Lunar Boulevard

I already have a column dedicated to records that are underrated and overlooked but I also wanted to take some time to explore the all-important debut album. Some are instant classics and worthy of being ranked with the best and those are the ones I want to focus on. For better or worse, an artist's debut album often sets the tone for the rest of their career and either makes or breaks the public's perception of them. Sometimes artists are able to escape this (like Radiohead, for instance) and others are measured by a successful debut and are never able to get out of its shadow. I'm going to start off looking at Oh, Inverted World by The Shins. I think The Shins are one of those wonderful indie gems. Despite having only released three albums over the past decade they've managed to improve and make a name for themselves with every release. I know a lot of people first heard about the band because of the Garden State soundtrack, which features a couple songs fro...

If you're a diehard U2 fan like I am then the photo above is impressive beyond words. Chances are you've heard about it by now: at the end of October U2 will be reissuing a 20th anniversary edition of their landmark Achtung Baby album. Out of the five different editions being released the most expensive is the "Uber Deluxe Edition", complete with everything you see above. It's exciting and tempting to be sure, yet the more I read about it the more I realize that I can live without it. So far the U2 remasters have been beyond fantastic in terms of sound, packaging, and execution. Their catalogue has been long overdue to receive this kind of treatment and over the past few years they've slowly begun to give their discography the special attention it so badly needed. I've been extremely pleased with all of them and was anxiously awaiting to see what the band would do with Achtung Baby . However, I have to admit that I'm a bit disappointed and fans ac...

So I recently read where The Smiths are FINALLY getting a remastered and re-released catalogue. I've been hoping for this for a long time and I'm glad to hear it's happening. One of the best bands of the 80's deserves this kind of treatment. In other words: I'm stoked.