Many years ago, I was reading something online about how the author had to take a multi-hour trip across the state of Kansas or something and decided that was the perfect time to listen to The Magnetic Fields' magnum opus 69 Love Songs, a 3-Cd collection of, well, 69 love songs. I thought that was a cool idea and anytime I take a long road trip alone I try to figure out some music to play for the ride -- and which songs and albums are best. Typically, I gravitate toward an album on a long trip, rather than individual songs, which is an exception in the iPod world of my life these days. In fact, I particularly enjoy "concept" albums, or records in which multiple songs reinforce a single thematic element or otherwise work well together, rather than simply an album that's a collection of songs. This past week, I spent over five hours in my car driving to and from York, PA, and I made a quick list of my favorite "road" albums -- the ones I listened to on that trip, mostly, and the reasons why. So here, without further ado, are the greatest albums to listen to when you're driving alone for miles and miles.
- Modest Mouse: This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About (1996)
- A pretty self-explanatory selection, this album's title represents the theme of all 16 songs from Modest Mouse's amazing full-length debut. From the opening chords of "Dramamine" ("traveling, swallowing dramamine"), through tracks such as "Beach Side Property" and "Head South" and "Tundra/Desert" and "Exit Does Not Exist" the theme of travel and road trips is prevalent throughout. And the album does an excellent job of switching between slow dirges (like opener "Dramamine") to all-out riot tracks (2nd song "Breakthrough"), sometimes in the same song ("She Ionizes and Atomizes"). There are lengthy guitar/percussion only moments in many songs (the most beautiful of which comes in the lengthy close of "Lounge") and other drawn-out lost moments that allow me to space out during the song and the drive and get lost in my thoughts. It really is the perfect road trip album, in my opinion. And it's nearly 80 minutes long, so it will treat you right for a very long time, or a very long trip.
- Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump (2000)
The second album from this now-defunct Modesto, CA-band might seem like an odd choice for a road album at first, especially considering that their debut album is titled Under the Western Freeway. But for whatever reason, the theme of futuristic/technological isolation explored so perfectly on this album (even better than on Radiohead's similarly themed OK Computer, in my quiet opinion) just perfectly fits my mood when I'm driving. From the extended quiet chords on the 10-minute opening track "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot" through the ups and downs of the beautiful "The Crystal Lake", the rambunctious "Broken Household Appliance National Forest" and the spooky "Beautiful Ground," the album explores with understated brilliance a feeling of loneliness in the face of technological innovation. The twin joys of heart-on-sleeve slow songs "Underneath the Weeping Willow" and closer "So You'll Aim Towards the Sky" can fill even the most hardened heart with emotion as you drift along the empty road through space and time to your destination.
- High above the wrecks
On ice shelves and glaciers
I spy below the mess
And measure the pressure
Where sofas float on roads
And somebody stole your guns
Well sir I'm the only one
To get back your stolen guns
I should have been your son
- Bright Eyes - Lifted, or the Story is in the Soil Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002)
This album was the 4th full-length for Conor Oberst's band and shot him into stardom, but still works best as an entire album, rather than as individual tracks, which makes it perfect for a road trip. The opening track, the nearly 9-minute "The Big Picture" opens with a conversation between a driver and two passengers trying to figure out the directions to their destination... which is sort of theme of the entire album. I absolutely love the sound of the car revving and actually being a passenger in this car on Conor's journey, especially when I'm in my own car on my own journey. The rest of the album veers between superficially upbeat but lyrically challenging tracks like "Method Acting" and "Lover I Don't Have to Love" to sidesteps into different musical genres ("False Advertising", "Bowl of Oranges", "Laura Laurent") to extended venomous rants about political and life lessons ("Waste of Paint", awesome closer about the Bush era "Let's Not Shit Ourselves"). The centerpiece is probably the 6 1/2 minute hopeful ballad "Don't Know When, But A Day is Gonna Come", but I personally prefer the desperate ambiguity of "Nothing Gets Crossed Out", an absolutely wonderful song to listen and scream along to, while in your car, alone, maybe heading to a destination unknown.
- Built to Spill - Perfect From Now On (1997)
When I first heard this album, I was in Jacksonville, FL, traveling for work, which was -- as it usually is -- a nightmare experience. I remember that the temperatures reached the 90s and the humidity made me sweat through my tie. It was too hot to breathe and after several days of work, I escaped in my rental car (a Ford Mustang) and took a tour of a local record store, which had this album in stock. I bought it, played it in the car while I drove down to the beach, and then listened in the air conditioning looking out at the ocean, only venturing outside into the stifling weather to take a piss in the public restroom. So this album always reminds me of traveling, and it really is "perfect." From the opening chords of "Randy Describes Eternity," this sprawling, epic concept album blew away the wonderful pop songs of Built to Spill's debut There is Nothing Wrong with Love and replaced them with a collection of existential post-rock/prog rock tracks that soar and boom with an energy that will fill the speakers of your car with hope. A wonderful road album. One of the best ever.
- Every thousand years
This metal sphere
Ten times the size of Jupiter
Floats just a few yards past the earth
You climb on your roof
And take a swipe at it
With a single feather
Hit it once every thousand years
Till you've worn it down
To the size of a pea
Yeah I'd say that's a long time
But it's only half a blink
In the place you're gonna be
Where you gonna be
Where will you spend eternity
I've gotta be perfect from now on
I've gotta be perfect starting now
- M83 - Before the Dawn Heals Us (2005)
-
Anthony Gonzalez's ode to a futuristic nightlife is an epic poem of overwrought emotions layered among synthesizers, heavy percussion, and quiet moments of beauty. Somehow it works perfectly during a long drive, especially at night. During the standout tracks "Don't Save Us from the Flames", "Fields Shorelines and Hunters", "*", and "Teen Angst," I crank the volume up and keep the pedal down accelerating along with the swirling music, which bounces in and around my vehicle through a wide array of technological glory. Just sitting on my computer or in my CD player at home, this concept album doesn't work nearly as well - it's cloying, too dramatic, corny at times, but even the odd wonder of the song "Car! Chase! Terror!" works while driving, an especially useful accompaniment on the way home in the dark after a long trip away.
Additional "road" records that I find worthy include:
- Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
- Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
- Pedro the Lion - It's Hard to Find a Friend
- Death Cab for Cutie - We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes
- Mogwai - Come On Die Young
- Low - Things We Lost in the Fire
- The Microphones - The Glow Pt. 2
- The Mountain Goats - Tallahassee
- The Arcade Fire - Funeral
- Mono - Under the Pipal Tree
- Joanna Newsom - Ys
- The Dirty Three - Whatever You Love, You Are
Never did and never will
It's just the way it's always been
I've made mistakes before, I'll make the same again
And all this tension we ignore surely works its ugly way inside
I have known that nothing's fair, surely what did I expect?
When magic slips into the air and every day's another test
And all this tension we ignore, it surely works its ugly way outside
So let it build, let it explode
Leaving blood and shattered bone
Or bite your tongue 'til you've forgotten what to say
And take another step back, until you find you've walked away
Silence like disease, but I dare not say it hurts
'Cuz if I honestly react, nothing's ever gonna work
All this tension back and forth
It's just the beauty of the ride
It's just the beauty of the ride
So let it build, let it explode
Leaving blood and shattered bone
Or bite your tongue 'til you've forgotten what to say
And take another step back, until you find you've walked away
What were you doing in York, PA? I went to College there but only stayed 1 year after I graduated. Now I live up the road in the state capitol, Harrisburg.
Posted by: John | February 23, 2009 at 01:40 PM
I really enjoyed this post.
There are just so many GD and BTS songs. Thanks for the suggestions.
Posted by: Zay | February 23, 2009 at 10:15 PM
I was in York for work. One of our clients has a facility there. Seemed like an Ok town, some areas were a little scary, and the drivers were a little crazy but the people were nice. I even ate Thai food there and it wasn't half bad.
Posted by: Bill | February 24, 2009 at 08:57 AM
You're right, some parts of town are definitely more than a little scary (for such a small city). One of the reasons I'm not living there any more. BTW, really enjoy the site. I've been checking in for a couple years, never felt compelled to comment though.
Posted by: John | February 24, 2009 at 10:03 AM
Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the Deaf deserves at least an honorable mention. The whole album is a concept about driving across the Inland Empire in California, complete with hilarious between-song fake radio stations. Almost anytime I go for a drive lasting 3 hours or more, I put SFtD on. The music video for Go With the Flow pretty much sums up what happens when that song comes on while driving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHKOC64KnE. Plus Funeral is on here but not Neon Bible? It has a song called Keep the Car Running, for Pete's sake!
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