#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.
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.
#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.)
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.
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.
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.
#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.
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.
#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.
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".
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.
Hey! Welcome back! This is my second installment of my top 100 favorite albums of all time and right on time! Now we will take a look at albums 81-90. This is where it started to get tricky. With so many GREAT albums out there, how do you even narrow it down to 100? I'm sure there's some I missed and i'm also sure that in 10 years this list will be drastically different. Musics cool like that. You may be into one band a lot now, but years from now they change and so do you. Perfect example... Incubus. They started out as a funk metal band and now... well... if you listen to them a lot like me, you'll know what i'm talking about. Anyways, to narrow it down to 100 you have to start with your absolute favorites and go from there asking yourself... "do I like this album more than the previous?". It's daunting and here I am still making slight edits as I go along. I did have Audioslaves debut album in my top 100, but it got pushed out when I realized I had forgotten a couple of my favorites. With all of that said, let's take a look at 81-90. Oh and if you didn't read 91-100, start there first!
This was one of those cd's that took awhile to embrace for me. My friend Jimmy used to play the shit out of the demos for it and it slowly but surely grew on me. 10 years later after the official release of the album and i'm still hooked. There's just something about the surreal feel to it that relaxes me everytime. They truly picked a great name for themselves to go by. It was refreshing to hear Chino stepping out of his comfort realm and trying something completely different. If you ever want to chill to a cool night time cd, this is one to do it with.
Tracy Lawrence scored big in 1994 with this album. He did something very cool around 93-96, where he "leaped" through time in each of his music videos connecting them together. It was very "Quantum Leap". I loved it. I have never been into country much but for some reason around 1995 I lived for it. His videos were on CMT all the time and I can remember just having to hear a few notes to know it was on and I would come flying in to watch it. If you like country and even if you don't, this is a classic album to check out. I even got to meet the guy cause I was in his fan club. I was just too young to appreciate it. Don't believe me... Here's a little something extra for ya. Haha.
The first thing I think about when I think about this album is the artwork. It was drawn by famed comic artist, Todd McFarlane. He created Spawn by the way. The second thing I remember is how the first 12 tracks were nothing but silence. I can remember everyone thinking their disc was broken. I worked at media play and everyone was always wanting to return it till I showed them it started on track 13. (Funny side note... I actually just read the wiki on it and it seems that early versions had the 12 silent tracks after the music. The silent tracks were a memorial of sorts to young a fan named "Justin" who tragically died of intestinal cancer. His last wish was to meet and hang out with Korn. I don't know if he ever did but they named a song after him on the album and the 12 silent tracks formed a minute of silence for him. So next time you go to skip those tracks remember that. VERY KOOL.
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#8 - All In The Family (Featuring Fred Durst))
My first introduction to this album was from a teacher of mine named Mr. LeBlanc. We were in music class one day and he asked the class if anyone wanted to buy it for 5 bucks. I knew the song "Down" and was the only kid who was eager to check it out. So I bought it from my hard rocking, Kings-X loving guitar playing teacher for 5 bucks. It turned out to be my first official introduction to a band that would lead to me discovering Incubus, Hoobastank and many others. I loved it then and I still to this day, 20 years alter, love it now. You can thank them, Run DMC and Faith No More for anyone who ever has or will rap over rock music.
SUGGESTED LISTENING - (#1 & 2 - We Will Rock You / We Are The Champions)
#86 - Counting Crows - August And Everything After (1993)
This was one of those albums that transcended genres. I liked it, my dad liked it, my brother liked it, my MOM liked it, everyone did. "Mr. Jones" was and is still to this day one of the most recognizable songs ever written. There was just something magical about it. The first track, "Round Here", definitely didn't get as much play but was a much, much better song. Haunting is the best word I can describe it with. It was definitely a "heavy" song for an 11 year old kid to grasp. But it always made sense to me. And that's mainly why this record is number 86.
Breaking Benjamins, "Phobia" was an album I really sat down and listened to when it came out. It's the kind of album where it was easy to quickly pick out your favorites. To me, there was just something about the guitar riff in the beginning of "Until The End", that quickly hooked me in. The coolest thing about the album in general however, may be the intro track of the airport. It was a "hidden" reference to singer, "Ben Burnley"s fear of flying, hence the name of the album... "Phobia".
This album is very special to me. It came out around the first time I tried to start a music review blog and I listened to it over and over again for the next year. I met my future wife while listening to this cd. We both love the time it represents and it's always great to play it again every once in awhile. By far, this is their best work to date and will have you singing along in no time. My personal favorite is, "Waking Up The Ghost". Whether you're already a 10 Years fan or not, this is where you should start.
This album picked up where Metallica left off with their "Black Album". The first time I really listened to them was with this album. I was driving a U-Haul when the song, "Welcome To The Family" came on our local radio station. MAN... I remember hearing, "Bat Country" and it was cool and all. But this song did it for me. I instantly bought it and jammed out to every track for a week straight. I can remember one song standing tall above the rest though... "Save Me". It was an epic track lasting 10:57. Pretty long track nowadays. Especially in this ADD society we live in now. For those who listen, it will reward you. Check it out!
#82 - The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After Death (1997)
This album is easily recognized as one of the top 5 rap albums ever recorded. LOADED with great songs, this album brought Biggie mainstream success. Originally this album was supposed to be released in 1996 on Halloween. It got pushed back to March of 1997 and ironically Biggie was shot 2 weeks before it was released. Consistently considered a 4-5 star album, it was with this album Biggie gained the most fame of his career. It's just a shame shit get's crazy in the rap game cause it would be great to hear where he would have went with his career. No, instead were left with Jay-Z and NAS.
This cd is probably the cd my brother would call a top ten. I heard it through him by going through his room and taking his cassette while he was gone. There was just something about Dave Mustaine. He almost seemed like an anti-rock star. The title track on this album is just simply amazing. I'm sooooooo happy he didn't last in Metallica. We would not have had this and Last Action Heroes, "Angry Again". had they kept him around. "Symphony Of Destruction", was another great song from it. Definitely their shining moment, this album was an instant classic for thrash heads everywhere!
SUGGESTED LISTENING (#7 - Countdown To Extinction)
So 20 albums into it and 80 to go. Is it Christmas yet?!?? I love sharing my memories and favorites with all 5 of you reading. Hopefully as I write more and more... more and more of you show up! Well, till next time...
