The first album from Alice In Chains showcasing the impressive harmonised vocals of Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell. At this point, AIC were still more of a traditional metal band, with the darkness finally taking over their music on their next album.
Best Songs: We Die Young; Man In The Box; Real Thing
71) Aerosmith - Get A Grip (1993)
In the early 90's, no one wrote the anthemic power ballad like Aerosmith, and 'Get A Grip' features three of their best and most well-known in 'Cryin'', 'Crazy', and 'Amazing'. Naturally, opinion is divided about whether or not this is a good thing, but I think they're fantastic.
Best Songs: Cryin'; Crazy; Amazing
70) Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer (2008)
The Dresden Dolls went hiatus after the release of 'No, Virginia...', and the duo's pianist, singer and songwriter Amanda Palmer went into the studio with Ben Folds. As opposed to the simple set-up of piano and drums for the Dolls, 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' features far more complex instrumentation. There is a photobook that was released as a companion to this album, showing Palmer dead in various ways, with writing from Neil Gaiman. Fast forward a few years after this first meeting, Amanda and Neil are now happily married.
Best Songs: Runs In The Family; Ampersand; Oasis
69) Green Day - Insomniac (1995)
Less than a year after the release of 'Dookie', Green Day returned with 'Insomniac', an album that mainly retained the style of the previous record, but far heavier and darker lyrics. 'Panic Song' deals with bassist Mike Dirnt's panic attacks, and the album title and 'Brain Stew' deal with Billie Joe Armstrong's insomnia. Green Day's best work.
Best Songs: Armatage Shanks; Panic Song; Walking Contradiction
68) Smashing Pumpkins - Machina II/The Friends And Enemies Of Modern Music (2000)
Long before the likes of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails were giving their albums away for free, the Smashing Pumpkins came up with the idea. After their record label, Virgin - disappointed with sales of the original 'Machina' - refused to release part two of the band's concept album, Billy Corgan secretly sent vinyl prints of the album (along with three EP's, featuring alternate versions of tracks, and others that didn't make the final tracklist) to a number of fans in the online community with the instructions to distribute the music online free of charge. Fans of the band immediately began to hail it as the band's best album since 'Mellon Collie...' and a return to form for the band after they had been disappointed by 'Adore' and the original 'Machina'. It is definitely the best of those three albums, featuring music ranging from the trashy 'White Spyder', to the melancholy 'If There Is A God' and almost everything in between. The album is due to receive it's first full release this year, where it will be packaged with a reissue of 'Machina/The Machines Of God'.
Best Songs: Dross; Real Love; If There Is A God
67) Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality (1971)
Black Sabbath's third album, in which the blues influences aren't as evident (though they are still there), and the distinctive sound of 'heavy metal' became fully realised for the first time. Not only that, but this album would eventually go on to inspire the band's that started the 'stoner metal' sub-genre.
Best Songs: Sweet Leaf; Children Of The Grave
66) Lacuna Coil - In A Reverie (1999)
Lacuna Coil's first full-length album.
Best Songs: Circle; To Myself I Turned
65) System Of A Down - System Of A Down (1998)
System Of A Down - with their schizophrenic loud-soft-loud-soft-LOUDER brand of metal - emerged in 1998 with their self-titled debut album, leaving many people not knowing what they'd just listened to. It's one of those moments when people realise that they had never heard anything like this before. Serj Tankian's vocals (which could go from growling, to screaming, to singing in the space of a few seconds), and their political lyrics inspired by their Armenian heritage (Armenian folk music is also a big influence on the band's sound), struck a chord with people. They didn't really hit the big time until the release of 'Toxicity', but this is one of those cases in which the first album really is the best.
Best Songs: Suite-Pee; Sugar; War?
64) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk (1989)
The early years of the Red Hot Chili Peppers saw the line-up constantly fluctuating, with the only consistent elements being Anthony Kiedis and Flea. With the departure of drummer Jack Irons, and the death of guitarist Hillel Slovak (another victim of heroin), the band went through many temporary replacements until finally settling on what would become the most consistent line-up of the band. John Frusciante was brought in to play guitar, and drummer Chad Smith would eventually fill Irons' shoes. That this was the line-up that would bring the band more attention is evident from the first notes of 'Good Time Boys', as the band's trademark funk is combined with a more traditional hard rock sound. There are some good tracks on 'The Uplift Mofo Party Plan', but on 'Mother's Milk', for the first time the band sound confident in their abilities, which really helps the music... particularly on their cover of Stevie Wonder's 'Higher Ground'.
Best Songs: Higher Ground; Knock Me Down; Johnny, Kick A Hole In The Sky
63) Michael Jackson - HIStory: Past, Present And Future, Book I (1995)
Disc One of this double album from the "King Of Pop" is a Greatest Hits collection consisting of material from throughout his solo career until that point. But ignore that, as it's not relevant to this list... Disc Two, however, is an album of all-new material. As well as the usual MJ fare (like 'Earth Song'), there are also far more aggressive-sounding songs on this album, with lyrics taking aim at the media's portrayal of him, the police and District Attorney Tom Sneddon (that particular song is called 'D.S.' and the lyric sheet says 'Dom Sheldon', but it's obvious that's not what he's singing), who attempted to make his name by pressing to prosecute him on child abus allegations. Most critics of the album seem to centre on these lyrics with the "aww... the rich man feels violated" kind of response, as if if you have a successful career and money you should just quietly take all of the ugly things that are said about you without complaining. I personally think that all the money in the world can't make you happy when you're in the kind of situation he was in.
Best Songs: Scream; Stranger In Moscow; Earth Song
62) Korn - Korn III: Remember Who You Are (2010)
It seems like every time Korn attempt to experiment with their sound they are met with mixed to negative reviews... and often with good reason. And every time their response is a short-lived "back-to-basics" approach. This was the case with the follow-up to the band's patchy untitled album, with the band going so far this time as returning to their original producer Ross Robinson. Returning to the kind of music that could be found on their debut album, the band actually managed to improve on that original formula. It's surprising just how good this album is from start to finish. As much as I like 'The Path To Totality' (their latest album, which experiments with dubstep), I would have preferred them to carry on with things like this, because the band are just so much better when they are a straight-forward nu-metal band with no pretense of experimentation.
Best Songs: Oildale (Leave Me Alone); Holding All These Lies
61) Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast (1983)
After firing Paul Di'Anno, Iron Maiden brought Bruce Dickinson into the fold and recorded 'The Number Of The Beast'. This album is the crowning achievement in a long (completely unvaried) career for the UK heavy metal band. Never again would Iron Maiden sound this great, though (although as you should know by now, they have released other albums that I've liked since then). One of the best UK albums of all time.
Best Songs: Run To The Hills; Hallowed Be Thy Name
60) Social Distortion - Social Distortion (1990)
1988's 'Prison Bound' was the album in which Social Distortion first played in what has become their trademark "country punk" style. But this album (their first on major label, Epic), is where the band took that sound, ran with it and perfected it. In fact, I can pinpoint the exact song in which Mike Ness and co. had perfected it, and that is 'Story Of My Life' - even if it feels like it will never end in Guitar Hero III.
Best Songs: So Far Away; Story Of My Life
59) Smashing Pumpkins - Teargarden By Kaleidyscope Vol. 2: The Solstice Bare (2010)
The second part of Billy Corgan's 'Teargarden By Kaleidyscope' project. After easing into the project with the first part, Corgan seems to have some idea of where he wanted this to go by this point, and the result is a far superior release than the last, with 'Tom Tom' being one of the best songs written by him in some time. After this, two tracks of Volume 3 were released, utilising the full then-current line-up of the band to record together since the earliest recordings for 'Machina' (with 'Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness' being the last full album recorded by a full line-up of the band), and then he seemed to abandon the idea instead taking the band into the studio to record a conventionally released full-length album.
Best Song: Tom Tom
58) Muse - Showbiz (1999)
Long before they were the UK's most prominent purveyors of conspiracy theory-obsessed, epic, OTT space rock, Muse were just an indie-rock band from Devon being unfavourably compared to Radiohead. This comparison was never really fair (with the only real similarity being that Matt Bellamy sings in the same kind of range as Thom Yorke... just better). 'Showbiz' a great debut from the then-young band, showcasing the band at their most straight-forward.
Best Songs: Sunburn; Unintended; Hate This And I'll Love You
57) Tool - Opiate (1992)
Tool's debut EP, which is in a similar style to their album from the next year, 'Undertow'.
Best Song: Jerk-Off
56) Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell (1980)
Listen to Black Sabbath's catalogue with Ozzy Osbourne, and there's a noticable fall in quality by the time they get to 'Technical Ecstasy', though all albums up to that point, including that one are good records. The biggest turning point though comes in 'Never Say Die!', which it would be generous to call a poor album. It was obvious that not all was well with the band, and by the end of 1979, Osbourne had been fired.
His replacement was former Rainbow singer, Ronnie James Dio, and together they recorded a Black Sabbath album that was not only a return to form for the ailing band, but one of the best albums the band has ever produced. It's obviously a very different kind of record to the type they had done with Ozzy up until that point, with the band now having a lot more in common with some of their more recent contemporaries at the time. It's a shame that this line-up of the band would be relatively short-lived, as in comparison none of the other non-Ozzy singers the band have had have been able to compare to Dio.
Best Songs: Neon Knights; Heaven And Hell
55) Temple Of The Dog - Temple Of The Dog (1991)
Soundgarden's Chris Cornell was a flatmate of Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood, and after the latter's death, Cornell wrote two songs in tribute to his friend, 'Say Hello 2 Heaven', and 'Reach Down'. He took them to Wood's MLB bandmates, Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, and along with Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron and guitarist Mike McCready Temple Of The Dog were born. Together they wrote a further eight tracks, and they released their only album. Stylistically, Temple Of The Dog is far lighter than Soundgarden, so Cornell for the first time made full use of the soulful side of his voice. You could hear every ounce of emotion in the tracks written for Wood.
The best song, though, features a duet between Cornell and a young singer from Illinois who had auditioned for a new band featuring Gossard, Ament and McCready named Eddie Vedder. 'Hunger Strike' is in my opinion, one of the greatest songs ever written. And nowadays (with Matt Cameron a member of both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam) it is pretty much Pearl Jam featuring Chris Cornell... a great combination.
Best Songs: Say Hello 2 Heaven; Hunger Strike
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