The Absolute Uncontestable List Of Best Albums Of My Generation

Compiling a list, like a compilation tape is a personal catharsis, one believes. After the tragedy of 7.7, one is in need of catharsis.

Here is my list of the best albums of my generation (70s-now):

• 
  Rush - Presto/Moving Pictures: My first rock album, bought in a little shop in Kathmandu.
  



• Coldplay : A Rush Of Blood To The Head - My personal favorite from their ouevre.
  



• U2 - Boy/October/Joshua Tree - The band of our generation, perhaps
  



• DJ Shadow - Bombay The Hard Way - Representative of the cornucopia of curry music soundtracks produced by Bollywood - too many to mention - a good one might be "Dil Chahta Hai"
  



• R.E.M. - Around The Sun/Automatic For The People
  



• Billy Joel - Stormfront
  



• Supertramp - Breakfast In America - "You know Supertramp?!!" - famous last words - girlfriends, wives, and being analytical
  



• Van Halen - Women And Children First/Diver Down
  



• The Clash - London Calling - this genre-bending, socially distorting masterpiece is a must-have.
  



• Oasis - What's The Story (Morning Glory) - For a while, I believed they were talking to me
  



• Cat Stevens - Morning Has Broken



• Rage Against The Machine - Battle Of Los Angeles



• New Order - Substance/Republic
  



• William Shatner - Has-Been - A true surprise, and a delight
  



• Beck - Odelay/Mutations - It's his birthday today, and he'll be celebrating with "two turntables and a microphone"
  



• Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force/Trilogy - My dearest friend ever, Arvind, was/is a die-hard Malmsteen fan - he almost married the daughter of a Japanese guy who he met at a gym because he thought he'd get easier access to imports from Japan.
  



• G3 Live: Rocking In The Free World - This is the 2003 version, with Vai, Satriani and Malmsteen - 120 mph!



• Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La - A wonderful album - a walk through popular culture, almost



• Michael Jackson - Thriller: He made us feel bad
  



• Don Henley - The End Of The Innocence - The days were long, and rolled...the perfect Pre-9/11 album
  



• The White Stripes - White Blood Cells/Get Behind Me Satan
  



• Sting - Dream Of The Blue Turtles/Ten Summoner's Tales
  



• Guns and Roses - Lies/Use Your Illusion/Appetite For Destruction - Axl once threw a guitar into a crowd in Bangalore - my friend caught it.
  



• Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Like Bad News
  



• Moby - Play/Hotel - Musical maverick, not yet corporatised, a la Coldplay
  



• Kraftwerk - Man Machine: We are the Robots!
  



• Prince - Purple Rain/Batman/Sign O'The Times
  



• Bjork - Homogenic



• Tina Turner - Private Dancer - Love's got nothing to do with it!
  



• Tupac Shakur - All Eyes On Me - Social commentary, nihilism and high art, bitter reality
  



• Brian Wilson - SMiLE - Impressionism, memories of a previous generation, perhaps.
  



• The Posies - Dear 23/Frosting On The Beater



• Wu Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) - Solve the mystery of Chessboxin
  



• Radiohead - OK Computer
  



• Outkast - Speakerboxx
  



• Jethro Tull - Stormwatch/Crest Of A Knave - Many memories - a friend's life, Ian, and good, good music.
  



• Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm: Love is a story
  



• Live - Throwing Copper: One of the best albums,ever, IMHO
  



• Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
  



• The Verve - Urban Hymns



• Van Morrison - Astral Weeks: I've probably spent more years collecting his albums than any other artist
  



• Johnny Cash - American Recordings - "Hurt" is perfect, these songs demonstrate such breadth of talent.
  



• Queen - Jazz/Queen II - My quiz team was called "Mustapha And The Fat Bottomed Girls"
  



• Santana - Supernatural



• Green Day - Dookie/American Idiot



• Blur - Parklife



• Steely Dan - Aja/Pretzel Logic/The Royal Scam - Send me mojo!/No hesitation/no tears/no heartbreaking/no remarks



• Black Eyed Peas - Elephunk



• String Cheese Incident - One Step Closer - One of the best albums of the year



• Dire Straits - On Every Street/Dire Straits



• The Postal Service - Give Up - We have become silhouettes, especially after 7.7



• ZZ Top - Tres Hombres - Live it up in the South!



• Steve Earle - The Revolution Starts ...Now: We're ready!



• Enigma - MCMXC A.D. - I'm still trying to figure out the principles of Lust



• Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime



• Thievery Corporation - The Cosmic Game



• Elvis Costello - The Delivery Man: Still going strong!



• Engelbert Humperdinck - Gold - A selection from his impressive ouevre.



• Leonard Cohen - Dear Heather/The Future - Baldy Monk is hard to put down.



• John Legend - Used To Love You - Some sessions musicians just do make it.



• Deep Purple - Purpendicular



• Eric Clapton - Unplugged



• Depeche Mode - Violator



• Eminem - The Marshal Mathers Show/Encore



• Blues Traveler - Four



• Eagles - Hell Freezes Over



• Jimmy Buffett - Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads/Changes In Latitudes
  



• Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son



• Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA



• Lucinda Williams - World Without Tears



• Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes



• Jagjit Singh - Someone, Somewhere: Written in memoriam after their son's death, this ghazal album is essential listening on a gloomy day.



• Sade - Lovers Rock



• Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back



• Joss Stone - Mind, Body and Soul

I feel better now.

Amazon's page of Artists' Music Recommendations is a good guide to music. So is Al Barger's list.