Two more commercial smashes and a DTF standard favorite in this update.
36. Elton John - Goodby Yellow Brick Road (1973)Elton John is a great pop piano player. He's also a first class songwriter. After all this time listening to him I can't say I can get inside his head though, because his writing is all over the place. So listening to his catalog is like a complete grab bag. But something was in the air when he and Bernie composed this set of tunes. I'm sure everyone here knows Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding because of the DT cover, but IMHO the cover doesn't hold a candle (in the wind?) to the original. What an epic song, with one of the best choruses of all time. For the entire album though, the combination of energy and real melody shines through because of the focus on the piano. Hard to believe this same guy wrote the music to the Lion King. Oh well, you can't win 'em all
Favorites: FFAF/LLB, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting, Candle In The Wind, Grey Seal, All The Girls Love Alice.
35. Guns 'N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II (1991)This might be a controversial pick as well. Do G'n'R annoy some people? probably. Do they seem like they would be assholes in real life? probably. Would I want to meet them personally? no. Does Axl have a superiority complex? Sure seems like it. Is he a little whiny? Yeah. So why did I pick this album then? Well, because G'n'R sure know how to write some great hard rock music. And this list should be as much about the music as possible, not about whether you would want to spend time hanging with the band members. If you move past all the baggage that comes with the band, they are extremely talented. They know how to play their instruments well, especially Slash, who is a very underrated bluesy guitarist, maybe because he's a little ostentatious. The compositions are tight, and it retains some genuine punk edge even though the band was a huge commercial success at this point. You Could Be Mine is arguably the artistic high point for this band, even though it was accompanied by a famous video with a strong movie tie-in. The album is mostly high energy and it really kicks ass. It is not perfect, but when it hits (which is the majority of the album) there is nothing like it. I also know some prefer UYI 1, but I just don't see/hear it. There are some good tunes on that one, but the highs aren't as high, and there are some pretty big annoying ones (see for example November Rain). Highlights: You Could Be Mine, Get in the Ring, Shotgun Blues, Fourteen Years. Songs I skip every time: So Fine, My World.
34. Dream Theater - Images and Words (1992)Here it is, the album that started my relationship with arguably my favorite band. Hard to believe when this came out G'N'R was dominating the world. When I heard Pull Me Under on the radio back in '92 (not the first EP though...
a little foreshadowing... ) It was the best song playing at the time, and it was just... beyond everything else. It opened a big door needless to say. After I got the cassette, the first minute or so of Take The Time was what sealed it for me. What can you say about this album that's new? Probably nothing (as with many of my higher picks.) So I won't waste your time, and I'll just go directly to my favorites, in order: Learning to Live, Metropolis Pt 1, Under a Glass Moon, Take The Time, Pull Me Under. I'm not going to piss people off by identifying the order of my least favorites, but they're still great too.