Top 100 Greatest Albums (According to this guy)

“We go to practice almost every day;  And our conductor tells us how to play;  You blow the trumpet and I slap the bass;  We are a big ensemble called the human race…” Millencolin were one of those punk rock bands I had heard of, but never took the leap to buy an album. That was until I found a signed copy of ‘Kingwood’ in a charity shop in Petts Wood. It took me a while to really get into them, but safe to say, they are now one of my favourite Punk Rock bands. A far more hectic and angry style than the likes of the more commercial Punk bands, Millencolin tend to give us the gritty side of society and politics. Their sound is more toward the less cheesy side of the Offspring (eg.The Kids Aren’t Alright) yet a little more thrashy, and Nikola Sarcevic’s vocal tone fits so well. But they're not a shouty hardcore punk band. Songs tend to focus around the minor key and the melodies are excellent. There’s a lot of energy and heart in every song. They also use harmonies in a sub...

“Understand I`m a man who  believes in the glory of love;  True love is the light shining bright from  the Heavens above;  I believe it is better to trust even when I`m wrong;  Than to let my fear drive me from  the home where I have belonged…” Back to the Lockup - the early morning punk rock show on Radio 1 as mentioned before, where I discovered the legends that are Fishbone! A live session on the show, playing with an energy and sound I’d never heard before, their 80s classic ‘Ma & Pa’ and the excellent ‘Where Did You Get Those Pants’; this was a unique mix of eclectic ska, soul, funk and punk.  I admit a struggle to fully enjoy their albums. Such is the wide range of styles, sometimes all smashed together in an incredibly manic fashion, from heavy metal, to reggae, rock and those mentioned previously. But a slight departure from others, this album is far more approachable. More of a pop feel, without losing their ska, funk and soul edge, ‘...

“ 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...

“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...

“Depression swept over the land of no preparation; Searching as much as he can for pure meditation; Tried to find some work, but there’s no work to do; Everything’s gone wrong, and everything is through. … ” As I was walking through HMV, I saw this album out the corner of my eye. Having heard of the band (another ska/reggae act signed to Hellcat Records), but never listened, I purchased ‘IV’ and on first listen, instantly fell in love with it. A small 4-piece with a big sound! The Aggrolites are a fantastic modern American reggae band, but with a sound more akin to the Harry J. Allstars (famous for their ska classic, ‘The Liquidator’), especially with the hammond organ at the forefront of each song. Musically, the songs are strong, with a flow and clarity to the instruments. And the lead vocals are full of character and soul. Very catchy, memorable melodies and instrumental riffs, mixing in some funk and soul along with the traditional reggae. Any album with over 20 songs would struggl...

“ If you want my reasons for just why I joined the war; Well I’ll tell you, I had to; ‘Cause when they tell you, “Son stand straight and take this gun”; Well they also point one at you… ” Brixton Academy, 2004 - Deconstruction Fest. Arrived looking forward to seeing MxPx, discovered Yellowcard (with their backflipping vilolinist) and left having thoroughly enjoyed a little known but highly regarded ska band; The Slackers. With a boat load of albums in their repertoire, The Slackers are, in my opinion, the world’s best modern era, traditional ska band. Whereas their previous albums include around 20 songs, ‘Peculiar’ actually feels like a fuller, stronger album, with just the thirteen strong. Long punk albums can tend to lose my attention (The Slackers being signed to Tim Armstrong’s punk Hellcat Records), and they’ve got the length just right with ‘Peculiar’ Very political songs, covering different styles, but mostly brilliant traditional ska and reggae. ‘International War Criminal’ hi...