Elite's top 50 albums v. - 3 Years Older: #1: love is the dance of eternity

[Elite]

Returning tomorrow with the usual 2-albums-per-day. Promised! I had a very hectic couple of days, but from tomorrow on, stuff should be smooth again. First now, number 39!

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39. Sublime – Sublime (1996)



This is the first album I ever got. It was given to me by a friend of my mother's, who probably didn't realise that some of the lyrics on this album were far too messed up for a 12-13 year old. The song Seed about, yes, seed, is a good example of this, as well as the hilariously correctly titled Wrong Way. I can understand not many people having seen this album before, or maybe never even having heard of the band Sublime. They were a ska-punk band and one of the most important bands in the development of that genre.

What you hear on this album is thus a combination of ska, reggae (to some extent) and punk-rock. The result is a fairly unique style of music that other bands of the scene have tried to emulate, but never came quite as close to. The band's self-titled record is often regarded as their best and I have to agree on this. The album contains 17 tracks and all of those are awesome. The tracks range from straight op punk-rock songs (Paddle Out) to laidback ska (April 29, 1992 (Miami)) to Jimi Hendrix inspired rock (Under My Voodoo) and everything in between (Seed blends ska and punk geniously, as does Burritos).

There's really no way to describe this album without giving every single track its own line, but in order to make this write-up too long, I won't do that. The best known song on this album is probably Santeria, a track that even got some commercial success. It's likely the most accessible track on an album that's so different from track to track, even though none of the music is particularly 'difficult' to listen to. If you wanna try something else completely, I'd say you should give this album a try.

Favourite song: Seed
Other songs worth checking out: Get Ready, Wrong Way, Santeria
Other stuff by this band: I wanted to name 6 tracks above instead of just 3. There's no way to do this band's diversity justice by just naming a couple. This eponymous album is considered their masterpiece, but ' Robbin' The Hood' has some nice tunes on it as well.

[Elite]

Here's number 38!

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38. Alice in Chains – Dirt (1992)



'Dirt' by Alice in Chains is one of the highlights of the grunge era, if I may say so. Certainly it's the band's best known album, featuring some of their well-known songs, like Rooster, Them Bones and arguably their most popular tune Would?. This album has also been very influential to the subgenre of sludge metal, a fusion genre between doom metal and hardcore punk. You can for instance clearly hear where Mastodon took their inspiration from for their first couple of albums. My bet is that they've heard this record tons of times.

This is a very dark album, especially compared to other grunge-like albums released at the same time, like Pearl Jam's 'Ten', Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and Soundgarden's 'Superunknown'. I'd say this album has more of a metal influence to it, apparent in the down-tuned guitar of the album's opening track, but also in the way the riffs and songs are structured.

Every once in a while I get the intense urge to listen to this album, back to front. This albums sets a dark mood, through the sounds in the music, but also in the lyrics. With lyrics about mortality, anger, judgement, but also about stuff like drug usage, this album is brooding throughout. Considering the band's singer Layne Staley would later die of drug overdose, this album could be seen as a dark foreboder of his death. Reading back on what I read, I think the music speaks for itself the most here, with the setting of a mood on this record being its major force of attraction.

Favourite song: Would?
Other songs worth checking out: Dirt, Them Bones, Rooster
Other stuff by this band: Their self-titled record is good, as is 'Facelift'. After singer Layne Staley died, the band recorded two new albums with a different singer (10 years later), of those two I can recommend 'Black Gives Way to Blue' more than the other. I'm biased, but none of it really comes close to 'Dirt' in my opinion.

[Tomislav95]

I like this album Down in the hole is my favorite song from Dirt but every song is great.
About influence on Mastodon, I think Melvins were their biggest inspiration and they are sludier version of AiC's grunge so I can see they liked AiC, too.

[Elite]

I think you're right there, yes. I don't know the Melvins as well, but the point was mainly that this type of heavy grunge obviously served as an inspiration for sludge metal, including Mastodon.

[jakepriest]

The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here is the best AIC album by far.
Dirt is okay, because it has Would? and Them Bones. I never really liked the other albums much.

[Zantera]

Definitely the best AiC album, and a classic!

[Kwyjibo]

Definitely the best AiC album, and a classic!

[CharlesPL]

Probably my least favorite album with Layne (AiC is my favorite, and great EP Jar of Flies)

[LordCost]

Dirt is the best album from Alice In Chains IMO. The self-titled and Facelift are not on the same level, and even if I did not listen to them much to judge, I don't think I will appreciate those two as Dirt. Instead, I liked both the two recent albums, their comeback was great, unlike the one of my other favourite grunge band Soundgarden!

Rain When I Die is another great song, plus the other mentioned in the thread and comments.
The titletrack Dirt has some really dark lyrics. I normally don't understand lyrics and fortunately I managed to do it when I listen to this song, and that is a reason why it's certainly one of my favourites.

[Sacul]

[Elite]

^ what does that even mean?

[Crow]

sacul must obsessively comment on every album post but he's never listened to this one so he has nothing to say

[Tomislav95]

Sacul should just delete that enormous 'to-check spreadsheet' and listen to AiC's Dirt.

[Elite]

Thanks for all the endorsements on 'Dirt'. Here's a completely different album, one that's much darker, even though it sounds brighter. An album with very poetic, albeit mostly unintelligible lyrics. The ultimate break-up record, the fantastic:

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37. Converge – Jane Doe (2001)



Here's a little secret that I probably shouldn't be too proud of considering this albums placement in my top 50: the total amount of times that I have listened to this album in full, front to back, is probably less than ten. That is considerably less than all other albums on this list. The reason for this is mainly that it's basically too much for me to handle. I think this is by far the most heavy album on the entire list and the most exhaustive one to get through. That said, I do not think I really need another album like this either, one is more than enough.

So, what is this then? 'Jane Doe' is the apparent masterpiece of post-hardcore/mathcore band Converge. Stating that feels rather weird, considering I can't judge whether that is true, for I have no comparison material, but I'll just assume it as it is. As stated, this album is heavy, and very much so, but it's not heavy in a sense that it's full of muddied guitars that play sort-of heavy riffs ('Holy Mountain' by the band Sleep comes to mind as an album that tries to be heavy, but fails in my opinion, even though it definitely grooves). In fact, this album sounds a lot 'tinnier', for lack of a better word, than a lot of other metal albums. The strangely titled Heaven in her Arms is a great example of that, containing riffs that would be mixed very differently were they played by a different band.

Partly the music this band plays adds a lot to this sound, the riffs they play are actually very technical and intricate and provide the perfect backdrop for the (often distorted) screeching vocals. Those vocals aren't even layered on top of the instrumentation, but fit in perfectly with the angry guitars and drums. It's almost as if vocalist Jacob Bannon does not consider his vocals to be above the instruments, but as an instrument in itself. The album opener, the blisteringly fast Concucine, is a great example of that.

To say that this album is heavy all the way through would be wrong, the album has relative 'soft-spots', with the verses of Distance and Meaning, the brooding and groovy Hell to Pay, the entire rather laid-back Phoenix in Flight and large parts of the album's title-track and album closer Jane Doe. 'Jane Doe' (the album) mixes different aspects and different interpretations of pure musical anger into a very cohesive whole. One that could definitely be too much to handle at first – and granted, I can not listen to this album all the time – but it's a perfect album to blow off some steam with.

Favourite song: Jane Doe
Other songs worth checking out: Thaw, Concubine, Phoenix in Flight
Other stuff by this band: Another secret; due to the nature of this band's music and my satisfaction of already having one album like this, I never really gave any of their other albums a chance, apart from the odd song here or there, so I can't really comment on this one.

[Crow]

yeah I've tried listening to this but as someone who never really has a use for angry, constantly loud music it didn't do much for me

[Zantera]

Jane Doe should be much higher, would be top10 for me definitely

Also you need to check out their other albums. One of the most consistent bands out there

[Sacul]

I really have to be on that pissed off mood to enjoy this record, but when I do, it's 

yeah I've tried listening to this but as someone who never really has a use for angry, constantly loud music it didn't do much for me

Probably why you didn't like The Fragile

[Crow]

i never even listened to the second disc iirc

[Sacul]

It's a bit calmer, more experimental.

[Train of Naught]

I never could finish the title track, let alone the album. That said, I never truly understood how people could enjoy certain music more if they're angry. I think of it more like high-energy vs. low-energy music, and the high energy stuff doesn't necessarily have to be angry for me.

as someone who never really has a use for angry, constantly loud music it didn't do much for me

Maybe this would explain it.

[Elite]

Jane Doe should be much higher, would be top10 for me definitely

Also you need to check out their other albums. One of the most consistent bands out there

I can see why you would say that and I can also see this album moving up a lot higher later, but I couldn't justify a much higher placement, because it's not an album I'm overly familiar with. That said, I know it quite well, but there's albums up higher that have done more for me. I love what I hear though, so as I said, next time it would likely be higher. By the way, there's a similar angry/fucked-up album much higher in the list, I can give you that.

If I were to check out Converge further, what would be good records to start with?

[425]

I never could finish the title track, let alone the album. That said, I never truly understood how people could enjoy certain music more if they're angry. I think of it more like high-energy vs. low-energy music, and the high energy stuff doesn't necessarily have to be angry for me.

as someone who never really has a use for angry, constantly loud music it didn't do much for me

Maybe this would explain it.

I relate to this perspective on music, though I can't say I'm familiar with this album. Certainly doesn't seem like my kind of thing, anyway.

[Crow]

oh man you would hate it

[Elite]

I don't think the Converge album is meant for everybody. Bu then again, what music is?

[Tomislav95]

I listened to Jane Doe maybe two times (in full) and my favorite parts were slower atmospheric parts. So, not really my thing...

[Evermind]

Perhaps the fact you rank Converge higher than Beyond the Bridge explains why got eliminated from my roulette so quickly.

[Zantera]

If I were to check out Converge further, what would be good records to start with?

I think their latest (All We Love We Leave Behind) or the one before that, Axe to Fall would be great albums to move forward with. But apart from their debut, everything from Petitioning the Empty Sky and forward is really good.

[Elite]

Perhaps the fact you rank Converge higher than Beyond the Bridge explains why got eliminated from my roulette so quickly.

Nah. Here's an album you like though.

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36. Ayreon – The Human Equation (2004)



I can already hear Evermind screaming that this album is placed (way) too low, as well as contest the songs chosen as favourites below. On the first list I made, I had this album at #13 and the reason that it's placed this much lower now is probably because it's on its way out of the top 50. Not that I don't like this album anymore, but I have kind-of grown out of progressive metal album, especially long-winded concept albums like this one.

That said, it's not a bad album at all and I have heard this thing in full countless times, although the last time I listened to this was probably 2 years ago. 'The Human Equation' is a concept album with multiple vocalists, including James LaBrie, Mikael Åkerfeldt and Devin Townsend, portraying different emotions and characters. The result is a rather complex story, that can easily be summarised in two sentences: man is in coma. Man has psychological rebirth through revisiting important parts of his previous life.

This album contains twenty tracks, spread out over 2 disks, and every song-title is made up of three words: "Day (1-20): 'word'". Every single track contains more than one vocalist, with the exception of the album's only instrumental piece, Day Nine: Playground. The vocalists are used pretty perfectly for what they do and as such, there's a couple of growls in the songs Devin Townsend sings on (Day Three: Pain and Day Sixteen: Loser and the Åkerfeldt tracks (most notably Day Twelve: Trauma). The rest of the album is fairly 'standard' progressive rock/metal, which is kind-of an oxymoron in itself, but whatever.

Arjen Lucassen's style is very distinct though and as such, this album can be very hit or miss; don't like his use of flutes and wacky keyboard sound choices? Not your thing. Easily turned off by lyrics in 'bad' English (granted, on this album it's not as bad as on others)? This will make you cringe. Can't stand song-structures used in popular music? Look further. All in all though, I would say that this is a very solid effort, an album containing a bunch of amazing tunes. It's a shame I have grown fond of other styles of music more, but I remember a time when I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this album. I had to include it here, because leaving it out would make me feel bad. Consider this album's placement as a testament to great progressive music.

Favourite song: Day Three: Pain
Other songs worth checking out: Day Twenty: Confrontation, Day Eleven: Love, Day Twelve: Trauma
Other stuff by this band: As far as Ayreon goes, you can't really go wrong with any album, although some might say '1011001' is inferior to the rest. Personally, I'm a fan of both 'Universal Migrator' albums. Others swear by 'The Theory of Everything'. Just go for it if you like what you hear, the man has a distinctive style that can be heard on all his records.

[jingle.boy]

I can already hear Evermind screaming that this album is placed (way) too low,

*ME* too.  34 spots too low in my opinion.  But hey, dem's tastes for ya.

[Evermind]

I can already hear Evermind screaming that this album is placed (way) too low,

34 spots too low in my opinion.

Exactly.

And Pain is a nice song, definitely not my favourite though. Verses are great, but the chorus is one of those rare things I'm not too fond of on this album. I've got to say it was killer in a live setting though, with both growls and Mike Mills belting out those shrill incredible high notes.

[home]

Great album! Pain is a fantastic song, it's chorus is probably my favourite part on the album. I really liked seeing this performed live in theatre 

I don't know a lot of the other albums on this list so far, but I am definitely going to check some out, some sound really promising!

[Crow]

i think ayreon is a pretty cool guy, eh make good music and doesn't afraid of anything

[Kwyjibo]

Great album and for me Arjen's best effort under the Ayreon name.

[senecadawg2]

There was only one time that I could listen to Jane Doe and it was because I had gotten in a particularly bad fight with someone I cared for and I was really angry. I've never been able to understand the album like that again because I only ever get that angry about once every couple years. So I guess I'm glad to say that I haven't listened to it more than five times. 

Trying to listen, under normal circumstances, I think you're right--the album is way 'too much' for me too.

[jakepriest]

i think ayreon is a pretty cool guy, eh make good music and doesn't afraid of anything

I love this meme. Arby 'n' Chief pulled it off perfectly.

This album is easily top 10 material for me, so yes, it is way too low.