Forgetful Friday - Alice in Chains (self-titled)

In November of 1995 Alice in Chains released their self-titled album after reuniting with Layne Stanley after a brief hiatus from the band for rehab, and time for his UNREAL side-band Mad Season. (Oddly enough I've only recently first heard of Mad Season on SIRIUS' Lithium 24) The album "Alice in Chains" had three major single releases for this album. The best-selling and most well-known is 'Grind', accompanying were 'Heaven Beside You', and 'Again'.

Forgetful Fridays - Daft Punk's Musique

This Friday we take you back to the late 90's once again, this time for some dance music. French techno geniuses Daft Punk burst onto the scene in '95-'96 with their hit single "Da Funk". Most people first came across the duo of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter with their 1997 international hit "Around the World," but I got in on the ground level. Daft Punk is one of the very few artists that I can say that I knew of before they hit it big time. I owned both the single from "Da Funk" (which is the CD lost and topic of today's post) and their first album 'Homework,' way before "Around the World" hit MTV.

Forgetful Fridays - Pure Funk

When I was in high school I purchased what was to be one of the best dance discs I would ever own. That CD was "Pure Funk" featuring various artists from Curtis Mayfield, Issac Hayes, Kool & the Gang, Rick James, etc. Every track on this CD is a classic, but I think they knew that as they put it together 20-some years after most of these songs were first released.

I'm not one for most of the 'dance' music that is out today. Many have simple beats, uninspired lyrics, and most simply try to see which song can bust the nearest subwoofer first. On the contrary, most funk songs have great topics to sing about, some of the catchiest hooks (as can be seen by hip-hops sampling of said hooks) and a playability decades later that I doubt anything released in the past few years will be able match.

Below I have embedded Earth, Wind, & Fire busting out their hit single "Shining Star". Also, if you click HERE you can view Earth, Wind & Fire's interview with late night PBS personality Tavis Smiley. Check out Pure Funk for more wonderful funk tracks.

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Forgetful Fridays - Nevermind

This is still the same featured Friday article I have been writing but it finally has a cool name like the rest. Forgetful Fridays, as it now will be known, is a reference to me either not knowing the location of these CD's, or me not even knowing who I lent it out to and thus who to ask for it back. So Forgetful Fridays is still about those lost CD's and songs that you long for so dearly.

This week's song is from Nirvana's Nevermind. I know how this CD was removed from my possession but I have no clue who committed the crime. At a party at my house in high school (that I didn't throw or attend, mind you) I had my 101 Disc CD Player raided and the better contents of which taken forever. I could go on about that, "but that's a different story altogether," to quote Del Preston from Wayne's World 2. Alas, Nevermind was nevermore for me and I've never managed to go out and spend the several thousand it would take to replace all of those albums in CD form and now sit here longing to hear them in the full glory. I have recently downloaded the album but its just not the same. When you can pop in a CD, sit back, admire the album art, read the liner notes, and sing along with the lyrics inside. Albums are supposed to be experiences that you take in and not something that you download in an instant as you brush your teeth and comb your hair.

I'm all for the insurance that your track will play through without skipping back for songs but you lose in intimate relationship with the artist when you take that all away. I'm sure that purists will even insist that it was all lost when we went away from vinyl. I love the fact that more bands are re-releasing and re-mastering their works on vinyl as the technology grows in popularity again.

Well enough of my hot air, lets get to the music. This week's track is "Something in the Way" by Nirvana off of the aforementioned Nevermind album. The track stuck out like a sore thumb on the album. The entire album were rocking downtrodden songs that the grunge genre became known for, however this song was soft, melodic, almost like a plea for someone to notice Kurt's immense ability as a real musician. By placing this song on the album the band showed their range and how they weren't just a bunch of screaming rockers. Nirvana never made a video for this song so I'm using footage from the iconic Unplugged: Live from New York concert.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana . . .

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