My Top Ten Albums of all Time

As a sort of disclaimer, I'd like you all to notice that this is MY top ten, and therefore not up for debate. Further, this being my list, is not listed according to critical acclaim, or how musically brilliant the album was, or any particular reason really. It's basically decided on the basis of how much I love the album, in some cases it was the music, some the lyrics, some simply the time in my life when I listened to it. Point being: MY list. Also, this is in no particular order. Narrowing down the music I love to ten albums is difficult enough without ordering them according to preference. Okay, here goes nothing...

1. Big Ones: Aerosmith.
Okay, it might be considered cheating that I picked a greatest hits album, but you should note that Aerosmith has had many 'best of' albums, so it still counts. Besides, it has my favourite song on it, "Rag Doll". And while I love the song, Permanent Vacation couldn't be called my all-time favourite Aerosmith album. If I had to pick the standard studio album, it would be a close call between Pump and Get a Grip. And this is where Big Ones fits in perfectly, it takes my favourite bits of both albums, adds my favourite song, and voila: perfection.

2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Elton John
Again, I would have preferred to pick his first greatest hits album, but okay. This album is complete genius, the title track is my favourite Elton John track ever. There's this live version he does with Billy Joel, and I love it possibly more than the original. Plus, the album also has "Bennie and the Jets", which is my second favourite song, tied with "Tiny Dancer". You have to understand how difficult it is to pick a favourite album, the man is a musical genius and has a bazillion albums, each one equally brilliant. He writes the most amazing music, never a boring melody, ever!

3. The Bends: Radiohead
Radiohead is very mood music for me. There are only a few points in my life when I want to listen to them. But at those points, I becomes obsessive. The Bends is probably not the most critically acclaimed of Radiohead albums, but I don't think they've ever been as honest, brutally-hit-you-where-it-hurts kind of beautiful. The album makes me cry, but revel in the crying, if that makes any sense. "Black Star" is my favourite Radiohead song of all time, with "The Bends" and "High and Dry" at a very very close second. If you ever want to just enjoy being miserable, then you may as well do it with this album. Plus, "Just" is just one of the best videos all time. It kills me.

4. Gulag Orkestar: Beirut
Considering how much I talk about Beirut, it shouldn't surprise you that they're on this list. Despite the fact that they've only released two albums, I think they've already understood what it's all about better than musicians who have been doing this for decades. If I could, I'd just pick both albums. Sigh. Anyway, this one has "Postcards from Italy" and that was pretty much the decider for me. It was the first song of theirs that I ever heard, and to date, the bridge can make me sob. I want the song to play when I fall in love. I want it to play when I die. I want it to play at every important event in my life. If it's the only song in the soundtrack of my life, I'd still be blissfully happy.

5. Californication: Red Hot Chili Peppers
While, like the average RHCP fan, I too love By the Way and Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication is my absolute favourite RHCP album. Frusciante came back with a bang for this album. "Otherside" is my favourite RHCP song after "Universally Speaking". And truth be told, every other song on the album is pretty near perfect too. The album kind of blends earlier lively RHCP, with their newer, slightly mellower side. I mean, you have the acoustic "Road Tripping", with the mad "Around the World", with one of the few RHCP lyrics that have ever made any sense to me in "Easily". What's not to love?

6. The Joshua Tree: U2
Well, duh, a U2 album had to be on the list. I went with the cliche and picked The Joshua Tree, but to be honest, All That You Can't Leave Behind is right there too. I love both albums equally and completely. It's rare to come across an album where you absolutely love every song on it. Two is pretty much impossible, but here you go. I love both albums, all the songs, and I would kill to hear them live. When I was 11, and All That.. had just come out, I heard "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" for the first time, and that's the first time ever that a song made me cry. Consistently. I still get a little teary eyed when I hear it. It makes me feel 11 all over again, and remember how I felt when I first heard the song, which is that I was growing up and at some point soon, life would stop being this easy.
I was right.
Okay, make that 6. The Joshua Tree/All That You Can't Leave Behind: U2

7. Morning View: Incubus
Easily one of the most innovative, unpredictable albums I have ever heard. Not one song is like any other on the album, and there's no single mood to the album. Some songs are soft & slow, others strong and heavy. "Wish You Were Here" was my favourite song for a long time. Not just my favourite Incubus song, or my favourite song off this album, but just my favourite song. I loved it, I yelled it, I sang my heart out. This song was the soundtrack of most of my teenage life. And while I may not be able to call it my favourite song anymore, it's still up there in my top ten songs. Fo sho. I missed seeing them live in Dubai because of my exams, and I doubt I'll ever forgive myself for that. I cried that night. My only real display of teen angst, I should think.

8. Funeral: Arcade Fire
Wow. I have never heard a band that sings every song of theirs with so much heart. They're singing for you, for me, and for themselves. Every word. And you'd have to be made of stone to not know that. With that much emotion going into every song, it's impossible not to love them. "Wake Up" and "Neighbourhood #3" are my favourite songs from the album, while "Une Annee Sans Lumiere" is probably the most beautiful name for a song I have ever heard. Kinda fits the melancholy mood of the whole album. Love it.

9. Jagged Little Pill: Alanis Morissette
If you're a girl, and you've ever been brokenhearted or angry at any point, then you've cried, and then listened to this album, found that powerful anger inside you and raged at the world and anything or anybody that has ever hurt you. This album is my 'fuck you' to the world. It is angsty, and all the I-am-woman-hear-me-roar that I could ever need. And for that reason, it will always be special to me.

10. The Beatles (The White Album): The Beatles
And I end with a bang. Do I need to explain why I love this album, because I really think the songs speak for themselves. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is my favourite Beatles song ever, ironically one of the few non-Lennon/McCartney songs. The rest of the album is just so damned varied. It's difficult to make a generalisation about the album and why I love it. I just do. I love the random songs, I love the beautiful songs, I love the songs which surprise you with their depth. Savvy? Go listen to it and you can ignore whatever I just typed.

In fact, you should go listen to all these albums. While I don't want to debate my choices, I'd love to discuss them. =)