72. Blind Melon – Nico 1/31
1996. This album was released after lead singer Shannon Hoon’s cocaine overdose and subsequent death in 1995. The album was named after his daughter Nico Blue. It features several tracks that were started by Hoon and finished by the band, along with other unreleased tracks and a couple cover songs like The Pusher and John Sinclair. That being said, there’s a lot of excellent tracks on this album. God damn that Bible pushing man, which is a slightly different lyric than the original. I love this acoustic feeling No Rain. And it rips my life away. She was my Soul One. It ain’t fair, John Sinclair. They gave him ten for two what else can the judges do? Life ain’t so shitty. There’s a lot that you can be. Unfortunately Blind Melon’s story (like Sublime’s) is tragic and ending way way too early.

73. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere 1/31
2006. Crazy was easily the song that summarized the summer of 2006, but the rest of this album is also very good. St Elsewhere is the debut album from the collaborative efforts of DJ and producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton – Grey Album) and rapper/vocalist Cee-Lo Green. I remember, I remember when I lost my mind / but there was something so special about that place / even your emotions had an echo in so much space. Does you think I’m crazy? My heroes had the heart / to lose their lives out on a limb / and all I remember / is thinking, I want to be like them. Ever since I was little it looked like fun / and it’s no coincidence I’ve come / and I can die when I’m done. Maybe I’m crazy. As great as crazy is, there’s a lot of other good tracks on this album. And if it weren’t for you / I’d be without a care / setting sail to St. Elsewhere. Well what did you do? What did you say? Did you walk or did you run away? Where are you now? Where have you been? Did you go alone or did you bring a friend? Put on a smiling face. I really like Just a Thought. I transform, I transform. I’m a transformer. I could go on and on and on, but who cares? Don’t ask why, just live and die. When was the last time you danced?

74. Hot Chip – Made In The Dark 1/31
2008. Hot Chip are an English electropop band. There’s a hole in the world there. Some of the layers here sound like Nintendo music. This is not a bad thing. Before we go any further I’d like to show you a game we like to play, it’s called Sounds of the Studio. Good thing I am wearing headphones. Out and out and out shake the fists and let’s breathe within without. I’m ready to try this. Do it do it do it do it now. Say it say it say it now. Ready For The Floor is a hot track. I am ready I am ready for a fall. Bendable Poseable. My only weapon was my pen / but I traded it for my hand. Not a smart move, but my move / does this say I’m a man? I’m only going to heaven if it feels like hell. I’m only going to heaven if it tastes like caramel. There are some slower songs that don’t resonate as well on this album but overal it’s a fun time.

75. Oysterhead – The Grand Pecking Order 1/31
2001. After Phish broke up in 2000, Trey needed some new players to play with. Enter Les Claypool (Primus) and Stewart Copeland (The Police), and with Trey you now have a supergroup for the 21st century. As sad as I was that Phish disbanded and went separate ways, I was really happy to have something fresh from Trey. Admittedly I’m a Trey man, but Les certainly brought his own brand of uniqueness to this table. There’s also no diminishing Stewart Copeland’s role, dude is one nasty awesome drummer. From whoever wrote the wiki article, “The style and sound of the band is a collaborative eclectic mix of the bass-oriented funk metal music of Claypool, Anastasio’s jam band music and the Lebanese-influenced beats of Copeland with a focus of not “anything preconceived”. The result is different than any of their previous independent works.” When all else has been done and said, along comes Mr. Oysterhead. He’s an inspiration to us all. I was lucky enough to catch the Oysterhead show in Utica with my boy Snotty and enjoyed that very much. Trey even played his “special” guitar during this tour called the Matterhorn, that featured a full size deer antler on the end of it that allowed him to make theremin type sounds. I saw the Theremin documentary around that time so I got a kick out of that. The supergroup did that one tour in Fall 2001, released this one album, reuninted for one more show at Bonnaroo in 2006 and that was it. The Army’s on Ecstasy so they say, I read all about it in the USA Today. Rubberneck lions as I lie in bed. Used to get goosebumps when Trey sang his lines in this one, not so much any more, but still enjoying it. Still not a fan of Polka Dot Rose. You can come around but don’t you talk to me, I’m not in the mood for conversation, you can come around but don’t you talk to me. Gasoline Vaseline / Benzene Aphetamine/ All the chemicals in between / There ain’t no cure for suicide. I love the Owner Of The World song, so much so that my website still contains the tagline (though hidden), “I used to be the owner of the world” which has been on the site since 10 years ago when I first dug the first recordings of that song. Anyway, this album is still good, doesn’t quite hold up as well as it was received when I first got it but it still holds a special place deep inside my mind.

76. Pearl Jam – Ten 1/31
1991. Speaking of albums that used to embody specific moments in my life (which is the theme for a good chunk of the albums making this list), here’s another one. Once upon a time I could lose myself in this album. Unlike the previous listen, this album still holds up. Of Pearl Jam, I really love this album, Vs., and Vitalogy for the most part. I don’t know what happened after that, I just never got into any of their albums post those as much, some I still haven’t heard. Anyway, Ten is full of great tracks including but not limited to Once, Even Flow, Alive, Jeremy, Black. 1991/1992 was such a different time. Some of the videos to these songs are so memorable. I will never shake the memory of Jeremy video. He certainly did speak in class, that day. Pearl Jam is one of those bands that tours quite a bit too, yet I haven’t caught them live. I don’t know if it’s on my bucket list of acts I want to try real hard to catch but I’m sure it would be a good show. Oh, I’m still alive. Is something wrong? she said / well, of course, there is / you’re still alive, she said / oh, and do I deserve to be? / is that the question? / and if so, if so, who answers? who answers? I’m still alive! Didn’t type much else while listening. Still a good album to put on every now and then. Trust.