“Vivid” by Living Colour (No. 92)
How much was I into Living Colour‘s 1998 debut album, Vivid? I was willing to go to a concert with my mother just because Living Colour was the opening band. Sure, you think, that doesn’t sound so bad. But at 19, going to a Rolling Stones concert with my...
“Bricks Are Heavy” by L7 (No. 93)
Let’s turn up the volume a little bit, shall we? This one needs to be played loud. L7’s Bricks Are Heavy, from 1992, is today’s top 100 pick. L7, apparently slang for “square,” features Donita Sparks, Suzi Gardner, Jennifer Finch, and Demetra Plakas. Sparks wrote most of the songs...
“World Outside” by Psychedelic Furs (No. 94)
The Psychedelic Furs‘ 1991 swan song, World Outside has been one of my go-to albums since its release. The Furs snuck this one in just before grunge, industrial, and second (or maybe third) wave punk took over the alternative music world. Released in July 1991, Pearl Jam’s Ten and...
“All the Roadrunning” by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris (No. 95)
Mark Knopfler has a tendency to make magic when he picks up a guitar. If he’s written a bad song or recorded a dud, I’m not aware of it. His work with Dire Straits, his solo work, and work composing film scores (I love the Wag the Dog soundtrack)...
“Lungs” by Florence + The Machine (No. 96)
Yesterday I said that we’d be getting into some newer music, and I do like to keep my promises. Coming in at 96 on the list is Florence and the Machine‘s Lungs released in 2009. Not sure where I first heard about Florence and the Machine, but (according to...
“Deep” by Peter Murphy (No. 97)
We’re on the fourth cut into the top 100, and haven’t gotten out of the early 90s yet. Don’t worry, we will shortly. Yet again, I have MTV to thank for discovering Peter Murphy’s Deep. Clearly, my tolerance for cheesy videos was as high as my ear was keen...
“Bat Out of Hell” by Meat Loaf (No. 98)
I deliberately posted the first entry in this series without having the entire list finished. Mainly because I knew that once the list was closed, I’d keep finding albums I had missed or questioning choices. 100 albums? Only 100? Yeesh. Bat Out of Hell, though. It had to be...
“Prison” by Steven Jessie Bernstein (No. 99)
The second entry in my top 100, Steven Jesse Bernstein’s Prison, takes a sharp and dark turn away from the late-80s poppy techno vibe of Information Society. Sometime in the early 90s, after learning about my love of Charles Bukowski’s work, and Henry Rollins’ books, gave me a dubbed cassette of Prison. If...
“Information Society” by Information Society (No. 100)
Things have been a little too quiet on the blog front lately, so I decided I needed a project that would motivate me to write a little bit each day. So I decided to compile a list of my “desert island” albums. I’m not claiming these are the best 100...
Autumn Is Your Last Chance
Perfect song for an Autumn Sunday. One of my favorite Robyn Hitchcock songs – and that’s saying something, really. He has an amazing body of work, but this is quiet and beautiful little song that always catches my ear when it’s on. I chose a YouTube video of him...