Jeremy's 300 All-Time Favorite Albums: Nos. 90 to 75
- petsch6787
- May 7, 2017
- 15 min read
Other Pages in this list: Nos. 300-286 Nos. 285-271 Nos. 270-257 Nos. 256-241 Nos. 240-225 Nos. 224-209 Nos. 208-192 Nos. 191-175 Nos. 174-158 Nos. 157-141 Nos. 140-124 Nos. 123-107 Nos. 106-91 Nos. 74-59 Nos. 58-43 Nos. 42-27 Nos. 26-11 Nos. 10-01
Hello to you all! Welcome back, I hope you've had a good week, lots of rest and relaxation, maybe some me-time. Good, good. Maybe you spent a little time getting to know future face of the franchise Mitchell Trubisky. It's understandable, he's a likable guy. Well anyway, onto something a little less depressing than the Bears, we are going to get down to Number 75 on this list, really starting to hit some bedrock. Let's do it!
90. Pet Shop Boys - Introspective
Year of Release: 1988
Pet Shop Boys' third album featured a change in direction, both in the addition of fuller instrumentation and in the change of song format. On Introspective, there are only six tracks, each of them ranging from six to nine minutes and each with a heavier dance lean than the first two albums. The opener Left to My Own Devices starts with an orchestral string sting before the keyboard beat makes its way onto the track. The second track, I Want a Dog, is a reworked b-side from the previous album, which makes sense since it's completely scored by a keyboard. My favorite track is Always on My Mind/In My House which starts with the well known cover and half way through bleeds into an acid house track (acid house is where it's at, kids!). The first time I listened to this album, I felt the way many young Brits did in 1988: slightly turned off by the length of the tracks, harboring a "this is not the band I know!" attitude, but quickly that melted, and I started to enjoy this format for its conduciveness for lengthy dance breakdowns, and really that's all I need.
Song: Always on My Mind/In My House
89. Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast
Year of Release: 2000
My dad bought this CD thinking it was something else, so it made its way into my life in a sort of serendipitous manner, and it stuck with me for most of high school. This is the perfect album to listen to on a rainy day. It's quiet, with many of the songs barely rising above a whisper, but also the entire album finds itself amidst a sound collage that makes it sound like it is being recorded in an old wooden attic while rain is falling off some evergreen trees outside. The whole affair comes together nicely because so many of the individual tracks melt together with interludes of noise, either created by wave sound effects or by a strange wheezing organ or so on. This was really my first ever DIY, created-in-the-bedroom type of album, an album made completely from one person's mind, unmistakably a work of quiet passion. Throughout the album, an aural theme is maintained of a band made of wood, singing their ditties while dust is being brushed off of them, playing lightly and spritely so as to keep their joints well oiled. If that image doesn't intrigue you, I don't know what will. Also, shout out to Hannah Christie, the only other person in my high school that knew who Badly Drawn Boy was.
Song: Once Around the Block
88. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues
Year of Release: 1983
This is the only Talking Heads album that I could ever get into, but luckily it seems that all of my possible love for this band was just crammed into one set of nine songs. Speaking in Tongues actually kind of hit me from all fronts at the same time, a bit of movie coincidence. I downloaded this album during my junior year at Illinois and got into it, and then when I started dating Lisa, we got into Lars and the Real Girl, and This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) was featured in a pretty central emotional scene of that film and became something of a song of ours, and then the next year at Illinois, a Talking Heads cover band played at Canopy and played the entirety of the Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense, which mainly featured this album. The stars aligned! But there's many Talking Heads albums, what makes this one different? I don't know, truly. Believe me, I've tried. Nothing sounds as perfect as the balance on Making Flippy Floppy, the first half being straight funk before it splits into a couple of weird bendy keyboard lines during the bridge. I love every song on this album, but the standout has always been, from day one, Girlfriend is Better. The bass hook is amazing, the super tenory plucking of the guitar, the weird prickly sound effects, and David Byrne vocally jumping about. One of my all time favorite songs.
Song: Girlfriend is Better
87. Jeff Buckley - Grace
Year of Release: 1994
What a beautiful album this is. Jeff Buckley's only real studio album shows the power that his voice and guitar have. He can stretch from a soft deep hush to the high notes that his voice naturally takes on when he gets louder. The summer between sophomore and junior year of high school, I went to Branson with my friend Kyle and his family, and in order to make a little spending money for that trip, we would work shifts on the weekend cleaning his dad's auto body shop (this is also where I learned to drive because we would have to move the cars around to clean certain areas). On one such of these days, I was cleaning a room upstairs by myself, and I listened to this album four straight times. Also, Buckley's songwriting is amazing, I've always been struck by a section of Lover You Should've Come Over, "It's never over, My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder, It's never over, all my riches for her smiles when I slept so soft against her, It's never over, all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter, It's never over, she is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever." What a lovely sentiment. This album also features Buckley's cover of Hallelujah, undoubtedly the best version. Anyone want to disagree, come at me!
Song: Grace
86. Kanye West - Yeezus
Year of Release: 2013
It's so easy to dismiss Kanye West; he acts ridiculous, he says stuff that doesn't make sense when condensed to a sound byte, he focuses too much on fashion, and he willingly inserted himself into the Kardashian torture chamber. I even find myself falling into that trap. I tried to include this album on a post like seriously a month and a half ago, and when I went to go listen to it in preparation, I got one song in and immediately put it back into the pool, to be ordered later. This album is that good. The first time you listen to it, you are surprised by how abrasive the beats for most of the album are. The fourth time you listen to it, you are certain its the best rap album ever made. Now I'm not listing it as the best rap album (or even the top Kanye album, but that's just personal preference) but if someone made that list and put this album on top, I certainly wouldn't have a strong argument against it. And even though this is Kanye's big EDM album (not his description, just how it fits in his discography), he still works in an old soul sample for Blood on the Leaves, but, I mean, it still breaks down to a heavy ass horn beat for half the song. People may hate on Kanye for his personality, but he has always been a step ahead as far as music taste, he was crossing over to electronic music before that genre cannibalized itself and became the megalith it is now. On this album, he reached into house in a way that people have yet to replicate (at least in quality). Kanye, keep being you.
Song: Guilt Trip
85. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
Year of Release: 2006
Silversun Pickups came into my life the summer after Freshman year of college, and they scratched an itch for fuzzy guitars, killer licks, and shoegaze sounds that I wasn't aware needed scratching. I am pretty sure that the first time I saw them, they were performing Lazy Eye on Carson Daly's Last Call, as Daly was an early Silversun Pickups fan, and later when Silversun Pickups were the Artist of the Week on MTV (remember that good stuff?), the band egged Daly's house in one of the segments, mistaking it for Jared Leto's. This is certainly the most indie of their first three albums (I ain't even gonna talk about their fourth album, it is not my favorite), and the albums got a lot harder as they went on (which I enjoyed), but Carnavas still has plenty of moments of edge, and not only on the songs that get really loud like Well Thought Out Twinkles, but also on songs that only reach a medium amount of noise and distortion, like the slower paced Checkered Floor, which compliments said slower pace with a menace underlying singer Brian Aubert's vocals and something sinister lying in his guitar. Bassist Nikki Monninger also provides backup vocals, which create a strange harmony with Aubert's high pitched approach, no one supplying the bass vocals. But the star of this show is Aubert's guitar and Monninger's bass, they set the table so that later in the song they can use the same instruments to blow that table to kindling.
Song: Future Foe Scenarios
84. Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor
Year of Release: 2005
This album was released at the end of 2005, but I definitely didn't get into until the next summer. I was watching Nickelodeon (like you do) and they had one of those commercials for a mixtape album, probably one of the Now! albums, and one of the songs played in the commercial was the lead single from this album, Hung Up. And I said to myself "that is an awesome electronic beat in that song," so I went to Best Buy and purchased it, and was criticized by Matt for my choice. Later that night when I played the album and we were driving to the movies, his opinion changed. And that is because this is a really, really good dance album. It helps that Madonna created it with producer Stuart Price, who is a genius producer (he produced two Pet Shop Boys album on this list). Confessions on a Dance Floor is one long dance mix, there's no breaks between the songs, it just keeps going, and with the exception of I Love New York (I am not hating on it because it's about NY, rather because Madonna's lyrics in it are unfathomably terrible, even for her), every other song is totally worth the listen. It's basically just a long electro-disco album, and it is very good. Favorite Madonna album, hands down.
Song: Forbidden Love
83. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command
Year of Release: 2000
I came to At the Drive-In through Sparta, which is kind of backwards, but they became a pretty important band in my high school life. This album is the last one that they made before the band broke up and turned into two other bands, although they have recently gotten back together (without Jim Ward, which is weird, and makes me hesitant to give this reunion a shot), and this album was also the most successful of theirs. It makes sense, Relationship of Command has breakthrough written all over it, the songs are better written, the production is extremely good, there are lots of nice little flourishes, like the thunder that opens Quarantined or the ransom phone call at the beginning of Enfilade (Hello Mother Leopard, I have your cub, you must protect her, but that will be expensive.....), but also these songs are just really catchy. And Arcarsenal is on the list of my top five favorite album openers, it's loud and fast, and ends with the repeated phrase "Have you ever tasted skin? Sink your teeth in." Reminds me of them ole movie theater days.
Song: Arcarsenal
82. Björk - Post
Year of Release: 1995
Oh boy, when we start hitting Björk albums, that's when you know we are getting into the meat of this list. This is her second solo album after leaving The Sugarcubes, and it's the perfect bridge between the fairydust-coated dancefloor of Debut and the sterile, chilled techno tinge of Homogenic. Post opens with the crunchy rumble of Army of Me, and then leads into the soft, snowy texture of Hyperballad (the textures in this song are the basis of the entire sound scope of Vespertine, but were not quite to that album yet). It's Oh So Quiet is a showtune basically, which is why Spike Jonze gave it a showtune video. Enjoy is a direct indicator of the next album, it's cold and glitchy and bumpy and ends with a big vocal and musical freak out. Isobel is the second of a trio of songs that spanned three albums telling the narrative of the title character; in this song she is exploring the city and the beats are punchy and there are nature sounds in the background, indicating the foreign nature of the environment, and it's surrounded by orchestral swells. Possibly Maybe is slow building and filled with a softness, as Björk lyrically explores the entirety of a short relationship, starting with courtship, moving through fights, and then the last verse "Since we broke up, I'm using lipstick again, I suck my tongue in remembrance of you."
Song: Isobel
81. The Alchemist - Russian Roulette
Year of Release: 2012
I love hip hop beat tapes. The beats are usually my favorite part of any rap or hip hop song, so it stands to reason that if you make an album that takes the beats, puts them in the forefront, and no longer let the singer hold them hostage, you are going to get something that I like, typically. Russian Roulette is composed of beats taken from Russian music samples, and through this focus on Russia, a theme is created that consists of the mood of the eighties Cold War relations between Russia and the US. Because of this, The Alchemist also includes samples from the eighties, like a clip from a Memorex tape commercial, or a bunch of clips either from Rocky IV or pertaining to it, such as Joan Rivers interviewing Dolph Lundgren or Adrian telling Rocky to get rid of his fear. Russian Roulette isn't solely an instrumental endeavor, there are guest rappers on about half of the tracks, but they still play into the theme, Action Bronson raps about being a gangster, before a clip from a news program of a government agent detailing how they infiltrated the Russian Mob by scoping out a birthday party (as we all learned on The Sopranos, birthday parties are really just an excuse for mob bosses to get together). And even though this is a hip hop record, there are a lot of guitar samples that give it an eclectic feel. I have listened to this album many times walking in the snow down North Avenue, freezing my butt off: very Russian like.
Song: Training Montage - Getting Stronger
80. ...And You Will Know Us From The Trail Of Dead - Lost Songs
Year of Release: 2012
I tend to enjoy the Trail of Dead albums that are super loud and not the ones that are thematic concepts. Basically just check the cover of the album, if it's a complicated mess, then it's one of the heavy handed ones, and skip it. If it is like this one, simple, then you have a good album. On Lost Songs, the band is at their heaviest since Source Tags and Codes, which is great, and they also mixed all of the vocals lower than usual, so whether it's Conrad Keely or Jason Reese singing (the music is so loud that I can't tell which singer is which at any given time), their vocals are just one element of the song, hardly the element most in the forefront: that privilege is saved for the relentlessly pummeling drums and similarly relentless guitar. The moments when they slightly quiet down are rewarding, but also still quite aggressive, and really, they never actually slow down. It's just less layers at that moment, but they'll all be back. This album is twelve tracks of non-stop power, it's my go-to album for when I think "I want to listen to something really loud in my headphones while I'm walking to get groceries and no one can get upset by how loud it is because I won't be in a closed area with them like a train or bus" and I have that thought pretty often.
Song: Opera Obscura
79) Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
Year of Release: 1997
This is the last album when Incubus was still super weird, and also crazy funky. The funk started to phase out by the next album, Make Yourself, and was completely gone when Morning View arrived, and after that they lost my attention, big time, but with S.C.I.E.N.C.E., all was good in the Incubus world. This is their only album with DJ Lyfe as part of the crew, he was canned before Make Yourself, but his mixing is much better than his replacement's and it is as prevalent and essential on this album as any of the other instruments, helping to create a very worbly, sci-fi on drugs atmosphere, but still staying plenty heavy (they toured as part of Ozzfest in support of this album, something that seemed unimaginable only an album later). But seriously, this album is super weird, it literally begins with a didgeridoo, one of the songs on this album contains the phrase "nectarine of multiplicity," and there's a bunch of other weirdness, but it is made endearing because the music is just really good. Plus there's a really great saxophone solo during Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song). One time I was walking in the frigid cold with my friend James in Joliet, to who knows where, and it was so cold that we had to each just wear headphones and listen to albums to keep our ears warm, no talking, and he was listening to the first Hoobastank album and I was listening to this one. That had to be at least fifteen years ago, and it was so cold that it still sticks with me.
Song: Vitamin
78) Perfume - Triangle
Year of Release: 2009
The album before this, Game, was when I first realized that I might enjoy this band, but Triangle is when I knew that I probably loved them. Really, Triangle is a sequel to Game in that every song on this one could have fit just as well on the previous album, but that album was great, and it turns out taking a great dance album and making it dancier is a pretty good idea. I suppose this album is pulled together by a space theme, but they never really drop that theme after Triangle. Space and electronic music seem to go together. While I typically geek out about the long dance tracks, like the eight and a half minute party starter Edge, I eventually got into the poppier tracks as well, they remind me of being in high school and playing DDR and video games of that like, there were tons of electronic songs with mixed Japanese/English lyrics. Basically, if anyone ever purposefully or accidentally taps into some vein of music that sounds like video game music from any portion of the first eighteen years of my life, I'm in, hook line and sinker.
Song: Zero Gravity
77) Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
Year of Release: 2003
After Kid A came out, it would have been understandable if every Radiohead release after would be an attempt to experiment further, but after the forgettable retread of Amnesiac, they came out with possibly their most conventional album of the post OK Computer era. Well, maybe that distinction goes to In Rainbows, but either way, both are really good. And anyways, calling a Radiohead album "conventional" doesn't exactly mean the same as it would with another band, there's still a song on here that moves at a snail's pace with solemn ghostly handclaps as the main instrument for seventy five percent of its length. The three track run of Sit Down, Stand Up, Sail to the Moon, and Backdrifts is just absolutely beautiful with sounds that are some of the clearest, purest full electronic noises that I have ever heard. The beginning of Backdrifts either sounds like the greatest thing ever or ruins your speakers because they couldn't handle how heavy the bass is. There There is one of my favorite Radiohead songs, possibly THE favorite, who knows in these crazy days, anything is possible. This album was certainly a grower, and it seems to have a besmirched reputation among the general Radiohead mythology, but I think it's pretty great.
Song: Sit Down, Stand Up
76) Sepalcure - Sepalcure
Year of Release: 2011
Oh man, when I was just looking up what year this came out, I discovered that this DJ duo/collaboration had released a new album last year. Mind blown. Sepalcure consists of two DJs, Machinedrum and Braille, and together they paint a soundscape that is.....hmm how do I describe the sound of this album, I suppose it sounds a little bit cold, because the beats are usually consisting of tinny drums, sort of like an updated, snowier trip hop, but without actual vocalists, instead replaced with vocal samples. The vocal samples range from just being a voice singing a wordless tune, to various people saying the phrase "Me" on, appropriately, Me, to the title phrase of See Me Feel Me. The tracks never get abrasive, always soft edged keyboard beats, and even the drums are slightly distorted to be soft on the ears. This is an album that I listen to if I really need to concentrate or if I am extremely worried or sad, it's very calming, and can become entrancing when you need it to be and be completely unobtrusive when you need it to be. I feel pangs of regret that this album is all the way up here at 76, but I have to trust myself and believe that the seventy five albums above it are so good that it justifies not making it any higher. Just a wonderful, wonderful album.
Song: See Me Feel Me
75. The Vines - Highly Evolved
Year of Release: 2002
I got this album from my dad for Easter sophomore year of high school, and um.....this album freaking rocks. And rocks in so many different ways. The title song opens the album up with ninety five seconds of chugging guitar, before retreating into a calmer piano based sound for Autumn Shade. The Vines get crazy frantic on Outtathaway, which paired with Get Free, the first single, caused critics to hail them as the future of garage rock, but, while they do have moments of straight forward, smash you in the face garage rock, they also have moments like Sunshinin, which takes a sixties carefree attitude and mixes it with the garage, or on Factory when they sound like The Beatles at their reggae-ist. Some of the guitarwork on this album is so reminiscent of The Beatles, it's eerie. Some of the songs get pretty psychedelic, but when you have one foot in the sixties, it makes sense that that would be a direction you would head, also when your trippiest song is called Mary Jane, you put two and two together. The last two songs take us out with a swing and a punch: Ain't No Room is their jangliest Strokes-iest song, and 1969 is six minutes plus of churning guitars and fuzzed out bass. I can listen to this album on repeat and never get tired.
Song: 1969
Wow, what a marathon, I wrote most of these in one day, which I usually do not do, but I gotta keep a schedule if I want to finish by my birthday. See you next week, homies, maybe by then Summer might show its dumb face, I'm tired of wearing a coat.
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