by 19 points, a deficit fueled by a mix of sloppy ballhandling and turnovers, some horse shots from the Boilermakers, and that tough defense i mentioned.  Purdue also has an edge on the offensive glass on their end, one part effort and one part lucky bounces.

Sic 'em, Bears!

My Favorite Albums of the Decade

Over the next series of posts, i'll give my favorite albums of the 2000s.  I do not warrant that these are the best, because i've not heard the vast majority of albums released (who could?).  These are merely my favorites.

We'll start with the Honorable Mentions, those just barely not making the list, or with odd circumstances.

Honorable Mention - Special Categories

Diamond Cuts:  Triple Play - this is a compilation of songs related to baseball, the 3rd installment in a series of 9 albums from the non-profit outfit Hungry for Music.  Triple Play is my favorite of the 9 (well, i only own the first 8), led be the stellar tunes "Letters in the Dirt" by Chuck Brodsky, "Remember Me" by Jim Guadet, and Jeff Arundel's "Harmon Killebrew".  I also enjoy Christine Lavin's "Ballad of a Ball Game".

America: A Tribute to Heroes - an all-star collection of artists came together in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 for a broadcast concert telethon.  Not uniformly great, but loaded with memorable performances.  Come on, rise up!

O Brother Where Art Thou? - soundtrack from and a perfect fit for the Coen brothers movie.  I was amazed and thrilled when this won the 2002 Grammy for Best Album.

Honorable Mention - Just Missed

·        Carried Along – Andrew Peterson

·        Woven & Spun – Nichole Nordeman

·        Mountain Soul – Patty Loveless (“You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” is an awesome song)

·        The Way I Am – Jennifer Knapp

·        Films for Radio – Over the Rhine

·        Drunkard’s Prayer – Over the Rhine

·        Good Dog, Bad Dog – Over the Rhine

·        Truth, Soul, and Rock & Roll – The Elms

 

Next up: picks # 11+

Princes of Scotland

One of my dad's cousins has built a very nice family tree (not sure if that link is public or only viewable to those that have received an invitation) history on ancestry.com.  I was checking it out, tracing the lineage back as far as it would go.  I figured to find 7 or 8 generations, hoping to figure out when and where our ancestors came to America.  Instead, it went back more than 25 generations, back to the 1200s.

Guess what i found?  25 generations ago, my great-x-23 grandfather was Robert the Bruce, the first King of Scotland.  He's best known in our age from the movie Braveheart, whose final scene is seen here...

 

His first child was Marjorie Bruce, born 1296.  Her story is quite interesting.  First, i found another site that traces her lineage back even further, into the 10th century.  As a young girl, Marjorie was taken prisoner by the English and kept in a convent until age 17.  She soon wed upon her release, and while pregnant with her first child, was thrown from a horse.  The injuries would kill her, but not before the child, a son named Robert, was delivered.  Robert Stewart became King Robert II of Scotland.

One of Robert's daughters was Johanna (Jean) Stewart.  Her 3rd husband was James Sandilands.  From there, there are 17 generations of Sandilands, though sometimes the surnames are noted in the records as Sandlin or Sandland.  Somewhere in there (the records are spotty), the Sandilands came to America.  They passed through Chester county in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Duplin county in North Carolina, York county in South Carolina, and Dekalb county in Tennessee. 

Until we get to a Nancy Sandlin, born 1834 in Tennessee. Nancy married a man named Manson Scott, and their second son was Daniel Marion Scott (curiously, he also died after being thrown from a horse).  Daniel's second son was Walter Marvin Scott, born 1886.  Walter Scott is my great-grandfather, my dad's dad's dad.

We are all sons of Scotland.