There’s just something about an album that you don’t want to stop playing at any point that just makes the world go round, doesn’t it?

Isn’t it just amazing when an album is just that good? it’s hard to remember that, because we’ve been sucked into the world of “put out a cool single” in recent years. The music industry doesn’t seem to care about full albums much anymore.

If #quarantinelife has given us any benefit, it might be that we’ve got the time to actually listen to music now. We have time to listen to whole albums. We’re not rushing to get anywhere. We can just chill and throw on some tunes.

Recently, I was reminded that I needed to update my iTunes library and add a lot of my favorites to my phone that were missing. I dug into the archives, and I didn’t regret one second of it.

These albums are my favorites, and have been for years. They’re the only ones that I truly don’t skip a song during.

• Appetite For Destruction (1987): Guns N’ Roses provided an iconic piece of rock history that single-handedly rang death bells for hair metal as we knew it with this album. I don’t skip a single track on it because there’s truly a song for every human emotion on here.  Anger, happiness, frustration, redemption, and so much more are felt here.
• Bloody Kisses (1993): original Type O Negative drummer Sal Abruscato plays on this album, and it was his last one with them. I’d recommend it if you’re a fan of that era of Type O. This is the album that sparked the interest of the cult following that they have today. It established critical motifs for the band which would follow them throughout their entire career, like being dark, creepy, sarcastic, and sardonic. All music and lyrics were written by Peter Steele.
• Watershed (2008): This Opeth masterpiece came out during my senior year of high school. I’d see them tour it in Pittsburgh the following year. Some would say it’s their last album that included any growls or rougher metal elements. Some fans are still pissed about that fact. I’m not. Mikael had a hand in producing this album, as well as creating the artwork for it.
• Rocks (1976): Arguably Aerosmith’s most “heavy” album (for a hard rock band anyway), this masterpiece made me so grateful for Jack Douglas as a producer. He brought the grit out of Aerosmith. The same grit and grime they clawed their way out of Boston and NYC with. Fun Fact: “Sick As a Dog” was recorded in one take!
• Unto The Locust (2011): If there was ever an album that exemplified my college years and provided the soundtrack for them, if was this one from Machine Head. They were touring it in Pittsburgh in early 2012 when I got the chance to interview Phil Demmel for our college radio station. It’s their shortest album they’ve ever released, and the last one that included bassist Adam Duce. I love the numerous messages of hope in the lyrics Robb wrote here.

Now, it’s your turn! I want to know what albums are in your archives that you just have to play all the way though. Tell me!