My All Time Favorite Albums, So Far
Pretty much self explanatory. The list is in no contending order. |
| 1 |  | The Gathering
if_then_else
The first album of their's to click with me. Rollercoaster, Amity, Herbal Movement and Saturnine are obvious highlights. But quite frankly every song here is a brilliant display of iconoclastic symphonic metal. |
| 2 |  | David Bowie
Low
My first Bowie album. Of course, I was quite the Nine Inch Nails fanatic in my day, so Low was pretty much a mandatory purchase. What an album though. In my opinion, it's better than The Downward Spiral. |
| 3 |  | Faith No More
Angel Dust
This ones more obvious. Approximately 62 minutes of flat out nutty, but irresistible metal? Well, Faith No More have proven impossible to pigeon hole with this album and it remains their finest moment. |
| 4 |  | Live
Throwing Copper
Say what you will about post 1994 Live. This is still a rock sledgehammer. Pillar of Davidson and White Discussion are as dramatic as hard rock gets. It may also be one of the most consistent records I have heard. |
| 5 | | David Bowie
"Heroes"
The Bowies back. This time with a more impassioned update to Low, and released in the same year. Still though, repeated listens reveal this to be even denser than Low, which is quite a feat given his working schedules. I am yet to meet someone who does not like the title track. |
| 6 |  | Mr. Bungle
Disco Volante
If you thought Mike Patton acted weird during his stay at Faith No More, then you will probably think he escaped from an insane asylum discovering his Bungle records. But put simply everyone else here is also on top form. This is challenging, revolutionary stuff. |
| 7 |  | Red House Painters
Red House Painters I
My favorite album for feeling sorry for myself. Vital, soul searching stuff from a songwriter of rare consistency. |
| 8 |  | Brian Eno
Another Green World
My first Brian Eno record. This semi ambient pop collage of songs and instrumentals is really a waking dream put to cd. |
| 9 |  | Harold Budd
The Pearl
The finest Budd and Eno collaboration and a hidden treasure worth discovering. The Pearl lives up to its name straight from the starting point with Late October (what may be my favorite ambient piece of all time) This is pure unfiltered ambiance set to neo classical compositions. Perfect. |
| 10 |  | R.E.M.
Automatic for the People
The essential R.E.M release. This is as lyrically mature and as musically lush as R.E.M have ever gotten. Personally I just find it the best release in their discography for relating to. As the old saying goes: "songs about death that make you happy" |
| 11 |  | Elliott Smith
Either/Or
The most compassionate and intimate Elliott Smith release. The production has been updated ever so slightly and he plays more instruments. "Angeles" may also be Elliott's greatest achievement. Celine Dion may have her Oscar, but we know who really deserved it. |
| 12 |  | Counting Crows
Recovering the Satellites
This ones a little unorthodox. I am a admitted Crows fan boy. I don't know whether it's the production which does it for me, but this one really sticks out. Satellites sounds like an American Roots Rock band in space. When I am feeling aggravated this one gets the spin. |
| 13 |  | Nine Inch Nails
The Fragile
So, so, so Indulgent yet if you cut it down to one size there is an angst ridden masterpiece within this double album. That is not to say that The Fragile is packed with filler, it is just that disc two seems to have something else on its mind. I warm up to this better than The Downward Spiral mainly because I found that albums suicidal impulses a bit too contrived. The production on this album is also the sharpest in Reznor's catalog. . |
| 14 |  | Nirvana
In Utero
Probably the one true Nirvana studio album. I personally loved the post punk Nevermind but its production was too glossy. One of the best anti sellout albums of its time and the dryness of Steve Albini's production is orgasmic. Loud, pissed off, yet in its own way, haunting. May also convert a few who generally dislike the band on hearsay. |
| 15 |  | Opeth
My Arms, Your Hearse
Ok. For the record this should be My Arms Your Hearse and Still Life. But I like the muddy production of the former a tad more. Mikael's slightly undeveloped clean vocals also add an extra emotional dimension. Anyways, four words: Demon of the Fall. |
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