Album-a-Day Challenge - Listening to One Classic/Old/Unheard Album Every Day [wow!]

Since someone recommended me to start the new year by listening to one new album a day, my life has been forever changed. I now check more albums off my listening list in a week than I used to in an entire month. Sure, I can't get listen to stuff every single day (due to all the other awesome music I listen to), but at least I am getting a kick out of all this great old stuff.

Change your life with 31 easy steps! Join my adventure with your own progress! Here's what I listened to if you need suggestions (ranked from best to worst):

1. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

2. Television - Marquee Moon

3. Talking Heads - Remain in Light

4. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti 

5. The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed

I've heard these top albums many times before, but I included them again because they are so much fun to revisit. Though each of similarly classic status, each has its own unique qualities that distinguish it in the rock world.

6. The Stooges - Fun House

First one on the list I hadn't heard, and it was definitely a shocker. This second Stooges album was a better encapsulation of their raging live sound, but it also captured their more experimental side. The unhinged "Loose," manic "1970," and "TV Eye" now demonstrate the genesis of punk rock, but surprise with two songs over seven minutes long and a closing free-form improvisation. This group, though alienated from modern music of just about any form, still contains many thoroughly engaging elements in 2019.

7. Nirvana - In Utero

8. Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac [1975]

9. Arvo Pärt – Tabula Rasa

10. Czesław Niemen - Enigmatic

I had to listen to some really out-there ones to surprise myself, and I could not have been luckier with albums by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and Polish rocker Czesław Niemen. The first contains beautiful, meditative and haunting music now considered a revolution in minimalist and late 20th-century composition, while the other has been deemed the "greatest Polish rock album ever," opening with a full choir introduction that transitions into Deep Purple-like organ grooves and lyrics taken entirely from famous Polish poems.

11. Son Volt - Trace

12. Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town

13. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Darklands

14. Tears for Fears - The Hurting

15. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink

These few albums were far better than I expected, all ones I had never heard before. 1) The first album released following the split of Uncle Tupelo, new band Son Volt marked the best of UT’s country-rooted output before Wilco blew them away with powerful releases like Summerteeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. 2) Though not as good as the other early BS albums, Darkness proves that he could stick to his artistic ideals over a simple cash-grab. 3) This 80s indie band could never beat its debut Psychocandy, but Darklands certainly avoids the sophomore slump by adding sonic nuances to their noisy wall of sound. 4) The first Tears for Fears album is far less known than the hits on their second album, but The Hurting is an undeniably brutal emotional experience, blending heartbreaking lyrics with forward-thinking synth pop. 5) Caravan is apparently considered the prog rock antithesis of Jethro Tull, and I can see why after listening to this album. The similarities are there, but whereas JT is only folk-tinged with a harder edge and tighter sound, Caravan focuses on blending folk with jazz improvisation, and the results are much lighter and freer.

16. Melvins - Houdini

17. Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle

An absolutely beautiful album, I can’t believe I’d been missing out! The album was created entirely by Sam Beam, making it an emotionally intimate experience that is really breathtaking.

18. Scott Walker - Scott 4

19. Sting - The Summoner's Tale

20. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive

21. Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth

Kind of found this album randomly, I’d never heard of them before listening to the album (also the first one I listened to of the year!). The only official release from this Welsh trio, this stark and minimal album has some very resonant songs, including the organ and bass-driven "N.I.T.A." and the pulsing choppy opener "Searching for Mr. Right," both surprisingly literate and vocally magnificent.

22. Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears

23. Kylie Minogue - Fever

This may be the height of terrible disco revivals, but there are some damn catchy songs here. "Love at First Sight" and "Burning Up" are awesome despite being simple and repetitive, and "Can't Get You Out of My Head" is probably her best song ever. Super groovy <3

24. Graham Nash - Songs for Beginners

25. Tubeway Army - Replicas

The second album made by Gary Numan is not as good as the third (you know, the one with "Cars"), but there are still some excellent and enjoyable moments here.

26. Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals

Marilyn Manson's glam persona cleans up the aggressive and angsty sound of Antichrist Superstar for an excellent album (especially holding up well in modern times) - not as good (and not nearly as menacing) as the aforementioned album, but highly accessible due to its shift away from the creepiness and sonic assault of Manson's early sound. 

27. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints

28. Babasónicos - Jessico

The second album in my search for bands of atypical origin - Babasónicos are an Argentinian rock band that definitely should be more popular. They can do everything from ballads to Black Sabbath riffs, and it's all right here on Jessico.

29. Morrissey - You Are the Quarry

30. Supertramp - Even in the Quietest Moments…

31. Nico - The Marble Index

The last two on the list are really the only ones that were not as exceptional as the others. If you've ever heard Breakfast in America, you can tell the preceding record Even in the Quietest Moments is clearly just a stepping stone towards a pop-oriented smashing success. Sure, everyone knows and loves "Give a Little Bit," their poppiest song ever, but the overall subdued album just doesn't seem nearly as cohesive as its opener (apart from an excellent title track). And the first Nico album of all original material is just a difficult listen, sounding more like experimental than folk-rock music. There are two great songs, and the album is not horrible overall, just my least favorite of the month (sadly, there has to be one).

Thanks for reading! Try listening to a few this month and expand your usual repertoire, it's honestly so much fun!