Just a list of five fantastic albums that I realized I can listen all the way through without skipping a song. I had to really think about it a few times because even some of my favorite albums have songs that I don't care to listen to so I had to cut a lot of albums. Sometimes I'll want to listen to certain songs from an album but taken as a whole I find that I never skip a song but just let the album play. So here are five that I know I can always just start from the beginning and just let them play through. This is by no means a list of my favorite albums of all time nor does it mean only these albums are ones I listen through.
Nevermind by Nirvana- Some people call this the obvious choice, the "mainstream" choice of Nirvana albums but I'll tell you right now it's popular for a reason. Every song has hooks that dig deep and drag you into it's sound, an album that helped define part of my generation. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" still has one of the most iconic beginning riffs in music history, "Lounge Act" remains one of my favorite Nirvana songs, and "Polly" was the song that taught me power chords on guitar. Every song just seems to fit, to push Nirvana's sound, and give you a piece of the anger, despair, hopelessness, and genuine humanity of Kurt himself.
The Bitter End by Right Away, Great Captain- It's not just that this album is a story told sequentially through each of it's song. It's the feeling of the album itself that carries me through to the end. As much as I love Manchester Orchestra there is something to Andy Hull's side project that really connects with me. The low-fi sound of a sailor pouring his heart out, of wrestling with his feelings over his wife cheating on him with his own brother, of the war brewing in his mind on wether to kill himself or them. You get the sense that the album was written as a whole, that Andy carefully considered how each song was going to be in the context of the others and what results is akin to a musical journey. I let this album run simply because it seems so natural to do so and every song fits together like a puzzle, yet still remains listenable on it's own as well.
Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness by Coheed and Cambria- Not only did this album produce one of my favorite solos and just general rock songs in the excellent "Welcome Home" but to me is their best album pound for pound. Here Claudio takes the story to ever crazier depths by pulling back and introducing the concept of The Writer to his story. Fantastic rock hooks, an excellent flow from song to song, and the best of the song cycles The Willing Well make me just listen to the album start to finish rocking out the whole time. "Ten Speed of God's Blood and Burial" alone gets my heart pumping then he brings it down with "The Willing Well Part IV: The Final Cut" which directly pays homage to the influence of Pink Floyd and also brings genuine emotion as I realize what the song is really about. This will always define Coheed and Cambria for me and be first among their albums in my opinion.
The Wall by Pink Floyd- To me this is the quintessential concept album and my favorite Pink Floyd album as well. I can listen to parts one and two over and over again, getting something new out of it each time. It's such a personal album and you can feel that with each and every song. There is so much depth and meaning in every lyric and it's backed up by excellent musicianship. Again another album that people will say is the "mainstream" choice and I will argue that there is nothing wrong with liking the best a band ever produced. I can always come back to this album and dive into the story contained within.
A Flair for the Dramatic by Pierce the Veil- I remember when I first discovered this band at Warped Tour. I was just walking by the stage where they were playing a set and their music just stopped me in my tracks. The energy, the passion, and the combination of screamo, dance, and electronica influence was something I didn't even know I was looking for. I ended buying this album after hearing one song and fell in love with it. From the lyrics that seem to be speaking to me at times to the frenetic, manic, energy in the music I could not stop listening to it. It hooked me pretty well and I still like to just put that album on and let it just wash over me. A band that is just as good live as they are on their album they impressed me with just one song and this album remains one of my favorites.
