Strummer521

The Queen is Dead - The Smiths (brooding post-punk that made darkness and melancholia cool in pop music and made it acceptable for those characteristics to comprise a masterpiece).

The Ramones - The Ramones (for showing us a new direction that pop could take, where it was simpler, catchier and better than it had been in years).

The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground (forget Sgt. Pepper's...these guys invented art-rock and propelled the trash aesthetic to new heights simultaneously. Lou Reed's got the X-Factor like almost nobody else).

Rubber Soul- The Beatles (This planted the seed, and music would never be the same).

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (This showed us it was ok to use pro-tools type effects on folksy alt-country gems and still retain their grace and dignity...who else would have done that? Now we have Fruitbats, The Shins etc... If you start the album and you're unsure about it, skip straight to "Jesus ETC...". Argument over.)

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan (This made folk music cool again. If you wanted to make music with just your guitar, that was once again acceptable.)

Grace - Jeff Buckley (I think this is what heaven sounds like.)

Kind of Blue - Miles Davis (A rainy New York night for your ears).

Exile on Main Street - The Rolling Stones (If every bar band was this good, I'd be an alcoholic.)

Pinkerton - Weezer (Pop punk with a brain, and the creative spirit.)

Astral Weeks - Van Morrison (a swirling maelstrom of mystical bliss and vocals with miles of soul...one of the most passionate and spontaneous sounding albums ever to hit wax.)

Superfly - Curtis Mayfield (at least in this case, blaxploitation is more than camp or ironic retro cool. Mayfield exploits the system that's trying to exploit him and makes a statement. Plus, some of the most creative grooves I've heard.)

Headhunters - Herbie Hancock (Speaking of grooves, by taking it to exciting new places, this album showed us jazz didn't have to be "just jazz" anymore. If you had this and no other funk album, you'd be doing ok.)

to be continued...

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