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Silly List Slogs: Top 5 Albums

A bunch of tiny lists from which a hundred thinkpieces may bloom.
Silly List Slogs: Top 5 Albums
Neil Young! I love this guy!

As a point of pride, I hoped to avoid publishing mere lists of albums and movies on this thing, as they don't really provide much in terms of edification without context or commentary. But, as a point of pride, I also hoped to publish more than I have been. So in the name of increasing output while leaving the room open for more actual goddamn writing, I'm sharing my 5 favorite albums each for 20 musical acts, in descending order of how favoritey I find my favorite 5 albums of theirs. If any of these nouns and numbers provokes a reader to say "whaaaaa?" maybe I'll be inspired to embellish and explicate the take.

Some caveats: my collection is rife with the sound of a sardonic yet earnest singing white male guitarist. I'm working on diluting that, while also accepting it's a focus of interest. Just because an album isn't here doesn't mean I don't like it, or that I've even heard it. Joni & Loudon in particular have some likely worthy ones in their rich discographies I've yet to investigate. I've given Bob & the Beatles my time, though. I mean what I'm sayin' below.

And yeah, I'm including some compilations. They're albums, aren't they? Little circles you can spin around when you want to hear a ditty? I count them when they count to me.

Neil Young

  1. Rust Never Sleeps
  2. Greendale
  3. Ragged Glory
  4. Comes A Time
  5. On The Beach

The Velvet Underground

  1. White Light/White Heat
  2. The Velvet Underground
  3. Loaded
  4. V.U.
  5. The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Rolling Stones

  1. Let It Bleed
  2. Rolling Stones, Now!
  3. Beggars Banquet
  4. Exile On Mainstreet
  5. Tattoo You

The Beatles

  1. Please Please Me
  2. A Hard Day’s Night
  3. Rubber Soul
  4. Revolver
  5. With The Beatles

Randy Newman

  1. Bad Love
  2. Good Old Boys
  3. Sail Away
  4. Born Again
  5. Little Criminals
R.E.M.! I love these guys!

R.E.M.

  1. Green
  2. Reckoning
  3. Document
  4. Out Of Time
  5. Dead Letter Office/Chronic Town [CD]

Low

  1. Ones And Sixes
  2. HEY WHAT
  3. The Great Destroyer
  4. I Could Live In Hope
  5. Double Negative

Electric Six

  1. Fire
  2. I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master
  3. Heartbeats And Brainwaves
  4. Senor Smoke
  5. Zodiac

Ramones

  1. The Ramones
  2. Rocket To Russia
  3. Leave Home
  4. Brain Drain
  5. Subterranean Jungle

Spoon

  1. A Series Of Sneaks
  2. Transference
  3. Gimme Fiction
  4. Girls Can Tell
  5. Telephono
John Prine. Loved this guy too! His whole career. Consistently wonderful work.

John Prine

  1. John Prine
  2. Diamonds In The Rough
  3. In Spite Of Ourselves
  4. Aimless Love
  5. Common Sense

Rocket From The Crypt

  1. Hot Charity/Cut Carefully & Play Loud [CD]
  2. Live From Camp X-Ray
  3. Group Sounds
  4. R.I.P.
  5. RFTC

Sonic Youth

  1. Sonic Nurse
  2. Sister
  3. Bad Moon Rising
  4. Daydream Nation
  5. EVOL

The Mountain Goats

  1. We Shall All Be Healed
  2. The Sunset Tree
  3. The Coroner’s Gambit
  4. Full Force Galesbourg
  5. In League With Dragons

Joni Mitchell

  1. Hejira
  2. Blue
  3. Court & Spark
  4. For The Roses
  5. Song To A Seagull
You could stick every Bob Dylan song recorded since my birth in the trash can and I would not shed a tear.

Bob Dylan

  1. Blood On The Tracks
  2. Before The Flood
  3. Bringing It All Back Home
  4. Blonde On Blonde
  5. The Basement Tapes

Yo La Tengo

  1. Electr-O-Pura
  2. Fakebook
  3. Painful
  4. There’s A Riot Going On
  5. I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One

Loudon Wainwright III

  1. Attempted Mustache
  2. Haven’t Got The Blues (Yet)
  3. Unrequited
  4. Fame & Wealth
  5. Album II

The Fall

  1. Early Fall 77-79
  2. Hex Enduction Hour
  3. Live At The Witch Trials
  4. Slates/ A Part Of America Therein, 1981 [CD]
  5. This Nation’s Saving Grace

Al Green

  1. Gets Next To You
  2. The Belle Album
  3. Livin’ For You
  4. Call Me
  5. Full Of Fire

If any of this makes you want to type the word "EXPLAIN," feel free to do it via the social media what brought ya or by e-mailing me at anthonyisright at gmail.com. I'll be flattered.