I’ve recently starting making top-five lists with a good, new and dare I say feisty friend of mine and its been fun.
BTW, she’s down with sports as a fan, represents for Chicago, is a fellow Commodore, works in the sports industry, smart, funny, cute, loves Family Guy and curses! Outstanding qualities. I know what you’re thinking, girlfriend material. Unfortunately, she’s in a relationship, but its been cool getting to know her intellectually and not having all of the other physical stuff getting in the way. Friendship is the way.
Anyway, each of us takes a turn choosing a topic to make a list about. I started with the top five people that I would like to date/hang out with/share a cup of coffee/snuggle with/attend an epic and potentially illegal box social with. Hence, my first top-five posted in the blog.
Her topic of choice was our top-five books and she busted out with some amazing books that made me feel ashamed to be a below-average English major. But doing that list made me learn more about her, which was cool. I’m all about learning about people and establishing bonds.
The next list was our five favorite albums. This one took forever for me to come up with but was cool because I got to dust off some oldies and re-listen to them.
I’ve decided to share the list with you and I welcome yours as well.
In no particular order:
1) Relationship on Command- At The Drive-In. I remember being discontent with the music scene back in 2000 while I was in college. I’m watching MTV2 one day and I hear this song called One Arm Scissor and it changed my musical landscape forever.
I learned that the song was from this album by a punk rock/emo group from El Paso, Texas called At The Drive-In. I knew nothing about them, but bought their album anyway and was blown away. I heard elements of punk/hard rock/progressive music and was awaken to the possibilities of not being limited by any genre. I love the energy of tracks such as Arcensal, Pattern Against User and One Arm Scissor. I loved how they didn’t just drown out the bass guitar of Paul Hinojos. I liked not understanding what their lead singer Cedric Bixler was saying and just flowing with the music. I was intrigued with the melodic yet throbbing guitar play of Jim Ward and Omar Rodriguez.
More importantly, I liked how they weren’t afraid to use melody and even slow it down with songs such as Enfilade, Invalid Letter Dept., Quarantined and Non-Zero Personality. They use harmonies also and there were messages about racism, sexism, rape and other serious issues ingrained into the music.
There isn’t one bad song on this album. Here’s the video for One Arm Scissor: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7897471382988774806&q=one+arm+scissor&ei=to4KSNzZIYGMrgKi1rmiBA
2) De-Loused in the Comatorium – The Mars Volta. At the Drive In broke up and I was saddened. However, I heard that Omar and Cedric decided to start a group of their own and I was hyped. I wasn’t able to get their LP and decided to get their first full studio release and it was amazing.
The two of them decided to not put limits on their music and even were insulted if you decided to place a label on them and I dug that attitude. I liked the fact that they were two prominent Hispanic musicians rocking it out. Their band consisted of black people, white people and other cultures uniting to make it happen.
Tracks such as Intertiatic E.S.P. and Roulette Dares contained some elements of At The Drive In but was more progressive and as a fan of groups like Yes and Genesis, I was loving it. Drunkenship of Lanterns gave me a sense of latin jazz fused with rock and made me shake my head the first time I heard it. Eria Tarka was a slower jam but the baseline is incredible and the chord progressions are sick. Cicatria E.S.P. is a twelve-minute song of just a solid jam. Even Televators, about a fallen friend, makes me cry sometimes when I hear it.
This album gives you different energies that make you happy and sad but makes you think. Whenever I need to contemplate things in my life, I throw this one in and I go for a mental ride.
Here are the guys performing at Lowlands in Australia in 2003 with most of the songs from this album. Its my favorite concert footage ever: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2064416385231360707&q=mars+volta+lowlands&total=16&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
3) Aenima- Tool. I went through some tough mental times after I graduated from college and gravitated towards some very dark music. And if you want to listen to some uplifting dark music, listen to some Tool.
I actually didn’t get this album when it immediately came out in 1996. I don’t exactly remember when I got this album but the tracks are all amazing. You start out with Stinkfest which is just the most monotonous guitar riff that sets the mood. The track Eulogy contains some of the most amazing bass playing from Justin Chancellor.
The track that had the most effect on me personally was Pushit. It was about being pushed to an unhappy mental place in your life and fighting through it for something better. I would listen to this song endlessly and wonder where my life was taking me after graduating from college and being unemployed and living with my brother’s family. That song saved me.
There are some very crude songs on the album but that’s what Tool does. Maynard Keenan’s lyrics are beautifully dark and his honesty with his lack of happiness makes him happy because he knows where he is mentally, if that makes sense.
Other great tracks are H., Forty Six & 2, Jimmy and Third Eye, which has some of the most incredible instrumentals.
This is my favorite traditional hard rock album ever.
Here’s the video for Stinkfest: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2802959467430699941&q=tool+stinkfest&ei=jpsKSKvfI5S-rQLXkdG-BA
4) Pursuit of Happiness - Weekend Players. This was an album that was heavy on lounge and house music. I dig other groups like Massive Attack and Daft Punk who present elements of this type of music, but this album is amazing.
Good tracks on this album include; I’ll Be There, Play On, Into the Sun and Higher Ground.
Here’s a video from the duo: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7321128503114187009&q=weekend+players&ei=BZ0KSLjBIZmwrQK3wdmiBA
5) The Dance- Fleetwood Mac. I remember getting this album like it was yesterday. It was 1997 and it was the summer before my junior year of high school. This album was the reunion of Fleetwood Mac, one of the major bands of the 70’s and 80’s. They had a ton of hits but broke up and hadn’t reunited in many years. MTV did a special on the concert and I watched it and was intrigued by the quality of the music even though I never heard of them before.
I liked Stevie Nicks voice, the rhythm section of John McVie and Mic Fleetwood. But most importantly, the guitar playing of Lindsey Buckingham was incredible.
They used harmonies excellently and the list of classics they rolled out for the concert were amazing. Songs such as The Chain, Dreams, Rhiannon, Tusk and Go Your Own Way were solid. The solo in Go Your Own Way is maybe my favorite ever. Check that, the solo in I’m So Afraid is my favorite ever, so creppy yet so comforting.
They also throw some remixes/twists to some of their songs. Buckingham performing Big Love alone with his acoustic guitar is great. Lindsey and Nicks doing Landslide together was great. Silver Springs will make me cry at almost anytime. Also, its not on the album, but the cut of Gypsy in this concert is good as well.
Here’s a video from this concert: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6281613133786321437&q=fleetwood+mac+the+dance&ei=WL8KSKWTBJqgrAKSnvm7BA
Here were the many albums that didn’t make the list, lightening round style:
Violator by Depeche Mode: Bad, bad ass album. Personal Jesus…Enjoy the Silence…Halo, oh these are amazing tracks. Love this album.
Inventions For the New Season and The Language of Cities by Maserati: These are two albums by an instrumental band from Athens, Ga. I love to listen to these guys and just chill.
Band of Gypsies (Self-Titled): After Jimi Hendrix broke up The Experience, he got together with two other black musicians and truly went back to his R&B and Soul roots with this life album. Listen to Machine Gun and try not to be amazed.
Silent Alarm by Bloc Party: The debut album from one of my favorite bands to come along in the last few years. Solid tracks all around and they have a black lead singer, who can’t be down with that.
A Gothic Acoustic Tribute to Tool: I honestly got this album in a record store one time and it’s a cover of about 12 Tools songs in a “gothic acoustic” style. You have to listen to it to understand it.
Live from Massey Hall by Neil Young: He cut this album around 1971 when he was about to record Harvest. In fact, he debuts some of the songs from his seminal album in this concert. Young is a legend and he shows it here. This album was actually released around a year ago and I highly recommend it.
One Step More and You Die by Mono: They are a heavy-rock instrumental band from Japan. Yeah, crazy. This is one of their albums but I recommend any of them.
Machine Head by Deep Purple: This group were the groundbreakers for progressive rock. This album includes Smoke on the Water, Highway Star and many other excellent tracks.
Korn Unplugged: I love the Unplugged series especially with hard rock bands like Korn. You actually get to hear the lyrics of Jonathan Davis because they aren’t drowned out by the music. Excellent songwriting and usage of soft instruments that transition well from the electric guitars. Issues and Follow the Leader are also good albums from these guys.
The Station is Non-Operational by At the Drive-In: Greatest his compilation from the band.
Live from Mars by Ben Harper: I know that Harper may have some better albums, but this one is cool because he plays with the entire Innocent Criminals on the first CD and does a solo performance with his guitar in the second CD. Tremendous stuff.
Give ad These are the Vistas by The Bad Plus: Two albums from one of my favorite jazz bands ever. Excellent trio.
Live at La Cova by The New Masterminds: This is a live album by another jazz band. Solid solos and they are an instrumental band also. I love instrumental music because it allows me to interpret the music on my own instead of letting the lyrics interfere with the process.
Our Day by DJ Collette: Good dance CD
The Very Best of Cream by Cream: Clapton, Bruce and Ginger. The best trio of rock ever (maybe besides The Police). So many songs. I Feel Free, Strange Brew, Tales of Brave Ulysses, White Room, Crossroads, Born Under a Bad Sign and maybe the baddest song ever, Politician. Incredible.
The Who’s Greatest Hits and Quadrophenia by The Who: Couldn’t decide between the two. Love this band.
The Spirit of Radio by Rush: This is the greatest trio ever. Peart, Lifeson and my bass guitar hero, Geddy Lee bring it strong on this one.
Maxwell Unplugged: Whenever I like to get in “the mood,” throw this on. The ladies love it, so I heard, who am I kidding, I KNOW the ladies love it. Yeah!
Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park: I actually like their last few albums more but this was the first one that I purchased, so it makes the list. These guys have evolved musically and its been great to see.
Unplugged and Nothing’s Safe by Alice in Chains: Greatest band in the “grunge era” These guys were amazing. You had Staley singing and Cantrell playing some amazing guitar. I was equally amazed by the fragil state of Staley on the Unplugged album and with Cantrell’s vitality in the other one.
The entire Metallica collection accept for the last few albums: Legends who have fallen off of grace recently. If I had to pick a top three, give me the Black Album, And Justice for All and Master of Puppets and we’ll call it a day. Sanitarium would be my theme song if I had a show based on my life.
Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera: You can also go with Cowboys from Hell or Far Beyond Driven for two other albums from this influential hard rock band. These guys didn’t compromise musically but also wrote good songs with melodies, harmonies and excellent lyrics. It was beyond the riffs, RIP Dimebag.
Singles 93-03 by The Chemical Brothers: Once again, good dance music but I love how these guys would incorporate real music with real instruments into the basic drum beats. They were also one of the first electronic groups to use real singers on their tracks. It was like you were listening to a normal song instead of a dance track. Geniuses.
Every Breath You Take (The Classics) by The Police: Just a greatest hits album from the group. Sting is the second reason that I play bass guitar. John Paul Jones is the first.
Innervisions by Stevie Wonder: You can go with Songs in the Key of Life as well for the necessary Wonder album to have in your collection.
The Best of 1980-1990 and Boy by U2: They had to make the list. New Year’s Day and One are just essential songs from that group.
The Thirteenth Step by A Perfect Circle: The lead singer from Tool formed this group and it’s a different turn from his previous work, but I like it. I may like the music from these guys more than from Tool. No, I take that back, but this is a good album from them. Emotive is also good.
The Best of Sade by Sade: Read my review of the Maxwell Unplugged album.
The Best of the Gipsy Kings: I heard this album so much in college.
Legend by Bob Marley and the Wailers: Its Bob Marley, not much more needs to be said. Exodus may be my favorite song ever.
Purple Rain by Prince: Best soundtrack ever. Purple Rain, Purple Rain, only want to see you lying in that Purple Rain.
Ready to Die by Notorious B.I.G.: Being from Brooklyn, I had to represent for Biggie. This album became a soundtrack for a lot of our lives in the mid 90’s. Maybe the best rap album ever behind…
Paid in Full by Eric B. and Rakim: That’s for my older brother who made me listen to this album all the time back in the day.
The debut, self-titled album from Crosby, Stills and Nash: All the songs are excellent and made me appreciate the harmonies of music.
Check Your Head and Paul’s Botique by the Beastie Boys: Two albums released back to back by these legends. Listen to Pass the Mic and What Cha Want at least once in your life. That’s real hip-hop.
The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails: Trent Reznor’s classic album that made him a superstar. BTW, Hurt Like a Hole isn’t on this album, but that’s a monster song to check out.
10 by Pearl Jam: I still listen to this in my car once in a while to remind myself why Eddie Vedder is better than all of us and we need to accept it.
BloodSugarSexMagik by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers: I had to get these guys in there. I like all of their music so I just choose their most popular album to put on the list.
Anything Miles Davis: Just because…
Finally, you can honestly find albums from the following people and I would like it:
Oasis (so underrated its scary)
The Smiths (Morrissey, you’re my boy!)
The MC5
Def Leppard
Aerosmith
Basement Jaxx
Massive Attack
Sonic Youth
Daft Punk
It goes on and on. This is just a start.
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