Jason's Top Ten Albums Of All Time Part 1

I have been getting a lot of pressure from Steve to get to writing this, but have been rather busy lately with school and my sister getting married soon and what have you, so I feel that I have not had adequate time to fully develop a list of my all time top ten albums. Although it was I who was originally the thrower down of the metaphorical gauntlet, I feel as though the gauntlet has been picked up and slapped in my face. This face slapping is intolerable and must be put to a stop, so I present you with my top ten albums of all time. I will have you know that this is a very difficult list to put together, so my picks are not 100% concrete. However, I do feel that it is a solid representation, so we'll get the ball rolling with the first 5. Enjoy.

1. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

I really don't need to say much about this album. Kind of Blue is the embodiment of jazz. My love affair for jazz goes back to when I was about 10 years old and decided to check out some John Coltrane and Stan Getz albums from the library and proceeded to listen to them over and over again, awestruck and amazed at what I was hearing. There are multiple albums that I could select from the genre, with each one being as magical as the others, but this is one that I feel sums up the magnificence of them all. Miles Davis is a household name, but not many realize that he is but just one member of the legendary ensemble that recorded this album, with John Coltrane on tenor sax, Cannonball Adderley on alto sax, Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Miles' playing is somewhat minimalist on this album, but is nonetheless so sweet it almost brings tears of joy to your eyes. Coltrane's signature tenor tone paired with Adderley's alto vibe is like a saxophonic yin and yang bringing light and dark together in perfect harmony. The rhythm section is, of course, solid and allows everything come together in a sweetness that even the most outspoken jazz hater can not possibly deny. I'm definitely not the only person who feels this way about the album, so if you haven't heard it I can only scratch my head and wonder why...

2. Bad Religion, The Process of Belief

If you're not familiar with Bad Religion, I am a firm believer that you should be. I completely understand that punk rock isn't for everyone, but Bad Religion just makes too much sense sometimes for that to be an excuse. Most bands or artists go through phases, and BR is no exception. Their first recordings were very abrasive and stereotypical of the punk rock from the early '80s, but they soon refined their sound with Suffer, No Control, and Against the Grain throughout the later part of the '80s and early '90s. After a few stellar albums in '90s, they ran into a road block with the ill-received albums No Substance in '98 and The New America in 2000. Both were released on Atlantic Records, a move that many fans and speculatively the band members despise as well. After working out some differences with their former label, the band re-signed with Epitaph and in 2002 released my personal favorite by them and definitely my favorite punk album of all time, The Process of Belief. Could it be that 2002 was also the year that I was introduced to the band and the first live show of theirs I had been to? Perhaps, but there is certainly more to the equation. The album opens with the hyper-charged Supersonic, a track that belongs at the beginning of an album no ifs ands of buts about it. The rest of the album is filled with politically and emotionally charged tracks like Broken, Kyoto Now, Sorrow, and my personal favorite, You Don't Belong. This is one rare album that I can sing along every single word of every single song from start to finish, and given the broad spectrum of stuff I listen to, that says a lot.

3. Bob Dylan, Bringing it All Back Home


All I can say about Bringing it All Back Home is that I love Bob Dylan and this one takes the cake for me. Starting off with one of my favorite songs ever, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Bringing It All Back Home is full of gems. My other favorite tracks on this album are the twisted narrative entitled Bob Dylan's 115th Dream, the somber It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), and the poignant ballad Gates of Eden. Dylan has been covered by artists over and over time and time again, with tracks from this album being quite popular. Most well known of these are Mr Tambourine Man, and Maggie's Farm, which Rage Against The Machine covered on their 2001 release Renegades. Dylan isn't for everyone, but it's rare to find somebody that doesn't appreciate the dreamy eclectic mastery that he had of the songwriting craft at such a young age. Many folk purists were appalled at Dylan when he went electric but, in my humble opinion, it doesn't get much better than this.

4. Jimi Hendrix, Band Of Gypsys

This, for me, is the cream of Hendrix. Again, this record is definitely not for everybody. Recorded live at the Filmore East on New Years Eve 1969, Band of Gypsys is the pinnacle of Hendrix's guitar playing virtuosity. As a previous reviewer put it: "Father Jimi lays down a Stratocaster sermon" and it is a spiritual experience every single time I listen to this recording. Hendrix is accompanied by a super tight rhythm section with Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, which perfectly compliment the liquid fluidity of Jimi's guitar. Standout tracks for me are the nine minute long opener Who Knows, the thirteen minute long Machine Gun, and the straight preachin' Power to Love. I could go on and on about this album, but you need to experience it for yourself, and when you do make sure you listen to it at a reasonable volume.


5. The Clash, Combat Rock

There are a lot of Clash fans that will disagree with me on this one, but Combat Rock is in my opinion their best work. Combat Rock was recorded just before the band began falling apart, with Mick Jones leaving the band about a year after Combat Rock was released. This album has a few tracks that even the most musically oblivious should recognize, most notably Rock The Casbah and Should I Stay Or Should I Go?. Aside from the hits, there are other standouts on the album including the opener Know Your Rights, the fierce Straight To Hell, and my personal favorite track on the album featuring one of my favorite poets Allen Ginsberg titled Ghetto Defendant. Combat Rock is an album I can listen to over and over again and is filled with genre spanning compositions that put the seal on the legend that was The Clash.