SAM's Top 100 Albums, written and compiled during the summer of 2005. This was simply copied and pasted from my old blog: www.xanga.com/SonicSpaceman

(Mistakes and regrets about the list are posted at the bottom. This is to ensure you that I know I fucked up with a lot of the rankings). The layout used to be a lot nicer-looking, too, because I originally used italics and shit throughout the paragraphs. I also used to have photos of album art beside each ranking. It used to look more or less like a Pitchfork list. To see it in its original form, go to my old Xanga site, which I haven't updated since high school.

Disclaimer: I don't wanna hear any bullshit about how lists are stupid or pretentious. I love reading lists and making them, because I think they're a good way to understand other points of view on music. Rather than bickoring about favorites, people should consider lists more carefully...as they can be very revealing about why someone likes certain bands more than others. It is great to coherently, accurately, and extensively document your favorites and explain why the Beatles aren't necessarily the best bands ever...lol.

Okay friends, this is an awful list. Awful. However, it is meant to be subjective, and to reflect my high school music taste. The list was mildly updated when I was a senior, but it's more or less the same as it has always been. These were my 100 favorite records at that point in time, junior year. A personal top 100 list should reflect the time period. By this I mean that the list should reveal what the creator loved most at age 17, not at ages 14-17, avoiding any and all objective approaches except where appropriate. Making this post has been one of the top 5 most satisfying things I have ever done. I invite any kind of music lover to do the same, or something similar. Chances are, if you're in college and you rabidly buy new music and go to shows, then you probably love at least 100 records enough to write a brief paragraph on each.

#100: Godspeed You Black Emperor!...F#A# Infinity (1998) When the end of the universe comes, will a future existence ever learn of mankind? Godspeed explores dark, apocalyptic drones with addictive ambience and soaring guitars. Godspeed also brilliantly couples post-rock with spoken word. The various speeches about the end of the world are thought-provoking and relevant to the state of the music. It's as if Godspeed recorded this record during the aftermath of a great disaster. F#A# Infinity consists of three tracks that add up to over an hour's worth of some of the best drone rock ever. Each three tracks are more like sections full of different chapters than songs. Vastly open to interpretation, and strong all the way through, F#A# will always be in a league of its own.

#99: Camera Obscura...Underachievers Please Try Harder (2003) Why is it that I fall in love with every female singer I hear nowadays? Perhaps this Scottish band has the most enchanting and soulful love that can be found in modern indie rock. Underachievers avoids screechy, annoying, immature love lamenting. Instead they combine teenlove with more adult relationship problems, and the result is close to that of Luna's Romantica. The cute and clever singing of Carey Lander and Tracyanne Campbell fits perfectly with delicate and dreamy guitar. "Suspended From Class" begins the indie pop masterpiece, "I can be a friend to you, I won't pretend, I'm not interested in breaking a heart, It's not love no it's nothing like that, I'll leave that to lookers like him, Oh he's such a delicate thing, Now it's such a fragile thing that we have. I should be suspended from class. I don't know my elbow from my ass." The above verse and chorus represent what is so lyrically brilliant about this album. The poems hit your thoughts and bring them straight out into the music without paraphrasing and molding them into conventional catchy three liners. These underachievers' hard work has more than paid off. It has the power to make you truly love everything. It's so pretty!

#98: The New Pornographers...Mass Romantic (2001) Before the New Pornographers signed with Matador records and made it to MTV 2, they released Mass Romantic to the underground. With Dan Bejar (guitarist of Destroyer), Neko Case (a female singer who's as hot as she sounds), and frontman Carl Newman (a frontman who is more of a nerd than the Arcade Fire's steel drum player), they are most impressive in style and sound. Few indie feel-good rock songs make me smile more than "Letter From an Occupant," "Mystery Hours," and "The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism."

#97: Talking Heads...Fear of Music (1979) This is my favorite album by one of history's most essential rock bands. Though Remain in Light is a more expansive, musically neurotic, and critically acclaimed record, it doesn't have "Cities," "Life During Wartime," and "Heaven." All three of those songs are accompanied by the most loveable sequence of Talking Heads numbers. It feels dissenting to favor this record over More Songs About Buildings and Food and Remain in Light. But, I like it best.

#96: Liars...They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument On Top (2002) This is a kick ass record from start to finish. "Grown Men Don't Fall in the River, Just Like That" is one of the most ass-kicking openers of all time. "Not too political, nothing can inspire us!" Liars blew minds in 2002 with their earth-shattering bass lines and excellent drumming. For unknown reasons, the Liars fired their rhythm section a year later. All of a sudden, they were a fucked up, yet somehow cool drone/noise rock band. God knows where they stand now. Nonetheless, this brilliantly titled debut is a post-punk masterpiece.

#95: Sleater-Kinney...The Woods (2005) The first time I heard the first five seconds of this CD, I thought my speakers had blown out. Yes, the opening track, "The Fox," is so distorted that it shakes the room even at low volumes. These three females can rock out unlike any other band. The Woods shows many sides of the band. They can write a thundering headbanger like "The Fox," a catchy radio tune like "Wilderness," a mellow and pretty song like "Modern Girl," or an 11-minute rock-out like "Let's Call It Love." "Let's Call It Love" deconstructs itself, only to miraculously come together like a typical Sonic Youth song on Daydream Nation. Fuck Karen O, these girls are unbelievable!

#94: Dead Meadow...Feathers (2005) Dead Meadow is a hell of a band. Though their albums almost seem meaningless once you see them live, it is still awesome music to dream with. The hazy, phasing, haunting guitars put its victims into irreversable trances. Classic rock/bluesy bass lines make for a rockin' rhythm section. Often, Feathers' drones will catch you in a spin and start rocking out with flawless guitar solos. Jason Simon rivals Doug Martsch as the greatest guitar player I've seen on stage. Like a great space rock album should, Feathers concludes with a long and breath-taking song, "The Sleepy Silver Door." It leaves me suspended in clouds after every listening.

#93: Lightning Bolt...Wonderful Rainbow (2003) This album is insanity. I had to read all about Lightning Bolt and watch a live DVD to believe that the noises on Wonderful Rainbow were all created by a bass guitar. Brian Gibson's soul taps into to the deepest realms of the bass guitar, an instrument that should be further-explored. Behind the angry lightning-speed bass lies a mind-boggling drummer, Brian Chippendale. If you're not a fan of noise rock, so be it. Lightning Bolt still owns.

#92: Luna...Pup Tent (1997) In the early-mid 1990s, Luna released 4 amazing full-length records. Few bands can reflect on a lengthy career and say with honesty that all of their albums were strong. Luna is certainly one of these few bands. After Galaxie 500 broke up, Dean Wareham cleared his throat and added a priceless sense of humor to his song-writing. Pup Tent is the most under-rated of the Luna saga. Wareham's sense of humor is at its best: "Is there a doctor in the house of pancakes? You got a bannana split personality." He also dives back into past droning habits on "Pup Tent," "City Kitty," and "Fuzzy Wuzzy" (uh oh, a pussy reference!) There is plenty of classic Luna as well: "Beautiful View" and "Bobby Peru." Due to poor record sales, Elektra dropped Luna after the release of Pup Tent. How do corporations sleep at night? Then again, Luna definitely has a cult following. Jetset records seemed more fitting as they casually faded away into the sunset earlier this year. Sob. (whimper whimper).

#91: Sonic Youth...Sonic Nurse (2004) At times, Sonic Nurse sounds even better than its flawless predecessor, Murray Street. "I Love You Golden Blue" and "Pattern Recognition" are Kim Gordon's best songs since Dirty. Thurston Moore is at full strength with "Unmade Bed" and "New Hampshire." As always, Lee Ranaldo writes one of the best songs on the album, "Paper Cup Exit." If there ever was a low point in Sonic Youth's career, it was Washing Machine. But, even that record had a few amazing numbers such as the epic "Diamond Sea." No one will ever convince me that NYC Ghosts and Flowers was a disappointment. I can only conclude that Sonic Youth is the most amazing band ever. Sonic Nurse only reinforces this belief. Even in the 21st century, it feels as if Sonic Youth is moving forward.

#90: The Microphones...The Glow, pt. 2 (2001)Some music is undefined. The Glow, pt. 2 is everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. When all else fails, I like to use the term "drone rock." Perhaps this is Sufjan Stevens on acid, minus ten instruments. "I Want Wind to Blow" starts out like a dramatic folk song. Then it drones away into the title track. "The Glow, pt. 2" also starts out folky, but winds up in space. A similarly structured track, "The Moon," follows. Then there is a chain of 1-2 minute songs. Then, at track 12, there's the album's epic centerpiece, "Map." Like Spiritualized's Pure Phase, The Glow has an underlying drone that connects every track. The closing track, "My Warm Blood," is basically a 7-minute continuation of this same drone. All Godspeed You Black Emperor! fans would adore this enormous album.

#89: Yo La Tengo...And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out (2000) Looking back on their 1997 masterpiece, I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One, it's no surprise that Yo La Tengo proceeded to release a dark, fully hypnotized epic like And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out. Yes, Yo La Tengo's ambience is as awesome as its album title. "Everyday" makes it clear that this album intends to keep you in your sweet dreams for the entire 70+ minutes. I wouldn't exactly call it a minimalist record, but the instrumentation is defintely more stripped down than ever. "Saturday" uses a simple, reverberated drum machine beat that could be created on a toy keyboard. Later on, "Cherry Chapstick" briefly revives Yo La Tengo's noise rock tendencies. "Night Falls on Hoboken" sums up the album well with 18 minutes of ambient drones. The old, more bombastic Yo La Tengo is almost nowhere to be found, but the new Yo La Tengo here is mysterious. It's closer to post-rock than indie rock. No one knows exactly what the hell this album is, which is what makes it so cool. But, it is definitely something amazing. It's albums like these that make you never want to wake up.

#88: The Jesus and Mary Chain...Psychocandy (1983) The reverb and hazy fuzz on this record maximizes the dream-like state its listeners fall into. Sometimes it's a romantic and almost pretty dream ("Just Like Honey"), while sometimes it's a fucking nightmare ("Living End"). It's almost too addictive.

#87: My Bloody Valentine...Isn't Anything (1989) Loveless may be a critic's choice for "album of the 90s," but this album doesn't even get mentioned. Sure, it ain't Loveless, but it's just an awesome album! I command any Sonic Youth fan to hear this record. Isn't Anything was an essential and amazing setup for a timeless album, just like Sister was an essential and amazing setup for Daydream Nation. It's raw, noisey, dreamy, and thoroughly kick-ass.

#86: M83...Before the Dawn Heals Us (2005) You could travel all the way to the M83 galaxy (yes, it's an actual galaxy) and not find any space rock that is as "out there" as this music. Before the Dawn Heals Us is a long, detailed, yet speedy tour through many different atmospheres. Anthony Gonzalez (aka M83) makes satellites out of brains with layers upon layers of keyboard drones, distant female voices, and insane highs, lows, and heavenly blows.

#85: Husker Du...Zen Arcade (1984) Zen Arcade is the definitive punk rock superepic. Few guitar-bass-drum bands can create this kind of emotional and musical intensity. Complete with 2-minute teeth grinders, 14-minute drones, and indispensable instrumental transition tracks, Zen Arcade is a landmark. "Recurring Dreams" will drown you in your nightmares and leave your mind blown on a dark, empty highway. Yeah, that's how intense it is.

#84: New Order...Power, Corruption, and Lies (1983) When Joy Division ended due to Ian Curtis's suicide, the rest of the band formed New Order. All of a sudden, the percussion was even more amazing. All of a sudden, synthesizers were tapping into all sides of our brains. "Age of Consent" is hands down one of the greatest track 1's of all time. That being said, the remainder of Power, Corruption, and Lies isn't quite as great. But, it is still pretty fucking great. "Blue Monday" is the king of all 80s dance songs.

#83: The Stooges...The Stooges (1969) Although this self-titled debut is more sane in most cases than Funhouse, it's not much less essential and amazing. All 8 songs are fantastic, especially the opening three. "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is absolutely classic, and "We Will Fall" is my very favorite Stooges song. Did you know that before he was called "Iggy Pop," he called himself "Iggy Stooge?" What a psycho.

#82: Spacemen 3...Recurring (1991) Oh how I love the Spacemen. Jason Pierce (the Spiritualized deity) writes songs on Recurring that are as trancing and floating as Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies. Actually, the songs sound dangerously similar. Pete Kember and Jason Pierce released this album after announcing that the band would split up. So, it is not shocking that the album is divided in half. Tracks 1-6 are Kember's songs, while 7-11 are essentially the very first Spiritualized tracks. Recurring is one of the most appropriately titled albums ever. Kember's songs are psychedelic, spacey electronic cycles. Pierce's songs are blissful and meditative drones. The throwback song on this album is Kember's cover of Mudhoney's "When Tomorrow Hits." It starts out mellow, then explodes into chaos. More instruments are used on Recurring than any of the previous Spacemen 3 albums, making for a less depressing and more beautiful sound.

#81: Modest Mouse...The Moon and Antarctica (2000) I won't bitch about how Modest Mouse suddenly became famous and started appealing to losers because of "Float On." Modest Mouse delivered The Moon and Antarctica, a nearly flawless album, to Sony Music at the turn of the century. "3rd Planet," "Gravity Rides Everything," "Different City," "The Stars Are Projectors," and "Paper Thin Walls" are Isaac Brock's greatest songs to date. In fact, "The Stars Are Projectors" is one of my favorite songs period. Over time, Isaac Brock's singing has appealed less to me, but his vocals on The Moon are accompanied by good enough music to keep me hooked on the album forever.

#80: Interpol...Turn on the Bright Lights (2002) Interpol is one of the best indie trendy bands around. However, they have their heads up their asses on stage. They didn't play "Untitled," "Say Hello to the Angels," "The New," or "Leif Erickson" when I paid 20 bucks to see them in Raleigh. I paid those 20 dollars because I absolutely love Turn on the Bright Lights. "Untitled" is a breathtaking track 1. "NYC" is thundering and dramatic. Hell, the entire record is thundering and dramatic. Someone give them some set list lessons!

#79: The Velvet Underground...The Velvet Underground (1969) The Velvets' self-titled album has occupied my CD player during many sunny afternoons. This is Lou Reed & company in their most chilled out form. With more pretty guitar playing and soothing melodies than on any other VU album, The Velvet Underground shows us how Lou Reed feels when he's on his finest dope.

#78: Guided by Voices...Bee Thousand (1994) Although I've heard better sound quality on early Sonic Youth bootlegs, Bee Thousand is still a perfectly produced album. Recorded entirely in a basement, Bee Thousand consists of 20 songs, all of which are awesome. Few songwriters write more interesting lyrics than Bob Pollard. "Parallel lines on a slow decline / tractor rape chain! better yet, let's all get wet on the tractor rape chain!" WTF!? Bee Thousand places Guided by Voices in the same league as Pavement.

#77: Galaxie 500...Today (1988) Perhaps the only Galaxie 500 record you will ever read about is On Fire. It's a shame, too. Today is an amazing debut by anyone's standards. It's more musically simple than any other Galaxie album (which makes it pretty damn basic). However, Thurston Moore reffered to it as his favorite guitar album of 1988. Not bad! "Flowers" and "Pictures" open the record with atmosphere and romance. "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste," an uber drone of a Jonathan Richman cover, is a 7-minute centerpiece. "Tugboat" is a great song with accidentally reverberated vocals: "I don't wanna stay at your party, I don't wanna talk with your friends. I don't wanna open your present, I just wanna be your tugboat captain!" Although this record in particular got a lot of grief for sounding too much like Television and the Velvet Underground, Galaxie always had their own therapeudic sound.

#76: Sufjan Stevens...Michigan (2003) Sufjan Stevens is the most precious songwriter alive. Few musicians can be this orchestral, intimate, and engaging. Michigan is Sufjan's first stop in his supposed 50 states project (one album for every American state). The scariest thing is that this is not Sufjan's best work. Yet, it's still perfect. Sufjan acts like a traditional folk singer on "Flint" and "Romulus," but for the most part, his music is like a symphony. "Detroit, Lift Your Weary Head" calls together the state of Michigan and captures the location and its people in a glorious 8 minutes of glockenspiels, horns, organs, bells, and more. Michigan comes complete with depressing drones like "Oh God, Where Are You Now?", poppy tunes like "All Good Naysayers, Speak Up!" and "Upper Peninsula," and solo minimalism on "Flint" and For the Widowless in Paradise." Not too many albums are this challenging and fresh.

#75: Suicide...Suicide (1978) Listening to 9 out of 10 of these songs is the ultimate late night, post-concert car ride experience. However, listening to "Frankie Teardrop" is like a long midnight drive in the middle of hell. You have an infinite supply of gas, but the gas pedal is glued to the floor of the car. You are strapped to the driver's seat. You don't want to drive, you just want to kill yourself. But, the doors have no handles and the car has an autopilot function. There's no escape. All you can do is submit yourself to the hypnotizing, reverberated keyboards and quirky drum machine beats. Alan Vega and Martin Rev scream from within your doomed brain, sending disgusting shockwaves down your spine. Frankie's hiding in your backseat.

#74: Radiohead...The Bends (1994) Radiohead didn't become a great band because of that "Creep" nonsense. They became a great band with the release of The fucking Bends! This album is amazing from start to finish. It rocks, spaces out, and floats you through stars. "Planet Telex" opens with pulsating tremeloes. 45 minutes later, the ecstatic "Street Spirit" leaves you high and dry. "Fake Plastic Trees" somehow makes most women cry. It's just a great record.

#73: Jeff Buckley...Grace (1994) Jeff Buckley's death is perhaps the most tragic in rock history. It is apparent on this highly anticipated debut that Jeff Buckley was destined for greatness. He has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard on any recording. And he sings it with awesome emotional intensity. Buckley has an infinite vocal range on the Leonard Cohen cover, "Hallelujah." Like his singing, Buckley's music is extraordinarily moving and soulful.

#72: Radiohead...OK Computer (1996) OK Computer is a great middleground between the The Bends and Kid A. The Bends was more of a rock album, while Kid A delves into a lush world full of keyboards, sonic synths and foggy atmosphere. OK Computer is considered Radiohead's greatest accomplishment by most fans because it covers the most musical ground. Some tracks are all over the place ("Paranoid Android") while others are distant ballads about lost aliens ("Subterranean Homesick Alien"). "Airbag" is a psychedelic swirl of keyboards, cellos, and guitars. "Exit Music" is a mellow, haunting lament. People could write books about this record.

#71: Patti Smith...Horses (1975) Pitchfork made their biggest fuckup of all time by leaving Horses out of their top 100 albums of the 1970s. This should easily make the top twenty. How can you put mulitple Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd albums in there, but not Horses! This is a powerful record that should appeal to any alternative music fan. "Birdland" and the epic trilogy of "Land" single-handedly make this an essential album. "Free Money" almost rocks TOO hard. Television's Tom Verlaine lends a hand on "Break It Up." It's a classic.

#70: Meat Puppets...Meat Puppets II (1984) The Meat Puppets geniously blend country music with punk. On Meat Puppets II, the result is beautiful. Jittery, humorous, and original, this is a great indie rock album. Like the Minutemen, the Meat Puppets had a style that wasn't very widely accepted by the violent punkers who made up the majority of the audience at SST bands' concerts. But, they stuck to being creative and different. And, it payed off. The Meat Puppets are one of the top 5 bands I wish I could have seen if I was born twenty years earlier.

#69: The Warlocks...The Phoenix Album (2002) I had never heard of the Warlocks before I saw them open for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Cat's Cradle on September 17, 2003. It was a mind-blowing experience. The Warlocks (3 guitarists, 2 left-handed drummers, a bass player, and a really hot girl droning a keyboard) made an amazing wall of sound. Promptly, I bought The Warlock's latest full-length album, The Phoenix Album, the next day. With sitars, sonic organ drones, and phasing chaos, it's a great noisey blast from the ghosts of 1960s psychedelia. The Warlocks apparently love dope (the word "dope" appears in multiple song titles). The dope runs wild on every track. The Phoenix Album is a colossal neo-psychedelic gem.

#68: Sonic Youth...Goo (1990) Sonic Youth made everyone happy with this major label debut. "Dirty Boots" picks up right where Daydream Nation left off, pleasing any doubtful indie snob out there. I must mention that the video for "Dirty Boots" is my favorite music video of all time. Basically, Sonic Youth is performing the song on stage inside a small club where people are dancing like crazy to the music. It's a great grunge-feeling scene. A long-haired teenage guy and a cute grunge-dressed girl start eyeing each other from across the club. As the song runs its course, the two teens make their way towards the stage and start dancing with each other. The mosh pit breaks them up, but during the climactic build-up towards the end of the song, the two jump onto the stage and start making out while their favorite band is rocking out all around them. Then, security guards throw them off the stage. Kim Gordon delivers some of her best efforts on Goo: "Tunic," "Kool Thing," "My Friend Goo." Lee Ranaldo gives us a characteristically weird, stretched out noise rocker, "Mote." Sonic Youth is the coolest band ever! Just look at the fucking album cover!

#67: The Smashing Pumpkins...Siamese Dream (1993) The Smashing Pumpkins were the first alternative rock band that I ever loved. When I was in 2nd grade, I listened to Siamese Dream constantly (much thanks to my cousin, Chris, for introducing the band to me). From there, I got into Beck, Nirvana, and your basic 90s pop/rock bands. But, Siamese Dream still blows my mind today. Say what you will about the later days of Billy Corgan. It won't change the fact that The Smashing Pumpkins were a great band in the early 90s. Siamese Dream is a masterpiece.

#66: Wilco...A Ghost Is Born (2004) Thank you, Jeff Tweedy, for being such a great songwriter. Thank you also for firing that asshole, Jay Bennet. Thank you most of all for following Yankee Hotel Foxtrot with this sensational album! Although Ghost would be significantly weaker without the dramatic "Spiders," and "Handshake Drugs," the rest of the album is more than worthy. "Muzzle of Bees" and "Hummingbird" are among Wilco's most beautiful songs. "At Least That's What You Said" has the band rocking out in cathartic fashion. I could do without the 15-minute drone piece, but every other track is amazing. "Theologians," "Wishful Thinking," "The Late Greats," - the album gives me goosebumps! It's absolutely loaded! Yankee is an impossible act to follow, but Ghost is as diverse, consistently excellent, and amazing as any Wilco fan could have hoped.

#65: The Pixies...Surfer Rosa (1988) It's difficult to omit any Pixies full-length from a top 100 list, but Surfer Rosa is a given. This is a mind-blowing debut. "Vamos" draws you into oblivion with feedback and drones. "Something Against You" and "Broken Face" will keep your head bobbing like crazy, even when they're just stuck in your head. Oh yeah, and there is of course "Where Is My Mind?"

#64: And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead...Madonna (1999) Fans of Sonic Youth's EVOL would be most pleased with this Trail of Dead album. Throughout the entire 45 minutes, there is a definite "Expressway to Yr. Skull" feel to every song, especially to the uber-drone, "Aged Dolls." But, there is more than just drones and noise. "Mistakes and Regrets" and "Mark David Chapman" are classic rock and roll songs. "Clair De Lune" is haunting and pretty. "A Perfect Teenhood" is nail-biting and quick as lightning. On some days of the week, I would say that this is the Trail of Dead's best effort.

#63: Ride...Nowhere (1990) Nowhere may be the best album to listen to at the beach. Last year, I walked all the way down the shores of Ocean Isle many times listening to this record. "Seagull" is a sprawling, enormous 6-minute opener. "Polar Bear" is a phasing tremelo accompanied by white noise. "Vapor Trail" adds a violin to the mix, intensifying the emotion. Imagine the Smiths having Spiritualized's effects board. Yeah, it's an awesome album alright.

#62: Radiohead...Kid A (2000) Kid A is Radiohead's most hypnotic and spacey album to date. There is something especially brilliant about Radiohead in its weirdest form. "Everything in Its Right Place" (and the 9 tracks that follow) exhibits a brand new side of Radiohead. Even with a few kickin' grooves, Kid A spends all of its time in the depths of space. The entire album feels like the soundtrack to 2001: A Space Odyssey's time travel scene. Thank God that Radiohead made it to this point. It's unbelievable that the same band that released a generic rock album like Pablo Honey could wind up being the most acclaimed band of its generation.

#61: Richard Hell and the Voidoids...Blank Generation (1978) Richard Hell once played bass with Tom Verlaine and was the obvious choice to be Television's bassist. However, tension and musical differences got the better of Verlaine and Hell. So, they split up. One might think that Richard Hell would spend the rest of his life kicking himself for bowing out of Television, but his solo songs are amazing. Plus, Robert Quine delivers flawless guitar playing. Any Television fan should love this record. It's quicker and closer to punk rock.

#60: Big Star...Third/Sister Lovers (1978) #1 Record and Radio City were both great albums, but Third/Sister Lovers is the best. This is some of the most diverse and amazing pop music ever created. "Kizza Me" is classic Big Star, but some tracks stand out like "Jesus Christ." No one expected this band to deliver a semi-hymn! "Femme Fatale" is a great Velvet Underground cover. "Kangaroo" obviously influenced Jeff Buckley because Buckley performs a 13-minute cover of it on his Grace reissue. Wilco fans of the world, buy this record!

#59: Mission of Burma...Vs. (1984) Mission of Burma is often unfairly forgotten amongst the many notable 1980s American indie rock bands. Though their discography is disappointingly small, they accomplished their mission in a big way on this intense album. I've seen Mission of Burma in concert (they recently got back together and released another album, OnOffOn). They are as intense on their records as they are with there face-peelingly sonic shows.

#58: Mogwai...Young Team (1997) Mogwai stretched the boundaries of guitar rock so far that no one could see what exactly their music was. Young Team soars and floats unlike anything you'll ever hear. Mostly instrumental, Young Team rivals Godspeed You Black Emperor! as the best album in post-rock history. According to the band, this album was "Pink-Floyd" inspired.

#57: Godspeed You Black Emperor!...Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000) This 2-disc, 90-minute space rock album is Godspeed's finest work. I would kill to get a ticket to see these songs performed live (though Godspeed shows would probably be entirely improvised). Unlike F#A# Infinity, Lift Yr. Skinny Fists has shiny and beautiful moments woven into apocalyptic drones. The opening track (as usual, the tracks are more like series of chapters) begins with a 17-minute, unrelenting rising and falling of violins and wild guitars. The rest of the album buckles beneath the weight of the intro, delving deep into the underground. More mysterious recordings of preachings and spoken word are found on the proceeding 3 tracks. Lift Yr. Skinny Fists is a droning masterpiece. If you think it's just noise, you're not listening. There's too much experimentation and instrumentation to take Godspeed lightly. Like any great space rock album, Lift Yr. Skinny Fists allows us to become lost and never want to get home. I remember hearing the first track for the first time. I thought I was leaving the planet.

#56: Built to Spill...There's Nothing Wrong With Love (1994) Once you start down the indie rock path, forever will it dominate your destiny. There's Nothing Wrong With Love, along with early Pavement albums, sent me down this dangerous path. This is indeed an indie rock classic. This can easily be said about any of Built to Spill's albums in the 1990s. But, Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like a Secret were both released on Warner Bros. So, There's Nothing Wrong With Love tends to stand out most amongst the three amazing Built to Spill albums. It makes me laugh, brings a special feeling of warmth to the heart, and puts a spring in my step! There's something beautiful about these witty and pretty songs. It's lyrics like "I wanna see the movies of my dreams. I wanna see it when you get stoned on a cloudy, breezy afternoon" and "Living in the womb, running out of room. I'll have to come out soon. i'll have to meet the sun and moon" coupled with delicate, yet playful and simple guitars that really make this album precious.

#55: Wilco...Being There (1996) Many albums have great track 1's. But, great album begin with a killer and stay strong all the way through. It's incredible that even Wilco can open an album with a song like "Misunderstood" and hold up for two discs! "Misunderstood" is a monumental track. What follows is a wonderful and diverse mix of country and rock and roll. Jeff Tweedy made himself a great songwriter on this record, delivering upbeat rockers like "Monday," "Outtasite (outtamind)," and "I Got You (at the end of the century)," while separating them with beautiful acoustics and twangy guitars. "Sunken Treasure," opener of disc two, is also a candidate for best Wilco song ever. So, all of you Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Ghost is Born fans better include Being There in your collections. Or else, you're missing an equally great chunk of Wilco's excellent catalog.

#54: Sonic Youth...EVOL (1986) This is where the going got great for Sonic Youth. EVOL captures Sonic Youth at a point in their careers where they weren't JUST making noise, but actually writing SONGS. EVOL is droney enough to preserve Sonic Youth's old sound, and organized enough to be listenable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. "Tom Violence" is arguably the first great Sonic Youth song. As scary as its lyrics, the music deconstructs and reassembles brilliantly. "Shadow of a Doubt" is Kim's most trancing number to date. "In the Kingdom #19" introduces the weird and noisey songwriting of Lee Ranaldo. "Expressway to Yr. Skull" is, when it all boils down to it, the greatest Sonic Youth song of all. Spell EVOL backwards.

#53: The Velvet Underground...Loaded (1970) Lou Reed wasn't a heroin hero until Loaded. Not until this record had he laid back in the sun and written happy songs. "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll" are glorious, sunny songs. Even on the most somber song on the record, "Oh Sweet Nuthin,'" the guitar is trippy and jittery enough to send delightful pleasure down your spine. Lou Reed is king.

#52: Pavement...Slanted and Enchanted (1991) I was dressed for success, but success never comes. I'm the only one who laughs at the jokes when they are so bad. I can't sing it strong enough. In the desert, there's Stephen Malkmus, king fame throwa, a conduit for sale. He saw your girlfriend, and she's eating her fingers like they're just another meal. Can he treat it like an oil well when it's underground, out of sight? If the sight is just a whore sign, can it make enough sense to me? Pretend the table is a trust knot. I've been waiting, anticipating. The sun comes up and its rays sink my soul. I've dreamt of this, but it never comes on the horizon. But, if I learn how I'll be coming back today, my way. No life singed her. Lies and betrayals, fruit-covered nails, electricity, and lust won't break the door. You think it's easy, but you're wrong. I am not one half of the problem. Zurich is stained and it's not my fault. Just hold me back or let me run. I guess she spent her last quarter randomly. I guess a guess is the best I'll do.

#51: Television...Adventure (1978) Fuck all of the critics who completely dismiss this record. It's not Marquee Moon. Nothing is! Adventure is a great record all by itself. If only it had come first, perhaps it would have received the praise it deserved. Aside from a few disappointing fade-outs, Adventure is as perfect as Marquee Moon. Sure, few tracks are AS good, but let me point out some essentials: "The Dream's Dream," "The Fire," "Carried Away." It's absolutely indispensable. Adventure reinforces the fact that Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd are the best guitar players of their kind.

#50: The Dismemberment Plan...Emergency and I (1999) When I pause and listen to the drums, the bass, the guitars, the keyboards, the vocals, and the lyrics on Emergency and I, I wonder if there are any indie rock bands of the late 90s-early 2000s that have this much all-around talent. It's stunning to think that this is the same band that released shit pudding like Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified and ! All of a sudden, the D-Plan were a perfect band. This is absolutely one of the best pop records ever made. It is indeed a life of possibilities that challenges you to stay! Some songs are blistering, fast-paced numbers that leave your head spinning ("I Love a Magician," "Girl O' Clock," "Memory Machine," "8.5 Minutes"). Some songs are slow and reflective ("The Jitters," "Spider in the Snow"). Some songs build into dramatic brilliance ("You Are Invited," "Back and Forth," "Life of Possibilities," "What Do You Want Me to Say?," "The City"). This is quite simply a perfect 45 minutes of inspirational, kick-ass rock music.

#49: Neutral Milk Hotel...In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (1997) I remember the first time I ever listened to this record. I was on the school bus early in the morning. When I heard the opening chords of "King of Carrot Flowers," I could sense that I was in for an epic adventure of an album. Then, it was a certainty: "When you were young you were the king of carrot flowers. And how you built a tower tumbling through the trees. And holy rattlesnakes fell all around your feet." The whole record is a great unfolding of a vast, far away universe.

#48: Brian Eno...Another Green World (1975) I don't even know what to say about Brian Eno. I'll simply say that any fans of spacey, droney, ambient music should definitely own this record. This is the ace of spades. There are a few structured songs, but you'll spend most of your listen in an inescapable trance.

#47: The Pixies...Doolittle (1989) Doolittle is the reason why the Pixies are so acclaimed. Almost every track stands out as a great song. Black Francis and Kim Deal take us on a journey through the oceans with crustaceans, vampires, and angelic monkeys. And of course, there are the superb poppy songs like "Debaser" and "Here Comes Your Man." The Pixies own Nirvana!

#46: The Feelies...Crazy Rhythms (1980) These are indeed crazy fuckin' rhythms. In fact, these rhythms are insanity. The jittery guitars and relentless greatness of this record are too often overlooked. I don't know anyone my age who listens to the Feelies. What went wrong? It's as if Television joined with the Talking Heads or something. The outcome couldn't be more fantastic.

#45: Pere Ubu...Terminal Tower: An Archival Collection, Non-Lp Singles & B Sides 1975-1980 (1985) How in the world were these songs B-sides? The first three tracks are especially amazing. "Final Solution" should single-handedly put Pere Ubu in the rock hall of fame. It is one of the greatest songs of all time. This is a band that uses mindblowing effects and synths...in 1975! Pere Ubu's musical exploration into the abnormal was extremely influential. "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" is the bands' weirdest excursion. It makes you feel like you're in the middle of a nuclear war.

#44: Pere Ubu...The Modern Dance (1978) Terminal Tower was simply a collection of rarities, but Modern Dance was Ubu's essential debut LP. "Non-Alignment Pact" begins the record in dramatic fashion with trancing feedback that leads into quirky rock action. The appropriately-titled "Laughing" teases the brain with crazy, uncontrollable sax and a rise-and-fall musical pattern. "Life Stinks" proves that singer David Thomas was completely insane. He introduces the song squealing like a pig genetically spliced with a donkey. "Sentimental Journey" takes you downtown at night and disturbs the brain with shattering glass and moody grunts. "Humor Me" concludes the album perfectly: "It's just a joke man!"

#43: The Wrens...The Meadowlands (2003) The Wrens are desperate, heart-broken, hopeless, mature indie rockers. The Meadowlands emphasizes their tragic condition in epic proportions. "The House That Guilt Built" opens the album in tears: "It's been so long since you've heard from me. I've got a wife and kid that I never see. I'm nowhere near where I dreamed I'd be. I can't believe what life's done to me." "Happy" follows with a killer guitar riff that slowly buids into a dramatic rock out. "She Sends Kisses" keeps the drama going. Then, a few quicker, danceable songs take over. All of these tracks are emotionally driven and well-put together. I invite all faithful Arcade Fire lovers to check these guys out.

#42: Joy Division...Closer (1980) Everybody has a dark side, whether they know it or not. Ian Curtis' singing and songwriting brings out the side of us that is afraid to come out. Curtis was a tortured soul that seemed destined to kill itself. That's right, before the release of Closer, Ian Curtis hanged himself. The rest of the band would form New Order. Closer remains the most essential record put out by any of these musicians. The lyrics on "Atrocity Exhibition" are quite disturbing: "For entertainment they watch his body twist. This is the way! Step inside!" "Isolation" emphasizes that Joy Division used keyboards better than most bands. "Twenty Four Hours" foreshadows Curtis' death: "I've got to find my destiny before it gets too late." "Decades" closes the album with Joy Divisions most haunting and desperate-sounding keyboard melody. This album changed my life in the fall of 2003.

#41: Luna...Lunapark (1992) Emerging from Galaxie 500's impeccable career, Dean Wareham teamed up with the Feelies' drummer and the Chills' bassist to create Luna's debut, Lunapark. It is a flawless album. "Slide," "Anesthesia," and "Slash Your Tires" are amazing openers. "I Can't Wait" is fast-paced, psychedelic intensity. "Hey Sister" includes an unpredictable noisey vibrato solo. Luna shows all of their colors on Lunapark. And Luna's colors are awesome.

#40: New Order...Substance 1987 (1987) There will always be something extra special about Joy Division, but when it all boils down to it, Substance owns. "Ceremony" was originally a Joy Division-written song, so the spirit of Ian Curtis is present. "Temptation" is a perfect song. The same can be said about a number of these songs. "Perfect Kiss" is a climactic, psychedelic swirl. And, let's face it, no "eighties" band could ever release a single like "Blue Monday" or "Bizarre Love Triangle." On disc two, there is another wonderful Joy Division fossil, "In a Lonely Place." Though it arouses different sensations than Spiritualized, New Order's music is extremely physical. By this I mean that you can feel it all over your body. Everything awesomely comes together and makes you feel like you're..well...in a heavenly state. As far as therapeudic music goes, Substance 1987 is an essential.

#39: Dinosaur Jr....You're Living All Over Me (1987) You're Living All Over Me has some of the sweetest distortion and wah-wah pedal insanity in rock history. J. Mascis rips some disgusting guitar solos and uses great noise freakouts all over the place. "Sludgefeast" and "In a Jar" stand out most, as well as "Little Fury Things," "Kracked," and "The Lung." Even the other songs inbetween are very, very good. They all beautifully build up into grungist white noise and gut-wrenching Neil Young-on-acid-and-speed solos. "Poledo"oddly ends the album with 6 minutes of truly fucked up drones and creepy noise and tape loops. This record belongs with Zen Arcade and Double Nickels On the Dime in the SST hall of fame.

#38: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club...Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (2001) The music of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is thundering, intense, fiery, and seductive. This self-titled debut consists of some of the most sonic and speaker-overloading guitars, yet it manages to preserve an essential underlying layer of dreamy atmosphere. With hypnotized, Jesus and Mary Chain-esque vocals and early Spacemen 3-esque psychedelia, BRMC gives us consistent and trancing hard rock. "Love Burns" begins with a hazy intro until a great acoustic guitar riff takes over. The song builds and sears with soaring distortion and passionate, yet controlled singing. Many tracks follow a similar pattern (without acoustics). This record was one of the first contemporary rock albums I ever heard (I think I was in 8th grade). I'm still kicking myself for not seeing them play at the Cat's Cradle with Spiritualized in 2001.

#37: Grandaddy...Under the Western Freeway (1996) After years of trial and error and corrections and reissues, Pitchfork's top 100 albums of the 1990s was finally completed and solidified last year. I'll hand it to 'em - it was a pretty good list. But, there was no Under the Western Freeway. It burns me inside to see the Flaming Lips, Radiohead, and Yo La Tengo get so much praise in the 90s while this record is completely disregarded. Jason Lytle, frontman and singer of Grandaddy, is a somber songwriter. On this record, he remains a cautious observer in the open countryside. He has packed his things and left, and will never attempt to return. He sits and plays guitar, countings stars, and drinking beer out in the country having narrowly escaped his trip into town. There's no one around. Lytle is genious with keyboards. "Laughing Stock" and "Everything Beautiful Is Far Away" drown you in 6-minute dream-like states. Rich, fresh, and diverse, Under the Western Freeway sets up Grandaddy to be one of the world's greatest active bands. This is an outstanding album, but Grandaddy had not yet made their biggest splash until 2000.

#36: The Beastie Boys...Paul's Boutique (1989)"Fight For Your Right," along with Licensed to Ill's other guitar rap, is classic material. But, the Beasties showed their greatest talents on their sophomore album. Every song, every rhyme, every sample, and every beat seems absolutely classic. It is, quite simply, an essential fucking album. It's so well-done that the rest of Beastie Boys' careers seem lame. It's almost impossible to choose favorites from this record. But, I'd have to highlight "High Plains Drifter," "Car Thief," and the 13-minute closing symphony, "B-Boy Bouillabaise."

#35: Built to Spill...Keep It Like a Secret (1999) This is the last of the three truly great Built to Spill albums. There's Nothing Wrong With Love was full of simple, poppy love songs. Perfect From Now On was complicated and somber. Keep It Like a Secret is a perfect mixture of the two styles. Doug Martsch brings to the stage his most aggressive rock action to date on "Carry the Zero" and "Sidewalk." He seems somber and reflective on "Time Trap" and "Else." The album begins with two sunnier songs, "The Plan" and "Center of the Universe," that recall the exciting jittery of "Big Dipper" and "Distopian Dream Girl." This is the melting pot of all the great Doug Martsch antics.

#34: Spoon...Kill the Moonlight (2002) Spoon had already released a string of strong albums, but none of them are as good as Kill the Moonlight. Every song fits perfectly. Britt Daniel solidifies a great songwriting reputation with the brilliance of "Small Stakes," "Something to Look Forward To," "Paper Tiger," and the astonishing "Vittorio E." Daniel mends clean electric guitar with excellent pianos and keyboard effects. "Back to the Life" and "Paper Tiger" wind up being almost trippy with their layers of studio effects. Kill the Moonlight is the perfect place to start if you haven't heard any of Spoon's rock solid catalog.

#33: Mr. Lif...I Phantom (2002) Though it can be fun to listen to, and though it may possess genius rhymes and DJ action, hip-hop often tends to come across to me as a rather shallow genre of music. Mr. Lif has the skills to write killer lyrics, plug in excellent DJ action, and formulate his ideas so that he sounds like he has something to say. Every track here sounds like it is part of a greater meaning, of some fantastic purpose. I Phantom is a semi-autobiography. Lif dramatically unfolds a striking and depressing life story throughout the course of the 47 minutes. Every song is mind-blowing, especially the essential "Return of the B-Boy," an 8-minute, dynamic song in which Lif loses himself in his dreams. After the first three songs, Lif wakes from his eerie dream and introduces the harsh realities of politics, social oppression, and self-destructing work. "Live From the Plantation" aims at the asshole bosses of the world. "New Man Theme" shows Lif being attacked by society, but he insists that he is a strong black man, and no one will steer him wrong. "Handouts" features Lif's Def Jux brother, Aesop Rock, and dramatizes the brutality of American politics. "Post-Mortem," like "Return of the B-Boy," is a revolutionary hip-hop song. For the most part, Def Jux MCs are amazing. But, none are as deserving of praise as Mr. Lif. It's awesome when a rapper gives the finger to the world of party rap and committs to lyrical brilliance. Few musicians can reveal as much about our fucked up world as Mr. Lif does on I Phantom. He has his finger on our nation's pulse.

#32: TV on the Radio...Young Liars EP (2003) Seeing TV on the Radio in concert is the perfect way to describe why I fell in love with this 25-minute EP. Here is a group of black musicians who include one bald white guitarist/songwriter in the mix, it's a very striking appearance. As they take the stage, they delve into unknown atmospheres not found on record with their guitars and synths. These are black indie rockers who are creating some of the most fiery rock and roll on the face of the earth! It was an awesome sight. Young Liars EP is as dramatic and impressive as their killer live set. Tunde Adimpe's vocals are exotic. The guitars and drones are well-placed supporting roles amidst the electronics and percussion. All four listed songs are amazing. "Satellite" is a brilliant trance: "Your voice was a satellite spinning next to me. I'm waiting for a signal or a sound. Where can you be found now?" "Blind" builds and caresses the surrounding atmosphere, creating a rollercoaster of passionate singing, and sonic soundscapes. It is a great romantic song. I wish this record would last forever.

#31: Autolux...Future Perfect (2004) On this flawless debut, Autolux lets us know that they are today's masters of the effects board. The realms of Greg Edwards' guitar and Eugene Goreshter's bass are stretched to the edge of possibility with literally countless effects pedals. The sonic brilliance sits atop breathtaking, colossal drumming by Carla Azar, a beautiful girl of deceptively small stature. Her drumming is heavier than any I've ever heard. "Turnstile Blues" is a perfect example of Autolux's impressive setup. Carla begins the songs with disgusting drumming, then the bass and guitar explode into a wave of mutilation. The noise phases around as Carla keeps a thundering, precise beat. "Sugarless," the album's next highlight, abandons traditional rock formulas. It begins with an explosion, then cools off as Eugene and Carla pass the mic during the chorus. The song proceeds to warp minds. Every song is amazingly constructed. "Asleep At the Trigger" is a mellow, pretty song with a well-placed symphony of scientific droning in the background. "Capital Kind of Strain" is also mellow, but suddenly blasts into the most intense wave of noise that can be found on Future Perfect. Autolux is a great band, and certainly a must-see live act. I have seen them open twice, and although they have just one record, only the Secret Machines and Built to Spill stand in their way of being my favorite show.

#30: Spacemen 3...The Perfect Prescription (1986) Few albums were as shocking upon first listen as this epic pill box. "Take Me to the Other Side" is a pulsating cycle of searing guitars and drones. "Walking With Jesus" and "Ode to Street Hassle" are musically soothing and lyrically genius. "Transparent Radiation" is the densest layer of atmosphere the Spacemen ever conjured up. Jason Pierce's songwriting sounds like minimalist Spiritualized. Kember is at his strongest on "Transparent Radiation," "Ode to Street Hassle," and "Call the Doctor." Unlike Spacemen 3's previous album, Sound of Confusion, The Perfect Prescription is mellow, diverse, and sedated.

#29: Sonic Youth...Murray Street (2002) After the insanely weird NYC Ghosts and Flowers, it was impossible to tell where Sonic Youth would go next. Murray Street made me ask myself: how the fuck? It had been ten years since Sonic Youth had put out an album that was spectacular all the way through. The streak ended with Murray Street. The avatars of underground guitars are now far from youthful, but they still possess the ability to write fiery rock epics that most youthful bands dream of writing. All 7 songs, averaging around 6.5 minutes per track, are stunning. “Karen Revisited” revisits the image-drawing feedback found formerly on Washing Machine's “The Diamond Sea.” 11 minutes of droning and washing feedback, Lee Ranaldo has composed his best since the late 80s. "Radical Adults Lick Godhead Style" is lyrically one of Thurston's most interesting songs: "I am dead by the beauty of strangers. In horror my high head transforms them. Here comes something...you are Lou Reed." “Rain on Tin” is a beautiful, building jam of classic Thurston guitar work. Kim composes the haunting “Sympathy For the Strawberry,” which is one of Sonic Youth's most seductive songs to date. Complete with blistering feedback and lovely guitar playing on "Disconnection Notice" and "Empty Page," Murray Street is mature and close to perfect.

#28: Sonic Youth...Dirty (1992) Dirty consists of Sonic Youth's most aggressive rock action. Though it packs the same velocity as Daydream Nation, the songs are heavier, quicker, and dirtier. All three songwriters are at their very best on Dirty. "Swimsuit Issue," "Drunken Butterfly," and "Orange Rolls, Angels Spit" are deafening Kim Gordon attacks that enter the brain like hyper cicadas. Thurston Moore delivers the album's grandest highlights: "Theresa's Sound World," "Sugar Kane," "Chapel Hill," and "Purr." Moore also delivers a true anti-political ass kicker, "Youth Against Fascism." Lee Ranaldo contributes "Wish Fulfillment," an emotional howl of fiery aggression. I hate to pick one favorite song on any great album, especially a great Sonic Youth album. However, I was born and raised in Chapel Hill. So, I get quite a special feeling when Thurston is rocking out on a song dedicated to my homeland: "Throw me a chord and plug it in, and get the Cradle rockin!" Dirty was probably Sonic Youth's most popular album. It's as close as Sonic Youth gets to mainstream, but the sonics preserved their own sound, staying far enough away from the sound of grunge to maintain their identities amongst Nirvana and the abysmal Stone Temple Pilots.

#27: Spiritualized...Lazer Guided Melodies (1992) This was the first album from ex-Spacemen 3 Jason Pierce's next band. Sounding much like later Pierce Spacemen 3 songs, it has a calm, sedative, trancing tone. A little more ecstatic and rich than Spacemen 3, Pierce's new songs often wind up more dense, orchestral, and dramatic. So dramatic at times that I am totally taken by the sound and lost in space. "Angel Sigh" in particular hypnotizes you onto a rocket and blasts you through bliss. The epic "Shine a Light," practically "Lord Can You Hear Me" version 2, builds into a gliding waltz of sax and drone. "Angel Sigh," "You Know It's True," "I Want You," and "Smiles" are pure romance. I'm not one to complain about overproduction, but later Spiritualized is much louder and bombastic. This makes Lazer Guided Melodies extra special. It is not overproduced in any sense. In fact, its laid-back, haunting haziness allows it to live up to its name and immediately win the hearts of all Spacemen 3 purists.

#26: And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead...Source Tags and Codes (2001)At a time in my life when I relied on my family to turn me on to bands, I realized that I had to start "Doing it myself," or DIY'ing. Having heard that Pitchfork hailed Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation as the greatest album of the 1980s (fuckin' A!), I started looking at Pitchfork's favorite new bands. I started reading the site at the right time. In 2002, two albums received the seemingly impossible 10.0, one of which was the Trail of Dead's Source Tags and Codes, the other of course being Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Source Tags and Codes certainly got what it deserved. Influenced by Mission of Burma, the Trail of Dead pack a great guitar punch. "It Was There That I Saw You" shakes the earth, maximizing the drama early on. Incredibly, the album sustains this momentum from start to finish. Most tracks feature addictive Sonic Youth tendencies. While Madonna was a sprawling of the revived and restless ghost of "Expressway to Yr. Skull," Source Tags's songs are closer to Daydream Nation's "construct/self destruct/reconstruct" pattern. The songs begin with awesome guitar riffs and explosive noise, then digress into cathartic solos and thundering chaos. "How Near How Far" and "Heart in the Hand of the Matter" steer away from ear-splitting noise and feedback, but keep the intensity, allowing for some breathing room and adding more dynamics to the guitar playing. "Relative Ways" definitely seems like the album's climax and anthem. Then again, the whole album seems like a huge anthem. The closing title track leaves its victims stunned with its emotional singing and lyrics. As if the songs themselves weren't great enough, amazing segueways link all of the songs, giving Source Tags perfect flow. Source Tags is a gigantic cathartic release, perhaps the best of its kind since the time of My Bloody Valentine. If this isn't great rock music, then I don't know what is.

#25: The Flaming Lips...Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) If the above album title doesn't prove that Wayne Coyne is truly insane, I don't know what does. But it's beautiful insanity. The Flaming Lips are a long-living and evolving band built on cute metaphors like Yoshimi and trippy, catchy songs. Back in 1999, they released an epic, dazzling album called The Soft Bulletin. And it they did it again! Albums like these which flow well and have awesome segue ways are becoming a lost art. Yoshimi is an epic journey through strange fields of battle, philosophy, and love. Tripping from fight tests to the gates of hell, these 11 songs are absolutely ecstatic. 47 minutes of spacious beauty, Yoshimi makes you feel like you've just come down from an amazing rush (or, perhaps, right in the middle of one).

#24: The Stooges...Funhouse (1970) It's tough to emphasize just how essential Funhouse really is. These are intense and fist-pumping grooves. Iggy will never sing lines as genius and nasty as "She's got a TV eye on me!" The cover art above is a pretty good indicator of what goes on in Iggy's head. The guitars are all over the place, full of distortion and disturbing wah-wah pedals. "L.A. Blues" is less listenable than Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop," but it is an interesting display of the Stooges' most intense fireworks. It's one of the most revolutionary alternative rock albums ever made.

#23: Sufjan Stevens...Illinois (2005) Illinois was so impressive at first listen that it inspired me to finally get off my ass and write this list. Though it was released barely a month ago, this album has changed my life more than most. Given time, I could easily see Illinois climbing into my top twenty albums. It sounds much like Michigan, but every song reaches new, glorious heights. There are still mellow folk songs, but the arrangements of Illinois are for the most part symphonic and uplifting. "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," "Seer's Tower," and "Casmir Pulaski Day" stick to minimalism while the bulk of the record consists of countless instruments. "Come On, Feel the Illinoise!," "Chicago," and "Tallest Man, Broadest Shoulders" are dynamic and unpredictable orchestras. Sufjan even gets to rock out on "Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts." Few albums are so strikingly diverse and well-thought out. Sufjan admittedly did extensive research in order to find inspiration for this 22 song, 74 minute superepic. Album of the year!

#22: The Velvet Underground...The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967) It's an absolutely classic album that basically launched alternative rock. The dope runs wild on such noisey classics as "Run Run Run," "Black Angel's Death Song," and "European Son." The dope flows smoothly on the blissful "Sunday Morning," "Femme Fatale," and "All Tomorrow's Parties." The dope is fantastic and philosophical on "Heroin," one of the greatest songs ever composed. "Venus in Furs" is a hypnotic trip through dirty sex scenes. "I'm Waiting For My Man" is a kickin' Lou Reed anthem. All of my favorite artists owe a lot to the Velvet Underground. This album opened my eyes in the 8th grade, and I like to think that I've yet to close them.

#21: The Pixies...Bossanova (1991) The first two Pixies LPs are generally the most acclaimed and popular in their flawless catalog. But, Bossanova is the Pixies most intense and consistent effort. It's an even more spacious and scenic journey than Doolittle. Braving stormy weather, trampolining through rooftops, capturing voices from all over the world, Bossanova is an amazing dosage of electric space rock.

#20: Yo La Tengo...Painful (1993) Painful is home to arguably the three greatest Yo La Tengo songs: "Big Day Coming," "Nowhere Near," and "I Heard You Looking." As if those three tracks weren't great enough, the rest of the album is amazing too. "From a Motel Six" packs sweet feedback. "The Whole of the Law" is the perfect honeymoon soundtrack. "Sudden Organ" is an awesome, blurry late night driving song. Painful is what I'd like to listen to if I were to fly above a big city in the glowing Repo Man car.

#19: My Bloody Valentine...Loveless (1991) Loveless is an essential guitar rock album. The sonic noise swirls and drones passionately, creating intense light shows inside your eyes. Supposedly one of the loudest live bands in history, My Bloody Valentine brings to the studio music of equal intensity. Loveless flows and burns with relentless psychedelia. "To Here Knows When" dispenses of percussion, making for an extraordinary out-of-body experience with screaming guitars and high-pitched keyboard drones. "Sometimes" is illustrated well in the movie, Lost in Translation. Francis Ford Coppola brilliantly utilizes the song during a scene when Scarlet Johanson is peering through the windows of a limousine and soaking up the beauty of the lit-up city at night. The entire record is like a explorative, heavenly dream. It is quite simply THE landmark album of the 1990s.

#18: Galaxie 500...On Fire (1989) On Fire is the most sedated, floating, and atmospheric album of Dean Wareham's career. Though the songs are absurdly simple, the alchemy of Wareham's soothing guitar therapy, Naomi Yang's gentle bass, and Damon Kruzowski's Moe Tucker-ish drumming is sublime. "Blue Thunder" opens the album with emotionally inspired singing. "Tell Me" is a somber cry for love. "Snowstorm" renders your body weightless with haunting echoes and hums. "When Will You Come Home" takes a more aggressive and feedback-ridden approach after opening with dense atmosphere. "Decomposing Trees," complete with a symphony of saxophones, is arguably the best Wareham song of all time (possibly behind Luna's "23 Minutes in Brussels"). "Plastic Bird" is a sonic release of emotion. An ecstatic version of George Harrison's classic "Isn't it a Pity" closes the album. On Fire remains the most noteworthy chapter of Galaxie 500's brief, overlooked career.

#17: Yo La Tengo...I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One (1997) Diversity is the word to keep in mind when listening to this masterpiece of a dream pop album. There is so much going on in this music, it's hard to briefly describe all of Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew's eerie moods on this album. Some songs are fast and sonic alternative rock. Some songs are beautiful, mellow ballads with adorable female singing. Some songs are intense drones. Some songs are tropical and foreign-sounding. Some songs are emotionally driven and heart-stoppingly intense and noisey. The trio added to the greatest qualities of 1993's Painful to create this unbeatable Yo La Tengo epic.

#16: Spiritualized...Pure Phase (1995) Pure Phase transforms the mind unlike any other Jason Pierce recording. One moment, you're living Pierce's heroin-ridden nightmare in a raw, vibrating world of sound. The next, you're floating in romantic atmospheres similar to those found on Lazer Guided Melodies. Pierce will never write another song about drugs that's as satisfying and adventurous as "Medication" or "Lay Back in the Sun." "All of My Tears" is a super-droned enhancement of Spacemen 3's "So Hot." "Electric Mainline" is best in live form, but the Pure Phase version is still extremely acidic. The use of the harmonica/wah-monica is brilliant on "These Blues" and "Good Times." "Electric Phase" and "Take Good Care of It" are Pierce's most intense waves of noise found outside of Ladies and Gentlemen's "Cop Shoot Cop." "Spread Your Wings" is depressing, yet blissful at the same time. The entire album is held together by a simple organ drone, allowing the songs to flow seamlessly together.

#15: Sonic Youth...Sister (1987) Sister preserves Sonic Youth's youthful drone/noise habits while adding even more structure to the songs. "Pipeline," "Tuff Gnarl," and "Pacific Coast Highway" are droney and noisey enough to break your mind. "Catholic Block," "Stereo Sanctity," and "White Cross" are fast, semi-punk songs. "Scizophrenia" and "Cotton Crown" are Sonic Youth's most listenable songs at this point in their career. "Cotton Crown" introduces a brilliant harmony sung by Thurston and Kim that makes for a beautiful refrain: "Angels are dreaming of you...." Thurston may never write stranger lyrics than: "He's runnin' on a tuff gnarl in his head. He's got a fatal erection home in bed. He's really smart and he's really fast. He's got a hard-tit killer fuck in his past." It was quite clear in 1987 that Sonic Youth rules.

#14: Sufjan Stevens...Seven Swans (2004)S even Swans is as beautiful as its alliteration. The album couldn't have a better beginning. "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" slides down a banjo scale and slowly adds killer lyrics: "If I am alive this time next year, will I have arrived in time to share?" There are 11 more highlights: "The Dress Looks Nice on You" is an absolutely wonderful song which uses a great guitar-banjo combo. "In the Devil's Territory" is Sufjan's best song ever! It begins with the banjo, then builds into a revelation of piano, synthesizer, and banjo delight. As if the first three Seven Swans songs didn't please Mom and Dad enough, "To Be Alone With You," the single, appeals to the masses with a classic folk mood. The transcendental "Sister" is an epic which begins with a trancing electric guitar solo and abruptly changes into a strange lament about a sister somewhere in Detroit. The title track is another building, dense musical adventure. Seven Swans ends with "The Transfiguration," a religious explorative that will knock you flat. Seven Swans has songs that are more conventional folk songs and songs that build off of simple guitar/banjo work and wind up ringing your ears with heavenly delight. The most impressive styles found on Michigan have been stripped down and carefully placed, and the result is the most essential record since Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

#13: The Arcade Fire...Funeral (2004) The Arcade Fire is Merge Records' latest phenomenon. A Canadian family band, the Arcade Fire base much of their songwriting on the recent deaths of two close family members. Though all ten songs are very dramatic and emotional, the Fire are hardly "emo." Beautiful steel drums, accordians, violins, and piano blend with excellent guitar work to create Funeral, one of the greatest indie rock albums I will ever hear. The opening piano of "Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels)" foreshadows the epic proportions of Funeral. "Neighborhood 2 (Laika)" is catchy and pretty with its delightful accordian melody. "Neighborhood 3 (Power Out)" screams Talking Heads influence. "The Crown of Love" is Funeral's most spine-tingling emotional rollercoaster. Funeral is a long walk through a dead neighborhood, a philosophical exploration of homeland and death.

#12: The Fiery Furnaces...Blueberry Boat (2004) Blueberry Boat is an indie rock opera. Reading the lyrics to one song is not unlike reading a freakin' novel. Eleanor and Matt Friedberger are officially musical visionaries. Blueberry Boat is a colossal journey of energetic stories about pirates, random love plots, and the most unpredictable tunings ever. Matt creates some of the coolest "wah" effects and bursts of noise amidst cute keyboarding and female vocals. The majority of the album consists of 7+ minute songs which take hundreds of different directions. "Quay Cur" raises the sails with an odd opening beat and poem: "I had a locket, a little silver charm/gave it to me so to keep me out of harm." From the start, it is difficult to determine what the hell these songs are really about. Blueberry Boat could be the best extended metaphor in history. I still don't know exactly what this album is, but I do know that I love it. Blueberry Boat has received mostly praise from critics abroad, but has been frequently dissed by some DJs around these parts. They can cut Eleanor's throat, but they ain't never gettin' the cargo of her blueberry boat!

#11: Pavement...Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (1994) This is a great summertime suburban indie chill-out album. Stephen Malkmus is a great songwriter and guitarist. Though he often gets criticized for being sarcastic and dry, I find Crooked Rain to be a very soulful album. "Newark Wilder" and "Range Life" are compelling, emotional, and dreamy." Although I like the Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan is an asshole for saying that "People don't wake up humming Pavement songs in the morning." Malkmus rightfully shuts him up in the controversial "Range Life": "out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins. Nature kids - I/they don't have no function. I don't understand what they mean and I couldn't give a fuck." The Stone Temple Pilots also receive insults during "Range Life." "Unfair" and "Gold Soundz" are quick, blissful rockers about suburban chaos, making for an exciting center of the album. "Fillmore Jive," Pavement's longest song in history, is one of my favorite songs of all time. Diverse and consistent, Crooked Rain is Pavement's strongest album.

#10: Luna...Penthouse (1995) Penthouse contains Luna's most tranquil and well-crafted songs. On "Moon Palace", Wareham creates an intense trance and returns to his old Galaxie 500 style of singing. "Double Feature" is Luna's greatest groove. Wareham utters hilarious lyrics: "Who'm I gonna be? What am I gonna do? I've been fooling everybody, I've been uptown at the zoo. I have seen the chimpanzees in the afternoon sun. It's quiet in the snakehouse and my legs have turned to jelly!" "23 Minutes in Brussels" is probably Wareham's greatest accomplishment of his amazing career. It rivals some of the best of Television's guitar work. "Lost in Space" is as emotional and atmospheric as any Galaxie song. Perhaps the most notable quality of Penthouse is its refusal to get caught in a rut. Wareham is witty and ironic, as he characteristically is on all Luna albums, but he tends to also kick up the reverb and sing more soulfully than ever on a few of these tracks. There's no such thing as a weak Luna album (or song), but none are as essential and brilliant as Penthouse. One could easily argue that this is the best of all the Galaxie 500/Luna albums.

#9: Wilco...Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002) This is beyond the shadow of a doubt the most important album of the 21st century. Maybe the most important since the early 90s. Where to begin? Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was scheduled to be released in 2001 on Reprise Records. After recording, Reprise shockingly dropped Wilco from their label. What were they thinking? Seeking another label, Tweedy and Wilco were picked up by Nonesuch Records, ironically another label attached to Warner Bros. Records (the same big name Reprise serves). By the time Nonesuch was ready to put this long-lost artifact into print, it was a year behind schedule. And all this controversy had, of course, set the music media on fire with anticipation. Sometimes, there's an album. And it's just THE album for its time and place. And that album is Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Coupling their former country-alt style with ambitious experimentation with violins, droning, odd bells, and more, Wilco's 2002 masterpiece is an inspiration to all who lay their ears on it. And, if you're not inspired, you need a soul. Easy listeners who liked AM, Summerteeth, and Being There, but can't handle the complicated American-questioning lyrics and dense musical value of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot don't deserve such a band in their collection. I had the pleasure of receiving this for Easter my freshman year and reading along to the whole 52 minutes - no pausing or skipping around. It was a landmark listening experience that changed my musical perspective forever. "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" is a transcendental epic with amazing lyrics and organs. "Jesus, etc." is Wilco's prettiest song to date. "Heavy Metal Drummer" recalls the innocence of teenage metal fans who attended riverside music festivals. "Poor Places" and "Reservations" conclude the album with Wilco's most fiery and reflective musical intensity. As long as we're listening to alternative music, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot will remain a landmark.

#8: The Secret Machines...Now Here Is Nowhere (2004) This is space rock is its most extreme form. The various sonic blasts and mellow, snow-white songs make this a very diverse album. "First Wave Intact" opens the album with futuristic alien war-like noise and runs into "Sad and Lonely," a song that is cool enough to be played during the World Series on Fox. Then comes the cool, sad "The Leaves Are Gone," a longing, romantic lament. "Leaves" flows into "Nowhere Again," the album's oh so dramatic climax. Now Here is Nowhere proceeds with incredible driving songs ("The Road Leads Where It's Lead" and "Light's On") and Pink Floyd-ish chill-outs ("Pharoah's Daughter" and "You Are Chains"). The title track ends the album with a 9-minute sprawling "Nowhere Again" instrumental reprise which leaves you farther from Earth than ever before. This is a perfect album. There isn't one moment that isn't outstanding. It breathes with sexsual passion and great drones. The drumming is extremely heavy and well-produced. It's a marvelous supernova of sound.

#7: Built to Spill...Perfect From Now On (1997) This was one of the least-probable albums ever made. After There's Nothing Wrong With Love, Doug Martsch suddenly became a somber and intense guitar player on the follow-up album, Perfect From Now On. "Randy Described Eternity" is a slow and eerie space ballad that builds into phasing noise. "I Would Hurt a Fly" begins with a casual beat, then suddenly pauses and speeds up into a gut-wrenching guitar frenzy. "Stop the Show" was built to be an encore performance at concerts. It begins with a trancing solo, then comes together and blasts into the verses after three minutes of anticipation. "Made-Up Dreams" may contain witty lyrics, but Martsch sings them with an almost pitiful whine: "No one wants to hear what you dreamt about unless you dreamt about them! Don't let that stop you, tell them anyway and you can make it up as youuuu goooo!" "Velvet Waltz" is a colossal 8-minute waltz with searing, heavily affected guitars. "Kicked It in the Sun" is brilliantly constructed and diverse, using tons of chords and an awesome change in keys. "Untrustable" is a bold 9-minutes in length, closing the album with more unpredictable music and digressions. Though Perfect From Now On was Built to Spill's major label debut, not one song is under 5 minutes in length. You'll love Doug on his other records, but you'll be IN love with him once you hear just how perfect his music can be.

#6: Spacemen 3...Playing With Fire (1989) There are some great contemporary space rockers, but no one can out-drone the masters. Pete Kember and Jason Pierce were on some intense drugs while writing/recording this sedative. According to Spin's Alternative Record Guide, Spacemen 3 recording this album without the use of real drums. They only bother to use a drum machine on a few tracks. "Honey" was where Kember left the planet for good. It is the spaceiest, most alien organ drone the Spacemen had issued at this point in their careers. "How Does it Feel" shows Kember even farther from Earth, repeating the same organ echo for a solid 8-minutes beneath Kember's seductive lyrics: "When I saw you, you looked so surprised. And the oceans flowed through your blue-grey eyes. And I stood and gazed through hot summer days, so tell me, how do you feel? We could make love and live as one and burn our fingers on the sun!" "I Believe It" is Kember wishing he had written Pierce's "Walking With Jesus" lyrics. "Revolution" fires up some distorted guitars, drowning your ears in flames. "Suicide" is the grandfather of all feedback/drone-ridden songs. It drones on the same groove for 11 minutes with intense tremeloes and noise. Kember delivers "Come Down Softly to My Soul" and "So Hot (Wash Away All of My Tears)," beautiful romantic numbers. And of course, the best Spacemen 3 song, "Lord Can You Hear Me?" Pierce is a step closer to Spiritualized. Playing With Fire delves into a strange, alien land full of obscure droning equipment. I kinda wanna live there.

#5: Galaxie 500...This Is Our Music (1990) Penthouse is a spectacular album, but nothing Dean Wareham did outside of This Is Our Music was as exciting, dramatic, and flawless as the Galaxie 500 farewell LP. "Fourth of July" and "Summertime" are thundering, anthematic, and spacious. Wareham is more sedated that ever on "Hearing Voices" and "Spook." On these two mellow tracks, dense reverb occupies every instrument, making for quite a psychedelic experience. The album;s centerpiece epic, a cover of Yoko Ono's "Listen the Snow Is Falling," contains Wareham's most intense guitar playing ever. "Sorry" laid the foundation for great Luna songs like "Moon Palace." "Melt Away" is Wareham's sweetest feedback. "King of Spain" appropriately wraps up the album with supporting horns. This is not a greatest hits album (as the title may suggest). It is, rather, the second of two amazing Galaxie 500 epics.

#4: Grandaddy...The Sophtware Slump (2000) The Sophtware Slump is a concept album about disintegrating technology and the insignificance of the modern age of humanity. "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot" opens the masterpiece with 9 minutes of washing, hypnotic sonic brilliance. It is, like many great track 1's, the album's building block. It is an exploration of the wanderings of an interesting character, 2000 man: "Adrift again 2000 man, you've lost your maps you've lost the plans." It can easily be inferred that 2000 Man is a robot or a computer: "How's it going 2000 Man? Welcome back to solid ground, my friend. I heard all your controls were jammed." After two brilliant verses, singer/guitarist/keyboardist Jason Lytle throws the song into a 6-minute dissolving cycle of keyboard drones and eerie melodies, repeatedly uttering, "Are you giving in, 2000 Man?" The brilliant personification of the software that coats our technologically possessed nation is Lytle's incredible way off expressing his pessimism and curiosity towards the collective human conscience. The Sophtware Slump takes many different directions while retaining the somber decay mode leftover from "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot." "Hewlett's Daughter" is a remarkable dream pop groove. "The Crystal Lake" personifies a lake, telling us that nature is aware of our petty computer world: "The Crystal Lake, it only laughs. It knows you're just a modern man. It's shining like a chandelier, shining somewhere far away from here." "Underneath the Weeping Willow" is a simple piano lament in which Lytle longs for the embrace of nature, only to discover that the weeping willow is as oppressed and weakened by the slumping of software: "I wanna sleep underneath the weeping willow as it cries all night quietly, its tears all around me." The second half of The Sophtware Slump delves back into the pure eeriness of "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot." "Broken Household Appliance" begins with a slow Spiritualized-esque keyboard melody and later turns into a dirty, distorted rock song. Brilliant lines are found in its verses: "All of the microwaves are dead, just like the salamander said. The refrigerators house the frogs. The conduit is the hollow log." On "Miner at the Dial-aView," Lytle dreams at night of going home someday somewhere far away. The song drones seamlessly into the heavenly conclusion, "So You'll Aim Toward the Sky." An epic sprawl of atmosphere and ascension, it reminds us that something beautiful still awaits us in the end. As the keyboard psychedelia is winding down, a voice whispers, "Good luck." Lytle responds with a fearful "Thank you," and the album fades into space. It's hard to find music that is as strikingly original and mind-blowing as this.

#3: Spiritualized...Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space (1997) It was Christmas morning, 2003, in a sun-filled room beneath a glowing window. Eagerly opening the Spiritualized "pill box," a most cherished Christmas gift from my cousin, I was prepared for a religious musical experience. I had never heard Spiritualized before. All I knew about them was that they toured with B.R.M.C. The opening title track laced my body in ecstacy, making me feel like I was in heaven. "Come Together" made me feel like superman flying above the country landscapes that surrounded my grandparent's house. "I Think I'm in Love" changed my life on the spot with its orgasmic bass and symphony of romantic instruments. "All of My Thoughts" and "Stay With Me" let me down gently. "Electricity" made me bleed with its angry, whining guitars. "Home of the Brave/The Indidvidual" let me know what death will probably feel like - a series of distorted saxophones and a deafening scape of raw guitar drones. "Broken Heart" made my eyes water. "No God Only Religion" intensified the drones of "The Individual" by adding a rhythm section. "Cool Waves" let me down gently again into a therapeudic ocean. Then, "Cop Shoot Cop" commenced. I had been warned by my cousin that "Cop Shoot Cop" was one of the top five songs of the 1990s. But, I was not expecting the most intense 16 minutes of music I had ever heard....It was an essential listen. This is quite simply the most transcendent album of all time.

#2: Television...Marquee Moon (1977) This was one of the first albums I ever loved. As a fourth grader, I first heard Television on my headphones at my grandparent's house (like Spiritualized). Chris had been constantly raving about "Marquee Moon." Mom firmly agreed that it was an amazing song. Musically innocent and eager to follow in my cousin's footsteps as an innocent 10-year-old, I decided to listen to the buzz. After listening to the first three songs, I remember being quite impressed with Television's guitar prowess. But, the fourth track, "Marquee Moon," left me with my jaw hanging to the floor. The guitar solo on "Marquee Moon" affected my ears in a very special way. Since that moment, my whole life has been basically devoted to searching for music that's this good. "Marquee Moon" was too much! I was done. My life seemed so plainly simple: music. I couldn't bring myself to listen to the second half of the record. I had to drop the discman and whole-heartedly agree with my family that Television was the fuckin' shit. It would have served me better to keep listening. The secong half of Marquee Moon is at least as consistently excellent as the first. "Elevation" and "Guiding Light" are also cathartic guitar songs. "Prove It" revives the laughs and aggression found on "Venus" and "Friction." "Torn Curtain," though it is indeed Marquee Moon's screwball, is a great song too. I feel sorry for all who have missed out on the true guitar masters of the 1970s. I heard this before anything else, besides Jethro Tull and the Smashing Pumpkins.

#1: Sonic Youth...Daydream Nation (1988) I didn't get into this album all at once. I remember loving the first three songs, but not getting farther into the album for a while. "The Sprawl" was my initial favorite. Slowly but surely, I kept going. Within a week or two after the first listen, I had familiarized myself with the tracklist and most of the lyrics of "Teenage Riot" and "The Sprawl." When I finally got around to hearing the record all the way through with 100% of my attention, I knew it was something special. Most songs digress somewhere in the midst of the series of indie rock anthems, winding up searing with wonderful noise and mind-bending effects that can never be equalled. As "'Cross the Breeze" is winding down after 6 minutes of fiery rock, the guitars all seem to vibrate back and forth while speeding up the tempo of the tremelo and the effect is nothing short of mesmorizing. "Total Trash" contains the most intense soloing of all. "Silver Rocket" is earth shattering. Lee Ranaldo's greatest hits, "Eric's Trip," "Hey Joni," and "Rain King," are found on Daydream Nation, allowing the songwriting to stay fresh and diverse all the way through the 14 tracks. "The Trilogy" is an epic series of hypnotizing, climactic Sonic Youth greatness. "Eliminator Jr." is one of the shadiest of all Sonic Youth tracks. Say what you will, critics, but I really like Kim Gordon's sonic panting on this song! It's driving, kickass, and worthy of concluding this album. The entire 71 minutes burn like a long candle. Once the candle is out of wax, "Eliminator Jr." serves as a brief, yet intense epilogue. During "Candle" one night, I could have sworn I could feel my hair blowing in invisible wind. No other band can sustain such amazing intensity for 71 minutes with nothing but guitars, bass, and drums (and oh yeah, an answering machine, too). This is as far as a guitar rock band can stretch the boundaries of guitars.

MISTAKES AND REGRETS:

• I was too young to write this much, and I wasn't a great writer anyways, so the quality of the writing is pretty wretched.
• New Order shouldn't be here at all.
• Too much Sonic Youth, but then again, is there ever too much Sonic Youth?
• Too much Sufjan. Well, maybe all three albums deserved to be here, but Illinois and Seven Swans are WAY TOO HIGH.
• I like Radiohead a lot more these days than I did back in 2005, so OK Computer and Kid A would get a decent boost nowadays. But, I'd erase the Bends from the list entirely if I could go back. It's higher than Suicide! That's wrong!
• Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins should be in the top fifty.
• I wasn't a huge Mogwai fan yet.
• Nor was I a huge Slowdive fan yet.
• My God, New Order is above Joy Division. Puke! Unknown Pleasures isn't here either. Puke!
• I don't regret the near-absence of hip-hop, but I'd definitely put Public Enemy on here if I could go back.
• NO CLASSIC ROCK. I loved classic rock, and traditional songwriters, but that was back in middle and early high school and I was tired of all my Mom's old records, so...I moved on into the present more or less and rarely looked back.
• Going back to classic rock, I'd defintely have some Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, Neil Young, and Dylan if I were to revise it.
• Loveless is #19, which is correct for that point in my life. Today, it would easily make the top five.
• Hahaha. Spiritualized is hyperbolically overrated on this list! Pure Phase probably wouldn't make it at all these days, but I guess the other two would pretty much stand their ground.
• Funeral by the Arcade Fire is way, way too high. I like Neon Bible even better, and I wouldn't even put IT in my top fifty today.
• Same for the Fiery Furnaces...Blueberry Boat is amazing, but it wouldn't even be in the top 80 today.
• The Secret Machines thing is really funny...I was still in the wakes of their incredible live set, which I must admit made me cum in my pants a little bit, and I was in love with their sound on Now Here Is Nowehere. But, after Ten Silver Drops came out in 2005, my relationship with the Secret Machines ended. Entirely. They would be gone from the list, maybe they'd sneak in somewhere low, but man. #8 for them is the most over-rated slot in the list.
• This is Our Music by Galaxie 500 would not be in the top thirty today.
• Yo La Tengo is well-represented, but I listen to Electro-Pura more than And Then Nothing.... these days.
• The Flaming Lips would not be on the list at all today, except maybe The Soft Bulletin, but I find Yoshimi rather boring these days.
• Godspeed should be higher in general, probably.
• I don't listen to Brian Eno anymore, spare a few tracks from other albums, and a few from Another Green World.
• I realize there are six Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500, Luna) albums, but honestly, they'd all be higher except for This is Our Music.
• Dinosaur Jr.'s You're Living All Over Me would be in the top 20.
• The Jesus and Mary Chain would be higher (thanks Jeremy, for re-introducing it to me on the way to Athens!)
• Interpol's debut would be much, much higher.
• Modest Mouse would be much higher, plus I'd put the Lonesome Crowded West in there, too, probably in the fifties or sixties.