We have now reached the top twenty. This is the part of any "top" list where things can get a little boring because the majority of the albums or at least artists will be more predictable. There could still be some surprises but the remaining albums won't be a shock to many, especially if you know my musical tastes. The interest now is more around which album is selected from which artist and where they rank on the list.
I'll be taking Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off so we'll jump from December 23rd to December 26th. I probably should have timed this better and started the list in January so I wouldn't run into Thanksgiving and Christmas and there would be something to get us through the doldrums of winter. But that would require thinking ahead. Not my strong suit. Oh well, too late to turn back now. On to number 20!
#20
(What's The Story) Morning Glory?
Oasis
Runner-Up: Definitely Maybe
Similar to Fleetwood Mac, who found a way to put out quality work despite occasionally hating each other, we come to Oasis. The Gallagher brothers, Noel and Liam, who make up the core of the band have picked fights with everyone from Blur to Jay-Z but they generally save most of their vitriol for one another. But through the internal bickering and the external rivalries, the group somehow managed to put out some great albums. The most notable to me, and probably millions of others, is 1995's (What's The Story) Morning Glory?
The twelve track album is anchored by the extremely well known tracks "Wonderwall", "Don't Look Back in Anger", "Some Might Say" and the finale "Champagne Supernova" but lesser known tracks like "Roll With It" and "She's Electric" make the whole album worth the 50 minute listen.
My sister is six years older than me which means that we only overlapped going to school in the same building for one year when I was a sixth grader and she was a senior. So for one year she had the (literally) thankless task of shuttling me to and from school. Those twenty six minutes round trip in the car kept me further acclimated to a broader mix of music. The albums that I remember hearing the most in the car were The Cranberries's Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?, Alanis Morrisette's Jagged Little Pill (covered already with album number 60), No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom and Morning Glory from Oasis. The thirteen minute drive to school meant that if we started this Oasis album from the beginning we'd be pulling into the parking lot as "Wonderwall" had faded away and "Don't Look Back in Anger" was playing. I was grateful for the distracting sounds of that album as it gave me something else to think about other than general middle school anxiety. I'm also grateful for those car rides with my sister before she moved away to college.
The album has been durable over the years and it seems like "Wonderwall" is the song that will emerge from the album as the most well known, and for good reason. Gallagher's voice is slightly pained and vulnerable and the guitar strum at the beginning is iconic as it has been replicated in countless coffee shops and bars. Any time a song reaches that level of success, it can start to dampen the impact of the song because it's been heard so many times. But I've found that even if I let it sit for only a few months and come back to it, the song feels fresh. That goes for the overall album as well.
I'm sure a lot of the fire and combativeness that caused the conflict in Oasis was also a driving force in their creativity. It's just unfortunate that the band couldn't get out of its own way and the carousel of group members coupled with the brothers' fighting was too much for the group to overcome. I'd like to think that maybe they had another masterpiece album in them but, even if they did, album number 20 was going to be hard to top.
#19
Californication
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Runner-Up: Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Bronze Medal: Stadium Arcadium
I want to lead this off by stating upfront that it will never not be weird that RHCP drummer Chad Smith is the doppelganger of Will Ferrell. It's bothered me since I saw the video for "By The Way" but at least the two acknowledge it now. Glad I got that off my chest.
On to talking about the actual album by the band that has sneakily endured for 36 years with their first album debuting the same year I was born. It's natural and expected that a band with that longevity is going to release albums that vary in quality and the Chili Peppers are no exception over their 11 album catalogue. 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik was released when I was seven but I the gargantuan success of the single "Under The Bridge" ensured that I would hear it on the radio for years to come, so I was aware of the band. I completely missed 1995's One Hot Minute which seems for the best because listening to the album today, it does nothing for me which could be attributed to the band replacing original guitarist John Frusciante with Dave Navarro. Frusciante would take his role back from Navarro for 1999's Californication album but by that point it had been eight years since the last successful album.
Whether it was Frusciante's return or just a build-up of creative material over the lay-off, Californication put the band back on the map in a big way. It's still a rock album but the sound is softer and slightly more subdued than prior albums. That's encapsulated perfectly in "Scar Tissue", which was inescapable on the radio in 1999 and 2000, in which the guitar work actually sounds like an emotion through use of the guitar slide solo. It's a perfect blend of Kieldis's voice and superb guitar work from both Flea and Frusciante. Radio hits "Otherside", "Californication" (the music video was a video game I would still play) and "Around The World" (I still don't know if he's speaking mandarin or scat at the end of the song but sounds a little problematic if it's the latter) helped to fuel the album's success. But the entirety of the album is what's impressive from "Parallel Universe" to "Emit Remmus" to "The Velvet Glove" to the closing "Road Trippin'".
I sadly was never able to purchase this album. I got ever so close but at the last minute my sister, who had long been my musical ally, took a surprise heel turn and informed my mom about the play on words in the album's title. So in return, I tied up the family's phone line using dial-up to download the full album instead.
The Chili Peppers would follow up this album with two solid releases of By The Way ("By The Way", "The Zephyr Song") and the double album Stadium Arcadium ("Tell Me Baby", "Dani California", "Snow (Hey Oh)") and they're still putting albums with the occasional great single (e.g. "Dark Necessities"). Kudos to the band for finding a way to stay relevant in the music world and even culturally where bassist Flea has put together a solid filmography over the years including Back To The Future II & III, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Big Lebowski. But all the movie bit parts in the world won't top the band's best album Californication which comes in at number 19.
#18
Promises
The Boxer Rebellion
Runner-Up: The Cold Still
Bronze Medal: Ocean By Ocean
The 2010 movie Going The Distance was a largely forgettable romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long that made an impact on me for a couple reasons. The first was that the most entertainment the movie provided was through the natural and comedic interaction of Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day as Justin Long's friends. I can't say for sure but that had to have helped to at least pave the way to both of them starring together a year later in Horrible Bosses along with the equally delightful Jason Bateman.
The second was that it was my first exposure to the band The Boxer Rebellion, who play the band that Justin Long ends the movie managing as the fulfillment of his career aspirations. I think. Again, forgettable movie. The band performs "If You Run" which isn't their best work but I did enjoy it enough to give their broader work a chance. I listened to their most recent album at the time which was 2009's Union. I mildly enjoyed it but my feeling as the album concluded was that the band wasn't for me. A little too melancholy and mellow for my liking at the time. But now the band was at least on my radar for future releases.
Their next album, The Cold Still, came out one year later and was a big step up in quality. The sound was more driven and the drums were more prevalent which helped to balance out the pained but amazing voice of Tennessee native Nathan Nicholson. The whole album impressed me but particularly "Step Out of the Car", "Organ Song" (the best individual song they've recorded in my opinion) and "Memo" as well as live versions of two of my favorite songs off the prior album, "The Gospel of Goro Adachi" and "Evacuate". Now I was really looking forward to what the band would release next and two years later, I wouldn't be disappointed.
Promises took the adjustments made on The Cold Still and carried them even further. The most noticeable change is the prominent use of pounding, almost tribal drums to great effect, most noticeably in tracks like "Fragile", "Always" or "New York" where what starts as a slow paced love letter turns into a full blown drum circle halfway through. The leadoff track "Diamonds" will also have your foot tapping which has not been a characteristic of this band's work.
The overall sound of the album is larger and part of that is a testament to a change in producers. The Cold Still was produced by Ethan Johns who was responsible for superb Kings of Leon albums Aha Shake Heartbreak and Because Of The Times. That kind of sound must appeal to Western European natives because both Kings of Leon and The Boxer Rebellion reached fame in the UK and Europe much earlier than in the US. And both are fronted by singers from Tennessee. Could just be a coincidence. Like all bad-ass secret agents have J.B. as their initials (Jason Bourne, James Bond, Jack Bauer).
For Promises, the band turned to Billy Bush (not that Billy Bush) who produced the song "Helena Beat" for Foster The People (big drums there too) and the number 58 album from Grizfolk Waking Up The Giants. The room-filling sound and oversized drum beats are clear to hear Bush's common theme in style and I think it suits The Boxer Rebellion well. The downside is, similar to Waking Up The Giants, there isn't a great deal of variance among the songs on the album but, if you enjoy the sound like I do, then that's more of a blessing than a downside. My only complaint is that Nicholson's falsetto voice can reach high levels for longer durations than I'd like (e.g. "Take Me Back") but that's a very small nit in what is overall a great album. The follow-up album Ocean by Ocean would be more of the same but to lesser effect. It will be interesting to see if the band can evolve further or if they're reached the end of the road creatively.
There's so much to like about the number 18 album especially "Diamonds", "Low", "New York" ("I don't believe the things I say about us when I'm drunk" is such a raw and effective lyric), "Safe House" and "Promises". Realistically it's the best work that the band will do and their success is an odd legacy for a middle-of-the-road romantic comedy. Other than the undeniable bromance chemistry of Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day that is.
#17
Audioslave
Audioslave
Runner-Up: Out of Exile
Given that Rage Against The Machine already has an entry on this list inside the top 50, it's clear that I already have an affinity for Tom Morello's guitar work. If I have a complaint against Rage albums it's that they don't really lend themselves to easier listening around the house. I get it that the name of the band has "rage" in it so it's just going to lean toward a harder sound and they did it superbly well. But the occasional change of pace to something a little mellower would have been interesting.
That's what made me excited when I heard that the member of Rage Against the Machine sans lead singer Zack de la Rocha would be joining up with singer Chris Cornell, formerly of Soundgarden for a project titled Audioslave. We can all acknowledge that it's a bland name for a rock band but you could call pizza "flat saucebread" and it wouldn't change how great it tastes so let's just ignore the shortcomings of the band name. Musical expectations were high when Audioslave's first album debuted in 2002. Expectations were exceeded.
The blend of the Rage members, most notably Morello, pairs well with Cornell's voice. It's true that without de la Rocha's voice, the edge is taken off a bit from many of the songs but there's still more than enough power in the band's underlaying sound as evidenced by songs like "Cochise", "Show Me How To Live", and "What You Are". But it's the slightly subdued songs that are what separates the album into rare air. Tracks like "I Am The Highway" and, my favorite from the band "Like A Stone" allow Cornell's voice and Morello's guitar, the two strengths of the band, to really stand out. That guitar work in the bridge of "Like A Stone" by Morello will never get old.
Start to finish, the self-titled debut from the group Audioslave was the best product of the three albums the band released. I enjoyed the follow-up Out of Exile especially "Be Yourself" and "Your Time Has Come" but Audioslave was always going to be difficult to top and the band never did.
It was such a shame to lose Cornell a few years ago. He had one of the best voices in rock that spanned across Soundgarden, Audioslave and some solid solo work ("Scream", "Can't Change Me", "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart") but I really believe he had more stellar work to come. We'll never know now. At least we have these three albums from such a unique mix of talent, the best of which comes in at number 17 on the list.
#16
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
Runner-Up: Zombies On Broadway
Bronze Medal: Upside Down Flowers
Following the success and dissolution of his prior bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin, Andrew McMahon started anew with another band/project, Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness. The title was more personalized and that's appropriate. McMahon has never shied away from using his personal life as motivation for lyrics and that's led to fans feeling like they have more of an intimate relationship with him than the standard artist. And through three albums, McMahon has not deviated from using his personal life as the driving inspiration behind his music.
My wife and I both love all three of the bands with which he's been involved. His lyrics have always reflected what was going on in his personal life and, to a large extent, those personal events lined up largely with what his fans were experiencing in their own lives. With Something Corporate we were late teenagers/early twentysomethings with angst and melodramatic relationship problems. With Jack's Mannequin, we were coming into full adulthood and facing all the problems that came with it including navigating deeper relationships and dealing with real hardship as McMahon did when he faced cancer. Now with AMITW (even writing the acronym takes awhile) he's writing about marriage, parenthood, and looking back at his earlier life with some perspective. True that virtually none of his fans can relate to songs like "Teenage Rock Stars" since it recounts his life as a not yet twentysomething touring the world but it's his vulnerability and the way he makes us feel like an integral part of his career (and in a way we were) that makes us feel included and keeps us coming back.
It's funny that he and Taylor Swift reached fame at roughly the same age of 18 and have continued making music with a personal skew to the lyrics. Obviously Swift's fame has crested at a higher point and that was probably always inevitable given her status as a pop star and celebrity. But McMahon has avoided the same level of recognition and fame and I think part of that has to do with his decision to start and leave bands when he wants to move in a different direction. When Taylor Swift wants to do something different musically or even just releases an album, there are expectations about how it should sound and what it should be about. If McMahon had just been releasing albums under his own name since 2000, he would likely be more recognizable but I think those same expectations that artists like Swift face would be present too. This has allowed him more creative flexibility and he still has plenty of recognition and opportunity.
His piano work has always been a foundation of whatever band he's headlined and that's no exception on the self-titled Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness. "Cecilia And The Satellite" is the most well-known single but "High Dive", "Canyon Moon", "All Our Lives", "Halls" and "Black and White Movies" could have all been standalone singles. That's not to say that the album is perfect. "See Her On The Weekend" is so lyrically simple that it feels like he was fishing desperately for literally anything to write about (he only saw his pregnant wife on weekends while writing the album).
The last time my wife and I saw him in concert was in February 2019 and, as always, it was a great show as he was able to weave the work of his three solo albums with occasional cuts from Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin. What struck us about the show was that, other than her two brothers, we didn't know anyone else going to the show. Within two minutes of arriving we met two of our friends and then ran into eight other people. Clearly McMahon has a strong pull on our generation but he's not an artist that I talk about often with others. Given the attendance of the show that night, I guess that I should.
The follow-up albums to this debut have been solid as well. I prefer Zombies On Broadway to the somewhat inconsistent Upside Down Flowers. I'll always be interested in what he's up to next but this album is one of the best works he's released. The extended version on Spotify with the piano-centric versions of "High Dive" and "Halls" are also worth the listen. Enjoy the piano and McMahon's voice on the number 16 album.
#15
Futures
Jimmy Eat World
Runner-Up: Chase This Light
Bronze Medal: Bleed American
Honorable Mention: Invented
It was a surprisingly difficult decision selecting which album to include on the list from a band whose members were so unconfident in its own talent that at one point they wouldn't even quit their day jobs even after being signed to a major label. Most listeners who are my age cut their teeth on Jimmy Eat World via their incredibly popular 2001 album Bleed American, which was supported by the smash single "The Middle" (probably the band's best known song), "A Praise Chorus", "Sweetness", "Hear You Me", "The Authority Song" and, my personal favorite, "Get It Faster" (how can you not enjoy singing along when the non-sensical chorus of "ah ah ah" crashes in halfway through the song?). The songs were a little emo, a little simplistic and incredibly appealing. Some critics seemed to focus onto only those first two points as the straightforward lyrics and song structure were derided as childish fare. I never understood that argument. If music like this was and is so simple to make then why isn't it produced ad nauseum? It still takes skill and craft to hone an album like this. And if Jimmy Eat World had disbanded after this album, then Bleed American would have taken the spot on this list.
But it's their follow-up, Futures, that comes in at the number 15 spot. The overall sound of the album is improved from Bleed American and their debut album Clarity. I don't know if that's due to enhanced production, better song structure, or just an increase in ability from the band members. The band is still putting the "emo" in emotion in many of the album's tracks but it feels more grown-up in tone and in lyrics. Grown-up is a relative description. Bleed American focused on outlooks and problems to which many high schoolers, including me, could relate. In the incredibly high school-centric Something Corporate song "Konstantine", Andrew McMahon even references the band in the line "It's to Jimmy Eat World and those night in my car". But Futures tries to tackle the problems of the young adult which is most obviously heard in the bookends of the album, "Futures" and the closing seven minute track "23".
The title track "Futures" as the lead-off song is such a strong start and it sets the tone early in terms of what the album will be covering lyrically as well as the larger sound of the songs from prior albums. "Just Tonight", "Work", "Kill", "The World You Love" and "Pain" make for a first half of the album that is hard to beat and, understandably, the band in fact that can't beat it. The second half of the album is still an enjoyable listen and the coda "23" is one of their best songs but after the scorching first half, there was really no where to go but down. "Kill" is the best song on the album in my opinion. The song is split into the gentle wave building through the pleasant guitar strumming and melodious voice of lead singer Jim Adkins before the crashing, swelling crescendo of each chorus. It's one of the best songs of all time to turn up in the car.
While I consider Futures to be the band's best album, it can sit a little heavy compared to other albums in the band's twenty year discography. When I'm looking for something lighter or more upbeat I primarily turn to Chase This Light. Through songs like "Big Casino", "Let It Happen", "Firefight", "Always Be" and "Chase This Light" the band seemed to really lock in on what made a good pop rock song. Plus I moved to New Jersey around the time that "Big Casino" was released as a single so I looked at it as good omen that the chorus included the line "I'm a New Jersey success story". Turns out I was a "did okay New Jersey success story" that turned into a "he's doing fine in the Philadelphia suburbs with a hobby blog story" but I'm perfectly happy with it. The band continued along this musical path with its next album Invented but the result isn't as strong despite three incredibly solid singles of "Heart Is Hard To Find", "My Best Theory" and "Coffee And Cigarettes".
Jimmy Eat World continues to release albums that are worthy of attention even if it's safe to say that the band's best work is likely behind them. Even their most recent album Surviving held a couple singles in the form of "555" and "Love Never" that kept them on the rock radar. As well known as the band is, I don't feel that they get the appropriate amount of recognition for the body of work that they've compiled or the influence they wielded in the music industry. Part of that may be their generally unflashy nature. They don't have an attention-grabbing front man seen in other bands like Fall Out Boy. And the earnestness of their music may not make them as "cool" of a band to follow. But I think over time their work has spoken for itself, with the loudest voice coming from the number 15 album Futures.
#14
Some Nights
fun.
On a particularly icy winter evening in the mid-2000s, a friend of mine and his girlfriend (now wife) were driving on an Indiana interstate when their car was rear-ended by a truck. This sent their car into a spin and my friend said he remembered asking his girlfriend, as the car was spinning, "are you okay?!" to which she replied "IT'S STILL HAPPENING!" meaning the answer to his question was impossible to answer because the wreck had not concluded yet. Turns out they would be okay and escaped with no major injuries.
In a much less "life and death" example, I felt the same way during a dinner date in my early twenties. My date and I had been set up by mutual friends as two people who should really hit it off and, looking back, they were probably right. But the underlying reason was probably that we were just viewed as two very nice and easygoing people. But that doesn't mean that there will be chemistry. We ate at a Mongolian Barbecue and, midway through dinner, I could just tell it wasn't working. Conversation on both sides was forced. There was little common ground on really anything despite the fact that we attended the same college. If was more honest I would have asked her halfway through dinner "are you okay?" to which she would have responded "IT'S STILL HAPPENING!".
Toward the end of dinner, we did hit some points of common ground on music (good old Yellowcard) and, for a brief moment, I thought maybe this could work out after all. This could be the rocky start that we joked about down the road. Then when the bill came I realized I had forgotten my wallet. When I ashamedly admitted that to her, the look on her face told me we wouldn't be spending any more one on one time together.
It's a funny story looking back on it now and I bring it up because during the brief lapse of time where our conversation was flowing around music, she brought up that she loved the band The Format. I had never heard of the band but I downloaded some of their music when I got home. I liked what I heard, especially "The First Single" and the voice of lead singer Nate Ruess. The band was already kaput by the time I listened to them but when I read a few years later that Nate Ruess had started a new band called fun. it caught my attention.
Some Nights, the second and last album from fun., is one of my favorite albums. It's rock in its punchy pop version at its finest. The album grabs your attention immediately with its operatic and dramatic two minute that would have made Freddie Mercury proud and could easily fit on any Queen album. That's followed by the three biggest hits on the album "Some Nights", "We Are Young" and "Carry On". "Some Nights" is such an anthem with drum work that makes you want to stand up on a table and belt the lyrics or, at the very least, bang your hand on the steering wheel of your car in time with the drums.
While those three tracks received most of the attention from radio stations and Billboard charts, the rest of the album is equally as excellent. There's optimism in "It Gets Better" and "One Foot" but that's offset by head-in-your-hands self-doubt of "Why Am I The One" and "All Alright". The 11 track album is capped off by either "Stars" or, preferably, the bonus track "Out On The Town". The album is consistent in tone from start to finish. Ruess's voice matches the theme of the album perfectly in that he's confident but still vulnerable, just like the bravado of a young twentysomething out at the bars - outspoken but scared of being alone and unsure of his place in the world.
The trio only released two albums before disbanding but their individual influence in the music world is farther reaching. Along with The Format and fun., Nate Ruess has had a solid solo career and guitarist Jack Antonoff has had a high degree of success both with his own band Bleachers as well as through collaborating with Taylor Swift for songs on her 1989, Lover and folklore albums. With that kind of talent pedigree, it's no wonder that the number 14 album Some Nights is a master class in pop rock. To that unfortunate dinner date, thanks for fronting us for dinner (I did pay her back by the way) and thanks for the solid recommendation of The Format. That date may not have been as much of a car wreck after all.
#13
El Camino
The Black Keys
Runner-Up: Brothers
Bronze Medal: "Let's Rock"
Honorable Mention: Attack & Release
There is no maximum number of people in a band, but technically the minimum is two. The Black Keys might only be a duo but they seem to have enough talent and creativity to rival any conventional four or five person band. Through nine albums across almost twenty years, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have been able to consistently put out quality work. Like many listeners, I first heard the band via their sixth album, Brothers, and I was impressed at how much I enjoyed the entirety of the album. In fact, "Tighten Up", one of their biggest singles was one of the tracks I enjoyed the least. Going back to visit their earlier albums made me more of a fan of the band, especially after hearing Attack & Release and Magic Potion.
In 2011, the band released El Camino as the follow-up to Brothers. I bought the album off iTunes on the day of the release despite only hearing the pre-released single "Lonely Boy". I listened to it three times over the course of that day and was really excited about how much I enjoyed it. The amount of times that "Lonely Boy" and "Gold On The Ceiling" have been played may have blunted their effect a bit but the rest of the album has stayed fresh over the years.
The album comes under fire from long-time fans of the band who argue that the sound on the album is too rock radio friendly. It could be my own musical naivete but I don't notice a significant difference in sound between albums like El Camino and the majority of the earlier work, especially Brothers and Attack & Release. The songs are more upbeat and the album overall feels tighter which makes it more of an appealing listen to me. If that's radio rock friendly then it seems like there's a certain line that a band isn't allowed to cross in order to not offend their core fans; make an album good but not too good.
There's really only so much musical variation that a two man band can create. And, to the duo's credit, the follow-up album Turn Blue is not a repeat of El Camino. It's more experimental and the tracks are longer, more meandering. It's good but I need to be in a certain frame of mind to put it through my speakers. But there's hardly a time or place where I'm not in the mood to hear El Camino. Their most recent album "Let's Rock" attempts to go back to more of this 2011 album's sound, and it gets 85% there but it still doesn't top El Camino.
No personal anecdote for me to share about this album or the band other than, out of boredom on a drive home from the New Jersey shore, I spent twenty minutes convincing my wife that the drummer from The Black Keys used to be Gordo in Lizzie McGuire. It was just random enough that it might be true and we were in a dead spot for cell service so she couldn't confirm that I was full of it for about fifteen minutes. It's good to keep your partner on his/her toes.
The band continues to keep the music world on its toes through quality albums like the excellent El Camino, album number 13 on the list.
#12
Sam's Town
The Killers
Runner-Up: Hot Fuss
Bronze Medal: Battle Born
Honorable Mention: Imploding The Mirage
When I started putting this list together, I knew that The Killers was going to have a high placement on the list. And the album selection seemed easy. Hot Fuss included "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine", "Mr. Brightside", "Somebody Told Me", "Smile Like You Mean It" and "All These Things That I Have Done" or, in other words, the whole first half of the album. With hits like that, how could there be another album that goes in this slot. But over the last couple months, there's been a gnawing feeling that Sam's Town is the better overall album. It doesn't boast as many hit singles but it does offer up two of the best songs the band has ever recorded in "When You Were Young" and "Read My Mind". It's a more consistent album than Hot Fuss which falls off a bit in the second half of the album. For that reason, I rarely listen to Hot Fuss all the way through. I tend to let Sam's Town play from beginning to end.
The band has stated that they wanted Sam's Town to sound more like a Springsteen album and there are similarities here. The album has a consistent theme and tone throughout. It feels like a more complete album. That's what this list has tried to capture rather than just what album had the most hits on it. And Sam's Town still has its share of bangers in its track listing. "Sam's Town", "Bling (Confession Of A King)", "For Reasons Unknown", "This River Is Wild" and "Bones" are just a few of the great songs on the album and they're some of the band's best work.
Cards on the table, I could listen to Brandon Flowers read the phone book (the yellow thing that used to appear outside our doors once a year or, as Pete Holmes said, "oh, they printed a portion of the internet"). Flowers is my favorite front man of any current band. Flowers is just effortlessly cool and does seem to at least have a vague sense of humor about the ludicrous nature of his industry. That comes through in the music video for "Read My Mind" where the band runs amok in Japan. But he can play it straight too like in the superb video for "When You Were Young".
I'm going to squeeze in a personal story here because it's my site and I can do what I want. "Somebody Told Me" was a song that grabbed my attention immediately when it was released toward the tail end of 2004. A common activity in the Greek system at Butler was for a sorority to promote an upcoming charity event by visiting the fraternity houses (there were only six) and performing a song or two that somehow incorporated their own house into the lyrics. In response, the fraternity house would often reciprocate with a song of their own that would insert the name of the visiting sorority into the song. It was essentially an exercise to find a way to make words like Alpha Chi rhyme with lyrics like "I'm your guy" or something. It's not high art. This was part of the six figures that we paid for college. In an emboldened move, I volunteered to mix things up by choosing a more modern song rather than the stand-by "classic" songs from the seventies, eighties or early nineties. I wrote out lyrics that went along with "Somebody Told Me".
I was feeling a little proud and out in front of my skis until one of the upperclassman saw it, didn't know who The Killers were and chastised me for picking this song. He called an audible and reverted to us using Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl". In the end, who gives a shit because it was a meaningless activity that was just meant to show support to the visiting sorority but, I bring it up because, to that upperclassman I say "you were wrong". Time has vindicated me that The Killers were a band you should have known and that song is one of their classics. And time has also vindicated me via Stepbrothers that eighties Billy Joel doo-wop sucks. This whole greatest albums countdown list was just a backdoor for me to share that story.
Hot Fuss is my runner-up album but I have also always been partial to their third album Battle Born. The critical knock on it is that the sound is too rich and over-produced but there are times when that's what I want to hear. The songs "The Way It Was" or "Runaways", with lyrics like "At night I come home after I go to sleep / Like a stumbling ghost I haunt these halls / There's a picture of us on our wedding day / I recognize the girl but I can't settle in these walls", would have fit right in on Springsteen's The River. And "Miss Atomic Bomb" seems like an improved version of "Paradise By The Dashboard Light". No offense to Mr. Loaf. But the highly produced sound doesn't always work well for the band and Day & Age proves that. It's one of their worst albums in my opinion, due to too much reliance on the electronic sound.
I'm supportive of Flowers's solo aspirations and albums but I think his talent is better served when he's working with the full band and I'm happy they're back to making albums again like the excellent recent release Imploding The Mirage. Albums like the number 12 album Sam's Town are proof the excellent work the group can accomplish together.
#11
London Calling
The Clash
Runner-Up: Combat Rock
Bronze Medal: The Clash
Honorable Mention: Sandanista!
They may not be "the only band that matters" anymore but the English quartet created an album that has endured since its release in 1979 as what I think is the greatest rock album from that era. The band, and this album in particular, was a key piece to the further development of rock music and punk music in particular. Bono has called them the greatest rock band ever and that they wrote the rule book for U2. Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers has stated that London Calling changed his life. Chuck D from Public Enemy, who hosted the Spotify limited podcast chronicling the history of The Clash, has stated that the band's political stance gave him confidence to write what was on his mind. You can hear the band's musical influence on bands that have already appeared on this list like Rise Against and Arctic Monkeys. And they were one of the first bands to successfully blend their rock sound with Jamaican influences, as heard on "The Guns of Brixton", that would pave the way for future artists like 311, No Doubt and Sublime.
The band was noted for pushing a political agenda and writing lyrics that were deeper than just falling in love or partying. But compelling lyrics, primarily from lead singer Joe Strummer, only go so far; the band's sound has to keep its listeners coming back for more. And on that front, The Clash could deliver. I think Mick Jones (whose follow-up project Big Audio Dynamite appeared earlier on this list) is one of the best guitarists of all time. Paul Simonon was an incredible bassist who could also contribute quality vocals on his own as evidenced by "The Guns of Brixton". The band worked through several drummers but Nicky "Topper" Headon was the most talented and fit the best with the band's desired sound. He was a creative force on his own which he proved by writing and recording all the parts for "Rock The Casbah" on the band's last real album Combat Rock.
My first exposure to London Calling, the band's third album, was when I attended a summer camp and one of the counselors requested "London Calling" at the end-of-camp dance. I don't know that any of the kids had heard of it (I certainly hadn't) but his raw enthusiasm for the song made it hard for me to not to at least look into the band. At sixteen I was too young to really get into the band full force but three years later, friend and fellow blog owner, Nick, showed a strong interest in the overall band's work while we were in college together that I dove headfirst into the band and this album. While I love other albums from The Clash like Combat Rock, The Clash and even the divisive and diverse album Sandanista!, the band will always be most associated with London Calling.
And there is a reason the album is still discussed and heard on a regular basis, not just as an important part of rock and roll history, but just as a timeless rock album to enjoy. The pounding guitar of the opening track "London Calling" sets the tone of the album and that's followed by the short burst, high energy "Brand New Cadillac" before the calming bass line and saxophone of "Jimmy Jazz" sets in. The three opening songs are all different in style but the band pulls each off equally well. That trend of diverse style carries through for the rest of the album. There are frenetic, more stereotypically "punk" songs like "Hateful", "Clampdown", "Death or Glory", "Spanish Bombs" and "The Four Horsemen". There reggae influenced tracks like "The Guns of Brixton", "Rudie Can't Fail" and "Revolution Rock". And there songs with compelling narrative whether personal in nature like "Lost In The Supermarket" or fictional like "The Card Cheat". The album is bookended by an odd-fitting but still great song "Train In Vain" as guitarist Mick Jones's break-up song to his then-girlfriend from the female group The Slits.
As the years pass I'm drawn to different songs on the album depending on my mood, age or just general listening preferences at the time. But the overall album has never soured on me no matter how many times I hear it. That's the mark of a great album. The band would eventually dissolve through a mix of inflated ego and drugs, which is ironic because they touted themselves as anti-drug for a considerable time. Strummer's heart attack at a relatively early age denied the world the chance for a reunion of The Clash but Strummer did work with Jones one more time for the Big Audio Dynamite album No. 10 Upping St. (number 88 on this list) so at least there was a bit of musical closure there. The band did leave their mark and influence with one of the all-time great rock albums London Calling which comes in at number 11 on the list and takes us to the top ten of my top 100 albums.
