Music is a big part of my life. Music is a big part of everyone’s life. If you disagree, you’re a liar and I don’t like you. EVERYONE LOVES MUSIC. Unless you’re deaf, then it’s okay, but I still don’t believe you and I might not like you. That’s how important music is; DON’T LIE TO ME ABOUT IT.
That said, I’ve revisited some albums recently that I hadn’t listened to in awhile. Albums that I, at one point, couldn’t live without. Albums that consumed my ears for months and months and months and MONFS. I started jotting a few down. Then “a few” turned into ten that turned into twenty. Not wanting to half-ass such an important list – one that documents, accompanies, and tells my journey through life to this point – I sat down this morning determined – determined to go through the catalog that is my life my music my life’s music, figure out what albums consumed the biggest chunk of my time, and then rank them. Here’s how that transpired:
A) First, I tried to think of the earliest possible albums I could remember listening to since it would be the hardest, given that my earliest memory of music was when I was four years old.
B) After I got tapped out with albums from my youngest years, I started writing down albums as they popped into my head (the easy ones).
C) After that, I knew there had to be more, so I went through my iTunes.
D) After that, I knew there STILL had to be more, so I Googled music/songs/albums starting back in 1984. To make it easier on my aging mind, I went through the Top 100 Billboard Songs from each year from 1984-2011. All this in hopes that it would jog my memory on songs (and then albums) that I had forgotten.
E) I then determined a way to rank them. The determination went as follows:
The rules for ranking were simple: 1) It had to be an album, not just a single. If I were ranking singles, the list would be longer than the line to get into Bonnaroo. It would probably stink just as bad, too. 2) It had to be an album I listened to for more than two months straight, at any one time. 3) It would go in order from fewest minutes listened to most minutes listened or basically a lot of minutes listened to even more minutes listened. Rules for ranking: Easy. Actually ranking: Not easy.
And that’s it.
When I was done, the list I came up with had 60 albums on it. I’m sure there are a few that I forgot, but for now 60 is more than enough. Most will have commentary about how it made my Top 60. I need to defend my selections after all. Also noteworthy, 60-11 could probably be rearranged with a million different combinations, but for the sake of ranking, this is how they went.
Without further adieu, here is the list:
I GOT 60 ON IT! (60 to 31)
60. Bone Thugz N Harmony – E. 1999 Eternal
– 7th grade, represent! I did a graphic arts project where I designed the cover art, insert, and backing to a CD. Every “s” was replaced by a “z” because of this album.
59. Mariah Carey – Daydreams
– Knock it if you want, but I started dating my wife when this album was out (1996). But, you know you listened to “Fantasy” over and over, too. And the “Fantasy” remix? Forget about it.
58. Paramore – Riot!
– “crushcrushcrush” made this album eligible for consideration and ranking at #58.
57. Celine Dion – The Colour of My Love
– Again, knock it if you want, but girl can sang. Pretty sure you know all the words to least one song on this album. You know which song. YES YOU DO.
56. Soul 4 Real – Candy Rain
– This won’t be the only group that rocks the number in their name. It won’t be the only group that rocks the number 4 in their name. See: 54.
55. Ernie Halter – Low Fidelity
– This snuck on from heavy rotation in 2009.
54. All 4 One – All 4 One
-When you’re in 7th grade and trying to get with an 8th grader, this is the jam you listen to. Also, in Wikipedia they’re listed as a group from 1993-Present. There’s still time to get in on this.
53. Robin Thicke – The Evolution of Robin Thicke
– His albums will never be as good as this and that makes me sad. I wanted to see his name on this list more. He’s a white R&B singer. COME ON! How can you not love that? Fuck off, Jon B!
52. Montell Jordan – This Is How We Do It
– This would have gone on my singles list, but I bought the entire CD just for this song and then ended up listening to the album for like 4 months straight. I alternated this with Skee-Lo’s “I Wish” track for a solid 6 months. 1995 SWAG.
51. Ace of Base – The Sign
– I listened to this on my yellow Walkman the entire summer before my 7th grade year. When I got on the bus, still listening to it, people asked what I was listening to. I told them “Ace of Base, duh.” They all called me a poser and I immediately only listened to this in the privacy of my room. For another month straight.
50. Boyz II Men – II
– Everyone listened to this. If you are my age and you have kids, chances are you created those kids listening to “I’ll Make Love To You.” Some 15 years after this album came out.
49. MTV Party To Go: Volume 8
– “Feel Me Flow” was my jam. “1st of Tha Month” was my jam. “Big Poppa” was my jam. Hell, this whole album IS my jam. STILL.
48. Eric Hutchinson – Sounds Like This
– This snuck on from heavy rotation in 2009. See: Ernie Halter.
47. Akon – Trouble
– My love for Akon started here. My (previously pledged undying) love for Akon ended here.
46. Keith Sweat – Twisted
– Don’t get it twisted.
45. Usher – My Way
-I loved this for more than just the “You Make Me Wanna” video where there were a million Ushers. I loved this because I secretly loved doo-rags, but would never attempt to wear one. I was a bunch of different things, but I wasn’t THAT guy.
44. Josh Hoge – Everything She Was
– Found him through Marc Broussard, a later entry in this list. Also, snuck on from heavy rotation in 2009. See: Ernie Halter, Eric Hutchinson.
43. MC Hammer – Too Legit To Quit
– I almost put 2L2Q. One, you would’ve gotten it. Two, enough said.
42. Puff Daddy & The Family – No Way Out
– The cover of this album is classic enough to make this list without even listening to a single second of it. This album helped define my 1996-1997, a year span where I listened to two other albums already on this list: Mariah Carey and Celine Dion. I was courting someone, but still had to keep it thug. RIP, BIG.
41. Notorious BIG – Life After Death
– Naturally, I had listened to other Biggie songs before this album, but this is the first album of his that I listened to front and back. Both discs. It’s an all-time classic and the only reason it’s at 41 is cause I wanted to keep him next to Diddy so Diddy wouldn’t weep. Or try to dance his way further up this list. Take that, take that.
40. Fall Out Boy – From Under The Cork Tree
– My early teenage years (and further back) were consumed with only hip-hop. Fall Out Boy and a group you all know I love (who is higher up on this list) were really the first bands I listened to outside the genre of “getting shit crunk.” Please note: If you’re saying, “Where’s Take This To Your Grave?” just be patient.
39. Lloyd Banks – The Hunger For More
– And my love for hip-hop is back, y’all! I love hip-hop, but I don’t like a lot of rappers cause there are way too many who suck to give each one a shot. Lloyd Banks is not one of them. I wish he was more relevant now cause I loved the shit out of this album. “Warrior, Pt 2” is my damn jam. Too bad after The Hunger For More, Pt 2 I had lost my appetite.
38. Nelly – Nellyville
– This should be on everyone’s Top Whatever just from hearing “Hot in Herre” a million times on the radio or at the club/parties/weddings/Bar Mitzvahs. For me, it’s in my Top 38 cause I bumped the shit out of “Air Force Ones” and “Work It” featuring Justin Timberlake. “Birfdays, pick a place baby we can go.” I know you know it.
37. 50 Cent – Get Rich or Die Tryin’
– If you know me, you know I don’t really like 50. The reason I don’t like 50 is because of everything he put out after this fantastic album. I’m not sure how many times he says “bulletproof” or “vest” or “shot” in this album, but I bet it’s a lot and I bet that I don’t care cause it made this album his best album.
36. DMX – Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood
– His first album is better than this, I know, but I mixed and matched all tracks from both albums during my junior and senior years of high school. I played varsity soccer and nothing got me hyphey before a game like “Niggas Die For Me,” “My Niggas,” and “Bring Your Whole Crew.” Any album that has a lyric that says, “I got blood on my dick cause I fucked a corpse. I’m a nasty nigga” HAS to be Top 60. BTW, DMX, you didn’t have to tell us you were nasty. We kinda got it.
35. DMX – And Then There Was X…
– If you think I’m crazy for not putting It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot before, you probably think I’m even crazier now. Let me ‘splain. I got down on Flesh after Dark and then mixed the two, never giving Dark the proper rotation to qualify as per the rules I created at the beginning of this exercise. X came later and I loved it. It was the last DMX album that was good, which is a shame. Again, any album that has a lyric, “I spend my money on niggas cause niggas get me rich. And the bitch ain’t doing shit but sucking my dick” HAS to be Top 60. DMX was the King of run-on lengthy wordy awesome lyrics. Grrrrrrrr.
34. John Mayer – Continuum
– What you might not know about me is that I hated John Mayer back in the day. It wasn’t until he had put out three albums that I even gave him the time of day. His facial expressions when he sings is reason enough to not like him, but I just couldn’t get behind it. Then I paid attention to Justin Timberlake’s facial expressions and I stopped hating. I listened to Mayer’s entire catalog simultaneously right when I stopped hating, but Continuum was the first album of his that I gave uninterrupted attention. Then Battle Studies came out and I started hating again.
33. John Legend – Get Lifted
– I started liking John Mayer well after he put out great music. I STILL like John Legend well after he stopped putting out great music. He’ll NEVER put out an album better than Get Lifted and that’s a fact. Since putting this out in 2005, nothing has even been close. I hold out less and less hope with every album he releases. I can’t give up, though. You’ll see another artist who falls victim to this syndrome below: Anthony Hamilton.
32. Anthony Hamilton – Comin’ From Where I’m From
– 1) Probably one of THE best soul/R&B albums ever. 2) See above, replace artist name and album name. Done.
31. Hit The Lights – Skip School, Start Fights
– I saw them (with Colin) open up for another band, who has yet to appear on this list, at a < 100 person venue in Wilkes Barre, PA with my brother, Josh. It was a 2+ hour drive. They rocked it. They’ve made the Top 60.
Catch entries 30 – 1 tomorrow at the same time, same place.
