Despite a career that spans from the 1962 single ‘Golden Gridiron Boy’ to the 2017 album Dark Matter, L.A. singer-songwriter Randy Newman has only recorded eleven studio albums. He’s also achieved recognition as a film composer, for movies like 1980’s Ragtime and the Toy Story franchise.
Newman is acclaimed as a satirist – songs like the skewering of America’s foreign policy on ‘Political Science’ and the mockery of bigotry on ‘Short People’ are among his best-known. But Newman’s albums work best when there’s some warmth to balance his dark humour – songs like ‘I Miss You’ and ‘Falling In Love’ aren’t as celebrated, but they’re an important part of his legacy.
Newman’s father came from a family of film composers while his mother came from New Orleans, and Newman’s music reflects the union of these two American traditions. His music is sophisticated and steeped in pre-rock influences – growing up, he loved Ray Charles. Here are his eleven studio albums ranked – not including his numerous soundtracks or his 1995 musical Faust.
Randy Newman Albums Ranked
#11 Born Again
1979
Newman followed his most commercially successful record, 1977’s Little Criminals, with his least impressive record. The KISS parody on the cover is more fun than most of the music.
There’s a strong pair of opening tracks – the anti-materialism of ‘It’s The Money That I Love’ and the tale of a misguided ELO fan on ‘The Story of a Rock and Roll Band’. But after the opening salvo there’s little of note, a procession of insular and second-tier Newman songs.
#10 Randy Newman
1968
Newman’s first album largely ignores 1960s popular music, instead building its arrangements around strings and Newman’s piano. Newman’s vocals aren’t strong enough, particularly at this point in his career, to carry these arrangements – it’s a musical setting that would suit Frank Sinatra, but Newman’s voice is subsumed.
Strong Newman songs like ‘I Think It’s Going To Rain Today’ and ‘Davy The Fat Boy’ aren’t presented accessibly. Much of this material sounds better on 1970’s Nilsson Sings Newman.
#9 Trouble in Paradise
1983
Newman’s seventh album was inspired by sharing a flight with Don Henley – the former Eagles drummer complained that he could no longer afford to fly by Lear Jet after his band’s breakup.
Newman skewers materialism, backed by members of Toto. They provide a synth-heavy sound that hasn’t aged well, and along with the nihilistic tone on songs like ‘Miami’ it makes for a tough listen. There’s plenty worth salvaging – a poignant duet with Paul Simon on ‘The Blues’ and stripped-back piano balladry on ‘Real Emotional Girl’.
#8 Dark Matter
2017
73 years old when Dark Matter was released, Newman’s still sharp, skewering everything from Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion. On ‘Brothers’, JFK and Bobby Kennedy propose invading Cuba for the sole reason of rescuing singer Celia Cruz.
The album is dominated by lengthy opener ‘The Great Debate’, an adaptation of a piece from Newman’s 1995’s musical Faust which pits religion again science.
#7 Little Criminals
1977
Little Criminals features Newman’s biggest hit, ‘Short People’, a satire of bigotry that’s still widely misunderstood. Little Criminals isn’t as strong as Newman’s previous two records, but it climbed to #9 on the U.S. charts.
It’s stacked with guest appearances from members of the Eagles. Most notably Glenn Frey and Eagles associate J.D. Souther furnish ‘Baltimore’ with glorious harmonies.
#6 12 Songs
1970
12 Songs was lauded upon release and it presents Newman’s singular version much more clearly than on his debut. Like Newman’s debut, it has few traces of rock music – instead of orchestration, there’s a bluesy Americana sound that could have come from a grainy old gramophone record from the 1930s.
12 Songs hasn’t aged as well as Newman’s other acclaimed records, but it features Newman classics like ‘Mama Told Me Not To Come’ and ‘Suzanne’.
#5 Harps and Angels
2008
Newman delved into his New Orleans musical heritage on 2008’s Harps and Angels. His piano rolls along, and his arrangements are coloured by horns and backing vocalists.
He’s still serving up sharp political satire like ‘A Few Words in Defense Of Our Country’, balanced by sentimentality on ‘Feels Like Home’.
#4 Land of Dreams
1988
Newman’s previous pair of albums felt overly cynical and jaded, and Land of Dreams benefits from its warmth. Newman often writes from the perspective of unsavoury characters, but here he tells his own story on the opening trio of songs about a childhood spent in New Orleans.
The late 1980s sheen, with Jeff Lynne involved in production, works for Newman, and even his rapping on ‘Masterman and Baby J’ is better than you’d expect. ‘It’s The Money That Matters’ topped the mainstream rock chart and featured Mark Knopfler on guitar, but opener ‘Dixie Flyer’ is the standout track.
#3 Bad Love
1999
Newman ended the 20th century as sharp as ever. His lyrics have never been better than on the colonialism chronicle of ‘The Great Nations of Europe’ and Karl Marx encountering the modern U.S.A. on ‘The World Isn’t Fair’.
Bad Love mostly consists of stripped-back songs centred around Newman’s piano, but it has its share of eclecticism. Newman ventures into hard rock on ‘I’m Dead (But I Don’t Know It)’ and country on ‘Big Hat, No Cattle’.
#2 Sail Away
1972
Newman’s first two albums felt like genre exercises, his third presents his wonderful songs in a straightforward fashion. It’s largely Newman at the piano, and it’s terrific.
The record features some of Newman most beloved satires – the slaver advertising passage to America on the title track and trigger-happy American foreign policy on ‘Political Science’. His original version of ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On’ is much subtler than Joe Cocker’s bombastic cover.
#1 Good Old Boys
1974
Good Old Boys started as a concept album about a man named Johnny Cutler. It focuses on the American South, exploring Newman’s affection and frustration with the place where he grew up.
The fuller band arrangements help it to stand up to repeated listens, and there are great songs like ‘Kingfish’, ‘Marie’, and the racial commentary of ‘Rednecks’.
What’s your favourite Randy Newman album?
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Randy Newman is awesome- just wish he had kept releasing regular studio albums instead of doing the movie thing- I totally agree with most of your picks- Good Old Boys and Sail Away #1 and #2 no question- I think I’d have 12 Songs at #3 but that’s just me liking his older stuff. I wonder how Good Old Boys would be received if it came out new in 2021?
I think maybe his soundtracks helped him gain some confidence – his late career stuff is better than almost any of his contemporaries. Would anyone else from the 1960s legitimately have a case for an album as recent as 1999 being among their very best?
I’ve owned 12 Songs on CD for years and I’ve never really got into it properly. I appreciate that it’s probably the most unconventional placing on my list.
I don’t think he’d get away with Rednecks now, even though it’s a satire and clearly sympathetic. He also said something like he really appreciated hip hop coming along because he was no longer the most controversial lyricist around.
Randy is a weisenheimer.
I have never heard that expression before – I had to look it up!
I got ‘Trouble in Paradise’ on CD back in the ’80s and also taped ‘Land of Dreams’ on MC. I like both of these albums. Other than that, I only know a handful of songs.
I assume that part of Newman’s motivation to branch out into movie soundtracks may have been financial. After all, as he sang himself, ‘It’s Money That Matters’…in the USA! 🙂
If you like those two you should try and check out his big 1970s records sometimes – they’re definitely a step up IMO.
I think he just knew he was multi-talented and chose to pursue both careers.
Wow, Newman’s lyrics on “Rednecks” are really biting. Brilliantly written.
While I agree he clearly criticizes both rednecks and liberals, I agree with you this may not go over very well in America these days in the age of the tweet and the conspiracy theory!
We don’t want him getting cancelled!
I have to admit that I don’t know any of Newman’s albums. He’s on that list that seems never-ending. This is a great reference for me when I eventually get to explore his stuff, cause I would likely have opted for his older stuff by default, but I think I’d work through this list 1st to last.
Yup, there’s so much great music out there- hard to catch everything. His best albums are #3 and #4, which is pretty standard, but after that it’s all over the place.
His albums are too hard to get through all the way so I don’t think I ever did. There’s a lot of good covers of his songs though and I could make a top 10 of that. And a couple by him that I like too
Mama Told Me Not to Come – Three Dog Night
Love Story – Harry Nilsson
You Can Leave Your Hat On – Joe Cocker
I’ll Be Home – Harry Nilsson
I’ll Be Home – Barbra Streisand
Let Me Go – Barbra Streisand
Baltimore – Randy Newman
Short People – Randy Newman
Cowboy – Harry Nilsson
Living Without You – Harry Nilsson
I find a couple tough, but most of the time he’s very succinct and listenable. Most of his albums are 35 minutes and 10 songs. I hate Cocker’s Leave Your Hat On – complete misses the humor of the original.
I’ve heard the covers more than I’ve heard his albums…but I’ve heard a lot of his movie soundtracks. I have liked what I’ve heard….So start with Good Old Boys?
Yup, good starting point for sure – Sail Away works too.
In my opinion “Good Old Boys” can’t quite compete with “Sail Away” or “Little Criminals”. Of course the lyrics are brilliant and full of subtlety, but musically the album takes a bit of getting used to .
I like the New Orleans feel of Good Old Boys – it’s like the music he grew up with.
For me, ‘Little Criminals’ and ‘Trouble In Paradise’ are way too low in that top 10… Surely they’re ‘better’ than ‘Bad Love’ or the very dated ‘Land Of Dreams’ (though both have great moments)? Agree with you about ‘Born Again’ though, but the cover gives it a few brownie points.
Newman told A.V. Club in 2013 that Bad Love might be his best record. I find Trouble in Paradise a lot more dated than Land of Dreams – I’ve never minded that slick adult-contemporary late 1980s sound. It’s about when I started becoming aware of contemporary music, so maybe it’s just how I expect music to sound!
Yes he does seem very fond of Bad Love, but he’s also said before that he’s pretty sure Little Criminals is his best album. My problem with Land Of Dreams, apart from the production, is that ‘Dixie Flyer’ and ‘Something Special’ are the only really memorable compositions. When I look at the other titles, I can’t remember them…
I reckon It’s The Money That Matters, I Want You To Hurt Like I Do, and Falling In Love are pretty memorable too.
An artist I wanna get deeper into (I only own a couple of albums). I will be using this list as a shopping list. 😉
Enjoy – lots of great music in there.
Another slippery slope! I’m surrounded by them!
It’s like your walking along a cliff face!
Man, I’m constantly tempted. All these blogs, folks being enthusiastic about this or that and the other thing, and I wanna hear it all. I keep saying I need four lifetimes, so I can hear, see, read and do all the things I want to do!
He’s not up there with my favorites in the “singer-songwriter” genre, maybe because there’s not enough warmth mixed with the satire, like you alluded to. My only album of his is Sail Away. But I’m glad someone like Newman is around to skewer America. If ever this country needed someone to shine a light on our hypocrisy and stupidity, it’s right now.
I think I read an interview where he said he couldn’t write about Trump because it made him too angry.
I have most of these and it’s just one big pool of Randy songs.
His catalogue is so small, relatively speaking, that it’s almost all worth hearing.
He’s like an old friend. Consistent. He’s Randy Newman.