25 Favorite Albums

The 1973 album by Hancock not only displays his mastery of the keyboard, but it captures the urban sounds of the early-to-mind 1970s. It was considered a Jazz-Fushion album upon release, but is really the first display of Jazz-Funk. An album that deserves more discussion in music lover circles.

Beck's best album by far, the album fails to contain any specific style for which Beck relies upon. It is experimental music at its best and by far one of the most influential albums of the 1990s.

I'm not sure if this is the Who's best album, but it was the first one I owned. Of course it contains three of the Who's biggest hits and was the album stuck in the middle of their popularity. The Who demonstrated how diverse they were as a rock band with it.

Go hard or go home. This album introduced new band Guns N' Roses with a bang. Not only does Axel demonstrate his awesome vocal ability, but Slash rips through his solos better than anyone from the 1980s (well except for Eddie Van Halen).

Before Gwen Stefani developed into a pop superstar, her roots were in ska. No Doubt, hailing from Anaheim, used this album not only to solidify their place is ska music history, but they demonstrated that Stefani and the boys were going to adjust to the times. By the end of their career, new No Doubt fans would only know a pop band, and only older fans could recall the band's early 90's roots.

Jazz does not get enough appreciation. Charles Mingus gets even less. A master jazz bassist and composer, Mingus is probably one of the most influential musicians in capturing sounds and rhythms of early African-American music. Mingus grew up in Watt's and fuses what he knew as a child with those sounds that defined the 1950s. This album is extremely diverse and easy to listen to. A diamond in the rough for music lovers.

John Williams rise to stardom started with Jaws, but his themes from the Star Wars franchise will allow him to live in infamy. As brilliant as the film itself, from the opening theme to the ending credits, this album allows audiences to capture all the magic of the film simply with a set or speakers or headphones.

For Coltrane, this album was an ode to a higher power. This was a purely spiritual album for the great jazz saxophonist. The sounds on this album will never be produced again, because those sounds came from Coltrane's heart. It was this jazz master's finest hour.

Had it not been for Nirvana and Grunge rock, people may still be subjected to most of the terrible pop music of the late 1980s. Nevermind runs a little on the long side, but it is without a doubt, the best album of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

People always want to state that Thriller is overrated. Its endurance though is testimony to its greatness. The King of Pop produced three albums with the legendary Quincy Jones. This middle one was by far the best. The album does not have a poor track, and is helped by several great collaborations with other artists.