1996

1996: Another solid year full of variety. Let's do this!

Modest Mouse- This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About: A great album, but the differentiation of songs hurts them more than helps them on this, as some of the songs are duds next to classics like "Dramamine"- one of the first songs I learned how to play on guitar. But it does help, as not-so-ironically, the variety on this makes this a great album for a long drive.

Dave Matthews Band- Crash: I truly hated a lot of their upbeat hits and their more recent "rock" songs, but this album is full of a lot of slower, more melodic and not lame songs. Lots have become staples in their live show, and it's easy to see why- the sound and feel of the last 60% of this album is fantastic and all the songs work incredibly well with each other.

Reel Big Fish- Turn The Radio Off: This album dominated my summer the year I found ska (along with the rest of the world). They may have felt like they were selling out and sounding like everyone else, but ska wasn't THAT big, and they did it better than pretty much everyone other than the Bosstones. This is full of hooks and memorable horns. AND, they made an appearance in the immortal classic Baseketball after this. 

Primus- Tales From The Punchbowl: Sandwiched between lackluster and bass-heavy-without-much-melody albums Pork Soda and Brown Album, Tales From The Punchbowl is one of the more melodic and varied Primus albums; in the vein of earlier stuff, but somehow weirder and with better production. Don't dismiss this as "the one with 'Wynonna's Big Brown Beaver'"- it deserves much more credit than that.

Fatboy Slim- Better Living Through Chemistry: The year I got into ska was pretty much the same year I got into electronica or whatever you want to call it. I found The Prodigy first in 97, but Fatboy Slim was probably the second best album of that time and genre. Some of this album is a bit blah, but the rest embodies everything that 90's electronica sound was.

10. Outkast- ATLiens

Most of the rap I listened to came from my brother being obsessed with it and playing it on the way to school every morning. We usually liked the meaner, gangsta rap type stuff, and he had started finding really obscure groups that went nowhere. Based on the decency of Outkast's first album Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik, and the creepy hit "Elevators (Me & You), my brother got this. Boy we were in for a surprise. This is years before Andre 3000 got weird and "Hey Ya" dominated the world, years before Cee-Lo (who sings on this as part of Goodie Mob) was the host of a singing show, and years before Outkast got their reputation as a perfect combination of opposing personalities creating some of the weirdest, most groundbreaking hip hop out there. And it was better. Their later albums have classics on them, but also some huge misses. This album is perfect, from front to back- every song sounds alike in an incredibly consistent manner, and they did an amazing thing in creating a creepy, at times very melodic and spacey album with alien references all over it. It's maybe the most consistent rap album I've ever heard, and it remains at the top of my list of best rap albums for that very reason. It may be my favorite. Just listen to "13th Floor/Growing Old" if you have any doubt in Outkast- who samples quiet classical piano and adds nothing to it? It's literally just a beat over sad piano with weird bong/alien sounds in the background, and it's fantastic. 

Best songs: "Two Dope Boyz (In A Cadillac)," "ATLiens," "Wheelz Of Steel," "Elevators (Me & You),""Babylon," "13th Floor/Growing Old"

9. Tool- Aenima

Like most people into darker music in the 90's, I loved the videos for "Prison Sex" and "Sober" from their first album, Undertow. But I never got into that one too much. Based on the awesomeness of "Stinkfist" I decided to give Tool a better chance when some department store was going out of business and CDs were half off. I got this and Ween's The Mollusk on the same trip. Good trip. This album is incredible. It's super dark and mysterious like Tool strives for, yet the songs are instantly memorable while being heavy. Sure, the hits were good, but the real perfection of this album is in its flow and some of the non-hits- especially "Eulogy" with its super long build up and odd middle section and structure to the outright fury and heaviness of "Hooker With A Penis." The production is perfect, the guitars sound amazing, and Tool proved they were onto something else entirely from their original, now kind-of-boring material. This would be the blueprint to their next 2 albums, where they'd continue to grow, get more mysterious and weird, and become the legends they are. 

Best songs: "Stinkfist," "Eulogy," "Hooker With A Penis," "Jimmy," "Aenima"

8. Korn- Life Is Peachy

This is the first Korn album I heard, and I instantly found myself confused as to what I saw in the sloppy mess of disgusting chords, rap beats, detuned bass wet fart sounds, and vocals from someone who sounded like they had some serious problems. A few years later, Korn would dismiss this album and say that it was phoned-in and terrible. The fact that it has 2 covers, the first few songs aren't exactly their best efforts, there's an entire song based on saying as many bad words as possible, and one of the more memorable songs ("A.D.I.D.A.S") stood for "all day I dream about sex" made that claim seem pretty legit. Maybe this was recorded quickly without the best of intentions or the band was just having too much fun, but it all sounds great to me as a perfect representation of the messiness of Korn's early music. And they can hate this album all they want, but it has 3 of my all time favorite Korn songs ("Good God," "Ass Itch," and "Kill You")- songs that embody everything I love about Korn and are incredibly dark, heavy, and instantly memorable and catchy. And you know what Korn? Some of the "dumb" songs on this are fantastic and a lot better than whatever garbage you've been putting out since Issues. Maybe it's time to show it some respect.

Best Songs: "Twist," "Good God," "Mr. Rogers," "K@#0%!," "No Place To Hide," "A.D.I.D.A.S.," "Ass Itch," "Kill You"

7. Converge- Petitioning The Empty Sky

If I had heard this in 1995, this would probably be much higher, as it is legendary in the world of hardcore/metal/whatever converge is. But no, I didn't hear it until freshman year of college, when I discovered this kind of stuff. It blew my mind then, and still does regularly whenever I listen to it. Converge was at least 10 years ahead of their time with this, crafting a complete mess of every type of metal and hardcore mixed with screeched vocals that may or may not even be words. They did things that no other band was doing this well, and few have matched since. While this is a bit uneven and not their best work, ends with an awful live song where Jake Bannon breaks the mic in the middle of the song, and features easily his worst vocals (at least singing-wise), it also has 2 of my (and most fans') favorite Converge songs- "Forsaken," featuring one of my all time favorite breakdowns, and arguably Converge's greatest contribution to the world of hardcore/metal, the absolutely legendary 7 minute mess of "The Saddest Day." Listening to it now, it's easy to see why my jaw dropped the first time I heard it, forever having my musical tastes start to change with 1 song. 

Best songs: "The Saddest Day," "Forsaken," "Dead," "Farewell Note To This City," "Color Me Blood Red"

6. Rage Against The Machine- Evil Empire

I remember getting this for my birthday when it first came out, and at first, I was a bit let down. It didn't seem to have the thickness and anger of their first album- they were starting to experiment with less riffy songs and more weird sounds. Songs seemed simpler and less powerful. While I still feel that way a little, this is still basically a perfect Rage Against The Machine album (like all three were). From the funk of "People Of The Sun" to the instantly memorable hit "Bulls On Parade," to the creepy fury of "Revolver," this was a step forward for Rage, and it showed just what they were capable of. Tom Morello really stepped up on this one, really establishing himself as a "how'd he do that?" guitar god (how awful/awesome is the opening line to "Year Of Tha Boomerang"?). Although the songs don't flow as perfectly as on the self titled album, I think this is their most varied and interesting album, their most funky and hip hop-esque, and definitely a fantastic second album. Over time, my favorite song has become "Roll Right" with its perfect use of feedback and opposing guitar and bass lines. I wish this band still existed. Enough with Audioslave, The Nightwatchman and whatever the hell Zack de la Rocha is doing these days. Time to get to work.

Best songs: "Bulls On Parade," "Revolver," "Snake Charmer," "Down Rodeo," "Without A Face," "Roll Right" 

5. Local H- As Good As Dead

Like most people, I first heard Local H on the radio with their hit "Bound For The Floor," which still remains one of my all time WCYY alternative rock hits. I heard "High Fiving MF" and hoped that it wasn't the same band (it sounded very different and let's face it, the chorus is pretty dumb), but once I heard "Eddie Vedder," it was time to buy this from BMG Music Service. Putting the CD in my CD player was the beginning of something big. Somehow, because of the endless variation of songs that still managed to have enough similarity to work as an album, this would become my "clean my room" album for the next 10 years. It still remains one of my favorite albums to listen to all the way through because of variety, and because of how catchy nearly every song is in a different way. It works perfectly as an entire piece, especially with the last song being a fuller version of the intro (why don't more bands do stuff like this?) Sure, it sounds EXACTLY like Nirvana at times, but I'm ok with that. Local H may not have known exactly what they wanted to be, but they were a great alternative rock band, and that was good enough for me. If you never gave this album a chance, you may be very surprised at its quality. 

Best songs: "Bound For The Floor," "I Saw What You Did And I Know Who You Are," "No Problem," "Eddie Vedder," "Back In The Day," "Fritz's Corner," "Manifest Destiny, Pt. 2"

4. Cake- Fashion Nugget

The reason I loved this album is pretty much for the same reason I loved Local H. Cake didn't sound like anyone else (and still don't), and every song on this is completely different sounding and catchy and fantastic in its own way. Some of the songs towards the end weren't as good as the beginning, but their variety and willingness to do anything makes this another great album to put on from start to finish. Cake mixed funk, country, blues, old time rock and roll and somehow made it modern with occasional record scratching, incredibly catchy hooks and lots of weird "alright" and "oh yea"s from the singer, who, in keeping with the uniqueness of Cake, doesn't really sound like anyone else. This made Cake immediately stand out, and makes this album (and honestly, pretty much all of their stuff) somehow timeless. It sounds like it was either just released, or came out 20 or 30 years ago. This is still their best album, mostly because of the perfection of at least track 1 (my favorite Cake song, "Frank Sinatra") through their better-than-the-original cover of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." Oh, you sure will Cake, you sure will.

Best songs: "Frank Sinatra," "The Distance," "Friend Is A Four Letter Word," "Open Book," "Race Car Ya-Yas," "It's Coming Down," "Nugget," "Sad Songs And Waltzes"

3. Sublime- Self Titled

I later would work with some moron stoner who insisted on playing this every day at work. The sheer amount of douchebag college frat boys and moron stoners who worship this album makes it a little hard to remember just how much I love this album, and how immediately it struck a chord with me the first time I heard it. Much like Local H and Cake, the variety of this album is what made me love it so much. Ska, punk rock, alternative rock, reggae, rap, etc. It's all here, and it's all done fairly perfectly. I never liked "Under My Voodoo" or "Jailhouse," and was sick of "Wrong Way" before it was on the radio every 8 seconds, but other than that, there isn't a bad song on this, and most are some of the best alternative songs of the 90's, especially "Santeria" and "What I Got." The level of quality on this album is light years ahead of their previous album, 40 Oz.  To Freedom (which for some reason, most moron fans of Sublime like more), and these guys were primed to take over the world before main songwriter and singer Bradley Nowell died (apparently before this was released? I forgot that. Weird...) therefore ending Sublime and starting the never-ending release of demos, b-sides, remixes, etc. But reputation and over-saturation aside, this album is perfect and will forever be a late spring, early summer classic after I got it in high school and played it nearly every morning on the way to school. Lots of memories attached to this one...

Best songs: "Garden Grove," "What I Got," "Same In The End," "April 29, 1992 (Miami)," "Santeria," "Seed," "Burritos," "Caress Me Down," "Doin' Time"

2. Weezer- Pinkerton

Like a lot of people, I was fairly underwhelmed with Pinkerton the first time I heard it on the Christmas morning I unwrapped it. I loved "El Scorcho," but was surprised that its messiness, oddball style shifts and sometimes ugly production went across the rest of the album. I didn't feel like any song was any better than "pretty good" until I got to "The Good Life," which was an instant favorite (and easily as good as anything they've done). Clearly, Weezer was going for being a weird rock band rather than the perfect hook machine on The Blue Album. But over time, it grew on me, and I realized that, while the songs as a whole aren't anywhere near the perfection of The Blue Album, they were all fantastic in their own way, and they were interesting listens, with weird little flourishes and parts of songs that took me awhile to even really notice. I still don't quite get the "first emo album ever" legendary status that most magazines and a lot of fans give this album. To me, it's just a great album that has some sad and refreshingly honest lyrics, that was composed by a band and singer in a certain amount of turmoil, confusion, and/or conflict. That being said, I absolutely love "Across The Sea," and its incredibly sweet/sad lyrics, love the funny-but-not-so-funny-if-its-happened-to-you lyrics of "Pink Triangle" (it's happened to me twice), and the completely honest and heartbreaking "Butterfly." It's an odd album full of sad lyrics sang over all-over-the-place music, and it all works together perfectly in an "it's not perfect, therefore it's perfect" way. I've kind of hit music writer mental explosion right now, but you know what I mean. Nearly all of my friends love this album, and although we don't always agree on the order of the best Weezer albums, this one is always in the top 2 (usually second to The Blue Album). The classic that wasn't supposed to be a classic, that sent the band into a 5 year disappearing act. Maybe this came from hardship and created more, but I'm sorry Weezer, I sure wish you still wrote stuff like this. 

Best songs: "Why Bother," "Across The Sea," "The Good Life," "El Scorcho," "Pink Triangle," "Butterfly"

1. Marilyn Manson- Antichrist Superstar

Most of my friends will probably be horrified that I put Marilyn Manson ahead of Weezer, but to me, this is a far superior album, and I was fairly obsessed with it between 1996-1997. 

I got into Marilyn Manson only a few months before this came out, seeing "Sweet Dreams" on MTV and being absolutely blown away at just how disgusting, creepy, evil, etc it was. I wondered how in the hell something like that got on MTV, and freaked out and bought it as soon as I could. But that EP wasn't that good. When "The Beautiful People" hit the radio, I made sure to buy this album immediately, in hopes that it would be all I wanted Marilyn Manson to be- a perfect combination of really heavy metal and industrial music with creepy dudes dressing in weird clothes and being weird and creepy. I'd been very much into the darker side of music for a long time, and Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral brought me farther in. Seeing a guy as disgusting and horrifying as Marilyn Manson make music that was like Nine Inch Nails but heavier and catchier made me pretty psyched- I instantly liked and hated him. Based on seeing kids in the mall wearing his shirts, I didn't want to like his music, but I couldn't fight it- it was perfect to my ears. 

From the opening crowd noise and grunting to the violent explosion of fuzz riffs to the chorus of "FUCK IIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT" of track 1, "Irresponsible Hate Anthem," I knew this album was going to be everything I wanted. I remember sitting in my room, playing it quietly on my boombox so my parents wouldn't hear what sick shit I was listening to, mind being blown more with every song. The production was phenomenal, Marilyn's vocals were perfect in every voice he chose to use, the album artwork was creepy and satanic-themed, the cover was horrifying, the booklet was the same, the back had a picture of him with tubes coming out of his crotch, going to gasmasks on band member's faces, etc. The font was even perfect. Song titles were words I didn't understand. There were references to biblical themes just as much as Satanic themes. I didn't understand a lot of the points, but it was all perfect, creepy lyrics bringing out imagery of everything I wasn't supposed to be thinking, hearing, or seeing. He ripped up the Bible at shows, he cut himself and fought people on stage. He was sick, perverted and as vocal as the best of rock stars. And it all worked towards the feel of this, their greatest work. This was an ALBUM, from the flow of track to track to the complete feel of everything surrounding the band and album itself. 

And the music is the only album I can think of that was the perfect mix of the heavier side of alternative rock mixed with the creepy nihilsm and destructive darkness of Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor's involvement in this certainly helped. As did drugs.

Lots of drugs. Sure, lots of this was just sex, drugs and rock and roll. Sure, a lot of it turned out to be shock rock image or Marilyn trying to make points that a lot of people didn't care about. Sure, the band (or Marilyn and whoever he hired) would really only put out one decent album (Mechanical Animals) after this followed by a ton of garbage. But this album stands as perfect in my eyes. A classic collection of angry, destructive evil that blew a suburban white kid living in the woods of Maine's mind. This slowly became a standard album to listen to on long drives in the dark in the backseat of my parent's car, but they never really knew what I was listening to. I hid this from my parents just as I hid his book (which was also great), and kind of broke it easily to my friends how much I loved this at the time, but now I'll shout it from the rooftops. And it still sounds fantastic and works just as effectively. "The Reflecting God" (my favorite) in particular is still massive and terrifying. A lot of friends may disagree, but I love everything about this album and wish so so so much that I had gotten to see them live in this era. That, and that they still made music like this. 

Best songs: "Irresponsible Hate Anthem," "The Beautiful People," "Little Horn," "Cryptorchid," "Mister Superstar," "Kinderfeld," "1996," "The Reflecting God," "Man That You Fear"

1995

1995 was a bit more balanced, with not as many legendary albums. This was a tough year, because a lot of bands got popular out of nowhere and put out albums with 5 or 6 good songs (Alanis Morisette owned 1995), but, at least to me, the rest of their albums weren't worth listening to. Most of my runners-up and the albums that fought with them for a spot (like No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom) were basically what those 5 songs meant to me and how much I liked them, while ignoring the others. It's weird to do that, but as you'll see by my 3rd spot, some albums can have an entire half of them be "just whatever" while still being legendary in my book. 

Oasis- What's The Story Morning Glory?: I'm guessing most of my readers would put this WAAAY higher, but frankly, I never really got that into it. The hits are all classic, and I originally put this much higher, but I had to be honest- other than the hits and "Hello," I never really cared about the rest of this album. The hits though... Damn.

Jars Of Clay- Self Titled: Yup! Jars of Clay. Deal with it. This is completely over the top religious music, but once you get past that (if you can- I could), there are some great songs on here with fantastic vocals that I reaaally liked singing along with (and singing acapella with a friend in high school). The end of "Worlds Apart" can be rough to someone who cringes from religion, but it's a beautiful song.

Goo Goo Dolls- A Boy Named Goo: Half of this is flat out terrible, based on their bassist's need to sing (they've finally pretty much stopped letting him sing songs), but the half with Johnny Rzeznik show the early signs of what would soon be a hit machine. "Name" still gets to me- it's one of my favorite songs ever.

311- Self Titled: A lot of this is hard to listen to nowadays, but enough still works or works through reminiscing that this still gets a runner-up spot. I think they got WAY better when they started incorporating more melody and reggae sounds rather than the white-boy rap on this, but some of the songs on her are classics- from the obvious "Down" to the (I'm assuming) fan-favorite, "Purpose."

Green Day- Insomniac: This may be the most obvious example of a lazy, "we just put out a huge album" strike-while-the-irons-hot, phoned-in album I've ever heard. It's absurdly short, very few songs are memorable, and it definitely showed a band trying to get something out fast that probably wasn't their best work. But it says a lot for Green Day's songwriting, as this is still better than a lot of what came out in 1995. 

10. White Zombie- Astro-Creep 2000: Songs Of Love, Destruction And Other Synthetic Delusions Of The Electric Head 

The cover and layout of this album perfectly describes the album- mean metal filled with everything in the world they felt fit, from samples galore to weird sounds, to crazy lyrics to dance beats. This is THE White Zombie album, and the best thing Rob Zombie has ever done- it's the last time he made music that was consistently heavy while still being catchy. Sure, his monotone vocals get old after awhile, but the music doesn't. Although some riffs are sometimes boring and repetitive, this album is pretty much riff city, with a dance party thrown in- songs usually build enough to work. It's like Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails realizing they love clubbing. To 90's reference it, it's hard to not Beavis-headbang while Butthead-dancing to it. I listened to it a lot on bus rides to JV basketball games to get pumped up. Sadly, after this album, Rob Zombie pretty much ran out of ideas and eventually switched to being a bad director. But, thanks for this album Rob.

Best songs: "Electric Head: The Agony) Pt. 1," "Super-Charger Heaven," "More Human Than Human," "Blur The Technicolor," "Blood, Milk And Sky"

9. Red Hot Chili Peppers- One Hot Minute

This was the worst Red Hot Chili Peppers album in an otherwise fairly flawless 15 year block (starting with Blood Sugar Sex Magik and ending with the newest one), but it's still good enough to get the number 9 spot on my list. The problem is that it's pretty inconsistent and weird to the point where it at times feels forced. They also had the fact that MTV/radio played the singles so much I never want to hear them again for the rest of my life (at least "Aeroplane") going against them. But when the different sounds worked, they worked very well- from the intense rockers ("Warped") to sunny pop songs ("My Friends") to creepy stoner funk ("Falling Into Grace") to an odd but effective solo song by Flea, "Pea, " the album works- just not as good as any of their other albums (or at least the albums featuring John Frusciante (which could easily be argued are the only true RHCP albums) 

Best Songs: "Warped," "Aeroplane," "My Friends," "Pea," "Falling Into Grace," "Transcending"

8. Nine Inch Nails- Further Down The Spiral

Going against my own rules again, I have to feature this Downward Spiral remix album, because, in what I would soon learn is true Trent Reznor behavior, Nine Inch Nails' remixes are more often than not entirely different songs. This collection took the dark hopeless nihilism of The Downward Spiral and well, went further down the spiral. The 3 part "Art Of Self Destruction" and "Eraser" remixes are lessons in production- what you can do to already creepy songs if you're a crazy genius. The sounds are distorted and digusting, and right when they're verging on being solely background/mood music, fragments of the original song make their way in, reminding you that you are in fact listening to a remix album. The best song ("At The Heart Of It All") is a building bit of evil that relies on a distorted drum and bass loop and Inception-like doom horns/synths/HAARP sounds to create a soundtrack to falling, well, fine- I'll go there again- further down the spiral.

Best songs: "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)," "Art Of Self Destruction (Part One)," "Eraser (Polite)," "At The Heart Of It All"

7. God Lives Underwater- Empty

The first time I heard "All Wrong" on 94.3 WCYY, I freaked out. I instantly loved everything about it and had to wait to hear it again a week later to finally find out who it was. This band mixed driving and catchy alternative rock with industrial/techno sounds and wrote melodic songs with nasal and airy vocals in the vein of Layne Staley's (Alice In Chains). Of all of the bands trying these sounds, this is probably my favorite attempt, right down to the awesome cover and even more awesome band name. Stabbing Westward was really good too, but these songs had more variety and this album is pretty consistent all the way through, save for a few mistakes ("Fool"). I used to sing these songs with a friend in high school hallways (I wonder why I wasn't more popular?) and it was pretty awesome to find out that a recent co-worker loved this album, prompting me to revisit the hell out of it last year. Although the abundance of techno sounds dates this quite a lot, the songs still work because, well... they're good. "All Wrong" is one of the best alternative rock songs to come out of the 90s, and "Weaken" remains one of the better examples of techno, beautiful melodies and super evil riffery somehow working together to create a fantastic song.

Best songs: "Still," "All Wrong," "Empty," "No More Love," "Weaken"

6. Faith No More- King For A Day, Fool For A Lifetime

I got this on tape the day I got on a bus to take me to a plane and off to Washington D.C. with my entire 8th grade class. It's impossible to listen to it without thinking of that bus ride, and it's impossible to listen to the beautiful country ballad "Take This Bottle" without thinking of my super emo nights listening to it when I went to bed in a hotel room, thinking about Alisa Young, the girl I had a crush on at the time. But reminiscence aside, this remains my second favorite Faith No More album. I'd argue that it has the most variety of all the albums, while maintaining the most consistent songwriting. Every song is catchy, and whether the song is a standard rock song ("Get Out"), a disgusting exercise in screaming/being ridiculous (still one of my favorite FNM songs, "Ugly In The Morning"), being beautiful in a grand, musical-esque way (the wonderful "Just A Man," which took me years to realize the perfection of), or whatever the hell genre of music "Evidence," "Star A.D." or "Caralho Voador" were, everything worked through the strength of their songwriting and Mike Patton's endlessly awesome vocals. This album proved Faith No More could do anything they wanted well, and it makes me forever sad that they don't exist anymore. This doesn't get the credit it deserves, both as a great FNM album, and a great rock album in general.

Best Songs: "Get Out," "Ricochet," "Evidence," "Ugly In The Morning," "Take This Bottle," "Take This Bottle," "King For A Day," "Just A Man"

5. Everclear- Sparkle And Fade

I bought this because I really liked "Santa Monica" and wanted more. Let's be honest here- 75% of Everclear songs are pretty much exactly the same. But something about this album just stuck with me, and although there are clunkers, it's generally all good. Stop and go riffing mixed with Art Alexakis' completely unique voice mixed with absurdly catchy hooks- how could you go wrong? Although not as catchy or strong as So Much For The Afterglow and held back somewhat by serious topics making lyrics feel sometimes lame, I liked the whole album, but have mostly stuck with the 5 or 6 that original struck a chord with me. With time, they sound even better. The key one of these is "The Twistinside," and I can't listen to it without thinking about my father. My dad and I have always had a small collection of songs that we used to listen to on long drives to Celtics games or to and from college. "The Twistinside" became one of those, with its odd beginning evolving into a full on air guitar/mouth guitar rock out at the end that still gives me shivers today. My dad always loved the lyrics and felt they worked pretty perfectly for rides to college- "Gotta get ready for the real world, yea, gotta grow up." The song showed what Everclear was capable of, and sadly, they never quite lived up to the power and uniqueness of it, but this album still launched a career of lots and lots of great songs.

Best songs: "Heroin Girl," "Santa Monica," "Strawberry," "Heartspark Dollarsign," "The Twistinside"

4. Foo Fighters- Self Titled

In the wake of Kurt Cobain's death in 1994 and the inevitable end of Nirvana, Dave Grohl was probably pretty sad and confused as to what to do with his life. Instead of doing nothing or becoming the drummer of Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers (had no idea about this- just read it on wiki), he did the first of many things that make him a personal hero of mine- he went into a studio 5 months after Cobain died and recorded every instrument on an album full of songs he had been secretly writing. Hype exploded and nowadays I may have been cynical, but then, I pretty much watched the video for "I'll Stick Around" in pure awe. Holy crap, I thought. He can sing and play guitar?! And he is that good? Holy crap. I was blown away and after the song was played another 400 times on MTV (another thing that makes him a personal hero is his sense of humor and pure awesome, which would be fairly consistently shown in their videos), I got the album and was blown away for the entire thing. The songs were like Nirvana, but more complicated, more melodic at times with his sunny harmonies, and at times heavier and even more headbangy (like in "I'll Stick Around" and "Watershed"). I used to wonder what these songs would have sounded like as Nirvana, but now I don't care (although now that I type that, it would be interesting)- they're perfect as they are, and the variety of these songs while every one of them manages to still connect with me shows that although Kurt Cobain was a fantastic songwriter, they really missed out by not having Dave contribute more. Foo Fighters' career further solidifies that, but they have still yet to replicate the perfection of this and their second album, which will be written about soon. 

Best songs: "This Is A Call," "I'll Stick Around," "Big Me,""Alone+Easy Target," "For All The Cows," "X-Static," "Watershed"

3. Radiohead- The Bends

I feel weird having this album not be higher because of just how much I love "Fake Plastic Trees," "High And Dry" and "Streep Spirit (Fade Out)." I've been saying "Fake Plastic Trees" is my second favorite song for about 10 years now (you'll have to wait for number 1), and the strength of those as well as about half of this album makes this album pretty important to me (and the reason why it's ahead of albums that are, as a whole, better). The other songs just aren't strong enough though. This is one of the best examples of an album being carried by half of it- none of the songs are bad, but the better ones are light years ahead of the lesser ones. I usually only listen to about half of this album and even made a mix of the best from this mixed with the best from OK Computer (it's amazing). While Radiohead still had some of their brit rock that dominated Pablo Honey, they discovered the sound that I feel they did best- melancholy melodies, and flat out sad and beautiful songs. The first single was "Fake Plastic Trees," and featured Thom Yorke sitting in a shopping cart in a supermarket filled with unhappy people. I hadn't really heard a band focus so much on sadness and melodies like this before, and for someone who loves sad music, this was mindblowing. This album is overflowing with memories of high school. I learned how to play some of the songs when I got into guitar, I sang songs in the halls with different people, and mixtapes with the hits dominated my car rides to and from school and many, MANY art classes. The sadness of the songs made the girls I liked more beautiful, and my teenage angst more important. And to this day, these songs still hit me the same way and bring up the same feelings. Why couldn't you stay this way, Radiohead? 

Best songs: "High And Dry," "Fake Plastic Trees," "(Nice Dream)," "Just," "Bulletproof... I Wish I was," "Black Star," "Street Spirit (Fade Out)"

2. Deftones- Adrenaline

My favorite Deftones album switches quite often from this to Around The Fur to White Pony. This one usually wins though, as it's arguably the most consistent and heavy. I found Deftones shortly after Korn, around the same time as Limp Bizkit. I heard Around The Fur first, and was immediately pretty excited about them. They were heavy and nu-metal-ish, but had a ton of melody, both in memorable guitar lines and Chino's creepy, nearly always minor-key vocals. His scream sounded truly painful, and his spastic spit-filled raps were pretty awesome too. Some of the songs on this sound a little too much alike, but this is such a good headnod, moody album- not super moshy or angry, just kind of cool in its heaviness- a sound Deftones would come to fully embody and often perfect in the 17 years since this. I think the best songs to illustrate the perfection of this album are "Bored" and my favorite, "Birthmark." Both start creepy and cool with quiet minor singing, slowly evolve into high pitched and long-held choruses of just a few words, and eventually explode into extremely heavy headbangers with Chino screeching like a lunatic. Some people would call this formulaic. I call it perfect aggressive music. All the heaviness of this album (except for "7 Words" and "Engine No.9") is earned through building melodies and creepiness. And best of all, this album isn't even close to dated- they were doing things no other bands were doing then, and they're pretty much in the same boat now.

Best songs: "Bored," "Root," "7 Words," "Birthmark," "Engine No. 9"

1. The Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie And the Infinite Sadness

This album hasn't meant as much to me as some of the others on this list, but I feel weird putting it anywhere else on the list for the sheer amount of good songs on it. A 28 song album that my extremely critical "if I don't like a song, it's gone" self felt had only 3 duds says a lot. 25 songs that are either great on their own or work perfectly with the flow of an album? That's impressive. And what's truly the most impressive is that this is a double disc album, and it's just that- an album. It's not a collection of songs from a band who wrote too many songs and couldn't trim the fat like a lot of double albums represent, it's a band at its all time creative peak, putting 25 songs together to form a cohesive album where all the songs, as drastically different as some of them are, work together perfectly. To truly understand how ridiculous The Smashing Pumpkins were at this time, they were able to put out a boxed set with 33 B-sides from the same recording sessions (The Aeroplane Flies High), and the majority of those songs are pretty solid, and some, like "Cherry" and the title track are good enough that I think they should have been on Mellon Collie. 

There are hits all over this album, but for me, some of the non-hits were what made me love this. Songs like "Love," (especially the solo) "To Forgive," and "We Only Come Out At Night" are nearly as special to me as the best of the hits- "1979," (how could anyone not like that song?) "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "or "Thirty-Three." This album also features one of the best openings ever. The gorgeous and yes, melancholy title track into the astonishing "Tonight, Tonight" works so well that although the variation of the rest of the album is its strength, I kind of wish the whole album was as magical as those two songs. This may not mean as much to me on a personal level as some of the other albums on this list, but it's the best album of The Smashing Pumpkins' career, one of (if not THE) best double albums ever, and truly a masterpiece in a time when Hootie And The Blowfish dominated the radio (sorry, hootie (don't worry, I had the album too)). 

Best songs: "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness," "Tonight, Tonight," "Zero," "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "To Forgive," "Love," "Thirty-Three," "1979," "We Only Come Out At Night"

1994

1994 was a good year for music. This was the hardest year so far to put stuff in order. Solid variety plus realizing that I was putting albums I listen to now and kind of cringe at higher solely because of how much they meant to me at the time made this tough. This was definitely a year of me saying "no mike, you just want to put that on the list because everyone else has it on there," like with Nas' Illmatic. It's widely regarded as one of the best rap albums ever, but at the end of the day, I only really like 6 of the 10 songs on it, and there were 14 other albums that were better that year. This is getting harder, but much better. First, runners up because I refuse to admit that I'm really just doing a top 15 rather than a to 10: 

Nirvana- Unplugged In New York: The main reason this isn't in the top 10 (since we all know it's incredible) is that I'm only doing it for studio albums and even though the best songs on this were covers/not on other releases, it's still a live album. But it's definitely too good to not give credit to. 

Offspring- Smash: Over the years, Dexter Holland's voice, much like the band itself, has gotten a bit stale and annoying, so most people forget how awesome of an album this is. There really isn't a bad song on it, and it has more variety than we all remember. The fact that they dominated everything that year wasn't a fluke.

Marilyn Manson- Portrait Of An American Family: This is the 3rd album I heard by Marilyn Manson, so going from really dark and heavy stuff back to something a bit more comical like this was weird. But this album is much better than I ever thought it would be back when the only thing I knew of Marilyn Manson was seeing early hot topic goth kids wearing his shirts. This is goofy and circusy at times, but there are definite Manson classics all over it. 

Gang Starr- Hard To Earn: The other "best rap album ever" of 1994, and I think it's much better than Nas. Every song is great, there's crazy variety and Guru's incredibly cool voice makes every song very easy to listen to. I barely listen to what he's saying- this album is all about head nodding for me. Definitely one of my favorite rap albums ever. 

House Of Pain- Same As It Ever Was: The title track was the song my 7th grade basketball team ran out to, followed by Rage Against The Machine and Beastie Boys. I'll always think of that when listening to this- that, or how many times this album still gets put on when I'm going anywhere with Rich and Josh, my current rommates. Everlast sounds so badass on this whole album, and every beat is incredibly catchy. A very underrated album.

10. Shellac- At Action Park

The same friend who told me about Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Polvo and Sunny Day Real Estate also got me hooked on this gem. Thank you, Colin. I have yet to really hear a band who sounds like Shellac. Formed by mega huge engineers Steve Albini and Bob Weston, they made sounds unlike anyone else. They made vintage guitars and recording equipment sound like homemade guitars and amps, and the very John Bonham-esque drums sound unlike most other recorded drums too. But the heart of this was the riffs. The songs can be painfully repetitive at times, but when the riffs kick in, they made me instantly go back to when I was a kid, making horrible distortion sounds with my mouth. I still play "Boche's Dick" on guitar all the time, and wish my guitar sounded as cool. I'm quite good at air guitar and air drums for this album too. This is a perfect combination of post-rock weirdness and metal, and it immediately struck a vintage, post rock chord with me.

Best songs: "My Black Ass," "A Minute," "Boche's Dick," "II Porno Star"

9. Stone Temple Pilots- Purple

In a year of ridiculous variety, this was one of the only hangers-on from the grunge era. And that's because STP changed a lot with this album. Not only did Scott Weiland suddenly have a higher, less grunge voice, but they wrote warmer, prettier songs. And it worked. The uniqueness of "Vasoline" and "Pretty Penny," the faster, more melodic grunge/alternative rock of "Unglued," and "Army Ants," added to the beauty and immediate stuck-in-your-head-foreverness of "Interstate Love Song" and "Big Empty" made this Stone Temple Pilots' (in my opinion) best album by far. It's the best Scott Weiland has sounded, and it seems to be their most hooky, most focused album. That makes it a classic in my book.

Best Songs: "Vasoline," "Lounge Fly," "Interstate Love Song," "Pretty Penny," "Big Empty," "Unglued"

8. Blink-182- Cheshire Cat

This album moved spots on this list about 10 times. In the end, I had to be honest- no matter how much this album means to me in the history of my music love, the seven albums that beat it sound better in 2012. Giving this album an honest look, the songs are recorded horribly, every song has the same beat, the vocals and lyrics are a bit tough to take at times, and most of my love for it is based more on reminiscing rather than actually listening. This album has enormous significance to me. Before the days of mp3.com, working at a radio station, myspace, facebook, music blogs, "listeners also bought" on itunes, I was still the guy who always looked for and thankfully discovered new bands I loved long before anyone else. I used to buy 3 dollar "cut out" CDs (promos the store wasn't supposed to sell) from a horrible CD store in North Conway the 2 times a year my Mom and I would go on a shopping trip there. I would buy 5-10 CDs every time (whatever I had money for) based solely on the cover and the back. If it looked cool and like it might be good, it got my money. This was by far my greatest discovery. It led me to playing this album all the time in my friend's car, playing air drums to it in the hallways in highschool, and of course, for the "cool" factor, being 1 of 2 people in my whole high school who knew who Blink-182 was, being the only one who had a shirt, them being my first concert, and even meeting them at a CD signing at Bull Moose that attracted probably only 200 people. This was years before the world knew them, years before Travis Barker, and years before they got WAY better at writing songs- and by then, they were already my favorite band. Discovering them in such a random way definitely helped, but this album is still fantastic. 

Best Songs: "Carousel," "M+M's," "Touchdown Boy," "Strings," "Does My Breath Smell?" "TV," "Wasting Time,""Ben Wah Balls"

7. Green Day- Dookie

To anyone who remembers that far back, this album was ENORMOUS when it came out, and I was right there along with everyone else, watching the video for "Longview" every time it came on MTV. By the time "Basket Case" was on MTV every 40 seconds, I was starting to get sick of them. But then my brother got me the tape for my birthday and I realized that Green Day was capable of writing more than 2 good songs. Every song on this album, in fact, is fantastic, right down to the ridiculously stupid "All By Myself."Over the years, songs like "Coming Clean" and especially "She" have become my favorites, but go ahead and listen to this album if it's been a long time- you'll be very surprised at just how many songs you remember and how many are of high quality. So many drum fills, so much violent Billy Joe arm riffing, even my deaf friend liked them.  

Best Songs: "Long View," "Welcome To Paradise," "Pulling Teeth," "Basket Case," "She," "Coming Clean"

6. Sunny Day Real Estate- Diary

From the opening drum fills and explosions of riffage placed perfectly between distant chords and Jeremy Enigk's angelic voice singing confusing lyrics on "Seven," I pretty much instantly knew this band would become something special to me. It took me awhile to get into the rest of the album (some songs drag a bit for my tastes and I didn't always love his voice (he hadn't quite perfected it yet)), but this album absolutely deserves all the credit (or curses) it gets for helping to jumpstart the world of emo. I had really never heard a band do the whole sing/scream-a-huge-high-note-while-start-and-stop-riffing thing before, and these guys did it perfectly in "In Circles" and the absolutely perfect (and still one of the most beautiful songs I know) "48." Their lyrics were poetic and confusing, their songs long and epic, and every note meaningful and at times absolutely gorgeous and yes, EMO (tional) as hell. I also particularly love "Phuerton Skeurto"- the weird waltzy interlude of sorts, which I saw them open with at The Middle East in like 2004 (yes, I'm bragging). When the song should have ended, they instead had it explode into a full on rock song. It was soooo awesome. Thanks again Colin, you helped make some high-school-drama filled rides home even more meaningful.

Best Songs: "Seven," "In Circles," "Song About An Angel," "Phuerto Skeurto," "Grendel" 

5. Korn- Self Titled

If anything perfectly illustrates my taste in music, it's that Korn is sandwiched between Sunny Day Real Estate and Built To Spill on this list. No wonder the radio station hipster snobs didn't know what to do when the freshman in the Limp Bizkit shirt asked if they had heard of Pop Unknown or Cross My Heart. Me discovering the world of emo and indie rock all happened towards the tail end of me loving nu metal- the years that I discovered things are a bit off compared to the years they came out, but I loved both types of music at pretty much at the same time. I finally checked Korn out (after seeing the shirts a bunch and hearing so much about them) by listening to "Twist" off their second album at a listening station in Strawberries (wow, how dated was that sentence?) and I kind of instantly loved them for how disgustingly horrible yet somehow catchy and likeable they were. I didn't check out this- their self titled album, until a year or so later, and was a bit turned off at first, as it is a much more serious album. I'm the rare Korn fan who puts this 4th on my list of best Korn albums, but it has classics all over it- riffs you remember instantly, Korn freakouts that somehow never cease to get me pumped up, and that weird, murky creepiness that embodied their sound. It's hard to define how super detuned guitars, muddy, distorted and flat-out messy riffs mixed with awfully recorded slap bass, screechy high notes, hip hop/311-funk rap beats all with a singer who switched sometimes awkwardly between sounding like James Hetfield and a little girl, screaming about getting beat up in high school and freaking out at the end of the album to the point of legitimately crying for a few minutes= good music, but it somehow worked. To the high school loser in me mixed with the part that would eventually find and love even grosser, even heavier music, this just stuck a chord. I can't really explain it. It's real, it's heavy, it's catchy, and it's just... gross. And it rules. I think over time, rather than citing the classics, I feel like "Lies" perfectly embodies the hideousness of this album- it's a perfect song for Korn detractors to shake their heads at in confusion, and the perfect one for me to listen to while smiling back, unable to explain why it's good: "Listen to how horrible that riff is!" I'll say, and we'll both be confused.

Best songs: "Blind," "Ball Tongue," "Need To," "Clown," "Faget," "Shoots And Ladders," "Fake," "Lies" 

4. Built To Spill- There's Nothing Wrong With Love

There's certainly nothing wrong with this album OH! Although my favorite Built To Spill album (and the first I heard- thanks Colin) is Perfect From Now On, this one is nearly as good. The songs are short, simple rock songs with just enough weird harmonies and messy solos to be a true Built To Spill album. From the first "oh, this is Built To Spill" vocals, this album flows perfectly from simple and catchy pop rock ("Big Dipper") to odd and complicated ballads ("Cleo") to the maybe-not-intended-to-be-so-sad "Twin Falls" to the perfect indie rock gem "Distopian Dream Girl." It ends with a ridiculous (and fake) preview of new songs to come. Everything is great, and the very low key production fits its mood perfectly. The songs also fit Doug Martsch's voice the best of most of their albums. "Car" is a perfect example of how much a singer's voice makes a song. If Built to Spill had kept writing songs this instantly memorable, they probably really would have exploded, but I guess even the best bands run out- you can only write so many perfect songs. 

Best Songs: "In The Morning," "Reasons," "Big Dipper," "Car," "Cleo," "Twin Falls," "Distopian Dream Girl"

3. Ween- Chocolate And Cheese

It feels odd to put such an unbelievably stupid album so high in my rankings, but not only have I listened to this album more than most on this list, I can probably recite nearly every note too. Somehow over time, these songs, no matter how odd or stupid, have grown to mean something to me. This was a standard go-to in long drives in the backseat of my parent's car, playing the tape until it pretty much wore out. This is a perfect example of cohesiveness through differentiation. In small words- every song sounds completely different and that makes it work perfectly as not only a complete album, but as an album I always want to listen to all the way through (except usually skipping "Joppa Road" or the god awful "Candi.") What has stuck with me the most over the years though, are the ballads, or at least the songs with a lot more melody than stupidity. Although "Baby Bitch" was an instant favorite (that still brings up memories of a girl I liked when this came out), "Beunas Tardes Amigo," "Don't Shit Where You Eat," and especially the summery "What Deaner Was Talking About" have grown to be instant singalongs every time I listen to them, and at least "Deaner" has become a go-to song to messily play on guitars whenever my friend Pog and I get together. I never would I have thought a band I decided to check out because a friend in 6th grade told me they recorded a song based on a guy throwing up (still don't know what song that is)- and that I randomly got from BMG without hearing a single note- would end up being such a classic that still sounds great 17 years later. I truly lucked out with this one. Fun fact- my 10th grade English teacher made me a mix tape of the best songs off their albums before this one, and I ran into him at a show when I finally saw Ween 3 years ago/15 or so years after he made me that tape. What an awesome teacher.

Best songs: "Freedom Of '76," "I Can't Put My Finger On It," "Baby Bitch," "Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony?" "Buenas Tardes Amigo," "What Deaner Was Talking About," "Don't Shit Where You Eat"

2. Nine Inch Nails- The Downward Spiral

I think that if I'm honest, this album may have been my biggest influence on songwriting. My favorite thing to do when creating music is writing layers, whether it be 1 guitar line over another, or 15 layers of guitar, keyboard, strings, vocals, etc. I'm fairly good at it, but it's also a curse, because I don't know when to stop. Despite this album being filled with most of Nine Inch Nails' best work, the standout to me is, and always has been "Eraser." It starts with what sounds like brain-dead people trying to make music out of blowing through straws, and over 3 and a half minutes, it builds to a huge crescendo of creepy as hell guitars and weird sounds over a towering beat. A new layer is added every measure, and I can honestly say that most of my early recordings of experiments in emo were directly influenced by that. Ever since hearing that song, I wanted to recreate the idea. 

This masterpiece should influence every musician- I can't think of a better example of mood dominating an album. The production tricks, the weird sounds, the overall terrifying eerie-ness of the whole thing is instantly recognizable as Trent Reznor's work, and it makes this album what it is. That it was recorded in the house Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson Family and created mostly by one person in lots of solitude and on lots of drugs shouldn't be surprising. Sure, it will be remembered for "Closer" or "Hurt," but I think it deserves its level of classic greatness for its other songs- the symphonic simplicity of "A Warm Place," everything about "Eraser," the dynamics of "Reptile," the production brilliance of "The Downward Spiral" (acoustic guitars over creepiness building to a huge explosion of rock, completely muted and in the distance, with the piano line from "Closer" playing over it), to the utter brilliance of what I just recently started to appreciate: "The Becoming." There is so much going on in this song that every part of it's building awesomeness rules, but I particularly like the "ahhh ahhh" vocals over acoustic guitar breaks, and what may have realistically been the first double bass breakdown I ever heard. 

This album is one of the darkest, most nihilistic things I've ever heard, and it's about a man spiraling out of control and eventually killing himself. And it's AWESOME.

Best Songs: "Piggy," "March Of The Pigs," "The Becoming," "Big Man With A Gun," "Eraser," "Reptile," "Hurt"

1. Weezer- Self Titled (The Blue Album)

Any year where an album as legendary as The Downward Spiral is number 2- the number 1 had better be pretty damn special. This was a no-brainer- this was in my top 5 of all time before I even started college, and it's only grown in scope since then. 

I remember the day I got this- it was part of a 4 pack of CDs I got from BMG. One was Tori Amos- Under the Pink, and another was Live- Throwing Copper. I can't remember the other. Live was the sure thing, the others were gambles. I really liked "Undone (The Sweater Song)" when it first came out, and, along with the rest of the world (even though I didn't like it as much), loved "Buddy Holly." But could an album I knew very little about with a cover as awful as this be good? Pop rock songs with lots of distortion by dudes in sweater vests? Back in 1994, this was unheard of, and I really had no idea how this would turn out to be. The fact that my first favorite song on this ("No One Else") is the 2nd track and the first non-single I had heard says a lot. I instantly loved this album. A few of my friends did too, and I can remember singing parts of it with Matt Bianconi, a friend who I did lots of singalongs with (and helped introduce me to Modest Mouse). Literally, every song was instantly memorable, perfectly produced, fuzzy and driving, and sung with perfect harmonies. The lyrics were odd, they clearly had fun while recording, and they were weird nerds. And their name was WEEZER. I liked literally everything about it. "Say It Ain't So" instantly made its way on to every mixtape I made.

Throughout high school and changing tastes, this remained a classic, right up there with my other favorite albums. When my college roommate Jake loved it, it made me happy. When my instant-best-friend-because-of-his-music-tastes friend Nate loved it with a cult-like passion, it grew. When Shaun, the guy across the hall, loved it, the legend grew larger. We all respected the hell out of weezer and played it all the time. Apparently this was one of their favorite albums through high school too. 

What has followed in the last 13 years or so (holy crap) has been a slow Biblification of this album. This became the go-to at parties to make Jake freak out and destroy everything with violent air-guitaring. It became a song to make Voss freak out and slide across tables. It was THE album to put on when all of us were together and we wanted to rock out, singalong, or just instantly all be linked together in something magical. In recent years, weddings aren't allowed to happen if the DJ doesn't play some Weezer. Nearly every get-together has at least some weezer played. And for Thanxmas (our annual christmas party/celebration of awesome) one year, Hilton, Underhill, Pog and I even learned the entire album (save for "Only In Dreams" cuz it's long and we wanted to ROCK) and played it in its entirety IN THE GARAGE at Joe's house. It probably wasn't the best setting (as it was like 20 outside), and it wasn't exactly a perfect or necessarily memorable performance, but just doing that remains one of my favorite things I've ever done, and I loved every second of it. We may have sucked, but we played the hell out of that album. 

Even though my attachment to this album is mostly with that group of friends, most of the group of friends I currently live with generally place it in the top 5 or so of greatest albums ever. It's kind of a universal thing with this generation, and that rules. In fact, if you somehow don't like this album, I probably don't like you very much.

What makes me nearly tear up is knowing that with my little dysfunctional college family of friends- no matter how far apart we may move or how little we may see each other, this album will forever be OUR album. It will forever have a ton of memories attached to it, and it will only continue to mean more over the years. And on top of that, it's this old, and I'm not tired of a single song on it- and only in recent years have I truly understood the brilliance of "Surf Wax America," meaning I'm still finding things to appreciate about it! This is probably my third favorite album ever. Well done Weezer. 

=w=

Best songs: "My Name Is Jonas," "No One Else," "The World Has Turned And Left Me Here," "Undone (The Sweater Song)," "Surf Wax America," "Say It Ain't So," "Only In Dreams"