Top 100 Greatest Albums (According to this guy)

“Empty man lonely man,  I call myself depressed;  I'm finding ways to avoid you, at  the expense of sanity;  I'm hanging on your words, and I'd like to share a thought; I know that I can't be you now, but I'd like to stay a while…” The  first Goldfinger album i bought was ‘Stomping Ground’ , released in 2000, and it was great, but slightly disappointing due to the fact it was pure punk rock and devoid of any of the ska that I was expecting. Shortly after, I was introduced to the first Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game, which featured their song ‘Superman’. I researched for the album and promptly bought it. To this day it remains as one of my favourite ska punk albums. I would describe Hang-Ups as one of the “sunnier” albums on this list and of Goldfinger’s repertoire;  Ironic as the lyrics seem to be mostly based on disappointment. But these are the  kind of vibes that would go down well on a Californian beach in Summer. Although there is a good mix of punk...

“ That which many strive to be,  It's the marble statue staring over me;  And nobody has the will to tear it down,  it determines wrong and right;  but to me it's just a stereotype,  and it makes us lose our sight….” One afternoon, at the age of 16,  a cardboard box appeared in our garden. Within the box, found at the waste tip in Bromley, sat a decent amount of 90s grunge, funk rock and punk CDs. The likes of Nirvana,  Rage Against The Machine and Red Hot Chilli Peppers? Someone had gone to the lengths of dividing each CD into eighths, with a razor blade.  Maybe they were the product of an angry spouse, wrecking their now ex’s CD collection. I like to believe they belonged to a born again christian, putting to the sword the music of his past, turning over a new leaf… the irony that they ended up in the CD player of the very same…and some actually worked!! And the only one that survived in my collection was ‘Recipe for Hate’ by punk rockers, Bad R...

“ Throw a coin in a fountain of dust, white  noise, her ears are ringing;  Got a ticket for a midnight hanging,  throw a bullet from a freight train leaving…” Beck; most famous for his mid-nighties hits such as ‘Where it’s at (I’ve got two turntables and a microphone), Devil’s haircut (in my mind), Loser (baby, so why don’t you kill me), and many more. ‘Odelay’ is arguably his most popular album to date, but ‘Guero’ knocks it right out of the park, in my opinion. This is one of those albums i go to when I dont want to be hit by a wall of noise (no matter how coherent and excellent that noise may be). It’s actually one of my chill-out albums. The two upbeat tracks, and probably the most well known on the album are ‘E-Pro’ and my favourite, ‘Girl’. Hearing both of these on XFM when released (but once again, lost to the ages) was always a joy. ‘Girl’ just flows so well as a song.  In fact this whole album flows, and thats why its so easy to chill to. There is an age to ...

“I don't know if you saw it coming or not; All I know is that I saw the end result; It can’t have been a pretty thing; You looked like your world caved in…” Have you ever had a geek moment that helped you discover new music? For example: I quite like airshows and military aircraft, so when I see a CD called 'Chocs Away', with a cover featuring members of a band wearing vintage pilot gear, fake handlebar moustaches and the band name coloured in army camouflage, its an obvious must buy!  Snuff were already on my radar; having heard of this UK punk band with trombone, they were an inquisitive notion for this ska fan.  After enjoying the Chocs Away single, I bought the accompanying album, ‘Disposable Income’. As a music lover more into his modern punk rock, this is the closest to raw UK punk that we will see in this list. But not all of the album is straight punk and the variety one reason I rate it so highly. Although it's sometimes hard to understand Duncan’s vocals easil...

“ Easy easy money baby, red wine from the well. He’s inspired , taste acquired, watch out mademoiselle” I honestly can’t remember where I heard of The Fat Cats, and why I bought this album, but my gosh was it one of my best discoveries! So much was my excitement for these songs that ‘Deadbeat’ went on to inspire a large variety of my writing with the band Little Blue Light. Take a pinch of Madness, a swig of the Stray Cats, even a small measure of Barenaked Ladies and some overdriven guitar and we are only part-way to describing the unique sound of this album. A mash up of boogie woogie, ska, swing, punk and rock; there is nothing quite like this out there. Very piano driven, with a strong sax throughout, and excellent vocals. The songs are super catchy and not one is alike, as they flow through various genres.  The piano right at the forefront of the compositions really set it apart from other punk albums. It gives the music a crispness, a swing, and an overall fantastic sound. Ha...

“  It's whereabouts that won't cave in;  Scenes of violence protect this;  In aching heart that will begin to wrestle  with obstruction;  And I'd stay for ages, if i could;  To wake you …” Another UK alternative rock band left behind, when once adequately played on popular radio. You never hear a peep of Hundred Reasons on the likes of XFM or Absolute anymore. Hearing the likes of ‘If I Could’ blasting on my radio in the early 2000s, we fast forward a decade to finding the CD in charity shop for a couple of quid and thinking “I’m sure i’ve heard Hundred Reasons before and like them.”  Through that one simple moment, ‘Ideas Above Our Station’ has possibly  been one of the most defining albums for me personally.  This album hit my musical senses at a time where I had listened to a lot of ska punk; buying CDs just because of the genre, and was starting to get a little tired of poor quality bands and a lack of diversity.  My tastes were chan...

“Standing on the cliff face, highest fall you'll ever grace ;  It scares me half to death;  Look out to the future, but it tells you nothing ;  So take another breath…” Who’d of thought there would be two FIFA game references in this album countdown? Well back in 2013, the soundtrack gave my ears the joy of hearing ‘The Weight Of Living Part ii’. It wasn’t until more recently, through consistent radio play that Bastille became one of my favourite modern indie rock/pop bands. In a similar way to the Hoosiers’ stand out songs, as mentioned in my blog a few days back, Bastille shine through the Indie fog with their unique style. Three things I love about Bastille: The pounding drums that make you feel like you’re in the middle of an epic adventure movie, the strong choiresque harmonies and, above all, Dan Smith’s sublime lead vocals. They love to tell stories, of history, life and mythicality. The melodies are beautiful; the tone of voice is like honey for the ears. Incredib...

“I'm tired of having to look good, pretend  that we feel good;  Never let it show that we could be  anything less than completely obsessed;  With the contents of our wallets and the way that we're dressed…” A band i always wanted to see live, but never had the opportunity, Capdown were probably the headliners of the UK ska punk scene in the early noughties. The genre generally stayed underground in the UK, and I was surprised to find their ‘New Revolutionaries’ CD single in HMV, back in 2003. Perhaps they broke out of the underground? I didn’t enjoy that single as much as their previous two albums, but the album that followed three years later, “Wind Up Toys” was excellent. The aptly named track ‘Surviving the Death of a Genre’ shows that ska punk in the UK had pretty much died out by that point and was to remain underground. Capdown have an ability that seems to escape other ska punk bands. The likes of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones or Less Than Jake, for example, hav...

“ Everything you love turns to dust;  You'd make more of it but you felt rushed,  By all that's periphery;  You held tight, but on the contrary;  The trick to life is not to get too attached to it … ” Whenever I mention The Hoosiers to colleagues, they haven’t a clue who I’m talking about. Even when singing ‘Worried About Ray’, I’m greeted by blank faces. When their debut album was released, two songs in particular were played all over popular radio. Then after a year or so  they faded a little into obscurity, apart from a  core fanbase. But the name has never escaped me and ‘The Trick To Life’ remains a favourite. There is so much joy in these songs. Musically, the big numbers are full of bounce, which give them an almost 1920s/30s vibe, and the so called “album fillers” are just as catchy, well crafted and brilliantly written songs. Adding a nice measure of background brass and keys to the band and we have a very pleasing sound. It’s rare that many bands ...

“I was judge, jury and witness in one;  I put myself on trial for the things I had done;  Forced to stare and look at now what I had become;  Cold and unforgiving like the face of a gun … ” Inside my Slick Shoes CD case was a record label catalogue. Turns out that Slick Shoes had recorded a split EP with a band called Autopilot Off. “Huh…” my mind thought, and then promptly forgot the name until sixteen years later. Although no Slick Shoes albums make it onto this list, ‘Make A Sound’ comes in at 86. I haven’t got loads to say, other than its a really solid punk rock album. A more mature punk rock than the likes of Blink 182 etc; Focusing more on minor keys, and more intellectual in lyrical content. Very catchy ‘Offspringesque’ melodies (and I’m not talking about the comedy parmesan they so often released). I’m not a big fan of “whiney” punk rock singers and Chris Hughes’ vocal tone is great. Once again they use more interesting chords and play an upbeat tempo style of P...

“ As the pendulum is swinging, from side to side i often wonder; Why that the things that mean the most to me, can never be; I cut my losses and move forward … ”   I came into possession of ‘Mail Order Is Still Fun’, a CD compilation of bands on the Asian Man Records label. The first track was ‘Myself’ and the description read “10 piece ska punk band”.  Those words alone got me very interested in Big D And The Kids Table. This album reminds me of the early days of writing ska punk songs for my old band Blunt Skulls. We were ridiculing our old neighbour, a particular bus route that ran from Lewisham to Orpington and the pop music of the early 2000s. We were young and having fun.  And a lot of these songs have that same feel. A good load of hectic ska, mixed with punk and hardcore. Almost every song crams all 3 genres into one, which leaves a rather enjoyable experience. The vocals take a unique turn in being more spoken word than singing, which really sets them apart from ...

“To my family, my brothers and all of my friends;  Say goodbye, I am going off to war, and I am not coming home; I’ve given everything for someone else’s war; Tell me what we’re fighting for … ” More mature than pop punk; more life driven than punk rock; more ferocious than rock; more upbeat than Emo. As I’ve got older, these are some of the reasons that draw me to Alternative Rock. Another product of the ‘engine of discovery’ is ‘Let’s Build Something To Break’ by After Midnight Project. The melodies and chord structures of the songs are what I love most about this album. As mentioned before, I can be a sucker for non-standard chord sequences that make melodies more interesting. And some of these songs bring out the goosebumps when listening. In a turn of events, this is also one of those rare rock albums where my favourite songs are the slower paced ones. Plenty of great quick paced numbers, but the likes of ‘Gone Too Long’ and ‘Fighting My Way Back’ are truly beautiful songs. Th...