15 Albums that will always stick with you

I've got Plastic Mancunian (http://plasmanc.blogspot.com/) to blame for tagging me in a Facebook note on this subject. First time I've looked through my records and CDs in a long time.

The rules: Don't take too long to think about this. List 15 albums you've heard that will always stick with you.


In no particular order:


(1) Miles Davis - A Kind Of Blue.

I know very little about jazz, but this simply reeks of atmosphere and intimacy.

(2) Jan Garbarek - Officium

Heard this in a record shop and it stopped me in my tracks. Saxophone swirling in and around a choir singing medieval chants.

(3) Kate Bush - The Kick Inside

I can still remember the first time I heard this, on a tinny transistor radio producing more static than music. Unearthly.

(4) The Who - Live At Leeds

Energy, pure and simple. Feels a bit like being plugged in to an overhead power line.

(5) The Who - Who's Next?

Hesitated at putting 2 Who albums in the list, by then I only had to think about the opening of track #1, Teenage Wasteland, to realise it had to be in.

(6) U2 - The Joshua Tree

Not a die-hard U2 fan, but this record has a BIG BIG sound.

(7) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

OK, OK, so everyone bought this when it came out, but it's still a fantastic record. Songbird shows what a lovely sound the female voice can be, with Christine McVie doing the complete opposite of the sort of warbling and trilling that some singers assail us with.

(8) Genesis - Seconds Out

Because I played this record 1 million times when I was a teenager.

(9) AC/DC - Highway To Hell

They could have called this record K.I.S.S - Keep It Simple Stupid

(10) Jefferson Airplane - Crown Of Creation

Another great female vocalist, Grace Slick.

(11) Steely Dan - Can't Buy A Thrill

Had to pick one Steely Dan album, this one has (to my ears) a warmth that was missing from their follow-up work.

(12) The Verve - Urban Hymns

Had to get one band in from the North West of England.

(13) ZZ Top - Eliminator

Always filled the dance floor when any track from this was played at Jilly's Rockworld in Manchester.

(14) Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen

Second band from the North West, can remember a schoolfriend taping this for me. I know the rule is that you can't like both prog rock and punk rock, but most of us did as teenagers where I lived. Very (musically confused) teenagers, obviously.

(15) Stranglers - Black And White

My favourite punk rock group, though with keyboards and some 10-minute epics they sounded like some monstrous prog-punk hybrid.

And now I've just remembered The Fat Of The Land by The Prodigy, but I've run out of space. Can remember buying this (on vinyl) at the Virgin Megastore in Warrington and the sales bod-ette glared at me as if to say 'You're too old.' A great heavy rock album, forget about the fact it wasn't done by a heavy rock group. Only makes sense at ASBOesque volume levels.