WebRaider's Top 50 Albums - v. Breaking All The Rules

[jingle.boy]

This posting is inspiring me to checkout Deadwing.  Listening to it shortly.

[Dr. DTVT]

Deadwing and In Absentia are albums your resident Steve Wilson hater likes.  They're worth the while, as are Fear of a Blank Planet and The Incident.

It's not about when music was made as much as when I discovered it.  After Dream Theater a lot of the music I used to like seemed so simple or juvenile.  I've come back to the metal somewhat, but there's stuff I have that I'd be hard pressed to listen to again.

[WebRaider]

You have lots of great stuff here. Led Zep, Pink Floyd, PT, Sabbath, Metallica. There's also lot's of stuff I haven't heard. Your top 10 should be very interesting

I'm glad you've followed and enjoyed it so far!

[WebRaider]

This posting is inspiring me to checkout Deadwing.  Listening to it shortly.

Deadwing and In Absentia are albums your resident Steve Wilson hater likes.  They're worth the while, as are Fear of a Blank Planet and The Incident.

I have been enjoying certain songs from Porcupine Tree's catalog for a long time. Then I'd sit down to listen to an album and as a whole it wouldn't grab me. With Deadwing, for some reason it spoke to me more as a collective as well as liking the individual songs.

[WebRaider]

Into the Top 10 we go.......





10. Mastodon - The Hunter [2011]




Controversy!!

I know this is going to be a shock to many with it first, being such a newer album and second, because it's already become a dividing album for some Mastodon fans. I get that some of the fans only like the bands hardcore stuff with the rawr, rawr vocals and that's fine but I got into Mastodon with Crack The Skye and came to love the older stuff as well but refining and making their vocals better (more accessible?) here only served to help me enjoy their whole catalog even more. For me there are no clunker songs here and only a few less than very good.


There are no concepts for The Hunter other than the band just having fun, so you can just choose any song and go with it but I tend to listen to it from start to finish anyhow as it seems to just hypnotize me somehow somewhere around the fourth tune "Stargasm" I'm locked in (that sounds slightly perverted). There's still plenty of edge here but this album is also catchy as hell. I find myself humming or thinking of some of the melodies which some might find odd for a metal band that's generally so heavy like Mastodon.


Most of the newer albums I somewhat purposely restrained myself from ranking too highly but with The Hunter I know it will always be among my favorite albums. 2011 was a great year for music for me.



Check out: "Blasteroid", "Stargasm", "Octopus Has No Friends", "All The Heavy Lifting", "The Sparrow"









9. Soundgarden - Superunknown [1994]




Such a dark and gloomy overall mood to this brilliant album. Where Black Sabbath used horror movie lyrics to create a much darker vibe, Soundgarden uses raw tormented human emotions to create their doom and gloom and it works to perfection on Superunknown. Kim Thayil and company provide Sabbath like riffs while Chris Cornell is on top of his game here, moving from eerie melody to deeper grunge vocals to outright Robert Plant like screams.

The album spawned a number of hits like "Spoonman", "Black Hole Sun", "Fell on Black Days" but as I've noted several times the album cuts are what makes the album for me and this album is deep. It's quite long at about 70 minutes but while it features such a dark undercurrent it manages to never drag. Clearly one of the best albums of the 90's and one of my all-time favorites.



Check out: "Limo Wreck", "Mailman", "The Day I Tried to Live", "4th of July", "Like Suicide"









8. Prince - Purple Rain [1984]




Prince is an artist who polarizes most music fans. To some, he is an unparalleled genius; others are confused by his sexuality, vulgarity or general behavior (although that's what he wants) and find it more convenient to dismiss him as a over-hyped weirdo. For me he is pure genius. He created brilliant music solely on his terms (many times to his own detriment).

This album is a perfect display of all of Prince's talents from his vocal pyrotechnics to his musical versatility. Pop hasn't been an easy genre to create serious music in, yet Prince mastered it here. He takes a big chunk of rock and funk and infuses it with electronic synths and anthemic song writing. Every song is flawless and can be just as easily played in a club, at a party or sitting down with headphones listening to every amazing note. Purple Rain is a timeless masterpiece, probably the best pop album of all time if you choose to classify a genre.



Check out: "Let's Go Crazy", "Darling Nikki", "When Doves Cry", "I Would Die 4 U", "Purple Rain"









7. Dream Theater - Images And Words [1992]




Still an amazing gem today, Images and Words definitely deserves a place in my top 10. Since we all are familiar with this superb album (or at least should be) I'll re-hash my story of discovering the album and the band.

First let me set the scene....It goes back to 1992 and I was not yet in high school. I am from a small town and there generally weren't many things to do for a kid my age at the time. Some kind soul decided to try to open a "teen club" so that the youth would have some place to go and hopefully stay out of trouble...

My friends and I were all into the same types of music mainly metal, rock and classic rock and it was the early days of Nirvana and grunge etc. so we were obviously enjoying that as well. When I heard of this "teen club" I was certain they would only play pop music or R&B but my friends who had a band were invited to come play to help open the place up. This was an exciting experience to see my friends play a gig in a club at at young age and everyone was pumped.

Now to get to the DT discovery portion of the story... as I said my friends were playing the opening of the club so the club got a nice PA system and everything for the band. My friends and everyone meet up that night and we're all mingling and chatting excited in anticipation of our friends playing on stage in the club. Meanwhile someone starts playing some other music through the PA preparing it for the show. The first song to come through in blaring brilliancy is "Pull Me Under"....

It starts off and me and my friends kind of look at each other like what is this? The drums kick in and I'm like that can't be real.. then the first riffs come through at around 1:17 of the song and our young minds are blown for good! I know some people are tired of the song and some of the younger fans might not understand what it was like to find this song. What I compare it to at that time is what people who heard Zeppelin or Sabbath in the late 60's or early 70's must have felt.... The sound was just other worldly for that time especially. On top of that take PMU and go crank your stereo system full on and imagine what it was like hearing that come across a cranked PA system in 1992...

So I pretty much forget my friends exciting moment of opening up the club and playing one of their first real gigs..lol..and I spent the rest of the evening trying to find out who the band was that played during soundcheck. It was about a month before PMU started getting play on Headbangers Ball and they had already made me a fan for life.



Check out: "Pull Me Under", "Take the Time", "Metropolis, Pt. 1", "Under A Glass Moon", "Learning to Live"
 








6. Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads - Tribute [1987]




I'm a big Ozzy fan. From his career with Black Sabbath through all of his solo stuff. I believe that his best work was with the legendary Randy Rhoads. Sabbath are clearly one of the creators of heavy metal (IMO the creators) but with Randy, Ozzy took his game to another level. Randy Rhoads forever will be one of the best guitarists the world has ever known.
 
Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman are amazing albums on their own and I actually had them listed here WITH Tribute but when I started listening back over the albums I realized that I had come to much prefer the Tribute versions of the songs on those albums. Like I said, Blizzard and Diary are outstanding records but after hearing the songs on Tribute they almost sound sterile. On Tribute they are absolutely electric and sound alive and thats exactly how I wish to remember Rhoads in tribute.

Check out: "I Don't Know", "Believer", "Mr. Crowley", "Revelation (Mother Earth)", "Children of the Grave"

[Nekov]

DT and Ozzy 

[obscure]

and Mastodon 

[JRundquist]

I feel bad for not commenting much on this thread. But there isn't an album on this list that I don't really enjoy. You have a great taste in music. Looking forward to seeing the best of the best!

[jingle.boy]

And Prince!  Completely under-rated, and over-shadowed in the early/mid 80s by MJ.  Absolutely fantastic album.  Had it on vinyl, and got a lot of spins in the jingle bedroom.  Still listen to it to this day every few months.

[WebRaider]

I feel bad for not commenting much on this thread. But there isn't an album on this list that I don't really enjoy. You have a great taste in music. Looking forward to seeing the best of the best!

No problem at all. I appreciate anyone following along, commenting or not. I really wanted to put a list together to see if I could and how it would look at the moment. I think I managed to juggle things that will always be among my favorites even though I've listened to them to death and things that are making their way into my all-time favorites. Just hope I haven't bored everyone to tears yet...

And Prince!  Completely under-rated, and over-shadowed in the early/mid 80s by MJ.  Absolutely fantastic album.  Had it on vinyl, and got a lot of spins in the jingle bedroom.  Still listen to it to this day every few months.

I love so much of Prince's work. He's been pretty prolific with writing and performing some amazing tunes. Definitely among my favorite musicians ever.

[Dr. DTVT]

That Ozzy album kept me sane once.  When I was in college I had to write this big ass term paper at the end of the semester, so I moved all my stuff out of my dorm other than clothes and my computer to keep distractions down.  Then the AC broke so it was about 100 degrees.  Since I had already shipped all my music home for the summer, I went to the music store and that Ozzy album was on sale...it was the only thing I could afford that I didn't already own, so I listened to it about 20 times straight over the next two days.

[WebRaider]

That Ozzy album kept me sane once.  When I was in college I had to write this big ass term paper at the end of the semester, so I moved all my stuff out of my dorm other than clothes and my computer to keep distractions down.  Then the AC broke so it was about 100 degrees.  Since I had already shipped all my music home for the summer, I went to the music store and that Ozzy album was on sale...it was the only thing I could afford that I didn't already own, so I listened to it about 20 times straight over the next two days.

  That's an awesome story! I hope Ozzy and Randy helped you "rock" that term paper 

[Kosmo]

Superunknown is such a great album. 

[WebRaider]

Totally predictable 5-2... #1 could be a surprise to some though...




5.  Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin [1969]




Led Zeppelin... well the cool thing over the last several years has been to hate on one of the greatest bands of all time so I guess actually LOVING this album and the band is the new edgy thing again (at least it is in my mind, F' off haters). Zeppelin breaking on the scene in 1969.... 19...69... with some of the heaviest sounding raw and powerful blues drenched music ever. They didn't just break the door down on the rock scene they blew everyone's door off the hinges. Nothing like them at the time as far as musical quality and heaviness. Going on well over 40 years now this debut still makes me shake my head at how powerful it is. If Physical Graffiti was Zep refined and polished this is clearly them full of raw energy and both are great. This album just gets bonus points from me for coming first and creating a path for all heavy-hard rocking bands.



Check out: "Good Times Bad Times", "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You", "Dazed And Confused", "Your Time Is Gonna Come", "How Many More Times"










4. Devin Townsend Project - Addicted! [2009]




I'm still wrapping my head around the idea that an album can be so heavy yet be perfectly danceable (or at least in my case head-nod-able). Addicted! is the album that instantly clicked for me and quickly was being blasted across my house and scaring my family. It was a fast full-on addiction for me!

This album features the full range of Devin's amazing vocals as usual but with the addiction... er... addition of the beautiful and outstanding female vocals from Anneke van Giersbergen on numerous tracks. Through Devin's mad genius he manages to somehow meld his wall of sound and crushing metal riffage with her angelic vocals while throwing in his own mix of angelic operatic and demonic scowling vocals. Really impossible to properly describe; powerful, melodic, crushing, even downright poppy at times but most of all it's extremely fun.

I don't know of an album I have that can put me in a better mood or make me smile quite as much. The family certainly appreciates that and now have even found themselves Addicted! This album has changed how I look at/ listen to music.



Check out: "Addicted!", "Supercrush!", "The Way Home!", "Numbered!", "Awake!!"

 








3. Van Halen - Van Halen [1978]




The MIGHTY VAN HALEN! This was how the band was introduced and with damn good reason. In 1978 the band exploded on the scene with their debut featuring sonic guitar-centric tunes. The legend goes that when they went on their first big tour opening for Black Sabbath, they were blowing Sabbath off the stage performance-wise. It's not hard to see how that was the case. I listen to some of Ed's guitar work in the early VH years and still marvel. Looking back and listening to this album 30 plus years later there has been little that can touch his work when considering creativity, sound-wise, and technique so you can imagine how awe inspiring it was at that time.

While EVH is a major part of what makes the band and this album special the rest of the band is full on and "On Fire" here. This album changed music spanning several genres and generations going forward. No matter what your musical preferences you can't call yourself an open-minded music lover if you can't appreciate what this album offers- killer hooks, dazzling guitar, banshee vocals, driving energy, and original riffs that a thousand imitators still can't replicate.



Check out: "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love", "I'm the One", "Atomic Punk", "Little Dreamer", "On Fire"










2. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon [1973]





To me there is no doubt that this album is clearly one of the greatest ever. I hear a number of people today call it overrated. I think some folks just have a hard time enjoying something that so many people accept as great even when it's almost undeniable and these folks never really deny that the album is exceptional. I do understand people have different tastes and this album has been hyped but the reason I don't see it as "overrated" is that the quality of music exceeds the hype.

Moving on from yet another soapbox moment... As I mentioned previously when commenting on Wish You Were Here, this album focuses more on how Pink Floyd saw the world around them. The songs and lyrics are based a great deal as commentary on society and humanity. As with most Floyd albums production, song writing, musicianship are golden here. In my mind no amount of hype could cause me to think this album is overrated... it's sheer perfection.



Check out: "Speak To Me/Breathe", "Time", "The Great Gig in the Sky", "Us and Them", "Any Colour You Like"







................. #1 coming soon!

[pain of occupation]

 

[jingle.boy]

Nice albums. Not much of a Devin fan, but    on the others. EVH was godly on that release. He redefined the role of a lead guitar player. One of the first to take the frontman role away from the lead singer. As flamboyant and as good a lead that DLR was, EVH on the axe was better.

[Nekov]

Nice! I'm not very keen on Roth's era VH but the rest are pretty awesome records

[ReaperKK]

Fuck man you're list is so epic.

Addicted! is probably my favorite DT album however I still have a lot of his material to listen to. "The Way Home" is easily my favorite song of his.

Dark Side, awesome to see it place so high. My issue is I think I overplayed for many years and it just lost that spark with me, it's still a great album though.

[obscure]

Dark Side, awesome to see it place so high.

where it belongs.

[Nekov]

Addicted! is probably my favorite DT album however I still have a lot of his material to listen to. "The Way Home" is easily my favorite song of his.

Yes!!! I don't know why that song doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

[WebRaider]

Fuck man you're list is so epic.

Addicted! is probably my favorite DT album however I still have a lot of his material to listen to. "The Way Home" is easily my favorite song of his.

Dark Side, awesome to see it place so high. My issue is I think I overplayed for many years and it just lost that spark with me, it's still a great album though.

Thanks so much! I'm very glad to see a number of folks enjoyed keeping up with it. Not sure I was really able to introduce people to much they weren't already aware of but maybe there's something in there that inspired some folks to check it out. Regardless as tough as it was I enjoyed putting the list together and feel pretty good about it overall for where I'm at.

Addicted! is probably my favorite DT album however I still have a lot of his material to listen to. "The Way Home" is easily my favorite song of his.

Yes!!! I don't know why that song doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

"The Way Home!" is superb. Devin really shows off his vocals there. I've always been a big fan of that song as well.

[Kosmo]

Addicted! is probably my favorite DT album

I was so confused for a minute.

[kirksnosehair]

This has been an extremely interesting list so far.  Some stuff that ain't really my cuppa, but that's cool.  Some other stuff that's right in my wheelhouse too.

[ReaperKK]

Fuck man you're list is so epic.

Addicted! is probably my favorite DT album however I still have a lot of his material to listen to. "The Way Home" is easily my favorite song of his.

Dark Side, awesome to see it place so high. My issue is I think I overplayed for many years and it just lost that spark with me, it's still a great album though.

Thanks so much! I'm very glad to see a number of folks enjoyed keeping up with it. Not sure I was really able to introduce people to much they weren't already aware of but maybe there's something in there that inspired some folks to check it out. Regardless as tough as it was I enjoyed putting the list together and feel pretty good about it overall for where I'm at.

Yea it's a great list 90% of the stuff either made my list or would be in my top 100 though

[WebRaider]

Well, it's been fun everyone! Thanks to everyone who dropped in or was following along.

Finishing up now with my #1....................................








1. The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness [1995]




Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness took a few years to grow on me even though at it's release I was already a pretty big Pumpkins fan. I didn't really like the single "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and it seemed to me at the time they had departed from the sound of Siamese Dream. That was true to some extent but Billy Corgan had actually only expanded on the sound. The range and scope of Mellon Collie is tremendous as there are so many great tunes from beginning to end that are different from each other, yet flow together very well. This album is #1 for me because it encompasses every element of music I truly enjoy.



*I'm stealing a review I found online because I can not find the words that thoroughly desecribe this amazing album. This review explains it much better than I could begin to.


Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness is a magnificent 28-song opus spanning 2-CDs and a multitude of musical styles. It's as lush as it is intimate, as ambitious as it is focused and every bit as grand as such an affair should be.

From the opening swells of the hit "Tonight, Tonight," the amount of growth marked between this and the band's previous effort, "Siamese Dream" is evident. A sweeping ballad that is unlike anything the band had produced before, it's not only indicative of the what was to come, but also merely a sampler of the wide variety of sounds the album has to offer. From there we are treated to the retro-pop of "1979," a nostalgic anthem of sorts that finds the band working with a drum machine for the first time since recruiting drumming powerhouse Jimmy Chamberlin. Bassist D'arcy Wretzky dominates on heavier fare such as "Zero" (a signature song of the band) and the superior "Tales of a Scorched Earth," which threatens to overload and obliterate even the best sound system. It's not all sonic bombast, though, as some of the simpler tracks like "Muzzle" (which carries the trademark vintage Pumpkins sound) and "Thirty-Three" are the stars that burn the brightest.

From front to back, not a moment on "Mellon Collie" is wasted. Not only is the band in top form and firing on all cylinders (arguably for the first and last time in their career) but Corgan's songwriting hits an all-time high as well. Unlike many of their fellow rockers, Smashing Pumpkins weren't afraid to embrace accessibility and reach new heights creatively, and to that end, "Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness" is one of the most competent and most compelling rock releases of the 90's. A true classic that no collection -- alternative or otherwise -- should go without.



Check out: "Tonight, Tonight", "Fuck You (An Ode to No One)", "Galapogos", "Thirty-Three", "Thru the Eyes of Ruby"

[WebRaider]

In review that is.....


1. Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness [1995]
2. Van Halen - Van Halen [1978]
3. Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon [1973]
4. Devin Townsend Project - Addicted! [2009]
5. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin I [1969]
6. Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads - Tribute [1987]
7. Dream Theater - Images And Words [1992]
8. Prince - Purple Rain [1984]
9. Soundgarden - Superunknown [1994]
10. Mastodon - The Hunter [2011]
11. Metallica - ...And Justice for All [1988]
12. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti [1975]
13. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here [1975]
14. Porcupine Tree - Deadwing [2005]
15. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream [1993]
16. Alice In Chains - Dirt [1992]
17. The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium [2003]
18. Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine: Biomech [1997]
19. Van Halen - Fair Warning [1981]
20. The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion [1994]
21. Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence [2002]
22. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours [1977]
23. Soundgarden - Down on the Upside [1996]
24. Mastodon - Crack The Skye [2009]
25. Stone Temple Pilots - Purple [1994]
26. Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime [1988]
27. Black Sabbath - Sabotage [1975]
28. Megadeth - Rust In Peace [1990]
29. Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf [2002]
30. Mad Season - Above [1995]
31. Dio - Holy Diver [1983]
32. Pantera - Cowboys From Hell [1990]
33. Protest The Hero - Scurrilous [2011]
34. Incubus - S.C.I.E.N.C.E. [1997]
35. The Devin Townsend Band - Synchestra [2006]
36. Queensryche - Promised Land [1994]
37. Tool - Ænima [1996]
38. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral [1994]
39. Deftones - Diamond Eyes (iTunes deluxe edition) [2010]
40. Maxwell - Embrya [1998]
41. Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time [1986]
42. Fair To Midland - Arrows & Anchors [2011]
43. Candlebox - Candlebox [1993]
44. Dave Matthews And Tim Reynolds - Live at Radio City [2007]
45. Pearl Jam - Ten [1991]
46. Chroma Key - Dead Air for Radios [1998]
47. Queens Of The Stone Age - Era Vulgaris (Tour Edition) [2007]
48. Dokken - Tooth and Nail [1984]
49. Havok - Time is Up [2011]
50. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine [1992]




40 Different Bands/Musicians

1960's - 1
1970's - 6
1980's - 8
1990's - 21
2000's - 9
2010's - 5

Thank you all!!!!

I'm Out!!!!!!

[Heretic]

Awesome list, dude. Great to see The Hunter so high!

[Ravenheart]

Mellon Collie is a masterpiece. Great #1 pick. 

[WebRaider]

Awesome list, dude. Great to see The Hunter so high!

Thanks! I know some may take issue with it but really it's a great album even if it's fairly new still.

Mellon Collie is a masterpiece. Great #1 pick. 

I'm glad there are a few other fans of the Pumpkins and this album around. Every time I listen to the album starting from the beginning there are so many good/excellent songs throughout I barely have time to listen to all of the ones I want.

[pain of occupation]

lots of love for mellow jolly...though i do regard a couple tracks as filler.

awesome list dude. lots i love and a few things to check out (trying to see if a friend has Mad Season, for one.)

[ReaperKK]

Not a big fan of Mellon Collie, it's not terrible but I think I could work down all the good songs onto one disc of material.

[wolfking]

That Smashing Pumpkins album is amazing!

[WebRaider]

lots of love for mellow jolly...though i do regard a couple tracks as filler.

awesome list dude. lots i love and a few things to check out (trying to see if a friend has Mad Season, for one.)

Thanks! I hope you like the Mad Season album.

Not a big fan of Mellon Collie, it's not terrible but I think I could work down all the good songs onto one disc of material.

I know there are a lot of fans who aren't big on double albums. I much prefer to have the material than not. Let the fans decide whether it's worthwhile or not. Having said that I understand everyone is going to have a different opinion there. I personally feel like there is very little in the way of "filler" on Mellon Collie. I like how there's varying types or different sounding songs that seem to break up such a long album so I don't get bored by the length of the album.

That Smashing Pumpkins album is amazing!

Glad to see another fan of it here