My Last Ten Albums, Ever
Music is Important to Me
A co-worker and I were having a music discussion around how satisfying it was to have physical media when we were younger. This co-worker and I often have analytical conversations around movies, music, and technology. Most of the time we fall on the same side of the arguments. The latest confab got me thinking…. What if something in the world destroyed the ability to access music so effortlessly like we do today. Since I was about nine years old, music has been something I enjoy listening to everyday. Whether I’m sad, happy, or indifferent, music is always there to appease me.
There Are Some Rules
Music streaming is gone, iTunes has shutdown, Sam Goody is gone for real, and all you have left is one jukebox. This magical jukebox can play any ten albums for as long as you live, as many times as you like. Before all the music is destroyed you have to quickly pick ten albums to fill the jukebox. [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”Today we have 50 million songs at our fingertips which is great and potentially life changing…”[/perfectpullquote]
These ten albums should be the ten albums you could listen to for the rest of your life. They shouldn’t be the best ten albums ever made, that’s always subjective. Your favorite ten albums could also be a mistake since you might be missing out on music that makes you feel all sorts of emotions. Ten albums are all you get, forever.
Because this is a artistic exercise, our eternal jukebox cannot play “greatest hits” or other types of compilations.
Eternal Jukebox Library
Here’s my list, these ten albums will forever be in my mystical eternal jukebox.
- Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – E. 1999 Eternal
- Dirty Heads – SWIM TEAM
- Ed Sheeran – X
- Hootie & The Blowfish – Cracked Rear View
- John Mayer – Continuum
- Ma$e – Harlem World
- Michael Jackson – HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book I
- Nelly – Country Grammar
- Sam Cooke – Ain’t That Good News
- Sublime – Sublime
Honorable mention: Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
Clarification of Choices
- E. 1999 Eternal is one of the first Hip-Hop albums I ever purchased. Even to this day, the harmonizing lyrics of BTNH tranquillize me. This album is good for the angry days.
- The latest album by Dirty Heads is a warm and fuzzy array of various music styles that blends nicely together. This is one you can enjoy any day.
- I had trouble picking which Ed Sheeran album I wanted to include on this list. X is his most diverse album imbued with everything from ballads to dance songs. Ed’s X can always put you in a good mood.
- Hootie reminds me of my childhood, and all the good times I had with my family. Cracked rear view is an American classic sure to dry up the tears.
- Another tough pick for one John Mayer album, but Continuum is my personal favorite with so many magnificent tracks. This album is good for heartbreak.
- For some reason I got really into Ma$e when I was younger. I liked his slower and laidback delivery and of course he loved rapping about money. This album can lift your mood.
- HIStory Book I was one of my very first albums on CD. This let me explore Michael’s past as well as his present material. This is another album that invokes straight nostalgia.
- Nelly will forever be one of my favorite singers. I couldn’t image a world where I couldn’t listen to Country Grammar. This album brings back cheerful memories.
- When I first discovered Sam Cooke, I was in awe of how modern his voice sounded and instantly wanted to hear more of his material. I was devastated that such a great talent died at a very young age. This is his last studio album and contains some of my favorite songs of his. Sam Cooke makes even the best days better.
- Another feel-good album of similar genre to Dirty Heads is Sublime’s self-titled album. I didn’t really discover Sublime until well into my late teens. Again, too late to enjoy Bradley Nowell alive and recording. Sublime is a great relaxing album.
- Honorable mention – I put in an honorable mention of Lauryn Hill because I believe she has one of the greatest voices I’ve ever heard. I’m not a huge fan of this album, but again if I could never hear her voice again, I would be devastated.
Wrap it Up
I know this is just an exercise on what could be, but hopefully won’t be. When I was younger and started getting into music, like many of the albums on this list, I listened to an album start to finish, over and over again. I usually had to spend my own money to buy CDs and often never listened to more than a few at a time. Today we have 50 million songs at our fingertips which is great and potentially life changing, but it’s not the same.