40. Farside – s/t

Settling in with only four songs (not including the two “hidden” tracks,) this EP from Farside showed that Revelation Records bands didn’t have to be either hardcore or pusscore – that they could be simply rock and roll. They, surprisingly, never really caught on with the usual punk rock crowd, though I vividly remember Eric wearing a Farside hat for years. “Knox” may be the best song they ever put out.

I’ve always known who I am/But I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do about it – “Knox”

39. Avail – 4AM Friday

Hey! Punk rock! I never would have become an Avail fan if I hadn’t seen them with Floodplain, Split Lip, Samuel, and Slacker in what could have been one of the best shows the Pomp Room ever held. Avail, being all punk rock and stuff, wasn’t the most talented band, but they may have been one of the most fun, complete with tag along groupie/second vocalist/tattoo artist. This album came out when I worked at Best Buy, but held it’s greatness in my mind long after I had gone to college and given up on the genre. I feel that it stands today as the best pure punk rock album ever made.

4 a.m. Friday awaken to a scream/He’s not gonna make it real it didn’t seem/No-don’t let go/No-make it through – “F.C.A.”

38. Radiohead – The Bends

The Bends was the first Radiohead album that you absolutely had to like if you were going to be considered a college radio fan. This is the one that was supposed to change rock music, a feat that was later pegged on OK Computer when it came out. The Bends saw Radiohead become more of what they are today – artsy and British – and saw them shy away from their Buzz Bin status, earned from the single “Creep,” on Pablo Honey. While it’s not as complex and original as OK Computer, it’s as good as it could get when it came out, and holds up well today.

I need to wash myself again to hide all the dirt and pain/Cos I’d be scared that there’s nothing underneath – “The Bends”

37. Sense Field – Building

Sense Field put out Building at the peak of their careers, when Killed For Less was still a hot new emo thing to listen to – when their stock was as high as it could get. They hit it pretty well with Building, making their sound faster and more enjoyable without losing their pussiness, which, by the way, is what Sense Field was perfect at. They mixed up their sound so that, unlike previous albums, every song didn’t sound similar. I held this album in pretty high esteem through the age of 20, and I still don’t mind breaking it out every once in a while.

I will see you again/Someday soon/Will you save a seat for me? – “Fiesta”

36. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Yoshimi is a weird album – it’s meant to be the soundtrack to a Japanese film of the same name – but, then again, The Flaming Lips are a weird band. I latched onto this album shortly before moving back to Sioux Falls, and it still sits in heavy rotation. They are quite a trip, live, with their bunny suits and bloody Japanese video playing in the background. Like I said, they’re weird.

Her name is Yoshimi/She’s a black belt in karate/Working for the city/She has to discipline her body – “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1”

35. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

This is as close to “college/indie rock” I get – mentioning any Wilco album on any list guarantees a measure of credibility, or so I’ve gathered from the praise that is consistently heaped on the band, who have been considered deities in the genre for years. All hyperbole aside, though, this album is really good, and they’ve raised in status, in my mind, at least, from “that band that opened for REM in 1999” to an actual viable talent.

You’re gonna lose/You have to lose/You have to learn how to die – “War On War”

34. Elliott Smith – Either/Or

This is the best of the “Elliott without a full band” albums (he had a lot more backing from X/O on) and, if it were not for hearing and falling in love with X/O first, would be my favorite Elliott Smith album. He sounds, as expected, tortured and miserable throughout, but this was before he was a big name in music, and so I guess he has an excuse for it at this point in his life.

Tripped over a dog in a choke-chain collar/People were shouting and pushing and saying/They’d traded a smoke for a food stamp dollar – “The Rose Parade”

33. Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head

What can I say about Coldplay that Q Magazine or the British tabloids haven’t already said? This album, regardless of the hype that preceded it, was every bit as good as was promised, and was a follow up that many didn’t think the band had in them. I always believed in them, though, because I’m sympathetic to the bands that should never have become as popular as they eventually do. Does that make sense? It’s late, and I don’t have much to comment on aside from “I really like this CD…it’s good.”

I’m pushing you down and all around/It’s no cause for concern – “Amsterdam”

32. The Beatles – Let It Be

This was actually the final Beatles album ever released, even though it was recorded before Abbey Road. This is the “Beatles in a big fight” album – I’m pretty sure that Ringo and George walked out eight or nine times a piece during the recording of this. The re-released Let It Be…Naked, which is the album I own, strips the Phil Spector “Wall of Sound” away from the original music, so that it sounds more like what Paul wanted in the first place. John would have hated the new one, I guess, but I guess that’s a moot point, since he’s dead and all.

Nothing’s gonna change my world – “Across the Universe”

31. The Promise Ring – 30 Degrees Everywhere

Davey, lisp and all, was one of the most compelling front men in the emo genre, if only because he never really looked comfortable on stage. This album, which includes my favorite Promise Ring song “Scenes from France,” came out before the band went all “uber happy/poppy,” and was one of the last bands I’d ever see at the Pomp Room. This, like a lot of the emo albums from my high school years, hasn’t really aged well – it sounds so sparce and kind of boring in parts now – but it was one of my favorites well into the college years, and I still love it.

Couldn’t you take the second bus home?/Couldn’t you just take me with you? – “A Picture Postcard”

50. Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News

This, the newest Modest Mouse album, seemed like a drastic change from their previous albums – it’s better produced, a little more radio friendly, and Isaac Brock, reportedly, sounds like Bobcat Goldwaith. I, however, love it, and while it’s not as good as the next two higher than it on the list (obviously), I feel that it’s still as unpalatable as the rest of their stuff. I argued for it earlier, here.

Shouts from both sides/Well we’ve got the land but they’ve got the view! – “The View”

49. Travis – The Man Who

Ah, the stereotypical British band. This CD, actually, was very popular when I visited England, and therefore I heard “Why Does It Always Rain On Me” everywhere I went. Because of this, The Man Who reminds me, more than any other album, of England, and it has that “rainy brooding brit-pop” sound that, more than Coldplay or Blur, really conjures up the streets of London to me.

Still I can’t close my eyes/I’m seeing a tunnel at the end of all these lights – “Why Does It Always Rain On Me?”

48. Various Artists – High Fidelity Soundtrack

My favorite movie, the one that inspired doing a silly list like this, also has my favorite soundtrack. Many of the songs here are from artists that I would normally never really care much about, such as Stevie Wonder, The Velvet Underground, and The Kinks, but the combonation, with the memory of a great film in the back of my mind, makes for a great set of music. This is where I discovered The Beta Band for myself, and also where I realized how well Jack Black could really sing.

The many sounds that meet our ears the sights our eyes behold/Will open up our melting hearts and feed our empty souls – “I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)” (Stevie Wonder)

47. Alkaline Trio – Goddamnit

I had never bothered to look into Alkaline Trio at all, even though my friends were all in love with their music, until I went to the Electric Fetus in St. Cloud and saw this CD in a box of “discounted, water damaged” merchandise. The liner notes were a little wet, but aside from that everything was fine, so I purchased it for the low price of $3.98. A great deal for some of the best punk ballads ever.

And if I hadn’t set aside the fact that you were broken hearted/Hell knows where your heart would be today/Maybe with me – “Sorry About That”

46. Braid – Lucky To Be Alive

Braid, like Hot Water Music, was a great live band, and their energy was captured on this album. This was also supposed to be their last show, but, unlike Hot Water Music, they actually stayed broken up and, as far as I know, this was their last release. The set-list spans their career, and, funnily enough, they even break out some new music on it. It was a great, though sad, album, in that it sounded wonderful, but was still the last we’d ever hear from Braid.

Wake up and dry your eyes/Cause you’ve been dreaming of mourning – “Please Drive Faster”

45. Whirlpool – Liquid Glass

Whirlpool was a side project for a few Sense Field members, and, though they only put out a few albums, this always stood out as one of the great Revelation Records of the late 90’s. It’s a little quirky, and it hasn’t really aged well, but Kerrie and I spent quite a few car rides singing along with it (with both female and male vocals, it’s perfect for just that.)

When will you learn you never die? – “Evolver”

44. Refused – The Shape Of Punk To Come

Along with Guilt, Refused is the only “hardcore” band I had any respect for after I hit my college years – not because I didn’t believe in what they were doing, but because my tastes had changed and I couldn’t handle the chug-chug much any more. Refused was a album picked up in Seattle by Kerrie — recommended by Jason Dannenbring, a person I’d never expect to be into Refused – and we still like to break it out to pretend like we’re “street” or “hard”…or whatever.

We dance to all the wrong songs/We enjoy all the wrong moves – “New Noise”

43. Ani Difranco – Living In Clip

Ani Difranco is at her best live – she’s brilliant at twisting her songs enough that you recognize it, yet fall in love with the new version and never think of them the same again. This was, actually, my first and only Ani Difranco album purchase (why buy the albums when Kerrie already had them all) and encompasses everything I like about her music – it’s raw, it’s unapologetic, and it’s different – it’s folk that doesn’t put you to sleep, and it’s political enough to be pertinent while maintaining a personal feel.

And I wonder if you’ll miss your old friends/Once you’ve proven what you’re worth/And I wonder when you’re a big star/Will you miss the earth – “Napoleon”

42. Jets To Brazil – Perfecting Loneliness

Blake’s third album from his second band. While I liked the previous album (Four Cornered Night), it was still a disappointment, coming after what I see as the greatest Jade Tree album every released. By the time Perfecting Loneliness came out, though, I was used to the softer Jets To Brazil, and I heard elements of their first CD mixed in with the rest of it. And even though it’s not my favorite Jets album, “The Frequency,” at almost seven minutes, is my favorite Jets song by far.

And the city kids/The angry with-it kids/Hate everything the first time. – “The Frequency”

41. Built To Spill – Live

Built To Spill’s live album toes the line between the Seattle scene and “jam band” territory, seeing them embark on songs from Perfect From Now On with an eye on making them long and, well, “jammy.” Thankfully, though, they still come through with the Built To Spill sound; namely, Doug Martsch vocals are still both whiney and though provoking, and their music still reserves the right to either jam out or play tight and reserved.

I want specifics on the general idea/I wanna think what I should know – “Car”

60. Jimmy Eat World – Static Prevails

Before they became the band with the underwear video, Jimmy Eat World was a pretty good indie rock band with a bright future, evident on Static Prevails, their major label debut and breakout album. Many saw this as a disappointing album, sales wise, since they were pegged to be the next big thing in music, but I enjoyed it quite a bit, even though many of the good tracks sounded like they were ripped off from a bunch of better bands. Still, it held promise. Unfortunately, they pussed out after this one.

One last good-bye may last the rest of your life – “Claire”

59. Elliott Smith – From a Basement On The Hill

This posthumous release from Elliott Smith was left unfinished, obviously, and was mixed and produced by friends and family, and rates as the highest rated 2004/5 release on the list simply because of what it is – Elliott’s last album. He was hoping to write and create a White Album-esque type album, and many have said that this sounds unfinished and not up to what he could have created on his own, but I say who cares? We’ll never know what it could have been, and it’s very good anyway, so let’s not split hairs over what it’s supposed to sound like.

She’s a pretty thing and she knows everything/But I’m already somebody’s baby – “Twilight”

58. Cursive – Burst and Bloom

Only five songs long, this EP could be looked at as a Cursive sampler – it has a little of everything that is good about Cursive, including a self-deprecating opening song about promoting an EP. Burst and Bloom was the first post-Domestica selection by Cursive, and I lapped it up like there was no other band in the world for a few weeks, I like liked it so much.

They’ve got a good fan base/They’ve got integrity/They’ve got a DC sound/Shudder to Think, Fugazi/And Chapel Hill Around The Early 90′s/This is the latest from saddle creek – “Sink To The Beat”

57. Seven Storey Mountain – Leper Ethics

Seven Storey Mountain was a band that I liked initially for no other reason than that they sounded very emo and had put out a cheap EP. Their first album, Leper Ethics, however, was pretty damn good, and it found a permanent place in my CD player for much of my first year of college. I attempted to play songs off of it when I would work Rock’n Bowl at Marshall Bowl, but was told by management that it was not “popular” enough, and that I should play more “Come on Ride It (The Train).” God I hated that job.

56. Tool – Ænima

Tool, the ultimate dark metal band, is a secret love of mine. I’ve got the CD’s, the DVD, everything, and I break it out every once in a while when I want to remember how good bands like that can be. Tool showed a bit of resurgence in my music collection when I started working at Software Etc. and I was able to discuss the finer points of Tool and Maynard with co-workers.

Learn to swim – “Ænima”

55. Frank Black – Teenager Of The Year

Always an indie rock classic, Teenager of the Year was a CD I had purchased three times and sold twice, but still always liked regardless of what my moods at the time were. This is the CD that had odes to spies and Pong, both of which were subjects close to Black’s heart, apparently. The first purchase of this CD was in high school, the last purchase was while I was working at the mall and in search of an old favorite to listen to at work.

My name is Chip/And I’m different/I don’t conform/I wear a different uniform – “Freedom Rock”

54. Grandaddy – The Sophtware Slump

Along with 764 Hero and Abbey Road, Grandaddy is a band that I’ll always associate with Seattle, even though there is no connection at all aside from “I bought this CD in Seattle, and so there you go.” It’s indie-meets-electronics, and it’s what The Postal Service would sound like if they had more members and were bigger hippies.

Did you hear them yell/Land damn it land?/You say you can’t/Well I hope you can/I hope you can – “He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s the Pilot”

53. Hot Water Music – Live At the Hardback

Since Hot Water Music is an act better enjoyed live, obviously a live album would be an instant classic. Not surprisingly, this was. This was a live taping of what was supposed to be their last show at a local Gainsville bar, but, since they loved playing more than anything, they informed the crowd after their first song that, well, they’d rather just keep it going. No live CD has had more energy because of it.

I won’t lecture if you won’t pretend/If you’ll be the paper then I’ll be the pen – “Us & Chuck”

52. Chamberlain – The Moon My Saddle

Chamberlain, who had been known formerly as Split Lip, began as a Springsteen tinged emo band that morphed into the sound on this album, dropping the emo and going for straight forward alt-country. The result was a surprising, and successful, change for the band, which entered a realm most emo bands didn’t – it grew up with its listeners instead of rehashing the previous record again and again.

Where I am is where you’ll find me at the edge of many things/Hands outstretched/Doing circles in the rain/Grinning like a thief – “Try for Thunder”

51. Tenacious D – s/t

I had never seen the HBO show when I had downloaded clips of Tenacious D off of Napster, but from that day on, I was hooked. The self-proclaimed greatest band in the world stole my heart and shot their rocket-sauce all over it, returned it upside down, and laid a crispy deuce all over my face. Tenacious D, with Dave Grohl around to make the CD sound pretty, put this album out to a legion of new fans and cemented themselves as the greatest duo since Tasty Taint and Chubby Choad.

He asked us: “(snort) Be you angels?”/And we said, “Nay. We are but men.”/Rock! – “Tribute”

70. The Beatles – Abbey Road

It’s difficult for me to choose a favorite Beatles album – without, of course, selecting the greatest hits CD’s, which is kind of like cheating – because they had three distinct eras of style over their ten year career. I tend to lean towards the later years, the more mature sounding, ready-to-break-up Beatles. Abbey Road, which was supposed to be their last album, is my second favorite and will forever remind me of eating pizza and playing cribbage in Seattle.

Once there was a way, to get back homeward/Once there was a way, to get back home – “Golden Slumbers”

69. Billy Bragg – Reaching to the Converted (Minding the Gaps)

The first thing to know about Billy Bragg is that he’s very British. Very. This CD is a collection of all his B-sides from throughout his years as 1980 Britain’s answer to Bob Dylan, and it brings together a lot of alternate mixes and covers, running the gamut from topics like girls, “football,” politics, etc. Reaching was my first taste of Bragg, and still holds as my favorite of his albums, even though it’s not quite an album in the traditional sense.

You’re a dedicated swallower of fascism! – “Accident Waiting to Happen”

68. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells

Like I had mentioned before with The Strokes, The White Stripes were part of that “new rock” invasion that assaulted us around 2002-3. However, unlike the former (who aped their sound from the 70’s), The White Stripes actually had an original sound that brought to mind, well, real “rock.” And even though Meg White has been trashed by critics for her “poor drumming,” I still think the band is hugely talented, and I’ll take Jack White over any other preening rock star any day.

Well its 1 2 3 4/Take the elevator at the hotel yorba/I’ll be glad to see you later/All they got inside is vacancy – “Hotel Yorba”

67. Ani Difranco – Little Plastic Castles

Ani is more of Kerrie’s deal, but I’ll fully admit that she is wildly talented and that I enjoy listening to many of her albums, this one especially. Little Plastic Castles, like many of my “favorites” from an artist, was the first one I had ever listened to. Other albums have more powerful and better individual songs, but this one fits together more and becomes a better overall album, and “Swan Dive” is the absolute best female-angst song ever written.

‘Cuz i don’t care if they eat me alive/I’ve got better things to do than survive – “Swan Dive”

66. Ween – Chocolate and Cheese

Thanks, Doug, for Ween, the most unpredictable group in rock today. Every style can be touched on, and Chocolate and Cheese has all of them, from tender ballad (“Baby Bitch”) to country (“Drifter in the Dark”), sexy Prince-esque tribute (“Freedom of ’76”) to Spanish-western epic (“Buenos Tardes Amigo”). It’s really the variety that first turned me on to the band, and then it was the talent that they did it with that stuck with me. And, of course, if I didn’t admit to liking them, Doug would have had a fit.

Baby, baby, baby, Bitch/I’m better now, please fuck off – “Baby Bitch”

65. Modest Mouse – This Is A Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About

Modest Mouse’s first full length album has great individual songs, but has never held up with me as their best overall album. Of course, I still love it, and it’s because of the individual songs. The band certainly doesn’t get this long winded anymore, and that’s part of why I like it – every song sounds like it was hand crafted in a very different time. It’s haunting throughout, as if it was written to be played when the world ends.

Gotta go to work/Gotta go to work/Gotta get a job – “Custom Concern”

64. Franz Ferdinand – s/t

Yup, another newer one, and the band that could change the face of party rock for years to come. They’re fun, they’ve got an original sound, and they’re Scottish, so they’ve got a few things going for them. These four are the band poised to take the torch from Modest Mouse as the “hot new underground thing,” a torch that I’m not sure any underground band wants to begin with. “Take Me Out” was even featured in Madden 2005 – but even with the overexposure, I still love the album.

I’m just a crosshair/Just a shot away from you – “Take Me Out”

63. Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue

When Woodie Guthrie died, he left behind numerous poems and lyrics behind, full albums worth, and with these in hand, Nora Guthrie, Woodie’s daughter, approached Billy Bragg with the idea of putting them to music, an idea that led to a collaboration, of sorts, between Woodie, Bragg, and Wilco, rather than a simple tribute. As is mentioned in the liner notes, this was done for a “new generation of songwriters who until now had only glimpsed (Guthrie) fleetingly, over the shoulder of Bob Dylan or somewhere in the distance of a Bruce Springsteen song.”

There ain’t nobody that can sing like me/Way over yonder in the minor key – “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key”

62. Braid – The Age of Octeen

Braid, one of the emo heavies, back in the day, is the epitome of the faster, chaotic “emo” sound that was much friendlier than the “brooding, my girlfriend left me” emo that I was really into. This, their first widely known full length (they had another prior to this that was marginal at best) set the bar for the sound right off the bat and was in constant rotation on my KSSU radio show in 1997.

I can feel you smiling/But you’re too far to see/And June is here, June is here/But she’s laughing without me – “My Baby Smokes”

61. Modest Mouse – Building Nothing Out Of Something

Another B-sides collection makes the list with Building Nothing Out Of Something, though these songs actually fit together well, making it sound like an actual album, and not a random smattering of leftover songs. BNOOS was the first Modest Mouse album I ever got into after Lonesome Crowded West, and was, in fact, what made me a Modest Mouse fan (much to the chagrin of Kerrie, who I had given shit to about Modest Mouse at an earlier time.)

Broke a promise cause my car broke down/Such a classic excuse it should be bronze by now – “Broke”