I was having a conversation with some friends on Sunday about VH1’s top songs of the nineties. It brought up a lot of songs that should have been on there, and it reminded me of great albums. I decided to make a list of my favorite albums. Note, these are full albums; they are the albums that you put in and listen to completely through from beginning to end. They are the albums with no bad songs. Obviously I’ve excluded live albums and greatest hits because those are supposed to be full of great songs. Also not included are several classic albums that I’m not as familiar with and am just now going back and getting to know them (several Zeppelin albums,
Sticky Fingers by the Stones, and more). I put the albums in some sort of chronology; it’s not necessarily when the album was released but when in my life I listened to the album or began loving the album. What I found as I went through was that many of my favorite artists don’t have an album that I can listen to completely that isn’t a greatest hits. I also found that many of my favorite songs were on albums that weren’t that good. Some of the albums included here have proven themselves to be albums classically included in lists like these; others have not. Some are included because they personally matter to me; many mark a time period in my life. But here you go. I have to say I recommend all of the albums on this list (with the exception of
Dare to be Stupid. If you missed it in the 80s, it’s not worth going back to…but it definitely was priceless for it’s time.)
Endless Summer – Beach Boys
Love Songs – Otis Redding*
Dare to be Stupid – Weird Al Yankovic
Slippery When Wet – Bon Jovi
Appetite for Destruction – Guns ‘n Roses
Blind Melon – Blind Melon
Jars of Clay – Jars of Clay
Throwing Copper – Live
Circus – Lenny Kravitz
Voodoo Lounge – Rolling Stones
Four – Blues Traveler
Deluxe – Better than Ezra
August and Everything After – Counting Crows
Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morissette
Soup – Blind Melon
Miss Saigon – Original London Cast
Wide Open Spaces – The Dixie Chicks
Evolution – Martina McBride
Almost Famous – Soundtrack from the movie
Are You With Me? – Cowboy Mouth
Fly – The Dixie Chicks
Closer – Better than Ezra
Glorify, Edify, Testify – The Martins
Moonlight Towers – Moonlight Towers
Hot Fuss – The Killers
Sounds of Home – Paid in Full
Gold – Ryan Adams
Like You Were Never There – Moonlight Towers
Raising Sand – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
*While this may come close to a greatest hits type, it was released in Redding’s lifetime, and it’s selection was quite limited. So, it is included.
Please feel free to resond and let me know what you think. Are there albums you think should be on here that I've left off? Are there ones on here you don't think should be? Let me know...
3 comments:
Liz-beth,
Really impressed with your list. Huge thumbs up on the BTE and Cowboy Mouth (best live band ever!). I would have to throw in Joshua Tree by U2 and Nevermind by Nirvana as not only a couple of my all-time favorites but those that were impactful on the music scene as well. Hope you have a great birthday too!
I know Joshua Tree was great (and important for music history), but when I looked at it I only loved like half of the songs on there. Nevermind should have definitely been on there. I'll update and add it!
And I'm ashamed that I didn't just go ahead and put Sticky Fingers on there. Now, of course, I know it's definitely needed on the list. I'm adding it now. :)
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