top10listsak47

[top10listsak47]

Top 10 Albums

This kind of list is always going to be contentious, as it is easy influenced by your favorite genre and the age you grew up in. That being said, several of these albums outdate my existence by a decade or two. Most are critically acclaimed with a couple that aren’t as well-known. And, aside from number 1, I don’t attach a specific order.

On to the list!

#1: Rubber Soul- The Beatles (1965)

What? You may be asking. Not because I have a Beatles album at #1, but that it’s not Sgt. Pepper’s or the White album. Rubber Soul is the transition album, from the poppy A Hard Day’s Night and Help that preceded it, followed up by the highly psychedelic Revolver. (Seriously, from my own experience, I’m not sure how enjoyable Revolver would be to someone who has never done LSD). Rubber Soul is home to my two favorite Beatles songs in their entire collection (Norwegian Wood and In My Life). It’s a nearly perfect album cover to cover from one of the best bands ever. It would also inspire Brian Wilson to release Pet Sounds. The easy #1 choice.

#2: Rumors- Fleetwood Mac (1977)

The perfect post-break up album. Which makes sense, given the behind the scenes stuff happening during the recording of this album. A highly personal reason I love this album- Stevie Nicks’ contralto vocal range is perfect for me to sing along to. I have no soprano range in my voice and my mom used to make fun of how badly I sung along to poppy hits of the 1990’s. Stevie’s rough lower range matches my vocals in a way I feel completely comfortable singing along, which is rare for female artists. Also Fleetwood Mac’s most critically acclaimed album, so I’m not in solo company here.

#3: American Idiot- Green Day (2004)

Now for something more modern, Green Day’s rock opera/concept album about the coming of age during the early 2000’s of the album’s “main character”, the Jesus of Suburbia. First, I love concept albums (see lower down the list) and second, it resonates with me as it came out when I was 17. Listening to it takes me back to the summer of 2005, one of the best times of my life. I could really relate to the Jesus of Suburbia character at that age and as I got older, the album’s ending, (lines like, “the rage and love, the story of my life. The Jesus of Suburbia, is a lie”) were an accurate reflection of how I see my younger self. Also a well received, critically acclaimed album with 5 singles released (as much as I love this album, I do not miss working at the grocery store and hearing Boulevard of Broken Dreams every hour).

#4: Marshall Mathers LP- Eminem (2000)

This is probably the biggest deviation from my usual “taste” (no other rap albums make this list). I got this album as a gift for my 13th birthday from my best friend and despite not relating to Slim Shady as I did with the Jesus of Suburbia from the previous entry, it didn’t matter. Eminem is too good on this 10/10 album (bigger fans of his than myself tend to agree with me that this is his best album of his career). It’s harder for me to explain why I like this album so much than the others that mostly fit into the rock genre. Em’s lyrical abilities are on point, the beats are catchy. It’s just a great album even if you’re not into rap.

#5: Bridge Over Troubled Water- Simon & Garfunkel (1970)

Well, this is a far departure from the last entry, but this list wouldn’t be complete without an album from my all-time favorite artist, Paul Simon. The melodies, the calming vocals, it’s just a beautiful album, cover to cover. I saw Paul Simon in concert with Sting a few years ago and they did a wonderful rendition of the song Bridge Over Troubled Water. I’m in love with this album and it would probably be the closest rival to Rubber Soul on this list.

#6: Spiritual Machines- Our Lady Peace (2000)

This is a bit of an oddball in this group in terms of mass appeal and acclaim. OLP was hugely successful in Canada during the 1990’s, and while they are probably one of the more internationally successful Canadian rock bands, not being American/British probably hurts their overall recognition. This album is a concept album (of which I noted my love of earlier) based off of futurist writer Ray Kurzweil’s ‘The Age of Spiritual Machines’ which is an intreging read. This is also the last album of OLP’s “golden years” (listen to their follow up album, 2002’s Gravity, and the style departure is obvious). Most OLP fans would probably rank Clumsy over Spiritual Machines, but for me, this is their best.

#7: Beautiful Midnight- Matthew Good Band (1999)

Keeping in theme of “great Canadian rock albums”, MGB didn’t break through beyond Canada the same way OLP did and thus is probably this list’s most obscure album. A great deal of their lack of publicity comes from front artist Matt Good’s loathing of fame and recognition (still actively recording as a solo artist, he is very open about his struggles with mental health issues, namely bipolar disorder). A “soft” concept album, I still own the hard copy CD I bought almost 20 years ago. A great album to listen to while writing.

#8: Pet Sounds- The Beach Boys (1966)

As this isn’t a strict numerical listing, this album really should be higher (ranked #2 on Rolling Stones’ Greatest 500 Rock Albums, a list most of the albums I’ve listed are featured on). As I alluded to in the #1 post, this album was the result of lead singer Brian Wilson hearing Rubber Soul and creating a response. Its musical complexity makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly why it’s so good. It just is.

#9: Bob Dylan- Blood On the Tracks (1974)

This was a difficult selection, picking one Dylan album. The deciding factor for me is the inclusion of Tangled Up in Blue, my favorite of his songs. I’m not really sure how to analyze a Bob Dylan and, as I said, there’s strong arguments to have a different album in this spot (Blonde on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisited come to mind).

#10: Honorable Mentions

I gave this a lot of thought, and I’m not quite sure what album should be in the final spot. Some of my favorite artists like Neil Young and David Bowie aren’t here, nor groundbreaking albums from artists I don’t favor as much. So, honorable mentions include Who’s Next- The Who, Thriller- Michael Jackson, The Wall- Pink Floyd, Moondance- Van Morrison, The Stranger- Billy Joel…and I could continue on.

Thoughts? Disagreements? In any case, it was fun writing up my first top ten list. Next up- top 10 Simpsons episodes (spolier- they’re all from the Golden Era)