25.) Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
Sweet, sweet Rumours. Playing you many times a day during the summer I discovered you... On vinyl, windows open, in rotation with Live at Leeds. I love Rumours. This is brilliant, flawless, multifaceted record. Such incredible songwriters, vastly different and bringing so much to this British/American melting pot. Every song is magnificent, uniquely catchy and lyrically thorough. Each of these five people holds so much damn talent. Their entangled personal lives, despite causing torrid times and tense relationships, give this record a distinctly edgy air -- fueling their creativity. I don't feel I'm perfectly articulating my feelings. I know this record well, so well... Yet, it isn't something I express often, so I guess my Fleetwood Mac talk isn't so savvy. Just listen to it. Everyone loves this record. And with good reason.
Favorite song: "Second Hand News", "I Don't Want to Know", "The Chain"... Uh, all of them? My least favorite is "Oh Daddy" and I'm a little sick of "Go Your Own Way", but they're all wonderful.
26.) The Joshua Tree, U2
As with Bruce Springsteen, I distinctly made a mission of disliking U2. You hear their songs all the time, but when are you ever moved? For me personally, never, which confirmed my distaste. Still, as I truck along this musical journey (that is approximately 5% through, fuck me, right?), I'm obviously having to put certain distastes to rest. Nirvana pleasantly surprised me, Bruce Springsteen still left me less than exasperated, and I guess U2 is snug between the two. I didn't hate The Joshua Tree, listening to it five times total did not kill me. It was tolerable. This album, is full of life. It carries a delectable mood, uplifting and full of emotion. But it has something to do with sequencing, and the overall atmosphere of the full album. Tear this album apart and just listen to a song or two, and that feeling will be gone. Still, that doesn't change the fact that U2 isn't my style. The music isn't awful, its just not my taste. I've listened to Nirvana since I concluded my review, I won't be doing that with U2. If I did, any accepting feelings I've developed would eventually diminish. I'd grow annoyed with this album. As with Bruce Springsteen, I applaud the obvious love and respect these men have towards their craft. They blend interesting influences and their emotional connection never wavers. "Running to Stand Still" has a great bluesy intro. "Trip Through Your Wires" has an entirely different mood. I respect them on that level, and I guess I can admit they kind of know what they're doing. WITH THAT SAID, I still have zero appetite for U2 on a musical level. Sayonara The Joshua Tree, hear you never again!
Favorite song: "Red Hill Mining Town". Dud? Classic case of dreadfully similar songs, as well as overplayed ones... So I can't particularly say.
27.) King of the Delta Blues Singers, Robert Johnson
Uh... What can I say? Robert Johnson, an untouchable. I take itty bitty doses of Robert Johnson -- a song on shuffle. He was, no doubt, an incredible performer (and so influential, but I don't use that word, remember?). But I'll just come out with: nearly an hour of blues standards back-to-back bores me. I could lie and say, "Its the most amazing thing I've ever heard!", just because the musicians I admire would say that, but NO. I'm spoiled. I like volume, electricity... So while I give Robert Johnson a big, huge pat on the back for paving the road. What would music be without him? Who knows! But I just can't get into it. And unlike my experiences with Bruce Springsteen or U2, I wanted to! But I'm not gonna sit here and act like something knocked me dead when it just didn't. Maybe later in life... When I'm "deeper" (or something), and less of spazzy youngster looking to get off on sheer energy and volume when it comes to the blues!
Favorite song: Uh, difficult. "Come On in My Kitchen", "32-20 Blues", "When You Got a Good Friend", and his imperfect vocals on "Hellhound on My Trail".
28.) Who's Next, the Who
I feel a little guilty that my first foray into writing about Who's Next stems from this project. Because oh oh oh, I love Who's Next. Its so essential. It is so much better than goddamn The Joshua Tree or Born to Run, and even What's Going On, Blonde on Blonde, Kind of Blue... And oh, I could go on! My love affair with Who's Next has been a slow, gradual evolution, because its so rich and full of life. From the get-go, I knew it was a good album, the feelings were always positive. But its grown into a sentimental admiration of sorts -- the wistful, eternal, nearly sappy, celestial state that your favorite records send you to. And the growth to that point was poignant and special. The fact that it was gradual made it even more special. I treasure this record. I bought it on vinyl for a dollar, and would sit in my dad's music room. My turntable connected to his superlative sound system, his fluorescent stage lights bathing the room, as I sprawled across the floor and took it all that is Who's Next. The musicianship is just perfect, and the songwriting was never better. Its the album that convinced me the Who were a glorious entity, and that thought has only fostered from there. Not only does Who's Next abide by the great album rule of "each song is different, each song is a thrill", it DEFINES it. Nearly every song is a masterpiece, filled to the brim with emotion, lively performance, and unrivaled musicianship. With some bands, particularly when dealing with this list, the argument is out on which album is their definitive. This is it for the Who. Not Tommy. Right here. No contest. You got it right, Rolling Stone.
Favorite song: All. so. good. "My Wife" was my favorite at the beginning, and I still think its marvelous and vivacious. "The Song is Over", "Getting in Tune", and bum bum bum, "Going Mobile".
29.) Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin
It seems I've been talking about this album a bit lately. And what am I saying most? Oh, Led Zeppelin. So good, so quick. They wasted no time. Things were perfectly in place right the moment they played together. Led Zeppelin is a portrait of that. Vibrantly showcasing each respective member, his monstrous talents, and Led Zeppelin's perfect formula -- a fusion of blues, rock and roll, folk, the lot. Everything Led Zeppelin would become renowned for in time, is already deeply ingrained with just this one record. Already, Page has taken full advantage of the studio; employing ambient miking, backwards echo, and mystically showcasing the realms of stereo. Their musical prowess, matched with Plant's frisky and youthful vocals, is shattering. This must be the most powerful debut ever released. Perfect arrangements, dynamic chemistry, utterly bombastic delivery. Its urgency demands your attention. With Led Zeppelin, Page aspired to create a band that embodied both light and shade, and he wasted absolutely no time. Light and shade, in full form. Lacking absolutely nothing, and giving off no aura of amateurism. Its the pop accuracy of "Good Times Bad Times". Its the sophisticated, explosive, folk-turned-anthem energy of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" (light and shade in a single number, go go!). Its the raunchy, modern adaption of the blues, such as "You Shook Me" and "I Can't Quit You Baby", complete with delectable, electrifying guitar. Its the vitalizing uncoiling and all that "Dazed and Confused" brings in SIX minutes -- they go places some bands can't go during their entire career. Its the whimsical, ascending, swelling vehemence of "Your Time is Gonna Come". The encompassing, hypnotizing semblance of "Black Mountain Side". The total, energizing, youthful sounds of "Communication Breakdown". The masterful seduction that is "How Many More Times". And this isn't even Led Zeppelin at their best...
Favorite song: "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "Your Time is Gonna Come", "Black Mountain Side". Duds? GET OUT OF HERE. ("You Shook Me" is my least favorite, shh.)
30.) Blue, Joni Mitchell
What a beautiful, awing string of albums -- so me, me, me. How can I describe Blue? Blue is me. Joni Mitchell, as an artist, is untouchable. Untouchable. Her stark writing, the crystallization of her life, its a pearl. She is defenselessly honest, and utterly relatable. She gets down to the core, she travels a journey, she captures life. Its ups, its down -- with no judgment and total purity. Blue is the highest ranking for a female on this list, and who better than Joni? I love this record, I truly love this record. But unlike Led Zeppelin, I can't bare it all. Everything on this record is personal, a close part of Ms. Mitchell. In turn, the record itself has become that to me. There are few albums I identify with so completely, albums that ironically remind me of myself. I know every word she sings, and just the way she sings it. I've lived through them all. I've dissected every song, clinging to them, and learning to live from her wisdom and mistakes. I've never gotten sick of Blue. Blue has always been with me. It always will be. The summer with the windows open, Blue in the morning, sad nights. Life and "All I Want". "My Old Man" and imagination. Discovery and "Little Green". "Carey" and innocence. That harrowing note in "Blue". Lonesome in Argentina, longing for "California". Flight, in more ways than one, and "This Flight Tonight". "River" as everything. Sweet infatuation and "A Case of You". "The Last Time I Saw Richard" and nothing. And singing them all, always.
Favorite song: It would be easier to say that my least favorites are "Blue" and "The Last Time I Saw Richard". And I should mention that I'm crazy excited to read Will You Take Me as I Am, and as always, Joni Mitchell makes me want to take up the piano and the dulcimer.
31.) Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan
This album was even more boring than the other Bob Dylan albums I've been faced with! I'm glad I don't have to deal with him again until #97. I really don't have much to say on this album... Its boring. It goes on and on. Its never thrilling. It all sounds the same. Really... Can this just be my shortest review ever? Its no good! I don't even want to write about it... Because with something like U2, at least I never had. Bob Dylan has already been thrown at me too many times. Will have something refreshing and insightful at #97...
Favorite song: I love Don't Look Back, because its one of the great rock and roll films of that time. So entertaining, and not so musical. Lovely! I love "Subterranean Homesick Blues" because it reminds me of that. And I love the false start of "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream", though the song itself is a thumping bore. This whole album is! Hi-ya!
32.) Let It Bleed, the Rolling Stones
Aw! Let It Bleed! I love. One of my favorite Stones records, but that entire period from Beggars Banquet to Exile on Main St is absolutely golden. They're all uniquely marvelous, so to place one above another is nearly criminal. What can I say about Let It Bleed?! It excites me. I'm getting giddy just thinking about it, listening to it, typing these words! Every song is so rich. You have the thick, moody, and disastrous air of "Gimme Shelter", followed by the brilliant executed forlorn blues of "Love in Vain", "Country Honk" which I took a while to warm up to, but now probably listen to more often than "Honky Tonk Women". The sensuous, Keith Richards-on-bass driven "Live with Me", one of my favorites. The slide, the jangly Ian Stewart piano on "Let It Bleed", and its debauncherous nature. "Midnight Rambler", with exquisite musical delivery and that momentous breakdown. I prefer the version on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! Mick Taylor isn't yet with the band on the studio version, but kills it live, and certainly proves himself to be the most musically endowed Stone of all. "You Got the Silver", and the vocals by K. Richards -- so adoring. A favorite. "Monkey Man" !!! My jam. The musically fetching Nicky Hopkins, such an addition! With Bill Wyman on vibes, so good. And dear old KR. And finally, "You Can't Always Get What You Want". I don't listen to it often, but sometimes when I do, I think, "Oh... This is kind of a masterpiece?" This is a truly divine record. The Stones really had some incredible moments, didn't they?
Favorite song: Certainly covered that. Duds... Uh, NONE.
33.) Ramones, Ramones
So when I started my listening run of this album, I thought, "No way. I'll get sick of it. Straight punk is too repetitive." Midway through, I thought, "By the end of this, I won't like it so much. I'll get sick of it." For the last two listens, I was totally into it. Uppity and energized, humming and jumping along. I like being proved wrong. But I was also kind of right. I don't want to listen to this full album for a while... I don't even listen to my favorite records five days in a row. I'm thinking instead of listening to "1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2..." I'll do, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5..." If you catch my drift. ANYWAY, I do really enjoy the songs on this record, and I look forward to them coming on shuffle, or maybe tossing them on a mixed CD. This is supposedly the first "punk" record, and when was punk ever better? (Never Mind the Bollocks is growing on me, but we aren't there yet!) I love the Ramones. They're so endearing. Such an odd group of weirdos. Squishy, non-talented talent, contrasting personalities -- all making for this triumphant, groundbreaking music. My respect for them can only grow.
Favorite song: "Chain Saw", "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement", "Havana Affair", "53rd and 3rd". Duds... Um, "Blitzkrieg Bop"?
34.) Music from Big Pink, the Band
One of the most treasured albums ever conceived. So much love and respect for this album. From those tender and precious notes that stray from Robbie Robertson's guitar, which open "Tears of Rage, one of music's most harrowing ballads. It continues to get tangled up with Richard Manuel's delicate and forlorn vocals, and its utter perfection. To open an album with such a melancholy statement was big business, but the Band went there. For they did just as they pleased. "Tears of Rage" is beautiful. Yet, the change things up. Whoop, here's "To Kingdom Come", with Robbie Robertson taking a chance at vocals. Backed by Rick Danko's charmingly characteristic vocals, it all sounds just fine. A rollicking number, which rouses me with great joy, as really good music tends to do to me. The Band, I cherish. "To Kingdom Come" is followed by the inspiriting and imaginative "In a Station". The visuals are bold, and I lap of visions of the face of a mountain, the wild fruit there, and the awakening moonlight. How much more Richard Manuel could have done as a songwriter... Mmm, all of these songs are my favorite. For next comes "Caledonia Mission". How sweet it is to discover the Band! Again, arresting imagination roams, and that illustrious world is further painted. Bum bum bum... "The Weight". No comment, it and its legacy speaks for itself. Wasn't it used in a car commercial once? "We Can Talk"! Ascending organ, funky groove, dippy madness! Exchanging vocals, the throaty voice of Levon Helm from way deep down. A life to be lived within these songs.. My favorite take on "Long Black Veil" ever, Danko's vocals are luminous. So vivid! And ooh, here it comes, "Chest Fever". Has to be one of my favorite Band songs. So extraordinary and powerful, yet not at all serious. I like humor in music. The numerous voices lace within each other, as Garth Hudson treats us all to spellbinding organ lunacy, with Robertson laying on toned licks all over. "Lonesome Suzie", never favored it, carrying on! With those nearly Oriental opening hums of "This Wheel's on Fire", oh, that rhythm. So bouncy and contagious. And the luscious glory of "I Shall Be Released". Emotional, subdued, right on it, every single time. True musical artistry.
Favorite song: "Tears of Rage", "Caledonia Mission", "Chest Fever". Least favorite, "Lonesome Suzie". I prefer "Whispering Pines" by way of token Richard Manuel ballads.
This run was a bit easy, because I've worshiped and adored most of these albums for quite some time. We've carried on intense personal love affairs, as you can see. From here, the waters become predominately uncharted. There doesn't appear to be any more lovely streams of records like this. Oy... Keep up with the madness here. In the mean time, I'm gonna question my sanity and WHY I decided to do this -- while spinning number 35, of course. (I possess a savage need to finish what I start. A good trait, if not a sometimes irritating one.) But really, I look forward to all my musical knowledge to come. Its just a lengthy way of acquiring it. Now, I'm off to eat Cheez-its with cream cheese while watching The Dick Cavett Show: Rock Icons. Sly Stone, here I coooome!
