Everyone loves lists. In fact, 411’s been ListMANIA over the past few weeks, and you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
It’s my turn to add my two cents to 411’s “Essentials” series, and this isn’t as easy as it looks. What should my criteria be for this list? What ten CDs would I want with me on a deserted island, if I could never listen to anything but them again? What ten CDs I’d bring into space with me if I had to give an alien culture an idea of what we’ve got to offer? What ten CDs would I save at Armageddon?
Let’s go to the dictionary to see what exactly is meant by “essential”?
Essential, adj. ? Important in the highest degree; indispensable to the attainment of an object; indispensably necessary. [Source: Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary]
Wow. “Indispensably necessary.” Does that mean I can’t put the Grease soundtrack on this bad-boy? One would imagine that if stranded on a desert island, having music you can sing along with is a necessity. But indispensable? That brings things up to the next level.
I’m not going to pretend that I am qualified enough to list the end-all, be-all ten albums that could be used as a fair representation of meaningful music if I were to be posed that question by a group of friendly aliens. And what albums would I make sure to save at the end of the world? No thank you! WAY too much pressure. But if I were ever stranded, with only ten CDs (and a solar-powered discman?), what would those ten be? This might be a question I can answer, even though I’m sure that if you asked me this next week, I’d have a different list of albums.
Let’s try this?
Matthew Michael’s TOP TEN ESSENTIAL ALBUMS:
(Numbered for your convenience, but in no particular order.)
10. Handsome Boy Modeling School
So? How’s Your Girl?
[1999] {Tommy Boy}
“I’m a male model, not a male prostitute!” “Oh my God, he’s GORGEOUS!”
If I’m stranded on a desert island, I want something fun to listen to right off the bat. I’d imagine it would be pretty depressing all alone there. So until I discover that the OTHER SIDE of the island is actually an all-female nude beach, I’d need something to bide my time. What better way to cheer up than one of the most fun albums of all time? If you’re not familiar with this one, it’s basically an experimental concept album by hip-hop producers extraordinaire Prince Paul (De La Soul, Big Daddy Kane) and Dan the Automator (Kool Keith, Gorillaz) that’s based on an episode of Chris Elliott’s “Get A Life” sitcom. No, I’m serious. And no matter how hard it tries not to be taken seriously, this album is a borderline masterpiece. Collaborations with Grand Puba, Sadat X and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien hit a funky nerve, Atari Teenage Riot’s Alec Empire and Company Flow’s El-P throw their skills into the mix, and even Sean Lennon and Father Guido Sarducci join the fun. You can’t make this up, and the CD meets one very important criterion for being included on this list: you can’t help but hit the “repeat” button, no matter how many times in a row you’ve listened to it.
9. The Beach Boys
Pet Sounds
[1966] {Capitol}
Desert islands usually have beaches, right? Brian Wilson felt the need to answer his critics with this one ? as well as produce an answer to all the sonic goodness coming out of The Beatles’ recording sessions ? and did so with a sweet, rich vengeance. Do male vocals get prettier than those on “God Only Knows”? Calm, relaxing, and smart, this is an album I didn’t purchase for myself until the reissue a few years ago, and one I couldn’t live without.
8. The Beatles
Let It Be
[1970] {Capitol}
First of all, let’s set the record straight. ALL Beatles albums kick complete ass. The early stuff was fun and poppy, but it was the best fun and poppy stuff around. To a lot of fans, Rubber Soul and Revolver defined the band as innovative rock geniuses, and Sgt. Pepper and “The White Album” were great exercises in abundance done wonderfully. And let’s face it, everyone has their favorites for whatever reason. Mine are the Fab Four’s final two albums: Abbey Road and Let It Be. They’re both fun records, with all four Beatles’ fingerprints on them, and they each have “something for everyone” ? whether it a quirky little ditty like “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”, an all-out rock song like “Come Together” or “I’ve Got a Feeling”, or a Phil Spectorized, over-embellished ballad like “The Long and Winding Road”. Of the two albums, my preference lies with Let It Be (the “naked” version or not), simply because it includes two of my favorite Beatles songs: “Two Of Us” and “Get Back”. I can still remember being a little kid, listening to this one with my father, and singing the wrong words: “JoJo was a man who thought he was a woman?”
7. Nas
Illmatic
[1994] {Columbia}
I could probably put together separate lists for hip-hop and rock, and I might possibly do a purely “hip-hop essentials” list in another column down the road, but if I had to choose a few CDs to have with me on that desert island, I don’t see how I could leave this classic off. Nasir Jones has had the tendency in the past few years to put out one good album, followed by one that’s half-good/half-corny with too much filler included. But three things are a constant: his unique flow sets him at the top of the emcee pack, every one of his albums has at least one great song on it if you have the patience to find it, and? well, he’ll always have Illmatic, the album that put him on the map. Every time I hear “The World Is Yours”, my head bobs; it’s impossible to get the vibraphone lick from “One Love” out of your head; and if you ever want to get into a “New York State of Mind”, this is the disc to have with you.
6. Billy Joel
Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2
[1985] {Columbia}
Okay, there IS another way to get into a “New York State of Mind”, and I bet you didn’t think I had the balls to include anything by HIM on this list. Yes, I know, I’m kind of copping out by making this one a “greatest hits” compilation, but I have no shame in admitting that every once in a while, it’s necessary to just suck it up, hold back your compulsive nature to buy everything ever released by your favorite artists, and settle for a collection of “best of” tracks. And while there is definitely post-1985 Billy Joel material worth having, this selection is one of the most comprehensive greatest hits sets out there, with 25 songs guaranteed to keep you good company while on an island ? either Long Island or a deserted one.
5. Original Soundtrack
Forrest Gump
[1994] {Sony}
Wow, if you hated me for #6, you can’t stand me now! Yes, yes, it’s a soundtrack. I know. But not only is this the soundtrack of one of the greatest movies ever made, featuring music from one of the best eras in rock history, but it’s also one of the soundtracks ? along with those from Quentin Tarantino movies Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction ? that put soundtracks en vogue.
4. Jimi Hendrix Experience
Are You Experienced?
[1967] {Reprise} and [1997] {MCA}
Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding were the preeminent power-trio, and I don’t think there’s one song on the 17-track 1997 reissue of this 1967 album that won’t turn you on. This is the album your parents were told not to listen to because it might make them want to smoke, punch or f*ck anything in sight? and your grandparents were right. If “Purple Haze” doesn’t draw you into the Zone that only perfect albums like this can bring you to, then “Manic Depression” will. “Hey Joe”, “Red House”, “The Wind Cries Mary”? Damn, it’s a shame Jimi had to go as young as he did.
3. Dave Matthews Band
Busted Stuff
[2002] {RCA}
Like I’d let myself be stranded without my favorite “overrated” group the Dave Matthews Band! I’ve been listening to this album non-stop lately, and it’s quickly moving past Before These Crowded Streets as my favorite from the band, although by looking at the track list for the new live CD scheduled to come out in the near future, I may have to reevaluate. Nonetheless, Busted Stuff is the re-working of the infamous, unreleased “Lillywhite Sessions” ? a group of songs that may be Dave Matthews’ most introspective and emotional. The usual appeal to DMB is the “feel” of its music more than the actual lyrics or inventiveness, and that is emphasized by the fact that they are one of the most successful live bands around. I became a fan after seeing them live a few times while in college, and every listen brings me back to those “good ol’ days” and a sense of calm that is very? underrated.
2. A Tribe Called Quest
The Low End Theory
[1991] {Jive}
Tribe brings the beats, the rhymes and the life on this album ? the CD that turned me on to the smart, jazzy, Native Tongues style of hip-hop forever. I’m still waiting for that rumored reunion, but as long as Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad are checkin’ the rhime, I’ll gladly join ’em in some buggin’ out. And if you can’t sing along to “Scenario” (don’t worry, you don’t have to admit it), then I don’t know you.
1. Nirvana
In Utero
[1993] {Geffen}
In Utero, for better or worse, IS Nirvana. I couldn’t even listen to the damn album when I first bought it. But after a while, the screaming becomes less cacophonous and give way to some beautiful melodies and sad, passionate lyricism, and then? you’re hooked. The production tells the story of the walking contradiction that was Kurt Cobain: the band brought Steve Albini (The Pixies) in to give the record an indie sensibility, and then Scott Litt (REM) to polish it up. I don’t really care if you think of Nirvana as overrated hacks that blew up merely by being in the right place at the right time, and that they are the reason we inevitably ended up with crap like Sponge, Bush and even Silverchair on the radio for years after Kurt’s death? or if you just look at them as punks who wrote great pop songs, created the grunge genre by coming up with the perfect mix of metal, punk, indie and pop, and the reason we were able to knock Michael and Whitney off the top of the charts for a short time, paving the way for others in their genre ? those that came before and after them ? to be noticed. All I know is that I love this band, and will scream my head off, or maybe even cry a little, to this album any time.
Well, there you have it! And since you can’t have a list without honorable mentions, please accept my apology for not including the likes of Surfer Rosa, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, Ten, Til’ Shiloh, How It Feels To Be Something On, Legend, Become What You Are, Black Star, The Chronic, Raising Hell, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Pinkerton, Who’s Next, Nothing Left To Lose, Kind Of Blue, Nothing’s Shocking, So, Skankonia, Enter The Wu Tang, or Wish You Were Here.
Tune in next week as the “Essentials” series continues with 411’s very own Jonny X, and if you have your own TEN ESSENTIALS list, send it to me at moodspins at aol dot com!
peace. love. moe.
– Matt
Matthew Michaels’s Till My Head Falls Off can be found weekly on 411 Music. Already hit everything on 411? You can find more from Matt at moodspins and 1-42.
