490. ZZ Top-Tres Hombres
What I originally said:
Having grown up watching MTV and VH1, I was familiar with the videos of ZZ Top, yet I never really latched onto the music of ZZ Top. That really didn't change after listening to Tres Hombres. I'm also not a huge fan of Southern Rock, but like blues, I can appreciate it and there are a few exceptions. ZZ Top is blues mixed with Southern Rock that does give them a distinctive sound, which you can almost trace to bands like Kings of Leon and My Morning Jacket. That being said, I just kind of fell in the midd with this album. Nothing really grabbed my attention here, not that it was bad, just a bit underwhelming for my tastes.
What I say now:
It's been a while since I did the last ten albums, and frankly I didn't get around to this ten that fast because I had no interest in revisiting La Grange. Once again, I don't think it's a bad album, it's just completely uninteresting to me. In fact it's the type of album that just makes me tired listening to it. Nothing really stands out and every track has a familiar or similar sound to every other track. The best part about La Grange for me is that now that it's done, I can get into more of the great albums ahead on the list.
Suggested Track: "La Grange"
489. Kiss-Destroyer
What I originally said:
I don't think it is hard to discount Kiss. I mean they are notoriously known for spectacle over their music. So just on reputation alone, I had never really paid attention to Kiss. This was foolish. Since I'm a huge fan of many artists that are an exaggeration of the craziness and sensibilities of heavy metal bands of the seventies and eighties, like The Darkness, Andrew W.K. and Tenacious D. Kiss was my biggest surprise in the first ten albums, but I realize now that it shouldn't have been. Destroyer is a party in an album. It's an album that never takes itself too seriously and it's hard to hate it because of that. Destroyer is simply fun and I had a ton of fun with it.
What I say now:
I don't know what was wrong with me, not liking Kiss. Destroyer is bonafide badass and when restarting the list, was one of the albums I was most excited about revisiting. Everything here is so bombastic, from the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra playing on some songs, to the songs seemingly created around the idea that the audience could chant along. I stated that Destroyer is "a party of an album", but it also has its great down moments, like "Great Expectations" and the album's stand out track, "Beth" (maybe just because of my love for the movie Role Models). Kiss goes for some of the same ideas that another artist I really loved on the original list, Alice Cooper, goes for, such as youth overcoming expectations and partying all night, even though that's the designated time for rock and rolling. Revising Destroyer only solidified how much I love this album. Kiss' act may seem like a gimmick sometimes, but with how fantastic Destroyer is, they are certainly the real deal.
Suggested Track: "Beth"
488. Husker Du-New Day Rising
What I originally said:
I was also pretty excited about checking out Husker Du, since for years I knew the name but didn't know the music. New Day Rising is a great example of 80s punk rock and the expansive scope of the album is impressive. However like Born Under A Bad Sign and Tres Hombres, by the end I felt like many of the songs really flowed together in a way that felt a bit too similar. I appreciate their soudn and would like to check out their other albums, especially Zen Arcade. At the very least I can say I'm interested.
What I say now:
New Day Rising is another album I'm glad I get to check out again. I appreciate the dirty, grimy hardcore punk sound that Husker Du is able to cultivate with New Day Rising, but my thoughts on the album kind of blending together still stands. I also do still want to investigate more of the catalog of Husker Du, regardless of if more of their albums appear on the list, and that's what listening to this list is about for me: finding artists I've never been aware of and exploring deeper into music history.
Suggested Track: "New Day Rising"
487. Cyndi Lauper-She's So Unusual
What I originally said:
Another artist I really ignored due to early 90s radio exposure was Cyndi Lauper. Not to mention she's one of those musicians whose public persona has become more popular than her musical career. But much to my surprise, She's So Unusual is a very strong pop album. The album has no problem just being fun, as with the hit singles "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and "Time After Time", but also deals with interesting ideas of gender roles in tracks like "When You Were Mine." The album does take a left turn towards the last few tracks that becomes grating on the nerves, such as "He's So Unusual" and "Yeah Yeah", but the album is too strong at that point to be shaken too much.
What I say now:
She's So Unusual is an incredibly impressive 80's pop album. Much like Eurythmics' Touch, I didn't really give Lauper a chance, but both these albums were some of my biggest surprises the first go-around with this list. The entire album is just one fun song after the other. I still think the album falls apart in the end, but an album with 90% of its songs working, that's not bad at all.
Suggested Track: "Time After Time"
486. Earth, Wind & Fire-That's The Way of the World
What I originally said:
For me, Earth, Wind & Fire are one of those artists you ignore because your parents made sure you knew they loved them when they were your age. However like most of those artists, with age you realize they are kind of great. That's the Way of the World probably sound so great to me now because almost any R&B or funk artist I've ever listened to has been influenced by them. On some tracks, I even thought, "so this is where Andre 3000 gets his style from." That's the Way of the World is pretty brilliant, not only for its historical context, but because it's just so much fun.
What I say now:
Probably the first time since revisiting some of these albums, with That's the Way of the World, I feel a little disappointment. I still find it to be a historically important album and I still find it a very fun album, but on my second listening, it didn't have quite the same power as it did the first time. Maybe it had to do with my expectations being so low the first time around and the excitement of listening to it a second time heightened my expectations, but I didn't find it quite as amusing this time around. It's still a powerful album from one of the most important R&B acts of all time, but I think coming into That's the Way of the World with fresh ears the first time definitely was to Earth, Wind & Fire's advantage.
Suggested Track: "Shining Star"
485. Pearl Jam-Vitalogy
What I originally said:
OK, so I intentionally do not like Pearl Jam. Let me get that out there. However I do appreciate the musician that Eddie Vedder has become in the last few years, mostly on the Into the Wild soundtrack and his ability to experiment with his sound in weird ways, like releasing an entire ukelele-based album. Vedder's experimentation is why I came away at least enjoying that experimentation in Vitalogy. The album is all over the place in terms of style, throwing a bunch of stuff at a wall and seeing what sticks. Songs like "Bugs" and "Stupidmop" seem more inclined to see how far it can test its audience. But when it is successful, you can easily see why Pearl Jam was such a big deal in the nineties. Vitalogy didn't exactly win me over, but Vedder and company do leave me intrigued.
What I say now:
Maybe I'm growing more accepting of bands I once couldn't stand, but a second listen to Vitalogy made me appreciate Pearl Jam even more. I still don't think it's a great album, but I was excited to check it out a second time. "Bugs" and "Stupidmop" are still absolute garbage, but beside those missteps, Vitalogy is pretty decent. It makes me excited to finally check out Ten, which hearing myself say I can't wait to hear a Pearl Jam album is a pretty big step from downright hating Pearl Jam prior to my first listen to Vitalogy.
Suggested Track: "Better Man"
484. Mott the Hoople-All the Young Dudes
What I originally said:
Mott the Hoople is one of those unfortunate bands that will always be more well known for the name they've chosen rather than what their music sounds like, kind of like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. or Fucked Up. But All The Young Dudes is an exceptional glam rock album that changed the band's focus due to David Bowie's production. It's hard to not hear Bowie's influence on this album and it's probably better that he was there than not. I would like to hear their pre-Bowie work to compare and contrast, but I do enjoy what I hear in All The Young Dudes.
What I say now:
Listening to All The Young Dudes a second time, I appreciated the storytelling aspect to a majority of the songs much more. Most songs introduce characters and their stories in a way that reminded me of some Bob Dylan songs. There's also a great depth to these lyrics that I didn't notice the first time around. While the first time I enjoyed it as just a glam rock album, this time I appreciated it much more the more i learned about the lyrics and what the songs themselves were dealing with.
Suggested Track: "All The Young Dudes"
483. Gang of Four-Entertainment!
What I originally said:
I'm particularly a fan of bands that came from the Gang of Four sound, particularly bands like The Rapture, and to a lesser extent Maximo Park. Entertainment! starts off with two songs, "Ether" and "Natural's Not In It", that are great examples of Gang of Four's style: fun post-punk with a political stance. After listening to Entertainment! it's surprising that you don't hear more bands considering Gang of Four a major influence. What they do with this debut album is clearly influential on so many younger bands over thirty years later.
What I say now:
More than probably any other album that I've been introduced to from this list, Gang of Four's Entertainment has become an album I listen to the most consistently. When I was asked to make my list of favorite albums of the 1970s for Paste Magazine, Gang of Four was one of my top choices (check out what I wrote for Paste, Entertainment! is #56). I appreciate that Entertainment! is a fun album that reminds me of bands like The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem, but also that it has a deeper political meaning to the entire album, even the album's cover. Entertainment! is one of my favorite discoveries so far in the list and listening to it a second time only solidified my love for the entire album.
Suggested Track: "Damaged Goods"
482. Steve Earle-Guitar Town
What I originally said:
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say, "I love all kids of music except country and rap." Guess what? Then you don't like all kinds of music, you like a few kinds of music. I state this because this group of ten albums features some of the greatest country music I've ever heard, material even non-country fans should appreciate. First off we have Guitar Town from Steve Earle, an album that predates the alt-country style and is some of the best in that genre. The problems that Early faces in Guitar Town aren't "country music problems" but human problems, dealing with issues that we all face. Earle's songs transcend genre though when his message is strong. Guitar Town is a beautiful take on a self-described hillbilly that's more happy being on the road than trapped by the normal ideas of being stuck in one area.
What I say now:
With most of these albums, my goal is to try to download them and then listen to them, so I can have all 500 of the albums. But there are occasionally a few that I'm not able to find and therefore must use Spotify or other means to listen to them. Guitar Town is one of the few album I couldn't find, and I must say, I really wish I owned this album. Guitar Town is even more powerful the second time around, as I found appreciation in new songs that I didn't really care for before. It's a powerful album flies by in a good way, and it's so damn catchy. Earle is doing something very special here, something that so many country artists, or just songwriters in genera, have since really learned from. Guitar Town is increasingly good for me and I only expect it to get better in the future.
Suggested Track: "Fearless Heart"
481. D'Angelo-Voodoo
What I originally said:
In the past ten albums, I described how I'm not that into funk music and that I'm not a fan of albums that seem to play out as one large song with little distinction between tracks. As much as I do like her track to track, I personally don;t like much of Erykah Badu's recent work for that very reason. But something about Voodoo works greatly for me. Maybe it's the great combination of musicians that D'Angelo gathered for this album that included J Dilla, DJ Premier, Raphael Saadiq and Questlove. Or maybe it's the fact that it is arguable one of the sexiest albums of all time. But this album works for me in ways that others don't, because what I love about Voodoo is how it feels like one near eighty-minute riff where D'Angelo just gathered his friends and had a big jam session. The great use of samples in "Devil's Pie", the extra verses by Method Man and Redman on "Left & Right" and the insane near perfection of "Untitled (How Does It Fee)" all lead towards D'Angelo trying, and succeeding on finding a sound unlike anyone else, while still sounding like great funk and R&B artists of the past.
What I say now:
Holy crap, this album is good. Voodoo has become one of my favorite albums to just put on and get lost in. Unlike most other albums, I don't even pay attention to which song I'm on. I just put it on and have a great time letting it just go. The album has such a gorgeous flow to it, it's impossible for me to not listen to the whole thing. It's hard for me to believe this album is over an hour, as it is such an easy listen. If there's one thing this list is clearly going to teach me, it's how to fall in love with funk and R&B music. But with albums like Voodoo, it's so hard not to.
Suggested Track: "Untitled (How Does It Feel)"
Here are my personal rankings for the album I've listened to so far (original rankings in parenthesis):
1. Wilco-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (493)
2. The White Stripes-White Blood Cells (497)
3. D'Angelo-Voodoo (481)
4. The Stone Roses-The Stone Roses (498)
5. MGMT-Oracular Spectacular (494)
6. B.B. King-Live in Cook County Jail (499)
7. Outkast-Aquemini (500)
8. Gang of Four-Entertainment! (483)
9. Kiss-Destroyer (489)
10. Cyndi Lauper-She's So Unusual (487)
11. Steve Earle-Guitar Town (482)
12. Earth, Wind & Fire-That's The Way of the World (486)
13. Eurythmics-Touch (492)
14. Husker Du-New Day Rising (488)
15. Mott the Hoople-All The Young Dudes (484)
16. Pearl Jam-Vitalogy (485)
17. Bonnie Raitt-Give It Up (495)
18. Albert King-Born Under A Bad Sign (491)
19. Boz Scaggs-Boz Scaggs (496)
20. ZZ Top-La Grange (490)
Revisiting some of these album was quite interesting to me, but I can't wait to get to some newer albums. While the next ten are mostly albums we've listened to again, there are a few exciting new albums added to the list to check out.
Also, if you'd like to follow along, check out the Rolling Stone Top 500 Albums playlist on Spotify.
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