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Crowe · 10-02-2008, 10:21 PM

48. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth (2003)
As if to reiterate my previous note. This is going to be the part where some of you start to lose faith in the list. "Has Crowe really just put this C&C album above such classics like 'Horses', 'Pearl', '1984', Ray f'n Charles??" That's right. And if you think you're surprised now, wait until you get to my number 1. So, what is it that earns this long titled album it's place in the top 50? Simply this. C&C plays with two of my favorite things - the concept album, and an epic sci-fi story and sets it to some pretty excellent progressive music. Some people have called CC emo, which was just them being in the wrong place at the wrong time - when emo started to become a household word their singles (Blood Red Summer, Favor House Atlantic) were on the cusp of that sound, that lyrical content - and so they were put under the umbrella of that word, and the fools who rely on genre description to guide their love or hate used this to feast on our CC boys. I love the story line - albeit confusing - of the Amory Wars and I love reading the lyrics - and it made me think of the story outside of the medium of music and really captured my imagination when these guys came around. Match that up with some pretty cool vocals which are a source of much disdain and love, and some great technical playing and you have a pretty sweet band. This album specifically due to Light and the Glass, one of my favorite C&C songs.

Check out: Light and the Glass, The Crowing, 21:13

47. Sam Cooke - The Man and His Music (1986, compilation)
Note: This is not the cover for "The Man and His Music" released in 1986. I was moved to love Sam Cooke when I took a Rock and Soul on the Radio class early in my college career and I heard the song "A Change Is Gonna Come". Before this event, I rarely took music as a political commentary very seriously at all. Sure, I was aware of its use as such - I could cite you artists, songs, eras etc... but I never really felt it like I did when I first listened to this particular song. Well, great Crowe - you are using an entire song to bring this album to 47? No. After hearing "A Change is Gonna Come", and realizing later that it would turn into one of my favorite songs of all time, I would go on to listen to the critically acclaimed "Night Beat" - but realized that I DID miss the poppy hits of Mr. Cooke. I hate using compilations on my list - but hey, this has it all from the so-called inventor of soul. While this won't be the Milestone Album that will be coming up - it certainly was THE precursor to the album that would draw me out of my rock/subgenres of rock world, you'll read about that album soon. I imagine if there was a full blown Sam Cooke album that I loved that wasn't a compilation (blasphemous to some, call me a shallow pop whore) then it might have been a little higher.

Check out: Twistin' the Night Away, A Change is Gonna Come, Only Sixteen, Cupid, Chain Gang

46. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life(1976)
Um. I don't really know what to say about one of the most celebrated albums in music history that hasn't been said before by people exponentially more eloquent. Personally, this was one of those albums on constant spin at my grandparents' house as a child and I never fully appreciated it, again after that class, until now. The singles are well known and of course the cultural importance of reaching audiences of all races is well documented... I just can't add anything new to the mix. I had a hard time picking between this and Innervisions. The music moves me in a way that can only be done by these soul singers coming out of the 60s-70s. Like many - I feel the downfall of this album is the double disc, the second disc faltering a little behind the first one - however a reissue recently trimmed this sucker down.

Check out: Village Ghetto Land, Knocks Me Off My Feet, Sir Duke

45. Love - Forever Changes(1967)
Hey - finally here. What can you say about Forever Changes that is somehow more insightful than one of the thousands of rave reviews about it online? Not much I suppose... but I will attempt to describe this full, full beauty that Forever Changes IS. You start off with Alone Again Or - which, as far as I can tell, is one of the most complete recordings that have ever graced this young man's ears. Layered vocals? Check. "flamenco" style guitar playing? You got it... it's a soft song that will not have you (well, not me anyway) drooling on the first listen, hell - maybe even not the second listen. You gotta go back and listen to it! But then again you can't go looking for the beauty - ack, I am ruining it for you! Go! The second track A House is Not a Motel - is well psychedelic to be sure (and yeah, many call this the quintessential psychedelic album - I'd say it's one of them - and maybe just for this track alone!) - you have some absolutely crazy guitar/drum breakdowns, think 60's version Mars Volta if I had to make a very crude, probably ineffective comparison. Andmoreagain, the next track, is a pretty haunting track - the warbling vocals of Arthur Lee slow the album down a little. And on and on - album highlights are hard to pick. You sin by picking one and not the other, and you sin by not picking any at all. This would have been much higher on my list had I found it earlier in my life, I imagine. I can't say how this might or might not have affected me growing up...

Check out: Alone Again Or, The Red Telephone, A House is Not a Motel, Bummer in the Summer

10-02-2008, 10:21 PM	#66 (permalink)
Crowe Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 699	48. Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth (2003) As if to reiterate my previous note. This is going to be the part where some of you start to lose faith in the list. "Has Crowe really just put this C&C album above such classics like 'Horses', 'Pearl', '1984', Ray f'n Charles??" That's right. And if you think you're surprised now, wait until you get to my number 1. So, what is it that earns this long titled album it's place in the top 50? Simply this. C&C plays with two of my favorite things - the concept album, and an epic sci-fi story and sets it to some pretty excellent progressive music. Some people have called CC emo, which was just them being in the wrong place at the wrong time - when emo started to become a household word their singles (Blood Red Summer, Favor House Atlantic) were on the cusp of that sound, that lyrical content - and so they were put under the umbrella of that word, and the fools who rely on genre description to guide their love or hate used this to feast on our CC boys. I love the story line - albeit confusing - of the Amory Wars and I love reading the lyrics - and it made me think of the story outside of the medium of music and really captured my imagination when these guys came around. Match that up with some pretty cool vocals which are a source of much disdain and love, and some great technical playing and you have a pretty sweet band. This album specifically due to Light and the Glass, one of my favorite C&C songs. Check out: Light and the Glass, The Crowing, 21:13 47. Sam Cooke - The Man and His Music (1986, compilation) Note: This is not the cover for "The Man and His Music" released in 1986. I was moved to love Sam Cooke when I took a Rock and Soul on the Radio class early in my college career and I heard the song "A Change Is Gonna Come". Before this event, I rarely took music as a political commentary very seriously at all. Sure, I was aware of its use as such - I could cite you artists, songs, eras etc... but I never really felt it like I did when I first listened to this particular song. Well, great Crowe - you are using an entire song to bring this album to 47? No. After hearing "A Change is Gonna Come", and realizing later that it would turn into one of my favorite songs of all time, I would go on to listen to the critically acclaimed "Night Beat" - but realized that I DID miss the poppy hits of Mr. Cooke. I hate using compilations on my list - but hey, this has it all from the so-called inventor of soul. While this won't be the Milestone Album that will be coming up - it certainly was THE precursor to the album that would draw me out of my rock/subgenres of rock world, you'll read about that album soon. I imagine if there was a full blown Sam Cooke album that I loved that wasn't a compilation (blasphemous to some, call me a shallow pop whore) then it might have been a little higher. Check out: Twistin' the Night Away, A Change is Gonna Come, Only Sixteen, Cupid, Chain Gang 46. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life(1976) Um. I don't really know what to say about one of the most celebrated albums in music history that hasn't been said before by people exponentially more eloquent. Personally, this was one of those albums on constant spin at my grandparents' house as a child and I never fully appreciated it, again after that class, until now. The singles are well known and of course the cultural importance of reaching audiences of all races is well documented... I just can't add anything new to the mix. I had a hard time picking between this and Innervisions. The music moves me in a way that can only be done by these soul singers coming out of the 60s-70s. Like many - I feel the downfall of this album is the double disc, the second disc faltering a little behind the first one - however a reissue recently trimmed this sucker down. Check out: Village Ghetto Land, Knocks Me Off My Feet, Sir Duke 45. Love - Forever Changes(1967) Hey - finally here. What can you say about Forever Changes that is somehow more insightful than one of the thousands of rave reviews about it online? Not much I suppose... but I will attempt to describe this full, full beauty that Forever Changes IS. You start off with Alone Again Or - which, as far as I can tell, is one of the most complete recordings that have ever graced this young man's ears. Layered vocals? Check. "flamenco" style guitar playing? You got it... it's a soft song that will not have you (well, not me anyway) drooling on the first listen, hell - maybe even not the second listen. You gotta go back and listen to it! But then again you can't go looking for the beauty - ack, I am ruining it for you! Go! The second track A House is Not a Motel - is well psychedelic to be sure (and yeah, many call this the quintessential psychedelic album - I'd say it's one of them - and maybe just for this track alone!) - you have some absolutely crazy guitar/drum breakdowns, think 60's version Mars Volta if I had to make a very crude, probably ineffective comparison. Andmoreagain, the next track, is a pretty haunting track - the warbling vocals of Arthur Lee slow the album down a little. And on and on - album highlights are hard to pick. You sin by picking one and not the other, and you sin by not picking any at all. This would have been much higher on my list had I found it earlier in my life, I imagine. I can't say how this might or might not have affected me growing up... Check out: Alone Again Or, The Red Telephone, A House is Not a Motel, Bummer in the Summer __________________ Last edited by Crowe; 12-21-2008 at 08:42 PM.