5 favorite albums of the last 30 years

I have finally gotten around to writing about my 5 favorite albums of the last 30 years. My biggest motivation in publishing this list is to hear everyone else's personal list. I'd love to read about which albums you consider your favorites.

5. Guided By Voices- Bee Thousand- Lead singer and writer Robert Pollard was a school teacher who led Guided By Voices on the side. Since teachers can’t afford high production values when recording their music masterpieces, Bee Thousand sounds as if it was recorded directly onto a tape recorder. When a group has songs as catchy as these, there is no need for studio trickery. Bee Thousand consists of 20 songs in less than 40 minutes. In the tradition of Wire’s Pink Flag and The Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime, musical ideas never overstay their welcome with extended guitar solos or extraneous verses. The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory is the quitessential song on this album. It’s hard to imagine a song whose chorus hinges on this oddly name title to be as touching as it is. The lyrics don’t matter. It’s the passion behind the delivery and the insanely addicting melody that make me play the song on repeat almost every time.

4. The Strokes- Is This It?

I was hooked on The Strokes well before their hyped debut was released in America. What I heard was a modern version of The Velvet Underground. The Strokes weren’t doing anything original. Any hope that they’d be the saviors of rock was based on fantasy for that very reason. Julian Casablancas’ vocals perfected Lou Reed’s disaffected New York cool attitude. The guitars chugged along with a rhythm section that echoed Velvet Underground circa Sister Ray. My hope wasn’t that The Strokes would save rock music. I just wanted them to be popular enough for people to discover VU. I used to walk into Hot Topic every month or so to check if they were selling Velvet Underground t-shirts thanks to The Strokes’ popularity. Listening to Is This It now is similar to listening to Nirvana’s Nevermind. After all the hype is gone, what we’re left with is a great rock record. The Strokes didn’t want to change the world. They just wanted to make great rock music that echoed their greatest influence. Mission accomplished.

3. Jay-Z- The Blueprint

The blueprint for The Blueprint was simple; the best rapper in the world rapping for 14 songs with only one guest musician. I don’t understand why great rap artists don’t stick to this formula more often. The common problem with most rap albums are that they’re stretched too long, contain pointless interludes and skits that break up the momentum, and feature so many guest artists to the point where you forget whose album you’re actually listening to. The Blueprint was Jay-Z’s victory album. My favorite moment on the album is on “Heart Of The City” when he says “I told you in ’96 that I came to take this shit and I did” as the horns behind him reach a peak. This is the sound of an artist who has reached the mountain top and has earned his right to celebrate. Of course, this alone wouldn’t make The Blueprint a great album. The quality of all rap albums depends on the beats, and The Blueprint is where Kanye West first achieved his greatness. It’s almost impossible to talk about The Blueprint without mentioning the greatest diss track ever, The Takeover. It’s worth researching Nas’s career just to appreciate how jay-Z puts him down by using simple math.



2. Beck-Odelay

I’ve never been obsessed with an album more than I was with Odelay during my freshman year in high school. I’ll make two points that may sound blasphemous.

1. I always think of Odelay as this era’s Revolver for the way the album blends different styles so effortlessly. Country-rock, rap, 60s psychedelic, hard rock are all blended to create an incredible kaleidoscope of sound. Musicians have tried this before, but it’s rare when it sounds so natural.

2. Beck channels the wild, absurdist imagery of Bob Dylan’s mid 60s heyday better than any musician. My personal favorite example is “Driving my pig while the bear’s taking pictures in the grass”. It’s a throwback to lines such as Dylan’s “The sun’s not yellow. It’s chicken!” It makes no literal sense, but that’s not the point. Beck is a lyrical master on Odelay. I also love the attack of assonance he has when he sings about the “Chain-smoke Kansas flashdance ass-pants.” I know some people, including Beck’s girlfriend at the time, complained that there was no emotional value to these lyrics. Beck wasn’t shooting for the Kleenex with these lyrics. To paraphrase the man himself, this is the album he got crazy with the cheese-whiz.

1. Pavement- Slanted and Enchanted

I think I’ve finally come to grips with the fact that Pavement isn’t for everyone. Stephen Malkmus isn’t technically a good singer, the guitars aren’t always in tune, and the drummer on Slanted and Enchanted was unimpressive enough that the band soon got rid of him. It’s easy to initially dismiss this record for all the reasons stated above. But what lies beneath are the some of the most beautiful melodies committed to record. Behind those distorted guitars and laconic vocals are gorgeous, un-ironic “sha-la-la” chants and melodic hooks reminiscent of singer-songwriters of the 70s.



Pavement is known for starting the lo-fi movement in indie rock. Part of the album’s charm is that it does not have the streamlined production of your average record. There’s a great murky, mysterious quality to Slanted and Enchanted. When I bought the album, I had only seen one photograph of the band. The cd booklet featured cryptic messages, lyrics to a few selected songs, and most powerfully no pictures of the band. The two main forces in the band weren’t even mentioned by their actual names. They were listed as “S.M.” and “Spiral Staircase”. It all contributed to the strange feeling of listening to this album for the first time. But once you dig past that intimidating surface, there is a world of gold underneath. It’s the discovery that’s half the fun.