Prince & The Revolution - 1999
Favorite Tracks: 1999, Little Red Corvette, Lady Cab Driver, International Lover
(Released October 27, 1982)
The first of Prince's albums to feature his band The Revolution, 1999 was Prince's breakthrough. With the Sly & the Family Stone influence present in how the band was multi cultural and would switch off singing lines, Prince kicked off a formula that would result in some of his biggest hits. Not to mention the work that singles such as 1999 and Little Red Corvette did to help black artists start getting airtime on MTV. While this album is phenomenal in its own right, it only barely scratches the surface of what was to come with Prince's ensuing releases. This is the launchpad to Prince as we know him.
Stevie Wonder - Hotter Than July
Favorite Tracks: All I Do, Master Blaster (Jammin'), Rocket Love, Happy Birthday
(Released September 29, 1980)
Do you know how in your bag you have to be for an entire culture to adopt your version of Happy Birthday as its preferred version? Do you know how in your bag you have to be to get Michael Jackson, Betty Wright, the O'Jays, Charlie & Ronnie Wilson of the GAP Band to sing background for you throughout the album? Stevie was on an otherworldly run, my God...
Rick James - Street Songs
Favorite Tracks: Give It To Me Baby, Super Freak, Fire And Desire
(Released April 7, 1981)
Cocaine is a hell of a drug. Here we get to see Rick at his full Rock Star capability. When you look at this cover you see the pointy edges on the letters in his name and think you'll get songs that are edgy and upbeat like Super Freak. You see the red boots and you expect the album to kick off with the spark of Give It To Me Baby. Then ballads like the legendary duet Fire and Desire with Teena Marie give this album the full spectrum of feelings you want in a Rick James listening experience. Peak 80s Soul.
Salt-N-Pepa - Hot, Cool & Vicious
Favorite Tracks: Push It, I'll Take Your Man, My Mic Sounds Nice
(Released December 8, 1986)
Classic hip-hop from one of the pioneering groups in the genre. Another iconic cover art as well. The vibes you get are laid out in the title. The well known opener Push It is about as Hot as a song can be. Along with the coolness of I'll Take Your Man and the viciousness found on My Mic Sounds Nice, you've got one of the early hip-hop classics and a project that laid the groundwork for many women to come after.
Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston
Favorite Tracks: You Give Good Love, Saving All My Love For You, How Will I Know, Greatest Love of All
(Released February 14, 1985)
In my opinion, Whitney Houston has the greatest voice of all time. On her debut album we get 47 minutes of her doing what she does best in a variety of ways. Classic upbeat pop songs like How Will I Know shine just as bright as ballads such as Greatest Love of All and Saving All My Love For You. An impactful first showing for one of the greatest we would ever see.
Billy Joel - Cold Spring Harbor
Favorite Tracks: She's Got A Way, You Can Make Me Free, Everybody Loves You Now, Falling of the Rain, Tomorrow Is Today
(Released November 1, 1971)
Here we have a young William Joel in the days before the Piano Man success. Still very much a piano man, there are glimpses of what was to come, but still very much in the process of finding his sound. Several lovely extended piano interludes throughout which make for a great listening experience over dinner or wine similar to the Sinatra record. Could even be nice for studying or reading to.
Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key of Life
Favorite Tracks: Love's In Need Of Love Today, Sir Duke, I Wish, Knocks Me Off My Feet, Pastime Paradise, Summer Soft, Isn't She Lovely, As, Another Star
(Released September 28, 1976)
One of the most impactful albums of all time. For Stevie to drop this in the middle of the run he was on is insane. This album to me is like Michael Jordan's 4th ring. Like we've seen you at the mountaintop before this and we'll see you there after this, but this is your most dominant 72-10 version. Several of the greatest songs ever in recording history can be found on this project.
Prince & the Revolution - Purple Rain
Favorite Tracks: Let's Go Crazy, The Beautiful Ones, Darling Nikki, When Doves Cry, I Would Die 4 U, Baby I'm A Star, Purple Rain
(Released June 25, 1984)
Quite possibly the greatest musician of all time, Prince seamlessly blends genres all while crafting some of the catchiest melodies, hooks and most memorable solos of all time on this album. Arguably one of the greatest cover arts ever as well and when you factor in the impact and influence that not only the album but also the movie have had, it's clear to see why this is perhaps Prince's magnum opus.
Kanye West - The Life of Pablo
Favorite Tracks: Ultralight Beam, Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1, Famous, Feedback, Waves, FML, Real Friends, Wolves, 30 Hours, Saint Pablo
(Released February 14, 2016)
As evidenced by a lot of the albums in this collection, my favorite albums are ones I feel that you cannot tell the history of music without. With that being said, there was pop culture before Valentines Day 2016, then there was pop culture after. The Yeezy Season fashion show, the Madison Square Garden Listening Party (first of his listening parties that have defined the latter half of the 2010s and 2020s), the explosion of the adidas Yeezy brand, the SNL performance, the Wiz Khalifa twitter beef, the Taylor Swift twitter beef, the Kardashian brand explosion, the notebook with every celebrity signing it like a yearbook, the floating stage, the robbery, the hospitalization... This album shows the avalanche that can come with celebrity and fame boiling over. The hidden features and appearances from the young up and comers of music's present and future... This album is a prime example of the feeling of hip-hop in 2016. The nostalgia of that year gives it immense replay value in and of itself, but many of the greatest moments in the second phase of Kanye's career can be found on this album. I wish I could relive this rollout and era all over again.
Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - The Beat of the Brass
Favorite Tracks: Monday, Monday, A Beautiful Friend, Talk To The Animals, This Guy's In Love With You
(Released May 1968)
Herb, my man, I don't have an extensive depth of knowledge about Jazz or Easy Listening or however this album would be classified, but this album leaves me yearning to explore it more. The instrumental tracks are engaging and memorable, but the closer where Herb actually sings (which apparently doesn't happen much), my man killed it. Highly recommend checking this album out if you get the chance.
Florence & The Machine - Ceremonials
Favorite Tracks: Only If For A Night, Shake It Out, What The Water Gave Me, Never Let Me Go, Seven Devils, Heartlines
(Released October 28, 2011)
Ceremonials is one of those albums that I wish I could hear for the first time all over again. It was such a transformative experience. Watching Florence grow as a writer from the first album was really special, but even more special was watching her growth as a performer. Her live performance of Heartlines at Royal Albert Hall is one of my favorite live performances by anyone ever.
The Strokes - Is This It
Favorite Tracks: Is This It, Soma, Barely Legal, Someday, Alone Together, Last Nite, Hard To Explain
(Released July 30, 2001)
Is This It was like the switch that flipped Rock music from the 90s to the 2000s. This was a paradigm shift and the genesis of what alternative music would become in the early 2000s. A New York band releasing an album just before 9/11, this new scene born in the immediate aftermath of this albums release sort of represented a new New York. Between this and the work of Jay Z, Nas, and a plethora of others, these albums became representative of America's resilience. Songs about the everyday lives of urban youth in New York city sang by some kid with distorted vocals.
The Mamas & The Papas - Deliver
Favorite Tracks: Dedicated To The One I Love, Look Through My Window
(Released February 1967)
The Mamas were really, really good vocalists who carried this group. The moments when Michelle Phillips and Mama Cass get to shine, this record soars. When they're playing second fiddle to the guys I lose a bit of interest. Easy listening pop standards are always nice additions to the stack.
New Edition - New Edition
Favorite Tracks: Cool It Now, Mr. Telephone Man, I'm Leaving You Again, Lost In Love, My Secret (Didja Gitit Yet?)
(Released September 28, 1984)
Once Thriller came out, Michael Jackson's time with his brothers rapidly approached its end and in their place rose the New Edition. These 5 Childhood friends from Boston who would go on to define the 80s and 90s both as a whole and individually came together here to put themselves on the map. Gone were the days of Candy Girl and Is This the End, and here was a set of songs that showed a slightly older version of the boys flashing what was soon to come... Utter dominance in R&B over the next decade.
The Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore
Favorite Tracks: The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore, After The Lights Go Out, People Get Ready
(Released August 1966)
The Walker Brothers represent a counterpoint to the British Invasion of the 60s because they were an American band with more success in the UK. This album is a US released compilation of songs from their successful UK releases happening abroad. It features what is maybe the group's signature song, and this album's namesake, The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore.
Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mundo
Favorite Tracks: Maria Tambien, Evan Finds the Third Room, Friday Morning
(Released January 26, 2018)
Khruangbin is from Houston so I already got love for them, but their consistently excellent releases such as their Texas Sun & Texas Moon collaborations with Leon Bridges as well as Con Todo el Mundo's 2020 follow up, Mordechai, showcase why they're one of the best things going in alternative music right now. It's also dope seeing a group that is primarily making songs without vocals being a major factor have so much success.
Frank Sinatra - Ultimate Sinatra
Favorite Tracks: The Way You Look Tonight, Strangers In The Night, Put Your Dreams Away, My Way
(Released April 21 , 2015)
Standard pop classics that set the mood over dinner with a glass of wine. Old blue eyes has so many pop standards and this box set collection brings many of them together for accessible consumption.
Parquet Courts - Wide Awake!
Favorite Tracks: Mardi Gras Beads, Freebird II, Wide Awake, Tenderness
(Released May 18, 2018)
With elements of funk, art punk and garage rock, Parquet Courts put together 39 minutes of feel good music. Songs like Freebird II and Tenderness should be the soundtrack to anyone cruising down a highway in the summertime.
The Moody Blues - The Other Side of Life
Favorite Tracks: Your Wildest Dreams, Rock 'N' Roll Over You
(Released April 9 , 1986)
I discovered this band when Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig played Your Wildest Dreams on his radio show. After listening through I like a lot of the elements of synth pop and vocal layering. I was fascinated to learn that this was their twelfth album and was a big departure from their early sound. All in all if for nothing else than to hear the opener alone, this was a worthy find in the $0.99 bin.
Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak
Favorite Tracks: Welcome to Heartbreak, Heartless, Amazing, Love Lockdown, Paranoid, RoboCop, Street Lights
(Released November 24, 2008)
In all of my time as a Kanye fan he had always gone against the grain, but this was the first time I had ever seen an artist I was a fan of take an artistic risk that could potentially alienate their entire fanbase. What we got was a human unleashing and expressing the hurt that they had dealt with following the death of a parent and the end of a relationship. This project transcended genre and is responsible for ushering in an entire generation of rappers who sing, talk about their feelings, and showcase the human side of hip-hop. The insane replay value well over a decade after its release shows that sonically Kanye is unmatched when it comes to ear for melody, samples and what makes songs work well.