#286-290

     Another 5 for the people. Loving the assorted comments I'm getting on here, facebook and through e-mail. Still waiting on an actual album review I've missed.....
     If you haven't noticed, I have included a running tally of the list at the bottom of the blog for those wanting to skip on my ever-so-enlightening and charming commentary. Your loss, people. This particular post will also have comments from friends Lani and good ole Matt again, along with a comment from Michael A that has solidified my decision to explain (or attempt to explain) the math equation behind my album analysis. That's right, a lil bit 'o math up in here. Up and away....

290. Demon Days - Gorillaz (2005)
     Damon Albarn teamed with Danger Mouse for their second album, a producer who has many albums appearing on this list. A slew of guest artists appear all over the album, none cooler than Dennis Hopper on Fire Coming Out Of A Monkey's Head. Supposedly a loose concept album about the final survivors of some apocalyptic incident, I'll admit there's some filler here and there. Overall, however, with tracks like Feel Good Inc., Dirty Harry and DARE, this is an incredibly innovative and rewarding mix of styles and genres worth looking into.

289. Maximum Balloon - Maximum Balloon (2010)
     This was basically a criminally overlooked solo album from Dave Sitek, the mastermind behind TV On The Radio and a highly sought after producer in his own right. He utilizes his TV bandmates here, as well as other awesome guest spots from Karen O to a very fun track with David Byrne. I would even go so far as to say there is only 1 TV On The Radio album better than this one. Groove Me, Absence Of Light, Communion and Apartment Wrestling are my faves.

288. Best Of: Millennium Collection - Steve Winwood (1999)
     The first Best Of on the list. There are a few of the 20th Century Masters greatest hits collections on here as they are very good collections. This focuses on Winwood's work from 1966-1971. It's incredible to think that, in 6 years, Winwood pretty much headed up Spencer Davis Group (Gimme Some Lovin), Traffic (Dear Mr. Fantasy) and the supergroup with Eric Clapton, Blind Faith (Can't Find My Way Home). I am a fan of Back In The High Life, Winwood's ultra-successful comeback album from the 80's, but this is my favorite album featuring him and his work.

287. Raising Sand - Robert Plant / Alison Krause (2008)
     This 2009 Grammy winner for Album Of The Year may raise some eyebrows for being on here (I'm USUALLY not a big fan of the awards), but I don't care. This is a great album. It may be something you need to be in the mood for, but when you are, nothing beats it. An album of re-worked covers in various forms of reconstruction, T Bone Burnett is masterful at making the most out of minimal production values, keeping songs sounding haunting and brooding, yet absolutely beautiful. Having these two vocalists doesn't hurt, either. An amazing album. Did it deserve the Grammy? Who cares!

286. Under The Pink - Tori Amos (1994)
     Tori tends to divide my garage peeps, usually by gender. I am of the elusive straight male group who like Tori a lot. This was her second and best-selling album. At times it tends to dip a bit deep into drudgery, something I feel her first album completely avoided, otherwise this would be higher in the ranks. You just can't beat Cornflake Girl, though. I also love Cloud on My Tongue and Pretty Good Year.

Once again, the same wonderful people from the last 2 entries were with me. This is the last post of 5 that was decided from that night.

Let's start the comments from my dearest Lani, whom I wish was around more to be an ear in the garage and a spring to my step:
John Wesley Harding only at 300! I love that album with all my heart and soul. And Lil Wayne should never even make the top 50,000 albums not to mention ahead of Dylan in the top 300. gross. And the miseducation of Lauryn Hill didn't even make it.Youre killin me here.
     Thanks, Lani. I'm sure you're not thrilled with Tori being this low, either. There are 2 more Tori albums coming, though! Also, Lauryn Hill was actually on the first list I did, but when I went back to it I just didn't love it as much as I remembered. I did feel slightly wrong leaving it off, though. But it is. I still love you, though.

...and here's the latest from our friend Matt....
Jason thanks for the forwarding of my 'listless' comments to your blog! I know my comments arn't falling on deaf ears! Which is ironic since the List makes me wonder if your hearing is okay!:) I'm excited to see which albums I assumed wrong on. I'm pleased to see the Carter III on the list although its quite a bit higher on my list. Also, The Toadies-Rubberneck is an awesome pick on both our lists that I assumed you'd overlook. I had a paper book cover in high school with 'I come from the water' and the Toadies written all over it. I even have a friend with the Rubberneck cover guy tattoo as a tramp stamp! I freakin love that album. I'll be looking to check out something from your list and let you know what I think. I'll be reading and waiting for my surprises:) maybe Kanye?!? Jk
     I'm just happy someone else remembers The Toadies and how awesome that album was. Thanks again, Matt.

...finally, as stated before, one of the music geeks I respect most in this world, Mr. Michael Absher writes...
Lil Wayne is a Kool Keith wannabee. Just sayin. The rest on this page I will not argue with. I still don't know how you narrowed it down to 300.
     Now, I didn't put this on the blog originally because I wasn't sure it could be explained without talking through it. But since Michael asked and Mo had pushed me to speak on it, here is the simple math on how I decide where albums rank:
     I categorize every song on an album into Great, Good, Decent or Bad sub-categories. Great songs are worth 4 points, Good ones get 3, Decent 2 and Bad songs get 1 point just for coming to the dance. Now, let's say an album has 10 tracks. It has the potential to gain 40 points if every song is Great (4 x 10). Let's say said album has 4 Great, 2 Good, 2 Decent and 2 Bad songs. If you do the math, that's 28 points out of 40. To get a percentage, you divide the actual # of points (28) by the highest # of points the album could have garnered (40). This comes to 70%. So, this album would then be grouped with other albums that have the same percentage to determine the rankings for all albums that got 70%. It's a LOT of re-listening to the same albums, but that's very helpful in truly determining which albums you can listen to 5 times in a few days and never get sick of. Now, there is more to determining my list than that, but that is the basic equation I use to preliminarily rank albums. No idea if that made sense or not.
     I should have the next 5, maybe 10, up tomorrow. Keep the comments coming and someone has GOT to be upset enough with me for neglecting an album to write a lil mini-review of their own. Lemme know what ya feel, and keep reading!