INHAILER RADIO'S TOP 500 ALBUMS OF ALL-TIME: (#300—276)
- Jay Burgin
- Jan 18, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 27, 2021
This is the 9th post in this series. Click here to start from the beginning: Inhailer's Top 500 Albums of All-Time: (#500--476)
Every Friday, Inhailer is counting down our totally objective, completely undisputed, most-correct list of the Top 500 albums of all time. We're doing so in bite-size chunks of 25 albums (nobody has the energy in their thumbs to scroll through 500 albums in one sitting). Last week we continued our countdown with the likes of Sweet, Green Day, and The Church. This week we continue with Nos. 300-276. The ask was simple: excluding compilation albums, what are the 500 best albums of all-time, ranked? Here's the ninth list in the countdown:
300. Burial - Untrue (2007)
A landmark dubstep album, this UK garage ambient record subverts the concept of pitch, time signatures, and basic melody.
299. Gang of Four - Entertainment! (1979)
Post-punk liner notes: "I spend most of our money on myself so that I can stay fat", while the mother and children declare, "We're grateful for his leftovers"
298. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (1980)
West Coast punksters begin with "Kill the Poor" and end with a cover of Elvis' "Viva Las Vegas." There's a lot of good stuff in the spectrum between these wild bookends,
297. David Axelrod - Songs of Innocence (1968)
The eccentric composer wrote to the poetry of William Blake and recorded to the groove of Capitol Records' Wrecking Crew.
296. Muddy Waters - Hard Again (1977)
At the Age of 64, Waters left his long-time label, Chess Records, and gave the world his greatest artistic statement.
295. The Beatles - The Beatles (1968)
The brilliant guitar work on "Warm Gun," "While My Guitar," & "Helter Skelter" make up for skippable tracks on the bloated tracklist. "Glass Onion" is the most underrated Beatles tune.
294. Loop - Heaven's End (1987)
This band stayed true to their name, with longwinded, stream-of-consciousness "songs" that helped ready the world for the ensuing shoegaze movement.
293. The Meters - Rejuvenation (1974)
The stylistic blend of Mardi Gras R&B rhythms and abrasive funk instrumentation remains fresh to this day.
292. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing..... (1996)
Leave it to DJ Shadow to make the Akai MCP60 sampler carry the sound of Mo' Wax's hour-long instrumental hip hop reverie.
291. Peter Tosh - Legalize It (1976)
After leaving Bob Marley and the Wailers, Tosh blew puffs of smoke at Jamaica's criminalization and colonialism.
290. Iggy Pop - Lust For Life (1977)
David Bowie just couldn't let Berlin go, teaming up with lead guitarist Ricky Gardiner to write bombastic, yet sparse hooks.
289. Sloan - Navy Blues (1998)
Navy Blues was the '90s clever answer to the '70s highway rock of Thin Lizzy and Ted Nugent.
288. Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief (1969)
An audience at the 2006 BCC Radio Awards deemed this album the "most influential folk album of all-time." And who are we to disagree with the BCC?
287. Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band - Safe As Milk (1967)
Bandleader Don Van Vliet had one foot in the Desert blues and the other foot in the acid-test party in the city-center.
286. Grace Jones - Nightclubbing (1981)
Jones androgynous fashion and revolutionary art pop continues to influence contemporary female avant-artists.
285. Bert Jansch - Bert Jansch (1965)
Zeppelin's Jimmy Page claimed an obsession with Jansch's music, while Neil Young claimed Jansch was the acoustic guitar equivalent of Jimi Hendrix.
284. 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators (1966)
A holy grail for psych collectors showcases the electric jug mastery of Tommy Hall and the visionary songwriting of Roky Erickson.
283. The Black Keys - Thickfreakness (2003)
This album was made via "medium fidelity" in a single 14-hour day in drummer Patrick Carney's basement just before Christmas 2002.
282. The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia (2000)
Check out "Bohemian Like You" for the most cutting pop rock song that managed to survive Y2K.
281. Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic (1976)
The Bad Boys From Boston captured the whole East Coast with hit singles "Walk this Way" and "Sweet Emotion" and sleeper "No More No More."
280. Dolly Parton - Jolene (1974)
America's greatest treasure had already released twelve albums before she got jealous of her then-husband flirting with a red-headed bank clerk (who probably wasn't actually named Jolene).
279. T. Rex - The Slider (1972)
In the first 4 years of the '70s, T. Rex had 11-straight Top 10 UK hits, drawing comparisons to Beatlemania. Speaking of such, Ringo Starr reportedly photographed the grainy cover photo.
278. Prince - 1999 (1982)
Exactly 17 years ahead of its time, Prince's breakout album cemented the Minneapolis sound into the public's pop conscious.
277. The Allman Brothers - Idlewild South (1970)
Capricorn Records wanted these Southern boys to to act "like a rock band" by moving to L.A. The Brothers dug their boots in the dirt and produced eternal Southern Rock like "Revival," "Midnight Rider" and "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed."
276. Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different (1974)
The funk rock boss brought her unabashed Black identity and feminine sexuality to the forefront on what is her career-defining creative peak.
Want to listen to our choice cuts from this list? Follow our countdown playlist on Spotify!