Albums I like: pt. 1

So I had an epiphany one night recently as I was contemplating my upcoming 25th birthday and scouring my music collection for something to fit my mood. That’s when it hit me: I’ve listened to more than my fair share of music over this past quarter century, some of it great, a lot of it, not so much. Right then and there I decided to make a list of the albums that defined my musical taste up until this point. Not necessarily the greatest albums of all time, but the ones that shaped me at some point in my life. The idea grew from a handful of albums to the list of 100 that I will be posting here over the next few weeks, using a flawless, top secret scientific method to choose them. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed putting it together. Or, at the very least, I hope you’re able to discover something new.

100. Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Oasis will probably be remembered for two things: Liam being a total dick and for basically being a Beatles cover band. The later is funny to me, as I think the Beatles are a bit overrated (that sound you hear is no one reading any further). But for some reason this worked. Despite the sometimes laughable lyrics (Slowly walking down the hall/faster than a cannon ball?), this is a great album. It’s the best record the Beatles never made.

99. Beck – The Information
Beck + Dust Brothers = Pure win. While this album goes on a bit too long and outstays its welcome, the first half of this album sees Beck at his best.

98. Stabbing Westward – Wither, Blister, Burn and Peel
Many consider Stabbing Westward Nine Inch Nails light. Sure they are more poppy and take less risks than Mr. Reznor’s act, but to call them a generic rip off would be selling them short. Sure, they may not be the most original act on the planet and their pseudo elctro-emo imagery isn’t the deepest, but this album is just too damn catchy to forget about. Between this and it’s follow up, Darkest Days, Stabbing Westward deserve to be remembered, not for what they couldn’t be, but for what they were, a good alternative/electronica act that was fine while we were all waiting for the next Nine Inch Nails record.

97. The Prodigy – Fat of the Land
Electronica’s time in the limelight was short lived, but the Prodigy put out one of the scene’s best records in Fat of the Land. It captured the best elements of the genre, driving guitars, intense hip-hop beats, and those at times nonsensical lyrics. It was an album made to be played on 11 and just lose yourself in. That, and it sparred on of the greatest videos of the 90’s, for “Smack my bitch up.”

96. David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars
Bowie is known as the great chameleon, but nothing stands out quite like this (with the possible exception of Station to Station). While this may not be his most challenging effort, it is one of his most consistent, and the one that introduced me to the genius that is David Bowie.

95. A Static Lullaby - …And Don’t Forget to Breathe
This is one of those albums that looking back on it, wasn’t as good as it was when I was really into it. Regardless, I was into this scene for much of my late teens, so to do it no justice would not reflect my past musical persona. I actually picked this up at a show of theirs, before they got signed to a label. For the genre it was pretty good, very raw and emotional. Then they got signed, it got overproduced, and they sounded like every other band at the time.

94. Death From Above 1979 – You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine
Normally, when one hears the term drum and bass, all one can think of is shitty club music. But with just a bass guitar and a drum set, this Canadian duo crafted one of the most original, danceable albums of the past few years. It’s just a shame they disbanded before we could see what else they had in store.

93. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand might be too hooky for their own good. From the ultra memorable riff to “Take me out” to the singable choruses to just about every song on here, Franz showed that this new indie/dance rock revival could be a lot more fun than whatever the Strokes were doing.

92. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
While I’m still not a fan of Funeral, the Arcade Fire get it right here. Maybe it’s the subject matter, maybe it’s the beautifully layered music, but Neon Bible is the real deal. Here’s hoping they can keep it up.

91. The Used – The Used
Whatever you want to call their scene, the used were the kings of it, if only for a short while. Bert’s vocals were what attracted me to them in the first place, and while I may not listen to them as much any more, his voice still has a very pleasing aesthetic quality to it. After their second album failed to live up to this, I gave up on the boys from Utah, but as far as angsty teenage records go, the used holds a special place in my heart.

90. Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine
Potential. That is the word that first comes to mind when you listen to Pretty Hate Machine. It’s a good pop-industrial record with some damn catchy tunes. But you know Trent is capable of much more, here he barely scratches the surface. Luckily this is just a taste of much greater things to come.

89. Brother Ali – The Undisputed Truth
It was hard to choose between this and Shadows on the Sun, but The Undisputed Truth ultimately won out because it’s a more focused effort. All of the same elements are here, the non-cocky braggadocio, the social commentary, just perfected. He’s still unsure, even when he’s on top of the world, but that just adds to his legend. Brother Ali is a master storyteller, and this entry really stands for his whole body of work, not just this album.

88. Marilyn Manson – Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)
Before this record came out, Manson described it as his version of the White album. While it will never reach the mythic status that the Beatles achieved with it, Holy Wood is indeed an epic undertaking. Slated as the third part of his trilogy (Antichrist Superstar and Mechanical Animals being the first two), and his first album since the Columbine tragedy, Manson takes on all comers. It takes on issues such as our fascinations with fame and religion and shows his disdain for American pop culture, Hoy Wood is Manson at his smartest, at exactly the time when he needed to be.

87. Burial – Untrue
This is my first step into the world of dub step, and I can’t get enough of it. Minimalist yet highly emotional, Untrue grabs you from the beginning and never lets go. This is an album that you need to digest alone for maximum impact, but something that you feel the need to tell everyone you know about. I can’t wait for what else he has in store.

86. Sage Francis – Personal Journals
Sage cemented himself as one of the underground’s best wordsmith’s with this record. While it is a little uneven in places, most of his lines are pure genius. Sage straddles the line between slam poet and rapper beautifully.

85. The Roots – Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart is the sound of Black Thought et al. finding themselves. This, along with Phrenology, were their transitory records, from hip hop jam band to the tour de force that they are currently. Some of the best tracks here invoke some of hip hop’s heavy hitters (You Got Me, Ain’t Sayin’ Nuthin” New), but like good guests should, they never overpower the band, only complement them. In Things Fall Apart, we see the spark (no pun intended, really) that turned the Roots into one of the best hip hop acts of all time.

84. Metallica – St. Anger
St. Anger? Really? While their first few albums were indeed excellent (Kill ‘Em All through Master of Puppets), you knew what you were going to get. For the most part, one could take any song off of one of those albums, throw it on to one of the others and it wouldn’t feel out of place. St. Anger sounded nothing like Metallica had ever done before, and is unlikely to do again. Yes, it sounded as if Lars was banging on trash cans, but the dirty, gritty sound, not being Load or Reload, and the fact that it stirs up such a passionate response from fans (in either a positive or negative light), this deserves to be on here.

83. OneBeLo –S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.
OneBeLo almost makes me forgive Michigan for unleashing Kid Rock upon the world. He’s one of the most gifted emcees on the scene today and it’s a crime that he isn’t more well known than he is. While his efforts tend to suffer from too much bulk, there are enough gems on S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. to show how serious about his craft that he really is.

82. Boysetsfire – After the Eulogy
From the opening notes of After the Eulogy, you can just tell that this album is going to kick all sorts of ass. This is boysetsfire’s masterpiece. It goes back and forth from blistering anthems to melodic pieces, all along fighting for the plight of the working class. This falls with the best politically charged albums of the last 20 years due to the fact that it connects with, rather than preaches to the listener.

81. Metallica – Metallica
Sometimes albums that sell real well are pieces of crap (I’m looking at you, Nickelback). In some cases, they are fully warranted, like here. This is the album that catapulted Metallica into the stratosphere. Sure, they were big before, but now they were musical gods. Some hate them for switching up their sound. Others say this was their last good album. I just say this is an extremely solid hard rock record from front to back.