100. Van Morrison - Moondance
This album might never leave my top 100, although it’s certainly cutting it close right now. Van Morrison abandoned the free form perfection of Astral Weeks to a more lush and romantic group of songs for his follow up. No surprise it was far more successful commercially and helped establish him as a viable solo artist. This is generally the album you think of in terms of Morrison the songwriter and performer. The title track was easily one of his biggest hits, but “Into the Mystic” might just be his best.
Like Violator, I’ve always tried to squeeze this album into my top 100. In Flames delivered two back to back masterpieces of Swedish death metal in the mid-90s and part of my ongoing debate was deciding which one I liked better. Whoracle might be the heavier album, but I’m a man who is obsessed with sweet guitar harmonies, and this album is in a class all by itself. I’m inclined to speculate this is what Boston might sound like if they were an extreme metal band. They aren’t afraid to break from tradition and occasionally write in a major key as well. This is on the short list of my favorite would-be death metal albums.
The Commodores were a funk band that had a few hit singles with some Lionel Richie penned ballads. Fans of that band might have been a little disappointed to hear that Richie was almost completely abandoning his funk roots for his first official solo album. For the rest of us though, it didn’t matter when the songs were this good. Richie time and again proves himself as a master of the slow jams, but it’s entirely possible “You Are” is the best song he ever wrote. Which is saying a lot about how great that song is and the rest of this album to boot. “Truly”, “My Love”, “Serves You Right” and the list goes on. His follow up might have sold more records but I gotta give the edge to his first.
The blacksploitation film movement saw lots of black directors get their chance to make their own movies. They were initially quite popular, but it’s safe to say their lasting legacy was in their soundtracks. Isaac Hayes had the biggest hit of his career with the theme song for Shaft, but Curtis Mayfield did him one better. Rather than emphasize the general theme of the movie, which is about being a bad ass drug dealer who beats the man, Curtis wanted to focus on the subtext of the film. “Freddie’s Dead” would easily be the best example of this, but even the other two hits “Pusherman” and “Superfly” don’t exactly glorify the film’s protagonist. Regardless of how forgettable the film might be this soundtrack was Mayfield at his peak. A brilliant mixture of funky soul and lush arrangements.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t much of a fan of these guys when the album came out. I thought they were a little whiny and barely distinguished from the polished boy bands they seemed so quick to mock. After about two years though I found myself constantly humming some of these songs and felt obliged to pick up the album used. I made the right choice and was instantly converted. There were a LOT of bands making catchy pop-punk around the turn of the century with varying degrees of whininess and derivative plagiarism, but Blink just did them all one better. They had hooks that were better than anyone else, a wicked sense of humor, and they had a secret weapon in new drummer Travis Barker who seemed about as overqualified to play this kind of music as a drummer could be. After trying to duplicate this success with their next album, the band began to change up their sound, but this remains the absolute pinnacle of a genre whether or not you happen to care for it.
Doolittle took the foundation of Surfer Rosa and streamlined it into concise songs. The album was noticeably more polished than it’s predecessor but without losing what made that album great in the first place. Both albums stand as monuments in alternative rock, but the overall quality and consistency of the songs on Doolittle just resonate a little better. “Here Comes Your Man”, “Hey”, and “This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven” are three of the band’s all time best and it seems to highlight the various elements of this album that work so well together. They could still be dark, or noisy, or incredibly happy and bouncy. On this album it seemed like whatever they attempted they succeeded at wildly.
Jeff Buckley was an obsessive perfectionist who spent an absurd amount of time on Grace, and never seemed to be satisfied with any of his later recordings to put out an official follow up album. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say this might be the single best vocal performance on record. His voice was damn near the best in music and he came up with ten songs to brilliantly showcase it. He probably is the most overqualified singer to ever tackle a Leonard Cohen song, and infinitely improve upon it with “Hallelujah”. This is probably the only album I can think of that would contain perhaps two of the ten best songs ever recorded. The other being “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” which might inexplicably be better than “Hallelujah”. The title track and “Last Goodbye” are also in the running for some of the best songs ever, but it’s the total package that makes Grace so phenomenal. It’s one of those rare moments when we got to see a fully formed vision from an artist just entering his prime. We could’ve used some more Jeff Buckley albums in our lives, but luckily the one we got was damn near perfect.
This was the final Kinks album of their distinctly British period. I’ve always been a little vague as to the legal reasons they were unable to tour the US in the second half of the 60s, but they spent their time wisely making music with a distinctly national flavor. Arthur was the ultimate culmination of this period. A concept album of sorts about turn of the century Britain. “Victoria” is certainly on the short list of the band’s catchiest songs and it sets the album up beautifully. “Yes Sir, No Sir” and “Some Mother’s Son” ease the album into more serious territory but are still incredibly sound melodically. This is an album where Ray Davies admitted the idyllic Village Green was a hoax and this was a more truthful representation of his British identity.
I’ve had many a long debate about the second best Pantera album, but the argument for their masterpiece is an open and shut case. Vulgar Display of Power was the band at their peak. Phil Anselmo ditched his Rob Halford impression so present on Power Metal and Cowboys from Hell, adopting one of the leanest and meanest voices in metal. Dime hadn’t yet become obsessed with his Digitech whammy pedal, and keeps his guitar largely out of the sludgy drop tunings he would favor on future albums. Rex and Vinnie were just as tight as ever and remained the best rhythm section in metal. All of that wouldn’t mean shit if this album didn’t feature killer songs. “Mouth For War”, “Regular People (Conceit)”, “This Love” “A New Level”, “Hollow” I’ll just stop there before naming the entire album. Not a wasted moment on this album and undoubtedly one of the best of it’s kind.
The last Velvet Underground album anyone actually counts showed the guys arguably going out at their peak. They had a new record contract and were kindly asked to make and album “loaded with hits”. Lou Reed responded with some of the band’s most overtly commercial material, but it’s not an outright sell out. In fact Loaded seems to just pick up where their previous album left off, with just a little more of a rock feel to it. “Sweet Jane” and “Rock and Roll” are two of the all time classic rock songs that showed the guys could hang with anyone. “I Found a Reason” could be “Pale Blue Eyes” part 2, which makes it my personal favorite on the album. Lou Reed departed shortly before the album was released and the band inexplicably continued on with Doug Yule as their leader. Yule did find himself singing lead vocals on 4 of the albums 10 tracks but few people were on Reed’s level as a songwriter.
It’s entirely natural for bands to take 3+ years between albums today. For Bruce Springsteen in the 70s this seemed like an eternity. Legal issues delayed the long anticipated follow up to Born to Run so Springsteen just spent his time writing and recording dozens of songs. His characteristic obsessive streak took over as he constantly re-worked 40 odd songs. He changed arrangements, re-wrote lyrics, and threw out entire songs trying to capture what was in his head. The result was 10 songs that help illustrate his take on the somewhat downtrodden in middle America. Regardless of his maturing subject matter, the songs themselves reward the meticulous obsession they took to make.
There were only four albums Iron Maiden made with the Harris, Murray, Smith, Dickinson, and McBrain line-up. Each is a masterpiece and all of them appear on this list. In my opinion though they saved their best for last. Seventh Son showed the band embracing their commercial side while improving on the occasional lazier moments from Somewhere in Time. This is also about as prog-rock as they got, and surprise it was a bit of a concept album. “Moonchild”, “Infinite Dreams”, and “The Prophecy” are among their most progressive and best helping to further the narrative. If there was one complaint with Somewhere in Time it was that the band occasionally got lazy when it came to writing a chorus, such a problem doesn’t seem to exist here. Maiden was the rare metal band that compels you to sing along. This was the end of an era and the highwater mark for one of the all time great bands.
Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads helped establish a new school of guitar playing, but Yngwie brought it to it’s most logical conclusion. Those guys could play, Yngwie could shred. He was the sum of his parts; Paganini, Bach, Hendrix, and above all Ritchie Blackmore collectively made up his style. Later albums were often plagued with his obsession of trying to sound like Rainbow, but for his first album it’s nearly all instrumental. Yngwie was able not just to shred but play with emotion, proving once and for all less talented guitarists could no longer use that excuse. “Black Star” and “Far Beyond the Sun” remain two of his most identifiable songs and they help establish just how great the rest of this album would be.
With apologies to Mountaintops and My Solo Project, we come to the last Mates of State album on my list. This album is great for all the reasons stated for their previous albums. What makes this just a little bit better is the fact that three of the first four songs on this album are possibly their three best. “Get Better”, “My Only Offer”, and “The Re-Arranger” to be specific. It’s polished and fleshed out with a full band, but none of the melodic sense was sacrificed. The charming Lo-Fi duo has now become a band, and this is their best work.
I don’t want to take anything away from Eno’s first two solo albums, but Another Green World is where his craft reached perfection. There were still some structured songs, but they seem stronger and more focused than anything on Taking Tiger Mountain. What sets the album apart are the more mellow and ambient songs. They aren’t simply sound structures like on Music for Films or Music for Airports, but help point to the best moments on Bowie's Low and Heroes. “The Big Ship” would easily get my vote for the best thing Eno ever recorded and quite possibly the best instrumental song bar none.
The Stooges were rapidly disintegrating as a band and had all but given up. David Bowie stepped in and helped get the band into the studio. There were tremendous tensions and it shows throughout the album this was a band that was at the point of collapse. That very tension made this an iconic album and one whose stature continued to grow over the years as more and more people started to crown Iggy Pop the godfather of punk. There was plenty of debate as to the “real version” of the album, but I was raised on Pop’s remix that was released in the late 90s. It’s noticeably more harsh than Bowie’s original mix of the album, and that only helps to suit the strengths of the band. As chaotic as the album sounds, it’s Pop who seems to steal the show, snarling and howling his way through the most inspired record he or his band would ever make.
Double albums can occasionally be their own worst enemy. They can take an otherwise solid single album and load it with filler and sabotage it’s own greatness. Then there are other double albums that you feel could have been a triple album without a wasted moment on them. Prince was in the middle of his creative and commercial peak when he envisioned this album as the triple album Crystal Ball. After abandoning the idea of that he took a number of those songs and crafted this sprawling gem of an album. This was his first album in several years without The Revolution, who only appear on “It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night”. This is just pure Prince as he flexes his considerably gifts throughout the album. He does save the best for last with the falsetto brilliance of “Adore”, but the rest of this album helps illustrate everything he does well.
It took a little over 3 minutes for Run DMC to blow every single rapper who came before them out of the water. “Peter Piper” is still one of the all time greatest rap songs and the incredible interchanging flow that Reverend Run and Darryl Mac have is so perfectly in synch. Rick Rubin was certainly on a roll here and he proceeded to put his mark on this album, particularly on the title track and their famous re-working of “Walk This Way”. The beats are louder, the hooks catchier, and the whole thing flows so seamlessly together. Run DMC were operating on another level here and as great as parts of their first two albums were, this one really elevated the duo to iconic status. They were able to incorporate some of the best of hard rock elements while steering far clear of guitars of any kind for songs like “My Addidas”, “You Be ‘Illin” or “Is It Live?” The latter of which ingeniously makes a song out of a throwaway interlude from LL Cool J. There’s even a little human beat boxing on here for good measure. This broke from the party rap traditions of the past and pointed to the edgier yet commercially viable form the music would take in subsequent years. This is still the best rap album of the 80s.
This was the album that defiantly brought balls back to rock and roll. They were dirty and sleazy and light years beyond every hair metal band of the day. Mike Clink’s production gave the album a timeless feel that still sounds fresh today unlike many of the crunchy guitars and reverberated drums that were so popular in the mid-80s. It certainly helped that the band were in top form as songwriters. There’s barely a chance to breathe on this album, even the ballads sound like hard rock songs. Once you dispense with the overplayed trio of super hits, the rest of the album gets even better. “My Michelle”, “Mr. Brownstone”, “Nighttrain”, and “Rocket Queen” are some all time classics. Slash made a name for himself as one of the greatest guitarists to ever pick up an axe without bothering to get into a shredding arms race with his contemporaries. Everything just fell into place on this one.
Even though his true impact wasn’t really felt until his untimely death, Biggie was the rapper who brought the East Coast back. Before the fatal feud between him and 2 Pac was underway, Biggie was a prodigy of a rapper who was marketed to perfection by Sean Combs and Bad Boy records. Take away the videos and their “fashion” sense and what’s left is one of the greatest rappers of all time doing his thing. Rocking a deep baritone reminiscent of King Tee, Biggie dropped some of the best rhymes anyone had ever heard and it was up to the rest of the rap world to catch up to him. He could flow like Rakim but had the ability to tell intricate stories like Slick Rick. The sound of the album was very much reminiscent of the west coast style, sampling well known hits, but forever overshadowing his source material. Method Man is the only guest on the record (although Biggie does rap in two distinct voices on “Gimme the Loot”) so it’s all Biggie. Unfortunately Puffy finds it necessary to add “color” to the tracks threatening to derail the whole thing, particularly the interlude on “Big Poppa” and almost all of “Juicy”, but Biggie’s skills were just too much to be brought down.
This entire album was composed of samples, often extremely obscure ones and borrows a cut and paste style of music linking it to early hip-hop. However the album doesn’t sound like a hip-hop album and features no real vocals. In fact there isn’t really any musical genre present here, more of a sound collage that’s firmly established in it’s own world. There are familiar sounds but few samples you might actually recognize, giving this the feel and sound of a wholly original work. DJ Shadow scraped the barrels of obscure vinyl to create something truly magical here. A one of a kind type of masterpiece.
The years have been quite kind to The Replacements final independent album. It was the best of the numerous landmark underground rock masterpieces that were popping up in 1984. I’m not sure how much of it was a calculated move or a wonderful mess that just seemed to fall into place. There are noisy punk songs about getting boners or having your tonsils removed, but also soul baring ballads that touch real emotion here. It all works together giving the album a wonderful sense of humor as well as something to resonate for years afterwards. Those throwaway songs might get a chuckle but it’s songs like “Androgynous”, “Unsatisfied”, “Answering Machine”, and “I Will Dare” that forever keep this among my very favorite albums. It doesn’t have the unified purpose of Tim, but it is more daring and more rewarding.
There were a lot of bands mixing country and rock together in the 60s and early 70s, but nothing approaching the sprawl of Will the Circle Be Unbroken. They didn’t even keep the pretense of rock in the music, as they recruited a hall of fame group of guest musicians and vocalists to make a triple albums worth of country classics. Earl Scruggs banjo is present on many tracks and he helps plant the album firmly in bluegrass territory. Most of the album was recorded live in studio, and shows the incredible professionalism of these performers and what they were doing. This wasn’t really a Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album, this was a collective celebration of country music and it’s wonderfully rich history.
I have spoken often about tossing a coin for a particular band’s best album. I’m pretty sure I literally did just that with Watershed and Opeth. Nearly all of Opeth’s albums from Morningrise to Watershed are phenomenal and list worthy, but this was just a little better. Most of their albums impressed me right away but about halfway through “Burden” which is about exactly halfway through this album I was convinced this was the best album Opeth ever made. Keep in mind this was the first time hearing it, that's just a testament to how damn good the first four songs are on this album. “Heir Apparent” shows that the band hadn’t completely forgotten their metal roots, but it’s clear throughout this album that they’re continuing to move in a different direction. The out-of-nowhere funk breakdown in “The Lotus Eater” is a remarkable gamble that pays off spectacularly. This is their most progressive rock flavored album but still features enough metal to keep their old fans happy. I won’t argue with someone who says another Opeth album is better, but this is my pick.
Warning was an album that deserved more attention. It showed Green Day had evolved past the adolescent punk of their first couple of albums to a more fully formed band. Originally they wanted to make a dirty punk album as the follow up but the idea felt forced and was scrapped. Then Billie Joe Armstrong wrote a concept album that captured suburban life in Bush’s America and the band had a masterpiece no one expected. There were 9 minute songs on a Green Day album like they had suddenly gone prog, but the pretentiousness was kept incredibly in check. This was the band at their most focused and vital, revealing depth of songwriting and performing no one seemed to have expected. True the insanely huge popularity of the album may have made a few people sick of it, but it’s hard to find another album that so brilliantly captures the zeitgeist of an era today.
When I started this list I wouldn’t have necessarily picked this as the best country album of all time. However my love of the Dixie Chicks is well documented and it seems to make sense that I would think their best album is the best country music has to offer. Fly was in many ways a direct sequel to Wide Open Spaces, but just better. Like that album nearly all of Fly got heavy radio airplay and it was one of those massively popular albums that cemented the girl's status as giants in country. They still are in touch with their bluegrass roots, particularly on “Sin Wagon”, but they seem to be embracing their pop leanings in earnestness. The songs are catchy as hell and are well worth repeated listens. The girls themselves contribute a handful of originals here, all of which are highlights: “Ready to Run”, “Cowboy Take Me Away”, “Don’t Waste Your Heart”, “Sin Wagon”, and “Without You”.
Weezer’s first album is just perfect. I was a fan of this band pretty much from day one and they were the first band I could consider “dork rock”. They made references to Kiss, X-men, and Dungeons & Dragons all on “In the Garage”, how could I not love them? They garnered quite a few comparisons to The Cars, in no small part thanks to Ric Ocasik who produced the album. Like Nas, Weezer only needed 10 songs to craft their album which is probably the first and last time Weezer will ever be compared to Nas. True story, my friends and I in 6th grade used to make a game out of having a conversation entirely in Weezer song titles, needless to say “Undone (The Sweater Song)” was a little tough to fit into a sentence. Weezer made songs for the socially awkward. They were a band who loved Kiss and Van Halen but seemed far too geeky to actually sing about having sex. It was an honest and super catchy record and another bit of perfection.
Elvis spent a decade as a movie star and his only albums were soundtracks. After the popularity of his movies and soundtracks were declining his ‘68 Comeback Special showed that he hadn’t lost a bit as a singer and performer. Vowing to record new material, From Elvis in Memphis was the first official release and infinitely his best album. His voice was in top form and the songs helped him reclaim his status as the King. The sessions produced two of his most iconic singles that weren’t included on the original album as well, “Suspicious Minds” and “Kentucky Rain”, which helps illustrate how good the sessions were if those were the quality of the outtakes. Elvis seems to have found music that suited him, and boy does he ever deliver.
Aqualung is a masterpiece to be sure, but Thick as a Brick is something extraordinary. Ian Anderson crafted an album length song only separated by switching sides on record. Unlike many of the longer side length songs in prog, there is virtually no down time here. The album brilliantly changes dynamics and time signatures throughout with a remarkable sense of melody. For 40 odd minutes they just seem to keep topping themselves with riffs and progressions that somehow keep getting better. Numerous artists have tried the tactic after, including Tull on the somewhat disappointing Passion Play but this is perfection.
I wasn’t much of a Jay-Z fan when he first got popular. Most of my friends seemed to agree with me as we preferred our rap to be G-funk inspired, as well as that random No Limit phase which I’m not terribly proud of. Then when I was in Maryland a friend of mine got The Blueprint. It was released on September 11th, and while hanging out with him and a few other friends we listened to this album a lot. One listen through I thought maybe I was wrong about Jay-Z, after the 20th time I realized this was some sort of masterpiece. The Blueprint is simply one of the greatest rap albums of all time and no matter how much I listen to it, my opinion is just strengthened in the matter. This is also the album that launched the career of Kanye West, particularly the lead off single “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”, although many would prefer Kanye’s Door’s inspired “Takeover”. Unlike nearly all of his other albums Jay has only one guest star on the entire album, a still relevant Eminem. The result is the best MC in the business realizing his status and proceeding to back up his boasts with 13 nearly perfect tracks. Jay’s gifts as a story teller are well in tact and his flow is constantly helped along by some of the best beats ever assembled. It might have seemed a bit daft to call out Nas on “Takeover” but 14 years later Jay-Z is still topping the charts and it appears he easily won that war. The only time he permits himself any bit of humility is when rapping about the late Notorious B.I.G. when he says “If I ain’t better than Big, I’m the closest one.” On the Blueprint the man more than backed up his legendary swagger.
The Stones found their identity with Beggars Banquet, and continued their roll with Let it Bleed. It was the last album to feature any contribution from Brian Jones, who was largely reduced to background percussion at this point. New guitarist Mick Taylor makes his debut here, but his contributions are largely supportive. “Gimme Shelter” opens the album and is damn near the best song the band ever wrote, certainly one of those I am incapable of getting sick of. The rest of the album returns to the mix of blues, folk, and country that made Beggars so great.
Speaking of the Stones, Liz Phair modeled her debut album after their Exile on Main Street. It’s not exactly a faithful tribute, but that’s hardly a problem. Phair emerged as a brilliant Lo-Fi Queen of alternative music. Like many debut albums, this was the best of years of songwriting emerging on record. She was a songwriter that hadn’t yet been heard before, free to revel in profanity and her own insecurities. It was a remarkable breath of fresh air that helped open the door to no end of followers. The only complaint you might be able to make about this perfect album is that Phair never came close to topping it, but few artists ever did.
At long last we have the answer to the question of the best Alice Cooper album. Love it to Death was the band’s third album, but the first with their new label and studio. Bob Ezrin helped focus the songwriting and more theatrical elements of the band into a wholly unique and at the time shocking sound. “Black Juju” is a positively ominous epic that could fit right in on a doom metal album. The band allows their macabre sensibilities to run wild, even their breakthrough hit “I’m Eighteen” sounds a bit creepy. Nothing could top the 1-2 punch of “Second Coming” and “The Ballad of Dwight Frye” which collectively might be among the 20 greatest songs ever recorded. You know Alice is showing his horror nerdiness by crafting a signature tune about the actor who played Renfield and Frankenstein’s assistant. Along with Killer, this represents the best of Alice and are essentials for every collection.
Before he got himself a red mullet, David Bowie delivered his first undeniable masterpiece on Hunky Dory. Few retrospectives of his career are complete without “Changes”, but once you dispatch with that the rest of the album gets oh so much better. This is much more rooted in folk rock, particularly “Song for Dylan”, “Andy Warhol”, and “The Bewlay Brothers” all of which are exceptional. Rick Wakeman contributes keyboards to the album, and his playing is noticeably featured on the album’s best song “Life on Mars”. “Oh! You Pretty Things” seems to open the door towards his more overtly androgynous period that would dominate his sound for the next several years.
Noel Gallagher seemed to be instigating The Beatles comparisons after Definitely Maybe made the band famous. For their follow-up he delivered on those comparisons and crafted an album that has the very distinct influence of the fab four all over it. “Wonderwall” became an international hit, whose title was very directly taken from George Harrison. This was one of the decades best songwriters hitting his stride. Even the B-sides and outtakes from this album were fantastic, many of which later appeared on The Masterplan. Nearly half of the album was released as a single and helped make them the biggest band on the other side of the Atlantic. Noel even gets a chance to show off his own superior voice to his brother on “Don’t Look Back in Anger” one of the many hits as well as the stellar “Cast No Shadow”. This is one of the 90s best and the high-water mark for an extremely volatile band.
True story this is the first album I ever purchased with my own money and it’s always held a special place in my heart. Once you dispense with the dynamic duo of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” you get Roger Taylor’s answer to the punk craze with “Sheer Heart Attack”, a brilliant vocal venture from Brian May on “All Dead, All Dead”, and then the best song John Deacon ever wrote “Spread Your Wings”. Roger Taylor’s vocal outing on “Fight From the Inside” contains his best riff and is perhaps second only to “Tenement Funster” as his best overall song. It is Queen at their most diverse, and shows each of their members at their peak. Everyone contributes at least two songs and it spans far beyond the anthems of the opening tracks. “It’s Late” is another in the running for best Queen song, and “Who Needs You?” showed that Queen could indeed rock an island jam. Despite the fact that three songs are song by people who aren’t Freddie Mercury, they’re all worth listening to, and Freddie has plenty of his own time to shine with “Get Down Make Love” and “My Melancholy Blues”. To me this was the last of Queen’s first perfect 6 albums and showed the band at it’s most excessive yet still amazing.
This album was originally a soundtrack to a movie that never came out. Young was fresh off the success of his stint with Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young when he delivered his masterpiece. “Southern Man” was as overtly political as he ever got, and the ensuing feud with Lynyrd Skynyd the song inspired would become legendary in it’s own right. That song doesn’t really reflect the majority of the music here, which is much more laid back and acoustic driven. “Tell Me Why”, the title track, “Don’t Let it Bring You Down”, and “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” are much more indicative of the laid back country-folk hybrid he was going for here. The result is my personal favorite album in the storied and diverse career of Neil Young.
Slayer might have provided the definitive thrash album in 1986, but Metallica arguably delivered THE definitive metal album. For most outsiders taking only a small cursory glance at metal music would recognize Master of Puppets as the high water mark. Now for all those people who listen to metal on an almost exclusive basis, that matter is forever up for debate. This was Metallica’s last album with Cliff Burton and his influence is noticeable, particularly his bass solo in “Orion”. Dave Mustaine who had his own mini-triumph with Peace Sells that same year claimed to have written the riff for “Leper Messiah” which unofficially marked the end of his influence on early Metallica. The fact that Mustaine and Megadeth were so far behind Metallica at this time is noticeable, as were the other thrash metal bands of the time who were still suffering through under produced independent EPs and debuts. Metallica didn’t just write songs about Satan and murder, they stretched their lyrical aspirations to condemn war, macho posturing, substance abuse, mental illness, and of course false prophets. Their song writing as well continued to evolve, giving rise to longer songs with more complex arrangements, which would peak on …And Justice For All. This is as good a place as any to start exploring the wonderfully noisy world of metal.
Springsteen’s second album was a major leap forward musically than his debut. The subject matter of the lyrics didn’t alter much. He was still painting pictures of adolescents on the Boardwalk but the music was taking an epic turn to match his tales. This was the last album with original members drummer Vini Lopez and keyboardist David Sancious and their wild and imaginative playing give the album an energy lacking in later E Street Band members Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan. Sancious in particular dominates “Incident on 57th Street” and the brilliant closer “New York City Serenade”. Lopez gets his best moments in “Rosalita” which naturally turned into a live staple for years to come. Like it’s predecessor the album wasn’t commercially successful but it remains the musical high point of Springsteen’s career, setting the stage for his ultimate masterpiece.
There is absolutely no trace of the group that made Piper at the Gates of Dawn by the time Dark Side of the Moon came out. Floyd adopted their sound gradually, setting something of the template on Meddle, but then taking a dramatic step back on the follow up Obscured by Clouds. With engineer Alan Parsons, the group made a studio driven album that combined all the best elements of their experimental phase with classic songs. Roger Waters wrote the most famous song ever in 7/8 time with “Money” which showed the band hadn’t abandoned their prog background. David Gilmour gets plenty of time to shine, particular on the solo to “Time” and “Money”. The album is a complete picture, something of a concept album but more focused sonically than lyrically. Waters had already taken over all the lyric writing by this point and the insanity of the album is purely his vision.
It seems staggering that a band could release three albums in a calendar year and somehow the last one would be the best. Willy and the Poor Boys was everything great about CCR. They did have a couple of huge hits with “Down on the Corner” and “Fortunate Son” whose lyrics are among Fogerty’s best. What makes this album their best is actually the incredible quality of the “filler”. Two of the covers, “Cotton Fields” and “The Midnight Special” couldn’t have been more perfectly suited to the band. This is about as good as roots rock gets, showcasing all of the many strengths this band had. They were a well oiled machine by the time of this release and they hadn’t yet started to show any signs of fatigue.
Between the Buttons was a great album, but it’s follow up Their Satanic Majesties Request was a mixed bag of Beatle worship and misguided space rock. They regrouped and hired Jimmy Miller to produce their next album and it was the one that forever established The Stones as the gods they are. “Sympathy for the Devil” was unlike any Stones song before it and was a brilliant way to announce the new un-compromised sound of the band, which also featured the best lead playing Keith Richards ever did. They were always huge blues fans, but here they opened the door to country and folk influences as well. “Prodigal Son” should be a hell of a lot better known today, and “Dear Doctor” showed the band had a sense of humor. What really seals the deal though is “Salt of the Earth” which was as good of a closer as Jagger and Richards ever wrote.
It’s a massive understatement to say Paul Stanley was the best songwriter and singer in Kiss. So it makes perfect sense that the best Kiss album would be the one that’s all Paul. It wasn’t just the most Kiss like of the four solo albums, but showed Paul at the height of his powers. Virtually every song on the album could have easily been the best song on any other Kiss album. “Tonight You Belong to Me”, “Take Me Away (Together as One)”, “Wouldn’t You Like to Know Me”, “It’s Alright” are possibly four of the best Kiss songs ever written. “Hold Me, Touch Me (Think of Me When We’re Apart)” is sweet enough to give you diabetes but I still think it’s awesome. I don’t expect many to agree with me, but this is just the best part of Kiss for one whole wonderful album.
I’m going to go ahead and say that I think Animals is the best album Pink Floyd ever made. Loosely structured around George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Roger Waters growing disillusion with music execs and the people he grew to distrust, it features three all time classics. “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” might be the best song the band ever recorded, until you consider that “Dogs” might be better, or perhaps “Sheep” is their best song. Debating the best song on this album is like debating what order to put their top three songs. Unlike other Floyd albums that have been played to death by radio and endless covers, the songs on Animals have largely been spared that fate. As a result the album sounds fresh each and every listen, and only gets better to the point that I’d take it over Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, or The Wall.
Supergroups usually sound good on paper but in reality never seem to meet expectations. Captain Beyond was pieced together from members of Deep Purple, Iron Butterfly, Johnnie Winter’s band and they were the rare exception. Although none of those earlier groups were exactly known for progressive rock they delivered a masterpiece for the ages with their first album. The entire album plays like one continuous song, and there’s scarcely a measure that’s in 4/4. Every part of this album is perfect space rock that bleeds together. Some of the riffs are absolutely phenomenal, the drumming is solid and Rod Evans voice is infinitely more memorable than on any of his albums with Deep Purple. This is 35 minutes of the best damn music from the 70s you’re likely to hear.
Here we get to the fourth and final REM album on our list. Automatic for the People was a bit unexpected when it was released, but far exceeded anyone’s expectations for the band. Instead of going for a commercial rock record they opted to be much more introspective. From the opening minor key of “Drive” to the reflective “Find the River” this is a band at it’s best. “Nighswimming” is easily the best song REM ever wrote and it’s one of several songs to feature string arrangements from the legendary John Paul Jones. Several of the songs turned out to be huge hits and it seemed to fulfill the promise many critics predicted for the band back on Murmur.
Yet again I unfortunately find myself writing about an album right after one of the artists has passed away. Glenn Frey contributed “New Kid in Town” to what would be the ultimate Eagles album, but he was a vitally important piece of the band from it’s earliest origins. Don Henley dominates the album vocally as was becoming increasingly the norm over their past several albums. Frey did co-write 7 of the 9 songs so he was hardly absent. The Eagles made some polished country-rock for several years but they always seemed to be a singles band. Hotel California was their defining album and one of the most perfect rock albums ever recorded. New member Joe Walsh contributes some fantastic lead playing as well as “Pretty Maids All in a Row”, but this remains Henley’s show.
The greatest death metal album of all time is simply Slaughter of the Soul. At the Gates spent several years developing their sound, but it wasn’t until the EP Terminal Spirit Disease that they arrived at their peak. Slaughter of the Soul was the continuation of that, and it is the most consistent death metal album ever recorded. Nearly every riff is memorable and the Bjorler brothers were never better as songwriters. Tomas Lindberg screams every line of this album like he’s habitually shredding his vocal chords. There are two instrumental interludes that help break up the album, but otherwise this is just relentless metal at it’s best. ATG was instrumental in bringing a more melodic sense to death metal, but they don’t indulge in the type of guitar harmonies fellow countrymen In Flames used. Instead it’s just catchy riff after catchy riff, giving something to appreciate to the most hardcore metal snob to a noob just discovering the genre.
David Bowie’s follow up to Hunky Dory was his second straight masterpiece and his most iconic album. It’s fairly safe to say this is the album most closely associated with Bowie and the one that helped make him the superstar and legend he became. Bowie largely left behind his folk-rock roots to embrace Marc Bolan’s style of glam rock, but because it was Bowie he just did it better than anyone else had before. You can tell a lot about an album from it’s opener and the drum beat fade in of “Five Years” very gently eases you into the proceedings. For years “Lady Stardust” was my favorite Bowie song and it’s nevertheless one of his most fantastic ballads. The concept album part of this falls apart almost instantly but the songs themselves were the best Bowie ever did, and the album continues to be an inspiration to countless artists today.
I may never forgive myself for completely ignoring David Coverdale’s time in Deep Purple. I was a fan of the mach II lineup, and felt I could begrudgingly accept the original stuff. The fact that a band could have three phenomenal singers was a feat often attempted but almost never successful. Truth be told Coverdale and new bassist Glenn Hughes share vocal duties on the entire album. Coverdale does get to sing the all time great “Mistreated” by himself before the harmony vocals kick in for the end. However the reason this album is this high and my favorite Deep Purple album is because of the opening title track. “Mississippi Queen” might be the only classic rock song ever that’s better. Ritchie Blackmore lays the foundation of neo-classical shredding during that song as he trades off solos with Jon Lord. Everything about that song is so perfect it almost makes the rest of the album sound weak by comparison. Luckily “Mistreated” reminds you just how exceptional this collection of songs were. There might not have been the same number of radio friendly hits as Machine Head, but this is the band at the peak of their powers regardless of who was in the lineup.
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