Firstly, David Gilmour is the greatest guitarist, composer and songwriter I've ever heard. All the hippies who'll get into an argument with me comparing him to Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, John McLaughlin, or whoever, I'm not talking about technicality because when it comes to playing technical music, then, they're obviously better at it(although Gilmour is a qualified Blues guitarist). Its not about weird time signatures or shredding leads. But, its the 'simple but complicated' song structure i like a lot! and the 'feel', when he takes off on his guitar, which adds on to the 'awkwardly psychedelic melody' of Pink Floyd. Though Waters and Barrett were the master minds, thinkers and writers for most part of Pink Floyd, it was Gilmour's compositions, lyrics and lead structures which made Pink Floyd more receptive to people.
Most of Syd Barrett's work i like a lot; this was mainly because his songs was a result of heavy drug-induced thinking, the songs like 'Bike' and 'Lucifer Sam' will give you a glimpse of his messed up mind. Its funny how talented people always waste it on their addictions! May your soul rest in peace...
Most of the credit to Roger Waters too, for some of his greatest contributions like 'Have a Cigar', 'Another Brick in the Wall', 'Eclipse', 'Green Is The Color' and how can some one not mention 'Brain Damage' and 'The Final Cut'.
But without any doubts one can say that Gilmour's contribution to Pink Floyd is much more audible. Listen to the guitar pieces, most of it are composed by Gilmour himself, which clearly shows off his musical talent and even lyrically he has a very unique style and is very skilled. Sane and Sober he wrote reality most of the time. Very Philosophical. Some of his most loved works are 'Wish You Were Here', 'Comforably Numb', 'Coming Back to Life', 'High Hopes' and more. The song 'High hopes' bags one of the most wonderfully played guitar solo on a lap-steel guitar which will bring one down to tears! And, the guitar solo for the song 'Comfortably Numb' earned him his place in the Hall of Fame!
'High hopes' and 'Wish you were here' were one of the most powerful songs solely written and composed by Gilmour. which will make the listener go crazy the first time he/she listens to it(something i call the 'Love at first sight' phenomenon). Most listeners categorize the songs based on their title. i.e When people listen to 'High hopes' they think that its somehow related to getting 'high', its not. This is one of the most philosophical songs, which will bring one down to his/her knees during the end of the song, when properly understood. "A thousand people may have a million explanations", but the way i see it, this song is about life and the course it takes and how Gilmour for some reason doesn't like it. And what he had pictured in his youth, was now totally different, guess he had 'High hopes', just like all of us do.
Here i am playing a role of a prose teacher - the song starts in childhood;

"Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young,
In a world of magnets and miracles,
Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary,
The ringing of the division bell had begun"

It starts as a child. So free and pure. Looking back, when we were young our unscientific minds thought of magnets as miracles. When we were yet to discover the world, the child's mind is huge and incomparable, and we're growing old and learning all the evil in the world. 'The ringing of the division bell' is what i guess the beginning of suffering. People divide. They form opinions. The purity is gone. The innocence is lost! (The words are brilliantly placed! )

"Running before time took our dreams away,
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground,
To a life consumed by slow decay"

As a child we dream infinitely, but as we age, our dreams fade. No one can outrun this, it is a part of life. Here, the 'myriad small creatures' i guess, are other human beings. And as a child how we are tied down, not intentionally but its a life process. The tying down is inevitable. Here i think he's trying to highlight the 'free and unconditioned' side of us. And now that we are conditioned to control our thoughts, the life of slow decay starts.

"The grass was greener(its not the weed guys),
The light was brighter,
With friends surrounding,
The nights of wonder"

This is the most funniest realization of the song I've sometimes heard from people, where, The grass being greener refers to some good weed, and the lights being brighter is the high feeling. And 'With friends surrounded' was some kind of dope-circle; This could be one way of interpreting it; but you wouldn't write a master-piece and then goof it up by writing about trifle things such as this? would you? Well, there's more to it, my interpretation would be that he's talking about the dream. In our imagination, where everything appears greener, brighter and that's the place we set aside all our ego's and belong to one another.

"Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us,
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side,
Steps taken forwards but sleepwalking back again,
Dragged by the force of some inner tide"

This may be marked as one of the best quotes ever to be penned down in a song! 'Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us' This is nothing but growing old and looking at our past, and he is comparing reality and imagination. And no matter how many steps you try and take towards youth you seem to be getting old - 'sleepwalking back again', 'Dragged by the force of some inner tide' says aging is inevitable.

“At a higher altitude, with flag unfurled,
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world”

A couple of clearly cut, controversial lines preaching/advertising LSD or can we modify our thought process?
I think here he's talking about the success and the Super Stardom of Pink Floyd.

"Encumbered forever by desire and ambition,
There's a hunger still unsatisfied,
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon,
Though down this road we've been so many time"

While these lines speak about success, its also desire and ambition which is in the human nature and greed('Hunger still unsatisfied'), despite all we have, we're still gazing at the horizon wanting to go 'higher'. Though we've been there so many times.

“The water flowing,
The endless river”

Gilmour had a very philosophical feel in most of his song and this one is a classic example of the same! Here the water flowing is metaphorical way of saying 'Life' keeps going on. again, a life process. No matter what you do, life will take is course.

"Solo on the Lap-Steel Guitar"

This is the part of the song which will transform you into a totally different dimension, amazingly played. usually songs loose their essence half way through the song but this is one song which captures your imagination from the beginning and peaks it up during the solo section of the song. And why i chose this song was because he composed this song in roughly a days time. What a way to vent ones talent.

(Wiki,pinkfloyd.com,davidgilmour.com,roger-waters.com)

Peace

Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd

What do you say about one of the best selling albums of all time? I like Dark Side of the Moon as much as most fans of classic rock I guess. I've always thought Money seemed a little out of place and probably would have fit better on Wish You Were Here along side Welcome to the Machine and Have a Cigar but that's hindsight and it's not like Pink Floyd were going to hold on to the song until they made the perfect album to fit it or anything.

I like listening to Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, but I'm fairly sick of many of the individual tracks (Money, Time, etc.) due to over-play on classic rock radio.

1. The Mars Volta
First Song: Son et Lumiere
Fell In Love With: Inertiatic ESP
Current Favorite: Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus

2. mewithoutYou
First Song: Torches Together
Fell In Love With: Paper Hanger
Current Favorite: In A Sweater Poorly Knit

3. Coheed and Cambria
First Song: A Favor House Atlantic
Fell In Love With: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Current Favorite: Cuts Marked in the March of Men

4. Led Zeppelin
First Song: Immigrant Song
Fell In Love With: That's the Way
Current Favorite: Whole Lotta Love (live), from The Song Remains the Same

5. Four Year Strong
First Song: The Take Over
Fell In Love With: Prepare To Be Digitally Manipulated
Current Favorite: Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die

6. Manchester Orchestra
First Song: the Procession
Fell In Love With: Slow To Learn
Current Favorite: Colly Strings

7. The Sound of Animals Fighting
First Song: Overture
Fell In Love With: Act I: Chasing Suns
Current Favorite: Skullflower

8. Brand New
First Song: Tautou
Fell In Love With: The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
Current Favorite: You Won't Know

9. Muse
First Song: Time Is Running Out
Fell In Love With: Plug In Baby
Current Favorite: Muscle Museum (acoustic)

10. Dear and the Headlights
First Song: Oh No!
Fell In Love With: I Just Do
Current Favorite: I'm Bored, You're Amorous

11. Radiohead
First Song: 15 Step. Yeah I know, I'm really late to the party.
Fell In Love With: All I Need
Current Favorite: Reckoner

12. Lydia
First Song: This Is Twice Now
Fell In Love With: I Woke Up Near the Sea
Current Favorite: Now The One You Once Loved Is Leaving

13. Cake
First Song: Opera Singer
Fell In Love With: Opera SingerShort Skirt/Long Jacket
Current Favorite: Comfort Eagle

14. Saosin
First Song: Seven Years
Fell In Love With: They Perched on Their Stilts, Pointing and Daring Me to Break Custom
Current Favorite: Mookie's Last Christmas

15. Say Anything
First Song: Belt
Fell In Love With: Alive With The Glory of Love
Current Favorite: Every Man Has a Molly

16. The Police
First Song: I distinctly remember it was Roxanne. I liked the cover that was on the Good Burger soundtrack, and my dad told me to listen to the original version instead.
Fell In Love With: Roxanne
Current Favorite: Next to You

17. The Format
First Song: The First Single
Fell In Love With: Tune Out
Current Favorite: She Doesn't Get It

18. As Tall as Lions
First Song: I don't remember, I saw them live before I heard their recordings.
Fell In Love With: Not sure, I'm pretty sure I fell in love with them during their set. Once I got their CD, I'm pretty sure it was Break Blossom
Current Favorite: Stab City

19. Elvis Costello
First Song: (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
Fell In Love With: (I Don't Want to Go To) Chelsea
Current Favorite: Less Than Zero

20. Pink Floyd
First Song: Wish You Were Here
Fell In Love With: Wish You Were Here
Current Favorite: Have a Cigar

Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar, you're gonna go far
You're gonna fly high, you're never gonna die,
you're gonna make it if you try they're gonna love you.

Well I've always had a deep respect, and I mean that most sincerely.
The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think.
Oh by the way, which one's Pink?

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy
we call it Riding the Gravy Train.

We're just knocked out.
We heard about the sell out.
You gotta get an album out,
You owe it to the people. We're so happy we can hardly count.

Everybody else is just green, have you seen the chart?
It's a helluva start, it could be made into a monster
if we all pull together as a team.

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy
we call it Riding the Gravy Train.


Pink FloydWish You Were HereHave a CigarHave a cigar

Fri 6 Jun – Roger Waters - The Dark Side of the Moon
Просто увидеть создателя самой удивительной, необъяснимой и неодназначной музыки 20го века было счастьем для очень многих, кто пришёл на вчерашний концерт. Но мы не просто увидели Waters'a, мы на три часа полностью погрузились в Pink Floyd.
Как и следовало ожидать, на концерте было минимум импровизаций, Dark Side of the Moon был сыгран вообще с точностью до ноты - но того требует сама музыка, она не имеет права потерять свою удивительную внутреннюю гармонию.
Поклонников Pink Floyd, и стар и млад, прошибло на слезу уже на четвёртой композиции - Shine On You Crazy Dimond. Я всегда знал, что эта композиция - одна из самых прекрасных и захватывающих вещей в современной музыке, но то, какие ощущения испытываешь от живого её прослушивание я объяснить бессилен. У меня просто прыснули слёзы от счатья, вострорга и от всего остального.
Сразу за ней был Have a Cigar - ещё один шедевр и ещё одна партия слёзоизлияния. Все отметили прекрасный голос Роджера, пусть иногда и с видимыми усилиями, но он как в молодости тянет все вокальные партии абсолютно честно и до конца.
Вот дальше было небольшое разочарование: Wish You Were Here - песня с очень сильным альбомным звучанием, которую всегда слушаешь с придыханием - здесь была исполнена на нескольких аккустических гитарах (это-то отлично) БЕЗ намёка на соло (это очень грустно, хотелось срочно залезть на сцену и сыграть самому), отчего реально потеряла свой шарм. Но люди не растерялись - все начали "мычать" сольные партии - получилось даже здорово.
Дальше пошёл "политический сет" - очень проникновенно был спет Fletcher Memorial Home, разве что в этом ряду портретов нехватало нашего Гаранта, понравился Leaving Beirut.
Ну и перед антрактом опять замечательная песня в замечательном исполнении - Sheep с 20ти метровой летающей свиньёй прошла на ура.

Подышав 15 минут сигаретным дымом и полюбовавшись на увеличивающуюся луну на экране (проектор вчера был просто поразительно мощный, кстати) и на пропорционально уменьшающуюся очередь ВИПов в туалет (оказывается на этом концерте я был в каких-то 30ти метрах от сильных мира сего - там был и Абрамович и !Дерипаска и ещё какая-то мелочёвка), мы услышали первые до боли знакомые звуки DSOTM. Ну что сказать - вместе с картинкой на экране всё это просто завораживало и захватывало дух. Так завораживало, что весь сет прошёл как-то очень быстро. Запомнилась замечательная Any Color You Like, Us and Them - да всё было здорово!

"На бис" был исполнен в частности Another Brick in the Wall - первая песня, которую пела вся площадь. (знание текстов, по крайней мере вокруг меня, вообще было ниже среднего)
Один фанат-ветеран на этой песне так расчувствовался, что начал сотрясать воздух кулаками задевая окружающих по лицам причём с таким лицом, с каким обыкновенно ходят в штыковую атаку..

Отдельно скажу об музыкантах - гитарист Dave Kilminster не только отлично справлялся с вокальными партиями Дейвида, но и его гитара пела почти так же хорошо. Местами звук был суховат, это только местами.
Особенно здорово он отыграл Time.
Просто поразительно звучала живьём The Great Gig in the Sky. Эта негритянка пела просто соловьём. А вообще меня просто убивали движения этих темнокожих женщин на подпевках. Видимо вот эти стандартные подтанцовочки с вилянием попой и выламыванием рук им вдалбывают ещё с детства, потому что нельзя так подтанцовывать на песнях вроде Have a Cigar - это цинично и нелепо.
Понравился саксофонист - единственный парень, который позволял себе откровенные импровизы. Ну и здорово - это всегда было к месту. Ну что поделаешь - видать саксофон это такой инструмент, который сам заставляет музыканта заигрывать с мелодией.




Спасибо вам Роджер! Мы помним и любим вас и будем учиться у вас! Спасибо за Pink Floyd. Я шёл на этот концерт с тайной надеждой разгадать секреты этой музыки, что-то разгадал, но её красота так и осталась для меня необъяснимой.. Значит всё ещё ещё впереди! И, надеюсь, вы ещё загляните на нашу Священную. Спасибо!

Sun 11 May – Roger Waters

Finally I got to see Roger Waters “in the flesh”. And it was a great day and performance! The weather was beautiful and around 4:30 PM we arrived at the entrance of Megaland. There were already people waiting in front of the gate, but not as much as I expected. Around 5:15 PM the gates opened and we were walking towards the stage. We had great places! Just about 5 rows in front of us and we were facing the backing singers. We spend some time drinking, eating and talking with all the people around us. Around 8:15 we had some movement on the stage and it started!

I’m not going to mention everything but here are some highlights for me:
Mother: Sylvia Mason-James did a great performance of the ‘Mother’ part but she looked so tensed and stressed about it. I wonder where that came from.
The Fletcher Memorial Home: Roger was really in his element this one of his best songs.
Perfect Sense: a stunning solo by PP Arnold. Really awesome.
Sheep: one of my favourites and it was great. The pig flew around and at the end it (again) had a lift off.
On The Run: absolutely brilliant. I always thought that On The Run was the dullest song on Dark Side. But this vversion was awesome. The quadrophonic sound was great ion this song.
Us And Them: was done nicely by Jon Carin. I really liked the spots during the chorus . It was giving the song a much stronger effect.
Eclipse: is a great finisher. But I think something went wrong . I guess Roger sang the wrong lines and the girls didn’t follow him. So it was a bit of mess at the end, but eventually they all ended with the same line: “and the sun is eclipsed by the moon”. And the prism shone his light around the field. Brilliant!
Bring The Boys Back Home: great explosions on the stage, we could feel the air pressure everytime one exploded.

All in all, a great concert, the quadraphonic effect did his job perfectly and the band seemed to be in a good mood. Even Snowy White walked around the stage and chatted with his fellow musicians.


Set 1:
In the Flesh
Mother
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts I-V- abridged
Have a Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Southampton Dock
The Fletcher Memorial Home
Perfect Sense, Part I
Perfect Sense, Part II
Leaving Beirut
Sheep

Set 2:
Speak to Me
Breathe
On the Run
Time
Breathe (reprise)
The Great Gig in the Sky
Money
Us and Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse

Encore:
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in The Wall Part II
Vera
Bring the Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb

Pretty quickly after I joined Last.fm last September, I wrote a journal where I listed my favorite 10 albums of all time. I recently looked back at it and almost felt embarrassed. My tastes have changed an incredible amount since September, so I decided I would go through my library and pick out a new top 10. Interestingly, only one album from the previous list made it into my new top 10.

EDIT (7/31/08): As always, this is already very out of date. I'll make a new one in September.


10. Exile on Main Street (The Rolling Stones)

Exile on Main Street is, without a doubt in my mind, the Rolling Stones' magnum opus. It takes everything the Stones were known and matures it. There is a layer of grit and experimentation spread across these two discs, and there is no better example of this then the lead song "Rocks Off", which often at times sounds like something is wrong, or someone is making a mistake as they play. Songs like "Torn and Frayed" are lyrically quite bleak.

One reason the album has such a bleaker edge than their other albums is because of its production. This isn't slick by any means. For examples, the vocals often get blended into the mix, making it almost impossible to understand what is being said. Despite this sounding like a negative quality, it does nothing but add to the odd mood this album creates.

Exile on Main Street is a tough first listen. It's a tough second listen too. But the more one plays it, the more it will grow on them.

9. Origin of Symmetry (Muse)

Muse hasn't really released a bad album. Showbiz isn't terribly great and Black Holes is a little poppy, but both Absolution and Origin of Symmetry are terrific. And while Absolution is also incredible, I had to give the #9 spot to Origin.

The simplest reason why Origin of Symmetry is Muse's best album is the first 6 songs, the first half of the album. Every single song of the first 6 are incredible. "New Born" is an incredible album opener, "Citizen Erased" is perhaps Muse's most prog song, perfectly proceeded by "Plug In Baby", Muse's most catchy song.

That's not to say the second half of the albums is bad, not by any means. But the first 6 songs of the album are basically Muse bliss, and is without a doubt the best work they have produced.

8. BE (Pain of Salvation)

BE is a very difficult album to get into. It's extremely pretentious in that it attempts to explain god and the origin of life. Despite Pain of Salvation being a progressive metal band there is very little metal in this album. In fact it, with songs like "Pluvius Aestivus", you could argue that it's more classical than metal.

It's hard to explain why this album is so great, but if one listens to it with a completely open mind, they might come way surprisingly pleased. Despite the overblown concept, the album hits very emotionally with songs such as "Vocari Dei", where fans recorded messages of a very personal nature, questioning the existence of god.

The only way to understand what BE sounds like is to actually listen to it. With elements as varied as opera, metal, classical and progressive the result is something hard to comprehend, but extremely rewarding to those who can.

7. Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)

Here is the one album of my previous top 10 that made it on this list, albeit with a lower rank. Wish You Were Here is still, in my mind, the greatest work the Pink Floyd produced. Many people did not believe that they would be able to top the incredible "Dark Side of the Moon", but how they were wrong.

Wish You Were Here is bookended with the amazing "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", possibly Pink Floyd's best song. In the middle lies "Welcome to the Machine", "Have a Cigar" and the radio favorite "Wish You Were Here". Every song, every minute of this albums is incredible and never lags. If you think you're a Pink Floyd fan but only listen to Dark Side and The Wall you have no idea what you're missing.

6. The Beatles (The Beatles)

Also known as "The White Album" by fans, this is my favorite Beatles album. It was made at a time when the band was beginning to fragment. Every member of the band had different ideas musically and wanted the band to go in different directions. Despite this conflict, they managed to create perhaps the most unified album of their latter days.

This album is two discs that showcases the best work the Beatles produced. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is perhaps the highlight of the album with an incredible solo by guest Eric Clapton. Also, ending the album is the song "Revolution 9", which arguably started American avant-garde music.

It's the Beatles, and it's the Beatles' best work. What else really needs to be said?

5. Bridge Across Forever (Transatlantic)

Transatlantic is incredibly underrated, and any prog fan needs their two studio albums. While their first album is also incredible, Bridge Across Forever somewhat matures their songwriting to produce 4 classic songs. The two highlights of the album are the 20+ minute epic "Duel with the Devil" and the 30+ minute song "Stranger in Your Soul". Both are simply amazing progressive compositions.

There isn't really much to say about this album except that it really is musical genius, and any fan of progressive music should be able to appreciate it.

4. The Downward Spiral (Nine Inch Nails)

This is, without a doubt, the most controversial entry in this journal. How does an industrial rock album fit in with a decidedly progressive top 10? At least allow me to explain.

Trent Reznor, to put it bluntly, is somewhat a musical genius. While he may be somewhat mainstream, works such as "Ghosts I-IV" and the amazingly angry "Broken" prove that he has his own artistic vision.

The Downward Spiral is really a refinement of the previously mentioned EP "Broken". Broken was really just a half hour or so of pure hate and anger. The Downward Spiral takes the angst of Broken and matures it into a full LP. One reason I love Spiral so much is because of it's concept. While it may go over many people's heads, Spiral is the chronicle a mans descent into madness, and being driven to suicide at the end of the album.

The Downward Spiral is 65 minutes of madness, hate and anger, and insanity, possibly the most disturbing album in my collection. Because of the pure emotion this album emanates, I feel it is completely deserving of the number 4 spot in this list.

3. Colors (Between the Buried and Me)

If you want a longer explanation of why I find this album so incredible you can look for my journal post "Album of 2007", which I gave to this album. Colors is one 64 minute song, exploring many different musical ideas and providing a breathtaking package. Every minute is incredible, every idea fitting in to the larger picture. "Sun of Nothing", "Ants of the Sky", "Prequel to the Sequel", and "White Walls" especially are simply amazing. Between the Buried and Me won't appeal to everyone, but to those who can tolerate it, Colors is an amazing piece of work.

2. Morningrise (Opeth)

Opeth has always been known for incorporating non-metal elements into their sogns, and Morningrise is the prime example of this.

Moringrise is by far the most progressive of the Opeth albums, featuring only 5 songs all over 10 minutes and one over 20. It showcases the most complex songwriting of their albums and creates an incredible album because of it. I would go as far to say that every musical idea is not elaborated on for more then 30 seconds or so before it moves on to something else.

This complexity might make it hard for some to get into, which is why Opeth simplified their sound some for their later works, but for those who can stomach the genius of Morningrise, they will be rewarded with a masterpiece.

1. Awake (Dream Theater)

When I first got all of Dream Theater's albums I wasn't impressed with Awake. I was drawn to Octavarium and Metropolis, Part 2. Over time I expanded my interest and also fell in love with their other works like Six Degrees and Images & Words. Awake was probably the last album of theirs that I really got into.

Awake is Dream Theater's darkest album. Sure Train of Thought is heavier but Awake is a much moodier album. One reason Awake is Dream Theater's greatest album is the constraint they show. There are numerous incredible solos on the album, and even 10 minute or longer songs, but they never go into "musical masturbation" like they do on their more recent albums. Every solo, every line, adds to the emotion and mood of the respective songs.

And perhaps the most genius part of the album, strangely, is the pacing. Every song is located at the spot on the album that gives it the maximum impact possible. 6:00 is a terrific opener with Portnoy's into drum lick, the "A Mind Beside Itself" epic is rightfully located as the centerpiece of the album, just when the mellowness of "The Silent Man" grows a little thin, the heaviest song of the album ("The Mirror") comes crunching in. Just when it feels that song should end, it segues perfectly into the equally grim "Lie".

Perhaps the most emotional song Dream Theater has ever written, "Space Dye-Vest" is both perfect as an album closer and as a farewell by Kevin Moore. It deals lyrically with one closing himself off from the world ("And I'll never be open again"). It's genius use of samples and melancholy piano work creates an incredible experience.

All of these elements together make Awake the best album I have ever listened too. It's progressive but not overblown. It's emotional without being corny. It's heavy but not without mellow moments. It's moody without being cheesy. It's a masterpiece you need to listen to.

Connections:

Exile on Main StreetRocks OffTorn and FrayedSticky FingersOrigin of SymmetryAbsolutionNew BornCitizen ErasedPlug In BabyBEPluvius AestivusVocari DeiWish You Were HereHave a CigarWish You Were HereWelcome To MachineThe BeatlesWhile My Guitar Gently WeepsRevolution 9MusePain of SalvationThe BeatlesBridge Across ForeverTransatlanticDuel With the DevilStranger in Your SoulThe Downward SpiralNine Inch NailsBrokenGhosts I-IVColorsBetween the Buried and MeMorningriseOpethAwakeDream TheaterSpace-Dye Vest

(2/6)

[9] Boston - Boston
The guitar on this album is so sexy. The sound is unique and clean. My favorite song out of the bunch would be Foreplay/Long Time.

[8] Leftoverture - Kansas
Kansas has such a unique sound about them, some of their songs are almost cheesy but you have to appreciate the epic nature of most of their progressive compositions. The singles are great too. Some of my favorite tracks include Carry on Wayward Son and Cheyenne Anthem.

[7] The Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
Dark Side has an overall gloomy and dark feel to it. Yes, an overrated album at times, but still it's undeniable musical gold. Dark Side was the first CD I bought as a kid and I still listen to it on a regular basis. Time has one of the most memorable guitar solos and how can you not love the rototoms?

[6] Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
This album is an ode to a previous lead singer, Sid Barret. One of those albums where every track is gold and you're never left disappointed or let down. Notable tracks include the philosophical Wish You Were Here and the stab at the music industry, Have a Cigar.

[5] (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd) - Lynyrd Skynyrd
Southern rock at its best, this album definitely comes off as crisp. Pronounced really does have it all, catchy songs like Gimme Three Steps plus long drawn out affairs like Tuesday's Gone. Not to mention the epic and iconic Free Bird. The one dissatisfaction with this album is the fillers in between the classic hits.

[4] Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One - The Kinks
A diamond in the rough that is their discography, The Kinks hit it out of the park with this album. It's a concept album so if you don't like one song, chances are you won't like most of them. The majority of the lyrics are geared toward feeling cheated by record companies, which can get old at times. The standouts for me are Lola, This Time Tomorrow, Get Back in Line, and Apeman.

[3] The Wall - Pink Floyd
The longest album for Pink Floyd, this album has a plethora of themes. The Wall has a more hard rock feel to it than previous albums, which is a nice change for the band. The majority of this album, like most Pink Floyd albums is depressing. Although this one happens to have it's lighter more optimistic tracks. There are more good tracks than I could name, so I'll just name a few: Young Lust, Run Like Hell, In The Flesh (Part II), and Comfortably Numb.

[2] Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin
The top three of this list really was a toss up, this album could have just as easily been at the top spot. Every song is solid, you get rocking treasures like Rock and Roll and you get epic songs like Stairway to Heaven and The Battle of Evermore. The last of the album, especially When the Levee Breaks was spot on. The first three (Of the second half of the album) have an incredible feel to them, they could almost be one long epic song if so chosen. But the last one, When the Levee Breaks is just terrific jam, so bluesy, dirty, and rusty.

[1] All Things Must Pass - George Harrison
All Things Must Pass is the remnants of rejected Harrison songs while he was with The Beatles. Just imagine if this material was used with The Beatles. This album is very Sgt. Peppers like with out the strings and horns in some songs. The first two-thirds of the album are filled with catchy songs and rockin' jams like My Sweet Lord, Wah-Wah, The Art Of Dying, and All Things Must Pass. The last third of the album is a set of studio jams with guest artists like Eric Clapton.

[0] Animals - Pink Floyd
The darkest and gloomiest of the Pink Floyd albums this one was almost a story of sorts. Questioning society and the inherent flaws in human nature. The album opens and closes with two parts of Pigs on the Wing. It seems to be saying that although society is a death trap of immoralities and although evil might be lurking behind every corner, together we can make it through it. Dogs comes in, epic in every sense of the word. This song reminds me of traveling on empty two lane highways late at night with only the moon to brighten the night sky. Then comes Sheep, the most jamming song on the album, a song about mindless pawns.

-Honorable Mentions-
Who's Next - The Who