Favorite Albums: 100 - 99

Woo hoo! Cracking the top 100! About damned time!

100. 9 by Public Image Ltd. (1989)

I've never been a huge PiL fan, but I've always liked this album. Every song feels completely different than every other song, yet as a whole they all seem to fit together nicely. "Happy?" opens it up on a pretty stellar note, a really good song. "Disappointed" was one of PiL's biggest hits in the U.S. and is an awesome song about someone screwing over their friends, basically. "Warrior" is okay, not bad, not good, just there. "U.S.L.S. 1" is a nice mellow song, almost an instrumental with very subdued vocals, and a very good song. It's also a very creepy song. It's about the Pan Am flight that was blown up by terrorists over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten... Lead singer of PiL) and his wife were supposed to be on that flight but missed it. "Sand Castles In the Snow" is just a stupid goofy song. Worthless. "Worry" has a nice throbbing beat, and is one of the catchier songs on the album. "Brave New World" and "Like That" are more filler, it seems, than anything else. Decent, but both could have been better. "Same Old Story" is a good song, but also seems like it could have been a bit better if given more time to develop. "Armada" closes the album, another decent but not great song. Overall, it's a pretty good album. Not a classic, like Album was, but still a good listen. Again, it is a lot better than I am making it sound. Ah well. What can you do, right?
5 Best Songs:
5. "Armada"
4. "Worry"
3. "Happy?"
2. "U.S.L.S. 1"
1. "Disappointed"

"Armada"


"Worry"
No video. Really?

"Happy?"


"U.S.L.S. 1"


"Disappointed" (Not the best quality and there's an interview at the beginning, but it's the only one I could find that I could embed.)



99. The Best Of James by James (1998)

If you ever wanted to get a James album just to get a taste of what they are like, this would be the perfect starting point. While it does ignore the band's first two albums, Stutter and Strip-Mine, neither of them are missed because, well, neither was very good. It is also an extremely balanced album. There are 2 new songs and one early single that was previously unavailable on an album. The other 15 songs are divided almost perfectly between the four preceding albums: Gold Mother, Seven and Laid get four songs each, Whiplash gets three. And since Seven and Laid will be featured later in the list, I'll stick to talking about the songs not from those two albums. The two new songs are "Runaground" and "Destiny's Calling". Both are very mellow and very good, especially "Runaground". "Hymn From a Village" was the band's first single, and while it's not the best song it's not too bad, either. The four songs from Gold Mother are kind of uneven. "Come Home" is a good song, but can get annoying at times. "Sit Down" is one of the band's trademark songs and usually closes their shows, and is a phenomenal song. "Lose Control" is the worst song on this album as well as one of the worst on Gold Mother. Just a crap song. "How Was It For You?" is a pretty superb song, even if it was used in Melrose Place a few times. (It's even included on the Melrose Place soundtrack. Ghastly.) The Whiplash songs are a lot more even. "She's a Star" is a great tune, good lyrics and vocals and great music. "Tomorrow" is one of my favorite James songs. It originally appeared on Wah Wah in a very raw form then got polished up for Whiplash. Although I like the raw version better, the Whiplash version is still a great song. "Waltzing Along" is the weakest of the three songs from Whiplash, but is still a really good song. Screw it, I'm going with the songs from the other two albums, as well. The four songs from Seven are all awesome. "Born Of Frustration" was the first James single that really got noticed in the U.S., in 1992, 7 years after "Hymn From a Village" was released. "Seven" is one of the most hopeful songs James has recorded, a really pretty song. "Sound" and "Ring the Bells" are two more of my all time favorite James songs. Both of them are outstanding and I can listen to them daily and never get sick of them. Finally, the songs from Laid. "Laid" is obviously here, the biggest hit the band has had in the States. "Say Something" and "Sometimes" are both very good, and "Out To Get You" is just an amazing, awesome song. While there are a few songs that could have been included here when talking about "Best Of", it in no way feels like an incomplete collection. Plus, it just makes you hungry for more, instead of giving you everything in one sitting, so it serves its purpose there, too. Awesome Best Of album.
5 Best Songs (excluding Laid and Seven):
5. "Runaground"
4. "She's a Star"
3. "How Was It For You?"
2. "Sit Down"
1. "Tomorrow"

"Runaground"


"She's a Star"


"How Was It For You?"


"Sit Down"


"Tomorrow"

Favorite Albums: 134 - 133

My computer is running slower than molasses today, so I am a little annoyed, so sorry in advance for being pissy if it happens.

134. Until the End Of the World Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Various Artists (1991)

Easily my favorite soundtrack to any movie. The movie itself... I thought I remembered it being a lot better than it was. Rented it from the library a few weeks ago, and yeah... It's decent, but nothing special. It's too cluttered and telling too many stories, and the music ends up taking focus away from the storytelling. The music in this movie is absolutely outstanding. Just look at the list of artists involved: U2, Depeche Mode, R.E.M., Talking Heads, Lou Reed, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Patti Smith, Daniel Lanois, k.d. lang... Plus a few lesser known (or less noteworthy) artists, like Neneh Cherry, Julee Cruise, Can, Jane Siberry, Crime and the City Solution, and T-Bone Burnett. "Days" by Elvis Costello is a cover of an old Kinks song. "Sax and Violins" by Talking Heads was one of the last few songs the band recorded together. "Fretless" by R.E.M. is one of my favorite songs ever, if you remember from the favorite songs list, as is "Calling All Angels" by Jane Siberry and k.d. lang. "Until the End Of the World" by U2 and "What's Good" by Lou Reed are both pretty solid songs, but what else would you expect from either of them? For me though, the two biggest highlights (other than "Calling All Angels" and "Fretless" that is) are "The Adversary" by Crime and the City Solution and "(I'll Love You) Till the End Of the World" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Both of these songs are absolutely amazing, both in and out of the context of the movie. The only song that is missing from the movie is "Blood Of Eden" by Peter Gabriel. It's a more unpolished version than the one that would later end up on his album Us but it is just as beautiful. Really wish it would have been on here.
5 Best Songs:
(I am excluding "Fretless" and "Calling All Angels" since they are in the favorite songs list already.)
5. "What's Good" by Lou Reed
4. "Days" by Elvis Costello
3. "Until the End Of the World" by U2
2. "The Adversary" by Crime and the City Solution
1. "(I'll Love You) Till the End Of the World" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

And naturally I can't find any videos whatsoever of the top 2 songs, so I'm only putting the U2 one, I guess. If you want to hear the other 2 (well worth it) let me know and I'll burn them and e-mail them or something.

"Until the End Of the World"


133. Best Of Bowie by David Bowie (2002)

So, according to one of the websites I use to help reference stuff on this list, there were 16 different versions of this album released for different countries around the world. I didn't look at them to see how different they are from each other, but really, what's the point? Are there really that many ways to make a greatest hits album? No. But there are apparently that many ways to make a buck.
Anyway.
As far as the album goes, well, it's Bowie, what else needs to be said? "Space Oddity" is the opener, serving two purposes: Get one of the best known songs by him out there up front, and get the longest song on the album out of the way right off the bat. Of the 4 songs on the album that are duets, only the horrible "Dancing In the Streets" with Mick Jagger is a miss. "Fame" with John Lennon, "Under Pressure" with Queen, and "I'm Afraid Of Americans" with Trent Reznor are all pretty bad ass. And in the end, "Dancing In the Streets" is the only weak song on the album.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Let's Dance"
4. "Rebel Rebel"
3. "Fame"
2. "Modern Love"
1. "Under Pressure"

"Fame"


"Modern Love"


"Under Pressure"

Favorite Albums: 136 - 135

These two are short, I know... Just lacking the interest in all these Greatest Hits albums. My bad. Shoulda just started at like 125. At least I'll know for next time. Ha ha.

136. Greatest Hits by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1993)

Pretty much the essential Tom Petty collection. He really didn't make much good music after this, so there's no need to get anything after it unless you're a hard core fan. I mean, yeah, Wildflowers was decent, but nothing spectacular, and I honestly couldn't name a song from any of the 5 albums that have come out since. Anyway, this is just a really great collection. Some of the songs sound kind of cheesy now, yes, but others, like "Breakdown," "You Got Lucky," and "I Need To Know" are still pretty bad ass, even if they're a little dated. "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is still a stupid song, though, as is "Free Fallin'." Can't stand those two songs. Other than those two, though, there aren't really any bad songs on the album. And a lot of people like those two songs, so I guess for some people this album's perfect. This does have some awesome songs on it though. "Don't Come Around Here No More" may not be the best song, but it had one of the best videos of all time, so it gets bonus points. "You Got Lucky" is one of the cockiest songs ever, just flat out saying "You got lucky babe, when I found you." Pretty much the only hit from Petty's early career that's missing is the duet with Stevie Nicks, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," and I know a lot of people who aren't complaining about that one missing.
5 Best Songs:
5. "I Won't Back Down"
4. "An American Girl"
3. "Don't Come Around Here No More"
2. "You Got Lucky"
1. "Breakdown"

"Don't Come Around Here No More"


"You Got Lucky"


"Breakdown"


135. The Best Of Culture Club by Culture Club (1989)

I don't care, laugh all you want, I love this album. It's pretty much the epitome of cheesy '80s pop. The 8 song version from '89 is way better than the 16 song version from '94, just because there is absolutely no filler, and has every one of their Top 40 hits. "Karma Chameleon?" Check. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" Check. "It's a Miracle?" Check. You can say what you want, but Boy George knew how to write what people wanted to hear at the time. Good stuff.
5 Best Songs:
5. "I'll Tumble 4 Ya"
4. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?"
3. "Church Of the Poisoned Mind"
2. "Miss Me Blind"
1. "Karma Chameleon"

"Church Of the Poisoned Mind"


"Miss Me Blind"


"Karma Chameleon"