10 Amazing Albums For Your Collection

An article that will be music to your ears (or eyes)

Before I get started. That Fleetwood Mac cover brings up so many questions. The most important one being why does it look like Mick Fleetwood has his bollocks out? Great album but lots to be worked on in other areas, Mick. Literally.

Now that’s out the way, let’s get onto the good stuff!

Music brings joy to people in a universal language. Some of my favourite songs I cannot understand a thing. There are songs in French, German, Spanish and by Lil’ Wayne where I have no idea what’s been said — and I love them!

Great music is so obvious, yet so hidden. So are great albums. A collection of tunes that tell a story and make you love each song that’s on there.

It’s a pretty dream.

So with that in mind, let’s have a look at ten amazing albums which defy the odds and keep your ears listening all the way through…

Elton John — Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973)

A double LP album which has a grand total of 17 songs. This is one of the first albums I heard as a child and I loved it. So much so that I thought every rock song in the world was done by Elton John (don’t ask). That really confused me. I do get confused quite easily though to be fair.

Elton’s not exactly a boring persona and neither is his music. For instance the hit track “Bennie And The Jets”. An odd song to say the least. And one that Elton himself said he never saw as a standout.

Bernie Taupin wrote all the lyrics to the albums’ songs with Elton performing. The duo combining their skills to create a masterpiece.

There’s meaning and feeling behind songs such as “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” which brings rock and roll to Britain.

Another classic “Candle in the Wind” has meaning of fame and youth behind it as discussed by Bernie:

“the idea of fame or youth or somebody being cut short in the prime of their life. The song could have been about James Dean, it could have been about Montgomery Clift, it could have been about Jim Morrison… how we glamorise death, how we immortalise people.” — Bernie Taupin

It makes a change to listen to a great album like this in comparison to some of the stuff on the radio today. But I’ll stop myself there as I’ll start to rant about modern day crap music and nobody wants that. I’m a miserable old sod, I know.

Favourite Track — Bennie And The Jets

Most Original Track — Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding

Most Underrated Track — All The Girls Love Alice

Drake — Take Care (2011)

The monotone Toronto rapper released an album wanting to make sure we all take care of ourselves. What a nice man. Drake is definitely fighting the rapper’s stereotype. A mother’s dream with polite manners to match his impressive flows.

Like Elton, there is a huge track list with a total of 20 songs, including bonus tracks.

The album tells a story of Drake dealing with his increasing fame, accompanied by heartbreak. I can definitely relate to the heartbreak but the fame, not so much.

Many of the tracks became massive hits for Drakey boy. “Take Care” featuring Rihanna and “The Motto” with Lil Wayne really cemented Drake firmly onto the path to Hip-hop royalty.

I do miss this version of Drake. Tunes like “Over My Dead Body” and “Marvins Room” really display a vulnerability and rawness that will make you miss that really attractive girl you locked eyes with on the train and never saw again but it felt like a 10 year relationship.

Drake flipped the craft and made it cool to be honest about your feelings and moan about how shit heartbreak is. It will always be a classic in the world of Rap.

Favourite Track — Over My Dead Body

Most Original Track — Crew Love ft. The Weeknd

Most Underrated Track — The Ride ft. The Weeknd

Fleetwood Mac — Rumours (1977)

If you’re after the sensation of feeling better after a breakup combined with songs influenced by heavy-drug use then “Rumours” may be right up your street.

I’ll just say now I’m not a heavy-drug user but this album definitely had a hold on me. Who needs crack when Mick and Stevie are on the case?

A modest track list of eleven songs (12 if you include Silver Springs). This is a collection of bangers your favourite butcher would be proud of. We’ve got seductive sounds of pop and rock to create…pop-rock (do you like what I did there?)

“The Chain” has, and will continue to, surpass the test of time. “Dreams” makes you want to chill out on a chair in the sun trying to remember a time where you felt more relaxed.

As for “Never Going Back Again” that makes me think of myself riding on a horse in Texas shouting out “Yeehaw”. The title also makes me think of my crappy job I had as a waiter. I can confidently say about that role I’m “Never Going Back Again.”

An album made in the 70s which teenagers love in 2022. If that’s not art in it’s purest form then I don’t know what is. Even if Mick and Stevie were off their tits on drugs, it’s still great. It’s better than anything I’ve ever done whilst on a sugar high…

Favourite Track — Gold Dust Woman

Most Original Track — Never Going Back Again

Most Underrated Track — Oh Daddy

Arctic Monkeys — Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (2006)

The pride of Sheffield. The Arctic Monkeys represent the lovely region of South Yorkshire in England. They also make little effort to hide where they’re from with strong accents and words such as “Reyt” and “Mardy”.

A debut album which pulls no punches. Every song is an absolute banger. Arguably their best track “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” always gets people boogying like crazy in the clubs.

“Fake Tales Of San Francisco” is the album’s third track out of thirteen. Lyrics which call out “weekend rock stars in the toilets practising their lines” and basically tells these washed up acts that they’re from Rotherham and not San Francisco.

If you’ve never heard of Rotherham then I will set the scene. It’s a shit-hole.

Unfortunately The Arctic Monkeys never reached the same heights with their follow up albums. But this will forever remain a classic. Whatever your taste, please do your ears a favour and listen to these geniuses residing in the north of England.

Favourite Track — I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

Most Original Track — Fake Tales Of San Francisco

Most Underrated Track — Perhaps Vampires Is A Bit Strong But…

The Notorious B.I.G — Ready To Die (1994)

Probably the best Hip-hop album there’s ever been. A bold statement indeed.

Biggie Smalls had lyrical talent beyond his years connecting his words and flows so smoothly it’s like he’s not even trying.

Huge hits for Notorious included “Juicy” and “Big Poppa”. These tunes were a slower tone for B.I.G than the other album tracks but they display Smalls’ versatility in combining hardcore lyrics over heavy beats with smooth R&B influenced tracks.

I’m not gonna lie — this album is very explicit. If your grandparents are over for tea and biscuits maybe play a fast foxtrot through the speakers instead.

The cursing, obscenities and dark content tell a story of an artist portraying their outlook on love, loss and life in a way that feels most comfortable to them.

“Me and My Bitch” from the outside looking in seems to be bragging about a woman in his life, but not in the nicest of terms. A story of a man who loves a woman so much he’s expressing himself and his feelings in the only ways that he knows how. Or it could be about taking his dog for a walk? Who knows?

A song that really makes the listener stop in their tracks (if you’ll pardon the pun) is named “Suicidal Thoughts”. It’s what it says on the tin. An eerily dark journey through a mind that believes there’s no way out of a deeply helpless outlook.

The instrumental resembles a heartbeat where Biggie performs a telephone call in the form of a rap to his friend (P Diddy). The rawness of the song really makes you sit back and dissect the lyrics. A struggle of a depressive state, with the pain of a friend trying to help in any way they can.

A genre-changing album from an artist taken way too soon.

Favourite Track — Machine Gun Funk

Most Original Track — Suicidal Thoughts

Most Underrated Track — Friend of Mine

Pearl Jam — Ten (1991)

Having a front-man with a voice as original as Eddie Vedder always helps when making an album to stand the test of time.

A collection of songs that seem to get better with every listen. Classic rock combined with Vedder’s vocals to unleash a fury of tracks. “Ten” takes you from head banging like you’ve got a bee in your bonnet — to listening intimately to dark lyrical forms of expression.

One of the album’s stand out tracks is “Alive”. An anthem with huge energy and even huger semantics. Vedder discussed how the meaning behind Alive changed for him:

“In the original story, a teenager is being made aware of a shocking truth that leaves him plenty confused,” he said of the tale, based on his own teenage discovery that the man he believed to be his biological father was actually not. “It was a curse — ‘I’m still alive.’”

But as fans quickly turned the title phrase into a self-empowering anthem, particularly at Pearl Jam concerts, Vedder said, “they lifted the curse. The audience changed the meaning for me.” — Eddie Vedder/Billboard

The power of art and perception turns painful memories into joyous escapes. Plus it’s really good head-banging music.

Favourite Track — Even Flow

Most Original Track — Jeremy

Most Underrated Track — Once

George Michael — Older (1996)

The late, and undoubtedly great, George Michael has an abundance of brilliant albums to pick from. “Older” is one of those albums that comes along once in a blue moon that makes you feel the artist’s emotions as your own.

George moves into more serious territory with his work on Older. “Jesus to a Child” is a six minute fifty one journey into the pain Michael suffered losing his Brazilian lover Anselmo Feleppa to an AIDS related illness. The make-up of the track is done in a Brazilian style to commemorate Feleppa.

George also experiments with plenty of Jazz. The sounds in “Older” display more trumpet sounds than your gran on a whoopee cushion. From heartfelt tributes to smooth, laid back classics. George struck the balance perfectly — unlike your gran on that cushion…

Displaying his versatility further, “Fastlove, Pt. 1” is a pop/dance song dedicated to the one night stand with no strings attached. Can’t beat a good fling with someone you’ve known for a couple of hours…and running as fast as you can out their door the next day…

An emotional journey complimented with Jazzy pop soul that makes you feel like you’ve really listened to the music. I mean REALLY listened.

Rest in peace George. Another talented soul gone way too soon.

Favourite Track — Fastlove, Pt. 1

Most Original Track — Jesus to a Child

Most Underrated Track — It Doesn’t Really Matter

Wu-Tang Clan — Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)

If hardcore rap and ninjas are your two most favourite things in the world then I’m sure you’ve heard of Wu-Tang Clan.

The debut album from a collective of nine rappers was made on such a low budget that they could only fit eight of the members in the studio at a time. Each artist had to compete against each other to try and get featured on the tracks. Wu-Tang Clan (archive.org)

Inspiration was taken from old kung-fu movies and they sampled from these films heavily. As a result of his eerily dark beats featuring the best ninja sounds you could ever dream of — producer “RZA” is regarded as one of the best to ever do it.

Each ‘clanner’ displays a quality that adds to Wu Tang’s appeal of not giving a shit what the “norm” is. “Method Man” has the voice, “Raekwon” has the rhymes, “GZA” has the flow, and “Ol’ Dirty Bastard” has the most original approach to music Hip-hop has ever heard.

The track “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)” is one of Wu-Tang’s greatest hits. A more chilled anthem than their other tracks on the 36 chambers album. It displays storytelling of the hardships in 80s/90s Staten Island. Music that depicts how rap can save people who consider themselves lost to the street “lifestyle”.

In contrast, “Protect Ya Neck” is sheer rap finesse. Nine rappers competing to be the best on a track without a hook or chorus in sight. It shouldn’t work but it more than does.

Originality in simple sophistication. Wu-Tang created a classic. Who needs expensive studios to make great music?

Favourite Track — C.R.E.A.M (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)

Most Original Track — Protect Ya Neck

Most Underrated Track — Clan In Da Front

Nas — Illmatic (1994)

Another debut album which depicts the raw reality of an artist’s upbringing.

Illmatic is a collection of Nas’ outlook of growing up in Queensbridge, New York. Right from the start “N.Y. State of Mind” transports the listener to the streets of the city.

In 2022 there is focus on production over lyrics when it comes to rap. The poetry Nas displayed in 1994 makes a refreshing change. A rapper who can write a lyric without saying “Bitch” or “Skrr” every other second is the nostalgia I need.

Another stand-out tune from Illmatic is the bluntly named “Life’s a Bitch” featuring “AZ” and “Olu Dara”. A tale of making the most of life despite the rough surroundings of Queensbridge. Crime, drugs and poverty were the enemy, but creativity was the best escape for Nas.

This street-wise poet announced himself onto the Hip-hop stage with an album that will go down in history as one of the greatest products of the genre.

Must be a bitch having a see-through face though.

Favourite Track — N.Y. State of Mind

Most Original Track — Life’s A Bitch (feat. AZ & Olu Dara)

Most Underrated Track — One Time 4 Your Mind

London Grammar — Californian Soil (2021)

London Grammar are an English indie-pop band with another vocalist displaying beautiful uniqueness. Hannah Reid step forward.

It’s a cliché to say that someone can sing like an angel but it really does apply with Reid. You can feel the soul and feeling behind the words that are sung. It’s not churned out, easy to sell music. It’s an expression of a woman who feels under-appreciated and under-valued in a world that is urged to do more.

Singles such as the albums’ name sake “Californian Soil” are the anthemic tunes which grab the attention. But the whole collection takes you on a journey into your own feelings.

It’s not light listening so make sure you’re in a deep/thoughtful/pissed off mood before you listen.

A band that will continue to grow and continue to get me listening to songs such as “Missing” when I’ve had a shit day at work. Or when no one’s clapped for my article on medium (hint-hint/cough-cough).

A must listen for having thought-provoking time to yourself. London Grammar are the perfect, soothing therapy with their best refreshing release.

Favourite Track — Californian Soil

Most Original Track — Lose Your Head

Most Underrated Track — Talking

That’s your lot!

There we have it. Ten albums which are a must have for your collection.

Some of them may be an acquired taste but if we didn’t have acquired taste then where would we be? Not dancing around to Wu-Tang Clan whilst your parents consider putting you up for adoption. That’s where.

Thanks for reading, and happy listening!