As previously reported, reunited metal legends Black Sabbath plan to spend 2012 recording a new studio album and touring the world, even with news of guitarist Tony Iommi’s battle with lymphoma.

However, as Metal Hammer points out, the band’s drummer Bill Ward has revealed that his participation in the reunion is now uncertain due to “unsignable” contract negotiations.

“At this time, I would love nothing more than to be able to proceed with the Black Sabbath album and tour. However, I am unable to continue unless a ‘signable’ contract is drawn up; a contract that reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band,” Ward said in an issued statement. “Last year, I worked diligently in good faith with Tony, Ozzy and Geezer. And on 11/11/11, again in good faith, I participated in the L.A. press conference. Several days ago, after nearly a year of trying to negotiate, another “unsignable” contract was handed to me.”

You can find Ward’s entire statement below, followed by a list of Sabbath’s currently announced tour dates.

Dear Sabbath Fans, Fellow Musicians and Interested Parties,

At this time, I would love nothing more than to be able to proceed with the Black Sabbath album and tour. However, I am unable to continue unless a “signable” contract is drawn up; a contract that reflects some dignity and respect toward me as an original member of the band. Last year, I worked diligently in good faith with Tony, Ozzy and Geezer. And on 11/11/11, again in good faith, I participated in the L.A. press conference. Several days ago, after nearly a year of trying to negotiate, another “unsignable” contract was handed to me.

Let me say that although this has put me in some kind of holding pattern, I am packed and ready to leave the U.S. for England. More importantly, I definitely want to play on the album, and I definitely want to tour with Black Sabbath.

Since the news of Tony’s illness, and the understanding that the band would move production to the U.K., I’ve spent everyday getting to or living in a place of readiness to leave. That involves something of a task, and as I’ve tried to find out what’s going on with the U.K. sessions, I’ve realized that I’ve been getting “the cold shoulder” (and, I might add, not for the first time). Feeling somewhat ostracized, my guess is as of today, I will know nothing of what’s happening unless I sign “the unsignable contract.”

The place I’m in feels lousy and lonely because as much as I want to play and participate, I also have to stand for something and not sign on. If I sign as-is, I stand to lose my rights, dignity and respectability as a rock musician. I believe in freedom and freedom of speech. I grew up in a hard rock/metal band. We stood for something then, and we played from the heart with honesty and sincerity. I am in the spirit of integrity, far from the corporate malady, I am real and honest, fair and compassionate.

If I’m replaced, I have to face you, the beloved Sabbath fans. I hope you will not hold me responsible for the failure of an original Black Sabbath lineup as promoted. Without fault finding, I want to assure everyone that my loyalty to Sabbath is intact.

So here I am. I lay my truth down before you. I’m good to go IF I get a “signable” contract. I don’t want to let anyone down, especially Black Sabbath and all the Sabbath fans. You know I love you. It would be a sad day in Rock if this current situation fell to the desires of a few.

My position is not greed-driven. I’m not holding out for a “big piece” of the action (money) like some kind of blackmail deal. I’d like something that recognizes and is reflective of my contributions to the band, including the reunions that started fourteen years ago. After the last tour I vowed to never again sign on to an unreasonable contract. I want a contract that shows some respect to me and my family, a contract that will honor all that I’ve brought to Black Sabbath since its beginning.

That’s the story so far.

Stay safe and stay strong.

I love every single one of you.

–Bill Ward

Black Sabbath 2012 Tour Dates:
05/18 – Moscow, RU @  Olimpiski
05/20 – St. Petersburg, RU @ New Arena
05/21 – St. Petersburg, RU @ New Arena
05/23 – Helsinki, FI @ Hartwall Arena
05/25 – Stockholm, SE @ Stadium
05/26 – Jelling, DK @ Jelling Music Festival
05/29 – Bergen, NO @ Bergen Calling
05/31 – Oslo, NO @ Spektrum
06/02 – Malmo, SE @ Malmo Stadium
06/04 – Dortmund, DE @ Westfalenhalle
06/06 – Prague, CZ @ O2 Arena
06/10 – Leicestershire, UK @ Download Festival
06/12 – Rotterdam, NL @ Ahoy
06/15 – Bilbao, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival
06/17 – Nantes, FR @ Hellfest
06/19 – Paris, FR @ Bercy
06/22 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Metal Meeting
06/24 – Milan, IT @ Gods of Metal
06/26 – Vienna, AT @ Wiener Stadthalle
06/28 – Belgrade, RS @ Usce Park
07/01 – Athens, GR @ Rockwave Festival

Originally, album opener “War Pigs” was meant to be the title track until US distributor Warner Brothers had the title changed, afraid of alienating pro-Vietnam supporters. Originally called “Walpurgis” and themed around a witches’ sabbath, the lyrics were also changed to reflect a more anti-war theme after the label complained of the song sounding too satanic. Musically originating out of jam sessions and often played live with different lyrics, singer Ozzy Osbourne said of the lyrics that the band knew nothing of the Vietnam War and that the song is simply an anti-war song. Bassist Geezer Butler disagreed, saying the song was “totally against the Vietnam War, about how these rich politicians and rich people start all the wars for their benefit and get all the poor people to die for them.” Ironically, though, when played live, the imagery used behind the band was World War II footage.

“Electric Funeral” takes the concept of war’s destruction even further, with the aftermath of nuclear devastation and lyrics telling of sub-human mutants and destructive robots in a post-apocalyptic nightmare. Rearranging a theme from “Mars, the Bringer of War” from Holst’s Planets, Tommy Iommi’s guitar, with its distorted warbling, musically opens the second side of Paranoid right where side one left off with “Iron Man” and thematically continues the album opener’s anti-war sentiments.

Alienation, depression, and a sense of aimlessness provide the fodder for the album’s title track as well as “Hand of Doom” and “Iron Man”. Early heavy metal guitar driving a rugged paced riff with Butler’s hypnotic bass chugging alongside makes “Paranoid” easily one of the most recognized of Sabbath’s songs. One of the band’s most uptempo songs of the entire Osbourne era, it fades into the psychedelic, mellowed-out number “Planet Caravan”, described by Butler as “floating through the universe with your lover.”

Countering the speed inflicted by “Paranoid” but continuing with both the themes of isolation and humanity’s doom, “Iron Man” takes a completely different route, slowing things down to a laborious crawl and beating down with some of the heaviest bass/drum coupling on record. Butler wrote a story of a time traveler who has seen the apocalypse and upon returning home to warn his world is turned into a man of steel, unable to convey what he has seen. After he is mocked and ignored, his frustrations and anger cause him to unleash the devastation that he was trying to warn against.

The album closes on the Cream-like, blues-infused freak-out “Rat Salad”, showing a bit more of the blues influence that was often hidden under the minor chords and drudging dirges, and the heavy, yet light-on-its-feet “Fairies Wear Boots”, a driving number inspired by a time when Butler and Osbourne were smoking outside and were allegedly attacked by skinheads. Though the song may have been inspired by such an incident and the band may have referred to skinheads derogatorily as “fairies,” the lyrics certainly seem to convey a more hallucinogenic and drug-addled reason for fairies to be lurking about. Regardless, both songs are excellent to close the album, with the final track going on to become a modern day classic.

When Osbourne finally left, or was fired from, Black Sabbath, the band was left with the task of finding a replacement vocalist, which they did with Elf and Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Their first album together, 1980′s Heaven and Hell, marked the return of Black Sabbath and is considered to be one of the band’s best albums of any of its eras. The magic sparked with Heaven and Hell was continued on the band’s second outing with Dio, MobRules. Their second album together would also be the last album that Dio would record with Black Sabbath until the ’90s. (He left after being accused of going into the studio and manipulating his vocal volumes.)

Produced by Martin Birch (Deep Purple, Whitesnake), fresh off working on Iron Maiden’s Killers, 1981′s Mob Rules goes on the attack right out of the gate. Opening track “Turn Up the Night” rocks like no other Sabbath song before it (except maybe Heaven and Hell’s “Neon Knights”), but it also sounds far more like a rock anthem than traditional Sabbath metal. Followed by “Voodoo”, the album initially falls into the trap of trying to replicate the success of Heaven and Hell almost to the point of mirroring that album’s opening numbers. Strong and steady, “The Sign of the Southern Cross”, with its heavily laden basslines, splitting guitar, and Dio’s distinctive voice, not only reflects Sabbath of old but also foreshadows Dio’s solo efforts.

The oddly electronically manipulated and feedback-driven instrumental “E5150” acts almost like an extended intro into the title track, ending with a gentle cascading of spacey bells. Immediately Iommi’s guitar charges forth with one of Sabbath’s greatest numbers, “Mob Rules”, bookending the album side nicely with opening shredder “Turn Up the Night”.

Dio Sabbath sounds remarkably different than Osbourne Sabbath, musically and obviously vocally. The fact that these are two different bands is clearly evident on the second side of Mob Rules. Opening with “Country Girl” and sliding into “Slipping Away”, the songs carry with them far more influence from Dio’s lyrics and presence than either Iommi or Butler’s musical contributions. “Falling Off the Edge of the World” begins like a typical Dio effort but by the song’s climax has achieved a level comparable to that of earlier Sabbath numbers blended with the influence of Birch’s work with Maiden. The dual assault of Iommi’s guitar and Butler’s bass thunders through, definitely making this track the highlight of the second half and probably would have been served better if the album’s closing track, “Over and Over”, came before it, allowing “Falling…” to end the album in epic fashion.

Mob Rules was the second and final (not counting Live Evil) to be recorded by Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio at the front. When Dio left, he also took with him drummer Vinny Appice. The band would go on to have three more vocalists by the end of the ’80s before Dio and Appice (and Butler, who had left after 1984’s piss-poor Born Again) returned in 1992 to record Dehumanizer, a sad, misdirected, and blown opportunity to return to greatness.

It appears At The Drive-In and Refused weren’t the only first-of-a-kind reunions set to take place at this year’s Coachella Music Valley and Arts Festival. As Billboard reports, so was Black Sabbath, until the band pulled out, due to Tony Iommi’s recent lymphoma diagnosis. No confirmation on which artist was added at last minute, though speculation points to the surprise get of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg.

As previously reported, the forthcoming Black Sabbath reunion is still set to take place with Iommi, all of which includes a new studio album and a world tour. Stay tuned as that story develops.

This year, Coachella runs over the course of two weekends — April 13-15th and April 20-22nd — at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California. Tickets go on sale Friday, January 13th at 10:00 AM PT. According to Pop & Hiss, three-day passes are $285, three-day with shuttle are $335, and VIP are $665. Have you studied the lineup yet?

Below, you can find a list of the band’s confirmed tour dates, as well as a video of Iommi performing a guitar solo in 1978.

Black Sabbath 2012 Tour Dates:
05/18 – Moscow, RU @  Olimpiski
05/20 – St. Petersburg, RU @ New Arena
05/21 – St. Petersburg, RU @ New Arena
05/23 – Helsinki, FI @ Hartwall Arena
05/25 – Stockholm, SE @ Stadium
05/26 – Jelling, DK @ Jelling Music Festival
05/29 – Bergen, NO @ Bergen Calling
05/31 – Oslo, NO @ Spektrum
06/02 – Malmo, SE @ Malmo Stadium
06/04 – Dortmund, DE @ Westfalenhalle
06/06 – Prague, CZ @ O2 Arena
06/10 – Leicestershire, UK @ Download Festival
06/12 – Rotterdam, NL @ Ahoy
06/15 – Bilbao, ES @ Azkena Rock Festival
06/17 – Nantes, FR @ Hellfest
06/19 – Paris, FR @ Bercy
06/22 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Metal Meeting
06/24 – Milan, IT @ Gods of Metal
06/26 – Vienna, AT @ Wiener Stadthalle
06/28 – Belgrade, RS @ Usce Park
07/01 – Athens, GR @ Rockwave Festival

One week after announcing their plans to reunite, Black Sabbath have returned with a month’s worth of European tour dates. The leg kicks off on May 18th in Moscow, Russia, with dates currently running through June 24th in Milan, Italy. In addition to this year’s Download Music Festival, the band has also confirmed festival slots at Spain’s Azkena Rock, France’s Hellfest, Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting, and Italy’s God of Metal.

Check out Sabbath’s current itinerary below and stay tuned for additional tour dates. As an issued press release notes, “[the dates] are only the beginning of the group’s global tour which will take the band around the world including countries the band has never played before and others they have not visited in more than three decades.”

Black Sabbath 2012 Tour Dates:
05/18 – Moscow, RU @  Olimpiski
05/20 – St. Petersburg, RU @ New Arena
05/23 – Helsinki, FI @ Hartwall Arena
05/25 – Stockholm, SE @ Stadium
05/29 – Bergen, NO @ Bergen Calling
05/31 – Oslo, NO @ Spektrum
06/02 – Malmo, SE @ Malmo Stadium
06/04 – Dortmund, DE @ Westfalenhalle
06/10 – Leicestershire, UK @ Download Festival
06/12 – Rotterdam, NL @ Ahoy
06/15 – Bilbao, ES @ Azkena Rock
06/17 – Nantes, FR @ Hellfest
06/19 – Paris, FR @ Bercy
06/22 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Metal Meeting
06/24 – Milan, IT @ Gods of Metal

The long-rumored reunion of Black Sabbath is finally official. At a press conference in Los Angeles this morning, the iconic metal outfit’s four founding members — frontman Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward — revealed plans for their first studio album in 33 years. The as yet untitled record will be produced by Rick Rubin and released in Fall 2012 via Vertigo/Universal Republic.

In addition, the band will embark on a worldwide arena tour, as well as headline the 2012 installment of the UK-based Download Music Festival on June 10th.

Below, you can watch a video promo for the reunion.

The band’s original lineup previously reunited in the late 1990s with similar plans for a new studio album. However, studio sessions with Rubin were halted in favor of Osbourne’s solo album, and the band ultimately went on hiatus.

Some think I’m insane, but to this day, I still feel William Shatner owns “Common People”. Yes, Jarvis Cocker is a hero to the people and all, but Shatner takes the song, makes it his own, and there’s little else to argue. But, that’s just me. I’m not sure if the same could be said about his recent take on Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” (via Revolver). Featuring chaotic guitar work by Zakk Wylde – because, you know, they’re collaborators now – the track doesn’t sound too dissimilar from the original cut. Shatner doesn’t reach for the skies as Ozzy Osbourne did 40-something years ago, but the harmonies sort of do. Whatever the case, it’s a Shatner cover, and any self-respecting music fan knows the drill: If Shatner’s touched it, then it merits at least one spin. Warp three below, folks.

Searching for Major Tom, Shatner’s forthcoming double album (!), hits stores October 11th (via Cleopatra).

Update: Not so fast. Tony Iommi has issued a statement regarding today’s news: “I’m saddened that a Birmingham journalist whom I trusted has chosen this point in time to take a conversation we had back in June and make it sound like we spoke yesterday about a Black Sabbath reunion.”

“At the time I was supporting the Home Of Metal exhibition was merely speculating shooting the breeze on something all of us get asked constantly, ‘Are you getting back together?’

“Thanks to the Internet it’s now gone round the world as some sort of ‘official’ statement on my part; absolute nonsense. I hope he’s enjoyed his moment of glory, he won’t have another at my expense.

The original members of Black Sabbath have reunited and are working on a new studio album, their first together since 1978′s Never Say Die!. Guitarist Tony Iommi revealed the news in an interview with the Birmingham Mail, noting that he and frontman Ozzy Osbourne began working on new material in June with plans for a release in 2012. ‘‘We’re really looking forward to it and I think the stuff we’ve been writing is really good. It’s more back to the old original stuff.’’

The band’s original lineup, which also includes bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward, previously reunited in the late 1990s with similar plans for a new studio album. However, studio sessions with producer Rick Rubin were halted in favor of Osbourne’s solo album and the band ultimately went on hiatus.

Iommi also said there are plans for a tour, though he added that his only concern about the reunion was the health of Ward, who suffered a heart attack during rehearsals for the band’s reunion tour in 1998. ‘‘He hasn’t been 100 per cent. He had an operation a few months ago, so we’ll see how he is.’’

We’ll keep you updated as more details become available. In the meantime, watch a live clip of the original lineup performing “War Pigs” in 1999.

Where have all the dinosaurs gone? Over the years, both Bonnaroo and Coachella earned reputations for bringing in some of the biggest names in the history of music to their respective fields. The likes of Paul McCartney, Prince and Roger Waters have rocked the desert while The Police, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Wonder have floored the farm. Even ACL got in the game with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and The Eagles. But in the past couple years, these mega-headliners have been suspiciously absent from lineups. Rumors of the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin have never materialized for ‘Roo, while the perpetual Smiths reunion rumors for Coachella never come about either.

The only fest to pull off a true mega/legacy headliner this year was Glastonbury, after finally nabbing U2. Stateside, the closest any fest has come is Hangout, with their impressive booking of Paul Simon as the #1 headliner. Bonnaroo does have Neil Young’s reunited first band, Buffalo Springfield, but they’re a sub-headliner, even listed below the Black Keys on the lineup. ACL might still pull a huge booking out of their hat, but as of right now, Paul Simon is the only lineup-topping elder statesman out there in the U.S. Many people will point to the recession as the reason these older top headliners are becoming rarer, and they have a point. Getting someone like the Rolling Stones to headline your festival would cost an astronomical amount compared to the acts we currently see at the top of lineups.

Having one of these monster bookings at the top of lineups is a point of some contention among festival-goers. Many contest that the money spent on these acts negatively effects the undercard of the lineups, while others complain because most of the time, these acts are far beyond their prime and don’t put on the best shows anymore. On the other side of the coin, these kind of bookings give people the opportunity to see some of the most popular acts in music history in a unique setting without having to break the bank to see just that one artist. Yeah, their shows might not live up to their previous reputations, but for many, myself included, it provides a great chance to cross off some “bucket list” bands that people may not otherwise have a chance to see.

We may never see a rush on these artists again like we did a few short years ago, but there are still some huge acts out there that we would love to see at the top of festival lineups in the coming years. These are some we’d like to see happen:

Rolling Stones

Early on, the rumor mill was hinting towards the Rolling Stones playing Bonnaroo this year. It turned out to just be wishful thinking, but it’s looking like it could be a possibility sooner rather than later. There have been reports that Mick Jagger & Co. are eyeing a 50^th anniversary world tour in 2012 that could also serve as a farewell tour. Now is the time to book them – otherwise it might never happen.

Simon & Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel actually did play NOLA’s Jazz Fest just last year – but then the rest of their reunion tour dates had to be canceled due to Garfunkel’s vocal cord paresis before they could play any other festivals. We wish Garfunkel a speedy recovery – because they’d fit perfectly atop any ACL lineup.

Led Zeppelin

After Zeppelin reunited for a one off show in London in 2007, there were hard rumors that they would bring the reunion stateside and headline Bonnaroo 2008 – some outlets even reported it as fact on the night of the lineup release. But it was all for naught, and even though Jimmy Page reportedly would love to do a whole reunion tour, Robert Plant has repeatedly claimed that it was a one-time only show. Still, could you imagine how crazy Zeppelin would be on the farm? We’ll keep our fingers crossed for this one, but we’re not holding our breath.

Guns ‘N Roses

While the “Guns ‘N Roses” that Axl Rose has been touring around with for the past few years wouldn’t look too great at top billing, a reunion of the original lineup, which has been whispered about for years now, would be a huge get for anyone. We could see them reuniting to put on a blast of a show at Coachella or Lollapalooza.

Madonna

While Madonna played her first U.S. festival ever back in 2006, it was a somewhat last minute surprise in the Sahara tent at a festival she could have headlined if she wanted to. And after Lady GaGa surprised many by closing down a night of Lollapalooza last year, we’d love to see them one-up themselves and get the real Queen of Pop to top their lineup whenever she returns to the stage.

U2

U2 was another name thrown around at the beginning of festival season this year. Long thought to be “too big” to play a festival – a barrier that some think was broken when Bruce Springsteen played Roo and Paul McCartney played Coachella in 2009 – Bono and crew are finally headlining Glastonbury this year. However, all of the stateside festivals were shut out in the midst of another huge stadium tour of the U.S. While it may never happen, we think we’ll see U2 at Coachella or Bonnaroo soon enough.

Black Sabbath

Last year, Ozzy Osbourne said in an interview with The Republican that he’d like to get the original lineup of Black Sabbath back together for an album and tour “in a year or two.” Well, a year has gone by and once Ozzy’s tour wraps up later this year, the time could be right for the Sabbath reunion. While bassist Geezer Butler has seemed to resist the idea, Ozzy still seems to think it could happen. One way or another, we would welcome a reunion that included a stop at Bonnaroo or Coachella.

Van Halen

After years of speculation, original singer David Lee Roth rejoined Van Halen and went on a reunion tour back in 2007/2008. Since then, the band has remained silent – until a new date finally popped up on the itinerary – the group will be headlining Australia’s Soundwave Festival later this year. This could open the door for VH to make the festival rounds next year – we could see the band playing any of the big four festivals.

The Smiths

Well, yeah, that’s just never gonna happen.

What mega-legacy headliners would you like to see?

“I would like to make it clear, because of mounting speculation and rumours, that there will be definitely no reunion of all four original members of Black Sabbath, whether to record an album or to tour.”

– Former Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler (via his website)

Annnnd horns down, gang.

Now that the late-season Record Store Day has passed, you would think there’s time to recover before running back out to your favorite store in April for more goodies. However, Black Sabbath have never been ones to play by the rules. Further proof of this has come via the announcement that a new live vinyl record will drop on 1/11/11. Guess what? There’s only going to be 3,000 copies available too.

Black Sabbath: Live at Hammersmith Odeon is a three-LP, 180 gram vinyl with a triple gatefold packaging that will be released through Metal Club. It features Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Terry “Geezer” Butler, and Vinny Appice at Hammersmith Odeon, London in January 1982 during the band’s The Mob Rules tour. The setlist includes the Dio-era “Neon Knights,” “Heaven And Hell,” and “Children Of The Sea” as well as earlier classics like “War Pigs” and “Paranoid.”

Sadly, for a large portion of Black Sabbath fans, Metal Club only has stores in the U.S and Canada. Visit their website to find all of their locations and get the boots out again. Looks like January 11th will be a long day for metal fans.

Twenty-one years ago, Tony Iommi and Ian Gillan, of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple fame respectively, worked with some of rock’s major players on the Rock Aid Armenia project to re-record the iconic track ”Smoke On the Water” in an effort to help the victims of the Leninakan earthquake of 1988 that left Armenia in shambles. Now in 2010, the two legends are coming together to record a brand-new track, “Out Of My Mind”, and give back once again.

According to antiMUSIC, Iommi and Gillan had already begun working in the studio with Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain and Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord. In a statement released on Iommi’s official site, the recording of “Out Of My Mind” is officially complete, with the help of a few additional players in the rock/metal scene: ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and H.I.M. axeman Mikko Lindstrom. “Next stop is getting the track mixed!”

The Armenian people have also not forgotten the efforts associated with the original Rock Aid benefit, as Iommi and Gillan were awarded the Orders of Honor by the Prime Minister of Armenia in October 2009 in appreciation. As a fan, it’s a real treat to see some of the biggest names in the game do some good by helping their fellow man and keeping rock music alive and well.

All proceeds from the upcoming single will go toward rebuilding a music school in Armenia that had been affected by the original disaster. No official release date has been set, but stay tuned for more details.

For now, try and imagine the culture we live in. The idea of learning about someone through conversation, or even something as rudimentary as spending time together, is so “old-fashioned” and so “passe.” Nope. Anything that takes longer than 30 seconds isn’t worth your time. It’s the runoff from our Facebook culture, where identity depends on how well your profile looks. Do you have an underrated band next to an acceptable mainstream group? Is your bio too long or too short? Are you quirky without trying too hard? Do you look chubby in your profile photo?

Don’t shake your head. That’s how society works these days – at least our online culture here. We’re quick to pass judgment within seconds. That’s why we try to be on our toes at all times, ready for criticism and on the defensive. (Sometimes we try to just say, “Oh, fuck it” and ignore you. But that takes patience, which comes with time. Don’t ask.) Because of this difficult and remarkable situation, we turn to “the list.”

These days, lists have become synonymous with identity. Is that a surprise? It’s a collection of someone’s opinions on an easy-to-swallow topic. Whether it’s the Top 10 Solos by Ace Frehley or the Top 10 Feel Good Hits of the Summer, you’re leaving with an impression. This impression is incredibly valuable to you, the reader, and us, the publisher. It offers some clarity for you and some air for us. We may have to wash our shirts out from the rotten tomatoes, but hell, it feels good to know we tore down the proverbial curtains.

So, what about this specific list? Is it a bit much for us to lay out what we feel are the greatest albums of all time? Sure, you could argue that. (We did. Several times. Until we finally just…decided it’d be fun to do.) However, you’d be missing the point. Despite all the forthcoming disagreement, this list summarizes where we stand in our views on music. It’s sort of a, uh, take it or leave it approach, really. Are we expecting you to agree? No. Of course not. In fact, given that this is a collective endeavor, we don’t necessarily agree with every decision made here on a personal level. But, we’d all agree that this is the best representation of how we, as a staff, rank all the albums in music history.

Okay, so it’s a little egotistical, but lick it up, baby. Lick. It. Up.

-Michael Roffman
President/Editor-in-Chief

Artwork by Cap Blackard.

100. Kanye West – The College Dropout

The Kanye West of 2010 is eerily similar to the Kanye West of 2002. Whereas the Chicago MC of today is fueling his creative surge with a newfound sense of hunger (the result of a MTV publicity stunt gone wrong and a corresponding eight-month, self-imposed exile), eight years earlier West was equally determined to prove his critics wrong. Despite dropping out of college to focus entirely on his hip-hop career, West could not find a record contract to save his life. They said he lacked that gangsta image and if anything he was a producer and not an MC. Even future friend Jay-Z, whose Roc-A-Fella Records was the first to give West a bite, later admitted he had doubts as to whether West could be a successful rapper.

West responded with his 2004 debut, College Dropout, a definitive record that proved not only his talents as both producer and MC but also launched him into superstardom. The 21-track effort is nothing less than spectacular, combining wit, social commentary, and even religion with a bevy of old-school soul and funk samples one would never expect to hear on a hip-hop album. Blackjack’s “Power of Love”?  Luther Vandross’s “A House is Not a Home”? A sped up Chaka Khan? It was all there. The culmination, of course, came in the form of “Jesus Walks”, a track that managed to make Christianity sound as gangsta as “Straight Outta Compton”. West was on a mission and used College Dropout to not only redefine what it meant to be a rapper but also the concept of sampling and production. Not since Jay-Z’s The Blueprint had the hip-hop industry heard such a game changer.

The rest, of course, is history and one that most of us know pretty well. West further proved his abilities with 2005′s Late Registration and 2007′s Graduation and then changed the blueprint again with 808s and Heartbreak. And though he grew an ego along the way, his music never lost a sense of originality, and much like there would be no Kanye West without Jay-Z, there would be no Lil Wayne, Drake, and Cudi without Kanye. What’s more, much like eight years ago, West is hungry again, eager to prove the doubters and once again establish himself among the industry’s elite. If College Dropout is any evidence, then the next decade and beyond will continue to be ruled and shaped by West. -Alex Young

Essential Tracks: “Jesus Walks”, “Through the Wire”, and ”Never Let Me Down”

99. Talking Heads – Fear of Music

For their first two albums, Talking Heads met with warm reception towards their quirky, post-modern songwriting, but it was with Fear of Music that they established themselves as art-rock masterminds. By staying true to their punk and avant-garde beginnings, while progressing their sound with alternative rhythms and surreal yet accessible lyrics, Talking Heads crafted a powerful collection of songs ranging dramatically in scope and subject matter – paper to heaven, wartime to electric guitars. With the aid of Brian Eno, the band set out to make dark, dystopian disco music; the end result was a landmark collection of intellectual rock songs as cutting edge as anything hanging on a wall in the most revered modern art galleries. - Cap Blackard

Essential Tracks: “Cities”, “Life During Wartime”, “Air”, “I Zimbra”, and “Heaven”

98. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

There’s an old saying that promises, “Everyone will eventually get into Led Zeppelin.”  It may not start with Physical Graffiti, but for those already versed in their early days, this album rewards like no other. Zep embodies their own spirit of excess by giving us a double album packed with epic pysch-rockers, bluesy stompers, acoustic interludes, power ballads, and the closest they’d ever get to an alt-country song, all of which show Jimmy Page displaying some of his best work. “In My Time of Dying” is yet another microcosm of Zeppelin’s boisterousness, but it never feels indulgent, not for any of its 11 minutes. The sturdy drum work of Bonham in “Kashmir” and “Houses of the Holy” is the stuff of rhythmic head-nods everywhere. And while there are stand-out tracks and singles, Physical Graffiti stands alone in the Zep catalog as the album with the most ideas, most experiments, and greatest success rate of these risks. The latter half of the album never feels like filler, from the acoustic southern blues of “The Wanton Song”, to the aching ballad of “Ten Years Gone”, to the straight pop-rock of “Night Flight”. In 1975, Zeppelin released their longest album, arguably their last great album, but also one of their best. -Jeremy Larson

Essential Tracks: “In My Time of Dying”, “Houses of the Holy”, and “Kashmir”

97. Elliott Smith - Either/Or

Elliott Smith’s quivering whisper is so desperate; so defeated, it’s like listening to a child owning up to some horrid fault. On Either/Or, Smith mellows out his take on Beatles-esque folk-rock to the speed of a heroine high and owns up to his demons: alcohol, lethargy, and his ongoing depression. Even the semi-joyous, jaunty “The Ballad of Big Nothing” seeps with confetti-speckled agony. On “Between the Bars”, he paints a picture of a man imprisoned by his own addictions, trapped between beer taps–a cage keeping him from his passions, his lovers, and a real life. For all its misery, Either/Or is an apt title for a record that romanticizes depression-fueled indifference and pays passionate homage to the horrors of apathy.  -Drew Litowitz

Essential Tracks: “Between the Bars”, “The Ballad of Big Nothing”, “Rose Parade”, and ”Angeles”

96. Beck – Midnite Vultures

Beck has always been a pretty funky guy. However, Midnite Vultures took his groovier side to the highest degree. It’s as if Beck spent the year between Mutations and Vultures listening to Parliament-Funkadelic exclusively. The horns that start “Sexx Laws” are yet another display of how far he’s willing to push the envelope. This album can be seen as the last hurrah for the Beck of the ’90s, before Sea Change moved him into a less tongue-in-cheek career path. -Joe Marvilli

Essential Tracks: “Sexx Laws”, “Mixed Bizness”, “Get Real Paid”, and “Debra”

95. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here

Five songs, 45 minutes, and all of them are awesome. Pink Floyd’s tribute to former member Syd Barrett (who coincidentally walked into the studio unnoticed during the making of this album), Wish You Were Here, is a mental ride through time and space, where one can dwell on whatever they see fit over this voyage of sound. Both segments of “Shine on Your Crazy Diamond” are perfect from start to finish, even though they both range well over 10 minutes of psychedelic wonder. The middle tracks include the bad-acid trip about conformity, “Welcome to the Machine”, and the funky live staple of Floydology, “Have a Cigar”. Pink Floyd’s five-song albums always seem to be mind-benders (see: Animals), but nothing was more classic than Wish You Were Here, and it will forever remain on my most-played list until I listen to it to calm my nerves on my deathbed. -Ted Maider

Essential Tracks: “Wish You Were Here” and “Shine on Your Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)”

94. Metallica - Kill ‘Em All

In truth, this album should not have been completed. Thrash metal was little more than an underground phenomenon in its time; tensions in the band had reached their peak as bassist Ron McGovney quit before future Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine was unceremoniously ejected; the original title, Metal Up Your Ass, was not thought marketable by record executives. It was 1983 when Kill ‘Em All finally struck — a biting LP full of punk and classic rock roots mashed together with a bloody hammer. Satriani student and former Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett lent a melodic mid-section to “The Mechanix” (co-written by Mustaine) later titled “The Four Horsemen”; the late Cliff Burton was enlisted, performing his now-iconic bass solo on “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)”. In death to all those who would have passed them over, thrash metal — and what is believed by many to be Metallica’s definitive lineup — was born. -David Buchanan

Essential Tracks: “Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)”, “Whiplash”, and “The Four Horsemen”

93. Parliament Funkadelic – The Mothership Connection

It all comes down to those eight timeless groove-demanding words, “We need the funk, gotta have that funk!” This record was made for every drug-laced, over-sexualized experience in need of a smooth gyrating bass line. Opening like the late-night radio shows of the 70’s, it plays through as the soundtrack from that decade. The songs are full of hilarious and ridiculous one-liners (“Make my funk the P. Funk, I want to get funked up”), and the track names carry the same eccentric good-times feel. As a record, Mothership is a party. Parliament throws down a steady, funky rhythm all the way through to the end of “Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples” like the life of that party depends on it. Mothership… is the record that put George Clinton on the map as the new godfather of funk and in just seven tracks had us all bouncing along with him decade after decade. -E.N. May

Essential Tracks: “Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof off the Sucker)”, “P. Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)”, and “Supergroovalisticprosifunkystication”

92. Pavement – Slanted & Enchanted

Nineties indie rock will be discussed in music history books in another 15 years. This seems like an offhand attempt to sound profound, but all the indie that exists now will someday need to be documented, and the nineties will be the first chapter in said biographical accounts. One record that will be continuously referenced in the creation of modern-day music is Stockton-based Pavement’s first album, Slanted & Enchanted, with its lo-fi recording, intellectually deep lyricism from singer and lead guitarist Steven Malkmus, and percussion and backing vocals from a bizarre character named Bob Nostanovich. Together, these five relatively average dudes put together a cult classic and consistently rad album, with songs like the fantastic and triumphant “Trigger Cut/Wounded Kite at :17”, the sludge-like “In the Mouth a Desert”, the beautiful and elegant “Here”, and the fist-pumping “Two States”.  At the end of the day, Slanted & Enchanted will continue to get better with age, much like the wine that comes from the band’s neighboring Northern Cali territories. -Ted Maider

Essential Tracks: “Summer Babe (Winter Version)” and ”Here”

91. The Clash – The Clash (US Version)

When the Clash released their self-titled debut album in 1977, the band’s label, CBS Records, refused to release it in the United States, citing it as “not radio friendly.” After becoming the largest selling import of the year, CBS released a US print in July 1979. With a slightly altered tracklist, removing four songs and adding five non-album British-only singles and an altered version of “White Riot”, The Clash, with its blend of old-flavor rock and roll, Jamaican rhythms, ska-like tones, and punk fury, set the stage for the band’s masterpiece, London Calling. The US release benefits from the altered tracklist and results in a stronger overall album, with stompers like “Clash City Rockers” opening the record and the atypical “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais” helping to explore the diversity of the band and their influences. Lyrically, Strummer and Jones are very rooted in the actual events of the day; however, they project their message forward 30 years to modern-day America, where an economy is teetering on a cliff, unemployment is high, the youth are continually disenfranchised, and the ennui that affected the youth of the UK has nothing on the combined sense of complacency and malaise that currently seeps throughout our land. I can’t think of a more perfect album much less a more perfect time to revisit it.  -Len Comaratta

Essential Tracks: “(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais”, “Police and Thieves”, “White Riot”, and “Career Opportunities”

90. Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts

In 1998, a hardcore band from Umea, Sweden, released one of the greatest, if not the greatest, hardcore/punk albums of all time. Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come remains to this day one of the most assaulting and unpredictable albums I’ve ever heard. The album’s theme is based on the idea that hardcore and punk bands who have a political message are completely counterproductive if they keep packaging their anti-establishment message in poppy punk songs for the masses. So Refused came along to fix that by having on-a-dime tempo changes, synth-jazz beats and breaks, and vintage recording interludes all combined with raw and angry vocals and guitar riffs and some of the best hardcore drumming of any record ever. “New Noise” encapsulates the album’s message, while “Liberation Frequency”, “Refused Party Program”, and “Protest Song ‘68” drive home Refused’s political ideologies into your brain like a Ginsu blade. The band members put so much effort and anger into this album that it would be their last as a band. Shape of Punk to Come caused the band to famously explode during an American tour in support of the album—as seen in their documentary Refused are Fucking Dead. The epic disintegration of the band left behind a larger-than-life myth for Refused that still lives on in their final, and greatest, album. -Nick Freed

Essential Tracks: “New Noise”, “Liberation Frequency”, and “The Deadly Rhythm”

89. Beastie Boys - Paul’s Boutique

Whenever the Beastie Boys were namedropped in teenage conversation, the pinnacle of my knowledge sat on any one of numerous singles from Licensed To Ill and a few scattered hits about the radio stream. I thought they were funny in the way that ICP is funny or Biz Markie is funny, so whatever, right? Wrong. A couple of years ago, I saw this used copy of Paul’s Boutique in CD Warehouse for about $10 after having heard the name come up before. I played this album in the van and started picking out familiar samples – Jaws theme, Pink Floyd, Average White Band, Afrika Bambaata, The Eagles, James Brown. Beastie Boys were juvenile rappers for most of their career, but look close at 1989′s Paul’s Boutique, the predecessor to mash-ups before samples were monitored like drug traffic and WMG-censored YouTube. Lyrically, Paul’s Boutique is goofy and unintentionally clever, but musically, it has more layers than a Grand’s biscuit. -David Buchanan

Essential Tracks: “Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun”, “High Plains Drifter”, and ”B-Boy Bouillabaise”

88. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

Trent Reznor has come a long way since his one-man studio band Nine Inch Nails injected 1994′s The Downward Spiral into mainstream radio. Taking some pop aesthetic from 1989′s dance-oriented Pretty Hate Machine and grinding it up with the legendary middle finger known as the Broken EP, Reznor spat out a suicidal concept record with industrial metal roots (not to mention its ’95 remix companion). The Downward Spiral spearheaded a wave of industrial pop, nu-metal, mid-90s alternative, and the like, all alongside a leviathan called grunge rock. While the overall sound and motivation of Nine Inch Nails and its sole creator has taken dramatic shifts post-’99, despite a “fist fuck” here and a marriage there, Trent Reznor will go down in history as Mr. Self Destruct — the man who brought us “closer to God” in so many words. On that note, you know you’re awesome when Johnny Cash makes one of your songs his own personal, unplanned eulogy. -David Buchanan

Essential Tracks: “March Of The Pigs”, “Heresy”, and ”Hurt”

87. N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton

Although they probably owe Schoolly D and the Park Side Killas some credit for pioneering gangsta rap, N.W.A. can proudly say that they brought this style of über-catchy, ultra-violent hip-hop to the mainstream. Released in 1988, Straight Outta Compton featured what would eventually become some of the genre’s biggest names — Ice Cube, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, and MC Ren – spinning tales of life in one of Los Angeles’s roughest neighborhoods over minimalist beats and scratching provided by DJ Yella and Arabian Prince. Cuts like “Fuck Tha Police” and the title track came to epitomize the West Coast sound and paved a road that led to rap music infiltrating every household in America. Even if you were from the most tranquil corners of suburbia, you tensed up, clenched your fists, and pretended you were popping off rounds when you listened to Ice Cube open the record by declaring, “When I’m called off/I get a sawed off/squeeze the trigger/and bodies are hauled off.”  N.W.A. made you feel hard even though you still had to turn the volume down when your mom was home. -Ray Roa

Essential Tracks: “Straight Outta Compton”, “Fuck Tha Police”, and “Dopeman (Remix)”

86. Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

After already releasing six standout records, Elton John’s lucky number seven slapped us with piano glam rock at its finest, strutting a supersonic sound with prowess and ease. It opens with back-to-back blowouts “Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” that set in motion what is still John’s most prized record to date. John had successfully become the biggest hit-maker since The Beatles, and this double record was his magnum opus. “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” easily finds itself in the top echelon of fist-pumping rock songs that get your blood boiling and your head banging. The grandiose rock is filled with an energy unlike any of his other works, giving us a new side to the piano man. Ballads “Candle in the Wind” and the title track, along with every other hit off this record, have since become staples in pop, turning the record into an early greatest hits collection. Beyond that, deep cuts like “Grey Seal” carry the same huge presence, showing just how stacked this record really is. All of this could only come from the man in the glittery glasses who knew no limits to where his piano could take him, and thank God for it. -E.N. May

Essential Tracks: “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting”, “Grey Seal”, and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”

85. Michael Jackson - Off the Wall

I’ve never been one of those purists who claims that all “new” music is woefully shamed by all “old” music. For one, even prior to the Internet, the standard for “old” was nebulous at best, and two, the claim simply doesn’t hold up when you consider how inventive, or how life-altering, many records have been since we entered the modern era (whenever that was). But, if I’ve ever been tempted to cozy up to that idea, it’s been while listening, or rather, while being transfixed by a record like Off the Wall. Released in the fall of 1979, the record almost immediately affirmed the late Michael Jackson as the preeminent pop talent of his day, an instant classic that married the prevailing sounds of the funk, soul, and disco-inflected 70′s with an innovative zeal that, I’ll concede, has rarely been seen since.

Having met producer Quincy Jones while filming The Wiz, Jackson knew he’d met the man who would help him step out as a true solo artist, someone who could actualize his expansive vision in the wake of a young lifetime performing alongside his brothers. From the opening string-laced groove of “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”, which is perhaps the catchiest, most vibrant song I’ve ever heard, it was obvious that their creative union was nothing short of magical, a serendipitous collaboration that would subsequently yield the highest-selling album of all time, Thriller, in 1982. Contributions from Stevie Wonder on the smooth funk of “I Can’t Help It”, Paul McCartney on the tropical soul of “Girlfriend”, and Ron Temperton on the dance floor-igniting “Rock With You”, “Off the Wall”, and “Burn This Disco Out” further shaped Off the Wall into the Grammy Hall of Fame-inducted masterpiece that it is, a groundbreaking pop record for the masses that continues to be transformative even today. - Ryan Burleson

Essential Tracks: “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”, “Rock With You”, and “Girlfriend”

84. The Who – Tommy

There have been many attempts at the rock opera, but none will come close to the epic that is Tommy. By 1969, The Who had already gained substantial recognition for being the loudest band, so with Tommy they decided to flex their creative muscle and write a story. In doing so they gave us some of the most recognizable riffs and themes in rock. From the anthemic strums of “Pinball Wizard” to the last notes of “Amazing Journey”, they raise the hair on the back of your neck like only The Who can do. Just how a “deaf dumb and blind” kid can actually play pinball is only one part of the story. They would try and save Tommy with Jesus and give him acid. Tommy would be ridiculed and tortured, all the while crying out, “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me”. There’s a strong and rare theatrical quality in the music when it comes to tracks like “Tommy Can You Hear Me”, “Go to The Mirror Boy”, and “Smash the Mirror”. That writing style combined with The Who’s lush instrumentals and imaginative story line have given us the gold standard for rock operas. Others have tried, but when it comes down to it, there will be only one Tommy. -E.N. May

Essential Tracks: “The Acid Queen”, “Pinball Wizard”, and “I’m Free”

83. John Lennon - Imagine

The second album by John Lennon, Imagine, stands as his best release. While the songs are less experimental and more commercial, at least in comparison to his debut, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, you can’t argue that ”Imagine” might be one of the best songs ever written. No religion, no prejudice, and the world living as one was Lennon’s dream on this track. He would also claim that this song was as good as anything he had written with his former band The Beatles. He wouldn’t be alone in these sentiments. On later track “How Do You Sleep?”, which actually features George Harrison on the guitar, Lennon takes a jab at former collaborator Paul McCartney, as he sings, “The only thing you done was yesterday/And since you’ve gone you’re just another day,” letting the world know that there wasn’t peace between the former bandmates. While one can argue that’s hypocritical of his album’s title track, you have to look at it in a different light. This album represents a freedom for Lennon. After one listen, it’s rather apparent he still had a lot to say about his life and the world he lived in. History will always peg him as a Beatle, but on Imagine, he lets you know there was more to that. – Kevin Barber

Essential Tracks: “Imagine”, “Jealous Guy”, and ”How Do You Sleep?”

82. Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream

Terrible afflictions such as pain, loneliness, and insecurity have produced some of the finest art in the world, and the Smashing Pumpkin’s 1993 album, Siamese Dream, is no exception. Frontman Billy Corgan, drummer Jimmy Chamberlain, guitarist James Iha, and bassist D’Arcy Wretzky were facing some of their darkest demons while making this album, including heroin addiction, heartache, and writer’s block, all paired with Corgan’s intensely perfectionist personality and unyielding management. But with the help of producer Butch Vig, who produced their first album, Gish, as well as Nirvana’s Nevermind, they somehow managed to stick together as a band and create an album that would shape and mold the landscape of 1990’s alternative rock. -Karina Halle

Essential Tracks: “Cherub Rock”, “Hummer”, and “Soma”

81. Neil Young – Harvest

Neil Young’s 1972 solo release, Harvest, was his commercial breakthrough. Riding the wave of the number one song “Heart of Gold”, Harvest gave Young a success and credibility to his solo career that would solidify him as one of rock and folk music’s greatest artists. The album, though uneven at times, contains some of the best work of Young’s career. “Heart of Gold”, “Old Man”, and “The Needle and the Damage Done” are three of his strongest songs, and “Heart of Gold” remains Young’s only number one hit. Young instituted the help of former band mates David Crosby, Stephen Stills, and Graham Nash, as well as friends James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt for Harvest. The success of the album allowed Young to keep pursuing his solo work, and his output in the next few years would become the best work he’d ever done. -Nick Freed

Essential Tracks: “Heart of Gold”, “Old Man”, and “The Needle and the Damage Done”

80. Paul Simon – Graceland

When Simon and Garfunkel broke up in 1970, there was little doubt that Paul Simon would go on to have a successful solo career. His angelic-voiced partner Art Garfunkel had little part in writing the songs, and it was apparent from Simon’s own pleasing voice that he could do it all on his own. Simon’s first solo album, Paul Simon, was a critical success and showed that he could dabble in alternative cultural music styles such as reggae. This curiosity and willingness to explore other types of music eventually led Simon to create the greatest album of his career, the Grammy-winning Graceland. Instead of the Jamaican, Puerto Rican, and gospel-influenced beats from his previous albums, Graceland was conceived after Simon visited South Africa and soaked up the pulsing flavor of the pre-apartheid country. Influenced by the many different musical styles of the area, such as isicathamiya and mbaqanga, Simon took these newly discovered sounds and successfully matched them to his trademark songwriting. He recorded with African artists Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Okyerema Asante and US staple Linda Rondstadt, creating an explorative and unique album, unlike any the world had heard before, that went onto be highly influential in the pop-rock world; one look at Vampire Weekend and you can see where the connection lies. -Karina Halle

Essential Tracks: “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes”,  “Graceland”, and “You Can Call Me Al”

79. Björk – Post

Björk is one of few artists who could put out an album juxtaposing blistering electro-pop with big band, club-ready tribal dance with downtempo trip-hop and find both critical and commercial success. Her second album (of her adult career), Post, the title signifying a “letter” to her Iceland self after her move to England, is everything Debut was and more. She brought back Debut producer Nellee Hooper but also worked with Tricky, Howie B., and others and did plenty of production work herself. What resulted is an album where every song contributes its own voice to create a much larger sound. It’s tempting to call what Björk does on Post pop experimentation, but it never feels like she’s experimenting. The scattered, whispering minimalism on her tribute to music, “Headphones”, comes just as naturally to her as the pop hooks on angry industrial opener “Army of Me”. -Harry Painter

Essential Tracks: “Hyperballad”, “It’s Oh So Quiet”, and ”Headphones”

78. Sly And The Family Stone - There’s a Riot Going On

You know all that hot fun you had in the summertime with Sly & The Family Stone? Well, watch out, ’cause summer turns cold. Taking a page out of Bitches Brew‘s book, Sly came into the ’70s with a new plan, albeit a drug-addled one. Emotions are running high, narcosis seeps and slithers throughout the album, and militant disaffection with the then state of affairs is all but pounded into ears. The lyrics “feel so good/don’t wanna move” speak to the continuum connecting the hubris of the late 60s and the stasis of Sly and his mind/society in the early 70s. Outside of its timely relevance, the origins of hip-hop, funk, R&B, and fusion are present throughout the album. The ur-synth beat on the beginning of “Africa Talks To You ‘The Asphalt Jungle’” might just be the herald of 808s to come. Sadly, There’s A Riot Going On also heralds Sly’s descent into addiction. But the best album of Sly and his band’s career came in on a cloudy, groovy haze of sex, drugs, and, yeah, rock and roll, and few albums are as honest and heartbreaking and funky as this. -Nick Freed

Essential Tracks: “Family Affair”, “(You Caught Me) Smiling”, and “Africa Talks To You ‘The Asphalt Jungle’”

77. Cat Stevens – Tea for the Tillerman

1970’s Tea for the Tillerman continued Cat Stevens’ transition from mop-top teen idol to introspective singer-songwriter — a goal he began reaching for earlier that year with Mona Bone Jakon. However, Tillerman is more than an attempt at transformation. It’s a calling card to those entering adulthood — a warning and reminder pertaining to the thrills and challenges of leaving home. “Wild World” reminds that pretty girl from high school that “it’s hard to get by just upon a smile.” “Miles from Nowhere” and “On the Road to Find Out” provide spiritual signs along life’s highway. “Hard Headed Woman” is about finding those people who will tell you like it is and love you just as fully, while “Sad Lisa” is about the person you love who is too wrapped up in his or her own past to embrace that love. The jewel of Tillerman is “Father and Son”, which is the ultimate in awkward father-son chats, with Stevens’ stunning, alternating bass and tenor vocals painting the conversation. How is Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame again? – Justin Gerber

Essential Tracks: “Hard Headed Woman”, “Wild World”, and “Father and Son”

76. Sigur Rós – Ágætis Byrjun

Densely layered with white noise, strings, choirs, the saw of a cello bow against a guitar, and sublimely indecipherable lyrics, Ágætis Byrjun is both intense and ethereal and always unabashedly gorgeous. As Jónsi Birgisson howls in what is too uniquely otherworldly to be merely labeled as falsetto in both Icelandic and Vonlenska, a nonsensical language made and used by Birgisson on the title track and “Olsen Olsen”, the soundscapes that are divinely crafted by Sigur Rós on Ágætis Byrjun are transformed into something completely alien. With so much feeling behind both languages, it doesn’t matter what the band is, or isn’t, saying. -Frank Mojita

Essential Tracks: “Viðrar vel til loftárása”, “Starálfur”, and “Olsen Olsen”

75. Jay-Z – The Blueprint

Only eight percent of this list consists of hip-hop, so when we say Jay-Z’s The Blueprint belongs on this list, you better believe we mean it. What can be said about Jay-Z that hasn’t already been said about Pac and Biggie? No-holds-barred, the Jiggaman is widely considered the best rapper alive. Jay arrived on the scene in the early 90′s and has remained a solid presence in the rap game ever since. All 11 of his albums have debuted in the top 25, and all have achieved at least platinum status. But none was more notable than The Blueprint. Aptly named, The Blueprint laid the foundation for the future of all hip-hop. The album was a deviation from the power-hook radio hits Jay-Z and his contemporaries had been accustomed to cranking out, and it ended up being all for the best.

Instead, the album utilizes rich, intelligently placed soul-sampling that boosted not only the beats of the songs but built an immovable foundation for Jigga to throw down on. The production on this album was pioneering to say the least, and it couldn’t have been done without the cunning skills of Jay-Z to accompany it. It also helped further establish the career of an up-and-coming producer, one Kanye West, who, as we all know, has now become one of the most prominent rappers in the game. Thanks to genius production and masterful rhyming by the best rapper alive, the rap game was permanently changed for the better with the release of The Blueprint. -Winston Robbins

Essential Tracks: “Heart of the City (Ain’t No Love)”, “Never Change”, “Song Cry”, and ”Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”

74. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

All things considered, the 70’s were not Bob Dylan’s best period. Sure, Desire was solid, and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid produced one of his most beloved tracks (“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”), but the decade also saw him release some relative clunkers like Self Portrait, Planet Waves, and Street Legal. Luckily, all the sub-par 70’s releases are overshadowed by one of Dylan’s masterpieces, 1975’s Blood on theTracks. Widely regarded as Dylan’s most personal record, even if he denies the claim, there’s no arguing the fact that the album is filled with pain. The recording sessions in 1974 came just off the heels of his messy divorce with then-wife Sara. The songs that came out of these sessions are timeless songs of heartache, loneliness, and anger that still resonate with listeners 35 years later. –Carson O’Shoney

Essential Tracks: “Tangled Up In Blue”, “Simple Twist of Fate”, and “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts”

73. Radiohead - Kid A

Everything was in its right place. But, clearly that wasn’t enough for Radiohead. No, these five lads had to rewrite their perfect formula. They had to take everything they knew about how to be a great rock band–which they most certainly were–and throw it down the garbage disposal, flipping the switch till it was growling and coughing up an almost entirely new entity. Few guitars, vocals filtered through ondes martenots, analog synthesizers, digital drums, clamoring traffic jam horns, and lush strings make up one the most jarring stylistic shifts of the past 20 years, and one of the finest records of the past 10. Somehow, whether by sheer, anxious determination or pure creative genius, by doing everything backwards, everything was in its right place again on Kid A, but the place just looked a hell of a lot different. -Drew Litowitz

Essential Tracks: “Kid A”, “The National Anthem”, “How to Disappear Completely”, “Idioteque”, and “Motion Picture Soundtrack”

72. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Blood Sugar Sex Magic

Today, the Red Hot Chili Peppers stand as royalty on the radio. But back in the ’80s, the only thing you knew about “red hot chili peppers” was that, depending on the Mexican stand, you either could or couldn’t stomach them. Hardy har har. But it’s true. Unless you were hip to the California music scene, or caught a George Clinton show, you’d never know who the hell they were. Well, that’s only half true. Mother’s Milk did chart at number 52 on the Billboard Top 200, but overall? No. That is, until Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Everything just…fell into place. It would be the band’s first release with Warner Bros. Records, producer Rick Rubin would take over the controls from Michael Beinhorn, and all members had finally become comfortable with one another. For recording, the band shacked up in what’s now called The Mansion, which at the time was an old Laurel Canyon estate that had once belonged to Errol Flynn. Both drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante, to this day, claim they felt a ghostly presence while living there – so much so that Smith eventually left. (Look in the album artwork. There’s a “supernatural” surprise in one of the photos!) Over a month, they spent time writing and recording and consulting one another. This sort of bonding experience washed over into the album.

For one, it’s a very cohesive experience – each song blends into the next – and what’s more, it’s all incredibly tight. Once “The Power of Equality” kicks off the funky fellowship, it’s clear that this isn’t the band who once sang about “…Coyotes” or “Magic Johnson”. (Technically it wasn’t.) Instead, this was a band ready to take itself seriously, while having fun doing it. Despite what detractors say, they didn’t go soft here. They took their ferocity and channeled it into something that could affect or change people…not just make ‘em laugh and shake. This wouldn’t be more obvious than on “Under the Bridge”, the single that still has folks turning up the dial whenever rock radio decides to plug it, which hasn’t changed much in the past 20 years. And while Californication nearly rivals it, Blood Sugar Sex Magik remains the watermark that set the Chili Peppers’ flag high above the rock and roll scene. Modern day Rolling Stones? Pretty close. Pretty, pretty…pretty close. -Michael Roffman

Essential Tracks: “The Power of Equality”, “Suck My Kiss”, and “Under the Bridge”

71. Tom Waits – Rain Dogs

While most albums in this list fit this criterion, in the grand scheme of things it’s pretty rare to have an entire album that does not contain a single bad track. It’s even more rare to have an album like that when it spans 19 tracks, but that’s exactly what Tom Waits did with Rain Dogs. Some of the songs may be a little too far out there for some listeners, but every song is just as effective as the next. After years of playing the club scene with just his voice and a piano, Waits shocked everyone when he came out with the jangled and insane Swordfishtrombones in 1983. This shift in his musical style would eventually define his career, even after he moved into new territory once again. While Swordfishtrombones saw him dive off the deep end, it wasn’t until his next album that he perfected his new brand of music that was all his own.

To describe it is useless; it’s something that begs to be experienced. Waits has always had an obsession with the down-and-out deadbeats on the streets, but it was never as obvious as it is on Rain Dogs – the name itself being a reference to these same type of “urban dispossessed”, as Waits describes it. And while the lyrics often deal with the bizarre side of things (“The captain is a one-armed dwarf/he’s throwing dice along the wharf”), they’re often as universally affecting as his earlier work (“Tear the promise from my heart, tear my heart today/ You have found another, oh baby I must go away”). Waits’ songwriting ability is also put on display on tracks like “Downtown Train”, which eventually became a top-five hit when Rod Stewart covered it four years later. There are many essential records in Tom Waits’ long and storied career, but Rain Dogs might be the most essential of them all. –Carson O’Shoney

Essential Tracks: “Singapore”, “Anywhere I Lay My Head”, and “Big Black Mariah”

70. The Beatles – Rubber Soul (UK Version)

It’s difficult to make one of the greatest albums of all time (understatement of this and the previous century). The Beatles made several, and Rubber Soul is undoubtedly amongst them. That tremendous bass and guitar to open up “Drive My Car”, courtesy of legends (again, an understatement) Paul McCartney and George Harrison. The only Lennon/McCartney/Starkey credit in the band’s discography, “What Goes On” is one of Ringo’s finest moments. “I’m Looking Through You” is one of McCartney’s finest offerings, with the scream of “You’re not the same!” providing one of the highlights of an album chock-full of them. However, this is John Lennon’s album. Picture Rubber Soul without the sitar-infused “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, the somber “Nowhere Man”, the sensual “Girl”, the dark “Run for Your Life”, and arguably the greatest love song of them all, “In My Life”. It’s hard to imagine that later Beatles records actually managed to top it. -Justin Gerber

Essential Tracks: “Drive My Car”, “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”, and “In My Life”

69. The Smiths – The Smiths

“It’s time the tale were told/Of how you took a child/And you made him old.” From the initial lyrics of “Reel Around the Fountain”, we knew The Smiths’ self-titled debut was destined for classic status. Morrissey’s dour lyrics juxtaposed against Johnny Marr’s lifting guitar only made this more apparent. The theme of child abuse is prevalent throughout (“Reel Around the Fountain”, “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle”, “Suffer Little Children”) but somehow made bearable by that aforementioned guitar, soothing our fears while Morrissey recites nightmares both fact and fiction. The singer’s ambiguous persona is on display, as well, whether in the passenger seat of “This Charming Man” or arm-in-arm in “Hand in Glove”. Given the success of The Smiths, the multitude of fantastic singles, and a couple more classic albums, it’s hard to believe just three years later it would be over. Genius band, genius album. -Justin Gerber

Essential Tracks: “Reel Around the Fountain”, “Hand in Glove”, and “What Difference Does it Make”

68. Lauryn Hill- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Looking back to ’98, Lauryn Hill seemed primed to have a huge solo career ahead of her, especially after her stint with The Fugees. Instead, there was nothing. Well, not nothing. There’s always The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which notched eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist, earning Hill all the praise from the industry and media she wanted. Instead of following up, she just, well, quit. Only recently has her name come up as she plans her follow-up. 12 years for a follow-up is one hell of a hiatus. But what an album to follow. It could be considered one of the best solo female albums ever recorded. Full of soul and passion, you can hear and feel the messages she tries to get across about God, love, motherhood, and life. “To Zion”, one of the album’s finest songs, speaks of putting family first over the music business, which she eventually did. With a perfect blend of hip-hop, R&B, gospel, and soul, Hill brings this album to life, working from a vocal range that (arguably) still goes unmatched today. -Kevin Barber

Essential Tracks: “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, “To Zion”, and “Everything is Everything”

67. Leonard Cohen – Songs of Leonard Cohen

Infinitely imitated and infinitely respected, Songs of Leonard Cohen sounds like an apocalypse when we listen to it today. His mellow, dejected folk mapped out a hollow blueprint for what Jack Black referred to as “sad bastard music” in High Fidelity. Ironically, it was Judy Collins who first cut and recorded the immortal “Suzanne”, the album’s memorable lead track. Spare and affected, Cohen’s delivery worked all the more because of the late 60s psychedelia his music eschewed. Recently crowned indie-rock royalty The National accidentally swapped instruments with Cohen before a show in Brooklyn this past summer and patently refused to use Cohen’s instruments out of respect for his songwriting. There’s a certain command that Cohen’s music respects at this point in his career, and that says just as much about Songs of Leonard Cohen as his unassuming guitar lines and his pensively personal lyrics. Like his contemporaries Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen’s debut clued us in that he was here to stay. -Eric Vilas-Boas

Essential Tracks: “Suzanne”, “So Long, Marianne”, and ”Sisters of Mercy”

66. Devo – Duty Now For the Future

Duty Now For the Future doesn’t feature any songs about whipping, monkey men, or the illusion of a “beautiful world”, but the album is pure Devo. Duty Now is first and foremost a punk-rock album, flirting lasciviously with the mysterious force that would become new wave, and was among the first rock albums from a major label to heavily feature synthesizers. Guitars and electronic instruments have never purred so sweetly together before or since. The album set precedents for how raw art-house rock can be and how surrealist punk rock can get. Everything from the government to burger commercials are touched upon, and many songs are steeped in sexual tension and masculine fury. Duty Now harbors the manic sensibilities of every underground comic ever published, with the cartoon horniness of Tex Avery’s Big Bad Wolf – pop art and punk rock’s plastic-wrapped bastard baby, a perfect specimen of devolution. -Cap Blackard

Essential Tracks: “Smart Patrol/ Mr. DNA”, “Clockout”, “Wiggly World”, and “The Day My Baby Gave Me a a Surprize”

65. Arcade Fire – Funeral

At the beginning of my senior year in college, my new neighbor, future music guru, and inevitable lifelong friend invited me up to his apartment because there was something I had to hear. The song was “Rebellion (Lies)”, and it was like nothing I had heard at that point. The pulsing drumbeat, the slow build, the giant finish, the words “sleeping is giving in” that rang too true. The wild ride Arcade Fire had on the horizon sounds like PR hype, but it came from people we knew, straight from our friends’ mouths. The performances with motorcycle helmets and flashlights, the sunset Coachella set that every other music festival performance seems to stand in the shadow of, performing with David Bowie, and ultimately living up to the promise with two more impressive and career-building records. But none will ever be Funeral, a record that really needed none of the mythology. It worked in a tiny bedroom with two dudes quietly listening and being taken aback. With showstopping moments including the aforementioned track, future NFL anthem “Wake Up”, and album opener “Tunnels (Neighborhood #1)”, it took no time to grow on listeners and never has gotten old. At six years old, it still sounds fresh and exciting, yet it’s also comfortable on a list with the rock and roll classics. Unlike them, however, the ripples of this one are still being felt. At the very least, this album was instrumental in me meeting my dear friend. Either way it’s a win. -Philip Cosores

Essential Tracks: “Wake Up”, “Rebellion (Lies)”, and ”Haiti”

64. The Doors – The Doors

The self-titled debut album from acid-rockers The Doors was released in 1967, climbing to #2 on the Billboard charts and achieving multi-platinum status. Featuring 11 tracks mostly penned by the poetic frontman Jim Morrison, the album has stood up to the test of time and is an essential component of any serious music collection. Featuring the hit single “Light My Fire” and covers of the scat-filled “Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar)” and “Back Door Man”, this album launched The Doors into their current status as classic rock icons. The fittingly titled “The End” closes out the album with nearly 12 minutes of singing, talking, storytelling, and guttural screaming over haunting guitar riffs. This album was just the beginning for the band that created music that has endured long after Morrison’s untimely death just four years after the release of this debut album. Its influence is rampant. Just look at old performances by Ian Curtis, or ask Iggy Pop. –Kelly Quintanilla

Essential Tracks: “Break on Through (To the Other Side)”, “Light My Fire”, and “The End”

63. R.E.M. – Document

If you were young in the 90′s, R.E.M. was a gigantic enigma that didn’t tour and seemed to continually increase in popularity without capitalizing on any of it. Like U2, they were larger than life, thus making it hard to believe that at one point they were shy southern boys who made jangly college rock that was indebted to The Velvet Underground. We live with indie bands rising to fame all around us, but in the early 80′s, it was weird to be a musician and be understated. Also, remember that this wasn’t the era of overnight sensations, and it wasn’t a swift shift from indie darlings to pop juggernaut, it was a metamorphosis over five albums, and Document would be their last as an “indie.” Purists may cite Murmur or Reckoning as the more influential album, and pop historians could point out Out of Time or Automatic for the People as greater crowd pleasers, but Document is about the only time you will ever please both camps. It was their first platinum release and contained their first top 10 hit with “The One I Love”, yet this R.E.M. still had the balls to throw a cover of Wire’s “Strange” on side one. And then there is a little song called “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”, R.E.M.’s signature song in a back catalog full of signature songs. It was the tune that took us from the 80′s straight through to Y2K. After the world didn’t end with the year 2000, you seemed to hear it a little less, but go see R.E.M. in concert and there is a good chance you’ll here it at the end. -Philip Cosores

Essential Tracks: “Exhuming McCarthy”, “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”, and ”The One I Love”

62. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

The definitive Bible of underground hip-hop. No album was rawer, grittier, or better-crafted than Wu-Tang Clan’s opus, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). They were a group to fear (after all, they knew karate) and made it known in the first 20 seconds of “Bring Da Ruckus”. On the opening track, Wu-Tang sounds like they’re begging you to bring on the heat, because they know as a collective crew, they could hold together through anything. This album showed the kind of ethic they would keep for the rest of their careers both on group and solo efforts. The way Raekwon and Ghostface trade off lines together on “Can It Be All so Simple” is some of the finest swapping in hip-hop. The flow and beat from Inspectah Deck and RZA on “C.R.E.A.M.” will forever stand as one of hip-hop’s finest lyrical and production achievements. Not to mention the raw and fantastic verses spit by legends Ol’ Dirty Bastard on “Shame on a Nigga” and Method Man on his biographical track stand as some of the best rhymes in hip-hop to date. Wu-Tang created an empire, and this was the first and most essential brick within it. -Ted Maider

Essential Tracks: “Protect Ya Neck”, the only track on the album to feature almost all members.

61. Green Day – Dookie

Green Day broke into the mainstream with Dookie, perfectly timed to arrive hot on the Doc Martens heels of the grunge scene. The California-based band fronted by Billie Joe Armstrong and rounded out by bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool found success by fusing the anti-establishment nature of its punk rock roots with a grunge appearance, backed by catchy pop melodies and hooks. Exploring everything from panic attacks to masturbation to bisexuality, the lyrics struck a chord with fans of all ages and positioned Green Day as the modern punk band for the masses. Released in 1994, the band’s third and best-selling album found commercial success, reaching number two on the Billboard charts and scoring a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. The band was accused of “selling out” by previous followers of the underground punk scene, but Dookie found a way to reinvigorate interest in the original punk legends by serving as an entry-level punk record and giving a voice to rebellious teens who didn’t actually have a lot to rebel against in the relatively placid mid-1990s. –Kelly Quintanilla

Essential Tracks: “Basket Case”, “When I Come Around”, and “Longview”

60. The Band – Music From Big Pink

The Band never quite fit in with the 60s and 70s rock scene. They weren’t political, they constantly switched instruments, and they loved their families. Sure, there were drugs and women, but while other groups made songs out of such decadent behavior, The Band remained firmly rooted in tradition, filtering all of their lyrical subject matter (even the love songs) through a lens of mountainous, archaic Americana, spinning yarns about courageous settlers and the Civil War. What kept it from being corny was their sense of communal musicianship, their chestnut lyrics set ablaze by each member’s skills, and their debut album, Music From Big Pink, which captured them at the peak of their powers, before all the legal squabbles, back when they were just five fellas playing music in a cavernous house in the Catskills (the namesake of the album). Listen to Big Pink and you can feel each member in the room. There are no stage hogs and everyone stands out. You remember Garth Hudson’s Captain Nemo organ solo on “Chest Fever” just as well as you remember the stacked harmonies and traded leads of Levon Helm and Rick Danko on “The Weight”. And let’s not forget the back bayou thump of their rhythm chops either. Robbie Robertson really cooks on “Caledonia Mission”, and Richard Manuel’s aching pipes drench the entire album in earnest, alcoholic tears, especially on closer “I Shall Be Released”, inevitably performed by some of the surviving members at his funeral in 1986. Behind the tumble and prophecy of Big Pink‘s elaborate orchestration was a heart so wonderfully simple in times that were not. -Dan Caffrey

Essential Tracks: “Chest Fever”, “The Weight”, and ”I Shall Be Released”

59. My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

Talk about turning the card on the sophomore slump. Today, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless stands as a testament to the beauty of sonic chaos. Originally believed by the band’s label, Creation, to be recorded in five days, the 48:36 seconds of absolute sonic bliss came to fruition after a series of catastrophic incidents. The laundry list includes dementia, bankruptcy, tinnitus, and isolation. One label head’s hair even turned gray. But like anything in art, perfection never surfaces without its share of consequences. Under a multitude of churning, whirly guitars and a bookshelf of harmonies, the diamond-like sequencing of Loveless sucks you into the madness, as well. But, it’s a beautiful trip that’s unique to the creative mind of Kevin Shields and one that nobody’s been able to replicate since. -Michael Roffman

Essential Tracks: “Soon”, “To Here Knows When”, and ”Only Shallow”

58. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

Many bands break up because of infighting, but Fleetwood Mac may have been the first to be threatened by insleeping. When recording for Rumours began, the band dynamic was heading straight to hell. One band couple (Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks) broke up. A second (John and Christine McVie) got divorced. Emotional/sexual bonds formed, broke, then reformed in new configurations. Everyone cheated on everyone else in a series of many-strings-attached encounters. By the time the band hit the studio, pretty much no one was speaking to anyone else. Unlike the more collaborative effort of previous albums, Buckingam, Nicks, and Christine McVie wrote most of the songs separately. In perhaps the most brutal moment, McVie wrote “You Make Loving Fun” about her affair with Fleetwood Mac’s lighting designer and made her cuckolded husband play bass on it. As devastating as the lyrics are to these songs, the pop production lifts them above dreary anguish. The tune of “Go Your Own Way” bounces along, seemingly oblivious to its heart-wrenching lyrics. “The Chain” turns bitter rejection into a series of sing-along hooks. This tension between pain and pleasure infuses the album with its conflicted character. Never has heartbreak been so much fun. –Ray Padgett

Essential Tracks: “Second Hand News”, “The Chain”, and “Oh Daddy”

57. Genesis – Genesis

As both a prog-rock band and a pop-rock band, Genesis never produced anything short of incredible albums, but it was when they straddled both genres equally that the band showed its greatest strengths. Genesis’ cusp period is the very definition of art-pop, and no record evokes this more clearly than their 1983 self-titled album. Genesis is a tour de force of the Collins-era band at their most creative. Every facet of the band is represented:  dark pulpy narratives like “Mama” and “Home by the Sea”, goofy but brilliant tracks like “Illegal Alien” and “Silver Rainbow”, and masculine pop hits “That’s All” and “Just a Job to Do”. The production is crisp and inspired, from the opening sound collage of “Illegal Alien” to the mystical synth noises of “Silver Rainbow” and the funky breakdowns of “Just a Job to Do”; every track is simple, honest, brilliance. In this day and age when every new act gets hung up on who they’re taking inspiration from and who they hope to sound like, it’s albums like this that listeners can turn to to remind themselves what a truly original art-pop record sounds like. - Cap Blackard

Essential Tracks: “Mama”, “Home by the Sea”, “Just a Job to Do”, and “That’s All”

56. The Who – Quadrophenia

Tommy may be their most well-known album, and Who’s Next is the record that propelled them to superstardom, but for many Who fans, Quadrophenia is the British quartet at their most ambitious. Released in 1973, Pete Townshend and company put together a brilliant coming-of-age story of a young mod in Britain during the band’s formative years. From the tenacity of “The Real Me” to the overwhelming power of “Love Reign O’er Me”, Quadrophenia truly encapsulates Townshend’s genius as a songwriter. Unlike Tommy, this album is a straightforward, no-frills rocker that gives Roger Daltrey the ability to show his incredible vocal range and elevates him to rock god, while John Entwistle’s rock-solid bass and Keith Moon’s manic drumming lay the perfect foundation that allows for their bandmates to shine. Townshend is one of the only musicians to have the ability to add a synthesizer without sounding out of place. His tactical use of synthesizers on songs like “5:15” and “The Sand and The Sea” adds depth and becomes an essential addition for each track. Though it doesn’t feature any songs on the CSI soundtrack, it’s fair to say that Quadrophenia is The Who at the top of its game, and that’s saying something. –Daniel Kohn

Essential Tracks: “The Punk and The Godfather”, “5:15”, and “Love Reign O’er Me”

55. Prefab Sprout – Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen has been called both the Pet Sounds of the 80s and one of the most perfect pop albums ever made – serious praise that it rightly deserves. The album is an example of incredible songwriting given the gift of likewise incredible and intelligent production, a once-every-planetary-cycle happenstance. The tracks are written in a classical style, derived directly from the high-water mark set by George Gershwin and Brian Wilson but mimicking neither. Frontman and songwriter Paddy McAloon’s unique personality shines through in lyrics laced with clever cynicism (“I hear you’ve got a new girlfriend. How’s the wife taking it?”) and heartfelt irreverence (the spite shown towards Heaven in“When the Angels” for the murder of Marvin Gaye). Each song was handpicked from McAloon’s back catalog by producer and keyboardist Thomas Dolby, turning simple acoustic tracks into lavishly produced and timeless pop masterpieces. ­-Cap Blackard

Essential Tracks: “Faron Young”, “Goodbye Lucille #1”, “Bonny”, and “When the Angels”

54. The Strokes – Is This It (UK Version)

In the years that spanned the close of the ’90s and the beginning of the millennium, it seemed as though all music would be electronic in this brave new century we found ourselves in. Bands like The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers were burning up the dance charts, the rock charts, the pop charts—all of the charts, really—with their fledgling new genre, electronica. Guitars and amplifiers would most certainly be a thing of the past in 2001. Is This It? put that school of thought to rest with the first few new notes of its title track. It boasted fuzzy amps, an organically monotone voice, and catchy self-loathing lyrics for those who loved Lou Reed both ironically and sincerely. In just under an hour, Is This It? managed to make New York City music cool again and saved rock and roll at one of the most crucial points since the advent of disco. -Christine DiPaolo

Essential Tracks: “Soma”, “Hard to Explain”, and ”NYC Cops”

53. Bob Marley & the Wailers – Exodus

I kid you not, the following events are 100% true. I was in a gas station near the University of Utah, waiting to hand the cashier my money, when on comes the Bob Marley song “Waiting In Vain”. No big deal, right? Happens all the time. Well, this particular afternoon was a different story. A very large, bearded African American man in the back of the store (who was most unmistakably inebriated) began to sing along with the song at the top of his lungs. After a few lines, he staggered up one of the aisles and began serenading myself and the cashier, who looked as though he was certainly part of some sort of biker gang. The cashier laughed in confusion and looked at me like I knew how to handle this sort of situation. I looked back at the drunk man to find that he’d changed his path to sing to a confused cyclist who had just stumbled into the store. When I looked back at the cashier, I found, much to my surprise, that he, too, had begun singing and swaying emphatically. And then the guy pointed at me to join in. I did so hesitantly, and much to my relief, so did the cyclist. It was seriously a real-life, feel-good moment straight out of Newsies, and one that I’ll remember forever. My point in telling you this is that Bob Marley spans every demographic. I don’t care who you are, where you’re from, or what you do, you know the words to all these songs, and they all make you feel good. Honestly, any BM album could have made this list, but Exodus plays more like a greatest hits collection than a standard LP. Bob Marley (along with help from Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, and others) put reggae on the map and legitimized the genre in world culture, simultaneously making it accessible to every demographic. Exodus is the most candid example of Marley’s timeless charisma and musicianship. -Winston Robbins

Essential Tracks: “Jammin’”, “Waiting In Vain”, and “One Love”

52. The Replacements – Let It Be

Who would have thought four twenty-somethings from Minneapolis could produce something so timeless, so vital, and so vivid? Back in 1984, when The Replacements dished out their magnum opus, Let It Be, nobody did. While all eyes were on Prince at the time, Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, Chris Mars, and Bob Stinson created pure, unadulterated rock and roll. With his heart on his sleeve, Westerberg poured his love, his loss, and his inhibitions into each and every lyric, note, chord, and yelp. On “Androgynous”, the first hit of the piano strikes your nerves, tugging at your eyes, and by the time Westerberg sings, “Future outcasts, they don’t last”, you’re right there beside him – in the dusty bar, within the late hours of a week night, and with nobody to hold onto but the music. That’s everything The Replacements were meant to be…and here they do that in every note, over 11 tracks, and for 33 minutes and 31 seconds. It’s not an album, it’s a life preserver. -Michael Roffman

Essential Tracks: “Sixteen Blue”, “Unsatisfied”, and “Androgynous”

51. Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation

The farther we get from the the 80′s, the harder it is to explain Sonic Youth, because to each generation the sound loses a bit of its edge while still remaining difficult and, at times, even abrasive. And most kids don’t want a history lesson telling them why Sonic Youth is good and important. They want to simply hear it and like it, as music tends to be one of the most self-explanatory likable things we have. But not Sonic Youth.  They had a lot to reconcile. How would you create meaningful music in their hardcore circles while remaining true to what often seemed like polarized leanings? Looking to The Velvet Underground for inspiration as much as Black Flag and Minor Threat, Sonic Youth were in the punk circle yet could dwell on finding beauty in noise rather than just in rebellion. It’s not easy to use these established musical platforms to create something that can make you uncomfortable, enthralled, excited, and heartbroken within the same improvised jam. And while no one will ever tell you that Sonic Youth is for everyone, no one will deny that maybe their goals for their art were a little loftier than their contemporaries, and appropriately, on Daydream Nation, when their sound became fully realized, their lofty goals yielded lofty results. But don’t let this scare you. If Sonic Youth was that hard to get, we wouldn’t be celebrating them. Daydream Nation was their most listenable record at that point, an album even casual music listeners could approach and enjoy. And with “Teen Age Riot”, they had themselves an honest-to-god anthem. One of the best of all time, perhaps. Could they have just made more tunes like this and pleased a hell of a lot of people? I imagine, but where would the fun be in that? Doing things their way, Sonic Youth have managed to stay relevant for nearly 30 years. And it’s because of Daydream Nation that the relationships, the public interest, and the continually adventurous sounds have held together. -Philip Cosores

Essential Tracks: “Teen Age Riot”, “Hey Joni”, and “The Sprawl”

50. Prince and The Revolution – Purple Rain

In the summer of 1984, Purple Rain dropped as a soundtrack to the cult film of the same name and instantly cemented the status of one Prince Rogers Nelson as a superstar. Having already tasted crossover success with 1999, it is with Purple Rain that Prince made his full-fledged foray into the worlds of rock and pop by fusing them with funk, r&b, and even a touch of heavy metal. From the creepy organ solo at the beginning of “Let’s Go Crazy” to the bass-free dance floor hit “When Doves Cry”, Purple Rain is an album that defies convention. After all, the most lascivious song on this sensual album ends with a backwards coda containing the hidden message of the Lord’s imminent return. Ambition and genre-bending weirdness aside, Purple Rain is also memorable for its infectious hooks and riffs that represent pop music at its most delightful. 26 years later, Purple Rain still sounds fresh and gripping and remains the greatest soundtrack of all time. -Frank Mojica

Essential Tracks: “Let’s Go Crazy”, “When Doves Cry”, and “Darling Nikki”

49. Black Sabbath – Paranoid

This is the reason metal exists. While Black Sabbath’s debut was pretty good, it’s Paranoid that supplied the spark for everyone from Metallica to Slayer. This is a more immediate and rockier album than the scary, sometimes sluggish mood of their first LP. The one-two opening punch of “War Pigs” and “Paranoid” is one of the best in all of metal. But the eerie nature of their debut still had its place on songs like “Electric Funeral”.  Dealing with everything from drugs to apocalyptic warfare, it created the blueprint that all future thrashers followed. -Joe Marvilli

Essential Tracks: “War Pigs”, “Paranoid”, “Iron Man”, and ”Electric Funeral”

48. Iggy & the Stooges – Raw Power

Although credited as the unofficial birth of punk rock, The Stooges’ third (and last great) album was largely dismissed at the time of its release, and it’s easy to see why.  The original cut was tinny and poorly mixed, drenched in nothing but James Williamson’s shark tooth guitar and the Asheton brothers’ speedball rhythm section, which left Iggy Pop’s snarling vocals largely drowned out.  It wasn’t until the various subsequent remasters that listeners realized just how nasty this thing really was, all spit and apocalyptic imagery with napalm classics like “Search And Destroy” and the rusted tambourine jangle of the title track.  The steady, acoustic pace of “Gimme Danger” may convince some that Detroit’s favorite bastard son was going soft, but listen to the lyrics. “There’s nothing alive but a pair of glassy eyes” is as romantic as this album gets. -Dan Caffrey

Essential Tracks: “Search And Destroy”, “Gimme Danger”, and ”Raw Power”

47. Dr. Dre – The Chronic

Rap music was already shaking the ground in the early 90s, but Dr. Dre’s solo debut, The Chronic, brought the fucking house down. The warnings to play this album on home stereos, preferably in a residential area, were no joke. The Chronic bumped louder and harder than anything else in hip-hop up to that point (except for maybe Dre’s six-four). Nothing beats a sonic introduction of Calvin Broadus, aka Snoop Doggy Dogg, who at the time was unknown to most ears around the world. But when “Fuck Wit Dre Day (And Everybody’s Celebratin’)” starts out, you know his voice was perfect, complimenting Dr. Dre’s low, slow flow on the entire album. That track is stellar, as Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg call out all those who have fucked with Dre in the past, showing that the new Dre is even harder. Not to mention several head-turning glimpses of hood-life like “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat”, “Lyrical Gangbang”, and “Lil’ Ghetto Boy”. On this album, Dr. Dre and Snoop showed the world how united their crew was in a place where everything else seemed divided, and that they were not the people to mess with. -Ted Maider

Essential Tracks: “Nuthin’ But a G’ Thang”, “Lyrical Gangbang”, and “Lil’ Ghetto Boy”

46. The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St.

The Stones’ 10th album came during their most decadent and hedonistic period. With the band settling in France in 1971 to avoid tax troubles in England, the Stones set up shop near Nice where Keith Richards rented a villa and recorded songs that were written between 1968 and 1972. These legendary sessions defined the adage “sex, drugs and rock and roll” before it became cliché. From these drug-fueled sessions came some of the best work of the band’s career and the album that defined early ‘70s rock and roll. Exile takes the best elements of country, blues, and R&B and makes them the band’s own. This, combined with the warm feeling of having been recorded in Richards’ basement, puts you in a manic frenzy that hits you so hard and fast that you have no choice but to listen. Mick Jagger’s charisma and frustration with the band’s legal situation are evident from the get-go when he sings, “I only get my rocks off while I’m sleeping” on the record’s opener. Songs like “Tumbling Dice” and “Happy” remain staples in the band’s live set, while others like “Shine A Light” and “Soul Survivor” sound as energetic and powerful as they did when recorded 38 years ago. The Rolling Stones’ angst and tension within their personal lives during this tumultuous period were channeled musically, and Exile is one of the most revered albums of the band’s illustrious career. –Daniel Kohn

Essential Tracks: “Tumbling Dice”, “Rip This Joint”, and “Happy”

45. Nick Drake – Pink Moon

Be it posthumous mythicism or…Volkswagen, Nick Drake finally became recognized in the 21st century, the least of which was that his songs wound up on everyone’s “Night Driving” mix, the most of which was his deserved recognition as a true father of folk. His third album, Pink Moon, strips away all the production of his previous efforts so much so that the piano tinkling on the title track almost sounds a little too much. Even with this album clocking in at under 30 minutes–undoubtedly the shortest album on this list–Drake’s songs conjure up the pith of melancholy, loneliness, and sparsity with just an acoustic guitar, his whispered British baritone, and his chilling lyrics. You put on this album at night, alone, and you can almost feel Drake at the end of his rope. Like Jeff Mangum after him, you feel anxious entering into his world, like his parasite could actually attach to you. It’s probably good this album is only 30 minutes. -Jeremy Larson

Essential Tracks: “Pink Moon”, “Know”, and “Parasite”

44. Miles Davis – Bitches Brew

One of the geneses of fusion, this is an album of ideas. Cool ideas born from Miles’ years as a bebop jazz blower and flung into Columbia’s 30th St. recording studios and simmered for three days straight. What’s ironic is that the sonics on this album are anything but fused. Layers of Wayne Shorter’s sax, Chic Corea’s keys, and the amazing Jack DeJohnette on percussion cohere at points, but it’s the struggle of the band to absorb the musical ideas, the push and pull of the polyrhythms and modal soloing that make Bitches Brew so rewarding. Signifying a shift in jazz, the roots of fusion and funk, and displaying Davis’s range as a musician, this 1970 staple demands a lot from the listener whether they’re versed in jazz or not, but the fruits of the work taste so sweet. Also of note, it’s not the possessive Bitch’s Brew, so the directive of the album title makes the music all the more ferocious. -Jeremy Larson

Essential Tracks: “Bitches Brew” and “Miles Runs the Voodoo Down”

43. David Bowie – The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Let’s just be honest here: This is the definitive glam-rock record. There are plenty more great ones from T. Rex’s Electric Warrior to Mott the Hoople’s All the Young Dudes, but no one did it quite as well as David Bowie. By letting his alter-ego, Ziggy Stardust, take over, Bowie ascended to new heights. In doing so, he also just so happened to make one of the best concept records ever. Who else could make an album about an androgynous alien from Mars who becomes a huge rock star in the final years of Earth’s existence and make it one of the most loved and revered albums ever? The correct answer is no one. David Bowie is a singular personality (albeit, he’s gone through multiple personalities), and his Ziggy Stardust years remain one of his most popular stylistic periods. The album, with all its funk, glam, rock, pop, and soul, was unlike anything anyone had heard at that point, and it has never been replicated since.  –Carson O’Shoney

Essential Tracks: “Suffragette City”, “Moonage Daydream”, and “Ziggy Stardust”

42. Bruce Springsteen – Darkness On The Edge Of Town

If you trace the lyrical arc of Bruce Springsteen’s career, each of his early albums got progressively more optimistic, culminating in the comet urgency of Born To Run. Even the more tragic characters of that record radiated some sense of hope. This all changed with Darkness On The Edge Of Town, kicking off a string of records that would examine the more dismal aspects of American working life, a haunted despair that would reach its apex on 1982′s Nebraska. While there are still some celebratory moments on Darkness (each side kicks off with a whiplash cry for escape – “Badlands” and “The Promised Land”), the majority of the songs introduce us to characters or situations devoid of all hope. We know that the protagonist of “Candy’s Room” will never get through to the drug-addled object of his affection. We know that the marriage in “Racing In The Streets” will eventually succumb to the narrator’s hazardous lifestyle and the banalities of domestic life. Even the E Street Band, so orchestral on Born To Run, are stark and stripped down here, with most songs driven by the rainfall echo of Roy Bittan’s piano. The guitar work is sparse as well, centering around Springsteen’s and Steven Van Zandt’s singular solos as opposed to the wall of guitars that trumpeted their last outing.  Sax titan Clarence Clemons has plenty to do on “Badlands” but mainly stays on handheld percussion elsewhere. Tonally, Darkness was the beginning of the end until Born In The U.S.A., a fascinating portrait of a musician beginning to lose hope in his own dream. -Dan Caffrey

Essential Tracks: “Something in the Night”, “Candy’s Room”, and ”Adam Raised a Cain”

41. Patti Smith – Horses

“Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine.” Those eight words, the first spoken on Horses, encapsulate the album’s major themes. Rebellion. Irreverence. A middle finger to society. If etiquette demands that girls wear dresses and shave their armpits, etiquette can suck it. The attitude on this debut earned Patti Smith the title “Godmother of Punk,” but the nickname is misleading. From the beginning, Smith was more poet than punk. Her hyper-literate lyrics referenced Rimbaud and Verlaine, imbuing each syllable with meaning. The album opens with a quasi-cover of Them’s frat-rock classic “Gloria”. In it, Smith becomes a woman on the prowl, her sexually predatory verses stalking boys, girls, and anyone else she takes a lusting to. Just listen to how she yowls “G-L-O-R-I-A”, spitting out the letters ahead of the beat as if ridding herself of a foul taste. Her ferocious delivery gives Horses its fire, but often overlooked in the equation is the backing band. Anchored by longtime associates Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty on guitar and drums, the crack combo show an unusual diversity for a punk band. They slip effortlessly from the island reggae of “Redondo Beach” to the raucous thrash of “Free Money”. The band’s ebb and flow help Smith push two songs to the 10-minute mark: the stream of consciousness “Birdland” and the rape-rocker “Land”. The album celebrates life even as it condemns it, marveling at society’s hypocrisies. “Because the Night” made Smith famous, but Horses made her a legend. –Ray Padgett

Essential Tracks: “Gloria”, “Free Money”, and “Land: Horses / Land of a Thousand Dances / La Mer (De)”

40. The Beatles – Revolver

No list of greatest albums would be complete without Revolver. It’s the first curveball of The Beatles’ back catalog – a set of pop songs dressed up in reverse guitar, feedback, loops, and strings. Where to begin? There is George Harrison’s sneering commentary and Paul McCartney’s genius bass/lead guitar work on “Taxman”. Lie down for the night to John Lennon’s hazy “I’m Only Sleeping”, and jump out of bed the next morning to “And Your Bird Can Sing”. For classical music, the album provides the eerie strings of “Eleanor Rigby” against the big bouncy horns of “Got to Get You into My Life”, both McCartney highlights. The standout, of course, is Lennon’s “Tomorrow Never Knows”, a track that clocks in under three minutes yet features the likes of a sitar, organ, tape loops, tambourine, piano, guitar, bass, and drums. Revolver is The Beatles’ bridge record — a display of what they once were and what they were about to become. – Justin Gerber

Essential Tracks: “Tomorrow Never Knows”, “Eleanor Rigby”, and “Taxman”

39. Meat Loaf – Bat Out of Hell

I rarely remember where I buy a record, but I remember precisely where I got Bat Out of Hell: the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. I cannot imagine a more fitting place to discover this album. Like Times Square, Bat Out of Hell represents American culture taken to the limit. Both are flashy, neon, larger-than-life to the point of absurdity. Bat Out of Hell often gets compared to Born to Run, but it took Springsteen’s masterpiece even further. Sure, it features the same small-town themes, epic production, and even personnel (the E Street Band’s Max Weinberg and Roy Bitten play on Bat), but where Born to Run provides a nuanced look at the trials and triumphs of kids bursting out of small town America, Meat Loaf throws subtlety out the window. Everything here is bigger. “Bat Out of Hell” turns “Born to Run” into a 10-minute roar, throwing motorcycle sound effects and “Leader of the Pack” melodrama into the pot. The three-part “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” echoes “Jungleland” but adds in a baseball announcer to narrate the backseat hookup. Even as things get increasingly ridiculous, Meat Loaf never cracks a smile. The utter lack of irony adds an endearing charm. At some point during your teenage years, there’s probably a brief moment where all this will seem deadly serious. The rest of the time, it’s just fun to join the ride. –Ray Padgett

Essential Tracks: “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”, “Bat Out of Hell”, and “All Revved Up with No Place Go”

38. Pink Floyd – The Wall

Some will call this bassist Roger Waters’ personal soapbox while pinning the Floyd’s magnum opus dedication to Dark Side Of The Moon, and in truth, this is probably best. If Dark Side is meant to tread the full spectrum of humanity’s emotional expanse, then The Wall is a magnifying glass on the heart of isolation and insanity. I know explaining the concept in detail will seem redundant by now (see: Rock History 101), so I won’t ramble on about that, but here’s a better point to make. Why did The Wall make our list? Its story is frantic yet cathartic, the music is theatrical, the chaos is tangible, and the film version features a talking anus and Bob Geldof in key roles without seeming too unstable. All of you probably know someone a bit like The Wall’s main character, someone depressed and withdrawn and ready to explode; this is The Wall, a psychiatrist’s wet dream and my favorite concept album to date. -David Buchanan

Essential Tracks: “Mother”, “Another Brick In The Wall (Pts 1-3)”, and “Comfortably Numb”

37. The Police – Synchronicity

The Police’s swan song is also arguably their best. While every record was chock full of hits, Synchronicity puts the rest to shame with the amount of classics. Not only does it include the worst wedding song ever in “Every Breath You Take”, it also moves through various moods in every track. From the social commentary of “Synchronicity II” to the dark, dramatic “King of Pain”, Sting’s songwriting is at its peak here. While it was a shame when the group called it quits, there’s no better closing soundtrack to their career than Synchronicity. -Joe Marvilli

Essential Tracks: “King of Pain”, “Synchronicity II”, and “Every Breath You Take”

36. Stevie Wonder – Talking Book

Name a Stevie Wonder album from the 1970s, and it could probably be on this list. As the second in his five-album “classic period”, Talking Book deserves its place on our list for a number of reasons. Despite this being his 15th album, the record sees Wonder access new and often unfound creative freedoms from the strict confines of Motown R&B. With the addition of synthesizers to his piano playing, not to mention clear-cut elements of funk, Talking Book has it all, musically speaking.  From the simple yet soulful “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)” to the raucous jam “Superstition”, this 1972 album still speaks volumes and was just the beginning of the reinvigoration of a man and several musical genres. Whether it’s soft and sweet or full of bluesy energy, Talking Book is one album that will continue to speak to fans for years. -Chris Coplan

Essential Tracks: “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)”, “Superstition”, and “Maybe Your Baby”

35. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction

Say what you will about modern rock today, but back in 1987, people had every right to turn up their speakers and blast what we consider “oldies” today: “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Paradise City”, and “Sweet Child o’ Mine”. Oh, Guns N’ Roses…the great rock and roll tragedy. Until the Smashing Pumpkins recently, there wasn’t a more depressing story in the genre. Five rock stars. The world’s greatest selling debut album. Twenty-eight-million fans. They had the look, they had the sound, and they had the edge. But they couldn’t hold it together. Instead of marching on, they ran straight into the ground, spoiling just about everything that had made the band so goddamn successful from the start. Long ago, Axl Rose could saunter onstage four hours late, and people would still throw roses at his feet. Today? He’s lucky if he doesn’t get pelted with bottles for making it on time. But that’s another argument, altogether. Regardless of the lineup changes or the drama that continues to ensue, Appetite for Destruction remains absolutely flawless. It’s the type of record every rock and roll band should aspire – or at least attempt – to create. Is it timeless? Not as much as it should be, but its crossover appeal is far greater than you’d like to believe. Think of it this way, every night (and, no, that’s not an exaggeration) tracks off this record are not only playing on some PA, but literally moving people. Whether it’s at a sports arena, at some teenager’s house party in Oshkosh, WI, or at a shitty, hipster dive bar in Brooklyn…people still can’t get enough of this album. Hell, you’d have to pay Chuck Klosterman $5,001 to never listen to it ever again. Whether or not that’s a compelling argument is up to you. Bottom line: It’s a diamond album, end of story. -Michael Roffman

Essential Tracks: “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Rocket Queen”, and “Sweet Child o’ Mine”

34.  U2 - Joshua Tree

Arguably the biggest album of the 1980s. Joshua Tree shipped platinum thanks to tracks like “Where The Streets Have No Name”, “ I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”, and “With or Without You”. Most importantly, the album was the first glimpse of what U2 would go on to become. The lads were out of the UK and here in the states and ready to do more than be just another group of rowdy punks from the other side of the pond. They were here to make good music, and they were here to make sure that some day they would be the biggest band in rock music. More than 20 years after its release, Joshua Tree is proof that lightning can be captured in a bottle. -Christine DiPaolo

Essential Tracks: “Where The Streets Have No Name”, “Bullet the Blue Sky”, and “With or Without You”

33. Simon & Garfunkel  – Bridge Over Troubled Water

A simple analogy will explain why we chose Bridge Over Troubled Water for our top 100: Peanut butter and jelly are to sandwiches as Simon & Garfunkel are to folk/rock music of the 60′s. Apart they’re average (arguable on all four counts), but together, they’re an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. Despite a shaky personal relationship, they had a fruitful career penning transcendent songs that still garner significant airplay even today. In 1970, they released what would be their final album together and arguably their magnum opus, Bridge Over Troubled Water. The iconic and anthemic opening and title track, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, is one of the finest pieces of modern music ever composed and has been covered by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Perry Como, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder, Andrea Bocelli, etc. My point is, some of the greatest artists/singers of our time have covered the song, and it’s not hard to see why upon listening to it. Starting out as a sweet piano ballad with deeply pensive lyrics, the track follows Garfunkel’s beautiful falsetto into an earth-shattering climax that sends chills down your spine and leaves you wondering whether you should applaud or weep. The album on the whole is a wonderful testament to what a wonderful songwriting pair these two were. -Winston Robbins

Essential Tracks: “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “Celia”, and “The Only Living Boy In New York”

32. Nirvana – Nevermind

It’s hard to write about Nirvana’s 1991 album, Nevermind, without feeling the whole concept is cliché: The naked baby in a swimming pool cover, the pep rally gone wrong video a la “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, a morose Kurt Cobain smashing his guitar on TV. But when you make the effort to really examine the album for what it is, there is a quiet genius about it. The sound is exceedingly simple. At a time when rock and roll consisted of long-haired macho men and insipid ballads, Nevermind took rock back to its roots and started all over again. They brought indie-punk pop to the masses and cemented Seattle’s grunge scene across the world with a few power chords, a dose of distortion, and Cobain’s gravelly screams over nonsensical lyrics. Cobain wasn’t the best guitar player either, but that helped give off the “I don’t care” vibe that resonated with an emerging Generation X. On the album’s landmark single, Dave Grohl’s hammering drums, Krist Novoselic’s prominent bass line, and Cobain’s cynical slurring, “I find it hard/it’s hard to find/oh well/whatever/nevermind” are quintessential Nirvana. Though Nevermind was Nirvana’s first album on a major label, the folks at Geffen weren’t sure how well it was going to be received. The label’s president Eddie Rosenblatt said their marketing plan was to just “get out of the way and duck.” It worked. Nirvana was left to do things their own way and the result was incendiary. -Karina Halle

Essential Tracks: “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “In Bloom”, and “Territorial Pissings”

31. The Ramones – Rocket to Russia

The idea of punk rock is an argumentative one…and it should be, given its intended nature. However, despite what your rejected school bully told you in detention class, it’s a bullshit genre that’s incredibly hypocritical. The mere thought of putting eggs in your hair, wearing tight, ripped denim, or not showering for days does nothing but make you less approachable. And an asshole. What’s worse, most of the anti-establishment ideas and themes that these “punks” support actually limit a population. Oh, at the end of the day, the methodology behind being a punk is no different than a group of jocks wearing a jersey to support a team or a few rich kids rocking the Polo. It’s just a uniform subscription. In hindsight, punk rock has always been tagged to a shitty scene, just with one hell of a soundtrack. Sort of like the film 200 Cigarettes or Empire Records. Yeah.

Ringleaders to the punk scene could technically be traced back to The Who – Buddy Holly even – but, in all honesty, it goes back to New York City’s rag-tag quartet: The Ramones. Over sloppy repetitive chords and popcorn drumbeats, Joey Ramone, easily the ugliest frontman in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, won the hearts of every teenager who ever wanted to throw a rock at their parents, their school teachers, or their nagging siblings. Sure, it started with “Blitzkrieg Bop”, and rightfully so, but it all culminated on Rocket to Russia. For only $25,000, the New York brats were able to punch every kid, critic, and rocker in the face from 1977 until the end of time. Everthing about The Ramones dwells here. One of their earliest demos, “I Don’t Care”, crudely surfaces to become one of their most anthemic tunes (even despite its simplicity); that is, until three tracks later when “Teenage Lobotomy” kicks in, which just might be their greatest song in their infinite catalogue. Tommy Ramone’s marching percussion and Dee Dee Ramone’s thudding basslines do nothing more than inspire. It sort of brings clarity to the whole bullshit punk scene, come to think of it. Then there’s “Sheena is a Punk Rocker”, but that song’s jarring for a whole other reason. You can blame director Mary Lambert and a semi-truck for that one. Look it up. -Michael Roffman

Essential Tracks: “Teenage Lobotomy”, “I Wanna Be Well”, and “Cretin Hop”

30. Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited

The sneering put-down “Like a Rolling Stone” is arguably rock and roll’s greatest revelation, but Highway 61 Revisited is perhaps best described by a lyric from the album’s own “Ballad of a Thin Man” on which Dylan sings, “Because something is happening here, but you don’t know what it is.” This record is nearly an hour of mostly electrified blues that places the listener in a room with no less than Jack the Ripper, Lady Jane Grey, and Einstein disguised as Robin Hood. From the surreal romp of the title track to the delicate strumming of the record’s epic closer, “Desolation Row”, precise meaning always seems just out of reach, and yet a nerve is always touched somehow. The language, both musically and lyrically, of Highway 61 Revisited is poetic, sarcastic, and ironic—tongues that have always spoken to some essential part in the human makeup. And while listeners may never quite get Dylan, everyone comes away with something worthwhile. -Matt Melis

Essential Tracks: “Like a Rolling Stone”, “Desolation Row”, and “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”

29. AC/DC – Back In Black

In the wake of Bon Scott’s death, Back In Black could have easily been both the band’s funeral march for its fallen leader and its official goodbye to its legion fans. Instead, with new lead singer Brian Johnson at the helm, the band proved that there was still plenty of life, screams, and killer riffs left in the band – if not more. Opening solemnly with the haunting toll of the bell on “Hells Bells”, the album is a tribute to Scott’s songwriting, as well as the endurance of a truly great band. Today, we celebrate its material like it’s a national anthem. “Shook Me All Night Long” tends to soundtrack any victory (both personal or public), while “Back in Black” signifies every one of our triumphant returns. It doesn’t look like that’s going to change. Ever.  -Christine DiPaolo

Essential Tracks: “Shoot to Thrill”, “Shook Me All Night Long”, and “Back in Black”

28. Joni Mitchell – Blue

Joni Mitchell’s Blue opened a floodgate for thousands of other imitators in 1971. It took obvious and not-so obvious cues from Miles Davis, offered heartfelt ballads still heard on radio stations across the country today, and strung together so much unadulterated Joni that it catapulted her into Canadian Americana like few other artists since or hereafter. Fragile, precious songs like “All I Want” and “River” are rock-solid singer-songwriter jewels spangled across the folk spectrum. By the time she had released it, Mitchell had spent six years professionally making music over the course of four studio albums. Like Leslie Feist, another female Canadian singer-songwriter with a heart of gold, who released a critically acclaimed fourth album in 2007, Blue’s success just feels right. Unlike Feist’s The Reminder, Joni Mitchell’s Blue has long since turned timeless. On the album’s first song “All I Want,” Mitchell sings, “I want to belong to the living / Alive, alive…” Forty years later, her album still is. -Eric Vilas-Boas

Essential Tracks: “All I Want”, “Blue”, and “A Case of You”

27. Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced (US Version)

Shaking hands is a polite way to introduce one’s self to someone, but Jimi Hendrix left the prim and proper behind on his 1967 debut. Instead, Hendrix, with the help of Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums, took the world by the ears and rattled them out of their cozy, folked-out cocoons. Released just three months after the UK version, the stateside release of Are You Experienced introduced Americans to a sound that was hard and psychedelic at the very same time. Having been influenced by legends like B.B. King, Muddy Waters, and Little Richard, Hendrix used the hour-long album to pack legendary songs like “Foxey Lady”,“The Wind Cries Mary”, and “Purple Haze” in between lesser known, revolutionary tracks like the title track and “Manic Depression”, which finds Hendrix unearthing a new style of guitar playing while singing a line that any music lovers of any degree can get behind: “Music sweet music/I wish I could caress in a kiss.” -Ray Roa

Essential Tracks: “Are You Experienced”, “Purple Haze”, and “Red House”

26. Johnny Cash – Live at Folsom Prison

This live record begins with a simple “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash” followed by resounding applause. The catch, of course, is that the cheering audience members are all inmates of California’s Folsom State Prison. The idea of playing a prison show had always appealed to Cash, and with his career floundering in 1968 due in large part to drug abuse, the time seemed opportune for an unlikely comeback. Accompanied by June Carter, Carl Perkins, and the Tennessee Three, Cash rolled out every prison song he knew over two sets at Folsom. Two elements make this recording so remarkable. The first is Cash’s conviction while singing these songs. When he confesses, “But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” part of the listener believes him, and when he sings about a prisoner who misses his wife and wishes to know his young son on “Give My Love to Rose”, it’s easy to forget that, unlike his audience, Cash gets to go home after the show. The other element that resonates is Cash’s interaction with the inmates. Not only did he pick a set list that they could relate to, but he constantly pauses to speak and joke with them. This human touch coupled with the way he openly carried his own troubles and shortcomings on his sleeve create a camaraderie that the listener can’t help but notice. And, as Cash himself admitted, those two shows in prison resurrected his career. -Matt Melis

Essential Tracks: “Folsom Prison Blues”, “Give My Love to Rose”, and “25 Minutes to Go”

25. Peter Gabriel – So

Peter Gabriel’s two albums before So, both called Peter Gabriel, were landmark prog rock albums. On those albums, Gabriel used the latest music hardware to compose with sampled sounds as well as music and rhythms from cultures who’d never before been integrated into Western music. Gabriel was breaking breathtaking new ground, and with So he brought his sonic discoveries to the mainstream. So is a landmark pop album that overwhelms listeners with emotional and rhythmic songs drawing from the heart of the human spirit. Case in point, the #1 song to play outside someone’s window, “In Your Eyes”. Gabriel’s voice and lyrics are raw and passionate with simple but overwhelmingly powerful imagery. African rhythms keep the song alive and away from the sappy path so many love songs tread, and the soaring vocals of Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour transcend language with pure celebration.

This theme of emotional, boundary-breaking, human communication permeates all of Gabriel’s works but is strongest in So, where it continues to touch the most people. When Gabriel screams “only love can make love” in “That Voice Again” even the most cynical listener can’t help but feel some tingle of truth. Tracks like “Red Rain”, “Mercy Street”, and “Don’t Give Up” (a duet with Kate Bush) operate on the opposite end of the spectrum, discussing vulnerability, weakness, and the chance to carry on. So even accommodates a couple avant garde tracks such as the unnerving “We Do What We’re Told (Milgram’s 37)” and the moody “This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)” written and performed with Laurie Anderson. And of course, everybody knows “Sledgehammer” and its outstanding music video. No heady concept there, just pure fun and a brilliant renvisioning of Motown soul. Depending on your state of mind going into listening to it, So will either leave you charged or worn-out. Either way, it’s a good feeling. - Cap Blackard

Essential Tracks: “Sledgehammer”, “Red Rain”, “This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)”, and “In Your Eyes”

24. Neil Young – After the Goldrush

Neil Young was a busy man in the late 60’s and early 70’s. After recording three albums with his first band, Buffalo Springfield, he went solo – only to join another group, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, after two solo albums. That didn’t hinder his solo output though – in fact, his best solo album came the same year that CSN&Y put out their first album. After the Gold Rush was not immediately universally recognized as a brilliant album – Rolling Stone was especially critical when it first came out – but over the years even initial naysayers have changed their mind. Now, 40 years later, even Rolling Stone has realized the error of their ways, and now call the album what it should be called – a masterpiece. The entire album is full to the brim with classic songs of heartbreak and mystery. From the hard rock of “Southern Man” and the balladry of “Birds” to the twangy folk of “Cripple Creek Ferry”, there’s something for fans of every side of Neil Young on After the Gold Rush. Some of Young’s best songwriting can be found here as well, from the otherworldly “After the Gold Rush” to the always-poignant “Only Love Can Break Your Heart”. While Young has had a long and storied career filled with multiple near-perfect albums, this one stands above the rest as his absolute masterpiece.
-Carson O’Shoney

Essential Tracks: “After the Gold Rush”, “When You Dance I Can Really Love”, and “Don’t Let It Bring You Down”

23. Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Music, as we know it, has its origins at least partially rooted in a revolutionary soil. And Public Enemy’s sophomore record, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, is one of music’s all-time great political game changers. With this record, Public Enemy singlehandedly changed the idea of what a hip-hop group and rap album could be and influenced an entire generation of socially conscious black and white youth. Chuck D booms like a play-by-play sportscaster while hype man extraordinaire Flavor Flav manically interjects on driving tracks like “Bring the Noise” and “Don’t Believe the Hype”, which are equal parts PSA and house party. Chuck D is backed by the Bomb Squad’s innovative production, which samples everything from funky James Brown horns and drums to spoken-word clips of Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan. On “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos”, Chuck D details a fictitious prison escape over a teetering Isaac Hayes piano sample; it’s a bone-chilling commentary on the effects of both American racism and the country’s prison system. Chuck D, perhaps, said it best:  “Hip-hop is the CNN of the black community, and nobody broadcasts louder than Public Enemy.” -Matt Melis

Essential Tracks: “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos”, “Louder Than a Bomb”, and “Bring the Noise”

22. The Beatles – The Beatles (White Album)

Detractors often call The Beatles an overstuffed mess. In this accusation, they are entirely correct. It is an overstuffed mess. That’s why it’s great. Sure, you could pare the tracks down to a dozen or so classics. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Blackbird” along would certainly hold up any single album. Do so, though, and you lose what makes The Beatles special. The other songs, the non-classics, give the album its unique character. From Harrison’s hippie harpsichord on “Piggies” to Lennon’s horndog howl on “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey,” you can’t lose a single moment without making the rest collapse. The confounding moments, the ones that only work in context, lift the album from pop to art. Taken alone, the ambient-noise “Revolution 9” seems a sick joke, but in context the joke makes perfect sense. You can’t explain it, but somehow you know why it’s there. The Beatles is the sound of the biggest band ever breaking all the rules. It’s a messy process. –Ray Padgett

Essential Tracks: “Happiness Is a Warm Gun”, “Cry Baby Cry”, and “Helter Skelter”

21. Van Morrison – Astral Weeks

It’s hard to believe that Astral Weeks was only the second album in Van Morrison’s career. Its loose, combustible jazz sound still ranks as one of the most innovative things he’s done. But this display of the singer-songwriter’s early genius was birthed not from meticulous musical planning, but rather circumstances that were dire and stressful. After a dispute with his record label, founder Bert Berns died of a heart attack, which his wife blamed Morrison for, going as far to try and deport him back to Europe. Morrison avoided this by marrying his then girlfriend (now ex-wife) Janet Minto, moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts with her where he worked on the club circuit, playing with a group of student musicians as his backing band. Although he would only bring along the bass player for the recording sessions of his next album, it was in Cambridge (and from producer Lewis Merenstein) that Morrison was heavily exposed to jazz, something he was unfamiliar with at that point. The improvisational atmosphere was the perfect musical fit for Morrison’s mindset at the time. He’s stated in interviews that he was broke, tired, and simply did not know what to do. He didn’t want to think about it and he wanted musicians skilled enough to just follow him.

And thus came Astral Weeks, a gorgeous, freewheeling meditation on life and looking forward, a kaleidoscopic, sylvan soundscape focused on images and feelings rather than a coherent narrative. The only constant is the gentle strum of Morrison’s acoustic guitar as the nodding lull of the upright bass, horns, and I-didn’t-know-it-could-actually-be-cool jazz flute swirl around it, always on the verge of floating away, but preferring to stay in place to catch Morrison on his next musical shift.  His vocals are constantly morphing (a practice he would take up in later live performances), sometimes crooning, sometimes clipping the words, and sometimes not even finishing sentences at all as he floats through the optimistic, string-soaked “Madame George”, the whimsical harpsichord of “Cyprus Avenue”, through ferry boats and forests all the way until the baroque Nashville pluck of the closing title track. Morrison may have been high strung at the time, but you would never know it listening to such a dazzling and relaxed album. -Dan Caffrey

Essential Tracks: “Madame George”, “Cyprus Avenue”, and “Sweet Thing”

20. Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

What in God’s name do you think Jeff Magnum is doing right now? He’s not promoting a clothing line, or a new album, or counting money, that’s for damn sure. However, he still gets to bask in the glow of the fact he, along with his outfit Neutral Milk Hotel, made one of the best records in the past 20 years. But what’s so great about In the Aeroplane Over the Sea? It sounds like it was made in a garage for one, but still, everybody ate it up like cake. The majority of this record’s instrumentation was an acoustic guitar, yet other instruments included accordions, trumpets, and a trombone solo. And the songs fit perfectly. “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1” is one of the best starting tracks of all time, while its proceeding song, “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3”, is one of the most furious and sonically opposite songs on the album. The gritty yet poetic title track is a beautiful and lulling acoustic number (recently covered by Phish), and “Holland 1945” could get a hipster mosh pit started any time it comes on the stereo at a dive bar. In all honesty, Neutral Milk Hotel doesn’t even need to record another album, it’s better that for the one moment they shone through, they caused people’s brains to explode. -Ted Maider

Essential Tracks: “Two-Headed Boy Pt. 1″, “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2 and 3″, and “Holland 1945”

19. Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On

Marvin Gaye only lived to be 44-years-old, but this album is proof that his contribution to popular music still rings loud and will most definitely live on forever. Those who took the bait and bought What’s Going On thanks to gems like “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved You)” and  “Let’s Get It On” were surprised to find social commentaries like the title track and “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” buoying this classic album. Although the nine-song set was released in 1971, the two tracks find Gaye soulfully singing a narrative that is still eerily relevant in this day and age. Hearing Gaye – who died in 1984 – sing “Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas…oh mercy, mercy, me” is proof that even after nearly 30 years, we’re still getting angry about the same old crap. -Ray Roa

Essential Tracks: “Let’s Get It On”, “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)”, and “What’s Going On”

18. David Bowie – Hunky Dory

Released in 1971, Hunky Dory was David Bowie’s fourth album and the first to feature the line-up that would become the Spiders from Mars. Setting aside the blues-rock and psychedelic angles of his previous release The Man Who Sold the World, Bowie instead favored a lighter, more acoustic pop approach with Hunky Dory. The themes and ideas scattered throughout the songs’ lyrics and arrangements set the stage for not only Ziggy Stardust, but for much of Bowie’s output in the ’70s. At times Bowie wears his influences on his sleeve, as in his obvious titular odes to idols Dylan and Warhol or a direct sound connection to the Velvet Underground with “Queen Bitch”. Other times the songs have to be listened to a bit more closely and possibly even deconstructed to notice the heavier occult related themes via Aleister Crowley in songs like “Quicksand”. Bowie’s desire to approach the album from a more old-time pop, acoustic direction creates a merry-go-round of songs, all a little different but connected by a common grounding. Hunky Dory is not a concept album, but the concepts within would eventually solidify and manifest in the character of Bowie’s spaceman and perhaps even in his personal philosophies. If anything, Hunky Dory is a testament to the grand scope and vision that David Bowie had as a young artist.  -Len Comaratta

Essential Tracks: “Changes”, “Oh, You Pretty Things”, and “Life on Mars”

17. Kate Bush – Hounds of Love

Before Hounds of Love, Kate Bush’s previous albums suggested that she was certainly a brilliant and daring songwriter. Hounds revealed her to be a musical prophetess. A friend once asked me, “Is it weird that I feel like Kate Bush is some sort of mystical being from another place – that she’s come here to teach us something?” I told him I’d always felt the same way. I think a lot of people do. Hounds is a musical achievement and a testament to Bush’s unprecedented dedication to crafting an album until it’s ready. It was entirely self-produced and composed in her own private studio space. Her seclusion caused rabid tabloid speculation and rumors only to be quickly silenced by Hounds release, knocking Madonna’s Like a Virgin out of the #1 slot in the UK charts.

Hounds of Love is an exaltation to light and darkness. It’s a practice in walking the tightrope between pop and experimental music. Just look at the titular track: the music and Bush’s passionate voice are wild with trembling beauty, amidst dark beats, threatening strings, and lyrics that are both affectionate and sinister, with a chorus backed by vocals mimicking baying hounds. The song shouldn’t work, but it does and it’s perfect. One listen and you’re running through the woods, terrified but exhilarated, chased by a passion that leaves your heart soaring. The rest of the album is an experience to say the least and it’s no wonder that Hounds of Love has inspired an expansive breadth of modern artists, everyone from Coldplay to Big Boi. From the opening, haunting chord of “Running Up That Hill” to the last hopeful string pluck of “Morning Fog”, Hounds of Love is a musical tapestry and a visionary album. -Cap Blackard

Essential Tracks: “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”, “Hounds of Love”, and “Cloudbusting”

16. The Who – Who’s Next?

Out of all the legendary albums on this list, I doubt many of them had their origins as an abandoned rock opera. Many arrangements and scraps of Pete Townshend’s abandoned Lifehouse project were the origins of Who’s Next, an album that had no underlying theme or storyline. This sense of freedom allowed The Who to focus on making great individual songs rather than an overarching story.

The result is The Who growing up in public. The songs combine the hard-hitting energy of the band in their youth with their more experimental elements explored on Tommy. The most noticeable improvement is Roger Daltrey’s voice, reaching heights that were only hinted at in the past. Keith Moon’s drum solo followed by Daltrey’s scream at the end of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” remains as one of rock’s greatest moments. While everyone knows about the singles, from the opening keyboard of “Baba O’Riley” to the building acoustics of “Behind Blue Eyes”, every song on this record is a potential hit. Listen to the explosive chorus of “Bargain”. Check out a rare lead vocal from bassist John Entwistle on “My Wife”. With tracks like these, it’s easy to see why Who’s Next moved The Who from a great band of the ’60s to a rock superpower in the ’70s. -Joe Marvilli

Essential Tracks: “Baba O’Riley”, “Behind Blue Eyes”, and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”

15. Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures

Unknown Pleasures arrived in June 1979, cementing itself as the worst summer album of all time. There’s nothing about Joy Division’s debut that’s sunny, peachy, or even remotely positive. It’s one of the most depressing records in music history, second only to the band’s follow-up, 1980′s Closer. But that’s what makes it so unique. With its stark, iconic album cover – the eerie sound waves that look all too similar to a jagged razorblade – and its rough-yet-precise production by Martin Hannett, you can’t help but feel isolated, alone, and distorted while listening. Although most of its rhythm is catchy and ironically poppy (“Disorder”, “Transmission”), the morbid lyrical imagery, thanks to the late Ian Curtis, keeps things in perspective. But what makes this all so compelling is that this album is less a collection of music and moreover a snapshot of thoughts and feelings. Everyone tears at their own soul here.

You have Curtis’ soul-scraping vocals, Peter Hook’s top-heavy basslines, Bernard Sumner’s heart-piercing guitar lines, and Stephen Morris’ highly-concentrated beats, all moving together with the same emotion and gravitas. Once you reach the first guitar line on “Disorder”, a mere 18 seconds in, you can’t help but think this was a group of young men who needed the sound more than we did. Of course, decades and decades later, we now know how dangerous this music was to them – especially Curtis. But, to this day, regardless of its consequences, it stands as the most influential record of all time. We should only be so happy that Factory Records’ own Tony Wilson sank all his life savings into it. He didn’t see the returns (possibly ever, really), but rest assured, it paid off. Big time. -Michael Roffman

Essential Tracks: “Disorder”, “Transmission”, and “She’s Lost Control”

14. Pixies – Doolittle

Try to ignore the Pixies’ false obscurity as that little ’80s indie band everyone knows about. Try to ignore their play-count in Kurt Cobain’s tape collection and the “Where Is My Mind” Fight Club appearance now lost to the annals of pop culture. Once you can ignore all that, you’ll listen to the lyrics and opening chords of “Debaser” the same way Kurt did – as playfully diabolical power pop perverting Salvador Dali’s surrealist film Un chien andalou. And “Debaser” is just the tip of the iceberg. “Here Comes Your Man”, “Tame”, “Monkey Gone to Heaven”, and every other two to four minute gold nugget on Doolittle find a comfortable balance between angry distortion and some of the bounciest sunshine music this side of flower power. The Pixies’ lead single “Here Comes Your Man” was so accessibly happy, in fact, that when asked to play it on the Arsenio Hall Show, the band refused, opting to play the more abrasive “Tame”. It was rejected after Arsenio Hall’s people heard about it, which in retrospect feels appropriate, given Arsenio Hall’s current standing versus the Pixies’ standing in the pop culture lexicon. Doolittle moves almost imperceptibly. It jigs, jumps, and jives…and by now everyone knows why. -Eric Vilas-Boas

Essential Tracks: “Monkey Gone to Heaven”, “Here Comes Your Man”, and “Wave of Mutilation”

13. Led Zeppelin – IV

When Led Zeppelin IV was released in 1971 it became an instant worldwide hit. It’s been almost 30 years and its status hasn’t changed one bit. It is a still a massive, influential juggernaut of an album that has made many of the “top albums of all times” lists over and over again. One look at the eight tracks listed and it’s easy to see why; aside from the underrated “Four Sticks”, we’ve got “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”, “The Battle of Evermore”, “Stairway to Heaven”, “Misty Mountain Hop”, “Going to California”, and “When the Levee Breaks”, all of which are instantly recognizable on their own as Led Zeppelin, if not rock music, at its finest.

Before the album, the band was a well-established mover and shaker in the music world, with Robert Plant’s overtly sexual posturing and wailing voice, Jimmy Page’s spectral presence, John Paul Jones’ unassuming skills, and John Bonham’s ridiculously inhuman drumming. But the release of IV cemented Led Zeppelin in the critic’s hearts (who were slow to warm up to the British rockers) and proved to be one of the most durable, commercial successes in their catalogue. The poetic, often Tolkien-influenced lyrics combined with a musical orgy of metal, progressive rock and even country was a winning formula to stand the test of time. Interestingly, there were only two singles from IV: the swaggering “Black Dog” and the aptly-titled “Rock and Roll”. The epic saga that is “Stairway to Heaven” and the soulful strumming of “Going to California” would find their iconic notes into the ears of the population anyway, proving that Led Zeppelin IV was the ultimate earworm of the rock and roll genre. -Karina Halle

Essential Tracks: “Rock and Roll”, “Stairway to Heaven”, and “Going to California”

12. The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

There are quite a few Rolling Stones records we could tack onto this spot, if not higher up, and that would be justified by one simple fact: The Rolling Stones always rock and roll, no matter if the tunes are jangly honky tonk or straight-up heavy blues or pop. Personally, I’ve always leaned toward a mish-mash of the first two genres regarding the Stones (or even December’s Children); it’s a Bob Dylan lo-fi and folky vibe on a ’50s rock slant…from some British guys who are now the butt of numerous geriatric jokes at their expense.

1969′s Let It Bleed is very blues and country heavy with the exception of closing pop single “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” and iconic psychedelic opener “Gimme Shelter”; it really shows the (ehem, pardon the pun) bare bones of this band’s ’60s era material, book-ended with two of the most notable songs in the Stones’ canon to this very day.

Harmonica here, fiddle there, the final appearance of Brian Jones, this record is definitive blues Stones if not definitive Rolling Stones altogether. While not my all-time choice for ‘em (that honor goes tied between December’s Children and Beggar’s Banquet), it stands as testament to the raw aforementioned jangle that I have always loved about this notable classic relic of a band. -David Buchanan

Essential Tracks: “Gimme Shelter”, “Monkey Man”, and ”Let It Bleed”

11. Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde

He would go on to record again that decade, but make no mistake about it: Blonde on Blonde was the swan song of 60s Bob Dylan. The iconic hipster depicted with wild hair and a checkered scarf on the 1966 album’s blurry front sleeve would not be seen or heard from again. It’s perhaps fitting then that this particular incarnation of Dylan went out with arguably the finest record of the decade and one of the first double albums in rock history. Blonde on Blonde documents Dylan expanding upon the blues-rock sound of Highway 61 Revisited. Tracks like “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” and “I Want You” borrow the surreal imagery and character types of the subdued “Desolation Row” and set them to up-tempo, glowing arrangements of harmonica, guitars, and swirling organs. “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)” and “Obviously 5 Believers” sound like natural, more polished and eclectic extensions of earlier blues rockers like “From a Buick 6”. But then there are new, less predictable songs with no real predecessor like the achingly beautiful “Visions of Johanna” and “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” with its carnival sound and saloon atmosphere. And, of course, there is the sprawling “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”, which consumes an entire album side and sweetly reveals pieces of Dylan’s relationship with his wife, Sara. Per Dylan, Blonde on Blonde was the closest he ever came to achieving the sounds he heard in his head. And then he was gone. -Matt Melis

Essential Tracks: “Visions of Johanna”, “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”, and “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”

10. Radiohead – OK Computer

You are driving home in the midnight darkness. In a fast German car, you rocket into the night on a country one-lane.  Then you crash. Into what is irrelevant, but an airbag saves your life. Gaps in bass notes, clanking break beats, and a stinging, howling, wholly consuming falsetto relays this information. Needless to say, when you come to, bloody and scraped, in an interstellar burst, you are back to save the universe. You spend most of the next 49 minutes hopelessly paranoid; of materialist yuppy androids, alien abduction, dubious friends, perilous love, paternal wrath, electoral tomfoolery, impending madness, suburban monotony, the overwhelming state of a circuit board drenched humanity. With an army of alien guitar tones, screeching solos, chugging bass, scatterbrained percussion, and otherworldly atmospherics, you explode, sink, coo, ravage, and cogitate. Somewhere in there, there’s a “Let Down”, and it’s perfect.  A computer tells you how to live your life, to which you respond, “OK.” It’s almost too much to handle, like the crazy, techno-savvy but morally incompetent world we call our home. But by the end, you and your car slow down, slow down, slow down, just in time for you to put it back into gear and have the same impeccably crafted epiphany the next time you choose to.

OK Computer, Radiohead’s 1997 masterpiece, may not have saved the universe, but there’s a large population of pigs in cages on antibiotics who will argue otherwise to the death…before their father hears them, of course. -Drew Litowitz

Essential Tracks: “Airbag”, “Paranoid Android”, “Karma Police”, “Let Down”, and “Climbing up the Walls”

09. Talking Heads – Remain in Light

Some will disagree, but David Byrne might be the last true genius in music experimentation. Sure, there have been followers, and, yeah, they’ve come close, but no one has dethroned this Scottish royalty. He’s too sincere. His music too genuine. Whatever comes close feels derivative – something you can never say about Byrne’s music, altogether. Even if you don’t understand the Talking Heads, which you will (it just…hits you), you can’t help but appreciate it. Why? Because you appreciate something that’s unique, original, and, above all, bizarre. Those are sort of the general rules with anything relating to art. Just ask anyone who ever promoted Andy Warhol.

Remain in Light sits as the Heads’ fourth album, but it’s their best. The facts: It holds one of the greatest songs of all time (“Once in a Lifetime” – yes, their most famous song), it expanded the band’s sound dramatically, and it saved them in the end. Let’s focus on that last part, as its the most interesting (and integral to this argument). Prior to recording, Byrne had just finished his incredibly groundbreaking side project with producer Brian Eno, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and things for the Heads seemed bleak. Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth flirted with the idea of leaving, having grown tired of Byrne’s ever-growing control, while Byrne had little interest in recording with the band again, especially after the tiring sessions of the band’s previous albums. However, what eventually saved them were two things: Frantz and Weymouth’s trip to Jamaica, where they discovered new avenues of percussion, and the highly evolving musical landscape of the ’80s, which basically screamed, “Opportunity!”. After an instrumental recording session in the Bahamas, where the band reconvened, they made the conscious decision to champion on. Thank. God.

The recording behind this album reads like a James Bond film gone overbudget. They went everywhere. What started in Nassau slowly traced back to the concrete confines of New York City, and eventually over to Los Angeles. At one point, Byrne bailed and exiled himself in Africa, where he worked off a case of writer’s block with a portable tape player and some nonsensical phonetics. If that weren’t enough, the band worked off of state of the art equipment, some of which created new sonic environments and platforms to explore in. Altogether, however, these technologies and locales only influenced what many critics justly consider to be a quintessential snapshot of world music. Lay back and listen…it’s all there. On “Listening Wind”, trademark ’80s tones coagulate with what sounds like  spirits and animals in a far off jungle, all while Byrne croons, “He has the knowledge of the wind to guide him…on.” It’s obscure on paper, but within the world they create, it makes absolute sense. And who can ignore album closer “The Overload”? With its ominous beat and foreboding lyrics,the song resonates well these days, in a time where we all complain about how “the center is missing.” Sigh, it’s comforting to know nothing’s changed in 30 years…and that we’re still bound for destruction. -Michael Roffman

Essential Tracks: “Crosseyed and Painless”, “Once in a Lifetime”, and ”Listening Wind”

08. The Beatles – Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

It’s known as one of the most influential records in rock history. It is also as important musically as its place in pop culture. The world’s most popular band took aliases, and recorded their eighth studio album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Released in June 1967, Sgt. Pepper became a concept album that The Beatles hoped could do their touring for them. They had grown weary of the road and the screaming fans, so they had quit gigging, and became a studio-based band. Paul McCartney came up with the idea for the quartet to perform as a fictitious band. This would allow them to experiment with new sounds and ideas that would not necessarily be found on any other Beatles’ album. (John Lennon would later claim that every song he wrote for this album was not in character and not in theme with the whole Sgt. Pepper concept.) Of course, as with anything they tested, the idea proved quite successful, as the album went on to become one of their greatest successes. There’s a good reason for this success, however. It flows seamlessly together. The tightly knit transition in between songs is something that had not really been used before and therefore considered groundbreaking at the time. Then again, in hindsight, everything these four lads did was groundbreaking.

For Sgt. Pepper…, the Fab Four  experimented with jazz, rock, traditional Indian music, and…mustaches. Yes, not surprisingly, the band’s appearance factored into this album big time. It essentially flipped the coin on the band – at least stylistically. They all grew long hair, they all sported different mustaches, and they donned outfits, all of which would be emblazoned on the album’s cover art. In fact, just by looking at history, the cover of Sgt Pepper… is truly iconic. How many times have you seen it parodied? Dozens. If not more.

As for the album itself, some of the best songs they’ve ever written surface. The beautiful and vivid “Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds”, which was written out of  inspiration from a drawing Lennon’s son Julian created, plays out like a dream. “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” is musically complicated, working with organs, guitar, and some harmonicas that create this quasi-carnival atmosphere. “A Day in the Life”,  widely thought of as The Beatles’ best song, and with verses shared by Lennon and McCartney, each separated by an 40 piece orchestra in between verses, is the perfect way to end this magnum opus. Truly epic. -Kevin Barber

Essential Tracks: “Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds”, “Within You Without You”, and “A Day in the Life”

07. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon

When it comes to sonic exploration and experimentation Pink Floyd picked up where The Beatles left off, and eclipsed them. Dark Side of the Moon expanded music beyond the ears and as corny and psychedelic as it sounds, into the mind. The cinematic, surround-sound experience of the album puts you directly into the music. Floyd’s sublime music layered with thought-provoking interview clips and sound effects create a unique and never-before-heard soundscape. All you have to do is close your eyes and your mind takes you into a dark and eerie montage of the human condition – terrifying, moody, cynical, and heart-wrenchingly beautiful. The album is an unsurpassed listen. To this day, few records are as well conceptualized and as tightly produced – especially an experimental album. Floyd and producer Alan Parsons pushed the audio technology of the time to the brink and freed music beyond passive listening and into a full immersion of sound.

What’s made Dark Side such a lasting album, beyond all this technical and aesthetic praise, is that it also contains some of the best rock singles of all time. “Money” with it’s funky bass line, biting lyrics, and distinct sound collage, is immortal. “Time” and “Brain Damage” set the bar for how complex you could make a successful pop song. Without them there would be no OK Computer, no “Karma Police”. Anyone who writes off Dark Side as merely stoner music has clearly never listened to it. The sonic landscapes it paints are so lush and moody it’s no wonder that potheads frequently frolic in them, but the concept is so much bigger. In Dark Side, Floyd documents the fragility of the human mind in the modern world – tormented by societal contrivances and the futility of running against time (“all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be”). It’s an unbroken, continuous body of music, starting with heartbeats and ending with heartbeats. From start to end, when the last beat fades out, you know you’ve gone on a profound journey and each time you hear something new. The album’s connection with listeners is profound, but if the proof is in the numbers, observe this: Dark Side of the Moon remained in the music charts from 1973 to 1988, 741 weeks straight – longer than any other album in history. -Cap Blackard

Essential Tracks: “Time”, “The Great Gig in the Sky”, and “Money”

06. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band – Born to Run

In 1975, Bruce Springsteen had two albums under his belt noted for the feral, jazz-like musicianship of his E Street Band and his own brand of quirky, urban street poetry. But it wasn’t until Born To Run that he distilled his music into something cohesive and relatable, a love letter to every loser and working class anti-hero from Jersey and beyond. Whereas his previous lyrics had been rooted in imagery and little else, Born To Run had stories to tell, stories that painted everyday people with broad strokes and high stakes, giving the record a sense of epic narrative that had never been heard in American rock and roll.

Songs like “Thunder Road”, “Backstreets”, and the bombastic title track are really just about bored kids hanging out and wanting to escape their town, but with lyrics like “the ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away, they haunt this dusty beach road and the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets”, you’d think Springsteen was filming his own Spaghetti Western (which, in a way, he was). Adding to the grand scope of it all was his first collaboration (but far from the last) with producer Jon Landau, who aided him in achieving the Wall Of Sound atmosphere the singer yearned for. The guitars are towering, Clarence Clemons’s saxophone slices into the shadows of every song, Danny Federici’s and Roy Bittan’s dueling organ and keys lend a celebratory, church-like quality to just about everything, and boy does the band know how to use that glockenspiel.

Columbia Records viewed Born To Run as Springsteen and company’s last chance to craft a commercially viable record, and this go for broke outlook infects everything on the album, especially “Jungleland”, the nearly 10 minute closing track that still holds the title for the most lush, grandiose thing The Boss has ever recorded. Like many songs on the album, it acts as a mini-suite, starting off with the tear-filled croon of Suki Lahav’s violin before each instrument twinkles in one by one, detailing the downfall of The Rat, a common street hood looking for a little romance. As a gang war erupts, the lyrics and instrumentation explode into a diesel fueled anthem that could fill a hundred stadiums. By the end of the song, The Rat is gunned down with the whisper of Bittan’s piano (the only instrument still playing before the band kicks back in for the finale), “the streets are on fire in a real death waltz”, and we are exhausted, having been through a whirlwind of stories that we’ve probably experienced ourselves without even realizing it. -Dan Caffrey

Essential Tracks: “Born to Run”, “Jungleland”, and ”Thunder Road”

05. The Velvet Underground & Nico – The Velvet Underground & Nico

Produced by Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground’s 1967 self-titled debut would take more than a decade before its influence would come to fruition. At the time of its release, it was art rock at its finest; however, that’s all it was. Topics such as prostitution, drug abuse, and living in the squalor of NYC were so isolating that no one really knew about it or cared to for that matter, even with the controversial Warhol at the helm.

With Lou Reed’s heroin addiction as the centerpiece, the record is explicit and rough, unflinching and chaotic as it held a mirror to life in New York City during the late sixties. The ode to Reed’s dealer, “I’m Waiting For The Man” and the obvious “Heroin”, use irony to its fullest with catchy guitar licks, the latter building and pounding as Reed exclaims that the drug is the only thing that makes him “feel like a man.” Alcoholism makes an appearance on “Run, Run, Run” as it screeches and drives on skittish bluesy riffs. With tracks like those, Nico inducted into music a style of rock that was so ahead of its time not even its creators knew what would become of it.

As the years go by, this album continues to evolve into even more of a masterpiece. Nico has since become the bible of what we now call “indie” rock with nearly every band emerging as part of that modern scene taking their cues from this record, not to mention a certain music festival taking “All Tomorrow’s Parties” as their namesake, aptly becoming a mecca for the experimental and daring. What the Beatles are to modern pop, The Velvet Underground is to alternative rock. They are the archetypes of that style, their debut so ground breaking that during their existence it only sold a few hundred copies. Yet, here in the 21st century, they are one of the most important bands in the history of rock with this record serving as the unlikeliest of masterpieces. -E.N. May

Essential Tracks: “I’m Waiting For The Man”, “The Black Angel’s Death Song”, and “All Tomorrow’s Parties”

04. Michael Jackson – Thriller

Released in 1982, Michael Jackson’s sixth studio album was instantly one for the ages, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to suggest that you probably bought five copies of this on cassette. It’s the best selling album of all time and clocking in at just under 45 minutes, Thriller could have easily spent five years in your tape deck. Even though it only had nine tracks, the album spawned seven singles and you’’d be lying if you said “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” didn’’t have you rolling around the skating rink singing, “Mama-sey-mama-sa-mamaku-sa.”

Everyone remembers the title track’s epic music video, and you might have even dressed up as zombie Michael Jackson for Halloween, but what’s really great about the LP is that despite all of the catchy hooks and Quincy Jones’ sick production, the King of Pop still managed to squeeze in cameos from the not-yet-knighted Paul McCartney and none other than Eddie Van Halen. Macca duets with MJ on “The Girl Is Mine” and “Beat It” finds Van Halen’s namesake laying down a guitar riff so addicting that it’’s no surprise the album spent years on the charts selling over 100 million units worldwide. We didn’t even mention “Billie Jean”, but a certain dance came out of it. Have you tried it before? It’s called the moon-something?

No idea. It’s lost on me. -Ray Roa

Essential Tracks: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”, “Beat It”

03. The Clash – London Calling

This is probably the most important hour of punk rock history. The cover says it all: bassist Paul Simonon smashing his axe on the stage in a truly emotional candid photograph. All the fury, politics, curiosity, and grit of punk were personified on this record, even if not all of it sounded “punk.” But, that was the point. With their third album, the Clash proved two things: anything within alternative music is 100% possible, and they truly were the only band that really matters. It was after a record like this that punk suddenly didn’t become all about fashion, or how much you spit on the crowd, or how fast you could hammer out a four-chord masterpiece. When Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and Topper Headon laid down this record in 1979, they had no idea they were about to break barriers and define their entire careers, and the genre of music they virtually helped spawn.

The album begins with the driving, classic commencement title track, drilling away with every chord, which would become the signature of Strummer’s style. There’s the almost gangster-reggae and political sensation “The Guns of Brixton”, a song sampled countless times in rap and hip-hop. Then there’s the passionate and beautiful “The Card Cheat”, which can make any punk cry, as well as the rocking and perky glory of “Spanish Bombs”. Every single song on the record is flawless, unique, and still makes heads turn. On top of that, the album wields classic songs like “Train in Vain”, “Clampdown”, and the extremely surreal “Lost in the Supermarket”. It’s just a consistently, sonically diverse, and powerful record, which arrived at the right point in time. In 1979, The Clash showed the world that anything was possible, even for dirtiest, loudest, and political musicians. -Ted Maider

Essential Tracks: “Death or Glory”, “Train in Vain”, and “Guns of Brixton”

02. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

Brian Wilson claims he went into 1965′s Pet Sounds trying to live up to the perfection of the Beatles’ Rubber Soul. Like most musicians with integrity, he wanted to make a great record and was driven to do so by his contemporaries. But unlike most, Wilson wasn’t screwing around. He was dead serious, even if he wasn’t all there. Well, Mr. Wilson, I think even sir Paul would agree that Pet Sounds takes the cake. Finding a mistake of any kind would be a daunting task, especially since there aren’t any.

Staked out in a Los Angeles studio, Wilson and the Boys Beach painstakingly crafted a sincere, desperately sad, love-torn piece of pop perfection. With Pet Sounds, they took the candy-coated surfer-pop that made them popular and turned it orchestral, baroque, even psychedelic, grounding the crushing, soaring sounds with earnest, down-in the dumps narratives sung by five of the smoothest, brightest voices in music history. Instead of having “Fun, Fun, Fun” they were covering seasick Caribbean folk songs and pleading, “Oh, Caroline, no.” Attempting to rival mentor Phil Spector’s sound (apparently the title is a nod at Spector’s initials), Wilson enlisted a group of musicians dubbed “The Wrecking Crew” and piled heaps of whistles, bicycle bells, strings, harpsichords, and whatever else fit in onto the record. Soaring, infectious harmonies, reverb drenched guitars, and pounding tympanis lay the groundwork for Pet Sounds’ lovesick grandiosity, a sound which would show up almost everywhere in modern pop from Grizzly Bear to Animal Collective to Beck.

Oh, Pet Sounds, you break our hearts, but mostly because few records will ever sound this good again. -Drew Litowitz

Essential Tracks: “Wouldn’t it Be Nice”, “God Only Knows”, and “Caroline, No”

01. The Beatles – Abbey Road

The hardest part about compiling a list of the 100 greatest albums ever made isn’t necessarily deciding what classic makes the list, or whether X is better than Y, Y is better than Z, etc. The hardest part about compiling this list is figuring out whether X is better than every other album ever pressed (or uploaded). Lists are sent in to our editors and analyzed. Surveys are produced to gage our writers’ reactions and a general consensus if formed.

Consequence of Sound features over 50 staff members of varying positions. Some of us have been writing from the get-go, while others are just getting their feet wet. Most of us have never met one another. A lot of us have never communicated with each other in any medium. So how is it that no matter our age, location, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, religion, height, weight, ad nauseum, we find The Beatles’ Abbey Road as the greatest album of all time?

Opinions. This writer sent out a simple question to a number of people asking: “What makes Abbey Road great?” The quotes aren’t from Chuck Klosterman or Rob Sheffield. Our Chicago writers didn’t track down Greg Kot or Jim Derogatis for a quick blurb. The quotes peppered throughout this article are from people of varying ages and backgrounds who have never written a word for our site, but who share that common passion in their love for The Beatles’ last hurrah. People who may share that passion with you, the reader.

This was really the last time we’d see songwriting like this from John. He became an incredibly straightforward lyricist in his solo career, ditching psychedelia for more declarative and emotional pieces like “Mother” and “Imagine”.” – Walter, Orlando, Fla.

Abbey Road’s opener, John Lennon’s “Come Together”, has been covered by everyone from Michael Jackson to Aerosmith, despite its impenetrable lyrics and dirty demeanor. It’s Paul McCartney’s bouncing bass line and Ringo Starr’s rumbling drumming that call out to music acts across the world, “Now you try!” Unfortunately for those brave souls who attempt such a task, they can’t hope to match the aforementioned musicians, especially Lennon’s pointed vocals. His other contributions to Abbey Road are just as valuable to making the album what it is. The smoky haze of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” features not only one of the greatest outros ever, but thanks to CD and MP3s, it now has one of the greatest transitions of all time (into “Here Comes the Sun”). “Because” continues to haunt listeners over 40 years later, with its ethereal harmonies from Lennon, McCartney, and that other guitarist…

It was their last album and George’s best songs were on it. “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun” were a preview of the quality of his songwriting to come.” – Charles, Cornelius, N.C.

It’s also George’s coming out party. His songwriting reached full maturation in Abbey Road with both “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun”, which Lennon considered the two best songs on the album.” – Walter

“Here Comes the Sun” is a perfect song that is the essence of who George Harrison was.” – Tom, Tampa Bay, FL

In addition to Abbey Road finding a place at the top of our list, George Harrison can be considered as the greatest number three of all time. Never showy, Harrison still managed to steal Abbey Road from his frequently dominating bandmates (when asked, Frank Sinatra answered “Something” as his favorite Lennon/McCartney composition). “Something” is one of those songs perfect from the start, a love song to end all love songs. “Here Comes the Sun” is the song to pick you up no matter your circumstance, no matter your lot in life. Both songs are such classics, it’s hard to fathom what else Harrison had tucked away in his pockets (see: All Things Must Pass).

Medley, done.” – Chris, Chicago, IL.

It’s ability to destroy everything negative in your bones with that medley. “Something” will always give me butterflies every time I hear it.” – McKenzie, Chicago, IL.

[Abbey Road] is also a final literal and stylistic testament to what the band was and represented. Of course, I could have simply answered, “Side B.”" – Paul, Chicago, IL.

“Golden Slumbers”…”The End” that closes the album is their greatest musical achievement. Period.” – Brady, Fort Wayne, IN.

Paul McCartney and producer (and good choice for “Fifth Beatle” in my book) George Martin created what is referred to as “The Medley”; eight tracks that segue directly into each other of different styles and temperaments, occupying most of Side B. Instead of discarding unfinished songs, the old cut-and-paste method was used to save the Pacific-Coast-sounds-by-way-of-Spanish-vocals of Lennon’s “Sun King”, as well as the mid-tempo “Mean Mr. Mustard” and furious “Polythene Pam”. They all lead to McCartney’s country-tinged “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window”, which lead to the finest trilogy, well, ever.

A medley within a medley? Madness. But does it ever work. “Golden Slumbers” is a gorgeous piano/orchestration with lyrics of longing and comfort. McCartney’s words and vocals alternate between cool and practically howling without ever losing hold of the listener. They take us to “Carry That Weight”, the sing-a-long anthem with the “You Never Give Me Your Money” reprise. Everything culminates with “The End”, a three-guitar attack never heard before or since. There is joy found in Starr’s pulsating drum solo and figuring out who is playing what guitar on what part on what section. The only words of the song remind us “the love you take is equal to the love you make.” Words to actually live by, another rare feat accomplished by The Fab Four from Liverpool.

The darker undertones are playfully overshadowed by the warm comfort of possibility. In short it’s catchy and inspiring.” – Tracylee, Holly Springs, N.C.

The best thing about Abbey Road is that we are still talking about it.” – Charles

I can’t sum up the importance or the greatness of this album without the assistance of our editor-in-chief, Michael Roffman, who wrote in his review of the remastered Abbey Road last year that “there isn’t a collective work by The Beatles, and probably any act out there, that is this perfect, this cohesive, and this iconic and lasting. How many times have we heard “Sun King” today in any indie act’s debut? Where would shoegaze be without “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”? How many secret tracks do we find on a weekly basis? Like it or not, scoff or smile, Abbey Road is hands down thee greatest piece of musical work on this godforsaken planet, and you know what, it actually makes us look like decent human beings.”

Disagree? Hey. Don’t look at me. They said it. – Justin Gerber

Essential Tracks: The whole damn thing.

In an interview with Exclaim!, Dio’s longtime friend and colleague Geezer Butler announced that Heaven & Hell, the Dio-led band and not the places, have disbanded. Butler plans to continue collaborating with the remaining members, Tony Iommi and Vinnie Appice, but the threesome have yet to give much thought to future releases.

“It’s difficult to know what to do, especially at our age,” Butler stated during the interview. “Do we start all over again? He’s a very close friend of of mine, as well as someone I work with. It’s a big part of my life gone.” And for all those that would suggest permanently recruiting vocalists Glenn Hughes and/or Jørn Lande (whom performed for the Dio tribute show), Butler also closes that door: “It could only ever be with Ronnie.”

While the trio are in need of a new frontman, don’t listen to any rumors of an Ozzy-led Black Sabbath revival either. Communication has opened between Butler and Osbourne, and Butler has dropped several hints about his desire for the legendary metal outfit to tour nations they haven’t ventured, but he admits that the reunion seems largely unattainable.

For now, Butler continues grieving the loss of his close friend. But once his head clears and he regains his musical ambitions, expect a series of releases. The bassist revealed he has a stockpile of riffs and possible songs that will take months to sort through, and is certainly an album’s worth of material.

So please, everyone send some good vibes Butler’s way.

Now before you get out the face paint and studded bracelets, it’s not going to be for some time (if at all). In an interview with MassLive.com (via AntiMusic.com), frontman Ozzy Osbourne said he and guitarist Tony Iommi had worked out their legal issues regarding who owns the Black Sabbath name and are actually, gasp, being friendly.

When then asked about the possibility of a Black Sabbath reunion, Osbourne did not shoot the idea, but instead said that it’d have to wait at least a year or two while he does his solo album and subsequent touring. But if it were to happen, Osbourne has some pretty lofty intentions.

“We never set down when we were kids and went like, ‘This is going to be looked upon when we’re (expletive) 60 as a milestone in music.’ That was not our intention,” Osbourne said. “But it kind of happened. I always wanted to be a Beatle and people said, ‘Well Black Sabbath is a heavy metal version of the Beatles.’ But I would love to do, absolutely love to do a really great, monumental Black Sabbath album.”

We have never wanted something more to happen than a metal Beatles. Or would that be a Beatles-esque Sabbath. Either way, we hope it comes sooner rather than later. As always, though, stay tuned for more news as it’s announced.

According to NME, the newest game will feature some of the heaviest rockers in the music world, including AFI, DragonForce, Drowning Pool, Foo Fighters, KISS, Metallica, Slipknot, Slayer,  The Rolling Stones, and many others. Not to mention, there’ll be slightly less intense acts to rock with, like Muse, Queen, and Silversun Pickups. And somehow Foreigner and Night Ranger made it to the final list, which you can peep below. Speaking of KISS, the developers also created a storyline mode that’s narrated by KISS’ own Gene Simmons. So, expect lots of bad sexual innuendos, gamers.

Stay tuned for more news, including any more big name additions. Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock hits shelves on September 28th.

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Tracklist:
01. AFI – Dancing Through Sunday
02. Anthrax – Indians
03. Avenged Sevenfold – Bat Country
04. Black Sabbath – Children Of The Grave
05. Buzzcocks – What Do I Get?
06. Children Of Bodom – If You Want Peace… Prepare For War
07. The Cure – Fascination Street
08. Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar On Me (Live)
09. Dethklok – Bloodlines
10. Dire Straits – Money For Nothing
11. DragonForce – Fury Of The Storm
12. Drowning Pool – Bodies
13. Fall Out Boy – Dance, Dance
14. Foo Fighters – No Way Back
15. Foreigner – Feels Like The First Time
16. The Hives – Tick Tick Boom
17. Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Stealing
18. Jethro Tull – Aqualung
19. KISS – Love Gun
20. Linkin Park – Bleed It Out
21. Megadeth – Sudden Death
22. Metallica & Ozzy Osbourne – Paranoid (Live)
23. Muse – Uprising
24. My Chemical Romance – I’m Not Okay (I Promise)
25. Night Ranger – (You Can Still) Rock In America
26. Nine Inch Nails – Wish
27. The Offspring – Self Esteem
28. Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
29. Rammstein – Waidmanns Heil
30. The Rolling Stones – Stray Cat Blues
31. Silversun Pickups – There’s No Secrets This Year
32. Slayer – Chemical Warfare
33. Slipknot – Psychosocial
34. Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song
35. ZZ Top – Sharp Dressed Man (Live)

First, you’ll get to cop some pretty stellar reissues, including Bright Eyes’ 2000 LP Fevers & Mirrors, The Cribs’ self-titled debut, Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ self-titled debut EP, and Simian Mobile Disco’s Attack Decay Sustain Release. Expect high-end packaging and durable vinyl, but not a lot of copies; the LPs will be limited to just 1,000, while there’ll just be 500 copies of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ EP.

And if you live in the UK, the gifts just keep on coming in the form of birthday parties. May 14th at the Brighton club Life kicks things off, with a May 21st show with a venue to be confirmed. And then there’s the May 26th Primavera Sound Festival launch show at the Apolo featuring Los Campesinos!, First Aid Kit, and Peggy Sue.  Get all the info on the Wichita Recordings official site.

Add a Slip-N-Slide and this may be the greatest birthday celebration ever.

Of course, you can find a complete list of scheduled Record Store Day releases on our 2010 Second Quarter Music Preview.

According to The Quietus the two forces will be putting out just 1,000 copies of this hand-numbered vinyl record. One side will contain a version of “Paranoid” with alternate lyrics, and the Metallica side will hold a remix of the St. Anger single “Frantic” as crafted by UNKLE.

April 17th is the day. To find your nearest independent record store click here, and for the list of other glorious Record Store Day releases you can click here. Still a little unclear on what RSD is? Let another icon of rock explain:

The releases follow this year’s earlier reissues of their 1970 self-titled debut and 1971′s Master Of Reality, both of which came stocked with alternate studio versions, demos, and instrumentals of classic songs.

Ahead of the release, AngryApe has put together two Black Sabbath webisodes (via Blabbermouth) in which musicians and journalists discuss the significance and influence of these LPs.

On Tuesday, Heaven and Hell, a band made up of the members of the 1980-82 and 1990-92 incarnation of Sabbath, released The Devil You Know. As Billboard.com points out, the 10-track effort is either the first album by Heaven and Hell or the third studio set from the third lineup of Black Sabbath.

Now that we have all that cleared up, let’s move on to the specifics.

Heaven and Hell is original Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and bass player Terry “Geezer” Butler, with lead singer Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinnie Appice. Upon getting back together in 2006 to record tracks for the greatest “hits” album Black Sabbath: The Dio Years, the foursome took on the name Heaven and Hell, which of course is the name of Sabbath’s 1980 effort.

Fast forward three years and a world tour later and Heaven and Hell have finally dished out its first album of original material under the banner Heaven and Hell – the first of what looks to be a slew of recorded material. Per Iommi via Billboard:

“There were loads of ideas…We’ve got enough to make another album if we wanted. We probably wouldn’t use that stuff again, but we had more than enough” for “The Devil You Know.” Iommi says the remaining material are “ideas — a verse or a riff, lots of bits, really.”

But before a new album is even discussed, the band must first embark on yet another world tour, set to begin next week – thus far, dates include stops in South America and Europe.

Sure beats what Ozzy is doing these days…

Check Out:

The Devil You Know Tracklist:
01. Atom and Evil
02. Fear
03. Bible Black
04. Double the Pain
05. Rock and Roll Angel
06. The Turn of the Screw
07. Eating the Cannibals
08. Follow the Tears
09. Neverwhere
10. Breaking into Heaven

Heaven and Hell 2009 Tour Dates:
05/05 – Bogota, CO @ Coliseo Cubierto El Campín
05/07 – Buenos Aires, AR @ Luna Park
05/08 – Santiago, CL @ Movistar Arena
05/10 – Belo Horizonte, BR @ Chevrolet Hall
05/13 – Brasilia, BR @ Ginásio Nilson Nelson
05/15 – Sao Paulo, BR @ Credicard Hall
05/16 – Sao Paulo, BR @ Credicard Hall
05/17 – Rio de Janiero, BR @ Citibank Hall Rio
05/30 – Moscow, RU @ B1 Maximum
05/31 – Moscow, RU @ B1 Maximum
06/01 – St. Petersburg, RU @ New Arena
06/02 – Helsinki, FI @ Icehall
06/04 – Oslo, NO @ Spektrum
06/06 – Solvesborg, SE @ Sweden Rock Festival
06/08 – Giessen, DE @ Hessenhallen
06/09 – Berlin, DE @ Zitadelle
06/10 – Bamburg, DE @ Jakoarena
06/13 – Bergum, NL @ Waldrock Festival
06/14 – Karlsruhe, DE @ Europhalle
06/16 – Bonn, DE @ Museumsplatz
06/17 – Zurich, CH @ Spirit of Rock – Volkshaus
06/19 – Clisson, FR @ Hellfest
06/21 – Zaragoza, ES @ Metalway Festival
06/26 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Festival
06/27 – Milan, IT @ Gods of Metal
07/30 – Wacken, DE @ Open Air Festival