Jessica's Top 100 Favorite Albums Of All-Time
Mar 22, 2022 20:09:50 GMT -5
FreakyFlyBry, Pipa, and 1 more like this
Post by JessieLou on Mar 22, 2022 20:09:50 GMT -5
70. Jefferson Starship Dragon Fly (1974)
The debut album from Jefferson Starship! And it’s a great one. Lead single “Ride The Tiger” is a kickass classic rock song, “All Fly Away” is a duet between Grace and Paul Kantner that reminds me a lot of The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, closing song “Hyperdrive”… Christ almighty. Can we f*ckING talk about GRACE’S VOCALS?!?!?! UGH!!!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍 Speaking of Grace vocals, she also really shines on “Devils Den” and “Be Young You”. We also have on this album “Caroline”, a song that was supposed to be a one off return from Marty Balin, who left Jefferson Airplane in 1970, but of course we all know what happened after that - he rejoined for this album’s follow up “Red Octopus” and gave the band one of their biggest hits ever. But we’ll be discussing that album MUCH later.
TOP 5 SONGS: Ride The Tiger, All Fly Away, Hyperdrive, Devil's Den, Caroline
69. Heart Desire Walks On (1993)
What a criminally underrated album. After the 80’s arena rock fare of 1985’s self titled (which is still to come), 1987’s “Bad Animals”, and 1990’s “Brigade”, Heart went back to their roots on this album, and it definitely shows on songs like “Black On Black II” which is basically the 90’s version of “Barracuda” and is SUCH A FREAKING BANGER. Honestly that is song one of my top 2 favorites from them and is a huge reason why they became core artists for me in the first place. Their last pop hit “Will You Be There (In The Morning)” is very pretty and should’ve been a bigger hit. “Ring Them Bells” is a great song that has Ann Wilson singing with Layne Staley for the second time (on the 1992 Alice In Chains EP “Sap”, she sang with Layne on “Am I Inside” and with Jerry Cantrell on “Brother”). There’s an unexpected but very well done cover of Donna Summer’s 1982 hit “The Woman In Me”’ on here (Ann and Nancy were actually friends with her). And let’s just take a moment to acknowledge one of the most legendary and iconic album tracks to ever exist, “Rage”. Why this f*cking BANGER of a song wasn’t a single still boggles my mind. Ann’s vocals are INSANITY on that song!!!!
TOP 5 SONGS: Black On Black II, Rage, Will You Be There (In The Morning), Desire Walks On, Ring Them Bells
68. Lita Ford Stiletto (1990)
This was the first Lita album I owned a physical copy of, as Unkie gifted it to me on my 15th birthday, but I remember downloading the album on Limewire aka Limeslow about a month earlier, and LOVING it. The lead single "Hungry" is a banger, "Lisa" is one of her best ballads ever and is dedicated to her Mom who was dying at the time. This album also has some of her best album tracks ever. "Stiletto" kicks ass, "Aces & Eights" is one of her heaviest songs ever, "Dedication" and "Cherry Red" are fun. Just a great album, and one of her best for sure.
TOP 5 SONGS: Lisa, Stiletto, Aces & Eights, Hungry, Dedication
67. Jefferson Starship Live In Central Park NYC May 12, 1975 (2013)
What I would give to go back and see Grace live in concert. Especially this show, a free concert they did in New York City's Central Park in the summer of 1975. Everyone, especially Grace, was on top of their game and I always enjoy listening to this. My queen could do no wrong! Well... except in Germany in 1978.
TOP 5 SONGS: White Rabbit, Somebody To Love, Volunteers, Ride The Tiger, Play On Love
66. Alanis Morissette So-Called Chaos (2004)
Like "Don't Believe The Truth" by Oasis, I feel like this is an album a lot of people have either forgotten about or don't even know exists. For me, it was probably the best example of an era that started out as a letdown but was saved in a VERY big way. I was obsessed with the lead singles from 1998's "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" ("Thank U") and 2002's "Under Rug Swept" ("Hands Clean"), but I had a very hard time getting into "Everything". I love it now, but when it first came out I was honestly struggling. It only got to #9 on my chart, which even back then I thought was weird. If I had a chart when "Thank U" and "Hands Clean" were out both of those without a doubt would have been #1's (and "Uninvited" too!). Then the second single was announced, and it was announced right around the time I started DJing on M4B Radio's affiliated station at the time, Variety FM 104. I did my countdown show at this time but I would also hop on and DJ whenever I felt like it, and I would play a mix of older songs and songs that were currently doing well on my chart, and one song that I played a lot and I got into the more and more I played it was that second single - "Eight Easy Steps", or as @cdennisfan calls it, "Ate EZ Steps". That song ended up blowing up for me in a BIG way, it ended up spending what was at the time a record-breaking 12 weeks at #1 on my chart, to this day I think it is one of if not THE the most culturally impactful songs for me personally ever. It's just become a very iconic song for me personally in a big way that I will also go more in depth about once I get to that song in my #1's thread. But I ended up getting this CD that year for my 12th birthday and for the next few months it was on VERY heavy rotation on my walkman (as well as "Jagged Little Pill", which is going to come much, MUCH later on this list). Definitely a nostalgic album for me that brings back great memories of whoring "Eight Easy Steps" out on VFM, drawing photos of @cdennisfan and Jason eating popcorn through their nose (this may take awhile to explain lmao I was 12), and Madonna no longer being the reigning JessieLou queen. But don't get it twisted - "Eight Easy Steps" may be THE banger on this album, but there's other great tracks too, like "Out Of Through", "Excuses", "So-Called Chaos", canceled third single "Knees Of My Bees" (which also went to #1 on my chart), and the single that should've been, "Doth I Protest Too Much" (still lowkey mad at Alanis for not releasing this as a single tbh).
TOP 5 SONGS: Eight Easy Steps, Doth I Protest Too Much, Out Is Through, Everything, Excuses
65. Jefferson Starship Spitfire (1976)
Made a last minute change - this was originally #64, but I decided I liked the album that I originally had at #65 more. A great album from when the band were at their commercial peak - "With Your Love" was another huge smash for them. "St. Charles" wasn't as big but it's still a great 70's soft rock song that reminds me a lot of a Harry Chapin album track from that same year. "Cruisin'", "Switchblade", and "Big City" are awesome album tracks. And can we f*ckING talk about the BANGER that is "Hot Water"?! Grace... SING IT GIRL!!!11 Ugh Grace is so freaking awesome I can't even. Also there was this one time at band cam--- I mean The Cheesecake Factory where Unkie heard "With Your Love" playing but I didn't hear it right away because it was noisy at the restaurant and the moment I made it out I started singing along and the waiters passing by looked at me like I was a crazy person.
TOP 5 SONGS: Hot Water, St. Charles, With Your Love, Switchblade, Cruisin'
64. Jefferson Starship Modern Times (1981)
The queen of music returns to Jefferson Starship! After Grace's unexpected departure in 1978 following a disastrous concert in Hamburg, Germany, she released two solo albums in 1980's "Dreams" and 1981's "Welcome To The Wrecking Ball". Around this time, she reconnected with Paul Kantner who was working on this album with the band's new male singer Mickey Thomas (Marty Balin left not long after Grace did). Paul was working on a song about a bad review Rolling Stone gave the band's previous album, 1979's "Freedom At Point Zero", called "Stairway To Cleveland". The song was written around the phrase "f*ck you! We do what we want!", and Paul asked Grace if she could sing on the song with him and Mickey as he thought Grace was a good fit for it (Grace's exact words in a 1983 PBS interview were, "Yeah, that's my kind of song!"). Next thing you know, Grace also sang on album highlights "Save Your Love" and "Alien". Next thing you know after that, she's singing a DUET with Mickey on the album's second single "Stranger". Next thing you know, Grace officially rejoined Jefferson Starship. Now, those four songs, plus "Wild Eyes" (no Pipa, NOT a Stampeders cover) are the only songs on this album that have Grace. But even the non-Grace songs on here are very strong too. "Find Your Way Back" is one of my favorite singles of theirs, the title track "Modern Times" kicks ass, and "Free" is a great early 80's rock song. But the Grace songs are the clear highlights here. "Stranger" is one of my top 5 favorite Grace songs ever, and "Stairway To Cleveland" isn't too far behind either. Excellent album and one of their best!
TOP 5 SONGS: Stranger, Stairway To Cleveland, Find Your Way Back, Save Your Love, Alien
63. Pearl Jam Vitalogy (1994)
"Not For You".
That's it, that's my entire commentary on this album. That's all I have to say.
Okay fine I'll say a little more but I think I've made my point there. This album was more experimental than their previous two albums and had some serious WTF moments like "Bugs" (which was basically their version of Soundgarden's "Half"/Alice In Chains' "Love Song"), but also some really great career highlights like "Better Man" (which I recently learned was NOT a single! ), "Spin The Black Circle" (an ode to vinyl records 20 years before they went back in fashion), "Corduroy" (a song I always found underrated), and of course the ultimate BANGER to end all BANGERS, "Not For You". Like honestly if all 14 songs on this album were just "Not For You" on repeat, I wouldn't be mad.
TOP 5 SONGS: Not For You, Better Man, Spin The Black Circle, Corduroy, Tremor Christ
62. Dolores O'Riordan Are You Listening? (2007)
OH MY GOD WHERE THE f*ck DO I BEGIN ON THIS ICONICNESS. I first found out that Dolores was working on a solo album a couple months before it came out, which also happened to be right around the time I started getting into The Cranberries. The album's lead single "Ordinary Day" came out in February 2007, and I was immediately obsessed. It debuted at #1 on my chart, spent 10 weeks there, and ended up being my #1 song of the year. The second single, "When We Were Young", was another huge #1 on my chart and was my #2 song of the year. That song also became part of an inside joke when a radio rip of it leaked and you could overhear the DJs saying over the song, "f*cking 101. Listen asshole!" Of course let's also not forget this thread. When the album came out in May, I bought it at Best Buy the day it came out (also in 2007 JessieLou fashion I bought there that same day Heart's self-titled 1985 album, which is still to come on here, and Tori Amos' "American Doll Posse" which came out a week earlier). This album is pop/rock perfection and has held up so well. Album tracks "Loser" and "In The Garden" were also #1's for me and still are so badass. "Human Spirit" is a softer song that reminds me of early Cranberries hits like "Linger" and "Dreams". I am not entirely sure why in the f*ck I never charted "October" because it's SO FREAKING GOOD! I would honestly give anything to have this album on vinyl because it's perfection and f*ck do I miss her and her voice SO MUCH!!!!!
TOP 5 SONGS: Ordinary Day, When We Were Young, Loser, In The Garden, October
61. Jefferson Starship Earth (1978)
First off, let's get the obvious out of the way - IS "COUNT ON ME" #1 YET?!
This was one of the first Jefferson Starship albums I owned and listened to in full, and it's chunk full of 70's soft rock goodness. Singles "Count On Me" and "Runaway" remain iconic, "Love Too Good" is a sexy soulful blues-inspired track with the queen on lead vocals, "Fire" is a great rock track with Marty Balin on lead vocals, "Skateboard" - which I believe was supposed to be the third single until they changed it to "Crazy Feelin'" at the last minute following Grace's departure from the band - has always been a favorite of mine. I just LOVE when Grace rocks out like she does on that one! I also love when she sings ballads like "Take Your Time" and "Show Yourself". That's probably why I like this album so much, there seems to be significantly more Grace lead vocals on it. No disrespect to Marty, Paul, and Mickey, but well... I wanna hear Grace.
TOP 5 SONGS: Runaway, Love Too Good, Count On Me, Skateboard, Show Yourself
60. This artist is going on tour in the UK and Australia later this year to support this album's 25-year anniversary.
59. THE most famous MTV Unplugged episode.
58. Another MTV Unplugged album; while this one is not as well-known at #59 it's still from a very important band and you could also say they came from the same scene as the band at #59.
57. An album that was nominated for Album Of The Year at the Grammys. Damn you Lauryn Hill!
56. The first album from this VERY legendary and iconic rock band in 11 years.
55. The second album from this New Jersey heavy metal band who isn't Bon Jovi.
54. The second album from this heavy metal band, released in 1984, and the follow-up to one of THE most iconic heavy metal albums ever (which is also still to come much, much later on this list).
53. An iconic Canadian band's 1976 live album.
52. An iconic Canadian band's 1981 live album.
51. The 1998 debut solo album from a singer and guitarist who I may or may not be seeing in concert in 21 days. He is also very, very cute.