Our Favorite Albums (26 – 30)
26. Nas – Illmatic [1994]
Nominated by Fluccs Capacitor of Time Moves Slow, DJ Lukey G of The Guest List, and Rick Reaction.
Fluccs Capacitor says: Certainly the best produced and lyrically dense projects that is rightfully so the ‘best’ hip hop album. For a teenage poet to narrate life from NYC’s Queensbridge Projects with clarity, fatalism, bravado and wisdom with a relaxed flow, slang spilling out of every sentence to craft gritty street narratives illustrated life from a keen eyed teenager with wild fantasies puncturing the daily desperation evident in Nas’s lyrics.
27. Grateful Dead – Working Man’s Dead [1970]
Nominated by Psychedelic Rick of The Psychedelicatessen and DJ Steve of WESU Sports & Beyond.
DJ Steve says: I was fortunate to live in NYC and see the Dead perform almost all of these songs before the albums were released. I went to a lot Dead shows.
28. The Beatles – Revolver [1966]
Nominated by Rob of Chocolate Cake, DJ McKenzie of Splitting Hairs & The Beatles: A Week in the Life, and Leith of The Light Fandango.
Rob says: Bob Dylan to John Lennon: “Does this mean you don’t want to be cute anymore?”
DJ McKenzie says: The best of the Beatles catalogue, with peak songwriting, studio experimentation, and psychedelia. Also the last true full-fledged collaboration between all four Beatles, before the band became dominated by McCartney.
29. XTC – Skylarking [1986]
Nominated by DJ TJ of Punkadelic and Rob of Chocolate Cake.
Rob says: A quintessential piece of 80’s college radio. Beatlesque melodies mixed with New Wave quirk mixed with Todd Rundgren’s brilliant production. A summer’s day in 45 minutes.
30. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds [1966]
Nominated by Psychedelic Rick of The Psychedelicatessen, DJ Jagged Little Thrill of What the Funk & Word on the Street, and DJ McKenzie of Splitting Hairs & The Beatles: A Week in the Life.
The album was produced, arranged, and almost entirely composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. It was recorded largely between January and April 1966, a year after Wilson quit touring with his bandmates. His goal was to create “the greatest rock album ever made”—a cohesive work with no filler tracks. (wikipedia.org)
