My Top Ten Favorite Albums

(Billy The Kid was voted "favorite outlaw" in the latest poll)

If you are interested I have already put together a top ten list of my favorite Christian music albums. You can find it in the archives.

For this list although I am only giving my top ten I decided against placing them in any kind of order because after about 4 they are impossible to rank. Each one is my favorite depending on the day and my mood. However, you probably already know that The Beatles and U2 are my all-time favorite bands so that should give you a clue. There are many great albums I love which barely missed the cut. For instance, Johnny Cash Live at Folsom Prison, The Beatles (White Album) , Yes- Fragile, The Jayhawks- Tomorrow The Green Grass, U2- Acthung Baby, The Clash- London Calling, The Black Crowes- Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, and three or four Radiohead albums! I know one person in particular will be letting me know what I left out!

The Dark Side of the Moon- Pink Floyd


I would definitely classify this as the "greatest rock album of all-time" regardless of what Rolling Stone magazine or any other publications say. I know Sgt. Pepper always gets that label but c'mon it isn't really close. This was Pink Floyd's artistic pinnacle and it still holds the record for being the album to stay on Billboard's top 100 list the longest amount of time totalling 1500 weeks!! Despite the fact that Classic Rock radio (which I HATE!) dices it up and serves it in bastardized portions a dozen times a day, I still pull it out and listen to it from time to time. It's the benchmark for anyone out there that wants to know what the "perfect record" sounds like. In case you are wondering the runner-up in Billboard chart longevity is Legend - Bob Marley and The Wailers, but it is years and years behind.

Revolver- The Beatles


As the years have passed and music historians looked back at the most important records in rock 'n roll they began to give this one more respect. It's successor, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band still gets plenty of praise, but now the turning point of The Beatles musical revolution is recognized on this earlier album. It was the first post-touring Beatles album when they could focus more on the studio and the myriad of possibilities for creating a masterpiece. The seeds of this record laid the groundwork for Sgt. Pepper's critical harvest. My favorite songs are Taxman, I'm Only Sleeping, and She Said She Said.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan- Bob Dylan


This is my favorite Dylan album and in my opinion his most artistic folk album. He of course became very experimental when he went electric in later years but I have always liked his early stuff the best. I discussed my favorite Dylan albums earlier on this blog which you can find in the archives. This album is the one that solidified Dylan as the world's best folk song writer.

Blind Melon- Blind Melon


This is my favorite album of the 90s. It has some sentimental value for me over many of the other albums here. The song Time has a lyric which says, "Sittin' on a swing watching Columbus clouds bring in the rain." That's isn't Columbus, Ohio Shannon Hoon is singing about, that's Columbus, Mississippi where I lived from 1988 to 1996 when I got married. Drummer Glen Graham was from Columbus and an alumnus of my alma mater S.D. Lee High School. The Bee girl on the cover is Georgia Graham, Glen's sister. I didn't know her personally, but I did see Georgia roaming the halls of Lee High when she was a senior and I was a freshman. I did know another girl, however, who was in the same kindergarten class, in the same bee costume, in her own picture she once showed me. As for the album, it still holds up to this day and may be the most underrated classic of the past 20 years. It's a shame Hoon died of an overdose and they could never recapture the magic of this one.

Abbey Road- The Beatles


No matter what is said about all the other Beatles albums, this one is my favorite. Actually, this is probably my favorite album of all time, even though it includes one of their worst songs- Octopus's Garden- which I never listen to. The second half of this album was the Beatles saying goodbye and in my opinion they saved their best for last!

OK Computer- Radiohead


The Bends is an excellent album, and many would say it is Radiohead's best but I think OK Computer is the point where they became much more sophisticated and mature in their creative song writing. But I like all of Radiohead's albums and recently I've been listening to In Rainbows a bunch.

Chutes Too Narrow- The Shins


Here's an album I put in my CD player and didn't take out for a while. I love it from beginning to end and sing along all the way through. I suppose that would qualify it for "top ten" status.

Rattle and Hum- U2


The soundtrack for the film that made me a U2 fan to begin with. I remember the winter of 88 when I bought this CD and listened to it for weeks nonstop. I subsequently bought all of their music. I know it was not a critical favorite and U2 seemed to be acting a bit too self-important covering classics by The Beatles and Bob Dylan, but this one is still very special to me.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars- David Bowie


This one has really grown on me. I always thought it was good but after listening repeatedly I think this is definitely one of the most brilliant artistic rock albums of all time. It is certainly one of the best of the 70s.

The Joshua Tree- U2


THE album of the 80s and U2 at their peak. I used to listen to this on a daily basis from 88 to 90. I was actually disappointed when Achtung Baby was released because I was expecting The Joshua Tree 2 or something. It took me a little while to warm up to U2's new style, but I eventually came around. I would put this album just behind Abbey Road among my favorites.

Ok, that's it, so give it to me! Sorry I didn't include any Led Zeppelin or Coldplay. And surprisingly, no Styx!