#291-295

     They're coming fast, folks! Here's the next 5 along with the rest of Matt's slaying of my leave-off list. The people assisting me with rankings were those I listed on the last post.

295. Paid In Full - Eric B. And Rakim (1987)
     I've had my share of debates with people over which album by this ground-breaking hip hop duo is the best. I stick with their first one. Rakim differed from other rappers of his day by applying a much more laid back delivery with his flow. He was also one of the first, and most successful, to employ internal rhyme schemes within his raps. It was a much more literary style than most used at the time. Truly an incredible early hip hop album.

294. Rubberneck - The Toadies (1994)
     This is one of those albums that people will say "who the hell are they?" The band had a couple hits, most notably Possum Kingdom which is featured in Guitar Hero and used on a track from Girl Talk's All Day (2010). The album did alright on the charts, especially modern rock, but I believe it to be one of the best of the overlooked 90s alt rock albums. I'm betting you haven't heard it, or if you have, you've forgotten it. Seek out and listen to Possum Kingdom, Away, I Come From The Water and Tyler. A little hair band, a little blues, a little grunge, a little Pixies in there....I think you likey.

293. Surrealistic Pillow - Jefferson Airplane (1967)
     Many will only know Somebody To Love and White Rabbit, but there are several genres covered here in one of many, many great albums to come out in '67. Not all of them are covered incredibly well, mind you, but if you haven't heard My Best Friend, Today, Embryonic Journey or Plastic Fantastic Lover, you're missing out on how versatile the band could be. Of course, this was also one of the most important albums to define the 60's hippie movement as well. The version I'm listing is the album with the 4 bonus tracks, it's well worth it.

292. Dear Science - TV On The Radio (2008)
     One of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year (voted best of the year by Rolling Stone and Spin), this is an excellent album that sees Dave Sitek and his cohorts expanding and polishing their sound. I know there are those who would have this even higher, but I feel this is their second best effort and there some tracks that feel quite b-sideish to me. Still, if you haven't heard this you're missing out on some great recent music.

291. Stop Making Sense - Talking Heads (1984)
     This refers to the 16 track re-release, not the original 9 song LP. To be perfectly honest, the 9 song would have placed higher. There are some excellent live versions of some great songs (Psycho Killer, Thank You For Sending Me An Angel, Crosseyed And Painless) and some I feel that don't quite live up to the hype critics afford this great soundtrack. Listen to Genius Of Love to see what I mean. Still, definitely the good outweighs the bad and, if you only owned 2 Talking Heads albums, I would say this should be one of them.

     I have no comments to post yet, but here is the end of Matt's delicious rant. More of these, please.
I leave the Black Album by Metalica and Alice in Chains' Greatest Hits alone because I'm sure the bands will be on your list somewhere. Besides I'm sure you've debated this horse to death. Metallica fans are pretty intense. I love those albums and they on my 150 but not high enough for me to lose sleep over. Since you say that particular Bob Dylan is not on the list, I'm guessing he's on there more than once. I don't get it! I really really really hate Bob Dylan. His music is mostly folky/antiwar music. Its slow and boring. I like my musicians to have a few main things personality, influence, instrumental ability, vocal ability and lyrical ability. One area can be non existent but something else has to make up for it. I find Bob Dylans personality and vocal ability on a scale of 1 to 10 to be a -1.5. Nothing can make up for his vocals. Although, the Wallflowers I kinda liked oddly enough. Apparently his vocal ability skipped a generation. No ABBA greatest hits? I couldn't care less, but it was on my original 300. They were the first group I remember my mother liking and I have nostalgia about that album. Weezer!! I'm not sure why there is no Green or Blue albums on here. I don't have to go into detail because you know why they are great albums. But, neither?!? Yet multiple Dylan? Okay I'm done with the Dylan:) Aerosmith deserves to be on your list too. Toys in the attic, Permanent Vacation, Nine Lives and Get a Grip are all awesome albums. Some better than others yes. But, I think you should've at least taken advantage of the greatest hits rule with Aerosmith. 'O' Yeah the hits' from 2001. That would've let you at least put them on the list. 2 of their four best albums were in my top 150. That's almost it. I have no idea how many pages this is because I'm using a Blackberry. But, here's my list of people I'm assuming won't be on your list before I send you reviews in a couple of days. TLC - 'crazysexycool'. Matchbox 20 - 'Yourself or Someone like you'. Barenaked Ladies - 'Live'. Oasis - 'Morning Glory' Duncan Shiek (any album). Justin Timberlake - 'Justified'. Nelly - 'Country Grammar'. Ludachris - 'Back for the first time'. James Blunt - 'Back to Bedlam'. Prodigy - 'Fat of the Land'. Moby - 'Play'. Depeche Mode - 'Greatest Hits'. Incubus - 'Make Yourself' and 'Morning View'. Jason that's just the begining. I could go on and on all day about albums I think your overlooking. But its your list, who am I to say its wrong? (Except someone who is right;)) I think if you do this again in five years or so there should be an artist or genre limit. Sometimes comparing albums from two different genres is too difficult. Its all personal preference at that point because both could be equal in the factors that make an album great. Well you sparked a never ending entertaining debate for me. I'm usually on my own with these discussions. I'm pretty passionate about my eclectic musical tastes but realize most people won't agree with them. At least here we have a decree to agree to disagree. Until next time or until my reviews of the unlisted. Peace out Broseff!

     Thanks again, my man! The next 5 will be up in a day or 2 and I'll see if I can put this in a strictly list format somewhere in the blog without comment. Keep checking back, and go listen to something on here you haven't heard before. Then send me some comments!