1995 is stacked. I do have four no-brainer picks, but I had to cut some really amazing albums. Those missing the cut are; Foo Fighters self-titled, Oasis What's the Story, Smashng Pumpkins Mellon Collie, Pavement Wowee Zowee, GbV Alien Lanes, The Flaming Lips Clouds Taste Metallic, Presidents of the United States self-titled, Goo Goo Dolls Boy Named Goo, Dead Hot Workshop 1001 and Buffalo Tom Sleepy Eyed.
The four Mt. Rushmore albums are all basically tied for first, but I will force myself to rank them. Coming in at 1A is The Bends by Radiohead. This is the best guitar album, certainly of the '90's, and possibly of all time. To me this album is even better than OK Computer. The Bends comes out of the gate with "Planet Telex" which sets the sonic tone for the entire album. The title track, "Bones" and "Just" are guitar masterworks. "Fake Plastic Trees" is a haunting slowburner. The lyrics on this album are just as great as the guitar playing. "I used to fly like Peter Pan. All the children flew when I touched their hands". "Where do we go from here? The words are coming out all weird. Where are you now when I need you?" "You do it to yourself, you do. And that's what really hurts. You do it to yourself, just you. You and no one else. You do it to yourself".
1B is Sparklehorse's vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot. I have posted a couple times about this album. I did a 33 1/3/ book proposal for it back in the aughts, before Mark Linkous commited suicide. It's beautiful, fragile, haunting and powerful. There's not much I can say that I haven't already said about vivadixie... except I wish I could have made this 1A. I could listen to this album 1000 times and it would still give me goosebumps like it did the first time.
1C is Trace by Son Volt. It's so good I named my dog Trace. I've posted before about Son Volt and my love of alt-country. To me this is the best alt-country album. It runs the gamut from country rock to traditional, like the opening track "Windfall" and "Tear Stained Eye". They rock on "Live Free" and "Ten Second News". And tracks like "Route", "Drown", "Catching On" and "Loose String" are right in the sweet spot. Jay Farrar is on my Mt. Rushmore of singers (sorry, spoilers). I'm also a sucker for lap steel, which there is an abundance of on Trace. I would actually rate this higher than any Uncle Tupelo or Wilco album.
Finally, 1D is Grand Prix by Teenage Fanclub. This is my favorite Teenage Fanclub album and "Sparky's Dream" is my favorite song of all time by anyone. This is their power pop masterpiece. Gerard Love is the standout songwriter again with "Sparky's Dream", "Don't Look Back", "Discolite" and "Going Places". It's too bad Teenage Fanclub were overshadowed by the Oasis and Blur thing. They're a tremendous band.
1994 was pretty weak, but I do have four albums that are great. I'm conflicted about 4 and 5, but I will decide by tomorrow. You can probably guess the number one album. It rhymes with Pete Townsend. Peace.
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