#66: Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

Emily: Before Cat Stevens was known for being Yusuf Islam, he was known for his distinct brand of folk-rock. Tea for the Tillerman exemplifies this sound. The quiet grace of classic folk is mixed with rock guitars and worldly lyrics. Although this may sound like a bunch of conflicting elements, each is handled with masterful subtlety that works to convey a sense of power and gravity. Sometimes it comes across a bit too softly, but that may just be because I've only listened to the album one. The intricacies and layers to this album definitely necessitate multiple listens.
Favorite Tracks: But I Might Die Tonight; Hard Headed Woman; Wild World

Zack: I was lucky enough to see the artist-formerly-known-as-Cat-Stevens while attending the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington D.C. last October and it is one of those experiences that I will treasure forever. At the time he was doing a duet/battle with Ozzy Osbourne, so I only got to hear about half of his signature Peace Train, but it was still magical. Yusuf, as he is going by now, is a folk icon approaching the level of the Dylans, Youngs, and Simons of the world. While he has not received quite the same level of recognition, his soft sound is attractive to the ear and inspires the listener to invest in tie-dye and headbands.
Favorite Tracks: Wild World; But I Might Die Tonight; Miles From Nowhere

#65: Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill (1986)

Zack: In high school, I took a drawing class where we were allowed to listen to the radio while we worked. One day, a Beastie Boys song came on and a kid who sat in front of me that described himself as "really into rap music" said that he hated stuff like this and that this "shit" was killing rap music. After picking my jaw up off the floor, I promptly remained absolutely silent because he was probably about 100 lbs. heavier than me and I could not confirm how much of that weight was muscle and how much was just useless fat. Still, had I had the balls to tell him off, I would have told him just how wrong he was. First off, as you can read by the handy dandy years we include with each entry, this album well precedes the emergence of popular hip-hop as we know it. In fact, this is the foundations of rap music, although it seems that about half of rap fans don't want to admit it. So it's impossible for it to be killing rap music when it is the very womb that gave birth to rap music. For those of you who are still sticking with me despite the image of Mike D sprawled out on a hospital bed with a doctor staring at his crotch, let me continue. The Beastie Boys are just plain chill. They write rhymes about partying and girls and just hanging out with their friends. They use very simple beats to complement this subject matter. Furthermore, they never take themselves too seriously, leading to a fun and pleasant listening experience overall.
Favorite Tracks: Fight for Your Right; Girls; No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Emily: I was so surprised when I found out that this album is from 1986. The Beastie Boys' sound is so innovative and different that I thought it was at least 10 years newer than it actually is. The Beasties don't take themselves too seriously, and that's what makes them great. Mix some laid-back, relateable lyrics with bouncy music and more than a bit of snark, and these three Jewish boys came up with a hip-hop classic. Put this on during any party, and I guarantee that everyone will start rapping and dancing along.
Favorite Tracks: Fight for Your Right; Girls; Brass Monkey

#64: Lenny Kravitz - Let Love Rule (1989)

Emily: Lenny Kravitz is cool and funky and all sorts of badass, and on this debut album this is already apparent. He knows his sound - funk rock with a lot of guitar soloing - but that's not to say the entire album sounds the same. He keeps it interesting by mixing up the tempo and theme throughout. Sincere, slowed-down love songs retain a hard-rock edge, and commentary on racism is delivered with funk and a sense of humor. Overall this is a solid debut from a very talented (yet sometimes underrated) artist and musician.
Favorite Tracks: Let Love Rule; Rosemary; Fear

Zack: One of the biggest criticisms of Lenny Kravitz is that he is "just ripping off Jimi Hendrix." As a raving lunatic of a Hendrix fan and a casual enjoyer of Lenny Kravitz, I feel confident reporting that that is a load of bullshit. Why are their sounds familiar? Because they are both part black? DISCRIMINATION!!!!!!! Kravitz may draw some influence from the works of Hendrix, but what contemporary guitarist hasn't? Furthermore, why am I asking so many questions in this review? Do I expect you to answer them? I don't even know anymore. Anyway, Lenny kills it on this album. He brings all the funk and kickass-ness that we've come to expect from him over the years and he does it in a way that is just oh so groovy.
Favorite Tracks: Let Love Rule; Mr. Cab Driver; Blues for Sister Someone

#63: Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

(The original album art, where the beam of white light is actually a lit joint)

Zack: I've listened to this album like a gajillion times and there is really nothing quite like it. Plain and simple, it's just a phenomenon. When I was growing up and first started raiding my dad's Pink Floyd collection, I was shocked to find he didn't have this one. When I asked him about it, he said that since every song got radio play back in the day, it didn't make sense for him to buy it since it was only going to be a bunch of songs he'd already heard. Part of the reason all the songs were played is that it's easily the most listener-friendly of all Pink Floyd's works - as evidenced by the shorter track lengths - but still keeps that distinctive Floyd sound. You don't need to really crawl into Floyd as a band to enjoy it. It helps, but it's far from necessary. It's the kind of album that will simply blow your mind. But then at the end, your mind is reconstructed into a different shape altogether. It's like you go in and your mind is all pink and lobey but then you listen to the album and then it's green and orange polka dots and looks like a giraffe and you're all like "Holy shit! How did this happen!" If you're curious as to what exactly I'm talking about, then go forth and learn for yourself.
Favorite Tracks: Us and Them; Brain Damage; Money

Emily: I'm a bit ashamed to say that I had never listened to Dark Side of the Moon before today. Zack loves Pink Floyd, and one of my best friends tried to get me into them a few years back too. Nothing ever stuck. I just wasn't interested. After this one listen, however, I realized that I've been missing out. This album's psychedelic sound is innovative and different, yet still listener friendly. It's not a bunch of 10-minute long sonic opuses (opi?), but rather concise tracks that seamlessly flow into each other. I feel like it has to be listened to in its entirety - just picking out a track or two certainly will not do Pink Floyd or this iconic album justice.
Favorite Tracks: Brain Damage; Time; Eclipse

#62: The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium (2003)

Emily: The best concept albums are those that seamlessly flow from track to track, where the listener cannot distinguish where one chapter ends and another begins. The Mars Volta accomplish this on their debut album. Even though the lyrics are difficult to understand, the cohesiveness of the music reveals a story. The guitar and vocal sounds work together to create a dark mood, portraying emotions from anger to insanity to depression. Long tracks interspersed with short musical bursts give a unique pace to the album that further relates to the story. This album is complex both musically and thematically, which is a definitely major accomplishment for a debut.
Favorite Tracks: Eriatarka; This Apparatus Must be Unearthed; Inertiatic ESP

Zack: It's a very interesting title for a very interesting album. The "comatorium" corresponds to the fact that the album follows the story of a young man who overdoses on drugs and goes into a week long coma where he battles his own  mind. When he wakes up, he commits suicide by jumping off a bridge into traffic. Isn't Wikipedia great, folks. I haven't listened to much prog rock in my day, so I can't compare this to anything else. As it stands, I liked it a lot. It was smooth with blasts of powerful and stressed guitar rifts. More importantly, this is the 100th album from the list that I've listened to! True, the other 38 don't really count until we publish the reviews, but still. I couldn't do it without myself. I'm a true inspiration to myself.
Favorite Tracks: This Apparatus Must be Unearthed; Eriatarka; Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)

#61: The Cure - Disintegration (1989)

Zack: The Cure are a band like none other. At least not any band I've ever heard. The sincerity in delivery of the lyrics coupled with simplistic instrumentation has always made them stand out to to me. When I hear The Cure, I hear poetry. The words just seem to have been jotted down by a teenage Robert Smith into a journal late at night in his room, possibly while drinking absinthe. Of all the songs on this album, the one that sticks out to me most is Lullaby. Lullaby is more than my favorite song of this album, it is my favorite Cure song period...as of right now at least (2 more albums on the list could definitely change that). It's about being devoured by a giant spider. Now, you may be wondering "Zack, didn't you say the song was called Lullaby?" Your abso-fuckin-lutely right I did. That's the ironic part of the song. And no, I don't mean ironic in a douchey hipster way, but an actually correct use of the word ironic. A song about a nightmare called Lullaby. Take notes, future English majors.
Favorite Tracks: Lullaby; Lovesong; The Same Deep Water as You

Emily: I tend to notice music over lyrics upon first listening to an album. The Cure tend to be more lyrics-based, so the first thing I thought of when listening to Disintegration was "ambiance." The music has a dark, understated tone that fits the theme of the lyrics without overpowering them. It simply sets the mood that the lyrics project. Nearly every song begins with an instrumental introduction, which well served this mood-setting purpose. You can get a sense of the underlying emotion without even hearing one word. To truly understand this emotion, however, this album certainly deserves multiple listens. The lyrics are sometimes difficult to understand, but I think it would be well worth the time to decipher and discover their deeper meaning.
Favorite Tracks: Lovesong; Pictures of You; Disintegration

#60: Miles Davis - Birth of the Cool (1957)

Zack: Damn this album is cool. It’s so cool that it is often cited as the defining album for the then-emerging subgenre of cool jazz. The typical characteristics of cool jazz are a more robust collection of instruments and shorter songs: both traits that I am a fan of. The larger group of musicians leads to a more dynamic sound based around the inclusion of a massive horn section coupled with strong supplementary performances by the bass, piano, and drum sections. It is all led by Davis’s famous trumpet. While there are multiple trombone or sax players, the power of that trumpet was so great that only one is needed to fill that need. As for the shorter songs, I find it very helpful. Technological innovation has reduced the average person’s attention span, making it difficult to sit through an eight minute tuba solo in the middle of a sixteen minute track. The smaller length makes the album seem more modern and makes it easily translatable to our futuristic world.

Favorite Tracks: Darn That Dream; Boplicity; Israel

Emily: One thing I have learned from this album: cool jazz is NOT the same thing as smooth jazz. You see, my dad used to love playing the smooth jazz station on the radio every time we were in the car until they took it off the air a few years ago. I thought it was boring and elevator-y, with a lot of Kenny G going on. For a bit I thought this album would be like that. Thankfully, I was wrong. Cool jazz, and this album, is exactly what it purports to be - modern-sounding jazz that is simply cool. Jazz's signature improvisation is present, but the hallmark of this album is all of the musicians (9 of them, including Davis) working together to create a seamless, effortless jazz sound.

Favorite Tracks: Deception; Israel; Boplicity