Favorite Albums: 138 - 137

138. Hot Rocks, 1964 - 1971 by The Rolling Stones (1972)

Some people might make the argument that Forty Licks is a better compilation than Hot Rocks, and maybe they have a point. But I like this one better just because there isn't any filler. From start to finish it's just a bad ass compilation. And if "She's a Rainbow" had been included on here, it would have been absolutely perfect, just because that's my favorite Stones song. On every Greatest Hits album I've listed so far, there are always songs that I skip or whatever, and this one's no different. The thing with this one, though, is it's only one song that I don't like, "Midnight Rambler." Just kind of drags on and on, I think. But other than that, there are zero misses on this album. Just very very solid from "Time Is On My Side" at the beginning to "Wild Horses" at the end. Don't really know what else to say. I am already regretting all these Greatest Hits albums and singles collections and stuff, and there are a shit load of them coming up. Yeah. Didn't plan that one out too well, I guess.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Paint It Black"
4. "Gimme Shelter"
3. "19th Nervous Breakdown"
2. "Mother's Little Helper"
1. "Ruby Tuesday"

"19th Nervous Breakdown"


"Mother's Little Helper"


"Ruby Tuesday"


137. The Commitments Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by The Commitments (1991)

If you've never seen this movie, go out and rent it right now. I'll wait...
Ok then. This was a movie about a guy who gets a group of musicians together in Dublin to start playing soul music. Because when you think "Mustang Sally" or "Chain Of Fools" or "In the Midnight Hour" what comes to mind? That's right, pasty white Irish kids. In the end though, it works, because the musicians are good and lead singer Andrew Strong's voice is absolutely amazing. And he was only 19 when the movie was made. The band in the movie is also the band on the album, by the way. No lip syncing or overdubbing here. Maria Doyle shines on the two songs where she takes the lead vocals, "Bye Bye Baby" and especially "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," and she performs the main backing vocals on most of the other songs, as well as the duet with Strong, "The Dark End Of the Street." I used to listen to this album a lot back in the day, but not as much any more. Not really sure why. Definitely love the movie though. In fact, I think I'm going to go watch it right now.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Mustang Sally"
4. "Take Me To the River"
3. "The Dark End Of the Street"
2. "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"
1. "Try a Little Tenderness"

All the videos are taken straight from the movie, so you'll have parts of scenes and some incomplete songs, but they'll give you an idea, anyway, of how good the songs are.
"The Dark End Of the Street"


"I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)"


"Try a Little Tenderness" (Sound is kind of low on this one, but it was the best I could find.)

Favorite Albums: 140 - 139

140. Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes, and Undeniable Truths by Clutch (1993)

Nice concise title, huh? Ha. This is a great album to listen to when you're pissed. The lyrics themselves aren't exactly angry for the most part, but the music is just driving and forceful. The lyrics, on almost all the songs, are actually hilarious, especially set to hard rock. On "El Jefe Speaks," for instance, you have the following line: "Like a fly to doo-doo, you need me like a bird needs wings. Or Little Bunny Foo Foo who needs to bop the field mice, so all the kids can sing." Naturally, this is sung in a gravelly metal voice. Funny shit. Then there's "12 Ounce Epilogue" which is pretty much announcing Coca Cola as the official drink of the apocalypse. "Binge and Purge" is probably one of the angriest songs ever. It starts off kind of mellow, a nice simple drum and bass line, mainly. Then, about half way through, it just erupts into pure assault. Basically this album is divided into two types of songs - angry yet funny, and just angry. Not much else to say about it, I guess. Like I said, just a great album to listen to when you're pissed.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Effigy"
4. "Binge and Purge"
3. "12 Ounce Epilogue"
2. "Heirloom 13"
1. "Milk Of Human Kindness"

Zero points for creativity on these videos, but the sound quality is awesome.
"12 Ounce Epilogue"


"Heirloom 13"


"Milk Of Human Kindness"


139. Turn It On Again: The Hits by Genesis (1999)

So, if you remember the review of the Phil Collins greatest hits album a couple posts ago, you can pretty much take the major parts of that and apply them here. Again, it's hard to listen to this without expecting to hear some of Collins' solo hits, just because it sounds so similar. This is a better compilation than Collins' greatest hits album, though, as there are only two songs I'd switch out. I know they put "Congo" on to have at least one song sung by the guy who replaced Phil Collins after he left, but damn is that a crappy song. Replace that with any damn thing, or just drop it entirely. Preferably, throw either "Home By the Sea" or "Second Home By the Sea" in there, though. The other song I'd switch would be "Hold On My Heart." Not a great song, and there are three other songs from the same album included, so why not put "Man On the Corner," a vastly superior song, in its place? The obvious highlight on this album is "The Carpet Crawlers 1999" which brought Peter Gabriel back to the group for the first time in 25 years, but I already got into that on the songs list, so... Moving along. The only other Gabriel era song on the album is "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)" but it's kind of understandable, since they were more of an artsy band when he was the leader, not really making radio friendly music. The only times the album seems to lag are during "Hold On My Heart" and "No Son Of Mine." Partially it's because they are two of only four slow songs out of 18 on the album, the others being "In Too Deep" and the stellar "Throwing It All Away," but it's also partly because I hate those two songs, so I'm kind of biased. But hey, it's my list, so I'm allowed to be, right? Basically, if you take this album and Phil Collins' ...Hits, you'll have a great retrospective of his career from the late '70s through the '90s. Both could have been better, but not by much so it's all good.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Abacab"
4. "The Carpet Crawlers 1999"
3. "Throwing It All Away"
2. "Mama"
1. "Follow You, Follow Me"

"Throwing It All Away"


"Mama"


"Follow You, Follow Me"

Favorite Albums: 142 - 141

142. The Unforgettable Fire by U2 (1984)

This is probably one of U2's more forgotten albums, which is understandable, since it was sandwiched between two of their most well known, War and The Joshua Tree. Obviously, everyone knows "Pride (In the Name Of Love)" but that's probably the only song on this album that a lot of people know. The lead track, "A Sort Of Homecoming," is one of the better openers on any U2 album. Pretty much "Sunday Bloody Sunday" from War and "Where the Streets Have No Name" from The Joshua Tree are the only two I personally would consider better. This album was where U2 first started falling in love with American pop culture. Two songs about Martin Luther King, Jr. ("Pride" and "MLK"), "Elvis Presley and America," "4th Of July." While some of the songs on this album are somewhat, well, forgettable, there are also some of the best songs of U2's early years. "A Sort Of Homecoming" and "The Unforgettable Fire" have more texture than anything on any of the three preceding albums. "MLK" is just beautiful. "Pride" and "Wire" come out attacking. And "Bad" is one of my absolute favorite U2 songs. It basically became the blueprint for a lot of their later work - slowly build up from a sweeping understated beginning to a concise and explosive climax, then quickly pull back again to the sweeping understated end. Just a stellar song.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Pride (In the Name Of Love)"
4. "The Unforgettable Fire"
3. "MLK"
2. "A Sort Of Homecoming"
1. "Bad"

"MLK"


"A Sort Of Homecoming"


"Bad"


141. Synchronicity by The Police (1983)

The fifth and final album by The Police, Synchronicity was also their most successful and, well, best. I mean, just look at the songs on this album: "Synchronicity II," "Murder By Numbers," "Wrapped Around Your Finger," "King Of Pain," and, oh yeah, a little known tune called "Every Breath You Take." Is it a perfect album? Of course not. "Mother" is one of the worst songs I've ever heard, and "Walking In Your Footsteps" is barely any better. "Miss Gradenko" is so-so at best, and "Synchronicity I" and "Tea In the Sahara" are decent but not great. But really, when it comes down to it, the five classics mentioned above more than make up for the rest of the album being average. "Synchronicity II" is a pretty bad ass song, but can get kind of old kind of quick, especially if you listen to a certain Cleveland radio station that has decided it needs to be played at least 8 times a day. "Murder By Numbers" is kind of the same, but it takes a lot longer for it to get annoying since it's a bit better of a song. "Every Breath You Take," the ultimate stalker song, is the obvious choice for "masterpiece" on pretty much any music site I've ever visited, not just when it comes to this album, but when talking about The Police in general. And while it is, indeed, a great song, personally I like "Wrapped Around Your Finger" and "King Of Pain" better. Not sure why really. Probably just because they've never been played as much as "Every Breath You Take." And while this is a decent album, for most people the singles collection would be better to get than this album.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Synchronicity II"
4. "Murder By Numbers"
3. "Every Breath You Take"
2. "Wrapped Around Your Finger"
1. "King Of Pain"

"Every Breath You Take"


"Wrapped Around Your Finger"


"King Of Pain"

Favorite Albums: 144 - 143

Man, I am gonna have to slow myself down on this shit. It's Monday night, and I'm already writing Friday's post. Guess it's better to be ahead, though, since I never know when the baby's going to let me write. No Greatest Hits or singles collections today, just 2 regular old albums. I know, I know... It's about time.

144. Foiled For the Last Time by Blue October (2007)

Foiled was released in 2006, then a year later re-released as Foiled For the Last Time as a double album. The first disc is the album, the second disc is a live album plus some remixes. The obvious hit here is "Hate Me," and for good reason. That is just an absurdly good song. And, as is the case with most bands on this list, the popular song isn't even the best one on the album. In fact, it may not even make the top five, not sure yet. Most of the songs on this album are pretty depressing. "Let It Go" is especally sad, and you can definitely hear the anguish in his voice as he sings "Why did I go that way? Why do I still? How could I let her go? Why do I feel?" "Overweight" is one of the faster paced songs on the album, and on an album full of apologies it is one of the least apologetic ones, with lines like "I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry I was sorry, but I'm happy that you're happy. This is no longer about me." "X Amount Of Words" is a good song, but seems kind of out of place because it has a bit too much of a techno feel to it. The two remixes of it at the end of the album just make it feel even more out of place.
The live songs on the second CD are all very good, and it's quite obvious they are a good live band. Almost all the songs from Foiled are included, plus a couple from their earlier CDs. The crowd is revved up throughout, and the band just feeds off it. The live version of "Hate Me" is absolutely awesome.
5 Best Songs:
5. "She's My Ride Home"
4. "Into the Ocean"
3. "Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek"
2. "You Make Me Smile"
1. "Overweight"

"Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek"


"You Make Me Smile"


"Overweight"



143. New Adventures In Hi-Fi by R.E.M. (1996)

This was the second-to-last really good CD R.E.M. released. (The follow up, Up, was the last good one.) Most of the songs were recorded while the band was on the road for the Monster tour, usually during sound checks, so it's considered by a lot of music sites as a live album. It's kind of an uneven album, and parts of it sound like remakes of songs from Monster, but it's still a fun album to listen to. Only a couple songs really stand out. "Departure" was co-written by the band Bauhaus. "Leave" is easily my favorite song on the album, but "Be Mine" is probably the best. "So Fast, So Numb" might be the last real rock song R.E.M. has recorded. Losing your drummer will hurt you like that. "Electrolite" is probably the best closing song on any R.E.M. album since Green, just because they didn't try to turn it into something it wasn't. All in all, it's a good CD, but not as good as it could have been had they waited until the Monster tour was over and relaxed a bit, instead of recording on the fly.
5 Best Songs:
5. "How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us"
4. "Undertow"
3. "So Fast, So Numb"
2. "Be Mine"
1. "Leave"

"So Fast, So Numb"
He likes to scream during this song, so you may want to keep the volume a bit lower.


"Be Mine"
Not the best sound, but cool idea for a homemade video, so it wins.


"Leave"
Stuck with a live version. Grrr


Alrighty then... Cruising along now.

Favorite Albums: 146 - 145

146. Greatest Hits '93 - '03 by 311 (2004)

These guys have always been, for me, one of those "background music" type bands. Hear them all the time, but don't pay that much attention to them. Therefore, this is the only album I've ever bought of theirs. It's a good album for the "casual" fan like me, having all their popular singles as well as some decent less popular songs. I originally bought this album for their cover version of "Love Song" by The Cure, from the 50 First Dates soundtrack, and wasn't expecting to know more than a handful of other songs. Which is pretty much what happened. Only knew 7 out of 17 songs. And, to be quite honest, they are still pretty much the only ones I know. I tend to just skip to those 7 songs and not really listen to the rest unless I'm just cleaning or something. Oh well. And yeah, this band puts on a hell of a concert. And the multitudes of women flashing their breasts put on a hell of a show, also. Ha. Seriously. I have never seen that many flashers at a concert. Unreal amounts of boobage.
5 Best Songs:
5. "All Mixed Up"
4. "Down"
3. "Come Original"
2. "Love Song"
1. "Do You Right"

"Come Original"


"Love Song"


"Do You Right"
Video's a bit off from the music, but it's still funny seeing how young and hip-hop they were trying to be.


145. The Singles - 1986>1998 by Depeche Mode (1998)

Of the two Depeche Mode singles collections, this one is the more substantial one. It's a toss up, though, as far as which one is actually better, since they've had so many great singles. This one spans their albums from Black Celebration through Ultra, including their two biggest U.S. albums, Music For the Masses and Violator. It starts off with "Stripped," one of their better songs and one of Dave Gahan's stronger vocal performances up to that point, which is followed by "A Question Of Lust," one of the most epic songs Martin Gore has ever written or sung. Obviously "Personal Jesus" is included, but it's one of only a couple weak songs. And while I've never personally been a fan of Ultra, most of the 5 songs from that album that are included here are at least decent. For the most part, this is just a very good collection. The 2003 box set The Singles - 1981>1998, which includes both singles collections, is obviously the definitive collection, but for those who aren't really fans of the earlier Depeche Mode music, this is obviously the way to go.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Never Let Me Down Again"
4. "Condemnation"
3. "Stripped"
2. "A Question Of Lust"
1. "Enjoy the Silence"

"Stripped"


"A Question Of Lust"
The sound is kind of low on this one.


"Enjoy the Silence"
Shitty fan video, just one image the entire time, but it's the album version, not a remix or live version, so it wins.


Well, that's it for now. So far so good on keeping with the schedule I wanted for this one, so yay for that. We'll see after it's been more than one week though. Ha ha.

Favorite Albums 148 - 147

There are a lot of greatest hits albums and singles collections at this end of the list. Here are the first two.

148. Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits (1991-2001) by Barenaked Ladies (2001)

Barenaked Ladies actually used their Greatest Hits album to help change their status from novelty comedy act to serious musicians. While the obvious funny songs are here - "If I Had $1,000,000," "Brian Wilson," "One Week," and "Pinch Me," the other 15 tracks show that they are, indeed, fine musicians who write some very good songs. "Brian Wilson" and "What a Good Boy" are both live versions, as the band wanted to showcase their real strength, which is their live shows. It has a good balance of hit singles and some of the better album tracks. One of the cool things about this collection is that they actually had the fans vote on which songs were included. Otherwise, some of the stronger songs, such as "Jane," "Shoe Box," and "Lovers In a Dangerous Time" (one of the few cover songs by the band) may not have made it onto the disc. Overall, it's a very solid showcase of the band's first decade.
The flow of the music is very good from start to finish on this album. Not too many slow songs grouped together, bogging it down, and the "silly" songs are spread over the whole album. The two new songs on the album are "It's Only Me (The Wizard Of Magicland)" which would fit more in the "silly" category, and the extremely beautiful closing track, "Thanks That Was Fun."
5 Best Songs:
5. "Falling For the First Time"
4. "Jane"
3. "Lovers In a Dangerous Time"
2. "The Old Apartment"
1. "What a Good Boy"

"Lovers In a Dangerous Time"


"The Old Apartment"


"What a Good Boy"


147. ...Hits by Phil Collins (1998)

This is probably one of the more incomplete Greatest Hits albums around, simply because there is so much left off of it. While the really huge songs are here, like "Sussudio," "One More Night," and the biggest hit of Collins's career, "In the Air Tonight," there are some other pretty big hits missing, most notably "Don't Lose My Number," "I Missed Again," and "I Don't Care Anymore." The omission of that last song alone, at the expense of the previously unreleased cover of "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper, gives the album a bit of a bad taste. In the end, though, it is a decent album. Great? Not by any means. But good.
One of the big problems with this album is that the Phil Collins solo music and the Phil Collins as member of Genesis music sounds so similar. You keep expecting to hear certain songs, only to realize that they are, in fact, Genesis songs. Also, starting the album off with "Another Day In Paradise" just seems like a bad idea. I mean, really, who wants to hear this depressing ass song right when you put the album on? And if you do want to start off with a slow depressing song, why not put "In the Air Tonight" first instead of burying it as the second to last track? Other than that, the songs flow very well, since they aren't in chronological order, just logical order, for the most part. "Easy Lover" and "You Can't Hurry Love" go together very well, as do "Separate Lives" and "Both Sides Of the Story," and "Take Me Home" is a pretty obvious choice as the closing track. Overall, a solid album but not as good as it could have been.
5 best songs:
5. "Both Sides Of the Story"
4. "Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)"
3. "I Wish It Would Rain Down"
2. "In the Air Tonight"
1. "Take Me Home"

"I Wish It Would Rain Down"
Never actually saw this video. The part at the beginning about him being the drummer in a "pretty good band" then taking over after the singer left is pretty funny.


"In the Air Tonight"


"Take Me Home"


I just realized how much I have bitched about 2 of the 4 albums I've done so far. You'd think I was doing a list of my least favorite albums. Ha ha. It'll get better, I promise.

Favorite Albums: 150 - 149

So, it's the first post of the new list, and I'm already contradicting myself. In the intro, I said I'd only be doing one album per post, but... well... One album per post, three posts per week, 150 albums equals fifty weeks before this list is done. Yeah, not taking until the end of next January to finish it. Therefore, I'll be doing 2 albums per post. 25 weeks is a lot more doable, plus with how bored I get sometimes I may do more than 3 posts a week.
Oh, and the reason I've started this as a separate blog from the songs list is just to keep it separate, really. Give it its own feel and character, if you will.
So here's how this one's going to work. I will do a basic review of the album, then share videos of what I think are the 3 best songs on that album. Was going to do 5, but not with 2 albums per post. I'll still list the 5 best, but only put videos for the top 3. Other than that, same basic rule applies - they have to be albums I actually own. Other than that, live albums, greatest hits albums, studio albums, soundtracks - all fair game. And away we go.

150. Hack by Information Society (1990)

This album is actually kind of a mess. The debut Information Society album had a couple decently popular singles, "Walking Away" and "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)," but they kind of fucked around on this album too much to let the several good songs shine. "Think," the only song that got much radio time at all, is a pretty groovy dance tune that would have fit very well on the debut, and "Come With Me" and "How Long" could have done quite well as singles if it weren't for the massive overproduction of the album in general.
The biggest problem with this album is the lack of focus. It seems like they couldn't decide if they wanted to be a techno band or a pop band, so they just kind of fused the two to the point where they don't even sing on about a third of the songs, instead just using samples and repetitive hooks.
Also a problem is that the entire album is a bit cluttered with little filler pieces between nearly every song, stuff ranging from computer samples (still a hot-shit kind of thing in the late '80s/early '90s) to fake radio ads to random babble. However, in the end, it's still a fun album to throw on every once in a while. Just wouldn't be able to listen to it daily.
5 best songs:
5. "If Only"
4. "Chemistry"
3. "Slipping Away"
2. "Come With Me"
1. "How Long"

"Slipping Away"
Not the best quality, since it's live, but not the worst either.


"Come With Me"
Same here.


"How Long"
And again. At least this one's from '91, when he was still skinny. Ha.


149. Wah Wah by James (1994)

This was another cluster fuck type album. Basically, while James were in the studio recording Laid, producer Brian Eno decided to try capturing the band in a more intimate setting, pretty much just recording their jam sessions in studio. The result is... interesting. There are 23 songs on the album, varying in length from 4 seconds (seriously) to almost seven minutes. Some of them are full songs, but most are just little experiments. There's even one song, called "Laughter," that is, indeed, just 30 seconds of someone laughing with a hint of guitar in the background.
Throughout the whole album, though, you can hear hints and echos of songs either from Laid itself or later albums. The most obvious is the song "Tomorrow." It shows up in a pretty raw, and much more powerful, form here, then again on Laid's follow up, Whiplash. One of the highlights on Wah Wah is "Pressure's On." It is one of the few completed songs, and could have fit in very well on Laid. "Say Say Something" is a companion to the song "Say Something" that appeared on Laid. "Bottom Of the Well" was an interesting little piece that could have really been something had it been developed a little more. In the end, this could have been an absolute disaster of an album, just because it was so absurd an idea. There were two things that kept that from happening though. First, it was a pretty limited release, so there wasn't too much money going into it. Second, it was actually really good, overall. It may have had its fair share of "what the hell" type moments, but, really, what albums don't? Very good stuff.
5 best songs:
5. "Frequency Dip"
4. "Jam J"
3. "Bottom Of the Well"
2. "Pressure's On"
1. "Tomorrow"

Couldn't find videos for songs 3-5, so there are only two videos for this album.
"Pressure's On"


"Tomorrow"
Again, this is the version off Whiplash, not Wah Wah. He messes up the words too much in live versions, though.

Intro

Well, it's time for the next list to get started. This one will be my favorite albums list, and it will be a bit more ambitious than the favorite songs list. It will be my 150 favorite albums, which is actually down from the 156 songs, but it will also be a lot more in depth than the songs one was. Thus the reason that I will only be putting 1 album per post. I plan on posting at least three albums a week, though, so it won't take until the middle of next summer to finish. Right now the plan is to post on Monday Wednesday and Friday afternoons/early evenings. Hope it all works out that way. The first one should be ready by this Friday, but might possibly take until Monday. I'm still compiling the list, so not sure when that part will be done. Monday at the latest though, since I already know what album 150 will be.
Until then... Have a good week.