By Mark Pukalo
I still remember that wonderful Christmas morning when Santa Claus left me my first two albums under the tree.
It must have been 1971. I got Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Himself.” Nice job Santa. Under-rated artist. The other? Umm, a Donny Osmond album. Oh well. I was 8.
I had a bunch of 45s before then, but I started to rock a bit more as time went on and the album was the way to go. When I was 12, I remember Santa left me “Toys in the Attic” by Aerosmith. Soon after, I started to add to my collection. A few years later, I had “2112” by Rush. It blew my mind.
Albums can be like novels. Some are just filled with great songs, poetry and stories. Others have a beginning and an end, a concept. The best of them flow easily and keep you from reaching down to skip a track or two. They are art on vinyl, and some album covers will be remembered forever.
Those days are kind of gone, although it is nice to see classic albums coming back on vinyl. I walk by them every day at work. Something new catches my eye every day.
Yes, they are called CDs now. I can’t remember the last one I bought that wasn’t second hand. I decided to organize my CD collection earlier this year and began listening to each one from A-Z.
At one point, I wondered where certain CDs were. I don’t have “Damn the Torpedoes” by Tom Petty? I don’t have "Born in the USA," "The Grand Illusion” by Styx or “The Cars?”
The Best 25 I used to own?
25. The Long Run (The Eagles), 24. 4 (Foreigner), 23. Who's Next (The Who), 22. In Through the Out Door (Led Zeppelin), 21. Freedom of Choice (Devo)
20. Listen Without Prejudice (George Michael), 19. Legend (Poco), 18. Speaking in Tongues (The Talking Heads), 17. Synchronicity (The Police), 16. Nevermind (Nirvana), 15. Heart Like a Wheel (Linda Ronstadt), 14. Venus and Mars (Paul McCartney), 13. Moving Pictures (Rush), 12. Control (Janet Jackson), 11. Van Halen
10. Running On Empty (Jackson Browne), 9 Harvest Moon (Neil Young), 8. Goodbye Jumbo (World Party), 7. The Grand Illusion (Styx), 6. Rumours (Fleetwood Mac), 5. Born in the USA (Bruce Springsteen), 4. Aja (Steely Dan), 3. Damn the Torpedoes (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) 2. Thriller (Michael Jackson), 1. The Cars.
Others. Heartbeat City and Shake it Up (The Cars), OK Computer (Radiohead), Outlandos d’Amour (The Police), News of the World and Night at the Opera (Queen), Building the Perfect Beast (Don Henley), After the Gold Rush (Neil Young), Back in Black (AC/DC), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John), Purple Rain (Prince), London Calling (The Clash), 1984 (Van Halen), Songs in the Key of Life (Stevie Wonder), Let's Dance (David Bowie), Crimes of Passion (Pat Benatar), Foreigner, Head Games (Foreigner), Escape (Journey). Only Everything (Juliana Hatfield), Brothers in Arms (Dire Straits), Undercover (Rolling Stones), The Who By Numbers (The Who).
Of course, I have all the important songs from those works of art on my itunes and on backup CDs. You wish now that you still had the originals, like all those old baseball cards you got rid of. But it is what it is.
So as I was going through the CDs I have, I started making a list of the best of them. You know I love my lists.
Here’s the list of Honorable Mentions:
Eve - Alan Parsons Project; Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles; For Everyman - Jackson Browne; Armed Forces - Elvis Costello; Recovering the Satellites, Underwater Sunshine - The Counting Crows; Deju Vu - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young; Intriguer - Crowded House; Tuesday Night Music Club - Sheryl Crow; Sonic Highways - Foo Fighters; No Fun Aloud - Glen Frey; The Sound of White - Missy Higgins; Night and Day - Joe Jackson; 52nd Street - Billy Joel; Hot Fuss - The Killers, Led Zeppelin II - Led Zeppelin; Charmer, Aimee Mann; Fumbling Toward Ecstasy - Sarah McLachlan; Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd; MP4 - Michael Penn; Whitechocolatespaceegg, Somebody’s Miracle - Liz Phair; Out of Time, R.E.M,; Grace Under Pressure - Rush, The Rising, Letter to You - Bruce Springsteen, The Unforgettable Fire - U2, Into the Wild - Eddie Vedder; Common Thread - Various Artists; Analog Man - Joe Walsh, Tommy - The Who.
I learned, especially in my top albums that I am listening to again, it was important to have a catchy first track. It doesn’t have to be the best song on the album, but it has to pump you up. “One more time” by Joe Jackson on “Look Sharp” is a perfect example. It doesn't hurt to have a nice ending, too. Think "Wake Up Time" on Petty's "Wildflowers."
I did not include Greatest Hits albums or soundtracks, of course. There is one live CD. That one has to be on the list.
Yeah, Donny Osmond. LOL.
Put the needle down. Let’s Go.
No. 40. - Hello, I Must Be Going! - Phil Collins
Collins' second solo album starts out with that drum beat. No, not the one Mike Tyson loves, but the pounding on "I Don't Care Anymore," as he defiantly begins this well-constructed album. The horns come in next on the catchy "I Can't Believe It's True," and the guitars are more prominent in "Like China." Surprisingly, the real jewel is Phil's take on The Supremes' classic "You Can't Hurry Love." Then, there are the two beautiful ballads: "Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away," and "Why Can't it Wait Till Morning." It's just an easy listen from a fantastic artist.
No. 39 - Hourglass - James Taylor
Taylor's first album in six years won a Grammy (1998) and was his first to reach the top 10 in 16 years. The lyrics spoke of his troubled past, and family. He used Richard Nixon's resignation to shadow how he felt to open the album on "Line' Em Up." "Nobody knows me, Nobody understands." That seems strange, but he later sings "At that time my heart was all broke. I looked like ashes and smelled like smoke. And I turned away from my loving kind." The album is a mix of catchy numbers like "Jump Up Behind Me," "Walking My Baby Back Home," singalongs like "Boatman" and songs that showcase one of the best voices in music history like "Up From Your Life" and "Another Day." There's no one like JT.
No. 38 - Asking For Flowers - Kathleen Edwards
Ottawa native Kathleen Edwards' third studio album track list was described this way by the Canadian Press in 2008: "Unlike your average floral arrangement, there's not a dud in the bunch." It starts with her voice in the sleepy "Buffalo," and hard-driving "The Cheapest Key," which she performed beautifully on Letterman. Then the best two songs on the album - the title track and "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory," in which she sings "You're cool and cred like Fogarty, I'm Elvis Presley in the 70s, You're Chateau Neuf, I'm Yellow Label, You're the buffet, I'm just the table, I'm a Ford Temple, You're a Maserati, You're the Great One, I'm Marty McSorley, You're the Concord, I'm economy. ... I make the dough, you get the glory." In between is a very sad song "Alicia Ross" about the murder of a young woman by a neighbor in Steven Stamkos' home town of Markham, Ontario. The album ends with the beautiful, haunting "Goodnight California," It is a great listen.
No. 37 - Harvest - Neil Young
Harvest Moon is my favorite Neil album, but I don't currently own it. I do have this one, though, and the 1972 classic belongs in the top 40. "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man" highlight the album of course, but "Out on the Weekend," is a great opener as well and the singalong title track follows. Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor sing background along with his old buddies Crosby, Stills & Nash. The London Symphony Orchestra plays on two songs as well. The second to last song is the iconic "The Needle and the Damage Done." It's just an old album that stands the test of time.
No. 36 - On a Clear Night - Missy Higgins
First saw Missy at the Live Earth concert in Australia on a VHS tape and later went to see her perform four times, including a four-song set from this album on the 10th floor of a Borders in the Chinatown section of Boston during the winter of 2007-08. This is her best work in my opinion, because it is more acoustic than others. You might have heard track one "Where I Stood" on "Grey's Anatomy" and two songs later she sings of taking control of your own life in the spirited "Steer."
"So hold this feeling like a newborn
Of freedom surging through your veins
You have opened up a new door
So bring on the wind, the fire and the rain."
The soulful, sly "Secret" about an affair and "The Wrong Girl" are also beautifully written songs. "Peachy" makes you bounce, "Going North" might be the best singalong tune on the album and the closer is "Forgive Me," about a man pleading with his wife for forgiveness - for as she once said - "being naughty." It's a great listen from start to finish.
No. 35 - Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys
Brian Wilson composed this ground-breaking concept album in the first half of 1966 when he had decided not to tour with the band. The meticulous work be did on the songs was displayed in the movie "Love & Mercy" as he tried to create something different and more progressive. Through his marijuana use and a spiritual enlightenment, he produced the best two Beach Boys songs in my opinion - "Wouldn't It Be Nice," and "God Only Knows." "Caroline, No." is not far behind and ends the melodic, personal and emotional album.
No. 34 - Desperado - The Eagles
The second studio album from the Eagles was recorded in London and produced by Glyn Johns, who had also worked with the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who and the Rolling Stones. Glen Frey came up with the idea of a semi-concept album about anti-heroes after seeing friend Jackson Browne's book "Wild West" on gunfighters. Browne, J.D. Souther and the band are pictured as captured gunslingers on the back of the album.
"Doolin Dalton" about the Doolin-Dalton gang opens the album and two of the group's best songs "Tequila Sunrise" and "Desperado" end side one. Randy Meisner sings "Certain Kind of Fool" nicely to open side two, and the beautiful "Saturday Night," and the vastly-under-rated "Outlaw Man" follow.
"In one hand I've a Bible, in the other I've got a gun.
Well, don't you know me? I'm the man who won."
Ultimately the album did not sell as good as their debut and the band was not pleased with some of Johns' work. But it is filled with great songs and is the third best album from my favorite band.
No. 33 - Way to Normal - Ben Folds
A fellow blogspot writer described the North Carolina native as sort of a "poet of middle-class suburban life." His lyrics can be satirical, sharp and tender. I saw him at UConn after this album came out in 2008 and he did all the songs, followed by a fake version of each with totally different lyrics - most on the piano. It was one of my favorite shows. Comedy and good music. There are some humorous lyrics throughout, especially on "The Frown Song," (rock on, rock on, with your fashionable frown, rock on, rock on, spread the love around), the slower "Cologne." and "Effington," which starts "If there's a God, he is laughing at us. ... And our football team." But nothing is as sharp as the break-up song of all break-up songs "The Bitch Went Nuts."
"She photoshopped my face (shopped my face)
Onto every boy who'd done her wrong
And as she burned, them, telepathically
On to the brains of all her, embittered drones."
Sing it with me! LOL. However, the album ends with a more tender song on the piano named "Kylie from Connecticut" about a wife of 35 years thinking about an old note she saw at the office for her husband from some chick in the Nutmeg State. "She says you've got the number." It's a fun album.
No. 32 - Let it Be - The Beatles
The 12th and final studio album by the Fab Four was fraught with trouble from the start and came out a month after the group's official breakup in May of 1970. Paul McCartney had hoped that filming a documentary along with putting the album together would invigorate the band, but it was all coming apart. That doesn't mean the final product wasn't terrific with "Two of Us," "Across the Universe," and "Let it Be" on side one.
"When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be."
The under-rated "I've Got a Feeling," and the beauty of "The Long and Winding Road," highlight side two while the first single "Get Back," is the final song in the Beatles studio trilogy. I own four studio albums by the Fab Four and three made the top 40.
No. 31 - Whatever - Aimee Mann
If you don't know it already, Aimee is one of my favorite artists and favorite people in the world. You'll see her two more times on the list. She is an amazing songwriter who deserves to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Her first solo album was well reviewed and showcases her intelligent and honest lyrics. It starts with the hard-rocking "I Should Have Known" and slows down a bit with the sad and beautiful "4th of July," in which she sings. ...
"Today's the fourth of July, another June has gone by
And when they light up our town, I just think what a waste of gunpowder and sky.
I'm certain I am alone, in harboring thoughts of our home
It's one of my faults that I can't quell my past
I ought to have gotten it gone."
"Could Have Been Anyone," "Say Anything," and "Stupid Thing" are great tunes among others and she ends with kind of a Vaudeville number "Way Back When." In all, it's a diverse set of well-written tunes very easy to listen to.
No. 30 - Battle Studies - John Mayer
Liked a few of Mayer's songs before I purchased this CD in 2009, but became much more of a fan with one listen of these 11 songs. It is diverse, well-written and is a perfect mix of his voice and guitar skills. The melodic "Heartbreak Warfare" gets you started beautifully and two songs later the great Taylor Swift joins for "Half of My Heart." The first single "Who Says" comes next, in which he sings. ...
"Who says I can't be free
From all the things that I used to be
Rewrite my history
Who says I cant be free."
The catchy sing-a-long "Perfectly Lonely" keeps it going before "War of My Life" and - in my opinion - the best song on album "Edge of Desire." The CD ends with another song to sing in your car "Friends, Lovers or Nothing." Some albums just catch you right. This is an example.
No. 29 - Souvenirs - Dan Fogelberg
I vividly remember the first time I heard this album. It was upstairs at my uncle John's house in Webster, Mass. - probably in late 1974 or early 75. My cousin Joe from Ohio was staying there while he went to Nichols College in Dudley and had the vinyl spinning on a record player or turntable. I instantly enjoyed the easy-listening album, which was produced by the great Joe Walsh and had backing vocals from Glen Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Graham Nash. Walsh also played on 10 of the 11 tunes.
It opens with the lone single "Part of the Plan," which is one of my top 100 songs of all time.
"Love when you can, cry when you have to
Be who you must, that's a part of the plan
Await your arrival, with simple survival
and one day, we'll all under-stand."
The next four are all slower tunes that showcase the Peoria native's strong voice, highlighted by "Illinois" - I'm your boy - and "The Long Way." He turns it up a bit with the rocking "As the Raven Flies," and follows with the banjo prominent "Morning Sky." The songs hold up, almost 50 years later.
No. 28 - The Wall - Pink Floyd
Bought this album on my high school basketball team's trip to see Ralph Sampson win the 1980 NIT in New York City. I could not stop listening to both the great songs and the strange ones. The album is a rock opera centering around a "jaded" rock star, who isolates himself and forms "a wall." It came out of Roger Waters' twisted brain, but in a lot of ways it was genius. The first song anyone probably heard was "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2," but "Mother" was also on side one and the weird but under-rated "One of My Turns," highlights side two. Side three opens and ends with heavyweight songs. "Hey You" starts it and the classic "Comfortably Numb" brings it to a close as David Gilmour sings. ..
"There is no pain, you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move, but I can't hear what you're saying."
"Run Like Hell" is the best effort on the final side. The album was later adapted to a feature film that I never got around to seeing. Song for song, it may not be as good as others, but the historical significance of this concept album and the two gigantic songs (Brick and Numb) makes it special.
No. 27 - Rites of Passage - The Indigo Girls
Just throw this album on and let it grow on you, like, well, a "Cedar Tree." I saw Amy Ray and Emily Saliers perform a great show at what now is the Connecticut Tennis Center Stadium in New Haven some time after this album came out in 1992. It starts simply with 'Three Hits" and quickly ramps up with the catchy "Galileo" before they sing about love lost in "Ghost." But the best trio of songs are in the middle with inventive efforts like "Jonas and Ezekial" and "Romeo and Juliet" sandwiching the beautiful "Love will come to you."
"I say love will come to you
Hoping just because I spoke the words that they're true
As if I offered up a crystal ball to look through
Where there's now one, there will be two."
There's more with easy-listening "Airplane," "Nashville" and "Let it be Me," before the Cedar Tree is built. "The best we ever had."
No. 26 - Get Your Wings - Aerosmith
I was just getting into album rock in the mid 70s and the first one I acquired from this Boston group was "Toys in the Attic" in 1975, but I went back and found a better one from the previous year. Reportedly the group wasn't pleased with their 1973 debut album "Aerosmith" and went to work on the second with a new producer (Jack Douglas). The songs largely came out of the band's work in an apartment on Beacon Street in Brookline, Mass. It starts with the sing-a-long "Same Old Song and Dance," the borderline inappropriate, rocking "Pandora's Box" and the Steven Tyler ballad "Seasons of Wither." The pulsating "Train Kept Rollin'" keeps it going, but the final two songs may be the best with "Spaced" and "Lord of Your Thighs."
"Spaced without a trace.
Waitin' for the word to arrive.
I'm the last man .. to ... survive."
I think it's Steven and Joe Perry's best effort.
No. 25 - Together Alone - Crowded House
Bob D'Aprile introduced me to this band from Australia and New Zealand in the late 1980s and I liked a lot of the songs on their first three albums. But the fourth in 1993 cemented my fandom with its Beatles-like sound, Neil Finn's top-flight voice and the catchy lyrics. It's opener "Kare Kare" gets the album off to a strong start and the rocking "In My Command" keeps it going with lead guitarist Nick Seymour taking a key role. Every song is good, but the album hits its peak on tracks six, seven, eight and 10. "Pineapple Head" is just a fun tune all around, "Locked Out" might be the most recognizable song from the album and "Private Universe" is just a beautiful piece of music. But my favorite is "Distant Sun" where Neil sings....
"And I'm lying on the table, washed out in a flood
Like a Christian feeling vengeance from above
I don't pretend to know what you want
But I offer love."
I saw the group at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater probably in late 2010 or early 2011, and they remain in my top 10 bands. They should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
No. 24 - Life's Too Short - Marshall Crenshaw
Heard this album for the first time in a car with Dan Gerstein on our way to Boston for a Red Sox game, and it grabbed me immediately. It was picked by Spin Magazine as one of the 30 most overlooked albums of 1991 with its hooks and "literate guitar pop." Crenshaw played John Lennon in Beatlemania before releasing 10 studio albums. This was No. 5. The first track "Better Back Off" is about a private conversation where one person is depressed and hating himself/herself while the other retorts "You're talking about someone I love." The catchy "Don't Disappear Now" follows, but No. 3 is one of my favorite non-singles of all time - "Fantastic Planet of Love," where the Michigan native sings. ...
"Come over and I'll be satisfied
It's only when I'm by your side
That I, ever dream of. ...
A fantastic planet of love."
So good. "Walkin' Around" is a really fun tune and "Starting Tomorrow" slows it down into the rocking "Everything's the Truth" - co-written by Jules Shear. It all ends with a hopeful goodbye song "Somewhere Down the Line."
"These blues will fade away, and I believe it's safe to say
"I'll still be yours, you'll still be mine
Somewhere down the line."
All 10 songs could be someone's favorite.
No. 23 - August And Everything After - Counting Crows
The debut album by the San Francisco band just flows so easily through 11 songs. Lead singer Adam Duritz either wrote or co-wrote all the tracks on this very well-reviewed piece of work. It opens with the best tune in my opinion - "Round Here" - which is best described as a look back on all the things we were told as kids that do not help us now.
"Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand
She said she'd like to meet a boy who looked like Elvis
And she walks along the edge, of where the ocean meets the land
Just like she's walking. ... on a wire. ... in the circus."
That's just some of the great lyrics in that masterpiece. The catchy "Omaha" comes next, followed by the biggest hit "Mr. Jones," which examines the desires of artists looking forward to what fame could bring them. Track six "Time and Time Again" is a nice sing-along tune before the rocking "Rain King" and smooth "Sullivan Street." It all ends with "A Murder of One" about the difficulty of life and relationships after having so many possibilities as a child. It's a terrific album.
No. 22 - The White Album - The Beatles
The album is technically called "The Beatles," but it is almost always called The White Album because of its cover art. It was the ninth studio album by the Fab Four and the only double, with 30 songs in all, that came out in 1968. A majority of the tunes were written while the band was at a Transcendental Meditation course in India and the sessions were the start of the eventual breakup with many disputes. Some critics bashed the album, but you can't discount the depth of great songs that came out of it. Side One is probably the best, starting with "Back in the USSR," where Paul McCartney sings. ..
"The Ukraine girls really knock me out, they leave the West behind.
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout,
That Georgia's always on my, my, my, my ... mind."
Beatles music was banned in Russia, but bootleg versions were very popular there. "Dear Prudence" and "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da" are sneaky good songs. But George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," is the best with Eric Clapton sitting in.
Side Two is highlighted by McCartney's beautiful "Blackbird" while "Birthday," Mother Nature's Son" and "Helter Skelter" are on Side three. "Revolution 1" leads Side four. A faster, better version of the tune came out as a single later. It's all just an iconic work of art.
No. 21 - Honky Chateau - Elton John
The first in the string of seven No. 1 albums by the great Reginald Dwight was released in 1972 and has a sort of jazzy, soulful, rock combination with Bernie Taupin's snappy lyrics. It was named after the 18th century chateau where it was recorded - "chateau d'Herouville." One of the two singles and the title track leads off with a sound that reminds of Dr. John. "Mellow" and "Susie" have a soulful feel before side one ends with the classic "Rocket Man."
"And I think it's gonna be a long, long time
'Til touchdown brings me 'round again to find
I'm not the man they think I am at home."
Three songs later "Amy" is a tune that grows on you, but "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters," is a masterpiece. It sounded so perfect in my all-time favorite movie "Almost Famous."
"While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, sons of bankers, sons of lawyers
Turn around and say good morning to the night
For unless they see the sky, but they can't and that is why
They know not if it's dark outside or light."
"Hercules" was supposed to be the third single, but instead, it rocks as the finale on an album that stands the test of time.
No. 20 - Taking the Long Way - Dixie Chicks
The first album in four years by the country-western threesome grew out of the controversy over lead singer Natalie Maines' comments made at the Bush Theatre in London during the Iraq War in 2003. What she actually said - with anti-war protests going on outside - was:
"Just so you know, we're on the good side with y'all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we're ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas."
Then, they played "Travelin' Soldier."
Sarah Palin made much worse comments about Barack Obama overseas a few years later, but nothing happened. The Dixie Chicks faced death threats, corporate backlash, lost fans and radio airplay, among other undo pressures.
The trio went to work with superstar producer Rick Rubin to put together a Grammy-winning album, featuring several songs that depicted their suffering. The process was filmed for a great movie called "Shut Up and Sing."
"The Long Way Around" opens the album with aplomb, speaking about not taking the easy road, but track 3 "Not Ready to Make Nice" is the big political statement where Natalie painfully sings.
"And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they write me a letter, saying that I better
Shut up and sing or my life will be over?!"
There are also the patented Chicks' beautiful harmonies on "Everybody Knows" and "Baby Hold On," a collaboration with Sheryl Crow on "Favorite Year," and Crowded House's Neil Finn co-writing the tremendous "Silent House." "Lubbock or Leave it" is a rocking tune about Maines' home town and the finale "I Hope" is like a church chorus. It is a historic album in many ways.
No. 19 - I'm With Stupid - Aimee Mann
The sarcastically funny title makes it worthy right away, but the Virginia native who started a music career in Boston filled her second studio album with several great songs. From what I hear, she was also a very friendly cashier at a music store near Northeastern.
"Long Shot" starts it with a bang, "Amateur" is a beautiful ballad, "All Over Now" speaks of a failed relationship, "That's Just What You Are" was first heard on Melrose Place and perhaps the best of them all closes it out - "It's Not Safe." In that track, she starts boldly with. words that resonate today ...
"All you want to do is something good
So get ready to be ridiculed and misunderstood
'Cause don't you know that you're a fucking freak in this world
In which everybody's willing to chose swine over pearls.
And maybe everything is all for nothing
Still you'd better keep it to yourself
'Cause God knows it's not not safe with anybody else."
There is also the witty "You're With Stupid Now" and "Frankenstein." There's a little more punch in this album than her first at No. 31.
No. 18 - All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2
Following the band's experimental phase, they got back to what made them special with this album in 2000. The Irish group's 10th studio album won seven Grammy Awards, taking Record of the Year in both 2001 (Beautiful Day) and 2002 (Walk On). The 11 songs are still diverse, but they work together nicely.
"Beautiful Day" is the definition of a powerful stadium song, "Stuck in the Moment You Can't Get Out Of," slows it down, "Elevation" lifts it up and the masterpiece "Walk On" is the high point. In Walk on, Bono sings. ..
"You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away, a singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom."
The song was written about imprisoned Burmese academic Aung San Suu Kyi, who fought for democracy in her country. It is probably one of my favorite 25 songs of all time.
"In A Little While" and "Wild Honey" are great little tunes, and "Peace on Earth" is a cry for help. If the last few songs were better, this album would be higher on the list. But it is still a standout work.
No. 17 - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
The Fab Four's eighth studio album was groundbreaking in so many ways, with the way it sounded, the imagery and the way it was illustrated and packaged in 1967. The songs were not too bad, either.
I don't own "Rubber Soul," "Revolver" or "Abbey Road," so this is No. 1 among my Beatles CDs. Sgt Pepper's is noted as a key work that pushed the industry into a concept album era. The title track concept with Billy Shears leads right into "With a little help from my friends." and John Lennon says that "Lucy in the sky with Diamonds" was about a picture his son Julian drew - not LSD.
"Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes."
"Getting Better" is an under-rated song on Side One. Side Two has some fun with "Lovely Rita" meter maid and "When I'm sixty-four," which I can still sing for a few more years at least. It all ends with the favorite Beatles song of many critics - "A Day in the Life." It's epic. Go on Youtube and watch Paul McCartney and Bono open the Live 8 concert with Sgt Pepper's. It's special.
No. 16 - Tapestry - Carole King
The great writer showed off her under-rated voice for an amazing collection of songs that became one of the best selling albums of all time. It was released in 1971 and won four Grammys, including Album of the Year in 1972.
James Taylor had urged King to sing her own songs and she included two that were already hits for other artists - "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" (The Shirelles) and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" (Aretha Franklin). Later, Taylor recorded "You've Got a Friend" and it won Song of the Year.
"I Feel the Earth Move" gets it all going with the pounding piano, "So Far Away" slows it down a bit and "It's Too Late" might be my favorite. King wrote the music and Toni Stern added the lyrics about the sad end of a relationship, as Carole sang. ...
"Still I'm glad for what we had, and how I once loved you"
Every song is a good one "You've Got a Friend" is one for the ages.
"When you're down, and troubled, and you need some lovin' care
And nothin', oh nothin' is going right
Close your eyes and think of me, and soon I will be there
To brighten up, even your darkest day."
Go on youtube and watch the Queen of Soul sing "Natural Woman" at the Kennedy Center honors, too. Special song, special writer, special singer.
No. 15 - On the Border - The Eagles
The band began recording their third studio album in London with producer Glyn Johns, but were not happy with how it sounded overall. They didn't like the stubborn producer's "echo" and the fact Johns did not feel they were a rock band. Glen Frey, especially, wanted the group to create more songs with a harder edge. So they hired Bill Szymczyk, who had produced Joe Walsh, and finished the album in Los Angeles. Guitarist Don Felder joined as the fifth member - playing on a few tracks, including the leadoff batter "Already Gone."
Don Henley's golden voice shines on "You Never Cry Like a Lover," Randy Meisner takes over lead vocals on "Midnight Flyer" and Bernie Leadon on "My Man" - a tribute to Gram Parsons. The under-rated title track, about the Watergate scandal, ends side one.
Side two is one of my favorites. "James Dean," which Henley and Frey co-wrote with Jackson Browne and JD Souther ("you were too fast to live, too young to die, bye, bye"), leads off and is followed by the amazing "Ol' 55" - written by Tom Waits.
"Well, my time went so quickly. I went lickety splitly, out to my Ol' 55.
As I pulled away slowly, feeling so holy
God knows, I was feeling alive."
Two songs later, "Good Day in Hell," was written partially about the music business. I often sing it to myself when someone asks how my day is going at work.
"Oh well, it's been a good day in Hell. Tomorrow, I'll be glory bound."
The beautiful "Best of My Love" - one of two Johns' contributions to survive - was a No 1 hit and is the album's caboose. There is another Eagles album a little better overall, but this one may be more raw and fun.
No. 14 - Port of Morrow - The Shins
You're saying "The Shins? Who?" I first heard a song by the band from New Mexico through Natalie Portman's headphones in the movie "Garden State." That tune - "New Slang" - was on the group's debut album. I took a shot when I saw its fourth album - the band's first since 2007 - on the shelves in 2012, and it only took one listen to love it. Three band members had left the group, although two came back to play on some tracks of Morrow with several other new musicians and the lead singer/co-producer James Mercer. The Shins may not be for everyone if you are not thrilled with Mercer's unique voice. But the songs are all so catchy.
"The Rifle's Spiral" starts with a pounding beat and lyrics that have a political edge before the album's single "Simple Song" marches at you as Mercer's love ode to his wife. It was used beautifully by the CBC or Sportsnet on the first night of the NHL playoffs one year. "It's Only Life" is about trying to rescue a friend from depression and 'Bait and Switch" is a wonderfully written tune about a man pulled into a relationship with a woman who is beautiful, but nuts. Mercer sings. ..
"I'm just a simple man, cursed with an honest heart
Watch her go and tear it all apart."
"September" `is a ballad about how Mercer met his wife and "No Way Down," picks it up to finish an an amazing first six tracks. Tracks seven and eight are likable enough, but I was floored by No. 9 "40 Mark Strasse." Strasse is a route near Ramstein Air Base in Germany where Mercer lived. It's about a German boy infatuated with a young girl in his school who he finds out is a teenage prostitute overnight.
"You had to know I wanted, something from you then
Too young to know just what it was, something more than a friend."
Check out the full lyrics. It's terrific, just like the album.
No. 13 - Look Sharp! - Joe Jackson
Joe toured with a cabaret band to make money to record his debut album, which he said was heavily influenced by reggae music. The Englishman wanted a live band sound to this album and he got it with a bunch of likable tunes.
It all starts with a bang as "One More Time," opens with a hard guitar sound and makes you jump right away. A slightly slower "Sunday Papers" follows up nicely and then comes his first big hit - a single man's anthem - "Is She Really Goin' Out With Him?" Joe sarcastically sings ...
"But if looks could kill, there's a man there who's marked down as dead.
'Cause I've had my fill.
Listen you, take your hands from her head
I get so mean, around this scene."
Me, too, Joe! There's more sarcasm with "Happy Loving Couples" and then "Throw it Away" rocks. The title track is another keeper as Joe sings. ..
"Tell me that this world is no place for the weak
Then you can look me in the eye and tell me if you see a trace of fear."
You can say it's an angry album, but it is very melodic too with songs like "Fools in Love." The rocking "Instant Mash" follows. Jackson said afterward he would have liked to produce the album a bit more, but I like it the way it is - raw, righteous and fun.
No. 12 - Automatic for the People - REM
The group went to work on this album during the publicity tour for "Out Of Time," hoping to produce some songs with a tougher edge. It didn't quite work out that way in the end, but what the Athens, Georgia band produced was outstanding. It's an album that flows together with unique songs, primarily about mourning and loss. Lead singer Michael Stipe said it references the 80s, song by song.
"Drive" leads off as an homage to David Essex's "Rock On." And after the catchy "Try Not To Breathe" and "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite," you get "Everybody Hurts," which reminds of Nazareth's "Love Hurts."
"Ignoreland" is a solid tune up second on Side two, but the final three songs are special. "Man on the Moon" is my favorite on the CD. Go see them perform it at Live 8 on youtube. Michel sings. ..
"If you believed they put a man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up his sleeve
Then nothing is cool."
"Nightswimming" is a melodic song about "being trapped in a sweet memory" and "Find a River" is the perfect finale, basically saying the best is yet to come. R.E.M's best was right here, though.
No. 11 - Breakfast in America - Supertramp
Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson set out to produce a concept album for the group's sixth, but it all fell apart and they ended up just putting together 10 fun songs. Good thing. It ended up being a masterpiece and the English group won two Grammys in 1980. Rolling Stone called the sound "post Beatles, keyboard-centered English art rock" and that pretty much clocks it, but the harmonies and production are wonderful as well. The album cover is iconic but the group stresses that, although a lot of album is about life in the U.S., it is not satire.
The electric piano on "Gone Hollywood" gets side one off to a good start as the song tells the story of a man who moves to LA in quest of stardom, but struggles for a long time until breaking through. "The Logical Song" was the biggest hit on the album and "Goodbye Stranger" was also high on the charts. The title track was a hit in England.
Leadoff on side two "Take the long way home" is my favorite on the CD. They sing. ..
"When you're on the stage, it's so unbelievable
Oh, unforgettable, how they adore you
But then your wife seems to think you're losing your sanity
Oh, calamity, is there no way out?"
Hodgson said the song was about self discovery. Two songs later "Just Another Nervous Wreck" examines similar issues of struggling through life. The album ends with the 7 1/2-minute "Child of Vision," which is a last look at perceptions of America and the relationship between Hodgson and Davies, who did not always get along.
"And you cannot make me listen, And I cannot make you hear
So you find your way to heaven
And I'll meet you when you're there."
All the songs sound just as relevant five decades later.
No. 10 - 2112 - Rush
The Canadian trio finished their tour for album No. 3 "Caress of Steel" and it did not go well. The record company was about to drop them in 1975. It wanted more commercial stuff, some hits. Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson audaciously spurned that idea and put out an album with one 20-minute song that had seven parts taking up Side One. Peart wrote a science fiction song about an authoritarian society controlling the thoughts of the public and banning music. It was a huge hit and the rest is history for the Hall of Fame band.
"2112" starts with the sound of a spaceship and hard-driving instrumentals, takes it up a notch with Temples of the Syrinx and then slows it down with discovery. The high priests reject the man presenting them with a guitar to make music with, but he is transported to a place where the great elders are plotting to come back and take over.
"I stand atop a spiral stair, an oracle confronts me there
He leads me on, light years away, through astral nights, galactic days
I see the works of gifted hands, grace this strange and wondrous land
I see the hand of man arise, with hungry mind and open eyes."
Lee's powerful, unique voice, Lifeson's under-rated lead guitar and the master on the drums makes this a classic work.
You know what? Side two ain't bad either. "Lessons" and the beautiful ballad "Tears" are the highlights.
This album meant a lot to me. I couldn't stop listening to it. It made me a fan of Rush and of progressive rock. They had 2112 on a juke box at a Brandon bar. I used to play it. Just 25 cents for 20 minutes! As Jack Black said "Rush is one of the bands with a deep reservoir of rocket sauce." It overflowed on this album.
No. 9 - Everything's Different Now - 'Til Tuesday
I told you we'd get back to Aimee Mann. In some ways, I'd like to put this third and final album by Mann's Boston band at No. 1 because it flows perfectly, it is lyrically spectacular and I could listen to it every day. Despite getting high marks from critics, their third and final album only made it as high as No. 124 on the Billboard charts. And, Aimee went solo.
The theme of the album, as USA Today described it, was "a touching meditation on the ebb and flow of love." The Chicago Tribune called it a "little masterpiece of melancholy." I just call it a great listen.
The title track comes at you right away with "you know just how I feel, you know when love is real, it changes the life that you're living." Then "Rip of Heaven" brings the end to a relationship: "So long and sorry, darling. I was counting to forever, and never even got to 10." Two songs later "J for Jules" is about Mann's breakup with producer Jules Shear. Then comes the single "(Believed you were) Lucky" where Aimee sings. ...
"There must be some other door, that they are saying, behind which my happiness lies.
I won't be wasting my words to tell you hopes that I had.
We can just leave it alone, for now."
"Limits to Love" is about a friend that skates through life. .."I'd say she's stupid, but it'd be untrue. Oh, you've got to be smart if you're fooling yourself."
"Long Gone (Buddy)" is just a fun tune before "The Other End of the Telescope," co-written by Elvis Costello. They write. ... "When you find me here at the end of my rope, When the head and heart of it finally elope. You can see us off in the distance, ,,, I hope."
"Crash and Burn" follows to end it all, sort of, before "How can you give up?" concludes 10 terrific songs.
No. 8 - Wildflowers - Tom Petty
Originally, this was supposed to be a double album with at least 25 songs. But it was pared down to 15 for release in late 1994. It is filled with unique tunes, 13 that TP wrote by himself and two others he co-wrote with bandmate Mike Campbell. It was ranked 12th for the 90s by Rolling Stone. The process was revealed in a 2021 documentary - "Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers." It is even more sad now after his death in 2017, because we could have had a few more of these fun, masterful albums from the Gainesville native.
The title track leads things off sweetly and it is followed by the pulsating first single "You Don't Know How it Feels" Two songs later is the rocking "You Wreck Me" and that is followed by my favorite on the album "It's Good to be King," where Tom sings. ... "Yeah, the world would swing, oh, if I were king. Can I help it if I dream time to time."
Another highlight lyrically is track 7 "Honey Bee," where TP sings. ...
"She like to call me king bee. She like to buzz 'round my tree.
I call her honey bee
I'm a man in a trance. I'm a boy in short pants. When I see my honey bee."
"To Find a Friend," is a nice sing-along-tune at 11, but the final two are classics.
"Crawling Back to You" is a close second on the CD, especially when Tom sings. .. "Hey baby, there's something in your eyes trying to say to me. That I'm gonna be alright if I believe in you. It's all I wanna do."
"Wake Up Time," is one of the best album finales. "And it's wake-up time. Time to open up your eyes. And rise. ... and shine." It's simple, fun and beautiful. Just like the entire album.
No. 7 - Frampton Comes Alive - Peter Frampton
The English musician didn't have much success with his first four studio albums and decided to record some live performances for his fifth. It was supposed to be one album, but it ended up as a double and perhaps the greatest live album of all time.
It was recorded at four places, including Winterland in San Francisco, a venue in San Rafael, Calif., the Long Island Arena and at SUNY Plattsburgh. It was the best selling album of 1976 and ranked first in Rolling Stone magazine's readers' poll for the year.
The first words are not from Frampton. "If ever there was a musician who was an honorary member of San Francisco society, Mr. Frampton," says Winterland GM Jerry Pompili, and the album starts with the riveting "Somethin's Happening." Next, Frampton tells the crowd ... "We'd like to get a little bit funky. .. this one's called Doobie ... Wah." What follows is an amazing version of a song which led his second album.
"Show Me the Way" comes next and became one of three top 15 singles from the live album. One of my favorite deep tracks from his debut album leads off side 2 - "All I Want to Be (Is By Your Side)" The beautiful "Baby, I Love Your Way" and the rocking "I Wanna Go to the Sun," also grace side two.
Side three is a bit of a break, although the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" gives it a little kick. The finale on the two-song side 4 is "Do You Feel Like We Do" with the famous talk-box. It is more than 14 minutes on the album and seven as a single.
This album aged well. It's a classic.
No. 6 - Get the Knack - The Knack
The Knack formed in the late 1970s and did not have much success shopping demos at first. So, they just started doing show after show in the Los Angeles area. Reportedly, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen hopped up on stage with them. Soon, several companies were battling over who would sign the band, and Capitol Records won. Their debut album was recorded in two weeks and cost an economical $18,000 to produce. It sold more one million copies in less than two months after being released in the summer of 1979, and spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
The group's image was very Beatlesque and the cover on the debut album imitates "Meet the Beatles!" The quick success produced a backlash from many critics, who called many of the songs sexist and even misogynistic, but others called them a "guilty pleasure." It is Beatles music with a little side dish of sex. Get over it snobs.
My wild musical take is that No. 1 hit "My Sharona" is not among the top five songs on the album. I stand by that. Nothing against the iconic song that was written by lead singer Doug Fieger about former girlfriend Sharona Alperin.
Side one starts with solid leadoff tune "Let Me Out," and follows with my second favorite song on the album "Your Number or Your Name," in which Fieger sings "I'll be waiting, 'til the end of time. With this burning, yearning in my heart and in my mind." One of the great sides in music history continues with the likable "Oh Tara," the fighting "(She's So) Selfish" where Fieger sang "Yes, you said she made your motor run. Now you know she'll never give you none. It's just me, me, me, me..." The ballad "Maybe Tonight" follows before the guiltiest of pleasures and one of my all-time favorites "Good Girls Don't."
"You're alone with her at last, and you're waiting 'til you think the time is right.
"Cause you've heard she's pretty fast, and you're hoping that she'll give you some tonight."
My Sharona leads side two, which includes solid tunes "Heartbeat," "Lucinda," "That's What the Little Girls Do" and "Frustrated."
The Knack could never match their debut with five more albums until Fieger's death in 2010 at 57 from cancer. But all they needed was one to be remembered forever.
No. 5 - Tusk - Fleetwood Mac
Lindsey Buckingham was adamant about not making "Rumours 2" after the blockbuster album in 1977, and was interested in the post-punk era with more experimental music. What that produced was a giant 20-song, double album of diverse music that brought out all of the super group's talents. It took 10 months and $1.4 million to release in late 1979, with eight songs from Buckingham, six from Christine McVie, five from Stevie Nicks and a combo platter for the title track. Buckingham described it as the sweetness of McVie and Nicks along with "me as a complete nutcase. That's what made us Fleetwood Mac."
McVie, who died in 2022, bats leadoff with "Over & Over" and produces one of the best with "Think About Me" in the third spot after Buckingham's "The Ledge," which was recorded at his home. Nicks' hit single "Sara" completes side one as she sings "In the sea of love, where everyone would love to drown."
Buckingham has three odd little tunes for side two along with "Storms" and "Sisters of the Moon" from Nicks. "Angel" leads off side three about Nicks' short-lived relationship with drummer Mick Fleetwood as she sings "So I close my eyes softly, 'Til I become that part of the wind. That we all long for sometime." The hard-driving "I Know I'm Not Wrong." from Buckingham ends the side.
One of my favorite simple deep tracks from McVie "Honey Hi" - basically about good times - leads side 4. Perhaps Buckingham's best on the album "Walk the Thin Line" follows two songs later before the title track, which includes the USC Trojan marching band. "Tusk" is basically a fight between a couple about being unfaithful. "Never Forget" ends the 20 songs simply and beautifully. "Rumours," which I used to own on vinyl, was great. But "Tusk" should never be forgotten.
No. 4 - Exile in Guyville - Liz Phair
Phair was adopted at birth in New Haven, and eventually ended up in the Chicago area where her father was a doctor and her mother a professor. She was in San Francisco for a year before moving back in with her parents to begin writing and recording songs, calling them Girly Sound. She became part of the Chicago alternative music scene in the early 1990s and was recognized by Matador Records. Such was the birth of Exile in Guyville, which was picked as the No. 1 album of 1993 by Spin Magazine critics. It was also listed No. 56 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Phair has said Exile was a song-by-song retort to the Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street," but she has never really explained that in detail. I noticed the critical acclaim of the unique album and bought it without hearing a song. It blew me away. The album is raw, honest, punk, melodic and, at times, sexually-explicit lyrically. It is Girly Sound with the punch to the you know where.
Rolling Stone rock critic Alan Light said of Phair "she showed that there was a place in music for women who are smart but messy, confident but insecure, and that's where her legacy lives on. She wasn't a good girl or a bad girl. She was just a girl - a girl you knew so well, but somehow had never heard from before."
"6'1" leads off the album beautifully with Phair's deadpan vocals and Brad Wood's stripped down production. Then, Phair writes "Help Me Mary" about living with men. She sings "I lock my door at night. I keep my mouth shut tight" and "help me Mary, please. Temper my hatred with peace. Weave my disgust into fame. And watch how fast they run to the flame." Terrific. The short, sweet, acoustic "Glory" follows.
"Never Said" at No. 5 was a single and wonderfully simple lyrically. She performed it on Letterman, singing "So don't look at me sideways. Don't even look me straight on. And don't look at my hands in my pockets, baby. I ain't done anything wrong."
Every song has a little hook. No. 9 out of 18 "Mesmerizing" is catchy and she writes about a young woman who wants a boyfriend, but continually wakes up regretful after one-night stands in "Fuck and Run." Two songs later is probably the best written tune - "Divorce Song" - where she sings, "And the license said you had to stick around until I was dead. But if you're tired of looking at my face, I guess I already am. But you've never been a waste of my time. It's never been a drag. So take a deep breath and count back from 10. And maybe you'll be alright."
Yes, song No. 13 "Flower" is controversial with its porn lyrics about a young woman's obsession, but it is just part of the honest platter. Many also like No. 17 "Stratford-On-Guy" where she sings, "It took a hour, maybe a day. But once I really listened the noise fell away."
Phair produced some songs that could fit Exile later on, but never a full album. I don't think she sold out at all. She followed up with some great, different albums. Exile should stand alone. Take that Mick and Keith.
No. 3 - Hotel California - The Eagles
The greatest American band went all out for its fifth studio album. Don Henley said it was a concept album about many things - loss of innocence, the cost of naivete, the perils of excess and basically "an exploration of the dark underbelly of the American dream." The album cover shows the Beverly Hills Hotel. California has a mythology to it and that is all part of the album's story. Some saw what they said were satanic images on the cover, but Glen Frey and Henley deny it. They did want to move more to straight rock and roll, rather than country rock, and achieved it.
The title track, which won a Grammy for Record of the Year, has a lot of mythology to it but Henley says it's simple. It's about the move from innocence to experience. Nothing more. Joe Walsh, in his first album with the group - replacing Bernie Leadon - and Don Felder add that amazing double guitar solo to end the classic after Henley sings, "Last thing I remember, I was running for the door. I had to find the passage back, to the place I was before. 'Relax' said the night man. 'We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like. But you can never leave.'"
The beautiful "New Kid in Town" follows the title track and matched it as a No. 1 hit. The song is about the "fleeting nature of fame" and love. It won a Grammy for best voice arrangement.
Walsh's riff starts "Life in the Fast Lane," but Frey wrote it after a conversation with his drug dealer in a high-speed drive through LA while "holding." It went something like this. Frey: "Hey, slow down, man." Drug dealer: "Life in the fast lane, baby. Life in the fast lane." Bingo. Hit.
The ballad "Wasted Time" ends side one. It is one of my favorite deep tracks. Henley sings about the aftermath of a breakup, "So you can get on with your search, baby. And I can get on with mine. Maybe someday we will find. ... That it wasn't really wasted time."
Felder wanted to sing a song on the album, but his vocals were not up to band standards and Henley took over on the rocking "Victim of Love." Walsh co-wrote and sings the gorgeous "Pretty Maid All in a Row" next about the destruction of fame. "Why do we give up our hearts to the past? And why must we grow up so fast?"
Randy Meisner wrote and sings the melodic "Try and Love Again," and Henley's "The Last Resort" is the perfect finale. The song examines the habit of society squandering paradise and the environment. It is why Henley got so involved in the Walden Woods Project.
This album is a lot of things. As Walsh said of all the great ideas that were in the air those days, "I'm just glad Bill Szymczyk pressed record." We are, too.
No. 2 - Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
You thought this was No. 1, didn't you? Honestly, the top three were interchangeable. The Boss was under a little pressure for his third studio album even though the first two were well received. Producer Jon Landau and engineer Jimmy Iovine worked with Bruce while Roy Bitton and Max Weinberg joined the E Street Band. The finished product in 1975 was an album for the ages - freedom and love, happiness and hardship, cars and girls, redemption, small-town stories, the mean streets of the city. It had everything in eight songs. Rolling Stone ranked it 18th best of all time and the Library of Congress included it in the National Recording Registry for its "cultural, aesthetic and historic" significance.
It all started with one of the great verses of all time in "Thunder Road."
"The screen door slams. Mary's dress waves.
Like a vision, she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely. Hey, that's me, and I want you only.
Don't turn me home again, I just can't face myself alone again."
Yeah, the Boss annoyed a few women with the line "you ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright." LOL, but it is one of the best-written songs in the history of music. "Roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair. Well, the night's busting open. These two lanes will take us anywhere."
The rollicking "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" follows before the under-rated "Night." But side one ends with another classic in "Backstreets," a staple at his three-hour concerts.
The title track leads side two as Bruce sings "Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness. I'll love you with all the madness in my soul." Another under-rated classic "She's the One" is a little breather before Bruce the storyteller sings the ballad "Meeting Across the River," as a man trying to make things happen in the city for him and his girl. "And tonight's gonna be everything that I said. And when I walk through that door, I'm just gonna throw that money on the bed. She'll see this time I wasn't talking. Then I'm gonna go out walking."
The finale "Jungleland" is another song about the city's underbelly that includes a virtuoso saxophone solo from the Big Man Clarence Clemons. It's hard to pick the best lines in the classic. They're all amazing, but "Man, there's an opera out on the turnpike. There's a ballet being fought out in the alley" is one for the history books.
This iconic work of art took more than a year to record. It was well worth the wait and sounds even better almost a half century later.
No. 1 - My Aim is True - Elvis Costello
Declan MacManus played clubs in Liverpool and London in the early 1970s with some success, but it took until midway through the decade for him to begin making real progress when he performed as D.P. Costello. The Englishman was urged to change his first name to Elvis and the current 69-year-old can look back on quite a diverse career. But that first album, produced by Nick Lowe and released in 1977, was something special. A band named Clover backs Elvis on the album, but was not credited for contractual reasons.
Costello's debut was part punk, new wave, rockabilly, straight rock and pop with sometimes angry, political, sympathetic and satirical lyrics. Every song has hooks. As one critic put it "it's rough edged and bluesy." Another said the lyrics are about "revenge and guilt." A biographer called the theme of the album, "the unaccommodating nature of the world." You wanted something happy? Nah. As Richard Ashcroft of The Verve sang, "It's a bittersweet symphony. That's life."
The album opener is a classic, 82-second song. "Welcome to My Working Week" is about the ruthlessness of business as Elvis sings "Now that your picture's in the paper being rhythmically admired, and you can have anyone that you have ever desired, all you gotta tell me now is why, why, why?"
Next up is "Miracle Man," an honest song about relationships in society and "No Dancing," where Elvis examines a submissive man. "Blame it on Cain" speaks of government burglars blaming it on someone else. Cain is supposed to be a reference to the "originator of evil" in the bible.
Then comes the ballad "Alison," one of my favorite songs of all time. No doubt Alison's with one L are always trouble. This one let his little friend take off her party dress. But all kidding aside, Elvis is sympathetic to Alison in the song, because she is stuck with a lesser man.
"Sometimes I wish that I could stop you from talking, when I hear the silly things that you say
I think somebody better put out the big light. 'Cause I can't stand to see you this way."
"Sneaky Feelings" about unfaithfulness follows and, on the US release, "Watching the Detectives" ends side one. It's about a girl watching the news of a missing person, but being more interested in the cute detectives. "She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake."
"The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes" is a kickass name for a song and is a so-called harder take on Alison to open side two. Political songs "Less than Zero" and "Pay it Back" sandwich a straight, 50s style rocker "Mystery Dance" after "Red Shoes." Side one definitely has the edge, but "Waiting for the end of the World" is an unhappy conclusion of doom. There was some happy songs to Pump it Up in the future for Elvis, though.'
I could have been boring and gone with Born to Run, Hotel California or even shocked with Exile. But this one had a special place in my heart. Elvis' aim was true.
