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#70 - Bone Thugs N' Harmony - E. 1999 Eternal (1995)
Any rap album that begins with backmasking and a devilish voice has to be GOOD! After the intro is over this album does nothing but impress. In 1995 rap was really just starting to become mainstream and artists like Bone, Tupac & Biggie were bringing it out of the 80's and into the 90's. I can remember my brother having the cassette and this being on nonstop blast on MTV & THE BOX. Their breakout hits "Tha Crossroads & 1st Of The Month" are arguably 2 of the top rap songs from the 90's and if you were alive, inescapable. Everyone KNEW who Bone was and this is the album why. But to me it's the songs that weren't as mainstream that made me a fan. Songs such as "E. 1999, Me Killa & Mo Murda", are some of my favorites to this day.
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#16 - Mo Murda)
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#69 - Van Halen - Van Halen (1978)
This album is classic Van Halen at their best! Opening with one of the greatest album intros of all time, "Runnin With The Devil", you knew it was going to be BAD.. ASS. To be honest, this album may have the best 4 track opening sequence of all time. Immediately followed by "Eruption", that track set a standard for 80's guitarists everywhere. They literally took The Kinks song, "You Really Got Me" and completely made it their own. "Ain't Talkin' Bout Love", is the shining moment on this album and to this day is one of the songs that made me want to play the guitar in the first place. The guitar riff in that song alone is enough to make angels cry.
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#4 - Ain't Talkin' Bout Love)
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#68 - N.E.R.D. - In Search Of... (2001 & Re-Released In 2002)
Man. Who would have thought that Pharrell would come as far as he has? This album was AMAZING. Either version too. Yeah, they initially released this in 2001 in Europe using I believe Fruity Loops to record most of the music. Then, in 2002 hired the band "Spymob" to re-record the music live giving it a more rock & roll feel to it. I remember the song "Rock Star" and being completely amazed by it. Here was this guy literally rocking out to a rap song. It was like nothing I had ever seen. And the fact that he was running over cop cars in the process... well, it was AWESOME. Randy Quaid being in the music video didn't hurt at all either. I had the pleasure of seeing these guys twice back in the days of the "Sprite Liquid Mix Tour" for $5 bucks a ticket. I miss those concerts. But I revel in the memories of a young Pharrell rocking the fuck out!
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#13 or #11 - Bobby James) (Depends on which release.)
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#67 - Stone Temple Pilots - Purple (1994)
There was just something about the music released in 1994. That may have been the most magical year for music since the glory days of classic rock. This was STP's 1994 offering. 4 tracks stand out on this album as instant classics... "Vasoline, Lounge Fly, Interstate Love Song & Big Empty". Yeah, "Lounge Fly"... all I gotta say is, "MTV News". My favorite track is and always will be "Interstate". There was just something about that song that I always loved. To this day it is still my favorite STP song.
SUGGESTED LISTENING - (#4 - Interstate Love Song)
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#66 - Breaking Benjamin - Saturate (2002)
I can still remember hearing this album for the first time during my senior year of high school. The track "Polyamorus" was blowing the radio up and my friend Jimmy, yeah the Team Sleep guy, told me they had written a song about The Wizard Of Oz called, "Home". HOLY SHIT. That song is awesome on so many levels. This is going to be the first song I embed into my reviews because if you have never heard it, you need to. By far my favorite song of theres. This song showcased what this band was to become.
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#8 - Home)
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#65 - Alien Ant Farm - Greatest Hits & ANThology (1999 & 2001)
I listed both of these albums together because in essence, they are the same album. "Greatest Hits" was their unoffical debut, while "ANThology" was the official major label debut. My introduction to them was the same as everyone else's, "Smooth Criminal". While I LOVED their rendition of it, it was another song however that made me a fan. And that would be because of "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3" playing their song "Wish". It still takes me back to grinding rails everytime I hear that song, it's funny how music can take you back like that. A great album, it was only recently that I finally found the time to go back and relisten to it all over again. And I must say, "Universe" was to me, their finest moment.
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#9 or #13 - Universe)
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#64 - Limp Bizkit - Three Dollar Bill, Yall (1997)
Man I loved the 90's. There was so much GREAT music coming out when I was in my teens. Limp Bizkit was one of those bands that you either loved or hated. And you did one or the other PASSIONATELY. This album though, this was the one that stood out from the rest. This was just... to put it simply, out of this world. Not many rock bands could take a George Michael song and make it a smash hit. And Wes Borland was Buckethead weird. He would just stare out of his cold black contacts and it would pierce your soul. It's a shame they went downhill so much, because this album showed so much potential. Oh well. At least they gave us this.
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#3 - Counterfeit)
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#63 - Nirvana - In Utero (1993)
When "In Utero" came out, none of us were aware of how deep Kurt had went down the rabbit hole that was heroin. This was their final studio release and while it wasn't their most impressive work, it left us with one last glimpse of the late Kurt Cobains, dark, twisted mind. "I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black". I mean, wow. That's some dark shit. Filled with many, many, great songs... this album will go down as one of the greatest albums of all time. Even though Kurt would have probably disagreed. That was one of the great things about Kurt though, his modesty.
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#13 - All Apologies)
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#62 - What About Frank? - March Of The Elephants (2005)
Hahahahah! This is one of those albums that i'm guessing NONE of you have ever heard. And that is sad, very sad. "What About Frank", went on to become "The Parlor Mob", but before that this was their debut release. I had the pleasure of hanging out with David from the band "Borealis". (Probably another band you've never heard of.) He told me about these guys about a year before this album came out and I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of it years later online. They were completely different from anything I had ever heard and to this day, remain one of my favorite unknown bands.
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#5 - Strange Way Out)
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#61 - Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy (1973)
What else is left to say about Led Zeppelin that hasn't been said a billion times over already? One of the GREATEST ALL TIME BANDS EVER, this was one of their best, if not their best, album. The song "No Quarter" was easily one of their most hauntingly beautiful songs and was easily missed when album listeners just honed in on their hits. Songs on this album have been covered by TONS of bands ranging from "Tool" to the "Stone Temple Pilots".
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#7 - No Quarter)
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Well, check back next week as we near the halfway point already! This has been fun so far and it's great to see this slowly building new followers and views. I have noticed a TON of people from Russia checking it out so for all of you, Здравствуйте! I hope that translated right and doesn't say, fuck you or something like that. Haha.
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