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Metallica ‘Ride The Lightning’ (1984)
1984’s Ride The Lightning was an ambitious next step Metallica following the release of their debut album Kill Em’ All. Whereas their debut album was just an absolute slugfest of heavy overhand rights, Metallica took greater artistic chances with their second album which ultimately paved the way for them to release their magnum opus Master…
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The All-American Rejects ‘The All-American Rejects’ (2002)
The year was 2003 and I was a newly minted Middle School graduate entering high school. I was getting heavily into music, compulsively buying records at a fervid clip, and the local radio station Live 105 was putting on their annual summer concert festival BFD (short for Big F***ing Day) during the halcyon summer months.…
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The Highwaymen ‘Highwayman’ (1985)
Combining the talents of Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson onto a single album would have been unheard of during the 1970’s when all four were in their commercial and artistic heyday. Three out of those four men are proverbial titans of country music (Cash, Nelson, Jennings) known for their brand of…
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The London Souls ‘Here Come the Girls’ (2015)
The London Souls’ 2015 album Here Come the Girls puts a unique spin on the traditional classic rock and roll formula, updating it in bits and pieces along the way to form a cohesive experience that sounds like an echo of the past reverberating in a modern room. Taking elements of 60’s jangly psychedelic rock…
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Chumbawamba ‘Tubthumper’ (1997)
Chumbawamba is an unlikely commercial success story– for nearly a decade they toiled in obscurity as an anarcho-communist punk rock band in their home country of Britain, focusing on elements of class struggle, pacifism, and animal rights as common motifs in their music. And then, like a strike of lightning, the band released “Tubthumping” which…
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Slash ‘Orgy of the Damned’ (2024)
Slash just dropped his newest album entitled Orgy of the Damned this past Friday and I simply had to check it out. As dutiful readers will remember I had the opportunity to see Slash in-person at Power Trip Live last year and it was an incredible experience: I was lucky enough to catch them live…
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Wallows ‘Nothing Happens’ (2019)
Nothing Happens is the debut studio album from Indie Pop group Wallows, who has taken the city of Los Angeles by storm in the past few years. One of the primary reasons why? The band is comprised of B-list actors Dylan Minnette (best known for his role as Clay Jensen in the Netflix smash hit…
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Alberta Cross ‘Broken Side of Time’ (2009)
Alberta Cross was a mainstay for me during college, and still stands to this day as one of my favorite alternative rock albums. Their blend of darkly sinister guitar riffs that sounded as if the apocalypse was around the corner, clear respect for the traditions of the blues, absolutely thumping rhythm sections, and the haunting…
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The Judds ‘Rockin’ With The Rhythm’ (1985)
The Judds are somewhat of a country music trope– a mother-daughter duo whose saccharine sweet vocal melodies and downhome lyrical content feel right at home on a lazy Saturday afternoon lounging around with the family in the backyard. Their ability to tug on these familial heart strings was purposeful, and led them to achieve an…
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The Doobie Brothers ‘The Captain and Me’ (1973)
The Doobie Brothers hold the distinction of being one of the few great rock bands who found success with two very different lead singers that fronted the band at two different phases of their career. From the meat and potatoes boogie rock of Tom Johnson in the early 70’s to the soulful grit of Michael…
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Bud Powell ‘Inner Fires’ (1952)
Any biography that has the opportunity to start with Herbie Hancock describing you as “the foundation out of which stemmed the whole edifice of modern jazz piano” is a pretty damn good one. Bud Powell was an iconic jazz songwriter whose life as a black artist in New York City during the 40’s led to…
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Orville Peck ‘Pony’ (2019)
From the opening note of Orville Peck’s Pony, his respect for traditional country in the vein of Glen Campbell and Merle Haggard, a natural storyteller whose vignettes of love and all the anxiety that can come along with those feelings spill out of his guts in passionate fashion. Peck’s rich baritone soaked in reverb is…
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Spyro Gyra ‘Morning Dance’ (1979)
American jazz fusion can run the gamut from being overtly cheesy to incredibly interesting, and Spyro Gyra’s 1979 album Morning Dance checks both of those boxes (sometimes in the same song). Blending elements of R&B, jazz, and funk along with virtuostic performances from as many as 10 musicians on an individual song, the band zips…
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The Dead Milkmen ‘Big Lizard In My Backyard’ (1985)
Punk rock has a long history of sardonic wit and apathetic humor, especially during the mid-80’s after the self-seriousness of the genre which dominated the late 70’s had begun to fall on deaf ears. The Dead Milkmen carved out their own spot in this niche, displaying an affable sense of comedic timing mixed with jangly…
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Bilk ‘Bilk’ (2023)
I happened upon Bilk via X two weeks ago when I saw that their founding drummer was arrested in Jamaica for taking part in a robbery that saw him and his accomplices steal $2 million worth of corned beef. That’s an almost inconceivable amount of corned beef, and the absurdity of the story basically made…
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TLC ‘CrazySexyCool’ (1994)
CrazySexyCool is the one of the albums I immediately think of when someone brings up 90’s R&B. The big heavy snare and bass drum beats, soulful melodies, and empowering lyrics is like listening to a little time capsule that takes you back to a time when pop music had some real substance. Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins,…
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My Morning Jacket ‘It Still Moves’ (2003)
Well before My Morning Jacket turned the corner from underground darling into a mainstream adjacent band that your mom saw perform on the Jimmy Fallon show (she enjoyed it), they were a group of reverb-lovin’ good ole boys from Lousville, Kentucky that loved to get out there and crank out 8-minute meandering folk rock rock…
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Local Natives ‘Gorilla Manor’ (2010)
Gorilla Manor was an absolute gem of an album when it was released in 2010 and almost immediately became a fixture during my final years of college. Everything about this album brings me back to those sunny days in Isla Vista, feeling the wind on your face as you biked past front yards littered with…
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Dream Widow ‘Dream Widow’ (2022)
Dave Grohl’s love for all things rock and roll comes through in every single project he touches. Whether it be his documentary on Sound City Recording Studios, his numerous contributions to rock through bands like Foo Fighters and Nirvana over the last 30 years, or just a casual interview over a plate of hot wings,…
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Free ‘Tons of Sobs’ (1969)
Born in the late 60’s British blues rock scene that would dominate the music scene in the late 60’s and early 70’s, Free was composed of Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Andy Fraser (bass, piano) and Simon Kirke (drums). They are primarily known today for their mega-smash hit “All Right Now” off their 1970…
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Simply Red ‘Picture Book’ (1985)
As far as debut albums go, Picture Book is an absolute beauty. Fusing the classic sounds of 1960’s Motown with the reverb and synth-driven hooks of 80’s soft rock, Simply Red turned in a soulful take on R&B that has stood the test of time as an 80’s classic. Lead singer Mick Hucknall’s vocal lines…
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Kris Kristofferson ‘Kristofferson’ (1970)
Kristofferson is the debut album from famed country outlaw Kris Kristofferson, perhaps best known for his time with The Highwaymen alongside Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings. But well before he became a well-known proponent of alternative country, Kristofferson was but a 34-year old man still looking for his way in life. In between…
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Taking Back Sunday ‘Tell All Your Friends’ (2002)
If you were a dude in high school during the mid-2000’s, Taking Back Sunday was a defining band in the era that defined the emo genre. Lead singer Adam Lazzara’s impeccable swag was the stuff every friend I knew wanted to emulate. His carefree long hair, impeccable vocal range, and stage presence that included him…
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New York Dolls ‘New York Dolls’ (1973)
New York Dolls is a seminal punk rock band and their 1973 self-titled debut laid the groundwork for bands like The Clash, Ramones, and Sex Pistols to send punk rock into the stratosphere later in the decade. Borrowing elements from glam rock (if the cover art featuring the entire band dressed in drag didn’t give…
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Temple Of The Dog ‘Temple Of The Dog’ (1990)
If you’ve been searching for the album that has the worst cover art quality relative to its audio quality (i.e. it looks like shit but sounds fucking phenomenal), you’ve found it. Temple Of The Dog is was a heartfelt one-off project formed to honor the life of lead singer Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone…
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Motion City Soundtrack ‘Commit This To Memory’ (2005)
Motion City Soundtrack was a perennial favorite of mine during high school. This was the era of my life when pop punk reigned supreme and I immediately found connection with Motion City Soundtrack for a variety of reasons– our shared Midwest roots (we both hail from the Twin Cities in Minnesota), their unique blend of…
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Vince Gill ‘High Lonesome Sound’ (1995)
There exists a concept in Nashville known as the “triple threat”, which simply refers to someone who is well-versed in three specific areas in the musical field. In Nashville that typically applies to guitar playing, singing, and songwriting. It’s a concept that certainly applies to Vince Gill, whose crystal clear vocals, incredible guitar playing, and…
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Sade ‘Diamond Life’ (1984)
Sade’s rise to the zenith of smooth jazz started humbly enough in the early 80’s. Following a university career that saw her study fashion design and a brief stint as a model, Sade Adu was recruited to become a backup singer for the British band Pride. After establishing a songwriting partnership with guitarist/saxophonist Stewart Matthewman,…
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Frank Sinatra ‘In The Wee Small Hours’ (1954)
The legendary voice of Frank Sinatra played frontman to the musical march of many different types of numbers over his illustrious career– the grandiose “Strangers In The Night”, the big band ballsiness of “My Way”, the swingy playfulness of “Fly Me To The Moon”– but as the name would suggest In the Wee Small Hours…
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Hot Water Music ‘Caution’ (2002)
It’s hard to fully explain how much I respect the hell out of Hot Water Music. This is a band that formed in 1994 and is still at it today with the majority of band members pushing 50 years old. That’s a hard task to do in the music business, let alone one as unrelentingly…
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Bruce Springsteen ‘Born To Run’ (1975)
For anyone who has had a conversation with me about music over the past 15 years can attest to, Bruce Springsteen is my favorite musician of all-time. The Boss has become the de-facto orator of American history over the past 50 years due to his prolific career longevity and his willingness to tackle subject matter…
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Mountain ‘Climbing!’ (1970)
Climbing! is the debut album from American hard rock band Mountain and features one of my favorite guitar riffs of all time on “Mississippi Queen”. The combination of a cowbell count-in paired with the iconic slithering guitar riff sounds like cigarettes and a steak dinner– simply 70’s classic rock perfection. And alongside Leslie West’s pitch…
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The Kinks ‘Kinks’ (1964)
One of the most influential guitar tones in the history of rock and roll comes off 1964’s Kinks. Its lead single “You Really Got Me” inspired artists like Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix in subsequent years to crank up the distortion and fuzz, effectively reshaping the sonic landscape of rock and roll for decades to…
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The Police ‘Synchronicity’ (1983)
By the time The Police released their fifth (and what would turn out to be their final) album Synchronicity in 1983, the band was arguably the most popular and well-regarded band in the entire world. The trio of Sting (vocals/bass), Andy Summers (guitar/keys), and Stewart Copeland (drums) were fresh off recording 1981’s Ghost in the…
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Third Eye Blind ‘Blue’ (1999)
Blue isn’t a better album than Third Eye Blind’s self-titled debut (it was an impossible task as soon as the former was released), but it certainly is a better album relative to the commercial and critical success it received in comparison to its artistic accomplishments. Put another way, whenever anyone thinks of 3EB they think…
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Taylor Swift ‘THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT’ (2024)
Despite being in the midst of the record-breaking Eras World Tour, an incredibly public courtship with NFL star Travis Kelce, and the release an astounding 8 albums in the past four years (which includes four of her “re-recorded albums”, a concept we previously covered with her 2021 edition of Red) Taylor Swift managed to find…
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About the Author
Jason Matthew Plank listens to copious amounts of music and writes about one album each day. He is currently active in the bands Related to Strangers (post-hardcore) and Kindergarten Cartel (punk covers of children’s nursery rhymes).
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