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The Exploited ‘Punks Not Dead’ (1981)
The Exploited are one of the definitive Oi! punk rock bands, a movement that emerged in the UK during the early 1980s as a raw, working-class response to the more art-school direction punk had taken. Punks Not Dead by The Exploited is largely considered one of the defining albums of the sub-genre. By combining aggressive,…
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The Rolling Stones ‘Beggars Banquet’ (1968)
Beggars Banquet marked a turning point for The Rolling Stones. The band returned to their roots with a raw mix of blues rock and country influences while at the same time introducing unique percussive elements like Latin percussion. These additions added a new rhythmic depth to their sound while still staying true to what made…
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Panic! at the Disco ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’ (2005)
Hearing A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out as a teenager felt like stepping into a neon-lit circus where every song was bursting with drama, angst, and theatrical flair. Brendon Urie’s vocals soared effortlessly from smooth crooning to high-flying belts. It’s rare that you can ever describe a pop punk album as being operatic but this…
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CKY ‘Camp Kill Yourself V1’ (1999)
If you were a millennial male hitting your teenage years in the early aughts you were familiar with the band CKY almost by default. The band’s drummer Jess Margera was the brother of Bam Margera. Before connecting with Johnny Knoxville and crew to create the smash-hit Jackass, Bam created the precursor to that media empire…
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Blink-182 ‘California’ (2016)
Blink-182’s California marked a major turning point for the band as it was their first album without founding guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, who departed in 2015 to focus on other projects amidst a strained relationship with Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker. In his place they added Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, whose addition added…
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The Fearless Flyers ‘IV’ (2024)
If you’re into funky, clean guitar work, locked-in grooves and serious musicianship without any pretension, The Fearless Flyers are the band for you. They’re essentially a spin-off of Vulfpeck, comprised of Cory Wong, Mark Lettieri, Joe Dart, and Nate Smith, and take a stripped down no-frills approach to funk music. I would say they’re defined…
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Miles Davis ‘On The Corner’ (1972)
Once lambasted by the mainstream jazz community (Bill Coleman once said it was “an insult to the intellect of the people”), On the Corner has since been reappraised as a groundbreaking and visionary work that was way ahead of its time. Fusing funk, rock, electronica, and jazz together, Davis’ tested the limits of what the…
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Steely Dan ‘Gaucho’ (1980)
For all intents and purposes Walter Becker and Donald Fagen from Steely Dan were psychopaths. These dudes completely redefined what the word meticulous means during their grueling studio sessions, displaying an obsession with perfectionism that basically dragged everyone involved along with them down into a never-ending rabbit hole. The recording of Gaucho is probably the…
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Sum 41 ‘Half Hour of Power’ (2000)
Hate to be the old head hucking around hot takes, but Half Hour of Power is my favorite album by Sum 41. I’m not claiming that it’s their best album or the one I would recommend to folks listening to them for the first time (that would obviously be All Killer, No Filler). But Half…
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Fenix TX ‘Fenix TX’ (1999)
I went on a bit of a pop punk bender this weekend busting out some of the old classics like Blink-182 and Sum 41 which usually leads to a “Shirtless Saturday” type situation with my toddlers where we take our shirts off and dance around the house like crazy (I swear I’m a good dad…
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The Mothers of Invention ‘Freak Out’ (1966)
Led by Frank Zappa’s razor-sharp wit and avant-garde musical sensibilities The Mothers of Invention took rock and roll and dismantled it. Combining a mix of doo-wop, blues, musique concrète, and political satire, Zappa transformed the band from a blues rock outfit to a conceptual juggernaut, catapulting them towards an experimental sound which defied commercial expectations…
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Viagra Boys ‘Cave World’ (2022)
My brother shared this band with me a few weeks ago and it’s a total trip. The concept of Cave World is simple yet brilliant– the band dove deep into the world of terminally-online conspiracy theorists and wrote an album based off the first-person perspectives of those they were mocking. The band explores these topics…
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Kraftwerk ‘The Man-Machine’ (1978)
The Man-Machine took me some real time to get into. I kind of regretted my decision to listen to this album about halfway through the opening track “The Robots”. The whole thing felt incredibly plodding, like it was struggling to find its purpose for existing. But the longer the song went on the sheer audacity…
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Bloc Party ‘Silent Alarm’ (2005)
I remember the first time I heard Silent Alarm it felt like some lightbulbs went off in my brain. Here was an album that defied a lot of traditional songwriting barriers and embraced a genre-blurring approach that fused post-punk urgency with electronic music. It was an album that threw the middle finger up to rigid…
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Ramones ‘Animal Boy’ (1986)
I remember the first time I heard “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg”. I was about 14 years old, at home watching Jack Black’s classic movie School of Rock (an absolute favorite of mine). The song is playing during a montage scene that features Black showing the kids a history of rock genres and footage of some…
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Toni Braxton ‘Toni Braxton’ (1993)
1990s R&B was built on a foundation of deep sultry grooves and powerhouse vocal performances. The genre often featured slow-burning ballads and mid-tempo jams that highlighted the rollercoaster ride found in romance. And damn is that production style iconic– lush, polished tracks using warm synth pads, deep basslines, and crisp drum programming that put every…
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Arch Enemy ‘War Eternal’ (2014)
The Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy was already a powerhouse in the genre by the time 2014 rolled around, but War Eternal marked a new era for the band with Alissa White-Gluz as the lead vocalist. Former singer Angela Gossow, who had fronted the band for over a decade, stepped down to focus…
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Anthrax ‘Among The Living’ (1987)
Anthrax is one of the titans of American thrash metal. Alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer, they helped define the genre in the 1980s. Fast, aggressive, and unrelenting, their music stood out with a mix of humor, pop culture references, and a punk-inspired attitude. Among The Living is the album that cemented their place in the…
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Coheed and Cambria ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ (2003)
Coheed and Cambria blend progressive rock, post-hardcore, and a deep love for sci-fi storytelling. Their albums follow The Amory Wars, a sprawling space opera written by lead singer and frontman Claudio Sanchez. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 is no exception, packed with soaring melodies, intricate guitar work, and dramatic, theatrical vocals. It’s ambitious,…
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Free ‘Fire and Water’ (1970)
Free’s Fire and Water is a perfect example of British blues rock at its rawest and most soulful. The album is built on gritty, stripped-down guitar riffs, steady grooves, and an undeniable sense of space that lets every note breathe. At the heart of it all is Paul Rodgers, whose smoky, powerful voice carries every…
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Aretha Franklin ‘I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You’ (1967)
Aretha Franklin’s voice is a force of nature—powerful, raw, and deeply emotional. As I mentioned during my write up of her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black she’s one of only two vocalists in the GOAT conversation for me (the other being Whitney Houston). Aretha’s ability to pour pure feeling into every note sets her…
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Aqua ‘Aquarium’ (1997)
Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” has experienced a bit of a renaissance in the past two years ever since the 2023 film featuring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling took over pop culture for an entire summer, and while I’m about 18 months late to really capitalize on the film’s notoriety to drive some traffic to my humble…
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The Blasters ‘American Music’ (1980)
The Blasters are a rare childhood friends become music stars success story– brothers Paul and Dave Alvin formed the band with their childhood friends John Bazz and Bill Bateman in Downey, CA during the spring of 1979. Adding boogie-woogie pianist Gene Taylor into the band, they released their debut album American Music in 1980 that…
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Four Year Strong ‘Four Year Strong’ (2015)
It’s always funny to me when bands are like four albums into their discography, sit down to write a new album, and then someone in the room is like “Hey we never did a self-titled album, we should probably do that yeah?” and then they inevitably put it out. It was sort of commonplace for…
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The War and Treaty ‘Plus One’ (2025)
The War and Treaty dropped their newest album yesterday (Plus One as you would expect) and my wife and I had the pleasure of seeing them host a special Valentine’s Day show at the Grand Ole Opry last evening. The bill included The Band Perry, Neon Union, Jon Randall, LoCash and more, but it was…
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Finneas ‘For Crying Out Loud’ (2024)
I spent last night at the Ryman Auditorium watching Finneas play an incredible live show. For those of you not in the know, the Ryman Auditorium is in Nashville and is one of the most iconic live music venues in the United States, standing basically alongside Madison Square Garden as one of the most desired…
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Kenny Loggins ‘Keep The Fire’ (1979)
Kenny Loggins’ Keep The Fire is a prime example of the smooth, radio-friendly sound that defined the yacht rock genre, blending polished production, breezy melodies, and Loggins’ signature sweet vocals. It was an album that solidified Loggins as one of the era’s defining artists, effortlessly straddling pop and soft rock with a touch of funk.…
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Tim O’Brien ‘Rock In My Shoe’ (2006)
I’m in Nashville this week for a combo trip of work and pleasure. The Music City is such an incredible place– from the bright lights of Broadway to the mood of Music Row, every time I’m out here I have a blast. This evening I’ll be headed to the iconic Station Inn to watch famed…
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Further Seems Forever ‘The Moon Is Down’ (2001)
Pretty much everyone in my elder millennial age group remembers Chris Carrabba for his work with Dashboard Confessional in the early 2000’s. As I wrote about in my review of Dashboard’s 2001 album The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, Carrabba single-handedly made the introverted kid lacking self-confidence blessed with a penchant for…
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Kate Bush ‘Hounds of Love’ (1985)
Hounds of Love is a perfect example of when artistic ambition meets the pop music framework. Showcasing her chameleonic vocal range—from guttural growls to ethereal whispers—Bush pushed the boundaries of pop with lush, experimental production and deeply evocative storytelling. But where it gets really special is the prog-rock concept album nature of it all (which…
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Casey ‘Love Is Not Enough’ (2016)
I dearly loved Casey’s 2024 comeback album How To Disappear, and their debut album Love Is Not Enough from 2016 is equally special albeit in an entirely different way that harkens back to one of my favorite albums from the mid-2000’s. Imagine for a moment two brothers separated at birth, adopted and raised by two…
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Saturday Night Fever ‘Original Soundtrack’ (1977)
Few acts have navigated pop music’s shifting tides with the chameleonic brilliance of the Bee Gees, a trio whose harmonies could cut through the thickest disco fog or glide over baroque balladry with equal finesse. Rising from the shadow of the Beatles in the ’60s to become the glittering architects of the ’70s dancefloor, their…
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Codefendants ‘This Is Crime Wave’ (2023)
Originally coined as their self-made genre, This Is Crime Wave evolved into a fluid fusion of punk, hip-hop, and reggae layered with dark, cinematic storytelling. With Fat Mike (NOFX) at the helm alongside Sam King (Get Dead) and Ceschi Ramos, the group embraced a raw, unfiltered sound reminiscent of The Transplants meets Days N’ Daze.…
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The D.O.C. ‘No One Can Do It Better’ (1989)
An album titled No One Can Do It Better from an artist relatively unknown to the mainstream might sound like typical hip-hop bravado, but in this case, the claim holds weight. The D.O.C. is one of the most iconic “what could have been” stories in hip-hop history. Before releasing his debut in 1989, he was…
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Kid Rock ‘Devil Without A Cause’ (1998)
Kid Rock’s journey to mainstream success was anything but overnight. After his 1990 debut Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast led to his departure from Jive Records, he spent much of the decade toiling in relative obscurity, self-releasing albums and cultivating a small but loyal Midwest following. And by the time rap-metal exploded into the mainstream in…
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R.E.M. ‘Out of Time’ (1991)
With Out of Time R.E.M. transitioned from beloved college rock icons to full-fledged international superstars, crafting an album that expanded their jangly guitars into a world of strings, horns, and unexpected guest musicians. While still maintaining their signature introspective lyricism, the album took on a more brooding, atmospheric tone, trading some of their earlier urgency…
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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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