50 Albums

50 musical compilations that have enriched & inspired my first 50 years on Earth.

Continuing from my previous list of 50 Movies…

A not-necessarily-ranked list of FULL ALBUMS — including a few film soundtracks — that encompass my probably-top-50 favorites. Some are there because their sound & imagery opened a vista to me — others are there because they were the gateway to discovering a new favorite band — others are there because I keep coming back to them — and some are all of the above. One way or another, they mean something to me personally, sonically or spiritually.

Here they are, with a few formative images sprinkled in to make things more visually interesting, starting with me in 1979 with my brother Jonathan, marveling at my newly-acquired Muppet Movie Soundtrack Album.

• THE MUPPET MOVIE - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• FLEETWOOD MAC - Rumours*

• BILLY JOEL - Glass Houses*

*standards on 8-track in my parents’ car

• SIMON & GARFUNKEL - The Concert in Central Park

• QUEENSRŸCHE - Empire

• QUEENSRŸCHE - Operation: Mindcrime

• QUEENSRŸCHE - Rage for Order

• QUEENSRŸCHE - The Warning

• QUEENSRŸCHE - Promised Land

For more on my journey with this band — walk in the shadows here »

• PINK FLOYD - The Wall

• PINK FLOYD - Wish You Were Here

• PINK FLOYD - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

• PINK FLOYD - A Momentary Lapse of Reason

• PHISH - Lawn Boy

• PHISH - Rift

• FRANK ZAPPA - One Size Fits All

• FRANK ZAPPA - Strictly Commercial

• LED ZEPPELIN IV

• LED ZEPPELIN - The Song Remains the Same Soundtrack

• THE DECEMBERISTS - The Crane Wife*

• THE DECEMBERISTS - The Hazards of Love*

*more on The Decemberists here »

• THE DOORS - Best of The Doors

• RUSH - Moving Pictures

• PEARL JAM - Ten

• TOAD THE WET SPROCKET - Fear

• SMASHING PUMPKINS - Siamese Dream

• THE WHO - Tommy

• JARS OF CLAY - Jars of Clay

• LOVE AND ROCKETS - Express

• DEF LEPPARD - Hysteria

• BON IVER - Bon Iver

• COHEED & CAMBRIA - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

• THE CURE - Disintegration

• ELBOW - The Take Off and Landing of Everything

• ANDREW PETERSON - The Burning Edge of Dawn

• DAVID BOWIE - The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

• FAITH NO MORE - The Real Thing

• JETHRO TULL - The Chateau D’isaster Tapes

• JOURNEY - Greatest Hits

• PETER GABRIEL - Secret World Live

• SHEARWATER - Jet Plane & Oxbow

• BOSTON - Third Stage

• FOLLY AND THE HUNTER - Tragic Care

• OVER THE RHINE - Meet Me at the Edge of the World

• PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• THE LAST STARFIGHTER - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• THE DARK CRYSTAL - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• SINGLES - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

• TWIN PEAKS - Original Series Soundtrack

…and course, for a certain season, JOHN DENVER & THE MUPPETS - A Christmas Together.

Coming tomorrow….SONGS