Sound Obsession

Welcome to Part 10, the final part, of my “100 Favorite Albums of the 1990’s” list! This part covers the late summer of '98 through the end of '99 - encompassing the first semester of my sophomore year of college through the first semester of my junior year of college.  The entirety of my teens were spent in the 90's and the final couple years of that decade were, in a word - different. A new millennium was just around the corner, and it was a time of significant cultural transition. My musical obsessions over the course of ten years had evolved from alternative rock and grunge, to hip-hop, to electronic music and rave - styles that sprouted up from regional, independent, and underground scenes to infiltrate and shape the mainstream.  However, by late '98, it was starting to feel like music was coming from the top down - a torrent of boy bands, pop singers, Latin pop, pop-punk, nu-metal, etc. Rock was getting soft, and even hip-hop seemed to be losing its way. Corporate...

Another year done and gone, and what a great year for music.  These are my top ten favorite albums of 2023, in alphabetical order by artist name . . . . Baroness:   Stone     (Abraxan Hymns - 9/15/23) Not so long prior to 2015’s   Purple , Baroness’ excellent fourth album in a color-coded series that concluded this year, their tour bus flipped in Bath, England, resulting in both shattered bones and band lineup.     Founder and frontman John Baizley remains as the sole original member of this Savannah, GA, sludge and progressive metal group.     2017’s   Gold & Grey   introduced fans to axe-shredder extraordinaire Gina Gleason, cementing a new and now consistent dynamic that pays dividends on Baroness’ latest LP,   Stone .     As its title implies, this one is rock solid with drums and bass locked in propulsive motorik tempo, Gleason’s soari...