In a minor way I also joined the challenge and I just wrote down the top 10 albums that leapt into my mind. No over thinking what is artistically better just what have been some of the albums I have always turned back to (for example I know the Beatles for Sale is not by any stretch of the imagination the best Beatles album but this was the first one I got given & I fell in love with).
Recent albums have been excluded as I believe that albums take time to mature (just my opinion and I can understand why you might include them in your own list) and the fact that some that I have loved on release haven't weathered well (Wish by The Cure & Robert Plant's Faith of Nations spring to mind). This has counted out Bruce's Magic album, Motorhead's Motoriser, The '59 Sound' by the Gaslight Anthem and Ian Hunter's Man Overboard, all of which have rarely left my virtual turntable since purchasing them in the last couple of years.
Also live albums have been left out which excludes some of my most played albums of all time in UFO's Stranger in the Night, Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Live at Brixton Academy, Ozzy's Randy Rhoads Tribute album, and Bowie's Ziggy Stardust the Motion Picture.
I have also stuck to Paul's criteria of no greatest hits and only one album per artist. So finally here is my top 10 (in no particular order):
Now if you read the comments on Paul's original blog you will see that this was originally Born to Run. I thought really long and hard on which Bruce album I should include (remember only one per artist!) and actually on reflection this is my most played Bruce album and the one that I still go back to the most. This certainly isn't easy listening but I love the sound and it really works for me as an album. So by a photo finish this just gets my vote!
As close to perfection that any album that I own. Another album with a fairly dark heart but what great songs and the production is stunning. Given this album is 20 years old it still hasn't aged a day. Also features one of my favourite songs of all time in Enjoy the Silence.
Now for any of my choices this is probably going to one of the most controversial. I know that this isn't the best Beatles album by a long way and some even consider it to be their worst. However this is the first album I was given by my dad and it sounded like nothing I heard before on my little record player (with built in speakers) and made me fall in love with records and started off a life time of buying and listening. I recently treated myself to the remasters box set and listening to it again made my go straight back to that moment and for that reason alone it had to be in my top 10.
I bought this album unheard soon after it was released. Not because I heard anything about it but I was a fan of his father's work and was interested to see what his son sounded like. Wow a voice as distinct and interesting as his dad's but with his own style. As the allmusic.com review states "Grace sounds like a Led Zeppelin album written by an ambitious folkie with a fondness for lounge jazz" which is a great description! An album I still go back to a lot. What a shame we only have one proper album, a set of demos and a clutch of live recordings from such a wonderful talent.
This is the one album that might surprise some people and certainly the least "hip" one on the list. This for me is just a great album, with fantastic melodies and arrangements and one of the great lyricists. A shame that he has only done one more solo album in the last 20 years.
A real change of pace and certainly one of the great heavy metal albums of all time. An album that has not only aged well but one that I will pick out of all their albums to listen to again and again. Also demonstrated that they were so much more than just a thrash band.
Another one that will probably cause debate. Not that there is a Manics album in the top 10 but why this one? The Manics are probably my favourite band of all time and it was a hard choice to pick one. This is not their best album, that would be Holy Bible or their most popular, Everything Must Go would have that honour, but the one that took them from just a band I liked to one I loved. It features some great songs in From Despair to Where, Life is a Landslide and Roses in the Hospital. However Scream to a Sigh tops all that and is one of my all time favourites.
Another difficult decision for another of my all time favourite bands. I still think that this is their most complete album (before last years The Liberty of Norton Folgate) and another one that I must have warn the vinyl nearly all the way through with repeat playings over many years.
Goth folk rock! Loved this album at the time, still love it today although the production has dated a bit. Love Julianne Regan's voice and the guitar playing of Tim Bricheno is excellent. Only track I could do without is their biggest hit and due to the Top of Pops debacle the one they will most remembered for - stand up Martha's Harbour!
What a debut album and another as close to perfection that you are going to get from a fantastic band (which it was at the time and not just Chrissie Hynde, Martin Chambers and the latest recruits). What great songs and brilliant playing. A true classic!
As there was only 10 allowed there was always going to be those that were considered and just missed out. Bubbling under would be:- The Gift - the Jam, Wrecking Ball - Emmylou Harris, Mock Tudor - Richard Thompson, Disintegration - The Cure, Everything's Different Now - 'Til Tuesday, Little Earthquakes - Tori Amos, Honky Dory - David Bowie, The Game - Queen, Blue - Otis Redding, Foxtrot - Genesis and Placebo - Placebo.
Paul and I have done our lists - why don't you do your own???
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