Can't Write If You Can't Relate

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

My 233 Personal Favorite Albums (pt 4/6)

Hello y'all.

I've wondered if I should make my blurbs longer, as though I need to show off writing skills or try to explain myself with these picks. I'll save spilling that kind of Internet Ink for the final section of this list. Still just vaguely telling you which eras of my life each album takes me back to. For now.

No albums in this background made the list.

120

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson Presents Smile

USU spring semester 2013.

119

Sufjan Stevens

Michigan

Feb 2010. Essentially: Living life under a pile of blankets.

118

Bruce Springsteen

Darkness on the Edge of Town

Summer 2019.

117

Bruce Springsteen

Nebraska

May 2018.

116

The Postal Service

Give Up

Being 17.

115

TV on the Radio

Dear Science

JHS cross country, senior year.

114

Animal Collective

Feels

Lying awake at night on anitpsychotics.

113

Built To Spill

There's Nothing Wrong with Love

Fall 2013.

112

Kanye West

Late Registration

Cleaning the USU education building at 4am. The ultimate album for that.

111

Spoon

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Being 17.

110

Weezer

Pinkerton

My 18th birthday. And every crush I fumbled at that age.

109

Carole King

Tapestry

Childhood, Sun Valley ID, crying in my car, etc.

108

Radiohead

In Rainbows

Being a Millennial.

107

Björk

Homogenic

Jan 2019.

106

Fleetwood Mac

Rumours

Fall 2015.

105

James Brown

Live at the Apollo

Spring 2009.

104

Nirvana

In Utero

Feb 2013.

103

M.I.A.

Kala

Being 17.

102

D'Angelo

Voodoo

Either late nights alone, or Saturday afternoons.

101

Neil Young

On the Beach

USU fall semester 2013.

We've reached my TOP 100!

...Dang. Wish I had more to say. You either think this stuff is entertaining at this point, or you don't.

100

The Beatles

Rubber Soul

Middle school. Shoutout to the Glenwood Grizzlies.

Nas

Illmatic

Rap as God intended.

Patti Smith

Horses

2021 (for better or worse).

Arthur Russell

Love Is Overtaking Me

2022. The album starts at dawn and ends at dusk.

Purple Mountains

Purple Mountains

Summer 2019.

Smashing Pumpkins

Siamese Dream

Springtime.

Bon Iver

For Emma, Forever Ago

Summer 2013.

Bob Dylan

Highway 61 Revisited

Summer 2007, I guess... Weird time, man.

The Joshua Tree

Feb 2008.

Tom Waits

Rain Dogs

Feeling American.

Neil Young

After the Gold Rush

Nov 2012.

Pink Floyd

Wish You Were Here

Middle school.

Weyes Blood

Titanic Rising

Spring 2019.

Beck

Sea Change

JHS junior year, that whole winter.

Modest Mouse

Building Nothing Out of Something

2019.

Van Morrison

Astral Weeks

Spring 2018.

The Rolling Stones

Let It Bleed

My 17th birthday.

The Cure

Disintegration

Fall 2016.

Guided By Voices

Bee Thousand

2016.

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

My first winter at USU, when I started to feel music again.

Friday, February 20, 2026

My 233 Personal Favorite Albums (pt 3/6)

¡Hola!

We're gonna keep chippin' away at this. By the time this section is over, we'll be halfway done! Not sure what to write at the top, but I have a well-written break in the middle. So let's get crackin'!

No albums in this background made the list.

160

The Replacements

Pleased to Meet Me

Spring 2018.

159

David Bowie

Blackstar

USU spring semester 2016.

158

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin III

My dad driving me through the California Mother Lode foothills.

157

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin II

Rockin' out.

156

Led Zeppelin

Houses of the Holy

Playing guitar. I consider these arrangements "adventurous." Rather influential to how I try to envision rock songs of my own.

155

Bonnie "Prince" Billy

I See a Darkness

Spring 2017.

154

Harry Nilsson

Nilsson Schmilsson

USU spring semesters, 2013 + 2014.

153

The Beatles

Revolver

Wearing a pair of cool sunglasses.

152

The Beatles

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Nov 2012.

151

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground

Fall 2019.

150

Spiritualized

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

Feb 2018.

149

The Streets

Original Pirate Material

Early morning runs.

148

Elliott Smith

Spring 2018.

147

Leonard Cohen

Songs of Love and Hate

Spring 2014.

146

Leonard Cohen

Songs of Leonard Cohen

Summer 2019.

145

Girls

Album

USU spring semesters, 2013 + 2014.

144

Jay-Z

The Blueprint

Spring nights.

143

William Basinski

The Disintegration Loops

My 25th birthday.

142

XTC

Skylarking

My first few months right after graduating college.

141

David Bowie

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Fall 2019.

Let's take a break.

I highly doubt anyone's noticing trends in how often I bring up certain years. But this list is a kinda fun, self-indulgent journey through my past. Either trying to show you the soundtracks of my favorite life memories, or just shouting out my favorite mind-blowing music moments. High school and college of course supply a lot of stuff at the top. Everything after 2016 is post-college. Take note.

Hopefully I have more emotionally impactful music experiences in the future. But hard to beat your first time listening to Led Zeppelin. Or taking a break from doing your MGT 3710 homework at the kitchen table because your first listen to The Disintegration Loops has instead inspired you to stand up for 20 minutes and passionately stare at the wall as though it's playing a slideshow of your entire life.

Attempting to critique modern music on an objective level is both the best and worst hobby I've ever picked up. This list might just be an ode to that.