I couldn’t cut it down to an even 100, whatever.
So this list is my personal favorite albums, albums that, while they might not be the best representation of a band, an era, a genre, or whatever, are the ones that most appeal to me. Usually this is a nostalgic thing, the album reminds me of a good (or bad) time in my life, and how I’ve grown since. Or certain albums remind me of certain people… who I was with when I first heard it, who loaned me their beat-up copy because they thought I would like it, etc.
These are albums I like as a whole. There may be the occasional track that’s a filler or stinker, but it would be the exception. Most of these are albums I could put on at any time and listen to without shuffling or skipping tracks.
I whole-heartedly recommend most of these albums to everyone. But it’s impossible to recommend every album here without knowing your music preferences, etc. (These are mostly safe bets, while my music tastes are varied, they are not super elitist or odd.)
Finally, I would love to hear from you if any of these albums would make your own personal Top 5, or Top 10, or Top 134. My Ask box is always open, and I could quite literally talk for hours about my favorite bands and albums and songs. Let me know your favorite song from the album (impossible, I know), or if you have a cool story about how you discovered that album… as I too will be doing that over the next four+ months with a project I’m tagging as #Alans134Albums134Days. I will write an individual post about each of these albums, one per day, for the next 134 days. =)
Okay, the full list is below:
A - C
Aerosmith - Get A Grip (1993)
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes (1992)
Tori Amos - Under the Pink (1994)
Tori Amos - From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)
blink-182 - blink-182 (2003)
Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet (1986)
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony - E. 1999 Eternal (1995)
Brand New - Deja Entendu (2003)
Bush - Sixteen Stone (1994)
Cake - Fashion Nugget (1996)
Cake - Comfort Eagle (2001)
The Cars - The Cars (1978)
The Cars - Heartbeat City (1984)
Coolio - It Takes a Thief (1994)
Counting Crows - August and Everything After (1993)
Cursive - The Ugly Organ (2003)
D - G
Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism (2003)
Death Cab for Cutie - Plans (2005)
The Decemberists - Picaresque (2005)
Depeche Mode - Violator (1990)
Devo - Freedom of Choice (1980)
Devo - New Traditionalists (1981)
Devo - Oh, No! It’s Devo (1982)
Disturbed - The Sickness (2000)
Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)
Evanescence - Fallen (2003)
Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree (2005)
Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High (2007)
Fall Out Boy - Save Rock and Roll (2013)
Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape (1997)
Foo Fighters - There Is Nothing Left to Lose (1999)
Green Day - Dookie (1994)
Green Day - American Idiot (2004)
Guns N’ Roses - Appetite for Destruction (1987)
H - L
The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday (2005)
Hole - Live Through This (1994)
Huey Lewis & The News - Sports (1983)
Incubus - Make Yourself (1999)
Isle of Q - Isle of Q (2000)
Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation (1989)
Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982)
Michael Jackson - Bad (1987)
Michael Jackson - Dangerous (1991)
Alicia Keys - Songs in A Minor (2001)
Lady Gaga - The Fame (2008)
Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster EP (2009)
Led Zeppelin - IV (1971)
Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy (1973)
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory (2000)
Linkin Park - Meteora (2003)
Live - Throwing Copper (1994)
Live - Secret Samadhi (1997)
M - N
Madonna - Like a Virgin (1984)
Madonna - Like a Prayer (1989)
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar (1996)
Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals (1998)
Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane (2002)
Metallica - Metallica (1991)
Metallica - Load (1996)
Metallica - ReLoad (1997)
Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004)
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill (1995)
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade (2006)
My Chemical Romance - Danger Days (2010)
New Found Glory - New Found Glory (2000)
Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (1989)
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (1994)
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile (1999)
Nirvana - Bleach (1989)
Nirvana - Nevermind (1991)
Nirvana - Incesticide (1992)
Nirvana - In Utero (1993)
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom (1995)
O - P!nk
Oasis - (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995)
The Offspring - Smash (1994)
The Offspring - Ixnay on the Hombre (1997)
The Offspring - Americana (1998)
Joan Osborne - Relish (1995)
Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears (1991)
Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzmosis (1995)
Panic! at the Disco - A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (2005)
Panic! at the Disco - Pretty. Odd. (2008)
Paramore - Riot! (2007)
Pearl Jam - Ten (1991)
Pearl Jam - Vs. (1993)
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy (1994)
Pearl Jam - Yield (1998)
A Perfect Circle - Mer de Noms (2000)
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step (2003)
P!nk - Funhouse (2008)
P!nk - The Truth About Love (2012)
Pink Floyd - R
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975)
Pink Floyd - Animals (1977)
Pink Floyd - The Wall (1979)
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut (1983)
The Postal Service - Give Up (2003)
Prince - 1999 (1982)
Prince - Purple Rain (1984)
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine (1992)
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)
Rush - Signals (1982)
S
Silverchair - Freak Show (1997)
Silverchair - Neon Ballroom (1999)
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (1993)
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Smashing Pumpkins - Adore (1998)
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Doggystyle (1993)
Something Corporate - Leaving Through the Window (2002)
Soundgraden - Superunknown (1994)
Stone Temple Pilots - Core (1992)
Stone Temple Pilots - Purple (1994)
Stone Temple Pilots - Tiny Music… (1996)
Sublime - Sublime (1996)
Taylor Swift - Red (2012)
T - #
Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends (2002)
Tegan and Sara - Heartthrob (2013)
Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind (1997)
Thursday - Full Collapse (2001)
Tool - Aenima (1996)
Twisted Sister - Stay Hungry (1984)
Roger Waters - The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984)
Roger Waters - Radio K.A.O.S. (1987)
Roger Waters - Amused to Death (1992)
Weezer - Weezer (1994)
Weezer - Pinkerton (1996)
Weezer - Weezer (2001)
The Who - Tommy (1969)
The Who - Who’s Next (1971)
2 Pac - All Eyez on Me (1996)
3 Doors Down - The Better Life (2000)