(1) – The only rock and roll release I have on cassette, vinyl, cd, and digitized is Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic. I played that album so much in high school and college, and because it is still in rotation when I am at Planet Fitness, I have probably listened to Toys more than any other rock album ever. It continues to rock and remains fresh with every play. Rocks followed Toys. Rocks rocks harder, neither album has a song I would classify as “just average,” and both are by far the best releases by the Toxic Twins and company.
(2) – Another back-to-back tandem that makes this list of mine is AC/DC’s Highway to Hell and Back in Black. We all know the albums have different singers. Regardless, they make my list. AC/DC are lyrical geniuses.
(3) – Of course the sheer strength of my favorite rock record ever, Exile on Main Street, coupled by Sticky Fingers, has to make my list. I have no idea why I remember a conversation with my youth pastor while he was driving. “Tumblin’ Dice” came on KQRS, and the youth pastor told me that song was his favorite by the Stones. He then asked me who was my favorite band, and I replied, “Led Zeppelin.” He followed up by asking what was my favorite song by The Good Ship Zeppelin and I inexplicably said “Down by the Seaside.”
(4) – Right behind Exile is another absolutely incredible double album, Physical Graffitti. Jimmy Page is God, not Clapton. Zeppelin followed this masterpiece with Presence, which is Zeppelin’s hardest rocking album, and my second favorite in their catalog.
(5) – And here is the curveball that no one saw coming, given the stylistic differences of the first four to Frank Zappa. The Mothers of Invention released Over-Nite Sensation in 1973. Frank released a solo album, Apostrophe, in 1974. Parents should always advise their little kids against eating yellow snow. And what about a dental floss farm in Montana. When I heard these albums in high school I was totally hooked. Over-Nite Sensation has Jean-Luc Ponty on violin and a percussionist who played vibes and marimba among the myriad of instruments present on the album’s orchestra. When my son decided to become serious about music in the seventh grade, we bought a 4 1/3 octave marimba. He majored in musical performance, and around his junior year in college he became passionate about Latin percussion. His first purchase with graduation money was a pair of congas. The marimba remains in my basement with a price tag of $2,000. He has sold many of his mallets on CraigsList, but not the ear-pleasing instrument.
(6) – Another of my all-time top eight albums is King Crimson’s Discipline. This was the first KC release that included singer/guitarist/songwriter, Adrian Belew. Since Beat is sandwiched between Discipline and Three of a Perfect Pair, regrettably King Crimson does not make this austere list, but definitely deserves an honorable mention.
– Mark Erickson
