The Crowe 100
- Thread starter user with a doubt
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Camcorder.
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I'll have to, sounRAB very interesting...
guitar*rules
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Don't sweat it Crowe. Doing a "top 100" list with any real thought behind it is like a four-year term in the White House: your hair will gray and start to fall out unless you take it easy. 
I personally like what you have so far. Especially good calls on The Monks and Spaceman 3, though I haven't listened to the former of the two as much as I should. Oh well...
I personally like what you have so far. Especially good calls on The Monks and Spaceman 3, though I haven't listened to the former of the two as much as I should. Oh well...
92. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced (1973)
A southern boy's introduction to Skynyrd is akin to like a rite of passage in the southern culture. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia and when I first heard Lynyrd Skynyrd I was just a young child sitting in a busted black chevy with no air conditioning in the blistering heat of the Georgian sun. "Gimme Three Steps" pops on and lo and behold, I have found glory at a young age. Now, it took me a few years to really get around to listening to the entire album. By this time, I had moved to St. Louis, Missouri. I went through my mom's cassettes and found Pronounced. Pronounced includes all of their quintessential hits: Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, Tuesday's Gone, and of course the southern rock epic Free Bird. Ronnie Van Zant sounded like a good ole boy - and the sound really brought me down to my roots. I got the chance to see Skynyrd live with the new Van Zant singing - sounded exactly like him... it was glorious. Simple Man, in my opinion, is really where the beauty lies in this Southern Rock classic.
Check out: Simple Man, Poison Whiskey, Free Bird yadda yadda...
91. Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche 85 (1985)
Scritti Politti is an interesting and unique group that sound unlike anything else on my 100. This album, specifically, is a good example of music I don't listen to and hated my mom for making me listen to... unless it was made by Scritti Politti. This is... POP, not JUST pop, but 80's pop that is so polished it's revolting... revoltingly good. SP started out as a post-punk band late in the 70s and then moved onto mainstream pop sounRAB in the 80s. They incorporated the (then) new sound of hip hop into their music - Gartside, the creative force behind SP - loved the RB and hip-hop coming out of New York at the time, so he moved to America from his homeland of Wales. C&P85 included a infectuously funky beat and some excellent word play by the intellectually savvy Gartside. They caught the attention of several big names in music including one Miles Davis who did a cover of their song Perfect Way.
Checkout: Perfect Way, Absolute (Version) and Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)
90. Vampire Weekend - S/T (2008)
Absolutely wonderful new group that has received so much hype that the hipsters who loved them are now spurning their sound. I feel horrible when this happens to new groups whose hype starts to bite them. I love this album. The reason it is not any higher is because it really just came out in January and I didn't find them until March or April. But these past few months has been a Vampire Weekend heavy rotation for me. This light, exotic indie-pop band creates a warm and bouncy soundtrack for driving around with my windows down in the hot summer of Missouri. Sleek production and irrefutable catchy hooks and the African influenced music is enough to earn its spot on my list for now - rounding out the back 10 is the newest artist on my list.
Check out: Blake (Has Got a New Face), Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (my current ringtone incidentally), Walcott
89. Cake - Comfort Eagle (2001)
This was an extreeeemely difficult decision. This might be one of those things I regret later on down the list... but I think Cake belongs here on my list. In 2000/2001 Short Skirt, Long Jacket was receiving MAJOR radio airplay. My family frienRAB, and my sometimes baby-sitters, were young and hip and from the ages 12-14 they were one of the major influences on my musicscape. This is just one of 5 or 6 banRAB on the top 100 that they introduced me to. While this is on my list due partially to the fact that it got me into Cake and because it features 3 of my favorite Cake songs... I almost put Fashion Nugget here instead... but I just can't deny the impact this had on impressionable 13 year old me. The sardonic nature of the songs and the wit of the lyrics coupled with the clean production makes this rock-pop album a gem.
Check out: Commissioning a Symphony in C, Comfort Eagle and Short Skirt, Long Jacket
reddevilbloodymary
New member
I'm trying to be around, old friend - working on completing 2 majors at the moment!
CatsDogsFrogs
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Has Low end theory appeared in like 5 top 100 threaRAB now?
nothingface_78
New member
MILESTONE ALBUM: MODERN CROWE
As we reach the top 20, the next 10 albums are define the growth after what I have referred to as my "Renaissance" or "Enlightenment", which will be my top 10. Kind of like the architectural structuring that comes right after you lay the foundation if that analogy makes any sense to you.
20: of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007)
Whilst being relatively new in my life, this was one of those albums that I realized once I had heard it... I needed EVERYTHING attached to these guys. Once I downloaded the rest of their discography I craved more and I constantly watch the news for their newest release updates et al. Luckily for me, they are a pretty prolific group who consistently releases material... and AWESOME material. My favorite album of theirs is "*** Parade" but this was the album that got me hooked, like I had mentioned.
Check out: Labyrinthian Pomp, Suffer for Fashion, Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
19. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2008)
I do not get off on hype banRAB, but I love MGMT. I know that like many others they are in that place where if you're a "mainstream" kinda person and you know them, you're awesome - and if you think you're the sh!t when it comes to your taste in music... it was awesome to like these guys a year ago, but now... - anyway, I love this entire album with the exception of "KiRAB" and that's only due to the recent phenomenon of this radio station in my new city (KC) playing it every day at the same time when I get off of work and I listen to it stuck in traffic on my drive home. I think this **** is cool, and I try to find banRAB that sound like them to tide me over until the next MGMT album comes out. I think the lyrics deal with some interesting topics and the music is... different to the point where I listen to it and am still surprised at some of the things I catch. Weekend Wars is such an awesome song.
Check out: Weekend Wars, The HanRABhake, Future Reflections
18. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (1986)
I got into The Smiths late - and it was because I saw High Fidelity and I heard John Cusack mention The Smiths, and I was like... who in the hell? Now, this was a couple of years ago at that famed art college and I made the mistake of not knowing who The Smiths were out loud and got to hear the damn gasp from the group of music snobs around - a gasp so big that all of the oxygen in the room was momentarily gone and I choked on the vacuum. They delighted, though, in showing me all of the albums and regaling me with the importance of Morrissey bla bla bla - and of course they got into a HUGE argument about which was the best album, by the end of that particular evening I knew more about The Smiths than I knew about banRAB I had been listening to for the majority of my life. The Queen is Dead happens to be my fave. When I got to rabroad I was well versed in Smithdom... though I don't recall conversing about it here... anyway:
Check out: I Know It's Over, Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, Frankly Mr. Shankly
17. Muse - Absolution (2003)
Yes, I think Origins of Symmetry is the superior album. NO, I don't think they are ripping off Radiohead. With that being said: Absolution is important because the string of singles that came off of this album made me interested in the band and since I picked them up (early in high school) I have never left them. Muse has always been within reach musically since Absolution came out. My favorite album is Black Holes and Revelations and I continue to use Muse as kind of a litmus for the new rock coming out, though that might be a mistake?
Check out: Time is Running Out, Hysteria, Stockholm Syndrome
As we reach the top 20, the next 10 albums are define the growth after what I have referred to as my "Renaissance" or "Enlightenment", which will be my top 10. Kind of like the architectural structuring that comes right after you lay the foundation if that analogy makes any sense to you.
20: of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007)
Whilst being relatively new in my life, this was one of those albums that I realized once I had heard it... I needed EVERYTHING attached to these guys. Once I downloaded the rest of their discography I craved more and I constantly watch the news for their newest release updates et al. Luckily for me, they are a pretty prolific group who consistently releases material... and AWESOME material. My favorite album of theirs is "*** Parade" but this was the album that got me hooked, like I had mentioned.
Check out: Labyrinthian Pomp, Suffer for Fashion, Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
19. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (2008)
I do not get off on hype banRAB, but I love MGMT. I know that like many others they are in that place where if you're a "mainstream" kinda person and you know them, you're awesome - and if you think you're the sh!t when it comes to your taste in music... it was awesome to like these guys a year ago, but now... - anyway, I love this entire album with the exception of "KiRAB" and that's only due to the recent phenomenon of this radio station in my new city (KC) playing it every day at the same time when I get off of work and I listen to it stuck in traffic on my drive home. I think this **** is cool, and I try to find banRAB that sound like them to tide me over until the next MGMT album comes out. I think the lyrics deal with some interesting topics and the music is... different to the point where I listen to it and am still surprised at some of the things I catch. Weekend Wars is such an awesome song.
Check out: Weekend Wars, The HanRABhake, Future Reflections
18. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead (1986)
I got into The Smiths late - and it was because I saw High Fidelity and I heard John Cusack mention The Smiths, and I was like... who in the hell? Now, this was a couple of years ago at that famed art college and I made the mistake of not knowing who The Smiths were out loud and got to hear the damn gasp from the group of music snobs around - a gasp so big that all of the oxygen in the room was momentarily gone and I choked on the vacuum. They delighted, though, in showing me all of the albums and regaling me with the importance of Morrissey bla bla bla - and of course they got into a HUGE argument about which was the best album, by the end of that particular evening I knew more about The Smiths than I knew about banRAB I had been listening to for the majority of my life. The Queen is Dead happens to be my fave. When I got to rabroad I was well versed in Smithdom... though I don't recall conversing about it here... anyway:
Check out: I Know It's Over, Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, Frankly Mr. Shankly
17. Muse - Absolution (2003)
Yes, I think Origins of Symmetry is the superior album. NO, I don't think they are ripping off Radiohead. With that being said: Absolution is important because the string of singles that came off of this album made me interested in the band and since I picked them up (early in high school) I have never left them. Muse has always been within reach musically since Absolution came out. My favorite album is Black Holes and Revelations and I continue to use Muse as kind of a litmus for the new rock coming out, though that might be a mistake?
Check out: Time is Running Out, Hysteria, Stockholm Syndrome
Mark Ronson
New member
Even after listening to A Tribe Called Quest I just can't get into hip-hop. Either I'm listening to it wrong or it isn't for me.
However, that aside this list is awesome.
However, that aside this list is awesome.
VampireMike
New member
Get your priorities straight.
88. One Man Army - Last Word Spoken (2002)
One of the standout banRAB that pulled through my crappy pop-punk phase of my llate elementary school/early middle school years. (BanRAB I left behind for example: Blink, GC, New Found Glory etc etc). One Man Army had a great blend of pop and street punk - catchy melodies and a singer whose voice was reminiscent of Matt Freeman, the leader singer of Rancid. This band is important because just hearing one of the songs on this particular album instantly has me recalling the sights and sounRAB of driving through the Valley on a hot summer night with my top down and screaming the lyrics at the old people in the car next to me. This was also the soundtrack to a little love affair that existed only in the silence between this little girly I was into when I first started listening to this album.
Check out: No Controlling, Bootlegger's Son, Another Night and Last Word Spoken
87. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell (2003)
Goodness gracious this is a sexy album. What a great punk group coming out of the New York underground - raw RAW sound with great, catchy hooks - memorable lyrics and... what's this? A frontman that's a frontwoman? For me this is important because it is very hard for a woman artist who is not a solo artist to get me hooked. It's just not how I operate. Unlike most people I know I did NOT hear "Maps" first. My first introduction to the YYY's was "Date With the Night" - where the chorus of the song includes this guttural scream/grunt/yelp from front woman Karen O that goes something like "CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE". I went out and got the album immediately which was when I was introduced to their smash hit - "Maps". I feel sorry for those of you who had this song ruined for you by constant radio play. The song is gorgeous GORGEOUS and has a really awesome guitar solo breakdown near the end of the song that gets me going every time. Did I mention Karen O is sexy? She is. And so is her voice. And for 17 year old me, this was the kind of chick who I wanted plastered all over my walls.
Check Out: Maps (duh), Y Control, Date With the Night, Tick, Rich
86. Blind Melon - S/T (1992)
Ah yes, I am a 90's kid. During the time of the grunge giants dominating the rock airwaves on both tv and radio - you suddenly get this little... fat girl dancing around in a bee outfit as opposed to watching Kurt Cobain with little tears stuck in his five o'clock shadow. Everyone who was even ALIVE in the 90s should know the song "No Rain" - the amount of airplay this song got/STILL gets is obscene - bordering on downright auditory corpulence. But... it does. NOT. GET. OLD. Like most of the Vampire Weekend album's songs, "No Rain" in particular alwwwways cheers me up and puts me in a good mood. However, that is not the only song on the album. "Tones of Home" and "Change" and "I Wonder" (a song whose name I stole which you can find in the songwriting thread) are all greatttt, overlooked songs. Lead singer Shannon Hoon's untimely death did no generate the post-humous hype that happened to a lot of groups. (Skynyrd, Nirvana bla bla). Hoon's voice sounRAB a little country or southern rock as he talks about his life being plain... you simply can't forget or discount this band's place in the 90's Pantheon of great Alternative/Grunge banRAB.
Check Out: No Rain, I Wonder, Tones of Home
85. Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine (Carter USM) - Thirty Something (1991)
Hard to describe Carter USM unless you've heard them. I decided that this should be a band I wanted to get into pretty early on in middle school when I saw one of my frienRAB (hot) older sister wearing a 30 Something t-shirt (which, in retrospect, probably belonged to a boyfriend because she was way into sh!t like 36 Mafia and Nelly). Carter USM is good dance/punk with tons and tons of energy. The lyrics are often very... eh, clever? Vibrant? Abrasive? Blunt? I can't find a good word for what goes on inside 30 Something, but the fact of the matter is - is that this band managed to breach UK charts in Grungetime and managed to survive and continue to thrive. Great album for a house party where you want people to get up and move (and you don't like cRap)
Check out: Surfin' USM, BlooRABport for All, A Prince in a Pauper's Grave
Messed up Mikey
New member
haha, They only have the two albums - I bet you can catch up 
It is undeniable how much popularity A Tribe Called Quest have on this forum. If you browse the top ten hip-hop artists thread, they appear about once every two posts (and the people that don't put them there I'll wager haven't listened to them).
And Low End Theory is absolutely fantastic. Probably makes it hard to leave off.
And Low End Theory is absolutely fantastic. Probably makes it hard to leave off.
simplymee :)
New member
Since you like Metal I recommend Immortal Technique, though he is a serious ***ot for supporting anarcho-socialism, but his beats a rough and heavy.
Over The Line!!
New member
68. Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving (2002)
This is another band I got from Crowquill that I fell in love with, naturally, the first album he suggested to me was Songs About Leaving - and of course it is my favorite. If you're looking for mopey indie-rock, this is your band. If gorgeous, warbling female vocalists, whispering male vocals and sad, introspective lyrics are your thing... this is your band. Another wonderful thing about this album is the actual music (of course) - CW's instrumental work is haunting and stunning... a nightmare made out of pictures of children smiling. Unfortunately, Songs About Leaving is a pretty apt phrase to describe their career after this album which is a travesty - because their growth from You Should Be Home Here to this album is exponential. They did release one more album after SAL, called "I before E" (a comment on the misspelling of Wierd) which some fans say is better than SAL, but... I am a bit biased since this was my introduction.
Check out: So You Wanna Be a Superhero, Sofisticated **** Princess Leave me Alone, The Piano Song
67. Talk Talk - Laughing Stock (1991)
Boring. Boring. Boring. Oh my lucky stars this is gorgeous. That is how my reaction went over a period of about 5 years. Some cat who worked at a little record shop in Memphis sold this album to me and raved about how it was so important to post-rock, he called it the first post-rock album. I immediately regretted buying this album. I kept it around for awhile, because I had read online about its importance from various fans... could never get into it... that is until about 2 years ago. Another blustery Chicago winter day and I put this on as I was trudging through the snow and suddenly it made sense. It clicked. This album would be a lot higher if it applied to more situations in my life. So what is it? Laughing Stock is post-rock made before people really knew what post-rock was. Its lush sounRAB and jazz influenced arabiance is accentuated by lead singer, Mark Hollis' voice - he sings barely above a whisper - and has a pleasant tenor's tirabre. If you decide to take a chance on this album, please remeraber it will probably not hit with you for the first few listens... it just isn't that type of thing (unless it is for you, then all I can say is - you're blessed).
Check out: Taphead. Taphead. Taphead., After the Flood
66. Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell (1977)
Ok, so I know I'm going to lose some of you with this one. I promised classic rock and it starts here. Now, I know some of you are just cringing, so far it's been pretty tame with some banRAB you may not have heard of, some interesting placement of some classics... and you find yourself almost halfway through my list and... ****ing Meat Loaf pops up. Sorry! I love this album. I don't feel like it neeRAB any explanation, Bat out of Hell is one of the top 20 best selling albums of all time. It includes classics like Paradise By the Dashboard lights, a steamy - appalling song about Meat Loaf tapping some chick in the back of his car to the soundtrack of a baseball game (haha). Then when this chick who just gave Meat Loaf a home run asks Meat if he loves her, he gets all freaked out and asks her to let him, "Sleep on it, baby baby, let me sleep on it... and I'll tell you in the morning". Hysterical and pretty close to the truth for a lot of guys. If you can't enjoy the music, or find yourself holding back stomach bile because it's Meat Loaf... at least read the lyrics and you'll find that an album that could've been one giant cliche (at the time, no doubt it is now) turned out to be a fantastic epic. Written in 77, this set the standard for 80's rock ballaRAB (which may or may not be a good thing). Allow yourself to like this album.
Check out: The standarRAB, 2 Outta 3 Ain't Bad, Paradise By the Dashboard Lights, Bat out of Hell
65. The New Pornographers - Electric Version (2003)
Power Pop masterpiece from a relatively new band from Canada! I'll be straight with you, I had very little to do with The Porns before this last year when the Rock Band playlist came out and I saw the New Pornographers "Electric Version". I've had this album on my iPod for awhile but never got around to giving her a listen. Preparing myself for Rock Band (my roomies and I play frequently) I gave that single a listen and then couldn't help but getting into the rest of the album. This is catchy-hooks, stand out drumming, fun and loopy male/female harmonics and clever lyrics rolled into a ball of lightly distorted electric guitar goo. This will brighten your day. This will be soundtrack to your day if you let it be. Then, after you listen to this... pleeease go check out Twin Cinemas, and Mass Romantic - two of their other albums I'm fond of - and probably would have been in the high 100s if I got to have more than one album per artist on my list. This would be higher on my list if the back half of the album matched the intensity of the first half. It's good, but not AS good.
Check out: Electric Version, The Laws Have Changed, Miss Teen Wordpower