My Favorite Albums of All Time

My favorite albums ever, in no particular order:

Venus and Mars - Wings

I was introduced to this album when I was thirteen by my older cousin, who I've always thought was so cool. He was weird and eccentric. He loved philosophy, aloha shirts, and had all of these interesting tattoos sprawling across his arms. I used to always crash at his apartment, and one night, as he was cleaning out his space, he was going through his record collection while lecturing me about the importance of music as personal expression and as a reflection of societal standards. He decided to give me this album, along with some other records. I think this record is a lot like my cousin. It's weird. It has a lot of cool production additions on top of the classic rock sound, and its subject matters aren't what one might usually find in a song: there's spirits of ancient Egypt, a fictional tale of Magneto and Titanium Man as a metaphor for a love story, there's classic cutesy love songs. He's waiting for an alien ship to whisk him away, and he's spectating inside of a sports arena. there are some cool transitions on here as well.

Flower Boy - Tyler, the Creator

Long Lost (Deluxe Edition) - Lord Huron

I got into Lord Huron because of their song "The Night We Met," which many people recognize either from TikTok or from the TV show "13 Reasons Why," What made me decide to continue listening to the band was discovering the lore which spans across their entire discography. The concept of this album as a compilation of songs written by these fictional artists which occupied the studio that Lord Huron produces their music from (both in real life and in their self-mythologized version of themselves) is intriguing. It sounds like classic vintage Western soundtrack, and the album's themes match the title. There's a sense of the unknown in this record as the narrator within these songs gets lost in the wilderness and struggles with their sense of self and their bleak future. Overall, it's a very intelligent record.

Darkness on the Edge of Town - Bruce Springsteen

Lust for Life - Lana del Rey

I understand why a lot of the Lana del Rey fandom ranks this album as their least favorite, but there's something for Lana to explore beyond her melancholy persona. It's especially appropriate for her to make this record within the context that she did: she was making statements against the Trump administration at this time, refusing to project the American flag behind her at her tour, which included Americana imagery. It's an uncharacteristically optimistic album, ad even though she suffers from heartbreak from her lover and society at large ("13 Beaches," "Cherry," "White Mustang", "Love", etc.), she manages to find a motivation to prevent this heartbreak from killing her within songs like "Change", "Lust for Life", "Get Free", "When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing" and "God Bless America--and All the Beautiful Women in It". This album, to me, is a statement of hope. That might sound corny, but I just mean that this record allows space and time for me to wallow in whatever bad feelings I might be having, and it leads me to a space of hope for the future, that things might get better, as well as a sense of love, not just for myself, but for society at large and for the things to come.

Dawn FM (Alternate World) - The Weeknd

DeAnn - Zach Bryan

Zach Bryan is an interesting artist to me because he kind of embodies the classic American imagery. He's from the south, he's in the military, he has the "American" look (blond hair, blue eyes, intense flush--even though the stereotype of an "American" look is kind of rooted in racism, but that's neither here nor there), and he's making country music. Even though his vocals aren't really that great in this record, his emotions bleed through the music and compensate for that. It kind of makes him more relatable to the listener, since he's an everyday man, just like you. The songs are just him and a guitar, and even though the record is mostly love songs, the way he words the lyrics are so intimate and poetic that it's almost as if he's exploring new territory and discovering love for the first time. Whether his muse brings him joy or hurts him, he still holds her to the status of an angel. He almost worships the person he's singing the songs to. That kind of emotional vulnerability makes this album a great listen. Fun fact: "Flying and Crying" is the song I associate with my graduation.

Honorable mentions:

Something to Give Each Other - Troye Sivan

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles

Toxicity - System of a Down

Dreaming of David - Ryan Beatty

Feel free to judge me and psychoanalyze me as you'd like.