My 30 Best Albums of the Decade: 15 - 11

Because my mind wanders to wanderous places, after declaring that Bob Dylan would have the #1 album of the 60s and 70s, I had to confirm. And my instincts served me well. Here's what I came up with for best album of the previous 3:
1960s: Freewheeling Bob Dylan (narrowly over Highway 61 Revisited and The White Album)
1970s: Blood on the Tracks (over American Beauty, Dark Side of the Moon and Houses of the Holy)
1980s: Appetitie For Destruction (over everything.  Graceland, The Wall, Slippery When Wet and The River would probably be 2, 3, 4 and 5 and they're light years behind)
1990s: Ten (over Before These Crowded Streets)

Back to the lecture at hand. Creeping up on the Top 10....

#15: Some Devil - Dave Matthews. It took me much longer to get into this than it should have. Partially because I'm still scarred by the hiatus that Jon Bon Jovi took to record Blaze of Glory at the same time that Richie Sambora took off to record Stranger in this Town. It's never a good sign when band members work on "other projects". Still, I was required by the dogma of dmbism to purchase this album and give it a fair shot. I was so-so on it, I thought at first it seemed a little too forced, Matthews was was trying too hard to make the lyrics fit within the tempo of the song - something he does with the band as well, though they're talented and diverse enough to comply and make it sound seemless. That reminds me, has there ever been a more clever name for a band than The Band? Can't tell you how many times I've been asked something along the lines of "Is this Jerry Garcia?" to which I'd respond "No, The Band", and then the follow-up would be "Oh, the Grateful Dead?" Seriously, clever shit.

Back to Some Devil - I had my "Come To Dave" moment sitting on the dock with some family at my wife's grandmother's lake house a few summers ago. Relaxed summer atmosphere, just after sundown, having a few cold beverages and just enjoying life. While listening to "So Damn Lucky" it all clicked and the album's been a staple ever since. The Lake is funny like that. Certain albums just become "Lake Albums", and it helps you ignore the fact that Cat Stevens is an evil-doer that wants to blow up your children and hates you for your freedom.

#14. O Brother, Where Art Thou - Soundtrack, Various. There is almost no explanation for why I loved this soundtrack so. It's not exactly something you throw on while entertaining, it's not good drinking music, not great driving music, and while it can be relaxing - it's not exactly the perfect fireside CD. But I've always loved me some good old folk music, Allison Kraus probably has the greatest voice of any female singer since Joan Baez, and it conjures up images of a time in American History where all some people really had was song, so it does strike a chord in that respect. And really, if you were to rank the greatest American songs ever, wouldn't "You Are My Sunshine" have to be up there?

#13. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam. I'm not the most organized person in the world, but there are some things I get OCD over. One of them is what candles are lit in what room of my house. Another is how I firmly believe that only a debut album should be self-titled. It wasn't cool when Metallica did it, it aint cool that Pearl Jam did it. You can't wait 15 years to release a self-titled album. But overlooking that transgression - Jesus, this album was classic Pearl Jam from start to finish. A "Ten" sound with the social consciousness similiar to "Vs" but magnified. 

More importantly, it transformed Pearl Jam -  in my eyes - from being just a band who made awesome music while I was in High School into an All-Time Classic act. I never fully got into the stuff post-Vitalogy and pre-Self Titled. Sure, a few good tracks appeared now and then, bought an album or two, but it wasn't the same as the early releases. They were probably the most defining band of my high school years, and boy was it great to see them back.

#12. White Blood Cells - The White Stripes. What's there really to say about an album that pretty much offers up everything? From the ingenious lyrics in "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" to the exceptional composition in Hotel Yorba - which seems to borrow from every era of Rock History and then some, to the changing tempos within "The Union is Forever" to the slightly threatening nature of "I Think I Smell a Rat" and everything in between. When you analyize the album as a whole, you can't help but be amazed. But again, sounding too much like a critic there, and critics, shampoo, scrotum, etc.

White Blood Cells is just a fucking awesome album, enough said.

#11. Brushfire Fairytales - Jack Johnson. What a huge decade for Hawaii, huh? Shane Victorino ignites the Phillies to a World Championship, Barack Obama becomes freakin President, and Jack Johnson unleashes a slew of great CDs. Though, before making such a declaration, I think we need to see Victorino's and Johnson's birth certificates just to confirm that they're native born Hawaiians and not secret Muslim Terrorists hellbent on destroying Major League Baseball and the Recoriding Industry from within.

Ignoring the borderline repulsive imagery of scarred and mauled bubbly feet make Johnson inexplicably randy, "Bubble Toes" might be the most fun song of the decade. I mean, how can you not get in a good mood when it comes on? And "Mudfootball?" Come on, who didn't live through that? Reminds me of my innocent, pre-substance-loving life. And maybe that's what slightly bothers me about Jack Johnson. Dude's a little too content. Maybe I'm jealous, cause I don't think I could ever be that content. You could give me 10 million bucks and put Sean Hannity in a gulag and I don't know I'd be that content. But maybe it's as simple as he's found the answer: "Slow down everyone, you're moving to fast."