flash's Favorite 10 Albums of All Time
1.
Radiohead
OK Computer changed the way I look at and listen to music. It has no equal. I'm one of those losers that hears "Exit Music (For a Film)" - which changed my life - and breaks down in tears before claiming to have had a spiritual awakening. Make fun of me if you want to but if a song or album hasn't done that to you at some point, music just isn't doing its job.
Overall Rank: 1
2.
The Doors
The Doors debut is their best album but while I love it, it doesn't captivate like Strange Days. This is a haunting, often sad album that, with a couple exceptions, revels in a world of alienation and darkness that really resonates. Though it has flaws, Strange Days is largely absent of the upbeat songs and dreamy poetic nonsense that often see The Doors straying into the ridiculous.
Overall Rank: 155
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3.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
No note on this album is out of place. No song doesn't belong (rhymes!!) Are You Experienced is a masterclass of rock-charged blues. It also resulted in my first speeding ticket, as I hit 92 in a 55 while listening to Fire. Nothing like being 16 in Defensive Driving School with a bunch of drunks and road rage psychos that can't get their licenses back until the world ends in 2012.
Overall Rank: 42
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4.
Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane
Two jazzmen jamming at The Five Spot before anyone recognized them as geniuses or realized they were shaping the future of American music. The only problem with this album is that there are only 6 tracks lasting less than 37 minutes. But with the unbelievable wealth of jazz out there these days, it's no harm, no foul. "Ruby, My Dear" is especially sublime.
Overall Rank: 258
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5.
Roots, The Roots
Phrenology is, in my opinion, the last truly great hip-hop album and my favorite by a far. It's raw with amazing lyrics and melodies done by truly innovative musicians that hold nothing back. It's too bad the rest of hip-hop is content to produce piles and piles of shite. But I guess that's why they hot .. because they fly... and we not.
Overall Rank: 74
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6.
Beulah
This is the best album of 2003 that no one ever heard. There's a gentle despair that floats through every track, both musically and lyrically, and not a week goes by that I don't put it on. With Yoko, Beulah channels Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and strips down their sound a la Spoon for their best work in 4 albums. Trouble is, it was also their last. Check out Hovering and Don't Forget to Breathe.
Overall Rank: 371
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7.
Elliott Smith
This is the pinnacle of Smith's work but only because From a Basement on a Hill is incomplete. Smith was hitting his prime with Basement and who knows what genius he would have produced if Jennifer Chiba and her knife didn't get in the way. Allegedly, of course.
Overall Rank: 116
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8.
The Clash
My mother had London Calling on vinyl when I was little, which spins me out a little. Might she be cool? I'll continue to think not. But somehow, this wound up being the 2nd or 3rd cd I ever bought (the first being Blood Sugar Sex Magik) and remains one of my favorites.
Overall Rank: 8
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9.
Miles Davis
Bitches Brew doesn't rival Kind of Blue for typical Miles Davis be-bop jazz genius. But it truly achieves as a glorified jam session that brings jazz fusion to the forefront with unbelievably intricate walls of sound. A lot of jazz buffs have problems with Bitches Brew but it bloody rocks when listened to in full - particularly after a couple beverages :)
Overall Rank: 481
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10.
Smashing Pumpkins
Siamese Dream is as flawless as it is fierce. That said, it took me about 3 months to get past Cherub Rock to figure that out. And while I think Nevermind was more influential on music as a whole, on a personal level, Siamese Dream was far more powerful.
Overall Rank: 12
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Last updated by flash on Mar 11, 2008 07:10 AM
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+ points for Beulah. i love them, especially that Yoko album. it's a shame they stopped making records, but i guess that is what happens when a band doesn't sell any records. their songwriting got better with each album and i can only guess where they would have gone post-Yoko. apparently, Miles Kurosky, the primary songwriter and founder of Beulah, has finished recording a solo album. here's an interview with him if you are interested: http://hardtofindafriend.blogspot.com/2008/03/conversation-with-miles-kurosky.html
Interesting that Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane shows up here. I haven't ever heard anything from this particular pairing, but will have to check them out the next time I am in a jazz mood. Emotion within music is really the source of its power, isn't it? I have always gravitated toward the angry and alienated, cliché for a suburban white kid, I know. The real power of music and what makes it so integral to life, is that it can take you on the types of explorative journeys through emotions and ideas mentioned in your review and superflav's comment.
Spot on about OK Computer & associating such strong emotions with music. The good stuff just wouldn't be the same if it didn't take you up, down, in, out & everywhere in between.
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