56. Iggy And The Stooges - Raw Power (1973)
I`ve always felt this is probably the most appropriate album title of all time. Forget the pussified 90s remastered version, the orginal version was almost painful to listen to , and thats just how it should be.This is my favourite Stooges period , which is ironic as the band were on the verge of collapse. As much as I like the debut album & Funhouse i`ve always felt that this album was the best they recorded , this may have been down to the fact that new guitarist James Williamson co wrote most of the material with Iggy as opposed to the the Asheton brothers & Dave Alexander writing them (As on the other 2 albums).While the other 2 albums had a kind of slow grinding feel to them this was more uptempo with better songs but just as brutal.I think this is the album that proved Iggy didn`t really need The Stooges.
Favourite Songs - Search & Destroy , Gimme Danger , Raw Power
55. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (2002)
This album really warms me inside & that has nothing to do with the music at all , even though the album itself is totally bonkers and a total experience in itself. It was almost surreal seeing this band i`d loved for over a decade make it big for all the right reasons. I never expected to see The Flaming Lips appearing on mainstream chat shows & music programmes but when this came out , it happened. There they were on prime time TV shows playing songs from this wearing assorted bunny rabbit & teddy bear costumes not taking themselves seriously at all. Also I just love it that a band that have been together over 20 years like the Lips have can still be making the best music of their careers.In fact i`d go as far as saying every Flaming Lips album is better than the last , I can`t think of one single band you can say that about that have been around over 2 decades. I can`t wait to see what they come up with next & they are still the band i`d most love to see live.
Favourite Songs - Fight Test , Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt 2 , Ego Trippin At The Gates Of Hell
54. Pink Floyd - Piper At The Gates Of Dawn (1967)
I`ve never been the biggest Pink Floyd fan. Don`t get me wrong I can appreciate Dark Side Of The Moon , Wish You Were Here , Animals & even Meddle is probably my favourite Waters era Floyd album (The Wall just leaves me cold , I hate it) , but for me they don`t come close to this. I think maybe it`s because Syd Barretts songs are more accessable , they almost have a childlike quality to them. To me Syd Barretts songs are a similar sort of thing to Ray Davies`s songs , as in he captures things about being British or English, only Barretts are with about a gallon of LSD added to them. I`ve always had a soft spot for twisted weirdy pop songs & Barrett was an expert at writing them (I also own all his solo stuff) this album is just full of them.
Favourite Songs - Astronony Domine , Lucifer Sam, Intersellar Overdrive
53. Beck - Odelay (1996)
Christ , where do you even begin with this album?
When I bought this I had no idea what to expect from it.I`d been told it was a great album but when I asked what sort of thing it was I just met lots of people not really sure what to say about it.So I sat back & listened , and when the album was finished I was still none the wiser as to what on earth this album is , all I know was that I loved it & I don`t think I took it off my stereo for about the next 6 years.In fact I still listen to it once in a while , and it still never gets boring.If only he could do another album this good , although his last came close to it.
Favourite Songs - Hotwax , The New Pollution , Ramshackle