100. Grinderman - S/T (2007). This record was the first that really got me into Nick Cave. It's got some heavy songs on it like Get It On and No Pussy Blues but there are also a couple of really pretty ballads. It is a side-project going back to the guitar driven sound of his early band The Birthday Party. There is also a Grinderman 2 record which is nice but i prefer this one. There is talk about a third record in the making although, some years ago, Cave mentioned in an interview that he would "die a happy man" if he never had to play another Grinderman gig again.. đ
99. The Melvins - Houdini (1993). This band is great. Their sound is a unique mix of metal and punk. Singer/guitarist Buzz Osborne is an amazing guitarist and great singer. This music is very much riff based, very satisfying to listen to. Melvins' discography is humongous and I have not explored it fully. Houdini is my favorite album for now but i also like Bullhead and Stoner Witch, both records from the same period.
98. Fat White Family - Champagne Holocaust (2014). This is another band with a completely original sound. They draw influences from obvious places, mostly UK punk stuff, but make it their own in this very cool, soulful manner. They have three records which are all great. This is their debut album, the most raw and emotional one.
95. Föllakzoid - III (2015). This is a band from Santiago, Chile and their music is a very cool, minimalistic form of modern kraut rock. Very much influenced by bands like Neu!. It's hypnotic, using a lot of reverb and echo machines and here and there a bit of vocals, mostly instrumental. All their records are superb, this one is my favorite.
94. Misfits - Earth A.D. / Wolfs Blood (1983). This is a band I've liked since my early teenhood. Misfits play catchy punk songs with themes from old '40s and '50s horror movies. Later albums have a much more clean production but I prefer this early, raw and high-energy album.
93. Michael Jackson - Off The Wall (1979). The Quincy Jones trilogy of Michael Jackson records, 'Off The Wall', 'Thriller' and 'Bad', are fantastic. The instrumentation, all those old synthesizers and drum computers đ€€, the production and great groove and feel of the songs. I had to pick one, so I chose the first album.
92. Neu! - 2 (1973). I can't believe this album is made in 1973. It is futuristic, minimalistic, very strong conceptually, and just a really great record to put on the record player. It immediately creates an amazing atmosphere. There is also some really weird experimentation going on in certain parts that can catch you off guard. One of my favorite kraut rock bands and one of my favorite albums.
91. Bob Dylan - Slow Train Coming (1979). Many people like Dylan for his albums from the '60s but he has made some really good stuff in his later years. This one for example, which features Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits on guitar. The album has a strong religious theme but not in an negative or oppressive manner and it shows a lot about Dylan's personality and view on life. There is not a single bad song on here.
90. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic (2009). My favorite period of the band starts with this album. The structure of the songs become more open, less defined, the sound gets darker, more experimental and it is more synthesizer driven. This album really sucks you in when you listen to it. A really, heavy psychedelic album that sounds very much like Flaming Lips but also like nothing else I know.
89. METZ - S/T (2012). This Canadian noise rock band has been a huge influence on me. It really made me rethink what you can do as a guitar player. They are very noisey, very high-energy and also their live shows are completely overwhelming, the couple of times that I saw them. Their 2012' debut remains my favorite.
88. Bauhaus - The Sky's Gone Out (1982). Bauhaus is one of my favorite bands. More than just an '80s post punk band, they include elements of industrial, noise and gothic themes into their music. Peter Murphy is an amazing singer and all their early albums are fantastic. Look at that artwork!
87. Electric Wizard - Time To Die (2014). One of the best contemporary stoner rock bands. They are heavily inspired by Black Sabbath but the sound is more modern. To be honest, I like the album Black Masses even more, but I don't own it on vinyl (yet)..
86. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Henry's Dream (1992). I like all periods of Nick Cave's discography. The late '80s, early '90s is in the period where his sound cleaned up and the albums become more layered, more complex and better arranged. The Bad Seeds are a fantastic band and everything is drenched with quality. Henry's Dream is very much a rock album where other Bad Seeds records in this period go more towards pop and ballads. Just listen to a song like 'Brother, My Cup Is Empty', slowly building up tension and pay attention to Nick Cave's lyrics..
85. Candybar Planet - 32 Bitch (1999). There was a great scene of stoner rock bands around Eindhoven, The Netherlands in the '90s. I love this album. Really strong grooves, sci fi, spacey interludes, cool guitar riffs and just an overall great sound. I also really like the band name, Candybar Planet.
83. Diamond Head - Lightning To The Nations (1980). This is a really cool, early metal album. I really like the song structures, almost like Black Sabbath, building up in all these different parts. Warning, the production is pretty rough and also the singer seems hard pushed to deliver on some of these tracks. Diamond Head was super ambitious with this debut album but it payed off. Just ask Metallica who have covered 5 of the 7 tracks.
82. 35007 - S/T (1997). Another great stoner rock band from Eindhoven. 35007 is Loose, the Iggy Pop song, in numbers, upside down, got it? This album is very atmospheric, but also very heavy in places. Real cool, space rock vibe. I like all their records but this one has got the most catchy songs.
81. Swans - The Seer (2012). The post hiatus trilogy of ''The Seer', 'To Be Kind' and 'The Glowing Man' of Swans is really amazing. All 2+ hour albums of industrial, almost shamanistic, superb post rock music. These are albums that take time to discover. The Seer is my favorite.
80. Leonard Cohan - Songs Of Love And Hate (1970). Cohen has been a major inspiration on Nick Cave. And I can understand that. Songs Of Love And Hate is dark and intense but the lyrics are beautiful and Cohen's bassy voice just carries it all so well. Another bonus.. my girlfriend really likes his music as well.
79. Motörhead - Bomber (1979). Where would we be without the mighty Motörhead and iconic frontman Lemmy Kilmister? It has been one of my favorite bands, ever since I discovered them as a kid. This era with Philthy Phil on drums is probably their best but they were always great, especially live! They always stayed true to the rock & roll roots of the '50s but then everything louder than everyone else!
78. Iggy Pop & James Williamson - Kill City (1977). This destroyed, library copy is another one I bought when I just started playing records. Kill City with James Williamson (from The Stooges' Raw Power album), is a classic. It has a bit of a glam rock feel to it, and it might be Iggy's most impressive vocal performance. Check the song 'Beyond The Law', and you'll know what I mean. Great, great record.
77. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads (1995). This album was made just after they finished 'Let Love In'. A great, creative period in The Bad Seeds' discography. It was done quick, almost tongue-in-cheek, which is why this record has a real nice looseness to it. You might have guessed, the songs are about murder. Actually there are 75+ confirmed deaths in the lyrics of the songs. It contains beautiful ballads with Kylie Minogue and PJ Harvey and it ends with a Dylan cover, 'Death Is Not The End'. My favorite song on this album though, is 'The Curse Of Millhaven', because of the fantastic lyrics and the ridiculous circus beat.
76. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (1970). I am really into Miles Davis lately. The early cool / modal stuff is great but his later work in the '70s, introducing fusion elements to his work, is fantastic. Bitches Brew is a pretty crazy record, going all over the place but it has this inherent musical quality to it. Another thing, this album is perfect to play on vinyl, it really shines.
75. David Bowie - Heroes (1977). Look at the iconic artwork! Heroes is part of Bowie's Berlin trilogy and from the period when he was collaborating with Brian Eno. It contains great pop songs, like the title track, and an amazing, experimental B-side full of kraut rock and ambient music influences. A pop music gem.
74. Bo Diddley - His Greatest Sides: Volume One (1983). This is a compilation of the original singles that were released in the mid '50s and early '60s. These are great, single microphone in a room, authentic recordings. Bo Diddley's trademark, rhythmic guitar strumming style gives an enormous drive and energy to the songs. For me, 'Who Do You Love', is one of the greatest rock & roll songs ever recorded.
72. The Gun Club - Miami (1982). The second album of Los Angeles' The Gun Club. I really like this band. It is the garage rock and rhythm 'n blues from the '60s played with a punk attitude. The songs are all great and so is the singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce. With Miami they build out their sound to full maturity. Another one that really shines on vinyl.
71. Chrome - Red Exposure (1980). This is the fourth album of San Francisco' outfit Chrome. Over the years they will release dozens of records, this is still in their early period. Formed by Damon Edge and Helios Creed, they are credited as one of the pioneers of industrial rock. They don't follow traditional song structures as most songs are based around a single, repetitive riff and they sound like no other band. Chrome is a metallic, distorted and very frightening, extra-terrestrial signal you receive on a satellite from somewhere out of deep space. The music is very much based on a mood or a feeling. That is why their music is so great, because it immediately transports you to a place far away from reality.
Red Exposure is where they really perfected their sound. The bass and drums are super tight and compressed. The vocals and guitars are completely drenched in sound effects and synthesizers are used sporadically to create extra layers in the songs. A real trademark aspect is the crazy whooshing, jetplane flanger effect they use everywhere. This album also contains some of their more distinguishable songs.. and that is saying a lot.
67. Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Alles Ist Gut (1981). A true classic, electro punk record by DĂŒsseldorf duo Gabi Delgado-Lopez and Robert Görl. This is what you get when you put monophonic synthesizers through distortion pedals and 100 watt Marshall amplifiers. The beats are catchy as hell, almost disco, and the crazy German vocals complete the picture. Produced by legendary kraut rock producer Conny Plank.
64. Death Grips - Bottomless Pit (2016). This album with creepy cover is what got me into Death Grips. I was listening to them before but never really got into it. This is one of their most straight forward records. Just full blast grindcore, breakcore and noise (rap). I can't think of a band that creates a bigger wall of sound. Also live they are truly amazing.
63. Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full (1987). A classic in early hip hop. I really like the simplicity of this record, it's beat and bars. Rakim is a great MC and this is a perfect example of the grimey, east coast style of ghetto story telling. And then there is the bass line in the title song Paid In Full đ
61. Brant Bjork - Jalamanta (1999). Brant Bjork is the drummer of Kyuss. For his solo records he has found a super relaxed and groovy desert rock, almost hippy, style. Very much the feel of the Palm Desert area, where he's from. Wah wah guitars, slow, but driving bass and drums and chill lyrics. He made a couple of great records and this is the best one. Contains some really great songs, like 'Low Desert Punk' and 'Too Many Chiefs... Not Enough Indians'.
59.Tom Waits - Swordfishtrombones (1983). My girlfriend is always asking, what is he waiting for? I don't know, and actually it also took me a while to get into his music as well. This is the first album that really grabbed me and it is still my favorite. Tom Waits takes his inspiration from the great American tradition; blues, jazz, folk, country, dirty bars, whiskey and his city New York. With Swordfishtrombones he really pushed this sound to the extreme, it is noisey, jazzy, almost avant garde. The lyrics are great of course and the whole album just has this really nice atmosphere, every time you put it on.
55. Billie Holiday - The Lady Who Sang The Blues (compilation). For me Billie Holiday is the greatest singer. That's why she has to be part of this list. Her beautiful voice, it is pure emotion. This compilation really captures the vibe of her. Her life story is pretty tragic, with a lot of abuse and I always feel a bit sad listening to her sing. But in the end, what greater gift could she have left us than her music?
54. Death Grips - Exmilitary (2011). This is the debut mixtape of the band. See what I wrote about the band in my earlier post. Exmilitary contains great songs like 'Beware' and 'Guillotine'. Really hard hitting record. Original copies are super rare and extremely expensive. This is a bootleg.
53. The Ex - History Is What's Happening (1982). The Ex is probably the best punk band from The Netherlands. They started out as a pretty straight forward anarcho-punk band but quickly developed in directions of post punk, experimental music, noise and even free jazz. All their early records are amazing and I am very happy to own a couple of them. This one is my favorite. It starts great with 'Six Of One And Half A Dozen Of The Other'. The Ex was a true DIY band and their records contain all kinds of inserts on how to start your own band and how to record etc., etc. Really cool if you can find a copy with all those goodies included.
52. The Congos - Heart Of The Congos (1977). Considered to be one of the greatest reggae records ever made. It is truly a unique album, very mystical, almost gospel like. It is produced by Lee Scratch Perry in his legendary Black Ark studio in Jamaica. You know, the one he burned down himself when he felt things were getting too commercial? This is a reissue copy based on the 1978 mix, where things were cleaned up a bit for a broader audience. There is an original 1977 mix, also re-released in 2017, which was how Lee Perry intended the record, check out that one!
51. Jesus & The Mary Chain - Darklands (1987). This album is from late '80s noise rock / shoegaze outfit Jesus & The Mary Chain. Although I also like their debut Psychocandy a lot, I think they were best on their second album Darklands. I really like their dark but very melodic sound. Great songs, great singing. Music very suitable to play on vinyl.
50. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part (2001). Nick Cave's most beautiful record. Contains mainly ballads, some building up to a big crescendo like 'Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow'. What a great song that is. I also really like the opener 'As I Sat Sadly By Her Side', another beautiful song with acoustic guitar and piano. No More Shall We Part is just a really high quality album, in every aspect.
Helios Creed - Superior Catholic Finger (1989). This is my favorite solo record from Chrome's guitarist and singer Helios Creed. Compared to the band work, it is more heavy on the guitars and has a bit more of a rock feeling. Less trippy and more fuzz. It is a great record, one of the best in Chromes extended discography.
48. Death Grips - Year Of The Snitch (2018). Follow-up to 2016's Bottomless Pit. Another really great Death Grips record and also their latest album to date. My favorite track is 'Black Paint', which is super heavy and intense, but with a really slow beat, almost doom metal. These guys must like stuff like Black Sabbath. By now I think you get the picture, I like Death Grips.
47. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F# Am Infinity (1995). 'The car is on fire, and there is no driver at the wheel', says a guy with a thick Canadian accent in the opening of this record. F# Am Infinity is the soundtrack to the apocalypse. And boy, it is a beautiful one. GY!BE have created a master piece in the post rock genre which is unparalleled. The dynamics are fantastic, it goes from almost completely quiet to a blazing crescendo, fantastic interplay between guitars and violin, great drumming and perfectly matching interludes and overall atmosphere.
46. Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970). Now that we are getting to the top of this list we get to the really, really, really good stuff; BLACK SABBATH!! I love their first six albums to death. Paranoid is their most well known record with songs like 'Paranoid', 'War Pigs' and 'Iron Man' but honestly, it is the other songs and the unbelievable b-side of this album that grabbed me. They took the concept and ideas of their first album, especially the song 'Black Sabbath', and perfected it on this one. 'Electric Funeral' and 'Hand Of Doom' are in the top of best Sabbath songs. I also really like the super trippy and mellow 'Planet Caravan'.
45. Suicide - S/T (1977). So yeah.. the really, really good stuff. This also means Suicide from New York City. Pioneers in electronic music, pioneers in punk and no wave. Their first album is the benchmark for all later electro punk releases. It is dark, intense, minimalistic, electro punk rockabilly. All the songs are great, 'Ghostrider', 'Rocket USA', 'Frankie Teardrop', wow! Martin Rev's beats are spot on and Alan Vega is just a beast on this album. I like it so much, I got two copies.
44. Batmobile - S/T (1985). In the mid '80s there were people who were getting really fed up with the stale and dogmatic punk scene. So what is it that these punks really dislike?! Elvis! With that idea Batmobile was formed. One of the best rock & roll bands from The Netherlands, and also within the psychobilly genre. This is a style of music mixing old '50s rockabilly with a punk sound and themes from old school horror movies. On this album, everything worked out perfect. It is short, full of energy from start to finish. It also contains one of my favorite songs of all time 'Transsylvanian Expres'.
43. The Beatles - Revolver (1965). Aren't we completely bored with The Beatles by now? They have been praised for the last 60 years as pop music's greatest band and this is a bit tiring. That said, their influence can not be denied and there are moments when I still really dig them. The great song writing, great singing, the creativity and the personality of the four band members which shines through in the music.
'White Album' is really great but is also contains a couple of pretty dumb songs. For me Revolver is the most complete album they made. It has got great and beautiful pop songs, like 'For No One', but it is also a record with really cool experimental things going on. I really like the psychedelic 'Love You To' with that sitar, the really heavy 'Tomorrow Never Sleeps', or the reverse guitar work on 'I'm Only Sleeping'. Amazing, especially for an album made in 1966.
42. Bauhaus - Press The Eject And Give Me The Tape (1984). This is a fantastic live album. It contains all the great songs from their first two albums, but also songs from their early singles like 'Dark Entries' and the famous 'Bela Lugosi's Dead', two of my absolute favorite songs. This record really captures their live experience at a moment when the band was at their peak. Also the album cover looks fantastic, especially if you can get hold on an old copy like this.
41. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Good Son (1990). I find the opening track 'Foi Na Cruz' a bit annoying, but after you skip that, this album is just amazing. The title song 'The Good Son' is such an intense piece of work. 'The Weeping Song' is great, with a videoclip of Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld dancing together (go see it). 'The Hammer Song' is another really heavy song. This album contains some of Nick Cave's best work. A record I play A LOT.
39. Ludwig van Beethoven - SĂ€mtliche Klaviersonaten (1770 - 1827). I am not really into classical music. But Beethoven is the exception, especially the stuff he wrote on piano. This 12 LP box contains all his 32 piano sonatas, played by Alfred Brendel. Examples of more well known sonatas are 'Waldstein', 'Moonlight' and my favorite 'Pathetique'.
As you may or may not know, Beethoven turned almost deaf at the end of his life. In order to hear his playing, he was beating the piano keys so hard, that he was breaking them. It went so far they had to get him special re-enforced piano's with wooden and metal bars just to protect them from being destroyed. Really crazy. If you listen to his late work like 'Hammerklavier', you can imagine Ludwig going full attack on the instrument.
All things aside, the work he made is truly amazing and inspirational. There is so much also for me still to explore in this box. I really recommend you give these a listen.
38. John Maus - Screen Memories (2017). A very recent album, so high up the list. John Maus, also known from his work with Ariel Pink, had already made a couple of solo records before this and when I first heard Screen Memories, I liked it but didn't think too much of it. Somehow I kept returning to the album and it grew and grew on me. Then I got it on vinyl and I just keep playing this album. It might actually be the record I play the most out of my entire collection!
Maus built a modular synth himself just to use to record this album. In his own words, I paraphrase, "way too much work and too much money, in hindsight probably not worth it". I disagree, the album sounds fantastic. But the real strenght is the song writing and compositions. It is so strong. All the tracks on the record connect with me and there is not a single one I skip when I play it.
There is also a side release, Addendum, which contains something like b-sides, some I like, some are not so special. It was a good decision to keep it separate.
A sad fact connected with this record is that his brother, who plays bass on Screen Memories, tragically died just after the release. They cancelled their tour and I havn't heard much since about new music coming out or anything. I hope he's doing ok now and we will hear more from John Maus in the near future.
One last thing, there is a really great live set from the band playing songs from this album on the KEXP youtube channel. You should really see that as well.
37. Wire - Chairs Missing (1978). Wire from the UK is a great band. They started out as punks with their first album Pink Flag in 1977. One year later they released this fantastic record which transformed them from punk to post punk. But they also experiment with many, really cool elements that would later become common in alternative and indie rock genres. It is really ahead of its time. Chairs Missing has got many great songs on it like 'Another The Letter', and the really cool and minimalistic 'Heartbeat'. It also ends fantastic with 'Too Late (To Stop Now)'. It is a very creative, interesting and intelligent album, worthy of the praise it gets.
36. Funkadelic - Cosmic Slop (1973). George Clinton formed Funkadelic with the idea of taking the best of funk and psychedelic rock and molding it together. And actually, it really worked out! This album has got a great groove, is super spacey and psychedelic, fantastic singing and guitar playing. It is such a gem. I really like 'Let's Make It Last' and the five-and-a-half minute space jam 'Cosmic Slop'. Another album that really comes alive on vinyl.
35. The Cramps - Smell Of Female (1983). Live from The Peppermint Lounge! The Cramps!! This is their great live album with Kid Congo Powers on guitar, completely fuzzed out and bringing destruction to The Cramps' already over-the-top garage rock music. This album is just great. I discovered the band when I was still in high school and I never stopped liking them.
34. Death Grips - NO LOVE DEEP WEB (2012). This album comes with a black cover, labelled: 'warning: contains graphic imagery which may be offensive to some people'. The reason for this is that one of the guys from the band wrote the title of the album on his dick with a black marker, made a picture and that they used as the cover.. Then they put the album online for free for everyone to download without consent of the record label. They felt they had waited long enough and the label was stalling the release.
There you have it, the story of my favorite album from one of my favorite bands. It is one of their most versatile and experimental albums, it has got a depth that some of the other DG records I listed here don't have. But it is still Death Grips, ultra hard and maximum intensity.
31. Wire - 154 (1979). It is unbelievable the progression this band made from Pink Flag to Chairs Missing to 1979's 154. This album is another big step forward, and personally my favorite Wire album. It is more mature than Chairs Missing, more noisey, more rock and more heavy. All the songs are great, probably my favorite is 'On Returning' with that snappy guitar riff. Also really digging the cover art.
30. Bauhaus - Mask (1981). As said before, all the early stuff from this band in the period 1980 - 1983 is all really great. This is their second album. It is more catchy than the debut, with almost disco, bass lines here and there, like the single 'Kick In The Eye'. Bauhaus have found their sound, between post punk and gothic rock, which make them one of a kind. This is also the album where Peter Murphy really shines as a singer.
29. Miles Davis - In A Silent Way (1969). This is the start of Miles Davis' electric period, where jazz and rock come together. The album features an organ and John McLaughlin on electric guitar. The songs are also a bit more rock structured than you would expect from a jazz record. On the other hand, In A Silent Way, has a very atmospheric sound, some calling this proto-ambient. For me, one of the highlights is Tony Williams on drums who is pumping so much energy into the music, it's crazy. It is an amazing record, really suitable to play on vinyl. I also think the portrait on the cover of Miles is iconic. My favorite jazz record of all time.
28. Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power (1973). This is one of the first vinyl albums I bought. The first three Stooges albums mean a lot to me. When I discovered them, I really felt like I found the music that I truly love. Not just me, basically every artist that I like that came afterwards, in one way or another, is inspired or influenced by their music.
Raw Power is the third album, before they got completely disillusioned and disbanded the group. They were boo'd and cursed, and during shows people threw bottles and everything at them. The thing was, they were just 10 years too early. It was only later that they got the credits that they deserve.
On this album it is James Williamson on guitars, really rough and blazing guitar work. The song 'Search & Destroy' is what got me into them in the first place. Also tracks like 'Penetration', 'Raw Power' and just about everything else on this record is just really, really good.
Raw Power is the third album, before they got completely disillusioned and disbanded the group. They were boo'd and cursed, and during shows people threw bottles and everything at them. The thing was, they were just 10 years too early. It was only later that they got the credits that they deserve.
On this album it is James Williamson on guitars, really rough and blazing guitar work. The song 'Search & Destroy' is what got me into them in the first place. Also tracks like 'Penetration', 'Raw Power' and just about everything else on this record is just really, really good.
As cool as this record looks, it sounds just as freakin' cool. Suicide's singer Alan Vega released his first solo album, going back to the bare bones of rock music. Its semi-electric rockabilly. Some tracks only have electric guitar and very minimalistic drums, sometimes a drumcomputer or synth is used.
I would not change a single thing on this album. I like all the songs, their order, the feeling of the album and the great presence of Alan Vega. A timeless classic.
26. The Gun Club - Fire Of Love (1981). This pink album is another one of my all time favorites. It is such a high energy album, that directly connects with me, every time I put it on.
The Gun Club play a mix of americana, delta blues and punk rock, fronted by the howling, Texas-born, Jeffrey Lee Pierce. I love 'Sex Beat', 'Preaching The Blues', 'She's Like Heroin To Me', 'Ghost On The Highway', 'Black Train', 'Cool Drink Of Water Blues', there are so many great songs on this album!! Great riffs, great slide guitar playing, pumping bass and drums and Jeffrey Lee Pierce's great vocal performance. There is so much to like.
24. Damon Edge - Alliance (1985). Helios Creed is more of the fuzzed out, rock side of Chrome. Damon Edge is more on the dark, minimalistic, electro sci-fi side of things. And he has made some really great solo records. Also there is a period of Chrome records featuring Damon without Helios.
Alliance is his Damon Edge's best album and actually it is my favorite Chrome related release. It sounds just completely out of this world, mysterious and weird. But at the same time, it contains really great songs that keep everything together. This record can still be bought pretty cheap as I guess this stuff is not very well known and there are plenty of copies around. I highly recommend getting it and putting it on, full volume!
23. The Birthday Party - Prayers On Fire (1981). This is Nick Cave's first band, after they changed their name from Boys Next Door to The Birthday Party. They are wild! The music is noisy, pretty much free form, with sparse bass and drumming and Nick Cave on top, screaming like a mad, possessed preacher. It is hard to imagine it is the same guy that is now doing solo concerts, singing ballads on piano đ. It is pure punk, but influenced by American folk blues, the old testament, references to classic literature, behind the noise, it is intelligent music. Other than Cave himself, I really enjoy Rowland S. Howard's icy, dissonant guitar playing in The Birthday Party. It is such a great band, the four of them together. There is nothing like them.
So Metal Box is the second PiL album, and it came out only two years after Never Mind The Bollocks. John Lydon was fed up with the Sex Pistols, and punk in general, and disbanded the band. PiL was formed to try something new. Together with Jah Wobble, who could hardly play bass and mostly likes reggae and dub, and with Keith Levene, who is basically a progressive rock guitar player. This unlikely combination created something new, its basically the blueprint for post punk.
And this album is really great. It is experimental with sparse use of instrumentation, creating space within the songs for John Lydon and his lyrics. As said, the super heavy, driving bass sound is a main characteristic of the sound. The icy guitar riffs of Levene is another. It is truly amazing how the band created such an original style in such a short period of time.
19. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotten Vegetables (1980). Dead Kennedys is the best American punk band for me. I like Jello Biafra's cynical, provocative lyrics and the whole band is just so tight and explosive. This album contains all the great songs like 'Holiday In Cambodia', 'Kill The Poor', 'California Uber Alles', 'Chemical Warfare'. It is full on punk but it is also a smart record. I like Bay Area Ray's guitar work and use of tape delay. Also the songs themselves are put together really well. An absolute classic record which should be on top of the list for any punk fan.
18. The Stooges - Fun House (1970). Look at the beautiful cover of this old French copy from the '70s. As much as I like Raw Power, I prefer Fun House. I think Ron Asheton on guitar gives it something extra. I really like his fuzzed out guitar sound and the use of the wah wah pedal on many of the songs. The album itself also sounds a bit more youthful, almost naĂŻve in a way. 'Loose' and 'T.V. Eye' are my favorite tracks.
17. Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home / Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965). This is from the period when Dylan 'went electric', to the big shock of a lot of conservative folk fans. You might know of his famous concert at the Newport Folk Festival, where he almost caused a riot by showing up with a full band, including drums and electric guitars.
The album has got two very different sides. Side A is electric and side B is the old Dylan everybody knew, with acoustic guitar and harmonica. And both sides are truly brilliant. On a side note, I really love albums which have a clear distinction between the A and B side. It is a thing from the vinyl era of music, when artists were making albums with vinyl in mind. It's a think that does not happen a lot nowadays with Spotify and Youtube.
The electric side starts with the great 'Subterranean Homesick Blues', a driving rock and roll song with fantastic lyrics. Well, I am pretty sure you know this song. Anyhow, the highlight for me is the last track 'Bob Dylan's 115th Dream', a bizar story about a crew of sailors, hunting a whale, Dylan ending up in the USA, getting arrested, getting laid, getting robbed, it is just such a funny song. I admire Dylan for is creativity and imagination. This song really shows that. It also contains other great songs like 'Maggie's Farm' and 'Homesick Blues'.
The B side contains four songs. And they are four of the best songs Dylan has ever written. 'Tamborine Man', the beautiful 'Gates of Eden', the super intense 'It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)' and the finisher 'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue'.
This album has been one of my absolute favorites, ever since I was something like 15 years old. I still love it, and I keep playing it. The beauty of the songs, the lyrics, it doesn't get old.
16. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The First Born Is Dead (1985). Did you know that Elvis Presley had a twin brother, Jerrie? When Elvis was born, his brother died. After they retrieved the dead little body of his brother, he was the next to come out of his mother. During his life, he has always felt a connection with his brother and Elvis mentions him in many interviews. That's the story behind the title of this album, 'The First Born Is Dead'. The album starts with the song 'Tupelo', the hometown of Elvis. "In a valley hides a town called Tupelo", [..], "The beast it cometh, Tupelo bound". This dark setting sets the stage for the second Bad Seeds album. It contains tales of the bloody and muddy South. About a 'Black Crow King', about a 'Wanted Man', about 'Blind Lemon Jefferson'.
This album is truly a master piece. Nick Cave is more frightening than ever, the dynamics of the album are fantastic, it goes from a small distant whisper to a full blown dust storm. This is also an album where the collaboration between Cave and Blixa Bargeld, of Einsturzende Neubauten, realy shines. As we go to the top of the list, we get to the albums that for me are without flaw, the ones that truly impact me. Man, this album is fantastic!
15. David Bowie - Low (1977). What is it with 1977 and why are so many of my favorite records made in that year? I guess it is because it is a transitional year. From the old more blues orientated rock towards something new and different. Low is the ultimate new wave record for me. It shows Bowie as the Pop Charmeleon, always transforming, always on the fore front of new developments in pop music.
Low, for me, is the best of the Berlin trilogy. I really like the collaboration with Brian Eno here. Eno brought a lot of new sounds to the frame. His relationship with the German kraut rock artists gave him the inspiration to add kraut, ambient and electronic elements. A great example is the song 'Warszawa', which was made by Eno and Bowie added lyrics later. Low also has great synth pop, new wave songs like 'Glass Breaking'.
Like on Heroes, the A side contains the pop songs and side B is more experimental, creating sound landscapes with a series of instrumental songs with minimal vocals. The bi-polar structure of these two albums, sort of, representing the Germany of that time, split in an east and west country. There is so much to discover on this album, the background stories, the many influences. You can listen to this album dozens of times and still have a new experience. Even if you ignore all that, it is still a very, very good pop record. Also, fantastic cover!
Ever since, I have been digging in their enormous discography and by now I own a bunch of Fall records. There is still a lot to discover and a lot of records are still growing on me. For now, Your Future Our Clutter, is my favorite. It starts really strong with 'O.F.Y.C Showcase', the catch phrase of the album being Our Clutter, Your Future, showing Mark E Smith as an environmentalist? Anyhow, the song really rocks hard.
Then comes my favorite Fall track of all time 'Bury Pts. 1 + 3'. This is such a brutal song. It starts with an extremely low-fi recording and in several steps, the production cleans up during the song. I love the fuzzed out guitar riff and the kraut rocky synthesizer on here. It is a fantastic song, that has everything I like about this band. There are more good songs, I also really like the bass synth line on 'Mexican Wax Solvent' for example.
It is a wonderful album by a wonderful band. Take the time to explore The Fall and their many albums. You won't regret it.
13. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1975). I own a compilation album containing the first and fifth Sabbath record. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is my absolute favorite from the band. It is such a creative record! Ozzy sounds great, the band sounds great, it has got only good songs. It is fantastic.
The album starts with 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', a five-and-a-half minute jam. It is a good example of why I like this band so much. The song starts with a heavy metal riff and Ozzy on top, pushing the song further. It has a really cool acoustic guitar chorus, then the song moves into a half time, slow and heavy, almost stoner rock piece. Ozzy singing ''sabbath bloody sabbath!". Then the song speeds up again, going into a noisy guitar bit before fading out. All this in one song!
My favorite is the B side, which starts with 'Sabbra Cadabra'. Just like the title track, it has got so many cool parts. It starts with a catchy guitar riff, a hard rock verse piece, then an interlude with bag pipes (yes!!!) with a really fat bass line, then they add a piano into the mix, slowing down the song further, Ozzy singing "I never gonna leave you, anymore", "I said no more". This outro lasts for more than two minutes.
Another highlight on the album is the song 'Who Are You?'. This track apparently happened because Ozzy found a MOOG synthesizer in the studio and started messing around with it. It is slow, heavy, completely surrealistic, like a space rock track. I love the weirdness. Again this song transitioning into another piano and synthesizer part, before returning to the original riff.
Ozzy sounds the best on the catchy 'Looking For Today', a song that also would match very well on the Sabotage album. There is a really groovy verse, they use flutes in the chorus, and a massive guitar solo by Tony Iommi at the end of the song. Black Sabbath is amazing, one of the best bands ever.
12. Suicide - Alan Vega • Martin Rev (1980). As much as I love Suicide's debut album from 1977, their second record I find their best one. In contrast to the brutal sonic assault of the first record, here the band matured significantly. The songs have more depth, the overall songwriting and compositions have improved. Also, man, there are so many great songs! The opener 'Diamonds, Fur Coats, Champagne' is great, as is 'Mr. Ray', 'Harlem' and 'Fast Money Music'. Don't get me wrong, these are all super raw, intense and minimalistic electro punk tracks.
These guys are from New York, and the city is deeply embedded in the music. Also is their love for '40s doo wop, a NYC specialty. This sugar sweet, smooth sung, pre-soul music (whatdyacallit), championed by singing groups like The Paragons and The Jesters is a big inspiration. You can hear this clearly on songs like 'Sweetheart' and 'Dream Baby Dream'.
There is no band like Suicide, their music is a great inspiration for so many artists and also for me I keep playing their records. Both from the band itself as well as the solo albums. They are amazing, without doubt they need to be in the top of this list.
11. The Birthday Party - Mutiny & The Bad Seed (1983). These two EPs came out when The Birthday Party was at their end. Mutiny came in March and The Bad Seed in November of 1983. Shortly afterwards, they disbanded because they did not get along anymore and Nick Cave went solo. For me, these two 12"s are very much linked and also later they will be released together as one CD, including the great bonus song '(Hail The) Six Strings That Drew Blood', which unfortunately is not including in the vinyl releases.
These two EPs are the highlight of the band. The best they did. The Bad Seed starts with Nick Cave screaming "Hands Up Who Wants To Die?!", with the chorus "Flame On!, Flame On!, Flame On!!". The next one, Wildworld, is a dark, stomping punk version of a swamp blues song. This vibe continues with Fears of Gun and the EP ends with maybe the band's most heavy song, the slow and stomping Deep in the Woods (A Funeral is a Swingin').
Mutiny starts with the ominous but beautiful 'Jennifer's Veil'. With fantistic atmospheric guitars by Rowland S Howard. It is also a song which shows Cave's singing potential. The EP picks up pace with Mutiny In Heaven, "If this is heaven, I'm bailing out!". The most freaked out track is Swampland, which shows Cave at his most possessed, a fiendish imp. "Down in swaaaaaaaaaaaaaammplannd". Say A Spell is the closing track, again with great guitar work from Howard.
These two EPs are very dear to me. The best of a band I like so very much. Number 11 on the list.
10. Iggy Pop - The Idiot (1977). Another one from 1977! Why is this album such a gem? To speak in the words of Muddy Waters, because it has got Mojo! Tons and tons of mojo. And not the happy hippy kind of mojo. It has got the dark, its-gonna-rain-atom-bombs-any-moment-now, '80s type of mojo.
From the opener 'Sister Midnight', all the way to the closing track 'Mass Production', all the songs are superb. My personal favorites are 'Nighttripping' and 'Funtime'. Iggy collaborated with David Bowie. You could say this is another 'Berlin era' album. I think Bowie really pushed this album to another level. The songwriting is just great, it made Iggy shine all the more.
Another thing I really like about The Idiot, is that even though the sound is cold, new wavey, and the song topics are pretty doom, it also has a warmth and a sweetness, which comes from Iggy Pop's personality. As this is Iggy's first solo album, it is also the first album that really shows him as a person. You feel his presence when you play this. Not only the roaring Iggy from the Stooges, but also the generous and friendly Jim Osterberg, we know from the interviews. As example, have a listen at 'Dum Dum Boys', a very endearing song about his old band members from The Stooges.
I truly think this is a special album, and I chose it to be the first one in my top 10.
From the opener 'Sister Midnight', all the way to the closing track 'Mass Production', all the songs are superb. My personal favorites are 'Nighttripping' and 'Funtime'. Iggy collaborated with David Bowie. You could say this is another 'Berlin era' album. I think Bowie really pushed this album to another level. The songwriting is just great, it made Iggy shine all the more.
Another thing I really like about The Idiot, is that even though the sound is cold, new wavey, and the song topics are pretty doom, it also has a warmth and a sweetness, which comes from Iggy Pop's personality. As this is Iggy's first solo album, it is also the first album that really shows him as a person. You feel his presence when you play this. Not only the roaring Iggy from the Stooges, but also the generous and friendly Jim Osterberg, we know from the interviews. As example, have a listen at 'Dum Dum Boys', a very endearing song about his old band members from The Stooges.
I truly think this is a special album, and I chose it to be the first one in my top 10.
I love all the songs on here with the climax being the last song 'When The Music's Over', an 11 minute jam, doing everything that makes this band so fantastic. It runs, it collapses, it is blazing, it is quiet as a whisper. The dynamics are there which sets the really great music apart from the regular. A magical album. Number 9 on my list.
8. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Let Love In (1994). You can pretty much cut Nick Cave's discography in two parts: the early stuff with The Birthday Party and the first Bad Seeds records and then the later stuff, starting from the Tender Pray album. For me Let Love In is his best record from that second period.
Let Love In is such a master piece. The quality of the record is undeniable. The skillful musicians, great compositions, great song writing and lyrics. Everything is weighed, measured, thought through and then executed to perfection. It can be violent and intimidating, at other times beautiful and timid. It has everything.
I could go over the songs one by one but I think there one song that says it all on this record and that is 'Red Right Hand', still a staple in the Bad Seeds' live show. It is such an intense song, with the use of that crazy bell on every first bar. One of the best records ever made and one of my absolute favorite albums. Number 8!
When I was a teenager of about 16 or 17 years old, I was just starting to play the electric guitar and I was into Motörhead, Peter Pan Speedrock, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, Queens of the Stoneage.. and then I stumbled upon Kyuss.
A band with Josh Homme before QOTSA, spawned from the Californian Palm Desert, together with co-founders John Garcia, Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri. And this was it! Man this stuff is heavy!! But it also has a groove, it's psychedelic, it is not only fast fast but it can also burn slow, tearing apart whatever it meets. I found a style of music that I truly love. And still do to this day. Whenever I put one of these two records on I get a massive rush of adrenaline and I just want to pick up a guitar, crank an amp to max volume and blaze along with it. When I hear this music I want to sit behind a drum kit and follow Brant Bjork's tribal battering. And the vocals.. With all this sonic annihilation, John Garcia is on top of it. Riding it like a gigantic electric wave, crashing into the shore line, knees deep in the rhythm of the songs, pushing it further, and further, and further.
Of all the things to enjoy, I think the vocals are the most impressive. Also, for everyone getting into Kyuss, John Garcia's voice is probably the first thing you have to get used to. But I really have grown to love it. Play these albums back to back, full volume. Let it wash over you, blow you over. Things will not be the same afterwards.
For me, Transformer is the ultimate pop record. It is such a magnificently crafted piece of work. It has the intellectualism and artsy aspirations of the early Velvet Underground albums, but it evolved into something that can actually flourish in the main stream. Again, a lot of credit has to be given to David Bowie, who has a major hand in the creation of the album.
The main song everybody knows, is 'Take A Walk On The Wild Side', with this timeless and instantly recognizable sliding double bass line. It shows the best of Lou Reed as a story teller, every verse is a mini tribute to a person in the New York City scene he part of. The song explores topics in the fringe of society, outside-the-norm sexuality, gender fluidity, things like that. It is amazing how this found its way to main stream radio in 1972.
Another truly beautiful song is 'Satellite Of Love'. A wonderful pop song which builds up to this big climax, with David Bowie doing second vocals. At the end of the song Reed and Bowie melt together in this fantastic crescendo. It is one of my favorite moments in music, maybe the best love song ever written.
I like the unexplainable edge Transformer has. This thin layer of roughness and uneasiness that is embedded in the songs. It is something in the way Lou Reed's presence insinuates danger, just below the surface. It is the little outbursts of distorted guitars, the lyrics, you never feel completely safe when listening to this. It is this tension that elevates the album above everything else. I love it. I will always keep loving it. My number 5 record of all time.
4. Nick Cave featuring The Bad Seeds - From Her To Eternity (1984). This is my favorite Nick Cave record, my number 4 of all time. It was released just after The Birthday Party imploded, featuring Mick Harvey and Blixa Bargeld, and the new members Barry Adamson and Hugo Race.
The album starts with the haunting Leonard Cohen cover 'Avalance'. It is the perfect opening to this album. It is just plain scary. I really like Blixa's contribution to this album, his use of unconventional instrumentation, industrial noise and crazy guitars. This record sounds very bleak, only the minimum of sounds is used to create a frame for the songs. This puts full emphasis on Nick Cave, now the unchallenged leader of the band. An interesting aspect is that with The Birthday Party the songs are very much guitar driven, with The Bad Seeds, you can feel the songs are written for piano and later transformed to be played with a full band. This results in songs being more spacious, more layered. It is fantastic, Nick Cave really found the best version of himself on this album. The basis for all his later work.
This record has got so many great moments. I love the title track 'From Her To Eternity', this claustrofobic build up of tension during the song, those piano notes, fueling paranoia. Besides that, it is also a beautiful song in a way, a desperate love story.
Another highlight is the beautiful and minimalistic 'A Box For Black Paul', the closing track. It features Cave on piano, creating, again, this spaciousness, the atmosphere on the record is just so consistent over all the tracks, I don't know what else to say. Just listen to it. For me this album is an absolute highlight in pop music. An unbelievable record, one of the best ever made.
I think it is impossible to overstate the importance of this record. It is such an enigmatic and unique album. The lo-fi production, the collaboration of Lou Reed, the song writer, and John Cage, the experimentalist, the innocence of Nico, who without any musical skills, was only in the band because Andy Warhol insisted, the dark song topics about sex, drugs and abuse, all these elements are unique. This album has been recorded in three sessions in April, May and November of 1966, then released in March 1967. The reception was very poor as nobody was ready for such a record. It took years before this album got the credits it deserves. I think a part of it is that it is really a product of the New York City art scene of that time, hardcore and alienated.
However interesting the context of this record is, it is the songs themselves that are the true proof of the quality of this album. There are beautiful ballads sung by Nico, with haunting but dreamy instrumentation, a menacing and enchanting combination. These are the opening track 'Sunday Morning', 'Femme Fatale', the beautiful and dark proto gothic song 'All Tomorrow's Parties', 'I'll Be Your Mirror' and lastly 'There She Goes Again', sung by Reed instead of Nico. Then is the rock & roll stuff, close to Lou Reed's heart. The fenomenal 'I'm Waiting For My Man', one of the best songs of all time, and the driving 'Run Run Run'. Lastly, the psychedelic songs, a recreation of a drug fueled death trip. 'Venus In Furs', with beautiful dissonant violin parts played by Cage, 'Heroin' which is maybe the most famous song of the album and the closing tracks 'Black Angel's Death Song' and 'European Son'.
Together it covers the entire spectrum, beautiful moments, screeching dissonance, compact songs and abstract landscapes. This album is everything.
1. The Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat (1968). Maybe you saw this coming. The best, the ultimate, the greatest album of all time: White Light White Heat!!
The original cover is a black on black picture of a skull tattoo, worn by Joe Spencer, an actor from the Warhol clique. It was again Andy Warhol who had the idea of doing a black on black cover. Later the album was reissued with a white cover showing blurry image of toy soldiers. I think they match really well together.
So why is this the one? Because it is the most noisy version of the Velvets, still with original members John Cale, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker. Where VU & Nico is dreamy and mystifying, on White Light White Heat it seemed that the Velvets have canalized all their energy, kicked Nico out of the band, and produced this whirlwind of noise, feedback and power. Especially the B-side.. with the 17 minute 'Sister Ray', it is such a trip!
Maybe it is the sound of the record. The recording quality is terrible, but in the best way possible. It has an analog warmth, combined with overloaded tubes and mixing equipment, it seems like all gauges are in the red for the entire duration of the album. Because of this, all the sounds melt together. There is a mono version of the A-side which actually sounds the best, especially the song 'The Gift'.
And even with all of this sonic violence, the songs are extremely musical, the lyrics are fantastic and the whole album flows perfectly from the one part to the next. For me, this is it. My absolute favorite. It has been for the last 10 years and I don't think I will ever change my mind.
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