0018: The 100 Best Rock Albums (51-60)
Submitted by lbangs on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 10:25
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- 51. Singles Collection: The London Years - The Rolling Stones: The Stones' early work is full of great albums, but none capture the genius of the band in their 60s infancy like this massive collection of every single and B-side they released during that pivotal decade. Listening to this boxed set with fresh ears, it is incredible to hear the band evolve from their R&B and blues roots to rock / pop, only to turn around and begin to reinvent their roots into their own image. The beginning of their classic early 70s work is mapped out here; even if they had broken up in 69, their place in rock history was firm. Of course, amazingly, this was only half the story.
- 52. Tonight's the Night - Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Wrecked by the deaths of close friends that he partly blamed himself for, Young heroically gave birth to this beast. Strained voices, loose playing full of mistakes, and unpolished with sharp, rough edges that threaten to slice deeply - Tonight's the Night finally stared down Young's demons and wrestled them until they surrendered. Every song is a battle, and by the end of the album, it is obvious that Young has won. Not easy listening, but essential.
- 53. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses: Managing to sound like classic rock and alternative rock both at once, The Stone Roses were, for an all-too brief moment, unbeatable. Ian Brown sounds like a veteran rock star, the band mixes novel touches of dance music into their layers of rock-solid rhythms and guitars, and the songs equal any classic pop cuts from the 60s. This album hasn't dated a second, and its influence on British rock music of the 90s is beyond measure.
- 54. Who's Next - The Who: Few 60s pop / rock bands other than the Who, the Rolling Stones, and the Beatles were able to enter the realm of album rock and create some of their greatest work. Who's Next began as a musical, but the band eventually gave up on the concept and kept the songs. Amazingly, the album still gelled into a mighty whole, and while they may have made better songs, they never pulled off a single album so teeming with blues, folk, and rock gems. Even the non-single album tracks received massive radio airplay, a tribute to an album without a weak link.
- 55. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - John Lennon: Harrowing is the word most often attached to this work, and the painfully honest and broken songs on this disc certainly earn that label. Few albums ever approach stripped pain as openly as this album, and Lennon manages to write some of his greatest, catchiest songs despite the bleakness of his subject matter. This album was the album we always knew Lennon had deep down inside himself, and while he never shone this bright again, few have ever come close to his masterpiece.
- 56. Everclear - American Music Club: Mark Eitzel is one of the greatest contemporary songwriters, and with American Music Club, he found the perfect band to bring his haunted tunes of lost love and found bottles to life. Mining the rich soil of country to find new jewels to adorn their alternative rock with, AMC peaked with this disturbing album. Like Waits at his best, the band plays sad songs without lapsing into maudlin sap, and Why Won't You Stay is truly one of the saddest songs ever recorded.
- 57. Music from Big Pink - The Band: For some perverted reason, whenever the names of great and influential bands get bandied about, somewhere in the midst of mentioning the Beatles, the Rollng Stones, and the Who, the Band often gets left out. Music from Big Pink, their debut, almost begged to sell poorly. The album opens with a slow song, the band never really shows off, and the music defied the contempory electric craze to explore the rustic music of America's Southern heritage. Of course, the band wrote some of the greatest songs of the 60s, and their harmonies are one of the strangest and most delightful inventions of rock music. Each voice is strange and eccentric, yet somehow, blending with the others, adds to a ragged, glorious mix of melody flowing like sandpaper and honey. If that makes no sense to you, you need this album.
- 58. The Who Sells Out - The Who: Forget Tommy. Keep you Quadraphenia. This is the Who concept album that worked, with the central idea being loose enough to allow each song room to breathe. Replicating (and somewhat spoofing) the sound of 60s pirate radio stations, The Who also wrote one of their very best batch of tunes and played them with the appropriate amount of fury or beauty. I Can See for Miles obliterates most rock singles, and the fake commercials are a hoot. You've probably spun Who's Next to death; try this undersung classic.
- 59. Woodface - Crowded House: Americans may have abandoned them, but Crowded House actually reached their peak with 1991's Woodface. The Finn brothers finally combined their talents, and their voices and songwriting create a synergistic wonder that easily surpasses their earlier efforts. If the Beatles had formed in the 90s, they may have made Woodface. They didn't, but Crowded House did, and any fan of melodic pop perfection cannot afford to miss this disc.
- 60. Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 - Bob Dylan: The first set may contain more hits and well-known material, but this second volume of Dylan's work paints a much more complete picture of the man and his wild, inspired music. Most of these songs were never really hits, but every one should have been. From folk to folk-rock to blues-rock to country to - well, what would you call Lay, Lady, Lay? - Dylan's breadth of style and consistent quality should impress even die-hard Dylan haters. Two discs of pure genius.
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.
Where is Rumours - Fleetwood MAc. This album is one of the best albums ever! In one of your lists you talked about overrated artists, let me give you some advice, Bob Dylan is very overrated in this list. I have already seen four or five of his albums, now come on he isn't THAT GREAT!!
He his one of the best songwriters of all time, but his voice actually hurrts my ears!
Thanks for the comments. I like Rumours, but I couldn't find room for it on this list. Forgive me.
Actually, there are moments when I lean more to the adventurous Tusk as fav Fleetwood album, and what little I have heard of their older, more bluesy material sounds pretty good too.
As for Dylan, obviously a lot of people feel he is over-rated. Yes, he certainly is one of the best songwriters, but many neglect to notice the musical innovations he created as well. He fused folk, rock, and blues into an earthy, gritty, and exciting alloy. As an aside, I'm still shocked when I hear people slam Dylan and find out, after further questioning them, that they really only know the more popular folky singles he created. His singles are good, but he was one of the first true album artists, and anyone who has only heard Just Like a Woman or I Want You from Blonde on Blonde hasn't heard 1/20 of the album's greatness. (I'm not saying this is you; I'm just adding this as an aside).
His voice. La vie. Some folks find it too grating, and that often becomes an obstacle they find impossible to get past. He certainly has a horrible voice in any traditional sense, but he also has a unique quality to his voice that he managed to capitalize on. His words can sound as acidic and jarring as his most vicious songs, and as weary and intimate as his most personal tunes. He writes to his voice, and at least a good chunk of his genius is transforming what at first listen appears to be his Achilles' heel into his most devastating secret weapon.
But hey, different strokes.
Again, thanks for the comments and for taking the time to scan my lists. This Top 100 Albums list took quite a bit of time to pull together and to write, and it makes my day when anybody spends to time to read and to comment on them, even if he or she does disagree with me!
Funny, though. I really expected to read a thousand negative comments bemoaning the absence of Dark Side of Moon, and I haven't heard a one yet...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Great point about The Who Sell Out, and the reason that it works as a concept album when so many others don't. The radio station format is a cool concept, and it doesn't require any forced-sounding songs or lyrics in order to propel a story forward--it just requires great songs!
Johnny Waco
That album never got any love or attention from anybody I knew while I was growing up. I am very happy to see it getting more acclaim. Even in its expanded form on CD, it still plays like a terrific concept album, and the fact that it is built around an actual concept as opposed to a storyline contributes both to its unity and diversity.
Thanks!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs