Boo Boo 101
 

After years of hinting at the idea of doing my own personal list, I said screw it and decided to actually do it. This is based on a list I'm working on at rateyourmusic, working up on a top 200 but since that will probably take me forever as most of my projects do, I figure I should go ahead and post what's in my top 101. In the MB tradition it's only one album per artist.

Don't expect me to enlighten you with a lot of obscure stuff, granted there's some in here, but my taste is predominately mainstream and if my choices strike you as being incredibly predictable and conformist, well there's nothing I can do about that. I yam what I yam.

101. My Aim is True - Elvis Costello

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...Aim_isTrue.jpg

No I'm not a big Costello fan, I personally lost interest after this album when he expressed greater punk rock leanings. This is a tremendous debut however, with Elvis sticking to what I feel he does best, his roots in rock n roll, r&B, doo wop and Beatles-esque melodies. He certainly has a gift for storytelling too, and goddamn is this guy mean.
Favorite tracks: Blame it on Cain, Alison, Less than Zero, Waiting for the End of the World.

100. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...01LZZZZZZZ.jpg

What better way to start things off than to first set things straight? I DON'T hate all Indie, you'll find a suprising amount of it here. This is a band I didn't want to like, with all the ridiculous hype around this album, I was expecting to be disappointed like always and use this as an excuse to further rant about the hopelessness of the modern Indie scene. Turns out I was wrong, about this album anyway. Usually when I think indie folk, I think unlistenable Syd Barrett-lite crap. Instead, I found a masterpiece of an album, that takes after the explorative side of folk. The music has both an ethereal yet familiar quality to it that I really love, I really love all the weird instruments they've managed to cram in there (horns, bagpipes, musical saws), the music compliments Magnums surreal lyrical imagery in ways Dylan only wish he could.
Favorite tracks: King of Carrot Flowers, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, Two Headed Boy.

99. Grace - Jeff Buckley

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f332/Harm85/grace.jpg

So many great love songs on this album, and you know, it's very cliche to say Jeff Buckley had a voice of an angel, but I'm very much convinced that it's true, I don't mean that in just a "he's a very good singer" sense, I'm normally not the biggest fan of "technical" vocalists. But I can't think of another vocalist that can sing so beautifully and passionately, and sound completely inorganic at the same time. The music here is so insanely majestic, I don't know how anyone could not like it. If I had to choose, this would be my makeout album. So purty.
Favorite tracks: Mojo Pin, Grace, So Real, Hallelujah.

98. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j3...3/wilcoYHF.jpg

My Morning Jacket are my favorite modern Indie band, but when it comes to consistency I gotta give it to Wilco. It's one thing to be one of the remaining talented Indie bands of our time, it's another to put out one remarkable album after another. I could have easly gone with the psychedelic Summerteeth or the refined pop of a Ghost is Born. But I had to go with YHF. While most so called Indie pop groups continue to suck on the decaying tits of post punk, Wilco have found an amazing way to combine country, pop and psychedelia with Tweedy's imagery of love and war. Truly one of the great modern American bands. Points deducted however for influencing that godawful excuse of a band The National.
Favorite tracks: I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, Kamera, Radio Cure, War on War.

Every single choice here I was'nt expecting ESPECIALLY NMH. You should check out the Grace Legacy edition. There are plenty of great nuggets on there. NMH do absolutely nothing for me but I am looking forward to this list definitely.

Interesting start on a thread I'll be checking up on in the future. :)

Hehe, more lists! Even if it's all 'classics', there are still a lot of em I haven't looked into. Looking forward to this.

Very interesting start. I'm looking forward to this.

That refreshing honesty has got me interested in the list, i look forward to more

good albums, nice one.

will keep tabs on this.

Your grandmother must be getting tired of it by now.

Overall good picks so far, though I can tender a guess what genre will predominate in the end...

Deducting points for influencing The National? It wasn't their fault.

Great album. Not my favourite of his by a long shot, but each to their own. As for Jeff Buckley, NMH and Wilco, smart choices there too, and a great start to the thread. I'll be keeping an eye on this.

You've got my attention for sure. I'm going to try to keep close tabs on this.

Youve also gotten me interested, this is the only "My Fav Albums" list that has ever done that. Well done.

Stu's list is pretty f*cking awesome so far.

Yeah, I need to get on some of those albums.

You've got my attention...

Also Boo Boo be sure to finish this list, dont be like everyone else and forget about it after a week.

97. Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire - The Kinks

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...thur_album.jpg

This is not the album people usually cite as their favorite Kinks album. Though I think I know the reason. Ah the concept album, so many people hate them, but as a lover of all things pomp, I can't get enough of them. Concept albums were the norm in the 60s and 70s for psychedelic and prog bands, and like their british invasion peers The Who, The Kinks also took a whack at this rock opera thing, though in a much less obvious way. Arthur is about broken dreams in post war England. But unlike most concept albums, this is still very much a song album, everything's in good form here, from the quirky pop of Australia to the bleak lonliness of Shangri-La.
Favorite tracks: Victoria, Drivin', Australia, Shangri-la.

96. The Shape of Jazz to Come - Ornette Coleman

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...jazz_to_co.jpg

My interest in jazz is something I rarely bring up, for the sake of not seeming like a pretentious c*nt of course. Free jazz is considered the most inaccessible of jazz, but personally I think that's not the case. There's more to jazz than just chops, and what makes this album great is that feel of decadence and appocalypse, it's the same kind of recklessness you'd get from punk rock, there's a bit of sleaze and a lot of adrenaline. And personally, I think this is more punk than anything The Sex Pistols ever did.
Favorite tracks: Lonely Woman, Peace, Focus on Sanity, Chronology.

95. Synchronicity - The Police

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...chronicity.jpg

I guess I just have a horrible habit of citing bands so called sellout albums as my personal favorites. And you know, you can rant about how big of a pretentious dope Sting is and how much his solo music sucks. But man I love The Police. Sting has quite a talent for telling these really dark character stories and mating them with such mystical and eerie sounds. The chemestry between Sting, Summers and Copeland is top notch, easly one of the best rock ensembles out there. I love that The Police adopted a more diverse sound with this album, expanding on more than just reggae and punk influences to create a much richer sound. Bloody shame this was their last album, no seriously it's a bloody shame, goddammit Sting, stop it with this whole solo career thing.
Favorite tracks: O My God, Synchronicity II, Tea in the Sahara, Murder by Numbers.

94. De-Loused In The Comatorium - The Mars Volta

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u...in_the_com.jpg

Ok hipster kids, don't get too comfortable now just because I already name dropped Wilco and Neutral Milk Hotel, of course I like The Mars Volta. I mean sure their music is nearly structureless, is full of plain random weirdness and their lyrics make little to no sense, oh wait, that's obviously right up my alley. De-Loused is their only album where I actually understand the theme, which makes me enjoy the music more as well. I'm a big fan of surrealism and that's pretty much what I get out of this music, it's so deliciously disorienting, intoxicating and inorganic.
Favorite tracks: Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of), Drunkship Of Lanterns, Eria Tarka, This Apparatus Must Be Unearthed.

^ Four more great albums, or at least ones I've heard, liked, but never got 'round to tracking them down (that sentence rhymed). I approve of this list and demand more :D

That would make a nice death metal album cover.:beer:

I was wondering when something I enjoy was going to crop up. This album came during a turning point in jazz history, and a great year at that. It's rather accessible for free jazz, but it's still better than the majority of Sun Ra's works.

Awesome pick.

double whammy of cool, Arthur is so underrated. Apparently it was originally written for a musical to be broadcast on ITV that got canned. My fave track is 'Mr Churchill Says' :D

:beer:
I got this about a week ago. I thought it was rubbish at first, but I gave it a few more listens, then suddenly, it clicked with me. I love TMV now. Especially in De-loused.

Ironic that a so-called punk rock band, Refused, were inspired by this album title to create one acclaimed gem, "The Shape of Punk To Come"

But I guess everyone got the irony pages before I did since no-one cared to point out how obvious it is.:laughing:

That's not really ironic.

93. Velvet Underground & Nico - Velvet Underground & Nico

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/n...nderground.jpg

Not really a fan of VU or their later exploits, and it took a while for me to really enjoy this record, but now that I do, I can easly understand why it was so revolutionary and influencial, even though I don't consider it to be as great as a lot of people think it is. VU had the right strategy in mixing up straight up pop ballads with the more experimental sides of Lou Reed and John Cale. It all works, and I find that it works in a way that anybody could pick up this album and like at least one song. I don't know how anyone could not love Sunday Morning.
Favorite tracks: Sunday Morning, Femme Fatale, Venus in Furs, Herion.

92. Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/l...01LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Yes, The Rolling Stones are the most hideously overrated band on the planet, that of course is not my opinion, but merely scientific fact. But I have to be honest, if they weren't so damn overrated, and if they had the good sense to retire after this album, which IMO was clearly their peak before they dropped the ball with the massive snorefest that is Exile on Main Street, then my outlook on the band would be more positive. This is undeniably a great album, the Stones really show some range here, mixing up their brand of no thrills rock n roll with folksy ballads and pure blues. Can't You Hear Me Knocking is the song where they really push their musicianship to the limit, and Wild Horses and Moonlight Mile show that Jagger and Richards are indeed a very talented songwriting team.
Favorite Tracks: Bitch, Can't You Hear Me Knocking, Wild Horses, Moonlight Mile.

91. Third/Sister Lovers - Big Star

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...6fd8f0004-.jpg

I can tell you right now, the amount of sh*tty music the state of Tennessee produces today is rivaled by few, what with country pop, crunk and post grunge bands like Saliva to lay claim to, of course we have a great back catalog, I can easly say that next to Beale Street, Stax and Sun records, Big Star was the best thing to ever come out of my state. It's weird how this band evolved from a happy power pop band into the band that made this odd, disturbing record. Chilton's voice sounds so broken yet haunting, making his songs about his depression and loneliness all the more effective.
Favorite tracks: Kizza Me, Thank You Friends, Big Black Car, Holocaust, Blue Moon.

90. Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Red Hot Chili Peppers

http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q.../RHCP-BSSM.jpg

This band sure takes a beating here, even as a fan of their later work like Californication, I can understand the dislike for it, but anyone who says they like P-Funk and Bow Wow Wow and then says they don't like this album is just being pretentious for hipsters sake or is just incredibly inconsistant. This was the swan song for funk era RHCP, their musicianship had improved (Flea and Frusciante are both top notch here) and Rubin did a fine job of polishing their sound, but it's just as silly, raunchy, funky and fun as ever. I know there's a term out there called desert rock and while RHCP aren't considered such, that's the imagery I get from this album and I love it.
Favorite tracks: Power of Equality, Under the Bridge, Apache Rose Peac*ck, Sir Psycho Sexy.

Venus in Furs = Ear Sex :hphones:

In all honesty, desert rock wasn't about the desert. It was a nascent reaction to Los Angeles' heavily commercialized drug scene (and I say heavily commercialized because desert rockers definitely took drugs). If that's what you take away from this album, fine, but it was exactly this overcommercialized pap that Kyuss & company f*cking hated.

well we can't all be glenn branca can we, that would get boring pretty quickly

''Sir Psycho Sexy that is me
Sometimes I find I need to scream
aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh''

Man i haven't heard that album in years. I'm going to have to find it for a nostalgia play.

I'm going to start a sweepstake on how many time Boo Boo mentions the word 'Hipsters' over the course of these 101 albums.

I'm going with 47 times

I can keep count for you, so far I've only said it twice.

Funny then that I consider Songs for the Deaf to be just as commercial as BSSM was if not more so. I don't know about the rest of Kyuss, but Josh Homme clearly dosen't have a problem with commercialism, especially when he's buddies with Dave goddamn Grohl.

89. Trans Europe Express - Kraftwerk

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...01LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Tangerine Dream are great, and I can dig Can but I find them overrated. I'm generally not a big Krautrock fan, but naturally I have to dig the most poppy of the Krautrockers. I just love the sound of them moogs, and the musical arangements here are so good. This obviously makes a great companion piece for David Bowie's Low. Both of these albums remind me a lot of the soundtracks to the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games for some reason.
Favorite tracks: Europe Endless, Hall of Mirrors, Showroom Dummies, Trans Europe Express.

88. In a Bar, Under the Sea - dEUs

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y283/nyrab/347313.jpg

One of the most underrated bands around. This band is so remarkably talented and diverse. There's a bit of everything on this record, indie, prog, jazz, folk. If Big Star, Charles Mingus and Captain Beefheart had a baby, it would probably sound like this. The lead singer has a very odd voice, which I didn't quite like at first but now I do. This band makes such a smooth transition between one style to another, but the ballads are my favorites, love that guitar on Wake Me Up Before I Sleep.
Favorite tracks: Theme From Turnpike, Nine Threads, Disappointed in the Sun, Wake Me Up Before I Sleep.

87. Closer - Joy Division

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...-06-fact25.jpg

Unknown Pleasures is great too, but I greatly prefer this one because the mood of it all just suits Ian Curtis's deep baritone a lot better. There's not anything I can say about this album that hasn't been said before. I love the darkness of this album. It's saddening to hear how Ian's friends didn't express much concern over this album because they didn't think he meant it, he obviously did.
Favorite tracks: Twenty Four Hours, Atrocity Exhibition, Colony, Isolation.

86. Funcrusher Plus - Company Flow

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...usher_Plus.jpg

Eminem is not the best white rapper alive, you can only do so many raps about your mommy issues until it gets goddamn repetitive. EL-P is my kind of rapper, his lyrics invoke imagery of science fiction and surrealism. And the beats here are so miminalistic yet awesome, it has a very futuristic sound and feel to it. It seems a lot of the best rap nowadays is of the geeky variation, I'm sure Company Flow deserve some credit for that trend.
Favorite tracks: Definitive, Krazy Kings, Last Good Sleep, Legends.

89. & 86. in particular are two of my favourite albums of all time aswell, will have to check out dEUs by the sounds of it.
spot on with funcrusher, every 'geeky' hip hop album has a job and a half living up to that and i've not heard one yet that can manage it

I listened to Joy Division before I knew of Curtis' death and it felt fresh and original. When I learned about his suicide a couple months ago I think it may have changed how everyone views the music. Now it's seen as more tragic than groundbreaking.

85. I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One - Yo La Tengo

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...b/c99b4199.jpg

I find that many popular Indie bands these days strictly imitate another band, Yo La Tengo however, they have demonstrated their ability to imitate just about anything they hear, and they do it well, they're like pop music scholars, and they make everything they do sound authentic and distinctly Yo La Tengo, giving them the freedom to cover everything from bossa nova to country to noise rock to straight up pop. It all blends together with the great harmonies and Georgia Hubley's lovely vocals. Oh, and because Urban expects it, HIPSTERS!
Favorite tracks: Moby Octopad, Sugarcube, Damage, Shadows, Center of Gravity.

84. Marquee Moon - Television

http://i430.photobucket.com/albums/q...83f79df9d5.jpg

I'm confused, these guys were considered one of the founders of punk, yet they remind me more of The Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service than anything, wasn't punk opposed to that kind of stuff? Well anyway, are Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd awesome guitarists or what? Lloyds solos come off as more technical, but Verlaine's has that unique vibrato and are entirely different from anything I've heard. Second solo from the title track is pure bliss.
Favorite tracks: See No Evil, Venus, Friction, Marquee Moon.

83. Mirage - Camel

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k3...mel-Mirage.jpg

Ah yes, there's a lot of my favorite prog bands that didn't make my top 100, which many of you will find surprising. But Camel just had to make it, though a tough call between this and The Snow Goose. A great ensemble is at work here, Peter Bardens (who worked with Van Morrison) was a great keyboardist, and Andy Latimer is one of the more underappreciated guitar gods, he can best be described as somewhat of a cross between Gilmour and Santana. Those licks from Lady Fantasy still blow me away every single time.
Favorite tracks: Earthrise, Lady Fantasy, Nomrodel, Supertwister.

82. Moon Safari - Air

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y28...oon_safari.jpg

I'm growing more and more fond of electronica all the time. It was Bjork that got me into it. I love chill when it's done right, this is an album where electronica and psychedelia bond like lovers, there's even some synth pop thrown in for good measure. I swear, I feel like I get a contact high everytime I listen to this album, it's that good.
Favorite tracks: La Femme D'argent, Sexy Boy, All I Need, New Star in the Sky.

Yes! Fantastic album from a fantastic band. Probably there best behind the Self Titled. And the album covers are great for KIDS!

Another wonderful pick. For some odd reason I think the best track is All I need. it was top in my Itunes for a while. Something about her soothing voice puts me right in a daze.

Sir Psycho Sexy is dope as hell... gotta love the lecherous lyrics and the outro.

Good call on these - Arthur is probably my fav Kinks album too.

He didnt post the best part.

I could feel her getting wet through her uniform
Proppin' her up on the black and white
Unzipped and slipped "ooo that's tight"
I swatted her like no swat team can
Turned a cherry pie right into jam

Weird. I always assumed people would know of his suicide before they knew the music.

Finally someone agrees with me about that! And good call on "The Shape of Jazz to Come."

Props to Company Flow, Camel and Moon Safari. This looks like a list worth keeping an eye on for sure, especially since I bet it will have some cool surprises! :thumb: