So my friend Ned over at A Futile Mistake challenged those that read his blog to come up with their top 25 albums of all time list. I made a couple rules for my list so I didn’t pull out too much hair.
I didn’t include the greats (Beatles, Rolling Stones, Queen, etc, because although I love many of their albums, they don’t hit me at the same emotional level as these I’ve done. I could easily included them and made things even more difficult, but I decided to stick with those albums that really made an emotional connection with me, which is why most the albums are from the mid ’90s to the present. I also tried not to include duplicate artists but for one particular band that was impossible. So without further ado here it is.
(The list order would probably be different if you asked me to do it again, but most of the albums would remain the same)
1 Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American
2 Counting Crows – August and Everything After
3 Toad the Wet Sprocket – P.S.: a Toad Retrospective (gotta cheat with a best of, but if you make me choose an album it’s going to be Pale)
4 Jimmy Eat World – Chase Thise Light
5 The Format – Inventions and Lullabies
6 The Postal Service – Give Up
7 Jimmy Eat World – Clarity
8 Gin Blossoms – New Miserable Experience (although my favorite songs are on Congratulations I’m Sorry, this album really helped me through a serious time in my life)
9 Dashboard Confessional – A Mark – a Mission, a Brand, a Scar
10 All American Rejects – Move Along
11 Weezer – Blue Album
12 Plain White T’s – Stop (before they became trendy)
13 Offspring – Smash (introduced me to so many more bands that aren’t even on this list)
14 The Get Up Kids – Guilt Show (or New Amsterdams – Worse For the Wear)
15 Death Cab For Cutie – Plans (for I Will Follow You Into The Dark.)
16 Mae – Destination Beautiful
17 All – Pummel
18 Juliana Theory – Understand This is a Dream (although if you ask me tomorrow it will probably be Emotion is Dead)
19 Something Corporate – Leaving Through the Window
20 Snow Patrol – Run
21 Depeche Mode – Singles 86-98
22 Athenaeum – Radiance
23 Matchbox Twenty – Yourself or Someone Like You
24 Mxpx – Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo
25 Jellyfish – Spilt Milk (although Bellybutton kicks ass as well, Spilt Milk was the first JF album I had, these guys were amazing)
Just missed the cut. They could sneak up on the list if I did it again. And some lesser know albums that I really liked.
Dishwalla – Opaline
Copeland – Beneath Medicine Tree
Goo Goo Dolls – Dizzy Up the Girl
Fountains of Wayne – Fountains of Wayne
Relient K – Mmhmm
Jet – Get Born
Hootie and the Blowfish – Cracked Rear View
It was hard keeping bands like the Lemonheads, Smashing Pumpkins, Bad Religion, and Matthew Sweet on this list, but none of their full albums every really hit me as great albums, just great songs.
