All week long, we're celebrating something very special, something we definitely weren't sure would happen so quickly. channel.WAV has surpassed 20,000 all-time site views! Hooray! A TREMENDOUS "thank you" to everyone who has been supporting our little-blog-that-could. Keep reading, keep sending it to friends, and most importantly, start commenting!
What better way to observe this monumental milestone than one of our favorite features, Top 20 Tuesday. And because this is such a special occasion, we're bringing out the biggest gem possible. Our personalized lists of the top 20 albums ever.
Enjoy what promises to be a very controversial few days, and kicking it off with part 1 is our very own Brandon Slone:
Slone
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Scorching hot takes incoming. Beatles vs. Stones is the most played-out question in all of music, particularly when the correct answer (for a couple years at least) is “Beach Boys.” To me, this is the definitive American rock album. It contains an astonishing array of emotions, ranging from hope, innocence, and happiness to fear, uncertainty, and despair. It does this while remaining musically consistent throughout and without ever feeling jarring. There will be a day when we’re strapped for content ideas and I will write a 10,000-word piece in praise of this album. Nothing else comes close for me; I give it 7 stars out of 5.
The Beatles: Revolver
This album basically ticks all the same boxes as the more critically acclaimed (that’s admittedly a relative term when discussing The Beatles) Sgt. Pepper but, to me at least, does everything slightly better. The studio experimentation that defines late-period Beatles is on full display, and it was with this album that the group made the decision to stop touring due to the difficulty in replicating their songs live. Also, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better love song or nicer tune than “Here, There, and Everywhere.” Maybe it’ll get sampled someday. FORESHADOWING!
Miles Davis: Bitches Brew
I think the word “experimental” is overused when talking about music. It’s favored by people like me who don’t have anything interesting to say. I’ll probably use it at least 35 times throughout this article. That being said, Bitches Brew is lightyears ahead of its time in its marrying of jazz and rock. Listen to any Radiohead album after OK Computer and you’ll see the influence immediately.
Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
I am a tremendous mark for all things Bob Dylan. Gearing up for my fourth concert now. But most of his albums just miss out on hitting that perfect score status for me. Typically, this is the result of there being at least one song that I find unnecessary (Blonde on Blonde would likely get this spot if not for my disdain for “Rainy Day Women”). This, to me, is the strongest Dylan album by a fair margin. The surrealist imagery of previous albums is traded in for genuine emotion as he struggles through processing the impending end of his 12-year marriage. Dylan, typically cryptic and reclusive, had never before felt so vulnerable and never would again.
Tom Waits: Nighthawks at the Diner
In 2020, I got really into Tom Waits. Like “top 0.1% of listeners on Spotify” into Tom Waits. This album was largely the reason why. It’s absolutely fascinating, conceptually. It is, in essence, a live album, played in front of an audience of casual acquaintances, designed to replicate the smoke-filled atmosphere of a seedy club. Waits’ stage persona emerges fully formed here, after his first two records styled him as a Leonard Cohen-esqe troubadour. Here, we got our first look at the grimy, gravelly-voiced character that he would become. I’m not sure I can point to a standout track. This is largely a package deal.
David Bowie: Low
If there’s one thing that David Bowie did better than anyone (other than most things), it was reinvention. Low is a far cry from both the glam stylings of the Ziggy Stardust era and the funk/R&B influences of the Young Americans and Station to Station period. Bowie trades in hooks and riffs for something entirely different. Low, the first of the Berlin trilogy, is largely populated by instrumentals and was hugely influential on the burgeoning ambient genre. Brian Eno does a tremendous amount of heavy lifting throughout as well, playing various instruments on the majority of tracks, a year before his own Ambient 1: Music for Airports, the greatest study music album of all time.
Television: Marquee Moon
Why does nobody ever talk about Television? They managed to be post-punk at CBGB in the middle of the first wave of punk. Who else can say that? Talking Heads? Patti Smith? Sure. Anyway, the artsy sensibility combined with the genuine musical capabilities of Television made them genuine outliers in the early punk period. The title track, nearly 10 minutes of dueling guitars, is absurd to consider within the context of other NYC punks, such as ...
Ramones: Rocket to Russia
The Ramones were my first favorite band. I spent my early teen years obsessing over all things old-school punk, and this album is the crown jewel. The songs are still catchy, as well as short, sweet, and to the point but there is a sense of, dare I say, adventurousness that is not present on the group’s first two records. “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” even has a guitar solo for God’s sake. This was the final album with the original lineup and, with some notable exceptions, it was a fairly steady downhill march.
The Clash: London Calling
The Clash was my second favorite band. They’re still the Only Band that Matters. Anyway, they dared answer the question “what if the Sex Pistols could play their instruments and actually meant what they were saying?” The answer was revolutionary. The third Clash album is probably their best known and includes influences from a wide range of genres, including ska, rockabilly, and new wave. It’s the type of album that doesn’t let you have time to get bored before it moves on to a wholly new idea.
Nirvana: MTV Unplugged in New York
This is the best live album ever. Nirvana avoids the pitfalls that befell similarly situated artists in performing on Unplugged. They don’t just play the hits. They don’t really play many hits at all. Instead, they focus on some of their lesser-known material, supplementing with covers that would become among their most celebrated recordings. There’s almost as much representation of Meat Puppets as there is Nevermind.
Weezer: Pinkerton
Did you know that Weezer used to make music that wasn’t designed to be consumed ironically? I swear it’s true. Look no further than this. Honest in a manner that is frankly unpleasant at points, Pinkerton is one of the defining early emo albums. Overstepping my bounds here, but if I had to guess I would say that the initial critical reaction to this one caused the band to hesitate to release anything remotely similar and retreat into detached memedom. Tragic.
Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Talking about this album is played out but I like it a whole lot :).
Wilco: Summerteeth
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot gets all the love, so I’d like to focus on Summerteeth. This was the first album where Wilco had mostly shaken off their alt-country roots, and the result is one of the better indie rock albums you’re likely to hear any time soon. “Via Chicago” is not only my pick as the best Wilco song of all time, but a strong contender for when Dane asks me to write up my top 20 songs.
The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
I appreciate a good high concept. This takes that to the extreme. It’s literally 69 love songs, spaced across 3 compact discs. And here’s the crazy thing: They’re all pretty damn good. “All My Little Words,” “Papa Was a Rodeo,” and, of course, “The Book of Love” are standouts but, again, the total package is essential listening.
Modest Mouse: The Moon & Antarctica
Modest Mouse is not just “the ‘Float On’ band.” They’ve put out 7 stellar albums over the last 25 years. This one just happens to be my favorite. “Gravity Rides Everything” gets me about as emotional as any song does, and I have no idea what it’s about.
Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
This was the first rap album that I ever truly loved. I can remember everything about the first time I listened to it. Where I was, what I was doing, the exact moment that I realized that I was listening to something really, truly special. How, even after 9 minutes of “Runaway”, I was shocked that the song had ended and how I wanted it to keep going forever. Say what you will about the man or his recent offering (it’s bad), this album is untouchable.
Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d. City
Kendrick Lamar casually offered up the best story-based album in music history with this, his superhero origin story. The album makes extraordinarily effective use of the “skit,” most people’s least favorite part of any given rap album, combined with the lyrics to the songs themselves, to tell a story as deeply immersive as any book, movie, or television show.
Chance the Rapper: Acid Rap
Dude, Chance used to be so damn cool. Ugh.
Jason Isbell: Southeastern
There’s not a skip on this album. Jason Isbell’s confessional album, his first after getting clean, is one of the most moving records you’ll ever hear. Compare his original version of “Cover Me Up” to Morgan Wallen’s soulless karaoke version and come talk to me.
Frank Ocean: Blond
So, there was this period of time, the summer of 2016, when everything seemed possible and the world was ever so slightly less bad. Or at the very least we’d all dealt with a bit less collective trauma. And during that time period, there were rumblings that Frank Ocean would be releasing a new album any day now. Any second now. And it went on for quite some time, as he built some stairs on Apple Music. And as much as I appreciate fine carpentry, I wanted some music. So, Endless came out and I said “damn, that was good. I wish it wasn’t tied to this damn video on Apple Music.” Because, you see, I don’t care much for Apple Music. So, anyway, I had signed up for a text alert service that was going to tell me when this Frank album dropped. And I had forgotten all about it until I finally got the notification that, not only was the new Frank album now streaming on a music service that was worth a crap, but it also was a different album entirely. This, frankly (HA) blew my mind. I listened to Blond about 300 times over those last few weeks of summer, seeming to find a new favorite song every single day. Since then, I’ve gone out of my way to try to listen to it in full when possible, rather than chopping it up to throw on various playlists. And that, to me, is the mark of a great album. Oh, it also samples “Here, There and Everywhere.” :)
Hey! Are you still reading? Can you believe that foreshadowing? Wasn’t it cool how I said the thing and then called back to it at the end of the article? Jeepers, I’ve got goosebumps. Anyway, what’s your favorite album? Let me know in the comments below for a chance* to win a crisp dollar bill, straight from Dane’s wallet.
* One lucky winner might be chosen, but probs not.
- Slone
My favorite album is, was, and always will be The Wall by Pink Floyd. It was the first album that I had that was mine. I consistently go back to it and enjoy it more and more. No skips.
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