Classic albums: 1982 - 2002

[No. Fourteen]

The Rain Parade - Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
Stone Roses - s/t
Supergrass - In It For The Money
Radiohead - Ok Computer
Libertines - Up the Bracket

And a most honorable mention to:  Brian Wilson s/t

[Exapno Mapcase]

I wouldn't wipe my ass on the Libertines.

[No. Fourteen]

No........t.p. or Kleenex perhaps would be best.

[MBE]

I wouldn't wipe my ass on the Libertines.

Is that kind of attack on No. Fourteen's taste respectful?

[Smilin Ed H]

I hope it's not meant to be respectful of the Libs!

[MBE]

Never even heard of them but.....

[No. Fourteen]

Well, I've never been sentenced to death, but I can see how that would tend to make someone a little edgy. 

Seriously though, just giving an opinion and got one back.  A-ok with me!

Thanks for keeping an eye out, anyway.

[Exapno Mapcase]

No offence meant.  Don't like'em, that's all.

[No. Fourteen]

No problem at all.  I'm fully aware of the mounds of hype they received in recent years, and that scenario can be particularly irritating when you find it not even remotely warranted.

[halblaineisgood]

.

[onkster]

Jon Brion - Meaningless
Elvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom
Elvis Costello - Brutal Youth
Squeeze - Frank (live in the studio, the freshest, snappiest Squeeze ever)
XTC - Apple Venus vol. 1
XTC - Skylarking
Elliott Smith - everything but the first and the last one (and hey, even parts of those)
Grays - Ro Sham Bo (most of it)
Everything But the Girl - Idlewild (kind of an English  'Pet Sounds';  has that 'weekend away to think things over' feel to it)
Crowded House - Woodface (yes, I think so too)
Lindsay Buckingham - Out of the Cradle
Michael Penn - March (kinda the Rubber Soul of the 80s)
Aimee Mann - Whatever (actually this is a better 'Jon Brion' album than Meaningless--it's nearly a duo album except he doesn't sing any leads;  also, amazingly, his first production ever)
Bishop Allen - I don't know if they have a collection out yet, but their series of month-at-a-time EPs from last year are strikingly good;  minimal production, but great, great songwriting;  get some of their stuff free from their website.  Start with "Butterfly Net" and "Corazon".

I  think what you're saying is, it isn't easy to like 'popular' music anymore, since radio/record labels are impossibly corrupt now.  There *is* good stuff out there--it's just a treasure hunt now, instead of a buffet banquet.

Cheers.

[CosmicDancer]

YES!!!  Someone else that thinks as much of Elvis Costello's Brutal Youth record as I do!!  This album never gets the credit it deserves and most reviews I have read aren't positive ones but it is most definately my favorite of his 90's-present albums.  I don't think it gets much better/lovely than Favourite Hour and All The Rage is one of my favorite ALL TIME Costello songs.  Not a bum track on the entire record!

[Roger Ryan]

I'm with you guys on "Brutal Youth" as well! Sadly, I think it's the last consistently great Costello album; while his more recent releases have some good material on them, I keep waiting for an album that measures up to this 1994 release. Apart from the great arrangements and hooks a-plenty, "Brutal Youth" has some of Costello's best lyrics ever. Here's one of my favorite couplets from "My Science Fiction Twin":

"His almost universal excellence is starting to disturb me/ When we ask 'how in the world he does all these things?', he answers 'Superbly!'."

Of course, 1982's "Imperial Bedroom" is definitely a classic that belongs in the top 200. Geoff Emerick's production on that album really draws brilliantly on his experience as the Beatles' engineer and he turns each of Costello's songs into little pop gems.

[mikeyj]

I'm going to throw in one that many may totally disagree with.  I don't care, I think it is a brilliant record.  How about the self titled Rage Against the Maching debut album?  I love it and at it's time, there was nothing else like it out there.  Sure, a whole lot of really bad music came about becuase of it, but I really think this band had something really cool and original going on.  I think that Tom Morello was the first person since Ed Van Halen to really revolutionize the way his instrument was played.  Not that there haven't been a number of great players in the time between, but Morello really changed the way the game is played. 

Just my two cents.  Flame away!!  Or you could agree with me!

I agree with you, I really like that album. Every song is a enjoyable listen, as long as your in the right mood of course, as I usually like to listen to softer music but a great album. I would perhaps also add At The Drive-In's album Relationship of Command. That is a great album, not one single poor quality song and not really any one stand out song they are all great in my opinion and although "One Armed Scissor" is definately their most famous song it is by no means better than the rest of the songs on the album in my opinion. I also think perhaps Nirvana's Nevermind should be added to the list.

[Mahalo]

B-52's, Satellite of Your Mind, 1986
At the Drive In is cool, but so many of their songs sounded redundant after repeated listenings, imo. It's been a few years since I really grooved w/them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but looking back, it seems that a lot of their songs were in the same key. I am probably wrong though. A classic album though, for sure.

[CosmicDancer]

I'm with you guys on "Brutal Youth" as well! Sadly, I think it's the last consistently great Costello album; while his more recent releases have some good material on them, I keep waiting for an album that measures up to this 1994 release. Apart from the great arrangements and hooks a-plenty, "Brutal Youth" has some of Costello's best lyrics ever. Here's one of my favorite couplets from "My Science Fiction Twin":

"His almost universal excellence is starting to disturb me/ When we ask 'how in the world he does all these things?', he answers 'Superbly!'."

Of course, 1982's "Imperial Bedroom" is definitely a classic that belongs in the top 200. Geoff Emerick's production on that album really draws brilliantly on his experience as the Beatles' engineer and he turns each of Costello's songs into little pop gems.

I almost agree with you.  I really liked the "All This Useless Beauty" album but it did have a little dead space on it.  Nowhere near as good as Brutal Youth.  I do however think that "The Delivery Man" is his strongest effort since then and I go back and forth on whether or not I think it is better than Brutal Youth.

[the captain]

On Elvis Costello, I think "The Delivery Man" is great--his best in a long, long time. I don't have "Brutal Youth," so I can't compare it to that, but I would say TDM is his best (of those I do have) since "Almost Blue" and "Trust." With one or two songs excluded, I absolutely love it, and a few of them are just jaw-droppingly gorgeous. (Nothing Clings Like Ivy, for example.)

If we were taking this list to include more recent albums, that would have been on my list.

[mikeyj]

B-52's, Satellite of Your Mind, 1986
At the Drive In is cool, but so many of their songs sounded redundant after repeated listenings, imo. It's been a few years since I really grooved w/them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but looking back, it seems that a lot of their songs were in the same key. I am probably wrong though. A classic album though, for sure.

Yeh Im not a big fan of their other stuff but that album is certainly a great album.

[Smilin Ed H]

I really ought to have had Prefab Sprout's Steve McQueen on my list!

[Ron]

Great albums that I can think of off the top of my head from 82-02...

sorry if I've repeated some, I didn't read everybody's reply.

I agree with Thriller, any album that sells 50 million copies is a classic album.  Sorry, just deal with it.  The man could sing (still can, actually), he could perform, and it had a great production all over it.

Another maybe controversial 1 (or 2) would be

Dr. Dre - The Chronic
and
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle

Even if you can't stand rap, these stand head and shoulders above the rest as the greatest most influential rap records ever recorded.  Dr. Dre is probably the greatest producer still working today, and Snoop Dogg's Charisma crossed over into white homes like nobody has been able to do since.  Rap today stands on the shoulders of these two albums and rap is a huge entity in the music world today.

Billy Joel's finest album is "An Innocent Man" in my opinion, it's my personal favorite album of all time... I'm not saying it's better than Pet Sounds or anything, but I do enjoy listening to it more than any other album.  If you haven't heard the whole album, check it out, it's very good and his homage to Doo Wop music. 

Nirvana - Nevermind has probably been mentioned a thousand times here, great album, a new form of rock with tons of pop sensibilities.

Oasis - What's the Story?  is a great album.  From start to finish there's no filler and it had it's little place in time as the hottest thing on the radio. 

[the captain]

Ron, I did a top 150 just for myself, and both the Chronic and Doggystyle made it. I think they're great. (For that matter, so did a couple of Public Enemy records, Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique and De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising.) Those are good choices, i think.

As I have always said and always will, I don't care what genre music is, I like good music. Maybe only 2% of rap or hip hop is good...well, the percentages are no better in any other genre. The best of each is great, the worst of each is sh*t and the mediocre of each is mediocre.

[Mahalo]

What, Sir-Mix-A-Lot doesn't make the list??

[the captain]

 

[Aegir]

The Misfits - Earth AD (1983)
Minor Threat - Complete Discography (1989)
Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)
Yo La Tengo - Fakebook (1990)
The Indigo Girls - Rites of Passage (1992)
Neil Young and the Stray Gators - Harvest Moon (1992)
Faith and the Muse - Elyria (1994)
Catch 22 - Keasbey Nights (1998)
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication (1999)
Hem - Rabbit Songs (2000)
Regina Spektor - 11:11 (2001)
Shakira - Laundry Service (2001)
Bright Eyes - Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002)
Lovespirals - Windblown Kiss (2002)

[Alex]

Barenaked Ladies-Gordon
Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE
Wilco-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Flaming Lips-Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Tom Petty-Full Moon Fever
Neutral Milk Hotel-Aeroplane Over The Sea
Beck-Odelay
Weezer-Blue Album
Pavement-Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Radiohead-The Bends
Pearl Jam-Ten
Red Hot Chili Peppers-Californication
Modest Mouse-Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Wilco-Summerteeth