Ok kids, it's on. Having missed last week i feel the need to come back with a solid and i'm sure controversial top 5. Something so subjective, so open to comment, ridicule and change, that it just had to be done. The time has come to lay down your top 5 albums of all time. It is with great trepidation that i present to you my choices, which don't necessarily represent my fave bands of all time, but albums that i come back to time after time, regardless of current trends or listening habits. One way or another they find their way into my stereo and get a solid spin from top to bottom, again and again and again. The rules are simple; LPs and even EPs can qualify, as do live releases, but soundtracks and greatest hits packages don't. And here we go...
Top 5 Albums of All Time
- The Doors - The Doors. One of the greatest debut releases of all time. The energy, originality, darkness and emotion captured here are second to none. Love them or hate them, Jim and the Boys are in rare form here.
- London Calling - The Clash. As referenced in earlier listings, this album will always represent my first European tour, and all of the fun and madness that went along with it. A definitive album for it's time and a frame of reference to it's followers, it is what most would call a punk rock masterpiece.
- Blind Melon - Blind Melon. An album that connects the hippie jam rock from back in the day to the modern era; fun, touching and timeless. This album goes on every road trip with me.
- When I Woke - Rusted Root. Again a throwback to the era of peace and love, the rhythms alone provide me with limitless energy. Add in the vibrant songs and unique vocal sounds to the tribal rhythms and you've got a big winner.
- The Last Waltz - The Band. This is the album that i had to qualify by allowing live recordings into the mix. The Band is absolutely fantastic, and combined with the plethora of guest artists here they have created the ultimate concert recording.
Honourable Mentions - Blood Sugar Sex Magik - Chili Peppers; Rage - Rage (both heavy fucking albums), and on we go... Again, this is not a diss to many other of my faves - Zeppelin, Bob, Dead, Bob, Neil, Jimi, Allmans, Beasties, Clinton, DMB, Phish, etc. etc., just a listing of albums that always seem to creep back into rotation at the most opportune and crucial moments to define and redefine the soundtrack to my life as i and my friends know it.
Posted by scotty at February 18, 2003 12:16 AM
Thanks for sharing this post!
Posted by: Frank on January 18, 2004 08:45 AMyou're always welcome on sunday or tuesday, man. solid selections everyone. tough to call, but great albums here for sure. i'm just waiting for matty to come in with some classical selections and we'll be all set!
Posted by: scotty on February 23, 2003 02:31 PMI think this section should be changed to the sunday top 5's so I can be more timely
1. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
2. Oasis - What's the Story...
3. Pearl Jam - Ten
4. Counting Crows - Recovering The Satillites
5. Tragically Hip - Day For Night
.........off the top of my head, not to much thought give to this (sometimes turns out to be the most honest way)
Posted by: greensmaster on February 23, 2003 10:01 AMTop 5 albums of all time eh? HMMMM!
1. Incubus - Wish you were here!
2. Weezer - Blue
3. Blind Melon - Blind Melon
4. Sublime - 40 oz to Freedom
5. Hot Hot Heat
Too many honourable mentions to mention!
My five favorites.
Posted by: Mike on February 20, 2003 01:09 AMI'm so predictable. As wide as my musical tastes can be, the albums I always fall back on are TVP and BTE. I can't narrow my 10 to five. It wouldn't be fair. :)
Posted by: maddy on February 19, 2003 10:13 PMI'm not seeing much that is controversial here.. though I've never understood why people love Blind Melon so much. Anyway here are mine:
The order of these may shuffle, but they are continuously the albums that I love the most.
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin
U2: Joshua Tree
Stevie Nicks: Enchanted
Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town
Bob Dylan: Bootleg Series v. 1 - 3
Honorable Mentions: Miles Davis: The Birth of Cool; every other Led Zeppelin album but especially III because of Tangerine; any Bob Dylan album but especially Highway 61 Revisted and Blood on the Tracks; Bruce Springsteen: Greetings from Ashbury Park, The Wild, the Innocent & the E St. Shuffle, Born to Run, Nebraska; All things Beatle, REM: Murmur; Hole: Live Through This; Sugar: Copper Blue
Posted by: amy on February 19, 2003 08:59 PMmy #1 has been #1 for a lot of years. #s 2-5 can be switched around in order for the most part. and it's really hard when mixing genres - i mean, there are some jazz albums out there that blow so many rock albums away....
#1. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks. honestly, the only album that has ever moved me in such a way as it does.
#2. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours.
#3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew.
#4. Pink Floyd - The Wall / Dark Side of the Moon (tie in my book)
#5. Zeppelin IV.
mentions: Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes; Beatles - Abbey Road.; Stones: Sticky Fingers; all other Zeppelins except for Presence and Coda which i don't listen to much.
Posted by: leblanc on February 18, 2003 07:54 PMDone. My top 5 has a soundtrack (or 3 if you're one of those horrible people that shove Broadway cast recordings under the label of soundtrack) but since it was a score CD instead of a compilation, I figured it was all right.
Posted by: Manda on February 18, 2003 06:25 PMhere's mine!
Posted by: Patty on February 18, 2003 01:07 PM1. Rage Against the Machine (Self Titled): If you need to get pumped up, this is the album that will do it for you.
2. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Live at Luther College: All acoustic, 2 cd's... enough said.
3. Fiona Apple - When the Pawn...: I know many people hate her, but she has a great sound. This is her man bashing album (so if I'm in a mood... let's just say I feel a little better after I listen to it).
4. Weezer - The Blue Album: Everybody knows this album and loves it!
5. Our Lady Peace - Naveed: This is good shit! I'm not so fond of their newer stuff though.
Posted by: Mandy on February 18, 2003 12:14 PMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm:
Hmm - In no particular order:
#5) Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend.
So very very very good. Excellent all the way through. Pop but kinda oldschool like the Beach boys meet the Beatles with just a hint of Sonic Youth.
#4) U2 - The Joshua Tree.
I like it so much I got it tatooed on me...
#3) The Lowest of the Low - Shakespeare my butt.
Wicked Canadian Band just re-emerging from a 5 year break-up. Lots o'folks say Ron Sexsmith is the greatest songwriter working in Canada today but for my money it's Ron Hawkins.
#2) Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker.
Al goes Alt-Country and doesn't look back. Emmylou Harris on Background vocals - stripped down heartbroken love songs and a crazy smokey achy voice.
#1) The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet.
Lately I have decided to join the Church of Keith Richards. I love this record. It is amazing. BUY IT. You get Symphony for the Devil, No Expectations, Street Fighting Man, Factory Girl and Salt of the Earth all on one record. Not one standout song - 5.
Honourable mentions
PJ - 10, Beatles - Catalogue (who could pick just one?), Dylan - Bringing it all back home or Highway 61..., R.E.M. - New Adventures in HiFI (Criminally overlooked), Sting - The Soul Cages. (Sad record, so Sad) Nick Drake - Pink Moon, The Verve - Urban Hymns, and on and on and on ...
Al