Essential Studio Albums

[liebzz]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes

I really enjoy Tom Petty’s first two albums, but I absolutely love this album. I mean, there is not a track on here I only sorta like - I love all of it on this album, front to back, side to side, however you want to slice it. It’s filled with hope and pride, and pop rock momentum rarely accomplished. It’s rock music and simple and enduring, and the songs just bear hug you in all the right ways. Even the Losers feels like a universal rallying cry. Refugee, Here Comes My Girl, Don’t Do Me Like That, You Tell Me, What Are You Doing in My Life?, Century City, and Shadow of a Doubt - c’mon man, pure easy awesome rock music, and it’s topped off with the gorgeous Louisiana Rain. It’s astonishing there are Tom Petty albums I love even more than this one, but getting here is a reminder of just how much his music has touched my life.

The Essential Track: Even the Losers

Up Next: The Police - Regatta De Blanc

[E.H. Ruddock]

Great great Petty album. One of my faves. Think I’ll listen to this tomorrow

[liebzz]

The Police - Regatta de Blanc

This second Police album is good, but it does seem to contain a fair amount of filler. When they are on here, though, it is quite enjoyable. The classic singles here, Message in a Bottle and Walking on the Moon, are both great, and add to that highlights Bring On the Night, and The Bed’s Too Big Without You. Past that, the songs seem almost like toss offs, but unlike when a Neil Young does it, it doesn’t quite pack the charm.

The Essential Track: Message in a Bottle

Up Next: The Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

[liebzz]

The Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

Paint me surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. Girding for mid-level punk rock, I didn’t quite expect to get such fantastic jams built into that British punk, and certainly didn’t expect the songs to be so good. I took in the expanded version that’s 75 mins long and 24 tracks even. Really starting with Ever Fallen in Love, and through to the end it was excellent. Harmony in My Head, Are Everything, Autonomy, Noise Annoys, Just Lust, Raison D’Etre, and Why She’s a Girl From the Chainstore are all highlights here. Mr. Vedder did indeed choose right though, as the winner here is Why Can’t I Touch It?, a 6 minute epic that is much stronger than the aforementioned cover in Pearl Jam’s ‘03 tour.

The Essential Track: Why Can’t I Touch It?

Up Next: Germs - GI

[liebzz]

Germs - GI

The Germs are loud, abrasive, and show no signs of compromise or deftness, and are coming at you full speed. This is a sort of hardcore punk rock that I might associate in my mind what the genre generally sounds like, and these guys are basically the initial purveyors of punk this hard and fast. I admit I much prefer the more nimble work of The Buzzcocks or The Clash, but this a good reminder of what existed at the extremes.

The Essential Track: Manimal

Up Next: Cheap Trick - Dream Police

[liebzz]

Cheap Trick - Dream Police

So Cheap Trick continues to edge further towards arena rock excess, but I find on this one they are toeing the line nicely and coming up with some huge jams, even if the songs are a bit campy. Gonna Raise Hell is mammoth with big riffs and jams, Need Your Love ends the album on nearly the same level, and in addition we still have highlights The House is Rockin’ (With Domestic Problems), and I Know What I Want, along with the hit title track. This is a blast of an album even if it’s probably a little bit much.

The Essential Track: Gonna Raise Hell

Up Next: The Clash - London Calling

[liebzz]

We still have about 15 albums left for 1979, but figured I would get a jump start on the 80s (1980). Here’s the list so far. Feel free to suggest:

Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
Grateful Dead - Go to Heaven
John Lennon - Double Fantasy
Billy Joel - Glass Houses
Pete Townshend - Empty Glass
Neil Young - Hawks and Doves
Tom Waits - Heartattack & Vine
Paul McCartney - McCartney II
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Uprising
The Police - Zanyatta Mondatta
The Pretenders
Dire Straits - Making Movies
Brian Eno - Ambient 2: The Plateau of Mirror
Brian Eno - Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics
Warren Zevon - Bad Luck Streaks in Dance School
Prince - Dirty Mind
Kool & the Gang - Celebrate!
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Midnight Oil - Place Without a Postcard
Van Halen - Women and Children First
Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Motörhead - Ace of Spades
Iron Maiden
The Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Trust
Genesis - Duke
Bob Seger - Against the Wind
Steely Dan - Gaucho
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Joy Division - Closer
Echo and the Bunnymen - Crocodiles
U2 - Boy
The Clash - Sandinista!
X - Los Angeles
AC/DC - Back in Black
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz
Judas Priest - British Steel

[Birds in Hell]

The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel [aka 'Melt']
Siouxsie and the Banshees- Kaleidoscope
The Durutti Column - The Return of the Durutti Column
The Wipers - Is This Real?
Kate Bush - Never For Ever

[liebzz]

Damn. 1980 is gonna take a long time.

[liebzz]

The Clash - London Calling

What makes this album so remarkable, certainly in the top tier of albums we’ve covered in this journey thus far, is how The Clash remain a singular force while bending a range of music to their will whose reach hasn’t been accomplished maybe since The White Album. You can feel the spirits of all the rock, jazz, reggae, pop, and soul we’ve covered in this album, even if it’s just a few punks banging out a set of songs, and that is pretty mind-blowing. I’d track highlights like most of the albums here, but missing anything on this album is kind of foolish. It’s all great, even in its massive range.

The Essential Track: London Calling

Up Next: Patti Smith - Wave

[Jorge]

For 1980 you might consider including End of the Century by the Ramones, their Phil Spector produced album. It's a kind of "infamous" album and probably the final Ramones album considered relevant by most people (I think they made many better albums after it, but that was kind of the last nail as far as their "heyday" goes).

[LoathedVermin72]

For 1980:

Bauhaus - In the Flat Field
John Martyn - Grace & Danger
The Doobie Brothers - One Step Closer
Yes - Drama
The Psychedelic Furs - The Psychedelic Furs

[wease]

Are you doing The B-52’s for 1979?

I would add Wild Planet by them for 1980

[wease]

Joe Jackson- Look Sharp! I’m the Man both 1979, Beat Crazy 1980

[liebzz]

Are you doing The B-52’s for 1979?

I would add Wild Planet by them for 1980

We did The B-52s on the last page. I will add Wild Planet.

[liebzz]

Also everything else suggested added.

[liebzz]

Patti Smith Group - Wave

Patti Smith even more strides towards mainstream rock on this album, seems to the consternation of critics. Frederick even sounds similar to Because the Night, Citizen Ship and her cover of So You Want to Be (a Rock ‘n Roll Star) are effective in being pure rock songs. There’s still plenty of interesting stuff here, from album closing spoken word Wave to Dancing Barefoot. Not everything hit as it should on this album, but it’s not so far off as critics may have you believe.

The Essential Track: Dancing Barefoot

Up Next: Supertramp - Breakfast in America

[wease]

Are you doing The B-52’s for 1979?

I would add Wild Planet by them for 1980

We did The B-52s on the last page. I will add Wild Planet.

Shit. How’d I miss that?

[liebzz]

Supertramp - Breakfast in America

This album is a pure amalgam of late 70s music. They sound here as much like Cheap Trick as they do The Bee Gees as they do Queen. Gone Hollywood I though was a really good start, and then it’s followed by a few classic songs that span multiple genres in The Logical Song, Goodbye Stranger, Take the Long Way Home, and finish with the prog like Child of Vision. This is a bit of a wild ride, which I ultimately enjoyed. Felt like I should have ended the decade on this one.

The Essential Track: Gone Hollywood

Up Next: Sparks - No. 1 in Heaven

[wease]

You picked the wrong standout.