36. The Black Keys - Rubber Factory (2004)
Man this album rocks. This particular albums contain a few songs that would probably make my top 100. And what about the band? What about the album? I heard this group through some internet radio back in fall 2005, I remember because it was my first semester in college and I needed to f'n relax and tried looking for some blues. "The Lengths" starts working its way slowly through my speakers and I knew that I had found what I had been looking for. You tell me then that the music was a couple of white dudes and I woulda laughed at you. A friend revealed to me that it was indeed a couple of white dudes... and I laughed at him.
Check out: Act Nice and Gentle (!!!), The Lengths, Girl is On My Mind, When the Lights Go Out
35. Poison - Look What the Cat Dragged In (1986)
Look... I know this is a horrible album. I know that this music is god awful 80's hair metal that seems like it was made to be some sort of inside joke. I DON'T CARE. I was partially raised on bad 80's metal and can safely say that; if it hadn't been for bands and music like Poison, I might not have been born. This was baby makin' music! I kid, I kid... sort of... anyway - I was raised on this stuff and I absolutely love and know every song on this album. This is... classic glam, and it's beautiful You can start chipping away at my credibility....nnnnow!
Check out: Talk Dirty to Me, I Want Action, #1 Bad Boy
34. Bright Eyes - Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002)
Typing this up... I cannot believe that I heard this album for the first time seven years ago. I know some of you codgers are old, but I'm starting to feel it. Lifted is the album that made me feel like I could "suffer" as a teen and have someone sing my life story to me... now surely, I wasn't that bad off. Re-listening to the album does conjure up some old memories, some old heartbreaks some of that trite sh!t, but you know, this album was there for me when I thought I needed it. Plus the lyrics are still wonderful - "Waste of Paint" has such a great set of stories built in - you just can't deny the wordsmith of Conor Oberst. Or, I guess you can, but... you know what I mean. Back in the days where Ethan posted pretty much ONLY about Bright Eyes and Conor, this would've been a smash hit on MB haha.
Check out: Bowl of Oranges, Waste of Paint, False Advertising
33. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (2005)
OHhhh yeah. Another album that defines the beginning of my college career. When I heard this album, some 4 years ago, I felt like I hadn't really ever heard anything like it. This was one of the albums/artists introduced to me by my first roommate and I haven't let it go since. I was drawn into the album especially because there is a song about a little town called Jacksonville, a small Illinois town where my grandparents live. It has become something of a sensation in that little town - and my grandparents love it! Even though... it doesn't really have anything to do with Jacksonville despite some of the names dropped in the verses. I have played at the playgrounds in Nichol's Park since I was a whelp! The lyrics are great, the music is great and the titles are long enough to make Tolstoy jealous :P
Check out: Jacksonville, The Blackhawk War..., John Wayne Gacy Jr., Casimir Pulaski Day, Chicago