Last week, my friend Matt St. John posted his top 10 albums of all time on his blog. It was an intriguing read, to say the least, since I have always enjoyed and respected his musical tastes. Throughout the years, him and I have had numerous discussions about bands, songs, or just music in general. Over this time, I definitely feel as though some of his approach to music has influenced me both as a listener and a musician. What I found to be especially interesting about his blog though was the unique relationship he seemed to have with each individual album. For each of his top ten records, he was able to comment with great detail on just how and why the album had come to be one of his favorites. When I finished reading his list, I began to wonder: what would my own top 10 albums of all time list look like? And how would I express my own unique connections to those albums?
The process of narrowing down my record collection to just 10 albums at first seemed like an almost impossible task. I would guess that, for the past 5 years at least, I have listened to roughly 30 or so albums a year on average. Over time, many of these albums have meant a great deal to me. Therefore, before I got into the bulk of my list, I did want to include a couple honorable mentions-albums that just missed my top 10 cut. They are, as follows, Northstar-Pollyanna, Dashboard Confessional-The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, Further Seems Forever-The Moon Is Down, Fallout Boy-Take This To Your Grave, Name Taken-Hold On, and Weezer-Pinkerton. Without any further delay, here is my list:
10. Beastie Boys-Licensed To Ill (1986)- Licensed To Ill will always be an important album to me, since it was one of the first albums that I ever listened to completely from start to finish. Growing up, I never really listened to music. Besides the occasional oldies song that I’d hear in the car, my musical exposure as a kid was basically zero. At age 12 though, I was finally beginning to discover and enjoy music. I remember buying Licensed To Ill , at my brother’s suggestion, on a trip to visit him in Georgia over Thanksgiving break of 7th grade. I was so excited to listen to music that my brother liked too and quickly became a huge Beastie Boys fan. All in all, this album was the first full album that I really enjoyed and helped to kick-start my appreciation of music.
9. Set Your Goals- Mutiny! (2006)- This album flew completely under my musical radar for about a year before I decided to pick it up in the late summer of 2007. I had read some decent things about Mutiny! on the internet, saw it on sale at the record store for a relatively low price and decided to pick it up on a whim. When I first listened to this album, I was completely floored-Set Your Goals had managed to capture everything that I love about pop-punk to create a fresh, new, and energetic sound. Add in the fact that the album is solid from start to finish, flows together seamlessly, and tackles subject matter outside of the typical scope of pop-punk and I knew from the first listen that I was hearing what would ultimately become one of my favorite records. Oh yeah, and the album is pirate themed, how awesome is that?
8. Blink 182- Dude Ranch (1997)- Overall, this is my second favorite album from my favorite band of all time, Blink 182. I’m always fascinated by how music, an album especially, has the power to bring you back to a certain place and time in your life. Still to this day, every time I listen to Dude Ranch I get nostalgic. The album never fails to bring me back to the spring of 8th grade, when I first listened to it. I was just beginning to learn to play guitar at the time and had bought a cheap Stratocaster knock off and a tiny 30-watt combo amp. When I listen to Dude Ranch I can’t help but picture myself playing along to songs like “Dammit” and “Josie” in my bedroom.
7. Saves The Day- Stay What You Are (2001)- Unlike Saves The Day’s previous albums Can’t Slow Down and Through Being Cool, it took me awhile to fully get into Stay What You Are. While I did initially enjoy a few tracks such as “At Your Funeral” on first listen, I wasn’t a huge fan of the album as a whole. Then I listened to it again. And I liked it more. So I listened to it another time. And I liked it more again. I feel as though every time I have listened to Stay What You Are from start to finish, I have developed a deeper appreciation for the album and noticed something new that I love about it. Plus the song “Firefly” is a great album closer.
6. Jack’s Mannequin- Everything In Transit (2005)- This is another album that I closely associate with a specific time of my life. This album came out at the end of the summer of 2005, which was a particularly low point for me, having just broken up with my high school girlfriend and bounced around between three colleges in my freshman year alone. This personal low for me was the perfect time to encounter Everything In Transit, the story of frontman Andrew McMahon getting over his own obstacles in life and moving on. I remember thinking how refreshing and theraputic it felt to listen to McMahon essentially pour out his heart and soul to the listener on each track. I also loved how even though the record at times dealt with depressing or negative subject matter, there was always a sense of optimism to the songs. All in all, Everything In Transit helped me get through that difficult time and I will always enjoy the album for that reason.
5. Green Day- Dookie (1994)- This past fall, I had the opportunity to interview local music writer Joe Harrington for my senior history thesis on the subject of Portland, Maine Punk Rock. Somehow, we got on the subject of Green Day. “You know, Dookie really was the fulfillment of the mainstream promise that the Ramones had,” Joe said to me. I definitely agree. Dookie was the breakthrough of punk into the mainstream and made it possible for bands like Blink 182 to gain notoriety in the following years. That alone is enough to make it one of my favorite albums. The fact that it includes some of my favorite songs like “Welcome To Paradise”, “Burnout”, and “When I Come Around” earns Dookie a spot in my personal top 5.
4. Taking Back Sunday- Tell All Your Friends (2002)- Tell All Your Friends, perhaps more than any other album I have ever listened to, captures youthful energy. Every time I listen to the record, I can’t help but feel as though I’m 16 again. Featuring fast-paced songs, dual vocalists, and catchy melodies, this pop-punk album was essentially the soundtrack to my high-school years. When I hear “Great Romances Of The 20th Century” I can always picture myself walking down the halls of Messalonskee High School listening to my CD player, since I wasn’t cool enough to have an ipod back then. Though some of the lyrics almost make me cringe when I hear them now (like the line “so sick, so sick of being tired and oh so tired of being sick” from the song “You Know How I Do”), I loved them when I was in high school and they have enough sentimental value that I can enjoy them still today.
3. Blink 182- Enema Of The State (1999)- Where do I start with this album? Enema Of The State made me love music and Blink 182 is my favorite band of all time. I remember seeing the video for “All The Small Things” on MTV around the middle of 8th grade and thinking it was the funniest thing that I had ever seen. I loved that they were mocking all the boybands and pop singers that everyone at school seemed to be obsessed with. That video alone was enough to convince me to go out and buy the album. After listening to Enema Of The State once, I knew that I wanted to sing and play guitar like Tom Delonge and start a band with my best friends. I quickly went out and purchased the rest of Blink 182’s back catalogue, albums like Dude Ranch, Cheshire Cat, and Buddha, and searched for other bands similar to Blink 182, finding pop-punk gems like New Found Glory and Fenix Tx. Without Enema Of The State I can safely say that I wouldn’t be into the same music that I am today. Great album.
2. Brand New- Deja Entendu (2003)- More than any album that I have ever purchased, I looked forward to and anticipated Deja Entendu the most. I had really enjoyed Brand New’s previous release, Your Favorite Weapon, and had begun to read several positive statements from those who had received advanced copies of the album on a website called absolutepunk.net. Jason Tate, the website’s founder, had said something along the lines of “Deja Entendu is the music I have been waiting my whole life to hear.” From that point on, I was counting down the days until its June 17th release. When I finally purchased Deja Entendu, I remember feeling the exact same way that Jason Tate did. It was almost as though every song on the record was an instant classic to me, featuring some of the best lyrics that I had ever heard. That same day, I probably listened to the record 4 or 5 times just driving around in my old Ford Explorer with some of my friends, attempting to sing along to the songs. More than five years later, my love for the songs on Deja Entendu has not declined in the slightest.
1. Jimmy Eat World- Clarity (1999)- To put it rather simply, this is the most complete album I have ever heard. Its strange, because unlike many of the other albums I have discussed in this list, I don’t associate Clarity with any particular event or time in my life. Rather, I believe I like Clarity so much because when I listen to it, I can’t think of a single thing that I’d want to change about it. With any other record, there’s always at least one song that I skip. Clarity has 13 songs on it, and I love every one of them. On any other record, there’s always at least one lyric that might ruin a particular song for me, perhaps because it seems slightly forced. Clarity has great, well thought out, and organic lyrics. I also love the record because it’s an album in the truest sense of the word: Clarity needs to be taken in as a whole, rather than song by song. To simply sit down and listen to one or two songs off of the record (even if you listened to the epic 16 minute album closer “Goodbye Sky Harbor”) would not be enough to get a true sense of it. Clarity also features my favorite song of all time, “For Me This Is Heaven”. If there’s another album ever recorded that I like more than Clarity, I’ll be a very surprised and impressed listener.
