Top 25 Albums of All Time Part V: #10-6

And I return! Sorry this took so long, I have a life to live.

10. Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness



Apparently there was a summer when my family was on vacation and my father played this CD a lot. I have no recollection of that, but perhaps it was that early influence that made the album stand out to me. It’s epic in ever way. Duration, songwriting, arrangements, music videos, presentation, everything about this album is incredibly epic. But while some pieces of music that are as grand as this fail because the quality of the music gets caught up in the concept, Corgan and crew flourish in it. And the best part is that while it does swoon through emotions with string sections and acoustics, it can just as easily turn around and kick your ass with its rock tracks. And while “1979” and “Tonight, Tonight” are mainstream almost to the point of being played out, they still hit exactly at the right spot sonically every time. While Billy Corgan has sort of lost his writing edge in the post-Zwan era Pumpkins, it’s good to know I can always go back to Mellon Collie and enjoy utter brilliance.



9. Devo- Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!



There was a time in my musical life when I would listen to and pretend to enjoy everything that was weird or abnormal. Some of the stuff I actually dug, some of it I bumped because it was different and most of the time had some musical merit. For a little while I thought Devo, and specifically their debut, fell in the latter category. I don’t know when it was when this album went to bizarre to great, but it was a pretty quick change. Maybe it’s because Devo combines some elements of progressive rock with the straightforwardness of punk, or maybe it’s because of the bizarre lyrics and themes but I really do love me some Are We Not Men? This is an album that downright turns a lot of people off to the non “Whip It” sound that Devo had before they got popular, but it certainly has made me appreciate them a lot more.



8. Red Hot Chili Peppers- Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik



While many of the bands that I have already mentioned on this list and will mention as the post goes on are consideremd my favorites, the Chili Peppers really aren’t. Just like every musician (bass players especially) there is that essential period of time when one falls in love with RHCP, and with some they stick, but with me everything following their breakout is just sort of weak. Their work prior was good, but aside from a few tracks on Mother’s Milk, none of it was particularly memorable. And the stuff after BSSM is good, but it lacks the raw power and vigor that BSSM has. But coming back to the point, Chili Peppers made a great album that change the face of popular music. Hair metal dominated the 80’s and grunge and pop punk prevailed over most of the 90’s but the Chili Peppers really made it acceptable to be weird and funky and still be able to make money. They didn’t play to conventions and they clearly loved what they were doing (or the drugs made them love it). BSSM has some classic tracks like “Suck My Kiss” “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away” but it also has a lot of great groove based songs that go under the radar like “Mellowship Slinky in B Major” and the title track. Every few months I arbitrarily try and tell myself the Chili Peppers are too mainstream ans sellout for my taste, and then I hear a track off this album and just get schooled. They were awesome. They aren’t so much anymore, but this album makes me wanna pick up my bass and just jam.



7. Beastie Boys- Paul’s Boutique



There are some albums that really mark a radical change in the way music is looked at, and in my opinion, if it wasn’t for Paul’s Boutique, acts like Girl Talk and Super Mash Bros. would be without a job. The Beasties created a sonic atmosphere unlike any other following their one note debut, it shows growth on all fronts by the group. Lyrically it’s good, but the Beasties have never been considered top tier lyricists as much as they have been admired for their creativity. I can rap along with them and just have a good time, and they don’t seem to care about not challenging the world, so why should I? And the beats are just so cool, they sample so much stuff, but it’s not like modern mash-up artists where the samples make the art, here they add a foundation to the crazy lyrics crafted by the Boys. If there was an album that brought me from being a casual hip-hop fan to hardcore one, it is this without question.



6. The Beatles- Let It Be



NOT Sgt. Pepper! NOT Abbey Road! NOT Revolver! Number six on my list? Am I crazy? Yes. Let It Be is one of the first 2 CD’s I ever purchased, and for the first few years of having it, I never really listened to it. I skipped to the title track and “Get Back” and turned it off. Then, in my post puberty classic rock phase I dusted off the disc and popped it in, and it fit. It fit every mood. I remember driving around post breakups during high school with this album and feeling like there was hope for me yet (THERE STILL IS DAVE, HANG IN THERE!) and there were times when I just felt like hearing some great tunes and I’d put this on and get that. While every Beatles album has a resounding effect on me, as they should with most listeners, Let It Be is the one the evaded me in my youth, only to come back ten fold when I gave it a second chance. And did I mention “Get Back” is easily in the top five Beatles songs for me? Dare I say it is the best?!



ONE MORE TO GO! WHAT WILL BE ON THE LIST?! WHO KNOWS?! ME!

Top 25 Albums of All Time Part IV: #15-11

Guess whose back? No The Eminem Show won't be on this list...

15. Van Halen- Van Halen



My first concert was A Perfect Circle, but the first concert that I got really excited for was Van Halen. I remember having very little experience with the band, aside from what friends had played me, but thanks to a hookup from my father, I got really good floor seat tickets and my dad paid for half of them. With all of that being said, my preparation for the concert was the bands self titled debut and jeez did it prepare me well. I remember driving to the concert in my dad’s truck with the album blasting, and my dad just saying how it never stopped being loud and over the top. And that’s why it’s great. When it does cease on my favorite track “Ice Cream Man” it does so only to build it’s explosion that much more (my dad liked the song up until said explosion). The guitar work is obviously incredible, Lee Roth brings the frontman thing to new levels and Anthony and Alex Van Halen provide for a great backing section. A great pop rock album, regardless of what metalheads may say, it is pop through and through and I love it.



14. System of a Down- Hypnotize



Another album that came along at a great time for me. It was senior year, I was leaving on a plane for California in mere hours and I ran to Target to pick this up, import it onto my iPod and get it loaded and charged for the plane ride ahead. Now the first listen of this noisy chaotic mess of an album I was disappointed. I had listened to it’s prequel Mesmerize a hundred times and had fallen in love with it, but Hypnotize was almost too much. However, after listening to it several times, and having years and years of musical knowledge behind my back now (not to be a braggart, I just know a lot more about music now than I did then), I learned that the collective oddness of Hypnotize is truly the best effort that System of a Down brought to this day. They took a huge risk on a major label album and made a fantastically quirky metal album that does not translate easily to the masses, it’s pure genius in my mind. And while there are a handful of songs I downright dislike, as well as Serj Tankian’s over the top lyrics, I love this album as a whole. No doubt.



13. Queens of the Stone Age- Songs For The Deaf



I think second to Ocean Avenue, this was an album that I caught a lot of flack for listening to in high school, but unlike Ocean Avenue, most of the haters have grown into liking Josh Homme’s heroine induced desert rock wet dream. I got this album after hearing “No One Knows” on MTV2 back in the day and I instantly loved the way the rest of the album diverts from that sound, pretty much every track sounds at least a little bit different from the rest. And compared to much of music (and more than a few albums on this list) that’s a really good thing. Not to mention Dave Grohl behind the kit on this album is just an adrenaline burner, as he brings it hardcore. And this is the last album the Nick Oliveri played on before being kicked out of the band, so it really has a lot to say. To me personally it was the album that made me divert from the norm of the pop punk I’d been listening to almost exclusively up until that point.



12. The Jimi Hendrix Experience- Electric Ladyland



Why Ladyland over Are You Experienced? or even Axis? Simple. Because Ladyland is a mix of both of those two albums. To me Are You Experienced? will always be the Hendrix album that is beaten into every young guitarists head, as well as every classic rock radio station. It has more or less 90% of Jimi’s hits. Axis is a great album in its own right, but it just doesn’t have that zing factor, but Ladyland...it’s perfect. There are some really popular songs in “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” and “All Along The Watchtower” on top of some great jams you’ll never hear on the radio. Jimi brought me into loving the guitar as an instrument, as I’m sure he’s done with countless players, and this album is just a wonderful showing of how great he can play without having that sellout factor that I feel like Are You Experienced? had.



11. Public Enemy- It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back



I was a senior in high school when I bought this album and everyone thought it was sort of a joke. Flavor Flav was at the peak of his fame on VH1 and the only hip-hop I had been listening to was the Beastie Boys. I remember playing this album and just being wowed by Chuck D’s presence. Flav does bring the charisma to the group, but Chuck’s words are tremendously impactful that they made, and to this day still make me feel like I am a black American suffering through the same things that Public Enemy is. Fast forward a few years later to a time when I had sort of put this album and PE on the back burner, and my at the time boss brought them up in conversation, saying “Have you heard ‘Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos’?” And it had been so long I said “I don’t think so,” and when he put that song on it hooked me right back in. Chuck D is my number 2 favorite rapper of all time, and Public Enemy as a whole is my number 3 favorite rap group of all time. And they make you party for your right to fight in a time when people were just fighting for their right to party.



Two more installments and this will all be done!

Top 25 Albums of All Time Part III: #20-16

And here continues the list...

20. Oysterhead- The Grand Pecking Order



There was a phase in my late-high school early-college musical fandom that I basically bought every CD by my favorite musicians if they were at a decent price. Upon finding Oysterhead’s The Grand Pecking Order used at FYE one day I bought it without question because I knew Primus frontman Les Claypool was in the group. What I didn’t realize was that Phish frontman/god to modern hippies Trey Anastasio was the guitarist and Police drummer Stewart Copeland was behind the skins. Three men that drive their respective bands coming together to form some sort of musical orgy of jam band, metal and 80’s pop rock. The end result is divine. Trey’s free flowing playing alongside Copeland’s offbeat drum hits and Claypool’s over the top bass playing make one of the most surprisingly amazing combinations in my mind. Claypool has a dozen side projects with a dozen great musicians (Buckethead, Bernie Worrell, Warren Haynes and Tom Waits to name a few) but this one stands out as him stepping out of the spotlight to let the talent of the other 2 players take the lead just as frequently as him. And the best part is that the album doesn’t sound like Primus, Phish or The Police, it sounds completely unique and it is highly unlikely we’ll ever see anything from this group again.



19. Tomahawk-Tomahawk



Copy and paste the first sentence from the last issue but replace Les Claypool with Mike Patton and you have the story of me discovering Tomahawk. Mix the Mr. Bungle/Faith No More frontman with the guitar player from The Jesus Lizard, the drummer from Helmet and the bassist from The Melvins and you have this godly metal beast. Their 2001 debut is easily the best album of their trilogy, and it’s tense moodiness really sets up for the nasty breakdowns and scream filled choruses that populate most of the album. Jesus Lizard alum Duane Denison brings his slithery playing to a much heavier zone and the bass/drums compliment it perfectly, giving Patton uniquely insane music to sing/scream/growl over. I’m not a metal expert, in fact I consider myself a novice at best, but I can’t deny this album a spot on this list, as it’s one of those albums that makes any mundane moment that much more exciting.



18. Incubus- S.C.I.E.N.C.E



Funk, at the end of the day, is my favorite kind of music. And early Incubus certainly has its share of funk in it. I came into Incubus the wrong way, starting with the mellow MTV friendly Morning View, going a step back chronologically to the brilliantly commercial Make Yourself and then finally arriving on the schizophrenic, genre jumping S.C.I.E.N.C.E. This album, to me, is Incubus at their best. The grooves between Guitarist Mike Enziger, drummer Jose Pasillas and god of bass Dirk Lance, are so incredibly tight yet retain the grooviness of so many improv-heavy grooves. Add to that the slick turntabling and beautifully chaotic voice of the then dreaded Brandon Boyd and you have one of the coolest albums I’ve ever heard in my life. While I may not bump it so much these days, as a player and a listener, this album deserves all the respect I have to give.



17. The Roots-Game Theory



Prior to this album, my main Roots experience was their 1995 jazz heavy album Do You Want More?!!??! and while I respected that album for what it did musically, I never really loved it. Game Theory however, changed the way I thought about the group for the better. The music is dark, when it’s positive it still feels like something bad can happen, and the raps are honestly some of the best I’ve ever heard. This album made me respect Questlove as more than just a drummer, and it made me realize that Blackthought is my favorite rapper in the game today. While Def Jam didn’t do a great job making this album the commercial success it could’ve been, I kind of appreciate the fact that it’s a tad more cult-ish than the rest of their work.



16. Biffy Clyro- Only Revolutions



The most recent album on the list, and the one I had the hardest time justifying putting on here. While I listened to this albums predecessor Puzzle more than Only Revolutions, something about this album stands out. I listened to it twice upon downloading it and thought it wasn’t as good as Puzzle, but then at the beginning of the summer I started listening to it. Every day. No album has made me put it on every single day since middle school, yet the great songs on this album kept calling me back over and over and even though it’s still freshly classic in my mind there is no doubt that it will stay that way. While it is sort of generic in a sense that it doesn’t change the way rock and roll is looked at, it’s epic. The arrangements, the lyrical content, the energy, and the fact that it’s three guys making the music, really makes this band, and this album, great.



Stay tuned for more!

Top 25 Of All Time Part II: #25-21

Last entry you got to see the albums that didn't make the final cut to this fine list of my favorite albums of all time. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we march onward with the first 5 entries. Here we go!

25. The Kinks-Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneyground Part I



God The Kinks are a great band, and one that deserves more radio play outside of “You Really Got Me” and titular character of this album “Lola”. Believe it or not, this is the only Kinks album I have outside of their greatest hits and I owe that to Wes Anderson. Three tracks off this album were prominently featured in his film The Darjeeling Limited, and had it not been for that film I wouldn’t have been so driven to start listening to this album. I don’t consider myself a folk fan, but I really dig the overall rawness of this album. Acoustic guitars that sound muddy with wonderful layers of everything else that makes the Kinks great on top of them. It’s not all super punky, the sound that people always say the Kinks helped pioneer, but in that it shows some brains.




24. Yellowcard- Ocean Avenue



I think I have made some enemies by putting this album on this list. But allow me to explain, when my friends talk about going back in time and listening to that one album they expect to grow out of but it’s still just as fun and awesome, they always say Blink 182’s Enema of the State. Now maybe it’s because I feared the wrath of my parents listening to the aforementioned album when I was 14 and grounding me, but Ocean Avenue fills that void for me. It’s glorious pop punk that covers all of the essential bases. I can honestly sing along to this entire album and not get bored or tired of it. If there is ever a moment in time when I want to feel like a teenage girl, I always turn directly to the violin ridden Ocean Avenue and have a great time doing it.



23. Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend



One of the most recent albums to make the list, Vampire Weekend did something to me that I never thought would happen, it made me like indie rock again. After getting into hip-hop in the early years of college, my rock pallet mainly consisted of classic rock, nostalgia rock (see Yellowcard) and super heavy modern and experimental rock, but upon the urging of friends and the constant play of “A-Punk” on CT’s Radio 104.1, I gave this self titled album a chance and loved it. It is intricately simple, super quick and note filled riffs that feel like they could be placed into a Ramones song. The fact that these hipster, polo wearing rockers are just so openly suburban about their approach is like Kanye West wearing a polo, it’s a statement that they’re not going to change who they are (cough cough every Long Island band) to make records. Pop those collars Vampire Weekend, I’d have it no other way.



22. House of Pain- House of Pain (Fine Malt Lyrics)



Being the attentive Irish that I am, I used to bump “Jump Around” every Saint Patrick’s Day as an alternative to the overdosing of Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphy’s and The Pogues. And upon seeing House of Pain’s self titled debut sitting in a discount bin at a reputable record store, I purchased it and after one listen, didn’t think twice about it for a long time. However, one random day two summers ago I started listening again. And again. And again. The combination of DJ Lethal’s muddy beats with Everlast’s boastful lyrics and Danny Boy’s quick in-and-out Eazy-E like presence, I fell in love with the House. The lyrics aren’t deep, the subject matter is somewhat limited, and it’s an album I can easily see 90% of the world passing on, but without question, this album has changed the way I look at hip-hop.




21. Gym Class Heroes- The Papercut Chronicles



Travis McCoy is one of the best rappers alive and the world doesn’t realize it. And I think at this juncture, dropping the “is” and replacing it with “ie” to become Travie, he doesn’t even realize it either. But The Papercut Chronicles is an album that goes all over the map as far as content is concerned. The way the rhythm section grooves over raps about girls, drugs, suicide, fitting in and other such issues is awesome. You don’t hear bands that make songs like “Cupid’s Chokehold” follow them up with song’s like “Pillmatic” and “Faces in the Hall” and that’s what made Gym Class, at this point in their career, so good.



Stay tuned for the rest of the list!

Top 25 Albums of All Time: Part One "Those that didn't make the cut..."

I return to this blog that a man challenged, a man burdened. “By what?” you may find yourself asking. Is it schoolwork? No. Is it a serious problem? Absolutely not. The other day while on Twitter, I noticed my brother had started making mentions of a list of Top 25 albums of all time. This is something I’ve thought about a lot over the past 5 or 6 years, but never any more than just 9 or 10 albums that defined me. Within the confines of this blog you’ll see best of years lists as well as an assortment of other entries sorting music by some random concept. But a definitive list of albums that define me, David Henry Patrick Winchell, at the ripe age of twenty-two and nearly four months, that became a list that was harder to put together than I thought it would be.

I went about compiling this list during my now frequent insomnia bouts, sitting at my computer thinking and thinking until it dawned on me to simply scroll down my iTunes library and pick out albums that have affected me. Now, this is how my sorting process worked. After rattling off the essential albums that I knew would appear on the list, I started at letter A and went down to Z with the question “Has this album ever been the best album in the world to me?” Whether it be for a week, a few months or a year I pulled every single album that has transcended the two or three listen mark and lined them up. What I will be presenting you all with today is the list of albums that were knocked off the list. Some within moments (you can pretty easily guess which ones) and some that I had to battle with axing.

Before you read this I would like you all to take a few things into the equation. Some of your favorite, as well as my favorite, artists that I grew up with or learned to love were done solely by greatest hits albums. Bands like The Rolling Stones, They Might Be Giants, Simon and Garfunkel, David Bowie...all of these groups I love but don’t consider myself a fan enough of diving down the rabbit hole to learn more than the super expansive 40+ track greatest hits albums I have accumulated. So without further adieu, here are the albums that did not make my top 25. Don’t hate.

1. Peeping Tom-Peeping Tom
2. Andrew W.K.-I Get Wet
3. Aesop Rock-None Shall Pass
4. Beck-Guero
5. Cake-Fashion Nugget
6. The Clash-London Calling
7. Common-Be
8. The Cool Kids-The Bake Sale
9. Eagles of Death Metal-Death By Sexy
10. The Good, The Bad and The Queen-The Good, The Bad and The Queen
11. GZA-Liquid Swords
12. Gorillaz-Demon Days
13. Johnny Cash-Live At San Quentin
14. k-Os-Joyful Rebellion
15. Kanye West-Graduation
16. Led Zeppelin-Led Zeppelin II
17. Limp Bizkit-Significant Other
18. Mos Def-Black On Both Sides
19. N.W.A-Straight Outta Compton
20. NaS-Illmatic
21. Pitchshiter- www.pitchshifter.com
22. The Postal Service Service-Give Up
23. The Presidents of the United States of America
24. Rob Zombie-Hellbilly Deluxe
25. The Stooges-Raw Power
26. A Tribe Called Quest-The Low End Theory
27. Jackson 5-Diana Ross Presents: The Jackson 5
28. Brother Ali-Us

Look at that list! Now if you thought that this preliminary thing packed a lot of punches, JUST WAIT TO SEE HOW UNPREDICTABLE MY TOP 25 IS!

Ramblings #1

Hello all. I always have ideas for lengthy posts on this blog, but due to a combination of things (laziness and school) I never post them and they become irrelevant. However, I'd like to get a new thing going that can skim topics that are somewhat important and can be addressed further if interest is shown. So let's go!

Music:
-Listened to Hurley, the new Weezer album yesterday. Going to re-listen maybe tomorrow. A review for that may come. I am certainly motivated to write one for that album in particular.
-Also have the new Lordi album Babez for Breakfast sitting on my desk, along with DJ Muggs and Ill Bill's Kill Devil Hills. I don't know if I'll review those for this publication, but check out my Rate Your Music page for ratings for those albums as I listen to them.

Live Shows:
-Saw Biffy Clyro in the Studio @ Webster Hall in Union Square tonight. Fantastic performance. I've said it on Twitter and Facebook that the Biff is easily my favorite band right now. They are extremely talented, musically diverse and they rock really, hard. I finally picked up a concrete copy of their latest album Only Revolutions, which was my #2 album of last year. I am extremely glad to have made the purchase. Listen to Biffy if you don't, they are incredible.
-Next weekend is Hofstra's Alive at 75 festival which features Lisa Lisa, Sha Na Na, Fountains of Wayne, Trey Songz, Blue Oyster Cult and my #2 favorite rapper of all time Chuck D and Public Enemy. An exciting show.
-The Roots and John Legend are playing at Terminal 5 in a few weeks. I may make my way out to that show, as my roommate does the sound at that venue.

Wrestling:
-Matt Hardy is really digging his own grave, or is he? After being sent home from WWE's European tour, lying about it on Youtube, and sending cryptic tweets every 15 minutes, the man is on thin ice. But say he is released from WWE, what can he do that is really going to make all of this talk of "change" legitimate? A TNA run would basically set him up to be in Jeff's shadow again, an ROH run, while legitimate in the eyes of fans, would make him little money, an OMEGA reunion maybe? I don't know, and frankly I think WWE needs to be the ones to push him. If he leaves WWE for TNA that will not be a positive change. He needs to get in shape and prove to Vince and the suits that he can be the draw that Jeff was.
-Went to Ring of Honor's Glory By Honor IX last weekend and had a blast. I think myself and my good friend Corey Mack Nair had the worst seats in the house, but it was honestly the best ROH show I've been to.
-TNA is bad. I feel sad saying that because I do still support their product, as it is an alternative to WWE (on TV that I have access to until I can get HDNet). But it's really badly booked, the main event slots are interchangeable and mean nothing, and the roster is still way too big for its own good. I'm glad the wrestling is still okay, but I would love to see everything within the company equal out in quality to the wrestling.

Life:
-Life is okay. School is stressful, but it will yield many a reward. I am excited to finish, but a tad frightened of the real world. Not in a sense that I won't find a job, but in a sense that I won't have school to go back to.
-Eh.

Good reads!

Hey guys, I just wanted to update really quick. I just got on Good Reads! A site that lets you review books and let the world know what your reading. I am not a literary mastermind, but much like I took to movies in high school and music in middle school, I would love to become well read as I am well watched and listened (is that proper?).

So here's my page:

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4273419-dave-winchell

I'm not going to go on and write reviews like I do on Rate Your Music because I'm not an expert. I'll maybe do a star rating and a sentence, but who am I to analyze the merits of classic novels?