I'm really going heavy on the flashbacks here. I've been in the process of organizing my records and going through boxes of my old cassette tapes and pulled this jewel out. The Ocean Blue's self titled debut was one of my favorite albums of 1989. Consider how many classics were released that year (my senior year in high school coincidentally) - The Beastie Boy's Paul's Boutique, De La Soul's 3 Feet High & Rising, The Cure's Disintegration, The Red Hot Chili Pepper's Mother's Milk - the list is endless. I'd slide this album into that list.
The Ocean Blue was an album I discovered on the strength of the first single "Between Something and Nothing". The album itself unfolds as a very consistent collection of great songs, well produced with no filler material - a solid listen from beginning to end. I'm not saying this album was revolutionary in any way or was ahead of it's time. Not one song really blows by hair back like that. The songs just carry a kind of endearing quality that still resonates with me whenever I listen to them. That's a mark of great album.
