Urban Hat€monger ?

80. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Orange (1994)

My first reaction on hearing this was 'What the **** is this?????'
I still think that now.But then i`ve always had a soft spot for rough around the edges raw blues rock , even more so when you have a lead singer putting on a cod elvis voice.This is just pure fun with great riffs.

Favourite songs - Bellbottoms , Blues X Man , Greyhound

Today
This was a hugely influential album for me it just blew me away the first time I heard it and since then my love for manic dirty blues based rock has just grown & grown , all because of this album. I probably wouldn't go for this album now but I would have a Jon Spencer album on here , it's just it would be one of his albums with Pussy Galore rather than the Blues Explosion.

Original Position - 80
Position Now - Around this number , but replace it with Pussy Galore's Dial M For Muthafucker as much as I would love to have their Exile On Main Street album instead.


79. The High Llamas - Hawaii (1996)

77 minutes & 29 songs full of lush strings , beautiful melodies & rich orchestral arrangements.One of the most underrated bands of the 90s which is a shame but understandable really. They were just as good as other bands like them such as Mercury Rev & The Flaming Lips but they lacked direction & never really came out with that killer album. This is about as close as they got to one. I`d love to put it higher as they were such a great band but there`s a bit too much filler on it to do that.But it is a good record.

Favourite songs - Sparkle Up , Literature Is Fluff , Cuckoo's Out

Today
I still like this band but I very rarely listen to it and I do still think it's their best album , if it wasn't for this band I would have never got into Microdisney or Fatima Mansions whom I both prefer over The High Llamas. So consider this album a gateway to better stuff.

Original Position - 79
Position Now - Out , to be replaced by Microdisney's 39 Minutes album which would be around this area of the chart , and The Fatima Mansions Viva Dead Ponies which would be around 10 - 15 places higher.


78. Dinosaur Jr - You`re Living All Over Me (1987)

This album sounds like sh*t , but not even the awful production that sounds like it was recorded on a tape recorder in someones bedroom (A couple songs were).But the quality of the songs shine through,in fact the best the band ever recorded.They made one good album after this (Bug) but then Lou Barlow left & the major labels came , but to be honest to me they were never the same again & just became a bunch of also rans on the grunge scene.Which was a shame because on the strength of this they desereved much better.

Favourite songs - Little Fury Things , Kracked , Raisins

Today
I still love this album to death , if anything it should be a little higher , maybe around 20 to 30 places higher

Original Position - 78
Position Now - 50 - 60


77. Pavement - Wowee Zowee (1995)

Now i`m not the biggest Pavement fan by a long shot as i`ve always found them a bit hit & miss, but when they`re good they`re very good. And I just love this album because how the diversity on it.The great thing about this album is you never quite know whats coming up next. There`s pop , jazz , folk , country , but all of it recognisable as Pavement & none of it sounding out of place.
I remember reading an article in the Daily Mirror a few years ago , they listed this album as the coolest album ever made. It totally surprised me to see it included , let alone being named no. 1 , but having heard it I could see why someone would think that.

Favourite songs - Rattled By The Rush , Fight This Generation , Half A Canyon

Today
I barely listen to Pavement at all these days but there are still parts of this album I like ,in fact there's probably more stuff I like on this album than all of their other albums put together. Sorry I just don't get the Slanted & Enchanted hype at all. As for this album I still like it but think it would be just pushed out of the top 100 because despite all that I do like about it I do find moments of it a bit patchy.

Original Position - 77
Position Now - Just under the 100

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Zarko

Bloody awesome replacement For a long time TP was my fave NC album, probably in my top 3 albums of all time. His best 80's work. Though If I were to do one today (who knows ) it would be either this or Henry's Dream to be in my top albums. If I picked an artist more than once he would probably take up 6-7 spots

Urban Hat€monger ?

76. Mercury Rev - Deserters Songs (1998)

I have to admit this totally blew me away when I first heard it.I`d heard Mercury Rev before but to be honest didn`t think much too them.I didn`t feel they had any songs , they just seemed to be self indulgent wank & a mish mash of half ideas & trying to be clever by throwing in as many instruments as they could. But i`d heard a couple of songs on this album & could hardly believe I was listening to the same band & then went out & bought it. And it was just as wonderful as I hoped. I think I must have had this on my stereo for months. They finally made an effort to write songs , and bloody good they were too.

Favourite songs - Holes , Opus 40 , Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp

Today
Good album but one I rarely listen to these days. There just seemed to be a slew of bands doing this sort of thing and I ended up getting a little bored of it

Original Position - 76
Position Now - Out


75. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing (1996)

One of my biggest regrets ever was that it took me 6 years to buy this work of genius. I`d see it in the shop , but always overlooked it in favour of whatever current indie guitar darlings were around at the time. Then I picked up the UNKLE album of which DJ Shadow was involved in & because I loved it so much decided to finally get this. And I was not disappointed. It is one of the very few albums I can pick up & listen to the whole way through. To me it`s like a journey and the time just passes by.In fact I used to listen to this album at work everyday. This album pisses over the arguement that people who use samples are not real musicians.This is the most original peice of music i`d heard in years.

Favourite songs - Building Steam With a Grain of Salt , Mutual Slump (With Bjork), What Does Your Soul Look Like

Today
Interesting how perspectives change after just a few years. There's no doubting that this album is groundbreaking as fuck , but over the years it has become a little old hat and I think because of this it loses some of that magic. I think it would still make the list today, just a bit lower.

Original Position - 75
Position Now - Mid 80s - low 90s


74. Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)

Nirvana killed hair metal?
Nope , as far as I go it was this album that did that.
After I heard this the likes of Poison had no appeal to me whatsoever. This spoke to me like no other album around at the time (save Janes Addiction). It was loud it was funky & it rocked like a bastard.
Many people might not realise the significance of the cover of Sabbath`s War Pigs either. Back then Sabbath were about the uncoolest band you could ever like, so it was good to see them cover a Sabbath song and at the same time really piss off the indie press that were loving them at the time.Although to be honest i`ve never really liked the cover itself , I feel their own material was much much better.

Favourite songs - From Out Of Nowhere , Epic , The Real Thing

Today
At the time this was a toss up between this album & Angel Dust. I went with this one because i'd lived with it longer. I think now the way my tastes have gone it would be Angel Dust that got the nod. I think the positioning would stay around the same.

Original Position - 74
Position Now - Angel Dust in this position


73. The Kinks - Village Green Preservation Society (1968)

I only bought this album in February , I suck.
I can`t really say much about this , Ray Davies legend blah blah blah. What I will say is I think it`s only now that people are realising the influence that this album had on British music. I would love to see this album towards the top of album polls that are made replacing that overrated heap of crap known as Sgt Pepper. I just like the imagery & the realness of the Kinks songs and I still think a lot of them are still relevent today.

Favourite songs - Village Green Preservation Society , Picture Book , Big Sky

Today
Now this is difficult

I still like the Kinks a great deal but it's ages since I last played this album. If I was going to play a Kinks album these days it would more likely be Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) than this one. And i'm not that sure that that album would be as high as this either.

Original Position - 73
Position Now - Out , With Arthur in at around the low 90s / Mid 80s

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lucifer_sam

I knew you'd come around.

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first.am

jacklovezhimself

I'm surprised to see Shout At The Devil still survived your top 100 even four years later.
Is it really that good?

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Urban Hat€monger ?

Motley Crue's first 2 albums are a hell of a lot of fun to listen to. There's just as much attitude , energy & bad make up in those albums as there is in any New York Dolls album. It's only the hair metal tag that puts people off.

If they'd had short spiky hair & only recorded those 2 albums before splitting they would have been remembered so differently to what they are now.

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jacklovezhimself

I'll guess I'd have to check that out then.
If indeed you truly are comparing them to the New York Dolls.

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Brad Stengel

Moar?

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These is the musics I own:
http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/BradStengel/oo

hellzangelx

You got me wanting to do this. Why is GNR's Appetite so damned late on this list.

Oh well....your list.

Urban Hat€monger ?

Because I thought 93 albums were better.

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