Ecliptica (Original album, not the revisited one) - Sonata Arctica

Dire Straits - Dire Straits

Jeff Buckley “Grace”

Counting Crows- August and Everything After. Perfection from start to finish.

I honestly have no idea. My first favorites were Dookie and Smash, and I don’t enjoy either any less than I did, then.

I have 2 and it depends on what mood I am in.

For Albums I need to like every song and I need to be able to listen to the whole thing without skipping.

Anamanaguchi - Endless Fantasy is one of them and I just to LP for it: https://anamanaguchi.bandcamp.com/album/endless-fantasy

But if I’m looking to relax;

Austin Wintory - Journey: https://austinwintory.bandcamp.com/album/journey

One is impossible.

• Rush - Grace Under Pressure (Moving Pictures is fantastic and the cliche choice, but there’s something about this one I love.)
• The Knife - Silent Shout (Some reviewer called it “Haunted House” and that is the perfect descriptor. Eerie and intriguing electronic music.)
• The For Carnation - The For Carnation (What became of Slint after Spiderland. This one doesn’t get anywhere near as much recognition, but I think it’s the more mature work overall. Groovy, minimalist post-rock.)
• The Delgados - The Great Eastern (Hard to choose between their albums, too, but I think this one was a perfect straddling of their rockier bits and their symphonic dreampop that they leaned hard into later on. Great band!)
• R.E.M. - Life’s Rich Pageant (This one or its followup: Document which won them more accolades, but I think is slightly less consistent. Their peak-songwriting, IMO.)
• Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children (I know a lot of people love everything they’ve done, but I think they’ve never really topped the atmosphere of this one.)
• Cocteau Twins - Treasure (At the time there was nothing else like it. There still isn’t quite.)
• The Afghan Whigs - 1965 (One of their less-popular albums, but I think Dulli and co nailed the RnB rock formula with this one. Their newer stuff is also pretty great.)
• Basement Jaxx - Rooty (I’m torn between this and Kish Kash. Rooty is maybe slightly more consistent. Wall-to-wall banging big beat pop tunes. Fantastic production.)
• Vektor - Terminal Redux (I went through a metal phase for some years, and this one still stands out. Amazing thrash-prog with a vocalist who sounds like a banshee from outer space. Amazing stuff!)
• Skeletonwitch - Devouring Radiant Light (Gonna catch hell for this one. They were a very popular thrash band, then they fired their singer and went black metal. It was an unpopular decision with most of their fans. I think they knocked it out of the park. They haven’t made an album since, though…)
• Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot - The Son of Chico Dusty (The [somewhat] underrated member of Outkast. This album goes hard. Lots of interesting collabs, too.)
• Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow (Peak alt-hip-hop IMO. RIP Gift of Gab)
• Glenn Gould’s recording of the Goldberg Variations.

I’d better stop…

The Mark, Tom, & Travis Show by Blink 182

The Story So Far self titled

The Downward Spiral [NIN halo 8]

Bruce Springsteen, several albums, almost all the early ones

Can’t pick one or two.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - David Bowie

London Calling - Clash

The Gift - The Jam

Rubber Soul - The Beatles

Tin Drum - Japan

Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd

Synchronicity - The Police

Remain In Light - Talking Heads

New Traditionalists - Devo

La folie - The Stranglers

Vital Remains - Let Is Pray

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

Crass - Penis Envy

Aus-Rotten - The Rotten Agenda

Dayglo Abortions - Feed Us a Fetus

It’s somewhere between those this year. It would’ve been totally different five years ago, will be totally different five from now.

Currently I’m in a rediscovery / re-appreciation phase so:

Sinead O’Conner - The lion and the Cobra

The Doors - Morrison Hotel

Probably all time favourite, although it fades in and out of rotation:

Dream Theater - Metropolis pt2

IV by Black Mountain and Private Tales by Sleepy Sun.

I don’t really grasp genres very well so I’ll just call them rock. But I love these albums with all my heart, front to back.

Nirvana - Nevermind

No question. I got it when I was 15 in '91. Over the years, I’ve seen countless bands of various genres. My tastes evolved, and frankly, some of the records and CDs I loved at that age have not held up as my taste and musical appreciation broadened, but this one’s timeless. For a while, I preferred In Utero for its rawness, but Nevermind is basically flawless in my opinion.

Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV.

That album is a masterpiece.