3 Albums To Get You Through A Breakup: 90s Style
and a few honorable mentions
I was in Harris Teeter the other day staring aimlessly at the neverending aisle of detergent, debating which Wyatt (that’s my dog) would prefer. Did you know they have scents like Eucalyptus and Mindful-Mint now? Anyways, “Lovefool” by The Cardigans came slicing through the badly aging speakers, and I laughed because most people have no clue how good The Cardigans album First Band On The Moon actually is.
I think most of you are familiar with “Lovefool” and how it saturated the airwaves for much of 96’ from that Swedish Alt-Rock band. The Cardigans were sort of dismissed early on as a one-hit-wonder of sorts (in America at least); though First Band On The Moon is in fact their third album. They also appeared on popular soundtracks like 10 Things I Hate About You. I continued to buy their albums for years (spoiler; they are all sneaky good). If you took the baby-angel lead singer Nina Perssons at just face value, you would’ve never guessed what a hidden savage she is with her lyrics. A lot of her songs were basically telling men to stop being the absolute worst and just fuck off and die. Needless to say, I was into it.
The reason for my creepy laughter in Harris Teeter was because at first listen (as a teenager) “Lovefool” had that tongue-in-cheek desperate appeal that so many of us (ok just me) exhibited when I had a crush on someone. It made me think of what were some of my favorite albums in middle and high school to get deep into my feelings. You know, get really sad about a three-week relationship where you met at the mall twice and he maybe bought you ONE slice of Sabaro’s. When you really wanted two. Bastard.
Anyway, not all breakups are the same,
and not all albums are created equal.
Here are 3 standouts that I know (well I hope) you’ve all secretly wept to.
I don’t think I was a fully formed human in the sense that my range of sadness and heartbreak (often imaginary/self-inflicted) had met its peak until I was exposed to Third Eye Blind’s debut album.
Sure, you think of “Semi-charmed life” and “Graduate” but Stephan Jenkins is a secret romantic of the BDSM persuasion. An emotional rollercoaster ride of amphetamines (allegedly), wild entanglements ahem, Charlize! Where’s the E! True Hollywood Story on that, I’d like to know. Stephan’s lyrics teeter between that infinite self-destructive beauty only a classic bad boy or girl can provide. Stephan has always been “No Rules Just Right” kinda like Outback.
You have to listen to the ENTIRE album, and by that you know I’m implying the last three tracks. It was as if Stephan himself had reached inside my chest cavity and ripped out my heart and then proceeded to repeatedly run over it with his super cool motorcycle. I’m not exaggerating. If you didn’t ugly cry in your room, to “Motorcycle Driveby” or “God Of Wine” who the fuck are you.
I’m not proud of this, but when I was really feeling blue and wanted to push myself over the edge I would reach for this album:
Fiona is good for all seasons. Happy times, put her on! Then you’ll quickly be reminded of how the underbelly of most romantic entanglements is grossly overrated. Fiona’s debut album Tidal is magnificent but When The Pawn…. takes what Tidal’s “Shadowboxer” and “Criminal” did, several steps further. The lyrics are far more biting, intricate, like a fever dream. Fionna was one of the first (of many) female lyricists that made me realize that you could siphon your pain straight to the page, in the form of debilitating lyrics.
The last album I could go on and on about simply because STP is well, the shit.
Purple is the kind of album that you can get lost in with that wistful kind of heartbreak. The kind that was maybe kinda serious but had more of a “what could’ve been vibe to it”
My love for Scott Weiland is no secret, so instead of explaining why I think he and Kurt could contend for the best (male) songwriters of the 90’s, I’ll just highlight a few of my favorite tracks from Purple, which is probably my favorite STP album of all time as well.
“Lounge Fly”, “Still Remains”, and “Meatplow” and yes of course “Big Empty” provide that kind of heavy afterglow you feel of wanting to draw the shades, turn on your lava lamp and just think about that time (insert name here) tried to break up with you via a NOTE when you should’ve been quicker and caught their hand in the locker instead.
Of course, this second album was a heavy hitter for STP, “Vasoline”, “Interstate Love Song”, “Unglued” I mean COME ON. Heartbreak or not, it’s always worth a listen.
Oh, and a few honorable mentions because I mean a promise is a promise:
“Special” by Garbage. Honestly, that whole album Garbage 2.0 is pretty fire like literally. You’ll be inspired to set someone's stuff on fire that did you wrong. Just after a few listens.
“Big Mistake”, “Wishing I was there” & “Smoke” by Natalie Imbruglia from Left of The Middle. Don’t roll your eyes at me, just listen. Much much better than “Torn”. She’s talented, I mean she was married to Daniel John’s from Silverchair at one point.
“Body” & “Alien” by Bush. Debut album SixteenStone is and forever will be essential to your record collection.
What did you think? Yes, no, maybe? What’s your top 3 albums
XO
April