It is a year or so since I started this blog - I began and then stopped for months... shifted cities etc etc.
Two years ago on my birthday I burned a compilation CD of songs I enjoyed the most through the year. The songs didn't need to be new - just enjoyed. I'm about to do that this year and I'll include the list here when it is done.
In the meantime I got thinking about what were my favourite albums. This is more complicated because for me the criteria of what makes a great album means assessing the collection of songs as a whole rather than saying it is great because of a few songs. Thus for me, U2's Joshua Tree has some of their best songs but the B-side (One Tree Hill aside) just hasn't got under my skin. Anne and I have similar enough tastes in music and the question of what are our favourite albums has been a topic I have raised as we have walked in the mornings (not always appreciated when we have just woken up!).
Here's the list so far in order of my preferences...
#1 Achtung Baby - U2 1991
#2 Songs From The Rain - Hothouse Flowers 1993
#3 The Trinity Sessions - Cowboy Junkies 1988
#4 Abbey Road - The Beatles 1969
#5 Brothers In Arms - Dire Straits 1985
#6 All That You Can't Leave Behind - U2 2000
#7 Into Your Heart - Hothouse Flowers 2004
#8 Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd 1973
#9Coming From Reality - Rodriguez 1971
#10 Together Alone - Crowded House 1993
#10 Together Alone - Crowded House 1993
#11 The Rising - Bruce Springsteen 2002
#12 Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd 1975
#13 The Globe Sessions - Sheryl Crow 1998
Anne would want to add Time After Time - Eva Cassidy 2000, I'm not so sure it ranks with the above ones.
Anne would want to add Time After Time - Eva Cassidy 2000, I'm not so sure it ranks with the above ones.
Closing in though is the 2006 debut album of the Australian group The Audreys - Between Last Night & Us.
I want to add a compilation my brother put together featuring The Audreys, Nick Cave, Mazzy Star, Cowboy Junkies & Chris Isaak... it is quite fantastic but it doesn't fit the criteria.
What albums would you rate as your favourites?
1 comment:
Cowboy Junkies Mart? I never knew... I have known and enjoyed only a little of their stuff from my older brother.
Anyhoo. Top albums whilst watching netball finals (in no particular order):*
1. U2 - Joshua Tree. It's that b-side that does it for me. There's an aching power in songs like Red Hill Mining Town, Mothers of the Disappeared and Exit that has changed my perception of the world.
2. Jeff Buckley - Grace. The best version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah
3. Dave Dobbyn - Available Light. Lives on my MP3 player
4. Don McGlashan - Warm Hand. Dark and foreboding stories.
5. SJD - Southern Lights. My most listened to album of the last 2 years.
6. Johnny Cash - American IV, the man comes around. Some of those covers verge on the twee, but the title track and that Nine Inch Nails cover are worth the entry price.
7. Radiohead - The Bends. I know it's not very blogosphere, but I never got into their fruity stuff.
8. Manic Street Preachers - This is my truth, tell me yours.
9. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream. Soundtrack to the 90s.
10. REM - Up.**
* qualified by the fact that I'll probably think of something else that should be on the list in the morning.
** I went for 1 album per band. Otherwise Boy, Unforgettable Fire, Achtung Baby, Zooropa, All that U Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb would all be pushing for space.
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