91.3fm Wyep: Discumentary

Playing off of Apocalyptic themes and experimenting with new sounds, Prince's double album had a bit of everything. The songs range from rock to funk to psychedelic blues to gospel and show his dynamic as a musician. Popular songs included the title track and "Strange Relationship".

Shortly after joining supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, Orbison made what was to be his final solo album. "Mystery Girl" featured the top ten hit "You Got it " and brought him popularity to a new generation.

I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got is O’Connor’s sophomore album and the follow up to 1987's The Lion and the Cobra. Her hit song "Nothing Compares 2U", was written by Prince and helped propel her to stardom. It was her no-nonsense approach of the album influenced several female singer-songwriters from the nineties.

The third release by the White Stripes showcases a more polished and refined sound than their previous efforts. The songs on the album show the range of the group’s influences, from Led Zeppelin to early Delta Blues. The music takes elements of these influences and fuses them with new trends.

By the time XO had come out, Smith had disbanded his group Heatmiser and earned a good reputation as a solo artist. His contributions to the film “Good Will Hunting” earned him notoriety and made XO his major album debut. It featured lush vocal sounds and was compared to the Beatles in style and arrangements.

In spirit of the singer-songwriter tradition that was beginning to resurface, Chapman’s debut album sits comfortably alongside such names as Natalie Merchant and Suzanne Vega. The album is largely political in nature, dealing with issues such as racism, violence against women and poverty.

Short, Sharp, Shocked has a folky sound with a bit of country-tinged production, its a collection of personal songs inspired by Shocked’s youth. The album received great reviews upon its release. It’s biggest hit was the song “Anchorage,” a letter from a friend in Alaska, set to music.

This album received rave reviews from blues fans who praised Tedeschi for continuing and advancing the blues tradition. It features 5 songs written by Tedeschi plus a few written by her band members Tom Hambridge and Adrienne Young. Just Won’t Burn went to number 2 on the mainstream blues charts, getting her opening gigs for the likes of BB King, Dr. John and Buddy Guy.

Tidal was Apple’s debut album, it came out in 1996 when she was 19 years old. Produced by Andrew Slater, he sought to bring out Apple’s voice, piano playing, and provocative lyrics through various song arrangements. The album reached number 18 on Billboard’s Top 40 and has sold more than 2.7 million copies since its release.

Sgt. Pepper's was released in June of 1967, solidifying the Beatles new style introduced in their 1966 album Revolver. The complex and arrangements along with Martin's innovative production style recreated rock music in an album that Rolling Stone considers to be the greatest of all time.

In the Talking Heads' third album Fear of Music, the band releases for the first time, classics such as Heaven and Life During Wartime, as well as experimenting with songs like I Zimbra. This interesting title track combines African rythm sections with lyrics by poet Hugo Ball, and is also partly credited to Brian Eno, who had a big role in the Talking Heads' previous album.

The main theme of this album is based on a Japanese girl who is set to fight an army of robots that are pink. Less of a concept album and more of an album in which certain songs have a narrative thread, the Lips experimentation with music, makes this an album in which you hear something new every time.

Creating what he calls "Conscious Music for the Masses," Micheal Franti tackles topics like AIDS, homelessness and police brutality but sets these themes to melodies you can groove to. "Everyone Deserves Music" is an extension of this method that includes elements of funk, folk, reggae and rock.

Following the huge success of the Fugees, Lauryn Hill went solo with this one. Creating a disc of very personal songs, she demonstrated just how versatile Hip Hop could be. It also showed that Hill could be a force on her own, by winning 5 Grammy Awards and earning a Gold Record.

Greg Brown is definitely a leader in today's modern folk movement, He is the founder of Red House Records and has released many albums in the genre. Further In is one of his best efforts, in which brown delivers a solid performance backed with his descriptive lyrics.

Rediscovered and re-released by David Byrne in 2001, this album holds up more now than it did in 1974. Far ahead of his time, Shuggie Otis and this album are cited as influences by many electronic artists today. The son of bandleader Johnny Otis, Shuggie only released two albums and performs live rarely.

Sly Stone and his group sounded different than the hippie bands coming out of San Francisco in the late Sixties. But the integrated group's message was still one of peace, love and understanding. Their funky sound earned them a bunch of hits, including the album’s title track.

Known as Lennon's most important work, this album features its anthemic title track, Phil Spector's "wall of sound", scathing lyrics about Paul McCartney, and the guitar playing of George Harrison. Released in 1971, it was the first of only three of Lennon's solo albums to hit number one.

A remarkable album of songs written by Tom Waits, performed by John Hammond, produced by Tom Waits. The result leads to new interpretations of some of Waits' best known songs, and a feat rarely seen in the music industry.

Harrison's first non-Beatle album was actually a triple album. Now available on a double CD set, It proves to be one of the best of his solo career. Produced by Phil Spector, and featuring appearances by Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and Peter Frampton to name a few.