I've been wanting to do something like this for sometime, and figured "Why not now?" The following is a listing of my favorite albums from various artists. To make it on the list, an album must meet the following criteria:
1) Has to be a studio album, not a live album.
2) Can't be a movie soundtrack.
3) I have to be able to sit down and listen to the whole album, beginning to end, and enjoy every song. If there is a song that I kinda like, but regularly skip, the album can't be on the list.
4) There has to be at least one song on the album that strikes me as awesome, that hits me emotionally, or that is simply good music.
The list surprises me a bit. There were some albums I had not thought about adding until I saw it in my iTunes, and there there were others that I thought would be on for sure until I saw one song that I thought "eh... I would probably skip that one". So, here is the list. I will add thoughts on them as well.
The Aura - Looking Glass Eyes
Thank you Collin Wightman. As I understand, he doesn't like it any more. But every now and then I need to just throw on The Aura and drive. Oh, and thank you for 'Impressions of Massachusetts'.
Barenaked Ladies - Stunt
Some good chill out music mixed in with some great fast paced music. Oh, and they are hilarious. I'll specifically mention 'Light Up My Room' as the smiley face track. Very feel good.
The Beatles - Revolver
Sometimes I think The Beatles wrote this to make fun of me. It goes through all the problems of life. Taxes, loneliness, wanting to sleep in. Then it gets happy though.
Beck - Mutations
I listened to 'Tropicalia' for a long time, then decided to give the rest of the album a listen. Quite good. None of Beck's other albums have struck me as much as this one.
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - The Hidden Land
I love Bela Fleck. Greatest banjo player ever. And victor Wooten is my hero. I really love 'Chennai'.
Ben Folds - Rocking the Suburbs
Of course Ben would make it on my list. Genius musician. Though the language is awful, I like the observations on the class/race warfare given in the title track.
Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman
Different from the rest of Ben's music. Very relaxed, and has some beautiful piano playing. 'Give Judy My Notice' was a big help for me.
Ben Folds Five - The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner
I think 'Army' was the song that got me hooked on Ben. 'Magic' helped me through some hard times. 'Don't Change Your Plans' was the first of many Ben songs I would BS my way through.
BT- This Binary Universe
This one is all Michaels fault. The only album I have that was mixed in 5.1 DTS. And it came with a DVD with visuals to go along with it. Good for a relaxing evening. BT is a genius and a lot of his music has mathematical ties. A lot of those ties were shown in the visualizations. You could watch time and time again and find something new, or just relax. 'Good Morning Kaia' is great "close your eyes and relax" music.
Chicane - Far From The Maddening Crowds
"The album for an ordinary day" some have called it. 'Offshore 97' was a great song for me in high school. Chicane has some of the best road tripping music there ever was.
Chicane - Behind the Sun
'Halcyon' is where I get my namesake on many websites (rockclimbing.com and my gmail address among others). Again, great driving music.
Chicane - Easy to Assemble
A little different from his other albums, but still great. The vocal tracks are amazing, but I must say my favorite is 'Kilometer'.
NEW ADDITION:
Coldplay - X & Y
I thought I had a reason not to include this... but I was wrong. A great album. My favorite is 'Till Kingdom Come', which I listened to about a hundred times in the week before going to the MTC. If only there was someone I was thinking about when listening to it...
Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff
Kept me going after Spencer died. What more need I say. 'Where are You Going' is the song that actually got me to like Dave. Now I like pretty much everything.
Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion
The quintessential Depeche Album. So great. My favorite has to be 'In Your Room'. So cool. Listened to it a lot right after I got into climbing, so now it brings me back to spring mornings either going up the canyon, or wanting to.
Depeche Mode - Ultra
This might have been the first album I ever owned, but I never listened to it all the way through until my junior year of high school when I went to St. Louis on band tour. The song 'Freestate' has been a great one for me.
Duran Duran - Medazzaland
This is a very weird album. I love it. 'Out Of My Mind' needs to be the track I mention.
NEW ADDITION:
Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
I debated this for a bit because of 'End Over End'. I like the song, but the chorus can get to me sometimes so I'll skip it. But this is not only my favorite Foo Fighters album, but if I made a top 5 or 10 overall favorites list, it would probably find a spot. It's a 2 disc, with the first disc sounding more like regular Foo, but the second disc sounds completely different, and I love it. 'Still' has gotten countless listens from me. 'On The Mend' is my existential theme song. 'No Way Back' has such a classic Foo Fighters style to it, and it's so pushing.. So grand.
Foo Fighters - One By One
This one is great though. It gets angry at times, but not too angry. 'Times Like These' is great, though I do like the acoustic version better.
Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy Up The Girl
Lots to love on this one. 'Black Balloon' and 'Iris' are my favorites here. It may make me seem depressing, but I really relate to 'Iris'.
Goo Goo Dolls - Gutterflower
They had me at 'Big Machine'. Such a great song! I don't think the rest is quite as good, so I was sad they climaxed at the first song. But it was such a high climax you can ride it down on the other great songs and not feel cheated.
Muse - Absolution
I don't even know where to start. 100% pure good music. 'Butterflies and Hurricanes' was the first song I heard, and it hooked me on Muse. when I listened the the whole album, nothing disappointed. Muse has such a great unique style, and in their 3rd album they had it down pat.
Muse - Origin of Symmetry
This, Absolution, and Busted Stuff took turns in my CD player during my senior year of high school. We'll mention 'Citizen Erased' specifically.
Phish - Farmhouse
A relatively new addition to the list, I started really listening to Phish a little over a year ago. Parker listened to it as long as I have known him or longer. In 9th grade we did a cover of 'Gumbo' (not on this album) so it's amazing that I lasted this long. 'Heavy Things' is the song I show to normal people who are curious about Phish, as some of their weirder songs can scare people off. My favorite might be 'Dirt' though.
Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
'High Hopes' was my favorite song for a long time, but I didn't listen to the 10 great songs before it for a long time. Then I listened to a few of them (around 9th grade or so). By the end of high school I had finally sat down and done the whole album. 'Poles Apar't and 'Wearing the inside out' are so awesome. This album shows David Gilmour for the musical genius he really is.
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
David Gilmour said in an interview that he was jealous of people who could sit down with some headphones and listen to this for the first time. I do too. It has been around my my whole life, so I never had a first experience with it. If you have never listened to it, grab a copy, grab some headphones, find somewhere comfortable where you won't be bothered for 43 minutes, and give it a listen. It's the 6th best selling album of all time for a reason.
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Of course, like most pre-teens, I was obsessed with 'Another Brick In The Wall Part 2'. It's not anywhere close to my favorite song on here. as it is 26 tacks long it's amazing that none of them hack me off. But it is a triumph of musical talent. Roger Waters does great writing on songs and lyrics, and Gilmour's songs bump this up to greatness.
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Who hasn't heard the title track? The other tracks are awesome as well. Shine.
Sense Field - Living Outside
I had never head of them before, but I heard 'I Refuse' on the radio and went to Best Buy and grabbed the album. Great purchase. It's possible my favorite song is the hidden track 'The Horse is Alive'. Strange memory: I would climb up into the weeping willow in my old back yard with my climbing gear, sling myself to the tree, sit in my harness and listen to this CD. I did that several times over the summer I got this.
NEW ADDITION:
Tord Gustavsen Trio - The Ground
Not sure how I skipped this one. Great jazz trio. Tord has some amazing piano songs. Very mellow, loungey music.
Zero 7 - Simple Things
More great chill out or driving music. This was introduced to me by my dad, the only album on the list (other than the Floyd) to be. 'Distractions' hacks me a bit, but the rest is just so good. 'In The Wainting Line' has to be my favorite.
So there is my list. If you read the whole thing, I applaud you... actually, I don't believe you. Now,
go find the secret message.
