68. Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving (2002)
This is another band I got from Crowquill that I fell in love with, naturally, the first album he suggested to me was Songs About Leaving - and of course it is my favorite. If you're looking for mopey indie-rock, this is your band. If gorgeous, warbling female vocalists, whispering male vocals and sad, introspective lyrics are your thing... this is your band. Another wonderful thing about this album is the actual music (of course) - CW's instrumental work is haunting and stunning... a nightmare made out of pictures of children smiling. Unfortunately, Songs About Leaving is a pretty apt phrase to describe their career after this album which is a travesty - because their growth from You Should Be Home Here to this album is exponential. They did release one more album after SAL, called "I before E" (a comment on the misspelling of Wierd) which some fans say is better than SAL, but... I am a bit biased since this was my introduction.
Check out: So You Wanna Be a Superhero, Sofisticated **** Princess Leave me Alone, The Piano Song
67. Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (1991)
Boring. Boring. Boring. Oh my lucky stars this is gorgeous. That is how my reaction went over a period of about 5 years. Some cat who worked at a little record shop in Memphis sold this album to me and raved about how it was so important to post-rock, he called it the first post-rock album. I immediately regretted buying this album. I kept it around for awhile, because I had read online about its importance from various fans... could never get into it... that is until about 2 years ago. Another blustery Chicago winter day and I put this on as I was trudging through the snow and suddenly it made sense. It clicked. This album would be a lot higher if it applied to more situations in my life. So what is it? Laughing Stock is post-rock made before people really knew what post-rock was. Its lush sounds and jazz influenced ambiance is accentuated by lead singer, Mark Hollis' voice - he sings barely above a whisper - and has a pleasant tenor's timbre. If you decide to take a chance on this album, please remember it will probably not hit with you for the first few listens... it just isn't that type of thing (unless it is for you, then all I can say is - you're blessed).
Check out: Taphead. Taphead. Taphead., After the Flood
66. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (1977)
Ok, so I know I'm going to lose some of you with this one. I promised classic rock and it starts here. Now, I know some of you are just cringing, so far it's been pretty tame with some bands you may not have heard of, some interesting placement of some classics... and you find yourself almost halfway through my list and... ****ing Meat Loaf pops up. Sorry! I love this album. I don't feel like it needs any explanation, Bat out of Hell is one of the top 20 best selling albums of all time. It includes classics like Paradise By the Dashboard lights, a steamy - appalling song about Meat Loaf tapping some chick in the back of his car to the soundtrack of a baseball game (haha). Then when this chick who just gave Meat Loaf a home run asks Meat if he loves her, he gets all freaked out and asks her to let him, "Sleep on it, baby baby, let me sleep on it... and I'll tell you in the morning". Hysterical and pretty close to the truth for a lot of guys. If you can't enjoy the music, or find yourself holding back stomach bile because it's Meat Loaf... at least read the lyrics and you'll find that an album that could've been one giant cliche (at the time, no doubt it is now) turned out to be a fantastic epic. Written in 77, this set the standard for 80's rock ballads (which may or may not be a good thing). Allow yourself to like this album.
Check out: The standards, 2 Outta 3 Ain't Bad, Paradise By the Dashboard Lights, Bat out of Hell
65. The New Pornographers - Electric Version (2003)
Power Pop masterpiece from a relatively new band from Canada! I'll be straight with you, I had very little to do with The Porns before this last year when the Rock Band playlist came out and I saw the New Pornographers "Electric Version". I've had this album on my iPod for awhile but never got around to giving her a listen. Preparing myself for Rock Band (my roomies and I play frequently) I gave that single a listen and then couldn't help but getting into the rest of the album. This is catchy-hooks, stand out drumming, fun and loopy male/female harmonics and clever lyrics rolled into a ball of lightly distorted electric guitar goo. This will brighten your day. This will be soundtrack to your day if you let it be. Then, after you listen to this... pleeease go check out Twin Cinemas, and Mass Romantic - two of their other albums I'm fond of - and probably would have been in the high 100s if I got to have more than one album per artist on my list. This would be higher on my list if the back half of the album matched the intensity of the first half. It's good, but not AS good.
Check out: Electric Version, The Laws Have Changed, Miss Teen Wordpower