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

[D_Davis]

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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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



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.

[

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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.

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