Numbers 49 - 40 of My 100 All-Time Favorite Albums

(Once Again, for those who still may be interested)

Numbers 49 - 40 of My Top 100 All-Time Favorite Albums

* means I bought the album right when it was released or at the latest a few months

# means I discovered it later 

49) Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste (1989, Sire) - When I first saw the video for Ministry's "Stigmata" it was a life-changing moment for me. Up to that point I thought of Ministry as a new wave danceable band that put out the very good album With Sympathy. Over the five years something had changed. They have become louder, noisier and tons more aggressive. Land of Rape and Honey, the album "Stigmata" was on contains a lot of filler. The Mind is perfect. For a good mix of even better versions of songs off both albums check out Ministry's live album In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up. (*)

48 - Galaxie 500 On Fire (1989, Rough Trade) - Spent my early adolescent years learning about bands could speed it up. Around 16 or so I learned it was okay for bands to slow it down too. Boston's Galaxie 500 was one of the first to show none of the intensity would be lost in the process. (*)

47 - Face to Face - Don’t Turn Away (1991, Dr. Strange) - Supposedly the guys in Face to Face were metal guys who just one day decides to play punk rock. A lot of people didn’t like them because of this. I always thought if they did it this good who cares wah they were playing before. Don’t Turn away has thirteen awesome tracks of anthemic melodic punk music I am still singing along to 29 years later. (*)

46 - ALL - Allroy’s Revenge (1989, Cruz) - The ALL song “Just Perfect” may have been on their debut album but on this second album, every song is just that, Later singer Chad Price may have the strongest voice but Scott Reynolds who makes his first appearance on Allroy's Revenge has the most range. (*)

45 - Mudhoney- Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge (1991, Sub Pop)- Before this album was released I was a little scared what it would sound like. Mudhoney had said they recorded in hopes of getting a major label deal. When I bought it it was nice to not hear much of a difference than their debut album only better. Songs sounded more varied and not as dreary but still had all the fuzz and grime which made the band so great. (*)

44- Nirvana - Bleach (1989, Sub Pop) - Nevermind might have beaten Bleach to make this list but I think "Come As You Are" brings that album down a bit. Bleach is perfect primal heavy rock and roll all the way through. You can also hear Krist Novoselic's bass a lot better than on Nevermind. No offense to future drummer Dave Grohl, but Chad Channing's drumming is just totally out of control.(*)

43- Government Issue - Joyride (1984, Fountain of Youth) - Washington D.C.'s Government Issue started very hardcore with an ep on Dischord, ending up as kind of a dark rock band on their last album Crash. In the middle for their second full album they unleashed Joy Ride consisting of thick punk rock guitar riffs and anthemic urgent singalong lyrics courtesy of the awesome legendary frontman John Stabb. I finally got to see G.I. in 2015 and John made sure to take the time to chat with anyone who wanted to talk to him. And believe me, everyone did. (#)

42- Duran Duran - Rio (1982, E.M.I.) - We all know this awsome album by Duran Duran so I will not get too into it. You can read more about what I think of a few of the songs from a review I did of their Decade album here. Let's just say I sing along and play air drums tracks "Hungry Like the Wolf", "My Way", and the title track at 46 just as much as I did when I first picked it up at age 10.(*)

41) Jesus Lizard - Goat (1991, Touch and Go) - The three musicians making up the Chicago band Jesus Lizard were at the top of their profession. Guitarist Duane Denison plays winding intricate guitar lines, David Wm. Sims pound his bass better than almost anyone out there while drummer Mac McNeilly plays along perfectly with it. Probably the most unlikely singer out there David Yow fits perfectly. Just like an album which will appear later on this list, the Steve Albini production makes the album louder in just the right places so you don't have too. (*)

40) Depeche Mode - Black Celebration (1986, Mute) - For a long time Depeche Mode was one of my favorite bands. Up until Black Celebration a lot of their songs and albums had a sort of cheesy flair to them. Part of what made me like them so much. On Black Celebration they got a little serious, a little darker, and every song was perfect. Surprisingly my favorite song on the album "But Not Tonight" is not loved by the band and almost didn't make it on the album. Depeche Mode began to lose me when they became a little too dark on the 1990's Violator but I still listen to the older albums constantly. (*)

Next Up Numbers 39 - 30

A look back at DURAN DURAN'S first "DECADE" (Out of the Vaults with a twist # 3)

Because my wife's CD collection is so eclectic, blindly taking out a CD to write about is always a gamble. I always relate it too the "woodbeast" scene in Flash Gordon where Prince Baron challenges Flash to reach into a tree trunk, risking a fatal bite from the creature inside. Will I reach into my wife's collection and safely pull out Neil Young's greatest hits or will I be bitten by one of the Dance Party compilations lurking around inside there.

This time I was lucky

Duran Duran - Decade (Greatest Hits, 1989)

“Planet Earth” and its self-titled first album’s co-representative “Girls on Film” are two very good songs and a great introduction to the band. The only thing is they sound very stripped down. Even when I listened to “Planet Earth”, “Girls on Film” and the rest of the songs on Duran Duran’s debut all those years ago I thought they sounded like “demos” of what the band wanted to become. The songs sound almost one-dimensional. The album was missing something. Altogether it sounded like the band had still not worked out the kinks in their sound but wanted to get something out there before they unleashed their masterpieces. 

Duran Duran circa 1981

Even the videos were nothing unbelievable. “Girls on Film” had the band playing in an abandoned boxing gym while models walked around a catwalk. The video for “Planet Earth” featured the band playing on a crystal podium that looks like it was ripped out of the first Superman movie's  “Fortress of Solitude”. These videos were not actually bad. They were actually on par for most of what was being released. But if you think about the fantastic imagery of the Duran Duran videos to come, these two really paled in comparison.  Please don’t get me wrong. I loved these two songs and played the heck out of them.

The awesome "Hungry Like A Wolf " video

At Track 3 “Hungry like the Wolf” is more like it. When this song and the incredible album it was on came out Duran Duran had reached a whole new level. The smooth tempo, steady bass line, and crashing synthesized drums show those holes from the first album had been filled just right. Plus there was the video. Instead of the cramped studio set of “Girls on Film” we get to see an Indiana Jones-esque storyline filmed over some incredible scenery. Although I have yet to find someone who knows exactly what is going on in the story, most people I talked to back then and even today agree on how awesome a video it was.

Even more awesome "Rio" video

Just when we are basking in the greatness of “Hungry like the Wolf”, the swooping keyboards of what I always considered Duran Duran’s signature song come over the speaker. “Rio” is another unbelievable song. With its out-front guitar riffs and original bass line “Rio” may prove to be an even better song than “Hungry like the Wolf”. I mean this song even makes a saxophone sounds cool. Plus we were given another spectacular video with even more beautiful scenery and a vague storyline to accompany it.

"Save a Prayer" for the morning after what?

Track 5 brings us the final representative of the landmark Rio album. Every perfect album needs a couple slower numbers to break it up a bit, and give the listener a chance to catch their breath. “Save a Prayer” fills one of those positions in Rio and does an excellent job. But this song has always left me with one question. Save it for the morning after what? Over the years I have scoured many Duran Duran interviews and read many Duran Duran entries in Rock and Roll history books but have never been able to find an answer to this question bugging me since I first heard this song almost thirty years ago.

 Groundbreaking graphics on the "Is There Something" video

“Is There Something I Should Know” is the first of two standalone singles found on Decade. The second one is “Wild Boys” a Track 9 a few songs down the line. Both brought together on a Long Player for the not really too live-sounding live album Arena. But before we get too far ahead there are a couple representatives of Duran Duran’s almost as monumental album Seven and the Ragged Tiger.

I have this clear memory of watching the “World Premier” of the video for Track 7 “Union of the Snake”. It was a pretty big deal. I remember MTV advertised it for weeks.

Strange character in "Wild Boys" video

“The Reflex” at Track 8 surprises you. It starts off slow but just when you think it will be another mid-paced head bopper like “Union of the Snake” the chorus really takes off. 

Now we are officially at Track 9. With its gang shouts at the beginning, solid bass line, and anathematic chorus followed by awesome drums, “Wild Boys” will always be one of my favorite Duran Duran songs. Possibly tied with Rio’s “The Chauffeur" which for some reason did not make the Decade cut. 

Taking in the sights during "A View to a Kill" video

Track 10 is another song not from an official Duran Duran album but from the James Bond movie of the same name. Plus the song had an awesome video. In the video, the band is the Eiffel Tower as spies intertwined with Roger Moore and Grace Jones from the actual movie fighting it out on the tower. My memory always mixes up different scenes from the video and the movie with the Eiffel Tower scene at the beginning of Superman II. Either way, I always felt the elaborate video must have been a huge part of "View to a Kill" being the only James Bond theme song to reach #1.

Even he knows "Skin Trade" is not up to par

Unfortunately after "A View to a Kill " the band took a turn for the worse. Drummer Roger Taylor had left the band while guitarist Andy Taylor on was his way out too. The resulting Notorious album's representatives Track 11 the title track and Track 12 "Skin Trade" showed the remaining members decided to aim for a more "funk" sound but instead, both songs come off a little awkward. The slap bass on "Notorious" and James Brown horns on "Skin Trade" actually make me feel uncomfortable when I listen to them. 

1989 - And then there were three

Track 13 "All She Wants Is" and 14 "I Don't Want Your Love" were for me the final nails in the Duran Duran heyday coffin. 1988's Big Thing, the album both these songs can be found on may have been the first Duran Duran album I did not purchase.

After examining this album pulled from my wife's collection, it seems so strange all these songs were released in only a decade's time. Their best material, their debut album through number album Seven and the Ragged Tiger was only three years apart. 

The band did redeem themselves a little bit when in 1993 they released another self-titled album (also known as "The Wedding Album") but that is a discussion for another day. Maybe even another decade.