Zeal's Top 100 Albums Of All Time!!

[Electric ~soul~]

Okay, so only about the top 10 are anything like accurate, as trying to compile a list like this is near-on impossible.

 

I fully expect some piss-taking for some of my selections, not least having two Kula Shaker albums in my Top 100.

 

Looking at the list, of course, it's just ridiculous as there's no way in the world that EMF's Schubert Dip, for example, is a better album than Lennon's Imagine, but a lot of my choices are because they remind me of a certain time in my life, and are favourites for that reason rather than for the actual quality, or otherwise, or the material!!

 

Anyway, here's numbers 100-81...

 

 

Zeal's Top 100 Albums Of All Time - in reverse order

 

100. The Wonder Stuff - Never Loved Elvis

Bought around the time I was doing my GCSE's and includes the singles Size Of A Cow and Caught In My Shadow. Shame the comeback tour was so disappointing.

 

 

99. INXS - X

The first one for you to rip the piss out of, I reckon, but I well liked this album when I was 15. Had a snog with a bird called Susan to Disappear at a party. It's got Suicide Blonde on it too.

 

 

98. Sugababes - One Touch

Overload is a quality single. A pretty good pop album.

 

 

97. The Smiths - The Smiths

Didn't get into the Smiths until I was about 23. This is the first album with What Difference Does It Make and This Charming Man on it. Best guitarist of the 80s, Johnny Marr.

 

 

96. Ride - Going Blank Again

Bought this with one of my first pay-checks when I got my new job in 1992. I'm still here. Leave It All Behind remains one of their finest 8 minutes!

 

 

95. The Doors - The Doors

Went on a coach trip to Paris in 1997 to see Blur, and this album was played all the way there, and all the way back! Got me into the Doors, though!

 

 

94. Cotton Mather - Kontiki

This guy well sounds like John Lennon. Think they're American

 

 

93. Supergrass - I Should Coco

Their debut album with Alright, Mansize Rooster, Caught By The Fuzz, Lenny etc. I thought they were gonna be the new Madness at the time!

 

 

92. John Lennon - Imagine

Not my favourite Lennon album, but probably the most famous of his solo ones. As well as the title track, it has Jealous Guy too, but my

fave on it is Oh My Love.

 

 

91. Radiohead - OK Computer

Never understood the fuss about this at the time, but to be fair, it is a well good album. Airbag and Paranoid Android are the best tracks.

 

 

90. Radiohead - Kid A

Bit of a bizarre album, this. Dread to think what Thornsy would make of it!

 

 

89. Radiohead - The Bends

Can't really choose between these three Radiohead albums really, but The Bends is probably the one I like the most at the minute. Planet Telex and Just are top tunes.

 

 

88. Coldplay - Parachutes

Pains me to say it, but it is a pretty good album, actually. Everything they've done since has been dreadful, though!

 

 

87. Wings - London Town

Rediscovered this album earlier this year. Some brilliant songs on there, including Gertcha's favourite - With A Little Luck. I prefer Don't Let It Bring You Down

 

 

86. Seahorses - Do It Yourself

Bought this after seeing them at Glasto in '97. They rocked, and it was much better than the Stone Roses' second album!

 

 

85. Beatles - Help!

The first side of this - with the songs from the film - is quality. Second side lets it down a bit. It's all relative though. No such thing as a bad Beatles album

 

 

84. Kula Shaker - K

This lot were just about my favourite band for a couple of years in the late 90s. Probably all the Indian stuff, I reckon. Saw them perform a lot of this album when supporting Oasis at Knebworth in '96. Best track - Tattva. Also got Hey Dude.

 

 

83. Joni Mitchell - Song To A Seagull

Her debut album from 1967. Shame it doesn't have Urge For Going on it to, which was her single from the same year.

 

 

82. Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix

My mate Tom well loved TFC. Reminds me of the hot Summer of '95, this. The big singles from it were Sparky's Dream and Mellow Doubt

 

 

81. The Coral - The Coral

Hadn't heard of the Coral until I saw them supporting Oasis at Finsbury Park in 2002. This has got Dreaming Of You on it.

 

 

Numbers 80-61 to follow tomorrow. I just know you can't wait.

[Electric ~soul~]

80. Beck - Odelay

When I was living in Harpenden, my mate Tom used to drive me in to work in the mornings and this was ALWAYS playing in the car! Where It’s At is quality!!

 

 

79. Jet - Get Born

Only got into Jet after seeing the video for Look What You’ve Done. A real Beatles pastiche, though as Gazza rightly points it, it sounds more like Badfinger! Rollover DJ is the best thing on the album

 

 

78. Beck - Sea Change

Bought this album after SteveP sent me a couple of the tracks on a compilation. A real mellow album, I’m not sure if there were any singles on this. Already Dead should have been, anyway!

 

 

77. Blur - 13

The album on which Blur committed commercial suicide! This was the one they played at Reading ’99, much to the bemusement of Gertcha and the rest of the festival going crowd. Takes a few listens to really like it. Singles: Tender and Coffee & TV

 

 

76. Wings - Back To The Egg

Wings’ much underrated final album, there’s some real quality McCartney songs on here, particularly the haunting Winter Rose. Getting Closer and the disco-esque Arrow Through Me are cool too.

 

 

75. The Beatles - Beatles For Sale

Re-discovered this one a few months ago. Lennon was just discovering Bob Dylan and pot around this time, and the influences show clearly on songs like I’m A Loser (the best track on the album) and I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party. The rock’n’roll standards let this album down, but I think Gazza disagrees with me!

 

 

74. Paul McCartney - Tug Of War

After the truly crap McCartney II album, Paul enlisted the help of Beatles producer George Martin to record this triumphant return to form. The title track is superb, and Somebody Who Cares is one of his finest ballads of the 80s.

 

 

73. Charlatans - Between 10th & 11th

Their least familiar album, although it does feature Weirdo, one of the bigger hits of the early 90s. I saw them tour this album at Brixton in 1992, supported by the Milltown Brothers and the Stairs.

 

 

72. Inspiral Carpets - Life

The first of the Madchester bands I became aware of, after a February 1990 edition of Top Of The Pops! They performed This Is How It Feels on that show, but She Comes In The Fall is my favourite track on this debut.

 

 

71. Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

I fking hate rap and hip-hop and all that crap, but it has to be said this is a bloody good album. One of my all-time favourite EFM chants is “you don’t wanna fk with City – cos EFM will fking kill you” which was nicked from Kill You. Of course, Stan and Real Slim Shady are still the best tracks here! Oh, and the one about him knobbing Jennifer Lopez!

 

 

70. Cast - All Change

I first saw Cast when they supported the Charlatans in May 1995, and Finetime quickly became one of my Top 5 singles of that year. This album was quality, but unfortunately they soon became crap, and the follow-up was shockingly bad!

 

 

69. Charlatans - Some Friendly

The Charlatans debut album from 1990 with the singles Then and The Only One I Know. I’ve always stuck by the Charlatans, even when the whole country were writing them off as Stone Roses wannabes. I reckon they’re now one of the most respected and credible bands in the country.

 

 

68. EMF - Schubert Dip

I thought Unbelievable was mental when I first heard it as a 15-year old! This album gets in here if just for the opening three tracks. Children is a wicked tune, even if it does have a “fk you Thatcher” sample. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

 

 

67. Airhead - Boing!

Funny How was a brilliant single in the Fall of 1991, and then after I saw them support the Inspirals in 1992 I bought this album. More anti-Thatcher references though, unfortunately.

 

 

66. Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme

Their first album proper from 1966, this has Feelin’ Groovy and Homeward Bound on it. Best track on there though, is Silent Night/7 O’Clock News which is pretty powerful stuff.

 

 

65. Bob Dylan - Desire

Dylan goes ‘country’! The big track on this one is the opener, Hurricane, about a black boxer falsely jailed for murder. GHA’s probably still trying to get him freed.

 

 

64. Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks

I’ve only heard a few Dylan albums, but this is marginally better than Desire, in my opinion. He wrote after he split with his wife, I think. Tangled Up In Blue and Idiot Wind are my favourite ones on here.

 

 

63. Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown

This is an album I remember from my early childhood years. Sundown was always on whatever home-made compilation tape we had in the car going on holidays to Anglesey!

 

 

62. Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies

I loved Spiritualized around 1991/92, though their two best singles of this era – Feel So Sad and Why Don’t You Smile Now – are not on this album. Nevertheless, this is still a masterpiece, and remains the best thing they’ve done.

 

 

61. John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band

John’s first proper solo album, following the three avant-garde albums he made with Yoko. No singles on this album, though Mother, Love and the excellent Working Class Hero have become Lennon standards.

 

 

Numbers 60-41 on Wednesday!!

[Electric ~soul~]

60. Jellyfish - Spilt Milk

Great early 90s Californian band who moulded their sound on the Beach Boys, Queen and Wings! This album is pure, retro pop!!

 

 

59. Oasis - Heathen Chemistry

The first appearance of Oasis in my Top 100. This is the best album they've done since Morning Glory, in my opinion. The first with the new line-up and Noel's learnt to share songwriting duties! The singles are Hindu Times, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Little By Little and Songbird, but it's Liam's Born On A Different Cloud and Better Man that do it for me!

 

 

58. The Real People - The Real People

A band I discovered in 1991 after reading an NME review that they sounded 'like the Beatles'. Well, they sound nothing like the Beatles, but they do sound like Oasis' older brothers! Window Pane and The Truth were both released as singles, but neither did particularly well!

 

 

57. Top - Emotion Lotion

Another Liverpool band who 'sound like the Beatles', Top excelled in jangly perfect pop! Best tracks are Feel Good, Hi Baby Hi and She's Got All The World/

 

 

56. Lindisfarne - Fog On The Tyne

Geordie folk five-piece from the early 70s. Their most famous hit, Meet Me On The Corner is on this one, as well as the title track, Fog On The Tyne, without Gazza on vocals!!

 

 

55. Lindisfarne - Nicely Out Of Tune

Difficult to choose between their two earliest albums, but I choose this debut slightly higher thanks to Winter Song - one of the best songs ever!!

 

 

54. Blur - Leisure

I bought this debut album by Blur on the day of its release in 1991. I loved the There's No Other Way and Bang singles at the time and though this album sounds pretty dated now, it still brings back memories of my long GCSE summer when I hear it!

 

 

53. Jellyfish - Bellybutton

Their debut album. There are some quality songs on here like the singles - The King Is Half Undressed, Now She Knows She's Wrong - and also five live bonus tracks including cover versions of Badfinger (No Matter What) and Wings (Jet, Let 'Em In)

 

 

52. Gene - Olympian

Gene were more or less written off as Smiths soundalikes when they first came about, but this debut album from 1995 is bloody good. Haunted By You and Sleep Well Tonight, plus the title track, were the three singles.

 

 

51. Travis - The Man Who

Okay, this selection may raise a few eyebrows, not least by Colin who will spend the next few months taking piss, but it's actually a well mellow album. Took me a lot of listens to actually like it (not to mention differentiate between the songs) but it really grows on you. Writing To Reach You and Driftwood are on here, as well as the below-par Why Does It Always Rain On Me? And EFM favourite Turn is here too!

 

 

50. Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes

I first saw Tori Amos on a New Years Eve show in 1991 doing Silent All These Years and thought it was dreadful. But a couple of months later I heard the new single Winter and it blew me away - absolutely brilliant. I bought this album on the back of that, and loved it! Crucified is also on here.

 

 

49. Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

I didn't get turned onto Pink Floyd until only a couple of years back, but I had this album, their debut, since about 1998. I thought they were crap after Syd Barrett left, and although I've very much changed my opinion since, this still remains one of my favourite albums of theirs.

 

 

48. Muse - Absolution

I bought this album on a whim really as I didn't really know much about Muse (except all the stuff about them being Radiohead wannabes). Played it and thought it was absolutely brilliant - it's a 1970's Prog-Rock album! Time Is Running Out and Hysteria were the singles.

 

 

47. Ride - Tarantula

This swansong was supposedly only going to be in the shops for three weeks so I, like other Ride fans I guess, rushed out to buy it in the first week to make sure I'd get a copy. Glad I did - I reckon it's their best album, and to think it was written and recorded when Andy Bell and Mark Gardiner were hardly even talking!

 

 

46. The Beginning Stages Of... The Polyphonic Spree

I'd never even heard a note of the Spree, polyphonic or otherwise, when I picked up this album in the Fall of 2002. I just liked the idea of 23 nutters in robes singing uplifting, spiritual music. And that's exactly what I got. Saw them live in 2003, and they were absolutely brilliant!

 

 

45. Duran Duran - Duran Duran

The debut album from 1981, which includes Planet Earth and Girls On Film, though I prefer the lesser-known single Careless Memories, which they've just started playing again live!

 

 

44. Duran Duran - Rio

Very little to choose between their two earliest albums, but I'll plump for Rio on the basis that it doesn't close with the boring instrumental Tel Aviv, and does[/i] close with the excellent Chauffeur. Massive hits Save A Prayer and Hungry Like The Wolf are also here.[/b]

 

 

43. The Charlatans - The Charlatans

Their fourth album from 1995, this is where the Charlatans morph from baggy survivors to one of the forerunners of Britpop! Not only are the brilliant singles Just Lookin' and Just When You're Thinkin' Things Over on here, but there are two album track gems also in Toothache and Here Comes A Soul Saver.

 

 

42. Wings - Venus And Mars

The best album Macca made whilst with his 70s band, I reckon. Band On The Run has a couple of great singles, but I'm not overly keen on the rest of it, whereas there are some brilliant albums tracks on here, as well as the Listen To What The Man Said single. The opening trio of Venus And Mars, Rock Show and Love In Song is amongst the best ten minutes the band ever recorded.

 

 

41. Garbage - Beautifulgarbage

I bought this album the week the twin towers came down and played in relentlessly - I thought it was going to be my soundtrack to World War III! The production on this album has an almost Phil Spector-like quality about it. Singles: Androgyny and Breaking Up The Girl.

[Electric ~soul~]

40. The Beatles - A Hard Days Night

Certainly the best of the Beatles' earlier albums, and the only one from that era that has no covers. The title track and Can’t Buy Me Love are the two singles, but also of note is If I Fell, You Can't Do That, I'll Be Back... the list goes on!

 

 

39. The Smiths - Meat Is Murder

This has the excellent How Soon Is Now, although it sounds a little out of place amongst the rest of the material. Most people agree that The Queen Is Dead is the best Smiths album, but it's this one for me. Also has That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore and Headmaster Rituals, my favourite track on the album.

 

 

38. Nirvana - In Utero

Infinitely better than the bland Nevermind, this was the last album they recorded before Kurt Cobain's suicide and is raw as fk. The singles are Heart Shaped Box and All Apologies, whilst Serve The Servants, Dumb and Pennyroyal Tea are all Nirvana classics too.

 

 

37. Extreme - Pornografitti

Man, I loved this album when I was sixteen. Was one of my most listened-to albums of that long, hazy GCSE Summer of 1991! More Than Words only failed to get to number one thanks to Bryan Adams' 16-week reign! Other singles from the album include Get The Funk Out and Hole Hearted.

 

 

36. Blur - Modern Life Is Rubbish

The band's second album. It was a flop, but in hindsight was possibly the album that launched Britpop. When it was released in 1993 I probably played it once and then discarded it, but after the success of Parklife I re-visited it and realized how brilliant it actually is. Singles: For Tomorrow, Chemical World and Sunday Sunday. (And it's also got Colin Zeal!)

 

 

35.Supergrass - In It For The Money

Their second album, and their best in my eyes. Best moment for me in the Wings-style synth solo in Late In The Day - superb! Richard III is a top single and Going Out and Sun Hits The Sky are also here. Every track is a winner!

 

 

34. Siobhan Donaghy - Revolution In Me

I saw this ex-Sugababe live at the Borderline in 2003, and she was absolutely amazing. I bought this album shortly after and it doesn't disappoint. Overrated was my number one single of 2003, if you recall!

 

 

33. The Charlatans - Tellin' Stories

This could be Part 2 of their self-titled album from a couple of years earlier, really. Very little between the two, though when I compiled this list a couple of days ago, it was probably the strength of the One To Another and How High singles that prompted me to give this the higher position. North Country Boy is here too.

 

 

32. Mock Turtles - Two Sides

The Mock Turtles were written off by the NME for being 'uncool', but this is one of my very favourite albums from the early 90s. The singer is Alan Partridge's brother! Singles on here include Can You Dig It, but the best stuff is album tracks like Pearls For My Girl and Baby And The Stars.

 

 

31. Carole King - Tapestry

Bit of a girlie choice this, but Tapestry is a quality album - how many massive songs can you fit on one album?... I Feel The Earth Move, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?, It's Too Late, Natural Woman...

 

 

30. Pink Floyd - The Wall

Picked this up for only £8 in an HMV sale and what a bargain. Okay, Another Brick In The Wall is a little too familiar now, but the album as a whole in a masterpiece. And it's got Comfortably Numb too, which is about the best song they've ever done, certainly post-Syd!

 

 

29. Kula Shaker - Peasants, Pigs & Astronauts

Crispian Mills had made his 'swastika' comments by the time this was released, so none of the right-on music press were particularly interested in this 'concept album' about the end of the world! I love it though - uses even more Indian instruments than the previous album! Best tracks: Great Hosannah, S.O.S., 101 Battles Of The Mind. Also has the Sound Of Drums and Shower Your Love singles.

 

 

28. The Coral - Magic & Medicine

Another album overlooked by the music press, I reckon this follow-up is better than their debut. Can't quite put my finger on which 60s band the Coral sound like, but I love their sound. Don't Think You’re The First, Pass It On and Secret Kiss were all singles from this album.

 

 

27. John Lennon - Walls & Bridges

This is John's best solo album for me. Post-Beatles I'm a much bigger fan of Paul's work, but this was the closest Lennon got to a perfect solo album, I reckon. Written and recorded during his 'lost weekend', with a little help from his pissed-up mates including Harry Nilsson and Elton John, the best tracks on here are Old Dirt Road, Steel And Glass, and the big single #9 Dream.

 

 

26. Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends

I can't stand the Bridge Over Troubled Water album, and I think that album is the prime reason why people like Thornsy think Simon & Garfunkel are crap and boring. Bookends is an infinitely better album, and alongside Hazy Shade Of Winter and Mrs Robinson is the best song they've ever done - America.

 

 

25. Graham Coxon - The Kiss Of Morning

Graham Coxon was always the most essential member of Blur, I reckon. They just went crap when he left. This album - his fourth solo - was the first he recorded after leaving the band, and was so much better than Think Tank. The guy was the most talented guitarist of the 90s, even if he can't really sing. Never stopped Bob Dylan though, did it!?

 

 

24. George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

Seems weird to think that George was initially the most successful of the ex-Beatles. But when you're only getting a couple of tracks per album in the world's best band, you've probably got a shedload of songs just waiting to spill over when the band goes tits up! And that's what happened when he recorded this treble-album within months of the band's break-up. I'd Have You Anytime, What Is Life, My Sweet Lord, Wah Wah etc. are all brilliant, but don't bother with disc three!

 

 

23. The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle

Only discovered this album a few months back, but it's absolutely brilliant. A great lost gem from the psychedelic era, made by a bunch of St Albans lads! Time Of The Season was the big hit, certainly in the US, but every other track here is of a similar quality.

 

 

22. Norah Jones - Feels Like Home

Top singer-songwriter and future wife of the Zealster. This is Norah's second album from last year - never really got into her debut - and makes for really mellow listening! I've got her DVD of this too, and she's such a top babe! But I get slated as being a bland thirty-something by Thornsy for admitting I like her music. Bet she's sold more copies than Spinmaster Plantpot, though!

 

 

21. Duran Duran - Big Thing

The top Duran album on my list, and an album no-one really knows. Recorded in 1988, this has slowly become my favourite of theirs over recent years as it's such a slow-burner. Totally misunderstood and universally hated at the time because it sounds nothing like The Reflex or Rio. The singles off here are I Don't Want Your Love and All She Wants Is, but the more chilled-out tracks like Palomino, Do You Believe In Shame and Edge Of America are my favourites.

[Electric ~soul~]

Okay, before I post the final installment of my Top 100 albums of all time, just a few words about the compiling of the list.

 

Compilation albums have not been included. For this reason, I have not included Magical Mystery Tour by the Beatles as I consider it to be a compilation. Some people may argue against this. Were it to be included it would certainly make the Top 20.

 

Live albums are also not permitted, else Oasis' Familiar To Millions and the Concert For Bangladeah would score fairly well.

 

My Top 100 is split thus...

 

Nationality

UK - 76%

American - 19%

Canadian - 3%

Australian - 2%

 

Gender

Male - 91%

Female - 9% (includes Garbage, fronted by a woman although rest of band is male)

 

Group/Solo?

Groups - 74%

Solo - 24%

Duet - 2%

 

 

20. Sean Lennon - Into The Sun

Debut, and as far as I'm aware only, album from the more interesting of the Lennon sons. This, bizarrely, is the top Lennon solo album on the list! Someone once described the single, Home, as John Lennon and Kurt Cobain jamming on a cloud in heaven. That's pretty close the mark.

 

 

19. Inspiral Carpets - The Beast Inside

This, contrary to what Gertcha and Thornsy may tell you, is the best Inspiral Carpets album by a long chalk. Moody and atmospheric, I'm surprised Gertcha doesn't like it as it's quite Mode-like in its production. This was the album they were touring when I saw them at Ally Pally in 1991. Singles: Caravan and Please Be Cruel.

 

 

18. Joni Mitchell - Blue

The classic Joni album, her fourth, this has been selected in many Top 100 polls from various magazines over the years, which is what prompted me to search her out. Best track on here is River, which should be recognized as one of the best Christmassy records of all time.

 

 

17. Paul McCartney - McCartney

Paul's debut solo album, released in 1970 just as the Beatles were divorcing. Just recorded on an 8-track at his farm in Scotland, this is very much a back-to-basics album with an acoustic feel. Best track though, is the excellent Maybe I'm Amazed, one of my favourite songs of all time. Wouldn't have sounded out of place on Abbey Road.

 

 

16. The La's - The La's

Best known for their There She Goes single of course, but that well-produced track seems strangely out of place on this, their only album. Legend has it that Lee Mavers used to sprinkle 1960's dust onto all the studio equipment before the recorded in order to give it that retro, scratchy feel. They recorded a second album, but Mavers, unhappy with the results, destroyed all the tapes.

 

 

15. Oasis - Definitely Maybe

Their debut from 1994, I hate it when people claim to be into bands before anybody else, but... I was into them before anybody else! Well, before any of my square mates were, anyway! The singles are Supersonic, Live Forever, Shakermaker and Cigarettes & Alcohol, but it's album tracks like Under The Sky, Columbia and Slide Away that make this album truly great.

 

 

14. Graham Coxon - The Sky Is Too High

What a wonderful little debut album this is, recorded in 1998 while Blur were on a sabbatical! Similar in attitude to Macca's 1970 debut, but with less melody, this has an almost demo-like quality to it. A Day Is Far Too Long is my personal favourite track, though Who The Fk? remains a highlight of his live shows.

 

 

13. The Darkness - Permission To Land

From day one they were written off as a novelty joke band, but this album proves they are much more than that. So catchy, this could be a singles collection. Get Your Hands Off My Woman became a great EFM chant in the 2003/04 season, and I Believe In A Thing Called Love almost gave the Darkness their first number one. And it even has a power ballad in the shame of Love Is Only A Feeling!

 

 

12. Paul McCartney - Flowers In The Dirt

This was the first McCartney album I ever bought at the age of 13, so is probably ranked higher than the quality of it deserves. However, it is undoubtedly his best effort of the 80s, after the appalling Press To Play, and has two great singles on it in the shape of My Brave Face and This One. Distractions is a lovely ballad too, whilst Put It There is Blackbird re-written!

 

 

11. The Beatles - Rubber Soul

Okay, this is when the Beatles started becoming seriously good! Mellower and more acoustic than they'd ever been before, this album contains classic after classic - Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Michelle, In My Life, Drive My Car... how can any group be so good that they don't even need to release any of those as singles!!

 

 

10. Blur - Blur

Well, if Blur kick-started Britpop with Modern Life Is Rubbish, they certainly put an end to it with this grungy collection of songs from 1997. Song 2 has become a massive hit all over the world, and Beetlebum is possibly my favourite ever Blur song. Country Sad Ballad Man and Coxon's You're So Great are among the other highlights. Saw them tour this album in Paris - a brilliant gig!

 

 

9. Paul and Linda McCartney - Ram

My favourite of Paul's 'solo' albums, and believe it or not, some terrific harmonies by Linda. Check out Dear Boy for proof of that! I first heard this album when on holiday in Lincolnshire in 1990. Even now, hearing this album reminds me of that! The single, Back Seat Of My Car, failed to set the charts alight, but Uncle Albert was a huge hit Stateside. Too Many People and Monkberry Moon Delight are stand-out tracks for me.

 

 

8. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

When this album first came out, I used to take the piss out of my girlfriend for liking it because it's such a 'girlie' album. But the truth of the matter is, it's fking brilliant! When we split up, I nicked her copy and hoped she wouldn't notice - she did!

 

 

7. Blur - Parklife

THE album of Summer 1994, listening to this reminds me of balmy nights at my new flat (I'd just moved out of home) watching Colombia vs Romania or whoever in the USA World Cup Finals! As well as the great singles - Girls And Boys, Parklife, To The End - are some brilliant middle-era Blur tracks like Tracy Jacks, Jubilee, London Loves, Badhead... it's just a terrific album.

 

 

6. The Beatles - Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

I can only imagine what it must have felt like to hear this, in the context of 1967, for the very first time. Goes without saying that this is a superb album, but for me, the tracks don't stand up fantastically well when heard isolated from the album - they need all their brothers and sisters with them! Something about 'sum of the parts'! But I guess that makes this album something of an art form!

 

 

5. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

If Parklife soundtracked my 1994 World Cup, then this album was certainly the backdrop to Lineker's goals, Gazza's tears and Waddle's penalty of Italia 1990. The Stone Roses I really felt were my band. I was in the 4th year at school at the time, and everyone else was listening to Betty Boo, New Kids On The Block or some house music compilation album. I was uncool, yet strangely cool at the same time, for being the only kid in my year who liked Indie music!

 

It's such a travesty what happened to the Stone Roses. I wish they'd just had this one album, the stream of fantastic singles that pre-dated it (Elephant Stone, Sally Cinnamon), and called it a day with the One Love single in Summer 1990. The opening trio on this album - I Wanna Be Adored, She Bangs The Drum and Waterfall - is possibly the best start to an album EVER!

 

 

4. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory

For years I thought I'd never find an album to top the Stone Roses' debut, but then on 6th October 1995, I heard the new album by Oasis for the first time and was simply blown away. I liked Definitely Maybe, but not amazingly, and the singles that pre-dated Morning Glory - Some Might Say and Roll With It - although good, were not earth-shattering, so I wasn't expecting great things from this new album. And then I heard it.

 

I couldn't believe the Oasis, so raucous on Def Maybe only a year earlier, were capable of making songs like Cast No Shadow, Wonderwall, Don't Look Back In Anger and Champagne Supernova. Great fun too looking for all the Beatles references - the title of Wonderwall, the Help From My Friends rip-off at the end of She's Electric, the opening piano chords on Don't Look Back.. stolen from Imagine! They played to a quarter of a million people at Knebworth the following Summer, and then, unfortunately, it all went a bit downhill.

 

 

3. The Beatles - Abbey Road

After the chaotic sessions for both the White Album and the as-yet-unreleased Get Back project, who would have thought these four arguing individuals would return to the studio and make an album as coherent and well-produced as Abbey Road?

 

The medley on side two, from You Never Give Me Your Money through to The End, is a sheer McCartney/Martin masterpiece, whilst Lennon's I Want You (She's So Heavy) on side one has a guitar riff to end all guitar riffs! Non-Beatle fans will certainly recognize Come Together, along with two Harrison standards - Something and Here Comes The Sun.

 

 

2. The Beatles - Revolver

My mum owned originally copies of Rubber Soul and Abbey Road, and I was given the blue and red compilations for Christmas when I was 12, but Revolver was the first Beatles album I went out and bought myself. I think I chose this one because it wasn't particularly well represented on the red comp, so there was plenty of new material here to discover. And some!

 

On no other Beatles album, I think, are the differing styles of Lennon and McCartney so well demonstrated. Three unbelievable Macca ballads - Eleanor Rigby, Here There And Everywhere and For No One, perfectly compliment Lennon's acid-driven rockers - She Said She Said, And Your Bird Can Sing and Doctor Robert. Harrison chips in with three songs for the first time - Taxman, I Want To Tell You and Love You To - and even Ringo is given an original to sing instead of some half-baked country cover in the form of Yellow Submarine!

 

But the piece de resistance is Tomorrow Never Knows, the final track on the album. Using tape loops for the first time, and singing lyrics inspired from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, one can only imagine what the British record-buying public thought of this latest release from a bunch of four mop-topped lads who only 30 months earlier were singing "she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah"!

 

 

1. The Beatles - The Beatles

...otherwise known as the 'White Album'. For a number of years my favourite Beatles album has alternated between these top three, but for the last five years or so, the White Album has been pretty consistent at the peak. I really can't put my finger on why I love this album so much. It can't really be the quality of the songs, as they've made far better on other albums. 1968 is a period of the Beatles that I'm pretty intrigued by, so I guess it may be that.

 

It's Lennon's songs on here that I like the most. Dear Prudence, Cry Baby Cry, Sexy Sadie and, in particular, Happiness Is A Warm Gun. Macca experiments with a few different styles on Back In The USSR (pure Beach Boys pastiche), Honey Pie (Vaudeville) and Rocky Raccoon (sort of Country. Ish), though he has his truly Macca moments too with Martha My Dear and Mother Nature's Son.

 

Revolution #9 is best forgotten, though I do choose to play it all the way through when listening to the album. I wonder why they chose that over the superior, in my opinion, What's The New Mary Jane? And the Revolution on the b-side of Hey Jude is probably better than the more jazzy version that appears here at the beginning of Side Four. But that's being picky.

 

Interesting to hear on the Anthologies that Ringo and George Martin would have preferred the White Album to be just a very good single album, but I tend to agree with Paul's sentiments - "it's the bloody Beatles' White Album for God's sake - shut up!"

[Electric ~soul~]

For curiosity value only, I've worked out how many albums from each decade...

 

60s - 14

70s - 17

80s - 7

90s - 46

00s - 16

 

Kind of blows Thornsy's "you're not into 70s and 00s music - only 60s and 80s" theory out of the window!

 

Blimey - a lot of 90s there. Still - it was my era, I guess!

[Urchin Boy]

Zealster You Should Get Out More Mate ... <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />