WOTAK MUSIC WAREHOUSE

Ok, to kick this off, I'd like to share an album from one of my favorite bands: The Tragically Hip.

From Wiki:

The Tragically Hip is a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of Gordon Downie (lead vocals and guitar), Paul Langlois (guitar), Rob Baker (guitar), Gord Sinclair (bass) and Johnny Fay (drums). The band is popular and influential in Canada. Their 2000 album Music at Work won Best Rock Album at the 2001 Juno Awards, as did their 1998 album Phantom Power at the 1999 Junos. In 2005 they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. They also hold the record for most number one debuts on the Canadian Albums Chart with a total of eight albums.

What the Wiki doesn't tell you is that The Tragically Hip is one of the worlds most under appreciated rock bands. They are a huge success in Canada, and rightfully so, but outside of Canada they have remained pretty obscure.

A little background from the Wiki:

The Tragically Hip-often referred to simply as The Hip-formed in 1983. They took their name from a skit in the Michael Nesmith movie "Elephant Parts"

In 1987, the band signed a long-term record deal with MCA. Later that year they released the self-titled EP The Tragically Hip, but the band did not achieve success until the release of 1989's Up to Here. In 1993, they created the Another Roadside Attraction festival, which tours Canada to promote Canadian bands.

Known for their energetic live performances, the band is noted for their improvisational renditions of songs. Lead singer Downie often strays from the song lyrics to rant to the audience or wander off into fictitious monologues and conversations. Some of these become lyrics for future songs. The most famous live monologue is the "killerwhaletank" version of "New Orleans Is Sinking", recorded at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, California, May 3, 1991. During the song, Downie tells the story of how he worked as a diver in a killer whale tank only to have his arm ripped off. This version was released on CD in 1996 as the B-side to "Grace, Too". Other notable monologues include the "Police Frogman" version of "New Orleans Is Sinking" (Downie rescues a family trapped in their car at the bottom of a frozen lake), the "Greek Porter" version of "Highway Girl" (in which Downie has an affair with a female porter on a luxury cruise ship while on an ocean crossing), the "Double Suicide" version of "Highway Girl" (in which Downie "accidentally" shoots his girlfriend) and the "Japanese Exchange Student" version of "At the Hundredth Meridian" (the day before Halloween, Downie accidentally shoots a Japanese student trick or treating). During a cover of the Them hit "Gloria", Downie talks about tying his friend to the railroad tracks and being unable to free him in time to avoid the approaching train.

The Wiki talks about Gordies improvisational monologues and they are meeping epic. In my opinion, Gordon Downie is one of the greatest front men to ever step onto a stage and when he launches into one of his monologues during a live show, you instantly know that you are in for a treat.

The Hip's live album, Live Between Us, was actually recorded at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan in 1996. I was at that show and it was one of the greatest concerts I have ever had the pleasure of attending. During the show, Gordie launched into one of his great monologues during the song "Grace Too" and it was one of the best things I had ever experienced at a live show... but that's not going to be the focus of this first post. I'll link to a collection of epic Gordie rants later but for now I want to share with you my favorite Hip album - "Road Apples" from 1991. It's one of those rare albums that is great to just put on and let it play all the way through. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Road Apples - The Tragically Hip

Track list: 01- Little Bones 02- Twist My Arm 03- Cordelia 04- The Luxury 05- Born In The Water 06- Long Time Running 07- Bring It All Back 08- Three Pistols 09- Fight 10- On The Verge 11- Fiddlers Green 12- The Last Of The Unplucked Gems

Hrmz, I am somehow not filled with hate at this.

If this thread is ever going to be anything like a warehouse, I need to start adding some content to it. I'd like to stick to albums that I consider great in their entirety because they are much more rare than those that aren't. I'd also like to share the more obscure albums that fit this requirement so I'm going to try to stay away from the most mainstream albums from the artists I choose to include. For example, I could share Aerosmith's 'Toys In The Attic' album because it's a great album, but it's hardly obscure. On the other hand, Aerosmith's 'Get Your Wings' is a great album that most of you probably don't have, or haven't heard in it's entirety. So, with that said, I'll turn some of you on to some good meep. I have two laid back, relaxation albums and two hard driving, in your face rock albums to add right now.

We'll start with a great album from Beck Hansen. I'm a huge Beck fan and I've been buying every release he's put out since Odelay. I have all of his albums but two of them really stand out as masterpieces in my opinion: Midnight Vultures and Mutations. This time around I'm putting up Mutations.

From Wiki: Mutations is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck, released in 1998 on Geffen Records. Though less successful on the charts than the preceding Odelay, Mutations established Beck as an eclectic and innovative artist for his sample-free mixture of far-ranging musical genres, including tropicalia, bossa nova, country, and blues. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

Although it's probably not as obscure as the rest of the albums in this post, it is surely Beck's most obscure album to date. It's really the only album he's produced that was almost entirely acoustic and it's a great record to put on and just relax to. This album is unlike anything Beck has done if you were to take his entire discography into account and, of all of his work, it's probably the one that I have enjoyed the most. From the opening poke to the final track, it's a highly enjoyable album that you will be glad to have in your collection.

Beck - Mutations

Track list:

"Cold Brains" - 3:41 "Nobody's Fault But My Own" - 5:02 "Lazy Flies" - 3:44 "Canceled Check" - 3:14 "We Live Again" - 3:05 "Tropicalia" - 3:20 "Dead Melodies" - 2:36 "Bottle Of Blues" - 4:56 "O Maria" - 3:59 "Sing It Again" - 4:19 "Static" - 11:20

*Includes hidden track "Diamond meep"

There are a few albums from my childhood that I still have around today and one of those albums is Cat Stevens' 'Tea For The Tillerman'. This is truly a timeless piece that has, by and large, fallen off the radar of popular music. When my father died in 1973, there were a few albums that he had purchased for his small collection and this was one of them. I still have the original vinyl and I play it a few times a year just to bring back old memories. It's another great record to put on when you want to relax and every song on it is memorable and enjoyable.

In 1977, Stevens dropped out of the mainstream world and into Islam. It was a huge loss for music lovers everywhere because I truly believe that Cat Stevens could have gone on to reach artistic heights similar to John Lennon's if he had stayed the course and continued to write while he was in his prime.

From Wiki: His albums 'Tea for the Tillerman' and 'Teaser and the Firecat' were both certified as Triple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States; his album 'Catch Bull at Four' sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone, and was Billboard's number-one LP for three consecutive weeks. He has also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years, for 'The First Cut Is the Deepest', which has been a hit single for four different artists.

While the production is bit dated (the album was produced in 1970) the content is timeless. This is another one to put on when you want to relax and it does a great job of soothing the soul.

Cat Stevens - Tea For The Tillerman

Track list:

Side one "Sad Lisa" "Where Do The Children Play?" - 3:52 "Hard Headed Woman" - 3:47 "Wild World" - 3:20 "Sad Lisa" - 3:45 "Miles From Nowhere" - 3:37

Side two "But I Might Die Tonight" - 1:53 "Longer Boats" - 3:12 "Into White" - 3:24 "On The Road To Find Out" - 5:08 "Father And Son" - 3:41 "Tea For The Tillerman" - 1:01

Ok, now for some face smashing Rock and Roll. I could share albums like this forever because my collection never stops growing but while going through my catalog, these two jumped out as being both somewhat obscure and great at the same time.

The first one is by the world renowned blow-hard, Ted Nugent. Say what you will about Ted and his right-wing extremist ramblings but the man has laid down some amazing licks in his career. This album is no exception. 'Scream Dream' was released in 1980 and, I believe, it followed his huge hit 'Cat Scratch Fever'. It never really got a lot of airplay aside from it's opening track, 'Wango Tango' and even that track has virtually dropped off of radio playlists altogether. This is a pretty rare album and it is Ted Nugent at his most energetic.

This album is in your face, loud, and full of classic Ted Nugent blustering ego and attitude. It's a great record to throw into the car and listen to when you feel road rage coming on. It'll make you laugh and sing along at times but one thing is certain, it will rock your meeping face off. You can literally hear the man having the time of his life in the studio while listening to this album. It starts off strong and never lets up. Ted is over the top on every track but it's enjoyable just the same. If you like 'in your face' rock, you'll love this collection tunes.

Ted Nugent - Scream Dream

Track list:

"Wango Tango" - 4:50 "Scream Dream" - 3:18 "Hard As Nails" - 3:39 "I Gotta Move" - 2:18 "Violent Love" - 2:54 "Flesh And Blood" - 4:44 "Spit It Out" - 3:53 "Come And Get It" - 3:18 "Terminus El Dorado" - 4:13 "Don't Cry (I'll Be Back Before You Know It Baby)" - 2:21

The last album for this post is one that was put out during the Grunge revolution of the 1990's. I have a lot of albums from that era but this one stands out for the fact that although it won awards, most of the album never got much airplay. That pretty much left the entire album pretty obscure to the masses even though there were a couple of huge radio hits. The album is 'Rubberneck' by Toadies and it's a collection of searing guitar rock tunes that will definitely get your adrenalin pumping.

what I like the most about this album and this band is their use of non-conventional time signatures and stretched-out melodic guitar riffs. The assemby of their tunes is quite non-conventional and refreshing. It's not cookie-cutter pop music, it's creative rock at it's finest that will have you playing air-guitar by the middle of the first song. The album is full of guitar hooks that get into your brain and stay there. I often find myself humming the guitar riffs to 'Possum Kingdom' while I'm working around the house and it's such an infectious tune that once you let it into your brain, it just seems to stick like a bot fly larva, eating away at your gray matter with a voracious appetite.

From Wiki: Rubberneck is the most successful album by the post-grunge band Toadies. It was released in August 1994 on Interscope Records and attained RIAA gold and platinum status in December 1995 and December 1996 respectively. The album produced the band's most popular single, "Possum Kingdom". The song's master track is featured in the Xbox 360 version of the video game Guitar Hero II.

Toadies - Rubberneck

Track list:

"Mexican Hairless" - 1:48 "Mister Love" - 2:51 "Backslider" - 2:30 "Possum Kingdom" - 5:09 "Quitter" - 3:33 "Away" - 4:34 "I Come From The Water" - 2:46 "Tyler" - 4:13 "Happy Face" - 2:58 "Velvet" - 2:30 "I Burn" - 3:33

everybody's favorite music sucks. mine included.

When a band steps out of their ''norm'' and releases a project that is completely different from anything they have ever done, it's usually a signal for me to check it out. I love to collect albums like this. In this case it's a British rock band called Bush, and the album is ''Deconstructed''.

From Wiki:

While not a studio album, Deconstructed often stands among the band's studio catalog and has been frequently cited regarding Bush's transformation from simple post-grunge to more experimental rock. It was followed two years later by their third studio album, The Science of Things, which continued this incorporation of electronic elements into hard rock. This decision brought upon mixed reviews throughout the music world.

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine suggested that Deconstructed reflected Bush's need to diversify in the face of the fading post-grunge style. He also prospected that, while some remixes turned out well, Deconstructed would fail to satisfy either audience; Bush fans would allegedly "hate" several tracks because of the stray from the traditional rock sound, and dance/electronica fans would find much of it "unimaginative."

Robert Levine of Rolling Stone also showed skepticism in Bush's sudden decision to jump into electronic experimentation after long establishing themselves as a stripped down hard rock act. Nevertheless, he claimed, "they make the move more easily than one might expect." Levine complemented various tracks including the "eerie soundscape" of "Swallowed" and added that "amid that ominous din, Gavin Rossdale's voice comes through only occasionally and faintly. Ironically, it's one of the strongest musical statements he's made yet."

After reading that I think it's safe to say that the early reviews of 1997's ''Deconstructed'' were met with very little optimism, which is unfortunate because the album is actually quite a good listen. Take a trip to Amazon and read through the reviews and you'll see what I mean. While the standard Bush fan who was used to the bands established sound tended not to care much for this release, it did draw many new listeners into the fold. In my opinion that made this album a resounding success for two reasons. 1. It was a re-release of tracks that already existed so any sales were a bonus and 2. It earned the band attention it wouldn't have otherwise received. One might also argue that it helped some pretty damned good DJ's establish a solid foothold in their market.

Many bands since have released high quality, unmixed individual studio tracks to be remixed in this fashion but, in my opinion, none of them have been as successful as this one was.

Bush - Deconstructed

Track list: 1."Everything Zen" (The Lhasa Fever Mix) 2."Mouth" (The Stingray Mix) 3."Swallowed" (Goldie/Toasted Both Sides Please Mix) 4."Synapse" (Philip Steir/My Ghost In The Bush Of Life Mix) 5."History" (Dub Pistols Mix) 6."Personal Holloway" (Fabio Paras/Soundclash Republic Mix) 7."Bonedriven" (Mekon/Beat Me Clever Mix) 8."Insect Kin" (Jack Dangers/Drum and Bees Mix) 9."Comedown" (Lunatic Calm Mix) 10."Everything Zen" (Derek DeLarge Mix) 11."In a Lonely Place" (Tricky Mix)

Tracks 1, 9, and 10 are remixes of songs from the album Sixteen Stone. Tracks 2-8 are remixes of songs from the album Razorblade Suitcase. The eleventh track, "In a Lonely Place," was previously released on The Crow: City of Angels soundtrack.

wotaks music suck-a-thon...."music to listen to when there is no hope left"

Like your suggestions so far, I either have them of like the ones I have downloaded, do you have another link for the Bush album? That link is busted.

And in the 'They once were awesome, and now should join Heaven's Gate' category: 311

Sorry GrapeApe, I borked that link when I rebuilt my site.

Here's a download link:

Get it now because the download links will all die in time.

Or you can just stream it here.

thanks man, appreciate it.

love the toadies. Props for including that album. I just wish I had taken the opportunity to see them live when they used to play in Texas pretty much constantly.

They still are. They played 2 or 3 times last year here in San Antonio