What’s your all-time favorite album?

This is tough for me. There are a few contenders for my all time favorite. Resident Alien by Spacehog comes to mind because of a lot of nostalgia I have for it. I spent a lot of time as a teen singing the songs which were silly and catchy and fun.

I also have a lot of attachment to Alice In Chains’ Jar of Flies. I will stop and sing Don’t Follow every time and it is a song I just can’t interrupt. My all time uninterruptable song though is Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, although Ride the Lightning is my favorite album of theirs. That song is one of my favorites. I also adore Melanchollie and the Infinite Sadness by Smashing Pumpkins. That album has a ton of tracks and a lot of different styles and moods. There is a song for every occasion on that album. Such a great variety. Bullet with Butterfly Wings and Zero are more heavy rock, while Tonight, Tonight is almost a lullaby. 1979 is almost done like a dance tune with a hint of electronica. I could never get bored with it. Not every track is a winner, but a lot of them are.

Soundgarden Badmotorfinger is a favorite of mine. I probably listened to Superunknown more back in the day, but I like the rougher more experimental edge, the less refined and honed sound of the older album. I have even older albums, but Badmotorfinger has that right balance of production value meets edginess. Superunknown is catchy and polished, and Down on the Upside even more so, although I enjoy all of them. Limowreck is a favorite of mine, as is 4th of July, which is from Superunknown.

I also have to circle back to Spacehog. I do have a special place in my heart for The Chinese Album. Lucy’s Shoe is a favorite of mine. And there is something about the not so popular album. Almost like it is a secret, even though there are newer even less known albums. I liked the darker atmosphere of that one. It is still silly and light hearted, but there is a dark undercurrent to it.

Last contender for me, but definitely not the least, would be Radiohead’s Ok Computer. I never get tired of it, and none of the songs are skippable. I have to listen to it all the way through, it is a dramatic beautiful album, and like all the other ones a classic of nineties music.

I grew up in the nineties and I think going through a musical era as a teen does leave a footprint on your soul. I do like some newer, and some older stuff, I love David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and even some Lana Del Ray. So, I do like other stuff. But this is the stuff that grew as I grew.

This was in the cultural zeitgeist as I was becoming a young human. An honorable mention for me would have to be Oasis’ What’s the Story Morning Glory? I do have to say I did like The Masterplan with the B sides more, but there are still some songs like Some Might Say, and Champagne Supernova that I just enjoy the hell out of.

So, which would be my all time fave? My personal all time fave would have to be Jar of Flies, like Ok Computer, there isn’t a bad track on there, I get affected whenever I hear it. It is short but a good example of nineties rock with emotion. If I am not feeling silly, Spacehog, or sad, Radiohead, I think Jar of Flies has a good variety. Melanchollie and the Infinite Sadness has some tracks that are not quite up to par in between all the good ones, but there are so many you do get more time out of it than Jar of Flies.

But, my first instinct would be still Jar of Flies. I could recommend it to anyone. Whereas some people will never be able to tolerate Billy Corgan’s voice, although I don’t have an issue with his style, it isn’t for everyone.

I think the harmony in AIC is pretty awesome, and I get some not getting into Dirt because of all the drug references and oftentimes how bleak and depressing some of the songs can be, Jar of Flies does have some hope in it. It isn’t all doom and gloom. So, that will be my final answer, for now anyway.