Since everyone is doing annoying challenges, i thought I’d come up with one of my own. I put my 187 records (i have issues) in a spreadsheet, took out all singles / best ofs / compilations / sound tracks until i was left with 120 studio albums. I then added the release date and

run time of each. I’m gonna listen to them all in chronological order over the next couple weeks, tweet a pic of each, and a couple words about each. Comes out to almost exactly 97 hours of listening. Please follow along or ignore completely. Figured it’d be a good

excuse to use the turntable more and clean any records that needed it.

So we begin

1) If peeing your pants is cool, consider me... I think anyone who owns a record player is legally obligated to buy this at some point. The internet says so. Perhaps better suited for an evening cocktail and not for building the desk I’m working on. Still a timeless classic

2) Picking up the vibes a bit. Motown is ideal sunny Sunday listening. Believe i got this one from a friend’s grandmother’s collection. Had to clean this one up a bit but it sounds brand new.

Whelp, since most of my other records from the 60s are compilations or best ofs, it’s looking like the next 7 chronological albums on the list are Beatles records. As much as i love the Beatles, this might be a bit much.

3) The Beatles block starts with Beatles ‘65

4) Getting closer to the meat and potatoes. Still waiting for them to discover the good drugs

I guess this falls under the soundtrack category? Oh well

5) On to Rubber Soul

Also, “Run For Your Life”, the final track. Woof. Yikes. Been a while since i heard that one

6) Yesterday and Today

7) gotta use the inner fold for this beauty

8) Number 8 is their only double album.

As much as i love the Beatles, working through 7 albums in a row feels more like a labor, but that’s the way the timeline fell. The albums are getting stronger though

9) is my final Beatles album of this run through. Also marks the end of the 60s for me.

10) a hard but welcomed transition to George Clinton’s Funkadelic and their Maggot Brain on blue/white vinyl. Starts off with an amazing one two punch. Can You Get To That has been a Bobfest playlist staple and makes me want to crack a cold one in the sunshine

11) The first of my Floyds. Singing along with Fearless is the only time you every hear the words “you’ll never walk alone” come from my mouth. Lacks PF’s later typical whole album direction, but is still fantastic. Echoes taking up the whole B side

12) and we go to the Reverend. This one means a lot. Al Green’s Greatest Hits is one of three albums i remember being heavy rotation in my dads car when i was really, really young (the other two coming up shortly) with Let’s Stay Together always sticking out. Very formative.

13) first “rock opera” of the set? Ziggy, the androgynous bisexual rockstar. Much doesn’t need to be said. Masterpiece. One of the few celebrity deaths that was a real gut punch for me.

14) from Bowie and Ronson to produced by Bowie and Ronson. I definitely purchased this one long before i really appreciated Lou Reed. Drugs, sexuality, and more controversial topics. Rock and roll.

15) Not much to say. One of three albums in heavy roto in my dad’s car from a young age. I could write an essay on every song on here. I will just add that Us and Them is one of the most beautiful songs of all time

16) picking up where i left off in 1973 with some more Bowie

17) a Sir Elton double album. My mom gets the credit for always having this in her car. In hindsight, it was a life preserver in a sea of 90s and early 2000s country music.

The man can still put on a show. Legendary

18) if I’m being honest, i can’t say i particularly love The Boss, but i definitely respect The Boss.

This one needed a deep cleaning. I think it survived a partial basement flooding before it got into my hands via a friends relative, but it’s still sounding great

19) starting off today with my favorite Pink Floyd album. This one means a lot to me. My dad and i listened to this album sitting on top of a cliff in Ireland as a tide came in, the ocean started to swell, and the sun went down. Probably my favorite adult memory i have of him

Video from that same spot taken a couple years later on a revisit. #ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond

20) this list hasn’t seen a female vocalist since The Supremes. Welcomed change of pace

21) i own three copies of Boston’s debut, and have given away one or two others. I think every relative or family friend is required to have this album in whatever stack of free records they are trying to get rid of.

22) would probably sound better if it was Urban Outfitters pressing spinning on a Crosley, but this’ll do

23) This is one my dad always had in his car. Had to make the pilgrimage to Battersea Power Station when i was in London. Was a 40 minute walk from my Hostel, so listening to the album on the walk down the Thames was perfect. (This was supposed to come before Rumors, oops)

24) don’t have the slightest idea of how i got Foreigner’s debut in my collection. This thing is in perfect condition. Feels Like the First Time it’s ever been spun

25) probably the most ideal way to start off the listening today, especially on a clear sunny day like today. THIS ALBUM SLAPS. Positive vibes

And what a treat it was to see ELO with the boys

@mounthushmore @Reznikov1899 @Reznikov1899

26) Pink Flag - Wire. 35 and a half minutes, 21 songs. i had no idea who Wire was until i started to drill into my favorite contemporary bands and saw Wire and specifically Pink Flag come up again and again as a major inspiration. Opened up the doors to early post-punk for me

I think Mannequin was the first song off the album i heard, and i remember thinking it was just a contemporary alternative band, not something released in 1977

27) zero idea how this one got into my hands

28) what a beauty. I am a total sucker for colored / special edition records, and to have the red on this one is a treat.

This album cover might look cool on a t-shirt too.

29) as someone who absolutely loves Pink Floyd, even raised on them from a young age, i find myself flip flopping between “this is peak Roger Waters’ pretentiousness” and “wow, Roger Waters is a fucking genius” depending on how i feel when listening to it

30) took us 30 records, but we are now in the 80s. Was going to listen to this yesterday, but The Wall sandwiched by both Joy Division would’ve been a weird vibe. Very fortunate to have seen Peter Hook perform almost all these JD songs over the two shows I’ve seen of his. RIP Ian

31) the Talking Heads. David Byrne, one of my favorites. Genius.

If i were to ever get tatted up, 100% one of the first ones I’d get is a silhouette of David Byrne dancing in the Once in a Lifetime video

32) is a fun double album. The trio, Minutemen. For the unfamiliar, this one is probably most known to the general public for having the track “Corona”, aka the theme from Jackass. The band’s tenure was cut tragically short.

33) i should’ve been logged out of work an hour ago, but at least i got the Boys to carry me through my last few emails of the week

34) we pick it up today with The Pogues.

34) what a debut this one is. This one needs to be played loud. Easily one of my favorite driving with the windows down in the sun albums.

35) breaks us into the 90s with the supergroup Electronic, featuring Bernard Sumner (Joy Division & New Order) and Johnny Marr (The Smiths)

37) i screwed up the numbering on the last two. Anyway, starting off today with Blur’s 1991 debut. These next 20 or so albums are going to be very, very heavy on the Britpop. Also, that turquoise pressing tho...

#CoolBritannia

38) Screamadelica has some certified bangers. Loaded is a vibe and a half. Despite having Scottish origins, this one definitely has some leftover Madchester vibes sprinkled heavily on some tracks

39) Screamadelica to Harvest Moon is one hell of a transition

40) today we begin in Limerick, Ireland, a place near and dear to my heart. A home for 6 months. The Cranberries’ debut, Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? RIP Dolores

41) getting into Bobby’s meat and potatoes.

"Yes, in a week where news leaked that Saddam Hussein was preparing nuclear weapons, everyday folks were still getting slaughtered in Bosnia, and Mike Tyson was making his comeback, tabloids and broadsheets alike went Britpop crazy.”

42) the very first note of Rock & Roll Star gives me a rush every damn time. Oasis, my very first concert in 2008. My dad caught on that 13/14 year old had started listening to their songs and got me tickets for Christmas. The rest is Bob history, between seeing both brothers

multiple times, to falling in love with Man City right around that same time, to meeting Noel a couple times. Day to day, i don’t know if Live Forever or Slide Away is my favorite Oasis tune. This album is top song after top song. Their whole studio discography is coming up

Also, this version of 1998 live version of Slide Away recorded in Chicago might be the best version of any song ever done ever.

43) the bends

44) Starting off today with Supergrass’ debut. Big fan of this one. Lots of fun

45) i don’t think i need to say too much about this one. One of the top all time, but i don’t like to get to much into the Radiohead echo chambers, i just enjoy them

46) another colossal album, an absolute monster. Made the pilgrimage to Berwick street a few years back.

I vividly remember the first time hearing Morning Glory and it just hitting me in the chest like nothing i had listened to up to that point.

48) Modest Mouse’s debut. Great album that definitely gets overshadowed by their big 3

47) this one should’ve come before the last Modest Mouse, but i somehow managed to get the numbering right. Anyway, screaming along to Common People is a favorite hobby of mine

49) Odelay on a blood orange / interesting red pressing

50) stealing from the sticker description on the cover: “a psychedelic gospel album full of confessional songs about heartbreak and drug abuse; a flat out masterpiece”. That it is

51) the sweet, sweet sounds of cocaine abuse and infighting. The band literally could not have den at a higher zenith than they were at this point. Fresh off popping out two of the greatest British albums of all time and selling out Knebworth in minutes. This one gets a lot of

flack for being messy, but i fucking love it. It’s wall of sound. Some songs might no be their best, but it’s immense. “The biggest band in the world... bigger than, dare i say it, God”. Fastest selling album in UK chart history. The release was an event. Biblical

52) The Lonesome Crowded West. Another top notch album. Perfect for the evening wind down

53) i guess this is technically a compilation of three EPs, so it deviates from the “studio LPs only” theme, but I’m including it on this list anyway because it’s too pretty not to. Criminally under appreciated

54) breaking my rules again, technically not a studio album, but I’ll allow it since it’s all original material. B Sides that other bands would kill for

55) closing out the millennium with Muse’s debut, to honor my Muse phase.

56) i will never understand why shoulder was never made plural. This one has some top bangers and some other, maybe, less inspired tracks?

57) another top one

58) “Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down”
To borrow from @FatPossum:
R.L Burnside is the ultimate paradox of blues music--he is the last genuine performer of raw Mississippi hill country sound, as well as the most cutting edge crossover artist the blues has had in the past 30 years

59) Never liked The Strokes much. Admittedly, it’s probably because everyone borrowed / stole their sound and it was everywhere, so i got sick those bands and then The Strokes too, but i cannot deny what this one did for the 2000s and on.

60) time to enjoy some Chicago sounds and architecture

61) this asshole couldn’t pass up the amazing opportunity to own a Kid Rock album on turquoise, especially for the small price of $7.63

62) Oasis’ 2002 release, Heathen Chemistry. Always throws me off that this double LP release is in 45 rpm. I’m probably in the 99th percentile of people who have listened to The Hindu Times in slowmo, because i always accidentally start this one in 33

63) kicking it up a notch with a little slice of the 313.

64)

65) one of those “what could’ve been” bands. Nothing particularly outstanding or unique about Jet, but they definitely knew how to write some catchy songs, at least on this debut

66) I’ve got some Good News for People Who Love Bad News. A fitting title for 2020