DavesMusicDatabase.com is devoted to ranking, rating, and reviewing music of all genres and eras. The DMDB blog serves up music history snapshots, best-of lists, and music-related essays.
According to 30+ lists (see bottom of page for links) aggregated by Dave’s Music Database, these are the best albums of 2013. Be sure to also check out the DMDB post of the top 50 songs of 2013.
1. Daft Punk Random Access Memories
2. Vampire Weekend Modern Vampires of the City
3. Kanye West Yeezus
4. My Bloody Valentine MBV
5. Haim Days Are Gone
6. Disclosure Settle
7. Arcade Fire Reflektor
8. David Bowie The Next Day
9. Savages Silence Yourself
10. Queens of the Stone Age Like Clockwork
11. Chance the Rapper Acid Rapper
12. Kacey Musgraves Same Trailer, Different Park
13. The National Trouble Will Find Me
14. Justin Timberlake The 20/20 Experience
15. Drake Nothing Was the Same
16. Arctic Monkeys AM
17. Kurt Vile Walkin’ on a Pretty Daze
18. Janelle Monae The Electric Lady
19. Deafheaven Sunbather
20. Lorde Pure Heroine
21. The Knife Shaking the Habitual
22. Chvrches The Bones of What You Believe
23. Laura Marling Once I Was an Eagle
24. Waxahatchee Cerulean Salt
25. Run the Jewels (El-P with Killer Mike) Run the Jewels
26. Jon Hopkins Immunity
27. Neko Case The Worst Things Get the Harder I Fight. The Harder I Fight, the More I Love You.
28. James Blake Overgrown
29. Danny Brown Old
30. Rhye Woman
31. Phosphorescent Muchacho
32. Earl Sweatshirt Doris
33. Eminem Marshall Mathers LP 2
34. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Push the Sky Away
35. Bill Callahan Dream River
36. Deerhunter Monomania
37. Sky Ferreira Night Time, My Time
38. Ashley Monroe Like a Rose
39. Oneohtrix Point Never R Plus Seven
40. Tegan & Sara Heartthrob
41. Tim Hecker Virgins
42. These New Puritans Field of Reeds
43. Autre Ne Veut Anxiety
44. Foxygen We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
45. Julia Holter Loud City Song
46. M.I.A. Matangi
47. Jason Isbell Southeastern
48. Boards of Canada Tomorrow’s Harvest
49. Pusha T My Name Is My Name
50. Speedy Ortiz Major Arcana
Q is a British music magazine which has published numerous best-of lists over the years. Based on those lists (sources at bottom of page) and year-end lists, here are the best songs from each year.
The Music That Changed the World (2004). 3 special editions in January (covering 1954-69), February (covering 1970-1979), and March 2004 (covering 1980-2004). Each featured a top 20 album list and a top 20 song list.
With more than 40 best-of song lists aggregated (see links at bottom of page), here are the songs which rank as the best 2013 has to offer. Interestingly, the song list is very slanted toward the big pop hits of the year while the album list (see it here) is very geared toward less-commercial, independent releases. Admittedly, the use of multiple Billboard lists below has a great deal to do with that, but I also believe song lists tend to lean more toward the commercial while album lists incorporate the more obscure. Anyway, here’s the list:
Get Lucky
1. Daft Punk with Pharrell Williams “Get Lucky”
2. Lorde “Royals”
3. Robin Thicke with T.I. and Pharrell Williams “Blurred Lines”
4. Justin Timberlake “Mirrors”
5. Drake with Majid Jordan “Hold on, We’re Going Home”
Royals
6. Katy Perry “Roar”
7. Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball”
8. Kanye West “Black Skinhead”
9. Imagine Dragons “Radioactive”
10. Miley Cyrus “We Can’t Stop”
Blurred Lines
11. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Ray Dalton “Can’t Hold Us”
12. Haim “The Wire”
13. Arcade Fire “Reflektor”
14. Taylor Swift “I Knew You Were Trouble”
15. Pink with Nate Ruess “Just Give Me a Reason”
Mirrors
16. Bruno Mars “When I Was Your Man”
17. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with Wanz “Thrift Shop”
18. Drake “Started from the Bottom”
19. The Lumineers “Ho Hey”
20. Rihanna with Mikky Ekko “Stay”
Hold on, We’re Coming Home
21. Kanye West with Frank Ocean “New Slaves”
22. Ciara “Body Party”
23. Disclosure with AlunaGeorge “White Noise”
24. Bruno Mars “Treasure”
25. Jay-Z with Justin Timberlake “Holy Grail”
Roar
26. Bruno Mars “Locked Out of Heaven”
27. Avicii “Wake Me Up”
28. Zedd with Foxes “Clarity”
29. Florida Georgia Line with Nelly “Cruise”
30. Phosphorescent “Song for Zula”
Wrecking Ball
31. Vampire Weekend “Diane Young”
32. Justin Timberlake with Jay-Z “Suit & Tie”
33. Big Sean with Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica “Control”
34. Maroon 5 “Daylight”
35. Kacey Musgraves “Follow Your Arrow”
Thrift Shop
36. Taylor Swift “22”
37. Tegan & Sara “Closer”
38. Migos with Drake “Versace”
39. Lady Gaga “Applause”
40. Anna Kendrick “Cups (When I’m Gone)”
Radioactive
41. Kurt Vile “Wakin’ on a Pretty Day”
42. Fall Out Boy “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light ‘Em Up)”
43. Capital Cities “Safe and Sound”
44. Rich Homie Quan “Type of Way”
45. Mumford & Sons “I Will Wait”
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has announced its inductees for the 2014 class. Artists are eligible for the Hall 25 years after the release of their first single or album. The newest slate will be inducted on April 10, 2014, at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in New York City. HBO will air the event in May. Here are the inductees:
Peter Gabriel: He was inducted into the Hall in 2010 as a member of Genesis. As a solo artist since the ‘70s, he has explored electronic and world music. His video for #1 hit “Sledgehammer” ranks as one of the best videos of all time.
image from details.com
Daryl Hall & John Oates: This blue-eyed soul duo has the most successful Billboard chart run of any twosome in music history. They started in Philadelphia in the early ‘70s, but hit their peak in the early ‘80s with #1 hits “Kiss on My List,” “Private Eyes,” “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” and “Maneater.” They’ve sold more than 13 million albums.
image from nydailynews.com
Kiss: Miracles never cease. Members of the Hall induction committee swore they’d never let the mother of all hair bands in while fans have raised a stink in the 15 years the group have been eligible and been passed up. Critics have never liked the band, but the KISS Army represents one of the most loyal fan bases in the history of rock. They’ve sold over 20 million albums on the strength of rock classics like “Rock and Roll All Nite” and power ballads like “Beth.”
image from blabbermouth.net
Nirvana: The group most associated with grunge enters the Hall in its first year of eligibility, 25 years after the release of the single “Love Buzz” in 1988. Three years later, they would take over the world with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and parent album Nevermind. The group’s heyday was short-lived when lead singer Kurt Cobain committed suicide months after the release of the 1994 follow-up, In Utero, but their influence had been cemented.
image from coolcleveland.com
Linda Ronstadt: She emerged from the folk scene in Los Angeles in the 1960s and became one of pop music’s biggest successes in the 1970s with a blend of country and rock, selling more than 30 million albums and winning a slew of Grammy awards. She regularly covered classics from rock’s pioneers – among them were the Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved,” Buddy Holly’s “That’ll Be the Day,” and Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou.”
image from fanart.tv
Cat Stevens: This British folk singer/songwriter made a name for himself in the 1970s with hits like “Wild World” and “Peace Train.” He converted to Islam in 1977, changed his name to Yusuf Islam, and stepped out of the spotlight for more than two decades. He has sold more than 15 million albums.
image from pianosheetmusiconline.com
E Street Band: Bruce Springsteen was inducted into the Hall in 1999. Now his backing band since 1973 is inducted with the Award for Musical Excellence.
image from morrisonhotelgallery.com
Brian Epstein: He receives the Ahmet Ertegun Award (for non-performers) for his work as the manager of the Beatles. He signed them and then sheparded them until his death in 1967. Paul McCartney said, “If anyone was the fifth Beatle it was Brian.”
Epstein in white hat, image from efemeridesdelamusica.blogspot.com
Andrew Loog Oldham: He also receives the Ahmet Ertegun Award (for non-performers) – and also for producing one of rock music’s most acclaimed bands – The Rolling Stones. He was with them for their formative years, helping to push Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to write original material.
Oldham (second from left) with the Rolling Stones, image from zombiesenelghetto.tumblr.com
The nominations for the 2014 Grammys were announced on Friday, December 6, 2013. Below are the nominees for the major awards. The full listing is available here. The 56th Grammy Awards will be held January 26, 2014.
Album of the Year:
In 1973, the Recording Academy (more widely known as the Grammys) established a Hall of Fame to, as it says on their website, “honor recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old.” 40 years later, nearly 1000 albums and songs have been inducted (see the full list here). Here are this year’s inductees:
Albums:
The Joshua Tree and After the Gold Rush ranked in the DMDB’s Top 100 Albums of All Time already. All Things Must Pass, Cosmo’s Factory, Mary Poppins, Woodstock, and Chicago Transit Authority all ranked in the top 1000.
Songs:
Louis Armstrong “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” (1938)
James Brown “Get Up – I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine” (1970)
Hoagy Carmichael & His Orchestra “Georgia on My Mind” (1930)
Run-D.M.C. with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler & Joe Perry “Walk This Way” (1986)
Gil Scott-Heron “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” (1970)
Sugarhill Gang “Rapper’s Delight” (1979)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe “Strange Things Happening Every Day” (1945)
B.J. Thomas “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” (1969)
War “Low Rider” (1975)
Six of the songs were already listed in the DMDB’s Top 1000 of All-Time: “Honky Tonk Women,” “Walk This Way,” “Rapper’s Delight,” “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” “Fortunate Son,” and “Under the Boardwalk.” “Honky Tonk Women” also ranks as one of the Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era.
Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US + UK)
Airplay/Streaming (in millions):
-- radio, 19.2 video, -- streaming
Awards:
About the Song:
I’m a sucker for a good cover. It’s even better if the performer seems to be from such a different genre that one can’t imagine how he or she was even exposed to the song. When it comes to that criteria, it’s hard to outdo an obscure soul singer opting to cover a heavy metal song by none other than the kings of the genre – Black Sabbath.
Black Sabbath originally released the song “Changes” on their 1972 album Vol. 4. The song was a rare foray into ballad territory for the band. Guitarist Tony Iommi reportedly stayed up all night snorting cocaine SF and composed the song’s piano melody while experimenting in the studio WK1 learning to play piano. SF Bassist Geezer Butler added lyrics inspired by drummer Bill Ward’s split with his wife. The band’s singer, Ozzy Osbourne, has called the song “heartbreaking” and critic Barney Hoskyns described it as “forlornly pretty.” WK1
In 2003, Ozzy recorded the song again as a duet with his daughter, Kelly. The song with some revised lyrics about a father and daughter drifting apart, SF reached #1 in the UK. Critics weren’t as enamored with their version. In a 2009 Village Voice article, it was ranked one o the worst songs of the decade. WK1
A decade later, soul singer Charles Bradley recorded a version which was released as a single on Record Story Day Black Friday. He said, “That song is very emotional to me. I didn’t want to learn that song…but…the story…made me think about talking with my mother, bonding…The last 12 years of her life, she actually told me things that got me stronger.” SF
Kitty Empire of The Observer compared Bradley’s voice to Al Green WK2 while Pop Matters’ Steve Horowitz called him “the closest living equivalent to [James] Brown.” WK2 The song was featured as the theme song for Big Mouth, an animated Netflix series and appeared in the first season of Big Little Lies, an HBO series. WK2
The Great Thaw (Vuelie Reprise) (Christophe Beck and Frode Fjelheim)
Epilogue
* score by Christophe Beck
Released: November 25, 2013
Peak: #113 US, #1 UK, #12 AU, #17 CN
Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 1.0 UK, 10.0 world (includes US and UK)
Genre: Disney soundtrack
Review:
Disney’s Frozen was a “welcome return to form” AMG in the tradition of animated musicals in which characters broke into song. AMG The story was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen. The movie took home the Oscar for Best Animated Featured Film and the soundtrack proved to be a monster. It became only the fourth soundtrack from an animated film to top the U.S. album charts. WK With 13 weeks logged on top, it became the biggest soundtrack since 1998’s Titanic. WK It became the best-selling album of 2013 with more than 10 million albums sold worldwide.
Robert Lopez Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon), one of twelve people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, AMG teamed up with Kristen Anderson-Lopez (In Transit, Winnie the Pooh) to write original Broadway-style songs for the soundtrack. Idina Menzel’s version of Let It Go won the Oscar for Best Song, sold more than 8 million worldwide, and garnered over 400 million views on YouTube.
The soundtrack offered a balance of songs with comic relief (In Summer, Reindeer(s) Are Better Than People) alongside musical interplays (For the First Time in Forever) between the two leading ladies, sisters Anna and Elsa, voiced respectively by Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel.
In addition, Christophe Beck, fresh off an Oscar win for short Paperman, provided the score. His instrumentals provided “much of the soundtrack’s drama and suspense…[incorporating] orchestral, choral, and folk-inspired elements.” AMG
Sales (in millions): -- US, 1. 0 UK, 1.0 world (includes US and UK)
Genre: pop/rock
Tracks:
Song Title(Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks)
Click for codes to singles charts.
You can check out the Beatles’ complete singles discography here.
It Won’t Be Long [2:13]
All I’ve Got to Do [2:02]
All My Loving [2:07] (3/28/64, 45 US, 1 CN, 1 AU)
Don’t Bother Me(George Harrison) [2:28]
Little Child [1:46]
Till There Was You(Meredith Wilson) [2:14]
Please Mr. Postman(Georgia Dobbins/William Garrett/Freddie Gorman/Brian Holland/Robert Bateman) [2:34]
Roll Over Beethoven(Chuck Berry) [2:45] (3/21/64, 68 US)
Hold Me Tight [2:32]
You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me(Smokey Robinson) [3:01]
I Wanna Be Your Man [1:59]
Devil in Her Heart(Richard Drapkin) [2:26]
Not a Second Time [2:07]
Money (That’s What I Want)(Janie Bradford/Berry Gordy) [2:49]
Songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney unless noted otherwise.
Total Running Time: 33:07
The Players:
John Lennon (vocals, guitar)
Paul McCartney (vocals, bass)
George Harrison (guitar, vocals)
Ringo Starr (drums, vocals)
Rating:
4.163 out of 5.00 (average of 23 ratings)
Quotable: “This is the one that turned the world upside-down…With the Beatles both affirmed promise and proclaimed genius” – CdUniverse.com
Sales (in millions): 5.7 US, -- UK, 7.0 world (includes US and UK)
Genre: pop/rock
Tracks on Meet the Beatles:
Song Title(Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks)
Click for codes to singles charts.
You can check out the Beatles’ complete singles discography here.
Sales (in millions): 2.0 US, -- UK, 3.0 world (includes US and UK)
Genre: pop/rock
Tracks on The Beatles’ Second Album:
Song Title(Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks)
Click for codes to singles charts.
You can check out the Beatles’ complete singles discography here.
Roll Over Beethoven(Chuck Berry) [2:45] (3/21/64, 68 US)
Thank You Girl [2:01] (4/12/63, B-side of “From Me to You,” 35 US)
You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me(Smokey Robinson) [3:01]
Devil in Her Heart(Richard Drapkin) [2:26]
Money (That’s What I Want)(Janie Bradford/Berry Gordy) [2:49]
You Can’t Do That [2:39] (3/16/64, B-side of “Can’t Buy Me Love,” 48 US, gold single)
Long Tall Sally(Enotris Johnson, Richard Penniman, Robert Blackwell) [2:00] (6/19/64, Long Tall Sally EP, 1 CN)
I Call Your Name [2:09] (6/19/64, Long Tall Sally EP, 1 CN)
Please Mr. Postman(Georgia Dobbins/William Garrett/Freddie Gorman/Brian Holland/Robert Bateman) [2:34]
I’ll Get You [2:05]
She Loves You [2:20] (8/29/63, 1 US, 1 UK, 1 CN, 3 AU)
Songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney unless noted otherwise.
Total Running Time: 26:43
The Players:
John Lennon (vocals, guitar)
Paul McCartney (vocals, bass)
George Harrison (guitar, vocals)
Ringo Starr (drums, vocals)
Rating:
4.217 out of 5.00 (average of 9 ratings)
About With the Beatles:
”This is the one that turned the world upside-down. Released as its creators evolved from pop group to phenomenon, With the Beatles both affirmed promise and proclaimed genius.” CDU While it shares “several similarities with its predecessor – there is an equal ratio of covers-to-originals, a familiar blend of girl group, Motown, R&B, pop, and rock, and a show tune that interrupts the flow of the album,” STE the album “is a sequel of the highest order – one that betters the original by developing its own tone and adding depth.” STE This time around, The Beatles demonstrated a “growing toughness,” SPWith the Beatles “not only rocks harder, it's considerably more sophisticated.” STE
“The heart of [the album] lies…in…the originals” STE which “are well-crafted and tuneful.” DBW “No band in the history of rock music can boast…sing[ing] harmony like these guys…Those nasal, working-class accents just manage to melt into some of the most beautiful combinations of notes ever.” DC ”The Lennon-McCartney writing team was gathering steam and beginning to knock out pop classics as if they were pulling them out of thin air.” AZ “A slew of memorable…compositions embraced pop at its most multi-faceted, robust, melancholic, excited, and wistful.” CDU The group “had acquired a unique sound in the blend of John's and Paul's voices, while George was coming on by leaps and bounds as a guitar player.” AZ “It was clear that, even at this early stage, the Beatles were rapidly maturing and changing, turning into expert craftsmen and musical innovators.” STE
“They could deliver rock & roll straight [such as on] I Wanna Be Your Man,” STE which “is a good original Beatles’ song [with] a decent energetic Ringo vocal.” AD After “observing the tremendous audience response that Ringo [got] whenever he [sang] ‘Boys’, John and Paul…pen[ned this] new number” TB with Ringo in mind. It was also a song “which Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham had coaxed from the band earlier.” DC
It Won't Be Long is one of the album’s “propulsive rockers.” STE It “is a Beatle-mania crowd-pleaser” AD “with it's yeah yeah yeah's” GA and is “unremarkable musically but fairly remarkable vocally, especially the swoon-some harmony at the end.” AD
They could also “twist it around with a little Latin lilt [such as on]Little Child, one of their most underrated early rockers” STE that “makes good use of the harmonica.” AD
All My Loving, a “sprightly pop/rocker,” STE “is about as good a song as the Beatles have ever released. It has one of those Beatlesque melodies that is sure to stick in your head for a long time.” GA “The little country guitar break in the middle is delightful. It shows The Beatles beginning to think a little more about their songs, even at this early stage.” AD
There were also “richly melodic…slower songs [such as] Not a Second Time,” STE which “benefits from piano in the mix.” AD
That song and “sweet ballads [like] the achingly gorgeous All I've Got to Do,” STE showcased “great Lennon vocals.” DBW This is “a semi-successful attempt at rewriting the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song ‘Baby It's You’ which they covered on Please Please Me.” GA It “has a nice structure about it [and] it's a good song that shows practice makes, if not perfect, then at least a little better than before.” AD
”The midtempo pop number Don't Bother Me,” GA which is George Harrison’s first contribution, ”is a standout, with its wonderfully foreboding minor-key melody.” STE
Since the Beatles covered so much ground with their originals, their covers pale slightly in comparison, particularly since they rely on familiar hits.” STE Only Devil in Her Heart by American all-girl group The Donays TB “qualifies as a forgotten gem.” STE Still, “the band was always remarkably competent even when covering the most vapid material” JA and, after all, “the group always turns in thoroughly enjoyable performances.” STE
There are a couple of “high-energy 50s rock 'n' rollers” JA like Roll Over Beethoven, “a surprisingly stiff reading,” STE in which “Harrison does a dead-on Chuck Berry guitar lick,” GA and Money (That's What I Want), which “is slightly bizarre with its jazzy parts and all, but once John lets his vocals loose, you're slightly pinned back to the wall.” AD
The Beatles also cover a couple of modern R&B hits “such as Lennon's soaring interpretation” STE of You Really Got a Hold on Me, originally recorded by The Miracles. “The guitars are less to the fore varying the sound of the album when it needed a little sonic variation. Piano comes in (played by George Martin apparently)” AD and ”with able backup singing by McCartney and Harrison [the song is] out of the stratosphere.” GA
The Beatles complete a trilogy of Motown covers (“Money” and “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me” being the other two), with their “playful” GA version of The Marvelettes’ Please Mister Postman. They “try to replicate those girl group harmonies, and actually do an ok job. John's double-tracked lead vocal is pretty strong.” AD
Paul does a “respectable job” GA on the “endearing” cover of Till There Was You, “the near-standard hit from the show The Music Man.” TB It “is a lovely lilting Spanish flavoured song” AD that demonstrates how the Beatles “listened to a lot of different kinds of music to come up with their unique sound.” GA
“With the Beatles freed artists to record their own material, and the course of pop was irrevocably changed.” CDU “This album successfully shows a band with plenty of talent and charisma. It is a testament to the Beatles that one of their lesser albums is this good.” GA “This is probably the best document of the Beatles as high-energy, three-guitar rock and roll band.” DBW
About Meet the Beatles:
Vee-Jay Records had released Introducing the Beatles, its version of the Beatles’ UK debut Please Please Me, and went largely unnoticed until Beatlemania hit American shores in the beginning of 1964. That meant that Meet the Beatles, Capitol Records’ version of With the Beatles, was the true introduction to the Beatles for most Americans.
While it was common practice in the UK to treat singles and albums as separate entities, American audiences wanted the hits on the albums. Most notably that meant adding I Want to Hold Your Hand, the song that launched Beatlemania in the United States. That also meant adding This Boy, the original B-side of the UK single, and I Saw Her Standing There, the B-side in the U.S. and a cut from Please Please Me.
To meet demand for shorter running times for albums, that also meant excising five cover songs from the original UK album – “Please Mr. Postman,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” “Devil in Her Heart,” and “Money (That’s What I Want).”
About The Beatles’ Second Album:
Those five songs found their way on to the next American release, The Beatles’ Second Album, which also gathered the She Loves You / I’ll Get You single and two cuts from the Long Tall Sally EP – the title song and I Call Your Name.
Chopping up the original UK album actually made for two more unified albums. Meet the Beatles focused more on original material while The Beatles’ Second Album was centered around covers which had largely already become rock-n-roll standards.
In 2004, the Capitol Records Vol. 1 box set gathered the U.S. albums Meet the Beatles, The Beatles’ Second Album, Something New, and Beatles ‘65 on CD for the first time.
While my posts typically focus on songs, albums, and events which significantly impacted the music world, this entry focuses on a little-known performer who ranks as one of my favorite singers. “Sometimes genius comes and goes without much notice or fanfare. Such is the case with the late Kevin Gilbert,” P “a musical prodigy” JS who “colleagues invariably called…‘the most talented musician I ever met.’” JS He “spent several years on the edge of stardom [but] could never capitalize on his talents.” DE He “might be the most talented American musician to be involved with progressive rock, with the possible exception of Frank Zappa. Although all of his work contains a very strong pop element, there’s usually a lot of prog underneath it.” DN
NRG/Giraffe (1984-89): In the mid-‘80s, while still in high school, Gilbert released his first album, No Reasons Given, with the group NRG. That album is free to download at KevinGilbert.com. In the late ‘80s, Gilbert spent a year as a film student at UCLA and took a gig as Eddie Money’s touring keyboardist before launching the group Giraffe. Between the release of their two albums, the band entered and won a national unsigned-bands competition.
Giraffe “Because of You”
Toy Matinee (1989-91): In the competition, Gilbert caught the attention of Patrick Leonard, a producer who had worked with Madonna and others. Leonard suggested a collaboration and the group Toy Matinee was born. “The lone Toy Matinee album was released in 1990 but effectively shelved by the record company.” WK “Gilbert assembled a new backing band [including an unknown Sheryl Crow as his keyboardist] to promote the album, eventually getting two [moderately] successful singles released: The Ballad of Jenny Ledge and Last Plane Out.” WK
Toy Matinee “Last Plane Out”
After the official Toy Matinee group imploded, Gilbert put together a touring group to perform the songs. He and Marc Bonilla did radio interviews and performances, such as this one for KTYD in which they played cover songs and showcased their knack for wittiness and fun.
He also did session work for established pop musicians, including Madonna and Michael Jackson. He also produced Keith Emerson’s album Changing States. Throughout the ‘90s, Gilbert worked as “a producer, film scorer, and session musician.” DN
Tuesday Night Music Club (1992-95): In 1992, Gilbert and producer Bill Bottrell, who’d helmed the Toy Matinee project, assembled a loose collective of musicians dubbed the Tuesday Night Music Club. They gathered weekly at Bottrell’s studio to hang out and make music. Gilbert brought Crow, with whom he’d struck up a relationship, and the gang carved out what would become her multi-platinum selling debut named after the crew. Gilbert had co-writing credit on many of the the song’s albums, including 1995 Grammy Record of the Year All I Wanna Do. “Crow later acrimoniously split with most of the musicians in the collective…[The rest of the TNMC’ers] worked with singer-songwriters Susanna Hoffs and Linda Perry on two more albums.” WK
Sheryl Crow “All I Wanna Do”
Thud/Tribute Work (1994-96): Gilbert worked tirelessly to open his own studio and, in 1995, released a solo album called Thud.
Kevin Gilbert “Joytown”
He also contributed songs to tribute albums of some of his favorite progressive rock artists as well – Genesis, Yes, and Gentle Giant. In 1994, Gilbert even performed Genesis’ rock-opera masterpiece The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway with a newly assembled version of Giraffe. Gilbert’s manager, Jon Rubin, “sent a copy of the recording to Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford who were searching for a new Genesis front man to replace Phil Collins.” WK Gilbert was supposedly set “to fly to London to audition for [the] vacated slot as Genesis’ lead singer” DE when tragedy struck.
Giraffe “Back in N.Y.C.”
Kevin’s Death (1996): On May 17, 1996, Rubin found Gilbert dead at his home just outside of Los Angeles. “The coroner listed the cause of death as ‘asphyxia due to partial suspension hanging.’ Friends and MTV more explicitly reported the cause as autoerotic asphyxiation.” MA The Los Angeles County coroners’ office reports four or five such deaths a year.
One can only imagine the possibilities of what Kevin Gilbert could have continued to contribute to the music world. Rubin, who once fronted ’70s pop band the Rubinoos and is now the executor of Gilbert’s estate, says, KG’s “death was tragic, but his life was not a tragedy.” RS As friend Tim Van Den Berg said, “I would like to believe that he is now blessing another world with his beautiful music.” TV
Posthumous Releases (2000-2009): At the time of his death, KG was working on a second solo album, the rock opera The Shaming of the True (which you can listen to here. It “was largely incomplete, but Gilbert’s estate asked Spock’s Beard drummer Nick D’Virgilio to complete it based on the extant tapes and Gilbert’s notes. A live album (composed mostly of songs from Thud), and a compilation of Giraffe material that Gilbert had been working on and an ‘industrial’ album with Gilbert’s latest group, Kaviar have also been released in the years since his death.” WK
Kevin Gilbert “Suite Fugue (Dance of the A&R Men)” (audio only)
The next seven years saw no activity, but three archival projects were released simultaneously in 2009 – the CD/DVD rerelease of Live at the Troubadour, now called Welcome to Joytown: Thud Live at the Troubadour, and the archival collections Nuts and Bolts collecting previously unreleased works from throughout Gilbert’s career. In 2010, Kevin Gilbert’s widely bootlegged 1991 Live at the Roxy was officially released as Toy Matinee Live. Check out all these albums at KevinGilbert.com.
Kevin Gilbert “Tired Old Man”
I have said that if I were a musician, Kevin Gilbert best represents the kind of music I would want to make. His lyrics go beyond clichéd love songs and are infused with witticism. His musicianship showcase the tireless hours he spent in the studio perfecting his craft. It was a shame to lose such an astonishing talent at 29. His work, however, lives on and for those uninitiated in his music, I hope this blog leads you down the same musical journey where KG’s music has taken me.
Happy birthday, Neil Young! Born November 12, 1945, in Toronto, Canada, this rock singer/songwriter and guitarist is one of the most recognized classic rockers in history. He first gained notice with Buffalo Springfield and also has worked with Crosby, Stills & Nash over the years. The brunt of his work, however, has been his solo output. In those three configurations, he has amassed ten albums which rank in the top 1000 of all time according to the DMDB.
In June 2011, a list of Neil Young’s top 20 songs of all time was posted on the DMDB Facebook page in response to a Rolling Stone poll. That list has now been expanded to a top 40 list. As always, DMDB lists are determined by creating an aggregate list from multiple other best-of lists and factoring in chart success, sales, airplay, and awards. More than 30 best-of Neil Young lists were factored in.
