10. Jay-Z - The Black Album
"Dirt off your Shoulder" was the song that made me buy it, and the
classics "Public Service Announcement," "Change Clothes,"
"Encore," and, of course, "99 Problems" kept me listening. It's how mainstream rap SHOULD sound. High energy, great writing and rhyming, and as HOV puts it, "the flow of the century." Jay says "Encore/Do you want more?" Yes.
9. The Notorious B.I.G. - Life After
Death
The man IS New York
rap. "Hypnotize?" "Big Poppa?" "Going Back to Cali?" "Ten Crack Commandments?" "Ni**as Bleed?" As my first real introduction into ra
p music, Life After Death was the album that made me prefer East Coast rap to West Coast. While Tupac was out starting a ruckus and claiming "California Love", Biggie was telling him what was what in the slow voice of a man that doesn't need to talk fast: The Greatest City in the World belongs to Notorious B.I.G. You can keep California. Bitch.
8. Joy Division - Substance
It's not really a real album, per se, as it is a collection of their greatest hits and best songs, but it still gets the point across that every rock band from England AFTER Joy Division was copying Joy Division to some degree. With such classics as the perfectly bitter "Love Will Tear Us Apart," the Sex Pistols-esque punk bonanza of "Warsaw," and beautifully prolific 'death letter' of "Atmosphere," this album has everything someone needs to learn how to start a band and be good.
By the way: This is where I stop writing kinda detailed explanations. Sorry.
7. Jay-Z - The Blueprint
"The Takeover/Breaks Over/Ni**a/God MC/Me Jay-Hova" That's all that needs to be said. Best Dis Song Ever. "You little fuck/I got money stacks bigger than you" Perfect.
6. M.I.A. - Arular
She's small. She's Indian. She's hot. She makes catchy fuckin' songs. She wrote "Bucky Done Gun." I love it.
5. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey
One of the best experimental albums I've ever heard. "The Mercy Seat" is one of my favorite songs, and it sets the tone for the entire album. "Sunday's Slave" and "Up Jumped The Devil" are incredible.
4. The Rolling Stones - 40 Licks
I don't care if it's a Greatest Hits. It's the best of the STONES. COME ON!
3. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
I never really understood the whole, "This album defined a generation," thing when I heard it said about Oasis or Blur or anything like that, or even The Strokes. It wasn't until I heard Arctic Monkeys debut album that I got it. Not to sound cheesy, but I related to it. I related to the boredom, I related to the longing for love, I related to the bitterness towards others, and I related towards the love of friends being just as important as family. Ask anyone that drove in my car with me in 2006: This album was on the ENTIRE year, and not ONCE did I get tired of it.
2. The Strokes - Room On Fire
While I admit "Is This It" is a great album, my true love for The Strokes presented itself with their sophomore album. Every song was memorized, every hook was learned, and every flaw was taken as perfection. On the whole, the album is a departure from their debut, which I think is what drew me to them. "Is This It" had some of my favorite songs ("The Modern Age," "Someday," "Last Nite," and "NYC Cops"), but "Room On Fire" had me at the opening line and held me until the last note.
1. The Libertines - Up The Bracket
If you know me, you already knew this. No Explanation Necessary. Two tattoos on my body because of THIS album. I'm down for life.
