My Favorite Albums Evar: 60-51
Episode 60-51
100-91 / 90-81 / 80-71 / 70-61
Last installment until Monday, kiddos. I take it 70-61 wasn’t that exciting but hopefully there will be a few noteworthy (to you, at least) albums in this batch. I’ve even included a couple mp3s this time. As always, feel free to leave your notes in the comments.
60 Tom Petty - Wildflowers (1994)
Here’s another sentimental favorite, and I’m not the only one who can remember the first time she heard it. I was riding in the backseat of a car full of friends, and it was playing. We were all just quiet, listening in some sort of unspoken agreement to shut up and enjoy. I love all kinds of Tom Petty, but this album is my favorite because of songs like “Crawling Back to You” and “You Wreck Me”. So good, y’all. “I’ll be the boy in the corduroy pants, you’ll be the girl at the high school dance, run with me, wherever I go …”
59 Pulp - Different Class (1995)
I love every Pulp album with varying degrees of intensity and fervor, but this one is easily my favorite. Not just because of “Common People”, though that’s definitely a great fucking song. No, every track on this album is brilliant and sexy and rich in its own way. Thrilling, theatrical and moody, Different Class is the culmination of all Pulp’s previous efforts, combining Cocker’s clever lyrics with the band’s tighly-wound glitz and meta-drama beautifully. Always studying sex and social class (and how the two themes parallel), Pulp crafted one of the most elegant, glowing and stunning albums of the 90’s. Listen to it, tell me you don’t feel like getting busy with someone who has a strong command of the English language and some tight t-shirts.
58 Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary / LP2 (1994, 1995)
They were from Seattle, they signed to Sub Pop, but they had nothing in common with their grunge contemporaries. Jeremy Enigk wrote songs that were perfect for lovey mix tapes if it wasn’t for the fact that they were all about God, and Will Goldsmith, their incredibly talented drummer (listen closely to LP2, it’s some of the most intricate and finely tuned drumming evar) Will Goldsmith (along with bassist Nate Mendel) left the band for the Foo Fighters, but in between all that drama, Sunny Day Real Estate wrote the emo album of the 90’s with Diary and followed up with LP2, a shockingly mature sophomore effort. To call it emo is shortchanging it, even though Enigk’s vocals were possibly the most vulnerable and distinctive in rock music at the time, and the songs themselves weren’t simply emotive - they were gritty and thick and assaulting, too. Gorgeous.
57 Rites of Spring - End on End (1991)
Recorded in 1986 (and thereabouts), this release of all Guy Picciotto’s (Fugazi) emotionally charged and brilliantly executed work with Rites of Spring (also featuring drummer Brendan Canty of Fugazi) is definitely one of the most influential and thrilling albums in the history of punk and emo. God, I hate that word. Still, their mark on the sound is undeniable, and reflects the perfect marriage of D.C. hardcore and precise, focused emotion.
56 Pixies - Doolittle (1989)
I don’t need to introduce you to the Pixies. All you need to know is that Doolittle is fucking awesome.
55 The Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk (1981)
Yeah, you know “Pretty in Pink”, but did you know that this entire album is fucking brilliant? Do I say brilliant too much? Can there really be that much brilliance in the world? Eh, whatever. Longing, anger, fear and pop never mixed so beautifully.
54 Husker Du - Zen Arcade (1984)
A sprawling album of varying degrees of genius, Zen broke through all the hardcore stereotypes with ballads, noise, experiementation and classic pop with this album. The liner notes reveal that the entire album was finished in 85 hours and consists entirely of first takes. Not bad for one of the most cutting-edge and important albums of the 80’s.
53 Misfits - Walk Among Us / Static Age (1982, 1978 via 1991)
Static was recording in ‘78, released in ‘91 thanks to the boxed set, and showcases the Misfits’ messy sounding blasts with Danzig’s incredible voice perfectly. Walk is the actual debut, and for any Misfits fan, a must-have. You know what to expect, you get it in spades, and there isn’t anything else on Earth like a good Misfits listening party. These are songs that cover topics like skullfucking, face raping (yes, it’s different from skullfucking), murder and zombie whores, but you sing along and you fucking love it.
52 Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique (1989)
Where was the last rap or hip hop album on this list? Oh yeah, the first 10, Jurassic 5. So you can tell what I think of most music in this genre. Yet, this album comes across just as intriguing, just as clever and just as dense as it did back then. Back then, when sampling wasn’t something that artists quibbled and argued over. With the help of the Dust Brothers, the Boys gave us all a glimpse of what sampling could do for the genre (and music in general) right before the whole concept turned into a money-maker and (therefore) costly endeavor for bands to engage in. Even without all that important impact shit, Boutique is fun and classic, and I couldn’t ever live without it.
51 U2 - Joshua Tree (1987)
I love October and I also really love Boy, but this is fucking Joshua Tree.
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