Morphine (the band...obviously) provided a good chunk of the soundtrack to my college life. They were too under the radar and we just weren't that hip in high school to know about them. However 1994's Cure for Pain managed to make some waves and suddenly it seemed like everyone picked up the follow-up, Yes. While this album isn't nearly as strong, it was the first album by Morphine to chart, hitting the dead middle of the Billboard 200. Not bad for a band who's only "normal" instrument was the drums.
It's interesting to contrast this album with the one from John Scofield featured a couple days back. While Scofield worked to transcend musical genres as a jazz artist, Morphine borrows a lot from jazz history (free, cool, etc.), but it comfortably classified as "alternative" (probably in a truer sense of the word than most) rock.
Morphine may also be the only band featured here that recorded entirely in the 1990's that I'm not tagging with a "lost band of the 90's" label due to their staying power of their legacy in the years following the sudden death of frontman/bassist Mark Sandman. Oddly enough, I was facing a birthday party dud as most of the invitees were opting to see Morphine in concert back in 1999. When Sandman died, suddenly everyone was able to come to the party. So thank you Mr. Sandman, but I must protest that it was too great a sacrifice!
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