1. The Who - Who's Next (1971)
Arguably The Who's best album. Even though "Won't Get Fooled Again" is abused daily by countless "classic rock" radio stations across America it's still a great song. But my favorite song off this album and my favorite song of all time (see Top 50 songlist) is still "The Song is Over". Brings back memories of the summer of 1971 every time I hear it and always manages to sound as fresh as the first time. Place reminiscent of: Evergreen, Colorado

2. Prince - Music from Purple Rain (1984)
The word genius is overused much of the time but with Prince there is no other word that applies. No one covers as much stylistic ground musically as Prince, not even Todd [Rundgren] himself. This was and still is the quintessential 80's album; if you don't have this album, you're not 80's! And the movie is quintessentially 80's as well (see my movie list). This album, Sign of the Times, 1999, and the vastly underrated and overlooked Gold Experience were Prince's best (again arguable). "Let's Go Crazy", "Take Me With U" and "The Beautiful Ones" are personal favorites. It was not just the soundtrack to the movie Purple Rain, it was the soundtrack to the entire year of 1984. Place reminiscent of: Santa Fe and most of Eastern New Mexico.

3. The Ramones - The Ramones (1976)/ Leave Home (1977)/ Rocket to Russia (1977)/ Road to Ruin (1978)/ It's Alive (1979)
I count these first five albums by the Ramones as one selection - just like those record/CD clubs. Rhino missed a golden opportunity when they put out a 2-disc Ramones anthology. They should have put out a box set of the first four studio albums and the live It's Alive album and who knows, maybe the marketing department will get it right yet. I'm a huge fan of the Ramones and if you're a fan of these guys, you have to have these first five albums - all of them - or you're just not cool. As someone else succinctly put it, if you don't have these albums, you're not punk! I group these 5 together because it's everything they did before the End of the Century album when Phil Spector got to them, and I honestly can't decide which of them is my favorite of the bunch. They're all strong and stylistically similar (well, this is the Ramones we're talking about here - fast, 3-chord rock 'n' roll, and minimal guitar solos). Given time, this potential box set would reach the top of this list; there's a lot of music here and all of it's great. Relentless, fast, fun and funny, these albums are meant to be played loud - really loud. I used to play Rocket to Russia loud (really loud) in an off-campus dorm at Texas Tech, loud enough to prompt the guy in the room below to come up and tell me that he "liked the Beach Boys too, but could you turn it down a little." The Beach Boys?! "It's the Ramones you fool!" Spin magazine placed the Ramones behind only the Beatles as the greatest rock and roll band in history and I whole-heartedly agree. Place reminiscent of: Lubbock and Dallas, Texas, and OK, New York (the summer I visited in '76 and saw them at CBGB).

4. Translator - No Time Like Now (1983)
A band most people have never heard of (the first of a few here on this list) which is a shame. Translator played melodic, intelligent guitar-driven pop in a jangly sort of way, much like R.E.M. who were contemporaries of this band. R.E.M. of course became a household name and Translator faded into obscurity after four very good (and overlooked) albums. This one is my personal favorite of their ouevre as is the song "Un-Alone" from this album. One of the best opening tracks on any album. Other favorites are the title track which sounds like the Byrds' sound updated for the 80's and "I Hear You Follow", a soft, haunting ballad. Place reminiscent of: Santa Fe and Eastern New Mexico.

5. Brian Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (1983)
Time to get mellow and ambient - I put this on whenever I want or feel the need to "bliss out". One of the most haunting and evocative albums ever. Features one of the most beautiful instrumentals ever recorded - "Always Returning", which sounds like snow blowing across a deserted road in the middle of winter. Gorgeous music; no lyrics. Place reminiscent of: Santa Fe, New Mexico.

6. Marshall Crenshaw - Marshall Crenshaw (1982)
More 'shoulda-been-hits' than any other album in modern history but it came out the same year as Michael Jackson's Thriller. Guess which sold more? Pure pop for retro people. As close to power pop heaven as you can get. This album never fails to cheer me up and when it first came out I needed cheering up in a big way (1982 was a bad year personally - it just kinda sucked). Personal faves: "Cynical Girl", "Not For Me", and the radio-friendly "Someday, Someway". This album accompanied me on many a singing telegram run in the Balloon-o-Gram van. Place reminiscent of: Dallas at Christmas-time.

7. The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)
The Fab Four... Mostly I like the Beatles' earlier albums - everything through Magical Mystery Tour. They were at their songwriting peak during this middle, transitional period - this album and Revolver. Still power pop while reaching for what lay beyond. And I like the UK version of the album better than the U.S. version since it has "Nowhere Man" on it. The album jacket remained the repository for a secret love letter from a 4th grade girlfriend for a couple of years. Years after the letter had been tossed, the album and the record still smelled like the perfume the letter had been drenched in. You gotta love stuff like that. Place reminiscent of: Dallas.

8. Mental as Anything - Creatures of Leisure (1983)
Best album by a band from down under that is a personal favorite, Mental as Anything. There are two versions of this album - the U.S. and the Australian version. I have both. The U.S. version features their cover of Roy Orbison's "Working for the Man" and is the 'better' album, but having both really rounds out the experience. No better driving music for West Texas and Eastern New Mexico - a heady mixture of pop and Western swing (almost), intelligent lyrics, all with an Australian slant. Favorite songs - "Brain Brain", "Close Again", "Red to Green", and "Let's Not Get Sentimental". Place reminiscent of: Eastern New Mexico.

9.Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything? (1972) Generally acknowledged as his magnum opus, the first of a very influential trilogy of albums, which includes A Wizard, A True Star and Todd, but this is one is a double album so it gets the nod. This album got me listening and hooked on Todd; his next album, A Wizard, A True Star, made me a Todd fanatic. "Couldn't I Just Tell You" is a great song and another one that makes the Top 50 songlist. I even like "I Went to the Mirror" and "Little Red Lights", two of the lesser-known songs off this hit-laden double album. Todd is also a genius and the music world owes this man a great deal for his experimentation and wizardry in recording. But, like Prince after Purple Rain, he never quite hit the same commercial heights after this album. That in itself should not be a gauge of the success of his career, it just makes his career that much more interesting to follow. I group this album in with the next two that followed - A Wizard, A True Star and Todd - as being extremely influential during my high school years. Place reminiscent of: Dallas.

10. The Doors - The Doors (1967)
Another great album of truly memorable songs which has suffered needlessly because of the plague of "classic rock" stations across the land. "Light My Fire" is still one for the ages - timeless and evocative, and yes, it too is way overplayed to the point of familiarity breeding contempt. "The End" is no less a classic and is thankfully not played quite as much. Personal favorites on the album besides "Light My Fire" - "The Crystal Ship" and "Take It as It Comes". The Doors were the first band I saw in concert - when I was 11 years old. "Light My Fire" was the first rock song I learned on keyboards (a Farfisa combo organ); "In-a-Gadda-da-Vida" was the second. Place reminiscent of: Dallas and Los Angeles.

11. The Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses (1982)
An album and group I hold in ever higher regard the more time marches on... These guys were part of L.A.'s Paisley Underground in the early 80's. More alternative than New Wave, the influence of the Velvet Underground is dripping all over this album from the guitar feedback to Steve Wynn's Lou Reed-sounding vocals. Standouts include "Halloween" and "Tell Me When It's Over". Great album from start to finish and one of the best of the 80's. Steve Wynn is truly one of the great songwriters & still very active with his current band, the Miracle 3. Place reminiscent of: Dallas.

12. Suede - Coming Up (1997)
a.k.a. The London Suede. One of the best bands of the 90's and few people stateside have ever heard of them. This album and their eponymously-titled debut album are their best. Songs like "By the Sea" and "Saturday Night" have achingly beautiful melodies; other songs like "The Beautiful Ones", "Lazy", and "Trash" are English rockers in the best tradition of Mott the Hoople, Bowie, T. Rex et al. "She", with its cheesy-cool spy-movie string arrangement, should have been included in the first Austin Powers soundtrack. This album out-glams most of glam during its heyday, circa 1973, while still sounding fresh - no small accomplishment. Place reminiscent of: Denver and Central City, Colorado.

13. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
The band that launched a thousand other bands... Leaving this album out of the top 20 was an omission on my part that has now been corrected. Along with the Doors, the Velvets were the perfect antidote for all the hippies going to San Francisco with flowers in their hair and their music wafting through the radio airwaves like so much patchouli. They really didn't sound like anybody else at the time, not even the Doors, but they sure sounded great. Discordant, dissonant much of the time, this is the album that probably launched the term "art-rock". Some of Lou Reed's best songs are on this album. Personal favorites: "Venus in Furs", "I'm Waiting for the Man", "Heroin", and "All Tomorrow's Parties". Place reminiscent of: Dallas... in the 60s, man.

14. Lou Reed - Transformer (1972)
How many nights and weekends did I listen to this album in my first car ('63 Pontiac Grand Prix) while delivering fried chicken and pizza in the Park Cities (Dallas suburbs)? A lot I can tell you that. Most people love this album because of the song "Walk on the Wild Side", and it's good, but my personal favorite is and will always be "Vicious". "Vicious/ You hit me with a flower/ You do it every hour/ But baby you're so vicious..."- what a lyric. And then there's Mick Ronson's dazzling guitar work. Great album - Lou's best I think. Better than Berlin and New York. In fact, this album still sounds more "New York" than New York did. Coney Island Baby comes close to being this good but this is still my favorite from him. "Perfect Day" is amazing - tender and threatening at the same time. Place reminiscent of: Dallas.

15. Suede - Suede (1993)
The London Suede's debut album back when they were known as simply Suede (they had to change their name for legal reasons). As if you couldn't tell they were English! Some great songs here - "The Drowners", "Metal Mickey", "Pantomime Horse" to name a few. Like most of the albums I tend to champion, I played this album often enough to seriously annoy those closest to me. Still one of my favorite bands years later (although they have since broken up - it happens). Place reminiscent of: Denver and on top of Bergen Peak.

16. The Psychedelic Furs - Talk Talk Talk (1981)
Another band & album that continues to gain stature with the passing of time - easily one of the 80's best on both counts. The best adjective to describe this album is relentless. Is this punk rock or is this pop music played with punk intensity? I think it's the latter though by the time you get to "Into You Like a Train" it hardly matters. Every song on this album is strong, intense and energetic. The album fairly bristles with energy and the songs - some 20 years later - have proven to be enduring. The Furs are one very underrated band. Whenever I listen to this group, they manage to sound both nostalgic and current at the same time, especially on this album - probably their best. U2, even before their superstardom in the late 80's, never recorded anything this intense and vital, including War. Eventually this album may creep further up the list; it spends a lot of time on my CD changer. Place reminiscent of: Dallas, Texas.

17. The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night (1964)/ Help! (1965)
The two Beatles' soundtrack albums count as one selection and you could now put both these albums on one CD anyway. Generally speaking I prefer the early Beatles to the late Beatles - a lot more. Although Abbey Road was good the last few albums beginning with The White Album just never did much for me. The early albums were when the Beatles were really fun and closest to their roots. Great songs here: "I Should Have Known Better", "Any Time At All", and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away". Place reminiscent of: Dallas and Rumson, New Jersey.

18. The Pretenders - Pretenders II (1981)/ The Pretenders (1980) The first two Pretenders' albums are usually acknowledged to be their best although I think Learning to Crawl is right up there with them. I give the nod to Pretenders II simply for having "Message of Love", "Birds of Paradise", and "Jealous Dogs" on it. There's nothing on the first album that matches these three although "Precious" and "Kid" are just as good. Chrissie Hynde's vocals & songwriting have always been amazing. Aw, what the hell - put both albums in here and count as one. They're both great & essential rock & roll. You should own these. Place reminiscent of: Dallas, Texas.

19. Alice Cooper - Killer (1971)
The first incarnation of Alice Cooper (the band) was the best and it would be a toss up between this album and Billion Dollar Babies, but this one is just so damn funny. "Dead Babies" is at once horrifying and hysterically funny. Then again, Americans just don't get satire anymore. That's where we've regressed since the 70's but that's a whole other topic to "discuss amongst yourselves". "Desperado" is a personal fave and so is "Be My Lover". Though nothing here is as immediate as "Caught in a Dream" (from Love It to Death), this is a better album overall. His live shows during this time were also way better than anything that has followed. Most unusual concert I ever saw: Alice Cooper with Steely Dan opening for them. Place reminiscent of: Dallas and Evergreen, Colorado.

20. The Gun Club - Fire of Love (1981)
The Gun Club makes the leap into the top 20. This is blues played with punk intensity (check out their cover of Robert Johnson's "Preachin' the Blues") and features the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce with his "exorcism-in-progress" vocal delivery. A scary album when it came out over 20 years ago and still the only thing in my CD/album collection that sounds this scary (except for some of the Rev. Horton Heat's repetoire). Really, no one before them or since has sounded like these guys. Probably reached their peak with the song "Texas Serenade" off their 2nd album, "Miami". Check this one out. Place reminiscent of: Dallas and Lubbock, Texas.