my top 8 favorite albums of all time
Growing up, I made it a point to like “good” music. It started out by wanting to impress my brother by liking some of the same bands he did. I still remember watching the Reptilia music video with him while he explained what made it so interesting. I wanted people to think I too was cool and impress them with my taste. I read a little Pitchfork, I listened to alternative radio and spent hours organizing my iTunes library to find the best album art jpegs for each track. And I still take pride in showing off how *cool* I am by identifying the artist of any overhead music (also my favorite drinking game).
More than anything, I love full albums. I have a record player but my controversial opinion is that I get the most out of an album experience listening in my car. I used to buy my weight in CDs, anxious to look through the album art to take in the full experience intended by the artist. You could truly know an album by hearing the end of a song and anticipating the next song’s intro. I have some that top the all-time list for me. I can hear bits of them and be transported; the music has made a vast impact on me.
I’ll caveat that I find loving albums very different than songs or artists. I have some that I love desperately but it’s a bit different than the affinity I have for the below albums in their entirety. Here are some of my very favorites, in no particular order:
And the War Came, Shakey Graves
Track 6, Family and Genus. The driving tempo and the soft-spoken melody. I can’t even begin to describe the explicable joy I feel in my stomach when I hear it.
2. Please Please Me, The Beatles
I love the Beatles. Which is a very basic attribute of your standard white girl. But I like, really love them. Someone asked me once what my favorite album of theirs was and I answered this one, to which he responded that this is nobody’s favorite. Except for mine :) On this one, my loves are I Saw Her Standing There and Twist & Shout (hefty Ferris Bueller influence).
However, my favorite standalone Beatles songs are: Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da and It’s Getting Better and In My Life. Yes, I am a libra and no, I cannot pick favorites (hence the lists).
3. Suck It and See, Arctic Monkeys
Oh my goodness. She’s Thunderstorms. Black Treacle. Motherf*cking Reckless Serenade, with one of my favorite intros of all time: topless models doing semaphore / wave their flags as she walks by and get ignored. The only thing that could make this album better is if Mad Sounds were on it.
4. Harry Styles, Harry Styles
The first time I listened to this, I prayed prayed prayed it would be good. I adored One Direction and with Harry as a favorite, I really wanted him to remain successful after boy band fame.
I was not disappointed. This album is thoroughly transportive, artistic and musical. The storytelling is raw and strong. The musicality, Harry’s voice and the songwriting are as fine as wine. Listen to Sweet Creature and let the saccharin elicit a little heart smile. Listen to From the Dining Table for a poignant and wistful close to the album.
5. Fine Line, Harry Styles
Two years later, I was again worried that Harry couldn’t deliver after HS1’s success. I listened with trepidation and I was once again delighted. Fine Line is so so good. It’s a little more raked with hits (no doubt you read the words “watermelon sugar” and hear the melody in your head) but the strength is there again. The triplet of Sunflower, Canyon Moon and TPWK is my favorite arc. I sing along to Cherry with familiar hurt in my heart and then get punched in the soul with the high note in Falling. All with Tim Walker photography and some truly artful music videos to boot.
6. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
Crystal visions. This one is understandably in everyone’s top albums. Because it’s just that good. The playfulness of Never Going Back Again and Stevie’s delightfully witchy, raw vocals that have cemented her status as an icon.
7. Tell Me I’m Pretty, Cage the Elephant
I can hear Cage the Elephant’s screamy rock in this one. Everyone should listen to this unabashedly.
8. Room on Fire, The Strokes
I love the Strokes irrevocably. They are my favorite, always. And while I found it hard to choose a favorite between Room on Fire and Is This It, I find my blood boiling as the guitar riffs start up in this bad boy. Reptilia is on this, what other arguments do you have?
Honorable Mentions
Trouble Will Find Me, the National
Utah, Jamestown Revival
Is This It, The Strokes
Latigo and Misty Shrub (EPs), Wilderado
Stay Gold, First Aid Kit
