Top 80 Albums, 1964-1997

I’m not a huge fan of “Best Of” or “All-Time Greatest” lists, whether the subject matter is music, movies, or sports. But since I’ve decided to create my own list maybe my problem isn’t so much with other people’s opinions so much as I prefer my own much more. In any case, when Rolling Stone (or whomever) comes out with their Best Albums Ever or Best Songs Ever or Best Artists Ever lists it’s usually anti-climactic. Not because the lists are inherently bad it’s just that there’s too much emphasis put on influence on one or too much emphasis on not having the same band appear multiple times in the top 20 when they clearly should be. My favorite example from Rolling Stone is that in 1997 Revolver didn’t make the cut on their “200 Most Essential Albums” issue but then a few years later it was named “The Greatest Album Ever Made”. So, it’s not essential but it’s the greatest ever? Sadly, Rolling Stone never printed a follow-up issue named “Greatest Contradictory Reviews Ever.” Maybe Fine Young Cannibals would have been named “Artist of the Century” while not making the cut for the “Best Bands of the ’80’s” category or something. In any case, here are my criteria for the “80 Best Rock Albums From 1964 Until Approximately 1997″ List:

1) All albums will be judged as having passed the Listenability Test. The Listenability Test is such that at least 90% of the album is comprised of songs you can listen to again and again and not lose its stickiness. For instance, albums like Odessey and Oracle by The Zombies or Los Angeles by X usually make the cut on a Top 200 or Greatest Albums list but, to me, these albums really have no stickiness whatsoever. Each album has maybe 3 good songs and the rest are average at best. They’re the type of albums that are cool to agree with as being significant but you’d never really recommend them to any normal person and try to convince them as being great. They fail the Listenability Test.

2) No live albums, soundtrack or Best Of albums allowed on the list. This list will consist only of studio albums. I like Talking Heads as much as the next person but when their best work, in my opinion, is a live double-album and a Best Of album it doesn’t say a whole lot about their ability to put together a cohesive studio album. I think studio albums should only be allowed on Greatest lists because the studio album should precede the live albums and whatever soundtrack project said band wants to get involved in.

3) Influence is important, but so is the strength of the track list. Basically, in my opinion, the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Velvet Underground are the 4 most influential rock musicians since 1964 and they are prominent among the top 20 of this list. However, it’s their albums’ track list that is the ultimate factor in deciding which albums of theirs are higher. For example, if I was going solely on influence I would pick Revolver from the Beatles as their highest ranking album but I won’t because I think it’s their third best album. Same with Blonde On Blonde by Bob Dylan–many people think it’s his best and I think it’s his third or fourth best.

4) No R&B, hip hop, country music allowed–just rock. As I’ve said before, how can I possibly quantify the significance of N.W.A. or Sam Cooke or Johnny Cash alongside Pink Floyd or Black Sabbath? The short answer: I’m not going to try.

5) What’s with the date range of 1964 until approximatley 1997? Because influence does play a role (however subjective) in my list I have to put the cutoff year at least 10 years from now because I don’t think anything less than 10 years old can put be into any proper “Best Of” greatness be it music, movies, or history. The reason I chose 1964 as the starting point is because that’s the year that rock, in my opinion, really started as it was the year The Animals, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, and The Who all formed.

So, there’s the criteria for my “80 Best Rock Albums From 1964 Until Approximately 1997″ list. If anything I hope it becomes the most popular lengthy-titled list in all the land…

(originally written on July 21, 2007)

Primal Scream – Screamadelica (1991)

Caveat emptor: this isn’t a rock album in the typical sense, it’s an album made during the waning days of the “Madchester” scene and Ecstasy era in the UK. In spite of its timing (the album would’ve found much greater mainstream success if released in 1989 or 1990 alongside others like The Stone Roses or The Happy Mondays) it still became a hit in the UK and had a cult following here in the US. The album starts out with “Movin’ On Up” and that pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album–mellow, drug-inspired songs set to house beats and gospel-like choruses. Songs like “Slip Inside This House” and “Don’t Fight It, Feel It” are much more house inspired whereas “Come Together” is almost all gospel feel. It’s an interesting album and, surprisingly enough, it doesn’t sound too dated. The highlight of the album is “Loaded,” an unabashed drug anthem that uses sampled quotes from The Wild Angels throughout the song. “Loaded” and “Movin’ On Up” are probably two of the best songs of the ’90’s that no one has heard.

(originally written in July 22, 2007)

Pere Ubu – The Modern Dance (1978)

We’ll play a game wherein I’m an agent and you’re working for a mid-level record company and here’s my pitch: I’ve discovered this band out of Cleveland whose singer sounds as if he’s being electrocuted, some of their songs sound as if they’re using fans in the background, and they’ve written songs with titles like “Life Stinks” and “Chinese Radiation.” Interested? Well, it’s not a shock that Pere Ubu never hit it big on mainstream radio but what interesting music they made on the debut, The Modern Dance. Much like the Velvet Underground’s debut album, many people never heard Ubu’s debut album but those who did probably formed bands immediately. It’s a dark, creepy sounding, and ultimately non-sensical album that hits your nerves more than your brain at first listen. The opening track, “Non-Alignment Pact” starts off with thirty seconds of the most shrill guitar noise meant to sound like a war siren or something. The title track and “Chinese Radiation” use what sounds like a sampled TV show audiences near the end and “Laughing” has a Captain Beefheart-like horn warbling throughout it. Most of the album is disjointed and some of it sounds like it could be produced with a better attention to detail (“Street Waves” is probably the tightest song from beginning to end) but The Modern Dance never intended to win over casual music fans but oh how many bands would borrow from this experimental late ’70s classic.

(originally written on July 23, 2007)

The Grateful Dead – Workingman’s Dead (1970)

Who says old dogs can’t learn new tricks sometimes? Up until this point the Dead were primarily known for three things: 1) psychadelic studio albums, 2) their live shows, and 3) their disregard for structure while producing live and studio performances. With Workingman’s Dead, the Dead started the ’70’s with some much needed structure and along the way forever altered their musical direction. There isn’t a jam song to be heard on Workingman’s, only a collection of folky and bluesy songs that proved the Dead had the potential to make really solid studio albums. The album’s bookends are “Uncle John’s Band” and “Casey Jones” and they accurately represent both sides of the musical axis–the former is mellow while the latter has more energy. “New Speedway Boogie” and “Easy Wind” are lively and energetic and really underrated classics. “Cumberland Blues” is probably the crown jewel here; it’s folky, catchy, and has a hint of Statler Brothers feel to it that makes it a little bit harder to get out of your head once you hear it. Workingman’s Dead also advanced some of the ethos that many more Dead songs would contain, such as the narratives of convicts escaping, gambling, death and using the rural or outlaw countryside as a background for most elements.

(originally written on July 23, 2007)

Van Halen – 1984 (1984)

What’s not to love about everything involved here? Indelible album cover? Check. Synthesizers? Check. David Lee Roth in his prime coinciding with MTV’s prime? Check. An album of one-after-another rock anthems? Check. What’s funny is there is now an entire generation of people who don’t realize at all that Van Halen could have been the next Led Zeppelin (in the exact same context that Chuck Klosterman once defined Zeppelin). Everyone seemingly wanted to be like Eddie Van Halen and/or David Lee Roth. I often wondered what would have become of Led Zeppelin if Led Zeppelin IV had been released at the same time that MTV was the unequivocal Zeitgeist. Personally, I think Robert Plant would have become what David Lee Roth became. But I digress, this was the album that featured “Jump,” “Panama,” “Hot For Teacher,” and “Top Jimmy.” In short, this was one of the defining rock albums of the ’80’s and one that showed that rock could be unabashedly over the top yet still keep its cool. Though I felt cheated that the David Lee Roth Years were cut so short. In any case, if you ever met someone who didn’t know anything about early ’80’s rock this would probably be the album to have them hear first.

(originally written on July 29, 2007)

Tortoise – Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1996)

I’m not a huge fan of oxymorons but if I had to describe this album it would be: kinda sorta complex minimalism… maybe? At its core, you have a band whose style was minimalist (or post-rock, if you love genre labels); their music was essentially bass and lead guitars mixed in with a healthy and creative dose of various percussion instruments and keyboards. Where the complex part comes in is that the music that was made was surprisingly textured and produced with such a crisp feel that it has a Dark Side Of The Moon-type organic quality to it. The opening track “Djed” is what all 20+ minute songs should aspire to–a dreamy number that makes you feel a little sad when it ends. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard before as it constantly treads the line of sounding somewhat expiremental (it’s essentially seven songs combined in to one track) without ever sounding boring. “Glass Museum” is the type of song that once you hear the first couple minutes you think you know what direction you’re being taken to and then all of the sudden the middle becomes something newer and better. “A Survey” and “The Taut and Tame” are also very strong tracks that borrow nicely from the Brain Eno school of music that sounds both alien and familiar. Again, I don’t like oxymorons but maybe it’s fitting for an album whose name suggests immortality.

(originally written on August 2, 2007)

Roxy Music – Siren (1975)

In the third album post-Brian Eno, Siren finds Roxy Music (which was basically Bryan Ferry) diving headfirst into odd songs about love and coming out looking as good as, well, the girl on the cover of the album. Roxy Music has, to me at least, been a difficult band to explain. Lead singer Bryan Ferry is basically a crooner of sorts who has strange ways of writing about love. The opening track, “Love Is The Drug,” is a perfect example–who would write a song about love being an addiction and back it up with a seemingly genuine conviction? (If I saw just the title “Love Is The Drug” and was asked to guess who sang it I would probably have guessed a ’60’s Motown girl band but, no, it was by a white British dude.) “End Of The Line,” “Sentimental Fool,” and “She Sells” are all very strong and indicative of how great Roxy Music could sound when everyone was in sync. “Whirlwind” adds just enough energy and musical fury to counterbalance some of the other slower songs but it’s “Nightingale” that is the masterpiece of the album. When Ferry asks, “When you’re up there flying, do you care/If there’s no else around?” you may not be positive if it’s about heartbreak or an unattainable relationship but it still comes across as an oddly thought-provoking question–a metaphor that most everyone asks themselves internally about a significant other at some point.

(originally written on August 2, 2007)

Joy Division – Closer (1980)

What would our world be like if there was no depression and everyone was for the most part happy? For one thing, no one would have ever heard of Joy Division. Joy Division made songs whose lyrics were dark and depressing and set to music that doesn’t inspire sunny feelings. Just look at some of the titles on what would be their last studio album–”Atrocity Exhibition,” “Passover,” “Isolation,” and “A Means To An End.” The album starts out with “Atrocity Exhibition” which is a song that pretty much embodies Joy Division: as a listener, you know that this won’t be a light song yet the music plays like an eerie but full-bodied freak show-type sound, complete with assaulting guitars. Yet, lead singer Ian Curtis is right there to encourage you to join in on the imagery (“This is the way/Come inside”). On the flip side you have “Isolation” which is a sad song yet the music is upbeat, complete with hard-to-get-out-of-your-head keyboard work by Bernard Sumner. Ian Curtis would wind up killing himself before Closer’s release and the remaining band members would go on to form New Order and maybe that makes this album seem all that more intense because this was apparently the tipping point for Curtis to take his own life. Rock has always had its share of tragic heroes and music that was written for or by tortured souls but Closer seems to still resonate at a louder echo.

(originally written on August 3, 2007)

The Rolling Stones – Some Girls (1978)

This is easily the most polarizing Stones album; one camp hates it and is used as proof that the Stones sold out by employing disco-like beats, while the other camp sees it as is it—the last great Rolling Stones album made. Does “Miss You” sound a little like disco? Yes, but that’s missing the point. It’s the songs other than the classic rock radio staples “Miss You” and “Shattered” that make the album great. “Lies,” “When The Whip Comes Down,” “Beast Of Burden” and the title track lay the groundwork for what the Stones would try to mirror in almost every subsequent album after Some Girls but usually failed because of a lack of intangibles. “Far Away Eyes” is a good country attempt in the same vain as “Dead Flowers” was. Some Girls was the last studio album of the ’70’s and it acts as the perfect bookend alongside Sticky Fingers—the beginning of the decade was an all-out, back-to-basics rock era whereas by the late ’70’s the Stones seemed content to roll with the times and undertake in some experimentation. Given the musical atmosphere at the time with punk and disco and glam-rock, the Stones deciding to embrace some of the less-popular milieus ranks up there alongside the Beatles deciding to not perform live as one of the ballsiest things an immensely popular band could do. And the fact that it paid off makes it all the more enjoyable.

(originally written on August 6, 2007)

Ministry – The Land Of Rape And Honey (1988)

It has always been a goal of some musicians–be it country, rock, or hip hop–to unabashedly project their dark side to an audience. Their songs could be about anything ranging from misogyny to a bleak worldview or, in the case of Ministry, can just be flat out dark. As the title The Land Of Rape And Honey suggests, this is not the type of album Nancy Reagan would’ve listened to. The opening track, “Stigmata,” starts with Al Jourgensen’s screams sounding like a buzzsaw before singing, “Just like a car crash/Just like a knife/My favorite weapon/Is the look in your eyes.” The whole album is haunting and dark and relies mostly on tape tracks and drum machines to provide most of the alien and sometimes disturbing background music (see: “Hizbollah”). “I Prefer,” “You Know What You Are,” “Destruction,” and “Deity” are all relentless in their energy but it’s the title track that combines all the elements Ministry was aiming for so effortlessly. Everything about the track is creepy, from the sampled archived Nazi chants in the background to the tape effects that sound as if everything just keeps rewinding and replaying itself over and over again; an assaulting eeriness you cannot escape. Obviously, Ministry is not for everyone but if you like Pretty Hate Machine you may want to have a listen to Rape And Honey if for nothing else but to compare two of the darker and energetic artists (Jourgensen and Trent Reznor) of the last twenty years.

(originally written on August 12, 2007)

Weezer – Weezer (1994)

Before it was cool to be emo, then not cool to be emo, then retro cool to be emo there was Weezer—the eponymous debut of the band who unofficially made it cool to be emo (even though I can’t recall anyone actually using the phrase “emo” at all even after the Pinkerton release but, hey, maybe I was always 10 yards behind the herd). Weezer was the right band to arrive at the right time. What was there not to like about “Buddy Holly,” “Undone (The Sweater Song)”, or “Say It Ain’t So” when they hit the radio and MTV? They were catchy songs and, more importantly, they were songs not done by Stone Temple Pilots or Green Day or Pearl Jam; there was no sense of detachment, self-importance and, in the case of Green Day—shitty music. This was a band who created songs that were just plain fun to listen to and it was kind of a welcome break. “My Name Is Jonas” opens the album and it’s a pretty spot-on first impression of a band who had a certain creative and fun swagger about them, even if it was intended to be ironic or performed tongue-in-cheek.

(originally written on August 12, 2007)