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Last Active 12-16-20 11:51 pm
Joined 12-17-14
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| 1000 Comments (Top 30 Albums)
Wanted to mark my 1000th comment with an in-depth list of my 30 favorite albums ever (at this moment in time.) Whether you read all the way through or not, enjoy. List is ranked. | | 30 |  | Low Roar
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I have to give a huge shout out to SowingSeason for introducing me to this one. He hit the nail on the head when he compared it to Radiohead’s Kid A era stuff and Bon Iver, which is quite a lot of praise to live up to. When I’m in the right mood this hits me as hard as almost any other album I’ve ever heard, but its long runtime and admittedly monotonous vocals keep it from being something I can listen to repeatedly.
Favorite Tracks: Easy Way Out; I’ll Keep Coming; Vampire On My Fridge; I’m Leaving | | 29 |  | Nine Inch Nails
The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral is an appropriate name for Trent Reznor’s 1994 magnum opus. It truly sounds at moments as if I’m inside the mind of a man slowly sinking into a living hell of depression and paranoia. The industrial samples on tracks like The Becoming, Eraser and Reptile serve to further complement the eerie tone of the album tremendously. By the end of the album, I usually feel particularly unsettled and even a bit unstable. There aren’t many albums that resonate so deeply with me as this one.
Favorite Tracks: Piggy; Heresy; The Becoming; Eraser; Reptile; Hurt | | 28 |  | Mudvayne
L.D. 50
Coming out of middle school all I listened to was nu metal (blegh,) melodic metalcore (blegh,) and generic radio rock (blegh.) The first time I heard this album I was legitimately blown away by it. I didn’t judge L.D. 50 based on how catchy it was, but on how interesting it sounded, and I never looked at music the same way again. It led me to Tool to Deftones to The Dillinger Escape Plan and everything after. The thing is, this album wasn’t just my stepping stone to better music, it actually still holds up. Say what you will about their later albums, but L.D. 50 has some serious jams.
Favorite Tracks: Death Blooms; Nothing To Gein; Severed; Prod; (K)now F(Orever) | | 27 |  | Death Grips
The Money Store
25-8 pun2k weight 25-8 pun2k weight 25-8 pun2k weight Out yo flesh Out yo flesh Out yo-
25-8 pun2k weight 25-8 pun2k weight 25-8 pun2k weight Out yo flesh Out yo flesh Out yo-
Favorite Tracks: The Fever (Aye Aye); System Blower; Punk Weight; Bitch Please; Hacker | | 26 |  | Portishead
Dummy
Dummy is one of the most evocative albums I’ve ever heard. It exudes a certain eerie seductivity not often seen. This is due in large part to Beth Gibbons’ beautiful, if often unstable falsetto. The overall mood of the album is further embellished by glitchy hip-hop beats and a subtle jazz flavor.
Favorite Tracks: Mysterons; Strangers; Wandering Star; Roads; Glory Box | | 25 |  | Botch
An Anthology of Dead Ends
We Are The Romans is often looked at as the seminal release from Botch. It may have come first, but Anthology is the better album. It’s just so much more varied than We Are The Romans and shows the best parts of every facet of Botch’s sound. Amazingly enough, despite the variety shown here, it’s also much more concise, clocking in at about half the total length of its predecessor. Countless bands have tried to emulate the sound Botch pioneered, but none have even come close to matching this colossal album.
Favorite Tracks: Japam; Framce; Afghamistam; Micaragua | | 24 |  | Funeral Diner
The Underdark
I bought this album on a whim at a used record and cd store, having never even heard a single track from it. I had heard the name pop up before, and I liked the album art, so I thought, why not? I fell in love with it instantly. The progression of each and every song is enthralling, and the quiet/loud dynamic is used in full effect. Due in large part to the completely manic screamed vocals, this album exudes desperation. At times I think it might be the most emotionally charged album I’ve ever heard.
Favorite Tracks: It Is Good That We Never Met; Two Houses; We All Have Blood On Our Hands | | 23 |  | Silversun Pickups
Neck of the Woods
Neck Of The Woods is a bit of a departure from SSPU’s previous two albums, though it’s still undeniably Silversun Pickups. The fuzzed out guitars are still there, but they don’t take center stage on every track. It’s darker and even more sinister sounding than anything else they’ve released, and I love it. Most people seem to place this album in the shadow of its predecessors, but I feel as though this is the most interesting, complex, and natural record SSPU has ever released. Filled to the brim with catchy hooks and relatable lyrics, I could listen to this album every day for months and likely never get tired of it.
Favorite Tracks: Skin Graph; Make Believe; Here We Are (Chancer); Gun-Shy Sunshine | | 22 |  | mewithoutYou
Catch For Us the Foxes
I’m not a religious person at all, so it’s rare for me to find much to like in a lot of Christian rock. Generally, even if I do like a Christian band, I find the lyrics passable at best. Not only do I love the music here, but, ironically enough, Aaron Weiss has become my favorite lyricist of all time. Aaron’s countless biblical allusions are well placed and never preachy. Instead, they possess a depth that reaches far beyond their contextual meaning.
Favorite Tracks: Tie Me Up! Untie Me!; The Soviet; My Exit, Unfair; Carousels | | 21 |  | Queens of the Stone Age
Songs for the Deaf
Songs For The Deaf is an album that is very easy to appreciate upon first listen. Laden with hooks and catchy riffs, it’s an album that knows how to get into your head. Unfortunately, most albums of this nature tend to wear quickly and lack the lasting appeal that a more nuanced album has. Not so with Songs For The Deaf. The songs here have a certain lasting appeal that most radio friendly music lacks.
Favorite Tracks: No One Knows; Song For The Dead; God Is On The Radio; Song For The Deaf; Mosquito Song | | 20 |  | Sunny Day Real Estate
How It Feels To Be Something On
Midwestern emo darlings Sunny Day Real Estate made a huge splash with their debut LP, Diary. After a follow up album and a short hiatus they came back with How It Feels To Be Something On, a vastly more experimental album than their previous two. As much as I love Diary, the progressive influence and varied song structures work here to create a dynamism that makes this album a much more enjoyable and interesting listen.
Favorite Tracks: Pillars; Every Shining Time You Arrive; Two Promises; How It Feels To Be Something On; Days Were Golden | | 19 |  | Bon Iver
For Emma, Forever Ago
“Emma isn’t a person. Emma is a place that you get stuck in. Emma’s a pain that you can’t erase.” This is what Justin Vernon says about his debut full-length. Or at least, that’s what Wikipedia says he says. It matters not, the quote feels about as accurate a description of the album as is possible. It’s a beautiful album, warm and hopeful, but simultaneously lonesome and introspective.
Favorite Tracks: Skinny Love; The Wolves; For Emma; Re: Stacks | | 18 |  | The Dillinger Escape Plan
Calculating Infinity
It took awhile for me to grasp this album. In fact, when I first started listening to TDEP it was my least favorite release of theirs. The more different music I listened to, the more I came back to this for the sheer chaos, and the more I appreciated the presence of that chaos that initially turned me off. It’s just off the wall insanity, and there’s nothing at all quite like it.
Favorite Tracks: Sugar Coated Sour; 43% Burnt; The Running Board; Clip The Apex... Accept Instruction | | 17 |  | Converge
Axe to Fall
It took me a long time to appreciate Converge as much as I do now, and much of that appreciation didn’t come to fruition until I listened to this album. Before I heard Axe To Fall, It was hard for me to listen to any of their albums all the way through without feeling like the music had exhausted itself. The aggressive riffs and unrelenting vocals were just too much to take in all at once. This is Converge’s most diverse album to date, and that made all the difference when trying to get into their body of music as a whole.
Favorite Tracks: Dark Horse; Worms Will Feed; Damages; Cruel Bloom; Wretched World | | 16 |  | Radiohead
In Rainbows
In Rainbows is probably Radiohead’s most well-rounded album. It feels like a culmination of everything Radiohead had worked on up to that point, and it couldn’t have been done more flawlessly. There are plenty of guitar-oriented rockers here, but an equal amount of meandering electronic tracks. Neither variety is overshadowed by the other, as they both work together in cohesion to form the truly beautiful whole that is In Rainbows. There are moments on this album that find me fighting off tears if I’m in the right mood.
Favorite Tracks: Weird Fishes/Arpeggi; All I Need; Reckoner; Jigsaw Falling Into Place; Videotape | | 15 |  | Tool
Lateralus
This was one of the first albums I checked out after joining Sputnik. It clicked pretty fast due to its relative accessibility. I had heard a couple of the songs prior, so there was some familiarity there as well. I loved the way the songs evolved and built on top of one another; it was quite different from anything I had heard before. I don’t listen to it much anymore, due to the fact that I’ve really played it out at this point, but I still enjoy it when I do.
Favorite Tracks: The Grudge; The Patient; Ticks & Leeches; Reflection | | 14 |  | Cult of Luna
Salvation
Before the song even truly starts, Echoes goes through this five-minute-something instrumental passage where really nothing much happens. It’s kind of an unusual way to kick off an album. The thing is, it doesn’t feel like five minutes have passed once the song really kicks it into high gear. The whole album shares this hypnotic quality, and despite its 73 minute runtime, it feels like it’s over in a flash. As a side note, that aforementioned moment in Echoes (at the 5:30 mark) might just be my favorite moment in any song ever.
Favorite Tracks: Echoes; Leave Me Here; Waiting For You; Into The Beyond | | 13 |  | Deftones
Saturday Night Wrist
Saturday Night Wrist, to me, was Deftones’ least immediate release. I couldn’t get into it for the longest time, and then song by song, one after another, some of my least favorite tracks on the album started to become my favorites. I think it started with Xerces. It came up on shuffle one day, and it just hit me. It felt as though I had never even heard the song before, and it was glorious. One by one, every song revealed itself in a similar fashion and I came to love each of them. Well, sans Pink Cellphone. Still waiting on that one.
Favorite Tracks: Hole In The Earth; Beware; Cherry Waves; Xerces; Kimdracula | | 12 |  | Glassjaw
Worship and Tribute
I actually listened to Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence before this. It was a lot to take in. The unadulterated rage and misogyny that drove that album was almost too much to take in, but it was musically and emotionally very compelling. Worship and Tribute scaled back on those elements that made EYEWTKAS so hard to listen to sometimes, and that makes for a much more rewarding listen in the long run.
Favorite Tracks: Ape Dos Mil; Must’ve Run All Day; Stuck Pig; The Gillette Cavalcade Of Sports | | 11 |  | Kyuss
Welcome to Sky Valley
My favorite record to drive long distances to, bar none. It’s hypnotic and propulsive, but catchy and energetic at the same time. Some of the catchiest riffs I’ve ever heard are on display here, courtesy of Josh Homme, who would later go on to front Queens of the Stone Age.
Favorite Tracks: Gardenia; Asteroid; Space Cadet; Demon Cleaner; Odyssey | | 10 |  | Radiohead
OK Computer
I used to sit next to this girl in ceramics class during my sophomore year in high school. She kinda sucked at ceramics if I’m being completely honest, but she had good taste in music. I told her to check out Converge and Between The Buried And Me and she told me to listen to Radiohead. She said she loved Converge, which I still find suspect to this day, and I said I loved Radiohead. I was being completely honest. I wish I had kept in touch with her.
Favorite Tracks: Paranoid Android; Exit Music (For A Film); Climbing Up The Walls; No Surprises; Lucky | | 9 |  | Isis
Panopticon
This was the album that introduced me to post metal, what is now probably my favorite metal subgenre. The way every movement of every song transitions so perfectly into the next makes the album feel vast and expansive and despite the fact that there are many moments on the album that are aurally crushing, it’s actually quite a calming album. I often put it on when I need to calm down and relax for a bit.
Favorite Tracks: So Did We; In Fiction; Altered Course; Grinning Mouths | | 8 |  | The Dillinger Escape Plan
Miss Machine
Calculating Infinity was definitely more influential than this album, I won’t even try to argue against that. I just like this one better. I think this album was recommended to me on this site when I asked for stuff similar to Tool and Mudvayne, of all things. It doesn’t seem like a very obvious choice now, but I fell in love instantly; it was completely insane and unlike anything I had ever heard at the time. As a small bonus, it led to my discovery of basically every metalcore band I hold in high esteem today. Plus, every time I listen to the album I’m reminded of playing Borderlands obsessively with my friends. I listened to this album over and over again while playing that game, and I don’t think anything could have fit the mood better.
Favorite Tracks: Sunshine The Werewolf; Highway Robbery; Phone Home; Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants; Baby’s First Coffin | | 7 |  | Brand New
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
This is where Sputnik first got me. Shortly after I first joined this site I bought a 160gb iPod Classic and needed to fill it up, so I took a trip to my local library and looked for cds that were held in high regard here. Enter TDAG, Sputnik’s darling. I was skeptical at first. There was nothing I was listening to at the time that could be considered even remotely close to indie rock or post hardore or whatever you want to call this album. Not only did this album introduce to me all the facets of indie rock and post hardcore that make up so much of what I listen to today, but it also led me through high school. There are times this album has made me cry, pathetic as that may sound. It’s been there for me every time I’ve struggled with life, struggling right there beside me. Or perhaps it’s raging inside me... I’m sorry.
Favorite Tracks: Jesus; Degausser; Limousine; You Won’t Know; Luca | | 6 |  | Massive Attack
Mezzanine
I’d had kind of a shitty day at work and I needed something slow and sinister sounding to steam off on my way home. It was late at night, probably close to 11:00 PM, and I had about a 20 minute drive ahead of me, so I put this on. It was perfect. I completely zoned out to the music on the highway and after awhile I realized I’d missed my exit. Not that it was such a bad thing; it just meant I got to drive around listening to this for another 20 minutes. Honestly, it might’ve been just what I needed.
Favorite Tracks: Angel; Teardrop; Inertia Creeps; Dissolved Girl; Black Milk; Mezzanine | | 5 | | Tool
Aenima
For some reason, even though I’ve probably listened to this album even more than Lateralus at this point, it still sounds fresh. It takes itself a lot less seriously than Lateralus does, and that simply makes it more fun to listen to. It’s just as impressive musically as anything else Tool has ever done, and much more concise. The faster pace of the album keeps it from getting stale, and makes it extremely easy to appreciate many of the songs out of context. This is another one of those albums I can always put on and enjoy, no matter what kind of mood I’m in.
Favorite Tracks: Stinkfist; H.; Forty Six & 2; Pushit; Aenema; Third Eye | | 4 |  | Converge
Jane Doe
Jane Doe is an album that has still yet to cease growing on me. When I first listened to it upon the seemingly collective recommendation of the Sputnik community, I wondered what all the hype was about. It just didn’t wow me. But I liked it enough to give it the occasional listen every now and again, and the more familiar I became with the record, the easier it became to see past the wall of noise that was at first so overwhelming, into a very complex, multifaceted record.
Favorite Tracks: Hell To Pay; Homewrecker; Heaven In Her Arms; Thaw; Jane Doe | | 3 |  | Neurosis
Through Silver in Blood
It’s almost impossible to describe the mood created by this album. It’s sludgy and heavy and overall very depressing. It’s also very trance-oriented with some industrial elements, making it feel apocalyptic in every sense of the word. If any album is deserving of the descriptor “epic,” it’s this one. All things considered, I’d call this the heaviest album I’ve ever heard. Not heavy in the same sense as many people who would describe an album as heavy. I wouldn’t necessarily call this album inaccessible or overly noisy. Through Silver In Blood feels heavy almost solely because of the emotional weight it conveys.
Favorite Tracks: Through Silver In Blood; Purify; Locust Star; Aeon; Enclosure In Flame | | 2 |  | Cult of Luna
Somewhere Along the Highway
There are brutal Albums (see: Converge - Jane Doe,) and at the opposite end of the spectrum there are beautiful albums (see: Radiohead - In Rainbows.) Imagine that this spectrum is flat, one-dimensional, with “brutal” at one pole and “beautiful” at the other. This is how I once imagined said spectrum. Enter Somewhere Along The Highway, which took that spectrum in both hands and twisted it until these two poles were forced together in some sickly delicious pretzel.
Favorite Tracks: Finland; Back To Chapel Town; Dim; Dark City Dead Man | | 1 |  | Deftones
White Pony
I never really paid attention to Deftones growing up, though I had heard their name on local radio stations here and there and I remember the hype surrounding the release of Diamond Eyes, I couldn’t actually put a song to their name. A good friend recommended them to me about five years ago. He lent me White Pony and the aforementioned Diamond Eyes. I liked a few of the more immediate songs off Diamond Eyes, but White Pony eluded me. It was too slow, boring, I said. He told me to give their heavier stuff a listen, so I checked out Around The Fur. Slowly, I came around on my opinion of the band, and eventually White Pony. I can listen to this on repeat endlessly and never get tired of it, and it opened me up to a ton of other genres I love today including shoegaze, trip hop, post rock, post punk and gothic rock. This album changed my musical identity for the better, and for that I am indebted to it.
Favorite Tracks: Digital Bath; RX Queen; Knife Party; Passenger; Change; Pink Maggit | |
Muppelope
06.10.16 | 1000 | Conmaniac
06.10.16 | props for 23 | LotusFlower
06.10.16 | this is 29 albums... | DoofusWainwright
06.10.16 | Wow you're in trouble the Sputnik community hates all these | Muppelope
06.10.16 | wtf, what did i miss...
Huh. One didn't post. I'll try to fix it.
@Doofus: yeah, I realize not all of my choices are the most original, but I basically grew up on Sputnik music recommendations. Just because my tastes align with much of the site community doesn't make these albums any less personal to me. | TVC15
06.10.16 | Sweet variety dude, and congrats! | Muppelope
06.10.16 | Low Roar - 0 is supposed to be 26, but every time I add it in, it disappears. This is quite frustrating. And thanks TVC.
Edit: fixed, kind of. Wasn't recognizing "0" for some reason, so I had to spell it out. | Mort.
06.10.16 | bruh you got a few of my 5s on here so all cool
Underdark is in my top 5 tbh what a fucking record
DECEPTIOOOOON | Muppelope
06.10.16 | I honestly think that record is gonna keep growing on me, yeah. Just found it like a few months ago. | Muppelope
06.11.16 | Damn. I know it's not the most original top 30 list, but I thought it would get at least a tiny bit more attention than this... | iloveyouall
06.11.16 | list needs more swag | Mort.
06.11.16 | its more interesting than a lot of 5 lists | iloveyouall
06.11.16 | i'll give it that. | Mort.
06.11.16 | even if it is predictable sput | iloveyouall
06.11.16 | I am sorry to say, of all the bands on this list, I've only seen Bon Iver live (by gf's choice). | Muppelope
08.02.18 | Over two years later, and I think most of these would still be up here. Maybe I'll revisit it when I hit 2000. |
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