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Ten
(more) »rank: 32530by: Pearl Jam
: essential recording:Part of the '90s Seattle grunge triumvirate completed by Nirvana and Soundgarden, Pearl Jam debuted with Ten, their most accessible, least self-conscious album. Over time, PJ's rep as a politically correct band just a little too above it all to prostitute its music on MTV has nearly superseded the music. But before that, they were a simply an in-your-face, in-your-head, loud, melodic rock band. And lead singer Eddie Vedder was known for his possessed stage presence and a primal growl that sounded like it required three vocal chords. The personal, narrative singles 'Alive,' 'Jeremy,' and 'Even Flow' catapulted the ...
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CHUTES TOO NARROW
(more) »rank: 16802by: THE SHINS
: essential recording:Part of the '90s Seattle grunge triumvirate completed by Nirvana and Soundgarden, Pearl Jam debuted with Ten, their most accessible, least self-conscious album. Over time, PJ's rep as a politically correct band just a little too above it all to prostitute its music on MTV has nearly superseded the music. But before that, they were a simply an in-your-face, in-your-head, loud, melodic rock band. And lead singer Eddie Vedder was known for his possessed stage presence and a primal growl that sounded like it required three vocal chords. The personal, narrative singles 'Alive,' 'Jeremy,' and 'Even Flow' catapulted the ...
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Blood on the Tracks
(more) »rank: 12523by: Bob Dylan
:Album Description:Japanese remastered reissue packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. CBS/Sony. 2004. essential recording:Inevitably, when critics praise a new Dylan album, they label it the 'best since Blood on the Tracks,' and with good reason. Inspired by a crumbled marriage, and recorded after a tour with The Band had apparently re-ignited his creativity, Blood is among Dylan's masterpieces. The album's epic songs are well known, but its real high points are the shorter numbers--'You're a Big Girl Now,' the flawless blues 'Meet Me in the Morning,' and the sweetly devastating 'Buckets of Rain.' These are songs of 'images ...
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London Calling
(more) »rank: 21422by: The Clash
:Album Description:Digitally remastered from the original production master tapes, this a reissue of the 1979 & third album by 'the only band that matters'. Features the original artwork and all 19 of the original tracks, including the hidden hit 'Train In Vain (Stand By Me)', their first U.S. single to chart (it reached #23 at the time). Also contains reproductions of the original LP sleeves, including the lyrics. 1999 release. essential recording:Bursting at the seams with creative energy, the Clash's stunning 1979 double album more than made up for the artistic and commercial disappointment of its predecessor, 1978's tried-too-hard Give ...
![FUNERAL [Vinyl]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61RWH06QN6L._SL160_.jpg)
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FUNERAL [Vinyl]
(more) »rank: 13778by: ARCADE FIRE
:Album Description:Montreal's Arcade Fire brings a theatricality, an intensity, an insanity, and a penchant for amazing hooks to their debut full-length. You've never heard such energy, beauty, and emotion from such a young band. Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, Broken Social Scene, and Roxy Music's first two albums will have a new favorite band.
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I'M WIDE AWAKE, IT'S MORNING
(more) »rank: 47676by: BRIGHT EYES
:Album Description:Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst continues to earn his reputation as our most respected young troubadour with almost frightening ease. For the past few years he's been tagged 'rock's boy genius' by the music press. These albums are a soundly articulated slice of modern life rolled into two very different records, both bursting with all the heartfelt poetry for which Bright Eyes' records have earned their acclaim. Of course, the rough edges haven't gone away - the palpitation of a splintering note, the crack of a voice as it overextends, the clumsy thump of a misplaced thumb. It's all still there. ...
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GIVE UP
(more) »rank: 13351by: THE POSTAL SERVICE
:Album Description:The collaboration between Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard and Dntel's Jimmy Tamborello is an album of breezy electronic pop that updates classic 80s synth-pop with contemporary beats. The line-up also features Jenny Lewis from the band Rilo Kiley. Sub Pop. 2003. :Give Up, the debut release by this indie supergroup composed of Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello from Dntel, is a smart, quaint, and often transcendent little pop record. The roots of the album lie in '(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan,' a woozy, gorgeous song recorded for the rad 2001 Dntel ...
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Hail to the Thief
(more) »rank: 5766by: Radiohead
: : Radiohead Photos More from Radiohead OK Computer The Bends Kid A Pablo Honey Amnesiac The Astoria London Live Amazon.com:Filling the gulf between OK Computer's epic progressive rock and Kid A's skittering electronic theatrics, Hail to the Thief borrows equally from each. Its title implies that this will be a collection filled with songs of anger and dissent, but Radiohead no longer howl at the moon like they did on 1995's The Bends. Instead, they use eloquent metaphors and complicated arrangements to express the uncertainty, fear and anger arising from the 2000 U.S. presidential election and a ...
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BLEACH
(more) »rank: 41860by: NIRVANA
:Album Description:First CD from Nirvana, recorded for about $600 in a garage. This Sup Pop release includes 'About A Girl', 'Love Buzz', 'Negative Creep' & 10 more tracks. :When it first appeared, Bleach seemed like a tuneful approximation of what grunge rock in the Northwest United States was supposed to sound like--gruff, enraged, sometimes tuneful, sometimes silly. Singer Kurt Cobain had the pipes to belt out such power trash as 'Mr. Moustache' and the Shocking Blue's 'Love Buzz,' but considering the sheer volume of frustrated tuneage coming out of Seattle in 1989, it was easy to miss Bleach's subtler textures. In ...
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Automatic for the People
(more) »rank: 75777by: R.E.M.
: essential recording:Continuing to specialize in the art of curve-throwing, R.E.M. followed up its 1991 smash, Out of Time, with this fragile album of soft melodies and string arrangements. The sympathetic ballad 'Everybody Hurts' must have prevented countless suicide attempts, while the Andy Kaufman tribute 'Man on the Moon' (with Michael Stipe affecting an Elvis Presley imitation) and the rock-into-oblivion 'Drive' are among the quartet's strongest hits. (The opening line, 'Hey, kids, rock and roll,' isn't so much a rallying cry as an expression of anxiety.) It takes a few listens for its charms to unfold, but Automatic is the gem ...
