2011 was an OK year for music unless you happened to be a sax player. Those guys had a great year, even the “Big Man” Clarence Clemons, who got to play on a hit single from Lady Gaga which was pretty cool for him but then died, which was less cool. The sax was wielded on albums from such indie stalwarts as Iron & Wine, Destroyer, P.J. Harvey and countless others. It may even be safe now to play the solo from Foreigner’s “Urgent” in public again.

Here are my100  favorite songs of 2011 on a Spotify playlist – dig it!

100 Best Tracks of 2011

And below are my 50  favorite albums of the year:

50. Clams Casino – Instrumentals

49. Fucked Up – David Comes To Life

48. Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2

47. Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi

46. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost

45. Dirty Beaches – Badlands

44. The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient

43. Sandro Perri – Impossible Spaces

42. The Stepkids – The Stepkids

41. Emika – Emika

40. SBTRKT – SBTRKT

39. Veronica Falls – Veronica Falls

38.Real Estate – Days

37. Dominant Legs – Dominant Legs

36. Kendrick Lamar – Section.80

35. Paul Simon – So Beautiful or So What

34. Kurt Vile – So Outta Reach

33. Wooden Shijps – West

32. Surf City – Kudos

31. Action Bronson – Dr. Lecter

30. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra

29. Shannon and the Clams – Sleep Talk

28. TV On The Radio – Nine Types of Light

27. Panda Bear – Tomboy

26. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints

25. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

24. White Label - Stolen Voices

23. Tennis - Cape Dory

22.  The Horrors - Skying

21. Tune-Yards – Whokill

20. Wilco – The Whole Love

19. J Rocc – Some Cold Rock Stuf

18. The Kills – Blood Pressures

17. Atlas Sound – Parallax

16. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks – Mirror Traffic

15. Wild Flag – Wild Flag

14. R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now

13. Kanye West and Jay-Z – The Throne

12. Cults – Cults

11. Frank Ocean – Nostalgia, Ultra

10. Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

Smith Westerns breezed in with a tinge of glam with their second record, which also contained some elements of 70s California rock for good measure.

9. Thee Oh Sees – Carrion Crawler

John Dwyer has been mining this brand of psych-rock for more than a decade but it’s here that he finally hits his stride, pulling two drummers along with him for the ride. It’s a wild woolly rocking set of supercharged songs.

8. The Go! Team – Rolling Blackouts

Another band left for dead – their debut was so original a mix of samples, femme rap and cheerleader squad moves that it seemed a template destined to straightjacket the group which is just what it did on the similar follow-up. This, their third album, still contains the basic ingredients of their sound but the songs are all kicked into overdrive with a much broader palette of effects and tones. It feels much more like the best stuff that RJD2 or even Groove Armada were attempting in the early 00s and 90s respectively. Then there are songs like “Ready to Go Steady” which could be a killer track from Camera Obscura and “Buy Nothing Day” which playfully tweaks consumerism and would fit in quite nicely on a more recent Stereolab record.

7. Destroyer – Kaputt

Dan Bejar has made plenty of albums as Destroyer and as a member of New Pornographers, and not a few of them were excellent. None sound quite like this though, a dreamy wooze punctuated by some suspiciously 80s styled bass noodling and saxophone squonking. While the 80s yacht-rock banner was lifted by several other artists this year, most notably Iron & Wine, Bejar bends those sounds to his affecting and engrossing songs, finding the noir undertone to late-period Steely Dan and Christopher Cross textures.

6. Das Racist – Relax

The fickle world of hip-hop has already moved past these guys before they even had a chance to taste any mainstream acclaim but they continue to lay down raps that are as hilarious as they are thoughtful. Their first official release after a series of 2010 mixtapes – they show that they’ve only sharpened their wordplay and penchant for far-out references.

5. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

Each St. Vincent album seems to be a step forward, a deeper delve by Annie Clark into the soaring edgy art rock of vintage Peter Gabriel or post-Berlin period Bowie. It helps that she wields a mean guitar but part of what makes this her best yet is that she’s progressively sloughed off some of the archness of her earlier work to embrace the material and revel in her own bold sounds.

4. Eleanor Friedberger – Last Summer

Fiery Furnaces seemed to be on the brink of something over several albums until the whole thing began to feel like wankery, too many riffs and edits and piled up images in the songwriting. Thankfully Eleanor got away from her brother for this solo disc which finally gives her the settings to appreciate her crystalline voice and cool-ass phrasing anew. The songs are hooky, compelling and wonderfully casual.

3. Tom Waits – Bad As Me

Waits is yet another veteran who sounded as vital as ever in 2011. It was easy to get lost in the avant-garde sounds and Howlin’ Wolf at the carnival feel of his last few records and forget that the man is an extraordinary songwriter but this brings it all together. Don’t miss him wink at Mick and Keith on “Satisfied”  while Keith is right there playing guitar.

2. The Black Keys – El Camino

After scoring an unexpected critical and commercial triumph with last years Brothers the duo roar back with a crunchy party record that owes as much to Marc Bolan as to the band’s previous classic blues and soul influences. While it may lack some of it’s predecessors depth (almost all the songs are of the mean mistreatin’ wimmin variety) it makes up for it with sheer riff power, killer hooks and tight arrangements.

1. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake

Anyone who read my Top 500 Albums of the Last 40 Years entry will be unfazed by this as number one of the year – it was the only 2011 release on it. What makes it so blindingly great? It’s a real album, with a connected theme but not an overlarded concept. It captured the mood of collapse around the world this year perfectly with lyrics about World War I – the great betrayal of a younger generation by it’s elders. Then there were the brilliant interpolations of other songs folded into these tracks – Niney’s “Blood and Fire,” Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” in clever and revelatory ways. Finally there was the sheer unexpectedness of one of the most vital artists of the 90s coming back after several decent to disappointing records with one of her very best.

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.

17. Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988)

Pixies first full-length was so amazing that even though it was out in the UK for several months before crossing the pond imports quickly found their way into the hands of people like me, a 17 year old who promptly hung out in his parents swimming pool with his best friend, stoned out of their gourds and tried to make sense of what they were hearing. Is the woman singing taking the low part in this song? Is that guitar riff elastic? Is the drummer playing the meatiest kit ever? Is that some kind of demented reggae kit? Engineer Steve Albini made his recording studio career on this record, capturing what feels like an incredible authentic organic sound, it’s huge while not sounding at all artificial. The songs are massive, with singer Black Francis screaming, sighing, cajoling and bassist/singer Kim Deal anchoring it with big rubbery basslines. It still sounds like nothing else on earth.

16. Big Star – Third/ Sister Lovers (1975)

Alex Chilton went into the studio with Jim Dickinson to record what would be his final album as Big Star and found himself and his band descending into chaos. Somehow Dickinson was able to record the results, a hugely compelling set of songs that make the feel of one’s thread running out completely palpable. To make matters worse their record company was also falling apart and the album would go unreleased but bootlegged for several years, and then come out in varying versions.

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.

Here it is, the latest installment in my countdown of the best albums made over the last 40 years. As we close in on my actual 40th birthday, so too do we close in on the end of the list. You can see 201 -300 here. Here is 301-400. And here is 401-500.

200. Bruce Springsteen – Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)

Due to a lawsuit and perhaps overall freaked-outedness over the overwhelming reception to Born To Run, Broooooooce took a few years to put out this follow-up. Perhaps tinged by this experience it’s like the dark underbelly of that previous record with many of the same themes but explored from a more resigned and embittered angle. While this makes it less of a fun listen, it adds to the rewards the record unlocks over time.

199. Primal Scream – Screamadelica (1991)

Primal Scream may or may not have signaled a big watershed in British rock with this amalgam of house, Stonesy rock, and other dance music that was in the air at the time. Shuffle beats were already all the rage among Britain’s baggy-pants set (I’m looking at you, Chameleons UK and Happy Mondays) and Stone Roses made it safe to shake ones ass back in 1989 with “Fools Gold.” Still this was a triumph from start to finish and doubly so for being completely unexpected given the ordinariness of their previous two records.

198. Faces – Ohh La La (1973)

As Rod the Bod increasingly looked to his solo stardom to provide him with opportunities to deflower virgins, his tenure with The Faces began to draw to a close. On their last album he gets in some great moments but it’s Ronnie Laine who shines all over the second half on songs like the title track. Ron Wood of course would go on to join the Stones.  A raucous, appropriately boozy valedictory for a great band.

197. The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema (2005)
No longer the world’s most humble supergroup, Neko Case and Destroyer’s Dan Bejar were becoming better known in their own right by the time the New Porno’s third record came out, plus their second album had gained them a wider following as well. So, time to switch it up with bigger more detailed production and arrangements that are decidedly edgier from main songwriter Carl Newman. Tracks like “Falling Through Your Clothes” and “Three or Four” are much more intricate than before, but there are still power pop home runs like “Sing Me Spanish Techno.”

196. Prince and The Revolution - 1999 (1982)
Here’s where precociousness crossed over into genius with Prince showing himself to be one of the most talented and important artists of his generation. The first three tracks are a knockout punch – “1999″, into “Little Red Corvette” into “Delirious.”  Then there’s the ribald “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” which features the immortal line “…Girl, I wanna fuck the taste outta your mouth..” – a line that would make George Clinton blush. And Chortle.

195. Gram Parsons – G.P./ Grievous Angel (1973/74)
Yeah I’m cheating by listing two albums on one CD as one album but it’s been available this way since 1990 so deal with it. They are of a pice too, with most of the same musicians and Emmylou Harris’ wonderful duetting featuring on both. More to the point, they both have great original country rock gems like “The New Soft Shoe” mixed in with inspired covers. Sadly Gram OD’d between the release of the first and second record, making this the capstone of an illustrious and unlikely career – from trust fund kid to Keith Richards best friend and left coast country troubadour.

194. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010)
Kanye knows you think he’s an asshole – matter of fact he thinks he’s one too. He also thinks he’s a genius and by the evidence here he’s at least incredibly talented, His most diverse and diverting record to date casts him as a curator – a guy who can’t shut his mouth or find the off switch for his brain. Sampling King Crimson and Smokey Robinson, West transcends hip-hop and makes a melange of elctronica, funk and head music that’s complex and fascinating.

193. DJ Shadow – Endtroducing… (1996)
Shadow’s innovation here was to take the cut and paste techniques of hip-hop and apply them to the big beat instrumentalism of elctronica, making an album that was innovative yet rooted in the crate digging culture that underpins both genres.

192. Pixies – Trompe Le Monde (1991)

Seen objectively it’s not surprising that this album heralded the end of the band – a grab bag of new songs, old re-worked leftovers (some of which dated back to their earliest songs) a Jesus and Mary Chain cover and at least one outright throwaway (“Space (I Believe In)” which seems to be about hiring a session musician to play the tabla and interpolates the theme from Perry Mason).  What makes Pixies great was that despite all this it’s still a terrific album, recapturing some of the aggression of their first records but also pointing the way to Black Francis’ lusher solo work.

191. TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (2004)

On their first album TVOTR codified their unusual synthesis of Peter Gabriel -like art rock, Pixies-ish indie and doo-wop influenced vocals. The vocal interplay especially sets them apart on songs like “Ambulance” which grows layers of voice to support it’s screwed up tale of twisted love.

190. Steely Dan  - Katy Lied (1975)
Becker and Fagan had hit their stride and the songs and arrangements are as smooth as the Jeff “Skunk” Baxter’s playing. What makes this really kick ass though are the darkly funny lyrics about suicidal stockbrokers (“Black Friday”) and uncles you should stay away from (“Everyones Gone to the Movies”). Also, the tempos get kicked up nice and good.

189. Eurythmics - 1984 (For The Love of Big Brother) (1984)

What is this doing here? All but excised from the history of Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox’s band as if by some totalitarian government, this soundtrack was a commercial blip between big 80s albums for them. Artistically it’s their best, most underrated and least known record though. Perhaps it helps that my exposure to it initially was during a high school acid trip? Either way the compositions reach a grandeur that they never equaled and its among the very best new wave synth albums ever.

188. Rolling Stones – Emotional Rescue (1980)
This is the essence of a fan’s album, one of those deep catalog items that while not first rank,  is  beloved by some Stones fans just as it’s equally reviled by many others. I obviously belong to the former set, appreciating the way it extends and comments on many of the advances of Some Girls while bearing it’s own ramshackle charm. The title track is even more disco than “Miss You” – it should come with a coke spoon. “She’s So Cold” is a musical cousin of “Shattered” with it’s stuttered rockabilly thwang but “Down in The Hole” and “Send it to Me” break some new ground. Great fun for the initiated.

187. Blondie - Parallel Lines (1978)

Blondie hit the big time with album three powered by the classic “Heart of Glass” but backed up with a clutch of other great tunes. The penchant for girl group sass and art-rock chill is intact but the experiments (not least of which was disco) mostly pay off here. Equally important was the way Debbie Harry was adding more depth and nuance to her vocals while Clem Burke was doing the same behind the drumkit.

186. Blur – The Great Escape (1995)

An expansion of the sound and ideas of their previous record, this has had a rough go from the fickle British music establishment who had anointed Blur as saviors of the industry and set up the Blur vs. Oasis rivalry. It’s been an unfair slagging – it’s not the huge leap forward for the band or for British music that Parklife was but how could it have been? Concentrate on Damon Albarn’s incisive character studies, Alex James lithe and supple bass lines, Graham Coxon’s inventive guitar parts, and the crackerjack melodies and it’s clear this is pretty great in it’s own right. At this point Blur were giving Ray Davies and the Kinks a serious run as chroniclers of British life.

185. Iggy Pop – Lust For Life (1977)

Iggy continues his David Bowie-led rehabilitation as a solo star. Perhaps the funniest part of this album is the sweet yearbook photo-esque cover shot of Iggy, what a nice boy! Inside though are more songs that, while lacking the gutwrenching crunch of The Stooges, use their more varied dynamics to explore a variety of dark territories. His second solo disc in less than a year he sounds energized by the rise of US and UK punk, music explicitly inspired by his own early work. In turn his early solo stuff would help to inform post-punk and new wave and at least one cruise line ad.

184. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Tonight’s The Night (1975)

Neil Young hit a commercial trough in the mid 70s which coincided with him finding what I would consider his true voice – ragged, cracking, and fronting Crazy Horse. He produced a series of tough, sad, and raw records that weren’t released in sequence (this one was recorded in 1973) but add up to a picture of an artist struggling to tell his story and those of his friends. Specifically in this case, Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten who had OD’d and inspired the songs here just as Kurt Cobain’s overdose would inspire a similar album nearly 20 years later. The music is all over the place, seemingly recorded in one take and suffused with feeling. One of his most affecting records.

183. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Orange (1994)

I spent a good chunk of senior year in college cruising around Ithaca in my friend’s Nissan Sentra blasting this record – it was rolling perfection. Spencer had led Pussy Galore, and like that noise-rock band, JSBX could come off as a novelty concept band. Here however they dig in deep to upend the blues with disco strings, turntable effects, and hard-hitting groove songs that get down and dirty about how Spencer likes to bed a mature “full grown” woman like his wife. The whole trio is on fire here with Judah Bauer and Russel Simins (not that Russel Simmons) pushing Spencer deeper into the pocket while he pushes right back. Bracing stuff.

181. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (melt) (1980)

Gabriel continued down the art rock path post-Genesis, carving out two albums that were solid but didn’t suggest much in the way of a future direction. Here though he was suddenly mistaken for a new-waver by folks who didn’t know his history – his songs got both poppier and harder and his subject matter became less theatrical and more grounded in the real world. This is particularly true of “Biko”,  an incredibly moving account of South African political prisoner Stephen Biko which was one of the first pop songs to bring the injustice of Apartheid to a wide audience. It also incorporated many of the world rhythms that would inform Gabriel’s subsequent work. There was also the hit “Games Without Frontiers”, a clever slice of discofied cold war protest that you could dance to.

180.Buzzcocks - Another Music in a Different Kitchen(1978)

Could there have been a Weezer, a Green Day, a Pixies, a Descendants without this? It’s damn unlikely- this is punk revved up with pop smarts and sprung to a high tension. There is also a seam of Krautrock running through that emerges most obviously on “Moving Away From the Pulsebeat” but still informs the drive and arrangements of songs like “Fiction Romance.” Also not obvious at the time was Steve Shelley’s sexual orientation – still very much taboo except as something to flirt with a la David Bowie. This adds a particular edge to some of the more furtive lyrics and unrequited laments.

179. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire (2004)

Stars bring new wave back with this record, a stellar leap in songwriting and playing from their first few. Simultaneously looking backwards at a string of romantic failures and forwards into the dark abyss of what even then seemed a future of endless war, this is bleak stuff delivered with a tongue-in-cheek and a stack of great melodies.

178. Pretenders - Learning to Crawl (1984)

Chrissie Hynde dares to go where most rockers fear to tread, a loose concept album about motherhood. She had lost almost her entire band to drugs between their second album and this one, while also becoming a mother and the loss and discovery of both permeates these songs. Hynde at her best is a brilliant songwriter and her eye for detail and wry turn of phrase is all over this record.

177. Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material (1979)

These Irish punks may have been late to the party but they make up for it with sheer aggression and catchiness. There was also a political edge that was sharpened by their proximity to the violence that was ongoing in Northern Ireland at the time. This is what war-zone rock sounds like.

176. Stevie Wonder - Fullfillingests First Finale (1974)

Wonder’s talent was uncontainable in the 70s, easily transcending Motown’s factory line straightjacket he operated in as a teenager and developing a unique and compelling point of view. This was smack in the middle of Stevie’s hot streak, and is heavy on slower burning grooves that stick like crazy.

175. Led Zeppelin - Zoso (1971)

This is the Zeppelin record that is their most ubiquitous, if not their best. The track list is a veritable afternoon playlist on any classic rock FM station with “Stairway to Heaven” right smack in the middle.

174. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head (1992)

After the commercial failure of Paul’s Boutique no-one expected the Beasties to make another record, let alone one that brought them to a new and eager audience in the 90s. They gave these fans a new side of the band to respond to, recording live funk and hardcore jams and splicing them up into new songs as well as building whole songs from their noodling. The clever rope-a-dope rhymes remained as did a penchant for clever samples.

173. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

This is infamous for the documentary film on its genesis that inadvertently captured a band at loggerheads with a dysfunctional music industry. Buying the masters from one Warners Bros. label which deemed it uncommercial, this became one of the first file-trade shared sensations before a new deal with yet another Warners imprint allowed an official release that also became the bands biggest hit. It’s a stunning record, challenging and accessible in turn. To look at the final release date only would lead to the inevitable conclusion that the battered landscape of tottering towers, ghosts of American flags, and wars on war were a response to the attacks of September 11th and their aftermath but in fact the whole thing was written and record before then.  In it’s prescience it perhaps needed to be delayed to be heard in its true light.

172. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (1988)

A huge hit with zero radio play, this brought controversy to popular music that had seen it all. What was shocking in 1988? Full on violence and debasing mechanical sex. Fun yes? But the talent of Ice Cube in particular, Dr Dre, Eazy-E and Ren to put the tales of debauchery and mayhem over with a mordant humor and highly individual wordplay made it listenable. Of course for all the life of the street rhetoric that this stuff supposedly captured a huge chunk of the audience were kids white and black, far removed from the ghetto life described but looking for a thrill. It was still fresh, funny, and transgressive here but by the mid 90s this would dominate hi-hop for better or worse.

171. Belle and Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress(2003)

My favorite Belle and Sebastain album may be their least typical work but there you go. Made up of odds and ends that hadn’t found their way to other B&S records, the production is given muscle and detail by the 80s hitmeister Trevor Horn of Buggles and Yes fame. This balances the band’s more twee tendencies with touches of Thin Lizzy and classic Squeeze and helps to emphasize how much of a unit the namd ws musically with surprisingly rocking instrumentation. Stuart Murdoch is more firmly in control of the group again though and serves up some of his finest lyrics throughout, whether musing on the sexuality of Mike Piazza, winking at the sexual politics of an office romance, or working his subtle religious obsessions into every nook and cranny.

170. Husker Du - Zen Arcade (1984)

1984 was a watershed year for American indie rock with The Replacements, R.E.M., Meat Puppets  and Minutemen all turning in seminal records. The Huskers joined in with this massive double album, showing the enormous range of Bob Mould and Grant Hart’s songwriting and the sheer power of the Minneapolis power trios attack. It’s dense and the plot is impenetrable in the best concept album fashion but the record is magnificent.

169. Frank Black - Teenager of the Year (1994)

For Black’s second solo album, he dug deep to unleash a mighty 22 track opus that showed his full depth and range, from grinding Iggy and Ramones derived rockers to the overdubbed one-man pop of “Headache” to the classic Who riffing of “Freedom Rock” with stops off at reggae and the history of California as played by 80s-era The Fall.

168. Talking Heads  - Little Creatures (1985)

The irony is that Talking Heads’ most accessible pop-friendly lighthearted record was fraught with tension to make as David Byrne moved the band away from jointly developing songs by jamming into playing pre-written songs he’d brought in. It’s a damn good set of songs too, thankfully, following their fan base into the mature topics of child-rearing and interest in matters political. The hooks are plentiful and the band is powerful even if innovation has taken a backseat to pleasure.

167. Brian Eno - Here Comes the Warm Jets (1973)

Brian Eno broke away from Roxy Music (or was broken off) – his weirdness just couldn’t continue to mix with Bryan Ferry’s louchness. For his first solo disc the weird is in full flower with art rock smashing up against 50s and early 60s style arrangements and gloriously odd lyrics. This is glam rock at its most unhinged and barely gave a hint at the ambient realms Eno would explore later in the decade.

166. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders (1993)

The alternate universe Brady Bunch facepile on the cover of Tribe’s third album give some insight into how revered they had become. Ranging from The Beastie Boys to Chuck D. to Afrika Bambataa, Dr. Dre to Whodini, it’s hard to imagine that kind of universal consensus happening now. The album itself is their biggest hit and is chock full of creative rhymes and killer beats. It may not push as hard as the first two records in new directions but as a statement of what they could do this is a killer record.

165. Silver Jews - The Natural Bridge (1996)

The Jews started out as a vehicle for Dave Berman and Pavement’s Steve Malkmus but by this point had become Berman’s thing, excising much of the skronkier noise aspects  for a deep fried country feel. Berman was also coming into his own as a songwriter with quirky slow-burners like “Pet Politics.”

164. David Bowie - ”Heroes” (1977)

The second part of Bowie’s Berlin adventure with Eno, this continues the experimental half vocals/half instrumentals formula of Low as well as much of the musical approach. The songs are a touch more anthemic though and Robert Fripp’s guitar takes on an even more prominent role, one that would continue in Bowie’s work over the next two albums.

163. Prince - Sign ‘O” The Times (1987)

Prince gives us his White Album, a magnum opus that disgorges every style the man is capable of and then some, an incredible potpourri of funk, rock, soul, folk, art-rock and new wave that puts a neat capstone on his utter domination of 80s pop (unless you count that other semi-androgynous high voiced black artist). This is also one of his bleakest albums, tempering his usual sex and saviour schtick with some harsh realities like AIDs and crack.

162. Ramones - Leave Home (1977)

Album two from The Ramones was never going to have the sonic boom impact of the first, but it is a statement that these guys have invented their formula and are going to stick with it. It helps that the formula is amazing, classic pop songcraft supercharged within an inch of it’s life. There are plenty of classics here including the likes of “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” “Commando”, and the gorgeous “I Remember You.”

161. Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man (1988)

Cohen was well and truly in the wilderness in 1988, with a label that wouldn’t even release his recordings in the United States. With this record he overhauled his singer-songwriter sound with sequencers and synthesizers and matched them with a dark set of brooding wonders perfectly suited to his rumbling baritone. The result created a sensation among musicians if no-one else and began his artistic rehabilitation in the US.

160. Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Blood & Chocolate(1986)

Costello’s last album with the Attractions was also one of his best – a great breakup album that coincided with his stealing Pogues bassist Cait O’Riordan to be his new bride. The music is a return to his lean early stuff with melodies that are top notch, and the crack band burns up the grooves.

159. Mission of Burma - Signals, Calls and Marches (1981)

I’ve avoided EPs here because no-one seems to know what they are – long singles? Short albums? Increasingly in the CD age they were a single album track with a bunch of other stuff appended. This however cannot be ignored, the first extended Mission of Burma record is a bruising mind expanding treat, like Brian Eno gone hardcore punk. So ferocious were they live that co-leader Roger Miller had to split the band due to tinnitus brought on by their sonic assault. This implies brutality without subtlety however and this simply is not the case. These are songs, with intricate structure and incredible dynamics. The re-issue helpfully appends two of their best songs, the A and B side of their debut single “Academy Fight Song”.

158. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone (2009)

Neko Case was already well on her way past the Americana of her early recordings into a unique amalgam of  noir California pop and indie rock all anchored by that honey and fire voice. This album is suffused with a nature gone terribly wrong, animals and plantlife and weather all jockeying with people for supremacy. It’s all taken to another level with the thoughtful arrangements worthy of Lindsey Buckingham.

157. Richard & Linda Thompson  - Shoot Out The Lights(1982)

A tough record that memorializes the disintegration of the Thompson’s marriage. The songs are lean and extra-mean, Richard’s guitar is scathing and Linda’s voice is suffused with regret and anger. There is a voyeuristic thrill in just how great this record is – it’s a compelling and compulsive listen.

156. OST - The Harder They Come (1973)

This movie and its soundtrack were they pathway for many non-Jamaicans to discover reggae music. Star Jimmy Cliff has three classics here including the title track but the disc is filled out with a treasure trove of great singles from the previous few years like Desmond Dekker’s “Shanty Town” and Scotty’s “Draw Your Breaks” – an essential collection of early reggae (and a bit of ska).

155. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)

Pink Floyd had finally become superstars six years after their leader Syd Barrett had broken down and retreated from the band, a victim of mental instability. Soldiering on with David Gilmour on guitar and vocal duties and the rest of the band (but increasingly Roger Waters) filling in the songwriting gap, they had gone from experimental art/prog rockers to having a huge hit album and now were haunted by their own origin story. Here they attempt to exorcise that demon on an album that explores their own alienation and fears of madness bought on by a profile even greater than that of Barret’s in their first blush of fame. The man himself is said to have wandered into their studio at Abbey Road to see what was happening with them, a bloated, unrecognizable ghost who had moved back in with his parents. A deeply felt and wounded record that is the band’s most human.

154. R.E.M. - Automatic For The People (1992)

Before I address what’s good about this album I do have to point out the lone stinker in the bunch, “Everybody Hurts”, a Hallmark card of a song that to some is one of their most affecting songs. Not I. Give me “Star Me Kitten”, a gauzy, lust-infused song with a hard center of sadness that seems to be written as it goes along. Or the string infused “Drive” which carves a deep melancholy even as it echoes Gary Glitter. Or the stunning “Man On The Moon”, a heartfelt tribute to the late Andy Kaufman. It’s a record that is veined with sorrow, painful nostalgia, regret, all the emotions that in many ways the band avoided in their earlier work.

153. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig (2008)

Cave is re-energized here, having rocked out hard with his Grinderman side-project. This is a concept album of sorts with Lazarus rising in modern day America, and rising again with a bevy of women from track to track. The old testament here is The Stooges and Cave is preaching fire and brimstone like nobody’s business.

152. U2 - War (1984)

U2 make the transition from post-punk to stadium rockers here, or at least go in that direction. They still have a strong Clash influence but bits of Bowie are leaking in on songs like “New Year’s Day.” What also set them apart were their passionate politics, still a rarity in the early 80s. They’d have bigger albums in this vein but not better.

151. Guided By Voices - Bee Thousand (1994)

Teacher and former high school jock Bob Pollard had been turning out little lo-fi gems for several years on the side, finally getting enough attention to move to a small nationally distributed indie label for this, their breakthrough. The crappy recording quality is a purposeful veil, forcing the brain to listen harder to the extraordinary songs within. The first nine tracks were like a sledgehammer to the head, sounding like an undiscovered trove of field recordings from the 30s of the great lost progenitors of indie rockdom. These Ohioans have a lot to answer for in other bands affecting a similar low-fio aesthetic to obscure rather ordinary or even lousy material but the plus side is a trove of great songs, even if Pollard would prove to be an uneven judge of his own best material.

150. Beck - Mutations (1998)

Officially this was merely a breather and not a follow-up to Odelay, and  sonically this is a very different record. Nor was it a return to Beck’s folk roots as the arrangements are baroque, bringing to mind Nick Drake or Scott Walker. Nigel Godrich is along to produce and he brings a depth and detail that’s similar to his work with Radiohead, though the album never sounds like them at all. Instead it’s Dylanesque in it’s wordplay and images of decay, and also in it’s survey of musical styles from blues to bossa-nova that sounds both timeless and utterly modern.

149. Danger Mouse/ Jay-Z – The Grey Album (2004)

Not at all legal, grey was what you got when you mixed white and black – in this case Jay-Z’s Black Album and The Beatles White Album. While the result could have been just a  gimmicky stunt, Danger Mouse is extremely thoughtful about the ways in which he cuts up and juxtaposes the Beatles music to set off some of  Jay-Z’s most personal rhymes. The result catapulted Danger Mouse into the first rank of in demand producers even as it burned up file-sharing sites and created some new legal fees for The Beatles already well-compensated legal team.

148. The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies (1971)
For all intents and purposes this is Americana before the term existed, dredging up he sound of American popular music in much the way The Band, Dylan and Little Feat were all doing. The Kinks match this with a lyrical conceit that is amusing and telling, with Ray Davies using their British place-names and ennui in place of typical American blues locales and laments. They do visit the new world on the second half, if only in their own imaginations with “Oklahoma U.S.A.” being one of their loveliest compositions.

147. Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me (1987)

What the hell was going on here? College rock, as it was called, was pretty firmly in the punk, roots, new wave, or synth camps when J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph tossed this guitar driven grenade in the mix. Pulling as much from sources like Neil Young and Black Sabbath as Black Flag and The Ramones, this was heavy and yet not metal, a true “Sludgefest” as the title of one song put it. They had invented grunge without meaning to, and it would take a few years and other bands like Mudhoney adding to the movement for Nirvana and Pearl Jam to take the fusion of punk and classic rock over the top. Call to action: the incendiary but loving cover of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven.”

146. The Roots – Things Fall Apart (1999)
The Roots succeed in their mission to transcend the flavor of the month syndrome that had taken over in hip-hop leading to a lot of flash but not a lot of substance.  The Roots definitely look back to the Native Tongue movement but they  aren’t defined by the past. For one thing their live instrumentation sets them apart from the sample-heavy sounds of the late 80s and early 90s, for another Malik B. and Black Thought have their own identities and rhyme skills without being derivative of anyone else.

145. Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic (1974)

Album two was a commercial (if not artistic) setback for the Dan, but tehy came back on all fronts on this third record which found them sharpening their unique jazz-influenced sound and snarky intellegentsia lyrics.  They scored their second big hit with the insinuating bossa nova of “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” but it’s tracks like “Monkey in Your Soul” where the crack session crew really cut loose.

144. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)

It’s hard to remember now but this record operated with the Strokes debut as a one-two punch, giving listeners hope that great rock could exist beyond the morass of nu-metal that dominated the airwaves at the time. As both bands crested 1 million copies sold of their respective records it actually seemed like the next big movement had arrived, right on schedule ten years after grunge. Well they did spawn a whole host of bands especially in England but the pressure from an imploding industry to funnel it’s money into sure bets limited their impact. Even so, it’s easy to see why the impact of Jack and Meg White’s two person racket was so outsized – killer songs that looked back to the classic verities of Zeppelin and the unvarnished attack of punk rock, allied with a strong visual bent and a charismatic frontman.

143.Superchunk - Foolish (1994)
This is yet another great breakup album, informed by the broken marriage of Superchunk leader Mac McCaughan and bassist Laura Ballance. The music is tempered from the band’s early feverish pace, with several songs breaking the 4-minute mark and more varied and somber arrangements working their way into the likes of “Driveway To Driveway” and “Like a Fool.”

142. B-52′s – B-52′s (1979)

Any album that could get John Lennon and Yoko Ono out of retirement can’t be a bad thing. More specifically the couple heard the song “Rock Lobster” while on vacation and recognized in Cindy Wilson’s ululations that the world was finally ready for Yoko. The B-52s were the sonic equivalent of John Waters here – Polyester if not full on Pink Flamingoes in their embrace of camp. They prefigured the 90s obsession with irony and the ongoing retro explosion but did it with their own unique flair.

141. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On (1971)
Marvin Gaye’s declaration of independence from Motown’s assembly line was a mind-expanding slice of layered soul that is considered by many to be the best soul album ever made. It’s certainly one of the most breathtaking, with Gaye’s songwriting and arranging on songs like the title track and “Flyin’ High (in The Friendly Sky)” hitting a Brian Wilson like level of detail attention and orchestral grandeur.

140. Bruce Springsteen – The River (1980)
The Boss shows us both the serious and the playful side on this double album, chock full of songs that split the difference between the bombastic anthems of Born To Run and the introspective ballads on Darkness on The Edge of Town. This is chock full of strong songs from the raucous “Out In The Street” to the rockin’ “Cadillac Ranch” which prefigured his Born in the U.S.A. sound  to the pensive “Wreck on the Highway.”

139. T. Rex – Electric Warrior (1971)

Glam rock kicked off in the UK as a craze with this monolithic groove monster of an album – all Chuck Berry riffs and clomping beats tied together with Marc Bolan’s strange lyrics and Flo and Eddie’s endearingly whiny backing vocals. This paved the way for punk by returning to the simpler pleasures of great songs and tight arrangements deliberately harking back to early 60s styles without aping them. The songs are great and widely varied, part of Bolan’s brief purple patch of albums and singles that ran out after 1973.

138. Eminem – The Slim Shady LP (1999)
This debut record sent shockwaves through both rock and rap, becoming a huge hit and propelling Marshall Mathers to major stardom. His sheer audacious talent prevented charges of racial claim-jumping, along with his alliance with Dr. Dre behind the production boards. It’s both funny and deadly serious and the controversy arose because Mathers wasn’t about to call out which was which. Unlike the senseless and ultimately boring beefing and cap-popping of gangsta rock these rhymes are deeply personal which made the violence disturbing in a whole different way. Audacious.

137. The Clash – Combat Rock (1982)

Derided by some as their worst record, most bands would kill for something as tuneful, smart and varied as this. Sadly just as this took them to a much bigger commercial level tension in the band between Mick Jones and Joe Strummer came to a head, with Strummer firing Jones(who went on to form B.A.D.) and returning in 1985 with a much inferior version of the band. As the last real Clash album, this carries a poignant hint of what might have been as U2, The Police, Peter Gabriel and others made much hay by going down roads the Clash had opened up. The sound by Who producer Glyn Johns is made for arenas and sure enough the band garnered hits with “Rock The Casbah” and “Should I Stay Or Should I Go.” The depth is added on songs like the bongo fury of “Car Jam,” the achingly gorgeous “Straight To Hell” and cold war lament “Innoculated City.” You wish your band was this good.

136. Fatboy Slim – You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby (1998)
Big beat electronica reached it’s commercial zenith with this stomping party record, the brainchild of Norman Cook who had been bassist for UK poppers The Housemartins in the 80s before starting Beats Intl in the early 90s as a song-oriented cut and paste electronic project. As Fatboy Slim he dived full-in into Chemical Brothers territory but here on album two he perfects the formula. It doesn’t hurt that he had Spike Jonez along to direct a set of clever videos but it’s the infectious  and hooky songs that make this one thrive.

135. The Cars - The Cars (1978)

The Cars were the first post-punk/new wave band to get radio play on America’s FM stations, bringing classic songwriting rigor to the new amped up sound and paving the way for new wave to hit hard a few years later. What this really was, was power pop chilled out with a Bowie affect, what Cheap Trick would have sounded like if they had dug Roxy Music instead of The Move.

134.M.I.A. - Kala (2008)

This ups the ante considerably over M.I.A’s amazing debut, fixing her in firmament that calls out everyone from Jonathan Richman in “Bamboo Banga” to Pixies in “20 Dollar” to her clever sampling of The Clash on the hit “Paper Planes.” It’s not how she references her influences however, it’s the way she transcends them to make a distinctly transcontinental dance music that takes no prisoners politically or musically.

133.Julian Cope – Peggy Suicide (1991)

Cope was an eccentric in the great British tradition, jabbering about ley lines and dressing up like a turtle for the cover of his album Fried. He does have an ear for a great song though, and had a few hits on college radio before suddenly pulling this amazing double album out of his fanny er, pack. Incorporating himself into the baggy pants ecstasy subculture he hijacked the beats of bands like Happy Mondays and twinned them with canny songwriting skill and some bite from his post-punk milieu.

132. Sonic Youth – Dirty (1992)
Sonic Youth were midwives to the grunge and indie rock explosion of the early nineties, having championed bands like Mudhoney and Seattle’s Sub Pop records and serving as ambassadors from for Nirvana to join the ranks of Geffen records. In turn, they responded to the revolution of 1991 with their most focused hard rocking set yet, produced by Nirvana’s producer Butch Vig. The results show that SY cleans up real nice, but there’s no mistaking something like “Swimsuit Issue” for a song that was going to get radio play on “Smells Like Teen Spirit” levels. “Sugar Kane” however takes a familiar set of tricks that the band had deployed before and pretties them up enough to make you believe that they really could have been part of the classic rock canon.

131. The Jam – Setting Sons (1979)
Very nearly a concept album about World War I (taking notes, PJ Harvey?) there are plenty of songs here that reflect the themes of warfare and youth squandered in the trenches. This is their most ambitious album to date not just thematically but musically as well, with full orchestration on “Smithers-Jones” and tricky time changes on “Little Boy Soldiers.” The songs that are off-topic are strong enough (like the killer “Girl on The Phone”) to not mar the sense of accomplishment with the exception of a Who-aping version of “Heat Wave.”

130. Elastica – Elastica (1995)

A surprise hit in the US and UK, Elastica filled their debut with spiky riff-bombs that were descended (to the point of a lawsuit) from punk and post-punk staples like Wire, The Damned, The Jam and others. The way it’s all served up is wholly original though, the tautness reflecting the voice of Justine Frischmann and the aloof stance of her bandmates. It’s also fiendishly consistent with not an ounce of fat across the sharp songs or lean arrangements. Ahead of their time really if you look at The Strokes and other New York sound revival bands of the 00s.

129. Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
Though they had clear antecedents in the likes of Aphex Twin and Future Sound of London just to name two, Chemical Brothers reached out to a broader audience by nodding to traditional song structure and reaching out to hip-hop and psychedelia as explicit influences. It’s here on thier secodn album that it all comes together helping to take electronica for a brief stroll in the mainstream.

128. Nick Lowe – Jesus of Cool (1978)
Lowe was a major player in Britain’s pub-rock scene, a back-to-basics precursor to punk that counted Joe Strummer’s 101ers among their practitioners. He branched out after the breakup of his band Brinsley Schawrz in two directions, as a producer (most famously of Elvis Costello) and a solo artist. His songwriting would always be a strong suit but it’s on this solo debut that he’s at his most winningly varied, with tracks that are harder and less country tinged than subsequent outings. His quirky sense of humor abounds (this was a guy who responded to the release of David Bowie’s Low with an EP entitled Bowi) as does his love for sheer genre craft, from the gentle art-rock of “I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass” to the pure pop of “Tonight” to the chilly post-punk of “36 Inches High.”

127. R.E.M. – Document (1987)

R.E.M. decide to play at being an arena rock band and funnily enough become one, while retaining much of their quirky charm and general artsy bent. The guitars ring, the drums pound and Stipe enunciates(mostly) but as in their previous four records it’s Mike Mills’ bass leading the way and even when they toss the word “love” into “The One I Love,” it’s a cruel trick.

126. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (1988)
This is where PE come into their own propelled by the fury and denseness of the Bomb Squads production and the relentless flow of Chuck D. and Flavor Flav.  It’s an immersive riot of sound and ideas on songs like “Bring The Noise” and PE dares the listener to simply keep up. What amazes is that so many of the building blocks were the same as for groups like Run-D.M.C. and Eric B. and Rakim, scratching, samples from soul records like James Browns, call and response rapping, but it’s supercharged into something altogether new here. Revelatory.

125. The National – High Violet (2010)
This was far from the big leap its predecessor had been, rather it’s like an expansion of that record’s highly polished multilayered sound and gauzy ennui filled vibe. It’s one of the most amazing, deeply depressing records you are likely to hear. It’s the sound of arrested adolescence hardening into disappointing adulthood, sometimes wryly as on “Afraid of Everyone” – probably the best summation of how fear rules our divided country. “I don’t have the drugs to sort it out..”

124. The Mekons – The Curse of The Mekons (1991)

Still obscure in the UK, The Mekons had scored their first ever radio play and stellar reviews after ten years of recording when they delivered this record to their American label, A & M. The record was rejected, leading to the band to leave the label and go through the crappy process of buying back their own work. It is of course one of their best, a big sweeping epic that surveys life as lefty radicals in the wake of the end of the Cold War.

123. The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me (1987)
 The catch 22 for American Indie rock bands in the 80s was that you were never going to get played on the radio or become known in the mainstream because the industry was stacked against you, so if you did find success it obviously meant you had sold out. Or so the myth went. So powerful was this point of view that it led to deep feelings of guilt in bands like The Replacements who began to see glowing reviews translated into a major label deal all the way to Kurt Cobain who felt bewildered and apologetic when Nirvana actually achieved the huge stardom he had hoped for.  This was The Replacement’s and more specifically Paul Westerberg’s initial bid to be a big band but as the cover art suggests they were acutely aware of their underdog status and the tradeoffs implied in going mainstream. They’d also shed guitarist Bob Stinson, a force of nature who was not so easily channeled beyond beer fueled punk rave-ups. While the results could have felt neutered (and did on subsequent follow-ups) here the songs are among their best and the sympathetic ear of eccentric Memphis legend Jim Dickinson as producer insures that for all the horns and strings, the real nature of the band shines through.

122. Archers of Loaf – All The Nation’s Airports (1996)

Archers takes a big leap into strange conceptual spaces, an album that sounds like what happens when your flight is elayed and you just observe the goings on in the terminal, wondering “Is that guy an assassin? I wonder how many miles that salesman has logged? Is that pilot drunk?” The songs are wiry and tightly melodic with most of side one running together as a suite.  There are moments like on “Scenic Pastures” that approach a pure pop bliss state while hewing to the skewed indie rock they do so well.

121. Portishead – Dummy (1994)
Massive Attack may have been there first but Geoff Barrow and Beth Gibbon’s took trip-hop to a much wider audience, deservedly so given the inventive fusion of chanteuse torch songs with deep-crate samples and hip-hop beats and scratches. What’s still striking is how natural the fusion feels. Paved the way for  a whole host of imitators and inspired folks from Amy Winehouse to Radiohead.

120. The Smiths – Meat is Murder (1985)

While R.E.M. did their bit for American guitar based indie with a smarty-pants bent, The Smiths did their part across the part. Instead of Stipe’s mumbling however The Smith’s had Morissey’s hyper articulate snark set against the many guitar textures Johnny Marr was able to crank out like clockwork. This, their second album, is widely considered their most uneven and it is, but a great band’s so-so album is still better than a  so-so band’s great moment.

119. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – On The Beach (1974)
Apocalypse Neil Young style, featuring roaming killer hippies in the California canyons, vampires, and entertainment industry execs. In fitting with this stretch of his career the music is woozy, boozy and bluesy, full of frayed edges and lonesome laments.

118. Spoon – Gimme Fiction (2005)
This takes the new spare soundscape that Britt Daniel had steered to on the previous Spoon album and blows it up to cinematic proportions. Every guitar squiggle and bass change up feels freighted with significance, weighted with value. The arrangements highlight the effortless glide of Daniel’s melodies on songs like “The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine” and the show stopping groove of “I Turn My Camera On.” Grows better and better with each passing year.

117. PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love (1995)
Until this record PJ Harvey was the name of Polly Jean Harvey’s band but here on her third outing it became just she. Of course she has a set of musicians she’s working with but the palette is broadened here, resembling most closely the work of her soon-to-be lover Nick Cave. Along with a wider set of sounds and moods come clarity and detail that her three piece just wasn’t built for, and a bit more theatricality. If some sheer rawness is sacrificed, in it’s place is Harvey’s still strong love of a chugging guitar riff and an eerie chord, and her forceful sensuality.

116. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989)

An album that increasingly seems remarkable for its encyclopedic foreshadowing of the next decade of British rock music, the Roses debut comes out of the gate remarkably assured.  “I Wanna Be Adored” rolls in like a summer storm, a drop-dead killer melody that points towards the classic rock aping of Oasis but is wholly uncanny. “She Bangs The Drums” is britpop like Blur would vault to the fore five years later and “Fool’s Gold” a genre defying trip to the Hacienda club that kicked off the whole ecstasy, beats and guitars craze over the ensuing few months.

115. Urge Overkill – The Supersonic Storybook (1991)

This is the ambitious Chicagoans statement of purpose, a record chock full of pounding beats, crunchy Cheap Trick riffs and trick arrangements that always seem to have a surprise up their sleeve. “Bionic Revolution” injects a bit of surprising soul, as does an ace cover of Hot Chocolate’s “Emmaline” and the whole thing seems primed for maximum windows down car cruising.\

114.Lou Reed -Coney Island Baby (1976)

After a lot of flailing around, sometimes interestingly and sometimes excruciatingly, Reed found his legs with this refreshingly straightforward set of songs. The melodies are reminiscent of the third Velvets album and the mood is sweeter than most of his 70s work, a welcome reboot.

113. Blur – Parklife (1994)
Blur’s brilliant third album kicked off the Britpop boom of the 90s, a welcome return to the standards set by the Kinks, The Smiths, The Jam, and other gloried exponents of the empire’s take on rock and pop. Damon Albarn’s incisive writing is born aloft by Graham Coxon’s edgy guitar coloration and Alex James bass playing which seems to channel prime McCartney. The songs are veddy British but universal in their catchiness, from the neo new wave ass shaker “Girls and Boys” to the massive weather as depression metaphor “This is A Low.” Peerless.

112. Sinead O’ Connor – The Lion and The Cobra (1987)

This debut was clearly indebted to art rock like Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, but O’ Connor has a hugely distinctive voice and taste that also wandered over to R & B and hip-hop, leading to an album that is utterly distinctive. Though she would become a big star only with her next release (and flame-out by the one after that) this is still the best display of her idiosyncratic talent.

111.Unrest – Imperial F.F.R.R. (1992)

This is one of those amazing records that seems fully formed in every way, from cover art to song titles to musical and lyrical content creating a distinct mood and worldview. Unrest signaled their mutation from an arty hardcore band with a few singles before unleashing their sex drenched jangle pop on the world. Songs like the luxuriant “I Do Believe Your Blushing” rub shoulders with the bracing Krautrock experiment of “Champion Nines.” Somehow it all sounds completely unique ad utterly enveloping.

110. Paul McCartney & Wings – Band on The Run (1973)
McCartney and band decamped to Nigeria to record this album, and not a lick of it is influenced by any music other than what Paul already knew. It was however influenced by their feeling of being outsiders under siege and away from home, and this manifests itself in his toughest sounding and most focused non-Beatles work. It’s also one of  his best. Deploying all of his arranging tricks, he elevates the songs to little gems.

109. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977)
A commercial monster of an album, this spawned several top ten singles at a time when one or two per album was the norm, setting the stage for later blockbusters like Thriller. With it’s complex backgroup of marriages broken and spouses shared it’s a quintessential 70s album in all the best ways, and the full integration of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks here makes the long-lived band even more than the sum of its parts.

108. X – More Fun in The New World (1983)

For their fourth album X continued to work with producer Ray Manzarek and also kept to a path of steadily broadening their punk-inflected sound with more rockabilly and a few ballads here and there. The biggest change are more topical lyrics tweaking the state of Reagan’s America. This is another strong set from John Doe and Exene.

107. Roxy Music – Roxy Music (1972)

A colossal mindfuck, Roxy’s first album exploded the boundaries of art-rock, glam and straight-up pop. Eno and Ferry push and pull at either side of these songs, one side trying to drag it all into a smoothed out continental chill the other blurting gobs of noise and jarring juxtapositions. “Re-Make/Re-Model” is like King Curtis’ “Texas Soul Stew”  forced through graduate school at knifepoint. So many bands and artists were obviously spurred into action by this that it seems silly to list them. Huge.

106. Hole – Live Through This (1994)
It almost seems like Courtney was mourning her husband months before he died, as this was released coincidentally on the Tuesday after his body was discovered. Or, perhaps the truth lies in the rumor that these songs were mostly written by Cobain? Either way this is Courtney Love’s one sheer masterpiece, a howl of an album that channels her rage and drama into coherent powerful rock anthems.  It’s an amazing album performed with passion and guts.

105. Talking Heads  – More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978)

On their second album the Heads claim to serve up more of the same but this is a more guitar based affair drawing on their live sound. The also began to be seen as a real commercial prospect, having a hit with their version of Al Green’s “Take Me To The River” which presaged their deeper dive into funk and other non-rock idioms. The whole record shows off a tight focused band that plays the hell out of a great set of quirky songs.

104. Wire - Chairs Missing (1978)
Wire’s second album expands and deepens on the formula set out on the first record – the songs are longer and more textured and if anything the riffs are catchier. “I Am The Fly” and “Outdoor Miner” are worth the price of admission alone as they are two of the greatest post punk songs ever and are different enough from each other to deserve note. “Fly” is buzzsaw guitars married to an insinuating much copied bassline with some of the best icky lyrics in the world while “Miner” is a sweetly beautiful pop confection which seems to sneak in a keyboard riff from Del Shannon. Simply amazing.

103. Smiths – Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)

The Smiths ended gloriously with this record, their most detailed set of songs yet. The Morrissey/Marr partnership may have been fraying but the interplay is awesome even on the cheeky ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” which, like many a great Motown classic, seems to comment on itself. The record is chock full of great tunes.

102. Iggy Pop – The Idiot (1977)

Iggy seemed washed up in the wake of The Stooges dissolution and the new punks who were inspired by them in 1976-77. After lying low for several years he re-emerged with longtime patron David Bowie who produced and co-wrote a set of songs for this debut solo record. The Bowie influence is obvious but Iggy does have his own thing to say and way of saying it, even if the raw power of The Stooges is here channeled into a more mature slow burning set. Bowie would later borrow “China Girl” back for his Let’s Dance album, and the difference between the claustrophobic dread here and Bowie’s glossy theatrical take speak volumes.

101. The White Stripes – Elephant (2003)

Jack and Meg were genuine stars when this came out, and driven by the indelible riff of “Seven Nation Army” this fourth album was even bigger than their previous breakout third. They are clearly stretching out, covering a Bacharach/David chestnut and having fun with the likes of “It’s True That We Love One Another”, one of Jack’s patented nursery ditties.

Yes, it’s part three of my countdown and the gems keep coming! Are you getting mad yet? Seeing some old faves show up? Don’t forget you can see Part II here and Part I here.

300. Pavement – Brighten The Corners (1997)

This aptly named record also tightens the focus after the sprawl of Wowie Zowie while embracing instrumental coloration like mellotron on the wonderful “Transport is Arranged.” The songwriting is sharp and Malkmus is at his lyrical best on bon mots like “Starlings in the Slipstream” and “Stereo” which namechecks Rush’s Geddy Lee.

299. The Jayhawks – Tomorrow the Green Grass (1995)

Gary Louris and Mark Olsen were on the verge of splitting their partnership as The Jayhawks but they were able to release this, their best album before things took a turn for the worse. The songs are the best kind of classical, with the virtues of great craft married to stunning playing and soulful singing. It’s countrified but not country.

298. Danger Doom – The Mouse and the Mask (2005)
Commissioned by Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block, this collaboration between MF Doom and Danger Mouse is way better than it’s commercial origins would suggest. Doom’s rapping is typically inventive and the production samples cleverly and liberally from such shows as Sealab 2021.

297. Jeff Buckley – Grace (1994)

Buckley was the son of folky Tim Buckley, and like his dad would die tragically young. Unlike his father though, his songwriting and performing ran the gamut from big widescreen ballads to atonal guitar rave-ups to florid confessionals all driven by his astounding vocal instrument.

296. Archers of Loaf – Icky Mettle (1994)

This is AOL’s most viscerally aggressive record, but it’s tuneful as well – like Pavement and Superchunk were crossbred. The songs tumble out like rough little gems from a  plastic bag. Addictively good.

295. My Bloody Valentine – Isn’t Anything (1988)

After a few records of strummy c-86 style indie these brits took a deep dive into pioneering the shoegaze aesthetic, signified by gauzy hazy vocals, a sometimes overwhelming squalls of guitars both electric and acoustic, and windtunnel drumming.  It sounds qway better than my description and along with Cocteau Twins this is the record that helped to kick it all off. While MBV would go on to add a ferocity to their sound that was more akin to Sonic Youth, there’s a welcome sensuality here that makes this eminently listenable.

294. The Kinks - Schoolboys in Disgrace (1975)

After a string of increasingly self-indulgent concept albums topped by the career nadir of Soap Opera, The Kinks and more specifically the brothers Davies pumped up the songs and the volume, though again in service of a theme. Ray Davies seems to benefit from nostalgia and does so here, spicing up many of his arrangements with 1950s style keyboards and flourishes. This also rocks harder than anything they had done for years, presaging their next shift into heavy arena rockers. More to the point, it was fun, a great pisstake on the British school tradition.

293. The Wrens – The Meadowlands (2003)

The Wrens clearly went through a lot of shit between the 1996 release of Secaucus and this record, and the mood is pensive and melancholy when not downright bitter. This is one of those great records that somehow avoids fusing those emotions into a sour ball of self-pity and instead creates a cathartic release. This is helped along by thoughtful arrangements and honed songcraft. Unjustly overlooked.

292. The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin (1999)

Indie rockers turned one hit wonders turned art -proggers, Flaming Lips seemed destined to travel up their own wazoos. Instead they created a delicately stunning collection of full-bodied melodic treasures capturing the exhilaration of scientific progress. Cleverly though all the Manhattan Project stuff is a veneer under which lies frontman Wayne Coyne’s most nakedly personal lyrics to date.

291. Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark (1974)

Mitchell continues to add more jazz and r & b shadings to her songwriting bag of tricks on a sometimes playful set of songs about love and relationships. “Free Man in Paris” is notoriously about David Geffen and “Raised on Robbery” has a touch of the Andrews Sisters in it’s intro, showing how expansiave her subject matter and arrangements were becoming.

290. Gary Wilson – You Think You Really Know Me (1977)

Beck before there was a Beck, a big chunk of Midnite Vultures owes a debt to the obscure and idiosyncratic electro-funk confessionals on this record. Recorded in his parents basement, this was a throwaway self-pressed release and even the artist himself saw it as a one shot deal, going back to the wedding/bar mitzvah band circit he still plays on to this day. The album is full of burbling synths and sexual frustration that meld together into an amazing tight-assed cry for help and/or nookie. Has to be heard.

289. Killing Joke – Killing Joke (1980)

This band was endlessly mis-labelled  – heavy metal, new wave, goth. What they did was to pioneer the kind of crunching mechanical throb that would later power most of Ministry, Big Black, and countless other imitators a decade later. The debut is their ultimate statement, a cold war inspired slice of darkness that beeps, boops, guitar chugs, and most importantly glides it’s way to the apocalypse.

288. The Jam – Sound Affects! (1980)

Paul Weller took his neo-mods down a decidedly more Beatles-y route here – quite literally on “Start!” which borrows it’s bass riff from “Taxman.” It’s a great set of songs from “Pretty Green” to the stellar “That’s Entertainment” the band struts their scope.

287. Husker Du – New Day Rising (1985)

Loud and trebly, this can be a challenge to listen to but the melodies are there just waiting to emerge. Grant Hart and Bob Mould are approaching their peaks as songwriters here and the great stuff keeps coming in sharp pummels of noise.

286. Pulp – We Love Life (2001)
Hooking up with reclusive legend Scott Walker to produce their last album was an idea that was so crazy it might just work, and work it did though most of the British music scene had moved on at this point. a shame as this is one of Pulp leader Jarvis Cocker’s best. The songs are lusher (listen to the killer strings on “Trees”) darker, funnier (the nature as pervert narrative of “Birds” and the hilarious “Bad Cover Version” and it’s video which lyrically tweaks Walker).

285. Big Audio Dynamite – No. 10, Upping St. (1986)

For a band that had such a rancorous split, the Clash reunion was so low-key as to be almost unheralded to this day. This record, the second by Mick Jones’ post-Clash band, was co-produced by Joe Strummer, who also co-wrote 5 of the tracks. Not surprising then that this is B.A.D.’s best record, extending The Clash’s forays into hip-hop with aplomb and adding sampling to the mix, along with their best melodies and sharpest lyrics.

284. Beck – Midnite Vultures (1999)

This contains some of Beck’s best work but it’s also his most divisive, a big cum stained ode to Prince, R & B both retro and modern, and the wonders of polymorphous perversity. “Sexx Laws” is a Stax song on Viagra, all horny horns and an insinuating Steve Cropper-ish guitar lick that becomes a full blown banjo solo. “Nicotene and Gravy” is a slinky groove that degenerates into a “Day in The Life” -style breakdown. Will take years to be fully appreciated.

283. Camper Van Beethoven – Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (1988)

CVB and lead songwriter/singer David Lowery continued to temporize their eclectic middle eastern and asian informed leanings with more pop and out-and-out rock songs on this, their first record for Virgin. It’s a damn good set of songs that still maintains the quirk factor as well as the occasional Balkan ballad. One of the most accessible tunes seems to be about an Eastern Bloc love affair, and “Tania” is one of the most brilliant songs ever about Patty Hearst.

282. Negativland – Helter Stupid (1989)

Negativland were pressured to go on tour after the surprise (relative) success of Escape From Noise but they knew they would lose money on the proposition. To get out of it they sent out a press release claiming that due to a (actual) local murder that had been tied to their music, they were not allowed to leave the vicinity. This was a complete goof yet suddenly they found the music press calling for comment and before long tjhey began to attract attention from news outlets. In fitting with their deconstructionist approach the first song on the record starts off jauntily urgent before it becomes clear that it is in fact the theme for a local news program whose lead story is a poorly researched and sourced version of their fabrication.  The rest of the record veers into a parody that samples liberally from local person on the street interviews and 70s AM radio staples as they explore pre-packaged nostalgia. The idea that anyone would want the detritus of the 70s still seemed comically unlikely in 1989 but post-Tarantino the put on actually turns out to have been prescient.

281. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (2007)

Flamboyant singer songwriter Kevin Barnes and a cast of characters are Of Montreal, and he made several strong records before hitting a peak with this kaleidoscopic romp through his own failed marriage and the experience of living overseas in Norway unmoored from anything familiar. Where the impulse might be to go for dark dirges this  is full of bright shiny objects, glorious pop confections that recall Prince, Beck, New Order and even bubblegum like the productions of Max Martin. Barnes’ lyrical content is confessional to an unsettling extent however, which makes for a fascinating contrast.

280. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Pig Lib (2003)

Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus has the unenviable task of always being compared to his former band as a solo artist. He does have a very distinctive style which is on full display here – from clever and sometimes nonsensical lyrics to blazing guitar chops. He also steps out a bit from the shadow of past glories with a consistent set of songs and an almost psychedelic bent on tracks like “Do Not Feed The Oyster.” While his solo debut was buttoned down this is expansive and jammy.

279. Harry Nilsson with John Lennon – Pussy Cats (1974)
Lennon was on the west coast in ’74, estranged from Yoko Ono and behaving very badly indeed, usually with Nilsson in tow. Not wanting to stop the party Nilsson asked him to produce a record and when he ruptured a vocal chord, gamely kept going. You can practically hear the cocaine and brandy that fueled these sessions in the tracks – a hodgepodge of covers and a few Nilsson originals. Lennon joins and plays on most everything and the spirit is almost too tangible of desperate partying to stave off the darkness. Remarkable if you go in for this sort of thing, and I do.

278. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)
Eminem pissed off a lot of people with his first record and on this follow-up he decides to push both the confessionals and satire even farther – more akin to Lenny Bruce or George Carlin than Nelly. Naturally Dre provides a stellar set of beats and musical settings to further this. “Criminal” is the key track, closing out the able by exploring the differences between fact and fiction and then hilariously exploiting them.

277. New Order – Low-Life (1985)

New Order thoroughly defined post-punk’s embrace of electronics and texture as the band fully sloughed off their Joy Division past. Still until now their most galvanizing statements were on non-album singles but this album finally brings together their popcraft and their atmospheric skills to make an indelible statement of purpose.

276. Guided By Voices – Alien Lanes (1995)

GBV’s breakthrough with Bee Thousand felt like a one-time event and indeed the low-fi aesthetic gets precious over the course of a career. Bob Pollard still doesn’t polish things up on this follow-up but he lets many of the best melodies shine while showing what would become a characteristic unwillingness to edit with this sprawling 28 track opus. To be fair some of the songs are no longer than a half minute. The great ones here rank with his very best though, “As We Go Up, We Go Down”, “Motor Away” and “Striped White Jets” are just a few of the top notch ones here.

275. Helium – The Magic City (1997)

Mary Timony vastly expands the sound of her band, embracing proggy instruments like harpsichords and some distinctly new wave keyboard sounds including a synth on “Leon’s Space Song” that could be straight from a Cars record.
Her genius is that the song itself doesn’t feel like anyone else’s work, just a dramatic way to expand and deepen her sharp songwriting.

274. The Field – From Here We Go Sublime (2007)

This debut really did sound like nothing that had come before – minimalist tracks that almost sounded like a very smooth CD player skipping, little fragments that build and build until they are revealed to be micro-moments from other tracks – say “A Paw in My Face” which resolves unexpectedly into Lionel Richie’s “Hello.”

273. Allen Toussaint – Southern Nights (1975)

Toussaint is a fixture in the New Orleans music world, producing, songwriting, arranging and playing on records for decades for other artists and to a lesser extent his own solo forays. He was on a purple patch in the mid-70s as this album shows, extending and expanding his New Orleans r & b and funk into slow languid reveries as on the title track (later amped up and turned into a big country crossover hit by Glen Campbell) and hot burning tracks like “Last Train.”

272. Stereolab – Transient-Random Noise Bursts, With Announcements (1993)

The early 90s was a great period of revival for interest in German “Krautrock”, experimental rock from the 60s and 70s that included bands like Can, Kraftwerk and Faust. This was due in part to the championing of folks like Julian Cope but also to the incorporation of many of those bands sounds into the bag of tricks of bands like Stereolab. Thus the flooring 18 minutes of “Jenny Ondiolene” here among other tracks. But there was also 60s pop, shoegaze, new wave, and post-punk mixed into their stew on this, their most experimentally catchy record.

271. Girls - Album (2009)

Beautifully detailed bedroom pop doesn’t get much better than this. What’s original about these guys (primarily Christopher Owen’s songs fleshed out by JR White’s arranging and production) are the songcraft and melodic giftedness and willingness to juxtapose the bright and sunny with dark and grimy.

270. The Auteurs – After Murder Park (1996)

One of the least likely bands to call in Chicago noise master Steve Albini to helm the boards, Luke Haines and band serve up appropriately feisty songs and performances while still sounding very much like themselves. The subject matter is genuinely drak, a loose song cycle about murder, loss, childhood, and small town Britain.

269. Faust – Faust IV (1973)

Faust rein in some of their more experimental impulses for this, their final album as a working unit (they would re-unite down the line). You can hear the influence they had on everyone from Animal Collective to Public Image Ltd. to Pixies with the standout being the sublime “Jennifer.”

268. Lambchop – Is a Woman (2002)

This can feel like a strange woozy trip through a small town, with Kurt Wagner limning  little character studies for each song. There is a definite flow to Lambchop’s music that is defiantly down-tempo without being somnambulistic – a “Hey city fella, what’s the rush?” sensibility.

267. Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Imperial Bedroom (1982)

Costello aimed for the bleachers on this one, bringing in Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick to class up the joint with big bold arrangements. In return, EC turns in an impressively varied set of songs from torchy to tetchy. As the title suggests these are baroque confections wrapped around a trademarked sneer.

266. Black Francis – Bluefinger (2007)
Pixies main man Black Francis practiced under the name Frank Black up until 2007 when, following that bands revival on tour he reverted to his original stage name. His first album as Black Francis is also his most inspired and energetic in years, reaching back to the aggressiveness of his early work while retaining the songcraft and embrace of tradition that he explored during his solo years. A concept record about Dutch rocker Herman Brood, you don’t need to know the troubled history of it’s inspiration to appreciate its greatness and the one Brood cover “You Can’t Break a Heart and Have It” is outstanding.

265. Spoon – A Series of Sneaks (1998)

These taut guitar driven tracks were seen rightly as a big advance over this band’s early work but has since been overshadowed by the disastrous major label relationship it represented and the band’s artistic rebirth on Merge Records after being dropped after this one album. What’s been lost is what a tight driving slice of awesome the record is, subtly pointing the way to the band’s latter-day minimalism more than their immediate follow-up did.

264. The Mekons - I Heart Mekons (1993)

This list is chock full of records that make the argument that major labels were lumbering tasteless beasts that only served to push product through pipelines but stifled great music. Today plenty of artists have taken advantage of digital technology to bypass this and have suffered little given the paucity of physical retail locations but in the 80s and 90s few bands had this choice. The Mekons had already bounced from a bad situation at A & M and were newly signed to Warners subsidiary Loud, which rejected this, their brightest and most accessible record, as not being commercial enough. This was their fourth killer disc in a row and this time the subject was romance, their cynical and wry pens turning to the many facets of human relations.   

263. The Cars – Candy -O(1979)

The Cars were another band destined to live down a stellar debut but by any standard this, their second record, was an artistic and commercial success even if not on par with the first. Ocasek proves to be a songwriter to be reckoned with – “Let’s Go” and “Dangerous Type” joined the list of Cars classics. The title track strips things down to a punky urgency and “Double Life” is a should have been hit.

262. Paul McCartney – Ram (1971)

In the wake of the traumatic Beatles split it was Paul (and Yoko) who came in for the most opprobrium but time has proven out how evenly matched the talents of at least John, Paul and George really were. Ringo’s talent of course was being in the right place at the right time. This was Paul’s second solo disc and a big improvement on his slap-dash debut but still received scathing reviews. Now it seems like a pretty great record, with a command of melodies and songwriting skill that most artists would kill for. Yes Paul could get awfully silly or just plain treacly but not here – the soft stuff like “Heart of The Country” is great and simple, the tricky stuff like “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is earworm heaven and the hard stuff like “Smile Away” rips.

261. Suicide - Suicide (Alan Vega/Martin Rev)  (1980)

Issued both under their band names and credited to both of the seperately, Vega and Rev built on their groundbreaking electronic debut by enlisting Ric Ocasek though this never approaches The Cars level of pop. There is a fuller, more pronounced hookcraft here that is often disarmingly hummable, clearly inspiring every synth duo to follow in the 80s.

260. ..And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead – Source Tags and Codes (2002)

This album caught them at the midpoint between Sonic Youth and Mission of Burma styled indie rock and prog expansiveness more along the lines of Pink Floyd. Reviews were ecstatic included a coveted 10.0 from Pitchfork.com but this has proved a very hard record to live up to, especially given its nature as a transition piece. It truly is their best though.

259. R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant (1986)

R.E.M. were disillusioned by the experience of making their third LP and were nothing if not a band always looking to build on their last record. As such they turned to much more direct songwriting for LP number four and recruited John Cougar Mellencamp’s producer Don Gehman to add sonic bite. Opener “Begin The Begin” ably blows out the cobwebs announcing this as their rocking-est record yet but then they follow up with the drop-dead gorgeous “Fall On Me” and suddenly these scrappy indie pioneers looked like contenders indeed. Stipe’s songs and singing were becoming clearer by the note, with more political content than they’d ever cared to include before, at a time when few others bothered.

258. Bob Dylan – Modern Times (2006)

Dylan is completely steeped in the americana he essentially helped codify with The Basement Tapes, sounding more relaxed and in charge in the 00s than he had since the mid 70s. It’s his best set of songs since then two, spread out over the decade and including this gimlet eyed gem. The songs are chock full of references that cut towards the past and the future, as much about the venality of today as of everyday. It’s a thrill when he sings about thinking of Alicia Keys because we want Dylan to be in the here and now and also as he does here, to be completely timeless.

257. Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic (1975)

This is the touchstone Aerosmith album, the band at the peak of their songwriting and recording powers (if not physical condition). Toxix Twins Joe Perry and Steve Tyler would fade after this, only to come back in the late 80s assisted by a phalanx of song doctors, as well as rehab technicians. This is the real deal though, a band finding out that their blues-based repertoire could lead them away from simply being Jagger/Richards clones.

256. Wire – 154 (1979)

The culmination of a groundbreaking three album run, Wire’s third continued to shift the palette away from the ultra-short riff-bombs of their first album into a keyboard based experimental vein. The songs get stretched and icy, entering into Bowie in Berlin territory, but it always gets snapped back into sharp melodies and biting guitar work.

255. Rocket From the Crypt – Circa: Now! (1992)

A huge leap forward for an obscure bunch of punks, RFTC deploy a newly minted horn section and deeply detailed guitar textures to blow minds and open major label wallets in the post-Nirvana landscape. The songs are chugging roiling anthems that flirt with 50s and 60s party rock moves even as the guitars blaze.

254. Peter Gabriel – So (1986)

Gabriel’s most accessible and best known work still has time amidst the ersatz Stax groove of “Sledgehammer” and the tender Kate Bush duet “Don’t Give Up” to nod to his artier and worldier instincts, mixing in a collaboration with Laurie Anderson and Youssou N’ Dour. An integral part in the rise of “world music” craze in the 80s along with Paul Simon’s Graceland.

253. Parliament – Funketelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome (1977)

Entire rap careers were made off of sampling this album, and the band Urge Overkill even took their name from one of the lyrics so – influential yes. Booty-shaking? Also, yes.

252. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (2010)

For their third album these semi-Canucks open up their dense wall of sound to let it breathe, imbuing their loose concept of a post-apocalyptic suburban scene with a clarity and lightness that their other records only hinted at. It rocks harder too on tracks like “Month of May.”

251. Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)

Sample-happy Antipodeans tune their stations to ten groovy stations at once  it seems, making seamless grooves out of the raw material of existing pop. The endless dance party is interrupted only by the astounding “Frontier Psychiatrist” one of the great cut-up artifacts of the last century in which John Water’s Polyster kicks off a crazy quilt of free association samples.

250. Slint – Tweez (1989)

You could definitely call a band with songs named after the members parents, mumbling in place of lyrics, and sharp angular guitars and weird time signatures an acquired taste. Once you get a yen for it though, like salty ice cream it can become an itch you need to scratch.

249. Built to Spill – There’s Nothing Wrong With Love (1994)

The small scale love angst of their second album made Built to Spill an underground sensation, even as it marked the end of  their slightly twee-ish indie phase as they became a more classic rock focused guitar juggernaut. Packed with sweet harmonies, strings, and funny call-outs this is more in line with Big Star than Crazy Horse.

248. M.I.A. – Arular (2005)

M.I.A. at her best pulls like a scavenger from the best little bits pieces and styles and smooshes it into a funky, catchy, naggingly ass moving treat. This debut record was an eye-opening stew from the Sanford & Son sampling “URAQT” to the slow rolling synth explosions of “Bingo” it announced a new kind of world music and a new star.

247. Lou Reed – New York (1989)

Reed sounds more vital and engaged than he had in years chronicling his city in the late 80s. Stripped down and to the point there is a warmth in the grooves and the lyrics of this fine set of songs. This is no more so on the heartbreaking “Halloween Parade” an elegy for the Village institution that was ravaged by AIDS over the preceding 10 years. His most human and humane record.\

246. Brian Eno & David Byrne – My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (1981)

During the recording of three Talking Heads albums Eno and Byrne were becoming joined at the hip to the extent that the other members of the band were beginning to feel uncomfortable. Finally the two men were able to be alone, and what they made together melded the global sounds they had followed with Talking Heads with the literal global sounds of various peoples recorded from radio and television, a Tower of Babel accompaniment.

245. Digital Underground – Sex Packets (1990)

Before gangstas hijacked George Clinton’s p-funk grooves at gunpoint, Digital Underground plundered the master of funk for this funny ribald romp. They also, crucially, updated Clinton’s taste for surreal humor (Humpty Hump has a pickle nose for crissakes!) and sex fixation (said pickle nose is said to “tickle your rear” in a 69). This is much more than just an excersize in plundering, it’s a party record par excellence with an intelligence behind the goofing.

244. Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Airplane Over The Sea (1998)
A huge inspiration to all sorts of acts from Arcade Fire to Bon Iver – a touchstone for how indie rock would sound in the decade that followed. Only few of Jeff Mangum’s followers could equal his songwriting skill or facility with different tempos and textures. The mystique around the record is only magnified by his continued disinterest in a follow-up record.

243. Pulp – Different Class (1995)

Jarvis Cocker and Pulp were unlikely exponents of Britain’s britpop revival having toiled in the indie underground since the mid 80s with little success. What no-one counted on was for Cocker to suddenly develop a sharp incisively sexy songwriting voice, finding it’s full flower here on the “Common People” single. There was plenty more though, like the seedy “Pencil Skirt” and the festival baiting of “Sorted for E’s and Whizz.”

242. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
The Wu stormed into hip-hop consciousness with what is still one of the genre’s most impressive debuts, a fully formed collective of incredibly talented rappers all folded into the spare hard-hitting production by RZA. This is a real album despite the varied lyrical approach taken by each member, each track is tied together with samples from cheesy kung-fu flicks and builds on each other to create a masterpiece.

241. Sonic Youth – EVOL (1986)

Sonic Youth swapped out drummer Bob Bert three albums in for Steve Shelley and suddenly snapped into focus, their weird alternate tunings and experimental leanings buttressed by structure and an emerging fascination with pop culture embodied by standout ‘Expressway to Yr. Skull” also know as “Madonna, Sean and Me”. Everything they would do after would be informed by this first signpost.

240. Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth (1980)

This is one of those utterly unique albums that could have been made yesterday as easily and credibly as 1980 when it was released. Spare mantra like songs that build tension that coils and coils, it’s a revelation of simple arrangements trumping all. Alison Statton’s semi-detached singing and wry lyrics were hugely influential but their sound has never been imitated as it’s impossible to get quite right without being a clear rip-off. Essential.

239. Harry Nilsson – Nilsson Schmilsson (1971)

A talented and troubled guy’s high-water mark in every way. Richard Perry does his best to rein the man in but for every “Without You” (meant here with tongue firmly on cheek, covered cluelessly ever since by the likes of Celine Dion) there is the blazing rock of “Jump Into The Fire” or the novelty of “Coconut.” Like an immersion into the best AM radio station of the early 70s.

238. Pavement – Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994)

There were still a  surprising number of people who believed in the real possibility that Steve Malkmus could become the next Kurt Cobain at this point, another voice of a generation. And why not? Lyrics like the tennis drama “Stop Breathing” or the wanderlust ode “Range Life” were not as in love with wordplay for it’s own sake as later material would be. The band itself winked at comparisons between R.E.M.’s first and second records and their debut and this follow-up – leaving unspoken the career arc to stardom this implied. It wouldn’t work out that way though, as subsequent records increasingly focused on the existing cult without building a bigger audience. In retrospect it seems absurd that the literate to a fault lyrics, wonderfully ramshackle arrangements and bursts of noise and in-jokes were ever considered the stuff that mainstream success might have been made of.

237. Metallica – Master of Puppets (1986)
In tenth grade my friend Bob McCormick would play this while we hung out in his room listening to music. Bob had admirably eclectic taste that I was way too “cool” to appreciate at the time. I was punk rock man! So I was pretty dismissive of this, Devo, and the Aerosmith stuff he’d play me only to come back to it later and realize it was actually pretty good. In this case, more than good – amazing. With zero mainstream support Metallica sold millions of copies of this album, defining thrash metal’s distinct fusion of heavy Sabbath with fast and hard Black Flag pummel. While the “dark” lyrics of a Judas Priest or Iron Maiden seemed like the stuff that only a guy with a mullet and a jean jacket would take seriously, Hetfield’s bleak worldview makes this genuinely chilling and surprisingly impassioned.

236. The Amps – Pacer (1995)

Originally intended as material for the Breeders much awaited third album, the follow-up to their surprise million selling Last Splash, those plans were derailed by Kelley Deal’s drug bust and Kim Deal’s decision to scrap the original big budget recording sessions. Inspired by fellow Dayton resident Bob Pollard’s aggressively low-fi Guided By Voices, she re-recorded the tracks with an almost totally new band, renaming them after she and Kelley’s original pre-Pixies duo. The irony is that this is would be one of her strongest sets of material, far better than any subsequent Breeders album but the offhand nature of the recording and release plus the unfamiliar band name led it to be utterly buried and still underrated.

235. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (2007)

James Murphy gets (mostly) sincere on his second album as LCD Soundsystem, taking his song-heavy electronica to a level rarely achieved by his peers. There are at least three classic anthems here, “Someone Great”, the pulsing “All My Friends” and the NYC goes Disney of “New York I Love You.”

234. Bob Dylan – Love & Theft (2001)
At this late stage in Dylan’s career he could be excused for endlessly touring behind his considerable catalog but the man has longevity in mind. This was his best album in two decades, a tour de force through the history of American song as refracted through Dylan’s utterly timeless originals.

233. Bob Marley - Exodus (1977)
This is Marley at his slickest, a pop music machine cranking out indelible melodies. This has some of his biggest hits but even the lesser known tracks glide along on the liquidy groove even as he becomes a bit more focused on his own mortality in the wake of an attempt on his life.

232. The National – Alligator (2005)
The National finally perfect their melancholy sound on their third album but it still has a rockingness that would be mostly ironed out on future releases. Less perfectionist than they would become, they leave the door open for outright ravers like “Abel” but the songs are just as top-notch.

231. The Replacements – Hootenanny (1983)

Rolling Stone magazine released a new edition of their Record Guide the same year this came out and their entry on the band was typically dismissive, basically “another hardcore band, and who will care in a few years.” While the ‘Mats may never have crossed over to stardom their influence was huge and they were never really a hardcore band at their heart. Here is where they really start to branch out in their own ramshackle booze addled style, from mock cocktail jobs (with the personals read over them) to a Beatles filleting to some of Paul Westerberg’s best songs. “Within Your Reach”, “Color Me Impressed” and “Run It” all showed the glimmerings of the band’s future direction.

230. Talking Heads  – The Name of This Band is Talking Heads (1982)

The temptation is to put Stop Making Sense here as it too is an incredible life album but it has a film to accompany it (it’s technically a soundtrack) and the full experience is to watch the thing. This is just as revelatory and says more about the band and its material during a transition between their Eno years and their more outward facing commercial period. The first LP is the stripped down core band at various live dates playing their early material raw and urgent. This is what a hungry band sounds like and it’s transporting. Disc two than neatly slides the top of your head off, presenting the fully expanded version of the band with three backup singers, two percussionists, Busta Cherry Jones augmenting bass, P-Funk’s Bernie Worrell adding keyboard flavor, and the amazing Adrian Belew throwing in guitar leads. The power of this line-up is stunning and transforms some of the more insular material on albums like Fear Of Music into downright stompers. Sure this doesn’t have the stadium whomp of that other live album (compare “Once In A Lifetime” to see) but this pulls you in with intricate rhythms and grooves that no-one else was doing in quite the same way.

229. Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy (1974)

This was Eno’s second solo album and hinted at some of the more ambient sounds he would become consumed with in the near future. There still was a clear rock underpinning to these tracks though even as he moved away from the glammier aspects of his debut and his work with Roxy Music. “Third Uncle” is like someone taking Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” and beating the piss out of it in an alley, while “The True Wheel” prefigures some of what future collaborators in Talking Heads would be doing a few years later.

228. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (1975)

The album that made Springsteen what he is, and the one that he has to embrace or reject with every subsequent release. For those who find his affinity with Lou Reed and Patti Smith odd, it helps to remember that prog rock excess and fey singer/songwriter treacle were dominant in 1975 and Bruce’s embrace of early 60s notions like the Wall of Sound and populist anthems that drew from both Motown and the likes of Del Shannon were the kind of back to basics moves that led to punk. Though indie rockers read the big arrangements and committed performances as a bit corny a new generation such as Arcade Fire and The Hold Steady would look to this for inspiration.

227. The Slits - Cut (1979)

Though the three women in The Slits came out of the London punk scene their debut clearly incorporated their fascination with reggae, only skewed by their choppy angular playing and infectious group vocals. The songs are idiosyncratic and feminist, a point of view rarely heard in rock music up until then. They are also great fun, sharp and witty on originals like “Typical Girls” and their killer cover of “I Heard it Through The Grapevine.” Though they influenced everyone from Hole to Bikini Kill this still sounds completely unique.

226. Suicide – Suicide (1977)

Two guys and a synthesizer was not anyone’s idea of a band line-up in 1977 – 1982 maybe. But there was Alan Vega and Marty Rev at CBGB’s alienating audiences with a kind of automated take on rockabilly, punk and even ballads. Hugely influential and not just on other electronic artists (witness R.E.M.’s cover of “Ghost Rider”). Spare and thrilling.

225. Supergrass – In It For The Money (1997)

These Brit-poppers had an exuberantly energetic and fizzy debut but it’s in this follow-up that they deepened and broadened their musical approach with an incredibly varied set of material. This is even more true on the Limited Edition which appends an extra disc of even more great tracks. “Richard III” careens like Smashing Pumpkins with a groove transplant, “You Can See Me” has a killer riff and a lyric that comes on like crazy, and the title track soars.

224. X – Los Angeles (1980)

X came out of L.A.’s underground hardcore scene sure, but their choice of ex-Door’s keyboardist Ray Manzarek as producer was a tip-off that their ambitions were broader than many of their compatriots. Their literate hard-hitting songs put this debut album on the map, as did the sweet/sour guy/gal vocals of John Doe and his wife Exene Cervenka. As punk as they were, there were already clear hints of rockabilly and classic rock structure in the flashy guitar playing of Billy Zoom.

223. Wipers – is This Real? (1980)

One of the great lesser-known American punk albums, Greg Sage’s first album as The Wipers shows off his fiery guitar style and sharp grasp of melody and structure on a set of songs that capture the anomie and distance of adolescence as well as any album before or since.

222. Rod Stewart – Every Picture Tells a Story (1971)

Seriously, there really was a time when Rod Stewart was cool. Stop sniggering, for real. As the lead singer for the Faces he lead a down and dirty band that gave the Stones a run for their money and helped inspire bands like The Black Crowes, Georgia Sattelites, Supergrass, Primal Scream, Oasis and countless others. His early solo work was mostly an extension of his Faces records, with the band backing him up. He betrayed a curate’s eye for good songs to cover and matched them with originals like “Maggie May” that became classics in their own right. Think of him as that leering old perv turned showtune warbler? Check out how he and The Faces tear it up on “(I Know) I’m Losing You.”

221. Santigold – Santogold (2008)

Pegged rather unfairly as an M.I.A. clone, Santi White and her compatriots in Santogold do share some characteristics and the use of producers Diplo and Switch on various tracks. In general these tracks are far more open and lighthearted, gliding where M.I.A. pounds. There is a real gift for catchy tunes here in addition to solid beats on songs like “L.E.S. Artistes” and “I’m a Lady”, all put over with Santi’s winning vocals. Let’s hope that follow up is on it’s way.

220. PJ Harvey – Dry (1992)

PJ Harvey (which was a band name at this point) debuted with this album, which felt like a punch to the solar plexus. Emotional resonant, even brutal songs stripped down to bare riffs and hard motifs. It was striking, original and necessary back in ’92 and still so today. Polly Jean Harvey was undisputed at the center of her namesake band playing tough direct guitar, singing with a knowing detached sneer and writing with a surgeon-like efficiency.

219. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

Not even an album anymore but a fact of life.

218. The Lemonheads – It’s a Shame About Ray (1992)

It’s easy to hate Evan Dando, with his heart-throbby good looks and himbo affect. There was more depth to him than that as was displayed on several of his bands early songs and a blazing cover of Suzanne Vega’s “Luka”, and the Gram Parson’s meets Johny Thunder’s eclecticism of his previous record Lovey. With an almost totally new band including supposed GF Juliana Hatfield on bass and backing vocals (and record cover) he found a distinct sound, 2 parts New Zealandy jangle pop to one part power punk with the acoustic guitars turned way up. It’s a terrific set of songs played with great verve but also point to his Achilles heel in the standout track “My Drug Buddy”, a poignant song about the joys of getting high with a pal.  Sadly the good reviews and sales this album garnered led Dando to have many, many more drug buddies and the effect was less than salutary for his career.

217. Can – Ege Bamyasi (1972)

Though Can would go on to make more good to great music over the following decade plus, this is their highwater mark as a band with the classic line-up (I am a diehard believer that Damo Suzuki is way way better than Malcolm Mooney as a vocalist) firing on all cylinders. First of all there is that crack rhythm section pounding out molten grooves that twist and turn. Then there are the songs like “Vitamin C” and the guitar driven “I’m So Green.” So much of art-rock and post-punk that would come later on in the decade starts here.

216. Superchunk – Here’s Where The Strings Comes In (1995)

Not all of their diehards appreciated it but the ‘Chunk tried to add some more complexity to their straightforward guitar driven punk rock with some trickier arrangements and varied tempos. Lyrically the disintegration of  Mac and Laura’s marriage can be felt here just as it was on the preceding record but this is very much the aftermath – a walk through a still-tender wasteland of easily bruised feelings and confusion. Powerful stuff.

215. Fountains of Wayne – Utopia Parkway (1999)

A concept album of sorts that brings to life the feeling of being a young adult in the bridge and tunnel environs of New York City, with characters flitting around Long Island and New Jersey and naturally into the city itself looking for lost loves or even catching a laser show at the long-defunct Hayden Planetarium. It can be surprisingly poignant, a nostalgic drive through the old neighborhood with a long lingering pass past the houses of ex-girlfriends.

214. The Fall – This Nation’s Saving Grace (1985)

Mark E. Smith really hit his stride in the mid 80s with this album representing the high-water mark of what feels like hundreds of releases since 1978. Is it a coincidence that this occurred during his improbable marriage to the delectable and  talented Brix Smith who plays her guitar like a freaking goddess sprung from the wrist of Hank Marvin. Her twang complements Mark’s nasal rants perfectly and the band even stretches into spacy synthy territory with the wonderful “L.A.” Get the reissue for an excellent disc of contemporaneous singles and other tracks.

213. Cypress Hill – Cypress Hill (1991)

It’s easy to take these guys for granted now in the age of Snoop Dogg but when this debut came out their sheer allegiance  to weed was unusual, as was their hispanic and proud background. Their heavy beats, distorted samples and relaxed tempos all pioneered the West Coast blunted sound that Dr. Dre would take to the bank, and the in your face rapping of B. Real and crew also set the template for more unique voices and rhyme styles to emerge.

212. David Bowie – Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980)

A great capstone to an astounding decade of work in which Bowie could lay claim to an artistic transformation equal to that of the Beatles in scope if not in stature. This sums up everything the guy could do in a very accessible way with “Ashes To Ashes” as the bridge back to the Bowie of “Space Oddity” by acting as its sequel. Robert Fripp’s guitar skitters and burns on tracks like the crushing “Fashion” and the cover of Tom Verlaine’s “Kingdom Come” is superlative. His last truly great record before slipping into a bad glossy patch.

211. Cheap Trick – In Color (1977)

Cheap Trick quickly followed up their debut with another terrific set of songs drawing on their years on the bar-band circuit in Illinois. This is power pop with the emphasis on power, a sound that put them at odds with most of what was getting radio and critical attention at the time. Now of course it sounds like everyone from Weezer to Fountains of Wayne to Foo Fighters but it took a long time indeed for this band to get it’s due. It’s hard to pick a single gem out of the batch but if I must, check out “Southern Girls” or the sublime “Oh Caroline” to hear how it’s done.

210. McLusky – McLusky Do Dallas (2002)

The debt to the Pixies is clear in the raving vocals and hook happy unhinged guitar riffing (not to mention the presence of Steve Albini behind the boards)  but these Scottish lads bring a unique lyric sensibility that can be gleaned from song titles like “The World Loves Us and is Our Bitch.” “Fuck This Band’ is especially funny in it’s offhanded dismissal of themselves – “they curse too much..” There is also tremendous joy and verve in the playing and arranging of each killer song – witness “Alan is a Cowboy Killer” and it’s nagging backing vocals. Brilliant.

209. Green Day – American Idiot (2004)

Really Green Day had no business making this record. On the decline commercially and artistically the Bay Area pop punkers repaired to the studio to make their new record only to have the hard drive stolen with their new batch of songs. Instead of re-recording songwriter and singer Billie Joe and the band worked up a much more personal and ambitious batch of songs that reflected their bewilderment and anger over the Bush administration’s response to 9/11 and invasion of Iraq. What came out was a complex concept record with the band’s best songs, and one of the greatest protest records of the era. Veering from intimate character sketches to polemical barnburners plus a set of interlinked suites, following an actual narrative is secondary to the emotional pull of the band’s anger and sadness embodied in teh title track and the incendiary “Holiday.” I was prepared to hate this thing when it came out but I appreciate it more with every year.

208. Eric B. & Rakim – Paid in Full (1987)

A stone classic, Rakim’s rhyming became the turning point from Run D.M.C’s call and response to more complex intricate one-man structures pioneering what every great MC would do subsequently. The production is spare in the best sense, suporting and pushing the rhymes and the flow. You MUST get the deluxe edition which appends essential remixes including the classic Coldcut 12″ version of the title track.

207. The Breeders – Last Splash (1993)

In the wake of the acrimonious split of the Pixies Black Francis (nee Frank Black) seemed well-positioned to leverage his songwriting and bandleading status in a solo career but for a variety of reason Kim Deal received most of the good will from fans. While Black struggled to stay relevant she was embraced by the indie world and with this, had a bigger hit than anything her band had done. With her twin sister Kelley in tow and a big single in the infectious “Cannonball” Deal was on top of the world, that is until drugs sent she and Kelley into a tailspin that took years to work through. Still this moment when they were America’s twin indie sweethearts with their guileless breathy vocals and grinding guitars was a damn sweet one.

206. Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True (1977)

Costello’s debut is where he sounds most like his mentor Nick Lowe, with sturdy pub rock songs amped up to the point of being able to pass for punk. In these pre-Attractions days he’s backed by Clover which is in fact Huey Lewis’ News, and they are nothing if not pros. What makes it come alive is Elvis the C’s extraordinary songwriting – It’s an amazing set of songs from “Alison” to reggae-fied closer “Watching The Detectives.”

205. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove (1978)

With this record George Clinton made clear his intention that Funkadelic be much more than just a funk outfit – they were a rock band too with Eddie Hazel’s Hendrix influence as important as Bootsy’s bass playing. This is the best set of songs of any Clinton unit’s album, hands down and the playing is stellar. “Who Says a Funk Band Can’t Play Rock” spells it out pretty clearly but it’s all hot stuff.

204. Propellerheads – Decksnaddrumsandrockandroll (1998)
Unfairly compared to Chemical Brothers, this duo from Bath have but this single album to their name but what a record. Influenced as much by hip-hop and lounge as by John Barry (they even bring Shirley Bassey in to sing one track) this is big beat electronica at its best.

203. Mos Def – Black on Both Sides (1999)

A return to the sounds and styles of Native Tongue rap from the late 80s/ early 90s, but with a modern twist. Mos has his own style and flow, thoughtful, deconstructive and disarmingly casual. He’s not afraid to be smart and politically insightful, and the lush inventive music supports his cerebral intentions.

202. The Replacements – Tim (1985)

The ‘Mats sign to a major label and turn to Tommy (Ramone) Erdelyi to helm their first album on Sire. Erdelyi ends up drying out the production a tad too much but Westerberg delivers with a great set of songs. “Lay it Down Clown” and “Dose of Thunder” are clearly there to give Bob Stinson a chance to unleash his firehose guitar but “Swingin’ Party”, “Left of The Dial” and “Little Mascara” display a new maturity. Then there’s the pure pop sweetness of “On The Bus”, a shoulda been hit.

201. De La Soul – De La Soul is Dead (1991)

De La Soul’s debut was a breakthrough but aside form a handful of other hip-hop acts it would prove to have fleeting short-term influence, subsumed by the bigger sales of proto-gangstas like N.W.A. Well De La could play rough too, purposely ditching the “daisy age” talk of their debut and playing up the criticism of them being soft in their album title. That doesn’t mean they dropped what was so inventive – crazy quilt samples, mind-blowing rapping and intricate subject matter way beyond most other rap or rock groups. Unjustly overlooked.

Jim Morrison wants you to try the barbecue sauce trapped in his beard...

Welcome to the latest installment counting down my 500 favorite albums of the last 40 years, in celebration of my 40th birthday. Here’s Part I if you missed it, 500-401.

400. David Bowie – Station to Station (1976)

Bowie here was not the same Bowie as on Ziggy Stardust or Let’s Dance. Fueled by coke and amphetamines he’s halfway between the ersatz soul of his previous record and halfway towards the sonic ingenuity of his Berlin years. In fact the title track and “TVC-15″ feel very much indebted to what German bands like Kraftwerk and Can were up to.

399. Randy Newman – Good Old Boys (1974)

A deeply twisted yet compassionate foray into the all-too recent American south. Newman imagines himself as his characters and his utter lack of detachment when in character as a racist for instance led to much confusion as well as Newman’s outspoken defense of Eminem. A corrective to those who know him only from family-friendly soundtracks and the (very funny) Family Guy parody.

398. Destroyer – Streethawk, A Seduction (2001)

Dan Bejar’s music making moniker has given him cover to explore a wide range of sounds, as well as to play the enigmatic member of a supergroup that already includes fascinating chanteuse Neko Case (New Pornograpers). Whike his voice may be a bit too reedy for some tastes and can veer into preciousness hen unchecked, here the songs and sounds are varied and energized enough to put every song over.

397. The Roots – Phrenology (2002)

The Roots straddled many traditions, from old school hip-hop to R & B and beyond. Because they are a band and use live instrumentation, they have been more reliant on great songwriting to get ideas across and this album captures them at their most fertile and sprawling – literlly on “The Seed 2.0″ which recounts a sort of creation myth for rock and roll.

396. Supergrass – Supergrass (1999)

One of britpops most unappreciated lights, these guys cranked out album after album of insanely tuneful songs. This is their most relaxed sounding record which isn’t to see that it doesn’t kick ass. The songs just have a great flowing sense of hooks being woven together into a pretty fucking cool sweater. Influences like Bowie, Small faces, even Supertramp are there to be spotted but never swamp the sound of three lads having fun.

395. The Soft Boys – Underwater Moonlight (1980)

Before Robyn Hitchcock was a quirky solo artist he was in this quirky post-punk band with a guy named Kimberley Rew. The main difference is the aggression which adds a welcome edge to the whimsy especially charging out of the gate on the brilliant “I Wanna Destroy You” which includes the great couplet “A pox upon the media and everything you read…”

394. Yo La Tengo – Painful (1993)

Yo la Tengo stretch the fuck out on the album that cemented their status as indie darlings.  They manage to cover the spectrum between Bob Dylan and Sonic Youth (on one song, “From a Motel 6″) handily while heralding the post-modern emergence in the 90s of critic’s rock. As much as it’s fun to play spot the references though, the band has it’s own way of mixing their references, ingredients and past references into something new and delightful.

393. Lambchop – Nixon (2000)

Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner makes much of their Nashville hometown but there’s very little country in their sound, unless you count the lush crossover weirdness of countrypoltan outliers like Lee Hazlewood or prime 70s Glen Campbell. This is a big band with a full sound yet the songs never pound – in fact they are hushed. Wagner sings like a fat guy, think Lowell Goerge, even though he looks like Anthony Edwards. So, a band of contradictions adding up to a uniquely stately sound.

392. The Police - Outlandos D’Amour (1978)

The Police come on with punk aggression on this, their debut but they were poseurs at heart. Sting and Stewart Copeland were prog rockers who delved deep into jazz fusion that would make Glen Matlock puke and guitarist Andy Summers was a vet of the late 60s swinging London scene. Nevertheless they bought the songs to match the zeitgeist, fast clever and with more than a nod to reggae (something punks like The Clash and Stiff Little Fingers were doing as well). So these guys may have been phonies, but they sure weren’t faking it.

391. Nas -Illmatic (1994)

Even Jay-Z, who has an ongoing beef with Nas, disses him by saying he had one good album. This is that album. It’s great.

390. Urge Overkill – Saturation (1993)

Urge were the careerists of the Chicago indie scene, always more melodic and classic rock than their abrasive Touch and Go labelmates despite using Steve Albini to record their early albums. Their matching suits and painstaking iconography were ironic but had enough truth in them to cause grumbling. Sure enough they signed to Nirvana’s label and released their ultimate Cheap Trick mash note, a big chewy slice of pop rock with songs about soap stars, stalkers, spies, and a few lyrics like “Bottle of Fur” that defy interpretation. Drug problems derailed the road to superstardom and this proved their high water crossover mark but it was a hell of a shot.

389. Kraftwerk – Trans-Europe Express (1977)

Maybe the most influential of all the bands to emerge in a burst of creativity from Germany in the late 60s and early 70s and commonly lumped under the Krautrock moniker despite very different sounds and approaches. Kraftwerk discovered electronic soundscapes and by 1974 were creating whole albums of pulsing, burbling synth sounds that would influence the likes of Giorgio Moroder and disco, post-punk synth pop like Depeche Mode and New Order, and elctro-rap like Afrika Bambaataa. This is their most accessible work, with all their hallmarks undiluted but spiked with hooks and melody.

388. Traveling Wilburys – Vol. 1 (1988)

Yes this would have been more impressive in 1968, though everyone would have wondered why a guy from The Move and a teenager from Gainesville Florida were jamming with legends like Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and George Harrison. Typically this kind of thing doesn’t come off but it’s utterly charming with some of Dylan’s best work since his 70s revival.

387. Magazine - Real Life (1978)

Howard Devoto was a co-founder of The Buzzcocks but took off when that band started to veer into their standard (and wonderful) short sharp pop punk, ie before their first album. He founded Magazine and though they recorded a few castoffs from the Buzzcocks era (the brilliants “Shot By Both Sides” for one) they began laying the post-punk foundation of heavier more melodic bass and increasingly prominent keyboards. Of course this is more than just a transitional moment caught on record, it’s a great album that pointed the way forward post-1977.

386. Wipers – Over The Edge (1983)

Portland’s Greg Sage didn’t care about fame or stardom, he just wanted to toy around with recording and playing. He didn’t much care for touring either. Yet the guy had a gift and over three records (of which this was the last) he created incredibly driving, emotional punk that prefigured everything from Nirvana to Weezer while barely making a dent on the charts or the overt landscape of the music world.

385. Japan – Adolescent Sex (1978)

Like Magazine and Public Image Ltd, Magazine couldn’t wait for the first blush of punk to end so they could usher in a more nuanced sound. The official rap on punk was that it was eradicating black music’s influence on rock, particularly the beat. This was a bit overstated but the next wave of bands looked to r & b and disco in ways that planted the seeds for future new wave/disco concoctions like Duran Duran. Japan was at the forefront, marrying punks driving spiky guitars with a rhythm section that could throb with the best of them.

384. Frank Black & The Catholics - Dog in the Sand (2001)

In the wake of the breakup of the Pixies, Frank Black (nee Black Francis) was nothing if not prolific even as his commercial prospects ebbed away and the scene his band helped birth moved on. The skill and love of music never abandoned him as he explored more traditional rock idioms before wending back to some of the his more archetypal songwriting on this record, his best with the band The Catholics. While still very different from his seminal work, his concentration on craft is spiked with a return to offbeat arrangements and a terrific set of songs from the extra-long rave-up opener of “Blast-Off” to the wending story-song of “St. Francis Dam Disaster” and the rousing “Hermaphroditos.”

383. Eels – Souljacker (2001)

Eels frontman E can be insufferable but also incredibly creative. The consensus is that  Electro-Shock Blues is his best work on the Eels moniker, a set of songs heavily influenced by the death of several people close to him. I’ll take this over that any day. Here E has grown a full Unabomber beard abetted by the parka and sunglasses et-up on the cover – inside the songs are harsh and squalling, burying his melodic gifts in sometimes ugly sounds and roughing up his prettier songs with nasty lyrics like “World of Shit.” It’s incredibly affecting and feels more emotional honest than a whole host of his other stuff, at least to me.

382. Linton Kwesi Johnson - Forces of Victory (1979)

LKJ was a dub point, a sharply intellectual critic of the rise of the right in British politics. Singing/speaking in heavy Jamaican dialect, Johnson comes on like Britain’s reggaefied answer to Gil Scott-Heron. What puts this over is the amazing work by Dennis Bovell and the Dub Band backing him up with tight playing and inventive songs.

381. Cake – Comfort Eagle (2001)
Every album that Cake does is essentially the same. The same tightly wound rhythm section, retro sounding horns, dash of new school production to spice things up, John McCrea exhorting the band with little asides here and there. Yet, this one rises above the pack on the strength of a hugely consistent set of songs, flawless arrangements, and a dark little undercurrent that lends gravitas that is so often absent from their other work.

380. Radiohead - Amnesiac (2001)

Even Radiohead’s leftovers are better than many artists fussed-over statements. These tracks were recorded at the same time as the groundbreaking Kid A and share a kinship with their electroified rock. There is a bit of grandeur added with the Pink Floyd in Pompeii prog of “Pyramid Song” and a bit of the ol’ songcraft on “Knives Out.” A placeholder but what a place to hold.

379. The Fiery Furnaces – Blueberry Boat (2004)
It’s hard to fathom but this actual brother/sister duo got reams of White Stripes comparisons when their debut hit. Those were easily dismissed with this follow-up which struck their best balance to date of accessibility and their ongoing wanderlust-cum-ADD. They do stretch out with a vengeance with several songs topping the 6 minute mark but a sense of song structure and melody pervades the record, not least on nuggets like “Bird Brain.”

378. Richard & Linda Thompson – Hokey Pokey (1975)

One of the married couples lightest and most rollicking albums, and their last one before an abrupt conversion by Richard Thompson to an ascetic form of Sufism which makes the religious tweaking of “Mole in a Hole” even curiouser.  A little ribald (see the title track) and  even raunchy (R. Thompson’s guitar playing, natch).

377. TV on the Radio – Dear Science (2008)

Here’s where these indie stars go all Talking Heads, marrying their experimental urges with a broader palette of beatsand sounds and a more expansive worldview. The sound is clear, the songs direct, and the combination makes for one of the band’s most powerful albums to date.

376. Tom Waits – Swordfishtrombones (1983)

Tom Waits completely blew up his life and career between 1980 and the release of this album, transforming from a wry piano balladeer to an avant-garde Kurt Weill on steroids. In some ways it was a sound and substance that harked back to primal Americana of the 20s – 50s, but roughed up and pulled to the very edges of the spectrum. Even his voice had undergone a major change, from smoky crooner to gravelly intonations. One of the great 180 degree turns in music.

375. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake (2011)

PJ Harvey appeared to have settled down into a career where fans would be shed but few new ones gained. Having sloughed off her rough and ready early work she had lately ventured into Kate Bush territory – never a good sign. Then this came out and suddenly she was a vital artist again with something to say and the songs to say it with. A song cycle about the horrors British soldiers faced during the first world war, Harvey sprinkles in plenty of signposts to todays conflicts and moods. The sound is revelatory, not as abrasive as her early work, there are clever borrowings and allusions throughout to songs such as “Summertime Blues” and even a sample of Niney’s reggae classic “Blood and Fire”. Stunning.

374. The Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde (1992)

Kind of a West Coast take on the Zulu Nation sound that De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest popularized, this was a last shot at positivity before gangsta thoroughly took over hip-hop.

373. The Specials - The Specials (1979)

Coventry, England’s finest musical export were an unlikely interracial band that revived the songs and sounds of pre-reggae Jamaican Ska. Their spirit and tempo were derived straight from punk though with a British sneer. Though their sexual politics sometimes left something to be desired their very existence was a slap in the face to the revived National Front in British politics of the time.

372. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow (2003)

Arguably just on the right side of twee, these gentle popsters were nearly ruined by their exposure in the Zach Braff sensitive-a-palooza-thon that was Garden State. Princess Amidala is right though, these are great songs even if they fall short of full on life-changing.

371. Schoolly D – Smoke Some Kill (1988)

Schooly D was at the forefront of gangsta rap, and was one of its very best practitioners. His view is a pitch dark noir streetwise lens. Naturally civic leaders were up in arms over his frank and salty raps. This isn’t a record that’s likely to be endorsed by NOW anytime soon but it’s grit is sold on his effortless rhymes and spare beats. Schooly would rather be feared than loved.

370. Yo La Tengo – Electr-O-Pura (1995)
Yo La Tengo got back to eclecticism with this follow-up to Painful. They also serve up one of their most indelible songs with the chiming grind of “Tom Courtenay” which is set off by the horns and noise jams elsewhere.

369. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky (2007)

Seemingly a return to straight-ahead song forms after the willful experimentation of their previous two records, this is actually subtle stuff that sneaks its left turns into the classic rock structures. The guitar work is phenomenal and the arrangements are never less than top notch making this sound like a lost classic from the early 70s.

368. Swell Maps – Jane From Occupied Europe(1980)

These guys were blissfully indifferent to typical rules of songwriting and arranging. The upside of this are incredible soundscapes that are just anchored enough in melody and structure to feel utterly transcendent.

367. Blondie – Plastic Letters (1977)

Before Blondie were huge stars they were the novelty band of New York’s CBGBs scene. More than their peers, they were open to some of the poppier sounds of the 60s from girl group pastiches to Beatles-like arrangements and melodies. While their first record played the goofy throwback piece up this sophomore release found them emphasizing their range in advance of their blockbuster third album from the punked-up surf of “Youth Nabbed as Sniper” to the proggy “Cautious Lip.”

366. X-Ray Spex- Germ Free Adolescents (1978)

Though it was viewed at the time as a too-late collection of songs following their 1977 set of incendiary singles, this record has aged incredibly well – cementing Poly Styrene as one of UK punk’s leading artists. The long lag time between the early singles also featured here and the rest of the album tracks helps create a varied sound unified by Styrene’s railing against consumerism and the plastic nature of modern life.

365. The Unicorns – Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Dead? (2003)

These guys were aptly named given their short lifespan as a group and their uniquely skewed approach. This is indie that flirts with lo-fi, twee, punk, and drone but never fully embraces anything but their own worldview. From child stars to sea chanties the subject matter is encyclopedic yet somehow feels almost painfully personal and shot through with humor.

364. Steinski – What Does it All Mean (2008)

So yeah, this is cheating a little as technically this is a compilation and not a stand-alone album but it’s my damn list and this is essential listening. Steinski is a hero to any fat Jewish guy working at an ad agency (ie me) with a bent towards creativity. In 1983 he entered a contest sponsored by Tommy Boy records to remix one of their singles and won handily by making a smorgasbord of beats and samples from songs, TV shows and movies that was ass-shaking and hilarious. Only the “sampling” one could do back in 1983 wasn’t with a computer, it was with a razor and reel-to-real tape. The fact that it was a pudgy white dude on the cusp of his 30s was a shock to them. He became an underground sensation with his cut-up collages, none of which could be released on a wide basis because of the many unauthorized lifts. Albums like De La Soul’s 3 Feet High and Rising, The Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique and Beck’s Odelay are impossible to imagine without him, as is the work of folks like Prince Paul, The Dust Brothers, RJD2, DJ Shadow, Girl Talk, and scores of others.

363. Hole – Celebrity Skin (1998)

Slick and even sunny, this is not the anguished grunge queen that graced the classic Live Through This, which in turn led many to dismiss this record as candyfloss. It’s not that exactly. It’s a classic California record as created by Love and abetted by Billy Corgan who co-wrote a chunk of this and it shows.

362. Santigold/Diplo – Top Ranking (2008)

Santigold collaborates with M.I.A.’s producer, a tip of the hat to the artist she’s most often compared to. Here though they cut loose and have some quasi-legal fun, radically remixing and re-imagining some of her songs and covering The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton” as “Guns of Brooklyn” and delving into “Iko Iko.” Like a proper DJ mix it all runs together gloriously.

361. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America (2006)

Here’s where these guys move past joke band with a hectoring frontman and sub-Springsteen arrangements status to a real comer of a band. They are still writing about townies and sing-speaking but the songs are real songs now, the anthems have the requisite lift and the sonic palette is finally broad enough to support the band’s aspirations.

360. Cheap Trick – At Budokan (1979)

This is what a live album should be – all the great ones but tighter, faster, more primal. Cheap Trick never fit cleanly in any genre – they’ve been embraced by power-poppers, hair-mettelers, Grungistas and classic rockers. Here they fall into almost a power punk groove. Spurge for the expanded double-disc.

359. Run-D.M.C.  – Run-D.M.C. (1984)
Run-D.M.C. transformed hip-hop by stripping the form down to the key elements of beats and rhymes, and sliding it away from it’s orientation towards disco and into a tougher more rock inflected place. They purposely spoke to an audience beyond a neighborhood or even a city or coast and had the raw talent to become the first true stars of the genre. Later rappers may have found it corny but this was the hard stuff at the time, the unrelenting cutting edge.

358. Tom Waits – Rain Dogs (1985)

Waits builds on his experimental volte face and deepens it with classic songs like “Downtown Train” and “Hang Down Your Head” as sweeteners.

357. Roxy Music – For Your Pleasure (1973)
Eno’s swansong with Roxy ushers him out with a sleekly honed distillation of his experimental urges and frontman Bryan Ferry’s more formalist leanings. It stomps all over most other bands of the time by simply being more aggressive as well as more aggressively “out there” than the average band.

356. The Fall – Grotesque (After the Gramme) (1980)

Even this early into this band’s voluminous discography (which still continues) it’s clear that you either tolerate or even enjoy Mark E. Smith’s distinctive yelp or it’s like nails on a blackboard. Here is where the band’s sound jells into a sort of demented rockabilly augmented by Smith’s stream-of-consciousness laundry lists. I love it but hey, that’s me.

355. The Specials - More Specials (1980)

The album title promises more of the same from the band who kicked off the British ska revival and to some extent that’s true. However the band stretches out past the punky attack of the first record with the Morricone-derived centerpiece of “Stereotypes” and the songwriting deepens to become part of that great stream of britpop that’s trenchant with observations on modern life, connecting them to Ray Davies work with The Kinks and forward to Damon Albarn and Blur.

354. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones (2006)

Karen O. and co. take the hard way out by choosing to shake up the sound they depolyed so well on their debut album. This is a more produced and layered record, as well as a great break-up album. Granted some fans were put off by the slower tempos and somewhat glossier textures but the songs are top-notch.

353. They Might Be Giants – Lincoln (1988)

This is the quirky New York duo’s best midpoint between pop smarts and weird novelty, anchored by the brilliant “Ana Ng,” the ultimate in long-distance relationship songs.

352. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands (1987)

The brothers Reid bravely stripped back the squalling feedback of their debut to reveal the songs lurking underneath on their second album. While this made them sound more conventional it also highlighted the stepped-up craft involved and the fact that, yes, there WERE songs beneath the squalling feedback. Damn good ones too.

351. AC/DC – Back in Black (1980)

Few bands could roar back from the death of a beloved frontman with their biggest and best album even but these Aussie lads managed to do just that. Bon Scott’s death would see to have shut the door given how distinctive his gargled-with-glass vocals were. Somehow the band found a ringer, Brian Johnson,  with arguably an even better voice. This is the classic rock party album to have, chock full of anthems and crunchy power chords.

350. Rolling Stones – Tattoo You (1981)

The Stones already had spent most of the last decade assembling albums from a new session here, and odds and ends left over from old sessions there. Still this was their first album exclusively stitched together from castoffs on the cutting room floor though cunningly assembled in such a way that most fans had no clue that these were warmed-over leftovers that dated as far back as the sessions for Goat’s Head Soup in 1973.  It’s no wonder given that there are a clutch of classics here including “Start Me Up”, “Waiting on a Friend” and Keith’s “Little T & A.”

349. Outkast – Stankonia (2000)

Atlanta’s hip-hop heroes were on a hot streak even before they dropped this one, but the sheer scope and range of these tracks and the phenomenal rapping of Dre and Big Boi sent this into the stratosphere. “Ms. Jackson” was the big hit and rightfully so but “So Fresh, So Clean” is a great way to describe their boundary pushing beats and electronic sonics, while “B.O.B.” is  a straight-out monster of a track.

348. Justice – Cross (2007)

This French duo are true musical omnivores, reviving electronica by casting a wide net that reels in all kinds of weird and wonderful goodies. Each track feels like a new discovery, and the record never devolves into samey beats-a-thons like many of their contemporaries. Fun AND rewarding.

347. Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel (car) (1977)

After leaving Genesis, flamboyant frontman Peter Gabriel delivered a very song-oriented first solo record, though it was his former band that would go on to be the real commercial powerhouse. At this point though one would have been well within their rights to expect Gabriel to be the one with the brightest future based on this canny mix of art-rock and pop with hooks. The key is “Solsbury Hill” a gorgeous ballad universal in it’s theme of self-actualization, and with a tribal drum coda that points the way to Gabriel’s later embrace of world music.

346. The Cars – Heartbeat City (1984)

The Cars took some time off but came back with producer Mutt Lange in tow to create a glossy, glassy album that became a huge honking hit. I remember being blown away by “Drive” as a 13 year old, amazed that the entire song was programmed with keyboard sounds. In it’s way, hugely influential on all the dance-punks that view those 80s sounds as touchstones. I also remember a summer utterly dominated by “Magic.”

345. Shuggie Otis – Inspiration Information (1974)

Son of legendary R & B bluesman Johnny Otis, Shuggie was a guitar whiz and introspectively gifted songwriter whose biggest hit came via The Brothers Johnson’s brilliant rearranged cover of his “Strawberry Letter 23.”  On is own his funky soul was too idiosyncratic to connect to a mainstream audience and he was only re-appraised in the 00s on a consistent basis as a hugely undersung 70s talent.

344. Quasi - The Sword of God (2001)

Lighter in spirit and looser than their first few albums, the married duo behind Quasi had also honed some pretty serious chops – in particular drummer Janet Weiss who kicks like a mule. This makes for a hugely enjoyable record that’s much more varied than a two person lineup might suggest.

343. Massive Attack – Blue Lines (1991)

At the same time that Nirvana was bringing grunge to the mainstream, Massive Attack’s debut was inventing a new genre in England that would take on the moniker “trip-hop.” As the name implies this was hip-hop inspired by woozy and trippy, related to some of the neo-soul that Soul II Soul had laid down a few years before and the so-called acid jazz scene. This ended up influencing everyone from Portishead to Amy Winehouse’s collaborations with Mark Ronson.

342. Frank Black – Frank Black (1993)

After dissolving Pixies,  Black Francis flipped his alias around and became Frank Black and recorded his first solo album which aply staked out ground he’d plow for the rest of his career. Pixies noise and chaos is represented along with his sci-fi fixation but are augmented by some more traditional rock and poppier hooks. There are also more keyboards than he would use before or since, perhaps due to the influence of producer and Pere Ubu keysman Eric Drew Feldman.

341. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening(2010)

James Murphy announced the retirement of his LCD Soundsystem moniker shortly after this album came out, and if it was pro forma (he is the band after all) it still closed the chapter on a handful of great albums. This is critics music you can shake your ass too with Murphy as the pin-up for aging hipsters the world over who want to stay relevant but also know that they must play on the idea of staying relevant. Murphy goes back to the rosetta stone of shape-shifting musicians, Bowie, as much of this is informed by the sound of his late 70s work through Scary Monsters – no bad thing.

340. Built to Spill – Perfect From Now On (1997)

Built to Spill celebrated their ascension to Warner Bros. by releasing a impossible to promote record full of lengthy digressive songs. Stick it to the man! Predictably it stiffed but the songs are an excellent new direction for the formerly pithy (even twee) band. They had never hinted at a love for Crazy Horse at it’s sprawling best, and they carry it off with Doug Martsch leading the fellows into tricky step-ups and spiraling tunes that somehow still have hooks all over the place.

339. Belle and Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996)

Stuart Murdoch and his shifting gang are resolutely not music for everybody, despite being enamored of tunefulness and gifted melodically. Precious is the word to use here, and they tend towards it even if they would toughen up their sound somewhat later on.This was most peoples intro to the band and it caused a bit of a sensation upon release, a slap in the face to grunge (which was tottering over into the glop of nu-metal anyhow) with it’s gentle pastoral sound and nods to folk and 70s singer songwriters. The songs have the goods though, often knowingly wry and sometimes even poignant.

338. The National – Boxer (2007)

The National conjure a detailed, lush sonic bed for this record, auguring a shift away from the straight-ahead indie rock they started with into sonic territory more akin to Wilco or Radiohead at their most tuneful. Strings and brass add weight to an album that lays bear urban ennui and life in the 00s.

337. Lou Reed – The Blue Mask (1982)

Reed seemed a bit lost in the late 70s, eclipsed by his student Bowie and the punk scene he had inspired. This seems to have pressed him to strip back the artifice and get down to basics with guitarist Robert Quine in tow. The songwriting is more direct which puts this album over with a vitality that is still palpable.

336. The Police – Synchronicity (1983)
This was the big one – the album that launched the bleached blonde trio into the stratosphere. That’s only fitting since the (count ‘em) five hit singles rank as some of the best work the band ever did – and the brilliant “Every Breath You Take” is one of the best rock songs ever. Sadly the tension in the band was exacerbated by the long tour for the record and the band went their separate waysrather than consolidating their success.

335. Al Green – Call Me (1973)

With the help of the amazing production of Willie Mitchell, Al Green pulled gutbucket southern soul into the smooth seventies. His stunning voice and finely calibrated delivery was certainly a huge part of this, as was a canny ear for how to arrange both originals and covers (his take on Hank Williams here is unbelievable). The drums snap, the strings seduce, the horns wink, and Al just lays it down.

334.Iggy Pop – New Values (1979)

This was the last in the trio of albums that re-introduced Iggy to a world that had finally caught up with him, and it shows him taking some small steps into synthesized textures on songs like “Endless Sea” that actually work quite well. Never fear though, “5 Foot 1″ and it’s ilk still had the old crunch.

333. Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Searching For The Young Soul Rebels (1980)

Americans know these guys for one song and one song only and it ain’t here. Brits however recognized a good thing when they heard it, abunch of snot-nosed young bastards slagging off new wave and punk as garbage and proposing that the real sound of England’s disenfranchised youth should be…soul? Here they are though, coming on like Van Morison’s kids with a hot as shit band and Kevin Rowland singing more like Joe Strummer than Otis Redding. Which is half the charm, along with the very clever song titles. No wonder Belle and Sebastiannicked their sleeve design from these lads.

332. The White Stripes – Icky Thump (2007)

Jack and Meg dig deeper int0 blues on this and actually come out sounding more classic rock than ever. Partly this is Jack’s tone and style which distinctly echoes Jimmy Page, and the broader brighter production palette. This may also have been a symptom of his wandering eye, specifically his tenure in the more explicitly rock-oriented Raconteurs. Either way this nwould prove to be their final studio album, and a fitting send-off.

331. Jorge Ben – Africa Brasil (1976)

This whole album is on par with the best funk James Brown could dish up, and that’s really saying something. Ben was one of the leading lights in fusing Brazil’s samba with American and African beats and textures creating a wild funky hybrid. Every track here simply burns through the grooves. A must-hear classic.

330. Van Halen – 1984 (1984)

I’ll admit that most metal music leaves me cold. It might be the stiffness of the rhythm sections in many of the bands or simply my own snobbery. Yet this is a truly undeniable record – especially if you were male and 13 when it came out. The videos alone were pitched at the right level of boobs and booze that set the adolescent brain alight. The timing was perfect for David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen to become megastars driven by MTV and the crossover hit “Jump.” Of course people grow up, lead singers get kicked out (and return and get kicked out…) but 1984 still exists in the notes of these songs.

329. Rocket From the Crypt – Scream, Dracula, Scream! (1995)

Impossible to pigeonhole, these guys upped the singalong factor for their major-label coming out but the mix of 50s style rock arrangements and super hot blazing guitar runs along with a permanent horn section and driving chanted vocals made them very hard to promote indeed. It’s a shame as this was ten times more fun than most bands could ever have.

328. Tom Verlaine – Dreamtime (1981)

Verlaine was one of the leading lights behind the band Television and was much admired by the likes of David Bowie as a solo artist. His guitar playing is legendary and his reedy vocals would give many a geeky bedroom dreamer courage to sing. Though he never found much commercial success this record is his most consistently winning with “Without a Word” coming closest to the gorgeous glories of his old band.

327. Beck - Guero (2005)

Guero is the sound of Beck the innovator turning pro and if it’s not as knock-your-socks-off surprising as some of his earlier records it consolidates the advances of each one to make an impressive whole out of what could seem like a zig-zagging aesthetic. It helps that these are some of his best songs and that the Dust Brothers nod to their earlier work with him without trying to replicate it.

326. The Psychedelic Furs – The Psychedelic Furs (1980)

The Butler brothers and guitarist John Ashton crafted something special out of some very au courant sounds with this debut – a bit of Roxy Music here (especially their embrace of the sax) , a dash of Bowie, Richard Butler’s sandpaper croon which sounded like Johnny Rotten had taken singing lessons without losing the sneer. It works because the songs and playing are utterly without fat, with Steve Lillywhite providing an alluring atmosphere, and because they put it all over with a sense of humor to leaven what would be pretentious in the wrong hands. Brilliant.

325. Misfits - Walk Among Us (1982)

If the Ramones had subsisted on a steady diet of b-movie horror flicks they very well may have ended up as the Misfits. These guys have a lot to answer for (goth for one) but their debut is fast and punky and quite funny.

324. Big Black - Atomizer (1986)

Steve Albini’s first Big Black album sets the template and the story – pummeling Roland beats, molten guitars, and lyrics that live on the very far side from poltical correctness. In addition “Kerosene” may be their best song and it’s right smack in the middle of the album. Caustic.

323. Sebadoh – Smash Your Head on the Punk Rock (1992)

After being booted from Dinosaur Jr. by J. Mascis, Lou Barlow licked his wounds by starting his own band and, when he recruited musicians, giving them (perhaps too much) free reign that he had been denied. What makes this my preferred of their albums is that it’s heavy on Lou songs as it should be. Taken from two European EPs and mushed together, this was their most electric foray and the one that most shows Barlow’s emerging skills as a writer and performer. As an interpreter too, with brillaint renditions of Nick Drake and Buffalo Springfield scuzzed up.

322. Funkadelic – Standing on the Verge of Getting it On (1974)

George Clinton and his crew hit their stride with their mix of funk, R & B  and rock with some of their best songs. “I’ll Stay” is a killer ballad while “Sexy Ways” is like a winking Isley’s outtake, showing the range of the mothership expanding exponentially.

321. Morphine - Cure  For Pain (1993)

Mark Sandman’s 2-stringed slide bass was one of the unlikeliest lead instruments in rock. Dana Colley’s bluesy sax and Sandman’s smoky voice combine into a late night treat on this, their second album. The material here is head and shoulders above the debut, with new drummer Billy Conway adding both drive and swing. Totally unique and incredibly cool.

320. Sugar - Copper Blue (1992)

Post-Husker Du, Bob Mould spread his wings as a solo artist before forming a new band that built on both the advances of his old one but also on the moves of bands like Pixies. “Helpless” could be right off of Flip Your Wig but “Hoover Dam” shows the sophistication taht Mould was at pains to show on his quieter solo work could be put in service of a band context as well.

319. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Let Love In (1994)

Cave and his Bad Seeds began adding lighter elements, more intricate arrangements and varied sounds in the early 90s but it’s here that his old rip-snorting aggression and new found subtlety find their best blend with a terrific set of songs. It’s not a shock that Cave’s love is a violent, twisted, beautiful thing.

318. The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs (1999)

If you are going to blow your wad, there are worse ways than filling three discs in a  boxed set of brilliants, detailed, funny, varied love songs.

317. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive (2008)

Some fans decried the polish and craft on this record compared to their ramshackle early work but I say they finally sloughed off the Springsteen-isms and became their own band here. The music in jokes are payed off with smart arrangements and even harpsichord is employed on Craig Finn’s epically bleak “One For The Cutters.” “Joke About Jamaica” goes beyond the Led Zep japes to dig deeper, with Finn’s lyrics about scenes living and dying adding even more resonance. A great record.

316. Basehead – Play With Toys (1992)

This is still radically out of step with hip-hop orthodoxy but it was even more so back in 1992. Michael Ivey’s raps are so laid-back he’s practically asleep and the acoustic instrumentation almost veers into G. Love territory but then he pulls a change up on you. The songs are hilarious and sad at the same time, topped by the gutbusting “Outro”.

315. Mission of Burma - Vs. (1982)

These guys were doing things like no other band in America – the closest equivalent was the UK’s Swell Maps but Burma had more ealty tos ong structure and form, as well as sheer volume. These songs run the gamut from straight-up punk to the unclassifiable something else, with big slabs of guitar and rolling drums signaling tempo and mood shifts even within the tracks. Eye opening in the best way.

314. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (2007)

After their widely praised debut these Canadian indie rockers took their time with the follow-up, presenting a bleaker and darker album that still captured some of the magic of the first record but clearly suffused with the ennui that a global war on terror visited on so many. The arrangements rage from hushed to big and bold and the songwriting lassoes everything from George W. Bush to Joe Simpson.

313. Steely Dan - Aja (1977)

Butter wouldn’t melt in this record’s mouth. For those who hate the Dan, this is exhibit A – music to be an asshole by. Get lost in the shiny sonics and jazzy licks though and you can appreciate Fagan and Becker’s intricate arrangements and how they comment on their own seeming vacuousness.Definitely a peak of sorts.

312. The Black Keys – Brothers (2010)

This duo were another band who were hard to imagine emerging without The White Stripes showing the way.  The crucial difference in their evolution is that Jack White embraced classic rock while these guys have over the years let more of a classic soul and R & B influence their sound. This album is the apogee of their exploration into new sounds, with Danger Mouse guiding them into a self-produced combo of snap crackle beats and intricate arrangements worthy of Willie Mitchell. Dan Auerbach’s voice is the clincher, revealing hidden depths as the songwriting skill of he and Patrick Carney keep impressing. A modern classic.

311. Modest Mouse – The Moon and Antarctica (2000)

Modest Mouse took a big leap into a thematically linked album for their major label debut, with the quite modest aim of portraying life on earth as a human. What should be unbearably pretentious is smart, savvy and arresting and in it’s ambition is unlike anything else in the band’s catalog.

310. Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers (2005)

David Berman comes back after a harrowing 4 year layoff due to crippling drug problems and here lays it all bare along with new band member, his wife Cassie. It’s a high energy affair for the usually laid-back guy and it works remarkably, giving the frankness in his songs just the right desperate edge.  “There is a Place” is where he hits bottom and it’s chilling.

309. East River Pipe – Shining Hours in a Can (1994)

FM Cornog occupies a musical perch akin to the film Midnight Cowboy, a celebration of losers, users and the misbegotten. Like Joe Buck, his melodies sure are purty, even recorded as they were at home on a Tascam. The shimmering “Make a Deal With the City” and the liftoff of “Helmet On” are career highlights.

308. The Doors – L. A. Woman (1971)

Jim Morrison’s last stand, this is the band digging deep into blues with tracks like “Roadhouse Blues” alongside the brilliant title track.

307. X – Under The Big Black Sun (1982)

Exene Cervenka’s sister Mary was killed by a drunk driver while the band began to work on this album and the whole record is suffused with a dark feeling of sorrow, anger and regret. These layers make “Come Back to Me” and “Riding With Mary” indelible and the driving “Blue Spark” burn even brighter. Even without the back story this is a gritty driving album that cemented X as one of America’s best bands.

306. Beck – Sea Change (2002)

This is ostensibly Beck’s “personal” album, a confessional lament for his ending relationship and a major shift from an artist more accustomed to roleplaying. The sound harks back to Mutations which shares Nigel Godrich as a producer but the sound is a bit tougher. The songs are tight and masterful, with “Lonesome Tears” building to a rousing string-driven crescendo and “Paper Tiger”‘s rubbery bass adding distinctive accents.

305. The Decemberists - Picaresque (2005)

Bigger and bolder than their previous outings, this is twee on steroids. Colin Meloy’s  songs roll on like sea chanteys, bold and brassy and confident as hell.

304. Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville (1993)

Though Phair played up her debut album’s supposed answer to the Stones Exile on Main Street in reality it was a rebuke to the wayward and shifty men in bands and beds who she encountered living in Chicago.  These are 18 great songs all with distinct arrangements and a widely varied approach from bar band to art rock. It’s a brilliance she would never equal.

303. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Sleeps With Angels (1994)

When Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain killed himself he quoted from Neil Young’s “Rust Never Sleeps” in the suicide note. Not surprisingly this had a haunting effect on Young who recorded this album as a response. It’s incredibly sad, elegiac, even hopeful at times as he looks at a crumbling world through the eyes of a young man who should have everything to live for. Sometimes songs like the lengthy “Change Your Mind” blur the lines between a love song and a lament to a talent that can never be bought back.

302. Neko Case – Blacklisted (2002)

It’s all too easy to fall in love with Neko Case, her beauty is matched by a voice of incredible power and charisma. On this, her third album, her songwriting finally comes into it’s own and she begins to stake out her own patch of Americana with a dark noir underpinning. It sounds timeless while not sounding like anything else exactly. Stunning.

301. Randy Newman – Sail Away (1972)

I know it’s hard to believe what with the Disney soundtracks but there was a time when Newman was among the most provocative of American songwriters. This one alone features the bawdy ‘You Can Leave Your Hat On” the amazing “Sail Away” which could form a great fucked up slaver trilogy along with The Stones’ “Brown Sugar” and The Mekons “Amnesia.” Whether questioning religion or welcoming World War III this set the template for a legion of smart-asses to come like Elvis Costello and Nellie McKay.