Ring

アメリカのオルタナティヴ・ロック・バンド、ザ・コネルズの1993年に発売された5枚目のスタジオ・アルバムノ30周年記念デラックス・エディション。

このアルバム(とバンド)の最大のヒットはシングル「'74-'75」で、ヨーロッパ11カ国でトップ10入りし、ノルウェーとスウェーデンでは1位を獲得、1995年の映画リヴ・タイラー主演の映画「君に逢いたくて」のサウンドトラックに収録されて話題となった。イギリスでは、アルバムが全英アルバムチャートで36位、「'74-'75」が全英シングルチャートで14位を記録し、デフ・レパードのツアーに参加することになった。さらに米国では、シングル「Slackjawed」がビルボードのオルタナティブ・ソング・チャートで9位を獲得。
本デラックス・エディションではオリジナル・アルバムのリマスター・オーディオに加え、B面やデモなど未発表のボーナストラック、新しいライナーノーツやバンドへのインタビューが収録。

After scoring a college radio hit with "Stone Cold Yesterday" from 1990's One Simple Word, the Connells followed up with their strongest effort to date, the radio-ready Ring. While muddy production and underdeveloped songs occasionally plagued their earlier releases, Ring is an album aimed squarely at the mainstream, and is a clear attempt to pick up on fans of R.E.M., alt-country like Uncle Tupelo, and rootsy power pop like Marshall Crenshaw. The album's first single, a lilting and seemingly unassuming acoustic ballad entitled "'74-'75" became an unexpected smash hit in Europe, topping the pop charts in many countries across the continent. The song was equally indebted to acoustic-based roots rock as it was to Celtic music (as witnessed in the ornate backing vocals) and was one of the band's most successful concoctions. Subsequent singles, such as the poppy "Slackjawed" and the nostalgic "New Boy" (which sounds like it was written as musical accompaniment to a James Thurber story) each managed to garner some alternative radio attention as well. The album tracks were equally as strong, especially the tense "Carry My Picture," a stark portrait of a vindictive relationship. Ring established the Connells as the forerunners in the group of jangle pop bands that had previously lived largely in the shadow of R.E.M. and helped the band become a moderate commercial success. While time has not been kind to the band or this album, the Connells clearly held some influence. In 2000, Fran Healy of the British guitar pop band Travis admitted that his band's 1999 hit "Writing to Reach You" was written while listening to "'74-'75" on the radio, and was, in effect, a bit of a rip-off. The songs sound unmistakably similar, and it's enough proof that the Connells deserve much more credit for their contributions to guitar-based pop than they have previously been given. ~ Jason Damas