0014: The 100 Best Rock Albums (91-100)
Submitted by lbangs on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 10:25
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- 91. Underwater Moonlight - The Soft Boys: While monolithic rockers ruled the airwaves, Robyn Hitchcock and a group of friends rediscovered the simple folk-rock of the Byrds. Turning up the chiming guitars and writing a set of tight, economical rock songs, The Soft Boys created this little-heard masterpiece. It may have enjoyed little sales and no airplay, but a few fans, including REM and the Replacements, never forgot this great, strange album, and as a result, its jangly guitar chords echo through most of the alternative music of the 90s.
- 92. Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet: On Girlfriend, Sweet effortlessly melded a heady brew of power pop and guitar rock to some of the finest songs of the decade. The album smoothly glides between cranky, cynical rockers to achingly gorgeous ballads, with nary a faltering turn. Crushed under the outpour of grunge in 1991, this album is ripe for discovery.
- 93. Human Wheels - John Cougar Mellencamp: With its boring, repetitive title track, how in the world could Human Wheels appear on this list? You haven't heard the splendid masterpiece that is When Jesus Left Birmingham. Augmenting his usual lean heartland backings with a gospel choir and a sparse, spooky feel, Mellencamp created one of the finest songs of the early 90s. What If I Came Knocking is nearly as good, and excepting that mediocre title track (which, oddly enough, was the single), this earthy album manages to soar.
- 94. Singles - The Smiths: The Smiths are very deceptive. Their songs are so well-crafted that on first listen the melodies and vocals can seem like perfectly normal pop tunes. Listen closer, however, and you discover Johnny Marr's unique, angular guitar chords and Morrissey's bizarre, psuedo-tragic odes to very unusual topics. This disc collects every one of their singles in chronological order and provides a surprisingly invigorating rush of pure alternative pop perfection.
- 95. Maxinquaye - Tricky: Working on Massive Attack's Blue Lines, Tricky helped manufacture trip-hop. On his solo debut, he stole the style and drove it into a dark, scary alley of blunted dread and paranoia. Maxinquaye bristles with endlessly surprising textures and innovative soundscapes, painting a bleak yet seductive world that easily consumes the listener. That alley may have proven to be a dead end, but on this album, Tricky proves the ride was worth it.
- 96. Substance - New Order: After the death of Joy Division's lead man, Ian Curtis, no one expected the rest of the band to carry on. Surely no one expected them not only to survive, but also to blaze a new trail combining post-punk sensibilites with the pulses of dance music. On Substance, a collection of New Order's greatest songs and remixes, you can hear four Brits rise to smash expectations, creating some of the best pop songs of the 80s in the process.
- 97. Sister - Sonic Youth: Everyone knew that if Sonic Youth could ever harness their innovative noise experiments into actual songs, they would be one of the most dangerous bands on the planet. The sad truth was that is was never likely to happen. That Sonic Youth actually pulled it off ranks as one of rock's greatest achievements, and this is the album where they first did the impossible.
- 98. Sleeps with Angels - Neil Young & Crazy Horse: When Young hushes Crazy Horse and reins in their usually glorious feedback frenzies, you know something is wrong. Rocked by the death of Kurt Cobain and seeing his own words in Cobain's suicide note, Young and his cohorts retreats into this tender, quiet album to examine the myths of America and the sorrow caused as some of those myths crumble. Instead of surrendering to despair, Young searches through the ruins for anything of worth remaining. His search is not in vain.
- 99. Screamadelica - Primal Scream: You are welcome to the marriage of rock, house, and rave. Primal Scream's genius was not solely conceiving this unique alchemy of 90's music, but also in shaping it into a concept album encompassing the story of rave culture itself. From the heights of ecstasy to the best burnt-out songs this side of The Rolling Stones, Screamadelica charts the culture from its fueled beginnings and looks far enough into the future to see the ultimate comedown at the end of it all.
- 100. Live Wire! The Singles (1962-1972) - Martha & the Vandellas: Where The Supremes provided smooth polish, Martha & the Vandellas gave us grit. Easily the greatest of the 60's girl-groups, Martha and company's greatest songs, including many rarely heard B-sides, are all here on this fantastic 2-CD set. Heat Wave, Dancing in the Streets, Nowhere to Run - if you believe Diana Ross ruled the women of Motown, you should buy this set and check out the true royalty.
Author Comments:
Influence and historical importance mean nothing here. Each and every album is ranked based solely on its own artistic merits. All official releases are fair game; only bootlegs are not considered. This is it - the best rock albums ever.
I will be adding entries as time allows. The list is complete, but I wish to write a bit about each album, so it may be a week or two until all albums are listed. I hope to add at least two or three entries each weekday and more if I have the chance.
Creating this list hurt. Great albums were left on the cutting room floor, and sadly, I fear albums near the bottom of the list may be looked down upon. Make no mistake - any album on this list is a fantastic work well worth your time. The difference between closely ranked albums was microscopic at best.
To prevent this list's size from becoming prohibitive, I am breaking the hundred entries into blocks of ten.
Hmmmmm....I like this list, but I must confess I also loved the "Human Wheels" single, too...of course, I am a Hoosier...which creates an incredible bias. :0
Thanks for the compliment. I'm interested to hear if you continue to like the list as it grows. I do not hate the "Human Wheels" single, but I do wonder why it was chosen as the single. I do find it a bit monotonous and greatly favor most any other song on the album. Of course, I'm an Okie, which...well...I'm not sure what that means.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
The title track to Mellencamp's Human Wheels album is not only the albums's most finer moments, which expresses John's most inner-felt sadness of lost life with the hopes of new life rebirth, but is also one of the more complex tunes of rok and roll. The song is rich in darkened overtones with the use of varying instruments to complement each other along with John's own darkest vocals.
Comparitively, When Jesus Left Birmingham is pathetic when matched with one of John's most shining moments of his entire 25+ year career. And that needed to be acknowledged.
Well, I'm glad you feel strongly about your music!
Unfortunately, I could hardly disagree more. Human Wheels is pleasant but repetitive. As for its complexity, the lyrics exploit a cliche (time and history as a circular wheel) without really adding much to it, unless you count the endless renditions of the chorus as an audio symbol of sorts, repeating over and over just like the spinning wheel of time. Whether that is brilliant or boring will no doubt depend on the listener. The music is nowhere as complex as The Grateful Dead's American Beauty or as Mellencamp himself acheived in this style on terrific albums such as The Lonesome Jubilee.
When Jesus Left Birmingham is completely unexpected. Mellencamp has never dug into the connection between various folk musics this deep before; in fact, Mellencamp seems to discover before our very ears the flip-side nature of blues and gospel. Additionally, his lyrics boil much of his philosophy down to a simple story with characters that live and breath versus grand, psuedo-poetical statements. When John sings, "I'm just as human as I can be," it is one of his finest vocal moments.
In fact, I believe When Jesus Left Birmingham is John's finest moment; not only does he meld blues and gospel, this mixture perfectly matches his lyrics of love and loss. The songs starts almost rejoicing; that pesky Jesus guy has finally left town, and the disciples are free to finally enjoy themselves. The "people went completely nuts," "riding high on a golden calf." As the final line of the first verse says, "When Jesus left Birmingham / All the people had themselves a big long laugh."
The song continues to relish in a love. An idolized woman appears (first love?) - "She don't pray / But she somehow seems still to be blessed." She's smart, she dances on tables, and like everything perfect in the world, she can't last forever. "When my girl left Birmingham / She was doing what she thought was best."
Here the song shifts. The earthy joy is gone. Despair enters. Voices from the abyss rise up and start to surround. A man is heard - "Recovery, I don't know about any recovery." Another voice - "Save us right now, we need you." The darkness of Saturday night after the party starts to set in. The ache of lost love. The raw bite of reality. Hopelessness.
The music swells unbearably in this sorrow until it finally break like a fever. The music grows quiet, as the singer retreats to a quiet garden, mummbling whatever enters his mind while rubbing a rosary. "I ain't saying much worth repeating / Just askin' for forgiveness and all of his best." He comes to the conclusion that Jesus didn't abandon him as much as he left him there for... well, why? "When those crazy nights come callin' / Man, I'm just as human as I can be / When Jesus left Birmingham / He left it there for you and me." And maybe that's the point. Maybe the human experience has value in and of itself. As his wonderfully quoted words here from his earlier song Jack and Diane repeat, "So let it rock, let it roll / Let the Bible Belt come and save my soul," he seems to imply that we don't need to be saved from the world. We need to embrace it in all its human messiness, all its pain and sorrow and love and joy. The world is not the trying ground, the purgatory before paradise. It's the point, and it is important in and of itself, in all its glorious imperfection. That realization is the only salvation this character finds, and that is enough.
The fact that he implies all this through a narrative rather than through preaching with platitudes makes the song even more moving and powerful. Also, by making this a story, it doesn't really matter if you agree with the singer. Heck, he may not even agree with it. It is the viewpoint of one character, and through the music and the story, you can feel along with that character whether you ultimately agree with him or not. This is the sort of emotional grounding which raises propaganda to great art, and whether it is propaganda or not, I certainly think When Jesus is great art.
It is amazing that this song feels epic while Human Wheels feels like a radio single, especially cosidering that Human Wheels runs twenty seconds or so longer than When Jesus! And frankly, while I don't really see Human Wheels ever reaching the level of When Jesus Left Birmingham, I also don't think there is anything wrong with the song that a few shaved minutes couldn't cure.
Thanks for the comments. Although I can't agree at all (as you can tell from this over-long reply! :) ), I'm glad somebody else is listening to this album enough to form a strong opinion about its songs. Enjoy!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Hey can I put in a vote for Lonesome Jubilee as being the better album? I do think Jesus From Birmingham is the best track on Human Wheels though.
Sorry for the interruption.
Absolutely, since in all truth, I go back and forth between Lonesome Jubilee and Human Wheels myself. In fact, now, a year or two later, I probably would give Lonesome the thumbs-up as the better album (Check It Out is terrific), though I still think Birmingham is Mellencamp's best song.
So, maybe when I finish my film list (ten years or so from now... :) ), I'll have to revise this list. But yeah, I guess that's two votes for Lonesome!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Hey Mr. Bangs, I'm eagerly printing off these exhaustive commentaries and rankings so that I can study them a little more carefully and report back to you. I look forward to reading your analysis and insights.
Johnny Waco
And I eagerly await your analysis and insights. I greatly respect your vast knowledge and unique yet superior taste in rock music. I am sure to find your comments enlightening. Thanks for spending the time to read them and to comment on them.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
You've obviously combed over quite the variety of rock music, but some of the black 70s artists appear to pose the most glaring omissions as far as I can tell? You into Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, or Curtis Mayfield at all?
You've nailed my largest gap. I love all three of the artists you named, but I am sadly more familiar with their singles than their proper albums. I hope to fix this soon (got my eye on Innervisions, Talking Book, and What's Going On), and hopefully when I revise this list in the next year, some of those will join Love's Forever Changes and Pavement's Crooked Rain Crooked Rain on the new listings.
Thanks for the dead-on comment!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs