Time for something fun given the serious nature of our nation’s current events.

Over on Facebook, there was a recent meme asking to list your Top 10 records. For many music fans, this is nearly impossible.

So, I’m taking a stab at my Top 107 instead.

Some ground rules:

• I tried to avoid greatest hits albums, but a few were too good to pass up.
• Rather than quibble with the best album by an artist, sometimes I suggest others too
• Add yours to the comments!

Here goes….loosely grouped by genre but in no particular order.

1. The Clash, London Calling. Between this and Sandinista, a super-nova of creativity and experimentation made in a 2-year period.
2. The Clash, Sandinista
3. Buzzcocks, Singles Going Steady
4. Stranglers, IV
5. Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks
6. Damned, Machine Gun Etiquette
7. The Jam, Sound Effects
8. Gang of Four, Entertainment! Punk. Funk. Political. Not easily ignored.
9. Joy Division, Closer. Toss-up with Unknown Pleasures.
10. The Fall, Hex Enduction Hour. Or choose from many others.
11. New Order, Movement.
12. Kate Bush, Hounds of Love
13. Talking Heads, Fear of Music
14. Comsat Angels, Waiting for a Miracle
15. U2, War. Or Joshua Tree or Boy. Take your pick.
16. Ultravox, Vienna
17. Mission of Burma, Vs.
18. Mission of Burma, Signals, Calls and Marches
19. Joe Jackson, Look Sharp!
20. The Cure, Disintegration
21. The The, Soul Mining. One guy, one bedroom.
22. Ramones, Ramones
23. Ramones, Rocket to Russia
24. Magazine, Real Life
25. Elvis Costello, This Year’s Model
26. Dream Syndicate, Medicine Show
27. Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes
28. Echo & The Bunnymen, Heaven Up Here. Or several others through Ocean Rain. Take your pick.
29. Miles Davis, Kind of Blue.  Duh. The more you know about how this was recorded, the more brilliant it seems.
30. John Coltrane, Giant Steps
31. John Coltrane, My Favorite Things
32. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Keystone 3. Art with the Marsalis brothers at the pinnacle of his comeback / bebop renaissance
33. Art Blakey, Free for All. Manic energy.
34. Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah Um
35. Dave Holland Quintet, Prime Directive. Or many others.
36. Ella Fitzgerald. Where to start?
37. Wayne Shorter, Adam’s Apple
38. The Bad Plus, For All I Care. Jazz covers of rock songs, amazing use of atonality, mismatched keys, varied tempos. Their work with Joshua Redman also tremendous.
39. The Specials, The Specials
40. Burning Spear, Man in the Hills. And others.
41. Bob Marley, Kaya
42. Bob Marley, Exodus
43. Peter Tosh, Equal Rights
44. UB40, Signing Off
45. Antonin Dvorak, Symphony #9 / New World
46. Arvo Part, Passio. And many others.
47. Henryk Gorecki, Symphony #3, Opus 36, Dawn Upshaw version. Pure, beautiful anguish.
48. Eroica Trio, Pasion. Exactly as it says; passionate classical string trio. the opposite of dull.
49. J.S. Bach / Glenn Gould, Goldberg Variations. Gould’s tour de force.
50. Hilliard Ensemble. Where to start?
51. The Band, Music from Big Pink. Or greatest hits.
52. The Blasters, The Blasters
53. Brandi Carlile, The Story
54. Bryan Ferry, Boys & Girls
55. Bryan Ferry, Bete Noir
56. Roxy Music, Flesh and Blood
57. Coldplay, Parachutes
58. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, So Far
59. Damien Jurado, Caught in the Trees
60. David Bowie, Station to Station. Or many others from the 70’s.
61. David Gray, White Ladder
62. Dire Straits, Communique. Or Dire Straits. Or others.
63. The Doors, LA Woman
64. Explosions in the Sky, The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
65. Fela Kuti, Unnecessary Begging
66. Fever Ray, Fever Ray. Recorded deep in the woods of Sweden, in solitude. Otherworldly.
67. Fleet Foxes, Sun Giant. Harmonies that would make CSNY proud.
68. Florence & The Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. How is she not a bigger star?
69. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
70. Indigo Girls, Indigo Girls
71. James Brown, 20 All-Time Greatest Hits. Or sift through 30 other records from the nuggets.
72. Japan, Gentlemen Take Polaroids
73. Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free. Or Southeastern, take your pick. His best might be to come.
74. Jose Gonzalez, In Our Nature
75. Massive Attack, Mezzanine
76. Midlake, The Trials of Van Occupanther. Probably because the song Roscoe is so frickin’ good.
77. Midnight Oil, Diesel and Dust. Or several others around that time.
78. Peter Gabriel, So
79. Philip Glass, Koyaanisqatsi
80. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon.
81. PJ Harvey, Let England Shake. Amazing that my favorite album is the one she made around Year 20 of her career.
82. Portishead, Dummy. Ahead of its time.
83. R.E.M, Reckoning. Or many others.
84. Santana, Greatest Hits. Or one of first three albums.
85. The Smiths, The Smiths. Or several others.
86. Steely Dan, The Royal Scam. Cynical, dark, fits our times.  Oh yeah, and impeccable musicianship. Or, Aja, Pretzel Logic.
87. Stevie Wonder, Innervisions. Or, Songs in the Key of Life.
88. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Or, Damn the Torpedoes.
89. The Wipers, The Circle
90. Chris Isaak, Heart Shaped World
91. Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed. Or, Sticky Fingers.
92. Sinead O’Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got. Reminds me that musicians are often the best political activists.
93. The Tragically Hip, Fully Completely. Or, Up to Here.
94. Lucinda Williams, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Or, Sweet Old World.
95. Wilco, Wilco
96. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
97. K.D. Lang, Ingenue
98. Neko Case, Middle Cyclone. Or, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, or Blacklisted.
99. Alabama Shakes, Boys & Girls
100. Allison Moorer, The Duel
101. Howlin’ Wolf, Real Folk Blues
102. Neil Young, Harvest
103. Joni Mitchell, Court & Spark
104. Allman Brothers, Idlewild South
105. Jimi Hendrix Experience, Smash Hits
106. The Who, Quadrophenia. The studio double set.
107. The Who, Who’s Next