I'm working on my fingering getting back into the blogging groove. As I sit and muse about this that and the other, feast your eyes on this, my choice for top 15 (Yes that's right, no top tens for me) albums of all time. Well sort of, I try to be as varied as possible, so I restricted myself to only one album per artist, even if that means cutting Mr. Bob Dylan slightly on my list (Sorry Mr. Zimmerman) These are the albums that I constantly turn to. It's strange seeing how some of my tastes in music have changed since my early years. Anyway enjoy!
1. The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds I'd like to think of this as the album I most strongly associate myself with. The Beach Boys kill me with their harmonies everytime, but none so much than on this. It's not just nostalgic since they were the rock band of my youth, as I've grown, I've appreciated their more mellow approach, and Brian Wilson never stopped being a freaked out genius, he has a knack for balancing the weird with the beautiful.
2. Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks: Just one Bob Dylan album? Okay, it's gotta be this one, of all the Dylan lives there have been (Just watch the film "I'm Not There") this is the one I like the most. Dylan has always had many voices, but here he sounds mature, grown up, he's not trying for clever, he's being quite direct and his voice sounds grown up. "Blood on the Tracks" is required listening for anyone who has had their heart broken.
3. The Beatles: Abbey Road: If you caught me on another time, I might've said "Revolver", but I'm a sentimental fellow, and this was The Beatles goodbye record. I think of all their albums, this truly feels like everyone contributing, I guess to most people it was one last reminder as to why these guys were so great.
4. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run: I actually love Springsteen's later albums with the E-Street Band like "Magic" and even his more acoustic sets like "Nebraska", but I have to ask myself my desert Island Springsteen album will always be this, it's basically the reason why we still love the man, it's full of heart-pounding inspirational rock and roll music that people have been trying to copy for years.
5. R.E.M.: Automatic for the People: R.E.M. has been making music for years, they started off as Indie than became the most successful band of the 90s for a brief run. I still think they're the best most interesting band around, just listen to their last album "Accelerate". But once again, "Automatic for the People" is like their perfect album, I can't find anything wrong with it when I listen to it.
6. Elvis Costello: Imperial Bedroom: Costello can be as clever and prolific as Dylan when it comes to writing music, he's my favorite of the punk/new wave acts, but I think I liked it better when Costello mellowed a bit and started sounding more like a pop artist than a punk rocker. "Imperial Bedroom" is like his forgotten masterpiece after his terrific debut albums, but these days I find myself going to it more than his other ones.
7. Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense: Anyone who thinks the 80s were the worst decade for music are wrong. I admit it took me awhile to get into The Talking Heads and the mind of David Byrne, but after listening to this live album (perhaps the best live album ever!) I was hooked. The opening to psycho killer is better than the regular version, and the band just sound so awesome on stage.
8. Blur: Parklife: Remember the 90s when british bands like Oasis and Radiohead were the kings of the world. I remember that too, I also remember the band Blur and for my money, these guys were just a little bit more playful and cheeky than those other bands. This album is just so great to hear, to me it's the best britpop had to offer in the 90s.
9. The Kinks: Something Else: Before Blur, came The Kinks, they were the cheeky cousins to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. They made some great pop music, and in this album it contains perhaps my favorite pop song of all time "Waterloo Sunset". If you haven't heard of the Kinks before you owe it to yourselves to check them out.
10. Neil Young: After the Goldrush: Canada's pride and joy, and maybe second only to Bob Dylan as the great rock poet. Neil Young has made lots of albums, and it was between this and "On the Beach", but the thing that tipped the scale was the title song to this album, one of the best songs ever. As a Canadian Neil Young is a national treasure.
11. Brian Wilson: Smile: This isn't cheating because this is Brian Wilson after he left The Beach Boys, even though this was an aborted Beach Boys project. When I first got this album I couldn't stop listening to it, everything I love about Brian Wilson's music is in here, it's weird, and beautiful, and no one else can copy it no matter how hard they try.
12. XTC: Oranges and Lemons: XTC should've been the Oasis of the 80s, but for some reason, no one listened to their music. They made two great album "Nonsuch" and this one; this one beats the other one just by a hair. For anyone who really appreciates good british pop music should listen to this.
13. Van Morrison: St. Dominic's Preview: I know, I know, why not "Astral Weeks" or "Moondance", those are like staples. Dude, "Listen to the Lion" is on this album, that's all you have to know, I think it's Morrison's greatest song, plus the title track is a killer tune as well, there's a couple of others, when you're a genius you make more than one great album.
14. The Who: Live at Leeds: I'm a bit disillusioned at the moment with The Who considering every C.S.I. show now has a song of theirs as an opening. I admit I haven't listened to "Live at Leeds" in awhile. Historically it is considered to be the best live album of all time, when I first heard it as a young wipper snapper, it was utter transcendence. The Who were like my heroes as a kid, and it pains me to hear their music on C.S.I, cause they were such rebels at a time. This album probably is pure nostalgia since it's much heavier and rockier than I usually listen to now adays but it's quite a ride.
15. The Strokes: Room on Fire: The Strokes have kind become the band with the one great album that everyone listened to. Their second album was actually better. "Room on Fire" is the kind of album I wish was being made more often, it's short, it's spare, and it's just a good time. The Strokes don't have a big output of music so far, but I can't wait till their next album happens, to me they are one of the best ones out there.
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