My Top 15 Albums Of All Time

On By DanicaPicheIn Everyday Beauty in Your Life

KeepsMeAlive‘s Challenge:  Top 15 Albums on the 15th

Aaron at KMA has invited bloggers to post their Top 15 Albums Of All Time on September 15.  KMA will link to as many as possible.

The only rule is it has to be your Top 15 Of All Time, not as defined by industry magazines, critics, friends, etc.  After that, there are no rules.

My Criteria:

° Original studio albums (excluding re-issues/deluxe/live/compilations/etc.)
° Songwriting (in addition to performing)
° Time-tested for 15+ years
° My USB drive is on fire and I’m about to be ejected from the spaceship…which 15 albums do I bring to listen to until the end of time?

My Top 15 Albums Of All Time:

15.  Willie Dixon:  Willie’s Blues, 1959.
14.  Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee:  Sonny & Brownie, 1973.
13.  Heart:  Dreamboat Annie, 1975.
12.  The Cramps:  Big Beat from Badsville, 1997.
11.  Van Halen:  Van Halen, 1978.
10.  The Cult:  Love, 1985.
9.  Kiss:  Dynasty, 1979.
8.  Bruce Springsteen:  Darkness on the Edge of Town, 1978.
7.  Wilson Pickett:  It’s Too Late, 1963.
6.  Eagles:  Eagles, 1972.
5.  Rolling Stones:  Sticky Fingers, 1971.
4.  The Band:  The Band, 1969.
3.  Sam Cooke:  The Wonderful World of Sam Cooke, 1965.
2.  Led Zeppelin:  Houses of the Holy, 1973.
1.  AC/DC:  T.N.T., 1975.

***

This is the best album list ever, yes?  What’s that?

“How can you include ____ and not ____?”
“Who is Wilson Pickett?”
“Dude!  You picked the wrong Kiss album!”
“AC/DC is #1?  All three chords?”

You know what to do. 🙂

 

***

Need more Top 15 on the 15th to love?  Here are some more awesome lists:

Aaron at Keeps Me Alive – Top 15 on the 15th
James at Keeps Me Alive – another top 15 post since that’s what we’re doing today. love, james xoxoxo
LeBrain at MikeLadano – Top 15 on the 15th
Uncle Meat – Top 15 on the 15th
Iron Tom Sharpe – Top 15 on the 15th
J at Resurrection Songs – Fifteen on the Fifteenth: Favourite Albums
Joe at 1537 – Top 15 Books About Music
Brian at Boppin’s Blog – Top 15 on the 15th
Neil at Time We Left This World Today – 15 is not enough…
Bruce at Vinyl Connection – Faves and Waves
Geoff at 1001 Albums in 10 Years – Top 15 Albums
Ovidiu Boar at Tangled Up In Music – Top 15 on the 15th
Jimmy at King Crimson Blog – Top 15 on the 15th
Sarca at Caught Me Gaming – My Top 15 Music Albums of All Time
Deke at Arena Rock – DeKEs All Time Top 15 (Kinda,Sorta)
Andytallman at A Hole in the Head – Top 15 Albums of All Time
Greg at Pop Culture Forays – Top 15 Albums
80sMetalMan – My Top 15 Albums
sourgirlohio at Another Bad Conversation – My Top 15 on the 15th
Nick at Nick Green’s Reviews – Top 15 on the 15th
Zack at The Audible Stew – #top15onthe15th
Quirky T at The Guitar Train – The Guitar Train’s Top 15 Albums
Ian at The 80s Didn’t Suck – Top 15 Albums (Plus 54 Others)

Let me know if there are more to include!

***

Music is the universal language of mankind. ~Henry W. Longfellow

 

 

 

74 thoughts on “My Top 15 Albums Of All Time”

  1. Great list, Danica! 1537 will highly approve of your AC/DC top choice. 🙂

    I know who Wilson Pickett is, and I also HIGHLY approve of your Willie Dixon and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGee choices!

    Also, we picked one album the same! Twins!

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Thanks, KMA! So glad that you agree! My #1 pick was the easiest.

      Awesome that you know Wilson Pickett! Willie Dixon and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee are SO good! It pained me to eliminate many others but I had to narrow the list somehow.

      Which album?? I’m going to guess…The Band.

      Thanks for this great challenge! It was definitely challenging and also fun.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  3. Pingback: Top 15 On The 15th | keepsmealive

    1. Thanks so much, Opher! There’s still lots of time to post your Top 15 Albums of All Time if you’d like to join in the fun.
      Thanks also for letting me know about your book. Do you have a link that you could post here in the comments? A new comment/reply would be best so that it isn’t squished in the thread and people can see it properly.

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  6. Just Plain Ol' Vic

    I have ti admit, with iTunes and all the other streaming services it is almost unheard of for me to invest in an album. I tend to just pick n’ choose what I like.

    That being said: Linkin Park – Meteora.

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              1. Iron Tom aka Iron Sausage is one of the most knowledgeable rockologists in the country and the founder of Sausagefest…I will be proud to post his list! I have seen it. In addition to his top 15, he has an added bonus top 5 live albums. I’m excited.

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    1. Thanks so much, I’m glad you like it. The mix was definitely a factor for me. It would have been easy to pick 15 albums with shredding guitars etc — which would have been great! But I knew I’d want a bit of variety while I’m floating around in space. 🙂

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  10. Pingback: Fifteen on the Fifteenth: Favourite Albums | Resurrection Songs

  11. Great list, Danica – really varied, too. Dare say it’ll be the only one I stumble across that I’ll find Willie Dixon and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee mentioned in. Van Halen, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Sticky Fingers and The Band, too. Brilliant. Quite possibly my favourite list I’ve spotted so far …

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    1. Thank you, J! Don’t you love Willie Dixon and Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee? I smile every time I listen to them. There’s some magic in their music.
      The others were some tough choices…getting down to who do you really love? (In my best George Thorogood voice.)

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  12. Sweeeet list. I would be curious to 10-15 that just barely didn’t make the cut.

    If it was a top 30 lisy, I could have had the list out the same day. As it was, I anguished at what albums were cut, and which stayed.
    I flip flopped on many.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks, Brian! Oh yes, there was a strong list of about 50 that was difficult to narrow down. That’s when I started looking closely at songwriting credits. That alone eliminated Elvis, Etta James, Al Green, The Righteous Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Ross, Emmylou Harris…. Then there were others I eliminated for similar sounds. And on and on.

      I agree, a list of only 15 is not easy! Anguish is a perfect description of the process! I kept making changes and eventually made myself stop looking at my list.

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  13. Hi Danica, I’ll be honest and say I haven’t heard of most of those albums or artists. That said, being a bit of a goth… I absolutely love The Cult, my personal favourite album of theirs is Sonic Temple, but Love is also amazing! Also adore The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen and Siouxsie and the Banshees. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Those are fantastic selections! It wasn’t easy for me to pick only one each from The Cult and The Cure. I get the impression that I’d like your Top 15! If you have some time, consider posting your list. It’s a challenge but also fun. The discussions and comments that follow are also interesting. You’re in good company with a lot of fellow music lovers. 🙂

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    2. I just remembered that The Cure didn’t make my final cut. I love The Cure! The exercise was that challenging. There are lots of ways to approach your list and I went with a “what do I want to listen to over and over” approach, kind of like an album playlist on repeat. Also, the one album only per artist/band was my own rule. Lots of other lists feature repeat artist/bands.

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    1. Yes! The Cramps are crazy-good! They’re worthy of their own dedicated list, aren’t they?

      That’s exactly how it happened. I’m floating, Joe…2,000 light years from home. The most amazing part? There’s wifi here! 🙂

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  16. Pingback: Top 15 Albums | 1001albumsin10years

  17. Pingback: Top 15 on the 15th: | KingcrimsonBlog - The official Blog of Kingcrimsonprog

    1. It’s a fun exercise and I recommend it! The results can be surprising…mine ended up looking a bit different than I’d expected. It’s also a snapshot in time as I imagine my choices would be different on a different day/month/season/etc. The biggest challenge for me (and everyone else who participated) was narrowing to only 15. There’s so much great music out there! So, I ended up having to create rules for my list because “All Time” is quite a threshold. It was interesting to see everyone else’s lists as well as their approach to the challenge. Now that all the lists are in place I’ll update my post to include links for everyone’s enjoyment!

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  20. Pingback: Top 15 On The 15th | Tangled Up In Music

  22. Danica, I like your list but won’t try to write a list on my blog. I used to include a song on almost every blog post. So many favorites and changing all the time. 🙂 I will agree with loving ♡ Bruce S , Rolling Stones and Eagles. Great bands and fantastic lyrics. The Beatles ♡ and John Mellencamp ♡ would join those I love.
    I do like AC/DC , Sam Cooke, Led Zeppelin and Heart.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Robin, you feature a lot of wonderful music on your blog. I understand about many favorites changing all the time! So much great music and such tiny lists…I’m glad that you like those featured here and thanks for adding some excellent selections! 🙂

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  23. Love your top 8 excluding the ACDC and Eagles, though I like both bands. I just would not include them in top 15 of ALL time. That’s a big consideration.
    It would be impossible for me to fill this list without some criteria, like do I include albums I listened to the most at the time they came out or now? Sooooo hard. I love so many types of music, some for utilitarian purposes like accompanying yoga or writing that I could not live without and others just for pure fun or motivation or nostalgia. Hell, I could belt out an aspartame coated One Direction song in my car under the right circumstances, lol (though I try not to), and it would be my most favorite song at the time for that moment. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. I can relate! This challenge was so…challenging! 🙂 I had to create some criteria and even then it pained me to eliminate many of my favorites. You’re right that ALL time is such a big consideration. Approaching this list as a loop or playlist of albums to listen to indefinitely helped, somewhat. Exactly as you point out: would it be albums I loved the most when they were released or music that makes me smile today? And on and on. I could create many more lists with many more favorites.
      Everyone participating had similar challenges.
      The results were great though and the lists all contained some wonderful music.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  24. Kevin

    Hi, Danica. I saw this post and I just had to check out your top 15. You are definitely a Rock girl. No frills (which makes your choice of that particular Kiss album interesting – their “disco” album). Cool to see The Cult and Zeppelin, but I really love your high ranking of The Band. A great great record! Their best, in my opinion. If you don’t already know it, check out their song “Acadian Driftwood.” An overlooked and underplayed masterpiece of a song. I listen to it every year on the first freezing cold day of winter.

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    1. Thanks so much for checking this out, Kevin! It was really difficult to select only 15 and to rank them. I anticipated some backlash over that Kiss selection. 🙂 It came down to one song in particular that I love on that album. “Acadian Driftwood” is beautiful and an excellent choice to listen to on the first freezing cold day of winter. What a wonderful tradition. What would your Top 15 include?

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  25. Kevin

    It looks like tomorrow will be my first ‘Acadian Driftwood” day this year. It’s getting cold early this year in Boston. Last year it wasn’t until January.

    My top 15? Yikes. What a challenge! I’ll have to get back to you on that. Maybe if I pick only one album per artist I can narrow it down a bit. I’m thinking…

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. That’s a good approach — one album per artist. I found that rules of any kind helped. I’m looking forward to your list! You could even kick off your blog with it! 🙂 Have you been tempted to start one?

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      1. Kevin

        I was going to do a music blog but there are so many already, and none better than Rich K. and Ian B. I do enjoy how friendly and encouraging and supportive fellow bloggers can be to one another – at least from what I’ve seen. A nice camaraderie. I have a YouTube channel where I post songs I’ve written and songs I’ve covered. I guess that would be my blog.

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        1. If you’re interested in doing a blog I recommend just doing it! I agree with you about Rich’s and Ian’s blogs as well as others, but don’t let that stop you. There’s lots of room for another music blog. 🙂 I’m really glad I started blogging and if I’d compared to others I never would have started. For example, I post creative writing pieces and there are amazing published authors with blogs. There are so many creative talents out there it’s overwhelming. I do it anyway. 🙂 Yes, you’re absolutely right that the blogging community is incredibly supportive. They keep me going…when I’m looking at the screen and wondering what to type…. What’s your YouTube channel, if you don’t mind my asking?

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