Opinz

Talking Heads – Remain in Light

Many innovative bands sprang into being in the wake of punk, but none developed their unique vision as completely as Talking Heads did on Remain in Light: the album is a tangle of Afrobeat polyrhythms and locked grooves with David Byrne delivering strange and provocative lyrics about modern alienation in only the way that his voice can; add Brian Eno’s production to the equation and you’ve got what was perhaps the greatest record of the 80’s, a landmark whose influence can be heard more clearly today than ever before.

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David Bowie – Hunky Dory

On one of the most doubtlessly solid collections of his career, Bowie fully indulges in his theatrical tendencies as he touches on every topic and style that interests him, and shifts effortlessly between psychedelic folk, proto-funk, and orchestral pop; Hunky Dory isn’t as bold or experimental as the works that would come to define Bowie’s career, but it’s sound songwriting and warmth are undeniable.

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OutKast – Stankonia

Andre 3000 and Big Boi’s masterpiece and one of the best and most endlessly entertaining hip-hop albums of all time, Stankonia is a funkadelic tour of a distant world that seems to encompass both the sweltering streets of Hotlanta and the depths of outer space, like the acid-tinged, post-coitus dreams of some pimp supreme.

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The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds

Poor Brian Wilson’s masterpiece, Pet Sounds was a combination of pop music and beautiful symphonics that had never been seen before, a huge milestone in the process of merging art with pop music and a universal, timeless statement about what it means to let go of your innocence and become a man.

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Jay-Z – The Blueprint

Jay-Z – The Blueprint

September 11, 2001
Roc-A-Fella/Island Def Jam
Rating: 4.6 / 5

The Music Rag One Sentence Review: Arguably Jigga’s masterpiece, he spits expertly only the way he can on then-beefs, girls (girls, girls), and a possible stint in prison, all without unnecessary skits and other frills and superbly soulful production from the likes of Timbaland, Just Blaze, and an at-the-time unknown Kanye West. (With a great guest appearance by Eminem on “Renegade”.)

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Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks

January 17, 1975
Columbia
Rating: 5 / 5

The Music Rag One Sentence Review: This is Bob Dylan taking off those big sunglasses and showing the world who he really is, resulting in one of the most tragic, powerful, sweet, occasionally even pathetic, but enduringly, touchingly, and unflinchingly human albums ever produced.

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