Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Suzanne Vega (1985 S/T, 1987 Solitude Standing, 1990 Days of Open Hand, 1992 99.9 F, 1992 In Liverpool, 1995 Nine Objects of Desire, 2001 Songs in Red and Gray, 2007 Beauty & Crime, 2010 Close-Up, Volume 1: Love Songs, 2010 Close-Up, Volume 2: People & Places, 2011 Close-Up, Volume 3: States of Being, 2012 Close-Up, Volume 4: Songs of Family, 2014 Tales From the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles) — My wife was a big Suzanne Vega fan when we met, and I was familiar with her more popular songs from the MTV days, so we’ve enjoyed being mutual fans as the years have passed. I thought it was a pretty nifty idea of hers to re-record most of her catalog acoustically and release them over a short span from 2010-2012. And for some reason “The Queen & The Soldier” can just wreck me emotionally from its opening line.

Weezer (1994 S/T (Blue), 1996 Pinkerton, 2001 S/T (Green), 2002 Maladroit, 2005 Make Believe, 2008 S/T (Red), 2009 Raditude, 2010 Death to False Metal, 2010 Hurley, 2014 Everything Will Be Alright in the End, 2016 S/T (White)) — Loved the blue album and Pinkerton. Was glad they came back strong with the green album, and happy to see them prolific, even if some of their stuff is a little uneven. These guys can totally write a hook though! Also, “Pork and Beans” is one of the best videos ever if you are at all aware of the history of YouTube memes.

Partial Collections

U2 (1983 War, 1987 The Joshua Tree, 1991 Achtung Baby, 1993 Zooropa, 1997 Pop, 2000 All That You Can’t Leave Behind, 2004 How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, 2009 No Line on the Horizon) — I’m a bit of an odd U2 fan. War is my favorite album. I think The Joshua Tree is overrated. I totally hated Rattle and Hum. But felt that the Achtung Baby-Zooropa-Pop sequence put them back on track. And I’m kind of meh on their later stuff, honestly.

Waterbone (2003 Orion Prophecy) — A little techno-Egyptian fusion music for the collection.

Way Out West (2004 Don’t Look Now) — Random electronica I must have picked up when trying to explore the genre more. Not bad, but not good enough to make me pick up more of their stuff.

Wumpscut (2006 Cannibal Anthem, 2007 Body Census) — Modern industrial band from Germany, definitely Skinny Puppy-inspired. Wow, they’ve released a lot of albums! These two will do for the moment.

Thom Yorke (2006 The Eraser) — Like Radiohead but a little different. It’s all good!

Zohar (2001 Onethreeseven) — Another techno band with a Middle East influence.

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Serj Tankian (2007 Elect the Dead, 2010 Imperfect Harmonies, 2012 Harakiri) — Solo efforts from the System of a Down lead singer to hold me over until SoaD deigns to drop a new album. These are more political with more varied instrumentation but don’t quite hold together as well as the full band’s work.

That 1 Guy (2000 Songs in the Key of Beotch, 2007 The Moon Is Disgusting, 2010 Packs A Wallop!, 2014 Poseidon’s Deep Water Adventure Friends) — Very quirky and fun one-man band playing his own invented instrument, the “magic pipe,” which is sort of a hybrid upright bass and super synth pad that he can use to create whole songs on. Check him out live sometime, he puts on a great show!

They Might Be Giants (1986 Then: The Earlier Years, 1990 Flood, 1990 Istanbul (Not Constantinople), 1992 Apollo 18, 1992 I Palindrome I, 1992 The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight), 1993 Why Does the Sun Shine?, 1994 Back to Skull, 1994 John Henry, 1996 Factory Showroom, 1998 Severe Tire Damage, 2001 Mink Car, 2002 No!, 2002 They Got Lost, 2004 Indestructible Object, 2004 The Spine, 2004 The Spine Surfs Alone, 2005 Here Come the ABCs, 2007 The Else, 2008 Here Come the 123s, 2009 Here Comes Science, 2011 Album Raises New And Troubling Questions, 2011 Join Us, 2013 Nanobots, 2015 Glean, 2015 Why?, 2016 Phone Power) — I really disliked TMBG for the first six months after I was introduced to their quirky pop magic, but once Flood was released in 1990 I saw the error of my ways. Since then I’ve become a huge fan. Probably my favorite disc from them is the Back to Skull EP which features a complete re-imagining of “She Was a Hotel Detective” in a glorious 70s falsetto pastiche, and “Ondine,” one of their bleakest songs. At one point I could sing from memory all their songs from the beginning until around Severe Tire Damage because I had a set of cassette tapes I’d made that I just looped over and over in the car. Sadly, I’ve not kept up that particular skill.

Tool (1993 Undertow, 1996 Ænima, 2001 Lateralus, 2006 10,000 Days) — I’m not as hard-core a fan as most other Tool fans I know, but I definitely appreciate their sound and interesting approach to music.

Partial Collections

Tears for Fears (1985 Songs From the Big Chair) — Classic 80s album with so many great songs, but for whatever reason I can’t stand the follow-up (Seeds of Love), which has kept me from exploring any further.

TGT (The Genetic Terrorists) (1988 Machine Gun) — Ahhh, back in the days when you could sample liberally from movies like “Robocop,” “The Running Man,” and “Aliens” and get away with it. These guys released this single and one album and that was all she wrote.

Télépopmusik (2001 Genetic World) — Fun downtempo electronica.

Greatest Hits

Talking Heads (1988 Naked, 1992 Popular Favorites: Sand in the Vaseline) — Naked was one of those albums I bought from a record club out of curiosity and fell in love with after giving it some time to settle in. Eventually I discovered that I liked a lot of their other stuff as well but settled for the hits versus backtracking through all their albums.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1993 Greatest Hits) — Another band I knew of who had a bunch of songs I was pretty familiar with but didn’t realize the full extent until I grabbed their greatest hits. I always loved the surreal “Don’t Come Around Here No More” video, an old MTV favorite.

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

S’Express (1989 Original Soundtrack, 1991 Intercourse) — Early in college picked this up to see if I was into house music. Apparently not too much, but it did insinuate itself into my musical consciousness enough that I’ve kept them in my collection.

Scars on Broadway (2008 S/T) — System of a Down’s Daron Malakian off on a solo tangent. The songs are simpler but veer more toward the ironic, reflecting his influence in SoaD.

Schoolyard Heroes (2003 The Funeral Sciences, 2005 Fantastic Wounds, 2007 Abominations) — This local Seattle goth horror/punk band really caught my attention during their brief period of activity. Enjoyed all their albums, especially the second. Too bad they’ve moved on, but at least we got to see them live (even if we were seriously the oldest people in the audience!)

She Wants Revenge (2005 S/T, 2007 This Is Forever, 2011 Valleyheart) — Discovered this band thanks to a girl in church wearing their T-shirt, ironically. Found out they had a really droll goth rock sound that I liked, with nice dark lyrics and a mood to match.

Simon & Garfunkel (1990 Collected Works) — Not sure I really qualify as a big enough fan to own Collected Works, but I am impressed to see their entire collection of works squished onto 3 CDs total.

Skinny Puppy (1985 Bites, 1986 Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse, 1987 Cleanse Fold and Manipulate, 1988 VIVIsectVI, 1989 12 Inch Anthology, 1989 Rabies, 1990 Too Dark Park, 1990 Tormentor, 1992 Last Rights, 1996 The Process, 1998 Remix Dystemper, 2004 The Greater Wrong of the Right, 2007 Mythmaker, 2011 HanDover, 2013 Weapon) — Loved the dark industrial sounds of Skinny Puppy since I first got a chance to hear them in high school. Their earlier works were very sample-heavy, with a dark horror theme. Then they hooked up with Al Jourgensen of Ministry and produced Rabies, with a more guitar-heavy sound and one of their best songs, “Worlock.” A lot of fans thought that was the end, but they came back stronger than ever with my absolute favorite album (and album artwork) in Too Dark Park, a 35-minute magnum opus of incredible music. To me, definitely one of the pinnacles of the industrial scene. After a bit of a fallow period, their newer 21st century albums seem to have found them revitalized with a bit of a tweaked sound.

Sting (1985 The Dream of the Blue Turtles, 1986 Bring On the Night, 1987 …Nothing Like the Sun, 1991 The Soul Cages, 1993 If I Ever Lose My Faith in You, 1993 Ten Summoner’s Tales, 1994 This Cowboy Song, 1996 Mercury Falling, 1999 Brand New Day, 2003 Sacred Love, 2009 If on a Winter’s Night…, 2013 The Last Ship, 2016 57th & 9th) — I liked Sting as part of The Police, but when he went solo in the mid-80s I found his new sound challenging and ultimately very enjoyable. Especially those first few albums had a heady intellectualism about them that fit well with my graduating high school and moving on into college. I also personally feel Bring on the Night is probably my all-time favorite live album by any artist. And his recent stuff has been great as well, from the great winter-themed If on a Winter’s Night to the stage soundtrack for The Last Ship.

Stone Temple Pilots (1992 Core, 1994 Purple, 1996 Tiny Music… Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop, 1999 #4, 2001 Shangri-La Dee Da, 2010 S/T) — Originally lumped in with the grunge bands of the early-to-mid-90s, I connected with these guys from the start. Yes, Core slots in nicely with the grunge of the era (and in fact is one of my favorite albums of the times), but their subsequent releases were much more varied and interesting.

Styx (1972 S/T, 1973 Styx II, 1974 The Serpent Is Rising / Man of Miracles, 1975 Equinox, 1976 Crystal Ball, 1977 The Grand Illusion, 1978 Pieces of Eight, 1979 Cornerstone, 1981 Paradise Theatre, 1983 Kilroy Was Here, 1990 Edge of the Century, 1999 Brave New World, 2003 Cyclorama) — Styx’s Cornerstone was the first album I ever purchased, when I bought the cassette tape from the local drug store. Then I joined a record club or two to pick up a bunch more of their stuff and was hooked. I know these albums (well, everything up through Kilroy) so well that they are just a total part of me. For a while I thought I had outgrown them but came back recently found myself loving them all for totally different reasons. These days I can really see the yin-and-yang of Dennis DeYoung and Tommy Shaw and their influence on the songs. I appreciate that all the band members can sing and harmonize together. And I don’t think there’s another band in my collections whose songs can give me the chills as much as these guys.

System of a Down (1998 S/T, 2001 Toxicity, 2002 Steal This Album!, 2005 Hypnotize, 2005 Mezmerize, 2006 Lonely Day) — Fell in love with this band with “Chop Suey!” and still love their eclectic mix of humor, politics, metal, and sweet harmonies.

Partial Collections

Sade (1984 Diamond Life, 1985 Promise, 1988 Stronger Than Pride, 1992 Love Deluxe, 1999 Lovers Rock) — So smooth…

Seal (1991 S/T, 1994 S/T, 1998 Human Being, 2003 S/T, 2007 System) — Seal is definitely more my wife’s pick than mine, though I can’t claim to have any serious objections.

Smashing Pumpkins (1993 Siamese Dream, 1995 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness) — Never was a superfan, but “Disarm” totally kills me emotionally, and most of their Mellon Collie era stuff is a good listen.

Sneaker Pimps (1996 Becoming X) — These guys released a great moody trip-hop first album, then followed it up by changing singers and direction. Oh well, at least we have one excellent offering anyways.

Soundgarden (1991 Badmotorfinger, 1994 Superunknown, 1996 Down on the Upside, 2012 King Animal) — Picked up on these guys as grunge hit its peak in the mid-90s. “Black Hole Sun” was everywhere on the radio, and Chris Cornell’s voice was hugely compelling in its power. Didn’t end up exploring their earliest stuff, but their last few albums are solid rockers.

The Sugarcubes (1988 Life’s Too Good) — Bjork before she went solo. I owned this album when it came out, then ditched it, then reacquired it recently. Now when I listen to it, it totally reminds me of an Icelandic B-52’s, LOL.

Greatest Hits

Scorpions (2001 The Millennium Collection: The Best of Scorpions) — Growing up in MTV land of course meant that I was well aware of this German rock band that had apparently been around since the early 70’s. But in the MTV era we got their early 80’s work with those awesome riffs and classic songs that I just couldn’t get enough of.

Billy Squier (2005 Absolute Hits) — Billy Squier was one of those solo rock artists who was all over MTV in the early days. Over the years he accumulated quite an awesome collection of songs, and I was happy to finally see a decent compilation so I could own them.

Cat Stevens (1975 Greatest Hits) — Never been that into Cat Stevens myself; he’s definitely more my wife’s cup of tea.

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Radiohead (1995 The Bends, 1997 OK Computer, 2000 Kid A, 2001 Amnesiac, 2003 Hail to the Thief, 2007 In Rainbows, 2011 The King of Limbs, 2016 A Moon Shaped Pool) — First got into Radiohead during The Bends years, with their dreamy falsettoy sound, then came to love OK Computer and pretty much all the follow-ons. These days I’m particularly fond of some of their odder bits like “Life In a Glasshouse” and “We Suck Young Blood,” but like much of my music, I’m in it deep for the melancholy moodiness of it all.

Rage Against the Machine (1992 Rage Against the Machine, 1996 Evil Empire, 1999 The Battle of Los Angeles) — Listening to these guys feels like getting yelled at by a drill sergeant with some sick grooves in the background, and it’s undeniably compelling.

Ruby (1995 Salt Peter, 1996 Stroking the Full Length, 2001 Short-Staffed at the Gene Pool) — Kind of hard to peg Ruby, sort of trip-hoppy, I guess. Anyway, two albums and out, though it appears she’s started recording again in the past few years.

Rush (1974 Rush, 1975 Caress of Steel, 1975 Fly by Night, 1976 2112, 1976 All the World’s a Stage, 1977 A Farewell to Kings, 1978 Hemispheres, 1980 Permanent Waves, 1981 Exit… Stage Left, 1981 Moving Pictures, 1982 Signals, 1984 Grace Under Pressure, 1985 Power Windows, 1987 Hold Your Fire, 1988 A Show of Hands, 1989 Presto, 1991 Roll the Bones, 1993 Counterparts, 1996 Test for Echo, 1998 Different Stages Live, 2002 Vapor Trails, 2007 Snakes & Arrows, 2012 Clockwork Angels) — Ah, Rush. I actually actively disliked Rush when I was a kid, as all my guitar-playing friends were gaga over their musicianship, and for whatever reason I was feeling ornery. When I went to college and met my wife, I discovered she was into Rush, so I decided to give them another try and was kind of surprised to discover how much I liked them. My personal favorite period is probably the 1980-1984 era when they introduced the synthesizers, but before they started to overwhelm the sound. Honestly, however, I love pretty much all their stuff top to bottom now.

Partial Collections

R.E.M (1986 Life’s Rich Pageant, 1987 Document, 1988 Green, 1991 Out of Time, 1992 Automatic for the People, 1994 Monster, 1996 New Adventures in Hi-Fi) — I picked up Document when “The One I Love” became a big hit in the late 80’s and quickly fell in love with the unique sound of R.E.M. Of course, then their popularity skyrocketed, but I still enjoyed most of their releases until my interest started to flag after their 1996 release. Ironically, I think my favorite album is the one they released before Document: Life’s Rich Pageant. Check out young Michael Stipe in the video of my favorite song!

Red Hot Chili Peppers (1989 Mother’s Milk, 1991 Blood Sugar Sex Magik, 1995 One Hot Minute, 1999 Californication, 2002 By the Way, 2006 Stadium Arcadium, 2011 I’m With You) — Picked up BSSM a few years after it came out, but was really sold on these guys when they hit their more soulful period starting with Californication and its two follow-ups. Based on the sample size I have, I’m pretty sure John Frusciante is a critical component to my enjoyment, as the albums without him just don’t do much for me. I should probably just pare back to those 5 and call it good.

Greatest Hits

Ratt (1990 Flashback With Ratt) — Ratt, Dokken, and Def Leppard are all that remain of my hair metal phase from early high school. For some reason these guys were always my favorites.

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

The Offspring (1992 Ignition, 1994 Smash, 1997 Ixnay on the Hombre, 1998 Americana, 2000 Conspiracy of One, 2003 Splinter, 2008 Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, 2012 Days Go By) — In the mid-90s there were two factions: the Green Day fans, and The Offspring fans. I was the latter, by far (always hated Green Day). There’s nothing particularly complicated about The Offspring, but every few years they put out another album of solid punk/pop music that I enjoy, and hope they keep doing so on into the future.

Orbital (1991 Orbital, 1993 Orbital 2, 1994 Diversions, 1994 Snivilisation, 1996 In Sides, 1999 The Middle of Nowhere, 2001 The Altogether, 2004 Blue Album) — Another mid-90s discovery for me, along with The Chemical Brothers. These two were my “gateway drugs” into the wider world of techno, and I am happy that I got the chance to see both of them perform in San Francisco in late 1996.

The Paper Raincoat (2009 Safe In The Sound) — Picked up this EP after hearing them play at Bumbershoot. As far as I can tell, that’s all they ever released.

Perturbator (2012 I Am the Night, 2012 TERROR 404, 2014 Dangerous Days, 2016 The Uncanny Valley) — Randomly came across this darkwave band just a couple of years ago and immediately picked up all the albums because I love the sound.

Pet Shop Boys (1986 Disco, 1986 Please, 1987 Actually, 1988 Introspective, 1990 Behaviour, 1991 Discography: The Complete Singles Collection, 1991 How Can You Expect to Be Taken Seriously?, 1993 Very, 1994 Disco 2, 1995 Alternative, 1995 Paninaro ’95, 1996 Before, 1996 Bilingual, 1996 Se a vida e, 1997 Somewhere, 1999 Nightlife, 2002 Release, 2003 Disco 3, 2005 Battleship Potemkin, 2006 Fundamental, 2009 Yes, 2012 Elysium, 2012 Format: B-sides and Bonus Tracks (1996-2009), 2013 Electric, 2016 Super) — Clearly I love the Pet Shop Boys. They were actually the first synth-based crack in my hair metal phase during high school, when I discovered songs like “Opportunities” and “It’s a Sin.” Lots of people seem to think they were one hit wonders but they just keep on putting out great album after great album, mixing uptempo dance music with more contemplative works. My favorite album is probably 1993’s Very, with the 1-2 punch of “Dreaming of the Queen” and “The Theater” creating just an amazing mood.

Poe (1995 Hello, 2000 Haunted) — Probably most well known for “Angry Johnny,” Poe landed quite a following with her debut album, and the follow-up was also very good, but since then… nothing.

Pop Will Eat Itself (1987 Box Frenzy, 1989 This Is the Day… This Is the Hour… This Is This!, 1990 Cure for Sanity, 1992 The Looks or the Lifestyle, 1994 Dos Dedos Mis Amigos, 1995 Two Fingers My Friends!, 2011 New Noise Designed by a Sadist) — When I discovered these guys in college I was over the moon. The ultimate mash up of techno/industrial with copious samples and pop culture references all done in an edgy British rap style. As the 90s progressed they had to reduce the samples but still put together a great string of albums.

Portishead (1994 Dummy, 1997 Portishead, 1998 Roseland NYC Live, 2008 Third) — Coming up on 10 years since the last — can’t we have a new Portishead album, please? Pretty please?

The Postal Service (2003 Give Up) — This is an utterly charming mix of Ben Gibbard‘s vocals backed electronically. People keep saying they should do another one, but I think they’re smart to keep this one-off project as a standalone.

The Prodigy (1992 Experience/Expanded: Remixes & B-Sides, 1994 Music for the Jilted Generation, 1997 The Fat of the Land, 1999 The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One, 2004 Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned, 2009 Invaders Must Die, 2015 The Day Is My Enemy) — Man I love this band. Picked them up starting in the mid-90s with “Firestarter,” of course, but I love pretty much everything they’ve put out. Always intense and in your face, this is great music to listen to when you need to get yourself moving.

Propellerheads (1998 Decksandrumsandrockandroll) — Another techno band famous for a track from The Matrix soundtrack, I really wish they had released some more stuff as this is one of my favorite albums.

Purr Gato (2013 Heart Beat, 2016 Our Electric Universe) — Very recent discovery, a nice little bit of local darkwave techno.

Partial Collections

Joan Osborne (1995 Relish, 2000 Righteous Love, 2002 How Sweet It Is, 2008 Little Wild One) — Always loved her voice and style, ever since “One of Us” hit it big in (again) the mid-90s. The only reason the collection is incomplete is due to lack of time.

Papa Roach (2000 Infest, 2006 The Paramour Sessions) — Just dabbling at this point.

The Perfect Gentlemen (2003 4 Beers & A Tag) — Saw this group perform a really funny classic barbershop set when we went to see The Baudboys and was happy to pick up this fun collection.

PIG (1991 Praise the Lard, 1995 Sinsation, 1996 Wrecked, 1999 Genuine American Monster, 1999 The Swining: Red Raw & Sore) — Raymond Watts is a fascinating singer/songwriter. After doing some early work as part of KMFDM, he left and went off on his own pretty wild tangent. With a deep, menacing growl of a voice, haunting music, and visceral lyrics, he’s pretty much unlike any other band I’ve experienced. Unfortunately, his stuff is pretty hard to get ahold of unless you’re in Japan, where he seems to have secured a following of sorts.

Powerman 5000 (1999 Tonight the Stars Revolt!) — I never got into Rob Zombie, but his little brother headed up this band which was worth a look, at least for one album.

Pretty Girls Make Graves (2003 The New Romance) — Part of the Seattle local indie scene when we first moved here. Listening back on it, has that very early aughts Seattle sound.

Puscifer (2007 ‘V’ Is for Vagina, 2015 Money Shot) — Tool‘s Maynard James Keenan with a bit of a different feel, more synths but the same angstiness and funky time signatures.

Greatest Hits

Pantera (2003 The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys’ Vulgar Hits!) — Picked up a copy of Vulgar Display of Power back in the day and was blown away by the crazy aggressiveness of it. Used to own everything from that album onward but eventually scaled back to this collection.

The Police (1995 Every Breath You Take: The Classics) — As a kid I owned Synchronicity and Ghost in the Machine, but never picked up any of their earlier stuff. Apart from the wholly unnecessary “Don’t Stand So Close To Me ’86” and the missing “Synchronicity II“, I guess I decided that this collection covered most of my favorites.

Prince (1984 Purple Rain, 2016 4Ever) — I will admit to ignoring Prince for many years between the mid-80s and his untimely death. Revisiting his catalogue now reveals a bunch of good stuff I missed, though “Batdance” is a terrible song and doesn’t belong anywhere near the words “Greatest Hits.”

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Nine Inch Nails (1989 Pretty Hate Machine, 1990 Head Like a Hole, 1990 Sin, 1992 Broken, 1992 Fixed, 1994 Closer to God, 1994 March of the Pigs, 1994 The Downward Spiral, 1995 Further Down the Spiral, 1996 Quake, 1996 “The Perfect Drug” Versions, 1999 The Day the World Went Away, 1999 The Fragile, 2000 Things Falling Apart, 2005 With Teeth, 2006 Every Day Is Exactly the Same, 2007 Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, 2007 Year Zero, 2008 Ghosts I-IV, 2008 The Slip, 2013 Hesitation Marks) — Right around the time I went to college and had just been inducted into the industrial scene, Nine Inch Nails appeared and for a long while was my go-to industrial band. I spent many hours listening to Pretty Hate Machine and the super-extended Head Like a Hole single on my headphones while I worked my library shelving job. My personal NiN experience probably peaked with Broken/Fixed and The Downward Spiral, but I still very much enjoy their music and appreciate the soundtrack work they’ve been involved with recently.

Nitzer Ebb (1983 Basic Pain Procedure, 1987 That Total Age, 1989 Belief, 1990 Showtime, 1991 As Is, 1991 Ebbhead, 1991 I Give to You, 2009 Industrial Complex) — Out of all the industrial bands I got into during my late high school/early college time, I probably have the most affinity for Nitzer Ebb. This was twitch music stripped down to its barest essentials: drum track, synth bass line, screaming vocals. Yes, it was repetitive and simple, but out on the dance floor, you didn’t care. As with many industrial bands, they gradually tried to expand the complexity of their sound, but for these guys in particular I think it didn’t work (which is why I’m missing their last 1990s album Big Hit from my collection). I was pleased to see they released a 21st century revival album that was closer in spirit to their earlier stuff.

Partial Collections

Negativland (1987 Escape From Noise) — Another band I was into more in my college days, gave up on, and then regretted it and began reacquiring albums. A fascinating mish-mash of pseudo-industrial music with extensive samples and ennui, this album is a pretty relevant microcosm of the late 80’s.

New Order (1987 Substance 1987, 1989 Technique, 1993 Republic, 2001 Get Ready, 2005 Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, 2013 Lost Sirens, 2015 Music Complete) — Interestingly, my introduction to techno/pop in my late high school years did not include any New Order at all. Instead it was one of my college dorm-mates playing Technique which caught my attention. At the time I was in love with any kind of synth-based music with an edge, and some of the tracks on that album really hit home. I really enjoy Substance, their remixed collection of music prior to Technique, but have to put them in the “partial” collection because I don’t actually own the first 3 albums.

Nirvana (1991 Nevermind, 1993 In Utero) — Picked up Nevermind while I was still in my techno/industrial phase and for some reason it served as my first step away from that focus. While I feel they are a bit overrated compared to their peers, I can’t deny the impact and appeal of what they produced during their short career.

Youssou N’Dour (2000 Joko: From Village to Town) — Pretty sure we picked this up after his collaborations with Peter Gabriel.

Greatest Hits

Gary Numan (2002 Exposure: The Best of Gary Numan 1977-2002) — Of course, I mostly knew of Gary Numan through his early 80s hit “Cars,” but I had never delved into his catalogue much until I found this greatest hits album. From the outset it is clear what a huge influence he was on industrial bands like Nine Inch Nails. But what is even more interesting is to realize how it all snakes back on itself and how his later stuff is quite influenced in return by later NiN and other bands. Overall, it all holds together remarkably well, and I kind of wish I’d discovered him much earlier in my music exploration.

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Machines of Loving Grace (1991 S/T, 1991 Rite of Shiva, 1993 Concentration, 1995 Gilt) — These guys were on the edge of industrial but had a really unique sound and fascinating lyrics, which made me sad when they gave it up after just 3 albums. But I’ll take three brilliant albums.

Marilyn Manson (1994 Portrait of an American Family, 1995 Smells Like Children, 1996 Antichrist Superstar, 1998 Mechanical Animals, 2000 Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death), 2003 The Golden Age of Grotesque, 2007 Eat Me, Drink Me, 2009 The High End of Low, 2012 Born Villain, 2015 The Pale Emperor) — Marilyn Manson came to the fore in the wake of Nine Inch Nails and made their controversial mark early on with the seminal Antichrist Superstar album. But it was the amazing follow up Mechanical Animals that revealed their true potential, eschewing some of the (anti-)religious imagery in favor of a more trippy glam rock sound. It’s too bad that they didn’t stay the course in this regard, but unlike many other industrial bands, it seems they manage to tweak their formula every few albums just enough to keep me interested.

MC Solaar (1991 Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo, 1994 Prose Combat, 1997 Paradisiaque, 1998 S/T, 2001 Cinquième As, 2003 Mach 6) — This entry is all due to my wife, since I can’t understand a word of quickly rapped French!

Metallica (1984 Ride the Lightning, 1986 Master of Puppets, 1988 …And Justice for All, 1991 S/T, 1996 Load, 1997 Reload, 1999 S&M, 2003 St. Anger, 2008 Death Magnetic, 2016 Hardwired… to Self-Destruct) — As a dude who got into these guys with the “black album” I am not ashamed to admit that I embrace all of it, the early epic stuff, the more focused “sell-out” stuff, even the noisy St. Anger, and the newer stuff.

Mono Puff (1996 Unsupervised, 1998 It’s Fun to Steal) — The Flansburgh half of They Might Be Giants off on his own doing some fun crazy stuff.

Muse (1999 Showbiz, 2001 Origin of Symmetry, 2003 Absolution, 2006 Black Holes and Revelations, 2009 The Resistance, 2012 The 2nd Law, 2015 Drones) — Totally fell in love with these guys around the Absolution timeframe. Hearkening back to a time of concept albums and big stadium rock, I appreciate their “go big or go home” attitude, even when it doesn’t always hang together. Plus that Matt Bellamy can really sing!

Partial Collections

Madonna (1990 The Immaculate Collection, 1998 Ray of Light, 2000 Music) — Gotta have some Madonna, especially the 80s stuff. Though her foray into a more electronica-influenced sound won me over to picking up a couple of her late 90s releases.

Massive Attack (1994 Protection, 1998 Mezzanine, 2003 100th Window) — Moody, electronic, and just generally pretty awesome.

John Mayer (2001 Room for Squares) — Can’t really remember why this ended up in the collection. It’s all right, I suppose.

Sarah McLachlan (1997 Surfacing) — All over Bay Area alternative radio in the mid-90s, we ended up acquiring this album but that was enough I guess!

Don McLean (1971 American Pie) — Another entry I’ll attribute to my wife, who has a much greater appreciation of Don McLean than I do.

Meat Beat Manifesto (1990 Psyche-Out) — Never really got into these guys, who were often lumped into the “industrial” category in my industrial listening era. But I did pick up this CD single from the 99% album and found it worth a spin now and again.

Men at Work (1981 Business As Usual, 1983 Cargo) — Two perfect albums from these guys. Never even tried the third one; maybe I was afraid they’d break the streak (from what I hear, they did). For all their pop hits they were really quite moody and deep, which is of course why I loved them.

MGMT (2007 Oracular Spectacular) — These guys had a sudden onrush of popularity and I picked this up. Didn’t get into it as much as I had hoped.

Ministry (1986 Twitch, 1987 Twelve Inch Singles: 1981-1984, 1988 The Land of Rape and Honey, 1989 The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste, 1991 Jesus Built My Hotrod, 1992 Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs) — When I was first introduced to industrial music, I received a mix tape with songs from Twitch and The Land of Rape and Honey on it, and to me at that time Ministry really defined the sound that I wanted out of an industrial band. Of course, nobody else is really like Ministry. I was originally of the opinion that Twitch was the greater of the two, but over time I’ve come to appreciate the raw fury and vision of its followup. Sadly, once Paul Barker left/was kicked out, solo Al Jourgensen just kept churning out carbon copies of the same music and I gave up. But Ministry will always be hugely influential in my industrial upbringing.

Moby (1996 Animal Rights, 1999 Play, 2000 Mobysongs (1993-1998), 2002 18, 2005 Hotel, 2008 Last Night, 2009 Wait for Me, 2011 Destroyed, 2013 Innocents) — Moby popped onto my radar with the release of Play and the incessant use of his moody, electronic music in “The X-Files” and many other TV shows/movies of the time. Unlike many others I didn’t grow totally sick of it and have really enjoyed most everything he’s released since then.

Modest Mouse (2004 Good News for People Who Love Bad News) — This album really put these guys on the map, and of course being from my current hometown, they were all over local radio. Still a pretty good album and a unique sound, just never pursued them.

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult (1988 I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits, 1989 Kooler Than Jesus, 1990 Confessions of a Knife…) — TKK’s first few albums had an amazing dark sound to them, but afterwards they traded their pseudo cult shtick for more sex-oriented topics and I lost interest. The first album in particular made for a pretty ominous listen and kind of made you wonder if they were really serious. Unfortunately my copy of Confessions of Knife was damaged, so I bought a fresh copy and found they had swapped out the original “Do You Fear (The Inferno Express?)” for some lesser remixes. Boo!

Greatest Hits

John Mellencamp (1997 The Best That I Could Do 1978-1988) — Always kind of been a fan of John Cougar, or John Cougar Mellencamp. His videos were quite popular on MTV in the early days, and he had kind of a midwestern vibe that I guess worked for me.

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Letters to Cleo (1994 Aurora Gory Alice, 1995 Wholesale Meats and Fish, 1997 Go!) — Apart from having a great play on words for their debut album, Letters to Cleo was pretty much just a solid, straight ahead female-fronted rock band. Their big hit was “Here & Now” but I really appreciated pretty much everything they put out.

Linkin Park (2000 Hybrid Theory, 2002 Reanimation, 2003 Live in Texas, 2003 Meteora, 2004 Collision Course, 2007 Minutes to Midnight, 2010 A Thousand Suns, 2012 Living Things, 2014 The Hunting Party) — It’s become kind of cool to hate on Linkin Park these days, but I still enjoy them. When they first came on the scene, the hard rock mixed with rap & electronica was actually pretty novel. Now that it’s been often imitated and given its own genre tag (“nu metal”) I guess you’re not allowed to like them anymore or something. Whatever….

John Linnell (1999 State Songs) — So the less flamboyant half of They Might Be Giants put out a solo album of ostensibly state-themed songs, though if you listen to the lyrics, most of them have pretty much nothing to do with the state in question. Regardless, the album is full of quirky fun songs like TMBG so here it lives in my collection.

Little Computer People (2001 Electro Pop) — I found this CD while visiting Paris and picked it up on a whim because it was a pretty unique sound at the time, a bit of a mix of Kraftwerk with more modern influences. Seems to have been a one-off project as far as I can tell.

Lunatic Calm (1997 Metropol, 2002 Breaking Point) — This was an electronica band I first heard of through various soundtracks, most notably The Matrix soundtrack. Too bad they only put out 2 albums as they are both pretty great.

Partial Collections

Laibach (2003 WAT) — Ah, Laibach. Always a bit of an enigma, with a unique operatic classical/industrial sound that you could never be quite sure whether to take seriously or not. I mostly felt they were hamming it up, myself. This is one of their more mainstream albums.

Lard (1990 The Last Temptation of Reid) — The first and best Lard album, an unholy collaboration between Al Jourgensen & Paul Barker of Ministry and Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys. The overall vibe of the album is punk/comedy (check out “Can God Fill Teeth?” for the full-on comedy aspect) and mostly a fun listen, apart from the interminable final track, which I often skip.

Limp Bizkit (1999 Significant Other) — I can’t really justify owning this. Not sure what I was thinking. We all make mistakes. “Rearranged” isn’t too bad, I suppose.

Lords of Acid (1994 Voodoo-U) — Raunchy, intense techno-industrial fun is how I would describe Lords of Acid. They were popular enough with “The Crab Louse” to get lots of airtime on the Bay Area alternative radio stations, which is where we picked them up. Definitely one of the more, ah, clinical songs you might encounter about STDs, haha.

Love and Rockets (1987 Earth – Sun – Moon, 2003 Sorted! The Best of Love and Rockets) — While Arcadia’s “So Red the Rose” is often described as the most pretentious album ever, I’ll put up “Earth – Sun – Moon” as a competitor. Apparently a bit of an anomaly in their catalog, this all-acoustic album became my senior year go-to album in high school. As with most albums that made a big impression on me, the overall mood of it is haunting and reflective and filled with tons of great songs. I picked up the Greatest Hits to see if I should explore their catalog more, but honestly ESM is just so perfect I don’t want to ruin it with other stuff.

Greatest Hits

Loverboy (1997 Super Hits) — Always felt that Loverboy got short shrift in the annals of 80s pop history. They were honestly Journey-level popular there for a while but for whatever reason never managed to achieve the same retro-popularity as many of their contemporaries. Too bad because they had a monster string of great songs, in spite of their predilection for red leather pants.

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Kasabian (2004 S/T, 2006 Empire, 2009 West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, 2011 Velociraptor!, 2014 48:13, 2017 For Crying Out Loud) — One of my favorite recent bands! Their first big song “Clubfoot” was popular around the time we moved to the Seattle area, and I picked up their debut album. Love their hooky songs and their willingness to bring out the synths in the name of cool music!

Kraftwerk (1975 Radio-Activity, 1977 Trans-Europe Express, 1978 The Man-Machine, 1981 Computer World, 1986 Electric Cafe, 1991 The Mix, 2003 Tour de France Soundtracks) — Despite getting into electronic music in high school, I was pretty oblivious to the existence of Kraftwerk for many years. Fortunately, my eyes were finally opened to their greatness in the late 90s. The wife and I quote this song all the time, and now even our 6yo quotes it back, LOL.

Partial Collections

Kid Rock (1998 Devil Without a Cause) — Ok, I take full responsibility here. Early Kid Rock was more white trash hip-hop, and the song “Bawitdaba” from this album had a heavier almost industrial sound to it. The rest of the album has enough fun songs and over-the-top attitude that I’ll admit to still giving it a spin now and again.

The Killers (2004 Hot Fuss) — This record was all the alterna-rage on Seattle radio in 2004, largely on the back of “Somebody Told Me.” The promise of that song made me hope for a harder-edge 80s retro-synth style that I found lacking when I got the album (ultimately The Faint managed to find that sweet spot I was looking for). I could lose this one from my collection without much sorrow.

Korn (1999 Issues) — Another one-off that I picked up largely on the promise of one single (“Falling Away from Me“). Decent album but not enough to make me explore further.

Greatest Hits

Kansas (1984 The Best of Kansas) — Some really great, classic songs from these guys. But as an early 80’s MTV fanatic, it was “Play the Game Tonight” which caught my attention.

KISS (1996 Greatest KISS) — I mostly knew of early KISS through their trading cards, which annoyingly got mixed up with our Star Wars trading cards. When I went through my early high school hair metal phase, KISS had unmasked, and for two albums during that time period, I was a pretty big fan.

KMFDM (1998 Retro) — I was a huge fan of early KMFDM when Raymond Watts was involved and I was high on the discovery of industrial music. As time wore on, and albums accumulated, they all pretty much just started sounding the same, so this collection suffices to cover the essentials.

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Jump, Little Children (1998 Magazine, 2001 The Early Years, Volume 1, 2001 Vertigo, 2004 Between the Dim and the Dark) — “Hey, I know one of the band members” is why we first picked up their music, since my wife’s cousin is their cello/guitar player, but I quickly grew to appreciate them independent of this connection. Was always interesting to hear tidbits of their efforts to get signed. Even though they’ve officially moved on to other projects, they still have quite the following in the south. And I find it cool that Joan Osborne covered the beautiful “Cathedrals.”

Partial Collections

INXS (1984 The Swing, 1987 Kick) — Mid-80’s INXS had just an amazing string of albums. At one point I had Shabooh Shoobah and Listen Like Thieves as well as these two, then decided it was time for a Greatest Hits collection, then realized I didn’t like anything newer and was missing some key favorites, so I started picking up some of the albums again! The Swing is definitely my favorite album, but “Need You Tonight” is probably my favorite song.

Izdatso (2001 S/T) — I tend to find straight up trance/dance music better on mixed compilations rather than as individual artists’ albums. This is a typical case of a good-enough-to-keep-but-doesn’t-blow-me-away CD. Band doesn’t even warrant a Wikipedia entry, apparently.

Greatest Hits

In This Moment (2015 Rise Of The Blood Legion – Greatest Hits) — Another recent addition to the lineup after hearing some good stuff on Octane. Weird that this 2015 collection doesn’t include anything from their 2014 album, including “Big Bad Wolf” which was the first song that caught our attention. Also interesting to find that their earlier work is less screamy than their harder, more recent stuff. Personally, I prefer the screamier stuff!

Michael Jackson (2003 Number Ones) — Oh come on, everyone needs some MJ in their collection! Also: the video for “Thriller,” featuring zombies before they were trite.

Billy Joel (1985 Greatest Hits, Volume I & Volume II) — I remember wondering as a kid if it was ok to like Billy Joel because my grandpa was a fan, LOL. Honestly don’t care too much for his later stuff, and I can take or leave a few of the items on here, but I do have a soft spot for a lot of the tunes in the middle, especially when he rocks it up a little.

Howard Jones (1993 The Best of Howard Jones) — HoJo is one of those artists who was omnipresent during my teenage years but who never clicked onto my radar until much later. I picked up this collection and realized that I knew pretty much every song, but just didn’t recognize them by name.

Journey (1988 Greatest Hits) — Apparently I’m the only person who thinks “Separate Ways” is a masterpiece and the best Journey song ever. So be it!