Ones You Missed: An Album a Day

Featuring Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Loretta Lynn, 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 “ones you missed,” meaning albums you have somehow never heard by artists you love. That’s a broad theme, so we’re all over the place this week. But I think it ended up being one of our stronger batches of albums thus far.

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#9 Devils and Dust by Bruce Springsteen (2005)

Bruce Springsteen is undoubtedly my favorite artist, his oeuvre etched on my brain. But even our favorite artists can upset us. And I really hate when The Boss puts on a faux southern accent. You catch hints of this on Nebraska and “My Hometown,” but the Springsteen-ian twang really came to prominence in the 1990s. And it’s all over 2005’s Devils and Dust.

Maybe it’s knowing that Springsteen and I grew up an hour from one another, but his drawl comes across as phony. Only Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan can get away with the fake twang. The rest of us should leave it to the real southerners.

All that said, the title track on this album is powerful. But that doesn’t outweigh the low points on this record, twang-infused or not. “Maria’s Bed” may be the worst vocal across the Springsteen catalog.

#8 Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes (2005)

This was the only album in The White Stripes discography that Ken hadn’t heard. I, on the other hand, was obsessed with this record for a few weeks in college. I was a bit disappointed returning to it, though.

Get Behind Me Satan is a weird album for The White Stripes. Whereas most White Stripes albums are driven by searing guitar and pounding rhythms, Get Behind Me Satan is a piano record. I don’t think Meg White’s primal drumming suits the piano as well as it does distorted guitars.

There are still highlights, though. “Blue Orchid,” maybe the most guitar-focused track on the record, is a standout. “The Denial Twist” is two-and-a-half minutes of fun. “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet)” is also some of Jack White’s strongest writing to date.

#7 Pink Cadillac by John Prine (1979)

John Prine is one of the greatest singer-songwriters of the second half of the 20th century, yet on Pink Cadillac he spends half his time covering other people’s music. Most of these covers, especially with the loose, rocking arrangements used throughout Pink Cadillac, are a step below Prine’s original output.

But even his original work on this record isn’t that strong. “Chinatown,” for example, is filled with lyrics that are stereotypical at best and racist at worst (e.g., “Well, the moon is yellow and the people are too / They roll eggs on a bar-b-que”).

#6 The Ghost of Tom Joad by Bruce Springsteen (1995)

On The Ghost of Tom Joad, Bruce Springsteen wrote spare, lyrically-dense songs about the working class, Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads updated for the late 20th century. But where Guthrie’s working class tales are often singable, Springsteen’s lack memorable melodies. That makes this cerebral album feel impenetrable. But if you’re willing to dig deep into Springsteen’s words, there is something rewarding to be found.

#5 Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash by The Replacements (1981)

My favorite thing about The Replacements is how they balance childish humor (e.g., “Gary’s Got a Boner”) with heart-on-your-sleeve honesty (e.g., “Sixteen Blue”). Their debut, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash leans much more heavily on the former than the latter. So, while Paul Westerberg is still developing as a songwriter, Sorry Ma delights because, for all their debauchery, The Replacements could play well from the beginning.

#4 Fist City and Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn (1968 & 1971)

These are technically two records, but they felt like two sides of the same coin. The arrangements are classic country, a pedal steel weeping throughout. The lyrics are direct but deft. And the songs sound like they were constructed on the Rock of Gibraltar.

My only criticism is that Lynn rehashes many of the same themes again and again. Considering that and how expansive her discography is, I think I’ll still turn to her greatest hits before these studio efforts.

#3 Parade by Prince (1986)

After the success of Purple Rain as both a movie and an album, Prince was determined to score another dual hit. His second try, Under the Cherry Moon, was a box office bomb, making $10 million on a $12 million budget and scoring multiple Razzies. The soundtrack album, Parade, fared much better, though. It spawned the number one hit “Kiss” on the way to selling over a million copies.

In a certain sense, “Kiss” is reminiscent of the sound of Parade generally. Whereas Purple Rain crossed pop and rock in novel ways and its follow-up, Around the World in a Day, leaned into psychedelia, Parade is a sparse funk record. And when I say “sparse” I mean it. “Kiss” doesn’t even have a bass.

Like other records in the Prince discography, especially those from the 1980s, Parade sounds a bit dated at times. Prince leaned heavily into synths and drum machines that were en vogue at the time. But the songwriting is tremendous. The albums closer, “Sometimes It Snows in April,” might be the best song in the entire Prince discography.

#2 Why Do Birds Sing? by Violent Femmes (1991)

Because my knowledge of Violent Femmes doesn’t go much beyond “Blister In the Sun,” I had zero expectations for this album. I ended up loving it. It’s 13 tracks of bouncy folk punk. “American Music” was particularly fun.

If you are a fan of the band but missed this record, you will also probably enjoy it. Ken loves the Violent Femmes and notes that despite being worried that this record was going to be disappointing, he was pleasantly surprised: “Their first two albums are elite. The third is whatever. So, I thought the fourth would be a weird departure. But I liked it.”

#1 Musicology by Prince (2004)

Because Prince was skilled on so many instruments, he sometimes has a problem where he can’t get out of his own way. It’s all Prince all the time. Great music tends to involve some sort of compromise between artists. Prince always had a singular vision.

Musicology is a great example of the singularness of Prince. Outside of the rocking “Cinnamon Girl,” it’s an album-length exploration of R&B where he plays almost any instrument. But had Prince involved others, I don’t think this record would have worked as well. “Illusion, Coma, Pimp & Circumstance,” for example, is built around three looping notes that would leave most producers scratching their heads. But Prince is willing to trust his instincts. And when it works, it works really well.

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