So, I’m sharing with all of my friends my 10 favorite albums of all time. These are not listed in order of my favorite; rather they are listed in simple alphabetical order. If I had to actually put these in order of favorite, I would be up all night pacing and arguing with myself out loud, while my parents would be yelling at me to shut the hell up and either go to sleep or go outside.

I also have another motive for this list. I have noticed that a lot of my fellow members are young and have very limited musical tastes. When I was younger I did not have much interest in broadening my musical horizons much either, but I took the advice of my friends and started listening to other things. I also started getting a bit more curious about other genres like jazz and blues.

So, I’m hoping some of you may get curious enough to check out some of these classic albums for yourself. And, please take part in the thread.

ACTUALLY by Pet Shop Boys (1987)




Songs you may know: It’s a Sin; What Have I Done to Deserve This; Rent

Dance… synth-pop… Euro-pop. The Pet Shop Boys’ music has been called many things, but I call it “amazing.” I have been a huge PSB fan since they broke into the music scene in the mid-‘80s. Before the internet, it was difficult to follow them in the U.S., since they are far more popular in the U.K. Actually is their second album, and features some of their best songs. “It’s a Sin” received a lot of radio play back then, and is a spectacular treatise on rejecting traditional values. But the real star of this album is “It Couldn’t Happen Here,” which is an absolutely heartbreaking ballad about how the specter and fear of AIDS seeped into the U.K.  homosexual community. Like every PSB album before and since, Actually requires a deft ear, an open mind, and an intellectual background to truly appreciate all the duo has to offer.

BROTHERS IN ARMS by Dire Straits (1985)



Songs you may know: Money For Nothing; Walk of Life

This is the quintessential “warm summer evening” album. Brothers in Arms is filled with some of the smoothest tunes ever. It’s a combination of rock and jazz (with just a hint of rockabilly) all balanced perfectly in a package that includes the toe-tapping “So Far Away,” the rock anthem “Money For Nothing,” (I want my… I want my… I want my MTV), the snappy and fun “Walk of Life,” and the jazz/blues hybrid ballad “Your Latest Trick.” Throughout the late ‘70s and ‘80s, Dire Straits’ vocalist and guitarist, Mark Knopfler, wrote the rule book for minimalistic style, and Brothers in Arms was his thesis.

FROM THE CRADLE by Eric Clapton (1994)



Songs you may know: Motherless Child, Hoochie Coochie Man

The blues genre was born in the Mississippi Delta in the early 20th century. It was derived from gospel and traditional slave songs. It was a genre created and perfected by African Americans. And the best blues album of all time was made by a white guy. Eric Clapton’s From the Cradle is an album that pays tribute to the blues songs that inspired the British guitar god during his childhood and professional career. Clapton records his own versions of some of the best blues songs of all time and makes them his own. “Motherless Child” was the album’s only radio single, as it was the only original song in the collection. An interesting fact about the album: it was recorded with all musicians playing live at once. Modern recording techniques have each musician playing separately to a “click” track, and all the separate tracks are dubbed over each other to make a complete song. All of the songs on From the Cradle were recorded as if being played like a live concert. This method gave the album a more unified feel, as if the musicians were more in-tuned with each other.

HYSTERIA by Def Leppard (1987)



Songs you may know: Pour Some Sugar on Me; Love Bites; Hysteria; Armageddon It; Rocket; Animal; Women

Def Leppard, the most successful pop metal act ever, has been making albums since 1980, and they continue to record and tour today. Most of the songs the band is known for came from one album: Hysteria. Def Leppard has had its share of tragedies, challenges, and member turnover. This album represents the band in its best, most classic form. This was guitarist Steve Clark’s last album until he died in 1991 from a long, sad struggle with alcohol abuse. This was the first album drummer Rick Allen recorded after he lost an arm in an automobile accident in 1984. Hysteria was an album featuring a band that was desperate to prove its worth despite its challenges… and they succeeded beyond their wildest aspirations. The album is a soaring, melodic injection of pure hard rock voltage. It’s the kind of album that leaves you breathless. It’s the kind of album that sells out arenas across the world. It is an album everyone should hear at least once before they die. And “Armageddon It” is one of the top three best songs ever made!

TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB by Sheryl Crow (1993)



Songs you may know: Strong Enough; All I Wanna Do

Sheryl Crow’s first album is also her best. Tuesday Night Music Club is a little bit rock, a little bit folk, a little bit funk, a little bit country… and all amazing. “What I Can Do For You” is a song dripping with sex, while tracks like “All I Wanna Do,” "Leaving Las Vegas," and “Can’t Cry Anymore” are caressed by one of the cutest, sexiest voices you’re likely to hear. Crow’s sweet, slightly raspy roadhouse vocals make the longing of tracks like “Run, Baby, Run,” and “Strong Enough” that much more enticing. The most memorable song on the album is the slow ballad “I Shall Believe,” which is a track just wrapped in more longing and slow-burning desire than I’ve ever heard. One of the best parts about Tuesday Night Music Club is your girlfriend will absolutely love it as well.

UNTITLED (A.K.A. LED ZEPPELIN IV) by Led Zeppelin (1971)



Songs you may know: Stairway to Heaven; Black Dog; Rock and Roll; The Battle of Evermore; Misty Mountain Hop; Going to California

As much of a cliché that “Stairway to Heaven” has become, it remains one of the most genre-defining songs in the history of rock music. But Led Zeppelin IV has so much more to offer than “Stairway.” “Black Dog” and “Rock and Roll” are rambunctious blues-rock lightning storms, while “Going to California” and “Misty Mountain Hop” have all kinds of folk rock roots. And, hey, “The Battle of Evermore” is about The Lord of the Rings! Seriously! Look it up! If you are a fan of rock music, and you do not own this album, then GTFO right now… there’s no getting through to you.

VIOLATOR by Depeche Mode (1990)



Songs you may know: Personal Jesus; Enjoy the Silence; Policy of Truth

Depeche Mode’s Violator is a start-to-finish adventure through a mind clawing for answers to love and the other great mysteries of the universe. The songs are thumping dance numbers featuring either soaring melodies or dark twists and turns. The album’s 1-2 punch of “Enjoy the Silence” and “Policy of Truth” reign as two of the most exciting tracks produced in the 1990s.

THE WALL by Pink Floyd (1979)



Songs you may know: Another Brick in the Wall; Comfortably Numb; Hey You; Young Lust; Mother

Back when music was more than pre-fabricated corporation-created artificial piles of bullsh!t (see: anything on the radio right now), music acts sometimes produced something called “concept albums.” These were typically multi-record epic albums that told one long story. Songs could be 25 minutes or 30 seconds long, and they all led into each other without obvious track breaks. The Wall may be the most famous concept album ever (along with the Moody Blues’ Days of Future Passed, which I also HIHGLY recommend).  The Wall was an autobiographical concept developed by Pink Floyd vocalist/bassist Roger Waters. It tells the story of Pink, a British child who lost his father in WWII and grew up with an overbearing mother, and suffered a damagingly strict educational system. He eventually goes on to be a rock star whose drug-fueled episodes alienate everyone he meets. This all culminates in a very dramatic mental breakdown late in the album. The Wall is filled with emotionally wrenching songs that can be delicate and pretty and then immediately turn terrifying and threatening. It’s the most frighteningly beautiful album ever produced.

WILDFLOWERS by Tom Petty (1994)



Songs you may know: It’s Good to Be King

Tom Petty was a ‘70s and ‘80s radio staple, known for such hits as “American Girl,” “The Waiting,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” and “Free Fallin’.” But 1994’s Wildflowers is his most underrated album; it’s his absolute best… by far. It is a stunningly beautiful album from beginning to end. Most of the tracks are delicate acoustically-driven folk songs, but there are also several fun songs that make you want to boogie (“It’s Good to Be King” and “Honey Bee”). I cannot recommend this album enough. Whenever someone asks me to recommend an album they may never have heard, I always say, “Tom Petty’s Wildflowers.”

WISH YOU WERE HERE by Pink Floyd (1975)



Songs you may know: Shine on You Crazy Diamond; Wish You Were Here; Welcome to the Machine

I’ll just come right out and say it: “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” is the best song ever written. Wish You Were Here is a love letter to Pink Floyd founding member, Syd Barrett, who left the group in the late ‘60s due to a crippling mental illness (he was replaced by David Gilmour). This album, in particular, is one of the most important albums ever recorded. It was one of the first successful attempts to span musical spectrums by combining blues/jazz (“Shine on Your Crazy Diamond”), electronic/synth (“Welcome to the Machine”), and folk/roots (“Wish You Were Here”). In particular, I would argue that “Welcome to the Machine” is one of the very first techno songs ever written, before anybody really knew what “techno” was.