The other day, I received an e-mail from a friend who lives in Missouri. He asked what I thought were the three best albums of all time.
What a tough question!
Sure, I have my favorite albums, but as a music critic, I know for a fact that none of them would come close to being considered the best album of all time.
As I pondered this issue, I was overwhelmed by all the possibilities.
I concluded the question was, in reality, unanswerable. But after serious thinking, analyzing and reviewing the history of rock 'n' roll and what's out there these days, I decided to at least express my opinion on which three albums should be considered the best of all time. And let me say that my thoughts on this issue do not reflect the opinions of the Deseret News or any of the writers, editors, online editors and copy couriers employed therein.
Here are my choices:
1. "The Beatles," The Beatles, Apple Records, 1968. Also known as "The White Album" because of its white cover, this double album was the Beatles' recording and mixing magnum opus. The four lads from Liverpool pieced it together in a way that even had producer Sir George Martin flummoxed (for a few hours, at least).
It revolutionized the way music was recorded. The Beatles cut and pasted, sampled, sang and created orchestrations that would never, ever, be justified in a live concert. The band spliced music, white noise and everyday sounds into a symphony of sound that inspired almost every musician who followed.
Today, nearly everyone — from Bon Jovi to Snoop Dogg and Ozzy Osbourne — uses sampling in their compositions. And acoustic musicians such as Sam Bush and David Grisman have told me in interviews how they were inspired by the Beatles to start playing their own music.
2. "Step Inside This House," Lyle Lovett, MCA Records, 1998. While this double album doesn't contain one original Lyle Lovett song, it's his tribute to Texas singer/songwriters — Townes Van Zant, Walter Hyatt, Guy Clark, Stephen Fromholtz and Michael Martin Murphy.
Lovett's interpretations of "Bears," "Memphis Morning," "Babes in the Woods" and the album's title track are heartfelt and real. The arrangements are intricate — especially the vocal phrasing and finger-picking. None of the songs is pretentious, over-the-top or sung with forced melodrama that seems to be the norm of modern folk today.
This is a simple album that indeed proves that less is more. And it's an album that never intrudes but seems to add to those quiet, introspective times of our lives.
3. "The Downward Spiral," Nine Inch Nails, Nothing/Interscope Records,1996. After this album was released, the face of what was known as Heavy Metal was twisted and changed forever.
Trent Reznor, the heart, soul and guts of NIN, swooped in with this dark, nihilistic album that surpassed early Metallica, Venom, Slayer and Mercyful Fate with raw, bleeding anger and hopelessness.
Utilizing the Beatles' type sampling, the album opens with an apparent gunshot murder and bursts into the haunting and psychobabble of "Mr. Self Destruct."
For nearly 70 minutes, the album examines the downward spiral of the human soul into the depths of depravity and depression — something the speed metal kings known as Slayer have done for years. The difference here, though, is that NIN used dynamic subtleties, not pure fury, to get the points across. And the use of keyboards and distorted vocals helped Reznor create bleak soundscapes that have been copied since by bands like System of a Down, Anema, Tool and Pantera. Even Johnny Cash — the Man in Black — recorded his own acoustic cover of NIN's "Hurt" for his upcoming album.
Well, there you have it. Three albums that should be among the huge list of candidates for the world's best album — at least to my ears.
E-mail: scott@desnews.com