Jason Falkner

This document set a high bar for late-'90s power pop, blending influences from Paul's Beatles and '70s pop writers with an elaborate pastiche of orchestral arrangements. Cynical, swinging numbers such as "Miss Understanding" and "I Live" speak to Falkner's cleverness, but his more subdued disposition -- seen less frequently, in broadminded ballads such as "She Goes to Bed" -- recalls Jeff Lynne. Rumor has it that the title is a dig at Brendan Benson, a former co-writer whom Falkner helped as an upstart.