valen

I have decided, in keeping with the spirit of Rolling Stone, Spin and VH1, that I would create my own best of list. This stems from recently reading the Spin Top 100 Albums of the last 20 years and being completely let down by how few of these I actually owned.

What I have discovered in trying to make my own list is just how difficult it really is if you actually put thought into it. It is easy to critique someone else's list and point out what is missing, but it is far more difficult to start from scratch and choose what does and does not belong.

Having said that, lets get on with the show.

I decided to start with my top 10 favorite albums. To make it on the list, the albums had to meet the following guidelines:

1 - I can listen to every track without wanting to skip past the "bad" songs.
2 - I have never grown tired of listening to the album.
3 - It isn't just the current flavor or the month.

Also, what is a good top list if you don't include the ones that didn't quite make it, but could have (in no order):

Pink Floyd - The Wall
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around
Def Leppard - Hysteria
Eric Clapton - Unplugged
H.I.M. - Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights

Alright, on with my number 10 top album of all time.

The Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

"Emotionally over-the-top pop extravaganzas like the string-swelling "Tonight Tonight," the Metallica-influenced alternative rock of "Zero," the techno via new wave of "1979"--the 28 songs on this swell two-disc album are as eclectic as their themes are epic and ambitious. Billy Corgan's thin whine isn't much of an instrument, but he makes the most of it by writing smart songs that take emotional chances that more-typical alt rockers would deem uncool. Pessimistic and feeling trapped but still wanting to believe in love, in a future, in something--this is the sound of Gen X at the millennium, with all the self-indulgence and power that would suggest." --David Cantwell (Amazon.com)

I remember getting this album as a Christmas gift from my parents back in 1995. I was a soph. in high school and just starting to form my music tastes beyond your standard rock/pop crap. I listened to the one like mad. I had listened to the Pumpkins before on previous albums, but this one had me hooked. Plus that fact that a band could actually put out two discs worth of material on one album just blew my mind.

I think these two discs stayed in my car completely through high school. Somehow it managed to survive relatively undamaged and I still listen to that original copy today.

A funny sidenote is that, for some odd reason, 1979 has jumped onto our in-store play system at PacSun. This is supposed to be reserved for new and popular songs. Not quite sure how a ten year old Pumpkins single made the list, but I won't complain.

Check back soon for my number 9 choice.