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.
Pages: 1 2
144 responses to “What Are The Top Ten Albums You Can’t Live Without?”
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
Kylie – “X” is an amazing pop record.
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
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.
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
40 Days is a beautiful album, and Beautiful Dawn is such an amazing song.
WE ARE SMUG! Someone else knows who they are!
and yay Darren Hayes
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.
* 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
Placebo – Once More With Feeling? Is this an album I’m unaware of or did you mean “Without you I’m Nothing”?
AHHH! The greatest hits collection. Agreed.
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
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
Just kidding! THIS is my first post as a member. You can see why the handle is appropriate.
Your list has a lot of albums that were thisclose to making my list, like Fiona Apple, The Beatles and Tom Waits. I love the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack too. They don’t make ‘em like that no more.
my fave list so far
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
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!
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
nice list! i was so torn about leaving patti smith off mine.
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
MERCURY REV!! You’re amazing
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!
Isabelle and I are obviously going to get married and have gaybies someday.
okies. and the soundtrack to our wedding will be emo-ish indie rock, right?
Dang… You all really like The Con, eh?
1) Tegan & Sara – So Jealous
Metric – Fantasies
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
9) Muse – Absolution
10)The Organ – Grab That Gun
Woo hoo! Yeah, The Organ.
NO!! I forgot Muse – Black Holes and Revelations.
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
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”
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.
Aha, I have very similar taste in music
(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
OMG I can’t believe I forgot Sigur Ros!! So good!!
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.
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
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
Bjork! Gah, I love her.
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
Alice In Chains Unplugged! I grew up on that. Definately one of my favorites.
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”
Love Crystal’s list especially with The Deftones and Tracy Chapman’s first album. Righteous.
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
LEMONHEADS FTW
I still listen to Come on Feel the Lemonheads. So good.
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
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!
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
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
the thermals!!! that album is GENIUS
I heard them at the end of weeds one night and I had to hear more.
That Rise Against album almost made my list!
The Thermals, HECK YES!
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
Sound of Music soundtrack… YES.
yes yes and YES.
Shit…I forgot about The Carpenters!
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.
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.
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.
Julie Doiron love! I love this list.
I’m so glad somebody agrees with me about We Have the Facts!
i bought that album in seattle in 2000 b/c I liked the cover. then they became famous and i was like omg.
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
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
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.
fuck I forgot Jay-Z – Reasonable Doubt
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.
-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
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”)
Cool, I wouldn’t expect anyone else here to know Amor for Sleep. I saw them open for Taking Back Sunday when I was 14 or 15. They were pretty good!
i saw armor for sleep when i was 19 and i was most definitely the oldest person in the crowd.
I saw them when I was 15 with Chiodos and made a shirt that said “I must be emo”
being your walls. wow. brings me back. yes.
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.
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.
Just…impossible.
Okay
Hole – Live Through This
for something more contemporary I would have to go with MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
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
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!
Oh, Appleseed Cast. That’s a good one I did not think of. And Glassjaw, such a great album.
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!
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
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/)
Is it wrong to crush on Emily right now?
no
*fist pump*
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!
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
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.
completely agree with you on the No Doubt front. That was a great album.
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!]
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
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.
i wish bcw would stop trying to hard to make me fall in love with her.
Emily this was such an awesome feature idea.
it was your idea! Actually it was my idea but you made it bigger and better.
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
[...] the original post: What Are The Top Ten Albums You Can't Live Without? Share and [...]
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
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.
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)
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
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
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
Passion Pit – Manners
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
9) The Corrs – Forgiven Not Forgotten
10) The Veronicas – Hook Me Up
This makes me sound incredibly mainstream. Oh well.
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.