In a stunningly stupid move, I’ve decided to write a list of my, I guess current, 100 favourite albums. I guarantee that it’ll be wrong before I’ve finished it, I’ll miss out loads of obvious choices that I just couldn’t remember at the time, and that I’ll hate it, but here we are. At this point I haven’t decided if I’ll write about every album, or only some of them, I guess we’ll just have to see how lazy I am at the time. I’m also fully aware that no one cares what my 100 favourite albums are but I’m doing this for me to see how I feel about it further down the line!
As a small note, there won’t be many obvious albums on this list. We all love Purple Rain, by Prince, so it’s not on here. Whilst there will be many popular albums, I’m sure, those bonafied classics like Sgt Pepper, Blonde On Blonde, Let It Bleed, Rumours, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road etc are all absent to let some of the other choices shine.
Here’s 100 – 91.
100. The Luxury Gap.
Heaven 17, April 25th 1983.
37 Minutes, 39 Seconds.
The Luxury Gap is Heaven 17’s second album, following on from 1981’s Penthouse And Pavement. It’s a much better record and it gave us the dancefloor classic that is Temptation. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMP.TA.TION!
99. This Is The Sea.
The Waterboys, September 16th 1985.
42 Minutes, 08 Seconds.
It’s hard to decide what to write about for each of these. The things I find interesting won’t be the same things you find interesting. With regards to The Waterboys, did you know they’ve had over 80 different band members over the years. Not at the same time. They’re not So Solid Crew. According to Wikipedia, they think that the only bands who’ve had more would be Santana or The Fall. We all know they’re nowhere near the Sugababes levels though. There’s like 400 of those.
98. Justified.
Justin Timberlake, November 5th 2002.
63 Minutes, 15Seconds.
Remember, remember, the 5th of November… JT dropped a banger. Admittedly, that rhyme maybe hasn’t taken off the same as the bonfire night one, but I stand by it. Justin was always going to be the solo star that N-Asterix-Sync were going to produce. Justified is the proof.
97. Street Songs.
Rick James, April 7th 1981.
34 Minutes, 45 Seconds.
It’s Rick James, bitch! One of, I think a few albums on this list from the year I was born. An absolute RnB classic and, I think, Rick James finest moment. Also, see below, Men! What’s stopping you dressing like this, etc.
96. 21.
Adele, January 24th 2011.
48 Minutes, 01 Seconds.
Took me a while to set on 21 as the Adele album I was going to include. Whilst there are a couple of artists that may sneak two albums into this, I did try and limit artsits to one album a piece. 21 has Rolling In The Deep on it though, and I still think that it’s one of her best songs, especially when she does it live.
95. 1977.
Ash, May 6th 1996.
61 Minutes, 52 Seconds.
Writing that this album is over an hour long really surprised me. In my head, all the songs on it are like the length of Kung Fu. Just fast, fun, grunge, glam rock pop ditties. Like if Nirvana made a David Bowie album. That’s really blown my mind. I owned it on Cassette, so I wonder if having to flip it over half way through has distorted my perception of the time I was listening to it for. It’s named 1977 as that’s the year Star Wars came out, which is also why it starts with the noise of a TIE Fighter. Whilst I’ve included a few albums on this list from the height of Brit Pop, there’s less than I could have. Special shout out to The Bluetones who didn’t make the cut but will always be a fave of mine.
94. Julie Is Her Name.
Julie London, December 1955.
30 Minutes, 04 Seconds.
Julie London only really had a small amount of success when compared to what she released. Her first few albums charted and she had a hit with Cry Me A River, but despite waning popularity, she continued to release 29 albums, 29 singles and 21 EPs over the span of just 14 years. Can’t really knock her work ethic. People get all uppity about Lana Del Rey or Taylor Swift dropping two albums in the same calendar year… in 1963, London dropped FOUR.
93. Revenge.
Eurythmics, June 29th 1986.
43 Minutes, 44 Seconds.
From 1986, Revenge contains maybe my fave Eurythmics song, The Miracle Of Love. It’s also maybe the best album of theirs for Annie Lennox’s voice. It’s sublime throughout, as it always is. Annie will be appearing again further up the list, only without Dave this time.
92. Origin Of Symmetry.
Muse, June 18th 2001.
51 Minutes, 41 Seconds.
Taking it’s name from the book Hyperspace by Michio Kaku, Muse followed up 1999’s Showbiz with the classic, Origin of Symmetry. I don’t know if they set out to try and move away from being compared to Radiohead, but it’s certainly a step in the direction of heavier, thicker guitar riffs and a much harder sound.
91. A Place We Can Always Go.
Grady, May 29th 2020.
10 Minutes, 58 Seconds.
One of the more recent albums to grace the list, and I would imagine the shortest one I’ve included, clocking in under 11 minutes for all 7 tracks. The standout song on this album is Kissing Girls and I suggest you check it out. My other fave from it is Sex Scenes And Video Games.