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: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
Album: Déjà Vu
Year: 1970
Label: Epic
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:
- “Carry On”
- “Teach Your Children”
- “Woodstock”
- “Our House”
Thoughts: I tend to like the 1969 debut album of Crosby, Stills, & Nash more than this first album with Young added, but we’ll get to that later in the list. This album rocks more than the jangly folk pop sound of its predecessor, and it has most of the big hits that CSN & sometimes Y are known for. And it’s certainly better than any albums created by any combination of those letters after 1970!
Artist: Raekwon
Album: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
Year: 1995
Label: Loud/RCA
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?:
Favorite Tracks:
- “Rainy Dayz” (featuring Ghostface Killah and Blue Raspberry)
Thoughts: I really missed the boat on the whole Wu-Tang Clan thing and its various offshoots back in the 90s. And I’m learning from this list that I probably had to be there.
Artist: TLC
Album: CrazySexyCool
Year: 1994
Label: LaFace
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?:
Favorite Tracks:
- “If I Was Your Girlfriend”
Thoughts: I was also not listening to R&B girl groups in the 90s. There was one track on this album that I really liked because it sounds like a Prince song. That is because it is in fact a Prince song. Kudos to the TLC vocalist for sounding so much like Prince.
Artist: Oasis
Album: Definitely Maybe
Year: 1994
Label: EPic
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:
- “Cigarettes & Alcohol”
Thoughts: I remember (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? being a big huge deal in 1995, but Oasis were not on my radar a year earlier when their debut album came out. Listening to it now, it sounds well-crafted but ultimately I feel “meh” about it.
Artist: Elliot Smith
Album: Either/Or
Year: 1997
Label: Kill Rock Stars
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:
- “Say Yes”
Thoughts: I want to say that I’ve also never heard Elliot Smith before, but three of these tracks are in the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. So I’ve heard them but they don’t leave much of an impression. Smith sounds kind of like a proto-Sufjan Stevens to me, but without the ethereal nature of Stevens’ vocals.
Artist: Grateful Dead
Album: American Beauty
Year: 1970
Label: Warner Bros.
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:
- “Friend of the Devil”
- “Ripple”
- “Attics of My Life”
Thoughts: The Grateful Dead probably deserve a better representation of their work on this list than the two albums on this list. But they are the most accessible albums with their biggest “hits.” And I’ll always love the guy who sings really in the high voice on “Attics of My Life.”
Artist: Tom Petty
Album: Wildflowers
Year: 1994
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?: No
Favorite Tracks:
- “Wildflowers”
Thoughts: The title track is one of those songs that just about everyone loves regardless of their feelings otherwise of Tom Petty. The rest of the album doesn’t do much of me. I’m surprised that this is the highest ranking of Petty’s albums with or without the Heartbreakers.
Artist: Fiona Apple
Album: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
Year: 2012
Label: Epic
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:
- “Valentine”
- “Regret”
- “Hot Knife”
Thoughts: Fiona Apple is another artist I’m really learning to appreciate through her many appearances on this list. I’m also beginning to notice some common tricks in her music. But I’m not tiring of them yet.
Artist: Nina Simone
Album: Wild is the Wind
Year: 1966
Label: Philips
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:
- “I Love Your Lovin’ Ways”
- “Four Women”
- “Break Down and Let it All Out”
- “Either Way I Lose”
Thoughts: About 20 years ago I first learned of Nina Simone when “Mississippi Goddam” played on my clock radio when the alarm went off. The more I learn about Simone, the more I’m impressed by her talent and intensity.
Artist: Joy Division
Album: Unknown Pleasures
Year: 1980
Label: Factory
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:
- “Disorder”
- “Shadowplay”
- “Interzone”
Thoughts: Before it was t-shirt, the cover of Unknown Pleasures contained one of the great albums of the Punk Rock era. The album sounds like it could’ve been recorded by an indie band within the past decade, which is sign of either how far ahead of the time Joy Division was or how rock music has been frozen stylistically for some time.
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
- 229. Patsy Cline, The Ultimate Collection
- 228. De La Soul, De La Soul Is Dead
- 227. Little Richard, Here’s Little Richard
- 226. Derek and the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
- 223. John Lennon, Imagine
- 221. Rage Against the Machine, Rage Against the Machine
- 220. Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, Déjà Vu
- 215. Grateful Dead, American Beauty
- 213. Fiona Apple, The Idler Wheel…
- 212. Nina Simone, Wild is the Wind
- 211. Joy Division, Unknown Pleasures
Panorama of the Mountains 