A 100+ Day 100+ Album Challenge

[Benny]

I did notice @Jamie John has posted a thread with a similar idea literally a few hours ago, but this is a little different:

 

I was discussing with a friend over the holiday about how I really hadn't just sat down and listened to so many of my favourite albums that I've heard over the years, or really had chance to revisit all my favourite music from throughout life that you often forget about.

 

I decided to take this as a good opportunity to make a list of 100 favourite albums to rediscover them, and re-evaluate if I still love them today.

My friend wasn't sure I would be able to name 100 albums let alone make a 100 favourites list, so I have decided to take that challenge and, throughout the year, nearly once per day, pick out an album from the depths of my memory and prove I can make a list of 100.

 

Why do this? Because it's probably a looming mid life crisis, but also because it's going to be an excuse to post a different album each day(ish), and hopefully listen to some forum picks too.

 

If this clashes with Jamie John's idea we can merge the threads, or maybe this one can be the nostalgia thread, and that one will explore all that is new and fresh.

 

My only self-imposed rule: no game or film soundtracks. Not unless they are of particularly special significance to me in terms of having listened to and got into the artist's other work through them, or if I think they stand up well effectively on their own if their source material had never existed.

[Benny]

And no it won't just be full of Dad-rock.

[Jamie John]

Sounds good! And yes, different from my thread as this is about revisiting old favourites, as opposed to listening to new stuff.

 

I sort of did something similar to this a couple of years back when I moved from iTunes to Spotify: I listened to every single track I'd ever downloaded or ripped from CD onto iTunes to see if I still liked it before I found the same track on Spotify and added it to the 'Liked Songs' playlist. It's a good way of discovering how your music tastes have changed. There was a lot of early 00s indie pop shite that I binned off. Stuff like Hard-Fi and The Automatic. Bleurgh.

[Benny]

Another self rule: the 00s are banned.

 

I joke.

 

But I've actually really been looking forward to doing this, just like when you know you have a really nice cold beer in the fridge and you can't wait to crack it open. I'm also looking forward to the forum telling me my teenage (and adult) taste in music is shite, but hey ho.

[acidbearboy]

@Benny Are you planning on making a list of 100 albums first and then picking one from it each day, or will you be plucking an album from memory on the day and compiling the list as you go along?

[Benny]

53 minutes ago, acidbearboy said:

@Benny Are you planning on making a list of 100 albums first and then picking one from it each day, or will you be plucking an album from memory on the day and compiling the list as you go along?

 

I'm going to pluck an album from memory for each day, as a way of compiling the 100 by gradually building the collection. In the unlikely event I dislike one I pick when listening to it again, I'll just extend the days by 1.

[Benny]

Day 1: Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

 

 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lm7bPUx7Wirsops8aszD6KiKzl9k1ufQ0

 

I was first introduced to The Mothers of Invention when I was quite young - my parents were into The Beatles and the usual suspects of that era so I grew up hearing that kind of music often, but a family friend who was very much into his music was always bringing albums from the more eclectic branches of the 60s rock oeuvre. He knew my parents were not into some of it, but he fancied his chances getting me and my siblings into some alternatives.

 

Hot Rats was one such album he introduced me to after I enjoyed The Mothers, and it was the first album I remember just completely blowing my socks off despite being too young to fully articulate why at the time. It was like nothing I'd ever heard and I wanted more.

 

I had the chance to see a live band a few years back that called themselves "The Grandmothers", who I figured would be a cool tribute band if nothing else. Only to my surprise, it was the actual surviving members of The Mothers who were touring the UK doing small gigs in random bars. I was absolutely flabbergasted, in awe, and raised a glass to the music loving family friend, now sadly passed away from cancer, who had introduced me to them all those years ago, including this incredible Zappa solo album from after they dissolved.

 

Favourite track: Willie the Pimp - those smoky vocals from Captain Beefheart followed by the frankly incredible stuff about 5 minutes in

 

Still good? Fuck yes.

 

EDIT: mind you, I think the last track is self indulgent in the extreme and almost combative to your ears

[acidbearboy]

55 minutes ago, Benny said:

 

I'm going to pluck an album from memory for each day, as a way of compiling the 100 by gradually building the collection. In the unlikely event I dislike one I pick when listening to it again, I'll just extend the days by 1.

This is a big task - I wish you luck! I started trying to compile a list of 100 good albums off the top of my head this morning but I was struggling after about 25.

[Benny]

Anyone else can feel free to join in though - it'll just have a daily dose of Bennymusic^tm either way

 

Pretty sure I won't ever end up scraping the barrel, but we'll see. These won't necessarily be the "best" albums, but what comes to mind each "day". I will end up with a top 100 playlist at the end of it hopefully! 

[Clipper]

I would but mine would lean heeeeeavily into Dad rock

 

[englishbob]

Great first choice - I can join in

 

My fav track on Hot Rats is "It Must Be a Camel" - the last track - such a beautiful way to end it

[englishbob]

Day 1: Pink Floyd - The Final Cut

 

 

Probably the most polarising Floyd album ever released - but I love it as I was 12 when I first heard it - and at that time we were growing up in the 80's cold war paranoia of annihilation (Threads was put on TV a year later) - so the lyrics where just straight talking - there is no pissing about here, it's blunt

 

People say it's not really a Floyd album - it's a Roger Waters album  - that is true - but then the other post Final Cut Floyd albums are Gilmour solo efforts. Waters was correct in saying Floyd were a spent force creatively after this came out - but was misguiding in not realising the potential of the Floyd brand and name, the same way Gilmour and the other members did - they saw the value and the money side of it clearly and went on to create what was probably the first mega stadium legacy act in a world now full of them.

 

Favourite track: The Gunners Dream

 

Still good? There aren't too many unflinching albums on the subject of war, the Falklands, world leaders and death - so I'd say yes - but it's marmite, if you want Floyd dreamy psychedelia - which they stopped doing in 1975 - steer clear

 

[Ste_S]

Album #1 Marvin Gaye - I Want You

 

 

I first brought this in 90s, along with What's Going On and Let's Get It On, when everyone was essentially giving their vinyl away. It's a much deeper than the other, more famous albums, and has grown on me over the years; It's probably my favourite Marvin album now.

 

It's both an album dedicated to Marvin's lover at the time, and also, almost, a concept album about meeting someone at a club and what happens after. Leon Ware's production is immense and luscious, and went on to inspire Neo-soul artists like D'Angelo.

 

Collector note- the mastering on the original Motown vinyl pressing is kinda mushy and doesn't do the production justice. The version on streaming is great, especially with good headphones.

[englishbob]

Day 2: Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica

 

 

An electronic album of sounds and cut ups and noises - with some phat synths on top. Listening back recently make me think that reworked elements of this would have fit much better in the "Blade Runner 2049" film soundtrack - rather than the lacklustre and largely forgettable rush job it ended up with.

 

Favourite track: All of it really

 

Still good? I'd say so yes - but avoid if you like your electronic music with beats. I think this is his (Daniel Lopatin) masterpiece - everything I've heard from him before or after hasn't really come close.

[Benny]

Day 2: Massive Attack - Mezzanine

 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nd4LborPNxR-W0gX3HkfJP9LTTSov6gG0

 

I can't remember when I first heard the full Mezzanine album - I definitely heard tracks from it here and there long before listening to the whole thing. As a teenager of the 90s though, Electronic, Trip Hop etc and whatever else rapidly became my favourite genres - so you can probably expect to see more albums in my picks from those kinds of scenes as a result.

 

Mezzanine honestly feels like a bit of a cheat, as I listened to the album again relatively recently after not hearing it for a while, and it's been on my playlist constantly ever since, while I work, while I cook, in my dreams when I'm asleep... Something about it has just invaded my brain and sat there, with its thick, oppressive vibes coating the inside of my consciousness.

 

Favourite track: Teardrop - Elizabeth Fraser's voice is just truly dreamy.

 

Still good? Well, I can't stop listening to it still, so...

 

EDIT: come to think of it, I think Group Four is actually my favourite track. It's incredible.

[acidbearboy]

On 01/01/2023 at 16:57, Ste_S said:

Album #1 Marvin Gaye - I Want You

 

 

I first brought this in 90s, along with What's Going On and Let's Get It On, when everyone was essentially giving their vinyl away. It's a much deeper than the other, more famous albums, and has grown on me over the years; It's probably my favourite Marvin album now.

 

It's both an album dedicated to Marvin's lover at the time, and also, almost, a concept album about meeting someone at a club and what happens after. Leon Ware's production is immense and luscious, and went on to inspire Neo-soul artists like D'Angelo.

 

Collector note- the mastering on the original Motown vinyl pressing is kinda mushy and doesn't do the production justice. The version on streaming is great, especially with good headphones.

The Deluxe reissue of this was really great. Lots of extended versions and alternate takes. Fantastic album. 

[Benny]

Day 3: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

 

 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lOWvxbyxSakNJBr3T4taG96SuTihpHGn4

 

There were several rock and pop artist staples around the house when I was growing up - the most commonly heard music of course being whatever was put in the car stereo on long trips, which definitely had one or two tapes played so often on repeat that they nearly wore out. One of which I might get to later...

 

But in the meantime, Rumours was already an interesting one for me, because Fleetwood Mac were I figured a favourite band of my parents, but I rarely heard this one actually getting put on. However, whenever it was, it somehow felt like a special occasion, like it was a record they wanted to save and not overplay (or they actually just didn't like it all that much). Either way, I feel it's one I want to savour personally, and after a stressful first day back at work the listen tonight has put me right back into a state of bliss.

 

Favourite track: The Chain - my actual favourite Fleetwood Mac song is not on this album: that would be Rhiannon, but The Chain is a close second, or maybe Gold Dust Woman, because I could listen to Stevie Nicks' voice forever.

 

Still good? There's a reason it's always on top albums lists.

[marcus]

When Covid kicked in, I bought myself a decent headphone setup (which has escalated dramatically but that's another story) and set about going through the Rolling Stones magazine Top 500 Albums Of All Time.  Through that I was introduced to many genres and artists I would never of usually listened to.  I completed that and carried it on, and have now listened to over 2000 albums, working from home full time helps massively with that.  Due to the way I am about recording things, I list and score each album and track and then put it onto my Reddit Page.  Its one of my favourite things to do, and for anyone on the fence about starting something like what the OP is doing I would say go for it, it turned into a whole new hobby for me 

[Boothjan]

Yeah, I'm in for this.  Good idea - I need to listen to albums a lot more than I do, as I tend to just stick on a playlist but albums are works of art.  So starting with a proper work of art:

 

Day 1: Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

 

 

From the opening drumbeat of the magnificent opener, Disorder, to the chaotic end of I Remember Nothing, Unknown Pleasures still takes me to places that very few other albums are able to.  It's absolutely mesmerising and one of those albums that you HAVE to listen to with a good set of headphones on.  Martin Hannett's production is off the scale, creating a sound that in my opinion is utter genius.

 

Disclaimer - I didn't appreciate Joy Division until I was well into my 20s, despite the fact that Ian Curtis died a few months before I was born.  I think it's because New Order never really did it for me - they're okay and I love some of their stuff but as a result, I never felt inclined to really give JD a proper listen.  So back in the mid-00's, just like now, that first drum beat had me hook, line and sinker.

 

So yep - Unknown Pleasures still stands up VERY well today.  I had to start this challenge strongly!

 

Favourite Track: She's Lost Control - a highlight amongst so many other great tracks, I think this is the epitome of Joy Division in the studio.  So much going on in the background - an aural delight.

[Benny]

Day 4: John Carpenter - Lost Themes

 

 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kTLdTXzUhpAljr0ot3KpAb-liLfzihRkw

 

This was unquestionably a huge highlight of 2015. I remember I'd been listening to the radio quite a bit more at work and this was heavily promoted at the time as it was such an unusual but tantalising prospect. John Carpenter's music is such an intrinsic part of what makes his good movies great, and the bad ones at least distinctive. I didn't necessarily want to spend many of these entries just posting film soundtracks, as I often feel they work best when watching the movies they inhabit (with some notable exceptions that will crop up later just because they are so bloody good).

 

But enter Lost Themes: soundtracks to movies that were never made, and only exist in what you can picture in your mind, as the album batters you into submission with raw synths and threatening baselines. It may not be the most even album, but as a Carpenter fan this is absolutely one of my favourite things he's ever done. Lost Themes II is also great, and is maybe even better, but I think the first album edges it for me for being first.

Also the bonus remix of Night included on the digital album posted above is great I think. The other bonus tracks I really wouldn't bother with though.

 

Favourite track: Fallen - introduces a moody Assault on Precinct 13 kind of vibe before some crazy sci-fi shit really starts going down in the second half.

 

Still good? Still a fucking legend.

[Boothjan]

Day 2: Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief

 

 

I went to my parents on Boxing Day and started talking about music - my Dad said this is one of his all time favourite albums, and as I quite like some of Fairport's early stuff and I'd heard this MANY times as a kid in Dad's car, I said I'd give it a play.

 

And it's really pretty bloody good.  I've wrongly labelled Fairport as a folk band (again, Dad's influence as he tended to always play their later stuff), but these earlier albums definitely fall into the folk-rock genre, and with Sandy Denny's absolutely beautiful vocals, it makes for a really good sound.

 

Opening track Come All Ye is superb, as is apparent fan favourite Tam Lin, and there's a brilliant balance of traditional folk from the fiddle of Dave Swarbrick and rock from the genius guitar work of Richard Thompson.  Some of the tracks passed me by somewhat but the stronger songs more than make up for that.  

 

Favourite Track: Matty Groves - sums up this era of Fairport in one superb 8 minute epic track, a traditional folk tale brought to life with Denny's voice, the other half of which is more of a jam with Swarbrick and Thompson showing their talents

[Benny]

ooh, @Boothjan you stole one of my potential picks! 

[Benny]

Day 5: Radiohead - Kid A

 

 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lDotrFl8LXo4UMq_XeVB1areFI_b8Par8

 

Now then, here's one of the first bands that I could justifiably have considered myself a massive fanboy of. I first heard OK Computer when I was a teenager, and after both that and The Bends I was completely hooked on this depressing sounding band that somehow had hooked themselves into my still developing musical tastes brain. One of the interesting things about returning to their albums decades later is rediscovering just how incredible in terms of composition and production they are, something I'm not sure I was equipped to properly understand when I was younger.

 

Obviously this music was a complete departure from what I grew up listening to, and was absolutely the band that marked the gradual shift in my tastes into adulthood. But although OK Computer is an obvious pick, Kid A also represents a massive shift in direction and growth itself, and is personally my favourite Radiohead album. It's also something that has been on my mind after experiencing the Kid Amnesia audio-visual interactive experience that came out recently, which transported me back in time and delighted my senses.

 

Favourite track: Everything In its Right Place - I actually remember when I first listened to Kid A, after getting my grubby teenage hands on it, that the first track kind of blew me away as it was so different sounding to what had come before. Either that or Idioteque, as in my mind it feels like a timeless rallying cry against environmental disaster capitalism that today feels even more powerful than ever (regardless of the inspiration for the song).

 

Still good? I'm still a fanboy. Perhaps more so.

 

Edit: The Graun gave it 2/5 at the time apparently. Probably too radical for those sensible defenders of the status quo 

[Boothjan]

Day 3: Athlete - Vehicles and Animals

 

 

I don't actually know why I chose this - I've not listened to it for YEARS and sadly, it's lost a lot of the charm that first attracted me to this band.  It's always been comfortably my favourite album of theirs, I'd gone off them completely by the time their 3rd album arrived and I wasn't too enamoured with Tourist (their 2nd album) either, but this is still quite good.

 

Some cool production values throughout this album - who doesn't love a theremin? - and some familiar anthemic soft rock themes which took me back to when I saw them at Glastonbury stood in mud up to my shins.  Happy times.

 

I suppose that when something is merely 'good' as opposed to 'ground breaking', it's easy to lose some of that initial enthusiasm and whilst it brought back a lot of good, happy memories of my mid-20's, I can't say I enjoyed it anywhere near as much as the albums from the 2 previous days.  Because Athlete weren't really all that good, were they?

 

Neat artwork, mind you.

 

Favourite Track: Shake Those Windows - still a corking tune

 

Spoiler

Previous:

 

1. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

2. Fairport Convention - Liege and Lief

 

[Benny]

Day 6: Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y Gabriela

 

 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mmctjHarziGb8IWVGxINnQYQsOMdJRBrE

 

Sneaking this one in today just before the time is up because I absolutely fucking bloody love this album. One of the absolute prized items of my collection really.

 

I can't remember when I first heard them, might have been a live set on Jools Holland or something. But their sheer virtuoso artistry instantly had me hooked and I've been a fan ever since. It's acoustic guitar that shreds harder than the most amped up electric monsters, slaps harder than the deepest bass, and liquifies your intestines without a real drum kit in sight.

 

I even prefer their version of Orion to the original.

 

Favourite track: Diablo Rojo - just pure, furious, madcap, passionate, flabbergasting energy from start to finish. But to be honest you can say that about the whole album.

 

Still good? Heart stoppingly so.

[Boothjan]

Superb album, that. Great choice.

[Benny]

Day 7: Jeff Buckley - Grace

 

 

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lttalAatK3sje7VkUpiP_-_q4YJW_GcRs

 

Maybe an obvious pick, but the last album got me all fired up last night, meaning I couldn't sleep, so I needed something utterly relaxing to chill out to today

 

I don't think I heard any Jeff Buckley until a few years after this album had come out - it was only by chance I remember hearing Hallelujah on the radio and instantly wanting to know who this voice literally gifted from Heaven was. By then I actually had a disposable income so it was a desperate dash down to the record shop post-haste.

 

It's one of those albums that feels like a bolt of lighting with the thunder continuing to ripple on through music history. David Bowie apparently once said he considered it the best album ever made even - bloody hell!

 

Favourite track: Hallelujah - I mean obviously it's Hallelujah. What an absolutely haunting and incredible cover. But I also in particular like Corpus Christi Carol as it's a great showcase for his voice at its most angelic.

 

Still good? It's alright

[Benny]

Wow, Hallelujah still gets me every time. Just spontaneous blubbing emotional reaction toward the closing parts of the track all over again. Just one of the greatest songs I've ever heard.

[Clipper]

I have been getting random CDs from charity shops for £1 or less (with a view to maybe getitng the vinyl for the special ones), sometimes to expand my musical tastes and sometimes old faves I used to have but got rid or forgot years ago. This is the place for this I guess as they are most definitely not new albums just mostly new to me I'm not even doing 100 in 100 days or even 100 this year it will be random.  I won't post anything I don't like as there is enough negativity without me adding to it

 

So I started with Dad Rock... sorry it was just the first one that I played that I bought this morning and it hit me between the eyes!

 

1. Pearl Jam - Ten

They passed me by til now, don't know how, just never appealed enough for me to buy previously. I had played a few on Rockband in the 360 days but again never bought an album. Bought it this morning and turned out to be their debut album.

 

It is barnstormingly good fun. They got sort of lumped into the "grunge" arena but they are beyond that with tracks like Oceans they stretch in all directions. There are hints of Zeppelin/Dad Rock as well as grunge but also some superb melodic tracks which I don't expect with this sort of indie/"grunge" area. What strikes me most is the musicianship is absolutely fantastic, you expect crunchy guitars and some lack of finess with this kind of music but good lord these guys can play. It is saying something that they, for me, outshine the vocals of Vedder which is no mean feat as his voice is superb.

 

Favourite Track? Oceans as it has a lovely Zeppelin vibe/influence

 

 

[Darren]

2 hours ago, Clipper said:

I have been getting random CDs from charity shops for £1 or less (with a view to maybe getitng the vinyl for the special ones), sometimes to expand my musical tastes and sometimes old faves I used to have but got rid or forgot years ago. This is the place for this I guess as they are most definitely not new albums just mostly new to me I'm not even doing 100 in 100 days or even 100 this year it will be random.  I won't post anything I don't like as there is enough negativity without me adding to it

 

So I started with Dad Rock... sorry it was just the first one that I played that I bought this morning and it hit me between the eyes!

 

1. Pearl Jam - Ten

They passed me by til now, don't know how, just never appealed enough for me to buy previously. I had played a few on Rockband in the 360 days but again never bought an album. Bought it this morning and turned out to be their debut album.

 

It is barnstormingly good fun. They got sort of lumped into the "grunge" arena but they are beyond that with tracks like Oceans they stretch in all directions. There are hints of Zeppelin/Dad Rock as well as grunge but also some superb melodic tracks which I don't expect with this sort of indie/"grunge" area. What strikes me most is the musicianship is absolutely fantastic, you expect crunchy guitars and some lack of finess with this kind of music but good lord these guys can play. It is saying something that they, for me, outshine the vocals of Vedder which is no mean feat as his voice is superb.

 

Favourite Track? Oceans as it has a lovely Zeppelin vibe/influence

 

 

I’m quite jealous of you hearing that for the first time now! I bought the CD when it came out and finally got it on vinyl a few months ago. An absolute classic.