1999 (Prince)

1999
Prince (1982)

Top Tracks: “1999”, “Little Red Corvette”, “Automatic”

If I could go back in time, I’d do many things. One of them would be to be a little more open about how much I enjoyed Prince during the 1999 era. My friends and I were little rocker kids, and Prince was just too pop to be cool among my immediate peers. I’d been spending most of my time listening to Van Halen and AC/DC and the like, and now here was this incredibly groovy funk/R&B/rock stuff that I loved at the time, and love much more openly now. Prince was a genius and he stayed that way throughout his life. Special memory: playing as the band for our high school’s Jazz Chorale and doing “Little Red Corvette” on synth and vocals with Mike Burns on a very out-of-tune guitar. Good times (May 2020).

52nd Street (Billy Joel)

52nd Street
Billy Joel (1978)

Top Tracks: “Big Shot”, Zanzibar”, “Rosalinda’s Eyes”

This was still at a point where I was getting a lot of my musical exposure through my parents, and 52nd Street was an album that was on in my house a lot in 1978 and 1979. I probably got a big interest in songwriting based on this album’s influence, and I performed “Honesty” at my first guitar recital in December 1980. Note: the most popular track on this album, “My Life”, is probably my least favorite (May 2020).

Abbey Road (The Beatles)

Abbey Road
The Beatles (1969)

Top Tracks: “Come Together”, “Here Comes the Sun”, “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”

Funny thing that the first Beatles entry on this list (alphabetically) is also perhaps my least favorite. There are points where it feels contrived and that the band is functioning more as a collection of individuals than a cohesive unit (because that’s exactly what was happening). That being said, can I do a Top Albums list and leave off Abbey Road? No, of course not. That would be stupid. Personal note: it was the first Beatles album to come out after I was born (May 2020).

After the Gold Rush (Neil Young)

After the Gold Rush
Neil Young (1970)

Top Tracks: “When You Dance I Can Really Love”, “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”, “Southern Man”

Neil’s an interesting guy. Some think of him as not being willing or able to make commitments, but to me, he’s a guy that wanted to try everything. I mean, who does this? He puts out a great solo album, then gets together with a band and does a remarkable album with them, and then immediately after mostly abandons them for the third album, which doesn’t sound much like the first two albums at all. And it’s all great. I felt like ATGR is an illustration of a man in transition, but that was kind of always the case with Neil, so it’s was just another step on a path (May 2020).

Aja (Steely Dan)

Aja
Steely Dan (1977)

Top Tracks: “Peg”, “Aja”, “Black Cow”

Picking “Top Tracks” for Aja is ridiculous. What, “Josie” isn’t good enough? This was the album more than any other that taught me what could be done with music. I mean, sure, I had Mozart and Beethoven, I was kinda starting to experience jazz, but in 1977, Aja was on the stereo while my parents through swanky parties for their fashion industry friends, and could there be a better soundtrack for that era while growing up in Southern California? I can still listen to it front-to-back today and be as in awe of it as I was when I was eight years old (May 2020).

All The Best Cowboys have Chinese Eyes (Pete Townshend)

All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
Pete Townshend (1982)

Top Tracks: “Slit Skirts”, “The Sea Refuses No River”, “Face Dances, Pt. 2”

I was, and remain, a huge Who fan, and I was deeply into this Townshend solo album when it was released just as I was going into high school. He was always a massive influence on me musically; definitely one of the musicians who made me want to push my own music into further levels of complexity than typical rock and pop would have permitted (May 2020).

American Beauty (The Grateful Dead)

American Beauty
The Grateful Dead (1970)

Top Tracks: “Box of Rain”, “Sugar Magnolia”, “Ripple”

Nothing against previous Dead albums — Workman’s Dead is exquisite, for example — but American Beauty is really where the Dead began to allow themselves a higher quality of musicality in their recorded work, putting more effort into vocal harmonies and arrangements. The classic "country and bluegrass Americana combined with rock and roll psychedelia vibe” that became their hallmark is in full force here. Good stuff (May 2020).

Are You Experienced? (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)

Are You Experienced?
The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)

Top Tracks: “Purple Haze”, “Foxey Lady”, “Are You Experienced?”

The importance this album had on me as a young guitar player cannot be overstated. I owned it on vinyl in middle school, and once the purple haze got in my brain, I never looked back, and explored this man’s short but incredibly influential musical career in high detail. There’s almost no hard rock guitar playing involving a deep level of expression that doesn’t owe its roots to Jimi, and this was the album that put him on the map (May 2020).

Axis: Bold as Love (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)

Axis: Bold as Love
The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967)

Top Tracks: “Spanish Castle Magic”, “If Six Was Nine”, “Castles Made of Sand”

So, seven months after Jimi stuns the world with Are You Experienced?, he kicks out Axis. You can already hear him progressing quickly as a composer and guitarist, with more inventive lyrical themes and even deeper and more unique musical output. It’s simply astonishing that he was doing this kind of stuff in 1967 (May 2020).

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Band on the Run (Paul McCartney and Wings)

Band on the Run
Paul McCartney and Wings (1973)

Top Tracks: “Band on the Run”, “Jet”, “Bluebird”

It’s funny that both John Lennon and George Harrison beat Paul McCartney to the punch for a really good post-Beatles album. But Band on the Run is very solid and definitely was a huge forerunner to the mellow sounds of the early/mid-70s (May 2020).

The Beatles (The Beatles)

The Beatles
The Beatles (1968)

Top Tracks: “Dear Prudence”, “Helter Skelter”, “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey”

Choosing the best songs from “The White Album” is an exercise in futility; ask me tomorrow and it might be three others. But even in its lack of focus, The Beatles is incredible in its moments of originality, and like most Beatles albums, many of its songs are rock classics of the highest order. Note: the was the first Beatles album I got into that my parents didn’t have in their collection. Too “out there” for them, I suppose (May 2020).

Blackstar (David Bowie)

Blackstar
David Bowie (2016)

Top Tracks: “Blackstar”, “Lazarus”, “Dollar Days”

I can point to the day that things in the world began to be fucked up, and it was January 10, 2016. Everything seemed pretty okay until then. Well, not really, but that’s the defining moment where shit got obviously worse. Bowie died that day. His album Blackstar had come out two days prior to that. I’d listened voraciously from the moment it was available. Bowie knew he was dying, of course, and in hindsight, much of the album is a goodbye letter. It’s an amazing piece of artistry and is a fine final musical contribution to one of the most iconic careers in rock history (May 2020).

Boy (U2)

Boy
U2 (1980)

op Tracks: “I Will Follow”, “The Electric Co.”, “An Cat Dubh”

I fell off the U2 train about the same time when most people were climbing on. I don’t think I really knew about them much until War became a hit album in the USA, and then I went out right away and checked out their previous stuff. Boy is amazing in its rawness, and kind of defining of the post-punk era. It was probably my favorite of their first three albums (May 2020).

Breakfast in America (Supertramp)

Breakfast in America
Supertramp (1979)

Top Tracks: “The Logical Song”, “Goodbye Stranger”, “Take the Long Way Home”

Again, we’re on one of the best albums in history. Hard to criticize in any way. Around 1979, I was on roller skates a lot, and in my headphones was “The Logical Song”. Supertramp is like two bands in one, with the poppy (and sometimes schmaltzy) sounds of Roger Hodgson balanced with the more laid back rock oriented vibe of Rick Davies. I liked them both. And yes, it was very popular at the time, holding the #1 spot on the Billboard albums chart for six weeks in 1979 (June 2020).

Business as Usual (Men at Work)

Business as Usual
Men at Work (1982)

Top Tracks: “Who Can It Be Now?”, “Be Good Johnny”, “Helpless Automaton”

Again, due to the year of release, this album is probably more special to me than it would be otherwise. I was a freshman in high school and I truly loved the tight sound of this band. Noter that their hit “Down Under” isn’t one of my standout track; I found it kinda gimmicky and cheeseball. But the rest of the album was excellent pop and had a great sound (June 2020).

Buffalo Springfield Again (Buffalo Springfield)

Buffalo Springfield Again
Buffalo Springfield (1967)

Top Tracks: “Rock & Roll Woman”, “Mr. Soul”, “Expecting to Fly”

This was kind of the quintessential band that became immediately huge and then exploded almost as quickly in spectacular fashion. One thing BS did, beyond putting together some great and distinctive music, is to bring together Neil Young and Stephen Stills. Despite having members from all over North America, this is definitely an LA band (June 2020).

Californication (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers (1999)

Top Tracks: “Scar Tissue”, “Otherside”, “Californication”

I can tell you, I was going through some heavy shit in 1999 when Californication came out. Let’s not get into the details, but having this dark album be a near constant part of the soundtrack of my life then was very fitting for me personally. It holds up too; listening to some tracks in preparation for this list while in the midst of a global pandemic was completely apropos (May 2020).

Candy-O (The Cars)

Candy-O
The Cars (1979)

Top Tracks: “Let’s Go”, “Candy-O”, “Dangerous Type”

What do you do after you make one of the best debut albums in history? You make one of the best sophomore albums in history. I frankly don’t have enough good adjectives to talk about the early output of the Cars. These first two albums helped define an entire era of new wave and power pop, with the brilliant production of Roy Thomas Baker and the songwriting of Ric Ocasek combining for some of the best music of my lifetime (June 2020).

Can’t Buy a Thrill (Steely Dan)

Can’t Buy a Thrill
Steely Dan (1972)

Top Tracks: “Reelin’ In the Years”, “Do It Again”, “Dirty Work”

Personal note: when I was three or four years old and “Reelin’ In the Years” would come on, I’d go completely psycho. Something about that speedy shuffle did things to my developing brain, and I’d be doing a pretty good impression of the Tasmanian Devil cartoon, tumbling about the room for the whole four minutes of the tune. Steely Dan grew quite a bit and in different ways after this debut album, but it still set the path for them to combine elements of rock and jazz and R&B, and rule the Yacht Rock era for the next decade (June 2020).

The Cars (The Cars)

The Cars
The Cars (1978)

Top Tracks: “Good Times Roll”, “Just What I Needed”, “Bye Bye Love”

It could be the best debut album of all time. Nearly every song is incredibly strong; there’s not an ounce of filler. The Cars weren’t the first new wave or power pop band by a long shot; they just did both better than just about anyone else ever had, or will. It’s funny; for a band that people associated so much with synthesizers, they sure had a ton of incredibly great guitar lines thanks to the brilliance of Elliot Easton. (May 2020).