1000 Greatest Albums of all Time

 692 Sister Sledge - We Are Family (1979) Studio Album - Disco/Soul About the Act: Sister Sledge are an American Disco/Soul singing group from Philly, originally comprising Debbie, Kim, Kathy and Joni Sledge. They were formed in 1971. Two have died, leaving two officially as the band, but they have included other people as "touring members" including Carol Sledge (yet another sister), Camille Sledge (a daughter), Julie Sledge (no information) and Tanya Tiet, who must have felt like an outsider.  They have released 10 studio albums. Their third, "We Are Family" was their breakthrough and best selling album. About the Album: This was that best-selling and breakthrough album. Produced by the famous Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, and it was a huge hit. Guest musicians include Simon Le Bon and Luthur Vandross. My History with this Album: None, except I know the hits. Review: Let's get the hits out of the way. We are Family, He's The Greatest Dancer, and "...

 693 The Residents - Meet The Residents (1974) Studio Album - Avant Garde About the Act: "The Residents are an American art collective best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works". So says Wikipedia.  A group of high school friends in Shreveport Louisiana started making amateur home recordings in 1965. In 1966 they decided to travel to San Francisco to join the budding hippie movement. However, their truck broke down in San Mateo, California, so they decided to stay there. They named themselves "The Residents" after a rejection slip sent to them by Warner Bros. Over the years they have made many Avant Garde art works of varying strangeness, including releasing around 50 albums. Who they are is a secret, they don't give interviews, and at times their work has been deliberately provocative. About the Album: This was their first album, and was recorded in a home studio, in mono, using many overdubs. Some of the tracks are very mangled versions ...

 694 Moby - Play (1999) Studio Album - Electronic About the Act: So Moby's like this dude, right, from New York, and he like makes electronic music and is famously vegan. He's been doing the music since 1989 and I don't know how long he has been a Vegan. He has released 19 studio albums, and I couldn't possibly say how many animals he has not eaten.  About the Album: This was Moby's 5th album, and his breakthrough album, and his biggest hit album. My History with this Album: I have a copy of this but have not listened often. I know three of the tracks well as they were hits. Review: Music is never in isolation. There is a continuum, probably more than one. Electronic music started, well firstly I guess in the 50s, but significantly with the advent of synths in the 70s, into 80s synth-pop. There was an invention called a "sampler" which could make a digital recording of a real sound and play it back at different pitches, and one of the big proponents of thi...

 695 The B-52s - Wild Planet (1980) Studio Album - Pop About the Act: The B-52's arguably should not have the apostrophe, and they did in fact dump it in 2008. Before then, they lost their guitarist (in 1986). Other than that, since 1976 they have had a consistent existence. They are from Athens, Georgia, and have released 8 studio albums. About the Album: This was their second album. They deliberately kept some of their regular live songs back from their first album, to ensure the second album went down well with fans. Good plan. My History with this Album: None. I don't think I even knew any of the songs, although some were singles. Review: So, if you know Love Shack, Rock Lobster, or Meet The Flintstones, you know what the B-52s sound like. Although none of those songs are on this album, the sound most definitely is. There's some quite basic, but punchy backing (unusually with synth bass rather than real bass) and the guitar is jangly. It has a New Wave energy (somebody ...

 696 Tom Waits - Closing Time (1973) Studio Album - Jazz/Folk About the Act: Tom Waits is an American Blues/Jazz/Experimental singer/songwriter/musician.  He started out as Jazz and morphed into more blues/folk with some decided "experimental" elements. He has created a kind of hobo/beat poet persona. He has been incredibly successful worldwide. He has also worked as an actor. Since his first album in 1973, he has had 16 more. About the Album: This was Tom's first album. My History with this Album: None Review: As a reviewer, I feel like I am often asking myself what genre music is. This is because I am going to need to describe it, and it's easier to describe if you have words. I mean I could go into detail about notes and rhythms, and tunes and harmony and instrumentation, and traditions, and scenes and expectations, or I could say "it's jazz". It's a bit like describing some food, and saying it has flour, eggs, sugar, marge and then how it's m...

 697 Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies (1992) Studio Album - Spacerock About the Act: Started 1990, still going. Space Rock/Neo-Psychedelia/Shoegaze. English. Led by Jason Pierce, who used to be a Spaceman. 8 Studio albums so far. About the Album: This was their first album. My History with this Album: None Review: Let's start with the album title. So, "Lazer Guided" is OK. "Melodies" is quite misleading. This is what the album is almost devoid of. Instead there are textures, mostly kind of full and washy, long, evolving simple chord sequences, reminiscent of Krautrock and similar textual music. It's almost ambient, but unlike what I would normally think of as ambient, it is neither quiet and tinkly nor dancy-beaty.  There are vocals, they are so shoogazy and quiet that mostly you can't hear them, and what I could hear was OK, but not particularly engaging, although to be fair this was definitely the minority of the words. The vocals are, to be fair,...

 698 Yes - Relayer (1974) Studio Album - Progressive Rock About the Act: Yes followed the “How to be Prog” leaflet pretty closely - formed in 1968, had a lot of success in the early 70s, lost their way a bit at the end of the 70s, broke up in 1981, but reformed in 1983 with a more commercial sound, and have been active in some form ever since. They have had a good number of personnel changes, with particular emphasis on keyboard players. Their most famous member probably was Rick Wakeman, although the singer Jon Anderson (who has come and gone several times) has a very recognisable voice. The distinctive Yes sound has an emphasis on the high frequency range, strong, strident bass, complex arrangements with high, strong vocals, and a rather positive attitude to life, in a vaguely New-Agey kind of way. Oh, and a lot of their classic albums had covers drawn by fantasy artist Roger Dean. About the Album: The keyboard player Rick Wakeman left and so the band were sort of one keyboardist...

 699 Paul McCartney - McCartney II (1980) Home-Recorded Album - Experimental Pop About the Act: Paul McCartney was a relatively unknown singer who has had very little success. About the Album: In 1970, Macca released a solo album called McCartney, on which he played all of the instruments. In the summer of 1979 He recorded 20 songs in his house in Scotland. In 1980, as Wings were closing down, he released 11 of them as the imaginatively titled "McCartney II". This is that album. My History with this Album: None. Review: This is an odd album. At the time it confused critics, and I can see why. This is Paul playing around with things in his Scottish home, recording everything except some backing vocals himself. There is a sense in which he is messing about with the gear and seeing what he can do. He used the kitchen and the bathroom as drum reverb chambers, and used quite a lot of synth sounds, and maybe drum machines, and even sequencers. This was quite early for this kind of ...

 700 Eels - Beautiful Freak (1996) Studio Album - Alternative Rock About the Act: Eels (definitely not THE Eels) are an alternative rock band from L.A. They were formed in 1991 and are still going and have had 13 studio albums. Their front-man singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mark Everett goes by the stage name E and is the only person to have been in the whole duration of the band. He also released a couple of albums as a solo artist, although the distinction at times is moot, there have been times when he was the only member of Eels. About the Album: This was the first album released under the name Eels, and was mostly the work of E. One song (My Beloved Monster and Me) was featured in the film Shrek. My History with this Album: I've had a copy of this for a long while now, actually about 20 years I think. I discovered Eels through MTV in the late 90s/early 00s, and this album is the one I have played most.  Review: When this came out, Alternative Rock was only ju...

 701 The Essential Roy Orbison (2006) Compilation Album - Pop Rock About the Act: Roy Orbison was an American Singer-Songwriter from Texas. His nickname was The Big O. His career spanned a staggering 1953-1989. Unusually, his style morphed with the times and he continued to release new material through his career. He was known for his vulnerable voice, and for wearing sunglasses and black suits on stage. About the Album: This is a retrospective album covering his career, with songs through from 1956 to 1989. It is a double album, and is part of Sony BMG's "Essential" series. My History with this Album: None, but of course various tracks are known to me. Review: The Voice. Roy Orbison's voice is immediately distinctive. It has a tremulous quality to it, with a fast, fairly shallow vibrato, that gives a sound of vulnerability. It also gives an impression that it's not quite controlled, but that is definitely an illusion. He actually has excellent control and quite ...

 702 Elvis Costello - Punch The Clock (1983) Studio Album - Art Rock About the Act: Elvis Costello is a British singer/songwriter who started in 1970 and is still going. He came to popularity in the late 70s and at that time was considered to be a "New Wave" act, however it's probably more reasonable in retrospect to think of him as a medium rock singer/songwriter.  He had a sometimes consistent band, The Attractions, and some of his albums are credited to "Elvis Costello and the Attractions". Some albums used the band, but were just credited to Elvis himself, and on some albums he used different musicians. His first studio album was released in 1977 and he has had 25 since. He has had a lot of commercial and critical success, especially for his earlier albums, and he is widely respected for his song writing ability About the Album: This was his eighth album, the seventh with The Attractions. My History with this Album: None Review: If you know what Elvis Costel...

 703 Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (1984) Live Album - Art Rock About the Act: From 1975-1991, Talking Heads existed. They were from New York and they played music that was very distinctive. I have heard them described as Post-Punk, New Wave, and Alternative Rock. I guess I could describe them as Art Rock and be happy doing so. They were fronted by an eccentric character, David Byrne, and they made a huge impact on music, with a strong sound and idiosyncratic music. They grew and shrank in size, sold lots of records, and wowed the critics. They created 8 studio albums, and the hugely-well-regarded live album Stop Making Sense (and another lesser-known live album). About the Album: So there's a bit of a background to this album, there was a film created from filmed Talking Heads live performances, which was hugely well received by critics. This album is a selection of tracks from the film (mostly better-known tracks). My History with this Album: So, my first experience of this a...

 704 New Order - Low-Life (1985) Studio album - Dance-Pop About the Act: In 1980, Ian Curtis, the frontman of Joy Division, an alternative rock band from the UK, took his own life. The remaining three members decided they wanted to carry on as a band, but in Joy Division they had had a pact that if any one member left, they would not continue to use the name. Therefore, with a partial change of members, they morphed into New Order.  After pursuing  guitar-based rock for a while they got interested in electronic music, and became one of the foremost proponents of electronic dance music, and a formative band for the emerging Manchester scene which exploded in popularity in the 90s, and in turn was part of the foundations for Britpop. They have had several studio albums, and a couple of breaks. About the Album: This was their third album, and their first to move into the dance/synth/sample/drum machine area. My History with this Album: None Review: Pet Shop Boys, Bronski Bea...

 705 Sonic Youth - Dirty (1992) Studio album - Noise Rock About the Act: Sonic Youth were an American Rock band from NY. They started in 1981 as a no wave band (Whatever that means) but became a "noise rock" band. After 15 albums and 30 years they quit in 2011. About the Album: This was their seventh studio album. It was produced by the team that produced Nevermind by Nirvana. My History with this Album: None Review: This journey is fascinating for me, and if you are reading this maybe you are at least mildly interested in this, or maybe just this album, or, I don't know. Anyway, I feel like at times I go all "Meta" and talk about the overall process I am going through, and in particular my constantly evolving thoughts about quality and opinion and listening experiences and so on. I am still, at times, mystified by my own tastes, what I find I enjoy, and what I find I don't. I am aware that it can be context-dependent, which I am trying to work against. I am...

 706 Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960 (1960) Live album - Blues About the Act: Muddy Waters was "The father of modern Chicago blues". That was not his given name, which was the much more prosaic McKinley Morganfield. He was born in Mississippi, and died in Illinois, after a career of 41 years starting in 1941. He sang blues and played blues guitar and was responsible for writing blues classics like I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man and Got My Mojo Working. About the Album: Apparently this was one of the first live blues albums to be recorded and released, and was a huge influence on up-and-coming young bluesmen in the US and UK, opening the way for Blues Rock: The Rolling Stones, and so on. My History with this Album: None Review: This will be quite a short review, because I don't have much to say. This is classic blues, seminal and archetypal, with predictable chords and guitar and harmonica and Blues Bravado that hints at Voodoo magic at times, and is just a little bit mac...

 707 Traffic - John Barleycorn Must Die (1970) Studio album - Progressive Rock About the Act: Traffic were a psychedelic/prog band from Birmingham England, and their most famous member was Steve Winwood, who had a solo career as well as being in other bands. They have existed for four short periods of time, starting in 1967, and most recently in 2004. They hare released 8 studio albums and 3 live albums. About the Album: This was their fourth album. My History with this Album: None Review: What's this? A prog album I don't know? Outrageous! It's not very prog, but it definitely leans in that direction. It's a bunch of people playing music pretty well, with disregard for traditional song structures and avoiding being singalong pop. Stylistically there's medium rock (especially organ-led), more mellow stuff, some folk, a bit of psychedelic, edges of jazz-rock and a general relaxed attitude to labelling. Some bits reminded me of Genesis, with a strong, strident voice a...

 708 Whitney Houston - Whitney (1987) Studio Album - Pop About the Act: Whitney Houston died in 2012. Her personal life and cause of death are just that, personal, and so I will not dwell on them. In 1985, two years after being signed, her debut album was released. It was a total smash, selling a ridiculous number of copies worldwide. Her second album sold well. She kept making records and people kept buying them. She was one of the most-awarded and best-selling recording artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. She had seven studio albums, and acted in an equal number of films. About the Album: This was her second album. My History with this Album: None, although I know about half the songs. Apparently I'm one of the people in the world who don't have a copy of this album. Review: There are four things I like about this album. The best of those is Whitney's voice. She has a strong, well-controlled and fairly versatile voice (although when she ...