My Top 20 Albums of All-Time
Since I've been serving my civil duty of locking myself away from the almighty Coronavirus, I've had a lot of extra time on my hands. If you don't believe me, check out the 64-song "Best Rock Song of the 2010s" tournament I ran just because I was bored. After running the Twitter tournament, I was in the mood to submerse myself further in my favorite music. I contemplated on if I wanted to write a "Top albums of 2019" list, or a list of my favorite albums that were released while I was in college, but those lists would be too unnecessarily restricted. So, I said screw it, put on my thinking cap, and made a GOAT list. So here is my GOAT list of albums –specifically, my top 20 albums that have ever blessed my ear drums (and more than likely pained my friends).
**Note: below each album, you'll see my top three songs from that specific album. This list is simply my personal favorite albums of all-time. Nobody on this planet will even share my top 5 (but if you do, email me so we can become best friends), so comment below and tell me what your favorite albums are!
With that said, let's get it!!
20. A/B, Kaleo
No Good, Hot Blood, Glass House
19. Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood, Volbeat
A Broken Man and the Dawn, Back to Prom, Find That Soul
18. Stoney, Post Malone
Hit This Hard, Patient, Congratulations
17. Rumours, Fleetwood Mac
Don't Stop, Never Going Back Again, The Chain
16. Home of the Strange, Young the Giant
Repeat, Something to Believe In, Home of the Strange
15. Division, 10 Years
Actions & Motives, Just Can't Win, Beautiful
14. Hats Off to the Bull, Chevelle
Hats Off to the Bull, Face to the Floor, Revenge
13.Trench, twenty one pilots
Levitate, My Blood, Legend
12. Black Out the Sun, Sevendust
Mountain, Murder Bar, Decay
11. The Incredible True Story, Logic
Young Jesus, Upgrade, Fade Away
For my top 10, let me tell you a little bit on why they're there...
10. 1984, Van Halen
1984 has a special place in my heart: not only because the smoking cherub is one of my favorite album covers ever, but considering that Van Halen was the first band I fell in love with, this was the first album I obsessed over. Sadly, this was the end of the prime David Lee Roth era with the band (leading to the beginning of the overwhelmingly-keyboard-drowned Van Hagar stage). 1984 was surprisingly the only No.1 album in DLR's tenure, which says a lot when considering the other five great albums that Van Halen put out in those seven years.
Top 3: Panama, Hot for Teacher, Jump
9. 2014 Forest Hills Drive, J. Cole
Yes, this album went platinum with zero features, but that's nowhere near the most impressive attribute to this album. The 13-song album appears chronologically in order along with Cole's life – ex. "January 28th" (Track 1) being his birth; "St. Tropez" (Track 7) showing Cole's pursuit of fame; "Love Yourz" (Track 12) voicing Cole's opinion on his wealth and why it isn't what's important to him. The writing does not get lazy for a single second of the entire album, and the beats are far from the loud, bass-driven trap beats that radios love. Which makes this album that much greater.
Top 3: No Role Modelz, A Tale of 2 Citiez, G.O.M.D
8. Kill the Flaw, Sevendust
Ahh, yes, just looking at this album makes me happy. Who couldn't love the imagery behind the old dog putting up a fight against the young, oddly-colored eagle? Sevendust's eleventh studio album proved that the 21-year-old band has plenty of firepower and aggression to keep up with the younger generation of rock bands. I'm not the only one who agrees, as Sevendust earned their first Grammy nomination with the lead single, "Thank You."
Top 3: Silly Beast, Peace and Destruction, Forget
7. beerbongs & bentleys, Post Malone
Post Malone burst into the music world with Stoney, but he truly solidified himself as one of – if not the – top artist of the last three years. The entire beerbongs & bentleys album cracked the Billboard Hot 100 (even the interlude lol) and three of those songs reached the top two. After the dominance of his 2019 release Hollywood's Bleeding, it seems Post Malone's success is just as permanent as his face tattoos.
Top 3: Rich & Sad, 92 Explorer, Stay
6. Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, Volbeat
Volbeat's entire discography dips into several niche sub-genres, and Outlaw Gentlemen is their finest piece of accumulating all their styles into one disc. Their death metal roots can be found in "Room 24", their rockabilly core is perfectly executed in "Lonesome Rider", and songs such as "The Hangman's Body Count" and "Doc Holliday" show the Elvis-meets-Metallica style of their music. The perfectly articulated radio smash-hits ("Lola Montez", I'm looking at you) and strong Western theme of the album cannot go unmentioned, as well.
Top 3: Dead but Rising, Black Bart, My Body
5. Animosity, Sevendust
In their infancy, Sevendust was a thrash, nu-metal band. With 2001's Animosity, Sevendust did a tremendous job delving into the general rock genre while maintaining the same heavy sound that their fans were accustomed to. One of Sevendust's biggest compliments is that over their entire career, they haven't changed their sound in exchange for chart-toppers. They're purely a heavy, consistent band that doesn't bend to music trends, but also doesn't let their sound grow stagnant over twenty years. This is beyond impressive, as very few bands have accomplished this.
**Side note: The intro to "Trust" was my walk-up song during my high school baseball days. Imagine hearing that paralyzing riff right before I groundout to third.
Top 3: Shine, Dead Set, Live Again
4. I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it, The 1975
I kind of stumbled across The 1975 when this album came out, and let's just say, I'm very glad I'm clumsy. As you can see, this album is vastly different to all the others in my top-10, but that's what makes this album so delicious. The soft, crooning vocals in songs like "Change of Heart" and "If I Believe You" feel like a breath of fresh air after every listen, and this album holds the same crisp energy that it induced when I first listened to it in 2016.
Top 3: The Sound, Change of Heart, Paris
3. Ember, Breaking Benjamin
Ember claimed the double throne of my favorite album and song ("Psycho") of 2018, and there's good reason. Breaking Benjamin in Ember is what Godsmack should be and what Shinedown wants to be, which attests to Breaking Benjamin's skill. Even after a half-decade hiatus that sent 80% of the band packing, Breaking Benjamin came back strong in 2015's Dark Before Dawn. 2018's Ember was Breaking Benjamin's way of punching you in the mouth and telling you they're not going anywhere.
Top 3: Psycho, Feed the Wolf, Blood
2. Fortress, Alter Bridge
From start to finish, Fortress is Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti at their finest. Their writing has never been in question, but it also has never been more evident at their mastery than in Fortress. To me, the cover and overall album flow mixed together to tell me a story of a broken, abusive home that disguised itself as a haven. I never found an interview confirming that the band's intentions were to paint that specific picture, but that's the beauty of this album: it tells a story without directly telling a story.
Top 3: Farther Than the Sun, Waters Rising, Cry of Achilles
1. The Stories We Tell Ourselves, Nothing More
My first listen of TSWTO was nonchalant, but when I sat down and gave it a second listen, it grabbed me by surprise. TSWTO is so awe-inducing, powerful, and unique that it's hard to compare it to another. Each line has a hidden definition, and Johnny Hawkins executes them to utter perfection. The passion, range, emotion, and defiance in his vocals is simply unbelievable: he gives each song its own voice (no pun intended). As young and talented as Nothing More is, I will not be surprised one bit when this band reaches the pinnacle of rock and serves as the face of the genre for years to come.
Top 3: Who We Are, Funny Little Creatures, The Great Divorce
Thank you for reading about my favorite albums of all-time! Disagree with me? Agree? Doesn't matter, it's my opinion. But comment below and give me yours!