My Top 100

I feel every day that the decision to end the Epic Metal Blog chapter and write a new story with Magnets and Miracles was the right one. For a long time, the (perceived) obligation to write regular reviews prevented me from delving into my record cabinet as intensively as I would have liked. In addition, focussing on (epic) metal, despite all my love for this genre, didn't do me any good either, as I'm also interested in many other styles of music.

And this is where this very comprehensive special comes in. Most of you will be familiar with the Rolling Stone top 500 albums list. Well, I'm limiting myself to 100 and I'll say right away that I'm not claiming to highlight the best records of all time, but my favourite ones - I make no claim to objectivity, this is a glimpse into my musical cosmos.

As with the Rolling Stone, best of releases will appear alongside regular studio albums. There are two reasons for this: Firstly, there were some greatest hits collections that had a strong impact on me. From my point of view, it would be unjustifiable not to include them here. Secondly, EPs are also allowed, as there are one or two that play a very important role for me. Thirdly, I also deal with the early days of rock and blues music, when the first albums were de facto best of compilations, meaning collections of previously released singles.

Unlike the Rolling Stone, I don't rank all the records - I have to admit that I find it very difficult to place them in order after the absolute top rankings. What's more, I don't want to focus so much on a ranking as on the record in question. However, I will make one exception: I will post the top 25, starting with 25th place and ending with, you guessed it, my winner.

The first 75 releases will be in no particular order. Instead, I'm trying to create an interesting mix in terms of publication date and style. I'd be very happy if one or two of you might be made aware of a band or artist that you haven't followed that closely yet. As I start in the 1950s and cover several styles, every reader is likely to discover something new for themselves. I am particularly looking forward to the exchange of ideas.