What Are The Top Ten Albums You Can’t Live Without?

Dear Autostraddlers, hello it is me Intern Emily. This article is a little different from the other articles I may have done. How is it different? Well, It’s all about me! Mememe! One day I decided I would write about my top 10 favourite albums for my blog and Crystal liked it so much that she asked me to work it into a piece for Audiostraddle. Then we liked that so much that we decided to ask everyone to tell us the top ten albums they can’t live without either.

So keep in mind that this piece was never intended to be seen by zillions of people, it was just meant for the 3-15 people who read my blog.

These are 10 albums that I love to listen to — they’re not relevant to a time period or a theme or whatnot; they’re just 10 records that happened to stick with me. You might disagree with me, that’s cool, like I said, this is all about me. But just know that I’m very sensitive and your criticism makes me cry. Jk. Anyways, this can kind of be like an open thread or something. Do we have the same favourite albums? Do you hate every album I’ve picked? Why? I’m sure that everyone has at least one album they will never get tired of, so tell me/the world about it!

10. The Shins – Wincing the Night Away

I picked this even though I can live without the entire album but I can’t live without The Shins. I would like to make a ‘Best of The Shins’ CD and it would include songs from all 3 of their albums such as: “New Slang” and “Gone For Good”. For the record, my favourite Shins song is “Pink Bullets” which is on their album Chutes Too Narrow. It took me a while to really like Wincing the Night Away because I wanted every song to sound like “Know Your Onion!” but I’ve finally come to appreciate the album as a whole.
Favourite track: “Australia”

9. Iron & Wine – Around the Well

Around the Well is one of those compilation CDs with two discs of previously unreleased stuff. It features some of my favourite Iron & Wine songs such as “Kingdom of the Animals”, “God Made the Automobile”, “Carried Home”, “The Trapeze Swinger”, and Sam Beam’s cover of “Such Great Heights”, which btw, is my favourite The Postal Service song. So there.
Favourite track: “Kingdom of the Animals”

8. The New Pornographers – Challengers

Challengers is my favourite New Pornographer’s album because it’s the only full album I’ve heard from them. Rumour has it they’re releasing a new album in 2010, which is really exciting because I will purchase it and maybe it’ll be better than Challengers, but that’ll be hard because Challengers is a really good album. Sometimes I listen to the title track “Challengers” over and over again and think about watching the sunset in a field. “Whatever the mess you are, you’re mine”.
Favourite track: “Adventures In Solitude”

7. Tegan and Sara – The Con

Arguably Tegan and Sara’s best album, The Con fills me with so many emotions that I’m surprised I don’t cry every time I hear it. It comes with a DVD and if you were lucky enough to have friends who would spend $10 on you, then you could have gotten the demo CD as well on their US tour in 2008 (thanks Katrina!). Almost everybody uses Tegan and Sara lyrics as titles for their blog posts because they’re so good. Also because they’re very relate-able. Do I need to speak more about Tegan and Sara? Well, I will in a bit.
Favourite track: “Back in Your Head”

6. Bright Eyes – Noise Floor: Rarities 1998-2005

Noise Floor was an impulse buy, but it was definitely one of the best impulse buys ever. The album art is really good, but also the tracks are better and almost every single song is a favourite. My only qualm with Noise Floor is the length (long!), but Bright Eyes always has super long albums anyways. Plus, everyone knows that Conor Oberst is super talented and a lyrical genius and therefore he is allowed to make long albums.
Favourite track (depending on my mood): “Blue Angels Air Show”, “Weather Reports”, “Seashell Tale”, or “Amy in the White Coat”

5. Sarah McLachlan – Mirrorball

Ever since I discovered Mirrorball way at the back of a shelf in a giant cupboard in the basement, I have not been able to live without it. Seriously guys, Mirrorball is pure gold. If you think Sarah McLachlan is good on studio albums, wait till you hear her live. Sometimes I have no idea what her songs are about but they make me cry anyway. Also Sarah Mclachlan was a co-founder of Lilith Fair, which is coming to a city near you summer 2010! Yay for women artists!
Favourite track: Sweet Surrender, Angel

4. Tegan and Sara: If It Was You

I feel like not many other people would pick If It Was You as one of their favourite Tegan and Sara albums, because So Jealous and The Con are so good. But I have, and I’m gonna tell you why. Firstly, it features one of their best songs “City Girl”, and secondly, it includes other fan favourites like “Living Room”, “Monday Monday Monday” and “I Hear Noises”. Thirdly, it is the album that put Tegan and Sara on the map (this is arguable). Regardless, If It Was You is my favourite because I’ve never tried too hard to figure out what the songs are about. I kind of like that. The burden of being a hardcore fan is that you know things about the artist’s lives and so half the time you’re trying to guess if this song is about this person or that person or whatever. With If It Was You, I can just listen to the music. Also if you haven’t heard “Want to be Bad” performed live in Melbourne, which I tried semi-hard to find on youtube, then you should look it up yourself and listen to it.
Favourite track: “City Girl”

3. Okkervil River: The Stand Ins

I  purchased The Stand Ins in December ’08 in California and my life has never been the same since. A couple of weeks later I started this blog and called it “the shoreline receding” which is a line from “Lost Coastlines” which is possibly the best track on the album. Okkervil River’s lyrics and melodies never cease to amaze me, which is why I bought another one of their albums, Black Sheep Boy. Just note that just because it’s not on this top ten list, it doesn’t mean it’s not phenomenal. I am waiting for Okkervil River to come to Canada so I can have my mind blown.
Favourite track: “Lost Coastlines”
Runner Ups: Calling and Not Calling my Ex; Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979

2. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

I can’t live without this album because I fall asleep to it every night. Yes, every night. I can’t explain to you the pleasures of Justin Vernon’s out of tune guitar and high pitched voice. Bon Iver is just pure magic, pure fucking magic. I don’t want to ruin his music with my words.
Favourite track: “re:stacks”

1. Death Cab for Cutie – We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes

We Have the Facts is Death Cab’s best album, hands down totes. Well, maybe there’s room for Transatlanticism. I can’t even really explain what makes this album so good — I think it’s the simplicity of it, the crappyish recording, the fact that it sounds like 3 people with 3 instruments and not 28. Plans was good, Narrow Stairs was good, but they will never measure up to We Have the Facts. If I had the last copy of this album on earth, I would not give it away for 10 million dollars. Just read the lyrics to “No Joy in Mudville”.
Favourite track: “Company Calls Epilogue”


Next:
The rest of Audiostraddle weighs in on what albums they can’t live without.

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Emily

Emily Choo started as an intern with Autostraddle when she was 18 years old. She's now 10 years older and lives in Toronto with her partner and cat. The defining moment of her career was when Riese said this about her: " I think Emily Choo is a very bright, 'poetically inclined' girl who pays attention to everything and knows almost everything (the point of stuff, how to read, how beautiful things feel, how scary things feel, etc.) but doesn't believe/accept/realize yet that she knows almost everything." She still doesn't believe she knows anything, so, thank you, Riese, for that.

Emily has written 100 articles for us.

162 Comments

  1. I ranked based on how many songs I like on the album. In no order except number one

    Amy Winehouse- Back to Black
    Fiest- the Reminder
    (#1) Tegan and Sara- The Con
    Dragonette- Galore
    Kylie Minogue-X
    Lady Gaga-the Fame
    R. Kelly- TP-2, TP-3 or the R in R&B (Can’t decide, they are all vital)
    Linkin Park-Hybrid Theory
    Tegan and Sara-Sainthood
    Rachel Cantu-Run All Night

  2. OMG Riese, Rent! My best friend and I do the Light My Candle duet as a party trick.

    Every list had at least a couple of records that would be in my top 30. Love this.

    1. Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run
    2. Tracy Chapman: Tracy Chapman
    3. 2Pac: All Eyez on Me
    4. Paul Simon: Graceland
    5. The Jayhawks: Rainy Day Music
    6. Amy Winehouse: Back to Black
    7. Counting Crows: August and Everything
    8. Kanye West: The College Dropout
    9. Jackson Browne: Running on Empty
    10. Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska

  3. I don’t think I’ll be as cool as everyone else, mine are all pretty mainstream. Oh well, I could be happy forever just hearing these albums:

    10. Eminem-The Marshall Mathers LP
    9. Billy Joel-The Essential Billy Joel
    8. Alanis Morrisette-Jagged Little Pill
    7. Michael Jackson-Dangerous
    6. DMB-Listener Supported
    5. RENT soundtrack
    4. Lady Gaga-The Fame Monster
    3. Rachael Yamagata-Elephants
    2. Nirvana-Nevermind
    1. Lil Wayne-Tha Carter III

    • I went to a karaoke bar last night and they listed Uptown Girl as being “made famous by Westlife” and I was APPALLED.

      But then again there were sooo many mistakes on all the lyrics, it was clear that whoever put it all together was not that bothered with accuracy.

  4. Crystal’s music taste is FTW.

    In no particular order:
    Lateralus – Tool
    We Are Smug – We Are Smug (Darren Hayes/Robert Conley’s free project)
    The Tension and the Spark – Darren Hayes
    Superunknown – Soundgarden
    The Blues and the Abstract Truth – Oliver Nelson
    Thirteenth Step – A Perfect Circle
    40 Days – The Wailin’ Jennys
    A Bird Flies Out – Deb Talan
    Night Train – Oscar Peterson
    Take Five – Dave Bruebeck

    • I was stoked to see another person with Tool and A Perfect Circle on their list! Heavy rock is my #1 feeling, I wish more people were interested in it.

  5. * Elle Bandita – Queen of Fools http://www.ellebandita.com/
    Band from The Netherlands, you should check them out. In March they are visiting the USA.

    * Cinema Bizarre – Final Attraction

    * U2 – Achtung Baby

    * t.A.T.u. – The Best

    * Negative – Karma Killer

    * The New Shining – Supernatural Showdown

    * Dead or Alive – Evolution

    * Depeche Mode – The Best of Depeche Mode

    * Within Temptation – Black Symphony

    * Placebo – Once more with feeling

  6. Hoodoo Man Blues–Buddy Guy & Junior Wells
    Funeral for a Friend–Dirty Dozen Brass Band
    The Chess Box Collection–Etta James
    20–Harry Connick, Jr.
    The Wicked Soundtrack
    Tha Carter III–Lil Wayne
    Kind of Blue–Miles Davis
    Wolfgang Amadeus–Phoenix
    Continuum–John Mayer (as long as I can throw “Come Back to Bed” on there)
    Number 1’s–The Temptations

  7. My first post as a member! :)

    I’ll probably change my mind after I post this:

    1. The Ramones – The Ramones
    2. The Beatles – Number 1’s
    3. PJ Harvey – Dry
    4. Dirty Dancing Soundtrack
    5. The Arcade Fire – The Funeral
    6. Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
    7. Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
    8. Fiona Apple – When the Pawn…
    9. Pulp Fiction soundtrack
    10. Prince – Purple Rain

  8. Not in any particular order, and if you asked this tomorrow, it would probably be ten different albums.

    The Gaslight Anthem-Sink or Swim
    Murder By Death-Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them
    Tegan and Sara-The Con (it’s pretty hard to argue with that one)
    Nickel Creek-S/T
    Ani DiFranco-Out of Range
    Streetlight Manifesto-Everything Goes Numb
    Spitalfield-Remember Right Now
    The Organ-Grab That Gun
    Brand New-The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (Everyone loves Deja Entendu, but this is by far their best album)
    Cursive-The Ugly Organ

  9. Crystal, The Downward Spiral is such an EPIC album. I don’t really like NIN but if I did I would probably pick that one too.

    Also: Spice Girls = win
    Woflgang Amadeus is also so good but too recent for me to determine whether I can live without it.
    Stars are also awesome.

    Laura, I used to lovelovelove A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out but then I heard it so much that it’s kind of been ruined for me. It’s probably the only good album they’ll release.

    I love how almost everyone has picked something from Tegan and Sara

    • I’d also like to add that although Taking Back Sunday suck now, “Tell All Your Friends” is still a great album full of I’m-in-so-much-pain-my-heart-is-bleeding songs.

      • Tell All Your Friends is such a classic for me & my friends…its always good to bring it back once in a while!

  10. procrastinating from an essay. this is so a better use of my time:
    (in no particular order)
    tegan & sara – this business of art
    tracy chapman- tracy chapman
    paul simon – graceland
    ryan adams – heartbreaker
    hole – live through this
    stars – set yourself on fire
    tegan & sara – the con
    blue rodeo – five days in july
    fleetwood mac – rumours
    les colocs – dehors novembre
    patti smith – horses

  11. I feel a bit schizophrenic after going through the CDs I’ve bought over the last 15 years, but here we go:

    Lou Reed – Transformer
    PJ Harvey – To bring you my love
    Bob Dylan – Blood on the tracks
    Mercury Rev – Deserter’s songs
    Antony and the Johnsons – I am a bird now
    Nirvana – Nevermind
    AC/DC – Back in Black
    Audioslave – Audioslave
    Tom McRae – Tom McRae
    Coldplay – Parachutes

  12. Rancid-…And Out Come The Wolves
    Against Me!- Reinventing Axl Rose
    Tegan & Sara- The Con
    Led Zeppelin- Physical Graffiti (the rover is my fave song of all time)
    Leonard Cohen- The Essential Leonard Cohen
    Bob Dylan- The Greatest Hits
    Patti Smith- Horses
    The Clash- The Essential Clash
    Ramones- Ramones
    The Beatles-Abbey Road

    • your list reminds me of a list like in Rolling Stone for the best albums of the century or something, it’s very quality!

  13. Dang… You all really like The Con, eh?

    1) Tegan & Sara – So Jealous
    2) Tegan & Sara – Sainthood
    3) Lady Gaga – The Fame
    4) Stars – In Our Bedroom After the War
    5) Starts – Set Yourself on Fire
    6) Death Cab for Cutie – Plans or Transatlanticism
    7) Portishead – Dummy
    8) Metric – Fantasies
    9) Muse – Absolution
    10)The Organ – Grab That Gun

  14. I don’t even listen to some of these on a regular basis anymore but at one some point in my life these albums meant a lot to me so here it goes (in no particular order):

    The Strokes – Is this it
    The Strokes – Room on Fire
    Weezer – The Blue Album
    Television – Marquee Moon
    The Mars Volta – Deloused in the Comatorium
    Incubus – Make Yourself
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell
    Marvin Gaye – What’s Going on?/I want you (can’t decide)
    Jeff Buckley – Grace
    M.I.A. – Kala

  15. I can never definitively list my favorite anythings, in any order (cause I’m indecisive like that), but here are the first 10 that come to mind.

    1. “Jagged Little Pill”, Alanis Morrissette
    2. “Tragic Kingdom”, No Doubt
    3. “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”, Lauryn Hill
    4. “1,000 Kisses”, Patty Griffin
    5. “Trouble”, Ray Lamontagne
    6. “Live at Java Joe’s”, Jason Mraz
    7. “The Story”, Brandi Carlile
    8. “Absolution”, MUSE
    9. “Back to Black”, Amy Winehouse
    …I know she’s cray-cray, but it was a great album.
    and I would be lying if I said I could live without…
    10. “Spice”, The Spice Girls

    if soundtracks were allowed, I’d have to make an exception for “O Brother Where Art Thou”

  16. Oh ya, Emily, “Kingdom of the Animals” is one of my favourite songs in the entire world. Good call there. Iron & Wine is so full of win.

  17. Aha, I have very similar taste in music :D

    (in no order):
    1. The Con
    2. Either/Or by Elliott Smith
    3. The Crying Light by Antony & the Johnsons
    4. I See a Darkness by Bonnie “Prince” Billy
    5. The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky
    6. Mr. Beast by Mogwai
    7. ( ) by Sigur Ros
    8. The Sound of The Smiths by The Smiths (ok ok maybe a compilation is cheating)
    9. Weezer (The Blue Album) by Weezer
    10. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver

    • Awesome list, Imo. ‘I see a Darkness’ defs deserves any and all praise it gets. And I was trying to choose my favourite Elliott Smith album…I think I’d have to be typical and say XO.

  18. I adore Bon Iver!

    Abbey Road – The Beatles
    For Emma, Forever Ago – Bon Iver
    Blood Bank EP – Bon Iver
    La Roux – La Roux
    Complete Me – Frankmusik
    Miike Snow – Miike Snow
    Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not – The Arctic Monkeys
    Hunky Dory – David Bowie
    Manners – Passion Pit
    Dark Is The Night – Various Artists

  19. ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS – I AM A BIRD NOW
    BALANESCU QUARTET – MARIA T.
    BJORK – MEDULLA
    EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN – SILENCE IS SEXY
    FUCK BUTTONS – STREET HORRRSING
    KRAFTWERK – TOUR DE FRANCE
    MARS VOLTA – BEDLAM IN GOLIATH
    RADIOHEAD – IN RAINBOWS
    RUN D.M.C – RAISING HELL
    SUNN O ))) – FLLIGHT OF THE BEHEMOTH

  20. THIS IS SO HARD (that’s what she said). These don’t necessarily represent my favorite bands/singers or favorite songs, but as a whole, these albums are amazing.

    10. Guns-N-Roses – Appetite For Destruction
    9. Girl Talk – Night Ripper
    8. Live – Throwing Copper
    7. Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf
    6. Ingrid Michaelson – Be OK
    5. Regina Spektor – Begin To Hope
    4. Once Soundtrack
    3. Across The Universe Soundtrack
    2. Lady GaGa – The Fame Monster
    1. Alice In Chains – MTV Unplugged

  21. In no particular order:

    The Con- Tegan and Sara
    Dig Me Out- Sleater-Kinney
    Let it Die- Feist
    Veckatimest- Grizzly Bear
    Funeral- Arcade Fire
    In the Aeroplane Over the Sea- Neutral Milk Hotel
    Horses- Patti Smith
    So Jealous- Tegan and Sara
    If You’re Feeling Sinister- Belle & Sebastian
    For Emma, Forever Ago- Bon Iver

    I would also probs sneak in a mix CD with favorite miscellaneous songs even though that would be cheating.

    • Belle & Sebastian – I love them. Another day they would’ve been on my list. I used to have Belle & Sebastian songs as my voicemail message depending on my mood. Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying was the message for my first semester of college.

      • Get Me Away From Here I’m Dying is sooo good.

        “it is mightier than swords, i could kill you sure, but i could only make you cry with these words”

  22. John Lennon – Double Fantasy
    Kirsty MacColl – The Best of
    The Cure – Head on the Door
    Lemonheads – It’s A Shame About Ray
    Fairground Attraction – The First of a Million Kisses
    The Smiths – Best of Vol.1
    Massive Attack – Mezzanine
    Jeff Buckley – Grace
    Primal Scream – Screamadelica
    U2 – Joshua Tree

  23. In no particular order:

    1. Alanis Morrisette – Jagged Little Pill
    2. Tegan and Sara – Sainthood
    3. Craig David – Born to Do It
    4. No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom
    5. Esthero – Breath from Another
    6. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
    7. El Perro Del Mar – Love is Not Pop
    8. Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae
    9. Lady Gaga – The Fame (Monster)
    10. Metric – The Complete Collection (i know this doesn’t exist yet but I can’t choose just one album)

    Special mention to Cat Power – The Greatest

  24. Everything ever produced by Darren Hayes. So that’s 2 Savage Garden albums, 3 solo albums, one free project (We Are Smug), and every B-Side imaginable. So that’s 7.

    Then Lene Nystrom’s self-titled debut and Aqua’s two albums. TADA 10!

  25. based on these lists my music twins/soulmates are lily and riese. also riese i am very curious about how you managed to pick an ani album to be your favorite, i can never choose one. also you guys the con is so good

    • Actually Rachel I admit I picked relatively at random. When composing this list, I initially tried to cheat with Living in Clip, because it’s a 2-disc set and therefore has most of my favorite songs on it. I then considered Reckoning/Reveling for the 2-disc advantage, and i love those songs, but in general I prefer early Ani and felt that perhaps were I stranded on an island it would be difficult to live without all the early songs. So then I went with Like I Said, which seemed safe. Then I thought, no, not Like I said, for one thing those songs are really short. Then I tried to think of maybe just ONE Ani song I couldn’t live without, and obvs that would be “You Had Time” and therefore had to pick Out of Range. But really it was a huge tie between Like I Said, Out of Range, Imperfectly, Revelling/Reckoning, Living in Clip (although I prefer the studio versions of all the songs on it), Little Plastic Castle, Knuckle Down, Not a Pretty Girl, So Much Shouting So Much Laughter… and obvs Dialate is a contender except there is one song on that album I really don’t like, which I can’t say for any other album.

      life is so hard

  26. ok in no particular order:

    Milosh- Meme
    Lupe Fiasco- food and liquor
    Nina Simone- Best of Nina- The coolpix years
    The Killers- Hot Fuss
    Portishead- Live At the Roseland (all of their albums are fantastic)
    Lost Prophets- Start Something
    Rise Against- Revolutions per Minute ( i cannot listen to ‘anyway you want it’ w/out air drums/guitar)
    Telefon Tel Aviv- Fahrenheit Fair Enough
    Radiohead- Kid A
    The Thermals- The Body, The Blood, The Machine

    Runners Up:

    Tv on the Radio- desperate youth, blood thirsty babes
    Dashboard Confessional- A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar
    Melissa Ferrick- In the Eyes of Strangers

    I could probably compile a whole separate one for top for soundtracks

  27. If I’m being honest and not just putting albums that make me look cool (’cause ohmygah this is the most uncool list ever):

    1. Buddy Rich- Swingin’New Big Band
    2. The Carpenters- The Singles 1969-1981
    3. Sugarland- Love on the Inside (i’m in love w/ jennifer nettles and i think she’s totally a lez…based on absolutely no evidence other than the fact that she played Atlanta pride one year)
    4. Lady Gaga- The Fame/Fame Monster
    5. Camera Obscura- Let’s Get Out of This Country
    6. The Killers- Hot Fuss
    7. The Sound of Music Soundtrack
    8. Dragonette- Galore
    9. Mamas and the Papas- Greatest Hits
    10.Dashboard Confessional- MTV Unplugged V2.0

  28. in no particular order:
    mew- frengers
    the postal service – give up (with bsides please)
    the ataris – so long astoria
    bon iver – for emma, forever ago (and also the blood bank ep cause it only has 4 songs. is this cheating?)
    tegan and sara – so jealous (dunno if its my favourite but i couldn’t possibly live without downtown and i can’t take it)
    los campesinos- romance is boring (any of theirs really, this decision being based on album lenght)
    the smiths – the queen is dead
    motion city soundtrack – commit this to memory
    the cardigans – long gone before daylight
    delays – faded seaside glamour

    • Ah! THE CARDIGANS! My dad used to manage a restaurant called Cardigans and the Cardigans came and ate there and had their photo taken and he didn’t have any idea who they were and only mentioned it like a week after the fact. The owner had the sense to get his daughter a speculative autograph “in case they were cool”.

      Them and Jens Lekman make me want to go to Sweden. :P

    • Oh bollocks I forgot to put Give Up! I love that album. Nice list, we used to be allowed to play The Cardigans at my old job it was ace. We were also allowed to get drunk, and take naps, whilst getting paid a fortune. Its possible it was the best job I’ll ever have.

  29. Andrew Bird – And the Mysterious Production of Eggs
    Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
    Death Cab for Cutie – We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes
    [I’m so glad Emily included this as well]
    The Format – Dog Problems
    Julie Doiron – Heart & Crime
    Mirah – You Think It’s Like This, but Really It’s Like This
    Owen – I Do Perceive
    Paleo – Death & Taxes
    Pedro the Lion – Achilles Heel
    Rilo Kiley – Take-offs & Landings
    Sufjan Stevens – The Avalanche

    There is literally NO way I can put just one Sufjan album on this list. If I were really honest he would probably occupy half of my top ten…
    But that’s boring.

    Also I just realized this is 11. I can’t count, but I refuse to remove any of these anyway.

  30. These things are always so hard. But I love lists!

    – Tegan and Sara – So Jealous
    – The Beatles – The White Album
    – AFI – The Art of Drowning
    – Jewel – Spirit
    – Ani DiFranco – Revelling/Reckoning
    – Bright Eyes – Letting Off the Happiness
    – Portishead – Dummy
    – Lydia – This December.. It’s One More and I’m Free
    – George Harrison – Let It Roll
    – Radiohead – OK Computer

  31. Drake – So Far Gone
    2Pac – All Eyez On Me
    Paramore – All We Know Is Falling
    Paramore – RIOT!
    Adele – 19
    Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
    Erykah Badu – Baduizm LIVE
    The Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death
    Michael Jackson – Bad
    Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

  32. In no particular order (except for the first one because it changed my life at the tender age of 13):

    U2 – Achtung Baby
    U2 – The Joshua Tree
    Pixies – Surfer Rosa
    Pixies – Doolittle
    Madonna – The Immaculate Collection
    Keane – Hopes and Fears
    Coldplay – Parachutes
    The Beatles – Remastered Stereo Box Set (cheating, yes, but picking my favorite Beatles album is *impossible*)
    Nirvana – Nevermind
    Simon & Garfunkel – Greatest Hits

    Runners up:
    U2 – Rattle & Hum
    Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
    Muse – Absolution
    Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes

    Oy, that was hard.

  33. Dashboard Confessional-The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most & The Swiss Army Romance
    Tegan & Sara- So Jealous
    Bleeding Through- This is Love, This Is Murderous
    Weezer- Weezer (Blue Album)
    Taking Back Sunday- Tell All Your friends (Agreeing that this is probably they’re only album worth mentioning)
    Sublime- Sublime
    Marvin Gaye- What’s Goin’ On?
    Through The Eyes Of The Dead- Bloodlust
    And of course, Elvis Presley- Elvis: 30 #1 Hits

    You have no idea how hard it was to pick just 10. I thought my brain was going to emplode.

  34. -Tegan and Sara – So Jealous
    -Dave Matthews Band – Live at Luther College – (studio album I’d pick -Under the Table and Dreaming)
    -The Carpenters – The Singles: 1969–1973
    -Passion Pit – Manners
    -Stars – Hearts/Set Yourself On Fire/In Our Bedroom After The War (all so good)
    -Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

  35. 1) The Con-Tegan and Sara
    (Then, in no particular order:)
    Stop the Future-The Epoxies
    Pleasure Victim-Berlin
    Greatest Hits-The Cure
    Begin to Hope-Regina Spektor
    I Care 4 U-Aaliyah
    The Singles-No Doubt
    So Jealous-Tegan and Sara
    What to do When You Are Dead-Armor for Sleep
    Brand New Eyes-Paramore (only slightly above “All we Know is falling”)

  36. cassadaga by bright eyes
    jeff hanson by jeff hanson
    makers by rocky votolato
    9 by damien rice
    o by damien rice
    the bitter end by right away, great captain!
    quiet is the new loud by kings of convenience
    remember who i am by girlyman
    swamp ophelia by indigo girls
    introducing by foxy shazam

    something like that.

  37. Nice list, Emily! I like/am intrigued that you chose Noise Floor because I think it’s such a dark horse from the Bright Eyes catalogue that is often forgotten about or neglected completely, yet it has some amazing amazing songs on it. Amy In The White Coat is probably one of the creepiest songs ever, I have to skip that sometimes. And Blue Angels Air Show is ace: “I am reminded of things I’ve forgotten, the way doors can open and people just walk in”, that line just gets me for some reason. So many great songs, it doesn’t even seem like a B-Sides album.

    • Amy in the White Coat is so creepy but also brilliant in a very Conor Oberst-y way. You definitely have to be in a certain mood to listen to it.

      I love Blue Angels Air Show because I actually went to see it with my aunt in Seattle and so every time I hear it it makes me think of that summer.

  38. fffff this is so difficult so i’m going to cheat because there are no consequences.

    – radiohead – amnesiac/kid a
    – MIA – arular
    – antony and the johnsons – s/t
    – the distillers – sing sing death house
    – pj harvey – to bring you my love
    – tegan and sara – if it was you/the con TIE
    – sinead o’connor – the lion and the cobra
    – queens of the stone age – lullabies to paralyze
    – bright eyes – i’m wide awake it’s morning
    – kaki king – everybody loves you

    runners up: white stripes, cocorosie, sufjan stevens, YYYs, arcade fire

  39. Mine are all over the place, haha! (In no order, really).

    Try! – John Mayer Trio
    Peregrine – Appleseed Cast
    Sing Sing Death House – The Distillers
    Rocket Man (The Definitive Hits) – Elton John
    Frank Sinatra at The Sands (Live) – Frank Sinatra / Count Basie & His Orchestra
    Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence – Glassjaw
    The Essential Jimi Hendrix – Jimi Hendrix
    Trouble – Ray LaMontagne
    Good Bye Lenin! – Yann Tiersen
    The Bends – Radiohead

    Since it was too hard for me to pick a Beatles album, I didn’t include one. That would have filled up all ten spaces. That was so hard, I already want to change it. I shouldn’t be feeling anxiety over this..hahah

    • OMG Elton! 10 is just impossible. I can’t cut anyone to edit him into my list, but life without him would be sad. Though I guess I could count the song he sings with Brandi Carlile on Giving Up the Ghost, but I want more!

  40. i can’t believe i forgot about patrick wolf, lydia, and sigur ros.

    guys, you all like such good music! let’s all have a mixtape party, okay?

    • OMG YES! It could be like Secret Santa only not at all. Everyone who wanted to participate could post and then someone somewhere would make the random pickings happen and then you could send a stranger/best friend because every Autostraddler loves each other a mixtape! Sorry for the quality of this comment. I’m just really excited.

      • MetaFilter has this once in a while, it’s great fun (though I sent out more CDs than I got, then again I was very slow!!). My mix was basically “Songs Tiara Wants To Do A Burlesque Routine To”.

        • My friend Lucia actually just invited me to a facebook group where he organizes something like this. He picks a theme, everyone makes a mix cd and then you get assigned another person to send it to. The group is called ‘love is a mix tape’ if anyone is interested in joining!

  41. In no particular order:

    The Cranberries – No Need to Argue
    My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade
    Franz Ferdinand (self titled album)
    Linkin Park – Meteora
    Damien Rice – O
    Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
    City and Colour – Bring me your Love
    Sleepercar – West Texas
    John Buter Trio – Sunrise over Sea
    Jack Johnson – In Between Dreams

  42. 1. Achtung Baby – U2
    2. Mirrorball –  Sarah McLachlan
    3. Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison
    4. Bob Dylan Live at Royal Albert Hall
    5. Sheryl Crow…
    it would take a long session of list making to decide between
    Tuesday Night Music Club and the Globe Sessions. But I don’t have paper handy and can’t make effective decision-making lists on computers, so…. you tell me?
    6. Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
    7. Brandi Carlile – Giving Up the Ghost
    8. The Best of Creedence Clearwater Revival
    9. Friday Nights in San Francisco – Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía
    10-12. Solitude – Billie Holiday or IAM – Retour aux pyramides or the Cranberries  – Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?

    Impossible 3 way tie for #10. They are just so different and all so necessary.

    (If you’re bored, I decided to explain myself here: http://rachelwill.wordpress.com/2010/01/31/10-albums-i-cant-live-without/)

  43. This is easily harder than anything I had to do at work this week. Totally doing runners up. Omg Riese good pick – Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue is one of my all time favourite albums. I have a super old vinyl copy of it that i used to listen to with my dad. Apart from that in no particular order-
    1 Eels – Beautiful Freak.
    2 Tegan & Sara – The Con/Sainthood
    3 Kings of Leon – Youth and Young Manhood
    4 The Streets – Original Pirate Material
    5 Alicia Keys – Songs in A Minor
    6 The Be Good Tanyas – Blue Horse
    7 Jurassic 5 – J5
    8 Lou Reed – Transformer
    9 The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
    10 Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days
    Runners up!
    Colplay – Parachutes
    The Beach Boys – Surfer Girl/Shutdown Vol. 2
    Mojave 3 – Spoon and Rafter
    Steely Dan – Pretzel Logic
    Also Chopin, and the SOM soundtrack! And Bruce Springsteen! Gah its too hard!

  44. Not in order and if you asked me tomorrow it would be different.

    1. Led Zeppelin I
    2. Sleater Kinney – Dig Me Out
    3. David Bowie – Live from Santa Monica 1972
    4. PJ Harvey – Stories from City Stories from the Sea
    5. The Thermals – The Body The Blood The Machine
    6. The Velvet Underground Live 1969
    7. The Replacements – Let it Be
    8. The Magnetic Fields – 69 Love Songs
    9. Jeff Buckley – Grace
    10. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

  45. Wow, so my picks are all over the place… but here we go:
    -Once Soundtrack
    -Tegan and Sara- The Con
    -Flogging Molly- Drunken Lullabies
    -wir sind Helden- die Reklamation
    -No Doubt- Tragic Kingdom
    -Thievery Corporation- Richest Man in Babylon
    -Garden State Soundtrack
    -Incubus- Morning View
    -Dashboard Confessional- MTV Unplugged 2.0
    -Peter Fox- Stadtaffe

    Those are totally not in order, I can’t pick a favorite, you know, because they’re all awesome.

  46. Music is Awesome.

    The Avalanches [Since I Left You]
    ABBA [GOLD]
    Wilco [A Ghost Is Born] vs [Yankee Foxtrot] I’m Cheating
    The Clash [London Calling]
    A Tribe Called Quest [Midnight Marauders]
    Nina Simone [The Best of Nina Simone]
    LCD SoundSystem [Sound of Silver]
    The Raveonettes [Lust Lust Lust]
    Spoon [Gimmie Fiction]
    Sufjan Stevens [Come on Feel the Illinoise!]

  47. In no particular order:

    Sick of Sarah, Sick of Sarah
    The Con, Tegan and Sara
    Fantasies, Metric
    Leave the Light On, Beth Hart
    The Weight Is a Gift, Nada Surf
    RENT, Movie Soundtrack
    Nobody’s Darlings, Lucero
    Thirty-Nine, Jen Foster
    Turbulence, Saucy Monky
    Eyes Open, Snow Patrol

  48. wow this is INTIMIDATING. i’ve already made a list of like 25 and have been painstakingly hacking away at it – it feels like tiny little betrayals! forgive me wilco let’s never fight again!
    .
    counting crows – august and everything after
    ani difranco to the teeth / imperfectly
    be good tanyas – blue horse
    radiohead – kid a
    lauryn hill – miseducation
    mos def – black on both sides
    blackstar – mos def & talib kweli are blackstar
    biggie – ready to die
    iron & wine – the creek drank the cradle
    nirvana unplugged in new york
    stevie wonder – songs in the key of life
    .
    was that 11? whatever it was already hard enough. great post idea!

    • I did the same thing and felt awful. Radiohead and Nirvana were cut from my list, so I had to immediately listen to them so I didn’t hurt their feelings too bad. I’m glad to see they were still represented.

    • I copied some people further up and did runners up because i couldn’t deal with cutting anymore out! Also, am very excited because have never come across anyone else who has even heard of The Be Good Tanyas, although it might just be because am in Scotland, are they well known in the US/Canada? But still, awesome! Ace list.

      • my friend, the be good tanyas ARE canadian. :) and i’m fairly confident they’re the second best thing to ever come out of BC.

  49. ack this is painful

    velvet underground – vu and nico
    the smiths – the queen is dead
    tegan and sara – if it was you
    ani difranco – living in clip
    alanis morissette – jagged little pill
    pixies – surfer rosa
    the beatles – abbey road
    belle and sebastian – if you’re feeling sinister/tigermilk
    dire straits – live at the bbc
    magnetic fields – get lost
    paul simon – graceland

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  51. I’m not sure if this is so difficult because I’m up early to watch the tennis, or if it’s just plain hard. I’m going to redefine the task, because I’m awkward like that, to be albums I have not been able to live without at some point, because it seems like my listening habits and tastes have changed a lot. Also a lot of the old albums I CAN live without, because they’re now committed to memory, so I can just lie back and replay them in my head. Enough babble, my list:

    Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
    Portishead – Portishead
    Bjork – Debut (love all of them, but that one has more memories)
    Suede – Suede
    Florence + The Machine – Lungs.
    Saint Etienne – impossible to choose. I think Too Young to Die to cover all the earlier stuff, then Good Humor as best of all the ones afterwards.
    Fischerspooner – Odyssey
    Nick Drake – arrrggh also impossible to decide. Hrmm, surely someone released a compilation with every song on? Maybe Five Leaves Left if I have to choose.
    Dusty Springfield – now I AM going to cheat because I have a massive compilation with pretty much every Dusty recording ever. I have no idea what it’s called and can’t be arsed to move to find out. Sorry.
    Stereolab – Emperor Tomato Ketchup
    Kill Bill Vol.1 Soundtrack

    Shit! That’s eleven! I’ll take out Dusty because it’s too hard to define an album for her.

    Here’s what is also on the list, between the gaps: Elastica – Elastica, The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers, Tegan and Sara – the Con, Sleater-Kinney – All Hands on the Bad One, Kaki King – Until We Felt Red, Madonna – Immaculate Collection, Manic Street Preachers – Holy Bible, Le Tigre – Le Tigre, Joni Mitchell – Blue, Peaches – The Teaches of Peaches, Carole King – Tapestry, Jane Birkin – Rendez-Vous.

    • I’d probably edit more after going through my music.

      AC/DC – Highway To Hell
      Cloud Cult – Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus
      K’s Choice – Almost Happy
      REM – Automatic For the People
      Abandoned Pools – Humanistic
      Alkaline Trio – Crimson
      Violent Femmes – Violent Femmes
      Pack AD – Tin Type
      Tool – Undertow
      Pretty Girls Make Graves – Good Health

  52. 1 Jeff Buckley – Grace
    2 The Fray – How To Save A Life
    3 Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
    4 Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare
    5 Kings of Leon – Only By The Night
    8 Newton Faulkner – Hand Built By Robots
    7 Blood Red Shoes – Box of Secrets
    8 Michael Jackson – Dangerous
    9 Dandy Warhols – Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia
    10 Angus and Julia Stone – A Book Like This

    • No. I completely forgot Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, Paul Simon’s Graceland, The Cure’s Disintegration and Bowie’s Let’s Dance.

  53. My top ten is subject to change without notice or provocation:

    Yeah Yeah Yeahs (It’s Blitz!) “Hysteric”
    Ra Ra Riot (The Rhumb Line) “Each Year”
    Tegan & Sara (The Con) “RNTM, The Con, BYLD, or CIO”
    Sleater-Kinney (The Woods) “Entertain”
    Bon Iver (For Emma, Forever Ago) “Lump Sum”
    Blind Pilot (3 Rounds & A Sound) “Oviedo”
    Arcade Fire (The Funeral) “Rebellion (Lies)”
    Tool (10,000 Days) “Right In Two”
    Lightning Dust (Infinite Light) “Waiting on the Sun to Rise”
    Little Big Town (The Road to Here) “Lost”

    Runner ups include: Red Hot Chili Peppers (Californication), Everclear (Songs from an American Movie Vol. 1&2), Queen (Greatest Hits), Death Cab For Cutie (Plans), City & Colour (Bring Me Your Love), Sigur Ros – Ágætis Byrjun, Nickel Creek (This Side), and ABBA (Gold)

  54. Yay. Music that I like:

    Aphex Twin. ALL of it
    Mahogany- Connectivity
    The Beatles- Revolver
    Bjork- Debut
    Kate Bush- The Sensual World
    Boards of Canada- Music Has The Right to Children
    The Slits- Cut
    Portishead- Third
    Wildbirds and Peacedrums- The Snake
    PJ Harvey- White Chalk

  55. What a lovely way to make a first post.
    In no order (with the exception of the Shins, who are my ultimate favorite):

    The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow
    The Shins: Oh, Inverted World
    Sam Sparro: Self-titled
    Daft Punk: Discovery
    Junior Senior: D-D-Don’t Stop the Beat
    Cut Copy: In Ghost Colors
    Franz Ferdinand: Self-titled
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Fever to Tell
    The B-52s: Cosmic Thing
    The Decemberists: Picaresque

  56. Okay, I’m basing this upon what my WMP tells me I like and what I’m currently listening to. It’s really tough to cut it down to ten albums! In no order:

    1) Imogen Heap – Ellipse
    2) Rammstein – Sehnsucht
    3) The Chemical Brothers – Push the Button
    4) Matt Nathanson – Some Mad Hope
    5) Dream Theater – Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
    6) Does It Offend You, Yeah? – You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into
    7) Family Force 5 – Business Up Front, Party in the Back
    8) Passion Pit – Manners
    9) The Corrs – Forgiven Not Forgotten
    10) The Veronicas – Hook Me Up

    This makes me sound incredibly mainstream. Oh well. :)

  57. Thanks so much for this post Emily (and the team). I’ve been looking for new music (or at least “new to me” music) and it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy seeing so many albums I already own on these lists and now wanting to try the ones that I don’t.

    Mine, in no particular order:

    >Rilo Kiley- More Adventurous (not as kick-ass as The Execution or Take offs…or as poppy as Under the Blacklight but Jenny’s voice just breaks me on so many songs on this one, and The Absence of God pretty much seals the deal).

    >Tidal, Fiona Apple (So melodic/melancholy/brilliant. I was close to putting when the pawn hits b/c love ridden can break my heart just as often as never is a promise…it’s probably a tie)

    >Funeral, Arcade Fire

    >Live on Two Legs, Pearl Jam

    >The Con, T&S

    >Plans, Death Cab (agree with the superiority of “we have the facts” but have soft spots for brothers on a hotel bed and crooked teeth)

    >So Addictive, Missy Elliot

    >RENT soundtrack

    >In Rainbows, Radiohead*

    >Hejira, Joni Mitchell*

    *Picking one RH and one Joni was close to impossible…these just happen to be the ones in my rotation right now.

    Just missed:
    >Mirrorball- I remember falling asleep to this every night in high school then not even bringing it to college for fear of embarrassment… and then growing up and discovering it all over again.

  58. 1. Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
    2. Aimee Mann – Lost in Space
    3. Beck – Sea Change
    4. Beth Orton – Central Reservation
    5. Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)
    6. Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
    7. Dar Williams – The Honesty Room
    8. Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin
    9. Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther
    10. Modest Mouse – Good News for People Who Love Bad News

    Runners up: New Pornographers – The Electric Version; Neko Case – Middle Cyclone; Patty Griffin – Living with Ghosts; The Spinanes – Arches and Aisles; Subo – Tributo

  59. In no particular order:

    Brandy- Never Say Never
    Missy Higgins- The Sound of White
    Ray Lamontagne- Trouble
    Lauryn Hill- The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
    Paramore- All We Know Is Falling
    Paramore- RIOT!
    Paramore- Brand New Eyes
    Jay-Z- American Gangster
    Toby Lightman- Little Things
    Mariah Carey- The Emancipation of Mimi

  60. 10. Melissa Ferrick- Goodbye Youth
    9. Violent Femmes-Violent Femmes
    8. Air Supply- Greatest Hits
    7. Blue October- History For Sale
    6. Alanis Morisette- Jagged Little PIll
    5. The Spice Girls- Spice World
    4. Ani- So Much Shouting So Much Laughter
    3. Jewel- Pieces of You
    2. Lykke Li- Youth Novel
    1. The Moulin Rouge Soundtrack

    Honorable Mentions
    a. Missy Higgins- The Sound of White
    b. The White Stripes- Elephant
    c. Bright Eyes- I’m Wide Awake and It’s Morning
    d. Rent Soundtrack (Broadway… NOT the movie!)
    3. Rachel Yamagata- Elephants

  61. This is fun! Here are mine:

    Garbage- Version 2.0
    The Fugees- The Score
    Smashing Pumpkins- Siamese Dream
    Frou Frou- Details
    Massive Attack- Mezzanine
    Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Fever To Tell
    Moby- Play
    Lupe Fiasco- Lupe Fiasco’s Food And Liquor
    Wolfsheim- Spectators
    Cold War Kids- Robbers & Cowards

  62. Tegan and Sara – So jealous
    Garabage – Version 2.0
    Lauryn Hill – Miseducation of lauryn Hill
    Norah Jones – Come away with me
    No Doubt- Tragic Kingdom
    Alicia Keys- Song in A minor
    Nirvana – Nevermind
    Gossip – Standing in the way of control
    The Gift – Am-Fm ( portuguese band the lead singer is amazing, and so gorgeous and is voice is full of passion)
    The xx – xx

  63. Great idea for a piece, love reading everyone’s lists!

    Here are mine in no particular order.

    1. Bjork – Homogenic
    (Favourite album of all time, I can’t even begin to explain its impact)

    2. The Cardigans – Gran Turismo
    (Erase/Rewind is one of my favourite songs ever, never ages!)

    3. Metric – Grow Up And Blow Away (original 2001 unreleased version)

    4. Massive Attack – Mezzanine

    5. Portishead – Dummy

    6. Regina Spektor – Soviet Kitsch

    7. Yann Tiersen – Amélie Soundtrack
    (Comptine d’un autre été: L’après-midi is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard. I could listen to it forever.)

    8. Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Gold

    9. Bjork – Vespertine
    (The perfect album to fall asleep to. Unison is perfection.)

    10.Sia – Colour the Small One

    Honourable Mentions: Death Cab – Plans, Royksopp – Melody AM, Holly Miranda – High Above the City, Zero 7 – Simple Things, Lamb – What Sound, The Buena Vista Social Club.

  64. Oh my so much wonderful music to chose from…what in the world would we do without music??

    Shelby Lynne- I am
    Tift Merritt-Bramblerose
    Dreamgirls soundtrack-both Broadway and the Movie
    Eva Cassidy- Songbird
    Dixie Chick-Wide Open Spaces
    Bonnie Raitt-Collection
    Carole King-Tapestry
    Tift Merritt-Tamborine
    Marvin Gaye-Best of
    Sarah McLaughlin-Freedom Sessions

  65. I’m late on this one, but #1 RADIOHEAD PABLO HONEY
    Also:
    2.Blue Mountain – Dog Days
    3.Son Volt – Trace
    4.The Stooges – Fun House
    5.And the Pete and Pete soundtrack by Polaris

  66. I’m going to make this up off the top of my head. In no particular order:

    1. Sarah McLachlan – Fumbling Towards Ecstacy
    2. Ani DiFranco – Little Plastic Castles
    3. Metric – Fantasies
    4. The National – Boxer
    5. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes
    6. Patti Griffin – the random mix of her best stuff that a friend made
    7. Swell Season – Once Soundtrack
    8. Sigur Ros – ()
    9. Beatles – Abbey Road
    10. Counting Crows – August and Everything After
    11. The Parlour Steps – Ambiguoso

    I hate to leave Elton John, Paul Simon, and Leonard Cohen off. And Stars. And Uh Huh Her.

    Oh dear. This is too hard to limit to ten… or even eleven.

    • Oooo Fumbling Towards Ecstacy is sooooo gooooood. Lilith Fair was the first concert I ever attended. And I’m so excited someone else loves Little Earthquakes as much as I do.

  67. This many cute girls saying they like the beatles makes me want a write letter to Autostraddle for bringing this ray of sunshine in to my otherwise pretty lack-luster day.

  68. i think this page just crashed my browser which just means that safari cannot contain the awesome that is residing in this thread.

  69. There is not one person on here I would mind sharing a deserted island with. Loved every list.

  70. Not my favorite music atm, just albums that meant something at some point in my life.
    Nirvana: Unplugged in Now York (Come as You are)
    Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms (Brothers in Arms)
    Foo Fighters: The Color and the Shape (Everlong)
    Katie Melua: Call off the Search (Tiger in the Night)
    Pixies: Wave of Mutilation (Monkey Gone to Heaven)
    Buckethead: Electric Tears (Electric Tears)
    Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bullocks (Anarchy in the UK)
    Laura Marling: Alas I Cannot Swim (Failure)
    Roxette: A Collection (Sleeping in my Car)
    The Doors: L. A. Woman (Love Her Madly)

  71. Paul Simon – Graceland
    Neutral Milk Hotel – Aeroplane over the Sea
    Le Tigre – Le Tigre
    The Clash – London Calling
    Animal Collective – Feels
    The Arcade Fire – Funeral
    The Beatles – White Album
    The Talking Heads – Stop Making Sense
    Belle & Sebastian – Fold Your Hands Child You Walk like a Peasant
    American Analog Set – Promise of Love

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  74. 1. Imogen Heap – Speak for Yourself
    2. Frou Frou – Details
    3. Madonna – Ray of Light
    4. Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
    5. Madeleine Peyroux – Careless Love
    6. La Roux – La Roux
    7. Goldfrapp – Supernature or Seventh Tree
    8. Telepopmusik – Genetic World
    9. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes
    10. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill

  75. I think these are mine. So hard to choose.

    1. Indigo Girls – Swamp Ophelia & All That We Let In (tie)
    2. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
    3. Girlyman – Little Star
    4. mewithoutYou – Brother, Sister
    5. Page France – Hello, Dear Wind
    6. Janis Joplin – Pearl
    7. Patty Griffin – 1000 Kisses & Impossible Dream (tie, again)
    8. Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes
    9. Rilo Kiley – More Adventurous
    10. Arcade Fire – Funeral

  76. To make this task manageable, I’m going to stick with rock music only.

    Joy Division – Closer
    Buddy Holly and the Crickets – The “Chirping” Crickets
    Queen – Live at Wembley ’86
    The Stooges – Raw Power
    Little Richard – Little Richard’s Greatest Hits: Recorded Live!
    Nirvana – Incesticide

  77. I wish I had discovered this website when it first started. I suck.

    YAY! I went on the biggest Okkervil River “Lost Coastlines” kick ever last year. I could NOT stop listening to that song and it’s great someone else felt the same way. Actually, lately their song “Red” is like a personal anthem of sorts. I can’t stop.

    My completely incomplete list:
    1. Múm – Summer Make Good (BEST. ALBUM. EVER.)
    2. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
    3. Björk – Homogenic
    4. Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender
    5. Circle Takes the Square – As the Roots Undo
    6. Radiohead – OK Computer
    7. Kaki King – Everybody Loves You
    8. Alanis Morissette – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie
    9. Depeche Mode – Black Celebration
    10. Yann Tiersen – Amélie soundtrack

    Et cetera.

  78. PJ Harvey – White Chalk
    PJ Harvey – Uh Huh Her
    Tori Amos – Under The Pink
    Tori Amos – Little Earthquakes
    Tor Amos – Chiorgirl Hotel
    Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
    M.I.A. – Kala
    Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
    Jeff Buckley – Grace
    Paul Dempsey – Everything Is True

  79. Firstly, this is how I feel when asked to choose my favorite albums:

    “what of the mother/whose house is in flames/and both of her children/are in their beds crying/and she loves them both/with the whole of her heart/but she knows she can only/carry one at a time?”

    That said, here is my list:

    Patti Smith – Radio Ethiopia
    Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
    The Breeders – Pod
    Helium – The Dirt of Luck
    The Pixies – Doolittle
    Team Dresch – Personal Best
    Kristin Hersh – Learn to Sing Like a Star
    The Need – The Need is Dead
    Bikini Kill – The C.D. Version of the First Two Records
    Babes in Toyland – The Best of Babes in Toyland and Kat Bjelland
    The Quails – We Are The Quails
    Third Sex – Card Carryin’
    7 Year Bitch – Gato Negro
    Tracy + The Plastics – Muscler’s Guide to Videonics\
    Ani DiFranco – To the Teeth
    Fiona Apple – When the Pawn…
    The Gossip – Arkansas Heat
    PJ Harvey – Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
    Tori Amos – To Venus and Back

  80. OH OH OH!! I nearly forgot:

    Electrelane – No Shouts No Calls.

    YOU GUYS. This entire album. I mean it.

  81. 1. wire-pink flag
    2. gang of four-entertainment!
    3. love-forever changes
    4. sleater-kinney-one beat
    5. beat happening-black candy (or jamboree)
    6. black flag-damaged
    7. mission of burma-vs.
    8. sun city girls-torch of the mystics
    9. shellac-1000 hurts
    10. delta 5-see the whirl

    runner ups: le tigre-s/t, this heat-deceit, suicide-first album, silicon teens-music for parties, esg-a south bronx story, flipper-generic…okay i’ll stop now

  82. ooh lists are fun! hard to stop at ten though…

    1. fleet foxes- fleet foxes
    2. cat power – the greatest
    3. smashing pumpkins – siamese dream
    4. sufjan stevens – the age of adz
    5. radiohead – ok computer
    6. r.e.m. – life’s rich pageant
    7. the beatles – abbey road
    8. david bowie – hunky dory
    9. nicole atkins – neptune city
    10. the smiths – um, pretty much all of them

  83. First post after much lurking… 
    In no particular order:
    Joan As Police Woman – EP
    Marvin Gaye – What’s Goin’ On
    Carmen McRae – Great American Songbook
    Emmylou Harris – Luxury Liner
    Rufus Wainwright – Want One
    Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
    Aretha – Lady Soul
    Waylon Jennings – Lonesome, Onry & Mean
    Betty Carter – I’m Yours, You’re Mine
    Foo Fighters – In Your Honor (Disc 1)

    I’ve not deliberated too much on these – my 2011 resolution is to stop worrying so much and just PUT IT ALL OUT THERE! – so there is loads left out (plus it sounds like I stopped listening to music 3 years ago and/or that I’ve been spliced with a 60-year old) but that can’t be helped…

  84. In NPO:

    Violent Femmes : Hallowed Ground
    PJ Harvey : To Bring You My Love
    Bob Marley : Legend
    Hayden : The Closer I Get
    TV On The Radio : Dear Science
    Broken Social Scene : You Forgot It In People
    Fleetwood Mac : Rumours
    Van Morrison : Moondance
    The Fiery Furnaces : I’m Going Away
    Cat Power : Moonpix

    HM:

    David Bowie : Changes
    Nirvana : MTV Unplugged
    The Black Keys : Brothers
    The New Pornographers : Challengers
    MIA : Arular
    Sufjan Stevens : The Avalanche

  85. I know it’s all late (2015 heading towards 2016 x’D) buuuut! I want to do this :) Plus, I searched for Death Cab For Cutie and that’s how I saw this. Here we go!

    10) Fiona Apple~Tidal
    9) Loving Annabella Soundtrack
    8) The Birthday Massacre~Walking With Strangers
    7) Melissa Ferrick Self-titled album
    6) Lana Del Rey~Honeymoon
    5) Emilie Autumn~Opheliac (2006 Deluxe Edition)
    4) Tegan and Sara~The Con (Including the demos!)
    3) The Postal Service~Give Up (10th Anniversary edition, please!)
    2) Death Cab For Cutie~The Photo Album
    1) Death Cab For Cutie~Transatlanticism (Including the demos!)

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