I decided to make a list of the top 20 albums i’ve been listening the most to, for the past 5 years, and I’m very happy to share it with you. I would love to hear your comments, so let me know what you think if you want to. This is the first part, covering albums 20 to 11.
20. Oxigène Trilogy – Jean-Michel Jarre
Released in 1976, by French electronic musician and synth maestro, Jean-Michell Jarre, Oxigène is an analog synth-head dream come true. It has the sound, the atmosphere, and the melody.
Jarre recorded it in his home studio, using many different analog synths, forming this big ensemble of beautiful and vibrant electronic textures and sounds, all carefully placed. It’s a very nice thing to experience. It starts with an atmospheric piece, and slowly builds to rhythm and melody, never leaving completely behind an emphasis in ambience. It has a unique vibe.
Oxigène proved to be so popular that Jarre eventually released Oxigène parts 2 and 3 (1997, and 2016, respectively.) They are cleaner, snappier, made with a more modern production, and with more emphasis on melody than the first one, which leaned more on atmosphere. They still follow a similar approach as the original.
According to Jarre, the records are meant to be experimented as one long piece. I certainly like all 3 of them a lot.
19. Purple Rain – Prince (1984)
I truly believe that Prince was the best pop recording artist ever. His music is very creative and original. And he not only composed everything, but also played a lot of the instruments on his albums. He was great at guitar. And his singing was so passionate and cool. He did “catchy” without even trying.
Anyway, there’s not one boring song in the whole album. I must say it surprises me a bit that a record with so many weird moments and arrangements got to be so popular, (it has sold like 25 million copies). I remember hearing it for the first time with a feeling that was half amazement and half pure joy.
This is highly enjoyable, engaging, and creative pop music. The arrangements for the songs include sounds and parts that seem to come out of nowhere, but blend perfectly with the rest of the track, and the flow of the record. Oh, and those cool and ever catchy vocal parts, delivered with so much energy and feeling… really, this album is made of pure musical highlights.
18. Stranger Things Original Soundtrack – K. Dixon & M. Stein (2016)
Almost any music fan who watched Netflix’s Stranger Things noticed something immediately: the soundtrack was amazing.
It was made by this duo of electronic musicians, using many different old school analog synths. As a soundtrack to a Tv show, it has a lot of emphasis on ambience and texture, and many different moods throughout the, mostly short, pieces. But for the most part it favors this beautiful, dense, atmospheric and melancholic sound, with some melody here and there. It also gets pretty dark sometimes, with all that “here comes the Demogorgon,” stuff, if you know what I mean.
The show came out at a time when I was transitioning from favoring a traditional electric guitar sound in my music to a more keyboard and synth based aesthetic, and listening to the soundtrack kinda sealed the deal. I remember I told myself something like, “Uh, I need to learn to do that.” I haven’t looked back ever since.
17. No More Shall We Part – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds (2001)
I find this record intense and alluring. All the songs sound in minor key, very sad, and with a certain aura of desperation. They’re also very beautiful, led for the most part by Nick Cave’s piano. The album has many ballads, and some people might find it too slow for their taste, but for me it’s great as it is. This is an album to listen while in a quiet, somber and reflective mood.
The cover always strikes me like some dark illustration concerning death, and the record does have this kind of ominous funeral march sound. Sometimes that sound is so sad and depressive that I almost can’t listen to the whole record straight, as it affects me too deeply. Oh, but the songs are so pretty, sparkling with feeling.
The songs have very beautiful and moving instrumental passages, mostly by violinist Warren Ellis. Nick Cave for his part, sings a lot in a higher register that his usual baritone crooning, while delivering his typical mix of dark, anguished, observationalist, and mocking lyrics. A record worth returning to, time and time again.
16. Violator – Depeche Mode (1990)
One thing I must say about Violator: this is a dark album. Oh, but it’s such a pretty and seductive kind of darkness. The synth parts create such a lush and sensual atmosphere, while David Gahans singing adds an extra layer of brooding. There’s a feeling of alienation throughout the whole thing. And it never really turns happy, only libidinous and provocative.
This record is the night, but in a sexy, cool, full moon, synth-pop dressed in leather and make-up, kinda night. And did I mentioned the synths? They sound beautiful and shiny, even if the composition is leaning on a minimalistic and spare philosophy.
Some of the songs are pretty catchy, like the singles, which include Personal Jesus, Policy of Truth, and especially what’s probably Depeche Mode’s most popular song, Enjoy the Silence, (in all its dance beat glory.) Those pieces surely give a bit of a contrast to an otherwise slow and gloomy record.
This album is great for those moods of estrangement. A good companion to share our sinister feelings with.
15. Hand. Cannot. Erase. – Steven Wilson (2015)
Steven Wilson had a very long career with his original band, Porcupine Tree, before he even started to release solo records, but it is with them that he has achieved the most success. No wonder he’s been very reluctant to return to his previous band.
Anyway, with his 4th solo album, Hand. Cannot. Erase. he made a modern prog-rock masterpiece. Unlike The Raven Who Refused to Sing (his previous record, also really good,) in which he made compositions in the traditional 70’s era style of progressive rock, Hand. Cannot. Erase. is way more contemporary sounding, incorporating a lot of electronic and pop elements, and with a cleaner and modern production.
The songs are quite marvelous, a lot of them crossing the 10 minute mark. Wilson, as always, is hugely creative. The songs have many different sections, with a lot of cool instrumental breakdowns. There’s also some straight pop and electronic songs, as in the title track (one of my very favorites,) and The Perfect Life.
The execution is great. Wilson really picked up some amazing musicians for his band on this album. One of the highlights for me is Marco Minnemann, the drummer. He’s so good, and has such a powerful, unique, and nice touch! Another highlight for me is the song Routine, in which Wilson shares vocal duties with guest vocalist Ninet Tayeb. I love that one. I love all of this album, really, the closing track being one of my favorite songs ever.
14. Persona 5 Original Soundtrack – Shoji Meguro & Toshiki Konishi (2017)
I played the video game Persona 5, like a year ago. I think the game’s timer counted I spent like 108 hours on it. And let me asure you, those were some very happy and dear 108 hours to me. And, as you might have figured, in order to not get bored playing a video game that long, the developers had to be sure to include an amazing soundtrack to go with it. Never fear, Persona 5’s original soundtrack is one of the greatest video game soundtracks ever.
It includes many different pieces and styles, ranging from this main chill acid jazz sound, to some classical inspired ones, some electronic and atmospheric stuff, and some rocking and bluesy tunes too. Some even have vocals with some very inspired performances.
Persona 5 has a very long and complex story, and the soundtrack has a musical piece for every different scenario and mood that the game explores, and the composers consistently deliver them in high quality. The game is really great, (definitely in my top 5 video games ever,) and the soundtrack is one of its greatest aspects, for sure.
13. Pure Heroine – Lorde (2013)
I remember reading in 2013 that some musicians I like a lot (Asian Kung-Fu Generation’s Gotch, and none other than David Bowie,) championed this record. Bowie apparently even dubbed Lorde “the future of pop”. My curiosity was instantly picked, and when I listened to it I was immediately hooked.
The music is quite minimalistic. It’s the essence of what it means to be an accompaniment. The star of the record is Lorde, her voice, her lyrics, and her way of delivering them. There are some beautiful vocal melodies throughout the record, delivered with creativity, passion and cynicism.
Yep, this absolutely is not happy pop. It’s disillusioned, realistic, and especially very smart. It was so refreshing to hear something like that, so different from the usual dumbed down pop. All this through the eyes and voice of this wonderful 16 years old girl from New Zealand. It amazes me how someone so young could have made something so mature, and significant to a lot of people. She definitely deserves getting as big as she has, really. She struck a nerve in a lot of people.
I love a lot her follow up album, Melodrama, too, and it was hard to choose, but I think I have listened to Pure Heroine way more times, so that’s why I ended up going with it.
12. World World World – Asian Kung-Fu Generation (2008)
Asian Kung-Fu Generation has been my favorite J-Rock band for a long time now. I love all of their records, but I think this one is their very best one.
Asian Kung-Fu Generation has a very nice style, which I would describe as nostalgic J-Rock. You can almost always expect a rocking and kinda melancholic chorus on their songs, especially because of the vocal melodies and the way Masafumi Gotō, main vocalist and Rhythm guitar player, sings.
Also, the interplay between him and the lead guitar player, Kensuke Kita, is very cool. They almost always are playing different things, but never drowning each other out. Kita is a master of playing beautiful and subtle melodies and textures than complement Gotō’s rhythm guitar parts and singing. The bass player and the drummer are very solid too.
I’ve always thought that on this record the band were especially creative and in a great mood. I think you can hear it. It has some great vocal melodies, and the songs are a bit more complex than usual. Asian Kung-Fu Generation’s guitar sound is always really good, but especially so in this album. The sound of the whole album is pretty good, actually.
Listening to this band always makes me have a good time. I’ve spent hours upon hours of my life listening to their beautiful music.
11. The Life and Times of Scrooge – Tuomas Holopainen (2014)
This is a record that is really dear to me. Ever since I became a big fan of Finish symphonic metal band Nightwish, maestro Holopainen (Nighwish’s keyboard player and main composer,) quickly became one of my all time favorite composers. Released in 2014, I was madly anticipating this record since it was announced. Oh, and he delivered such a beautiful album. I feel almost moved to tears while writing this and listening to it. The songs have so much feeling.
The orchestra is used a lot throughout the record, (as expected of Holopainen,) but it’s not playing anything nearly as as bombastic as his work with Nightwish, (nor the songs have any heavy metal elements, which for me it’s a good thing.) The emphasis is more on delicate, dramatic, and beautiful pieces. (Of course there’s also some dark moments here. This is Tuomas Holopainen we’re talking about.) There’s influence from film composers too, like some Hans Zimmer-esque epic moments.
There’s also a lot of piano, some ulean pipes and banjo, and a bit of electric guitar on “A Lifetime of Adventures”.
Some male vocalists are featured on some songs, but the main vocalist is Finish singer (and Holopainen’s wife,) Johanna Kurkela, and her voice is lovely, though a good portion of the album is composed of purely instrumental pieces. Anyway, the lyrics are based on the graphic novel “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck,” which apparently is very dear to Tuomas.
I love this album. I love it so much.
