twenty greatest albums, 1985-present
Spin Magazine has published a list of the top twenty albums of the last twenty years. Michele of ASV has her list:
Her list is fine for her, and it will have a few things in common with mine, but I associate many of the entries on it with faux emo/alternative poseurs from my high school class (the number of classmates I had who do not fall into this category can be counted on my fingers). There’s some good music on there; I just put bad associations with them.
Here’s a list of the twenty albums I thought were the best. All had some feature that made me remember them now, years later.
- Pearl Jam — Ten (1991). No collection of music has had a greater effect on me, before or since.
- Hum — You’d Prefer an Astronaut (1995). The most underrated album of all-time. This album has it all: lyrics, composition, and a tidal wave of sound.
- Gravity Kills — Gravity Kills (1996). I was listening to NIN at the time and discovered GK through that. They were mixing dark lyrics, guitars, and electronic music in a unique way. See also their album of remix cuts called Manipulated.
- Nine Inch Nails — The Downward Spiral (1994). I think it’s Reznor’s darkest effort. It’s his most complete as well.
- Rage Against the Machine — Evil Empire (1996). Fear is your only God.
- Queensryche — Operation: Mindcrime (1988). Even though I’d had MTV for years, this was the first album that made me imagine a movie set to it.
- Pantera — Vulgar Display of Power (1992). Every word, every note was a physical assault. It even had a picture of a guy getting punched in the face on the cover.
- Public Enemy — Apocalypse ‘91: The Enemy Strikes Black (1991). The album that introduced me to rap music. As rockin’ as any metal album. And after By the Time I Get to Arizona, even I hated the Governor of Arizona.
- Guns ‘n’ Roses — Appetite for Destruction (1987). Unlike their later, saccharine efforts, this was a kick in the ass from start to finish.
- Alice in Chains — Dirt (1992). Where they perfected the bleak, hard-edged sound that is their trademark.
- Pearl Jam — Yield (1998). Features a good mix of hard-edged and soft-edged guitar styles, with the emotional lyrics that have come to be associated with them
- REM — Out of Time (1991). The prototypical REM album, eminently listenable from start to finish. Favorite cut: Half a World Away.
- U2 — The Joshua Tree (1987). The expansive guitar work and lyrics have stayed with me over the years.
- Everclear — World of Noise (1993). Very raw and emotional; music and lyrics fit together perfectly.
- Faith No More — The Real Thing (1989). Some say that Rage was the progenitor of all the rock-rap fusion acts. Faith No More was well before RATM, and this album to me represents FNM at their best.
- Primus — Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1994). This was new sound to my ears; one that opened the possibility of something other than a screaming guitar as the featured instrument. Along with Pearl Jam, the legacy I took from MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball.
- Mighty Mighty Bosstones — Question the Answers (1994). Another great band destroyed by MTV. Hear MMB before they became a perky college band with Abercrombie fans. This album was very raw and emotional, and I really went for that kind of thing.
- Metallica — …And Justice for All (1988). Before… well, you know. Before Lars Ulrich became such… a wiener.
- Soundgarden — Badmotorfinger (1991). Very intense, punkish sound that jumped up and down on me for a while. Better than Louder than Love (which people cite just to show how “original” they are) and Superunknown (see my Abercrombie complaint above).
- Beastie Boys — Ill Communication (1994). Has the smooth grooves as well as the punkish sound typically associated with them.
recent comments