| Man of Sin | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Length | 35:12 | |||
| Label | Zero Hour [1] Rykodisc [2] | |||
| Producer | Varnaline | |||
| Varnaline chronology | ||||
| ||||
Man of Sin is the debut album by the American band Varnaline, released in 1996. [3] [4] Varnaline supported the album by touring with the 1996 Lollapalooza festival. [5]
The album constituted frontman Anders Parker's 4-track demos, which he recorded mostly by himself in Portland, Oregon; he formed the band afterwards. [3] [6] Acoustic guitar is the main instrument, although Bob MacKay, a bass player, contributed to four songs. [7] [8] Parker wrote all the songs, which were originally intended for a different musical project. [9] [10] "Little Pills" was inspired by Parker's brother's work in a group home. [9]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [12] |
| Fort Worth Star-Telegram |  [7] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [8] |
| NME | 7/10 [13] |
Entertainment Weekly wrote that, "like Eddie Vedder, Varnaline songwriter Anders Parker seems to idolize Neil Young for his twangy introspection; unlike Pearl Jam, he doesn’t weigh down his melancholy with exhibitionistic melodrama." [14] The Chicago Tribune called the album "mostly acoustic, lo-fi tunes occasionally etched with striking, plaintive melodies." [15] The Los Angeles Times opined that the songs oscillate "between very inward folk-pop salted with noisy guitars, and good, muscular, country-tinged expressions of wistfulness, a la Wilco and Son Volt." [16]
NME appreciated that the album "never descends into laboured folk catharsis." [13] The Chicago Reader determined that, "amid the album's relatively lo-fi hiss, layers of guitar—both clean and distorted—and cheap chord-organ tones, Parker's earnest vocals consistently cut through, exuding a genuine ache typically lacking in such at-home affairs." [6] The Record deemed it "a raw, unpretentious project," writing that "Parker's voice is not strong, and is at times tough on the ears as it cracks and strains, but he wrests a great deal of emotion and feeling from it." [17]
AllMusic wrote: "Kind of like a lo-fi indie version of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, Man of Sin is a compelling but occasionally harsh album of real staying power." [11]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Hammer Goes Down" | |
| 2. | "Gary's Paranoia" | |
| 3. | "Lbs" | |
| 4. | "Thorns & Such" | |
| 5. | "Little Pills" | |
| 6. | "Dust" | |
| 7. | "No Decision No Disciple" | |
| 8. | "Want You" | |
| 9. | "Green Again" | |
| 10. | "In the Year of Dope" |
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band formed in 1996 in Seattle, Washington. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout multiple lineup changes. Since 2013, the lineup has consisted of Homme alongside Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and Jon Theodore. The band also has a large pool of contributors and collaborators. Queens of the Stone Age are known for their blues, Krautrock and electronica-influenced style of riff-oriented and rhythmic hard rock music, coupled with Homme's distinct falsetto vocals and unorthodox guitar scales.
Alternative rock is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s with the likes of the grunge, shoegaze, and Britpop subgenres in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively. During this period, many record labels were looking for "alternatives", as many corporate rock, hard rock, and glam metal acts from the 1980s were beginning to grow stale throughout the music industry. The emergence of Generation X as a cultural force in the 1990s also contributed greatly to the rise of alternative rock.
Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in 1989 by musician Jeff Mangum in Ruston, Louisiana. They were active until 1998, and then from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock and psychedelic folk. Mangum wrote surreal and opaque lyrics that covered a wide range of topics, including love, spirituality, nostalgia, sex, and loneliness. He and the other band members played a variety of instruments, including non-traditional instruments like the singing saw and uilleann pipes.
Love and Rockets are an English rock band formed in 1985 by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins after that group split in 1983. Ash and Haskins had recorded and performed in another band, Tones on Tail, between 1982 and 1984.
Blur is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Blur, released on 10 February 1997 by Food Records. Blur had previously been broadly critical of American popular culture and their previous albums had become associated with the Britpop movement, particularly Parklife, which had helped them become one of Britain's leading pop acts. After their previous album, The Great Escape, the band faced media backlash and relationships between the members became strained.
New Adventures in Hi-Fi is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was their fifth major-label release for Warner Bros. Records, released on September 9, 1996, in Europe and Australia, and the following day in the United States. New Adventures in Hi-Fi was the band's final album recorded with founding drummer Bill Berry, original manager Jefferson Holt, and long-time producer Scott Litt. The members of R.E.M. consider the recorded album representative of the band at their peak, and fans generally regard it as the band's last great record before a perceived artistic decline during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It has sold around seven million units, growing in cult status years after its release, with several retrospectives ranking it among the top of the band's recorded catalogue.
On Avery Island is the debut studio album by American rock band Neutral Milk Hotel, released on March 26, 1996, by Merge Records. At the time, Neutral Milk Hotel was a solo project of American musician Jeff Mangum, who recorded the album with producer Robert Schneider from February to May 1995. On Avery Island is an indie rock and psychedelic folk album, with a lo-fi sound.
Good God's Urge is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Porno for Pyros. It was released in 1996 on Warner Bros. It was the band's first album to feature bass guitarist Mike Watt, who assisted the band in finishing the album after Martyn LeNoble left before all his bass tracks had been completed. There were three singles released from the album.
Washing Machine is the ninth studio album by the American experimental rock band Sonic Youth, released on September 26, 1995, by DGC Records. It was recorded at Easley Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, and produced by the band and John Siket, who also engineered the band's previous two albums. The album features more open-ended pieces than its predecessors and contains some of the band's longest songs, including the 20-minute ballad "The Diamond Sea", which is the lengthiest track to feature on any of Sonic Youth's studio albums.
Harmacy is the sixth album by American indie rock band Sebadoh. It was released by Sub Pop in 1996.
Fuzzy is the debut studio album by American rock band Grant Lee Buffalo, released in 1993 by Slash Records. According to the band's website, "Fuzzy would galvanize the sound of Grant Lee Buffalo, i.e., the acoustic feedback howl of overdriven 12-string guitars, melodic distorto-bass, tribal drum bombast, the old world churn of pump organs and parlor pianos."
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, as well as Matt Cameron (drums), who joined in 1998. Keyboardist Boom Gaspar has also been a touring/session member with the band since 2002. Former members include Dave Krusen, Matt Chamberlain, Dave Abbruzzese, and Jack Irons, all of whom were the band's drummers from 1990 to 1998. Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, and is considered one of the most influential bands from that decade, dubbed "the most popular American rock and roll band of the '90s".
100% Fun is the fifth album by alternative rock musician Matthew Sweet. It was released on Zoo Entertainment in 1995.
Thank God for Mental Illness is the fifth studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. After releasing Take It from the Man! and Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request in mid-1996, both of which display influences from 1960s psychedelic music, departing from the band's earlier shoegaze sound, the band recorded Thank God for Mental Illness through "tangible custom lo-fi stereo" in their San Francisco home studio on July 11, 1996, with the budget of $17.36.
Down in the Shacks Where the Satellite Dishes Grow is the second album by the American band the Judybats, released in 1992 by Sire Records. The single "Saturday" peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Corky's Debt to His Father is the only solo LP by Red Krayola leader Mayo Thompson. Recorded in 1970, it was released on the small independent label Texas Revolution but barely distributed at the time; some copies were made available in the 1970s via mail order.
Best Coast is an American rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009, currently on hiatus. The band consisted of songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Bethany Cosentino and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno. Cosentino, a former child actress, began writing music as a teenager and was formerly a member of the experimentalist drone group Pocahaunted. After a brief stint at college in New York City, Cosentino returned to the West Coast and began recording lo-fi demos with Bruno, whom she met in the Los Angeles music scene.
Banda Macho is an album by the American band the Figgs, released in 1996. The Figgs supported the album by touring with Graham Parker, opening his shows and serving as the backing band for his set. They also played Warped Tour 1996.
Bet the Sky is an album by the American band Lois, released in 1995. "Shy Town" was released as a single.
Whisper Tames the Lion is the second album by the American band Drivin' n' Cryin', released in 1988. "Powerhouse" was released as single. The band supported the album with a North American tour. The album peaked at No. 130 on the Billboard 200. It sold more than 70,000 copies in its first year of release.
