A musical interlude

A little while ago I posted my Top 50 albums of all time, a futile and vacuous exercise demonstrating that I had too much time on my hands. Well, just to prove that I can still tick all of those boxes, I've updated it to a Top 100 albums... idle hands and all that. Unlike the last list, this is not in any order other than alphabetical - I cannot put them in order of preference, that is just impossible - or at least too difficult to successfully complete with any real meaning. I did try!

There will be better albums that are not on it, albums that are musically and vocally superior, and others that were groundbreaking, broke the mould or redefined a genre. But music is a highly personal thing. A mediocre, or average album can come along and speak volumes to you. They sneak up on you when you are at your most vulnerable or receptive. They become your friends, comfort blankets and injectors of joy. The past can flood back with just a few notes played. They become a part of your life. So I make no apologies for anything that appears on the list, even though there will be purists who will deride some of the choices and not understand why there isn't any Stones, Hendrix or Dylan on it. Enjoy.

Aberfeldy – Young Forever
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes
B52s – Cosmic Thing
Bat for Lashes – The Haunted Man
Beach Boys – Surf’s Up
Beatles – Revolver
Beatles – Sgt Pepper
Beatles – White Album
Beatles – Abbey Road
Belle and Sebastian – Tigermilk
Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
Blur – Modern Life is Rubbish
Blur – 13
David Bowie – Hunk Dory
David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust
David Bowie – Low
Breaks Co-op – The Sound Inside
Jeff Buckley - Grace
Kate Bush – The Kick Inside
Kate Bush – Hounds of Love
Kate Bush – Aerial
Bernard Butler – People Move On
Caravan – In the Land of the Grey and Pink
Cocteau Twins – Treasure
Cocteau Twins – Blue Bell Knoll
Crosby, Stills and Nash – Crosby, Stills and Nash
Deacon Blue – Raintown
Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
The Doors – The Doors
The Doors – LA Woman
Nick Drake – Bryter Later
Nick Drake – Pink Moon
The Duckworth Lewis Method – The Duckworth Lewis Method
Ian Dury – New Boots and Panties
The Eagles – The Long Run
Elbow – Seldom Seen Kid
ELO – New World Record
ELO – Out of the Blue
Everything But the Girl – Amplified Heart
Fairport Convention – Unhalfbricking
Fairport Convention – Liege and Lief
Field Music – Tones of Town
Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Peter Gabriel – 4
Genesis – Selling England by the Pound
Go-betweens – Oceans Apart
Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree
John Grant – Queen of Denmark
Groove Armada – Goodbye Country
Groove Armada – Love Box
Hall and Oates – Abandoned Luncheonette
Steve Hillage -L
Norah Jones – Come Away With Me
Kings of Convenience – Quiet is the New Loud
LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem
Aimee Mann – Bachelor No.2
Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffitti
Lemon Jelly – Lemon Jelly
Massive Attack – Mezzanine
Paul McCartney - Ram
Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther
Joni Mitchell – Ladies of the Canyon
Joni Mitchell – Blue
Joni Mitchell – Court and Spark
Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns
The 1975 – I like it when you go to sleep…
Tom Petty – Wildflowers
Pink Floyd – Meddle
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
Robert Plant and Alison Krause – Raising Sand
Primal Scream – Screamadelica
Queen – Queen 2
Radiohead – The Bends
Radiohead – OK Computer
Lou Reed – Transformer
Sigur Ros – Takk
Simple Minds – New Gold Dream
Spirit – The Family That Plays Together
Spirit – The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
The Staves – If I Was
Sufjan Stevens – Welcome to Michigan
Sufjan Stevens – Come on Feel the Illinois
Suede – Dog Man Star
Supertramp – Even In The Quietest Moments
James Taylor – Sweet Baby James
10cc – How Dare You
Turin Brakes – The Optimist LP
Undertones – Undertones
Rufus Wainwright – Release the Stars
The Who – Quadrophenia
Wings – Venus and Mars    
Neil Young – Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
Neil Young – After the Goldrush
Neil Young – Harvest
Neil Young – Comes a Time
Neil Young – Prairie Wind

Comments

I've got 41 of those. We are both middle of the road.
Steve Gale said…
And middle-aged (in my case late middle-aged). This list 30 years ago would have been full of Joy Division, Smiths, Banshees, PiL...
Joy at seeing B52s in there!
Derek Faulkner said…
Well at least you had Joni Mitchell in there, but Tim Buckley was far better than his son. Other than that, few of them are in my record collections, it looks like a list from a Boot Fair.
Steve Gale said…
Couldn't do without them Simon!
Steve Gale said…
Boot fair! That's unkind Derek. It'd be a bloody good boot fair in that case.
Derek Faulkner said…
Only joking Steve, you'd say the same about my collection which includes everything Bob Dylan has ever recorded.
Gibster said…
Few in there I have no idea of, positively thrilled to see Beatles and Massive Attack in there though! But why no heavy or thrash metal? Very perplexing (to me at least...) \m/
Paul Trodd said…
A good call Steve, and I`ve got a fair few of those too. Spookily enough whilst reading your post, Bryter Later by Nicky boy has just come up on the I-pod!
Factor said…
Only 20 on my list but glad to see plenty of Neil Young in there!
DorsetDipper said…
Interesting list.

Raising Sand? Seriously? Possibly the dullest and most tedious group of sings ever released.

3x David Bowie but no Station to Station?

If I had to choose a Genesis album it would be A Trick of The Tail - the optimum mid-point between twee progressive introspection and pop.

I would have thought a man of your wit and taste would have had Aja by Steely Dan in their list - like having liquid honey poured down your lug-holes. Just a fantastic album.

No Van Morrison? What's he ever done to you to deserve that?

And I'm slightly surprised, given some of the others on your list, not to see a Richard Hawley album or two in their. Coles Corner, Lady's Bridge, Trueloves' Gutter all excellent.

Some choices I haven't given much attention to in the past. You Tube may get a few visits today.
Steve Gale said…
Quiet is the new loud Seth...
Steve Gale said…
Had he lived, what gems would we be listening to now?
Steve Gale said…
A list without Neil Young is a shadow of a list!
Steve Gale said…
Right DD...

Raising Sand is a warm bath of an album that I luxuriate in.

I would prefer Aladdin Sane to Station to Station, but that does not mean I disagree with its excellence.

My next Genesis pick would be Lamb lies down on Broadway.

Steely Dan unlucky not to make it with Can't buy a thrill and Countdown to Ecstacy

Van just doesn't do it for me.

Richard Hawley is an artist I admire and only possess Standing at the skies edge.

Thank's for the thorough analysis!
DorsetDipper said…
thanks Steve.

I've dug out my copy of Raising Sand, bought in a moment of foolish weakness, and have been listening in the car. TBH I'm still not quite feeling it, although their soulful interpretation of Ukranian funeral marches and Moldovan Death music is certainly unique.

If you haven't heard Aja then you really need to. I know for a fact I'm not the only Bishop's Stortford birder to regard it as the finest album of all time.

Popular posts from this blog

Memories of Bob

"Kwowww"

Mike Netherwood