The Top 100 Albums Of All Time (10-1)

And so the loooooooooong journey comes to an end. Are you as happy as I am? Truth be told, I did enjoy making this list and receiving feedback from you guys on the albums on my list. I found many of us have similar tastes in music. I love to talk about music. I am just unable to write about it.

But one cool thing did come from all of this: I received an email from one of the bands on the list who in turn sent me four discs of live material, demos, oddities, and rarities. Cool!

Once again, I'm using the following guidelines Norbizness set for himself:

• One album per artist.
• No greatest hits packages, compilations, or boxed sets.
• No artists that would make me look hip or cool.
• I must own the LP, CD, or cassette tape of every one of these entries. No mp3s.
  

Ok! Here's the moment all (some? one? none?) of you have been waiting for. Here's 10-1 (or what I like to call Alternative Music 101):

10. The Beatles Abbey Road (1969)
Want to know why I followed Norbizness' lead and only allowed one album per artist? Because every artist in my top ten would've had at least two albums on my list (with the except of the artist at #6, who only put out one album).

The Beatles would have probably earned at least three spots on my list. But Abbey Road is by far my favorite.

You've got Come Together, Something (one of George's most beautiful songs), Oh! Darling (the rawest Paul McCartney vocals ever), and the funny Maxwell's Silver Hammer. These four songs alone should give this album a spot on anyone's list. But the nine-song group that starts with You Never Give Me Your Money and ends with Her Majesty is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I could listen to it over and over (and I have).

Favorite track: You Never Give Me Your Money / Sun King / Mean Mr. Mustard / Polythene Pam / She Came In Through The Bathroom Window / Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End / Her Majesty (yes, I count this as one song)

9. Cracker Kerosene Hat (1993)
I have professed my love of David Lowery already on this list and elsewhere on this site. I just love the alt-country (or whatever the hell you want to call it (I've never been good with labels) vibe this band puts out.

Everyone knows Kerosene Hat's Low. But in my opinion, Low is one of the weaker songs on this album. You had hard rockin' numbers like Movie Star and Get Off This and ballads like Kerosene Hat, Take Me Down To The Infirmary, and I Want Everything (the ballads were the strongest part of every Cracker release). But nothing came close to the epic Euro Trash Girl, the band's Stairway, which Cracker actually had the balls to bury on the album as a hidden track (#69).

Favorite Track: Euro Trash Girl

8. Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
This is the greatest hip hop/rap album ever by the greatest hip hop/rap group ever. End of discussion.

While everyone else was rapping about rapping and who's got the most skillz (and ultimately, the biggest prick), Chuck D. and crew were putting out music with a message. This album was a call to arms. It was revolutionary. It DEMANDED your attention. Hell, this album rocks harder than most rock albums put out today.

The beats are amazing and are accented with air sirens. But Chuck D.'s powerful baritone and political message are the real stars of the disc. Standout tracks include: Bring The Noise, She Watch Channel Zero?!, Night Of The Living Baseheads, and Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos (killer piano riff in this song).

There has never been another rap album like this.

And there never will be.

Favorite Track: Night Of The Living Baseheads

7. Pixies Doolittle (1989)
An alternative classic. The first grunge group. I can't tell you anything about this album that you don't already know. That you don't already feel. I love this album. I love this band.

But I can tell you something you might not know: on August 22, the band is releasing a DVD of an acoustic performance of twenty-two of their songs (hopefully a CD will follow).

Favorite Track: Debaser Wave Of Mutilation Here Comes Your Man Gouge Away Monkey Gone To Heaven

6. Sex Pistols Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols (1977)
Another angry, revolutionary album (sensing a theme here?), Never Mind The Bollocks was the most important punk album ever recorded. Rather ordinary music-wise, the album and band would be nothing without Johnny Rotten's witty, sarcastic, and venomous lyrics. We could all use a little Johnny Rotten inside of us (um, that didn't come out exactly right (but you know what I mean)).

Favorite Track: God Save The Queen

5. Violent Femmes Violent Femmes (1983)
I know lots of people hate Gordon Gano's voice. I happen to love it.

This album reminds me of high school. No album has ever captured the awkwardness of high school better than Violent Femmes. Topics include masturbation (Blister In The Sun), dealing with those who put you down (Kiss Off), unrequited love (Please Do Not Go and the stalkerish Prove My Love), and sex (Add It Up, Gimme The Car, and, well, most of the songs on this album).

Favorite Track: Kiss Off (was there any doubt on this one?)

4. Nirvana In Utero (1993)
I know. You think Nevermind is the superior Nirvana offering. But this is my list. Dig?

Faced with sudden success, most bands would have tried to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle and released Nevermind II. But not Kurt Cobain. He released a rawer album that often bemoaned the success the band had achieved ("Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old."). And he howled and wailed through all of the songs, like he was in pain.

Which he was.

Every Nirvana release would've been in my Top 100. Whereas it's probably a good thing that the Sex Pistols burned out after one album, I wish Nirvana had stuck around a lot longer. But you knew it wouldn't happen. All you had to do was listen to the amazing lyrics (Dumb, All Apologies, Pennyroyal Tea, and especially Milk It).

Favorite Track: All Apologies

3. Jane's Addiction Nothing's Shocking (1988)
It takes me three to four hours to write each one of these installments. You know why? Because as I'm writing, I'll pull out the discs and put them on the stereo. And then I'll start listening. And then about half and hour later, I remember I'm supposed to be writing about the music, not listening to it. And then I write a bunch of mindless nonsense.

I listened to Nothing's Shocking in its entirety before I remembered I was supposed to be writing about it.

This is an album I feel never gets the credit it deserves (right up to getting their Grammy stolen by Jethro Tull (WTF?)). This was a groundbreaking album with many different styles present. It was one of the greatest albums of the 80s. Stephen Perkins, Eric Avery, and Dave Navarro were all incredible musicians (I think Dave Navarro was seven years old when they recorded this album). And then there's the extremely unique voice of Perry Farrell.

Dig this disc out and give it another listen. It's amazing.

Favorite Track: the epic Ted, Just Admit It... (but Pig's In Zen is very close second)

2. Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction (1987)
Everyone already knows all they want to know about this album. I'm not going to change anyone's mind. Blah blah blah.

They released this album when I was 17. I remember being blown away the very first time I head it. Axl's voice, Slash's guitar, it was all so raw. It was an amazing record. Rebellion. Excess. It became the soundtrack to my senior year in high school.

Favorite Track: Rocket Queen

***

Before I get to the number one album on my list, I'd like to thank everyone who tried to guess its identity. Since no one guessed it correctly (hell, no one even guessed the artist), I am planning on holding another contest on Monday (where there WILL be a winner (as long as someone enters)). I feel it's the least I can do for making you put up with this navel-gazing bullshit for the past six weeks (yes, it has taken me that long).

Here are the incorrect guesses I received:

Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique
The Beatles Revolver
The Beatles The White Album
Ben Folds Five Whatever and Ever Amen
Bon Jovi Slippery When Wet
Cake Fashion Nugget
The Clash London Calling
Cracker Kerosene Hat
Def Leppard Pyromania
Guns N' Roses Appetite For Destruction (many guessed this one)
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV
Michael Jackson Bad
Michael Jackson Thriller
Journey Escape
Letters To Cleo Aurora Gory Alice
Nivrana Nevermind
Pearl Jam Ten
Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon
Pixies Doolittle
Prince Purple Rain
Queensryche Operation Mindcrime
Radiohead OK Computer
The Replacements Tim
Rolling Stones Exile On Main Street
Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood Fairy Tales & Fantasies
The Smiths Meat is Murder
The Smiths The Queen Is Dead
Matthew Sweet Altered Beast
Van Halen Women And Children First
Velvet Underground Loaded
Violent Femmes Violent Femmes
The Who Quadrophenia

But like I said, no one guessed my #1 album, which is...

1. Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral (1994)
Having a bad day? Put this disc in your car's CD player, roll down the windows, and S-C-R-E-A-M.

This is such an amazing (and that's the 4,319th time I've used that word in describing albums (time to invest in a thesaurus)) album. A loose-concept album, almost every song on The Downward Spiral features layers upon layers of sounds (except the bare-bones closer, Hurt). This is the Wall of Sound. Although topics like religion and sex are featured on the album, the main themes are pain, misery, and depression.

I bought this album at midnight on the day it was released (do they still have midnight sales when B-I-G albums are released?). I think I stayed up until six in the morning listening to it.

Favorite Track: Mr. Self Destruct

So there you have it. My Top 100 Albums Of All Time. Hope you enjoyed it.

So who's ready to tackle movies with me?

Just kidding.

Previously:
25-11
40-26
55-41
70-56
85-71
100-86

The Top 100 Albums Of All Time (25-11)

I'm using the following guidelines Norbizness set for himself:

• One album per artist.
• No greatest hits packages, compilations, or boxed sets.
• No artists that would make me look hip or cool.
• I must own the LP, CD, or cassette tape of every one of these entries. No mp3s.
  

Note: The $25 Amazon gift certificate is still up for grabs to the first person that correctly guesses my #1 album (before it's posted, of course). One entry per person, please. If you have not made a guess and plan to do so, all guesses must be sent to me (via email or comments) by 9:00 PM EDT on August 17, 2006.

Here's 25-11:

25. Poison Look What the Cat Dragged In (1986)
I'm really surprised no one guessed this as my #1 record.

Laugh all you want, but this is a fun record full of songs about sex and partying. This album contained such greats as Cry Tough, I Want Action, Look What The Cat Dragged In, Let Me Go To The Show, I Won't Forget You (their first ballad), and the GREATEST HAIR BAND SONG OF ALL TIME, Talk Dirty To Me.

24. Tori Amos Under The Pink (1994)
Little Earthquakes was an awesome album. But Under The Pink was a much more adventurous affair, lyrically and musically. Topics tackled included God (God), masturbation (Icicle (I can't believe I forgot about this one on my masturbation mix tape)), and homicidal fantasies (The Waitress).

But the album's nowhere near as trite as I just made it out to be. Favorite track: Past The Mission.

23. Rancid ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995)
Yeah, I know they copied The Clash. But hell, hasn't every musical artist ripped off another somewhere down the line? And sometimes, the imitators are better than the real thing (yeah, I said it and meant it).

Rancid puts on an amazing live show. They also put out amazing albums. This is one of those albums that you want to blast in your car with the windows down on a hot summer day.

Favorite tracks (all of them, really): Junkie Man, Ruby Soho, Olympia WA, and As Wicked.

22. Hooters Nervous Night (1985)
This is one of the greatest synthpop albums from the 80s. I was hooked on this band the moment I saw the video for And We Danced.

Damn, I miss MTV.

This album had many other great songs in addition to the aforementioned And We Danced: Day By Day, Nervous Night, Where Do The Children Go?, and my favorite, Blood From A Stone. I bought all of their albums over the years and finally got a chance to see them live in the early 90s.

Trivia: The Hooters took their name from a slang term from the melodica, which is a handheld keyboard that you blow into which produces a harmonica-like sound.

And would you like to know how to make a musical instrument store manager's day? Call up and ask, "Do you sell hooters?" They'll even put you on speakerphone so the whole damn store can laugh at you. Trust me, I know from experience.

21. Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five (1995)
This is the first of two albums in this batch that contains no guitar. But who needs guitar when you've got Ben Folds on the keys?

There are so many great songs on this album, amazing ballads and fast-paced numbers (something sorely lacking on his solo work) with bitter and cynical lyrics. Favorite tracks: Underground (the one that started it all), Philosophy, The Last Polka, and Best Imitation Of Myself (a song I totally relate to).

If your knowledge of Ben Folds begins and ends with Brick, you need to do yourself a favor and discover his other songs. You will not be disappointed.

20. Ween Chocolate And Cheese (1994)
Of all the albums on my list, this one is probably the closest representation of my overall taste in music. It sounds like a mix tape made by an insane person with little regard for musical or genre flow.

But insanity's cool.

On Chocolate And Cheese, you can find the following genres: old-school country (Drifter In The Dark), soul (Freedom Of '76), sappy guitar ballads (the extremely bitter Baby Bitch), funk (Voodoo Lady), and demented circus music (The HIV Song). Throw in I Can't Put My Finger On It and the faux-Spanish ballad, Buenas Tardes Amigo (a little tale of revenge (or is it?)), and you've got yourself an amazing album (or an amazing headache, depending on your taste).

And it's got one of the coolest album covers ever!

19. Celebrity Skin Good Clean Fun (1991)
THIS IS THE GREATEST HAIR BAND ALBUM EVER MADE.

I saw LA Guns in concert once. Celebrity Skin was the opening act and I was completely blown away. Imagine Poison's Look What The Cat Dragged In crossed with a Broadway musical, only without songs about sex. They even had horns on some of their songs! Favorite tracks: Introduction, Hello, Evicted, Visible Man, and Dog Race.

Sadly, this band is probably best known for threatening to re-release their album and naming it Hole after Hole released the Celebrity Skin album.

I repeat, THIS IS THE GREATEST HAIR BAND ALBUM EVER MADE.

18. Faith No More Angel Dust (1992)
Those expecting The Real Thing Part II were probably disappointed with the much heavier and much weirder Angel Dust. Favorite tracks: Midlife Crisis, RV (a hilarious mumbled-word number from a disillusioned trailer park dweller), Everything's Ruined (some of the most creative lyrics you'll find), A Small Victory, and Be Aggressive, which might be the best song ever recorded. Why?

• It's about oral sex.
• It has some killer organ.
• It has cheerleaders singing the chorus.
• It's about oral sex.
  

In one of the bands I played in over the years, the drummer and I would piss off the rest of the band any chance we got by playing Faith No More's cover of the theme from Midnight Cowboy. Eventually, it became a song we played live.

17. They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants (1986)
I know most would pick either Flood or Lincoln as their favorite They Might Be Giants album, but the self-titled debut will always hold a special place in my heart. This album was less polished than the other two and, in my opinion, much funnier and stranger. Do not underestimate the power of the accordion!

I still remember the day I saw the video for Don't Let's Start on MTV. I had never seen or heard anything like it and was instantly hooked.

And you don't need to buy their children's CDs. Play this CD for your kids!

16. Prince Purple Rain (1984)
You own it. You love it. What am I going to add? There's a reason this album sold forty-two trillion copies: it rocks!

Favorite tracks: The Beautiful Ones and the one-two punch of I Would Die 4 U and Baby I'm A Star (really, I could list all of them except Computer Blue).

15. Atom And His Package Atom And His Package (1997)
Punk rock with no guitars! This is another purchase I made after hearing it over a record store's speaker system.

Atom And His Package is just one man and his sequencer. It's also a band that you either love or hate; there is no in-between. This album has its fair share of covers (The Misfits' Where Eagles Dare, AC/DC's You Shook Me All Night Long, and Geto Boys' Mind's Playin' Tricks On Me (go ahead, try to imagine all-synth versions of these songs)) and instrumentals (with titles like After School Special Stands For ASS and Tim Allen Is Not Very Funny), but his originals are what really stand out.

Favorite tracks: Avenger (a song about taking a huge crane and dumping all the people that aggravate him on an island (if I had such a crane, it would need to be a really B-I-G island)), Head (She's Just A) (a song about a girl that has no body), Books My Dog, The Box, Brian Sokel, & Me, and his theme song.

She's In The Bathroom & She's Shaking Me Until Tomorrow was one of the hidden tracks on my wedding CD. If you would like to hear some of Atom's music, visit his site (I suggest I'm Downright Amazed At What I Can Destroy With Just A Hammer and If You Own The Washington Redskins, You're A Cock).

14. R.E.M. Document (1987)
This is the album where Michael Stipe learned to E-N-U-N-C-I-A-T-E.

I had bought Life's Rich Pageant when I was sixteen and thought it was pretty decent but it was nothing compared to Document. Favorite tracks: Finest Worskong, Exhuming McCarthy, King Of Birds, and It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).

It's a shame the band broke up soon after this album's release and never recorded another album. I would have liked to have seen them continue in this direction.

13. Concrete Blonde Bloodletting (1990)
Johnette Napolitano has one of the most powerful voices in rock 'n' roll. Most of the ballads on this album have a creepy, almost otherworldly feel to them. Favorite tracks: The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden, Days And Days, The Beast, and Tomorrow, Wendy, which is one of my favorite songs ever. The weakest song on this album is also the band's most popular, Joey.

12. Too Much Joy Cereal Killers (1991)
Maybe it was just me, but I could wholly relate to any album that began, "So she said, 'Fuck this town. Nothing's ever going' down.'" This is an incredible album and it's a shame so few people are aware of its existence.

The music was catchy and the lyrics were bitter but funny. Favorite tracks: Susquehanna Hat Company, Good Kill, William Holden Caufield, King of Beers, and Theme Song.

When I was a DJ, there was a copy of Besides (a promotional album by the band that contained the unreleased Drum Machine) in our stacks. I ended up playing it so frequently that the station manager put a big sticker on the front of it that read "EVERYONE BUT CHAG IS FREE TO PLAY THIS ALBUM." Now that I look back on it, I think that bastard hated me.

If you are a fan of the band, we can be best friends for life. Seriously.

11. Pink Floyd The Wall (1979)
This album was the soundtrack during my teen years. Alienation? Check. Building walls? Check.

Previously:
40-26
55-41
70-56
85-71
100-86

The Top 100 Albums Of All Time (40-26)

I'm finally nearing the end of this baby! Only 25 to go after this one. Woo-hoo!

Who's happier, me or you?

As always, I'm using the following guidelines Norbizness set for himself:

• One album per artist.
• No greatest hits packages, compilations, or boxed sets.
• No artists that would make me look hip or cool.
• I must own the LP, CD, or cassette tape of every one of these entries. No mp3s.
  

And just to make this interesting, I'll give the first person that correctly guesses my favorite album (before it's posted, of course) a $25 Amazon gift certificate. One entry per person, please.

Here's 40-26:

40. AC/DC Back In Black (1980)
This. Album. Kicks. Major. Ass.

You've got great songs like Hells Bells, Have A Drink On Me, Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, and the anthems Back In Black and You Shook Me All Night Long. You've got Angus Young's guitar (and his schoolboy uniform). You've got Brian Johnson's nails-on-a-chalkboard voice (seriously, shouldn't that man have permanent laryngitis by now?). There's no wonder you can't go an hour without hearing one of these tunes on your local classic rock station.

39. The White Stripes Elephant (2003)
I had never heard of the White Stripes until I saw the Legotastic video for Fell In Love With A Girl. I immediately went out and bought downloaded the album. The album had some decent tracks (like Hotel Yorba and We're Going To Be Friends), but for the most part, I thought they were no big deal.

A year or so later, I heard Seven Nation Army. I was instantly a fan. I played this CD so much that Ella hid it from me. Favorite track: There's No Home For You Here.

38. The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet (1968)
Want to know where I stand on the Stones v. Beatles debate? I am a Beatles guy. While I like a greater number of Stones songs than I do Beatles songs, I enjoy the Beatles songs more. Quality beats quantity every time.

I know most pick Exile On Main Street as their favorite Stones disc, but I prefer Beggars Banquet. It boasts one of the greatest songs in the history of rock 'n' roll, Sympathy For The Devil (which Guns N' Roses massacred on the Interview With The Vampire soundtrack), as well as Street Fighting Man and Salt Of The Earth (love the vocals on this track).

37. Hole Live Through This (1994)
I realize my top 100 has very few female artists on it. Does that make me a musical sexist? Probably.

Courtney Love is a train wreck, but the girl can sing scream. When this album came out, comparisons were instantly made to Kurt Cobain's work (in fact, there are those who believe that Kurt Cobain wrote this album for Courtney to record). But I like to think Courtney made a name for herself with this one.

Favorite tracks: Violet (Go on take everything, take everything, I want you to -- did I mention this girl can SCREAM?), Miss World, Doll Parts, Credit In The Straight World, and Olympia (or Rock Star).

36. The Cure Disintegration (1989)
Dark. Gloomy. No one mopes like Robert Smith. Not only was Disintegration the Cure's best album, it was also their darkest and had a much fuller sound than their early works. I find it amazing that this is the album that followed the poppy Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Favorite tracks: Plainsong, Pictures Of You (which never should've been used in that commercial), and Fascination Street.

35. Beck Odelay (1996)
I love Beck. When I first heard Loser, I immediately went out and snatched up Mellow Gold, Stereopathetic Soulmanure, and One Foot In The Grave. Beck amused me with his folksy, distortion-laden raps. And then the extremely genre-bending/blending Odelay came out and blew everything else out of the water. Favorite tracks: Devil's Haircut and Hotwax.

34. Van Halen Van Halen (1978)
Why the hell doesn't David Lee Roth have his own Vegas show? If people will go see "talent" like Celine Dion, don't you think they would pack the house nightly to see Diamond Dave perform (Hard Rock, I'm looking at you)? Or is it just me?

This album not only introduced the world to Roth but to the guitar skillz of Eddie Van Halen (listen to Eruption if you have any doubts). Favorite tracks: Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love, Janie's Cryin', and Ice Cream Man (which is a must for his Vegas show).

33. U2 Achtung Baby (1991)
This is the album where Bono told the world, "I AM A ROCK STAR!" Not as preachy as their earlier efforts, Achtung Baby showcased a totally different U2 (dance music!). Favorite tracks: One (some of the best lyrics ever) and Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses.

32. Beastie Boys Licensed To Ill (1986)
If you grew up during the 80s and don't know every single lyric of this CD by heart, I hope you rebelled against your Preacher Papa when you went away to college. I misspoke earlier when I said Raising Hell was the CD that brought rap music to Middle America. Licensed To Ill holds that title.

31. Green Day Dookie (1994)
Green Day did not break any new ground with their pop-nosed punk Dookie, but they did with a sense of humor. And even though I enjoy a lot of dark, depressing music, I also like music with a good deal of humor. This CD had it in spades, from the masturbation ode Longview to the help-I'm-locked-in-the-basement-of-a-psycho Pulling Teeth (my favorite song). I know it's cool to hate Green Day, but they're still putting out great music ten years later (American Idiot).

30. Weezer Pinkerton (1996)
Rivers Cuomo is a music nerd. I read somewhere that he has written hundreds of songs and organizes them in an Excel spreadsheet. A man after my own heart.

I know a lot of people hate this album, as it was a dramatic departure from their debut album. But with tracks like The Good Life, El Scorcho, and Tired Of Sex, I thought this album buried the first one.

I still buy every Weezer CD that hits the shelves (I can't say that for many artists, including the artist responsible for my #1 album (big hint, guys -- my #1 artist is still making music)).

And why wasn't Pink Triangle the theme song for Chasing Amy? Was it just too obvious?

29. Faster Pussycat Faster Pussycat (1987)
You didn't think I'd go through a block of fifteen without mentioning at least one hair band, did you? This is another one of those hair bands that didn't receive the exposure they deserved. This is sleazy rock 'n' roll at its finest. The songs were about sex (Bathroom Wall), sex (Don't Change That Song), and sex (Cathouse). I love every song on this album except Babylon, their failed attempt at rap. Let's pretend that never happened, shall we?

28. Ramones Rocket to Russia (1977)
If I allowed greatest hits, the Ramones would be much higher on my list. But truth be told, this is almost a greatest hits album (Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, We're A Happy Family, Teenage Lobotomy, Cretin Hop, and my all-time favorite Ramones song, Rockaway Beach, can all be found on this album).

Yeah, the Ramones' lyrics and music were the equivalent of a big dumb jock. But they were also fun as hell.

Unlike the jock.

27. Camper Van Beethoven Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985)
I'll be honest. I had never heard of Camper Van Beethoven until I saw the video for Eye Of Fatima. It was then that I became a lifelong fan of David Lowery.

I have seen him play live countless times. With Camper Van Beethoven. With Cracker. Acoustic. You name it.

This is Camper Van Beethoven's debut disc and contains such classics as The Day That Lassie Went To The Moon, Ambiguity Song, and Take The Skinheads Bowling (which was featured in Michael Moore's documentary Bowling For Columbine (because how many songs about bowling are there?)).

26. The Dead Milkmen Beelzebubba (1988)
Like I said before, I like music with a sense of humor. Favorite tracks: Life Is Shit (which actually becomes quite sweet near the end), The Guitar Song, and my favorite, Stuart (trailer parks + carnivals + conspiracy theories + burrow owls = pure genius).

Previously:
55-41
70-56
85-71
100-86

The Top 100 Albums Of All Time (55-41)

I'm using the following guidelines Norbizness set for himself:

• One album per artist.
• No greatest hits packages, compilations, or boxed sets.
• No artists that would make me look hip or cool.
• I must own the LP, CD, or cassette tape of every one of these entries. No mp3s.
  

And just to make this interesting, I'll give the first person that correctly guesses my favorite album (before it's posted, of course) a $25 Amazon gift certificate. One entry per person, please.

Has anyone noticed that I spend more time talking about myself in these lists than I do the actual music? I'm narcissistic. I suck.

Here's 55-41:

55. Various Artists The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
For those of you have been following my list up to now, you'll notice that I hold Rocky Horror in higher esteem than Led Zeppelin IV, London Calling, and The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. That probably tells you all you need to know about my taste in music.

I realize there are two camps when it comes to Rocky Horror: those who H-A-T-E it and those who absolutely adore it. I can't see how anyone cannot love tracks like Rose Tint My World, The Time Warp, and my personal fave, Sweet Transvestite. Yeah, it's cheesy as hell, but it's so much fun. The lyrics kick major ass and the music jumps back and forth seamlessly between genres.

I have long desired to play the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter on stage. Not only is it a great role but I'd get to wear a corset for most of the time I'd be on stage.

Ella says that's the only reason I got into music in the first place: the opportunity to wear dresses in public without too many repercussions (Yes, I was AlternaPoseur Boy who wore dresses when I performed live. Loooo-zer.).

54. Snatches of Pink Dead Men (1989)
Snatches of Pink hailed from Chapel Hill, NC. But everyone in Chapel Hill hated them. At the time, the Chapel Hill hipsters wanted alternative music. SOP played in-your-face rock 'n' roll, more akin to the Rolling Stones than college radio.

But damn, they were badasses. And I pity those who didn't get a chance to see them in their prime. My favorite tracks are Bed Of Nails, Midway, and Witch Dance.

When I was a college DJ, they had a copy of Deader Than You'll Ever Be, a live EP that Snatches of Pink recorded at CBGB. I tried to play their cover of Neil Young's Rockin' In The Free World every chance I got.

BTW, if anyone has access to their debut CD, Send In The Clowns, and would like to sell it to me or burn it for me, I'd be your best friend forever. I have a warped cassette version, but it's almost unlistenable.

53. The Moldy Peaches The Moldy Peaches (2001)
This album is as lo-fi as you can get. At times, it sounded like it was recorded in someone's living room (which I truly believe it was; at one point, you can hear a phone ring and the girl giggles while she's singing the rest of the song). The lyrics were immature and neither one of them could sing. But those aren't necessarily bad things in my book. Favorite song: Who's Got The Crack.

52. Liz Phair Whip-Smart (1994)
And while we're on the subject of singers who can't actually sing...

Nothing on this disc approached the greatness of Exile In Guyville's Fuck And Run. But since this is a countdown of albums and not singles, I have to give the nod to Whip-Smart. This album was just catchier and more fun. Favorite tracks: Dogs Of LA and the radio staples Whip-Smart and Supernova.

I tried to stay with you, Liz. I bought whitechocolatespaceegg and loved about half of the disc. But then I bought Liz Phair. You lost me on that one, trying to sound like Avril Lavigne. It reminded me of soccer moms that dress like their teenaged daughters. 2005's Somebody's Miracle could have been the best music you ever recorded. But I'll never know.

51. Queen A Night at the Opera (1975)
Bohemian Rhapsody. You're My Best Friend. Death On Two Legs. The Prophet's Song. What else can I say? Freddy Mercury was a god.

50. Pulp Different Class (1995)
Jarvis Cocker has one of the sexiest voices in rock 'n' roll. He is also an amazing lyricist. While the album boasts many great songs such as I Spy, Disco 2000, and Sorted For E's & Wizz, the two that stand out the most for me are Mis-Shapes and Common People (which is one of the coolest songs ever). Mis-Shapes should be an anthem for every alienated, misfit teenager everywhere (despite the fact this song came out when I was 25, I could still relate).

49. Run DMC Raising Hell (1986)
This is the album that brought rap music to Middle America, thanks to the Aerosmith cover Walk This Way. But this album was so much more than the aforementioned single nestled in filler. It also included My Adidas, Peter Piper, Raising Hell, You Be Illin', Dumb Girl, and It's Tricky, my personal favorite. While most of this album sounds old school as hell and doesn't really hold up musically in comparison to rap that's put out today (or even rap that was put out five years after its release), it's a classic that deserves to be mentioned in the Top 5 Rap Albums Of All Time.

48. Adam and the Ants Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980)
Sadly, when most people think of Adam and the Ants, they think of Goody Two Shoes or Strip. But their earlier stuff was so much better. The tribal drumbeats on this disc were simply amazing (they had two drummers at this point in their career) and were often coupled with guitar riffs that sounded like they were lifted from a Clint Eastwood western. Standout tracks include: Dog Eat Dog, the title track, Los Rancheros, Jolly Roger, and Antmusic.

47. Aerosmith Toys In The Attic (1975)
Is there any stranger story than Aerosmith's? They were huge in the 70s, then dropped off the map due to various "problems," and then came back in the late 80s, more popular than ever even though the music was inferior (they owe their popularity to the mastery of the power ballad). Toys In The Attic contains such classic rock staples as Walk This Way, Big Ten Inch Record, and Sweet Emotion.

Steven Tyler is the master of the sexual innuendo. No one else comes close.

46. Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle (1991)
While Jarvis Cocker might have rock's sexiest voice, Mike Patton has its most powerful voice. I like to think that this album sounds like what goes on inside your head if you're truly insane. Musically, it sounds like a freak show. Lyrically, you have songs about sex with food (Squeeze Me Macaroni), pornography (The Girls Of Porn), and a departed pet (Stubb (A Dub)).

This album is very demented and I highly recommend it. Favorite track: Carousel.

45. Junkyard Junkyard (1989)
Junkyard was a bluesy, southern rock band (kind of like a heavier version of the Black Crowes (in fact, when I saw Junkyard live, the Black Crowes were the opening act), the kind you'd expect to see playing at Patrick Swayze's Roadhouse. This album contained such great cuts as Hollywood, Simple Man (not a Skynyrd cover), and Hands Off, probably the funniest ballad of all time. This band deserved to be much more popular than what they were.

44. Billy Bragg Workers Playtime (1988)
One day, I walked into a used record store. Rotting On Remand was playing over the speakers. I had never heard of Billy Bragg but instantly fell in love with his voice. I snatched up the CD immediately. Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards was one of the hidden tracks on my wedding CD.

43. The Who Who's Next (1971)
Another classic album that everyone owns. So rather than bore you with stuff you already know, allow me to go off on a tangent that has nothing whatsoever to do with The Who.

You might think that working at a college radio station would give you the freedom to play anything you wanted. You'd be wrong. Every week, the station manager would leaf through the massive stacks of albums, select a bunch of them, and color-code them. Every hour, you had to play a certain number of "red" albums (the heavy-rotation stuff), "blue" albums (the medium-rotation stuff), and "yellow" albums (the classics; the low-rotation stuff).

I did a weekday shift with one of my friends (I also had a weekend shift where I was free of the chains of the color-coded albums). We were leafing through the pile of new albums on the station manager's desk picked out an album and held it high into the air.

Friend: Dude! Baby Got Back! (The song was just beginning to get play on the radio)
Me: Cool!
Friend: We can't play this.
Me: I know... But we've got to play this.
Friend: I know.
Me: If the station manager finds out, he's going to be pissed.
Friend: I know... But we've got to play this.

So, giggling like schoolgirls, we headed back to the booth and loaded the album. Sir Mix-A-Lot had just gotten through admitting that he liked large derrieres and could not speak untruths when the red light started flashing, alerting us that we had a phone call.

Me: Damn it!
Friend: What the hell is he doing listening to our show?
Me: At least someone's listening.

Of course, it was the station manger, screaming at us for playing the song. Oh well.

42. Soul Asylum Grave Dancers Union (1992)
This is their breakthrough album, their sell-out album, the one that got them heavy play on MTV and Top 40 radio, and it was also their best. It was also the one that got frontman Dave Pirner dates with Winona Ryder (tasty!). Favorite tracks: Somebody To Shove, April Fool, 99%, and Without A Trace.

41. Cyndi Lauper She's So Unusual (1983)
People were so concerned about Ms. Lauper's appearance (Look, she's got orange hair! Look, she wears thrift-shop clothes! She's kooky!) that her music often got lost in the shuffle. Which is a shame, because the girl had pipes. There were so many amazing songs on this album: Time After Time, Prince's When You Were Mine, All Through The Night, and my favorite, Money Changes Everything.

And then she started messing around with Lou Albano and professional wrestling, which effectively killed her career. It was either that or that lame Jeff Goldblum movie.

Previously:
70-56
85-71
100-86