My 50 Favorite Albums (continued)

It’s time I came clean about my 50 favorite albums. 

Yes, these are my 50 favorite albums, but I have penalized certain artists who have produced a bunch of great records and aren’t really properly represented in my top 50.  That list would include The Stones, Dylan, Bob Marley, Wilco, David Bowie, Neil Young, The Replacements, and U2 for sure and probably a few more.

When I put the "short list" together I started with artists and then started listing records.  Every week I browse through that list for the pick of the week.  It’s a really fun exercise and I recommend it highly for anyone who loves music.

But the result is that certain artists get penalized when its hard to pick one record over another.

No artist fits that bill better than this week’s choice.

I do not think any artist has ever put together a string of amazing records to compare to what Steely Dan did in the five years from 1972 to 1977.

Can’t Buy A Thrill – Nov 1972
Countdown To Ecstasy – July 1973
Pretzel Logic – March 1974
Katy Lied – April 1975
The Royal Scam – May 1976
Aja – Sept 1977

When I was in college and lived in The Lounge, we had a rule:

"When you don’t know what to play, just play Steely Dan."

That worked pretty well.

And it never mattered which of these six records we played.  They are all that good.

But I have to pick one and its going to be Katy Lied.

I tend to lean toward Katy Lied a tad more than the others.

Every song on this record is exceptional.

And that is an amazing accomplishment considering that it was the fourth of six records produced in five years.

If you have never listened to Steely Dan, a distinct possibility for those of you who were born after 1970, then I highly recommend going to Amazon and buying this record.  You won’t regret it.