Coffee, please.

#415 Van Halen (s/t)

I always think of Jump and cheesy 80s stuff when I think of Van Halen. That is clearly wrong. Eddie Van Halen is a fantastic guitarist--something I always forget, mostly because I have never really sought out this group. 

Glad I listened to this.

#416 Tom Waits - Mule Variations

It had been a long time since I’d listened to Tom Waits, so this was a welcome entry on the list, especially after U2. This album came out in 1999 and I found some of the harshness near the beginning especially a little surprising, but I enjoyed the album. 

There are two more Tom Waits albums ahead and I’m looking forward to them! I don’t have a lot to say here because I listened to this a while ago and forgot to make this post...

#417 U2 - Boy

Boy oh boy. We’ve finally hit a U2 album, my least favorite. Just thinking of Bono’s smarmy face with those awful glasses makes me irrationally angry. 

I’ve never liked U2--not their sound, not their image, not their cheesy as fuck lyrics-- and always found them to be highly overrated. As a Saved By the Bell aficionado, I was always appalled that one episode has the gang CAMPING OUT at the mall for U2 tickets. Why, Slater? Why, Zack? Surely someone in that gang has better taste.

Time to dive in.

The first track, “I Will Follow,” is apparently their most performed. I should also note here that this is their very first album, and it debuted in 1980. I’d weirdly never heard it, and was initially thinking “Hmm, maybe this won’t be so bad,” but of course, U2 had to fuck up a perfectly good song with the most annoying glockenspiel part I’ve heard. Why? I feel certain that Bono insisted. I even looked it up to see what that was about and apparently producer Steve Lillywhite added the glock on this track (he’s responsible for the Dave Matthews Band “Lillywhite Sessions” that the band scrapped for the terrible “Everyday” album. They later released LS after hug fan outcry). 

I later found myself eye-rolling like mad to the lyrics of “Into the Heart.” Bono’s delivery of everything is just so annoying to me. I think I’m too cynical for U2.

#418 Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run

Wings isn’t just an amazing 90s sitcom centered around the antics of employees at a small aircraft carrier in Cape Cod, OH NO. It’s Paul McCartney’s new band post-Beatles. I did some light research and man, I can’t believe how prolific McCartney was. He’s released just tons and tons of stuff, about an album every year and in same cases two in a year.

This was good. A solid album from one of the greats. I’m going through a phase right now (as I sometimes do) where I just don’t really want to listen to any Beatles or anything Beatles-adjacent, so I probably wouldn’t seek out more Wings any time soon. When I feel like it, I’ll probably just listen to the Beatles!

#419 Portishead - Dummy

To date, Portishead has released just three albums: this was their stunning debut in 1994, and they also released a s/t album in 1997 and “Third” in 2008. And boy is it good for us that they take their time.

I never would have suspected trip-hop is my thing, but this album (and this band in general) sure has a mood. This isn’t something to listen to on a sunny day drive. It’s dark, melancholy, sexy, and screams 90s to me. The tone of this album musically is similar in tone to shows like Buffy to me.

This has always been a favorite album of mine and I’m so glad it’s on the list!

#420 Buddy Holly and the Crickets (s/t, originally “The Chirping Crickets”)

Note: I had to go to Youtube for this one.

I wish every song could be Not Fade Away, it’s that good of a song (well, maybe a few songs could be Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay). Ooh wee-ooo, I think Weezer has done a disservice to the memory of Buddy Holly, making people think “nerd.” Seriously, every time I listen to Buddy Holly (and I own an album or two that I listen to semi-regularly) I am taken aback by how good his voice is, how rock-n-roll everything is. What an unimaginable shame that we lost him when we did. The day the music died, indeed.

Best track: Not Fade Away is the best. Not just Buddy Holly’s best, one of the best songs ever, IMO. Everything on here is golden, though.

One thing: Just realized this is (more) famous as a Rolling Stones cover, which was their first hit. It does not measure up.

#421 The Best of the Girl Groups, Volume 1 (Various artists)

I’m of two minds about this kind of inclusion on the list. On the one hand, I’m glad that the folks creating this list recognized the importance of these groups and the music they created. Another part of me wishes that they gave some of these groups a spot with albums of their own--not all warrant that, but some do. It’s a Rolling Stone list, so it probably makes sense that it’s so white male classic rock heavy, but it’s also a problem because I think they forget to weigh other types of music accordingly.

This was obviously a great listen. Had to piece this one together via playlist, and it’s a playlist I’ll keep and listen to again.

#422 The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes

This trio hails from NYC and features Veronica Bennett, later known as Ronnie Spector. That’s because she married producer Phil Spector, known murderer of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. During their marriage (back in the late 60s/early 70s) he basically held her captive for years and inflicted crazy psychological torment on her. So glad to see she was able to get out and recover.

#423 Diana Ross & the Supremes - Anthology

YES! I couldn’t exactly find an album called “Anthology” but that’s because they released “Anthology” four or five different times, all with different track listings, etc. So I just listened to some big expanded greatest hits (a.k.a. anthology) album and decided to call it a day.

#424 Bruce Springsteen - The Rising

Oh, Bruce. The previous album on this list, Tunnel of Love (#467), surprised me. It’s a pure 80s release and has that awful title track on it, but it was overall good. I was actually looking forward to listening to this one and expanding my Springsteen horizons. The man deserves a chance! This one disappointed me, though!

That’s not to say that this album was bad, but it just faded into the background for me. I will probably listen again when I’m not so busy at work and give it a chance to grab me.

#425 Gram Parsons - Grievous Angel

This album was Gram Parson’s second solo album, and it was released four months after he overdosed in Joshua Tree National Monument. He was just 26 years old. “Fun” fact about his death: His friends knew he wanted to be cremated, but his family was insisting on flying him to Louisiana to bury him there. So they did what any good pals would do and STOLE HIS BODY FROM THE AIRPORT. And then proceeded to lead cops on a chase to Joshua Tree (a cop noted that the police were “encumbered by sobriety” which meant they lost the suspects LOL), where they doused him in is his coffin with gasoline and set it alight. Lucky for his friends, it wasn’t a crime to steal a dead body, so they just had some minor charges and went on their way.

BACK TO THE MUSIC. 

Really loved this album. Gram Parsons had previously played with The Byrds, which I did not know, and was party of The Flying Burrito Band which is an excellent name (never heard the band). Though this is listed as a solo album, it’s actually Gram and legend Emmylou Harris. Apparently his wife or girlfriend or whatever was jealous and when it came time to release this album after his death, she worked some magic to minimize Emmylou via the title, packaging etc. 

This album is pretty laid back though it has some fun (I Can’t Dance) and had a few surprises for me: Who knew that Love Hurts was an old Gram Parsons song?

#426 Cheap Trick – Cheap Trick at Budokan

This is a Cheap Trick live recording from a concert in Japan. I must say, they do rock! I’m not sure that this needed another entry on the list (it rehashes the studio album we already heard), but I was glad to listen to it. Nice version of Want You to Want Me on here too. This is a band that would have been great to see live back in the day!

#427 Peter Wolf – Sleepless

Peter who? This came out in 2002? Cover art looks like something I’d pick up—why haven’t I heard of this?

Apparently, Peter Wolf sang in the J Geils Band. That’s right—of “Love Stinks” and “Centerfold” fame. When I started this album, I was completely taken aback. Love the guitar, love the vocals, loved everything about this album. I loved it enough that I saved it to my Amazon Music so I don’t forget to listen again. Really glad I found this album.

#428 The Police – Outlandos D’Amour

Another one that I wrote about and lost, but I’ll try to remember what I said/thought.

This album is The Police’s debut album, and Roxanne aside (that song, while a with a lovely chord progression, just bores the shit out of me) I thought it was much better than the previous Police album on the list. I was dreading this one, but I actually enjoyed listening to it. Maybe because this came out in the late 70s and the other album had both feet firmly planted in the mid 80s? The Police released five albums in five years before they broke up, which is nuts!

#429 Eno – Another Green World

Having just listened to another Eno album a few records ago, this one took me by surprise. It sounded completely different to me and features a lot of instrumentals. I liked listening to this one, but it didn’t grab me like the other.

#430 Vampire Weekend (s/t)

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma? Well me, because it’s my job as a tech writer and editor. But really, I love this song and what it says about pretension.

To quote a very smart and good young man, my little brother:

“Enough of this ancient proper English campaign orchestrated to identify the uneducated in order to keep them down. If you can understand someone, and you can get your point across too, it's called communication. Don't be an elitist, because a lot of those people you judge are smarter than you.”

That’s one of the last things he posted on his Facebook before he died. And he’s right!

Anywho—I love that this song also ascribes truth to Lil’ Jon. ‘To the window, to the wall…” It’s clever, it has something good to say, it’s interesting, and it’s really fun.

I always forget how much I like Vampire Weekend, but really they’re awesome. What an uplifting album to listen to. Fun, with substance.