An Album a Day: Switch-Ups
Featuring Alanis Morissette, the Black Eyed Peas, the Goo Goo Dolls, and others
My friend Ken and I decided to listen to an album every day this year. Each week is themed. At the end of each week, we rank what we listened to. To be clear, we aren’t ranking every album that fits the theme. We are only ranking what we chose to listen to during the last seven days.
This week’s theme is “switch-ups,” meaning an album where the artist dramatically changes their sound. To make the switch-up clear, we listened to one album before and after the sonic change. We then rated those two albums as a single entity rather than separately.
There were many people we could have chosen here. Taylor Swift. Fleetwood Mac. The Bee Gees. Jefferson Airplane. Post Malone. But we stuck to albums that we hadn’t heard before.
#7 Behind the Front (1998) and The E.N.D. (2009) by Black Eyed Peas (Alternative Rap → Electronic Pop)
Here’s a how a user on RateYourMusic described the Black Eyed Peas:
The Black Eyed Peas are a weird group for sure. They started out as a rap group similar to A Tribe Called Quest, then hired Fergie as a fourth member creating pop rap, threw electronic influences into the mix, went back to classic West Coast Hip Hop after Fergie’s departure, then switched to reggaeton in their more recent albums. Even if you don’t like their work, it’s always interesting to poke your head in and see what they have going on at the time.
This is a pretty apt (and humorous) description of the group. Their first album is clearly made in the style of alternative rap groups, like De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. Despite being a bit too long, it’s a quality record. If you’re only familiar with the Black Eyed Peas from their imperial era, you’ll be surprised to learn that every member of the group, including will.i.am, can rap.
But the Black Eyed Peas had loftier ambitions. With some huge singles, including “My Humps” and “Pump It,” under their belt, they went for world domination on The E.N.D. And they succeeded. The first five tracks on the record—“Boom Boom Pow,” “Rock That Body,” “Meet Me Halfway,” “Imma Be,” and “I Gotta Feeling”—were all massive singles.
Had you not listened to the Black Eyed Peas since the late 1990s, your jaw would be on the floor when you threw on The E.N.D. Memorable bars have been replaced by inane catchphrases (e.g., “Focus on this, the ear seductionists / More than lyricists in this rap metropolis / More like an activist, we give it to you all” → “Go out and smash it / Like oh my God / Jump off that sofa, let’s kick it off”). Bleeps and bloops have taken the place of rich instrumentals. (Of note, the Black Eyed Peas of the late 1990s toured with a live band.)
But the worst of it all might be that those first five tracks are the best The E.N.D. has to offer. “Ring-A-Ling” is truly unlistenable. “Electric City” is an affront to the Bo Diddley beat. “Now Generation” is a half-hearted attempted at an indie rock song, Fergie prattling about how “Myspace in your space / Facebook is that new place” and “Google is my professor / Wikipedia the checker” while fighting for her life to find a pitch.
#6 The Fourth World (1997) and Overexposed (2012) by Maroon 5 (Alternative Rock → Pop Rock)
Like the Black Eyed Peas, Maroon 5 started out as an interesting group with some talent but threw all of their taste to the wind for a chance at pop stardom. Also, like the Black Eyed Peas it worked.
This is somewhat inexplicable because Songs About Jane, Maroon 5’s breakthrough album, was a great record filled with great songs. We didn’t listen to that, though. We started with The Fourth World, the group’s record released while still under their original name, Kara’s Flowers.
The Fourth World does not have the songwriting of Songs About Jane, but the instrumentals are all there. In fact, along with his lead vocal duties, Adam Levine plays a mean guitar throughout.
By Overexposed, Maroon 5 had outsourced most of the songwriting to professionals (e.g., Max Martin, Benny Blanco, Shellback). Because of that, each track sounds like it’s aspiring for heavy rotation on your local pop stations. Sometimes it works (e.g., “Daylight”). Most of the time it doesn’t (e.g., “One More Night”).
#5 Lemonade and Brownies (1995) and 14:59 (1999) by Sugar Ray (Nu Metal → Alternative Rock)
You probably know Sugar Ray for their breezy late 1990s hits, like “Fly,” “Every Morning,” and “Someday.” But before they made their way to soft rock radio, they were an aspiring nu metal group.
I am not a nu metal guy, but I somehow enjoyed Lemonade and Brownies—their effort in that genre—more than the hit-spawning 14:59. The problem is that while the hits on 14:59 are fun, the rest is a bit forgettable (e.g., cover of Steve Miller’s “Abracadabra”). Lemonade and Brownies at least feels like a cohesive statement.
#4 Alanis (1991) and Jagged Little Pill (1995) by Alanis Morissette (Dance-pop → Alternative Rock)
Before she became an alt rock queen, a young Alanis Morissette tried her hand at dance-pop. The self-titled record sold well in Canada but was largely erased from distribution when Morissette decided to switch up her sound. That’s a shame. While I won’t be returning to Alanis, it’s a light, fun affair who didn’t deserve the fate of being erased from the world.
Jagged Little Pill, the massive hit that Morissette pretends is her debut, is better than her real debut. But there are many ways that this record could have gone wrong. The heart-on-your-sleeve lyrics could have come across as shallow. The vocal timbre could have come across as grating. Even the mid-1990s alt rock production could have come across as insincere.
None of these things are the case, though. Jagged Little Pill continues to work because Morissette and her collaborators (i.e., Glen Ballard, Dave Navarro, Flea, Benmont Tench) are fully committed. You believe every one of the giant choruses on this album because they do.
#3 New York Dolls (1973) and Buster Poindexter (1987) by New York Dolls/Buster Poindexter (Proto-Punk → Swing)
After David Johansen left the New York Dolls, he wanted to try something new without his old fans bothering him. So, he started performing old time swing and jump blues under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter. By the late 1980s, he even scored hits under this pseudonym, including “Hot Hot Hot.”
While I would choose to listen to the New York Dolls self-titled record over the Buster Poindexter record ten times out of ten, the latter does work. Johansen and his band are clearly having fun in this style.
