One of mine is Commit This to Memory by Motion City Soundtrack. I basically took the title verbatim and know the album word for word. And while I would love if it did, the rest of MCS’s stuff just doesn’t hit the same way.
And if you’re not an album person, maybe a period of time in the artist’s work? Whatever works for you.
*Lots of mentions of hit debut albums that subsequently petered out, which follows with the dreaded sophomore slump that hits many artists. Anyone with mid or even later career albums that stand alone? Those always intrigue me.
Parachutes by Coldplay was a really good kind of alt-indie-pop album. Much more stripped down than the rest of their catalog. Everything since then has either been overproduced or soulless.
If you want more chill, brooding, melancholy stuff — songs that sound about right for a band that named itself “Coldplay” — there are two EPs and a handful of B-sides from before Parachutes that are relatively unknown and have the same vibe.
Got any names for those eps or b sides?
EPs are Safety, The Blue Room and Brothers and Sisters, while the B-sides come from the better-known Parachutes singles Trouble, Yellow and Shiver. Some specific track picks I’d point to are “Easy to Please,” “Bigger Stronger” and “Only Superstition.”