My Top 666 Albums Ever Part 30

144) Korn - Untouchables (2002)

Another one of those albums that teenagers at the turn of the century couldn't have avoided. 'Here To Stay' is among Korn's greatest songs, if not the greatest. And despite the fact that the then-approaching his 40's Jonathan Davis was still writing about school bully's may have been pretty sad, 'Thoughtless' is right there with it.
Best Songs: Here To Stay; Thoughtless; No One's There

143) Nightwish - Dark Passion Play (2007)

After firing Tarja Turunen at the end of the tour supporting 'Once', Nightwish began a search for a new singer which ended when they discovered the Swedish Anette Olzon who was formely of the band Alyson Avenue. Unlike the soprano Tarja, Anette is a mezzo-soprano, and the music has been brought down a notch accordingly. It isn't a complete drastic change, as the album still received an extremely grandiose production complete with accompaniment from the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The biggest difference is that Anette's vocals aren't soaring quite as high and it brings Nightwish more in line with the likes of their closest contemporaries, Within Temptation. This isn't a bad thing, however, as the band has become far more accessible. Marco Hietala is also more prominent that before on this album, even singing lead vocals on the acoustic ballad 'The Islander' with some beautiful melodies by Anette. Elsewhere, his chorus on 'Bye Bye Beautiful' is a not even thinly veiled attack on Tarja... "Did you ever hear what I told you? Did you ever read what I wrote you? Did you ever listen to what we played?", etc.
Best Songs: Bye Bye Beautiful; Eva; The Islander

142) Manic Street Preachers - The Holy Bible (1994)

If the lyrics on 'Gold Against The Soul' were far more personal than those found on 'Generation Terrorists', then 'The Holy Bible' is a heartbreaking, soul-wrenching snapshot into the increasingly fragile mental state of guitarist and lyricist Richey Edwards. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, as listening to the lyrics will drag you through the gutter and leave you depressed. But despite (or because of) that it's the greatest thing that the Manic Street Preachers have ever put on record. There are political lyrics as well, but it's the personal ones that will really stick with you. It's little wonder that the band wanted to do something almost completely 180 degrees from this for their follow-up, though.
Best Songs: Ifwhiteamericatoldthetruthforonedayit'sworldwouldfallapart; Revol; P.C.P.

141) Soundgarden - King Animal (2012)

The long-awaited return of Soundgarden. And yes, it was very definitely worth the wait. Chris Cornell is one of the greatest singers of any genre currently living, and his post-Audioslave solo career (consisting of middling album 'Carry On', and complete misstep, Timbaland collaboration 'Scream') made me think that we'd never hear his voice over anything great again. Thank God for Kim Thayil, Ben Shephard and Matt Cameron for suggesting a reunion and putting Cornell back on the map doing what he does best. Musically, the album isn't the moody, sludgy-riffed metal of 'Badmotorfinger', but it's not the "we're running out of ideas" sound of 'Down On The Upside', either, resting more on the level of 'Superunknown'. They were great at Hyde Park last year, too (although when my wife thought about the fact that we'd now seen Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden live she got a bit upset about the one glaring omission that we'd never get to see).
Best Songs: Been Away Too Long; Taree; Worse Dreams

140) Rainbow - Rising (1976)

Rainbow's second, and best album. Featuring only guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and singer Ronnie James Dio from the first album, the rest of the band was filled out by drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Jimmy Bain and keyboard player Tony Carey.
Best Song: Stargazer

139) The Rolling Stones - Between The Buttons (US VERSION) (1967)

The last album to be completely produced by the band's original manager, Andrew Loog Oldham (the band fell out with him whilst recording the terrible 'Their Satanic Majesties Request', and only then found out that their contract gave him sole control over their entire catalogue between 1963 and 1967). This is also the best album of the Oldham era, with the band finally consolidating their sound that began to come to the fore with 'Aftermath'. Before that, they were mainly a covers band, and their greatest achievements came in the first few years after the band took control of their destiny.
Best Songs: Let's Spend The Night Together; Ruby Tuesday; Connection

138) Puscifer - Conditions Of My Parole (2011)

Second full-length album from Maynard James Keenan's solo project. As opposed to previous releases, this is much more along the lines of the industrial-style work Puscifer provided to the soundtracks to the first two Underworld movies (with the project only becoming a full-time endeavour in 2007. There isn't really a "Puscifer sound" as such, as he uses it as a general melting pot of ideas that wouldn't work with Tool or A Perfect Circle.
Best Songs: Tiny Monsters; Conditions Of My Parole; Tumbleweed

137) Return To Earth - Automata (2010)
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The second album from Ron Scalzo, Brett Aveni and former Dillinger Escape Plan drummer Chris Pennie. 'Automata' features such a wide range of ideas that it was ever going to be great, or all fall apart in a mess. Luckily it is the former, and has been described as a mix of Ministry, Fear Factory and Nine Inch Nails, though there are also little unique elements there. As I said about their previous album, it's a shame that one of the most exciting metal bands of recent years is never going to get its due.
Ron Scalzo seems to be full speed ahead on rebuilding his life after losing every single one of his possessions in Hurricane Sandy last year, by the way. It's going to take a while, but he seems to be coping with it a lot better than most people would.
Best Songs: Back Of My Hand; Snakeface; The Altercation Of Man

136) Radiohead - The Bends (1995)

No matter how far away from music I'd actually want to listen to Radiohead get, I can rest easy knowing that I'll always have this 50 minutes of excellence to listen to. 'The Bends' is among the albums where it's really difficult to find a low point, because almost every second is filled with greatness.
Best Songs: The Bends; Just; Street Spirit (Fade Out)

135) Stereophonics - Word Gets Around (1997)

The debut album from the Stereophonics is made up of songs based on observations about living in the small Welsh town of Cwmaman. The title of course refers to the spreading of rumours - as does the album's opener, 'A Thousand Trees' - and the stories on display here are by turns infuriating (the aforementioned 'A Thousand Trees'), amusing ('Last Of The Big Time Drinkers', 'More Life In A Tramp's Vest') and heartbreaking ('Local Boy In The Photograph', 'Billy Davey's Daughter'). It's a fantastic debut from a band that we'd later learn has a very varied quality level over their career.
Best Songs: More Life In A Tramp's Vest; Local Boy In The Photograph; Too Many Sandwiches

134) Loaded - Dark Days (2001)

In 1999, Duff McKagan recorded 'Beautiful Disease' - his second solo album, and first since sobering up and leaving Guns N' Roses. In all actuality, that album belongs in this list, and the only reason it isn't is because the record label, Geffen, was taken over by Interscope Records that year and immediately started dropping artists that hadn't made them enough money, and on the day the album was due to be released, they decided that McKagan would be one of them, and abruptly canceled its release (bearing in mind this man was in the label's biggest ever moneymakers, this is probably the most stupid thing that Interscope had done up until this point).
Because the label had retained the rights to the recordings, Duff went back into the studio to re-record tracks from the album the following year with producer/keyboard player Martin Feveyear, guitarist Dave Dederer (of PUSA), and drummer Geoff Reading. However, out of those sessions came new songs, and so only three re-recordings were included on the finished album, with 9 completely new tracks. Instead of releasing the album under his own name, he decided to release it under the name of the band he'd originally formed to tour behind 'Beautiful Disease', Loaded.
The band was consolidated with the departure of Dederer, when Duff recruited Mike Squires (who had played some guitar parts on the record), and bass player Jeff Rouse (Duff played all bass on the album) to tour behind the album, which is often mistakenly referred to as a punk record. There's always going to be punk elements to anything written by McKagan, because that's his background, but there's a lot more to that in 'Dark Days', with some tracks I'd say bordering very closely to gothic rock. Unfortunately for Loaded, touring abruptly halted when Duff was invited to form a new band with Slash and Matt Sorum, and in spite of a few gigs a year for a little while, the band was effectively put on ice until 2008.
Best Songs: Seattle Head; Then & Now; Queen Jonasophina

133) Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (2007)

The sixth album from the Foo Fighters, for the first time incorporates piano into a few tracks ('Summer's End', 'Statues', and 'Home'). Other than that, though, it's exactly what people had come to expect from a Foo Fighters record, with lots of catchy rock songs just crying out to be heard in stadiums... which is exactly what they did. I was lucky enough to see their Wembley Stadium show in support of this record.
Best Songs: The Pretender; Long Road To Ruin; Cheer Up Boys (Your Make Up Is Running)

132) Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg (2009)

I wasn't a fan of the first Wolfmother album, but 'Cosmic Egg' is a fantastic early-Sabbath style throwback to 70's hard rock. As ever, Andrew Stockdale's vocals are a love it or hate it affair, but I've found that with a lot of things like that, I tend to love them.
Best Songs: New Moon Rising; Cosmic Egg; Violence Of The Sun

131) Audioslave - Revelations (2006)

The third album from Audioslave is often considered their worst album, but I found it to be a vast improvement on their debut album, and definitely an improvement on their not very good at all second album, 'Out Of Exile'. Producer Brendan O'Brien replaces Rick Rubin, and the result is album with a far fuller sound, with more emphasis on the almost funk-like basslines of the highly underrated Tim Commerford. It's a shame that the album's release was almost completely overshadowed by Chris Cornell's sudden announcement that he was leaving the band (the rest of the band found out when they saw it on the internet).
Best Songs: Revelations; Wide Awake; Moth

130) Stone Sour - Stone Sour (2002)

A lot of people don't realise this, but Corey Taylor and Jim Root were both members of Stone Sour before they even met the rest of Slipknot. The band was put on hold after that band hit it big with their debut album. So this debut album is actually from the reformed band. The noticable difference is of course the fact that Corey and Jim were seen unmasked for the first time, and that the band was far more melodic than Slipknot. That's not to say that this isn't a heavy album, though. Far from it... other than the vocals, there aren't many band's that you can say they're more melodic than at this point.
Best Songs: Get Inside; Blotter; Bother

129) Chris Cornell - Euphoria Morning (1999)

Despite what I said above about Chris Cornell's post-Audioslave solo career, this solo album - released between the break-up of Soundgarden and his joining Audioslave - is absolutely fantastic. 'Euphoria Morning' sees Cornell taking a much slower, more acoustic almost folky sound than what his fans had grown accustomed to. The result means that you can focus much more on his voice than any of his previous records (except maybe 'Temple Of The Dog'), and when your voice is as great as this, that can only be a good thing. Other band members for this album include Alain Johannes and the late Natasha Schneider of Eleven (and later Queens Of The Stone Age), Ric Markmann, and drummer Josh Freese.
Best Songs: Preaching The End Of The World; Mission; Disappearing One

128) Lacuna Coil - Lacuna Coil EP (1998)

Lacuna Coil's debut EP, showcasing their unique brand of atmospheric gothic metal. By the time of the following year's full-length 'In A Reverie', guitarists Raffaele Zagaria and Claudio Leo (who sadly died earlier this year) and drummer Leonardo Forti had left the band to be replaced by Cristiano Migliore and Cristiano Mozzati.
Best Song: Falling

127) Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (2009)

The sequel to 'American Idiot' manages to build upon the stadium-filling sound of that last album, and successfully better it. This is possibly the heaviest album in Green Day's catalogue, at points bordering on hard rock, whilst at the same time retaining the delicate moments that got 'American Idiot' so much airtime five years previously. As great as that record was, they just sound far more confident in this big "punk rock opera" direction than they did previously. Whilst not as commercially successful, it still managed to become a huge hit, despite the band refusing to record a censored version in order for certain shops to agree to stock it.
Best Songs: Christian's Inferno; East Jesus Nowhere; Restless Heart Syndrome

My Top 666 Albums Ever Part 29

162) The Rolling Stones - Goats Head Soup (1973)

Released in 1973, 'Goats Head Soup' marked the end of the band's creative peak that began five years previously with 'Beggars Banquet'. The album opens with the brooding, funk-influenced 'Dancing With Mr. D', but the album's greatest moment comes with 'Angie', one of the most heartbreaking ballads that Jagger and Richards ever wrote together. It was after this point that the pair began to grow apart, and their music suffered as a result.
Best Songs: Dancing With Mr. D; Angie

161) Weezer - Hurley (2010)

After three consecutive albums featuring Weezer's quality decreasing at a fairly epic rate, culminating in the commercial failure of 'Raditude', the band were dropped from their long-time record label, Geffen. Eventually signing to the independent label, Epitath, Rivers Cuomo and co. returned in 2010 with 'Hurley', an album that recalls the band's mid-90's heyday. The music on 'Hurley' ranges from the pop-rock catchiness found on their debut album, and the harder, far less optimistic sound found on their follow-up, 'Pinkerton'. The best Weezer album of the 21st century.
Best Songs: Ruling Me; Where's My Sex?

160) Nightwish - Century Child (2002)

'Century Child' is the first Nightwish album to feature bass player (and sometimes male vocalist) Marco Hietala. As such, it is the album that finally solidified the band's sound, with the music becoming slower and darker than on previous records. Actually, the perfect display of the band that Nightwish had become four albums into their career comes in the form of their cover of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Phantom Of The Opera', with Marco and Tarja Turunen's vocals perfectly complimenting each other despite (or maybe because of) their sounding so completely different.
Best Songs: End Of All Hope; Phantom Of The Opera

159) Apocalyptica - 7th Symphony (2010)

The latest album from Apocalyptica carries on the tradition found on 'Worlds Collide' of bringing in vocalists from other bands on some tracks. 'End Of Me' is the best that Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale has ever sounded. Another tradition that is upheld with this album is the presence of Slayer's Dave Lombardo drumming on a track. Despite no Corey Taylor or Cristina Scabbia this time around, this is my favourite Apocalyptica album.
Best Songs: End Of Me; Broken Pieces

158) The Dead Boys - We Have Come For Your Children (1978)

The second and final album from the American punk rock band, with the band breaking up shortly after work on the record was completed. The song 'Ain't It Fun' was covered by Guns N' Roses on "The Spaghetti Incident?", bringing attention to The Dead Boys that they missed out on in their career.
Best Songs: (I Don't Wanna Be No) Catholic Boy; Ain't It Fun

157) Iron Maiden - Killers (1981)

Iron Maiden's second album, and the last to feature vocals by Paul Di'Anno, whose drug use would eventually cause him to be fired. Guitarist Adrian Smith features on this album after replacing Dennis Stratton who appeared on the debut album.
Best Songs: Wrathchild; Killers

156) Aerosmith - Pump (1989)

Aerosmith's first album since 'Permanent Vacation' put them back on the map as a force to be reckoned with. 'Love In An Elevator' and 'Janie's Got A Gun' - which deals with child abuse, and the victim's brutal revenge - have become some of the band's best-loved songs.
Best Songs: Young Lust; Voodoo Medicine Man

155) Perfect - Once, Twice, Three Times A Maybe (2004)

Featuring former Replacement, Tommy Stinson on bass and lead vocals, Perfect recorded this, their first and only full-length album in 1997. However, when Regency Pictures purchased Restless Records - the band's record label - the album release was abruptly canceled, and the struggling band were forced to break up. Stinson then started work as a session musician, whilst becoming a telesalesman in order to pay his bills until the following year he heard that Guns N' Roses were looking for a new bass player after the departure of Duff McKagan. It wasn't until 2004 that Rykodisk would acquire the rights to the album, and give it an official release where it was met with positive reviews. It's quite depressing to think of where this punky rock band could have gone if they had been given a chance.
Best Songs: Better Days; 7 Days A Week

154) Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak (1976)

If there is one essential Thin Lizzy album, this is it. 'The Boys Are Back In Town' is the band's biggest hit, but the title track is far superior, and 'Cowboy Song' is the greatest thing the band ever recorded.
Best Songs: Jailbreak; Cowboy Song

153) Metallica - ...And Justice For All (1988)

Metallica's first album since the death of original bass player Cliff Burton in a tour bus crash. There are some production issues with this album including the bass of Jason Newsted being almost completely inaudible (attributed to a still grieving band not feeling comfortable working with anyone but Cliff), but the songs featured here include some of Metallica's greatest, including the classic 'One' which is the only song on the album to have regularly been played live since the album's release.
Best Songs: One; Harvester Of Sorrow

152) Nine Inch Nails - The Slip (2008)

Recorded in just three weeks, and released as a completely free download the day after its completion, NIN's 'The Slip' was the band's second such release in a matter of months. This was due to Trent Reznor enjoying the fact that his contract with Interscope Records had expired, and he was free to do things he was never able to do before. Unlike the previous release, 'Ghosts I-IV', which was merely a collection of instrumental soundscapes and was considered an experiment to see what he and Atticus Ross could come up with in a certain time and release whatever it was they came up with, 'The Slip' is a proper album, and carries similar themes and art direction to 2007's 'Year Zero' and this combined with the nature of the album's recording means that it doesn't mark a change in sound that usually accompanies a new NIN release. So far it's the final NIN album, though Trent Reznor has said there will be more at some point, though he has no plans to tour with the group any more. As well as Reznor and Ross, this album features contributions from live members Robin Finck (returning to the band after his second stint with Guns N' Roses), Allessandro Cortini and Josh Freese.
Best Songs: 1,000,000; Demon Seed

151) The Replacements - Stink (1982)

This EP was the second release from The Replacements and as such showcases the band's hardcore punk roots. In fact, at just 15 minutes in length, it's the perfect hardcore punk record, as the full-length 'Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash' released the previous year got a bit too much after a little while. There's really not much variety in that kind of music, which I believe is one of the reasons The Replacements decided to go in a completely different direction in the future.
Best Songs: Kids Don't Follow; Dope Smokin' Moron

150) Green River - Rehab Doll (1988)

Green River's only full-length album marked the end for the band. During the sessions, a conflict emerged with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament on one side, and Mark Arm on the other. By October 1987, the band had broken up (though recording sessions on the album continued through to January 1988). By the time the album was completed, Mother Love Bone and Mudhoney had already been formed. However, in their four years as a band, Green River had influenced a new wave of bands in Seattle.
Best Songs: Rehab Doll; One More Stitch

149) The Jacksons - Triumph (1980)

Released a year after Michael's breakthrough solo album, 'Off The Wall', 'Triumph' is the last thing any of the brothers have done worth listening to. Michael only released one more album with them (1984's 'Victory'), and by that point it was obvious that he was desperate to make his solo career a full-time endeavour and that tensions between him and his brothers were at an all-time high. 'Triumph', however was recorded before Michael released the biggest selling album of all time, so he wasn't as eager to escape the confines of the group as he would become.
Best Songs: Can You Feel It; Walk Right Now

148) Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard Of Ozz (1980)

Ozzy Osbourne's first solo album after being fired from Black Sabbath, and still the best thing he has ever recorded outside of that band in large part due to work of classically-influenced guitarist Randy Rhoads. This album forged a path for heavy metal that other band's (known as NWOBHM - or New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) would imitate for at least a decade.
Best Songs: Crazy Train; Mr. Crowley

147) Aerosmith - Get Your Wings (1974)

The second album from Boston's Aerosmith, and the first to be produced by Jack Douglas, who would become a frequent collaborator of the band's.
Best Songs: Same Old Song And Dance; Seasons Of Wither

146) Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I (1991)

The first of two albums released by Guns N' Roses on the same day in 1991, 'Use Your Illusion I' features Axl and co. branching out in directions that most people didn't think it was possible for a hard rock band from Hollywood to take. People who like to throw the "sell out" term around often cite the band's writing of ballads, without realising that 'Don't Cry' was actually the first song that Guns N' Roses ever wrote together. The epic piano-led 'November Rain' - which Axl began working on in 1981, but wouldn't allow to be released until he was completely happy with it - with it's soulful vocals, extremely personal lyrics, and increasingly fantastic guitar - is my favourite song of all time. It's a great song in itself, but after 7 minutes the outro kicks in and serves to really get your blood pumping. 'Coma' is a 10 minute long almost prog-rock song that features some of the best playing that any of the members have ever laid down. The only thing that makes 'Use Your Illusion I' the lesser of the two albums is that, ironically, the tracks that sound most like what they were playing on 'Appetite For Destruction' ('Right Next Door To Hell' for example) really aren't as strong as the tracks in which they are expanding their sound.
Best Songs: Don't Cry; November Rain; Coma

145) The Dresden Dolls - Yes, Virginia... (2006)

Pianist/vocalist Amanda Palmer, and drummer Brian Vigilone returned with their second album in 2006, in which their trademark "punk-cabaret" sound takes on a noticably lighter tone than on their debut. There are still some dark themes in these songs, but Palmer's sense of humour that was mostly only hinted at previously is on full display here, especially on the tracks 'Sex Changes' and 'My Alcoholic Friends'. The best thing, though, is that even with this shift in tones, The Dresden Dolls still sound absolutely unique.
Best Songs: Backstabber; Dirty Business; Sing

My Top 666 Albums Ever Part 28

180) Velvet Revolver - Contraband (2004)

'Contraband' is one of those albums in which the story of its making is almost as interesting as the music itself. After the death of fromer Ozzy Osbourne and Motley Crue drummer, Randy Castillo, friend and fellow drummer Matt Sorum gave a call to his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan. They performed together for the first time since 1993 at a tribute concert for the band with appearances from Josh Todd and Keith Nelson (Buckcherry), Cypress Hill, and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. The three of them enjoyed that so much that they decided to make it a full-time band. Working together with fellow former GN'R member Izzy Stradlin, they began writing material whilst searching for a singer. Eventually, Stradlin left what was then known as "The Project" to be replaced by Dave Kushner, and after months of auditioning singers, both famous and unknown, they managed to recruit Scott Weiland whose second stint with Stone Temple Pilots had just come to an end. The still unnamed band contributed the song 'Set Me Free' to Ang Lee's Hulk, and after naming themselves Velvet Revolver gave their first performance at the El Rey Theatre as part of that movie's premiere.
But that wasn't the end of their problems, as Scott Weiland was currently in the midst of a debilitating heroin addiction and was arrested for possession of heroin shortly after work on the album began, forcing him to record vocals on day release from jail.
It looked like the odds were against this band, with people predicting their dissolution before even releasing their debut album. All of this helped make 'Contraband' one of the best rock albums of the last decade. You get the sense upon listening to it that this was 'make-or-break' time for everyone involved. They had something to prove, and prove it they did. Musically, it features the familiar hallmarks of both GN'R and STP, but managing to not sound like either band, and instead something far more modern. Slash played like he's never played before, whilst maintaining the familiar sound in his solo's, and Weiland went from furious venom-spitting fury, to deep introspection from song to song.
'Contraband' was an album that any band was going to have trouble following up, and 'Libertad' ended up being a flop critcially, commercially and musically (though it wasn't without it's moments, and the track 'Messages' which was left off of the album but shouldn't have been is the best thing they ever recorded). And Velvet Revolver themselves were a band forged through such volatility that they were never going to last long, and just four years after the release of this record it all fell apart on-stage before the eyes of the UK public on the band's final tour (which they somehow managed to complete). But for a while, Velvet Revolver were one of the best things rock music had to offer.
Best Songs: Sucker Train Blues; Set Me Free; Slither

179) Jerry Cantrell - Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 (2002)

In 2001, Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell went to Roadrunner Records with this double album, and was told that they'd sign him as long as before releasing it, he cut the album down to one disc, and 'Degradation Trip' was released in the following June. Fortunately, however, the label agreed to release the full-length double album with its original tracklist as a Special Edition a few months later. As a kind of "Director's Cut", 'Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2' is what I consider to be the official version of the album.
As opposed to the country-influenced Southern rock that dominated most of his first solo album, 'Degradation Trip' sees Jerry (along with bassist Rob Trujillo, and drummer Mike Bordin) return to the dark, sludgy, grungy metal that characterises most of Alice In Chains' work. Several songs on the record deal with Cantrell's eroded relationship with Layne Staley and his worries for his old friend's health (specifically '31/32'), which were made all the more heartbreaking after his tragic death in April that year. Other songs deal with his misgivings about life in the music industry, and various other dark themes.
Best Songs: Psychotic Break; Angel Eyes; Anger Rising

178) Radiohead - Pablo Honey (1993)

Radiohead's debut album is as far removed from 'The King Of Limbs' as is probably possible for one band. Straight up rock music all the way, including 'Creep', one of the most anthemic songs in their catalogue. The band themselves seem to hate everything about that song (those guitar crunches before the chorus were supposedly put there to ensure the track would never receive radio play), and have all but disowned this album entirely. But it's a great debut album from a band who have since gone off the rails.
Best Songs: Creep; Anyone Can Play Guitar; Lurgee

177) Green Day - Warning (2000)

The pop-punk band break out the acoustic guitars and try their hand at "folk punk". Perhaps because of this style change ('Minority' wouldn't sound terribly out of place on a Dropkick Murphys album), 'Warning' is probably the most criminally underrated album in the band's catalogue. There were hints of this on 'Nimrod', but other than that Green Day were in danger of being one of those bands that just stays the same throughout their career, and it was good to hear such a change of pace. It wasn't as dramatic a change as most people seem to think, though. You can still tell it's a Green Day record.
Best Songs: Deadbeat Holiday; Waiting; Macy's Day Parade

176) Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist (2007)

The day that his debut solo album was released, Billy Corgan issued a full-page press release in a Chicago newspaper announcing his intention to regroup the Smashing Pumpkins - and in this action showed perhaps the least confidence someone had in their own work in living memory. Drummer Jimmy Chamberlin jumped on board straight away, but other former members James Iha (guitar), D'Arcy Wretzky and Melissa auf der Maur (both former bass players) wanted no part of it, forcing Billy and Jimmy to record this comeback record on their own.
I think it's this lack of involvement from former members that has led 'Zeitgeist' to be treated with as much derision as it has. Don't take those circumstances into consideration, and what you get with 'Zeitgeist' is a highly impressive record. It's not the best Smashing Pumpkins album ever (in fact, not including B-side/rarity compilations people are right correct that it's their worst), and there are some issues with the production (from the legendary Roy Thomas Baker), but it showcases Billy Corgan back on form after the misfires of both Zwan and his solo album 'TheFutureEmbrace'. I think he really does need to be writing for the Smashing Pumpkins in order to have the confidence and desire to write the very best music he can at the time. Smashing Pumpkins are a band (no matter who's in it) that'd I'd take at their worst over a lot of other bands at their best.
Best Songs: Doomsday Clock; Tarantula; United States

175) Mother Love Bone - Apple (1990)

Mother Love Bone were a band from Seattle that featured former members of Malfunkshun (Andrew Wood), 10 Minute Warning (Greg Gilmore) and Green River (Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament and Bruce Fairweather). Upon the release of their debut EP in 1989, they were tipped to be the band that brought the Seattle scene to the attention of the mainstream, and were gearing up to release this - their first full length album - in March 1990. However, days before its slated release date, Andrew Wood slipped into a coma after overdosing on heroin, and died a few days later. The album was eventually released quietly in July, but without the promotional push and tour that were originally planned, it's now considered an obscure release. Stone and Jeff would release a tribute to Wood under the name Temple Of The Dog along with Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden, guitarist Mike McCready and a couple of tracks with aspiring singer Eddie Vedder before eventually teaming up with Mike and Eddie to form Pearl Jam.
Musically, Mother Love Bone weren't as inspired by punk rock or metal as most of their Seattle contemporaries, instead having a sound more similar to the likes of Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin, though with less of the OTT theatrics that similar bands from Hollywood were displaying.
Best Songs: Stardog Champion; Stargazer; Crown Of Thorns

174) Hole - Celebrity Skin (1998)

The third studio album from Courtney Love's band. For this album she recruited Billy Corgan to co-write almost half of the album with the band, and the resulting album is a far more commercial affair than either of the band's previous albums. The title track is the best example of the kind of music on display here, featuring a much more 'bubblegum' rock sound than the band's earlier punk-influenced music. In short, it's the best thing that Love has ever produced (with the possible exception of her performance in The People Vs. Larry Flynt).
Best Songs: Celebrity Skin; Malibu; Use Once & Destroy

173) Stone Sour - Come What(ever) May (2006)

The second album from Corey Taylor and Jim Root of Slipknot's other band. This is probably the album which best showcases Taylor's skill writing great melodies, which until recently was almost completely absent from Slipknot. One of the best singers in rock or metal today, and the rest of the band are equally as brilliant.
Best Songs: 30/30-150; Made Of Scars; Zzyzx Rd.

172) Within Temptation - The Silent Force (2004)

The Dutch symphonic metal band's third album. Front and centre is the amazing voice of Sharon den Adel, Of all of the European female-fronted metal bands, Within Temptation are perhaps the most commercial, and therefore invite the most comparison to Evanescence (who many people outside of Europe mistakenly believe came first).
Best Songs: Jillian (I'd Give My Heart); It's The Fear

171) Metallica - Garage Inc. (1998)

In which Metallica pay tribute to their influences from Misfits to Bob Seger via Thin Lizzy and Black Sabbath. Their rendition of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Tuesday's Gone', featuring Pepper Keenan, Jerry Cantrell and Les Claypool is a thing of beauty, as is Bob Seger's 'Turn The Page' - the ode to getting bored whilst on tour. It's 'Whiskey In The Jar' that most people will have heard, though.
Disc 2 is a compilation of covers from previous hard-to-find Metallica releases, including Anti-Nowhere League's controversial 'So What?'... the original version of the song was actually banned in the UK under the Obscene Publications Act.
Best Songs: Turn The Page; Tuesday's Gone

170) Ozzy Osbourne - Scream (2010)

Since being reduce to human punchline in MTV's The Osbournes (I've actually had a conversation from someone who called themselves an Ozzy Osbourne fan who was surprised to hear that he did music, too), Ozzy's music seemed to have suffered. Both his covers album, 'Under Cover', and his last album of original material, 'Black Rain' were disappointing at their best points. So I was pleasantly surprised when I heard 'Scream' in 2010 and found myself enjoying every moment of the 49 minute running time. It's probably the final solo album by Ozzy as he's now pre-occupied with promoting the new Black Sabbath album (his first with the band since 1978), and I'm not sure how many years of being able to perform he has left in him.
Best Songs: Let Me Hear You Scream; Crucify

169) Rage Against The Machine - Evil Empire (1996)

The follow-up to Rage Against The Machine's stunning debut album is often considered a disappointment compared to what had come before. It's true that this is not quite as good as that self-titled record, but that doesn't make it a disappointment as far as I'm concerned. Still, it's the least of the band's three albums of original material.
Best Songs: Bulls On Parade; Revolver

168) Serj Tankian - Harakiri (2012)

So far, this is the best of Serj Tankian's solo output. Musically, it's his most similar to System Of A Down, but is still far more melodic than that band.
Best Songs: Figure It Out; Uneducated Democracy

167) Apocalyptica - Worlds Collide (2007)

The sixth album from the Finnish cellists features guest appearances from members of other bands including Slayer's Dave Lombardo drumming on one track. The best songs on the album, though feature guest vocals from Corey Taylor and Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia.
Best Songs: I'm Not Jesus; S.O.S. (Anything But Love)

166) Deftones - White Pony (2000)

For their third album, the Deftones moved away from the nu-metal sound that they had found themselves pigeon-holed into in favour of a more atmospheric style with trip hop and shoegaze influences. The growth in their sound is fantastic, and the result is the best album in their career. 'Passenger' is one of my favourite songs of all time, and features great vocal interplay between Chino Moreno and Tool's Maynard James Keenan.
Best Songs: Knife Party; Passenger

165) Muse - Black Holes & Revelations (2006)

How do you follow-up the most extravagant album of your career so far? In the case of Muse, you get even more extravagant. It doesn't quite reach the heights of the amazing 'Absolution', but that's no loss. 'Knights Of Cydonia' is one of the most ridiculous songs I've ever heard... that it's also great is the real surprise.
Best Songs: Map Of The Problematique; Knights Of Cydonia

164) Pearl Jam - Backspacer (2009)

At just 36 minutes long, 'Backspacer' is the most short, sharp collection of music that Pearl Jam have ever released. It's also the most straightforward rock 'n' roll album in any of the bandmember's careers including elements of "surf rock" in some tracks. Such optimism is a rarity in the music of Seattle's most famous band's, and it's a welcome change of pace.
Best Songs: Amongst The Waves; Supersonic

163) The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978)

The second album by the legendary punks. It's the best album that the band produced... definitely better than the vastly overrated 'London Calling'. Though that one does have a better cover image.
Best Songs: Tommy Gun; All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts)