Single Pigeons, and the Cousins that Love Them

Today I will ramble a bit about some of my favorite albums of all time. These discs aren't necessarily in my top ten list, or even in my top 100, but they are favorites at any rate.


I start this tale with an album that does make my top 10 list:

Dream Theater - Scenes from a Memory

Released in 1999 this progressive rock conceptual masterpiece was the bands first album with new keyboardist Jordan Rudess. The epic story
tells of a man who is fighting to uncover a murder conspiracy centered around the woman he used to be in a past life. The music is pure prog rock and really shows off just how talented each musician is, each at the top of their game.


The second album is far from my top ten, but does show up somewhere in the top 100 without a doubt:

REM - Out of Time

Not a whole lot of non-Prog albums make my top 100 list, but this one has had a spot since it's release in 1991. I've never been a big fan of REM, but this album is satisfying from start to finish. Sure it's radio saturated pop, especially songs like "Losing My Religion", "Me In Honey", "Radio Song" and "Shiny Happy People", but the album is a five star favorite of mine.


Third on today's list is an absolute classic:

Frank Zappa - Sheik Yerbouti

Although I am new to the world of Frank Zappa it's obvious to me that FZ was out for the jugular on this release, focusing a bit more attention at
insulting as many people as possible. The lyrics are downright crude at some points, but isn't that half the fun? As usual, the music is also very pleasing, melding perfectly with lyrics on tunes such as "I Have Been In You", "Flakes", "Bobby Brown Goes Down" and "Dancin' Fool". This is a must have album.



And now, on to fourth:

Rush - Moving Pictures

Released in 1981 'Moving Pictures' is far from my favorite Rush album, but still an all time favorite disc in my list. Though the band really gained a lot of ground in the mainstream with their previous outing (1980's 'Permanent Waves'), 'MP' opened a lot of doors for the band. From the radio smash "Tom Sawyer", to the epic "The Camera Eye", the hard rocking instrumental "YYZ", and the classic "Limelight" it's no wonder that 'Moving Pictures' is the bands highest selling album of all time.



And since it's such a nice round number, here is my number five:

Poison - Swallow This Live

For all intents and purposes, this was the last Poison album to bask in the majority of the public's eye. This 2 CD live set has a nice number in my top 50 Favorite Albums of all time list. The band are on fire as they tear through favorite from all of the studio albums that really matter in their catalogue (although the post 'STL' albums are all decent). Of particular note are the bonus studio tracks that would mark the end of Poison Mark 1. Definitely worth picking up for any "hair metal head", such as myself.

And that's the list for the time being, I hope you enjoyed a peek as some of my favorites. More posts like this will be along in the future, as it was kinda fun. Now, it's time to get back to writing my book. Thanks for tuning in.

NP - RUSH: YYZ