ten best albums of all time (no greatest hits)

Rancid: ...and out come the wolves
Tim Armstrong is the best songwriter in punk history. Most punk bands are just pure energy and little talent, but Tim is one of the few who had significant talent behind the energy. ...and out come the wolves is the high water mark of Rancid's career. Of the 19 songs on the album, only a couple tracks are less than stellar. Perhaps my favorite album of all time.

Key Tracks:
Avenues and Alleyways
Journey to the End of the East Bay
Olympia, WA

Radiohead: The Bends
My apologies to Ok Computer fans, but The Bends is better, period. You are entitled to your opinion, you can believe in your heart and mind that Ok Computer>The Bends, but you would still be wrong. Both albums are excellent, but the edge goes to The Bends. That's just the way it is.

Key Tracks:
The Bends
High and Dry
Sulk

Tripping Daisy: Jesus Hits Like the Atom Bomb
This album was unbelievably ambitious. Tripping Daisy went in a totally different direction than their previous work, Elastic Firecracker and Bill. It may take a few listens to grow on you, but you will soon appreciate the scope and magnitude of this amazing album. While the lyrics are especially vague and often downright ridiculous, the music is as good as it gets. Highly recommended for those who want to expand their musical horizons outside the norm.

Key Tracks:
Waited a Light-year
Our Drive to the Sun: Can a Man Mark It?
Human Contact

Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West
Indie Rock at its finest. This Washington state band has been around a lot longer than people realize. The Loneseme Crowded West is raw and in your face, yet at the same time it will slow it down and tug at your emotions. While Modest Mouse may not be everyone's cup o' tea, it's tough to deny the pure musical genius and passion behind this epic album.

Key Tracks:
Teeth Like God's Shoeshine
Trailer Trash
Trucker's Atlas

Pink Floyd: Animals
With so many excellent Pink Floyd albums to choose from, it may come as a surprise that Animals is my pick as their best work. While I wouldn't argue too strenuously against Wish You Were Here or Dark Side of the Moon, Animals represents a deeper and darker Pink Floyd, which is significantly more appealing. While containing only five tracks, Animals isn't short on musical content. One song is 17 minutes long, and another is 11 minutes long.

Key Tracks:
Dogs
Sheep
Pigs

Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
It's amazing what happens when talent is fueled by passion and obsession. Jeff Mangum, the frontman for NMH, is obsessed with Anne Frank, and this album is all about her. The arrangements are unique and inventive, and while the lyrics are vague and may seem absurd to some, they don't take away from the meaning and passion in Mangum's voice. He takes you along on a journey into the depths of his soul, and it is both depressing and oddly uplifting in how he desperately longs for something he can never have. You can read more here

Key Tracks:
King of Carrot Flowers
Two-Headed Boy
Ghost

Beck: Odelay
Beck is one of those musicians or bands, like Weezer, that just about everyone likes. He's had several fantastic albums over his 15+ year career. You could just as easily put Mellow Gold, Guero, Sea Change, or Modern Guilt here, but Odelay reigns supreme in the Beck catalog. Beck Hanson is one of the most unique and creative artists in music and Odelay has all his skills in full force. Ramshackle, the last track, is one of the best songs of all time.

Key Tracks:
Devil's Haircut
Jack-Ass
Ramshackle

Nirvana: In Utero
Most "fans" consider Nevermind to be Nirvana's best work. They are wrong. In Utero is pure angst and anger. Say what you will about Kurt Cobain, you can't deny the passion and anger in his vocals. Put In Utero in your cd player, turn it up, and get ready be pissed and break stuff.

Key Tracks:
Scentless Apprentice
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
Milk It

The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Are You Experienced?
For being such a huge fan of 60's and 70's rock, you may be surprised that this is the only album from that era on my list. However, most of the stuff I have from then is in boxed set or greatist hits form. So yeah. Anyways, it was tough putting this album above Jimi's other two albums, since they are phenomonal as well. Since this was his debut, it gets the nod. Jimi created sounds and songs on Are You Experienced the likes of which hadn't been heard before. It's a shame he was only around for 4 years.

Key Tracks:
Manic Depression
Hey Joe
Third Stone From the Sun

The Clash: The Clash
The Clash are better than the Ramones. Now that that is out of the way, I can tell you about their self title debut album and how it is probably the 2nd best punk album of all time (second to Rancid's Wolves album). This album is super-raw, and yet awesome. No one in the Clash was an accomplished instrumentalist by an stretch of the imagination, but they knew how to write some dang catchy songs, and in the end thats all that matters, right? Some would argue that London Calling is better, but this is my list. It might be tough for non-punk fans to appreciate, but give it a try anyway.

Key Tracks:
Complete Control
White Man in Hammersmith Palais
I Fought the Law