Top 200 Albums of All Time: S Artists part 1

Never Mind the Bullocks: The Sex Pistols (1977)
The Sex Pistols took punk confrontation to its logical conclusion in 1977. The combat boot wearing spike haired band defined the movement socially, musically, and cosmetically. The band professed anarchy and dissed the queen scaring some record companies and fans. The punk music as a whole confused most people. After all, why would fans want to be spit on?

Key Tracks:
God Save the Queen
Anarchy in the U.K.
Pretty Vacant

Graceland: Paul Simon (1986)
Hard to believe Graceland is 25 years old. The album includes South African influences essentially merging Simon’s personal beliefs, humor, and South African culture. It also provided the classic “You Can Call Me Al.”

Key Tracks:
Graceland
You Can Call Me Al
All Around the World of the Myth of Fingerprints

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Simon and Garfunkel (1970)
Simon and Garfunkel released one of the last albums to close the sixties and open the seventies. They captured a time and place on vinyl, which is why it connected. Like the next entry does for 1992, Bridge Over Troubled Water provides a time capsule to 1970.

Key Tracks:
Bridge Over Troubled Water
El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
Cecilia
The Boxer

Singles: Soundtrack (1992)
If you want to understand 1992, then listen to the Singles soundtrack. The album is loaded with so-called grunge artists as well as classic rockers like Hendrix and Heart. Singles explains disillusionment, youth, and hope that permeated the period and Bill Clinton tapped.

Key Tracks:
Would? (Alice in Chains)
Breath (Pearl Jam)
Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns (Mother Love Bone)
State of Love and Trust (Pearl Jam)
Waiting for Somebody (Paul Westerberg)
Nearly Lost You (Screaming Trees)

Reign in Blood: Slayer (1986)
In 1986, Slayer released the Trash Metal classic Reign in Blood. The album lasts about a half an hour, but fills the listener with Slayer’s brutality. This is the album to listen to if one wants to understand thrash and compare it to classic metal or hair metal.

Key Tracks:
Angel of Death
Raining Blood

Top 200 Albums of All Time: R.E.M.

Murmur: REM (1983)
Fans joked that Murmur should have been titled mumble. The album introduced the world to Michael Stipe’s cryptic and at times undecipherable lyrics and Peter Buck’s jangly guitar sound. The album helped kick off college rock and began the steady build to the alternative revolution of the early 1990s.

Key Tracks:
Radio Free Europe
Talk About the Passion
Perfect Circle
Pilgrimage

Document: REM (1987)
R.E.M. toyed with breaking through to the mainstream prior to Document. However, this album brought commercial success and a platinum certification. Despite the breakthrough with songs such as “The One I Love” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”, the band stayed true to itself with such tracks as “Welcome to the Occupation”, “Exhuming McCarthy”, and “Disturbance at the Heron House.”

Key Tracks:
Finest Worksong
Welcome to the Occupation
Disturbance at the Heron House
It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
The One I Love

Automatic for the People: REM (1992)
Out of Time made R.E.M. unlikely rock royalty. The band planned to follow up the folksy sounding multi-platinum monster with a rock album, but abandoned the project. Instead, they teamed with John Paul Jones to craft a subdued album based on mortality. The result, Automatic for the People, and its themes of lost youth and death, has stood up well over two decades and is one of the finest albums of the period.

Key Tracks:
Drive
Try Not to Breathe
Everybody Hurts
Man on the Moon
Nightswimming
Find the River

New Adventures in Hi-Fi: REM (1996)
After releasing their own “grunge” album with Monster, R.E.M. created perhaps the most underrated album in music history. Many of the songs were written and perfected while touring, which is perhaps why some of the tracks deal with travel. Interestingly, the album did not do as well as prior R.E.M. efforts. In hindsight, the decline of the record industry may have actually begun just prior to Napster and the download craze of the late 1990s.

Key Tracks:
Electrolite
Binky the Doormat
Bittersweet Me
E-Bow the Letter

Top 200 Albums: Pearl Jam

Ten: Pearl Jam (1991)
Ten helped changed the culture and music industry. Unlike most of the industry, which concentrated on party rock, Pearl Jam dealt with depression, suicide, homelessness, and other issues. The band drew from classic rock and punk to create one of the seminal albums of the 1990s.

Key Tracks:
Even Flow
Alive
Jeremy
Black
Once

Vs.: Pearl Jam (1993)
After experiencing amazing commercial success with Ten, Pearl Jam decided to tone it down for the next album. Although Vs. appeared to be similar to Ten in sound, it was rawer and the band refused to film videos to promote the album or its singles. Despite this, the album went platinum seven times over and spawned several hits.

Key Tracks:
Go
Animal
Daughter
Dissident
Rearviewmirror
Elderly Woman Behind a Counter in a Small Town


Vitalogy: Pearl Jam (1994)
Once again, Pearl Jam changed up with their third album. Vitalogy was extremely diverse and included hard rock, ballads, and even some experimental tracks. The eclectic nature of the album made it more of a punk album for lack of proper qualification. If the album has a theme, it is the loss of privacy and the pressures of superstardom.

Key Tracks:
Not For You
Tremor Christ
Nothingman
Corduroy
Better Man

Top 200 Albums of All Time: "N" artists

Nevermind: Nirvana (1991)
Few albums had the type of impact that Nevermind experienced. Nirvana shocked the music world when the album unseated Michael Jackson atop the music charts. Nevermind brought alternative music to the mainstream and wiped out the music scene of the time. Grunge took over for a few years before burning out. Rolling Stone summed it up best, "No album in recent history had such an overpowering impact on a generation—a nation of teens suddenly turned punk—and such a catastrophic effect on its main creator."

Key Tracks:

Smells Like Teen Spirit
Come As You Are
Lithium
In Bloom

In Utero: Nirvana (1993)

Nirvana tried to move away from their sound in Nevermind. As a result, they created a grittier, dirtier, rawer record. Perhaps nothing demonstrates the difference between the two albums than their covers. Nevermind featured a baby. In Utero featured an angel with its musculature exposed.

Key Tracks:

Heart-Shaped Box
Rape Me
Pennyroyal Tea

MTV Unplugged in New York: Nirvana (1994)

Nirvana released Unplugged in New York nearly seven months following Kurt Cobain’s suicide. The album demonstrated the band’s range as they moved away from so-called Grunge music. Additionally, it appeared as though Cobain was acting as though the record and accompanying video were a farewell.

Key Tracks:

About a Girl
The Man Who Sold the World
Lake of Fire
All Apologies
Where Did You Sleep Last Night?

Ready to Die: Notorious B.I.G. (1994)

Biggie’s semi-autobiographical album focuses on his days as a criminal.

Key Tracks:

Juicy
Big Poppa
One More Chance

Straight Outta Compton: NWA (1988)

NWA changed the direction of rap and hip-hop. The lyrics spoke of the gangsta lifestyle and influenced the genre for a number of years afterward. It was a dramatic departure for the musical style, which boasted MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice.

Key Tracks:
Straight Outta Compton
Gangsta Gangsta
Express Yourself
Fuck tha Police

Top 200 Albums of All Time: A

I decided to do my own Top 200 Albums of All Time. Instead of ranking them #1-200, I am listing them alphabetically by artists. Here are the first 5 entries:

Highway to Hell: AC/DC (1979)


Highway to Hell is the last album AC/DC recorded with Bon Scott. The album propelled the band to stardom. Scott died six months after the album’s release. The song “Night Prowler” is about a boy sneaking into his girlfriend’s bedroom at night. However, the song was stolen by serial killer Richard Ramirez. The publicity led to a backlash against the band for a time.

Key Tracks:

Highway to Hell
Girls Got Rhythm
Shot Down in Flames

Back in Black: AC/DC (1980)

Five months after lead singer Bon Scott’s death by “misadventure,” AC/DC released their greatest album to date with a new lead singer. The band considered dissolving after Scott’s demise, but decided to carry on. They quickly drafted Brian Johnson to do vocals and brought producer Mutt Lange, who produced Highway to Hell, back. This metal masterpiece is the second highest selling album of all time. The band dedicated the album to Bon Scott.

Key Tracks:

Hell’s Bells
Back in Black
You Shook Me All Night Long

Toys in the Attic: Aerosmith (1975)

Aerosmith’s second best selling album is also their greatest work. The album contains four of the band’s most iconic songs including “Walk this Way” and “Sweet Emotion.” The album helped turn the Boston natives into one of America’s greatest bands. By the end of the decade, Aerosmith began to disintegrate as a result of drug abuse. They eventually recovered to reform and experienced a second round of success.

Key Tracks:

Toys in the Attic
Walk This Way
Sweet Emotion
No More No More

Dirt: Alice in Chains (1992)

The first band of the so-called Grunge era to break was not Nirvana. Alice in Chains broke slightly before their Seattle compatriots. In 1992, the band released Dirt which yielded multiple hits. The album focused on depression, drug use, death, war, and other downer topics. It was a clear antithesis of 80s pop metal which was in its death throes at the time.

Key Tracks:

Them Bones
Down in a Hole
Rooster
Angry Chair
Would?

5. At Fillmore East: The Allman Brothers Band (1971)

Recorded at the hallowed concert hall in New York City, the album highlighted The Allman Brothers talent and varied influences. The band incorporated blues, jazz, and southern rock into a four album recording. The album included songs with lengths of 19:15, 13:04, and 23:03 which demonstrates the longer attention span and sophistication of audiences of the time. The live albums made the Allman Brothers stars and showcased the talents of Duane Allman.

Key Tracks:

Statesboro Blues
Whipping Post

Songs of the Year 2009

Here is my list of songs of the year. I tried to go with a variety of genres as opposed to whatever I liked…

Check My Brain- Alice in Chains: It’s 1995 again. The 90s are making a major comeback. We seem to have jump skipped right over the 80s and right to the flannel.

East Jesus Nowhere- Green Day: If you are religious, this is not for you. Green Day goes off on organized religion and sings “of blasphemy and genocide.”

I Got a Feeling- Black Eyed Peas: They had quite a year. This song touched a chord. The basic premise is everyone is stressed, so let’s spend all our money and drink.

(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To- Weezer: Classic Weezer.

Mean Old Man- Jerry Lee Lewis: Jerry Lee covers Kris Kristofferson and still sounds good.

No Rest for the Wicked- Cage the Elephant: Everyone has heard this one even if they don’t know it. It’s appeared in a few commercials. Interesting that a bunch of white guys around 20 are the ones doing the Mississippi Delta thing.

Oh Yeah- Chickenfoot: Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, and Chad Smith bring back 80s hard rock. Since they are the only ones doing it, they had a hit record.

Outlaw Pete- Bruce Springsteen: Bruce channels old school cowboy tales into an 8 minute epic.

That’s Not My Name- The Ting Tings: This reminds me of “Mickey” from the early 80s. Who hasn’t forgotten a girl’s name the morning after?

Uprising- Muse: Muse brings back the synthesizer and sings about rebellion. This should be the Tea Party Movement’s anthem. It’s a mishmash of everything that has come before and gets played as bumper music on every sporting event out there.