Favorite Albums: 94 - 93

I am still 2 albums behind where I want to be, so depending on how quickly these two go, I may post the next two later. If not, most likely tomorrow.
I'm also changing the way the top 5 songs and their videos are posted, a little bit. Nothing major, just eliminating some of the repetitive stuff.

94. Greatest Hits by The Cars (1985)

This album has some of the most popular music of the '80s on it, like it or not. The Cars were pretty much everywhere in the first half of the decade, and these are most of the reasons why. I could go through song by song like I usually do, but this would be one of those albums where I'm calling every song "kick ass" or a "classic" or "awesome" so I won't bore you with that redundancy. You have all the popular MTV songs, "Just What I Needed", "Shake It Up", "Magic" and, of course, "You Might Think". There are the wonderful ballads, "Drive" and "I'm Not the One". There are the radio staples of "Since You're Gone", "Touch and Go", "Tonight She Comes" (the only new song on the album), "Let's Go" and "My Best Friend's Girl". Plus the very underrated "Heartbeat City". The only two songs I can think of that are missing from this album are "Hello Again" and "You're All I've Got Tonight". Had they been included, this would have been the definitive Cars collection, but instead it is just a tad incomplete. Very good album, though, and probably owned by most of the people reading this.
5 Best Songs:
5. "You Might Think"


4. "Heartbeat City"


3."Tonight She Comes"


2. "Drive"


1. "I'm Not the One"


93. Fear by Toad the Wet Sprocket (1991)

This is going to be one of those albums where it's going to be extremely difficult to only pick five songs from. Two songs I know won't be in the top 5? "All I Want" and "Walk On the Ocean". They were the two big hits from this album (along with "In My Ear" which was a close third) but they were both so over played that I can't stand either of them anymore. "In My Ear" I still like, though. Good tune. There really aren't any weak songs on this album, it is just very strong from start to finish. "Walk On the Ocean" starts it, and it's a shame this song got so played out because I really did like it at first. Nice simple music telling a nice simple story. "Is It For Me" is basically about a group of kids trying to peek into the windows of a supposed haunted house, then one of them breaks his leg and the rest get in trouble, more or less. "Butterflies" is a nice nifty song. It's kind of hard to describe, though. At just over two minutes "Nightingale Song" is by far the shortest song on the album, a simple little acoustic number. "Hold Her Down" is about a group of guys raping a woman, supposedly about someone the band knows. "Pray Your Gods" is basically a song questioning faith, and has one of my favorite lines from any song: "I feel my body weakened by the years/ As people turn to Gods of cruel design./ Is it that they fear the pain of death?/ Or could it be they fear the joy of life?" The last half of the song is a couple women singing what sounds like Gaelic, but not sure. Just a fantastic song. "Before You Were Born" is another bad ass song, with more stellar lyrics. "Something To Say" is really the only song that seems to drag, but it is still a pretty good song despite that. "In My Ear" brings the pace back up from the three preceding slower songs, a nice change of pace. "All I Want" is next, and like "Walk On the Ocean" I used to like this song until it got played hourly on every damned station in town. "Stories I Tell" is a pretty haunted sounding song. I think they were going for haunting, but didn't quite make it. "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted" closes the album, and although it could have come out very cheesy and insincere sounding, it is actually one of the strongest tracks on the album. Overall, this is just a great album. Even with the two songs that shall not be named, it is a very enjoyable album, and even those two songs are becoming more bearable again, after almost 20 years.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Is It For Me"


4. "Before You Were Born"


3. "Hold Her Down"


2. "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted"


1. "Pray Your Gods"

Favorite Albums: 96 - 95

Comment from Heather on the last post. It's things like this that make me think I'm not wasting my time on this list:

Heather said...
"Love Social Distortion. Mark proposed to me at a Social D show, during "Ball and Chain." It's our unofficial wedding song (can't really dance to that song, ya know?).

You know, you have musical taste. In my opinion."

Not fishing for compliments by any means, just thought that was a cool comment. Just nice to connect with someone like that when it's not expected.

This is going to be another crap post probably, because I only got 2 hours of sleep last night and I am a bit brain fried at the moment. (So for those keeping count, I have gotten 8 hours sleep total since Tuesday.) I'll try to make it better than the last one, but no promises.

96. Pornography by The Cure (1982)

For a long long time I didn't like this album. Just couldn't get into it. Finally gained a real appreciation when The Cure released the Trilogy DVD a few years ago. It was simply Pornography, Disintegration, and Bloodflowers played consecutively from beginning to end, and it's just phenomenal. It changed my opinion not only of Pornography, but Bloodflowers as well. (Granted, I already liked Bloodflowers, for the most part.) Pornography was the album that really gave The Cure their whole gloom and doom image. "One Hundred Years" starts the album with an assault on drums, then a searing guitar, then one of the bleakest lines from any Cure song: "It doesn't matter if we all die." This song is just awesome, plain and simple. "A Short Term Effect" is next, a machine gun drum part accompanied by some very dreary guitars and bass. Decent tune, but could have been better. "The Hanging Garden" was one of the two singles from this album, and is a very good song with one of my favorite drum parts from any Cure song. "Siamese Twins" is probably the most depressing song ever written about a guy losing his virginity. The whole act is made to seem more like torture than pleasure, yet this is probably the most musically beautiful song on the album. Awesome awesome song. "The Figurehead" is nearly seven minutes of beautiful misery. As long as it is, it never feels like it drags at any point, partially because of all the hatred in the lyrics, partially because the music is just nice and steady and soothing. "A Strange Day" was the other single from this album, another bad ass song. It has some of my favorite Cure lyrics ever. "Cold" has some of the best keyboards of any early Cure song. The lyrics are blah, and the drums are pretty simplistic, but it's a decent song. "Pornography" closes the album in a spiral of chaos and absolute desperate desolation. It is almost three minutes into the song before Robert Smith starts singing, and once he does, his voice is full of alienation and self loathing. Not necessarily a great song, but definitely a very emotionally charged and emotionally draining song. I still don't really know why it took me so long to enjoy this album. I don't really consider anything on it bad, which is actually rare for me on a Cure album. As much as I like the band, there is usually at least one song per album that I flat out hate, but Pornography might actually be the exception to that. It's not their best album, but for a lot of Cure fans it is their favorite. For me, that came seven years later.
5 Best Songs:
5. "The Hanging Garden"
4. "The Figurehead"
3. "A Strange Day"
2. "Siamese Twins"
1. "One Hundred Years"

"The Hanging Garden"


"The Figurehead"


"A Strange Day"


"Siamese Twins"


"One Hundred Years"


95. Sailing the Seas Of Cheese by Primus (1991)

Wow, kind of burned myself out on Pornography, so this may very well be the worst review I've ever written for an album I actually like. Here goes nothing. "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" was the song that really introduced Primus to most people who've heard them. It was their first video played on MTV (back when MTV did that sort of thing) and even though it isn't really that great of a song, it was good enough to get people interested. "Here Come the Bastards" and "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers" are, in my opinion, the two best songs on the album. Both kick ass big time. "Tommy the Cat" is one of the band's most famous songs, a nifty little narrative about a horny alley cat. "Sgt. Baker" and "Is It Luck?" are also pretty kick ass, as is "American Life". "Eleven" is okay, but nothing special. "Fish On" is part of a series of songs Les Claypool wrote about fishing, and is probably the best song of that series. The rest of the album is little filler tracks, none more than a minute and a half long,except the closer, "Los Bastardos", which just uses what sounds like outtakes from "Here Come the Bastards". This album, like the two yesterday, is a lot better than I am making it sound, but... well... sorry. 8 hours of sleep in nearly 4 days will do that.
5 Best Songs:
5. "American Life"
4. "Tommy the Cat"
3. "Is It Luck?"
2. "Here Come the Bastards"
1. "Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers"

"American Life"


"Tommy the Cat"


"Is It Luck?"


"Here Come the Bastards"


"Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers"

Favorite Albums: 98 - 97

This isn't going to be the best post, because I have only gotten about 6 hours sleep combined the past 2 nights, but I wanted to at least get something done, because these should have been up Monday, and I still have yesterday's to get to at some point. My guess? next two tomorrow, then two more sometime over the weekend to get caught up. At any rate, here we go...

98. Mania by The Ramones (1988)

30 songs of pure awesomeness. Okay, maybe they aren't all awesome, but the vast majority of them are. I'm not going to get into each song, because for a lot of them it would take me longer to write about the song than the song actually is. The highlights of this collection are "Beat On the Brat", "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker", "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg", "Needles and Pins", and "Howling At the Moon". Of course the drunk frat boy anthem is here ("I Wanna Be Sedated") as is the "I'm cool because I know a Ramones song other than "I Wanna Be Sedated" track, "Blitzkrieg Bop". The only really weak songs are "Commando" and "Warthog", not because they are bad songs, but just because they aren't very memorable and don't really stand out, and "The KKK Took My Baby Away" and "Indian Giver" because they are bad songs. Other than those four, pretty much everything else on this album kicks some ass and makes this album a must have.
6 Best Songs: (I know, I'm cheating, but they're short.)
6. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"
5. "Needles and Pins"
4. "Howling At the Moon (Sha-La-La)"
3. "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg"
2. "Beat On the Brat"
1. "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker"

"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"


"Needles and Pins"


"Howling At the Moon"


"Bonzo Goes To Bitburg"


"Beat On the Brat"


"Sheena Is a Punk Rocker"


97. Social Distortion by Social Distortion (1990)

This is just a fun album, aside from the few parts where it gets rather preachy about drugs. Yeah, we get it, you were an addict and now you're sober, and want everyone else to be as well. Whatever. This album has one of my all time favorite cover songs on it. Their version of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire" is awesome. Takes it from rockabilly to pure rock. "Ball and Chain" was the first song I heard off this album (Thank you, 120 Minutes!) and I went out that week and got the album because of it. I don't usually buy an album off the strength of one song, but this was one of those few exceptions. I remember the first time I listened to this album, "Story Of My Life" came on, and I ended up playing it for like an hour straight, just that song, until my dad came downstairs and told me to either play another song or just go outside. Good times. "Sick Boys" and "Drug Train" are kind of blah, the former just kind of boring, the second a tad too preachy. "So Far Away" and "A Place In My Heart" are killer tunes, good solid rock, as are "Let It Be Me" and "It Coulda Been Me". This is really just a nice solid album. No wimpy ass ballads or anything, just straight up L.A. rock. Love it.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Let It Be Me"
4. "So Far Away"
3. "Story of My Life"
2. "Ring Of Fire"
1. "Ball and Chain"

"Let It Be Me"


"So Far Away"


"Story Of My Life"


"Ring Of Fire"


"Ball and Chain"

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: 102 - 101

102. Why Do Birds Sing? by Violent Femmes (1991)

For most people, there are only two Violent Femmes albums worth a damn. The self titled debut, and 3. This one is pretty loathed by a lot of Femmes fans. Personally, I dig it. It's obviously not the best album, but considering how dark and depressing 3 was it was a necessary goofing around rebound. The most notable song on this album is the cover of Culture Club's "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" I was in Columbus one time the summer after this album came out, and OSU's radio station did a mash up of both versions, and it was awesome. Never heard it again, but it was the coolest shit ever. This is a pretty hard album to describe. There's "Hey Nonny Nonny" which uses the lyrics of a poem from the Middle Ages, "More Money Tonight" which tries to be tongue in cheek but comes off as pompous asshole, "Life Is a Scream" and "Flamingo Baby" which might be two of the most annoying songs I've ever heard. "Girl Trouble" and "Out the Window" are two of the better songs on the album, both of which sound like they could have been on the debut album. Overall, it's pretty easy to see why not a lot of people like this album. It's pretty uneven, but for the most part it's still enjoyable.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Used To Be"
4. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?"
3. "American Music"
2. "Girl Trouble"
1. "Hey Nonny Nonny"

"Used To Be"


"Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" (Anime fan video, but pretty well done.)


"American Music"


"Girl Trouble"


"Hey Nonny Nonny"


101. Burning From the Inside by Bauhaus (1983)

This was the third and final Bauhaus album before Peter Murphy split and the rest of the band became Love and Rockets. What a way to go out. This album had some of their coolest songs on it, from the awesome, nearly 10 minute title track to the sadly beautiful "Hope" and "Kingdom's Coming" to the album's signature song, "She's In Parties." "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight" is outstanding, one of their coolest songs ever. "King Volcano" is an interesting little medieval folk song sounding chant. "Antonin Artaud" is pretty much the only "rock" song on the album, an aggressive little ditty that punches you in the face after the mellow opener "She's In Parties." "Honeymoon Croon" sounds very Talking Heads inspired, but not to the point where it seems out of place. "Slice Of Life" is another bad ass tune, one of the few Bauhaus songs that doesn't have Peter Murphy on lead vocals. ("Who Killed Mr. Moonlight" is another.) It's a shame this was the last Bauhaus album, because they really were figuring it all out by this point. Just a classic album with no weak spots.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Slice Of Life"
4. "She's In Parties"
3. "Burning From The Inside"
2. "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight"
1. "Hope"

"Slice Of Life"


"She's In Parties"


"Burning From the Inside"


"Who Killed Mr. Moonlight"


"Hope"

Favorite Albums: 104 - 103

104. Stunt by Barenaked Ladies (1998)

This is probably BNL's least funny and most musically accomplished album. They finally decided to try to be serious musicians, and the result was one of their best albums. Other than "One Week" and "Alcohol," there really aren't any smart-ass songs here, just good solid tunes. "One Week" is the opener, just a crazy speeding rap rant. "It's All Been Done" and "Light Up My Room" follow, the former being one of the best pure pop songs the band has ever done, the latter being one of the best pure ballads the band has ever done. "I'll Be That Girl" is all about being in love with someone who is so stuck on herself that the only way to get her to notice the guy is for him to become a clone of her. Pretty good stuff. "Leave" and "Alcohol" are both okay but nothing special. "Call and Answer" is one of my favorite Barenaked Ladies songs, very defensive at first then going into full on attack mode. "In the Car" is kind of just there, not a great song, but not a horrible one either. "Never Is Enough" seems to get better every time I hear it. "Who Needs Sleep" is an ode to insomnia that is just a great fun song. The final three songs, "Told You So" "Some Fantastic" and When You Dream," are decent, but again, nothing special. Basically, half the album is really good, the other half is just... there. Not great, not bad, just good. But they really grew up on this album, and it is a lot better than I'm making it sound.
5 Best Songs:
5. "It's All Been Done"
4. "Light Up My Room"
3. "One Week"
2. "Who Needs Sleep"
1. "Call and Answer"

"One Week"


"Who Needs Sleep"


"Call and Answer"



103. Only By the Night by Kings Of Leon (2008)

I had absolutely no idea this was their fourth album until a couple months ago. The previous three are pretty good to, for the record, but I don't own any of them. I love love love love love this album. I just got it at Christmas and it has already surpassed almost 800 other albums I own. This album is actually going to start a trend where I probably put videos for all 5 favorite songs from the album instead of just 3. If I can find them, of course. Fucking YouTube. Anyway. The first song, "Closer," is just bad ass. One of my favorite opening songs on any album. "Crawl" follows, and completely changes the mood from the atmospheric mellowness of "Closer" and just rocks out with its cock out. The next two songs I'm sure everyone has heard, "Sex On Fire" and "Use Somebody." Both very good, but as much as I liked them they weren't enough to make me go get the album. It was only after I heard the whole thing at a poker game that I really wanted it. (So thank your brother for this one being on the list, Leah.) I usually stay away from any songs that mention anything having to do with New York City, but "Manhattan" is just a killer song. Great groove, great song. "Revelry" slows the pace back down again, a nice mellow tune. "17" is the only song on here that I don't care for. Just kind of annoying. "Notion" is a cool song, fast drums mixed with slow guitar riffs plus probably my favorite vocals on the album. Not necessarily best lyrics, just best vocals. "I Want You" is another killer tune, kind of a slow chant more than anything, but a great song. "Be Somebody" could not possibly be more different than "Use Somebody" both in style and quality. "Be Somebody" is just a great song from start to finish, no weaknesses whatsoever. "Cold Desert" brings the album to a close on a nice mellow note, probably my second favorite vocals. Another great song. Overall, in case you can't tell, I love this album. If I'd had it longer than four months at this point it probably would have been way higher on this list, but for now this is a good spot for it. Just a bad ass album.
5 Best Songs: (Only 5? Really? Grrr.)
5. "Notion"
4. "Manhattan"
3. "Closer"
2. "Crawl"
1. "Be Somebody"

"Notion"


"Manhattan"


"Closer"


"Crawl"


"Be Somebody"

Favorite Albums: 106 - 105

So, I completely forgot to post these 2 on Friday. Had too much crap going on. So the plan right now is to post these two now, then the next two either tonight or tomorrow, to keep on schedule. I know I'm letting down my loyal fan base when I don't post on time. I'll try not to let it happen again.

106. Sam's Town by The Killers (2006)

For a while I liked this album more than their debut, Hot Fuss. Not so much any more. It is an interesting album, but it just seems like they are taking too many ideas from too many '80s bands and trying unsuccessfully to mash them all together. It's a good album still, I'm just not as in love with it as I was when it first came out. There aren't really any stand out songs on this album, except for the extremely over played "When You Were Young" I suppose. It just feels like an album full of good ideas gone wrong. Like "Bones" for instance. It sounds like they're trying to mix New Order keyboards with Def Leppard guitars and Tom Petty vocals. Not necessarily a bad song, just a weird mix of influences. "For Reasons Unknown" almost sounds like a lost Talking Heads track, but is still good. "My List" feels like a Depeche Mode reject, but is still good. "Why Do I Keep Counting?" seems like the bastard child of David Bowie and Peter Gabriel, yet is still good. And that's probably the biggest problem with this album. Through the whole thing, they sound like they are trying to sound like anyone but The Killers. It's a good album, and worth having, but, like I said, just not as into it as I was when it first came out.
5 Best Songs:
5. "This River Is Wild"
4. "Bones"
3. "Read My Mind"
2. "My List"
1. "For Reasons Unknown"

"Read My Mind"


"My List"


"For Reasons Unknown"


105. Pop by U2 (1997)

For a lot of people this is U2's worst album. For me, that distinction is shared by October and Boy. Never been able to enjoy either of those albums. The thing that bugs me most about critics of this album is how they bitch that it was too different, that it was too experimental. Should they have gone out and made another Joshua Tree or Achtung Baby? Sure, that would have been the safe predictable money making way to go, but it would have been boring, in all honesty. Okay, enough bitching.
I must admit, I didn't care for this album that much at first. Not because it wasn't Achtung Baby part 2, just because U2 doing electronica seemed... wrong. But really, other than "Discotheque" and "Mofo" it's not that far off from a standard U2 album. It's probably their most ballad heavy album, and even some of the non-ballads seem like ballads almost. It's also one of their most relaxing albums. "If God Will Send His Angels" was also featured on the City Of Angels soundtrack (which would have been on this list if I still had a copy. I should go get it again.) and is just an absolutely beautiful song. The three songs that end the album are just bad ass. "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" drips sex, "Please" is about a suicide bomber, and "Wake Up Dead Man" is a plea to have Jesus re-enter the narrator's life. All three are pretty slow, and they are among some of the prettiest songs U2 has ever done, I think. "Gone," "Miami," and "The Playboy Mansion" are also pretty good songs, another nice 1-2-3 strike. Overall, I think this is a pretty balanced album, and doesn't deserve the label it's gotten as being a mistake. It's more enjoyable the older it gets, and really should be up in the second level of great U2 albums where (for me) Rattle and Hum, Zooropa, and No Line On the Horizon reside. Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby it's not, but it's also not How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, Boy, or October.
5 Best Songs:
5. "The Playboy Mansion"
4. "Mofo"
3. "If God Will Send His Angels"
2. "Gone"
1. "Please"

"If God Will Send His Angels"


"Gone"


"Please"

Favorite Albums: 108 - 107

108. Nonsuch by XTC (1992)

This is an album that I go months and months without listening to, then throw it on, and I'm like, "Damn, forgot how good this is." While most of the music on this album is kind of poppy, it would never really be considered pop. The opening song, "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead," was a minor hit for the band, but other than that nothing from this album made it onto the airwaves. There are a few very low key songs, namely "Rook," "Humble Daisy," "Wrapped In Grey" and "Bungalow," but they are spaced out nicely through the album so they don't bog it down or mess with the flow too much. Other than that... Nothing is overly spectacular about this album, yet as a whole, it's a pretty spectacular album. Other than "Peter Pumpkinhead" nothing really stands out that much because by this time XTC had pretty much figured out their sound and were just perfecting it instead of experimenting with it. This was their 10th album over 14 years, and while there was nothing as catchy as "Making Plans For Nigel" or "Mayor Of Simpleton," there was also nothing as controversial as "Dear God." "The Smartest Monkeys" and "War Dance" try to make statements but end up being a bit too preachy to be effective. Overall, it is just a really solid album, something to listen to when you just want to chill. Good stuff.
5 Best Songs:
5. "My Bird Performs"
4. "Books Are Burning"
3. "Then She Appeared"
2. "Dear Madam Barnum"
1. "The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead"

"Then She Appeared"


"Dear Madam Barnum"


"The Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead"


107. UHF/Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff by Weird Al Yankovic (1989)

Even though I am a huge Weird Al fan, this is his only album on the list because it's really the only one I ever listen to all the way through, although Straight Outta Lynnwood is also pretty damn good, and probably could have been on here instead of one of the million Greatest Hits albums at the back end of the list. As usual, this album contains a fair balance of parodies and original material, as well as the obligatory polka medley. This time around it's the "Hot Rocks Polka" which instead of being a mish mash of random artists of the same style is devoted solely to Rolling Stones songs. And believe me, you haven't lived until you've heard polka versions of "Ruby Tuesday" and "Sympathy For the Devil." Classic. The parodies on this album are pretty good for the most part, except for "She Drives Like Crazy," a parody of "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals. It is just as annoying as the original. One of his most famous parodies ever is here, "Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies," and it is still as entertaining now as it was then. "Spam" is a send up of R.E.M.'s "Stand" that is pretty good, and "Isle Thing" talks about Gilligan's Island to the tune of "Wild Thing" by Tone Loc. The originals on this album are also pretty good, except "Attack Of the Radioactive Hamster From a Planet Near Mars," which is just as bad as its title and is probably one of the worst songs he's ever written. "UHF" is a pretty rocking song, obviously the theme to the movie. "Fun Zone" is an infectious instrumental that is just shy of 2 minutes and has opened every Weird Al concert since this album came out. "Generic Blues" is hilarious, just the tedium of day to day life sung to the standard blues riff. "The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota" is one of the few Al songs that goes over 6 minutes, and it could easily have gotten boring and repetitive, but instead is very funny. There are also a couple commercials from the movie thrown in for shits and giggles, "Gandhi II" and "Spatula City" but without seeing the visuals they kind of lose effect. All in all, this is just a fun album. Nothing to write home about, sure, but also nothing you really have to think about or get emotionally involved with to enjoy. Just fun.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Spam"
4. "Generic Blues"
3. "Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies"
2. "Hot Rocks Polka"
1. "The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota"

"Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies"


"Hot Rocks Polka"


"The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota"

Favorite Albums: 110 - 109

110. Automatic by The Jesus and Mary Chain (1989)

I know that Psychocandy is their best album, but I don't own it, so Automatic gets the nod. I've loved this album since it came out, even if it is, at times, a bit repetitive and monotonous. The drums are all done by drum machine, and the bass is all done on keyboards, somewhat limiting the sound throughout the album. I mean, you can only use the same exact beat on so many songs before it starts getting old, right? Regardless, it is still a pretty good album. "Here Comes Alice" is a nice opener, giving a good idea what the rest of the album is going to sound like. "Coast To Coast" and "Blues From a Gun" are both great songs, two of the best on the album. "Between Planets" and "UV Ray" are decent, but not great. "Her Way Of Praying" is... I don't know. Sometimes I like that song, other times can't stand it. Just depends on my mood, I guess. "Head On" is probably the only Jesus & Mary Chain song a lot of people have heard, one of the few singles they ever released, plus the Pixies did a pretty bad ass cover version of it a few years later. "Take It" is the only song on the album that feels like filler, but it's an okay song, so it's not too out of place. "Half Way To Crazy" is a stellar song, and should have been in my favorite songs list. Just yet another one I forgot about. "Gimme Hell" is another decent but nothing special song. "Drop" is absolutely gorgeous, a great great song. "Sunray" closes out the album on a pretty brief but chaotic note. All in all, I think this album doesn't get the credit it deserves. It got compared to Psychocandy so much that it ended up not having a prayer of being successful, but it really is a good album.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Blues From a Gun"
4. "Head On"
3. "Coast To Coast"
2. "Half Way To Crazy"
1. "Drop"

"Coast To Coast"


"Halfway To Crazy"


"Drop"


109. The Top by The Cure (1984)

This is probably one of the most uneven albums on this list. It was recorded while Robert Smith was bouncing back and forth between The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees, plus he and Laurence Tolhurst were pretty much the only two actual members of The Cure at the time. Throw in lots of drugs and alcohol on top of a shit load of stress, and this is what you get. As much of a mess as it was, though, The Top served as a bridge between the "goth" depressing music of Pornography, Seventeen Seconds, and Faith, to the more pop focused radio friendly The Head On the Door and Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. It had elements of both styles of the band - what they were and what they were becoming - and it actually turned out a lot better than it should have. "Shake Dog Shake" kicks things off, one of the most aggressive songs The Cure has ever recorded. It doesn't let up at all from start to finish, just assaulting you with guitars the whole way. "Bird Mad Girl" follows, and could not be much more different, very keyboard driven and poppy. "Wailing Wall" is a very somber and atmospheric song, and it is one of the most unappreciated Cure songs ever, I think. It could have fit in on almost any Cure album ever released. "Give Me It" is another aggressive song, and one of my favorite from this era of the band. Just a good tune. "Dressing Up" is next, and is another keyboard heavy song, just a fluffy little "I love you" type song. "The Caterpillar" is next, and I've already said a bunch about this song in both lists, so moving forward... "Piggy In the Mirror" is a pretty groovy tune, another one that may be a bit under appreciated. "The Empty World" has one of the cooler drum beats in any early Cure album, and the drums pretty much take center stage, with the other instruments being somewhat toned down. "Bananafishbones" is a bit reggae influenced, but not really. Kind of a weird song. "The Top" closes out the album, a slow methodical song that just drips with emotion. Very good song. This album really had no right being as good as it was, nor did it have any right being as ignored as it was. The Top and Pornography are the only two Cure albums ever that have only produced one single each, and in both cases there were at least one or two other songs that could have been hits. I really dig this album, and am going to go throw it on, since I haven't listened to it in a while. Peace out.
5 Best Songs:
5. "The Empty World"
4. "Shake Dog Shake"
3. "Wailing Wall"
2. "Give Me It"
1. "The Caterpillar"

(I am putting the videos for songs 2 - 4 since "Caterpillar" was already on the singles collection entry a couple entries ago.)

"Shake Dog Shake"


"Wailing Wall" (Plus "The Empty World". It's the best version of "Wailing Wall" I could find, so... Bonus!)


"Give Me It"

Favorite Albums: 112 - 111

112. Mixed Up by The Cure (1990)

This was basically a filler album, killing time between Disintegration and Wish. It is just remixes of ten songs, plus one new song, "Never Enough." Four of the remixes are from Disintegration ("Lullaby" "Pictures Of You" "Lovesong" and "Fascination Street") and none of the four are that ambitious, compared to the rest of the songs. They are basically just extended versions, no major changes. "Pictures Of You" gets a new funky beat, "Lullaby" just gets a bit repetitive, and "Lovesong" nearly becomes an instrumental. "Fascination Street" is the most radically reworked of the four, and is actually a bit more interesting on Mixed Up than on Disintegration. The real value of this album comes in the reworking of the older material. "Close To Me (Closer Mix)" is the first of the older songs to appear, and while it isn't significantly different from the original version, the new drums added in, as well as the addition of a horn section, give it a much different feel than the original. "The Walk (Everything Mix)" is almost a disco song, with a little bit of attitude thrown in. "A Forest (Tree Mix)" has some extra bits thrown in that make it pretty fun and interesting, extra keyboards and drums and such. "Hot Hot Hot!!! (Extended Mix)" Doesn't change much from the original either, just gets some longer instrumental sections added and, again, new drum parts. "The Caterpillar (Flicker Mix)" is amazing, easily the best song on the album. The original was very peppy and up beat (see the last post for a live version.) The "Flicker Mix" is completely different, extremely slow and somber. The lyrics are exactly the same, but they completely change tone and feeling between the two versions. "In Between Days (Shiver Mix)" becomes almost unrecognizable from the original. The original version was one of the best pop songs The Cure ever recorded. The remix is a techno laced near instrumental that just begs to be danced to. "Never Enough" closes out the album, a nifty new song that has become a staple in The Cure's live shows. While this is definitely not a "must have" album, it is good for what it is. It also started a trend where every Cure single released for Wish and Wild Mood Swings ended up having remixes on them, some of which ("Just Like Heaven" and "Primary" especially) should have gone on this album.
5 Best Songs:
5. "Pictures Of You (Extended Dub Mix)"
4. "Close To Me (Closer Mix)"
3. "Never Enough (Big Mix)"
2. "A Forest (Tree Mix)"
1. "The Caterpillar (Flicker Mix)"

"Never Enough (Big Mix)"


"A Forest (Tree Mix)"


"The Caterpillar (Flicker Mix)" (pretty quiet... turn it up)


111. Songs From the Big Chair by Tears For Fears (1985)

This was one of the first cassettes I ever bought, and I still have the original copy. My cousin had it when he was living with us, and when he moved out, I had to have it. Now, twenty some years later, I still have to have it. This is just a really great album, start to finish. It kicks off with "Shout," one of the great '80s anthems. "The Working Hour" follows, a beautiful saxophone driven tune. Next is "Everybody Wants To Rule the World," which you all know. "Mothers Talk" is next, and should have been a single as it is one of the best songs n the album. "I Believe" is the only song on the album that I don't care for. It's just a little too much, and really doesn't go well with the rest of the album. "Broken" is next, and is basically a two minute intro to "Head Over Heels." Both songs play off each other, and "Broken" is even reprised in a live version at the end of "Head Over Heels." The final song, "Listen," is just a nice mellow tune to kind of wrap everything up in a nice neat package. Unlike Mixed Up, this is a "must have" album. It is one of the signature albums of the '80s, and for good reason.
5 Best Songs:
5. "The Working Hour"
4. "Everybody Wants To Rule the World"
3. "Head Over Heels"
2. "Mothers Talk"
1. "Shout"

"Head Over Heels"


"Mothers Talk"


"Shout"

Favorite Albums: 114 - 113

So, yeah, I said in the last post that the Greatest Hits and singles collections and stuff were going to be farther apart. There was one in the last post, two in this one. Go me.
I am still amazed that Bat Out Of Hell got zero comments, by the way. Amazed.

115. Standing On a Beach - The Singles (And Unavailable B-sides) by The Cure (1986)

This collection included all The Cure's singles from Three Imaginary Boys through The Head On the Door. The cassette version was called Standing On a Beach, and included all the b-sides to all the singles. Every other version was called Staring At the Sea and only had the singles. I am going with the cassette version, because some of the b-sides are just as good as a lot of the singles.
All the singles are here, in chronological order, from "Killing An Arab" through "Close To Me." It is a pretty definitive collection of The Cure's first decade, with nothing at all missing. Throwing the b-side collection in just makes it that much more fulfilling. "Happy the Man," "The Exploding Boy," "New Day," "Stop Dead" and "A Few Hours After This," all b-sides, rival many of the songs The Cure ever put on any album up to this point. I'm really not going to get into much detail about the singles, because most of the albums the songs are off of appear in this list at one point or another, so it would be a bit redundant. Just... Go get this album. It is well worth it.
5 Best Songs (Singles):
5. "Primary"
4. "A Night Like This"
3. "10:15 Saturday Night"
2. "Boys Don't Cry"
1. "The Caterpillar"

5 Best Songs (B-sides):
5. "Happy the Man"
4. "New Day"
3. "Stop Dead"
2. "The Exploding Boy"
1. "A Few Hours After This"

"10:15 Saturday Night"


"Boys Don't Cry"


"The Caterpillar"



113. Who's Better, Who's Best by The Who (1988)

This is, for some reason, the only Who album I own. But damn is it good. I used to listen to this all the time, but kind of burned myself out on it, and haven't listened to it in nearly a year. Basically every Who song worth a damn is on here. The only real complaint I have is the version of "Won't Get Fooled Again" that is on here. It says it's the "extended version," yet there are parts completely cut out, and it is shorter than the actual album version by a full 5 minutes. I can understand not wanting to put an 8 minute song on here, but it ends up being so chopped up that it's annoying as hell. Actually, I do have one other complaint, and that is that "Behind Blue Eyes" isn't on here. Love that song. There are a few songs on here, like "I'm a Boy" and "See Me, Feel Me" that I would have put "Behind Blue Eyes" in place of, but for the most part this is a really good collection. They got all the main hits on here, so that's what matters most in the end, right?
5 Best Songs:
5. "Magic Bus"
4. "Squeeze Box"
3. "Happy Jack"
2. "You Better, You Bet"
1. "I Can See For Miles"

"Happy Jack"


"You Better, You Bet"


"I Can See For Miles"