My top 25 favorite albums

"Music means many things to me. Some music serves as permanent reminders of the ups and downs of my life. Other music reminds me of friends and loved ones, some of whom are long gone. Some of it reminds me of places and things past, times long remembered and cherished. And of course, music is my escape from all the bullshit in life. It is therapy, it is catharsis. It is the one constant in life for me."

- Rob Strangman, May 29th, 2012

Since I've felt like talking about music lately, I decided to compose a list of what I feel are my personal top 25 favorite albums. It was not an easy list to compose, by any means - there are a lot of bands and artists I like - and I decided to pare it down to one album per band. If I didn't, the whole list would be overwhelmed by Rush, Fear Factory and Alice in Chains albums.

A long time ago, I came to the realization that you should listen to what you like, no matter what anyone else may tell you. So with that in mind, keep in mind that if you disagree with me for whatever reason about any album I've listed... I don't really care. I like what I like, you like what you like. And you should listen to what you like. I won't judge you... even if I think what you're listening to sucks ass. I expect the same courtesy from you in return.

***

25. Martina McBride - Wild Angels

I may have just thrown quite a few of you for a total loop. The first album I'm listing on my Top 25 Countdown, and it's a country album. I can hear the collective "WTFs?" right now. If you're one of these people, you're the latest in a long line. I surprised several people with this revelation way back when, among them my younger brother Ryan and my fiance at the time. But yes, a country album did crack my Top 25. And it's been a staple of my collection for nearly twenty years. I'm certainly not going to lie about it: I think Martina McBride has an absolutely phenomenal voice, and I think that Wild Angels is the most solid, listenable album she ever recorded - and for the record, "Wild Angels," "Safe in the Arms of Love," "A Great Disguise," "Swingin' Doors," and "Cry on the Shoulder of the Road" are my favorite songs from it.

"Safe in the Arms of Love"

24. Loreena McKennitt - The Book of Secrets

Yep. A second album on the Top 25 that's not rock or metal. Jaws off the floor, please. *ahem* Anyway, I'd never really been a fan of Celtic music at all. Then again, I also had never heard much of it, either. I'd originally bought the album as a gift for my girlfriend at the time, and ended up enjoying it so much that I had to get my own copy. Loreena's vocals are sublime, and the whole album is captivating from start to finish - and the liner notes included really give you an idea of the journey that the album represents. Standouts for me include "The Mummers' Dance," "Skellig," "The Highwayman," "Night Ride Across the Caucasus" and "Dante's Prayer."

"Dante's Prayer"

23. "Weird Al" Yankovic - Dare To Be Stupid

Here's one of my old favorites, part of the soundtrack of my childhood. 1984's In 3-D may have introduced me to Al (along with most of the rest of the world, thanks to "Eat It"), but 1985's Dare To Be Stupid made me a fan (you'll be hearing a variation on this phrase quite a bit through this list, just so you know). "Dare To Be Stupid" alone was a great song, and Al's parody of The Kinks' "Lola," "Yoda," was a musical treat to a ten year old Star Wars fan. Great parodies of Huey Lewis & The News ("I Want a New Duck"), Madonna ("Like a Surgeon") and Cyndi Lauper ("Girls Just Want To Have Lunch") songs (among others), along with original songs like "One More Minute" and "This Is The Life" helped round out what I say is Al's best album to this day.

"Dare To Be Stupid"

22. NOFX - Punk in Drublic

I first heard of NOFX when I saw them live in 1994 - they had replaced Therapy?, who had been opening for Fishbone on that tour. Turns out they were touring for the recently released Punk in Drublic, although I didn't know that at the time. And if I recall correctly, none of us in attendance that night had any idea who NOFX was. Their performance that night sold us all, though, and as I recall, within days we each had a couple of NOFX albums apiece (note: memory, while good, is not 100% accurate). Punk in Drublic and its predecessor, White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean were the ones that grabbed me. Punk in Drublic definitely left a greater impression on me, thanks to songs like "Linoleum," "Dig," "The Cause," "Don't Call Me White," "Perfect Government," "The Brews," "Jeff Wears Birkenstocks," "Punk Guy," "Happy Guy" and "Reeko."

"Don't Call Me White"

21. Nirvana - Nevermind

Definitely Nirvana's most accessible album, I got into it shortly after "Come As You Are" was released as a single. I'd heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" prior to that, of course, and liked it quite a bit - but "Come As You Are" was the song that sold me on the album. It took me a few listens to completely absorb it, but by the time I got through it the first time I was glad I'd picked it up, instead of just buying the "Come As You Are" single. I'd also discovered the song that remains my favorite Nirvana song to this day: the next to last track on the album, "On A Plain." I also discovered a couple others that became favorite of mine, "Breed," "Lounge Act," and "Drain You."

"On A Plain"

20. BT - ima

I first heard this album thanks to my friend Chris Braunle, who was heavy into electronica at the time - especially trance, if I recall correctly. Until that point, I'd always associated this kind of music with extreme repetition - ten minutes of the same beats and constantly repeated samples, that kind of thing. BT took a more progressive approach with this album, making it more of a musical soundscape. More than that, he actually wrote songs (some of my favorites being "Nocturnal Transmission," "Quark," "Tripping The Light Fantastic," "Loving You More [BT's Final Spiritual Journey]," and "Blue Skies"). BT continued doing this with each subsequent album, although they did get quite a bit poppier as his left his trance roots behind (the notable exception being 2006's experimental album This Binary Universe, which was about as far from pop as you could get). As much as I do like BT's later work, though, I still much prefer ima. It's an album I can put on and get lost in, as everything all flows together.

"Nocturnal Transmission"

19. Clutch - Transnational Speedway League: Anthems, Anecdotes and Undeniable Truths

"A Shogun Named Marcus," the first track on Transnational Speedway League, is one hell of a catchy song (not to mention my intro to Clutch). Luckily, the rest of the album lives up to the opener. "Redneck metal" may be the best way to describe Clutch, and with song titles like "12 Ounce Epilogue," "Milk of Human Kindness," "Earthworm," "Heirloom 13," and "Walking In The Great Shining Path of Monster Trucks," (all favorites of mine, by the way) who can argue with that label? But every song on the album is solid, and it ends up being a great listen all the way around. I haven't really followed Clutch since, aside from one or two songs here and there - and frankly, what I've heard hasn't impressed me as much as Transnational Speedway League did. But I'm willing to give their later work more of a shot than I have.

"A Shogun Named Marcus"

18. Lush - Split

I happened to hear the song "Light From a Dead Star" being played in a mall record store one day in 1994. I asked the girl at the counter who was on. Her answer was Lush, and it was a song from their new album, Split. Now, at this point I was completely unfamiliar with the whole "shoegaze" genre, which if I recall correctly, Lush was credited with having helped start. What I heard sounded like good old alternative to me, and I was intrigued enough by it to drop some cash on the album right then. Good move on my part. "Light From a Dead Star," while good, pales in comparison to some of the later songs on the album, namely "Blackout," "Hypocrite," "Lovelife," "Desire Lines," the etheriel "Never-Never" and surprise favorite "Starlust." In fact, nearly every song on the album is better. Split ended up becoming one of my favorite "blind" purchases as a result.

"Starlust"

17. Filter - Title of Record

Aside from "Hey Man, Nice Shot" and "Dose," I didn't really care for Filter's debut album, Short Bus. In fact, when I'd heard that Title of Record was coming out, I almost passed it up. But I liked the first single, "Welcome to the Fold," so I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did. "Welcome to the Fold" actually became one of my least favorite songs on the album after hearing the rest - "Captain Bligh," "The Best Things," "I Will Lead You" and "Cancer" being the standouts. More importantly, my opinion of Filter was raised. Which is good, because I loved the next two albums they released: The Amalgamut and Anthems For The Damned. It's too bad their latest album, The Trouble With Angels, has them drifting back into Short Bus territory, though.

"Captain Bligh"

16. Garbage - Version 2.0

Shirley Manson. YES. Now that I have that out of the way, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed Garbage's 1995 self-titled debut. When I heard that their second album was out, I immediately went and bought a copy. What I heard impressed me even more so. "Temptation Waits," "I Think I'm Paranoid," "Special," "Push It," "Dumb," and "Sleep Together" alone easily trump nearly everything on Garbage, except for maybe "Vow" and "Only Happy When It Rains." The rest of the album is great too. Garbage had their ups and downs after that, although I feel they have yet to do a bad album. I even enjoyed beautifulgarbage, the one album of theirs that gets trashed all the time due to it being experimental. Bleed Like Me and Not Your Kind of People are both solid listens as well.

"Special"

15. Goo Goo Dolls - Superstar Car Wash

Yes, I've listed a Goo Goo Dolls album in my Top 25. However, this one predates all of the songs that made them famous (the ones you're probably trying to forget, like "Name" and "Slide"). Superstar Car Wash is a nice slice of early '90s alternative rock, a crossroads between their earlier albums like Jed and the later ones like Dizzy Up The Girl. Songs such as "Lucky Star,", "Cuz You're Gone," "Girl Right Next To Me," "Domino," "String of Lies," and "On The Lie" I enjoy quite a bit. I admit, I have a rather fond memory attached to it, which is part of the reason I like the album so much. A friend of mine (who shall remain nameless unless he comes forward and identifies himself) had just asked out a girl he liked (another friend of mine, who shall also remain nameless unless she comes forward and identifies herself). She said yes, and he was rather ecstatic about it. I was there with him visiting her that night, and on the way home he cranked this album, drumming along with it on the steering wheel and singing along. He was incredibly happy, and his happiness was infectious. Needless to say, I soon joined him in singing along. Even though the two of them didn't last as a couple, they're still friends. I'm happy about that.

"Girl Right Next To Me"

14. The Offspring - Ixnay on the Hombre

In 1994, it seemed like The Offspring came out of nowhere. Their album Smash was a hit, thanks to songs like "Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem." The Offspring ended up leaving their label, Epitaph, for Columbia Records sometime between 1994 and 1996. I recall hearing people say that this was going to be a Bad Thing for them, that they'd be going mainstream now. Granted, that may have happened later in their career, but at the time they proved everyone wrong when Ixnay on the Hombre, their first album on Columbia, was released. To me, it sounded like they took everything great about Smash and improved on it. Even better, the singles from the album didn't get overplayed to hell and back like "Come Out and Play" and "Self Esteem" had been (although I do recall hearing "Gone Away" played quite a bit). For me, standouts include "The Meaning of Life," "Mota," "Leave It Behind," "Gone Away," "All I Want," "Amazed," and "Change the World."

"Mota"

13. Jesus Jones - Perverse

Yes, I have listed a Jesus Jones album in my top 25 countdown. And no, it's not the one with "Right Here, Right Now" on it - that was 1991's Doubt. 1993's Perverse was Doubt's completely ignored and subsequently forgotten darker followup. Perverse definitely had a more electronic sound to it, and the subject matter ranges from the coming of the digital age ("Zeroes and Ones") to the shallowness of printed media ("Magazine"). I'm of the opinion that it's a damned shame the general public wrote Jesus Jones off as a one-hit wonder, and that if Perverse could have had more of a promotional push behind it, it could have hit big. I particularly enjoyed the tracks "Zeroes and Ones," "The Devil You Know," "Get a Good Thing," "Magazine," "The Right Decision," "Your Crusade," "Spiral" and "Idiot Stare."

"Spiral"

12. White Zombie - Astro Creep 2000: Songs of Love, Destruction and Other Synthetic Delusions of the Electric Head

White Zombie's swan song (those remix albums don't count) was a tantalizing glimpse at where the band could have gone had things not gone south between Rob Zombie and the other members. The sound they'd been working on for years had finally been polished up nicely, they'd broken out of their niche and become a success. I thought that 1992's La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume 1 was a great album - although it took me a few listens to warm up to it completely - but Astro Creep 2000 had me hooked right from the start. I can still listen to it from beginning to end without skipping anything, which I can't say for La Sexorcisto. Standouts include "Electric Head Pt. 1 (The Agony)," "Super-Charger Heaven," "Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)," "I, Zombie," "More Human Than Human," "Blur The Technicolor" and "Blood, Milk and Sky."

"Electric Head Pt. 2 (The Ecstasy)"

11. Stone Temple Pilots - Core

I was a semi-early STP adopter, hearing (and subsequently buying) Core for the first time a few months before it hit big in early 1993. I've enjoyed their subsequent albums to varying degrees, but none of them packed the raw punch that Core did (only 1999's No. 4 came close). Sure, a lot of people dismissed STP as a Pearl Jam ripoff after hearing some of the singles from Core - their later albums did do a lot to distance them from that label - but I don't share that opinion. I thought they had a different sound, enough to make them stand apart from not only Pearl Jam, but the other grunge bands they were inevitably lumped in with. Favorite songs of mine from Core include "Dead and Bloated," "Sex Type Thing," "Wicked Garden," "No Memory", "Sin," "Plush," "Crackerman," and "Where The River Goes."

"Sex Type Thing"

10. Orgy - Vapor Transmission

Having first heard Orgy on the "Korn Family Values Extra Values" Best Buy bonus sampler CD packaged in with the release of the album Follow The Leader, I knew they would be a band I'd want to keep an ear out for. Their first album, 1998's Candyass, proved me right, but the release of 2000's Vapor Transmission really made me sit up and say "WOW!" From start to end, it proved to be a fantastic album, much stronger than the admittedly-weak-in-spots Candyass. I'm especially fond of "Suckerface," "The Odyssey," "Opticon," "Fiction (Dreams in Digital)," "Eva," "Dramatica," and "Where's Gerrold." It remains their most solid album to this day, as their only other release, 2003's Punk Statik Paranoia, doesn't quite reach the standard Vapor Transmission set (PSP's too short and has several forgettable songs on it, sadly).

"Fiction (Dreams In Digital)"

09. Faith No More - Album of the Year

Here's an "out of left field" entry. Most would probably expect me to list The Real Thing or Angel Dust as my favorite FNM album - don't get me wrong, they're both great albums - but for my money, their swan song Album of the Year is tops. Maybe it's the more straightforward direction they took with it (especially after the musically-all-over-the-place approach they took with all of their previous albums). All I know is that I can listen to it start to finish without skipping any tracks, and that's something I can't do with any other album in their catalog. I'm particularly fond of "Collision," "Stripsearch," "Last Cup of Sorrow," "Helpless," "Ashes To Ashes," "Paths of Glory" and "Pristina."

"Last Cup of Sorrow"

08. God Lives Underwater - Empty

I first heard the song "No More Love" on the radio (during my first-ever trip to Best Buy, with Bobby McCauley) in 1995, but it wasn't until Chris Braunle brought the album with him when he came home on leave that year that I truly "discovered" God Lives Underwater. GLU's style seemed to me to be a fusion of grunge and electronica, with a hint of industrial thrown in for good measure. Needless to say, I quickly fell in love with the album, with "Still," "All Wrong," "No More Love," "Empty," "23,", "Tortoise," and "Scared" being my favorite tracks. Sadly, the rest of the world did not share my opinion, and GLU remained one of the more obscure bands I listened to. They hung on until 2005, releasing two more albums during those ten years (neither of which were quite as good as Empty, although 2005's Up Off The Floor came close), but the untimely death of David Reilly - GLU's lead vocalist - ended the band permanently. I got to meet him after a free concert at Daytona Beach sometime in 1997 or so, and he struck me as being a really nice guy.

"No More Love"

07. Dream Theater - Images and Words

I remember cosmo really talking up DT when this album was released, but it wasn't until driving around with docito and listening to it that I truly took notice of the band. "Pull Me Under" was a great start, and the following songs didn't disappoint, but the one-two punch of the songs "Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper" and "Under a Glass Moon" sold me on both the album and the band. I've been a DT fan ever since, even if I did start to drift away from them a bit after the release of 2005's Octavarium. But IaW remains my favorite DT album (although 1994's Awake is a close second), simply because of both "Metropolis Pt. 1" and "Under a Glass Moon" - but don't get me wrong, the whole album is great. "Pull Me Under," "Take The Time" and "Surrounded" are also favorites of mine.

"Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper"

06. Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me

I've been a dedicated Type O fan since 1996's October Rust, but 2003's Life Is Killing Me was their first album that I could listen to from beginning to end and not skip around from track to track. I'm not sure why that is, as all of their previous albums are fantastic, despite what I feel are some unnecessary filler tracks on Bloody Kisses and World Coming Down, stuff like "Fay Wray Come Out and Play" and "Liver." I also seem to recall reading that LiKM received some scorn from die-hard TON fans, but I could never figure out why. There's so many good songs on the album: "I Don't Wanna Be Me," "Todd's Ship Gods (Above All Things)," "How Could She?," "(We Were) Electrocute," "Anesthesia," and the best Valentine's Day song ever written, "The Dream Is Dead."

"Todd's Ship Gods (Above All Things)"

05. Megadeth - Rust In Peace

I was introduced to Megadeth via 1992's Countdown To Extinction, and after hearing the song "Hangar 18," I decided to check out Rust In Peace, Countdown's immediate predecessor. I ended up getting a copy on cassette from cosmo - which promptly went virtually unplayed. I ended up buying the album on CD anyway, because of how much I loved "Hangar 18." Thing is, that ended up being all I listened to on it, so one day I decided to sell it. A quick call to a local record store, Side One (where I usually traded in whatever albums I didn't want), shot that thought down: the owner had a surplus of used copies. So given that, I decided that if I was going to have it for a while longer, why not give it a fair listen? I'm glad I did. I was hooked from beginning to end, even moreso than I had been with Countdown. Standouts include "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due," "Lucretia," "Take No Prisoners," "Tornado of Souls," "Dawn Patrol," "Rust In Peace... Polaris" and "Hangar 18" (of course).

"Hangar 18"

04. Metallica - Master of Puppets

"Master of Puppets" has the distinction of being the first Metallica song I ever heard, back in 1990 or so. But after the cassette I'd recorded the song on was eaten, I kind of forgot about them. Then 1991's Metallica (aka "The Black Album") was released, and they were everywhere. I liked what I heard, and dove headfirst into Metallica's back catalog after that. Master of Puppets ended up becoming my absolute favorite - not just for the song "Master of Puppets," but for the tracks "Battery," "Orion," "Damage, Inc.," "Disposable Heroes," and the song that became my favorite Metallica song ever, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)."

"Welcome Home (Sanitarium)"

03. Alice in Chains - Dirt

I first heard Alice in Chains during a ride home from Daytona Beach sometime in early 1993. The song "Rooster" was playing on the radio, and it had me hooked from the opening. After finding out what the song was and who the band was performing it, I resolved to buy a copy of the album immediately. I did - and then did nothing but listen to "Rooster" for the next few months. Sure, that first song, "Them Bones," was intriguing, but I didn't give the whole album a chance until after seeing AIC perform at Lollapalooza '93. And wouldn't you know it, I absolutely loved it. I immediately began seeking out the other albums in their catalog, none of which disappointed. None of the albums they released later on disappointed me either, for that matter. Dirt still remains the quintessential AIC album in my eyes, though. Some of my favorites from Dirt are "Them Bones," "Dam That River," "Rain When I Die," "Sickman," "Dirt," "Junkhead," "Down in a Hole," and "Would?"

"Them Bones"

02. Fear Factory - Demanufacture

1992's Soul of a New Machine was the album that got me into Fear Factory, but their 1995 masterpiece Demanufacture made me a fan for life. FF took the sound they had established on SoaNM and refined it to near-perfection with Demanufacture. It's cold, it's harsh and Burton's dual vocals are in the perfect range - not too death metal growl-esque like SoaNM, not too much of a strain on his voice like you can hear in some of the songs on their later releases. Some of the standouts on the album include "Demanufacture," "Self Bias Resistor," "Zero Signal," "Replica," "New Breed," "Body Hammer," and "H-K (Hunter-Killer)." The lone misstep on the album is their cover of Head of David's "Dog Day Sunrise" that sits right in the middle of the disc, effectively dividing it in two. I'm of the opinion that the song should have been relegated to an extra track on the digipak release, because it sounds so unlike the rest of the songs and as a result, it just clashes with the rest of the album.

"Zero Signal"

01. Rush - Permanent Waves/Rush - Signals

After spending over a decade recording songs off the radio and collecting movie soundtracks, I finally found a band that intrigued me enough to pursue their music beyond what I'd heard on the air. The 1991 release of Roll the Bones, and the subsequent airplay of the singles "Dreamline" and "Roll the Bones" on rock radio, was what got me started on what ultimately became my favorite band of all time (prior to Rush, it was Metallica). And if it wasn't for Rush, my eyes may not have been opened to looking into other bands past their singles. That said, it is very, very hard for me to pin down one Rush album as my absolute favorite. There are so many greats: Moving Pictures, Counterparts, 2112, A Farewell To Kings, Grace Under Pressure, Hemispheres and Fly By Night among them. However, I bounce back and forth between Permanent Waves and Signals when trying to decide which is my favorite all the time.

Permanent Waves, while on the shorter side, has some of my all-time favorite Rush songs on it. Never mind the ones everyone knows - "The Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill" - I'm talking about "Jacob's Ladder," "Entre Nous," "Different Strings," and my absolute favorite song from the album, "Natural Science." Signals, on the other hand, has not only my favorite Rush song, but my favorite song ever, on it: "Subdivisions." It also has "The Analog Kid," "Chemistry," "Digital Man," "The Weapon," "New World Man," "Losing It," and "Countdown." All fantastic. All favorites of mine. But I just can't decide which I like better. So I'm going to cheat here, since I truly cannot decide between the two. I like them both equally.

"Subdivisions"

No Tool? #@&% you!

I have to agree on "Core" being the epitome of STP and your lust for Shirley Manson.

I happen to like "Dog Day Sunrise" and most of FF's other covers.

I've been into TON for just as long and agree totally with that call. The riffs are killer.

I loved "Rust in Peace" too but "Countdown..." is probably my favorite.

Sorry, but Tool's kind of a "song by song" band for me. The only album of theirs that I can almost sit all the way through is Ænima.

:smug

Don't get me wrong, I like them all too - but "Dog Day Sunrise" sounds so out of place in the middle of Demanufacture.

Agreed 100%.

Countdown's up there for me too, but for my money, Rust is #1.