1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

After much deliberation and trials and tribulations with finding this book, I finally broke down and bought it. Originally, I wanted to get this book for my brother for Christmas, but do you think I could find it anywhere? Of course not. Now I have the excuse to peruse the book before I buy it for anyone else, since it's not cheap. I can say right now that it's well worth the $34.95 I spent. I like how the book is laid out - there is a preface by Michael Lydon, Founding Editor of Rolling Stone, followed by a list of contributors (there were 91!), and an album index. The "meat" of the book is laid out in decades starting with the 1950's and going up through 2003. In each decade, the albums are sorted by release date, with most pages having a picture or album cover, a track listing, and a 3-4 paragraph writeup of why the album deserved to be in the book. I have learned many interesting facts which I had not known before, like the fact that Eddy Van Halen did the guitar in Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean". Most impressive, since Eddy is now relegated to doing the music for porn videos. Most of the albums listed are not a big surprise, like Elvis Presley's self titled ablum (1956), the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night" (1964), Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970), The Boss' "Born In The USA" (1984), Nirvana's "Nevermind" (1991), and Johnny Cash's "American IV: The Man Comes Around" (2002).

Some highlights from "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" by Leading International Critics:

1950's - Frank Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours", Fats Domino's "This Is Fats", and Ray Charles' "The Genius of Ray Charles"

1960's - Joan Baez' "Joan Baez", BB King "Live at the Regal", and Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde"

1970's - Black Sabbath's "Paranoid", Elton John's "Madman Across the Water", and The Ramones' "Ramones"

1980's - Michael Jackson's "Thriller", Cyndi Lauper's "She's So Unusual", and Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms"

1990's - Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Blood Sugar Sex Magik", U2's "Achtung Baby", and Green Day's "Dookie"

2000's - Madonna's "Music", Coldplay's "A Rush of Blood To The Head", and 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin"

Even though there were several albums I expected, there were some listed that made me say "Whaaaa?!?", like the White Stripes, Justin Timberlake, and Bjork, who are all artists in the decade labeled "2000's". I really can't find much wrong with the recommendations from the other decades, even if I have heard a certain album and don't particularly like it. I think the problem is that current music isn't that compelling, so our expectations for what constitutes "good music" are lowered. I'm not saying all music from our current decade is crap, but not much of it is anything I'd care to listen to. Maybe I was just born in the wrong time period.

A few albums I am curious about checking out as a result of this book are: Royskopp's "Melody A.M." because I heard the song "Remind Me" on the Geico caveman commercial and couldn't get the damn thing out of my head, Miles Davis' "The Birth of Cool" because I've never been into jazz but would like to try, Rod Stewart's "Gasoline Alley" because I want to remember when Rod had some balls and didn't sing stuff that's already been sung, and The Flaming Lips' "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" because I'd desperately like to believe that there's something that Justin Timberlake can do right, cuz it sure ain't singing (Lips recruited him to play bass on this album).

For any music lover, this is a great book. It's not just a "coffee table" book, but it's one that can help you expand your musical horizons. I give "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" 8 out of 10 dancing feet.