The Indigo Girls name their two favourite albums: “Sheer brilliance”
A lot of people forget the world of adult alternative music in this day and age. While many people just point to Nirvana as the one moment when everything changed, and the 1990s fully started, there were still softer bands like REM filling in the cracks for those who weren’t exactly used to the loud guitars and intense vocals. The Indigo Girls may have been designed for that kind of downtempo earnest rock, but they still maintained that the best music ever came from The Beatles and Stevie Wonder.
When you listen to their music, those names would be far from the first that normally come across people’s radar. For a group that’s heavily indebted to the sounds of folk and traditional genres, how would they fit in with the kind of artists who were known for pushing the boundaries for what mainstream music could be in their respective eras?
Well, there’s more than just traditional music in the Indigo Girls’ back catalogue. Every now and again, there will be the odd track that will catch the fairweather fans off guard, almost as if they decided to just throw out different ideas and see where they went, and that is something The Beatles knew like the back of their hand.
While Rubber Soul and Revolver marked the first time the Fab Four tried their hand at making strange music, Sgt Pepper was heralded as the alternative duo’s favourite album, with Emily Sailers telling Pop Matters, “The Beatles aren’t my favourite band ever, but I just can’t deny the sheer brilliance of this record. I like everything about it: the instrumental and vocal arrangements, the psychedelic and evocative lyrics, the catchy melodies, the way-out-there production, the ‘concept’ album achievement, the performances.”
Even though The Beatles have a grab bag of classics under their belt, it’s hard to really argue that Sgt Peppers is their landmark moment. It was a time when they finally went off the road, and for people just wanting another version of ‘She Loves You’, songs like ‘A Day in the Life’ and ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’ were the band taking a plunge into experimental music and never looking back.
For personal reasons, though, Sailers also gravitated towards Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, noting that it was “closer to my heart”. The Beatles may have been the band for everybody, but for anyone who likes the concept of music, there are at least a few songs on Wonder’s double album that are up your alley.
He may have still been one of the greatest voices in soul, but hearing him go from soulful jams like ‘Love’s In Need of Love Today’ to pure pop on ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ to taking on jazz greats on ‘Sir Duke’ is the work a mad genius working at the peak of his powers. Compared to other albums that seemed to stop the clock the minute they were released, any track on Songs in the Key of Life could be dissected by scientists as to what makes music so powerful.
Although Saliers has been most comfortable exploring the world of folk rock with Amy Ray, these albums serve as a reminder of what music can do. It might be fun to listen to and more than a little bit complicated sometimes, but when it hits that sweet spot, there’s nothing else that can compare to it.
Indigo Girls’ two favourite albums:
- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – The Beatles
- Songs In The Key of Life – Stevie Wonder
