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:
Artist: Sam Cooke
Album: Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
Year: 1985
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:
- “Cupid”
- “Medley: It’s All Right/For Sentimental Reasons”
- “Twistin’ the Night Away”
- “Bring It On Home to Me”
Thoughts: This recording captures Sam Cooke on “One Night in Miami” (a year before the play/movie of that name is set). This was sadly considered too raw by the record label execs and not released for twenty years. Cooke’s voice sounds more raspy here than on his studio recordings as he belts out his greatest hits. But the best part of the live recording is the interaction with the crowd, lending their energy and their voices to Cooke’s performance.
Artist: Boogie Down Productions
Album: Criminal Minded
Year: 1987
Label: B-Boy
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:
- “Poetry”
- “South Bronx”
- “Dope Beat”
- “The Bridge is Over”
Thoughts: When I was younger I had a copy of the Boogie Down Productions album Edutainment, which I liked because of its “conscious rap” approach. I was surprised to learn then that the group’s debut album is considered a forerunner of gangsta rap. The tracks deal with interborough beefs and KRS-One frequently hypes Scott La Rock, the producer of the album. La Rock was killed while trying to defuse a fight shortly after this album was released, and his death contributed to the group’s shift in tone on later albums.
Artist: Kraftwerk
Album: Trans-Europe Express
Year: 1977
Label: Kling Klang
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:
- “Europe Endless”
- “Trans-Europe Express”
Thoughts: The German group made deceptively simple music that became widely influential. It still feels like a revelation to the ears all these years later.
Artist: Willie Nelson
Album: Red Headed Stranger
Year: 1975
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?:
Favorite Tracks:
- “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain”
- “Red Headed Stranger”
- “Down Yonder”
- “Can I Sleep In Your Arms”
- “Hands on the Wheel”
Thoughts: The famed country song composer created a concept album that incorporated old time country sounds and the works of other songwriters to make an all-time classic.
Artist: Daft Punk
Album: Discovery
Year: 2001
Label: Virgin
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:
- “One More Time”
- “High Life”
Thoughts: “One More Time” is so repetitive yet so irresistible. It’s hard to believe how much dance music has changed in 20 years since this was released. It was also once of the first recordings that used autotune to deliberately modify the voice (after Cher), something that got out of control as the Oughts went along and seems passé now.
Artist: Metallica
Album: Metallica (The Black Album)
Year: 1991
Label: Electra
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?: Maybe
Favorite Tracks:
- “Enter Sandman”
Thoughts: Metallica were one of the top Heavy Metal acts of the 1980s who focused on musicality over theatrics. This enabled them to transition into being a successful alternative rock band in the 1990s, albeit one with an anachronistic name. You can hear the transition on this album which holds up after 30 years even if my Pavlovian response is to expect a relief pitcher to enter the game.
Artist: Black Sabbath
Album: Master of Reality
Year: 1971
Label: Vertigo
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:
- “After Forever”
- “Children of the Grave”
- “Solitude”
Thoughts: Speaking of Heavy Metal, Black Sabbath helped define the genre although the sound here is more of an embryonic Blues Rock akin to Led Zeppelin.
Artist: Tori Amos
Album: LIttle Earthquakes
Year: 1992
Label: Atlantic
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:
- “Crucify”
- “Silent All These Years”
- “Winter”
- “Happy Phantom”
Thoughts: In 1992, you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing “Crucify.” Decades removed from overexposure, I heard the song anew and it sounds fresh with interesting key changes. Amos was in the vanguard of women singer/songwriters of the 1990s who adopted alternative rock styles for confessional music, so this remains an important album even if it’s not one I’d want to listen to over and over.
Artist: John Coltrane
Album: Giant Steps
Year: 1960
Label: Atlantic
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:
- All of them
Thoughts: I’ve listened to several John Coltrane albums but sadly missed this one until now. It’s a terrific set highlighting the innovative improvisation of Coltrane and his band, especially the bassist Paul Chambers.
Artist: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Album: Damn the Torpedoes
Year: 1979
Label: Backstreet
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?:
Favorite Tracks:
- “Refugee”
Thoughts: Is it possible to release a retro-Classic Rock album before the term “Classic Rock” was even defined? Petty and his band drawn on Dylanesque folk rock and power pop to make the last rock album before everything was divided into countless subgenres. I’ve always appreciated Petty more than liking his music and I can see what fans love about this album even if it is Not My Thing.
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!
- 250. Buzzcocks, Singles Going Steady
- 246. LL Cool J, Mama Said Knock You Out
- 245. Cocteau Twins, Heaven of Las Vegas
- 242. The Velvet Underground, Loaded
- 240. Sam Cooke, Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963
- 239. Boogie Down Productions, Criminal Minded
- 238. Kraftwerk, Trans Europe Express
- 237. Willie Nelson, Red Headed Stranger
- 236. Daft Punk, Discovery
- 232. John Coltrane, Giant Steps
Panorama of the Mountains 