The Reverend Will the Thrill Presents the Album of the Week!

I read an article recently about a whole bunch of movies that are celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversaries this year.  As someone who likes to watch films that are celebrating anniversaries that are divisible by five, I enjoyed the stroll down memory lane to re-acquaint myself with what I first saw a quarter century ago.  Lots of now classic films like The Sixth Sense and The Matrix (which I have to confess I only saw once on VHS a few years after the fact).  Some films that, after watching again, I think are as relevant today as they were then (specifically, believe it or not, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut--begging the question, what exactly would Brian Boitano do if he were here right now?).  I was also pleased to see smaller films like Election on the list.

This got me thinking about albums that came out that year.  I Googled (which I'm pretty sure was not a verb in 1999) "Albums released in 1999."  It immediately produced a list of 51 albums--not exactly comprehensive, but a good start..  I was surprised to learn I owned four of them on that list including now classic works by Tom Waits, Fiona Apple, Moby, and Santana with his big comeback album that went on to win eight Grammy awards and forced me to explain to my own generation who Carlos Santana is.

Not only was this week's album not on that list, as I write this, I haven't found it on any other list (so far).  And yet, for some reason, it stands out to me more than the other albums released that year.

When it first came out, it was featured on a listening station in the music department at Barnes & Noble.  I was familiar with the group by name.  I had heard maybe three of their songs on the radio in their twenty year history (twenty-five years later, those are still the only songs of theirs that I can remember hearing over the airwaves).  What stuck in my head most, however, was a prime time special about "Saturday Night Live" that aired just before the show's fifteenth season.  Part of the program involved a montage of the show's musical guests over the previous decade and a half.  I don't know why the brief five second clip of the lead singer whose bangs practically covered her eyes stuck with me.  But for some reason it compelled me to check out their new album on that listening station.

I absolutely loved what I heard and immediately bought the album.  In the years since, I've acquired all but one of their studio albums.  I've enjoyed them all.  In fact, the song they did on "SNL" back in the day is my favourite of theirs (I even stole its title--"Don't Get Me Wrong"--for the name of this blog).  But whenever I hear this album, it takes me back to the summer of 1999--half my life ago--the summer I took over B&N's music department, the time I spent with my then-girlfriend, and my first crappy apartment.

Featuring guest appearances by Jeff Beck, David Johansen, and the Duke Quartet, liner note photos by Mary McCartney, and a cover photo by Linda McCartney, please enjoy The Pretenders with their 1999 album ¡Viva El Amor!

I'll be taking next week off for personal reasons.  Until I return, stay safe, be good to your neighbours, and please remember that if at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.

Yours in peace, love, and rock and roll!

The Reverend Will the Thrill