Since I haven't posted in a while, I owe you dedicated readers more content than usual in this post. I think that an list of essential albums is something everyone likes to read and critique, even if silently. Here are my "Essential" albums. This is not meant to be a list of the best albums ever, and is certainly only a subset of my collection (now including mp3s). I'll do this in categories: the Canonized are classics that may or may not still be in the rotation much but must be considered in high regard, while the Beatified are permitted to be considered in high regard currently and may one day join the Canonized. In no particular order:
Canonized
Tori Amos - Under the Pink
Better Than Ezra - Deluxe
Cardigans - Gran Turismo
Shawn Colvin - Fat City
Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting
The Cranberries - No Need to Argue
Sheryl Crow - The Globe Sessions
The Cure - Disintegration
Depeche Mode - Violator
Ani DiFranco - Dilate
Elastica - Elastica
Nelly Furtado - Whoa Nelly!
Peter Gabriel - Secret World Live
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Indigo Girls - 1200 Curfews
Jewel - Pieces of You
Jennifer Knapp - lay it down
Led Zeppelin - IV
Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville
Jars of Clay - Jars of Clay
Natalie Merchant - Ophelia
New Order - Substance
Old 97's - Too Far to Care
Poe - Haunted
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Sleater-Kinney - The Hot Rock
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
The Sundays - Static and Silence
Outkast - Stankonia
They Might Be Giants - Flood
Til Tuesday - Voices Carry
Travis - The Man Who
The Verve - Urban Hymns
Weezer - Blue Album
Wilco - Being There
The Rentals - Return of the Rentals
Beatified
Lauryn Hill - Miseducation of . . . (on the Mother Theresa fast track)
Frente! - Labour of Love EP; shape
Fiona Apple - When the Pawn . . .
Aimee Mann - Lost in Space
Police - Synchronicity
Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
Neil Young - Harvest
Dar Williams - Mortal City
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - So Far
Better Than Ezra - How Does Your Garden Grow?; Friction, Baby
Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five
Beck - Sea Change
Lucinda Williams - Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Blur - Parklife, The Great Escape
Cake - Fashion Nugget
Ben Folds - Rockin' the Suburbs
Ben Harper - Burn to Shine
Hum - downward is heavenward
Diana Krall - When I Look in Your Eyes, Love Scenes
Morrissey - Your Arsenal
Pearl Jam - Ten
Velocity Girl - ¡Simpatico!
Kathleen Edwards - Failer
Built to Spill - Live
Nelly Furtado - Folklore
Perhaps some should be moved from canonized to beatified. As you can see, I ahven't felt compelled to canonize more than one album by any one aritst.
Posted by tdupuy at April 29, 2004 5:33 PMIt's about time...
Posted by: Lara at April 30, 2004 7:17 PMIt's about time...
Posted by: Lara at April 30, 2004 7:17 PMWhere's Nirvana?
Posted by: Shane at April 30, 2004 9:48 PMWhat percentage of those bands are relatively obscure and feature female vocals?
Posted by: andy at May 1, 2004 7:06 PMI don't know, it seems to me that 47% is pretty high. Especially when you consider that most male bands you've listed are less questionable simply due to their reputations (R.E.M, Zepplin, Pumpkins, Police, Pearl Jam) than some of the obscure female bands (Dar Williams, Kathleen Edwards, Old 97s, and I'm asuming Concrete Blonde).
Let's look at a ratio of Mainstream v Obscure within the male/female rankings, and I think you'll get a more telling story about how you, Trent, seem to seek bands based on two criteria: 1) The overall reputation/MTV presence of a band, and/or 2) The fact that the lead of a band is female.
Posted by: andy at May 2, 2004 9:06 PM