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KennebecTom's 191 Best Rock Albums

1/26/2013

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So the other day on Facebook I see this quiz people took - How Many of These 100 Influential Rock Albums Do You Own?  This was so right up my alley that I broke my almost inviolate rule against doing anything on Facebook that requires the fuss of using an app.  I got to the quiz and started scrolling down.  It didn't take long before my mind was saying "What the....?" 

It was the most weird-ass, crack-smokin', left-field group of stuff I've ever seen.  There were very few albums that EVER come up in conversation, or articles, or stupid countdown TV shows.  When there was even a band I like, they seem to have picked the most obscure album by that artist.  It was only afterwards that I noticed that the modifier "most" was missing from the title.  I.e. "100 Most Influential Albums."  It merely said "Influential."  Well, hell, any album is influential - even if it only influences you to turn it off or trade it in.

I was so put off that I deleted the app and was inspired to cleanse my psyche by creating the following list - which is actually based on something called "criteria."   Unlike the stupid Facebook quiz app.

So, my criteria for this list are that each album strengthened my belief that music is the best thing humans do.  Or consoled me in a time of heartache.  Or made me dance.  Or introduced a totally new and unique sound unlike any I'd heard before.  Or made me play tennis racket guitar.  And, I'm not just going for influential here, but for "Best."  I often have more albums by many of these artists than are listed here, but even the best bands have hits and misses.  So these are winnowed to what I think are their strongest output.


This is mostly a subjective list, but many of these albums also made a big impact on the development of Rock and Pop.  I'm not sure where the line between Rock and Pop is.  iTunes and other music services attempt to use both labels.  In my music collection, all the Pop, Rock, Electronic, Alternative, and what have you, all gets lumped under Rock, because it's all listened to under one frame of mind for me - as opposed to days when I turn to Classical or Jazz.

And mostly, the "album" criteria for this list is that the album has to be very cohesive and excellent as an album.  You know, with that special flow that draws you along from track to track and makes you reluctant to turn it off before it's over.  So, without further ado, here is KennebecTom's list of 191 of the best albums ever (alphabetically by artist, to make your shopping easier):

a-ha
Hunting High and Low
Stay On These Roads

ABBA
Gold

ABC
Beauty Stab
Lexicon of Love

Adam Ant
Manners & Physique

Alphaville
Forever Young

Arcadia
So Red The Rose

Ash Koley
The Black EP
The Blue EP
The Red EP
The White EP

The B-52s
Cosmic Thing

Belly
Star

Big Audio Dynamite II
The Globe

Bjork
Debut

Byrne, David
Uh-Oh

The Church
Starfish
Priest=Aura

The Clash
Combat Rock

Cousteau
Cousteau

Crow, Sheryl
The Globe Sessions
Sheryl Crow

The Cult
Sonic Temple
Electric

The Cure
Mixed Up

Def Leppard
Pyromania

Depeche Mode
Music For The Masses
Violator
Songs of Faith & Devotion

Donnelly, Tanya
Lovesongs for Underdogs

Duran Duran
Seven And The Ragged Tiger
All You Need Is Now
Big Thing
Duran Duran
Duran Duran [The Wedding Album]
Notorious
Rio

Electronic
Electronic
Raise The Pressure

EMF
Schubert Dip

Enigma
MCMXC A.D.

Enya
The Celts
Shepherd Moons
Watermark

Erasure
The Innocents
Chorus
Wild!

Evanescence
Fallen

The Fixx
Shuttered Room
Reach The Beach
Phantoms

Flesh For Lulu
Long Live The New Flesh
Plastic Fantastic

Florence + The Machine
Lungs
Ceremonials

Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Welcome To The Pleasuredome

Garbage
Garbage

Gene Loves Jezebel
Discover

Gordon, Nina
Tonight And The Rest of My Life

Harket, Morten
Wild Seed

Hatfield, Juliana
Become What You Are
Beautiful Creature

Henley, Don
Building The Perfect Beast

Hooverphonic
The Magnificent Tree
Blue Wonder Power Milk

Idol, Billy
Billy Idol
Rebel Yell

Imbruglia, Natalie
Left Of The Middle

Information Society
Information Society
Hack

INXS
Shabooh Shoobah
Kick
The Swing
X
Switch
Welcome To Wherever You Are

The Jesus And Mary Chain
Automatic

Koop
Koop Islands

KTP
Certain Things Are Likely

Lorde

Pure Heroine

Love And Rockets
Earth.Sun.Moon
Love And Rockets

Madonna
Confessions On A Dance Floor
Music

Mandell, Eleni
Afternoon

Marley, Bob
Legend

Max Q
Max Q

McKeown, Erin
Grand
Sing You Sinners

McLachlan, Sarah
Afterglow
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Surfacing

Michael, George
Faith
Listen Without Prejudice

The Mission U.K.
Children
Carved In Sand
Grains Of Sand

The Models
Out Of Mind Out Of Sight

Morissette, Alanis
Jagged Little Pill
Flavors of Entanglement
So-Called Chaos
Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
Under Rug Swept

Morrissey
Bona Drag
Kill Uncle
Vauxhall And I
Ringleader of The Tormentors
You Are The Quarry
Your Arsenal

New Order
Brotherhood
Low-Life
Power, Corruption & Lies
Republic
Substance

Nine Inch Nails
Pretty Hate Machine

Nitzer Ebb
Belief
Showtime

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Crush
The Pacific Age
Sugar Tax

Orton, Beth
Central Reservation
Daybreaker
Trailer Park

The Outfield
Play Deep

Pet Shop Boys
Actually
Alternative
Behavior
Bilingual
Please
Introspective

Poe
Hello

The Police
Ghost In The Machine
Reggatta De Blanc
Zenyatta Mondatta
Synchronicity

The Power Station
The Power Station

The Proclaimers
Sunshine On Leith

REM
Automatic For The People
Document
Green
New Adventures in Hi-Fi

Ruby
Saltpeter

Runga, Bic
Beautiful Collision
Drive

Saint Etienne
Foxbase Alpha
Finisterre
Tales From The Turnpike House

Scritti Politti
Cupid & Psyche 85
Anomie & Bonhomie
Provision

The Sisters of Mercy
Floodland
Vision Thing

The Smiths
Best of

Sneaker Pimps
Bloodsport

The Soup Dragons
Lovegod
Hotwired

Squeeze
Babylon And On

Starsailor
Love Is Here

Stereo MCs
Connected

Sting
The Dream Of The Blue Turtles
Nothing Like The Sun
Sacred Love
Ten Summoner's Tales

Tears For Fears
Everybody Loves A Happy Ending
Songs From The Big Chair
The Seeds Of Love

The The
Mind Bomb
Dusk

Thompson Twins
Queer

Todd, Katie
Changing Faces
Closer
Make Some Time For Wasting
Mumbled Speech


U2
The Joshua Tree
Achtung Baby
Rattle And Hum
The Unforgettable Fire

UB40
Labour of Love

Vega, Suzanne
Beauty & Crime
Songs In Red & Gray
Nine Objects of Desire

Venus Hum
Big Beautiful Sky
The Colors In The Wheel
Mechanics & Mathematics
Songs For Superheroes

Veruca Salt
American Thighs

The Wonder Stuff
Eight Legged Groove Machine

XTC
Nonsuch

Yes
90125
Big Generator

Whew.  Um.  Well, I got a little carried away maybe.  That's 191 by my count.  There may be some others that'd make the list in my library, but I'm just not familiar with all of them enough to be sure the percentage of superlative tracks outweigh the stinkers.  Productive use of a Saturday afternoon?  Maybe not, but I hope you enjoy a few "oh yeah" moments and maybe even discover something new.

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    Tom lives on the east side of the Kennebec River and works on the west.  He relocated from Arizona to Maine, by pure choice,  in 2001 and loves music and history.  He may change any viewpoint expressed on this site at will and without warning.

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