443. Pavement - crooked rain crooked rain

443.Pcrookedraincrookedrain,
originally uploaded by jrd550.

A friend of a friend told me to get this when it came out. At the time I was probably trying to stretch the dying grunge genre an extra mile by checking out anything on Sub Pop, even giving Candle Box a try. Chad was doing the same in a way, but looking for new stuff - he even picked up Crash Test Dummies (I think you even got Counting Crows didn't you? Fool!). I remember when I first listened to this disc I didn't get it. I thought it was interesting, but I just wasn't ready for it. Then, one fine evening, I Iaid down and listened to the 'No Alternative' compilation on my discman, and stumbled upon Pavement's 'unseen power of the picket fence' - I had managed to overlook it before but this time I ran right into the fence ('unseen' my ass). It was then that I 'got' Pavement and since then I have been happily hooked and completely dependent. Not only was this album the wittiest, smoothest unexpected pop record of the 90's but it also created a genre that didn't really exist prior to its release. I also love it because it will forever remind me of a 'worry-less' college dorm room.

10 out of 10