A few weeks ago, I wrote a list about albums named after the artist's hometown, such as Outkast's ATLiens or Bruce Springsteen's Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ. The eight artists listed here, however, took this one step further, by naming their albums after their entire home state.
1. ZZ Top - Tejas (1976)
Texas is an integral part of ZZ Top's identity, having formed in Houston in 1969 and referring to the state in their album titles, song titles, and lyrics. Just in case their 1972 album Rio Grande Mud wasn't enough of an indication as to where they were from, the band named its 1976 album Tejas, which is of course the Spanish word for Texas.
2. Bon Jovi - New Jersey (1988)
If you asked a bunch of average American to name a famous musician from New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi would be your top two answers. Bon Jovi formed in Sayreville, New Jersey, and paid tribute to their home state with their fourth album, 1988's New Jersey.
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999)
By 1999, the Red Hot Chili Peppers had already made it plainly obvious to everyone that they were from Los Angeles, California, with their biggest hit "Under the Bridge" referring to "the City of Angels," but they really drove the point home with their 1999 megahit Californication, which marked the return of guitarist John Frusciante.
4. Mr. Bungle - California (1999)
The feud between Mr. Bungle's Mike Patton and Red Hot Chili Pepper's frontman Anthony Kiedis began back when Patton was the singer for Faith No More and was accused of stealing (or more likely, mocking) Kiedis' performance style. However, the feud reached its peak in 1999, when Mr. Bungle's California album, named after the band's home state, was delayed by Warner Bros. in favor of Red Hot Chili Pepper's similarly titled Californication, which ended up being released just days before.
5. Drive-By Truckers - Alabama Ass Whuppin' (2000)
Though country rock band Drive-By Truckers formed in Athens, Georgia, the band's two lead songwriters Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley are originally from Northern Alabama, which would explain the title of their 200 live album Alabama Ass Whuppin'.
6. Slipknot - Iowa (2001)
The only band I've ever heard of to have come out of Iowa is masked nü-metal group Slipknot, which formed in the mid-90s in Iowa's capital of Des Moines. Perhaps knowing that their home state is quite underrepresented in rock music, the band paid tribute to it by naming their 2001 album Iowa.
7. Over the Rhine - Ohio (2003)
Over the Rhine's name is taken from their home neighborhood in Cincinnati, but for their seventh studio album, the band decided to pay homage to their entire home state by naming it Ohio.
8. Sufjan Stevens - Michigan (2003)
In 2003, Sufjan Stevens announced his "Fifty States" Project, in which he would write an album about each U.S. state, naturally beginning with his home state of Michigan. Stevens followed this up with the stellar Illinois, but eventually admitted that the project was a gimmick that he had no intention of completing.
What other albums are named after the artist's home state? Let us know down in the comments section!
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