This is the end my friends, the final installment in my big birthday capping list. To see the previous entries click here for 101-200, here for 201-300, here for 301-400, and here for 401-500.
100. Minutemen – Double Nickels on The Dime (1984)
San Pedro’s finest was a;also one of the greatest bands to come out of the American hardcore punk scene, a three piece influenced as much by Captain Beefheart and Bob Dylan as by The Ramones. This is their magnum opus, 43 songs that show off their passion, heart, brains and humor. For them this is stretching out with several songs over their vaunted 1 minute mark and a few over two.
99. Camper Van Beethoven – Key Lime Pie (1989)
This was an atypical record for CVD, violinist Jonathan Segal had left and his pan-global approach to the instrument went with him as Morgan Fichter took over. David Lowery was more in contol than ever and the lyrics were the densest and most compelling he’d ever written. The band complied with a bigger widescreen sound that hewed more towards rock without becoming generic. It’s a song cycle about the hottest, sweatiest part of summer and the feeling of oppressive humidity is palpable. Bonus points for being available on a lime green cassette back when I first bought it.
98. Radiohead – The Bends (1995)
Radiohead seemed destined to be a one-hit wonder after their success with the song “Creep” a blatant if effective Pixies rip-off that was not matched by anything else on their uneven debut. Thus expectations were low for this slow burning follow up that began to build a reputation through word of mouth and a string of clever videos. The songs were much more mature, musically varied but accessible. The tone is one they would perfect, ennui with depression lingering around the edges but the music and Thom Yorke’s incisive lyrics keep it from feeling like a pity party. Instead it’s moving, rousing stuff.
97. Silver Jews – American Water (1998)
This is the best of all worlds for The Silver Jews – Berman and Steve Malkmus at the help but Berman’s best lyrics and canniest melodies as a framework to screw around in. What words! From the skewed observations of “People” to the wry “Random Rules” this is a compendium of enjoyable couplets – from the latter:
“In 1984 I was hospitalized for approaching perfection.
Slowly screwing my way across Europe, they had to make a correction.
Broken and smokin’ where the infrared deer plunge in the digital snake.
I tell you, they make it so you can’t shake hands when they make your hands shake… ”
96. Wild Tchoupitoulas – Wild Tchoupitoulas (1976)
Essentially the Neville Brothers in full Mardi Gras Indian regalia backing up George “Big Chief” Jolly, this kicks up traditional New Orleans ceremonial songs with a giant dose of funk. This is the New Orleans party album to have in your home. Get it now.
95. Camper Van Beethoven – Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985)
CVB’s first record was unlike anything else in the American college rock world, or in rock in general. Half snotty California surf-punks, half amped-up ethnomusicologists, this was both unique, funny and listenable. One great indicator is their cover of Black Flag’s “Wasted”, slowed down and savored as a reborn cowpunk anthem. Another is one of their best known songs, the surreal “Take The Skinheads Bowling” which should come off as a novelty a la Dead Milkmen but instead feels sublimely dreamy, born aloft on it’s killer melody and chiming central riff. The borrowings from world music come from unexpected quarters indeed – eastern European folk primarily with a splash of Asian and Middle Eastern tonalities.
94. Weezer – Pinkerton (1996)
After the huge success of their debut, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo attempted to stay normal but he’s not a very “normal” guy. Suddenly he was surrounded by tempting half-Japanese fangirls, was operated on for a too-short leg in ways that distorted his appearance before and after, and fell into a pit of self-doubt. What came out is this rewrite of Madame Butterfly as filtered through punk pop. The harder edge and more adult songwriting (“Tired of Sex” lets you feel Cuomo’s blisters, and they ain’t on his fingers) led this to sell a mere fraction of it’s predecessor and reviews at the time were mostly dismissive. While the band went on an extended hiatus the reputation of the album grew until it’s now seen as a classic.
93. Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)
Like number 94 on this list, Weezer’s Pinkerton, this was a band following up their debut with a record that deepened and expanded on what they had done only to find commercial rejection. In both cases the bands found vindication though unlike Weezer the Dan bounced back quickly and with even more of the type of jazz inflected rock that they laid out here. The songs here are sharp and insightful, sometimes wistful, and always musical stirring.
92. Run-D.M.C. – Tougher Than Leather (1988)
Run-D.M.C. were feeling their influence wane by 1988 and this was their attempt to catch up with some of the changes happening all around them. The production is fuller and more sample based but rap itself had turned inward and away from the kind of crossover success and musical cross-pollination that Run-D.M.C. did so well. Despite that this is one of their best, with strong rhymes up against a much more expansive musical backdrop. 
91. Gang of Four – Entertainment! (1979)
Ah, to be a young Marxist in Leeds in 1979 and be in a band. Gang of Four makes righteous anger sound positively fun, and reward you for getting the multiple layers of jokes in “I Found That Essence Rare” which conflates a-bomb tests on Bikini atoll with bikini clad babes. It’s agit-pop at it’s best, aided and abetted by the chicken scratch guitar of Andy Gill.
90. Ramones – Rocket to Russia (1977)
While album number two confirmed that yes indeed, the Ramones had a formula and would be sticking to it, this third album say, “Oh by the way, the formula kicks ass and here it is at it’s best.” Along with their debut this is da bruddas strongest set of songs with their sharpest production: “Cretin Hop”, “We’re a Happy Family” and “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” are sheer bliss and “Rockaway Beach” and “Teenage Lobotomy” transcend even that to reach full on godhead status.
89. Rolling Stones – Some Girls (1978)
This is the Stones’ New York album and like my hometown in the 70s it’s gritty, sexy, sleazy and sometimes ridiculous. This is also their last outright classic album, and like many New Yorkers in 1977-78 it runs on pure fear driven adrenalin. It was entirely possible that Keith Richards, who was busted for heroin in Toronto during the making of the album, would go to prison for who knew how long. Maybe forever if he stopped getting his blood changed in a Swiss clinic every three months. Then there was punk rock breathing down their necks from one side and disco from the other. The Glimmer Twins roared back with new guitarist Ron Wood in tow, amping up their edge and writing from the gut. “Shattered” has seen more through more tough times than I care to recount with it’s rockabilly swagger and hint of reggae and “Miss You” sets the bar high for disco-rock crossovers to this day.
88. Nirvana – In Utero (1993)
Kurt enlists Steve Albini to produce an album that will finally scare away all the teenyboppers who jumped onboard with Nevermind but goddamit if he can’t help but write anthemic choruses and great melodies.
87. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand (2004)
The Strokes opened the door to all kinds of great bands who took inspiration from the great late 70s boom in punk and post-punk while adding their own spin. These guys were one of the best and their debut is a monster riff machine with each song packed within an inch of it’s life with hooks and details that reel you in. Alex Kapranos sings about love as if it’s espionage and the rhythm section, one of the best in rock, simply locks in tight.
86. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless (1991)
This was Kevin Shields’ masterpiece, several years in the making and destined to remain un-followed up to this day, despite many aborted attempts. It’s a huge massive slab of guitar sound with compressed drumming in the center of the maelstrom and Bilinda Butcher and Shields’ voices melding into the undulating sound wall. Absolutely massive.
85. The Clash – Sandinista! (1980)
Rumor has it that the surviving members of The Clash still owe CBS for the cost of subsidizing this overflowing triple album. Was it worth it? A gloriously sprawling mess of an album, it captures The Clash flush on the success of London Calling attempting to embrace as much of the music they love as they can. This means reggae, dub, kiddie songs, Motown, surf rock, punk rock, rockabilly, funk, and rap all get a spin around the block. This should be awful and in patches it is, but no two people would edit the album the same way.
84. R.E.M. – Reckoning (1984)
R.E.M.’s second album sharpens the focus of the first, rocking harder and gaining clarity. The songs shift ever so slightly from post-punk to take in elements of classic American rock with Peter Buck’s guitar doing an effective Byrdsian chime on “PrettyPersuasion.” Further consolidation of the band’s growing cult ensues.
83. Jay-Z – The Black Album (2003)
Jay-Z is in an autumnal mood here, looking back on the arc of his life and success. He’s backed by some of his best music, and matches it with some of his best rhymes, making the record a triumph after some sideways drifting post The Blueprint.
82. Sonic Youth – Sister (1987)
On their fourth record SY finally transcend noise for noise’s sake and deliver a tight, rousing album full of fleshed out songs. Of course their alternate tunings and love of chaos remains intact but is here harnessed to hooks and decipherable lyrics. “Schizophrenia” is the most immediate standout, interspersing beautifully chimed guitars with an ominous vocal sing-song before exploding into thrashy moments that resolve back into chimes.
81. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy (1985)
This is a highly original debut, as the Reid brothers take the sound of classic Phil Spector-era rock and layering on great slabs of distortion and feedback. It works because beneath the tinnitus inducing squealing and buzzing there are sturdy little songs poking their heads out. Sure it’s a gimmick but the JAMC were smart enough to trot out it out just for this record.
80. Pretenders – Pretenders (1980)
The debut album from The Pretenders shows the original line-up in all their glory – Chrissie Hynde’s concisely clever songwriting and snarky/smooth vocals, James Honeyman-Scott’s snarling and textured guitar leads and the killer rhythm section of Martin Chambers and bassist Pete Farndon. What made this a huge hit was the bands ability to synthesize punk, new wave, and classic rock into a riff happy hook-filled high energy romp. Hynde was a revelation as a frontwoman, a female bandleader who was clearly in change, and a songwriter who could go from the winning pop of “Brass in Pocket” to the hard rock of “Precious.”
79. Cheap Trick – Cheap Trick (1977)
What do you do with a band like Cheap Trick? Essentially they took the old knock on Billy Joel (that he thinks he’s Lennon but he’s really McCartney) and flipped it on it’s head – Robin Zander is a dead ringer for Paul McCartney at his most rocking but the band’s songs are like Lennon at his snarkiest. If this were merely a Beatles pastiche the album wouldn’t be ranked so high. Cheap Trickbring a level of tongue in cheek perversity that is beyond what bands outside of punk even dreamed of, from the underage fantasies of “Daddy Should Have Stayed in High School” to the serial killer ode “Ballad of TV Violence” to the devastating ladies man put-down of “He’s a Whore.” On the flip side there is “Oh Candy” which laments a suicide (a recurring theme for them) and the shimmering “Mandocello.”
78. The Smiths – The Smiths (1984)
The Smiths debut album sounded like nothing else to hit music – Morrissey’s doleful voice set against Marr’s guitar riffs and little hints around the edges of Patti Smith and David Bowie. This is leaner stuff though, and at a time when it seemed like synthesizers would take over the world the back to basics line-up and straightforward songs pointed to new directions to take.
77. Sly & The Family Stone – Fresh (1973)
Sly lightens the gloom a bit but sticks with the loose-limbed funk of There’s a Riot and why not? The songs are sharp and forceful – it’s perhaps his last lucid album.
76. John Lennon – Imagine (1971)
After the raw primal scream therapy influenced performances and songs on Lennon’s first solo album, his second found him returning to lusher sounds even as he remained committed to fairly naked songwriting on the “fuck you” to Paul McCartney that is “How Do You Sleep” or the self-flagellation of “Jealous Guy.” Then there’s the title track, an anti-religious screed that goes down easy thanks to it’s nursery-rhyme simple melody.
75. Spoon – Kill The Moonlight (2002)
Spoon discover that less is much more on their fourth record, which pares everything back to the basic elements and gains maximum impact. The simplicity of the arrangements are actually deceptive, there are horns on the driving “Jonathan Fisk” and “You Gotta Feel It” and the incredible “Stay Don’t Go” has a rhythm track built on Britt Daniel’s voice as a sort of indie rock human beatbox. 
74. The Mekons – The Mekons Rock ‘n’ Roll (1989)
The Mekons knocked around in obscurity on both sides of the pond for nearly ten years with a few well-regarded post-punk singles to their name. In the mid 80s they began to explore more Americanized territory especially the country sounds of Hank Williams, and some critics took notice. It was here where they suddenly emerged as a band to watch with a brilliant concept record that explores the meaning of rock n roll, whether bought over in the hold of slave ships in “Amnesia” or sprouting out of people’s bodies along with their first pubic hairs on “Memphis, Egypt.” Along the way there’s “Only Darkness has The Power”, a song whose lyrics are a verbatim transcript of a Paul Auster chapter, and the witty “Empire of the Senseless” which boasts:
“This song promotes homosexuality/It’s in a pretend family relationship/With the others on this record/and in the charts and in the jukebox/and on the radio/and on the radio”
If only it had been played on the radio…
73. New York Dolls – New York Dolls (1973)
New York’s wannabe saviors of rock and roll were the epitome of trashy cool, pushing the glam rock transvestism as far as it would go. Musically they took the Stones at their hardest and infused it with the sass and sound of 60s girl groups with “Looking For a Kiss” quoting from the Shangri-Las. A huge influence on punks and oddly enough, hair metal.
72. Paul Simon – Graceland (1986)
By the mid-80s Paul Simon seemed pretty tapped out, a 70s superstar who had peaked. What no-one expected was for him to decamp to South Africa nd come back with arguably the best album of his career. As surprising as his collaboration with the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo and other acts may have been, it was actually consistent with his fascination with the intricate rhythms of other cultures whether it was South America or the southern states of America. The album transcends what could have been mere cultural exploitation on the strength of the amazing songs with acutely observed lyrics that can zoom from the universal on songs like “The Boy in The Bubble” to the highly personal on the title track.
71. Beastie Boys - Licensed To Ill (1986)
The Beastie Boys debut became the biggest selling rap album ever, following Run-DMC into the mainstream and drawing charges of exploitation. In their hearts though they were three goofy guys pulling the ultimate prank, even more so when legions of meatheads took “Fight For Your Right” seriously and were dismayed to discover that all the guitars were sampled.
70.Pixies – Bossanova (1990)
Pixies and producer Gil Norton went for a big vibrant rock sound on their third album, bringing their surf-riffs to the fore and adding new shadings on songs like the ethereal “Havalina.” While Kim Deal was beginning to be pushed more into the background the combo of Black Francis’ voice shredding and Joey Santiago’s guitar powering on tracks like “Rock Music” the band was as powerful as ever.
69. Radiohead – Kid A (2000)
What genres were left for rock to assimilate after the all-encompassing 90s? Radiohead answered by making their most challenging album to date, a great leap forward follow-up to OK Computer, itself a huge jump from it’s predecessor. This is what early 70s Pink Floyd would have sounded like had they been exposed to a steady diet of experimental electronica like Aphex Twin and Autechre.
68. Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy (1973)
This was Zep’s loosest and most wide-ranging collection to date, including both mock James Brown on “The Crunge” and pseudo-reggae on “D’yer Mak’er” and lots of great chewy Jimmy Page riffs and Bonzo drum stomping in between. Then there’s the drop-dead beauty of “The Rain Song” and the ass-shaking boogie of “Dancing Days.” Monumental.
67. Guided By Voices – Under The Bushes Under The Stars (1996)
GBV continue to brush away the low-fi cobwebs but still won’t be forced to edit – there are 24 tracks sprawling across here. Even if the sound is less than polished the strong melodies of both Bob Pollard and Tobin Sprout are undeniable on tracks like “Drag Days” and “It’s Like Soul Man.” This might be the most balanced album between the stellar talents of both songwriters as Pollard usually dominated, and would again as Sprout was pushed out not to long after this album was released.
66. T.Rex – The Slider (1972)
T. Rex follows up their breakthrough with an album that is more of the same, only better.
65. Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)While Steely Dan worked jazz in from the point of view of snarky eastern elite rockers Joni Mitchell sprinkled it in as a California sound singer-songwriter. This catches here at a great midpoint, with “The Jungle Line” a mind-blowing excursion into territory that still sounds incredibly fresh today.
64. Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (1973)
Wonder catapulted himself into the first rank of artists with his most socially conscious release to date, matching his thoughtful and impassioned lyrics with a broad funk and soul musical palette. “Livin’ For The City” is a cinematic masterpiece, “Higher Ground” is funk so crunchy you can taste it, and “He’s Misstra Know It All” is one of the best Nixon “fuck you’s’ ever.
63. The Strokes – Is This It? (2001)
The Strokes debut came on like a delicious blast from the past – a New York band clearly indebted to the city’s treasured band’s of yore – Television, Patti Smith Group, New York Dolls, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, with a little touch of British influence by way of Wire. Julian Casablancas’ stuffy-nosed vocals were unique though, as was Fab Moretti’s metronomic drumming. The songs were also something special, a tight collection of lean little fighters that made up for a nearly flawless album.
62. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
The Lips hit a new level of critical acclaim with The Soft Bulletin and followed it up with a concept album about a robot-fighting Japanese chick. What makes this great is the deep immersion in more electronic sounds throughout, taking the band into new areas of lysergic danceabiliy.
61. The Who – Who’s Next (1971)
The Who take a break from concept albums, or rather the break was imposed by the collapse of their Lifehouse project. Don’t be sad though, these leftover songs are even better for being able to live and breath on their own. This is some of the band’s most muscular music, but it’s also tempered with Townshend’s explorations with early synthesizers which powers the intro to “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” This is a powerful, driving rock album without peer.
60. Talking Heads – Remain in Light (1980)
While Talking Heads hinted at an interest in African music on the previous record’s “I Zimbra” it flowers fully across the immense grooves and polyrhythms contained herein. It’s an ecstatic feast of percussion, guitar, keyboards all led by David Byrne and co-producer Brian Eno’s vision of global music.
59. Elvis Costello and The Attractions – This Year’s Model (1978)
Costello’s first album with The Atractions finds the band blazing out of the gate, a tumbling onslaught of organ, bass and drums, and terse guitar all punking up his delivery over the debut. The songs are sex as consumerism and love as ad slogan, with Costello snarling and rolling his eyes as he sings “Those disco synthesizers..” on the title track.
58. X – Wild Gift (1981)
The second album from this LA punk band was of a piece with their debut, only with slightly better songs. Former Door’s gut Ray Manzarek is behind the boards again as he was for all their early albums. The band sounds even tighter as are the melding of John Doe’s and Exene’s voices on songs like “The Once Over Twice.” Early single “Adult Books” gets a winning makeover and re-recording, adding to the albums feel of skimming through Los Angeles’ underbelly.
57. David Bowie – Low (1977)
Bowie’s Low was a shock when it was released – a huge sea-change for an artist already experimenting with soul after kick-starting glam rock. The signs were there on Station to Station tracks like “TVC-15″ though that Bowie was as intrigued by German artists like Can and Kraftwerk. Brian Eno, who is all over this list, shows up here to escort Bowie into this Berlin phase which finds it’s full expression on the series of instrumentals on the albums second half. Hugely influential.
56. The Modern Lovers – The Modern Lovers (1976)
Though this wasn’t released until 1976, it was actually recorded in 1972-73 and shows leader Jonathan Richman living in an alternate universe where crowds clamored for a band to pick up the mantle dropped by the Velvet Underground. Of course no-one, least of all a record company, was necessarily clamoring for this, even if it was tweaked with Richman’s nasal square guy worldview. The few who were turned The Modern Lovers and this great lost album into a religion – finally seeing it released in 1976 when it was still ahead of it’s time as a key proto-punk document. The classic “Roadrunner” for instance was one of Johnny Rotten’s audition songs for The Sex Pistols and would later be re-interpreted by M.I.A., while John Cale covered teh classic “Pablo Picasso” for the Repo Man soundtrack.
55. The Breeders – Pod (1990)
Just as Kim Deal was being edged to the sidelines in Pixies, she activated this side project along with long-time Boston scene mate and label mate Tanya Donnely of Throwing Muses. Along for the ride is Surfer Rosa engineer Steve Albini who brings a Pixies-like set of light and dark dynamics to Deal’s high sprung songs. Her breathy voice is set off by the churning guitars, occasional viola, and chugging basslines. The songs are also distinctly written from a woman’s perspective, shot through with both fascination and dread of the human body. It’s incredibly sensual in every sense of the word.
54. Lou Reed – Transformer (1972)
Bowie takes Lou under his wing and guides him to his biggest solo album under the guise of glam. It helped that Reed clothed his seedy tales in a suit of pop- friendly clothes, not least on the sublime “Satellite of Love” and hit “Walk on The Wild Side.”
53. Fleetwood Mac – Tusk (1979)
The huge success of Rumours gave the Mac carte blanche to make any record they wanted, so they made every record they wanted – or more specifically Lindsey Buckingham wanted. It’s a double album masterclass in post-Beatles pop-rock that doesn’t stop at the kitchen sink when it can have a marching band (on teh title track).
52. Wire – Pink Flag (1977)
Wire’s brilliant debut used punk as a jumping off point to pare music down to it’s , shortest sharpest expression. As much about texture as riffs, they coupled catchy music with inspired studio experimentation to come out totally unique. Both “Strange” and “Reuters” seem to exist outside convention song structure yet are compelling and even hummable (R.E.M. would transform “Strange” into a bopping delight on Document 10 years later.)
51. A Tribe Called Quest – People’s Instinctive Travels and The Paths of Rhythm (1990)
Tribe’s debut found them squarely in the De La Soul camp but with a style distinctly their own and a pair of incredible rappers in Q-Tip and Phife Dawg. Where De La went searching in crates for far-flung samples to put together, Tribe tended to focus their sampling on jazz (with the exception of the clever lift from Lou Reed in “Can I Kick It?”.) It works to create a seamless album full of humor, enlightenment and killer beats and rhymes.
50. Public Image Limited – Metal Box/Second Edition (1979)
Initially released as three discs in a metal canister before being re-issued conventionally, this took ex-Pistol John Lydon’s interest in German music and Jamaican dub to an admirable extreme, fusing the languid deep groove of both to create something wholly different and arresting. Jah Wobble’s bass plumbs organ rattling depths while Keith Levene’s guitar creates great swaths of shimmering chords – essential stuff.
49. The New Pornographers – Electric Version (2003)
For their second album the Pornos toughened up their sound, making a more unified feel to go along with a set of themes that covertly tweaked early Bush II years America – “It’s Only Divine Right” following the first daughters around while “The Laws Have Changed” is more explicit in calling out the environment of fear. The band is also gelling, feeling less like a collection of solo artists and more like the best of Carl Newman, Dan Bejar and Neko Case bought to the fore.
48. Pavement – Wowie Zowie (1995)
Pavement go all White Album on this sprawling smorgasbord which left some critics cold at the same time as it became a fan favorite. Like that Beatles classic the boys take most of their contemporary sounds and Pavementize them to come out at a slightly skewed angle – “Half a Canyon” alone seems to smash the Blues Explosion together with Stereolab.
47. Bob Marley and the Wailers – Burnin’ (1973)
’73 was the year Reggae broke big, on the heels of The Harder They Come and a series of strong albums by Bob Marley and The Wailers. This, their fourth record, established Marley as a songwriting powerhouse with songs like “I Shot The Sheriff” and “Get Up, Stand Up”, and the Wailers were at the peak of their powers on the eve of their dissolution.
46. Big Star – Number 1 Record/ Radio City (1973/74)
Alex Chilton had fronted the band The Box Tops at the tender age of sixteen, scoring several hit singles. Having started at the top he was determined to follow his muse wherever it went including a hopped-up southernized take on British invasion rock at a time when the industry had shifted to prog rock. Thus the first two Big Star albums were commercial nonentities, beloved by the handful of brave buyers like The Replacements’ Paul Westerberg who discovered the great songs within.
45. Richard & Linda Thompson – I Want to See the Bright Lights (1974)
The first and last albums by this couple were their alpha and omega, the last detailing their painful split, this first reveling in the possibilities of his fiery guitar and her ethereal voice. These songs aren’t sweetness and life however – many of them are stark and ruminative shot through with the hard-earned weariness of the best country and folk.
44. Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets II (1984)
Most of the great music was underground in the 80s and if you wanted to make your mark as I did in my music geek circle as a teenager you had to go and find that indie band to champion that no-one else in your circle had glommed on to yet. The Replacements, Husker Du, The Smiths were all taken but I was hipped to The Meat Puppets by an article in The East Coast Rocker (yes kids, these publications actually existed) and took a shot on them with Up On The Sun, which was great. I then backtracked to this little gem and was absolutely floored – I’d never heard a band do something so original – a weird hybrid of country, punk, art-rock, and psych-rock that simply sounded like nothing else. The Kirkwood brothers didn’t have great voices but the skills of guitarist Curt and Bassist Chris along with powerhouse drummer Derrick Bostrum were magnificent. They claimed to have practiced randomly stopping and starting playing together mid-song to hone their ESP-like abilities as musicians. All this ducks-ass tightness was in service to a stunning set of songs that so inspired Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain that on his Unplugged album he invited the brothers to help him cover three of them.Magic.
43. The Stooges – Raw Power (1973)
The Stooges fiery last stand with Bowie as patron and James Asheton subbing in to play molten guitar leads all over the place. The title kind of says it all.
42. Beck – Odelay (1996)
Beck takes his music to a whole ‘nother level with what still is his masterpiece. The stroke of genius is bringing the producers responsible for the Beastie Boys sample salad Paul’s Boutique, the Dust Brothers, who provide a wide-ranging sonic palette for Beck’s unique combo of folk, blues and rap. Along the way South American folk, classical music, telephone keypads, old school hip-hop are all mined to create a weird and wacky party record. Simply astounding.
41. Jay-Z - The Blueprint (2001)
Jay establishes himself, along with Eminem, as his generations best rapper. He’s aided here by Kanye West as the hotshot new producer on the block and together they craft a glorious statement of purpose that blows the cobwebs out of some of the uneven albums Jay was surrounding his great singles with. Every track here counts.
40. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
For most of the seventies Neil Young followed a schizoid path alternating acoustic powered country-ish records like his big hit Harvest with the rough-edged electric rock of his work with Crazy Horse. On this record he splits the difference literally, with one side of each of new songs recorded live. In isolation he pushed both to their extremes, the quiet stuff is achingly pretty and wonderfully odd on songs like “Pocahontas” which imagines smoking the peach pipe with the famous Native American and her latter-day champion Marlon Brando. In turn the rough stuff is heavy distorted wonderful sludge shot through with the spirit of punk. Together this is the best work of his career.
39. Leonard Cohen - The Future (1992)
After I’m Your Man brought Cohen back from the wilderness, this cemented his status as a revitalized force with profane, witty songs that reveled in decay, sex, death and life. At times his raspy delivery hides a gimlet eye equl only to Randy Newman’s as he takes a tour of Dante’s inferno here on Earth. The perfect soundtrack to a lost weekend.
38. Curtis Mayfield – Superfly (1972)
Ex-Impressions leader Mayfield emerged as a leading exponent of funk and soul in the 70s, and this was his high water mark. Though a soundtrack to a fairly cheesy film the music was quite the opposite – thoughtful, deep and real. Mayfield doesn’t shy away from the reality of the drug trade and what it was doing to the neighborhoods he knew so well. While the movie extols the gangster life, Mayfield’s songs are full of regret and reflection – a story from what would have been a much more interesting film.
37. Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (1988)
Though not explicitly political, the title of this double alludes to the happy face Reagan era just closing. Inspired in part by the “cyber punk” visonary sci-fi of William Gibson SY manage to straddle the years ending while looking forward to a 90s that they would help will into being by midwifing grunge. The songs are monumental, with the hooks finally honed to a shining polish on tracks like “Total Trash” only to be spiked by brain frying meltdowns and digressions. “Teenage Riot” is positively anthemic, a callback to the best of 70s New York punk a la Television and the New York Dolls and a call to arms to the likes of Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr.
36. Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Armed Forces (1979)
Elvis explores what he calls “emotional fascism,” perhaps unwisely writing a set of songs that equate a failing relationship with the losing side in World War II. Against all odds he makes it work, due in large part to his tightrope act wordplay (“I’m in a chemistry class/I want a piece of your mind/You don’t know what you started when you mixed it up with mine/Are you ready for the final solution?”) and gift for hooks. The Attractions also play the hell out of the material.
35. Television – Marquee Moon (1977)
The Grateful Dead of the New York punk scene if only for the liquid epic guitar jams of Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd which stretch out way past the ten minute mark on the astounding title track. Verlaine as his name implies fancied himself a poet and he pulls it off with a sort of urban noir patter yelped over the intricate guitar parts that drive this perfect record.
34. Husker Du – Flip Your Wig (1985)
The Huskers up the pop factor on this one just enough to get them signed to a major label from SST, but also enough to set their fast tempos and blazing guitar drive in relief. Mould and Hart top each other song for song with every Mould “Makes No Sense at All” countered with a Hart gem like “Green Eyes.” One of America’s best bands at the peak of their powers.
33. Beastie Boys – Paul’s Boutique (1989)
You’re not supposed to move from New York to L.A. to become artists, it’s the other way around. Characteristically it’s what the Beasties did after their mega-selling debut, switching labels to Capital for big bucks on the way. After a few years the emerged with an art-rap breakthrough, this sample-happy album which thanks to their new label and the skills of unknown producers The Dust Brothers sampled acts like The Beatles who would prove un-samplable for legal reasons ever after. What makes it noteworthy are the way their woven into the kaleidoscopic songs so that, say, Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz” pops up for a second to finish a Mike D. rhyme. Naturally it was a flop but hugely inspirational to anyone who actually listened including Beck, Dangemouse and a whole generation of electronic artists like DJ Shadow, Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers. Essential.
32. Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks (1975)
Dylan appeared to be all washed up by 1974, with a few good tracks here and there but nothing like the import and cultural relevance he had commanded over the pop culture world in the 1960s. Dylan here decamps to Nashville to strip things down to their core, returning with an acoustic based record that doesn’t do anything new so much as recapitulates what the man does at his best. It’s also one of his most deeply felt albums, which isn’t always the case even on his classics. Here the mask feels like it slips to reveal the melancholy, woundedness and restlessness that would led him down new spiritual paths a few years later.
31. Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)
Radiohead grew in leaps and bounds over the course of their first two records and again on this, their third. With producer Nigel Godrich channeling Alan Parson’s one minute and Brian Eno the next they embraked on a radical expansion of their sound, having done the same with their songcraft on the album before. Suddenly prog-rock and hints of electronica (dig the amazing drums on “Airbag”) start to move in and the whole record feels like it’s in cinemascope.
30. PJ Harvey – Rid of Me (1993)
Harvey hooks up with the ubiquitous Steve Albini for her trio’s rawest record ever, a plunge into light/dark dynamics even more extreme than Albini’s former clients Pixies. Harvey is a swaggering presence here, bragging about being a “50ft. Queenie” and putting down a man flatly for leaving her “Dry.” The band pumps hard behind her matching her swagger with switchblade rhythms and giving her edgy guitar a great setting to cut loose. Meanwhile strings come in not to sweeten but to threaten like somthing out of a Bernard Hermann score. Thrillingly edgy.
29. Prince and the Revolution – Purple Rain (1984)
As Michael Jackson was being propelled to a level of stardom formerly inhabited by the likes of The Beatles and Elvis, his companion star was also rising. Unlike MJ Prince had raw sexuality, ambiguous in orientation but never in carnality, a keen sense of his own independence, and a desire to control his own destiny. This album and it’s companion film were meant to forward the man’s mythology and it worked like a charm – both became huge hits, The music here is wildly accessible while retaining a relentless experimental streak. I remember hearing the searing guitar intro for “When Does Cry” on the radio for the first time as a 13 year old when it came out and being flabbergasted by how utterly different and transfixing it was.
28. Arcade Fire – Funeral (2004)
Part of Canada’s thriving indie rock scene, Arcade Fire’s debut engendered the kind of adulation that only an out-of-left-field debut can garner. By embracing grandeur and emotion they neatly put to bed the 90s era of snark and irony. That expansiveness of heart and sound also meant tremendous live shows that felt communal and transcendent. The brilliant songs borrow a little from Pixies here, a little from Phil Spector and Springsteen and Neutral Milk Hotel but the outcome is wholly thrillingly original.
27. Weezer - Weezer (1994)
Hearing Weezer’s first single, “Undone (The Sweater Song)” it was easy to believe that a major label had cast about for a sanitized version of Pavement’s record-geek indie-rock and found it with this band. As college rock radio began playing more cuts and MTV started airing their clever Spike Jonze directed videos a clearer picture emerged of a super smart power pop juggernaut inspired by bits of Cheap Trick, The Cars (who’s Rick Ocasek produced), Kiss and barbershop quartets (check out the intricately arranged vocals on “Holiday”). Part of their genius was also in locating a dark emotional core in even their sunniest songs (an ability Rivers Cuomo would lose over subsequent albums): “Your tongue is twisted/your eyes are slits/ you need a guardian” is hidden inside the song “Buddy Holly” and what an image, or the bridge in “Say It Ain’t So” that feels like a too intimate window into the singer’s soul: “Dear daddy, I write you in spite of years of silence/ You cleaned up, found Jesus, Things are good or so I hear/This bottle of Stevens awakens ancient feelings/Like father, Step-Father/The sun is drowning in the flood…” The way he bites down on the “Step-father” part, you just know that there’s some fucked up shit there.
26. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell (2003)
YYY’s had a series of much-loved ep’s before finally dropping this killer statement of purpose. The first half confirms Karen O. as a swooping, growling, snarling frontwoman with no peers, and the band as an exciting punk-edged rock band. The surprise was side two which culminated in a trio of songs – “Y Control”, “Maps” (the song of the decade), and “Modern Romance” – that most bands would have put front and center. Each showcases the gifts for melody, O’s ability to downshift into subtlety, and Zinner’s molten lava guitar runs and riffs in a way that suggested future superstardom (even if the future has yet to payoff).
25. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life (1976)
You may have figured out by now that I am a fan of big sprawling albums and this is Stevie’s version of that, a double recorded at his peak. As is par for these not everything is genius but teh highpoints are among his very best, including “I Wish”, “Sir Duke”, “Pasttime Paradise” and “All Day Sucker” among others.
24. The Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bullocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols (1977)
Punk was invented in America, hones in New York and Cleveland and then adopted by the British with the Pistols as the standard bearers. The key difference was the conceptual bent pushed by manager and svengali Malcolm McLaren who had previously and disastrously attempted to manage The New York Dolls in their waning days. At the heart of this debut are two singles that simply define a Situationist take on pop – snarling attacks on the dominant culture that led to bannings and even more notoriety. “Anarchy In The UK” is as much about personal freedom as a call for no government but such niceties were lost in the moment and in Steve Jones neck throttling guitar and Johnny Rotten’s insinuating singing. The biggest fuck you was “God Save The Queen”, a sweeping rejection of the British monarchy as fascism that was timed to coincide with the nationwide celebration of her Golden Jubilee. The established predictably was up and arms and did the band’s promotional work for them. The rest of the album from “Bodies” to “Submission” was equally incendiary if not always as smart.
23. A Tribe Called Quest – The Low End Theory (1991)
Tribe bucked the sophomore slump with a second album that handily outpaced their first – it’s deep funky jazz samples and grooves sounded unlike anything else in hip-hop. On top of this were Q-Tip and Phife’s dextrous and clever rapping playing in and out of the killer beats. It all culminates with the group rap fest of “Scenario” which introduced the world to Busta Rhymes in spectacular style.
22. Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes (1982)
The coolest, hottest, girl’s bunk in summer camp made it a point to singalong to this albums lyrics at the top of their lungs when we went on field trips to see crappy movies or to the beach at Wildwood. To this day I get an erotic charge out of hearing “Blister in The Sun.”
21. The Clash – The Clash (1977)
Where the Pistols seemed to embrace nihilism The Clash represented the passion of the angry idealists. Former pub-rocker Joe Strummer had joined Mick Jones nascent band and added a fiery social conscience to match Jones’ spicy guitar riffs. Paul Simonen was the ace bassist who looked like Steve McQueen and Tory Crimes (nee Terry Chimes) was the original drummer who got unseated quickly by the amazing Topper Headon. The songs on the US and UK editions (the US subs some singles for album tracks) are uniformly excellent punk that also pointed to the stylistic diversity that the band would soon explore, primarily on the massive “(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais” about the racial role-reversal of being one of the only caucasians at a massive reggae gig and a genre defyingcover of Junior Murvin’s Jamaican single “Police and Thieves.”
20. Rolling Stones – Exile On Main Street (1972)
The making of this album is a legendary as the music within: The Stones decamp to France as tax exiles and hole up at Keith’s house on and off to make an album. Sometimes Keith would go upstairs to tuck his son Marlon into bed and be gone for days. Sometimes Bill was to busy chasing French schoolgirls to show up, or Charlie was waylaid by a vinyard excursion. Mick might be off romancing a Nicaraguan heiress. It’s amazing a record came out of the chaos at all, let alone the most dense and immersive record of the Stones’ catalog. The songs sound like a perpetual 3 in the morning on a night out – tired but still tingling with possibilities.
19. The Smiths – The Queen is Dead (1986)
This is The Smiths at their absolute peak – Johnny Marr’s guitar matching Morrissey’s wit jab for jab and taking every song up another level from where they would have been otherwise. This is the band as their fans will always remember them – clever, energetic, moving.
18. R.E.M. – Murmur (1983)
This is the template by which every indie rock debut has been measured since. Representing a fully fleshed out sound and worldview, hearing it for the first time is like being let in on an alternate universe where this great band had arrived at their unique POV after several albums and many years. It was still all new though – full of sonic flourishes and intriguing byways made all the more mysterious by Michael Stipe’s indistinct diction. The rhythm section was like something out of a UK agit-pop band, more Gang of Four than anything else. Peter Buck’s guitar on the other hand seemed descended from folk-rockers like Roger McGuinn. Utterly uncanny.
15. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975)
Another big sprawler, and Zep had a lot of ground to cover after two years off. The first disc is the heavy one and the second goes off on a series of tangents that sate their more experimental side. It’s all fused on “Kashmir”, for my money their best single song, a massive middle eastern riff anchored by John Bonham’s monumental drums.
14. Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet (1990)
PE hits their stride here, a furious ball of noise that responds in part to the controversy that began to attach to the band and their extended group, specifically Professor Griff who was asked to leave after a series of anti-Semitic remark. Though the band’s support of Lewis Farrakhan remained troubling, Chuck D. and Flav’s rhymes were at a whole new level, especially on the red hot “Welcome to The Terrordome.” Throughout they are matched by the Bomb Squad in full flight, setting dense layers of samples and beats up as a support for the politically charged rapping.
13. Talking Heads – Fear of Music (1979)
Talking Heads deepen their Eno collaboration on their third album. The tracks are more intricate and each one seems to be a world unto itself. From “I Zimbra” which prefigures their later African excursions to the busy perambulations of “Cities” to the brilliant “Life During Wartime” the album is populated by folks trying to survive and driven to strange obsessions in doing so, unless of course they get to “Heaven” a place Byrne tells us “Where nothing ever happens.”
12. Patti Smith -Horses (1975)
It’s hard from this vantage point to realize how many minds were blown by this album when it came out – from the uncompromising Mapplethorpe portrait of Smith on the cover refusing to hew to any mainstream conventions of beauty and marketing for female recording artists to the music inside which combined 60s garage rock with The Doors extended poetic reconstructions into something new. Massively influential in kicking off the New York punk scene which in turn sparked UK punk, and continuing to inspire artists from Michael Stipe to Karen O.
11. Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell (1986)
Run-D.M.C. took rap from an urban novelty to a mainstream force with this album, laying the groundwork for it’s place now as the dominant American music form. Up until now rap was a singles medium and they delivered as well as anyone. Here they cannily drafted off Aerosmith (who themselves were badly in need of a comeback) with a remake of their hit “Walk This Way,” as clear a signal as any to the rock audience that it was OK to dig rap. This was the first multi-platinum rap album and it’s filled with great tracks, hard-hitting rhymes, and Jam Master Jays cutting edge production.
10. David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars (1972)
Bowie was a washed up wanna-be in 1971 – a guy with one hit in 1969 to his name who still couldn’t connect to the superstardom he wanted. After absorbing the antics of Iggy Pop and his band The Stooges, Bowie and his new band wrote and recorded a series of dynamic stripped down rock songs and re-invented themselves as space aliens. What should have been contrived was made transcended, not least of all by Bowie’s startling transformation into an androgyne sex god and the quality of the songs which were full of hooks and drama. They of course also told the story of an alien rock star who ends up torn apart by the very adoring audience he seeks in a clearer and more compelling arc then most concept albums. Life imitated art inasmuch as Bowie became a superstar and this record in style and substance was a touchstone for what would become punk and new wave, not to mention the radical conceptual transformations of stars like Madonna and Lady Gaga.
9. The Replacements – Let it Be (1984)
The Replacements were the drunk kids smoking dope and cigarettes under the bleachers but a talent like Paul Westerberg could only stay hidden for song long before being pulled into the spotlight. It was this album that was packed with a series of perfect songs, impassioned performances and fuck-em humor that made reams of critics year end lists and catapulted the Minneapolis band into an ultimately losing cat-and-mouse game with stardom. It’s all still fresh here, from the aching “Unsatisfied” to the jaunty “I Will Dare” (with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck guesting) to the Reed-esque piano ballad “Androgynous” to the hilarious Bob Stinson workouts “TommyGets His Tonsils Out” and “Gary’s Got a Boner.” For a brief moment it appeared like a new onslaught of American bands would storm the bastions but the radio stations never got the memo, at least beyond the campuses. It would take ‘Mats inspired bands both bad (Goo Goo Dolls), decent (Soul Asylum) and transcendent (Nirvana) to eventually make it happy and by then the band was already in it’s last stages.
8. Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted (1992)
Like Murmur or Funeral, one of those indie-rock debut LPs that seem to find a band fully-formed, and create a new way of looking at the entire genre. Pavement came in on the heels of Nirvana but had no interest in the major label money that would eventually be waved around to lure them off Matador Records. Their aesthetic was based on a whole set of influences – The Fall, R.E.M., Velvet Underground, Can, Wire, – but unlike, say, Yo La Tengo they had the ability on songs like “Summer Babe” to achieve the universal in a unique way. Malkmus’ lyrics crucially, hadn’t hardened yet into wordplay for the sake of it’s own sound as it would later, and the directness of these songs belie the later charge that they were ironists through and through. The songs that he and Spiral Stairs put together alternate between angular guitar fired rave-ups like “Trigger Cut” and confessional seeming late night shimmers like “Zurich is Stained” or “Here”. In between were clamorous experiments like “Chesley’s Little Wrists.” In their aggressive DIY approach and rejection of mainstream music industry trappings, they became hugely influential on bands that would take advantage of the industry’s slo-mo collpase to score hits (Arcade Fire come to mind) with little of teh big money support system that propelled the grunge scene’s temporary takeover- ascene Pavement stood in stark contrast to.
7. Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)
For music fans my age, the thought that a band could be the next Beatles or even Led Zeppelin seemed absurd – great (rock) music couldn’t get played on the radio, promoted by the record labels or given the time of day by mainstream buyers. Everybody would rather hear Nelson. When Nirvana’s second album came out on a major label even the record company figured a gold record would have been a victory. It went on to sell in excess of 10 million copies and knock Michael Jackson from the top of the charts. “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, a song the band though of as a knock-off of Pixies (a band that wouldn’t go gold until after they had thrown in the towel), went top ten as was impossible to avoid in late 1991, early 1992. I remember watching them on SNL at my friend Jenny’s apartment in Chicago that winter and being actually excited to see the band play. They simply blew open the door, leading to signings of bands that would never, ever see a recoup on investment. Of course the door blew shut just as quickly. While hair metal was now truly dead, there were many bands that quickly cut their hair and tried again as grunge, or might as well have. Hello Candlebox, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Bush etc. etc. Nirvana’s closest competitor was Pearl Jam, a much more conventional band that had many of teh same ingredients but with a much lower punk and indie rock mix, versus a classic rock fixation that made them go down nice and easy. Cobain may have opened the door, but not necessarily beyond a fleeting big contract for the music he loved the most – The Raincoats, Meat Puppets, Vaselines, Melvins. The record is, of course, unassailable.
6. De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)
De La Soul’s debut changed the way people thought about everything from song structures to copyrights, a crazy quilt of samples, fleet-footed rapping, and a whole conceptual framework of language that would permeate much progressive hip-hop. This was rap as art and ex-Stetsasonic guy Prince Paul engineered a seamless sound to frame the trio’s ideas. Rap was already sampling, primarily James Brown and George Clinton as well as occasionally breaking out something from classic rock but it was usually one big element to underpin a song. Here bits and pieces were woven into a new whole, and from far flung places – Johnny Cash, Steely Dan, Otis Redding, Hall & Oates, and most notoriously The Turtles who sued over a slowed-down and backwards sample. To get a sense of how brilliant and integrated the samples were check out the chart at the bottom of the Wikipedia entry on the album. The raps were in themselves mind-expanding, eschewing the rising gangsta sound and posturing of most rappers to riff on Aesop’s fables, pitch woo, ruminate on sexuality, and lament the inner city blues.
5. Ramones – Ramones (1976)
The Ramones invent what we commonly know as punk by taking classic early to mid 60s garage rock lighting a firecracker up it’s ass, playing it twice as fast and three times as loud with buzzsaw guitars (and the occasional buzzsaw) and lyrics about male hustling, sniffing glue, beating brats and all kinds of other thing Paul Revere and The Raiders never covered and prog-rock would over-intellectualize. Beyond exciting, it’s riveting – Joey’s weirdly clipped squawks “You’re a loudmouth baby/better shut it up” are funny but bracing and Johnny’s guitar suggests that maybe the jokes are more serious than you think. Even better are those little touches – the way Joey says “Ba-na-NAH” on “Havana Affair” or the cymbal splashes on “Blitzkrieg Bop.” This is it – the essence of rock ‘n’ roll stripped to it’s very core.
4. Sly & The Family Stone – There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971)
Sly was moving from strength to strength in the late 60s with a series of innovative singles that, in tandem with the work of James Brown, were re-inventing soul in much the same way The Beatles and Stones were re-making rock. Sly was also becoming increasingly involved in drugs, and at the peak of his invention on this album you can hear the narcotized cool penetrating the grooves. The sound is woozy, the bass sometimes peaking in the redline into a flat muffled thump, Sly’s voice burred with drunk and blow, and the songs are amazing – intimate, resigned, angry, observational. This had a profound affect on the funk that would follow in the 70s, as well as on artists like Prince and Beck and even jazzbos like Miles Davis who were transfixed by it’s creativity and vitality twinned with a clapped-out atmosphere.
3. Rolling Stones – Sticky Fingers (1971)
The Stones regrouped from their successful disaster conquering of America on their 1969 tour that culminated in the tragedy at Altamont by releasing an album that re-capped the sound they had forged over the end of the decade – a tough sleek overhaul of their blues roots to create something modern, electrified and dangerous. The songs are uniformly excellent and are the best showcase yet for second guitarist Mick Taylor’s liquid leads against Keith Richards slashing rhythm. “Brown Sugar” kicks things off as one of the most subversive hit singles ever, a bawdy celebration of the birth of rock or more accurately, it’s conception as white British plantation owners succumb to the sexual temptation of their slaves.
2. Pixies – Doolittle (1989)
Pixies hook up with Producer Gil Norton for their second album, which finds their songs set off with production that maximizes the sheer excitement the band is having in playing. It’s hard not to get carried along on the careening riffs. Black Francis and Kim Deal practically duet on most of the songs with “I Bleed” as the most stunning example of how they intertwine. The entire band sounds jacked up and the songs are simply fucking brilliant. Full of biblical asides, sex, lust, death – all the good stuff. Black shrieks and hyper ventilates mightily on “Tame” only to turn around with “Here Comes Your Man”, a sweet and sunny pop confection that should have been a hit single. In the summer and fall of ’89 Pixies became my band in the wake of this – I’d go to any show they played in town and buttonhole any fellow music fan to give it a listen. Pure utter magnificence.
1. The Clash – London Calling (1979)
Predictable? Maybe so. Doctrinaire? Perhaps. As someone who has already admitted to loving a big sprawling album this takes the cake as the best. Every single track is great. How many double (let alone single) albums can this be said of? In a genre that was supposed to be limited The Clash throw of the chains and expectations of punk to do whatever they damn well please – reggae, rockabilly, r & b, sweet pop and blazing rock. Just as they transformed the music around them into a synthesized whole, they were also well-versed enough to see the connections between the many eras and the time they lived in. I wrote my college history thesis on the way this album described the connection between black Americans at the turn on the 20th century, Jamaican rude boys in the 60s and British working class and immigrant populations in the late 70s. Believe me, it’s all there, in the grooves, woven as Greil Marcus brilliantly observed through the “Staggerlee” myth that underpinned Lee Price’s hit 50s slice of New Orleans R & B and which pops up in several forms here both literally and figuratively. And you can dance to it too.
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