In honor of Bloody Good Music celebrating ten years as the outlet for my various thoughts and ramblings, it felt an appropriate time to once again visit the question of what my favorite albums of all time are. I ask this of myself every couple of years, but the last few times I have stuck with the top twenty choices, separating the elite from everything else. This time, I am digging deeper, listing the fifty albums I would put on the highest pedestal, to give a better indication of exactly who I am at this point in my life.
That is the key element of this. I am by no means saying these are undoubtedly the best albums I have ever heard, or that the list will look much of anything like this if you ask me on a different day. What this list compiles are the albums right now I find myself reaching for, whether it's for nostalgia or therapy. Out of all the music I have heard in my life, these are the ones I find myself going back to most often right now. That was not true five years ago, and it will not be true five years from now. This is merely a frozen frame in a film that will continue to run.
Below each entry, you will find a video of my favorite song from the album. Enjoy.
50. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness On The Edge Of Town
This is one of those 'mood' records. Springsteen had a vision for how he wanted the record to unfold, and it largely does. This is an album for the beaten and down-trodden, those looking for a light on the horizon justifying running off into the night. I think it just might do that.
49. Matchbox Twenty - Mad Season
This used to sit in my top ten (top five?), but love is a fickle thing. While I still love most of these songs, and the jumbled mess they make, I can often focus on only one or two of their tones at a time. This record is an illustration of how we have our different facets, but we do not live them all at once.
48. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
It's funny to me that an album that name-drops influences I've never heard of, nor want to listen to, can fit me so well. My emo phase has come much later than most, and perhaps that explains why Jimmy Eat World has been such a heavy part of my listening in recent times. There is a tone to them that is the right sort of melancholy for my mood.
47. Dio - Holy Diver
It wasn't long ago I would not have thought to include this. I love Dio with Black Sabbath, and I love Dio with Rainbow, but this record always felt a bit short of those heights. That isn't true anymore, as the capstone to Dio's untouchable run of greatness now stands as much of a highlight as any other.
46. Nightmare Of You - Nightmare Of You
There's a fine line between being eccentric and being intolerable. This album rides that line, with indie-emo songs that drip with pseudo-literary pretension, balanced with bedroom pop hooks that make the whole thing feel like an impenetrable tome with a velvet cover. This album wouldn't be so great if their only other record wasn't so terrible. I like that it's a fluke for them, and for me.
45. Avantasia - The Metal Opera, Pt II
To this day, I don't know the storyline of this record, nor do I care. All that matters is that this is the record that stands out from my power metal phase above all others. I can't entirely explain why, but for a moment in time this is the road I thought I was going down. It was a detour, but it's nice to have a souvenir.
44. Tonic - Sugar
This is the album that convinced me I needed to listen to Tonic, but the entry point is where I may be personally furthest from these days. I still think so fondly of the days I was obsessed with this record, and the highlights are stone-cold classics, but the whole package has gotten a bit heavier to carry.
'Modern metal' is one of those terms that is abused to describe the countless ways the genre has fractured. Soen is what I had hoped it would become more often. No other current band has figured out how to be heavy, rhythmic, melodic, and emotional at the same time the way that Soen has. This album is the best metal has gotten in many years.
42. Bab Catley - Immortal
There are voices you love that are saddled with bands you don't. Bob Catley is one of those, as Magnum is only 'meh' most of the time. This solo album is a melodic gem of metal glory, and about as perfect an example of the format as there is.
41. Trouble - Trouble (1990)
Maybe my favorite 'guitar album' ever. The walls of riffs are great on their own, but the acquired taste of Eric Wagner sets it over the top. This is doom that can't sound sinister if their lives depended on it, which makes it all the more fun.
40. Killswitch Engage - The End Of Heartache
I heard about this through away messages on AOL Instant Messenger (yes, that's how old I am), and I didn't 'get it' until much later. While metalcore was never my thing, the operatic nature of Howard Jones' voice made this emotional metal unlike much else. It still is.
39. My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
I settled on this being the 'album of my generation', not "American Idiot", so it's only fitting it makes the list. MCR is maybe the only band that got better, and more focused, by having a narrative driving the music. It's a wild ride, and the epic ending is one of those glorious moments I always want to come back to.
38. Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events
I'm not one for prog, or music meant to impress me through skill alone, but there was one moment when Dream Theater managed to focus all of that into amazing songs. When I need an album that can sweep me up in something epic, this fits the bill.
37. Jorn Lande & Trond Holter - Dracula: Swing Of Death
This might be the most ridiculous album sitting on my shelf. It's the 60s Batman version of the story of Dracula, and the absurdity of the whole thing is what makes it work. Everyone needs a bit of camp in their lives from time to time, and this is my favorite example of it.
36. Blues Traveler - Travelers & Thieves
I avoided this album for decades, but I can't deny that I have in many ways lived the experience of "Sweet Pain", and it's allusions to Cyrano. The album and its sarcastic allusions are the sort of thing that get better with age, and I'm now old enough to appreciate that I needed time to learn this.
35. Elvis Costello - When I Was Cruel
This is the album that introduced me to Elvis, so it holds a sentimental place, even if I can see the holes in the curtain. I remember asking myself, "Who writes like this?" That's a complicated answer, but the gist is that figuring that out was a journey I needed to take.
34. Graveyard - Graveyard
My favorite guitar tone ever is the on the chunky riff of "Don't Take Us For Fools". Graveyard somehow came to life fully formed, sounding as much themselves on their debut as they ever would. The flaws in the production make the electricity bristle even more, which only heightens the excitement.
33. Alyson Avenue - Presence Of Mind
Few albums are better for bright sunny days than this one. Melodic rock is not done better very often, and the saturated guitars pair with Anette Olzon's piercing voice to make a record that is as sharp as the sun's rays cutting through the glass of a window.
32. Elton John - Peachtree Road
He wasn't making hits, but Elton's late-career surge led to what I think is his best record. This one might sound 'old' to some, but it's the maturity of a lived-in life that makes it more exciting than singing about rockets and crocodiles.
31. Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding
Sorry to Iron Maiden, but I like Bruce's classic trilogy better than any of their work. This is the crowning achievement of them all, the conceptual piece fusing William Blake's art and poetry with the grandeur of epic metal. It's one of the greatest statements of metal's worth as art.
30. Dan Swano - Moontower
I still like the description of this as 'if Rush played death metal', but that isn't enough, since both Rush and most death metal don't appeal to me at all. What this record truly captures is the ability to make guttural music that retains amazing melodies, which I have never heard done again. It's a one-off I am lucky to have stumbled across.
29. Halestorm - Vicious
This is one of those albums that hits me in ways I can't describe. I shouldn't love it as much as I do, but Lzzy's fire burns hot enough to keep any song from getting cold. There are moments of vocal brilliance I'm not sure she will ever hit again, and maybe that's why it sounds so good to my ears.
28. Edguy - Tinnitus Sanctus
Can you write a song about an aardvark that doesn't sound like a joke? Apparently you can, because Tobi did it on this record. The fact that he made a power metal record that is as tongue-in-cheek as ever, but turned it into a heavier examination of the genre's dark side, is the sort of thing that makes me love it more than anything else the genre has offered.
27. Emerson Hart - Cigarettes & Gasoline
This album was one of the first times I thought about the art of songwriting as a kaleidoscope, in how it presents pieces of Emerson that the songs he wrote for Tonic didn't quite accomplish. From the songs here I absolutely adore, I may have been pointed in the direction of being unabashedly myself.
26. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
Few albums have ever opened with a better line than, "Now that your picture's in the paper being rhythmically admired." If that doesn't tell you that this record is perfect for me, I don't know what else I can say.
25. Graveyard - Lights Out
I have never done better than my initial description of this album, which was as a time capsule that lets people like me understand what it must have been like to live in the time of classic rock. This is one of those records that sounds unspectacular, until you realize how hard it is to pull the trick off.
24. Sign Of 4 - Dancing With St Peter
When a voice isn't what it used to be, it can occasionally turn into something even better. That happened for Phil Mogg, who never sounded better than his slightly weathered voice does on this album, which also happens to be the most melodic record I've ever heard from him. It is a mature version of his oddball shtick, and the only time it seems to work for me.
23. Halestorm - Halestorm
Lzzy is on the shortest of short lists of voices that have spoken to me on a higher plane. This record might be contrived, and manufactured by songwriters, but that's also what is so great about it. These are the tightest, hookiest songs Lzzy has ever sung, and never dull a bit despite how many times I have listened to them.
22. Dilana - Beautiful Monster
This album opened up new worlds to me, both in emotion and friendship. Unfortunately, there are many times I wish it hadn't been so successful in that endeavor, and as such I find myself listening to it less often. There are times I don't want to feel, and I can't help it when this is playing.
21. Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree
There is a side of me that is cringe-inducing, and tries too hard to be clever. That is exactly what this record is, and I think that's why I love it so much. The language is tortured, and full of way too much ego, but the absurdity of something so fake being 'emo' amuses me as much as the hooks stick in my mind.
20. Graham Colton Band - Drive
The band recently recorded their first new song in twenty years, but this record was a moment in time that I can't explain in more objective terms. It was the right album at the right time, and would rank even higher if a particular favorite song of mine from their EP made the record.
19. Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
I always cite this as the reason I don't like modern pop music. Kelly's voice is a marvel, yes, but the rocking pop of these songs is near perfection. When I need music to be fun, there aren't many better choices available.
18. Meat Loaf - Couldn't Have Said It Better
Meat Loaf is more than Jim Steinman, and this record is the prime example. The pastiches written for him are glorious, and update the formula for one last gasp of greatness before his voice and taste both started to decline.
17. Black Sabbath - Heaven & Hell
Ronnie James Dio. That's all I need to say. The greatest voice in metal at the height of his powers, with a version of Black Sabbath that needed to show they were more than people thought. This record is epic and beautiful, powerful and thoughtful.
16. Graveyard - Hisingen Blues
This is as close as I've come to understanding both the blues and classic rock. Graveyard is one of those bands that feels timeless, and with that, essential. They are less obvious, but more foundational.
15. Weezer - Pinkerton
This one is problematic, but I think I can still enjoy it so long as I recognize it as a cautionary tale. The record is the story of a horrible person, and from one angle reminds me there are worse ways I could have turned out. I could have turned out to be a fan who likes everything Weezer has done. Ugh, perish the thought.
14. The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall
Though it was always ill-fated, I once attempted to work on a collaborative project because of how much the intertwined vocals of The Jayhawks were speaking to me. There is something universal to the simplicity of the songwriting, and the connected spirit of two voices.
13. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
How I went fifteen years thinking this album was a disappointment is a mystery. Now that I have come to understand it, my affection has been growing by leaps and bounds. "Dizzy" has become a song of the dearest importance to me, and I look for music that can pull me back into a proper orbit. This one can.
12. Dilana - InsideOut
My favorite voice in the world, and here singing my favorite song ever. I don't need to say more, but this flawed album is the illustration of human complication, and how puzzle pieces can be as jagged as the imagination allows, but they will still fit together if they belong. I like to imagine she and I are still that.
11. Dave Matthews Band - The Lillywhite Sessions
An album that never got released because it was too much of a 'sad bastard' record sounds perfect for me, doesn't it? The unfinished nature only plays into its strength, where it serves to remind us that the raw expression can be far more real than what it gets turned into later.
10. Tonic - Lemon Parade
While this has been drifting slowly down the list, I can never articulate what it has meant to me, because I would not be a musician without this album. While I don't live in that same sense of post-grunge haze anymore, the spark of inspiration still burns when I listen to this album.
9. Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
The first line I ever heard that I wish I wrote was "I'm praying for the end of time, so I can end my time with you." I didn't know just how much Steinman's music would come to define my psyche, but it's hard for me to think about this record without feeling the sense of wonder I did as a kid who didn't understand what he was listening to.
8. Green Day - Warning
While others will gravitate to "Dookie" or "American Idiot", the subversive power-pop of this record remains Green Day's most alluring offering. Infectious songs that balance snark and sentiment show the band at their least obnoxious, and only get better the more I listen to them.
7. Matchbox Twenty - Yourself Or Someone Like You
Much of my life consists of realizing things much too late. The angst of this record, when compared to those that followed, is one of those things. I was drawn to this album, then pushed it away, only to come back to it. I did so because it is angrier than it seems, which I could probably say about myself right now.
6. Elvis Costello - King Of America
If brevity is the soul of wit, simplicity is the soul of music. This record is sparse, mostly acoustic, and a showcase for how all you need for a great song is a couple of chords, a lyric, and a melody. I learned much from Elvis on this record, and it still reminds me of truths when I forget them.
5. Blues Traveler - Four
I never saw it coming that young me was enthralled with an album of bitter complaints and plaintive yearning. It makes total sense now, as I am much the person John Popper was when he wrote these songs. This is the bitter pill we take to wash away the saccharine aftertaste of trying to be who we are supposed to be.
4. Tonic - Head On Straight
I have come to realize atmosphere means more to me than I thought. This record is proof, as it is the amped up guitars that put the power in power-pop. It isn't Tonic's most important record, but it's the most important to me, because it solidified their place in my life, and set the stage for much of my music exploration thereafter.
3. Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell
The album that made me a music fan continues to amaze me. Every year, I see more of myself in Jim Steinman's music, and that terrifies me in many ways. I revel in the melodrama, because my own life has nothing of the sort to offer.
2. The Wallflowers - Breach
Despite my failings and drought, I still consider myself a songwriter at heart. No record has done more to push me in that direction, and hone my skills, than this one. It is my north star, the words I have spent two decades trying to re-write as my own. Forget Bob, this is the best work of any Dylan.
1. Jimmy Eat World - Futures
In difficult times, there is no record I reach for more than this one. It has become my 'comfort food', so to speak, where the atmosphere is that of the night sky; specks of hope sparkling in the blanket of darkness. This was already my favorite album, but it has become essential. This sound echoes the empty feelings I deal with, trying to fill that void with the power and beauty of music.
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