There's a sound, little girl, keeps ringing in my ear

Just for posterity, here are my Top 50 albums of all time (it's just impossible for me to limit this list to ten, which is the number that normally passes for a "Desert Island" list). These are the records that have stayed with me since I first heard them. And these choices have staying power; nearly all of this music here is at least 20 years old. Not that there hasn't been good or decent music made since then, but I certainly haven't heard anything to displace any of these records.

It's an old guy list; I'm an old guy, at least when it comes to musical tastes.

Fifty may seem like a lot, but it was incredibly difficult to narrow it down this far. You think it's easy to leave off "Quadrophenia?" And for some artists with a fabulous catalog (Teenage Fanclub), there is no one standout album for me, so they didn't even make the list. So there are omissions galore, artist-wise: Warren Zevon, Steve Earle, Rockpile, J. Geils Band, Kirsty MacColl, Alice Cooper, The Byrds, Joe Ely, Led Zeppelin, the list goes on and on and on.

This is music that represents a signpost. It either moved me emotionally and/or intellectually and often physically as well.

And yes, I cheated. In putting together my essential album list, I included compilations and anthologies. Why? Because they better represent the best of the artist as a whole. And it is primarily what I listen to when I want to hear something from that artist. So, for example, while "Bruised Orange" is one of John Prine's best works,  I still will more likely listen to "Great Days" for prime Prine.

So, these are not the "best albums" ever made necessarily (in some ways it's also a list of favorite artists too); although, in the grand scope of things, maybe they are.

But this is the music that certainly made the most impact in my life.

In alphabetical order, the Top 50 with a few extra for good measure:

• The Band - "The Band"
• The Beatles - "Abbey Road"
• The Beatles - "A Hard Day's Night"
• The Beatles - "Rubber Soul"
• The Beatles - "The White Album"
• Chuck Berry - "The Great Twenty-Eight"
• The Blasters - "Testament: The Complete Slash Recordings"
• Jackson Browne - "For Everyman"
• Jackson Browne - "Late for the Sky"
• The Clash - "London Calling"
• Sam Cooke - "Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers"
• Elvis Costello - "This Year's Model"
• Creedence Clearwater Revival - "Cosmo's Factory" 
• Del Amitri - "Change Everything"
• Bob Dylan - "Biograph"
• Bob Dylan - "Blood on the Tracks"
• Fairport Convention - "Liege and Lief"
• Ted Hawkins - "The Ted Hawkins Story: Suffer No More"
• Buddy Holly - "Gold"
• The Iron City Houserockers -  "Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive)"
• The Kinks - "The Kink Kronikles"
• The Kinks - "Muswell Hillbillies"
• Little Feat - "Feat Don't Fail Me Now"
• Little Richard - "18 Greatest Hits"
• The Long Ryders - "State of Our Union"
• Nick Lowe - "Basher: The Best of Nick Lowe"
• Mink DeVille - "Cabretta"
• Van Morrison - "Into the Music"
• Van Morrison - "Moondance"
• Van Morrison - "Astral Weeks"
• Mott the Hoople - "Mott"
• Graham Parker and the Rumor - "Howlin' Wind"
• Graham Parker and the Rumor - "Squeezing Out Sparks"
• Poco - "A Good Feelin' to Know"
• The Pretenders - "The Pretenders"
• John Prine - "Great Days" 
• The Ramones - "Rocket to Russia"
• The Raspberries - "Capital Collector's Series"
• Otis Redding - "Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads"
• Amy Rigby - "Diary of a Mod Housewife"
• Rolling Stones - "Let it Bleed"
• Rolling Stones - "Exile on Main St."
• Son Volt - "Trace"
• Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - "Hearts of Stone"
• Bruce Springsteen - "Born to Run"
• Bruce Springsteen - "Darkness on the Edge of Town"
• Bruce Springsteen - "Tunnel of Love"
• Bruce Springsteen - "The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle"
• Richard and Linda Thompson- "Shoot out the Lights"
• Richard and Linda Thompson - "I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight"
• Various Artists -  "The Harder They Come" soundtrack
• Various Artists -"The Phil Spector Collection"
• Various Artists - "Hitsville USA -- The Motown Singles Collection '59-'71"
• Various Artists - "Stax-Volt Complete Singles '59-'68"
• The Velvet Underground - "Loaded"