The 411 Music Top Five 02.02.10: Top 5 One-Album Wonders

Posted by Ben Czajkowski on 02.02.2010

From Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and the Postal Service's Give Up to Mos Def & Talib Kweli as Black Star, Dark New Day's Twelve Year Silence and Rob Dougan's Furious Angels, the 411 Music Staff lists their Top One Album Wonder! See which albums made the list and why!

Marshall Slayton

5. Army of Anyone –Army of Anyone.

Army of Anyone was a short-lived supergroup comprised of Richard Patrick from Filter, the DeLeo brothers from Stone Temple Pilots, and drummer Ray Luzier, who now belongs to Korn. They released one album, and it wasn't bad – it gathered positive reviews, but never the fan following they deserved. They eventually called it quits in 2007. (Richard Patrick has said they might be revitalized, if the conditions were right.) Those who were lucky to see them in concert got to hear the best Filter and Stone Temple Pilots tracks performed intimately in small clubs, as well as some really good Army of Anyone numbers.

 

4. Propellerheads – Decksanddrumsandrockandroll.

The song "Spybreak!" has been synonymous with the lobby shootout scene in the first "Matrix" film. Therefore, it's also become associated with a lot of parodies, like "Austin Powers." What most people don't realize is the song is by the Propellerheads, comprised of British producers Will White and Alex Gifford, who made an excellent drum n' bass album in 1998. Too bad Decksanddrumsandrockandroll was their only effort, since they split up in 2003. But it was a good one.

3. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Not counting her 2002 MTV Unplugged album, Lauryn Hill's only solo studio album is an R&B masterpiece, which is a shame that she disappeared into normal family life so shortly afterwards. (Don't get me wrong, family comes first, but she vanished out of the spotlight without as much as a goodbye.) Her only album received both critical acclaim and commercial success, and rightfully so – she was brilliant in The Fugees, but she used her solo effort as an opportunity to make strong political and social statements. And everything about it worked. (I'd say it's about time she made a comeback.)

 

2. The Postal Service – Give Up.

Well, this is a weird one. Picture this: a combination between techno artist Jimmy Tamborello from Dntel, emo sweetheart Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie, and country darling Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley. All of them merge to create a mellow techno album with no bad songs whatsoever – all for the sake of fun. This was an experiment which proved to be a great success, as fans from all sides made the switch without as much as batting an eye. Too bad it was meant as a one-time thing: when Gibbard was questioned if the Postal Service follow-up would ever drop, he explained that their primary bands - Death Cab, Dntel, and Rilo Kiley – were all main priority. Oh well…. this is one album we can listen to from start to finish and be grateful they ever tried anything at all.   

 

1. Rob Dougan – Furious Angels.

Another artist from the first "Matrix" movie? Jesus Christ, I must really love "The Matrix." (I do. I really do.) Rob Dougan's full-length album, Furious Angels, is a true masterpiece. It's one of those discs I would pay triple the amount for. It's that good; a mix of hip-hop and classical music which works in every case. Too bad Rob Dougan is too much of a perfectionist; it's apparently got to him since it's been eleven years and not a single sophomore effort has dropped, much less been announced.  So I will have to accept that there never will be a sequel and should stop getting my hopes up. But I'm so happy to have been a part of and fully experienced his first – and only—album.

 

Mitch Michaels

5. Temple of the Dog – Temple of the Dog.

Unlike the other bands in my Top 5, Temple of the Dog was never really meant to be a band.  This Seattle supergroup was instead a musical tribute to a fallen comrade - Andrew Wood from Mother Love Bone (and Malfunkshun), who died of a heroin overdose in 1990.  That spring, Seattle had yet to explode into the commercial realm with Nirvana and Pearl Jam, so Wood's death went largely unnoticed outside of the Pacific northwest.  But Seattle was a tight-knit scene, and Wood's friends wanted to cope with his death the only way they knew how - through music.  Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, Wood's ex-roommate, began writing songs, but the tone just wasn't fit for the loud and heavy band, so he assembled what would become Temple of the Dog - Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard and Eddie Vedder, along with Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron.  The album, an emotional heavyweight that combines the best of Cornell's writing and singing and Pearl Jam's cleaner sound, wasn't an immediate hit, but once Soundgarden and Pearl Jam blew up, it became historical.  Definitely worth picking up.
 

 
4. Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks.

With all the mythology and controversy and fame, it's amazing that the Sex Pistols only had studio album to their name.  Never Mind The Bollocks hit stores in 1977 and tore the doors down on the punk genre, spawning an entire generation (or generations) or imitators with its loose, raucous sound and snotty demeanor.  "God Save The Queen" became a giant hit across the pond and suddenly the Sex Pistols were national treasures.  Nowhere to go but down from there, and after a complete trainwreck (and completely legendary) tour, the Pistols parted ways in early 1978.  By the next year, bassist Sid Vicious was a victim of his own lifestyle and ex-frontman Johnny Rotten was already pissing on the band's grave.
 

 
3. Derek & The Dominos – Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs.

After Eric Clapton finally stepped out front on his debut solo album in the early 70's, rock circles weren't sure how to handle him back with a new band.  Many thought it was his way of hiding from the spotlight, even if he was using the thinly veiled Derek pseudonym.  Then again, if EC was looking to hide, the Dominos were not the way to do so.  With plenty of help from Duane Allman (not officially in the band, but all over the band's debut album Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs), Derek & The Dominos mixed electric blues and 70's rock like no group before them.  They were looser than Cream and more commercially viable than The Bluesbreakers.  The band is best known for the legendary hit "Layla", but those sessions yielded plenty of big hits, like "Bell Bottom Blues", "Tell The Truth" and a cover of Hendrix' "Little Wing" are just the tip of the iceberg of highlights from one of the 70's greatest double albums.  The death of Hendrix and Allman hung heavily over Clapton, perhaps one of the reasons that recording a follow-up album with the Dominos was so difficult.  EC would go on to solo success, but he never really got blues rock down quite as well as he did in this one and done band.
 

 
2. Blind Faith – Blind Faith.

I really hate to use two Eric Clapton vehicles in this Top 5, but you just can't deny the greatness of both.  After Cream wrapped up, Clapton and Ginger Baker hooked up with Traffic's Steve Winwood and bassist Rick Grech to form the first ever rock supergroup.  They released their self-titled debut in 1969 amidst a giant amount of buzz.  Cream had gone out on top of their game, so rock fans were naturally ready for what would come next.  What they got was a mixture of Cream's tight blues rock mixed with Traffic-style jamming, an amazing mixture that some felt was better than either band had ever done before.  Unfortunately, a rocky tour led to Blind Faith calling it quits only months after getting together, doing the whole supergroup in-fighting thing before Slash had ever even picked up a guitar.
 

 
1. New Radicals – Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too.

 I never pass up the chance to talk about my favorite 90's band that more or less never was, the New Radicals.  The band was a vehicle for frontman/songwriter/producer Gregg Alexander, who had been unsuccessful getting a solo career off during the early 90's.  The New Radicals made one album - 1998's Maybe You've Been Brainwashed, Too, a set of songs about the greatness of drugs and sex and the vileness of pop culture, all set to the light alt rock of contemporaries like Matchbox Twenty.  Some critics hated it, some dug it, but either way, they produced a couple of big hit singles in "Someday We'll Know" and "Get What You Give".  What some didn't know was that the New Radicals were more or less Alexander and some studio musicians until a tour became necessary.  Alexander solidified a line-up, but by 1999, the whole group had grown tired of each other and called it quits.  Just another one and done from the 90's rock scene, but the New Radicals definitely gave us a reason to listen in their brief existence.
 

Michael James

Honorable Mentions:

Susie Suh- Susie Suh; Little T and One Track Mike- Fome is Dape; Remy Shand- The Way I Feel

5. Dana Glover- Testimony.

When former model Dana Glover released her debut album in 2002 and quickly followed by landing a song on the high profile Shrek soundtrack, she seemed destined for success.  Testimony is a straight forward, guitar and piano-driven pop-rock album and was stylistically similar to more successful artists like Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch.  Nonetheless, Testimony undeservedly failed to make a commercial dent, peaking at #43 on the UK album charts and #41 on Billboard's Heatseeker chart.  Glover was never heard from again, although she deserved better.

 

4. Lucy Pearl- Lucy Pearl.

This one-shot supergroup featured former members of Tony Toni Tone, En Vogue and A Tribe Called Quest.  Their only album featured a ton of great neo-soul, which ended up being a precursor to Rapheal Saadiq's critically acclaimed solo work.  Lucy Pearl also managed to avoid being tied down by the self-seriousness that often plagues the genre with playful songs like "Can't Stand Your Mother" and "You," their collaboration with Snoop Dogg and Q-Tip.

 

3. The Postal Service- Give Up.

The electronic video game blips and understated twee vocals of this side project of Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard will sound familiar to anyone who spent the winter being softly bludgeoned by Owl City's "Fireflies."  The atmospheric production-style is perfectly suited to Gibbard's soft vocal style.  While Gibbard initially paid lip service to the possibility of a follow-up album, he has since admitted that it's unlikely.

 

2. Cody Chesnutt- The Headphone Masterpiece.

One of the more surreal concert experiences I ever had was seeing Chesnutt open up for Saul Williams at a CMJ show in '05 or '06.  Chesnutt, dressed like a homeless James Brown, completely with cape, played a single 25 minute song from what was supposed to be his second album, The Live Release.  Unfortunately, Live Release was never, you know, released, hence Chesnutt's inclusion on this list.  His two disc debut album, Masterpiece, is an alternately confounding and mesmerizing combination of simple songs, some fully formed and others merely sketches.  Chesnutt fully explored the yin and yang of his personality, moving from the misogyny of "Bitch, I'm Broke" to the depressive "My Women, My Guitars."  Chesnutt made fans in high places, being praised by Thom Yorke and enlisted by The Roots to revisit the Masterpiece track "The Seed" on their Phrenology album.

 

1. Temple of the Dog- Temple of the Dog.

This supergroup made up of members of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and conceived by Chris Cornell as a tribute to the late Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood, Temple of the Dog easily tops the "one album wonder" heap.  The album was released 4 months before the release of Pearl Jam's Ten which explains why Cornell handled the majority of the lead vocals (with the notable exception of the epic duet "Hunger Strike").  The songs on Temple of the Dog were stripped of Soundgarden's heavier influences and enabled Cornell to explore a more bluesy and soulful vocal style with great success.

 

Lucas Wesley

I'm keeping away from albums released within the past five years or so, considering there's still time for followups. That's the only additional classifier I used. Also, The Avalanches were left out since the rumor is that they're working on a new album. If I included them, they'd most likely have been number one. The last acknowledgment is to Black Devil, which I am considering to be the same band as Black Devil Disco Club. Without the longer named revival, Black Devil also could have been number one.

Honorable mentions:

William Shatner and Ben Folds - Has Been: I eventually decided it would be cheating to include this. Both have made several other albums and have even collaborated on other occasions. But I still want another full album of perfection from them.

Brian Eno & John Cale - Wrong Way Up: Essentially the same reason as above.

Arjune Popo - Dance With Arjune Popo: There just isn't enough information about it for me to put it in a list like this. Who is this guy? Has he released any other albums? Is this even real? I don't know, so I can't put it on the list.

The Toys - The Toys Sing "A Lover's Concerto" and "Attack!": There are too many great girl groups that released one or two albums and millions of singles to count. Granted, I believe the Toys only released the album and a few singles from it, so they fit a bit more concisely. But because it was more or less the mandate of the genre, I'm excusing the fact they only had one real release.

5. The Vaselines - Dum-Dum.

The Vaselines are/were an amazingly cute duo out of Scotland that made the waves when Kurt Cobain named his daughter after their female member. I believe they had broken up by then. Oh well. Though they recorded two fantastic EPs, Dum-Dum is their only foray into the world of the full length. I'm inclined to say that on the whole I like the EPs more, but there's really nothing wrong with this album. Starting with the rockin' "Sex Sux" and including classics like "The Day I Was A Horse," the album is incredibly drenched in sex, but that's what happens when a couple writes an album together. Maybe it isn't always this crazy, but its always sexy one way or another. And since the tunes hold up incredibly well and prove that you didn't need a synthline to make great pop in the late 80s, this had to be on the list. Choice song: "The Day I Was A Horse."

 

4. Rockpile - Seconds of Pleasure.

Kind of a low key supergroup considering the prowess of members Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds. Rockpile were a group making fun pub rock in the vein of their two more famous members, but the full band gave them more room to rock out now and again. The album is a collection of songs that recall some of the guitar tone of rockabilly while staying rooted within the modern style. A telling stylistic note is the fact that the album includes a bonus EP of Everly Brothers covers. While Lowe and Edmunds don't exactly go for the close harmony, you see the connection. Any fan of Lowe should hear this if they want the full picture. Choice song: "Teacher Teacher."

 

3. Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth.

Last year, a little band named the xx were making some noise in the indie scene. I liked them, but I'd heard it already in Young Marble Giants. The idea of lo fi synth based pop is a clever one, and with a voice as cute as Alison Statton's leading the show, its no surprise the album manages to have tons of charm. Some call them post-punk, but that's just the time they came out. This is pop music through and through and its a lot of fun. I don't see it leading any dance parties, but I could easily see a more fleshed out remix of any of their songs rocking the charts. But enough about that, this is just good fun music. Check it. Choice song: "Final Day."

 

2. Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue.

Brian gets all the credit as the genius, but Dennis wasn't far behind. Don't get me wrong, Brian probably was better. But Dennis offered up constant gems after he started writing regularly. "Little Bird," "Be Still," "All I Want To Do," "It's About Time" and, of course, "Forever" all stand as bona-fide Beach Boys classics. Therefore, when he released his solo album, people knew they were getting into something that was going to be special. At this point his voice was absolutely tortured through years of alcohol abuse, but it added a fragile sadness to everything he said. Essential for any fan of the Wilson family. Choice song: "River Song."

 

1. The La's - The La's.

Part of me wants to rank them lower because they're one of the bands that are responsible for Britpop and that's just unacceptable. But at the same time I don't really understand how that is. This album is totally on the jangle side of pop, and there's nothing wrong with that. I would understand complaints based on LA Maver's unconventional voice, but other than that its hard to really complain here. Guitar based pop isn't a rarity by any means, but a lot of it tends to sound very similar and forgettable. With The La's, every melody is timeless. Every riff is a hook. This is the kind of thing that you listen to repeatedly and bounce around to it every time. And if that's not enough for you, they wrote "There She Goes." No, really, their version is awesome. Choice song: "Son of a Gun."

 

Phil Watts, Jr.

I have a whole mess of CDs and Vinyl cluttering my room , most of them featuring artists that came out with one album, and POOF--gone. Some of them were forgettable efforts that I expected better from. Others were pretty decent albums that have me wondering if they'll ever come back. Some of them disappear because of the industry chasing them away, or they just lost their mojo as artists. However, there's one One Album Wonder who released their debut over 12 years ago and have yet to follow it up despite still being cool with each other and still being active. Here are my favorites of them all:  

5. Apache - Apache Ain't S***!.

Around the early 90's, Queen Latifah's Flava Unit looked like it was going to be a force to be reckoned with. Not only did she have Naughty By Nature, fresh off their hit "O.P.P.", she also brought in a boatload of MCs to build on, like Freddie Foxxx (before he started answering by "Bumpy"), Nikki D. (who left Def Jam after "Daddy's Little Girl"), D Nice (straight from BDP), and Benzino (before he drove the Source Magazine to the ground). Apache, who worked behind the scenes as a ghostwriter, was one of the new stars to come out of the Unit and broke big with the Q-Tip-produced hit, "Gangsta Bitch", which was his take on LL Cool J's "Around the Way Girl". He then dropped the album, APACHE AIN'T S***, which had some entertaining cuts like "Hey Girl", "Do Fa Self", and "Who Freaked Who". Unfortunately, the dominance of Dr. Dre and the Death Row empire eclipsed all the Flava Unit efforts, and the Unit dissolved afterward. Sadly, Apache passed away on January 22, 2010.

 

  

4. Shadz of Lingo - View To A Kill.

I used to bump this album a lot back in the day. I thought these guys were so underrated (the beats from Erick Sermon and Diamond D also helped.) They dropped some pretty hot songs like "Mad Flavaz" (featuring and produced by Erick Sermon), the Diamond produced gems "Ill And Get Clowned" and "Think I Give A F***", and "I Step 2 U Den". It sucked that they never got much play. It sucks even more that after all these years, I can't find any info on them, not even a WIKI page. As far as I'm concerned, they deserve better.

  

 

3. The Legion - Theme+Echo=Krill.

Black Sheep was set to unleash their own label, One Love Records. Not only were they about to release their second album, Non-Fiction, but they would sign the Legion (Molecules, Chucky Smash, & the Diceman) as one of One Love's acts. The whole feel of this album is HARD. Nothing but hardcore, gritty beats, with a little bit of old school thrown in for good measure. Sadly, when Black Sheep's Non-Fiction became one of the most unjustly over-hated albums of all time, Mercury Records (which oversaw Black Sheep's projects) dropped them all (the Legion included) and promptly washed their hands of them. While the trio still rolls with Dres and still performs together, they have yet to release a follow-up.

 

  

2. InI - Center Of Attention.

After Pete Rock's first breakup with CL Smooth after the Main Ingredient album, he went the associated label route. With the backing of Elektra Records, he established Soul Brother Records and introduced the group InI as one of his first acts. The group consisted of Grap Luva (Pete's younger brother), Rob-O, Ras, and Marco Polo (not to be confused with the Canadian Hip-Hop producer of the same name). They released the single "Fakin' Jax", which had one of Pete's most hypnotizing beats ever (and a few subliminal shots at CL Smooth thrown in). Sadly, with the changes in Hip-Hop's musical landscape, Elektra Records wasn't willing to support Pete Rock or his Soul Brother Records imprint unless he changed up his beats to sound more like P-Diddy, which he didn't care for. Though Pete is still active (and back with CL Smooth), InI has pretty much dissolved. Rob-O would release RHYME PRO (which featured some tracks from off his rare solo album, Super-Spectacular) before quitting the music scene, while Grap Luva has joined Kev Brown's Low Budget Entertainment, and has become a capable beatmaker in his own right.

  

1. Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star.

This one still boggles the mind. They both first showed up on the Rawkus mixtape Soundbombin' 1 with "Universal Magnetic" and "2000 Seasons" respectively before hitting us with their debut album together. They would be collectively known as Black Star, a reference to Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line (hey--it's Black History Month. Look it up yourself!) This album would be considered a classic with everyone seeing them as the future of Hip-Hop. Since then, they would embark on solo careers, releasing several albums of varied quality (with their latest offerings--The Ecstatic and Eardrum respectively--being their strongest in years). Mos Def would also get deeply involved into acting, while Kweli runs his own label--Blacksmith Entertainment--which includes acts like Strong Arm Steady and Jean Grae. Yet, despite the occasional song together, they have yet to record a follow-up.   

 

 

Ben Czajkowski

Honorable Mention:

Black Light Burns - Cruel Melody: I can't quite list this one yet since Wes Boreland has the next one loaded in the chamber. It's just a matter of him having another fallout with Fred Durst.

5. Fingertight - In the Name of Progress.

If you've ever heard of this band, you might ding me for this, but I'll just say fuck you because their self-promotional release saw most of the material re-worked for their major label debut. Fingertight was a simple one-and-done band from the early 2000s that deeply impressed me with their creative, emotionally driven lyrics and fresh sound. Mixing punk and alternative, In the Name of Progress is a great album. At points, they reminded me of Ben Folds Five, especially with the song "Magical."

 

4. Dark New Day - Twelve Year Silence.

Released almost five years now, Twelve Year Silence was a surprise hit in my catalogue. I expected it just to be another whatever-rock album, but it turned into much more than that. Although, in retrospect, I should have expected that with the likes of Clint and Corey Lowery in the ranks. Brett Hestla brought the strength to vocals and nailed the album from start to finish, along with layers from almost all the other members. Unfortunately, Dark New Day has been and probably always will be marred in controversy with their label. Clint Lowery posted a blog entry stating the likely possibility that the sophomore album will never be released, despite being finished for like ten years. He did say that there was a chance of it getting released on iTunes, some day. He also stated that he didn't know what shape the band was in but that it was most likely deceased.

 

3. Acroma - Orbitals.

I've never been into internet radio sites like Pandora or Grooveshark, but I tried some out over this past summer. Grooveshark randomly put this song on, and I was mindlessly pretending to play with JavaScript when suddenly, I was snapped back into focus. "Is this a new Tool track?!" I wondered quietly to myself. Checking, I found that it wasn't. "Must be a new band." Nope. This album has been out since 2003, and the band has been on hiatus since then. Further research determined that they might as well be the bastard love child between Tool and A Perfect Circle, as Acroma was steeped in the creative juices of Tool and APC: Sylvia Massy (Tool's producer) was hired to produce the album, which was influenced by Tool, as well as A Perfect Circle. It's a solid album start to finish, especially the title cut and "Sun Rises Down."

 

2. Five Pointe O - Untitled.

Back before Roadrunner Records was a bunch of r-tard bands, they signed good metal acts. Unfortunately, though, Five Pointe O never made more than one record. It's one of the best metal efforts, start to finish, and one that I can put on any time and just start pounding away. Right from the get go with "Double X Minus", it doesn't stop until the final track. Vocalist Daniel Struble has one of the most unique and discernable voices out there, to me. Best $2 I ever spent on an album from a used record store. I learned of the band after picking up the Resident Evil Soundtrack, which was just fucking stacked with amazing acts and songs, as well.

 

1. Rob Dougan - Furious Angels.

It wouldn't be justice if I didn't close out the column the same way it started: with some Rob Dougan. This album seamlessly blends the grungy vocals of Dougan with some of the most beautiful instrumentals that you will probably ever hear. Then there are tracks like "Clubbed To Death" I and II that will change your life in ways you didn't know possible. What brings it all home, though, is the title track, "Furious Angels:" six-plus minutes of an epic adventure not only in vocals, lyrics, and instrumentals, but in arrangement and creativity (watch the video, too). Dougan has promised for years a sophomore effort, but despite getting my hopes up, it has not come, like Marshall said. I'd gladly wait another 10 years if it meant that whatever comes next will blow me away the same way that Furious Angels has. I will raise my children on this album, and they will be Douganites like their father.

 

The Final Word

As always, the last thoughts come from you, the reader. We're merely unpaid monkeys with typewriters and Wikipedia. Here's what you need to do: List your Top Five for this week's topic on the comment section using the following format: 5. Artist - Album: Why you picked it. 4. Artist - Album: Why you picked it. 3. Artis - Albumt: Why you picked it. 2. Artist - Album: Why you picked it. 1. Artis - Albumt: Why you picked it.