The first 7 most influential albums have all been ones 
that are now considered “classic rock,” but as I mentioned previously, college was where I started broadening my tastes and opening myself up to different genres and less mainstream bands. My roommate for three of the four years at UVM, Steve, was a big part of that, as he had such cool, varied musical interests. Thank you, Steve. But then, college is supposed to be a place where you really expand your educational boundaries, isn’t it? (It is – that was rhetorical.) Sophomore year was my big year for that.
Without letting go of Springsteen, U2, Pink Floyd, or The Stones, all of whom had released solid albums in my freshman or sophomore years, I also got into The Replacements, Bob Mould (as he left Hüsker Dü), Social Distortion, and Fishbone. It was Fishbone’s second full-length album, Truth and Soul, that stuck with me the most. I first heard the song “Bonin’ in the Boneyard” in the spring of 1989 and immediately loved the groove of the song. The lyrics were frivolous, but the sound of the song was infectious and undeniable. Back to Pure Pop to buy the CD! I remember driving home for the summer listening to it the whole way, 4 or 5 times through, so I must have bought it just before break, in April or May. And I was hooked.
Fishbone blended soul and punk and funk and hard rock and jazz into a proto-ska-punk music that was often imitated (The Untouchables, The Bosstones, Goldfinger, etc.) but never transcended. Fishbone’s musicality and the breadth of their songwriting on this one album was, in my opinion at least, a singular achievement in this sub-genre that was so prone to derivation. And yes, they were standing on the shoulders of giants like Curtis Mayfield and Sly Stone, but that’s how music works. Songs like “One Day,” “Mighty Long Way,” “Ghetto Soundwave,” and “Pouring Rain” each had their own sound and sounded fantastic! The whole album was that way. But the song that truly bowled me over was the album closer – “Change.”
“Change” is almost a folk song – a prayer for the world to improve, for people to treat one another, and the planet itself, I suppose, better. All of the band’s signatures sounds, from the horns to the deep bass lines to the ferocious energy, were stripped away. The music was contemplative and soothing and hopeful, to match the lyrics perfectly. The song is really such an accomplishment, I’m amazed it never got more attention. But it’s still there for you to discover today, 30 years later.
Fishbone never was able to build on this – their next record had a few good songs but was an artistic mess, the sound of a band that was already breaking apart. But they, and we, will always have this incredible record.
I listened to this album the entire summer of ‘89, which is when I pretty much moved up to Burlington for good. Once I had an apartment at the start of my junior year, I never really lived at home again. And this was the record that provided the soundtrack to that transition from being a kid to taking my first real step out on my own. Change indeed.
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