I’ve been keeping lists of my favorite albums since the very early ’70s, when I was a grade school Steppenwolf fan. My tastes have evolved dramatically over the years (though I still like Steppenwolf), so I review and update this list periodically, dropping things that haven’t aged well, and adding new things that excite me and seem to have staying power. It’s been 18 months since a freshening, so today seemed a good day to update.
For many years, this was a “Top 100 List,” but as I’ve gotten older, I feel entitled to expand the roster beyond the century mark, since I’ve listened to a whole lot more music now than I had when I was younger. I also used to exclude “Greatest Hits” and other compilation or live albums, but I’ve gotten less uptight about that, too, since for some artists, their best work may have appeared on singles that only saw long-form release in the form of “Best Of” collections.
So here’s the update, in alphabetical order by artist name. As soon as I post this list, I will invariably change my mind about something, but that’s the beauty of updates, right? Watch this space in 2020 to see what I got wrong this time!
- AC/DC: Back in Black
- Allison, Mose: Swingin’ Machine
- Bauhaus: The Sky’s Gone Out
- Beef: Stink, Stank, Stunk
- Beefheart, Captain and the Magic Band: Clear Spot
- Beefheart, Captain and the Magic Band: The Spotlight Kid
- Birthday Party: Junkyard
- Black Flag: Damaged
- Bogmen: Life Begins at 40 Million
- Bongwater: The Power of Pussy
- Bonzo Dog Band: Keynsham
- Bonzo Dog Band: The Doughnut in Granny’s Greenhouse
- Bowie, David: “Heroes”
- Bowie, David: Lodger
- Bowie, David: Blackstar
- Buggy Jive: The Buggy Jive Mix Tape
- Burning Spear: Marcus Garvey
- Bush, Kate: Hounds of Love
- Bush, Kate: The Dreaming
- Butthole Surfers: Hairway to Steven
- Butthole Surfers: Locust Abortion Technician
- Camberwell Now: All’s Well
- Cave, Nick and the Bad Seeds: Henry’s Dream
- Cave, Nick and the Bad Seeds: Tender Prey
- Chance The Rapper: Coloring Book
- Chap: Mega Breakfast
- Christian Death: Catastrophe Ballet
- Clash: Combat Rock
- Clutch: Book of Bad Decisions
- Clutch: Elephant Riders
- Clutch: Robot Hive/Exodus
- Coil: Backwards
- Coil: Horse Rotorvator
- Coil: The Ape of Naples
- Coup: Sorry to Bother You
- Coup: Sorry to Bother You: The Soundtrack
- Cramps: Bad Music for Bad People
- Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young: Deja Vu
- Dälek: Absence
- Dälek: Gutter Tactics
- Davis, Jed: Small Sacrifices Must Be Made
- Death Grips: Ex-Military
- Death Grips: Government Plates
- Department of Eagles: The Cold Nose
- Devo: Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo
- Diamond, Neil: Tap Root Manuscript
- Dogbowl: Flan
- Dolphy, Eric: Iron Man
- Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment: Surf
- Dunnery, Francis: Tall Blonde Helicopter
- Eagles: Desperado
- Earth, Wind and Fire: All n’ All
- Einsturzende Neubauten: Halber Mensch
- Einsturzende Neubauten: Haus der Luge
- Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Tarkus
- Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Trilogy
- Emerson, Lake and Palmer: Brain Salad Surgery
- Eno, Brian: Here Come the Warm Jets
- Eno, Brian: Another Green World
- Eno, Brian: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
- Eno, Brian: Before And After Science
- Fairport Convention: Unhalfbricking
- Fairport Convention: What We Did On Our Holidays
- Fall: Hex Enduction Hour
- Fall: The Real New Fall LP (Formerly Country on the Click)
- Fall: Imperial Wax Solvent
- Fall: New Facts Emerge
- Family: Bandstand
- Family: Fearless
- First Aid Kit: Stay Gold
- First Aid Kit: Ruins
- Fleetwood Mac: Future Games
- Fleetwood Mac: Rumours
- Focus: Live At The Rainbow
- Funkadelic: Maggotbrain
- Gabriel, Peter: Peter Gabriel (III/Melt)
- Gang of Four: Entertainment!
- Gay Tastee: Songs for the Sodomites
- Genesis: Duke
- Genesis: Abacab
- Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
- Genesis: Wind and Wuthering
- Good Rats: Birth Comes to Us All
- Good Rats: Tasty
- Grateful Dead: American Beauty
- Grateful Dead: Workingman’s Dead
- Hall, Daryl: Sacred Songs
- Hanslick Rebellion: The Rebellion is Here
- Hawkwind: Doremi Fasol Latido
- Hawkwind: Space Ritual
- Hitchcock, Robyn and the Egyptians: Element of Light
- Hot Tuna: America’s Choice
- Hot Tuna: Yellow Fever
- Human Sexual Response: Fig. 14
- Human Sexual Response: In a Roman Mood
- Husker Du: Zen Arcade
- Idles: Brutalism
- Idles: Joy As An Act of Resistance
- Imperial Wax: Gastwerk Saboteurs
- Jarre, Jean-Michel: Equinoxe
- Jesu/Sun Kil Moon: Jesu/Sun Kil Moon
- Jethro Tull: Songs From the Wood
- Jethro Tull: The Broadsword and the Beast
- Jethro Tull: Heavy Horses
- Jethro Tull: Thick as a Brick
- Jethro Tull: A Passion Play
- Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures
- Joy Division: Closer
- Juluka: Scatterlings
- Kamikaze Hearts: Oneida Road
- Kaukonen, Jorma: Quah
- Keineg, Katell: Jet
- Killdozer: Twelve Point Buck
- King Crimson: Starless and Bible Black
- King Crimson: In The Court of the Crimson King
- King Crimson: Lizard
- King Crimson: Meltdown: Live in Mexico
- Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express
- Kraftwerk: Minimum-Maximum
- Kurki-Suonio, Sanna: Musta
- Lateef, Yusef: Eastern Sounds
- Lateef, Yusef: The Complete Yusef Lateef
- Malibu Ken: Malibu Ken
- Michael Nyman: A Zed and Two Noughts (Original Soundtrack)
- Minutemen: Double Nickels on the Dime
- Mitchel, Joni: For the Roses
- Mitchell, John Cameron and Stephen Trask: Hedwig And The Angry Inch
- Mos Def: The Ecstatic
- Napalm Death: Time Waits For No Slave
- Napalm Death: Utilitarian
- Napalm Death: Apex Predator — Easy Meat
- New Order: Movement
- New Order: Power, Corruption and Lies
- Octopus: Restless Night
- Parliament: Chocolate City
- Pere Ubu: The Modern Dance
- Pere Ubu: Terminal Tower
- Phair, Liz: Exile in Guyville
- Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
- Pink Floyd: Animals
- Pink Floyd: The Wall
- Presley, Elvis: Peace In The Valley: The Complete Gospel Recordings
- Public Enemy: Fear of a Black Planet
- Public Enemy: Apocalypse ’91 . . . The Enemy Strikes Black
- R.E.M.: Life’s Rich Pageant
- Renaldo and the Loaf: Songs for Swinging Larvae
- Replacements: Let It Be
- Replacements: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
- Robbins, Marty: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs
- Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St.
- Rose, Caroline: Loner
- Roxy Music: For Your Pleasure
- Rundgren, Todd: Healing
- Rush: Signals
- Sanders, Pharoah: Karma
- Schnell Fenster, The Sound of Trees
- Sepultura: Roots
- Shriekback: Oil and Gold
- Simon and Garfunkel: Sounds of Silence
- Smiths: Louder Than Bombs
- Snog: Last of the Great Romantics
- Soulfly: Ritual
- Special A.K.A.: In the Studio
- Steely Dan: Aja
- Steely Dan: The Royal Scam
- Steely Dan: Can’t Buy A Thrill
- Steppenwolf: Gold
- Stevens, Cat: Buddha And The Chocolate Box
- Swans: Filth
- Swans: Holy Money
- Talking Heads: Fear of Music
- Television Personalities: Closer to God
- This Heat: Deceit
- Tosh, Peter: Mama Africa
- Tosh, Peter: Equal Rights
- Tracey, Stan and His Quartet: Under Milk Wood
- Tragic Mulatto: Italians Fall Down and Look Up Your Dress
- Tsukerman, Slava et. al.: Liquid Sky (Original Soundtrack)
- Utopia: Utopia
- Utopia: Swing to the Right
- Wailer, Bunny: Blackheart Man
- Wall of Voodoo: Happy Planet
- Wall of Voodoo: Seven Days in Sammystown
- Wasted: We Are Already in Hell
- Weasels: Uranus or Bust
- Weasels: AARP Go the Weasels
- Weasels: The Man Who Saw Tomorrow
- Ween: Quebec
- Ween: The Mollusk
- Who: Who’s Next
- Wings: Band on the Run
- Wings: Venus and Mars
- Wire: The Ideal Copy
- Wire: Send
- XTC: Black Sea
- XTC: English Settlement
- Yes: The Yes Album
- Yes: Fragile
- Zappa, Frank and the Mothers of Invention: One Size Fits All
- Zappa, Frank: Joe’s Garage, Parts I, II and III
Yes. Many thanks.
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