I love music. There is no getting around it. I enjoy listening to it. Sometimes I get a vibe from it. I get a message. I love the sounds I hear and some times I can sing along. Anyone who knows me knows I have the most diverse music tastes of anyone you will meet.
I started working on a project a while back. I wanted to list my top 50 albums of all time. I could never put them in order. I mean sure I have 5 that I think rule over the others. And we will focus on that at the end.
But for right now, here are 10 of the 50.
ICE CUBE Death Certificate 1991
The album begins with a funeral. A fucking funeral? Who does that? Cube does. When it comes to N.W.A. Cube was always my favorite. He usually was the first voice you were hear in almost every NWA song and many would point to his debut Amerikkka's Most Wanted as his best. This I disagree with, even know I love that album as well.
Death Certificate just has a certain identity to it. Production wise it is such a tight album. My Summer Vacation has that baseline to it, and what a story. A bunch of gangbangers leaving LA to come to St Louis, bringing their way of life out there so they can find a new market. It's a good story. The album grabs your attention right after the funeral with The Wrong N to Fuck Wit. GOD DAMN ITS A BRAND NEW PAYBACK. It had that fresh west coast sound and it was the first person to break the most dangerous rap group ever, on his sophomore effort (not counting Kill At Will the EP just after Wanted) which definitely did not slump. Other highlights on it are Look Who's Burning, Color Blind, Giving Up the Nappy Dugout, and of course the very nasty heated diss track on Easy E, No Vaseline.
FIONA APPLE Tidal 1996
When I first heard Sleep to Dream and Criminal, I didn't think too much of them. I mean Fiona has a great voice and is a good enough song writer I am thinking at this point. It wasn't until I was at Starbucks one day, and I went to Starbucks before it was cool to go to Starbucks. Right in downtown Mt Prospect to be exact, I heard Shadowboxer. I asked the barista who it was, and they told me Fiona Apple. I said no fucking shit. Shadowboxer is one of the best songs I have ever heard in my life. I decided I had to get the album. Sleep to Dream starts this journey off on this wonderful trip with Fiona Apple playing piano with that voice you would hear in a nightclub during the 20s. Sullen Girl just is so memorizing and she is so good at piano. Shadowboxer comes next followed by Criminal, and then Slow Like Honey, just the first few notes of that song. It is such a pleasing listen, and one other highlight for me is The Child is Gone. Fiona really takes you down a trip and this is such a relaxing wonderful piece of music.
DROPKICK MURPHYS The Warriors Code 2005
Everyone and their mother has heard "Im Shipping Up to Boston." Whether you saw it during the opening of Martin Scorsese's best picture win The Departed, oh you liked the New England Patriots (God help you if you do), you just hear the first few bars in the song. But what this album does is make the Irish Punk sound really fun. It's a very positive sounding album. From the first track Your Spirit's Alive which will make you want to run a marathon to the Red Sox anthem Tessie, you are in for a great treat. The Wicked Sensitive Crew is funny and Citizen CIA will make you pump your fist, but two of the songs that touch your heart are the Green Fields of France, the story of fallen soldier in WW1 which was originally written by a man named Eric Bogle from Scotland, to The Auld Triangle which is also a cover. It's just a great album and representation for Irish people. Me being one.
MASSIVE ATTACK Mezanine 1998
Massive Attack was one of the first groups I found who did electronic music, and it was done in a way that was dark and mysterious. Just the first track Angel is so eerie and dark and it eventually gets that riff towards the end where you feel like you just took your head out of a bucket of water. You may recognize if from Snatch, when Mickey and his pikers get their caravans burned by Brick Top. We move onto Risingson which has a smooth baseline to it and the chorus where Toy Like people make me Boy Like. Shit gets in my head. Every track on the album is perfect but the song that I love the most is Man Next Door, which is not a single. The bass drops on that song are phenomenal.
DEORRO Good Evening 2017
This is the most recent on the list. EDM to me have its fixtures that produce great music and not make things monotonous. It is challenging but Deorro's album stood up in front of all. Let alone the song five hours has been sampled by so many people the Chris Brown edition closes out the album, But the album begins as Deorro is in a night club performing these songs to people. It has an old school feel to it and he has small interludes for many of the songs on the album. The tracks are insanely well produced and make you want to jump and wave your hands. Commercial maybe? But its so fucking good. Turn Back Time and Goin Up are just very pleasant songs that when you get the kick, you feel it. That's the thing about this album, it's an adventure of sound. It takes you on a trip. A fun ride. Other songs that stand out are Feel Pretty Good, Rise and Shine, and Bailar which is one of my favorites on the album. A latin feel that makes you move.
THE KILLERS Sam's Town 2006
I could have put Hot Fuss here because the first two albums of the Killers are unbelievable, but Sam's Town has a big time feel to it. Just the title track the first note from the beginning along with the drum rap before Brandon Flowers starts with his lyrics. When You Were Young and For Reasons Unknown are such relatable songs. And one of the things I love about the Killers is their mix of modern rock with the synthesizer sounds of the 80's. You pick that up on this album as well as Hot Fuss as well. Like the last album, Sam's Town takes you on a journey. I like my music to take me places, and a trip to Sam's Town is just what the doctor ordered.
ENYA Watermark 1989
There is to me not many female singers can touch Enya. She has the most soothing, calming voices I have ever heard in my life. Yes Sail Away is on this album. But to get to Sail Away we have the title track where a piano starts off a beautiful melody preparing you for whats about to come. Add in Cursum Perficio to get your blood flowing (its like chanting) and then you can relax to On Your Shore and then we get Storms in Africa which gets you back awake. Exile is where Enya really shines and the focus is really on her voice. Especially for the first minute of the song. Some people say only soccermoms listen to Enya, sound people say her music puts them to sleep. Like Wesley Snipes said in White Men Cant Jump, you can listen to Enya, but can you hear Enya.
Is it a super album because of the supporting cast, perhaps, but its a fucking kick ass album. One of the best in metal history from Max Cavalera and company. The blood still fresh from the divorce of Brazils greatest metal band, but that doesn't stop this album from kicking ass. The first track Eye for an Eye will get you into the album immediately. However some of the gems from this album would be Jumpdafuckup featuring Corey Taylor from one of my favorite bands Slipknot (yes they are on this list a couple of times), Son Song with Sean Lennon, Fly High, and Boom. Other appearances from Tom Araya from Slayer and Chino Moreno from the Deftones and rap artist Cut Throat Logic round up what I thought was one of the best metal albums of that decade.
NINE INCH NAILS The Fragile 1999
If you know me well enough, you know NIN is one of my favorites, so this will not be the only time you see them on this list. The Fragile is a long long album. Lots of samples and different effects, but it was different from what Trent Reznor did in the past. Sure you had those NIN themed songs like Starfuckers Inc., The Big Come Down, and the opening track Somewhat Damaged (which is fucking fantastic) which I feel are staple songs for them, but I feel like Trent wrote an entire opus from tracks 2-5 as those songs weave together (The Day the Whole World Went Away, The Frail, The Wretched, We're in this Together) and it makes this album one of the best. Other tracks I am in love with on this album is Into the Void, Please, and The Mark has Been Made. Pilgrimage is a good instrumental track as well.
SAVATAGE Gutter Ballet 1989
Jon and the late Criss Olivia are two of the most under rated brothers I have ever heard. Jon with his voice and Criss's talented guitar chops rounded out this band as one of the movers in metal back in the late 80s. They eventually switched vocalists and became what we now know as Trans Sibberean Orchestra but I want to focus on this album, at this period. The title track is amazing, The musical craftsmanship is obviously there but there is one thing that makes this album for me, despite all the great songs of it. It may be the song of my life. When the Crowds are Gone. It has been an anthem for me and it is such a beautiful song. Once again, like the Killers, I had a tough time selecting between this and the one before it Hall of the Mountain King, but sometime one song can do it for you, and thats what happened here.
So there's the first ten. I will have another ten to add later in the week. Please let me know what you think of these, and if not, go check them out.
MICHAEL
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