25. TAKE 5 - "Against All Odds"(Elektra, 2000)
Their first album (hard to find, and probably for the best) was about as bland as could be, but this American boyband found a solid groove on their follow-up, landing somewhere between the harmonic balladry of Backstreet Boys and the hip-hop-laden R&B of Five. Their distinctive voices also helped tunes like "Perfect Sense", the Diane Warren-penned "Can I Come Over", the Richard Marxish "Never In My Life", and my favorite, "Bounce", win me over in a big way.
24. "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC - "Straight Outta Lynwood"(Volcano, 2006)
Label politics rained on Al's parade by keeping a James Blunt parody off his twelfth album, but Al got the last laugh when his backup plan -- the Chamillionaire takeoff "White & Nerdy" -- became his biggest hit ever. Other excellent parodies like "Canadian Idiot" and "Confessions Part III", and enjoyable originals such as "Virus Alert" and "Don't Download This Song", made this Al's best and most popular album in more than a decade.
23. TEDDY GEIGER - "Underage Thinking"(Columbia, 2005)
He had boy-next-door good looks, an appealing voice, and some serious singer-songwriter talent, resulting in this excellent album of mostly self-penned pop-rock tracks. Columbia apparently believed in him enough to issue a deluxe edition of this album several months later ... so why did they then abruptly drop him from their roster? It just doesn't make sense ... and Teddy is one of the artists on this countdown I miss the most.
22. EMAN - "Favorite Enemy"(Lunapark, 2002)
Emanuel Kiriakou is a prolific writer, producer, and session musician who has worked with dozens of the most popular Top-40 artists in the world ... but if you ask me, he's wasting his talents. You see, several years ago he was on the other side of the microphone and turned out this fantastic set of pop-rock tunes. Once you hear "Falling", "Wonderfully Strange" and "Picture Day", you'll hate him for not recording more albums, too.
21. TINTED WINDOWS - "Tinted Windows"(S-Curve, 2009)
Since it consisted of members of Hanson and Fountains of Wayne, it was pretty-much a given that I'd like this band, but I was still impressed with how much I fell for their album. Don't expect profound lyrics or intricate melodies -- but then, power-pop isn't about that stuff anyway -- but do expect one track after another full of toe-tapping, hand-clapping, sing-along choruses that you simply won't be able to resist.
I had no idea Emanuel had a previous life as a singer!
ReplyDeleteI was all set to be excited about Tinted Windows when the pre-music buzz was building, but then I didn't fall for "Kind of a Girl" at a level anywhere near approaching what I wanted to. Guess I better give a few spins to the track on your mix CD (thank you for that, by the way!) and see what I think, huh? Maybe check out iTunes...
Definitely, Tinted Windows is worth another look, trust me! And yeah, Eman's album is buried treasure if ever there was. I actually found out about him by way of Joey McIntyre -- Joey did a song of his ("Falling", my favorite) on one of his albums, and they did a neat little live album together. Fun!
ReplyDelete-T