From an Indie-Rocker: Best 100 albums
It’s to bad that I have to make sure that people know that this is MY list and not itune’s list. I made it, spend a couple hours on it, and am now listening to all the albums from 100 to 1. I recently posted about Deerhoof and realized that I should put the entire list up.
By now, I even disagree with some of these choices, but hell, I’ll make a new list when I’m done with the first one.
It’s worth noting that all LIVE shows and Greatest Hits albums are automatically not allowed on my list. That’s how I chose to do it. I know, some live shows are fantastic, and I’m sure that I would have a couple in the top twenty, but here you go.
The 100 Top Albums / EPs On iTunes
Album Artist
1) The Dark Side of the Moon Pink Floyd
2)* Kid A Radiohead
3)* OK Computer Radiohead
4) Time Out Dave Brubeck
5) Who’s Next The Who
6) Meddle Pink Floyd
7) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles
Agaetis Byrjun Sigur Ros
9) Abbey Road The Beatles
10) Carousel Waltz The Robot Ate Me
11) Friday Afternoon in the Universe Medeski, Martin & Wood
12) Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere Neil Young
13) The White Album The Beatles
14) Amnesiac Radiohead
15) Animals Pink Floyd
16) The Doors The Doors
17) The Soft Bulletin The Flaming Lips
18) The Wall Pink Floyd
19) Funeral The Arcade Fire
20) Come On Feel The Illinois Sufjan Stevens
21) The Lonesome Crowded West Modest Mouse
22) Wish You Were Here Pink Floyd
23) They Ate Themselves The Robot Ate Me
24) Bob Dylan Bob Dylan
25) Hail to the Thief Radiohead
26) Loaded The Velvet Underground
27) Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots The Flaming Lips
28) The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground
29) Birth of the Cool Miles Davis
28) The Moon and Antarctica Modest Mouse
29) Aqualung Jethro Tull
28) Another Side of Bob Dylan Bob Dylan
29) Disraeli Gears Cream
30) The Times They Are A Changin’ Bob Dylan
31) The Creek That Drank the Cradle Iron & Wine
32) Strange Days The Doors
33) Sea Change Beck
34) Stand! Sly & The Family Stone
35) American Beauty The Grateful Dead
36) The Sea and the Rhythm Iron and Wine
37) Turn on the Bright Lights Interpol
38) Are You Experienced? Jimi Hendrix
39) Sea Change The Bedroom Heroes
40) Doolittle The Pixies
41) I Led Zeppelin
42) Big Band Machine Buddy Rich
43) Fight Test The Flaming Lips
44) The Bends Radiohead
45) This Is a Long Drive for Someone Modest Mouse
With Nothing to Think About
46) Bossanova The Pixies
47) Transmissions From A Satellite Heart The Flaming Lips
48) IV Led Zeppelin
49) Somber Atlantic The Scarecrow Frequency
50) Our Endless Numbered Days Iron and Wine
51) Sailing the Seas of Cheese Primus
52) From The Cradle Eric Clapton
53) Either / Or Elliot Smith
54) The Runners Four Deerhoof
55) Good World The Robot Ate Me
56) My Favorite Things John Coltrane
57) The Grand Pecking Order Oysterhead
58) Building Nothing Out of Something Modest Mouse
59) Neon Bible The Arcade Fire
60) Takk… Sigur Ros
61) Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness The Smashing Pumpkins
62) Ummagumma Pink Floyd
63) The Fragile Nine Inch Nails
64) Transformer Lou Reed
65) Greetings From Michigan: Sufjan Stevens
The Great Lakes State
66) Clouds Taste Metallic The Flaming Lips
67) () Sigur Ros
68) Mirror Ball Neil Young
69) Piper at the Gates of Dawn Pink Floyd
70) Electric Ladyland Jimi Hendrix
71) David Gilmour David Gilmour
72) Surfer Rosa The Pixies
73) Elliot Smith Elliot Smith
74) At War With The Mystics The Flaming Lips
75) B Sides The Pixies
76) Pink Moon Nick Drake
77) Barret Syd Barret
78) Keep It Like A Secret Built To Spill
79) Perfect From Now On Built To Spill
80) Atom Heart Mother Pink Floyd
81) Trompe Le Monde The Pixies
82) Pork Soda Primus
83) It Still Moves My Morning Jacket
84) Axis: Bold As Love Jimi Hendrix
85) Lousy Blue Nothing A Shogun Named Id
86) Magical Mystery Tour The Beatles
87) Blueberry Boat The Fiery Furnaces
88) The Final Cut Pink Floyd
89) Tenacious D Tenacious D
90) On Vacation The Robot Ate Me
91) Judas O Smashing Pumpkins
92) The Downward Spiral Nine Inch Nails
93) After The Gold Rush Neil Young
94) Bringing It All Back Home Bob Dylan
95) Feels The Animal Collective
96) Horn of Plenty Grizzly Bear
97) Headhunters Herbie Hancock
98) Achtung Baby U2
99) Siamese Dream The Smashing Pumpkins
100) Paranoid Black Sabbath
Josh, you call yourself an indie rocker? I’ve heard of every single one of these bands. And I’m not even cool.
First rule of indie rock: If people have heard of it, it’s not cool anymore.
Second rule of indie rock: Never acknowledge rule #1. Always find some other way to justify it.
Also, no one playing obscure or esoteric instruments? Like Whatserface Joanna Newsom who plays the harp? Or Even Jon Spencer on the theremin?
Well, no one has heard of ME, so thats a start.
and you forgot the third rule of indie rock- the last album was better.
most of these albums are from the start of the bands career. And if they’re not, most of the bands have really crappy albums that come afterwards to back up that rule. I
the forth rule of indie rock- you always know more than the other indie-rockers. so shut up, I’m right.
fifth rule- older bands are always better than new ones, once they past being ten years old. Anything new is crap.
as far as strange instrumentation, check out the “The Robot At Me” album “Good World”. It is almost entirely clarinet and clipped drums. Or electronic drums. The singer is also constantly singing in a waviering falsetto.
and if you really have heard of “A Shogun Named Id” or “The Scarecrow Frequency” good work.
and most indie rockers are stupid anyway.
I forgot to add an addendum to your rules.
Once people hear of something, the new stuff is uncool, generally. Exceptions exist. Those new people, unfortunatly for them, are automatically uncool. The orignal fan, however, is still cool, but only if they add “but I was a fan before they got big.”
duh. can’t believe I forgot that…