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Top Five break-up albums
by Chris Thompson
What makes a good break-up album? Is it softly sentimental, just distracting enough to take your mind off what's going on, while reminding you to be sad? Is it angry and vengeful, spitting rage all over the place? Or is it any record which helps get you through a tough time? It's probably all three, depending on who you are (and who you're breaking up with). I'm sure you've got your own, here are mine...
Jeff Buckley — Grace
Being a great break-up album was probably not exactly what Buckley had in mind when he wrote a lot of Grace, but there is no doubt a lot of the songs resonate most truly when you've had your heart broken. Last Goodbye, Buckley's spine-tingling version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and the brilliant and beautiful Lover, You Should've Come Over won't make you feel any better (in fact, you'll probably end up a blotchy, tearful mess on the couch), but they will let you know that someone else knows what you're going through and sometimes that's enough.
Ben Folds Five — Whatever and Ever Amen
Equal parts raucous and jaunty enough for a pick me up (Battle of Who Could Care Less, Steven's Last Night in Town) and sombre and insightful enough to know why you put it on in the first place (Smoke, Brick), Whatever and Ever Amen would be a great break-up album even if it didn't feature the best break-up song of all time. But it has that too, in Song For the Dumped. When Folds sings “I wish I hadn't bought you dinner right before you dumped me on your front porch“, you know everything is going to be fine.
Bob Dylan — Blood on the Tracks
What better an album to listen to during or after a break-up than one that was written during or after a break-up? Blood on the Tracks, largely inspired by Dylan's disintegrating marriage to Sara Lownds, is one of his finest works. Bookended by two of the great Dylan songs, Tangled up in Blue and Buckets of Rain, Blood on the Tracks runs the full gamut of break-up emotions. From the lament of in You're A Big Girl Now, to the anger of Idiot Wind to the sense of loss and longing of If You See Her Say Hello, Blood on the Tracks is an insight into what it means to lose somebody you love.
Elliott Smith — XO
If you're depressed I suppose it can't hurt to hear from someone who is at least a billion times more depressed than you. Enter Elliott Smith. The finest thing about all of Smith's work is the honesty with which he displays his thoughts and feelings. When he sings “I wish I'd never seen your face” in Waltz #1, you really believe it. And then when he sings “I never meant to hurt you” in Pitseleh, you really believe that, too. It is an incredible gift, and one that comes in handy when you're looking to believe in someone. Very sadly, Smith is no longer with us and XO is a reminder that maybe it is possible to care too much.
Reindeer Section — Son of Evil Reindeer
The second LP from Scottish supergroup The Reindeer Section is, at various times, one of the saddest and most uplifting albums ever produced. The sadness probably wins out in the end, but only because the albums finest moments are its most mournful. Much of the familiar break-up material can be found here; guilt trips (“I can't call you a friend, 'cause when you left me here you left me here to die” from Your Sweet Voice); despair (“I used to hope the phone would ring, now I'm glad it doesn't” from Strike Me Down) and even uneasy politeness (“If you'd like I'll take your number from my phone’ from Where I Fall). However, it is all presented in such a way that it's impossible not to like, and difficult not to sing along.
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