Expanding the entertainment conversation beyond movies (though obviously you can pick a film score or compilation soundtrack if you like):
What’s a music album that you fear not enough people realize is perfect?
I absolute adore Lyle Lovett’s 1996 album The Road to Ensenada, and while I can’t say that its genius is unacknowledged — it won the Grammy in 1997 for Best Country Album — it does feel like this one has slipped below the pop-culture radar since. Lovett’s smoky voice and his evocative, intelligent, storytelling lyrics work beautifully with enormously danceable tunes that cross all sorts of musical lines: bluesy, jazzy, folky, swingy. The slyly humorous “Don’t Touch My Hat” and “That’s Right (You’re Not from Texas),” the bouncy and romantic “Private Conversation,” The bittersweet “Who Loves You Better” and “It Ought to Be Easier” (actually, there are a lot of bittersweet songs here)… I had to stop writing this post to listen to the whole album. There isn’t a weak song here.
(Of course, Lovett has appeared as an actor on TV and in film, and has composed music for the screen, but this album has no movie connection.)
Your turn…
(You can also discuss this at Substack or Patreon, if you prefer. You don’t need to be a paying subscriber to comment, but you will need to register with either site to do so.)
The Road to Ensenada: Amazon US | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK
I can absolutely support this nomination. I’d also suggest Graceland (Paul Simon, 1986), which likewise got a lot of attention back in the day but somehow evaporated from the general discussion in the intervening decades. Still not sure whether “the cross is in the ballpark” is an observation, a clue, or a threat, but I reckon I will be the rest of my life wondering about it.
I love Graceland too—but the lyric you quote is from “The Obvious Child” from The Rhythm of the Saints. I think they’re both perfect albums, but Rhythm is my favorite of the two. And I think it definitely deserves more attention—I don’t think it’s been as acclaimed as Graceland was.
Graceland is one of my absolute favorites too.
LOVE Lyle Lovett, and love Ensenada. “Her First Mistake” is my favorite track on it, though I’ve just realized the title gives away the twist in the song.
As I mentioned in another comment here, I also think Paul Simon’s Rhythm of the Saints deserves more attention. Also, Sting’s Soul Cages. Not a bad song in the bunch. I don’t think it’s the most popular of his albums, but to me it’s the most cohesive and personal of his work, and its overarching theme—grieving for a father, and figuring out what he meant to you—is one I find personally meaningful.
Yes, I adore both those other albums too!