Top 5 Solo Breakthroughs
The release of The Eraser yesterday got me thinking about solo albums. I decided to compile a list of the best break out solo albums. Basically I was looking for albums from artists who had established themselves with successful groups then shed their hangers on and released substantial albums.
5. Ryan Adams – Heart Breaker
With Heartbreaker Adams set himself free of the alt-country trappings he had helped popularize with Whiskeytown. Heart Breaker's more folksy sound won him critical aclaim. Though sales were slow at first it is now considered a landmark album. Sure it was all a pretty swift decline from here, Gold, Demolition, Winona...
but for one album Adams was able to strike pure emotional gold.
4. Ice Cube – AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted
Ice Cube left NWA immediately following their breakthrough Straight Outta Compton. Ice Cube got help from the bomb squad and released a clostrophobic hyperaggressive masterpiece. Cube spits in the face of everyone, Easy E, the police, the government, and white people in general, and the whole time it only makes you love him more.
3. Lauren Hill – The Miseducation of Lauren Hill
Lauren Hill won the Grammy for best new artist despite haveing been around with the Fugees for a few years. Hill took the the more socialy concious, soul lovein elements of The Score and built a whole world. The Miseducation of Lauren Hill isn't just an album, its a legacy.
2. Brian Eno – Here Come the Warm Jets
Makeing his second appearance on one my lists, is Brian Eno. Eno left (the highly overated in my mind) Roxy Music and jumped head first into a solo career, delivering a disc dense with fuzz and ambient tones, packed into neat pop-song'esque packages.
1. Michael Jackson – Off the Wall
Sure Jackson had released solo singles before, and even did the soundtrack to Ben. But Michael Jackson's first real solo release is Off the Wall. Jackson was young, hungry, and agressive. Haveing to prove that he could carry an album without his family obviously made him put forth all the effort he could muster. The result is a blast disco bliss.
Technorati Tags: top 5, solo, music
Technorati Tags: top 5, solo, music
posted by Unknown at
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