Seeing as how I stole Pete Yorn’s album title for this blog, I suppose I’d better make Pete Yorn the subject of one of my early posts.
If I have to be totally straight and honest, his album ‘musicfromthemorningafter’ is in my list of top ten albums of ALL TIME. I’m not a die-hard devotee of Pete Yorn, and I don’t think his second album was up to standard at all. I don’t even think he’s cute. But I am a fan of his debut album. I bought it right when it was first released, in 2001, having heard of Pete Yorn through being a Phantom Planet fan then (I think he shared the same manager as them or something). Even today, it’s one of the rare cds that I can listen to without skipping tracks in between.
What makes this album so special? I don’t know. Maybe it’s the mix of guitar-rock with a dash of folk. Maybe it’s the sadness that resonates through the lyrics in spite of the upbeat melodies. Like somehow you get the feeling that Pete Yorn is forever the stranger, aloof in a crowd, but he’s comfortable being alone.
This was an album brimming with possibilities. I’m not aware if Pete Yorn released anymore cds after his second (disastrous) one, but I hope that he hasn’t lost that spark, and one day will release another stunning album like ‘musicforthemorningafter’.
Watch his video for ‘Strange Condition’, from ‘musicforthemorningafter’.
