Cure For Pain by Morphine
Cure For Pain was the second studio album of five released by Morphine
The unusual sound of Morphine was due to the intentional absence of guitar, relying primarily on bass, drums and saxophone. I loved them from the moment I first heard the track “Buena” on Australian alternative radio station Triple J. I was enamoured with their unusual sound and ended up buying all of their albums. Sadly bass player and lead singer, Mark Sandman, died instantly on stage due to heart attack in 1999 effectively ending the band.
Favourite track: “Buena”
Songs Of Faith And Devotion by Depeche Mode
Darker than its predecessor, Depeche Mode’s eighth album was a successful follow-up
Depeche Mode were really at their zenith in the nineties releasing several successful albums during the decade. I thought Violator almost impossible to top, but Songs Of Faith And Devotion certainly came close. The album was a top 20 chart hit in more than twenty countries and four successful singles were released.
Favourite track: The original album version of “In Your Room”
Symphonic Music Of Yes by London Philharmonic Orchestra & former Yes members
Symphonic Music Of Yes was mixed in Dolby Surround Sound
Featuring former members of Yes, including original singer Jon Anderson on a couple of tracks and pairing them with the London Philharmonic Orchestra was a stroke of genius. Effectively coming across as a “greatest hits” album by Yes, the orchestrations really highlight the complexity of the compositions. I absolutely adore this album and have had people borrow it as a way of testing if their surround system has been set up correctly.
Favourite track: “Starship Trooper”
Undertow by Tool
Tool became one of my favourite bands virtually overnight due to this album
I absolutely love Tool and enjoy all of their recordings. “Sober”, a single off this album, was the first song of theirs I ever heard and I loved its stop-motion music video too. I decided to buy the album on the strength of that one song and when I got it home I was blown away by how good it was. It was on high rotation for weeks on end both at home and in my car.
Favourite track: “Bottom” featuring the “engaging” spoken words of Henry Rollins
Debut by Björk
Debut was technically incorrect having released a self-titled album as a child in 1977
This solo album was Björk’s first release after the break-up of her previous band the Sugarcubes. Preceded by the single “Human Behaviour”, nothing else around at this time sounded anything remotely like this. The uniqueness of her sound no doubt contributed to her appeal as I know it what made me seek out the album. There have been many imitators since, but none come close to the original.
Favourite track: The non-album single “Play Dead”, which had been added to the album before its Australian release
The Slabthrower 