Last September, Rolling Stone magazine released their most recent list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, which includes a greater variety of artists and genres than previous lists. Looking through the list, there were many albums I’d never listened to before and a few I’d never even heard of. In fact, counting it up, I found that I’d only listened to 140 of the albums, although I’d heard songs from many more. So I’ve decided my project for 2021 is to listen to 10 albums each week and write up some thoughts about each one.
Previous Posts:
| 500-491 | 400-381 | 300-291 | ||
| 490-481 | 390-381 | 290-281 | ||
| 480-471 | 380-371 | 280-271 | ||
| 470-461 | 370-361 | 270-261 | ||
| 460-451 | 360-351 | |||
| 450-441 | 350-341 | |||
| 440-431 | 340-331 | |||
| 430-421 | 330-321 | |||
| 420-411 | 320-311 | |||
| 410-401 | 310-301 |
THIS WEEK WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH THE LIST!!!
Artist: The Slits
Album: Cut
Year: 1979
Label: Antilles
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: No
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: No
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: Yes
Favorite Tracks:
- “So Tough”
- “Ping Pong Affair”
- “Typical Girls”
Thoughts: I was aware of The Slits as band adjacent to The Clash. I should have known better because they are an awesome punk band on their own and this album totally rocks.
Artist: Janis Joplin
Album: Pearl
Year: 1971
Label: Columbia
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: No
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: Yes
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: Yes
Favorite Tracks:
- “Move Over”
- “Cry Baby”
- “Mercedes Benz”
Thoughts: Janis Joplin’s final solo album before her death is an excellent collection that showcases her unique voice. I’ve never liked her most famous song, “Me and Bobby McGee,” all that much, but the rest of the album is excellent. Peeking ahead on the list, we’ll hear Janis’ voice again on a Big Brother and the Holding Company album.
Artist: Joni Mitchell
Album: The Hissing of Summer Lawns
Year: 1975
Label: Asylum
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: No
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: No
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: No
Favorite Tracks:
- “Shadows and Light”
Thoughts: There are some interesting jazz and African fusion influences on this album, but Mitchell’s pieces are still dominated by her slow-tempo, acoustic guitar and voice approach that’s never done much for me.
Artist: Dolly Parton
Album: Coat of Many Colors
Year: 1971
Label: RCA
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: No
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: Yes
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: Yes
Favorite Tracks:
- “Coat of Many Colors”
- “The Mystery of the Mystery”
- “Here I Am”
Thoughts: The more I learn about Dolly the more I love her. This album features songs of family and faith, with a mix of gospel and old-time music informing her contemporary country style.
Artist: Tracy Chapman
Album: Tracy Chapman
Year: 1988
Label: Elektra
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: Yes
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: Yes
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: Yes
Favorite Tracks:
- “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution”
- “Fast Car”
- “Behind the Wall”
- “Baby I Can Hold You”
- “Mountains O’ Things”
Thoughts: I don’t know what is a bigger surprise. That a Black woman singing heartfelt folk songs about the political and personal managed to be become such a huge hit at the tail end of the Reagan Era. Or that in 2021, Chapman is no longer a big star and hasn’t released a new studio album since 2008. This album is incredible though, every song seems like it should go on a greatest hits album.
Artist: Bob Dylan
Album: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
Year: 1963
Label: Columbia
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: Yes
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: Yes
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: No
Favorite Tracks:
- “Blowin’ in the Wind”
- “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”
Thoughts: This album catches Bob Dylan at the peak of his first incarnation as an earnest Woody Guthrie/Pete Seeger acoustic folk singer-songwriter before he went on to revolutionize rock & roll and every other one of the different lives he’s lead. I think I like this era of Dylan the best (which probably says more about my tastes than him), and the lyrics of his songs remain sadly relevant.
Artist: Herbie Hancock
Album: Head Hunters
Year: 1973
Label: Columbia
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: No
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: No
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: Yes
Favorite Tracks:
- “Chameleon”
Thoughts: I was aware of Herbie Hancock as a jazz great, but my knowledge of his music begins and ends with his 1983 hit “Rockit.” Just as is “Rockit” incorporates hip hop and electronic music into a jazz paradigm, Head Hunters fuses jazz with funk. There are only four tracks on the album but they’re all really good.
Artist: Pink Floyd
Album: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Year: 1967
Label: EMI/Columbia
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: No
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: No
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: No
Favorite Tracks:
- “Lucifer Sam”
- “Interstellar Overdrive”
Thoughts: This album is fun because it is interesting to hear a band that is known for their 70s & 80s prog rock sound working in an entirely different genre of psychedelic rock. That’s not to say that I particularly like this early version of Pink Floyd, they seem derivative of better psychedelic rockers of the era, but it is a curiousity.
Artist: Devo
Album: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Year: 1978
Label: Warner Bros.
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: No
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: Yes
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: Yes
Favorite Tracks:
- “Uncontrollable Urge”
- “Space Junk”
- “Mongoloid”
- “Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy)”
Thoughts: I know Devo mainly from their “hits” but I was pleasantly surprised that this album is an extremely solid collection of punk/new wave tracks. Plus, the album cover with an altered image of Chi-Chi Rodriguez is an all-time classic.
Artist: Elton John
Album: Honky Château
Year: 1972
Label: Uni
Have I Listened to This Album Before?: No
Am I Familiar With This Artist/Songs from This Album?: Yes
Would I Listen to this Album Again?: No
Favorite Tracks:
- “Rocket Man”
- “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”
Thoughts: Elton John recorded a whole lot of great songs, songs that tell stories with clever lyrics accompanied by strong piano arrangements. Especially in the 70s. This album includes one of my all-time favorite Elton John songs, “Rocket Man.” But I still think of him as more of a singles artist than an album artist. Just a whole lot of great singles.
Running List of Albums I’d Listen to Again
- 500. Arcade Fire, Funeral
- 498. Suicide, Suicide
- 497. Various Artists, The Indestructible Beat of Soweto
- 494. The Ronettes, Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes
- 489. A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector from Phil Spector and Various Artists, Back to Mono (1958-1969)
- 487. Black Flag, Damaged
- 485. Richard and Linda Thompson, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
- 483. Muddy Waters, The Anthology
- 482. The Pharcyde, Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde
- 481. Belle and Sebastian, If You’re Feeling Sinister
- 478. The Kinks, Something Else by the Kinks
- 477. Howlin’ Wolf, Moanin’ in the Moonlight
- 469.Manu Chao, Clandestino
- 465. King Sunny Adé, The Best of the Classic Years
- 464. The Isley Brothers, 3 + 3
- 462. The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Gilded Palace of Sin
- 459. Kid Cudi, Man on the Moon: The End of the Day
- 457. Sinéad O’Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
- 456. Al Green, Greatest Hits
- 455. Bo Diddley, Bo Diddley/Go Bo Diddley
- 453. Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine
- 452. Diana Ross and the Supremes, Anthology
- 451. Roberta Flack, First Take
- 448. Otis Redding, Dictionary of Soul
- 446. Alice Coltrane, Journey in Satchidanada
- 444. Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine
- 443. David Bowie, Scary Monsters
- 440. Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner’s Daughter
- 439. James Brown, Sex Machine
- 438. Blur, Parklife
- 437. Primal Scream, Screamadelica
- 435. Pet Shop Boys, Actually
- 433. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver
- 431. Los Lobos, How Will the Wolf Survive?
- 430. Elvis Costello, My Aim Is True
- 429. The Four Tops, Reach Out
- 428. Hüsker Dü, New Day Rising
- 427. Al Green, Call Me
- 426. Lucinda Williams, Lucinda Williams
- 425. Paul Simon, Paul Simon
- 424. Beck, Odelay
- 423. Yo La Tengo, I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
- 422. Marvin Gaye, Let’s Get It On
- 421. M.I.A., Arular
- 417. Ornette Coleman, The Shape of Jazz to Come
- 416. The Roots, Things Fall Apart
- 415. The Meters, Looka Py Py
- 414. Chic, Risqué
- 413. Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cosmo’s Factory
- 412. Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Going to a Go Go
- 409. Grateful Dead, Workingman’s Dead
- 408. Motörhead, Ace of Spades
- 406. Magnetic Fields, 69 Love Songs
- 405. Various, Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era
- 403. Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele
- 402. Fela Kuti and Africa 70, Expensive Shit
- 401. Blondie, Blondie
- 400. The Go-Go’s, Beauty and the Beat
- 398. The Raincoats, The Raincoats
- 397. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
- 395. D’Angelo and the Vanguard, Black Messiah
- 392. Ike and Tina Turner, Proud Mary: The Best of Ike and Tina Turner
- 390. Pixies, Surfer Rosa
- 388. Aretha Franklin, Young, Gifted and Black
- 387. Radiohead, In Rainbows
- 386. J Dilla, Donuts
- 385. Ramones, Rocket to Russia
- 384. The Kinks, The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society
- 380. Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um
- 378. Run-DMC, Run-D.M.C.
- 377. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fever to Tell
- 375. Green Day, Dookie
- 374. Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues Singers
- 373. Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul
- 371. The Temptations, Anthology
- 369. Mobb Deep, The Infamous
- 368. George Harrison, All Things Must Pass
- 365. Madvillain, Madvillainy
- 364. Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings and Food
- 363. Parliament, The Mothership Connection
- 360. Funkadelic, One Nation Under a Groove
- 358. Sonic Youth, Goo
- 357. Tom Waits, Rain Dogs
- 356. Dr. John, Gris-Gris
- 354. X-Ray Spex, Germfree Adolescents
- 351. Roxy Music, For Your Pleasure
- 350. Stevie Wonder, Music of My Mind
- 349. MC5, Kick Out the Jams
- 348. Gillian Welch, Time (The Revelator)
- 347. GZA, Liquid Swords
- 346. Arctic Monkeys, AM
- 345. Bruce Springsteen, The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
- 344. Toots and the Maytals, Funky Kingston
- 343. Sly and the Family Stone, Greatest Hits
- 342. The Beatles, Let It Be
- 341. The Smashing Pumpkins, Siamese Dream
- 338. Brian Eno, Another Green World
- 337. Bob Dylan, John Wesley Harding
- 335. Bob Dylan and the Band, The Basement Tapes
- 334. Santana, Abraxas
- 333. Bill Withers, Still Bill
- 332. Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley
- 330. The Rolling Stones, Aftermath
- 329. DJ Shadow, Endtroducing…
- 328. Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
- 326. Prince, Dirty Mind
- 323.The Clash, Sandinista!
- 320. X, Los Angeles
- 319. The Stone Roses, The Stone Roses
- 317. Billie Holiday, Lady in Satin
- 316. The Who, The Who Sell Out
- 310. Wire, Pink Flag
- 309. Joy Division, Closer
- 308. Brian Eno, Here Come the Warm Jets
- 307. Sam Cooke, Portrait of a Legend
- 306. Al Green, I’m Still In Love With You
- 304. Bill Withers, Just As I Am
- 301. New York Dolls, New York Dolls
- 299. B.B. King, Live at the Regal
- 297. Peter Gabriel, So
- 294. Weezer, Weezer
- 293. The Breeders, Last Splash
- 292. Van Halen, Van Halen
- 289. Björk, Post
- 288. The Modern Lovers, The Modern Lovers
- 287. The Byrds, Mr. Tambourine Man
- 283. Donna Summer, Bad Girls
- 282. Frank Sinatra, In the Wee Small Hours
- 279. Nirvana, MTV Unplugged in New York
- 278. Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy
- 276. Radiohead, The Bends
- 275. Curtis Mayfield, Curtis
- 274. The Byrds, Sweetheart of the Rodeo
- 273. Gang of Four, Entertainment!
- 272. The Velvet Underground, White Light/White Heat
- 267. Minutemen, Double Nickels on the Dime
- 266. The Beatles, Help!
- 263. The Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night
- 262. New Order, Power, Corruption & Lies
- 261. Beastie Boys, Check Your Head
- 260. The Slits, Cut
- 259. Janis Joplin, Pearl
- 257. Dolly Parton, Coat of Many Colors
- 256. Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman
- 254. Herbie Hancock, Head Hunters
- 252. Devo, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
Panorama of the Mountains 