This is the End. Dubya's Discs #25-1

Yeah - I don't care either. But, instead of just moving on, leaving the last 25 unmentioned, I figure I would just suck it up, tear the band-aid off quickly and get it over with. So, here we are and here they go.

#25 and #24 - Violent Femmes - Self-Titled and Squeeze - Singles, 45s and Under

These two discs were must haves when I started college in 1985. No matter the college or the party, it was inevitable that these discs would make an appearance. Drunken underage messes screaming "You can all just kiss off into the air" or "Why can't I get just one fuck" at the top of their lungs and then mellowing out just as quickly while singing "Good Girl" or "Cool for Cats" - these made up the soundtrack of my early college years. Besides the aformentioned songs, add to the list Gone Daddy Gone, Please Do Not Go, Slap and Tickle and Pulling Mussels from a Shell.

#23 - The Who - Who's Next

Did I ever tell you that when I was 13 I was in a band? Yeah, we were big. Big I tell ya. We played the Student Council Craft Fair. They really dug my Roger Daltrey. If you closed your eyes you'd think you were hearing the real people. So, yeah, I sang Baba O'Riley and Behind Blue Eyes along with some other tunes in a fifteen-minute set. However, a pubescent Mr. Big Dubya does not engender the same panty tossing as the suave and slick Tom Jones and our rock start status was over before it even began. But our after party? The teacher's lounge has never seen such debauchery. Again, besides those two tunes add in The Song is Over and Going Mobile.

#22 - Nirvana - Nevermind

Some might consider it sacrilege that I don't include them in my top 10, let alone the fact they don't even break the top 20. I say, convince me it's better than London Calling or, for that matter, Doolittle. I think it's a great disc, I honestly do and that's why it's included here. But the mythic status it has achieved is a tad over the top for me. Right place, right time as alternative music crashed head on into the mainstream. I don't need to tell you what songs I like on this one, do I?

#21 - Run D.M.C - Self-Titled

Remember what I said about Grandmaster Flash (#39)? With Grandmaster it was all about the stories of the streets of NYC mixed up with funky, block party beats. With Run DMC it was manic drum beats, furious scratching, screaming guitars and great, gritty rhymes. Everyone points to Raising Hell as the moment rap crossed over, but I think it's really two years earlier with this disc. Just listen to Rock Box, It's Like That, Hard Times and Wake Up.

#20 - The Cure - Boys Don't Cry

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Purists consider it a compilation and it is...sorta. But not really. And who cares, anyway? Most of the songs will appear on a real compilation later so let's just consider this just an album, okay? If you didn't get into The Cure until Disintegration, this album, I imagine, would sound rather stripped down; austere maybe. But this is the post-punk, new wave, somewhat poppy Cure many of us came to love early on. The band you can still hear on The Head on the Door and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me some years later. Go with the title track, 10:15 Saturday Night, Killing an Arab, Plastic Passion and Jumping Someone Else's Train.

#19 - Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

On a weekend road trip to New Hampshire this was the only cassette we had in a beat up 1974 Chevy Nova. All of us had recently graduated from high school and this album pretty much summed up what we felt. We were, in essence, saying goodbye to our teen years; to the town where we had grown up. Some would leave, chasing dreams that would take them all over the world. Others would leave, but find themselves unable to fully escape the comfort of what they'd known all their life. Like life after high school, it's an album full of hopes and dreams that are perilously close to resignation and acceptance. Title track, Jungleland, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and Thunder Road.

#18 - David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

Take one part T.Rex, one part A Clockwork Orange and one part androgymous alien rock star and you have The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - or what is easily one ofthe longest album titles...ever. The story Bowie tries to lay out doesn't make it much past the first few songs, but what he does give the listener is all glitzy theater. Faves include Starman, Sufragette City, Moonage Daydream and Ziggy Stardust.

#17 - Depeche Mode - Music for the Masses

Talk about a coming out party. This is like Depeche Mode's debutante ball. It's a masterful blend of power and song skill - driving, massive sound on tunes like Never Let Me Down, Strangelove and Behind the Wheel to the quieter, more intimate sounds of The Things You Said, I Want You Now, Sacred and Little 15. This disc paved the way for a very successful tour (101) and for an uber-successful disc that might just appear later on this list.

#16 - The Pixies - Doolittle

The band that paved the way for every alternative act of the early '90s. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it's hard to imagine some of the more prominent bands of the grunge and BritPop era without lurching guitars, brief songs and tossing pop music conventions out the window a la Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and Dave Lovering. Remind yourself what the early years sounded like with Debaser, Here Comes Your Man, Hey and Monkey Gone to Heaven.

#15 - Echo and the Bunnymen - Songs to Learn and Sing

Yes, it is another compilation. But, sometimes, when that's the way you're introduced to a band, that ends up being the one for you. I think what hooked me on Echo was their Doors-like sound -- it was a gloomy, post-punk vibe with elements of psychedelia. The band had to battle for prominence against the melancholia that was The Smiths and the synth-pop that Depeche Mode and New Order were churning out, but, behind the vocals of Ian McCulloch, they laid their claim to new wave royalty. As with any compilation, you really can't go wrong, but for my money listen to Never Stop, The Back of Love, The Killing Moon and Do It Clean.

#14 - The Silencers - A Letter from St. Paul

You won't find much about these guys. Hell, you'd be lucky to even find this disc. I misplaced my original copy and I can't begin to tell you how hard it was (in 1995) to find another. They had a sound many found familiar and yet distinct -- a blend of Celtic, R&B, late 60s pop, Beatles, U2, Velvet Underground and jangle pop. It's unfortunate this album didn't get the recognition it so richly deserves. One track actually appeared in a movie soundtrack - Morgan Stewart's Coming Home. What's that? You've never heard of that one? I'm not surprised -- no one else has either. My faves form this one include Painted Moon, the title track (which is just a creepy fuckin' number), I See Red, Bullets and Blue Eyes and God's Gift. And, if anyone wants to hear some of this, let me know and I'll post them - I think you'll like them if you hear them.

#13 - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us back

Right from the beginning of Countdown to Armageddon and its air raid siren you had fair warning that the rap and hip-hop you had known to this point was gone. Finis. Gone the way of the 8-track and the Adidas sweatsuit. Here we have sociopolitical commentary, funk, free jazz and the all-over-the-map Flavor Flav. And even though this album is almost 20 years old, it has staying power and sounds nearly as fresh as it did when it was released. Bring the Noise, Night of the Living Baseheads, Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos and Rebel Without a Pause.

#12 - New Order - Low-Life

From the harmonica, acoustic guitar and the multiple hooks of Love Vigilantes, long-time fans knew they weren't listening to their father's Joy Division any more. With Low-Life, New Order completed the transition from post-punk survivors to electronic masters. They gave fans dance-pop at its finest in Perfect Kiss and Subculture and with Love Vigilantes gave listeners something completely unmatched in the New Order catalogue.

#11 - Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

Allow me to go off on a brief tangent for a second. Paul's Boutique is brilliant - we know that. Nothing I'm going to write here is going to make that case any stronger. But it's brilliant not only for its rhymes, but for the incredible sampling - sampling on such a scale that it can only be described as art. The only thing I can really compare it to is the ability some bloggers have with linking in their posts -- I know that's a stretch, but it is there nonetheless. Ok -- I'm done going out on a limb and trying to bring it all back around. Hey ladies!/Get funky! (cowbell)

#10 - The Jam - Snap

A friend of mine lent me his copy of this on vinyl so I could tape it. He talked about the a lot so I figured I'd give them a shot. The first track, In the City, sounded so much like early Who, I was hooked. If you like the mod sound or if you like R&B with a stripped down, raw feel, the The Jam is just what the doctor ordered. You really can't go wrong with any track, but for a good sampling try That's Entertainment, Absolute Beginners, The Modern World, Start!, Eton Rifles and Going Underground.

#9 - The Smiths - Self-Titled

Has there ever been a debut so remarkable as this one? While sounding very much like every other Brit pop band out there, they turned the genre upside down. Johnny Marr's jangly guitar was catchy and a perfect counter to Morrissey's crooning and their songs were about unconventional topics such as muder, homesexuality and child abuse. Where to begin, where to begin? Hand In Glove, This Charming Man, Reel Around the Fountain and Pretty Girls Make Graves.

#8 - The Beat - What Is Beat?

You were paying attention when I said I like ska, weren't you? Taking a lot of Madness' fun, warm style and The Specials slightly darker take, The Beat gave its listeners a pop/punk/ska fusion that remains virtually timeless to this day. Sidenote: Originally I had this on cassette, but wore it out and it eventually snapped in the player and wrapped around a spindle. I can actually hear the sax on Too Nice to Talk To in my head as I write this. Mirror in the Bathroom, Save It for Later, I Confess and Doors of Your Heart.

#7 - The Clash - London Calling

Duh. What the hell can I say about this one? It is a greatest hits album unto itself: London Calling, Train in Vain, Clampdown, Lost in the Supermarket, Rudie Can't Fail, Spanish Bombs. That's all I have without embarassing myself.

#6 - The Cure - Disintegration

Finally a commercial breakthrough for a band that had been toiling away since 1979. Disintegration is a culmination of sorts and neatly encapsulates the various musical styles of their earlier albums. From the stripped down post-punk pop of Boys Don't Cry to the sweeping arena arrangements of Kiss Me, Kiss me, Kiss Me, the boys take those elements and gloomed them down - but in a way that brings the listener in instead of turning them off. The title track, Pictures of You, Lullaby, Fascination Street and Last Dance.

#5 - The Beatles - Revolver

This was the second Beatles album I owned - the first was the Blue Album on 8-track. For my money, this is a better album than Sgt. Pepper's. Now, don't get me worng, Sgt. Pepper's is brilliant and should be thought of as such. But as far as experimentation goes, Revolver has it beat hands down. And everyone gets involved in some way or another: Harrison's Taxman, Lennon's She Said, She Said, McCartney's Got to Get You Into My Life and Ringo singing Lennon's Yellow Submarine. So many styles and yet so magnificently executed.

#4 - AC/DC - Back in Black

Released five months after the death of Bon Scott, it immediately rocketed up the charts to become a rock classic. There's not a weak track in the bunch -- from the opening - Hell's Bells - to the closing - Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution - even the lesser-known tracks are solid. You don't need me to tell you what to listen to.

#3 - Led Zeppelin - IV

No Stairway read the sign in the music store in Wayne's World. One of the most identifiable riffs in modern rock and roll is a keystone to this album. But it's not just Stairway that makes this one great - it's also Rock and Roll, Black Dog, Battle of Evermore, Going to California and When the Levee Breaks.

#2 - U2 - Joshua Tree

The cover should be enough to tell you that this disc is gonna be a tad dark and gloomy. But, hey, it made superstars out of U2. This one is nearly 20-years-old now, but it certainly doesn't sound it. Besides the ubiquitous hits, I like Trip Thorugh Your Wire, Mothers of the Disappeared and In God's Country.

#1 - Depeche Mode - Violator

This is my list of top 100, right? Well, this is my favorite. Actually, depending on my mood I can pretty much rotate through the top 10. But, this is it for me. My roommate and I listened to this album over and over and over again when it was first released. Violator is one of those albums that an artist or a band looks for; strives for; hopes for. Every song virtually perfect and you've hit every genre you get lumped into without sounding cliche - you hit your goth elements without being too gloomy; your synth without sounding too electronic; and your rock elements without actually having to sound like a "rock" band. Listen to it from beginning to end - from World in My Eyes to Clean - I assure you you won't be disappointed.

Tags: top 100, mr. big dubya