I've Been Looking So Long

#14 Disintegration: The Cure. This is a mood album. It is one of the few on the list here that demands to be listened to in its entirety. Put it on your stereo, on a rainy day , when you are feeling mellow, slump down on the couch - and damn if you won't get up 72 minutes later completely miserable in tears wondering what the hell happened. Now I know that might not sound pleasant but there are beautiful moments here in the misery and frustration. The full 7.5 minute version of Pictures of You alone might make it worthy of this list but it's all great. The only song that is out of place is the song everyone knows, Love Song, which is shiny and happy enough but kind of kills the mood.

By the way, the Cure are still putting out albums - and they are still pretty good - and they are still touring. Who would have guessed that these guys would have this kind of staying power?

Your Hands and Feet are Mangoes

#15 A Picture of Nectar: Phish. I'm not really into the jam band thing. I never got into the Grateful Dead...in fact, I kind of despise them. I cant think of a single song of theirs that doesnt make me turn the radio off. Other jam bands I find either too trippy, or too self-indulgent, or just boring. But the thing about Phish is, they are *fun*. Really fun. Their songs are goofy with silly lyrics and fun wordplay. The musicianship is great - a little jazzy, a little country, a little everything. And a *real* Phish fan (and watch out, they are rabid when you find one) will tell you that all the studio albums suck and that you have to listen to them live to really appreciate them. And I am sure that is true. But I really love this one and it just puts me in a good mood - Guelah Papyrus, Tweezer, Chalk Dust Torture -- these songs all soar in their live shows, here they are a little tighter, but just as much fun.

By the way, check out Carrie Brownstein's (of Sleater-Kinney) blog on NPR about learning to love Phish. She "doesn't get it" but is trying to figure it all out. Pretty funny.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/

Ticking Away the Moments

#16 Dark Side of the Moon: Pink Floyd. When I was a kid, I used to be really into numbers and charts. I loved reading the Billboard Top 20 in the paper, and would go to the library every week to look at Billboard and read the Top 200. I didnt know much about Pink Floyd, but every week, in the top 200 was this album, Dark Side of the Moon. Every other album would have their run and the best would chart for about 20 weeks or so. But DSOTM was there every week, 400, 500, 600 consecutive weeks on the chart. I had no idea what it was all about until high school and college, when I got to experience the music more, um, viscerally. But, you dont have to be altered to appreciate it. It really is a great listen. The songs are each about fundamental human issues: Time, Money, Breath, Death, War, Disease. It is a Big Concept Album. But it is beautiful in its pretension, and remains the best CD ever to listen to with a big-ass pair of comfy headphones that block out the rest of the world for 45 minutes.

So What

#17 Kind of Blue: Miles Davis. This is the best selling jazz album of all time, and for good reason. You dont need to be a jazz fan to appreciate it. Only 5 songs, but each one a timeless classic, with melodies that stick in your head, and improvs that demand attention. These songs define what good bebop jazz was all about. A backbone with a great melody, morphing into virtuoso, but restrained solos which work off that melody. Jazz can often be a tedious listen, with talented musicains going overboard with solo sthat show off how many notes they can fit in a bar of music. The best thing about Kind of Blue is that it is restrained...notes are held and allowed to linger, to sigh, to sing. Davis' trumpet style is all about restraint - Coltrane's sax is a bit more exploratory and they play off of each other fabulously. The piano holds it all together. Brilliant.

I'm a Lonely Stranger Here

#18 Unplugged: Eric Clapton. I remember going to see Eric Clapton at Giants Stadium back around 1990. I knew all of his classics and knew all the famous guitar solos and the history of British youths declaring Clapton is God. But I thought "how good can a guitarist really be?" I figured I would enjoy the concert, rock out a bit, and go home. But he really amazed me. He really is *that* awesome. In a way that cannot easily be explained, the man makes a guitar sing. His albums don't really capture it. But he won me over in concert. Amazingly, this acoustic CD captures his virtuosity better than any of his studio records. A great collection of songs incl. a brilliant twist on Layla, the heartbreaking Tears in Heaven and Lonely Stranger, props to the blues with Nobody Knows You and Walkin Blues. Plus the best kazoo solo you will ever hear during San Francisco Bay Blues. Listen to the opening Signe and you will be hooked with one great song after another. This was a staple in my first CD player for many years, and it still is an awesome listen.

Makes Me Sweat

#19 Kick: INXS. Yes, for real. This is one of the few radio dominating albums of the 80s that I can still listen to and enjoy. It's filled with great moments - the sweaty sensuality of Need You Tonight is the high point, but all the pop hits have an edge to them that still make them cool. In their earlier days, INXS had a mysterious, backwoods, exotic vibe to them, but on this one the sound is mature, confident, melodic rock. I'm also a sucker for a rock band with a strong sax vibe. Not a bad song in the bunch.

Hell Yes

#20 Guero: Beck. Beck is pretty cool. I've always liked him but never really enjoyed his CDs in total until this one came out. Fans will say that this was trying too hard to sound like Odelay - I actually like this better than Odelay. Strong from start to finish with enough weirdness to make it Beck and enough hooks to stay with you for a long time. By the way, the big hit from this album was that song that goes 'hey, my summer girl' - you could not get this song out of your head (or off the radio) in the summer of '05. The funny thing is, nobody knows if those are the real lyrics. I just checked three sites - one says "summer girl" one says "sun-eyed girl" and one says "cyanide girl". The song is titled "Girl" so that does not help. Anyway, it's great stuff.