Essential Studio Albums

[liebzz]

Michael Jackson - Bad

I can only imagine the pressure of putting out one of the most iconic albums of all time, Thriller, and then waiting 5 years to drop the next one. Thriller was so massive that the long wait almost seems like it wasn’t quite so long. By this point, MJ was already the King of Pop, having put the exclamation point on disco with Off the Wall, and changed pop music forever with Thriller. This one seems to focus on bringing funk and soul to synth pop, and there’s a certain undeniable element or conquering of that corner of pop that Bad absolutely delivers on. The hits are massive, from the bass line mastery of the title track and Smooth Criminal, to the rock focused dig into the dark corners of stardom in Dirty Diana and Leave Me Alone, to the change the world balladeering on Man in the Mirror, and the sugary pop of The Way You Make Me Feel. And while the album doesn’t quite achieve the grit it wants, it nevertheless shows that Michael can grab a sound and make it his own. It may not be another Thriller, but it’s still a landmark amongst his many.

The Essential Track: Smooth Criminal

Up Next: Prince - Sign O’ the Times

[wease]

U2 - The Joshua Tree

I always sort of felt like this album delivers in layers. You have the impossibly recognizable hits in Where the Streets Have No Names, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and With or Without You. And on Where the Streets Have No Names, it really is an enviable opening, with the organ slowly giving way a that Edge riff that’s so recognizable yet still delivers every time.

The next layer are the obvious killer tracks that sort of push this album into great territory: Bullet the Blue Sky, Trip Through Your Wires, and One Tree Hill are those for me. The one that caught my attention this go ‘round was Exit, which just builds into a huge payoff, the kind of stuff that makes the histrionic drama of U2 so impactful. They sure did hit a home run on this one.

The Essential Track: Bullet the Blue Sky

Up Next: Michael Jackson - Bad

BTBS was always my favorite from this one, too.

[liebzz]

Prince - Sign O’ the Times

I’m certainly no stranger to artists and bands who can shift genres, sometimes pretty quickly - but usually you find them playing into that genre or maybe a second genre during songs. It’s usually a sort of pinpointed moment where the shift occurs. Prince, on this one, manages to meld it all seamlessly, as if the idea of genre is antiquated for him. And that’s on his most synthetic and pop album thus far. It’s a brilliant album that’s at once challenging and addicting - he’s operating on just another level from the rest of the folks. A lot of reviews indicate that this is his best album and I am not sure I agree - it doesn’t quite pop like 1999 or sweep so epically as Purple Rain, but those bars are really really hard to reach. This album is still exceptionally brilliant nonetheless. Pretty much all of this double album is essential, but personally came down to Starfish and Coffee, and I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (It, U Got the Look, Sign O’ the Times, and It’s Gonna Be a Beautiful Night are strong honorable mentions here).

The Essential Track: I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man

Up Next: Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded

[liebzz]

Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded

Seems like a lot of folks ought to be cutting a check to KRS-One for laying the groundwork for many careers. This album seems to be the advent of gangsta rap, and the origin of the hip hop beef. South Bronx and The Bridge Is Over deserve their recognition for bringing that all along, and you have other wild turns here, like Remix for P Is Free which most overtly utilizes reggae and dancehall beats, Dope Beat which samples Back in Black (it’s pretty wild), and countless other twists and turns that keeps this album engaging.

The Essential Track: The Bridge is Over

Up Next: Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full

[liebzz]

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full

This album seems to invert what hip hop had been doing at the time leading into this album. Before this, there was a laser focus on the rappers and their spitfire delivery against a relatively standard beat pattern. The focus is flipped here, where the lyrics are delivered with a more deliberate and confident swagger, while the beats and samples generate the near improvisational energy. This really pushes closer to what would excite me more as a listener, and in particular, Paid in Full and Eric B. Is President are the master works of this approach. The DJing is so good here you never get wrapped up in what’s being sampled and more just experiencing the twists and turns as they are happening. This one’s definitely a keeper in the genre.

The Essential Track: Eric B. Is President

Up Next: Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush the Show

[liebzz]

Public Enemy - Yo! Bum Rush the Show

Juxtaposed with Eric B. & Rakim, Public Enemy is loud, abrasive, and in your face - just as it was designed. Chuck D suffers no fools on this album, spitting harsh but deliberately across this album, with Flava Flav at many points almost like a hype man finishing his rhymes. Flav takes the mic for a few turns and that’s also a feature of this, but this feels like Chuck D’s show and he nails it. You’re Gonna Get Yours, Miuzi Weighs a Ton, Timebomb, Rightstarter, and Public Enemy No. 1 are all immediate draws, and Flav’s Too Much Posse and M.P.E. were both pretty good. Hell everything here is really good, and I was surprised to learn that the Vernon Reid contributes guitars on an album that isn’t a rap/rock combo, but in moments feels like it could be a rock record.

The Essential Track: Timebomb

Up Next: Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Uplift Mofo Party Plan

[Matters]

U2 - The Joshua Tree

I always sort of felt like this album delivers in layers. You have the impossibly recognizable hits in Where the Streets Have No Names, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and With or Without You. And on Where the Streets Have No Names, it really is an enviable opening, with the organ slowly giving way a that Edge riff that’s so recognizable yet still delivers every time.

The next layer are the obvious killer tracks that sort of push this album into great territory: Bullet the Blue Sky, Trip Through Your Wires, and One Tree Hill are those for me. The one that caught my attention this go ‘round was Exit, which just builds into a huge payoff, the kind of stuff that makes the histrionic drama of U2 so impactful. They sure did hit a home run on this one.

The Essential Track: Bullet the Blue Sky

Up Next: Michael Jackson - Bad

Good story in the book U2 By U2 about how The Joshua Tree got track listed. IIRC the band was unsure what the order should be. Someone’s wife came into the studio and listened to the songs. The band told her “Streets” has to be the first song and “Mothers” has to be the last song but other than that we don’t know how we want to sequence it. She listened to all the songs and made a list in order of her favorites and that became the track list.

[liebzz]

U2 - The Joshua Tree

I always sort of felt like this album delivers in layers. You have the impossibly recognizable hits in Where the Streets Have No Names, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, and With or Without You. And on Where the Streets Have No Names, it really is an enviable opening, with the organ slowly giving way a that Edge riff that’s so recognizable yet still delivers every time.

The next layer are the obvious killer tracks that sort of push this album into great territory: Bullet the Blue Sky, Trip Through Your Wires, and One Tree Hill are those for me. The one that caught my attention this go ‘round was Exit, which just builds into a huge payoff, the kind of stuff that makes the histrionic drama of U2 so impactful. They sure did hit a home run on this one.

The Essential Track: Bullet the Blue Sky

Up Next: Michael Jackson - Bad

Good story in the book U2 By U2 about how The Joshua Tree got track listed. IIRC the band was unsure what the order should be. Someone’s wife came into the studio and listened to the songs. The band told her “Streets” has to be the first song and “Mothers” has to be the last song but other than that we don’t know how we want to sequence it. She listened to all the songs and made a list in order of her favorites and that became the track list.

It’s a largely well sequenced album. I always thought it was a little weird that 1, 2, 3 are the primary singles from the album, but the album does flow really well given that.

[liebzz]

Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Uplift Mofo Party Plan

This is the sole album featuring the OG Chili Peppers, as Jack Irons originally a Chili Pepper, was not on the first two. It’s also really the last before they would become huge stars. The interplay between these guys is a huge step up, with Irons’ playing with Flea is an incredible thing to hear, in part because Flea is ahead but it never sounds disjointed. Hillel plays over them perfectly accenting the grooves being laid down, and Keidis is being young Keidis - a loose cannon who hasn’t perfected his art yet. And really that’s the main flaw with this album - incredible playing but the songwriting hasn’t caught up just yet. We’re really maybe one album away from that. Fight Like a Brave, Me and My Friends, and Backwoods are all classic RHCP and deservedly so. The most mind bending thing here, and the Chili Peppers had a knack for this around this time, was their cover of Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues, a full throttle reimagination that is essential RHCP.

The Essential Track: Subterranean Homesick Blues

Up Next: INXS - Kick

[VinylGuy]

Yeah, Mofo is one of those i just adore. Probably because of Behind The Sun and its video, that got a lot of airtime as a kid. I loved it really.

I love Jackie I in this one.

[Higgs]

I have heard so little of the Chilli Peppers discography it's criminal.

[VinylGuy]

dude, you need to correct that just in time for Flea´s solo album latter this month.

[Higgs]

dude, you need to correct that just in time for Flea´s solo album latter this month.

I heard one track off it already - interesting indeed.

[liebzz]

Yeah, I have heard all their albums at one point in time, but there are holes where I have ljstened to a few less than the others

[liebzz]

INXS - KICK

This album feels like INXS has quickly become Australia’s answer to U2 and the Rolling Stones. That’s good company, and while I wouldn’t put them on that level here, they constructed a pretty damn good album. The first half of this just feels like we’re rolling through some greatest hits collection, with New Sensation, Devil Inside, and Need You Tonight right up front. Mediate also seems familiar on this side. On the flip side, you have the classic Never Tear Us Apart, and beyond that a few highlights worth noting, including Tiny Daggers and Wild Life. I walked away from this quite happy.

The Essential Track: Devil Inside

Up Next: Ace Frehley - Frehley’s Comet

[liebzz]

I’m anticipating we’re getting heavier for the next dozen or so albums and then moving on to ‘88. Here’s the list so far that I’m sure will be expanded:

Van Halen - OU812
Lita Ford - Lita
Winger
Poison - Open Up and Say Ah
Metallica - …and Justice For All
Megadeth - So Far, So Good…So What!?
Slayer - South of Heaven
Cinderella - Long Cold Winter
Kix - Blow My Fuse
Living Colour - Vivid
Bad Religion - Suffer
Robert Plant - Now & Zen
Tom Waits - Big Time
Steve Earle - Copperhead Road
Neil Young - This Note’s For You
Dickey Betts Band - Pattern Disruptive
U2 - Rattle & Hum
Guns N’ Roses - GNR Lies
R.E.M. - Green
The Feelies - Only Life
The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Sessions
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden
American Music Club - California
Lyle Lovett - Pontiac
Tracy Chapman
Leonard Cohen - I’m Your Man
Morrissey - Viva Hate
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tender Prey
Traveling Wilburys - Vol. 1
Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever
Talking Heads - Naked
My Bloody Valentine - Isn’t Anything
The Sugarcubes - Life’s Too Good
Jane’s Addiction - Nothing’s Shocking
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation
Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Mudhoney - Superfuzz Bigmuff
Soundgarden - Ultramega OK
Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
NWA - Straight Outta Compton

[LoathedVermin72]

Johnny Hates Jazz - Turn Back the Clock
Danzig - Danzig
Siouxsie and the Banshees - Peepshow
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tender Prey
Richard Thompson - Amnesia

[oasisfan35]

Cowboy Junkies The Trinity Session
Dwight Yoakam Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room
Graham Parker The Mona Lisa's Sister
Jeff Healey band See the Light
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Up Your Alley
John Hiatt Slow Turning
Ministry Land of Rape and Honey
New Kids on the Block Hangin' Tough
Paula Abdul Forever Your Girl
Roxette Look Sharp!
Skinny Puppy VIVIsectVI
Social Distortion Prison Bound
Waterboys Fisherman's Blues

Petty's Full Moon Fever was '89 btw

[liebzz]

Damn. I was looking forward to that one.

[oasisfan35]

Damn. I was looking forward to that one.

As was I when I found the cassette in a Christmas stocking, all in due time