Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?
Artist: The Cranberries
Community Score: 8.27

Title aside, what the Cranberries were doing wasn't that common at the time, at least in mainstream pop terms; grunge and G-funk had done their respective big splashes via Nirvana and Dr. Dre when Everybody came out first in the U.K. and then in America some months later. Lead guitarist Noel Hogan is in many ways the true center of the... Read More

Lips: Music For Saying It
Artist: Jane Siberry

Lips was the second of Jane Siberry's trilogy of concerts held monthly in New York City's Bottom Line Club in 1996. Due to financial problems and legal issues with her then-label Warner Brothers, this CD was released almost three years after the concert. The CD is available by itself or as part of the elaborate, beautifully packaged New York... Read More

This Desert Life
Artist: Counting Crows
Community Score: 7.78

It's likely that critics and listeners will consider Counting Crows' long-delayed third album, This Desert Life, another retro effort by a traditionalist band, but it's actually their most individual and finest album yet. All the familiar elements are in place, from Adam Duritz's impassioned vocals and cryptic lyrics to the jangling... Read More

Limb
Artist: Justin Clayton

Justin Clayton is an interesting pop architect, one who's debut album Limb should turn some heads. Previously, Clayton was Julian Lennon's musical foil, writing and playing on tracks from Violette, The Secret Value Of Daydreaming and other records. In recent years, he has been in the touring band for Tears For Fears. Most of the material in... Read More

No Need to Argue - BONUS LIVE DISC
Artist: The Cranberries

With their second album, No Need to Argue, the Cranberries have managed to avoid a sophomore slump by turning in a set of songs that builds on their debut's finest moments. With the exception of the distorted march of "Zombie," there aren't that many great departures from the band's atmospheric, melodic guitar-pop. Most of the credit goes to the... Read More

Wood
Artist: Moxy Früvous
Community Score: 8.00

After Moxy Fruvous built a Canadian audience with the novelty songs of their debut Bargainville, the fairly subdued and serious Wood came as a bit of a shock. The cover art, featuring a whimsical cartoon that has been replaced with a black-and-white photo of the band standing in the forest, illustrates the transition from quirky humor to earnest... Read More

Good Dog Bad Dog: The Home Recordings
Artist: Over the Rhine

Five years after the dissolution of their relationship with IRS Records, the Cincinnati-based lit-pop band Over the Rhine once again became a major-label presence when they signed with Back Porch, a new offshoot of Virgin Records. The group took the opportunity to refine and reissue their 1996 homespun masterpiece Good Dog Bad Dog, which had... Read More

No Need to Argue
Artist: The Cranberries
Community Score: 8.22

With their surprise success behind them, the Cranberries went ahead and essentially created a sequel to Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can't We with only tiny variations, with mixed results. The fact that the album is essentially a redo of previously established stylistic ground isn't apparent in just the production, handled again by Stephen... Read More

God Shuffled His Feet
Artist: Crash Test Dummies
Community Score: 6.15

Thanks to Jerry Harrison's remarkably clear and focused production, Crash Test Dummies' second album became a surprise hit. Apart from the relatively concise pop smarts of the singles "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" and "Afternoons and Coffeespoons," God Shuffled His Feet isn't all that different from the band's first album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All... Read More

August and Everything After
Artist: Counting Crows
Community Score: 8.12

When the prevailing guitar jingle of "Mr. Jones" cascaded over radio in the early '90s, it was a sure sign that the Counting Crows were a musical force to be reckoned with. Their debut album, August and Everything After, burst at the seams with both dominant pop harmonies and rich, hearty ballads, all thanks to lead singer Adam Duritz. The lone... Read More

Tree: Music for Films and Forests
Artist: Jane Siberry

In the autumn of 1996, Jane Siberry began a series of performances at New York City's The Bottom Line. Each of the three shows had a theme, and all three were recorded for future release. The last show of the trilogy, a Christmas show, was the first to be released (1997's Child), with the other two scheduled to follow. However, Siberry had... Read More