My Top 50 Albums (that I still love and listen to)

[D_Davis]

Music has always been my number one passion - I love making it and listening to it.

Compiling a list of top albums is hard, almost impossible, because I simply love so much music. Also, there are albums that I absolutely loved in the past but don't anymore due to evolving tastes.

What I've done here is put together a Top 50 list of albums that I love AND that I still listen to. Each one of these has been listened to (either in its entirety or certain tracks) more than a few times during the last year. I've also set a limit of one album per band/lead artist, because if I didn't you'd be seeing a ton of Brian Eno, Harold Budd, and Daniel Lanois (but even with this limit, these three musicians show up multiple times).

Most of these albums are from the mid '80s and on. It's not that I don't like music that is older, it's just that I prefer newer music. Music is an intensely person thing for me, and there is a lot of nostalgia involved in many of these choices. I catalog my life according to what music I was listening to when certain things happened.

By the way, there is no jazz or classical on the list. I'll just get that out of the way right now.

Anyhow, on with the list...

[D_Davis]

50. Too Much Joy - Cereal Killers - 1991

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LXw%2B9U1jL._SL500_AA280_.jp g

Pure pop-rock at some of its best. A cross between Cheap Trick, The Surf Punks, REM, and college alternative circa-1990. The lead single, "Crush Story," is an irreverent take on a simple love song, in which Tim Quirk sings about being the "smallest giant ever" and powering a city with the energy of his crush - "This is much better than love baby, this is a crush story!" It's silly, catchy, and infectious.

The entire album is earmarked by a quirky sense of humor and insanely endearing hooks. From the first line on the album ("And she said 'fuck' this town"), to the hilarious lyrics found in "Long Haired Guys From England," Quirk and co. present a treasure trove of memorable, humorous modern rock that is equally well crafted (KRS-One also makes an appearance on the track "Good Kill"). They always reminded me of Camper Van Beethoven in that they were often big on college campuses, and yet they never really reached the big leagues (even though their albums were released through Warner Bros.). They represent a time when a pop-rock band didn't need a huge hit to make it. They let the music speak for itself, and it speaks well.

Just listening to the album now, and I was reminded of another one of my favorite lines, "She's so beautiful, I swear I'd sleep with her brother." That's from the track "King of Beers."

Another edit:

I should include a list of the best tracks on each album...

Crush Story
Pirate
King of Beers
Pride of Frankenstein
Nothing on My Mind

[D_Davis]

49. Tortoise - Millions Now Living Will Never Die - 1996

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Millions_Now_Living_Will_Never _Die_-_Tortoise.jpg

Ground zero for post-rock? Perhaps, but I doubt I'm qualified to make such a definitive statement. However, when I first heard this album I was totally blown away, and I know that I had never heard anything like it before. Part jazz, part prog, part krautrock, a little bit of dub, electronic, and shoegaze thrown in for sonic's sake, and yet possessing and undeniably signature sound. Tortoise took a smattering of musical influences, genres, and styles and transformed them into something uniquely their own; the music simultaneously sounds like the above-mentioned examples and like the music from a band with a defining voice.

"Djed," the album's 20-minute long epic opener, is, well, epic, and totally modern. Here the band plays multiple parts and then mixes them together like a deejay would put together a set. Each part effortlessly fades into the next, and while the parts are of differing styles, they gel together to form a single composition. Tortoise never topped this, their second album, and even today it still sounds fresh and exciting, and more "post" than just about any post-rock. You might say this is the "The Stars My Destination" of post-rock, which would make Tortoise the Alfred Bester of the music world - and that is freaking cool.

This album also kicked off my fascination with Touch and Go/Thrill Jockey records, and reignited the underground music scene in Chicago. For a few years during the late '90s, almost everything I listened to belonged to the Chicago-collective (Isotope 217, Arcwelder, The Sea and Cake, etc.). Tortoise is also one of the best, most creative and talented bands I've ever seen live.

Best Tracks:

Djed
Glass Museum
The Taut and the Tame

[D_Davis]

48. The Abyssinians - Satta Massagana - 1976

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a7/Sattamassagana2007.jpg

As a life-long bass player, Jamaican-inspired music is part of my DNA. If you love the drums and the bass, then there is no better music than reggae, ska, rocksteady, dub, and dancehall music. The laid back soul, funky riddims, and groovy smoothness of classic Jamaican music reigns supreme.

Satta Massagana is a bona fide masterpiece of traditional roots reggae containing strong spiritual themes; the title track has even been sung as a Rastafarian hymn. As a religious person, I also love the spiritual side of this music, and this album is especially righteous, containing songs such as "The Good Lord," "Forward Into Zion," and Abendigo." In addition to the strong spirituality, The Abyssinians were also known for their tight harmonies. Just listen to "Y Mas Gan," and "Declaration of Rights" for proof.

There is so much good reggae out there, and yes, much of it sounds similar (such are the markings of a distinct genre/style), and so it is hard to pick out a truly great example. However, Satta Massagana makes that task a little easier. Your entire reggae collection could consist of only this album, and you would probably be okay.

Best Tracks:

The Good Lord
Forward Into Zion
Y Mas Gan

[Russ]

Djed
I love this song and especially the moment when the deconstruction begins. For some reason, it has always reminded me of that scene in Twister when the big F4 slams into the drive-in screen where The Shining is playing. Watching the image of Jack Nicholson deteriorate in such a precise manner always brings to mind that midway point of the Tortoise song.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Gah! Was compiling this exact list (along with a top 25 video games). Whatevs.

Haven't heard of anything so far.

[Derek]

Awesome! That's my favorite Tortoise, and post-rock, album as well. Looking forward to the rest of your picks and building an even larger backlog of albums to listen to. :)

[D_Davis]

I love this song and especially the moment when the deconstruction begins. For some reason, it has always reminded me of that scene in Twister when the big F4 slams into the drive-in screen where The Shining is playing. Watching the image of Jack Nicholson deteriorate in such a precise manner always brings to mind that midway point of the Tortoise song.

Interesting. While I can't say that it reminds me of the same image, I can say that Djed is very cinematic song. It practically screams to be used as the basis for a short film; it evokes strong imagery in my mind of all kinds of things.

[D_Davis]

Awesome! That's my favorite Tortoise, and post-rock, album as well. Looking forward to the rest of your picks and building an even larger backlog of albums to listen to. :)

Cool. It's funny that as one of the first post-rock albums, Millions Now Living... remains one of the most post-rock. I think Tortoise and Trans Am represent this genre at its finest, and each of these bands had a unique sound and method.

I think a lot of my picks are fairly typical to someone my age and with my background in music. I don't think there will be any totally-WTF?!?! albums, and none of which I hope have any amount of irony attached.

;)

[Derek]

Cool. It's funny that as one of the first post-rock albums, Millions Now Living... remains one of the most post-rock. I think Tortoise and Trans Am represent this genre at its finest, and each of these bands had a unique sound and method.

I'm with you there, although I'm now going to have to check out Trans Am. Are you a fan of Talk Talk or Bark Psychosis? I'm not sure if either should be classified as post-rock (though they definitely influenced it), but both are pretty amazing even in their relatively limited outputs.


I think a lot of my picks are fairly typical to someone my age and with my background in music. I don't think there will be any totally-WTF?!?! albums, and none of which I hope have any amount of irony attached.

;)

I haven't heard of your other two picks, so there will be some new discoveries for me in this list no matter what you say, Davis! :)

[D_Davis]

I'm with you there, although I'm now going to have to check out Trans Am. Are you a fan of Talk Talk or Bark Psychosis? I'm not sure if either should be classified as post-rock (though they definitely influenced it), but both are pretty amazing even in their relatively limited outputs.



I haven't heard of your other two picks, so there will be some new discoveries for me in this list no matter what you say, Davis! :)

The only Talk Talk album I own is Laughing Stock - and it is really good. I've always meant to check more of their stuff out.

Never even heard of Bark Psychosis - where should I start?

As far as Trans Am goes, stick with Surrender to the Night. They are extremely hit-or-miss with their albums, and Surrender represents them at their very best. It's a damn good album. Won't be making this list, but totally worth checking out.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I can't get into Laughing Stock. I need my loonnnnggg jams to have not only some semblance of musical structure but some form which guides me from a clear beginning-middle-end. Too often on that album (with the exception of the opener (Myrrhman - hence the album's best song), I get the feeling like they have no idea what they're doing, and they just cut away whenever it is that they feel that the song has droned on for long enough. Aimless musicianship, no matter how technically impressive bores me. It's scared me away from other Talk Talk albums.

[D_Davis]

I just sampled Hex, by Bark Psychosis.

I'll definitely be checking these dudes out. Looks like they have quite a few albums, too, which is awesome.

I'm reminded of my discovery of Motorpsycho last year, a group that has skyrocket to become one of my very favorites.

Man, in less than 10 posts I've already been presented with yet another new band with promise.

I am consistently amazed by how much awesome music is out there. It seems that for every album I love, there are 5 more unheard albums just as worthy waiting to be listened to, which makes compiling a list like this even harder!

Oh well...think of this as my top 50 albums of the near-present.

:)

[D_Davis]

47. Trashcan Sinatras - Cake - 1990

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-29a62ZAl2M/SG9sTTCal_I/AAAAAAAAAZ0/7mMxXJmW4iI/s320/Cake.jpg

I love lusciously produced, guitar-driven, jangly pop, and the Trashcan Sinatras' first album, Cake, is a gorgeous specimen. From the opening acoustic-guitar chords and driving rhythm section of "Obscurity Knocks," to the soft vocal-crooning and string accompaniment on "Funny," the Sinatras' deliver an album teeming with finely crafted pop gems. Cake is masterfully structured, moving from its upbeat opening, including "Maybe I should Drive," on through to its more mellow and somber mid-section with "Even the Odds," and "The Best Man's Fall," before picking things up again with "Only Tongue Can Tell," which includes the best Morrisey impersonation I've ever heard.

I've listened to this album hundreds of times since its release and I am still discovering new inflections and nuances in the meticulously written guitar parts. That is a sign of a great album, an album that can be turned to time and time again getting better with each subsequent listen. Once again, like Too Much Joy, the Trashcan Sinatras never got big, but they have gathered a loyal fan base over the years, and they continue to make music full of beauty and passion. Highly recommended for fans of The Smiths, The House Martins, Beautiful South, and The Bats.

Best Tracks:

Obscurity Knocks - we were recently asked what songs make us happy, and I neglected to mention this minor miracle of pop.
January's Little Joke
Even the Odd

[dreamdead]

Incredibly busy with school and grading for the next two weeks, but I'll be spying on this thread until I'm free from college freshmen.

[Derek]

I just sampled Hex, by Bark Psychosis.

I'll definitely be checking these dudes out. Looks like they have quite a few albums, too, which is awesome.

I'm reminded of my discovery of Motorpsycho last year, a group that has skyrocket to become one of my very favorites.

Man, in less than 10 posts I've already been presented with yet another new band with promise.

I am consistently amazed by how much awesome music is out there. It seems that for every album I love, there are 5 more unheard albums just as worthy waiting to be listened to, which makes compiling a list like this even harder!

Oh well...think of this as my top 50 albums of the near-present.

:)

As always with these lists, you lead others to discover great albums and invariably get some good ones recommended to you. It's as much a "here's where I am now" as "and where do I go from here". :)

Unfortunely, Bark Psychosis only have 2 LP's but fortunately both are great. Hex is astoundingly beautiful and really pushes the boundaries of rock. ///Codename: Dustsucker/// is a tad more conventional, but if you love the sound of Hex, there's no way you won't like this one. I haven't checked out any of their EP's but I wouldn't be surprised to find some gems there as well.

As for Talk Talk, definitely check out Spirit of Eden which I prefer to Laughing Stock and is my favorite album of the 80s. It's a bit more tightly structured (which might scratch Spaceman's itch) and I find it to be more emotionally engaging as well. It still demand's patience, but it's more consistently rewarding.

As for Laughing Stock being aimless, I simply can't comprehend. It's so meticulously structured that it's only weakness could be that the weight of every note is felt too much. It's really a remarkable album, but one that definitely needs the right mood to go along with it.

[bac0n]

50. Too Much Joy - Cereal Killers - 1991

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LXw%2B9U1jL._SL500_AA280_.jp g

Ah, such fond memories this brings back, of Summer '91, my first summer break of college. The local alternative radio station, it seemed, had a rotation of three songs - Crush Story, Tempted By The Blaa Blaa Blaa by Squeeze, and that fucking Valerie Loves Me song by Material Issue.

Crush Story was the only song of the three I didn't wind up hating by summer's end.

[D_Davis]

Crush Story was the only song of the three I didn't wind up hating by summer's end.

Right on! It's a fantastic little tune.

My friend Greg and I listened to this tape every day during that summer. It was definitely the soundtrack of Summer '91.

[D_Davis]

46. The Sea and Cake - The Fawn - 1997

http://www.theseaandcake.com/disc/fawn.gif

In 1998 I moved to SoCal to try to "make it" in the music biz. That dream came crashing down after I realized that the music biz is a soul sucking entity of epic proportions. I lived in Pasadena and worked at a church as a janitor. I started work at 5 a.m. every day, and every day on the way to work I would listen to The Sea and Cake's The Fawn. It took me about 30 minutes to get to the church's parking lot, right about the time "There You Are" would be finishing up on the CD player; this album is the perfect soundtrack for early mornings and sunrises; it just doesn't get any better.

While my time in SoCal was not good, the memories I have surrounding this album are amazing, and so, too, is the music. The first two tracks, "Sporting Life" and "The Argument" are both masterpieces of modern pop. They're tightly written with intricate melodies, syncopated rhythms and cryptic lyrics. The album as a whole is perfectly structured, moving effortlessly from up tempo danceable jams to slow, somber, introspective songs.

The Sea and Cake are a part of the Chicago-collective. Having John McEntire (of Tortoise) on drums is always a good thing; Sam Prekop, Archer Prewitt, and Eric Claridge rounded out the rest of the line up during this period. These names became beacons of creative music-making and artistry, urging me to seek out more of their projects.

The Fawn has it all: live drums and drum machines, acoustic and electronic guitars, groovy bass lines, organic and electronic noises, head-bobbing beats and lush arrangements. The Sea and Cake incorporated all of these elements and crafted an album that stands high above anything they had done before, and it continues to outshine anything they've done since.

Best Tracks:

Sporting Life
The Fawn
Bird and Flag
Do Now Fairly Well

[D_Davis]

45. Boo Radleys - Everything's Alright Forever - 1992

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004TC1W.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

If you asked me who my favorite band in the world was in 1993, I would have answered The Boo Radleys.

I absolutely adored these chaps. I even kissed Sice, the lead singer, on the top of his bald head after they gave me a private acoustic show in their tour bus. I can safely say that I've never been a bigger fan of anything else.

However, tastes change, and I don't find myself longing to listen to most of their music anymore. I still look back fondly on it, remembering all of the great times I had whilst listening to the Boos, but those times were long ago.

Their first official album, Everything's Alright Forever, is different though. I still listen to it, and I still love it. It is, without a doubt, their most soncially interesting album, mixing in a bit of shoegazer accented with the Boo's pop-sensibilities and Steve Kitchen's trumpet playing. The lead single "Lazy Day," is a firecracker of a pop-tune clocking in at a 1:30 in length. It's so short that I remember it catching a local radio deejay off guard.

I enjoy every track on the record, and many of the tunes have some of the most amazing guitar tone I've heard. Guitarist/lead songwriter Martin Carr (who still releases music today, aka Brave Captain) is some kind of mad genius when it comes to crafting simple and elegant little pop-gems, offsetting them with a jet-engine bast of distortion and studio trickery.

So while I've outgrown much of their catalog, I still greatly respect this band. They were to me, at one time, the greatest band that ever existed.

Best Tracks:

Spaniard
Does This Hurt?
Smile Fades Fast
Memory Babe

[megladon8]

I really love Tortoise.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Gah, still haven't heard of anything here. Although, Cake sounds cool. Might give it a go one of these days.

[D_Davis]

I really love Tortoise.

I can't say I love Tortoise, but I love Millions Now Living...

[megladon8]

I can't say I love Tortoise, but I love Millions Now Living...


Don't like the album TNT?

[D_Davis]

44. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation - 1988

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/09/SonicYouthDaydreamNationalbumc over.jpg

My first introduction to Sonic Youth came in the early '90s while watching 120 Minutes on MTV, back when it was still hosted by Dave Kendal. The song was "Cool Thing," of course, and I dug it. But not enough to really get into the band. About a year later I met a guy named Jeff who would become my best friend for many years and my recording/music partner. He made me a copy of Daydream Nation - and it blew my mind.

Today, the album continues to impress me. "Teenage Riot" would easily make it on a top 50 songs of all-time, if I were to compile one, and it sets the tone for the entire epic. Daydream Nation is really among the most iconic albums of indiedom, and it laid the foundation of style for many a subsequent band and album. Sonic Youth proves on this that they are the reigning champions of dynamics, the masters of controlled mayhem, and the kings of the well-deserved payoff.

This album is not easily accessible - it is a sprawling controlled mess of rhythm, feedback, melody, mysterious lyrics, and nuanced compositions; it is an album that rewards a listener who pays careful attention.

Like the Beach Boys Pet Sounds, Daydream Nation could be seen as an advanced course in song and album structure. It is the "Hero's Journey" of modern conceptual indie-rock; it presents a template in its perfection, one that remains influential even today. I am not a huge die-hard fan of SY. I do like a few of their albums, and many of their songs, but they also have quite a bit of material that I dislike; let's just say they are hit and miss with me. However, with Daydream Nation they totally impressed me, and it is an album that I will always greatly admire.

Best Tracks:

Teenage Riot
Eric's Trip
Candle
Hey Joni

[D_Davis]

Don't like the album TNT?

I like about 1/2 of it.

The first 1/2 is great, but I don't care for the rest.

[dreamdead]

Of SY's four albums that I own, I'm still most partial to Sister. The beauty of "Schizophrenia" is just awe-inspiring. That said, I do think that DN was the album of theirs that clicked the easiest. Solid tracks, especially the opener, as you've noted.

[D_Davis]

I like Sister as well.

The albums I like would be ranked like this:

Daydream Nation
Goo
Sister
Dirty
Thousand Leaves
NYC Ghosts and Flowers


I can't stand anything pre-Sister, don't like Experimental Jet Set, and I haven't heard much of anything post NYC.

[transmogrifier]

I like Sister as well.

The albums I like would be ranked like this:

Daydream Nation
Goo
Sister
Dirty
Thousand Leaves
NYC Ghosts and Flowers


I can't stand anything pre-Sister, don't like Experimental Jet Set, and I haven't heard much of anything post NYC.

The Burning Spear is one of the greatest debut album opening tracks ever. I'm also not sure how you can like Sister but not Evol. They're like twins.

My album rankings ATM:

Murray Street
Sonic Nurse
A Thousand Leaves
Daydream Nation
NY Ghost & Flowers

[megladon8]

"Teenage Riot" is one of my favorite songs.

[Boner M]

I can't get into Laughing Stock. I need my loonnnnggg jams to have not only some semblance of musical structure but some form which guides me from a clear beginning-middle-end. Too often on that album (with the exception of the opener (Myrrhman - hence the album's best song), I get the feeling like they have no idea what they're doing, and they just cut away whenever it is that they feel that the song has droned on for long enough. Aimless musicianship, no matter how technically impressive bores me. It's scared me away from other Talk Talk albums.
This post is so full of fail.

[Spaceman Spiff]

This post is so full of fail.

You can't handle this. This truth.

[D_Davis]

43. Meat Beat Manifesto - Subliminal Sandwich

http://image.listen.com/img/170x170/1/9/2/9/1109291_170x170.jpg

Jack Dangers eats most other electronic-music producers for breakfast. The Chemical Brothers, The Orb, Moby, Underworld, Kool Keith, DJ Shadow: these guys are merely the snacks on which Dangers dines while crafting some of the most infectious, inventive, and energetic electronic music ever heard. He deftly mixes industrial, dub, and trip hop with enough psychedelic pyrotechnics to blow anyone's mind, and Subliminal Sandwich is his masterpiece. Sprawling over 2 CDs, SS is a groundbreaking work of electronica. My only complaint is that the album can feel a bit too long. It's like an epic movie, one that really needs an intermission between its two parts.

While Dangers is a master beat-smith, he is also a master craftsmen of song and melody. He creates haunting compositions that are memorable for more reasons than simply having great grooves and hooks. By incorporating interesting samples, awesome vocals and lyrics along with head-bobbing beats and ass-shaking riddims, Dangers covers the entire spectrum of the sonic field.

Best Tracks:

1979
She's Unreal
Asbostes Lead Asbestos
Cancer
United Nations (E.T.C.) - this is the mother f'n jam right here.

[D_Davis]

42. Weezer - The Blue Album

http://www.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/drc000/c034/c03480sovb9.jpg

For some reason I feel as though I have to defend my decision to place this album on my top 50, but the truth is simple: the music defends itself. The Blue Album is, song for song, one of the strongest pop-rock albums ever recorded. Every single song on the album contains enough hooks, memorable lines, and awesome moments for an entire album; many other bands would consider themselves lucky to write 10 songs this strong throughout their entire career - Weezer did it on their first album.

Like I am with Tortoise, I cannot claim to be a fan of Weezer. While I also like Pinkerton, I haven't liked anything else they've done (except for the Christmas album they put out last year). However, I cannot deny the brilliance of their initial release. Luckily, this came out before Rivers became a big jerk, and before the band was crowned the kings of irony. The album remains a genuine relic of its time; it was ironic before irony was hip, nerdy before nerd-core was cool, and retro before retro became new again.

I don't know what the general consensus on this album is these days, and I don't care. I love every song on the Blue Album, and I've listened to it countless times since its initial release. As a matter of fact, I had to replace my original tape with a CD because I wore it out, and I recently replaced my scratched up CD with a new purchased download of the remastered album.

There are only a few albums I've purchased three times.

This album rules, haters be damned.

Best Tracks:

In the Garage
Buddy Holly
The World Has Turned and Left Me Here
Only in Dreams

[megladon8]

I never got into the Weezer craze, but Meat Beat Manifesto gets thumbs up from me!

[D_Davis]

I never got into the Weezer craze

Me neither, but the Blue Album is an undeniable masterpiece of pop-rock.

[Spaceman Spiff]

First album I've heard so far. I dig it, but top 50?

[D_Davis]

First album I've heard so far. I dig it, but top 50?

The music speaks for itself.

Melodic, hooks to spare, great lyrics, and totally memorable.

And remember, these are albums that I still listen to on a regular basis. I listen to The Blue Album at least once a month.

[Lasse]

If Pet Shop Boys' Very-album isn't on this list, then... I'll assume it's number 51. :P

[D_Davis]

If Pet Shop Boys' Very-album isn't on this list, then... I'll assume it's number 51. :P

They've got one coming up soon, but it's not "Very."

[Lasse]

They've got one coming up soon, but it's not "Very."

Oh well, they've got a handful of excellent albums, so it's all good. :P

And I might as well declare myself a lover of Weezer's Blue Album. Great pop songs.

[D_Davis]

Oh well, they've got a handful of excellent albums, so it's all good. :P


I'll say this, without giving anything away: the PSB album I chose was very easy for me to choose, not even a question really.

[D_Davis]

41. Duran Duran - Duran Duran - 1981

http://the217.com/site_media/images/2007/10/media-1192685665-7963.jpg

I started playing bass in 1989. One time, my first bass teacher asked me if I liked Duran Duran. I said that I used to, and that Seven and the Ragged Tiger was the first cassette I ever bought. But that had been a long time ago. He told me to listen to them again, but this time with the ears of a musician; he told me to pay special close attention to the bass lines.

I did, and I was blown away.

Duran Duran were a unique band; a handsome, teeny-bopper boy-band that could play their own instruments (incredibly well) and write amazing songs. They had it all: good looks and insane amounts of talent.

Their self-titled album is still my favorite. It has a raw energy not found on their other albums. It's also a perfect mix of danceable-disco and edgy new wave. The first two tracks, "Girls on Film," and "Planet Earth" are among my most favorite songs. Each of these tunes makes me want to dance around the room in a bad '80s way. And what guy can forget the first time he saw the 'X-rated' video for "Girls on Film?"

The album is more than just a couple of good singles, though; it continues to be strong throughout. "Careless Memories," is a great track, and "Night Boat" shows a darker side of the band. "Sound of Thunder" is also amazing, and I'm actually surprised that this was never a single in the U.S. The only sore spot is the album's closer, "Tel Aviv;" it just doesn't do anything for me. It sounds awkward and unappealing.

Listening to this band with musician's ears reveals a mature quality running deeper than the airbrushed, new wave surface. These boys were writing songs full of satire, tunes with a darker edge, disguised as flashy, danceable pop. At one time they had it all.

[megladon8]

Meeting you...
With a view...
To a kill

[D_Davis]

40. Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me - 1987

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/de/Dinosaur_Jr._You%27re_Living_A ll_Over_Me.jpg

"Little Furry Things" begins with a quick drum roll before unleashing a sonic onslaught of distorted, wah-wah guitar and a series of primal screams. The song then settles down a bit as lead singer J Masics's unique, soft, drawn out singing is introduced; his vocal style has always been in sharp contrast to the music surrounding it. The song is barely over three minutes, and in this short amount of time it perfectly sets the stage for one of indie rock's great freak outs.

Your Living All Over Me is full of such powerful tunes. Dinosaur Jr. excel at crafting these firecracker-like songs, melding their punk and metal influences with a new breed of laidback indie aloofness. However, these dudes are no slackers, especially when the instrumentation is concerned. Mascis is an impressive guitarist, to say the least, and even today he continues to be awesome. He's also a great song writer, although baassist Lou Barlow may be a bit better in this department, as evident on the many great tunes he wrote for Sebadoh. And while drummer Murph is the least known of the group, he is still an incredibly solid drummer.

It's hard to pick just one Dino Jr. album for this list. I am constantly going back to Green Mind, and their newest reunion album, Beyond, is also fantastic. But at the end of the day, I have to give the nod to Your Living All Over Me. Track for track I've listened to this the most, and it is their strongest album from start to finish.

Best Tracks:

Little Furry Things
Raisans
Tar Pit
Sludgefest

[bac0n]

good job with Subliminal Sammich - Jack Dangers at the peak of his powers. Frickin' great album I played to death back in '94. Still sounds years ahead of just about everything put out these days, 15 years later.

The thing I like most about this album is not the beats, not the grooves, but the atmospherics. They're lush, ethereal, otherworldly, and completely enveloping.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Great album.

[D_Davis]

39. The Specials - The Specials - 1979

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/94/Specials_uk_front.jpg

The Style: three button dress coats, tapered pants, white creepers or black Doc Martins, pork pie hats, bracers, and short-cropped hair.

The Sound: a mix of rocksteady, Jamaican ska, new wave, and punk rock.

The Culture: a coming together of whites and blacks during a time of change in societal norms and pop-culture.

The Band: The Specials.

For a band that only released two complete, original albums, The Specials were an undeniably strong force, one that shaped the very contours of pop-culture. Their record label, 2 Tone Records, started by Jerry Dammers, The Special's keyboardist, became the icon for an entire movement, and the music on that label continues to be influential today. The Specials lead the charge for the second-wave ska attack. They were at the vanguard of a movement; yes, they were one of those bands. A band that was just as important culturally as they were musically.

Their first album contains a number of awesome tunes, songs that mix the energy and social messges of punk rock, the infectious hooks of pop, and the rocksteady riddims of reggae and Jamaican ska. I cant imagine being in Londond in 1979 and hearing this music for the first time. It must have been one of those rare musical moments in which a band introduces an audiance to a completely new thing, a new aesthetic, a new style, and a new attitude.

Checkmate, the ska band I was in during the 3rd wave, covered a number of the songs on this album - The Specials were a great influence during my early musical journey.

Best Tracks:

A Message to You Rudy
Do the Dog
Blank Expression
Little Bitch

[bac0n]

Sweet! I saw the Specials about ten years ago, during the resurgence of ska in the mid 90s. Great show, that was. My problem with most ska shows is that it all starts to sound the same after about half an hour, but such was not the case with these guys.

[D_Davis]

Sweet! I saw the Specials about ten years ago, during the resurgence of ska in the mid 90s. Great show, that was. My problem with most ska shows is that it all starts to sound the same after about half an hour, but such was not the case with these guys.

They're one of the only 2 Tone band I never saw live. We even played with bands like The Selector and Bad Manners. That's awesome that you saw them.

[D_Davis]

38. The Maria Dimension - The Legendary Pink Dots - 1991

http://www.pooterland.com/index2/bandsmenu/bands_l/mariaDimension.gif

Formed in and active since 1980, The Legendary Pink Dots have created an epic discography of over 30 albums including singles, studio and live recordings, rarities, and collections. While an incredibly active and influential force in the psychedelic underground, the Dots have never tasted commercial success, and I cannot imagine them even wanting to. They make enough to continue to make their amazing music, and making amazing music seems to be all they care about.

With a discography as diverse and robust as theirs, it's almost impossible to pick a single disc to represent their expansive sound. The choice was not easy. Should I pick one of their older more synth-based recordings, or one of their darker more industrial sounding albums? But what about their psyche-rock, on par with anything old Master Barrett ever crafted? The boys from Amsterdam have covered a wide spectrum of sound, and it's incredible to think about how many songs and styles they've tackled while continuing to forge ahead honing and tuning their unique voice.

But in the end, a choice had to be made, and so I've chosen The Maria Dimension, an album that contains a number of their more accessible psychedelic tunes and some examples of their more ambient and experimental compositions.

I still remember the first time I ever heard this band. From that moment on I could not shake the haunting qualities of Edward Ka-Spel's vocals. His strange accent, cryptic and poetic lyrics, and bizarre stage persona is entirely unique, and completely unforgettable. He's a rare breed of talent. He's got the mystique of Genesis P. Orridge, the pathos of Nivek Ogre, and the voice of a demented angel. And the band surrounding him is as equally eclectic.

The Maria Dimension begins with one of it's best tracks, "Disturbance," a tune with an otherworldly melody and a subdued, somber, march-like gait. From here the compositions drift off into other realms of dark psychedelia before returning to the world of beauty with "Bella Donna." The album then returns to a darker side with "Cheraderama," and "Fourth Secret," the later featuring a Middle-Eastern melody and chanting. "Home" and "Crushed Velvet" close out the album leaving behind an atmosphere of deep ambiance.

The Legendary Pink Dots are truly one of the most unique bands I've ever heard. They can be frightening and somber, and uplifting and beautiful, often times all on the same album. They are also masters of creating albums, and the individual tracks need to be listened to in context with those surrounding them. While getting into this band can be a daunting task, The Maria Dimension is the perfect entry point.

[Russ]

Props for The Specials mention (too low!). That first album is easily one of my all-time favorites, bar-none; it's releases like that one and the Clash's mid-period stuff that backdoored me into my current love for Jamaican ska, reggae and dub (once the really great stuff finally started getting released).

Are you familiar with LPD's bassist, Ryan Moore's side-project, Twilight Circus Dub Sound System? Relocated to Canada, Ryan has released some of the most incredibly authentic dub sounds (read: real instruments, warm analogue) a white boy can produce this side of Kingston. Very highly recommended.

[D_Davis]

Props for The Specials mention (too low!). That first album is easily one of my all-time favorites, bar-none; it's releases like that one and the Clash's mid-period stuff that backdoored me into my current love for Jamaican ska, reggae and dub (once the really great stuff finally started getting released).

Are you familiar with LPD's bassist, Ryan Moore's side-project, Twilight Circus Dub Sound System? Relocated to Canada, Ryan has released some of the most incredibly authentic dub sounds (read: real instruments, warm analogue) a white boy can produce this side of Kingston. Very highly recommended.

There is one 2 Tone album that I like more than The Specials. It will be making an appearance soon. You might say that it's one step beyond my enjoyment of The Specials....

:|

I know the name, Ryan Moore, but I don't think I've heard that project. I will check it out.

There is another Ka-Spel-fronted project that will be appearing later, too.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Another great choice. I think the album peters out a little towards the end (love You're Wondering Now though), but the hits on that are really quite something. A Message to You Rudy is up there with Rudie Can't Fail in terms of the pure ska awesome.

[D_Davis]

37. Catherine Wheel - Ferment - 1992

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9Gs3_JFoDpw/R7nBIhOLYnI/AAAAAAAABDc/5T-bFlrSEA0/s320/1815.jpg

Catherine Wheel were a shoegazer band with a heavy rock attitude. Or were they a heavy rock band with a shoegazer aesthetic? Sometimes I don't know. They did get more metal-y and less shoegazer-y as their career progressed, and I might add a tad more boring and predictable. However, their first album was awesome - and it still is.

I'm sure everyone and their grandmother has heard "Black Metallic," and even though I've heard that song a countless number of times I still love to listen to it. It's epic, atmospheric, and expertly crafted. And as good as it is, it's not even the best song of the album. I like both "Indigo is Blue" and "Flower to Hide" quite a bit better. The first of these begins with wash of lovely guitar noise and feedback and then it becomes a beautiful guitar-driven, mid-tempo rock number complimented by a great bassline and a memorable melody. The second of these is a powerful upbeat number with a ton of great guitar tones.

Catherine Wheel were an amazing live band as well. I saw them a couple of times for this album, and the shows were awesome. While they experimented with the shoegazer sound, they played like rockers, and thus they were never boring. The band had a ton of charisma on stage, their pressence was awesome, and this comes through in the music on this album.

Best Tracks:

Flower to Hide
Indigo is Blue
Black Metallic
Ferment

[dreamdead]

Yeah, I picked up Catherine Wheel when you and DSNT did the shoegaze thread. I seldom make it all the way through the album whenever I cue up Itunes, but an whenever an individual track shows up on shuffle I'm always amazed by how good it sounds. The latter half of the album actually works better for me then the first half...

[D_Davis]

36. David Bowie - Low - 1977

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Low_%28album%29.jpg

David Bowie + Brian Eno = Win

My favorite Bowie album, and the one I return to most often. The instrumental tune "Speed of Life" kicks things off in quirky fashion like some kind of drunken computer rock played on an old turn table with a dirty needle and a worn out belt. "Breaking Glass" and "What in the World" continue with the strange sounds and fractured grooves, but this time Bowie's vocals are added; the man can sing, that's a fact.

Fractured is a good word to use to describe this album. It sounds more like the songs were assembled rather than performed. That's probably why I like it so much; it is a product of the studio. Each part of every song is expertly placed and crafted, pieced together to create a song in a puzzle-like fashion. The album is teeming with interesting noises, and a ton of different instruments - both acoustic and electronic - were used to create them. From analog synths to tape loops and delays, and from treated guitars to vibraphones and cellos, Eno and Bowies cover the stereofield with a blanket of creativity.

The first part of the album is more upbeat, but with the track "Warszawa," Bowie and Eno dive deep into the realms of ambiance and electronic experimentation. "Art Decade," "Weeping Wall (gee, think Tortoise likes this album?)," and "Subterraneans," could all fit perfectly on one of Eno's ambient albums. "All Saints" picks things up, and the album closes with its best song, "Sound and Vision," which also happens to be one of Bowie's best songs, period.

Best Tracks:

Speed of Life
Subterraneans
Sound and Vision
Always Crashing in the Same Car

[D_Davis]

Yeah, I picked up Catherine Wheel when you and DSNT did the shoegaze thread. I seldom make it all the way through the album whenever I cue up Itunes, but an whenever an individual track shows up on shuffle I'm always amazed by how good it sounds. The latter half of the album actually works better for me then the first half...

The album is a little long, and it does work as two complete albums, with "Ferment" separating them. "Bill and Ben" is also a fantastic tune. I love their guitar tone. It's lush, but it doesn't lose its structure with too much reverb and delay. It's the perfect mix of rock and shoegaze.

[D_Davis]

35. Tear Garden - Last Man to Fly - 1992

http://www.velvetacidchrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/lastmantofly.jpg

If Pink Floyd were a person, and he happened to die decades ago, and then his spirit were to be reincarnated into a more modern band, and then that band were to record an album, this would be it.

If I could convince people to listen to only one record on this list, this would be it, even though it is not even in the top 10. It probably should be, but I don't listen it as often because it is so dark and moody - it actually makes me feel weird. It's a freaking powerful album, one that possess a power I rarely come across.

This album is a damn masterpiece of psychedelic rock, one that comes from the same minds behind a band mentioned earlier: The Legendary Pink Dots. The Tear Garden is one of Ka-Spel's many side projects, and with this one he adds members of Skinny Puppy (both cEvin Key and D. Goettel) and some other dudes from The Dots, including Ryan Moore (bass) and The Silverman.

I can't even tell you how many times I've listened to the first two tracks on this album over the years. The second track, "The Running Man" is especially awesome, and would easily be on my top 10 songs of all time list. It is insanely groovy, haunting, and atmospheric. It's also incredibly cinematic, and I can easily picture the grotesque and grimy imagery is creates.

The tune "Isis Veiled" has some of my favorite lyrics:


They're closing in, I switched the pictures
Painted all the walls
I hung the medals, hid the magazines
As caped crusaders crawled down freedom street
Guns of liberation ushered in the dawn
One guy wears an eyepatch while the other wears a tie
One will play the liberator the other run and hide
I hear the cannons crack a mile down freedom street
Out of sight, out of mind
The ninth wave claimed a thousand while another thousand fled
I'm getting low on beans and marmalade
I share my bed with locust girl she flies
Through the cracks across my head

She is always on my side
She's always on my side
I am always on your side
I'm always on your side
We're all on your side

There, there now...


I am always shocked by how few people listen to this amazing band (same goes for The Dots).

It's gotta be one of the great undiscovered albums.

Best Tracks:

Hyperform
The Running Man
Empathy With the Devil
Circles in the Sand
Isis Veiled
Last Post

[transmogrifier]

I'm afraid you're going to make me break my vow not to sample any new music this year. I hate you.

[megladon8]

That David Bowie album is indeed amazing.

Great choice.

[D_Davis]

I'm afraid you're going to make me break my vow not to sample any new music this year. I hate you.

Heh.

I'm surprised you got this far into the year.

Just get the Tear Garden - it won't count.

[Derek]

I'm afraid you're going to make me break my vow not to sample any new music this year. I hate you.

That was a stupid vow. Good on you, Davis!

Great pick with Low - the first 7 tracks is one of the best stretches on any album, ever.

[D_Davis]

34. Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food - 1978

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/75/TalkingHeadsMoreSongsAboutBuil dingsandFood.jpg/200px-TalkingHeadsMoreSongsAboutBuil dingsandFood.jpg

What d'ya know, another entry featuring Brian Eno?

More Songs About Buildings and Food is absolutely the most perfect driving record. When I am driving, I want to listen to it. When I am listening to it, I want to drive somewhere; I want to get up and go; and I want to get funky with those pounding rhythms, infectious bass grooves, and hypnotic melodies.

Byrne and Eno have made a lot of great music together, and this is among the very best. It's just one of those serendipitous albums on which everything came together to form a work of beauty. It kind of blows my mind to think that people actually made this, and that there was a time before this album existed. It's so intricate, and so methodically made, and yet it remains a testament of the timeless creative spirit; it's heady and it has a soul.

Best Tracks:

With Our Love
The Girls Want to be With the Girls
Found a Job
Take Me to the River

[D_Davis]

33. De La Soul - De La Soul is Dead - 1991

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/88/De_La_Soul_is_Dead_album_cover .jpg/200px-De_La_Soul_is_Dead_album_cover .jpg

De La Soul have three awesome albums: Three Feet High and Rising, Buhloon State Mind, and this one, their best, De La Soul is Dead. De La Soul were pioneers of the new school and of the native tongue aesthetic. They popularized (perhaps created) the rap skit, and their use of samples is creative and legendary. The caliber of samples on this album is still untouched; together, DJ Mase and Producer Prince Paul craft some of the most interesting beats and compositions I've ever heard on a hip hop album.

This album was written and recorded in response to other sucker-ass emcess claiming De La were hippies. Bunch a scrubs, like Dante. Did they not listen to Three Feet High and Rising's Me, Myself and I? As Pos said, "You claim Plug One and Two are hippies, no were not that's pure plug-bull." The cover image refers to the death of the D.A.I.S.Y. (Da Inner Sound Yall) Age. De La were never about being hippies - they were about expressing your soul with a creative celebration of music. Hippies are wack-ass suckers who stink, De La Soul are not.

In addition to the amazing beats and samples, De La's other great strength is in their lyrics, and they never, ever topped the cryptic riddles found on this album. They rap about many of the same things other rappers do - like weed, sex, Burger King, getting life advice from the animal kingdom, and ego - except they disguise the popular tropes and conventions with language that can only be compared to the brilliance of Dr. Seuss. This album excels at being simultaneously humorous (Bitties in the BK Lounge), and deathly serious (Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa), and never losing that unique voice that belongs to De La Soul.

Best Tracks:

Oodles of O's
Pease Porridge
Bitties in the BK Lounge
Pass the Plugs
Keepin' the Faith

[megladon8]

Anyone who likes Talking Heads is a great person in my books.

[Derek]

34. Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food - 1978

Great pick. Have you heard the remastered/extended edition of The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads? Best live album ever IMO.

[D_Davis]

32. Pet Shop Boys - Behavior

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/35/PetShopBoysBehaviour.jpg/200px-PetShopBoysBehaviour.jpg

We all have a little gay man in us, and the Pet Shop Boys help him surface.

ZING!

Seriously though. Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are pop geniuses, and this album is their masterpiece. It is not as dance-orientated as most of their other albums, but instead it focuses on tightly written ballads with mid-tempo grooves and lovely lyrics. Yes, Tennant is still singing about lost love and heart ache, and still doing so with his unparalleled sense of irony and brilliant whit. And yes, Lowe is still the man behind the machines, crafting intricate sequences, melodies, pads, and riffs.

I also need to mention Tennant's unmistakable voice. While it is not a powerful voice, it is full of emotion, and possesses a vulnerable quality that lends his brand of song writing an authenticity often lacking in the world of pop. He sells his songs through his voice and his personality matches perfectly.

These two have such an amazing chemistry. I would love to spend some time with them, just watching them work. I'm sure it would be a fascinating experience.

Anyhow, Behavior is amazing; there is not a bad track on the album. "Being Boring" kicks things off, and is actually one of the group's best tunes. It features Johnny Marr on the guitar, has a laid-back rhythm, and a dense and melodic atmosphere. It is also drenched in nostalgia, another trait Tennant excels at. "To Face the Truth" is the slowest thing to a slow-jam they've ever done, and it is a pristine and perfectly pitched pop gem. My favorite track on the record, and thus my favorite PSB's song, is "My October Symphony." It, too, features Marr on the guitar, its Funky-Drummer-like beat is endlessly groovy, and the pads are thick and rich.

"So Hard," is the most upbeat song on the album, and it contains some of my favorite PSB lyrics. They're simple, elegant, and capture the mood of the tune:

...

You lock your letters in a box
And you've hidden the key
I go one better - I'm indebted
To a contact magazine
Tell me why don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves?
Why don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for us?

...

Everybody's got to live together
Just to find a little peace of mind there
If you give up your affairs forever
I will give up mine
But it's hard
So hard

...

I'm always hoping you'll be faithful
But you're not, I suppose
We've both given up smoking 'cause it's fatal
So whose matches are those?
Tell me why don't we try
Not to break our hearts and make it so hard for ourselves?

...

Best Tracks:

Being Boring
So Hard
My October Symphony
To Face the Truth

[bac0n]

Good choice on Behavior! Probably the biggest departure from the PSB formula of all their releases, and yes, Being Boring is a very solid track.

[D_Davis]

31. Echo and the Bunnymen - ST - 1987

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/Echo_%26_the_Bunnymen_album_co ver.jpg

This is the first Echo album I ever heard. This is the one that got me into the band, the one that I like best, and the one that I listen to more than any of the others. It's a much more polished and produced recording than anything The Bunnymen had previously done; they replaced much of the post-punk and new wave energy with a more lush sound.

The first two tracks, "The Game," and "Over You" are awesome pop songs, and pop songs with some subversive substance; the lyrics can be more than a tad cynical, and the music hides a darker edge beneath its upbeat surface. This is what is great about Echo - they write songs that are easy to dance to, with great rhtyhms and intricate hooks, and their compositions are also mature and nuanced. They're pop without being sugar-sweet, and they are dark without being depressing.

If you haven't yet, make sure you get the remastered version of this album. Not only does it sound incredible, but it also contains a number of bonus tracks. One of them is "Jimmy Brown," an alternate version of "Bring on the Dancing Horses." Why they didn't use this version will forever remain a mystery to me, because as good as the classic recording is, this alternate take is infinitely better, it's actually my favorite song by the band.

Best Tracks:

The Game
Lips Like Sugar
Lost and Found
Bombers Bay
Jimmy Brown (although not technically on the album proper)

[megladon8]

YES! I love Echo and the Bunnymen

Fantastic choice.

I hate when people say how the 80s had terrible music. That's probably my favorite decade for tunes.

[D_Davis]

30. Bob Dylan - Time Out of Mind - 1997

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e7/Timeoutofmindcover.jpg

I grew up listening to Dylan. My dad is a huge fan, and my exposure to Dylan's unique voice is one of my earliest memories. While I like many of Dylan's albums (and I prefer his electric stuff), it took a special connection to my all time favorite album (to be mentioned in 29 spots) to really make me love him, and that connection is Daniel Lanois. My earliest favorite Dylan album was Oh Mercy, and it is here that I discovered the Lanois connection. I still love that album, but I've grown to like Time Out of Mind even more.

This album reminds me of a kind of alternate world Dylan, a world not unlike Twin Peaks. Time Out of Mind is sonically dense, and infinitely interesting. There are so many things going on within the stereofield, and yet it is not overbearing or overly busy. This is a testament to both Dylan's songwriting talents and Lanois's mastery as a producer. Lanois knows how to create atmosphere, probably more so than any other producer working today - perhaps ever. He is a master of layering sounds, and making sure each instrument is perfectly nestled in its place. However, the album does not sound over produced. On the contrary, it remains raw and airy, you can even hear the amps buzzing during some moments.

Dylans song writing is also in top form here. This is a mature Dylan; these songs sound like the musings of a wise sage relating his earthly travels to a younger audience. I am especially fond of "Not Dark Yet," which could easily be placed on a top 10 songs of all time list. "Shadows are fallin', and I've been here all day. It's too hard to speak, and time is runnin' away," sings Dylan. This is man facing his own mortality with grace and the confidence of a life well-lived.

Best Tracks:

Standing in the Doorway
Not Dark Yet
Can't Wait
Highlands

[Lasse]

Fair play to you. Behaviour is a great album. :)

[D_Davis]

Good choice on Behavior! Probably the biggest departure from the PSB formula of all their releases, and yes, Being Boring is a very solid track.


Fair play to you. Behaviour is a great album. :)

It really is a great album, and like B said, it stands apart from their other albums (although I would probably place Release with it, but that album is not as good ("Samurai in Autumn" is an AWESOME song though)).

[bac0n]

It really is a great album, and like B said, it stands apart from their other albums (although I would probably place Release with it, but that album is not as good ("Samurai in Autumn" is an AWESOME song though)).

Yeah, you can say that about Release as well. My favorite track on that album is The Night I Fell In Love - not because of it's quality as a tune, which is middle of the road, but because of the story behind it.

Neil Tennant wrote the song about having a one-night-stand with Eminem in response to the homophobic comments spewing out of Eminem's mouth at the time.

[D_Davis]

29. Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque - 1991

http://www.jocknroll.co.uk/images/tfcbandwagon.jpg

Part Big Star, part T. Rex, part shoegazer, and part grunge, all mixed up to form a perfect pop-rock album. While the band had a couple of albums before this one, Bandwagonesque was their aesthetic breakthrough, and it remains their best. The 6-minute opening tune "The Concept" is completely brilliant. It's a throwback to a mid-tempo '70s jam, but with a more modern production containing some amazing guitar tones. From here things continue to impress - the entire album is genius. "December," "Star Sign," "Metal Baby," and "Guiding Star" are all amazing tunes with thoughtful lyrics and compelling arrangements on which melody reigns supreme.

But the best of the bunch is "Alchoholiday," a song so perfect it blows my mind to imagine that it was written by mere mortals. It feels far more epic than its short 5.26 runtime; it carries the listener on a journey through a soundscape bursting with intricate guitar parts and a laid back gait. It also contains the most beautiful use of the word "fuck" I've ever heard. It's muttered with a breath neutering the word of its illicit meaning; Elliot Smith could only dream of being able to curse with such eloquence.

Best Tracks:

Alchoholiday
Star Sign
The Concept
Is This Music?

[D_Davis]

28. The Lilys - Eccsame the Photon Band - 1995

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LpQKDyb5KEM/SWOBqc4nGVI/AAAAAAAAAGs/vVg0-z2ST5Y/s320/R-426659-1152107242.jpg

The Lilys have always been chameleons, or, more precisely, Kurt Heasley has used the name to perform a number of different musical styles. The Lilys have been American-indie, noise-pop, shoegazer, '60s-style pop, and electronica. On Eccsame the Photon Band, their (his), best album, The Lilys travel bravely into the world of ethereal dream pop while flirting with the shoegazer and psychedelic aesthetics. After a brief intro, the album proper kicks off with "High Writer at Home," a guitar and noise driven tune with a brilliant and simple melody. This track ends with an epic drum part, on that must have influenced Dave Fridmann's production style.

The drums are really the stand out instrument on this album: they're mixed incredibly hot and thrust into the foreground of the stereofield. This is especially true on the album's three best songs: "Day of the Monkey," "FBI and Their Toronoto Transmitters," and "The Turtle Who Died Before Knowing." These three songs comprise what is among my most favorite three-song stretch on any album I've ever heard. They are, quite simply, glorious, and so is the entire album. Heasley and co. expertly mix pop melodies, experimental noise, and dream-pop aesthetics to create an album that stands heads and shoulders above anything else The Lilys have ever done.

Best Tracks:

Day of the Monkey
FBI and Their Toronoto Transmitters
The Turtle Who Died Before Knowing
Hubble
Overlit Canyon

[D_Davis]

27. Breathless - Chasing Promises - 1989

http://www.breathless-uk.com/images/cd7.JPG

During the early '90s, when I was in high school, I went through a pretty big goth phase. Mainly for the hot goth chicks, but also for some of the music. I saw a lot of goth bands in concert: This Ascension, The Prophetess, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, and a number of other bands on Projekt Records. I don't listen to much of this music anymore, because, frankly, most of it kind of sucks to me now. However, I still totally love Breathless. While they are often classified as goth, I think they have more in common with bands like U2, The Chameleons, Echo and the Bunnymen, and other post-punk groups. Whatever genre they are, one thing is for certain: they are awesome.

Chasing Promises has consistently remained one of my favorite albums over the decades. Its lush production, nuanced instrumentation, and captivating compositions create a complex, ethereal sonic field. My favorite part about this band is their lead singer, Dominic Appleton. He has a unique voice, one signified by a pronounced lisp and an odd accent. His lyrics, too, are haunting, painting beautiful mental images that linger in the air. Appleton has also been featured on a number of tunes by 4Ad super-group, This Mortal Coil.

Best Tracks:

Compulsion
Heartburst
Smash Palace
Here By Chance

[dreamdead]

Still reading, but I clearly have a lot of music to look into since the last nine choices have all gone unheard by these ears.

...

I'll hide so as to not be publicly shamed now.:)

[D_Davis]

Still reading, but I clearly have a lot of music to look into since the last nine choices have all gone unheard by these ears.

...

I'll hide so as to not be publicly shamed now.:)

Nice to see you!

:)

[Derek]

28. The Lilys - Eccsame the Photon Band - 1995

I've only heard In the Presence of Nothing, which I picked up because of your inclusion of (I think) "There's No Such Thing as Black Orchids" in your favorite shoegaze tracks thread. I have this as well, but haven't gotten around to it yet, though I love ItPoN so if this is even better, I'm in for something special.

[D_Davis]

I've only heard In the Presence of Nothing, which I picked up because of your inclusion of (I think) "There's No Such Thing as Black Orchids" in your favorite shoegaze tracks thread. I have this as well, but haven't gotten around to it yet, though I love ItPoN so if this is even better, I'm in for something special.

I think it is a much better album - different, but better. Although ItPoN is no slouch.

[D_Davis]

26. Slowdive - Pygmalion - 1995

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/323/slowdivepygmalion4uv.jpg

This is the best Slowdive album, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise (Derek!)! While at one time Slowdive were a very traditional (albeit great, heck, they helped write the book) shoegazer band, Pygmalion finds the band exploring the outreaches of the sonic-universe, embarking on a journey to a realm no shoegazer band had ever been, and none have been there since. Even the cover signifies a significant shift in purpose and artistic direction. Gone are the washed out, blurry photographs full of nostalgia, to be replaced by stark imagery conjuring a more modern and bold aesthetic.

This album is an absolute masterpiece of minimalist experimental music, on par with anything I've heard from the likes of Philip Glass, Steve Reich et al. However, Slowdive never forgets what's really important: the songs. So while the songs explore experimental territories including free-jazz and space-rock inspired pseudo-jam sessions, the band continues to deliver memorable hooks.

The opening track, "Rutti," is astounding; honestly, I can't say enough good things about this tune. Just listen to it. It perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the album, an album densely atmospheric, bristling with eerie melodies, drifting rhythms, and heavenly tones.

Best Tracks:

Rutti
J's Heaven
Blue Skied An' Clear
Crazy For You

[D_Davis]

25. T. Rex - Futuristic Dragon - 1976

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/FuturisticDragon_TRexalbum.jpg

There are two kinds of people in the world:

1. Those who love T. Rex
2. Idiots

Of the first group, there are two sub-groups:

1. Those who recognize the Futuristic Dragon as the greatest T. Rex of all time
2. Those who are wrong

The Futuristic Dragon kicks all kinds of ass. It's glamrock at its absolute finest. Nothing else needs to be said.

Best Tracks:

Chrome Sitar
My Little Baby
Sensation Boulevard
Ride My Wheels

[Russ]

It's glamrock at its absolute finest.
Sorry, I'm a Slider guy.



[/has never heard Futuristic Dragon] - (I should get on that)

[D_Davis]

Sorry, I'm a Slider guy.



[/has never heard Futuristic Dragon] - (I should get on that)

You'll never go back.

[megladon8]

I'm lovin' the Slowdive.

[Sven]

Futuristic Dragon is badass. Top 3 T. Rex for sure.

[D_Davis]

Futuristic Dragon is badass. Top 3 T. Rex for sure.

What's # 2 and 1 for you?

[Sven]

What's # 2 and 1 for you?

Unicorn (which may not count, technically) and Dandy, probably. Maybe Slider. I like them all pretty much equally, though, but that does not diminish my love for FD.

[D_Davis]

I like Dandy, and Slider. Never heard Unicorn.

[Thirdmango]

Yeah for how much I know music, your list is going over my head with stuff I've never listened to. I think because of how much I haven't listened to I wanna wait for your top 5-10 and check those out and then see if I like them and then work my way back up to these ones.

[D_Davis]

24. Madness - One Step Beyond - 1979

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f5/Madness.jpg/600px-Madness.jpg

Hey you, don't watch that
Watch this!
This is the heavy heavy monster sound
The nuttiest sound around
So if you've come in off the street
And you're beginning to feel the heat
Well listen buster
You better start to move your feet
To the rockinest, rock-steady beat
Of madness

One step beyond!

I know a lot of people who claim that they don't like ska, and therefor they have not listened to this absolutely brilliant album overflowing with some of the best pop tunes ever conceived by mortal man. Their loss. But I can understand their opinions: there is a lot of bad ska out there, and unfortunately the bad stuff seems to be the most popular, or at leas the the most heard. For those of us who don't write off entire genres of music, well, we know: this first Madness album is a masterpiece.

Madness is a curious band. Here in the US, they are often thought of as a ska band. They are also often labeled as a one-hit-wonder with the tune "Our House," and yet that is not a ska song. In the UK, Madness is not known solely as a ska band, and they have crafted a number of chart topping singles. In their home country, they are known as A-class musicians, a band that has crafted some of the most memorable and well-written pop tunes in modern rock.

About half the songs on One Step Beyond are ska; this was their one and only 2 Tone release, and contains their best known ska tunes. If you've ever been to a ska show or club when "One Step Beyond" is played, well then you know how that song gets the bodies moving. Other tunes like "The Prince," "Night Boat to Cairo," and "Swan Lake" also bring forth the skanking rhythms. However, there is also another side of Madness: the pure pop side. And with tracks like "Bed and Breakfast Man," "Believe Me," "Mummy's Boy," the nutty lads prove that they have the chops to keep up with the greatest pop masters of all time.

This is also the only album on this list to feature multiple sax solos.

Most of all, though, this album is simply overflowing with energy. It's a vibrant, boisterous, and powerful recording; it's impossible to listen to these tracks and stand still. I'd encourage those who say they don't like ska to give this entire album a listen. While you may not enjoy what the genre has to offer, I have a feeling you will find that Madness has a tremendous amount of talent.

Best Tracks:

One Step Beyond
Bed and Breakfast Man
The Prince
Night Boat to Cairo

[D_Davis]

Yeah for how much I know music, your list is going over my head with stuff I've never listened to. I think because of how much I haven't listened to I wanna wait for your top 5-10 and check those out and then see if I like them and then work my way back up to these ones.

That's funny, because I figured that a lot of these would be fairly typical. Strange how we view our own tastes as compared to how others do. I don't know - maybe it's an age thing? I'm in my mid 30s, and many of these albums have informed me as a musician as much as they have as a listener. It's funny - I've always felt that my tastes were relatively "normal" in that I don't feel like I go out of my way to discover obscure music. Know what I'm saying? I'm pretty sure that as I get closer to the top 10, you will start to recognize a lot more of the recordings.

[Thirdmango]

That's funny, because I figured that a lot of these would be fairly typical. Strange how we view our own tastes as compared to how others do. I don't know - maybe it's an age thing? I'm in my mid 30s, and many of these albums have informed me as a musician as much as they have as a listener. It's funny - I've always felt that my tastes were relatively "normal" in that I don't feel like I go out of my way to discover obscure music. Know what I'm saying? I'm pretty sure that as I get closer to the top 10, you will start to recognize a lot more of the recordings.

I think I just completely missed this era. As someone in his mid 20s I started in the alternative 90s went back for some 60s-70s rock and then jumped on the jam band wagon only to now starting to fill in some gaps. So there are spots that probably because no one I knew were into I just never had them played around me.

[D_Davis]

23. Ween - The Mollusk - 1997

http://dkpresents.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/ween-themollusk.jpg

Fans of Ween have always known that underneath the jokey, drugged-out antics of the brothers boognish dwells a pool of talent and creativity so vast and deep that it appears to be bottomless. And with The Mollusk, Dean and Gene Ween decided to invite everyone to the pool party. Or I guess I should say the ocean party, because The Mollusk is a nautically-themed concept album; an epic journey into seafaring territories highlighted by Ween's signature pop-tunes, prog-rock, and silly sing-a-longs.

The album kicks off with a tune straight off of the Muppet Show before transitioning into one of the best songs the band has ever recorded, the title track, "The Mollusk." After first hearing this incredible composition, I knew that I was in for a huge treat - and I was not disappointed. The album continues to impress from beginning to end with songs like "Ocean Man," "Mutilated Lips," "The Eel," and "Buckingham Green." Most of the songs here are intricately composed, mixing in traditional acoustic instruments with odd-ball sounds and creative studio trickery. And best of all, the album flows from beginning to end with a singular vision and purpose creating a complete and total work of audio art.

Seeing the band live, multiple times, during this tour was a real treat. If you've never seen Ween, and you even remotely kind of like them, do yourself a favor and check out their live show. They are, without a doubt, one of the most talented and amazing bands on the planet. They often play for hours on end, and many of the songs off of The Mollusk continue to be played.

Best Tracks:

The Mollusk - a video made with legos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5K_w9Tbhoc)
Ocean Man
Mutilated Lips
The Eel
Cold Blows the Wind
She Wanted to Leave

[D_Davis]

22. Ride - Nowhere - 1990

http://awesame.org/gronk/ride/nowhere.jpg

As far as pure shoegazer albums go, this one is my favorite. It's loud, noisy, melodic, and expertly crafted. What's more, the shoegazer aesthetic never gets in the way of the songs. Often times with this style of music, I wonder how much of a song actually exists behind the walls of reverb and delay, but with the songs on Nowhere this is not the case. Ride could have easily recorded this as a straight forward rock album, and it would still have been great; but all of that delicious reverb, delay, and noise makes things even more sonically interesting. I first bought this on cassette, wore that out in high school, and have since repurchased the CD and a digital copy. This is an album that will always remain a part of my collection.

Best Tracks:

Dreams Burn Down
In a Different Place
Polar Bear
Here and Now

[D_Davis]

21. Z Phantom 4 - Laying Down the Law

http://carlsagansghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/law_front-300x300.jpg

It may seem strange to some of you that I would include one of my own albums on this list, but it's not odd to me. My musical philosophy is simple: I should be writing and recording the music I want to listen to. Why should I rely on other people? I've always recorded my music for an audience of one - ME - and if other people like it, well, that's a great bonus.

Laying Down the Law is my favorite album by me. I can't even count how many times I've listened to it, and I love it every time. Everything just came together on this one. Before starting, I decided I wanted to record an country album, but then, as I began to write the songs, I discovered that country music is really hard to play - I don't have the guitar-playing chops to keep up with the finger picking. Anyhow, there is a bit of a country-twang on a couple of songs ("Laying Down the Law," and "Trapped"), but the rest of the album is a mixture of epic electro/experimental ("Timmy's Dream"), space rock ("Beeteleguise Five"), and pop-rock ("Fly" and "Courage" (two of my best songs)).

So yeah - I love my own music, and it's some of my favorite to listen to. I also think some of it is as good as anything else on this list. I am very proud of it and it makes me incredibly happy. I feel very blessed that I am able to write and record this music. If you want to check it out, it is available (for free of course) from the website in my sig.

Best Tracks:

Laying Down the Law
Trapped
Fly
Courage

[D_Davis]

This thread's deader than a door-nail!


20. Daniel Lanois - Acadie

http://www.neuhouse.com/acadie/images/acadie_reissue.jpg

Daniel Lanois is my favorite musician and producer. His name has already appeared once on this list, and it will appear at least two more times, including the number one slot. Acadie is my favorite Lanois solo album. Lanois often works with Brian Eno, and the two artists share an interesting relationship. While Eno is a staunch atheist, believing in nothing but what comes from within the human body and mind (a self-described "anti-romantic"), Lanois appears to be more spiritual (although I doubt if he subscribes to any set faith). "The Maker," is a perfect example of Lanois' spiritualism. It's also one of the best songs ever written. Be sure to also check out Willie Nelson's version on his Lanois-produced album Teatro.

Lanois' production is lush and nuanced; it is full and robust without becoming overwrought or murky. He mixes together ambient textures, Americana, folk, Cajon, and various other styles to craft his signature sound. He's also a fantastic pedal steel guitar player. He calls the instrument his "church in a suitcase" because of the spiritual place it takes him.

Best Tracks:

The Maker
O Marie
Jolie Louise
Where the Hawkwind Kills

[D_Davis]

19. Brian Eno - Apollo

http://t.album.youmix.co.uk/13755.jpg

Hey look, another album with Eno and Lanois! It took me a few years to grow into this album. When I first heard it, almost 2 decades ago, I was turned off by its lack of melody and harmony - it's unmusical qualities. I first purchased it on vinyl, and it sat in my crates unlistened to for a very long time. But something clicked a few years ago, something changed within me, I gave the album another listen and I totally loved it.

In an ironic turn of events, this album has since become one of my musical touchstones. It is an ambient album that has greatly informed my own ambient aesthetic. Its sonic textures and bold and atmospheric, and the creative instrumentation is skillfully played and produced. And beneath all of the ambiance, there are also many great melodic compositions, especially on the tracks that Lanois plays guitat and PSG on.

Best Tracks:

The Secret Place
An Ending
Silver Morning
Deep Blue Day

[Russ]

Best Tracks:

The Secret Place
An Ending
Silver Morning
Deep Blue Day
Go ahead and add Weightless and Always Returning. You know you want to.

:)

Seriously, Always Returning is achingly gorgeous. This is an amazing album.

[Derek]

I'm a huge Eno fan and I've never heard Apollo! This will be corrected ASAP. And Davis, I'm still reading this, but I honestly haven't heard many of your picks yet. I like that Madness album and love Nowhere, though I'd never call it the height of shoegaze.

[bac0n]

Apollo is the only Eno album I possess. Kinda odd when you think about how much I enjoy it.

[D_Davis]

Seriously, Always Returning is achingly gorgeous. This is an amazing album.

I am constantly referring to it as a kind of sonic resource, checking its levels, and looking at the songs through a spectrum analyzer to study the frequencies and tones.

[D_Davis]

and love Nowhere, though I'd never call it the height of shoegaze.

It's the shoegaze album I listen to the most, simply because the songs are so strong. They could re-record it as an acoustic album, and it would still be a great collection of songs. The same can't be said for most shoegaze, especially not something like Loveless.

[D_Davis]

Apollo is the only Eno album I possess. Kinda odd when you think about how much I enjoy it.

That is odd, really odd.

[Derek]

It's the shoegaze album I listen to the most, simply because the songs are so strong. They could re-record it as an acoustic album, and it would still be a great collection of songs. The same can't be said for most shoegaze, especially not something like Loveless.

But if Nowhere were rerecorded as a Bavarian folk album with vocals by a traveling band of paraplegic dwarves, it wouldn't be nearly as awesome as Loveless.

[D_Davis]

But if Nowhere were rerecorded as a Bavarian folk album with vocals by a traveling band of paraplegic dwarves, it wouldn't be nearly as awesome as Loveless.

I don't know - that sounds pretty awesome.

[Derek]

I don't know - that sounds pretty awesome.

It'd be a great live show for sure.

[D_Davis]

18. Boogie Monsters - Riders of the Storm - 1994

http://rubenrodriguezentertainment.co m/pendulum/assets/chronicles/boogiemonsters.jpg

Hip hop was the first genre of music I pursued with any kind of passion. I was in 6th grade when it started to get popular, and it was then that I got into the Beastie Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Run DMC, the Fat Boys, and others. My love for the genre continued on through my high school years when I discovered other styles like the Native Tongues with artists such as De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest. While I don't listen to hip hop now as much as I did, I still enjoy a great hip hop album - and Riders of the Storm is such an album.

From beginning to end, The Boogie Monsters' debut is a bona fide masterpiece. Thoughtful lyrics, sometimes serious, other times playful, mix with intricate rhythms and samples to form some of the most sonically interesting hip hop I've ever heard. And it is all very musical; the album is overflowing with melody and hooks - it's a deep hip hop album that remains legit while still embracing pop sensibilities.

Unfortunately, the group never topped this album. They had one subsequent release, and it wasn't good at all. Riders of the Storm represents one of those truly magical moments when everything came together in a perfect way.

Best Tracks:

Recognized Thresholds of Negative Stress
Slow Jam
Old Man Jacob's Well
Honey Dips in Gotham

[Thirdmango]

I like how I have a small conversation with you about how I don't know any of your music and then the very next album is one of the my top 5 albums of all time. :D

[D_Davis]

I like how I have a small conversation with you about how I don't know any of your music and then the very next album is one of the my top 5 albums of all time. :D

It's a great album. That, White Pepper, and Quebec are my favorites.

[D_Davis]

17. Red House Painters - Down Colorful Hill - 1992

http://www.deliciouslycreative.com/images/uploads/colorful_hill_cover.jpg

There are many albums I love from Mark Kozelek, but this is the one I return to most often. Although in a decade or so, upon revisiting this list I could see myself including a Sun Kil Moon album. However, for now, this is the one: the first Red House Painters album.

Mark Kozelek is my favorite songwriter. He has a talent that is unparalleled. He is a master craftsman of intricately composed and arranged guitar-based song writing, and his signature vocal style adds a unique layer to the music. "Michael," a song all about his best friend is one of the best songs ever written. That is a fact. It is the best expression of a loving friendship that I've ever witness, regardless of medium. And "24" is one of the best songs I've ever heard about aging into adulthood. And "Down Colorful Hill" is one of the best songs about anything ever - period.

While it's nice that Kozelek has been able so sustain his career as a musician, his albums simply do not sell enough for the amount of talent he possesses. But then again, he's a smart dude, and he now releases his stuff on his own net label. If I could convince people to financially support one artist on this list, it would be Kozelek. Head on over to his website and buy his albums directly from him. Go to his shows. Don't download his music for free. It's sad to me that people and the press give artists like Bright Eyes the "next Bob Dylan" tag when Kozelek has been out writing and performing him/them for years.

Kozelek is the real deal - make no mistake.

Best Tracks:

Michael
24
Down Colorful Hill

[D_Davis]

16. Steve Roach - Structures From Silence - 1984

http://www.soundspaces.com/catalog/images/Structures_Silence_L.jpg

When I think of the term "ambient music," this album represents what I imagine it sounding like. It's an iconic example of the genre, and one made with great skill. This could be the definitive synth-based ambient album. It's one of those "if you own one GENRE-X album in your collection, own this one" albums. Roach composes three nuanced pieces of synth-based music that carry the listener away into extended moments of audio bliss. The music here instantly puts me in a calm and relaxed mood, and it can be listened to on two levels: as a piece of unobtrusive background music and as an interesting audio experience to be fully engaged.

Best Tracks (all of them):

Reflections in Suspension
Quiet Friend
Structures From Silence

[megladon8]

So much music I've never heard of...

[Russ]

Daniel, did you ever pick up a copy of and fall in love with this oldie yet?


http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/3342/2236345993c1c1fd6572.jpg



I can't help but think that you would be as blown away as I was.

[D_Davis]

Daniel, did you ever pick up a copy of and fall in love with this oldie yet?


I can't help but think that you would be as blown away as I was.

I still have not yet. I need to track it down.

[D_Davis]

15. Flaming Lips - In a Priest Driven Ambulance

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_S0Tp3mWh5iI/SKad_zdloYI/AAAAAAAAAfo/HrVcsrtoggA/s400/InaPriestDrivenAmbulance.jpg

I miss the old Flaming Lips. I miss the Flaming Lips that rocked; this album rocks as hard as anything I've ever heard. This thing is a sonic assault straight to yer face; a shotgun blast of RAWK that punches you in the stomach and knees you in the nose when you're doubled over. It's also a very smart album, one on which Coyne explores religion, mysticism, and esoteric flim-flam; it's quirky without being annoying and smarmy. It was a touch decision between this and Satellite Transmissions, but at the end of the day this is the album I turn to most.

Best Tracks:

Raining Babies
Unconciously Screaming
Shine on Sweet Jesus

[D_Davis]

14. Glass Harp - Live at Carnegie Hall - 1971

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51VV30GW4ML._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Phil Keaggy is the best guitarist I've ever heard, and Glass Harp is the most criminally underappreciated band on this list, perhaps the most underappreciated band I know of. And that that probably has more to do with them being a Christian band, and not their music, is a very sad fact. Besides Pink Floyd, they are my favorite classic rock band, and band-member for band-member, they are as talented as any band that has ever been, probably more so than most.

The amount of sonic space they fill with while only being a three-piece is a bit of a miracle. Their first album (self titled) is amazing, but this live album is where it's at. This was recorded when they were opening for The Kinks. I've read that people were about ready to boo them before they began; people just didn't understand how a Christian rock band could be opening for The Kinks. Well, legend has it that Glass Harp blew that band off the stage, and after hearing the music captured here that's not hard to imagine. If you like the electric guitar and rock music, just get this album. Pretend they're not Christians if that bothers you; God knows I listen to atheists, heck Brian Eno's all over this list! Just get it. It's amazing.

Best Tracks:

Look in the Sky
Never is a Long Time
Do Lord
Can You See Me

[Thirdmango]

15. Flaming Lips - In a Priest Driven Ambulance

I miss the old Flaming Lips. I miss the Flaming Lips that rocked; this album rocks as hard as anything I've ever heard. This thing is a sonic assault straight to yer face; a shotgun blast of RAWK that punches you in the stomach and knees you in the nose when you're doubled over. It's also a very smart album, one on which Coyne explores religion, mysticism, and esoteric flim-flam; it's quirky without being annoying and smarmy. It was a touch decision between this and Satellite Transmissions, but at the end of the day this is the album I turn to most.

How is this album compared to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots? I only liked the title song and didn't really like anything else.

[D_Davis]

How is this album compared to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots? I only liked the title song and didn't really like anything else.

Completely different. This is a rock 'n roll album. This is from the best era of the Lips:

In a Priest Driven Ambulance - Hit to Death in the Future Head - Satellite Transmissions - Clouds Taste Metallic

All of these are amazing.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I've been meaning to hear that one. I don't really like the Flaming Lips much, despite my affection for over-production.

[D_Davis]

I've been meaning to hear that one. I don't really like the Flaming Lips much, despite my affection for over-production.

Before The Soft Bulletin, they weren't over produced at all (maybe Clouds Taste Metallic was the turning point...). Their albums were very raw.

[transmogrifier]

I don't get it; are the painters red, or are the houses red, and if it is the latter, are those houses red before or after the painting? Or are they painting a picture of a red house?

:frustrated:

[D_Davis]

They drastically need a hyphen.

Red-House Painters
Red House-Painters

[Hugh_Grant]

Nowhere > Loveless

*runs*

[D_Davis]

Nowhere > Loveless

*runs*

That is a fact.

Loveless isn't even on this list.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Before The Soft Bulletin, they weren't over produced at all (maybe Clouds Taste Metallic was the turning point...). Their albums were very raw.

I know. Hence my wanting to hear it.

[transmogrifier]

Nowhere > Loveless

*runs*

Many albums > Loveless

[Spaceman Spiff]

Many albums > Loveless

True, but Loveless is still wonderful.

[D_Davis]

13. Primal Scream - Screamadelica - 1991

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/Screamadelica_album_cover.jpg

It's been 18 years since this album was released, and it still sounds like it is from the future. These dudes kicked off a number of genres with this genrebusting work of genius, and it is simply mind blowing to listen to. I will never forget the first time I heard this album. I couldn't believe my ears.

It's just one of those records like Dark Side of the Moon, Pet Sounds, or Abbey Road: a record that is easy to take for granted because of how influential it became, and because of how many people aped its sounds. Primal Scream never again recorded an album as good as this one, but then again, most bands can only dream of accomplishing such a feet.

This is also an example of an album working best when taken as whole. Yes, there are songs that are awesome by themselves, songs like Come Together, Slip Inside this House, and others. However, every song on this record is made better by the songs surrounding it. The album grows exponentially more awesome as it progresses, and takes the listener on an epic journey through the very fabric of the audioverse.

Best Tracks:

All of them

[transmogrifier]

XTRMNTR is still Primal Scream's best album, but this is comfortably second. Evil Heat deserves more love than it gets as well.

[D_Davis]

XTRMNTR is still Primal Scream's best album, but this is comfortably second. Evil Heat deserves more love than it gets as well.

I don't really care for XTRMNTR. I'd give second place a tie between Evil Heat and Vanishing Point.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I really like maybe 3 or 4 songs from that one, and couldn't care less for the rest. Weird album.

[D_Davis]

12. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique - 1989

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/07/BeastieBoysPaul%27sBoutique.jp g

This album was released during the summer before my freshmen year of high school. I still remember the day I bought the cassette. At the time I had a paper route, and I would always listen to tapes on my Walkman while delivering the Fresno Bee. I would often spend some of my hard earned money at the Long's Drugs down the street from my house. It is here that I purchased my first CD (to be mentioned later), and this album. After one listen, I was hooked.

Even my young not-yet-in-9th-grade self knew that this album was something special. The B-Boys had matured in their musical direction. The songs were more epic, and more meticulously crafted.

A lot the sonic nature of this album was because of the Dust Brothers' production, but I know that the Boys had something to do with it as well. The album has a flow to it, creating a complete work of art. It is funky, rhythmically interesting, sometimes a little dark, and other times funny. Paul's Boutique has personality; it has a vitality, a spark of energetic life that carries the music straight into the listener's soul.

Best Tracks:

Shake Your Rump
Egg Man
The Sounds of Science
Shadrach

[D_Davis]

11. Harold Budd and Brian Eno - The Pearl - 1984

http://www.playtime-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/pearl.jpg

It’s been written and said before, but it is worth repeating: the fade-in to this album’s first track, ‘Late October’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y93cXtTjU9o), is one of music’s most perfect moments. As if plucked from the ether of tranquility, Harold Budd’s softly ambling piano melody, accompanied and treated by Brian Eno’s quiet and shimmering textures, glides into existence, bringing with it the promise of an album teeming with haunting beauty.

As it is introduced, so it fades away, and ‘Late October’ concedes to ‘A Stream With Bright Fish.’ The name of this track conjures many images, and the composition gives form to these mental phantoms. Here Budd’s piano is heavily sedated with cavernous reverb and sustain, while Eno’s sonic-manipulation drones away in the distance. Together these two create a rich and textured stereofield in which every note is perfectly nestled. Budd and Eno create a sense of three-dimensional sound; actual space for the listener to wade through, like warm, smooth water.

Each track here adds volume to the ocean of sound, creating layers of atmospheric soundscapes to explore.

The Pearl is built upon a simple concept. Brian Eno recorded and manipulated Harold Budd’s piano playing. All of the sounds come from Budd’s piano, although some have been so treated that they no longer resemble the acoustic instrument from which they were born. Eno is a master of sonic manipulation, the Dean of transforming an artist’s music into something beyond what that original artist envisioned. Harold Budd is also a master — his signature piano playing is undeniably memorable and skillful. And of course all of this was overseen and engineered by Daniel Lanois, the man at the board.

I was first introduced to the work of Harold Budd when he collaborated with the Cocteau Twins on The Moon and the Melodies, and my first introduction to Brian Eno was his production work on U2’s The Unforgettable Fire. I can’t remember how I first stumbled upon The Pearl, but ever since doing so, it has remained one of my most listened to albums. I wore out my tape, replaced that with a CD, and finally, most recently, replaced my scratched up CD with a download from iTunes. For more than two years this album has been on my iPod.

The Pearl has become my goto soundtrack for reading Philip K. Dick. I find that a lot of the ambient music I listen to greatly enhances the kind of science fiction I like to read. I’ve come to associate this album with PKD so acutely that I cannot listen to the album without picturing in my mind scenes from books like Martian Time Slip and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

I often wonder how Brian Eno, a devout atheist, would respond to how spiritually edifying I find this album? Some albums speak to the body, others speak to mind; The Pearl speaks straight to my soul. Eno has said before that he is an anti-romantic. He does not believe anything comes from outside of us; it all resides and comes from within. There is nothing out there guiding us. As a religious person, I greatly disagree with this, and the way this music moves me only strengthens my opinion. Budd’s piano and Eno’s treatments guide and lead me to a very personal and spiritual place. As ‘Late October’ fades into my reality, stress and ill will fade out from my mind, and I find myself more at ease with my surroundings.

[Spaceman Spiff]

12. Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique - 1989

Yes! Best album of the list so far.

[D_Davis]

Actually, so far, there is one better.

[Winston*]

On Egg Man, they use the "egg" - "leg" rhyme twice in the space of like 8 lines. Come on, Beastie Boys.

[D_Davis]

On Egg Man, they use the "egg" - "leg" rhyme twice in the space of like 8 lines. Come on, Beastie Boys.

On the next album they rhyme "commercial" with "commercial."

[megladon8]

I have to say my favorite rhyme of all time is when Avril Lavigne rhymes "boy" with "boi".

That's very clever.

[Derek]

My favorite was Common's Gap ad (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNw4amjdV0c) where he rhymed "hood" with "hood" four times in a row.

[megladon8]

I like a couple of songs by Common, but I find his whole schtick a little hard to take.

[D_Davis]

The top 10. Shit's about to get real.

10. King Crimson - Discipline - 1981

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/King_Crimson_Discipline.jpg

The '80s era of King Crimson is my favorite; you just can't go wrong with Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford. The first '80s trilogy consisting of Discipline, Three of a Perfect Pair, and Beat is one of the most interesting stretches of music ever recorded. During this period, KC eschewed the ren-fair-like quality of their older sound and embrace a more modern new wave approach. The songs became shorter and more focused, and the quality of the musicianship improved to an unparalleled level. Member for member, instrument for instrument, King Crimson is the most talented band that's ever been put together, and Discipline is their masterpiece.

The marriage of Belew's more pop-focused style and Fripp's experimental style is one for the ages. Together these two guitarist-songwriting geniuses crafted some of the most intricate and elegant music I've ever heard. Discipline is an album that demands your full attention. You can't just have it on and enjoy it passively. It grabs you by the throat and screams, "LISTEN TO ME!" To some it may seem abrasive and chaotic; it never lulls a listener into a hypnotic state of passive enjoyment. It presents a series of songs and compositions written and performed by the most talented group of musicians ever assembled who are there to impress the hell out of you with each passing note, melody, and rhythm.

Best Tracks:

Elephant Talk
Frame by Frame
Thela Hun Ginjeet
Discipline

[D_Davis]

9. Depeche Mode - Violator - 1990

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/10/DMviolator.jpg

I loved this album when I was in high school. The year it came out, it totally blew my mind. But later something happened. I quit listening to Depeche Mode. But not because I stopped liking their music, it's just that I thought I had grown out of their sound. A couple of years ago, on a nostalgic whim, I purchased the remastered version of Violator, and since then I've listened to it at least one time every month.

This album is a masterpiece of synth-based pop, a record overflowing with maturity and nuance. Every track on Violator is incredible. What surprised me most about the my recent rediscovery is how well the album is produced. The remastered version of the album definitely does the production justice; everything sounds perfect. Each percussive hit, synth pad, and stab is sharp and crisp, while the organic qualities of the guitar and vocals fit perfectly within the stereofield.

Violator is an album that I admire as much for its songs and emotion as I do for its technical merits.

Best Tracks:

Enjoy the Silence
World Through My Eyes
Halo
Blue Dress

[D_Davis]

8. Stone Roses - ST - 1989

http://www.virginmedia.com/images/stoneroses_album_300x300.jpg

If there is a better debut album from another band out there, I haven't heard it. The level of craftsmanship, maturity, energy, and nuance on this record sounds like it comes from a band with more than a dozen albums under their belts. From the long, slowly building intro to I Wanna Be Adored to the very last note of Fools Gold, The Roses first, and best, album absolutely teeming with memorable songs, infectious rhythms, killer bass lines, and skillful guitar playing.

Best Tracks:

I Wanna Be Adored
I am the Resurrection
This is the One
Elephant Stone

[Spaceman Spiff]

If there is a better debut album from another band out there, I haven't heard it.


There are. In fact, there are quite many.

Corking album, though.

[dreamdead]

I have long wanted a reason to get into King Crimson. Congrats for convincing me...

[D_Davis]

I have long wanted a reason to get into King Crimson. Congrats for convincing me...

Start with the '80s trilogy.

[D_Davis]

7. New Order - Technique - 1989

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vMkmfeijXyE/SINFTm3cN-I/AAAAAAAAALI/1onTrKLJZN4/s1600/neworder.jpg

New Order's Technique was the 1st CD I ever bought. I purchased it at the same Long's Drugs that I purchased Paul's Boutique. I still have the case and artwork, but I lost the original disc years ago.

Technique was my proper introduction to the world of New Order - and it is still my favorite NO album. I love its mix of danceable club tunes (Fine Time, and Round and Round), and it's more guitar-based pop-rock (Run, All the Way, and Loveless). The final 3 songs on the album are probably my favorite album-closing trilogy of songs. Mr. Disco, Vanishing Point, and Dream Attack are all fantastic; the songs are moody, expertly produced, and contain real musical substance. This album has weight to it, and to my ears it sounds important and meaningful. I also think they captured this feeling in the album's artwork; the entire thing is just as classy and as well made as can be.

Best Tracks:

Mr. Disco
Vanishing Point
Dream Attack
Loveless
Run

[D_Davis]

6. The Cure - Disintegration - 1989

http://i36.tinypic.com/331zxv8.jpg

Would you look at that, another album released in 1989. Best year of music.

Disintegration is the Cure's masterpiece. They've come close to matching this album's greatness (Bloodflowers and Faith are up there), but they've never come close to topping this albums grand vision and epic execution.

Disintegration is an unfathomably dense record. Each song is packed to the gills with sonic allure. It might even be physically impossible to cram any more instrumentation into the mix. And yet, miracle of miracles, the album doesn't sound murky; nothing is lost in the sea of shimmering guitars, atmospheric reverb, haunting melodies, or swirling keyboards. Everything on this record fits perfectly within the stereofield; it's one of the best produced and written albums I've ever heard.

And those songs! Talk about craftsmanship. Pictures of You, Close Down, Last Dance, The Same Deep Water as You, Disintegration, Homesick, Untitled, heck, every freaking song on this album is a minor masterpiece of musical talent.

This album still blows my mind.

There are no best tracks, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be Pictures of You. This song destroys me.

[Derek]

Would you look at that, another album released in 1989. Best year of music.

This reminds me of Spinals old "Pop culture was the best when you were 12. You!" avatar. :)

Last 4 picks are aces.

[D_Davis]

:)

There are more albums that I love from 1989 than any other year. It's kind of weird. I was a freshman in high school.

[D_Davis]

5. PE - It Takes a Nation of Millions - 1988 (close to 1989)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/PublicEnemyItTakesaNationofMil lionstoHoldUsBack.jpg

Best rap album ever. Don't Believe the Hype = best rap song ever.

It's really hard to fathom how one album has so many awesome tracks. It's here that Chuck D's, Flavor Flav's, Terminator X's and the Bomb Squad's talents all congealed into a concoction of unparalleled hip hop mastery.

One for the ages. I know almost every song by heart; I've gone through 2 tapes and a CD.

It rules.

Best Tracks:

Don't Believe the Hype
Cold Lampin' With Flavor
Louder than a Bomb
Caught, Can We Get a Witness

[megladon8]

I have you, D, to thank for introducing me to The Cure (and specifically "Disintegration").

I freaking love it. It would be in my top 5 or 10 as well.

And similar to you I love every single song, but I would have to say that the two-fer of "Disintegration" followed by "Homesick" makes the album for me.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Great stuff (both Disintegration and the PE)

[bac0n]

Disintegration was the official soundtrack to my senior year of highschool. The album sounds, to me at least, like Fall. And yeah, it is one dense album. It's awesome.

[D_Davis]

4. Camper Van Beethoven - Key Lime Pie - 1989

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1e/Camper_Van_Beethoven_Key_Lime_ Pie.jpg

1989!

Key Lime Pie is a criminally under appreciated American rock album, and it is uniquely American. The album's lyrics are steeped in American imagery, and while there are still some examples of the band's ska and klezmer influences, these examples are filtered through CVB's West Coast, Santa Cruz, surfer vision.

This is one of the best rock albums I've ever heard. It's lyrically powerful, and the only popular music album I know of to feature the word "fecundity." It's used in All Her Favorite Fruit, a top 10 song if there ever was one:

I drive alone, home from work
And I always think of her
Late at night I call her
But I never say a word

And I can see her squeeze the phone between her chin and shoulder
And I can almost smell her breath faint with a sweet scent of decay
She serves him mashed potatoes
And she serves him peppered steak, with corn

Pulls her dress up over her head
Lets it fall to the floor
And does she ever whisper in his ear all her favorite fruit
And all the most exotic places they are cultivated

And I'd like to take her there, rather than this train
And if I weren't a civil servant, I'd have a place in the colonies
We'd play croquet behind white-washed walls and drink our tea at four
Within intervention's distance of the embassy

The midday air grows thicker with the heat
And drifts towards the line of trees

When negroes blink their eyes, they sink into siesta
And we are rotting like a fruit underneath a rusting roof
We dream our dreams and sing our songs of the fecundity

Of life and love
Of life and love
Of life and love

This particular song is ripe with descriptive lyrical passages, and through the use of concrete imagery David Lowery paints beautiful, if somewhat dark picture of rural living. The music, too, bolsters the themes of the album, and by incorporating pedal steel guitar and violin with the traditional rock band line up of guitar, bass, and drums, CVB crafts a sound that is unique and timeless.

Timeless is a great way to describe this masterpiece. It sounds as fresh today as it did when it was released, and I imagine this will be an album I turn to time and time again for the rest of my life; it keeps getting better, and I appreciate it more every day.

Best Tracks:

All Her Favorite Fruit
Borderline
Sweethearts
When I Win the Lottery

[Thirdmango]

New Order's Technique was the 1st CD I ever bought. I purchased it at the same Long's Drugs that I purchased Paul's Boutique. I still have the case and artwork, but I lost the original disc years ago.

After hearing Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith I got the best of New Order (Back when I didn't have my no buying best ofs rule) and those two songs, Blue Monday a little bit and Let's Go were the only songs I really liked off of it. How does this album compare to those songs?

[D_Davis]

After hearing Bizarre Love Triangle and True Faith I got the best of New Order (Back when I didn't have my no buying best ofs rule) and those two songs, Blue Monday a little bit and Let's Go were the only songs I really liked off of it. How does this album compare to those songs?

Hard to say. I don't like best of albums either - I prefer the songs in context to the album as a whole, and I think that Technique is their strongest album. New Order is one of my favorite bands, and I enjoy a great deal (not all) of what they did. If you like some NO, I'd say give technique a go, although perhaps they're just not your thing.

[D_Davis]

3. Pink Floyd - Meddle - 1971

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/MeddleCover.jpeg

Drops of liquid LSD being dripped into an earl canal? Perhaps...

I didn't get into Pink Floyd until my junior or senior year in high school. I remember people telling me how great they were, and how spacey and moody they were. However, the songs I often heard on the radio - Money, Wish You Were Here, and Hey You - led my to believe otherwise. I just didn’t understand what the appeal was: to me they sounded like any other classic rock band, an era I have never overly been fond of. Then one day while at a used record store in Fresno called Raging Records, I came across an album by Pink Floyd called Meddle. Upon careful inspection, I noticed that one song took up an entire side of the record. Always being a sucker for long and epic songs (at the time I was digging through the shelves looking for Tangerine Dream albums), I decided to blind buy the album - and thus started my journey into the brilliant, genre-spanning career of Pink Floyd.

The album opens with One of These Days, a song that would sound perfectly at home on any Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mono or any other post-rock band’s album; it is a dark, moody and aggressive instrumental track that immediately sets the tone for the epic album. Meddle then segues into two of my favorite Floyd tracks of all time: the softly moving and acoustic number A Pillow of Winds, and the amazing mid-tempo pseudo-shoegazer (seriously, just add reverbed distortion and you practically have a Slowdive tune) track Fearless. Fearless can be seen (or heard rather) as the blueprint for the music crafted by many modern shoegazer and post-rock bands: its mid-tempo groove is simply dream-like, as the melodies and instrumentation carry the listener into a state of bliss.

And then there is Echoes.

Echoes is an epic musical composition that runs from mid-tempo space-rock, to funked out psychedelic jamming, on to outerspace-like chaotic noise, and then back again to lusciously arranged mid-tempo rock, all while conjuring themes of mysticism with lyrics steeped in poetic nuances of sleep, dreams, flight, mortality and infinity. The first time I heard Echoes, I finally got it – I finally recognized why Pink Floyd was considered a band that broke free of genre conventions and helped to shape the landscape of modern musical composition.

So yeah.

Meddle is a bona fide masterpiece.

[D_Davis]

2. Brian Wilson - Smile - 1966, 1967, and 2004

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ef/SmileBW04.jpg

"A teenage symphony to God."
--Brian Wilson

So much has been written about this album that to offer up a brief history of its musical importance would be both unnecessary and redundant. Just do a Google search if you aren't familiar with this album's strange history.

I was one of the many who did whatever I had to do to listen to as many songs off of this one-time lost masterpiece of modern music. I had a series of bootlegs mixing and matching various versions of the songs ranging in quality from near studio-perfection to practically unlistenable. Even in its unfinished state it was one of the most ambitious, creative, and well made collection of songs I had ever heard.

However, in its newly-completed form, Smile became something more, something much more. It became an historic event; a time in modern human history in which an artist actually got to finish his lost-masterpiece. All too often, stories such as Brian Wilson's end in tragedy; they end with his admirers wondering what could have been. But now we know. We know that what could have been actually ended up being the greatest pop-rock album ever recorded.

I love music, but with Smile I am actually grateful for its existence. I thank the gods of creativity that Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks had the vision to conceive of something so masterful as to render all other pop-rock second rate by comparison.

It's just that good.

Best Tracks:

Heroes & Villains
Cabin Essence
Surf's Up
In Blue Hawaii
Good Vibrations

[D_Davis]

1. U2 - Unforgettable Fire - 1984

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0f/The_Unforgettable_Fire_album.j pg

Here it is. My all-time favorite album. Many of the albums on this list could probably be bounced around from one position to another, but not The Unforgettable Fire. This is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, my number one pick. I also have no problems declaring, without hesitation, that it is the best rock album ever recorded. It's got the strongest songs, the thickest atmosphere, and the best production, all thanks the Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, and the boys from Dublin.

I was in fourth grade when this fist came out and when I first listened to it. It was actually the first album I ever listened to on a Sony Walkman. The first time I heard Pride (In the Name of Love) I was on vacation with my family, at a family reunion. The opening drum fill totally blew my little mind, so much so that I just had to share it someone else. The only person around was my grandpa, and so I made him listen to it with me. This was probably the first time I ever championed something I loved, and now here I am.

I can't even begin to estimate how many times I've listened to this album. Close to a thousand, perhaps? I don't know. I do know that I've never once grown tired of any moment of it. I've been listening to this album for longer than some people on this forum have been alive. For 25 years this album has continued to blow my mind. Each listen is like the first time. I am totally in love with this music.

The Edge's guitar playing is amazing, and his signature tone is second to none; Bono's lyrics are amazing, and his voice rings true with passion and conviction; Larry Mullen Jr. has always been one of my favorite drummers, and here his rhythms shine; and Adam Clayton, while not the most technical bassist, adds a solid bottom end. And all of this great musicianship was overseen by Eno and Lanois - the two most important people in my own musical journey.

Best Tracks:

Pride
Wire
Promenade
Bad
Elvis Presley and America

[megladon8]

Awesome list, D. I like how personal it is.

Great work.

[dreamdead]

Grabbed up the Public Enemy, Cure, and U2 albums in the past week. Will have fuller thoughts as I let them seep into my wavelength in the coming days.:P

[D_Davis]

Grabbed up the Public Enemy, Cure, and U2 albums in the past week. Will have fuller thoughts as I let them seep into my wavelength in the coming days.:P

Had you never heard these?

[Ezee E]

The only bad thing about the Public Enemy album is what Flava Flav has done in the past few years. Sometimes I can't help but laugh when I hear him shout.

[D_Davis]

The only bad thing about the Public Enemy album is what Flava Flav has done in the past few years. Sometimes I can't help but laugh when I hear him shout.

Flav is kind of like Michael Jackson: the Flav that I liked died almost 15 years ago. I try to keep the two compartmentalized.

[dreamdead]

Had you never heard these?

I know I'd taken out the Cure and U2 albums from a library back in the early 90s, but have no real recollection of either anymore, so it's like starting all over again. Cure's "Pictures of You" is just rocking my world, as I've worn out "Lovesong" after many years of listening to that single on a mixtape. Working on getting onto the "Disintegration/Homesick" wavelength that meg experiences.

U2 album is proving more addictive than I'd expected. "Wire" is more rocking than I would have imagined. thefourthwall has affirmed to me that "Bad" is a transcendent experience, so that's next on my list to conquer. I still think "The Joshua Tree" is the band's perfect moment, and was the only album of theirs I'd held onto after I got rid of "Achtung Baby," which despite general quality doesn't grab me like TJT.

I'd had the Public Enemy Greatest Hits album awhile ago, but I think that Nations has a better flow, which isn't too surprising. Was surprised and delighted to hear a snippet of Slayer's "Angel of Death" snuck into "She Watches Channel Zero." And though it's true that Flava Flav has kinda butchered his contribution here over time, Chuck D remains as resonant as ever.

I appreciated this list. And will likely revisit it to track down a few of the ambient releases. Great job.