Ok, I think Cake and Beck really deserve to be on here, but it's so hard to narrow it down, and since I have mixed feelings about tracks on all of their albums, we'll give them a nod here and get to the list. This is by no means final or definitive, but it's in my feelings, what you need to be listening to, based mostly on Artistic Accomplishment. In no particular order:
1. The Kinks, "To the Bone." mostly accoustic, nearly all live, with two new songs. Ray and Dave finally accept they'll never have number one hits again and showcase what they can do with all their songs for the last 40 years. Features also live shreds on "All Day and All of the Night" and "You Really Got Me," That double the tempo AND the length of the original power rock hits (not as good as the samples from "One for the Road," but pretty solid.
2. U2, "October." Before U2 got it into their head they were either American or Political or mainstream or something, they recorded this little number in the early 80s. "Gloria" is the clear highlight, but it also has "Fire" and "Stranger in a Strange Land." The former gave them a TON of live milage and the latter is just really nicely done.
3. Led Zeppelin IV. Also known as Runes or Zoso, it has no real name. But "Black Dog," "Rock and Roll," and "Stairway to Heaven." Need I say more? The whole album is this good.
4. Eric Clapton, "From the Cradle." While he's a brilliant at the Rock/Blues thing and did amazing work with the Yardbirds and Cream, this is the culmination of his career, imo. Pure Blues but treated as rock, he doesn't pop it like he did on Journeyman and doesn't hype it like he did on "Unplugged." Solid, baby.
5. Bob Dylan's 30th Anniversary Concert. Doubt Bob's influence? Listen to Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Eddie Vedder, willie Nelson, The Clancy Brothers, Johnny Cash, and George Harrison, along with tons of others, prove you so wrong it'll hurt. Live. All from one night, with no tour to pick and choose from.
6. Jethro Tull, "Thick as a Brick." Yeah, the predicted the "not really one long 45 minute song" criticism when they recorded it -- addressing it on the cover, even. But it's still brilliant, lyrically and musically.
7. Miles Davis, "Bitch's Brew." By my count, only Joe Satriani has as much versatility and ability to fuse genres, and he's actually got not quite as much. THis album shows both the vitality of jazz and the possibilities of rock. Some of the most brilliant playing ever is heard here too.
8. Peter Gabriel, "Up." Wasn't sure whether I should do this one, "Us," or perhaps one of his early albums with Genesis, there's brilliant stuff all around, but this is the one that has the most mature and clearly envisioned material, whereas with Genesis he was just playing around. "Us" has better lyrics, but "Up" has better music. Hard... so hard.
9. R.E.M., "Life's Rich Pageant." No shiny people here. In fact, very little happy. But lots of amazing vision and mood. It's almost like 80's southern indy rock haiku. Clear evocations of mood and scene, your own interpretations to be filled in.
10. Blue Oyster Cult, "Some Enchanted Evening." "Don't fear the Reaper," "Godzilla," yeah. all it misses is a couple of the more obscure hits. This was a great album from the guys who invented heavy metal. If they were smart, Metallica would bow down and pay homage to these guys.