Favourite Rock Albums

Well…back after a long hiatus, more due to laziness than any genuine reason. Anyhow, this post was inspired by a friend , with whom I was chatting last night discussing rock n roll. I realized that I’d yet to make a post on music on the blog. My plan over the next few posts is to recount my all my favourites in rock n roll…albums, artists, bands, songs etc etc….Today , I’ll start with my all time favourite Rock albums.
Whenever you make an all-time great list of any kind in rock n roll, even if it is of your personal favourites , you tend to get stuck very badly , at least at having to choose between a number of pretty similarly matched contenders for a limited number of positions. Interestingly, my 5 favourite albums were never in any doubt…the problem lay in ranking them , especially separating the top 3. After a lot of soul searching (which included some personal sypathies, as you shall see), the list of my favourite rock albums of all time is :

1. Nightfall in Middle-Earth : Blind Guardian
2. Led Zeppelin (IV / The ZOSO album) : Led Zeppelin
3. Appetite for Destruction : Guns n Roses
4. Metallica (the Black Album) : Metallica
5. Back in Black : AC/DC

I plead guilty at the outset that the list is bereft of any album from the likes of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who and other stalwarts of rock n roll. People may also say that the list is not a rock list but a pure metal- list. I guess my only explanation is that metal is dominated by the album concept (esp that of the concept album…sorry for the play of words),whereas rock n roll in general , esp old time was more dominated by singles. The concept album, where the entire album proceeds to narrating a story , often spread over 2 or even 3 albums , has always fascinated me. In my list , only the Blind Guardian album is perhaps a genuine concept album, but in all the rest ,individually great songs as they are, all come together with an undeniable and quite unexplainable sense of cohesion. So , without further adieu , lets examine the albums separately.

1. Nightfall in Middle-Earth : Blind Guardian

Guardian, a german power metal band, famed for deriving inspiration from fantasy tales and classical mythology for their lyrics ,and combining them with a potent cocktail of powerful vocals (replete with harmonies and choir), searing and where required soulful guitar, and great percussion. NiME is based on JRR Tolkien’s epic work “The Silmarillion”, which describes the events of the first age of Middle Earth and the war of the jewels between the high elves (the Noldor) and the great enemy Morgoth, events which later led to his far more well known work , The Lord of the Rings.
The entire album is a whirlwind ride through the lays of beleriand…augmented aptly at places by dialogues, and commentaries. Hansi Kursch is at his masterful best with vocals that even elves the kind of Daeron and Maglor would be hard pressed to surpass. Songs like “When Time stands Still”…describing Fingolfin’s battle with Morgoth at the gates of Angband; Noldor (dead winter reigns)…describing the doom of Mandos and the legendary crossing of the helcaraxe are standouts. However the 2 songs which steal the show are the title track “Nightfall”….describing the darkening of Valinor and the oath of Feanor ; and “Thorn”…a heart-rending ballad dedicated to Maeglin , the ill-gotten and ill-famed prince of Gondolin.
Throughout the album Andre Olbrich is at his best on the guitar, displaying all at once a mastery over blues and metal roots. Thomen (The Omen ) Staunch is as powerful as ever behind the drums.
Those who haven’t heard NiME can never comprehend the sheer melody , power and ultimately unsurpassed beauty of the album…almost akin to the Ainulindale itself;….those who’ve heard it will never deny it a rightful place among the greatest of the great rock albums of all time.

2. Led Zeppelin

This ground breaking album has been famously been referred to by rock fans by a number of fond titles….The Unnamed Album /Four Symbols/ ZOSO /Stairway to Heaven / Led Zeppelin IV. As far as Jimmy Page and the rest of the band were concerned , the album had no name…as Jimmy famously told Atlantic Records in the tussle before the release of the album , “Its not the name, its our music that will sell the album”. Atlantic were concerned that releasing an album without a name, fearing that it would affect sales adversely. After a long drawn out battle of words the band had its way….the rest, as they say , is history. It went on to become one of the top-grossing albums of all time selling in excess of 40 million copies world over. There can hardly have been more rock n roll classics assembled on a single album than Zep managed on ZOSO….songs like Black Dog, Rock n Roll, Misty Mountain Hop would become part of rock folklore . In addition there were unique songs such as “The battle of Evermore” created on the pattern of a celtic folk song with the lyrics inspired from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” and the acoustic masterpiece “Going to California” which showcased both Plant’s phenomenal vocal range and Jimmy’s unparalleled ability in songwriting / creating .However the album will forever be remembered for giving to the world “Stairway to Heaven”…to my mind , the greatest rock anthem ever
written/composed, becoming the most requested song ever on radio….and not least, the title going on to become an idiomatic expression in the English language itself. From the soul searching opening bars to the adrenaline rushing closure…there is not a single bar out of place….quite simply placing Zeppelin firmly on the pedestal as the greatest rock band ever.


3. Appetite for Destruction : Guns n Roses

“Welcome to the Jungle”….with these words , a harsh guttural screech and a searing guitar riff; Guns n Roses announced its arrival with the most ground-breaking, path-defining and bestselling debut album of all time. The face and ideology of rock was never to be the same again . The band , carried on the shoulders of 2 of the most talented (not to mention controversial) musicians of all time, was for the next 6-7 yrs, to rule the roost of rock and heavy metal while simultaneously being mired deeper and deeper in controversy . On one hand you had Axl Rose, one of the greatest frontmen in rock history , and on the other, one of the true blue guitar geniuses in the top-hatted, chain-smoking Slash…a welcome throwback to the Jimi Hendrix style combining classical rock , blues and metal guitaring all at once. Songs like Sweet Child , Paradise City, and Rocket Queen are all time rock legends. If.their music was a refreshing change from the late 80’s style where classic rock was losing its definition to disco, pop and the likes; their lyrics offered a no- nonsense, in your face, urban reality check and at times rising to sheer poetry and poignancy. The album sold in excess of 30 million copies and was voted the greatest heavy metal album of all time ahead of Led Zeppelin, Sabbath’s ‘Paranoid” and Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”


4.The Black Album : Metallica

Its ironical that if I were to list out the greatest metal albums of all time , at least 2 other albums of Metallica would find a place ahead of the Black album ( or Metallica’s unnamed album).The Black Album was a sudden deviation from the thrash metal perfection they achieved in previous albums like “Ride the Lightening” and “Master of Puppets”. The new album revealed a hitherto unknown softer, more cerebral and surprisingly darker side to Metallica, a kind of versatility few thought they possessed. For me , the lyrical mastery achieved on the album , places it among the pantheon of rock’s greatest.The haunting tunes of “Enter Sandman”and “Nothing Else Matters”, the typical thrash number “Sad but True” and the dark ballad “The Unforgiven” are all classics but the lyrical perfection of the album is best borne out on the song “Wherever I Roam”. In that one song Hetfield effortlessly plays nomadic prophet, clairvoyant and not to mention wanderlust traveler , all at once; in a vocal performance for the ages. The quartet produce one after another moment of sheer thrill and wizardry of vocals, guitar and drums on a backdrop of stirring poetry throughout the length of the album…. culminating in the bridge and chorus of the song “The God that Failed”….

….I see faith in your eyes,
Never you hear the dispirited lies,
I see faith in your eyes…
Broken is a promise…Betrayal!

The healing hand held back
By the deepened nail…
…Go, Follow the God that failed!!!



5.Back in Black : AC/DC


The “Black” is all there is in common between the Black album of Metallica and AC/DC’s legendary Back in Black. The thrash rockers from Oz do what they do best….an onslaught of kickass guitar and banshee vocals with no-holds barred, between the thighs, lyrics that send you shooting through the roof quicker than a triple shot of the fiercest tequila. The sly salacious screams of the flat-capped Brian Jhonson and the adrenaline rushing riffs of rock’s most well known school-boy, Angus Young are guaranteed to provide the most phenomenal and sustained rock n roll orgasm ever. Songs like Shoot to Thrill, Hells Bells, You shook me up all night sum up what AC/DC is all about. There are time when we all wish to forget the higher senses, all kind of logic and sense and just submit to the throes of the most primitive and carnal emotions….you do not have to look further than Back in Black. It is rock n roll at its rawest, uninhibited and embryonic best.