14 Essential Albums to Listen to Before the World Ends
An Album Compilation By Zack Holden
The streaming era has ultimately brought about the death of the album. Gone is the conventional cycle of writing, producing, and recording a ten-to-twelve-song LP over the course of six months and then promoting it with a year-and-a-half of relentless touring. Now, artists are able to jot down a thought, record it, and post it to Spotify or SoundCloud whenever its ready. The advantageous side to this modern practice is that audiences receive a constant stream of high-quality, purpose-driven new music, with the practice of creating filler B-sides in order to hit a “ten-song minimum” largely eliminated. Conversely, this also means that artists have largely adopted a new mentality with regards to songwriting and recording, and full-length albums have shied away in favor of singles and EPs.
With all this newfound free time from self-quarantine, I’ve compiled an archive of the top 14 albums to listen to before the end of the world. This is by no means a list of the best albums of all time, because quite frankly those are just horseshit. Rather, this is a compilation of some personal favorite concept albums and thematic full-lengths that truly celebrate the album as a work of art. Hopefully, they help make the next few pandemic-filled weeks a little more PALATABLE.
Label: Third Man Records | Release Date: April 1, 2003
Elephant
The White Stripes
The brilliance of The White Stripes lies in their uncanny ability to generate a robust, full-bodied sound from a starkly back-to-basics technique, and this is most apparent on Elephant, their Grammy-winning fourth full-length LP that explores “the death of the sweetheart”. Everything from their minimalist two-person structure, to their retro instrumentation, to their reluctance to use digital recording equipment, and even to their thoughtful, ballad-heavy lyricism, evokes a sense of nostalgia yet never feels dated. An emotional rollercoaster, the album juxtaposes pounding, distorted guitar riffs in stadium-ready anthems (“Seven Nation Army”, “The Hardest Button to Button”) against delicate acoustic pieces (“You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket”).
Tags: Garage Rock, Blues Rock
Key tracks: “Seven Nation Army”, “There’s No Home for You Here”, “Ball And Biscuit”
Label: The Backseat Lovers | Release Date: January 27, 2019
When We Were Friends
The Backseat Lovers
Certain albums just immediately connect with you from the first listen, and When We Were Friends was easily one of those for me. From the first moments, there is a sweeping sense of authenticity and intimacy rooted in wistful nostalgia, as if you are sitting by the fire late one night in suburban Utah with Josh, Jonas, Juice, and KJ themselves, drinking a few beers and recounting tales of past exploits and relationships. This feeling stems from The Backseat Lovers’ undeniable chemistry, with the vocals, percussion, bass, and guitar all being carefully and seamlessly intertwined. In that vain, When We Were Friends also plays host to intricate, robust, and confident guitarwork, featuring a perfect balance of soft acoustic compositions and dynamic electric riffs.
Tags: Jam Rock, Blues Rock, Alternative
Key Tracks: “Watch Your Mouth”, “Kilby Girl”, “Maple Syrup”, “Sinking Ship”
Label: September Recordings | Release Date: June 21, 2019
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Chinatown Slalom
Chinatown Slalom have been called “the bric-a-brac Beatles”, and after giving the lead track, “Dr Marvelo & His Best Friend Corkie”, just one listen, I think you’ll find that this moniker fits perfectly. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is the sort of brilliant genre-bending magnum opus that the original Liverpool fab four would have been proud to develop. Its cacophonous and distorted introduction, smattering of auto-tuned vocals haphazardly shifting from R&B to hardcore hip-hop and back, and collage of background instrumentation are expertly arranged with just the right amount of maturity and restraint. Stylistically, think Gorillaz meets Talking Heads meets Khalid meets Diplo with the eccentricity of the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
tags: Pop, R&B, Funk
Key Tracks: “Dr Marvelo & His Best Friend Corkie”, “Where U AT?”, “Who Wants To be a Millionaire?”
Label: Mom+Pop Music | Release Date: January 25, 2019
Almost Free
FIDLAR
Normally, the sober album is much like the divorce album: a painfully cynical pastiche that becomes both sonically and lyrically pedestrian. That being said, FIDLAR deftly avoids this trap with Almost Free, instead creating what is perhaps one of the most interesting and inventive punk albums of the decade. From the Beastie Boys-style sampling on the intro track “Get Off My Rock”, to the percussion on “Flake” that would sound at home on any Billy Idol album, to the Clash-inspired “Scam Likely”, the album seamlessly incorporates a motley list of influences into a seemingly-endless sea of infectious guitar riffs, powerful drumming, and pinpoint vocals, all complete with a characteristic Hawaiian surf-punk flair.
Tags: Surf Punk
Key Tracks: “Get Off My Rock”, “Alcohol”, “By Myself”, “Scam Likely”
Label: SST Records | Release Date: January 1, 1984
Zen Arcade
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü, with their revolutionary stripped-down style that cleverly fused hardcore’s distorted sound and breakneck speed with pop’s melodic choruses and diverse structure, became one of the most influential bands of the eighties American indie underground, serving as inspiration for greats like Nirvana, Metallica, The Smashing Pumpkins, and The Pixies. Zen Arcade, their 23-track magnum opus, marked the zenith of this brilliant genre-bending new sound, thrusting it out of obscurity and into the hands of college radio stations and zines across the country. Moreover, this semi-autobiographical concept album recounts the story of a young punk who flees his squabbling family and deadbeat friends to the big city in order to find himself, contemplates joining a cult, hooks up with a girl (who later overdoses), and eventually returns home a renewed man, only to wake up at the end of it all and realize it was just a nightmare.
Tags: Post-Hardcore, Post-Punk, Alternative
Key Tracks: “Something I Learned Today”, “Hare Krsna”, “Whatever”
Label: Interscope Records | Release Date: August 27, 2002
Songs for the Deaf
Queens of the Stone Age
Undoubtedly, Songs for the Deaf is one of the most captivating and imaginative concept albums of all time. The entire LP is framed as a crunchy AM radio broadcast that shifts from one comedically-stereotypical radio station to another without giving a damn about what the audience actually wants to hear. Songs for the Deaf features a lengthy, yet purposeful, fifteen-song tracklist. The silent opener “The Real Song for the Deaf” embodies the band’s dark sense of humor. The sludgy riff on “First It Giveth” gives a subtle nod to Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri’s desert rock roots with Kyuss. “Six Shooter” is a full-out 70-second assault complete with shrieking vocals and wailing guitar. The catchy chorus and intricate guitar work on the B-side “Gonna Leave You” presents the closest thing to a pop song on the album.
Tags: Stoner Rock, Metal, Hard Rock
Key Tracks: “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar…”, “No One Knows”, “Gonna Leave You”
Label: Rough Trade | Release Date: May 18, 2018
Wide Awake!
Parquet Courts
Parquet Courts are one of the most innovative groups in modern music, with a brilliantly diversified sound that reaches new heights on their Danger Mouse-produced sixth LP. Pulling from a wide array of influences, they push the boundaries of post-punk while maintaining the ever-important DIY ethos. “Total Football” gives an ode to hardcore with fast, powerful riffs and outro gang vocals, yet incorporates a Devo-inspired bassline. “Violence” uses spitfire vocals and intelligent lyricism to denounce rampant American violence and lingering racial power imbalances. “Before the Water Gets Too High” furthers its post-apocalyptic narrative with an omnichord instrumental. “Death Will Bring Change” is a poignant, deeply introspective Austin Brown-penned piece about how “final stage of grief is acceptance, not liberation”.
Tags: Garage Rock, Post-Punk, Slacker rock
Key Tracks: “Violence”, “Before the Water Gets Too High”, “Freebird II”, “Death Will Bring Change”
Label: Domino Recording Co. | Release Date: February 21, 2006
Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Arctic Monkeys
“Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not” is a direct quote from Alan Sillitoe’s landmark novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and an ingenious title for this concept album about clubbing in Northern England. The witty lyricism, power chord-heavy guitar riffs, and stripped-down, gritty punk sound flawlessly come together throughout the LP to cover nearly every facet of a typical night out: anxiously hashing out plans for the night (“The View from the Afternoon”), arriving at the bar to see the band warming up (“Fake Tales of San Francisco”), dealing with thuggish bouncers on a power trip (“From the Ritz to the Rubble”), futilely attempting to get a lift home at the end of the night (“Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured”), and even navigating the whole “she’s a two at ten but a ten at two” situation (“Still Take You Home”).
Tags: Punk, Pop Punk, Garage Rock
Key Tracks: “I Bet You Look Good On The DanceFloor”, “From the Ritz To The Rubble”, “A Certain Romance”
Label: Merge Records | Release Date: July 10, 2007
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon
Aptly named for the staccato piano chords that punctuate “The Ghost of You Lingers”, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is the type of striking, captivating album that makes a strong first impression. Normally, “formulaic” and “creative” are oxymoronic, but Spoon deftly manages to combine the two on their sixth full-length album by first stripping down each song to its bare elements and only then adding unique sonic fixings like the kotos and Spanish guitars on “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case” or the studio banter opening “Don’t You Evah”. Consequently, all superfluities have been removed, allowing for a De Stijl-like sound that is hauntingly beautiful for its minimalism and technical proficiency. From the reverb-laden “Don’t Make Me a Target”, to the groove-heavy “Rhthm & Soul”, to the near-ballad “Black Like Me”, the entire album abounds with bold hooks, scintillating lyricism, and layered percussion.
Tags: Art Rock, Alternative
Key Tracks: “Dont Make Me A Target”, “The Ghost of You Lingers”, “Don’t You Evah”, “Black Like Me”
Label: SideOneDummy Records | Release Date: May 27, 2016
The Dream Is Over
PUP
The album’s title derives from the exact phrase Stefan Babcock’s doctor told him upon finding out that the frontman and lead singer shredded his vocal chords. Accordingly, The Dream Is Over is an unapologetically cynical and angst-ridden onslaught about hitting rock bottom, replete with catchy power-pop choruses, adrenaline-fueled riffs, and crushing percussion. Tales of involuntary break ups, wasted nights in suburban Toronto, and the pitfalls of relentless touring abound throughout the sophomore LP’s ten tracks, each one just as introspective (and self-deprecating) as the last. Moreover, The Dream Is Over serves as a phenomenal glimpse into their hallmark live shows, from the blitz of a transition from “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You, Then I Will” headlong into “DVP” to the infectious, shoutable chorus on “Can’t Win”.
Tags: Punk, Post-Hardcore, Pop Punk
Key Tracks: “If This Tour Doesn’t Kill You…”/“DVP”, “Can’t Win”, “Familiar Patterns”
Label: Counter Intuitive Records | Release Date: June 28, 2019
Cosmic Thrill Seekers
Prince Daddy & The Hyena
A nearly 40-minute saga about a bad acid trip, Cosmic Thrill Seekers is a rough, trippy concept album, albeit one of the best punk releasesof the last decade. After multiple listens, the disparity between the vocals and the supporting instrumentation goes from absurd to just plain brilliant. The rough-hewn shrieks, which hack through the softer, often melodic guitar and percussion, perfectly characterize the emotions surrounding the stoner-protagonist at the center of the three-act saga that is Cosmic Thrill Seekers. Anxiety. Anger. Frustration. Depression. Paranoia. It is all rawly present in Kory Gregory’s bloodied cries that ring throughout the album amidst the surrounding, almost suffocating benevolence of the outside world that the instrumentation represents.
Tags: Punk, Pop Punk
Key Tracks: “I lost My Life”/“Lauren (Track 2)”, “Breather”, “WAcky Misadventures of the Passenger”
Label: Warner Records | Release Date: September 24, 1991
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
Red Hot Chili Peppers
I think it’s quite obvious at this point that Blood Sugar Sex Magik has had a profound effect on my own personal relationship with music. The perfect combination of punk, rock, and funk, pulled from a motley list of influences including Jimi Hendrix, Gang of Four, and Parliament-Funkadelic, harkened back to the classic rock that I grew up on while simultaneously incorporating an intensity previously unbeknownst to me. Blood Sugar Sex Magik is a wonderfully weird rollercoaster that segways from one song to the next with ease. Starting with the politically-charged “Power of Equality”, then onto the acoustic “Breaking the Girl”, later into the underrated love letter “I Could Have Lied”, and eventually approaching the grunge-influenced “The Righteous and the Wicked”, the Chili Peppers execute literally anything and everything with the utmost precision.
Tags: Funk, Alternative
Key Tracks: “The Power of Equality”, “I Could Have Lied”, “Give It Away”, Under the Bridge”
Label: Dirty Hit | Release Date: September 8, 2017
Bambino
Superfood
I imagine Bambino sounds like the kind of album Stevie Wonder would make if he was tripping acid. Groovy basslines. Buoyant vocal harmonies. Vivacious horn sections. Abundant samples and cameos. The album is purely funk and rhythm and ska, but with a plethora of trippy twists and turns that constantly keep you on your toes. It’s easy to see that Dom Ganderton and Ryan Malcolm are just having fun on this masterwork about refusing to grow up: every track manages to conjure blissful nostalgia while retaining that unmistakable sense of juvenile innocence and joy. Listening to Bambino is purely therapeutic: you can literally feel the stress melting away as your transported back to the schoolyard for 42 colorful and energetic minutes.
Tags: Pop, R&B, Funk
Key Tracks: “Where’s The Bass Amp?”, “I Can’t See”, “Natural Supersoul”, “Witness”
Label: Asian Man Records | Release Date: September 11, 2007
People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People In The World
AJJ
AJJ is such an important figure within modern punk because they managed to achieve a goldilocks combination of cynical, albeit humorous, lyricism with heavy and stripped-down, yet accessible, instrumentation that many have previously attempted with minimal success. Their sophomore effort, People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World, centers around the juxtaposition of life’s malice and grace by exploring the subjects of religion (“Rejoice”), anxiety and depression (“Brave as a Noun”), humanity (“Survival Song”), and existentialism (“Randy’s House”). The album’s thematic core lies in the dueling tracks “A Song Dedicated to the Memory of Stormy the Rabbit” and “People”, which attack the pitfalls and virtues of human nature, respectively.