411 Top 100 Albums: 50 to 41
Posted by on 08.21.2007
Fifty are in the history books........fifty more remain. One Click Away.
Here we are in week six. Fifty down, fifty to go!
Column number six shall begin in 3…..2…..1…….
PART SIX
Prince - Sign O' The Times
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Billboard 200: #6
R&B/Hip-Hop: #4
Singles:
"U Got The Look" Billboard Hot 100: #2 R&B/Hip-Hop: #11 Hot Dance Music: #18
"Sign O' The Times" Billboard Hot 100: #3 R&B/Hip-Hop: #1 Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #2 Hot Dance Music: #1
"I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man" Billboard Hot 100: #10 Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #4 Hot Dance Music: #13
"If I Was Your Girlfriend" Billboard Hot 100: #67 R&B/Hip-Hop: #12 Hot Dance Music: #32
"Hot Thing" R&B/Hip-Hop: #14
Melchor: Maybe Warner Bros. knew what they were doing in this case after all. (Man, telling this story never gets old.) You see, Sign O' The Times was supposed to be a 3-disc magnum opus called Crystal Ball (of which a different version was released years later). However, after the sagging sales of Around The World In A Day, the label refused him that conceit. The two sides reached a compromise - a double album that salvaged about a third of Crystal Ball mixed in with new songs. Despite its length, Sign O' The Times is a tight, funky, powerful work that became, arguably, Prince's finest hour. And that's saying a LOT.
O'Sullivan: Awesome, awesome, awesome. How's that for a critique?
Tollah: This wouldn't be my personal choice of Prince's second highest album on the list (The Gold Experience and Diamonds & Pearls are easily better in my T-Opinion), but it's still an excellent piece of work and a big critics' favourite for some reason.
Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Billboard 200: #22 Country: #2
Internet: #30
Singles:
"Hurt" Country: #56 Modern Rock: #33 Digital: #34
Mitch Michaels: For American IV, the legendary Johnny Cash did something he'd never done before and the whole world stood up and took notice: He died. Sure, IV has its moments, but Cash had quietly been making stellar albums for 10 years before that, adding a third or fourth wind to an already brilliant career. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes losing someone, even a talent as enormous as Cash, to really shine a spotlight on their body of work. American IV is a great album, no doubt, and a fitting end to one of the most storied careers in all of music. Cash sounds as introspective and vital in his 70's as he did as a young man, with a lifetime of wisdom crammed into each song. If you've only heard "Hurt", give this record a spin and listen to John take on everyone from Depeche Mode to Hank Williams. Then buy the other ones.
Wright: One of my earliest musical memories is watching my dad playing guitar and singing "Sunday Morning Coming Down", I know it's a Kris Kristofferson song but my dad only used to play Cash's version on the record player so I've got fond memories of Johnny Cash from a long time back. When he released this collection of songs it finally brought him the wider audience he'd been seeking to recapture with the three previous American Recordings. Essentially, this is the sound of a man writing his own epitaph and I for one would rather remember this to be the great mans final word rather than the sub-par posthumous American V released last year.
Ramones - Ramones
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Pop: #111
Helm: The album that started it all. If one was looking for the origins of punk, one need look no further than Ramones. Nearly everything that made up the genre of punk can be found on this album. From quick, rocking ditties ("Blitzkrieg Bop", "Judy Is a Punk") to pop throwbacks ("I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", "Let's Dance") and from pop culture references ("Chain Saw", "I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement") to wry social and political commentary ("Havana Affair", "53rd & 3rd"), Ramones is the true groundbreaking punk album. It doesn't hurt that the album itself is amazing as well.
Berry: The Ramones' simplistic, speedy, and aggressive spin on early rock ‘n' roll and 60's girl groups was best showcased on this debut album. Each of the fourteen tracks (clocking in at a mere 29 minutes) have infectious rhythms and simple, anthemic lyrics. There isn't a sore track in the bunch with "Beat On the Brat", "Blitzkrieg Bop", and "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" standing out as the album's highlights. For American youth bored with the polished, sterile brand of rock that dominated Top 40 radio in the late 70's, this was a godsend.
Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bullocks, Here's The Sex Pistols
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Pop: #106
Singles:
"Pretty Vacant" Pop: #93
Nagle: The Ramones invented punk rock, but the Sex Pistols throttled it into infamy. They became the most hated band in Britain and in the process created a mythos that has never truly died. Beyond the hype, the songs hold up incredibly well. Steve Jones' plays his Les Paul with a sleazy power that few players possess and Paul Cook's drumming is delightfully messy. Glen Matlock wrote all the songs and Johnny Rotten turned having no future into an art form. Songs like "Anarchy In The UK" and "God Save The Queen" sound as relevant today as they did three decades ago.
Coy: In a time such as this, or nowadays, when corporations have their thumb pressed pretty securely upon the balls of much of the music industry, I'd rank the importance of this one as being a roadmap of telling the music industry to bugger off. All you gotta do is listen to the song "The Great Rock ‘n' Roll Swindle" to get a sense of what it all meant. That's not to take away from the music at all. The Ramones went to England, inspiring a hell of a lot of future punks. If anything, the Sex Pistols and their fellow UK punk pioneers upped the ante, giving punk the outright political edge only hinted at in their American forefather counterparts.
Metallica - Metallica
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Billboard 200: #1
Singles:
"Enter Sandman" Billboard Hot 100: #16 Mainstream Rock: #10 Digital: #55
"Nothing Else Matters" Billboard Hot 100: #34 Mainstream Rock: #11
"The Unforgiven" Billboard Hot 100: #35 Mainstream Rock: #10
"Wherever I May Roam" Billboard Hot 100: #82 Mainstream Rock: #25
"Sad But True" Billboard Hot 100: #98 Mainstream Rock: #15
Helm: There's a certain irony to the fact that this is Metallica's most well-known and most popular album in that it sounds nothing like any of their previous albums. Under the tutelage of one-time hair-band producer Bob Rock, Metallica channelled their furious melodies into this finely tuned, perhaps appropriately self-titled work. This was the new Metallica; no longer purveyors of heavy metal epics but creators of marketable metal singles. In fact, five tracks from this album ("Enter Sandman," "Nothing Else Matters," Sad but True," "The Unforgiven," and "Wherever I May Roam") charted on the Billboard Hot 100! Does that make Metallica an important album? Certainly. A great album? Indubitably. A Metallica album? That remains to be seen.
Mitch Michaels: There will be arguments till the end of time about Metallica selling out on the Black Album, but the end result is a band taking metal and thrash and kicking the shit out of it, propelling the genre from the bottom of the scummy pond from which it dwelt into the bonafide mainstream. Metallica not only made stars out of its creators, but opened the floodgates for other bands on FM radio as well. Sure, the album isn't as experimental as 'Tallica's previous efforts, and, yes, the shorter songs were made for radio, but you couldn't keep Metallica in a box forever. The Black Album is all about heavy metal anthems and that it still endures and RULES on the radio today is testament to this album's power.
Tollah: Rightio. Not sure why this is on here and so high, really. "Wherever I May Roam" is a top song but "Enter Sandman" and especially "Nothing Else Matters" really, really drag after being so overplayed.
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Wright: I'll admit that I'm a Dolittle man, but this more lo-fi and rawer album (as you would expect from a Steve Albini produced effort) is almost its equal and in "Where Is My Mind" it's got one of the greatest songs ever written. God knows what the hell Black Francis is singing about.
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions to Hold Us Back
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Billboard 200: #42
R&B/Hip-Hop: #1
Singles:
"Don't Believe The Hype" R&B/Hip-Hop: #18 Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #21 Hot Dance Music: #17
"Bring The Noise" R&B/Hip-Hop: #56
"Night Of The Living Baseheads" R&B/Hip-Hop: #62
"Black Steel In The House Of Chaos" Rap: #11 R&B/Hip-Hop: #86
Phil Watts, Jr.: With Chuck D's hard-hitting social-political commentary and authoritative voice, Flava Flav's comedic antics ("NO YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BACK, SILLY RABBIT!!!"), and the Bomb Squad's innovative sampling (which was way ahead of its time), this album helped change the sound and the perception of what hip-hop is.
Melchor: Before Nation of Millions, rap was about very little else but to declare how ultrafuckin'bad you were on a mic. Enter Chuck, Flavor, Terminator and the Bomb Squad to inject the beats with massive amounts of siren-drenched steroids and to let us know that black people had another voice aside from braggadocio. The rest is apparently forgotten history, as no one has even tried to match the alarming political consciousness that Public Enemy introduced to rap.
Nagle: "Here it is bam! And you say Goddamn, this is a dope jam!" It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back was a call to arms for the youth of a nation to take action. Chuck D is fearless as he declares war injustice and inequality. His voice has the power of Mike Tyson's left hand, and his rage is palpable. The way he uses his words in tracks like "Rebel Without A Pause" and "Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos" is hypnotizing. Chuck's lyrical rampage is complimented by the thick sound collages of The Bomb Squad and the comic antics of Flavor Flav. Politics have never sounded so heavy.
Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Billboard 200: #1
R&B/Hip-Hop: #2
Singles:
"Fight For Your Right" Billboard Hot 100: #7
"Brass Monkey" Billboard Hot 100: #48 R&B/Hip-Hop: #83
"The New Style" R&B/Hip-Hop: #22 Hot Dance Music/Club Play: #41 Hot Dance Music: #20
"Paul Revere" R&B/Hip-Hop: #34
"Hold It Now, Hit It" R&B/Hip-Hop: #51 Hot Dance Music: #45
Phil Watts, Jr.: Legendary producer Rick Rubin took this punk rock band and made them the first melanin-deficient hip-hop act to be 100% accepted by hip-hop fans and pop fans. The pop fans got some theme music for their frat parties, while the 808 kicks will ensure that hip-hop fans will be bumping this shit for several years!
Melchor: The very beginning of the album let you know what you were in for: with a Led Zeppelin beat and blasting guitar, the boys declared that Mutiny On The Bounty was what they were all about. And yes, they did then board the ship and turn it on out with an almost chaotic style of classic rock samples and dizzying tandem rhymes. Still revered by frat boys everywhere, the Beasties have gone on to evolve and mellow out, but the party's still on anytime this is played.
Mitch Michaels:Licensed To Ill is the natural progression from Run-DMC's take on "Walk This Way", a combination of metal and rap that could have only sprung from the mind of Def Jam's Rick Rubin. Luckily, Rubin had the perfect group to deliver this new style: a trio of smart-ass jewish guys who happened to excel at rhyming and being obnoxious. Add in the fact that the songs were REALLY catchy ("Fight For Your Right To Party", "Girls") and you have the ingredients for a hit album that will have your parents covering their ears for months.
Weezer - Weezer
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Billboard 200: #4 Heatseeker: #1
Canadian: #2 Internet: #7
Singles:
"Undone – The Sweater Song" Billboard Hot 100: #57 Mainstream Rock: #30 Modern Rock: #6
"Buddy Holly" Mainstream Rock: #34 Modern Rock: #2 Top 40 Mainstream: #17
"Say It Ain't So" Modern Rock: #7
Helm: As the first salvo in what would be affectionately and disparagingly called "geek rock," Weezer's debut album stands as a precursor to many of the melody – and sentimentality – fuelled bands of today. Oftentimes toeing the line between melodramatic melancholy ("Undone - The Sweater Song", "Say It Ain't So") and pop celebration ("Buddy Holly", "Surf Wax America"), Weezer encapsulates the sensibilities of the "geek rock" genre, featuring a combination of pop culture references and suburban ennui. Weezer is very much a bipolar journey through Rivers Cuomo's mind and it makes for a great album.
Berry: Weezer's post-grunge classic marries the self conscious, post-punk of indie bands like Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh with the fist pumping, brainy power-pop of late 70's acts such as The Cars and Cheap Trick. The result is an album of infectious melodies and anthems for outsiders, played by four of the nerdiest dudes Los Angeles has to offer. Rivers Cuomo became my generation's geek idol a la Buddy Holly and Elvis Costello for prior generations. Cuomo's lyrics rank with the best of rock songwriters especially on songs about lost love ("The World Has Turned And Left Me Here"), alcoholism ("Say It Ain't So") and alienation ("In the Garage"). The latter, in my opinion, is the strongest song of the lot and of the band's career.
Mitch Michaels: By all rights, Weezer should have been a one hit wonder. With a poppy hit like "Buddy Holly" (not to mention its "Happy Days"-themed video) that struck a chord during the otherwise moody mid-90s, it's hard to believe this band REALLY had something unique and relevant to give. Somehow, though, the band's alt rock leanings and geek rock personality captured the hearts of rocker nerds everywhere and The Blue Album, as it were, became a hit at math club meetings and science fairs everywhere (well, right after TMBG, natch). That's not to say these guys don't rock. Their fans are just really fucking annoying. Where the hell was I going with this? The workers are going home!
The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico
CHART HISTORY:
Album:
Pop: #171
Berry: It's hard to tell whether bands such as Nirvana, the Pixies, Sonic Youth, or any other band blurring the line between noise, dark themes, and beautiful melodies, could exist without The Velvet Underground's massive influence. In a time where blindly optimistic hippie music ruled the airwaves, The Velvet Underground made songs about the underbelly of New York society. Junkies, prostitutes, and dealers were VU's subject of choice, rather than anti-war cries and pleas for brotherly love. Velvet Underground & Nico is strongest on their darkest, most brooding cuts, "Venus In Furs" and "Heroin". For how huge an influence this album has had on rock music since its release (39 years ago!?), it's amazing that The Velvet Underground's debut hasn't achieved Gold sales status yet.
Wright: You can shove your Beatles and your Stones up your arse, the greatest band of the 60's were a bunch of misfit Warhol associates with a penchant for writing about smack addiction and weird sex. While showing that you didn't need great musicianship to write great songs a decade before punk came along, it was the presence of John Cale, who did know a bit about music, that turns this album into a masterpiece. Songs addressing the subject matter this album focuses on should be disconcerting and there are dissonant moments here which never fail to make my skin crawl. Genius.
Nagle: While everyone else was going to San Francisco with flowers in their hair, Lou Reed and his merry band of art students teamed up with a German model named Nico and created a starkly different portrait of American life. When people talk about the first Velvet Underground record, they usually talk about the drug songs: "Heroin" and "Waiting For The Man." The Velvets go much deeper than that, though, and explore all sorts of genres, from dreamy pop to avant-garde noise. They would become more experimental and sleazy (White Light, White Heat), darker (The Velvet Underground), and poppier (Loaded), but The Velvet Underground & Nico laid the blueprint.
Credits
Creator / Host:Tim O'Sullivan
Sub Editors:Mitch Michaels and Brian Berry
List Counters:Tim O'Sullivan and Brian Berry
Disc Artwork:Scott Rutherford
Design and Production:Mitch Michaels
Writers who contributed lists: Tim O'Sullivan, Brian Berry, Scott Rutherford, Leonard Hayhurst, Tollah, Mitch Michaels, Morgan Marx, Ian Wright, Will Helm, Jared McGuckin, Frank Estrada, Matt Shoemaker, Scott Slimmer, Phil Watts Jnr, Dusty Godwin, Korry Hill, Jamie Buttineau, Marques Furumoto
Writers who contributed blurbs: Tim O'Sullivan, Scott Rutherford, Ian Wright, Will Helm, Mitch Michaels, Michael Melchor, Phil Watts, Jnr., Brian Berry
Matt Shoemaker, Tollah, Frank Estrada, Jason Chamberlain, Jesse Coy, Dan Marsicano, John Nagle
