20 Albums That Meant Something To Me
My dad nominated me to post 20 albums in 20 days on facebook, which I loved, but after I missed the first two days of posting I figured it’d be better to write a blog so that I didn’t half ass it. I’m honestly more pumped to read his and other people’s top 20, so hopefully some of you comment yours!
1. Oasis — What’s The Story Morning Glory (1995)
It wasn’t hard to pick this one. Oasis’ second album propelled them into superstardom, thanks to a pretty amazing tracklist of timeless songs: “Wonderwall”, “Hello”, “Roll With It”, “Don’t Look Back In Anger”, “Champagne Supernova”, “She’s Electric”, the title track “What’s The Story Morning Glory”, the list goes on.
But the reason this is the first one is because it’s the first album I remember drumming to in the car on repeat with my dad. Alan White is a great drummer — it’s hard not to start drumming to the opening of “Roll With It” on the car steering wheel. This album was the moment I realized that drumming came naturally to me, which was exciting and led me to pursue music, which has added so much happiness to my life. So for those reasons, it’s #1.
2. Kanye West — Graduation (2007)
Lots of people hate Kanye, but I am not one of those people. I think Kanye has a gift that continues to produce beautiful art for the world, and this album was a favourite of mine from the second I heard it. It came out in the fall of 2007, when my friends and I were in Grade 12.
So many fond memories: my first week as school president, having to apologize to the entire school over the announcements for playing my favourite track “The Glory”, and thinking I knew it well enough to censor it manually (I didn’t); driving around downtown listening to “Flashing Lights”; untold numbers of parties and summer days at the beach playing “The Good Life”. I remember seeing Kanye perform “Stronger” live at award shows that year and being blown away. “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”, “Homecoming”, “Champion”, “Good Morning”. That summer we got to see Kanye, Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco for $60 as part of the Glow In The Dark tour, which was incredible. A really special album.
3. The Eagles — Hotel California (1976)
A timeless conceptual album that reminds me of driving through the desert watching a beautiful sunset. “Hotel California”, “A New Kid In Town”, “Life In The Fast Lane”, “Victim of Love”. Speaks for itself.
4. Rancid — And Out Come The Wolves (1995)
A wicked album. A bit of ska, some great driving rock, a lot of punk and a ton of attitude. “Ruby Soho”, “Roots Radicals”, and one of the best songs to drive fast to on the highway: “Olympia WA”. Countless fond memories playing this album in the summer before Grade 9 with Leland and Owen as we were learning our instruments.
5. Guns N’ Roses — Appetite For Destruction (1987)
An amazing debut album. If they’d have kept going like this they’d have gone down as another Beatles. Some of the most iconic rock songs, party songs, and power ballads. Slash in his prime. The opening riffs of “Sweet Child of Mine” and “Welcome To The Jungle”. Summer jams like “Paradise City”, and “Nightrain”. “My Michelle”, “Out To Get Me”, “Mr. Brownstone”, “Think About You”. They mixed the drums nice and loud — but then again, they mixed everything loud, in the best way.
6. The Beatles — Rubber Soul (1965)
Only the Beatles could have a movie made about them picturing what it would be like if a single person came out with all of their hits today. It’s mind-blowing that Paul McCartney & John Lennon still hold the top two spots for most #1 singles written, many of which are on this album. “Drive My Car”, “Norwegian Wood”, “Nowhere Man”, “Michelle”, “What Goes On”, “I’m Looking Through You”, “In My Life”. And the North American release included “I’ve Just Seen A Face” and “It’s Only Love”. Even half of those songs, a quarter of them, would make a seminal album. Those four meeting: meant to be.
7. Jay-Z — The Black Album (2006)
This one’s special in my mind and memory because, at the time, he was retiring. He ended up coming back and putting out some great tracks since then, but to have Jay-Z say: “This is it, I’m out with this album”, and it being so great, was pretty fantastic. “Dirt Off Your Shoulder”, “Lucifer”, “99 Problems”, “November 4th”, and — of course — “Encore”.
When you first come in the game, they try to play you
Then you drop a couple of hits, look how they wave to you
From Marcy to Madison Square
To the only thing that matters in just a matter of years
As fate would have it, Jay’s status appears
To be at an all-time high, perfect time to say goodbye
What a way to go out, and songs that we’ll have forever.
8. Iron Maiden — The Number Of The Beast (1982)
If Oasis was the inspo for my drumming, this album was the education. Amazing guitar riffs as well. “Run To The Hills”, “The Number Of The Beast”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name” (favourite riff), and my personal favourite track: “The Prisoner”. Great opening cut from the TV show “The Prisoner” that the band loved. And the start with just the drums and guitar. Huge sound.
9. Ray Charles — Self-Titled (1956)
The genius himself. “I Got A Woman”, “Drown In My Own Tears”, “Mess Around”, and “Hallelujah, I Just Love Her So”, which has a great “Knock, Knock, Knock” on the door that the drummer does on his snare drum. Simple and creative. The whole album’s timeless. Ray never hits a wrong note.
10. Dr. Dre — 2001 (2001)
Love a good come back story, and this album is all come back energy. Having to walk away from everything he built with Suge Knight, after massive debut solo album, forging Tupac’s career, and now out on his own… and coming out with this. Hits that any rap fan knows. “Forgot About Dre” with Eminem; “The Next Episode” with Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, and Nate Dogg. But “Still Dre” is still my favourite. Scott Storch’s piano riff, instantly recognizable when it comes on in the club. The amazing come back lyrics, written by Jay-Z.
“I’ll break your neck, damn near put your face in your lap
Ni**as try to be the king but the ace is back”
For these three songs alone, and the context of Dre needing to prove himself on his own label, this gets a spot.
11. The Who — Who’s Next (1971)
Great album cover, and amazing drumming. (Maybe this should have just been a drumming blog?) And I know some may say that CSI ruined a few of them, but just great songs. “Baba O’Riley”, “Behind Blue Eyes”, and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. Iconic 70’s sound of youth.
12. Taylor Swift — Fearless (2008)
Just like I’m not a Kanye hater, I’m also not a T-Swift hater. She’s an incredible performer with amazing stamina (over 50 different singles since 2007 and still going strong). I was tempted to put “Speak Now” instead, because I’d argue it has more hits: “Mean”, “Speak Now”, “Mine”, “Sparks Fly”, “Dear John”, “Back To December”, and “Haunted” (which is amazing, the music sounds like it should be an Eminem or a Jay-Z song).
But for me, Fearless has the timeless tracks. “Fifteen”, “You Belong With Me”, and “Love Story” are all themes and stories that have been done a million times, but somehow she manages to make them sound completely original. “Love Story” I think will go down in history as one of the best love songs of all time (or at least, it’d be on my list).
“My faith in you was fading, till you met me on the outskirts of town…
“He knelt to the ground and pilled out a ring and said “Marry me Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone… I talked to your dad, go put on a white dress”
Youthful, nostalgic. The whole album make anyone who was around back then ache for a time of young romance, first dates, and falling in love.
13. Red Hot Chili Peppers — Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik (1991)
Same thing goes for the Chili Peppers. “Stadium Arcadium” has ten times more hits, and “Californication” and “By The Way” contain way more nostalgic songs. But Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik has, in my mind, the timeless Chili Peppers sound. I think the best gift that the Chili Peppers gave us is the balance of their funk-rock-bangers and their beautiful melodies. And I think no two songs exemplify this more than “Suck My Kiss” and “Under The Bridge”, which are both on this album. What a band.
14. Nelly — Country Grammar (2000)
No question here. “Country Grammar”, “E.I.”, “Batter Up”. And “Ride Wit Me” is one of the most recognizable rap songs ever made. This song, and by extension, this album, defined the hiphop of that era.
15. Pink Floyd — Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
I wasn’t gonna include “Dark Side of the Moon”, but when I was thinking about albums featuring tons of songs I love, I couldn’t leave it out. It’s such an accomplishment as a concept album, front to back. “Time”, “The Great Gig In The Sky”, “Money”, “Brain Damage” — all incredible. The type of songs (and the type of album) that takes multiple listens to really appreciate. Amazing guitar solos too.
“And if the band you’re in / starts playing different tunes / I’ll see you on the Dark Side of the Moon”
Truly an album of genius. It also doesn’t hurt to have seen The Dark Side of Oz at the Bloor Cinema back in the day. Now that is a fond memory!
16. Almost Famous Soundtrack (2000)
I know this is a weird one, and this might not be within the “rules” of this challenge, but — WHATEVER. There are lots of great soundtracks out there, but I picked this one because it blended Nancy Wilson’s originals — “Cabin In The Air”, “Fever Dog” — with an amazing array of classic songs together into a story about life on the road, fame, growing up, and “being uncool”, as Philip Seymore Hoffman puts it so well. Because the fit is so perfect, the hits within — “Tiny Dancer”, “The Wind”, “America”, “Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters” — they’ve all taken on new meaning when I hear them now. It always feels nostalgic to hear them, because of scenes that they score. That’s a powerful thing, for a movie to do that, and for this reason, and for amazing originals like “Cabin In The Air”, this gets a spot.
17. AC/DC — Back In Black (1980)
What an album. After the tragic death of Bon Scott, AC/DC goes on to release this album — dedicated to him — that goes on to be one of the best selling albums of all time.
The opening of “Hells Bells” is so ominous it feels like it should be the walk out song for a heavy weight champion. “Back In Black” will make you feel like a million bucks just walking down the sidewalk. “Rock & Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution”. “Shoot To Thrill”. And of course, the classic sing-a-long “You Shook Me All Night Long”, which kills anywhere it gets played: from Grade 6 dances, to university bar nights, to weddings of all ages.
So much attitude, such classic riffs. They went all in on this one. The songs really do sound like they were written by people who want to keep fighting.
18. Fleetwood Mac — Rumours (1977)
Talk about taking lemons and making lemonade: falling out of love with each other yet becoming more in tune with each other musically and creating some of the most well-known songs ever. “Dreams”, “Don’t Stop”, “Go Your Own Way”. What a triumph.
19. The Weeknd — House of Balloons (2011)
I think this is one of those albums that changed the course of popular music. The mystery around who Abel was. The beautiful melodies. The guitar intro at the start of “The Morning”. An album that sometimes feel like a cocky stream of consciousness about Toronto/LA party life (“High For This”, “Loft Music”), but then at times, incredibly vulnerable and insecure, like “Wicked Games”, in a way that was largely unfamiliar to the braggadocio of rap at the time.
Bring your love, baby, I can bring my shame. Bring the drugs, baby, I can bring my pain… I need confidence in myself.
I’d never heard anything quite like it, so many interesting and unexpected songs on one record, and made so many people Weeknd fans for life.
20. Ed Sheeran — Divide (2017)
This was harder than I thought. There were a lot of contenders for the last spot. Paul Simon — “Graceland”; Jimi Henrdix — “Electric Ladyland”; The Killers — “Hot Fuss”; Goo Goo Dolls — “Dizzy Up The Girl”; Macklemore — “The Heist”; AFI — “The Art of Drowning”; X Ambassadors — “VHS”; Fastball — “All The Pain Money Can Buy”; Lil Wayne — “Tha Carter III”. There are so many phenomenal albums, and going back through some of them I was surprised at just how many hits there were on some of them.
But I have to give the final spot to Ed Sheeran with “Divide”. Not only a ton of fun to listen to (reminds of times on the road in Newfoundland with the Get REAL crew), but it’s also one of the most versatile albums in terms of different types of songs. “Shape Of You”, one of the biggest party songs that summer. “Castle On The Hill”, the instant classic folk / pop sing-a-long. “Galway Girl”, a sunny, fun, St. Patty’s Day pub-crawl (in song-form). And songs like “Eraser” pushed the boundaries of cross-over genres in a great way. Even though I wouldn’t say it came off as a complete success (inviting on a great rapper for the verses might have been a good move), I do think it helped shake off some of the dated tendencies to box artists into a single genre, which helped pave the way for important cross-overs like “Old Town Road” that we’re seeing today.
So there it is! That was fun, but did take a bit longer than I expected. Interested to see what everyone else comes up with! Love you dad. Thanks for drumming along to great albums with me in the car!
