I love music, so I'm doing a few studies of some of my favorite albums' cover art using Steve Ahn's Ultimate Brush set to 50, and never zooming in past 50%, so hard-mode studies--basically painting with a blunt instrument with no gradation.
To prepare, I organized my favorite albums of all time into rough tiers and this is the first part of tier one.
These albums are:
Commit This to Memory by Motion City Soundtrack
This perfectly encapsulates MCS's incisive self-reflection, self-deprecation, and bittersweet humor, all over a signature, catchy tune. It is a dear song that masterfully captures--in a deft manner only MCS and no other band can--the nervousness of living in an uncertain fog.
Don't miss: "Monsters Invisible"
Perhaps only underrated for being a bonus track, this song showcases MCS's more defiant, yet humble introspective mode, and shows the band's darker, more aggressive side.
Video pick: "Hold Me Down"
Sneaking in another one of my all-time favorite songs, which can easily sucker-punch me any time I listen to it, this video is Motion City Soundtrack--it's chilly, distant, yet inviting and warm, and the kids really comprise the MCS ethos--amidst the harsh cold, there're yet these sources of light and playfulness. The album version has an incredible outro that really brings this song home.
A salute to the powerlessness that creeps into our lives, the fight to regain control, and the lifelines some people/things play in our lives.
Don't miss: "Mary Without Sound"
A blisteringly fast, sometimes violent, and often-times gut-wrenching song that speaks to the uselessness we can feel sometimes.
Video pick: "My Favorite Accident"
Another one of my absolute favorite songs of all time, this one also has a really fascinating video, to boot, I especially appreciate the sheer frustration in that shot of Justin screaming.
This song gets you amped and ready to go: I would draw late into the night in college to this album, and this song kept up the energy; there was a version where Pete screams at 2:47 that really crushed, but it's not on the official version, unfortunately.
Don't miss: "My Heart is the Worst Kind of Weapon (Demo Version)"
Another bonus track, this is one of FOB's groovier songs, and yet it comes right for your throat with some brutal lyrics.
Video pick: "Sugar, We're Goin Down"
This straight-up classic makes you ache for a larger world, yearn for greater connections, and the video was super sweet and really captured my imagination.
From the machine-gun drum intro, through the brash charm of the lyrics, to the lung-bursting finale, this song is an adventure of youth, bottled in 4/4 time for all time.
Don't miss: "A Certain Romance"
This ending track gives the album a quiet send-off, after feeling like a bustling night on the town.
Video pick: "The View from the Afternoon"
One of the most outstanding videos I've ever seen for one of my favorite songs I've ever listened to, this video's best moment comes when the drummer realizes the song's coming back in and he is cursed to get back to the beat, bleeding hands and all.
It's so difficult to differentiate between these "tier one" albums, but I do know Commit This to Memory is the absolute greatest, with only I Am the Movie giving it any sort of serious competition. The emotional impact these albums still pack, years and years, hundreds and hundreds of listens later makes them the undisputed champions of my musical awareness. And a credit to these albums' power: it was so difficult picking just these particular songs to highlight. That's the mark of a legendary album, where just track after track, you can't pick a stone-cold favorite, you can't skip a track, you want to hit replay on each.
Not normal,
Reuxben
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