A Voice That Still Carries: Aimee Mann’s Greatest Hits – Ranked! | Pop and rock

20. Build This Wall (1999)

Aimee Mann has had hits and acclaim from critics and her peers, but the feeling that she is undervalued persists. A beguiling song like Build That Wall might explain why: on the surface it sounds straightforward and easy on the ear, but beneath its soft, sweet surface lies searing lyrics and real emotional power.

19. Until Tuesday – (I Thought You Were) Lucky (1988)

A song co-written by Mann and bandmate Juelz Scheer about their crumbling romantic relationship, though Mann handled the lyrics alone. (I Believed You Were) Lucky expresses his regret — which turns into something more poignant in the final chorus — in a lush arrangement and an autumnal pop melody.

18. Something Stupid (1993)

Mann’s solo debut, Whatever It Was, was also the first production gig for Jon Brion, who would later become famous for his work with everyone from Fiona Apple to Frank Ocean. You can hear his influence in the thick cover of organ that opens Stupid Thing, a wonderfully stressful dismissal of an ex.

17. Labrador (2012)

Not everything about the brightly colored, pop-tinged Charmer — an album full of synth and rattle guitar — is great: Its mid-tempo can make the songs sound the same. But when it works, it really works. Labrador is funny but fatalistic, great at songwriting, unshowy but hugely affecting.

16. You Don’t Have the Room (2021)

Initially intended as a concert version of Susannah Kaysen’s memoir (and subsequent film) Girl, Interrupted, which was abandoned when Covid hit, Queens of the Summer Hotel has Mann tackling contemplative songs in a gorgeous format. Here the words are bitter, and the melody is wonderful.

15. Video (2005)

A concept album about an alcoholic boxer returning to the United States from the Vietnam War, The Forgotten Arm was recorded live, and its songs work perfectly when isolated from the overarching concept. You don’t need to know the story to fall in love with the video’s plaintive sigh, its sadness amplified by watery-sounding guitars.

14. Until Tuesday – The Other End (of the Telescope) (1988)

Mann teamed up with Elvis Costello on The Other End (from the Telescope), a pairing that makes perfect sense: they both have a prickly, sarcastic spirit to their writing. Mann created the waltz, and Costello’s lyrics: both recorded versions, although the more sublime “Til Tuesday” may outshine them.

13. Stuck in the Past (2017)

The “saddest, slowest, most acoustic” of Mann’s albums, “Mental Illness” is also among his most beautiful, and “Stuck in the Past” sums up his charm: a simple but beautiful song, so skillfully arranged and so gently breezy that you rarely notice how bleak and remorseful its lyrics are.

12. Wise Up (1999)

Written for Jerry Maguire — it appeared on the soundtrack album despite being omitted from the film — Wise Up found its perfect cinematic home in a single scene in Magnolia. Its fatalistic lyrics belie its magnificent arrangement: orchestral and rich, even epic, at least by Mann’s standards.

11. I’ve Got It (1993)

Meant to be aware of the demise of “Til Tuesday”—memories of the excitement of starting a band contrasted with subsequent disillusionment—you’ve got it all about concise precision (see Springsteen’s minimalist musical reference), with attention focused on Mann’s gorgeous, caring voice. What a charming song.

10. Choice of Subject (1995)

Her second solo album I’m With Stupid was an attempt at a wider audience, featuring Beck-inspired moments, but the selection in question is straight up distorted alternative guitar. It doesn’t matter: easy-sounding tunes don’t need a lot of fashionable vocal trickery. Its failure to become a hit song is puzzling.

9. Not So (2002)

A depiction of depression that neatly avoids standard rock pitfalls of over-dramatizing or perversely glamorizing the subject matter, instead depicting inner torment in strikingly mundane terms: like an interrupted television broadcast, like not being able to press down on a car’s accelerator when the lights change. Great melody too.

8. Until Tuesday – Voices That Bear (1985)

Her old band’s “Til Tuesday” remains Mann’s biggest commercial success, reaching the top ten in the US. Her booming voice is so redolent of its era that it’s aged and become nostalgic, but there’s a smart, pointed song that lurks beneath the mid-’80s sheen.

7. Suicide is Murder (2021)

The sombre heart of Queens of the Summer Hotel, Suicide is Murder pairs a classic early-’70s singer-songwriter sound with a wry and utterly compelling lyric, drawing you in from the opening line: “Imagine yourself out there in the snow, turning blue — get used to being you.”

6. Driving Sideways (1999)

Taken from the demos for Mann’s third album, Bachelor No. 2, and first appearing on the Magnolia soundtrack, Driving Sideways was apparently informed by Largo, the West Hollywood club where she developed the album’s material. There’s a laid-back, late-night-at-the-bar feel to its mood, and the perfect chorus challenges the audience not to join in.

5. That’s What You Are (1994)

Another that should have been a hit, “That’s Just What You Are,” hides a seething venom beneath a staccato beat, shimmering guitar, a breezy melody and gorgeous harmonies by Squeeze’s Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook: “You’re like a man sleepwalking, and it’s dangerous to wake you / Even when it’s clear where your actions will lead you.”

4. Snow Cone Goose (2017)

One of Mann’s modern classics, it’s a beautiful audio meditation on homesickness, inspired by seeing a photo of a friend’s cat while on tour. Warning: Avoid the video — which includes a sick pet, vet visits, etc. — if you’re feeling emotionally fragile (try Mann’s stark rendition of the track on “Later” instead).

3. Fourth of July (1993)

The album cover whatever depicted Mann as Doc Marten-clad and grunge-adjacent, but its contents tell a different story. It was the slow voice of a mature, thoughtful, accomplished songwriter who seemed unconcerned with passing fads: why would she be, when she could write good songs like these?

2. Red Vines (2000)

For The Bachelor No. 2, Mann took the reins, putting herself in charge of everything from production to release. Its content and sales were proof: If Red Vines’ lyrics seemed informed by her experience in the music industry (“I’ll be on the sidelines, my hands tied”), the song’s certainty spoke of a new confidence.

1. Save Me (1999)

Director Paul Thomas Anderson compared Mann’s musical contributions to his film Magnolia to Simon and Garfunkel’s songs for The Graduate. He’s right, as Mann’s songs, like Mrs. Robinson and others, were integral to the film, but then took on a life of their own. You certainly don’t need to know Magnolia to love the Oscar-nominated “Save Me,” which perfectly sums up Mann’s songwriting. Beautiful but low-key, their gentle arrangement — crackling percussion, gentle accordion whistling — has great emotional impact: a sucker punch delivered in cashmere gloves. Her subject, ex-boyfriend Dave Foley, noted with relief that he was the only ex “that Amy ever wrote a positive song about.”