BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I’ll warn you off the bat. Some could call today’s column a little; how you’d say; “disposable”. It’s not some in depth topic where it’s meant to blow your mind with facts, enlighten you with a new take on music you may or may not have heard or even spark much of a discussion. It totally could start a discussion, but that’s not the intention at all.
If you’re reading this when it’s posted, its July 31st. Tomorrow I turn thirty years old. That’s old. I don’t like it, but I have no choice but to accept it. I’ve always heard stuff like “40 is the new 30” or even “30 is the new 20” and for the first time I sorta hope it’s true. No one likes to admit their getting old. This is probably the 4th of July’s fault, but I recently put “life” and “history” in the perspective of comparing it to America. America was formed in 1776, right? So in terms of “American history”, the country is only what? 237 years old? That’s not THAT long in the grand scheme of things. I’m only going to be 30, but I will have lived through over 12% of America’s history. My father is twice my age so he’s lived through nearly a quarter of the life of America. That’s a crazy way to measure your age.
It’s all about how you feel. I’m in the best shape of my life, production projects look awesome, and I have some big goals for the upcoming months. Things are good, but I’m 30. I’m no old timer or anything by any stretch, but my twenties are officially over.
As I move on to another decade of life. I look back a little. There are many “ingredients” that make me the person I am, but music is a big part of that. I’ve devoted thousands of hours, dollars, and heart beats to my love for music.
I don’t want to call this list my “Top 30 Deserted Island Albums” because I know that’s pretty passé at this point. I’m putting together this list of my own personal favorite albums. YOU are not going to like them all and you’ll think I’m crazy for not including stuff YOU think I should. This is all very subjective and just my personal tastes. Basically, this is my warning that I don’t care all that much for Bob Dylan, The Beatles, or a few other bands that EVERYONE loves. There will also be some omissions that’ll hurt. Some bands I do love and appreciate, but just couldn’t pin point a single album as being as impactful as the rest of this mess…
I’m sure I’m forgetting some obvious stuff here. When you’re taking into account EVERYTHING, it’d be hard to not have a few screw ups. I made a short list of my favorite artists and from there figured out what one or two albums by them I love. From there, I’d eliminate, cut down, add random albums, and just screw around with the order. I managed to get the initial list down to 44 of my favorite albums. I put those in order and then cut it off at the 30 mark. I was surprised as shit to see what didn’t make the cut. And to be perfectly honest, outside of the top couple I’d imagine the list could change pretty easily from time to time.
I really wonder how much this list will change in five, ten, or even twenty years down the line.
The Stuff That Didn’t Quite Make The Cut:
Godsmack by Godsmack, Slipknot by Slipknot, Tight by Mindless Self Indulgence, Purple Rain by Prince, Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age, Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin, Absolute Power by Tech N9ne, Hellbilly Deluxe by Rob Zombie, Follow The Leader by Korn, Get a Grip by Aerosmith, System of a Down by System of a Down, Off The Wall by Michael Jackson,The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd, The Real Thing by Faith No More
30. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie
 (1972) - It’s hard to believe this album is less than forty minutes long. Here we have the story of David Bowie’s alter-ego “Ziggy Stardust”. There has been nothing more “glam” than this persona despite any efforts. It was just the epitome of flamboyance and art. The tracks are amazing and the flow is what matters here. Most people think of tracks like “Ziggy Stardust”, “Suffragette City”, “Rock n Rock Suicide”, “Starman”, “Moonage Daydream”, and “Five Years” and appreciate them on their impressive own. But then you have to consider these are all on one record. This album probably should be higher on the list, but this is not the last time Bowie will be brought up.
29. Make Yourself by Incubus
 (1999) - Incubus was a “high school band” for me. I first heard of them on a local Chicago rock show back when Brandon Boyd still had dread locks and they were heavier on the funk rock. Incubus has always been a solid band with peaks and valleys, but to me Make Yourself is the top of the peaks. This CD hit at the perfect time. Music was a little too produced, a little too angry, and a little too Fred Durst and Eminem-y at the time. This was the perfect contrast to what else was going on. This is one of those albums that is responsible for MANY brain cells being carried away in clouds of marijuana smoke. Songs like “Stellar”, “Drive”, and “Pardon Me” were strong enough to make them a HUGE band at the time, but the rest of the album is what made so many of us super fans for a few years. In many ways, Incubus held the fort down until the “The Bands” showed up. I’d love to hear a resurgence of this band.
28. Dirt by Alice In Chains
 (1992) - Alice In Chains should be regarded as one of the best hard rock bands of all time. I’m sure their fans would say “they are!”, but it’s not enough. Alice In Chains put out some of the best alternative metal music out there. Alice In Chains was too “hard” to be considered grunge by most purist but why does any of that matter? The music is just great. There is a throwback vibe of everything having meaning, but at the same time it’s being delivered in some of the best hard rock I’ve heard. Between that and Tommy Dreamer using “Man In The Box”, I was always a vague fan. I wanted to go with a “Best of” here because that’s what really got me into this band. But it was this album that cemented my fandom and when I felt like I went from “appreciating it” to “getting it”. As I got older I got wiser. The five singles on here are “Would?”, “Them Bones”, “Angry Chair”, “Down in a Hole”, and “Rooster” are obvious stand outs.
27. White Blood Cells by White Stripes
 (2001) - This album put the White Stripes on the map. That sentence alone makes this album VERY important to music. Without this album we may never have gotten to enjoy the works of Jack White. Jack and Meg put out some great albums and Jack continues to reinvent the wheel every new project and venture he gets into. This album was big for a big reason. It was a blast of fresh vintage air. At first it was the garage chaos of “Fell In Love with a Girl” and then “We’re Going To Be Friends”, “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”, which I think may still be my favorite White Stripes song.
26. All That You Can’t Leave Behind by U2
 (2000) - I could pretty much listen to any of this band’s work and be satisfied, but this album has some of the best recent rock and roll songs to come out in the past fifteen or so years. I know it’s not “cool” to be a big fan of U2, but I’m not going to let myself get jaded over things. I don’t care what Bono is doing with his money, time, or fame. The music of U2 is great. This album came out when I was in high school and I’d watch MTV and VH1 before school every day. The singles from this album were embedded into my brain. The song “Beautiful Day” got played A LOT and I did get tired of it, but when I randomly hear it now I understand why it was played so much. It’s a great and uplifting rock song. On top of that, the rest of the album is full of awesomeness. I wonder how many U2 haters actually put in this full album, or any U2 album for that matter.
25. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand by Franz Ferdinand
 (2009) - This is one of the best rock albums that I’ve heard in the past five or so years. It’s not my normal cup of tea. I’m typically more into angsty, soulful rock type of music. I mainly like garage rock, industrial, and “edge”. I’m not shy about what I like. I’m still open to other stuff, but it’s hard for me to put it on the same level of fan boy love. This album is different. It’s just a lot fun. It’s up tempo, it’s got bounce to it, and it reminds me a lot of the “Fashion” era of Bowie’s material, but with a more smoke-filled and whiskey smelling vibe. That’s the concept of the album. It’s about a night of partying and the hangover that follows. The result gives us some great tracks. I would recommend this album to anyone who likes cool danceable music. People love “Take Me Out”, but this album is just pure enjoyment. “Ulysses” is a fantastic party song and it gets me hyped up regardless of anything every time I hear it.
24. Mer de Noms by A Perfect Circle
 (2000) - A Perfect Circle was the first band I ever saw live in concert. They were opening for Nine Inch Nails and obviously that show was great. I had known about Tool and dug them, but I wasn’t fully into the melodic abyss quite yet. Getting exposed to A Perfect Circle in an unexpected fashion was awesome and left me awestruck. I remember two things about their performance. The first was the shadow Maynard cast on the side of the wall of the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. It squirmed and slithered as the man sung through a bad looking long haired wig. The other aspect I remember was connecting with specific songs like “Thinking of You”, “The Hollow”, “3 Libras”, and of course “Judith”. Then a few weeks later this album came out. I got it on release date and never turned back. The songs I fell in love with at the concert were all there. A Perfect Circle has put some great music out there, but this release is flawless.
23. Is This It by The Strokes
 (2001) - I had “Last Nite” stuck in my head for literally YEARS. I remember trying to load up the music video for this song on dial-up internet. It took like an hour to finally be able to see the choppy video and hear the staticy song. It was worth it. I always too pride in the fact that I got on board with this band REALLY early. It was fun to expose people to it as much as I could. It also stands out because “Last Nite” was the first song I attempted to “sing” in kareokee. The stripped down garage rock sound hit the scene in a big way after this point, but I think this was what ignited that. I think I may have enjoyed their next album even more, but this album got TONS of play.
22. The Chronic by Dr. Dre
 (1992) - There aren’t many hip hop albums on this list. I love hip hop and can rattle off tons of albums I genuinely love, but when it came to making a list like this rock won. It put things in perspective and made me realize I’m probably a 80% rock and 20% hip hop type of guy. The hip hop I love though is held at a high regard. THIS album is one of those. I was living in “the hood” (not really) and going to a mainly-white private school, so I was getting music from all sides of the tracks. Before I hit double digits, I was listening to NWA. I didn’t know what I was listening to, but enjoyed the attitude, the beat, and the stuff I did understand. Dr. Dre came out guns a blazing on this debut. It was G-funk and hip hop coming together in “gangsta” music you could bounce to. It was SO good that waiting on its sequel has almost destroyed hip hop as we know it.
21. Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy by Mindless Self Indulgence
 (2000) - Mindless Self Indulgence is one of those bands that came and went with me. For a few years I’d have no problem saying that MSI was my second or third favorite bands “of all time.” In 2001 or so I was lucky enough to be dragged to the Metro in Chicago to see a band I’ve never heard of. It turned out to be one of the best concerts I’ve seen. The energy of an old MSI show was incomparable to any other show I’ve been to. I’d have friends go to shows just for the experience. I think that is what made me love the music so much. The energy. That faded in time, but you can still hear some brilliance in this album. A lot of folks would say Tight is their favorite and I can respect that. It’s a great album and could be on here as well, but Frankenstein Girls is my favorite. Songs like “Bitches”, “F-ggot”, “Golden I”, “Cocaine and Toupees”, and the rest are all fun gems. My favorite on this release and probably their entire catalog is “I Hate Jimmy Page”. I think that song sums up what I always felt MSI was about and what I took from their music.
20. Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails
 (1989) - Despite it being heavy on the 80’s nu-wave synth, Trent Reznor’s first album is still a gem. There were only ten tracks, but it’s one of those albums that I could rattle off the track listing off in my sleep. A few of the biggest NIN tracks are on this 1989 debut. Could you imagine Nine Inch Nails without “Head Like a Hole”, “Sin”, “Down in It”, or “Terrible Lie”? I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to. This album also has one of those songs that I often claim as my “favorite song” on it in the slow brooding, extra painful “Something I Can Never Have”. That song is the epitome of a pained and desperate soul. It’s just raw.
19. Hunky Dory by David Bowie
 (1971) - I debated over this for a while. As much as I love The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, I’ve been more attached to the album that came next. On Hunky Dory, Bowie blesses us with “Oh! You Pretty Things”, “Andy Warhol”, “Queen Bitch”, and “The Bewlay Brothers”. But there are two specific songs on here that stand out like a sore thumb. First is “Life on Mars?”, which may be the perfect melody. And then we have one of Bowie’s very best songs in “Changes”, a song so timeless that it redefines itself every listen.
18. Thriller by Michael Jackson
 (1982) - Michael Jackson put out tons of great albums. I grew up on the Jackson Five and had a hard time not including it on this list, but if I think about Michael Jackson I can’t help but think about “Thriller”. The album is incredible and has had more success than just about any album ever. It’s just THAT good. The title track is surely a classic, but then we have to take into consideration that Paul McCartney appears in “The Girl Is Mine”, we have “Human Nature”, “Billie Jean”, and “Beat It”. That’s a good chunk of the man’s best hits. His persona and tragic story is what a lot of people harp on. They keep digging deeper and deeper trying to make sense of the man and the man’s family. We have to rewind a little and remember why we’ve all become obsessed to begin with. It’s because M.J. was the King of Pop. It wasn’t just a witty nickname.
17. Doggystyle by Snoop Doggy Dogg
 (1993) - If you don’t know “Gin and Juice” just cut your ears off and flush them down the toilet. You’re obviously not using them to their full capacity. I had a bootleg cassette tape of this album that I got at a Flea Market for $4. I’m pretty sure the printing on the tape was smeared and the A side was really the B side and the B side was really the A side. This wasn’t a problem though because Snoop’s debut was the shit. As a ten year old boy, I probably shouldn’t have been listening to this… or even looking at the album art.
16. Achtung Baby by U2
 (1991) - Bono was a bad ass during this era. This is where the gigantic huge sunglasses came into play. U2 was putting out great pure rock albums for a while and here they took on a huge change. They went more electronic and more “produced”. It’s not like a “techno” album or anything, but the layer work is awesome on tracks like “Zoo Station” and “Even Better Than the Real Thing”. On the flipside, they put out two of their best “stripped down” songs in the massively underrated “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses” and the incredible “One”.
15. Elephant by White Stripes
 (2003) - I wanted to put this album and this band higher, but it’s hard to pin point a favorite. That says a lot when you’re talking about one of the best rock grounds of all time. Yep, I said “of all time” because it’s true. Enough time has passed to look back on this band retrospectively and clearly. The “new toy” vibe is gone. At this point, it’s clear that the White Stripes are one of maybe three or four bands to come out in the past fifteen or so years that could be the “faces of a generation”. Every decade and era has certain bands that have a lasting effect that people connect that time to. White Stripes is one of those bands. This is their best album. Jack White put together some of the catchiest and most enthralling rock songs ever here. I DARE you to tell me that “Seven Nation Army” isn’t a modern classic. It’s just one of those “once in a life time” tracks that just magic in the form of sound.
14. Stankonia by OutKast
 (2000) - OutKast blew up after this album. Once they dropped their double album it was all over for the game. People around the universe were enjoying “Hey Ya” and OutKast is set as one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time. At that point people were stopped in their steps and realized “oh shit, they’ve ALWAYS been great”. For me, I was dabbling with their music. I really liked “Rosa Parks”, but the Stankonia album just blew anything and everything away. It wasn’t like any other hip hop at the time and still isn’t. This album gave us “Ms. Jackson”, “B.O.B.”, and my favorite in “So Fresh, So Clean”. It’s really hard to listen to this album and not find a groove within minutes.
13. Antichrist Superstar by Marilyn Manson
 (1996) - The extended EP Smells Like Children could have easily been on this list. Hell, I might even be able to say that I’m an even bigger fan of Mechanical Animals. I thought about it, but I just couldn’t neglect my inner goth kid. In 1996 I was in a Catholic school, miserable in my little sheep uniform. Around that time I first saw the “Sweet Dreams” video and my mind was blown. I ended up getting my grubby little hands on this album and it tainted my pure little heart. In all reality, it was a release. It pushed the envelope, it rebelled, and it scared people by confronting them with hypocrisy and shock rock goodness. I was reeled in hook, line, and sinker. It was VERY pivotal for my development from a nice junior high kid to a nice high school kid (with tons of inner angst). The theatrics was a big part of it. I dug the music, but there are certain songs that almost require certain poses and dance moves. It’s NOT a dance album by any stretch though. It’s in fact, one of the best hard rock albums of the 90’s. The songs on here are killer. Singles like “Tourniquet” and “Man That You Fear” were awesome, but then hidden gems like “Angel with the Scabbed Wings”, “Mister Superstar”, and my favorite “hidden Manson gem” in the massively underrated “Cryptorchid”. I’d be dumb not to mention the obvious one here. The song “The Beautiful People” is one of the best rock anthems of the 90s. Trent Reznor’s finger prints are all over this album, which is probably why I enjoy it so much. Manson has not came close to putting anything out as impactful or amazing as this release. That’s not a snub against the guy because I’ve genuinely appreciated his body of work, especially the recent stuff.
12. Are You Experienced by Jimi Hendrix
 (1967) - It’s Hendrix’s debut album! For the love of God, how in the hell could I make a list and not include Jimi. As a child I’d hear Hendrix in movies and on classic rock stations. At one point I was obsessed with the Woodstock movie so I was really exposed to this guy. I knew the legends and as time went on I’d learn more about the guy. The more I’d learn about the man the more I liked him. At the same time, the more I listened, like REALLY listened, the more I appreciated the master craftsmanship that I was hearing. There are albums that everyone loves and enjoys. This should be one of those albums. It’s a piece of the past that still sounds futuristic in the present. I know the psychedelic stylings are associated to the hippy time of music, but his playing transcends time. This is the start of that. Screw history books, just play this album.
11. Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith
 (1975) - This album is always going to stand out to me for a few reasons. The tracks are kick ass, but we get two of the rock songs ever on this monster. The first is “Sweet Emotion” and then there’s “Walk This Way”. Ever hear of those songs? Of course you have! The other reason the album stands out is a random memory. As a kid, my father let me borrow his vinyl of this. I was just learning about how to use a record player and was really starting to get into music. I loved Aerosmith right off the bat. The problem is that I was used to the RUN DMC version of “Walk This Way” and this album was the old school one. So what does a small child to do? I proceeded to scratch the hell out of the album in an attempt to recreate the “rap music” I was just getting exposed to for the first time.
10. Superunknown by Soundgarden
 (1994) - Nirvana gets the tag of being “the best grunge band of all time”, but I think I appreciated Soundgarden more. Their body of work was full of awesome stuff. The best of that awesome stuff was their fourth album released in 1994. This record put out five singles including “The Day I Tried to Live”, “My Wave”, “Fell on Black Days”, and the awesome “Black Hole Sun”. The single that stands out to me is one of a personal note. From 2001 to around 2004ish, I’d enter to the ring with “Spoonman” playing as my entrance music. The opening riff is massive and then the break is perfect for a cool introduction. My booking was artsy and iffy, my teenage business skills weren’t up to par, and I booked some bad performers. I won’t argue with anyone about that stuff, but my entrance music kicked ass.
9. Ænima by Tool
 (1996) - This is my favorite Tool album. How could anyone not include at least one Tool album on their “all time” list? This is the second studio album by the band, but I think their most complete. Their two more recent albums are beautiful, but there is something really sinister and ominous about this album. I think this where it all came together. They had the big single and was getting out there, but the complexity and guttural pull of this album is remarkable. Songs like “Stinkfist”, “H.”, “Forty Six & 2”, “Eulogy”, and the title track all stand out, but it’s an album that you should listen to from start to finish. If you don’t, you won’t have the proper dirty feeling that I think is intended. Listening to Tool just feels like you’re enjoying a sin and that’s something that’s never really changed. There is a certain taboo to the tone. Maynard has always been a dependable vocalist. You know you’re in for quality when he’s attached to something. I think around this point is when that all became apparent. For something as dark and primal as this album, it’s all quite alarmingly beautiful. That’s the constant struggle that’s a pleasure to hear in Tool’s music.
8. Devils to Some, Angels to Others by Fashion Bomb
 (2006) - Sadly, this album is probably the “least known” of the entire collection. Fashion Bomb is a Chicago metal band that should have been in a million ears by now. I have done work with them so I’m invested and admittedly bias, but I would have never done anything for their project without being inspired by their brand of brilliant chaos. They bring a intelligent look at primal emotion. They’re industrial, they’re hard rock, they’re alt-metal, and they’re a lot of different labels. When I think of Fashion Bomb, the label I’ve always used for them is “great”. They’re in the same boat as a NIN, Zombie, Tool, or Manson but they’ve paved their own path along the way. To be fair about it, I’d probably even say their sophomore release Visions of the Lifted Veil is a much superior album. The lyrics are better, the music is WAY more intricate and layered, and they go balls out on it. I just have more a connection to their first album. If you’re not gotten to hear them, check them out on itunes. I’d recommend “Skin”, “Mold”, “Low”, “The Line”, and of course “Christ Puncher” but the full disc is kick ass.
7. Nevermind by Nirvana
 (1991) - This album ended up in my hands really early. My uncle got the cassette tape on accident through one of those mail-order music scams. Thankfully he is/was lame and didn’t like it so it gave it to me. I didn’t fully absorb it at first. I was really into “In Bloom” at start and then I came across the video like everyone else. Something just clicked. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is going to go down as one of the best rock songs of all time. It hit in 1991 and kick the world right in the ass. Outside of the commercialization of “grunge”, music started to form a heart and substance. It was a direct rebellion to the last generation of hair metal party animals. I was a small child at this point so I got to watch this all happen with wide eyes and a awe struck spirit. By many accounts it groomed my angst. It’s there in everyone, but hearing Cobain let loose made it okay for everyone else. The song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” isn’t so much an “anthem”, but a vessel for that kind of misguided frustration. The album doesn’t rest on just one super iconic song. Even without it, stuff like “In Bloom”, “Come as You Are”, “Lithium”, “Polly”, etc. etc. etc. is enough to spark something.
6. Use Your Illusion I & II by Guns N Roses
 (1991) - I can’t separate these two. They released two albums on the same day, but it’s pretty much a double album. Guns N Roses is one of the best rock bands of all time, but the antics and the break up seem to overshadow that sometimes. For a few years, these guys weren’t just larger than life, but the largest of the larger than life. I can’t forget that and I would hope no one else could, but it seems to be that way. Appetite is probably the favorite of most people, but I was fan of this epic album. This album had the expansiveness and scope only comparable to probably Queen or Zeppelin. Of course, I have to talk about “November Rain”. There are layers upon layers. The change ups and different directions this song takes you are crazy and ballsy as hell. In a lot of cases like this, it would not work at all. Going from classical piano, rock out melody, guitar solos, and more would just sound “cluttered”, but not the case with this one. It’s one of the best structured and crafted songs I can think of. That alone is noteworthy, but then that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The singles roll off these two albums like it’s nothing, but it’s all on their own accord. They had no problem putting out a six minute or even a ten minute rock odyssey. This mad scientist rock project proves you can get away with anything when the result is this.
5. The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails
 (1994) - It’s one man’s odyssey through the darkness of some deep despair. It’s incredibly personal and layered with obvious and subtle context. That’s just the narrative. When you look at it from a production stand point, Trent Reznor is still about a hundred years ahead of his time. Trent was on fire at this point. The song “Closer” blew up HUGE. It’s a song that got played out a million times over, but if you’re lucky enough to hear the change ups in it live then you’d have a whole new appreciation for it. It’s not just the “I wanna fuck you like an animal” song though. The album closes out with “Hurt”. By this point I think EVERYONE knows the song “Hurt” thanks to its own fame and the Cash cover. Those two are huge, but the rest of the album is nothing to sneeze at. It’s crazy considering the tracks include “March of the Pigs”, “Piggy”, “Mr. Self Destruct”, “The Becoming”, “Reptile”, and the rest. I’m such a fan boy that I could list the entire album as “songs that are awesome”. Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails was already on the map at this point after the Broken EP and the debut LP. Then this beast came out and Nine Inch Nails officially became part of the 90’s pop culture.
4. Santa Monica ‘72 by David Bowie
 (1994) - This is the one and only “live” album on the list. I do love me some live albums for sure, but none really stood out for me over what did made the cute. Around 2000 or so I was given a stack of old CDs that my uncle “borrowed” from one of his “friends”. It had a lot of crap in there, but this stack of CDs also introduced me to a lot of great albums and artists. This stack of CDs introduced me to bands like Acid Bath, Clutch, and others. One artist I knew was David Bowie. I knew of him and knew a few of his songs, but I didn’t know shit about Ziggy Stardust. This CD turned out to be a highly professional bootleg of a live concert in 1972. The songs themselves come from some great studio albums, but you can just hear a certain something in his voice. It’s at a point in Bowie’s career where the dude is the king of the world. He’s in full control and is 100% charisma and confidence. You just hear it in the music. Do yourself a favor and find a way to hear this.
3. The Doors by The Doors
 (1967) - The track listing to this album is a good percentage of classic rock radio. “Break On Through”, “Light My Fire”, and “The End” are the big ones. Then they have two amazing covers in “Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” and “Back Door Man”. Then on top of that are some great sleeper songs like “The Crystal Ship”, “Twentieth Century Fox”, “Soul Kitchen”, and “Take It as It Comes”. This collection of songs is pretty much the pinnacle of stoner rock. Somehow in the past few years it became cool to trash on Jim Morrison and The Doors. I’m not going to abandon this ship. As a child I had a “greatest hits” album that I would grow up with. I’d re-experience it and re-experience it as I got older and lived more life. It’s a timeless mantra that captures an era of rock music when anything seemed possible. Nothing about the content of The Doors has changed. People just seemed to have become more jaded. I find nothing wrong with metaphorical poets writing from the soul. Does everything need to be cut and dry? Can anything be abstract? Is it okay for Kurt Cobain, but not Jim Morrison? Because Morrison had a certain swagger does his abstractness somehow lose “indie cred”? Whatevs, nerds.
2. Joshua Tree by U2
 (1987) - Of all the U2 albums, this one is my absolute favorite. The first four tracks are “Where the Streets Have No Name”, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, “With or Without You”, and “Bullet the Blue Sky”. Holy shit. Those are four great tracks. There are plenty of things a U2 fan can first think of when the band is mentioned. For me, it’s mainly this era of the band. Bono was just getting past his feathered mullet days and the band was heading into their Euro-blues fan-boy era that gave us some really awesome and soulful rock tunes. The visual of the band playing on an illegal rooftop to the unsuspecting masses for the “Where the Streets Have No Name” video is hard to forget. And let’s be fair here, how could you deny that “With or Without You” isn’t one of the greatest ballads of all time? It is! There is a lot going on here. We have the style, the progression, the acceptance of making arena rock with substance, and putting out anthem after anthem. The influence on music from that point on is obvious.. I can’t think of any album from the 80’s that touched this.
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1. Fragile by Nine Inch Nails
 (1999) - I put a lot of time into really thinking about this one. Nine Inch Nails is clearly my favorite band plus this is double album so it’s a little unfair to begin with. It’s just a great album. I’ve spent nearly fifteen years waiting for an album to show up and eclipse this, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s an impossible task. I’ve listened to it, absorbed it, and experienced it more times than I could count at this point. I’ve gone through multiple copies to the point where I don’t notice the little blip skip at the beginning of “The Frail” that haunts my scratched up copy. This album is Trent Reznor’s best work. Not only is it an epic musical journey, but it’s a technical masterpiece. I could rattle off all of the tracks and explain why each of them is great on their own. Every single song on this double album have made it to various mix CDs, playlists, and listens. The songs are that good, but this is one that you should always try to listen to from fade in to fade out. Some would say The Downward Spiral is Reznor’s best, but this is the man’s opus.
What albums shaped YOU?
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