《滚石杂志》“历史上 500 张最伟大的专辑”全面评审
475 小时的音乐。6800 首歌曲。197 天的不间断聆听。
介绍
在 2024 年 5 月底，我的老板送给我《滚石杂志》500 张史上最伟大专辑（这本书）的精美硬壳版作为我的 40 岁生日礼物。在翻阅时——像大多数人一样，寻找自己熟悉的专辑及其排名——我惊讶于我竟然没有听过这么多专辑。我甚至从未完整听过排名前三的专辑。
这个名单至少包含了我认为“有史以来最伟大的”专辑中的一大部分。我记得我翻阅这本书时的第一感觉是失望，因为我个人最喜欢的专辑，也是我认为最伟大的专辑，Radiohead 的《OK Computer》，排在了第 42 位（尽管在道格拉斯·亚当斯的《银河系漫游指南》中，这个数字是“生命、宇宙和一切的意义”的答案，我对此数字还是挺喜欢的）。
我立刻判断出我最喜欢的专辑前面的那些是劣于它们的，尽管我实际上并没有听过很多。我们在音乐中经常这样做。我们谈论我们最喜欢的艺术家是“更好”或“更伟大”，而实际上我们想表达的是我们“更喜欢”他们。大多数时候，这种偏好仅仅是由于熟悉和个人品味，因为我们没有以同样的深度认真考虑其他选择。
如果我没有至少听过所有专辑并给予它们一定程度的考虑，我怎么可能对这些排名的有效性形成任何看法呢？
我从小就是一个音乐爱好者，认为专辑这种媒介是神圣的。在某个时刻，我失去了这种信念。我很久以前就抛弃了所有的实体媒体。我只使用流媒体服务，越来越多地只是听那些基于我的听歌习惯而策划的播放列表。陷入了一个终极循环，反复听着大约 150 首相同的歌曲。只听我已经熟悉的艺术家的新音乐。我根本没有扩展我的音乐视野。可以说，反而在缩小。
我决定完整地听这 500 张专辑，从第 500 张到第 1 张，按顺序倒着听，并为每张专辑提供简短的总结（最初是 5 个字，但对于前 100 张改为 10 个字），以及我自己的任意评分（喜欢/还不错/也许/不喜欢，或这些的组合）。还想对一些精选亮点给出更详细的反馈。总的来说，我只是想敞开心扉去感受这一切。
一旦我开始并完成了前十个，我估计完成这个项目大约需要 6 个月，每天听 2-3 张专辑，并给自己设定了到 2024 年底完成的目标。查看某人精心制作的包含所有这些音乐的 Spotify 播放列表，我看到总听歌时间超过 475 小时，约 6800 首歌曲。面对眼前的庞大任务，我毫不畏惧，投入其中。
我主要是在家里做事情或在开车上班和接送孩子的过程中，使用无线耳机听音乐。逐渐地，处理这份专辑列表成为我生活中一个重要的部分，每一天都被它带给我的东西所渲染。
这篇文章包含了 2024 年 6 月至 12 月在各种社交媒体网站上发布的更新汇编。该列表基于 2020 年出版的书籍《滚石：史上 500 张最伟大的专辑》。
综述（包含我的五字评论和亮点）
500. 葬礼 — Arcade Fire（2004）：可能仍然是 Arcade Fire 最好的作品。（喜欢）
499. Ask Rufus — Rufus 和 Chaka Khan（1977）：时髦、灵魂、酷毙了（喜欢）
498. 自杀 — 自杀（1977）：在卡西欧键盘上发出的精神病式胡言乱语（不）
497. 不可摧毁的索韦托节拍 — 各艺术家 (1985)：格雷斯兰对非洲流行音乐的影响 (喜欢)
496. Donde Estan los Ladrones — 夏奇拉 (1998)：哥伦比亚的民谣独立流行。令人惊讶地引人入胜。（喜欢）
495. II — Boyz II Men（1991）：令人遗忘的九十年代和声。哦哦哦哦，宝贝等等（也许/不）
494. 呈现华丽的罗内特斯 — 罗内特斯（1964）：六十年代的美好。涌向你。（喜欢/喜爱）
493. 亲爱的，这里 — 马文·盖伊（1978）：马文的离婚显然很糟糕。太长了。（不）
492. 《时机成熟》— 邦妮·雷特 (1989)：大多数是无趣的乡村摇滚。两个亮点。（不）
491. 精彩的一线 — 哈里·斯泰尔斯 (2019)：比任何人都更好。（喜欢/喜爱）
高光
细线
哈里·斯泰尔斯
除了葬礼，我已经了解了 20 年，这里的亮点必须是哈里·斯泰尔斯的《Fine Line》。我不知道我在期待什么，但得到了更好的东西。音乐上相当广阔。有趣。好玩。真的非常好。
心如轮 — 琳达·朗斯塔特 (1975)：感人的乡村音乐。琳达可以高歌。 (喜欢)
489. *菲尔·斯派克特：回归单声道 — 各类艺术家（1991）：传奇怪人制作经典老歌。（喜欢）
488. The Stooges — The Stooges (1969)：重复的、迷幻的原始朋克。间歇性地拍打。（喜欢）
487. 受损 — 黑旗乐队 (1981)：快速、愤怒的朋克。具有影响力的前辈。（也许）
486. 连续体 — 约翰·梅尔 (2006)：无聊到几乎不存在。（不）
485. 我想今晚看到明亮的灯光 — 理查德和琳达·汤普森 (1974)：华丽的民谣摇滚。这太美妙了。（喜欢）
484. Born This Way — Lady Gaga（2011）：有趣的电子流行氛围。圣经的暗示。（喜欢/可能）
483. *选集 — 玛迪·沃特斯 (2001)：三角洲蓝调作为耐力运动。（也许/不）
482. Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde — The Pharcyde（1992）：机智的自夸对话，酷炫的放松节拍。（喜欢）
如果你感到阴郁 — 贝尔与塞巴斯蒂安 (1996)：无与伦比的阳光独立流行音乐。演绎得非常美妙。（喜欢/喜爱）
*合辑
高光
我想今晚看到明亮的灯光
理查德和琳达·汤普森
绝对令人心碎又美丽。这张专辑从第一首歌就抓住了我的耳朵，直到现在都没有放开。特别提到贝尔与塞巴斯蒂安，但我想挑选一些我之前没有听过的东西。
480. 这些翅膀的重量 — 米兰达·兰伯特 (2016)：氛围另类乡村。不值得成为双专辑（喜欢/可能）
479. 禁忌之爱 — 塞莱娜 (1994)：来自悲剧明星的欢快拉丁流行音乐。（也许/不）
478. 其他的东西 - The Kinks（1968）：英国人物研究。秋日阳光氛围。（喜欢）
477. 月光下的呻吟 — 哈林·沃尔夫（1959）：低沉的蓝调。略显公式化的变化。（也许）
476. 和服我的家 — 火花乐队 (1974)：歌词机智，华丽流行的乐趣时光。（喜欢）
475. 雪莉·克劳 — 雪莉·克劳 (1996)：与好伙伴一起的合唱热门歌曲 (喜欢)
474. #1 专辑 — 大星乐队 (1972)：标准的七十年代摇滚流行音乐。有点无聊。（也许）
473. Barrio Fino — Daddy Yankee（2004）：重击的雷鬼节拍。西班牙说唱。（也许/不）
472. Ctrl — SZA（2017）：让我感觉真的很老。（也许）
471. 超现实主义枕头 — 杰弗逊飞机乐队 (1967)：迷幻摇滚。格蕾丝唱的时候更好。(喜欢/可能)
高光
谢丽尔·克劳
谢丽尔·克劳
我只听过那些单曲，回想起来它们依然很棒，但这里有比我预期的更多内容。乡村风格相当微妙，并且它汲取了几种不同的影响，创造出一种相当独特的东西。
对 The Kinks 的《Something Else》表示特别提及。真的很喜欢这张专辑，而《Waterloo Sunset》是最伟大的专辑结尾曲之一。
470. 400 Degreez — Juvenile (1998)：略显有趣的黑帮说唱，使用了 Z 的风格。（也许）
469. Clandestino — Manu Chao（1998）：多语言雷鬼摇滚。轻松有趣。（喜欢/可能）
468. 一些女孩 — 滚石乐队 (1978)：大多数是标准的蓝调摇滚。迪斯科的调情。（也许/不）
467. BLACKsummers’night — 麦克斯韦 (2009)：充满爵士风情的灵魂乐。直接而富有情感（喜欢）
海滩男孩今天！— 海滩男孩 (1965)：医学上不可能感到不快乐。（喜欢）
465. *经典年代最佳 — 金阳阿德 (2003)：来自非洲节奏大师的延长即兴演奏。(也许)
464. 3 + 3 — 艾斯利兄弟（1973）：伟大的放克和灵魂音乐。 (喜欢/喜爱)
463. 艾利与第十三次忏悔 — 劳拉·尼罗 (1968)：引人入胜的爵士/灵魂乐，节奏/音调变化丰富。(喜欢/喜爱)
462. 错误的奢华宫殿 — 飞翔的卷饼兄弟乐队 (1969)：沉重的乡村摇滚。不适合我。（不）
461. 为艾玛，永远之前 — 邦·艾维尔 (2008)：萦绕心头的独立民谣。绝望而轻柔的呈现（喜欢）
*合辑
亮点
3 + 3 and
艾斯利兄弟与劳拉·尼罗
3 + 3 是一张制作精良的经典放克和灵魂音乐专辑，有时会陷入模糊吉他独奏的疯狂之中。大热单曲为专辑划定了良好的弧度。
《艾莉与第十三个忏悔室》是我从未听过的音乐。每一首歌都能给你带来惊喜。它会越来越柔和，直到几乎消失，然后毫无预警地爆发成爵士/摇摆的节奏。令人难忘、趣味十足、引人入胜，三者兼具。我之前没听说过劳拉，但她绝对值得关注。
460. 情感剧 — Lorde (2017)：是的，是的，非常是的。（喜欢/喜爱）
459. 月球上的人：一天的结束 — Kid Cudi（2009）：黑暗而有趣的概念嘻哈。（喜欢）
458. 东南部 — 杰森·伊萨贝尔 (2013)：戏剧性、情感丰富的美洲乡村音乐。有时令人感动。（也许）
457. 我不想要我没有的东西 — 西妮德·奥康纳 (1990)：动人的声音。某些部分很棒（喜欢/可能）
456. *精选集 — 阿尔·格林 (1975)：伟大的黄金时代灵魂音乐合集（喜欢）
455. 博·迪德利 — 博·迪德利/去吧，博·迪德利 (1958)：现在知道博是怎么走的了。（也许）
454. Ege Bamyasi — Can (1972)：迷人且有趣。有时会显得刺耳。（喜欢/可能）
453. 漂亮的仇恨机器 — 九寸钉乐队 (1989)：脆响、重踩、电子噪音的哥特迪斯科（喜欢）
452. *选集 — 戴安娜·罗斯与超级女声（2000）：戴安娜在摩城马拉松中闪耀（喜欢/不喜欢）
451. 首次录音 — 罗伯塔·弗莱克 (1969)：柔和/缓慢的爵士乐伴随着华丽的嗓音。（喜欢/可能）
*合辑
Highlight 高光
Melodrama 情感剧
Lorde 洛德
This was quite a strong batch but Lorde was a revelation. Hadn’t heard much of her barring singles like ‘Royals’ and the big single from this album, ‘Green Light,’ but this entire album was great. Great melodies, Moody drum beats, strange synths. Also, when it’s just backed by piano she really shines. “I’ll love you til my breathing stops, I’ll love you til’ you call the cops on me”. Brilliant.
这是一批相当强大的作品，但 Lorde 却是一个惊喜。除了像《Royals》和这张专辑的大单曲《Green Light》之外，我对她了解不多，但整张专辑都很棒。优美的旋律，情绪化的鼓点，奇特的合成器。此外，当她仅仅伴随着钢琴时，她真的闪耀。“我会爱你直到我停止呼吸，我会爱你直到你报警抓我。”精彩。
Lowlight 低光
Anthology 选集
Diana Ross and the Supremes
戴安娜·罗斯与超级女声
Hear me out. My beef here isn’t with Diana or either of the other Supremes. What an amazing catalogue of music they made. It’s that 50-song retrospectives have no place in this list (I listened to the whole thing, obvs). The Greatest Hits inclusions I can just about understand (shout out to the Al Green collection in this batch) but including a collection of this size is just lazy. I get that some artists had stronger singles collections than studio albums but you can’t just stick in a collection of pretty much everything of note they ever recorded. It’s not an album. It’s 4 albums. Same goes for the Bo Diddley inclusion here, it’s his first 2 albums played back to back. Just pick one! Shame on you, Rolling Stone magazine.
听我说。我在这里的问题不是出在戴安娜或其他任何一位超级女声身上。他们创造了多么惊人的音乐目录啊。问题在于，50 首歌曲的回顾在这个名单中没有立足之地（我显然听了整个专辑）。我可以理解一些精选集的入选（在这一批中向阿尔·格林的合集致敬），但包括这样规模的合集实在是懒惰。我明白一些艺术家的单曲合集比录音室专辑更强，但你不能就这样把他们几乎所有重要的录音都放在一起。这不是一张专辑。这是四张专辑。博·迪德利的入选也是如此，这是他的前两张专辑连放。就选一张吧！真是丢脸，滚石杂志。
450. Ram — Linda McCartney & Paul McCartney (1971): Much better than you expect. (Liked)
450. 《羊》 — 琳达·麦卡特尼 & 保罗·麦卡特尼 (1971)：比你想象的要好得多。（喜欢）
449. Elephant — The White Stripes (2003): Lo-fi heroes reach absolute zenith. (Loved)
449. 大象 — 白条纹乐队 (2003)：低保真英雄达到绝对巅峰。（喜爱）
448. Dictionary of Soul — Otis Redding (1966): Mostly passed by without note. (Maybe/Nah)
448. 灵魂词典 — 奥提斯·雷丁（1966）：大多被忽视。（也许/不）
447. X 100PRE — Bad Bunny (2018): Puerto Rican rap? Noooo, thank you. (Nah)
447. X 100PRE — 坏兔子 (2018)：波多黎各说唱？不，谢谢。（不）
446. Journey in Satchidananda — Alice Coltrane (1971): Eastern-flavoured jazz harp/piano. Really nice. (Liked)
446. 在萨奇达南达的旅程 — 艾丽斯·科尔特雷恩 (1971)：东方风味的爵士竖琴/钢琴。非常好。（喜欢）
445. Close To The Edge — Yes (1972): Fun prog rock with organ-based madness. (Liked)
445. 接近边缘 — Yes（1972）：有趣的前卫摇滚，基于风琴的疯狂。（喜欢）
444. Extraordinary Machine — Fiona Apple (2005): Baroque, kooky piano-pop. Absolute gem. (Loved)
444. 非凡机器 — 菲奥娜·阿帕尔 (2005)：巴洛克风格，古怪的钢琴流行。绝对的瑰宝。（喜欢）
443. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) — David Bowie (1980): Equal measures creativity and accessibility. (Liked)
443. 可怕的怪物（和超级爬虫）— 大卫·鲍伊（1980）：创造力和可接近性的完美结合。（喜欢）
442. Beauty Behind the Madness — The Weeknd (2015): More palatable than most RnB. (Liked/Maybe)
442. 疯狂背后的美 — The Weeknd（2015）：比大多数节奏蓝调更易接受。（喜欢/可能喜欢）
441: Blackout — Britney Spears (2007): Fun, dancy electro-pop. Already familiar. (Liked/Maybe)
441: 黑暗 — 布兰妮·斯皮尔斯 (2007)：有趣、舞动的电子流行音乐。已经熟悉。（喜欢/可能）
Highlights 亮点
Extraordinary Machine 非凡机器
Fiona Apple 菲奥娜·阿普尔
I knew nothing of Fiona before hearing this and I’m fully on board. Kooky like Regina Spektor but much more restrained. A brilliant range of songs showcased here and something that I wanted to immediately re-visit upon finishing. She has a new fan.
在听到这个之前，我对菲奥娜一无所知，但我完全支持她。她像瑞吉娜·斯佩克托一样古怪，但更加克制。这里展示了一系列精彩的歌曲，听完后我立刻想要再听一遍。她有了一个新粉丝。
Elephant by White Stripes is one of my favourite albums of all time. It’s phenomenal. I loved it from the first time I heard it on the day it was released. It’s a band reaching the absolute height of their powers and it’s still intriguing and breathtaking after 20+ years of knowing it. If you’ve never experienced it in full then I implore you to do so right now. But I said I’d try and pick highlights that were new to me!
《大象》是白条纹乐队我最喜欢的专辑之一。它太棒了。我从第一次听到它的那天起就爱上了它，那天正是它发行的日子。这是一个乐队达到他们能力的绝对巅峰，经过 20 多年仍然令人着迷和惊叹。如果你从未完整体验过它，我恳请你现在就去听。但我说过我会尝试挑选一些对我来说新的亮点！
440. Coal Miner’s Daughter — Loretta Lynn (1971): More dull, yeehaw, country gubbins. (Nah)
440. 煤矿工的女儿 — 洛蕾塔·林恩 (1971)：更多无聊的，耶哈，乡村废话。（不）
439. Sex Machine — James Brown (1970): King of self-promotion screams funk. (Maybe)
439. 性机器 — 詹姆斯·布朗 (1970)：自我宣传之王尖叫着放克。(也许)
438. Parklife — Blur (1994): Such great songs . Britpop’s high-watermark. (Loved)
438. Parklife — Blur（1994）：如此伟大的歌曲。英伦流行的巅峰之作。（喜欢）
437. Screamadelica — Primal Scream (1991): Like a Nineties indie-rave soup. (Liked/Maybe)
437. Screamadelica — Primal Scream（1991）：像是九十年代的独立狂欢汤。（喜欢/可能）
436. All Eyez on me — 2Pac (1996): 2hours of 2Pac maybe 2much (Maybe)
436. 所有目光都在我身上 — 2Pac (1996)：2 小时的 2Pac 可能太多了（可能）
435. Actually — Pet Shop Boys (1987): Delightfully 80s. Unmistakable, unique sound. (Liked/Maybe)
435. 实际上 — 宠物商店男孩（1987）：令人愉悦的 80 年代。独特而 unmistakable 的声音。（喜欢/可能）
434. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain — Pavement (1994): Should like them. Somehow don’t. (Maybe)
434. 歪雨，歪雨 — Pavement（1994）：应该喜欢他们。不知为何却不喜欢。（也许）
433. Sound Of Silver — LCD Soundsystem (2007): Indie-dance? Truly it’s own thing. (Loved)
433. 银色之声 — LCD Soundsystem（2007）：独立舞曲？确实是它自己的风格。（喜欢）
432. Confessions — Usher (2004): Some killer but mostly filler. (Maybe/Nah)
432. 忏悔 — 亚瑟（2004）：一些精彩的歌曲，但大多数是填充曲。（也许/不）
431. How Will The Wolf Survive? — Los Lobos (1984): Mariachi Blues-rock? Go on then. (Liked/Maybe)
431. 狼如何生存？— 洛斯·洛博斯 (1984)：玛丽亚奇布鲁斯摇滚？那就来吧。（喜欢/可能喜欢）
Highlight 高光
Sound of Silver 银色的声音
LCD Soundsystem LCD 声音系统
I’ll pick this because although I was familiar with the artist and a few of their tracks, I had never heard this in full before. It really bridges a gap between indie and dance-music like nothing else. It sounds so… organic. Each track is layered up, adding its constituent parts until it’s complete, like an artist showing their working and letting you appreciate each individual part as they layer it up. The vocals/lyrics are sometimes repetitive to match the incessant beat. Sometimes they are more linear, ranging from the profound (“I wouldn’t trade one stupid decision for another 5 years of life.”) to bizarre and evocative (“Here we go, like a sales force into the night”). Really enjoyed it all and will be going back to it.
我会选择这首歌，因为虽然我对这位艺术家和他们的一些曲目很熟悉，但我之前从未完整听过这首歌。它在独立音乐和舞曲之间架起了一座桥梁，别无他物。听起来非常……自然。每一首曲目都是层层叠加，逐渐加入其组成部分，直到完成，就像艺术家展示他们的创作过程，让你欣赏每一个单独的部分。人声/歌词有时是重复的，以匹配不断的节拍。有时它们更为线性，内容从深刻（“我不会用一个愚蠢的决定去交换另外五年的生命。”）到奇异而引人联想（“我们出发了，就像一支销售团队进入夜晚”）。我真的很喜欢这一切，并会再次回去听。
430. My Aim Is True — Elvis Costello (1977): Vibrant Rock’n’Roll from superior Elvis. (Liked)
430. 我的目标是真实的 — 艾尔维斯·科斯特洛 (1977)：来自优秀艾尔维斯的充满活力的摇滚乐。(喜欢)
429. Reach Out — Four Tops (1967): Undeniable hits and other songs. (Liked/Maybe)
429. Reach Out — 四顶（1967）：不可否认的热门歌曲和其他歌曲。（喜欢/可能）
428. New Day Rising — Hüsker Dü (1985): Semi-melodic Mumble-Punk. Verging on indecipherable. (Nah)
428. 新的一天升起 — Hüsker Dü（1985）：半旋律的嘟囔朋克。接近难以辨认。（不）
427. Call Me — Al Green (1973): Relaxing and lifting. Lovely vibe. (Liked)
427. Call Me — 阿尔·格林 (1973)：放松且振奋。美妙的氛围。（喜欢）
426. Lucinda Williams — Lucinda Williams (1988): Country-rock. Generally ok, some lovely. (Maybe)
426. 卢辛达·威廉姆斯 — 卢辛达·威廉姆斯 (1988)：乡村摇滚。总体还不错，有些动人。（也许）
425. Paul Simon — Paul Simon (1972): Varied styles, some great songs. (Liked)
425. 保罗·西蒙 — 保罗·西蒙 (1972)：风格多样，有一些伟大的歌曲。（喜欢）
424. Odelay — Beck (1996): Made his own sound. Long. (Liked/Maybe)
424. Odelay — 贝克 (1996)：创造了自己的声音。长。 （喜欢/可能）
423. I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One — Yo La Tengo (1997): Moody experimental alt-rock. Lovely harmonies (Liked/Maybe)
423. 我能听到心跳如一 — Yo La Tengo (1997)：情绪化的实验另类摇滚。优美的和声（喜欢/可能）
422. Let’s Get It On — Marvin Gaye (1973): Generational voice. Unapologetic sex music. (Maybe)
422. 让我们开始吧 — 马文·盖伊 (1973)：世代的声音。不妥协的性爱音乐。（也许）
421. Arular — M.I.A. (2005): Genre-spanning beats and confident delivery (Liked)
421. Arular — M.I.A.（2005）：跨越多种风格的节拍和自信的演绎（喜欢）
Highlights 亮点
My Aim Is True and Arular
我的目标是真实的和阿鲁拉
Elvis Costello and M.I.A 埃尔维斯·科斯特洛和 M.I.A.
Hadn’t truly listened to either of them before outside of their biggest singles. These are both very confident debut albums which are obviously miles apart in sound but with the same determination of focus on becoming their own thing. Likely to revisit both.
在此之前，我并没有真正听过他们的音乐，除了他们最大的单曲。这两张专辑都是非常自信的首张专辑，虽然在音色上相差甚远，但都同样专注于成为独特的自我。可能会再次回顾这两张专辑。
420. That’s The Way of The World — Earth, Wind and Fire (1975): Up-tempo soul-funk. Instrumental parts better. (Liked/Maybe)
420. 这就是世界的方式 — 地球、风和火（1975）：节奏明快的灵魂放克。器乐部分更好。（喜欢/可能）
419. Chief — Eric Church (2011): Hard-Country Rock. Actually not bad. (Liked)
419. Chief — 埃里克·丘奇 (2011)：硬乡村摇滚。其实还不错。（喜欢）
418. Brothers In Arms — Dire Straits (1985): Deeply personal attachment to this. (Loved)
418. 战斗兄弟 — 迪尔·斯特雷茨 (1985)：对此有着深刻的个人情感依恋。（喜欢）
417. The Shape of Jazz to Come — Ornette Coleman (1959): Saxophonist throws free jazz shapes. (Liked)
417. 爵士的未来形态 — 奥内特·科尔曼 (1959)：萨克斯 ophonist 展现自由爵士的风格。(喜欢)
416. Things Fall Apart — The Roots (1999): Breezy-cool beats and hip-hop storytelling. (Liked)
416. 事物分崩离析 — The Roots（1999）：轻松酷炫的节拍和嘻哈叙事。（喜欢）
415. Look-ka Py Py — The Meters (1969): Fun, like a 70s movie-soundtrack (Liked)
415. Look-ka Py Py — The Meters（1969）：有趣，像 70 年代的电影原声带（喜欢）
414. Risqué — Chic (1979): Disco grooves, relaxed and warming. (Liked)
414. Risqué — Chic（1979）：迪斯科节奏，轻松而温暖。（喜欢）
413. Cosmo’s Factory — Creedence Clearwater Revival (1970): Blues-folk-prog-country? Not enough hyphens available. (Liked)
413. 宇宙工厂 — 克里登斯·克利尔沃特复兴乐队 (1970)：蓝调-民谣-前卫-乡村？可用的连字符不够。(喜欢)
412. Going to a Go-Go — Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (1965): Motown hits and general loveliness (Liked/Maybe)
412. Going to a Go-Go — 斯莫基·罗宾逊与奇迹乐队 (1965)：摩城音乐的热门歌曲和一般的美好（喜欢/可能）
411. Love and Theft — Bob Dylan (2001): Storytelling lesson from growly maestro. (Loved/Liked)
411. 爱与盗窃 — 鲍勃·迪伦 (2001)：来自低沉大师的讲故事课程。（喜欢/喜爱）
WARNING: EXTRA-LONG DIRE STRAITS THEMED ESSAY INCOMING!
警告：超长的“贫穷的绝境”主题文章即将到来！
Highlight 高光
Brothers In Arms 兄弟情谊
Dire Straits
Now then. At some point I was always going to have to ditch my attempt to not include albums I was already familiar with as highlights. But this is with good reason. This isn’t just an album I’m familiar with, at this point it almost makes up some of the sequence of my DNA. It was released when I was 1 yr old and I feel like it has been part of my life ever since. It seeped through my skin due to constant exposure. I wouldn’t choose to be without it any more than I’d choose to be without my thumbs. It’s the sound of childhood, of endless car journeys, sat in the back seat in the middle, sandwiched between my 2 big brothers.
那么。在某个时刻，我总是不得不放弃不包括我已经熟悉的专辑作为亮点的尝试。但这是有充分理由的。这不仅仅是一张我熟悉的专辑，在这一点上，它几乎构成了我 DNA 的一部分。它在我一岁时发行，我觉得从那时起它就一直是我生活的一部分。由于不断的接触，它渗透到了我的肌肤里。我不会选择没有它，就像我不会选择没有我的拇指一样。这是童年的声音，是无尽的汽车旅程，坐在后座中间，夹在我两个大哥之间。
Each track evokes something different for me; ‘Money For Nothing’ still gives me goosebumps. Looking at it objectively, this song has one of the best sounding guitar riffs ever put to tape, it’s 8 minutes long but feels like half of that. It starts with a drum solo AND it has Sting deployed as a backing vocalist. The absolute balls of it is incredible. ‘Your Latest Trick’ makes me feel melancholy. God knows what it’s about but it’s kinda like Gerry Rafferty’s ‘Baker Street’ but, y’know……good. Finally, the title-track and album closer ‘Brothers in arms’ is so entwined with the emotional part of my brain that at this point it is almost sacrosanct. It is not to be played without due care. It’s like an emotional tap that wells me up with thoughts of my childhood, my late father and our family, all coloured with sadness. I don’t know when this happened but it’s never lost this power since, nor would I want it to.
每首曲子对我来说都有不同的感受；《Money For Nothing》依然让我起鸡皮疙瘩。从客观上看，这首歌有着录音史上最好的吉他旋律之一，时长 8 分钟，但听起来却像只有一半。它以鼓独奏开始，并且有斯汀作为伴唱。它的绝对胆量令人难以置信。《Your Latest Trick》让我感到忧伤。上帝知道这首歌讲的是什么，但它有点像杰瑞·拉弗提的《Baker Street》，不过，你知道的……更好。最后，标题曲和专辑结尾曲《Brothers in Arms》与我大脑中的情感部分紧密相连，以至于在这一点上几乎是神圣不可侵犯的。它不能在没有适当小心的情况下播放。这就像一个情感的水龙头，让我涌起对童年、已故父亲和我们家庭的思绪，所有这些都带着悲伤。我不知道这是什么时候发生的，但自那时起它从未失去过这种力量，我也不希望它失去。
To the uninitiated, this is a bizarre album that in parts seems to want to ape different musical styles from track to track (Santana for ‘Ride Across The River’, Bob Dylan for ‘The Man’s Too Strong’). It might seem to some to be tragically uncool ‘Dad Rock’. But none of that matters when it’s this important to you.
对于外行人来说，这是一张奇怪的专辑，部分曲目似乎想要模仿不同的音乐风格（‘Ride Across The River’ 受到了桑塔纳的影响，‘The Man’s Too Strong’ 则受到了鲍勃·迪伦的影响）。对某些人来说，这可能显得悲惨地不酷，被称为“老爸摇滚”。但当这对你如此重要时，这些都无关紧要。
So, what does all that mean? I guess it means that in some cases, trying to be objective about music and create a ranking system for 500 albums is absolutely pointless, as the relationship that I have with this will be the same for someone somewhere with everything on this list. It means you have to give it all a chance because to somebody, somewhere it is the most important thing.
那么，这一切意味着什么呢？我想这意味着在某些情况下，试图对音乐保持客观并为 500 张专辑创建一个排名系统是完全没有意义的，因为我与这些专辑的关系将与某个地方的某个人与这个列表上的所有专辑的关系相同。这意味着你必须给每一张专辑一个机会，因为对某个地方的某个人来说，它是最重要的事情。
410. Wild Honey — The Beach Boys (1967): Different sound for The Beachies. (Liked/Maybe)
410. 野蜜 — 海滩男孩（1967）：海滩男孩的不同声音。（喜欢/可能）
409. Workingman’s Dead — The Grateful Dead (1970): Folky, bluesy-country. Didn’t grab me (Maybe)
409. 《工人之死》 — 感恩之死乐队 (1970)：民谣、蓝调乡村。没有吸引我（也许）
408. Ace of Spades — Motörhead (1980): Not the most progressive themes. (Maybe/Nah)
408. 黑桃 A — 摩托头乐队 (1980)：不是最前卫的主题。（也许/不）
407. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere — Neil Young and Crazy Horse (1969): Forgot how great he is. (Liked)
407. 大家都知道这无处可去 — 尼尔·杨与疯狂马乐队（1969）：忘记了他是多么伟大。（喜欢）
406. 69 Love Songs — The Magnetic Fields (1999): Actually 69 tracks. Somehow brilliant. (Loved/Liked)
406. 69 首爱情歌曲 — 磁场乐队 (1999)：实际上是 69 首曲目。某种程度上非常出色。（喜欢/喜爱）
405. *Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era — Various Artists (1972): Psychedelic 60s garage-rock. Good vibes. (Liked)
405. *Nuggets: 原始艺术品来自第一次迷幻时代 — 各种艺术家 (1972)：迷幻 60 年代车库摇滚。良好的氛围。（喜欢）
404. Rapture — Anita Baker (1986): Generally fine. Not very exciting. (Maybe)
404. 迷醉 — 安妮塔·贝克 (1986)：总体不错。不是很激动人心。（也许）
403. Supreme Clientele — Ghostface Killah (2000): Similar-sounding hip-hop tracks. Nothing notable. (Maybe)
403. 至尊客户 — Ghostface Killah（2000）：听起来相似的嘻哈曲目。没有什么特别的。（也许）
402. Expensive Shit — Fela Kuti and Africa 70 (1975): Afrobeat. Two long-players. Cover explanation. (Maybe)
402. 昂贵的屎 — 菲拉·库蒂与非洲 70（1975）：非洲节拍。两张长专辑。封面说明。（也许）
401. Blondie — Blondie (1977): Debbie brightened up already-sunny afternoon. (Liked)
401. 布朗迪 — 布朗迪 (1977)：黛比让已经阳光明媚的下午更加明亮。（喜欢）
*Compilation Album *合辑
Highlight 高光
69 Love Songs 69 首爱情歌曲
The Magnetic Fields 磁场乐队
You wouldn’t believe the dread with which I approached this 69-song triple-album (a studio album, not a compilation). 2 hours and 53 minutes of it. Pretty much a whole day’s listening in a few different listening sessions. Yet, there is so much great music here.
你无法想象我在接触这张 69 首歌的三张专辑（是一张录音室专辑，而不是合辑）时的恐惧。总时长为 2 小时 53 分钟。几乎是一天的听歌时间，分成几次听。然而，这里有如此多的好音乐。
From shorter sketches of an idea to more fleshed-out arrangements. Lots of styles and multiple vocalists to ensure it keeps you interested but somehow always sticks to a tone that enables the songs to flow well together. It doesn’t feel bloated and I enjoyed nearly all of it which is testament to it, especially with the running time. Some artists don’t have this many good song ideas in a career, let alone one studio album.
从简短的构思到更为完整的编曲。多种风格和多位歌手确保了它能保持你的兴趣，但又总是保持一种能够让歌曲流畅结合的基调。它并没有显得臃肿，我几乎都很享受，这证明了它的质量，尤其是考虑到时长。有些艺术家在职业生涯中都没有这么多好的歌曲创意，更不用说一张录音室专辑了。
400. Beauty and the Beat — The Go-Go’s (1981): Glorious new-wave. Instant affection warranted. (Loved)
400. 美丽与节拍 — Go-Go's（1981）：辉煌的新波音乐。瞬间的喜爱是理所当然的。（喜欢）
399. Smile — Brian Wilson (2004): Un-abandoned project. Whimsy: The Musical. (Liked)
399. 微笑 — 布莱恩·威尔逊 (2004)：未被放弃的项目。奇思妙想：音乐剧。（喜欢）
398. The Raincoats — The Raincoats (1979): Post-punk, post-melody, post-it-to your enemies. (NAH)
398. 雨衣乐队 — 雨衣乐队 (1979)：后朋克，后旋律，贴给你的敌人。(NAH)
397. When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? — Billie Eilish (2019): Dark-pop. Imaginative, banging, introspective brilliance. (Loved)
397. 当我们都睡着时，我们去哪儿？— 比莉·艾利什 (2019)：黑暗流行。富有想象力、震撼、内省的辉煌。（喜欢）
396. Something/Anything? — Todd Rundgren (1972): Improves as it goes along. (Liked)
396. Something/Anything? — 托德·朗德格伦 (1972)：随着时间推移而改善。（喜欢）
395. Black Messiah — D’Angelo and the Vanguard (2014): Soul/funk jams. Nice background music. (Maybe)
395. 黑色弥赛亚 — D’Angelo 和先锋乐队 (2014)：灵魂/放克音乐。不错的背景音乐。（也许）
394. Diana — Diana Ross (1980): Recognisable Disco Hits. Similar Songs. (Liked/Maybe)
394. 黛安娜 — 黛安娜·罗斯 (1980)：可识别的迪斯科热门歌曲。类似歌曲。（喜欢/可能）
393. 1989 — Taylor Swift (2014): Ubiquitous Pop-hits. World domination ensued. (Liked)
393. 1989 — 泰勒·斯威夫特 (2014)：无处不在的流行热门。随之而来的是世界统治。(喜欢)
392. *Proud Mary: The Best of — Ike and Tina Turner (1991): Hearing Tina becoming a superstar. (Liked)
392. *骄傲的玛丽：艾克与蒂娜·特纳精选集（1991）：听到蒂娜成为超级明星。（喜欢）
391. Kaleidoscope — Kelis (1999): Inventive, fun, well- produced RnB. Lovely. (Liked)
391. 万花筒 — 凯莉斯 (1999)：富有创意、有趣、制作精良的节奏蓝调。美妙。（喜欢）
*Compilation Album *合辑
Highlight 高光
Beauty and the Beat
美女与节拍
The Go-Go’s 戈戈乐队
Had never even heard of this band before but I loved every minute of this. Somewhere between the happiest parts of R.E.M. and Bananarama in sound. Was already singing along to the songs by the end of each one despite it being my first time listening. Hard recommend.
之前从未听说过这个乐队，但我喜欢每一分钟的音乐。声音介于 R.E.M.和 Bananarama 最快乐的部分之间。尽管这是我第一次听，但到每首歌结束时我已经开始跟着唱了。强烈推荐。
P.S — I love Billie Eilish’s debut being on here. Was already familiar but it really is so good
P.S — 我喜欢比莉·艾利什的首张专辑在这里。之前就已经熟悉，但真的非常好。
390. Surfer Rosa — Pixies (1988): Impassioned, quiet-loud, chaotic. Utterly fantastic. (Loved)
390. Surfer Rosa — 像素乐队 (1988)：充满激情，安静-喧闹，混乱。完全奇妙。（喜欢）
389. The Emancipation of Mimi — Mariah Carey (2005): Kinda exactly what I expected. (Liked/Maybe)
389. 《米米的解放》 — 玛丽亚·凯莉 (2005)：有点正是我所期待的。（喜欢/可能喜欢）
388. Young, Gifted and Black — Aretha Franklin (1972): Soul brilliance from its queen. (Liked)
388. 年轻、天赋与黑色 — 阿瑞莎·弗兰克林（1972）：来自女王的灵魂辉煌。（喜欢）
387. In Rainbows — Radiohead (2007): Just don’t get me started. (Loved)
387. 在彩虹中 — 电台司令乐队 (2007)：别让我开始说。 (喜欢)
386. Donuts — J Dilla (2006): Random sampling-sketches. Don’t get it. (Nah)
386. Donuts — J Dilla (2006)：随机采样草图。别搞错。 (不)
385. Rocket to Russia — The Ramones (1977): Like Beach Boys doing punk. (Liked)
385. 《火箭飞往俄罗斯》 — 拉蒙斯（1977 年）：就像海滩男孩在做朋克。（喜欢）
384. The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society — The Kinks (1969): Quirky celebration of English sensibilities. (Liked)
384. 村绿保护协会 — The Kinks（1969）：对英国情感的古怪庆祝。（喜欢）
383. Mezzanine — Massive Attack (1998): Darkly diving trip-hop. Moody, intense. (Liked)
383. Mezzanine — 大规模攻击 (1998)：阴郁的潜水 trip-hop。情绪化，强烈。（喜欢）
382. Currents — Tame Impala (2015): Synthy, droney, indistinguishable whiney pop. (Maybe)
382. Currents — Tame Impala（2015）：合成器风格，单调，难以区分的尖细流行音乐。（也许）
381. (Pronounced ’Leh-’nerd ’Skin-’nerd) — Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973): Good old-fashioned, no-nonsense rock music (Liked)
381. （发音为“勒-纳德 ‘斯金-纳德”）— 林纳德·斯金纳德（1973 年）：传统的、实在的摇滚音乐（喜欢）
Highlight 高光
(Pronounced ’Leh-’nerd ’Skin-’nerd)
（发音为“勒-纳德-斯金-纳德”）
Lynyrd Skynyrd 林纳德·斯基纳德
This was a welcome bit of straightforward rock’n’roll to cleanse the palette. Nothing totally ground-breaking but it’s the sound of people doing what they love and being awesome at it. Let’s face it, any album that ends with ‘Free Bird’ is going to be a bit of a banger, no?
这是一段令人愉快的简单摇滚乐，清新了听觉。虽然没有什么突破性的东西，但这就是人们在做他们热爱的事情并且表现出色的声音。说实话，任何以《Free Bird》结束的专辑都会有点火爆，不是吗？
Surfer Rosa is my favourite Pixies album. I think it just captures all the things that made them great. Frank’s insanity tempered by Kim’s grounding effect. The rock-steady rhythm section gluing together the songs that feel like they could fall apart at any moment. In later albums they sounded more full and rounded but in my view they never got better than they were here.
《冲浪者罗莎》是我最喜欢的皮克斯专辑。我认为它完美地捕捉了让他们伟大的所有元素。弗兰克的疯狂被金的稳定效果所缓和。稳固的节奏部分将那些随时可能崩溃的歌曲紧密结合在一起。在后来的专辑中，他们的声音听起来更加饱满和圆润，但在我看来，他们在这里的表现从未更好过。
380. Mingus Ah Um — Charles Mingus (1959): Swingy, upbeat jazz. Quite enjoyable. (Liked)
380. 明格斯啊嗯 — 查尔斯·明格斯（1959）：摇摆、欢快的爵士乐。相当愉快。（喜欢）
379. Moving Pictures — Rush (1981): Sci-Fi Prog-Rock. Paranoid lyrical overtones. (Liked)
379. 动态画面 — 拉什（1981 年）：科幻前卫摇滚。偏执的歌词暗示。（喜欢）
378. Run-D.M.C. — Run-DMC (1984): 80s cool sounded like this. (Liked)
378. Run-D.M.C. — Run-DMC（1984）：80 年代的酷就是这样的。（喜欢）
377. Fever to Tell — Yeah Yeah Yeahs (2003): Upbeat garage-punk. Noughties NYC vibes. (Liked)
377. Fever to Tell — Yeah Yeah Yeahs（2003）：欢快的车库朋克。零年代纽约气息。（喜欢）
376. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea — Neutral Milk Hotel (1998): Intense, immediate, very moving indie-folk. (Loved/Liked)
376. 在海上的飞机 — 中立牛奶酒店 (1998)：强烈、直接、非常感人的独立民谣。（喜欢/爱）
375. Dookie — Green Day (1994): Well, it’s Dookie isn’t it? (Loved)
375. Dookie — 绿日乐队 (1994)：好吧，这就是《Dookie》，不是吗？（喜欢）
374. *King of the Delta Blues Singers — Robert Johnson (1961): Soul-selling blues player recording compilation. (Liked/Maybe)
374. *三角洲蓝调歌手之王 — 罗伯特·约翰逊 (1961)：卖灵魂的蓝调音乐家录音合集。（喜欢/可能）
373. Hot Buttered Soul — Isaac Hayes (1969): Couldn’t be better titled. Relaxing. (Liked)
373. 热黄油灵魂 — 艾萨克·海斯 (1969)：再合适不过的标题。放松。（喜欢）
372. Cheap Thrills — Big Brother and the Holding Company (1968): Janis wails, the band reciprocates. (Liked)
372. 便宜的刺激 — 大兄弟与控股公司（1968）：贾尼斯哀号，乐队回应。（喜欢）
371. *Anthology — The Temptations (1973): Great but way too much (Liked/Maybe)
371. *选集 — 诱惑乐队 (1973)：很棒但太多了 (喜欢/也许)
*Compilation Album *合辑
Highlight 高光
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Neutral Milk Hotel
Not the first time I’d heard it but probably the first time I paid it the attention it deserved. It’s quite simple indie-folk music, sometimes just vocals and guitar. Recorded with quite a lo-fi feel but it’s so engrossing. Jeff Mangum has such a desperate emotion to his voice that despite it being quite hard to follow any kind of lyrical narrative (opaque doesn’t even cover it), you really feel and believe him all the way. Check out the song ‘Oh, Comely’ if you want to know what I mean. It’s long, and in someone else’s hands it could be tiresome but delivered in such a way that really draws you in.
Green Day’s Dookie is Probably the most familiar I’ve been with anything on the list so far. It was an album that everyone had (or at least knew every word to) when I was in my early teens. It was our Sgt Peppers’ back before Green Day were the stadium-filling behemoth they are now. Dookie was the jumping-off point to whatever you got into after. Punk-rock was very important to our friendship group and this was the ground-floor at which everyone got in. It was always playing somewhere and now it just sounds like my adolescence. I love it, I always will. I’m glad Green Day are still doing their thing and entertaining millions playing this from start to finish.
370. Tha Carter II — Lil Wayne (2005): New Orleans rapper likes money (Maybe)
369. The Infamous — Mobb Deep (1995): Dark-beats never outstripping authentic-sounding stories (Maybe)
368. All Things Must Pass — George Harrison (1970): Unsurprisingly Beatles-esque, via Dylan & blues. (Liked)
367. If You’re Reading This it’s Too Late — Drake (2015): Didn’t dispel any negative preconceptions (Nah)
366. Rocks — Aerosmith (1976): Blues-rock with variation and personality. (Liked)
365. Madvillainy — Madvillainy (2004): Sampling patchwork with amazing rhymes. (Liked)
364. More Songs about Buildings and Food — Talking Heads (1978): Erratically delivered, upbeat organic pop. (Loved/Liked)
363. The Mothership Connection — Parliament (1975): What a lot of fun(k). (Liked)
362. Never Too Much — Luther Vandross (1981): Silky 80s vibes. Title-track shines. (Liked)
361. The Black Parade — My Chemical Romance (2005): Cartoonish OTT-concept darkness from Emo-kids. (Loved/Liked)
Highlight
The Black Parade
My Chemical Romance
Weirdly, was very familiar with the title track but had never looked into the album. What a glorious slice of over the top, maniacal darkness this is. I was a bit old for the emo movement when it came about and was aware of My Chemical Romance but had kinda dismissed them as wannabe, ‘goth-for-kids’ try-hards. The value here comes with how far they’ve leaned into it. Almost becoming a parody of themselves but, it seems, doing so knowingly. A concept album with outrageous song-titles (‘Dead!’ being a favourite if only for the exclamation mark) and dark themes of cancer and death, a concept stage show and costumes to go with it and a keen eye on the theatre of it all. All of that coupled with wall-to-wall bangers. What’s not to love?
I had equal love for More Songs about Buildings and Food by Talking Heads. This seems to be before they got involved with synthesizers and sounds a lot more grounded than a lot of TH’s catalogue. Great pop songs, weird lyrics and a vocal style that is a lot of fun to imitate.
360. One Nation Under a Groove — Funkadelic (1978): Much shredding on extended funk-jams. (Liked)
359. Radio City — Big Star (1974): More generic 70s rock-pop. Uninspiring. (Maybe)
358. Goo — Sonic Youth (1990): Cool, moody, all shimmering tension (Liked)
357. Rain Dogs — Tom Waits (1985): Gravelly Genre-hopping troubadour brings fun (Liked)
356. Gris-Gris — Dr. John (1968): Weird psychedelia with eastern influence. (Liked/Maybe)
355. Black Sabbath — Black Sabbath (1970): Blues-rock band accidentally invents heavy-metal. (Liked)
354. Germfree Adolescents — X-Ray Spex (1978): Melodic punk benefits from horns. (Liked)
353. The Cars — The Cars (1978): Upbeat pop-rock sets 80s blueprint. (Liked)
352. The Slim Shady LP — Eminem (1999): It’s darker than I remembered. (Liked)
351. For Your Pleasure — Roxy Music (1973): Weird, ruminative, didn’t get it. (Maybe)
Highlight
Rain Dogs
Tom Waits
In truth, a lot of this batch of 10 was quite a trudge without much of it really grabbing my attention but this introduction to Tom Waits was a welcome diversion. Didn’t know much about him other than he had a unique, gravelly voice but he’s a real chameleon on this. Changing up his delivery and accent to best suit the song, he genre-hops through blues, country, traditional R&B to even sea-shanty-esque at times. All the time with Tom fully ‘committing to the bit’ and taking you with him through this mad, seedy underbelly of the past. It baffled me at first but then I went with it and had a great time.
The Slim Shady LP was the first hip-hop record I ever bought or listened to. Really it was the first ‘non-guitar-music’ I ever bought. It was a bit of a gateway into different types of music. Of course, it’s problematic in themes at times (not just by today’s standards, pretty sure it was a bit ‘on-the-nose’ for the late 90s too) and Marshall definitely matured a bit as he went on, from the grotesque caricature he created here. It isn’t his best, but it was an important record at the time. Being problematic was Eminem’s M.O. (and maybe still is) but there’s still some absolute bangers on this.
350. Music of My Mind — Stevie Wonder (1972): 14th Album, hadn’t even begun. (Loved/Liked)
349. Kick Out the Jams — MC5 (1969): Punk’s forefathers make racket, live (Liked/Maybe)
348. Time (The Revelator) — Gillian Welch (2001): Country-esque, some absolute killer songs. (Liked)
347. Liquid Swords — GZA (1995): Murky hip-hop, features most Wu-Tangers. (Liked/Maybe)
346. AM — Arctic Monkeys (2013): Indie boys go gloriously glam (Loved)
345. The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle — Bruce Springsteen (1973): Boss excels though differing styles. (Loved)
344. Funky Kingston — Toots and the Maytals (1972): Sunshine reggae songs improve mood. (Liked)
343. *Greatest Hits — Sly and the Family Stone (1970): Funky-soul singles from improbable family. (Liked/Maybe)
342. Let It Be — The Beatles (1970): More interesting after seeing documentary (Liked)
341. Siamese Dream — The Smashing Pumpkins (1993): Grew into. Best bits grandiose. (Liked)
*Compilation Album
Highlight
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
Bruce Springsteen
There were so many highlights from this group. The Stevie Wonder album is fantastic and more experimental than I’ve heard from him before. Gillian Welch was a great surprise and a reassurance that I do like country music in some of its forms. AM is obviously a great record that I know very well and Siamese Dream really had me on board by the end despite not being much of a ’Pumpkins fan historically.
But there’s only one Boss….
I’d never heard a single song from this album (despite being semi-familiar with a lot of Bruce’s work) and they are all great. I can’t say much other than it grabbed me from the start and it twists and turns through different moods but never loses its way.
Absolute smash. Loved it.
340. Doggystyle — Snoop Doggy Dogg (1993): Personality is important in hip-hop (Liked)
339. Rhythm Nation 1814 — Janet Jackson (1989): 80s dance segues into schmaltz. (Liked/Maybe)
338. Another Green World — Brian Eno (1975): Mostly enjoyable instrumentals. Varied moods. (Liked)
337. John Wesley Harding — Bob Dylan (1967): Sit cross-legged for Bob’s storytime (Liked)
336. Avalon — Roxy Music (1982): Plodding, croony-vocaled, horizontal, synth-pop dirge. (Nah)
335. The Basement Tapes — Bob Dylan and the Band (1975): Varying shades of Bob. Trudgy. (Liked/Maybe)
334. Abraxas — Santana (1970): Relaxing, latin-rock, guitar hero vibes. (Liked)
333. Still Bill — Bill Withers (1972): Really great soul and funk (Liked)
332. Elvis Presley — Elvis Presley (1956): This guy could go far. (Liked/Maybe)
331. Like a Prayer — Madonna (1989): Wall-to-wall bangers from pop royalty. (Loved/Liked)
Highlight
Like a Prayer
Madonna
I think it’s easy to forget how good Madonna’s music was. Maybe because she’s carried on making music for so long, the sheer size of her catalogue can mean that earlier stuff isn’t mentioned as often. This is a great album and I’d never listened to it before (although there’s about 4 singles that are very familiar, not least the title-track). It’s a lot more interesting and varied than you’d expect and she really was pushing the boundaries of her art from early on.
Shout out also to Still Bill by Bill Withers. There’s been a lot of 70s funk/soul on the list so far that I’ve not particularly gelled with but this is a great record. Very close 2nd highlight.
Also, turns out I really don’t like Roxy Music. Who knew?
330. Aftermath — The Rolling Stones (1966): I prefer this era ‘Stones. (Liked/Maybe)
329. Endtroducing….. — DJ Shadow (1996): Cut and paste atmospheric vibes. (Loved/Liked)
328. Modern Vampires of the City — Vampire Weekend (2013): Band breaking it’s own norms (Liked)
327. Live at Leeds — The Who (1970): A very accomplished live act. (Liked)
326. Dirty Mind — Prince (1980): Restrained funky pop. Very cool. (Liked)
325. *All Killer No Filler — Jerry Lee Lewis (1993): Oh great! Another 40-song retrospective! (Nah)
324. A Rush of Blood to the Head — Coldplay (2002): They weren’t always that terrible (Liked/Maybe)
323. Sandinista! — The Clash (1980): A lot to take in (Liked/Maybe)
322. From Elvis in Memphis — Elvis Presley (1969): Some standouts, mostly country-esque non-entities (Maybe)
321. Norman Fucking Rockwell — Lana Del Ray (2019): Great. Took me by surprise. (Liked)
*Compilation Album
Highlight
Norman Fucking Rockwell
Lana Del Ray
Look, by any metric DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing…. is the best record out of this batch. It’s interesting, it sounds fucking cool, it was ridiculously inspirational to countless artists. I already owned it (back when physical media was a thing) but hadn’t listened for a long time and really enjoyed this revisit and hearing it in full in one sitting for maybe the first time.
But, I’ve gone with Lana because it completely changed my mind on her. Up until this point I’d really only ever heard ‘Video Games’ and I didn’t really care for it, mainly due to it being massively overplayed when it was released and never wanted to look further. I really liked this album. It sits in its vibe and her voice really suits the music that backs it. It has interesting little breaks and some wonderful poetic lyrical work. It fully deserves a revisit.
320. Los Angeles — X (1980): Enjoyable, Melodic, coherent punk rock. (Liked)
319. The Stone Roses — The Stone Roses (1989): One of the best debuts (Loved/Liked)
318. The Velvet Rope — Janet Jackson (1997): Great, introspective but upbeat dance-pop. (Liked)
317. Lady in Satin — Billie Holiday (1958): Slow jazz and haunting voice (Liked/Maybe)
316. The Who Sell Out — The Who (1967): Absolutely bizarre. Possibly drugs involved. (Liked/Maybe)
315. El Mal Querer — Rosalia (2018): Didn’t Understand, enjoyed it nevertheless (Liked)
314. One in a Million — Aaliyah (1996): Honestly, struggled to get through (Nah)
313. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea — PJ Harvey (2000): Angry, emotional, indie-rock. Liked duet. (Liked)
312. A Seat at the Table — Solange (2016): Empowered portrait of black womanhood (Liked)
311. On the Beach — Neil Young (1974): Sunshine rock and earnest emotion. (Liked)
Highlights
Seat at the Table
Solange
Enjoyed this. More interesting than a lot of the recent RnB I’ve heard. Great production giving the songs their own identity. The philosophical little interludes tied everything together into an overall theme. The whole thing felt like it had a point to make and articulated it well without bashing you over the head with it. Another one that I would never have listened to without this project, so makes it that much more of a highlight.
The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses
Shout out to Stone Roses. It would be hard to pick a more accomplished debut album. They just seemed to arrive fully formed with a ruck of timeless songs. Although this music is very indicative of a certain point in time, none of it sounds dated and it really was a very high watermark for indie music and the Britpop scene that it, perhaps, sparked into existence. Pity it all started to fall apart after this.
310. Pink Flag — Wire (1977): Forward-thinking punk provides many ideas. (Liked)
309. Closer — Joy Division (1980): Dark introspection and heavy atmosphere. (Liked)
308. Here Come the Warm Jets — Brian Eno (1973): Glam-my, arty, rock-y. Expected weirder. (Liked/Maybe)
307. *Portrait of a Legend — Sam Cooke (2003): 30-track compilation of soul legend (Liked/Maybe)
306. I’m Still In Love With You — Al Green (1972): More cool soul from Al. (Liked)
305. Alive! — Kiss (1975): Like AC/DC bought from Wish. (Nah)
304. Just As I Am — Bill Withers (1971): Possibly the best unheard yet. (Loved)
303. *The Definitive Collection — ABBA (2001): An Impressive set of songs (Liked)
302. Tonight’s the Night — Neil Young (1973): Blues and loveliness from Neil (Liked)
301. New York Dolls — New York Dolls (1973): Evolution of blues-rock to punk (Liked/Maybe)
*Compilation Album
Highlights
Just As I Am
Bill Withers
I think Bill just missed out on a highlight last time but he gets it here. This is phenomenal. A soul record so organic and engrossing. The accompanying music is sparse and never overpowering and Bill just fills all the remaining space himself. Everyone will have heard ‘Ain’t no Sunshine’ but there’s so much else here and all of a really high level. I think this is the most I’ve got into anything so far on the first listen.
A shout out for Joy Division’s Closer. Despite them being a hometown band and there being a beautiful mural of Ian Curtis just down the road, I had never listened to a whole album of theirs. Partly because I don’t really like New Order and presumed it would be much the same. Hard to say I enjoyed it, as it’s not really music to be enjoyed as much as it is to be experienced and appreciated. It had me hooked into it by the end and I’m looking forward to their debut a bit further down the list.
300. Come On Over — Shania Twain (1997): Chock-full of 90s country-pop hits (Liked)
299. Live at the Regal — B.B. King (1965): Blues live album. Sounds great. (Liked)
298. Full Moon Fever — Tom Petty (1989): Ok, I suppose. Nothing notable. (Maybe)
297. So — Peter Gabriel (1986): Not as crazy as expected (Liked/Maybe)
296. Rust Never Sleeps — Neil Young (1979): Some standouts. Dull in places (Liked/Maybe)
295. Random Access Memories — Daft Punk (2013): Glorious sci-fi disco. Awe-inspiring swansong. (Loved)
294. Weezer (The Blue Album) — Weezer (1994): Insecurity and intelligence. Absolute tunes. (Loved)
293. Last Splash — The Breeders (1993): Beautifully voiced fuzz-mulch. Momentarily great. (Liked)
292. Van Halen — Van Halen (1978): Head-banging was made for this. (Liked/Maybe)
291. The Writing’s on the Wall — Destiny’s Child (1999): Banging hits and much wailing. (Liked)
Highlights
Random Access Memories
Daft Punk
Daft Punk really produced something amazing with Random Access Memories. Interestingly, committing more to live instrumentation than they had before. It’s dancy, it’s progressive and it’s not as wholly disco as I remembered. Re-discovering tracks like ‘Giorgio by Moroder’ and ‘Touch’ after quite a few years was great and I firmly love this album now.
The Blue Album
Weezer
I’ve been familiar with individual tracks from this album for many years but never listened to the whole thing. It’s all great and the fact that I knew some songs a lot better than others didn’t diminish it. Over the last few years, ‘Say It Ain’t So’ has become one of my favourite songs of all time and I wish I’d done the further listening a long time ago.
290. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below — OutKast (2003): Hip-hop duo go solo, differently (Liked/Maybe)
289. Post — Björk (1995): Like a box of chocolates. (Loved/Liked)
288. The Modern Lovers — The Modern Lovers (1976): 2-chord semi-psychedelic rock. Distinctly Meh. (Maybe)
287. Mr. Tambourine Man — The Byrds (1965): Jangly pop. Short and sweet. (Liked/Maybe)
286. Californication — Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999): Funk-rockers discover mainstream success formula. (Loved/Liked)
285. Third/Sister Lovers — Big Star (1978): Standard-rock band embraces sad side. (Maybe)
284. *Down Every Road 1962–1994 — Merle Haggard (1996): Country compilation of mountainous proportions (Nah)
283. Bad Girls — Donna Summer (1975): Awesome Disco-pop with soulful centre. (Liked)
282. In the Wee Small Hours — Frank Sinatra (1955): Timeless voice sings similar-sounding songs. (Maybe)
281. Nilsson Schmilsson — Harry Nilsson (1971): Fun pop-rock with whiplash tonal-changes (Liked)
*Compilation Album
Highlight
Post
Björk
Never looked into Björk despite many recommendations. This album is so packed with ideas that it changes up wildly from track to track. From minimalist whispers to big-band bombast and lots in-between. Particularly liked ‘I Miss You’ with its slow layering up into a full-on carnival. Also ‘Enjoy’ with its Nine Inch Nails-y industrial dance feels. Will definitely be revisiting this one.
A note on the Merle Haggard compilation — Down Every Road, here. For the sake of information, it is 100 tracks and 4 hours and 48 minutes long. It is a ridiculous inclusion on this list. I don’t want to wail on Merle for this. He makes country music (apparently a metric fuck-tonne of it). It’s fine. It’s not my bag but he seems to be quite accomplished at it. I just mean that this list has been voted for by artists, music industry people and journalists. Who the fuck is naming a near 5hr compilation amongst their favourite albums of all time?? It. Is. Insane. Have they ever actually listened to it? Because I have and it definitely wasn’t one of my favourites… (I even had to seek out one of the songs on a different streaming platform because it was greyed-out and unavailable. I am nothing if not committed to this task.)
280. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ — 50 Cent (2003): Great tunes. Disagreeable thematic content. (Liked/Maybe)
279. MTV Unplugged in New York — Nirvana (1994): Now-definitive versions of many songs (Loved)
278. Houses of the Holy — Led Zeppelin (1973): Boundaries being tested. Sometimes epic-sounding (Liked)
277. The Diary of Alicia Keys — Alicia Keys (2003): Some different approaches to RnB (Liked/Maybe)
276. The Bends — Radiohead (1995): World’s best begin their evolution. (Loved)
275. Curtis — Curtis Mayfield (1970): Politically-commetaried soul-funk. Contains standout hit. (Liked)
274. Sweetheart of the Rodeo — The Byrds (1968): Jangle-pop does country. Sorely uninteresting. (Nah)
273. Entertainment! — Gang of Four (1979): Suddenly, ‘post-punk’ genre makes sense (Loved/Liked)
272. White Light/White Heat — The Velvet Underground (1968): Art-rock chaos. A challenging listen (Maybe/Nah)
271. What’s the 411? — Mary J Blige (1992): Painfully 90s RnB. Absolute snorefest (Nah)
Highlights
Entertainment!
Gang of Four
A lot of stuff I’ve listened to has been described as ‘post-punk’ and I’ve never truly understood what it meant. It just seemed to be a catch-all for any kind of alternative indie-rock from the late 70s/early 80s. It does, however, make complete sense for Gang of Four. The tempo is punky, along with the delivery and sometimes the attitude but it’s all a lot cleaner and melodic. It does actually seem like an evolution of the punk genre and really gelled with it from a first listen. Foals definitely paid attention to this for their early sound.
MTV Unplugged in New York
Nirvana
I’ve never considered myself a big Nirvana fan or believed that they are/were truly worthy of the massive esteem they are now held in but I did always like this album. I think the stripped back approach allows Kurt’s talent as a singer and songwriter to shine and he is utterly heartbreaking, at times, in this performance. This was a massive part of my musical journey in my teens and really the only Nirvana album I ever got into on any meaningful level.
270. Golden Hour — Kacey Musgraves (2018): Pleasant enough country-pop. Couple familiar. (Liked/Maybe)
269. Yeezus — Kanye West (2013): Dark, moody, electro-hiphop. Equally egotistical/fearful. (Liked)
268. Sail Away — Randy Newman (1972): Varied sketches. Humorous, sometimes religious. (Liked)
267. Double Nickels on the Dime — Minutemen (1984): 45 short songs. Nothing stuck. (Maybe)
266. Help! — The Beatles (1965): Beatles just doing Beatles things (Liked)
265. Wowee Zowee — Pavement (1995): Loose approaches. A bit messy. (Maybe)
264. Wish You Were Here — Pink Floyd (1975): Structurally mad, but musically amazing. (Loved)
263. A Hard Day’s Night — The Beatles (1964): Lessons in melody and pop. (Liked)
262. Power, Corruption & Lies — New Order (1983): Better than expected, not revelatory. (Maybe)
261. Check Your Head — Beastie Boys (1992): Much more instrumental than expected. (Liked)
Highlight
Sail Away
Randy Newman
I like Randy. He seems a fun chap. He has an unorthodox singing voice (not bad but very unique) and his song-craft is brilliant. There’s a lot of humour on this album and it just struck me that he was doing whatever he wanted and just laying the tracks down as they came to him. Some are more fleshed out than others but charm in every one.
The two Beatles albums here are entirely interchangeable (both movie tie-ins too). They were churning out so much music at that stage of their career that it’s a testament to them that the songs were constantly of such high quality. They definitely got a lot more interesting later on, though.
Really, my favourite of this batch is Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, which amazes me as an album. It shouldn’t work but so does. It’s five tracks long. Bookended by two parts of the same song, ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond,’ (a lament to their band-mate, Syd Barrett, who lost his mind and was subsequently dismissed from the group a few years earlier). The three songs in the middle are of different styles but all hitting on the same theme of their hang-ups about the music industry. There’s so much beauty and anger on show and the music is some of my favourite ever.
260. Cut — The Slits (1979): Mildly entertaining dub/ska. Uniquely jaunty. (Liked/Maybe)
259. Pearl — Janis Joplin (1971): Helluva voice belts emphatic blues-funk. (Liked)
258. The Hissing of Summer Lawns — Joni Mitchell (1975): Dense-poetry takes the lead role. (Liked/Maybe)
257. Coat of Many Colors — Dolly Parton (1971): Title-track is affecting, nothing further. (Maybe)
256. Tracy Chapman — Tracy Chapman (1988): A unique, thoughtful, thought-provoking voice. (Liked)
255. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan — Bob Dylan (1963): Generational spokesperson delivers his take. (Loved)
254. Head Hunters — Herbie Hancock (1973): Jump onboard a jazz-funk odyssey. (Liked)
253. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn — Pink Floyd (1967): Music for the LSD generation. (Liked/Maybe)
252. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo — Devo (1978): Intermittently bearable new-wave synthy punk. (Maybe/Nah)
251. Honky Château — Elton John (1972): Megahits shine on jaunty collection. (Liked)
Highlights
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
This album contains probably Tracy’s three best-known tracks (‘Fast Car’, ‘Talkin’ Bout a Revolution’ & ‘Baby Can I Hold You’) which would make it a strong contender in any batch but the whole is more than a sum of its parts. To have this much confidence on your debut is an amazing thing. So much so that she sings quite a harrowing song a-cappella, giving it the extra gravitas it deserves. She is one of the most distinct voices around and I thoroughly got on board with this.
The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
I’ll also mention The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan as it is my favourite Bob Dylan album. A product of its time, in the midst of the looming threat of nuclear war and the civil rights movement. The poetry is unrivalled and the sneer at injustice is almost visual, as you listen. That coupled with some of the subtlest dry humour that he can summon. ‘Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright’ is a song that has lived in my head since I first heard it. It’s beautiful, whilst lyrically, being a ‘fuck you’ to a past lover. The crying harmonica solo at the end gives me prickles every time.
250. Singles Going Steady — Buzzcocks (1979): Better than the Sex Pistols. (Liked)
249. Whitney Houston — Whitney Houston (1985): Some timeless classics, much schmaltz. (Liked/Maybe)
248. American Idiot — Green Day (2004): Songbook of disenfranchised millennial teenagers. (Loved)
247. Love Deluxe — Sade (1992): All moody-bass and elegant vocals. (Maybe)
246. Mama Said Knock You Out — LL Cool J (1990): Slightly cringey, time-stamped 90s rap. (Maybe)
245. Heaven or Las Vegas — Cocteau Twins (1990): Indecipherable floaty-vocals over ethereal atmosphere. (Liked/Maybe)
244. 808s & Heartbreak — Kanye West (2008): Less braggy, more sombre/reflective. Better. (Liked)
243. Odessey and Oracle — The Zombies (1968): Very good psychedelic pop rock. (Liked)
242. Loaded — The Velvet Underground (1970): More accessible, still not hitting. (Maybe)
241. Blue Lines — Massive Attack (1991): Inventing trip-hop. Some decent standouts. (Liked/Maybe)
Highlights
Odessey and Oracle
The Zombies
I had never heard of this band or album. I read that the band split up just after recording this, their 2nd album, and it remained a bit of a hidden gem for quite a while. It’s really good; somewhere between The Beatles and The Kinks in sound but some very well crafted pop-rock songs, and a lot more varied in sound throughout than a lot of bands from this era. It deserves more publicity than it’s obviously had. It’s as good as a lot of music from this era that is constantly lauded.
American Idiot
Green Day
American Idiot is a Green Day album released at a time when I had assumed they were probably done, creatively. It was a massive left-turn for a band that had always been quite fun and light in tone, up to that point. It straddles a tightrope between pretentious and earnest very well, and, realistically, it opened up the next phase of their career. It’s a concept album that apparently has a story (I couldn’t tell you what it is), but it did strike a chord with a lot of people at the time, in no small part due to Billie-Joe’s mastery of a great melody and the best ‘fists in the air’ musical moments.
That said, if what you’re looking for is lengthy multi-part punk-rock political songs, I would still urge you to check out NoFX’s The Decline first.
240. Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 — Sam Cooke (1985): Sounded like a great show (Liked)
239. Criminal Minded — Boogie Down Productions (1987): OG gangsta-rap. Not terribly enjoyable. (Maybe/Nah)
238. Trans-Europe Express — Kraftwerk (1977): Melodies produced with German efficiency. (Loved/Liked)
237. Red Headed Stranger — Willie Nelson (1975): Concept album of lo-fi country. (Liked)
236. Discovery — Daft Punk (2001): Radio-friendly hits, tedious in places. (Liked/Maybe)
235. Metallica (The Black Album) — Metallica (1991): Slower-tempo thrash finds the hits. (Liked)
234. Master of Reality — Black Sabbath (1971): Drugs, Religion, Death. Metal’s Infancy. (Liked)
233. Little Earthquakes — Tori Amos (1992): Piano and strings. Often great. (Liked)
232. Giant Steps — John Coltrane (1960): Impressive, swirling. Sometimes gets overwhelming. (Liked)
231. Damn the Torpedoes — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1979): Pretty standard ’rock’ music. Unengaging. (Maybe)
Highlights
Trans-Europe Express
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is another artist in the ‘heard lots about/never looked into’ category for me. I really got into this and had the weird experience that I’d listened to the German-language version first, unaware of the English version, which I then listened to as well. I think that double-play from two perspectives (just music and then with lyrics I understood) really opened it up for me. The music is great and also benefits from the ‘layering up’ effect that I loved about LCD Soundsystem. Of course it does also have the appeal that it’s very fun to sing ‘Showroom Dummies’ in a serious German accent.
Giant Steps
John Coltrane
I’ll also shout out to Coltrane’s album Giant Steps here. Jazz baffles me in a not-unpleasant way. I hear it and it sounds impossible to play and he’s obviously a true master of his instrument. It’s quite unsettling on first listen because the solos go everywhere except where your brain assumes they will. I’m really interested to know how jazz lovers engage with this music? If it’s all about improvisation then do they listen to the records over and over until they know every note? Or is the appeal in being unsettled like that first-time listen? It kinda feels like I don’t understand the rules to a game I’m watching but it still looks really fun and exciting. Like rugby…
230. Anti — Rihanna (2016): Quite interesting and varied. Unexpectedly enjoyable. (Liked)
229. *The Ultimate Collection — Patsy Cline (2000): Extensive collection of oldey-timey hits. (Maybe/Nah)
228. De La Soul is Dead — De La Soul (1991): Long, skit-heavy, cool in places. (Liked/Maybe)
227. Here’s Little Richard — Little Richard (1957): Blues, played fast, with pizzazz. (Liked/Maybe)
226. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs — Derek and the Dominoes (1970): Long album that contains Layla. (Liked/Maybe)
225. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot — Wilco (2001): Lovely slice of experimental indie-rock. (Liked)
224. Fly — Dixie Chicks (1999): Country girl-group. Nice harmonies. Uninspiring (Maybe)
223. Imagine — John Lennon (1971): Some great songs, some forgettable. (Liked/Maybe)
222. Ray of Light — Madonna (1998): Great, experimental dance-pop. Slightly over-long. (Liked)
221. Rage Against the Machine — Rage Against the Machine (1992): Funk-metal political hip-hop masterclass. Untouchable. (Loved)
*Compilation Album
Highlights
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Wilco
The Madonna and Rihanna albums here are both very strong but Wilco had me at first listen. Has shades of a lot of the lo-fi indie coming out of the states in the early 00s but this is experimental enough to be intriguing whilst also showcasing some great song-craft. Definitely one to revisit.
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Nobody did what Rage did. Their sound is almost inimitable due, mainly, to a guitarist in Tom Morello that defies logic and makes his instrument deliver sounds that no-one ever intended it to make, and a vocalist in Zack De La Rocha that is at once effortlessly cool and searingly angry about his subject matter. Both of those factors, coupled with perhaps the tightest rhythm section ever recorded, make this album wall-to-wall fucking awesome.
They unfortunately never came close to replicating its overall quality in their somewhat short and intermittent career. I was lucky enough to see them play in my teens and it remains perhaps the most exhilarating band/crowd I’ve ever witnessed. They were relentless and brilliant, as is this record.
220. Déjá Vu — Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970): Country-tinged harmony-laden folk-rock. Touching moments. (Liked)
219. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx — Raekwon (1995): Breathless, relentless flow from Wu-Tang-clique. (Maybe)
218. CrazySexyCool — TLC (1994): Un-Crazy, relatively-sexy, kinda-cool. Two megahits. (Liked/Maybe)
217. Definitely Maybe — Oasis (1994): Britpop-defining debut they never bettered. (Loved/Liked)
216. Either/Or — Elliott Smith (1997): Whispered, emotional delivery. Intriguing songs. (Liked)
215. American Beauty — Grateful Dead (1970): Inoffensive country-fied folk-rock. Easily listenable. (Liked/Maybe)
214. Wildflowers — Tom Petty (1994): Generally-sanguine folk-rock, some nice moments. (Liked/Maybe)
213. The Idler Wheel… — Fiona Apple (2012): Challenging. Begging to be unpicked. (Liked)
212. Wild Is the Wind — Nina Simone (1966): Reverberating, authoritatively voiced. Take heed. (Liked)
211. Unknown Pleasures — Joy Division (1979): Dark, uninviting atmosphere. Needs time (Liked/Maybe)
Highlights
The Idler Wheel…
Fiona Apple
and
Either/Or
Elliot Smith
Can’t choose between them. Both intriguing. Both need further listens to unpack them and appreciate fully. Fiona’s lyrical ability is devastating and sits at the forefront of her music, whereas, Elliott seems to hide his voice behind the music until it fades into the centre in gorgeous harmonies. Recommend listening to them both. Probably more than once.
A word on Oasis’ Definitely Maybe: I was always a Blur guy. It seemed in the mid 90s like you had to pick a side and they were my boys. That’s not to say I hated Oasis. I think they made some great music, but they didn’t lay a finger on Blur, musically, in my opinion. One main difference between them was Blur were poking fun at the culture and sensibilities that Oasis were providing at face-value. I’ve historically been very down on Liam as a performer, but as a recording artist, I’ll happily say that almost none of this album would work without his arrogant snarl. Also, the vulnerability in Liam’s voice on ‘Slide Away’ and ‘Married with Children’ (great album closer) is a different side to his performance on this album and contributes massively to the greatness of those tracks. The best moments are often when both brothers sing. It’s mostly lyrically vague and the songs just seem to be written with a rhyming dictionary.
But it’s the vibe of the thing; so evocative of the era and the Cool Britannia 90s. It’s loud, it’s fuzzy, it’s a big drunken singalong, it’s Britpop. Their problem from here on in was they believed their own hype.
210. *The Birth of Soul — Ray Charles (1991): Probably justifies 50-song collection. Brilliant. (Loved/Liked)
209. Raising Hell — Run-DMC (1986): Rhythmically satisfying. Rap/rock crossover beginnings. (Liked)
208. Tha Carter III — Lil Wayne (2008): Quite enjoyable. Lyrically-alarming at times. (Liked/Maybe)
207. Eagles — Eagles (1972): Country-rock. Enjoyable. Trans-American driving vibes (Liked)
206. Low — David Bowie (1977): Dark, Synthy experimentalism. Pushing forward (Liked)
205. Tea for the Tillerman — Cat Stevens/Yusuf (1970): Weaves emotional melodies with earnestness. (Liked)
204. Graduation — Kanye West (2007): Breezy, melodic beats. Articulate rhymes. (Liked)
203. Pink Moon — Nick Drake (1979): Succinct, haunting, heart-breaking, folky songs. (Liked)
202. Homogenic — Björk (1997): A genre of its own. (Loved/Liked)
201: Midnight Marauders — A Tribe Called Quest (1993): Horizontally-laidback hip-hop. Jazz-infused. Untouchably cool. (Liked)
*Compilation Album
Highlights
Homogenic
Björk
Quite a strong batch here. Graduation is great, I enjoyed a lighter side of Kanye. Midnight Marauders is an awesome vibe. Bowie’s most successfully progressive album in Low. But Björk, the crazy Icelandic nymph, on both the albums I’ve heard so far always seems to grab my attention the most. It doesn’t sound like anything else. All epic strings and unsettling beats, brilliant poetry and un-ignorable wails. Not a recognisable song-structure in sight. It demands further listening but there was something to love in every track on first spin.
The Birth of Soul
Ray Charles
There’s a lot of differing views on compilations being part of this list and I’m on the negative side myself. However; This was a fantastic way for me to hear how important an artist Ray Charles was to Soul and Pop music as we know it. You can draw a chronological line through this from Blues, to Rhythm & Blues to Soul and it’s kinda fascinating. I don’t think Ray gets talked about enough but he obviously paved the way for a lot of what is also in this list from an R&B/Soul perspective.
200. Diamond Life — Sade (1984): Easy listening jazz-pop. Smoothly operated etc (Maybe)
199. Slanted and Enchanted — Pavement (1992): Intentionally shambolic. Atonal, almost-spoken vocals. (Maybe)
198. The B-52’s — The B-52’s (1979): Not just a novelty act… (Liked)
197. Meet The Beatles! — The Beatles (1964): Short and sweet Beatles blast. (Liked)
196. Body Talk — Robyn (2010): In-your-face electro-pop. Unrelenting and hook-filled. (Loved/Liked)
195. Songs of Leonard Cohen — Leonard Cohen (1967): Powerful storytelling folk. Enigmatic poetry. (Loved/Liked)
194. Bad — Michael Jackson (1987): Album I’ve loved the longest. (Loved)
193. Willy and the Poor Boys — Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969): Harmony-laden country-rock and blues jams. (Liked)
192. Licensed to Ill — Beastie Boys (1986): Bratty-attitude bangers. ‘Boys’ aspect accentuated (Liked/Maybe)
191. At Last! — Etta James (1961): Classic, vocally-belted soul. Very cool. (Liked)
Highlights
Songs of Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
This is a bit… wow. Hard to pinpoint as a genre. I suppose it’s folk but that doesn’t quite cover the emphatic drama of it. I hadn’t really heard Leonard before (outside of checking out his original version of ‘Hallelujah’ once). I really loved this. It echoed in my brain and made me want to sit down with the lyrics and dive into the stories he was telling. Powerful stuff.
Body Talk
Robyn
A kind of really raw, brutal pop music that was unrelenting and brilliant. It is definitely one to revisit.
I know talking about Michael Jackson can be a contentious issue and it feels like any kind of appreciation of his music should now come with a ‘separating art from artist’ disclaimer. Bad is the first album I remember putting on myself (probably repeatedly) and I remember it being everything to me for a while. I still love it and I can’t tell you how wonderful it is, after listening to a bunch of music that you’ve not heard before for days/weeks on end (however great most of it is), to hear something you know every note of. It’s like honey on your soul. There’s nothing profound or even that moving on this album. It’s just great pop music and very, very familiar.
190. Tommy — The Who (1969): Rock musical with great moments. (Liked)
189. Dig Me Out — Sleater-Kinney (1997): Raucous, energetic, vocally-shrill songs. Punchy. (Liked)
188. Electric Warrior — T. Rex (1971): Stylish-sounding cool, glammy blues trudges. (Liked)
187. AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted — Ice Cube (1990): Some interesting social-commentary. Mainly misogyny/crime-obsession. (Maybe)
186. Blood Sugar Sex Magik — Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991): Best outing from funtime funksters. (Loved)
185. Beggars Banquet — The Rolling Stones (1968): Different shades for the ‘Stones. (Liked)
184. She’s So Unusual — Cyndi Lauper (1983): Force-of-nature performer’s massive 80s hits (Liked/Maybe)
183. Brown Sugar — D’Angelo (1995): Not much to grab onto. (Maybe)
182. Sweet Baby James — James Taylor (1970): Affecting moments, earnest singer/songwriter vibes. (Liked/Maybe)
181. Bringing It All Back Home — Bob Dylan (1965): Brilliance-laden. Half electric-judas, half folk. (Loved)
Highlight
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers
I was very familiar with this so kind of a cheat, but, in my defence, I’d probably not heard it in full for about 20 years. Plus, not much else in this batch really grabbed me (apart from ‘Bringing it all Back Home’. Another one I was already familiar with).
I’d forgotten just how good Blood Sugar… was. It is a long album but there’s not really a bad song on it.
It’s lyrically mental at times (and incredibly sex-obsessed a LOT of the time) but the tunes are so good that you just go with it. Also, in its more reflective songs (‘Breaking the Girl’, ‘Under The Bridge’, ‘I Could Have Lied’) it actually excels but doesn’t lose any of its bombast as next track you’re back on the funk-train. They never got better than this, in my opinion.
Bringing It All Back Home is my 2nd favourite Dylan album. I like that even though he’d made the decision to ‘go electric’ that he made the 2nd side of the record a straightforward acoustic folk set. Kinda offering a hand of encouragement to any detractors to come with him, easing them into his new direction. And on that 2nd side is ‘It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding’; not just my favourite Dylan song but one of my favourite songs of all time.
180. Forever Changes — Love (1967): Lush Psychedelic Folk-rock. Mariachi inflections. (Liked)
179. Life After Death — The Notorious B.I.G. (1997): Very long posthumous 90s-hiphop slog (Maybe)
178. Otis Blue — Otis Redding (1965): Unique rasp accentuates great soul-set. (Liked)
177. Every Picture Tells a Story — Rod Stewart (1971): Rod’n’Ron provide folk-rock high watermark (Liked)
176. Fear of a Black Planet — Public Enemy (1990): Relentless, sample-stitched, racial-politics motivated Hip-Hop. (Liked/Maybe)
175. DAMN. — Kendrick Lamar (2017): Artistic, interesting, engaging hip-hop. Refreshingly different. (Liked)
174. The Harder They Come: Original Soundtrack — Jimmy Cliff and Various Artists (1972): Unfamiliar with movie context. Nice reggae compilation. (Liked)
173. In Utero — Nirvana (1993): Muddy-distortion to clean-strings. Unfulfilled-future pointing. (Liked)
172. Bridge Over Troubled Water — Simon and Garfunkel (1970): Some untouchably brilliant songs. Erratic overall tone. (Liked)
171. Daydream Nation — Sonic Youth (1988): Seemingly impenetrable double-album. Screeching and similar-sounding. (Maybe)
Highlight
DAMN.
Kendrick Lamar
This bunch of albums contain some songs that I would never be without: Rod’s ‘Maggie May’, Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and ‘The Boxer’, Nirvana’s ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ and ‘Pennyroyal Tea’, Public Enemy’s ‘Fight The Power’. All of those on albums that I’ve never particularly got into as a whole.
I’ve picked Kendrick because I’d never consciously heard any of it (despite being familiar with some of his stuff) and it kept me hooked from start to finish. He has as much focus on the progressive music that he sets his delivery to as the content of what he is delivering vocally. I really want to revisit this and am really looking forward to hearing more of him.
170. Disraeli Gears — Cream (1967): Cool, guitar-licked psychedelia. Bizarre closer. (Liked)
169. The Stranger — Billy Joel (1977): Awesome, dazzlingly-delodic stories and ballads. (Loved)
168. Can’t Buy a Thrill — Steely Dan (1972): Jaunty, lush soft-rock. Thoroughly enjoyable. (Liked)
167. Violator — Depeche Mode (1990): Murky, moody, emotional. All solid. (Loved/Liked)
166. *20 Golden Greats — Buddy Holly (1978): Bright, affecting Rock’n’Roll. Unique voice. (Liked)
165. Murmur — R.E.M. (1983): Understated, Jangly birth of alt-rock. (Liked)
164. At Folsom Prison — Johnny Cash (1968): Legendary-voice performs for the incarcerated. (Liked)
163. Saturday Night Fever — Various Artists (1977): BeeGees-dominated movie soundtrack. Disco bangers. (Liked)
162. Different Class — Pulp (1995): A class of its own (Loved)
161. Crosby, Stills & Nash — Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969): Gorgeous harmonies and soft rock. (Liked)
* Compilation Album
Highlight
The Stranger
Billy Joel
This is the first album in the list that I’ve played again straight away. The well known songs are great (‘Moving Out’, ‘Always a Woman’) but the rest of the album is brilliant too and weaves some of the musical motifs back in as it goes on. ‘Scenes From An Italian Restaurant’ is a highlight; A song that moves through different vibes as, lyrically, a story plays out of the relationship of a popular couple that didn’t quite make it.
Pulp’s Different Class is probably my second favourite album ever (if we have to rank these things!) and oh lordy, I could have conversations about the way Jarvis breathes on this record (Seriously, the lip-smack and sound of him inhaling on his cigarette in ‘F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.’, genius, check it out). There’s so much to love on this album: brutally honest love songs, seedy tales of adulterous relationships, anthems for outsiders. All in a portrayal of working-class life that isn’t exactly glorified but celebrated for what it is. Narrated to you by Jarvis at his most witty and charismatic. The aforementioned ‘F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E.’ is my own favourite as it flits from the suspenseful spoken-word verses to its bombastic chorus with no middle ground. Another triumph is ‘I Spy’ which is like a Bond theme about voyeurism and the dark fantasies of the narrator. I wish the album was higher on this list but I’m glad it’s here and recognised.
160. Ten — Pearl Jam (1991): Crunchy guitar-shredding and elongated vowels. (Liked)
159. Synchronicity — The Police (1983): Chaotic. One mega-hit. Varied styles. (Liked/Maybe)
158. Mama’s Gun — Erykah Badu (2000): Jazz-infused soul. Full of personality (Liked)
157. (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? — Oasis (1995): The 90s sounded like this (Liked)
156. Let It Be — The Replacements (1984): Punk slowed to Springsteen vibes. (Liked)
155. The Black Album — Jay-Z (2003): Some of my favourite hip-hop (Loved)
154. Amazing Grace — Aretha Franklin (1972): Joyous, soulful, beautifully-delivered gospel performance (Liked)
153. Rid of Me — PJ Harvey (1993): Grungy, angry, emotional alternative-rock. Difficult. (Maybe)
152. Pretenders — The Pretenders (1980): Spiky punk-infused rock with singalong hits (Liked)
151. Faith — George Michael (1987): Great 80s-pop preoccupied with sex. (Liked)
Highlight
Amazing Grace
Aretha Franklin
Gospel music is great isn’t it? I’m not a religious man, pretty far from it, but the power of a decent gospel performance can be undeniable. It’s joyous, it’s powerfully soulful and it’s persuasive, if you are so inclined. This is Aretha in her element, performing the music she loved and probably grew up singing. What a phenomenal performer she was. There are some trying bits on this double-album, not least the titular ‘Amazing Grace’ performance, spanning 10 minutes with Aretha wringing endless seconds out of every single syllable, but on the whole this is a wondrous collection regardless of your stance on the subject-matter.
Jay-Z’s Black Album is the only album of his I ever owned in a physical format. It’s such a bright sounding album. The beats are great and he’s one of the greatest rappers, recording at a time that he was at the top of his game. The first 2 thirds of this album is all bangers and still sounds great after 20 years or so. The synth melody from ‘Dirt Off Your Shoulder’ sticks in my head for weeks at a time. Absolute tune.
150. Nebraska — Bruce Springsteen (1982): Bleak stories of down’n’out types. (Liked)
149. John Prine — John Prine (1971): Observant country-folk. Wry humourous moments (Liked)
148. Channel Orange — Frank Ocean (2012): Lyrically and musically interesting. Decent. (Liked)
147. Grace — Jeff Buckley (1984): Swirling, emotional, rock. Cover-highlight centrepiece. (Liked)
146. Parallel Lines — Blondie (1978): Fun new-wave. One third hits. (Liked)
145. The Marshall Mathers LP — Eminem (2000): Half-brilliant, half-problematic. All banging beats-wise. (Liked/Maybe)
144. Physical Graffiti — Led Zeppelin (1975): Lengthy blues-rock set with proggy patches. (Liked)
143. The Velvet Underground — The Velvet Underground (1969): More dreamy psych-pop, less experimental-madness (Liked)
142. Born in the U.S.A. — Bruce Springsteen (1984): Radio-rock hits, discontented blue-jean Americana. (Liked)
141. Doolittle — Pixies (1989): Wild, dynamic, sinister, screaming beauty. (Loved)
Highlight
Doolittle
Pixies
Ok, so weirdly, I never owned Doolittle (maybe not that weird). I had Surfer Rosa, Trompe Le Monde and Death to the Pixies (a best of compilation). I remember picking up Doolittle in music shops (remember those?) but figuring that I already had most of the songs on Death to… so I never got it. It’s a shame, because those songs sound so much better in the context of this record. It’s wilder than Surfer Rosa but sounds a lot ‘fuller’. I think they’d really clicked by this point and were working to higher production values. ‘Here Comes Your Man’ is such a weird break in the surrounding songs here that it sounds even more beautiful. All in all, I loved the songs I knew and the ones I didn’t. It’s loud, it’s lyrically-batshit, it’s great.
Marshall Mathers LP is a weird one, now. I remember it coming out on my 16th birthday and very quickly being everywhere. The singles are great and some of the better highlights like ‘Drug Ballad’ and ‘Bitch Please II’ (featuring all the Rap heavyweights of the time; Dre, Snoop, Xhibit) are buried way down the running order. The problem is with some of the content — and I’m looking mainly at the track ‘Kim’ but there’s a few problematic moments — just being actually horrible and unlistenable because of the lyrical/thematic content. The tongue-in-cheek cartoon violence goes too far and lapses into distasteful misogyny and fantasies of domestic violence. It’s a shame on what is, otherwise, a banging album.
140. Catch a Fire — Bob Marley and the Wailers (1973): Soothing reggae bops with political-awareness. (Liked)
139. Paranoid — Black Sabbath (1970): Jazzy psych-metal? Oh Lord, yeah! (Loved)
138. *The Immaculate Collection — Madonna (1990): Madge’s bangers. Evolution from beginning. (Liked)
137. 21 — Adele (2011): Front-loaded with belters. Mega-ballad ending (Liked)
136. Maggot Brain — Funkadelic (1971): Epic guitar-solos and distorted funk. (Liked)
135. The Joshua Tree — U2 (1987): Sprawling but samey. Stadium-rock born. (Liked/Maybe)
134. The Score — Fugees (1996): Soul-hiphop hybrid. Lauryn shines brightest. (Loved/Liked)
133. Hejira — Joni Mitchell (1976): Jazz-folk backing to unignorable voice. (Liked)
132. *40 Greatest Hits — Hank Williams (1978): Like a wild-west saloon jukebox. (Maybe/Nah)
131. Dummy — Portishead (1994): Pulsating, dark, beautiful trip-hop masterpiece. (Loved)
*Compilation album
Highlight
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
I don’t remember ever listening to this album in its entirety before (I’ve seen ‘Sabbath twice but have always just known the hits). I was struck by how progressive it is, taking influence from all over the place — rock, jazz, blues, psychedelia. The four members all contributing their own individual talents and making music that is, and was, completely unique. ‘War Pigs’ is such an epic song to open with and grabs your attention. It really showcases everything that is great about this band.
I like thinking of the greasers in the early 70s putting this on for the first time and getting the immediate double-hit of ‘War Pigs’ and ‘Paranoid’; they must have been losing their minds! It takes joy in its darkness and most tracks go on a journey and end up somewhere different to where they started. Lyrically, it’s broad-strokes but Ozzy delivers it like an over-excited pre-teen that just got into Dungeons and Dragons, so you just go with him. Really great.
Portishead’s Dummy is an album I’d file under ‘Masterpiece’. Trip-hop isn’t a genre of music I gel with much but my favourite description of Portishead is that they “pulled the blinds down and turned the darkness up to 11”. The music shimmers, pulsates and reverberates around Beth’s haunting vocals, which range from ultra-fragile to knock-you-on-your-arse powerful. I honestly think it’s a record anyone could get on board with, regardless of your taste in music.
130. 1999 — Prince (1982): Enter Prince’s funky sex disco. (Liked/Maybe)
129. The Wall — Pink Floyd (1979): Theatrics of a troubled mind. (Loved)
128. A Night at the Opera — Queen (1975): Mad as its best-known hit. (Liked)
127. Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music — Ray Charles (1962): Not really that modern anymore. (Maybe)
126. My Life — Mary J. Blige (1994): Didn’t really impress on me. (Maybe/Nah)
125. Paul’s Boutique — Beastie Boys (1989): Found their sound. Really enjoyable. (Liked)
124. Achtung Baby — U2 (1991): Generally great, moments of brilliance. (Liked)
123. Led Zeppelin II — Led Zeppelin (1969): Brain-shattering riffs and general bangingness (Loved/Liked)
122. The Downward Spiral — Nine Inch Nails (1994): Angst-inducing, dark, sexual, depression vibes. (Liked)
121. This Year’s Model — Elvis Costello (1978): Punchy pop-rock. Same-y but fun. (Liked)
Highlight
Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin
Always felt like Led Zep were a band I should have listened to more. I was only familiar with one of their albums going into this project (one which we’ll get into further along the list) but hadn’t really been grabbed by the two records on the list before this one. Anyhow, this was the ‘Zep I was hoping for; proper rock songs laid on with a sledgehammer. Page’s riffs rip through nearly every song, the rhythm section is tight but they never miss an opportunity to showcase themselves and Plant is just wailing wonderfully over it all. I think fun is an underrated aspect of music and I had a great time with this one.
Pink Floyd’s The Wall is truly one of the only double-albums that I think has enough great material to justify its length. It’s a great idea — our traumas and sadnesses in life are bricks in a wall that we build between ourselves and the world. Too many bricks, the higher the wall, the more detached and introverted we become. The music is varied and great although it all gets a bit mad in the second half. It’s not ‘peak’ Floyd and realistically the whole thing is pretty much just Roger Waters’ creation but as a piece of music, art, theatre and philosophy, I love it dearly.
120. Moondance — Van Morrison (1970): Dreamy fusion of many genres. (Liked)
119. Stand! — Sly and the Family Stone (1969): Great funk-soul record with extended jam. (Liked)
118. Hotel California — The Eagles (1976): Well-written, well-performed, well-produced. Generally well-received. (Liked)
117. Late Registration — Kanye West (2005): 2nd album confidence. ‘Touch long. (Liked)
116. Disintegration — The Cure (1989): Had me then lost me. (Liked/Maybe)
115. good Kid, m.A.A.d city — Kendrick Lamar (2012): Autobiographical, lyrically overwhelming hip-hop concept-album. (Liked)
114. Is This It — The Strokes (2001): Unique sounding lo-fi indie blast (Liked)
113. The Queen Is Dead — The Smiths (1986): Beautifully crafted, melodramatically crooned jangle-rock. (Liked)
112. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road — Elton John (1973): Brilliant songs bloated by filler. (Loved/Liked)
111. Control — Janet Jackson (1986): Good bops. 80s as shoulder-pads. (Liked)
Highlight
The Queen is Dead
The Smiths
I’ve never been much of a Smiths fan. I liked the popular singles but never enough to listen to a whole album. I have been drawn to them more as the years have passed and found myself liking their stuff more when I hear it. It took me a while to stop being annoyed by Morrisey’s voice and just go with the flamboyance and originality of it. The music is fantastic and it needs a unique voice at the front of it. I really liked this. Will definitely revisit.
A note on album lengths: Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road contains around 10–12 songs (about 45–50 mins or so), which on their own, sequenced properly, would constitute one of the greatest albums ever made. The problem is, it is 17 songs and 75 mins long. It is bloated by too many songs of lesser quality. The first half is so good (apart from ‘Jamaica Jerk-off’ which can go make a home in the bin), containing some of my favourite music ever. ‘Funeral For A Friend’/‘Love Lies Bleeding’ is probably my favourite Elton song, it never fails to land with me despite being over 10 mins long. Unfortunately, the second half always loses me. ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’ is obviously a banger but apart from that and maybe ‘Harmony’, it just feels like a load of filler. It’s a shame because with a firmer hand on the edit button, this would surely make the Top 30 on this list which the better half of it deserves.
I have similar feelings about The Cure’s Disintegration which I know is very well regarded. I was hearing it for the first time here and although I liked the songs on the whole, they were just far too long. Many running to 8/9 minutes with no discernible shift in structure or ideas. To which end, it just began to bore me. Don’t know what I’m missing with this but I’m sure someone will point it out.
110. Court and Spark — Joni Mitchell (1974): More welcoming for the newcomer. (Liked)
109. Transformer — Lou Reed (1972): Bowie-production finds accessibility in art-house. (Loved)
108. When the Pawn… — Fiona Apple (1999): More Brilliance from amazing Apple (Loved/Liked)
107. Marquee Moon — Television (1977): Inventive art-rock carried by interwoven-guitars. (Liked)
106. Live Through This — Hole (1994): Screamy alt-rock with Pixies-esque quiet/loud. (Liked/Maybe)
105. At Fillmore East — The Allman Brothers (1971): Endless guitar solos and blues. (Maybe/Nah)
104. Sticky Fingers — The Rolling Stones (1971): Nonchalant blues/country with great singles. (Liked)
103. Three Feet High and Rising — De La Soul (1989): Breezy, cheerful, engaging rap music. (Liked)
102. The Clash — The Clash (1977): Early punk doesn’t forsake melody. (Liked)
101. Led Zeppelin — Led Zeppelin (1969): Rock heavyweights arrive fully formed. (Liked)
Highlight
When the Pawn…
Fiona Apple
It’s a strange thing discovering an artist that you really like. As much as some music will grow on you after many repeated listens, there has to be something in there that hooks you and makes that revisit necessary. This is the third of Fiona’s albums on the list so far and I’ve been instantly taken with them all. I have a predisposition towards music with piano as its primary instrumentation and there’s just something about her that I find intriguing. There’s an artiness and charisma about her writing and performance that I just want to dig further into. Immersing myself in her music will be my first job once I’ve finished this project.
My first experience of Lou Reed was his guest appearance on a Gorillaz track called ‘Some Kind of Nature’ which I fell in love with and looked into Transformer as a result. It’s honestly the only music of his that I’ve ever given much time to. This album is brilliant from start to finish. It’s produced by David Bowie and his collaborator Mick Ronson and I think they pushed Lou into a more accessible place without losing the artiness of his music. The beauty of ‘Perfect Day’, ‘Satellite of Love’ and general awesomeness of ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ is the result.
(For the top 100, I switched to a 10-word review format for every album and picked out a highlight or two for every 5 albums. I was quite a few months into the project now and was really enjoying the writing and reviewing of these albums).
100. Music From Big Pink — The Band (1968): Lovely Americana sound that travels and blends through various genres. (Liked)
99. Red — Taylor Swift (2012): Saccharine country-pop aplenty with whiplash switches to ‘Hit Single Mode’. (Liked/Maybe)
98. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road — Lucinda Williams (1998): Comfortably laidback, earnest Country-Rock. Lucinda wears life-experience on her voice. (Liked)
97. Master of Puppets — Metallica (1986): Blistering onslaught of thrash-metal. Some outstanding, some can get exhausting. (Liked)
96: Automatic for the People — R.E.M. (1992): Glorious folk-tinged rock exploring life, despair, death — but finding hope. (Loved)
Highlights
Automatic for the People
R.E.M.
Where to start…
It’s the R.E.M. album with the songs you’ll know but they shine so much brighter as part of the whole piece. The whole thing’s a vibe you can immerse yourself in. It’s introspective but never morose. It goes to dark places but always gives you the light to find your way back. It is sequenced beautifully, with the lighter moments (‘Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight’, ‘Ignoreland’, ‘Man on the Moon’) spaced evenly to keep the whole thing balanced. All in all, I think the reason it works so well is because of the overarching theme of a shared experience. Everybody hurts, you’re not alone. All rivers find the ocean. Don’t be scared, don’t throw your hand. There’s probably more. I only got into this album about a year ago but have found something more in it on every listen since.
Master of Puppets
Metallica
I’ll also give a shout out to Master of Puppets because the first 2 tracks (‘Battery’ and ‘Master of Puppets’), a running time of about 14 minutes, are such an amazing ride and undeniably brilliant. I found it hard to keep that enthusiasm through the whole thing and found it tiring after a while but thrash-metal ain’t entirely my thing and I’m sure that if this is your music and you have the appetite for it, then this album is a masterpiece.
95. Take Care — Drake (2011): Quite honest, lyrically. Quite dull, musically. All sounds quite similar. (Maybe)
94. Fun House — The Stooges (1970): Angry, repetitive, chaotic, punky rock. Lost some psychedelia from debut. (Liked/Maybe)
93. Supa Dupa Fly — Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott (1997): Awesome laidback beats. Missy oozes cool throughout. Doesn’t sound dated. (Liked)
92. Axis: Bold as Love — The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967): Rock’n’Roll experimentalism from Guitar-God. Shines in its beautiful lighter moments. (Liked)
91. Darkness on the Edge of Town — Bruce Springsteen (1978): Broken dreams, working people’s struggles and cars, always the cars. (Loved)
Highlight
Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bruce Springsteen
What is it about Bruce? I think it’s the passion in his voice. He really feels every word he sings and captures/conveys the characters he creates. This album is pretty heartbreaking. It’s the hopes and dreams of these people that is tearing them apart and although there’s some redemption to the stories, there’s not as much as with some of his other work. Cars are his metaphor, whether they are being raced, built, longed for. A symbol of the power in every person, the engines of society. Most often, they are the means of escape from the mundanity of their lives. It’s testament to him that it doesn’t get tired and that is, in large part, down to the chemistry between him and the E Street Band. They just never miss.
One of the hardest things about this project is trying to remain objective or constructive about music I actively dislike. Everyone has kinds of music that they just can’t get on with and unfortunately for me, that is represented by Drake. Drake is obviously well-regarded as an artist. His music is amongst the most listened-to on all streaming platforms and he’s won 5 Grammys. It’s just not for me. Which is fine, but, in that vain, let me try to find something positive to say about Take Care.
This is Drake’s second LP and has a theme that he’s struggling to come to terms with all the facets of his new-found fame. Particularly in regard to marrying up the massive adulation he receives from fans/critics with problems in his real-world relationships. This is evident on ‘Marvin’s Room,’ concerning a drunken phone-call to an ex, perhaps an attempt to connect with something in his life that was ‘real’ before fame brought him everything he could ask for. He often mentions drinking and you have the feeling he’s admitting this may be becoming a problem. This is evident on the track ‘We’ll Be Fine,’ where he admits it’s ‘hard to say no’ and goes on to repeat the line ‘we’ll be fine’ to the point that you wonder who it is he’s trying to convince. There’s confidence on show here but also lots of vulnerability. There’s an honesty about his feelings that is quite refreshing.
90. After the Gold Rush — Neil Young (1970): Slow-paced country styled folk delivered in crying falsetto. Beautiful songs. (Loved/Liked)
89. Baduizm — Erykah Badu (1997): Silky cool neo-soul with one eye on classic jazz stylings. (Liked/Maybe)
88. Hunky Dory — David Bowie (1971): Folk-Rock brilliance. With experimentalism on a leash, keeps the personality. (Loved)
87. Bitches Brew — Miles Davis (1970): Style experimentation leads to creation of Fusion. Unlike anything experienced. (Liked)
86. The Doors — The Doors (1967): Psychedelic rock. Sometimes Jaunty, sometimes jazzy. Often dark. Always sinister. (Liked)
Highlight
Hunky Dory
David Bowie
There’s lots of different iterations of Bowie but this is his most ‘natural’ sounding. Not to say it’s in any way boring. He was still, at this early point in his career, doing something different with the styles he worked in. This was him setting out his stall, proving himself as a songwriter. Some of the songs here are timeless classics; The jaunty piano and singalong-iness of ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’, the amazing strings and melodies on ‘Quicksand’ and the all-round awesomeness of ‘Life on Mars’. He constantly evolved after this, which kept him relevant, but it was such a strong position to grow from.
It’s kind of impossible to say anything about Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew without sounding either incredibly pretentious or unintentionally ignorant. I will say that I found it very interesting and despite the long running times it never bored me. I found it quite meditative as it is hard to pay full attention to, (lest it melt your brain trying to keep up), but also impossible to ignore. The title track in particular was great (all 27 minutes of it) with its recurring motif of piercing blasts that sounded amazing in stereo and kind of woke you from the hypnotic reveries that the track had taken you to. There, I told you it would come off pretentious…
85. Plastic Ono Band — John Lennon (1970): Deeply personal lyrical content aired to catchy lo-fi bluesy rock. (Liked)
84. Back in Black — AC/DC (1980): Unstoppable riffs continue despite minor setback of lead-singer’s untimely demise. (Liked)
83. Dusty in Memphis — Dusty Springfield (1969): Classic orchestral soul. Short and sweet album. One standout hit. (Liked/Maybe)
82. There’s a Riot Goin’ On — Sly and the Family Stone (1971): Loosely-performed funk. Whilst sounding cool, songs meander aimlessly. Brief yodelling. (Maybe)
81. Beyoncé — Beyoncé (2013): Progressive approach to RnB. Dirty-beat bangers, straight-up pop and more. (Liked)
Highlight
Beyoncé
Beyoncé
I wasn’t massively blown away by any of these five. The John Lennon album is kinda good. He sounds like he was getting some stuff off his chest and becoming an artist in his own right rather than a ‘Beatle gone solo’. That said, it’s all fairly trudgy and sounds like the bluesy bits of Abbey Road but not as good.
I think the context of AC/DC’s Back in Black is possibly more interesting than the album itself. The title track is obviously a belter and ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ another timeless rock classic, but, apart from that, it’s a bit samey and very ‘laddish’ in its lyrical content. However, knowing that Bon Scott had essentially drunk himself to death the same year and rather than fall apart, the band went out and found someone that could sing like him (Brian Johnson) and just forged on to make what went on to become their best-selling album… you’ve got to admire the determination and resolve of that.
So Beyoncé it is. I’ve not a huge amount to say other than it was a lot more progressive and varied than I had expected. I know she was pushing boundaries on Lemonade (yet to come in this list) but hadn’t realised that had begun on earlier albums. Hearing this for the first time, I found it was a lot better than I had anticipated.
80. Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols — The Sex Pistols (1977): Filth, fury, outrage. All with a whiff of outside design. (Maybe)
79. Blond — Frank Ocean (2016): Chameleon-voiced musings to subtly constructed soundscapes. Hard to grasp onto. (Liked/Maybe)
78. The Sun Sessions — Elvis Presley (1976): Rockabilly early recordings from rock’n’roll’s most famous son. Solid stuff. (Liked)
77. Who’s Next — The Who (1971): Big leap for band and rock-music alike. Proggy, epic bangers (Loved/Liked)
76. Superfly — Curtis Mayfield (1972): Classic soul-funk soundtrack outshines the movie it was made for. (Liked)
Highlight
Who’s Next
The Who
I made a comment earlier in this list about U2’s The Joshua Tree sounding like the birth of ‘stadium rock’ but it seems The Who were pushing that sound a lot earlier. This is a fantastic album and has a taste for epic scope in its music. I’d say some of it sounds Springsteen-esque if it didn’t predate The Boss by a few years but there’s definitely that same cinematic feeling to a lot of the songs. Any album that starts with ‘Baba O’Riley’ and ends with ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ is going to be strong but the songs in-between are mostly great too with only ‘My Wife’ being a slight tonal misstep (IMO). Oh!, and the drumming; my lord, Keith Moon was a beast, using every available second with his imaginative fills and keeping all the songs exciting, especially in the instrumental moments.
With regard to The Sex Pistols, I completely understand the context of them in the punk movement of the late seventies and I get that this is an important record to a lot of people in that regard. I just don’t really like their music and I think this list has highlights of that movement that are possibly more authentic and musically progressive like The Clash, The Ramones and The Stooges. I always found with the ‘Pistols, that the attitude, image, and reputation was the real driving force rather than the music itself.
75. Lady Soul — Aretha Franklin (1968): Soulful, unignorable voice lifts the songs to a higher plain. (Loved/Liked)
74. The College Dropout — Kanye West (2004): Conversational, charismatic rhymes. Undeniable tracks only blighted by bloated runtime. (Loved/Liked)
73. Loveless — My Bloody Valentine (1991): Oppressively distorted guitars. Sweet, buried vocals. Enigmatic, atmospheric, washing sound. (Liked)
72. Harvest — Neil Young (1972): Country, folk and rock all fused to dramatic, existential ponderings. (Loved)
71. Exodus — Bob Marley and the Wailers (1977): Religious-politics divides, religion/love unites. Songs synonymous with reggae genre. (Liked)
Highlight
Harvest
Neil Young
A really strong set of five here. Aretha’s voice and passion blew me away at times. Kanye’s debut has a lot of phenomenal songs but at 76 minutes it is just far too long to enjoy completely as an album. It was my first time hearing Loveless and I was intrigued but it strikes me as music I would need to revisit many times before it fully clicked. Bob Marley was great and you can see why he’s the first name you’d think of in terms of reggae. However, Neil Young’s Harvest is, in my opinion, one of the best flowing, cohesive and beautiful albums ever made.
There are thematic through-lines in the lyrics of getting older, looking at your life and wondering if you made the right decisions. A longing to be loved and to be a better person. Sometimes personal, sometimes through the prism of others. The music ranges from country to dramatic orchestral arrangements to crunchy rock to two minutes of the most devastating folk on ‘The Needle and the Damage Done’ (performed live by Neil with an acoustic guitar and one of the most perfect performances I can think of). I got into this album about 20 years ago on a recommendation but hadn’t heard it for some time. It’s pretty perfect, really.
70. Straight Outta Compton — N.W.A. (1988): Important step in hiphop’s journey. Some became timeless cultural touchstones. (Liked/Maybe)
69. Jagged Little Pill — Alanis Morissette (1995): 90s evoking emotional indie-rock. Bits around the hits are strongest. (Liked)
68. Hounds of Love — Kate Bush (1985): Deserves its own genre. Bizarre t-pop? Second half beautifully baffling. (Liked)
67. Reasonable Doubt — Jay-Z (1996): Mafioso braggadocio. Confidence-laden laidback debut. The tunes got better later. (Liked/Maybe)
66. A Love Supreme — John Coltrane (1965): Freeform Jazz. Quartet of phenomenal musicians pushing each other higher. (Liked)
Highlight
Hounds of Love
Kate Bush
I don’t know if this is an album anyone could truly appreciate with one listen but it definitely intrigued and interested me. During the second half I had to pause it and read up on what was going on as I was baffled, especially during ‘Waking the Witch’ (for my money, the strangest song on this list so far). Once I read a bit about the conceptual nature of the songs I went back and appreciated it more. There’s an awful lot to dig into here and I can’t wait to revisit and unpack some of it.
I do really like Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill, it’s incredibly evocative of my early high school days, but it seems strangely highly placed here. There are some incredible hooks and radio-friendly hits. I prefer the non-hits like ‘Perfect’ and ‘Mary Jane’. Also, ‘Ironic’ still annoys me as it was hideously overplayed at the time of release and, for my money, doesn’t contain a single example of irony. Maybe that’s what makes it ironic? Wait a minute…
65. Live at the Apollo — James Brown (1963): Cool Soul Set from its Godfather. Before his self-referencing began. (Liked)
64. Stankonia — Outkast (2000): Progressive-hiphop. Many different moods, all delivered impeccably and beautifully produced. (Liked)
63. Aja — Steely Dan (1977): Jazz-pop jamboree. The epitome of ‘smooth’. Glides along quite dreamily. (Liked)
62. Appetite for Destruction — Guns N’ Roses (1987): Attitude/style backed by great songs, world-class guitars and inimitable vocals. (Loved)
61. Paid in Full — Eric B. And Rakim (1987): Formative hiphop. Focus equal between beats and rhymes. Self-lauding, thematically. (Liked/Maybe)
Highlight
Appetite for Destruction
Guns N’ Roses
Because of course it is! I fell in love with GnR aged about 10 after watching a video of them performing in Paris. I think it was the performance itself that hooked me; the energy, attitude and confidence. What GnR managed to do, that is a rarity in my opinion, was to capture the ferocity of their live performance on their studio recordings. Appetite… is a phenomenal album that doesn’t relent. It just keeps coming at you — it’s a loud, overwhelming assault on the senses through the seedy images of a debauched life in a debauched city. There’s love songs, sure, but they don’t forget that love is painful too.
There’s just something about GnR that I don’t think anyone else managed to reach. They just hit harder. Axl’s vocals, at their raspy best on this album, can be angry/violent/sarcastic/lovelorn, often all at the same time. He is the rottweiler, straining at the leash, snarling. Slash does with his guitar what people tell me jazz players did with their instruments; he paints pictures and tells stories. Take the solo from ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ as a case in point: It escalated something that could have been a run-of-the-mill rock love song to something else entirely. It moves from lovesick longing to frustration to anger — all without saying a word. It morphs the song to a totally different tone.
This album doesn’t say anything profound, but it does feel profound. The whole thing has such a satisfying crunch to it. The attitude feels punky and dangerous without ever being cartoonish. It has an air of not giving a fuck, whilst simultaneously giving all of the fucks and smacking you in the face with them. It’s a lot… and it’s all awesome.
60. Astral Weeks — Van Morrison (1968): Lengthy, unchanging jazz-inflected folk. Imagine hippies jamming in ethereal woodland. (Maybe)
59. Talking Book — Stevie Wonder (1972): Synth-y funk and ballads intermingle until they blend together beautifully (Liked)
58. Led Zeppelin IV — Led Zeppelin (1971): Perfect blend of blistering rock and spirituality. Riffs for days. (Loved)
57. The Band — The Band (1969): A rambling, bop-filled trip through Americana. Unbeatable melodies at forefront. (Loved/Liked)
56. Exile in Guyville — Liz Phair (1993): Often stripped-back, brutal female-viewpoint reply to Stones’ similar-named record. Interesting. (Liked)
Highlight
The Band
The Band
There’s just nothing like a batch of great songs is there? This is the third of the albums on this list featuring The Band (one of them accompanying Bob Dylan) and it’s definitely the one I’ve enjoyed the most. All forms of Americana involved; it hops from blues rock with swinging horn sections to ragtime piano to folk. All with great melodies, gorgeous hooks and lush harmonies. It’s all quite fun, even in its melodramatic moments and I really liked it. Evocative of what Elton John did on Tumbleweed Connection (sadly missing from this list), it puts itself in the American past and just explores all it has to offer.
Zep 4 would have been an easy highlight. It’s the only Led Zep album I ever owned and I love it dearly. It slaps so hard, a real highwater mark of the hard rock genre.
Starting your album with Black Dog is a real statement of intent. The pagan/spiritual side of Robert Plant’s personality does shine on the record but it’s kept in check, mainly contained within Battle of Evermore and of course, Stairway to Heaven. A song so ubiquitous within its genre’s fandom that it became an in-joke of its own (No Stairway? Denied!!). The reason for its status is that it’s an absolute masterpiece of a song. The slow build of it, verse by verse, the blistering solo and wailed final verse/coda and a universal theme of being yourself despite any which way you might be pushed. I used to have that final verse printed out and stuck to my bedroom door as a teenager, because I was, deep down, super-duper cool.
55. Dark Side of the Moon — Pink Floyd (1973): The human experience in context of the infinite. A masterpiece (Loved)
54. *Star Time — James Brown (1991): Papa’s got a brand new 71-song, near 5-hour retrospective collection. (Maybe/Nah)
53. Electric Ladyland — Jimi Hendrix (1968): From tight catchy bangers to indulgent, sprawling 15-minute jazz-tinged jams. (Liked)
52. Station to Station — David Bowie (1976): Cocaine induced madness bearing fruit of six wonderful, varied songs. (Loved)
51. *The Great Twenty-Eight — Chuck Berry (1982): Fast paced, lively and fun rock’n’roll compilation. Impossible to dislike. (Liked)
*Compilation Album
Highlight
Dark Side of the Moon
Pink Floyd
One of my all-time favourite albums. I enjoyed listening to this in the context of other stuff that is highly-regarded. For me, it is as close to ‘perfect’ as an album can be. There’s a broad through-line, in theme, of the experience of life itself. Time, money, war, mental health, death and the fleetingness of life in the context of the infinite constant of the sun and moon (“racing around to come up behind you again”). The ending couplet of ‘Brain Damage’ and ‘Eclipse’ is an awesome wrap-up; the minutiae of life driving us insane, aiming for perfection but in the end your time will be up: “Everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon”. The scope is so massive that my take on it is just one take. It can (and does) mean different things to different people.
The music is varied and it speaks volumes that I never really stopped to consider the genre-hopping it does: Country vibes on ‘Breathe’, soul ad-lib insanity on ‘Great Gig in the Sky’, blues and jazz on ‘Money’. There’s an undercurrent of psychedelic prog-rock to it all but a massively mixed bag of stuff and amazing that it all fits together so well.
I’d also forgotten just how good Bowie’s Station to Station was. Six belting songs, not a wasted second or anything that outstays its welcome. Apparently, he was in such a constant drugged up state at the time that he had no recollection of recording it. Which made me smile, to think that Bowie had forgotten better albums than most people have made.
50. The Blueprint — Jay-Z (2001): Breezy, upbeat rapper finds world-class production. Takes control of conversation. (Liked)
49. Aquemini — Outkast (1998): ‘Dirty south’ hiphop. Awesome vibes stretched out from each side. (Liked)
48. Legend — Bob Marley and the Wailers (1984): Formidable sequence of songs now sewn into general pop culture. (Liked)
47. Ramones — Ramones (1976): Fourteen songs, Twenty-Nine minutes, three chords, bangin’ bops. Pop-punk glory. (Liked)
46. Graceland — Paul Simon (1986): Complete submission to african-beat inspiration. Perfect vehicle for these songs. (Loved)
Highlight
Graceland
Paul Simon
I mentioned earlier on in this list about how Dire Straits’ Brothers in Arms seemed to be part of my consciousness now due to constant exposure as a child and Graceland definitely feels the same. I absorbed this music by osmosis from a young age and now it feels relaxing and soothing by association.
I like that Paul Simon submitted himself so totally to the South African street music he had been inspired by (demonstrated earlier in the list by the Indestructible Beat of Soweto compilation). Rather than try and replicate this music on his own, he went and recorded his songs with the musicians that were making it, giving this whole album a very authentic feel. The instrumentation compliments his meandering songwriting and lilting, gentle voice perfectly, making this an entirely unique record, but also a very accessible and enjoyable one.
Very much enjoyed Blueprint and Aquemini too. Both pushing the genre of hiphop in new directions. Blueprint, in particular, cementing Jay-Z’s place at the top of the pile for quite a few years to come. I do, however, struggle with the running times of these records. Blueprint isn’t so bad at just over an hour (although, the revisit of ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ at the end feels unnecessary) but Aquemini, at 75 minutes, just made me lose all patience with it by the end. Which is a shame, as it starts so strongly and has loads going on for the main part.
45. Sign O’ the Times — Prince (1987): Funky numbers and varied delivery. Double-album flies by, sometimes unnoticed. (Liked/Maybe)
44. Illmatic — Nas (1994): Intricate, relentless lyricism over haunted-energy beats. Tight, cohesive, real-life commentary. (Liked)
43. The Low End Theory — A Tribe Called Quest (1991): Coolest, loose, jazz-sampled beats and MC’s that drip all over. (Loved/Liked)
42. OK Computer — Radiohead (1997): Probably the best album ever recorded. Exciting, interesting, deep, rewarding. (Loved)
41. Let It Bleed — The Rolling Stones (1969): Quite a few forgettable songs sandwiched between two world-class songs (Liked/Maybe)
Highlight
OK Computer
Radiohead
Hard to know where to start. Maybe that it’s probably my favourite album of all time and I think it should be top of this list? That’s not just a subjective view, I objectively believe it is the greatest album of all time and I’ve definitely seen it top similar lists in the past, so I can’t be alone in that view.
What I love about it is that I’m still getting more from it every listen after 27 years. The whole thing is baked in paranoia and dread. Wary of the technology that is taking over in a shrinking world. Constantly referencing real or perceived disasters: The “jackknifed juggernaut” in ‘Airbag’, the “aircrash” in ‘Lucky’ and wanting to escape “Before all hell breaks loose” in ‘Exit Music’ (“all hell” in this case being a doom-filled fuzz bass-line that will vibrate your soul). It also tries to look at humanity objectively. In ‘Subterranean Homesick Alien,’ the aliens hover above, witnessing “All these strange creatures that lock up their spirits”. ‘Paranoid Android’ throws shade at “yuppies, networking” and “Gucci little piggies”.
The music is like nothing else, before or since (including by the band themselves). I feel like more bands might try and ape the sound of this album if they could just put their finger on what that actually is. It’s kind of angular but also soothing. It sounds haunting in parts but also has anthemic qualities. There’s a lot going on in every track but none of it is unnecessary. There’s not a bad track on it but, even so, it’s more than the sum of its parts. And, yeah, ‘Fitter Happier’ probably isn’t on anyone’s ‘bangers’ playlist, but really, what could glue the centre of this album together better than a computerised voice repeating increasingly depressing self-improvement goals before glibly accepting its fate of being “a pig, in a cage, on antibiotics”? Nothing.
Anxious, cathartic, perfect.
40. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars — David Bowie (1972): Glam-alien delivers rock sermon. His first character-study is career-highlight. (Loved)
39. Remain in Light — Talking Heads (1980): Intricate rhythms take precedence over song structures. All great vibes. (Liked)
38. Blonde on Blonde — Bob Dylan (1966): Lovely melodies to go with the poetry. Love songs shine. (Loved/Liked)
37. The Chronic — Dr. Dre (1992): Gangster-rap cornerstone. Great beats but usual tropes. Snoop doing the heavy-lifting. (Maybe)
36. Off the Wall — Michael Jackson (1979): Glorious sounding disco-masterpiece. Highlights Michael’s talent but also Quincy Jones. (Loved/Liked)
Highlights
Blonde on Blonde
Bob Dylan
Blonde on Blonde I was semi-familiar with, probably having heard about twice before. I just love the melodies. Bob isn’t the most melodic singer but the feeling of this album is so much more tuneful than a lot of his other work. That doesn’t mean the strong points of any of Dylan’s work — the poetry and stories — are diminished, it’s just nicer to listen to. The more emotional moments, like ‘I Want You’ and ‘Just Like a Woman’ are highlights for me. It’s a double-album that doesn’t outstay its welcome (a rarity, IMO). Even the 11 minutes of ‘Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’ as a closer doesn’t feel indulgent or unnecessary, which is amazing, really, considering.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
David Bowie
Talking about final songs; ‘Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide’ on Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album is an all-time favourite album closer. David was embracing the misfits by playing ‘King Misfit’ and screaming “You’re not alone!” to his subjects. The concept of the alien experiencing humanity and rock stardom objectively must have mirrored how David felt about himself in the scheme of things. ‘Five Years,’ the opener on Ziggy… is probably my favourite Bowie song. He is warning humanity that we are concerning ourselves with the trivial, ignoring the truly important factors — and we’re running out of time. You can apply that as much (if not more) today as 50 years ago.
35. Rubber Soul — The Beatles (1965): Building on their strengths and reaching for something more interesting. (Loved/Liked)
34. Innervisions — Stevie Wonder (1973): Embarrassed I hadn’t heard this before now. What a ride! (Loved)
33. Back to Black — Amy Winehouse (2006): A classic jazz-singer voice from a youthful, emotional, darkly-comic mind. (Loved/Liked)
32. Lemonade — Beyoncé (2016): Scorned superstar replies with her best ever work. Raw emotion. (Loved/Liked)
31. Kind of Blue — Miles Davis (1959): Jazz-album the most people could name. Probably for good reason. (Loved/Liked)
Highlight
Innervisions
Stevie Wonder
Really could have been any of the five. All great in their own way but Stevie blew me away. This one really is ‘all killer’, every song with the most wonderful hooks and melodies. Funk, soul, pop, whatever you want.
‘Higher Ground’ is an absolute banger, ‘Don’t You Worry ’Bout A Thing’ contains about four different killer hooks and is another in a long line of ‘didn’t realise this was a Stevie Wonder track’ songs that have broken through into general consciousness through covers or samples. ‘Living For The City’ is probably the overall high-point for me with its awesome tune and gritty social commentary. And that soulful, growly rasp that Stevie kicks into sometimes; that’s awesome isn’t it?
Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black proffers the question of how much extra gravitas is given to the artist’s work should the artist die young?
Don’t get me wrong, I think Back to Black is a fantastic album. Amy’s songwriting was brilliant, and the juxtaposition of her often conversational, flippant lyrics sung in a voice that was deep, classic jazz made her a unique proposition. I just think that the context of her personal demons and untimely death make songs like ‘Back to Black,’ ‘Love is a Losing Game’ and ‘You Know I’m No Good’ all the more poignant. Also, in this context, her mega-hit ‘Rehab’ is very dark and actually, quite sad. “I don’t have the time, and if my daddy thinks I’m fine” is now similar to hearing Kurt Cobain sing “I don’t have a gun” on ‘Come As You Are.’
In a different universe, where Amy won her personal battles, perhaps this album isn’t as highly regarded. But this is now the context of this work, and context matters.
For the top 30 albums, I decided to do a full write-up for each. This was to make sure I had properly considered all of the ‘business end’ of the list and, in all honesty, I was enjoying myself and found that I wanted to write more and more.
30.
Are You Experienced (1967)
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi only released three albums in his relatively-short recording career before his death in 1970 at the age of 27. All three of those albums have placed in the top 100 of this list, with this, his debut, the highest placed.
Obviously, as a rock music fan, I was familiar with a lot of Hendrix’s music but on listening to his other 2 later albums, I had begun to wonder where all the great songs I knew were. Turns out they were all here, on his first record. To say he came out of the blocks fast would be an understatement. ‘Purple Haze’ — Boom! ‘Hey Joe’ — Boom! — ‘Fire’ — Boom! — ‘Highway Chile’ (personal favourite) — More Boom! It really is of a very high quality throughout.
Also, Hendrix is too cool. Think about the song ‘Foxy Lady’. Now imagine anyone else singing it. In any other hands it would be an absolute cringe-fest, but coming from Jimi it sounds cool (“Here I come, Baby. Comin’ to GIT ya!”) Ok, it’s still slightly cringe. But mostly cool. There’s room for some experimentation here, a couple of jazzy blues-rock jams and even a weird reverse recorded effect on the title-track. All in all, Jimi had probably solidified ’Legend’ status after this first effort.
(Loved)
29.
The Beatles (White Album) (1968)
The Beatles
After the success of Sgt Pepper’s, The Beatles could pretty much do whatever they wanted. What they chose to do was; everything.
This album is an absolute chaos of ideas, styles, moods and tones. It does have one cohesive overarching theme in that pretty much all the songs are… really good. It contains a couple of my all time favourites (‘Blackbird’, ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’) and just a load of stuff that is really fun. I’ll always be up for singing my heart out to Paul and George’s ‘doo-wop’ backing vocals on ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’ (“bang baaaang shooooot shoot!”), the bit in ‘Martha My Dear’ when the band kicks in around the second verse, the bit in ‘Rocky Racoon’ where Paul’s American accent slips and he delivers the line “and Rocky didn’t like that” in lapsed Liverpudlian. I could go on…. all wonderful moments that I treasure.
I think the one thing that grabbed me this time around is that by this point in their career, you could decipher who was the driving force behind each song. The John, Paul, George and Ringo songs were becoming more distinct and spottable. Each one of them bringing loads to the table and perhaps growing this collection to the size it reached.
30 songs, 90 minutes. There are so few bands or artists that could have made this kind of madness and made it this good.
(Loved)
28.
Voodoo (2000)
D’Anjelo
D’Angelo’s 2nd album, released in 2000 and hailed as a classic of the neo-soul genre.
Have to admit I struggled with this one. Although, RnB/neo-soul isn’t my personal taste of music, I have enjoyed, or at least been able to appreciate some of this record’s contemporaries a lot more. Not least Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun (which was recorded in the same period, at the same studio, with a lot of the same musicians), which I really liked. The music on Voodoo leaves me with an unshakeable feeling that something is missing from the tracks. Because of D’Angelo’s habit of singing in quite a subtle high-register, mostly with a tight harmony behind it and quite low in the mix, the songs sound a bit like backing tracks that are missing a main vocal. It was evocative of Prince and Al Green in parts but without any of the personality and focus that those artists brought to their performances.
I took some advice from a colleague on what I was missing with this, as I felt very negative towards it and wondered if I was missing the point (especially with it placing so high on the list). He didn’t offer me much to change my mind other than this signified a shift in the RnB/soul genre back to a more classic and authentic sound at the time. I suppose that is admirable. I’ve just read that producer Questlove was quoted as saying “It’s not a middle-ground record — you’re either going to love it or hate it.” I’ll stop short of hate but I certainly didn’t love it
(Maybe/Nah)
27.
Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
Wu-Tang Clan
One thing that sprung to mind whilst listening to this was a line from the Eminem track ‘Who Knew’: “I don’t do black music, I don’t do white music. I make fight music for high-school kids”. I really think that would be the genre I’d file this under: Fight Music. Violent not only in its subject matter but in its production and delivery. Not even angry as such. Just a malicious intent that runs through it all. Like the running theme of Kung-Fu movies that is littered throughout in soundbites and references; this is violence as entertainment.
I liked that the collective’s individual personalities all shone through in different parts. I particularly enjoyed ODB’s (Ol’ Dirty Bastard, for the uninitiated) unique delivery style which is somewhere between a warble and a rap. Very entertaining. And no, I still don’t know my RZA (‘Rizz-a’) from my GZA (‘Jizz-a’, come on, keep up!) and I doubt I ever will. The beats reminded me of a kind of beefed-up A Tribe Called Quest sound, lots of jazz and soul samples and cool drums but everything turned up to 11 and blaring at you.
Look, it’s very much ‘not my bag’, and I probably won’t ever hear it again but I was entertained for the duration. If this is your thing, fair enough. I can see how it appeals.
(Liked/Maybe)
26.
Horses (1975)
Patti Smith
Yet another album I’d heard loads about but never got round to listening to. Also, another one that I think defies placement in a genre. Patti was obviously striving for an art all of her own. Flashes of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell but not really comparable to either, musically.
Lyrically, it’s anything but easy to follow. A couple of bits I picked up on from first listen: ‘Birdland’, in which a young boy loses his father and longs to join him in the afterlife. ‘Break it Up’, apparently referencing a dream in which she freed Jim Morrison from his mortal shackles and sent him on to the beyond (I’ll admit, I looked this up because I was intrigued by the song). The 9+ minutes of ‘Land: Horses’… where, I’ll be honest, I didn’t have a clue what was going on but it was all very exciting. Ending, fittingly, with ‘Elegie’ which seems to be, well, an Elegy, to friends lost and a nice ending arc to the album. So, lots of death and afterlife exploration amongst other things.
Poetry takes centre-stage and Patti delivers it all emphatically. Demanding attention with all the determination of a toddler tugging on your sleeve to tell you something. The band does well to keep up with her and are always mirroring Patti’s delivery, getting increasingly frantic or backing off whenever the story demands.
I can see there’s a whole bunch to dig into here and I would think this album rewards the more time you put into it. I know Patti was a big influence on a lot of music I like and from first listen you can see why.
(Liked)
25.
Tapestry (1971)
Carole King
I had a lovely time with this record on a cold Wednesday morning. I knew nothing of Carole. Hers is a name I’d very much heard before but never thought much about.
The reason I would have heard her name is because Carole is a prolifically amazing songwriter. There are songs on this album that everyone will know but perhaps not these versions.
First of all, this record is a whole lotta wholesome. Carole is quite an understated performer and the songs shine in this format. With just her voice and an ever-present piano at the forefront, you can appreciate the words and melodies all the more.
I like that Carole gave her own take on songs she had written for other artists and were already well known by those versions. ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ is much more heartbreaking here than the sugary sweet hit for The Shirelles. ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ is interpreted more as an earnest love song without Aretha Franklin’s bucketful of sass involved. Not to take anything away from those other versions, both amazing in their own right. The songs are just a different prospect here.
I really liked this and I enjoyed reading and learning about Carole’s career and all the songs that I knew that I didn’t realise she had written.
(Loved/Liked)
24.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
The Beatles
What on earth does one say that hasn’t already been said a million times about Sgt. Pepper’s….?
…It’s quite good?
…It’s the UK’s best-selling studio album of all time?
…It’s the album most synonymous with the world’s most famous band?
I don’t personally think it’s their best work but it does sit nicely as the centre-piece of that golden run they had between Rubber Soul and Abbey Road. Some of the songs it contains are so well-worn into your consciousness that you’d swear they were traditional songs passed down through generations. In fact, at this point, they probably are.
For such a wildly successful and well-known record it is… weird. Loosely a concept album — the idea being that these songs are all by the same band (which they are) that play a varied style of songs (which the Beatles did) but a fictional band… that had colourful marching-band uniforms!
Anyhow, like The White Album a few places back, it jumps from one inspiration to the next without warning from standard rock to early music hall to vaudeville to Indian/eastern influences. It’s all done with a certain panache and flair to whatever they try, so, again, it’s all good. ‘A Day in the Life’ can be added to my growing list of ‘All time best album closers’.
It’s an important part of the UK’s musical heritage/pop culture and who knows where we’d be without it. Sgt. Pepper’s… had previously topped Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums list in 2012. By the 2020 revision (the list I am doing) it had been revised down to no. 24. I do hope its star isn’t on the wane because I think every new generation should experience this mad, psychedelic, primary-coloured soup that their parents and grandparents adored so much.
(Loved)
23.
The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)
The Velvet Underground
The term ‘art-rock’ may strike fear into the hearts of many and might speak to why the Velvet Underground have remained a cult band since the late 60s. Often described as ‘your favourite band’s favourite band’, they always seemed, to me, more ‘inspirational’ than enjoyable.
Lou Reed is an effortlessly cool character with his unerring ‘don’t give a fuck’ energy and his delivery, that isn’t quite jarring but certainly not tuneful (and somehow audibly wearing sunglasses). John Cale sits further back in the music, adding different, sometimes off-putting, textures with his electric Viola. Nico’s angular, European voice gives the songs she leads a different feel and her inclusion is definitely warranted where she appears. Andy Warhol was involved with production and his pop-art banana artwork for the cover is perhaps one of the most recognisable pieces of art in music history.
There are some great songs here. Probably most famously ‘Waiting For My Man’, a trudging 2-chord, horizontal song with Lou’s voice the only highlight. Trying to keep a low profile whilst waiting for his drug dealer. Other artists were trying to hide their drug references behind metaphors and euphemisms, Lou was just talking about it openly. A contented disregard for what that might do for their popularity.
Things start taking a turn for the difficult towards the end. The second half of ‘Heroin’ (again the open and frank drug-use theme) descends into something almost unlistenable due to Cale’s Viola-shrieking. ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’, though, is achingly beautiful. Just a lovely sentiment played out and delivered in Nico’s delicate, breathy voice which lends it an earnestness that would perhaps be lost if Lou sang it.
Then to finish up there’s ‘Black Angel’s Death Song’ which is an atonally-backed piece of dark poetry and ‘European Son’ which quickly descends into 7 minutes of noise.
So, light and shade, on the whole. You very much get the impression that they were completely unconcerned with whether you enjoyed their music or not, which is admirable in its own way. I can see why this was inspirational to artists because it’s the sound of a band doing whatever they wanted, saying whatever they wanted. Happy to explore taboo themes like prostitution, drug-use and BDSM quite openly. I guess it must have been quite an eye-opener to most that this was possible and they should follow whatever direction they wanted without the shackles of trying to be ‘popular’.
(Liked)
22.
Ready to Die (1994)
The Notorious B.I.G.
I can’t say too much about Biggie because I don’t know a lot of the context. I’m aware he was shot and killed in the mid-to-late 90s. I know there was some sort of ‘beef’ with the west-coast artists like 2Pac and I’m aware he was a big lad. Apart from that, I didn’t have much to go on whilst listening to this.
I’ll cover the negatives; I don’t really like gangster rap on the whole. The endless posturing and gun-violence celebration does nothing for me and when that is the overarching message of the track, I kinda zone out. There’s a lot of that here but not as much as with some of the stuff I’ve heard on this list.
For the positives: Biggie Smalls was a phenomenal rapper and has a style that isn’t really matched from what I’ve heard of his contemporaries. His delivery is slower and more deliberate so you can always hear what he’s saying. He is one hell of a wordsmith and the flow of his rhymes is varied and sounds cool. “There’s gonna be a lot of slow singin’, and flower bringin’ if my burglar alarm starts ringin’” from ‘Warning’ was a highlight. Also, anyone who can deliver the line “Really, though, I got the cleanest, meanest penis. You never seen this stroke of genius” at face value without a hint of irony or self-deprecation, has to be admired for their confidence, if nothing else.
I didn’t mind this. It won me over by the end. As with Wu-Tang; I’ll probably never hear it again but didn’t have a bad time.
(Liked/Maybe)
21.
Born to Run (1975)
Bruce Springsteen
About 10 years ago I read Nick Hornby’s book 31 Songs in which he writes essays about his favourite songs. I’d mainly got the book because I’d seen that there was a chapter about Ben Folds Five (my boys, sadly not represented in this list). The first chapter in this book is an absolutely gushing write up of the song ‘Thunder Road’ by Bruce Springsteen. The chapter was so emotional and heartfelt that I went and downloaded the album it was on and listened straight away — I am now also in love with ‘Thunder Road’…
This was Bruce’s third album and I’ve read a lot about how he drove producers and studio engineers insane with his quest for absolute perfection, constant re-takes to perfect issues that no-one else could hear. He massively overspent his budget and I’d say that, given the result, it was all well worth it.
‘Thunder Road’ is the opener and serves as a setting and kind of overture for the songs that follow. Building from a gorgeous Rhodes piano line and harmonica solo to greater and greater heights. I love that the first lines on the album read like a screenplay: “Screen door slams / Mary’s dress sways / Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays”. It’s the opening scene for the epic movie that’s playing in your head throughout.
The imagery and romanticism in the lyrics of this album are as melodramatic as the music and always wonderful. Roses are thrown in the rain, Highways are “jammed with broken heroes” and lonely-hearted lovers struggle in dark corners. Bruce really indulged himself with this and dialled up the drama in the stories. The themes of escape and cars (always cars), leading the way.
The music itself is big, up-tempo, breathlessly stomping on and always kind of….ringing? Roy Bittan’s piano lines are at the forefront of most songs, Clarence Clemons’ sax is always utilised to great effect (I love the part in Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out where the Big Man is mentioned and he starts blowing in the background).
It’s very much a band performance. Bruce might be the focal point but only in the way that lead singers often are. This is an E Street Band record of which Bruce is an integral part. Like the cover shows, he was leaning on his band here and they held him up in the most wonderful way.
(Loved)
20.
Kid A (2000)
Radiohead
After the success of 1997’s OK Computer catapulted his band to dizzying heights, Thom Yorke suffered from a bout of writer’s block so severe that he had a complete crisis of identity. He felt the pressure, from all sides, of writing the songs that would form the follow-up to what some were already referring to as ‘The Greatest Album Ever’. His response to that pressure was to completely change his approach to writing music. He listened to a lot of Aphex Twin and started to focus on textures and rhythms. Lyrics were cut up and rearranged into disparate, disconcerting snatches of dark feelings. Guitars were no longer the focus, instead modular synthesisers and weird instruments like the Ondes Martenot were being tinkered with. Reportedly, this new direction nearly broke up the band, who were baffled by a lot of what Thom was bringing to the studio to work on. They forged on, found roles for themselves in this new sound and in October 2000 they released Kid A with no prior singles and much to the puzzled reaction of the wider, listening world.
For some personal context: in September 2000, I moved with my parents to a place that might as well have been a million miles away from what I considered home. I was 16 and facing the prospect of starting my social life from scratch in a place where people spoke a different language most of the time. I was homesick, I missed my friends and I was generally in a bad place, mentally. One of the glimmers of hope I had when making this move was that in a few weeks, I was going back to visit my friends in my hometown and we were going to see Radiohead in a big tent a few miles down the road, on the day their new album was released.
A couple of my friends had managed to get hold of copies a couple of days before the release date, through a job in a music store. We rushed back to a friend’s house, put it on and I. Was. Crushed….
What on earth was this? This wasn’t my Radiohead! They had changed beyond all recognition (along with everything else in my life) and I felt betrayed. I nodded along and said it was ‘interesting’ and there were bits I liked. Inside I was raging. I didn’t need any more change or ‘moving on’ right then.
Needless to say, the gig was mind-blowing. They played everything I loved by them, along with a lot of the new songs (which sounded a lot better live) and to this day I regard it as my favourite ever live show. Regardless of this, I didn’t go back to Kid A or the next release from the band, Amnesiac, for a few years. I’d fallen out of love with them.
I was wrong, of course. I normally was, as a teenager, especially when I was emotional. Radiohead had embraced change and pushed themselves forward. Not content with being a great ‘rock band’, they were striving for something more.
If I’d have listened properly, I could have warmed myself with the luxurious, vibrating tones of ‘Everything in its Right Place’. Found catharsis in the madness that ‘The National Anthem’ devolves into and related to the isolation of ‘How to Disappear Completely’: “I’m not here. This isn’t happening”. Perhaps I would have discovered what is, for me, the most emotional song they ever wrote; ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’ (“I will see you in the next life” has to be the most poignant line to ever end an album). For the record, I always loved ‘Idioteque’, because it’s a stone-cold bang-fest.
Radiohead hadn’t given me the album I wanted but they had given me the album I needed. I really wish I’d listened at the time. It took me years to go back to this. It was only when they released Hail to the Thief in 2003 that I began to relate to the band again and went back to the two prior releases that I’d disregarded. Once I delved in, I found that I loved it. I was finally ready for the change and was so happy that they took this different direction because it led to such greater things.
In the place I moved to (and subsequently left), I met the girl who is now my wife. Everything happens for a reason and I wouldn’t change a thing.
I now find Kid A quite an emotional experience due to all this personal context. It taught me to give stuff a chance more, because who knows what it might lead to, even if you don’t feel ready at the time.
(Loved)
19.
To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)
Kendrick Lamarr
Some albums are so dense, on first listen, that you just know that it’s going to take a lot of time to pick your way in and appreciate all of it. When that album also comes with the kind of widespread critical acclaim that accompanies To Pimp a Butterfly, you know that time would probably be well rewarded.
I listened to this twice on the bounce and really have only scratched the surface of it as a whole.
From those first listens; there is an overall theme of African-American identity and a lot of soul-searching from Kendrick whilst he marries that up with his own violent past. There is an intriguing recurring instance of a spoken word poem that is fleshed out, a little more at a time, as the album progresses (“I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence”) and then played out in full during the last track ‘Mortal Man’.
That last track goes a long way to breaking down all the themes of the album. A lot of it is spoken word with no musical accompaniment and takes in the track itself, the poem in full, which then becomes part of an ‘interview’ that Kendrick is conducting with Tupac Shakur (apparently stitched together from an actual interview Tupac had given) and then goes on with Kendrick explaining the whole meaning of the concept of ‘pimping a butterfly’. The music drifts in and out whilst all this is going on. It’s a lot to take in on first listen.
The songs ‘King Kunta’ and ‘Alright’ stand out on those first listens but only because they are the two tracks that have actual hooks and are both very catchy, even if the meanings behind them are still very deep and thought-provoking. Everything else is quite dense and would need repeated listens before you got into its rhythms and delivery.
To speak on the musical accompaniment, this is one of the only hip-hop albums I could think of that would probably make this list with no vocals at all. There is a wide range of jazz and soul musicians providing live instrumentation throughout. It’s an homage to black music in many of its forms and gives everything Kendrick is saying more gravitas as a result.
To summarise; I’ve never heard anything like this before. It’s one of the most intriguing and thought-provoking albums I’ve ever encountered. I look forward to picking away at it for many years to come.
(Loved/Liked)
18.
Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Bob Dylan
After the ‘half and half’ album, Bringing it All Back Home, that saw Dylan going electric but sticking with his folk roots for the second half, Highway 61 Revisited (released later the same year, in 1965) can be considered his first ‘fully electric’ album. Even then, he strays to the folk style for the final track, ‘Desolation Row’ (and there’s 11 minutes of it, so still something for the ‘judas’ shouting folk-fans to get their teeth into).
The first notable thing about this record is that it opens with a hit! ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ is probably the Dylan track most people could name and maybe sing you a bit of. I think it’s what forms most people’s impression of Bob’s music (and indeed provides them with a satisfactory impression they can do of his singing voice with the repeated “Didn’t Yooouu” line). It’s a fair shout as well. It is a good indicator of what his music sounded like (in this period, at least).
Doing some research, I read that the titular Highway 61 stretches from the Canada-US border down to New Orleans, taking in, along its path, the homes and birthplaces of various blues Icons like Muddy Waters and Son House and importantly Bob’s hometown of Duluth, Minnesota. It’s the road that took Bessie Smith’s life and also forms a crossroads with Route 49 where Robert Johnson (according to the myth, at least) sold his soul to the Devil, in return for his talent. So it’s a highway that tells the story of the delta blues.
Picking meaning out of Dylan’s poetry takes time. Even after careful study, you can pick out some themes and work out what he was talking about, roughly, but always with the worry that you’ve got it completely wrong. There’s a whole host of characters; Mr Jones, Queen Jane, Shakespearean and Biblical characters also make an appearance. It’s a painstaking process trying to drill down into each reference. (From what I’ve read, the man himself is also an unreliable source of info with regard to the meaning of his songs. You’d be lucky to get an answer out of him, even luckier to see the same answer twice).
Listening to him sing, you’d swear he was a life-hardened stalwart of the scene but he was 24 when he made this. Very much an old head on young shoulders. What I like most about Dylan is that he did exactly what he wanted to do at all times. He put his music out there and let people interpret it however they wanted. I don’t enjoy this as much as the albums that came immediately before and after it (both already covered in this list) but it’s still great and there’s a ton of stuff to dig into.
(Liked)
17.
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Kanye West
Separating the art from the artist can be crucial, sometimes (not least with a certain popstar coming up a few places up the list). Kanye West, as a person, is quite hard to like. In fact, he’s very easy to dislike. You can pick your own ‘worst example’ of something he has done or said over the last 15–20 years, there’s a lot to choose from. Therefore, it would be very easy to disregard his music on that basis. The problem is… it’s really good.
This album is just phenomenal. It hooks from first listen. It’s upbeat for the most part and when it turns the tempo down a bit, it’s interesting and textured. The music is great, taking a wide range of samples from all walks of music and creating amazing new sounds. ‘POWER’, for example, matches a hand-clappy gospel chorus with a King Crimson sample (King Crimson!!). He mentions that he knows he’s “killing it” and he knows “you’re feeling it” and despite your grievances, he’s absolutely right.
The first six tracks, around half of the album, is a sequence of banging songs that just blows you away. He’s not only getting the best of himself, the featured artists are raising their game to meet him too. On ‘Monster’, you’re still reeling from Jay-Z being more agitated than you’ve ever heard him only for Nicki Minaj to turn up and tear everyone a new one (probably the best guest verse on a track since Eminem outdid Jay-Z on ‘Renegades’, for my money).
Kanye delivers perfectly and is sometimes quite self-deprecating, luckily. On ‘Runaway’, an indulgent 9-minute epic built around a slow piano refrain, he even agrees with you that he’s a douchebag/asshole/scumbag. Unfortunately, he also knows he won’t change. The only option is to “Run away as fast as you can”. Even Chris Rock turns up for a bit of light relief towards the end, when things were just in danger of getting a bit maudlin.
It’s kind of upsetting that he actually does have the talent to back up his arrogance… you can dislike him all you want but it would be a shame not to hear this just on that basis.
(Loved)
16.
London Calling (1979)
The Clash
Another album born out of a bout of writer’s block. Joe Strummer and Mick Jones apparently hadn’t written a song in over a year, had split from their management and moved their rehearsal space before a strict regime of rehearsing and playing football daily started to bear the fruits of the songs that became London Calling. A departure from their earlier, mainly punk, style. It saw them trying out different influences such as reggae, ska and jazz elements to give this album a wide-ranging feel, musically at least.
Aside from the title track and a couple of others, I was new to this album. The thing it most put me in mind of was the Beatles’ White Album. Another double-album that took in a wide range of styles. Going with whatever seemed best for the song, rather than concerning themselves with their ’brand’ of music. That said, it always sounds unmistakably like The Clash.
Joe Strummer’s excitable, slurred delivery. Driving basslines and drums at the forefront of every song. Themes of a coming apocalypse and revolution. All the hallmarks of their music are there, or at least this album solidified them as hallmarks.
There’s some interesting stuff going on lyrically. ‘Clampdown’ is a fierce denunciation of those who find themselves complicit in fascist or oppressive regimes. ‘Lost in the Supermarket’ explores childhood experiences of domestic violence alongside consumerism. ‘The Guns of Brixton’, showing that violence of oppression breeds violence in retaliation. Motivated songs that became very influential to any band or artist that had a hint of a political protest about them.
I guess the main problem for me is that I just don’t really like The Clash. I admire them for their attitude, both in a political sense and that they were keen to progress their sound into different styles. I don’t actively dislike their music, it just doesn’t do much for me. I don’t find much in it that I want to revisit. This is an iconic album with a great, recognisable image for its cover and a ubiquitous title track that is a massive hit and I never thought to look further.
I’ve struggled over this, because I don’t want to appear negative. I’m really not. It just doesn’t punch my ticket for some reason. I hope everyone that does love it tells me how wrong I am because whether you love this band or not, you’re exactly right.
(Maybe)
15.
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
Public Enemy
A few years ago I went to see Prophets of Rage, a super-group consisting of three members of Rage Against the Machine (the band minus vocalist Zack De La Rocha), Cypress Hill frontman B-Real, and Public Enemy’s Chuck D. The group was mainly formed as a vehicle for the members of RATM to be able to perform their songs in the absence of Zack. I entered that show excited to experience RATM’s songs performed live and I left it with the impression that Chuck D might be one of the greatest performers I’d ever seen on stage. He was a commanding presence. Authoritative, agitated, intense and booming. You were with him. He was just so emphatically… there. It was fitting too, as RATM’s music was so in debt to Public Enemy. The social/political commentary, the protest and the constant, underlying message to wake up and look around you at what was happening.
“The power is bold, the rhymes politically cold”
With Public Enemy, Chuck D is the power and the boldness that delivers the message, Flavor Flav is the comic-foil sidekick that keeps the tone from going too dark, Robin to Chuck’s Batman, even if that only amounts to repeatedly shouting “Yeah Boiiiii” some of the time. Reminding everyone that the way in which the message is delivered can be fun too. The re-arranged title of the Beastie Boys hit, for Public Enemy, becomes ‘Party For Your Right To Fight’ and there’s hardly a more perfect way of explaining how they were different to the mainstream acts of the time.
I like this album, although some of the production is quite hard to listen to. The repeated horn-squeal samples on both ‘Terminator X to the Edge of Panic’ and ‘Rebel Without a Pause’ are extremely irritating and made it hard for me to pay attention to the tracks or want to revisit. It may be a form/function thing but I find it off-putting. The recurring clips of them performing live and the excitement and energy of the crowd noise are a nice touch, though, and give the whole thing a good through-line.
Public Enemy’s music and unerring commitment to the message they were delivering has been an inspiration to so many acts that followed them. They were to conscious hip-hop what The Clash were to politically-leaning punk, what Bob Dylan was to protest folk music. Their aim was to disrupt and educate — a revolution of thinking through music — and I’d say they achieved that goal.
(Liked)
14.
Exile on Main St. (1972)
The Rolling Stones
Sometimes it’s hard to shake your prejudice with music. Cast-iron viewpoints can build up over years and stop you from enjoying or experiencing something objectively or even at all. Like you don’t need to open yourself up to it because you already know what you think about that artist/genre. It could be “I don’t like hip-hop” that stops you from ever hearing some revolutionary albums that pushed the genre, and music as a whole, forward. The main pushback I’ve heard on my own favourite band is “Radiohead are depressing.” Minds have been made up, opinions are predetermined and colours are nailed to masts.
I realised that I’d listened to most of this album through the filter of my own predetermination, namely “The Rolling Stones do nothing for me”. I wasn’t enjoying it, but I had already decided that before I’d pressed play, hadn’t I?
I decided a re-do was in order. A fresh, open-minded perspective. I started by looking up the context; This album was recorded, mostly, in 1971 at a villa in southern France that Keith Richards had rented. The ‘Stones had left the UK, at least in part, in order to avoid paying their taxes (explaining the ‘Exiles’ of the album title). Recording sessions went on through the night and were often raucous and meandering. Keith Richards was heavily into heroin-use, along with a few of the entourage, and it was rare for the whole band to be in the studio at the same time. All in all, it doesn’t sound like the basis for making a great record. It’s almost admirable that it exists at all.
I forced myself to listen again and pick out things I liked: Firstly, there is a very ‘house party’ feel to this album. It feels raucous and loose, like its recording’s context. A couple of the songs stood out in their own right; ‘Tumbling Dice’ with its catchy vocals and ‘Shine A Light’. I liked the horns taking over the end of ‘Loving Cup’. I enjoyed the moody, bluesy stomp of ‘Ventilator Blues’ and the distorted harmonica break in ‘Stop Breaking Down’. All in all, it’s quite upbeat and fun as a record. It is long, being a double-album. With that length, there’s not a lot of variation in style so it did feel a bit of a trudge as I got through the second half.
Overall, my feelings remained much the same about the ‘Stones. They had flashes of brilliance when they changed it up a bit. Their best-regarded songs like ‘Gimme Shelter’, ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ and ‘Miss You’ are almost entirely different in style to the albums on which they sit and everything else feels like country/blues-rock filler, to me, in comparison.
So in conclusion, maybe The Rolling Stones do something for me. Just not enough to change my mind overall. I did give it a chance though, and that feels significant.
(Maybe)
13.
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967)
Aretha Franklin
The Queen of Soul…
I had a quick Google just now to see who was the ‘King of Soul’ (knowing already that James Brown was the ‘Godfather’). Turns out it was Otis Redding. Interesting link there, in the Soul Royal Family, what with the first song on this album being Aretha’s re-interpretation of Otis’s ‘Respect’ (I’m not going to call it a cover, that would be somehow reductive). Otis Redding’s ‘Respect’ is fine, the bones of the song are there but it’s a bit weak in comparison to what it became in Aretha’s hands. Otis was asking for a little respect, Aretha was DEMANDING it (she always sang in all caps). From that first scream of “WHAT YOU WANT, BABY, I GOT IT!!” (she sang in all caps with extra exclamation marks) you’re in no doubt as to who’s in charge. Your only available response is: “I’m sorry, I’ll be good”. (Otis knew the jig was up, apparently. He is quoted as saying “That little girl done taken my song away from me”. He was right.)
I think the same goes for her version of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ at the end of the album. Sam Cooke’s original is full of hope and longing for that change. Aretha’s version is ‘A Change IS Gonna Come’, she is demanding it. Manifesting that change. To which, presumably, Change’s only available response is: “I’m sorry I’m late, it won’t happen again”.
Both those examples highlight Aretha’s power. Authoritative, unignorable and communicative. She speaks to the core of you. It is the epitome of everything ‘soul’ music was about; the communication of emotion and message.
I won’t waffle too much because I don’t know tons about this genre, the woman herself or her music. I know that all the music of hers on this list has been great because of the power she has with her voice to affect you, whether that is via gospel, jazz or soul, it always landed.
Listen to this loudly.
(Loved)
12.
Thriller (1982)
Michael Jackson
The best-selling album, worldwide, of all time with an estimated 70 million copies sold. Quite the brag…
Thriller, as an album, plays like a greatest hits collection. A studio album containing songs so well known and iconic that the whole thing seems too impossibly big to have happened at the same time and to have been contained on one disc.
I think the album’s success belongs equally to Quincy Jones as it does to Michael. Michael didn’t play an instrument or write music. Songs like ‘Billie Jean’, perhaps one of the greatest pop songs ever put to tape, existed only in his head and had to be interpreted into actual, real music. Quincy’s production on this album is a masterclass. Each track is given exactly as much as it needs and no more. In example, the backing to ‘Billie Jean’ is actually quite sparse and minimalist, the driving bassline doing all the work with only a basic drum beat and jabbed synths. The use of horns is done sparingly but always to great effect. It just gives Michael the platform to do what he does and augments him.
Michael’s performances on these tracks are, of course, legendary. He was in the sweet spot of having all the confidence to shine on every track whilst developing the vocal ad-libs that became his trademarks, without letting them take over (as he was perhaps guilty of in his later work). The iconography of the video accompaniments to some of these songs is now indelibly marked onto them too. It’s almost impossible to hear ‘Billie Jean’ without seeing the lighting-up sidewalk in your head, or to hear ‘Thriller’ without seeing the red/black leather outfit and the most famous dance routine in history.
The only misstep here, in my opinion, is ‘The Girl is Mine’. A cringey to-and-fro between Michael and Paul McCartney arguing over the affections of a girl who doesn’t seem to have a voice in the argument, her own decision rendered redundant. It’s gross and eminently skippable on an otherwise unmissable album.
Michael Jackson is of course now a deeply problematic proposition for many, understandably. In truth, he always was, particularly within my lifetime. Any time his music is mentioned, it is done so either referencing head-on or side-stepping completely, the allegations of child-abuse made about him during his life and continuing after his death in 2009. Separation of art from artist is something I’ve mentioned a few times in this rundown and it is perhaps most important here to mention that this is a review of an album and a performer, not of the man himself.
I’ve heard it said that despite what we know or what has been said about the man, it is now impossible to unstitch this music out of the fabric of pop culture and music, because it is woven in at such a deep level. It seems like it will always be present. Whether you choose to listen to and enjoy it is completely subjective and absolutely understandable whichever stance you take. Personally, I love it because I can’t not.
(Loved)
11.
Revolver (1966)
The Beatles
1966, and following on from the leap forwards in their music that had occurred with Rubber Soul the previous year, the Beatles recorded and released Revolver. John and George were into LSD, Ringo was starting to dabble, Paul… wasn’t. Apart from that context, it’s also interesting that this album comes off the back of the band deciding not to tour anymore, meaning that they could focus on creating music with no thought given to how it might be replicated live.
At 14 songs within 34 minutes, it moves along at a fair old clip. Only three tracks slightly graze the 3 minute mark. Nothing outstays its welcome — in fact, it often leaves you wanting more. The decision that this music would only live on a record probably allowed choices like recording the wonderful ode to loneliness that is ‘Eleanor Rigby’ with only orchestral accompaniment. Or being able to fully commit to the eastern instrumentation on ‘Love You To’.
This is, despite a couple of sombre, introspective moments, an album with a smile on its face. The gorgeousness that oozes out of every second of ‘Here, There and Everywhere’, the whole of ‘Good Day Sunshine’ summed up with the line “I’m in love and it’s a sunny day”. The muted french horn on ‘For No One’; It all just leaves a lovely, upbeat feeling in your bones. It ends with a track that is so ahead of its time, ‘Tomorrow Never Knows,’ which sounds like its own Chemical Brothers remix. Full of samples, tape loops and big, repetitive, booming drums.
It strikes me that even though there is a whole lot of experimentation and pushing of boundaries involved in this record, it is still so tight, cohesive and endlessly listenable. At no point did the Beatles come close to throwing out the baby with the bathwater. They tried new things and they thought outside the box but never lost sight of what made them great.
`This is a wonderful way to spend half an hour which I’d thoroughly recommend to anyone. Not that I’d need to because it’s Revolver by The Beatles and everyone already knows that, right?
(Loved)
The Top Ten
10.
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
Lauryn Hill
After Fugees had pretty much owned the genres of hip-hop and RnB in the mid 90s with their album The Score (visited earlier in the list), Lauryn Hill’s stock was incredibly high. Realistically, she was the main draw of the group, her talents not only as a rapper but also as a soul singer meant she took the limelight in most of their output. The group disintegrated after Lauryn and Wyclef’s ‘complicated’ relationship fizzled out.
Lauryn’s subsequent writer’s block (there’s definitely a theme developing there) was cured by becoming a mother to her first child, Zion (more on him later) with Rohan Marley, son of Bob. She found her inspiration and set about writing and recording her first solo album. It gave Lauryn the chance to shine on her own without having to consider any other point of view as to the direction of her music.
Miseducation… is a warm, natural sounding album with live instrumentation. Balanced carefully between hip-hop and soul (leaning more to the latter). It’s a conceptual album, littered with some interstitial soundbites of a classroom of kids discussing different aspects of love. From the intro we hear that Lauryn is absent, hinting that maybe she didn’t get the education in love that she needed and these songs are her figuring it out.
The first half of the album is incredibly strong. ‘Lost Ones’ kinda picks up where Fugees left off. A blend of reggae and hip-hop that seems to be a dig at Wyclef, following their split. This is followed by neo-soul classic ‘Ex-Factor’, a lament on a failing relationship and perhaps the most enduring track of her career. ‘To Zion’ is a beautiful ode to her newborn son and one of the most touching songs on the subject of parenthood, accompanied by wonderful Spanish guitar noodling from Carlos Santana. Then comes ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’, an upbeat hip-hop floor-filler that, for me, showcases everything that Lauryn excelled at. Relentless flow, a marrying of styles to create something exciting and it’s just a stone-cold banger that has graced the airwaves for 25+ years, deservingly. There’s more highlights as the album plays on; ‘When it Hurts So Bad’, the funky autobiography of ‘Every Ghetto, Every City’ and the dramatically wonderful ‘Everything is Everything’.
The album does suffer from the obsession a lot of hip-hop/RnB acts had with filling every available second of the 80 minutes a CD could carry (it’s a limit, not a target, guys!). 77 minutes is a long playing time and your attention does start to wander during the second half.
I think the recent re-evaluation of this album is interesting. It’s 26 years old now and thinking back 10 years ago, I don’t remember it being part of the conversation of ‘Greatest Ever Albums’. It is objectively great but I’m unsure as to what sparked its renaissance in the collective public conscience. From the 2012 edition of this list to the 2020 revision, it jumped from number 314 to number 10. That is quite a remarkable feat, however much you might think it is worthy of that re-consideration.
Lauryn has been a divisive figure, publicly, and this remains her only official solo record. It’s an incredible testament to an incredible talent. It’s a shame she never followed it up but even with just this, she realised her potential.
(Loved/Liked)
9.
Blood on the Tracks (1975)
Bob Dylan
In 1974, Bob started an adulterous relationship with a record company employee, sparking the collapse of his marriage. This is the album that followed and is generally felt to be Bob’s reaction to that tumultuous time in his life.
Despite his protestations about the autobiographical nature of this album, it really does feel personal. Over the years that followed he seems to have reluctantly accepted that fact, slowly admitting what everyone else had worked out from the beginning.
This is Dylan’s eighth and highest-placing album on the list and it’s certainly a much different offering to all of the rest I’ve heard, although it does incorporate aspects of all of them. There’s a gentleness to his delivery that pervades the songs and makes it feel more reflective than his other work.
Starting with ‘Tangled Up in Blue’, one of my favourite songs (not just of Dylan, but of… ever). An upbeat acoustic journey through a story of two lovers that come apart and meet again with different perspectives over different timelines. It’s not a linear story as much as it is glimpses of multiple situations and the feelings involved, like a montage with one overall theme: “We always did feel the same/We just saw it from a different point of view”. The song ends with a great harmonica solo that is as jumpy, muddled and heartfelt as the song that precedes it. It’s a great tone-setter for the album.
The theme of lovers separating and the fallout of emotion that results is evident on quite a few of the tracks; ‘Simple Twist of Fate’, ‘You’re a Big Girl Now’ and ‘You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go’, the latter sees him reverting back to the folk sound that made him his name on albums like Freewheelin’. ‘Idiot Wind’, where Bob finds loads more vowels than you thought existed in the word ‘idiot’, is a tonal shift and feels angry. Like a personal attack on someone or perhaps just on the stupidity at large in the world that breeds ignorance. Again, Bob denied its personal nature but methinks he doth protest too much.
This is one of those albums where every song is someone’s favourite. I think it deserves its place in the top 10 and his highest ranked because it’s the most cohesive of his albums listed. It’s also the most accessible, both musically and lyrically which gives it a broader appeal. Of all his varying modes and moods, this is probably the Bob Dylan that most people can get on board with.
(Loved/Liked)
8.
Purple Rain (1984)
Prince & The Revolution
Does this sound really 80s? Or did the 80s just sound like this after Purple Rain? The massive reverb effect on the snare drums and the synths at the forefront of the otherwise guitar-based music; did Prince do that first?
I’m not enough of an 80s music historian to tell you the answer to that. I can tell you that I’m a bit of a noob when it comes to Prince and I often feel like I’ve tried to start watching an epic TV show halfway through season 4; I’m trying to play catch-up whilst still appreciating what I’m seeing. I feel like I’m only just too young for Prince’s golden period to have had an impact on my youth via pop culture. This album was released one month after I was born and it will seem ridiculous to some that I was hearing it here for the first time (I was familiar with a few of the singles, I haven’t been living under a rock…)
So, in 1984, Prince released Purple Rain, his sixth studio album. His first to credit any musician other than himself (his band, The Revolution). Although, a few of the tracks he did just record and produce himself. It comes with an accompanying movie of the same name, which I’ll admit, I haven’t seen.
First impressions: Prince introducing the album with the spoken word line “Ladies and Gentleman, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life” over a droning organ note is great. It feels like an event. The song that follows, ‘Let’s Go Crazy’, is a highpoint of the record. A proper ‘forget yourself and go batshit’ number whose only message is ‘we’re all gonna die so have a good time’. This is followed by another great pop song in ‘Take Me With U’ and then the slower, dramatic synth-soul of ‘The Beautiful Ones’.
Things then get a bit weird with the half-instrumental, futuristic (for the 80s) ‘Computer Blue’, which reminded me of Bowie at his quirkiest. It really amazes me that an album this big with the commercial success it had contained something as explicitly odd as ‘Darling Nikki’ at its centre. With its explicit sexual images and weird backwards talking ending (apparently this song alone was partly responsible for the addition of ‘Parental Advisory’ stickers being added to some records. A great indicator for kids as to the albums they wanted).
Then it’s a run of bangers to the end. The amazing ‘When Doves Cry’, more pulsating synths and big snare drums on ‘I Would Die 4 U’ (well ahead of its time with the text-speak title). ‘Baby I’m a Star’ is akin to the opening track in its furious stomp and dance-ability, a personal favourite. Finished off with 8 minutes of drama-laden balladry in the song ‘Purple Rain’. Apparently the meaning of the name comes from a vision of apocalypse: blue rain falling from blood red skies, hence the purpleness.
I liked it a lot. That’s not damning with faint praise; I’m sure if I’d have been exposed to this from a young age I’d be firmly in love with it by now. It’s all just a bit overwhelming for the newcomer. I like the BIGness of it. I like that it combines multiple styles of music and makes something new and I love that it has some odd experimentalism at its core.
The cover image of Prince on the motorbike in that outfit is iconic and I’m sure will be the enduring view of him; dramatic, cool, delightfully odd and of course, purple.
(Loved/Liked)
7.
Rumours (1977)
Fleetwood Mac
It’s another big-hitter… 40 million sales worldwide, 1000+ weeks on the Top 100 UK album chart (Roughly 20 years). One of the most recognisable album covers in history and some of the most recognisable songs ever recorded. To say this album has broad appeal would be putting it lightly. Some would say it has the broadest of any album in this list.
But is it any good?
Well… yes. You just wouldn’t achieve the above with bad music. Yet, as with others I’ve covered, it seems to be born out of an absolute train-wreck of a situation. Two members of the group were going through a divorce/separation, two other members were having an on/off relationship. Three principle songwriters all writing songs that seem pointedly to be about (or at least have context of) other members of the group. Anything else? Oh yeah, enough cocaine floating about to make Scarface blush. Which never, historically, brought out the best in people. It shouldn’t have worked but it did. Maybe the jealousy and tension pushed them, individually, not to be outdone by the others in the band. A constant striving for the higher ground, artistically, if not emotionally.
Rumours sounds like AM radio on a highway road-trip. One of the great ‘driving albums.’ All moody basslines and whining/pinging guitars. Strong, melodious, vocal performances and even better harmonies. The production is pin-drop perfect and it all pulses, pops and fizzes in the most wonderful way. The three songwriters all bring something different to the table and they all interact with each other to bring out the best in each one. But when they all got together and wrote something as one, something truly magical happened…
‘The Chain’ is, in my opinion, a true masterpiece of a song. Lyrically, perhaps, hinting at all that tension but a steely resolve not to let it stop them creating something together. A vocal-harmony that drives at the heart of you. The stomping drumbeat, the offbeat twanging guitar; it’s all just so perfect. Then an outro that lived a life beyond the song. The incredible, famous bassline and everyone coming back into a crescendo where everything is somehow louder than everything else. You just want to drive so fast that the world becomes a blur. It is not possible to play this song loud enough. Breathtaking.
There are some major leaps in tone even if the lyrical content all follows a similar path. The beautiful soft-touch of Stevie Nicks’ ‘Dreams’ into the jaunty twang of Buckingham’s ‘Never Going Back Again’ will never not be jarring. I also don’t really care for ‘Second-hand News’ as an opener, it’s just too twee to set the overall tone. That’s picking holes where they’re not needed, though. You wouldn’t seriously change any of it.
(Loved)
6.
Nevermind (1991)
Nirvana
My first thought when putting this on was that I probably hadn’t listened to the whole album in about 20 years. Nirvana took up so much of the alternative music conversation in the 90’s that this album was all but inescapable during my early teens. Don’t think I ever owned it myself but it was definitely in the house, as it was in most houses that contained teenagers back then.
From those opening bars of ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ it all came flooding back; The song of a thousand bad cover versions. Every local teenage band trying to replicate the power and explosion of the song that they could never do justice. It seemed so simple; you knew the chords/words, you had a distortion pedal, what more was there to it? Quite a lot, it turned out.
Kurt’s charm, as a songwriter, was that he wrote the catchiest pop hooks and melodies and then fed it all through a filter of alienation and dissatisfaction until it came out muddy, visceral, fuzzy and distorted. Like he could see all the joy in the world but just couldn’t quite grab onto any for himself. You can sing your heart out to this record, but you can’t imitate the jaded, yet tuneful, scream that Kurt delivered it in.
The bubblegum-pop bones of these songs are what, in my opinion, has made it so enduring. ‘Lithium’, for example, starts with the words “I’m so happy, ’cause today I found my friends.” It has a funky bassline and a ’yeah yeah yeah’ chorus. It’s singalong pop. Yet when you add all the context (Lithium being a drug to treat depression, the fact those ‘friends’ are in his head, etc) then the happiness is, perhaps, artificial. ‘In Bloom’ is much the same but this time, a catchy melody just slowed down to a tempo where it feels sinister, like a recording played at a slower speed. The lyrics themselves hinting at that misdirection “He’s the one who likes all our pretty songs and he likes to sing along (…) But he knows not what it means.”
The songs that go a bit harder like ‘Territorial Pissings’ and ‘Stay Away’ are blistering and provide some energy when they pop up. The former containing my favourite Cobain lyric: “Just because you’re paranoid, don’t mean they’re not after you.”
‘Something in the Way’ is a perfect closer. A haunting fantasy/real-life account (delete as to which version you believe) of homelessness and hopelessness. A single guitar and some ominous strings accompanying the painful whisper of the vocal.
It’s hard to say how much extra gravitas is given to this record via the context of Kurt’s suicide a few years later. The lyrical content is so much more poignant viewed through the prism of what happened. Any of it can be viewed as a cry for help. We don’t know how much this band would have done had Kurt decided to stay. Would they have diluted the effect of this album with increasingly diminishing returns? Would they have gone onto even greater things? The thought experiment of Dave Grohl’s personal arc, had Nirvana continued, is a particularly interesting one to ponder…
Maybe that’s looking too far into it. Maybe just put it on, sing/scream your heart out and be an angst-ridden youth again for a bit. I did. It feels good.
(Loved/Liked)
5.
Abbey Road (1969)
The Beatles
“It felt as if we were reaching the end of the line” — George Harrison
It’s fitting that the last Beatles album I’ll cover on this list is Abbey Road. Being, as it is, the last album they recorded together (Let it Be was released after but recorded before it). Whether it should be the highest placed on the list is very much up for debate. Personally, I don’t really care. You could have any of the run of Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s, White Album and Abbey Road in any order and I’d probably say you were right (ranking albums is pointless, after all).
As you can gather from George’s comment above, the band were aware which way the wind was blowing and there was perhaps a hint of resignation from them all that this would be the last time they went into the studio as a unit. I mentioned with the White Album that each songwriter was pulling more evidently in their own direction and I think that reaches its zenith on Abbey Road (John’s preference, apparently, would have been for his and Paul’s songs to be separated onto different sides of the album).
I think this album sounds gentler than anything else they recorded. The overall tempo seems reduced and there is a softer touch to the performance and delivery. The slow, cool crunch of ‘Come Together’ sets the tone. An absolute belter of a track with some wonderful, if nonsensical, lines (“Got to be good-looking cos you’re so hard to see” was always a favourite). ‘Something’ showed that George’s songwriting had come so far that he was getting to a level with (and some might say surpassing) John and Paul. Highlighted, equally by ‘Here Comes The Sun’ later on in the album which went on to become one of their most enduring songs.
Hell, even Ringo was throwing some gold into the mix with ‘Octopus’s Garden’ (perhaps my favourite song ever to sing along ‘in accent’). On the note of Mr Starkey, I don’t want to go without saying that the ‘Get Back’ documentary gave me a whole new appreciation of him as a member of the group. Whilst everyone else was bickering and the egos clashed, Ringo was always on hand to diffuse situations with an understanding nod or a reasonable perspective. He was a vibe and you get the feeling they might not have got nearly as far without him around.
So onto John and Paul; You can compare and contrast how far they were pulling apart with Paul’s ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’, the jauntiest, music hall song about a serial killer (John had dismissed it as ‘granny music’) and John’s bluesy-psychedelic epic ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’. You’d still struggle to find songs this different in tone/style occupying the same space in rock music. That said, the songs all work and the band all bring something, individually, to all of them. They couldn’t help but be brilliant even when they were falling apart.
The 16-minute suite of songs that ends the album is legendary if only for the amount of ideas that were still floating around. This medley, from ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ to ‘The End’ is a wonderful highlight of everything the band could do together. It’s a fitting end to an album, a band’s career, an era in music, the heights of which haven’t been topped in the intervening 55 years.
The Beatles had done so much in the 10 years they were together. They had created mania, recreated themselves and left a legacy which remains untouchable.
They have nine albums in this list of 500, the most of any band. As you listen through, it is clear that is warranted. They really did just create more great, enduring music than anyone else.
(Loved)
4.
Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
Stevie Wonder
Looking at Stevie Wonder’s career makes you want to double-check facts quite a lot as you feel you must have misread it. Take, for instance, the fact that Songs in the Key of Life was Stevie’s 18th (eighteenth) studio album and he was only 26 years old at the time of release in 1976. Apparently, before recording, he had considered packing in being a recording artist and going to do aid-work in Ghana. Perhaps he thought he’d done enough. Even at that point, he’d have left an untouchable legacy of music.
He decided, however, to carry on, sign a huge record deal for 7 more albums and, perhaps most importantly, gain full artistic control of his output. This album, his next release, went on to be his best known and, perhaps, best-loved work.
So, as I mentioned, it’s big. Not just in playing time (a double-album of 19 tracks, clocking in at around 90 minutes), but also in scope. It takes in the themes of humanity as a whole and the unifying power of love. It excels in a myriad of different styles and crucially never loses its overall feel as it does so.
I was vaguely familiar with it, having listened a couple of times a few years ago when falling in love with the song ‘Sir Duke’. You know when you hear something that you are kind of familiar with but you really zero in on it and properly hear it for the first time? That happened with ‘Sir Duke’ for me a while back. I think it’s one of the most wonderful things ever recorded. A celebration and tribute to the artists that influenced Stevie. Mostly Duke Ellington, whose big band music gives the song its style but also Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and a few others are mentioned. It’s a joyous, dance-and-sing-able tour de force that is just happiness-on-tap and I adore it.
Other parts of the album will be familiar to newcomers; The smash-hit ‘Isn’t She Lovely’, Stevie’s tribute to the birth of his daughter. One of his catchiest and heartfelt songs with a monster of a harmonica solo. The wondrous soul/gospel epic that is ‘As’, where the melody just keeps coming and coming, the choir going over the endless impossibilities that would have to occur before Stevie’s love for his subject would finish (I could sit in this song for hours). They would definitely recognise the melody of ‘Pastime Paradise’, it having been interpolated for one of the 90s’ biggest hits in Coolio’s ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’. The original is a much looser deeper study of dreams and positive/negative outlooks on life with completely different lyrics (and no Coolio, most importantly).
It is long and therefore quite hard to experience in one sitting. I had it on repeat for a couple of days but then even so, probably only managed 2 to 3 full rotations. However, you do pick up on something new every time; how things are so desperate, even ‘love’s in need of love’ on the opener, the interesting computerish bleep/bloop of ‘Have a Talk With God’, funky childhood memories on ‘I Wish’, the jazz-funk journey that is ‘Contusion’ (which my daughter pointed out sounded like the music for a Mario Kart level, absolutely rightly) and stomping samba feels on ‘Another Star’.
So there’s a lot. I can truly see why so many fans and artists hold this in such high regard and I’m only just beginning to, myself. A double-album that is worthy of its long playing time is a rare thing, you really have to have the quality and volume of ideas to justify it and this definitely fulfills those criteria.
In summary, everything about Stevie Wonder, as an artist, is mind-boggling. Not least that so far into his career, at such a relatively young age, he could deliver something like this. I’m only just starting to appreciate how important he was to modern music as a whole and anyone who wants to do that for themselves would do well to start with this.
(Loved/Liked)
3.
Blue (1971)
Joni Mitchell
It doesn’t always land the first time.
Imagine, going into this project, I had never consciously listened to the top 3 albums (of all time, by the list’s reckoning), in full, at any point in my life…
I was fully aware of them, of course. I’ve heard them referenced and talked about, often in glowing terms. I’ve read about them, knew the cover art, was aware of some of the songs they contained and their context in the modern history of music. At least two of them had sat in my digital music collection for a number of years, on the basis that I would get around to listening to them ‘one day’. Thankfully, that day has now come, although I do worry that it wouldn’t have, had I not committed myself to this particular project.
So, in third place is Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue. Her fourth studio album, recorded in the wake of her break-up with Graham Nash (himself featuring on the list as part of Crosby, Stills & Nash & Young) and in the midst of an intense relationship with James Taylor (also on the list!). It is claimed by some that one of the songs is inspired by another, previous relationship with Leonard Cohen (ALSO featuring on the list!!). We can perhaps conclude from this that Joni had a ‘type’…
I’ll admit I struggled with this on the first listen. It’s a very sombre record for the most part, produced with sparse instrumentation and listening in the morning probably didn’t help. Joni’s voice can be quite hard to sit with at first, on account of her tendency to jump around wildly within a melody. Each line delivered like its own jazz improvisation. It can leave you a bit baffled and the songs passed me by without making much of an impression. This largely continued until the song ‘River’ grabbed me from the off; the piano hints at and improvises upon ‘Jingle Bells’ but becomes something more dramatic. The melody is more straightforward, there is christmassy imagery and the recurring desire to “skate away” on a frozen river from the failed relationship she details, all really landed with me.
On second listen, the album started to open up a bit. I was determined to hear more in what is such a well-loved album and my persistence was rewarded. All of sudden the melodies started to open up, I could hear the overall song rather than just the ‘octave-jumping’ vocal. Songs like ‘My Old Man’, ‘Blue’ and ‘Little Green’ began to sound more affecting when I was more familiar with the structure and melodies. Bits of the lyrics started to stand out: “But when he’s gone/Me and those lonesome blues collide/The bed’s too big/The frying pan’s too wide” — highlighting the mundane spaces where you can see the absence of someone you’ve lost.
By the third listen, I was hooked. The whole thing had blossomed. This is such an emotionally confessional record. Joni lays all her pain and insecurity out for you to relate with. Her voice is quite striking, strongest in its highest falsetto in much the opposite of what you’re accustomed to. The Blue motif colours everything; tonally, musically and lyrically and it’s all a constant vibe. There are ups and downs as it flows but it never loses its main focus.
Overall, it made me think about how we interact with albums. How with further listens, certain music can open up for you but how many times those further listens won’t happen. I think sometimes, you just need that one moment to hang onto and go back. I mentioned that with this, for me, it was ‘River’. With that one moment as an anchor you can go back and find more moments that you like, and again until it all falls into place.
Back when you had to invest in one or two albums at a time, you would always give them that time. You had to, otherwise you’d wasted your money. You might have had a small collection of music to choose from and most of those albums would become your favourites through the familiarity you had with them, alone. From the dawn of streaming services, music has become disposable; there isn’t the same focus on revisiting albums until you find that familiarity.
With one listen, I might have dismissed this album. With repeated listens, it might become one of my all-time favourites.
(Loved/Liked)
2.
Pet Sounds (1966)
The Beach Boys
It says an awful lot that this album is often used as an analogy of greatness in music or an artist’s masterpiece. I.e. “It’s hardly Pet Sounds, is it?” Or “They were trying to make their Pet Sounds”. Of everything else, I can only think of The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s… that is often used in the same manner.
In 1965, bandleader and sole songwriter of The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, set himself the thoroughly achievable goal of creating “the greatest rock album ever made”. (Oh, how the 2nd placing in this list would grate on you!). Interestingly, that makes this the first album on this list where I’ve read that it being the ‘greatest’ was the aim from the outset. Of course there’s a lot where perfection/ambition was the goal but few would admit so flagrantly to wanting to be the best.
Brian had suffered with his mental health for a while, had suffered a nervous breakdown and as a result had dropped out of touring with the band to focus solely on writing/recording. His first job was a huge expansion of the sound and tone. The Beach Boys had mainly been about tight rock’n’roll and vocal harmony pop as a group up until this point. Songs about surfing, cars and wholesome love songs directed at their ‘best gal’, all aspects of which were performed by the members of the band. Great songs but nothing with much depth. A wave of session musicians were brought in, the scale of everything was inflated and budgets were overspent. Some regard it as a Brian Wilson solo project (‘Caroline, No’ was released as such) due to the band providing little to no instrumentation themselves, apart from Brian. It does still, however, feel like a Beach Boys record if only due to their unique and wonderful vocal performances.
I guess the first thing to note about this album is that tonally, it’s quite somber and introspective. Brian was being honest in his songwriting, now. There’s feelings of alienation, anxiety and soul-searching without a T-bird or surfboard in sight. The other thing to note is that it sounds glorious. There’s so much going on in each song, a multitude of musicians all contributing to intricately pieced-together music that is filled out from crashing timpani drums to tambourines and sleigh-bells. Not so much a ‘wall of sound’ as four walls and a roof… of sound. The Beach Boys’ trademark vocal harmonies and backing vocals shimmer above and below it. The melodies are world-class, as Beach Boys’ always were.
Starting with one of the songs that most would know; ‘Wouldn’t it be Nice’. One of the most wholesome love songs about wanting to be older, in love and married. The perfect harmonies swamping the accompaniment until it gets bigger to match them. The slowed down part before the final chorus — “You know it seems the more we talk about it, Only makes it worse to live without it” hints at the melancholy in the song; this is a wish and not a reality yet. It’s absolute pop bliss (can someone explain to me why this song sounds like Christmas to me?).
‘You Still Believe in Me’ is a heartbreaking ode to someone you keep disappointing but they keep giving you more chances. The narrator wants to change and be better for them in return. There’s homesickness and loneliness in ‘That’s Not Me’. More longing for better times with a potential lover on ‘I’m Waiting for the Day’. ‘Sloop John B’ — a traditional American song — reproduced beautifully, echoes around the refrain “Let me go home/I wanna go home”. Even the fully instrumental tracks like ‘Let’s Go Away for Awhile’ seem full of disconnect and wistful waiting.
Then onto ‘God Only Knows’. What to say? Probably one of the best songs ever produced. Timeless, beautiful and perfect. Also, desperately sad. Amazing that a song so prevalent in pop culture would contain a hint at suicidal feelings: “The world could show nothing to me, so what good would living do me?” Of course the epithet of ‘I can’t live without you’ was always a trope of pop/love songs but it does feel more reasonably considered as a viable option here and in the context of the songs that precede and follow it, it is devastating.
Perhaps the most poignant moment of the album comes on ‘I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times’. Knowing of Brian’s mental health struggles, the alienation he felt is laid bare here. Not feeling like he fit in, thinking his friends were superficial and the constant sadness. It echoes the lingering theme behind every other song.
My only real qualm with it is that terrible cover photo. Now knowing the context of the album and the songs, whoever signed that off needs to have a word with themselves…
So, in conclusion, this album is something else entirely to what I expected. It is a revelation of hidden depths. It has the context of being ground-breaking in its approach — pop records might have had this epic approach afterwards but they weren’t too evident before it. Their (or at least Brian’s) vision for this record was perfectly rendered. It’s beautiful, heart-breaking and endlessly listenable. It is, literally, their Pet Sounds.
(Loved)
1.
What’s Going On (1971)
Marvin Gaye
“Who really cares to save a world in despair?”
Is it possible for anything to truly live up to the billing of being the ‘Greatest Ever’? Especially something as subjective as art, or in this case, music. That assessment is only ever true in the eye (or ear) of the beholder, surely? Also, your gut instinct, when presented with something claiming (or claimed by others) to represent that heady title, is to push back, to compare it with your own idea of what that should be and view it unfavourably. I must admit, it has been a struggle approaching this album with an open mind, mentally fighting back against all of the above.
In 1970, Marvin was fighting back too. He had recorded the song ‘What’s Going On’, a politically-themed, loose feeling soul track with some jazz influences and presented it to Berry Gordy, the boss of the Motown label, only for Berry to dismiss it out of hand. Berry didn’t think the song would sell. He thought the Jazz elements were out-dated, out of touch and most of all, Marvin’s crossover audience wouldn’t want a political song. As a result, Marvin went on strike (hopefully appreciating the irony of it being over a song that referenced ‘picket lines and picket signs’) until Berry changed his mind. Berry finally relented and the song was a commercial smash. He asked Marvin to make the accompanying album, which Marvin duly did and the album What’s Going On was released in 1971.
So, Marvin felt very strongly about his new direction. There’s a ton of other context too; Marvin’s singing partner, Tammi Terrell, had died earlier that year from a brain tumour, his brother had been away fighting in the Vietnam war and Marvin had recently reconnected with his spirituality. Marvin was moved to try and “speak to people’s souls”. He saw the evils and injustices of the world and wanted to use his music to ask people to look around them and see it for themselves.
The first half, or more, of this album could be one, continuous track. The musical changes between ‘What’s Going On’ and ‘What’s Happening Brother’ are so slight that you hardly notice the next track has started. It’s a soul-funk bed of music that tracks through the first 6 songs (of 9 on the album); funky bass, floating strings and organ, nice snatches of backing vocals. The music ebbs and flows as the tracks go on but the effect is that it all feels as one piece.
Things change up a bit for ‘Right On’, a slightly more upbeat, jazzier track that itself takes turns into a more introspective feeling song with delicate strings before reverting back to its driving beat and horn/flute improvisations. ‘Wholy Holy’ is almost a coda to the song before, more floating strings and ringing percussive sounds. ‘Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)’ feels more like the first half of the album but with more focus on the driving Bassline filled out with some bongo-type percussion that remains the last sound on the album as everything else fades out.
Lyrically, there’s a loose concept over the first few tracks of a man returning from war to see that his own country is in a bad way, equating the horrors he has seen abroad with the horrors at home. The world that Marvin wants you to see for yourself is one of social unrest, police brutality, drug addiction and ecological disaster. As a narrator he is in despair and wants to fix the world, wants everyone to see that love and God are the higher powers that will unite us. It’s a desperate cry to humanity to see the error of their ways.
I’m not going to get drawn on liking or disliking this album because I can’t help but try and justify its place at the top of the pile at the end of a project that has taken me over 6 months to complete. It is unfair to it to judge, when that is the overriding filter through which I’m looking at it. I can appreciate what has put it there. It is a labour of love, it’s cohesive, it’s conceptually coherent, musically progressive and maybe more so than anything on this list, it feels made to be listened to as one piece — the very point of an album, rather than just a playlist of songs.
What I think is interesting is this album’s placing at the top in these times we live in. Over the last decade, there have been so many changes in the world — things feel uncertain and unhappy. There is division and hate to a degree that perhaps hasn’t been seen for 50 years. With that context, it’s no wonder the question that would be on people’s lips is “What’s Going On?”
As I’ve mentioned before, music is often re-evaluated, heard in new context and falls in and out of fashion depending on the general state of affairs. We look to music for catharsis, to echo how we feel. We wish to feel ‘heard’ whilst listening. With that in mind, this might be the album that most people need right now. I can appreciate that and that will be my final word on it.
Maybe in the future, the collective consensus will be to align ourselves emotionally with something more positive and joyous, to reflect the better times we live in. I certainly hope so.
(Appreciated)
It’s been emotional.
Thank you for reading.
The Debrief
Some stats:
- 500 albums listened to
- Roughly 425 hours (17.7 days) of music
- 6801 tracks (to best count)
- Listening project completed between 24th May and 6th December 2024
- 197 days — an average of 2.53 albums a day
- Around 32,500 words written over 84 updates
I’ve just had a look through and I’m confident that I was familiar with 81 of the albums on the list going into this project (just over 16%, for you stat fans), in that I had heard them in full before and had reasonably formed an opinion on them and the songs they contained (some more than others, naturally). There were many more that I had knowledge of, could possibly name a few tracks or some context but had never actually heard. Some, I knew of the artist but not the album. Some were completely new to me from both an album and artist perspective.
It all begs a question:
Why?
And like George Mallory replied to a reporter when asked why he wanted to climb Everest, maybe the best response is “Because it’s there”. (I’m not at all saying that this project is in any way similar to scaling the world’s highest mountain but that would actually have taken less time and wouldn’t have involved listening to 5 hours of Merle Haggard, so you make your own mind up on who’s done the more impressive thing, here)
It’s been an eye-opening and educational journey. The question I’ve been asked the most in the past 6 months in response to the project has been a vague form of ‘So, what’s your take on it?’
That’s almost an impossible question to begin to ponder bearing in mind the stats above, but I’ll do my best to articulate some thoughts.
So here’s ‘my take’ on listening to 500 albums that a popular music magazine deemed to be the greatest:
I learned a lot, along the way, about different genres. I now have a much better idea of the beginnings of soul and hip-hop. How the blues influenced pretty much everything from country to soul to rock’n’roll music. I found the early blues compilations to be a bit tedious and formulaic but you can see the blues’ foundations in nearly all the music that immediately followed and how that branched off into separate genres entirely.
There’s an amazing decade in modern music history from around 1965 to 1975 where the pushing of boundaries and experimentalism seemed to cause an explosion of creativity. It feels like the importance of albums over singles is cemented in this period.
It’s a great story in itself, the progress of modern music within these albums. With The Beatles’ Rubber Soul precipitating a reaction from Brian Wilson that resulted in the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds which then leads to The Beatles coming back with Revolver and Sgt Pepper’s. The Rolling Stones trying to match that creativity with their own output. The Velvet Underground tearing up the rulebook on what you could do or say in rock music, influencing people like David Bowie at a formative stage.
Marvin Gaye deciding he was through with recording the love songs that Motown told him to and starting to ask important questions in his music, changing the direction of soul as a genre. The beginnings of punk as a reaction and rebellion to the popular music of the time in the mid-70s, perhaps kicked into existence by The Stooges and elaborated on by New York Dolls a bit earlier on but made fashionable by The Clash and Sex Pistols a few years later.
The disco explosion, hip-hop, shoe-gaze, Britpop, indie, alt-rock, EDM, trip-hop, neo-Soul; There are so many strands to follow and rabbit holes to fall down. Sometimes it was impossible to comprehend the context of everything. It resulted in constant Wikipedia scrolling and jumping from one hyperlink to the next to try and unlock the story as a whole.
I also learned a bit more about what I like, as a music fan. It seems to be, mainly, when artists do something interesting. I love a bit of weirdness or kookiness if it’s trying to convey a message. I love melody and poetry in songs and my favourite artists are ones who excel at both of those things, without forsaking one for the other. I love it when a band or artist pushes themselves to do something different and explore new sounds for the sake of progression.
Mainly, I found that most of the acts that I discovered and wanted to revisit were female: Fiona Apple, Aretha Franklin, Lorde, Joni Mitchell, Gillian Welch. Just before the project started, I had got quite into Billie Eilish (I was glad to see her debut album on the list) and had her new album Hit Me Hard and Soft on repeat but I didn’t have nearly enough female artists in my music taste and listening habits. So, I’m glad to have rectified that, somewhat, and now have these artists to dive into and inspire me to find more from now on. I was also happy to discover some soul music that I liked with Al Green, Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers.
I learned that the perfect album length is, in my opinion, between 35–45 minutes. Anything much over this and it needs to be very strong to carry your interest all the way through. There are very few double-albums that justify their playing time. I’d pick out Pink Floyd’s The Wall, The Beatles’ White Album and Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life as ones that do. Nearly all the other double-albums on the list I found to be bloated and tiring to some degree. That said, I did pick out The Magnetic Fields’ 69 Love Songs as a highlight, which is a triple album, so maybe I’m just fickle.
Hip-hop albums, in general, I found to be too long and obsessed with filling every minute of available space on the CD medium, often packed out with too many unfunny skits and soundbites. The same was true for a lot of the RnB from the 90s (but with less skits and more elongated track lengths). There seems to have been a big focus on quantity over quality. You rarely find an album of these types that is under 15 tracks or an hour long, and I felt that most of them lost impact over their playing time because of this. That said, I very much enjoyed my experiences with Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar.
My ultimate takeaway from this project is that music’s greatness is completely subjective. Context is extremely important in nearly every album in this list, but the real context that matters in music is entirely your own. The Greatest Album of All Time is……..Whatever you think it is. There are no wrong answers, only a lack of perspective could make you believe otherwise
I found it completely worthwhile, as a project. I think it started as a challenge of discipline to myself, but became a labour of love. Since I finished, I miss it dearly. I’m still formulating my idea for what is next for me.
— Tom Morton-Collings (December 2024)
Thanks to Toby Morton-Collings and Harris Sockel for their help with editing and formatting this piece. Thanks to Rolling Stone Magazine for the list itself and the inspiration it gave me to do this project. Thank you to Brett Schewitz for his wonderful website rs500albums.com which chronicled his own journey through this list, which was a constant reference point and inspiration throughout. Also, Andrew Hickey’s podcast — A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs — which was useful in unlocking the context for some of the unfamiliar artists/albums.
