My Favorite Records
"Your favorite music
Well it just makes you sad
But you like it
'Cause you feel special that way."
--Clem Snide
I've been swamped, and so neglecting longer posts. Apologies. But nothing serves as filler like lists, and tonight while at a bar with two friends, the three of us promised to swap our top-20-album opinions by the end of the week. Going through my collection, I had to give myself a break, so I settled on 25. Even that was painful. I can divide those I left off into five categories:
1. Some of my favorites (and all-time greats) who have a body of work I love more than any single effort: The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Lyle Lovett, Everything But the Girl, Low, Prince, Morrissey/The Smiths.
2. Great one-off albums by those who are otherwise uneven or forgettable, like Something to Write Home About by The Get Up Kids, 100 Broken Windows by Idlewild, Music for the Morning After by Pete Yorn, or New Miserable Experience by the Gin Blossoms.
3. Relative newcomers who I've listened to a ton over the last year or two, but who need a bit more time to be considered, like Mindy Smith, The Postal Service and Ray Lamontagne (the most likely to eventually make the list). Conversely, oldies-but-goodies from my high school and college years who have been considered for a bit too long to be judged accurately, like the self-titled debut by School of Fish, Are You Driving Me Crazy? by Seam, or Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub.
4. Classics that deserve mention, like Blood on the Tracks by Dylan, OK Computer by Radiohead, or anything else by REM before 1993 (it took a lot of willpower to limit myself to four by them).
5. Then there are the records that could easily have made the list if I made it on a different day (or after one less -- or more -- drink) -- meaning, the most arbitrary of those left off, like When the Pawn by Fiona Apple, The Sunset Tree by The Mountain Goats, The Moon My Saddle by Chamberlain, Since by Richard Buckner, Redo the Stacks by Centro-matic, Rumours by Fleetwod Mac, or The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by The Black Crowes, a great record by a band that otherwise occupies a lukewarm place in my heart (at best).
On to the list, after two more caveats: First, yes, there are only four works on display here that were released before 1991. Unlike many of my friends, who had older siblings (sometimes significantly older) who were schooling them in the classics of rock, I had (and have) a very lovely older sister whose taste ran more towards classical music from the day she was born. (In short, she's smarter than I am.) Her idea of cutting-edge modern music, even in college, was the Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, and Billy Joel. Listen, I still own (and unashamedly enjoy) music by all three of those named, but I think you see my point. I was deep into my junior year of high school before I started to form what would become my own distinct taste. ("Distinct" here defined as "shared by millions of other teenagers who watched 120 Minutes every Sunday night.") And while I've come to love The Beatles and the Stones, and respect a lot of other fogeys, they just didn't reach me when they needed to. Bands are like girls (or boys, if you prefer) -- the ones that get to you first change you the most. Or, to quote a great line from Life of Pi by Yann Martel, "first wonder goes deepest; wonder after that fits in the impression made by the first."
Secondly, I stress the obvious fact that subjectivity has been embraced. There was a discussion about #3 at the bar tonight, for instance, during which I admitted it's a flawed choice under a microscope. But it's also the initial domino that fell 15 years ago and led, pretty directly, to the 5,000 or so songs I'm choosing between as a soundtrack while I write this. So, as ever in these pursuits, objectivity be damned!
OK, sorry, but thirdly, a bonus (of what, I'm not sure) to whoever comes closest to accurately predicting "Dezmond's" eventual total word count in his replies to this post. My guess is 5,820.
25. It’s a Shame About Ray -- The Lemonheads
24. Fables of the Reconstruction -- REM
23. Into the Music -- Van Morrison
22. Siamese Dream -- Smashing Pumpkins
21. Original Pirate Material -- The Streets
20. Strangers Almanac -- Whiskeytown
19. Cake -- Trash Can Sinatras
18. Ben Folds Five -- Ben Folds Five
17. The Joshua Tree -- U2
16. Big Red Letter Day -- Buffalo Tom
15. Girlfriend -- Matthew Sweet
14. Where It Goes -- Lori Carson
13. Still Feel Gone -- Uncle Tupelo
12. August & Everything After -- Counting Crows
11. Murmur -- REM
10. A Century Ends -- David Gray
9. Bloomed -- Richard Buckner
8. Glow -- The Innocence Mission
7. Achtung Baby -- U2
6. Perfect From Now On -- Built to Spill
5. Our Time in Eden -- 10,000 Maniacs
4. Trace -- Son Volt
3. Out of Time -- REM
2. The Bends -- Radiohead
1. Automatic for the People -- REM
Well it just makes you sad
But you like it
'Cause you feel special that way."
--Clem Snide
I've been swamped, and so neglecting longer posts. Apologies. But nothing serves as filler like lists, and tonight while at a bar with two friends, the three of us promised to swap our top-20-album opinions by the end of the week. Going through my collection, I had to give myself a break, so I settled on 25. Even that was painful. I can divide those I left off into five categories:
1. Some of my favorites (and all-time greats) who have a body of work I love more than any single effort: The Beatles, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Lyle Lovett, Everything But the Girl, Low, Prince, Morrissey/The Smiths.
2. Great one-off albums by those who are otherwise uneven or forgettable, like Something to Write Home About by The Get Up Kids, 100 Broken Windows by Idlewild, Music for the Morning After by Pete Yorn, or New Miserable Experience by the Gin Blossoms.
3. Relative newcomers who I've listened to a ton over the last year or two, but who need a bit more time to be considered, like Mindy Smith, The Postal Service and Ray Lamontagne (the most likely to eventually make the list). Conversely, oldies-but-goodies from my high school and college years who have been considered for a bit too long to be judged accurately, like the self-titled debut by School of Fish, Are You Driving Me Crazy? by Seam, or Bandwagonesque by Teenage Fanclub.
4. Classics that deserve mention, like Blood on the Tracks by Dylan, OK Computer by Radiohead, or anything else by REM before 1993 (it took a lot of willpower to limit myself to four by them).
5. Then there are the records that could easily have made the list if I made it on a different day (or after one less -- or more -- drink) -- meaning, the most arbitrary of those left off, like When the Pawn by Fiona Apple, The Sunset Tree by The Mountain Goats, The Moon My Saddle by Chamberlain, Since by Richard Buckner, Redo the Stacks by Centro-matic, Rumours by Fleetwod Mac, or The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by The Black Crowes, a great record by a band that otherwise occupies a lukewarm place in my heart (at best).
On to the list, after two more caveats: First, yes, there are only four works on display here that were released before 1991. Unlike many of my friends, who had older siblings (sometimes significantly older) who were schooling them in the classics of rock, I had (and have) a very lovely older sister whose taste ran more towards classical music from the day she was born. (In short, she's smarter than I am.) Her idea of cutting-edge modern music, even in college, was the Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, and Billy Joel. Listen, I still own (and unashamedly enjoy) music by all three of those named, but I think you see my point. I was deep into my junior year of high school before I started to form what would become my own distinct taste. ("Distinct" here defined as "shared by millions of other teenagers who watched 120 Minutes every Sunday night.") And while I've come to love The Beatles and the Stones, and respect a lot of other fogeys, they just didn't reach me when they needed to. Bands are like girls (or boys, if you prefer) -- the ones that get to you first change you the most. Or, to quote a great line from Life of Pi by Yann Martel, "first wonder goes deepest; wonder after that fits in the impression made by the first."
Secondly, I stress the obvious fact that subjectivity has been embraced. There was a discussion about #3 at the bar tonight, for instance, during which I admitted it's a flawed choice under a microscope. But it's also the initial domino that fell 15 years ago and led, pretty directly, to the 5,000 or so songs I'm choosing between as a soundtrack while I write this. So, as ever in these pursuits, objectivity be damned!
OK, sorry, but thirdly, a bonus (of what, I'm not sure) to whoever comes closest to accurately predicting "Dezmond's" eventual total word count in his replies to this post. My guess is 5,820.
25. It’s a Shame About Ray -- The Lemonheads
24. Fables of the Reconstruction -- REM
23. Into the Music -- Van Morrison
22. Siamese Dream -- Smashing Pumpkins
21. Original Pirate Material -- The Streets
20. Strangers Almanac -- Whiskeytown
19. Cake -- Trash Can Sinatras
18. Ben Folds Five -- Ben Folds Five
17. The Joshua Tree -- U2
16. Big Red Letter Day -- Buffalo Tom
15. Girlfriend -- Matthew Sweet
14. Where It Goes -- Lori Carson
13. Still Feel Gone -- Uncle Tupelo
12. August & Everything After -- Counting Crows
11. Murmur -- REM
10. A Century Ends -- David Gray
9. Bloomed -- Richard Buckner
8. Glow -- The Innocence Mission
7. Achtung Baby -- U2
6. Perfect From Now On -- Built to Spill
5. Our Time in Eden -- 10,000 Maniacs
4. Trace -- Son Volt
3. Out of Time -- REM
2. The Bends -- Radiohead
1. Automatic for the People -- REM
posted by JMW at 11:47 PM
17 Comments:
oh thank god. my meager response won't be buried under dezmond's blog--i mean, comments.
i'm surprised that ray lamontagne didn't make the cut, even with your explanation. hopefully it will be on future incarnations of this list.
matthew sweet seems high. that album hasn't held up for me. a few great tracks, yes, but overall, it sounds so dated now, and not in a good nostalgic way. i think the primary problem is his voice, which ultimately lacks character, i think.
joshua tree is too low. and that's not just my subjective opinion. it's a universal law that joshua tree shall not place lower than 5, and preferably shall be placed in the top three, on any and all best (or favorite) albums list. and the fact that it's a couple of spots behind matthew sweet, for chrissake! why don't you just find bono and spit in his eye, pending possible nobel peace prize be damned!?
siamese dream? really? i'll have to dust it off and give it a listen. i'm not sure if i ever knew more than the radio singles in the first place.
interesting that 'glow' is the only innocence mission on the list. not sure which would rank highest on my list, but i think 3 would break the top 25.
I have to weigh in here for now only on Siamese Dream, which I think is one of rock's real high water marks for at least the last twenty years. I was always a big SP fan even though Corgan lost his mind and the music fell way way way off in quality starting with a handful of tracks on Mellon Collie until finally their last record, which is unlistenable. But I started getting into them again about six months ago, just started listening to Siamese Dream in my headphones all the time and I broke through that phase where I thought it was just reminding me of college until finally it hit me that it's just flat-out sonically and melodically a great record and if some of the lyrics don't hold up or seem corny ("I torch my soul to show that I am pure") well "imagine there's no heaven" is pretty corny too.
On Lamontagne and the Pumpkins (for now):
I saw Lamontagne at the Bowery Ballroom with three others last year, and they were all at various levels of fandom beforehand. (I was already an acolyte.) All four of us left with our jaws on the floor. We've been over this before, "Dezmond," but it's the soul of his voice that elevates the material (which, lyrically, is pretty good to begin with). Great stuff. Really sorry for you that you can't hear that.
Agree completely with BC about the Pumpkins, and have had a similar experience, just listening again recently and being newly impressed. Everything that followed was pretty bad, but that record has an almost perfect sound, and it's the non-single tracks that are the best. (Disarm is actually one of my least favorites now; I love Hummer, Soma, Geek USA and Mayonaise.) If anything, I think it might move up on future lists.
Wow, three from I.M., lfw? I'd consider Befriended after a couple more years, but Birds Of My Neighborhood is too uneven for me (even though its peaks are Alps-like). Girlfriend is still great, I contend. Hell, he's written great songs since then, just not another great, coherent album. I stand by it. The first three songs on Joshua Tree are probably the best three-song stretch of any album ever. After that, it's a bit touch and go for me, but beautifully produced and IN MY TOP 20. It could conceivably be a bit higher, but don't get greedy on its behalf. I've always preferred Achtung in a start to finish way.
If I were to create a list like this, "Automatic for the People" would most definately be my number #1 choice too. It would be a battle for #2, though, between "The Bends" and "OK Computer," and I'm not sure which would win out. Paul Simon's "Graceland" would have to at least make the top 10.
And Ray's dream of no Counting Crows album finally comes true.
Damn! - Let me revise that - no Crows in the top 10. Stupid fast reading.
As you know, Dezmond, I've really come around to feeling very strongly about Uncle Tupelo -- they're awesome. That said, I think Trace is an anomaly, and I admit that. Farrar has become drone-y, but I think that first record is genius. You admit that half of it is "drop dead brilliant" (a big compliment). I just happen to think that the other half is not quite a drone -- songs like Too Early and Out of the Picture and Ten Second News, while not as great as the peaks on that album, are really solid, not at all as forgettable as the filler on his later albums. That's just my opinion. Look, I own, what, 600 albums? At least? And Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt are both in the top 13. You're quibbling, indeed.
Okay, this is a rough list and the order is constantly fluctuating. I'm thinking of posting the final list (if I ever figure it out) on my own blog because I'm curious as to what some of my other blogger friends would come up with. Is that rude? Does that steal your thunder? (I'm relatively new to this blogging thing and I wouldn't want to step on any toes...)
So here it is so far:
25.Deltron 3030 - 3030
24.Blind Melon - Blind Melon
23.The Shins - Oh, Inverted World
22.Ani DiFranco - Not a Pretty Girl
21.The Eels - Souljacker
20.Interpol - Antics
19.The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
18.Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast
17.The White Stripes - Elephant
16.Cat Stevens -Footsteps in the Dark
15.Patty Griffin - Living with Ghosts
14.Tori Amos - Under the Pink
13.Weezer - Pinkerton
12.Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
11.Crowded House - Together Alone
10.Paul Simon - Graceland
9. The Cure - Wish
8. Portishead - Dummy
7. Fiona Apple - When the Pawn...
6. Over the Rhine - Eve
5. Radiohead - The Bends
4. The Smiths - Hatful of Hollow
3. Elliott Smith - XO
2. Radiohead - OK Computer
1. REM - Automatic for the People
Dezmond, this is what I love about you. You can nitpick a songwriter whose work you love (Jay Farrar) and you can still place two of your gods -- U2 and Bruce -- beneath Men at Work. Before you get mad, I understand it's a great record, and not just for nostalgia value. But still -- Business as Usual ahead of The Joshua Tree and all Springsteen? Really? (Otherwise, glad you like The Streets. I didn't know. And nice, diverse list overall.)
Maggie, a helluva list. Thanks for contributing. (And thanks for the "props" on your blog.) Nice call on Together Alone -- strong album that not enough people know. Great call on Living With Ghosts, which probably should've been more strongly considered by me. Ani's great (Dilate would probably come closest for me). And When the Pawn... should definitely make my list in the future. Leaving that off was just silly. OH, and of course you can post on your blog. No toes to worry about at all.
Hello all—
Here’s a list of my all-time favorites, mainly ranked according to frequency listened to, importance to personal-slash-musical development, and whether I can listen to it without wincing. (Uh, that last would refer to things like Suzanne Vega’s Solitude Standing. But not Hole!) As with Maggie’s list, the ranking isn’t final. With one exception, I picked albums that were released after I was born. I left off compilations, too, and soundtracks. And like Desmond and John, I picked albums that worked as a whole. The above reasons are why you won’t see stuff like the Pretty in Pink soundtrack, Neil Young’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, the Rolling Stones’ Flowers. And the Kinks and Billy Bragg and Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald (though I love her Cole Porter songbook) and New Order, because I never bought an album of theirs and instead listened incessantly to a mix tape my best friend made me of their stuff. I forgot the Shins! I’ve enjoyed reading everyone else’s list....
25. Hole/Live Through This
24. Pernice Brothers/Overcome by Happiness
23. Wilco/AM
22. The Lilys/Better Can’t Make Your Life Better
21. The Jayhawks/Tomorrow the Green Grass
20. Neko Case/Blacklisted
19. The New Pornographers/Mass Romantic
18. Sam Phillips/The Unforgettable Wow
17. The Sundays/Reading, Writing and Arithmetic
16. The Innocence Mission/Glow
15. The Breeders/Pod
14. Radiohead/Kid A
13. Pavement/Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
12. Elliott Smith/ Either/Or
11. Trash Can Sinatras/Cake
10. Belle & Sebastian/ If You’re Feeling Sinister
9. The Spinanes/Manos
8. Joni Mitchell/ Blue
7. Liz Phair/ Exile in Guyville
6. The Replacements/ Pleased to Meet Me
5. The Pixies/Doolittle
4. U2/ The Unforgettable Fire
3. Elvis Costello/My Aim Is True
2. R.E.M./Lifes Rich Pageant
1. The Smiths/The Queen Is Dead
Thanks for joining the chorus, Humorless One. I strongly considered Either/Or and Tomorrow the Green Grass, and A.M. is my favorite Wilco record. ("What's the big deal about them since?" I always ask people, to hostile stares.)
Manos is a great one -- just got reacquainted with it recently myself.
I listen to "MLK" off The Unforgettable Fire a handful of times a year as a form of meditation, and even though I never got into the Pixies when I should have, a friend recently lent me Doolittle, and I literally can't stop listening to the song "Hey." Send help.
Here's the reason I can never participate in Greatest Albums lists: To me, albums are just a collection of individual songs. I don't look for overall themes, or the importance of ordering, or cultural significance. And if there are songs that I don't like, I either skip them (thanks CDs!) or don't download them (thanks illegal downloading site/iTunes!). So I'm not sure how many points to take off for an album that has some songs I [heart], and also has some terrible songs (See, e.g., REM's "Green," which includes the horrendous travesty known as "Stand"). And what about albums like "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" and "Use Your Illusion," which would have been earth-shattering single albums, but were filled out with a number of average songs? It's all very confusing to me.
And the concept of an "album" has even less relevance in the computer age. I download singles that I like, and delete songs I don't like. My iPod has very few complete albums, and the songs are usually played in random order anyway.
Having said that, I now officially have a huge crush on Maggie and the Humorless Feminist. Their lists are both fantastic.
dezmond, I enjoyed your list right up to the Neil Young part. I have never been able to stand that guy. I know, it's a character flaw. But I'm riddled with flaws, and I don't see why my taste in music should be any different than (for example) my taste in clothes.
JW, your list includes a surprising number of bands that I've never heard, or at least don't recognize. But then again, I hadn't heard of the Arctic Monkeys until you suggested them, and currently very much enjoying the Arctic Monkeys era on my iPod.
So I'll be printing out all of your list and hitting iTunes very soon. Thanks for the tips.
--The Comish (sic)
Comish,
Four things:
1. Point taken about albums/songs/iPods/randomness, but don’t get me wrong – yes, some of these albums are FULL of good songs, and a few have SOME thematic coherency, but it’s no doctoral thesis – for instance, Siamese Dream “just rocks.” (Dezmond, great albums are even more elusive now partly because the artists themselves are influenced by the things Comish lists.)
2. Both Maggie and the Humorless Feminist, you won’t be surprised to learn, are spoken for.
3. I don’t even know how I feel about the Arctic Monkeys, so I’m not sure I could’ve recommended them that heartily – but if that’s how you took it, and you really like them, then the credit is all mine.
4. I don’t think I know the story behind Comish – what character is it based on, and why is it always the (sic) spelling?
Dezmond: Put the mother down.
dez, I'll definitely have to try listening to Neil Young's albums, as opposed to his songs. I certainly understand how great albums work in theory. An album can transcend its individual songs in the same way that a collection of short stories can add up to something greater than the individual stories. It's just that music has such an immediate, visceral impact on me that I rarely (if ever) get beyond the feeling of the individual songs.
JW, I'm not surprised that Humorless Feminist and Maggie are spoken for. But that's what makes innocent crushes so innocent -- they're hopeless. Even more hopeless than most of my normal relationships. And considering this is over the internet, we're entering "Brewers win the World Series" or "Paris Hilton becomes celebate" territory. Plus, if they're your friends, you'd have a duty to warn them off of me anyways.
At this point, I feel pretty confident that seeing "(sic)" after my name every time is pretty annoying. It's just that it's an integral part of the name. When we were starting Bad Movie Club, we were all picking names of characters from bad movies. I wanted to pick a name from one of the characters in Robot Jox, which was one of the most fantastically bad movies I've ever seen. So I jumped over to imdb.com, scanned the character list, and came across this bomb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102800/
Robert Sampson .... Commisioner Jameson (sic)
In other words, the name was misspelled *in the movie*. Apparently, no one on the set was smart enough to know how to spell "Commissioner." And the script wasn't worth running spell check. Awesome.
But it's a pain to write "Commisioner Jameson (sic)" every time I post, so I just shorten it to "The Comish (sic)," which has a different misspelling, but leaves the essential nature of the name misspelled. I usually leave the (sic) because I think it's what makes the name so great.
If it's annoying, I'll stop.
And you're right: Siamese Dreams just rocks.
--The Comish
Better yet, to truly bow to the Age of iTunes, check out these six songs: After the Goldrush, Helpless, Comes a Time, One of These Days, Old Man, Harvest Moon.
Also, there's a Natalie Merchant cover of After the Goldrush that's stone-cold beautiful, no joke.
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