dac

SOOOOOO much better than anything Death Cab has done.

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TheBig3

fuh serious...pussy

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I've moved to a new address

Crowe

*This might just take me a full year to finish. I have to apologize to all for this, some of you might not care, some of you might have, at one point, cared. And some of you will never see this. One of the problems I've had is that I keep listening to more and more music like one would expect a music lover to do... and I keep discovering things that well deserve to be on this damn list. I can't very well go back and change something that I haven't even finished yet. So we'll make do.



32. Jane's Addiction - Ritual de lo Habitual (1990)

Between this and JA's earlier and just as important release "Nothing's Shocking" it really came down to which songs I like to listen to most, though I discovered both albums at the same time and listened to them in tandem. So, when did I discover JA? Late in my middle school days or early in my high school days, I attended what was then a mid-size venue, cross nation tour called "Lollapalooza". Tickets were $15-20 and you usually got to see some 5-6 bands of note. I went to this particular Lolla to see Incubus and the newly formed Queens of the Stone Age. My favorite memories of this particular Lolla are when Audioslave (also brand new at the time) performed a cover of the White Stripes' new single "Seven Nation Army", watching The Donnas put on one hell of a show and seeing/hearing for the first time Jane's Addiction. Perry Farrell, the lead singer of JA, is famous for being ultra eccentric and having a unique voice - and hell he puts on a good show, too. Of course Navarro was in his consummate rock star stance (which he rarely moves from, tbh). I've seen JA in concert more than any other group simply due to those Lolla performances and they STILL put on a hell of a concert- I recently caught them in KC with NIN (who sucked, play "Closer" you ****s, noone wants to hear a synth solo for 10 minutes) and they were exactly as I remember them over 7 years ago.

Check out: Stop!, Been Caught Stealing, and Three Days


31. Aerosmith - Rocks (1976)

Unghhhhh, yessssssss. If you think of the movie Armageddon when you think of Aerosmith; please shoot yourself. In lieu of suicide, go pick up/download/youtube this album immediately. I just can't talk about it... "Back in the Saddle" is one of the most badass songs that came out of the 70's and really... did Aerosmith fall out of the saddle at this time? Hell no. They had previously released (their masterpiece) "Toys in the Attic" - I like "Rocks" better because I had it on vinyl first. Simple as that. Aerosmith has since... fallen out of the Saddle. Come on boys, "Pink"?

Check out: Back in the Saddle, Home Tonight, and if Rock Band hasn't made you sick of Last Child yet, live it, learn it and love it. I do.

MILESTONE ALBUM: GROWING UP A CHILD OF THE 90'S

30. No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom (1995)
Our next milestone album is important because at the ripe age of 9 my mom wouldn't really let me listen to anything new. When we'd ride around places it'd be oldies or you know, Poison (not that I was complaining). But around that age is when kiddos started talking about stuff they heard on the radio which I didn't really listen to. My mom hated the stuff on the radio and thus, again, back to the Poison and Elvis. However, and I won't claim I remember the exact time and date of this event - one day my mom heard "Just a Girl" on one of our local alternative stations (when alt meant something) and we ended up listening to that station quite a bit. Of course when Mudhoney or Nirvana started blasting we'd go back to "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and that'd be the end of it. My mom bought me this album (pretty much for her) around this time (on cassette) and it became a staple for long car rides where we couldn't agree on something. She even has it on her iPod (next to Rascal Flatts ffs.) Anyway, this is what got me listening to the "cool" radio stations, and allowed me to start garnering my own taste.

Check out: eh, the singles to be honest. The rest is mostly filler.


29. Echo and the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here (1981)

Yes, you wanker, I like this album better than "Crocodiles" - now sod off. I always get strange reactions from people who (well, one, who have heard of E&BM - a rare thing) listen to Echo. I think Crocodiles was pretty standard - and this album's overall atmosphere is beautifully depressing - and this is a cliche way to describe this album, but it's true and simplistic so why fix what's not broken? And ugh, it's so much better than their "easily accessible" pop drivel. Many people disagree with me when I say this, but this just smacks of proto-shoegaze -- you start thinking of music as a physical liquid force rather than the instrument names given to them by the distant. I tend to wax faux-poetic, I apologize.

Check out: Over the Wall, Heaven Up Here, Turqoise Days

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lucifer_sam

this thread was the reason i actually paid attention to this forum to begin with. so in a sense, yeah, someone does care. your album choices are above all very interesting, it'll be great to see you finish this beast off.

looking back i can't believe how many of these i still haven't heard yet. i'll have to get on that.

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first.am

crash_override

Great list so far. Keep going.

Crowe

28. Toadies - Rubberneck (1994)
I did not catch this entire album in the 90's, which may be a good thing. As most people might comment - this is just a 90's rock album with nothing in particular that defines it as original or pin points in sort of unique quality. I don't agree but I can't give a good argument against the point. I went through a little "new indie" overload phase a few years ago and got tired of the multi-layer digifest of some of the stuff we listen to now (Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky) and went back to the music I grew up with. I only remembered "I Come from the Water" when I discovered this album, but hey I gotta say I fell in love with Rubberneck. "Possum Kingdom" was apparently THE hit at the time and as most people might also say, without that single this album would have not made a blip on the commercial level... but it should have. I like every song on this album - it's fun grunge - the lead singer has a distinct cadence and intonation and there is nothing wrong with fuzzy, driving guitars and a loping drum beat that keeps this album going.

Check out: I Come from the Water, Possum Kingdom, I Burn


27. Warren Zevon - Stand in the Fire (1980)

This list is sparse with live albums but I love Zevon's "Stand in the Fire" and could not imagine this list without it. While this live performance includes most of Zevon's classic fan favorites - what I like is Zevon's interaction with the crowd and the ad-libbing that he works in to his songs. Normally, and I bet I'll find a few of agree with me here, this bothers the hell out of me. I like the song to sound like it does in the damn studio. That's why I pay for stuff (well, I don't really...) if I wanted to see this I'd rather see it in person. Obviously, with some artists, this will never happen because... wellll they are dead! So! Concert DVDs and Live Albums are the closest experience you'll get (foregoing a ****e tribute band - except Badfish). Aaahooooooooooo Werewolves o' London!

Check out: Werewolves of London, Poor Poor Pitiful Me, Bo Diddley


26. Rage Against the Machine - S/T (1992)
Sheeeeeee-iiiit. At the time I had no idea what this guy was talking about. I knew the words, I knew the album like the back of my hand. But when someone handed me a Rage CD (sometime in middle school) my mouth dropped open and I took a metaphysical dump on my Limp Bizket CDs (shiver, the horrible, awkward and short period of youth when I loved Limp). This was one of the albums that I include in my own personal musical renaissance, and would be higher if it got more spin time - but I just know it so well that I don't really enjoy listening to it that much anymore. Sad but true. Killing in the Name Of get plenty of play on my workout playlist.

Check out: Killing In the Name Of, Bullet In the Head, Wake Up, Know Your Enemy


25. Mother Love Bone - Apple (1990)

And you wonder how the 80's transitioned into the 90's? This is it. Mother Love Bone is half of Pearl Jam before the other half of Pearl Jam was Temple of the Dog. The lead singer died and sadly we have only one album to which we can listen. Pick this up asap. ASAP! I can't explain this to you because I'm afraid my hyping will ruin the album for you. Think GnR collided with Mudhoney at the speed of light - and the being that resulted of their reconstituted atomic structure = Mother Love Bone

Check out: Stardog Champion, Heartshine, This is Shangrila

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Crowe

24. Okkervil River - The Stage Names (2007)

This is one of the albums that I associate most with musicbanter - specifically to Crowquill (whatever his name is now) who introduced me to OR (except to the album Black Sheep Boy). I prefer this album and it currently receives constant play and has a representative song on almost all of my playlists from my party playlist to my sleep playlist. This album has really come through for me in some situations and I go to it as sort of a defacto "I dunno what mood I'm in, I guess I'll do The Stage Names". More importantly, I listen to this album enough that various songs represent important events that have happened to me recently - Savannah Smiles specifically reminds me of the section of road that passes by the Chicago Aquarium as I was moving from there back home. John Allyn Smith Sails reminds me of sitting at my job watching my (at the time) new girlfriend listen to it for the first time. That kind of album really sticks to you - and is one of the reasons I'm doing this list at all.

Check out: Savannah Smiles, Unless It's Kicks, A Girl in Port



23. Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy (1973)

It's better than IV. Sue me.

Check out: IV and then Houses of the Holy.


22. Weezer - Blue Album (1994)

Believe me... I wanted to be really trendy and awesome and put up Pinkerton because that's the cool thing to do - especially for fanbois. F that. My generation grew up with the Blue Album and all of its gorgeous singles and for the fatty mcfat nerds like me... it spoke to my heart and mind. In 94 I was not aware of this album, but you can bet as soon as I picked it up somewhere in my early-teens, I knew all of the words almost immediately and still do. Doesn't breach top 20 because... well, that'd be too lame for Weezer. Also because Rivers in real life is a piece of **** apparently. And I believe everything I read on the internet.

Check out: You know the whole thing already.


21. System of a Down - S/T (1998)

I could not believe what I was hearing when I first heard this. I actually am proud to say I caught on to SOAD before most people did (that I knew) but I really didn't know what to think about it. My uncle, who I don't see very much, took me out to his truck one day and was like, we can't listen to this around your grandparents (whose house we were at for some family event) and he turned on "Sugar" - and this was some cassette mind you, it was maybe even the EP - because when he made me a copy - I don't remember the rest of the songs. Serj's voice is absolutely mesmerizing of course and the metal was maybe a bit too much for a 12 year old... I think at this time I was really just hearing metal (not 80s or classic metal) for the first time... and I can't say it was something I liked. It grew on me... and was one of the albums that broadened my auditory horizons as it were. My uncle also explained to me the importance of the lyrics which was something I to which I had never paid attention before. Remember... I was 12.

Check out: Spiders, Sugar, War?

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Crowe

MILESTONE ALBUM: MODERN CROWE

As we reach the top 20, the next 10 albums are define the growth after what I have referred to as my "Renaissance" or "Enlightenment", which will be my top 10. Kind of like the architectural structuring that comes right after you lay the foundation if that analogy makes any sense to you.


20: of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007)

Whilst being relatively new in my life, this was one of those albums that I realized once I had heard it... I needed EVERYTHING attached to these guys. Once I downloaded the rest of their discography I craved more and I constantly watch the news for their newest release updates et al. Luckily for me, they are a pretty prolific group who consistently releases material... and AWESOME material. My favorite album of theirs is "*** Parade" but this was the album that got me hooked, like I had mentioned.

Check out: Labyrinthian Pomp, Suffer for Fashion, Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse


19. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2008)

I do not get off on hype bands, but I love MGMT. I know that like many others they are in that place where if you're a "mainstream" kinda person and you know them, you're awesome - and if you think you're the sh!t when it comes to your taste in music... it was awesome to like these guys a year ago, but now... - anyway, I love this entire album with the exception of "Kids" and that's only due to the recent phenomenon of this radio station in my new city (KC) playing it every day at the same time when I get off of work and I listen to it stuck in traffic on my drive home. I think this **** is cool, and I try to find bands that sound like them to tide me over until the next MGMT album comes out. I think the lyrics deal with some interesting topics and the music is... different to the point where I listen to it and am still surprised at some of the things I catch. Weekend Wars is such an awesome song.

Check out: Weekend Wars, The Handshake, Future Reflections



18. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (1986)
I got into The Smiths late - and it was because I saw High Fidelity and I heard John Cusack mention The Smiths, and I was like... who in the hell? Now, this was a couple of years ago at that famed art college and I made the mistake of not knowing who The Smiths were out loud and got to hear the damn gasp from the group of music snobs around - a gasp so big that all of the oxygen in the room was momentarily gone and I choked on the vacuum. They delighted, though, in showing me all of the albums and regaling me with the importance of Morrissey bla bla bla - and of course they got into a HUGE argument about which was the best album, by the end of that particular evening I knew more about The Smiths than I knew about bands I had been listening to for the majority of my life. The Queen is Dead happens to be my fave. When I got to musicbanter I was well versed in Smithdom... though I don't recall conversing about it here... anyway:

Check out: I Know It's Over, Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, Frankly Mr. Shankly


17. Muse - Absolution (2003)

Yes, I think Origins of Symmetry is the superior album. NO, I don't think they are ripping off Radiohead. With that being said: Absolution is important because the string of singles that came off of this album made me interested in the band and since I picked them up (early in high school) I have never left them. Muse has always been within reach musically since Absolution came out. My favorite album is Black Holes and Revelations and I continue to use Muse as kind of a litmus for the new rock coming out, though that might be a mistake?

Check out: Time is Running Out, Hysteria, Stockholm Syndrome

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Seltzer

Hmmm, I've never checked out Warren Zevon beyond his more popular songs... I'll have to rectify that in the near future.

Anyhow, I'm still following your thread in anticipation.

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Fruitonica

I re-read this whole thread after seeing it revived, it's a great list. I'm disappointed with myself that I don't have any real comments on a specific album.

But I'll agree that Weekend Wars is a bitching song.