After watching the recent VH-1 specials regarding the top 100 rock records of all time, I�ve decided to do my own personal one. I came up with a little criteria, etc for these:

This is my opinion only, there is a lot of repeats on my list that were on theirs I think. My opinion doesn�t matter really, but these all have at least a passing importance to me, or did at one point anyway.

I don�t really have the time or energy to write proper reviews of any of these, so I�m just sort of throwing random thoughts on each one, so if the paragraphs seem horribly put together, it�s intentionally unintentional�this is a �diary� after all.

Anyway, here are the first five (in no order, excluding the first one):

Rolling Stones � Sticky Fingers

The opening riff to �Brown Sugar� is one of the most memorable guitar riffs in the history of rock and roll, and kicks off what is quite possibly the greatest rock and roll record of all time. The Stones had already laid claim to the crown, and in my opinion blew the Beatles out of the water in the soul department without a doubt; especially in the early years. Sure they were both covering blues and R & B songs, the Stones had much more raw energy, where the Beatles always had this big polished sound from the outset. Listen to the Stones debut next to the Beatles debut and you will see what I mean. The fact that �adults� hated the Beatles saying they were �bad boys� is a joke in retrospect. Had the Beatles kept going through the seventies, the argument could be made in their favor, but the proof is in the heavy amount of lackluster solo careers they spawned. McCartney had some good stuff here and there, as did Lennon, and of course George, but the Stones were reinventing themselves with every record through the seventies.

With my favorite line up of the band (Mick Taylor!), an Andy Warhol cover, and the song �Can You Hear Me Knocking�, this will forever be my number one record of all time, of any genre. It doesn�t take long for this record to hook the listener. With two �hits�, as well as four or so �Oh, I know this song� songs included, it doesn�t get any better than this. Only one cover song on this record, the Mississippi Fred McDowell blues �You Gotta Move�, and Marianne Faithful helped pen �Sister Morphine�. The rest is all Jagger/Richards material. Lot�s of guests on the record also help the feel of the record, from Billy Preston on �Knockin�, to Ry Cooder on �Sister Morphine�. Martin Scorcese put �Can�t You Hear Me Knockin� on the soundtrack to either Good Fellas or Casino, can�t remember which, but I know that he uses the whole song, complete with the jam at the end to stunning effect. I can�t really say much else about this record (besides these random thoughts) except that I grew up with it, and it will always be my top rock and roll album of all time.

Iggy and the Stooges � Raw Power

Long before the British were �inventing punk rock� the Stooges were banging out their own blend of �punk rock�. The year was 1969 though, not 1977. Anyway, �Nationalist Music Snobbery� has no place in criticism, as British acts like The Clash, Sex Pistols, and Crass had just as much to do with punk rock as any of the Americans did. John Cale produced one of their records, and David Bowie mixed this 1973 record, their third. The title of this record suits it well, as the guitar sound is so raw sounding that when turned up good and loud you�ll feel scared of losing your hearing. Kicking off with the now famous (in a Toyota commercial, or Nissan, or something) �Search and Destroy� the listener is taken on a sonic ride for a brief 33 minutes. When you think about when this record, or the two earlier ones for that matter it�s pretty mind-blowing.

The Replacements � Let it Be

Any band that has the balls enough to name a record the same as a Beatles record deserves some respect. If you�re going to own any Replacements album, or you want a good first album to buy from these Minneapolis based guys, pick this up. This is without a doubt the best power-pop record in existence. Paul Westerberg is the star of this 11 track album though. With his quirky hopeless romantic lyrics earning this the title of best �couple record� as well. I�ll admit I was a late bloomer with this record as I didn�t hear it until the summer of 96, 12 years after it was released. The opening track �I Will Dare� will go down in history as one of the most appealing sounding pop songs ever written, immediately hooking the listener waiting for more. Peter Buck of the then up and coming REM plays the guitar solo on this track as an added bonus ( I must admit I just learned this when I opened the liner notes before reviewing this). There�s also a great cover of �Black Diamond� that seems to fit better on this album than it does on the Kiss record it is on. My favorites on this album are the opening track, �Unsatisfied�, and �Androgynous�. Although the band is as sloppy as they always were, Westerberg holds the whole party together with his voice and personality.

Bob Dylan � Highway 61 Revisited

This was the first full Dylan album I heard, and although I�ve since explored a good chunk of his work, remains my favorite. Kicking off with his most famous song �Like a Rolling Stone� the listener is introduced to an assortment of characters seemingly better suited in a Fellini movie. A brilliant album that transcends genres today, Dylan proved himself again to be a master of the word. Not the best singer in the world, but listen to the vocals in the albums closer, �Desolation Row� and tell me it�s not one of the most beautiful vocal tracks he recorded. One can picture the cast of characters occupying and passing through this haunting place. In between these two bookends are seven other classics, no filler in the bunch of them. The sarcastic tone of �Queen Jane Approximately� is evident in his delivery of the chorus �Won�t you come see me, Queen Jane?� . Mike Bloomfield on guitar is also an added bonus, definitely a better player than Robbie Robertson in my mind anyway�Can�t think of any other random thoughts about this one except to advise anyone to pick this up as an intro to Dylan.

Led Zeppelin � 4th album

I remember listening to this record when I was a little kid and thinking how the guitar-sound on �Black Dog� and �Rock and Roll� was from somewhere far, far away. Nothing sounded like that before, and nothing has since. I can�t think of any other way to describe the sound than it sounds like �compressed hot air�. Sure the lyrics to �Stairway to Heaven� are pretty silly upon close inspection, filled with a Jim Morrison via JRR Tolkien feel throughout, but that song sounds good today. I did go through a period where I skipped over that song all the time saying it was overplayed, etc. But it is a cool song, filled with some amazing dynamics and guitar work. Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention makes a nice appearance on �The Battle of Evermore� one of the two acoustic songs on the record. For sheer sound alone, this one stands up there with Sgt. Peppers, and Pet Sounds. Every song on this record is good.

That's it for now...more to come shortly...

before & after