“What really matters is what you like, not what you are like.”
– Nick Hornby, High Fidelity (1995)
Readers who have enjoyed our interviews from time to time know that we typically ask artists to share their five favorite albums of all time at the end of our conversations with them. No matter who the artist is, it’s always fascinating to discover which long players have impacted their personal and professional lives. A few of our interview subjects have even scoffed at the standard five-album limit, rattling off upwards of a dozen or so titles and second-guessing if they’ve made the right choices.
Today, and considering that we’re still in the midst of the year 2020, we’re excited to reveal our writers’ respective lists of their 20 all-time favorite albums. We all reserve the right to change our minds about these choices in the future, but for now, here are the indispensable albums that we can’t live without and the reasons why.
Explore Quentin Harrison’s 20 favorites below, click the “Next” button at the bottom of the page to browse the lists or return to the main index.
Tori Amos | Scarlet’s Walk
Epic (2002)
What strikes me about this set is the enormity of its beauty: palatial and widescreen come to mind when describing it. It’s a triumph, to be sure, especially given the breadth of Amos’ prior output by this time. But as immense as Scarlet’s Walk is, there is also an intimacy present too—it draws me in on sides like “A Sorta Fairytale,” “Your Cloud” and “Gold Dust.” Said intimacy comes courtesy of Amos’ beautiful delivery of the lyrics—some direct, others abstruse—which are all mesmeric. Scarlet’s Walk continues to resonate with me through to today and likely will for the foreseeable future.
Brandy | Human
Epic (2008)
Before Brandy released Human in early December 2008, if you had asked me what my favorite body of work from Ms. Norwood was, I would have answered unflinchingly that it was Full Moon (2002). But, upon encountering Human over a decade ago, it won my heart and became a personal soundtrack to events major and minor in my life. It’s an album perfect for lengthy road trips to clear your head and feed your soul.
I could go on about Brandy’s vocal prowess and sturdy tracksmithing on Human that went (criminally) unnoticed when it was released, but you can check out my retrospective tribute I penned two years ago for that more formal perspective. For now, I’ll just say that if you’re looking for an album that will make you think and feel, Human may be right for you too.
Culture Club | Colour by Numbers
Epic/Virgin (1983)
You know those albums that everyone praises, and you might wonder if all the hype is justified? Colour by Numbers is one of those albums where every accolade is rightly awarded to it. Culture Club hits on all cylinders with this set: production, melodies, songwriting, it’s all great stuff that has outlived the era in which it was originally born from.
I discovered Colour By Numbers at 15 and was instantly fascinated by how well Culture Club couched its queer sensibilities and sentiments into the song scripts in a way that didn’t alienate non-LGBTQ audiences—if they noticed them at all. For me though, I picked up on those elements right away. They spoke to me. It was big deal for a black, gay teenager trying to survive in Ohio to have a place to go sonically.
Duran Duran | Notorious
EMI (1986)
I’ve held a deeply rooted affection for this Duran Duran album for two reasons: its fearlessness and its funkiness. Concerning the first descriptor, I admire that Duran Duran (then a trio) weren’t afraid to push forward into new territory, at the same time their innate art-pop weirdness never leaves Notorious. And with regard to the second adjective, it is an apt one to me; Duran Duran worked hard to create a loose, sexy sonic aesthetic that fit them like a hand in glove—“American Science” and “Skin Trade” demonstrate this vibe beautifully. It is assuredly an album that should always be played loudly.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor | Shoot from the Hip
Polydor (2003)
I’ve always fiercely rejected the notion that to be a successful pop genre project it has to be solely tied to dance-pop. It’s boring to say the least. It was love at first spin with Shoot from the Hip because Ellis-Bextor understood the same thing to be true that I did: pop music should be boundless and free to roam.
With Shoot from the Hip, Ellis-Bextor is both of those things and then some. While she honors clubby tempos with sides like “Love It Is Love” and “I Won’t Dance With You,” she also leaves room for experimental pieces like “You Get Yours” or “ Hello Hello” that take up alternative or balladic sounds with stunning results. Ellis-Bextor’s ballsy stylism on this effort evinces what a true pop record can do when it is free to do so.
Gloria Estefan | gloria!
Epic (1998)
I adore how Estefan marries her enthusiasm (performance wise) with keen production muscle on this record; she sounds like she’s having an absolute ball and yet she never relinquishes that consummate professionalism that’s made her a force to be reckoned with on her previous albums. gloria! is all at once a modern and classic reclamation of the dance-pop method Estefan used to propel herself into the popular music consciousness with records like “Conga” and “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”—a more spirited sojourn into clubland you’ll never find. Trust me.
Janet Jackson | Damita Jo
Virgin (2004)
Fresh, funky, fun—Damita Jo hasn’t aged a day since it dropped back in 2004. Because it wasn’t the commercial blockbuster many expected it to be (through no fault of Jackson herself), I felt that I was in on this great musical secret that no one else knew. Today, people have woken to the blissed-out tracks and fantastic vocals contained on Damita Jo, but I don’t mind sharing such an amazing collection with others. The more the merrier! It’s definitely Jackson’s creative peak in my eyes. Additionally, this outing is a perennial favorite of mine to put on every spring and summer; it enters and stays in regular rotation until fall rolls around.
Jamiroquai | A Funk Odyssey
Sony Soho Square/Epic (2001)
I experienced A Funk Odyssey at 16 and it was like touching the hand of God, musically speaking. There was nothing like this on radio stateside. The programming/sequencing, the strings, the endless basslines, undulating grooves and rhythms—all of it commanded effortlessly by Jay Kay, the acid jazz outfit’s charismatic frontman. I probably had a bit of crush on him back then.
The old school disco meets new school electronics of A Funk Odyssey has lost none of its luster nineteen years on from its original release. While I love Jamiroquai’s antecedent canon and the albums they did after this one (particularly 2017’s Automaton), this LP makes my heart and soul boogie down.
Kimbra | Vows
Warner Bros. (2011)
A good friend bought Vows and gifted it to me—he said, “Get ready.” I looked at him quizzically and chuckled. He was aware of my high standards with pop, especially at the top of the last decade. What Kimbra had in store for me blew me away—a blitzkrieg blend of pop, soul, electronica and jazz that should’ve been impossible.
But it was possible as “Cameo Lover,” “Something in the Way You Are,” “Home” and “Plain Gold Ring” demonstrated. I remain spellbound by this project and the artist behind it, and although I’ve enjoyed the two albums to come in the wake of Vows, her debut still has quite a grip on me.
Madonna | Ray of Light
Maverick/Warner Bros. (1998)
For anyone who knows me, they’ll know exactly how I feel about Madonna’s output from 1994 to 2003: it is imperial. And no, I’m not being hyperbolic. But Ray of Light is a horse of another color; Madonna really was on some next level shit creatively as a singer and as a writer with this LP.
Even now, over twenty years separated from its inaugural reveal to the public, Ray of Light has lost none its vitality. I’m finding that with the madness currently sweeping our planet, this record is in possession of an undeniable spiritual charge that heals me—that makes it an important album in my life.
George Michael | Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
Columbia (1990)
There is an emotional elegance on this affair that I cannot escape—it suffuses the songwriting and the arrangements to keep me coming back for more. In short, it’s music aimed for the head, the heart and the feet. It is amazing to consider that people couldn’t appreciate Michael’s vision on Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1, commercially speaking.
Michael, being an artistic powerhouse, never blinked and kept it moving though. He followed his second album with Older (1996)—a genius offering that inched the gay themes further away from subtext and closer to the surface—but Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1 remains uncontested in its scope and dimension to me.
Kylie Minogue | Kylie Minogue
Deconstruction/Mushroom (1994)
I always struggle to find the appropriate words to convey what this album did to me when we met in October 2003. What I can confirm unequivocally is that Kylie Minogue totally reoriented my senses when it came to understanding what was possible on a pop album. Cool, exploratory, adult, and yet accessible for the curious (which I was and still am)—I was enthralled by “Confide in Me,” “Surrender,” “Put Yourself in My Place,” “Automatic Love,” “Falling.” Kylie Minogue is the album you’ll hear me champion the most anytime Minogue comes up in conversation.
Dannii Minogue | Neon Nights
London/Ultra (2003)
Walking into a local gay watering hole (my first) at 18 in Dayton, Ohio, I was met by Minogue’s svelte jam “Put the Needle on It.” I was changed. Not long afterward, I secured a copy of Neon Nights all my own, the home of that single—what an album it was! I’d describe it as “musically intersectional” in relation to its influences: European meets American; underground meets mainstream, vintage meets modern; urban meets electronic—and at its heart is Minogue. Her wit, sex appeal and humor incomparable.
Prince | Parade
Paisley Park/Warner Bros. (1986)
Parade is a joyful work, an album that challenges typical R&B convention without shortchanging soulfulness. Further, it is a shamelessly entertaining aural spectacle. It took a few years to suss out which Prince effort was most seminal to me, as there are so many that I adore. But, as I began to genuinely reflect on this question about five years ago, it was Parade with its cool European-American fusion air that stood up and demanded to be counted.
Diana Ross | The Boss
Motown (1979)
If I’m honest, The Boss and Diana Ross (1970) have always been in heated competition with each other as my favorite song cycle from the former Supreme. However, I have to say that there is something so magical about her mix of ballads and dancefloor numbers that pulls at me.
Disco had been a format that took Ross a few tries to peg in regard to utilizing it on a full-length album and while Baby’s It Me (1977) got close, the sheer alchemy present here is just too awesome to deny. More than any other album in Ross’ canon, The Boss expresses both its escapist and ruminative airs with all the soulful panache and range that I know and love from this lovely woman.
Seal | Human Being
Warner Bros. (1998)
A lot of life is tied up in these songs. When things have been tumultuous for me, Seal has always been a source of solace and catharsis—especially on Human Being. It captures the ennui of living with its roiling soundscapes that combine organic instrumentation and tech-savvy production that Seal treks through armed with epic song stories about emotional combat and a voice that makes them real when he sings them. Simply put, I love Human Being because it has often saved me.
Carly Simon | Spy
Elektra (1979)
My romance with Spy began back in early 2006 when I first snatched it up at a Barnes & Noble in Washington D.C. while visiting my best friend. Tracks like “Just Like You Do” and the title song won me over with their creamy disco-pop inflections, but deeper cuts like “Never Been Gone” and “Love You By Heart” led me further along the path to discover Simon’s excellence as an overall arranger and lyricist. Because Spy didn’t produce a hit single, it tends to be forgotten, but Simon is at her versatile best on this batch of tunes and I love her (and Spy) for that.
Spice Girls | Spiceworld
Virgin (1997)
It all began here for me. I went through two copies of Spiceworld because I listened to it so much as a kid and studied it down to every bassline, harmony and lyric. As an album, Spiceworld is a taut exercise of great songcraft that the Spice Girls bring across with an unparalleled passion and precision, but more than that it showed me that music has the uncanny power to change the trajectory of our lives.
Through Spiceworld I found my way to my calling as a writer, author, and a music historian; it also taught me the pleasures of the pop genre, that one can hear its endless varieties and tonal multitudes if you’re open enough to receive them. The Spice Girls gave me a real gift with this album and it still has not stopped revealing new things to me all these years later.
Donna Summer | The Wanderer
Geffen (1980)
In my book Record Redux: Donna Summer, I properly articulated my thoughts on why The Wanderer is such a seminal recording in popular music. Of late though, my mind has dwelled on one aspect of its artistic structure: its female battle studies. Summer created an album that investigates the psychology of the contemporary woman in the big city as she fields love, loss and spirituality. This makes The Wanderer timely today and it thrills the listener in me that seeks substantive adventure despite how many times I’ve heard it—the mark of an evergreen album.
Swing Out Sister | Somewhere Deep In the Night
EMI (2001)
Probably more than any other act I listen to, Swing Out Sister has always been the one I remark that is deserving of a wider audience than the dedicated niche that they have—which is not to disparage us, I’m in that group happily. But, Swing Out Sister has always gone after their own star and nowhere is that clearer than on Somewhere Deep in the Night. Cast in rich, filmic French pop with American soul flourishes, Corinne Drewery and Andy Connell execute the record with a very British eye for the utmost detail and confirm their status as top tier music revivalists.