Essential music - Dulcinea

Album: Dulcinea
Artist: Toad the Wet Sprocket
Released: 1994

It seems only right to start out my list of essential albums with my favorite album, by my favorite band of all time. Toad was one of those bands that seemed to exist on the margins of the mainstream. They had a few top 40 hits, but were obscure enough that people would cock their head to the side a little bit if you said the band name to them. They were "the band that played that song... you know the one..."

Dulcinea was released in 1994, and was somewhat an anomaly in the sonic landscape of that year. Let me take you back to some of the releases in 1994:

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple
Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies
Weezer - Weezer (the blue album)
Live - Throwing Copper
Green Day - Dookie
Bush - Sixteen Stone
Hole - Live Through This

1994 was a fairly loud and angry year in music. Even R.E.M. changed up their sound in 1994, releasing the guitar heavy and uncharacteristic "Monster." And in the midst of that, came Dulcinea.

The album starts with a tickle of cymbals sweeping into the opening song, "Fly From Heaven," a song from the viewpoint of someone (brother, disciple?) who loved Jesus as a person, rather than a messiah, lamenting what became of their loved one. Yes, the album did have some slightly crunchy guitars, which rear their heads in the second song "Woodburning" but the majority of the album is far more melodic and jangly - sounding more akin to pre-1994 R.E.M. than post-Nirvana grunge.

The album produced a few radio gems in "Something's Always Wrong" and "Fall Down" but the album tracks go far beyond these two songs. There is gentle self-flagellation on "Stupid" and the country-tinged ode to splitting up reflected in the division of a record collection in "Nanci." "You take Nanci, for me Loretta's fine. No, I've changed my mind. I'll take Nanci, for you Loretta's fine."

The album flows through each song, changing tempo and direction like a river. At the heart of the songs is a touch of sadness, like lead singer Glen Phillips was looking at the world and finding the grey areas after years of seeing black and white.

For me, there are a few gut wrenchingly gorgeous moments on this album, which most people didn't hear, as they really didn't receive airplay. The first, "Crowing" was released as a single but was lost somewhere along the way. The song touches on how some people always look for a partner who needs fixing, because it gives them a purpose.

"Been waiting to find
You could've been happier given the time
If he'd make up his mind
You'd give yourself to anybody
Who would cross that line
And it was never a question
He was crowing for repair
You'd give him love and affection
But you couldn't keep him there..."

The title of the album came from the Cervantes book "Don Quixote" and the theme of fighting illusions and inner demons is woven throughout the album. The visual of Quixote attacking the giants is given a nod in "Windmills," the song which I consider to be the crown jewel of this beautiful album. "I spend too much time raiding windmills. We go side by side, laugh until it's right." I believe I can never tire of this song. I have heard this song performed live with the band, with Glen playing solo, backed up by Sean and Sara Watkins, with Mutual Admiration Society, and it still gives me chills every time and in every incarnation. I have actually reached a point that I can tell this song is going to be played just by how the guitar is being tuned. "Take the darkest hour break it open. Water to repair what we have broken." This song is beautiful and melodic. Every note, every vocal - lead and background, is brilliant. I have nothing bad to say about this song.

The album closes with the odd and jarring "Reincarnation Song." The first time I heard this song, I was mortified, but it has since clarified itself to me, as good songs often do. A few years back I was talking to Toad's then-manager, Chris Blake, and asked him what the first thing he thought when he heard this song. His reply? "Oh, shit." Apparently Glen had been reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and wrote a song from the viewpoint of a soul leaving it's dying body, realizing that it hasn't reached a full level of enlightenment yet, and being pulled into another corporeal vessel. The band re-recorded the song for the album, but thought the second take sounded like a cover version of the first take and scrapped it for the original. Good call.

So, if you don't have this album, get it. Don't download a few songs. Buy it. If you already own it, pull it out and listen to it again. Listen to it beginning to end. Preferably with headphones. The big foamy ones that press over your ears and block out the world. You might not love it on first listen, but with the really good ones it isn't about instant gratification it's about the long haul. "Maybe any way the wind blows, it's all worth waiting for."





Edit: This was originally posted on 10/20/2006, but I never finished my list. I'm bumping it back up to the top to force myself to continue with my list... wish me luck.