Funky Thoughts

100 Greatest Albums?

2009-09-23T11:57:00.002-05:00

I normally say the British overall have better taste in music than Americans, but take a look at this list of the top 20.

THE 100 GREATEST ALBUMS (TOP 20)

RADIOHEAD - OK Computer
U2 - The Joshua Tree
NIRVANA - Nevermind
MICHAEL JACKSON - Thriller
PINK FLOYD - Dark Side of the Moon
OASIS - Definitely Maybe
THE BEATLES - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
MADONNA - Like a Prayer
GUNS N' ROSES - Appetite For Destruction
THE BEATLES - Revolver
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
THE BEATLES - The White Album
QUEEN - A Night at the Opera
COLDPLAY - Parachutes
OASIS - (What's the Story) Morning Glory
ALANIS MORISSETTE - Jagged Little Pill
LED ZEPPELIN - Led Zeppelin IV
THE VERVE - Urban Hymns
JIMI HENDRIX - Are you Experienced
THE SMITHS - The Queen Is Dead

Really? John Lennon's Imagine was just left off the top 20, coming in at 21. Radiohead's OK Computer is the number one album of all time? Nevermind by Nirvana does not deserve to be on a list of top 100 albums if you go by quality of music. Sure it pushed grunge into the mainstream in 1991, but In Utero is a much better album.

I guess it's nice The Beatles were listed three times in the top 20, but the highest is number seven with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band even though I would probably put Revolver at number one. So many people praise The Beatles (White Album), though like most double albums it is inconsistent and does not flow well. Compare it to Use Your Illusion I & II (Guns N' Roses), Stadium Arcadium (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Smashing Pumpkins). Quantity does not equal quality.

Although I'm not a fan of The Joshua Tree, it does deserve a top 20 spot, though Achtung Baby is the premier U2 album, War is my personal favorite. Coldplay does not belong in the top 20, neither do Alanis Morissette or The Verve. There is no David Bowie. No Rolling Stones? I'm not even touching Madonna being above Queen. That's just sad!

LINK TO 100 GREATEST ALBUMS

Top 10 Rock Vocalists

2009-09-04T17:07:00.004-05:00

10. Liam Gallagher
Oasis

09. Kevin Max
dc talk/solo

08. Paul McCartney
The Beatles

07. John Lennon
The Beatles

06. Billy Corgan
Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan

05. David Bowie

04. Robert Smith
The Cure

03. Bruce Dickinson
Iron Maiden (1981–1993, 1999–present)

02. Axl Rose
Guns N' Roses

01. Freddie Mercury
Queen

Dirk Wears White Sox

2009-07-30T22:03:00.003-05:00

A song I definitely feel should have been on the debut from Adam and the Ants, Dirk Wears White Sox (1979).

DIRK WEARS WHITE SOX

If you have a social problem
Prospects of success are slim
We just hope that you will telephone
Say: "hello, is Heinrich in?"
We will send our representatives
Don’t be frightened when they call around
For they are all men of action
They will kick your front door down

You gotta concentrate on camp
In a concentration camp
All dressed up like a vamp
In a concentration camp

We get rid of foolish people
Brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts
Close relations and nosy neighbours
Cats and dogs and household plants
So come along we'll b-b-be d-d-delighted
You can get a uniform for free
Shiny boots, soft black leather
Oh, how proud your mum will be

You gotta concentrate on camp
In a concentration camp
All dressed up like a vamp
In a concentration camp

Do what you wanna do
Say what you wanna say
Lock ‘em up in a prison
Throw the key away
Now the ones who laugh at you
Thought you were a clown
Gambled fate against your hate
Throw them on the ground
We’ll go to a Berlin nightclub
All the acts are so risqué
Many people have a motto
Boy tomorrow, girl today
Now’s the time to leave your wardrobe
Just forget your social bent
Bring it all out in the open
We can use your decadence

You gotta concentrate on camp
In a concentration camp
Auschwitz the blood lay there
In a concentration camp

1995 in Music

2007-12-12T11:43:00.000-06:00

To follow example of my 1991 in music blog, this is the one for 1995, another great year. The following is a list of a few of my favorite albums from the year.

Soup by Blind Melon (Shannon Hoon's last album with the band, he would die 19 days after the release)

(What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis (What can be said that hasn't already been said about the number three best selling album of all time in the UK?)

Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt (This album is just a great listen start to finish. Not a lot of albums are without fillers)

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by Smashing Pumpkins (Many times named the best album of 1995 and a defining album of the 90s, Mellon Collie has been compared to Pink Floyd's The Wall and has even been said to be Generation X's version of The Wall)

Made in Heaven by Queen (Last studio album to feature Freddie Mercury on vocals, though they were recorded at various times throughout the 80s and until Freddie's death in November of 1991. A great send off to the greatest frontman of all time)

Jesus Freak by dc Talk (A Christian album that charted on Billboard and went double platinum definitely deserves a mention on a best of 1995 list. This is the album where dc Talk almost completely dropped their hip hop style and created an album often considered the best Christian Rock album of all time)

U2's "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" also gets an honorable mention for being a great song, but not being released on an album apart from the Batman Forever soundtrack.

1991 in Music

2007-12-01T06:54:00.000-06:00

I think 1991 is one of the best--and possibly the best--years in music. Some of the best albums were released in 1991.

Innuendo by Queen (possibly their best album after they started using synthesizers)

Ten by Pearl Jam (every track is a classic)

Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers (another classic album)

Achtung Baby by U2 (one of U2's greatest and only sometimes put behind The Joshua Tree)

Nevermind by Nirvana (the breakthrough of grunge into the mainstream)

Use Your Illusion I & II by Guns N' Roses (30 songs released, 26 were almost perfect)

I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but these are my favorites from the year.

Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon - Devendra Banhart

2007-11-29T11:29:00.000-06:00

After listening to Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon by Devandra Banhart once, I think it's going to take Sebastian Bach's place in my top 10 albums of 2007. It's folkish, but it's very melodic and not boring unlike some of the other bands that are currently doing folk such as Bright Eyes. Everyone tells me how great Bright Eyes is and I just don't buy it. They put me to sleep.

I had never even heard of Banhart before Tuesday night. I came home around 12:30 AM and Conan O'Brien's show was close to being over. His musical act happened to be Devendra Banhart. I never caught the name of who his guest was, but I went to TV Guide's website and looked up the listings grid and found Conan O'Brien and looked at the show info and it said "Devendra Banhart". I wasn't positive it was him, so I looked him up on the greatest website ever created (that's right...Wikipedia) and there was a picture of him on the side and I knew immediately it was him.

Definitely an album worth buying.

Well-known flannel wearers

2007-11-10T21:19:00.000-06:00

* Filmmaker George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars saga.
* Neil Young, guitar player, singer and songwriter
* Kurt Cobain, lead singer and guitarist from Nirvana.
* Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam
* Grunge/Metal band Alice in Chains
* Mick Foley in the persona of Cactus Jack, a WWF/WWE hardcore wrestler who wears red flannel as part as ring attire
* Rory Gallagher, the Irish-born blues guitarist.
* Duane Allman, guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band.
* Mike Watt, bassist for The Minutemen, Firehose, The Stooges, and various other bands.
* Phil Anselmo, in a handful of early-to-mid 90's promo photos with Pantera, Anselmo was photographed wearing flannel shirts.
* John Linnell, lead singer of They Might Be Giants.
* Larry The Cable Guy, American stand up comedian and actor.