ONE. HUNDRED. ALBUMS. DOWN. The album, initially a flop, saw the band terminating their contract with Private Stock and signing with Chrysalis Records, who re-released the album. The re-release saw the album hit #14 on the charts in Australia, with the single, ‘In The Flesh,’ going #2.

Arguably the greatest Afrobeat musician of all time, Fela Kuti’s entry is not an album so much as it is a two-sided single. Side A, a 13-minute song, was allegedly inspired by real life. In 1974, cops planted a jointed on Kuti. Before he was arrested, he ate the joint. Police brought him in anyway and waited for the joint to pass, hence ‘Expensive Shit.’

The second solo album from Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, starts off with the theme from the 1966 incarnation of the ‘Iron Man’ TV show, a reference to one of his aliases and something he’d be sued for by Marvel a few years later. The album features Ghostface Killah’s signature stream-of-consciousness style rapping.

The breakout album by Anita Baker, which sold over 8 million records, won two Grammys and earned a Top 10 hit with ‘Sweet Love.’ A slow, brooding soul record that’s more subtle than in your face. It’s smooth and sexy.

An album compiled by Lenny Kaye, a writer and record store employee, who would go on to become the lead guitarist in the Patti Smith Group. This compilation is a great little snapshot into a microcosm of music history; the period leading into, during and immediately after the Summer Of Love.

An ambitious triple album by Stephin Merritt’s Magnetic Fields. This album is often cited as a major influence for a lot of singer-songwriters. I can see why; there are some excellent songs on the album. But the thing is that, in my opinion, Merritt’s commitment to write and record 69 songs was overly ambitious. It feels as if I’m meandering through a scrapbook of his mind. It’s filled with many different ideas and genres. Sketches for a great album.

Enter Neil Young & Crazy Horse. This is the album that really kick started Neil Young’s solo career. Following the break up of Buffalo Springfield, Young released his solo debut, which received mixed reviews. This, his second record, followed just four short months later.

‘Ace Of Spades’ is one of the most iconic and influential rock ‘n roll/metal records of all time. It’s raw, loud and confrontational. Fronted by Lemmy Kilmister, a former roadie for Jimi Hendrix, the band would go on to inspire everyone from Metallica to Megadeth to Foo Fighters. And this was THE album.

On their fourth album, Grateful Dead, a band famous for their extended psychedelic jam sessions, completely changed direction. It takes 4 songs for the first appearance of electric guitar and 5 songs before we hear a guitar solo. In fact, there’s only 2 guitar solos on the entire album.

In 1966, The Beach Boys released their magnum opus, one of the greatest records of all time, ‘Pet Sounds.’ The follow up, ‘Smile,’ drove Brian Wilson to the point of insanity. The band instead released a stripped down version, ‘Smiley Smile.’ ‘Wild Honey’ was the album that followed those records. How do you follow those records up? Well, you don’t.

There’s not many artists that can deliver an album as good as ‘Love and Theft’ on their 31st full length release. 39 years since the release of his first record, Bob Dylan rebirthed his career with this record. Like when he went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, Dylan emerges on this record with a new persona. His voice more gruff and gravelly than ever, Dylan releases a rootsy, bluesy album that could have come straight out of 1930s Southern America.

Opening with one of the most heartbreaking songs ever to be released, never mind by Motown, but ever. “Deep inside I'm blue/So take a good look at my face/You'll see my smile looks out of place/If you look closer, it's easy to trace/The tracks of my tears.” Pretty intense, especially for a pop song and ESPECIALLY for 1965.

Vying for the title of most prolific band of all time, CCR released 6 classic albums within the space of 2.5 years, before disbanding. To be honest, I’m surprised that this album didn’t make the list last time. There were 2 others in the previous countdown. This, their fifth album, was a major commercial success, with John Fogerty claiming that this might be their best-ever record.

One of the greatest Disco records ever helmed by the true master of the genre, Nile Rodgers, as well as his long-time cohort, Bernard Edwards. The album starts with the iconic ‘Good Times’ (a mainstay on my party playlists), a song that was not only important to the Disco movement, but also a major part of early Hip Hop (‘Rappers Delight’ was based on this song).

Hailing from New Orleans, this album was produced by one of New Orleans’s preeminent musicians, Allen Toussaint and is a set of tight, funky instrumental songs. The Meters was led by Art Neville, of The Neville Brothers, and are significant for being one of the pioneers of funk music. This album inspired countless musicians and is the gold standard for Funk.

Black artists have had such a profound influence on popular music, from pioneering Jazz to Rock ‘n Roll to Hip Hop, a genre that has grown to dominate popular music of the 21st Century. ‘Things Fall Apart’ has all of the above and more. The Roots don’t get nearly as much credit as they deserve but amongst them, they are some of the most talented musicians of our time. They’re more than just the house band on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

This album requires your complete attention. I repeat, do not listen to this in the background. Recorded in just one day in May 1959, with this album, Ornette Coleman takes Jazz and flips it on his head. The songs on this album feature no chord structure, in fact they feature hardly any structure at all. Other than brief thematic pieces in each song, the songs are essentially 38 minutes of free improvisation.

This, their fifth album, was their first to top the US charts, where it remained for 9 weeks. In the UK, it was the best-selling album of 1985, staying at #1 for 3 months & a staggering 34 weeks at #1 in Australia. For all you major trivia nerds, THIS was the first CD to sell more than one million copies.

As I’ve mentioned previously, Country is a genre that many people feel much trepidation towards. I was pleasantly surprised. His voice is classically Country but the guitars are RAAAWK! This album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Country album and it’s easy to see why. Enjoyable songs, humorous lyrics and great production.

Opening with the heavily sampled ‘Shining Star’ (34 times, according to WhoSampled), ‘That’s The Way Of The World’ was Earth Wind and Fire’s sixth studio album. It was also the soundtrack to a forgotten film of the same name.