Music N' Other Drugs

“Is it wrong, wanting to be at home with your record collection? It’s not like collecting records is like collecting stamps, or beermats, or antique thimbles.” – Nick Hornby in “High Fidelity” (1995)

If you’re reading this, keep in mind that nothing about this list is objective or designed to protect your sensibilities. The 50 albums I’ve chosen are specific to my ears without concern for the establishment or what the consensus says is great, so there will likely be moments where you’d love to disapparate to my home and personally snatch my credentials out from under me.

Many of these have been with me from the beginning and some I unearthed later on, but all are irreplaceable parts of my development as both a writer and person. What someone likes matters just as much as what they are like, and I’ve found that the best people are those whose personality aligns with their taste in popular culture.

When deciding what albums to choose, I took into account my love of the band/artist, how often I listen to the album, and how empty my collection/life would be without its presence. I thought about listing only 10, but then I figured that 50 would provide a definitive glimpse into what I truly love given how often I extol the virtues of records that I may not revisit all that much.

No honorable mentions, just 50 albums that I can’t live without.

Led Zeppelin – “Physical Graffiti” (1975)

The Tragically Hip – “Day for Night” (1994)

Rush – “Permanent Waves” (1980)

Black Sabbath – “Heaven and Hell” (1980)

Tori Amos – “Little Earthquakes” (1992)

Public Enemy – “Fear of a Black Planet” (1990)

Patti Smith – “Horses” (1975)

Van Morrison – “Moondance” (1970)

Genesis – “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974)

Megadeth – “Rust in Peace” (1990)

Bruce Springsteen – “Darkness on the Edge of Town” (1978)

Jackson Browne – “Late for the Sky” (1974)

King Crimson – “Discipline” (1981)

Creed – “My Own Prison” (1997)

Green Day – “Insomniac” (1995)

Queensrÿche – “Operation: Mindcrime” (1988)

Miles Davis – “Bitches Brew” (1970)

Temple of the Dog – “Temple of the Dog” (1991)

Black Sabbath – “Sabotage” (1975)

Gin Blossoms – “New Miserable Experience” (1992)

Triumph – “Allied Forces” (1981)

Dio – “Holy Diver” (1983)

The Smiths – “The Queen is Dead” (1986)

Pink Floyd – “Wish You Were Here” (1975)

Rainbow – “Rising” (1976)

Thin Lizzy – “Johnny the Fox” (1976)

Carole King – “Tapestry” (1971)

Scorpions – “Blackout” (1982)

King’s X – “Dogman” (1994)

Stone Temple Pilots – “Purple” (1994)

Steven Wilson – “The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)” (2013)

Yes – “Relayer” (1974)

Deep Purple – “Burn” (1974)

Van Halen – “Fair Warning” (1981)

Concrete Blonde – “Bloodletting” (1990)

Roger Waters – “Amused to Death” (1992)

Judas Priest – “Unleashed in the East” (1979)

The Beatles – “The Beatles” (1968)

Iron Maiden – “Piece of Mind” (1983)

Pixies – “Surfer Rosa” (1988)

Barenaked Ladies – “Rock Spectacle” (1996)

U2 – “The Joshua Tree” (1987)

Bob Dylan – “Highway 61 Revisited” (1965)

The War on Drugs – “Lost In the Dream” (2014)

Todd Rundgren – “Nearly Human” (1989)

Peter Gabriel – “Melt” (1980)

Living Colour – “Vivid” (1988)

Nina Simone – “Nina Simone Sings the Blues” (1967)

Buckingham Nicks – “Buckingham Nicks” (1973)

Tool – “Ænima” (1996)