ALBUMS to HEAR BEFORE YOU DIE

Some of my personal favorites:

Spirit - "Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus" (1968) This is a super underrated underground pop/rock/psychedelic album credited as being an early influence on the soon-to-be popular Glam genre of the early 70s. Spirit as a band is very underrated in their contributions to pop/rock music. I can't say enough about how much I love this album and the production sound used is just wonderful. It is rocking and soothing at the same time.

DIG DEEPER: Check out "Morning Will Come" for a beautiful verse melody and harmonies along with some sweet guitar work from Randy California.

T. Rex - "Electric Warrior" (1971) The number 1 Glam album of all time. "Groovy" is actually a good word to describe it. Very simple rock music but presented in such a unique way, it just makes me smile and reminds me of how simple yet effective music should be. Tony Visconti produced this masterpiece (and would later go on to perfect his glam-era production sound on early albums by David Bowie...which were Bowie's best as far as I'm concerned.)

DIG DEEPER: I assume you've already heard "Bang a Gong" so check out "Mambo Sun" for some groovy goodness.

Billy Joel - "Glass Houses" (1980) From the 3rd greatest songwriter of all time behind Lennon and McCartney, this has the perfect blend of guitar-based rockers and piano oriented pop songs. Any one of the songs on this album could have been (and might well have been) hit singles, yet this accessibility takes nothing away from Billy's masterful songwriting craft.

DIG DEEPER: "I Don't Want To Be Alone Anymore" is a great example of Billy's story-telling pop song mastery.

Steve Perry - "Street Talk" (1984) The very pleasant solo debut album from the former frontman of Journey. The band thought Steve needed them to crank out the hits, but this album proves them terribly wrong, sorry guys! "Oh, Serrie" and "Foolish Heart" alone make this a classic, but there are some very strong album cuts on here and it is a great snapshot of the early 80s.

DIG DEEPER: If you've already heard the 2 songs listed above check out "I Believe" for a great example of a feel good 80s pop song. What happened to these days???

Huey Lewis and the News - "Sports" (1983) The definitive album of the 80s. I was raised on this cassette (which is a reason why I've grown up to be such an exceptional young man). It amazes me that lots of music folks look back on the 80s as a low point for music. I would say then perhaps they have not heard this album, but anyone living has no doubt wanted a "New Drug" or at least asked themselves the question "If This Is It?" Please let me know...what you think of it.

DIG DEEPER: "Heart And Soul" which has a great chorus and is so much cooler than the lame piano song of the same name.

Queen - "A Night At The Opera" (1975) Probably the most interesting, diverse and unique band of all time. And this was their masterpiece. You couldn't even make this album today. No one would release it. Hell, you wouldn't even have a band like this today. The musical influences on this disc are all over the map. Dixieland jazz, show tunes, rock, pre-punk, standards, opera, piano pop, and all-out insanity. Imagine playing "Bohemian Rhapsody" for an A&R rep telling them you plan on releasing it as the album's first single. They would think you were out of your mind. Such is the brilliance of this album. Also note, if I could play/sound like any guitarist it would be Brian May, he is number 1 in my book (which I'm sure he cares about).

DIG DEEPER: "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" is so delightfully odd. It's under 2 minutes, but in that limited space it manages to squeeze in everything great about this band. Queen invented and quickly mastered the art of studio recording.

The Edgar Winter Group - "They Only Come Out At Night" (1972) A classic rock gem indeed. I was blown away when I first heard this album, I thought it was a greatest hits collection. Edgar has got to be in the top 5 albino musicians of all time. A few songs you're probably already familiar with are "Free Ride" and the instrumental "Frankenstein" but the rest of the album tracks on here make you wonder why this album has not received more recognition. Great stuff. Buy it now!

DIG DEEPER: A toss up between the opener, "Hangin Around" and "We All Had A Real Good Time" These are both genuine classic 1970's rock songs and probably only got buried because the singles were so incredibly strong in their own right.

The Beatles - "Revolver/White Album/Let It Be" (1966-69) It's hard to pick just one album. To me Revolver has the most consistently strong songs from each member. From start to finish, its a classic. The White album is great cuz its got so much stuff on it. Songs that might not have made the cut had it not been a double album often tell you a lot more about the band. Lots of great stuff here and lots to dig through. I like Let It Be for its imperfections. Great songs during a turbulent time and some slop throughout the album make it a great snapshot of the band at that time.

DIG DEEPER: What can you say? This is undoubtedly the greatest band of all time. But if I had to pick a favorite album cut from each of the 3 aforementioned albums it would go as follows. From Revolver I love "Taxman" One of George's strongest Beatle songs and gets the CD off to a rocking start. pay attention to the kickass (even by today's standards) guitar tone and Paul's insane bass skills (could he be the greatest bass player of all time?) From The White Album I love "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey" Lennon delivers these vocals with such power, clearly a huge influence for Kurt Cobain's gravel-throat delivery. From Let It Be "Dig A Pony" features fabulous guitar work and goes from rocking to soothing faster than you can say "No band will ever be as good as The Beatles."

Deep Purple - "Machine Head" (1972) I was raised on this album and it is truly timeless. The remastered 30th anniversary edition is a must for anyone with ears. The Roger Glover remixing really brings out the finer details of this masterpiece. When you listen closely (but still very loud) I love how you can hear the sound of the room they recorded in.

DIG DEEPER: If you so desire, skip through the over-played radio hits like "Smoke On The Water" and hear the band at their rocking best with gems like "Lazy" and "Maybe I'm a Leo." Great vocal styling from Ian Gillian, and the most underrated drummer in all of rock music, Ian Paice.

Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic/Rocks/Draw the Line. (1975-77) Tough to pick a favorite. But the mid-seventies was the peak for Aerosmith. Check "Toys" for familiar radio hits "Walk This Way" and "Sweet Emotion." But definately check "Rocks" for an all-out kick ass rock album. Great songs and great sound all the way through. "Draw the Line" started to show the effects of the band's heavy drug use and didn't do well commercially but I think there are great songs on this album. Not any radio "hits" necesarily but some really great blues-based rock and Joe Perry working the slide guitar like nobody's business.

DIG DEEPER: From Toys in the Attic, check out "Big Ten Inch Record" Awesome. Rocks is full of high quality rockers like "Sick As A Dog" and "Lick and a Promise" this is probably their most consistent album from start to finish. From Draw the Line I would pick "I Wanna Know Why" but I love every song like it was my own child.

Bracket - Requiem (2005) Hey, this one is actually from the 2000s. This band is so great. I have been following their limited output for years now (which hasn't been hard considering their last studio release was in 2000). This is really their strongest album. Lots of songs and lots of variety. It is themed and a kind of concept album (every track is titled Warren's Song Part [something] dedicated to a childhood friend of the band) in the vein of Green Day's "American Idiot", but unlike Green Day, this isn't just a few singles and a bunch of filler. This has great, kickass rock songs and a unique presentation all the way through. And isn't that what an album is SUPPOSED to have? Please support this severely underrated band and buy this album immediately!

DIG DEEPER: "Warren's song pt. 22" has such a powerful chorus. Once I heard this song, I had to hear more. I have not yet become the least bit tired of this album.