Top 30 Albums - An Introduction

The album. The long play record. It's a lost art. There was a time when a band was measured by how well it could put a collection of songs together. A golden age of music, if you will. Up until the early 60s, record companies would take whatever hit a band had, made them record nine other "filler" tracks, package it with a sticker that said "featuring the hit song..." and sell it. It wasn't until (arguably) The Beatles released Rubber Soul in 1965 that the album became something important. A statement. Something for every serious band going forward to strive to accomplish. No filler. All great material. As Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys said of Rubber Soul "the album blew my mind because it was a whole album with all good stuff." He then went on to compose some pretty great material for his band.

During its heyday even the packaging was important. Some were extravagant works of art while some were very minimalist. Either way, it was a part of the overall experience. The way an album looked was as important as the music contained within. You could have a physical experience with it, looking through the inserted lyrics or whatever, along with listening to the music. Something for your eyes as well as your ears. As they say, those were the days.

These days the album is back to its less than stellar beginnings. In this digital world where music lives and dies by the number of iTunes downloads, nobody really cares about the album. It's right back to a couple of hits and the rest, filler. But music goes in cycles and I have no doubt that the industry will work itself out and it'll be back strong as ever. It survived the one hit wonder early days of rock. It survived disco. It survived Top 40. It survived Fred Durst. It will survive American Idol, Katy Perry and Rhianna as well.

There's something about a great album. Being able to put it on, whether vinyl, cassette, compact disc or on your iPod, and spend an hour without having to skip any tracks, just soaking up the great sounds. Since I began collecting music in 1982 I have probably purchased (or acquired) more that 2000 albums. As someone who loves to meticulously categorize, organize and list my music, the Grand List of All would have to be the Top Albums list. I made my first such list in 1987 and updated it periodically. Starting with a Top 10, then 20,  then about 10 years ago I expanded it to a Top 30. I spent the last two weeks refining it once again, and am now prepared to present, one by one, starting with #30, my personal list of my favorite albums.

So now that I have this introduction out of the way I can actually start working on the list. Hopefully you will enjoy it. Maybe give feedback, good or bad. Share an experience. Maybe even work on a list of your own. Because that's the great thing about music. It's a window into your very being. A look into your past. Something that flows through your heart and soul. Something intangible that nobody can ever take away from you.

Music is life.