11.
And Justice For All - Metallica
Their debut,
Kill "em All, had been responsible for shedding some much-needed light upon the underground movement that was speed metal. Metallica turned up the intensity with each successive album and saw their fan base grow by leaps and bounds. With the death of original bassist Cliff Burton still looming large, the band had no lack of pent-up aggression. Each track on the album is performed with a blisteringly precise, yet unbridled momentum - like a runaway train gaining speed as it heads into a downhill turn, but never once losing control. "One", of course, was as unlikely a single as there has ever been, but there it was dominating MTV airwaves and playing its part in the chart-topping juggernaut that was Metallica. Many wondered how the band could top this album. While The Black Album would follow a few years later and turn the band into mega-stars and, later, the butt of more than a few jokes thanks to their decidedly anti-Napster stance, this album stands as the band's last moment of uncompromising purity before joining the dark side. [Listen to "
Harvester Of Sorrow".]
12.
Full Moon Fever - Tom PettyWhile there are other albums a lesser rock critic would have mentioned before begrudgingly listing a Tom Petty record (what, no Clash or Velvet Underground?!), the truth of the matter is that if you were stuck on a desert island with, say, the Top 20 albums from this list (and a boat-load of batteries), by the time all was said and done, you'd be glad we had done so. This album fits in perfectly at the #12 slot because it's one of the few albums made by an artist of unyielding integrity that you can actually listen to without it being an exhausting experience. Lou Reed, not so much. That the powers-that-be at MCA initially rejected the album because (to quote one of his own songs) his A&R man said "I don't hear a single", in hindsight, is impossible to fathom. Were they not listening to the same album? Of course, the fact that the album had not one, but three big hit singles ("Free Fallin'", "
Running Down A Dream", and "I Won't Back Down") is more of the same poetic justice upon which Petty's career has been built from the start.
13.
She's So Unusual - Cyndi LauperGo ahead, dismiss this album and Ms. Lauper as strictly '80s pop fluff, we dare you. She's an easy target, of course, as are the guys from the Hooters who co-wrote a handful of the albums songs, but the simple truth is that nobody before or since has melded kitsch with such wonderful God-given talent as Cyndi Lauper. Having been put through the major label ringer with her band Blue Angel and having to go to court to win back her right to record again, Lauper then made an album that is as chock-full of her unique DNA as she is. Sure, you can call the album "calculated" and formulaic", but then you'd be missing out on the fact that it is because she didn't follow the formula, she created it. Seriously, who in their right mind would think covering The Brains' (who?!) "
Money Changes Everything" and Robert Hazard (again, who?!) was a sure-fire way to launch a solo career? Thankfully, even when tackling a Prince song ("When U Were Mine"), she does it her way. The girl's got cast-iron clackers. All name-dropping aside, when one listens to the album as a whole, they are (or should be) transfixed by the emotional breadth of the material. Sure, "She Bop" and "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" show Lauper to be quite capable of bringing the kitschy fun, but her subtle performances on the hauntingly beautiful "Time After Time" and "All Through The Night" are evidence that we're not dealing with just another producer's toy here. Of course, one must also attribute a degree of credit to her producer, Rick Chertoff, for bringing together the various elements that made this album work on every level.
14.
High 'n' Dry - Def LeppardUntil this album came along, the UK metal scene was very much an area still "under construction" as far as US rock fans were concerned. Only Judas Priest had managed to make in-roads, but were still a couple years away from their American breakthrough when Def Leppard announced their presence loudly and proudly via this album. Working with Robert John "Mutt" Lange (best known for his work on AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" and "Back In Black"), the young Sheffield, England five-piece married soaring pop hooks to classic twin-guitar riffs and managed to beat Priest at their own game. Although the album is best known for "Bringin' On The Heartache", "
You Got Me Runnin'" and the title cut, the whole album works, ebbing and flowing brilliantly from one rocking track to the next.
15.
Scarecrow - John MellencampThere were those who never thought Johnny Cougar would ever amount to much. Then there were those who thought "Hurts So Good" and "Jack & Diane" was the rock & roll equivalent of lightning striking twice. Thus, by the time Cougar took back his legal surname and started making party-approved rock music with a social conscious, they must have truly been scratching their heads. Of course, this sort of thing has always been the rocket fuel that inspires Mellencamp to reach new heights. Sure, his devil-may-care attitude and rebellious swagger may have alienated a few people along the way, but, with the release of Scarecrow, no one could deny that the guy's heart was in the right place. All messages aside, this is an album that rocks with glorious abandon; he and his longtime recording & touring band firing on all cylinders. Mellencamp could very well have chosen to dumb things down to get his point across, but he didn't. That Mellencamp achieved his greatest commercial success with an album that was, by far, his most selfless and uncompromising is proof that if you give people music with heart, mind, and soul, they will respond. [Listen to "
Lonely Ol' Night".]
16.
1984 - Van HalenWhat was left for Van Halen to accomplish? They'd already climbed to the top of the hard rock mountain on their first album, establishing Eddie Van Halen as the most influential (and emulated) guitar hero of his generation, and toured the world to sold-out crowds every step of the way. Admittedly, subsequent albums that followed their hallowed debut effort brought increasingly diminishing returns. Ultimately, Diver Down had been so heavy on the filler that the talk around town, so to speak, was that America's Favorite Party Band had run out of ideas. If one had been privy to the behind-the-scenes goings-on in Eddie Van Halen's head, more than likely they'd have seen a guy bored to tears by his instrument of choice. Still craving an outlet for his creative talents, he turned to, of all things, the synthesizer and - VOILA! - both he and the band were reborn. We wonder how many people rushed out and bought the new Van Halen album sight unseen on the day of its release, put it on the turntable and, as the synth intro to "Jump" (entitled "1984"), wondered if they'd been given the wrong album by mistake. Even after a couple songs, there must have been more than a few still scratching their heads. Was this really Van Halen or had the Thompson Twins finally decided to rock out with their cocks out? Of course, upon first listen to tracks such as "
Panama" and "Hot For Teacher", everyone knew this was Van Halen. Not just Van Halen, mind you, but Grade-A, Kick-Ass Van Halen. Hard rock was never the same, for better and worse, and neither was the band.
17.
Let's Dance - David BowieWhen it comes to reinvention, there are very few who can hold a candle to David Bowie. After all, he had single-handedly ushered in an air of spectacle and imagination that had, up until then, only been hinted at by others. The Beatles had worn color-coordinated marching band costumes for the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and then promptly discarded them once the photo shoot concluded, one would think. Bowie, on the other hand, chose to accept the costume as reality and live vicariously through a character of his own making. In fact, he'd done so almost to the point of his own peril, as evidenced by a serious drug addiction that had marred earlier efforts. By the time Let's Dance arrived, nobody expected much from the Thin White Duke, as he'd already blown through enough characters and styles for ten careers. Granted, we had been treated to some great music along the way, but, ultimately, one was left wondering "Who is David Bowie?" Let's Dance, perhaps more than any Bowie album before or since, is the answer to that question. Not coincidentally, it is also the most commercially-successful album of his career, coming at a time when his career needed it more than ever. What makes Let's Dance so noteworthy is Bowie's dedication to the music. Each song has its own unique character, whether it be the Asian delight of "China Girl" or the forever-out-of-time hopeless romantics that inhabit "
Modern Love", and Bowie develops them so fully that one almost needn't a video to draw their own visual conclusions. That Bowie would reach his highest chart peak and become one of the most recognizable faces of the MTV generation by playing himself must have come as quite a surprise to him.
18. TIE:
Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett,
Guitar Town - Steve Earle,
Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc. - Dwight Yoakam,
Wild Choir - Wild Choir1986 was a big year for the "reinvention" of country music. Near as we can tell, it was reinvented three times that year; once by Lovett, another time by Earle, and lastly by Yoakam. Each, of course, enjoyed a brief time atop the country music summit, during which time they were hailed as the new hope of country music. In hindsight, none of these albums are particularly groundbreaking, nor do they stand as the best example of their respective artist's talents, but they do stand as reminders of a time when country music had grown sick of itself and was looking for something more. Now, if they'd have actually been serious about finding something truly special, they'd have embraced the self-titled album by a band called Wild Choir that was, in fact, the musical brainstorm of executives at RCA's country label who signed Gail Davies with the intent of building a top-flight band around her. They did and, of course, both the band and album fell on deaf ears - never to be heard from again. To date, the album has never been re-issued on CD and, considering the amount of pointless crap that has been re-released on CD over the years, that is an abominable oversight.
Steve Earle - Hillbilly HighwayLyle Lovett - Farther Down The LineDwight Yoakam - Guitars, CadillacsWild Choir - Safe In The Arms Of Love
