Album Rank: Helmet

The other day, I wound up with the Helmet song “In The Meantime” stuck in my head. As always when that happens, I am compelled to go listen to the album. While doing that, I realized it’s been a minute since I listened to Helmet. Their early albums are exquisite and highly influential. Their more recent albums, have some really cool songs on them, and do hark back to their early days at times. So, with that in mind, here’s a ranking of their albums from not their best to the best.

8) Seeing Eye Dog:

7) Dead To The World:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qIoIgN7UOc&list=OLAK5uy_nvwIW222A6Aw_ALXK8Mr_2di3VGsJzVz0

6) Size Matters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh_ga6mEO4w&list=OLAK5uy_kmU96gUGDKzZEzU_MZkBckbEmJGID2eyY

5) Monochrome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0e2q0pNAbo&list=OLAK5uy_kPtJucBh7Dy3fd4y4dMpbSg5yVNyE9S4A

4) Aftertaste:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtYea59Juro&list=OLAK5uy_mxV9RC30gu6OPzQx2tW0gAiJDdA-miEwg

3) Strap It On:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K7Tmc7wnw8&list=OLAK5uy_lIJ1sNx4JTzp3SSGcPJ3U4djFXXFP6d-Q

2) Betty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3a8Ow-DoAw&list=OLAK5uy_nqDP4Skga8SWAW2_twGp4eP0XxT8WmGXI

1) Meantime:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9346rQ1d8ik&list=OLAK5uy_k7kO962xkSQ5o-lRopWDDFLHo493kSNdo

Album Rank: Black Flag (Rollins Era)

I’ve long been fascinated by the history of Black Flag. I still remember the first time I heard them when I was a little kid. I was really getting into punk music during the mid 90’s renaissance of punk rock. I remember reading an interview with Lars and Tim from Rancid and they kept mentioning Black Flag. Naturally, I did what anyone who is curious about a band would do and went to the record store and got myself a Black Flag album (I wound up buying Damaged). From that point, I was on a path of finding out all about these other bands and fell in love with the genre even more. One of the things that always stood out to me about Black Flag was Henry Rollins. He was such a commanding force on stage and his vocals were very direct and in your face. That combined with the magnitude of the music from those in Black Flag, made for one hell of a band. So, with all that in mind, here’s my ranking of the Rollins era Black Flag albums.

In My Head:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b65wOPuFlvo&list=OLAK5uy_kQzQDkbnkrcGAXME4LUuPJS860qKFJPNo

Family Man:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BROmloB0_08&list=OLAK5uy_mqUUy3V3crsBhZvBao1jTZB741eqZo-Gw

Loose Nut:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0M-3DQB1bA&list=OLAK5uy_kf2NGFpNcKRXG7qQ8b0HmYKq9A65rDMr0

Slip It In:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1XqNPBA-Tk&list=OLAK5uy_mOnXe3oz272No_15UUn_PrKtQSrkfvgi0

My War:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga6v91ZGL1U&list=OLAK5uy_kYpp9nYw45WJ–TiUpa7Xi0eDm9vwmodc

Damaged:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDUYCyajDcs&list=OLAK5uy_ky7Ce5ObYR1y7vEQRdxByDB3qjYz7_fhI

Album Rank: Trivium

For the last 20 years, Trivium has steadily been not only getting better as a band and songwriters but, they have released some pretty damn good albums. They’ve been one of the bands that has been able to evolve without losing sight of their roots. It’s pretty interesting to go back and listen and see how these guys have progressed over the years. So with that in mind here’s what I think is a pretty solid ranking of their albums from not their best to the best.

Silence In The Snow:

Vengeance Falls:

Ember To Inferno:

 

The Crusade:

 
What The Dead Men Say:

 

Shogun:

 
Ascendancy:

The Sin and The Sentence:

 

In Waves:

Album Rank: Slipknot

Ever since Slipknot’s new album, We Are Not Your Kind came out, I’ve been hooked on it. We Are Not Your Kind is one hell of an album. In my opinion it’s the best album they’ve released since Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses. This new one has some of the darkest/heaviest lyrics since Iowa and musically it’s got a really interesting balance of Volume 3 and the self titled debut. With all that in mind, I thought a new ranking of Slipknot’s albums would be quite fitting.

All Hope Is Gone:

 

.5 The Gray Chapter:

We Are Not Your Kind:

 

Slipknot:

Volume 3- The Subliminal Verses:

Iowa:

Album Rank: The Cult

The Cult have long been one of the best and most consistent rock bands in the world. I’d even go as far as saying they are one of the best rock bands of all time. They’ve released some of the best rock albums and continue to make it known that they are still a force to be reckoned with. With that in mind, take a delve into their catalog and see why they are one of the best!

 
10) The Cult- The Cult:

9) The Cult- Born Into This:

 

8) The Cult- Ceremony:

 

7) The Cult- Dreamtime:

 
6) The Cult- Hidden City:

 

5) The Cult- Choice Of Weapon:

4) The Cult- Beyond Good And Evil:

 

3) The Cult- Sonic Temple:

 

2) The Cult- Love:

 

1) The Cult- Electric:

Album Rank: Beastie Boys

The other day I had a song in my head but, it was mainly the beat. After agonizing over where it came from, it finally dawned on me that it was a Beastie Boys song, “Root Down” to be exact. Naturally after that, I went on a binge of nothing but the Beastie Boys. And when I tend to do things like that, an album rank pops in my head. So, with that in mind, here’s the album rank of the Beastie Boys releases. Keep in mind that this is actually a really hard group to rank, and I’m not quite sure I got it right.

7) Hot Sauce Committee Part II:

6) To The 5 Boroughs:

 
5) Check Your Head:

4) Licensed To Ill:

 
3) Paul’s Boutique:

2) Hello Nasty:

 
1) Ill Communication:

Album Rank: Motley Crue

I went to bed last night with Motley Crue’s song “Live Wire” stuck in my head. Whenever something like that tends to happen, I feel compelled to follow it up with some sort of article for Audioeclectica. So, with that in mind, I thought what better thing to do than to rank all of Motley Crue’s albums from not their best to THE best.

 
Saints Of Los Angeles:

 

 
Generation Swine:

 

New Tattoo:

 

 
Theatre Of Pain:

 

 

Girls Girls Girls:

 

 
Too Fast For Love:

 

 
Dr. Feelgood:

 

 
Shout At The Devil:

Album Rank: Depeche Mode

As a band since 1980, Depeche Mode have cemented their legacy as an influential and inspirational group. They have released albums that will forever be the soundtracks to many lives. Through the years and 14 albums now, Depeche Mode have always followed the beat of their own drummer and their catalog shows that. Some albums are better than others and then there are those albums that are quite underrated. Anyways, below is a ranking of Depeche Mode’s albums from not their best to their best.

Album Rank: Oasis

Since I heard Liam Gallagher’s solo album As You Were, I’ve been on a kick of listening to all things Liam and Oasis. While listening to all these albums I’ve really come to realize how truly great Oasis was. I did have the pleasure of seeing them live back in 2007 before they announced their break up. It was a great show with a really good set list. Needless to say I’ve put together an album ranking of Oasis’s albums from not their best to the absolute best.

 

Heathen Chemistry:

 

 

Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants:

 

 

Don’t Believe The Truth:

 

 

Be Here Now:

 

 

Dig Out Your Soul:

 

 

Definitely Maybe:

 

 

What’s The Story Morning Glory:

Album Rank: A.F.I.

I was going through my CD collection the other day and realized how many albums A.F.I. had. So naturally, I went on a listening binge of the ones I’ve always dug. Thus we are now at the point where I have made a ranking of all their albums (I’m not including EP’s or live albums) from worst to best. Let me know what your order would be.