There is something about living in St. Louis, however briefly, that makes you appreciate Sammy Hagar era Van Halen. “Man on a Mission” is Eddie’s greatest riff, and all three singles “Poundcake”, “Right Now”, and “Top of the World” are fantastic. Along the way Alex finally got a drum tone worthy of his brothers guitar sound.
There were only small glimpses on the early Mothers albums as to what Frank Zappa the composer was capable of. For Hot Rats he recruited multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood and a select few to record an almost entirely instrumental album that instantly blew away all his other 60s recordings. “Willie the Pimp” might be the best utilization of Captain Beefheart’s vocals ever.
It became pretty clear in 2001 that the world missed Weezer. For their first album in 5 years, they delivered a stellar set of hard rocking pop that’s as catchy as anything else they've put on record.
If you were to ask ten people what the best Thin Lizzy album is, I’d say 9 would probably answer with Jailbreak. This is the album where everything came together, especially those sweet double guitar harmonies.
Roxy Music’s second album, and last with Brian Eno is unlike anything either artist would do again. Experimental but musically sound, it’s adventurous yet romantic, and the first of several great albums for Bryan Ferry and co.
After becoming the biggest name in the news, 2 Pac became earned the dubious distinction of being the first artist to have the number one album in the country while currently being in prison. The album more than lived up to the hype and went a long way in establishing Tupac’s music far outlasting his controversy.
This band was described to me as Simon and Garfunkel mountain man music. Incredible vocal harmonies and laid back melodies that are perfect for that hike in the Sierra’s.
If you only know Digital Underground for “The Humpty Dance” be prepared to be very impressed. They helped put alternative West Coast rap on the map, and nearly every song and persona on this album was excellent.
It hasn’t been too long that I’ve been familiar with Jenny Lewis but it was love at first listen. Her first solo album following the break up of Rilo Kiley is a nearly timeless set of singer songwriter music that would have been right at home in 1975, or the mid-2000s.
I can’t for the life of me explain how this album managed to be out of print for so damn long. Recorded after Tonight’s the Night but released before, it’s everything great about Neil Young.
Picking up where Human left off, Chuck Schuldiner delivered what I believe to be Death’s best and tightest album. Featuring King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque, the guitar harmonies are in a world of their own. Doesn’t hurt that the album also features Death’s best song, “Trapped in a Corner”.
This album took 2 years to record and almost the same amount of time to appreciate. Shoegazing does take some time to sink in, but if you give it enough time this album is more than rewarding.
Beneath the great g-funk beats and the comically grotesque lyrics lies a man who can seriously rap. This is straight horror core and goes far beyond random raps about drugs and killing people, he can make you bob your head to a song about feeding his children other people’s babies, the rap equivalence of Cannibal Corpse.
Al Di Meola’s third studio album isn’t radically different from his first two, just more of the same near perfect guitar heavy Latin inspired fusion. The highlight is the acoustic “Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars”.
Sandwiched between NWA’s 2nd and 3rd albums was The DOC’s debut. Featuring beats by Dr. Dre and guest raps from every member of NWA, it is a remarkable album from one of the most criminally under appreciated talents in West Coast rap. As an added bonus it does feature Eazy-E’s best verse ever on “The Grand Finale.”
Hearing this album after years of listening to Metallica’s cover versions really opens your eyes to how damn influential Lightning to the Nations was to nearly all metal music. Recorded by a bunch of kids right out of high school this is old school NWOBHM right here.
Arguably the oddest side project to follow the first Wu-Tang Clan album, RZA put himself together a psychotic group that made a whole album about being mentally disturbed serial killers and doing PCP. Not to be taken too seriously, it features some utterly eerie and bizarre beats to match the subject matter.
It’s not easy to pull off what Isis does on Oceanic. It’s full of long, slow, heavy yet hypnotic songs that are heavy on ambiance and indifferent to hooks yet still damn satisfying.
This album begins and ends with arguably two of P-funk’s all time greatest songs “Bop Gun (Endangered Species)” and “Flashlight”. This album alone has spawned several career’s worth of hip hop samples.
This seems like an easy alternative version to Oceanic, an album full of the notes you can’t here. There is a powerful hypnotic quality to the music that doesn’t make demands so much as lulls you into tranquility.
Scott Travis offers the greatest drum intro in metal history to open this album, and just like that Judas Priest never sounded better. After years of floundering, and a rather mediocre drummer who shares a name with me, they got themselves a new image, and fully embraced the metal side of their music, delivering the heaviest and by far best album of their careers.
Elton John clearly found a comfort zone musically by the time he recorded Honky Chateau. His main backing band was established and nearly every song is a classic including possibly his best song “Mona Lisa’s and Mad Hatters”.
Badfinger picked up right where they left off and turned in another nearly flawless collection of power pop. Billed as the heir apparent to the Beatles, Straight Up contains some of their best known tracks “Baby Blue” and “Name of the Game”.
If drugs had a sound, this might be it. Sly and company got low and hazy with their funk and turned in one of the most quietly revolutionary albums of the time.
This is the album that took Fall Out Boy from emo afterthought to big time rock stars. All the hallmarks of their sound are here, incredibly catchy songs backed by lyrics occasionally far too clever for their own good.
This is the last of Al Green’s great early 70s albums before he found Jesus, and in many people’s opinion his best. Just some sweet beautiful soul music right here.
Speaking of soul music, Isaac Hayes only needed 4 songs to make his best album. This is deep Memphis soul with that smooth Hayes baritone.
Coldplay’s third album saw them embracing their self appointed role as the biggest band around. Nearly flawless it features what’s for my money their best song “Fix You”.
The king of big beat, Fatboy Slim delivered one of the decades best electronica albums which sounds like a greatest hits package today. A monstrously successful album and one that helps brilliantly chronicle what was happening in dance music in the late 90s.
It might sound dismissive to say all the Mars Volta albums sound the same, but it is safe to say no one else sounds anything like them. Amputechture was something a coin toss for their best album but the deciding factor was “Viscera Eyes”, 9 minutes of everything that makes this band awesome.
King Crimson had many, many, many lineup and sound changes over the years, but it’s quite possible they did it best on their first album. Court is the first shot in England’s legendary progressive rock movement and still probably the best endorsement the mellotron could have.
They might not have had the impact here in America that they did overseas, but the Arctic Monkeys first album is just a breath of fresh air for guitar driven rock.
The follow up to Funeral took aim at religious hypocrisy and upped the gloom factor on the music. Arcade Fire managed to expand their already expansive sound while getting a little darker on their second straight masterpiece.
It might not have the timeless funk of Off the Wall or Thriller, but Bad showed that Michael Jackson had no designs on losing his crown as the king of pop. Almost the entire album became hit singles, and it was the first time Michael Jackson tried using his tremendous influence to try and make the world a better place with “Man in the Mirror.”
After two largely acoustic albums and an MTV Unplugged, Dashboard Confessional was poised to break out. A Mark was the album where their sound got a huge sonic upgrade and the songs lived up to the better production.
NWA’s final and most notorious album is comically absurd by most definitions. If you don’t take things too seriously the subject matter can be laughed at, but this is where G-Funk started. Musically Dr. Dre fully emerged as rap music’s best producer.
Neil Young ended the 70s on a high note with one of his best albums. Mostly recorded live while on tour with Crazy Horse, it’s book-ended by “Hey Hey, My My” and it’s amplified counterpart “My My, Hey Hey”.
Borrowing heavily from Mastodon’s love of the concept album, Baroness digs deep into 70s prog with their best album. Full of surprisingly beautiful acoustic passages, complex riffs, and great guitar harmonies, this is an absolute essential.
Two teenage art school students from Queens inexplicably dropped one of the hardest and best gangster rap albums of the decade. Part of the mid-90s re-emergence of New York rap, this had all the grit of classic east coast rap with very little of the commercial appeal.
This album barely registered on it’s initial release in 1996, but the years have been quite kind to Jay-Z and his first album. The beats are slightly primitive, but it’s quite possible Jay the MC was ever better than on this album, throwing out all sense of song structure and just flowing endlessly.
Ask any fanatic of Kiss and they’ll probably back me up that Music From the Elder was one of the band’s best, just criminally mismanaged. Brilliantly showcasing new drummer Eric Carr, particularly on “The Oath”, and Paul Stanley’s sweet falsetto, this is one of the great could have been albums.
A pet project for Ry Cooder, an international smash of some of the damn finest Cuban music you’re likely to hear. Great songs, even greater performers just doing their thing, sort of a Cuban version of Will the Circle Be Unbroken.
With Gram Parsons in tow, The Byrds fully embraced all their country leanings on what many consider their best album. Fully fusing country and rock together, this album’s influence can still be felt today.
One of the most praised albums of the 60s, Love’s third album was the high point for one of the least heard bands of 1967. This is definitely an album to grow on you, so feel free to listen on repeat for a long time.
I randomly heard “King of Nothing” at the gym and decided to pick up this album shortly thereafter. I had no idea how nearly perfect every song would be, from the brilliant doo-wop of “Gonna Get Over You” to one of the best ballads ever “Hold My Heart”.
Hard to name too many albums or bands I’ve listened to more in the past couple of years as Manners and Passion Pit. “Little Secrets” was the first song I heard from them and I was hooked instantly. The rest of the album only helps support the claim that this might be one of the catchiest bands around.
Beck has had many different musical personas over the years, but it was his confessional folk side that I have always liked best. Relatively simple but emotional honest songs, it was the most mature and still the best album he has ever put out.
Using largely the same blueprint that made No Angel a hit, Dido’s second album improves on that album in nearly every way. Despite how wonderful these songs and her voice are, it might just be the acoustic hidden track that stands out the best.
Emerging mid-way through the British guitar-pop revival, Pulp’s definitive album is still one of the best albums of the decade. “Disco 2000”, “Common People”, and “Mis-Shapes” have all become classics.
Arguably the most influential guitar album ever recorded, Hendrix’s first album set a new standard in music. Full of fuzz, feedback, and some supremely underrated vocals, this is the album that helped make Hendrix an icon.
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