20. Supertramp: Breakfast in America
Not as much a favorite any more, but this was one of the first albums I ever bought myself, and listened beyond the singles. Everyone knows the singles (Logical Song, Long Way Home, Goodbye Stranger). but there are some excellent deep cuts, especially on side 2: The jazz /coffeeshop inspired Casual Conversations, and the extended song Child of Vision featuring a power instrumental opening reminiscent of the best of Alan Parsons. Memory: Being excited when this album won a Grammy, even though I had nothing to with it.
19. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run:
I live in Jersey. I went to school in Jersey. I work in Jersey. You got a problem with that? Memory: Being in a bar and hearing drunken people yell ‘Bruce !!!’ when John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band came on the loudspeaker.
18.Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young: Deja Vu
Yeah... what everybody else said. Great album. Plus "Our House" is such a cute song. Although I like Madness' cover version much better. Memory: nothing specific.
17. Prince: Purlple Rain
Willingboro, 1984. How could u not have had this album burned in 2 your skull? The album still plays well after all these years. This album would make the list even if it was just an extended EP of Purple Rain backed with an acoustic version of "BatDance" on the B Side... That is how good of a song Purple Rain is. Needless 2 say, combined with “When Doves Cry” and “I Would Die 4 U “ (How much do u want 2 bet Prince is in 2 Text messaging?) makes side 2 one of the best 25 minutes of listening you will find anywhere. Memory: Every High School Dace.
16. ELO: Discovery
John Lennon once said if the Beatles were around today (and this was in the mid-70's), they would sound like Electric Light Orchestra. Well, this is their Sgt. Pepper. Some ELO fans like to call this album Disco?very!, but screw them- disco is back! Hey- In my defense, I was twelve when this album came out. Some people criticized Jeff Lynne for following the trends in music at the time (yet never the Rolling Stones- go figure), but I prefer to think of this as artistic growth. Side 1 is a near perfect blend of power pop and ballads featuring "Shine a Little Love", "Confusion", "Need Her Love", and "Diary of Horace Wimp" (think of an Easy Reader version of "A Day in the Life"). Lynne kicks off side 2 with Last Train to London, a power pop tune that you will either love or hate - the album closes with the classis "Don't Bring me Down". If this album is to pop-py for your sensibilities, try ‘Out of the Blue’, which is a little less commercial, but still mainstream. Memory: Plastic shelving. My old bed room as a kid.
15. Chicago 17
In your teen years, you often search for music to call your own. Not me. I embraced new music from a band that was old enough to be my young uncle. Needless to say, I was a huge Chicago fan, and this was an opportunity to hear new music by that band. When the horns were present ("Along Comes a Woman", "Please Hold On", "We Can stop the Hurting") this band rocked. When they weren't, they were a Prom band waiting to happen ("You're the Inspiration", "Hard Habit to Break", "Remember the Feeling"). "Stay the Night" had a way cool video, too! Memory: Waiting in lines for concert tickets on Route 130
I have nothing to add that every rock critic in the world hasn't already said... well- maybe one thing...I love driving around to Great Gig in the Sky real late at night. I don't think I listen to this album enough. I wish I had more time to listen to this. Perhaps if I didn't spend so much time on Facebook? Memory: Driving around at midnight listening to…
13. The Beatles: Rubber Soul
"You Won't See Me". Ground breaking song. Why? It's three minute and 22 seconds long! People didn't write three and a half minute songs back in 1965. How could one be more innovative than that? This is the album where the Beatles made the transition from Jonas Brothers to the rock pioneers . Experimentation with different instruments led to new sounds for "In My Life" and "The Word". Other great songs include "Norwegian Wood", "Nowhere Man"," Drive My Car”, “Girl", and " I'm Looking Through You". The song "Michelle" inspired countless post-beatnik/pre-flower power couples to name their kids Michelle, thereby flooding my elementary school with Michelles in 1974, and leading to my eventual high school graduation with 37 kids named Michelle (out of a class of 300). Memory: Spending summer afternoons writing the lyrics down to the songs because there was no darn Internet!
12. John Lennon: Imagine
Yes, "Imagine" is a great song, although it does sit pretty high in the pantheon of overplayed songs, but I'll take "Jealous Guy" as my favorite post-Beatle Lennon tune. Lennon gave us a peak into his mind in the early 70's on this album, besides "Jealous Guy" which gives us a view on his relationship with Yoko, there is "How Do You Sleep" is a biting statement on his relationship with former band-mate Paul McCartney. Also: "Oh My Love" shows the Lennon could write a ballad with the best of them, including Sir Paul. Memory: the rediscovery of this album when the “Imagine” film reused “Oh My Love” intro/outro music.
11. Matthew Sweet: Girlfriend
As one you can see on this list, I like a lot of 70s music. Kind of fits that one of my favorite album from the 90s is by Matthew Sweet, who still thinks Gerald Ford is President and olive green is a good color for a carpet. Sweet shows versatility on this album. "Girlfriend" is the straight forward rock song from the album, whereas "I've Been Waiting" is a harmonious pop song. All in all, 15 tight, diverse tracks make this a classic. Memory: Commuting to grad school listening to the album over and over.
10. Carole King: Tapestry
A greatest hits album, or not? King recorded new tunes including "I Feel the Earth Move", "It's too Late", and "So Far Away" and re-dos of songs she wrote or others including "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Women. Oh yeah, another song on this album would also be performed later in 1971 by James Taylor: "You've Got A Friend" Memory: About 10 years ago I realized that I could sing Karaoke to about half of the songs on this album. "A Natural Woman" is not one of them.
9. Lynyrd Skynrd: (pronounced 'leh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd)
"Free Bird", no matter how over- played or clichéd, is still the quintessential rock song. Another classico on this album is "Gimme Three Steps". The difference maker, though, is two other works: "Simple Man" (the inspiration for "Red Neck Woman", perhaps?) and the slower "Tuesday's Gone", a seven minute melodramatic ballad with soulful guitar work. Memory: Re-discovering this album in my teens after my brothers and sisters moved out of the house.
8. Hooters: Nervous Night
My College album. Others were into REM, others were into Husker Du. I liked the Hooters (I liked REM, too, but that’s really not that important right now). You have to support the local bands- and don't forget, as a Philly band they opened up Live Aid!. You will never find an album as consistent as this. Every song is solid. For a few years of my life, this was an album that was always on in the background. For the most part, the album consists of driving pop rock would-be anthems ("And We Danced", "Day by Day", "Blood From a Stone" and my favorite "South Ferry Road"). The album works so well because it is paced perfectly. Two driving songs open ("And We Danced" and "Day By Day"), before the band slows it up for "All You Zombies". Side 2 Opens with "Hanging on a Heartbeat", a remake of the song from their first non-label album, before closing with more high energy tunes. A Great album to turn on and turn up. Memory: Late nights discussing in mock-seriousness how this was the Greatest Album of All Time.
7. Ben Folds Five Whatever and Ever Amen
By the mid-late 90's, I would pretty much buy an album based on the strength of a single, and maybe listen to a whole album once, and just pop in the disc when I wanted to hear the hits. This album blew that away completely. The album opens with "One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces" - an explosive, angry song that gets the adrenaline running. If you have ever been picked on, you will identify with this song, "Brick" goes to the other extreme- an extremely emotional song, whose music (and vocals) are a perfect match for the story told in the lyrics. "Song for the Dumped" brings you back to the world of angry, before the real fun starts on the back half of the album (or as we used to say, side 2). "Kate" may be the song of the decade as far as I am concerned- upbeat tempo and impossibly optimistic lyrics (although tongue-in-cheek). "Steven's Last Night in Town" is pure fun, before the album slows down a bit at the end with "Missing the War". Personally I can't believe this album is 12 year old already. It's like as old as “Freebrid“ was when I was in high school. ouch. Memory: "Hearing "Brick" on the radio at least eight times on the family road trip to Top Sail Beach, NC, and then finding out Ben Folds was a North Carolina native.
6. U2: Achtung Baby
As soon as I heard that this album was recorded in Berlin (just after the Wall came down, but before reunification) they got my attention (I lived in West Berlin for four years during my formative childhood years). What kept my attention were the strong songs on the album. The first U2 album I really liked was The Unforgettable Fire, so I may have been late to the U2 party, but I caught up quickly. I love the Joshua Tree, and I tolerated Rattle and Hum, but this album was my favorite U2 work. Like their other albums, there was a consistent mood (in this case, dark and mysterious). This time, though, the songs really spanned a diverse spectrum. Danceable "Mysterious Ways", straight forward "Zoo Station" and "Even Better than the Real Thing" . There’s also this little heard Track called "One"... Memory: Debating with Monica over having the song "One" be our wedding song...’It worked for Billy and Alison on Melrose Place, why not us?’ - I lost that argument.
5. Paul McCartney: Band on the Run
My first ever favorite album. This is the album that transitioned me from kid's music to pop/rock ... Compared to some of his previous solo stuff, you may be able to say the McCartney made the same transition in his solo career with this album. The title track starts the album with a flourish. You can tell right away that this is not going to be a typical McCartney affair when "Band on the Run" does not fit into the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-fadeout that 90% of all pop songs fall into. "Jet" shows that he can still rock , despite his reputation as a balladeer. Of course he does deliver an excellent ballad with "Bluebird". Other classic tunes include "Helen Wheels" and "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)". This album also includes Paul's peace offering to John Lennon in "Let Me Roll It"... a not so subtle offer to .. well never mind. The album closes with "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" - an apocalyptic-sounding love song set many years in the future (remember, it was written in 1973) - and coincidentally my graduating year of High School- and also and eerily similar to the title of Bowling for Soup's "1985". The album closes with a reprise of "Band on the Run". All making for an epic album. Memories: Just about every nice summer day as a kid has an implanted memory of this album inserted into it.
4. They Might Be Giants: Flood
You get the most for your money: 19 songs. one album. If you don't like any of the songs, just wait two minutes, and the next one will start. The two 'hits' from the album "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and "Istanbul (Not Constinople)" are reason enough to like this album, but what made this album unforgettable was the sheer unpredictability as you went from song to song. You'd read a song title, and the craziest tune would come out of your speakers. Yet it all made sense. A song called "Minimum Wage" that sounds like a western movie theme song? A song called "Particle Man" that sounds like sounds like it is escaped from Saturday morning animation (remember when they were called cartoons)? The song titles alone just grab you: "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair" and "Road Movie to Berlin" - you must listen. Even today, I can't listen to just one song from this album. Memory: Hearing this album after graduating from college gave me reason to believe I’d still be able to appreciate new music.
3. Alan Parsons Project: Turn of A Friendly Card
Right as I was developing my own musical tastes (i.e. not bands my siblings were into) I discovered the Alan Parsons Project. This album contained the hit songs "Games People Play" and "Time", featuring vastly different sounds for a single band. Later, I would discover that there really was not one band; instead, The Project was a collection of studio session people gathered together by Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson. Also on this album was a dynamic orchestral instrumental "Ace of Swords" which was included in a tight knit medley of songs constituting the "Turn of a Friendly Card" suite. Every song on the album was capable of standing on its own, yet still fits in nicely with the ‘gambling it all away’ theme. Memory: Running to Memorial Junior High School as I heard the Bell ring from my house, because I wanted to hear WPST play "Time" before school started.
2. Elton John: Godbye Yellow Brick Road
This album kicks off with "Funeral For A Friend" and ends with "Harmony". Two of the finest Elton John songs ever, yet neither of them released as singles. Candle in the Wind was on this album, but didn't get released as a single in the US until 1987 (the live version). That is the depth of this album. Elton shows his range with the ballad title track and the rocker "Saturday Night is Alright for Fighting" ... and the sheer absurdity of "Bennie and the Jets" (Those were the three singles, by the way). The real joy of this album, though, is the strong craftmanship on the other songs. This is a double album because it had to be- there were no weak songs to cut. Give these songs a listen: "This Song Has No Title", "Grey Seal", "All the Girls Love Alice", and "I've Seen that Movie, Too". Memory: The sense of discovery when listening to this album as a whole for the first time- and finding out "Harmony" was on this album- a song I had always loved, but did not know the name!
1. Chicago II
One of the first albums I ever bought was Chicago's Greatest Hits. Instantly, 2 songs jumped out to me: "Make Me Smile" and "Colour My World". I didn't know at the time, these two songs were part of a larger suite of tunes called the "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" on side 2 of Chicago II- or what I call the perfect album side. The first song on that album side is a bright, happy song called "Wake Up Sunshine", sung by the keyboardist, Robert Lamm, that then transitions into the extended "Ballet" - sung by Terry Kath, who passed away in 1978. Each of the sides of the album has a different feel. The first side features "Moving In" and "In the Country", songs that capture both the optimism and the sentimentality of youth. The Third side is more experimental, featuring the "25 or 6 to 4" , the Chicago classic with the complete guitar solo, along with the classically inspired "Memories of Love". Only in 1970 would someone be courageous enough to put these songs together (imagine an 8-track player with an Ipod shuffle feature)! The album closes with an anti-war song "It Better End Soon" and the first song ever written by future band front man Peter Celera "Where Do We Go From Here". For sheer variety of songs, for pure musicianship, this album had it all. Memory: Just about any Chicago concert I have ever gone to is judged by how much material they play from this album.
