Top 10 Albums By Seasoned Veteran Acts (article)

[VinylGuy]

Dinosaur Jr.

Their last 3 records are amazing.

[kreng]

Bonnie prince Billy
Mark kozelek

[evenslow]

I would pick Magic instead of The Rising.

I will echo that Dangerous would have made more sense than Bad. And Dangerous is underrated.

And personally, I'd take Momufuku over Delivery Man. "No Hiding Place" ftw.

[BurtReynolds]

Josh Homme.

[i got bugs]

the new sabbath

[Blaine Ryan]

And Dangerous is underrated.

That it is. I'll take that one over Thriller, to be honest.

[evenslow]

And Dangerous is underrated.

That it is. I'll take that one over Thriller, to be honest.

Let's not get carried away.

Dangerous has some high ass highs: Remember the Time, Black or White, Dangerous, Can't Let Her Get Away. Teddy Riley doin' work.

But holy shit, some low ass lows: ALL the ballads and the "rock" track.

[zeb]

Anyone mentioning Nick Cave in this thread can sit at my table.

I'll bring the wine.

[Gods' Die]

Anyone mentioning Nick Cave in this thread can sit at my table.

Nick Cave's mah dude. Used to be my avatar.

[Blaine Ryan]

And Dangerous is underrated.

That it is. I'll take that one over Thriller, to be honest.

Let's not get carried away.

Dangerous has some high ass highs: Remember the Time, Black or White, Dangerous, Can't Let Her Get Away. Teddy Riley doin' work.

But holy shit, some low ass lows: ALL the ballads and the "rock" track.

People always dismiss the ballads on that album as syrupy and trite, and I guess I get that, but to my ears they're no more or less corny than, say, "The Girl is Mine" or "Liberian Girl." Each of his albums has sour moments, and there are usually at least one or two of them where the Picard facepalm is appropriate. Honestly, though, those songs work for me. Maybe it's nostalgia clouding my judgment again, but for the most part I find them to be pretty successful at what they're aiming to be. They're not favorites, but I dig 'em.

I'm sure the lack of over-saturation plays a role (just as it does in my choice of preferred Led Zeppelin albums--I find IV to be virtually unlistenable at this point, where III and Presence are as potent as they've ever been), but I genuinely think Dangerous is a fuller, richer album than Thriller. There aren't as many rarefied highs--though I'd argue that "Remember the Time," "Give In To Me," and "Will You Be There" are among his best songs--but it has a more consistent flow and generally more interesting, relatively adventurous arrangements.

While I'm at it, I might as well admit that I like Time Out of Mind more than any of Dylan's '60's records, too.

[Kevin Davis]

Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man

I like The Delivery Man a lot, but if I was going to pick an Elvis Costello album for this list it would be "National Ransom"-- what a great collection of songs to produce 30+ years into one's career.

I agree with this 100% (assuming we're winking at "North" in our periphery, but picking otherwise based on the niche factor), but minor differences aside we should be heralding the arrival of this Blaine Ryan character. Welcome to RM, fellow Costello fellow.

[Kevin Davis]

[evenslow]

And Dangerous is underrated.

That it is. I'll take that one over Thriller, to be honest.

Let's not get carried away.

Dangerous has some high ass highs: Remember the Time, Black or White, Dangerous, Can't Let Her Get Away. Teddy Riley doin' work.

But holy shit, some low ass lows: ALL the ballads and the "rock" track.

People always dismiss the ballads on that album as syrupy and trite, and I guess I get that, but to my ears they're no more or less corny than, say, "The Girl is Mine" or "Liberian Girl." Each of his albums has sour moments, and there are usually at least one or two of them where the Picard facepalm is appropriate. Honestly, though, those songs work for me. Maybe it's nostalgia clouding my judgment again, but for the most part I find them to be pretty successful at what they're aiming to be. They're not favorites, but I dig 'em.

I'm sure the lack of over-saturation plays a role (just as it does in my choice of preferred Led Zeppelin albums--I find IV to be virtually unlistenable at this point, where III and Presence are as potent as they've ever been), but I genuinely think Dangerous is a fuller, richer album than Thriller. There aren't as many rarefied highs--though I'd argue that "Remember the Time," "Give In To Me," and "Will You Be There" are among his best songs--but it has a more consistent flow and generally more interesting, relatively adventurous arrangements.

While I'm at it, I might as well admit that I like Time Out of Mind more than any of Dylan's '60's records, too.

If we're going for best solo MJ, to me there's no doubt it's Off The Wall. A combination of his absolute best moments (Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, Workin' Day and Night, Off the Wall) along with underrated gems that should be on every playlist ever (Get on the Floor, I Can't Help It, Burn This Disco Out). Plus, I'd take the goofy ballads on that (Girlfriend, It's the Falling in Love) any day over the goofy ballads on his other records. There's an unabashed innocence there that he lost when he was just trying to make Glen Ballard corporate ballads like Keep the Faith.

Off The Wall proves it's always a good idea to let Quincy Jones do the arrangements. A maxim he moved away from each and every record after.

All that said, I get why you dig what you like.

[Kevin Davis]

If we're going for best solo MJ, to me there's no doubt it's Off The Wall.

The second time he sings "we can ride the boogie" in "Rock With You" is probably my favorite moment on a Jacko record.

[evenslow]

If we're going for best solo MJ, to me there's no doubt it's Off The Wall.

The second time he sings "we can ride the boogie" in "Rock With You" is probably my favorite moment on a Jacko record.

Fuck yes.

Also, the bass line on "Off the Wall" and "cause we're the party people night and day..."

[evenslow]

If we're going for best solo MJ, to me there's no doubt it's Off The Wall.

The second time he sings "we can ride the boogie" in "Rock With You" is probably my favorite moment on a Jacko record.

Just went back and played this track. Listen to how everything breathes. From the drum intro to the strings to the subtle horns, to the tasteful keyboards to MJ's background harmonies. I'm out of adjectives.

[AndySlash]

Is it wrong that I like Bridges to Babylon?

no

[Blaine Ryan]

Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man

I like The Delivery Man a lot, but if I was going to pick an Elvis Costello album for this list it would be "National Ransom"-- what a great collection of songs to produce 30+ years into one's career.

I agree with this 100% (assuming we're winking at "North" in our periphery, but picking otherwise based on the niche factor), but minor differences aside we should be heralding the arrival of this Blaine Ryan character. Welcome to RM, fellow Costello fellow.

Thanks, Kevin! I've lurked RM for a while now and I always love your posts. Looking forward to some great discussions.

[Blaine Ryan]

And Dangerous is underrated.

That it is. I'll take that one over Thriller, to be honest.

Let's not get carried away.

Dangerous has some high ass highs: Remember the Time, Black or White, Dangerous, Can't Let Her Get Away. Teddy Riley doin' work.

But holy shit, some low ass lows: ALL the ballads and the "rock" track.

People always dismiss the ballads on that album as syrupy and trite, and I guess I get that, but to my ears they're no more or less corny than, say, "The Girl is Mine" or "Liberian Girl." Each of his albums has sour moments, and there are usually at least one or two of them where the Picard facepalm is appropriate. Honestly, though, those songs work for me. Maybe it's nostalgia clouding my judgment again, but for the most part I find them to be pretty successful at what they're aiming to be. They're not favorites, but I dig 'em.

I'm sure the lack of over-saturation plays a role (just as it does in my choice of preferred Led Zeppelin albums--I find IV to be virtually unlistenable at this point, where III and Presence are as potent as they've ever been), but I genuinely think Dangerous is a fuller, richer album than Thriller. There aren't as many rarefied highs--though I'd argue that "Remember the Time," "Give In To Me," and "Will You Be There" are among his best songs--but it has a more consistent flow and generally more interesting, relatively adventurous arrangements.

While I'm at it, I might as well admit that I like Time Out of Mind more than any of Dylan's '60's records, too.

If we're going for best solo MJ, to me there's no doubt it's Off The Wall. A combination of his absolute best moments (Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, Workin' Day and Night, Off the Wall) along with underrated gems that should be on every playlist ever (Get on the Floor, I Can't Help It, Burn This Disco Out). Plus, I'd take the goofy ballads on that (Girlfriend, It's the Falling in Love) any day over the goofy ballads on his other records. There's an unabashed innocence there that he lost when he was just trying to make Glen Ballard corporate ballads like Keep the Faith.

Off The Wall proves it's always a good idea to let Quincy Jones do the arrangements. A maxim he moved away from each and every record after.

All that said, I get why you dig what you like.

Off The Wall is more or less perfect, so I can't argue with you there. Dangerous is a much more indulgent, scattershot record, but oddly I think that's why I like it more. I've always been drawn to albums like that, i.e. The Beatles, The River, Brighter Than Creation's Dark--the "warts and all" records. I feel like they give a much more explicit, all-encompassing image of an artist than a clean-cut program of music does or can. I think Dangerous is maybe the one moment in MJ's career where he was content to satisfy whatever creative urge struck him regardless of whether it lead to something commercially or even artistically viable. The beats are generally more abrasive and idiosyncratic, the production is less plastic, and some of the songs seem pretty far outside of Jacko's wheelhouse ("Give In To Me" being probably the most obvious example--on paper Michael Jackson singing what's essentially an '80's metal ballad sounds positively ludicrous, but honestly, it's one of my favorite songs of his). Not that it isn't an immensely catchy record with songs that seem pretty invariably conducive to pop radio airplay, but it's always felt a little more audacious than anything else in his catalog to me; a little more eccentric, where the squeegee cleanness of Thriller and Bad can bore me if I'm not in the right mood. For that and the fact that so many of those songs are attached to special moments in my life, it keeps drawing me back.

What are your thoughts on Invincible and HIStory Continues? Admittedly I've yet to hear the former, but I think the latter has some great moments.

[Heathen]

Mark kozelek

almost