When OK Computer came out critics got excited. This was an old fashioned artsy concept album but one that looked dramatically forward into the next century. It kept some of the rock elements of The Bends but incorporated enough electronica to be the defining album of 1997. That initial praise was certainly rewarded over the years and in hindsight the album was perhaps even stranger than we initially thought. I’ve always been a little lost as to what the concept part of this is about, something about an alien I think, but these songs are all fantastic. It was ambitious and elevated Radiohead from one really good band, to one of the greatest. As compared to the soundscaes that would dominate their later albums this flowed like a complete work but had great individual tracks. “Paranoid Android”, “No Surprises”, “Electioneering”, and “Exit Music (For a Film)” are some of the best songs to be recorded in the 90s and are just four of the reasons this album has shown up on nearly every greatest album list.
There are a small handful of you who are very pleasantly surprised right now, and many more who have no idea who the hell this is. Maggot Twat was simply the best live band that ever existed, yet they sadly only released 3 albums in their two decade history. 8-Bit was their second album and the perfect collection of their incredibly unique brand of comedy metal. Just a look at some of the song titles, “A Vampire Bit My Balls”, “Raped by an Ape”, “I Fucked a Train”, and the great sing-along “Hot Dogs, President Bush” and you’ll quickly see these guys took nothing seriously. Rather than just a hilarious one off the Twat backed up their ridiculous songs with some of the best riffs in metal history. “Vampire” might be the most played song on my iPod and with good reason, that’s some of the sickest metal you’re ever going to hear. This band deserves to be a household name, and you should do yourself a favor and get everything they ever recorded, especially this one right here.
Dylan’s second album is the one that took him from promising folk artist to the voice of his generation. His songs were covered by nearly every one of his contemporaries and they helped define the early 60s better than anyone else. Among the protest songs were several songs showing Dylan’s wit and his sense of humor, letting people know he didn’t need to be serious all the time. Even after 50 years this still has some of his best songs, including “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” which I happen to think is his best song. “Girl from the North Country” also happens to be one of his most beautiful, and was later re-recorded as a duet with Johnny Cash for Nashville Skyline. There’s part of me that always preferred my Dylan acoustic, and none of his albums show off that particular skill set quite like Freewheelin’.
History has been largely indifferent to Tracy Chapman. Considering most people know her for that regrettable “Gimme One Reason” song and the most recognizable track on this album “Fast Car” it seems like it’s hardly worth checking out the rest of her debut. The first time I heard this album it was nothing short of a revelation, and it hasn’t left my top 100 since. Starting the album with “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” was like a “Blowing in the Wind” for the late 80s. Even if it seems perfectly in tune with the early 70s singer-songwriter tradition the album lyrically reflects the Reagan era perfectly. The classic sounding production has helped the album age incredibly gracefully and the fact that we’re still dealing with a lot of fallout from Reaganomics makes the lyrical content as prescient as ever.
Weezer’s first album was a universally enjoyed album of hook filled power pop and dorky lyrics. Their follow up was met with scorn and indifference when it was released in 1996. Rivers Cuomo bravely bared his soul and no one seemed to care, going so far as to be infamously named the worst album of the year by Rolling Stone. The five years between this album and Weezer’s eventual return were quite good to this album as more and more people began to realize they had unfairly misjudged the album. It was noisier than their first album but at times was just as catchy as anything they had come out with. “Pink Triangle”, “Why Bother?”, and “The Good Life” could have been huge hits in another time. The album remains somewhat embarrassing for Cuomo who is very reluctant to play any of these songs live, and they never again attempted such a heartfelt acoustic ballad like “Butterfly” where even his voice seems to crack and break as it goes just out of his range.
1994 was perhaps a simpler time. This was before anyone paid any attention to Marilyn Manson, and Eminem was busy being obscure in Detroit. It was still genuinely possible to offend people, and Trent Reznor did. He scared parents, his lyrics were blasphemous, violently sexual, and their live shows were mini-riots. In the process he became the master of the one man band and took his sweet time delivering a follow up to Pretty Hate Machine. Broken was a bit of a teaser bridging the gap, but all bets were off on The Downward Spiral. Despite his status as the king of industrial music, there are moments on this album that would have been right at home on an old Brian Eno album. Nearly every song on the album incorporates some odd-time signatures and his screaming cathartic vocals can go to a whisper in a moments notice. There isn’t a thing I’d change about this album, and sorry to say I probably prefer the original version of “Hurt” thank you very much. “Closer” is one of those iconic tracks that I should have gotten sick of long ago, and believe me in the summer of ‘94 I heard it probably every hour. Somehow though, that song like the rest of this album still remarkably holds up. It might not be the best song on the album but it probably sums up the album as well as anything.
Undertow was a major breakthrough for Tool who scored huge hits with “Sober” and “Prison Sex”. The follow-up was so infinitely better that it hardly seems it was the same band. Tool fully embraced their King Crimson love and even the singles avoided conventional time signatures. They weren’t entirely serious though, including a song with cryptic background vocals in German that turned out to be a soup recipe, and adding ominous piano to a wrong number answering machine message they received. The actual songs though were the best they ever wrote and recorded. “Eulogy” belongs in any top 100 song list, but “Forty Six & 2” and the Bill Hicks tributes “Aenima” and “Third Eye” are absolutely perfect. Nobody sounded like Tool when this album came out and although countless bands have attempted to copy their style, it’s safe to say no one really came close, particularly on this album. Now hopefully they actually put out another album sometime this decade.
Queen kept their Marx Brothers theme going for the follow up to A Night at the Opera. The album shows the band in peak form, fresh off their most recent and greatest triumph. You could make a case for any of Queen’s first six albums being their best and there are no shortage of highlights on this disc. Everyone should know “Tie Your Mother Down”, “Somebody to Love”, and damn near the happiest song ever “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy”. If you know anything about me though it’s that I don’t judge Queen albums on the strength of their hits. John Deacon topped “You’re My Best Friend” with “You and I” which easily could have been a hit single. Brian May delivered the rare social protest song “White Man” to a Queen album, but his greatest contribution was “Long Away” which he lobbied to make the first non-Freddy Mercury sung single. They even sang in Japanese for the albums final track “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)” showing that they had no intention of coasting on their strengths.
Awake is about as polished as Dream Theater ever got without compromising. They got a little heavier as evidenced by the introduction of 7-string guitars, and they recorded the album in the same facility Metallica used for their black album. James LaBrie still aimed for the highest notes he could hit before constant touring led him to subdue his future vocals. It was also the last to feature original keyboardist Kevin Moore who closes the album with the personal “Space Dye Vest”. “6:00” opens things up with a memorable and catchy drum beat before Mike Portnoy got too lazy to construct distinctive drum parts, and the album only gets better from there. Awake was another example of how Dream Theater might just be the best band in the world when it came out, something that time has dulled somewhat. I can’t help but admit I’m a sucker for prog-rock, and this is about as great a progressive album as there is. The music I have in my head, down to the ridiculous shredding, crazy fills, and vocals is what Dream Theater sounded like on Awake.
It wasn’t until the various first wave of solo albums came out that people started to really pay attention to Wu-Tang’s first album. It never cracked the top 40 of the album charts despite eventually going platinum, it just slowly gained momentum over several years. This was a new kind of rap music. There were a staggering 9 members who all could rap, but the odd mixture of kung-fu and gangster rap was unthinkable before this album. RZA produced like no one before him, giving this album a harsh, decidedly underground feel to it. For obvious reasons this is an album to be played loud as the beats and energy of the members deserve to be heard nearly distorted and blowing up. The rhymes were likewise unlike anything else, making references to Lucky Charms cereal, Voltron, and of course kung-fu. This was a remarkably unique rap album that’s only grown in stature over the years and an absolute essential that never ceases to get better each time I hear it.
There are a few bands out there that seem hard wired to make exactly what I want to hear. The Hold Steady are simply what rock and roll should be. The lyrics are highly literate, this time focusing more on doing all the drugs than on Separation Sunday’s Catholicism. Musically though this is the band at their peak, their grand literary themes are being matched to appropriately fuller arrangements. The title was a reference to Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, so naturally anytime you quote my favorite book ever I’m going to be a fan. “Stuck Between Stations”, “Chips Ahoy”, “Massive Nights”, and “Southtown Girls” showed the band could rock on a massive scale complete with sing-along choruses. The album’s highlights though remain the two ballads, the acoustic “Citrus” and the appropriately epic “First Night”. Time has continued to appreciate this album, and despite selling less than 100,000 copies it continues to grow as one of the best albums of the past decade.
With respect to the Wu, 1993’s best rap album and damn near the greatest of all time is Snoop’s Doggystyle. Snoop became the first artist to have his first album debut at #1 on the Billboard charts, and years later it remains his crowning achievement. Produced by Dr. Dre this continues the G-Funk blueprint laid out on The Chronic and quickly established that West Coast gangster rap wasn’t going anywhere. Snoop wasn’t even 20 when Doggystyle was recorded and his lyrical flow and delivery were unmatched at the time. Snoop was hardly alone on these tracks as most of the Death Row crew appeared, including Tha Dogg Pound, The Lady of Rage, Nate Dogg, and the debut of Warren G on the incredibly excellent “Ain’t No Fun”. This is nearly inseparable from The Chronic and the two set the blueprint for G-Funk and remain the definitive West Coast rap albums.
Metallica’s sound evolved over each one of their first four albums, getting more complicated and featuring increasingly longer songs. This came to a peak with …And Justice for All, where they set the template for what would become progressive metal. It was the first official album to feature new bassist Jason Newstead, after the EP Garage Days Re-Revisited, but as some sort of cosmic hazing his bass was all but eliminated from the entire album. There are several unofficial versions of the album with bass added, which gives a little idea as to what the album could have sounded like, but the version released remains one of the most unique sounding albums because of that. Lars’ drums never sounded better on here, and his playing was uncharacteristically good throughout the album. They made their first music video for the song “One” which is still probably the greatest song they ever recorded. Before streamlining their sound, this was as complicated as they ever got and one of the all time great metal albums.
The best band of the 90s was undoubtedly Dream Theater. At the urging of their label they made one last attempt at commercial success with Falling Into Infinity. Between albums Petrucci and Portnoy made the Liquid Tension Experiment album with Jordan Ruddess and were so impressed with his work they asked him to join the band full time. Taking their signature song “Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper” from Images and Words as the blueprint they conceived a concept album about a double murder. It was inevitable for a band this indebted to prog rock that they would go for a full concept album, they just did it better than anyone else. Lyrically this is the rare concept album that actually makes sense from a narrative standpoint and the songs all seem to belong to the larger story. Musically this band was never tighter or better. They are quick to show off their new acquisition, and Ruddess does his part to establish himself as the band’s best keyboardist. The production is among their best, handled by Portnoy and Petrucci. This is as focused and accomplished as the band would sound, with some of the most jaw dropping virtuosity ever captured on record.
This was Joni Mitchell’s fourth album, but I’m inclined to believe it could be her only album and I’d be just fine with that. Few artists ever bared their soul and emotions quite as openly as Mitchell does here, including Mitchell herself on later albums. The arrangements are quite simple with most of the songs featuring just piano or guitar and her voice. Several of the songs were written following her breakup with Graham Nash and her subsequent relationship with James Taylor. Her and Taylor broke up just before recording the album which added a bit of gloominess to the recordings. She turned her pain and heartache into one of the greatest albums of all time. The songs “Blue” and “River” are some of the greatest ever recorded but as a collective whole no female artist ever made an album greater.
Jimi Hendrix was an obsessive perfectionist. He fired his manager and spent an absurd amount of time and money in the studio to record his third album. Sessions routinely got out of control, as numerous hangers on, guest musicians, and all night sessions yielded few if any results. Hendrix eventually was satisfied enough with the album to release it and it forever cemented his status as a legend. It represents the rare time he got to put out his vision without outside interference, and the fact that he was never satisfied with his next album leaves this as his last complete work. Opening this up to a double album he was able to freely explore more songs, including a 16 minute live jam with Steve Winwood on “Voodoo Chile”. His love of jazz comes through particularly on “Rainy Day (Dream Away)”, and he never stopped using the studio as it’s own instrument. Noel Redding contributes his finest song “Little Miss Strange” and it would be his last with Hendrix, quitting during the recording sessions. “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and “All Along the Watchtower” are two of his most recognizable songs, the latter of which features arguably the best wah sound in music history. This was Hendrix at his best and a defining album of the 60s.
The third Zeppelin album helped free the band from their blues roots and pointed the way to a more adventurous and experimental sound. Their fourth album fulfilled that initial promise and wound up being their defining album. After the odd timing rock of “Black Dog” they unleashed Bonzo on “Rock and Roll”. “The Battle of Nevermore” which featured guest vocals from Fairport Convention’s Sandy Dennis dove head first into English folk music. It’s a wonderful companion piece to “Going to California” which helps tackle folk from the other side of the Atlantic. “Stairway to Heaven” is quite possibly the most famous rock song ever made, and damned if it isn’t completely deserving of that title. This was Zeppelin at their most fearless and experimental. They weren’t afraid to try new things and they succeeded tremendously at everything they attempted. This wound up being by far their most successful album and it remains the most iconic classic hard rock album ever made.
The biggest album of all time hardly needs any introduction. Off the Wall made Jackson an international superstar, but Thriller made him the King of Pop. This officially kicked off the era of the blockbuster album with nearly every song becoming a top ten hit. Jackson also established himself as the King of MTV with a trio of ambitious music videos that helped elevate the video to an art form. He had some A-list help, most notably producer Quincy Jones who also helped make Off the Wall the incredible success it was. Eddie Van Halen delivers one of his most iconic solos for “Beat It”, and even Paul McCartney trades vocals with Jackson on “The Girl is Mine”. Jackson swung for the fences on this and succeeded wildly, it was his best album and one of the few universally liked and acclaimed albums of the decade.
Elegant Gypsy was the first Al Di Meola album I purchased and the one I’ve listened to the most. I’ve played the holy hell out of it, and it is simply perfection. His playing is incredible and the songs are all tight and iconic. He’s backed by some of the best musicians around but it never seems to lose sight of how amazing Di Meola was as a guitarist. The final song “Elegant Gypsy Suite” is 9 minutes of jazz-rock epic glory. Steve Gadd plays drums on it, and seems to have brought the same energy he had on “Aja”. For pure leads though “Race With the Devil on a Spanish Highway” might just be the best guitar playing I’ve heard. So I guess you can say this is the best album from arguably the best year in music history. In other words you should probably listen to it right now.
Daft Punk have been pretty far from prolific in their careers which makes their few actual albums stand out even more. Random Access Memories was a fantastic album that showed these two guys could still wipe the floor with anyone else in the dance world. If anything that album made Discovery all the better because it’s that much superior. Ironic that the four year wait for this album seemed an eternity, but they instantly threw out everything from their debut. Gone was the limited drum beats, the boring techno passages, and in it’s place was an epic of disco funk. “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” is still my favorite song from the album and seems to perfectly sum up how far past Homework they were. “Aerodynamic” features some god damn brilliant music that could have come from an 8-bit NES game. “Digital Love”, “Face to Face”, and of course the first single “One More Time” are all phenomenal tracks. I’ve probably listened to this album 100 times since 2001, and I couldn’t imagine ever getting sick of it. This might not be the best album of the decade, but if anyone says it is, I wouldn’t argue.
This may seem high for a few of you, but those that know me have almost certainly heard me name this as the greatest rap album many, many times. I still would argue 2 Pac was the best MC we ever saw, and when those lyrical skills were matched with a team of Death Row’s best producers the result is simply the greatest of all time. This was the first double-cd in rap music and it raised the bar far too high for anyone to reach it. Pac was certainly prolific in his time, but here he has the beats and production to reward his insanely productive rapping style. There are few double albums ever that are better, and I would argue there is no filler on this album. Long after his death and the controversy surrounding his life has faded into distant memory this album looms large. Step away from the numerous hits and you have some of the best deep cuts in rap: “Can’t C Me”, “Hollah at Me”, “Ambition Az a Ridah”, “Life Goes On”, and the list goes on. If it wasn’t blatantly obvious on this list, I feel rap reached perfection in the mid-90s and the West Coast sound was the best of them all. 2 Pac’s magnum opus was the crowning achievement in rap’s greatest era.
Lyrically this album blazed more trails than we’ll ever fully comprehend. Musically it is a wonderful balance. Half the album seems to lull you into a comfortable daze, the rest seems like the fever dreams of someone de-toxing. It is truly singular in the history of rock as well as the Velvet Underground. They never would record with Nico again, Lou Reed would shortly sever their relationship with Andy Warhol, and their next album was ear piercing noise fest of obnoxiousness passed off as brilliant art. The band would never be this unified, this trailblazing, this melodic, and this vital again. Countless critics have praised this album to the high heavens, so really what more can I add?
At this point many of the albums are starting to seem like usual suspects. Blonde on Blonde was the final part of Dylan’s unofficial trilogy. He was never more prolific or creative during the two years comprising Bringing it All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde. If you’ve been paying attention you’ll realize that I think he saved the best of these for last. Blonde on Blonde is a Dylan album that doesn’t really impress much on a first listen. It’s hard not to think of it as slightly overrated or just a long mess. This is an album that sticks with you though. It works itself into your subconscious, and resonates with you for days, weeks, months, years after you hear them and the lyrics are like an obsessed riddle with no answer. It is an imperfect gem that was Dylan’s longest album at the time, and one of the very first double LP sets. There is so much going on here it’s staggering. His musical styles seem to jump all over the place, and there is no shortage things to say. Dylan could have never recorded again after this album and he still would have gone down as one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
Alternative bands were being signed left and right during the early 90s. Nirvana got themselves a new drummer in Dave Grohl on their way to major label stardom. Madison native Butch Vig was hired to produce and as they say the rest is history. This album made the band superstars and the hype was undeniable. It was a decisive turning point in music and seemed to forever change the guard from the bloated excess of hair metal to messy and insecure garage rock. This was as polished as Nirvana ever got, a fact Cobain hated until his dying day but it made the band breakthrough on a much larger scale than anyone could have anticipated. This has routinely popped up as one of the best albums of all time and the defining album of the 90s, but behind all the hype and accolades are a collection of really damn good songs. Cobain might have deliberately sabotaged some of his music but he did have a wonderful knack for crafting pop songs. This album perfectly captures his uncanny melodic sense with the noise and aggression present in what would be called Generation X.
This is the highest “new” album to make my top 100 list. I first heard BTBAM after The Great Misdirect came out and was instantly a fan. After all they had the type of chops Dream Theater had but somehow with more complicated arrangements. I was told by a few people Colors was even better, and boy was it. I must have listened to this album on repeat 50 times in a year and I became more and more convinced this is as good as metal could get. This is what’s in my head when writing music, I just don’t have anywhere near the skills these guys do in pulling it off. They take the concept album one step further by making the entire album flow like one continuous song. Every song goes into the next, including changing tracks in mid-drum fill. Their shifting dynamics are incredible, the riffs are insanely complex, and they even find time for a good old fashioned hoe-down midway through the album. Colors is simply an astonishing album and one of the most perfectly realized start to finish albums ever made. There are no words to describe just how great the end of “White Walls” is, so I just suggest you listen to it and get back to me.
“No Action” isn’t even two minutes long but it already establishes that this isn’t My Aim is True redux. The Attractions make their debut as Costello’s backing band and their manic playing helps make this his best. Nick Lowe again handles production but it sounds infinitely more polished and refined than his debut. I don’t want to put his debut down, but this album is just better at nearly every turn. There is a nastier edge to these songs, and Costello seems inspired by his nearly reckless backing band, snarling through “Lipstick Vogue”, “Lips Service”, and “Pump it Up”. He renews his love of reggae on “(I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea” which is easily one of the highlights. The album’s best known song, “Radio, Radio” wasn’t originally included on the album on some versions, but was released as a single. With or without that song this remains Costello’s finest hour.
The Stones first album of the 70s was comprised mainly of outtakes collected over the past several years. It amazes me to think what these songs could have sounded like on Beggars Banquet or Let it Bleed, but luckily they finally saw the light of day. This album properly introduced Mick Taylor, and it makes “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’?” seem nearly impossible had it been recorded a mere two years before. This album takes most of the elements present on their previous two studio albums just does them better. The rock songs are harder, perfectly realized on “Sway”. Yet the ballads seem more personal, which was certainly the case on “Wild Horses”. I’m inclined to name “Dead Flowers” as one of the band’s three best songs, and easily the best of their numerous country songs. This album is practically perfect and could easily be justified as the band’s best.
Later albums may have seen Zeppelin evolve and diversify their sound, but for my money they needed no improvement. Their first album is the Ft. Sumter of hard rock. Jimmy Page decided to produce the album himself and he makes John Bonham’s drumming leap out of the speakers. No longer would that soft cardboard sound appear on drums. The guitars are loud and reverberated and Robert Plant wails like no one before him. Much of the songs came from previous works, “Dazed and Confused” was from Page’s days with The Yardbirds, and there are two official covers of Willie Dixon songs. The rest of the album is just cobbled together blues, amplified, and re-purposed to fit their own unique sound. Zeppelin would never sound this raw, chaotic, and brilliant on record. They established themselves as leagues above everyone else and they inspired the rest of the music playing world to try in vain to catch up to them.
The best album of the 2000s just gets better with each passing year. A remarkable thing listening to this album is how normal it now sounds. This was a radical album when it came out, but Radiohead and several other bands have incorporated so much of this into modern alternative music that it sounds damn near commercial today. Many people were upset with Radiohead all but abandoning their rock tendencies on their previous two albums in favor of electronica, but they simply anticipated the future of music and made no compromises about it. Even OK Computer is a song driven album, but Kid A seems to be one continuous piece of music. There aren’t really songs so much as sounds on this album. It’s still a remarkable achievement that is well worth repeated listens. “Everything in It’s Right Place” couldn’t start the album off on a better note, which quickly establishes one of the best bands of the 90s were going to be the most trailblazing of the 2000s.
There are no bad Beatles albums, but the jump in quality from Help to Rubber Soul is staggering. The album featured no singles and was the first to be considered a complete LP from the band. It also featured all original material showing how far the band grew in just the span of a few months. “Nowhere Man” was their first song not to deal with love and was just one example of the maturity they were rapidly showing. Lennon was far from done and it’s debatable “In My Life” was his finest hour. George Harrison offers one of his best, in the Byrds-esque “If I Needed Someone”. Paul has plenty of highlights himself, including “Michelle” and the opener “Drive My Car”. This was a new era for the band, and one that showed they were just officially hitting their peak.
I have to admit that Revolver and Rubber Soul are nearly inseparable to me and many others, hence the reason they are grouped right next to each other. I would also like to apologize for their “low” placement on this list, but well I’m sure none of you need me to remind you how great these albums are. Revolver has more than once been cited as the greatest album of all time and that’s a status that isn’t entirely unwarranted. The Beatles continued their development by forever expanding their sound. “Eleanor Rigby” features only strings and is one of their most haunting songs. George Harrison introduces the sitar on “Love You To” one of the unprecedented three songs of his included. They dive head first into psychedelia on “Tomorrow Never Knows”. For my money though “For No One” is the album’s highlight, and joins “Here, There, and Everywhere” as the two songs I’ve listened to the most from this album. Like any great Beatles album your favorite songs could change literally with each listen.
Queen’s second album of 1974 and third overall was the one that finally gave them their big break. “Killer Queen” was a solid hit but it’s just the tip of the iceberg of greatness included here. Brian May was sick for most of the year preventing them from touring in support of their second album, so he indulged in plenty of guitar trickery. “Brighton Rock” features his first unaccompanied solo and it is easily one of his finest. Queen practically invented thrash metal with “Stone Cold Crazy”, and somehow found time to indulge in ridiculously catchy ragtime music with “Bring Back That Leroy Brown”. Roger Taylor contributed his best song to the group on “Tenement Funster”, which brilliantly runs into “Flick of the Wrist”, which also brilliantly runs into “Lily of the Valley”. This mini-medley isn’t the only thing carried over from Queen II, there is also a song barely over a minute that might just be the most beautiful thing they ever wrote on “Dear Friends”.
Blonde on Blonde has often occupied my top spot for Dylan albums, but Blood on the Tracks has never been far behind. After my most recent re-visits I had to give the edge to Blood. Sure it was a comeback album that restored Dylan to relevance, but it was his most personal at the time. He was returning to his strengths as a songwriter and coping with his then failing marriage. “Tangled Up in Blue” was as autobiographical as his music got and it’s a wonderful companion piece to Joan Baez’s “Diamonds and Rust” released the same year. “Shelter from the Storm”, and “Buckets of Rain” help close the album on a similar melancholy note as it began but this is far from Dylan’s version of Blue. There are some up-tempo songs and he can’t resist a classic blues song like “Meet Me in the Morning”, but it’s the personal songs that resonate the longest. This remains the best album Dylan ever made.
The Band were known as Dylan’s old backing group. His influence was definitely felt on Music From Big Pink, but it is somewhat ironic that their best album was made when they severed their ties and made an album uniquely their own. Their self titled album was a masterpiece of Americana, it sounded like a history lesson, and the songs included were among the finest ever recorded. Largely acoustic, it did feature some deep swamp funk on “Up On Cripple Creek”. “Rocking Chair” is simply one of the greatest songs ever written and it’s the perfect summation of what made this album great. Robbie Robertson wrote or co-wrote every song on the album which makes it’s uniquely Southern feel all the more impressive considering Robertson was Canadian. They continued the three vocal attack present on Big Pink, but here it seemed much more suited to the music. This was a perfect album and truly unique in rock. Many artists tried their hand at roots rock, but The Band were just too idiosyncratic to be copied.
Another one of the blockbuster albums of the 80s, Prince’s masterpiece just gets better and better the more I hear it. Prince was a damn great guitarist but being Prince he often kept his abilities in check, and largely neglecting his instrument for several albums. Purple Rain lets him unleash his playing right from the start on “Let’s Go Crazy”. Vocally he is in top form, passionately singing and screaming his way through such classics as “Darling Nikki” and “The Beautiful Ones”. The title track has become my “Freebird” and I will yell it at any performer regardless of context. Like Metallica on Justice, Prince proved you didn’t need bass to be brilliant on “When Doves Cry”. I seem to use the word perfect a lot when describing my top twenty albums but it really does apply on Prince’s best album. This was one of the all time great artists making his defining album.
Exile has long been considered the Stones masterpiece by everyone except me for years. At one point it was fourth, then third, and sometime over the past couple of years I started to think this might be their best. Taking the premise that more is better, the 18 songs on this album offer endless testimony to it’s greatness. The first side is uptempo blues, followed by more laid back music, a few ballads, one of the most bizarre quasi-gospel songs ever, and finally bringing everything back home with “Shine a Light” and “Soul Survivor”. “Shine a Light” has always been my favorite Stones song, and for awhile it was the only reason I listened to this album. “Sweet Black Angel”, “Let it Loose”, “Happy”, and “Sweet Virginia” now join it among their all time highlights. The album is wonderfully excessive but without a wasted moment. It is everything great about the Stones and the defining moment of their classic era.
Since Queen has been my favorite band since I’ve had a favorite band I understand the fact that I see things on some of their albums that the general public seems to miss. A Night at the Opera seems to be the one time that the rest of the population seems to agree with me. It was their definitive album and for all intents and purposes the one most closely associated with them. Aside from featuring damn near the most famous song in British rock, it was a remarkably assured and focused album. They continue to dabble in odd music hall and ragtime, but their strengths remain in their more ambitious work. Brian May topped himself with the epic “The Prophet Song” which flows so beautifully into Mercury’s “Love of My Life”. John Deacon scored his first hit with “You’re My Best Friend” and it was one of the few times I actually agreed with their choice of a single. May gets two tracks to sing lead on, and doesn’t waste a moment on “’39” or “Good Company”. The latter featuring one of his most impressive solos arranged to sound like a jazz combo. This was a self indulgent band running wild, going for broke, and coming up with gold.
The greatest metal album ever recorded is a title I long ago bestowed upon Megadeth’s Rust in Peace and one I don’t anticipate changing. It was recorded during a brief period of sobriety for Mustaine and was the first to feature new members Nick Menza and Marty Friedman. They helped established what would become the best known and remembered lineup and their presence is felt immediately on “Holy Wars . . . The Punishment Due” which could very well be the best metal song ever recorded. Rather than just a collection of head banging classics, this album was designed to show off Friedman’s talents and it is a shredding album through and through. “Hangar 18” has him and Mustaine trading off face-melting solos, but the highlight has to be “Tornado of Souls”. This album is just crammed with memorable riff after memorable riff. Mustaine also makes a case for himself as one of metal’s best lyricists, and this is where his later obsessions with government conspiracies, anti-militarism, and totalitarian states start to take shape.
Before people inexplicably decided Revolver was the best Beatles album, Sgt. Peppers was THE album to end all albums. The one that launched the concept album craze, prompted countless acts to think about the total picture. Albums were no longer a collection of songs or singles, but a unified whole. Since we’re talking about The Beatles here, every song on this album is better than every song anyone else ever wrote, but by measuring it against the other songs in their catalogue, “She’s Leaving Home”, “A Day in the Life”, and “Lovely Rita” are all time classics. Ringo laid down perhaps his greatest drumbeat in the “Sgt. Peppers (reprise)” and happens to offer some of his best vocals in “With a Little Help From My Friends”. This is the album The Beatles delivered after retiring from touring, and their first unified studio album (US and UK versions were the same) showed just what could happen if the greatest band in the world were given free reign to make the greatest album the world had yet seen.
Lennon fearlessly declared “The Dream is Over” on “God” and it was a startling wake up call for everyone. He channeled his lingering emotional baggage and insecurities into a primal and raw collection of songs that set the template for emotional honesty in music. Lennon’s primal scream therapy is evident in “Mother”, “Well Well Well”, and “I Found Out”, but there are surprising moments of intimacy contained. “Hold On”, “Isolation”, and “Love” show his vulnerable side. Lennon was backed by Klaus Voorman and Ringo Starr on the album with only a small handful of guests, most noticeably Billy Preston on “God” which remains the single greatest song Lennon ever wrote or recorded, including anything with The Beatles.
From the first time I heard this album I knew it’s massive praise was justified. The last time I heard it though I started to seriously consider it as one of the top ten album ever. It was the result of an arms race in music, inspired by The Beatles Rubber Soul. Brian Wilson began to use the studio as his own instrument and wanted to craft a complete album with no singles to match The Beatles. His obsession paid off in one of the greatest albums ever recorded but it never came close to equaling the popularity of those Beatles albums and led to a serious nervous breakdown. This album helped define what came to be known as Baroque pop, and featured quite possibly the most lush and beautiful arrangements ever captured on record. Hardly a one man show, the remaining Beach Boys certainly hold up their end of the bargain with some of the most beautiful vocals ever. They were light years removed from surfing and the beach, showing an increasingly maturing sensibility particularly on songs like “God Only Knows” and “I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times”. Popular as it might be, I’m hard pressed to find a happier or more beautiful song than “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, a perfect example of just why this album has gotten so very much praise over the years.
In the several years between album lists, I listened to Queen’s second album a staggering amount of times. It has always been among my favorite albums period, but I had to admit to myself this was just the best the band ever was. The album was divided into two side-long suites, one primarily composed by Brian May and the second by Mercury. May’s side features the most advanced guitar harmonies of his career and he positively creates an entire symphony worth of sound just on “Procession”. The band never embraced their prog tendencies more than on here, and Mercury’s “March of the Black Queen” might be my favorite Queen song ever. That along with “Nevermore” help push this album over the top for me. Somewhat lost in the shuffle is Roger Taylor who plays arguably the best drumming on any Queen album on “Loser in the End”. This is the best my favorite band ever got, and perhaps some day the rest of the world will recognize this as the career defining masterpiece it is.
There is an old cliché that all good things must end, and by the end of the 60s it seemed like there were no new worlds to conquer for The Beatles. They put aside their bickering long enough to make one last grand masterpiece and it comes damn close to topping them all. Like Queen they experiment with an side length suite, which was conceived more as a way to find a home for many half finished musical ideas. They never stopped experimenting and find their first use of the Moog synthesizer here helps give an ever slight glimpse of where they might have gone in the 70s. Ringo contributed his best song with “Octopus’s Garden”, and George was at his peak on “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun”. McCartney dominates the second side and “You Never Give Me Your Money” might be the best Beatles song not named “Let it Be”. Everything does come together (huh, get it?) on “The End” which features everybody trading off solos, including a rare one from Ringo. The Beatles couldn’t have scripted a better end musically to their incredibly influential career.
The catalyst for my own top 500 album list came from a special issue from NME. They offered their own top 500 and sitting at #1 was this Smiths album. I’d gotten so used to seeing either Revolver or Sgt. Pepper’s top these sorts of lists that I was honestly surprised someone was claiming the best album of all time came out of the 80s. Debate always seems to rage about the second best album from The Smiths, but it’s nearly impossible to argue anything other than The Queen is Dead is their absolute best. It starts out heavy and rocking, allowing a rare chance for the rhythm section to shine. However they quickly run the gamut from catchy melodic pop “Frankly Mr. Shankly” to a tour-de-force weeping ballad “I Know It’s Over”. Halfway through the album Marr and Morrissey seem to have summed up everything brilliant about their short but influential run. “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” is another in the long running for potential best Smiths songs and “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” brilliantly closes out what is an absolute masterpiece. This is two songwriters at their peak and a band perfectly in synch, even if they would soon self destruct.
I get that some people see the self-righteousness of U2 and audibly grown. What I don’t get is how anyone could listen to this album and not be blown away. The first three songs, which all became huge hit singles probably comprise the best opening act in history. U2’s American obsession that began on The Unforgettable Fire reaches it’s peak here and the entire album comes across as a love letter from afar. They also made it clear that this was a band that mattered, keeping much of the social protest of their earlier albums and offering up commentary on drug addiction and gun violence. "Red Hill Mining Town", "Running to Stand Still", "One Tree Hill", and "In God's Country" could have easily joined those first three songs as iconic singles and are among the many highlights here. Start to finish this is easily the best album U2 made and it belongs in the top 10.
Speaking of albums that will never leave my top 10, Van Morrison’s freak accident of a masterpiece is a transcendent marvel of a record. Recorded in a weekend with a group of musicians given almost zero direction, it was lightning in a bottle and almost impossible to duplicate. After signing a horrible deal, Morrison found himself with a huge hit “Brown Eyed Girl” but very little to show for it. His next solo album was as decidedly un-commercial as he could get, evoking more ethereal tones and much more similar to jazz than the blues of Them. The music is beautiful, and features probably the best bass playing on record, which compliments Morrison’s stream of consciousness lyrics spectacularly. Although there are certainly highlights like “Madame George” and “Sweet Thing” this is meant to be taken collectively. The preferred method of listening to this is to turn off all the lights, put the album on, lie down and just let it come over you.
Released at the dawn of the 80s, The Clash’s third album is probably incapable of getting enough praise. 19 songs of unparalleled quality, The Clash moved beyond their initial punk limitations to tackle reggae, ska, rockabilly, and even disco. The decision to make this a double album seemed to open up the door for widespread experimentation. Regardless of the weight of some of the lyrics, this was simply a collection of some of the catchiest songs ever heard before. The Clash hadn’t quite abandoned their punk edge and the title track is positively menacing, they just weren’t afraid to venture out of their comfort zone. Mick Jones was increasingly emerging as a great songwriter, particularly on “I’m Not Down”, “Lost in the Supermarket”, and the bonus track turned hit single “Train in Vain”. Who else could make a sing-along song about Montgomery Clift?
It seems fitting that the greatest double album of all time would be made by the greatest band of all time. With due respect to Queen, it’s hard for any band to even come close to approaching the influence of The Beatles. Their self titled album was thirty songs of brilliance cobbled together. Much of the recordings turned into solo projects and Ringo even quit the band for two weeks during the sessions. They managed to be civil long enough to finish the album but that strain and dysfunction is part of what makes the album so brilliant today. There is an underlying force underneath all the tracks that seems to touch something unique and personal in each individual listener. Sure some of the individual songs are among their best like “Dear Prudence”, “Blackbird”, “Mother Natures Son”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, etc. but it’s the total messy package that makes this the best of their many great albums. I might be reading too much into this though, and it could just be the fact that it has the most songs makes it their best.
I’ve changed a lot of numbering on my top 100, and even my top ten, but the top three remain the same as ever. Bruce Springsteen’s third album is about as perfect as a rock record could ever get. It’s 8 songs have all become genre defining classics, and the incredible production make it the most polished of Springsteen’s albums. The sound here was much more focused than the wild and rambling excess of his first two records, and it helped officially break him into the mainstream. Vinni Lopez gets one last chance to shine on the title track, and it's one of the all time great drum performances. “Jungleland” is probably among my ten favorite songs ever recorded and at various points in time “Thunder Road”, “Backstreets”, and the title track have all been within my top 50. These four songs are the highlights and have me tempted to put this atop my list. I can’t say anything bad about the other four songs, but I just don’t think it’s possible for any artist to top those.
Since the age of 16 this has been my favorite album ever. I regularly listen to it just to see if it’s slipped at all, and it never does. In high school I spent several years trying to discover new music. I went through kicks and phases and thought I had a good idea as to what I liked. When I finally discovered Dream Theater I knew this was it. This is what I was looking for in every other band, this is what I wanted to hear, and they seemed to read my mind. The production might sound a bit dated today, but the songs are the greatest ever assembled. Dream Theater was signed to a major label, but they were without a singer. I think this is incredibly integral to the success of this album. It gave the group an unprecedented amount of time to work on and perfect their sound musically. The result was some of the most complicated and jaw dropping music ever recorded yet with an incredible knack for melody and harmony. When they finally found their man in James La Brie, his voice had a dynamic range that was the final piece to the puzzle. John Petrucci was a guitarist without peer and Mike Portnoy proved he could be the rightful heir to Neil Peart as rock’s best drummer. Dream Theater has made some other great albums, including two more in my top 50, but this is their defining album. “Another Day”, “Take the Time”, “Surrounded”, “Metropolis Part 1”, and “Learning to Live” are possibly five of the 100 best songs ever made, and that doesn’t even get into “Pull Me Under” and “Under a Glass Moon” which are arguably their two best known. Every several years I update these album lists and I always wonder if Images and Words will retain it’s title, but well if there’s a greater album out there, I don’t think it’s been made yet.
