6. Silverchair - Neon Ballroom 1999
Now, this is a truly great example of what a third album can mean to a band. After releasing the hugely successful but very derivative duo of 'Frogstomp' and 'Freak Show', the three band members were at the tender ages of fourteen and sixteen respectively. They were basically, a baby Nirvana, with perhaps a slightly more metallic edge. Band leader and songwriter, Daniel Johns, wanted the Aussie band to finally come into their own, and on 'Neon Ballroom', they
really did. Still raging in places, but with a controlled dexterity, fragile and delicate with a menacing underbelly, in others. The key words here are focus and identity. Incorporating strings and keys was a masterstroke, as well as the more mature arrangements. 'Dearest Helpless' shouldn't work, but really does. Perhaps in the hands of their younger selves, it would have been a train-wreck, but not here. Johns is a notorious self-loather and it was often cringe-inducing, the way he broached this subject matter on the previous two albums but here, he nails it. 'Do You Feel The Same' is the sound of a troubled artist, as opposed to an angst ridden adolescent. The onset of his anorexia is shrewdly dealt with, in 'Ana's Song' (Open Fire). On the surface, it seems like a tangled ode to a female, when really it is his disease he is talking to. 'Miss You Love' is another leap forward, further demonstrating that the band don't need aggression and distorted guitars to be compelling.
There are some rockers though, that are way more effectual when surrounded by the more diverse direction. 'Satin Sheets' is the heaviest track that bears the Silverchair name and displays a harsh edge to his vocals that, for the most part, are on the lush and soft side, on 'Neon Ballroom'. Such is the gulf between this album and the previous two, that the band feel this is their debut, proper.